The Tennis Personalities

The Potty Mouth, Rylan Rizza. (Bottom photo, Gastao Elias.) Photos by Tessa Kolodny.

The players from the Futures and Challenger tournaments do not get a lot of television time. Fans may read the score of a match but have no idea of what a player's personality is like. The Tennis Hacker is hereby issuing nicknames to the players to give the fan an idea of their personality.

The Trash Talker
Tennis and golf is called the gentleman's sport, but apparently Robert Kendrick did not get the memo. He talks trash to his opponents; and he does so unprovoked.

The Gentleman
Rajeev Ram is almost too nice a guy. He apologizes profusely to his opponent; always makes sure his opponent is ready to receive the serve; politely reminds his opponent that new balls are in play.

The Potty Mouth
Rylan Rizza is bilingual. He cusses fluently in English and Spanish.

The Racket Smasher
Luigi D'Agord does not take losing easily. He has been known to smash his whole inventory of rackets after a loss.

Mr. Cool
Rik De Voest does not break a sweat. He is ultra cool in his dark sunglasses.

I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt
Gastao Elias and many of the young players is an attraction for the young ladies. Gastao plays and hangs out in the stands shirtless.

The Racket Whisperer
Alexei Grigorov talks to his racket -- in Russian.

The Indomitable One
Dusan Vemic is the most entertaining player on tour -- not necessarily because of his play, but because of his antics. He dances, he cajoles, he loses his equipment: he is worth the price of admission.

The Rabbit
Robert Smeets is entertaining for his hustle. He runs down every ball.

The players are not just names in a box score; they are real live personalities.

Related:

The Players

More on Mr. Cool

More on The Indomitable One

See Rabbit Run

The Tennis Hacker Interviews the Players

Being a reporter, as I attempted to be Thursday at the Texas 76ers Pro Tennis Event, can be a heady experience. With so many matches going on -- two or three at the same time -- it is no small feat to sort out who is who and who did what.

I donned my reporter's cap at the Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, Texas, pen and pad in-hand and proceeded to interview the players. I said, 'Congratulations,' to the first interviewee. His reply was: 'For what?! I lost.'

In my confusion, I mixed up the players. My apologies to Milan Pokrajac who actually lost to Gastao Elias, 4-6, 2-6.

I was determined not to make that mistake again. Alexei Grigorov was easy to distinguish. He was the one talking to his racquet -- in Russian. Apparently there was a problem with the translation because his racquet did not cooperate and his opponent Jarmere Jenkins beat him, 6-0, 6-4.

I spoke with Jarmere. He said, "I was familiar with his game. I saw him in juniors."

Jarmere is all business. He talks about tennis like a chief financial officer talking about the quarter's numbers. "I just went with my game plan and concentrated. My game is coming along pretty good. I've been training the past two years for these tournaments."

I asked him which other players looked good. He said Austin Krajicek, Chase Buchanan and "the lefty from Florida."

The guys were all polite, so I feel obligated to post each of their comments.

Austin Krajicek, who defeated Ilija Vucic, 6-1, 6-4: "I know him very well. We played a lot in Europe. He played me tough and it was windy that made it tougher. I'm glad I played well and glad to get a win."

Vahid Mirzadeh, who defeated Henri Kontinen 7-5, 6-1: "I didn't know too much about him. He is a good a young player. The week is going well. Hopefully I could keep it going."

Michael McClune and Rylan Rizza was in an incredibly close match. Rizza proved to be bilingual -- he cusses fluently in English and Spanish. His cussing and temperament caused him; he was penalized two points. In an incredibly close match, he seemed more concerned with arguing with the umpire and eventually lost 6-4, 1-6, 6-7 (4).

Nicholas Monroe, at number two is the highest-ranking seed in the tournament. I did not get to see all of his match. I had to run home to watch Judge Judy.

French Open Champ Has Texas Connection

Uladzimir Ignatik is rising in the tennis world in part because of training he received in Texas. Ignatik -- unfortunately he lost his match Tuesday in the Texas 76ers Pro Event -- has a promising future and has already won the French Open junior championship.

Ignatik was mentored by Andy Roddick and trained at Roddick's brother's center, the John Roddick Total Tennis Academy in San Antonio. The Roddicks thought Ignatik was something special after seeing him play at the age of 13. So far he has not disappoint.

Another Roddick protege and student at the San Antonio academy -- Alexei Grigorov -- is still in the tournament going on at the Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, Texas.