Monday, July 25, 2016

Wk.29- While the Cat's Away the Mice Will Play


Hey, all. Galileo here.

In a way, it’s nice when all the big stars decide to skip events. Like in the wild, when the big predators are at home, the little guys come out and play. We saw all manner of different styles and methods of play this last week. The wily vet in Paolo Lorenzi was a dog having his day, Fabio Fognini was a battered warrior returning to form and Feliciano Lopez was proving once more he isn’t just a pretty face.

With youngsters sneaking up on the old guard and the few big names collapsing, it was all to play for. The clash of styles as a continuing theme is a good one, a pleasant one. But this also feels like the eye in the middle of the storm. There’s a feeling of imminent danger, you can hear the cyclone a-coming. With the Olympics just around the corner along with a bunch of Masters and our final slam, it’s a question of survival of the fittest. How big a part will injury play?

But that is all in the future. Right now we have to focus upon four different events. So let’s get stuck in. Later you will be able to hear this BACKSPINNER ramble, but for now we have urgent business to attend to. Let’s not leave it hanging, eh?

=RANKINGS WATCH=
Top 32 - Fognini up 6 to 33 in the world and is threatening to rise further. Simon and Ramos-Vinolas fall one place but stay at 31 and 32, respectively. Klizan falls two but is still in the top 30.
Top 10 – No change. Thiem, Tsonga, Goffin are 9-11. Cilic and Ferrer have the same amount of points, but Ferrer is at 13.
Top 8 – No change. Kei still barely leads Raonic. While Kei is 500 points behind Wawrinka, but he and Raonic form a little island.
Top 4 – No change. Novak, Andy, Roger and Rafa are the top four.

*WEEK 29 CHAMPIONS*
WASHINGTON, D.C. USA (Hard)
S: Gael Monfils def. Ivo Karlovic 5-7/7-6(6)/6-4
D: Nestor/Roger-Vasselin d. Kubot/Peya
GSTAAD, SWITZERLAND (Clay)
S: Feliciano Lopez def. Robin Haase 6-4/7-5
D: Peralta/Zeballos d. Pavic/Venus
KITZBUHEL, AUSTRIA (Clay)
S: Paolo Lorenzi def. Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3/6-4
D: Koolhof/Middelkoop d. Novak/Thiem
UMAG, CROATIA (Clay)
S: Fabio Fognini def. Andrej Martin 6-4/6-1
D: Klizan/Marrero d. Mektic/Sancic


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: GAEL MONFILS
...This is more than just the winner of the biggest tournament. Monfils improved to 6-19 in finals. It is an appalling record. He has lost two this year. To be fair, most of his losses were to very good players, but not taking advantage of the likes of Petzschner and Montanes is evidence of his well-known mental fragility. Most players who make 25 finals win at least half. There are players with a third of the finals who have more titles. But let’s focus on the positives: he had a tough draw and eased through it. He beat Lu 6-3, 6-2 and dismissed 16th seed Coric 6-2, 6-3 to make the quarters unscathed. It was quite the performance considering he was on the comeback trail. Querrey has been on dangerous form, which anybody who hasn’t been living on Mars would know. It was a tight match until La Monf! stepped it up and won going away, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. In the semi-final he was rampant in seeing off Zverev 6-4, 6-0. When he gets on a roll he cannot be stopped. And in the final he came back to defeat Karlovic 5-7, 7-6[6], 6-4. He saved championship point and demonstrated his newly found mental strength. This year he has been just that little bit more firm in the head department. It is a big reason for his resurgence into relevancy.

=============================
RISER: FABIO FOGNINI
...Up and down like a yoyo, like the poll ratings on Trump. The Italian had an easy draw and dismissed it. He eased past Olivo 6-4, 6-1 in the second round and saw off Dzumhur 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the quarters. Elias in the semi—finals put up little resistance, going down 6-3, 6-3. And Martin in the final only mustered five games. Fognini’s final set, a 6-1 beat down, was vintage Fabio. The draw may have been weak and the seeds may have collapsed, but it still had to be won. And for once there was no implosion, no inexplicable collapse. This is the good Fognini, the Fabio inspired by Pennetta. When he puts it all together and the jigsaw fits he can be nigh on unplayable. The forehand is a real weapon when he can catch fire. What was really remarkable was how he dropped just the one set. He dished out four breadsticks, too. A solid week sees him deservedly return to the top thirty.

=============================
FRESH FACE: NIKOLOZ BASILASHVILI
...The first thing he needs is a nickname. How about after a well-known film-maker? Bas has yet to be seeded on the ATP tour. He did once upset Lopez at Wimbledon, however. Or it might have possibly been in Australia. Anyway, the unheralded Georgian [Not Atlanta, this is the Georgia where nobody cares if Russia invades it] made a good run here. Just beating Rosol 6-4, 7-6[4] was a remarkable victory. Rosol is experienced and in decent form. He is awfully difficult to play and has won titles before. Three set victories over Sijsling, 6-2 in the third, and Pavlasek followed. He only just edged the Czech, winning 5-7, 7-6[2], 6-3. In the semi-finals he defeated 6th seed Lajovic 6-3, 6-1, finally coming into his own. So the seeds collapsed and the draw turned into a cake-walk. Sometimes being in the right place at the right time draws dividends. Look at Errani, look at Murray. Both have benefited from luck in the draw. The biggest disappointment for Bas was his tame loss in the final to Lorenzi. He should have won that match, especially with the streak he was on. But now he has that finalist experience, maybe next time will be his time.
=============================

