U.S. Open: Jerzy Janowicz brings big game, personality

By Juan José Vallejo | Special for USA TODAY Sports

"His serve is huge. His forehand and backhand can be very dangerous. ... My feeling is if these kinds of players have the ability to learn a few things and to understand how to play the points, they have a big advantage."

That's 12-time major champion Rafael Nadal giving his take on Jerzy Janowicz.

It came after the Spaniard escaped a close call against the Poland native in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Canada (an ATP Masters 1000 event). It's worth noting, however, that Janowicz was making his debut in this event.

The loss to Nadal in Montreal was the 74th ATP-level match for Janowicz, 22.

The Spaniard, five years older, had played a staggering 679 more matches up to that day's encounter.

Even 20-year-old Australian prospect Bernard Tomic has played almost twice as many matches as Janowicz has.

For all intents and purposes, it's better to pretend that Janowicz is an 18- or 19-year-old in ATP years. His career is just starting.

And what a start it has been.

Last year around this time, the young man from Lodz was playing in Challengers and Futures events, the minor leagues of the sport. Since then, he has made a Masters 1000 final (in November in Paris) and the Wimbledon semifinals, both of which helped him skyrocket into the ATP top 20.

Given his lack of prior experience at the ATP level, his success in the last 12 months is startling.

But the ascension, remarkable as it is, has been a bit delayed. After all, Janowicz did make the U.S. Open junior final in 2007, and he followed that up with an appearance in the French Open junior final the following year.

But until he finally made his Grand Slam debut in the 2012 Wimbledon, it seemed Janowicz was destined to become yet another promising junior who didn't pan out on the pro tour.

And tennis would have missed something big.

Why?

Janowicz is a unique talent.

There have been many tall players — Janowicz is 6-8 — but few with that size frame have been able to move around the court quite like he does.

His agility and explosiveness off the ground are mind-boggling when realizing how tall he is but understandable given his background: Janowicz's parents are former professional volleyball players.

The other unique quality is the rare combination of raw power and deft touch, something Janowicz showcases every time he steps on the court.

Janowicz can fire missiles with his forehand and backhand (his first serve averaged about 130 mph at Wimbledon, reaching highs of 140 mph), but he also has the touch to hit some of the most beautiful drop shots in tennis.

He's still learning to handle all of the weapons at his disposal, but he's fearless enough to unleash them all against the very elite of men's tennis.

At one point in his match against Nadal in Canada, Janowicz had accumulated seven drop-shot winners. Not forced errors; clean winners. Shots so good not even Nadal could track them down.

More people look at Janowicz and see a future star, and that might be partly due to his demeanor on the big stage.

Just like every great player in the game's history, Janowicz steps into the bright lights with the attitude of somebody who knows he belongs there. There is no fear in his eyes, and he truly believes he can beat anybody, anywhere.

Of course, Janowicz needs to fulfill the conditional clause within Nadal's quote: He's not yet a finished product.

Janowicz needs more consistency, he needs more experience so he can better handle the pivotal moments of a match and he needs to be a little more disciplined about point construction if he is to take that leap into the elite of men's tennis.

He has all the tools to be great; now the task is to become better at using them. And judging by his progress in the last 12 months, don't bet against him.

All of the above makes Janowicz someone to watch for at the U.S. Open for years to come. Arthur Ashe Stadium is the biggest and brightest stage of tennis, and Janowicz's fiery demeanor (type "how many times Janowicz" in YouTube and see what happens) complemented by his explosive brand of tennis seem like a perfect match for the New York crowd.

And if he continues to improve, this might be the beginning of a long, fruitful relationship.

Juan José Vallejo writes about tennis for The Changeover at ChangeoverTennis.com