ABN Amro, Rotterdam, Netherlands, ATP 500

[El Dude]

I agree with what you say, Front, except think you overrate Soderling a bit. Robin was a bit of a late-bloomer, not really breaking through until he was 24-25 (shades of Dimitrov?) and by 2010 had moved ahead of the other second tier guys, both in terms of ranking but also ability - Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga, Roddick. But "sky high" is a huge exaggeration. I think more realistically he was going for a similar path to someone like Stan Wawrinka, although my guess is only 1-2 Slams at most, and maybe not even that. Perhaps more likely he would have played spoiler for a few years, won another Masters or two, and maybe snuck a Slam in there. But "sky high" implies equaling the Big Four, and I just don't see that.

 

[herios]

Coric - Khachanov is a battle between two of the leaders of the players born in 1996.
Not much separates them.
Coric takes the first set in a tight TB.
Khachanov hits the ball very hard and goes for the lines, having more UE than he should.

 

[El Dude]

I see both as possible future second tier players. Some of the folks over at "the other site" convinced me that Coric deserves more of a chance, as I was writing him off as another Tomic.

I only recently realized that "Coric" is pronounced "chore-itch." I thought it was "core-itch."

 

[Front242]

I agree with what you say, Front, except think you overrate Soderling a bit. Robin was a bit of a late-bloomer, not really breaking through until he was 24-25 (shades of Dimitrov?) and by 2010 had moved ahead of the other second tier guys, both in terms of ranking but also ability - Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga, Roddick. But "sky high" is a huge exaggeration. I think more realistically he was going for a similar path to someone like Stan Wawrinka, although my guess is only 1-2 Slams at most, and maybe not even that. Perhaps more likely he would have played spoiler for a few years, won another Masters or two, and maybe snuck a Slam in there. But "sky high" implies equaling the Big Four, and I just don't see that.

Agreed, maybe sky high was a bit too extreme a description but, my point was, he was leagues better than the other players Carol mentioned and didn't belong in that group of people who did nothing once they beat a big four member in a slam or any event for that matter. I miss him on tour. If he was still around we'd see who was doing nothing as he spanked some oldies quite a few times.

 

[britbox]

Results from the World Indoor Tournament Men's Singles Round 1 matches on Tuesday

1-Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Benoit Paire (France) 5-7 6-3 6-2
6-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) 6-4 7-6(2)
Martin Klizan (Slovakia) beat Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-4 0-6 6-1
Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) beat Tallon Griekspoor (Netherlands) 6-3 6-2
Gilles Simon (France) beat Nicolas Mahut (France) 3-6 6-3 6-4
Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) beat 8-Lucas Pouille (France) 7-5 6-2
Borna Coric (Croatia) beat Karen Khachanov (Russia) 7-6(6) 7-6(10)

 

[Carol]

I don't miss Soderling at all. He was a little bit weird and I understand that he didn't have any sympathy from the others players . He was a good player but not great, 1 title in his whole career....
By the way, what kind of sickness he got? very weird too

 

[Carol]

Old Zverev is giving a hard time to Dimitrov....

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Dimitrov in round 2. Will play Istomin. He might get another match with Goffin. Can Cilic somehow put together a good run now? Cilic should be achieving more with his talent.

Sent from my Titanium Octane using Tapatalk

 

[Puppet Master]

Dimitrov in round 2. Will play Istomin. He might get another match with Goffin. Can Cilic somehow put together a good run now? Cilic should be achieving more with his talent.

Sent from my Titanium Octane using Tapatalk

This could be said for many, many players, but Cilic is hideously inconsistent and those early losses are a norm for him. Just look at his run at AO this year.
Lost to Dan Evans of all people... I don't expect him to even reach the final here. And if he does, I doubt he can take a set off Dimitrov.

 

[El Dude]

I don't miss Soderling at all. He was a little bit weird and I understand that he didn't have any sympathy from the others players . He was a good player but not great, 1 title in his whole career....
By the way, what kind of sickness he got? very weird too

He won 10 titles, not one. He had mononucleosis, which is quite common.

 

[Carol]

I don't miss Soderling at all. He was a little bit weird and I understand that he didn't have any sympathy from the others players . He was a good player but not great, 1 title in his whole career....
By the way, what kind of sickness he got? very weird too

He won 10 titles, not one. He had mononucleosis, which is quite common.

My bad, you are right, 10 titles but not MS and GS. Many athletes get mono but they always are able to come back unless is something else

 

[El Dude]

Mono can really vary in intensity, from minor flu-like symptoms for a few weeks to years of debilitation.

As for Soderling, my sense is that if he had continued he would have ended up with a Davydenko-esque career - maybe a couple more Masters, but probably no Slam. But he'll always be remembered for the 4th round of the 2009 French Open...

 

[Carol]

Mono can really vary in intensity, from minor flu-like symptoms for a few weeks to years of debilitation.

As for Soderling, my sense is that if he had continued he would have ended up with a Davydenko-esque career - maybe a couple more Masters, but probably no Slam. But he'll always be remembered for the 4th round of the 2009 French Open...

Of course I'm sure you do

 

[mrzz]

Soderling is very underrated, IMO. No one can know where he would end up. He was cut short right on his way up. I am not saying because of his results, I saw a few of his matches in the end of his career and he was playing fantastic tennis. Some people were talking about big five at the time for a reason. Considering Wawrinka, and even Cilic, I would not be a bit surprised if would end up with more than a slam to his name.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Soderling can only succeed in slow courts. Given lot of time to pounce up on shots, he will kill you. Otherwise, he is pretty innocuous.

 

[britbox]

Results from the World Indoor Tournament Men's Singles matches on Wednesday

Round 2
6-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) 6-4 6-2
Martin Klizan (Slovakia) beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 6-7(5) 6-4 6-1
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France) beat Evgeny Donskoy (Russia) 6-2 7-6(4)

Round 1
2-Dominic Thiem (Austria) beat Alexander Zverev (Germany) 3-6 6-3 6-4
5-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Mischa Zverev (Germany) 6-7(4) 6-2 6-4
Richard Gasquet (France) beat Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 6-4 6-2
3-David Goffin (Belgium) beat Andrey Kuznetsov (Russia) 6-3 6-2

 

[britbox]

Wednesday Highlights

 

[Moxie]

Good battle today between Thiem and Zverev today. I was only able to watch parts of it, but saw a lot of great play from both. Thiem seemed able to find his way into Zverev's serve and game and stick to his game plan, which wasn't working in the first set. He was avoiding Sasha's bh, which made him uncomfortable. But he adjusted.

 

[herios]

I don't miss Soderling at all. He was a little bit weird and I understand that he didn't have any sympathy from the others players . He was a good player but not great, 1 title in his whole career....
By the way, what kind of sickness he got? very weird too

He won 10 titles, not one. He had mononucleosis, which is quite common.

My bad, you are right, 10 titles but not MS and GS. Many athletes get mono but they always are able to come back unless is something else

You got it wrong again. Soderling won a MS title.

 

[El Dude]

To be fair to Carol, I think she was only counting big titles when she said one.

Soderling won 1 Masters, 2 ATP 500s, and 7 ATP 250s.