Queens, Halle and pre-Wimbledon Tournaments

Week 2 tournaments:
ATP 500 Queen's
ATP 500 Halle
WTA Premier Birmingham
WTA International Mallorca

Week 3 tournaments:
ATP 250 Nottingham
WTA Premier Eastbourne

Raonic v Kyrgios looks the pick of the early matches. Also Delpo v Isner.

Well good news that Murray and Lendl are back together.  It seems to have been Murray's promising Clay Court season that has convinced Lendl he might be able to help Murray for the grass season.  And who knows where this might lead.  It certainly gives hope to us that would like to see Murray make a challenge to the Djokovic hegemony - hoping for some titanic battles to come.  It's a risk that the Murray - Lendl partnership might not work a second time, but the fact that Lendl is prepared to give it a try is promising.


Also both Thiem and Kyrgios are showing signs of posing more long term threats to the top guys.

Yeah, Raonic v Kyrgios looks the pick of R1, though not likely to be many (if any!) long rallies. I'm also interested to see how Dan Evans does in his first ATP level match in 2 years.

Forecast is rain all day tomorrow at Queen's and not great for the rest of the week either unfortunately.

Yeah Evans has a winnable match I feel. Although he was defaulted a game during his last challenger defeat, so don't know where his head is.

Gasquet was an early break up before the rain delay and then got hammered by Steve Johnson. Strange result.

Andy Murray faces a fellow Brit today. Only one thing to say to that - C'mon Tim!

JuliusHMarx wrote:Andy Murray faces a fellow Brit today. Only one thing to say to that - C'mon Tim!

First time in ten years apparently.

Be nice if Evans and Edmund also make it through in that section.

Unlikely I suspect. Simon should be too solid for Edmund. Evans has more chance against PHM but I'm not actually convinced that Evans is that good on grass. His game looks well suited for it but he tends to have better results on hard.

Only caught snippets of the Murray match, but it looked like a solid performance against a wily grass court veteran and I'm sure Andy will have been relieved to get through it relatively unscathed. The first grass court match on a slick court, when footing is far from sure, must always seem like a daunting prospect. Hoping Andy can kick on and get a good number of grass court matches under his belt. I don't think a good Queens run is vital to his chances at Wimby, but it certainly can't hurt.

Not at all surprised about Stan crashing out. His game really isn't suited to grass and he's the kind of player that can lose interest quickly when he's not feeling it out there. Will be interesting to see if Krajicek can add anything, but I don't have massively high hopes. We could be heading for some seriously unbalanced draws at Wimby.

Thinking about it some more, with Roger currently looking some way off the pace, perhaps there won't be such a big difference after all between the Stan and Roger sides of the draw. Perhaps more interesting will be where dangerous floaters like Raonic and Kyrgios end up.

Looking at the ATP rankings, I think it's fair to say that we are in the midst of a rather fallow period at the top of the men's game. There's an awful lot of players on the wane, but still clinging on to top spots. Of the new guard, the only ones looking likely to do serious damage any time soon are Thiem and Kyrgios.

So, no question that Novak has a great opportunity to tighten his grip and rack up more slams over the next year or so. Arguably, the weaker opposition actually harms Murray's slam prospects, as the likelihood of someone blowing hot and taking out Novak is reduced. Really hoping that Lendl's influence can shift the balance of power back towards Murray a bit. It could all get rather too predictable otherwise.

I'm going out on a limb and predicting an Edmund win. No logic behind it, just a gut feeling.

Edmund won the first set. Evans lost on a tie-break having been a break up and serving for it.

Wow, just saw that Dimitrov lost. What has happened to him? Didn't he win Queens not all that long ago? Such high hopes and now he's in serious danger of totally falling off the tennis map

Not a good draw for Murray and Mahut to play each other in the first round. A bad draw for both of them. But at least Mahut got some practice in the previous week.

So did Djokovic going direct from French Open to Wimbledon again?

Yes, I think Dimitrov won Queens a couple of years ago.

Guest82 wrote:Edmund won the first set.  Evans lost on a tie-break having been a break up and serving for it.

3 set points in the tiebreak as well. Tight second set in progress so may be another tiebreak.

Edmund lost the second set and on serve in the third.

Anyone know why Kei pulled out of Halle?

Some decent results for the Brits:
Edmund comes through against Simon
Bedene beat Paire, and has Murray up next

Evans and Matthieu in the 3rd.

