by Pete Bodo
Howdy. I'm a little early with this week's edition of ATW, because over the coming days I'll be looking at some of the major hard-court meetings that precede the U.S. Open, and weigh the stakes and chances for a variety of players at various levels of the game, both in the WTA and ATP. So let's get right to it:
Big Brother Blake?
Two U.S. players at opposite ends of the age—and achievement—spectrum had excellent first-round results at the Legg Mason tournament in Washington, D.C. Donald Young, 22, lost just three games (all in the second set) to demolish Artem Sitak; meanwhile, James Blake, 31, wiped out Tatsuma Ito, 6-3, 6-3. The Washington Examiner reported today that Blake has invited Young to train with him at his home base at Saddlebrook, the Tampa resort.
"Donald's a great kid and a heck of a talent," Blake reportedly said. "For me, it helped a lot when I was young to train with someone like Mats Wilander. It helped me when I got to hit with guys like [Pete] Sampras and [Andre] Agassi. I'd love to put myself in those guys' category, but I'm realistic. I'm a little older and more experienced than Donald, but I do think I have something to offer."
Blake would be an excellent mentor for Young, not least because they're both African-American, and also because it may be time for Young to completely sever the umbilical cord with that has kept him tied, to greater or lesser degrees but always attached, to the USTA. That relationship has been dysfunctional for some time now, even if it would take something catastrophic for the USTA to cut him loose. Perhaps getting rid of all that bad karma with the USTA would have a positive effect on Young. It's up to him—and his parents. And, of course, Blake.
Whether Blake proposes playing a serious, steady role in Young's future, or just having him down for a week or so of practice and hanging out is unclear, and it needn't be decided in advance. Also unclear is just what Blake might bring to the table in the strategic or technical realm, given that he's a great example of a slashing, hit-or-miss shotmaker. Young simply doesn't have the firepower too pursue that kind of game. He'll survive or perish with his versatile game and excellent, soft hands.
Blake's general experience, though, could be extremely valuable when it come to instilling the kind of discipline, dedication, and general savvy it will take for Young to make progress on the pro tour—to figure out who his real friends are, and to whom he ought to listen. The operative word would seem to be "mentor," not "coach."
!Pic No, She Didn't Just Fall off the Turnip Truck
Martina Hingis is just 30 years old, and has already retired and come back to the game once (in 2006) and ended up the year-end No. 7. At the time, she was just 26 years old—she had plenty of time to work her way up higher. She was chugging along just fine when she tested positive for cocaine. She declined to fight the two-year suspension and left the game in the fall of 2007 in miasma of of denials, rationalizations, and calculations (Nobody ever seems to be just plain guilty of a doping offense, recreational or otherwise, except maybe Robert Kendrick. But we'll get to that later.. . .)
Recently, though, someone did a little creative thinking and realized that since both HIngis and Roger Federer are Swiss, and Hingis' drug-related suspension was up in 2009, perhaps they could be persuaded to play mixed doubles together at the upcoming 2012 Olympic games—the next version of the event Hingis missed in 2008, when she was still under suspension (Federer won doubles gold with Stan Wawrinka at those 2008 games).
It's a brilliant idea, because Hingis has always been an extraordinary doubles player and still plays both singles and doubles at a very high level. She could easily make a living as a doubles specialist if that appealed to her. Clearly, it does not—although the prospect of winning an Olympic gold medal alongside Federer just might do the trick. And don't think HIngis in unaware that it could also result in an enormous commercial windfall, for Olympic glory is still prized above mere Grand Slam excellence in most nations in the world, including their native Switzerland.
Hingis said she's been approached by agents representing Federer about the potential pairing which, if true, suggests that the Federer camp is looking to maximize their man's chances in London. But here's the rub: only those already present to compete in the official singles or doubles will be allowed to play in the mixed. That ought to be no impediment to Federer. But it means Hingis will have to earn a WTA singles ranking of No. 56 or better, or a Top 10 doubles ranking. Which means going back out on tour, travel, room-service, drug tests and all. Still, it's something she and Lindsay Davenport have thought of doing, off-and-on, for two years now.
