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Australia vs. Great Britain Davis Cup 2015 Preview
Niall Clarke, Tennis Atlantic

Tennis Atlantic is live in Glasgow, Scotland for the Davis Cup semi-final between Great Britain and Australia over the weekend of the 18th-20th of September. The Brits are searching for their first Davis Cup success for nearly 80 years when they take on the Aussies at the Emirates Arena this weekend. Confidence is high around the UK that this could be the year Team GB breaks into the final, and with recent victories over France and USA there is little reason to doubt them.

Leon Smith’s team is spearheaded by world number three Andy Murray, whose heroics at Queens in July earned GB a 3-1 victory over France. The Scot played all three days despite physical struggles, and earned key victories over Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon in the single rubbers.

Lleyton Hewitt claimed that all the pressure will be on Andy this weekend as the clear number one British player, but Murray insists that it is not all on him and it will come down to the entire team. “I would say [The Pressure] is all on me.” The 28 year old said. “We got into this position by everyone on the team playing their part, and there is pressure on everybody.

Murray will be joined by his brother Jamie Murray, Dominic Inglot, and Dan Evans, as they try replicate the success that dates back to the days of Fred Perry. Both Kyle Edmund, who had an ankle injury concern earlier in the week, and James Ward are alternates for Team GB but were not included in the formal nominations. “I went for a scan last night” The British number three Edmund said. “And when it came back it showed nothing, just a little bit of a bump, that’s it.” Despite the results, Smith went for a player nobody expected to be drafted in. Dan Evans was chosen over Ward and Edmund as the second singles player.

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“It wasn’t an easy one but having thought about it a lot, the fact that Dan has played an awful lot of tennis this summer, won a lot of matches, I said the other day it’s obvious at Futures level that winning really helps, and he comes with a lot of confidence.” The GB captain said. “Obviously Kyle, although he’s almost fit, he still had a fall the other day and I think at this stage it was wasn’t worth risking anything happening over the weekend especially when you go in with the make-up of two singles players and two doubles players, if anything had happened with Kyle Friday we would have been up against it. “For James, the tie came maybe the wrong time for him after a summer that’s been quite tough results wise, but he’s played a big, big part in the team to date and I’m sure he’ll play a big part in the future as well, but I felt that Dan was in the best place to win for the weekend.”

Australia are bidding for their first title in 12 years, and one man remains from that victories team back in 2003. Hewitt is making his final appearance in the Davis Cup this year, and boy he would love to go out on a bang. The former two time grand slam champion is joined by Bernard Tomic, Sam Groth and Thanasi Kokkanakis as they look to combine youth and experience to take down the Brits. “Yeah it obviously means a lot [to play his last Davis Cup]” Hewitt said. “It is my last year playing, and it is a great opportunity. “With my experience and the other boys’ youth, I think we have really mixed it up well this year” “I think as a team we have gotten stronger as the year has gone on, which is a really good sign. We are here to put our best foot forward and we won’t be leaving anything in the locker room that’s for sure.”

The noticeable omission is their number two player, Nick Kyrgios. The 20 year old ‘bad boy’ of tennis recently was surrounded in controversy after comments made about Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend. The Aussie is serving a one month suspension from the ATP, but he still eligible to play Davis Cup, so he was just left out of the squad. “After Nick played Andy at the US Open we sat down two days later. Nick has had a really full year in more ways than one, so we just kind of felt mutually that this was the best fit for him and the team.” Said Aussie captain, Wally Masur.

The Draw

The draw to see who will play who was made on Thursday, and here is how it came out.

First rubber: Murray vs Kokkanakis

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The British number one, Murray, will face Aussie youngster, Kokkanakis in the first rubber tomorrow afternoon. The pair know each other well due to practicing a lot together and playing doubles in Miami. However this is their first competitive meeting. “Yeah it will be a tough match obviously.” Murray said of the Kokkanakis challenge “I practiced with him a lot and have spent a lot of time watching him as well, and speaking to him. So I know for one of the younger guys, I know his game better than most. “You know we have practiced together at the French Open and the US Open, we obviously played doubles together as well in Miami, so I know his game well and obviously it will be a tough match. But at the same time it’s a tough match-up for him as well, you know the atmosphere is going to be challenging for them as well, and that’s something that will hopefully give us a big boost.

