Balls to the wall coverage of the ATP tour
Quisner were close to finally beating the Bryans, but in the end the brothers were too good and won their 69th title at the ATP Houston Men’s Clay Court Championships, winning 6-7(4), 6-2, 10-5. For their sake, I hope number 70 comes sooner than later.
Check out some highlights I shot of the match below:
The way the Bryans back that thing up in unison at the 0:20 mark still cracks me up. Yes, I’m very mature.
Ryan Sweeting defeated Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-6(3) to win his first title at the ATP Houston US Men’s Clay Court Championships.
(Video via Racquet Required)
Ryan Sweeting jumps in the pool at to celebrate his first title at ATP Houston Men’s Clay Court Championships. He defeated Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-6(3).
(Video via Racquet Required)
The Bryan Brothers won their 69th title, defeating Quisner 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-5 at the ATP Houston Men’s Clay Court Championships. John and Sam played well in the first set and made it competitive in the super tiebreak, but in the end the Bryans were too good.
In the press conference after the match, I asked the Bryans about the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Spain and their thoughts on playing #TeamPretty, Feliciano Lopez & Fernando Verdasco.
(Videos via Racquet Required)
The semifinal match between Ryan Sweeting and Ivo Karlovic was a pretty one-sided affair. Ivo was clearly suffering from the heat and the physical exertion of not only having played a full week of tennis (including qualies) but also of having battled Isner for over 3 hours just the day before. After losing the first set 7-6(3) in the tiebreak, Karlovic took a medical timeout because he had trouble breathing.
Ivo continued to struggle in the second set, and lost to Sweeting 6-3. That’s not to take anything away from Sweeting’s performance in the match. Ryan who played well all week and continued his top form in this match as well.
After the match, Sweeting talked with the press about the match and the progress he has made with his game:
This will mark Sweeting’s first appearance in a final. He will face Kei Nishikori, who has has never beaten in 4 previous attempts.
(Video via Racquet Required)
Kei Nishikori talks with the press after his semifinal win over Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 7-5 at the ATP Houston Men’s Clay Court Championships on April 9, 2011. With this win, Nishikori will enter the top 50 in next week’s ranking and be the highest ranked Japanese player ever.
(Video via Racquet Required)
Ivo Karlovic spoke with the press after losing to Ryan Sweeting 6-7(3), 3-6 at the ATP Houston US Men’s Clay Court Championships
(Video via Racquet Required)
Bob & Mike Bryan jump in the pool to celebrate their win at ATP Men’s Clay Court Championship Houston on April 9, 2011
(Video via Racquet Required)
And some more stretching
And then a little cool off in the shade
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with how well Quisner played against Butorac/Rojer. The latter were the number 2 seeds (behind the Bryans) and are one of the best doubles teams out there. I was fully expecting them to blow out Quisner in straights. But Sam and John (despite losing a tough 3 hour match to Ivo that he only had an hour and a half to recover from) brought their A game. What a massive difference from their abysmal performance in Memphis! I think the key to their win was they were genuinely happy to be out there and playing together. Really!
(Nota Bene: I would watch all the videos in full-screen mode to catch the facial expressions I’m discussing. Sorry, not a professional filmmaker.)
First, they actually did more to interact with each other besides just touching hands after each point. Look, communication! Extended, meaningful communication!
And was that an enthusiastic fist pump, John? Yes, I think it was.
Positive body language was consistent through the whole match. Look at Sam run up to his place at net instead of moseying up there. And he’s smiling! SMILING!
And again here, they look like they are enjoying themselves. It is as if…they actually enjoy playing tennis! Egads!
It was genuinely heart-warming to see these two play as well as they are capable of playing. Of course, they will probably get demolished in the final today against the Bryan brothers. But then again, if they play as well as they did last night, who knows? Smiley boys for the win? It sure worked for the bun boys…
(Videos via Racquet Required)
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