Madrid Draw

[Johnsteinbeck]

i must say, if the claim of "haven't touched a racquet since MC" were true, then I'd be Real happy Grigor won, because that would have been a bit disrespectful by Nole in regards to his opponent (who'd already given him a taste of his potential), and even the crowd and the tournament. it's not like you can put the not-practicing part down on the ankle either (and Nole himself sure didn't claim that). if it was good enough to hold up during a week of long matches in MC, i have a feeling that a 20 minute hitting session on the courts in Madrid wouldn't have hurt either.

anyway, i don't think the loss is that big a thing. Madrid's one of the few tourneys where he doesn't have to defend a whole lot of points. Rome will be much more important for him anyway (and he's gotten better audience feedback there as well).

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also, to bore y'all with Roger a little - i only followed the scores and stats v Stepanek, but I must say, i'm still worried, for the same reason i've kept bringing up since the AO: Fed finished the match with just One ace (two df's), and serving well below 50% in the second set. and it's not like Stepanek's a return monster, and he surely didn't come into the match in a good returning groove (he played what, six matches in all of 2013?).

the serve remains The problem for 2013 Fed. no idea what the reason is - it can simply be a mental thing, but i'd also say that the serve is probably the motion that is most affected by back problems. mhm. either way, if he can't turn that around, he's pretty much toast.

this one's for Isabelle, i'm sure she'll appreciate it. don't think i've ever seen him look older, grumpier and generally uglier

 

[the AntiPusher]

Holy smokes! I've been mad with work and not paying attention. Was Dimitrov that good? Nole that bad? The crowd a factor?

Dimitrov was amazing, No1e was out of form, the crowd disgusting but I don't think they were the factor. No1e screwed up key points easily.

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That really does not sound like Nole, who is a pretty strict guy when it comes to his training...I am surprised.

Well, I assume the reason for that had to do with his ankle injury rather than laziness. It's strange, though, because no one really knows what the deal is with it. Perhaps after going all out at Monte Carlo he wanted to rest it for two weeks... ? Whatever the deal is, I hope his ankle is 100% very soon so he can start preparing for Rome and RG.

If Novak had been playing almost any other unseeded player, I think he would have somehow managed to win today despite having no backhand. Unfortunately for him, Dimitrov played very well. Good luck to Dimitrov for the rest of the tournament.

Oh, and the crowd was awful and deserved Novak yelling at them (although even I will admit that the number of the times Novak called out the ump during the first set was kind of stupid).

No1e looked as if he didn't practice at all before Madrid and Alex you are right that means his ankle is unfortunately still injured.

Congratulation to Rafa on his billionth FO that he will win in couple of weeks.

Madrid crowd is most appalling one in the world and I believe No1e will never ever go there again.

If Djoker think that crowd was rude, wait until he has to feel the "love" of the fickle French crowd. Those folks would boo Santa Claus and Mother Theresa

What do you mean by " if Djoker think crowd was rude"? Everyone who watched the match thinks so.

You mean "French" crowd described by Tignor as Spaniards pretending to be Fed fans?

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Djoker knows currently he is not the "Beloved" like TMF is everwhere.

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Baby Fed? Roger wishes at 21 he had a backhand like Grigor's.

Something tells me Roger is satisfied with the way things turned out for him, despite not having Grigor's backhand at 21.

In all seriousness, I'm interested in seeing Grigor's one handed backhand on faster surfaces. For instance, he's got a very good, natural backhand slice (especially in contrast Djokovic or Nadal), and pretty versatile backhand on the whole. I think he's extremely intelligent with that shot as far as ball placement during rallies, the amount of spin he has on the ball, when he decides to change directions, etc...

However, he still likes to have a little more time to line it up (though not anywhere near Wawrinka or Gasquet, who camp miles back to find that extra split second), and doesn't quite half volley it from the baseline like someone like Federer does. In that regard, it could hurt him on faster surfaces when he doesn't quite have the same amount of time.

In fairness, I haven't fully paid close attention to the way he hits it on faster surfaces, and he might make the necessary adjustments. That, and the fact that his slice could bail him out anyway.

Very good point BS about Dimitrov's bh.
Almagro's backhand seems to make the transition from clay to hard courts
very effortless. His pre backhand positioning footwork is probably close to perfection, imo.

 

[herios]

Tommy vs Tommy on now now, on serve first set

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

We all know the outcome of this one but Paire is making some insane shots ...

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...and Nadal breaks with a screamer...awesome shot.

 

[the AntiPusher]

^ it sure would. i wonder though, if - to paraphrase Twain - the reports of Grigor's arrival have been greatly exaggerated. yes, he went one step further last night and finally did what he had shown to be capable of in the last tournaments. how much he can do on a regular basis is another question, which in the long run will make more of a difference in regards to where his career is going.

the other thing - cramps again? at that stage in the tournament/match, i can't even put this down to bad conditioning. the dude must have some problem there. he doesn't seem like he's dehydrating, so there must be other reasons. i'm not going to say "lack of sleep" because then you'd think i'm just hinting at what would be a very understandable Sharapova-related issue.

