Rome Masters 2016

What a draw!

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/rome/416/draws

Zverev v Federer in R2 would be .

Everybody who is anybody is in the top half.  Andy is all alone in the bottom half - must be feeling lonely there.

Fed has an absolutely brutal draw: Zverev/Thiem/Nishikori/Djokovic to get to the final.  I do not see him going far.

Murray will find a way to lose to Coric - it's the type of thing he does.

Stepanek and Fritz facing off in qualies for the 2nd week in a row. Steps has just levelled up at 1 set all.

I doubt Fed even plays- couple fans in Switzerland watched and video'd his practice at a club with Luthi- and Fed wasn't able or even attempted to hit serves. They said he moved well but never got beyond half speed.

Born Slippy wrote:Stepanek and Fritz facing off in qualies for the 2nd week in a row. Steps has just levelled up at 1 set all.

Steps knocks Fritz out in qualies for the second week in a row - 61 3rd set. Good experience though for Taylor.

I see Dimitrov continues his run of good form, losing easily in straights to NextGen Zverev.

Born Slippy wrote:Murray will find a way to lose to Coric - it's the type of thing he does.

Or is it Kukushkin?

I think Andy's 'A' game is back on, after the usual winter / early spring inconsistencies. Plus he's highly motivated to avoid Novak at the RG SF stage

Andy, will be targeting the final at RG - he seemed as cheerful as I've ever seen him after a Novak defeat and he knows that if they both met at the final, then the pressure on Novak might tilt that slam in his favour

It wasn't even a discussion point 14 months ago

Kukushkin has caused Murray problems in the past, but don't think his game is suited to clay TBH. Nishikori dropped the first set to Troicki, but has just broken serve in the second. Troicki upset with the umpire after an "out" call of Nishi's smash was overturned, and the point given to Nishikori. Troicki had got a racquet to the smash (his attempted put back bounced before the net) and on replay the call is pretty much right as he hits the shot. Did it put him off? Unclear, but overall I think umpires are too quick to replay points in situations like these, as I don't think Troicki makes the return whatever happens, so perfectly happy with the decision.

Mahut beating Cuevas on a clay court is something of a shock.

Does anyone know if Fed is still playing Zverev at 12CET today...given this yesterday?

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/may/10/roger-federer-withdrawal-rome-masters

Lydian. Injury-hit or not, Fed has beaten Zverev 6-3, 7-5. Pretty good win in that the young German has had a lot of success this season.

Agreed, nice early win - not bad for only having played 3 matches since AO.

Think the speed gun's at bit off on Murray's match. Never seen him hit 142mph serves before

That rare thing, a routine win for Murray early on

Kukushkin started well enough but Murray just too solid throughout. Showed some nice touches did Murray, and he'll be pleased to get through with minimal effort.

Djokovic in a bit of a scrap against Robert, who knocked out Bedene in two TBs in the previous round.

Very surprised at Federer having a clear win over Zverev. He looked good against Dinitrov (but who doesn't these days....).

I've given up anticipating Feds results, I'm waiting for Wimbledon and hoping he stays healthy and runs some form in before then.

Johanna Konta beats world no 7 6-0 6-4 in the second round.

Kyrgios has beaten Raonic in straight sets. Seems the message is getting thru to the young Australian that anyone can be a d***head but very few can play tennis really well.
Another good win for Konta, too.

Just mentioned the same point on other Tomic thread on that I believe Kyrgios seems to be turning a corner and knuckling down. His results are starting to build. From a technical perspective he's actually a very interesting player to watch because his FH and BH are not normal shots both having very abbreviated take backs. It's a master of timing and raw strength that he gets the power he does. Reckon he'll win a slam (or more) at some point.

Yes, irrespective of behaviour he's a proper player with something new to bring.

Kyrgios v Nadal and Fed v Thiem next round. Should be good!

Yep...both "young" guns have a good chance.
Nadal played well against Kohli tonight which probably means he due a dip tomorrow too!

Just watching Fed vs Thiem and its clear that Fed is not arching his back on serve or BHs anywhere near like he would normally.
He looks stiff and awkward in his movement...plus is standing 10-15 feet behind the baseline.
Weird although not necessarily surprising after only 4 matches since AO and extended injury lay off.
But not a good sign so far...hopefully will loosen up more in the match/beyond.

