The Random Tennis News Thread

[The Special Juan]

First topic message reminder :

There's not really a thread up for random tennis news that perhaps doesn't require it's own topic.

First of all, it's sad to hear of the death of Brad Drewett, Chief Executive of the ATP. I don't know if anyone's mentioned that and I've missed it.

Secondly, here's an interesting bit of tennis gossip about Evert and Connors: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/04/tennis-connors-evert-idUKL3N0DL05G20130504

[Born Slippy]

With Stan looking in trouble against Ito, Kei and Milos could soon be left as the top seeds in Tokyo. Playing the weaker of the two 500s may prove very beneficial.

[sirfredperry]

Stan has just crashed out in straight sets.

[The Special Juan]

Gasquet is such a disgrace.

[The Special Juan]

Murray should really try hitting dropshots against the beanPole and see how he responds.

[The Special Juan]

I feel like I'm saying this nearly every Murray match these days, but this is one of the worst matches I've ever seen.

[sirfredperry]

Well, bad match or not, Murray has won it after being 5-1 down in the first, fighting back to take that first set to a tiebreak only to lose it 11-9 and then winning in three sets for the third match running.
His serve, judging by the match stats, was not working at all to start with but the figures did improve. It's a hard slog for him at the moment.

[Born Slippy]

Yeah, good win after dropping his first three service games. Not really threatened at all on serve after that. If they both win, the QF versus Cilic will be interesting.

[Danny_1982]

During first set tie break, Murray screamed at his corner "you've destroyed my serve! Destroyed it!"...

[The Special Juan]

During first set tie break, Murray screamed at his corner "you've destroyed my serve! Destroyed it!"...

Someone's destroyed it - during his first 4 service games I've never seen worse serving.  Too long in the tooth for a Djokovic-esque recovery?

Edit: He might have said "surgery" or something?

[Danny_1982]

Good theory. Replayed it a few times though Juan, he definitely says "you've destroyed my serve!" And it's definitely directed at his team.

I wonder if they're trying something new, or if he's over done it in practice?

[The Special Juan]

He's certainly done something to it to break it. At least there will be time to work on it over the winter.... Oh wait, he's playing in Asia for 2 weeks.

[Calder106]

Definitely looks to be something troubling him regarding the serve. Only saw a little bit of the Robredo match and not all of yesterdays but was concerned by the number of times he starts bouncing the ball to start his service motion only to stop, reset, and start again. Not something I've seen him do much in the past. Sometimes it appeared to be caused by the ballkids or someone else moving but others were Murray himself not being settled. It's almost as if he is over-thinking what he is trying to do.

[Born Slippy]

Possible they are trying to change something to ease pressure on the back? I haven't seen enough of his actual play though. Does his serve look different at all?

[The Special Juan]

I dunno BS. Sometimes he just doesn't get up off the floor at all and it looks almost lazy.

[The Special Juan]

I won't see the match but I'm expecting a comfy Murray win against an aging opponent who's best surface is clay.

[Born Slippy]

Bit of a discrepancy between the Beijing and Tokyo QFs:

Djokovic v Dimitrov
Murray v Cilic
Isner v Berdych
Nadal v Klizan

Sock v Becker
Nishikori v Chardy
Raonic v Istomin
Simon v Johnson

One looks like a slam, one like a 250.

[The Special Juan]

QFs:

Djokovic v Dimitrov - Dimitrov is on a hiding to nothing here. Djokovic in 2.

Murray v Cilic - I fancy Murray here. Cilic won't kick on after his USO win and although he'll play well in drips and drabs, he'll probably only return to his best next season. I reckon Murray in 3, maybe 2 if he starts as well as he did today.

Isner v Berdych - Giant who cares. Berdych.

Nadal v Klizan - You'd have to go with Nadal unless Klizan plays like he did at the first set of Wimbledon x10.

[summerblues]

Finally some interesting matches.  Good luck to Dimi and Marin.  I think they both have a chance though of course they may well both lose too.

I am tipping Dimi to win a slam next year, so he better get used to beating top players.

[The Special Juan]

Murray's all over Cilic in the rallies and it's only due to his errors that Cilic has been able to hold. Nevertheless, Murray breaks in the second game from 40-0 down. There was a superb shot there when Cilic put up a great lob, Murray ran back, turned around and swatted a winner.

[The Special Juan]

We've got a match here. The first set was a washout because Cilic was pretty poor (Murray played well though) but the second has been far more even. Cilic has found his first serve.

[Born Slippy]

Clinical from Murray. Starting to look more like his old self. Looks like 3 of the big 4 in the SF.

[Mad for Chelsea]

in terms of London, as far as I can work out from the ATP site, this means Murray has overtaken Ferrer, while Dimitrov slips a little further away. Nishikori has caught up with Cilic, and those two are in pole position for two of the four spots still up for grabs. Having said that, if Raonic and/or Murray/Berdych were to win this week it would close that gap significantly. Really though, with two Masters to come, it's all very much still up for grabs between Cilic, Nishikori, Berdych, Raonic, Murray, Ferrer and Dimitrov. Looking like a smart play from Nishikori and Raonic to play in the weaker of the two events this week (there's really a huge disparity there).

