2013 Aegon Championships

First topic message reminder :

It's my third favourite tournament of the year!!! Headlining the bill is Sir Andrew of Murray who will be hoping to do better than last year which we will not speak of. Second seed is Berdych. The third seed is DelPo who is making a long-awaited appearance at Queen's Club and the number 4 seed is grass court extraordinaire Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Amongst the other seeds are previous champions Sam Querrey and Marin Cilic and Federer-wannabe Grigor Dimitrov. Also, keep an eye on 12th seed Lukas Rosol as he has potential.

ualifying is currently underway with Feliciano "Deliciano" Lopez as the top seed. There are also a plethora of Brits in action including ex-British-number-2 Alex Bogdanovic.

The main draw isn't out yet unfortunately but I'll keep looking.

Draw: http://www.lta.org.uk/3G/Tournaments/AEGONChampionships/Draws/2013/MDS.pdf

Wow, Gary Neville takes the 2nd set as Tsonga "crumbles like a nice moist cheesecake".

Weak era? Can't be as they don't exist. Or do they only exist when people want them to exist?

Talking of which, I've just ordered a giant orange one from the very good 'Belicatessen' for Fathers Day!!

banbrotam wrote:Talking of which, I've just ordered a giant orange one from the very good 'Belicatessen' for Fathers Day!!

I know that place! We used to live up that way. On Westgate, right? Good choice, sir 

Silver wrote:

banbrotam wrote:Talking of which, I've just ordered a giant orange one from the very good 'Belicatessen' for Fathers Day!!

I know that place! We used to live up that way. On Westgate, right? Good choice, sir 

It's very good. Last time we had the strawberry one!!

Its far better than the Beeb at Queens. Apparently, they don't want us to know about the Tsonga result, in case it rains

Fair enough. But in that case, it might have been a good idea not to have shown Tsonga celebrating victory at the start of their i-player transmission 

Murray finds his passing game right at the end of the breaker, producing three stunning efforts and clinching it 7-4. A good first test for Murray, that.

Next up, Evo against Del Po.

Very good to see Hewitt rolling back years.

Can anyone remember a more horrible week, weather-wise at Queen's ....??

I know there will have been many years of rain interruptions in the past but ..... this combination of such poor light, low temperatures AND rain (either actual or constantly threatening ...??)

Murray through to the quarters beating Marinko Matosevic and plays Benjamin Becker tomorrow. Wins also for Tsonga (also into the quarters) and Juan Martin Del Potro.

Early days in his comeback obviously, but Murray is moving tremendously well and looks well up for it. Haven't seen him feeling his back once. 

Good signs.

He does look well. For me only an on form Roger beats him, if he's moving this well

I've noticed that he's going to the net a bit more (mind you Queens is a bit faster than Wimby) he really, as (for me) the world's best natural instinctive volleyer needs to keep doing this

The significant thing is that it's rare for Andy to be come fast out of the starting blocks after a lay-off.

It may just be the case that actually we haven't seen anywhere near what Andy could do, in the past 18 months due to his back problems

i.e. if he's found a solution the possibilites with a fretful Nole an ageing Roger and questionable fitness Rafa could be endless

I'm getting too carried away - watch him lose in the 2nd round at Wimbledon!!

Yes banbro, when he moves like he has today he's a really difficult proposition. So different from watching him on the clay. 

If his serve starts firing too then I'll start getting really optimistic. 

Last years grass matches give us an indication of where he stands with Roger and Novak... But the great unknown is how Murray and Rafa will match up. It's been that long since they've played. 

I know Lendl has specific ideas on how he should play Rafa, which would be interesting to see. I'd be surprised if it was anything different to everyone's formula (rally to the backhand, go big to the forehand, unload on short high balls)... But we'll see. 

It's the match I want to see most as a Murray fan, yet also the match I fear most!

Plus, how will Rafa play him now... He used to give lots of low mid court slices to the Murray FH. Wouldn't be a great tactic nowadays. 

The Murray FH has improved so much, and the fact that it hasn't made quite as much progress DTL won't matter... Who wants to play to Rafa's FH that much anyway!

It would be a tight one to call for sure.

Murray is less endangered by Rafa's game than he is by the reverence in which he holds Rafa.

That's where I think Lendl is a great asset. He'll have no time for hero worship.

I actually think Andy will be eager to go up against Rafa and get the chance to notch up a win.

Murray has a great chance for Wimbledon, I'm really confident about his chances.

Yeah I think there's something in that Murdoch. He used to almost respect Rafa too much. Especially if you compare it to how much he's always enjoyed agitating and beating Roger. 

I imagine Lendl would have a much more in you face gameplan for Rafa. 

Plus the 2013 Murray would feel he should be beating Rafa. I sensed an inferiority complex a couple of years ago.

I'm really keen to see a Rafa v Andy match up. 

