ATP 250: Estoril, Munich

....or Lull before the storm!

We are now in the final week of April and just a week away from two main Masters 1000 tournaments on clay - Madrid and Rome.

Federer is still practising and clay-match free, Murray has disappeared into a black hole, Djokovic, now that Serbian Open is no more, probably also practising but in Monte Carlo, and Nadal....who knows!

So, we are travelling to Portugal and Germany and hope to see some good clay tennis there in the coming days.


250 Portugal Open (Oeiras, fomerly known as Estoril)

"The Portugal Open began as an ATP event in 1990, and became a combined men's and women's tournament in 1998 – making it one of only four European spring clay court stops (also Roland Garros, Rome, Madrid) to feature both tours playing side-by-side. Four former World No. 1s have won the Portugal Open: Thomas Muster, Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roger Federer."

I do feel a bit nostalgic. This used to be where Federer would have his clay preparation in the past.

Players: Ferrere, Wawrinka, Seppi, Fognini, Benneteau, Paire, Zeballos, Robredo

The Draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/468/mds.pdf

Order of Play:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/468/op.pdf

250 Munich (BMW Open)

"The BMW Open is the first of five German tournaments on the 2011 ATP World Tour calendar, contested in Bavaria’s picturesque capital city of Munich. The International Tennis Championships of Bavaria was first held in 1900, but the BMW Open was first staged at Munich’s Iphitos Tennis Club in 1974. Germans have won the title five times since then, most recently Philipp Kohlschreiber in 2007 and 2012."

Players: Tipsarevic, Cilic, Haas, Dolgopolov, Kohlschreiber, Mayer, Youzhny, Baghdatis, Monfils, Melzer, Gulbis, Nieminen, Davydenko

The Draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/308/mds.pdf

Order of Play:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/308/op.pdf



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yPtuLeAppI

Monday matches of interest:

Paire-Sijsling
Davydenko-Dodig

Thanks NITB. Good summary of that coming week. No much to get excited again unfortaunately.

Tenez wrote:Thanks NITB. Good summary of that coming week. No much to get excited again unfortaunately.

You can say that again...

Quiet day today, yet Davydenko managed to get knocked out in his first match.
I saw most of Paire-Sisjling 2nd set and enjoyed it (Paire won in straights), it was a weird match with literally maximum 10 people in the stands, Paire wearing a blue hoodie and both players playing minimum effort tennis: all kinds of shots with not a lot of strategy, but it was a nice break from the usual bashing and intensity.

More interesting matches tomorrow, in Munich:

10 AM
Stepanek-Youzhny
Gulbis-Nieminen
Dolgopolov-Strakhovski
Monfils-Melzer

Nothing very exciting in Estoril as they are trying to catch up with today's schedule due to bad weather.

In fact the most exciting thing coming this week is the Madrid draw on Friday. ..Or is it? I do remember a very late draw out last year....or was it Madrid?

Tenez wrote:In fact the most exciting thing coming this week is the Madrid draw on Friday. ..Or is it? I do remember a very late draw out last year....or was it Madrid?

Sad/funny but true!
I still hope we see some good matches this week, Gulbis is through after beating Nieminen today, and Paire could win his first tournament!

Still, nothing beats the full field in action, and we haven't had that since IW where Federer played injured and Larry laid the real blue clay surface for Nadal... so Madrid can't come quick enough!

Youzhny lost to Stepanek in three sets yesterday, yet he still managed to have some "fun" :
http://instagram.com/p/Yu9TIlFcOj/

Tomorrow in Munich:

Dodig-Cilic
Kohlschreiber-Korolev
Dolgopolov-Tursunov
Troicki-Stepanek

Estoril late, as usual....

Paire-Hanescu
Ferrer-Vasselin
Lorenzi-Fognini ...

Didn't see any matches today, but Dodig, Kohlschreibr, Dolgopolov and Troicki through in Munich.

Tomorrow's matches of interest (pretty lean for a Thursday ....):

Haas-Gulbis (12.25 PM)
Ramos-Wawrinka (2.50)
Falla-Seppi

Another slowish day in the world of tennis, in Munich
Haas handled Gubis in three sets,
Mayer def Matosevic, also in 3
Tipsarevic look he's on his way of finishing Zemlja off in straight sets and Monfils Brands starting now

In Estoril, Ramos-Wawsrinka looking interesting, Ramos breadsticked Stan in the first set and the opposite happining in the second...
Elieas (whoever that is) def Istomin, Haase- Robredo starting now, too.

Madrid draw coming out at 5.30 tomorrow.

Tomorrow in Munich (starting at 10.00 AM UK time)

Dolgopolov-Dodig
F. Mayer-Haas
Kohlschreiber-Troicki
Tipsarevic-Brands

In Estoril (NB 12. 50)

Elias-Wawrinka
Ferrer-Hanescu
Busta-Fognini
Seppi-Robredo

If I could mix and match all these players and make two decent matches, I'd go for
Dolgopolov-Fognini
Wawrinka-Kohlschreiber

Even Haas-Ferrer could be interesting, too, but as things stand...

