AMERICAN BLAZE BIG TRAIL IN INDIAN WELLS

The band of brothers: Roddick, Blake, Vahaly & Ginepri bloom in desert

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Courtesy of Pacific Life Open

FROM THE PACIFIC LIFE OPEN IN INDIAN WELLS, CALIF. – The last time that five Americans made it to the Indian Wells quarters without the Fab Four plus 1 – Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Michael Chang and Todd Martin – was 1985, when Jimmy Connors, Greg Holmes, Larry Stefanki, David Pate and Aaron Krickstein made it to tournament owner Charlie Pasarell's Final Eight Club.

The last time five Americans period made it to the quarters in the desert was 1989, when Agassi, Chang, Connors, Tim Mayotte and Brad Gilbert had a whale of tournament.

Take a deep, deep breath: A group of five Americans led Andy Roddick and James Blake and containing the a Unknown Soldiers – Vince Spadea, Brian Vahaly and Robby Ginepri – have made it to the quarters of the Pacific Life Open.

Blake scored his biggest win of the year in overcoming fifth seed Carlos Moya 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. In a spectacular match with a Davis Cup -like atmosphere, Roddick overcame 11th-seed Sebastien Grosjean of France 7-6 (5,) 2-6, 7-6 (1).

Qualifier Ginepri wiped out sick seventh-seed Marat Safin 6-0, 6-1. Qualifier Vahaly crunched Robredo 6-2, 7-5 and old man Spadea overcame Olivier Rochus in three sets.

CAMARADERIE AND CHEMISTRY
Call the Roddick, Blake, Vahaly, Ginepri, Delray finalist Mardy Fish and Memphis champ Taylor Dent (neither of whom are here) the "band of brothers," because they are a tight-knit, early 20-something group who are comparing their camaraderie to the French and Spaniards.

"It's so helpful," said Blake. "It looks like the guys from France, hanging out together, playing cards. They're out to dinner together. They've always overachieved in Davis Cup. That something that Patrick McEnroe and Jim Courier have talked to us about. We have that feeling. I go to dinner with Mardy, Taylor, Robby, Andy and Brian all the time. We have a great time together. We're cheering for each other. It makes it seem a little less lonely when you have friends doing well. If you have a bad week and they have a good week, you take something out of it."

Vahaly agreed, "It is an advantage. We get along so well. We care about each other so that were willing to sacrifice a little bit of ourselves for the well being of American tennis. When I was growing up, so much heat was given to what would be the next wave of American tennis. We continue to take a lot of heat for that. Andy and James have really stepped up. They want some more people coming here with them."

Ginepri also weighed in, saying "Everybody's pushing each other. It's making everybody train harder, works harder and want it even more. I love it to death."

VAHALY ROCKETS TO QUARTERS
Blake and Roddick's progress here is not off the charts, but having Vahaly and Ginepri jump into the quarters is. University of Virginia grad Vahaly can still remember his first paycheck – 100 buckaroos in a Montreal future and the first time he played for money at all.

"I remember the days when you're playing for $30," he said. "My doubles partner from college, Huntley Montgomery, used to compare money with Wendy's Frosties. 'We get this and we can buy 20 Frosties.' It's completely embarrassing, but that's were you are."

Vahaly has come out of virtual nowhere since last month, reaching the Memphis semis, qualifying here, knocking off sturdy Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round and then stunning third-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round before roaring past Robredo.

"All I wanted to think about was my win over Ferrero and leave the tournament on that," he said. "I would have been happy just with a win over Robredo, that would have been my best win of my life coming into this tournament."

Vahaly joked that he got a call late last week informing him that he had been accepted into qualifying. "They said I'm the worst guy in the qualifying. … It's hard not to find this week comical to me. So much has changed since being down 4-1 in the second set of qualifying. These things keep happening. It's like my best day keeps happening over and over again. It just gets to be funny."

Vahaly is a very solid player with an excellent backhand, but good groundies are a dime a dozen in the aggressive-baseliner dominated ATP Tour. There are plenty of guys who can paste one down the line, but not many who can so in crunch time, which is why it took so long for college grad Vahaly to take a leap into the top 100.

"I don't think I've necessarily struggled with confidence," Vahaly said. "I felt it was there and would be there in due time. I tried to put myself on the James Blake time line [who also went to college, but for only two years] who had a couple years out there before he really started to hit his stride. I didn't really feel I was ready to hit that stride at this point. Your coaches tell you one thing, but sometimes you feel they're blowing smoke. I guess they were right. I've been able to relax on courts that I love."

Vahaly will play the 28-year-old grinder extraordinary Spadea, who he beat in Adelaide in January. Spadea likes the progress of Vahaly and Ginepri, but isn't convinced they are here to stay.

"They're groundstrokers and it's more of a demand as a groundstroker to make it big so it's hard to tell what their potential is ultimately," he said. "Just like my career where I had some real flashes of incredible tennis for weeks at a time and I had some inconsistency which brought me to the point where I wasn't a premier American player you always hear about. They are still going to have to stand the test of making those jumps into the top 40, 30 and 20 like Roddick has done, like Blake is pursuing, like I did."

Ginepri caught a break in the second round when a flu-ridden Jiri Novak couldn't play and caught another break when Safin couldn't move his trembling tummy. But none the less, he's playing much more meaningful yellowball than he did three years ago when Roddick was punching him out in the juniors. He's in better shape and his serve has more pop.

"Playing big matches, getting the experience is what I needed," Ginepri said. "It's finally coming all together."

A Georgian like Vahaly, Ginepri is also making progress off court, trying to become a better person. "I've been trying to do one good deed a day. It makes me feel good. Opening the door for somebody, helping someone to pick something up."

Courtesy of Pacific Life Open

Ginepri will play top seed Lleyton Hewitt in the quarters, the same man who double-bageled him in Cincinnati last summer on the day when Hewitt came on court in a rage after he had had a huge fight with the ATP over whether he should do a TV interview. "Hopefully, I can get a game this time," Ginepri said.

Blake played an excellent match in downing Moya, going toe to toe in forehand rallies and actually edging the Spaniard from his favored side, something he has never been able to do before. It was by far his biggest win of the year and showed that he's finally over his Davis Cup blues.

"Seem like all of our matches have been close," Blake said. "The big points have gone his way. Could be he's a solid veteran who knows how to play those big points. I was a little frustrated by thinking, 'Maybe I can't beat this guy and he's going to come up big every time.' … But I knew I could stay in it. If I stuck with my game plan, I'd see if I could raise my level and I was able to."

Now he'll have to face Gustavo Kuerten, which could prove to be a difficult. But one thing is for sure, even though he won't say it directly, Blake believes he has another gear and knows he didn't hit stride this year until his win over Moya. When he plays Kuerten, we'll see if he has top-10 stuff.

"It makes me feel really good that people expect me to do better," he said. "It means people have a lot of respect for me and expect me to some great things. To get wins here and hit my stride, I know I can play at that top level."