Human Lighting Bolt v. DY: Monday Night Cincy Preview

Slow-motion sliding forehand by Monfils

The atmosphere will be electric on Monday night when Future meets Future. American Donald Young and Frenchman Gael Monfils are two young men with exceptional talent, exciting games and high expectations. DY is the Smooth Operator who makes everything look easy. Monfils cracks across the court like a Human Lighting Bolt. You never know where he's going to strike and he breaks several of the rules of tennis movement, as he demonstrates above by sliding on a hard court. Don't try this at home if you want to keep your knees and ankles intact.

Monfils, 23, is one of the most explosive athletes I've ever seen. When he turned pro he was an athlete who had no idea how to play tennis. Slowly but surely Monfils learned how to play the game and now he's harnessing is power -- he can crank his serve up to 140 mph - and rising quickly up the rankings. After Ali look-alike Jo Tsonga made the Aussie Open final, it touched off serious competition among Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet and Nicholas Mahut. Monfils made the semifinals at the French Open. Gilles Simon won Indianapolis and beat Federer at Toronto. The French are no doubt reaping the benefits of having several great young players compete with each other, much like the young Americans did in the 1990s.

Donald Young, now 18, was discovered in Chicago by John McEnroe and his agent. He has beautiful, smooth groundstrokes and soft hands. DY is the most promising young American out there. His career was initially mishandled by his parents and agents. Turning pro at 15, DY was at a physical and mental disadvantage against men twice his age. His handlers exacerbated the problem by accepting wild cards to get DY into the main draw instead of letting him play challengers and qualifying events. By playing the Phil Kings of the world, DY would have learned how to win. He would have developed confidence against players who were battle tested but not as tough as the top 100.

A few wild cards can be a good thing, but DY had a dismal first three years, barely able to win a match. DY's parents were a substantial part of the problem. In 2007 his mother referred to her son as an "icon" who faces a lot of pressure. I agree that he should be allowed time and patience to develop; nobody is the saviour of American tennis. But earth to the Young family: Donald isn't an icon. At least not yet.

In 2008 DY finally played some lower tier events and he agreed with me about their importance:

His junior success earned Young several wild cards into U.S. tournaments. But Young wasn't able to capitalize at first. Now he's happy to get in on his own.

"I like being able to get in to tournaments by myself without having to ask or have someone give you access into the tournament," Young said.

Young said his confidence grew after winning a Challenger tournament in Aptos, Calif., last summer.

"Mentally, I felt I could play with those guys," he said. "I started to see other guys I had beaten win (tour matches). I realized I could do it, too. I started believing and I did it."

DY shot up over 350 places in the rankings this year, breaking into the top 100 for the first time. He accepted a wild card into the main draw and is entered in doubles as well. He and the Human Lighting Bolt play Monday night after Russians Marat Safin and Dimitri Tursonov.

Post-Wimbledon Success for the French

Le Chat Fabrice Santoro 

The French have a had a pretty good post-Wimbledon run, led by Gilles Simon, who captured Indianapolis and made it to the semifinals in Toronto, beating Federer in the process. Other French success: 

• Fabrice Santoro defended his title at Newport. Meanwhile, his namesake, le chat, easily conquered Big Ben.

• Alize Cornet continues to impress, winning the Gaz de France in Budapest.

• Marion Bartoli lost in the finals of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford.

• Pauline Parmentier captured a Tier III event in Austria.
  

Simon's big breakthrough should goad the other French players to, in the words of Emeril Lagasse, kick it up a notch. Tsonga and Monfils need to follow-up their Grand Slam successes (Australian final and French semi) with hard court wins.

New Blood

Oz has come and gone but I didn't want to forget about Joker's victory over Tsonga to win the title. 

Tsonga has all the tools. Now comes the hard part: dealing with sudden fame, learning about consistency, figuring out how to use all those tools to win matches, and staying healthy.  To be fair we really ought to evaluate him 18 months from now to see how he handles himself.

Joker's straight-set domination of Federer was shocking. However, I did predict his ascent to the top of tennis. Hey, I'm wrong enough to make sure I point out that when I'm right, I'm right. When I first decided Joker was going to insert himself into the debate between Nadal and Federer, it seemed a little preposterous. The Mighty Fed and Nadal have such a rivalry, and their tennis is so many levels above everyone else it seemed hard to imagine anyone else joining the party. But when I saw him win Miami and I heard him talk, I just knew that the Serb with the unpronounceable name had the game and charisma to be an unlikely star.

Many observers are now noting that it's hard to remember another 20-year old with a such a complete game. Joker was already a mega-star in Serbia so I doubt his win will affect his ability to get through life. His work ethic is already phenomenal and he's not satisfied with one grand slam. As he said two years ago, his goal is to be number 1. To do that in this era you really have to want it, because Fed and Nadal aren't going anywhere. Having Joker get some of the attention will probably temporarily help Nadal, who has some issues in his game that he needs to work through. It takes the pressure off Rafa to be Fed's main rival. But clay is just around the corner for him so he will be fine. Fed, however, may not get his mojo back until Wimbledon.

Speaking of Wimby, Joker had this to say:

“And Wimbledon? My first memory of tennis was watching Pete Sampras lift the trophy. I think I was 6. I felt I should have been in the finals last year, but I was hurt. I have always imagined myself as Sampras.

“To be Australian Open champion is wonderful; to win Wimbledon, that would be amazing.”

Jo Tsonga Plays the Young Cassius Clay

Ok I was skeptical of this whole Tsonga looks like Ali line of reporting. I've only caught a few points on tv, and his ATP profile pic is not very Ali-like. The photo above is from his junior US Open win in 2003. He sure looks like Cassius Clay to us at Counter-punch.

I remember Jo from last year's Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round. He also made the third round of the US Open in 2007. Consider that Blake just recently figured out how to get out of the second round at grand slams, and how difficult it is to master the mentality that it takes to compete in a best of five. I think Tsonga is a safe bet for a very bright future.

French Are Flying High

The petit French feline Sophia, CYCLOPS' best friend, wanted to make sure we didn't forget about French success Down Under.

It's been a glorious tournament for French tennis, with 29 players starting the tournament and several making it to the fourth round. With the exception of Amelie Mauresmo, the players have made their mark.  French Tennis has been building for years, with a definite, different methodology at work. They find great athletes and turn them loose on tennis, and are not anxious for stunning results until the player is into his twenties. No angst over non-performing 24 year-olds from this country.

The breakout star is Jo-Wilifred Tsonga. Tsonga's mother is French and father Congolese. All his press refers to him as the Muhammad Ali of tennis because he looks like Ali. His run has been impressive: beating Andy Murray, last year's finalist Gonzalez ,and today his friend and countryman, Richard Gasquet, to advance to the QF.

Steve Bierley, writing for The Guardian, discusses Tsonga's long road back from a herniated disk. Tsonga was once the #2 ranked junior. (Who was ahead of him? Marcos Baghdatis). Since Tsonga beat the Great British Hope in the first round, you have to wade through several paragraphs of woe-are-we-British-tennis to get to the part about the French. The Brits are so jealous.

Other articles say that Tsonga and Gael Monfils used to pretend they were Andy Roddick when they were young juniors, mimicking his serve. That ought to make Andy feel prematurely old.

The French showing is remarkable when you consider that Monfils is out with an injury, and he's a firecracker, amazing athlete and tennis talent.