February/March 2020 Tournaments

The AO 2020 left us with a no-surprise winner of the men's title and a predictably unpredictable ladies' champion.

We now move on to the mixture of indoor/outdoor events that comprise the period before the European clay-court season kicks off.

With more than 2,600pts bagged already in 2020, Djoko could stay top for the rest of the year and has very few points to defend at the sunshine double of IW and Miami. Thiem and Federer, contrastingly, have some big points that will come off if they don't go deep at IW/Miami.

You always feel Rafa is saving himself for the clay at this time of the year. He makes sure he's in peak condition for RG.

As for the women, who dares make a prediction? A case can be made out not just for anyone winning the smaller tourneys but also the Slams. Amid the unpredictability, Halep stands out as a model of consistency so it's not a bad bet to put money on her doing well over the next few weeks.

Dan Evans had a good win in Rotterdam, beating Kohlschreiber in straight sets.

Dan's ban seems to have been the making of him. He's having the best period of his career.

Sandgren lost another tight match - in New York, to Johnson. Sandgren gave a frank interview about his loss to Fed in Melbourne. Must have been gutting.

Konta's back in action this week, playing in St Petersburg.

Nice to see that Tennis takes failed drugs test seriously, just say you ate contaminated meat and you'll be fine.

Soul Requiem wrote:Nice to see that Tennis takes failed drugs test seriously, just say you ate contaminated meat and you'll be fine.

This, of course, is all about doubles player Robert Farah being allowed to play on despite a positive drugs test. Can't say I'm completely aware of all the facts in this case, but it does seem he's be dealt with somewhat leniently.

Wins for Edmund and Norrie in New York. Kyle may have been over-ranked when he got to 14 but he's certainly well below par at around 60-something, as he is now.

Evans has had a particularly good win over Khachanov in Rotterdam and now faces Monfils.

Edmund won again in New York, but Norrie was beaten, as was Konta in St Petersburg.

Tsitsipas lost in Rotterdam to Bedene and seems to suffering from can only be called WTF title syndrome as did Dimi and Zverev.

A guy possibly to keep an eye on is 18-yr-old Italian Jannik Sinner. Yesterday he beat Goffin and today he came agonisingly close to beating 30-ranked Carreno Busta.

Sinner had 2 MPs before going down 8-6 in a final-set tiebreak. Evans in action later today against Monfils. Big hope for Dan is that Monfils might run out of puff having played back-to-back tourneys.

Monfils took out Evans in straight sets but Edmund, in New York, managed to squeeze past South Korean Kwon who had beaten Raonic in the round earlier.

Good chance now for Edmund, with the top four seeds all gone.

A Hong-Kong based Briton, Vera Pursnani, just 15 years of age, lost 6-0, 6-0 in Dubai qualifying.

She won just EIGHT points in the whole match (which lasted less than 32 mnutes) and only two in the second set. Obviously she was WC'd in but was this a sensible WC to hand out?

Seem to remember Donald Young being treated like this years ago
. He was seen as the next Big Thing on the US tennis scene, but suffered defeat after defeat on the main tour when he should have been playing junior events, futures or challengers.

Edmund thru to the final in New York where he will meet Seppi. Very winnable match, although the Italian is a wily old hand.

Edmund has just taken the title in New York beating Seppi in straight sets. The 250pts will see Kyle climb the rankings.

Monfils clinched back to back titles with victory in Rotterdam.

Monfils was and should remain in the top ten. Well done Edmund picking up his second career title on the atp tour. Currently ranked 62 he should move up the rankings to about #45.

Yes, Edmund goes up to 45. Monfils should have won far more titles than he has but at least he's doing fine now.

Evans is up to a career-high 31 and will be looking to make sure he's seeded for IW and Miami coming up.

Thiem will probably overtake Fed into third place in the rankings as he plays this week. Oh well. Roger can always blame it on Rio.

Curiously, Evans is down to 36 in the live rankings, with a drop of 142 points and not playing this week. Could get passed by one or two more who are playing. He could even be passed by Kyle if he wins at Delray Beach (unlikely...)

Kim Clijsters made a respectable comeback, losing to Muguruza 6-2, 7-6. Just seen a few clips and Kim was whacking it as of old.

She looked overweight but said afterwards she was pleased with how it went.

Some amazingly long matches in Rio yesterday, including a win for 16-year-old Carlos Alcaraz and a near-4hr victory for the rather wonderfully named Thiago Seyboth Wild, 19, who saved three MPs.

After Edmund withdrew from Delray Beach citing illness, there was an excellent win by Cameron Norrie over Tayor Fritz, the number three seed.

