delpo is playing right now, i don’t believe it!

August 8th, 2012 at 11:41 am

oh, and also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the great Roger Federer!!!!

August 8th, 2012 at 11:41 am

I had no idea it was his birthday today,Happy Birthday Roger,have a great day go and celebrate with your lovely family.

August 8th, 2012 at 11:56 am

Delpo’s out in straight sets versus Stepanek; Cilic beat Baggy; Tipsy beat Youz.

August 8th, 2012 at 1:07 pm

Jane hes probably still exhausted from the olympics,i expect Andy and Nole may be too,i dont know if they will fair better time will tell,maybe they should have skipped this week to rest then play cincy.

August 8th, 2012 at 1:27 pm

Jane, what are you thinking about Nole?

I know he can’t play 2011-level all the time, but the Nole who steps up at all the right times isn’t there. As a major fan, do you have any more insight?

August 8th, 2012 at 1:52 pm

WOW- how depleted is this years rogers cup already?

Out of the top 10 the following are already out PRIOR to r16:

1- Federer (did not enter)
2- Nadal (did not enter)
3- ferrer (did not enter)

4- tsonga (straight sets defeat)
5- del potro (straight sets defeat)

HALF ARE NOT EVEN IN THE R16 ALREADY!

Of the remaining top 10, 2 of them – monaco and tipsarevic- are not big names in the game, with NOT EVEN A SINGLE OUTDOOR HARD COURT TITLE (tipsy reached 2 250 pt outdoor finals- lost both).

So that leaves 3:

- Djokovic: picked him for the title- this should be a walk in the park for him now, all things considered.

- Murray: he may withdraw- doesn’t seem to keen to the rogers cup this year.

- Berdych: already a set down. Could also be out before r 16.

In summary, this has to be the most depleted master series tourny in recent memory.

August 8th, 2012 at 3:10 pm

Murray is on court.

August 8th, 2012 at 3:15 pm

Brando, I think this was a predictable, expected sacrificial goat on the altar of the Olympics. The Canadian organizers must have had to bite the bullet- wonder if any money helped balm their wounds?

Dari, I think Nole’s had a very successful 2012 campaign. Obviously, a hot start with the first Slam and one of the first two Masters. But then, in his so0called slump: 2 (3?) finals losses to Rafa on clay, a semis at WImbledon (loss to champ Fed) and a semis at Olympics (lost to champ Murray).

Perhaps in March we might have picked Nole as the easy favourite in every tournament, now we have to give Fed, Rafa and Murray almost the same respect- but I dont think its taken much of a drop to achieve this. Those three are a bit better this year, Nole’s dropped a touch, and there you have it.
Nole will be contending in the big ones left this year, UNLESS he (and Murray and Del Potro and Tsonga) come to regret staying in Rogers cup and wear themselves out!

August 8th, 2012 at 3:16 pm

@TV:

Valid point.

IMHO, nole has got the rogers cup in the bag. Just look at who he has going forward- based on toughest rank/ opponent:

1- Tomic: Leads 2-0 against no.49.

2- Nishikori (17) or querrey (38): ONLY lost 1 match, to nishikori, last year in basel on his return after shoulder injury.

3- QTRS: simon (13) or stepanek (26): lost to neither for over 4 years

4 SF: Tipsy (9) or cilic (14): ONLY lost to tipsy- both matches that one felt nole had no interest in winning (WTF last year and blue clay madrid this year).

IMHO, he’ll EASILY make finals, and there UNLESS murray or berdych meet him- this title is in the bag.

Remember, he’s ONLY LOST to isner (IW) and tipsy (Madrid) this year- in non- top 3 losses.

August 8th, 2012 at 3:31 pm

@ Jane. There is an article on Nole in Blic online that you might be interested in. Go to sports section on that page.

August 8th, 2012 at 3:59 pm

So DelPotro lost, Tsong alost, Murray is riding the streak.

I feel it is gonna catch up with these guys/ He should have skipped it because maybe he is going for to much and he will run out of gaz at US Open.

Us Open is very demanding with all sorts of different problems then the european slams.

life goes just a tad faster in the big apple more noise. more destraction. He should be well focused to win a slam. So him playing and reaching deep both masters is not such a great idea.

August 8th, 2012 at 4:03 pm

Gencic: “Novak has to resolve personal issues”
http://english.blic.rs/Sports/8926/N…ersonal-issues
@ Jane

August 8th, 2012 at 4:08 pm

Thanks Mark – I saw it yesterday. :/ It’s a little vague to me. Anyhow, hopefully it’s nothing too serious and he can get back to business on hard courts.

dari, I think TV makes good points about Nole’s year in perspective. And as Brando notes, he’s mainly lost to the other 3 of the “big 4″. I am not sure what to think but I figure this hard court stretch will give us a sense of where he is at right now.

Looks like Andy is picking up where he left off – just got home and see he is winning.

August 8th, 2012 at 4:30 pm

That was indeed a very vague article on Novak. He seems to have lost of lot of sparkle since his Australian Open victory.

