2014 Winston-Salem Open...Winston-Salem, North Carolina

[don_budge]

I remember playing a college match at this great American university...Wake Forest University the site for the Winston-Salem tournament.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/share/event-draws.aspx?year=2014&eventid=6242&draw=ms

But look what we have here. Jerzy Janowicz knocking on the door of an ATP tournament final. He has come through to the finals unseeded and his is up against the seventh seed...Lukas Rosol.

I am going out on a limb here and picking tennis_chiro's boy to win. He may just be serving notice to the U. S. Open field that he is here to play. Jerzy also took out David Goffin who has been on quite a tear as of late.

[stotty]

I see Rosol won. I watched Rosol at Wimbledon this year. That boy hits the ball hard, really hard. He compromises on virtually nothing. It's kind of a strength and a weakness at the same time. He's fearless, and this comes across in his body language and facial expression. He has a disdain about him, accentuated by his frequent spitting...as could be seen at Wimbledon 2012 when he assassinated Nadal.

But he is stubborn about his hard hitting and attempts shots that aren't really on. Jerzy of course is much the same. They are quite close to each other in both temperament and game style.

Must have been a wham bam final.

[don_budge]

Wham, bam thank you m'am...Rosol over Janowicz

I see Rosol won. I watched Rosol at Wimbledon this year. That boy hits the ball hard, really hard. He compromises on virtually nothing. It's kind of a strength and a weakness at the same time. He's fearless, and this comes across in his body language and facial expression. He has a disdain about him, accentuated by his frequent spitting...as could be seen at Wimbledon 2012 when he assassinated Nadal.

But he is stubborn about his hard hitting and attempts shots that aren't really on. Jerzy of course is much the same. They are quite close to each other in both temperament and game style.

Must have been a wham bam final.

From John McEnroe's most excellent autobiography..."Serious"...his top ten recommendations for improving tennis in the 21st Century:

"A return to wooden racquets would be a huge improvement for professional tennis. The biggest change in the game in the last twenty five years...the replacement of wood by graphite...has been a bad one. I happen to think that wooden racquets are beautiful aesthetically and purer for the game.

Look at baseball. Kids start with aluminum bats in little league, then move on to Kevlar or whatever in college and then...and only then...if they make it to the majors do they get to use those beautiful wooden bats that require greater expertise for success.

Why not do the same thing in tennis? I think that it looks great to have a little wand in your hand, instead of some ultra thick club big enough to kill somebody with. Wood...to me...has glamour. You need strategy and technique. Tennis, these days, is sadly lacking in all these things.

It's all (as David Bowie says) wham, bam, thank you ma'am." ...the great John McEnroe.

Seconded by the not so great...don_budge.

"Put a Dunlop Maxply or a Jack Kramer Autograph in both of their hands...make 'em play tennis."---don_budge

From what I saw there was one sort of telling point...one flash of a brush stroke. Rosol hit a ball that hit the top of the net and just sort of died...much like the Ashe return of serve on match point versus Nastase in 1972 at the U. S. Open. Except it was on Jerzy's forehand. Jerzy exhibited pretty decent quickness as he got to the ball in plenty of time but he was still holding his racquet in his standard forehand grip which was improper for a ball so close to the net. He attempted to angle the drop shot attempt cross court and dumped the ball in the middle of the net. Nastase looked like he was holding his racquet as a frying pan as he deftly touched the ball over the net barely six inches from the other side of the net.

They both hit hard...and harder. Except when Jerzy fancies himself to be a drop shot specialist. I started out watching the match with good intentions but as you can imagine...I went to bed and started reading "The Fran Lebowitz Reader" instead. The match was a definite snoozer...but not without a surprise happy ending for Lucas Rosal.

The first set was a snoozer...as I mentioned. I was hoping for more. I was hoping the Jerzy Janowicz might surprise me and all of a sudden evolve into an all court player. It would be too much to ask of Rosol...his fate as a tennis player is set in stone. The first set went back and forth a bit...not quite enough to rock the boat of modern tennis. But Rosol was up an early break and somehow Jerzy turned the tables. I think that I saw the beginning of the second set but it seemed that it was going the way of the Pole.

But you know what they say of the best laid plans of mice and tennis players...you have to get the horse in the barn. He didn't. Wham, bam thank you m'am. Good night...Fran. Good night...Iran.

I remember playing at Wake Forest...I lost to the number one singles player in three sets in 1978. It was a really encouraging match for me...in spite of the loss part of it. It lead me to believe that I could play with the big boys.

I am so looking forwards to the U. S. Open next week.

[don_budge]

The doubles at the 2014 Winston-Salem Open...

The doubles was won by Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in straight sets over Jamie Murray and John Peers...6-3, 6-4. As if anyone cares. I know that I don't. It was a draw of sixteen teams.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/share/event-draws.aspx?Year=2014&EventId=6242&Draw=md

[bottle]

Rolled Ankle

Winston-Salem was Anatabloc's for the taking. It is his personal tournament, and he and the announcers call Winston-Salem his home town-- a second lie added on to the one that Anatabloc is good for anybody.

Anatabloc's hometown is Greensboro, about 30 miles over and not the same even if both are part of The Triangle or Triad or whatever it's called.

None of the main contestants probably even had the sense not to go to Roddick's favorite homemade beer place on the main street and to swing over by the School of the Arts and go to Swaim's Grocery, the best tennis bar in North Carolina and possibly anywhere.

So they deserve whatever they get.