Mudabala Exhibition Tournament - Abu Dhabi - Dec 26th to Dec 28th 2013

[GameSetAndMath]

The annual season opening exhibition torunament happens in Abu Dhabi. This time,
they have the strongest field ever in the six man, three day tournament. The field consists of

1. Nadal
2. Djokovic
3. Ferrer
4. Murray
5. Wawrinka
6. Tsonga.

Top two seeds get a bye in the first round.

 

[britbox]

They must be paying out big bucks to get them out there at that time of year.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The first set of ATP tournamens (Doha/Chennai/Brisbane) of 2014 begin on Monday, the 30th of Dec. 2013. They need to give at least a day for people to reach their destinations. So,
dec. 29th is out. As it is a 3-day tournament they are holding it from 26th to 28th.
Of course, it is too close to Christmas.

But, I would rather take a million bucks than be at home for christmas.

 

[Mastoor]

It is not Christmas time for No1e.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

it starts on boxing day, :huh:

when are they travelling over ?, Christmas day ??.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Giving this thread a bump as the tournament is approaching.
Wawrinka is playing Ferrer and Tsonga is playing Murray in the two quarterfinals
on Dec. 26th. Nadal and Djokovic have a bye in the quarterfinals.

Here is the complete schedule.

http://www.mubadalawtc.com/images/big_match3.jpg

 

[GameSetAndMath]

In Mudabala, there is a prize money of $250,000. It is a winner take all prize money,
meaning winner gets $250,000 and all others get $0 as prize money.

Of course, all the six players get an appearance fee, that is undisclosed. My guess is
that Nadal and Djokovic must be getting an appearance fee of around a million dollars
and others must be getting substantially less.

In contrast, a typical ATP 250 tournament pays the winner about $80,000 and
incurs an expense of about $600,000.

 

[Iona16]

I get to see my boy today (Boxing Day). It's only been 112 days. Not that I've been counting.

 

[herios]

Ferrer def. Wawrinka 7-5, 6-1

 

[Kieran]

It is not Christmas time for No1e.

That's right. Buddhists don't celebrate Christmas...

 

[herios]

It is not Christmas time for No1e.

That's right. Buddhists don't celebrate Christmas...

Usually you are better than this:huh:

 

[Kieran]

It is not Christmas time for No1e.

That's right. Buddhists don't celebrate Christmas...

Usually you are better than this:huh:

I know, don't feed the trolls, but it was standing up there, on top of the net, looking to be smacked away...

 

[herios]

Tsonga def. Murray 7-5, 6-3

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Tsonga def. Murray 7-5, 6-3

Did you see the match by any chance? Was Murray showing any visible signs
of back bothering him or did he just lose and it has nothing to do with the back?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Just a reminder for Murray fans. He will now play Wawrinka tomorrow in Abu Dhabi.
That will be the first match of tomorrow.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Tsonga def. Murray 7-5, 6-3

I think this is bad omen for Murray. Even though this is an exo, this is not a hit and
giggle exo and generally players play somewhat seriously in this exo. Although
Murray was out of action for about 4 months, so is the case with Tsonga. Tsonga
also did not play much of fall due to some injury. Of course, he did not have a surgery
and Murray did.

Anyway, more than the scoreline, the fact that the match was over in 72 minutes
is telling.

I did not get to see the match and so I don't know what exactly happened. I
read a report and it said that Murray was a break up in second set before losing it.
I would appreciate a report by anyone who saw the match.

 

[Moxie]

Tsonga def. Murray 7-5, 6-3

I think this is bad omen for Murray. Even though this is an exo, this is not a hit and
giggle exo and generally players play somewhat seriously in this exo. Although
Murray was out of action for about 4 months, so is the case with Tsonga. Tsonga
also did not play much of fall due to some injury. Of course, he did not have a surgery
and Murray did.

Anyway, more than the scoreline, the fact that the match was over in 72 minutes
is telling.

I did not get to see the match and so I don't know what exactly happened. I
read a report and it said that Murray was a break up in second set before losing it.
I would appreciate a report by anyone who saw the match.

I would also be interested in any report from someone who saw the match, but I wouldn't put too much into a Murray loss. Certainly not an "omen." Give the guy a chance to play back into form. And, sorry, as much as I love Jo-Wil, he is always coming back from some lay-off, so it's not really the same.

 

[rafanoy1992]

Tsonga def. Murray 7-5, 6-3

I think this is bad omen for Murray. Even though this is an exo, this is not a hit and
giggle exo and generally players play somewhat seriously in this exo. Although
Murray was out of action for about 4 months, so is the case with Tsonga. Tsonga
also did not play much of fall due to some injury. Of course, he did not have a surgery
and Murray did.

Anyway, more than the scoreline, the fact that the match was over in 72 minutes
is telling.

I did not get to see the match and so I don't know what exactly happened. I
read a report and it said that Murray was a break up in second set before losing it.
I would appreciate a report by anyone who saw the match.

I would also be interested in any report from someone who saw the match, but I wouldn't put too much into a Murray loss. Certainly not an "omen." Give the guy a chance to play back into form. And, sorry, as much as I love Jo-Wil, he is always coming back from some lay-off, so it's not really the same.

I agree with Moxie here. I don't think a loss against Tsonga is a bad "omen" for Murray. The most important thing to take away from this match is that Murray didn't feel any stiffness from his back. He said in an interview that his back felt fine. Also, he also said that his movement was good. He just needs to get more matches in order to remove the rustiness and get back into form. I'm just glad Murray is back because it makes Tennis more interesting. I'm curious to see on which half he will land on during the Australian Open.

 

[Moxie]

So it seems that at about 6am EST, Rafa will play Ferrer, followed by Djokovic v. Tsonga.

 

[herios]

Tsonga def. Murray 7-5, 6-3

Did you see the match by any chance? Was Murray showing any visible signs
of back bothering him or did he just lose and it has nothing to do with the back?

Did not see the match. Just read a few comments on another forum, Andy moved well, what made the difference, he had many UE of his FH and some DF, while Jo was on. So take it for what is worth, what I just said..
I am not surprised if Jo played well, he is also very erratic and many times at the beginning of the season he is on (remember his best GS result to date or his win in Doha another year.