ATP 1000: Monte Carlo (Daily Order Of Play)!

First topic message reminder :

Monte Carlo.... tennis is finally coming home!

After weeks of sleepless nights caused by travelless jetlag, tennis caravan is back to where it belongs and looks best: Europe!

Ahead are a few potentially historically huge months:

Novak Djokovic could be the first man after Rod Laver to hold all 4 slam titles.

He could also be the first man to achieve the Golden slam, if he wins the gold at the Olympics.

All grand dreams, very difficult to achieve, yet, for this grand dreamer, nothing is impossible

Back to Monte Carlo, and the first 1000 Masters even on clay:

Bar Federer's last minute wild-card change of mind, all the best players are in town:

*Legendary Rafael Nadal with his mind-boggling 7 straight tournament wins.
*Novak Djokovic with his mind-boggling 7 straight finals wins over Nadal
*Andy Murray , pressure free and hungry. Could surprise many.
*David Ferrer, the eternal bridesmaid...will give someone a great workout in the semi-final!
*Delpo? No Federer in the draw, may release the "old" smooth powerhouse.

and.....

everybody else except the Biggest clay question mark called Isner, who withdrew from the tournament needing rest and preparation for the remainder of the season.

Official website:

http://www.monte-carlorolexmasters.com/


The Draw:

http://www.monte-carlorolexmasters.com/Share/Event-Draws.aspx?Year=2012&Draw=ms

Easier to follow, PDF version of the draw:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/410/mds.pdf

Order of play for Wednesday, 17th of April (no PDF version yet):

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/schedule.aspx?EventId=410&Year=2012&Seq=5

Set in the glorious scenery of glittering, breath-taking sparkling Medditeranean vista, I will be there daily in spirit sighing and dreaming....

For Monte Carlo with its vintage charm, class and timeless air of dolce vita is my favourite tournament (let's leave that heart-breaker called Wimbledon out of this conversation just this once!)

I have bought a large vintage poster of Monte Carlo recently, and it hangs framed behind my desk reminding me of those days when the world took its time....and nobody moaned that much ....and ladies wore dresses when they played....and looked and behaved like ladies ....

http://img2.photographersdirect.com/img/16398/wm/pd1802170.jpg

Now, let's get into the mood, shall we?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFabjc6mFk4


AND, last but not the least...

GO NOLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!1

CommonSense wrote:

reckoner wrote:Sorry, I have one last thing to ask. Before anyone gets wound up - I'm not trying to irritate anyone - am just trying to get a perspective on recent events on this board.

Is it against the site rules to PM people about posting on another site? If I PMd someone saying come and post in this discussion on the TennisX blog for example, would I get banned?

Unless you are sending abusive messages I don't see why you'd get banned because you want to tell people you intend to post elsewhere?

Also Jahu, you may notice that the person who started this live match thread has been banned so hopefully I'm not entirely off-topic here, lol.

reckoner, I'm in total agreement with you.What's the pm facility for if you can't contact other members and discuss things in private? I'd have thought people she contacted would have preferred not to been treated like 3-year-olds by Admin. Aren't they grown-ups capable of making up their own minds whether or not they want to follow nitb? I think Admin is perhaps doing the thinking for 606v2 members unnecessarily.

How about try going into a gym with flyers for a rival gym and see how quickly you last.
If you ran this site would you like someone touting people to another? I think it shows myself a complete lack of respect for the site for people to do so and why should I allow it and I don't feel I should be unjustified in wishing to protect something that I and others have worked hard to build.

Agree there too Jahu...Berdy let the match slip really, at 46% he's losing a major strength and it seemed to weaken the rest of his game

lydian wrote:Yep reckoner, he's defo 'wobbly' at the moment

Well we'll see - I do get the feeling Nole doesn't really have to do to much thinking against Nadal these days - more a question of sticking to a plan and executing it.... let's see if the focus is there on the day!

RG is going to be super interesting can't wait...

reckoner wrote:Equally, if the owners of this site want avoid people leaving en masse they should be more upfront about their reasons for banning people. Transparency would avoid quite a lot of bad blood and stop the rumour mill going into overdrive.

Do you agree that there is enough information that has been provided to uphold transparency, or do you think more is required? I am certain Admins do not want to post PMs that they may have exchanged with various parties, which are private, for the sake of transparency.

There's no doubt he's got Nadal's number...for Nadal it's a bad match up at the moment as Nole, gives Nadal those hard shots DTL he doesn't like...especially to Nadals BH. RG is going to be very interesting agreed...as will Madrid and Rome although they are faster courts.

