ATP MASTERS 1000: CINCINNATI - THE FINAL

The crazily scheduled 2012 season continues: after the Olympics and Toronto, back to back comes the third tournament in a row: ATP Masters 1000 in Cincinnati.

In previous years, tennis fans looked forward to Toronto and Cincinnati, as they would usually come after a 3-4 week post -Wimbledon break.

This year, Cincinnati somehow comes flat as if it were a 500, or even worse 250 event.

Toronto saw a depleted draw, thankfully the highest seed won, and saved the tournament's prestige.

Cincinnati still missing Nadal, promises to be more exciting players wise. Apart from Djokovic, Federer and Murray are in the draw. Again noted the shocking trend in which Novak ends up with Murray in his half.

The Draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/422/mds.pdf


Order Of Play:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/422/op.pdf

Tops seeds receive a bye in the first round, so not expected in action before Wednesday, still some hot matches in the first round, my top pick first on Center Court at 11.00 local time: Davydenko - Dolgoplov.


It will be interesting to see Federer and Murray back on hard courts as this is the last big tournament before USO.
Novak played well in Toronto, and sizzled against Gasquet last night.
The win will have meant the world to his confidence, and I hope it lifts him to win Cinci as well

Cinci is a mixed event and I hope it does not mess up the scheduling as usual.


THE FINAL: 12.30 ( 17.30 BST) Djokovic : Federer

It doesn't get much better than this , does it?


GO NOLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Other interesting matches today:
Istomin- Benneteau, Hewitt - Youzhny, Baker - Kohlschreiber,
Strakhovski - Cilic

Some very intresting scores in Cincy already!
Davy thrashes Dolgo with double stick, Blake beats Anderson, Tomic beats Anderson, Seppi beats Haase and will play Djokovic next.

Strakh Cilic a set apiece atm.

What's so bad about having Murray in his half of the draw? If history has taught us anything, its this that out of the top-3 whoever has got Murray in his semis is most likely to reach the finals. Did you not see how easy it was for Nadal all last year and even in 2010 when he reached so many finals all beating Murray while Fed-Djo were burning each-other out in tough semis matches.

Yes he beat Djo in the olympic semis. Yes he won wimbledon gold. But I don't see a great change coming over with that.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:What's so bad about having Murray in his half of the draw? If history has taught us anything, its this that out of the top-3 whoever has got Murray in his semis is most likely to reach the finals. Did you not see how easy it was for Nadal all last year and even in 2010 when he reached so many finals all beating Murray while Fed-Djo were burning each-other out in tough semis matches.

Yes he beat Djo in the olympic semis. Yes he won wimbledon gold. But I don't see a great change coming over with that.

For a start, he played in one slam final this year as well as one semi-final which cannot be said for whomever Fed has as the highest seed in his half.
Murray plays physical defensive tennis and is not someone you want to play in the semifinal on Saturday prior to a Sunday final.

This Baker guy is a really interesting player in a cheeky kind of way. Looks from a totally different era.

noleisthebest wrote:
Murray plays physical defensive tennis and is not someone you want to play in the semifinal on Saturday prior to a Sunday final.

3 things come to mind for the moment.

1. He is injured (?) and if he is then he is not going to keep 100% of his physical defensive tennis and is highly likely to lose in the semis against Djo.

2. Out of the top-4 he is the one most likely to go out before the semis. We have seen it through 4 years, haven't we.

3. A possibility could be ( though I don't believe it) that he withdraws due to his injury(?).

So under these circumstances, having Murray in his half of the draw is nothing much a problem, isn't it?

I'm still recovering from Toronto!
Watching these USO tournaments really feels like being jetlagged without having to travel: I've just had a 2 hour sleep :shock: and need to go back to it!

In the meantime, Baker has baked Kohli in two tie-breakers and is to play Tomic tomorrow (that should be really interesting!) , Cilic has turned his match around and won in 3.


Also tomorrow for tennis romantics -Nalbandian Haas, the winner of which will play Delpo next.

Also: Gasquet - Raonic (should be interesting as Gasquet beat Isner in Toronto last week)

Simon - Baghdatis, Lu - Berdych (has Berd recovered from the summer of sweet life with his girlfriend yet? ) and what would an American hard-court 1000 be without Americans: Roddick and Fish playing their matches, as well.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

3 things come to mind for the moment.

1. He is injured (?) and if he is then he is not going to keep 100% of his physical defensive tennis and is highly likely to lose in the semis against Djo.

2. Out of the top-4 he is the one most likely to go out before the semis. We have seen it through 4 years, haven't we.

3. A possibility could be ( though I don't believe it) that he withdraws due to his injury(?).

So under these circumstances, having Murray in his half of the draw is nothing much a problem, isn't it?

they are 3 BIG ifs.....Murray NEVER plays when he is injured. I still think Nole would much rather face Ferrer, just like Fed.

noleisthebest wrote:
they are 3 BIG ifs.....Murray NEVER plays when he is injured. I still think Nole would much rather face Ferrer, just like Fed.

