2018 s'Hertogenbosch (Libema Open); ATP250 - General Discussion

[mightyjeditribble]

2018 ATP Rosmalen Grass Court Championships (Libema Open)
s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
June 11-17, 2018 (Qualifying June 9-10)
2017 Champion: Gilles Müller

Note that this is a combined ATP/WTA tournament. This thread is intended for the ATP side of things.

Seeds:
1. Mannarino
2. Gasquet
3. Müller
4. Tsitsipas (WC)
5. Verdasco
6. Haase
7. Sugita
8. Seppi

(Dolgopolov, Harrison, Murray, Krajinovic, Khachanov, Lu & Sandgren have all withdrawn.)

Projected QF draw:

Mannarino (1) v Seppi (8)
Müller (3) v Sugita (7)
Verdasco (4) v Haase (6)
Gasquet (2) v Tsitsipas (4)

Player list:
http://libema-open.nl/en/players/gentlemen/

Main Draw:
http://libema-open.nl/en/draw/single-players-atp/
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/s-hertogenbosch/440/draws

Qualifying players:
http://libema-open.nl/en/players/qualifiers-gentlemen/

Qualifying draw:
http://libema-open.nl/en/draw/single-players-atp-qualification/

 

[Deleted member 757547]

Murray pulls out again? He will need to play Wimbledon if he wants to be ranked after July!

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Not a great field TBH - perhaps not that surprising right after RG, but Stuttgart has the better field even without Fedr. Murray's withdrawal obviously hurts the tournament, and it will be interesting to see whether anyone accepts a late wildcard into the draw here.

(Likewise, Stuttgart could still be hit by withdrawals, although by getting Fedr they are pretty much guaranteed more attention as long as he is still in the tournament.)

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Things to watch out for:

* Bambi goat in qualifying.

That's it.

 

[The Green Mile]

What the hell, lets go Robin, most entertaining journeyman there is...

 

[Freddy Cat]

Muller, Gasquet, or Haase. The rest of the field can kick rocks, unless the sleeping beast that is Dr Ivo awakens.

 

[jaggy]

Not so sure about sureshs on grass

 

[mellowyellow]

Karen

 

[stringertom]

Not so sure about sureshs on grass

Reeshard has betterer gA.S.S-K than Bhambreshs on grA.S.S.

 

[Yoneyama]

I'm cheering for Muller. His grass game is excellent.

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

Its KK time to shine

 

[Mainad]

Murray pulls out again? He will need to play Wimbledon if he wants to be ranked after July!

If he cannot play s'Hertogenbosch he is very unlikely to play Wimbledon. His ranking will already have disappeared over the horizon (out of the top #100 anyway) after RG.

 

[Deleted member 757547]

Tsitsipas has accepted a wildcard. It will be interesting to see if he can play well on grass.

 

[Fedole]

Tsitsipas has accepted a wildcard. It will be interesting to see if he can play well on grass.

I think he will be fine, watched him against Thiem and he's got a lovely game, and one that I think will be adaptable.

 

[stringertom]

Tsitsipas has accepted a wildcard. It will be interesting to see if he can play well on grass.

Shapo and Tsitsipas played a great SF match at Wimby'16 Boys (Shapo 6-2 in the third). Then last year he qualified at Wimby by winning a five-set thriller before losing 1R to Lajovic in three close sets. He has grass game promise.

 

[Freddy Cat]

Only people I can imagine challenging Muller in the top half is Mannarino, and maybe Sugita could surprise. Dr Ivo needs to come through in the bottom half, or else he will probably fall outside the top 100.

 

[jaggy]

Grass is so generic these days it hardly matters. Except Nadal.

 

[Pagoo]

 

[Pagoo]

Beware of Griekspoor.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Smyczek v Tomic in qualifying could be interesting.

 

[Freddy Cat]

Dr Ivo's volleys are looking so, so clean against Haase so far this match.

 

[stringertom]

@Red Rick Haase matching Dr Ivo in service dominance deep into the first set. Gonna be a TB at this rate with 5 points lost on serve in nine service games.

 

[Red Rick]

@Red Rick Haase matching Dr Ivo in service dominance deep into the first set. Gonna be a TB at this rate with 5 points lost on serve in nine service games.

Music will decide who wins the tiebreak. Or maybe Robin wants another Heroic Tiebreak Streak?

 

[Deleted member 512391]

Dr Ivo's volleys are looking so, so clean against Haase so far this match.

