Ginepri Is Shaping Up

The kids are (almost) all right.

Finally, the everyone-other-than-Andy Roddick group of U.S. men has stirred, flickering to life this summer after a rough start to 2005.

At the top of the list is someone who will be unseeded at the U.S. Open, Robby Ginepri. Ginepri, 22, has had a stretch almost equal to Roddick’s during the North American hard-court season in July and August. He won at Indianapolis, beating Taylor Dent in the final, reached the quarterfinals in Los Angeles, and nearly defeated Roger Federer last week in Cincinnati in the semifinals.

U.S. Davis Cup captain and TV commentator Patrick McEnroe is impressed by Ginepri’s willingness to get in shape.

“He’s a workhorse,” McEnroe said. “He finally woke up and smelled the coffee that he’s got to play that kind of tennis, that grinding type of tennis. So he’s had the best results.”

McEnroe could not say the same of the 24-year-old Dent, speaking about him in uncharacteristically blunt terms.

“All I can say about him is: Imagine if,” McEnroe said. “Imagine if the guy was in really great shape. Because he’s 22 in the world, he’s had wins over top-10, top-five players this year consistently, and he still doesn’t get it.

“It’s his work ethic and [not] being in great shape. He’s not in great shape. Period. End of story. Great kid. He’s a very good, smart player. He knows how to compete, he knows how to play matches. But he just doesn’t get it about being in great shape. If you want to be a top-10 player, I’m not talking about good shape, you need to be in great shape.”

James Blake is the other American to go deep into a tournament this summer, reaching the final at New Haven, Conn. Also in New Haven, 18-year-old Scoville Jenkins, who received a wild card into the U.S. Open, recorded his first victory on the ATP Tour, winning a round and pushing Tommy Robredo to three sets before losing.

-- Lisa Dillman