But you yourself was expecting him to withdraw 2 days back :queen: . He might just do a Toronto here again, so in that case having Murray in one's half is no problem.

Like in 2011 I don;t expect Federer to break a leg in this tournament. He is going to see how far he goes with his B game....and rest. He will love to see Murray and Nole go all the way again, even if that means losing his number 1 spot. The real points for him are at the USO....and defending the rest of the season...or doing as well as Nole.

I may be wrong, but I think nothing will bother Fed much from now on , now that he's broken almost all the records he wanted to break.


He is now playing for the pure enjoyment of the game and that is the best place to be in (lucky him) as he has nothing to prove.

I'm sure he'd love an opportunity or two to play Nadal, but that seems to be less and less probable with Nadal's dubious injury.


With Nadal out of the picture, Federer seems to be prospering in terms of no mental pressure he must have when Nadal is around.

I agree very much. But I am sure he still wants to finish number 1, add a few more slams and kick a few more asses.



Does anyone know how he reacted to his OG's final loss? He must have been gutted to have lost that match. it woudl have given him a kind of 8 Wimbledons!!!

Tenez wrote:



Does anyone know how he reacted to his OG's final loss? He must have been gutted to have lost that match. it woudl have given him a kind of 8 Wimbledons!!!

Fed wanted it, but I don't think his heart was in it. I don't think he's that bothered not having won it, either. Silver is not to be sniffed at, either.

I don't know whether you saw the match, but he was completely blown off the court by Murray wchic was weird to see. I don't knwo what his tactics had been, wheter to bide his time and wait for Murray to run out of gas or stg, somehow, it didn't happen.

It was like Murray was able to play 3 sets of that original Wimbledon final against Fed (which he lost in 4). Fed looked quite fragile on the base line and it was weird to see him overpowered by Murray.
The court was horrible, def. not the proper grass playing conditions.

He said he wants to keep playing until Rio. maybe he knows something we don't

Poor Nalby looses to Haas in 3, incl 2 tie-breaks.....
tomic winning against Baker, will tune in to see them.

Chardy beats Roddick.

WOW :shock: !
IS that really YOU LF?

And with Rodick, out goes Brian Baker, as well....in straights to Tomic. Saw a little bit, weird tennis, but Tomic definitely better.

noleisthebest wrote:WOW :shock: !
IS that really YOU LF?

Yes.

Well, this IS a surprise, thanks for sticking to your name
So what brings you HERE?
Missed Tenez and moiself :queen:?

As you can see, nothing's changed much, we still love tennis, and Nole is still the best....

How was your tennis summer?

Wondering what type of discussions were going on here.

Yes, you are the :queen:.

Tennis summer has been good. Watching Cincy. Djokovic did well in Toronto. Most of all, he smiled toward the end of the tourney, which was good.

laverfan wrote:Wondering what type of discussions were going on here.

Yes, you are the :queen:.

Tennis summer has been good. Watching Cincy. Djokovic did well in Toronto. Most of all, he smiled toward the end of the tourney, which was good.

aaaah, but that smile was wrought with deep pain. I hope to see it clear as he lifts more trophies in the near future.

So, what are your first impressions (on the type of discussions)?

Will post soon, but initial impression is interesting stuff.

laverfan wrote:Will post soon, but initial impression is interesting stuff.

do say hello to HM Murdoch, Tennisanorak Nore Stat & co on v2.

Fish (bt F.Lopez), Querrey(bt Melzer), Stepanek (bt Ramos), Berlocq (bt Grialdo), Baghdatis (bt Falla), Nishikori (bt Granollers), Chardy (bt Roddick), Bogomolov (bt Niemenen) all through.
Earlier today Haas knowcked out Nalbandian.
A few good matches still on today.

Look forward to tomorrow. Should be great

Welcome here LF.

It's early days here but it's growing.

noleisthebest wrote:

laverfan wrote:Will post soon, but initial impression is interesting stuff.

do say hello to HM Murdoch, Tennisanorak Nore Stat & co on v2.

We are in an interesting discussion with HM/SoCal/SummerBlues and many others on v2.

Tenez wrote:It's early days here but it's growing.

Always an encouraging sign.

welcome laverfan. Nice to see you here.

What a fantastic match Nalbandian-Haas was!! Almost 100 winners and quite a lot of them were sublime shot-making. A match free from this pushing-counter-punching-waiting-for-errors is such a delight to watch.

Now Haas faces Delpo in 2nd round. And I can't say Delpo will it in all likeness, Hass has been playing fantastic off late.

