The Paris 1000 Tractor Thread

[lydian]

First topic message reminder :

AGRICULTURAL Match of the Day:
The Massey-Ferguson Award goes to Ferrer vs Granollers.
Imagine my horror when I realised I had missed Ferrer beat Granollers, a match for the real purists of the game.
I'm surprised they dont have to re-lay the surface given the number ofseed-plough strokes there would have been on display.

Elsewhere...
+ Dimitrov down 1 set and a break to Monaco (what was that someone was saying about Grigor's talent breaking through...?)
+ Gasquet down 1 set to bean-pole Anderson

LIVE SCORES HERE: Live Scores!

[lydian]

Yes he blocked the shot..and it worked for him. He didn't break any rules though.

So some good match ups today. And we now have another tall guy breaking through...Jenowicz at 6'8. Murray should have had him yesterday though. Given guys like Tsonga and Tipsybhave qualified for WTF I suspect they won't be busting a gut today and we could have an unusual Masters final line up at the weekend.

[laverfan]

Murray lost a match after squandering match points for the third tournament in a row. The 25 year old was beaten by Milos Raonic in the semi-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo after holding two match points and, a week later, missed five match point chances as he succumbed to Novak Djokovic in the Shanghai Rolex Masters final.

Not good...

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/11/44/Paris-Thursday-Murray-Berdych-In-Action.aspx

[The Special Juan]

Unrelated to Paris but Sergei Bubka has fallen 3 floors and broken all sorts of bones I'm hearing.

[The Special Juan]

No one say "Tomas the Tank Engine"....

Completely outground by Simon in the end. 41 UE's in the end, if it wasn't the backhand that was misfiring it was the forehand. Berdbrain is 1 step behind the Top 4 and when he has his good days he beats anyone but I just can't see him cracking the Top 4 because he's so inconsistent.

Janowicz v Tipsy now... Tipsy is another person I'd like to see win this event to prove Serbian tennis is only 99% about Djokovic.

[lydian]

Tomas is so flaky at times. He really is a box of chocolates.

Tipsy has the all clear to win this event now that he wouldnt be breaking Serbian Law.

[LuvSports!]

POLSKI BREAKS 3-1! wahoooo!!!

[laverfan]

Tipsy down a break in set 2 against Janowicz.

PS: May be short-lived though.

[lydian]

Janowicz is through to SF vs. stick-legs Simon.
He could be in a Masters final at this rate.
Paris is probably the best opportunity for guys outside the top 4-8 to win a Masters given the top guys are:
a) saving themselves for WTF
b) WTF is the week after Paris...and Basel/Valencia was the best before.
c) running out of steam by late October

Oh hang on I'm talking about windows of opportunity again

[The Special Juan]

Janowicz > Raonic

It may well be a flash in the pan though, we'll need to see how he takes this into next year. One thing's for sure though, I like him more than 1 dimensional Raonic.

[The Special Juan]

Ferrer v Simon anyone? Daveed is playing really well v Tsonga just now.

[bogbrush]

Great to see Llodra doing well against Querrey.

Vive la S & V!!!

[Guest]

Oh yes baby.. JJ bandwagon is officially rolling.

Except Lydian, your windows of opportunity traditionally last for a year.

[lydian]

Indeed, about the same timeframe as mild mono after-effects...

Agree, it's a joy to watch Llodra, great to see a different way of playing. I don't like watching Querrey/Lurch either, so I'm rooting for The Lod of the VolleyING.

[lydian]

The Lod duly completes the victory.

He moves 69(!) places to #52 ranking.
Janowicz moves 33(!) places to #33.

Those are some jumps! Ferrer could move to within 700pts of Nadal if he can win Paris...and given he's the top seed left he's now favourite! That could harm Nadal in future seedings if Ferrer can overtake him via a good WTF run. The diminutive Spaniard from Valencia keeps on trucking...

[bogbrush]

Nadal as a quarterfinal opponent for a big boy in Austalia?

Yeh, Djokovic gets Rafa in qtr & Murrayin semi. Ill take that!

[The Special Juan]

Sir Jonny Marray is in the semi-finals of Paris with Hanley (whoever he is?). He's splitting with Nielsen next year so he'll be looking for a full-time doubles partner. Murray/Marray?

[LuvSports!]

JJ one set away!!!

[CaledonianCraig]

Janowicz really impressing at the Paris Masters it must be said. He has exploded on the scene but I will remain restrained until we see if this isn't just a flash in the pan. The Pole seals a place in the Final in Paris after beating Gilles Simon 6-4 7-5. The question is can he kick on following this breakthrough? If so ItMustBeLove missed this one from her Young Players thread.

