Queens, Halle and pre-Wimbledon Tournaments

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Week 2 tournaments:
ATP 500 Queen's
ATP 500 Halle
WTA Premier Birmingham
WTA International Mallorca

Week 3 tournaments:
ATP 250 Nottingham
WTA Premier Eastbourne

A ball girl also takes a tumble, but not to worry. She had no chance of winning Wimbledon anyway.

Hm well the Federers better not take the kids if she needs to use some colourful language

On that note I wonder if any of them bar Roger are going at all because of the health concerns...

I have been reading this book by this Drexler fellow. He reckons in a few years time we will have nanobot repair kits. You take this 'ere pill which contains them nanobots. These are then released in the digestive tract where they make their ways into the blood stream from whence they get circulated around the body. They then precede systematically to repair each cell against the wear and tear of the aging body - thus restoring youth. If this is the truth, in a few years time the top four could be:
Djokovic Mk IV
Federer Mk III
Nadal Mk XXII
Murray Mk IV

Is Marin Cilic a throwback to the 1993 - 2003 era.  He seems to be a very "poor" clay court player compared to grass / fast hard court player.

Zverev pops into the top 32 for the first time with his win today - just in time to be seeded for Wimbledon. Good news for him and most of the seeds!

Zverev, a potential dark horse. Certainly one that could upset a top tenner

Zverev and also Thiem doing well for some weeks now

Quite interesting set of SFs.

Cilic should be able to give Andy proper test.

Federer beat Zverev quite easily (more easily than the scoreline suggests) in Rome in spite of not playing very well, so I would expect - with grass suiting him relatively better than Zverev - he should win here too.  But maybe Zverev learnt from his loss.  He is young, so maybe he can learn quickly.  After all, Delpo in 2009 went from winning three games against Fed at the AO, to playing five sets at RG, and to beating him at the USO.

When we divide players into "old" ones (Djokovic and those older than him) and "young" ones (those younger than Djokovic), then we maybe are finally seeing the young guys making some more serious progress.  Five out of the eight semifinalists are from the "young" group.  On the other hand, the likes of Simon, Gasquet, Lopez, Isner, Verdasco, Wawrinka, Berdych, Baghdatis, Ferrer and others failed to make it.

Aut0Gr4ph wrote:Re Lydian's top 10 question, you'd think Thiem would be a no brainer, but then look what's happened to Dimitrov.

Yes, that is also what sometimes comes to my mind when I think of Thiem.  That SHBH may end up too much of a liability in today's tennis and he may find it hard to get beyond certain point.

I hope it will not happen like that though.  A couple of reasons that give me hope:

Thiem's BH is quite powerful - somewhat similar to Stan's - which may limit the disadvantage of having a SHBH.  Also, Thiem seems to be more focused than Dimitrov is/was.

That said, I found his easy loss to Djokovic at RG somewhat worrying - I was hoping for a little more fight than that.  But hopefully he will have learnt from that and will do better next time around.

I am quite surprised how well he has been doing this grass court season.

Just been watching some highlights of the Fed-Goffin clash at Halle. Some tremendous points, with Fed seemingly moving well.

Anyone else fancy a gander at the top ten in 2 years

lydian wrote:Arhhh, thanks AutoG I looked on the ATP app I use to track events/matches but it didn't have it listed.
I think Goff has a bit of a mental block playing Fed...although that said he's clearly the 2nd best player there. As you say good to see Fed on the mend/march...the game needs him still.

I'll have a think too ;-)
Everyone else welcome to post their forecasts as well...even if not in order.

Agree on Edmund, technically great in most areas but just kissing that ultimate X factor...but then most do...a career in top 30 would be nothing to be ashamed of.

Think Goffin has a mental block against more top players than Federer. He only has 1 win against any of the top 6 (against Wawrinka, never played Nadal) so far in his career. Given that he is 25 1/2 not really a great stat. Will probably be a top 10 player for a few years but think he will be overtaken for the top spots by the younger players coming through at the moment.

Zverev takes a deserved first set against Roger. He overpowered Roger in that set and barely lost any points on his serve.

Federer very poor so far. Serve really keeping him in this.

Zverev getting very nervous at the end of the second set.

