The Random Tennis News Thread

by The Special Juan Sat May 04, 2013 2:17 pm

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

by Born Slippy Sat Apr 30, 2016 9:09 am

I think a lot of the recent drop in rankings is injury related though. This time last year he was ranked about 750 in the world. Impressive.

by lydian Sat Apr 30, 2016 10:14 am

For sure, but he has been up and down nonetheless. His ranking was in the 200s when he was 18...and has been up and down over the period. He was around his current 120s ranking 2 years ago also.

He's been a lazy player to be honest, relying on his talent.
His demeanour has been far too laid back and dour. Hopefully he can use this platform to push on, there is no reason he can be solidly ranked 50-75 like Bedene.

by Guest82 Sun May 01, 2016 7:15 am

I read somewhere that Evans re-evaluated his career during his latest injury and decided to give it some proper dedication. He'll be at a career high after today's win.

I'm a big fan of his and think he is a top 50-75 talent, just doesn't match it with his attitude.

Hopefully he can get inside the top 100 and start entering some main tour tournaments.

by Born Slippy Sun May 01, 2016 7:27 am

Well, he won today so he should be up to 97 tomorrow. He doesn't have much to defend either for a few months, so a couple more good Challenger results and he should be set up for a crack at the grass court season.

by YvonneT Sun May 01, 2016 7:41 am

He'll be at 97 on Monday's rankings - after being 772 this time last year.

To be fair, I think at that point in April 2013 (NS's quote), Dan realised he was wasting his talent, and after that he had a lot of success with some good ATP level wins, Challenger finals and that run to R3 of the US Open from qualifying. That resulting in a ranking in the 120's in Feb 2014. After that, it really was injury that led to the fall to 772. Given his previous form, it was questionable whether he could graft his way back up from 10K futures through to challengers, but to be fair to him, that's exactly what he's done.

It's interesting, since Lydian mentions internal competition as a driver, that his best results recently have come when there's been a British contingent at a challenger sharing a coach (Dallas Edmund d Evans, Drummondville Evans d Corrie, Taipei Broady reached SF). Also he's also usually outperformed his ranking at Davis Cup. It seems that he maybe prefers the team atmosphere to the solo life of a tennis pro.

by YvonneT Sun May 01, 2016 7:48 am

Sorry BS, didn't see your comment when I posted mine. Dan's game really suit grass so should be a good spell for him. Unfortunately re Davis Cup, his game really doesn't suit clay!

by Guest82 Fri May 06, 2016 4:30 am

Dan Evans is through to another challenger semi-final. He'll play Millman, who beat Liam Broady 6-0, 6-0 in the quarter final.

Kyle Edmund also playing Volandri in a challenger semi-final.

by CaledonianCraig Fri May 06, 2016 5:54 am

Guest82 wrote:Dan Evans is through to another challenger semi-final. He'll play Millman, who beat Liam Broady 6-0, 6-0 in the quarter final.

Kyle Edmund also playing Volandri in a challenger semi-final.

It is quite feasible then, that Britain will have at least four men in the draw for the French Open with those being Andy Murray, Aljaz Bedene, Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans.

by Guest82 Fri May 06, 2016 5:59 am

CaledonianCraig wrote:
Guest82 wrote:Dan Evans is through to another challenger semi-final. He'll play Millman, who beat Liam Broady 6-0, 6-0 in the quarter final.

Kyle Edmund also playing Volandri in a challenger semi-final.

It is quite feasible then, that Britain will have at least four men in the draw for the French Open with those being Andy Murray, Aljaz Bedene, Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans.

I don't know when the cut off for the French Open draw will be but would assume Edmund and Evans will both be inside the top 100. I don't think Evans is defending anything of note until around Wimbledon time...not sure about Edmund. But he is quite safely inside the top 100 at the moment.

by Born Slippy Fri May 06, 2016 6:24 am

Evans will definitely be in. He is live ranked 87 now and isn't going to drop any significant points. Haven't checked Edmund but I suspect he is also comfortable.

by CaledonianCraig Fri May 06, 2016 7:09 am

Edmunds will comfortably be there as he is adding to his points this week with a good run heading towards possibly a final in a challenger event.

