2017 Memphis Open - ATP250

[Aussie Darcy]

Real servebot tournament this one..
Top seed is Karlovic, 2nd is Isner, 3rd- Querrey and the 4th seed is Steve Johnson. All 4 get a first round bye.
Remaining seeds: Tomic, Mannarino, Darcis, Lu Yen.

Nishikori was the 4x defending champ but is playing in Buenos Aires instead. Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Santiago González were the doubles defending champs.

Some interesting unseeded players in the draw: Fritz, Tiafoe, Dustin Brown, Anderson and Opelka.

So, who will win the best tennis trophy?

 

[Deleted member 743561]

Why'd Nishi opt out? Do you happen to know? All in on clay success or something?

He may have to bust out some of his old git-fiddles if more blues are in the cards. Perhaps an opportunity here, though; monopoly broken.

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

out of 32 players in the draw, 4 are more than 2m high !

so... nishikori got tired of defending his title there ?
... and prefered to dance a bit of tango on clay in buenos aires

 

[every7]

Will join the chorus..... weird that Nishi isn't defending. Maybe he has run out of storage space for all those beautiful hand-made guitars?

The draw might enable D Young to make some headway.

 

[Red Rick]

The Big 3 are all playing I see.

 

[ComeBackKimiko]

Potential Opelka-Isner in the QFs!
The match TT has been salivating for!

So is Dreddy going to be fit after his withdrawal at Montpellier?
His half of the draw is not at all intimidating.

 

[PeteD]

Der Herr Braun aus Jamaika wird gewinnen Ya Boyz!
Und nicht Zingen "Deutchland Uber Alles" Capiche?

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Of course Tomic got drawn Johnson for the QF. I've mentioned how Steve seems to have Tomic's number, the h2h is 3-0 to Steve. Hopefully Johnson is knocked out early cause I can see Tomic winning this if the proper Bernard turns up.
@Meles

 

[Aussie Darcy]

The Big 3 are all playing I see.

More then the big 3! Isner, Querrey and Karlovic but don't forget Anderson and Opelka who's like 7 foot!

 

[every7]

Has anyone been to this tournament before? It seems like it would be fun to go to.

They've certainly attracted some big names over the years, so it must offer a great atmosphere for the players.

 

[stringertom]

More then the big 3! Isner, Querrey and Karlovic but don't forget Anderson and Opelka who's like 7 foot!

Would you expect anything less, walking in Memphis with their feet ten feet off of Beale???

#MarcCohnNailsIt

 

[stringertom]

Has anyone been to this tournament before? It seems like it would be fun to go to.

They've certainly attracted some big names over the years, so it must offer a great atmosphere for the players.

Memphis is a fun city to visit for a few days...weather in February can be iffy; they are starting the week cool and rainy tomorrow but the weekend nights for the big party zone on Beale Street will be pleasantly moderate and dry.

 

[Meles]

Of course Tomic got drawn Johnson for the QF. I've mentioned how Steve seems to have Tomic's number, the h2h is 3-0 to Steve. Hopefully Johnson is knocked out early cause I can see Tomic winning this if the proper Bernard turns up.
@Meles

Well Johnson doesn't seem super sharp of late, so its possible for Tomic. I'd favor Isner in this event with Kei down vulturing on South American clay. Does Tomic have good H2H with other likely opponents?

Looking forward to seeing Donaldson in this one who is a bit of a darkhorse.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Well Johnson doesn't seem super sharp of late, so its possible for Tomic. I'd favor Isner in this event with Kei down vulturing on South American clay. Does Tomic have good H2H with other likely opponents?

Looking forward to seeing Donaldson in this one who is a bit of a darkhorse.