The Aussie meanwhile is relishing the opportunity to play one of the world’s best players on this big of a stage. “Yeah should be a great challenge up ahead, great player and to play him in his home ground in Glasgow will be a huge opportunity for me. I like the courts here, boys have been training really well, and it’s going to be a huge honour to play. Thank you guys for picking me again, and to play first up, I’ll be ready to go.” Kokkanakis said.

Second Rubber: Evans vs Tomic

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The only time these two met was two years ago at the US Open when Evans shocked Tomic with a four sets win. The Australian number one will now look to avenge that loss in the second rubber tomorrow evening. “Honestly? I was up 6-1 3-0 and couldn’t make a ball after that, and that’s all I remember.” Tomic said in recollection of that match in New York. “It was a very windy day, it was tough, he was very confident at the moment and he beat Nishikori prior to me. So he was playing well, I had a chance, I was comfortable I was cruising, obviously he started playing more free, and he beat me so it’s not an easy match, it’s very tough for me.”

“My game matches up pretty well to him, and that’s what I’ve got to try and do on Friday, play that way again.” Evans said. “Everyone, they do remember when you’ve played someone before, like I remember when I’ve lost to someone before – that’s always in someone’s head as well.” “I think coming back to Scotland is nice, I mean the atmosphere last time when I watched it on television sounded very good but it was obviously better in the stadium so yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

You can catch all the Davis Cup action on Tennis Atlantic.

Niall Clarke (Sofia)

Kevin Anderson Wins first ATP Title in Three Years in Winston-Salem (@WSOpen)

Posted by Admin on August 29, 2015

Posted in: ATP, Steen Kirby, Winston-Salem Open. Tagged: 2015 ATP Winston-Salem, 2015 Winston-Salem Open, ATP Winston-Salem, ATP Winston-Salem Final, dominic inglot, Kevin Anderson, Kevin Anderson Winston-Salem, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Robert Lindstedt, winston-salem open, WS Open. Leave a comment

Kevin Anderson Wins first ATP title in three years in Winston-Salem
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

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#2 seed Kevin Anderson boosted his ranking, broke out of a summer slump, and captured his first ATP title since 2012 with a routine 6-4 7-5 victory over qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert in Winston-Salem. Anderson came into the Winston-Salem Open with just two match wins since Wimbledon, and after a slow start in his opening match against Mikhail Kukushkin, where he had to serve his way back from a set down, he didn’t drop another set against Jerzy Janowicz, Borna Coric, and Malek Jaziri before the final. The South African moves back into the top 15, and puts himself into the dark horse conversation for the US Open as well with his powerful and steady hard court game. Anderson didn’t drop serve after his opening match through the rest of the week.

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Herbert, along with Jaziri, and Steve Johnson, the other semifinalist, was a pleasant surprise this week. The talented Frenchman had seen his singles career decline and was close to becoming perhaps a doubles specialist, but at 24 he’s certainly going to be back focusing on singles after reaching his first ATP final. PHH, who also has a quality serve, didn’t drop a set in qualifying and then ousted veterans Sergiy Stakhovsky and Marcos Baghdatis, in 3 sets to reach the quarterfinals. From there he scored tough comeback wins against Pablo Carreno Busta from a set down and a second set tiebreak won, and likewise against Johnson, who came up just short in his bid to reach his first ever ATP title in front of home fans no less.

It’s hard to tell what type of player Herbert will develop into in coming seasons, but his play this week once more demonstrated his under appreciated potential.

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In doubles the veteran pairing of Dominic Inglot/Robert Lindstedt scored a routine win over Eric Butorac/Scott Lipsky to go home with the title. Attention now shifts to the US Open which starts on Monday, as the Emirates Airlines US Open Series has now concluded for 2015.

Steen Kirby (Marseille)

Bryans Force Live Rubber Tennis on Sunday With a Win over Inglot/J. Murray in Davis Cup Doubles
Joe Craven for Tennis Atlantic

Bob and Mike Bryan ensured that the USA lived to fight another day in their World Group tie against Great Britain, as they survived a valiant fightback from the British pairing of Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot to win 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-7 (8) 9-7. USA trail the tie 2-1 heading into the final day of the tie but will take some confidence from the way Bob and Mike held their nerve in what was a must win rubber.

