Rhyne Williams posts breakout week in Houston

Rhyne Williams had quite the showing at the US Clay Court Championships in Houston this week as he reached his first ever ATP Semifinal before falling to Nicolas Almagro.

Williams, 22, had some Texas success under his belt already this year as he won a Challenger event in Dallas a few months back and it was apparent from the first ball of the tournament that he felt comfortable in the Lone Star State.

Williams had a tight straight sets, 7-5, 7-5 win over the Argentine Guido Pella in the first round which propelled to a matchup with the massive serving Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the Second Round.

Williams was able to grind out a 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(3) despite only breaking the mammoth Karlovic serve once.  Williams was never broken as he found ways to counterpunch Karlovic's 28 aces and racing into the Quarterfinals in 2 hours, 39 minutes.

Photo via AP
Williams caught fire in Houston, reaching his first ever ATP Semifinal.

In the Quarterfinals Williams was put to the test against 35 year old Spanish veteran Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo before pulling through in a tough, long three setter 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-4.  After eking out a tight first set, Williams then went on to drop 9 of 10 games before coming back from a break down in the third set to reach his first ever ATP World Tour Semifinal.

The Semifinals would be a little bit of a different story for the young American, as Nicolas Almagro, one of the top clay court players in the world, laid the wood on Williams 6-2, 6-1 in exactly one hour.  Williams was clearly physically taxed coming into the match but he showed a high level of physical toughness pulling through some long, tight matches in rounds prior just to reach the Semifinals.

Not only was this a confidence booster for Williams, but also a bank account and ranking points booster as well.  Williams leaves Houston with a check for $23,475 and 90 ranking points, which puts him at a career high ranking of 117.

Jack Sock Successful In Memphis

Young American tennis phenom Jack Sock had quite the run at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis this past week, as he advanced to the Quarterfinals in singles, and the Final of the doubles draw at the ATP 500 event.

Sock, who came into the week ranked 168 in the ATP World Tour singles rankings, made a splash in his first match as he posted his career best win over world number 14 Milos Raonic 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

Photo via AP

In the second round his opponent was most definitely a familiar face in James Blake, who also just so happened to be his doubles partner in Memphis. Although Blake displayed some of his firepower that once lifted him to number four in the world, he was more inconsistent than powerful as he won just 23% of his return points and Sock was able to move through in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4.

Sock's singles run came to an abrupt halt when he ran into the grizzled Spaniard veteran Feliciano Lopez as the lefty was firing on all cylinders in a quick 82 minute 6-4, 6-3 win over Sock.

The week wasn't quite over for Sock yet though as he still had a run to the doubles final to take care of with his fellow American partner, James Blake. Believe it or not, all three matches for the American duo were taken to deciding set super-tiebreaks, and the Americans were able to squeeze through in all three.

In the Finals though they ran into the brick wall of the Bryan Brothers, the number one doubles team in the world and 13 time grand slam champions. The Bryans have been playing together for around 30 years now and that was apparent in the match as they dominated 6-2, 6-1.

Nonetheless it was still a fantastic week of tennis for Sock who ended up racking in 90 ATP singles points and 300 doubles points which moved him up to a career high ranking in both singles and doubles at 130 and 132 respectively.

His wallet is a little heavier this week too, taking home a combined singles and doubles earnings check of $49,520.

Baseline Banter Episode 3: 2013 Australian Open analysis

Pierce discusses the first week of the Australian Open, and a little college tennis.

2013 Australian Open First Round Recap

For the most part the First Round of the 2013 Australian Open followed suit with what was expected, but there were a few curveballs thrown our way just as there always is in the first round of a major. 

While a very high number of seeds advanced (27 of 32) there were a few big names such as the number 11 seed Juan Monaco and the number 18 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov were both knocked off. Monaco was taken down in shocking straight set fashion by Andrey Kuznetsov 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-1. Dolgopolov on the other hand had to face a much tougher opponent in veteran Gael Monfils who is coming back from an injury riddled 2012. Monfils took the match in four sets, 6-7(7), 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3.

 The Americans in action actually fared pretty well in round one with five of the eight advancing and the only losses came to seeded players. Even though it occurred in a loss, perhaps the most impressive American performance was by Steve Johnson, the two time defending NCAA singles champion from USC who pushed tenth seeded Nicolas Almagro to five sets before Almagro pushed on 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-2. It was a very impressive performance by Johnson, who showed the confidence to hit the big shots on big points and with some tinkering to his backhand, this guy has a real chance to be a top 50 player very soon.

 Ryan Harrison pulled through in four sets over Santiago Giraldo of Columbia and will be treated to a second round matchup with world number one Novak Djokovic. While Harrison is obviously a massive underdog this could be a good measuring stick for himself to see where he is against the top guys.

 So far the Australian Open has gone as expected but anyone who follows tennis knows that never lasts for more than a few days at a major.

Baseline Banter Episode 2: 2013 Australian Open Preview

Pierce and Preston preview the 2013 Australian Open in the second edition of 'Baseline Banter.'

Baseline Banter Episode 1

Pierce and Preston preview not only the 2013 ATP World Tour season, but also American college and junior tennis in the first Baseline Banter Episode. Look for the second next weekend previewing the Australian Open Draw.