Week of 04/04/22: ATP 250 Houston (clay) and ATP 250 Marrakesh (clay)

Winner?

  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .
James P

James P

G.O.A.T.
Clay season is upon us. Not a lot of high powered men in the draws this weekend. Houston is fairly loaded with most of the top Americans playing, 6 of the 8 seeds, in fact. Marrakesh will feature Felix Auger-Aliassime, who joined the draw with a wild card, and little else.

Houston (DRAW):
(1) Ruud
(2) Fritz
(3) Opelka
(4) Isner
(5) Garin
(6) Tiafoe
(7) Paul
(8) Brooksby

Marrakesh (DRAW):
(1) Auger-Aliassime
(2) Evans
(3) Fognini (withdrew)
(4) Ramos-Vinolas
(5) Delbonis
(6) Van de Zandschulp
(7) Davidovich Fokina
(8) Djere
(9) Griekspoor

You can make two votes if you choose to participate in the poll, one for each tournament.
 
James P said:
Clay season is upon us. Not a lot of high powered men in the draws this weekend. Houston is fairly loaded with most of the top Americans playing, 6 of the 8 seeds, in fact. Marrakesh will feature Felix Auger-Aliassime, who joined the draw with a wild card, and little else.

Houston (DRAW):
(1) Ruud
(2) Fritz
(3) Opelka
(4) Isner
(5) Garin
(6) Tiafoe
(7) Paul
(8) Brooksby

Marrakesh (DRAW):
(1) Auger-Aliassime
(2) Evans
(3) Fognini (withdrew)
(4) Ramos-Vinolas
(5) Delbonis
(6) Van de Zandschulp
(7) Davidovich Fokina
(8) Djere
(9) Griekspoor

You can make two votes if you choose to participate in the poll, one for each tournament.
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I think Nick Kyrios will win houston next week. he is very dominant player on clay and he showed that during clay court challengers few years back when he dominated
 
James P said:
Clay season is upon us. Not a lot of high powered men in the draws this weekend. Houston is fairly loaded with most of the top Americans playing, 6 of the 8 seeds, in fact. Marrakesh will feature Felix Auger-Aliassime, who joined the draw with a wild card, and little else.
.....
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Marrakesh - Jiri Vesely
Houston - Alejandro Tabilo
 
From the Houston qualies, Christian Harrison just beat older brother Ryan Harrison in their first meeting.
 
Aabye5 said:
Casper Ruud withdraws, not unexpectedly, from Houston citing a tooth issue.
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Tooth? More like he woke up and realized he’s now a top 10 player and should dial the 250 schedule down a bit.

It’s admirable that he and PCB stay loyal to tournaments where they got their first titles but it’s a bit questionable decision making when those events are sandwiched between bigger competitions and deeper runs reduce down time even further. Busta playing W-S the week before USO is just plain stupid.
 
Marrakech is the rare ATP250 to be a full 32-draw with no byes. I’m picking Felix to add another title by getting five much needed matches under his belt.

He has added Marrakech at the last moment after being booted at both IW and Miami one-and-done style. It seems he will now skip M-C and Barca in favor of Marrakech and Estoril before he gets to the mandatory Madrid/Rome combo.
 
stringertom said:
Tooth? More like he woke up and realized he’s now a top 10 player and should dial the 250 schedule down a bit.

It’s admirable that he and PCB stay loyal to tournaments where they got their first titles but it’s a bit questionable decision making when those events are sandwiched between bigger competitions and deeper runs reduce down time even further. Busta playing W-S the week before USO is just plain stupid.
Click to expand...

I know, but that's what the ATP reported. I thought it was curious that he didn't cite his back as the reason for his withdrawal. After all, he received an MTO in the match for it.

Then again, if it was a tooth issue, there's probably nothing that the trainer could have done.
 
stringertom said:
Marrakech is the rare ATP250 to be a full 32-draw with no byes. I’m picking Felix to add another title by getting five much needed matches under his belt.

He has added Marrakech at the last moment after being booted at both IW and Miami one-and-done style. It seems he will now skip M-C and Barca in favor of Marrakech and Estoril before he gets to the mandatory Madrid/Rome combo.
Click to expand...

He'll play MC, right? Unless he's injured it doesn't make sense to skip the home tournament.
 
No play in Marrakesh after rain washes away Monday's schedule. Houston also has a heavily reduced schedule due to rain.
 
What the heck is the design on Verdasco's shirt? Looks like some kind of cryptic symbols or something...

Screenshot-20220405-215033-Tennis-TV.jpg


Screenshot-20220405-214959-Tennis-TV.jpg



He choked as usual.... Failed to serve for the first set.. is very very very windy though!
 
Last edited:
I've heard the Canadian Steven Diez had his qualifying match in hand but lost to the umpire in 3 sets. I guess his LL chance to play in the main draw now is deserving.
 
stringertom said:
Marrakech is the rare ATP250 to be a full 32-draw with no byes. I’m picking Felix to add another title by getting five much needed matches under his belt.

