Monte Carlo 1000 match thread

[lydian]

First topic message reminder :

Thread for the week to discuss the matches outside the 606Tour and Pick threads.

Mixture of R1 and R2 (?) matches today...

[13] S. Wawrinka vs D. Istomin - 1st Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
F. Verdasco vs M. Matosevic - 1st Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
A. Ramos vs R. Stepanek - 1st Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
[6] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Nikolay Davydenko - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
[8] Janko Tipsarevic vs Grigor Dimitrov - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
[7] Richard Gasquet vs Benoit Paire - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 11:00 AM
[WC] Benjamin Balleret vs Florian Mayer - 1st Round - Apr 16, 11:00 AM
[16] Philipp Kohlschreiber vs Pablo Andujar - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 11:00 AM
V. Hanescu vs M. Granollers - 1st Round - Apr 16, 11:30 AM
J. Huta Galung vs J. Melzer - 1st Round - Apr 16, 1:30 PM
K. Anderson vs J. Janowicz - 1st Round - Apr 16, 1:30 PM
[WC] G. Monfils vs A. Montanes - 1st Round - Apr 16, 1:30 PM
[10] N. Almagro vs D. Goffin - 1st Round - Apr 16, 2:00 PM
J. Isner vs E. Gulbis - 1st Round - Apr 16, 2:00 PM
[14] J. Monaco vs M. Klizan - 1st Round - Apr 16, 3:30 PM
[5] Juan Martin Del Potro vs Alexandr Dolgopolov - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 3:30 PM



http://www.atpworldtour.com/scores/schedule.aspx?year=2013&eventid=410

[The Special Juan]

Stat of the day: Nadal has not lost in April since 2005 (apparently)

I suspect this is a reference to his amazing clay record.

But one of his losses to Davydenko came at the Miami final (albeit not clay) a few years back and I'm pretty sure that it would have been played in early April.

Oh well spotted. It was the 6th of April, that final. The person who's stat that was was wrong then. Thanks

[LuvSports!]

Yes i am not too sure about that stat.

He also lost to djoko in the miami final in '11.

[The Special Juan]

Virignia Wade slams "Drama Queen" Djokovic..... Said no one ever. That's a very impressive win for Djokovic. I heard he eventually felt his way into the match after a shaky start.

And @ my stat, the person who said it will no longer be listened to for stats.

[Cogen]

Doesn't look like my gamble of Gulbis over Monaco is going to pay off... Gulbis is always a gamble... always...

[carrieg4]

Doesn't look like my gamble of Gulbis over Monaco is going to pay off... Gulbis is always a gamble... always...

Could be a double bagel.

[lydian]

The Enigma Machine - Gulbis.
Losing to Monaco in Monte Carlo...a player who can hardly buy a win this year.

I see Djokovic's ankle stood up (pardon the pun) to over 2 hours of battling tennis ... surely it was a non-story from the start?

What happened to Almagro? Didn't turn up at the races today...no way he should be losing to Melzer on clay.

[The Special Juan]

Melzer's gotten further than Almagro in the FO (SF v QF) but even though they're different players in 2013 than back when Melzer was at his peak, it's not really a shock as Almagro was in a final in Houston on Sunday I think and will be suffering from jet lag and fatigue no doubt. Isner, the man who beat him, went out yesterday.

[LuvSports!]

gulbis serving for the set COME ON CRAZY KOOK!

[LuvSports!]

LIIIKKKEEEEEEEEE IIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT take that monaco you patsy!

[lydian]

Good point TSJ...."Houston, we have a problem" said Almagro after his loss presumably?

The Enigma Machine remembers its been set to play tennis today and reconfigures itself accordingly. Normal service resumed... 1 set all.

[LuvSports!]

damn it gulbis what did i just say! 2-0 down

[The Special Juan]

Everyone's a comedian in this section.

I see Gulbis is having fun. He was given a game penalty for cluttering the umpire's chair with his racquet after smashing another one about booting a ball out the stadium.

[CaledonianCraig]

Andy Murray safely through 6-1 6-4 against Roger Vasselin. Solid performance and plenty of winners hit. Next up will be a tougher match against Stan Wawrinka who he has yet to beat in their two previous matches on clay.

[The Special Juan]

Stanford will be tough but he was in a semi-final a few days ago in Morocco where he received a bit of a beatdown from Robredo in the last 2 sets and may also be fatigued/jet lagged. I think it'll be close but Murray v2.0 should win.

