Abierto Mexicani TelCel, Acapulco, Mexico, ATP 500

[Carol]

darn it, you two ladies call this one..what happened..did Nicky meds wear off?

Not necessarily, AP. The 3rd set was competitive and Querrey just took it to him especially towards at the end of the set.

Nicky serve was unbreakable vs Djoker..what happened vs Sam

Very simple, Kyrgios never has played and served very good two matches in a row. When he beat Rafa in Wimbledon he did 36 aces and the next match around 6. Playing to Novak he did 25 aces and yesterday also around 6 too

 

[kskate2]

Cant call that yet. Nicky might flame out against Uncle Sam

I wouldn't be very surprised

darn it, you two ladies call this one..what happened..did Nicky meds wear off?

What can I say. The ladies have it AP!

 

[the AntiPusher]

I wouldn't be very surprised

darn it, you two ladies call this one..what happened..did Nicky meds wear off?

What can I say. The ladies have it AP!

Who ya got today Rafa or sudden Sam.. I am gonna be honest..I haven't seen Sam play since Wimbledon

 

[Front242]

Kyrgios always seems to lose against the big servers.

 

[Puppet Master]

I doubt Sam will keep it togetger after beating Goffin, Thiem and Kyrgios consecutively. His level will most likely drop.
Even if he plays his best against Nadal, he always did manage to put huge pressure on big servers like Querrey.
Smells like a 7:5 6:3 victory for Rafa.

 

[kskate2]

darn it, you two ladies call this one..what happened..did Nicky meds wear off?

What can I say. The ladies have it AP!

Who ya got today Rafa or sudden Sam.. I am gonna be honest..I haven't seen Sam play since Wimbledon

Straight sets for the Spanish Bull. He'll get alot of balls back and force the Uncle into some errors.

 

[herios]

Kyrgios always seems to lose against the big servers.

That is obviouly poiting to a weakness, ROS. He will need to improve that.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Kyrgios always seems to lose against the big servers.

That is obviouly poiting to a weakness, ROS. He will need to improve that.

Question for you herios..Monfils or Krygrios..are they equally talented or would you pick one over the other..KS fancies Krygrios...I say Gael.. not even close for me

 

[Front242]

Kyrgios always seems to lose against the big servers.

That is obviouly poiting to a weakness, ROS. He will need to improve that.

True but also shows his own serve is unreliable or he'd be making tiebreaks like Isner And Karlovic more often than not. Losing a 6-1 set against Querrey was a bit ridiculous.

 

[Front242]

Kyrgios always seems to lose against the big servers.

That is obviouly poiting to a weakness, ROS. He will need to improve that.

Question for you herios..Monfils or Krygrios..are they equally talented or would you pick one over the other..KS fancies Krygrios...I say Gael.. not even close for me

I'd personally call it like this.

Better serve: Kyrgios, although Monfils can hit some good ones too.
Better movement/athleticism: Monfils. BUT, his cardio is a joke and he tanks matches even worse than Kyrgios. Worst tanking offending on tour.
Better forehand: Probably Monfils but only when he's actually playing as he should, ie. aggressively and he rarely does that so it's wasted talent and overall that would swing FH in Kyrgios' favour imo. Monfils' forehand down the line is lightning fast and accurate but he pushes through most of his matches save for the occasional hard hit ball here and there. Clueless and wrong approach given the shot making skills he possesses.

Boils down to this imo, Monfils has the potential to be an absolute aggressive beast but chooses to play like a godawful pusher 90% of the time. What good is it possessing the ability to blow opponents off the court when you choose to tap the ball over the net instead like Bambi?

Kyrgios hands down for me. He knows his skillset is mostly aggressive natured and plays that way as he should, unlike Monfils who has an extremely poor tennis IQ.

 

[the AntiPusher]

That is obviouly poiting to a weakness, ROS. He will need to improve that.

Question for you herios..Monfils or Krygrios..are they equally talented or would you pick one over the other..KS fancies Krygrios...I say Gael.. not even close for me

I'd personally call it like this.

