2018 BNP Paribas Open...ATP 1000...Indian Wells, United States

[don_budge]

Watching both Fritz/Coric and Chung/Cuevas. Coric and Chung nearly simultaneously concluded their sets at the very same time. Both winning easily.

[tennis_chiro]

Watching both Fritz/Coric and Chung/Cuevas. Coric and Chung nearly simultaneously concluded their sets at the very same time. Both winning easily.

Coric was down break point at 4-4, 30-40 in the third set before getting it together and winning the match in the next game on his 4th match point. Chung won 11 of the first 12 games against Cuevas before blinking and dropping 3 games and then closing it out 6-1, 6-3.

A few months ago, I thought Coric was the most mature players of the crop of NextGen upstarts and then Zverev really impressed me and then Shapapolov, but now I think Chung is clearly way ahead of all of them, except in the service department. To me, that is the easiest thing to fix (if you know how) because the ball is in your hand. But I would especially make the point for d_b, I think Chung has the best technique around the net of that group. However, he is not eager enough to take advantage of it. The best in that regard is clearly Shapavolov, but he is about 3 years away.

Chung made Cuevas look overmatched today (although Cuevas definitely was helping with unforced errors). He answered Berdych's big shots with even bigger shots. I think he may actually be in the top ten by the time Roland Garos is finished if not before. I'm not really sure how his second serve will hold up on clay. And I think he is likely to be the next new number one after Roger and Rafa step aside, although Del Potro could have something to say about that if he stays healthy and his backhand keeps improving.

A healthy Chung against Federer tomorrow night will be a major preview of things to come. Let's hope the winds let it be a contest of tennis skills. I'm afraid the wind will blow Chung's second serve into the second row. Big edge for Roger, but it won't tell us much about the true nature of the young interloper's development. The forecast is clear, but with 17 mph winds. It can get pretty nasty in a hurry in the desert.

don

[tennis_chiro]

Just got done watching Osaka embarrass Pliskova. We don't talk about the women much here, but she is special. Don't remember ever being quite as impressed by a woman player. Hits big, moves very well - perhaps as well as anyone at her height if not better, hits big on the move, and hits well off balls hit big at her. Her technique is excellent. Only drawback is she is a littte too deliberate on the service toss and that will hurt her under pressure. Even her volley technique is ok, but she doesn't go near the net unless absolutely necessary. That could easily improve. She is 5' 11" tall and fit and only 20. She'll play Halep in the semis and that will be a great test of whether she has really arrived or not. Do yourself a favor and check her out!

don

[don_budge]

A few months ago, I thought Coric was the most mature players of the crop of NextGen upstarts and then Zverev really impressed me and then Shapapolov, but now I think Chung is clearly way ahead of all of them, except in the service department. To me, that is the easiest thing to fix (if you know how) because the ball is in your hand. But I would especially make the point for d_b, I think Chung has the best technique around the net of that group. However, he is not eager enough to take advantage of it. The best in that regard is clearly Shapavolov, but he is about 3 years away.

Chung made Cuevas look overmatched today (although Cuevas definitely was helping with unforced errors). He answered Berdych's big shots with even bigger shots. I think he may actually be in the top ten by the time Roland Garos is finished if not before. I'm not really sure how his second serve will hold up on clay. And I think he is likely to be the next new number one after Roger and Rafa step aside, although Del Potro could have something to say about that if he stays healthy and his backhand keeps improving.

don

Hyeon Chung is looking more impressive and against Cuevas he did exactly what he needed to do as you mentioned in the first 12 games. It was full on maintenance of pressure. Cuevas didn't get his legs into the match curiously until it was over at 6-1, 5-0...then he started to crank. Chung is pretty darn good around the net and his approach game though rudimentary looks to be something that could be developed. But I don't see him being much more than a baseliner with the opportunistic nose for the net...when it is handed to him. This is different than having a real nose for the net in old school classic terms. Even Federer does not have a nose for the net...although he once did. These guys are not looking to create those type of opportunities it seems.

The serve is not so much a factor in that Chung does not play to win by the serve. The key just might be to how well Roger serves. The thing about the all court game...it goes as the serve goes. So it goes with Roger it seems. Much has been made in the improvement of his backhand...but I think the real key to his success has been his serve. His ability to hold serve quickly...no muss, no fuss is paramount to his game plan now. If he can win his serve in around a minutes time as he does quite frequently then he can go to work immediately on his opponents serve and start to look for cracks. To fray the nerves and it wears on his opponents.

