How did this happen?

[Moose Malloy]

If anyone saw these matches, please explain. I know any given day anyone can beat anyone, but this is ridiculous. Some of the most surprising results I can think of.

Todd Martin:

Barcelona, Spain
International Series Gold, 13-Apr-98, O, Clay , Draw: 56

R64 Fromberg, Richard (AUS) 6-2 6-4
R32 Muster, Thomas (AUT) 6-4 7-6(4)
R16 Dosedel, Slava (CZE) 6-3 7-5
Q Costa, Carlos (ESP) 6-2 6-4
S Gaudenzi, Andrea (ITA) 6-4 7-6(5)
W Berasategui, Alberto (ESP) 6-2 1-6 6-3 6-2

Estoril, Portugal
International Series, 5-Apr-99, O, Clay , Draw: 32

R32 Berasategui, Alberto (ESP) 6-1 7-6(3)
R16 Marques, Nuno (POR) 7-5 6-3
Q Meligeni, Fernando (BRA) 4-5 DEF
S Rios, Marcelo (CHI) 6-3 7-6(3)
F Costa, Albert (ESP) 6-7(4) 6-2 3-6

And he only made the 4th round at the French once in 11 attempts.

 

[Watcher]

Martin was a great player. It's not so wild that he won some clay court events in his career.

 

[armand]

The clay suited him in that part of Europe? Or maybe he just caught fire at those times and so instead of endless grinding, the points ended quickly(by mostly his winners)?

 

[Rafa's best friend]

If anyone saw these matches, please explain. I know any given day anyone can beat anyone, but this is ridiculous. Some of the most surprising results I can think of.

Todd Martin:

Barcelona, Spain
International Series Gold, 13-Apr-98, O, Clay , Draw: 56

R64 Fromberg, Richard (AUS) 6-2 6-4
R32 Muster, Thomas (AUT) 6-4 7-6(4)
R16 Dosedel, Slava (CZE) 6-3 7-5
Q Costa, Carlos (ESP) 6-2 6-4
S Gaudenzi, Andrea (ITA) 6-4 7-6(5)
W Berasategui, Alberto (ESP) 6-2 1-6 6-3 6-2

Estoril, Portugal
International Series, 5-Apr-99, O, Clay , Draw: 32

R32 Berasategui, Alberto (ESP) 6-1 7-6(3)
R16 Marques, Nuno (POR) 7-5 6-3
Q Meligeni, Fernando (BRA) 4-5 DEF
S Rios, Marcelo (CHI) 6-3 7-6(3)
F Costa, Albert (ESP) 6-7(4) 6-2 3-6

And he only made the 4th round at the French once in 11 attempts.

I remember this, that was the time when Pat Mcenroe called him Todd Martinez, he was serving Huge and going for it on the groundies with flat shots from both sides and the clay courters could not figure out his flat shots for a while and had problem adjusting to his style of go for a winner type of play. when they were looking to hit 30-40 balls every point, todd was ending points in 2-3 shot......

 

[Watcher]

Yeah, maybe that was it. It's not so uncommon that a player will shine every now and then on his or her least favorite/worst surface.

Although Pete Sampras isn't remember for his clay abilities, it's not like he was a bad player on the surface, and he has a Master's Series shield to show for it (Rome '94 I believe), and a semi-final appearance at Roland Garros ('96).
Or take a more recent example in Nadal at Wimbledon.

 

[Rafa's best friend]

Yeah, maybe that was it. It's not so uncommon that a player will shine every now and then on his or her least favorite/worst surface.

Although Pete Sampras isn't remember for his clay abilities, it's not like he was a bad player on the surface, and he has a Master's Series shield to show for it (Rome '94 I believe), and a semi-final appearance at Roland Garros ('96).
Or take a more recent example in Nadal at Wimbledon.

I would not be too surprised if RAFA got to finals of Wimby again next year, he has proven he can hit big serves if needed and next year i look for him to improve his volleys vastly and come to net more and finish points faster. And if RAFA wins then he will prove to be the most versatile player ever to play the sport of tennis.............:grin:

 

[Watcher]

Nadal has definitely shown that he's no pushover on grass, but let's be honest.

First of all, his draw was NOT a pansy draw. Anyone with half a brain knows that. And anyone with a quarter of a brain knows that that statement is comletely beside the point...

Um, right. So. Nadal won all of his matches on grass not due to an incredible boost in grass ability, but due to heart and fighting spirit, a category he is second only to Hewitt in.
And while it's possible, I find it unlikely that someone could make it to the finals of Wimbledon two years in a row just on fighting spirit and heart.

Unless their name is Rocky Balboa, and we're talking about fictional boxing.

 

[Shabazza]

W Berasategui, Alberto (ESP) 6-2 1-6 6-3 6-2

It's not the win that suprised me, but the way he won it - so many breaks so many ups and downs on both sides. When you're going for all or nothing, it's a gamble and he won the gamble on 3 of the 4 sets he played that day....

 

[Feña14]

It could be argued that Henman's run at the 2003 Paris Masters was pretty surprising.

Beating Davydenko, Grosjean, Kuerten, Federer, Roddick, Pavel. If anyone got to see him that week it was some of the best looking tennis I think I have seen, with the exception of Federer. It was a great week but frustrating as I always knew he had it in him but that was the week where things all came together.