Prior to this particular match Murray and Inglot had only played together as a pair over 12 years ago in junior events and their lack of experience as a team showed early on in the 1st set, with Murray especially struggling to get used to the conditions of playing with a different partner than he usually does. The Scot looked rather nervous on serve and in the 4th game of the set the Bryans were able to break the Murray serve to go 3-1 up after forcing the play and piling the pressure on the scratch pairing. Murray and Inglot did manage to break the Bryans right back in the following game, but with the Scot continuing to struggle on serve, the outcome of the set was rather inevitable. At 4-3 up in the set a poor second serve from Murray was hit for a winner by Bob Bryan to bring up a break point for the Americans and Murray dumped a nervous volley into the net to hand the Bryans the break and a 5-3 lead. The Americans had no issues in the following game and held with ease to take the 1st set 6-3.

With the hopes of the USA firmly resting on the shoulders of the Bryans, they continued to show their class in the 2nd set, whilst Great Britain’s Jamie Murray continued to show his nerves. In just the 3rd game of the set the Scot squandered a 40 love lead to give the Bryans a chance to break and after a long rally Mike Bryan hit a stunning cross court forehand pass to convert the break point and give his team a 2-1 lead in the 2nd set. The pairing of Murray and Inglot were really struggling to get into the match and despite some good service games from Inglot the pair could do nothing of note on return. It was perhaps rather unsurprising that at 4-2 down and with Murray serving the pair once again found themselves in trouble. The Bryans forced the play once more and punished Murray for yet more week serving to break for a 5-2 lead, by this point Murray had lost all 4 of his service games in the match. Mike Bryan had the task of serving the set out for the Bryans and he had no no problems in doing so as he held to love to give his team a 2 sets to 0 lead, much to the delight of USA captain Jim Courier.

Murray and Inglot were determined not to go down without a fight and as the crowd raised their level of noise at the start of the 3rd set, the pair began to raise their level of tennis. Murray was determined to make amends for his poor serving in the 1st two sets and in the 3rd game of the set the Scot comfortably hold his serve to 15 to give Britain a 2-1 lead in the set. The game that followed was an thrilling one with both teams producing some stunning Tennis which had the Glasgow crowd on their feet multiple times. Two break points came and went for the British team but after saving four game points points of the Bryans, they found themselves with another break point and at the 3rd time of asking the Brits converted to take a 3-1 lead in the 3rd set. Inglot had been holding serve with relative ease throughout the match and another convincing hold from the man nicknamed ‘Dom the Bomb’ quickly extended the Brits lead to 4-1 in the set. The rest of the set flew by rather quickly with none of the four players on court experiencing any struggle on their serve. Dom Inglot served the set out to 15 to take the 3rd set 6-3 for the Brits.

After starting the match extremely slowly, Murray and Inglot now seemed like a pair who’d been playing together as a team for years and their confidence just seemed to grow even more in the 4th set. The pair were able to save a break point against their serve early on in the set and they even had two opportunities to break a couple of games later, but the Bryans held firm and quashed both of the Brits chances rather comfortably. The Brits were forced to serve to stay in the match twice and despite experiencing some slight trouble on his serve at 6-5 down, Jamie Murray was able to hold and send the 4th set into a tiebreaker.

In that 4th set tiebreak, both teams held their nerve on serve until the 2-3 service point, as the Bryans went up a minibreak by winning a point off of Jamie Murray’s serve to go up 4-2, and put themselves three points away from clinching the rubber. However, team GB would fight back as the partisan crowd never lost hope , Inglot finished a volley at the net between the two Americans to prevent them from earning a match point, and then won the 4-5 point for 5-5 entirely by himself, with a strong serve and two quality volleys. The Bryans netted to go down 5-6 in the fourth set breaker. The Bryans did get it back to 6 all, but again Inglot was clutch, skying for an overhead volley to give GB a minibreak and a set point at 7-6. To the chagrin of the crowd, the British team again failed to convert, and team USA won the next point also for a match point at 8-7 on Bob Bryan’s serve. Bob Bryan slipped when faced with Inglot’s curving stab return and the match point was saved to push the tiebreak to an agonizing 8 all. After Inglot had done most of the damage for team GB in the tiebreak, it was Jamie Murray who forced the third set point at 9-8 as his forehand return just found the edge of the outside doubles line. Team GB finally forced a fifth with a volley winner by Murray sending the crowd into a frenzy.

