Tennis: All Purpose Tennis Thread XIII

[Tuggy]

Well the streak had to come to an end at some point.

Hard fought match that could have gone either way.

 

[MsMeow]

I just love how people are interested in tennis in Canada because of Bianca. I was at the off leash park and 2 of the people there kept asking what the score was!

Then there is media. A guy on 680 news was all excited because she was beating a 2 time slam champion 5-2 in the first. 5-2 isn't such a big deal and closing it out is hard!

 

[JianYang]

I didn't see the last couple matches for bianca, but fom what I did see, she continued to struggle with her service.

If she can ever figure that out, I don't know if anything can prevent her from being a top 2 seed at some point.

 

[discostu]

Pospisil beats Mannarino in qualifying for Shanghai. That's an impressive win against a top 50 player. Still needs one more win for the main draw.

 

[MsMeow]

Pospisil beats Mannarino in qualifying for Shanghai. That's an impressive win against a top 50 player. Still needs one more win for the main draw.

He won!

 

[kihei]

Thiem wins Beijing in three sets over Tsitsipas. After losing the first set, 6-3, Thiem picked up the pace in the second set....literally--he hit the ball harder--and then hammered Tsitsipas from the backcourt to win the third set, 6-1. He is definitely improving on hard courts and becoming a genuine threat on that surface.

 

[kihei]

Djokovic had little trouble winning 3 and 2 over a game but overmatched Millman, who was making only his second appearance in a final in his thirteen year career.

 

[Tuggy]

Nice win for Thiem on HC.

Pretty easy tournament for Djokovic.

Great to see Vasek back in a MS1000 main draw. Schwartzman is a decent draw but he's a tough opponent. Hopefully Vasek can get more, much needed, points and stay healthy.

 

[discostu]

Nice win for Thiem on HC.

Pretty easy tournament for Djokovic.

Great to see Vasek back in a MS1000 main draw. Schwartzman is a decent draw but he's a tough opponent. Hopefully Vasek can get more, much needed, points and stay healthy.

He beat Schwartzman! Has Sousa in the second round.

He's racked up some impressive wins in his comeback, but it's such a hard road back to the top 100.

Shapovalov beats Tiafoe as well.

 

[Tuggy]

He beat Schwartzman! Has Sousa in the second round.

He's racked up some impressive wins in his comeback, but it's such a hard road back to the top 100.

Shapovalov beats Tiafoe as well.

I figured he had a good shot against Schwartzman, given the surface.

He's on the schedule again tomorrow...so 4th day in a row and he's 0-4 against Sousa in his career.

Shapo gets Djokovic next.

 

[MsMeow]

Glad to see they both won!

 

[kihei]

Murray wins in three sets over Londero in Shanghai. I love watching Londero. The word for him is "scrappy," but unlike most scrappy players, he doesn't wait for opponent's mistakes, he goes for winners. He played an excellent first set, but Andy hung in there and won going away. It is a long road back but Murray seems to be making steady progress.

 

[Tuggy]

Murray wins in three sets over Londero in Shanghai. I love watching Londero. The word for him is "scrappy," but unlike most scrappy players, he doesn't wait for opponent's mistakes, he goes for winners. He played an excellent first set, but Andy hung in there and won going away. It is a long road back but Murray seems to be making steady progress.

He's got Fognini next who looked really good against Querrey. But you never know which Fog you are going to get.

 

[MsMeow]

I'm happy for Andy, here he thought he'd be retiring this year and he's gone from just doubles to singles and is playing better. He's not a player I really enjoy watching but this is great news for tennis.

 

[Tuggy]

Felix gets by Bublik (ret. in the 2nd). Tsitsipas next.

Vasek up a set against Sousa.

And Vasek gets the straight sets win and played very well again.

This win moves him back into the top 200.

 

[MsMeow]

Great job by Vasek!!

 

[discostu]

Felix gets by Bublik (ret. in the 2nd). Tsitsipas next.

Vasek up a set against Sousa.

And Vasek gets the straight sets win and played very well again.

This win moves him back into the top 200.

Another big win for Pospisil. Getting his ranking up to top 200 is big.

Looks like his next match will likely be against Medvedev. Not sure how well he will match up with him, especially with how well Medvedev is playing.

If he can have a couple of good runs a the Challenger level over the remainder of the year, he can get himself closer to top 100, and start 2020 being able to get into decent tournament draws once his protected ranking status is done.

 

[Tuggy]

Another big win for Pospisil. Getting his ranking up to top 200 is big.

Looks like his next match will likely be against Medvedev. Not sure how well he will match up with him, especially with how well Medvedev is playing.

If he can have a couple of good runs a the Challenger level over the remainder of the year, he can get himself closer to top 100, and start 2020 being able to get into decent tournament draws once his protected ranking status is done.

At least he gets the day off tomorrow.

But yeah, tall task against Medvedev but it wouldn't be a total shock if Vasek won.

Felix/Tsitsipas and Denis/Djockovic tomorrow.

Felix is 2-0 against Tsitsipas but I think that might end tomorrow. Hopefully not

 

[discostu]

At least he gets the day off tomorrow.

But yeah, tall task against Medvedev but it wouldn't be a total shock if Vasek won.

Felix/Tsitsipas and Denis/Djockovic tomorrow.

Felix is 2-0 against Tsitsipas but I think that might end tomorrow. Hopefully not

Felix needs a big win against a top player to get his confidence up, and he's definitely in Tsitsipas head.

On that topic though, it looks like Felix and Denis will both be qualifying for NextGen finals. Tsitsipas is there as well, but will likely withdraw to save himself for the real finals. Will be interesting to see if they both play. Felix already turned down one big exhibition event recently. We'll see if he opts out for this one.

 

[Tuggy]

Felix needs a big win against a top player to get his confidence up, and he's definitely in Tsitsipas head.

On that topic though, it looks like Felix and Denis will both be qualifying for NextGen finals. Tsitsipas is there as well, but will likely withdraw to save himself for the real finals. Will be interesting to see if they both play. Felix already turned down one big exhibition event recently. We'll see if he opts out for this one.

I could see Felix playing this one (NextGen).

 

[MsMeow]

I'm just watching the Vasek match now, at least the last couple of games. Where are the spectators? I know they aren't the biggest names but there is nobody there.

 

[Tuggy]

Fognini takes out Murray in 3 sets.

Murray served for the set twice in the 3rd but couldn't get it done.

Both players fired up towards the end. Murray telling Fognini to shut up while he's complaining to the umpire about him

 

[kihei]

That was a quirky sort of match. All possible Fogs showed up: the casually brilliant one; the blissfully unconcerned one; the yappy one; the pissed off one; the clutch one; the strutting one; the escape artist one; the clever tactician one--a combination that eventually drove Murray to distraction. Andy was good and bad, early on making several ill-advised trips to the net (2 for 11 before he got his act together) and seemingly more interested in finding new ways to twirl his racket than in raising his game. Then he dominates the second set. All in all, a match with many facets and a fine win for Fabio.

 

[kihei]

Felix is Tsitsipas' nemesis so it will be interesting to see how Stefanos handles this match. More of the same ignominy or big psychological breakthrough?

Tsistipas wins the opening set which could have gone either way easily, a real flip-a-coin set. The difference was that Stefanos served better and concentrated better in the breaker than did Felix.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Murray on Fognini "I'm not having him talk to me like that on the court".

FAA lost.