ATP Masters 1000: Cinncinati

Everybody's playing.


Draw:


http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2015/422/mds.pdf


Order of Play:

http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2015/422/op.pdf

I expect Murray and Djoko to pull out of Cincy....or lose early.

Djoko maybe, Murray maybe nt. That no2 ranking isn't safe yet.

luvsports! wrote:Djoko maybe, Murray maybe nt. That no2 ranking isn't safe yet.

It is safe till USO, isn't it? And I guess that's what matters. Andy woudl be keen to rest before the USO and let Fed get tired....I woudl think.

If Feds wins Cincy (decent chance), Murray has to make sf I think.

luvsports! wrote:If Feds wins Cincy (decent chance), Murray has to make sf I think.

No, Murray leads Fed by 595 points at the moment. If Fed wins Cincy (+1000), Murray will be No. 3, since he can't get past SF (+360) in that case because they are drawn together and Fed would lead Murray again by 45 points.

So Murray has to beat Fed to make sure he keeps his ranking.

Ah that's good news. Since fed won last year, I thought he could not gain points ...only lose.

I wonder if Rubi will play USO qualies.
I assume he will, esp as he played a challenger in the US last week.
I am glad he did both singles and doubles.

Looks like his mum took my advice on board

Some surprise results from yesterday...looks like nobody cares about Cinci...

A chance for Nadal & Murray!

^^ which result did surprise you? The results that I found mildly surprising were the Janowicz win over Monfils and especially the Troicki defeat at the hands of the soon to retire M. Fish. Haven't seen any matches, so can't say how it happened.

Then again - Troicki didn't look very convincing in Montreal either.

Tonight some interesting match-ups: Dimitrov-Pospisil, Kyrgios-Gasquet again, Coric-Zverev, Dolgopolov-Tomic (probably not on televised court) etc.

I was hoping Thiem, Fognini and Kholi would win, too.

Troicki's results in America are suspect more than a surprise.

Monfils...unless he was injured, it's a bit of a shock.

Zverev-Coric...interesting but ugly tennis guaranteed.

I am not that interested in Cinci.
Only Fed beating Nadal could save that dreary tournament.

Thiem should maybe consider playing WS to get some much needed match practice on US HC. Fognini, much as I love him, isn't dangerous outside of clay. Kohlschreiber lost the second time running vs. Sousa. :o He doesn't have a great year. What are you suspecting Troicki of?

I think Fedal will likely happen in Cincinatti, hope for a good result.

Troicki (unless he is injured) had been playing well enough all year not to lose to half retired Fish in the first round.

Will be interesting to follow his results.

Maybe silent ban has evolved into a silent competition...

Alexander Zverev finished as the No. 1 junior ahead of Borna Coric in 2013. On Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open, the two youngest players in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings delivered a memorable first meeting on the ATP World Tour, with Coric prevailing 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(5) after two hours and 44 minutes.

Nadal and Djoko would be proud of them. Their succession is guaranteed.

I think you guys are a bit harsh on Zverev.

He can really whack and go after the ball, something Coric can't do.

He looked good when he beat Djoko at boodles this year (i know it's just exho but still) & Hamburg last year. 

He's not great to watch but he's not dire imo.

luvsports! wrote:I think you guys are a bit harsh on Zverev.

He can really whack and go after the ball, something Coric can't do.

He looked good when he beat Djoko at boodles this year (i know it's just exho but still) & Hamburg last year. 

He's not great to watch but he's not dire imo.

I have never seen Zve play actually. I was just looking at the score and length of match. So he is another Kokki? Cause Kokki can run and whack the ball too. I am told he can "bang" too!

 .

Little clip of Zverev vs Monfils this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flcjGzfoDXU

He moves well for his 6'5/6. Hits hard for sure with a decent serve.

He is still young but in that clip he doesn't look like a heavy hitter despite his size. His shots are quite loopy and short. I will keep an eye.

Is it just me, or is Federer timing the ball superbly after the summer break.
His serve is looking almost effortless, like he is hitting the sweetspot blindfolded.

luvsports! wrote: .

Little clip of Zverev vs Monfils this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flcjGzfoDXU

He moves well for his 6'5/6. Hits hard for sure with a decent serve.

Zverev is a gutless basher. I saw him in Boodles two years ago hitting with Noke and thought - who is this rich daddy's kid to be having this luxury practice session...
even then he played exactly the same.
Reminds me of Murray a little...for that size he should be blasting his FH away, but all he seems to want to do is rally and rally and rally.....
Kokki is the Daddy for him in every way.
Coric showed more heart today and won deservedly, though I only watched from 4:4 in the third set.

They are both pathetic.

Yes he is playing well but mistimed a few easy shots...Batusta playing poorly too. But good perf from Fed for a first match. ....his first match at 34!