In that deciding fifth set, the Americans got a half chance at 1-1, as they went up 0-30 on Murray’s serve but Murray and his teammate would claw back and win five of the next six points to go up 2-1. Both teams would hold serve all the way to 7-7, as there were no break point chances to be had with quality serving by both teams. At 7 all, team GB went up 40-15, but collapsed from there, as Inglot netted a chest volley for 40-30, .whiffed on an overhead for deuce and netted another volley to generate a break point chance for the Americans. They broke for 8-7 as Murray netted a forehand volley. In that 8-7 game, the Bryans won four consecutive points from 0-15, and on the match point the British team sent the ball long. The Bryans finished with their trademark chestbump, knowing they had kept the tie alive for team USA.

Joe Craven TA Watermark

USA-Great Britain Renew Davis Cup Rivalry in Glasgow, Joe Craven Previews
Joe Craven for Tennis Atlantic

The Draw being Made

Hello, my name is Joe Craven and over the next few days I’ll be providing Tennis Atlantic with on-site credentialed coverage from The Davis Cup World Group tie between Great Britain and The USA. Tennis Atlantic is one of the select few USA based media outlets to have a credentialed journalist in Glasgow for the tie.

The tie will take place at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow on indoor hard court, and it will be the 20th meeting between the two founding nations of The Davis Cup with USA currently leading the head to head 11-8. The two teams last faced in the 1st round of the World Group last year. That tie took place on clay in San Diego, with Great Britain winning the meeting 3 rubbers to 1. The last time Great Britain beat USA on home soil was back in 1935, so that should give USA some confidence as they look to quickly avenge last years loss.

The Bryans, Isner and Young make up team USA

Team GB, captained by Leon Smith, consists of Andy Murray, James Ward, Jamie Murray and Dominic Ingot, with Liam Broady and Kyle Edmund as the next generation hitting partners. Team USA, captained by Jim Courier, consists of John Isner, Donald Young, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, with junior sensations Francis Tiafoe and Stefan Kozlov as hitting partners.

Team GB, Murray brothers, Ward and Inglot

The draw for the tie took place today and the order of play is as follows:

Day 1 – Andy Murray vs Donald Young followed by John Isner vs James Ward

Day 2 – Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan vs Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot

Day 3 – Andy Murray vs John Isner followed by Donald Young vs James Ward

Play will begin at 1pm GMT each day.

Day 1 Preview and picks

Donald Young (Photo: Chris Levy @Tennis_Shots for TennisEastCoast.com)

A. Murray vs. Young

Murray heads into this match with 7-0 win/loss in Davis Cup singles matches on Hard Court, his overall Davis Cup singles record is 19-2. Young has only played a Davis Cup match once, losing to Murray last year in straight sets on the clay in San Diego. Given Murray sets high standards for himself the Scot has had a less than ideal start to his season. Murray did make the final of The Australian Open where he lost to Novak Djokovic in 4 sets, but after this he’s suffered losses to Gilles Simon in Rotterdam and Borna Coric in Dubai.

Donald Young on the other hand has certainly had a good start to the season by his standards, the American reached the Quarter Finals in Auckland, the Semi Finals in Memphis and the Final of Delray Beach. Young’s 10-5 start to the season is the best start he’s had since turning pro and to put things into perspective it took him until June last year to notch 10 wins, whilst he’s already managed that amount of wins this year by February. Murray leads the head to head between the two 3-1 and as mentioned the two last faced in the tie between the two nations last year, with Murray winning that encounter in 3 sets.

After last years meeting between the two, Young will go into this tie looking to prove a point and given his recent form I think he will play Murray a lot closer than he did last year. Murray will also be looking to make of for his recent disappointments in Rotterdam and Dubai and is bound to step up his game in front of his home crowd. I think that this match has the potential to be the match of the tie and with both men having a point to prove we’re in for an amazing match. On paper Murray is the clear favourite, he has more a lot more Davis Cup experience than Donald Young and has had a far superior career to the American.

However, Young does hold a win over Murray and his fantastic form so far this season should give him a lot of confidence going into this match. Young’s serve has probably been the weakest part of his game so far this year, and with Murray being one of the best returners on tour.

Young will need to serve a lot better than he has in the past few months if he wants to have any chance of winning this match. Murray stated in the post-draw press conference that he wants to ‘try and play the same style of match’ as he did vs Young last year in San Diego and plans to employ the ‘same tactics’.

