ATP week of 02/20-02/26 - Doha (250), Marseille (250) and Rio (500)

[Kralingen]

Foolix airmails three shots, 2 on his own SP, and the 3rd on his match point. Feel that his shot tolerance is just that little bit below top player standard. Sad as all 3 errors were from neutral balls and completely unforced, and he missed them all quite badly.

Very poor.

 

[_phantom]

When did Felix start sweating so much? It was not hot neither too humid. I wonder if he carrying a minor injury or something.

 

[Krish0608]

Trust FAA to mug it up. Most unreliable and overrated mug of a player.

 

[chuckersthenut]

Watching Fils now. Starting to notice a similarity in the FH between Lehechka, Rune, and Fils. All three hold the racket like a scorpion holds its stinger. Very similar with all three. Serve is also very similar among the three. Is this Mouratoglou academy training?

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Solid win for meddy and looking good.

 

[InvisibleSoul]

I am still not quite sure what is it about Med's game that causes so many problems to FAA. Med just seems to everything a fraction better and that seems to be it.

His defense is good enough that FAA can't hit through him and his ground strokes are too consistent that FAA can't out rally him.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Solid win for meddy and looking good.

I think he beats Andy pretty easily in the final. Murray has played too many long matches this week and Med's not missing much.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

I think he beats Andy pretty easily in the final. Murray has played too many long matches this week and Med's not missing much.

Yeah I think the same too. He’s fresher, in his prime and found his HC groove again. Murray will struggle physically and meddy is just the nightmare opponent to exploit that and draw errors.

An incredible effort from Murray to get to the final though. What an inspiration and hope for a cool final.

 

[Wesling]

Fils is playing lights out tennis. 18 years old. Future top 20 player for sure

 

[Rattie]

Muzziah never does anything nice and easy; he always does it nice and rough!

#ProudAndy

I know! He does my blood pressure no good whatsoever. I’m not sure I’ve ever recovered from the Wimbledon 2013 final much as the end result meant the world to me.

 

[Wesling]

Fils takes out wava.

 

[Red Rick]

Wawrinka is just finished IMO. He looks disinterested, can't really string the wins together, not coming back to top 20 ever again.

Fils is a big talent IMO. Not huge on 'future Slam winner' but I can see him hitting the top 20 in a year or so if he continues like this.

 

[ark_28]

I think Fils has a huge upside to his game

 

[bluetrain4]

Fils up to 104 in the Live Rankings. Important because this is within the cutoff (I think) for auto entry to Slams. I assume he would have been given a wild card to the French Open anyway, but this sets him up to play Wimbledon at the US Open this year without having to qualify. He can't really lose many points for the next few months. He should be able to keep his ranking within auto-entry range.

 

[Musterrific]

Murray showing serious guts out there these days. It's like he somehow just wills himself to win even when he's not playing that great. Every match he plays seems like an exhausting slog no matter who the opponent is. Wonderful to make another final, but I feel like Medvedev is going to feast on him mercilessly.

 

[stringertom]

Fils up to 104 in the Live Rankings. Important because this is within the cut off (I think) for auto entry to Slams. I assume he would have been given a wild card to the French Open anyway, but this sets him up to play Wimbledon at the US Open this year without having to qualify. He can't really lose many points for the next few months. He should be able to keep is ranking within auto-entry range.

#104 is “cuspy.” In a 128 draw with 16 slots for qualifiers (112 left) and usually 8 WCs (104). Without a move up (highly unlikely), he is at the mercy of how many PR slots are awarded.

Yes, Fils will undoubtedly get the WC at RG if needed. Again, that’s highly unlikely.

Fils will have until early May to chip away points to get inside top 100 for safe passage into Wimby MD. There are some Challenger points to defend but his best result was a QF. A win on Saturday would yield a live rank of #91 and give him a lot of time to climb even further into the safety zone.

 

[Baseline_Bungle]

Juice Boy looks utterly unplayable. Seems like the Cotorro cure has worked its magic, again.

 

[fundrazer]

Alcaraz really getting ridiculous with the grunting.

Ooof. What an opportunity for Lajovic and he blows it.

 

[Kralingen]

Raz messes around and gets broken from 40-0 up, Raz messes around and gives Lajovic a SP at 40-30, Raz wakes up and, playing only slightly better, bagels Lajovic in the tiebreak. No point was even close to being won by Lajovic. 7-0.

If you told me 15 years from now that he’d have 20 Slams, wouldn’t be shocked.

Alcaraz really getting ridiculous with the grunting.

Ooof. What an opportunity for Lajovic and he blows it.

That grunting is unforgivable though. Yeah, a second serve return and a passing shot require a 80 decibel yell? It’s unfortunate but I supposed to be expected, as the heir apparent it’s only natural that he’d inherited the gamesmanship BS from our two GOATs to be.

 

[Mainad]

Fils takes out wava.

For the loss of just 5 games!!!

What the heck happened to Stan???

 

[_phantom]

...

