Cincinnati Masters Thread

[laverfan]

First topic message reminder :

Mens Singles Draw - http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/422/mds.pdf

Mens Qualifying Draw - http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/422/qs.pdf

OoP (Updated Daily) - http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/422/op.pdf

Live Scores - Guess this is passe now. So here is the Twitter link - http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23cincytennis (Live Scores is available on the ATP Web Site).

Live Streams - Live Score Hunter, Sport Lemon

TV Coverage - Starts Monday.

Cupcake/Pastry/Cakewalk/Strawberries and Cream Draw Discussion - ??? (Let me know and I can update this thread with the 606v2 link).

Daily Schedule.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/schedule.aspx?EventId=422

Center Court

Afternoon @ 12:30pm local - Federer v Djokovic
Afternoon @ NB 4pm local - Li v Kerber

Grandtsand

Afternoon @ 1pm local - Srebotnik/Zheng v Hlavackova/Hradecka
Afternoon @ NB 3pm local - Lindstedt/Tecau v Bhupathi/Bopanna

Match Pick of the Day - Federer v Djokovic

Surprise of the Day (Previous) - Kerber d S Williams

Enjoy!

[laverfan]

Serena loses to Kerber.

Stan the Man takes the second set in TB.

[The Special Juan]

Stan breaks!! (I think). Stan to win the tournament.

[laverfan]

Stan breaks!! (I think). Stan to win the tournament.

Has his nemesis in Federer (if he can beat Fish).

[laverfan]

Wawrinka saves a BP with a nice FH. Pumped.

[laverfan]

Raonic modelling his game after Murray and Nadal?

[laverfan]

S&V. 5-3 for Stan.

[The Special Juan]

What do you mean?

[laverfan]

Stan the man takes out Raonic.

[bogbrush]

Impressive by Stan, to stay with the match and take his one chance.

[laverfan]

What do you mean?

I meant Serve and Volley == S&V.

There was 24-shot rally, which reminds me of the counterpunching style. I had much rather see Raonic play more aggressively. He was also standing 2-3 meters behind the base line and running all over the court to retrieve.

[The Special Juan]

I see. I've only seen him once before and he doesn't look like the guy who should be running about the baseline. With his big serve it's S&V all the way and going for his shots.

[bogbrush]

Agree laverfan, and I've noticed a tendency to win first sets and
lose in three, which might be connected.

[laverfan]

Time for Federer to bait a Fish.

[luciusmann]

Time for Federer to bait a Fish.

[laverfan]

Federer plays well in the first set, wins the second set TB. Fish played the second much better. Fish's age may be against him and his previous US #1 run may not be duplicated.

Post-match ESPN interview...

Federer - I find it very hard to play against Chiudinelli, since I have known him since I was 8 years old. Perhaps Stan has a similar challenge with me.

Arias - Is he (Chiudinelli) on the first page of ATP rankings.

Gilbert. - Stan served a 140mph serve against Raonic.

Federer - It is a tough match, the h2h is all in the past. Stan is playing very well.

Fowler - He is getting a Yellow card when he gets 'home' to Mirka because of his comment regarding the Kiss-Cam used in US matches.

[The Special Juan]

Since when did Stan serve 140mph serves!!???

[bogbrush]

Haven't you noticed, he's been bulking up somewhat recently.

[Guest]

Haven't you noticed, he's been bulking up somewhat recently.

Last throw of the dice?

[The Special Juan]

Haven't you noticed, he's been bulking up somewhat recently.

Too much Lindt.

[Josiah Maiestas]

Sugar Ray Stanley Peppers Money Milos in Round (set) 3 of the Cincinnati Cruiserweights

[bogbrush]

One more win for Federer to be #1 seed going into the USO.

[luciusmann]

One more win for Federer to be #1 seed going into the USO.

The signs are looking good: Stan's only win in 11 matches was over 3 years ago @ Monte Carlo and since Fed has beaten Stan 8 times winning 20 sets in a row in the process.

