2021 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters...ATP 1000...Monte Carlo, Monaco

[stroke]

Stef pretty much routines Dan 6-2 1st set. Very tough matchup for Dan as Stef seems to just do everything better. A real 2nd set test for Dan here.

[stroke]

Tsitsipas is just taking apart Dan. He hits such a heavy ball off both sides, he was just dominant. His forehand spin rates are at the top of the food chain with Nadal, Berrettini, Ruud, and Fognini. And he does it without his racquet face ever facing the ground completely like almost all other heavy spin forehands. Very interesting.

[don_budge]

Stef pretty much routines Dan 6-2 1st set. Very tough matchup for Dan as Stef seems to just do everything better. A real 2nd set test for Dan here.

Yeah...Tsitsipas rolled him so to speak. Big week for Daniel Evans and he is eating his way up the food chain. Four nice wins in Hurkacz, Lajovic, Djokovic and Goffin. Tsitsipas had a day off with the first round bye and his last match was a walkover after a set. Tsitsy also rolled Aslan Karatsev. I think it was a combination of emotional and physical depletion for Evans and Tsitsipas was just too fresh and too sharp. Next up is going to be interesting. Rublev has to be a bit tired too. Ruud has had himself a big week as well. He looks to be a bit fresher than Evans was...both mentally and physically.

[stroke]

Should be a great final Stef vs Rublev. Sure is good to see these 2 get through to the final with Novak and Nadal in the draw. I guess Stef will be a slight favorite. We will see.

[don_budge]

Rublev and Tsitsipas are emerging as perhaps top players of the future. Medvedev as well. Shame he caught a cold. They've split six matches so far. It's a toss up. Maybe this won't be the last time they meet in ATP 1000 finals. We'll see. The tournament has exceeded expectations in a lot of respects.

[stroke]

Rublev is a very slight favorite with an implied chance of winning at 51.9%.

[arturohernandez]

Rublev and Tsitsipas are emerging as perhaps top players of the future. Medvedev as well. Shame he caught a cold. They've split six matches so far. It's a toss up. Maybe this won't be the last time they meet in ATP 1000 finals. We'll see. The tournament has exceeded expectations in a lot of respects.

It’s not a grand slam but I wonder if we are not approaching a tipping point. The moment when age finally catches up with the big 3. You can only grind with the youngsters for so long. Rublev was pushing Nadal around. Evans sliced Djokovic to death. Once there is a playbook, others will follow.

[stroke]

Rublev did bully Nadal a bit. Very impressive. Novak I just don't know. He is a moody guy lately and he was not in the mood vs Evans. I have never seen him make so many unforced errors for no particular reason, other than he was not in the mood to compete.

[don_budge]

Tsitsipas is just taking apart Dan. He hits such a heavy ball off both sides, he was just dominant. His forehand spin rates are at the top of the food chain with Nadal, Berrettini, Ruud, and Fognini. And he does it without his racquet face ever facing the ground completely like almost all other heavy spin forehands. Very interesting.

I'd been thinking about this observation regarding the face of the racquet. This is an important point. Most of the "modern" forehands have that exaggerated "face down" in the swing and this is what makes it extremely tough for them to play against a player like Daniel Evans who starts to work that over with his slice. Difficult to play balls down around the ankles with that sort of racquet face orientation. Also tough to play balls in the mid and fore court. Evans also seems to have a bead on the where he can put the ball on the backhand with the slice where he cannot be hurt. Tsitsipas' backhand is not so vulnerable there either. Stefanos Tsitsipas is not the ideal match up for Daniel Evans.

[stroke]

Tsitsipas up a set and a break on Rublev looking very comfortable in doing so, a bit of a prime Guga Kuerten 2.0 in doing so. Stef forehand so heavy with so much spin control. And he seems to have completely overcome his what used to be occasional 2nd serve issues.

[stroke]

Tsitsipas not only got the horse in the barn, he kicked it in the ass in doing so. I don't know if Stef can play much better than that. Such beautiful movement on clay, and such a heavy ball off both sides.

[stroke]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/v5rtDpMdtERKEgpG6

Stef post match interview

[arturohernandez]

I'd been thinking about this observation regarding the face of the racquet. This is an important point. Most of the "modern" forehands have that exaggerated "face down" in the swing and this is what makes it extremely tough for them to play against a player like Daniel Evans who starts to work that over with his slice. Difficult to play balls down around the ankles with that sort of racquet face orientation. Also tough to play balls in the mid and fore court. Evans also seems to have a bead on the where he can put the ball on the backhand with the slice where he cannot be hurt. Tsitsipas' backhand is not so vulnerable there either. Stefanos Tsitsipas is not the ideal match up for Daniel Evans.

I think the one hand topspin is less vulnerable to the slice. I used to play a guy who would give me fits with this slice backhand. When I ran around it to hit a forehand, it was difficult. But I could pretty easily topspin it back.

Two handers hate slice and the extreme forehand also does not lend itself to hitting low balls. I see a lot of the juniors hitting slice forehands for low balls.

Tsitsipas does hit a kind of Halep like forehand in which the racket stays in the contact zone longer. This is much less vulnerable to the whims of a slice that stays low.

[arturohernandez]

Tsitsipas not only got the horse in the barn, he kicked it in the ass in doing so. I don't know if Stef can play much better than that. Such beautiful movement on clay, and such a heavy ball off both sides.

Rublev attacks the backhand like crazy. Tsitsipas seems to just defend so well these days on that side. The ball comes back high and with interest. I really hope he can take it to RG. It's time for the new generation to finally breakthrough.

[stotty]

Rublev did bully Nadal a bit. Very impressive. Novak I just don't know. He is a moody guy lately and he was not in the mood vs Evans. I have never seen him make so many unforced errors for no particular reason, other than he was not in the mood to compete.

I only watched the second set of Evans/Novak. It's the only set I saw all week....working flat out at the moment. Novak didn't seem to be playing too badly. I have certainly seen him more disinterested and far more ropey-a-dopey in the past. I think Evans went out there with nothing to lose and made a good account of himself. He does believe in himself more than the typical tour player. He definitely thought he could win that match and played well. His sliced backhand caused problems for Novak, and he caught Novak out with some exquisitely played drop shots. Drop shots are a great ploy against Novak because he's awfully difficult to beat when he's patrolling the baseline and in no fear of being brought into the forecourt. Novak hates the forecourt on clay, where only a very good volley wins the point.

I didn't see Stef but form what you say he must have been playing awfully well. He's a bit like Stan in the sense that once he gets his big game rolling he can beat most anyone. The problem for him, as it has always been with Stan, is playing so big week in and week out is hard to do on a consistent basis.