Meanwhile the gift that keeps on giving's just lost unfortunately.

[lydian]

What a numpty Gulbis is ... still you just know he'll be gatecrashing some champagne Charlie party down by the marina later on. By 3am he wont even remember playing today when he's in the middle of "George Best-land". Meanwhile Monaco notches up his 4th ATP match win of the year! He had 5 straight 1st round losses, then won 2 matches at Houston before MC...Gulbis what were you doing??!!

[LuvSports!]

Sorry to rain on your parade lydian but apparently he doesnt drink anymore.

[The Special Juan]

He might want to start again after today's shenanigans!!

[LuvSports!]

to be fair he was on a very good run over the US hard court season so I think it has done the trick

[Danny_1982]

Interesting moment in the Murray match. Murray was preparing to serve but had to wait as Roger-Vasselin was playing with his strings and wasn't ready for it.

Murray waits until he is, and gets a time violation. Murray not happy and argued with the umpire. Murray said after the match 'I've yet to see the receiver get a time violation' and I see his point.

Decent performance from Andy. Tough match against Stan tomorrow though. On the dirt I'd call that a 50-50 match.

[summerblues]

What a great line-up for tomorrow. Pretty much every match holds some interest for me. A potential real challenge for Andy, which can indicate what we can expect from him this clay court season. Kohli has potential to test Nadal's level of play. A winnable match for Grigor. Also quite keen on Cilic - Gasquet. Gasquet has been doing quite well this year and Cilic is for me another guy who has never lived up to his potential, and I just keep waiting that one day he wakes up. The other matches also quite interesting. Should be a great day of tennis.

[The Special Juan]

Is Berdych injured or are the live scores I'm looking at wrong?

[Jeremy_Kyle]

Fogninniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

[Jeremy_Kyle]

Kolshi doing a Rosol today, mark my words

[lydian]

Marked

His Fogness routs Berdy...

[lydian]

Nadal and Dimitrov both win their opening sets 6-2.

[bogbrush]

Interesting moment in the Murray match. Murray was preparing to serve but had to wait as Roger-Vasselin was playing with his strings and wasn't ready for it.

Murray waits until he is, and gets a time violation. Murray not happy and argued with the umpire. Murray said after the match 'I've yet to see the receiver get a time violation' and I see his point.

Decent performance from Andy. Tough match against Stan tomorrow though. On the dirt I'd call that a 50-50 match.

He should just serve. The receiver must play to the pace of the server, or something like that. Force the issue, I'm sick of people messing other players around like that, be it disrupting the service preparation or making someone like Hewitt sit in a difficult stance while they bounce the ball.

[lydian]

Djokovic also argued he was waiting for someone in the crowd to settle down when he was warned for time yesterday. ATP need to consider its not just down to the server but I agree the server just needs to get on with it. If the retriever is taking too long to prepare then just ace them down the middle!

[bogbrush]

Djokovic also argued he was waiting for someone in the crowd to settle down when he was warned for time yesterday. ATP need to consider its not just down to the server but I agree the server just needs to get on with it. If the retriever is taking too long to prepare then just ace them down the middle!

It'd crystallise the issue. If the umpire told him to serve again he has the perfect opportunity to argue that if the guy wasn't ready isn't he supposed to forfeit the point? Put it back onto the Umpire. Nothing ever changes if people accommodate violation of rules.

[HM Murdock]

Djokovic also argued he was waiting for someone in the crowd to settle down when he was warned for time yesterday. ATP need to consider its not just down to the server but I agree the server just needs to get on with it. If the retriever is taking too long to prepare then just ace them down the middle!

Rosol did this at Wimbledon v Nadal and the umpire ordered the point to be replayed.

Which of course isn't in the rules, but there you go.

[bogbrush]

Djokovic also argued he was waiting for someone in the crowd to settle down when he was warned for time yesterday. ATP need to consider its not just down to the server but I agree the server just needs to get on with it. If the retriever is taking too long to prepare then just ace them down the middle!

Rosol did this at Wimbledon v Nadal and the umpire ordered the point to be replayed.

Which of course isn't in the rules, but there you go.

But the punishments for violation of the rules has since been changed, so hopefully it would trigger a different reaction from the Umpire. If not, he'd have some explaining to do!

