2016 Paris Masters

[El Dude]

Here's the draw.

This is a pretty important tournament, for two reasons:

One, Andy is just 415 points behind Novak in the Race to London rankings, which means that if Andy wins it and Novak doesn't make the final, then Andy will be #1 for at least a week when last year's World Tour Finals come off.

Two, there are still two spots in the final eight to be determined. Right now it looks like Thiem (3215) and Cilic (3100), but Berdych (2890) and Goffin (2700) have decent chances. Tsonga (2380) and Bautista Agut (2350) would have to win the tournament to make it. Pouille (2116) could only make it if he won and Cilic pulled out.

Also of note is that Gael Monfils and Alex Zverev pulled out. Not sure why. They, of course, join Federer, Nadal, and Kyrgios among top players not in the tournament.

 

[delPoFearhand]

Gael said he was nursing a rib injury. Probably the sort of thing he could play with if he needed to, but I'm fine with him resting up for the WTF now that he's qualified. Hopefully good Gael shows up there.

A Zverev just said he was fatigued. Not that surprising, he pulled out of Shenzen due to fatigue (granted only a 250, but still). But it speaks to his professionalism that he withdrew rather than showing up to the tournament and tanking R1 for the free money.

M Zverev got the SE slot, he is playing Isner in R1. Should be interesting- Isner is slumping while Mischa is surging, should be an interesting match. There will definitely be a lot of short points in that match.

 

[El Dude]

I looked at Mischa's record and was surprised to see that he finished 2007 in the top 100 at the age of 20, so was a decent prospect at one point. But he stagnated for four years and then faded away. He seemed to start playing more again in 2015; I wonder if his brother's rise had anything to do with it.

 

[delPoFearhand]

The basic answer is yes, he credits his brother's success and optimism in helping him to rediscover his motivation, train harder, and get back on tour. A good, relatively short interview (3 1/2 minutes) following his Wawrinka win is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvwpEoxexTI

And if you have more time (~35 minutes), he was a recent guest on the Beyond the Baseline podcast, where he talks about that as well as his thoughts on the Kyrgios match in Shanghai:
http://www.si.com/tennis/2016/10/20/tennis-podcast-mischa-zverev-brother-alexander

Also, I love that he set a new ATP record by qualifying for tournaments 10 times this year. Granted that's a niche record, but still it shows persistence.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

It should be interesting what Cilic can do with the confidence he got from winning Basel. It'd be refreshing to see him play some good tournaments again.

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[herios]

I looked at Mischa's record and was surprised to see that he finished 2007 in the top 100 at the age of 20, so was a decent prospect at one point. But he stagnated for four years and then faded away. He seemed to start playing more again in 2015; I wonder if his brother's rise had anything to do with it.

Misha Zverev had suffered a wrist fracture in 2009 at only 22y. Thus his career suffered a major hit, therefore his career high still is dated when he was only 21y.

 

[herios]

A Zverev just said he was fatigued. Not that surprising, he pulled out of Shenzen due to fatigue (granted only a 250, but still). But it speaks to his professionalism that he withdrew rather than showing up to the tournament and tanking R1 for the free money.

.

I appreciate more tis approach than what D. Thiem did. Thiem is now nowhere near the player he was this spring.

 

[Front242]

I looked at Mischa's record and was surprised to see that he finished 2007 in the top 100 at the age of 20, so was a decent prospect at one point. But he stagnated for four years and then faded away. He seemed to start playing more again in 2015; I wonder if his brother's rise had anything to do with it.

Misha Zverev had suffered a wrist fracture in 2009 at only 22y. Thus his career suffered a major hit, therefore his career high still is dated when he was only 21y.

Seems almost a carbon copy of Del Potro's situation given they both predominantly slice on the backhand. Misha Zverev has a great slice though but maybe he can't hit hard like Delpo since the fracture.

 

[Puppet Master]

Come on No2e!!!
One loss in Bercy already, although it was doubles, one to go.

 

[Carol]

At the end Wawrinka has decided to play in Paris after to say that he felt tired and wasn't sure if he would do it
Meanwhile Carreno, ranked now #31 has beaten Fog but tomorrow he will have a tough test against Raonic but I hope he will give him hard time too. I like his game a lot, he is still 25 years old and improving a lot in a short time

 

[lacatch]

Steve Tignor is picking Novak to win Paris. The kiss of death

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

When is Nole's second round match?

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[Carol]

They say that each one is looking for whatever can help ........mentally?

http://tennistonic.com/tennis-news/?nid=8478&/A-love-guru-to-take-Becker%25E2%2580%2599s-place-with-Djokovic%3f

 

[Puppet Master]

They say that each one is looking for whatever can help ........mentally?

http://tennistonic.com/tennis-news/?nid=8478&/A-love-guru-to-take-Becker%25E2%2580%2599s-place-with-Djokovic%3f

The clown wants peace, love and harmony and all he does is rip shirts, yell at his box and who knows what else.The "guru" that he hired is going to run away with his tail between his legs. It fascinates me that people fall for his act. What's next, meditating during every break, come on man.

 

[rafanoy1992]

Djokovic has a potential "tricky" draw if he does not find his mojo back this week. He faces Muller in the 2nd round, then Dimitrov, then potentially Cilic in the quarters, and potentialy Wawrinka in the semis. If Djokovic is still not focused, then he could lose to any of those players.

 

[Carol]

Huge credit to Sock after to play 28 matches in 30 days and still rolling all over, but how long?

 

[herios]

Good win for Pouille over Lopez

 

[the AntiPusher]

Good win for Pouille over Lopez

LP really dissected FeLi lefty serve today..very impressive

 

[Front242]

Hopefully Fiasco beats Butthead.

 

[Carol]

Hopefully Fiasco beats Butthead.

Who is Fiasco and Butthead? :huh: