The X Blog - Dysfunctional Tennis Blogging at its Finest

April 28th, 2018

Mertens, Cibulkova Headline WTA Rabat; Preview

Tough starts for (1) Mertens vs. Siegemund 2nd rd., (6) Diyas vs. the French Open finalist Errani, and (3) Martic vs. the crafty Flipkens…

Posted by Staff @ 4:25 pm in Tennis | Comments Off on Mertens, Cibulkova Headline WTA Rabat; Preview

January 28th, 2018

Bouchard, Stosur, Shuai Headline WTA Taipei Open

Interesting starts for (1) Shuai vs. the streaking Bogdan (winner to possibly meet Bouchard), and (3) Stosur 2nd rd. vs. Lisicki..

Posted by Staff @ 11:12 pm in Tennis | Comments Off on Bouchard, Stosur, Shuai Headline WTA Taipei Open

February 6th, 2016

Venus Gets Paid in Taiwan; Swiss Top Seeds in St. Pete: WTA Previews

Let’s play “Guess Who Got the Appearance Cash?” with Venus as the top seed, and the No. 62-ranked Doi seeded second…No Top 10 seeds in the field…Remove Venus, and this would essentially be an ITF-level field…Potentially tricky starts for (8) Riske vs. the Croat riser Vekic, and (2) Doi vs. the lesser Pliskova…Wildcards stayed in-country to Chinese-Taipei’s Hsu Ching-Wen, Lee Pei-Chi and Lee Ya-Hsuan…

Posted by Staff @ 10:42 am in Tennis | Comments Off on Venus Gets Paid in Taiwan; Swiss Top Seeds in St. Pete: WTA Previews

January 2nd, 2016

Djokovic, Nadal Lead Loaded Doha; ATP/WTA Week 1 Previews

Federer has won the most singles titles of any player in Doha, and is a perfect 3-0 in finals…Ferrer beat Berdych in last year’s final…Nadal, who is playing doubles with Verdasco, has won the most doubles titles of anyone at the event with four (2005,’09,’11,’15)…Former singles champs in the field are Ferrer (2015), Nadal (2014), and Federer (2011,’06-05).

Posted by Staff @ 8:56 pm in Tennis | 52 Comments »

August 1st, 2015

Murray in, Serena Out on U.S. Hardcourts; ATP/WTA Previews

All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes, but some potential interesting second-rounders with (12) Pospisil vs. (WC) Haas, (4) Gasquet vs. the hot-handed Muller, break-up boy (6) Dimitrov vs. the resurgent Baghdatis, and (7) Lopez vs. (WC) Hewitt on his retirement tour…

Posted by Staff @ 1:55 pm in Stanford, Tennis, Washington | 12 Comments »

July 5th, 2015

Wimbledon Women’s R16 Monday Picks and Pans

This could go any of 10 ways between on one end a knock-down big-hitter between the two powerhouses, or on the other end a chokefest between Venus who doesn’t want to ruin sister Serena’s shot at a Grand Slam, to Serena choking it while Venus is trying to hand it to her.

Posted by Jeremy Davis @ 11:11 pm in Tennis, Wimbledon | 1 Comment »

June 7th, 2015

ATP/WTA Previews: Nadal Helps Debut Stuttgart Grass Event

Notes: The tournament makes the switch to grass as part of the tour’s extended grasscourt season…Tough starts for (1) Nadal against the Baghdatis-Rosol winner, and (8) Troicki vs. Coric…Wildcards went to Germans Tommy Haas, Maximilian Marterer and Alexander Zverev…Pulling from the event were Julien Benneteau and Jiri Vesely…The Bryan brothers are the top seeds in doubles…Nadal (2007,’05) is the lone returning former champ in the field.

Posted by Staff @ 6:07 pm in Tennis | 39 Comments »

May 18th, 2015

ATP/WTA Previews: Simon, Isner at Nice; Geneva, Strasbourg, Nurnberg

Notes: Gulbis is defending the Nice title (d. Federico Delbonis) then a Roland Garros semifinal…Gulbis is 1-11 win-loss this year…(8) Monaco could start against Querrey…Wildcards went to France’s Maxime Hamou and Lucas Pouille, and Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis…Withdrawing from the tournament were Simone Bolelli, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Martin Klizan, and Diego Schwartzman…Gulbis (2015) is the lone returning champ in the field.

Posted by Staff @ 1:33 am in Tennis | 32 Comments »

May 10th, 2015

Blockbuster WTA Rome Field to Answer Pre-French Questions?

Serena’s draw to the semifinals could go through Stosur, last year’s finalist Errani then the former French champ Ivanovic to meet either Sharapova or Wozniacki in the semis…

Posted by Staff @ 11:50 am in Clay Season, Italian Open, Rome, Tennis | 19 Comments »

April 23rd, 2015

Nadal Avenges Almagro Loss, Now Faces Fognini In Barcelona; Lisicki Eats Two Bagels In Stuttgart

Rafael Nadal continues his quest for a 9th Barcelona title.

Posted by Staff @ 12:23 am in Barcelona, Stuttgart | 96 Comments »

April 5th, 2015

WTA Previews: No Williamses in Charleston; Aggie in Poland

Not a lot of floating talent in the field, with a potential tough start for (16) Watson vs. the riser Vekic; (1) Bouchard could face Stephens in the 3rd rd…Wildcards went to Bouchard and Americans Varvara Lepchenko, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sachia Vickery…

Posted by Jeremy Davis @ 2:30 pm in ATP, Charleston, Clay Season, Katowice, Tennis, WTA | 3 Comments »

March 10th, 2015

Indian Wells Women’s Preview: Serena Williams Returns to Cushy Draw

All the hubbub surrounds Serena, but Venus is not ending her boycott since last playing in 2001. “I made my schedule up,” Venus said about missing IW again. “I’m entered in Miami, and that’s pretty much what it is. I haven’t really given a lot of thought to it. I have just been focusing on this year…I just respect every decision [Serena] makes, pretty much. It’s nothing complicated about it.”

Posted by Jeremy Davis @ 12:36 am in Indian Wells | 7 Comments »

January 3rd, 2015

ATP/WTA Previews: Stars Come Out at 4 Events in Week 1

The stars are coming out on week one, even uncharacteristically on the women’s side, as current No. 1 Novak Djokovic and former top dogs Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic compete at four events in week one of 2015.

Posted by Staff @ 10:29 pm in 2015 Season, Tennis | 10 Comments »