2019 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament...ATP 500...Rotterdam, Netherlands

[don_budge]

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/rotterdam/407/draws?matchtype=singles

It's sort of a tournament. Stefan Tsitsipas in the house but one wonders about his state of mind right now. How is he going to react to the shellacking that Rafael Nadal gave him after hypnotising him with the bouncy, bouncy, bouncy....you know the act. The one where he not only dictates play but every other little thing that goes on the court. He's obsessive/compulsive and his act is wearing thin. But Stefanos has another problem immediately in front of his nose in the person of Damir Dzumhur. You know...there are some names that you never seem to get used to.

In the post Nadal interview Stefanos recalled another time when he felt as if he was under hypnosis and coincidentally or not Nadal had a hand in that experience as well. If only indirectly. The last and only time that Tsitsipas played Dzumhur (I got it right on the first try here) it was in Gay Paris. Gay meaning "frivolously happy" here. Not in the you know what sense...not that there is anything wrong with that as Jerry Seinfeld might say to George Costanza. But immediately before playing Dzumhur in Paris the last time he practiced with Nadal and that sort of left him feeling dopey as well. What did Tsitsipas say...Nadal can make you play bad...that is a talent. Something to that effect.

But nothing of the sort will be going on here and it is way to early to even be speaking about Tsitsipas. I am going to have to give him a rest and make him restart. You know...you are only as good as your last miracle. Too many expectations are on this kid's shoulders right now. I can almost feel it and what's more...that service motion needs to be tweaked. Ok...I have spoken of frictionless serving and this implies a total lack of tension and excess relaxation. Just aim and fire letting the motion dictate everything based on inertia...and gravity. When things get tight and dicey...the serving gets even better. It will be fascinating to watch now as Stefanos must get grounded in a hurry. He doesn't want to get that permanent "deer in the headlights" look that poor Alexander Zverev has.

But there are a ton of excellent matches and players in the draw. Daniil Medvedev is one of them. He is a guy to watch. I am not real crazy about his style or lack of style. But this guy is getting tougher and tougher. I'll check back sooner or later. But right now Jerry Seinfeld is in the house. Gotta go now.

[stroke]

Mededev forehand is most unusual by today's standard, certainly not the ATP type 3 fh. Kinda like Florian Mayer, a quirky looking fh. But his bh is about solid as it gets, he seems to never miss on that side. And he moves well, deceptively well. Speaking of players that have hit a bump in the road, Khachanov lost in the first round again. He too is struggling with the increased expectations.

The NY Open is also going on this week. Tomic plays Isner tonight. Isner is the #1 seed there. I still have not given up on Tomic. I like his game a lot.

[stroke]

Stefanos goes out 1st round. Shapovalov really bossed Berdych around out there in 2 sets.

[don_budge]

Match Play Tactics and Tennis Psychology...From the book of Bill Tilden

Mededev forehand is most unusual by today's standard, certainly not the ATP type 3 fh. Kinda like Florian Mayer, a quirky looking fh. But his bh is about solid as it gets, he seems to never miss on that side. And he moves well, deceptively well. Speaking of players that have hit a bump in the road, Khachanov lost in the first round again. He too is struggling with the increased expectations.

Stefanos goes out 1st round. Shapovalov really bossed Berdych around out there in 2 sets.

Match Play Tactics and Tennis Psychology is the title for Part 3 in Bill Tilden's "How to Play Better Tennis: a complete guide to technique and tactics and the names of the chapters are as follows:

Courage
Exploiting Your Opponent's Weaknesses
General Tactics and Strategy
Outside Conditions
Maintaining Pressure on Your Opponent
Doubles and Mixed Doubles

It's a fascinating book. Written circa 1950 or so. Ancient history in today's modern world that rejects anything older than yesterday as antiquated. Scoffed at. Hmphfff. It's ok...it's a "Brave New World". But to just contemplate the words in the titles leads a person to understand that there is much more to this game than "technique" which is the topic of the day. It has been for a while. Service motions that "it doesn't matter how you get there (hesitation/probation position) as long as you get there. Of course it matters how you get there. It matters how we got here. But does anybody really understand how we did? Can you connect the dots of the falling dominoes? In all likelihood the answer is "huh"...or "duh". Idiot.

But we can see how it is a process and this process now has a huge stumbling block built into it that sort of causes a major "brain fart" once a player starts to get off the ground and begins to fly. He starts to question his ability to fly because of the huge and many times unwarranted expectations that take the shape of a huge target with a bullseye in the middle of the back for the other players.