I pretty much know the patterns of Rafa v Fed and Novak but the improvements in Andy's serve and forehand alone completely change the dynamic of that one.

Danny_1982 wrote:Plus the 2013 Murray would feel he should be beating Rafa. I sensed an inferiority complex a couple of years ago.

The US 11' defeat was not only depressing because it was yet another downward slide for Murray, but more so for just how meek he was in defeat. It's fair to say, as we all agreed as the time, that the slow court didn't suit - but he looked like a rabbit in the headlights. Quite rightly we had to start looking at the possibility none of us Murray fans wanted to face - a no slam career

However, I was impressed with Andy immediately after the defeat, when he was visibly annoyed with his play and stated he needed to improve - weasel words of course, we'd heard them before

But he then made a conscious effort almost immediately and beat Rafa fairly convincingly next time. Sure it was a minor event. Sure it was Rafa in late Autumn. But the important thing was that Andy laid down a marker of no more Mr. Nice Guy

Banb- Murray did win against Nadal in Tokyo in 3 sets, but the last set if I remember was pretty (very) one sided stuff.
I'm not sure that match really laid down the 'no more Mr. Nice Guy' token- I think his Olympics final when he was so ruthless and his USO final when he won despite Djoko winning sets 3 and 4, were his 'Mr. Tough Guy matches.' 

One of Murray's best performances, along from Tokyo, was also Shanghai- I believe it was 2010- against Federer. The problem for Murray was when the top 3 stepped it up a gear in the big events- and he didn't.
However I think the latter part of 2012- from the Olympics to USO I think Andy made that jump. In 2013 so far he has been a bit disappointing, apart from the Fed SF victory at AO I can't remember any standout performances (I think he wasn't actually at his best even in the Miami final which he won). Anyway that's just my opinion, feel free to disagree.

With the crowd on his side I believe Murray is right up there and competing for the title. The margins are very small, how he deals with the pressure could be crucial.

IIRC, Nadal won 4 points in the final set.

I guess part of the problem with trying to rate Murray so far this season is he hasn't played much. On hard (4 tournaments), the achievement has been there, even if the performances weren't and then all in all, a fairly rubbish clay season mired with back problems (though Madrid wasn't that bad)

ryan86 wrote:IIRC, Nadal won 4 points in the final set.

I guess part of the problem with trying to rate Murray so far this season is he hasn't played much. On hard (4 tournaments), the achievement has been there, even if the performances weren't and then all in all, a fairly rubbish clay season mired with back problems (though Madrid wasn't that bad)

I agree, it's difficult to see exactly how well Murray has done. The most important period of the year for him starts around now though.
As for the Tokyo final, I think the final set was a combination of Nadal playing some horrific stuff and Murray really playing superbly.
Before that the final had been well contested- Nadal was even a set and a break up at one stage.

Looking forward to Del Potro - Hewitt. With Del Potro coming back from injury/illness and Hewitt playing some good tennis, this should be a cracker.

Cilic v Berdych isn't a bad match at all. Berdych was guilty of putting the ball into the middle of the court in the first set but has amended that slightly and is looking better. Cilic is serving reasonably well for a change too but his serve overall is pretty disappointing because you'd expect someone of his height to hit it harder. His kick serve is very impressive though; it's caught Berdych out a few times now and he's having trouble reading it.

And there's victory for Cilic, 7-5 7-6(4).  He plays Del Potro or Hewitt in the next round.

He sounds like Federer!!! I've never heard him speak before.

Bravo Cilic!  Very pleased - can't warm to either Berdych's efficient and clinical game, nor his sulky demeanour!

C'mon Rusty!

Is the forum ready for me to write a long post about Lleyton Hewitt again?

bogbrush wrote:Is the forum ready for me to write a long post about Lleyton Hewitt again?

Be sure to include the words 'transitional', 'weak', 'era', 'rollover' and 'generation' - in no particular order.

Remember this is a man who beat Agassi in 1998 aged just 16 (I may have ripped off the commentary). It's not like he's a rubbish player.

bogbrush wrote:Is the forum ready for me to write a long post about Lleyton Hewitt again?

Absolutely!

Ditto JHM!

Can barely believe this effort by the forgotten champion of Queens !

Oh yes positively spiffing winning a set in a QF of an ATP 250 tournament. Ground shattering eh.

Ready and waiting for that transitional era post BB!
On one of the (if not THE) fastest courts on tour the 32 year old shows the young pups how its done.

Hilarious...it seems The Seniors (Champions) Tour has been subsumed into the ATP Tour.

Sampras, Goran, McEnroe, Enqvist and Henman are apparently dusting off their racquets and making their way to Queen's as we speak!

Excuse the scepticism of my last post but please quit the back slapping until Hewitt actually wins the tournament. You can go back through tennis history for players aged 30+ having promising results but ultimately (more often than not) they count for nothing by the end of the tournament. It doesn't mean I don't respect Hewitt and his standard of play it is just that I don't buy into the love-in that is expected whenever a player aged 30+ wins.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Oh yes positively spiffing winning a set in a QF of an ATP 250 tournament. Ground shattering eh.