Zverev looking better throughout but Fed ekes out a break and takes the second set.

Zverev was overpowering Roger, who looks a little out of sorts - not moving too well and making quite a few cheap errors. In the end, Zverev not quite able to sustain his level and that gave the set to Roger.

Zverev not quite as dominant on serve as before - it is now four straight service games where Fed had BPs. But Zverev holds and if he can steady the ship he has a chance, especially with Roger not quite at his best.

Zverev now up 5:2 in the third. Every time I see him I am impressed for how well he moves for his size.

Zverev wins. Good win for him. Hopefully it will be Zverev vs Thiem tomorrow.

Mhmm. Mayer takes the first set, and breaks in the first game of the second.

Thiem not looking that great; Zverev certainly looked better in his match.

This is eighth straight week that Thiem is playing - Munich, Madrid, Rome, Nice, RG, Stuttgart, Halle. I did not realize he had played quite so much.

And Mayer wins. Just in time for me to switch to the ending of Murray vs Cilic.

Andy serves it out to love. Raonic or Tomic tomorrow.

I think Zverev is the real deal. He appears to have that steely Germanic temperament, which wil mean he's likely to take set backs better than Dimitrov etc did

And it's that which is the difference Novak had some bitter loses during 2009/10 as of course has Murray virtually every slam. But they both used to say that they need to improve, i.e. positive about what they needed to do

I expect Zverev to be the same as that's the German way

Very good service stats for Andy in the final set v Cilic today. Dropped just two points and one of those was a DF.
Will need to serve well against Raonic in the final and hope to win tiebreaks unless he can do something no one has done this week - break the Canadian's serve.

Haven't seen Zverev play very much at all, but he seems to be improving and on the way up

If you look at his matches this year: http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/alexander-zverev/z355/player-activity

then a lot of his losses have been against good players, for example exiting at the first round at the AO because he drew Murray.

Interesting the BBC headline was "shock defeat for Federer" - they obviously don't follow tennis very much, more of a slight surprise.

In a couple of years the headlines might have to change from "defeat for x" to "win for Thiem/Zverev".

Federer is arguably on the way out, although we'll need to see his results at Wimbledon, the Olympics (if he even plays singles there) Cincinatti, and the US Open before we can say for sure.

That's great for Zverev. He's got a direct comparison for his inprovement. Beaten by fed on clay but reverses that on grass. He really could be the real deal

Murray's last two matches have followed almost the exactly same pattern. Ease through the opening set, have a bit of a dip in the second, combined with his opponent upping his level, and then raising his level significantly in the third to cruise home. Third set today was high quality from both players (the penultimate game where Cilic held to force Murray to serve it out particularly so).

Raonic will be tricky, he's played very well this week, his serve brings big rewards on the quicker grass of Queens, but of course hasn't faced anyone who returns nearly as well as Murray. Should be a decent match in any case.

Fine win for Zverev. Didn't watch the match at all, and while I understand that Feds is still feeling his way back, nonetheless it's a very good win for the German, who's progressing nicely. Wasn't overly convinced by him at the AO vs Murray, but he's improved quite markedly since. Good to see.

Kevin Anderson is top seed at Nottingham. Verdasco, Dolgopolov, and Querrey amongst the other more well known names.

https://www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/major-events/aegon-open-nottingham/drawoop/aegon-open-nottingham-atp-singles-draw.pdf

Why isn't this event on the calendar on the ATP website. Am I missing something.

How much serve and volley have we seen on grass this year. Are many players going to the net consistently on first serves, or just now and then? Apart from the occasional surprise/mix it up tactic, have we seen any players going in on second serve on a regular basis?

Once the rallies get going are people looking to go to the net, or are they just playing baseline rallies mostly?

And are the other grass courts faster than Wimbledon, or the same speed?

Hm, lot of questions there, sorry about that, not expecting anyone to answer all of them, just one or two or the general gist of things...

While I haven't watched a huge amount of Queens (about a match a day), and hardly any of Halle, here's what I've seen.

Re S&V, hardly any really. The odd bit behind the first serve, but mostly as a surprise tactic, or because the opponent has blocked a high return. None that I recall off-hand off a second serve.