Murray needs to be the aggressor in this match because if he shows up with a passive style of play it will allow Donald Young to execute his game style well and trouble the Scot. I expect Murray will win the match but it will be a lot closer than many people think and the Emirates Arena will be in for a great match to start proceedings.

Prediction: Murray in 5 sets.

Ward vs. Isner

Both Ward and Isner have some fantastic results in the Davis Cup and you could argue some of these results were the best of each players respective careers. Isner has notched Davis Cup wins over Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Roger Federer all on clay, whilst James Ward came back from 2 sets to 1 down to beat Sam Querrey when Great Britain and USA met least year in San Diego.

Isner had to miss the tie between the two sides last year due to an injury and said in the pre-draw press conference that “it was tough to swallow”, he will certainly have added motivation to lead his team to victory this year and finally find some good form after a slow start to his 2015. Ward has also had a slow start to 2015, with a less than ideal 1-3 win/loss record. In the pre-draw press conference the Brit mentioned that his win vs Querrey last year was the “biggest moment” in his career and a win vs Isner on Friday would arguably be even bigger. The two have only met an official event once and that was at a Challenger in Savannah on clay, with Isner winning that match 7-6 (4) 7-5.

They also met at an exhibition event in Kooyong this year with Ward winning that match 3-6 7-6 6-2, although though it has to be noted that exhibition matches don’t really have any bearing on what the outcome of a Davis Cup meeting will be.

Isner is the strong favourite for this match, given neither man has shown good form this season you’d always back the superior ranked player to get the win. Ward hasn’t really had any recent results to suggest that he can pull off the upset here and the slow indoor hard court should suit Isner’s game, as it allows him to run around the backhand and hit forehands which is undoubtedly his biggest weapon outside of his serve. Of course with a partisan crowd behind him you cannot write of Ward completely and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he takes a set from Isner, but ultimately I expect the American to ease to victory.

Prediction: Isner in 4 sets.

Day Two Preview and picks.

Doubles Rubber (J. Murray/Inglot vs. Bryan/Bryan tentatively)

Whilst Leon Smith has named Jamie Murray and Dom Ingot as the doubles pairing to face The Bryan Brothers, many people expect, or rather want, to see The Murray Brothers vs The Bryan Brothers. If the two sets of brothers did face it would certainly be a fantastic spectacle in front of a packed Glasgow crowd and it would be the first time doubles pairings consisting of brothers have faced off at World Group level and the 6th brothers vs brothers match at any level of the competition.

The last meeting between two sets of brothers at any Davis Cup level happened way back in 2007 when Victor Estrella and Henry Estrella of The Dominican Republic defeated Marcelo Arevalo and Rafael Arevalo of El Salvador. Jamie and Andy have only played together once in a Davis Cup match, in which they beat Laurent Bram and Mike Vermeer of Luxembourg in a Europe/Africa Group 2 tie, however the two brothers do have experience of playing together every so often on tour and they’ve captured ATP 500 titles in both Valencia and Tokyo in the past.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan are the most successful doubles pairing of all time and have respective Davis Cup doubles records of 27-6 and 24-5. In the post draw press conference Andy Murray said that he’s “unlikely to play doubles” and whilst this might be a bluff by the British team as a whole leaving Andy’s inclusion in the doubles until the last minute, one has to assume that it will be Jamie and Dom that face The Bryan Brothers. Jamie and Dom have never played doubles together before and this, as well as the fact they are scheduled to face the best doubles team of all time, is probably one of the biggest obstacles they face heading into the match. Both Jamie and Dom have earned wins over The Bryans’ in the past with Dom notching two recent wins against the pair alongside main tour partner Florin Mergea at The Australian Open and again in Dubai. Jamie’s win against the pair came in 2013 at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston where he partnered with John Peers.

If the scheduled match up does happen, the Bryan Brother’s should have no issues in winning the match. The pair are used to this stage with over 60 Davis Cup doubles matches combined, they know what they’ll have to do to get the job done. The only chance Jamie and Dom will have of winning is if they have instant chemistry as a pair, whilst some first time doubles pairings do it’s never an easy task, especially in important matches like this. The British duo will need to feed off the crowd if they’re to have any chance of winning on Saturday, that is of course the selections remain as they are.

