Home Tags Posts tagged with "verdasco"
Tag:

verdasco

NewsPredictions

What a day for tennis – Madrid Masters

by TN
written by TN

What a line-up we have at Madrid Open (formerly Madrid Masters) today. We have lots of top players in action, Nadal, Federer, Murray Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga, to name a few. The most interesting match-ups in my mind is another battle of the double-handed backhanders (yesterday we had Tommy Robredo vs Tommy Haas in a well-played match) with young hot-shot Grigor Dimitrov taking on Stanislas Wavrinka, in-form Tommy Haas playing clay-demon David Ferrer and hard-hitters Verdasco and Tsonga pairing up in a heavyweight contest.

Federer and Nadal are also playing of course, but as a heavy favorites. Murray and Simon will be a battle of the wits before power, but the H2H record with Murray leading 10-1 should speak clearly in favor of Murray although he has had a tough clay season so far.

My winner picks from the matches below: Andujar, Berdych, Nadal, Verdasco, Federer, Ferrer (although I root for Haas), Wavrinka (Dimitrov should be tired after beating Djokovic), and Murray.

Screen Shot 2013-05-09 at 11.57.42

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
News

Australian Open 2012: Day 1

by TN
written by TN

It has begun! For all us tennis fans the wait from the ATP World Tour Finals to the first slam of the year is excruciating, but at last we don’t need to wait no more. Here’s my brief summary of an exciting first day of Australian Open 2012.

Australian youngster Bernard Tomic managed to come back from two sets down to beat Verdasco in five! Seems like Tomic is destined for great things and that is time to start is now. Verdasco, on the other hand, is far from the form he had a year or two ago.

Federer had a tough set against Kudryavtsev from Russia, in the end winning it 7-5, but then it was smooth sailing 6-2 6-2.

Del Potro lost first set against Mannarino from France, but then won three in a row. Delpo’s form is shaky so I would expect him to do anything big at this year’s Australian Open.

Nadal crushed Kuznetsov in three easy sets and looked to be firing hard on both wings. Looks like the Spaniard is ready to finish points quickly in 2012.

Super-entertaining Ukrainian Dolgopolov – who I have big hopes for in 2012 – looked to be completely off track in the first two sets against Greg Jones (Greg who?) but then only gave the local player 4 games in the last three sets. Dolgopolov is patchy to say the least. Let’s hope he hits a purple one this year.

The rest: Berdych beat Ramos, Nieminen forfeited against Nalbandian, Wavrinka crushed Paire, Baghdatis destroyed Becker, Fish beat Muller, Isner beat Mitchell, Riba beat Monates in a tough one, Rochus crushed Phau, Kohlschreiber beat Monaco in five, Anderson beat Nielsen, Haas beat Kudla, Dimitrov beat Chardy in five, Sergei Stakhovsky beat Marchenko, Kavcic beat Ward, Berlocq beat Galung, Young beat Gojowczyk in five, Falla beat Fognini (no shit?), Lopez beat Mayer, Karlovic beat Melzer (what’s up Jurgen??), Lacko beat Ljubicic in five, Querrey beat Schepper, Cipolla beat Davydenko (when will the Russian be back on track again), Kamke beat Hanescu, and Serra beat Darcis.

This at least gives you an idea how everything turned out on day 1. Tomorrow we have Djoker and Murray in action!

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Predictions

Halle and Queens Day 2: Roddick vs Lopez

by TN
written by TN

This is the line-up for today’s matches in Halle and Queens. You can watch these matches at Livescorehunter.com

I will comment on the most exciting ones and there are a few mouthwatering match-ups.

Dustin Brown is a colorful and exciting player and not only because his Rastafarian hair, but also due to his eccentric playing style. He meets another unorthodox player in Florian Mayer. A tough one for Brown and I predict Mayer in three.

Del Potro is in action again and this time against Istomin who can play good tennis but haven’t this year. Should be a quite straightforward affair for the hard swinging Argentine.

Match of the day must be Andy Roddick vs Feliciano Lopez. This can go either way. Roddick pulled out of the French Open and should be hungry to play while Lopez is having the year of his life with his elegant leftie style. Roddick should be able to win this in three looking at his excellent history at Queens.

Verdasco vs Mahut is another big encounter. On any other surface I would go with Verdasco, but Mahut is a grass court specialist and famous for playing that three day marathon encounter against John Isner last year (first round Wimbledon). Mahut has also been a finalist at Queens, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes this in three.

It will also be great to see Tommy Haas back in action today after a long time away from injury. He’s quite comfortable on grass, but so is Seppi so might be a tough one for the German having only played one match previous to this one all year. But for the German spectators in Halle I hope he can win it.

Tuesday (07 June)
12:00 Petzschner – Meffert (ATP Halle)
13:30 Brown – F. Mayer (ATP Halle)
13:30 Del Potro – Istomin (ATP Queens)
15:00 F. Lopez – Roddick (ATP London)
16:00 Seppi – Haas (ATP Halle)
16:30 Verdasco – Mahut (ATP Queens)
17:30 Bemelmans – Berdych (ATP Queens)
18:00 Berrer – Tsonga (ATP London)
19:00 Monfils – Serra (ATP Halle)

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
News

French Open Day 7: Business As Usual

by TN
written by TN

Yes, today at Roland Garros it was pretty much business as usual. At least for five time champion and world number one Rafael Nadal who won his match against Antonio Veic, losing only four games.