Have always loved his game on grass, incredible serve and a very nice transition from the baseline to the net. His slice is also very effective.

 

[Freddy Cat]

3-0 to start the TB in the second for the doctor. He might actually win this one!

 

[Freddy Cat]

Have always loved his game on grass, incredible serve and a very nice transition from the baseline to the net. His slice is also very effective.

That slice is the game-changer on the transition from clay to grass for him. On clay it was slice -- easy put-away by opponent. The slice on grass is actually keeping him in rallies though, and helps him move forward to the net, rather than giving his opponent tonnes of time for an easy put-away.

 

[Freddy Cat]

Ivo takes second set. That was scary for a second, Robin made a hot-shot worthy forehand pass on a very good volley from Ivo

 

[stringertom]

Music will decide who wins the tiebreak. Or maybe Robin wants another Heroic Tiebreak Streak?

Breaking news! Haase eked out a TB. More heartbreaking news! He's back in his traditional role as TB loser. 3rd One almost a certainty.

 

[Deleted member 512391]

That slice is the game-changer on the transition from clay to grass for him. On clay it was slice -- easy put-away by opponent. The slice on grass is actually keeping him in rallies though, and helps him move forward to the net, rather than giving his opponent tonnes of time for an easy put-away.

I would love to see the average number of rpm he's able to generate with his backhand slice, I'm pretty sure he's in top 5. It looks very sharp.

 

[Red Rick]

Haase done with tiebreakers. Gets the break. Heroic effort

 

[chicagodude]

Enjoy Dr. Ivo while you still can guys!

After he loses today he will be outside of the top-110, and it feels as if this is his farewell-tour now.

 

[Freddy Cat]

Enjoy Dr. Ivo while you still can guys!

After he loses today he will be outside of the top-110, and it feels as if this is his farewell-tour now.

Will he have to go through qualifying for Wimbledon now?

 

[stringertom]

Will he have to go through qualifying for Wimbledon now?

He is direct entry with the #95 position at cutoff date.

 

[EloQuent]

Will he have to go through qualifying for Wimbledon now?

If he's already on the entry list he's not getting bumped.

 

[stringertom]

Let's see if Coachreshs can do his magical act with the Bhambreshs act starting now vs Medvedev. Easy hold to start the match.

Gotta wonder if Medvedev throws coins again if Coachreshs will think he's getting paid in bitcoin.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Let's see if Coachreshs can do his magical act with the Bhambreshs act starting now vs Medvedev. Easy hold to start the match.

Gotta wonder if Medvedev throws coins again if Coachreshs will think he's getting paid in bitcoin.

Sadly Bambi goat is about to go out.

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Bhambri in the poll but not Tomic?

 

[stringertom]

Bhambri in the poll but not Tomic?

If Bern had a renowned man in the box like Coachreshs instead of that goon of a dad then he would get respect, no?

 

[Raindogs]

Tomic over the Baggyman in three tight ones, you heard it here first.
Bet the house on it.

 

[stringertom]

Tomic over the Baggyman in three tight ones, you heard it here first.
Bet the house on it.

The Lambo too, mate???

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Tomic over the Baggyman in three tight ones, you heard it here first.
Bet the house on it.

Sorry to say you're not first I had Tomic going deep here after his great qualifying run. Should easily handle Baggy.

Tomic particularly did a great job to qualify and knocked out Dustin Brown and Tim Smyczek.
The draw is quite weak compared to Stuttgart, I can see Tomic doing some damage if he's anywhere near his best.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

I guess Baghdatis withdrew cause Tomic is playing Kevin King.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Only 10 minutes ago we found out apparently.

Tomic's last loss was to a lucky loser Hope he manages to win this one.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Very good by Tomic and he breaks in the first game.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Tomic makes tennis look so effortless sometimes.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Tomic makes tennis look so effortless sometimes.

"effortless" seems like an apt word to describe Tomic ...

[emoji14]

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Erratic game from King with 2 aces, a double fault and some poor errors and Tomic breaks and will serve for the first.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Tomic takes the first set 6-4.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Where the hell is Tomic going? This tennis site is weird.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Tomic in need of getting points in Rosmalen.

Has only 308 points, defending 45 points next week in Halle and 45 points the following week in Eastbourne.

Dropping those 90 points would see him drop from the 170s to the 250s.

But looks like he'll pick up points here.