ATP 1000: Miami

Draw keeps Nadal & Federer apart but the most eye-catching tie looks to be an early meeting of Fed & Del Potro. Can the new attacking backhand withstand the Argentine hammer?

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/miami/403/draws

Odd seeing no Murray or Djokovic there. Nishikori better do well or he's going to begin sliding.

Dimitrov in Nadaos 8th. Time he stepped up.

Has  it happened ever before that both number one and two didn't play, plus citing same injury!!!!!

Shame Delpo keeps running into good players early in the draw.

Stan and Ninja 1 & 2 seed, unheard of

Delpo can't beat Fed on FH alone, his BH is still weak, and he ain't moving yet 100%.

Murray and Djokovic both playing Monte Carlo. (Djokovic only some exhibition, though)

Federer and Nishikori not on the list.

Federer can have 6-7 weeks after Miami before Madred/Rome. That's virtually more than the off-season and should be enough for decent rest before RG even if he chooses to play one masters.

... wrote:Murray and Djokovic both playing Monte Carlo. (Djokovic only some exhibition, though)

Federer and Nishikori not on the list.

Federer can have 6-7 weeks after Miami before Madred/Rome. That's virtually more than the off-season and should be enough for decent rest before RG even if he chooses to play one masters.

well thats strange from djokovic,if he is fit and healthy enough to play in exhibition match then surely he is fit enough to compete 
thats how i would have scheduled if i were federer,just hoping thats not too much tennis before wimbledon
playing RG,you never know with him,it could go either way,a quarter final exit or a final

Veejay wrote:
well thats strange from djokovic,if he is fit and healthy enough to play in exhibition match then surely he is fit enough to compete 
thats how i would have scheduled if i were federer,just hoping thats not too much tennis before wimbledon
playing RG,you never know with him,it could go either way,a quarter final exit or a final

Very different stuff! not comparable in the slightest. If Djoko is only playing exho in MC, it means he has something serious.

Tenez wrote:

Veejay wrote:
well thats strange from djokovic,if he is fit and healthy enough to play in exhibition match then surely he is fit enough to compete 
thats how i would have scheduled if i were federer,just hoping thats not too much tennis before wimbledon
playing RG,you never know with him,it could go either way,a quarter final exit or a final

Very different stuff! not comparable in the slightest. If Djoko is only playing exho in MC, it means he has something serious.

i disagree,if he has an injury so serious then he shouldnt even be playing an exhibition match
playing with a serious injury could potentially aggravate it and make it worse which in turn could be career threatening

After finally winning a first round match, Rublev is playing Berdych.

That will be interesting as they have similar games, though Rubi is much more aggressive and his bullets are faster.

I hope he finally makes a tiny breakthrough even if it means just a win against Berdych tonight.

I think it suggests Djokovic is trying out recovery. An exho will mean nothing too stressful whilst giving him a taste of competitive play.

It also foregoes his last opportunity to gain serious points before Wimbledon. If this drags on his #2 may start to get shakey.

He may play the tournament...a round or two...to make Prince of Monaco happy.

But I feel he is finished for some reason. Can't explain why. Like he's burnt his candle too fast.

Now he has to wait and keep trying in his vicious circle.

Djokovic is down to play MC main draw. What's this exhibition nonsense?

Slippy wrote:Djokovic is down to play MC main draw. What's this exhibition nonsense?

Why nonsense?

http://www.b92.net/sport/tenis/vesti.php?yyyy=2017&mm=03&dd=23&nav_id=1243068

So does that say he isn't playing the actual tournament?

"Rodžera Federera"  Is that how you guys spell it, nitb?

It looks like Ferrer is finally going down for good. It shows once again that it is impossible to play good tennis at the age of 34.

... wrote:But I feel he is finished for some reason. Can't explain why. Like he's burnt his candle too fast.

That would be good news.  Let's hope you are right!

Slippy wrote:So does that say he isn't playing the actual tournament?

I have not seen anything that would suggest otherwise. Of course, if his elbow injury does not heal by then, he might withdraw anyway.

summerblues wrote:"Rodžera Federera"  Is that how you guys spell it, nitb?

Not quite - that's the genitive case.

We spell it like this: Роџер Федерер, or in Latin alphabet - Rodzer Federer.

Why the question out of the blue?

I just looked at the article you linked here and that is where I saw it.  And it looked strange - not very common to respell a person's name while using the same alphabet.

I saw two games of Berdych- Rublev.

What a disappointment: Rublev played like an immature, overemotional amateur.

His footwork was so bad Berdych moved like a butterfly in comparison.

Also his BH was soft and useless.

I know it was a bit windy, but no excuse formsuch poor display, his level gone down.
He is so highly strung and needs to relax pronto.

summerblues wrote:

... wrote:But I feel he is finished for some reason. Can't explain why. Like he's burnt his candle too fast.

That would be good news.  Let's hope you are right!

So long as he takes "Andy" and "Rafa" with him.

I would love that. And Fed would fight for the titles with Dimi, Thiem and Kyrgios.

Yes, Kyrgios could be a great baddy.

A pleasure to see beaten.

Dimi struggling to strings wins together again. Quite similar to Thiem and Stan to some extend.

That's where Fed was so surprising! Being able to be consistent without a consistant BH.

I think it's tougher now than ever before.
The margins are so small.

Dimi is so good yet he can lose a close match just like that.

