ATP 250: Estoril, Munich

I've been a bit busy in the last couple of days, still...no respite for the tennis ball!
No big names, but even without Nadal The Show must go on...

I think Estoril is not called Estoril any more, but I'll keep that name here for old times' sake when Fed used to play there.

So, this week two tournaments and a decent bunch of players: as I am typing this Mannarino, Karlovic, Golubev, Brown all out on courts trying to earn a few points while the big cats are away....

ATP 250 Portugal Open, Estoril, Outdoor clay
The Portugal Open began as an ATP event in 1990, and became a combined men's and women's tournament in 1998 – making it one of only four European spring clay court stops (also Roland Garros, Rome, Madrid) to feature both tours playing side-by-side. Four former World No. 1s have won the Portugal Open: Thomas Muster, Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roger Federer.

Players Berdych, Raonic, Tursunov, GG Lopez, Montanes (Stan, last year's champion, not defending the title)
Draw
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/468/mds.pdf
Order of Play
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/468/op.pdf

ATP 250 Munich, Outdoor clay
The BMW Open by FWU AG is the first of five German tournaments on the 2014 ATP World Tour calendar, contested in Bavaria’s picturesque capital city of Munich. The International Tennis Championships of Bavaria was first held in 1900, but the BMW Open by FWU AG was first staged at Munich’s Iphitos Tennis Club in 1974. Germans have won the title six times since then, most recently Tommy Haas in 2013, when the tournament had its first all-German final since 1965.

Players Haas, Fognini, Youzhny, Monfils, Kohlschreiber, Hewitt, Seppi, Karlovic, Brown, Strakhovski, Lopez
Draw
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/308/mds.pdf
Order of Play
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2014/308/mds.pdf

It's going to be a quiet week for me as not much interest there bar maybe to see how Berdych and Rao are going to fare in Estoril.
 
So to spice things up , I predict Rao will overtake Berdych after Wilmbledon in the ranking. I honestly think he can!

Edit: After checking their ranking points, I'd say it's going to be a challenge though.

Yes, not the most exciting week...still, better than nothing (only just!)
I too look forward to Berd-Raonic, should be interesting. Milos is number nine at the moment, but not even in top 15 in the race.
On paper, Berd is the favourite.

I think he is pretty safe for WTF in November, it would be nice if there was one of the young "guns" there as well.
I can't really see Nishikori making it, but Dimi, Dolgopolov or Raonic could. It's strange how the tour is ageing differently now.

I don't really know who is defending what other than slams and masters, but Murray looks a big question mark.

I suppose we'll get a clearer idea of what's going on during Madrid and Rome.

I actually think Nishi will do better than Dimi, Dolgo and Rao and most likely Berdych too. In fact I think Nishi is currently the most complete player of the above bunch. His run at Miami is quite impressive....and it backed it up with easy wins in Barca.

I think he is going to be a tough opponent for most top 10!

Dimitrov and Raonic simply don't look convincing enough, their only advantage over Nishi is their height and fitness/endurance, which is what separates them from the rest of the young/next generation.
Even Nishi doesn't mind a bit of grinding...I watched him a bit yesterday and can see him beat Murray, maybe even this dodgy version of Nadal, but not Nole.
I fear a lot of young players are struggling to move forward without "a team". Physically, emotionally and mentally.
The gap between the top 20 and the rest is widening.
There are a lot of quality older players like Davydenko still hanging around in the top 50 and their stamina and experience is fending younger players off with ease.
Wasn't the case before.

I get all excited by Herbert, Berankis, Thiem and Paire....and where are they now?

Still, things are moving and changing and are better than this time last year.

Madrid once again should tell us a bit more where everybody stands. Murray will be back I believe and all bar Federer maybe are going to enter.

I would be surprised if Nole played Madrid.
I'd love to see him healthy there,  esp as he played so well in Monte Carlo, but am not convinced he should take any risk before RG.
I suppose he knows what he's doing...he's made the same mistake more than once.

noleisthebest wrote:I would be surprised if Nole played Madrid.
I'd love to see him healthy there,  esp as he played so well in Monte Carlo, but am not convinced he should take any risk before RG.
I suppose he knows what he's doing...he's made the same mistake more than once.

I thought you said he would .

