Fremen
Louie
Yinette PerezSecond Winds
July 28th 2009 02:49
First off, let me just explain that I've changed the Theme from Wimbledon Greens to US Open Blue.
I've also added a banner to reflect those changes. Onto the real post:
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The theme of this post will be players that are having Second Winds in their careers. My definition of this is that the person must be:
--Older than Roger Federer
--In the Top 30, OR has had a Quarterfinal or higher appearance in a Slam in 2008 or 2009
--Moved up considerably in the rankings
--Seems to have gotten better skill-wise with age
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#1 is the person that I'm most interested in right now as a player:
IVO KARLOVIC
Ivo Karlovic is a Croatian tennis player, commonly known as the Tallest Person to every be on the ATP World Tour, towering his opponents at an impressive 6' 10''. Obviously, this gives him a great serve and volley, even in today's fast paced, all court game. Recently, in the 2009 Wimbledon, where he went to the Quarterfinals is his best result.
The reason I like this guy is because he used to be all serve, but something happened this year, and suddenly, he can hit too. This said, his serving is still the first on the tour, and he doesn't even play as many matches as most other players (since he usually doesn't go as far into the draw as other good servers like Roddick and Federer usually do). Out of the top 10 Ace hitters in the league, he's tied for first in the least amount of matches played.
Per match, he's out-acing Roddick, who is in the number two position in the ATP for aces, by A LOT. Here are their stats (it goes Aces, Matches Played, and then Aces per match). :
Karlovic: [643] [31] [20.75]
Roddick: [614] [46] [13.35]
To put this in perspective, Roddick has the third best Aces per Match statistic out of the top 50 Ace leaders in the ATP. You have to go down to the fourteenth spot to find someone who can actually beat Roddick's Ace per Match stat. That would be John Isner, another huge serving, young American. His Aces per Match are 15.26, which is still blown away by Karlovic's 20.75.
Karlovic also leads the ATP in his 1st Serve points won, Service games won, and Break points saved statistics. Yeah...he wins more service games than Andy Roddick. Hard to believe until you see his serve. On average, he hits faster serves than anyone on the circuit.
He also has the most aces in a match (all time) and the second most service aces in a season (all time). Out of the top 11 most aces in a match, Karlovic holds four spots, which is the most on the list.
You can expect to see him climb the rankings from his current #25 in the near future.
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Nikolay Davydenko
Davydenko has been in the top 10 for a while, so I'm not sure how to classify this guy. He first broke into the top ten in the week of June 6th, 2006. Five months later, in November of 2006, he broke into the top 5, where he stayed (mostly) until June of this year.
Before 2007 he was known mostly for being a very hard worker and an all around good player. Since then, his career was surrounded in controversy. I don't want to get into all the juicy details of this old piece of gossip, so you can click on THIS to read about it yourself.
The reason I'm including him into this list is because I think he can climb up to his old ranking. I think he can overcome Del Potro and reclaim his #5 spot. To put it quite honestly, Federer, Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic have too much game for him, but still, look for Davydenko to shake things up in the next couple of Opens and Masters.
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Fernando Gonzalez
It's hard to tell with Gonzo. I'm again (like with Davydenko) not sure if he's having a second wind, or if he actually hit his peak and that he's only going down from here. He's beaten pretty much every notable player of the last 15 years, including many legends like Federer, Agassi, Sampras, and many others.
The reason I included him on this list is twofold. One is that earlier this year, at Rome, I watched his match against Juan Monaco from 2AM to 4AM. It just captivated me. I was fatigued and nodding off when I flipped to this match. I started watching and I was hooked. At this moment, I realized that I loved watching power tennis. I still remember at around, 3AM, during the second set, it was tied at 3-3 and one line judge made a horrible call against Gonzo. Next thing I know, he exploded, and then went back to his return position. Juan Monaco launched this serve right at Gonzo's forehand, and he literally ripped it. It was a 100 mph service return that threw the match's momentum in Gonzo's favor. After that point, both players were slugging. They were trying as hard as Roddick and Federer were in the Wimbledon Final. It was that insane.
