ATP 500/250: Rotterdam, San Hose, Sao Paolo

Still in no/everyman's land in between AO and American Masters 1000 hard courts, we have a nice mix of tournaments scattered all over the world and played on different surfaces.

After the two week post AO break, we see the return of Federer and Del Potro in Rotterdam, where we shall have a special VIP correspondent to give us live impressions from the scene of crime itself .
Look for one of those funny people wearing red t-shirts with white cross and "shh, genius at work" posters in hand waving at you!

Nadal also keeps on his return 250 clay tournament rock&roll tour in Brazil, creaming all the appearance fees with minimum effort and risk (except to those poor trophies that will have to suffer his fangs). Can't really blame him, can we?

And if that wasn't enough for exotics, throw in a bit of San Hose and off the second week of February comes!

ATP 500 ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament (yes, that's the official name for poor, old Rotterdam now) indoor hard
"The first edition of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, held in 1974, was won by Dutch tennis ace Tom Okker. Tennis fans in The Netherlands had to wait until 1995 for another Dutchman - Richard Krajicek - to title at the indoor hard court event. Winners in the intervening years include illustrious players such as Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. Since then, stars such as Roger Federer, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Murray have all lifted the trophy."

Great field of players: Federer, Del Potro, Tsonga, Simon, Gasquet, Janowicz, Youzhny, Seppi, Davydenko, Tomic, Paire, Goffin... Wow, what a bunch!

Draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/407/mds.pdf
Order of Play:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/407/op.pdf (Gulbis seems to have played a match there today!)

ATP 250, SAP Open (San Hose) Indoor hard
"The SAP Open is the second oldest men’s professional tennis tournament in the United States, first held in 1889. In its 120-year history, the tournament has seen great champions such as Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras and more recently, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick."
Players: Raonic, Haas, Isner, Querrey, Verdasco, Harrison, Matosevic, Istomin, Karovic, Malisse
The Draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/424/mds.pdf
Order of Play:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/424/op.pdf

ATP 250 Brasil Open 2013 (Sao Paolo), clay
"After 11 successful years in Costa do Sauipe, the Brasil Open moved in 2012 to Sao Paulo, where it was played at the Complexo Desportivo Constâncio Vaz Guimarães. The ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament also moved from outdoors to indoors due to regular wet weather in Sao Paulo in February."
the field of players a lot better than in Chile last week: Nadal, Almagro, Monaco, Wawrinka, Chardy, Bellucci, Andujar, Nalbandian, Fognini, Zeballos
The Draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/533/mds.pdf
Order of Play:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/533/op.pdf

Being a great samba fan, no surprise with the song this week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y7h8WGTANs

With Nadal losing on clay today, Sao Paolo looking very interesting!

Yes...I expect Nadal to improve cause though I was actually impressed by hos mouvement, I felt his moonball game was a bit obsolete now...I think many could have beaten him today and with a bit more focus and belief, HZ could have made it in 2 sets.

I didn't see the first set, but the field is much stronger in Brazil, I haven't seen the draw in detail, but it's going to be a lot tougher for him next week.
Brazil will be a very good indicator for the rest of the season.

Yes, it should be tougher this week. But he will keep improving....it shows how overwhelmed was Chardy by the occasion.

Fed playing Rotterdam is a bit surprising to, especially under the circumstances he lost in AO. Or maybe my assumption that his back needs to be rested more isn't exactly what Fed needs.

Tsonga could be a potential semis-final for Fed but I think he will get out before that.

Anyone having high hopes with Delpo for this year, this tournament could be of important consequence on how things will turn out in the coming months. I'm still not sure he will make it to the finals, its about 40% for me.

Is he injured? Well, if he can't keep off injury at this age, he won't be able to keep it off ever.

Yes Delpo is the archetype og the giant with clay ankles. It's asking a lot for a player like him to run around like needed today...and his slowness would be even more exposed on faster courts.
I guess for Fed keeping playing should keep him fit...the key is to keep some energy for slams.
Isn't Murray playing anywhere?

hes not playing till IW apaz.

O i see ...weird after saying he needed to win all teh smaller tournies to catch up with Djoko.

maybe he sees them as smaller tournaments

Tenez wrote:Yes, it should be tougher this week. But he will keep improving....it shows how overwhelmed was Chardy by the occasion.

I am disappointed not to see Wawrinka in the draw, but his photo is there as if he is playing the tournament. Without him, the quality of the opposition drops significantly.

Chardy choked unbelievably, I still can't get over how poorly he played.

Dimitrov-Tomic about to start in Rotterdam!