Sorry IMBL - I couldn't resist it.

[User 774433]

Lol no worries CC

I'll be honest, I under-rated him and didn't think he was that good earlier (when I nominated the players).

How totally wrong I was!!

Lets see if he can kick on now, this is his last tournament of the year I believe.

[User 774433]

Btw it's a he.

[lydian]

Jerzy has played and won 7 matches now in Paris starting with beating Tursunov in Qualifying R1...an amazing run.

He's now beaten 5 top20 players in a row

[CaledonianCraig]

Btw it's a he.

Apologies for that.

[lydian]

Why oh why can't more players play like Llodra, his volleys are a joy to watch, his SHBH isn't bad either! At times he makes Ferrer look so ordinary for a #5 ranked player.

[Haddie-nuff]

Doesnt stop David taking the first set though Lydian

[LuvSports!]

game over

[Haddie-nuff]

Vamos Daveeed Vamos

[User 774433]

Daveed!
He's so good.

[Haddie-nuff]

. he is the most tenacious and doggedly determined player you could wish to meet. His work ethic is second to none He might not be the most talented of players on tour.. but what a fighter. I have nothing but admiration for the man

[User 774433]

He is actually very talented, he's underrated on that front.

[lydian]

Yes Haddie, he's dogged alright. I dont mind Ferrer so much but its nice to see the variety Llodra brings rather than the ubiquitous baseline play we currently have.

[Haddie-nuff]

Agreed I have always thought that he was so. He comes out of the same school as Rafa.. never say die... (they incidentally are very good friends) but he is also such a lovely man.. my second favourite player.

[The Special Juan]

I agree with IMBL. IMO he has a fantastic forehand. I think of Nadal's forehand as a sledgehammer (or something else used to bludgeon) whereas Daveed's is more of a rapier in that it's not as powerful but is deadly accurate and can cut a player's defense open. Ok, he comes unstuck against the very best players most of the time but add to that his mental strength and his speed and his return game, he's one heck of a tennis player.

[Haddie-nuff]

Maybe your right Lydian I wouldn´t argue on that front. But I do love to see hard work rewarded and especially this late in his career.

[laverfan]

Happy to see Llodra put up a valiant fight.

If I had my way, I woud give Ferrer a couple more inches of height, and see how others stack up against him.

A fourth MS final, if Ferrer hangs tough, awaits.

[laverfan]

@Lydian... The CC DHBH from Ferrer earlier was as good as Llodra's previous CC FH, but the applause is partial. If need be, Ferrer can play at the net too.

Is he a baseliner? Yes, but he does have variety and one of the hardest working players.

Look at that net point now.

[Haddie-nuff]

Happy to see Llodra put up a valiant fight.

If I had my way, I woud give Ferrer a couple more inches of height, and see how others stack up against him.

A fourth MS final, if Ferrer hangs tough, awaits.

LF take a look at his H 2 H against Berdych, Delpo, Raonic... he loves the big guns with big serves.
He is not intimidated by them at all. I think he uses his height to full advantage.. his court coverage is brilliant.

[laverfan]

The Federer-like hold the shot-for-a-millisecond from Ferrer. (Perhaps I am partial to Ferrer and an underdog).

[laverfan]

Exquisite net play, 9/12 at net for Ferrer.

[laverfan]

Paris crowd cheering Ferrer errors. Very sad.

[laverfan]

I did not realise the Sergio Casal record. :hatoff: to Ferrer.

Well played Llodra.

[Haddie-nuff]

Paris crowd cheering Ferrer errors. Very sad.

Well why should he care...so typical of the French crowd... they have lost three in two days !!

So Daveed... lets see what you make of the new boy on the block ??? !!!!
Vamos

[laverfan]

Llodra BPs 1/11.

Most tour wins for Ferrer at 71.

[laverfan]

Both finalists will make history, if they win.

[The Special Juan]

JJ just hit a 150mph serve. Wow.

[laverfan]

One more set, Daveed. Come on.

[Haddie-nuff]

So far so good Daveed. you can do it.

[The Special Juan]

Daveed! This is probably his major final. JJ is learning Rule Number 1 of playing Daveed: Do not dropshot him. You will not win.

[carrieg4]

Go Daveeed!!!!

[laverfan]

JJ breaks. Very good challenge.

[laverfan]

Impressive serve from JJ, even if it was a Let.

Daveed, come on.

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