Chung's backhand up the line is another key for him to play Roger tough. If he can get Roger from camping out on his backhand side and force him off of that position he might be able to get to the backhand by getting to the forehand first. But it's a dangerous play. Even more dangerous than playing to a Berdych down the line because you are hitting into the Federer forehand which is just as much folly as hitting into Nadal's forehand. But it has been shown that it can be done. Djokovic was the first to move Nadal over a bit from camping out on his backhand side and now Federer has picked up on it as well. This is a cat and mouse game. Who is going to be the cat is the question?

Coric looked pretty tough and didn't lose his composure as Fritz fought his way back into the match. Fritz doesn't have anything in his game...like a Federer forehand or serve...that can dominate. Keep your eyes on Del Potro as well. Thanks for your comments tennis_chiro.

[stroke]

Coric was down break point at 4-4, 30-40 in the third set before getting it together and winning the match in the next game on his 4th match point. Chung won 11 of the first 12 games against Cuevas before blinking and dropping 3 games and then closing it out 6-1, 6-3.

A few months ago, I thought Coric was the most mature players of the crop of NextGen upstarts and then Zverev really impressed me and then Shapapolov, but now I think Chung is clearly way ahead of all of them, except in the service department. To me, that is the easiest thing to fix (if you know how) because the ball is in your hand. But I would especially make the point for d_b, I think Chung has the best technique around the net of that group. However, he is not eager enough to take advantage of it. The best in that regard is clearly Shapavolov, but he is about 3 years away.

Chung made Cuevas look overmatched today (although Cuevas definitely was helping with unforced errors). He answered Berdych's big shots with even bigger shots. I think he may actually be in the top ten by the time Roland Garos is finished if not before. I'm not really sure how his second serve will hold up on clay. And I think he is likely to be the next new number one after Roger and Rafa step aside, although Del Potro could have something to say about that if he stays healthy and his backhand keeps improving.

A healthy Chung against Federer tomorrow night will be a major preview of things to come. Let's hope the winds let it be a contest of tennis skills. I'm afraid the wind will blow Chung's second serve into the second row. Big edge for Roger, but it won't tell us much about the true nature of the young interloper's development. The forecast is clear, but with 17 mph winds. It can get pretty nasty in a hurry in the desert.

don

I too think Chung will hit the top 10 during the clay court swing. I think he is a true contender for the FO. Of course, Nadal if he is somewhat fit is the favorite but I would put Chung in the next 2 or 3 after him. Roger is looking so good out there. As we all know, he is just the best tennis player and his mental game is just so strong. I have always gone back and forth about who has the best forehand, Nadal or Roger, but on anything other than clay, it would be hard not to give Roger the nod. And his backhand now is just so good. I would never have imagined saying a couple of years ago that his one hander was the best one hander in tennis, but that is what it looks like now. I always felt that he needed to go to a 98-100 square inch racquet and it would help his game, but I did not think it would have made quite the difference in his backhand it seems to have done.

[stotty]

Hyeon Chung is looking more impressive and against Cuevas he did exactly what he needed to do as you mentioned in the first 12 games. It was full on maintenance of pressure. Cuevas didn't get his legs into the match curiously until it was over at 6-1, 5-0...then he started to crank. Chung is pretty darn good around the net and his approach game though rudimentary looks to be something that could be developed. But I don't see him being much more than a baseliner with the opportunistic nose for the net...when it is handed to him. This is different than having a real nose for the net in old school classic terms. Even Federer does not have a nose for the net...although he once did. These guys are not looking to create those type of opportunities it seems.

A healthy Chung against Federer tomorrow night will be a major preview of things to come. Let's hope the winds let it be a contest of tennis skills. I'm afraid the wind will blow Chung's second serve into the second row. Big edge for Roger, but it won't tell us much about the true nature of the young interloper's development. The forecast is clear, but with 17 mph winds. It can get pretty nasty in a hurry in the desert.

don

I too think Chung will hit the top 10 during the clay court swing. I think he is a true contender for the FO. Of course, Nadal if he is somewhat fit is the favorite but I would put Chung in the next 2 or 3 after him.

Let's just hope for a competitive game and that Chung can play his best. It would be good for tennis if one of these guys can break through.

At the moment we have a new crop of players who aren't quite there yet, and bunch of older guys who psychologically beaten before they walk on court. Expect Roger to keep moping up titles while the other BIG 3 are in the doldrums and the rest of the tour remains in slow transition.