These are his words:

"Fortunately, the situation with the injury is better than it first seemed. Doctors assured me that I will be ready for Madrid, then Rome and Roland Garros, just as it has been planned. However, I need to continue with the recovery process and full medical treatments. It means I will have to take a short break in order to recover as soon as possible."

I think I read somewhere else he'll have another scan before Madrid.
He lost early to Dimi there last year, so many points on offer for him.
Why do you think Fed will not play Madrid?
I know he played more than planned already and it did all catch up with him in the final against Stan still, looked quite hungry in MC.
With him it must be the case of the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak...

Fed is tired and he wants to stay with his wife who is about to give birth...I believe. I am pretty sure he is going to miss one of the 2 clay TMS. Not sure which one....probably both.

Hope Nole gets back to form on time. I was watching highlights of his last match v Federer. Despite his bandage, amazing the number of balls he was retrieving. He is disconcertingly fit! Vry close first set despite Djoko not 100%.

That was a very tough first set and luckily Fed did not have to do much in teh second.

I suppose he knows how he's feeling...unfortunately, Madrid and Rome are still back to back, it's tough for all players post SF stage.

I had a look at Madrid's website, and literally everyone is listed to play, looks a tiny bit more interesting than this week's draw...

I had to remind myself whether Fed actually played there last year, and was "surprised" how tough Nole's half of he draw was, absolutely terrible (Dimi, Stan, Murray, Berd, Fed, Nishi, Raonic) plus that crowd that booed him for no reason.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/1536/mds.pdf

And Fed did play... guess who beat him - Nishi!

Fed will have had 3 weeks rest between MC and Madrid, should be fine...
As for the baby business, ah well...Mirka's clearly wearing the pants!

Only 2 weeks rest between MC and Madrid...not much. I redict early exit in Madrid and a better effort in Rome where he had a final to defend.

I thought it was three for some reason...
He has played well in MC, I'm sure he'll want to continue and build the  winning momentum, esp after all frustrations he had to endure last year.
He must be elated to be back into a healthy body and playing his game again.

I really want him to do well this year.

If he was to win Wimbledon again, I'd love to know how it felt compared to the first one.

The first Wimbledon has got to be the best...by far. It's the "belonging" one.

I love watching players win it. So many have done it just once.
I remember Nole couldn't believe it so he had to taste grass, just to maximise the moment!
It was his girlfriend that showed the emotion and cried, he was almost absent from it all.
And the stupid microphone wouldn't work so Sue Barker had to repeat all her questions.
How crazily happy Goran must have been...I wonder if it's sunk yet!
I feel for Justine, she never felt the "belonging".

Match of the day:
Montanes-Giraldo.

Now that's what I cal scraping the barrel....

noleisthebest wrote:Match of the day:
Montanes-Giraldo.

Now that's what I cal scraping the barrel....

  . Good one.

It just shows how much it is all about stars....including Nadal!

GP and I belonged to a forum (CC) where they made an effort to publicise doubles and even mixed doubles but most could not bother and this forum closed a few months later (after sacking me again and GP leaving too).

CC was a great forum at first as it spawn off 606 too by a great guy. But asap he gave it to someone else it went pear shape. Another forum who died was Kingsofclay...once again I got teh sack from there...though there it was not because of my favourite doping subject, it was because the owner was a megalomaniac who could not accept to be wrong. He was against giving a bye to top seeded players in TMS1000 (introduced by Villeneuve). I thought it was the only good decision that guy took. Having 6 matches in 7 days would have been absurd.

Hope OTF won't die. It's a cosy saloon of tennis discussion.

Tenez wrote:It just shows how much it is all about stars....including Nadal! .

So true...just as I posted a thread about Nadal

"Stars" are a good starting point to get people interested in any sport and for all kinds of different reasons: player's looks, charisma, character, patriotism...
It's lovely when it gets built on and taken to next levels: maybe taking up the sport or just be personally inspired.

Tenez wrote:
GP and I  belonged to a forum (CC) where they made an effort to publicise doubles and even mixed doubles but most could not bother and this forum closed a few months later (after sacking me again and GP leaving too).
CC was a great forum at first as it spawn off 606 too by a great guy. But asap he gave it to someone else it went pear shape. Another forum who died was Kingsofclay...once again I got teh sack from there...though there it was not because of my favourite doping subject, it was because the owner was a megalomaniac who could not accept to be wrong. He was against giving a bye to top seeded players in TMS1000 (introduced by Villeneuve). I thought it was the only good decision that guy took. Having 6 matches in 7 days would have .