August 8th, 2012 at 5:42 pm

In sports, a lot of stuff released to the media is publicist related, which at times, is way off the mark and not an indication of what is actually happening with an athlete. The top guys have these publicists who try to put off their rivals by placing doubts in their minds, e.g., athlete A, is not feeling well, lost sparkle,. etc., not being up to par. It’s best not to put too much faith in the information these publicists release to the media.

August 8th, 2012 at 6:12 pm

The lost sparkle remark was from me, not the media, and it is based on how I feel watching Novak play recently. I read what publicist say but I usually take it with a grain of salt.

August 8th, 2012 at 6:32 pm

Alok’s right. Nole and Rafa have publicists. Publicists work with media to plant stories in news sites and blogs. Make excuses when their guy loses. Embellish when their guy wins. We are programmed to believe their guy is invincible.

August 8th, 2012 at 7:06 pm

Jane and TV- I hope.you don’t think I was suggesting he has had a bad year, I know in slams its been win, Runner up and semis.
I just have noticed that he seems more easily frustrated lately, and perhaps tired, reasonably.
Hard courts should do him good

August 8th, 2012 at 7:35 pm

dari, no worries – surely I didn’t think you were suggesting anything negative. :) I get what you’re saying, and I have seen it myself. Maybe he was just hoping for better results so he’s letting it get to him. In any case, the Nole versus Tomic match is full of good stuff already: variety, big serves, laser groundstrokes, etc. Are you doing the bracket challenge this time, btw?

August 8th, 2012 at 7:43 pm

Ok ok that’s the revved up nole I like to see, and winning the point with a tweener in the middle of it!

I didn’t do the bracket challenge, Jane, was traveling this weekend

August 8th, 2012 at 7:47 pm

I guess it won’t be Roger’s cup this year…

August 8th, 2012 at 8:00 pm

Yep, have to agree with guy who was commentating with Koenig- as good as novak played for a opening match, tomic was very disappointing.

He let 6 break points go, was lacking in fight or showing any intention to win.

since wimby last year, IMO, he hasn’t progressed much at all- his game still seems to be at the same stage as it was then.

For nole, as i expected really- with the comfortable draw i thought he would win the tourny at the start.

Now, seeing how fresh he is compared to murray post london, i am certain he’ll win.

this most be the best draw he has had in a long, long while- he needs to cash in, as it is his to lose.

August 8th, 2012 at 8:26 pm

It’s nice hearing the Canadian commentators for a change, I have to say – just an entirely different perspective on things.

August 8th, 2012 at 8:42 pm

I read that artical in Serbian in full. It is twice as long as english version. I will tell you my take but don’t ask me to translate because that would like asking me to write “Ana Karenina.”
Firstly, what ever I read in those newly established Serbian papers without tradition I take with reserve.
Secondly, Jelena Gencic doesn’t have any inside knowledge, she is neither close to Nole’s family nor to his team. She is playing by the ear and by knowing Nole, I would say, inside out. Basicaly what she is saying is that he is AGAIN involved in to many things that are taking his focus from tennis (like 2-3 years ago) and that they should take burden of his back, she was also surprised that he opted to go on Greek island on hollyday after Wimbledon instead of practicing for the games, she also thinks that he is tiring to quickly and that they have to find a reason why if that is the case, and she said few more things.
She finished the way great lady and Novak coach and mentor as somebody who shaped Nole as Tennis player and person should finish. “That is nothing new in Nole’s life, he was going before through this kind of things and he solved them the way through champions are doing and that he is going to do that again.” She also said that every player is going through different stages through their carier with ups and downs and Novak is no exception, mentionig Federer and others.
I hope I was of some help, please disregard spelling and any other mistakes and AJDE NOLE !!!!!!!!
Pity I have seen only last game of Nole’s match, didn’t know it is going to be televised, it looks like he played well and has a nice fan base in Toronto.

August 8th, 2012 at 9:42 pm

I forgot the main thing, sometimes (most of the times) when you translate original words in english you can miss the point and that was what exactly happend with Jelena Gencic observation of Nole’s game at this particular moment.

August 8th, 2012 at 9:48 pm

Thanks so much for expanding and explaining that article Wog Boy. Yeah I think Nole played well – started out a little bit tentatively, but then he found his groove on his groundstrokes, serve, and hit some nice volleys too. The crowd were on their feet for the tweener point – that shot really got the rally going, but it ended on a backhand angled volley by Nole. The Canadian commentators were refreshing as well. I am going to try to watch as much as I can tomorrow because I am going away on the weekend. Hope you get to see more of the next match. Nole will be playing Sam.

August 8th, 2012 at 10:06 pm

jane,

Pleasure, have a nice weekend:)

August 8th, 2012 at 10:14 pm

I have no expectations of Andy at this tournament. He must be exhausted. I don’t care how he does cos…still on cloud 9 :)

August 9th, 2012 at 4:54 am

I have no expectations of Andy. He must be exhausted. I don’t care how he does cos…..I’m still on cloud 9 :)

August 9th, 2012 at 4:56 am

V. sorry for double ????

August 9th, 2012 at 4:58 am