Prediction: The Bryan Brothers in 3 sets.

Day Three Preview and picks.

With my predictions so far I have The USA leading 2-1 going into the final day of the tie. These things are always tough to predict but I always like to be bold with my predictions because it’s no fun otherwise. Day 3 will certainly be an exciting one and will be a fitting end to what I think will be a fantastic tie.

Reverse Singles #1 (A. Murray vs. Isner tentatively)

Murray and Isner have met 3 times in the past and Murray has been victorious on all three occasions, with his last win over the giant American coming in a tight three setter in Cincinnati last year. Murray usually relishes these sort of match ups against big servers who don’t posses much of a ground game and I expect his best tennis of the weekend to come against Isner.

With Murray being one of the best returners in the game he’ll most likely have a lot of look ins on the Isner serve, especially given the current poor form that Isner is in. Murray should be able to bully Isner around the the court and punish him wherever possible, dictating the rallies from the get go. Of course, given Isner’s past Davis Cup heroics you can’t write him off completely but I’d be extremely surprised if he manages to do anything special here.

Prediction: Andy Murray in 3 sets.

Murray beating Isner on the Sunday would set things up nicely for a crucial 5th rubber, and what’s Davis Cup without a crucial 5th rubber?! The stage would be set for either James Ward to become Davis Cup heroes and give their nation the win.

Rubber 5 (Ward vs. Young tentatively)

If this match does take place, what a way it would be to end the weekend, both players are big underachievers in their careers, and whoever gets the win here would take massive confidence from it. In the post-draw press conference Young said that “he’s feeling a lot more confident than he was last year” and I think he goes into this potential match up as the slight favourite. Young still has some lapses in concentration and if this happens in a crucial 5th rubber it could be curtains for the American, especially against Ward who has relished being in front of home crowd before.

The two have faced just once before, with Young managing a straight sets win on the grass of Eastbourne in 2014. I don’t think that match will have much bearing on what happens on Sunday if the two do meet because Ward generally steps up his game for Davis Cup and Young is in much better form than he was last year. I think a match between the two will come down to some very fine margins.

Prediction: Donald Young in 4 tight sets.

Final Result: USA d. Great Britain 3-2

So there we have it, I have the USA beating Great Britain 3-2 in the tie which would see them avenge last years loss in San Diego. I think the tie could still go either way and it wouldn’t surprise me if the doubles nominations do change.

I hope you enjoyed my tie preview and I look forward providing Tennis Atlantic with full coverage of the throughout the weekend. If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback you can tweet me at @prodigyrep

Joe Craven TA Watermark

An Interview With British ATP Doubles Pro Dominic Inglot at the 2015 Australian Open
Glenys Furness for Tennis Atlantic

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Tennis blogger Glenys Furness of the British tennis oriented Eeyore Tennis Blog, conducted an interview with ATP World Tour doubles professional Dominic Inglot, the current world number 45 in doubles, while Dominic is in Melbourne, competing in the AO men’s doubles tournament with his new doubles partner Florin Mergea. Dominic and Florin recently reached the final in Auckland and are into the third round at the AO, thus far. Of note for college tennis fans, Dominic played college tennis at the University of Virginia.

The interview, conducted on 1/23/2015 is below. Thanks to Glenys for conducting the interview on special assignment for Tennis Atlantic, and to Dominic for being so cordial to do the interview-The Editors

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British doubles player Dominic Inglot took time out from his Australian Open schedule for a short interview with me. I would like to thank Dom very much for taking some time out and agreeing to talk with me.

Dom on splitting with Treat Huey

GF: “When did you and Treat decide to end your successful partnership?”

DI: “It was after our match at the U.S. open that Treat and I decided it was time to call it a day on our partnership. We had had a great run and had played together for nearly three years. It was funny that even though we played at the University of Virginia as team mates, we never once stepped on the doubles court together as a pair there.”

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On teaming up with Florin Mergea

GF: “How did your new partnership come about?”

DI: “While at the US Open, I was looking at the upcoming tournaments and most of the doubles guys were still in their partnerships. Florin and I had always talked throughout the year about how we were getting on and what we were looking for from our respective partnerships, so when I mentioned to him that Treat and I had stopped playing he suggested we should give it a shot. It sounded like a good idea, even though I hadn’t thought of playing with a guy who serves and stays back. We decided to team up for the first time at Metz. I had a few injury issues right at the end of the year but I think we saw enough to believe that there was enough in our partnership to give it a go in 2015. We tinkered with our tactics after Doha, one being what sides we played on, and it was good to see an improvement straight away when we made the final in Auckland.”

