2016 Qatar ExxonMobil Open…ATP 250…Qatar, Doha

[don_budge]

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/doha/451/draws

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal headlining the "other" event. Interesting that there are two ATP 250 events being played simultaneously…the other in Brisbane. Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer rounding out the top four seeds in this event.

Yesterday I watched bits and pieces of Djokovic giving "Downtown" Dustin Brown a good beating. Brown is a player that is given too much credit for having "style"…it is only that he is unique which is not synonymous as to having style. Much of his much ballyhooed style was rendered meaningless and superfluous as the fundamentally sound Djokovic dismantled the hotdogging and pseudo all court tactics of Brown. Swinging volleys, ill advised drop shots and fundamentally weak approach tactics by Brown earned him a 6-2, 6-2 shellacking.

I watched Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco lose to Teymuraz Gabashvili and Albert Ramos-Vinolas. My wife asked me if Gabashvili were gay…as if I am the one to ask. But it's funny that she asked as later on he made a couple of gestures that may have suggested somewhat feminine…well you know. Not that it matters…it's just that my wife asked. It was a curious comment coming from her…she has her powers of observation too. Just forget I mentioned it. Gabashvili and Ramos-Vinolas ended up winning the match which featured three left handed players. Nadal is a less than classic doubles player…preferring to slug it out from the backcourt. What a surprise.

Daniel Munoz de la Nava won a tight match against a fellow Spanish left handed player…Feliciano Lopez. That made five Spanish left handed tennis players in two matches. Maybe there is something in the water as Yannick Noah suggested a couple of years ago.

A Novak Djokovic versus Rafael Nadal final would be a great way to kick off the New Year at the 2016 Qatar Open…don't you think so?

[don_budge]

Berdych…attire

Fashion alert! Tomas Berdych in Adidas attire. A switcharoo.

[klacr]

Looks like I gotta start wearing Adidas.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Watching Rafael Nadal...

I am watching Rafael Nadal play Andrey Kuznetsov. At no time have I ever watched Nadal play and had the feeling that I was witnessing greatness. The one dimensional nature of his game is totally unimpressive historically speaking. Whereas the game of Roger Federer is timeless.

[stotty]

The gap between the pack....

It always amazes me that Nadal, even at his best, is only a few centimetres ahead of the pack it seems. At his best he seems to crunch everyone but as soon as he loses a bit of form he becomes vulnerable. Roger by contrast always seems to have 20 percent to spare between himself and the rest of the pack. I find this a striking difference between the two players.

[bottle]

I am watching Rafael Nadal play Andrey Kuznetsov. At no time have I ever watched Nadal play and had the feeling that I was witnessing greatness. The one dimensional nature of his game is totally unimpressive historically speaking. Whereas the game of Roger Federer is timeless.

Sort of like Rocky Marciano vs. Jersey Joe Walcott.

[don_budge]

Qatar…stuck in the middle

Interesting how politics plays its way out in other parts of the world. It's difficult for Western civilization to understand how it could be like that in the Middle East. Of course the converse is true…they most certainly do not understand the West. Nor do they truly care to. Birds of a feather do flock together. It isn't politically correct to make an age old observation these days…but I think that I will do it anyways. At the risk of being called some really vile names. It's funny how that works…don't you think so?

https://www.rt.com/news/328131-qatar-diplomatic-iran-saudi-arabia/

So one fine Saturday in Saudi Arabia the powers that be decide it's a good day to execute 48 people for various reasons. Beheading some…shooting the rest. For various infractions. Punishable by death. Then the dominoes fall. Iran retaliates and Qatar predictably takes position. It's a tennis match…it's a chess match. I spin to you…you spin back to me. Only in this case heads will roll…literally.

Anyways…prolonged convolution. Which is a good way of putting it if you don't have the gonads to go there…if you get my drift. I'm glad that I don't live in Qatar or anywhere else in the Middle East. It's great that they have a nice ATP 250 tournament there. You know it isn't so much about the religion…it's more about the politics of religion. The religion of politics being…power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[don_budge]

Nadal serving for the match...

Nadal is serving for the match at 5-4 in the third. I didn't watch much of the match…electing for the "Dog Whisperer" instead. The announcers are cleaning up the match…trying to explain away how really low the entertainment value it is. "A wonderful match"…they are saying. Droning…on and on. A wonderful match…my you know what.