Funny to see both players wearing exactly the same gear...and that all Dutch women in the sparse crowd seem to want to look like men: short hair and trousers!

Court looks nice and fast and both Dimitrov and Tomic up for a challenge, should be a good match!

No sign of Sharapova

Oh..I'll have a quick look at this one.

So far, pretty bland.... like Murray Djokovic.

That's more like it from Grigor, should really try to use the advantage of the court speed and attack more inside the court.

Isn't it bizarre that Dimi being one of the oldest juniors never played v Federer....unlike all the others younger ones even.

Tenez wrote:Isn't it bizarre that Dimi being one of the oldest juniors never played v Federer....unlike all the others younger ones even.

I didn't know that. Looks like he's watched him enough! I don't know how anybody could say he's better than Federer at the same age, although to be fair to Dimi, thigs played a bit faster in Fed's early days. Still, his movement is nowhere near as good as Fed's.

He is quite heavier than Federer, I think he realised he had to play by today's "rules".

GP, let us know when you are there....wear a GP shirt!

Tomic putting himself in retrieving mode...and breaking.

I hope the match hasn't finished yet !

Tenez wrote:GP, let us know when you are there....wear a GP shirt!

Not there yet my friend, it'll be thursday/friday or saturday. we're still negotiating. Usually we're in the first row of vip boxes, hope nothing will go wrong..

I am watching this match though. Bit surprised (pleasantly) to see Dimi is able to overpower Tomic quite often. Dimi is the better player, but that usually the case against most sub top players, he just needs to find the optimal formula

Good win by Dimi.
Good to see he no longer looks like Fed's lookalike

gallery play wrote:
Not there yet my friend, it'll be thursday/friday or saturday. we're still negotiating. Usually we're in the first row of vip boxes, hope nothing will go wrong..

Go on GP, treat yourself to a decent ticket, you don't get to see Fed every day, stuff all the corporate gizmos, there are always strings attached there!

noleisthebest wrote:

gallery play wrote:
Not there yet my friend, it'll be thursday/friday or saturday. we're still negotiating. Usually we're in the first row of vip boxes, hope nothing will go wrong..

Go on GP, treat yourself to a decent ticket, you don't get to see Fed every day, stuff all the corporate gizmos, there are always strings attached there!

You know how hard it is to get regular tickets in Holland to see Federer play? The guy is more popular than our Queen

Good. let us know when you do.
yes Dmi was teh better player but lot of potential in Tomic. I don't like the fact that he chooses to defend a lot when he wants to break. He covers lots of ground a la Murray but he has much better shots than Murray...certainly a better FH.
He is one of the flattest hitter out there. He seems to have so much power in his forearm. He can whip teh ball effortlessly and cause he is tall he doesn't need to topspin as much as others. his flatter shots have enough safe margins....bit a la delpo.

Other results:
Hanescu d. JJ
Simon d. Brands
Viola d. Granollers
Klizan d HMP

Tenez wrote:Good. let us know when you do.
yes Dmi was teh better player but lot of potential in Tomic. I don't like the fact that he chooses to defend a lot when he wants to break. He covers lots of ground a la Murray but he has much better shots than Murray...certainly a better FH.
He is one of the flattest hitter out there. He seems to have so much power in his forearm. He can whip teh ball effortlessly and cause he is tall he doesn't need to topspin as much as others. his flatter shots have enough safe margins....bit a la delpo.

yeah, that's the part i like about him. YOu just can tell he's going to hurt the topplayers one day with that FH, it's just that he's a loose canon too, and not a good mover. There's a long road ahead of him, but like you say: the potential is there

Tenez wrote:Good. let us know when you do.
yes Dmi was teh better player but lot of potential in Tomic. I don't like the fact that he chooses to defend a lot when he wants to break. He covers lots of ground a la Murray but he has much better shots than Murray...certainly a better FH.
He is one of the flattest hitter out there. He seems to have so much power in his forearm. He can whip teh ball effortlessly and cause he is tall he doesn't need to topspin as much as others. his flatter shots have enough safe margins....bit a la delpo.

Yes, definitely not out of a cereal box manufactured type of player...his mind prefers to deconstruct the opponent's game rather than attack and I don't see that changing although he doesn't look like a hopeless case as Murray in that respect, but with that forehand he certainly doesn't mind pulling the trigger off, and the serve is pretty good, too. Just lacks the grit, consistent focus and composure and that is a big deficiency.

Just lacks the grit, consistent focus and composure and that is a big deficiency.

Yes, the way he threw both his broken games in set 1 and 3 were really bozarre as if he did not care at all. He fought hard to save earlier breaks in that 3rd set so it's a question keeping his mind over the whole distance.

