Sock, Johnson, and Williams: Beyond the serve and forehand
And the 6'-2 frame and backwards baseball cap
My thoughts and observations:
Jack Sock
Has the most power and is pretty much a straight-up ball-basher with the occasional serve and volley play. Very one dimensional compared to the other two. Backhand, movement, and shot selection need a lot of work. Very raw, but is still young.
Steve Johnson
Craftier than Sock and is the most athletic of the threesome. Has great defense and moves well. Is good at turning defense into offense with explosive plays. Like Sock, backhand is a mess but is able to hide it successfully at times with slicing/chipping.
Rhyne Williams
Has a nice balance game (though IMO, plays better when goes for broke). Like the other two, his backhand is the weaker side but it is quite surprisingly decent. Unlike Sock and Johnson, Williams can consistently use it to rally and has a good success rate with the passes (especially cross-court). I noticed that he used his backhand more than in the past (instead of usually running around it).
Rhyne has improved a lot since the off-season, noticeably in the movement, defense, and serve department. On the other hand, I see no improvements from Jack and Steve
IMO, Sock has the most potential because of his easy power, Williams the most talented, and Johnson the best competitor. But of course, potential and talent don't always translate to success.
For fun, who do you think will have the best career?
(1) Michael Russell (USA) d. (wc) Christian Harrison (USA) 75 64
Donald Young (USA) d. (8) Denis Kudla (USA) 62 61
(2) Tim Smyczek (USA) vs Rhyne Williams (USA)
(5) Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) d. (wc) Sekou Bangoura (USA) 75 61
Rhyne takes the 1st set 76(4), no breaks of serve, impressive 16/16 (100%) first serve points won and no break points faced by Rhyne. Great serving stats for Steve as well.
Rhyne converts on his first MP (BP) for the win 76(4) 64. Congrats to Rhyne on his first ATP level win, he is now 3-0 indoor against Steve. Guess he is a better indoor player.
What about Ryan Harrison and Denis Kudla? I'm really excited about the future of USA tennis. Hard to say who will have the best career....they should be pushing each other for years to come. Agree that Sock has the biggest game and a huge upside, but also like Kudla's all out style (reminds me of a young Hewitt) - plus he has the best backhand out of the group. Johnson is a fierce competitor and knows how to win and has excellent footwork. Williams has a nice all around game and right now is playing the best and gaining tremendous confidence. Hope that Harrison can break out and have a good year, and get past this slow start. It's going to be fun to watch!
What about Ryan Harrison and Denis Kudla? I'm really excited about the future of USA tennis. Hard to say who will have the best career....they should be pushing each other for years to come. Agree that Sock has the biggest game and a huge upside, but also like Kudla's all out style (reminds me of a young Hewitt) - plus he has the best backhand out of the group. Johnson is a fierce competitor and knows how to win and has excellent footwork. Williams has a nice all around game and right now is playing the best and gaining tremendous confidence. Hope that Harrison can break out and have a good year, and get past this slow start. It's going to be fun to watch!
My thoughts on Ryan: a player who does everything well, but is missing an offensive weapon. His biggest assets are his serve, netgame, defense, and competitive nature. IMO, his groundstrokes are weak (loopy and prone to land short, and thus easy for his opponents to attack). I think Ryan needs to focus on his transition game (go to the net as much as possible b/c he won't win too many baseline rallies against good ballstrikers).
As for Denis, he is a pure ballstriker (great backhand and good forehand). Has good command of his flat groundstrokes. Has great return game and a good serve for his size. And due to the lack of size, Denis needs to be more consistent and play smart tennis (minimize his errors). He is fun to watch when playing well.
Sock, Johnson, and Williams are great offensive players with good size. But as I mentioned earlier, Sock and Johnson have great serve and forehand but no backhand I think Williams has the physical tools to be a good player, but he is mentally weak and lacks competitive spirit
Oh well, I guess we have to wait for the 1998 juniors :angel: :lol:
But on a serious note, I hope they can push each other to do better. They are young and have time to improve.
Edit: on the bright side, the girls are doing well
First Round
(q)Donald Young (USA) d. Xavier Malisse (BEL) 5-1 ret.
(4)Sam Querrey (USA) d. Alejandro Falla (COL) 6-3 6-3
(q)Rhyne Williams (USA) d. (WC)Steve Johnson (USA) 7-6(4) 6-4
(LL)Michael Russell (USA) d. (q)Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) 6-2 6-4
Lukasz Kubot (POL) d. Ryan Harrison (USA) 6-4 6-7(4) 7-6(2)
Denis Istomin (UZB) d. (3)John Isner (USA) 6-4 6-3
(WC)James Blake (USA) d. Florian Mayer (GER) 4-6 6-3 6-2
(WC)Jack Sock (USA) d. (2)Milos Raonic (CAN) 6-3 5-7 7-5
Second Round
(5)Kei Nishikori (JPN) d. (q)Donald Young (USA) 6-3 6-3
(4)Sam Querrey (USA) vs Marinko Matosevic (AUS)
(7)Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) d. (q)Rhyne Williams (USA) 6-4 4-6 6-4
(LL)Michael Russell (USA) d. Lukasz Kubot (POL) 6-2 6-4
(WC)Jack Sock (USA) d. (WC)James Blake (USA) 7-5 6-4
Querrey has been given a wildcard into Delray Beach, so only 2 wildcards left. Wonder who will get them, feel like we don't have enough wildcards to go around :awww:
(1)Ricardas Berankis (LTU) vs (WC)Sekou Bangoura (USA) (WC)Juan Rocha (ARG) vs Denis Zivkovic (USA)
Mischa Zverev (GER) vs Bobby Reynolds (USA)
Marek Michalicka (CZE) vs (7)Frank Dancevic (CAN)
(2)Tim Smyczek (USA) vs Robby Ginepri (USA)
Erik Chvojka (CAN) vs Bradley Klahn (USA)
Michael Mcclune (USA) vs Denis Kudla (USA)
Chase Buchanan (USA) vs (5)Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
(3)Ernests Gulbis (LAT) vs Daniel Kosakowski (USA)
Alex Kuznetsov (USA) vs Illya Marchenko (UKR) (WC)Jared Hiltzik (USA) vs Andrey Golubev (KAZ)
Denys Molchanov (UKR) vs (8)Thiago Alves (BRA)
(4)Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) vs Daniel Munoz-De La Nava (ESP)
Donald Young (USA) vs Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS)
Dustin Brown (GER) vs Ryan Sweeting (USA) (WC)Greg Ouellette (USA) vs (6)Gastao Elias (POR)
(1)John Isner (USA) vs Jesse Levine (CAN)
Yen Hsun Lu (TPE) d. (q)Bobby Reynolds (USA) 6-3 7-5
(6)Kevin Anderson (RSA) d. (q)Tim Smyczek (USA) 6-3 6-4
(WC)Jack Sock (USA) d. Matthew Ebden (AUS) 6-3 6-3
(LL)Richard Berankis (LTU) d. Bjorn Phau (GER) 6-1 7-6(4)
(q)Daniel Munoz-de la Nava (ESP) d. Ryan Harrison (USA) 6-2 1-6 6-3
(q)Ernests Gulbis (LAT) d. (WC)James Blake (USA) 6-1 6-4
(3)Sam Querrey (USA) d. Michael Russell (USA) 6-2 2-2 ret.
Good luck to everybody, hopefully a couple of players can make it into the maindraw.
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