BARCELONA - ATP 500 - Apr. 19-27, 2014.

[Moose]

Hi, Moose. Welcome to Tennis Frontier!

Some of us have been monitoring Thiem since we published this blog post about him:

"Up-and-coming Austrian and his unusual coach"

Thanks for the welcome. And thanks for the link. Fascinating story.
Hope you enjoy it.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

So Magro beats Nando to potentially meet Rafa. Povided Magro plays up to his level, it should be a solid test for Rafa to get back on track. He obviously has to take care of Dodig first.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

is the king of spin in a vamos mood or an anti-vamos mood this week ?.

 

[Moxie]

Cilic v. Robredo has been a tight affair. Cilic had a MP on Tommy's serve, but it went to TB and it was almost all Robredo. Momentum shift going into the decider….

 

[zalvar]

Woo hoo. Rafa next

 

[GameSetAndMath]

If Rafa reaches finals, he will find his mojo and win independent of who is across the
net in Barcelona.

In semifinals, he plays the winner of Giraldo and Kohlschribrier and so I don't see
much chances for his semifinal opponent.

I think Rafa will surely win his match against Dodig today.

So, if at all he loses, he has the best chance of doing that in the QF match.

He plays his quarterfinal match against Nicolas Almagro, the #3 Spaniard.

Nadal has a 10-0 record against Nicolas and 8 of them were on clay.

Over the course of these 10 matches which is spread over the last
10 years, Nicolas has taken grand total of 2 sets.

Finally, Nicolas is a model example of someone who is mentally weak.

Now, I don't even know why I am posting this message.

 

[the AntiPusher]

What an excellent winner by Rafa moving forwad, Vamoa

 

[Kieran]

I haven't seen a shot yet, but the score looks promising...

 

[Kieran]

Rafa should play more matches at night. He looks like he's working up a healthy appetite.

For dinner...

 

[Moxie]

^A few surprising errors, still, but he's looking much spicier than yesterday.

 

[Moxie]

Well, that was MUCH better! :clap

 

[Kieran]

Just watched the last few games, but miles better than MC, or yesterday. He knows the problem, and he's addressing it.

Hopefully...

 

[Moose]

Does anyone else here follow Thiem on Facebook? He always writes a post-script to his matches, and he tends to be very candid in his assessments. Here is what he posted following the loss today to Giraldo:

"6:4, 4:6, 5:7 against Santiago Giraldo. Incredible I lost that match. It's so tough. And really hurts. It's not even because I had matchpoints. He really played them so well. You have to congratulate him. That's the toughest for a rookie like me, how good they all play. No matter how the score is. No matter how much pressure they have to handle. There are absolutely no presents on that level. What I learned today: Even if that match was so close the truth is I am not ready to be a quarterfinalist in an ATP 500."

 

[Front242]

Knows the problem? So does everyone. He was crap yesterday 5-10% or more of an improvement and you're no longer crap. That's all there is to it lol. At least he was better today, couldn't really be much worse. Didn't watch it 'cos I got home from the gym and it was over. Please say he plays Gulbis or Nishikori next. That I'd watch for sure.

Also good to hear he's playing better 'cos that was painful viewing last night even as a non fan. He can be plain ugly as hell to watch especially on clay when he's as bad as that. Rio against Andujar was some ugly tennis too. Great to watch even as non fan when he's hitting DTL forehands and banana shots but short moonballs, shanks and shots going miles wide aren't much fun to watch. He even missed most of his inside out trademark forehands yesterday. On par with Federer in set 1 of the Brisbane final this year. Sheer torturous viewing.

 

[pavlik89]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6NHiFhYRsU[/video]

 

[Front242]

^ That's more like it. He barely hit any of those yesterday.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Does anyone else here follow Thiem on Facebook? He always writes a post-script to his matches, and he tends to be very candid in his assessments. Here is what he posted following the loss today to Giraldo:

"6:4, 4:6, 5:7 against Santiago Giraldo. Incredible I lost that match. It's so tough. And really hurts. It's not even because I had matchpoints. He really played them so well. You have to congratulate him. That's the toughest for a rookie like me, how good they all play. No matter how the score is. No matter how much pressure they have to handle. There are absolutely no presents on that level. What I learned today: Even if that match was so close the truth is I am not ready to be a quarterfinalist in an ATP 500."

I like his attitude. He knows he needs to work hard and he is not blaming this or that.

 

[Front242]

Yeah good to be realistic and even nut job Gulbis is realistic like that. In a recent interview in a loss to Nadal they were saying he almost always wins a set and has close matches but he said "so what, I didn't win. I want to win." Needs to stop losing the plot when things aren't going is way for a start and then he has a good chance of winning. Back to Thiem, I've only watched him in one match and not even the whole match but I liked what I watched. Very promising.

 

[Front242]

So, who does Nadal play next? Gulbis or Nishikori by any chance?

 

[Moxie]

So, who does Nadal play next? Gulbis or Nishikori by any chance?

Nah, they're in the other half. Plays Almagro, the guy he beat in the final last year. (H2H: 10-0 Nadal.) However, Almagro playing well.