Djokovic Continues To Dominate In Miami, Then Watches The Heat Do The Same; Sharapova, Ferrer Advance; Murray, Serena Monday

Looking forward to see the Djokovic-Haas match. If Djokovic plays the way he played against Devvarman Haas will swallow him.

March 25th, 2013 at 7:29 am

I don’t think Haas can “swallow” Djokovic.

I watched the first few games of the Devvarman match. The commentators called it a glorified hitting session. Best way to describe it. Djokovic barely looked like he was trying, but Devvarman has nothing to even remotely hurt him with. I expect Djokovic to raise his game as needed.

But seriously, he’s lost twice since the US Open. That’s a span 7 tournaments. How can you give Haas any kind of edge?

March 25th, 2013 at 11:13 am

^Agreed. But props to Hass playing good tennis of late. He’s old, has had a career of injuries, and still around playing well.

March 25th, 2013 at 11:50 am

Haas is 2-4 versus Nole; both of Tommy’s wins were on grass in 2009. Their matches are sometimes tight, but their last meeting was 2012 Shanghai and Nole won 6-3, 6-3. I didn’t see either of their last matches here, though, so I can’t comment on form. Nole will have to play well, I am sure.

Dimitrov/Andy should be an interesting match, too. But I can’t watch it. :/

March 25th, 2013 at 11:52 am

Murray is not in his best shape…Nole will dominate the Open because he has no rivals…

March 25th, 2013 at 1:15 pm

@jane:

I can’t see Dimitrov achieving anything in that match. He just lacks the consistency to beat Murray, even to take a set. He simply doesn’t have any weapon to hurt Andy.

@Ben:

I agree with you. Novak did play well 5 to 10 mn in the second set, when he broke and won 11 points in a row. It was cat and mouse play. He even made one of these FH he’s trying to hit, and the ball flew past TD at a speed of 100 mph. I don’t remember when he hit the ball that hard, perhaps in Rome 2011 against Soderling, but he used Soderling’s ball pace to achieve 110 mph.

March 25th, 2013 at 2:44 pm

True mat4; of the 4 sets he’s played versus Andy, he’s kept them fairly close, but he’s not won any of them. So I expect things will continue apace today. Andy is better all-round.

March 25th, 2013 at 2:52 pm

Checked their h2h. Seems too close to me. But I didn’t check the details.

March 25th, 2013 at 3:13 pm

Dimitrov is very mentally suspect; like he did versus Nole at IW, while serving for the set, he hit 3 double faults. That kind of thing could haunt him: two weeks in a row.

Meanwhile, Andy is having a very off serving day; I don’t think he’s cracked 50% firsts in yet.

March 25th, 2013 at 4:15 pm

I think Andy really exposed Dimitrov’s fitness issues in that long rally. Andy could’ve kept hitting; Dimitrov not so much.

March 25th, 2013 at 4:34 pm

Now watch Dimitrov fading away, these young players just don’t have a heart.

March 25th, 2013 at 4:43 pm

Hardly vintage Murray,but one has to be thankful for the Dimitrov choke job,as much as i like Murray its dissapointing yet again to see a player as talented as Dimitrov serving DFs when serving for the set,its like deja vu from his match against Novak last week,tennis is not just about been talented,its also about whats between the ears too,what a waste IMO,i hope his coach can help him overcome this mental problem.

March 25th, 2013 at 5:08 pm

I bet Andy breathed a huge sigh of relief to get through that. Scrappy match. He’s clearly struggling to find his mojo. Maybe it will come with each match but I’m not optimistic.

As for Dimitrov, he’s got the game – great aggressive forehand, wicked slice, variety – but those service yips and not playing the right shot at crucial moments are what’s keeping him from the top 15. He just needs to remember he had the world no.1 and no. 3 on the ropes for a set and try to work on his mental strength in closing out sets. Of all the ‘young guns’ (how long can we keep calling them that?) I’d like to see him succeed.

March 25th, 2013 at 5:37 pm

I bet skeezer would be happy to know to that Berdy is struggling mightily against….Falla. Dropped the 1st set 6-2. This has been a weird tournament so far.

March 25th, 2013 at 5:47 pm

^yes……bliss :)…..soooo far so good, just wish it was Almagro spankin him instead!

It’s very clear until these younger and lower ranked players get some mental gonads we are not going to see any shift in power out of the top 4. Sure there is the occasional upset, but absolutely no consistency in between the ears area.

March 25th, 2013 at 6:11 pm

The crowd are wild. More like a football game than a tennis match. Another thing that irritates Berdy.

March 25th, 2013 at 6:16 pm

Aargh…Falla fails to serve it out – Berdy suddenly played well 4 points in a row. Raonic withdraws for 2nd year in a row, this time with strep throat.

March 25th, 2013 at 6:28 pm

If we take Rafa, Andy, Delpo, Nole and look at their work ethics, desire to play and win, respect and love for the game and fans regardless of result on scoreboard and how hungry they are to play and win, and then we look at likes of Dimitrov, Gulbis, Tomic we can see the reasons why, as Skeezer said, I don’t see any of them breaking in top5, maybe even not in top10.
I didn’t forget Federer, he is simply in league of his own.

March 25th, 2013 at 6:28 pm

Dimitrov’s backhand can be a liability methinks; he hits it shot a lot. Players who want to could come in on that and take advantage. But I agree with you DA; overall, he’s got the most-rounded game of the younger bunch, but tactically he played some questionable drop shots and he also has a problem closing sets apparently. He might make a break through yet, though. He could also maybe be fitter? I suspect he could do damage on grass.

March 25th, 2013 at 7:03 pm

^hits it *short

March 25th, 2013 at 7:04 pm

Wog boy, the hunger of the top players seems to be greater and we would think the work ethic too, though it’s tough to know how hard these others work.

Nole was #3 at 20 years old; Andy was #4 by 21 years old. Delpo quickly set himself apart from Cilic and Gulbis, the two guys he rose up with, by showing he has the game and heart of a grand slam champion. So yes, they definitely broke through sooner than the current crop of young players – and these 3 all had Nadal and Federer above them, and all of them had wins over those 2players as well.

Tomic is 20 now; Harrison is 20, soon to be 21; Dimitrov is 21 soon to be 22; Milos is 22; Goffin is 22. So they all have some time to develop, but they should be trying to turn a corner soon, with regards to rankings, consistency and titles, if they want to be top ten players with chances at the big titles.

March 25th, 2013 at 7:14 pm

jane, WB:

Do you remember when I wrote that Novak’s team is a F1 team?

A fascinating article that confirms it (go to the middle section):

http://www.changeovertennis.com/the-backboard-a-name-change-is-tennis-in-the-analytical-dark-ages-and-more/#comment-2043

March 25th, 2013 at 7:28 pm

It could be that we are unfair to compare those “young guns” with the established top players. We shouldn’t forget that Federer has won 17 slams, Rafa 7 slams on clay, 11 overall, that Djokovic managed to win 6 slams against those two, and could, if Murray doesn’t overtake him, retire also as one of the greatest players of the open era.

It twists a bit our views on players like Murray, Del Po, Ferrer, Tsonga, who would probably have been multiple slam winners without them.

It is a tough time for young players. But, on the other side, at their age, they really already should be top ten if they were really the talents, the future stars we think they were. Raonic is injured most of the time, Nishikori (who also was injured) and Goffin lack height and power, and yes, Dimitrov and Tomik are… how could we say it and not to be rude? just stupid.

March 25th, 2013 at 7:54 pm

I forgot Harrison, sorry, Socks, maybe too. They technically are just limited. Harrison’s FH is… I don’t know what it is, his BH is… the same, he just doesn’t move well enough.

Manclusion: I really expect Haas to make it to the top ten this year. He is perhaps a greater prospect than all of them..

March 25th, 2013 at 7:57 pm

^ lol, and just 34! But seriously, wow, Tommy is doing well in his comeback. It’s pretty amazing.

mat4, it’s good that they use videotape – why shouldn’t they figure out patterns and such. It makes sense to be smart about it, methinks. Thanks for the link.

March 25th, 2013 at 8:02 pm

jane:

I always thought that they were doing it. I do it often to spot changes in Novak’s game. Two years ago, when Novak won Dubai, Bradnam mentioned that “they” (he is a coach, so I figure he did it with others coaches, but I am not certain) analysed his serve in slow motion to spot the difference. A player, or a coach who wouldn’t do the same would be unreasonable.

But I also remember an interview with Tsonga, when he mentioned that it was so easy, working with a coach: before the match, Winogradsky would come and explain him the strategy to use. Winogradsky did all the analysing, watching, sketching.

March 25th, 2013 at 8:10 pm

Cahill’s remarks were also a testimony of Novak’s work intelligence: since 2011, we know he had worked on his technique — FH, transition game, volley, serve placement, his fitness — special food, bicycle in the Alps (to spare his knees), movement on court (Phil-Gritsch explained it in an interview in German: they had to re-learn the basics, to work from scratch to improve placement, balance, and spend less energy), and now we learn that he also studies his opponents in details. That could also explain the high % of returns he put in court.

March 25th, 2013 at 8:20 pm

jane,

That is exactly what I had in my mind when I posted, but you said it better. I pictured Andy and Nole when they were 19-20-21 years old and what they were doing then, and then I looked at Dimitrov, Tomic and what they are doing now. You didn’t read about Andy and Nole clubing, chasing the girls, driving expensive cars (I am pretty sur by that time they could afford them) but they were working hard in order to solve the problems called Roger/Rafa and up their games.
I am not saying what the others are doing is wrong, it is their choice of life but I don’t think you can have both ways in todays very demanding times for a pro athlets.
I remember long time ago Boris Becker saying how he is jealous at Bob Zivojinovic for enjoying life and having wild parties (Zivojinovic was party animal), they were very close friends managed by the same person, Ion Tiriac. Bob did well in his life after tennis, thanks to Romanian dude;) but how many people in tennis world know today about Bob Zivojinovic and everybody knows about Boom Boom Becker, though he was a bit of extrovert person himself, wasn’t he?

mat4,

I had to lough (good post by you) but you are right, Haas has more chances of making top10 than the other two.

March 25th, 2013 at 8:25 pm

I think Becker was pretty outgoing; you’re right Wog boy.

March 25th, 2013 at 9:27 pm

Interesting discussion folks. Cheers :)
Found Andy’s performance very underwhelming tbh.
Am wondering if this “baby Fed” label is weighing Grigor down, like some mill stone round his neck. Heck of a moniker to live with.

March 26th, 2013 at 3:18 am

Dimitrov,Nishikori and Raonic are young but they seem to have the will and maturity,and the self descipline,to want to improve and overcome any mental lapses,Tomic is a cheeky chappy who seems to want to make headlines but not tennis headlines hopefully this is just a phase that will pass,Gulbis seems to treat tennis as a joke,and seems to think hes doing the world a favour by playing tennis,he maybe talented with good looks blah blah,but his attitude is terrible,sorry JMO for what its worth.

March 26th, 2013 at 7:37 am

alison,

Agree about Nishikori and Raonic, but not so about Dimitrov, until he proves me wrong. I have my reasons for thinking so but it is too much off topic to explain them. Of course I can be wrong, time will tell. There is no luck of talent, that is for sure.

March 26th, 2013 at 8:13 am

27 games for the heat now that’s crazy, I heard we r likely to cling the number one seed in the east this week. Novak was watching the lakers two weeks ago now he’s come to see the real deal :)

March 26th, 2013 at 8:21 am

Kimberly,

I have seen short video of Novak at Miami game, it was really nice and he was nicely greeted by Miami fans. As I read on the other forum you are, I mean Heat, seven wins short of LAL forty years old record. You think you can do it, get the record?

March 26th, 2013 at 8:29 am

I think the toughest game is the road game v. SAS (san antonio spurs) and that could be the stumbling block. I do have tix to what could be the game 34 just in case though!

I was supposed to go to the game Novak went to but my craigslist source got an offer for the tix for much more money than we had agreed to a few weeks ago and I was not willing to match it, certainly not for the bobcats. Will not be using that guy for tix again!

I am going to the Sony Ericson thuesday day session for the womens semi and mens quarter, and then Friday day session for the mens semi.

March 26th, 2013 at 10:19 am

Novak got a picture taken with Wade; he seems to be really enjoying the b-ball lately.

Margot, that could be a weight on Dimitrov. Remember, Gasquet had the same nick and it didn’t serve him well!

March 26th, 2013 at 11:54 am