Newport Quotebook

[scoop]

Dr. Ivo thrilled after beating Pospisil on Weds.

Tobias Kamke, Newport quarterfinalist who is 31 and had no ATP Tour main draw wins in 2017 before this week: “I was working hard even though the results were not that good. I kept on working on the things I thought were necessary to improve. Now, of course, if you get more wins, especially on the ATP Tour events, it feels very good. I feel comfortable moving here. I like my game on grass. I’ve been here once before, made the semis.”

John Isner on his fitness and ability to avoid injuries: “Everything I do is to keep my body as fit as I possibly can. I’m very fortunate to feel good and feel healthy and I’ve been healthy throughout my career. As long as I have that on my side I can just take the court with the right mindset, things will go my way…I always have someone at my disposal but that’s an investment I’ve made on my body and it’s paid off.”

Ivo Karlovic, age 39, after losing to Peter Gojowwczyk 67 76 67 in the QF to end his hopes of making four consecutive Newport finals: “It was a difficult match and it didn’t go my way. That’s life, that’s tennis. I was not really moving well. My reaction was not there. But the serve was good, volleys were okay, so I’ve got to look at the positives and continue with my journey. It was a good run here (three finals in a row including last year’s title win vs Muller). This year was a little bit short but hopefully next year will be a little bit more than this. Hopefully I will have my ranking up (25 right now) and I’ll be here next year. I just like (Newport) a lot so if I’m healthy and my ranking is up, I’m not going to stop (playing on the ATP World Tour).”

Peter Gojowczyk, on beating Karlovic for the third time in three tries on the ATP Tour: “I knew from the beginning it’s very tough to play against him, even on a grass court, so I’m very happy to beat him. I was focused on my serve and if I’m serving well, then it’s one or two points in the tiebreak. Maybe I was a little lucky in the first set tiebreaker because he double faulted on set point. Then I was a little bit nervous in the second because it’s only seven points.”

Bjorn Fratangelo, who has reached his first ATP QF this week, on his name: “It’s just my name. I don’t think about Borg. For me, it’s just my name. That’s what people call me. He was my dad’s idol growing up and they actually met him before I was born. And I guess they were picking some names and that was the one they went with.”

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

I watched Ivo lose to Gojo yesterday 67 76 67 and after the match Ivo went into the bleacher behind the one baseline and targeted an old fan about 60. Ivo was even pointing his finger at him and security came and escorted the old guy out. I was eavesdropping on the conversation with the supposed heckler who said he was only rooting for his guy. He seemed sincere and resigned to his fate of being thrown out and missing the Paes/Groth doubles match which was the final match of the day. Funny, I did not hear any heckling from this man who was about 30 feet to my left. But I can't imagine that Ivo would target an innocent old man and falsely accuse him of heckling him. Very strange.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Bryde actually won a round in ATL two years ago at 15 but has done nothing since in the ATP or in juniors. So Klein should prevail.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Andrew, we all know Rios was from another world. Maybe he had heard that line a million times and just tuned it out. A lot of illogical behavior from Rios.