Brazil Open - São Paulo, Brazil - ATP 250

[mrzz]

Yep

 

[mrzz]

Are you there in person today, mrzz?

Just a selfie to prove it:

 

[mrzz]

Now some pics that you will never find anywhere else:

 

[herios]

A very nice win by Jarry over Ramos.
I am happy for 2 reasons, one it would be nice to see a new good clay courter emerging, second, Ramos is not my favorite player on tour, kinda lacks salt & pepper.

 

[mrzz]

^He surely does... but he is a fine clay courter anyway, so a quality win for Jarry. I got tickets for tomorrow, focus is to watch Cuevas Fognini, I'll try to watch also Jarry Zeballos but I am not so sure if I can. In fact, in the (real) talent department, it is hard to see a combo better than Cuevas x Fognini.

 

[isabelle]

the Fog should win this

 

[mrzz]

Fog wins the first. So so match.

 

[mrzz]

Fognini wins in dominant fashion. Cuevas started to put balls back in play waiting for a meltdown that never came. Instead It was him who could not raise back his level.

 

[mrzz]

Just realized that three of the four semifinalists have wins over Nadal on clay. Probably doesnt happen much.

 

[Moxie]

You watching the Jarry match? If so, how do you like his game? My tv isn't showing the match, and I'd never even heard of him before this week.

 

[mrzz]

You watching the Jarry match? If so, how do you like his game? My tv isn't showing the match, and I'd never even heard of him before this week.

Yes, I watched, I was pretty curious to see him, after a few clips I saw this last weeks. I was already aware of him as one of the best young prospects in South America. Today is the fourth straight match in this tournament that he turns around after losing a close first set. And all his opponents were quality ones.

Thing is that he is one of the most aggressive players I have ever seen, at least as aggressive as Rublev, and this is clay! Okay that here in SP is the same altittude as Madrid (around 700 meters above sea level), but still... give the kid half of the half of a chance, and he attacks the ball. If he ever makes to the top 20 guys like @DarthFed an @Front242 will become instant fans. Honestly, while watching him today I murmured to myself "this kid is going straight to the top" (in Portuguese, naturally). With a cool head, I obviously cannot be sure, but the potential is there.

Pros:

1) Monster serve, routinely above 200 KM/h, with good placement and good variety. Flats, slices, kicks... he has everything. Very good second serve too. If I recall correctly Zeballos never got to 40 (never broke as the first set was on a TB).

2) Monster forehand, he can fire winners from everywhere. Differently from other tall players, he can deal with low balls and spin forehands in the corners. In other words, he doesn't need a floating ball to fire a winner, he can end a rally just out of the blue.

3) Very good backhand, he has his fair share of winners from this side, too.

4) The head seems to be in the right place, given all the comebacks. But it is too soon to tell.

Cons:

1) He attacks 100% of the time. He will need to learn how to dose it, at least a little.

2) Defensive slice on the forehand is atrocious. Mine is better. Slice BH is decent at best.

3) Net game is pretty ok, but he has a taste for the swing volley (typical of attacking players). Problem is that they are not that good. He likes to serve and volley, and lost some points trying to swing volley when he could just slice or block it away.

Neutral:

Movement: Good for a big guy, but it needs to be better to be in the big leagues. Right now he is a tad slower than Zverev.

Shot selection: given his aggressive mindset, that as I said could be softened, he actually makes good decisions, so in the end it is ok.


Big test tomorrow against Fognini, but I really won't be surprised to see Fognini tank it and lose it badly, out of frustration from the kid's serve and forehand, even if today he played extremely well.

 

[Moxie]

Thank you for the detailed scouting report, mrzz!

 

[herios]

I like what I am seeing from Jarry. I have been following his results since the beginning of the season as he started ranked 100, he has been moving up ever since.
It looks like he is playing better from one event to another.

 

[mrzz]

Jarry run ends in the unlikely hands of Fognini... I wasn't there this time and just saw the highlights on youtube, but a long clip so you can get the feel of the match. Jarry started strong, if I was there I would be sure he would win the second as he won the first (6x1), but Fognini did just what I was sure he wouldn't, stayed calm, raised his level, and turned around the match. Jarry's lack of a middle option cost him, but it was a good week anyway and merit to F3 -- this time the third F is rightfully "fabulous". There are two other options but I leave it to later use...

 

[Moxie]

:lulz2: I guess it would have been too much to see Jarry run it all the way through. Plus, F3 would be a joke if he didn't have the chops to beat such a newbie.