Week of 25 October ATP250 St. Petersburg and ATP500 Vienna General Discussion

Winners at St. Petersburg & Vienna

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stringertom

stringertom

Bionic Poster
With only two tournaments to follow on the schedule and the last two available spots in the Torino ATP Finals still up for grabs there is a full field of competitors trying to jockey for the twin plums on the branch.

St. Petersburg returns but has been relegated to its pre-2020 status as a 250. Defending champion Andrey Rublev is in the draw as the #1 seed. Also seeded and receiving byes alongside Rublev are #2 Denis Shapovalov, #3 RBA and new Moscow champion and #4 seed Aslan Karatsev.

At Vienna, defending champion Andrey Rublev has not yet mastered playing two tournaments in the same week so he will not attempt to defend his 2020 title. Vienna is a full 32-man draw with none of the girly man 1R byes. #1 and #2 seeds Tsitsipas and Zverev return to action after a week of rest between IW and their matches in the beautiful capital city of Austria. The other top seeds are:

#3 Berrettini (bottom half)
#4 Ruud (top half)
#5 and #6 Hurkacz and FAA (bottom half(
#7 and #8 new Antwerp champion Sinner and Schwartzman (top half)

WC Andy Murray gets another tough 1R assignment vs Hurkacz, who presently is in the #8 slot for Torino but must look at this tournament result as key to getting in. He will be motivated to make it a 3-0 h2h vs Muzz this year. Don’t be surprised if it’s won by the same 7-6(4) 6-3 margin from Cincinnati and Metz.

Discuss or disgust who ya got and why.
 
Monday Schedule:

Vienna

PCB vs Basilashvili

Alcaraz vs Evans

de Minaur vs Anderson

Hurkacz vs Murray

Popyrin vs Berrettini

St. Petersburg

Struff vs Duckworth

Serdarusic vs Korda

Bublik vs Tyurnev

(Qualifying matches at St. Pete are yet to be completed)
 
St. Petersburg qualifying has concluded with BvdZ, Gerasimov, Nishioka and Ruusuvuori advancing. Can Gerasimov and Ruusuvuori see their homes from the great port of StP?
 
Vienna:

Busta forces a third set by breaking at 4-4 and saving breakback points for a 6-4 set.

St. Pete:

Struff closed it out 6&3.
 
This Serdarusic guy has a fairly big serve. Maybe not getting the direction at times though, Korda is on these returns.

0/3 on break chances in this game now though. Would obviously like to get off to a good start here.
 
In Vienna there are two matches ongoing and both are even early on with Evans and Alcaraz on center court and Anderson facing AdM on what they call Glaubandich Court.
 
Alcaraz has had no issue with Evans so far. Promising signs as he goes up another break.

edit never mind what a return game from Evans...
 
Slicehand said:
Amazing performance by alcaraz, serving and volleying a lot, playing smart, amazingly fresh, his potencial is just crazy
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Let’s hope he stays healthy and Ferrero makes wiser scheduling decisions in 2022 and beyond to accommodate teenage growing pains.
 
stringertom said:
Let’s hope he stays healthy and Ferrero makes wiser scheduling decisions in 2022 and beyond to accommodate teenage growing pains.
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Theyll learn from this season, and yeah it concerns me a bit how he sometimes looks like he is so agressive with his body, but hes 18 and its normal, i just hope he becomes more and more fluid and his body doesnt suffer as much
 
Slicehand said:
Theyll learn from this season, and yeah it concerns me a bit how he sometimes looks like he is so agressive with his body, but hes 18 and its normal, i just hope he becomes more and more fluid and his body doesnt suffer as much
Click to expand...
Yeah, I liked his potential from that first Challenger match in Alicante vs Sinner in 2019. Flashes of all-court instincts even on clay at age 15 just before his 16th birthday. Like his opponent that day, there’s also a lot of willingness to learn on top of the natural talent. That’s why one is on the verge of top 10 and the younger one should get there in 2022 if he stays healthy.
 
stringertom said:
Yeah, I liked his potential from that first Challenger match in Alicante vs Sinner in 2019. Flashes of all-court instincts even on clay at age 15 just before his 16th birthday. Like his opponent that day, there’s also a lot of willingness to learn on top of the natural talent. That’s why one is on the verge of top 10 and the younger one should get there in 2022 if he stays healthy.
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Itd be amazing if he gets to the top 10 during next season, because once he gets there i dont see him going down again, yeah love how he uses all the shots, once he is able to place his serve better, and gets experience, it can be a very nice all court game
 
Muzziah doing Muzziah things by taking the first set over the heavily favored Incredible Hurk, 6-4. Efficient dominance on serve and the lone break got ‘er done in well under an hour.
 
mightyjeditribble said:
It's sort of hilarious that if Murray gets through Hurkacz, he'll have to play Alcaraz again. He just doesn't seem to do easy draws anymore.
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He has caught a break by getting a Monday start. If he gets through, 2R would almost undoubtedly be set for Wednesday and QFs for Friday.