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On his hopes for the 2015 season

GF: “What are your hopes for this season?”

DI: “My hopes for 2015 are to really develop myself to be as complete a doubles player as I can be. In the past I’ve been guilty of neglecting parts of my game because I thought I had them under control but it’s so easy to lose an edge if you do that. I want to make sure that I do everything I can to stay healthy. It’s a long season and if you miss several weeks out that can really hurt your ranking, confidence and good form.

Usually with setting goals, I set one hurdle at a time. Of course the far end goal is to win a slam, and to get myself to the top of the rankings list, but in the short term it’s to do the very best I can here in Australia, I’d like to see if I can improve on my quarter final from last year and who knows….”

On the Davis Cup tie between team GB and team USA in March

GF: “What do you think of the Davis Cup home tie?”

DI: “It will be a great tie. We play America again but this time in Scotland. I’m very confident our GB team can get another win. Andy (Murray) is playing great tennis, James Ward has come on leaps and bounds in the last year, he can definitely cause another upset. In doubles Jamie Murray is playing great tennis, and I think he is probably the front runner to be the doubles guy in the team. The rest is up to (Coach) Leon (Smith), whether he wants to bring another doubles guy in or just stick with one. If he decides to call me up it would be a great honour, but if not, that’s OK. The team is made up of very capable players and I’m sure they will get Great Britain into the next round

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It was fantastic to chat with Dom to hear his thoughts on the here and now and his perspective on the year ahead. I wish him and Florin the best of luck at the Australian Open and beyond. Reaching the final in Auckland in early January this year was an amazing feat considering it was so early in the season and the start of a new doubles partnership. In the short time they’ve been together, I’m very confident that Dom and Florin will go higher in the rankings and achieve more success.

Personally, I feel very positive about British Tennis. The tennis rankings attest that British tennis for both men and woman is on an upward trend. This type of competition is very healthy for the British game and long may it continue-Glenys

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TA Valencia

2012 CitiOpen: Treat Huey is Champion in Washington

Posted by Admin on August 5, 2012

Posted in: ATP, Virginia, Washington, Washington Kastles, World Team Tennis. Tagged: atp, CitiOpen, dominic inglot, philippines, tennis, treat huey, university, uva, Virginia, washington. Leave a comment

Today was a monumental day for local tennis and University of Virginia fans as former Cavaliers Treat Huey and Dom Inglot won the CitiOpen doubles final in Rock Creek Park. Huey was drafted by the Washington Kastles during the last week of the WTT season and was put in a particularly tough spot. He was there to help the Kastles win their final matches and remain undefeated for a second straight season after Leander Paes, Anastasia Rodionova and Venus Williams left for the Olympics. He helped get that unlikely job done, and then a week later, wins his hometown pro tournament. Huey grew up just a few nautical miles down the Potomac from the annual DC ATP event. Here he is on his exciting few weeks in DC tennis, his childhood memories of the tournament and his no-shave rule.

After getting called up by the Washington Kastles to help improbably defend a second perfect regular season and then winning your hometown tournament, is there anyone in Washington who’s had a better month than Treat Huey?

It’s been an unbelievable experience. It’s been a lot of fun coming to play with the Kastles here in D.C. It was a lot of fun. I want to thank Mark (Kastles Owner Mark Ein) for picking me and playing with Bobby. I know Bobby pretty well. And it’s a great experience to come in here and play the tournament. I grew up in Washington and I’ve been coming to this tournament since I was a little kid. Dom and I had a tough week, but it’s always a lot more fun when you win.

Any particular players or matches you liked as a kid?

I liked Blake and Agassi and Tommy Haas a bunch. Seeing Tommy Haas do really well this week has been a lot of fun. As a kid, I don’t know what year it was, but Blake played Agassi one year and was absolutely on fire. It was pretty bad. I don’t remember what the score was, but I remember Blake was hitting winner after winner everywhere on the court. Absolutely packed house. Winners everywhere. That was one of my highlights. I still remember it today.

What’s with the facial hair. Is it a good luck charm?