Bet Murray is wondering who he has to sh@g to get a match on Centre Court!

Thiem playing an excellent TB to take the first set.

Fed looks like he's really struggling, not driving through his FHs at all, movement laboured, serve as Lydian said. Back definitely hurting him. Question is whether he's going to do more damage to it by playing? If so he should skip RG IMO and focus on being better for the grasscourt season.

Murray will be no2 for FO at this rate.

Is Fed playing Rome just for the points to be seeded 2nd for RG?

As he is nowhere on the form, Thiem kicking ass.

Thought I don't see how 2nd or 3rd seed helps Fed at RG when he seems injured and not really a threat on first round of RG.

Thiem waits for no man.

I thought Fed said he felt he needed to play Rome to know where his body's at, and that he didn't want to come to RG having not played for so long.

Makes sense, but on the basis of today not sure it's worth him risking RG if it could harm his back.

Thiem wins. Good performance from him.

Great win for Thiem

Guess will give him some more confidence, but sure a little knowing Fed was not fully fit.

A GS for him next year for sure, faster than that aussie dog Korgi.

Fed said yesterday only after warm up he decided to play Zverev.

Today about same level of play as yesterday so RG seems more of a Paris shopping tour with family.

JuliusHMarx wrote:Thiem waits for no man.

Adequate effort.

Jahu wrote:Great win for Thiem

Guess will give him some more confidence, but sure a little knowing Fed was not fully fit.

When is he ever fully fit!

It's a fair point. Athletes are rarely ever "fully fit" for a match, I seem to recall Murray saying once that he usually had some sort of niggle, but if it wasn't affecting you too much and you weren't going to make it worse you just got on with it.

However, Feds was a long way below what you might consider "normal match fitness" today. His movement was sluggish, he wasn't putting anything into his serve, nor was he driving through the FH (BH actually looked OK, I'm sure Lydian could make a more technical assessment of why that is).

Ok so we know Feds body isn't holding up well. Which I guess we expected given Madrid.

I couldn't see the match though, so outside of fed talk how did theim himself do? Did he get nervous near the end or anythjng?

Nope, unless you count a DF on the first match point at 40-0 up, Thiem showed very few nerves. He didn't play the big points that well in the first set up to the TB, which he played very well indeed. Then got a break in the second, staved off a couple of break back points at 3-2 (I think) before closing it out comfortably.

I thought he played well, some terrific shots, and kept the errors to a minimum. Would like to see him be more aggressive on return of second serve, but that's difficult with the one-hander. Definitely a threat on clay.

MfC, there's less core rotation for BH than the FH...BH is more arm swing. Its a more natural shot in many respects.
Amazing how hot clay player Thiem still was pushed close 76 64 by a guy who was 50% of his best...and they say this is a golden crop coming through? Federer of old would have easily won this match. Anyway, good win for Thiem nonetheless...Federer will be wondering if its worth entering RG.

It probably isn't. However one big caveat is if he skips RG, murray might have the chance to get over 1200 ahead of him. Then he's 3rd at wimby

lydian wrote:MfC, there's less core rotation for BH than the FH...BH is more arm swing. Its a more natural shot in many respects.

Yeah I can see that. You're quite right about the "natural" part. I think it's BB who's mentioned it in the past, but if you pick up a racquet with your "wrong" hand, it's much easier to hit something resembling a competent BH than something resembling a competent FH. Also interesting that in cricket a right-handed batsman is hitting shots which are closest to being left-handed BHs (double-handed obviously)!! Same with golf. Then again there's long been a debate about batsmen batting with their "wrong" hand, i.e. right-handed people should bat "left-handed" (and indeed it happens in some cases, plenty of people who bowl and bat with "opposite" hands).

OK strayed off topic there.

Back to today's match, it felt more comfortable for Thiem than the scoreline indicates to me. Never really felt Feds was going to win, though that may have been due to his fitness issues (eyeball test) of course.

Given Federer's current difficulties it maybe that Dr. Sincere is somewhere winding himself up for another climax - although after the nasty mess at the 2007 US Open Final no doubt he'll try to pace himself better.