Djokovic vs Del Potro was resumed and Djokovic resumed business being the invincible man and won today’s two sets 6-3 6-2 against a seemingly frustrated Del Potro. It’s hard to see how anyone except for Nadal can stop Djokovic in this tournament.

Soderling and Simon both won their matches in straights and looked pretty impressive, but although they are both in good form it’s hard to see them throw a spanner in the works of the top three players in the world.

Murray was also in cruise control against Berrer, but later said that he doesn’t feel a hundred percent if he’s going to play the next round due to a lingering injury. Let’s just hope he’s well for the next match.

The oldest player still in the field, Ivan Ljubicic, scored a nice win in three straight sets against Verdasco. Ljubicic’s dominating strokes are very impressive and it’s nice to see him still doing great results on the tour.

Today’s slight letdown, at least for me, was that super creative player Dolgopolov lost against Troicki. It’s always nice to see unorthodox players in action.

We are soon in the second week and the clay action is really heating up now. Check back here for information, predictions, news, and pretty much everything else about tennis.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
News

My Take On Tennis: May 10, 2011

by TN
written by TN

First a sad message:

Mr Juan Martin Del Potro, why do you get injured now when we need you the most to stir up Roland Garros and make it even more exciting? We will miss you and your fly-swatting shots…

Yesterday I only bet on one match, the one between Monfils and Nishikori and then both got injured. Bad luck for me and even more bad luck for them.

Many good matches on the menu today. Serve and volley battle between Lopez and Llodra. Croat clash between Karlovic and Cilic. Serving contest between Querrey and Anderson. Big hitting hate-match between Soderling and Verdasco. Make sure to catch at least some of the action live online, either at tennistv.com or livescorehunter.com

Lot of talk about Djokovic’s chance at being number one in the world at the moment. If he wins Rome and Nadal loses before the semis (highly unlikely) he will be in the top spot on the ATP tour for the first time in his career. Looking at the way he’s been playing for the first half of 2011 it’s far from impossible that he’ll win.

But then you would have to think that Nadal will find a way to beat him on the more traditional, slower clay in Rome. Even though he has lost three straight times to Djokovic, within Nadal beats the heart of a champion and a champion finds a way to win. And I really think if will find a way to beat Djokovic in 2011, if not in Rome, then for sure in the five set matches of Roland Garros.

In tennis book news, excellent tennis writer Steve Tignor has published High Strung: Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, and the Last Days of Tennis’s Golden Ageand I’m looking forward to downloading and reading it on my Kindle.

That’s all for now, let’s hope for a speedy recovery for Delpo, Nishikori and Monfils and that today’s tennis action will be exciting and interesting. Follow me on Twitter to see more recent developments!

 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Predictions

My Take On Tennis: May 9, 2011

by TN
written by TN

Today I’m cheering Kei Nishikori in his ATP Rome Masters first round match against Gael Monfils.

A few thoughts the early Rome action. Let’s do it kinda bullet form to make it easier to read (and write) – I’ll call it “My Take On Tennis: (date)”

Verdasco beat Raonic 6-4 6-4 yesterday after “trash-talking” him last time they played. He basically said that Raonic is all serve and if he could play him on clay it would be a different story. I think that was a really stupid thing to say, although it does make for decent publicity, because Raonic has since showed that he’s a lot more than serve. But Verdasco was right that on clay it would be slightly different, especially now that he’s started to play decent tennis again.

At the time of writing Gilles Simon is beating the shit (excuse my French) out of Andy Roddick in Rome. The Frenchman looking ready to take on the clay in his home country and the American looking ready to go…home.

I thought Spanish Pere Riba was a big talent, but he’s finding it a bit tough on the tour. But being born in 1988, he’s still got some time on his hands.

Tough match to predict today: Potato Starch, yes I need to get over his name, (Potito Starace) playing yo-yo player Dolgopolov. Two steamy-heads in an exciting clay match-up. Dolgopolov has better hands, but Starace’s forehand might do big damage on a good day. I’ll say Dolgo in two tight sets.

Slightly out of shape (meaning chubby) Xavier Malisse is playing Garcia Lopez in what could be a fierce encounter. Malisse can play tennis like a God, but also like journeyman and it’s always hard to tell what kind of mood this shotmaker will be in. I’ll go out on a limb and bet a Spaniard on clay (guts!).

Bagdahtis vs Tsonga? Tsonga.

That’s it for now. Please comment on my picks or on something else. Let’s get a discussion going.

 

 

 

 

 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
NewsPredictions

ATP Tour Tennis Today, April 30

by TN
written by TN

Hmmmm…what’s on the menu for the tennis fan today? We’ll have action from Munich, Serbia and Estoril so let’s have a quick look…

Djokovic plays his good friend and “imitator” Janko Tipsarevic in Serbia Open. Tipsarevic is playing good tennis at the moment, but I doubt him taking a set from the Djoker.