Djokovic is just incredible, he just digs out wins time and again even when he is not playing near his best. He is so consistent. He seems to make semis or final of every tournament he plays. Phenomenal competitor and desire and a lot more ranking points guaranteed now regardless of final result. He is backing up his amazing 2011 year so well and deserves huge credit. Yet another final

The current conditions would favour Nadal more than Simon.

Yes LF, we need to move on and draw a line under this. Hero has also made it clear what has been happening and what is at stake for the founders of this site. As I say, I'm sure we can all group around the reason why we're here which is to enjoy the live tennis and share views....across many different areas. I do agree sticky's can be used for regular topics but surely not for repetitive player bashing...lol.

slashermcguirk wrote:Djokovic is just incredible, he just digs out wins time and again even when he is not playing near his best. He is so consistent. He seems to make semis or final of every tournament he plays. Phenomenal competitor and desire and a lot more ranking points guaranteed now regardless of final result. He is backing up his amazing 2011 year so well and deserves huge credit. Yet another final

That too with emotional stress. The final push awaits. The Nadalovic final should be an interesting one, if that is what happens after the result of this SF are known.

Agreed slashers , Nole is like a force of nature these days.

Nadalovic LF? What about Djakal....sounds more menacing...lol

laverfan wrote:

reckoner wrote:Equally, if the owners of this site want avoid people leaving en masse they should be more upfront about their reasons for banning people. Transparency would avoid quite a lot of bad blood and stop the rumour mill going into overdrive.

Do you agree that there is enough information that has been provided to uphold transparency, or do you think more is required? I am certain Admins do not want to post PMs that they may have exchanged with various parties, which are private, for the sake of transparency.

I do think that enough info is out now to stop people wondering "what happened there" and leave them able to make up their own minds about whether or not the response from mods was proportionate. I had hoped that something could be done to build bridges but it does seem like it's not going to be worthwhile to attempt to do so.

I agree that posting PMs should be saved as a last resort because as you say these are private.

lydian wrote:Nadalovic LF? What about Djakal....sounds more menacing...lol

Yes it does.

Gav wrote:... You guys have got a free forum that costs you nothing to contribute on, yet we give up all our free time to run it, have put in money out of our own pocket when it was set up and Im now sick to death of all the rubbish that comes with this job, people whinging, people moaning, people questioning everything we do. So the site can do one. Im offskies. ...

Hi Gav, I and many others appreciate very much all the time, effort and money you and your team have put into this site

ps: You should go into politics - then you will truly know the meaning of whinging and moaning

reckoner wrote:

I do think that enough info is out now to stop people wondering "what happened there" and leave them able to make up their own minds about whether or not the response from mods was proportionate.

reckoner wrote:

I had hoped that something could be done to build bridges but it does seem like it's not going to be worthwhile to attempt to do so.

I did try quite a bit.

Nore Staat wrote:
ps: You should go into politics - then you will truly know the meaning of whinging and moaning

An exile to a Soviet (notice not Russian) gulag, by contrast, sounds like a bed of roses.

Nore Staat wrote:

Gav wrote:... You guys have got a free forum that costs you nothing to contribute on, yet we give up all our free time to run it, have put in money out of our own pocket when it was set up and Im now sick to death of all the rubbish that comes with this job, people whinging, people moaning, people questioning everything we do. So the site can do one. Im offskies. ...

Hi Gav, I and many others appreciate very much all the time, effort and money you and your team have put into this site

Seconded.

Hero wrote:

CommonSense wrote:

reckoner wrote:Sorry, I have one last thing to ask. Before anyone gets wound up - I'm not trying to irritate anyone - am just trying to get a perspective on recent events on this board.

Is it against the site rules to PM people about posting on another site? If I PMd someone saying come and post in this discussion on the TennisX blog for example, would I get banned?

Unless you are sending abusive messages I don't see why you'd get banned because you want to tell people you intend to post elsewhere?

Also Jahu, you may notice that the person who started this live match thread has been banned so hopefully I'm not entirely off-topic here, lol.

reckoner, I'm in total agreement with you.What's the pm facility for if you can't contact other members and discuss things in private? I'd have thought people she contacted would have preferred not to been treated like 3-year-olds by Admin. Aren't they grown-ups capable of making up their own minds whether or not they want to follow nitb? I think Admin is perhaps doing the thinking for 606v2 members unnecessarily.

How about try going into a gym with flyers for a rival gym and see how quickly you last.
If you ran this site would you like someone touting people to another? I think it shows myself a complete lack of respect for the site for people to do so and why should I allow it and I don't feel I should be unjustified in wishing to protect something that I and others have worked hard to build.

