Tom
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Post by Tom on May 11, 2015 7:55:50 GMT 1
Murray yesterday beat Nadal for the first time in a Masters on clay, 6-3 6-2 to win the Madrid Open
That's two clay titles back to back and a winning run of 9 matches!
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Post by Tom on May 12, 2015 8:10:36 GMT 1
Rome 1st round
Heather Watson 41 (career high 38 in Jan) beat Vinci 44 (career high 11 in October 2013) 6-3 6-1
Impressive win but apparently Vinci was dreadful.
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Post by rubcale on May 12, 2015 8:19:28 GMT 1
Unsure how much of Murray's win was his performance or the downturn in Nadal's form but certainly you would neve have ssen this a year ago.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on May 14, 2015 8:18:40 GMT 1
Rome 2nd round
(3) Murray beat Chardy world ranking 38 (career high 25 Jan 2013) 6-4 6-3 Really impressive from what I saw of the match, Murray too also thought he played a really good match.
Heather Watson 41 (career high 38 Jan) lost to (10) Carla Suarez Navarro WR 10 (= career high) 6-1 6-1 From following it on the live scoreboard from time to time hard to believe the score line. Not much in it with the serving stats, Heather with 3 aces and 3 double faults, CSN with 1 ace and 0 double faults, Heather 71% first serve, CSN 64%. Heather also had break points in a couple of the games and saved 3 break points at 0-1 2nd set in a game that lasted almost 10 minutes, so better than the score line suggests. Still a bit disappointing though.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on May 14, 2015 19:30:30 GMT 1
Murray withdrew against Goffin today, it seems after completing the warm-up. He wasn't sure whether to play the event after the run he's had, seems pretty pointless to go ahead and enter if you only play one match. Plus, it ends the winning run and Buster Mottram has the British record of 12 straight victories on clay in 1976. If he'd not played Rome at all he'd have had a good chance of beating the record at the French Open.
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Post by Tom on May 20, 2015 19:16:07 GMT 1
Carla Suarez Navarro went on to reach the Rome final, definite dark horse for the French Open.
Anyone planning on using the French Open site in the next few weeks don't expect too much. The design looks a mess (live scores overlapping with whatever you looked at last being one example, not able to see them all either when this happens). Despite the site saying there would be Slamtracker it wasn't there yesterday morning. It finally appeared in the afternoon, albeit with teething problems that still haven't been fixed, and you can't get stats from completed matches, well you couldn't yesterday, haven't bothered looking today. Less fussed about the last one for qualifying but it looked like it should be there.
Hope it improves when the main draw starts, can see plenty of complaints otherwise, to add to the ones I saw yesterday.
Qualifying started yesterday btw, more on which later...
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Post by Tom on May 21, 2015 19:26:20 GMT 1
Here are the results so far for the Brits:
Day 1 Tuesday
Match 1 (8) James Ward 106 (career high 101 Jan, age 28) beat Irishman James McGee 159 (career high 152 27th April, age 27) 6-1 1-6 6-0 This was one of the hardest opening matches Ward could have got (don’t think he could have met a seed this early) against someone who recently set a new career high and reached the final qualifying round last year. A topsy-turvy match, don’t think I’ve known a men’s match like it! Wouldn’t surprise me if Ward tanked the second set after being broken for 3-1.
Match 2 Brydan Klein 195 (Career high 174 June 2009, age 25) beat Frenchman Bourgue 204 (career high 199 4th May, age 21) 3-6 6-2 9-7 in 2hr 39. Klein had played Bourgue before at FO qualies, in 2013 losing 7-6 (9-7) 6-3. In the final set Bourge actually served for the match at 5-4 and Klein had to save a couple of break points at 5-5. All in all an incredible win from a set down.
Match 3 (17) Kyle Edmund WR 121 (= career high, age 20) beat Melzer (Gerald, younger brother of Jurgen – the ATP photo made him look like Del Potro!) 163 (career high 140 just under a year ago, age 24) 3-6 6-2 6-4 in 2 hr 2. Kyle played Melzer on clay in 2013 and only won 5 games, his career has kicked on massively in the last 9 months or so though so expected him to win this. Impressive win from a set down.
