This is Part II of the Winston-Salem Open Saturday coverage. ICYMI
Part I.
Saw the beginning of
Mischa Zverev and
Sanam Singh match but didn't stay long because Court 5 had no place to sit (standing room only). Per the
qualifying draw, Mischa retired trailing 6-4 3-1.
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| Sanam Singh and Mischa Zverev getting ready for their match |
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| Sanam Singh |
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| Mischa Zverev |
One of my favorite pictures...
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| Patriotic Fan |
Sam Querrey was out practicing next to Stadium Court.
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| Sam Querrey |
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| Sam Querrey |
Ryan Harrison and former UCLA star,
Clay Thompson, were battling in the 2nd set when I arrived. Clay had won the 1st set tiebreak. He had a big serve and possessed a serve&volley game. In the 2nd set tiebreak, Thompson had several S&V and FH errors and it continued into the 3rd set. I left after Ryan went up 3-0. It was getting way too hot on center court.
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| Ryan Harrison serving |
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| Clay Thompson |
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| Center Court/Stadium Court |
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| Ryan Harrison during changeover |
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| I was in awe of Clay Thompson's hair |
Tommy Haas and
Marcos Baghdatis were practicing next to each other on Practice Courts 4 & 5.
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| Tommy Haas |
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| Marcos Baghdatis |
Due to the lengthy Harrison and Thompson match on Center Court, 17 year old
Frances Tiafoe and
Patrick Daciek were moved to the outside court. Patrick was off to a flying start, broke for an early advantage. Frances's body language was negative early on. I left during the middle of the 1st set (if you remember, Court 5 is standing room only).
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| Frances Tiafoe |
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| Frances Tiafoe getting ready to return serve |
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| Frances Tiafoe |
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| Frances Tiafoe serving |
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| Patrick Daciek serving |
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| Patrick Daciek |
I was impressed that Slim found me at the Tiafoe/Daciek match or maybe it was by luck ;)
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| Deiton "Slim" Baughman |
On my way to the Grandstand (aka Court 2). Passed by
Steve Johnson and
Thanasi Kokkinakis on PC 4 & 5.
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| Steve Johnson |
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| Thanasi Kokkinakis |
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| Thanasi Kokkinakis |
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| Thanasi Kokkinakis |
While waiting to get into the Grandstand to watch
Bjorn Fratangelo and NCAA champion,
Ryan Shane, I was distracted by the Haviland and Spencer match next door (more on that later). So by the time I got back to this match, it was pretty much over.
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| Bjorn Fratangelo signing autographs |
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| Bjorn Fratangleo |
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| Bjorn Fratangelo talking to the Dookies |
Getting back to the
Ryan Haviland and
Will Spencer
match.
This was my first time seeing
these guys.
Read about 34 year old
Haviland
making a comeback to the pro ciricuit after taking 11 years off due toinjury and 25 year old Wil Spencer’s
unconventional pro career path via On the
Rise tennis blog.
So this was a rare
opportunity for both players to get to the final qualifying round.
Haviland possessed an old school
serve&volley and net game.
He had a
nice backhand from what I saw in the opening set.
He started off slow, but crawled his way back
from an early hole to take the set 7-5.
He was fun to watch when on.
It
was hard for me to judge Spencer’s game because he struggled chasing down
Haviland’s volleys.
But he had the crowd’s
full support from the get-go (perhaps he have family and friends in the area)
and found a way to win.
I left after the
1
st set so didn’t get to witness the comeback.
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| Ryan Haviland |
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| Ryan Haviland |
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| Ryan Haviland |
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| Wil Spencer |
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| Wil Spencer |
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| Wil Spencer |
The last match I saw on Saturday was between Detion Baughman
and top seed Martin Klizan. The
Slovakian is ranked No.34 in the world and would have gotten in directly into the
main draw had he signed up before the deadline.
Despite losing 6-4 3-6 6-0, the young American showcased himself well
against someone ranked almost 400 spots above him. He went toe to toe with Klizan for the first
two sets (ran out of gas in the decider).
His forehand let him down at various times throughout the match, however, his
backhand was solid. He has height, big
serve, and power so there is a good foundation to build on. Needs to work on consistency and the
forehand.
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| Martin Klizan during changeover |
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| Martin Klizan posing for picture |
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| Deiton Baughman |
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| Deiton Baughman serving |
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| Deiton Baughman serving on the Grandstand |
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| At the net |
And that concludes the Saturday coverage.
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