Well summer is upon us and its time for the US Open Series. The only tournament I usually get to besides the US Open in NY during the North American hard court swing is the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in DC. Its August 1-9 this year and I must say that the line up this year is the most impressive its been in awhile. The big names returning from last year are Roddick, Haas, and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro. But added this year are James Blake (returning for the first time since 2006), Tsonga, Berdych, Gulbis, Monfils, Soderling, Juanqui Ferrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Hewitt, Marin Cilic, and Tommy Robredo. Other guys of interest for me are Dudi Sela, Benjamin Becker, Igor Kunitsyn, Youhzny, Stepanek, Karlovic, Fish, Querrey, Clement, Tursunov, Andreev, and Robert Kendrick. I believe they raised the prize money this year. Thats a pretty decent line up. Not a master's series event so you aren't going to see Fed, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray but I am satisfied with that line up for a lower level event. Can't wait.

On the women's side, I'm excited to see Kim Clijster's return next month. She's been training hard at our tennis club here in New Jersey, which is pretty cool. Every morning she's there pretty early and in the weight room as well. Go Kim. I'd love to see her get back to the top and even another slam...who knows.

Liking Querrys' play so far in Indy. He looks like he has been working on the body. Love the Sammys' boys rooting group. Tonight its big John Isner and Wayne Odesnik...go Sam! I want to see him have a great US Open series. His serve is starting to get HUGE. Big improvement.

Isners serve has only gotten better. Its HUGE.

Today it will be Sam against Robby in the finals. I am really looking forward to this today. First look at Ginepri for me this season, and anxious to see if he is still as hot as usual.

Looking forward to seeing Robby G. in the final today. Always one of my favorites...truly one HOT man! He hasn't done much in quite a while so will be glad to see him in the final today. Hope he raises that shirt a few times and shows us that furry chest/stomach. As far as I'm concerned, he's the total package. Go Robby!

I see what you mean jarmstrong (biting fist):

As do I. Hot man. Very hot!!!

Ginepri is just as hot as before, if not a bit more. I can't believe how crappy Sam played. His serve was atrocious, and the rest of his game totally and completely abandoned him. Footwork was way bad as well. I was stunned Ginepri won in straight sets, but not to take anything away from his effort. He wanted it more than Sam today. Querrey has to understand its not going to be handed to him, you have to earn the win. Considering how well he has played up until today, todays effort was awful. Gilbert thought he was nervous. Could be, but he is going to have to learn to play through this one would hope.

I'm very happy for Robby...he's had a disaster of a season so far. I hope this will be a springboard for good thins for him. I like how he grinds out matches.

From the semifinal match, I can't understand why the announcers were so high on Isner. I like him, and I do see a lot of potential for him, but they made it seem like a foredrawn conclusion that he would be a top 20 player, and I'm just not sure I see it. He was really, really wobbly on important points. He's had a touch year too, and this result was great for him, but he's got a lot more work to do to be top 20.

Robby!

Good win for Robby but jesus who the hell was playing this tournament? Tursunov was the #1 seed? I know Roddick was supposed to play and got injured so nice of some to take advantage but Tursunov was the next highest ranked player? Talk about a sucky player entry list. I'm glad the Legg Mason in DC has a better line up.

Weak as the lineup was, it's still a huge improvement for Ginepri to be beating anybody on the ATP tour this year. Querrey was his first win over a top 50 player since last October.

And shep, I have never seen why commentators get so worked up over the second coming of Ivo Karlovic. Sure, he's got an amazing serve, but compare him to Sam Querrey. His serve is bigger, but it's not like Querrey gets broken a whole lot, and Querrey has a vastly better ground game and is two years younger. And while Querrey is a promising player, I don't project him as much better than top 20, maybe lower half of the top 10 in a career year.

Yeah JC...I was definitely confused by the commentators repeated projections about Isner's career. I'm not sure I see Querrey in the top 20 either, but maybe. Either way, I hope all three Americans, Robby included, have a great summer.

I think Querrey will be another one of those players who does really well in the US Open Series, but has a disappointing US Open.

Nice wins in DC today for Isner (over Tsonga!), Odesnik over Andreev, and Querrey - continuing a really impressive summer campaign. Roddick cleaned Becker's clock in his return to action, while Fish went down in disappointing fashion after winning the first set 6-1 over Petzchner.