Hero, I completely sympathise with your concern re losing what you've built and I also object to nitb's motive bc it's done in bad taste. But somehow your action in banning her comes across as bordering on paronoia. Sorry, I hope that word is OK. It's the only one that comes to mind. Perhaps I'm being naive, but no one can have that much impact to destroy your house just by pming people to leave! Members leave bc they want to. They make their own decisions to leave; not bc they get a pm from nitb or any one else. I hope it's also ok for me to suggest that you should have more faith in the house you've built. It' will collasp bc of faulty internal infrastructure, not bc one of the house attempts to start a riot. Best of luck!

laverfan wrote:

I did try quite a bit.

And you know what that is of great credit to you given how rude some people were being to you.

reckoner wrote:... I had hoped that something could be done to build bridges ...

Yes, but sometimes there is something scary on the other side ...

Nore Staat wrote:

reckoner wrote:... I had hoped that something could be done to build bridges ...

Yes, but sometimes there is something scary on the other side ...

lol Nore yeah or maybe living under the bridge?

Lol, yeah don't trolls live under bridges?
I'm sure we all recognise the owners of this site will always want to protect their investment against activity that is counter to the growth of the whole forum as a whole. It's a difficult balance to achieve for them (needs of the site as a whole vs needs of individuals) but let's recognise that transparency has been provided. For sure it's been a tumultuous 48hrs but this forum will continue to go from strength to strength and benefit from new members in due course too.

Simon making a decent start here but you also kind of feel Nadal is warming his way into the match. Always amazing to see how Nadals FHs rear up off the clay...wish I could put that level of spin on my FHs...not gonna happen, lol.

Simon's fired up

Simon 2 break points. Go Go Go

2 break points coming up

Yeah he's playing well 10is...taking it early...I wonder if many players have watched Djokovic play Nadal and now trying to emulate it ( as the commentators are now just saying too!)

Always liked Simons game

Any one that beats Djoko tomorrow of these 2 is my friend

...but not a great volley at BP!

Oh Simon, unlucky

I have to say, this MC Masters, neither Djoko or Nadal are up to the par, sure Nadal needs only 60% of his best to move along in clay, and Djoko is hanging in there not at their best. Interesting RG it will be.

Agree, neither have peaked yet. Nadal on 60% is enough to win this today however Simon is giving Nadal a good look at the way Djokovic plays a little so this isn't bad prep for Nadal for tomorrow in that regard.

Always amazes me how skinny Simon's legs are...not what you expect for a pro tennis player.

It's looking like a Rafa - Novak final..

can't wait..

It's gonna be brutal



rotapicname

lydian wrote:Yeah he's playing well 10is...taking it early...I wonder if many players have watched Djokovic play Nadal and now trying to emulate it ( as the commentators are now just saying too!)

Could be. DHBH is starting to cause Nadal problems. seems like a trend.

This is what I, emancipator, wrote prior to the AUS final...

Re: No Winners - Tennis loses
by emancipator on Thu 26 Jan 2012 - 13:36

.If Novak and nadal play in the final get ready for the longest, most physical match ever, if rafa can make it close.

I do agree that the conditions do not give anything to the attacking player. There needs to be some balance. If things continue as they are, every match henceforth will become a war of attrition from the baseline. This will lead to more injuries and burnouts. Surely this cannot be good for the sport.

---------------------------



rotapicname - I have already seen it

But more = better! as any fule no...

Rafa is playing very well

Indeed...they made the Madrd final last 4 hrs back a few years ago...so on this slow surface you better not have anything booked tomorrow!
On the other hand it will be intriguing to see how they approach the match....especially Nadal.

Yep 10is...but he's starting to lose abit of consistency now, you feel Simon is starting to wilt as Nadal finds his range more.

Bit unimpressed with Simon - he'd probably have done ok 20-30 yrs ago, but just doesn't cut it for the modern game.

Does anyone expect to see anything new from Nadal tomorrow?

Drop shots.

Those wide shots make me want to go on holiday... sigh

Perhaps, played a good one today.
If he (or Unc T) have been watching Djokovic today they may target the FH which seems a bit off.

lydian wrote:Does anyone expect to see anything new from Nadal tomorrow?

Deeper groundstrokes and hope Djoker has glutten-full Dinner and breakfast.

You think uncle T is going to spike the Djoker with weetabix?

Lol...Yeah and punch a few holes in the chamber tonight.
Nadal's length is better today but Djokovic is a diff proposition.
Just asked my 8yr old son who is also watching the match with me who he wants to win tomorrow, he said 'my fave player of course! Djokovic'....hmmm...that's a weeks ban on the Xbox then, lol.

Harsh!!

Aye, lol
He's been a fan of his for a while in fairness. Nadal is his 2nd fave.

Simon doing a good job of sticking in here, thought he might have folded 15mins ago.

Come on Simon, get it to 3'rd set.