Grass court season

First topic message reminder :

Stuttgart kicked off today, bloke by the name of Roger Federer(rocking a new hair do) is playing.

Stan Wawrinka has added Paul Annacone to his coaching group, as he continues to search for improvements on grass. Will his morale be badly affected by the drubbing he received in Paris?

Will Andy Murray defend his Wimbledon championship?

Will the real Djokovic ever return?

Will Nadal do anything on grass?

Will a youngster steal the limelight?

I have just been checking the British World rankings.  James Ward is down at 1062 and Liam Broady, who had a good junior record - is at 404.   On the women's side, Heather Watson has been outside of the top 100 for quite some time now and Laura Robson who moved into the top 200 a few months ago, seems to be heading out of it again.  Currently Naomi Broady is Britains second ranked women's tennis player at 111.

Kokkinakis has nabbed the first set against Raonic on a TB. Kokkinakis saved 8 BPs in that set and didn't engineer one.

And Kokkinakis wins! Also a TB in second set, Raonic lead 6-3 but Kokkinakis saved all three set points and eventually closed it out 10-8. Big upset.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:And Kokkinakis wins! Also a TB in second set, Raonic lead 6-3 but Kokkinakis saved all three set points and eventually closed it out 10-8. Big upset.

Seems like a classic match between two big servers who maybe aren't so good at returning, with the one able to hold his nerve on the big points winning. This result suggests Kokkinakis is mentally strong. But the first round is different to the latter stages of a tournament, where the pressure and prize money rises.

Great win for Kokkinakis. Only his 6th match in 2 years due to injury. Hope he can stay injury free as he has really high potential.

Just watched most of the Kokk-Raonic match. Raonic's movement and ground strokes, so improved over the last couple of years, looked poor today. He'll need to buck up quick if he is to do anything at Wimbledon.
   Great for Kokk, though, who's had a wretched time of it for many months.

No name Bertie wrote:I have just been checking the British World rankings.  James Ward is down at 1062 and Liam Broady, who had a good junior record - is at 404.   On the women's side, Heather Watson has been outside of the top 100 for quite some time now and Laura Robson who moved into the top 200 a few months ago, seems to be heading out of it again.  Currently Naomi Broady is Britains second ranked women's tennis player at 111.

I'd have thought the two players worth keeping an eye on are Cameron Norrie (just outside the top 200 at 21 and faces Querrey later) and Jay Clarke - inside the top 400 at 18. I doubt any of the other lower ranked British men will make the top 100.

Looks a bit more promising in the ladies, with a few 18-20 year olds just outside the top 200. Robson herself is still only 23 and could still make big strides if she stays fit.

Lopez takes the first set 7-6 against Stan the Man, who faltered in the tiebreak after a near-faultless series of service games. Dreadful first round draw for both players.

Now Wawrinka drops the first set against Lopez, also on a tie-break. No BPs at all in that set, and less of a surprise given Lopez's grass court pedigree (and Wawrinka's lack thereof) combined with the fact that Lopez has played a few grass court matches already last week while Wawrinka is just off the back of RG.

In danger of seeing second and third seeds both drop out in the first round.

Lopez wins 7-6 7-5, breaking to take the match with a very lucky net chord, but overall was probably the better player. Seed number 2 joins seed number 3 in leaving the tournament in the first round.

The BBC are showing the Murray vs Thompson (late replacement for Bedene) match free on BBC iplayer. Thompson is ranked 90 in the world (23 year old Australian) - is nowhere near Murrays class but is well conditioned to grass court conditions - so is playing "solidly". At the moment Murray is not imposing himself on the match and looks a little lethargic. 3-2 on serve to Jordan Thompson. I am waiting to see if Murray "clicks" into grass court form.

4-3 Jordan Thompson. On Serve. Thompson seems in a slightly better physical condition than Murray so far. Murray is still a little lethargic - seems to be getting to the ball marginally late.

5-4 Jordan Thompson. On serve. A few wild shots by Thompson, but some well placed first serves towards the end of his service game allows him to hold reasonably comfortably. Murray going through the motions, hasn't yet clicked, seems marginally slow.