I fall into this trap as well as a stylish player such as Stefanos Tsitsipas seems to be taking the lead in the race of the "Next Generation". But he is not impervious to the trap either and now he seems to be mired in the same development valley that Alexander Zverev fell into. It's a pit no less and one that is a real brain teaser. The harder you try to dig your way out...the deeper you dig yourself in. We shall see how young Tsitsipas fares in the future but as for now I am putting him in "PROBATION"...until further notice. Until he demonstrates that he can routinely handle players that are ranked in the 30 to 60 range. You see...these guys are unbelievably hungry. A strange phenomenon occurs once you encroach the top twenty after a long struggle...you let up. It's psychological. As Bill Tilden wrote. All in the noodle. All in the game.

So Stefanos stumbles and Daniil Medvedev is climbing. After winning last week Medvedev did exactly what he needed to do yesterday and that was to dispatch an opponent like Jeremy Chardy touts suite. No muss...no fuss. Medvedev lives to play another day and he lives to play Fernando Verdasco. The problem with these young guns is staying in the moment. The problem with these young guns is if there is a weakness in there game and one player learns to export it the others catch on real quick. Daniil is a bit of a mystery as it doesn't appear that anyone has latched on to his real weakness. The forehand looks a bit gimmicky but it holds up and the backhand is solid as a...well we'll see just how solid it is. The serve? A bit quirky too. But mentally this guy has a better handle on things than some of the other young guns. He seems pretty darn tough.

Denis "The Menace" Shapovalov once again is on the radar screen with a win over former top tennis Tomas Berdych. Berdych has shown some signs of resurrection but as yet there is nothing to write home about. It has all been pretty inconclusive. When the rubber met the road he folded against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open but he is doing a pretty neat job with some of the lesser players as of late. He is coming back from injury and he is also that much older. Shapovalov is nipping at the heels of the old guard with youth alone. I don't know what is upstairs with this kid. A lot of talent but what does he have in terms of Courage? Exploiting an opponent's weaknesses? Maintaining pressure on an opponent?

So this tournament has sunk into the pit of the post Federer era in tennis. There really isn't a lot to hope for. Somehow all of the players are "incomplete". Unless you fall for the hype. But here's an interesting match and it comes out of the most interesting part of the draw. Stan Wawrinka versus none other than Denis "The Menace". Shapovalov won the maiden voyage between the two but that was a little inconclusive as well. Wawrinka on his way back from injury. The win over Milos Raonic in straight sets should have a positive effect on Stan but it remains to be seen if he can return to "Stanimal" form. I never did fall into the trap of calling him "Stanimal". He is or was capable of great heights but at the same time capable of great mediocrity. Here against "The Menace" there should be something that gets his hair up on the back of his neck. A young gun that own a one to nothing head to head against him. If that doesn't piss him off just a little then he is flat lining...as a player.

Mr. Weiner? Do you follow? Was that a bad word?

[bottle]

Match Play Tactics and Tennis Psychology...From the book of Bill Tilden



Mr. Weiner? Do you follow? Was that a bad word?

My name is Mr. Escher, not Mr. Weiner, but I certainly do appreciate your effort to call me a sexual deviant.

I advise you to stop this unless you want to hear me call you Mr. N. The reason I would do so would be more than simple revenge just as it always was when I did so with regularity, referring to specific N behaviors each time and never doing so in a cavalier or surface way. Very simply, there was a year or more in which one couldn't really separate about half of your assertions from those of Donald Trump. To your credit, you finally admitted that maybe he wasn't an ideal human being although you did so with seeming reluctance and pain.

You can kid me if you want but please don't bait me in the superficial way of Donald Trump. Let's just get to something substantial right now. Where do you stand on the issue of separating children from their mothers? That is N. behavior that happened often in the N. era of the history of Germany. I've never heard you oppose such separations, but if you do, I'm glad.

My question has to do with humanity, not politics.

[don_budge]

Seriously you are an idiot. Just to take a momentary break from ignoring you. What the hell are you talking about? Mr. Weiner was the guy who complained about my post about the "sandwich between Hingis and Graff" in the Martina Hingis forehand thread. I don't know anything about your sex life and don't give a twit about anything about you. I will keep my personal feelings about you to myself. I go back to ignoring you. Don't care about your rambling hallucinations of the President of the United States of America. MAGA!!! Jerk.

[don_budge]

You can kid me if you want but please don't bait me in the superficial way of Donald Trump. Let's just get to something substantial right now. Where do you stand on the issue of separating children from their mothers?