Day 1+2 Tuesday/Wednesday
Liam Broady 176 = career high, age 21 lost to (24th seed MDA) Radu Albot 132 (career high 128 27th April, age 25) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 in 3 hr 3. A match played over two days because of a combination of an earlier match that lasted almost 4 hours and rain which ended play at 6pm with Liam 5-4 up in the first set. Albot is apparently weaker on clay so I fancied Liam to win this match, and things were looking good when he was serving for the match at 6-5 40-15… The eventual result left me a bit stunned not to mention gutted. Very interesting that in the race he’s 285 – seems a pretty accurate reflection based on this result. Performance wise apparently been playing much better so the match encapsulates the year really.
Day 2 Wednesday
Match 1 Johanna Konta 144 (career high 89 last July, age 24) beat Jaksic 241 (career high 102 just over a year ago, age 21) 6-0 6-3 For someone like JoKo for whom clay is their weakest surface this was a good draw. But nevertheless a really good win, breaking to love in the last game.
Match 2 Naomi Broady 236 (career high 138 in September, age 25) beat Buyukakcay 140 (career high 108 in Feb, age 25) 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in 1 hr 36. The most absurd result for a Brit I’ve seen in a foreign slam! On top of the rankings difference Naomi hadn’t played a match on clay since September 2012 and I think on her last visit to Roland Garros had won just one game, so I feared a similar result here. Apparently Naomi played superbly, so this must her best match outside of the grass court season. Saved 4 break points to go 4-1 up in the first set, with hindsight the rain break at 3-4 2nd set (which lasted about 40-45 minutes) may have been crucial as she had been 3-2 up with a break, also having a break point in the final game before the suspension. She actually served for the match at 6-5 but double faulted to be taken to a tiebreak after being distracted by some kids making a lot of noise in the stand on the adjacent court it seems. Thankfully unlike her brother she didn’t allow herself to lose focus.
Match 3 (8) James Ward 106 (career high 101 Jan, age 28) lost to Lindell 200 (career high 180 4th May, age 23) 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 Was a break up twice during the course of the 2nd set. Not really any words to describe this defeat…
Day 3 Thursday
Match 1 Brydan Klein 195 (Career high 174 June 2009, age 25) lost to 31st seed Argentine Facundo Arguello 139 (career high 104 April 2014, age 22) 6-3 6-1 in less than an hour. Very tough draw, clay would be Arguello’s best surface, so to win 4 games is absolutely fine.
Match 2 (17) Kyle Edmund 121 (career high, age 20) beat (6 ft 6) Hanescu 187 (career high 26 in July 2009, age 33) 6-1 6-2 in 67 minutes Clay is Hanescu’s best surface but against a guy in the latter stages of his career way past his best this looked very straightforward so no surprise with the scoreline.
Match 3 Jo Konta 144 (career high 89 last July, age 24) beat (7) Elizaveta Kulichkova 110 (career high set last week, age 19) 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 I think this tops Naomi’s result from yesterday! She was 3-0 down in the first set and held at 5-6 from 0-40 down to force the tiebreak.
Match 4 Naomi Broady 236 (career high 138 in Sep, age 25) lost to Anastasia Rodionova (career high 62 August 2010, age 33) 6-1 6-1 in 52 minutes. Had hoped her first round win wasn’t just a flash in the pan, sadly it was. Even leaving that aside this was a poor effort. Disappointing…
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Tom
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Post by Tom on May 21, 2015 19:29:27 GMT 1
So the sum total of all that is that Kyle Edmund and JoKo will be attempting to qualify tomorrow. Before the draw came out I had a feeling that Kyle may qualify, didn’t think JoKo would for the reason mentioned above. Will be interesting to see what happens.
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Post by Tom on May 23, 2015 20:09:00 GMT 1
Day 4 Friday
Match 1 (17) Kyle Edmund 121 (career high, age 20) beat (12 - Spanish) Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 113 (career high this week, age 29) 6-1 6-4 in 1 hour 2 Having said that Kyle would qualify I wasn't sure he would when I saw who his opponent was. At the very least expected 3 sets! At one point it looked like Kyle would finish this off in less than an hour when he served for the match at 5-2, but he decided that that was a bit silly and so proceeded to lower expectations a bit. But joking aside, this was a fantastic win. There hasn't been a Kyle tournament with a wow factor like this since Eastbourne 2013 when he lost to eventual finalist Gilles Simon in two close tiebreaks. Simon that day apparently expressed how impressed he was with Kyle during one of the tiebreaks (think it was the latter, saying something like "so good") and Hanescu apparently at the end of the match this week when walking to the net was applauding him on his racquet. I've always believed since his US Open junior semi-final as a 16 year old in 2011 that he would be a Top 75 player, something that John McEnroe backed up after his Wimbledon debut a couple of years ago against Janowicz, which was nice to see, but I'm excited to see how far he could go now. It looks like he won't need to qualify for a slam for a while at the very least, he's not got many points to defend over the next couple of months so the Top 100 beckons.