King 1R should be easy for Tomic.
2R- Kukushkin or Dustin Brown. Kukushkin leads H2H 1-0 but that was on clay where Bernie sucks. If it's Dustin Brown 2R, Tomic leads 1-0.
QF, Johnson as mentioned, hopefully not! Otherwise maybe Tiafoe (never played) or Smyczek, Tomic leads 2-0.
If Tomic makes the SF, he leads the H2H against top seed Karlovic 3-2. But he's lost their last 2 meetings. And then if it's Isner in the final, he would be a tough opponent. Isner leads H2H 3-0. If it's Querrey though, Tomic leads H2H 3-0.

 

[stringertom]

Watch out for Darcis this week...he is 7-3 in his ATP/DC matches this year and that includes those two very impressive indoor HC wins in Frankfurt vs Kohlschreiber and Zed the Younger. His lone indoor HC loss (4-1) in '17 was to DC bro GoGo Boy a few days ago in the Sofia QFs.

 

[Meles]

King 1R should be easy for Tomic.
2R- Kukushkin or Dustin Brown. Kukushkin leads H2H 1-0 but that was on clay where Bernie sucks. If it's Dustin Brown 2R, Tomic leads 1-0.
QF, Johnson as mentioned, hopefully not! Otherwise maybe Tiafoe (never played) or Smyczek, Tomic leads 2-0.
If Tomic makes the SF, he leads the H2H against top seed Karlovic 3-2. But he's lost their last 2 meetings. And then if it's Isner in the final, he would be a tough opponent. Isner leads H2H 3-0. If it's Querrey though, Tomic leads H2H 3-0.

Then you'll be cheering for @tipsa...don'tlikehim! boss in downtown

 

[Meles]

It must be said that Monday's matches are tremendous on the whole:
1. Faster than the speed of Kei Nishioki takes out Garcia Lopez
2. Manny (rino) (former #30) against the Donald (Young) http://www.sportingvideo.org/20170212/vv58a032737206e0.60555520-1581537.html (outside US or UK fromhot.com feed)
3. Dzumhur against recovering KA (Anderson)
4. Nextgen clash with Opelka and Donaldson

All of these matches are hard to pick and two have promising nextgen players. Nishioki is short, but once he's in a rally lookout. Opelka is Isner 2.0 at a much younger age (Isner NCAA champ) and perhaps better returning. Donaldson played great tennis at Brisbane this year where he took Nishikori impressively to three sets (sleeps in Altitude tent.) 4 close matches in store it appears.

 

[Big_Dangerous]

More then the big 3! Isner, Querrey and Karlovic but don't forget Anderson and Opelka who's like 7 foot!

Too bad Raonic isn't playing, then it'd be a serve bot's wet dream!

 

[Meles]

Match 2 is in a third set tiebreaker after the Donald was all but gone in this match....

And the Donald manhandles his way back from down an early minibreak. Great rallies in this match. From the pieces I saw really their top stuff. The Donalds looks like a darkhorse.

 

[Meles]

Another three setter and Dzumhur through over Anderson.

Final match of the day starting shortly and it should be the best. Donaldson vs. Opelka 2.0. (Altitude tent versus Isner 2.0)

 

[Meles]

No feed for Donaldson v Opelka. Anyone able to watch?

 

[ktwtfd]

No feed for Donaldson v Opelka. Anyone able to watch?

tinyurl.com/jvbuqjt
2nd set starts.

 

[Meles]

tinyurl.com/jvbuqjt
2nd set starts.

Ugh sez match finished. What country are you watching from? found link on that page and no one on court.... nope there they r

 

[ktwtfd]

Ugh sez match finished. What country are you watching from?

Turkey.

 

[Meles]

Nice. Donaldson just got the break. Up 3-1 in 2nd

 

[Meles]

Turkey.

Thanks. I don't know how to tinyurl.com links, but would love to know. So happy that you provided this link.

 

[ktwtfd]

Ugh sez match finished. What country are you watching from? found link on that page and no one on court.... nope there they r

Opelka took an MTO and left the court after the 3rd game.

Thanks. I don't know how to tinyurl.com links, but would love to know. So happy that you provided this link.

