Monte Carlo 1000 match thread

by lydian Mon 15 Apr 2013 - 21:35

Thread for the week to discuss the matches outside the 606Tour and Pick threads.

Mixture of R1 and R2 (?) matches today...

[13] S. Wawrinka vs D. Istomin - 1st Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
F. Verdasco vs M. Matosevic - 1st Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
A. Ramos vs R. Stepanek - 1st Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
[6] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Nikolay Davydenko - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
[8] Janko Tipsarevic vs Grigor Dimitrov - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 9:30 AM
[7] Richard Gasquet vs Benoit Paire - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 11:00 AM
[WC] Benjamin Balleret vs Florian Mayer - 1st Round - Apr 16, 11:00 AM
[16] Philipp Kohlschreiber vs Pablo Andujar - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 11:00 AM
V. Hanescu vs M. Granollers - 1st Round - Apr 16, 11:30 AM
J. Huta Galung vs J. Melzer - 1st Round - Apr 16, 1:30 PM
K. Anderson vs J. Janowicz - 1st Round - Apr 16, 1:30 PM
[WC] G. Monfils vs A. Montanes - 1st Round - Apr 16, 1:30 PM
[10] N. Almagro vs D. Goffin - 1st Round - Apr 16, 2:00 PM
J. Isner vs E. Gulbis - 1st Round - Apr 16, 2:00 PM
[14] J. Monaco vs M. Klizan - 1st Round - Apr 16, 3:30 PM
[5] Juan Martin Del Potro vs Alexandr Dolgopolov - 2nd Round - Apr 16, 3:30 PM

http://www.atpworldtour.com/scores/schedule.aspx?year=2013&eventid=410

by banbrotam Mon 15 Apr 2013 - 22:18

I'm working with the Tennis on in the background. Problem is that we've got a passive version of Simon playing (imagine that!! Rolling Eyes

) and I can feel my eyes drooping

I'm actually, normaly, a big defender of Simon - as I like players who show more craft than brawn, but this perfomrance so far is particularly insipid

Signs of improvement though.......

Time for an extra strong expresso cuppa

by lydian Mon 15 Apr 2013 - 22:21

Yeah, I saw he was a 3-2 and a break up then went on to lose the set 6-3 - numpty. Bautista is one of those solid clay guys who does really well on the Challenger circuit, if you're having an off day these guys can be a real thorn in the side.

by banbrotam Mon 15 Apr 2013 - 23:17

Not too much improvement though

Thanks Gilles for giving your detractors more ammunition than North Korea picard

by Cogen Mon 15 Apr 2013 - 23:18

Damn... I thought Simon was gonna do another one of his crazy comebacks when he saved 4 match points from 6-2 in the tie-breaker... but he lost it 8-6 Sad

That is my first incorrect pick of the tournament. I had been 6 for 6. Quite a bad one too, as I had Simon beating Tipsy a few rounds later.

By the way... hello everyone! Hug

Haven't decided yet if I will bother with Points Spy this week. It is a bit of a pain in the backside as Monte Carlo is optional so points don't always count towards the total.

Take Del Potro for example... he is playing this week, but won't gain or lose any points unless he reaches the semi-final or better, where he'd earn enough points to replace one of his 250 wins. There is no clean/easy way to show that on my chart, and the manual projection slider on my website is not programmed to take other tournaments into account. steam

by lydian Mon 15 Apr 2013 - 23:37

Hi Cogen - yep Simon is a little up and down, on clay he just doesn't have either enough power or spin to be a real force.

Re: Points Spy, yes its a little harder with it being optional, perhaps pick it up from Barcelona 500 or Madrid in May? In the meantime we can always use http://live-tennis.eu to see where guys are during the week?

I feel your pain with the manual projection slider!
That almost sounds like something out of a Wallace & Grommit cartoon Smile

by LuvSports! Mon 15 Apr 2013 - 23:45

cogen i dont understand about the delpo thing, why wont he gain points? me bare confuzzled.

by kingraf Mon 15 Apr 2013 - 23:51

Troicki lost? I should never have picked him!

by Cogen Mon 15 Apr 2013 - 23:58

LuvSports! wrote:cogen i dont understand about the delpo thing, why wont he gain points? me bare confuzzled.

Ok, I'll try and explain... Wink

Here is Del Potro's points breakdown

As you can see, he already has 3 tournaments in his "non-countables". This means JMDP has played more tournaments than he is allowed to include towards his total. Monte Carlo, unlike the all of the other Masters events, is an optional tournament and so it does not have to be placed in his countables.