Huh? I'll be honest that ones gone right through me

barrystar wrote:Given Federer's current difficulties it maybe that Dr. Sincere is somewhere winding himself up for another climax - although after the nasty mess at the 2007 US Open Final no doubt he'll try to pace himself better.

Ah, that classic!! One of the great moments of the old 606.

For those who weren't there, let me explain.

The scene is the US Open final of 2007. Novak Djokovic is playing Roger Federer. The young man had recently scored an important win in Canada over Federer and sat in his supporting corner was Andy Murray, resplendent in his Djokovic supporting tee-shirt (I know! Incredible from a fellow professional).

Dr_Sincere, and his allies & aliases Wise_Analyst etc were aching for their hated Federer to lose. As the 1st set came to it's climax Djokovic secured a vital break of serve, and came out to serve at 6-5. He swiftly ran to 40-0 behind some outstanding serving....... whereupon Dr_Sincere declared (and remember, you could not edit your posts subsequently on 606..) that "Djokovic has just won the 1st set".

History tells how Federer somehow fought back to deuce, recovered another set point, and broke serve, going on to take the tie break and win the match in three keenly contested tight sets. The good Dr was distraught, and he & Wise_Analyst turned on the unfortunate Serb, christening him "Chokovic" for dashing their dreams.

I (and others) made an enormous issue of Dr_Sincere's "premature speculation" for months afterward, and whenever he unwisely lifted his head would ask whether he had received appropriate treatment, followed by all sorts of further tormenting in a similar vein.

At this point I must point out that members of the 606v2 forum who weren't on 606 really have no idea whatsoever of the sheer brutality of that place; how the most vicious wind-ups and taunts were absolutely normal, how it was the Wild West of tennis forums. I have never seen v2 even in it's worst days come close to the battleground that was 606 - it made men of all of us, including the women, and what was said to Dr_Sincere was completely inside the bounds of acceptable 606 conduct. He probably just switched to one of his many other ids; could have been Impartial_Lion, mediter, other mediters, etc.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

lydian wrote:MfC, there's less core rotation for BH than the FH...BH is more arm swing. Its a more natural shot in many respects.

Yeah I can see that. You're quite right about the "natural" part. I think it's BB who's mentioned it in the past, but if you pick up a racquet with your "wrong" hand, it's much easier to hit something resembling a competent BH than something resembling a competent FH. Also interesting that in cricket a right-handed batsman is hitting shots which are closest to being left-handed BHs (double-handed obviously)!! Same with golf. Then again there's long been a debate about batsmen batting with their "wrong" hand, i.e. right-handed people should bat "left-handed" (and indeed it happens in some cases, plenty of people who bowl and bat with "opposite" hands).

OK strayed off topic there.

Back to today's match, it felt more comfortable for Thiem than the scoreline indicates to me. Never really felt Feds was going to win, though that may have been due to his fitness issues (eyeball test) of course.

Thank you! It very much was me, and I really believe it's true.

I remember those days BB...and some of the other Nadal fans, such as AIR/Cocteau Twins with his "Basel Bungler" posts and "Salutations" sign-offs. His colourful/floral use of the English language made for good reading it has to be said.
I had a different name on 606 from 2005-2008...but remember the 2 corners of the boxing ring going hammer and tongues...including The Opinion, Maximus_xxxx, StephaneRationale, Tenez (of course) and many others. Like you say, 606v2 is completely sanitised in comparison.

Anyway, just watched a woefully under par Nadal lose 1st set to Kygios 76. He had 1 winner all set, 13 UEs, 2 double faults...and stood 20 feet behind the baseline. Honestly, I bang my head against the wall watching him at times...no self belief today, no dynamism, no energy or verve. Its so annoying when you know how well these guys can/have played.

Great story BB from 606, but in all fairness, you enjoyed poking others too, in your ever so slightly cynical and complimentary level at same time, though you're much more relaxed here

Nadal a break up now 2:0 in second, Korgi serving.

bogbrush wrote:At this point I must point out that members of the 606v2 forum who weren't on 606 really have no idea whatsoever of the sheer brutality of that place; how the most vicious wind-ups and taunts were absolutely normal, how it was the Wild West of tennis forums.

You must have felt like a fish out water in such a hostile environment...

..or a fish in the water, more likely

Korgi a little hampered on his right leg it seems, or acting good.

Nadal 4:1 up. Crush himmm