2015 250-500 Tournaments Thread

[temporary21]

First topic message reminder :

A thread intended for discussion of the smaller tournaments of the year. First up, its Doha.

[summerblues]

That said, Nishi just breaks back for 4:4.

[summerblues]

What a miss to give up the break yet again.

[summerblues]

Wow, Ferrer cannot serve the match out partly due to his errors partly due to Nishi's good aggressive play.

[summerblues]

LOL, Nishi broken again - that is now four consecutive service breaks - and David will be serving for the match again.

[laverfan]

30-15, come on Ferrer! 2 MPs.

[summerblues]

This time Ferrer takes it. Congrats - this is I think his third tournament win of the season.

[laverfan]

The 5-match streak is broken.

Two Old Men win titles this week.

Nishi.. Upwards and onwards! Good week.

40 UEs.

[laverfan]

This time Ferrer takes it.  Congrats - this is I think his third tournament win of the season.

Yes.

[summerblues]

Even so, Nishi is moving up to #4 in the rankings for the first time.

[summerblues]

This time Ferrer takes it.  Congrats - this is I think his third tournament win of the season.

Yes.

He just does not go away.

[socal1976]

Good work by Roger serving brilliantly and taking out Djokovic. Congrats to him, 84 titles and counting and beating the world #1 in the process. Novak I think has still not hit his best form this year. He shouldn't be losing this match to Federer at this stage in their careers. Although in honesty this surface of the outdoor hardcourts along with Cincy favors Federer like the AO favors Djokovic. Novak's form this season despite a large lead in the 52 week rankings has been very up and down.

[HM Murdock]

Novak I think has still not hit his best form this year.

No, I don't either, but I don't think he's too far off.

He's playing some excellent tennis but it's interspersed with odd sets or matches where the wind suddenly goes out of sails. In other words, he's basically being Novak!

I've now watched some highlights of yesterday's match and I think it was just one of those matches. Novak had 7 break points but Federer saved them all, mostly with brilliant serves. Federer only had 2 break points and he took them both.

As is usually the case in this match up, the player who executed their game better won.

My only disappointment is that collapse from 40-0 in the 11th game of the 2nd set. That was sloppy.

[kingraf]

Always happy for a Nole loss. Happy about a Federer win as well. Interesting to see Federer being so clinical on BPs, as that is not his allotment, but good for him. Be interesting to see how the old man goes this year, with 2016 being so close. If he has another good year, might even rubbish a 2016 retirement (although I'm not sure he's ever said he'll retire next year, just basically said he'd like to play in Rio, which being on hard might give him a chance). Hoping for a Nadal victory, and Monaco seems like one of those "if you could pick anyone to play to help you get out of a rut, who would you pick?" type guys for Rafa.

[Josiah Maiestas]

David Ferrer with a 3rd title this year. I believe he can finally beat Fed this year especially if they meet on clay. Kei still has to improve his serve he gets broken too much for my liking!

[It Must Be Love]

It's been a nice week of tennis so far, all 3 events have been pretty fun.
Also Emancipator, Buenos Aires is not a challenger and not in Peru either

[laverfan]

It's been a nice week of tennis so far, all 3 events have been pretty fun.
Also Emancipator, Buenos Aires is not a challenger and not in Peru either

If Eman had his way, it would be played in Machu Pichu and have no points.

Seriously, http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/02/8/Buenos-Aires-Saturday-Nadal-Monaco.aspx, Nadal can tie Vilas for 46 Clay titles with a win.

[laverfan]

Novak I think has still not hit his best form this year.

No, I don't either, but I don't think he's too far off.

He's playing some excellent tennis but it's interspersed with odd sets or matches where the wind suddenly goes out of sails. In other words, he's basically being Novak!

I've now watched some highlights of yesterday's match and I think it was just one of those matches. Novak had 7 break points but Federer saved them all, mostly with brilliant serves. Federer only had 2 break points and he took them both.

As is usually the case in this match up, the player who executed their game better won.

My only disappointment is that collapse from 40-0 in the 11th game of the 2nd set. That was sloppy.

The second set lost to Berdych was very similar to the second set v Federer. He is beginning to mimic Federer by losing service games with nonchalance.