No worries. I don't know either. I saw that link when some forum member shared it on here before the Aussie Open.

 

[stringertom]

Opelka breaks to 4-5, second set. Getting close to the midnight hour. Wilson Pickett would be proud...recorded that classic at Stax Records in Memphis.

 

[Meles]

Opelka took an MTO and left the court after the 3rd game.


No worries. I don't know either. I saw that link when some forum member shared it on here before the Aussie Open.

So you just always paste in that exact link and that is it?

 

[Meles]

Opelka breaks to 4-5, second set. Getting close to the midnight hour. Wilson Pickett would be proud...recorded that classic at Stax Records in Memphis.

And another. Serving for it at 6-5 and Donaldson gets code violation for racket abuse. Opelka really did some nasty slices to get the break. Not hearing Pickett, "too legit to quit" in the background.

 

[ktwtfd]

So you just always paste in that exact link and that is it?

Yeap, that's it.

 

[Meles]

Wow love hold and 15 aces for the match; Opelka is Isner 2.0. Opelka has the Donald next and Isner tiny Nishioki. Should both prevail we have a rematch of Isner 1.0 vs Inser 2.0 and 2.0 looking very hungry. Ungodly serving in the last game.

 

[Meles]

tinyurl.com/jvbuqjt
2nd set starts.

Bookmarked. So just look at the tennis links on the right and click, no?

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Nothing surprising about the match. Opelka is huge, like 7 foot. Great serve. Still a way to go but has a far better future then Donaldson.

 

[ktwtfd]

Bookmarked. So just look at the tennis links on the right and click, no?

Exactly. Biggest disadvantage of it is that sometimes you can't find anyone commentating the matches and there can be an abrupt ending before celebrations, interviews and so on.

 

[Meles]

Exactly. Biggest disadvantage of it is that sometimes you can't find anyone commentating the matches and there can be an abrupt ending before celebrations, interviews and so on.

Well its a very nice feed. I'm in US and use Canadian IP address to get to Fromhot.com which has the exact same feed that we saw tonight except that they strangely did not have a link for this match. Batmanstream links all failed and they are usually worse quality. If tinyurl works from US and UK IP addresses I'll get the word out. Starting tomorrow tennis TV has glorious 6 mbit 1080p coverage which I'll be enjoying, but they don't quite have everything (no majors).

A great majority of the posters are UK and US, so tinyurl.com/jvbuqjt is a very nice upgrade to Batmanstream which everyone uses (fromhot again does not work from UK or US). If you are using a cell phone carrier for your internet feed with data limits tinyurl looks like a nice compromise between quality and speed. Tennis TV would crush one's data plan.

 

[Meles]

Potential Opelka-Isner in the QFs!
The match TT has been salivating for!

So is Dreddy going to be fit after his withdrawal at Montpellier?
His half of the draw is not at all intimidating.

Based on glimpses of Opelka he looks in the mood to win this event. I'm picking him and voted other. Isner 2.0 all the way.

 

[ComeBackKimiko]

That was a "classic" (if we may use the word already) Opelka match.
Ungodly, effortless power that simply cannot be coped with, interspersed with periods of complete detachment from the match and zero effort.
The thing is that Opelka's actual tennis skills put Isner in the shade (and I am not an Isner hater at all).
Opelka's 2HBH is legit, his forehand is a howitzer, he is a far better mover (when he's feeling it) than Big John, he has better touch at the net, and he even showcased some dirty, dirty OHBH slices in a crucial breakback game in the second set. He seems very aggressive on return of serve, I would even say he gambles, probably because he is willing to burn a few return games knowing how good his chances are to keep holding on his own serve, and also maybe conserving energy from hauling seven feet around the court.
And the serve power---have mercy... I mean, I was wondering if Donaldson was going to break a wrist by getting a racket on some of them. It seriously looked like the racket was practically getting knocked out of his hands at times!
The only question of whether Opelka has a long, huge career is dialling in mentally and potential injuries with his body type. He's not ever going to be #1, but if he's healthy and focused he should be able to routinely blow players off the court and stay in the Top 10 regularly.
There are a lot of "ifs" of course, but his ceiling should be way higher than the likes of Isner and Ivo, maybe he can be a Raonic (and I am also not a Raonic hater, but I think Opelka is more fun to watch, maybe just because he's young and new, maybe because he looks like more of a freakshow as the Slenderman of tennis).

