Monte Carlo 1000 match thread

by lydian Mon 15 Apr 2013, 11:35 am

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

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013, 11:23 am

Agree that's the reality LS but Tipsy himself says he prefers clay and slow...

Great result for Grigor, I really do think he's starting to shift up through the gears now and by Wimbledon/USO he's going to be some player. His career could weirdly follow a similar trajectory to Federer if he can make the physical gains needed. Remember he's 10 yrs younger than Fed so if Fed broke through in 2003 can Grigor do likewise in 2013? Lundgren says Grigor was better at 20 than Federer was...that's some statement. I don't see Grigor doing 17 slams though.

Verdasco has to be the weakest mind for the strongest body out there. On the face of it he should be a staple top10 player. 6'2', strong physique, great mover, huge serve (140+), huge FH and great BH...but its all let down by frailty. He never had the right coach in my opinion from early age.

Stan beats Denis (what a pair of names for modern guys...), Albert (another modern name) beats Turbot.

I'll stick my neck out and say it wouldn't surprise me if Grigor announced himself vs Nadal here...

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013, 11:32 am

great win for dimi 7-6 6-1! tipsy has really gone off the boil since aus.

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013, 11:34 am

Yep - and had that bad loss to Simon in Miami recently too. Cant believe Verdasco is going to lose to a guy who's only playing his 68th ATP match at the age of 27...hang your head in shame Fernando!

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013, 1:35 pm

Uhhhh... knew I should have picked Dimitrov! ... And Ramos...

Looks like Kohlschreiber is on his way out too. Knew he was in trouble as soon as I saw the qualifier was a Spaniard! Laugh

Bad day... bad day...

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013, 1:44 pm

In the words of Robbie Koenig, never underestimate a Spaniard on clay, wether you heard of him or not.

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013, 2:07 pm

Ahhh, Kohlschreiber clawed it back and won in the tie-breaker! Good stuff...

I'm fancying a Davydenko upset over Tsonga right now though, which I was always slightly wary of but didn't really expect.

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013, 2:09 pm

Actually I've got myself in a muddle... Doh

I didn't even pick Kohlschreiber to win, I picked Chardy, who Andujar beat in the first round, so an Andujar win would have actually been better for me... steam

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013, 3:58 pm

Uh oh... Del Potro is struggling against Dolgopolov. Not good. I have him down to beat Djokovic and reach the final. Made that decision based on Djokovic's ankle. Now it looks like DP might not even win his first match. picard

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013, 4:01 pm

Yeah me too. DP up 2-1 in 2nd though.

Even stranger, Goffin wins 1st set vs Almagro 6-2.

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013, 4:12 pm

lydian can vouch for how i called it with the finalists ey? Wink

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013, 4:18 pm

lol.

Almagro goes 5-0 up in 2nd vs Goffin....weird match.

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013, 4:19 pm

Wow... I can't believe 96% of people picked Monfils to win his match. He's just come back from an injury and has no form to speak of. I always like to pick one or two qualifiers to win the first round because they can get on a roll from qualifying and build some momentum. That was the easiest qualifier pick for me.

Del Potro now a break down in second set. Looks like my whole tournament is about to be screwed, unless Djokovic and all the other favourites bow out early too, and the whole tournment becomes pretty much null and void for everyone. Laugh

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013, 4:20 pm

Yep, LS and I had Delpo down for getting to the final.

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013, 4:21 pm

Hang on....DP takes the BP and breaks back!

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013, 4:30 pm

Almagro wins 2nd 6-1 having lost the 1st 2-6.
He's only put in 20 first serves - and got 8 aces! On clay!

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013, 4:33 pm

delpo levels for 1-1

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013, 5:11 pm

Phew. Disaster averted... for now...

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013, 5:12 pm

Goffin mentally weak in that match - at 3-3 in third set he had numerous game points but served 3-4 DF's in the game to gift the break. Then at 3-5 down serves another DF at match point down. 8 DFs in total for the match out of 90 service points - 10% error rate. Almagro served 12 aces and 1 DF. That was pretty much the story of the match.