If he goes out in, say, the QF's then he'd get 180pts, but this is less than his worst countable tournament, and so it would be placed in his non-countables.

If he reaches the SF, that is worth 360pts, which is 110pts better than his lowest countable (250pts), so his total in the rankings would only increase by 110pts, not 360pts. Vienna or Estoril (not sure which? probably Estoril because it drops earlier?) would be placed in his non-countables to make room for Monte Carlo!

Does that make sense? thumbsup

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 0:03

Nice explanation cogen.

Yeah kingraf - Troicki is a walking liability these days.

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 0:09

Yes sir! I'm raring to go now cogen, cheers!

Now i will run along and play in the mud.

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 0:27

As I'm not doing Points Spy this week, here's a quick summary of the main things to note this week.

Murray is only 70pts ahead of Federer, but could lose up to 170pts this week, allowing Federer to move back up to #2, even though Fed isn't playing. Even a last 16 defeat would see Murray fall 10pts below Federer, so he must match his QF of last year to keep the #2 spot.
Ferrer withdrew this week with an injury, and that opens the door slightly for Nadal to regain #4 before the French Open. It will still require an almost flawless clay season from Nadal.
Berdych is defending a SF from last year. An early loss would leave him to fall back on 105pts from WTC; a drop of 255pts, which would leave him just 10pts clear of Del Potro. However as mentioned earlier in the thread, Del Potro, although guaranteed to lose nothing this week, needs to reach the SF to make any gains.
Gasquet did not play Monte Carlo last year and could pick up some points this year. To pass Tsonga for #8, he'd need to reach the final. Tough but not impossible considering his recent good form, and the unknown quantity of Djokovic's ankle injury.

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 0:32

Dammit... there goes Seppi. That was always a tough one to call against Fognini on clay. Rolling Eyes

I'm still hovering around the top of the leader boards though... Whistle

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 0:43

Raonic wins though! Yahoo

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 0:54

Raonic beats Julien. today has been a bad day for my picks, good thing I only picked three. Damage limitation is the word

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:05

words

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:11

mhmm I meant Damage-limitation...

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:15

Just noted that even if Nadal didnt play another match this clay season leading up to RG he would still probably be in the 5-8 seeding...

by banbrotam Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:15

Given that this is the guy, who Cilic is making look like an amateur, that beat Rafa - I can obviously claim that Nadal is now useless on Clay

It's obvious that Andy will carry on from where they left off last time they met, should Rafa actually make it to the SF (it's a given that Andy will chin

)

Please don't mention that Rafa made mincemeat of Ferrer, on the dirt, as that will torpedo my very strong argument Wink

Discuss. Or perhaps not!! Laugh

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:25

Banbrotam- I always said you can win any argument as long as you ignore the facts! Good on you!

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:30

Well, it seems like any one who upsets Nadal is doomed to an average tennis career thereafter...
Soderling
Rosol
Zeballos
Blake
Ljubicic
Roddick (didnt win a title since Mia 2009, no?)

Ferrer is of course the exception that proves the rule, so you cant use him!

by Guest Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:32

Bit harsh on Soderling given his illness. 2 Slam finals and the Paris Masters wasn't a bad return.

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:34

A tad, I realise, that. And I really like the guys game. But as of now he is listed as inactive by ATP. I hope he makes a comeback, mind you.

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:35

At least ge showed a real drive to improve himself, something Tsonga sometimes lacks.

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:42

LK I once read somewhere on THASP (I think...) some 'theorists' feeling his 09/10 success was too good to be true and that period led to his mono. I think he just hit an insane purple patch and the clear huge effort of training probably weakened his immune system.

by Guest Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 1:50

I think that could be the case lydian. Couple of people I know who ran the Brighton Marathon yesterday said at their physical peak in training they became ill and felt like crap. The body is just not used to such brutal training. Now essentially this is where the whole doping comes into it. Now I am no saying the top guys do because nutrition has become such an integral part of sport science, but it takes a very lucky player to remain injury or illness free throughout an entire career.

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 2:23

Hmmmm, maybe I had mono and didn't even realise it...

A few years ago I ran a 10k for charity. I was originally targeting sub 1-hour... but after a few weeks of training I was already hitting that too easily, so I reduced it to 50 minutes, and a month or so later to 45 minutes.