 

[ultimathule]

Did anyone notice that Carlos Alcaraz is taller than Dusan Lajovic, who is listed as 6' 0", when they shook hands at the net? I think Carlitos has a slightly disproportionate large head which makes him look shorter than he is. I just thought I'd bring that up.

 

[stringertom]

Bonzi vs Fils Marseille SF. There’s a lot at stake here. One will have a chance to win their first ATP Tour title. With a win, Fils will crack top 100 on Monday. With a win, Bonzi moves up to top 45 and retains a path to the mid-30s with the title.

The French organizers must be ecstatic they have a guaranteed Homme Garçon finalist on Sunday.

 

[JJGUY]

A couple close matches today for Hubi and Dimi, and Murray won because Jiri sucked at closing!

 

[Mark-Touch]

A couple close matches today for Hubi and Dimi, and Murray won because Jiri sucked at closing!

Yes I just watched the highlights.
That was one Heck-of a choke job on closing out the match from 5-3 up in the 3rd.

 

[chuckersthenut]

Raz messes around and gets broken from 40-0 up, Raz messes around and gives Lajovic a SP at 40-30, Raz wakes up and, playing only slightly better, bagels Lajovic in the tiebreak. No point was even close to being won by Lajovic. 7-0.

If you told me 15 years from now that he’d have 20 Slams, wouldn’t be shocked.

That grunting is unforgivable though. Yeah, a second serve return and a passing shot require a 80 decibel yell? It’s unfortunate but I supposed to be expected, as the heir apparent it’s only natural that he’d inherited the gamesmanship BS from our two GOATs to be.

We need a coalition of players that simply refuse to grunt.

 

[DariaGT]

MuryGoat vs Med. Cannot wait for this one

Ive got $5 dollars on Muzzler to Muzzle Med if Meds gets nervous like LeHecka and starts missing from frustration.
Muzzler is the best hacker since Monfils but higher percentage player. Will be interesting to see Norrie vs Murray again.

Bonzi vs Fils Marseille SF. There’s a lot at stake here. One will have a chance to win their first ATP Tour title. With a win, Fils will crack top 100 on Monday. With a win, Bonzi moves up to top 45 and retains a path to the mid-30s with the title. The French organizers must be ecstatic they have a guaranteed Homme Garçon finalist on Sunday.

Likely Fils is the French Alcaraz or another Tsonga

Did anyone notice that Carlos Alcaraz is taller than Dusan Lajovic, who is listed as 6' 0", when they shook hands at the net? I think Carlitos has a slightly disproportionate large head which makes him look shorter than he is. I just thought I'd bring that up.

Dusan is no taller than Nishikori, Kwon or retired Lleyton Hewitt on slippers. 5 foot 10 at best. Alcaraz head is quite large for his lack of consistency.

 

[DariaGT]

Trust FAA to mug it up. Most unreliable and overrated mug of a player.

we need to include FAA out in the Shapo thread and also their leader Trudope
the master of shooting Balloons mistaken for ETs or world ending Nasa weather sats

For the loss of just 5 games!!! What the heck happened to Stan???

Stan the Flan mode reached after back to back tough 3 set wins, Stamina is still far from what he needs and Meds exposed that recently.

FAA foot speed and jumping ability is higher than peak Nadal, Tennis brain opposite scale yet pushed Nadal to 5 sets on clay as he has more time to setup properly.

FAA, Zverev, Coric and Citibus could easily join forces on the tour for a year and just train together in practice matches.
They aal have weapons to help each other get better such as big serves, great defense with some better FHs with less grit and some with great bhs with great grit.
They could all compliment each other to get the best possible and remain in peak and consistent form before its too late.

Tennis in this day and age needs something apart the ATP labeling them as nextgens and marketing their narcissism and pushing their social media credits.
Players joining in gangs to help each other would be able to improve the roller coaster circus it has become.

Lehecka should be solid on clay as Czechs tennis players in general don't neglect it. Actually as I see it his game could translate well on all 3 surfaces .. FAA idk to me high profile ballbasher ,0 variety.

Jiri has many faults on his BH, he can drive it hard but it was was exposed by Muzzler. Also Jiri is far from patient in long rallies preferring to pull the trigger more often than not.
He plays similar to FAA but way less volley skills, court coverage ability, and lesser first serve placement ability. He loses his cool very easily as well.

 

[DariaGT]

Raz messes around and gets broken from 40-0 up, Raz messes around and gives Lajovic a SP at 40-30, Raz wakes up and, playing only slightly better, bagels Lajovic in the tiebreak. No point was even close to being won by Lajovic. 7-0. If you told me 15 years from now that he’d have 20 Slams, wouldn’t be shocked.
That grunting is unforgivable though. Yeah, a second serve return and a passing shot require a 80 decibel yell? It’s unfortunate but I supposed to be expected, as the heir apparent it’s only natural that he’d inherited the gamesmanship BS from our two GOATs to be.

Im thinking Rune, Fils and some others like Meds and FAA will keep squashing Alcaraz over the course of his career
as even Lajovic with no tennis intelligence compared to many, can push this imbecile version of nadal around.
Raz even bites the trophy like his idol and vamos/moans/screams like shapo/sharapova/azarenka combined.

