#timofey skatov | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stateofsport211 · 8 months

Text

US Open MS Q3: Know Your Qualifiers (1/2)

Illustration of the US Open qualifying weeks (📸 US Open official website)

After being rain-delay-ridden in the past two days, including what was supposed to be the fourth qualifying day, the third qualifying rounds only kicked off in the last timeslot of that day (throughout the late afternoon-evening), with 7 men's singles final qualifying matches playing almost simultaneously, pulling a Roland Garros splitting the 16 matches into 2 days due to the weather forecast (which turned out to be true, with some second-round matches being delayed twice, so did the start of the day). Several matches notably started earlier but finished later due to their dynamics, which will be summarized below (as they qualified).

The first part of the final qualifying rounds had several names in the spotlight, such as but not limited to fourth seed Taro Daniel, who qualified comfortably in a dominant showing with his current form, 22nd seed and NextGen Dominic Stricker, who previously also qualified to the Wimbledon Championships and was a lucky loser in Roland Garros, which turned out to be a rematch but in a different surface against Thiago Agustin Tirante, and Aidan Mayo, who even stunned Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard while minding his past ITF successes in the past month.

The shorter Twitter/X thread of the qualifiers can be found here.

Section 4: Taro Daniel d. Francisco Comesana 6-1, 6-4

Taro Daniel's point to break 2-0, 1st set (📸 Eurosport)

Francisco Comesana, who did not play in a hard-court event this season before an impromptu move to indoor hard courts in the Liberec Challenger due to continuous rain, where he was the eventual champion, stunned Jozef Kovalik and Federico Gaio, having to dig deep for the latter, thanks to his adjustable controlled aggression. An interesting return depth challenge awaits in fourth seed Taro Daniel, who currently has an 18-10 win-loss record in the hard courts, with some notable results of reaching the third rounds of Indian Wells and Miami M1000s as a qualifier.

T. Daniel dominantly started the first set by smashing his way right after a forehand down-the-line finishing attempt to break 2-0 before he consolidated to 3-0 right after. However, Comesana lost control and went erratic, which explained the first set breadstick (6-1). Comesana successfully averted the second set bakery once he held his service game 2-2, and T. Daniel once again passed Comesana from his forehand side to open the path, followed by a forehand return ace before he broke to 3-2 at the expense of Comesana’s double fault. Consolidating his lead to 4-2, it was too late for Comesana to match the pace since the whole flow was in T. Daniel’s racquet, and the latter successfully took the second set 6-4 to be the first person qualified for the main draw.

In the first round, T. Daniel will face former World No. 6 Gael Monfils, who entered the US Open through his protected ranking. Their only Tour-level meeting dated all the way to Roland Garros 2019 (on clay, instead), where Monfils won 6-0, 6-4, 6-1. While the dynamics could be different this time, their point construction (and anticipation combined) would be something of attention, making this match one of the most interesting encounters to watch (caution: possible highlight reels on both peaks).

Section 1: Enzo Couacaud d. Giulio Zeppieri 3-6, 6-1, 6-1

Enzo Couacaud's point to 2-0* 0-30, 3rd set (📸 Eurosport)

Notably taking a tie-break set out of Novak Djokovic as a qualifier in the Australian Open earlier this season, the rest of the season was more or less chaotic for Enzo Couacaud. The chaos was further added with an early exit in the Winnipeg Challenger against Gabriel Diallo before he stunned first seed Jaume Munar in the first qualifying round. 30th seed Giulio Zeppieri played mostly clay Challengers along the way, becoming the runner-up in the Karlsruhe Challenger after a fall resulted in his retirement when he was up 6-2, 0-1, marking his comeback with an applicable all-around game in the hard court by defeating compatriots Riccardo Bonadio and Alessandro Giannessi in the first two rounds.

Zeppieri initially controlled the match when Couacaud started erratically, with the latter’s backhand errors securing that break, and he did not look back before taking the first set 6-3. However, in the second set, Couacaud bounced back thanks to his working backhand, going after Zeppieri’s forehand, from which its response was insufficient at times. After the second set breadstick, Couacaud kept controlling the flow during the third set, with his backhand passing shot becoming one of the keys before he doubled the break, resulting in Couacaud’s double breadstick (6-1, 6-1) service as a result in the last two sets.

Couacaud will face former World No. 35 Jiri Vesely, who tried to work his way back up, recently eliminated in the second round of Grodzisk Mazowiecki/Kozerki Challenger to Benjamin Hassan 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(5) with his match points being saved. Even if this will be their first Tour-level meeting, Vesely had to retire down 4-6 at the conclusion of the first set during the Bengaluru Challenger quarterfinals back in 2022. Knowing how physical (and chaotic) this match could be, J. Vesely’s usually reliable baseline game would rely on such fitness as well.

