The post-AO lull

The post-AO lull isn't impending anymore...it's here. There has been some Fed cup action and this week smaller events scattered across the globe. The event which I want to talk about is the lowly 250 event in San Jose, for 2 reasons, 1) Del Po, 2) Milos Raonic. Del Po has been trying to find his way back into form ever since returning in the fall circuit last year and up to now, it's been "no mas". But he's finally made some headway this week. In the QF, he laid a whooping on ol' Rusty, Lleyton Hewitt and then took on Mr. Hot Sauce himself, Fernando Verdasco (yeah that's what they call him on the tennis boards b/c I guess Verdasco sounds like Tobasco, he's also known as "Fiasco", anyway...I digress).

I watched this SF match, which Verdasco won, 4 and 4 and there were moments and glimpses of the astronomical power that Del Po used to blast Nadal off the court in the 09 US Open SF and then beat Roger in the final. He can certainly make it all the way back to the top of the men's game. At the moment I think he's just missing that match toughness. He just made a few errors at critical junctures (4-4 in the second on his serve) and that loose play ultimately cost him this match. I was watching the tournament stream and the commentators were talking about his future and said that he should be a force a wimbledon and "for obvious reasons, he will never win the French", or something along those lines...uhm what?? I think someone needs to do their research. To me, Del Po is very much like a Soderling in that he hits huge off both wings and he's got a big serve. They also both have relatively big take-backs and the clay allows them the time to really load up and then blast away. Yes, their movement will be limited on the clay but if they can do enough with the ball (which they can) and stay in control of the rallies, they won't need to defend as much. Also being so tall, they can really handle the top spin of players like Nadal or Verdasco. Both of these players have two-handers which also helps them reach up and generate enough power to deal with those high looping balls to their backhands which one-handers struggle with (...see Roger vs. Rafa and the classic equation: lefty super top spin + Roger's backhand = short ball for Rafa to rip a forehand winner with). Oh yeah, did I mention that Soderling is a 2-time Roland Garros runner-up with wins over Rafa and Roger there, and that Del Po reached the SF in 2009 losing to Roger in 5 tight sets? hmm, oh and what has he done at Wimbledon you might ask? In 3 visits, he has never made it past the second round. Grass really requires you to get low and being 6"6, it ain't easy. There are also a ton of quick adjustments you need to make because of the non-homogenous bounces you're bound to get. Del Po hasn't mastered these aspects of the surface yet. His net game needs improvement, and he also needs to be quick enough to get to net to finish off points. The ball is coming at you fast and low (with skidding) and his big take backs will hurt him there. Anyway, what I am saying is that the commentator is on crack.

Wow, this post is already super long. OK, quickly to Raonic. Raonic beat one of his fellow upstarts, Ricardas (Richard) Bernankis in the QF and then got a free pass to the final when Monfils withdrew from their SF. Raonic is showing that he's not just a flash in the pan after his AO QF. His ranking is going to move towards top 50 status real fast if he continues this standard of play. I would be weary of over-playing though. Right after Melbourne, he jetted off to Johnannesburg and is now in San Jose...that's a lot of jet lag. And next week he is playing again, in Memphis. For the final I'm going with Verdasco. Raonic is in with a shot, but similar to that 4th round encounter with Ferrer, Verdasco has got all the experience here. Here's hoping for a good showing from Milos in his first ATP World Tour Final!!

On a side note...how is Memphis a 500 tournament?! It gets a weak field every year and is basically just a tournament for Roddick to get easy points.