I was born as NITB on bbc606. So far have two kick-outs: v2 and JA606. It doesn't say a lot about a forum when they ban people who truly love the sport.

There are not many but still quite a few who love tennis profoundly, some of them in tennis.com but they all get drowned by "fan warriors".
S.Tignor has a nice occasional column called Playing The Ball where he writes about personal tennis experiences. Those threads don't attract much attention, but it's always interesting to read what others share there.
I really enjoyed reading one in 2011 just before he was going to go to SW19 for the first time, where people opened up about Wimbledon.
I remember one guy said the closest he got to Wimbledon was walk past its main gate...and guess what, I thought that was so cool as I didn't even achieve that at that stage...

Tenez wrote:
Hope OTF won't die. It's a cosy saloon of tennis discussion.

Of course it won't die. I'll be the last one standing  

Just read that Djokovic has already arrived in Madrid (as well as Nadal), so I am assuming is playing  

Apparently, if he wins Madrid and Nadal loses QF, he takes over number 1 spot.

It's almost gone from bad to worse....match of the day could have been  Montanes-Granollers but thankfully, it's not!
Instead, we have:

Berankis- Melzer

One score from yesterday caught my eye: Rui Machdo aged 30 ranked 243, managed to beat Tursunov 6:0 6:0.
I wonder what betting activity for that match looked like....

Match of the day:

Fognini - Brown

Agassi's RG favourites:

Who’s your favourite for the French Open? They’re all up and down lately.

​AGASSI: I​t's true. I​ still say, going into the French, when somebody’s won it eight times and only lost there once—and you’ve got to get over the hump of beating [Rafael] Nadal in three out of five [sets], he has proven to be the Everest there at Roland Garros. So I’m gonna have to see that to believe it. But with that being said, watching [Stanislas] Wawrinka’s performance in Australia, watching him start his clay season the way he did in Monte Carlo, knowing that [Novak] Djokovic has always been a threat on the dirt, one or two things could happen and could open the door for a handful of guys. I would be speculating to guess at those things. What I’m not going to guess that is that Nadal deserves the respect of being that favorite for his years of dominance.

So those are your Top 3 for the French, not Federer in the mix?

​ AGASSI: You know, again, I think there are four or five who could do it, depending on what happens. Federer would need a break. I think Wawrinka would probably need a break or two. It’s going to be hard to go through Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal. It all depends on how things end up lining up and where that draw is and who gets that difficult match when they have time to recover. So that’s a handful of guys who could do it, but I’m going to stick with Nadal until somebody can beat him there."

Stan winning RG? Not in a million years!

Tenez wrote:Stan winning RG? Not in a million years!

Wait till rotla reads this   

Match of the day:
NITB on clay!
I will "try my best"
No MTOs, no rest.
It would be a shame
If it starts to rain...

Enjoy!

Tenez wrote:Enjoy!

Thanks T, I loved it!!!!
I wore my special Roland Garros top, and although clay was artificial I really enjoyed playing on it.

L. Mayer a set and a break up against Berdych!

Berdych back in the match 2:0 up in the third, Raonic out in straights to Berlocq.
Fognini through to the semis in Munich.
Does anyone know when men's draw for Madrid is out, their website is taditionally the worst and completely useless.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:Enjoy!

Thanks T, I loved it!!!!
I wore my special Roland Garros top, and although clay was artificial I really enjoyed playing on it.

Told you. Yes it's a fun surface!

It is!
I can't quite explain it, but in a way, it felt real.
You can do so much more on it than on concrete. Really nice.

What I like is the low bounce. That means you can hit shots with killing your elbow.

Tenez wrote:What I like is the low bounce. That means you can hit shots with killing your elbow.

Yes, that was such a surprise! Plus, you get that extra little bit of time with the ball.

I don't even want to imagine what hell it must be to be on the SBH receiving end of Nadal's repetitive, spinny CC FHs on dry, real clay.

Klizan just defeated Haas in st. stes to reach BMW finals. I think this is Haas' last year as a Pro.