Del Po v. Tsonga what does it tell us, and my upset pick

Well, I think what it tells us is that JMDP while not strong enough yet to beat the big 4 guys consistently is starting to set himself apart from the rest of the pack. I would be very surprised if Juan remains healthy and doesn't capture the #5 ranking. He beat Tsonga again a player who he has recently abused and who currently is holding the #5 position. And I am going out on a limb and taking Juan over FEd. I just have a feeling about the way Juan is playing. Fed seems to handle him easy enough but I really do feel like JMDP is getting into a flow.

Tsonga, what does it tell us? Well that it is still the case of a deficient backhand. Another player who is being hurt by not taking on a head coach. It is basically that Tsonga backhand that keeps him from winning a slam. It just got exposed again by Del PO in this matchup. A good coach could only help with the problem.

For my money the top 5 by the end of the year will be big 4 plus Juan at 5. He is starting to look like the player that he was. What is most impressive is how well he moves for a guy six foot six inches tall. And of course the monster serve and forehand.

JUan v. FEd: I know Fed has had this matchup recently but somehow I am taking the longshot and I think Del Po wins this one. He seemed to be able to really hit through the courts with all his shots and he is one of the few guys that doesn't mind fast conditions against FEd. Del Po definetly needs a good serving day in terms of 1st serves. There is still a pretty big gap between the quality of those two deliveries for Del PO.

Agreed it is an interesting matchup. On the last occasion, i had predicted (for myself) that Roger was likely to lose. But since then, looking at his performance and form overall, if RF can keep his serve, he need not fear JMDP.

delpony has been playing for 3 weeks straight now. He is no energy capsule like nadal = fed cleans up the trash.

Yes Delpo is looking great, while as much as I like the guy, I have never been a great fan of Tsonga's game. I just can't see him evolving technically as he should if he was to be a real contender for slams. For the SF, I am going to pick Fed who has still a clear edge on Delpo on fast courts. For the other SF my pick has to be Murray, as I am not really impressed by Nole's current form.

Yes, Tsonga cannot take the ball earlier. It's this relative lack of talent that prevents him from being more highly ranked and maybe win a slam. If you want to stay back like Nadal and Murray you need to develop a different strategy than him. Having said that I do not think that MUrray and Nadal are better than Tsonga and Delpo. I need to see more encounters between those. Thus far we have not enough data...bar a ranking system.

Tsonga can be a great player to watch, as long as you don't mind the results..
Delpo is more reliable, you know what to expect. That can be boring but in his case i usually end up thinking; "that's my man!". To me Delpo is an exiting "predictable player"

Lets see what happens with the semi, my guy lost so I just want to see some good tennis. Juan is going to have to find away to win this matchup he hasn't had much luck recently. Its all going to come down to him needing a big serving day and handling the low sliced backhand to his two hander. At 6'6 and not very comfortable moving in look for Fed to give him a steady diet of short angled slice to the backhand.

Come on Juan, make me look good on my upset pick!

he needs Federer to play defensive minded, if Roger goes kamikaze like he did in their last matches he will be well beaten. Tsonga always has a chance with Fed because of the loop he puts on the ball and his natural ali mojo.

Well JmDP got close really tanked the second set tiebreaker after being up 6-2 and 5-0.

socal1976 wrote:Well JmDP got close really tanked the second set tiebreaker after being up 6-2 and 5-0.

tipsarevic did the same thing yesterday for eggchamberovic.

Jeremy_Kyle wrote:Yes Delpo is looking great, while as much as I like the guy, I have never been a great fan of Tsonga's game. I just can't see him evolving technically as he should if he was to be a real contender for slams. For the SF, I am going to pick Fed who has still a clear edge on Delpo on fast courts. For the other SF my pick has to be Murray, as I am not really impressed by Nole's current form.

Well you are spot on . Now great finals in cards.

But saying all that Del boy exhibited a great game again, I tip him for the french open, who ever faces him in Quarters gonna be unlucky, and most probably its gonna be djokovic to face him I guess

DelPo could not capitalise on 4 set points against Federer, which means he requires some nerves of steel to win sets. He is climbing back, but getting to #5 is hard.

Between #10 and #5 are Tsonga, Ferrer, Berdych, Fish and Tipsy.

Delpo probably can get above Tipsy, but Fish, Ferrer, Berdych are tougher.

socal1976 wrote:Another player who is being hurt by not taking on a head coach.

Who is the other?

Murray now has Lendl which has helped improve his game.

socal1976 wrote:It is basically that Tsonga backhand that keeps him from winning a slam

Disagree with that. Tsonga's WTF 2011 is so easily forgotten. He uses both SH and DH BH, giving him versatility, which allowed him to beat Federer at W. He also has power. Against Delpo, his UEs were pretty bad.

invisiblecoolers wrote:
But saying all that Del boy exhibited a great game again, I tip him for the french open, who ever faces him in Quarters gonna be unlucky, and most probably its gonna be djokovic to face him I guess

He did not play too well against Ferrer and gave up a 2-1 set lead in the DC tie with Spain. He has some work to do before he becomes a real threat to the Top 4.

Laverfan his single hander is a gimmick, he should learn to hit the two hander better before going for the french flair. Del Po horribly picked on his backhand and exposed it again.