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Some questions answered tomorrow. Nadal vs RBA, Zverev vs FAA, Thiem vs Klizan, Tsitsipas vs Kukushkin, Struff vs Grigor. Novak was fortunate to get past the always tough Kohlschreiber today.
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looking forward to today. lots of good matches. -
Nadal and his forehand put a physically painful beat down on RBA, who had no answers for the onslaught.Comment
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Grigor gets a nice win over Struff, playing a very good match. His reward, Nadal in the next round.Comment
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Impressive win by Nadal against Agut, who is no pushover. 6-1,6-1 is incredible..Comment
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Wake me up for Stuttgart.Comment
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Medvedev with a very big win over Tsitsipas. I guess he joins Thiem, Tsitsipas, and I guess Zverev as guys who may one day win the FO. The only thing that is going to beat Nadal on clay is age, but it is coming. Clay is so physical, he has to be getting close. When the time comes, he will always have those 11-14 FO Titles to look back on fondly.Last edited by stroke; 04-18-2019, 04:17 AM.Comment
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lol, this forum needs a way to hide spoilers :POriginally posted by stroke View Post
how did med beat tsit? will check out the match on replay later today.Comment
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Fabulous Fabio has a good win against Zerev. Zerev looked clueless in the 2nd set. Foginini is dangerous when concentrated...Comment
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love fabio... but honestly, i'm expecting him to self destruct at any time... definitely a good win for him.Originally posted by gzhpcu View PostComment
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Medvedev just simply out steadied Novak in winning the 1st set 6-3. Interesting match.Comment
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I have always felt like Fabio has the game win Masters 1000's on clay and even the FO. Love his forehand. But I doubt he will ever do either.Originally posted by nytennisaddict View Post
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Yeah...but now Djokovic is getting down to business. A player that has experienced confidence in the extreme that Djokovic has in the past losing the first set just makes him play with a bit more seriously. With a little more intent. On the other hand a player with the inexperience such as Medvedev in winning in these kind of situations it becomes a matter of finishing things. Getting the horse in the barn. In this case he will find Djokovic very stubborn if he is resisting.Originally posted by stroke View Post
Daniil will have to step it up in these situations. He is getting more and more looks at them and he is going to have to find a way to break through. I have a tough time seeing these types of players winning Grand Slam events as they can look like gang busters one match and then clueless in the next. Witness how Roger Federer makes Medvedev look completely clueless in some of their matches.
Medvedev does not seem to have that dominating serve and his motion looks somehow homemade to me. This is the problem with homemade service motions...the question becomes how will it stand up to pressure and fatigue. Medvedev was able to establish and maintain pressure on Djokovic for a set but he wasn't able to sustain it into the second set. So the question becomes what does he have left in the bag for the third. We know what Djokovic is capable of.
I've always like "Fabulous" Fognini but is it that his Italian temperament keeps him from breaking boundaries? Has he set a limit on his level of success? Italian players in the past had that kind of reputation of not being able to hold it together emotionally from start to finish. Fognini shows signs of brilliance but he always shows a certain vulnerability to the big show in the end. I like him in this position though. Borna "Born Again" Coric is going to be a tough ask for Fabio. Borna is another who is showing some signs of perhaps achieving another level but often stumbles on the precipice. I would like to see a Nadal versus Fognini semi as Fognini doesn't seem to have either the fear or the respect for Nadal that others seem to. The best case scenario for this tournament would probably be a repeat of the usual Nadal versus Djokovic final. It seems inevitable historically that they will meet.Originally posted by stroke View Post
Dusan Lajovic is the first into the semis. He took out Lorenzo Sonego who exemplified the "Italian Psych" in the quarters. He was even with Lajovic right to the end of the second set when he conveniently and quietly folded his cards. He didn't have the stomach for the fight.
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Well that was impressive by Medvedev. It looked like Novak just could not figure out what to do with him in the 3rd set. Both were playing the battle of attrition and Medvedev out steadied him. Medvedev's 2 handed backhand seems the equal to Novak's, and that is saying a lot. The Medvedev forehand is certainly not easy on the eyes and no one is going to be studying his technique, but it seems to get through the court very well even though it appears to not have much topspin. A bit of Florien Mayer type forehand to me. And his serve is not particularly good for a tall guy, no where close to Nick or Milos, or even Thiem for that matter. His movement on clay for a tall guy is as good as I have seen, as good as Tsitsipas to me. He is definitely in the mix for a big clay court breakthrough. It will be very interesting to see how he deals with Nadal, who takes players to areas of the court that no one else does.Last edited by stroke; 04-20-2019, 01:41 AM.Comment
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