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

[Front242]

Cheers Moxie but :cover

I don't expect Almagro to ever beat him like Ferrer. He just rolls over and plays dead. The guy's photo should be in the thesaurus as an example of the word choke.

 

[Moxie]

Cheers Moxie but :cover

I don't expect Almagro to ever beat him like Ferrer. He just rolls over and plays dead. The guy's photo should be in the thesaurus as an example of the word choke.

I was just trying to give you a little hope. :hug

 

[Front242]

 

[Front242]

Saved myself the shame and deleted my last post haha. For those who missed it, I seem to have been asleep for a week and forgot this was Barcelona and not Monte Carlo and was commenting on the bad weather in Monte Carlo :cover

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

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."

lol..at least he has enough awareness to note he is not all that good yet in a global context. unlike gulbis / tomic for example.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

I see the king of spin stormed through 6-3, 6-3..no whining to the umpire I hope.

 

[Moxie]

QF matches tomorrow (in draw order):

Nadal v. Almagro

Giraldo v. Kohlscreiber

Cilic v. Nishikori

Gulbis v. Gabashvili

(For order of play, go here. )

 

[Front242]

Hmmm, Gabashvili's playing great at the moment...that could be a good one against Gulbis. And Cilic v Nishikori sounds watchable too. I'll watch Nadal's match but no matter how badly he plays he won't lose to Almagro so it'll probably be totally one sided unlike the others. Fan of Kohlschreiber and don't recall seeing many matches with Giraldo but he seems handy enough so will watch a few games of that one.

Cheers Moxie.

 

[tented]

QF matches tomorrow (in draw order):

Nadal v. Almagro

Giraldo v. Kohlscreiber

Cilic v. Nishikori

Gulbis v. Gabashvili

(For order of play, go here. )

Thanks for posting the schedule, Moxie.

I took a look and noticed a "[PR]" next to the doubles team Fognini/Melzer. I don't remember seeing that before, but I guess it means protected ranking. It's an odd place to discover it, too, since I don't remember them being a team before. If it were next to the Bryan brothers' names, then I would get it, but it's not.

 

[Front242]

Interesting. I know Melzer was out for a while but was it that long? Maybe it's different rules for doubles or was he really out long enough to qualify for protected ranking?

 

[tented]

Hmmm, Gabashvili's playing great at the moment...that could be a good one against Gulbis.

This could be the best or the worst match of the day. I'll DVR it in case it's worth watching.

I'll watch Nadal's match but no matter how badly he plays he won't lose to Almagro so it'll probably be totally one sided unlike the others.

I've learned over the past couple of years to follow Rafa's lead in these matters: everyone is a potential threat, even someone he's taken down 10 times in a row. After Rosol and Darcis, anything can happen. Combine that with Rafa's recent shaky form, and it could be Almagro's day.

Fan of Kohlschreiber and don't recall seeing many matches with Giraldo but he seems handy enough so will watch a few games of that one.

I like Kohlschreiber, too. He doesn't get a lot of attention, but he's worth watching.

 

[Front242]

^ I'd agree except Almagro isn't back that long since the shoulder injury and doesn't seem quite back to 100% yet from what I've seen and he certainly needs to be physically at 100% to stand a chance. Now maybe he is physically 100% in which case it's problem (b), not match tough yet, not to mention problem (c) and in fact the word I'd most use to describe Almagro begins with c: Choker with a capital c. Make that Chronic Choker.

I see you can't type ( c ) without the spaces here or it turns into a copyright sign

 

[Moxie]

^ I'd agree except Almagro isn't back that long since the shoulder injury and doesn't seem quite back to 100% yet from what I've seen and he certainly needs to be physically at 100% to stand a chance. Now maybe he is physically 100% in which case it's problem (b), not match tough yet, not to mention problem (c) and in fact the word I'd most use to describe Almagro begins with c: Choker with a capital c. Make that Chronic Choker.

I see you can't type ( c ) without the spaces here or it turns into a copyright sign

I thought you were copywriting him as a chronic choker. I have to say, he looked very strong v. Verdasco. :snigger You might be surprised to know that their previous H2H was 7-3 in favor of Verdasco. I wouldn't really call Almagro such a choker…though he's had his days. But meandering around in the top 20 for 5 years isn't really choke material. We could come up with many worse.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

^ I'd agree except Almagro isn't back that long since the shoulder injury and doesn't seem quite back to 100% yet from what I've seen and he certainly needs to be physically at 100% to stand a chance. Now maybe he is physically 100% in which case it's problem (b), not match tough yet, not to mention problem (c) and in fact the word I'd most use to describe Almagro begins with c: Choker with a capital c. Make that Chronic Choker.

I see you can't type ( c ) without the spaces here or it turns into a copyright sign

Remember that match Almagro played in the q/finals of the AO in 2013 against Ferrer,when he failed to serve out the match 3 times....that was a Chronic Choke from Almagro.

 

[tented]

^ I'd agree except Almagro isn't back that long since the shoulder injury and doesn't seem quite back to 100% yet from what I've seen and he certainly needs to be physically at 100% to stand a chance. Now maybe he is physically 100% in which case it's problem (b), not match tough yet, not to mention problem (c) and in fact the word I'd most use to describe Almagro begins with c: Choker with a capital c. Make that Chronic Choker.

I see you can't type ( c ) without the spaces here or it turns into a copyright sign

Remember that match Almagro played in the q/finals of the AO in 2013 against Ferrer,when he failed to serve out the match 3 times....that was a Chronic Choke from Almagro.

Oh, yes. That was pitiful. Like you, apparently, it has become my go-to example of choking.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

what is this supposed to be ?..what is it ?. :s:huh:

 

[Front242]

what is this supposed to be ?..what is it ?. :s:huh:

Steven Seagull, man Haven't you ever watched one of his movies. He also goes by his alter ego Steven Seagal

 

[herios]

For me, the most interesting tomorrow is Cilic - Nishikori.

 

[pavlik89]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FKL_V6k6a0[/video]

 

[herios]

Gulbis - Gabashvili 6-1, 6-4