ATP 250: Sydney, Auckland

One more week before Australian Open, two more tournaments for the warm-up.

ATP 250 Sydney, Outdoor Hard
The Apia International Sydney has a rich history, dating back to 1885 when colonial officials used it as a means to select the Davis Cup team. Today, Sydney welcomes the world's best men's and women's players in the week prior the Australian Open. Lleyton Hewitt thrilled hometown fans as he won titles in four straight tournament appearances, from 2000-01 and 2004-05. Bernard Tomic won his first ATP World Tour title here in 2013.

Players:
Del Potro, Almagro, Fognini, Janowicz, Stepanek, Dolgopolov Pospisil, Benneteau, Rosol, Vasselin, Nieminen, Tomic
Draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/338/mds.pdf
Order od Play:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/338/op.pdf


ATP 250 Auckland, Outdoor Hard
The Heineken Open is the biggest men’s professional sporting event in New Zealand, held in Auckland since 1956. Played in the week prior to the Australian Open, the ATP World Tour 250 event is a crucial stop in preparation for the year's first Grand Slam tournament. David Ferrer won the Auckland title in 2011, and went on to reach the Melbourne semi-finals.

Players:
Ferrer, Paire, Monfils,  Haas, Robredo, Kohlschreiber, Isner
Draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/301/mds.pdf
Order of Play:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/301/op.pdf



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6KDpB6skA4

Some watchable matches today:

Paire-Przysezny (these Polish players are a spelling nightmare!)
Dolgopolov-Vasselin

Not watchable but interesting result wise:

Tomic-Granollers
Tomic defending his first and only title, Granollers in his "prime" pushing form.

I found it funny how Tomic suffered 5 consecutive first round losses last year, all to different French players, as if they were all on a special mission to avenge Drouet, Tomic's ex hitting partner, who among other things suffered a broken nose and a neck brace, courtesy of a "self defence" head butt from Tomic's father.

Tomic then on went to drown all that sorrow in lap dancing bars, informing the entire world of what "fabulous" times he was having by posting photos of it all on Twitter.
He seems to have had enough of that now.
It's that time in the ATP calendar where he transforms from an unfit, lazy loser to a part-time Australian hero.
In his latest interview he announces:
"I am back into tennis now!"

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/im-back-into-tennis-now-bernard-tomic-shifts-focus-to-sydney-international-20140104-30all.html

So, Tomic seems to have demolished Granollers.
A lot of players have withdrawn last minute from Sydney and Auckland, so it's hard to glean much from this result.

Paire safely through and Matosevic whom Fed demolished the other day managed do beat the in-form F.Mayer (another tank?)

Happy to see Strakh through as well.
Mahut beat Harrison who seems to be slipping further and further behind im the "young guns" race.

Cilic beat Struff from a set down. I saw a few points from his match last week out of curiosity as I read that he hs worked on his serve.
He, too has got a former "legend" coach - Ivanisevic, and has also filled out with muscle since his dope scandal. service motion that used to be quite funy and unique does look different and more like Goran's now.

Some nice matches today:

Del Potro - Mahut (Delpo has announced he wants to target top 3 this year)
Dolgpopolov - Janowicz
Benneteau - Strakhovski
Paire - Agut

When is the AO draw? I guess Friday....

Yes, it's on Friday, there's even a link to watch it:
http://www.ausopen.com/mobile/404.html

This year nobody cares about number 3 and 4. The ones to avoid will be Del Potro and  Tsonga.

...and Hewitt ...and Tomic...and probably a few more. Should be interesting!

I have my PC back and this eve I will try to play tennis first time in 2 months!

Lovely!!! Don't frorget the elbow strap
I just came back, managed to get some dry weather even sunshine.

Tenez wrote:...and Hewitt ...and Tomic...and probably a few more. Should be interesting!

I have my PC back and this eve I will try to play tennis first time in 2 months!

Yes, just read that Simon said the domination of the Big 4 is over and we are to expect new slam winners soon.

Not from him mind!

Simon is my favourite counter-puncher, he's made an art of it.
I know everyone hated it, but I loved that match he played Monfils for 5 hours, they just took all the pace off and had fun.
They almost went through picnic basket-full of food in the changeovers, drank Coke, the only thing they didn't do is get out a picnic mat,  it was hillarious!
Look forward to watching them both in AO.

I reckon it will be either Tsonga or Delpo to win the next slam outside top 4.
Don't know when, though.