VETERAN: FELICIANO LOPEZ
...A rare thing this - an ATPBACKSPIN prediction come true. But last week this BACKSPINNER called the Spaniard as the winner of this event despite the surface and it came true. That never happens. Todd takes his predictions far more seriously [Ed.Note: But I haven't been getting many more correct -- this week ANOTHER final correct w/ Venus/Konta, but then the "wrong player" wins! Grrr. - tds] Over here we pretty much draw the name out of a hat. It explains all the Kyrgios predictions. But Lopez came through another weak field to lift a beautiful trophy. In Gstaad he saw off qualifier Mertl 7-6[4], 6-4. Then he edged Ymer, who will be great in 2018, 6-4, 7-6[2]. He was troubled by Brown, but gritted it out 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. In the final he was far too solid for Haase, seeing off the Dutchman 6-4, 7-5. He is now 5-9 in finals, but has won a title on the three major surfaces with this win. Lopez has had a glittering career and whether or not he has slightly underperformed, he has been a breath of fresh air. Here’s Lopez in 2004 for no reason at all. Oh here’s one - it's after his first title, which he won by defeating Canas in five in the final.

=============================
SURPRISE: PAOLO LORENZI
...A maiden title and highest ever ranking for the 34 year old. 41st in the world and with a 1-1 mark in ATP tour finals, he has something to tell the grandchildren. He has developed a career similar to that of Estrellos Burgos. It doesn’t matter how late you develop so long as you do develop. Lorenzi took advantage of yet another weakened field, only playing one seed. Once he edged past Struff [8] in three grueling sets the tournament was before his feet. How long can the veteran keep this up?

=============================
DOWN: GILLES SIMON
...It’s really dull to watch this happen over and over again. Sometimes it works. "Groundhog Day" is a great film. It may have its critics but it’s a clever, fantastic film. The repetitiveness there works. But this year Simon has been abysmal. Monteiro qualified and then defeated the Frenchie. Ranked 104, the South American is four times worse than Simon. Yet he blew away the world number 28 in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. It has to start getting better from the Frenchie.
=============================
UPSET: GASTAO ELIAS
...This is discussed more below, but just a note on this. Cuevas is very good, very solid and a consistent top thirty player. On clay he is even better. But lately he has started to drop a little. But for the world number 20 to lose to the world number 64 something funky has to have taken place. Upsets are about the underdog winning as much as the favourite playing poorly. Sometimes even more so. Elias rising eight places to his career high is as deserved as it is impressive. He’s now more highly ranked than Gulbis.
=============================

Notes from the week...
1 - If Federer wins his singles Gold, does he call and end to the career? Does Serena? If not what are they still playing for?
2 – Non-tennis here. What golfers are actually attending the Olympics?
3 – Federer, Murray and a horde of others have elected not to play in Canada. How badly is the Olympics effecting ticket sales?
4 – Another week in which the seeds were obliterated. It is expected on the WTA tour but there were three unseeded finalists. The winners may have all been top four seeds, but often they were the last standing.
5 – Our first hard-court Masters is coming up and it is two weeks earlier than usual.


1. Washington Final - Monfils d. Karlovic 5-7, 7-6[6], 6-4
...A classic clash of styles ended in Monfils escaping. After holding 53 times in a row, Ivo lost his serve when serving at 7-5, 5-4. Talk about the magic of Monfils. The Frenchy then saved a match point in the breaker and rolled through to victory. What a match, what a highlights reel. This had a lot of surprisingly good points in it.
=============================
2. Umag R1 - Elias d. Cuevas 3-6, 6-3, 7-6[7]
...Up 5-3 in the third the Portuguese man had the ’14 champion down and out. But then Cuevas won three games in a row and lost just three points. The Uruguayan even had a match point in the breaker at 7-6. But the plucky underdog never lost another point in the match.
=============================
3. Gstaad SF - Lopez d. Brown 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
...What an entertaining match from the two tricksters. On their worst surface the two put together a show for the tennis aficionado. This was not Djokovic-esque, cold tennis. This was fun, old-school stuff. We need to see more of it. Earlier was a picture of that Lopez, but here is a video from 2004:

=============================
4. Kitzbuhel R2 - Khachanov d. Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-4
...This could be the big breakthrough for the Russian. Russia’s number four has been up and coming for some time and he is finally starting to click. It was the professionalism that was particularly impressive. He will rise to 95 after another solid week and is almost at the point of automatic qualification. For these journeyman that’s the best thing that can happen in a career.
=============================


*ROGERS CUP, TORONTO*
=SF=
Djokovic [1] d. [4 Raonic
Nishikori [3] d. [2] Wawrinka
=FINAL=
Djokovic [1] d. [3] Nishikori

...Nobody is here. So many withdrawals have occurred it is possible a total surprise wins. A lower ranked player could sweep to the final here but Djokovic will not be beaten by anybody. The seeds should still hold, but for players like Kyrgios this is a great chance to make a run.

Ummm, or maybe not...



Seeded 4th, Mladenovic did alright in Washington. Solid wins over Crawford and Lisicki were followed up with a three set loss to Wickmayer. That’s a solid week, and losing to eventual champion Wickmayer isn’t an awful loss, either. Kiki opens with qualifier Kudryavtseva in Montreal but 9th seed Kuznetsova is waiting. Trounced in the finals last year, when Kiki won in 2012 she was the first French woman to win for 12 years. Hingis and Tauziat won in 2000. Seeded second, she and Garcia will play either Muguruza/Suarez Navarro or Groenefeld/Peschke in the second round. That will be tricky. The 6th seeds Safarova/Babos will play our girls in the quarter-finals. She is ranked 4th in doubles but has fallen four places to 38 in singles.


Thanks all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

Read more!

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:44 PM 

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home