ATP 500: Beijing, Tokyo

In Beijng, Pouille, Berankis, A.Zverev already out.
In Tokyo, a very nice field.

Good first round matches:

Isner-Thiem
Gasquet-Agut
Wawrinka-Stepanek
Coric-Nishikori

noleisthebest wrote:In Beijng, Pouille, Berankis, ...already out.

Weird..they lost to nobodies.

Looks like Chung is having a week off....well deserved! he played 8 matches in 10 or 12 days.

Tenez wrote:
Weird..they lost to nobodies.

Looks like Chung is having a week off....well deserved! he played 8 matches in 10 or 12 days.

I thought so, too until I noticed that last week after Mannarino beat Pouille easily, in his next match it took him two close sets to beat the same nobody that beat Pouille yesterday.

Even nobodies aren't what they used to be!

Tough times...

Match of the Day: (starting shortly)

Nishikori-Coric

Querrey just beat Dolgo...who again lost by hitting spectacular shots only to rush and miss the easy ones
7:6 6:4

Coric 2:0 up!

His serving looks better, also looser in his shots. Interesting.

3:0!

Nishikori broken twice!
Coric very quick around the court, aggressive, too.

What is going on?

...but his grunting gives him away: he is tense.

Still, 4:0.

Nishi striking the ball well, just looking slow on his feet a bit.

Nishi playng some very nice flowing points.

But also misses a lot. Something is wrong with him. Looks disjointed. Maybe it's the long break he's had.

Coric's grunting is actually growling. So ugly and unnecessary.

And Coric wins set one, with a lot if help from Nishikori who for some reason can't read his serve.

Coric's ball-striking requires a lot of energy. He is a percentage player.

They just had a very long rally.

It must be an agony to play like that.

noleisthebest wrote:Coric's ball-striking requires a lot of energy. He is a percentage player.

They just had a very long rally.

It must be an agony to play like that.

It is but you can just throw a couple of long rallies to make a point and the point is force the opponent hitting closer to the lines and get free points. Fitness has a huge strategical and psychological impact. A fit player doesn't not need to run a lot, he might just need to run more on some key points. Just enough to get the edge off his opponent.

The key to beat those guys is not to go for broke but make them run more. Nalby, Davy, Mecir, were good at it...Nishi shoudl not be too bad except that he goes for too much too often.

I don't think Coric is fit enough to win on asphyxiating...yet!

He already looks like his tank is nearly empty. Too much effort going into his shots, he can't sustain it despite Nishi not playing that well.

Becaue he is tense and artificial, he is confised as well and goes for shots he simply doesn't have the talent for.

But..still only 18 and looks like he doesn't mind hard work.

He could be the modern Ferrer, maybe.

he'd need those 35s between point. Even taking them, Nadal looked breathless young..after a set....but this extra time allowed him to keep going.

Tenez wrote:he'd need those 35s between point. Even taking them, Nadal looked breathless young..after a set....but this extra time allowed him to keep going.

Amazing when you look back...did you notice any other players before him abuse that rule for the same "benefit"?

People with those anti-pollution masks look really, really , REALLY pathetic!

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:he'd need those 35s between point. Even taking them, Nadal looked breathless young..after a set....but this extra time allowed him to keep going.

Amazing when you look back...did you notice any other players before him abuse that rule for the same "benefit"?

They abused it before the rule was in place...that's why they made up that rule in the 70s or early 80s. But no, not since. certainly not to the extend of nadal .

Interesting to see the mechanics of this match: Coric starting strong, fresh, aggressive and Nishi slow on the feet, missing easy balls.

Now, as Coric's energy level dropped, Nishi warmed up - it's a totally different story.

For so many players now energy efficiency is literally everything.

It's about emptying the other guy's tank before he empties yours.

Fun begins when both are empty!
Then you see the real ability.

noleisthebest wrote:People with those anti-pollution masks look really, really , REALLY pathetic!

And it's depressing!

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:People with those anti-pollution masks look really, really , REALLY pathetic!

And it's depressing!

I know!