ABN, really....

For me Nole is almost guaranteed the final in AO, I would love him to crush Nadal again, but on the other hand it would be even better if the courts were really fast as it's been announced, and someone like JJ blows him off the court early.
Nadal has complained that AO starts too soon and there is not enough time to prepare for it.
Does that have anything to do with cycling up?

Tomic loses 3 games to granollers.
I wouldn't be surprised if he had a great Aussie swing and then was rubbish for most of the year again.

Tomic and Raonic are going places....  soon.

No they're not...

Tomic is a headcase and Raonic is a mug.

Julia Santamaria wrote:Tomic is a headcase and Raonic is a mug.

You are wrong.  Unlike your hero they actually have talent.

Not a big fan of any

Did any of you get to see Pierre Herbert?
He played in Bercy, got knocked out by Nole after making through a few rounds, even beat Paire en-route to Nole.
If you thought S&V was dead, you need to watch him when you get the chance.
Good, natural serve, needs a bit of polishing, but very exciting to watch:

FedererKing wrote:

Julia Santamaria wrote:Tomic is a headcase and Raonic is a mug.

You are wrong.  Unlike your hero they actually have talent.

pmsl if you genuinely think Raonic, who is 6'7 and can barely rally and would probably not even be top 500 if not for his serve is even nearly as talented as Nadal.
And Tomic is a headcase who is even less talented than Raonic.

The problem is you are a person who despises Nadal to the extent it clouds your judgement, and leaves you writing one line statements which you've never been able back up. Funnily enough on the Nadal thread when I asked you to back up some stuff you said after I had come up with some rebuttal... you were nowhere to be seen; but yet like a coward you'll pop by every so often just to repeat 'Nadal has no talent' like a puppet. The only people who agree with you are the same type of person who thinks evolution is a myth, in many ways the two arguments are so ludicrous they're quite similar.

Amri,
I understand you are a big Nadal fan and your forte is defending him at all cost.
But, it does wear thin when that becomes almost all you seem to post about.
You then overstep the border and can't help yourself from having a personal go at people, and that's the end of a civilised debate.
Why not just walk away from comments that seem to flare you up?
I rarely see you comment on other players and matches, and there are so many great characters and players to enjoy.
Surely there must be players other than Nadal you like, why not write about them, as well?
Unfortunately for you, most of us dislike Nadal, but maybe you could apply that old one: "If you can't beat them - join them" motto, and just relax and enjoy tennis in its fulness.

noleisthebest wrote:
maybe you could apply that old one: "If you can't beat them - join them" motto, and just relax and enjoy tennis in its fulness.

It applies the other way though here.

Julia Santamaria wrote:

FedererKing wrote:

Julia Santamaria wrote:Tomic is a headcase and Raonic is a mug.

You are wrong.  Unlike your hero they actually have talent.

pmsl if you genuinely think Raonic, who is 6'7 and can barely rally and would probably not even be top 500 if not for his serve is even nearly as talented as Nadal.
And Tomic is a headcase who is even less talented than Raonic.

The problem is you are a person who despises Nadal to the extent it clouds your judgement, and leaves you writing one line statements which you've never been able back up. Funnily enough on the Nadal thread when I asked you to back up some stuff you said after I had come up with some rebuttal... you were nowhere to be seen; but yet like a coward you'll pop by every so often just to repeat 'Nadal has no talent' like a puppet. The only people who agree with you are the same type of person who thinks evolution is a myth, in many ways the two arguments are so ludicrous they're quite similar.

I think Tomic has more talent than the 6'5 Raonic, but I warm to neither player 2bh.
I liked Raonic when he burst onto the scene in aus '11 before running out of gas against Ferrer. Now not so much.

luvsports! wrote:

I think Tomic has more talent than the 6'5 Raonic, but I warm to neither player 2bh.

It's a close one- Milos probably has more consistency with his shots though.

Yes probably Tomic has more talent...but he doesn't have the guts to use it....and prefers to rally from the baseline..a weird choice for a tall player.

Rao has less talent but goes for a bit more....until the big points come along and there he has even less guts than tomic.

Julia Santamaria wrote:

FedererKing wrote:

Julia Santamaria wrote:Tomic is a headcase and Raonic is a mug.

You are wrong.  Unlike your hero they actually have talent.

pmsl if you genuinely think Raonic, who is 6'7 and can barely rally and would probably not even be top 500 if not for his serve is even nearly as talented as Nadal.
And Tomic is a headcase who is even less talented than Raonic.