Better serve: Kyrgios, although Monfils can hit some good ones too.
Better movement/athleticism: Monfils. BUT, his cardio is a joke and he tanks matches even worse than Kyrgios. Worst tanking offending on tour.
Better forehand: Probably Monfils but only when he's actually playing as he should, ie. aggressively and he rarely does that so it's wasted talent and overall that would swing FH in Kyrgios' favour imo. Monfils' forehand down the line is lightning fast and accurate but he pushes through most of his matches save for the occasional hard hit ball here and there. Clueless and wrong approach given the shot making skills he possesses.

Boils down to this imo, Monfils has the potential to be an absolute aggressive beast but chooses to play like a godawful pusher 90% of the time. What good is it possessing the ability to blow opponents off the court when you choose to tap the ball over the net instead like Bambi?

Kyrgios hands down for me. He knows his skillset is mostly aggressive natured and plays that way as he should, unlike Monfils who has an extremely poor tennis IQ.

Monfils had a lot of coaches...they never changed his game or his style of play..I disagree that Gael has a poor tennis IQ..I think it's Gael's lack of execution plus poor conditioning which I agree with you that has caused him to be an under achiever.

 

[Front242]

No offense but lack of execution? Pushing is not the way to beat Nadal and that's how he plays him. Likewise, pushing is not how to beat Murray and that's how he plays him. He needs to watch how the guys who beat them actually do so. They win with their aggressive play and serving, mostly the former.

 

[Front242]

Nadal and Murray are 2 of the best defenders on tour so how does Monfils play against them? By pushing the ball over the net point after point :nono He clearly is not a very bright guy. This plays 100% into their strengths as they both love to prolong rallies and try and tire their opponents out or make them hit errors and defeat themselves. In short, the way Monfils plays is moronic. He should be hitting hard and fast serves (which he can) and blasting winners from every angle of the court, which he can also. But no, let's instead tap the ball over the net against 2 of the tours best defenders. I dunno how anyone could say his tennis IQ is anything but non existent tbh.

 

[Front242]

^ And to add to that, it's such a pity 'cos I've seen matches where he's actually played aggressively for large portions of it and he's like a different player completely and great to watch when he's playing like this. But I can't stand watching him make a fool out of himself pushing the ball slowly over the net. It's ugly to watch and it won't beat the top guys ever.

 

[El Dude]

I'd like to see Rafa win today as I want him to build confidence going forward, and do well in clay season. I don't want to see him whimper and fade away so that the younger guys just slide in because there's no one there. I want to see them--especially Thiem--fight their way to clay court titles. My hope is that Dominic Thiem can win one of the three clay Masters, which I think would situate him as a serious contender at Roland Garros. My clay season dark-horse is Pablo Carreno Busta, who I could see sneaking a clay Masters at some point in his career.

That said, I don't think Rafa "has to" win against Querrey, but I would be very surprised if he didn't. Actually, I think this is more of a case of: If he wins, good job but no big deal - just keep at it. But if he loses? A bit worrisome. Querrey can be dangerous, but he's essentially a top 20 talent that should be easily beatable by Rafa, especially on clay. If this were grass then I'd give them 50-50.

 

[mrzz]

Querrey can be dangerous, but he's essentially a top 20 talent that should be easily beatable by Rafa, especially on clay. If this were grass then I'd give them 50-50.

And what about the actual surface of the tournament?

 

[Front242]

Querrey's movement is pretty shocking. He makes Raonic look like Djokovic. Very wooden, lanky and slow moving to the corners. His only way to win is serve big and hit big because, like all the other lanky guys out there, he'll just get run ragged all match otherwise, fatigue, start making errors and missing first serves and then it's game over. This is on at 4am here so I won't be watching it but I wouldn't anyway. Watched some of the pushing in the match with Nishioka and felt like throwing up.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Querrey can be dangerous, but he's essentially a top 20 talent that should be easily beatable by Rafa, especially on clay. If this were grass then I'd give them 50-50.

And what about the actual surface of the tournament?

It's a hardcourt

 

[El Dude]

Whoops, for some reason I thought Acapulco was clay. I guess that shows you how I haven't really been following it closely.

I guess that closes the gap a bit, with Rafa still the favorite but not hugely so.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Whoops, for some reason I thought Acapulco was clay. I guess that shows you how I haven't really been following it closely.

I guess that closes the gap a bit, with Rafa still the favorite but not hugely so.

The surface was clay for years..it was switched to hardcourt a year or so ago to try to draw more interest.