Tsonga could just about conceivably qualify, but will realistically need to win one of the two tournaments and have a decent showing in the other. Similar for Gulbis, who probably needs a win and a final and other results to go his way.

[sirfredperry]

Bit more of a level playing field at Shanghai next week in that there will be sneaking off to play in the less-strong tournament. Mind you, it didn't do Stan the Man or Duracell Bunny Ferrer much good this week.
Murray could do with the big three doing well next week to deny the others the big points. Still confident he'll qualify for the top eight.

[Calder106]

Would always expect Nishikori to play in Japan and Raonic has played there the last couple of years so it is not as if he has changed his schedule to take advantage of the easier option.

Shanghai will be interesting as given the seedings the players just outside the top 8, currently Ferrer and Murray, will be drawn to play a player in the 5-8 bracket in the QF's. Could lead to some very important match-ups in relation to qualifying for th WTF.

[YvonneT]

Calder, I think it's Cilic, Dimitrov and Murray who miss out on a top 8 seeding in Shanghai based on last Monday's rankings (the ATP have now changed their ranking default to the race which is a bit confusing). So no bye for them, but at least Cilic and Dimitrov can head there now. I'm not sure Masters do the 9-12 to meet 5-8 in R16 like the slams do either - isn't it just 9-16 meet 1-8?

The way the draw worked out in Toyko and the Shanghai byes really give the advantage to Raonic and Nishikori to qualify, and Berdych is in a pretty good position too. Unless Murray can get some top 4 wins, looks like to qualify, he will need the others to slip up early.

[banbrotam]

If Andy plays like he did in the first set today (easily his best play of the year) then I'm not worried

I've also no qualms about him meeting say Wawrinka in the last 16. To me he's currently playing Tennis better than Stan, Cilic, Ferrer or Dimi.

His first Top 10 win since his back surgery, will work wonders

Yes, it might be easier for the other to get to the quarters, but remember this is new teritory to some of them anyway and hence there is no guarantee that they'll get through these

[Calder106]

Yes. I was forgetting that the draw for Shanghai will be made before this weeks points are added. Should it not be Raonic (not Cilic) who also misses out on top 8 seeding. Had a look back at Cincy draw and it looked like the seedings there followed what they do in slams. Might just have been luck though.

[banbrotam]

Good theory. Replayed it a few times though Juan, he definitely says "you've destroyed my serve!" And it's definitely directed at his team.

I wonder if they're trying something new, or if he's over done it in practice?

I did think his serve seemed different and more effective today. Interesting to hear that it's been tinkered with. No surprise that Andy was reluctant!!

[The Special Juan]

Klizan will serve for the match v Nadal.  Would Murray rather Nadal won because he'll have a better chance v Big Berd than Klizan (thus preventing Tomas from achieving final points)?

[The Special Juan]

Doesn't matter, Nadal wins.

[Born Slippy]

^ No confusion there for anyone reading! For the avoidance of doubt, Klizan won.

Bad news for Andy who could easily see Kei, Milos and Berd all moving further ahead of him unless he can beat Novak.

[sirfredperry]

^ No confusion there for anyone reading! For the avoidance of doubt, Klizan won.

Bad news for Andy who could easily see Kei, Milos and Berd all moving further ahead of him unless he can beat Novak.

Yeah, this is a bad result for Andy. Klizan won't beat Berdych who will now reach the final. Andy needs the guys who have already qualified for the O2 to get the big points over the next few weeks, not the guys further down the rankings.

[The Special Juan]

^ No confusion there for anyone reading! For the avoidance of doubt, Klizan won.

Bad news for Andy who could easily see Kei, Milos and Berd all moving further ahead of him unless he can beat Novak.

I was torn between "Nadal loses" and "Klizan wins" which in the end morphed into neither.

[It Must Be Love]

Beijing isn't a very important tournament

[The Special Juan]

Goffin v Zverev in Belgium - an interesting battle. Dave will probably win easily but I'm looking forward to it.

[banbrotam]

^ No confusion there for anyone reading! For the avoidance of doubt, Klizan won.

Bad news for Andy who could easily see Kei, Milos and Berd all moving further ahead of him unless he can beat Novak.

Yeah, this is a bad result for Andy. Klizan won't beat Berdych who will now reach the final. Andy needs the guys who have already qualified for the O2 to get the big points over the next few weeks, not the guys further down the rankings.

Why had Berdych suddenly become suddenly unbeatable?