6-5 Jordan Thompson. On serve. Murray showing glimpses of his quality. Thompson playing reasonably well but looks to be playing close to his maximum and the impression is that he could be a little brittle if Murray finds another gear.

6-6 Tie breaker. Murrays drop shots not really working at the moment. He still hasn't imposed himself.

Murray has the mini-break after a double fault from Thompson.

Murray double faults to return the favour 3-3 Tie break.

6-3 Thompson Tie break. Murray goes a mini-break down after a failed drop shot.

Thompson wins the Tie Breaker 7-4. Another weak shot from Murray.

To be honest - Murray is playing lethargically - he seems to be slightly slow to the ball. He shouldn't be losing to Thompson who looks a little brittle. If Murray finds another gear I expect Thompson to lose. Alternately Thompson might just run out of steam.

So Thompson ahead one set to love 7-6.

Murray in muppet mode so far today. Basically handed the tiebreak to Thompson and is making countless unforced errors. I'd still expect him to win but it's heavy going.

Hmm, Murray drops serve after a couple of forehand errors that hit the back fence. Real trouble now as he hasn't been returning well either.

I wish Murray hadn't had announced he would donate his winnings at Queens to the Grenfell victims families - he should have said it afterwards or just did it anonymously.  I can't believe Murray is heading out of this tournament - he seems slow and heavy legged.

So Murray loses 6-7 2-6.  Murray lost the last four games.  It was Murray that ran out of steam - and he wasn't playing well to begin with.
Congratulations to Jordan Thompson - the biggest win of his career.

ps maybe we will find out later that Murray was suffering from a viral bug or something.

Lots of big names out of Queen's - who's the favourite to win it now - Tsonga? Dimitrov?

Regarding Murray the lack of grasscourt matches will be a problem for him now - are there any opportunities for him to play any matches before Wimbledon - does that exhibition event at Stoke Poges still exist?

What about Cilic? He's playing incredible tennis vs Isner, serving very well and returning very well Isner's big serves. I tip him to go far at Queens and at Wimbledon.

Murray could take a wildcard to play at Eastbourne. Or simply plays an exho.

Well well - that's a surprise after the RG renaissance and I'd say comfortably Murray's worst & most disappointing result of the season.  I feel very sorry for him that his well-deserved time at #1 is turning into a bit of an anti-climax.

He's got to get some competitive grass court play underneath his pimpled soles before Wimbledon - it's the first two matches at a slam that the top players need to get under their belts to play into the tournament, and those will be extra-specially nervy for Andy this year, particularly if he's up against a big server or two.  Even with this horror result, if he gets through them I reckon he'll be OK for a deep run.

J-W T now out of Queen's as the seeds tumble. Muller served very well, although Tsonga seemed subdued. 
   Mummy Azarenka came back from the brink, saving MPs, to win her comeback match in Majorca.
   Those concerned about Murray's exit at Queen's may be reassured by the fact that he's sometimes lost early at Queen's but NEVER at Wimbledon.


Later: Dimi beats Benneteau in entertaining three-setter. After a slow start, Dimi looked good - moving well and hitting well. He needed to be at his best as the Frenchman put up a good show.
   Now watching 18-yr-old Canadian Shapovalov who's taken Berych to a first-set tiebreak. The teenager has some amazing shots, including a big-kicker second serve and a single-handed BH. A real talent.

Shapovalov did well to take Berdych to 7-5 in the third. Tomas had to play extremely well and steadily to beat him.

Regarding the British rankings - Ward has been injured for a year or so, hence the low ranking.

Jay Clarke won his first ever challenger match this week. Plays Marchenko today (I think).

Lloyd Glasspool (Mr Heather Watson) is another with talent, think he's been playing college tennis in America, but if he concentrates full time has top 100 potential

Fed thru in straight sets against M Zverev in Halle. With Thiem out, Pouille out and Nishi retiring Fed ought to win this now. Just following the scores it looks as if Mischa put up a good fight.

sirfredperry wrote:Fed thru in straight sets against M Zverev in Halle. With Thiem out, Pouille out and Nishi retiring Fed ought to win this now. Just following the scores it looks as if Mischa put up a good fight.