Thiem was taken to three sets in Rio but came thru. AO champion Kenin was beaten in Dubai.

Thiem - in a rain-interrupted match - has just lost in straight sets to some guy ranked 120-something in Rio.

Felix A-A has reached his second successive final.


Halep has just won the title in Dubai in a two-and-a-half-hour match. She is such a fighter. The women's game is unpredictable at the moment but the Romanian is the one constant.

Tsitsipas beats Felix A-A to win in Marseille. FAA is now supposed to fly to Mexico to compete in Acapulco after reaching back-to-back finals.

Expect him to pull out although he does have a bye in the first round (and could meet Kyle Edmund).

I was wrong about F A-A having a bye as he's due to play today against LL Alex Bolt. The winner will play Kyle Edmund who beat Lopez in straight sets yesterday.

Stan the Man is also playing at Acapulco and came thru a tough, three-setter against Tiafoe who saved four MPs before succumbing. Nadal is top seed and plays Andujar in first round.

Meanwhile in Dubai, Djoko had little trouble in his first match against Jaziri and now faces Kohlschreiber.

Really good win by Evans today. He was a set and a break down but came back to beat Fognini 7-5 in the third.

Come back of the day was by Paire who faced defeat in the second set against Cilic and later saved four MPs before triumphing. Cilic does lose far too many matches from winning positions.

Encouraging result for Heather Watson in first round of Mexico event, coming from a set down to defeat CoCo Vandeweghe in three.

I rarely post about the women’s game. But just couldn’t resist the unique chance to say that ”Watson takes out CoCo ..... down in Acapulco”

Lags: @But just couldn’t resist the unique chance to say that ”Watson takes out CoCo ..... down in Acapulco”

Nice one. If she'd got angry afterwards I suppose you could have said: "Coco goes loco in Acapulco."

Ha ha ! No mention in the report of CoCo throwing her toys out the pram, so I felt it would be wrong to malign her.

I always remember - quite some years ago - our very witty friend (and noted wordsmith) JuliusHMarx saying that he was yearning for the day when Juan Monaco would win the Monaco title.
What a great post we could have had : “Monaco wins Monaco”
Never actually happened of course ..... sadly

Yes, but Osaka did win Osaka last year....

Wow, I did not know that !

Fabulous

There'll be no repeat of a Rafa-Kyrgios match at Acapulco this year as the Aussie retires one set down in his match.

Also in Acapulco Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan, 19, saved seven MPs in one game against twice-her-age Venus before winning in three sets.

Not the first time that someone has won after saving seven MPs (not even the first time this season). But, surely, it's rare to save that number in just one game.

Another good win today for Dan Evans who saved three MPs before beating Herbert of France 9-7 in a final set tiebreak.

Heather Watson and Kyle Edmund in action later in Acapulco.

Watson and Edmund both thru to the quarters in Acapulco. Edmund beat F A-A who has had an exhausting schedule of late.

Very good win for Evans 6-2 7-6 over Rublev. The rankings are so close in the upper 20s to mid 30s, that this has pushed Dan up 10 places in the live rankings, to a career high of 27 (obviously with a few active players around him, he may end up 29 or 30 by next Monday). Even winning the tournament would only see him climb another 4 spots at most...

Very much enjoying watching Dan Evans play these days to the extent that I feel a little churlish in thinking what might have been had he have shown this dedication all the time.
I also find his style interesting to watch with many variations rather than a steady diet of ‘thump it back really hard’. I’ve never played tennis much but, in my younger days, played table tennis to a reasonable standard (never quite made the County squad but close to it) and I find many similarities. Many of the players can play the fast, stand-at-the-table game but throw in a guy who can do that and chop (slice) on both wings to offer different speeds and spin, and it’s a whole new difficulty for them. In the same way, most tennis players play in much the same style or at least a common technique, is this why Evans is becoming more successful…combining greater dedication with a well set, well executed, unusual style?

Evans said he didn't fancy playing a third set today so was determined to win in two.

He now faces Tsitsipas who had a long three-setter against Struff. It could all mean that Evans will be seeded at IW and can reach a career high.

Edmund out but Watson thru. Edmund lost in straight sets against Fritz. Watson beat McHale in three and has a great chance to win the whole thing now.

Barty, quite a way ahead at number one, beat Muguruza in three sets in Doha and now plays Kvitova.

Djokovic v Monfils should be interesting as both have been in outstanding form this season. Head to head, though, aint looking too clever for the Frenchman. It's 15-0 to Djoko.

Tsitsipas had far too much for Evans who went down in straight sets.

