[Caio]

At age 25, Brazilian Andre Sa is finally having some good results in his career. A promising junior, never had the same success in the pros and it looks like 2002 will finally be his breakthrough year.

Andre has had hard times since he begun his pro career. Sponsors, family and specially confidence. Andre went to NBTA when he was very young to train hard and imigrated to some university I can't remember to play tennis. Then, he decided to dedicate himself 100% to pros.

Andre doesn't have any weapon. He's got an ok serve, an ok forehand, an ok backhand, ok volleys... he hasn't got any punishing shot that could make him win much more matches. He still holds an 11-17 record this season, and has still to earn $1M in his full career. But with his Wimbledon quarterfinal and now another quarterfinal in Amersfoot, Andre is my pick for "newcomer", "late-boomer", "breakthrough" or whatever else this year

Good luck Andre

 

[tennischick]

Hewitt doesn't have any weapons either and look where it's gotten him! Andre's game is solid. i saw him for the first time last year at the USO when he gave Pete Samprass a good challenge. at the time i was pissed off with my boyfriend bec all he wanted to see were the South-American players, so he literally had to drag me to this match as i can't stand Samprass, and didn't relish the prospect of seeing him put a 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 cut-arse on another "clay-courter". well, did i end up with egg all over my face! for a moment there it looked as if Pete was a goner. but of course the serve saved him, and i found a new fave. Andre Sa will go places. it's not too late. he's only middle-aged in tennis years.

 

[Caio]

Are you saying Hewitt doesn't have weapons? Speed, tenacity, passing shots, forehand. Enough?

P.S: I hate Hewitt.

 

[tennischick]

i hate Hewitt too but when folks speak of weapons in tennis they usually refer to particular shots. like Sampras' former serve, or Agassi's returns, or Guga's forehand. speed and tenacity are terrific qualitties to have but they are not generally considered weapons. Hewitt's passing-shots and his forehand are good but there are others with better. Safin makes awesome passing-shots (when hsi head is on). and there are plenty better forehands out there -- that list it too long to enumerate.

that's what makes Hewitt such an incredible competitor. his weapons are exactly what you describe -- his speed and tenacity. and his never-say-die attitude. and his scrappiness as a fighter. and the fact that he never chokes and never tanks. all of his shots are solid -- but none of them are weapons in the classic sense. and that's why his position at #1 is unique.

 

[Springy]

go andre!

 

[Nimi]

Hewitt's backhand is better than his forehand. just food for thought.

& thats exactly the place where i saw Sa, in that match against Sampras!

 

[steph_g]

I saw Andre Sa win the Hochiminh City ATP Challenger. I think it was in 1999.

He showed a lot of tenacity during this match. I was surprised because I had expected to see this player stay at the back of the court and hit heavy topspin.

Instead of what I saw a player hitting very flat shots and rushing to the net.

I was impressed also with his footwork and his good anticipation skills.

 

[Dissident]

Gugas backhand is also better than his forehand.

Andre is indeed a dangerous player.
Caio is right, his big problem is confidence. He is an extremely shy guy. I saw him play many times, and my thought was ALWAYS like "keep your head up, face the sky, not the floor!"
Maybe this great run can help on that matter.

 

[Zvonareva]

Go Andre! :bounce:

 

[Becool]

Actually I never thought Andre would come to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinals..

I got surprised. His forehand is his best shot IMO, I think it's a late boomer, but doesn't mean he will do well in any tournament he enters in..

I don't know. I hope his does, but it's too unlikely for me

 

[Daniel]

He is a nice player

He is not a late bloomer

 

[Lucas Arg]

He is one of my favorite players, I love him so much:drool:

 

[Burrow]

Its a shame he wore away, I used to like him.

 

[CooCooCachoo]

He's still a great player to watch :shrug:

 

[cobalt60]

I watched him play in a Challenger Fall 2005. He was lovely to watch- all grace and ballet style.

 

[gusman890]

the return of the old forums continues

 

[shotgun]

He had been around for a while until the Wimbledon QF, then surprisingly it all went down hill from there. What was considered to be his breakthrough was also his swan song. I remember he lost like 15 consecutive matches in 2003. He never had any weapons, although he does have a good return of serve, that makes him a good doubles player.

 

[GlennMirnyi]

It's a shame, really. Sá is a very good player.

 

[Jimnik]

Why are all these old threads being bumped up?

 

[Sjengster]

He had been around for a while until the Wimbledon QF, then surprisingly it all went down hill from there. What was considered to be his breakthrough was also his swan song. I remember he lost like 15 consecutive matches in 2003. He never had any weapons, although he does have a good return of serve, that makes him a good doubles player.

I remember him playing two five-setters against Bjorkman in two days in DC, he lost to him in singles but won the doubles with Kuerten from two sets to one down (then Bjorkman saved Sweden with yet another five-setter over Kuerten on the final day, and the Vinc won the deciding rubber).

Last I saw of him were losses to Coria at RG, hardly a surprise there, and to Nalbandian at Wimbledon where of course he lost all those QF points. Who did he beat to get to the quarters in 2002? I know his fourth-round victory was over Lopez, who had taken out Canas and Schuettler first.