[don_budge]

At the moment we have a new crop of players who aren't quite there yet, and bunch of older guys who psychologically beaten before they walk on court. Expect Roger to keep moping up titles while the other BIG 3 are in the doldrums and the rest of the tour remains in slow transition.

Culmination point...post Roger Federer Era. Well put stotty...couldn't have said it better myself. Enjoy the match today...Roger Federer vs. Anybody (Hyeon Chung).

[stroke]

No doubt Fed will be missed, and like Michael Jordan, will be remembered as the greatest of all time. I am not nearly the NBA fan I was back in the 80's and 90"s, and I think the NBA is not nearly as watchable as it was then, but it has done fine. The same thing will happen post Fed, the purses will only get bigger and the sport will continue to flourish.

[don_budge]

The stream that I normally watch for free is down. But from live score update on the ATP website...first set to Roger Federer. 7-5. Sounds like an interesting match. I may have to invest in TennisTV. Getting up at 3 AM and not being able to see this is mildly disappointing. But life is too short to dwell on the disappointments...perhaps I'll wake the dog and go out and look at the stars in the sky.

[don_budge]

The stream that I normally watch for free is down. But from live score update on the ATP website...first set to Roger Federer. 7-5. Sounds like an interesting match. I may have to invest in TennisTV. Getting up at 3 AM and not being able to see this is mildly disappointing. But life is too short to dwell on the disappointments...perhaps I'll wake the dog and go out and look at the stars in the sky.

Woke up to some very good news...7-5, 6-1. Glad to see Hyeon finished this time. Barely. Roger giving a good swift kick in the seat of the pants on the way out. It didn't look like Roger had the A game last night and he didn't need it.

Chung played it tough the first set. Nip and tuck. He made a couple of very nice volleys but he missed a bunny on a crucial point. I don't think the serve is that bad. But he is a baseline first...and second and third. He has a great physique and this is what may separate him from some of the bigger baseliners. Those are some really solid tree trunks under him. But I really believe that the future of tennis must have something more to offer than this. Otherwise it is only perpetuating the boredom. The one trick pony show.

[don_budge]

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men Often Go Astray...Borna Coric

I have written a lot about "Next Generation" players being hyped and how it sort of wreaks havoc with their performance psyche. This is an interesting article about Borna Coric and his approach mentally regarding expectations and "setting goals". He has learned something here and his fellow young guns should listen up.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/coric-new-approach-paying-off-indian-wells-2018

[gzhpcu]

Nobody plays like Roger. Undefeated this year!

[don_budge]

A post from days gone by...it almost seems to be in another lifetime. Once upon a time Borna Coric was a rookie with a big upset of Andy Murray at the 2015 Dubai Duty Free and he got caught up in the hype. Way caught up. But Borna has come a long ways and today we will see just exactly what and. how much he has learned. Watch him carefully. From the coin toss to the handshake at the end. This post below from February 18, 2015.

The Sequence of Events …From coin toss to handshake

Borna Coric looked rather impressive but once again it looks as if Andy Murray played as meek as a nice little puddycat. A woman cannot teach a boy to be a man, …can a woman coach a man tennis player? The proof is in the puddy …I'm afraid that it looks as if Andy hasn't looked all that manly as of late.

Federer 6-2, 6-1. Think if Roger hadn't been lethargic...

Yes, very deliberate...and the courts seemed to be a bit on the quick side. Who will he play in the final?

Clinic by Federer over the young 18 year old Coric. Coric spent too much energy on emotion. Pumping fist after every point won. Gesticulating in frustration with every point lost. A roller coaster of emotion that takes his eyes off the execution and onto an outcome he cannot control.

Federer used his full arsenal and got in close to that net. real close. Volleys had some extra bite

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

This forum is a great concept if used as a tool. But of course every invention comes with a curse. I like how I am able to conjure up these quotes from prior posts to support my thoughts and to have a nice running conversation with some rather gentlemanly fellows about all things tennis. There is the potential for logic and clear thinking. But every invention comes with a curse …if you know what I mean.

The sequence of events unfurls like a continental gripped John McEnroe backhand. First we had what appeared to be an awesome display of teenage tennis from Borna Coric as he dismantled the hapless Andy Murray whose lesbian coach Amelie Mauresmo (a lesbian coach for a man on the ATP tour is an anomaly and it deserves a mention and in no way can this be construed as a misogynist remark, it is merely a statement of fact …retardo) could not make the trip to Dubai. She had other things to do… leaving poor little old Andy all by his lonesome and he came up looking really lost.