Delpo wins an up and down match vs Dolgo to keep a few of alive in the 606World Tour comp.

by The Special Juan Tue 16 Apr 2013, 5:13 pm

Since when did they start calling Dolgopolov "The Dog"? What an awful nickname.

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013, 5:23 pm

Yeah, he's pig ugly but that's taking the (dog) biscuit! Dog

by The Special Juan Tue 16 Apr 2013, 6:45 pm

Two in one sentence? JHM would be proud!!

by The Special Juan Tue 16 Apr 2013, 6:46 pm

In the doubles tomorrow, Marray and Fleming play Knowle and a certain Danish tennis player.... That'll be interesting.

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013, 7:36 pm

Peter schmeichel?

by The Special Juan Tue 16 Apr 2013, 8:25 pm

Brian Laudrup.

by ryan86 Tue 16 Apr 2013, 8:52 pm

Sandi Toksvig?

I wonder who will bring home the bacon.

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013, 10:11 pm

now you're just being silly ryan warning

by summerblues Wed 17 Apr 2013, 2:42 am

Finally tennis season proper is here Smile

My favorite stretch of the season is starting this week. Living in the US, I also like it that MC does not have night matches so - with some luck - I can watch both SFs on Saturday morning and they do not have to interfere too much with my weekend schedule.

Some interesting matches already this week. I was happy to see Grigor beat Tipsy. If I am not mistaken, it is only the second time Grigor has beaten a top 10 player so far (but I hope there are many more such wins to come). Hopefully he can back it up with one more victory and then try his luck against Rafa in QF.

by Born Slippy Wed 17 Apr 2013, 6:48 am

If Grigor can win his next match it will be his first ever Masters QF.

by lydian Wed 17 Apr 2013, 9:13 am

Infact Grigor must be fave to get there if playing Mayer or Bautista. If he plays Nadal I actually think he could do well because he's the type of player Nadal doesn't come up against often. What better way to announce himself than the way Gasquet did vs Federer here back in 2005...

by LuvSports! Wed 17 Apr 2013, 9:29 am

why is that lydian?
He handles shbh's pretty well no ? Wink

by lydian Wed 17 Apr 2013, 10:39 am

Indeed, there just aren't that many SHBHers who hit really big off FH, BH and serve - Grigor regularly serves around 130-135mph but he's a much better athlete in my opinion than guys like Wawrinka and Almagro. Given other SHBH guys are probably the most consistent 'trouble' Nadal has had at RG with Federer and Almagro, Dimitrov plays an all court game that could ask some interesting questions. Saying that he'll probably get crushed now...lol.

by lydian Wed 17 Apr 2013, 11:25 am

Granollers gets an early sheep-dip - Berdy sends him packing back to the farmyard 75 64. Nadal up next...

Jarkko & Milos go into final set TB!

by Cogen Wed 17 Apr 2013, 11:39 am

What a rubbish tie-breaker from Raonic! Didn't make a first serve did he? picard

by lags72 Wed 17 Apr 2013, 11:39 am

lydian - do you think Dimitrov's tennis is looking better since he hooked up with Masha (assuming they're still an item .....??)

I'm sure they must spend a fair bit of time "practising" together ..... Wink

by lydian Wed 17 Apr 2013, 11:49 am

Haha lags...do you think Grigor wears ear plugs when they 'practice' together?

Interesting question though - given Maria is a bit of a mental fortress I'm sure the topic of how to maximise potential from a mentally perspective is discussed. At the end of the day he's got a 4 time slam winner in his corner and she'll be watching his matches so can comment afterwards. Mirka I do believe was a good early influence on Roger given she was a pro player too - albeit not as good as Maria. Conversely, she's been pretty good since January also...so a win:win seemingly.

