Rodgers Cup

[stroke]

These 1000's are brutal. I have often felt that they are every bit as tough to win as Majors. 1st round, Grigor vs Stan, the winner to play Khachanov. Nadal looks to get the demon in the 2nd. Tsitsipas looks to play Fritz in the 2nd. FAA and Raonic could play in 2nd. Tsonga already out in 1st round to Struff. Nick if he wins 1st round, to play Medvedev. Theim to probably play Shapovalov in 2nd. Qualifier Tomic gets RBA in 1st(not a good match up for the rope a dope thing).

[don_budge]

1st round, Grigor vs Stan...

Good match in response to questions about Grigor Dimitrov from arturohernandez. Wawrinka posed to serve out the set at 40-15 but Dimitrov has added a fascinating wrinkle. He is sporting a bandanna. Something he should have tried years ago. Nice guy or not. Grow the hair a bit Bro. Loosen up and get just a bit wild. He needs to let it hang out more.

[stroke]

Stan wins 1st set 6-4 with one break. Grigor has 5 double faults. Grigor is an easy on the eye player, but bottom line, he has no shot that matches the guy the his game resembles, Fed. I love Stan's serve for a 6 feet and under guy.

[don_budge]

Good match in response to questions about Grigor Dimitrov from arturohernandez. Wawrinka posed to serve out the set at 40-15 but Dimitrov has added a fascinating wrinkle. He is sporting a bandanna. Something he should have tried years ago. Nice guy or not. Grow the hair a bit Bro. Loosen up and get just a bit wild. He needs to let it hang out more.

"Stanamite" gets a lot of attention for his thunderous backhand but he really pounds on the forehand. Just rocks it and leans on it whenever he gets his feet under him. The backhand is just a thunder bolt as well. Stanamite...a new form of dynamite.

[don_budge]

Stan wins 1st set 6-4 with one break. Grigor has 5 double faults. Grigor is an easy on the eye player, but bottom line, he has no shot that matches the guy the his game resembles, Fed. I love Stan's serve for a 6 feet and under guy.

Yeah...he needs a bit of the pirate in him. Rough it up a bit.

[stroke]

"Stanamite" gets a lot of attention for his thunderous backhand but he really pounds on the forehand. Just rocks it and leans on it whenever he gets his feet under him. The backhand is just a thunder bolt as well. Stanamite...a new form of dynamite.

I completely agree. There is no player on tour that exemplifies the nowhere to go forehand vs backhand like Stan. His forehand is slightly better than his backhand, but the slightly is the slightest on tour to me. Except Gasquet, whose backhand is actually better than his forehand, but totality, Stan is the man.

[stotty]

Tomic tried just hard enough so as not to lose his prize money this time it seems. I think he's trying to make an art of it. Good job it’s not Stotty arbitrating that one because if it were he’d be flying home with nothing. How unlucky is Australia right now having not one but two plonkers at the helm in the same era. Rod and Ken must be beside themselves watching the debacle. At least Lew is spared having to witness it.

[stroke]

Tomic tried just hard enough so as not to lose his prize money this time it seems. I think he's trying to make an art of it. Good job it’s not Stotty arbitrating that one because if it were he’d be flying home with nothing. How unlucky is Australia right now having not one but two plonkers at the helm in the same era. Rod and Ken must be beside themselves watching the debacle. At least Lew is spared having to witness it.

Ha on Lew, so true. Tomic had a nightmare 1st round matchup against RBA, a complete professional who is getting the most out of his potential. Tomic and Nick are something. It is almost hard to say who is wasting more of their potential. I actually think they both had the game to get hot enough to get to #1. Nick and his serve the more obvious potential. And Tomic being clearly a less natural athlete than Nick and his obvious lack of training by today's standard are definitely a factor.

[gzhpcu]

Nick lost, but not too surprising. He had a great run in Washington. Felix hung tough against Poposil, Raonic next. Poor guy has to play his compatriots...

[stroke]

Evans really played well vs Nadal with 26 winners vs 20 errors for the match, but to no avail. Nadal's numbers were even better, and the Nadal forehand was the difference maker. Massive rpm differential between the forehands for the match.

[don_budge]

Happy 38th Roger. Roger is out there somewhere celebrating his birthday with his kids and wife. In the back of his mind he is preparing to comeback once again to the tour at some point. I suspect Cincinnatti for a bit of a warm up before the big one. The 2019 U. S. Open.

[don_budge]

Evans really played well vs Nadal with 26 winners vs 20 errors for the match, but to no avail. Nadal's numbers were even better, and the Nadal forehand was the difference maker. Massive rpm differential between the forehands for the match.