Looking forwards to a Djokovic versus Nadal final. Let's hope that they can prop up Nadal into the finals. His next opponent is Illya Marchenko…who has beaten David Ferrer and Jeremy Chardy in succession. I watched him play Ferrer a bit…he lost the first set in a tie-break then came back to win the final two. That's quite an accomplishment against quite possible the most "dogged" player on the ATP tour…the "Everyready Energizor Bunny". Ferrer may have peaked in his career too as he seems to be struggling to maintain his edge. He has even switched racquets from his beloved Princess to a Babolat frame. I'm pulling for Illya to knockout the Spaniard. No surprise there.

[klacr]

Djokovic has to get by Berdych first. He probably will...but...that's why they play the game.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Qatar Final…Djokovic vs. Nadal

Nadal over Marchenko in straight sets. Djokovic over Berdych in straight sets. They stand 23-23 lifetime and tomorrow one of them will be one up. Djokovic has won eight of the last nine. Any takers on Nadal? Two of the best players in the world…neither of them budges from the baseline unless prodded.

Berdych had a perfect ball to approach on. He got a shoulder high volley at the service line that elected to take a swing at. His overspin drive was right in Djokovic's wheelhouse and he sent it past Berdych with interest. If Tomas closes two quick steps it is an easy placement in one of two places for the winner. He has no idea how to play approach and volley either.

It's an interesting state of affairs in the men's game…don't you think so?

[klacr]

Rough match for Tomas.
But I am undaunted.
2016 is the year of the Berd!

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

P.S. And yes, Berdych's transition/approach game needs to progress light years.

[gzhpcu]

Rough match for Tomas.
But I am undaunted.
2016 is the year of the Berd!

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

P.S. And yes, Berdych's transition/approach game needs to progress light years.

"The Loser's Edge"?

[don_budge]

Advantage Djokovic…24-23 head to head now

Rough match for Tomas.
But I am undaunted.
2016 is the year of the Berd!

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

P.S. And yes, Berdych's transition/approach game needs to progress light years.

Rough match for Tomas but not as rough as the finals was on Fafa Nadal. The Spanish Poodle. The bull has been effectively neutered. Forty some years ago I read in Psychology Today that tennis was a game where the two competitors were symbolically trying to castrate each other. The racquets symbolically representing swords and the balls symbolically representing the players testicles. The probing in a tennis match is vicious and visceral…tantamount to a martial art. Djokovic has beaten Nadal nine of the last ten times. Tactically speaking the match is over before it gets started. Checkmate. Over and out. Good night Iran.

This match was a showcase for the mastery of Djokovic over Nadal. Novak repeatedly attacked on the forehand side of Nadal. Nadal is forced to lean on his backhand side as Djokovic is so effective at exploiting that side…so good that he now has his choice…the backhand or the forehand. With Nadal leaning incrementally on the backhand side when Novak attacks the forehand Nadal is just off balance enough where he can now unleash his big weapon effectively.

Nadal if feeling rather confused at this point. He also is feeling rather hopeless. His team has not put anything together that resembles a strategy to neutralize what Djokovic is doing to him. Perhaps he could use a coach like McEnroe who could put some tactical ploys together…something. Something is better than nothing. During the first game in the second set he was so bewildered that he actually punched himself in the head. He'd better be careful at this point. With his luck he would finally hit a solid and knock himself out.

Djokovic for his part was up 1-5 with Nadal serving and he was looking for the knockout. He wanted a 6-1, 6-1 pounding on the books. It looks better than 6-1- 6-2. He settled for the latter and his satisfaction was immense afterwards at his mastery over his nemesis. The nemesis has been effectively neutered. The bull has lost his horns.

Here's a thread where I wrote about some of Djokovic's tactical play against Nadal. We can see now that tactically speaking…he has the bull by the horns.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/showthread.php?t=2378&highlight=djokovic+nadal+patterns

[klacr]

Wam Bam Thank you Ma'am. All Novak.

Destruction. Novak getting 2016 started with a statement.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

"The Loser's Edge"?

Well Played Phil. Well Played.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton