Chung has a “recency” home court advantage of sorts, having won the Chengdu Challenger in August. The two of them met there last year in the 250 R16 (Félix in 3) so they are both aware of the quirkiness presented by the higher altitude conditions.Chung could be a good test if he is getting more in form! It surprises me how quickly I can forget players that are out with injury! But a healthy Chung could be a consistent top 20 player moving forward
IMO, he will need to come out of another tournament with around 300 points, combined with a couple of wins at the mandatory tournaments.Félix is also currently ranked 16th in the live rankings. What are the chances he can end this season in that spot or better? It would be nice if he could be a top 16 seed going into the Aussie Open!
Good numbers, especially after a rough first set. The difference was one sloppy service game in the third set.23 aces and 2 double faults, with a 76% first serve percentage?
Season of age18/19 much like baby Muzziah’s except Félix didn’t win a title and didn’t beat a clear #1 at a M1K.Nah all I want from life is more comparisons with guys like Nadal, Federer and DJokovic when they were 19
ATP is very greedy, wanting people to subscribe to PPV outlets. I feel your pain and find it very frustrating I can stream live and free Challenger matches but when those prospects I follow get bumped up to ATP I see them much more rarely.Anywhere to find highlights for the FAA matches? I don’t have tv and I rarely find highlight packages on YouTube. Is tennis just too small a sport for highlight packages? Or is it in the way the atp is marketed? I can find stuff on YouTube to follow Andreescu but so match harder to follow FAA. How does tennis draw in new fans I wonder? Both a FAA related post and a tennis fan rant all in one
I find it fascinating that for my other favourite sport basketball I can find full game packages that show me every made shot for every single game, but for tennis I’m finding it hard to find even an old school highlight package for a top 20 player...doesn’t seem right or encouraging for drawing in new fans...
ATP is very greedy, wanting people to subscribe to PPV outlets. I feel your pain and find it very frustrating I can stream live and free Challenger matches but when those prospects I follow get bumped up to ATP I see them much more rarely.
After his sunshine swing stunned by his apparent lack of progress on hard courts. Perhaps the faster courts of the Fall will end up suiting him.Félix continues a worrisome pattern of poor performance at the end of the season for a third year in a row. However, it’s encouraging that he’s headed to M1K Shanghai next week instead of defending his Tashkent Challenger title, which is still his only multiple match win streak in the last two months of any season.
It was a perfect storm that got Felix to 11 in the ATP race. He was amazing on grass after skipping for clay the year before. His hard work on clay paid off in 2019. Felix was used to playing into everything during that run and now direct entry is already assured everywhere. He’ll adapt to this amazing reality before too long.I think this result was in the air.....Felix is kind of out-pumped on this season ending, I mean he had a very good first half, and probably due to young age, he got mentally drained. While Zvev seems having some confidence on the way back.
Does Felix still have Tsitsipas's number? We'll see but Tsit's seems to be playing a lot better now.Shanhai 2019
FAA: Q, Tsitsipas
Shapo: Tiafoe, Djokovic
Much easier for FAA, hopefully Shapo gets to Djoko to continue to learn
On the other hand, Felix may once again face a tired Tsitsipas.Does Felix still have Tsitsipas's number? We'll see but Tsit's seems to be playing a lot better now.
If I were a bettor, I’m taking Félix at 1.44-2.62 vs Tsits, who is winless all the way back to juniors.Quite the foes for the three Canadians at Shanghai in their next matches:
Shapo vs Djok(1)
Felix vs Tsits(7)
Pospisil vs Medvedev(4)
Hopefully the favourites are tired out from too much winning.
I don't recall the amount of double faults (I was doing something else while watching), but that didn't convince me either. I was hoping he was getting a little bit better at avoiding double faults when closing, but I also knew it was not exactly something he could fix in a short amount of time, so I'm not that surprised. If he can significantly improve on that in the course of 2020, it'll be wonderful.I saw most of the first set against Bublik before going to bed, and it was not a very convincing win at all.
Felix was looking good, serving for the set at 5-3... but then his serve imploded again. I think he had three double faults that game? He loses that game, then loses his next service game too to suddenly be down a break at 6-5 with Bublik serving for the set. Felix manages to turn it around and breaks him back, and then takes the tiebreak.
He didn't look ill, but the commentator I was listening to heard him at one point in the 2nd set, some time before the rain started, say towards his team that he no longer wanted to play. She thought he may have been mentally tired since he had played a lot lately, and that there might have been a let down after losing the first set. But who knows, we've probably all felt bad at times and it wasn't obvious to anyone else.Bublik was Shanghaied by Asian flu? 6-7 0-4 ret.; draw sheet shows “illness” as cause.
Didn’t see the match but your point brings up the question...did he receive medical attention from the tournament physician prior to the retirement?He didn't look ill, but the commentator I was listening to heard him at one point in the 2nd set, some time before the rain started, say towards his team that he no longer wanted to play. She thought he may have been mentally tired since he had played a lot lately, and that there might have been a let down after losing the first set. But who knows, we've probably all felt bad at times and it wasn't obvious to anyone else.
Bublik was Shanghaied by Asian flu? 6-7 0-4 ret.; draw sheet shows “illness” as cause.
I wouldn't know in the rain delay, but prior to that, I didn't notice anything. As I said, I was doing something else at the same time, but I'm quite sure I would have noticed because I was watching quite often.Didn’t see the match but your point brings up the question...did he receive medical attention from the tournament physician prior to the retirement?
As to his schedule, despite making Chengdu final he missed out on SE to both Tokyo and Beijing and got to Shanghai in plenty of time for the qualies. Both qualies matches were straight set wins in just over two hours total. He played exceptionally well in the second match to spank Nishioka 3&2 in 58 minutes.
True, I noticed it too. I had forgotten about it.Felix was the one with the box of kleenex on his bench and blowing his nose.
injuryWhy did he pull out of Vienna?
Why did he pull out of Vienna?
I think that is precisely what his team is shooting for. He's started doing more and more serve and volley, even if he doesn't do it too often yet. But it's not something that will happen overnight. If you don't do it right, you opponent will make you look like a fool on the court. Plus, for that to work, he still needs more stability on serve. It is improving slowly but surely, but he still has a way to go at the moment.This is the advice I had re Denis S (but it equally applies to you, esp with the health concerns): Do what Sampras did after 25: S-V on both 1st and 2nd serve. Not with the frequency of Pete, still much more than today. The quality of his serve is high enough, and he's progressed at the net. No reason to while the time away at the baseline, consuming time & precious energy.
I think Felix has a ways to go to get back to good form and it will take a while but he'll get there.No comments after the loss to Millman? That was a painful match to watch.
I'm kinda surprised at how poorly he played, especially considering he looked good in singles and doubles against Greece. His forehand was flying all over the place. I have to admit Millman was surprisingly solid, but I'm still expecting future GCanOAT - CanGOAT? Someone make a poll - to win these matches.I think Felix has a ways to go to get back to good form and it will take a while but he'll get there.
Felix should be beating Millman in his sleep. I watched the match and FAA was spraying errors all over the place, not a good performance. Hopefully Felix will discover his game in time for the AO.I think Felix has a ways to go to get back to good form and it will take a while but he'll get there.