Houston DAY 2

The US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston, Texas kicked off a couple of days ago. Day 1 was pretty uneventful with the exception of a few 2+ hour matches and the eighth seed, Maximo Gonzalez getting upset. But the real drama occurred on Day 2. Before I talk about the huge upsets, I want to mention the plethora of guys who played such wonderful tennis back in the day, but fell apart whether it was because of injury or just there game was not refined enough,  and now they are back on tour with new additions to their games and are proving to be serious threats this year. 

One prime example is Taylor Dent. Back in the earlier 2000s, Dent reached a career high ranking of 21 in 2005 with his strong serve and beautiful serve and volley technique. Dent has faded away since then, and now he is back with big wins in Miami. Dent won his first clay court match of the season against Brazilian, Marcos Daniel 46 63 62. Dent's better results have come off the hard courts, but there's no doubt in my mind that he can make a mark on the clay courts this spring. 

Other comebacks of the tour are Lleyton Hewitt, John Isner, Tommy Haas, and even Guillermo Cañas. Australian former number one, Lleyton Hewitt won a solid amount of grand slams earlier in the decade, but lately, his game suffered. But now everyone can tell that he has been working hard to rise in the rankings. The form that he exhibited in the early 2000s was revived on the night where he faced Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis in the 3rd round of the '08 Australian Open. It went in the record books for the latest ending to a match in grand-slam history. Hewitt won the match. And he won his match against seventh seed Diego Junquiera yesterday 60 62. 

And John Isner showed up in '07 and faced Federer in the US Open. Isner took the first set but eventually fell to the then number one. Since then he has struggled to reach the expectations of his fans. But now he is back with a new found confidence. He played brilliantly in Indian Wells, but eventually fell to Juan Martin Del Potro in the 4th round. . Isner won his match yesterday, defeating qualifier Michael Russell 46 63 62. Clay is not Isner's forte, but we'll see what he can do. 

Tommy Haas has been around for a while. He was once number two in the world. But that ended quickly as well. Now, he has been playing in many tournaments and is almost up to the level he was at during the late 90's, early 00's. Haas was given a wildcard into Houston, but he surprised clay court specialist, Denis Gremelmayr, 63 63.

Most of the drama occurred on Centre Court. There weren't too many surprises on the outer courts. The first victim of the day was the second seed, American Mardy Fish. Fish faced Thailand's, Bjorn Phau. Although it seemed to be a shocking result, Fish's game does not suit well for the clay. He's not very fast and he could have better stamina if he loses some weight. (No offense, Mardy) And I'm getting tired of these players who can't deliver any strategy on clay. It may be a different surface, but it's still Tennis. Fish did succumb to Phau's elegant one-handed backhands and calm frame of mind with a 63 57 63 loss. 

The other upset of the day wasn't a surprise. Argentine, Gullermo Cañas who has struggled for the last year displayed some great tennis against number one seed, James Blake. Now Blake really falls apart on the clay because he relies on the speed of the hardcourts to attack with his powerful flat groundstrokes. It doesn't work on the clay. Cañas took advantage of Blake's inconsistent backhand and won, 64 64. Now James Blake is my favorite tennis player. He is incredibly classy on and off the court and he did not deserve to lose against the cheater, Fernando Gonzalez in the Olympics but I really wish he can get a little more well rounded on all surfaces. But I believe in him. 

   Other Scores of Day 2:

   (4) Jeremy Chardy(FRA) def.  (LL) Jesse Levine(USA) 63 60

     Guillermo Garcia-Lopez(ESP) def. (Q) Giovanni Lapentti(ECU) 16 60 62

     Sergio Roitman(ARG) def. Agustin Calleri(ARG) 63 63

     Paul Capdeville(CHI) def. Amer Delic(USA) 67(5) 76(5) 61

   (6) Marcel Granollers(ESP) def. Brian Dabul(ARG) 26 64 61

   (Q) Scoville Jenkins(USA) def. (Q) Alexander Peya(AUT) 06 64 63

          Who I Want to Win: John Isner

          Who I Think Will Win: Tommy Haas