Match 2 Jo Konta 144 (career high 89 last July, age 24) beat De Bernardi 315 (career high 312 4th May, age 20, Frenchwoman - from Corsica) 6-2 6-1 I didn't think JoKo would qualify, but then I saw who she was playing... It was originally scheduled for Court 7 but got moved to Court 6 because of some long matches before her. I actually meant to check if it had been moved but didn't get round to it and by the time I did she'd finished! Impressive win, the court change helped her as apparently there were a lot of people watching another French player on Court 7 (the match which was meant to precede hers) which meant a small crowd for this one, though it wasn't the reason she won, just would have meant a closer match.
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Post by Tom on May 24, 2015 20:02:51 GMT 1
Noticed that Lindell who beat Ward in qualifying was playing Tsonga on the first day of the main draw today...lost comprehensively 6-1 6-2 6-2.
Tomorrow's order of play is interesting. All 5 Brits playing, and all bar Bedene playing last on court (so effectively at roughly the same time). How stupid is that....
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Post by Tom on May 27, 2015 19:57:36 GMT 1
Just wondering, do people find my posts in here interesting?
In the meantime, news in the last hour and a half that Kyle Edmund who won on Monday has had to pull out of his second round match tomorrow (the biggest match of his career) with a stomach injury. From what Russell Fuller has said it sounds like he could have played but was worried about missing the grasscourt season, and possibly the Davis Cup at the end of it.
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Post by Panda on May 27, 2015 23:52:28 GMT 1
Just wondering, do people find my posts in here interesting?
In the meantime, news in the last hour and a half that Kyle Edmund who won on Monday has had to pull out of his second round match tomorrow (the biggest match of his career) with a stomach injury. From what Russell Fuller has said it sounds like he could have played but was worried about missing the grasscourt season, and possibly the Davis Cup at the end of it. Never take a lack of replies as a lack of interest. Your tennis knowledge is unparalleled here and whilst I tend to dip in and out of this thread rather than check it constantly, I always find your updates informative and interesting.
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Post by Tom on May 28, 2015 7:50:39 GMT 1
Thanks Panda
I'll try to update the results at some point, got a fair bit of catching up to do!
Sad that Kyle has pulled out but would have been even more disappointed if he'd lost a close match and was then out for the next month. Quite philosophical about it, he talks long-term for his career development rather than short-term, and this decision also has this in mind. He's won 4 matches in the last week and a bit, he couldn't have asked for more, especially the way he won those matches. Apparently he had this stomach injury before he played his first round match, so I guess he felt it was worth the risk to try and win his first slam match but wasn't after that. Gives Kyrgios a bye before he potentially plays Murray in R3, may make him fresher but 5 days since his last match seems quite a long time.
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Post by Tom on May 28, 2015 8:37:29 GMT 1
Laura Robson has turned down a wildcard into next week's Eastbourne event. Her wrist is fine apparently but she's now got a hamstring injury...
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Post by Shireblogger on May 28, 2015 10:04:19 GMT 1
Just wondering, do people find my posts in here interesting? Yes, absolutely. I have to confess that most of my tennis interest centres around the grass court season, but this thread keeps me appraised of what is going on beyond my rather narrow view. I've got tickets for the men's and women's tournaments at Nottingham this year. I love the Nottingham /Birmingham tournaments because they are close to home, and attract of good mix of rising stars, former winners tuning up for Wimbledon, and Brits. Over the years I've seen Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Jamie Murray, Elena Baltacha (RIP), Anna Keovathong, Heather Watson and Laura Robson.