At the onset of the Roger Federer and Borna Coric match, Borna took his time to come to the ceremonial coin toss but once he got to the toss he was as hyper as a spring Texas pony. He was twirling his racquet like a banshee and he was skipping and hopping up and down …but guess what? It was all a show to impress the old man who was calmly poised almost motionless on the other side of the net. Just watching his opponent as an old and wise cat might watch some stupid mouse who thinks that he is so quick and smart that he might be able to elude the inevitable.

As it turned out Borna won the coin toss and elected to receive further demonstrating to the old man just how cocky he was. You see…, he had beaten Nadal in a previous tournament and now he had taken out another twenty five percent of "The Big Four". He was either so full of himself or drunk from his win over "Hapless" that he forgot to show a little respect. He paid the price and Federer gave him the old fashioned spanking that the upstart so richly deserved. He deserved it for being borderline disrespectful …and for being young and impetuous. Bully for Roger, …he's Australian at heart. At least he used to be coached by Tony Roche back when it mattered most.

Roger gave me the impression that he was lethargic. He fooled me… as he fooled the Croatian upstart. Sometimes Roger doesn't look as if he has it all at his command but he sure can summon the dragon. Yesterday in his first service game he looked to be just a tad vulnerable and with Borna looking so "invincible" it was a little nervous beginning as "The Man" faced a couple of break points before nailing down his first service game. A bit of a nervous start.

But Federer was anything but lethargic after that. He was deliberate or more accurately you might say that he measured every little tiny step and bit of his vast reservoir of talent and experience to concentrate on putting on a laser like dissection of the frenzied teenager. Roger was in a word...…methodical. Unbelievably methodical. He was clinically methodical and it completely unnerved and unraveled the impetuous teenager …reducing him to Teenage Wasteland.

Baba O'Riley (Teenage Wasteland)…The Who 1971*

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH60OQN8Lzc).

It was a clinic just as klacr says…, he summoned the old skills (read fundamentals) that he was brought up on. His serve and volley and his slice backhand and his relentless serving. The fundamentals are inevitable and you cannot escape their essence when you see or witness Federer when he is streaming seamlessly. Beyond the one careless service game in the first set he was immaculate. It was a meaningless match in some respects, …afterall how much could it possibly mean to a person who has won 17 Grand Slam finals and countless other matches…, he has over 1,000 now. But it certainly had his autograph on it...…Roger Federer.

After the match he went to the net just as relaxed and composed as he was for the coin toss and shook the young upstarts hand and patted him on the shoulder. He may has said something to the effect, "Nice match kid...…yawn. Your day is coming...…maybe. You have a long ways to go…...with any luck. But you will never...…I repeat, never ever be the likes of this old war horse. Thanks for the match. You played very nice. See you around."

I wonder too about the courts. They seem to be just a bit quicker and this gives us a glimpse into the future. The sport of tennis has always been subject to swings in styles of play. In the first fifty or seventy years of the sport it had mostly to do with the evolution of the game. Players were always discovering new "wrinkles" in the game and exploited them. Nowadays it is no longer evolution so much as it is engineering. Tinkering with the elements.

*This is a shining example how "Rock" used to roll. Rock has gone the way of modern tennis (except for Roger of course) …impossibly lame and rubber stamped. The Who...…lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon.

[stotty]

Much the same will happen this time. I see nothing in Coric's arsenal that can trouble Federer...nothing.

Only four players who can trouble Federer in this form: one is seriously off form, one whose coach is lauded by everyone but to me is either tactically challenged or on Federer' payroll, and one is just out of a hospital bed. I'll leave you to fill in the dots.

The fourth player, however, is still in the draw. I dislike watching the diplodocus but he is the only player around today who 'could' beat Federer. I was horrified he might lose to Kohlshreiber yesterday as Kohlshreiber has zero chance of beating Federer. Luckily , the diplodocus pulled through. If he can serve well and get his legs under him early in the rallies, then he can beat anyone.

Let's see how things unfold, but at the moment I am thinking of switching to watching the women's tennis for a spell. Some of their games are good to watch and you can never tell who is going to win.

[stroke]

Fed is an almost beyond massive favorite vs Coric. One would have to bet $12 to win $1 betting on Fed.