Section 15: Dominic Stricker d. Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-2, 6-3

Dominic Stricker’s point to *0-1 40-ad, 2nd set (📸 Eurosport)

Interestingly, Thiago Agustin Tirante and 22nd seed Dominic Stricker met in the Roland Garros third qualifying round, with Tirante winning the encounter 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 while Stricker got the lucky loser spot. Since winning the Morelos Challenger a few months back, Tirante had an interesting hard-court record by defeating Gonzalo Lama in Los Cabos before Alex de Minaur demolished him 6-2, 6-1 as well as an early exit in the Stanford Challenger before defeating Luca Nardi and Brandon Holt in the first two qualifying rounds. On the other hand, Stricker also had some rough patches, notably an early exit against Christian Harrison in the Winnipeg Challenger before dealing with Pablo Llamas Ruiz in the second qualifying round in a dramatic third set tie-breaker interrupted by the rain delay at 7-6(9) before winning it two points later.

Outside of Tirante’s physical problem (likely his shoulder, where he had a medical timeout from in the second set), this match was on Stricker’s racquet from the way he paced the flow. Right in the third game, he opened the path to break thanks to a working volley before leading 3-0 but had to endure a 17-minute game three games later, where Tirante held his service game to 4-2. An erratic service game resulted in Stricker taking the first set 6-2. Stricker continued his control in the second set, surviving 2 break points to hold 1-0 before a backhand winner created his break point, eventually breaking to 2-0. He did not look back since, keeping things balanced to take the second set 6-3 (almost broke for the match as well).

Stricker will face Alexei Popyrin in the first round, whom he also faced in the first round of Wimbledon several months back. The Swiss won the encounter 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, which thriller would likely replicate in the Flushing Meadows if both players kept going after each other from the baseline, boiling down to several margins of errors.

Section 7: Otto Virtanen d. Juncheng Shang 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-1

Otto Virtanen's point to *0-0 30-40, 1st set (📸 Eurosport)

Juncheng (Jerry) Shang had a rollercoaster season, starting it by qualifying for the Australian Open. Some of his hard-court defeats were rather in bigger matches, e.g. against Frances Tiafoe in Washington (500) quarterfinals or Kei Nishikori in Atlanta (250) second roun]; however, he could also find trouble fending powers from people like Mark Lajal or Alex Michelsen back in Granby and Chicago Challengers, respectively. Such a challenge would be possible when he met 28th seed Otto Virtanen, who survived being demolished when he was 1-6, 0-2 down in the first qualifying round against Emilio Gomez, and bounced back to defeat Michael Zheng in the second qualifying round.

In the match dubbed as the “match of the century” for the NextGen talent-off, Virtanen had a fiery start thanks to his volley to create his break point before an early break, only to be broken back (1-1) out of a forehand error to start the first set. They also traded breaks in the middle of the set, but the most important one came from Virtanen (at the cost of Jerry’s forehand misfire) before he served for the first set to 7-5. Fast-forward to the second set tie-breaker, Virtanen’s forehand error to 2-0 resulted in everything going downhill, which resulted in Jerry taking the second set 7-6(2) to force a decider. Realizing this, Virtanen took it personally, when Jerry’s game fell apart after the first break of that set (2-0) due to his forehand rushes to close the rallies. It did not help anything except for Virtanen’s third-set breadstick to 6-1.

Virtanen will face 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry, with whom it will be their first-ever meeting. Knowing both players, while keeping solid service games looked important, a balance of power would be necessary, which could boil down to a few options: either those who moved forward successfully, being more intuitive (with the open space usage) or the minimum mistakes. Both players came a long way in the past year, should be a high-quality encounter when both players are on.

Section 14: Yu-Hsiou Hsu d. Aidan Mayo 7-5, 6-3

Yu-Hsiou Hsu's point to *3-4 30-40, 2nd set (📸 Eurosport)

Starting to grab attention since becoming the runner-ups of the 2 Mexican ITFs last May in Xalapa and Tabasco, followed by ITF M25 Dallas runner-up last July], as well as a quarterfinal run (l. Arthur Cazaux) in the Lexington Challenger a few weeks ago, Aidan Mayo grabbed more spotlight in the first two qualifying rounds by defeating Frederico Ferreira Silva 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the first round, and shockingly eliminated fellow NextGen Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6(6), 7-6(8) to book an encounter against a comeback Yu-Hsiou (Timmy) Hsu, who qualified to the Australian Open but had a rough patch in most parts this season. Coming to this match, return depth and defense-to-offense execution would be some aspects of attention when constructing points.