This draw is stacked so just about any path would have been quite challenging. Everyone is trying to nail down the last two Torino slots or trying to tune up for Bercy/Torino in the case of Tsits, Zed and Berry. Be thankful for small miracles when he gets good rest each time until SFs/finals.
 
mike danny said:
Kinda hard to receive easy draws when you're number 156 in the world.
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Once you're not seeded and in the main draw, be it through a wild card or direct entry, your ranking has no further effect on your draw.

Sure, you expect to run into top players R1/R2 with some regularity, but you can also get some softer draws. Murray doesn't seem to have been having much luck with that recently.
 
There are so many great early matchups in Vienna.

With Murray taking out Hurkacz today, there is a major opportunity for Sinner to make a move into stronger Turin contention. He's in the 10th position now, only 110 points behind Hubie, so a semifinal would put him into the last Turin spot with two tournaments to go. Of course, to get to the semis, he's also have to get past Ruud. If Sinner wins the whole tournament, he'd be up to #7 in the race rankings. It's going to be fun to see how this shakes out since everyone between #7 and #17 still has a mathematical shot at one of the last two Turin invites.

Regarding the Russian tournaments, there have been two in a row (Moscow and St Petersburg). Karatsev got Moscow and he and Rublev have legit shots at the second one. However, where's homeboy Medvedev? Daniil's best surface might be indoor hard courts. Is he too good to play 250s in the motherland now?
 
Jack the Hack said:
There are so many great early matchups in Vienna.

With Murray taking out Hurkacz today, there is a major opportunity for Sinner to make a move into stronger Turin contention. He's in the 10th position now, only 110 points behind Hubie, so a semifinal would put him into the last Turin spot with two tournaments to go. Of course, to get to the semis, he's also have to get past Ruud. If Sinner wins the whole tournament, he'd be up to #7 in the race rankings. It's going to be fun to see how this shakes out since everyone between #7 and #17 still has a mathematical shot at one of the last two Turin invites.

Regarding the Russian tournaments, there have been two in a row (Moscow and St Petersburg). Karatsev got Moscow and he and Rublev have legit shots at the second one. However, where's homeboy Medvedev? Daniil's best surface might be indoor hard courts. Is he too good to play 250s in the motherland now?
Click to expand...
Resting for the final push in Bercy/Torino and then DC; probably a wise move.
 
While Incredible Hurk exits, it’s still one match at a time for the remaining Torino chasers. Sinner needs to concentrate on one match: Opelka. Ruud needs to concentrate on one possibly even harder match vs Harris, particularly when the Norwegian’s neophyte indoor HC status is taken into consideration PLUS Harris did all but win on slower outdoor HCs in IW just one tournament back before Antwerp.
The race to be IN in TorINo is wide open for climbing the stairway or for slipping on the banana peel. Hurk just slipped once. Maybe he rebounds in Bercy and Stockholm.
 
stringertom said:
Resting for the final push in Bercy/Torino and then DC; probably a wise move.
Click to expand...

I agree. It's probably a wise move. However, it's Daniil we're talking about. The ultimate grinder. Besides, if you're a Russian that turns his back on the country, you end up with polonium in your vodka! :oops:
 
Murray vs Alcaraz was one of the matches of the tournament for me when I was in Indian Wells a couple weeks ago. I'm looking forward to the rematch, albeit on indoor hard courts, where I think Murray has even more of an advantage in contrast to the super slow hard courts in the desert.
 
stringertom said:
Yeah, I liked his potential from that first Challenger match in Alicante vs Sinner in 2019. Flashes of all-court instincts even on clay at age 15 just before his 16th birthday. Like his opponent that day, there’s also a lot of willingness to learn on top of the natural talent. That’s why one is on the verge of top 10 and the younger one should get there in 2022 if he stays healthy.
Click to expand...

Piatti actually gave an interview that this defeat pissed of Sinner mightily. One thing to lose against older and stronger guys but against such a young lad…

I hate the Nadal comparison as much as almost everybody and it is stupid as their is only one Nadal, only one so good so early and for so long, but that boy is also great on clay at a very young age.