I think taller sbh players are paying a small price for their size, Dimi just isn't as explosive and light-footed as Fed.

In a strange way, he is still "weaponless".

Stan just about got it all right around 30.

summerblues wrote:

Slippy wrote:So does that say he isn't playing the actual tournament?

I have not seen anything that would suggest otherwise.  Of course, if his elbow injury does not heal by then, he might withdraw anyway.

Well yes, but then he won't play the exho either. The whole debate above my post seemed to be on the basis that he wasn't playing the actual tournament.

... wrote:I think it's tougher now than ever before.

Yep. They need
The margins are so small.[/quote]
I think it's about "professionalism". Being able to play the right shot at the right time. Not going for broke or flashy shots.

This is what is really striking when you see the top players. They don;t make easy mistakes and bar Federer who can afford to play close to the lines and safe, all the others play well within the lines..unless they have no choice to go for broke.

But also outside matches...so much preparation, diet and physio going on. The top players always come on court quite fit with a minimum of problems......cause when they have problems....they lose like everybody else. They managed to stay fit for so long.....it was really strange considering how phsycially demanding was their games.

Now it's pay back time it seems.

Tiafoe nearly lost a won match in his previous round from sheer excitement he was going to play Federer:

"It's Roger Federer. This guy has about a million Grand Slams and done everything. I mean, I can’t tell you how excited I am to play. Seeing the draw was probably why being up a set and 4-1 I started rushing.

'Then I started thinking 'Okay, if I don't get it done, I won't.

It’s going to be an honor playing Federer, but I’m going to go after him and give it all I’ve got,

I mean, he’s my idol, everyone’s idol. People still on tour in the locker room stare at him. He’s an absolute legend. We hope he never retires because he’s such a good ambassador for the sport."

That was quite an entertaining set of tennis.

Not a bad effort from Tiafoe, but Feddy showed him who's the Daddy.

These young players are all scared of the net, aren't they?

Ridiculous SABR from Federer, totally ridiculous!!!!!

He actually stop volleyed a serve!!!!!

... wrote:Ridiculous SABR from Federer, totally ridiculous!!!!!

He actually stop volleyed a serve!!!!!

Well, he got the net to kill it dead really!

It was a nice match, lot of honest hitting.

I only saw a short. Tiffaoe has a similar FH to Chung. A very topspinny FH but played close to the net. Great to watch.

... wrote:Ridiculous SABR from Federer, totally ridiculous!!!!!

He actually stop volleyed a serve!!!!!

It did hit the tape though:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gC98Ji8vWc

But indeed, this one's even for a SABR quite aggressive

gallery play wrote:

... wrote:Ridiculous SABR from Federer, totally ridiculous!!!!!

He actually stop volleyed a serve!!!!!

It did hit the tape though:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gC98Ji8vWc

But indeed, this one's even for a SABR quite aggressive

Oooooh!

I didn't realise that was a net cord from the original/match camera angle....

I was wondering why he apologised after the shot!

Still!
Fortune favours the brave.

Can't stand these Miami courts - so slow. It's painful to watch. So difficult to hit winners early in the rally.

Watched some of the Federer-Tiafoe match and tbh not impressed with Tiafoe despite the scoreline and some of the hype from the American media. Nothing special in his game. That FH is just ugly and takes too much time to set up. He woulda been murdered by Federer on a quicker court. Looks like another counter-attacking roadrunning player ala Murray and Djokovic. It's like a factory conveyor belt with these types being churned out.

That's a fair point, it would be useful to see him play on a faster surface. 

He looked useful in the slower stuff for sure. It must have been a big deal for him to play a guy who was winning tournaments while he was a toddler.

Come on Kohli, beat the shit out of him.

Looks like word's getting around; drive your shots hard and Nadal can't cope.

Kolhi 3:0 up and serving.

Nadal can't see Kohli's rocket BH.

They are all smelling blood now with Andy/Joko missing.

5-0

Question is whether Kohi loses the spell.

6:0 Nadal bageld

Hahahaha, what is tennis coming too.

Fed moved to 4'th place btw.

What is Nadal doing in HC of USA anyway? Even 7y ago he was bad here.

Djoko/Andy saw no reason to play anymore here, no logic for Nadal to be here, being slapped like a git left and right.

Go to clay and train.

This match is just about whether Kohlschreiber misses. Nadal is just watching with the rest of us.

Federer has started this, Nadal will find others fancy giving this a go too. He's lucky that Kohli lacks the standard to follow through.

Kohl is like Brown and many many other players.  The talent is there. The mental side is not. And it usually never ever gets rectified. Wawrinka is the only player I can think of that turned it around.

It's also prob no coincidence that Brown and Kohl had a final set tie breaker once that went to 18-16 Kohl. They both couldn't win the match. Only lose it.

I mean does anyone here think Kohl will win this?  It's definitely possible, but who would shove a bet on it right now?  

I should have put one on Nadal after that bagel.

There we go!  Broken!  Useless. 

bogbrush wrote:This match is just about whether Kohlschreiber misses. Nadal is just watching with the rest of us.

Federer has started this, Nadal will find others fancy giving this a go too. He's lucky that Kohli lacks the standard to follow through.

Dustin Brown did it twice. Rosol did it. Darcis did it.  A long time before Federer did it.

Kholi is playing awful. I wonder how he managed to win that first set.