Miami Open, ATP Masters 2018

Moxie

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Just walked in on Kicker-Tiafoe. Some good stuff from the young guys.
 

El Dude

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Holy crap, what happened to Goffin?


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mrzz

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I saw the second set. Goffin was struggling a bit, but full, full credit to Sousa. Last time I saw someone return that well it was a certain Serbian monster at full steam. Goffin was broken in all his serving games. His only game was to break for the start of the second set.
 

El Dude

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It is an unusual slaughter for a top 10 type to suffer to a top 50-100 type.

Nice to see Mmoh win another. Hopefully another NextGen "micro-breakthrough."
 

herios

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Michael Mmoh just upset RBA.
The seeds start to fall again, just like in all the other big events recently.
 

El Dude

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Michael Mmoh just upset RBA.
The seeds start to fall again, just like in all the other big events recently.

Well it may be that we’re not simply seeing injuries in the usual powers that be, but an upsurge in young talent.


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Moxie

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Paire over Djokovic in straights. I figured he could be dangerous, but, once again, it doesn't really look like Djokovic is ready for his comeback. As the commies keep saying, "more questions than answers."
 

DarthFed

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If Nole is truly pain free that's a good sign even with awful losses. If he isn't damn close to 100% he's an idiot for playing these events.
 

Federberg

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Paire over Djokovic in straights. I figured he could be dangerous, but, once again, it doesn't really look like Djokovic is ready for his comeback. As the commies keep saying, "more questions than answers."
did you watch it? How did Novak look? I can't imagine either Roger or Rafa coming back and getting straight seated by a mid-ranker without a serious fight
 

El Dude

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Yeah, that is worrisome. Paire is one of those players who is better than his usual ranking implies, but still.
 
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El Dude

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Not being able to "work as much as needed on court lately" sounds like his heart isn't in it. The guy is a pro tennis player, one of the best ever - if he really wants to come back, he'll make court time amidst his social and spiritual schedule.
 

GameSetAndMath

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Going out in the opening match in back to back tournaments is not a good sign for Novak.

Also, Novak's game is a case of doing everything to a precision level (so to speak, if you can understand what
I am trying to say). Hence, logically one should expect him to take a long time to get to his form, if at all he gets it
back. While I don't want to assume that he will be able to make it back to the top, I don't want to write him off either.
It is a case of wait and see.
 
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Chris Koziarz

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Michael Mmoh just upset RBA.
The seeds start to fall again, just like in all the other big events recently.
I like Michael both for his exotic last name and his playing. Similarly to Frances who is also doing well in M, he is a hardworking youngster who fought his way out of obscure beginnings into the spotlight.
Lovely to have those cool black guys around and wish them to go as deep as possible.
 
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Moxie

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did you watch it? How did Novak look? I can't imagine either Roger or Rafa coming back and getting straight seated by a mid-ranker without a serious fight
I watched while working, so sound on, but only one eye. Novak started great, and played like his old self for 15 minutes. Then he started getting rocky...mistiming shots, losing his balance (in that weird way that he does sometimes,) and lost his serve in the first on a poor service game. He got broken right away in the 2nd, but broke back midway in. Paire, for his part, was mostly his best self, served hard through Novak, hit some great shots and held his head together. Novak didn't look terrible at any point, just not convincing in any way. And I couldn't detect if anything bothered him physically, but he's far from his best game.
 
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Federberg

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I watched while working, so sound on, but only one eye. Novak started great, and played like his old self for 15 minutes. Then he started getting rocky...mistiming shots, losing his balance (in that weird way that he does sometimes,) and lost his serve in the first on a poor service game. He got broken right away in the 2nd, but broke back midway in. Paire, for his part, was mostly his best self, served hard through Novak, hit some great shots and held his head together. Novak didn't look terrible at any point, just not convincing in any way. And I couldn't detect if anything bothered him physically, but he's far from his best game.
Thanks.

I wonder where all those folks expecting an easy progression back to the top are now? This sounds mental. You can fix all the injuries in the world, it takes something special to fight back to the top of the mountain. Not everyone does it
 

Chris Koziarz

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Yeah, that is worrisome. Paire is one of those players who is better than his usual ranking implies, but still.
That is correct. I would not blame Joker's rusty comeback too much, but praise Paire here. Frenchman has shown in the past that he can play when, I think in similar circumstances, he beat in form Fed.
 

GameSetAndMath

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Fed at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow. Good that he gets day matches early, instead of playing everything in the evening and all of a sudden playing in the day time at the business end. However, the timing means I won't be able to watch.
 

Moxie

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Thanks.

I wonder where all those folks expecting an easy progression back to the top are now? This sounds mental. You can fix all the injuries in the world, it takes something special to fight back to the top of the mountain. Not everyone does it

Worth praising Paire, as Chris Koziarz says, above. He was a tough first round, and he saw an opportunity and stepped up to it. He could easily have wobbled and at least let it go 3.

That said, there is some old saw about correlation between time away and time it takes to get back to top form. As you've noted before, not everyone comes storming back like Roger and Rafa. It's worth noting that Novak won 2 titles last year, both 250s. He's barely played in 9 months. He's trying to get used to a new service motion (note: I read that his first serve pct was good in this match, but he didn't win nearly enough of those point.) He's got to get his "mojo" back for himself, and some aura back in the locker room. He's got a lot to pull back together, and now it seems that will take time. We'd been saying for months that it would be interesting to see when and how Novak comes back. I think we've seen some of it now. It looks like he's going to come back more gradually.