[lydian]

I see Nadal and Dimitrov duly completed their matches with the same scorelines - 62 64. I really think Dimitrov will be a stern test for Nadal tomorrow...this guy is starting to come of age and has the skill to take time away from players. Wouldn't be surprised if he beat Nadal at all...mark those words JK!

[lydian]

Stan giving Andy some SHBH medicine here - takes 1st set 6-1!

[Jeremy_Kyle]

Marked sweetheart.

[lydian]

lol

Marray/Fleming getting turned over in the doubles - EDIT: just lost 64 61

[lydian]

Murray broken, Stan up 61 52

[Cogen]

Worst I've seen Andy play in a loooong time...

[lydian]

Broken again, the rout is completed for the loss of 3 games. Blimey.

[HM Murdock]

Wow. I must admit, I did fancy Stan for the win but I didn't think it would be so comprehensive.

[lydian]

Murray isn't now meant to be playing until Madrid on 6th May...3 weeks away. Wonder if we'll see him now WC into Barcelona or Estoril...

[laverfan]

Performances like this from Murray make me question Murray's claim to be in Fedalovic triumvirate.

A ninth MC for Nadal beckons.

[JuliusHMarx]

Just as Clay once got into Liston's head, I now think clay has got into Murray's head (not Murray Head, that's a 1970s singer).

[Silver]

Crikey. Stan's a formidable player on clay, but that's still an utter rout. What on earth happened? Gasquet currently a break up on Cilic in the second set.

Thanks for manning the match thread, lydian

[lydian]

Murray's serve was up and down, Stan was good/solid, just a "nothing" performance from Murray though. That kind of performance you would never expect to see from Federer or Nadal, and Djokovic more these days.

JHM - and Murray plays with Head racquets too. Agree something goes awry when he steps onto dirt...his movement just isn't good enough, he looks clumsy a lot of the time on it, he's just not a silken mover like the other top 3. Which is surprising considering he moved to Barcelona at 14.

LF, I think you're forgetting Djokovic is still in the draw and I don't see Dimitrov being easy either.

[Jahu]

Monaco brakes Joker. Come on Monaco!!!

[lydian]

Monaco is low on confidence this year...I'll be amazed if he can hold onto the lead. But hey, the Stan win might have given him some hope.

Gasquet thru vs Cilic 75 64.

[Silver]

Going back to an earlier post from the astute Cogen...

As I'm not doing Points Spy this week, here's a quick summary of the main things to note this week.

• Murray is only 70pts ahead of Federer, but could lose up to 170pts this week, allowing Federer to move back up to #2, even though Fed isn't playing. Even a last 16 defeat would see Murray fall 10pts below Federer, so he must match his QF of last year to keep the #2 spot.
  
• Ferrer withdrew this week with an injury, and that opens the door slightly for Nadal to regain #4 before the French Open. It will still require an almost flawless clay season from Nadal.
  
• Berdych is defending a SF from last year. An early loss would leave him to fall back on 105pts from WTC; a drop of 255pts, which would leave him just 10pts clear of Del Potro. However as mentioned earlier in the thread, Del Potro, although guaranteed to lose nothing this week, needs to reach the SF to make any gains.
  
• Gasquet did not play Monte Carlo last year and could pick up some points this year. To pass Tsonga for #8, he'd need to reach the final. Tough but not impossible considering his recent good form, and the unknown quantity of Djokovic's ankle injury.
  

That means that with the exit of Berdych, Delpo has a chance to climb above him with another good run, but he'll need to beat Novak in the next round provided they both make it through. Gasquet's looking good, into the QF with Fognini as his next opponent - he'll need to get through either Djok or JMDP after that, though! Not entirely unreasonable. And of course, Murray temporarily slips back to #3 with that defeat to Stan.

[JuliusHMarx]

Monaco is in Monte Carlo, is in Monaco.

[lydian]

Monaco pegged back to 4-4 (in Monte Carlo...) - wouldn't expect Djokovic to lose many more games now against a guy who became the new Vince Spadea, aka early bath specialist.

EDIT - Monaco breaks...will serve for the set...what's going on???

[Cogen]

Berdych out. Murray out.

This seems to be a day for big upsets...

Del Potro 4-1 down. Djokovic a set down.

[lydian]

Weird indeed, early clay adaptation issues perhaps ... Djoko recovering to 2-0 2nd set though...

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