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]

I dunno lydian, if anyone needs the quick conditions surely it's Tsonga? He's in trouble against the top players at the best of times but if his serve isn't the weapon it can be then he'll be in even bigger trouble.

[laverfan]

Dimi was impressive today, despite his loss.

[Henman Bill]

Wasn't surprised to see Dimitrov give Nadal a good game. I watched some of this matched against Tipsarevic, and he is looking more impressive than I have seen in the past. A little more penetration and consistency and variety.

[Henman Bill]

With a brutal, gruelling, punishing 7-6 6-2 win over Gasquet, Fognini surely cannot have any energy left after prevailing against such a battle hardened and never say die opponent. He now looks set to withdraw from his semi against Djokovic. The resulting 1 day without crucial match practice for Djokovic will no doubt explain his loss in the final to Rafa!

[socal1976]

I am going with foggy, Novak is nowhere near his best this will be the second big clay court event that Foggy will knock novak out of.

[summerblues]

Glad to see Dimi did not disappoint. There is a part of me that thinks that at his age just keeping the matches against top four competitive should not be good enough - he should be beating them here and there and should be challanging for their ranking spots. However, realistically he is not there yet. So his main goals should be:

First, be consistent against lower ranked players - one cannot get far without that.

Second, keep it up against the top guys and the wins will hopefully start coming.

Let's hope he will continue in this vein throughout the rest of the clay court season.

[summerblues]

Novak really lucked out so far. His draw did not look that easy but all the big names went out before he would have to play them.

[socal1976]

Novak really lucked out so far. His draw did not look that easy but all the big names went out before he would have to play them.

That is the main reason I see him losing, he has looked really vulnerable all tournament long and has just had really favorable draw. I mean he lost a set to Monaco a guy who has lost 4 straight first round matches coming into the tournament. I really see the djoko foggy match as a 50/50 pick em.

[invisiblecoolers]

Novak really lucked out so far. His draw did not look that easy but all the big names went out before he would have to play them.

That is the main reason I see him losing, he has looked really vulnerable all tournament long and has just had really favorable draw. I mean he lost a set to Monaco a guy who has lost 4 straight first round matches coming into the tournament. I really see the djoko foggy match as a 50/50 pick em.

So excuses are pouring in well before the match has even started , btw this Amrit's strategy of downplaying his hero's chances before a match, do you have the patent now with Amrit gone?

[LuvSports!]

He needs to get fitter, if he is cramping in bo3, think about bo5!

highlights of the rafa dimi match (sounds a bit off)
part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf75iK6TqDU
part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=j9TfKk2Qze4&feature=endscreen

7.45 point wowzer, I think I became a proper fan of dimi after watching that, just brilliant!!!!

[lydian]

This guy is clearly (for me) the most talented of the 22/21/unders. If he had come on tour 8 years ago or so he'd be much more successful already but we know these guys need to be physically tough now and that takes time - partly due to the calendar being so long actually, there's not much of an off season to properly train/develop.

Agree that he shouldn't be cramping after 2.5 hrs...and to think Nadal and Federer went toe to toe for over 5 hours on clay at Rome in 2006 - just shows you how fit these guys are...twice as long a match as this!

However...here's the rub as perhaps not all is as it seems. The adherence to 25 seconds, as I have said before, may actually end up helping the fitter guys because the less fit ones can't recover as quick in 25s. The less fit slowly build up more of an anaerobic/lactic acid overload and start cramping earlier than expected. Dimitrov was yesterday cramping after 'just' 3 sets...Delpo cramped the day before after just 3 sets...since when did Delpo cramp before? Ironically, this 25s rule is going to play right into hands of the very fittest...the top 4-5....putting even more emphasis, not less, on physical development. However, I'm against time abuse. So we get back to speed of conditions again but let's not go there right now.

[summerblues]

jw

[summerblues]

Last night when I got home I watched a replay of the second set of the Rafa-Dimi match. I was hoping to see a great performance by Grisha. He played fine but I have to say Rafa was well below par in that set, which I think may have been the main contributor to the loss of the set.

[kingraf]

I imagine Nadal sitting in his Manacor home, smiling to himself, with that 'I told you so' grin at the end of the season when the body count of cramped up players is shown

[laverfan]

Tsonga done and dusted in the windy MC? Can he really fight back?

[kingraf]

To be fair to Tsonga, its not like he is choking. He is facing a guy exponentially better than him on clay. If they were football teams. Nadal is Real Madrid, and Tsonga is Bilbao, on clay.

[summerblues]

Pretty good stretch from JW. Rafa has been playing well in the second set so Tsonga really had to earn it.

[laverfan]

It would be good to have a third set.

[summerblues]

It would be good to have a third set.

It would, but if I were a betting man I would bet against it.

[lydian]

Last night when I got home I watched a replay of the second set of the Rafa-Dimi match. I was hoping to see a great performance by Grisha. He played fine but I have to say Rafa was well below par in that set, which I think may have been the main contributor to the loss of the set.

Yep, agree...plus Tipsy was awful against Dimitrov too.
Not to take anything away from Grigor but this is nowhere near peak Nadal this week...he's still rusty, no doubt about it, by RG he may be nearer to the ability he actually has but this is some way short yet...he's inconsistent from one set to the next, seems to lose concentration a bit easier than before too. I think Djokovic has a really good shout tomorrow.

