Tennis: All Purpose Tennis Thread X

[kihei]

Interesting Estoril final between Tiafoe, not exactly your basic clay court player, and homeboy Sousa. Sousa should have a field day pressuring Francis' eccentric forehand, but ya never know.

4 and 4 for Sousa. First set was close but mediocer; second set wasn't that close initially as Sousa ran out to a quick 4-love lead, but then he got a little tight and gave his fans some tense moments before finally closing the match out. Must be sweet for him to win at home at 29 years of age and pretty much in the twilight of his journeyman career. Estoril is only his third championship in eleven years on the ATP circuit.

 

[Panteras]

LOL

 

[kihei]

Taro (Chip) Daniels actually won a tennis tournament. He beat Jaziri in straight sets in Istanbul. It always delights me when Taro wins anything, even a set. He has some smooth strokes and his game can possess flow--but he never seems to hit the ball very hard and his first serve couldn't crack an egg if it hit it (though a fantasy, I sometimes can't help but feel that on the right day Ostapenko could kill him and leave him for vultures). Then there's the fact that he moves around the court between points like the perfect embodiment of an 80s slacker. It's a demeanor, a whole package, really, that just does not inspire confidence; plus his highest career ranking is #85 which is not terribly impressive either in a 25-year-old. Still, for some inexplicable reason, I have a soft spot for him. Istanbul, a 250 tournament, is his first championship and, who knows, it might be his last. But good for him in the moment. I'm genuinely happy for him.

 

[kihei]

LOL

Roger's public relations people were asleep at the switch on this one.

 

[kihei]

Kontaveit knocks off Venus Williams in three sets in Madrid. Probably Anett's biggest win so far, and she came from behind to do it, too.

 

[Panteras]

Roger's public relations people were asleep at the switch on this one.

lol to be fair, it was probably a really hot day wherever he was at. He would never ever wear that in an actual match.

 

[kihei]

Kei and Nole trade early breaks, 3 all in the first set....still a close match, but Nole seems despondent already--of course, the 18 unforced errors might have something to do with that.

5 all and both these guys look like they would be happy to call it a draw and go home.

Kei gets in trouble and Nole hits an old-fashioned return of serve crosscourt zinger, 7-5 for Djokovic whose day just improved. Both players awful that set.

 

[kihei]

2nd set: Nole takes it 6-4, playing much improved tennis along the way. Should be a big confidence builder going forward. Kei lost, but looked better than in the first set, too.

Probably, it is best for these guys to work the kinks out against each other, i.e.players of similar stature, rather than against some young gun hoping to nab a big scalp.

 

[Tuggy]

2nd set: Nole takes it 6-4, playing much improved tennis along the way. Should be a big confidence builder going forward. Kei lost, but looked better than in the first set, too.

Probably, it is best for these guys to work the kinks out against each other, i.e.players of similar stature, rather than against some young gun hoping to nab a big scalp.

It will be interesting to see if Djokovic can put good performances back-to-back.

 

[kihei]

Great article from Fivethirtyeight about Rafa's dominance on clay (lifetime record: 401-35--which almost looks like a typo) and the fact that he seems to be better on this surface than ever:

Somehow Rafael Nadal Got Better On Clay

 

[Tuggy]

Good win for Shapovalov over Paire.

Gets the winner of Dimitrov/Raonic next.

 

[MsMeow]

Shapovalov absolutely destroys Sandgren, 1 and 4. Denis owned everything. He dominated from the backcourt (and the longer the rally the more he dominated), and he dominated just as dramatically on serve (he won 88% of his first serves; 81% of his second serves). By the end Sandgren was putting up token resistance. He looked like his favourite alt-right commentator had just died.

Oh THAT guy, I had forgotten about him!

 

[kihei]

Milos in three sets over Dimitrov and Shapovalov knocks off Paire, also in three sets. That's a damn good day for Canadian tennis.

 

[Hadoop]

Milos in three sets over Dimitrov and Shapovalov knocks off Paire, also in three sets. That's a damn good day for Canadian tennis.

Raonic/Shapo is gonna be FUN.

 

[Tuggy]

This is pure speculation, so take with a grain of salt but...

Andy Murray likely to miss entire grass-court season despite his entry for Queen's

Judging by the inclusion of Andy Murray on Tuesday’s entry list for the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s, you might imagine that everything remains on track in Murray’s comeback.
Unfortunately, the real picture is considerably less rosy. The Telegraph understands that there is little prospect of Murray fulfilling any of his grass-court commitments: which include not only Queen’s but also the Rosmalen event in Holland, not to mention the big prize of Wimbledon itself.
Whispers from close to the Murray camp suggest that the American hard-court season, which starts in earnest only in August, is now the more realistic target. There is even a theory that he should be especially cautious and delay his comeback until the end of the year.

Terrible news if true for Murray and hopefully he can be ready for the grass season.

Coming up on his 31st birthday and coming off major hip surgery, you have to wonder what the future holds for his playing career.

 

[kihei]

I didn't realize Andy's predicament was so dire. Sad to hear.

 

[kihei]

Another match, another choke. Goffin beats Haase 5 and 2 in Madrid. I bet Robin Haase gets awfully tired of being Robin Haase sometimes.

 

[Tuggy]

Felix in Braga this week for a CH. His second round match will be coming up soon (unless De Minaur's match goes 3 sets then a little longer wait).

He has another CH (Lisbon) on his schedule next week then it's on to Roland Garros qualifying. Hopefully can get string some wins together and be in top form for RG.

 

[kihei]

Apropos of nothing at all, I'm wondering what Kevin Anderson is like on a dance floor. I'm wondering if just watching him could cause death.

 

[kihei]

Bah. Anderson evens his match with Mikhail (Two Left Feet) Kukushkin at a set apiece. There is no justice in the world.

Anderson wins the third set easily and just to further make my day Philip Kohlschreiber, the Deutschland Doofus, comes from behind to knock off the usually efficient Bautista Agut, 7-5 in the third having trailed 2-5.

 

[kihei]

Edmund and Nole trade service breaks to open their match. Novak hasn't exactly been blessed with easy draws lately....a double fault seals another break against Djokovic, 3-2. The struggles continue....yet another service break ends the set, 6-3. Edmund didn't have to break much of a sweat to win that set--Nole's poor serving and error-prone backhand being the main culprits. He looks like himself on some points--so I would say that the problem is more psychological than physical at this stage.

2nd set: 6-2, Nole and as easily as Edmund took the first set.

3rd set: Having each struggled miserably on serve for long stretches earlier in the match, now both can do no wrong, 4-3 on serve....but Nole blinks first, 5-3. How quickly things can slip away....Edmund holds for the match.

Nole 11/23 winner/unforced error ratio. A work in progress, sure, but who knew progress would be so slow.

 

[Tuggy]

Domination by Felix today.

6-3 6-1 win. Didn't face a single BP.

Obviously the quality of opponent wasn't the greatest but still a very solid performance.

Sets up a fun matchup with de Minaur next.

 

[kihei]

Kontaveit wins a first set breaker against Kvitova as her confidence seems to be growing.

Later: Anett lost in three.

 

[MsMeow]

Milos and Denis play at around 8 am eastern, Thursday.

 

[Tuggy]

Denis up a break in the first set. Let's go Denis!