Rune was annoying but could turn out to be the Erling Haaland of Tennis if his momma spoils him a little less.

Fils is also not the most intelligent of French up and comers however same hunger as Rune and all swinging Pavs is interesting and exciting
Its a different kind of hitting out compared to LeHecka using the old 6.1 who needs to use more effort to get the same pace to squash hackers.

 

[LaVie en Rose]

This Rio match against new spanish strongman perfectly depicts Lajovic career
Today it was field day for technically quite sound but when push comes to shove , mentally vulnerable players .
What a game tennis is!!!

 

[DariaGT]

mentally vulnerable players

The once mental game has gone mental

 

[LaVie en Rose]

Did anyone notice that Carlos Alcaraz is taller than Dusan Lajovic, who is listed as 6' 0", when they shook hands at the net? I think Carlitos has a slightly disproportionate large head which makes him look shorter than he is. I just thought I'd bring that up.

Lajovic is listed 183cm , Alcaraz 185cm, maybe his bulky physique makes him look shorter than he actually is (like certain countrymate).
I would say Alcaraz legs are slightly disproportional ,shorter (considering ideal athletic legs/upper body ratio )to his torso. Not necessarily bad because it means he has lower body gravity center , and fit as he is can pick the balls some players find it tough

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Alcaraz looking great. Another good win from him on clay as he builds his confidence again post injury.

 

[Al Czervik]

Hurkacz just hit an amazing tweener. This is a fun match, although Bublik is a little too casual.

 

[chuckersthenut]

Gawd...turn on the match and bublik is screaming over the loudest band I've ever heard at a tennis match...

 

[stringertom]

Bublik is staying in contact with Hurkacz despite being dominated on his own second serve (just 33% points won). Saving 8/9 BPs has helped. His shoulder may fall apart, having served 20 more points than Hubie.

 

[chuckersthenut]

Bublik playing this one like it is an exo

 

[stringertom]

Bublik playing this one like it is an exo

His life is one long exho. He’ll never get serious and that’s OK.

 

[LaVie en Rose]

Nice match this Hurkacz Bublik despite Alexander clowning occasionally,lol, fastish , indoors conditions suit them both

 

[LaVie en Rose]

His life is one long exho. He’ll never get serious and that’s OK.

Maybe he hides behind it , kind of Nick

 

[stringertom]

Proud Andy doing it nice and rough from the get go, getting broken right way by Med. 3-1 now.

 

[stringertom]

Maybe he hides behind it , kind of Nick

He’s not a calculating type, almost like a frolicking puppy getting distracted by every new situation he encounters.

 

[stringertom]

Bonzi is one set away from his second final (Pune) of 2023. 6-4 over Fils.

 

[stringertom]

Bonzi breaks and holds for the 6-4 2-0 lead. Fils totally fell apart vs Sinner at this stage of their Montpellier match, perhaps losing confidence when edged out in a tough initial set. I hope he can rally and make this a contest.

 

[chuckersthenut]

Fils out.

 

[DariaGT]

Lajovic is listed 183cm , Alcaraz 185cm, maybe his bulky physique makes him look shorter than he actually is (like certain countrymate).
I would say Alcaraz legs are slightly disproportional ,shorter (considering ideal athletic legs/upper body ratio )to his torso. Not necessarily bad because it means he has lower body gravity center , and fit as he is can pick the balls some players find it tough

Shorter legs a trait of the past but it wont help him
compared to say a 188cm Rune, Nole or Nadal

 

[ultimathule]

Shorter legs a trait of the past but it wont help him
compared to say a 188cm Rune, Nole or Nadal

I don't know, man. Michael Phelps is top-heavy with stubby legs, but they sure didn't hurt him at competitive swimming which favors a tall and lanky frame.

 

[DariaGT]

I don't know, man. Michael Phelps is top-heavy with stubby legs, but they sure didn't hurt him at competitive swimming which favors a tall and lanky frame.

primitive man is superior for survival in all the elements presented also the anatomy of proportions of most Fish
equates to very short legs compared to their torso. Tall and lanky for swimming is pure propaganda

 

[ultimathule]

primitive man is superior for survival in all the elements presented also the anatomy of proportions of most Fish
equates to very short legs compared to their torso. Tall and lanky for swimming is pure propaganda

I'd really like to hear about your thoughts on phrenology. Actually, no. Please don't.

 

[LaVie en Rose]

@DariaGT
But besides having great shots he is incredibly fast &strong physically and undoubtedly has great mentality.Can’t underestimate him Kick serve works great on clay . We'll see. Can't draw much from Novak match considering his form at the time. In any case Nole will have to figure out that kicker and find way to counter DS
Will see Rune against him too,one match indoors HC ended in Carlos ret .Which leaves us with Nadal & his uncertain form atm and on clay
More I watch Carlos more I doubt he is 185cm, more like 180cm as @jm1980 said. LOL why the hell need to deceive public about physical feature