Salah Talak's faux pas, calling Federer #1 was hilarious, and Federer corrected him with a smile. Mercer jumped in with still the number 1....

[It Must Be Love]

However I do think that line was relevant, given what I said just after that.

I did not find what you were saying very relevant but I am starting to suspect it may be due to English being my second language.

When you said

but not exactly that entertaining in my opinion- not many amazing rallies

I interpreted it to mean something like "I do not think it is that entertaining" in much the same sense one could say "I do not think it will rain tomorrow".  But maybe you meant something more like "I do not find it that entertaining" in much the same sense one could say "I prefer baseball to basketball".  If that is what you meant then fair enough.

I'm not quite sure I understand what you're saying SB, but I meant it in the 'I prefer baseball to basketball' way- i.e. simply my opinion on what I enjoy more.

[Jahu]

Nadal is:

1. Sweating crazy within 1 minute of play,
2. Looks fat,
3. Breathless,
4. His hair is falling faster then icebergs melting
5. Second game of the match and he is making a chaos of complaints with Umpire and poor Monaco.
6. These alien beta-treatments are costing him a lot oh his body.
7. ...
8. Profit!!

[It Must Be Love]

He's not fat, and I think it's likely what you saw as sweat was water from the heavy rain...

[Jahu]

No way, Monaco did not get drenched.

Nadal is PHAT this year and breathless, and falling apart organically.

I know it, I have cut mice in elementary school Biology, so I'm half doctor.

[It Must Be Love]

Well Nadal was definitely wet due to rainwater, Monaco looked pretty similar as far as I could see.
And he doesn't look fat either to me, sorry.

[Jahu]

Don't be sorry, be fair

[bogbrush]

Dunno about fat for sure, but Rafa has always sweated like a horse. Doesn't seem to bother him though.

One thing for sure though, boy is the hair going fast!

[LuvSports!]

Balding Rafa wins the first set!

[TRuffin]

Amri says he's "never seen Nadal with this much hair on his head". He sees only what he WANTS to see when it comes to NAdal.  

I don't see the fat part, but the massive hair loss even since January shows Nadal has or is doing some serious damage to his health.  It isn't like natural at the rate its going.

On terms of tennis level-  the levels we saw from Federer and Djokovic are far above what we are seeing from NAdal. They would be crushing all these short balls from NAdal while Monaco just watches them glued to the baseline.  NAdal has a long way to go-  if his body allows it

[laverfan]

4-0 second set. Monaco is fading fast. #46 looks to be happening soon.

[LuvSports!]

Apparently he won't equal Vilas with this win as he won 49.
Two of his Toronto wins were on clay before hard court and one was in Virginia.

[laverfan]

Apparently he won't equal Vilas with this win as he won 49.
Two of his Toronto wins were on clay before hard court and one was in Virginia.

Quite true, but ATP never gave Vilas credit for these. Very sad.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Vi/G/Guillermo-Vilas.aspx?t=mr

[Haddie-nuff]

No way, Monaco did not get drenched.

Nadal is PHAT this year and breathless, and falling apart organically.

I know it, I have cut mice in elementary school Biology, so I'm half doctor.

So that means your half a man right??

[bogbrush]

How can Amrit say that? That's bizarre, he's clearly thinning quite rapidly.

Then again, it's Amrit........


What's this idea that he's doing something to himself? I've clearly missed some discussion.

[Haddie-nuff]

He does appear to have lost a lot of hair of late..it looks particularly bad when he sweats... not unusual for premature baldness though ..Wills is losing his by the minute on the other hand none of Rafa's male family appear to have the problem..

[Jahu]

No way, Monaco did not get drenched.

Nadal is PHAT this year and breathless, and falling apart organically.

I know it, I have cut mice in elementary school Biology, so I'm half doctor.

So that means your half a man right??

Hahah, you still flirting with me? Come and try me am I half or full man

[It Must Be Love]

Nadal is clearly losing hair, I've seen worse at his age though, maybe he should do a Rooney
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/robbie-williams-wayne-rooney-hair-2838129

[It Must Be Love]

On terms of tennis level-  the levels we saw from Federer and Djokovic are far above what we are seeing from NAdal. They would be crushing all these short balls from NAdal while Monaco just watches them glued to the baseline.  NAdal has a long way to go-  if his body allows it

Fully agree Truffin, Nadal is not near any sort of competitive level atm, from what I've seen in the past 2 weeks.

[LuvSports!]

But IMBL you were quite persistent (not like you ) in your back and forth with Truffin that he wasn't losing hair.

[It Must Be Love]

Edited out >>

[LuvSports!]

They might infer that from what I said but that is not what I implied.
Back then you insisted that he wasn't losing hair.

[It Must Be Love]

Luvsports, check your inbox, I just sent you my full quote from a few months ago, and it directly contradicts the claim you just made.
If you're going to try and quote me, atleast remember what it is I said. I said he's not gone bald, and that  "his head hasn't lost that much hair".
When he was younger he used to have more hair and longer hair, and his hair is thinner now than it was then. He's not the first male to go through it, and he won't be the last.

[Silver]

Well played Daveed and Rafa, a few more notches on the belt for the tour veterans this week! Those have probably played 3000 matches between them or something crazy like that. I hope Nadal finds his groove in time for Indian Wells, sterner opposition awaits. It's good to see him in the money again though

Good work by Roger serving brilliantly and taking out Djokovic. Congrats to him, 84 titles and counting and beating the world #1 in the process. Novak I think has still not hit his best form this year. He shouldn't be losing this match to Federer at this stage in their careers. Although in honesty this surface of the outdoor hardcourts along with Cincy favors Federer like the AO favors Djokovic. Novak's form this season despite a large lead in the 52 week rankings has been very up and down.

I don't know though, maybe he shouldn't lose on paper but Federer is a horrible opponent for plenty of guys on tour, even now. He must be a tactical nightmare to play against (he mined the wide serve + FH combo well yesterday). In a one-off match he can still bring the noise - but even then Novak was unlucky not to take it to a decider.

If he's still #2 at the end of the year though, the rest of the competition need a slap.

[TRuffin]

Amri

You spent hours and posted picture after picture to show us he wasn't bald and had a full head of hair. You claimed not only was NAdal not losing his hair at the moment, but he had actually regained hair!'  Is that not what your statement below clearly says?

"Thirdly I don't know if you've noticed but he has lots of hair on his head at the moment. I can give you pictures, but I've never seen his head with so much hair for a while."

Now you finally recognize the truth- so no need to beat. Dead horse- but that's the straight record

[It Must Be Love]

There is a reason that I find quotes from another forum taken out of context particularly irritating, as people can't actually see the circumstances of any quote.
It was after I found a few specific photos, which I linked.
You then commented how the position of the bandana may affect how his hair looks, and I recognised you may have a fair point.
To these photos:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10891822_783557401709487_4667357599951033863_n.jpg?oh=962b3dfb206db9cd93db2e0df8528694&oe=55476C25&__gda__=1428625309_b434cc4f11cd792cd8c5d91482d886d9
https://33.media.tumblr.com/bd198bd9c62cc242ca4ac6d216afb44d/tumblr_nhm2h7ugLm1qdqc4eo1_1280.jpg


By saying what you said earlier "Amri still says he's 'never seen Nadal with this much hair on his head'."- it's misleading in two ways- firstly I never said the word 'never seen', and secondly you used the present tense when I was talking about these pictures months ago. So you use mis-quotes out of context and give the wrong impression on timing to make me look foolish.

[Belovedluckyboy]

It's not only Rafa that's sweating bucket, look at Ferrer at Acapulco, he's sweating as badly if not worse! They did more running than their opponents in general, so all the sweating!

Rafa is balding but that's not news. He's been like that for a few years now, I don't understand what's this 'he's doing damage to his health' implication. I mean I've seen many males as young as in their 20s having thinning hair problem due to stress. Rafa is certainly under plenty of stress these past few years - the Novak threat, his own injury problems and the subsequent doubting of his own ability to make successful comebacks, the lacking in confidence - in fact I have to commend him for not giving up and keeps on fighting to stay relevant and stays at the top tier of the game. Well done to Rafa for winning this BA title.

Whether Fed or Novak would 'crush' this Rafa or not, we have to wait and see, maybe at IW or Miami? Once Rafa's confidence is back, I'm sure he'll do better than his AO this year on the HCs. IW surface suits Rafa's game, let's see how he does there.

