2020 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships...ATP 500...Dubai, United Arab Imirates

[don_budge]

Novak Djokovic in the house. Yawn. The most boring number one in the world tennis player ever. Seriously...give a choice of watching a Djokovic match against anyone but a handful of players and watching paint dry I would take a nap. Walk the dog. Anything.

On the opposite end of draw is young Stefanos Tsitsipas fresh off of a tournament victory in France. He has his hands full now. He's a bit tired and the wolves are going to be nipping at his heels. He's a hot commodity now and the target on his back is getting to be very large. A big inviting bullseye for all to shoot for. This puts him on tough footing. If he prevails under these conditions he grows leaps and bounds. If he manages to lose to a lower ranked player it isn't the end of the world and he just might plateau a bit.

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/dubai/495/draws

But there is someone else that is worth mentioning and he is actually runner up in the Tennisplayer.net match of the day. That would be Daniel Evans who plays the tempestuous "Fabulous" Fabio Fognini. Such an interesting matchup. Evans now ranked a solid #37 in the world and to those who understand the game of tennis...he is making a bit of a splash. I'm rooting for him all the way. Fognini will be a tough matchup for him. It will be interesting to see what kind of tactics he throws at the handsome and sometimes volatile Italian.

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I have always loved the Fognini forehand, one of the very best in tennis. Monfils, in about as good form as he can be, in draw, but we all know his record vs the big 3. Stefanos probably the best bet to take Novak. Rublev in the draw here also, my dark horse favorite.

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Fognini routines Evans in 1st set, really dominating court position and play. That Fognini forehand with such a compact stroke, like Fed, he seems to never be rushed at all, just comfortably hitting the ball.

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Quite the fighting spirit comeback by Evans, now deep in 3rd set. Fognini in full flight and Evans competing so well. As Nadal might say, next point.

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Quite the hardhat win by Evans over Fabio. Fognini certainly looked the better player but Dan battled about as well as one can.

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Tsitsipas looked very good against a very tough PCB. A very good sign after winning last week tournament.

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Struff get past RBA in 2 tough sets. RBA is a very tough out, and Struff was 0-3 against him going in. Struff hit huge of course but the key to his win was some very good volleying. Just very formidable tennis by Struff. 44 winners in 2 sets.

[don_budge]

Fognini routines Evans in 1st set, really dominating court position and play. That Fognini forehand with such a compact stroke, like Fed, he seems to never be rushed at all, just comfortably hitting the ball.

Quite the fighting spirit comeback by Evans, now deep in 3rd set. Fognini in full flight and Evans competing so well. As Nadal might say, next point.

Quite the hardhat win by Evans over Fabio. Fognini certainly looked the better player but Dan battled about as well as one can.

"Fabulous" Fognini certainly did "routine" Daniel Evans in that first set. Evans never looked like the player that defeats Khachanov and threatened to take the first set from Monfils in France last week. He was down a break in the second when it looked to me that he didn't have an answer for Fognini. I actually thought Evans was playing rather poorly...he didn't look sharp at all. As good as Fognini's forehand is, it was the backhand that seemed to be doing the most damage.

From what I read Evans won five of the last six games in the second set and toughed it out in the third. This is a tremendous win for Britain's number one player and the last couple of weeks has confirmed that this guy is to be taken seriously. My question is what adjustments did he make to come back? Looking forwards to seeing him in the next round against the darling of some on the forum here...Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

[don_budge]

Another precarious hanging in the balance win for Daniel Evans. He's making inroads. Next up...Andrei Rublev. A stern test. Evans definitely did not look good against Fognini at the beginning of the match. But that's the thing about tennis...it is often not how you start, it's how you finish. He hung around and dragged the match out long enough until he could deliver the final cut. I try to impress this on any tennis student. If you are outgunned you have to find a way to take the big guns out of your opponents hands.

I wish I could have seen how Evans turned it around. What did he do when he was outgunned against "Fabulous" Fabio? I want to venture a guess that he sliced and diced his way back into the match. I didn't see this in the beginning. He tried to exchange the big shots with Fognini. Fognini looked very sharp. His backhand was really cooking...hitting numerous winners with it.

Great test for Evans. Much has been made of his serving out a suspension for using drugs. But these were "recreational" drugs and not PED's. They are of little concern to me as an individual has the right to derail themselves with stupid choices. There is the matter of legality...so the matter rests. I love a guy who can get knocked down and then get up...dust himself off and get back into the fray. Life is like that. So are tennis matches. Metaphors.

Finally a Brit you can actually like and pull for.

[don_budge]

Tsitsipas looked very good against a very tough PCB. A very good sign after winning last week tournament.

A very good sign indeed. The best of signs now that he has secured his second straight set win over another quality opponent. He is all business and keeping his nose to the grindstone. Stefanos is showing "signs" of some of the hallmarks that champions are made of. Here is another big modern game player...Jan-Lennard Struff. Struff has beaten young Tsitsipas two out of three including the last two times they have played. Another big stepping stone for the Greek. Each match takes on its own significance as he climbs the ladder. As he eats his way up the food chain. He and Evans play back to back.

[glacierguy]

I watched both Dan Evans' matches against Fognini and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Both were tough to watch as Evans wasn't firing on all cylinders. He could easily have lost to PHH having faced 3 match points in the 3rd set tie break (one was a baseline shot from PHH, out on review by 1cm). As for the Fognini match, it seemed to me that Fognini's backhand let him down in the final stages. Evans would have had extra grit thanks to Fognini's behaviour against Andy Murray a while back - payback's a bitch. We didn't see the classic short cross-court slices from Evans, drawing the opponent in, followed by passes; nor the all-out driving forward to the net. It was a bit strange, perhaps because both opponents are capable at the net themselves? I'm hoping the strategy against Rublev will be back to classic Evans. Could be a big win...

[don_budge]

A superb first set from Daniel Evans. He struggled to serve it out...facing down a bunch of break points before finally getting that infernal horse in the barn. Sometimes they just won't go. But you stay patient. Keep your head. Eventually they can be coaxed in. The same in tennis. This guy is a text book player. He isn't the biggest or the strongest. But he is using his head. It is a simple problem really. Most modern players are all the same. Evans demonstrates how the slice backhand can be used to dismantle the big hitters. But he was mixing it up. He isn't being totally passive. I would say he is being passively aggressive. Much like giving someone the silent treatment. Very tough to play against.

[don_budge]

An absolute tactical masterpiece against a player who has him outgunned and outmanned. He cleverly gets the more powerful player to play his game. He is from the don_budge School of Tennis. He's watchable. A rarity nowadays. The winner of Tsitsipas and Struff next.

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A superb first set from Daniel Evans. He struggled to serve it out...facing down a bunch of break points before finally getting that infernal horse in the barn. Sometimes they just won't go. But you stay patient. Keep your head. Eventually they can be coaxed in. The same in tennis. This guy is a text book player. He isn't the biggest or the strongest. But he is using his head. It is a simple problem really. Most modern players are all the same. Evans demonstrates how the slice backhand can be used to dismantle the big hitters. But he was mixing it up. He isn't being totally passive. I would say he is being passively aggressive. Much like giving someone the silent treatment. Very tough to play against.

Pretty much sums up Dan. Great win over Rublev. He did hit with Rublev just fine, but his Fed like tactical backhand, moving Rublev to all areas of the court, way a definite key.

Tsitsipas has another stern test vs Struff, but that is the way it is in these 500's, and obviously even more so the 1000's.

[don_budge]

Tsitsipas has another stern test vs Struff, but that is the way it is in these 500's, and obviously even more so the 1000's.

Struff has taken the first set so the test becomes even more complex. Now is where the bonafide champion does not lose nerve and goes to work and whittles away at the lead to get back in the fight. This is also a stern test for Struff as he is up against a legitimate top ten player in Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas must show the supreme belief in himself and his game in a situation like this because Struff is no push over. Don't forget who is waiting in the wings for the winner. Daniel Evans...that's who.

Tsitsipas serving for the second set. A good place to measure his ability...serving out the set.