 

[Meles]

That was a "classic" (if we may use the word already) Opelka match.
Ungodly, effortless power that simply cannot be coped with, interspersed with periods of complete detachment from the match and zero effort.
The thing is that Opelka's actual tennis skills put Isner in the shade (and I am not an Isner hater at all).
Opelka's 2HBH is legit, his forehand is a howitzer, he is a far better mover (when he's feeling it) than Big John, he has better touch at the net, and he even showcased some dirty, dirty OHBH slices in a crucial breakback game in the second set. He seems very aggressive on return of serve, I would even say he gambles, probably because he is willing to burn a few return games knowing how good his chances are to keep holding on his own serve, and also maybe conserving energy from hauling seven feet around the court.
And the serve power---have mercy... I mean, I was wondering if Donaldson was going to break a wrist by getting a racket on some of them. It seriously looked like the racket was practically getting knocked out of his hands at times!
The only question of whether Opelka has a long, huge career is dialling in mentally and potential injuries with his body type. He's not ever going to be #1, but if he's healthy and focused he should be able to routinely blow players off the court and stay in the Top 10 regularly.
There are a lot of "ifs" of course, but his ceiling should be way higher than the likes of Isner and Ivo, maybe he can be a Raonic (and I am also not a Raonic hater, but I think Opelka is more fun to watch, maybe just because he's young and new, maybe because he looks like more of a freakshow as the Slenderman of tennis).

Absolutely love this. I missed much of the match, but saw some of the end of the 2nd set. Glad to know my quick take was on track. Isner was on fire in Paris last year with his serve in the final against Murray, but the glimpses I caught of Opelka looked even better.

 

[ComeBackKimiko]

Watch the highlights of the Pospisil match at SF for "bad Opelka"... up a set and two break points in the first game of the second, completely checks out of the match and eats a breadstick.

So he could crash and burn at any time during this tournament, but I'd like to see him make a run.
If he could get the mental fortitude of Isner, or that Isner used to have anyway, Opelka might be a real problem for all but the Murrays and Novaks of the tour.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Watching Tomic v King so will be live commentating for a bit.

King playing in just his second ATP main draw. He's most known for be in defaulted from a challenger tournament for hitting a lines woman with his racquet (by accident). You can find footage, the lines woman looks to fake injury and falls to the ground after being hit by the racquet.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

King has come to play! Hitting very well in rallies and has Tomic moving a lot and we all kmow that movement is Tomic's biggest weakness.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Tomic's serve is helping a lot at close points like 15-15 or 30-30.

King is winning more points on Tomic's serve then Tomic is on King's. Only 5 games in though. 3-2 Tomic.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

That's rare. Someone drop shots Tomic and he runs and wins the point!

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Wow Tomic has been working on his movement. Lots of running, he just won a very long rally where King had him on the ropes and yet Tomic turned it around!

In saying that though, it's still quite close. 4-4. No games have gone to deuce.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

0-15 small opening for King

0-30. Oh come on Tomic. Don't lose your serve now! It was going so well!

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Triple break point. Tomic's serve just went completely AWOL.
One saved by painting lines.
Another saved with a good serve (finally).

 

[Aussie Darcy]

King breaks. FFS. He will serve for the first.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Tomic hasn't had much of an opening on any of King's service games so he needs nerves to set in for King if he wants to break back.
I'm going back to bed if Tomic loses this first set.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Set point King.