by Guest82 Fri May 06, 2016 9:25 am

Evans is currently playing hard court challengers...I don't think he is much of a clay court player.

by lydian Fri May 06, 2016 12:32 pm

Edmund makes final of Rome CH...and moves to 85 ranking (not far short of his career best 82).
Evans plays Millman tomorrow for place in Busan CH final...he's already at career high of 87 as BS mentioned.
Interestingly Evans is 48th in live race which shows the run he's put together this year so far (making 2/3 of his total points in 2016).
Edmunds takes a break next week then Nice qualies, Evans plays Seoul (HC again) then Bangkok, so a good run for Evans will have him overtaking Kyle.
Evans hasn't entered RG...but then his ranking a couple of weeks back would likely put him in qualies so he probably thought why bother after a HC run.
But the way its going I wonder if he can now get direct entry...the R1 cash ticket alone must be worth it...

by Guest82 Mon May 09, 2016 7:00 am

Edmund won Rome and Evans lost in the final.

Edmund now ranked 82 and Evans 86.

How would it work with Evans entering RG? Seeing as he would now surely gain direct entrance?

by lydian Mon May 09, 2016 9:35 am

That's what I wondered too but it's not on his schedule at the moment.

Btw, we probably need a BritWatch sticky thread as this isn't really random news...

by Born Slippy Mon May 09, 2016 2:46 pm

Ok, the cutoff date for slam entry appears to be c. 42 days before the start. Consequently, Edmund will be in but Evans will not as his rise is after that date.

by lydian Mon May 09, 2016 3:35 pm

Thanks for the info BS, explains it nicely.

by Guest82 Tue May 10, 2016 5:35 am

Nice one.

Might be better for Evans ranking if he continues to play HC challengers.

by lydian Tue May 10, 2016 6:36 am

Yep. Evans plays Seoul this week, Bangkok next. Then has a 3 week break or so until grass season.
Cant see him doing anything clay in between...might enter a couple of HC/grass challengers at late notice I guess.

by Guest82 Tue May 10, 2016 7:48 am

I am guessing a couple of weeks off might be in order...he's played a few weeks in a row and gone deep in most of them.

by lydian Wed May 11, 2016 1:16 pm

Evans lost in R1 in Seoul Shocked

by ListenUp Wed May 11, 2016 5:59 pm

Born Slippy wrote:Ok, the cutoff date for slam entry appears to be c. 42 days before the start. Consequently, Edmund will be in but Evans will not as his rise is after that date.

Yes, Slams have their entry cutoff date 6 weeks before the event starts. If Dan Evans entered Roland Garros qualies, his seeding would be based on his latest ranking, but as others have said, clay isn't his forte – so even with a high seeding it would be a big ask to get through three rounds, and he'd probably be better off playing a Challenger and then preparing for grass.

by Guest82 Thu May 12, 2016 6:58 am

lydian wrote:Evans lost in R1 in Seoul

I'm guessing he may have been tired...played two weeks in a row and made finals in both weeks. Add in the travelling etc.

Probably not a massive surprise.

by Guest Thu May 12, 2016 8:56 pm

I find the following story reported by the BBC weird and troubling: "Serena Williams eats dog food but reaches Italian Open quarters"

BBC Sports Report wrote:Serena Williams made herself ill after eating dog food hours before reaching the last eight of the Italian Open.

The world number one tried "a spoonful" of food meant for her dog Chip before beating fellow American Christina McHale in straight sets in Rome.

"I thought 'what the heck, I'm gonna try a piece, it looks good'," said the 34-year-old".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/36274989

And the reason why I find the story troubling? Serena's attitude in eating unsourced food - just hours before an important tennis match. That dog food might contain supplements for the dog and various other stuff that might cause her to fail a drug test. I hope that she is not given special treatment when it comes to drug testing. Her attitude seems to be remarkably cavalier and I wonder whether she gets tested at all.

by lydian Fri May 13, 2016 2:49 am

What a Chump ;-)

by barrystar Fri May 13, 2016 4:48 am

lydian wrote:What a Chump ;-)

Pedigree chump

by lydian Fri May 13, 2016 5:36 am

Exactly my meaning too Barry ;-)

by Born Slippy Mon May 16, 2016 5:36 am

Berdych split with Valverdu. Probably a good time to do it - he couldn't have had a worse result in Rome!

by lydian Mon May 16, 2016 6:36 am

Thanks BS, not a surprise...but who does he turn to?
His game really hasn't come on in the past 5-6 years to be honest...sometimes wonder how much he really wants it vs. trappings of being a solid top10 player with (very pretty indeed) model girlfriend.

by Guest82 Mon May 16, 2016 6:41 am

Berdych is finished as a top ten player I think. He may hang around top twenty for a while, if he wants to.

