ATP 250: Casablanca, Houston

A week of "small" tournaments respite before the glorious European swing next week in Monte Carlo.

ATP 25O Casablanca, outdoor clay
The Grand Prix Hassan II, inaugurated in 1986, is entirely funded by Morocco's King Mohammed VI. Casablanca is the only ATP World Tour stop on the African continent. Two Moroccans have won the title in their home country: Hicham Arazi in 1997 and Younes El Aynaoui in 2002.

Players
GG Lopez, Vesely, Klizan, Berlocq, HPM, Granollers, Almagro, Andujar, Schwartzmann, Brown
Draw
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2015/360/mds.pdf
Order of Play
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2015/360/op.pdf

ATP 250 Houston, outdoor clay
The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship began in 1910 in Omaha with an idea of encouraging the establishment of more clay courts in the West. Since then, the tournament has been contested in numerous cities across the United States, before settling in its current location of Houston in 2001. It is the only ATP World Tour event in the U.S. contested on clay.

Players
Isner, Sock, Chardy, Verdasco, Agut, Lajovic, Anderson, Berankis, Chung, Young, Querrey
Draw
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2015/717/mds.pdf
Order of Play
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2015/717/op.pdf



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vThuwa5RZU

Match of the Day:

Chardy-Lajovic

Too 10 looking different this week

1 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 13,205 0 19
2 Federer, Roger (SUI) 8,895 0 18
3 Murray, Andy (GBR) 6,060 1 21
4 Nishikori, Kei (JPN) 5,280 1 22
5 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 5,255 -2 20
6 Raonic, Milos (CAN) 5,070 0 24
7 Ferrer, David (ESP) 4,670 0 24
8 Berdych, Tomas (CZE) 4,510 1 24
9 Wawrinka, Stan (SUI) 4,405 -1 21
10 Cilic, Marin (CRO) 3,360 0 20

Nadal looks to be outside top for RG unless he starts winning everything on clay.

McEnroe thinks Nadal should be ranked number one for RG.
What an insult to other players esp Djokovic!

“Let me put it to you this way: I guarantee you that none of those four guys, as great as they are, want to see him in the quarters.
Quite honestly, I would seed him number one. I’d seed him number one, actually, because I think he deserves that. I think the other players deserve it.

Certainly, you can’t even possibly question if he should be [seeded] ahead of David Ferrer, as much as I respect him, or for that matter even Murray on clay.
Djokovic is the only one, given his accomplishments on clay, that you could possibly make an argument deserves to be seeded ahead of [Nadal]...I don't know that they [the Roland Garros seeding committee] are willing to change the seedings at their event.

"It’s a little unclear in best-of-five sets, maybe it will help him, give him some more time. But I’m not quite sure where he is [physically] right now. I’ve only seen him a few times, but he’s looking pretty damn good to me.”

Match of the Day:

Chung-Verdasco
&
Agut-Sock

Vesely wearing black FLORAL shorts...

That aside, funny to see Youzhny try to grind him.
This should be a good test of competitiveness for Vesely. A must win.
No pressure

Vesely is actually surprisingly cautious for his size.

Choosing to rally with Youzhny , meekly exchanging loopy FHs...plus that heavy, big man's footwork...

Only dares to go for shots when he can put them away safely following the 1st serve...

It's nice that he can create on clay, but it's such a waste of time and energy for someone with his weapons potential.

...aaand Vesely manages to squeeze the first set in a close TB against a very average, old-looking Youzhny.

First serve quite low, though.

Why am I watching this...

anything to get me out of reading this thick manual in front of me

Bajdene "The Brit" to play Vesely tomorrow.

Wow, isn't this ATP 250 week packed with action!

Monte Carlo & Monday can't come quick enough!  

Lamine Ouahab...yes, Lamine Ouahab...
ranked 313, local Moroccan WC, absolutely trouncing GG Lopez (defending champion, btw).

Looks like a club player, amazing feel for the ball, plenty of pace with zero effort, so natural...lovely to see!

noleisthebest wrote:Lamine Ouahab...yes, Lamine Ouahab...
ranked 313, local Moroccan WC, absolutely trouncing GG Lopez (defending champion, btw).

Looks like a club player, amazing feel for the ball, plenty of pace with zero effort, so natural...lovely to see!

wish i had seen that.