Yes, 34 and playing with zeal and hunger of a 24 year old.
Some of those missed shots came when he almost moved in too quickly for the ball.
Amazing footwork.

Fed tsill wasting many BPs....He could have won that first set 6/1...easily.

The way I see it, this is his shot-making practice...he hasn't had to grunt or exert himself, no FH swings finishing above his head.
Just nice and easy, getting back to match-playing.

I always like to see him fresh after a break...he looks so young...the opposite from RG.

Didn't he hit that BH pass DTL just like Stan?
Almost identical.

What a pair of volleys....Fed was surely happy to be alive right there and then!

noleisthebest wrote:Didn't he hit that BH pass DTL just like Stan?
Almost identical.

did not see it.

Fed took 55 seconds to win his service game!

Nadal needs that long just to get ready to serve...

noleisthebest wrote:Fed took 55 seconds to win his service game!

Nadal needs that long just to get ready to serve...

Amazing when thinking about it.

Fed uber aggressive tonight. Needs to clean up the first serve though.

noleisthebest wrote:What a pair of volleys....Fed was surely happy to be alive right there and then!

And here they are:

Nadal volleys better!

Interesting returns on second serves from Fed. Never seen anything like it, he was running almost up to the service line! I wonder whether he wants to try that vs. Nadal/Murray 2nd serves. It looked like a practice match with Fed being casual. He seems to be the worst match-up on tour for RBA.

Coric-Zverev - not particularly impressed by either; Zverev has a rather weak serve for his height, movement looks alright, but I wonder whether he can keep it up once he fills out. I was surprised Coric got the win because he had been under pressure consistently on his serve while I watched (2nd set) with quite a few errors on his part whereas Zverev looked mostly untroubled.

Yes, that returning was quite amusing, reminded me of Bartoli.

But seems logical...to take the ball as early as he possible can, if he can't - then who?

That's probably the only way to get out of slugfests now. Very difficult, too, with everyone bombing his BH with hard-hit yet safe shots.

I, too, love standing well inside the baseline for returning, I got used to it from the start and find it weird when I even have to stand on the baseline against fast servers.
But that's just club level.

So, it must be totally weird to stand back as far as Nadal does and not only on serve but to play like that.

I can only assume that to him it must feel equally weird to stand on the baseline.

He has really turned the game of tennis inside out.

Now I don't have a clue how I ended up talking about Nadal here...

Some interesting matches today.

I just realised Kokki is only 19. I can see him beating Gasquet.

Can Paire surprise Nole?

Although Nole will probably  try to get a few rounds in Cinci, it would be better for him to exit the stage today and rest the elbow for USO.

I am trying to imagine how Paire would play against him, but can't.

Bold and brave would do
Nole could definitely take a page out of his attacking DBH book.

Finally, can Chardy find the way to stay composed and with Nadal all match?

Coric playing almost the same as Nole, yet Stan quite subdued and conservative compared to his usual, aggressive self.
Strange...

Stan is either injured or tanking.

Or maybe still recovering from last week.
He is one big, emotional teddy

Coric is an outstanding mover, gotta give him that. :o

Richie's BH's gone from great to crazy!

He must be the only player in history who plays it like it's his FH.

Kokki was two mini breaks up in the TB and still managed to lose it.

The two are such a contrast in so many ways...

With her obnoxious antics, drama, yelling etc. Serena Williams has become unwatchable.
That coach/"boyfriend" must be a truly romantic $oul....

Paire is such a nice player...every atom in his body is loose and relaxed.

And there is also a certain purity about him which is quite endearing.

Compared to Nole, he comes across as an amateur, which just shows how much the very top players are removed in their professionalism.

Paire seems to be putting up a good fight. Relinquishes a break though.

Yes, such a shame.
Not used to so many balls being returned. He does not like grinding at all.
But  a lot of wonderful shots.

Paire really needs to fix his FH asap!

Esp the first one after the serve. It's just too "friendly".
He has so much potential. More than Dimi.

https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/634115894390706176

Yes, that was a cool shot, but many others, he has great hands.

Imagine how good he would be if he could string about 15-20 wins.

He'd be a superb confidence player.

It's hard for him to fly with this stop-start scenario and injuries.

Important hold!
Glad he gritted it out, he needs to toughen a bit as a competitor.

Oh, what a stupid throwaway game

I know what it is...the only time he really needed to be relaxed. - he tightened up and missed all first serves...ah well...how do you undo that?

Those French players are such showmen but who gets the win at the end? not them!

That's what I call a typical close match v Nadal despite the score!

Nadal saved all nine break points faced during the match while going two-for-four on break opportunities on the Chardy serve. The Spaniard needed to dig deep to finish off the Frenchman, finally sealing the win on his fifth match point.

Well, we are one match away from The Match...