Miami Open, ATP Masters 1000, 2019

[Federberg]

or maybe Medvedev is just playing an absolute stinker

 

[Fiero425]

or maybe Medvedev is just playing an absolute stinker

Well that was about as ugly as it can get! Another Next-Gen'r allowing Ol' Man River to make him look so bad! :whistle:

 

[atttomole]

Medvedev got a free tennis lesson from the master.

 

[Andy22]

Medvedev looked really bad today, just does not have the level right now to beat the great players even the old ones.

 

[atttomole]

Medvedev looked really bad today, just does not have the level right now to beat the great players even the old ones.

True. They have all looked bad for 100 titles and counting.

 

[Federberg]

Well that was about as ugly as it can get! Another Next-Gen'r allowing Ol' Man River to make him look so bad! :whistle:

yes.... he was "allowed"

 

[lob]

yes.... he was "allowed"

Let's just enjoy the last days of the master.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Big test for FAA. Coric is a very steady player. Let's see if he can hang with him, not get frustrated, not make serious shot selection mistakes.

 

[atttomole]

I like Patrick McEnroe's attire.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Wouldn't read too much into MS losses for Novak right now. People forget he is also old and past his best, easy to forget when you win a few majors in a row. But regardless he lost to RBA at Doha and a couple weeks later he annihilated everyone at AO

everyone but RBA

 

[GameSetAndMath]

FAA up a break in 2nd set after winning first.

 

[atttomole]

Tennis will be in good hands if this young man can fully mature. Coric looks mesmerized.

 

[Fiero425]

FAA up a break in 2nd set after winning first.

Good win by the kid! Just hope he can keep backing it up! A bit of a setback by Coric I thought would gut this match out! The Next Gen has really put on a show this tournament; helped by Nole, Rafa, and others out of course! They're playing well and really representing over and above their previous "lost gen" set of losers! I'm so disappointed in Grigor, Kei, Milos, and a host of others we expected to have won a major by now! :whistle:

 

[DarthFed]

everyone but RBA

My point is RBA wouldn't have a chance against him at a major. Djokovic lost weakly to Tsitsipas at Toronto last year, to Khachanov in Paris, and Zverev at YEC. And sandwiched in between these "bad" beat of 3 set matches he obliterated everyone at USO and AO. I think he's at the stage where there will be a lot of head scratchers at MS events. Roger and Rafa have long been at that stage.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I don't really see anyone stopping Fed in Miami, except may be FAA. Fed is fully aware of the danger of Kandy after Wimby and so he will not let it happen again. Shapo overcooks too much and does not stand a chance. If Tiafore could not beat him when Fed's back was in trouble, he is not going to beat him now. Isner, should I even bother saying anything

So, I could see only FAA having some chances against Fed. However, FAA will be playing Fed in finals. To beat Fed in the finals, when you are facing him for the first time is not going to be easy, to say the least.

 

[Federberg]

I don't really see anyone stopping Fed in Miami, except may be FAA. Fed is fully aware of the danger of Kandy after Wimby and so he will not let it happen again. Shapo overcooks too much and does not stand a chance. If Tiafore could not beat him when Fed's back was in trouble, he is not going to beat him now. Isner, should I even bother saying anything

So, I could see only FAA having some chances against Fed. However, FAA will be playing Fed in finals. To beat Fed in the finals, when you are facing him for the first time is not going to be easy, to say the least.

That all makes a hell of a lot of sense. But there's no accounting for Roger's ability to lay absolute turds these days. Hope you're right!

 

[the AntiPusher]

My point is RBA wouldn't have a chance against him at a major. Djokovic lost weakly to Tsitsipas at Toronto last year, to Khachanov in Paris, and Zverev at YEC. And sandwiched in between these "bad" beat of 3 set matches he obliterated everyone at USO and AO. I think he's at the stage where there will be a lot of head scratchers at MS events. Roger and Rafa have long been at that stage.

good points by you however how RBA may will fare better at the majors because he knows that he weather Novak's early storm his confidence grows. RBA keeps the ball deep and refuses to get bullied by Novak's BH. Conventional wisdom supports your argument but if he continues to make the game uncomfortable for Novak in a four or five setter he may be able to pull off the upset.

