ATP 500/250: Dubai, Acapulco, Sao Paolo

It's week three of the "funny" ones, this time it's two 500 tournaments - Dubai and Acapulco, and one 250 in Sao Paolo.

Interesting that Acapulco is also played on hard courts, I thought it was clay.

Main draw is only out for Dubai which traditionally has the final played on Saturdays.


ATP 500 Dubai, outdoor hard

Draw
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/495/mds.pdf
Order of Play

http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/495/op.pdf

ATP 500 Acapulco, outdoor hard

Draw
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/807/mds.pdf
Order of Play
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/807/op.pdf

ATP 250 Sao Paolo, outdoor clay

Draw
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/533/mds.pdf
Order of Play
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/533/op.pdf

Order of play in Sao Paolo amd Acapulco look tragic.

Compared to them, Dubai is star-studded!

Nothng particularly exciting, WN1 in action as well as Pouille and Chung.

I suppose the most interesting sounding is Lopez vs Lopez, both SBH-ers and Spanish. 
I don't  remember them ever playing before.

In short: cos-mic!

ps
Potentially, we could have a Stan-Kyrgios SF. Yes, pleeeease!

Just realised Dubai.....started....even though the title says it clearly.

Rublev battling it off in France in a challenger.

Chung doing little work of Seppi.

That's a bit impressive from Chung - an easy win over Seppi, hopfully he'll play his next match on central court.

I just had a look at ATP website, they have excellent coverage of challenger circuit even live stream!!!

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/atp-challenger-tour

Maybe they'll show Rubi's match at 12.00. I haven't seen him play for a while.

And the draw there looks  more interesting than in 500 Acapulco!

Something does not add up....

Cherbourg is a very nice place...that's why they are all there!

Tenez wrote:Cherbourg is a very nice place...that's why they are all there!

Je sais.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3JS4JMY0JWM

Well, Rubi won but had some really odd lapses.

Looks same as last year in every way. Though, I detected there was a slight redirection of his tennis, his first strike is a bit more controlled now.

I suppose that's good.

Watching Nole skid and dart at full stretch across this hard court in Dubai, I marvel how his ankles and knees have remained injury-free.

His conditioning must be out of this world.

Also, his once awkward BH slice looks quite respectable these days.

ah.....with his game..it's all about feel and confidence....he is going to have a roller coaster career! Unless he is a real genus! Let's see.

Federer lost in the first round of many GS before suddenly winning Wimby in 2003 at 22.....

but Federer is a genius!

noleisthebest wrote:Watching Nole skid and dart at full stretch across this hard court in Dubai, I marvel how his ankles and knees have remained injury-free.

His conditioning must be out of this world.

Also, his once awkward BH slice looks quite respectable these days.

he has so much time to spare thanks to his mouvement that I wonder why he does not dance between shots to make his game more attractive!

Tenez wrote:ah.....with his game..it's all about feel and confidence....he is going to have a roller coaster career! Unless he is a real genus! Let's see.

Federer lost in the first round of many GS before suddenly winning Wimby in 2003 at 22.....

but Federer is a genius!

The thing I haven't been able to see in Rubi yet is how good his hands are.
It's all this dragon tennis from him.

And how will a genius manifest himself in this era of 100" racquets?

Flat hitters are wasting so much energy now and what choice has he got otherwise, anyway?

He'll need lots of luck and serious belief and perseverance in the next two-three years.

At least with his talent, his career is firmly in his hands.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Watching Nole skid and dart at full stretch across this hard court in Dubai, I marvel how his ankles and knees have remained injury-free.
His conditioning must be out of this world.
Also, his once awkward BH slice looks quite respectable these days.

he has so much time to spare thanks to his mouvement that I wonder why he does not dance between shots to make his game more attractive!

He he, I'm sure he would if he was allowed to.

He is so light. There have been several artcles about what he eats while he was in Serbia in the last few weeks...it's a miracle he is not half his size with all that everything-free food.

But it's clearly working for him, the lightness helping his movement, energy efficiency and keeping him injury free.

He's transformed himself. He is also a finely tuned machine like Federer, but in a different way.

I enjoy watching his resolve.