[socal1976]

He's not fat, and I think it's likely what you saw as sweat was water from the heavy rain...

Nadal is one of the sweatiest dudes I have ever seen. One year I was sitting second row behind the baseline at IW and you could litte see a rain of droplet come off the guy when he would wind up and hit a ball.

[socal1976]

Novak I think has still not hit his best form this year.

No, I don't either, but I don't think he's too far off.

He's playing some excellent tennis but it's interspersed with odd sets or matches where the wind suddenly goes out of sails. In other words, he's basically being Novak!

I've now watched some highlights of yesterday's match and I think it was just one of those matches. Novak had 7 break points but Federer saved them all, mostly with brilliant serves. Federer only had 2 break points and he took them both.

As is usually the case in this match up, the player who executed their game better won.

My only disappointment is that collapse from 40-0 in the 11th game of the 2nd set. That was sloppy.

Yeah, I mean he won the AO without looking really convincing in his last two matches. And he lost earlier in the year at Doha as well. I still think we will see him put together a good streak of wins. And your analysis is spot on two lose both break points and to blow 7 BPs against Fed in a three set match on a fast surface is a recipe for disaster.

[Belovedluckyboy]

Roddick was equally sweaty if not worse. Roddick didn't even need to run so much as Rafa.

[laverfan]

He's not fat, and I think it's likely what you saw as sweat was water from the heavy rain...

Nadal is one of the sweatiest dudes I have ever seen. One year I was sitting second row behind the baseline at IW and you could litte see a rain of droplet come off the guy when he would wind up and hit a ball.

These days, he carries two towels, one for each side. It is pretty effective.

One concern for Nadal is that his aging will contribute to time-between-points-debates even more. He was warned by Bernardes and Clay is slow by nature.

[CAS]

in defence of Novak I don't think he did much wrong on those 7 break points, there was one that I remember vividly, Federer putting a volley right on the baseline and Novak just smiled as it was the one place on the court Federer could put it to win the point and he did.

Federer hit his slice so well too, I can't count the amount of times he sliced it low to Djokovics backhand, making Novak have to lift it with no pace, so Federer had time to run around and hit a monster forehand.

I remember Murray saying after the final in '12 in Dubai that if there were more courts as fast as Dubai, Federer would still be number 1.

[socal1976]

He's not fat, and I think it's likely what you saw as sweat was water from the heavy rain...

Nadal is one of the sweatiest dudes I have ever seen. One year I was sitting second row behind the baseline at IW and you could litte see a rain of droplet come off the guy when he would wind up and hit a ball.

These days, he carries two towels, one for each side. It is pretty effective.

One concern for Nadal is that his aging will contribute to time-between-points-debates even more. He was warned by Bernardes and Clay is slow by nature.

I think he asks a lot of his legs Nadal and if it looks like they can't deliver the big checks he writes with his court positioning then he may have difficulty getting back to his previous level.

[TRuffin]

There is a reason that I find quotes from another forum taken out of context particularly irritating, as people can't actually see the circumstances of any quote.
It was after I found a few specific photos, which I linked.
You then commented how the position of the bandana may affect how his hair looks, and I recognised you may have a fair point.
To these photos:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10891822_783557401709487_4667357599951033863_n.jpg?oh=962b3dfb206db9cd93db2e0df8528694&oe=55476C25&__gda__=1428625309_b434cc4f11cd792cd8c5d91482d886d9
https://33.media.tumblr.com/bd198bd9c62cc242ca4ac6d216afb44d/tumblr_nhm2h7ugLm1qdqc4eo1_1280.jpg


By saying what you said earlier "Amri still says he's 'never seen Nadal with this much hair on his head'."- it's misleading in two ways- firstly I never said the word 'never seen', and secondly you used the present tense when I was talking about these pictures months ago. So you use mis-quotes out of context and give the wrong impression on timing to make me look foolish.

I will edit out the word "still"   but you are fibbing when you say you never said the word "never seen"  The quote I have in the above post is an exact copy and paste of your posting- unless you've now gone back and edited, that's what you said. Below is your exact quote which has not been altered by me in any way.


"Thirdly I don't know if you've noticed but he has lots of hair on his head at the moment. I can give you pictures, but I've never seen his head with so much hair for a while."

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