Tennis: All Purpose Tennis Thread XI

[Tuggy]

When does Indian Wells start?

Qualifying starts today, for the women anyway. Pretty sure main draw starts Thursday.

 

[MsMeow]

Tomic lost his first round qualifying match.

 

[Tuggy]

Draw's are out.

Felix draws Norrie first round but Tsitsipas in the 2nd round.

Raonic and Shapovalov both have first round byes.

Bouchard gets Flipkens and Osaka's section.

Andreescu gets Begu.

 

[MsMeow]

Polansky was up a break in the third but lost in a breaker.

 

[Tuggy]

The women get underway today at IW.

Andreescu is playing today.

 

[kihei]

Are we now at the point where Tsitsipas is more likely the heir to the throne than Zverev? I'd certainly lean that way.

 

[Tuggy]

Are we now at the point where Tsitsipas is more likely the heir to the throne than Zverev? I'd certainly lean that way.

Not sure I'd say that yet.

Zverev has a Tour Finals title, MS1000 and 500 and 250 titles. He hasn't had a breakthrough yet in a slam but it's bound to come sooner than later.

Tsitsispas is trending well right now but I'm not ready to put him ahead of Zverev yet.

 

[Hadoop]

I'm undecided. Zverev is more consistent for sure and has the hardware including last years World Tour Finals. However thus far he has not adjusted well when good opponents have had a chance to game-plan against him (as during the day-off at majors). Tsitsipas has amassed less 'game-tape' so-to-speak so it's possible that good players who studiously prepare against him will be successful as well, though Stefanos also has more variety in his game despite being younger.

Looks like I've convinced myself that Stefanos is more likely to win more grand slams down the line (pun intended, as he is also better at going down the line )

 

[Tuggy]

Andreescu was down 1-5 (2 breaks) but has fought back to 5-5.

Then she is broken and Begu is serving for the set.

Andreescu broke back but Begu won the TB.

Andreescu takes the 2nd set 6-3.

Andreescu wins 6-3 in the 3rd!

 

[Hadoop]

Random surprising-but-not-really statistic I saw from Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim today. Krygios is 6-6 lifetime against the Big 3 of Roger, Rafa and Nole.

 

[MsMeow]

Kyrgios is going to be interesting in this event and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he beat Djokovic.

 

[Tuggy]

Felix first up tomorrow.

 

[Tuggy]

Nice win for Felix to start.

Big one next.

 

[MsMeow]

Felix and Tsitsipas will be a fun one!

Edit: They've never played at the ATP level but played twice as juniors in 2015 and once in 2016 with Felix winning all 3.

 

[Tuggy]

 

[kihei]

Bouchard out in three sets to Flipkens. Bouchard seemed to be having some respiratory problems but she fought hard before losing.

 

[kihei]

These courts seem to get slower and bouncier each year. That sounds like Rafa's kind of hard courts to me.

 

[Tuggy]

Felix up first tomorrow.

 

[MsMeow]

Bianca beat Cibulkova 2 and 2!

 

[Tuggy]

Bianca beat Cibulkova 2 and 2!

Another dominant performance.

 

[MsMeow]

Felix broke the second service game and then held a marathon game, facing 6, I think, break points for the hold. It was a 12 minute game. He is up 4-2 and held much easier. So far he is more dominant and it seems like Tsitsipas' backhand can't handle a lot of pace.

4-3 Felix on a relatively easy hold for Stefanos.

5-3 Felix

5-4 Felix. Good hold for Tsitsipas after a quick lead that was chipped away. Now we'll see if Felix tightens up as he serves for the set.

6-4 Felix! Easy hold, too!

1-0 Stef, good start for him.

1-1, Felix wins the game at love.

Wow!! Felix has won 8 of the last 9 points and broke at 15! 2-1 Felix

3-1 Felix. What a performance thus far. Stef has no answers.

3-2 Felix as Stef goes out to 40-0, Felix hits two doozies for 40-30 but Stef wins with a nice volley.

4-2 Felix in a wow game. First, Stef challenged 3 times and lost all 3 so he has none left. Second, Felix's serve went to hell in a hand basket including 2 double faults but he comes back. Stef just didn't have an answer.

5-2 Felix!!!! Wow, he breaks at love to a player who no longer knows what to do. This has been an epic performance by Felix.

Woo hoo!!! Felix holds and wins 6-4, 6-2!!! Funny thing, his second last serve was significantly out but Stef had no challenges left. I don't think it would have made a difference, and Tsitsipas looks pretty bummed out as he leaves. Outside of 2 bad service points, Felix was a machine, winning long rallies, pinpointing shots, hitting winners with enormous pace.

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

Felix is playing phenomenal.

And he double faults twice in a row

Make it 3... but he holds !!!

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Dominating win for Felix. Seriously impressive.

 

[Tuggy]

Awesome performance from Felix.

Future GOAT on display.

A lot of us have known about Felix for a long time but this should open eyes.

 

[discostu]

Awesome performance from Felix.

Future GOAT on display.

A lot of us have known about Felix for a long time but this should open eyes.

A win against a top 10 player is a phenomenal notch in his belt. Other than the double faults, he really was dominating.

This should definitely get him noticed a lot more.