" "lack of sleep" because then you'd think i'm just hinting at what would be a very understandable Sharapova-related issue."

I can understand why Grigor would give up some sleep time to spend more "time" with Sharapova.:blush:

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

^ it sure would. i wonder though, if - to paraphrase Twain - the reports of Grigor's arrival have been greatly exaggerated. yes, he went one step further last night and finally did what he had shown to be capable of in the last tournaments. how much he can do on a regular basis is another question, which in the long run will make more of a difference in regards to where his career is going.

the other thing - cramps again? at that stage in the tournament/match, i can't even put this down to bad conditioning. the dude must have some problem there. he doesn't seem like he's dehydrating, so there must be other reasons. i'm not going to say "lack of sleep" because then you'd think i'm just hinting at what would be a very understandable Sharapova-related issue.

" "lack of sleep" because then you'd think i'm just hinting at what would be a very understandable Sharapova-related issue."

I can understand why Grigor would give up some sleep time to spend more "time" with Sharapova.:blush:

You know, family comes first...

 

[the AntiPusher]

^ it sure would. i wonder though, if - to paraphrase Twain - the reports of Grigor's arrival have been greatly exaggerated. yes, he went one step further last night and finally did what he had shown to be capable of in the last tournaments. how much he can do on a regular basis is another question, which in the long run will make more of a difference in regards to where his career is going.

the other thing - cramps again? at that stage in the tournament/match, i can't even put this down to bad conditioning. the dude must have some problem there. he doesn't seem like he's dehydrating, so there must be other reasons. i'm not going to say "lack of sleep" because then you'd think i'm just hinting at what would be a very understandable Sharapova-related issue.

" "lack of sleep" because then you'd think i'm just hinting at what would be a very understandable Sharapova-related issue."

I can understand why Grigor would give up some sleep time to spend more "time" with Sharapova.:blush:

You know, family comes first...

Have Mercy:angel:

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Nadal was not as sharp as he could be, but lunch pale effort as usual...Paire would be a much better player if his forehand was half as good as the backhand. I like his game.

 

[Denis]

Tented is right, here's a link about that incident.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-489968/Davydenko-fined-2-000-trying-loss.html

It's funny that it happened against Cilic. When Nalbandian killed the umpire, Cilic was involved too. We should call him John McClane for drawing trouble everywhere.

I must say I find this quite bizarre. How on earth does an umpire establish this? Davydenko's story seems plausible. Otherwise Nalby should have been fined at least three times this year after winning the first set comfortably only to get crushed in the third.

Cilic = McClane LOL

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No1e looked as if he didn't practice at all before Madrid and Alex you are right that means his ankle is unfortunately still injured.

Congratulation to Rafa on his billionth FO that he will win in couple of weeks.

Madrid crowd is most appalling one in the world and I believe No1e will never ever go there again.

Not so fast, have faith, Djokovic can do this. He will not let Dimitrov win at Paris in a best of 5 match. Different surface, different crowd (kind of), and much more important.

 

[tented]

I said it before; Grigor will dominate tennis in 2016-forward for sure. He is missing the physicality but slowly getting there/ Love the way he can knife that slide. Is backhand is like the best of both worlds between Richard and Federer.

What I love is that you indicate from 2016 forward. That's reasonable. It gets tiring when people see one win like this, and think Dimitrov will finish the year No. 1.

I think you're over-reacting. First of all, I've never heard anyone say that Dimitrov is going to finish the year No. 1 or even close to it. Secondly, this is hardly his first big game that impressed. He almost beat Nadal a few weeks ago and last year around this time beat Tomas Berdych.

My comment was of a more general nature, relating to any player who suddenly has a big win and/or goes deep in a tournament, then all of a sudden there's a bandwagon forming. Janowicz is another example, after his run in Paris last fall.

I think the reason people are getting excited is that the big games are coming more frequently, he's really showing up and taking that next step from #40-50 guy to on the cusp of the top 20. It isn't just glimmers of brilliance, its full on flashes.

I agree. I've been a fan of his for a while. Again, my comment was simply to acknowledge huntingyou's level-headed response to this one particular win: Dimitrov will be a great player, but not in the immediate future.

The Djokovic win is huge - I don't think it should be underestimated. I know Novak says he wasn't prepared, but one of the reasons he's so great is that his lowest level of performance is still very high.

I'm not underestimating it. It IS huge. It's the first time I've seen Dimitrov dig in, and not give up or completely fade physically. As I wrote above, at first I thought it was all over after he lost the second set, so I was thrilled that didn't happen. Sure, Djokovic was not at his peak, but he still could have taken down tons of guys. Yesterday, Dimitrov wasn't one of them.

He never tanks game like Andy Murray or Roger Federer or even Rafael Nadal are prone to do on occasion. So even if he played his lowest level, his lowest level is something akin to David Ferrer's best.

Nadal tanking a game? That I've got to see.

