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rseto · 07-06-2007, 06:33 AM

I see there isn't a thread for the American Ivo.

6'9 former Georgia Bulldog with a huge serve. He was the NCAA singles runner-up this year.

I wasn't too sure about his pro prospects but he won a $15,000 Futures event last week as a WC. I read that he is trying to qualify for Newport next week and might even receive a WC. He will then play Aptos after that.

It'll be interesting to see what he does in the next 2 weeks. Some good results and he'll be the 2nd most promising US prospect!

Fee · 07-06-2007, 04:19 PM

How long did he attend college? Did he graduate? This will give us an idea if his career will mirror Goldstein, Gimelstob, Vahaly, or Delic. If we're lucky, Blake or even McEnroe's. Seems college players just don't do as well as the guys who don't go these days.

Grinder · 07-07-2007, 02:26 AM

His serve is huge and he's much better off the ground than Ivo, I could see John cracking the top 100. I saw him demolish Kevin Anderson (6'7" South African who plays for Illinois) and Anderson is already having reasonable success on tour. Hope he gets a WC for Newport.

rseto · 07-07-2007, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fee

How long did he attend college? Did he graduate? This will give us an idea if his career will mirror Goldstein, Gimelstob, Vahaly, or Delic. If we're lucky, Blake or even McEnroe's. Seems college players just don't do as well as the guys who don't go these days.

He spent 4 years at Georgia so he's a bit older. I'm actually disappointed at the slow rise in rankings of the guys who didn't go to college even though they're still young. Some of these NCAA guys can add some depth to American tennis. I'll be happy if he can follow Delic's path but do it sooner.

And he just got a WC into Newport.

Fee · 07-07-2007, 04:51 PM

Well that is very excellent for him that he got the WC. Keep your fingers crossed for a good draw for him.

I would like to see the college graduates do better as well. It's a shame that tennis players seem to be penalized for getting an education. Would be good for American tennis to have a Top 50 or Top 20 player with a degree. I believe Todd Martin was the last one.

rseto, I hope you can stop by regularly and help us keep track of John here.

Chaos Inc. · 07-07-2007, 06:30 PM

Good luck and best wishes to him.

ae wowww · 07-08-2007, 08:02 AM

He also received a Newport WC into the doubles event, with Mardy Fish. Good luck John.

Deboogle!. · 07-08-2007, 05:03 PM

Never heard of him but I will definitely keep an eye out - thanks for the info and best of luck to him!

The Freak · 07-08-2007, 05:41 PM

This guy is 6'10"

I saw him play in the college singles final, which he lost 6-7, 6-4, 6-7.

Deboogle!. · 07-09-2007, 10:10 PM

Well he will be playing Big Dick Norman in a battle of tall big servers tomorrow. Good luck to him

Chaos Inc. · 07-10-2007, 05:38 PM

Isner lost 7-6(3) 6-3.

Really struggled returning serve after the first few Norman

service games.

Deboogle!. · 07-10-2007, 05:40 PM

Well he may have a huge serve himself but so does Norman - I imagine he hadn't seen many serves like his before. Anyway, decent effort for his first ATP match, especially considering that grass is a tough surface and takes a lot of guys a long time to play well on. Hopefully he sticks with it and has better results as he plays more on the tour

Chaos Inc. · 07-10-2007, 06:00 PM

I agree. A lot of nerves involved playing his first match at this

level. When he gets another opportunity, he can just go out and

play tennis like it is old hat.

rseto · 07-10-2007, 06:25 PM

Too bad he didn't get a normal sized opponent in the 1st rnd. Norman has too much experience in the "big serve" type of play.

Hope Isner can build up his ranking over the summer.

gusman890 · 07-11-2007, 08:36 PM

I hope John will do well over the summer in some challengers giving the USTA an idea for a W/C to the USO hopfully. (John already played the doubles there after winning Kalamazoo a few years back).