Tenez wrote:

Just lacks the grit, consistent focus and composure and that is a big deficiency.

Yes, the way he threw both his broken games in set 1 and 3 were really bozarre as if he did not care at all. He fought hard to save earlier breaks in that 3rd set so it's a question keeping his mind over the whole distance.

Do you think that can be improved or is it a matter of IQ?

I think it can improve in particular with the imprtance of the events. Looks like he likes being center stage of a big arena and playing in front of an empty stadium must be frustrating.

Tenez wrote:I think it can improve in particular with the imprtance of the events. Looks like he likes being center stage of a big arena and playing in front of an empty stadium must be frustrating.

So is it the adrenalin that does it?
Funny how mind works....nothing like a bit of challenge

Surprise loss for Tsonga today, beaten by the local boy Sijsling in 3 sets.

Mayer and Davydenko playing the last match of the day atm.

Tomorrow, some god matches starting at 11.30 UK time:
Youzhny vs De Bakker
Benneteau vs Llodra
Gulbis vs Haase
in the evening (6.30 PM):
Del Potro vs Monfils
Nieminen vs Goffin

noleisthebest wrote:Surprise loss for Tsonga today, beaten by the local boy Sijsling in 3 sets.

I also couldn't believe that Igor did it. He is a clever nice guy, SHBH, with nice volleying. So his serve and game had to click for him well. I cheered for Igor when he played in Czech league in December.

paulcz wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Surprise loss for Tsonga today, beaten by the local boy Sijsling in 3 sets.

I also couldn't believe that Igor did it. He is a clever nice guy, SHBH, with nice volleying. So his serve and game had to click for him well. I cheered for Igor when he played in Czech league in December.

I haven't seen him play, but will have a look. Must find time for a single backhander

noleisthebest wrote:Surprise loss for Tsonga today, beaten by the local boy Sijsling in 3 sets.

Not for me. I was expecting it before the tournament started. Tsonga goes through many ups-and downs in form and fitness and never been able to build consistency.

I think the conds are rather quick and it must be difficult to find one's own shot range versus a good serve volleyer...hasn't Llodra done well here in the last few years?

Tenez wrote:I think the conds are rather quick and it must be difficult to find one's own shot range versus a good serve volleyer...hasn't Llodra done well here in the last few years?

Interesting you mention the fast conditions because it must be the court that made Tomic's and Dimitrov's game look a bit out of place.
They just brought the safe baseline hitting to the table to start with and it was really boring to watch.
I only saw parts of the match, but only whenTomic mixed it up a bit and Dimi started to step into the court, they looked a lot more watchable, I like it when the court imposes its own rules like that!

Ah...I saw kind of th eother way around. I thought Dimi and Tomic were playing aggressive first and when Tomic realised he coudl not stay with Dimi started to slow things down and retrieve helped by Dimi having lost some of his explosiveness...
But I honestly might be wrong there....that is just how it appeared to me....certainly on Tomic trying to keep the ball in play.

Tenez wrote:Ah...I saw kind of th eother way around. I thought Dimi and Tomic were playing aggressive first and when Tomic realised he coudl not stay with Dimi started to slow things down and retrieve helped by Dimi having lost some of his explosiveness...
But I honestly might be wrong there....that is just how it appeared to me....certainly on Tomic trying to keep the ball in play.

I don't think we saw the same parts of the match. I only saw the first half of the first set and a few scattered points later.

They looked better when they stopped playing mind games trying to dictate from the base line which really doesn't suit either of them (maybe a little bit Tomic in fact), esp Dimitrov.
I think they'd look great on grass in the best of 5 in about a year's time. Maybe even this year at Queens.

I don't know whether Tomic woudl be that good on proper fast grass...Wimbledon nowadays is simply HC, covered HD if anything, WTF like.

So Djoko is not playing either this week?
Murray and Djoko must be on the same cycling program.

Tenez wrote:So Djoko is not playing either this week?
Murray and Djoko must be on the same cycling program.

C'mon T, he went and played Davis Cup on indoor clay in Belgium on Friday after winning AO on Sunday.

Plus, rumour has it Novak just wants to give the other, lower ranked guys a chance to win a few points and £££, and let Roger win something as well so he kind of looks competitive; orders from the top you see ...

Hush-hush news aside, in Rotterdam earlier today, De Baker beat Youzhny
(ret), Gulbis demolished Haase (6:2 6:1), Benneteau d. Kamke .

For those who can't live without Spanish tennis, GG Lopez playing Ramos in Brazil atm.

Delpo & Monf playing in Rotterdam atm, will watch a bit!

Wow, Delpo playing great, attacking full on and in style