In a press conference a few days ago following the Pro-Am at the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego, Hingis said there were no firm plans "at this point; there were just too many "ifs." That may be partly because one person with whom she has not discussed the idea is her potential partner. Which leaves you to wonder, does Federer even know what the boys at IMG are cooking up?
Some obvious complications exist, foremost among them the fact that Federer (he'll be closing on 31 by then) would have to think long and hard about committing to play three events in London. On the other hand, the weather is apt to be pretty good and the tennis events will all be played a Wimbledon, on a forgiving surface where The Mighty Fed has experienced a fair measure of success...and if it ends up as Roger's swan song in tennis, what better way to go out than as a single, double, or triple gold medalist?
Headlines We Love
Bartoli Revels in Positive Attention. . . Oh, gee, and here I thought she only got turned on by criticism of the way she hops around while awaiting serve, her cozy relationship with her coach/dad, the extravagant claims she makes on behalf of her own intelligence, or her alleged insensitivity to her fellow pros in some of her comments.
The story, though, is about how Bartoli has become a personage both in France and abroad. She's now routinely stopped in the street and congratulated, and even a security guard at Heathrow recognized her when she de-planed following her excellent performance at the French Open. "He (the security guard) was telling me how well I played. I don’t know if I’m an international celebrity, but it's really a blessing. It [feels] nice for people to say I'm an inspiration to them."
Career-Ending Jet Lag?
Robert Kendrick is willing to put on the blindfold and smoke the final cigarette. He has just one wish—to be able to play in what would be the final U.S. Open of his career. Kendrick, 31, was suspended by the ITF for testing positive for methylhexaneamine (MHA) a banned substance that apparently was in a capsule he took to fight jet lag. You can read the full story and all the terminology here.
Kendrick is not contesting the nature of the violation nor the validity of the failed test. He's just arguing that a 12-month suspension for the slip-up is way out of line in a world in which another player, Wayne Odesnik, got off with the same censure after getting caught transporting Human Growth Hormone (HGH) by Australian customs officials early in 2010 (Odesnik was originally banned for two years, but had the suspension reduced to 12 months because he co-operated with doping authorities).
Here's the nut of the case Kendrick's lawyers will make to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), when Brent Nowicki of the law firm Preti Flaherty files the appeal on behalf of Kendrick with CAS tomorrow. The words are Nowicki's: "A 12-month sanction is shocking; grossly disproportionate to the landscape of MHA and specified substance sanctions in the sporting community. Robert is not asking to be exonerated. He is asking for a just punishment. Instead, the ITF is trying to take a speeding ticket and turn it into a felony."
An impressive, comprehensive array of U.S. players and coaches from John McEnroe on down to John Isner have apparently thrown their support behind Kendrick. I'm with them. I feel for Kendrick and hope they reduce that sentence based solely on the Odesnik case history.
We Said 15 Hours, Not 15 Minutes
When Serbian teenager Bojana Jovanoski landed in Carlsbad, she called the player transport desk and asked to be picked up and taken to her hotel for this week's Mercury Insurance Open. When the driver failed to arrive in 15 minutes, Jovanovski called back—only to to be told the driver was looking for her. "What do you mean? I'm the only one standing here, outside the terminal."
It wasn't that long before tournament officials figured out that Jovanovski had flown to the wrong airport—the one in Carlsbad, New Mexico, not California's Carlsbad County airport. The two airports are a mere 900 miles apart. Jovanovski was up all that night, and on a 5:30 AM flight that ultimately got her to the right Carlsbad just in time for her opening-round match. She put up a good fight before going down to Roberta Vinci in three sets.
Good thing she's not scheduled to play in Paris, Texas, next.
*
And that's it for today, folks.