The second reason he is on this list is because two months ago (roughly), he made it to the Semifinals in the French Open, indicating that he's still got the mojo. I think he wants to win a Slam badly, and he might be able to pull it off (with the right circumstances) if he's lucky.
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Tommy Haas
What Second Wind list would be complete without Tommy Haas? He practically defines the word. His career has been a roller coaster. He was always a very good player, but had a lot of injury related problems and things like that holding back his career. At this year's Wimbledon, he made it to the Semifinals, tying his best singles Slam performances (three AO Semi appearances). I think that now, without injuries, he will play very well within the next two years and surprise a lot of people.
From a young age, he was hailed as a tennis star, and finally, everyone thinks it's his time to shine like he was meant to. His career is one of the more interesting ones among the players still around. He hit the number 2 spot a couple of years back, and since then he's been as low as 1,000.
You can definitely look for him in the US Open and the next Australian.
----------------------------- ----------------------------- ----------------------------
Now, there were a lot of players I could've, but didn't put on here. Ones that I wanted to add were Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, and Tommy Robredo, but I ended up not doing those for various reasons. Hope you enjoyed this article about a couple of less talked about Tennis Players.
I've also added a banner to reflect those changes. Onto the real post:
----------------------------- ----------------------------- ---------------------------
The theme of this post will be players that are having Second Winds in their careers. My definition of this is that the person must be:
--Older than Roger Federer
--In the Top 30, OR has had a Quarterfinal or higher appearance in a Slam in 2008 or 2009
--Moved up considerably in the rankings
--Seems to have gotten better skill-wise with age
----------------------------- ----------------------------- ----------------------------
#1 is the person that I'm most interested in right now as a player:
IVO KARLOVIC
Karlovic serving in WImbledon Against Verdasco
Ivo Karlovic is a Croatian tennis player, commonly known as the Tallest Person to every be on the ATP World Tour, towering his opponents at an impressive 6' 10''. Obviously, this gives him a great serve and volley, even in today's fast paced, all court game. Recently, in the 2009 Wimbledon, where he went to the Quarterfinals is his best result.
The reason I like this guy is because he used to be all serve, but something happened this year, and suddenly, he can hit too. This said, his serving is still the first on the tour, and he doesn't even play as many matches as most other players (since he usually doesn't go as far into the draw as other good servers like Roddick and Federer usually do). Out of the top 10 Ace hitters in the league, he's tied for first in the least amount of matches played.
Per match, he's out-acing Roddick, who is in the number two position in the ATP for aces, by A LOT. Here are their stats (it goes Aces, Matches Played, and then Aces per match). :
Karlovic: [643] [31] [20.75]
Roddick: [614] [46] [13.35]
To put this in perspective, Roddick has the third best Aces per Match statistic out of the top 50 Ace leaders in the ATP. You have to go down to the fourteenth spot to find someone who can actually beat Roddick's Ace per Match stat. That would be John Isner, another huge serving, young American. His Aces per Match are 15.26, which is still blown away by Karlovic's 20.75.
Karlovic also leads the ATP in his 1st Serve points won, Service games won, and Break points saved statistics. Yeah...he wins more service games than Andy Roddick. Hard to believe until you see his serve. On average, he hits faster serves than anyone on the circuit.
He also has the most aces in a match (all time) and the second most service aces in a season (all time). Out of the top 11 most aces in a match, Karlovic holds four spots, which is the most on the list.
You can expect to see him climb the rankings from his current #25 in the near future.
----------------------------- ----------------------------- ----------------------------
Nikolay Davydenko
Davydenko in 2009 WImbledon
Davydenko has been in the top 10 for a while, so I'm not sure how to classify this guy. He first broke into the top ten in the week of June 6th, 2006. Five months later, in November of 2006, he broke into the top 5, where he stayed (mostly) until June of this year.