I reckon Deplo could prove to be a tough prospect for Djokovic and if so, then Fed could be looking good for the title @ Cinci. If Djokovic loses today then Fed's lead will be at least 495 (even if Fed loses), 735 if he wins today(and Djokovic loses) and a far bigger lead of 1, 135 if he wins today and tomorrow (and Djokovic loses today). Federer winning the title would seal his No.1 spot till mid October giving him 300 weeks @ No.1. If he also gets to the USO Final, then there's an even better chance he'll hold onto the No.1 spot until the beginning of November and would be odds on favourite to get the Y.E. No.1. The road to gaining the Y.E. No.1 starts by winning Cinci.

[laverfan]

Stan has taken out Ferrer in straight sets. He was serving pretty well then. He has played an extra match with Mathieu in R1 (as has Del Potro), while Federer and Djokovic had R1 byes.

Raonic stood 2-3m behind the baseline and tried to counter Stan, but Stan made him run all around the court. He was hitting the ball fast and furious (to plagiarise a phrase).

LM... I am not sure the #1 or #2 makes a difference in the draws. If it is a record number of weeks, then yes, it does matter. I felt bad for Fish, who played a good second set and may have deserved the second set. The net chord in the TB proved a factor even though Federer was up a mini-break already.

[luciusmann]

Stan has taken out Ferrer in straight sets. He was serving pretty well then. He has played an extra match with Mathieu in R1 (as has Del Potro), while Federer and Djokovic had R1 byes.

Raonic stood 2-3m behind the baseline and tried to counter Stan, but Stan made him run all around the court. He was hitting the ball fast and furious (to plagiarise a phrase).

LM... I am not sure the #1 or #2 makes a difference in the draws. If it is a record number of weeks, then yes, it does matter. I felt bad for Fish, who played a good second set and may have deserved the second set. The net chord in the TB proved a factor even though Federer was up a mini-break already.

Stan is capable of playing well but taking Ferrer out in str8 sets on a hard court isn't a big deal. Ferrer gains the bulk of his points on clay and on slow hard courts, faster courts on the other hand are a glaring weakness of his. For example, he has just one USO semi final and one Wimbledon quarter final in his entire career. Contrast that with 2 quarter finals and 1 semi final @ the Aussie Open and the same at RG, 6 at the slowest slams and just 2 at the fastest slams. Hence the No.4 seed going out might seem big news, but in context, isn't.

I caught the last set of Stan's match with Raonic and he played well and also watched the entire Fed match with Fish and thought Fed did well to counter the Fish resurgence in the second set. The Fish match is the sort of match Fed would have lost last year but this year Fed is winning these matches and I think, having seen Fed play the way he has, that Fed winning the title is more than likely. Usually Fed winning Cinci is also a good sign: usually he gets to the USO final upon winning Cinci (apart from in 2010, when he was as close to getting there as you can)! I agree that the score line in the Fish match doesn't accurately reflect how close the match was to going to a deciding set and although Fed won in str8 sets, it could easily have been a match Fish could have won. On the seedings, I'm thinking more of the weeks @ #1 for Fed, I want Fed to win Cinci so he's secure as No.1 till mid October and secures 300 weeks @ No.1. As a side note, the last time Fed won 3 Masters titles in a year or more was back in Fed's pomp back in 2006, hence why I feel Fed winning Cinci would be sweet, a good sign for the USO!

[Danny_1982]

Some fantastic tennis being played in the opening games of Delpo v Novak. Both playing really well.

[The Special Juan]

Prediction: Del Potro v Federer final.

[The Special Juan]

Once again someone I tip to win suffers the kiss of death.

[slashermcguirk]

Djokovic wins 6-3 6-2. Impressive stuff!!

[HM Murdock]

Novak's back on hard courts and getting back to his best! He looked good v Delpo today.

[Guest]

Wawrinka showing balls of steel challenging on set point.