If somebody remembers a more precious clayer at this age after the rise of the Legend I am all ears…
 
Rovesciarete said:
Piatti actually gave an interview that this defeat pissed of Sinner mightily. One thing to lose against older and stronger guys but against such a young lad…

I hate the Nadal comparison as much as almost everybody and it is stupid as their is only one Nadal, only one so good so early and for so long, but that boy is also great on clay at a very young age.

If somebody remembers a more precious clayer at this age after the rise of the Legend I am all ears…
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Yes, but Jannik was probably overwhelmed as much by being the villain for the first time in his career. Even on the lousy audio from the livestream ATP Challenger feed you could hear the partisan supporters in Alicante becoming the 12th man in favor of the local teen.
 
Rovesciarete said:
Piatti actually gave an interview that this defeat pissed of Sinner mightily. One thing to lose against older and stronger guys but against such a young lad…

I hate the Nadal comparison as much as almost everybody and it is stupid as their is only one Nadal, only one so good so early and for so long, but that boy is also great on clay at a very young age.

If somebody remembers a more precious clayer at this age after the rise of the Legend I am all ears…
Click to expand...

Count me as one that sees no real comparison in the games of Alcaraz to Nadal. As you said, Nadal is one of a kind. Alcaraz wears Nike and swings a Babolat, but his game reminds me more of his coach, JC Ferrero.

Anyway, I'm old, so I can remember back to some pretty amazing teen clay court wizards. For example, Mats Wilander was an early king of clay, winning Roland Garros at 17 years old, one of three French titles in his career, and 20 titles on clay overall. Michael Chang did the same thing (and was even younger than Mats when he won the French), although that was a complete shocker in my opinion compared to Mats, who at least was the French Open junior champ the year before. It's before my time since I was very little when it happened, but Bjorn Borg was 18 when he won his first French.
 
What's the deal with Popy? He's got the type of game I almost like, but he looks a bit anemic and his forehand is awfully flaky.
 
Last edited:
stringertom said:
While Incredible Hurk exits, it’s still one match at a time for the remaining Torino chasers. Sinner needs to concentrate on one match: Opelka. Ruud needs to concentrate on one possibly even harder match vs Harris, particularly when the Norwegian’s neophyte indoor HC status is taken into consideration PLUS Harris did all but win on slower outdoor HCs in IW just one tournament back before Antwerp.
The race to be IN in TorINo is wide open for climbing the stairway or for slipping on the banana peel. Hurk just slipped once. Maybe he rebounds in Bercy and Stockholm.
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Maybe it's just me but I'm not getting the sense that this court is playing all that fast. Didn't get that impression from the Hurkacz Murray match anyway.

I'm actually a little more inclined to take Ruud over Harris after watching the matches today. Probably safer going with the over, but I dunno.
 
fundrazer said:
Maybe it's just me but I'm not getting the sense that this court is playing all that fast. Didn't get that impression from the Hurkacz Murray match anyway.

I'm actually a little more inclined to take Ruud over Harris after watching the matches today. Probably safer going with the over, but I dunno.
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Wanna guess the length and content of players Ruud has beaten on indoor HCs in a full fledged ATP main draw? I have the answers if you like. It’s not a long list nor did the wins happen very recently. Let’s just say Harris won more matches vs better players last week in Antwerp than Ruud has won TOTAL.
 
Jack the Hack said:
Count me as one that sees no real comparison in the games of Alcaraz to Nadal. As you said, Nadal is one of a kind. Alcaraz wears Nike and swings a Babolat, but his game reminds me more of his coach, JC Ferrero.

Anyway, I'm old, so I can remember back to some pretty amazing teen clay court wizards. For example, Mats Wilander was an early king of clay, winning Roland Garros at 17 years old, one of three French titles in his career, and 20 titles on clay overall. Michael Chang did the same thing (and was even younger than Mats when he won the French), although that was a complete shocker in my opinion compared to Mats, who at least was the French Open junior champ the year before. It's before my time since I was very little when it happened, but Bjorn Borg was 18 when he won his first French.
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Shocker about Mats: in between RG’81 Boys and RG’82 Men’s titles: ZERO titles. For him to beat seeds #2 through #5 from 4R on to the final, including winning MP twice by his own choice vs Clerc in the SF, may be the single most unexpected and refreshing moment in RG history.
 
Jack the Hack said:
Count me as one that sees no real comparison in the games of Alcaraz to Nadal. As you said, Nadal is one of a kind. Alcaraz wears Nike and swings a Babolat, but his game reminds me more of his coach, JC Ferrero.
Click to expand...
The Nadal thing is so utterly lazy and contrived that it will 100% stick and be repeated ad nauseum throughout his career ;)

but I agree, he looks so much more like JCF than any of the Big 3
 
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