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Post by Tom on May 28, 2015 20:59:42 GMT 1
Just wondering, do people find my posts in here interesting? Yes, absolutely. I have to confess that most of my tennis interest centres around the grass court season, but this thread keeps me appraised of what is going on beyond my rather narrow view. I've got tickets for the men's and women's tournaments at Nottingham this year. I love the Nottingham /Birmingham tournaments because they are close to home, and attract of good mix of rising stars, former winners tuning up for Wimbledon, and Brits. Over the years I've seen Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Jamie Murray, Elena Baltacha (RIP), Anna Keovathong, Heather Watson and Laura Robson. Doubt I'll go but I must admit going to Surbiton seems tempting this year, for the reasons you mention really, up and coming Brits plus the rising stars, one of my nearest events, plus it must be more affordable than Queens. I remember Naomi Broady getting positive reports in what must have been her first year there, and memorably in Tsonga's breakthrough year (2007) he won the tournament whilst also playing qualifying at Queens the same weekend. He got into the main draw there where I think he won a match or two and then got through a round or two at Wimbledon too. This was Henman's farewell year and I remember being sure that he would meet Tsonga at Wimby (they were in the same part of the draw) but it didn't materialise. Glad it's back on the calendar, it should never have gone away in the first place, its absence definitely affected Queens qualifying as Surbiton/Queens was the only overlap on the grass where players could enter both events.
Going to be interesting to see how strong the draws are in all the British events this year, got a feeling they are going to be packed.
Don't think i mentioned this before, but in memory of Baltacha, Nottingham have named the womens trophy in honour of her as it was the last title she won, a nice touch. Will look forward to reading your comments about the event, are you going early on or for the final?
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Post by rubcale on May 29, 2015 16:09:53 GMT 1
Laura Robson has turned down a wildcard into next week's Eastbourne event. Her wrist is fine apparently but she's now got a hamstring injury... This is becoming a long running soap opera. I think we can proboaly write this season off and maybe even her career.........................................
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Post by rubcale on May 29, 2015 16:14:06 GMT 1
Just wondering, do people find my posts in here interesting Yes, very much so. I always read them even if I don't respond but I do go through bouts where I lose a lot of my enthusiam because of the Brits. Heather Watson is so frustrating - we just can't expect a player has an automatic right to win but she throws too many matches away with unforcederrors. She may have some big wins but she's losing al too often to players whom she is capabke of beating. Living in NI we don't get much chance to see live tennis. We di used to go over for the middle Saturday at Wimbledon but to be honest it's so easy to see it all on TV now.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on May 29, 2015 18:14:55 GMT 1
Laura Robson has turned down a wildcard into next week's Eastbourne event. Her wrist is fine apparently but she's now got a hamstring injury... This is becoming a long running soap opera. I think we can proboaly write this season off and maybe even her career......................................... I'm not sure what to make of it. On the one hand i'm concerned about Wimbledon, whether she plays it or not, but on the other hand she got this hamstring injury 4 weeks ago and was set to play at the French Open before it happened, so hopefully she's almost over it now and could still play at some point in the next few weeks. Just wondering, do people find my posts in here interesting Yes, very much so. I always read them even if I don't respond but I do go through bouts where I lose a lot of my enthusiam because of the Brits. Heather Watson is so frustrating - we just can't expect a player has an automatic right to win but she throws too many matches away with unforcederrors. She may have some big wins but she's losing al too often to players whom she is capabke of beating. Living in NI we don't get much chance to see live tennis. We di used to go over for the middle Saturday at Wimbledon but to be honest it's so easy to see it all on TV now. I still haven't been to a tennis event For years I've wanted to go to Wimbledon but that's waned considerably in recent times. If I was offered Centre or Court 1 tickets I wouldn't turn them down but the prospect of camping overnight really doesn't appeal; the days of rocking up at 9/9.30am and getting in before play starts on the outside courts is a thing of the past, nowadays if you're not in the queue by 8 I think they turn you away; and the ground pass doesn't give you as much choice as it used to, it doesn't include Courts 2 and 3 and IIRC you can't get Court 3 in the online ticket sales that are out there the day before (where it seems tickets go very quickly) or at Wimbledon itself, only in the ballot system. If I was going to go now it would probably just be in the second week, after Monday, and see some doubles, juniors or seniors that aren't necessarily going to be televised.
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Post by rubcale on Jun 1, 2015 17:53:45 GMT 1
Murray through to quarters in 4 tough sets against Jeremy Chardy.
Playing well in patches and his matches with David Ferrer whom he now meets are always close but on clay even though he is the better player in general I expect Ferrer to come through.
Only a short while ago it would have been unthinkble for Djokovich and Nadal to meet as early as a quarter final.
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