Tennis: All Purpose Tennis Thread XI

[discostu]

I had to turn off the TV during the first set to deal with the kids, so this is another "wake up and see which teenage Canadian tennis phenoms won last night".

When I left though, you could see that Felix was getting in Corics head. There were a few instances where Coric got to a quick lead on his service games and Felix would battle back to a deuce. Felix has a lot of fight in him.

It's amazing to remember he started the year outside the top 100. Similar to Bianca, he's played a lot of matches to get here. Ranked 33rd and I expect that number to be going up soon.

Isner seems beatable with how Felix's game has come together, but Isner does represent a very different style that he'll have to adapt to.

 

[discostu]

Somw milestones from Felix's win last night

 

[Tuggy]

It would be really anti-climactic for Felix to lose to a player like Isner . *Barf*

Isner is the defending champ here, so he likes Miami.

Definitely a different player than Felix has faced thus far this week.

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

Felix you beast!

Ugh I hate that he plays Isner, hopefully his serve is on point because it's going to be tough to break Jisner (I know hot take).

 

[discostu]

Felix is now 5-0 against top 20 players. If he somehow manages to win this tournament, he would actually become a top 20 player before he's lost to a top 20 player.

 

[Tuggy]

Felix hasn't fared well against big servers ("serve bots").

Karlovic and Eubanks beat him in straight sets this year.

 

[Tuggy]

Denis sitting at #23 in the live rankings right now (matching his career high).

He can move to #20 with a win and one step closer to our teenage Miami final

 

[discostu]

Felix hasn't fared well against big servers ("serve bots").

Karlovic and Eubanks beat him in straight sets this year.

The more I think about the matchup, the more it worries me. Felix still can lose focus on his serving game, and often makes it up by being relentless on his return game to break back. Isner won't give him much room to do that. It's a good test for him at this stage though as he'll need to find a way to play against this type of player, so it will ve interesting to see how he adapts.

 

[kihei]

Felix is now 5-0 against top 20 players. If he somehow manages to win this tournament, he would actually become a top 20 player before he's lost to a top 20 player.

Which would automatically become one of the most mind-bending records in sports history.

 

[kihei]

John Isner is another player who has gotten better with age. But he isn't unbeatable in Miami. Though he was champion last year, until this year he has only been past the 4th round one other time which occurred when he went to the semis in 2015. And he does have historically one of the weakest return games on the ATP tour, this year currently ranking 80 out of 81 (Karlovic is at the bottom). He hasn't played against Felix's serve either, another small plus.

 

[kihei]

Kontaveit has a tough match up in Barty who makes me nervous. Barty can look absolutely horrible for significant stretches, a condition not helped by her accompanying hangdog demeanor. And then she finds her game which doesn't look especially dangerous but somehow is. I've turned away from a couple of her matches this week only to find to my surprise that she eventually won them.

 

[MsMeow]

So it's raining yet again in Miami and their twitter feed hasn't been updated in 2 hours. At that time they said the blowers were out and play would start around 2. It's almost 4 now.

They just said no play before 4:30

 

[MsMeow]

 

[MsMeow]

And it's raining again.

Denis won't be on before 6:30

 

[discostu]

And it's raining again.

Denis won't be on before 6:30

Sounds like there will be a doubles match first, so probably will be on the court for 7:30 at the earliest.

 

[MsMeow]

Sounds like there will be a doubles match first, so probably will be on the court for 7:30 at the earliest.

I think the Bryan Brothers' match was moved to tomorrow.

6:11 blowers are on the court

 

[MsMeow]

Here we go!! The players have just been introduced.

Denis' right knee is taped

 

[Tuggy]

Match on TSN1.

 

[MsMeow]

TSN.ca is a commentary-free court. Woo hoo!

 

[MsMeow]

4-3 Denis on serve. He had a chance on Frances' first service game but after that, both servers have had an easy time of it.

Wow, Denis was down 30-40 but hits an ace and a couple of great shots after to go up 6-5. Still on serve.

Denis blows it. Wins more points, has a better winner to unforced error ratio, but loses in a breaker. Hope he is motivated for the second set.

 

[kihei]

Are we absolutely certain that Denis' mother isn't a former House Elf?

 

[kihei]

Tiafoe played a great set, but Denis was loose and sloppy on way too many points.

 

[kihei]

The day started great for Anett, but it sure didn't last and Barty wins 3 and 3.

 

[MsMeow]

Wow! Denis breaks twice and is up 4-1

 

[Hadoop]

By the looks at it either a) Tiafoe has nothing left or b) he is saving what little energy he has left for the decider.

Denis on the other hand look extremely fit, no surprise given he has done pretty well in 5-setters for a teenager.