Sharapova is 2 games away from upsetting Azarenka in LA as I write this.

I'm very excited to go to the US Open in a few weeks!

Even though that was Vika's first action since Wimbledon thats still a confidence booster for Sharapova since Vika has had consistent and strong results this year. Still, Maria's got a lot of work to do. That serve is still a wreck and her movement is not as good as it used to be. But, she's a fighter and thats so important.

Hmmm...Tsonga losing to Isner here and Karlovic at Wimbledon--as well as his comments after losing to Karlovic--suggest to me that he can be frustrated by big servers. He's going to have to overcome that if he wants to advance any farther.

And good to see Maria win against a good player (Petrova doesn't impress me much these days). If Kim & Maria can get back into the elite mix, it will make the WTA a lot more interesting.

Alrighhtttt...Lil Jie takes down #1 Safina after being down 2-4 in the third set. Dinara just imploded losing the last 10 points. She was the defending champ here so this is one in a series of events in which she needs to defend points on. Jie has such a pretty game. She is very feisty and has given Serena some tough battles. Thats Jie's biggest win probably since that deep run she made at Wimbledon last year.

I picked Sorana Cirstea as one to watch this year, but am surprised at how she continues to deliver. She's into the semis in LA now, after beating Wozniacki and Radwanska in tough three setters. (Radwanska had beaten her 0 and 1 just the other week in Cirstea's first hard court match of the summer.)

To beat the tour's best backboard and then its most cerebral player that way speaks to her strength at the moment.

Doesn't hurt that she's beautiful, too.

I wonder if this might be the summer of Del Potro...

Is anyone else quickly becoming wholly unimpressed with Wozniacki's game? Granted she just had her breakthrough this year by getting into the top ten, but I feel like she hasn't had that one big memorable win to advance to the elite level, even though she has an elite ranking. Okay, I think she beat Dementieva a couple times, but I feel like they weren't when Elena D. was considered a threat. Worse still, it seems like all the other stars of her generation are consistently beating her. She's quickly becoming the top ten player everybody wants to play or the top seed everybody wants to be placed into the quarterfinals of (though, Petrova appears to like the role even more for the moment).

I know, she's sort of this year's Chakvetadze version 3.0 (Aggie Radwanska was version 2.0 last year), but both Anna and Aggie scalped some big names to herald their arrival into the elite circle (and at slams, no less). Maybe I'm forgetting something Caro did this year.

She seems very likeable. I haven't watched her game closely, but I hear her being described as relying on her speed as her greatest weapon. That doesn't sound like a recipe for success these days, although Jankovic did elevate that style of play last fall.

With Sharapova and Clijsters coming back, some of the chaff is going to be cut out of the top 10. Petrova and Wozniacki look ripe for the picking, especially with Stosur and Bartoli looking to break in.

She has made 3 finals this year, with two titles, and some pretty good results, so I think it might be a little premature to call her the next Chakvetadze. Chakvetadze won a slew of tournaments a couple years ago (although not a lot of them were the big stages) and had some very good slam results...and has all but disappeared since. Wozniacki seems to be a little steadier...for now.

She hasn't had huge results at a slam yet, never beyond the 4th, so I guess she's more like the WTA's equivalent of Gilles Simon...barely mediocre at slams + good elsewhere = top 10 ranking. Shows another (or the same?) flaw with the rankings, IMO. I don't think I'd put her in Club-Vaidisova/Chakvetadze/Paszek/Safarova/Szavay just yet.

Oh, my reference to Chakvetadze wasn't meant to point to Anna's abrupt decline. Rather it's more to point out how much success she was able to have with a game that doesn't fit the typical power game model of the other top 10ers. Anna C. was the young, brash top 10 player of 2007 who got to her position without requiring that she hit through her opponents. Radwanska filled this slot in 2008. If you like, Wozniacki is Hingis Part V, Myskina Part IV, Chak Park III, Radwanska Part II. My friend would probably think of them as spawning off the Chris Evert line of tennis players in the evolutionary tree. There always seems to be that player hanging around in the top ten, whose game doesn't look like the others and makes you scratch your head. Yes they get those quality wins, but then you see them get steamrolled by a Williams sister or a Sharapova and you wonder why you ever even thought they'd be able to contend for a slam with their comparable lack of power (we're talking Hingis post 2001 here).

Wozniacki almost feels like this year's model, EXCEPT, she hasn't done anything special yet to take notice of aside from reach the top 10. Before Anna C. made the top 10 she made her presence known to me by beating the then French Open Champion Anastasia Myskina at the U.S. Open in 2004. Suddenly she was on my radar for the quality of her play. A. Radwanska announced herself by toying with Sharapova's serve at the U.S. Open in 2007. Wozniacki has been on my radar almost solely because of her being young and having a steadily rising ranking, but not because of any particular match she played.

Also, I didn't mean to suggest that I think Wozniacki is going to fall away mentally as many other bright young prospects have done (that's a totally different topic).

So, to reiterate, I invoked Chakvetadze for her qualities as A Power Deficient Yet Elite Player, and not for her qualities as a Formerly Talented Teen, But Now Inexplicably Rapidly Declining Player, which she also has. To further, note the distinction, I think Radwanska qualifies as the former category, but not the latter. I think she simply has hit the ceiling of where her tennis talents can take her as she has become a known quantity. Also by way of illustration, Vaidisova qualifies as the latter category, but not the former.

I see, I thought you were referring to her and using the Chakvetadze reference for Flash In the Pan Syndrome, thanks for explaining.

I think she's very talented, and not quite the ball-basher as the others, that I agree with. I'm not quite sure I'd put her in the same "crafty thinker" category as A-Rad or Hingis. And I believe that's why she hasn't had the slam results yet, she has neither the power of the true Big Babes, nor the tricky-tactical instincts that Aggie Radwanska possesses.

Like Chakvetadze, her titles were at smaller-potato events, like her win against the other Woz in the Florida final and Razzno in the final at Eastbourne. Sure, she's beaten the Schnyders and the Dimentievas (who sadly, doesn't play all her matches these days like she did in that AWESOME SF with Serena at the Big W) of the tour, who are past their best years, but she does lose to the present forces like the Zvonerevas and the Kuznetsovas and the up'n'comers like the Azarenkas and Lisickis of the tour. She had a close one with Serena early in the year, in a non-slam, but that doesn't mean a lot when Serena's a completely different beast when in a slam, and Sharapova, even in her current state, hasn't had much of a problem with her either.

Like the Chak of 2007, a very good player, but I wouldn't pencil her into a slam final, or even a SF, any time soon, let alone see her winning one. Anna C at least had some slam QFs and a SF in her very brief time in the sun...this beautiful young Dane hasn't even had that yet...which I'm seeing is now your original point.

She could always go the Kournikova route though, she certainly is a pretty young lady. Kudos to her, though, for focusing on the actual game.

I did think of Kournikova, who managed to reach #8 in the world without winning a title, but I decided not to bring her up as it would just complicate my example. Wozniacki is very pretty, I agree. And she's made darn sure to win some titles early on. Speaking of Kournikova, wasn't her game more of a power game than a counter-punching game? It's been so long, I forget.

Yeah, she tried to be Big Babe...but developed a really bad case of Servsky Yipsky...the second worst affliction among many Russian WTA members.

Ok...was in DC for the Legg Mason this past week. Was pleased to see Juan Martin get the win over Roddick, who once again had to act like a twat during the tiebreak after the chair failed to see a ball out or some crap he was bitchin about. It looked like it was going to be quick after the first set because Juan Martin seemed to be laboring. Anywho...it was HOT!!! Fortunately we got cloud breaks here and there. I have no idea how hot it was on the court, but I imagine pretty bad. Seems like every year I can't catch a break with normal or cooler than normal temps at the Legg Mason. All in all a very good week. Love the area...Georgetown is probably my fave place in DC so its cool to watch some tennis and hang out in Georgetown or vice versa for night matches.

As for the women...sheesh Sharapova has some real issues with that serve. Radwanska is too wet behind the ears to have taken advantage and even Pennetta almost let it slip away. Stosur, who has been playing well for awhile now can't seem to put it together in the late stages of a tournament. Clearly she's not alone. Biggest win for Flavia though and nice turnaround after that hot mess of a match with Sharafaultpova. I had Sam as a dark horse for the US Open...now not so much.

Meanwhile, Kim Clijsters got Marion Bartoli in the first round of Cincy. That sucks for both players. Will be a good test for Kim though out the gate in dealing with Marion's power and court coverage. Serena tweeted that she has the cold or a flu or something so I'm not liking her chances in Cincy. But its a good field and we'll see who comes out on top.

WOOO HOOOOO!!!!! WELCOME BACK CUPCAKE KIM!!! Started out AMAZING to 4-0 and then Marion tied it to 4-4. Kim refocused and won the first 6-4. Then she fought off nerves being 0-40 down to win the match in straight sets!!! Impressive to beat a top 15 player in your first match back in a couple years!!! Mommy Kim wins!!! SO HAPPY!!!! WELCOME BACK KIM!! So upset this wasn't televised cuz it seems like she played SO WELL!! Can't wait to see the pictures from the match to see how she looks.

I'm pretty excited to see this as well. As much as I love Safina, I would love for Kim to go far in this tournament (she's in Dinara's quarter). This is a much needed return and story for the WTA.

And...I always loved Kim, even during the times when it was hard to.

Ditto here. But when were those times?

When were those times tealsea? Gee lets see...each time she would fold like a cheap tent to Justine in matches for one. She wasn't known for her mental strength, which is why she only ended up with one slam. With her game she should have more slam titles than she does. But her mentality won't go down as one of the best in the game. Lets hope her second act shows improvement on that.

Actually I would point to the 2003 Australian Open semifinals when Kimmy was up 5-1 on Serena in the third set, and even had 2 MPs against her, before absolutely choking her way to a 5-7 loss, as the moment she developed her reputation for being mentally weak. And I do mean choke. I believe on one of her service games (she had two opportunities to serve out the match), Kim tossed out five faults in a row to go down love-30, second serve. Serena had to show some fight to come back from the grave and jump through the door of opportunity to win that semifinal, but Kim was right there holding that door open for her.

That match may have been a pivotal moment for both players. Kim had the momentum going in as the only player who could beat the sisters (she beat both at the year end championships a few months before, though Venus was injured and Serena had been beaten up in a semifinal battle with Capriati). Had she won that match, she may have been the first of the Belgians to win a slam, and who knows how that might have affected the dynamic between Clijsters and Henin? Kim used to beat Justine routinely when they started on the tour. I'm totally glossing over the fact that she would have had to beat a Venus who hadn't dropped a set all tournament long in the final to do it, though.

As for Serena, if she had lost that match, her Serena Slam would never have happened and maybe she would never have established a beachhead in Australia that has enabled her to resurrect her career time and time again in later years, when her ranking, motivation, and ability to win slams were questionable. I know that Serena's favorite slam is the U.S. Open, but history will see Serena linked more with the Australian Open, because it was there where her legendary fighting spirit was forged and where her reputation as always being a slam threat, regardless of her form, was truly minted. I'm not sure if the Aussie Open names anything after foreigners but I'm thinking Serena will end her career with 5 or 6 Aussie titles and some court or walkway there named after her.

Just because she lost to (folded...agreed) Justine doesn't make her less loveable?

Oh no tealsea...she's still Cupcake Kimmy!! Great personality and always classy in victory and defeat.

Another seemingly easy win for Clijsters. Two great wins over top 20 players. I can't wait to see what she does with Kuznetsova.

And since I was the one that mentioned the sometimes less then loveable comment, let me clarify what I meant. I meant that I love Kim and have for a long time, but like one of my all-time faves Davenport, there were times, especially at the end of her career, where she looked disinterested on the court and seemed to be able to do better than what her results were. That's all...nothing more and nothing less.

For me though...I hope she comes back and is immediately a force on the tour and someone who will again contend for majors. I always thought she left a major or two on the table, and now it looks like she'll have a chance to get some more. Early, I know, but it is looking that way.

There was always somthinge wonderful about that bubbly personality and good sport attitude. Her game may not be able to match some of the top ones today, but I don't care. I just like seeing her play.
BTW, is Safina still No. 1? Looking back, it seems like she was the worst No. 1 ever. Didn't back it up at all.

Well I'd have to say that "honor" goes to Jankovic...at least Safina has made 3 Slam finals...Jelena's only been to one.

Kimmy takes out the Kooz in 3 sets, Venus goes down in 2, Serena is down a set and 2 breaks but has fought for one break back...

airrunner, that's a great post. I have vivid memories of that match.

Kim had a few more hiccups against Kuznetsova than in her earlier matches, but she got through.

Terrible day for the Williams'. Venus lost again to Pennetta (who has now won something like a dozen or more matches in a row), and Serena played even worse against Bammer, who now has a legit winning 2-0 record against her.

The majors seem to be where Serena's head is at these days. No real problem with that I guess -- as long as she keeps winning them.

Serena's game was a mess today...just a disaster. Caught some of the Kim/Sveta match...so nice to see Kim again. Great result for her.

As for Safina being the worse number 1...that seems a little harsh to me. She has not won a slam, obviously, but she has won a lot, has been to three major finals as well as a Wimby semi...on her worse surface. I do beleive she will win a major...only a matter of time.

It also seems odd to me (not aimed specifically at anyone on here) to have a conversation about the "worst" number ones ever. Seems to devalue something that takes years and years of hard work and accomplishment. I think it was tennis.com that had this recently with both the men and women, and it just seems demeaning.

Ugh...Venus you are a mess!!!! Her game can be so great one day and then just a mess the other. At least Serena has a cold/flu or something but even I don't think she cares about anything but the majors these days. With Serena, you can't judge her performances leading up to a slam to predict how well she will play in one. She turns it on cuz she wants to win slam events. But, its a disservice to herself, the sport, and her fans that she just doesn't put forth the effort in the lower level tournaments that she puts in the slams.

Now I'm rooting for Kim ALL THE WAY!!! I think she has what it takes to beat Safina for sure.

I hear what you're saying about Serena, but I'm happy that she's at least showing up to these tournaments. For most of her career I'm used to her pulling out of the non-important tournaments for this injury or that. For the first time in a while, Serena has made a concerted effort to show up at practically all of the tournaments she committed to whether she was injured, or just not at 100%.

Check it out: this is Serena's 12TH tournament of the year! For years, people complained that the Williams sisters were part-time players, but that's not the case at all this year. They are playing as much as any other player and are on track for a 16-17 tournament year. Finally, we have a Serena who is acting like a professional. But, unfortunately, when Serena puts herself out there more these days, we get a greater chance of witnessing mediocrity.

I think the Williams sisters losses today simply demonstrated that they are old. They are starting to have more "bad" days than they did when they dominated and I think they realize this. So if they only have a limited set of "good" days each year to work with as their careers wind down, then why not focus those good days at the slams? (Sidenote: I define an average day as when a sister's game would beat anybody on the tour except for a top ranked, in form player, or a zoning lesser player. A bad day is when a sister is capable of losing to anyone in the Top 100 willing to put the ball in play. A good day is still better than anyone else on the tour). I was really hoping this wasn't true, but it's obvious that they can no longer play their best tennis for sustained periods of time, which means the Williams sisters can no longer dominate the tour like they used to.

Surprisingly, I was really hoping that we'd see a repeat of 2002-2003 when the Williams sisters dominated, NOT because I wanted to see them on top again (though I certainly would have loved it if it had happened), BUT because I'm going to miss them so much when they leave. If they are dominating, it's like I don't have to think about the ride ending. That sad day seems so way off in the distance. If they are not dominating, and they are playing a full schedule, then I have to accept that the end is near and that's what is really tough about days like yesterday.

The ride is starting to come to an end.

So with that in mind, I've become more willing to just be happy to still have the sisters around and competing, even if they are starting to suffer bad losses with greater frequency.

Totally co-sign with that sentiment airruner. I know tennis is more than the slams but Serena winning 3 of the last 4 I'll take. I know their focus these days is on the slams. Venus' best chance is Wimbledon. Serena has shots at all except the French, even though next year I'd really like to see her train better and do better at the French Open to at least have won each slam twice.

Actually I just thought of something concerning Serena's play in non-slam situations. I think what you touched on with Serena not playing her best at non-slams is more about Serena not wanting to expend mental and emotional energy. I'm not sure if Serena's tennis is even capable of being at its best for any period of time. I feel like the last time we've seen a truly dominating Serena performance from start to finish was last year's U.S. Open when she didn't drop a set.

Since then, Serena's game has been up and down, which suggests that her tennis game overall has naturally declined with age.

So if Serena goes into a tournament knowing that she can no longer rely on her best tennis for a 4 or 5 match stretch, then she has to rely on something else to get her through the matches. That something, is her heart. She showed heart in surviving that semifinal match at Wimbledon. She showed as much fight as she could to get to the French quarters and push Kuzy to 3 sets, after failing to win a single clay court match all season prior to the start of the tournament. She had to fight to survive Kuzy in the Australian Open quartefinal after dropping the first set. Basically, for Serena to win any title these days (big or small) she has to be ready for one or two heart attack matches along the way, because her tennis level isn't as good anymore.

Now, if Serena attempted to play that way in every tournament she entered what would that look like? I would point you back to Sydney, her first tournament of the year. If I recall, she had to fight tooth and nail to survive early round matches, even fighting back from match points down and sets down. Sure it pumps you up to be able to pull it off, but your body and mind can't keep living like that. Her reward for all that fighting? An in form, fresh Elena Dementieva in the semis, willing to run around the court all day long if need be. Realizing her tennis just wasn't up to snuff, Serena told herself it's not worth it to go on fighting so hard for matches just to win the Sydney tournament. She refused to invest her considerable heart in that match when she knew she would need it for the Australian Open.

So to go back to yesterday's match, I have no doubt that if Serena really wanted to she would have scratched and clawed her way through to a 3-set, 7-6 final set win against Bammer. But doing so would only put her in line to have to face an even harder fight against a Jelena Jankovic and then a Elena Dementieva. There's probably some point in the match yesterday where Serena asked herself should she fight for it with all her heart? Then she saw that it's only the third round and she ain't in New York, so she decided to pull the plug.

I think you'll only see Serena winning lesser tournaments if she happens to be in the zone and can win off her superior tennis skills without having to resort to her equally superior heart. She only reveals her heart during the slams.

JO WILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING COMEBACK FROM BEING 2 BREAKS DOWN IN THE FINAL SET AGAINST ROGELIO!!! So happy for Jo Willy who had a bipolar kind of match!! Sheesh!!! But wow....MAJOR CHOKE from Federer...up 5-1!!!! And a DOUBLE FAULT on match point?!!!! Yikes!!! Go ahead Ali.....do it boy!!! Normally I root for Roger against most opponents, but Tsonga so deserved this win. He hasn't been playing well lately.

Oooo...on court interview with Brad Gilbert. Tsonga is TOO YOUNG to have forehead lines. He's not even 30!!!!! And even then is too young!!! Moisturize!!!!!! I live by it!!!

give Roger a break! How many female tennis players take a year or two off right after having babies ... he's come back weeks after having twins!

and yes, it is the same thing.

Seriously, though. what the Eff was he doing in the last part of that match?

Uh..choking is what I believe they call what he was doing, Snicks.

Back at the start of the thread I wondered if this might be del potro's time to really break through. At this point I'd put him and Murray followed slightly by Roddick as the top three USO winner candidates. We might have seen the beginning of DaddyFed today. He so flagrantly handed the march to Tsonga right down to the last point. Tsonga is so gifted and yet truly immature and spacy in a way that makes me doubt his ability to ever win a slam.
Anyway, solid win for Pony Boy. Nadal just gives off conflicted vibes, like there are things going on within him. For a player so dependent on mental strength, that's a problem. It'll be interesting to see if he finds his way back to the top. He has a long way to go, and doing it again may be harder now that federer has made history and feels devil may care. Not because federer will hold on the way he did, but because the younger players finally see an opportunity.
Apologies for the wacky post. I'm typing on a phone

Murray becomes world #2 with a semifinal win!!!! Damn things change quickly.

JMDP played extremely well. That Drop Volley at 5-all in the tie break was stunning, coming at the end of one of the many blasting rallies they had last night. His issue in the not-too-distant future will be injuries. Historically, the uber-tall guys don't have longevity at the top of the game, unless you do nothing but Serve-Volley like Becker to minimize running and keep points very short. They way the game is played now from the back court, all that running for a guy with a high center of gravity like JMDP will put even more pressure the joints and limbs.

Nadal won't be much of a factor at the business end of any tournament until at the very least the Year End Championships, but more likely not until the Australian Open. He'll fall to #3 come Monday (Murray will beat Tsonga and go to #2). His mission will be to see if he can implement enough changes that are as effective as what he has to start phasing out. He'll only have his matches in which to work on those things. He'll get beaten a lot until he can make them more habitual. But even then, the game may get by him before he successfully does.