Quantcast
Channel: Foot Soldiers of Tennis »» Amir Weintraub
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 8

Wimbledon Day Two: Podcast and Random Review

0
0

Wimbledon qualifying on day two saw the hangover from Monday’s rain completed, with half of the 128 men in the singles draw now having had to go through the business of calling into the small portakabin marked prize money to collect their first round cheques for £3,625.

That may be a more than welcome sum for those players in the 200’s scratching a living, but it does very little to hide their disappointment when they put a forehand inexplicably into the tramlines.

It also saw the opening round of women’s qualifiers in a draw that has more names that are immediately recognisable to the slightly more casual eye.

You can hear an audio recap of the day’s play below, featuring conversations with Australian Jason Kubler and Kazhakstan (formely Ukraine’s) Aleksander Nedovyesov.

 

.1. JASON’S JOY

Without wishing to be too self-referential, the happiness of Jason Kubler just couldn’t be contained on the podcast, after his win over Rui Machado. A first victory away from clay since 2012 thanks to consistent injury problems saw him smile in a way that put a Cheshire cat to shame.

He admits there are huge adjustments to be made as he tries to adapt to the surface, but at least he can feel comfortable enough to play on it having been confined to the gentler on the body red brick dust.

2. OSAKA BIG IN JAPAN
Naomi Osaka gets ready to let rip (photo: FSOT)

Naomi Osaka gets ready to let rip (photo: FSOT)

While this blog is ATP focused, we are always happy to enjoy a dabble in the world of the WTA.

With thanks to Victoria Chiesa of the Tennis Island it was a good choice to watch Japan’s Naomi Osaka in action against Sorana Cirstea, with the Romanian coming through in a three setter – with a little bit of discreet court side support from Laura Robson late on.

The 17-year-old is ranked 166, and gives the ball a hefty hit off both flanks for someone of a tender age – she certainly wasn’t being out blasted by Cirstea – and she also reached the final of the women’s ITF event in Surbiton.

While the match itself was on the more error based side, if you like your young players armed with weapons first and assume the tactical nuances can come later, then add Osaka to your list.

There’s a healthy Japanese media contingent at the qualifying tournament, and they had 7 women in the 96 player ladies’ draw, plus a further five in the men’s. Not a bad representation. They just won’t be overly happy that Tatsuma Ito faces Hiroki Moriya, and the winner of that could well face Yoshihito Nishioka for a place in the main draw.

There were also some extended phone calls back to base from the Japanese media after Kimiko Date-Krumm‘s defeat.

3. AMIR MAY BE ON THE WAY
Amir Weintraub

Amir Wentraub is back on tour after injury and tearing up the Futures circuit

After a desperate year, professionally and personally, there might be some signs of hope for Amir Weintraub, despite his loss to Bjorn Fratangelo, where he went down 6-4 7-5. The Israeli has had extended time out of action with a groin injury, and also gone through divorce. For more on his troubles, you can read this interview on Israeli tennis blog Let, Second Serve.

Weintraub’s backhand looked impressive, allowing him to push the American around, but the forehand side proved less stable, and there were a host of break point chances in the second sit that he couldn’t quite find a way to convert. It was a good test above Futures level against an opponent ranked 124, who had what looked a compact game with a serve that helped him out at some tricky times.

If he can get into a competitive groove for the rest of Davis Cup, everyone has seen how he can play above himself when national pride is at stake.

4. CROWD CHANGES

 

Shahar Peer, successful and subtle of fist pump

Shahar Peer, successful and subtle of fist pump on one of the more visible courts

It’s a small thing, but notable when it comes to polite crowd psychology. The lay out of the qualifying courts is in something like a large L shape. Court One is far away from the main entrance and Bank of England club buildings.

Then most of the courts go in a straight line, before the final four, which are set out as the lower part of the L, right in front of a conveniently situated bank for the growing number of qualifying spectators.

For matches being watched on these courts, you will quite often hear regular bursts of applause, especially if the home players are hitting winners.

Where access to the court is a lot more limited away from the banks – you have to stand in the gaps between the middle of courts to watch the players, on court 5 for example, you will rarely hear even a smattering of applause among the perhaps 10-20 people watching – though that number expanded pretty fast for late Michelle Larcher de Brito third set action.

There is just as much clever play going on in these back courts as among those more easily accessible, but the applause rarely rings out bar, sometimes for the announcement of “Game, Set and Match”.

Is it something to do with safety in numbers or British reserve? Whatever there is a crowd critical mass required before anyone commits. So be nice, and if you see someone on court four hit a screaming forehand pass,put your hands together.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 8

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images