 

[mrzz]

Really FAA looks extremely promising. And I like his attitude a lot. Great kid. It would be really fun to see him play Shapovalov. I have seen them playing doubles together once, it was cool as one could see that they were buddies not partners. Instead of that annoying artificial pump up moment between every point, you could see one really pulling for each other when they thought it mattered.

FAA has the ability to generate a lot of power from the back court, and has the patience to stay in a point when he needs to. The only thing I am not completely sure is if he will be able to be solid enough to go to the next level. Against Coric, he won the match because he broke Coric's backhand -- Coric started to net it more and more, first when he was trying to finish points but later he could not even rally with it. But FAA could not sustain his "attacking mode" for too long, still a lot of errors, some just too wild.

It is really, really not a given that a player can make that step, that is, to be solidly great. It is one thing to go for beautiful winners without the "responsibility" of connecting them, and knowing that if you make 5 out of 10, ok, that is enough to get you to the quarters here and there. When you get to "big boy level", you have to consistently make those plays, and hit those winners 80% of the time. Day in, day out. This is not a mere question of training. I think he's got it, but it is not a given. Just ask any promising player that never crossed the top 8 threshold. There are armies of them.

 

[Federberg]

Really FAA looks extremely promising. And I like his attitude a lot. Great kid. It would be really fun to see him play Shapovalov. I have seen them playing doubles together once, it was cool as one could see that they were buddies not partners. Instead of that annoying artificial pump up moment between every point, you could see one really pulling for each other when they thought it mattered.

FAA has the ability to generate a lot of power from the back court, and has the patience to stay in a point when he needs to. The only thing I am not completely sure is if he will be able to be solid enough to go to the next level. Against Coric, he won the match because he broke Coric's backhand -- Coric started to net it more and more, first when he was trying to finish points but later he could not even rally with it. But FAA could not sustain his "attacking mode" for too long, still a lot of errors, some just too wild.

It is really, really not a given that a player can make that step, that is, to be solidly great. It is one thing to go for beautiful winners without the "responsibility" of connecting them, and knowing that if you make 5 out of 10, ok, that is enough to get you to the quarters here and there. When you get to "big boy level", you have to consistently make those plays, and hit those winners 80% of the time. Day in, day out. This is not a mere question of training. I think he's got it, but it is not a given. Just ask any promising player that never crossed the top 8 threshold. There are armies of them.

I'm not sure I agree with what you seem to think it takes to become a great player. The very very top players have a natural level that far exceeds the rest of the field. Yes they have spectacular shots when playing in attacking mode, but what sets them apart is what they do in "won't lose mode". How many times have we watched Roger spray shots around in so called attacking mode but somehow gut his way out of the match? Yes the Big 3 have set plays that are almost unstoppable, if you hit the ball short they put points away almost automatically. But that stuff isn't "attacking mode". That's them executing their basic put away shots. Now if you are saying that FAA is not executing put away shots efficiently then that's one thing. But winning by attacking is by no means a pre-requisite to sit at the prolific winners table. Perhaps you can elaborate...

 

[tented]

ORDER OF PLAY - THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019

STADIUM start 1:00 pm
WTA - [21] A. Kontaveit (EST) vs [12] A. Barty (AUS)
Not Before 3:00 pm
ATP - [20] D. Shapovalov (CAN) vs [28] F. Tiafoe (USA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP - [6] K. Anderson (RSA) vs [4] R. Federer (SUI)
Not Before 9:00 pm
WTA - [5] Ka. Pliskova (CZE) vs [2] S. Halep (ROU)

GRANDSTAND start 1:00 pm
ATP - [1] L. Kubot (POL) / M. Melo (BRA) vs [3] B. Bryan (USA) / M. Bryan (USA)
Not Before 5:00 pm
ATP - I. Dodig (CRO) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs W. Koolhof (NED) / S. Tsitsipas (GRE)