That's a bit of a sense of humour failure you've got going on there craig!

Delpo with the break back in the 2nd and threatening again.

time please wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Oh yes positively spiffing winning a set in a QF of an ATP 250 tournament. Ground shattering eh.

That's a bit of a sense of humour failure you've got going on there craig!

Delpo with the break back in the 2nd and threatening again.

Is it? After all if Hewitt were to win it is guaranteed we'd receive a thread going on about the achievement. Basically, the achievement would be a random win in an ATP 250 tournament against a player making his way back from a lay-off.

Personally I think Hewitt's done well just to make the QF's, with some creditable wins en route, and that's partly what I meant by his 'effort'

lags72 wrote:Personally I think Hewitt's done well just to make the QF's, with some creditable wins en route, and that's partly what I meant by his 'effort'

Yes he has done well here no doubt.

bogbrush wrote:Is the forum ready for me to write a long post about Lleyton Hewitt again?

A baseline player with game built around movement and good return?

Not really my kind of player.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Basically, the achievement would be a random win in an ATP 250 tournament against a player making his way back from a lay-off.

Random? He's a 4 time winner there!
Also, Hewitt himself is maybe just now starting to reap the benefits of the radical toe fusion surgery he underwent 12 months ago to cure his severe foot pain that had troubled for years.

His manager said last May: "It normally takes between six and 12 months to make a full recovery from toe fusion surgery. The aim is certainly to play out the rest of this year and get his ranking up again and then have a good 12 months, hopefully injury free, where he can have another crack at it. He has played spasmodically because he has had different injuries over the last three years so in some ways, it has actually protected his body. He has had time off. If anything he might be able to play a little bit longer."

Looks like those predictions were pretty good! "Come onnnnn" Hewitt....

CaledonianCraig wrote:

time please wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Oh yes positively spiffing winning a set in a QF of an ATP 250 tournament. Ground shattering eh.

That's a bit of a sense of humour failure you've got going on there craig!

Delpo with the break back in the 2nd and threatening again.

Is it? After all if Hewitt were to win it is guaranteed we'd receive a thread going on about the achievement. Basically, the achievement would be a random win in an ATP 250 tournament against a player making his way back from a lay-off.

Yeah, and the thread would primarily be a tease!

Of course between these two former USO champions, the younger Delpo would be expected to win 9 times out of ten over the older Hewitt. I don't think that really needs underlining, does it?

It is fairly irresistible to tease though when Haas, Hewitt et al have been referred to as belonging to a 'weak era' or a 'transitional one' and then they go and 'spank' one of the golden era boys, even if it is only for a set!

Unless I am really misunderstanding them, and I don't think I am, bb and JHM are having a larf - while humorously making an important point which is - don't disrespect Rusty; he was awesome!

When saying random I was talking of the here and now - not what has gone before. I say hold off the back-slapping and thread-starting until it becomes noteworthy ie he wins the whole tournament.

Absolutely TP...its socal who calls them the "roll-over" generation.
I always called them the "transition era"...guys trained on fast who got the rug (er...fast carpet) pulled out from under them.
Hewitt shows us how adept on fast courts he is...if they still had carpet events, or faster HCs he'd be showing this type of performance much more often.
CC...he doesn't need to win the title to get his rather old back slapped. Its great to see any guy at 32yo getting to any ATP event QF.
You can call it a 250, 500 or whatever...but they're always really strong entries...especially given this is a marquee event pre-Wimbledon.

What is amusing for us oldies too, is that we're seeing more and more older guys doing well. Bravo I say!!!

CaledonianCraig wrote:When saying random I was talking of the here and now - not what has gone before. I say hold off the back-slapping and thread-starting until it becomes noteworthy ie he wins the whole tournament.

Why .....why try and squash or control all humour and teasing?

But what is the point time please?

Such a thread would only lead to what those leg-pulling posters hate (dare I say it) another era debate and then halfway through it all gets clear that nothing will be proven then posts start getting nasty so why bother?

Teasing is fine but going to the point of starting a thread knowing it will illicit a tone to take it down another 'era debate' well that is another thing.

Anyway...looks like age is catching up with him...1-5 down in 2nd now

lydian - c'mon the wrinklies!

CC...you better not look at Halle then...Haas is currently serving out the match to a guy 9 years his junior!

lydian wrote:Anyway...looks like age is catching up with him...1-5 down in 2nd now

Of course. Nothing at all to do with Del Potro I suppose.

lydian wrote:CC...you better not look at Halle then...Haas is currently serving out the match to a guy 9 years his junior!

No I don't have a problem with that. I have seen players aged 30+ competing at the top level of tennis before so it isn't exactly ground-breaking stuff.