My question has to do with humanity, not politics.

Let me put to you this way...none of your fucking business.

[bottle]

Let me put to you this way...none of your fucking business.

Thanks for the answer. Too bad it's so revealing.

[bottle]

The Weiner I refer to is Anthony Weiner, the guy who sent nude photos of himself to girls on the web. Don't know nuthin about some other Weiner. You tell me this second Weiner guy complained about something you wrote. Well, that's interesting. I can understand that. But you can't always assume I follow every word you write. Any more than I can assume, I guess, that when you say "Mr. Weiner" you mean "Mr. Escher" although both names have six letters in them, and you've been very fond of allusion in the past, and when you say you're ignoring me you're usually not. (I could produce evidence.)

[don_budge]

Daniil Medvedev has the latest post position in the off to the races "Next Generation" race. He has now dispatched #35 in Jeremy Chardy and #26 Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. Real routine matches. Right after a Tour victory the week before in Sofia, Bulgaria. Next up appears to be one Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who was another winner of a Tour event in Montpellier, France. This is a huge match to get a measure on the pulse of Medvedev. Tsonga is only ranked #114 at the present time but he has improved by leaps and bounds since the Australian Open and is getting back to his form he had before the injury. So many top players returning from injury. We should be making a log of their progress. Medvedev has the most wins of the young 2019 season on tour with 12.

Interesting listening to the commentators regarding the Medvedev game and his rise on the Tour. Soon there is going to be the huge rush to hype this young man. He seems to sort of escaped it so far for some reason. He isn't that flashy. He doesn't have the Rock Star looks of Tsitsipas and Zverev. He looks like "Mr. Pencil" with a goatee and moustache. The commentators were with stroke on the anomaly of the forehand. But I had a really good look at it in the warmup and it didn't look so unorthodox at all. The tip leaning forwards in the backswing...the setting of the racquet down to commence the forward motion. The one thing that I noticed is that it doesn't seem to set in front of him as maybe the Roger Federer version. But it didn't appear to be any sort of hindrance or weakness in the Verdasco match. He had Fernando on a leash and kept him at bay the entire match. It was pretty impressive if not rather low key. He is a bit like Djokovic in the sense that he is an absorber and particularly on the backhand he can neutralise from very defensive positions. He is not very motivated to attack the net. The serve seems to be a possible limiting factor. At least in terms of potential. The motion looks to be a bit home made and one wonders how much potential there is in such a motion.

This is a rather smart customer as he just seems to be in the moment. After winning last week you might expect a letdown or a stumble. But he did just what he had to do...he survived the first two rounds and now he is getting his legs back under him so expect to see him battle Tsonga in the next round.

Damir Dzumhur (got it on the first try) made nice work of Mikhail Kukushkin. Dzumhur ranked #53 and Kukushkin at #56. Straight sets to Dzumhur with nary a stumble. This is the key for a guy like Stefanos Tsitsipas...he has to be able to go out and put a lot of pressure on players ranked in this neighbourhood. But the serve just seems to be a bit spotty and a tad unreliable. At least it is not the ultra weaponised serve that it can be. He should be the type of player to just dominate his service game and put a maximum of pressure on his opponent in this regard. As it is he is not. At the same time he is not the most aggressive returner either so his game is a work in progress and I hope that the expectations do not give him that look that Alexander Zverev has about him now. Dzumhur gets "The Amazing Mr. Monfils" next who just happens to be the player that took Stefanos out last week. Just connecting the dots. Duh said the Dodo.

It would be nice to see Stan Wawrinka return to "Stanimal" form. His is a big match against Denis "The Menace" Shapovalov next. Theirs was the most interesting section of the draw I think. You had Stan versus Milos Raonic and Denis versus Tomas Berdych. The winner of this section of the draw has come through a tough section and just may be ready to vie for this title.

[bottle]

Duh said the Dodo.

Ah yes, that meeting between Putin and Trump was historic. The context you have presented asserts greatness! Not exactly the read of sensible persons.

You need to let more stuff go.

Oh sorry. Silly me. I didn't say "duh." I said "huh?" And I say it again.

[arturohernandez]

Anybody watching Stanimal vs. Robobackhandman. Two six footers with 1hbh's going toe-to-toe. Great stuff. Feels so last century to me. Shapovalov is going to be really good. Much more aggressive inside the court than any of the other next gen. Stan is my sleeper to puncture a hole in Djokovic's calendar year slam plans.

[arturohernandez]

Stan is my sleeper to puncture a hole in Djokovic's calendar year slam plans.

Glad to see him back!