He has added Marrakech at the last moment after being booted at both IW and Miami one-and-done style. It seems he will now skip M-C and Barca in favor of Marrakech and Estoril before he gets to the mandatory Madrid/Rome combo.
Click to expand...
What could be the reasoning behind that decision? Seems very strange to me, skipping M-C and Barcelona.
 
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is TC showing Bencic playing a nobody then Bencic being interviewed when they could be showing Brooksby v Wolff?

And why do they treat Shelby Rogers like she's Roger Federer, showing her every time she plays?

Any livestreams out there for Houston?
 
norcal said:
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is TC showing Bencic playing a nobody then Bencic being interviewed when they could be showing Brooksby v Wolff?

And why do they treat Shelby Rogers like she's Roger Federer, showing her every time she plays?

Any livestreams out there for Houston?
Click to expand...

TC doesn't have the rights to show Houston, it is exclusively on ESPN3(if you have cable you should be able to access it)

Mens Clay Court Championship

Mens Clay Court Championship
www.mensclaycourt.com www.mensclaycourt.com
 
Did anyone else see the Brooksby situation just now? The ball was on its way out but Jenson hit it before. Didn’t acknowledge it however and thus won the point. Foul play.
 
middleballs said:
Did anyone else see the Brooksby situation just now? The ball was on its way out but Jenson hit it before. Didn’t acknowledge it however and thus won the point. Foul play.
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Didn't see it but not surprised, he has shown many instances of behaving like a bratty junior player. Saw him (forget against who) wave his arms around trying to distract his opponent who had a sitter. Commentator said, "that's not going to be well received in the locker room".
 
norcal said:
Didn't see it but not surprised, he has shown many instances of behaving like a bratty junior player. Saw him (forget against who) wave his arms around trying to distract his opponent who had a sitter. Commentator said, "that's not going to be well received in the locker room".
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I’m completely with you there. I also have a memory of that event (Delray Beach?).
Seems like he can’t let go of his bad habits, which is a shame. Almost makes me think he keeps his ridiculous grunting the way it is in the hope of irritating his opponent. I really hope he’ll let go of these elements to his personality, it really makes him that much harder to like.
 
stringertom said:
I can only guess that he feels a need for some confidence to be rebuilt after that dreadful Sunshine Double swing. Until today he had not won a match since 19 February.
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Is playing Marrakesh better or worse than playing Houston? I feel like Houston success doesn't always translate well to European dirt.
 
Did anyone catch Moose-ARV? The replay wasn't available last time I checked and I want to see if the Musetti magic was on in the second set.
 
Aabye5 said:
Is playing Marrakesh better or worse than playing Houston? I feel like Houston success doesn't always translate well to European dirt.
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The transition from Houston’s synthetic (red Har Tru) to real red brick clay can be tricky but also think about the shorter commute from Manacor to Marrakech and it was an easy decision for Felix to ask for the WC in North Africa rather than East Texas. He will probably hop on the plane and pit stop back at RNTA in between the two 250s while the 48-draw Barca 500 is played.

I’m sure he made his way to RNTA very soon after the IW/Miami fiascos for the transition to clay and mapped out this unique scheduling with Tio giving consultation.

The phrase, “Never change a winning game, always change a losing game” comes to mind in this situation. Felix went through a miserable 4-6 clay season last year using the more traditional M-C, Barca, Madrid, Rome path to RG (added in Lyon). This change to Marrakech/Estoril may be some fresh air he needs before returning to the mandatory Madrid and Rome slots on the schedule.
 
It was great to see Kyrgios really plays tennis. I hope he keeps it up.

And, did I see Brooksby hit a 78 mph second serve? He should really add some racquet head speed on the second serve!!!!!!
 
I have not seen Kyrgios playing on clay recently. It looks like he was not bad in the first round @guanzishou?

Kyrgios/Opelka matches should be interesting to see for the sheer clay adaptability factor.

kyrg-opel.jpg
 
Bubcay said:
I have not seen Kyrgios playing on clay recently. It looks like he was not bad in the first round @guanzishou?

Kyrgios/Opelka matches should be interesting to see for the sheer clay adaptability factor.

kyrg-opel.jpg
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Great serving by Kyrgios. Good to see he didn't give up after losing the first set. He kept hitting it hard. Huge forehands! Plenty of aces! Come forward and hit smash!!! Great aggressive game.
 
guanzishou said:
Great serving by Kyrgios. Good to see he didn't give up after losing the first set. He kept hitting it hard. Huge forehands! Plenty of aces! Come forward and hit smash!!! Great aggressive game.
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Sounds like I will have to watch the recording/replay. Thanks.
 
Bubcay said:
Just finished work so watching it now. What a strange colour of clay....
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Yeah it's made by Har-Tru and is known as American Red Clay, which has Burgundy colour. I watched this tournament when Hewitt was still playing...

Har-Tru also makes green clay court, made from green rocks from Virginia.

European Red Clay Tennis Courts | Har-Tru

A stunning red tennis surface that instantly gives your court a professional appearance. Make it a great day to play with Har-Tru.
hartru.com hartru.com
 
Kyrgios vs Paul in Houston could be a very entertaining match!
 
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