Dom and I started a week ago. We shaved. Once a tournament starts, we’ll never shave until the tournament is over. That’s something we’ve always done, and I think that’s something we’ll always be doing.

–S. Fogleman

Cavalierly Yours: Treat Huey and Dominic Inglot at 2012 ATP Newport

Posted by Admin on July 13, 2012

Posted in: ATP, Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport. Tagged: atp, dominic inglot, england, hall of fame tennis, Newport, phillipines, treat huey, uva, Virginia. Leave a comment

Treat and Dom relax in the Player’s Lounge

Earlier today, University of Virginia Alumni Treat Huey and Dominic Inglot advanced to the semifinals of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. They won a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione. I got a chance to speak with the duo on Wednesday, after they had beaten Denis Kudla and Steve Johnson in straights.

Treat Huey

Did that win over USC Captain Steve Johnson come with any extra motivation?

Huey: Yesterday, we were talking with Coach Bowland at Virginia and he said “Hopefully get some revenge on Steve Johnson, because USC has beaten up on us”. So, it was good to beat them.

What about your grass play this year, Dominic and your victory at Nottingham over Wimbledon Champs Jonny Marray and Frederik Nielsen?

Inglot: I think we keep playing well, and keep doing the things we’ve been doing, keep improving. It’s tough to play on the grass the first time. To play our first tournament there and get some good wins in there tried to give us some confidence going into Wimbledon. Unfortunately, we didn’t do so well there, but it’s nice to have a win over the future Wimbledon Champions.

How about making the final at Houston?

Inglot: For me, that was really a big tournament, because I actually didn’t think I was that suited for clay going back to my singles days, and I was never that comfortable on it. After that result, which was our first clay court tournament this year, we had a great result. It actually gave me a lot of confidence to play in other tournaments like the French Open. I was actually really happy and I feel comfortable going back there if I ever want to. The fans are really knowledgeable and friendly and it was very nice there.

Any complaints about the grass at Newport?

Inglot: I think they held up pretty good today. Sometimes they get a little bit scuffed up, and you hit into those places where they’ve been scuffed up, you get some dodgy bounces, but overall I think today it was all right. I always like playing on grass, though.

Tret, do you love the the grass as much as Dom, or are you an American Hardcourter?

Huey: I do feel that I’m much more comfortable on the hardcourts, but playing here on grass, we played the last month and a half on grass, so we’re definitely comfortable right now. Here I feel like if you play well, serve well and stay solid at the net, you’ve got a good chance against anybody. We’re hoping to continue to do that.

How did you feel about your success in Houston?

Huey: We played well there. Going in the last time we played on clay before Houston, we lost a terrible first round match in Napoli, Italy in a small challenger. So we were like “It can’t get much worse!”. We went into Houston and didn’t have very high expectations. He and I played real well the whole clay court season and getting to the finals was great.

What about making the final at Halle?

Huey: I played well on the grass there, got to the final. I played with Scott Lipsky there actually, because Dom was in Great Britain that week. I was hoping to play Nadal there, but he pulled out against somebody else in the quarterfinals. Had he won, Nadal and I would have played in the semis. I was so pumped to play him, but it didn’t work out. Hopefully, some other time.

You didn’t end up getting into the Olympics, right?

Huey: Didn’t pick up a wild card for the Olympics. Dom and I will play the rest of the summer leading up to the US Open. We’re hoping to continue to do well. Hard Court season starts next week. Going to to the US Open and hoping to do well there.

Does that mean we’ll see you at the CitiOpen in DC?

Huey: Definitely. Hopefully, we’ll get in, we’re not really sure. It’ll be real tight to get in. I haven’t played in DC in a while, because I haven’t gotten in. I’m looking forward to playing in DC. It’s real close to Charlottesville and real close to where I grew up.

Huey was raised in Alexandria and attended St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes. He later trained in the afternoon program at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park.

“When I was 16, I started playing there. It was 35-40 minutes from my house. They did so much for me with my training and development as a player. I had Vesa Ponka and the coaches made me a better player”.

Although he resides two hours down the road in Charlottesville, Huey is a faithful DC team player. He roots for the Wizards, Nationals, Redskins and the Capitals.

“I’ve been seeing Ovechkin these last few weeks at Wimbledon and the French. It’s fun to see him. I got a picture with him. That was pretty great.”

–S. Fogleman

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