As for Dimitrov, I'm hoping that he establishes himself firmly in the top 20 this year and makes a run at the top 10 next. Again, what excites me is that with this win it seems his rise is more certain now. You can show glimmers of brilliance and beat a Tomas Berdych or take a set from Rafael Nadal, but it takes something more to beat Novak Djokovic.

I would also love to see Dimitrov become a top 10 player. As his game matures some more, and he works on his fitness, there's a lot of potential there. I would add to your list of glimmers of brilliance his match against Tsonga a couple of years ago at Wimbledon. That's the first time I remember seeing him and thinking this kid could go far.

 

[tented]

Tented is right, here's a link about that incident.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-489968/Davydenko-fined-2-000-trying-loss.html

It's funny that it happened against Cilic. When Nalbandian killed the umpire, Cilic was involved too. We should call him John McClane for drawing trouble everywhere.

Thanks for the article. Here's the video, but since I don't speak Russian I can't get a proper feel for the situation. The commentators are speaking non-stop, so you can't hear Davydenko and the umpire.

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wLtfNlsoCk[/video]

 

[herios]

Today it was our friend Heychew's day: Anderson took out Monaco and Youzhny beat Nico Almagro

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

No1e looked as if he didn't practice at all before Madrid and Alex you are right that means his ankle is unfortunately still injured.

Congratulation to Rafa on his billionth FO that he will win in couple of weeks.

Madrid crowd is most appalling one in the world and I believe No1e will never ever go there again.

Not so fast, have faith, Djokovic can do this. He will not let Dimitrov win at Paris in a best of 5 match. Different surface, different crowd (kind of), and much more important.

exactly. also, last time i checked, Djokovic lost early in a Masters recently against another talented, versatile guy with a 1hbh, and didn't need an ankle injury for that. and neither that loss nor the ankle kept him from winning MC.

nothing to worry about, really. if anything, it's good for him to have some rest before Rome and (most importantly) RG.

 

[Front242]

The crowd didn't want Djokovic to win as it's a Spanish tournament and they didn't want a potential Nadal loss to Djokovic again, especially at home. That, more than cheering for Dimitrov was the reason, but it was bad form. I hope they fail miserably in their attempt at 2020 Olympics bid, especially with the completely obvious cover up of Fuentes and destroying all evidence. Shameful political BS that does little to make Spanish sport as a whole look good. Brilliant win for Dimitrov last night.

Why is it bad form?

Obviously you're right about why they were rooting for Dimitrov. And yes, they were worried that Nadal would lose to Novak at home again. But since when is cheering for a player bad form?

Sorry, probably unclear what I meant there. Not so much the cheering for Dimitrov but the booing of Djokovic was bad form. They cheered for Dimitrov naturally 'cos they wanted Djokovic to lose 'cos they know now it's quite likely Nadal's title. Thought it was pretty despicable that they booed when Djokovic took a MTO when the replay showed he clearly tweaked his ankle but yet they were sympathetic to Dimitrov when he got cramp and that upset Djokovic. Then when they saw Djokovic was exploiting poor Dimitrov's lack of movement (let's face it his movement was comprised way more end of set 2 than Djokovic's. His ankle appeared fine after it was retaped) with the cruel dropshots they booed more. Pretty nasty crowd.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

For real, I was like it is a competition Djokovic is there to win. If I know my opponent is having trouble moving, duh I am going to try as much net play/ move him as much as possible. I thought that was incredibly tacky of the crowd given anyone else in Djokovic's situation would have done the same thing to a movement hampered player. I want to win and anything done with in fairness is always game.

 

[Front242]

For real, I was like it is a competition Djokovic is there to win. If I know my opponent is having trouble moving, duh I am going to try as much net play/ move him as much as possible. I thought that was incredibly tacky of the crowd given anyone else in Djokovic's situation would have done the same thing to a movement hampered player. I want to win and anything done with in fairness is always game.

Sure is, just like Almagro bludgeoning the ball at Berdych last year (forget the tournament and too lazy to check youtube) . You gotta do what you can to win given the circumstances. Still though, the booing was in poor taste and Djokovic has every reason to be annoyed by it.

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This time I reckon Haas will get the upper hand on Ferrer. Will be over by the time I get home but I reckon Tommy has a good shot.

 

[I.Haychew]

Today it was our friend Heychew's day: Anderson took out Monaco and Youzhny beat Nico Almagro

Thanks, herios. I missed both matches, but I was definitely happy to see the results! Looks like Youzhny has been pretty fortunate: Saved three match points against F3 and saved something like 15 of 17 break points against Almagro. Too bad his luck runs out in Round 3.
I definitely like Anderson's chances better than Youzhny's, but I still don't like 'em all that much.

 

[Moxie]

What a shot on MP from Nadal! Sorry about your man, I Haychew.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Commentator referring to Nadal as "The Spanish number 2" is just... I mean it's technically correct, but come on.

 

[kskate2]

^ I heard that as well. Thought it was kind of funny.

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What a shot on MP from Nadal! Sorry about your man, I Haychew.

Mox,

He hit a few "WOW" shots in this match.

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Here comes Fed looking like Pistachio ice cream and Nishikori like a strawberry pop tart.