Less rare have been the rallies finished at the net. Raonic has looked to come forward whenever possible, while Cilic, Murray and even Edmund haven't been shy in coming in either (the first with mixed results today TBH).

Queens is definitely faster than Wimbledon, though Wimbledon tends to slow down over the course of the fortnight, and does start off quite quick. Still think Queens is quicker though.

Florian Mayer has been using it a fair amount. He's in the Halle final.

Got it, thanks. I think there has been an increase in net play in recent years compared at least to 2011 was the lowest I ever saw on tour. However often it's looking to get to the net during the point, real regular serve and volley is pretty rare these days.

Watch Mahut, Muller and Stakhovski, they did S&V and came to the net often, more so than the likes of Cilic, Murray or even Fed.

Henman Bill wrote:Haven't seen Zverev play very much at all, but he seems to be improving and on the way up

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Federer is arguably on the way out, although we'll need to see his results at Wimbledon, the Olympics (if he even plays singles there) Cincinatti, and the US Open before we can say for sure.

Well I certainly hope that Zverev continues his current momentum, because he - along with young Thiem - could finally (and boy, it's been a long, long wait ) be the exciting fresh blood that we've been desperately waiting for. As much as we have been fortunate/privileged to have the talents of the 'traditional' big four to enjoy, there really is a limit to how often I want to watch them play each other. And I have pretty much reached that point.

As for your Federer comments, I don't think there's any 'arguably' about the fact that he is on the way out !  If I dug deep into the 606 archives, I could find several posts where I said I fully expected him to be retired by now ; although I do understand his desire to keep playing if he simply enjoys being on a tennis court (something he has highlighted in his more 'personal' interviews in recent times). He is a long way from his best, and the key evidence is the sheer number of BP's he continues to earn but - crucially - now fails to convert. This was very rarely an issue in his pomp, when he not only reached big Finals so regularly ; but of course actually won them too. Those days are gone, he will be 35 in a few weeks.

In other news, Raonic v Murray about to get going, hopefully with no rain interruptions......

Good quality start to the Queens final. Murray threading passes and Raonic conjuring an incredible forehand winner from miles out wide. Both players looking focussed. Really hoping Andy can break the tournament win record with a victory here, but he's going to have to work for it.

Thought Raonic had shot of the match sewn up, but Murray producing a contender of his own in the 7th game. Even further out wide than Raonic was and somehow managed to whip a short angle cross court forehand winner on the full stretch. Great stuff!

Murray's movement looking greatly improved compared with earlier in the week. Partly that's acclimatisation, but the worn courts also helping, no doubt.

At Wimby, Milos will be the quarter-final draw to avoid. He'd be a threat even to Novak I reckon.

Surprise surprise, we appear to be heading for a TB. Raonic's 2016 TB record is a pretty imposing 14-4. Murray's TB record also decent at 8-4.

Tie-break it is. Time to roll the dice. Whose nerve will hold?

They really do both want this.

Quality continues into the TB and Milos edges it. Obviously it's a little draw dependent, but on this form Milos must have a great chance of a Wimbledon semi-final spot at least. Murray can't afford any slip-ups on serve now.

Desperately poor passage of play from Murray and he's dropped serve early in the second. Credit to Milos though. He's playing exceptionally well. Murray now needs to do something that no one else has managed this week and break the Raonic serve. It's looking a long shot on current balance of play, but nerves may enter into it if Murray can keep in touch. However, Raonic is hardly a green rookie and has been here plenty of times before.

Rao in charge, playing v well.

Stunning BH winner off a first serve out wide and Murray has the break back. He's making a lot of returns now.

I really don't think Murray has under-performed, so let's not take anything away from Raonic.

And now Murray is finally rewarded with the first break of Raonic's week ......

Game on !

If Andy and Novak along with Agassi plus Connors are not two of the greatest returners ever, then I'd like to know who is

Still think Murray will lose this though

Murray showing some fight.  Lendl implacable.  Raonic calm, unflustered.  I like this Raonic - McEnroe partnership.  I think Raonic with McEnroe might now be considered a contender for Grand Slam Semi-finals, finals and titles from this moment onwards.   Raonic is not serving superfast but he does serve accurately and has a great second serve.

But conditions are cooling and so slowing down by the minute, so could help Murray