Some good tennis being played between Dolgopolov and Dodig atm.

Dolgopolov's forehand on clay: a thing to behold!

still, it's Dodig who is serving for the match...and after hanging onto the edge of the cliff with some gutsy tennis as well as defending, Dolgo lets go....
Dodig through to the SF.

noleisthebest wrote:Tomorrow in Munich (starting at 10.00 AM UK time)

Dolgopolov-Dodig
F. Mayer-Haas
Kohlschreiber-Troicki
Tipsarevic-Brands

In Estoril (NB 12. 50)

Elias-Wawrinka
Ferrer-Hanescu
Busta-Fognini
Seppi-Robredo

If I could mix and match all these players and make two decent matches, I'd go for
Dolgopolov-Fognini
Wawrinka-Kohlschreiber

Even Haas-Ferrer could be interesting, too, but as things stand...

The sad thing about all those talented players is that no-one really cares cause we want them to be measured against the best players, top players shoudl I say, and those are not playing this week.


As Borg said, in sport, it's all about being number one.

tenez do you see any of the guys who are say 24-28 and above making any in roads this year? e.g. a tsonga, berdych, delpo, dolgo, wawrinka, gasquet, fognini, bellucci, gulbis, cilic etc

Tenez wrote:

The sad thing about all those talented players is that no-one really cares cause we want them to be measured against the best players, top players shoudl I say, and those are not playing this week.


As Borg said, in sport, it's all about being number one.

May be, but I think it's a bit harsh, well, at least as far as I am concerned (I suppose the fact that almost nobody is commenting on this thread supports your theory).

I think tennis is one sport where being number one fortunately is not the ultimate reason for watching it compared to, say, athletics where all the glory almost always goes exclusively to the winner.

The fact that I took upon myself to follow all these ATP tournaments every week, and it's been nearly a whole year now, made me learn a thing or two more about some players, see them play their best tennis and express themselves fully, which we/they rarely have the opportunity to see/do in slams or big ATP tournaments.

The only trouble is that not all those players are watchable as some are not that talented, which is where my moan came from originally and why I wanted to mix them up and make more watchable combinations.

Usually, towards the end of the week during 250 tournaments, there are some decent matches, but not this time, although Dolgo Dodig last 5-6 games I saw were excellent, proper human clay tennis and two great contrasting styles evenly matched.

It's a shame more people don't enjoy those tournaments, you can see it by (half)empty stands, too, but am sure there are a lot of fans around the world behind computers who virtualy fill those stands watching the matches through those dodgy streams

For example, if I hadn't been following Serbian Open last year, I would have probably not "discovered" Paire and enjoyed his tennis ever since.

luvsports! wrote:tenez do you see any of the guys who are say 24-28 and above making any in roads this year? e.g. a tsonga, berdych, delpo, dolgo, wawrinka, gasquet, fognini, bellucci, gulbis, cilic etc

First I woudl not put Delpo in the same bag as the others. I can see the others upsetting the top 4 once in a while and even reaching finals but winning a slams...don't think so. Delpo is however a different animal. He has the weapons and stamina to really do more damage than the others. Bar injury I see Delpo in the top 3 soon.

noleisthebest wrote:May be, but I think it's a bit harsh, well, at least as far as I am concerned (I suppose the fact that almost nobody is commenting on this thread supports your theory).

I think in the past there was more room for discussion between the top 10 players. We could discuss how Rios Medvedev, Goran coudl easily beat Agassi and Pete on a good day for instance. But since tennis has become that physical, I do not see the point of discussing how great Almagro's shots are if he can only last 3 games. We relentltessly get the top 4 in finals cause 3 of them are ridiculously fit and they are in a league which cannot be compared with the others.

It's no different that boxing in fact nowadays. Heavyweights are simply in a league of their own. And in tennis it is the heavyweight matches we want to see....even if what Dolgo or Wawrinka do with the ball is more impressive than what Djoko and Murray do with it.

If they have enough talent to outplay those top players for 3 sets like Federer used to do, then it's admirable but so far only Federer coudl beat them but he is getting old unfortunately.

Tenez wrote:
I think in the past there was more room for discussion between the top 10 players. We could discuss how Rios Medvedev, Goran coudl easily beat Agassi and Pete on a good day for instance. But since tennis has become that physical, I do not see the point of discussing how great Almagro's shots are if he can only last 3 games. We relentltessly get the top 4 in finals cause 3 of them are ridiculously fit and they are in a league which cannot be compared with the others.

It's no different that boxing in fact nowadays. Heavyweights are simply in a league of their own. And in tennis it is the heavyweight matches we want to see....even if what Dolgo or Wawrinka do with the ball is more impressive than what Djoko and Murray do with it.

If they have enough talent to outplay those top players for 3 sets like Federer used to do, then it's admirable but so far only Federer coudl beat them but he is getting old unfortunately.

I don't think we are talking about the same thing here.

