ATP 250: Brisbane, Chennai, Doha

Goffan broke Berankis at 4:4 and then choked (to love)serving for the match, Berankis celebrated with loudest C'mooooon ever!

Poor Berankis lost in another TB...

I saw the end of Coric-Stan, easy one for Stan, Coric has no fire-power and is still physically behind older players. Looks like he played like Murray today

Nole crushed Strakh but while I watched it was closer than the result suggests (6:2 6:1).
Nole looks like he put a tiny bit of weight on and his shots are heavier as a result, also he has list a touch of his lightfootedness, he was in his 3rd gear, though.

Yes, welcome back Delpo. Not sure how quick he will return to the top.

Rusty Fed.....he looks stiff once again.

Yes, rusty was the word I was going to use.
I can't notice much stiffness, just on the serve.

And despite being rusty, he is still great to watch, some mad FHs and volleys.
I sure had my fix

Millman looks like a first class hitting partner.

Nole-Karlovic next, I was surprised to see they only played twice, both matches in 2008, H2H 1:1.
Funny Ivo chose to receive at the serve toss, must be the wind...

Rusty 34yo Federer wins, fit peak Nadal loses.

Talent defined here.

One set all, both TBs.
Ivo tough to hit trough at the net with his wingspan...

Djokovic tanking

This is the most hilarious tank I've ever seen.
Djokovic didn't even bother to sit down at the change of ends there.

NITB, what do you think of that ?

Surely Djokovic should be fined ?
In his last service game he randomly started serving and volleying, even off slow and ineffective serves. Karlovic looked bemused.

That was not a tank.
Ivo won fair and square, he played a very good match.
Nole notoriously irritable in windy conditions plus obviously wasn't going to kill himself to win this one, esp as he didn't like slipping in the sand blown over the court by the wind.
Playing Nadal in doubles later this evening.

woao.....Djoko...quite unprofessional really. First pulling out of teh Doha exho's final and then not bothering for this match. Weird.

Nadal and Monaco beat Djokovic and Kr.... 7-6 6-1

Federer is full flight today- gifted one game to Duckworth on the 2nd fastest win of his career.

2 wins from 1000

What a great and interesting final 4 in Brisbane. 3 of the rising stars of the game. Dimi, Nishikori, and Raonic- and Federer. Lol. The old man sure likes to hang out with the youngsters. The amazing thing is he can- 2 tennis generations older. #goat

I only started watching at 3:0 in the 2nd set.

The match was 38 minutes long...

When I saw the match-up I was quite intrigued as Duckworth beat Simon in R1 by playing some great attacking tennis, same stamp as Federer.
I thought, how is he going to square up against him...and then the outcome was so interesting.

The young Auusie, just like all of them was quite proud and wouldn't "degrade" himself to any rallying once Federer clearly contained all he had to offer.

That way, he made Fed's life easy and enabled us to enjoy him as you said "in full flight" once more.

I didn't mind in the least, although, at times it was a bit sad and uncomfortable to watch the young player stubbornly try to fly wingless as he kept falling flat on his face every time and we all felt his pain.

I also enjoyed Fed's post-match interview. Always nice to see him happy and relaxed.

Just like him, I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts!

truffin1 wrote:Federer is full flight today-  gifted one game to Duckworth on the 2nd fastest win of his career.

2 wins from 1000

What a great and interesting final 4 in Brisbane.  3 of the rising stars of the game. Dimi, Nishikori, and Raonic-  and Federer.   Lol. The old man sure likes to hang out with the youngsters.  The amazing thing is he can-  2 tennis generations older.  #goat

That's talent!

Can Fed retrieve the top spot one last time?

Djoko has a good cushion but lots to defend.

AO is the key for #1. Federer is saying often and clearly now that he wants to cut two or so tournaments and play less this year unless #1 is in real play. He said if he was close after AO, it would change his plans (skip miami is my guess)

So that's a sign he doesn't believe in it much.

I think it's not in his racquet as much as Djoko's. Any drop of form Djoko has will be exploited by Federer.

Tenez wrote:So that's a sign he doesn't believe in it much.

I think it's not in his racquet as much as Djoko's. Any drop of form Djoko has will be exploited by Federer.

I agree- the AO conditions are still the ones Djoko thrives in and he has to be the favorite.  Bar this recent loss which some are saying was a tank or half hearted- Djoko has been in devastating form as well.

Apart from semis in Brisbane, another good match tomorrow:

Wawrinka-Goffin.

After his match today, Woodbridge interviewed Fed and joked the match was so short he was going to ask him many questions...and he did.
One of them was about tomorrow's match with Dimi who he introduced as "a guy who plays a lot like you"
Fed managed to keep the pokerface and said how Dimi also plays with a SBH and is aggressive baseline player...and then added he is a good "athlete" with a slightly tense expression on his face.