He played well.,. gave Federer a run for his money.. Fed took tumble but was ok

Federer now moves into #4 seeding position for Wimbledon, if he wins Halle he'll get to #3.  Since there is no sign of Wawrinka accepting a WC for Eastbourne like Djoko, or Antalya (Turkey - too far since he's in the UK!), it's all but certain that the top 4 seeds are the Big 4 with the only question is between #3 and #4.

Just seen a few clips of the Fed- M Zverev match. The German played really well. Wonder what he might have achieved earlier in his career but for injuries. Doubt big seeds will want to meet him early at Wimbledon.

sirfredperry wrote:Fed thru in straight sets against M Zverev in Halle. With Thiem out, Pouille out and Nishi retiring Fed ought to win this now. Just following the scores it looks as if Mischa put up a good fight.

I thought Mischa played extremely well, and - even though he didn't manage to take a set - looked every bit as good as a top tenner on yesterday's performance. That said, Federer was guilty of many uncharacteristic U/E's and it eventually hinged on occasional bits of quality/magic at key moments (the first set TB, and then the solitary break of the match in the 2nd).

Re your "Fed ought to win this now" ..... hmm. Maybe not so straightforward as that  Mischa's brother Alexander is still around ...... and he downed the Fed here in last year's SF.

Dan Evans attitude to training has been questioned in the past - in terms of a lack of commitment.  He has just been revealed as a coke-head.  Well he has failed a drugs test for cocaine.   In the past that was a two year ban.  I think nowadays it could be a four year ban - but I am not sure.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/40387574

Fed thru in straights against Mayer. In London Dimi was taken to three sets by Medvedev who actually was a break up in the third before a strong finish from Grigor. Cilic and Muller thru in the other quarters.

Daniil Medvedev looks like an interesting player. He looks ungainly - all arms and not much muscle - but has good timing and skill.

Lopez, despite looking extremely tired, hangs on to beat Berdych in three sets at Queens. Another guy no one will want to face at Wimbledon.

With such early exits by the top three seeds, one might reasonably think that Queens would be diminished this year as a contest. But the reality is that we have four worthy semi-finalists, all of whom have been producing high quality tennis ; and any one of whom could go on to take the trophy : Cilic, Dimitrov, Muller and Lopez have all been great to watch.

Likewise, an interesting SF line-up over in Halle consisting of Federer, A.Zverev, Gasquet and Khachanov ......nothing too shoddy there

Queen's must have been thrilled at the depth of the competition this year, especially after Rafa and delpo had to pull out. Tricky to predict a winner from the semi contenders.

Later: Fed thru to final in Halle, although he had to ward off two set points in second set against Khachanov. Kvitova makes final in Birmingham. Muller and Cilic into a deciding set at Queen's after Cilic failed to take numerous chances in the second set.

Cilic vs Muller has turned into an interesting contest. It looked like Cilic was going to win in straight sets as Muller was looking tired. But Muller has got a second wind from somewhere and things look more even 6-3 5-7 3-2 and on serve.

Cilic is a good player but he is not a great returner and seems just a little mechanical in his movement and play rather than fluid - and I think it is this that creates the large gap between him and the "top four".

Cilic thru finally, although really he should have won in straights. Dimi, frustratingly, has just thrown away the first set against the ever-consistent-on-grass F. Lopez. 
   Halle final will be a repeat of the Fed-Zverev semi of a year ago. Fed admitted he would have to play better than today in his semi if he's to win tomorrow.

Some remarkably consistent stuff from F Lopez takes him thru to the final at Queen's. Just wonder how highly ranked the Spaniard would be if all matches were played on grass.

Good win for Lopez against Dimitrov.  His returning in the final set made the difference.  He looked like he was running on fumes - I think he has been playing nearly every day for two weeks now.

What's going on in the Halle Final ......

The bright new, young talent Sasha Zverev is proving less of a challenge for old pensioner Federer than brother Mischa ...... suffering a breadstick in a first set lasting just 22 minutes ; and then managing just three games in the second.

All done. Federer Express.

He was pathetic on that performance his brother will have to win the doubles final single handed
That match was a big zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Vamos Lopez!

Vamos Vamos Feli

VAMOS FELI!! 
Pleased as punch

Brilliant he deserved it ..