[Josiah Maiestas]

roger going to sleep on 0-40 up, never in frigging doubt.

[Guest]

It's been a good match thus far. Federer with some chances there. Would be a bit of choker if Stan pinched this first set.

[Guest]

Federer nearly going long on that volley

[The Special Juan]

I had a stream but lost it. Loving Stanford's yellow shirt... not.

[Guest]

It's Green

[The Special Juan]

Well that shows how bad quality the picture was Next you'll be saying Fed isn't wearing red.

[socal1976]

Once again someone I tip to win suffers the kiss of death.

As a Djoko fan can you pick against him in the final. Just kidding. Novak played so smooth and clean he really mixed up the paces well to confuse Del Po a little.

[JuliusHMarx]

Fed v Djoko - the final the money-men wanted
Toronto wanted to move their final back to Monday because of the Olympics. The only way to do this was for Cincinatti to also move their final back to Monday - they refused.

[Guest]

Fed v Djoko - the final the money-men wanted

Warm balls I say.

[bogbrush]

Great play from Djokovic, really proving there's nothing at all wrong with him. It's only been a few small things that have made the difference this year from last; slightly stronger Nadal on clay, Federer turning up fit at Wimbledon. Apart from that he's been as effective as last year.

Already matched last years Canada / Cincinnatti results.

[The Special Juan]

Any risk of a pre-US Open burnout? I can't see it.

[laverfan]

Well played Federer and Djokovic. . Neither has been broken in this tournament. Very interesting.

DelPo will be travelling to Minnesota to get his left wrist checked.

Stan, apart from the last two service games, played well. I was hoping he would sneak the first set and Federer would be knackered for tomorrow.

Chiudinelli owns Federer's mind. Post-match ESPN interview with Shriver/Gilbert/Fowler

[socal1976]

Djoko has had a busy summer but he had a very easy spring in terms of match play where he didn't play nearly as much. He is a player in my opinion who plays better when he has a good feel and has hit a lot of balls and has good amount of match play. Of course there is a fine line of hitting a physical wall but this is the guy that played 11 hours of championship hardcourt tennis in 48 hour period so far i don't see any problems.

[The Special Juan]

He is the Ironman of tennis. The only one who comes near him in terms of pure physical fitness is Murray. Hoping for a classic Mokovic final at the USO (which Murray ends up winning of course )

[Danny_1982]

I think Novak will win tomorrow, and I think he deserves the favourite tag for the US open. I agree with BB that there's not been a lot wrong with him all year. Apart from the Fench, I think he's been playing really well all year.

People judge him on last years standards, which is ridiculous as we will not see the likes of that again. Certainly not for many years anyway.

[socal1976]

Danny, he has another gear or two from this that he has rarely hit this year. That is why those that closely observe him might feel that while he has had pretty good results he is a bit away from the level that he can and should be playing at.

[Danny_1982]

We've discussed this before socal, and I know we disagree on whether Novak will ever hit last seasons heights ever again. I don't. I don't think anyone will. In my opinion a player can only reach those heights of self belief from the kind of run that Novak went on, and I don't think he - or anyone - will have that kind of run for a long long time.

I think expecting Novak to reach those levels again is unrealistic. But hey, agree to disagree I guess.

[The Special Juan]

I can't call it tonight. Maybe 50.5-49.5 in Federer's favour?

[socal1976]

Yes, I think you will be surprised Danny, he has it in him to replicate that form. I mean we aren't talking about a week, or month, he dominated the tour completely from the start of the AO to the USO. You will see, I see this year as sort of mini-sophmore slump a retrenchment period for Djoko as he adjusts to the rigors of the #1. I think barring injury he will have another run or two of 2011 type tennis and he can even go one better.

[HM Murdock]

Three double faults and two losses of serve already?!

This is a good example of why I think things aren't right in Novak's head. Unbroken all tournament and then collapses in front of the big man!

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