While most of the first set consisted of service game holds, it was worth noting that Aidan had one of his holds coming thanks to his forehand down-the-line winner in the middle of that set. However, it all boiled down to the last two points (to Aidan’s disappointment), where his double fault created it and a forehand error in response to Timmy’s backhand resulted in its conversion. Timmy stayed steady with his pace until he intuitively came up with a volley in the sixth game of the second set, setting himself 2 points apart even if Aidan held that game to 3-3. The same volley played an important role in creating a break point 2 games later, which was converted to 5-3, prompting Timmy to serve for the match, and he did it without further ado.

Timmy will face wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round. This will become their first meeting at any level, and while Thanasi has his own edge in terms of singles main draw experience, Timmy could end up digging even deeper when things go south, starting from getting the second serves (which are often vulnerable for most people), something that (likely) happened when he stunned Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the second qualifying round.

Section 12: Timofey Skatov d. James Duckworth 6-2, 6-2

Timofey Skatov’s points to *0-4 15-15, 2nd set (📸 Eurosport)

Despite having a stellar clay season by becoming the runner-up of the Concepcion Challenger and qualifying through Roland Garros (l. Grigor Dimitrov), 23rd seed Timofey Skatov proved his explosive game to also apply on the hard courts of US Open by convincingly defeating Kaichi Uchida 6-2, 6-2 and Raul Brancaccio 6-4, 6-3 in the first two rounds. However, it all will be tested against the more experienced 12th seed James Duckworth, runner-up of 3 different hard-court Challengers earlier this year (Burnie, Bengaluru, and Morelos), who had to dig deep to defeat both Timothy Svajda 7-6(12), 6-2 and Terence Atmane 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) to set this face-off.

Duckworth started by getting broken early out of his error sprees (including a forehand error to be broken 0-1), while Skatov kept dominating from his forehand side. However, Duckworth’s physical problem was not visible until he took a medical timeout twice in the match, one of them being escorted off-court (likely for his back). Skatov took the first set 6-2 while trying to overpower Duckworth, and his forehand dominance was more visible in the second set with several noticeable winners to open the path or to break altogether, hence overwhelming Duckworth until a second set breadstick was almost served, but Duckworth could still hang on for one more game before Skatov successfully served for the set.

Skatov gets Alex de Minaur in the first round, with this being their first meeting ever. A tough one, with the person who is more offensive and deep (in terms of return games), could prevail from this round, in general.

Section 3: Felipe Meligeni R. Alves d. Federico Coria 6-4, 5-7, 7-5

Felipe Meligeni R. Alves' point to save one of Federico Coria's match point to 5-4* 40-40, 3rd set (📸 Eurosport)

Other than winning the Concepcion Challenger against Timofey Skatov, the past few months had been its own rollercoaster for third seed Federico Coria before his Santo Domingo Challenger semifinal appearance (l. Genaro Alberto Olivieri). Interestingly, Fede defied the odds by not dropping a set in the first two rounds, defeating Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-3, 6-1, and Martin Damm, Jr. 6-2, 6-2 in the first two rounds. However, he faced an interesting challenge in Felipe Meligeni R. Alves, the Lyon Challenger champion, whose aggressive game also suited the hard courts (proven by qualifying for the Miami M1000 several months ago), defeating Dalibor Svrcina 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 and Facundo Bagnis 6-4, 6-2 in the first two qualifying rounds despite having to retire in his Santo Domingo Challenger quarterfinal match a week ago. While this match might not be easy for Fede, he should try to be more offensive before Felipe’s offensive side got him.

Exactly, Felipe attacked Fede’s baseline game more right from the start, with Fede’s forehand errors resulting in Felipe’s break of serve before he was spotted leading 4-2 in the first set. He almost doubled it thanks to a forehand winner, but Fede still held to 3-4, and Felipe ended up taking the first set 6-4. This rhythm carried on in the second set, where Felipe’s forehand winner created a break point to break early, but got broken back to 2-2 to start the second set. Fede had his moments with his break points, but Felipe still stood his ground, even broke at the expense of Fede’s forehand rush for a chance to serve for the match at 5-4. However, Felipe ended up taking a scenic route after he got broken instead (5-5), and Fede ended up breaking for the second set to 7-5 thanks to a forehand return ace. In the deciding set, both players had their moments, but it was not until Felipe had to face 2 match points at 5-4* out of his errors, that damage was averted thanks to his unreturned serve and a volley to close a rally before holding to 5-5. Finding a way out from his more attacking play, Felipe broke and served for the third set to 7-5, securing his main draw spot as a result.

Upon qualifying, Felipe gets former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori, who entered the tournament with a protected ranking. Despite the latter’s uncertainty to play in the US Open due to the injury picked up several weeks ago, he still has it on his full form, coming back with a storm by winning the Palmas del Mar Challenger as an unranked person right in his first tournament coming back to the Tour (d. Michael Zheng 6-3, 7-5). When he is fit, Felipe’s usually reliable forehand would be given a decent test, with rally tolerance becoming another aspect of attention.

1 note · View note