The point I was trying to make was that from a tennis fan's perspective: I don't need top 4 players in the tournament in order to be interested in watching the matches, for me the tour is interesting to follow all year round, not just during 1000 Masters events and slams.

I do like the element of winning, as do the rest which is why we all support one of the very top players. But that's far from everything. The more players you "know", the more interesting it becomes.

Now, unless Novak is playing, I really don't care who wins a match (of course there are players I watch purely because I want them to lose EVERY time), now that's about max 70-80 matches a year, and I certainly see a lot more than that, although inevitably I end up supporting one player over the other, sometimes it changes several times in a match, in fact.

As for players themselves, they are all professionals, and to them it's a job. They all know their limitations and although they all may dream of winning a slam, I am pretty sure most are happy to make a bit of money out of it without suffering too much whether or not they won a slam, Davydenko is first that comes to mind in that regard, Berdych and loads of others. Some are just happy they have a good life and that's about it.

Others who manage to break through to the top, it's a different story. To them money at one stage probably becomes irrelevant and all they care for is winning, chasing the glory.

AS for competition, my illustration would be comparing opposition to a wall, the higher the ranking, the better the wall, i.e the ball comes back more. In case of Federer, that wall moves forward/closer to you as well.

When the "rest" face a top 4-5 player they know what's in store and many give up before it's started, especially now when the physical standards have gone up so much and attacking tennis has lost edge due to playing conditions.

When top 4/5 "walls" face off they either beat one another by outlasting or outplaying each other.

Same is for the below top 4/5 players when they face each other. Because the physical edge is not that prevalent, their matches can be really good to watch, much better and more interesting that the very top players sometimes.

So the only discrepancy is the very top against the rest.

But for a tennis fan, there is plenty to enjoy if winning is not the only thing they want to see.

Well...yes tennis can always be watchable. Even at club level so even more so when 2 very talented players, or even just one, is playing. What I find difficult nowadays is to actually watch 2nd rate tournaments, especially if the men to beat are to around. I could watch any tennis for ever...just now I find it a bit harder.

But fortuantely some are taking over and fill the stands. It's very important for the players, the tour, and the future of tennis.

OK then: for the empty stands, and the odd addict/saddo here and there, here are tomorrow's matches:

Munich (12.30):
Haas-Dodig
Brands-Kohlschreiber

Estoril (10.55, yes, they love their weird time there)

Busta (yes, Busta!) - Wawrinka
Ferrer-Seppi

Enjoy!

come on haas, kohly, stan and seppi (as i think stan can finally break his tournament drought!

luvsports! wrote:come on haas, kohly, stan and seppi

Exactly

Haas through. A good performance and he should win this title now. He is capable of beating both Brands and Kohli. So this is now his title to lose. I hope he wins instead.

So tomorrow in Munich we have the dream final between two local heros:

12.00 PM

Haas- Kohlschreiber

A notable mention of Daniel Brands who seems to have played his heartout against Kholi, and lost in the third set tie-break

In Estoril,

2.30 PM

Ferrer- Wawrinka

so we have two finals and 3 single bakchands, nice

Would prefer haas but dont mind if kohly wins but massively routing for stan the man over boring snorefest ferrer.

luvsports! wrote:Would prefer haas but dont mind if kohly wins but massively routing for stan the man over boring snorefest ferrer.

Hah, you are making it easy for me; do not need to write it out; just ditto whatever you say.

haha

Haas wins in Munich in straight sets. I wanted Kohli to win

I don's know why Stan & Ferru show has been delayed....

Stan Ferrer started in the meantime, Stan about to bagel Ferrer in the first set, I've got to see that!
Ferrer is not deliberately trying to drop his ranking for FO is he

noleisthebest wrote:Stan Ferrer started in the meantime, Stan about to bagel Ferrer in the first set, I've got to see that!
Ferrer is not deliberately trying to drop his ranking for FO is he

This match has no bearing on Ferrer's ranking.

come on stan!!!!

summerblues wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Stan Ferrer started in the meantime, Stan about to bagel Ferrer in the first set, I've got to see that!
Ferrer is not deliberately trying to drop his ranking for FO is he

This match has no bearing on Ferrer's ranking.

surely a win could cement him as number 4 for FO.

noleisthebest wrote:surely a win could cement him as number 4 for FO.

No. His worst countable result is 250 points already; so even if he won today, this tournament would be uncountable for him.

Well done Stan, that was pretty smooth sailing for him all the way. Two clay tournaments and two SHBH winners - sweet.

And Stan The Man does it in some style
He will be tough to beat in Madrid, which is why he is not in Nadal's but is in Novak's quarter.....

Stan's forehand has really improved!!!

Stan does it and what a sight it was. Well played and some awesome tennis.

Ferrer has been having strange results recently. He used to be much stronger just a couple months ago.

Tenez wrote:Ferrer has been having strange results recently. He used to be much stronger just a couple months ago.

ha ha.. Maybe his doctor has retired with immediate effect. I'm expecting him to lose early even in Madrid.