Interesting matches of the day:

1. Andreas Seppi (ITA) v [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
2.[WC] Sam Querrey (USA) v [3] Andy Murray (GBR)
3. [4] David Ferrer (ESP) v Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
4. [6] Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) v Tommy Haas (GER)
5. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) v Milos Raonic (CAN)

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Interesting matches of the day:

1. Andreas Seppi (ITA) v [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
2.[WC] Sam Querrey (USA) v [3] Andy Murray (GBR)
3. [4] David Ferrer (ESP) v Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
4. [6] Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) v Tommy Haas (GER)
5. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) v Milos Raonic (CAN)

yes rotla! I'll definitely watch Nole and then hope for an upset or two later

also playing:
Federer- Bogomolov
Davydenko - F. Mayer
Chardy - Istomin
Stepanek - Monaco
Hewitt - Troicki
Blake - Nishikori
Levine - Cilic
Tipsarevic - Andujar

Anyone watching?

Davydenko (bt Mayer 6:3 6:3)
Troicki through (bt Hewit 6:2 6:0)
Fish br Berlocq (6:3 6:1)


Del Potro Haas just started
Nole just about to start

Nole's backhand firing beautifully...always a very good sign of Novak's slam-winning form

Nole takes the first set in the tie-break.
Sweltering conditions and the court playing fast.

Delpo wins the first set against Haas, as well 7:5

And Nole wraps it up nicely in the second set, beating the Nice guy, Mr Seppi 6:2.
He plays Davy next...talk about a sticky draw....

Next on Center court: Murray vs Querrey. Should be good, he,he...

Delpo through
Fair to play Haas though, at his age. where's the Zimmer frame?

Can't believe I'm cheering on an Argie and praising a German - I must have matured :lol:

mikeyM1000 wrote:Delpo through
Fair to play Haas though, at his age. where's the Zimmer frame?

Can't believe I'm cheering on an Argie and praising a German - I must have matured :lol:

you've been having a lot of those between the rock and the hard place moments today

Stands almost empty...not good to see..., mind you 30 degrees, 30 HUMID degrees aren't that inviting to sit through....

mikeyM1000 wrote:Delpo through
Fair to play Haas though, at his age. where's the Zimmer frame?

Can't believe I'm cheering on an Argie and praising a German - I must have matured :lol:

Del Potro looks like a serious contender for the U.S Open title

Murray disposes of Querrey in straights.
Fed next on Center.

In the meantime, Raonic loses first set in the tie-break to Baghdatis, but up a break in the second

OK,
Raonic eventually beat Baghdatis in 3
Stepanek d Monaco
Nishikor d Blake
Delpo d Haas
Andujar d Tipsarevic (ret.)
Cilic d Levine

Ferrer vs Wawrinka & Fed vs Bogomolov about to start.

Tragic is not good enough word to describe Bogmolov....did he think Fed was going to get scared of his tattoos and start shanking?
I'm off to bed......

Same here. Fed mouvement looks fine, though his timimg is a bit off.

Good matches lining up for the R3 today.

1. [10] Mardy Fish (USA)
v
Radek Stepanek (CZE)

This is going to be interesting, Fish won yesterday but not very convincing. Stepanek can a threat looking at the condition which appear to be fast.

2. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
v
[2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)

Is it a mini resurgence for old Davy? It is but this mini resurgence is highly likely to stay mini. 1.5-2 years back it could have been interesting but now its not. Still I think Davy will play a few great shots and will miss some sitters.

3. [LL] Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
v
[3] Andy Murray (GBR)

Easy-peesy for Murray.

4. [6] Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)
v
Viktor Troicki (SRB)

Unless delpo is missing everything which we know he can, he should see it off. Toricki likes pace on the ball, players like Murray who don't give him that are his real problems.

5. Fed tomic: should be easy win for Fed.


6 Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
v
[14] Kei Nishikori (JPN)

Don't know which stan will show up. So its 50-50 for me.

7.Milos Raonic (CAN)
v
[5] Tomas Berdych (CZE)

Will berdy be able to see off his mental daemons? Will raonic return better? again 50-50.

Yes, great matches today rotla, will stay up for Nole Davy for sure

Raonic Berdych will be really interesting to see.

Fed is also playing Tomic, the last afternoon match, I hope Tomic brings his A game.

Yes they forgot about Tomic Fed in the non PDF version.

I think this could be an interesting match.

Tenez wrote:Yes they forgot about Tomic Fed in the non PDF version.

I think this could be an interesting match.

Tenez, how do you view Tomic at the moment?

I like the easy power he can generate as well as the softness of his slices, he could great material for a good coach who could improve his serve and footwork, but I fear his talent will be completely wasted with his dad not being able to cut the umbilical cord.

I have not seen any of him recently so cannot say.

But if I imagine him being simply a better version of what he was just a few months ago...at that age it means he is going to be a real threat for everybody soon if not ...now.

I am actually more disappointed by Raonic who seems to have such a poor return. He would be unstoppable if he could return better.