Monfils has taken the first set 6-2 against Djoko but no doubt by the time you read this the Serb will have turned things round.

Monfils was a break up in the second set and then 6-3 up in the tiebreak, giving him three MPs, including two on his own serve.

Result? Djoko saves the MPs and wins the tiebreak. You can all guess what will happen in the third set.


LATER: The inevitable end, with Djoko winning the last six games to take the match.

Monfils could well still win but how many times does Djokovic save match points!!! It’s unbelievable how often he does it even against the very best players

Djokovic takes the decider 6-1. Battles back from match points down yet again. Poor Monfils, 17 matches vs Djokovic and 17 losses. What a chance that was!

My update is already out of date. Sorry. Lady Perry and I reckoned it would be 6-1 or 6-2 to Djoko once it went to a third.

Nobody has the mental strength of Djoko, not even Rafa.

Rafa thru to the final at Acapulco where Heather Watson has also made it all the way and will face a 17-yr-old in the final. The Briton will surely have few better chances to take a title.

Kvitova edged out Barty in Doha.

Djokovic takes the Dubai title beating Tsitsipas in straight sets. 21 consecutive match wins for Novak to start 2020. Incredible start to the year for him

Wondering if we are about to see a repeat of Djoko's 2011 start when he chalked up 43 wins before losing in the semis at the French.

Apart from, perhaps, Rafa or Thiem at RG, I can't see anyone beating Djoko at the moment.

Tournament victories at Acapulco for Rafa and.....Heather Watson.

Watson needed TEN championship points to see off her 17-yr-old opponent who, having missed four set points in the second set, came from 2-6 down in the ensuing tiebreak to take it to a third.

This is only Watson's fourth title and comes after she was as low as the 120s a few weeks ago. Should be back inside the top 50 now.

Konta takes on Kim Clijsters in Monterrey today. Kim has not had a reasonable draw yet, having had to face Muguruza in her first match back.

I assume we'll be hearing about Andy Murray playing at IW. With no Andy and no Roger it's all a bit flat at the moment.

sirfredperry wrote:Tournament victories at Acapulco for Rafa and.....Heather Watson.

Watson needed TEN championship points to see off her 17-yr-old opponent who, having missed four set points in the second set, came from 2-6 down in the ensuing tiebreak to take it to a third.

This is only Watson's fourth title and comes after she was as low as the 120s a few weeks ago. Should be back inside the top 50 now.

I’m not sure “only” is the appropriate word here. Heather has never been ranked higher than 39 in the world. I’d be interested to know if there are many players with four tour level titles with a lower highest ranking than that. By way of comparison, Jo Konta (a year older and regularly around the top 10/20) only has three tour level titles.

Born S

Just been checking thru the women's title holders and you're absolutely right. Many of those higher ranked than Watson have won fewer titles.

Perhaps I should have used the word "just" rather than "only" to describe Watson's titles. Merely meant it was a rarity and therefore something of an achievement.

Watson could well have been playing Konta in Monterrey but after Konta bt Clijsters in straight sets Heather lost in three to Tia Maria (I refuse to use her real first name) who now takes on Jo.

Yes but what tournaments did Watson win, were any of those big tournaments with real quality opposition? She has never even been past round 3 in any slam. That is pretty poor

While we consider Watson's overall career, we can absorb the news that Konta, without a win this year before this tournament, has won twice in Monterrrey to make the quarters.

AO winner Kenin had to save an MP before winning in three in Lyon. Like a number of women first-time Slam winners of late, Kenin is finding it tough.

Konta thru to the semis in Monterrey. She was 5-2 down in the final set and had to save an MP before it went to a tiebreak.

Konta was 6-4 up in the tiebreak but had to ward off another MP at 6-7 before winning 9-7. She now has a great chance to make the final where she's likely to meet Svitolina.

Indian Wells has been called off due to the coronavirus outbreak.
There is talk of staging it at a later date, although as it's effectively a two-week tournament, that may not be possible.

We don't know at this stage if Miami will go ahead. Looks like Federer timed his surgery at the right time. One or two of the top women - Halep, Kerber, Andreescu - were due to miss IW thru injury, too.

Meanwhile, AO champion Kenin took the Lyon crown, playing four tough three-setters from the second round onwards.

So no tennis now for at least three weeks. It's a long season and players will now get the kind of rest they probably needed but were unlikely to get.

sirfredperry wrote:
So no tennis now for at least three weeks.

Plenty going on at Challenger and Futures levels. Jack Draper is in a Challenger event in South Africa. Actually, I find the lower echelons of the games just as interesting; and things change a little more quickly!