I think variety is creeping into the game a lot more now, those that don't have it are left behind.

by lydian Mon May 16, 2016 7:05 am

Agree, others waiting in the wings to move into top10...Kyrgios, Zverev, Goffin, etc. They want it more. Berdy is a very rigid player and hasn't moved with the times...he was a big hitter at one time but not any more...overtaken by others and his play is too up & down predictable.

by socal1976 Mon May 16, 2016 12:12 pm

Berdych sets a very high bar for himself by having to hit through every opponent, he tried at some point to hit with a little more margin at times and to move in at times. The fact is that while flat pace is a great thing to have it just isn't going to be enough by itself to beat the very best guys. I mean you aren't going to make a living trying to beat Djokovic's or Fed's of the world with just flat pace, at least doing it over and over again becomes a very difficult proposition with such fine margins.

In fact there is nothing a good ball striker likes more than a guy who just hits you flat pacey shots with basically no spin and the same elevation. His style will actually groove in the best ball strikers. Those that athletically can handle his pace (ahum Djokovic) will love Tomas style, like hitting a thousand balls out of the world's most expensive ball machine.

by lydian Mon May 16, 2016 12:38 pm

Well his earnings of $24.5m (prize money - triple/quad that overall) make him a very expensive ball machine indeed.
I somehow think Tomas will ease into retirement without too many concerns Wink

In the meantime, he needs variety/spin and a coach who can take him there.

by socal1976 Mon May 16, 2016 1:13 pm

I'd like to see Mac give it a whirl. There is enough raw talent there. I think one of Berdy's biggest problems is he doesn't get enough out of his serve. He has a good flat drive serve, a good kick slice, and a decent slider; but he doesn't have the kind of variety with the kick serve of guys like Djokovic or Thiem on the second. He also doesn't have the precision to get enough free points with his height and big mphs. If Mac can get Thomas just a couple points higher on his hold percentage by incorporating all the serves and more ambition into the Berdy service games.

by lydian Mon May 16, 2016 1:30 pm

For sure Tomas is wasting all that height and strength...the guy must have the biggest legs on tour and yet doesn't seem to do much with them.
Not sure about Mac for teaching how to use spin more though? Headscratch

He should link up with his Czech compatriot...Lendl!

by socal1976 Mon May 16, 2016 1:56 pm

Yeah but Lendl, doesn't strike me as a guy who does variety or who can junk up his style. Mac I think can get him to have a bit more free flowing and unpredictability to his game. Tomas is already good at doing the one two punch style. In terms of transition game, slice BH improvement, and also improving variety on his serve I think Mac would be better.

by lydian Mon May 16, 2016 2:33 pm

For variety yes I agree.

Tomas has actually mentioned Lendl himself since Ivan left Murray...said it was "just a matter of time" until he worked with Lendl.

That was 2 years ago...lol.

by YvonneT Tue May 17, 2016 7:21 pm

Born Slippy wrote:Berdych split with Valverdu. Probably a good time to do it - he couldn't have had a worse result in Rome!

Announced on his website, simply thus:

Tomáš Berdych quit his cooperation with his coach Daniel Vallverdu.

"My results lately have not been what I expected. As I am not a tennis player at the beginning of his career I have to act quickly when I feel that I need a change." Berdych said.

Tomáš is today on his way to Paris where he will be preparing for the second Grandslam of the season and he has not decided who his new coach will be as yet.