He knows he's going to have to grind tomorrow and the match will be quite physical.

I read that in another interview he said he was glad today's match was so short as his muscles ached after that 2hrs plus match against Millman in R1 and remember thinking during that match how physical tennis has become when a "nobody" ranked 137 can hit the ball so hard and so consistently and drain the life away from someone like Federer in round one of a 250 event...scary!

noleisthebest wrote:
I read that in another interview he said he was glad today's match was so short as his muscles ached after that 2hrs plus match against Millman in R1 and remember thinking during that match how physical tennis has become when a "nobody" ranked 137 can hit the ball so hard and so consistently and drain the life away from someone like Federer in round one of a 250 event...scary!

Yep...depressing. They should have a day rest between matches for ATP 250 like they have for slams nowadays.

Or simply bloody pace up those courts!!!!!

Brisbane semifinalists are much like what we had in Wimbledon, except that instead of Nole we have Nishi.

I kind of like that; would not mind having these kinds of line-ups in slam semis.

Just woke up in time to see Nishi and Raonic at 5:6 in the 3rd set.
Third TB about to start?
Go Nish!

Noooooooo!
Nishi went for the lines and missed

Fed-Dimi started!

yes good start from Fed......Dimi a bit rushed by the old man.

What a schooling from Fed!

Baby Fed still in his nappies.

Disappointing from Dimi. Fed played ok but not great. Very good chip in returns though. Dimi tried some as well but not nearly as good.

I am surprised to see Dimi lose heart so easily. I noticed it last year, he got thrashed by Nadal in the same meek way, he is losing confidence on his BH and that's sad to see.

Also a bit immature with showing his ego hurt in some silly FH selections...he needs to seriously reconstruct his game and develop that FH into a proper, versatile shot if he can.

I thought Dimi split with Rasheed, but he's still in the box...

He certainly made Fed's life easy today.
Win number 999 it was!

I don't find Dimi's game gracious. He has good shots no doubt but too heavy on his feet.

Yes, he is over-hyped and quite plain (esp his FH, which is 1D), but then, most are compared to Federer.

Stan has simpler but much bigger game than Dimi. Better FH and better BH. When I saw him in O2, I realised how compact and mobile he is. He makes the most of his build in the form of explosiveness.
Not light-footed but quite dangerous on slow conditions.

Dimi is neither explosive, neither light-footed enough.
I still feel he may play better but he needs to change the coach and simplify his game. He looked natural on grass.

Sharapova is such a gamesmanship cow!

noleisthebest wrote:Sharapova is such a gamesmanship cow!

Oh yeah!

Federer now favourite for the Aus Open.

Amongst those four rising stars in the Brisvane semifinals, I think that Federer kid has a really bright future.

Nice first set goes to Stanimal, 7:5.

Goffin playing well but just couldn't contain Stan firing for the lines, super gutsy tennis from him.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Federer now favourite for the Aus Open.

nice jinx.....again.

truffin1 wrote:Amongst those four rising stars in the Brisvane semifinals, I think that Federer kid has a really bright future.

Yep...he might even still win more slams from now on than the other 3!

Tenez wrote:

truffin1 wrote:Amongst those four rising stars in the Brisvane semifinals, I think that Federer kid has a really bright future.

Yep...he might even still win more slams from now on than the other 3!

In all honesty- and a lot obviously can happen like injuries, another hot player pulling off an upset, etc...   I would be surprised if this Federer kid doesn't win 2 Majors from here on out in his career.   He might not, but I will be surprised if he doesn't.  

I think he's someone that could definitely realize his potential.

I think with Fed things are one day at a time.

He has earnt it.

He is intensely enjoying playing, being healthy. I'm sure he'd love to win big tournaments and regain number one just like anyone else, but I don't think that's driving him now.
He must have thought or at least tried to imagine what retirement would be like and I'm sure that thought would have made him appreciate the moment more than ever.

So, tomorrow it's another final and a potential 1000th win.

Isn't that in itself a great victory/reason to get out of bed for?

last year Federer failed at the last hurdle v Hewitt in that same tournament....i don't expect an easy match today.

What a start! Rao playing very well. Federer played an incredible point.

Federer returns Rao like no other can! Almost always the racquet in the ball.

Federer playing today.....as well as ever! Rao is hammering the ball...but Fed's BHs are a dream today. Pace and consistency....exactly what he needed v Nadal a few years ago.

federer leads 4 aces to 1......serving 20% slower....that's genius!

Just tuned in, Fed already a break up!

I disagree with most of that Rao is a 1D boring player. He is playing very well and pretty complete! Great BHs, FHs, serve and quite fast on his feet nowadays.