 

[Nextman916]

I would not be too surprised if RAFA got to finals of Wimby again next year, he has proven he can hit big serves if needed and next year i look for him to improve his volleys vastly and come to net more and finish points faster. And if RAFA wins then he will prove to be the most versatile player ever to play the sport of tennis.............:grin:

RBF all your posts are pro Nadal but at the end have a sarcastic tone, as if you know he will never be the perfect player like you want him to be.....hmmmm

 

[thejackal]

It could be argued that Henman's run at the 2003 Paris Masters was pretty surprising.

Beating Davydenko, Grosjean, Kuerten, Federer, Roddick, Pavel. If anyone got to see him that week it was some of the best looking tennis I think I have seen, with the exception of Federer. It was a great week but frustrating as I always knew he had it in him but that was the week where things all came together.

Henman into the semis at RG in 04?

 

[Feña14]

Henman into the semis at RG in 04?

lol that was certainly a surprise.. near the end of the fourth set I was sensing Henman was going to steal it and take the fifth to reach the final.
Henman the Serve Volleyer pushing the king of clay, Coria in some of the slowest conditions I have seen was fantastic.

You could also say that Gaudio winning there was unthinkable, as was Goran's run in 2001 at Wimbledon.

 

[Rafa's best friend]

Nadal has definitely shown that he's no pushover on grass, but let's be honest.

First of all, his draw was NOT a pansy draw. Anyone with half a brain knows that. And anyone with a quarter of a brain knows that that statement is comletely beside the point...

Um, right. So. Nadal won all of his matches on grass not due to an incredible boost in grass ability, but due to heart and fighting spirit, a category he is second only to Hewitt in.
And while it's possible, I find it unlikely that someone could make it to the finals of Wimbledon two years in a row just on fighting spirit and heart.

Unless their name is Rocky Balboa, and we're talking about fictional boxing.

RAFA will continue to improve his serve and get it in as good of form as possibly Lendle's serve was. And i look to him improve his volley and start volleying like Todd Martin and i believe this will be good enough to get him back into the Finals again......................:grin:

 

[VGP]

Todd Martin was one of the best never to win a slam and good on all surfaces.

Those results are great, but as for Roland Garros you gotta win seven best of five set matches. Martin could get outlasted by the best clay courters.

 

[Zuras]

Edberg made the final at RG, too. Fluke-like but not near as big as Henman in RG SF. That was aburd. Some idiots contest things like that as indicating the field is weak, as opposed to recognizing them as the flukes they are.

 

[AndrewD]

Moose,

Dry weather, the tournament not using heavy tennis balls, a bit of luck and someone like Martin can be very dangerous on clay. With those kind of conditions, Wayne Arthurs got to the 4th Round at the French Open (even took a set off Federer) and he wasn't in Martin's class off the ground although, oddly enough, he did beat Martin on clay in 2003.

 

[Eviscerator]

I would not be too surprised if RAFA got to finals of Wimby again next year, he has proven he can hit big serves if needed and next year i look for him to improve his volleys vastly and come to net more and finish points faster. And if RAFA wins then he will prove to be the most versatile player ever to play the sport of tennis.............:grin:

Yes, that would put what Borg or Laver did to shame.:roll:

 

[Eviscerator]

Todd Martin was one of the best never to win a slam and good on all surfaces.

.

Indeed, I agree!

 

[Moose Malloy]

I dunno, it still seems like one of the most unlikely results in tour history.
Sampras & Edberg were much greater players/athletes than Martin, so its not surprising that they managed to post some good results on their worst surface.

Martin is almost Rusedski-like on clay throughout his career, except for these 2 events.

And its not like these results were at that Houston claycourt event that Roddick always wins(against virtually no true claycourters), but at Barcelona & Estoril, 2 events that are almost exclusively filled with claycourt specialists.

The guy beat Muster, Costa, Berasategui, & Rios on clay. That's crazy. It should give hope to anyone who struggles on one particular surface.

 

[The tennis guy]

I dunno, it still seems like one of the most unlikely results in tour history.
Sampras & Edberg were much greater players/athletes than Martin, so its not surprising that they managed to post some good results on their worst surface.

Martin is almost Rusedski-like on clay throughout his career, except for these 2 events.

And its not like these results were at that Houston claycourt event that Roddick always wins(against virtually no true claycourters), but at Barcelona & Estoril, 2 events that are almost exclusively filled with claycourt specialists.

The guy beat Muster, Costa, Berasategui, & Rios on clay. That's crazy. It should give hope to anyone who struggles on one particular surface.

My theory is these two clay events were the two earliest events in clay court season when the clay courters just got their feet wet after traveling to US for a month on hardcourts, thus more susceptible to upset. Except these two events, Martin pretty much disappeared on clay courts. That's the only reason I can think of.

 

[The ball was in]

Yeah, maybe that was it. It's not so uncommon that a player will shine every now and then on his or her least favorite/worst surface.

Although Pete Sampras isn't remember for his clay abilities, it's not like he was a bad player on the surface, and he has a Master's Series shield to show for it (Rome '94 I believe), and a semi-final appearance at Roland Garros ('96).
Or take a more recent example in Nadal at Wimbledon.

Also, don't forget Pete's heroics in Moscow for the Davis Cup 1995....played damn well that day or weekend!!