It looks like Italian mini-man Filippo Volandri is back in good form. He takes on Feliciano Lopez in the other Serbia Open semi-final and I think he is in for a good chance. Lopez has been serving well though so he is the favorite.

In Estoril Del Potro will likely beat Cuevas, Raonic is down 5-6 against Gilles Simon and Verdasco has lost the first set against Anderson (rain and then darkness stopped play yesterday). I think Verdasco can turn the match around and maybe also Raonic, although I didn’t think so yesterday. The young Canadian is so impressive in his calm and collective view and I predict a very bright future for him.

In Munich Davyenko is back in good form along with the Czech Stepanek. They will likely be locked in a tough struggle for the final spot. My predictions is that Davydenko will come out on top.

The other semi-final is fittingly all-German and Petschner and Mayer will likely play an exciting three-setter full of twists and turns. In the end I think Mayer is the slightly stronger player, but it’s very difficult to predict this one.

Lots of great tennis today as well. Let’s all tune in to the livestreams!

 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Players

What Is In The Head of Fernando Verdasco

by TN
written by TN


Is anybody’s guess. He hasn’t been himself of late. Is it because he went from Tecnifibre to Dunlop or something else?

The guy’s got a big game but when he said he wanted to play with Raonic on clay (indicating that the Canadian was all serve and no play) after losing to him twice on hard courts, you would start to wonder if he’s losing it a bit.

Come on, Verdasco, we want to see that thunder forehand of yours. Vamos!

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
News

I was wrong – French Open predictions

by TN
written by TN

Yesterday was a strange day at the French Open. It wasn’t easy to predict how the action was going to unfold, but at least there should be a few “given” matches. But it didn’t pan out that way.

Firstly, Roddick played a horrible match, losing against Gabashvili in three straight sets. He just couldn’t get enough lead on the ball. They were all sitting up for Gabashvili, who played aggressively and hit 60 winners. Maybe it wasn’t so strange that he couldn’t get the needed weight on his shots, that was always a reason that Roddick didn’t do well on clay, but especially so on the slow Susanne Lenglen court.

Then contrary to what everybody thought (including myself), Ferrer crashed out in three straight sets against Melzer. Amazing effort from the Austrian of course, but Ferrer must have had an off day not to even take a set.

At least I was right that Ferrero vs Ginepri was going to be a five-setter, but I picked Ferrero as the winner, not Ginepri. In the end I was wrong. Again.

I had a hunch that Kohlschreiber would beat Verdasco. It was going to be a hard-fought encounter and it was. Serving at 5-5 in the fourth set Verdasco got severe pain in his foot (seemed to be the toes) and everybody thought the match would be over. He lost the set in the tiebreak and didn’t seem to move properly. But Kohlschreiber didn’t seem to block out the thought of his opponent’s injury and he seemed to play worse for a while. Verdasco then forgot the pain or something and managed to win the 5th set 6-3. It was a strange match, but it is impressive that Verdasco managed to win it in the end.

I also believed in Dolgopolov, the Ukrainian junior who has played extremely well previous rounds, but he was trashed by Almagro in three straight sets. Wrong again.

As I wasn’t wrong enough already, Ljubicic also lost in three straight sets against Bellucci.

In the end I was only right about two matches yesterday. Nadal beating Hewitt and Djokovic beating Hanescu. Let’s see if I can do better today. I hope you didn’t bet on my predictions!

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
News

Summing up Rome Masters

by TN
written by TN

Nadal again. Of course. No one would have thought anything different. But he lost a set. He had to fight off Ferrer, and he didn’t look quite as impossible to beat as last week.

7-5 6-2 in the final. It was a rainy, patchy affair, extremely well played at times. Here is the best point by far: http://www.tennistv.com/tennistv/20100502/atp-rome-hot-shot-final_2252185_2041550

But there are others things to say about Rome Masters than just “Vamos Rafa”.

Spaniards on clay
Yes, they are always a force on the red stuff and we were on match away from having two all-Spanish semi-finals. Verdasco and Ferrer both look very strong at the moment, although it did hur a bit to see “Nando” choke away the first set, going from 5-1 to 5-7 and also 0-3 in the second set against Ferrer. Losing nine games in a row is not something you would expect of the new, improved Verdasco.  Feliciano Lopez also made a good impression, losing only to Gulbis in the quarters.

Ernests Gulbis
The Latvian mega-talent showed both heart and skill in Rome. He fought like a Roman warrior and was the only one good enough to take a set off Nadal, making that one the best on clay so far this season. He also beat Roger Federer. Read more about Gulbis in this post.

Roger Federer
Why can’t the world’s best player bother with the Masters? These tournaments are second only to Grand slams and carry 1000 ATP points each. Yet Federer fails to display any kind of hunger for them. Are you that spoiled winning 16 slams that you won’t care about anything less? It is a shame really, because these events should really be great events with all the top players turning up. Hopefully he can find some kind of motivation for Estoril next week, otherwise his claycourt preparation this year will look more than shaky.

1 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail