Will American Robby Ginepri ever make it big in the World of Tennis?
America is a nation which has its name embedded in almost every sport around the world. They are at the top and if not at the top, one can surely find them at the bottom. In any case, they are sure to leave their mark.
One of the top names in American tennis is that of Robby Ginepri. He may not be the highest ranked player in the world but he has made a name for himself in the professional world of tennis. His breakthrough year was 2005. This year brought about a lot of good fortune for Ginepri’s career as a tennis player. He made his way up to the semi-finals at the US Open that year, this being the furthest he has ever gone in any Grand Slam tournament during his reign as a tennis player up until now. He was overthrown by the former world number one, Andre Agassi, in the semi-finals, 6-4 5-7 6-3 4-6 6-3. This made him the first tennis player in the history of the US Open to have played four consecutive five-set matches. At the end of 2005, Ginepri was ranked world number 15, which has been his highest tennis ranking to date.
Ginepri’s wonderful success that year yielded great expectations from him by the American nation. He was seen by some as the next Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi who was going to make America shine in the international community.
However, the next year was not as lucky for Ginepri as was the previous year. He started off by playing an exhibition match against one of the greatest American players of all time, Pete Sampras. This was the first math Sampras had played since he retired. Ginepri was victorious over the former Grand Slam champion, 6-3 7-6. Further along in the year, the American player did not stay at the top of his game, as he was eliminated in the second round at the Australian Open. At the French Open and Wimbledon, he did not make it further than the first round and managed to reach the third round at the US Open, which was a disappointment after his brilliant performance at the US Open last year. His rankings fell to world number 51 that year and his game did not get any better in the following years.
The American tennis star fell behind in rankings even more in the coming year as he became world number 134 due to his poor performances in various tournaments. He managed to build up some dignity again in the world of tennis in the year 2008, when he advanced to the fourth round at the French Open where he was overthrown by his opponent, Fernando Gonzalez, 7-6 6-3 6-1. This was not as good as what he had achieved at the 2005 US Open, but it was an achievement nonetheless after his successive failures to go past the first or second round at most of the Grand Slam tournaments.
2010 has not been much of an improvement for Robby Ginepri either. He made his way to the fourth round of the French Open again where he was overthrown by Novak Djokovic. At Wimbledon, he was forced out of the tournament in the first round by Robin Soderling in straight sets.
Recently Ginepri made a grand start of the hard-court season at the Atlanta Tennis Championship where he proceeded to the second round by defeating the Australian qualifier, Nick Lindahl in straight sets, 7-6 6-2. However, his glory was not long lived after Mardy Fish beat him in the second round, 6-1 7-5 eliminating all hopes of Ginepri going further in the championship.
This American player who was seen as a rising tennis star has dulled down the hopes of the American nation who had expected great things from him. At an early point in Ginepri’s career he was seen as a future Grand Slam champion but he has been unable to improve his game to a higher level making the future of this tennis player looking bleak in the eyes of many.
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