Yep cogen. Raonic serve wasn't great the last 2 games - his own serve then the TB. This is where for me he's just not this great server that people make out vs Sampras. On the really big points he often DFs (I think he did 2 in his last service game) or doesn't get the 1st serve in. When you rely on it as much as he does it actually creates a lot of pressure to deliver.

by LuvSports! Wed 17 Apr 2013, 11:57 am

u dirty dogs u 2!

by lags72 Wed 17 Apr 2013, 12:07 pm

lydian - thanks for a more thoughtful answer than my question perhaps deserved. Some excellent points

I still remember comments by Chris Evert (either in an interview or book) some time after her relatively short marriage to John Lloyd had ended. She said she NEVER criticised him for not progressing to anything like the level that she had reached in the sport, BUT she did have an issue with the fact that he failed - from her perspective - to give 100% focus & effort both on court and in training/practise.

(Ps..... maybe Masha is quiet as a mouse 'behind closed doors' ..... We shall never know !)

by Cogen Wed 17 Apr 2013, 12:09 pm

Haha... Sharapova the cradle snatcher, 25 years old, dating a 21 year old! She should date people closer to her own age... (me) Whistle

Bless... Matosevic celebrated like he won the match when he held serve!

by lydian Wed 17 Apr 2013, 12:16 pm

Haha...I dont think Masha is quiet anywhere. She'll be putting wee Grigor to task, that I'm sure of.

Matosevic won a princely 9 pts in that set inc. Rafa losing 1 on serve. I dare say his morning practice lasted longer than this so far. Matosevic might as well just swing the racquet as hard as he can and see what happens...

by Cogen Wed 17 Apr 2013, 12:19 pm

Wow... Matosevic breaks Nadal! There we go. He'll be so happy with that achievement now that he'll give up and lose the next 6 games. raspberry

by lydian Wed 17 Apr 2013, 12:20 pm

WTF! (no, not World Tour Finals).
Nadal must have gone space cadet - or its a sporting gesture, give the lad a head start to make it interesting.

by Cogen Wed 17 Apr 2013, 12:29 pm

Break points missed for Matosevic. With a double break he actually had a small chance of winning the set... Now, no chance I reckon...

by lydian Wed 17 Apr 2013, 12:33 pm

Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous...Nadal starting to spray UEs all over the place. Matosevic settling down and swinging the racquet with nothing to lose...might as well. Suppressing Nadal for long is a monumental task on the dirt...

by The Special Juan Wed 17 Apr 2013, 1:10 pm

Fleming and Marray win Smile

I wonder if Nielsen regrets not sticking with Marray.

by The Special Juan Wed 17 Apr 2013, 1:12 pm

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

by LuvSports! Wed 17 Apr 2013, 1:36 pm

anyone know if nole is playing poorly, misha playing great, or is struggling with the ankle injury?

4-0 down!

by lydian Wed 17 Apr 2013, 1:44 pm

Not sure, Mikhail a lot of winners, Djokovic dumping shots into the net. Youhnzy targeting the FH...same side as the injured ankle. May be coincidence.
Didn't realise but Youhnzy is 31 in a couple of months!

by Cogen Wed 17 Apr 2013, 1:48 pm

LuvSports! wrote:anyone know if nole is playing poorly, misha playing great, or is struggling with the ankle injury?

4-0 down!

I have it on TV but it is muted and I'm only glancing at it occasionally cos I'm trying to get some work done! He looks a step or two slow to me, and thus hitting some unusual unforced errors, but I don't have the commentary on so I can't hear whats really going in.

Not a huge blow for me if Nole loses today. 99% of people picked him to make the next round, and 95% picked him for the round after that too, so I won't be losing too many points vs the people who went against Nole. I'd rather he went out early and cost me a few points now, than reaching the final and costing me a lot of points later! (In other words, semi-final exit would be perfect to maximise my points, but at least a loss now would guarantee he doesn't make the final!)

by CaledonianCraig Wed 17 Apr 2013, 1:50 pm

LuvSports - tentative is how I'd describe Novak's play. I think he is feeling out the injury and learning to trust the ankle. Djoko gets one break back and trails 5-3.

by lags72 Wed 17 Apr 2013, 1:53 pm

The Special Juan wrote: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.

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