DUBAI 2012 Draw and Matches live!

First topic message reminder :

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/Tournament-Draws.aspx

I always liked Dubai as a tournament. Lots of money at stake and to me it;s the equivalent of a TMS.

The draw is interesting:

It's Djoko / MUrray on the same half (looking forward to a revenge there.

And It's Federer v Llodra first round. I am sure, you can bet on this that the are going to make Llodra play early Monday...Tuesday at the latest to give Federer max chance of winning that one.

The top draw is certainly the toughest with Berdych and Davydenko on top of Nole and Andy.

Just realised that Federer has Delpo again....but I am sure Delpo will start to feel it in the legs.

laverfan wrote:

barrystar wrote:

laverfan wrote:

barrystar wrote:Djoko, Nadal, and Federer would never look the gift horse of two breaks at the opening of the third set against a journeyman by giving back two on their own service. I'm not watching, just following, but I can only imagine it's the usual pitiful stuff that one (reluctantly) associates with Murray at his worst.

There is one instance of Federer losing from 5-1 up, if you recall.

against who?

Tsonga. 2009 Montreal(Canada).

That's why I underlined against a journeyman

Andy faces Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli (world no.185) in the next round

Davydenko was 4/1 in teh 3rd....His foot must have caused him more trouble.

barrystar wrote:All the top players can have early round wobbles, is it just me, or does Murray seem to have more, and do his seem to depend more on loss of concentration than overall rustiness compared to the others?

Agree with you there Barrystar. Since this time last year there have at least 4 first round losses and a number of early scrape throughs. Have no idea why this happens. There must be something not right with his tournament preparation. Admittedly his opponents have nothing to lose but he should still be beating these guys more easily than he does.

Only saw the third set today but his first two service games of that were attrocious Very few first serves in and on the 2-1 game 15-0 up back to back double faults followed by two bad UE's. Just the recipe to give your opponent confidence.

Oh well on the positive side at least he has won a match after the AO which he failed to do last year until the clay cpourt season.

Tenez wrote:Davydenko was 4/1 in teh 3rd....His foot must have caused him more trouble.

such a shame Davydenko's career has been blighted by injury in the last couple of years. I know casual tennis fans find him quite dull, but those who understand the game know how incredibly difficult it is to play the way he does. I remember once being asked by my brother (more of an occasional tennis watcher) who had the best footwork in the game and I answered "Davydenko", he was surprised to say the least...

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

Tenez wrote:Davydenko was 4/1 in teh 3rd....His foot must have caused him more trouble.

such a shame Davydenko's career has been blighted by injury in the last couple of years. I know casual tennis fans find him quite dull, but those who understand the game know how incredibly difficult it is to play the way he does. I remember once being asked by my brother (more of an occasional tennis watcher) who had the best footwork in the game and I answered "Davydenko", he was surprised to say the least...

He played lights out at Rotterdam against Federer.

Baggy to serve for the first set.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

Tenez wrote:Davydenko was 4/1 in teh 3rd....His foot must have caused him more trouble.

such a shame Davydenko's career has been blighted by injury in the last couple of years. I know casual tennis fans find him quite dull, but those who understand the game know how incredibly difficult it is to play the way he does. I remember once being asked by my brother (more of an occasional tennis watcher) who had the best footwork in the game and I answered "Davydenko", he was surprised to say the least...

Absolutely - I was so pleased for him at the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 when he was (to my mind at least) playing the best tennis of his career and might have featured in the mix in 2010 (a DD vs. Nadal face off at Aus Open or RG 2010 could have been fascinating). I was really disappointed when he was injured. He is a good example of match-ups in tennis - always struggled against Fed, but made life v. difficult for Nadal.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

Tenez wrote:Davydenko was 4/1 in teh 3rd....His foot must have caused him more trouble.

such a shame Davydenko's career has been blighted by injury in the last couple of years. I know casual tennis fans find him quite dull, but those who understand the game know how incredibly difficult it is to play the way he does. I remember once being asked by my brother (more of an occasional tennis watcher) who had the best footwork in the game and I answered "Davydenko", he was surprised to say the least...

Yep.. he doesn't get enough recognition. When fit and on form he's quite awesome. All about incredible timing and moving the opponent around as if they're on the end of a string. The casual fan unfortunately cannot appreciate the level of skill required to pull off the shots that he routinely plays. It's one thing to step into a ball and take it early every now and then but another thing all together to do it consistently, shot after shot, especially given how much spin and pace is generated by the opponents in the modern game. He really looked to be coming into his own two years ago before injuries struck, mind you he had been pretty good in the years beforehand; unfortunately he was another victim of the Federer era.

well Baggy rather blew that chance didn't he? dreadful service game when trying to close out the set, and a pretty ordinary tie-break.

Been watching bits of the second set - JWT has just won, by the way - and some excellent rallies, with Tsonga volleying when he can. Looks quite fast or is it just my TV?

sirfredperry wrote:Been watching bits of the second set - JWT has just won, by the way - and some excellent rallies, with Tsonga volleying when he can. Looks quite fast or is it just my TV?

Murray said it was fast.

Yeah Dubai is usually quite fast, looks like that again this year.

Is this the same Llodra who just played the Marseilles final? 6-0 in 17 minutes.

Fed takes the first set 6-0 in 17 mins

It's a jet lagged Llodra v a rested Federer. Nothing surprising really.

The pace seems great. But let's not forget that Llodra plays 100% natural gut, meaning minimum spin...therefore all balls are hit as flat as possible.

Tenez wrote:It's a jet lagged Llodra v a rested Federer. Nothing surprising really.