Poor Dani never even got the pretend that he wanted to spend more time with his family .....

by YvonneT Tue May 17, 2016 7:27 pm

I see that James Ward, Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans to the wildcards for Queen's. Edmund and Evans I can understand - they are top 100 and currently on the up, recent challenger wins etc. I expected Ward to get a Wimbledon wildcard, essentially as a reward for his efforts in Davis Cup last year, but Queen's is an exceptionally strong 32 player field and I can't see how he can possibly be provide a decent standard of match. Sadly his form has fallen off a cliff since last Wimbledon.

by temporary21 Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:14 am

Random news everyone! Kyrgios has pulled out of the Olympics due to his longstanding argument with Australia's Olympic committee

by YvonneT Sun Jun 12, 2016 8:28 am

Fabio Fognini and Flavia Pennetta got married yesterday.
The Random Tennis News Thread - Page 16 M_c0631008eb

Congrats to them!

by Born Slippy Fri Jul 15, 2016 8:02 pm

Shout out to Stephane Robert. Aged 36 and a bit - has reached the Hamburg SF. Should see him at a career high on Monday even if he loses!

by banbrotam Mon Jul 18, 2016 3:45 pm

Murray pulls out of Toronto, wanting to get fit for The Olympics

Sensible decision, given last year's summer overplay

Interesting, that contrary to what some think The Olympics are very important to the top Tennis players

by summerblues Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:34 pm

banbrotam wrote:Interesting, that contrary to what some think The Olympics are very important to the top Tennis players

Including Raonic, Berdych and Thiem.

I suspect that golfers and tennis players are more prone to contracting Zika virus than other athletes.

by banbrotam Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:35 am

summerblues wrote:
banbrotam wrote:Interesting, that contrary to what some think The Olympics are very important to the top Tennis players
Including Raonic, Berdych and Thiem.

I suspect that golfers and tennis players are more prone to contracting Zika virus than other athletes.

Who all realise they've no chance, so why bother. And these players also pull out of Masters as well, from time to time

If Roger, Rafa, Novak and Andy think it's of a high status, which they all do, then that surely shows that it is now a coveted medal

by dummy_half Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:24 am

summerblues wrote:
banbrotam wrote:Interesting, that contrary to what some think The Olympics are very important to the top Tennis players
Including Raonic, Berdych and Thiem.

I suspect that golfers and tennis players are more prone to contracting Zika virus than other athletes.

You can't really compare Olympic tennis and golf - tennis has started to build a status courtesy of the gold medals of Agassi, Nadal and Murray and Federer's stating that he wants to win one (in singles), while golf is new to the Games. Also, there is an increased Zika risk to the golfers because the disease-carrying insects are more prevalent around water, so e.g. the lakes on the golf course.

by Guest82 Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:16 am

Dan Evans beat Dimitrov in Washington. Another good result for him.

Bedene lost to someone ranked in the 700's!

by Calder106 Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:44 am

Interesting that Dan had to withdraw from the Davis Cup squad last week with a shoulder injury but is playing well this week. Got to feel a bit for James Ward who dropped out of Rhode Island to play in the DC. Could maybe have got some ranking points and confidence there if he had got through a few rounds.

On a side note Karlovic won Rhode Island beating Mueller in the final (3 tie breaks. What a surprise) to become the oldest player to win an ATP singles title since 1979.

by Calder106 Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:47 am

Interesting that Dan had to withdraw from the Davis Cup squad last week with a shoulder injury but is playing well this week. Got to feel a bit for James Ward who dropped out of Rhode Island to play in the DC. Could maybe have got some ranking points and confidence there if he had got through a few rounds.

On a side note Karlovic won Rhode Island beating Mueller in the final (3 tie breaks. What a surprise) to become the oldest player to win an ATP singles title since 1979.

by Guest82 Wed Jul 20, 2016 5:52 am

Calder106 wrote:Interesting that Dan had to withdraw from the Davis Cup squad last week with a shoulder injury but is playing well this week. Got to feel a bit for James Ward who dropped out of Rhode Island to play in the DC. Could maybe have got some ranking points and confidence there if he had got through a few rounds.

On a side note Karlovic won Rhode Island beating Mueller in the final (3 tie breaks. What a surprise) to become the oldest player to win an ATP singles title since 1979.

Think Leon Smith said something about 'personal issues' meant he wouldn't be in the right frame of mind too. Plus, Evans isn't great on clay, they probably hoped Ward could play to his previous Davis Cup form and not his current Futures level form.

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