Tenez wrote:he'd need those 35s between point. Even taking them, Nadal looked breathless young..after a set....but this extra time allowed him to keep going.

Takomg all this innto comsideration, where do you see Coric in 2, 5 years?

It is a long way away...where will the medecine be by then? what about the court conds, pace etc...I think there are better players out there. certainly top 20 but doubt this kind of games will survive much unless they keep slowing the surfaces.

Tenez wrote:It is a long way away...where will the medecine be by then? what about the court conds, pace etc...I think there are better players out there. certainly top 20 but doubt this kind of games will survive much unless they keep slowing the surfaces.

Oh course there are...
I was just wondering what the future if physical tennis may look like, but you're right, one thing we can't predict is what medicine will be able to do.

Anyone watching Troicki-Raonic?

A lot of hard hitting. And these players find it hard to control volleys.

Troicki serving for the set.

I know Raonic's serve is fast and all that, but of all big servers, his is the easiest to return, he puts a lot of muscle into it, and unless he goes for the T or very wide, it's not that tough to control.

Not a complicated motion, but somehow doesn't look effortless or easy.
He is more worried about whacking the ball hard rather than placing it.

not watching but that must be true. He could do so much more damage with it .

just glanced over the match...Rao has lost some mouvement!

and just when I watch Rao loses his serve from 40/0 up!!!!

even Rao's face looks fatter.

Tenez wrote:even Rao's face looks fatter.

Tenez wrote:just glanced over the match...Rao has lost some mouvement!

Yes, but Troicki was going for his shots, too.

Raonic is still too tense, and you simply can't attack like that.

Tenez wrote:and just when I watch Rao loses his serve from 40/0 up!!!!

You could see there how tight he was, so nervous.
The more he works and "improves" - the stiffer his game becomes.

He should be an instinctive player, but has killed it off with trying too hard with his baseline shots.

He had a good stretch of play in '14, esp RG, and then just stagnated from there.
When you compare him to Delpo who was fluid and natural and of similar size, you can see the difference in potential.

Some nice matches to orrow:

Djokovic-Bolleli
Gasquet-Agut
Wawrinka-Stepanek
Simon-Youzhny
Nadal-A Nobody
Thiem-Isner

And last but not the least...

Paire-Dimitrov

yep as stiff as his hair.

Allez Benoit!!!

Paire has a similar relationship with his BH, like Gasquet.


Playing nice and relaxed, serving well. Aggressive, single-mimded tennis.
Baseline is a necessary evil.

Serving for the match!

Oh yes!!!!

There is something wrong with Dimi.....he is certainly one who is regressing.

I really think Dimi has been overrated, he never won matches attacking, always scrambled and defended and relied on baseline.

No real weapon: returnable serve, good but merely rallying FH, semi-weak BH, just not enough.

Look at Paire's BH, it eats the dust of any Dimi's shot!

Nadal scrambles the first set past the Nobody.

I just saw him approach the net

yes....just. I watched a bit of it and this Wu is not bad....shows how the game keeps moving. The pyramid base keeps getting better and that pushes the top forward.

Tenez wrote:yes....just. I watched a bit of it and this Wu is not bad....shows how the game keeps moving. The pyramid base keeps getting better and that pushes the top forward.

Absolutely! And good to see.

The top is having to work harder than ever to keep their status. Tennis court has never been so small. Very interesting.

Nice match between Richie and Gutty.

These long rallies are pure death!
Just saw one between Gasquet and Gutty.
Full on high-quality hitting as well.

And Gutty grinds his way into serving for the set now, at least it's with first class tennis rather than muscle.

I hope Richie gets back in this match.
Still recovering from that long rally in the previous game (and changeover).

I like Gutty, but want Gasquet to win this.

He is a quintessential tennis player, such a fantastic, deep and creative game. It all stems from that BH.

Glad he got  fitter and funny how Nole was the one to comment on it as his main improvement before their Wimbledon match.
Shameless...

Just an observation: Nadal on the other side of Djoko's draw.

Let's see how often it reproduces!