Even so, for me if Andy cannot get 8th then that will only because he's not improved on earlier this year or freak results which make it easier for the others to get big points occur in the next Masters

To be honest I'm not bothered about him being at the O2. THis gradual return to form a bit of hit and giggle with that end of season nonsense and he starts the year fully fit / raring to go will be fine

I despaired when I saw his opening round - it looked like as thiough a Hewitt like struggle was all he had to look forward to, from then on. But his play today, showed that he actualy still has enough to beat any of his rivals

I'd like him to work on his consistency and improvement, not get mentaly burned at London, where the inevitable 'Murray is rubbish' headlines will occur if he doesn't get beyond the group phrase. Unfortuantely there are a lot of ignorant Brits / media around who are the type to think that 'Kei' is a new vegetable, so they ain't gonna understand that Murray won't be favourite

[YvonneT]

Yes. I was forgetting that the draw for Shanghai will be made before this weeks points are added. Should it not be Raonic (not Cilic) who also misses out on top 8 seeding. Had a look back at Cincy draw and it looked like the seedings there followed what they do in slams. Might just have been luck though.

Cilic is 9th in the rankings this week and Raonic 8th. You were right the first time about seed 9-12 being drawn against 5-8 in the R16 - ATP tournaments do this too, I thought it was just slams. That improves Murray's chances in Shanghai a little, though I still expect he will run out of steam at some point with having to play from the first round.

[Calder106]

Yes your right again. Was looking at Race To London rankings instead of ATP full year rankings. Still could make some very important last 16 matches ups though. Ferrer, Berdych, Nishikori, Raonic (5-8) Cilic, Dimitrov, Murray, Tsonga (8-12).  If they get that far there is a lot to play for.

[summerblues]

I was hoping Dimi or Cilic would be at least competitive only to wake up and see they both got destroyed

Then I get home and find out the day was not a total waste after all

Difficult for me to decide who to support between Nole and Andy:  would like to see Nole lose to give Fed a chance for YE #1 but would also like Andy to lose to give youngsters a better chance to qualify for WTF.

[summerblues]

Shanghai draw:

Andy's path to the title:
R64: Qualifier
R32: Janowicz
R16: Ferrer
QF: Nole
SF: Federer or Nishi
F: Rafa

That is pretty rough.

[summerblues]

Anybody watching the match?  Nice early morning for those of you in Scotland.

[summerblues]

The matches between these two somehow always leave me cold.  I will try to stay up through the first set but going to bed thereafter.

[YvonneT]

So not unexpectedly, Murray loses to Djokovic and Raonic & Nishikori make the final in Tokyo. Bit of the uphill battle now and the draw in Shanghai hasn't done Murray any favours - beating a qualifier, Janowicz and Ferrer seems doable (but not easy) but that only gets 180 points which is unlikely to be enough to move up from 9th in the race.

I think Cilic and Nishikori are pretty much safe, leaving 2 spots left for Raonic,  Berdych, Murray, Ferrer or Dimitrov. I suspect that Raonic and Berdych will get them but would much rather see any of the others than Raonic. Of the 5 contenders, probably Dimitrov has has made the most improvement and produced the highest level in individual matches - the other 4 have been reasonably consistent but not at all spectacular. Not exactly indicators of that a stunning performance is likely at the elite 8 showdown.

[The Special Juan]

Anybody watching the match?  Nice early morning for those of you in Scotland.

Can't believe they stuck it on at half 5 considering both players are European.

[YvonneT]

Having said that Djokovic has new fatherhood to cope with, Federer has Davis Cup on his mind as does Wawrinka, who is also out of sorts, Nadal is an unknown in terms of form & fitness so not sure what to expect in London. Maybe Cilic could do quite well - he seems to have the right game for indoors. Not sure about Nishikori as I'd expect him to be tiring.

[YvonneT]

If Murray was the alternate, would that be the worst possible result for him? Not playing, but having to stick around rather than going for his off-season training. I presume you can chose to skip ad let the 10th player take it.

[The Special Juan]

There's still Paris to go and possibly Basel. Don't forget Murray always plays well in Shanghai but I wonder how fatigued he is coming into it.

[YvonneT]

No matter how well Murray usually plays in Shanghai, it's tough to see him getting past Djokovic if he even makes it that far.

I was wondering about Basel/Valencia - Murray's had some grief with Basel for withdrawing twice (once after a wildcard was given) and the field's pretty strong there anyway so I doubt he'd go there. Valencia would be an odd one as Ferrer seems to have a big stake in it, so not sure a wildcard would be forthcoming there. All the other players in the race do seem to be playing that week though so risky for Murray not to have entered any.

I checked the rules on the alternate and the commitment seems the same as the 8 qualifiers - so pretty much have to go. Could be good practice I suppose.

[The Special Juan]

If Jelena could hurry up and fire this kid out it would everyone a favour.

What's astounding about the rankings is that Djokovic has 8150 points and has only played 13 tournaments. The only person who has played the same (or less) in the top 100 is 42nd ranked Nick Kyrgios.

[summerblues]

I think Cilic and Nishikori are pretty much safe

Cilic is in no matter what. As a slam winner he is in as long as he is in top 20 (which he obviously will be)

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