The problem is you are a person who despises Nadal to the extent it clouds your judgement, and leaves you writing one line statements which you've never been able back up. Funnily enough on the Nadal thread when I asked you to back up some stuff you said after I had come up with some rebuttal... you were nowhere to be seen; but yet like a coward you'll pop by every so often just to repeat 'Nadal has no talent' like a puppet. The only people who agree with you are the same type of person who thinks evolution is a myth, in many ways the two arguments are so ludicrous they're quite similar.

Slow conditions make Raonic look much worse than he is, but he will bloom sooner or later.  The problem is you continually judge things on raw stats and ignore all reasons for those stats.  Nadal is a baseline retriever.  He has no real talent.  Tennis is supposed to be about ability, not pure physicality.  That's why Nadal can never be considered a top 5 player, because he is just defending and basking on today's crappy one dimensional slow conditions.  You need to stop looking at the argument in such a basic fashion and realise that today's tennis isn't even tennis.

FedererKing wrote:

Julia Santamaria wrote:

FedererKing wrote:

Julia Santamaria wrote:Tomic is a headcase and Raonic is a mug.

You are wrong.  Unlike your hero they actually have talent.

pmsl if you genuinely think Raonic, who is 6'7 and can barely rally and would probably not even be top 500 if not for his serve is even nearly as talented as Nadal.
And Tomic is a headcase who is even less talented than Raonic.

The problem is you are a person who despises Nadal to the extent it clouds your judgement, and leaves you writing one line statements which you've never been able back up. Funnily enough on the Nadal thread when I asked you to back up some stuff you said after I had come up with some rebuttal... you were nowhere to be seen; but yet like a coward you'll pop by every so often just to repeat 'Nadal has no talent' like a puppet. The only people who agree with you are the same type of person who thinks evolution is a myth, in many ways the two arguments are so ludicrous they're quite similar.

Slow conditions make Raonic look much worse than he is, but he will bloom sooner or later.  The problem is you continually judge things on raw stats and ignore all reasons for those stats.  Nadal is a baseline retriever.  He has no real talent.  Tennis is supposed to be about ability, not pure physicality.  That's why Nadal can never be considered a top 5 player, because he is just defending and basking on today's crappy one dimensional slow conditions.  You need to stop looking at the argument in such a basic fashion and realise that today's tennis isn't even tennis.

Thats just being too hopeful of Raonic. Raonic doesn't have the heart of a champion. He has probably reached the peak of his career and I don't think he will do any better.

That's a harsh judgement rotla....He will do much better there is no doubt....unless he gets injured. Having said that I agree he has not the heart of a champion...but court conditions and training can help you develop one. Look at Murray!

Some interesing results from last night, looks like faster courts are levelling the field a bit:
Sock (the new Harrison) beat Hass in 2 sets
Isner d. Lacko in 3, 1 TB
Ferrer needed 3 sets to beat Donald Young, same as
Del Potro d.Mahut in 3, from 1:6 down in the first set
Istomin d Cilic in 2
Strakhovski d. Benneteau on 2 easy sets
and a little surprisingly
Dolgopolov d(emolished) Janowicz 6:2 6:2

Today:
Del Potro- Stepanek
Dolgopolov-Tomic (go Dolgo )
Kohlschreiber-Isner
Agut-Sock

Tenez wrote:That's a harsh judgement rotla....He will do much better there is no doubt....unless he gets injured. Having said that I agree he has not the heart of a champion...but court conditions and training can help you develop one. Look at Murray!

T,
what do you think is preventing Paire or Herbert from winning more?
Is it the lack of fitness?
Herbert is young,and could improve his FH (same as Paire to a degree).
They are both more talented and gutsy than Raonic, yet, there is no hype surrounding them.
Raonic really made a name for himself playing those small tournaments in the US, but that's difficult for young European players, who have much bigger and stronger competition when those same type of tournaments are played in Europe (eg Nice or Marseille or anything in Spain)

French players are also helped by an excellent players base...and that from a very young age. I have seen only 3 points from Herbert so difficult to comment. For Paire I think he has not got consistency on his talent.....in short he is not as talented as he looks. He certainly is skilful but to rely on talent to go far in tournaments one needs more talent nowadays, in fact one needs to be close to a genius. He is too much of a hit and miss player. He probably has no choice knowing he is too tall to keep the ball in play. It would be interesting to see what he can do on faster conds...but even there I doubt he has the quick hands needed.