Umpires reciting to players at the net how to use hawkeye and what to do in the changeover is as useful as hearing about how to use oxygen mask in case of an emergency on a plain befire take-off ( for the millionth time...)

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Watching Nole skid and dart at full stretch across this hard court in Dubai, I marvel how his ankles and knees have remained injury-free.
His conditioning must be out of this world.
Also, his once awkward BH slice looks quite respectable these days.

he has so much time to spare thanks to his mouvement that I wonder why he does not dance between shots to make his game more attractive!

He he, I'm sure he would if he was allowed to.

He is so light. There have been several artcles about what he eats while he was in Serbia in the last few weeks...it's a miracle he is not half his size with all that everything-free food.

But it's clearly working for him, the lightness helping his movement, energy efficiency and keeping him injury free.

He's transformed himself. He is also a finely tuned machine like Federer, but in a different way.

I enjoy watching his resolve.

I am just waiting for the wheels to come off!

Regarding wheels, I reckon after this 25 seconds rule being observed more these days, really long rallies are very rare.
It would be interesting to see some stats for 2012,13,14&15.

Also average court coverage in finals and semifinals of slams at least.

And what about average net clearance and shot speeds?

Has Sharko retired?

If he has, that would explain why he ignored all my emails after he promised he would pass my questions on about the decline of the one-hander to those who utilised the shot (ranked 50-100).

luvsports! wrote:If he has, that would explain why he ignored all my emails after he promised he would pass my questions on about the decline of the one-hander to those who utilised the shot(ranked 50-100).

you mean the current SBH-ers?

Try and get hold of them directly.
There is a young WTA Russian player - Gasparian, she may be the easiest to approach.

Other than that, go to Boodles, players are very approachable there, Thiem, Robredo, Gadquet all played.

Ye. Believe me I have spammed twitter but no luck with those players.
Article is done now anyway.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:
he has so much time to spare thanks to his mouvement that I wonder why he does not dance between shots to make his game more attractive!

He he, I'm sure he would if he was allowed to.

There you go!

luvsports! wrote:Ye. Believe me I have spammed twitter but no luck with those players.
Article is done now anyway.

He he LS,

you've got to do it in person...not hide behind faceless social media...
Nothing beats old-fashioned confidence, charisma and all that!  

Mind you, I am not English, so don't need an introduction.  

When you worked in Wimbledon, didn't you talk to any players?

Nitb. I have a job 9-5 and don't have much money from first proper job.

I have to track down these people around the globe with no money? How?

Yes but i got told off for interacting with them as I was a lowly cleaner in 2012.

Excuses, excuses...no work for me!

Roehampton is free. All big umpires and many players there...you can sit and have lunch with them if you want to...

Boodles, tickets for £40. Go on Saturday. Hey, I had a hit with Emmanuel Planque for crying out loud!

Big, bold heart - priceless.

You've got to make it happen

NITB is right. There was a guy on 606 who became Kuznetsova agent (more on less) just by daring.

Match of the Day:

Agut-Chung (will be really impressed if Chung beats Agut, should be a good battle of FHs)
Tomic-Mannarino
Ferrer-Dolgopolov
Thiem-Tursunov

A bit of a crestfallen performance from Chung.

First set bagel...not good.

Looking almost clueless with zero confidence.
C'mon Chungy, get on that scoreboard!

And after being 0:9 down in the match, he does at 1:3 in the second set!

The whole stadium gives him a big cheer but when the camera pans to his "team" they sit like a pair of disgusted frozen zombies.. Not good. He should ditch them asap.

Stan looking red hot in Dubai  



Timing his BH be-a-u-ti-full-ly!

Would love to see Nole-Stan final.

Rubi's net clearance is stunning!

Just wow!!!

...but his volleying needs serious drilling, it's letting him down in the cheapest possible way.

Such a shame.

missed all the tennis in the last 2 days. catching up on atp.com....

Taylor fritz who I thought to be a useless beanpole is actually doing better than Rublev! Maybe it's me cursing talented players!

He plays Querrey next, who beat a disappointing Nishi. He is becoming just that now Nishi, disappointing.
If Fritz wins that he will be around the #60 mark!

