When will it happen? Side-stories at Washington

by Orysbestos

Radek does his thing.

Last week in Washington Radek Stepanek beat Gael Monfils 6-4 6-4 to win his 5th tour title at the ATP 500 event. Not bad for a 32 year old veteran playing an opponent 8 years younger, seeded first and in his physical prime. Monfils appeared lethargic and tired from the start of the match, seemingly unable to counter the Czech’s wily net rushing tactics, perhaps due to the fact that his 6-4 3-6 7-6 (6) semi-final win against John Isner lasted past 1 AM the night before. All this means is that Monfils moves to a miserable 3 - 11 win-loss record in finals and despite being the seventh ranked player in the world he never truly appears to fit in the upper echelons of the men’s tennis. Will he ever fulfill his potential as a player? Does he want to? It remains to be seen.

Donald Young: famous for not being famous.

Another player on the ‘when will it happen’ contingent is American Donald Young who made his first ATP semi-final at Washington, beating world number 26 Marcos Baghdatis and 18 Jurgen Melzer who retired down 1-3 in the final set. Young, who is famous for not being famous, tested the eventual champion Stepanek in the early games of his semi-final before going down 6-3 6-3. Fernando Verdasco, conversely, looked unhappy as he sprayed simple shots when losing to Stepanek in the quarterfinals 6-4 6-4. 

As hard as it is to admit, too many players are struggling with form and confidence or simply settling for mediocrity while the tour celebrates the record breaking success of Novak Djokovic in 2011.