By Brad Hunter
Jurgen Melzer photo courtesy of Memphis Tennis Facebook page
The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships
WTAÂ Report
“Hi Honey†and “yes ma’amâ€â€¦ The ladies (and men) who work in the Racquet Club were all so sweet, and mostly southern thus making this visit extra enjoyable
Like Monica… Lucie Hradecka hits huge and double-handed from both sides off the ground, but her most impressive shot was her accurate and offensive return of service which she used to good effect in winning the doubles with partner Hlavackova, for their seconddoubles title of the year
Home away from home… Repeat singles winner Sofia Arvidsson has her own Parking spot, and looks completely relaxed and at home playing in Memphis
Doubles surprise… Melanie Oudin fell early in singles, but when she teamed with Jamie Hampton in the doubles, the Grandstand court was packed
Getting some Momentum in Memphis… Vera Dushevina put together her 1st back-to-back main draw wins of 2012 in singles by reaching the semi-finals, and she and doubles partner Govortsova reached the final
Crazy forehands… Jack Sock’s forehand is really interesting and wristy and twisty—a windshield wiper forward motion which rivals Ryan Harrison’s forehand in the wristy and twisty department.
Not bad but bounced anyway… Andy Roddick is a great competitor so he probably did not pencil in a “W†before he stepped on court with Xavier Malisse, even though he had won their only/previous 9 meetings… and Andy played some aggressive, solid tennis… but Malisse returned like a doubles specialist and came up with the magic shots when it mattered—thus bouncing the biggest crowd draw of the tournament in the 1st round
Doubles out, singles in… 2011 US Open doubles champions Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschener were glares, missed shots and self-criticizing yelps in their 1st round loss in Memphis to Benneteau/Rochus but Jurgen played like it was Roland Garros 2010 in winning his 1st title in Memphis
A sensible argyle… Radek Stepanek wore a not crazy shirt… and no one talked about his wardrobe… until now
Gulbis gives good interview… Amanda Le May caught up with Ernie before his Raonic match
Brad and Sam, Sam and John… Sam Querrey and his backhand (Brad’s influence already?) looked pretty good winning his first back-to-back singles matches of 2012 and reaching the doubles semis with Isner.
Brad Hunter was in Memphis last week covering the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Memphis International as media for Tennis Panorama Follow his personal twitter account @BradHunter.