Nole retires ill. Like the old days :P

wow.....Nole sick......that's unexpected!

wow Thiem beating Dimi convincingly!!!! But I am not surprised!

Tenez wrote:wow.....Nole sick......that's unexpected!

It's a leap year.
Expect the unexpected.

His sick eye  will have helped him to actually see a few things better: that he does not have as much credit with the world as he deserves and as he has certainly earnt over the years.

But you know what they say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger...

Tenez wrote:wow Thiem beating Dimi convincingly!!!! But I am not surprised!

I saw that...happy for Thiem, very happy, actually.
But also a bit sad for Dimi.

You can see why I was always criticising him: lack of aggression, playing DBH tennis...
He has laid his eggs in the wrong basket investing in fitness with Rasheed...it may have shown some initial results a few years ago
(Wimbledon SF etc), but it really ground him to a total stop...so much so that the younger Thiem has now overtaken him, by the mere fact he he has not wavered and perverted/sold out SBH's game.

Thiem has gone about his tennis the right way: invested and persevered with attacking while quietly fixing his defence in the background.

And it's all coming together nicely for him.

Talking of SBH-ers, Nobody-Bagels-Dusan-Lajovic, the SBH pride of Serbia has managed to knock Paire out!!!
Well done, bro!

And last but not the least, the Match of the Day:

Lajovic-Ellias Go Duci!!!




just kiddin' Match of the Day is of couse:

Stanimal-Animal  (Stan, crush that deluded scumbag, pleeeease!!!!   )

&

Dolgopolov-Tomic. (Dolgo has been playing some gorgeous tennis this week. )

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:wow.....Nole sick......that's unexpected!

It's a leap year.
Expect the unexpected.

His sick eye  will have helped him to actually see a few things better: that he does not have as much credit with the world as he deserves and as he has certainly earnt over the years.

But you know what they say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger...

I certainly see things very differently. He has had an amazing success for such average tennis skills...without talking about his unaesthetic style.

It's all will power, fitness and determination. Traits that I appreciate in those who have talent as this is very hard for them to develop since they usually have things easy but I don;t particularly value will power and determination for those who have only that.....as they have no other choice.

noleisthebest wrote:And last but not the least, the Match of the Day:

Lajovic-Ellias Go Duci!!!




just kiddin' Match of the Day is of couse:

Stanimal-Animal  (Stan, crush that deluded scumbag, pleeeease!!!!   )

&

Dolgopolov-Tomic. (Dolgo has been playing some gorgeous tennis this week. )

Yep will peep into those.

Just started watching ar 4:3 40:00 for Stan....which with gamesmanship Kyrgios of the worst kind turns to advantage for himself.


He is a complete bastard of a player.


COME ON STAN!!!

Stan throws away a double break (4-1) now to 4-4.

Stan showing the Ugly Clown who Da Man is on the court!

And then Kyrgious promptly loses the next 5 games before retiring.

noleisthebest wrote:Just started watching ar 4:3 40:00 for Stan....which with gamesmanship Kyrgios of the worst kind turns to advantage for himself.


He is a complete bastard of a player.


COME ON STAN!!!

What did he do? I know Stan lost that game.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Just started watching ar 4:3 40:00 for Stan....which with gamesmanship Kyrgios of the worst kind turns to advantage for himself.
He is a complete bastard of a player.
COME ON STAN!!!

What did he do? I know Stan lost that game.

He talked all the time. Loudly.
To himself, ballkids, towel, even Stan across the net...causing him double fault and loss of focus.
Fortunately, Stan kept his nerve and broke him straight back, and then serve the set out.

Kyrgios then attempted to talk Stan as he walked past him in the changeover, then talked to himself i.e. to the Image of himself: foulmouthing, of course....but Stan had no mercy and showed no "respect" amd broke him immediately in the second set...

And that was all it took for Kurgios's ego to crumble to the extent he felt the need to retire...

well...not good though I saw he had a mto....so probably smthing wrongg with him as he got broken way too easily for such a good server.

Nice battle between Lopez and Baghdatis, and some human tennis!

Some superb creating and volleying from Lopez.
I can't believe he is Spanish!

Baghdatis is a quality player but he is winning this match only because he plays with a DBH & Lopez is now tired.
And that sucks.