[summerblues]

There is a part of me that wants to root for Fognini but the prospect of a Rafa-Fognini final tips me decidedly into the Nole camp.

Nole

[lydian]

Not a great first set.

[whocares]

Hi folks, hope you enjoying the tennis. While I was watching a spirited performance by tsonga that was always never going to be enough against the man that just reached his 9th consec final in MC, I tried to remember when was last time a french player ever beat Nadal on clay... Took me some time but found the answer. Your turn for this bit of trivia.

[lydian]

This 2nd semi is dire, nothing of interest at all, just a procession to the finishing line.

Trivia: Gilles Simon at Madrid Masters 2008?

[summerblues]

Well, that was easy. Fognini offered no resistance. 10am here and both semis are done.

Should be interesting tomorrow. I quite fancy Nole to win, but we shall see.

[whocares]

This 2nd semi is dire, nothing of interest at all, just a procession to the finishing line.

Trivia: Gilles Simon at Madrid Masters 2008?

I think it wasnt on (blue) clay backthen

Clue : sicily

[laverfan]

Madrid Masters 2008 was on HC, IIRC.

[laverfan]

@WhoCares... is it the Palermo challenger where Nadal lost to Mutis?

[whocares]

@WhoCares... is it the Palermo challenger where Nadal lost to Mutis?

Laverfan you nailed it! Back in 2004, It was probably one of the first few tournaments of nadal

[The Special Juan]

No Fed Cup thread?

[ChequeredJersey]

No Fed Cup thread?

You could set one up?

[socal1976]

Novak is looking much better he certainly has a chance at winning the final tomorrow still don't think he will win although I think it will be nip and tuck and he is in there as 40-60 underdog. So much for that long touted theory that Nadal wins because of the time he takes between points and rule breaking. I don't know how many times this argument was bandied about on threads and clearly it was nonsense back then and it continues to be. As I said if Nadal's goal was to grind opponents up fitness wise he would play quicker, and playing quicker would only increase the advantage of a fitter player not hurt them.

Amazing that Djoko feeling not quite his best has defended all his points at MC, he did not look well in his first two matches and also looked vulnerable against Jarko although Jarko just couldn't hurt him and take advantage. Against Foggy, he looked better but to be honest this was more a case of foggy laying a stinker than Novak playing his A game, I still don't feel he has hit the higher gears at this tournament principally as a result of the ankle.

[The Special Juan]

No Fed Cup thread?

You could set one up?

The irony is I didn't even think of doing that

[invisiblecoolers]

I am going with foggy, Novak is nowhere near his best this will be the second big clay court event that Foggy will knock novak out of.

[invisiblecoolers]

Rafa to win in St.sets and the most likely score will be 6-4 6-4 coz Djoko is playing his best and Rafa still warming up so the score line could be closer like 6-4 6-4.

Vamous Rafa.

[laverfan]

@iC... The wobble against Tsonga does not bode well for Nadal. Djokovic is playing cleaner than when he started. As a what-if, if Tsonga had converted one of his three BPs, it may have looked different today.

As SB says, Djokovic, can try his best without killing his ankle, and still may come out a winner.

[invisiblecoolers]

@iC... The wobble against Tsonga does not bode well for Nadal. Djokovic is playing cleaner than when he started. As a what-if, if Tsonga had converted one of his three BPs, it may have looked different today.

As SB says, Djokovic, can try his best without killing his ankle, and still may come out a winner.

Yup very likely result, Djoko is playing scary good but I don't want him to win, I want Rafa to be at his best and let the rivalry continue till FO quarters

[summerblues]

Sunny again in MC. The air is thick with anticipation.

Is this the first of four clay court finals between these two this season?

How will this one set the tone? I go with Nole. Since after the USO last year, he resembles Nole of 2011 more and more; also he again seems to be comfortable in those infinitely long matches, and in that form, for me, he is a favorite over Rafa even on clay.

But, it is no coincidence that Rafa has won on clay as much as he has, so I am sure he will be unhappy with my prediction and will try to prove me wrong.

[Jahu]

Come on Rafa, clay roll him into a donut

[summerblues]

Yes Good start Nole. Keep it up.

...and not to forget, Nole

[summerblues]

Nine more games like these and we are home dry.

[summerblues]

Four down, eight to go. Let's keep it up Nole.

[Born Slippy]

Nothing Nadal can do here except hope that Djokovic can't keep this up. Just doesn't have the game to affect the tone of the match.

[JuliusHMarx]

Lovely little half-volley from Djoko at 30-0 there.
(Of course, it would have been better if there had been a 35-shot rally first - just kidding )

[Born Slippy]

Two more astonishing winners to get to 0-30.

[Jahu]

Must be that ankle, super doubler power on it during the match.

Wake up Rafaaaa

[Born Slippy]

And a phenomenal forehand from Rafa. Some match so far.

[ChequeredJersey]

Been awhile since Rafa's been blown away on Clay like this

[summerblues]

[Jahu]

Nadal back, brakes DJoko.

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