Then a couple of weeks before the race I got a cold and couldn't train very much. Cold still hadn't gone away by the time of the event, but I ran, and it ended up being in the pouring rain in freezing cold conditions. Finished with a time of 53 minutes in the end.

I felt sooooo ill for the whole next week, and I continued to feel drained of energy for roughly the next 3 months. Struggled to get up in the morning and was often late for work. Struggled to keep my focus for the whole day. Yuck. That put me off ever doing running again! Laugh

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 2:25

Some people are just biologically gifted. A mate of mine and I decided on a whim to join cross country, a few years back. On the first day, we ran 10 kilometres, I became so sick I couldnt go to school for a week after, he went to practise the next day.
By peak season, our times were similar, but I tended to feel awful the following day, while he was fit as rain.

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 2:28

Oh dear, Cilic just lost the second set after serving for the match twice... picard

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 2:35

Yes my day would be salvaged if I got 1/3,

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 2:42

C'mon Zeballos! I've got points riding on this...he's 0-3 down Sad

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 2:57

Just realised you Djokered the match, Lydian. Unlucky

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 3:01

Cheers KR...he's 2-5 down now...bugger!

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 3:07

Cilic wins! Yahoo

Pretty damn successful tournament so far. 10 of my 13 picks correct. Inevitably it will all fall apart when it really matters in the later rounds though... Whistle

The bad news is all 3 of my losers today were down to win their next match as well. mad

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 3:10

Tough day for me. 0/3, luckily I still have my Djoker cards. Forza Domani

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 3:21

Nice one cogen. Not a great day for me either KR...boo hoo.

by Cogen Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 3:37

Cheers. I'm currently 58th out of 15,000 people!

... We will ignore the fact that 356 other people are all joint 58th with me, because that doesn't sound quite a cool. Laugh

by lags72 Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 5:09

Never let the stats get you down Cogen - however overwhelming the odds might seem.

Always worth remembering that we are ALL in line to the throne.

With this in mind I have calculated that if 37,632,463 of the UK population have the misfortune to die overnight, then I shall be proclaimed King tomorrow.

I tell you ..... there'd be some changes round here ..... Wink

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 5:16

So right Lags. If the entire family on my grandfathers brothers side of the family die off, I would be king/chief of a small village in the North of South Africa. Yahoo

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 7:06

I'm king, nuff sed

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 19:19

Some exciting matches today!

[8] Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) v Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
Benoit Paire (FRA) v [7] Richard Gasquet (FRA)
[6] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) v [WC/5] Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) v [WC] John Isner (USA)
David Goffin (BEL) v [10] Nicolas Almagro (ESP)
http://www.atpworldtour.com/scores/schedule.aspx?year=2013&eventid=410

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 19:36

Cheers LS - a full list is also in the OP

Unlike yesterday there are some really interesting match ups...

How can Goffin handle Almagro? Can he?
Tipsy vs Dimi should have fireworks
2 creative French players battling it out
The 2 Slavic enigma's of Dolgo & Gulbis
The battle of the giants - 6'8 Anderson vs 6'8 Janowicz.

Oh...and the seed plough is in town too Tumbleweed

Matches start from 9,30 UK too - so we're off!

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 20:07

ahh sorry bud didnt see.

I wonder if any of the guys who played in the finals of casa (anderson/robredo) and houston (isner/almagro) may feel it 2day.

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 20:17

Yeah quite possibly...Goffin wont find a better time to face relative clay giant Almagro than today. Re: Isner, with Gulbis you never know - he could blaze John off court or hit 50 UEs, its usually on Gulbis racquet either way and Isner will struggle, MC courts are much slower than Houston.

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 20:38

come on dimi!!!1st set!!!! Very Happy

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 20:39

Good stickability from Grigor there.
Verdasco shows the customary frailty...was 5-2 up, now 6-5 down.

by lydian Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 21:02

Verdasco - snatching defeat from the jaws of victory as only he can. 3-0 down in 2nd, lost 1st 7-5 from 5-2 up.

Dimitrov up a break in the 2nd - good so far as Tipsy prefers clay & slow

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 21:06

Really? I think tipsy prefers hard courts with 3 of his 4 titles on it and his best GS results at the US.

dimi consolidates for 3-1!!!

by LuvSports! Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 21:10

4-1 dimi whooop whoop

by kingraf Tue 16 Apr 2013 - 21:13

Verdasco can really make for some hair pulling. I mean hes not exactly facing a tennis giant! I think he just panics at the sign of resistance.

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