Week 20 French Open Qualifying

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

RE: Week 20 French Open Qualifying

TMH · Futures qualifying

I've been following Arguello (to a small extent) since 2012. Surprised he hasn't really pushed on more, I had him pegged as one of the biggest South American prospects along with Schwartzman, but whereas the latter is now a comfortable top 100 player Arguello seems to have struggled. He's definitely a threat on this surface though and as has been said, no shame in losing to him at all.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Generally underwhelmed by South Americans on any surface other than clay at the highest level. None really transition into a dominant force. They seem a bit introspective learn on clay and then stay on it.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Oakland2002 wrote:
Generally underwhelmed by South Americans on any surface other than clay at the highest level. None really transition into a dominant force. They seem a bit introspective learn on clay and then stay on it.

From the few young Argentinian players I know, many of them have very little choice. It's only really those who go the college route who learn to play on other surfaces. Otherwise, tennis means clay tennis in Argentina (and most other S. American countries) so unless they've based themselves elsewhere, all they have access to is clay.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Kyle about to go on court as the previous match has just finished.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

For those (like me) who think there should be final set TBs in qualies, I didn't spot that PHH v Arnaboldi was stopped last night at 15-15 (that's games btw) in the 3rd set. Crazy.

EddietheEagle · County player

It seems to me that both Klein and Ward require a step change in quality to reach their immediate ranking goals. It's probably not going to happen while they're playing tournaments as both seem to have been hovering of late at their present level unable to win matches which seemingly lie within their grasp. Ward we know about but Klein too has struggled in challengers. It's something they have to analyse and work out with their coaches as to what they have to do to achieve that step up in quality. That's more likely to happen during time taken out for training away from the exigencies of tournament play. I watched Klein a year or so ago and felt then that he had a challenger-level game but it doesn't seem to have happened for him yet on a consistent basis despite the very obvious commitment he is making with his game.

savva0122 · Intermediate Club Player

Really disappointed with James's result. He really should have won that and qualified. One has to wonder if he has the mental fortitude to compete at the highest level - isolated results particularly in the Davis Cup shows he has the game but his head just drops too easily.
I wonder whether he'd be better playing a series of challengers and even futures to get into a winning habit - can't be good playing ATP qualifiers all the time and only playing one or two matches before losing.
Three weeks on grass challengers following one on clay may show us whether it's a good idea or not!

TMH · Futures qualifying

Coup Droit wrote:
Oakland2002 wrote:
Generally underwhelmed by South Americans on any surface other than clay at the highest level. None really transition into a dominant force. They seem a bit introspective learn on clay and then stay on it.

From the few young Argentinian players I know, many of them have very little choice. It's only really those who go the college route who learn to play on other surfaces. Otherwise, tennis means clay tennis in Argentina (and most other S. American countries) so unless they've based themselves elsewhere, all they have access to is clay.

Which makes Del Potro a very interesting exception.