Yes, I think Paire plays best on clay. To me, he is very similar to Dolgopolov in the way he thinks on court, would not grind and compromise.
That's why I love watching them both.
Have a look at a clip a few posts above this one, it has highlights of Herbert-Djokovic in Bercy.
Herbert is 22 and a good competitor, but similar in the way he moves to Paire.
I just wonder if that type of players has future, and what they need in order to make better results.
He has a great serve and should make some waves in 2014.

Have a look at a clip a few posts above this one, it has highlights of Herbert-Djokovic in Bercy.

Yes that is where I got the 3 points I saw....will try to see more soon.

Just had a look at AO Qualifying draw, both Herbert and Berankis are in the 2nd round, would love to see them in the main draw especially if the courts are faster as they say they are this year.
I am surprised that if the courts indeed are faster no top players (eg Nole who has been practising in Melbourne for a week now) have not made any comments about it.
That's why I am sceptical.
Even the balls have two opposite reviews, some former Indian pro who was commentating in Chennai said the Wilson balls they used there and are supposed to be the same ones as AO ones were quite heavy, whereas Woodbridge said they are lively (I am assuming light and bouncy)....
We'll have to wait and see.

Heavy....would be good. It makes them fast...which might be also "lively". Though we agree that lively can certainly mean bouncy...meaning slow around the baseline. Brisbane was realkly a breath of fresh air......did not help Fed though.   

Yes, that was really weird to watch.
Hewit played nothing special, just his simple game and Fed ended up looking slow and awkward.
Definitely the back.
Hopefully, in AO with the day in between the matches, he will be able to manage it somehow.

Dan Evans is through to round two as well after he lost just 3 games in his first match. Go Evo!

The surface speed will prove to be a damp squib.  Even if it is slightly faster it still doesn't change the fact that bores like Nadal can still return almost everything.  Racquets need standardising and so do the balls.

Nadal has usually trouble returning the first week of Wimbledon when the ball skids through.

If it's faster it will wear him out, so he'll have to be more aggressive and increase the chance of missing.
He has won so many matches by scraping through and enormous amount of luck, every little bit that goes against his winning formula will turn into an advantage for the opponent.
All you need is someone who doesn't fear him on the other side of the net like Rosol, and it can become interesting.
Look forward to the draw.

Interesting to see Young getting some results there. Hopefully he can capitalise on it.

Yes, he played well a few USOs ago and then vanished into thin air.
He has had a lot of trouble with USTA who supported and financed him, but then his mother would mess his head and he'd quarrel publicly with them... a bit like Tomic and his dad vs Australian Tennis Federation.

Here's a link to last night's RF foundation event.



Somewhere around 40 min. Tsonga and Federer play, the court does look faster than before, not an ice-rink but better than nothing
Watched a few games, after the shaky start, Federer hits the ball so cleanly on both wings!
He and Tsonga make it all look faster anyway, nice exo tennis!

Tomic seems to have beaten Dolgopolov easily in 2.
Delpo needed 3 sets to beat Stepanek.
Strakh, Agut, Ferrer also through.

Tomorrow's matches:
Del Potro-Trsunov
Strakhovski-Tomic (go Strakh    )
Isner-Agut
Ferrer-Lu (this is going to be one ultra grind!)

Herbert through to the last round of qualifications, came through from a set down and second set tie-break, playing an anonymous Slovenian next. 


ALLEZ HERBIE 

Ferrer falls to Lu in st. sets. Isner makes it to the Auckland final.

Delpo-Tomic for the the Sydney title.

Delpo-Tomic should be good!
7.30 PM Oz time, that should be watchable in rhe UK tomorrow morning.
I'm sure Toni and his nephew will be watching it!

Watching Del Potro - Tomic.
Tomic not fit "enough".
Delpo winning points by grinding him with no effort at all.
Doesn't bide well for Melbourne, but the court there is slower and Nadal's serve is easier to return.
I wonder when penny is foing to drop with Tomic that he has no chance of winning by pushing and rallying.

And Tomic does not even try in the 2nd set.

It's a question of match up. It's all down to whether Tomic can handle the spin of Nadal. If he can he has a good chance cause his pacy shots will give Nadal less time to inject spin...making things easier for Tomic. The first shot from Tomic will be key. But indeed the problem will be to be able to time that ball under pressure and with 2 sets in the legs.

Won't be easy.