He's probably more concentrated on the doubles, for which his partnership is top seed. I guess he entered the singles and perhaps surprised himself with his run in Marseilles. I hope he's OK for the doubles match - but he's managed a couple of bp's on the Fed serve, so there must be some life in him.

Just read through the match report for Murray - Berrer encounter. Sounds like right sloppy performance. The good news I guess was that the serving percentages were in the 60's. Conceding 5 service games with percentages like that is somewhat alarming. Main point though is that he is through.

What a refreshing match that was. I would not like to have all matches played like that....but one of 3 or 4 would be great!

Tenez wrote:What a refreshing match that was. I would not like to have all matches played like that....but one of 3 or 4 would be great!

I managed to catch the last game & tie-break ... I suppose the first set must have been a feast for you , Tenez

legendkillar wrote:Just read through the match report for Murray - Berrer encounter. Sounds like right sloppy performance. The good news I guess was that the serving percentages were in the 60's. Conceding 5 service games with percentages like that is somewhat alarming. Main point though is that he is through.

I saw the first half, and Muray just came across as his old self, not pumped-up. Berrer was great, just would not give up, was playing really well, esp at the net.

barrystar wrote:

sirfredperry wrote:Been watching bits of the second set - JWT has just won, by the way - and some excellent rallies, with Tsonga volleying when he can. Looks quite fast or is it just my TV?

Murray said it was fast.

not just fast . Very fast

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:What a refreshing match that was. I would not like to have all matches played like that....but one of 3 or 4 would be great!

I managed to catch the last game & tie-break ... I suppose the first set must have been a feast for you , Tenez

I only watched the second set. I woudl do not draw much joy in seeing a compatriot talented compatriot being bagelled while finding his stride on this new court.

But watching Nadal being bagelled by Lacko, Fed or Murray is pure joy.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:What a refreshing match that was. I would not like to have all matches played like that....but one of 3 or 4 would be great!

I managed to catch the last game & tie-break ... I suppose the first set must have been a feast for you , Tenez

I only watched the second set. I woudl do not draw much joy in seeing a compatriot talented compatriot being bagelled while finding his stride on this new court.

But watching Nadal being bagelled by Lacko, Fed or Murray is pure joy.

Oh Tenez! For some reason when I saw this it made me smile. You are such a simple sole...

Delpogolov, always a good match up.

hawkeye wrote:

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:What a refreshing match that was. I would not like to have all matches played like that....but one of 3 or 4 would be great!

I managed to catch the last game & tie-break ... I suppose the first set must have been a feast for you , Tenez

I only watched the second set. I woudl do not draw much joy in seeing a compatriot talented compatriot being bagelled while finding his stride on this new court.

But watching Nadal being bagelled by Lacko, Fed or Murray is pure joy.

Oh Tenez! For some reason when I saw this it made me smile. You are such a simple sole...

Beati pauperes Spiritu!

Dolgo's crap. Lots of fancy but ineffective stuff. Will be nothing more than a top twenty player.

What's the point of playing lots of funky spins and slices when you can't hit a bread and butter BH to finish off the point?

emancipator wrote:What's the point of playing lots of funky spins and slices when you can't hit a bread and butter BH to finish off the point?

He plays for tennis connoisseurs, kind of sultans of swing/tennis....

Murray was awesome. Federer and Djokovic should be so worried after that destruction.

Dolgo clearly frustrates Delpo BIG time

Come on Dolgo!

Not to be NITB. Oh hang on....he breaks back! 5-5

dolgo breaks yeeeeeeeeeeeay!

Delpo is such a pain with the way he challenges, time limit should be invented just for his sake...

I can sense irritation in Layani's voice as he announces the score...He wants to be at that party NOOOOOOOOOW

You know if Dolgopolov could win this set I think there's a chance last week's exertions could start to catch up with Del Potro. He never was the fittest player, and looks a bit jaded already. Massive TB if he can hold serve here.

Cmon Dolly! Chabang!

Awesome rally!

Delpo relies on serve nearly same as Karlovic

Dollopof is too short for his flat shots.
Perhaps Tennis should have divisions based on height where the court and net dimensions are adjusted relative to the player's height.

Dolgopolov

Entertaining match still, Dolgopolov only has to make a minor few tweaks to his game to beat the top guys.

JMDP with a cruising match next round over Golubev. After that should get Tsonga.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:JMDP with a cruising match next round over Golubev. After that should get Tsonga.

Delpo looking good. Poor Golubev.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Entertaining match still, Dolgopolov only has to make a minor few tweaks to his game to beat the top guys.

I hope he has a good clay season.

Looking to another S&V match between Federer-Lopez.

laverfan wrote:Looking to another S&V match between Federer-Lopez.

And who is going to s&v?

One all-court baseliner against another all-court baseliner? You should've watched Berrer today. Very nice.

noleisthebest wrote:

laverfan wrote:Looking to another S&V match between Federer-Lopez.

And who is going to s&v?

One all-court baseliner against another all-court baseliner? You should've watched Berrer today. Very nice.

I would expect Lopez and Federer, both to come and play at the net.

I did watch the Murray-Berrer match. My frustrations with Murray are duly noted in this thread.

laverfan wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

laverfan wrote:Looking to another S&V match between Federer-Lopez.

And who is going to s&v?

One all-court baseliner against another all-court baseliner? You should've watched Berrer today. Very nice.

I would expect Lopez and Federer, both to come and play at the net.

I did watch the Murray-Berrer match. My frustrations with Murray are duly noted in this thread.

ugh, trying to forget about it TBH. Positives: he won. That's it.