I watched some of the first set and the tie-breaker. I really, really like that Daniel Evans. First of all he is bouncing back from some bad choices or mistakes he has made on his journey...none of which I am in a position to judge him for. But I really admire his pluck. I love the white clothes and the classic game. Against Nadal he alone has shown the way to play him and that is to take control of the tempo of the match. Dictate play. He served and volleyed. He charged the net. He snuck into the net. He did it behind some clever approach shots and he made Nadal play in the forecourt as well. He didn't manage to get the horse in the barn in the first set but he had set point. Secondly he easily defeated The Demon who personally I find to be very difficult to watch.

Daniel is not quite enough of a "physical presence" to intimidate Nadal but I believe that if someone was trained and capable of these kind of tactics it would be successful against the likes of both Nadal and Djokovic. Of course it would help if the courts weren't playing like molasses in winter. Rather entertaining set from Mr. Evans. I wonder if he went out and had a couple of cocktails afterwards. Or is he plotting a course on the straight and narrow?

[stroke]

This FAA vs Khachanov is pretty much the immediate future of tennis without the 3 greatest, Fed, Nadal. and Novak. It is great tennis, great shotmaking, but not beautiful like Fed, no Nadal forehands on tap, and no Novak clinical perfection. If those 3 were 20 again, it would be the same ol for the next 15 years.

[stotty]

I joined the FAA and Kachanov match from 3-3 in the second. From the point I joined it, it seemed a terrible, error-strewn match if ever there was one. FAA served loads of double faults and was shanking balls left right and centre. His work inside the baseline, though, when he got the chance, was impressive. He shows signs of being lethal in that department. Other than that it was a disappointing game, to put it mildly.

[don_budge]

I watched some of the first set and the tie-breaker. I really, really like that Daniel Evans. First of all he is bouncing back from some bad choices or mistakes he has made on his journey...none of which I am in a position to judge him for. But I really admire his pluck. I love the white clothes and the classic game. Against Nadal he alone has shown the way to play him and that is to take control of the tempo of the match. Dictate play. He served and volleyed. He charged the net. He snuck into the net. He did it behind some clever approach shots and he made Nadal play in the forecourt as well. He didn't manage to get the horse in the barn in the first set but he had set point. Secondly he easily defeated The Demon who personally I find to be very difficult to watch.

Daniel is not quite enough of a "physical presence" to intimidate Nadal but I believe that if someone was trained and capable of these kind of tactics it would be successful against the likes of both Nadal and Djokovic. Of course it would help if the courts weren't playing like molasses in winter. Rather entertaining set from Mr. Evans. I wonder if he went out and had a couple of cocktails afterwards. Or is he plotting a course on the straight and narrow?

I have tried unsuccessfully to watch a number of the matches at this ATP 1000 event. The match between Daniel Evans and Fafa Nadal has been the only match that held my attention for more than a few points. It ain't a tournament if Roger Federer is not in the house. This is Roger's birthday week so he has other plans. But the tournament suffers and this is a glimpse of the post Federer era of tennis. I tried to watch a bit of Alexander Zverev this evening here in Sweden and I got to the point early on where I just shut it off. He broke his racquet to smithereens and it's tough to watch such a talented young man imploding on himself.

There has been a lot of criticism on this forum about Nick Kyrgios and undoubtably much of it is warranted. His behaviour is tough to defend. I don't see him ever in a Grand Slam final. Or will he? The sheer mediocre nature of the game today may just open the door for a guy like Nick if he just can keep it together for two weeks and keep his nose to the grindstone. But it isn't going to happen. He was so over joyed at the prospect of winning last week in Washington he just opted out of this tournament without a fight.

Zverev is another story altogether. A psychological case study in how not to manage expectations. He has been falling regularly in events against players he is regularly ranked higher than. A couple of wins in meaningless tournaments elevated his to his rock star status way before he was ready for it and now he is smashing racquets rather regularly. Is that supposed to be entertaining? It isn't...and his petulance is a real turn off.

It seems that Stefanos Tsitsipas has found the going much tougher since he has developed a rather large target on his back as well. Now instead of being the young up and comer underdog he is in the very same position that Alexander Zverev found himself after a couple of tournament wins. Tsitsipas continues to struggle to find any consistency in his performance in a week to week basis. So much of this game is mental. Young guys experiencing some "premature" success are becoming poster boys for dysfunctional tennis. But unfortunately this is what the tour is when Roger is not in the house. The level sinks noticeably. Just by his sheer presence he brings a class to tournaments. The draw is that much more interesting just because he is in it. But his star power is wavering. The last performance at Wimbledon has left tennis with a hangover that it is trying to shake. It doesn't bode well for the future of the game.