Before 2007 he was known mostly for being a very hard worker and an all around good player. Since then, his career was surrounded in controversy. I don't want to get into all the juicy details of this old piece of gossip, so you can click on THIS to read about it yourself.
The reason I'm including him into this list is because I think he can climb up to his old ranking. I think he can overcome Del Potro and reclaim his #5 spot. To put it quite honestly, Federer, Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic have too much game for him, but still, look for Davydenko to shake things up in the next couple of Opens and Masters.
----------------------------- ----------------------------- -----------------------------
Fernando Gonzalez
Gonzo hitting his signature forehand
It's hard to tell with Gonzo. I'm again (like with Davydenko) not sure if he's having a second wind, or if he actually hit his peak and that he's only going down from here. He's beaten pretty much every notable player of the last 15 years, including many legends like Federer, Agassi, Sampras, and many others.
The reason I included him on this list is twofold. One is that earlier this year, at Rome, I watched his match against Juan Monaco from 2AM to 4AM. It just captivated me. I was fatigued and nodding off when I flipped to this match. I started watching and I was hooked. At this moment, I realized that I loved watching power tennis. I still remember at around, 3AM, during the second set, it was tied at 3-3 and one line judge made a horrible call against Gonzo. Next thing I know, he exploded, and then went back to his return position. Juan Monaco launched this serve right at Gonzo's forehand, and he literally ripped it. It was a 100 mph service return that threw the match's momentum in Gonzo's favor. After that point, both players were slugging. They were trying as hard as Roddick and Federer were in the Wimbledon Final. It was that insane.
The second reason he is on this list is because two months ago (roughly), he made it to the Semifinals in the French Open, indicating that he's still got the mojo. I think he wants to win a Slam badly, and he might be able to pull it off (with the right circumstances) if he's lucky.
----------------------------- ----------------------------- ---------------------------
Tommy Haas
Haas hitting a backhand
What Second Wind list would be complete without Tommy Haas? He practically defines the word. His career has been a roller coaster. He was always a very good player, but had a lot of injury related problems and things like that holding back his career. At this year's Wimbledon, he made it to the Semifinals, tying his best singles Slam performances (three AO Semi appearances). I think that now, without injuries, he will play very well within the next two years and surprise a lot of people.
From a young age, he was hailed as a tennis star, and finally, everyone thinks it's his time to shine like he was meant to. His career is one of the more interesting ones among the players still around. He hit the number 2 spot a couple of years back, and since then he's been as low as 1,000.
You can definitely look for him in the US Open and the next Australian.
----------------------------- ----------------------------- ----------------------------
Now, there were a lot of players I could've, but didn't put on here. Ones that I wanted to add were Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, and Tommy Robredo, but I ended up not doing those for various reasons. Hope you enjoyed this article about a couple of less talked about Tennis Players.
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Comment by Marc (Sports Righting)
Sports Righting
I disagree on Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez, but agree on Tommy Haas and Ivo Karlovic. Davydenko and Gonzalez have peaked.
But I doubt Karlovic will rise much more in the rankings. He's certainly not a top-10 player, but could possibly crack the top 20.
You have to include Czech Radek Stepanek if you're going to include Davydenko and Gonzalez. He reached his career-high ranking of eight in 2006 and is still 17th.
Stepanek has taken his game to a new level over the past four years, including his first quarter-final appearance in a grand slam. He also reached the fourth round at this year's Wimbledon.
Comment by Fremen
Tennis
The Grudging Geek
Progressively Worse
I don't think Stepanek has the same chances as Gonzo or Davydenko for more Quarterfinals or better in Slams, and I don't see him winning titles. I think he's a great player, but like Hewitt, or Blake in my reluctant opinion (which are two of my favorite players), he's hit his peak.