Cracked Racquets Contributor. All About Tennis Blog Founder.
Joined June 2015
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I don't think I've ever seen that before from a professional player. Four-straight double faults from Basilashvili to get broken to love against Altmaier. You will never see a bigger gift than that.
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After missing 11-straight serves, Basilashvili has made one!
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I appreciate how in the defining moments of that tiebreak, Vekic didn't try to play it safe. She stood up in the court and went for her shots, dictating play. Fortune favors the bold...
LONDON CHAMPION! 🏆
@DonnaVekic is victorious at Queen’s winning in straight sets against Raducanu!
#HSBCChampionships
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I don't know if it's just my perception, but it feels like Fritz has lost some of the pop he used to have to his game. I don't know if he's not hitting his spots anymore and/or if it's more passive baseline play, but Taylor doesn't impose himself like he did a couple years ago.
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Chepelev beats Perez Contri 6-3, 6-2 to win the Kiseljak title. The Russian was down a break early, with Perez Contri ripping forehands, Chepelev making errors, and playing reactive, as opposed to proactive, tennis. Then, mid-way through the first set, the roles reversed.
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much versus stepping up in the court and letting the ball rip. Chepelev did a good job, as well, of controlling his backhand and not leaking too many errors from that wing. At times, he was even able to dictate with his backhand. Perez Contri, for as great as his scrambling was,
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at times, seemingly lost focus in rallies. He bailed out of rallies at points when I didn't think he needed to, sometimes letting Chepelev off the hook. For both players, though, if they're going to make it to the next level, they need to improve the ferocity of their 1st serves.
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SHOT OF THE WEEK sliding on the grass from Lehecka at 8-8 in that tiebreak! Insane!!!
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I say this so often, but watching Shelton return is so painful. *3-3 0-30 on Lehecka's serve, Ben should be looking to just block the return back into play. Instead, he tries to go full-swing, misses the return, misses another return later in the game, and loses 4-straight points
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This is a really weird match from Coppejans. He's been the better player for most of the match, but as soon as we get to pressure points, it's terrible unforced errors and double faults. He's been the better player, but the less clutch player...
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In that 1st set, Fritz won just 8% of his first-serve returns 15% of his return points overall. He only made it to 30 on Landaluce's serve once and lost 21 out of his last 23 return points in the set. I don't care if youre playing on grass or the moon, it's hard to win that way
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This was my first time watching 19 year-old Felix Balshaw, who is now on a 12-match winning streak (mostly at ITF's), and I was really impressed with his game. Only made 48% of his first serves, which needs to improve, but he had a big first serve when he was able to get it in.
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Balshaw did a great job of dictating with his forehand and his one-handed backhand didn't feel, at least in this match, like a big liability. He did a great job of flattening out his backhand and hitting with power. He also wasn't predictable with his backhand. Impressive match.
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As for Martinez, he's a bit of a shell of the player he once was. Serve doesn't do enough, forehand doesn't dictate as well as it needs to, backhand is meek. He still moves well can absorb pace fairly effectively, but you can tell that the 29 year old's game is starting to slip
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How long are these between-set breaks supposed to be? Martinez was off the court for what was probably near 10 minutes after the second set against Balshaw? How is that possibly allowed?
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Now a MTO with Balshaw up a break in the third. I get this is all probably technically "allowed," but it just feels off and a bit ridiculous to me. Like Pedro is doing everything he possibly can to stop Balshaw's momentum and make him nervous.
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I mean, at this point, Balshaw might as well set up a cot on the court. With all of these stunts that Martinez is pulling to delay the action, he could get a mid-afternoon nap in!
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In this current era of men's tennis, the term "top 20" doesn't mean much. Outside of the top four in the sport, the difference between 5 and 50 is minuscule compared to how it used to be, when guys like Ferrer, Tsonga, Berdych, Wawrinka, etc. were all in that area of the rankings
🇦🇷 Guillermo Vilas is the player with most Slam titles without facing a Top 20
#RolandGarros
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