Oh, and just saw a result from Halle - Baggy beating Berdych in 2 tie break sets in R1

Well, I jinxed Evans - loses the 3rd 6-3.

New high ranking for Kyle likely after this week - projected to be inside the top 80 for the first time. Win his next match and he'll be around #70, and not defending anything at Wimbledon (first round loss last year, so all he has to do is turn up). Chances to push on towards the edge of the top 50 in the next few weeks

Aut0Gr4ph wrote:Wow, just saw that Dimitrov lost. What has happened to him? Didn't he win Queens not all that long ago? Such high hopes and now he's in serious danger of totally falling off the tennis map

Tipsarevic hadn't beaten anyone in the top 200 since he returned too. I think Dimitrov has lost every match since his meltdown in that final...

Typical. You wait 10 years for a British opponent, then 2 come along at once.

For the betting lads. I suggest s cheeky punt on Edmund. It's the right surface and murray is ok but not great

Hopefully at some stage in the next two years Kyle Edmund can make a push for the top ten.  To keep it interesting for the Brits when Murray begins to fade.

Tope ten? That seems like a stretch to me. I suppose not entirely out of question, but at best I see him as a very rare occasional visitor in top 10.

I think he could be top 50 consistently for a number of years at his peak and maybe top 20-30 in his best year. He doesn't seem to have enough raw talent for top 10.

Heya hb. Nice to cya. Was worried we lost ya

I thinkTop 10's realistic because he seems to believe in himself and have the right atttitude

In about four years, there's going to be an awful lot of players dropping down the rankings, due to the high number of 28-30 year-olds occupying the Top 50 places

Are we convinced that the current 24 to 27 year old's are ready to take over? I think they're already too scarred by their number of Top 4 beatings

That means by default if the current 19 to 23 years old's keep progressing, almost by default they would eventually become a Top 10 player

I like his game. He's got the serve and the forehand to go very far

He is like sock though, his Bh is always going to be a go to region for his opponents and get taken advantage of

Like sock. I think he's gonna be top 20

Has he got the serve though? For a big guy his serve is pretty average currently. It's that which I think really needs to become a weapon if he's to get to top 20/30.

Hm. Maybe I haven't seen him enough. Or maybe I'm thinking of sock...

His serve seemed to have good power last I saw...

Do my eyes deceive me? Looks like Andy just hit a 112 mph second serve. It was out.....

He's good but not top 10 good in my opinion.
Probably worth theorising who will make up the top 10 in 2 years time...there are quite a few old guys in there who will vacate chairs...Federer, Nadal, Ferrer, etc.

I see Goffin is playing his idol Fed in QF at Halle today, should be a decent match. Thiem got a w/o to SF over Kohli. Those 2 guys look staple top10 for a start moving forwards, both are starting to be consistent and going deep often.

Goffin Fed match already done and dusted. Goffin got beat up pretty bad in the first set, but rallied in the second, which Fed won on a tiebreak. Fed starting to play himself into some sort of form, but still a very long shot for Wimbledon, I think.

Interesting question re top 10 in two years. I'll have a ponder.

I haven't seen a lot of Edmund, but there's something intangible that makes me think he won't ever reach the top echelons. Seems to be missing the killer instinct, although maybe I'm basing that too much on interviews, where he comes across as a bit dopey and far too nice.

Murray not looking quite right. Still adjusting to the grass methinks. Assuming he gets through this one, Cilic will be a tester in the next round.

Arhhh, thanks AutoG I looked on the ATP app I use to track events/matches but it didn't have it listed.
I think Goff has a bit of a mental block playing Fed...although that said he's clearly the 2nd best player there. As you say good to see Fed on the mend/march...the game needs him still.

I'll have a think too ;-)
Everyone else welcome to post their forecasts as well...even if not in order.

Agree on Edmund, technically great in most areas but just kissing that ultimate X factor...but then most do...a career in top 30 would be nothing to be ashamed of.

In such a gladiatorial sport like tennis, I think you need some arrogance and swagger to get to the top. That's why the charge of arrogance has to be one of the most absurd criticisms of the likes of Federer. How else do expect a player to succeed in such a mentally demanding sport? If Kyle has got that edge, he's hiding it well.

Got to love the up the nose camera angle at the change of ends. Really flattering Kyle as he munches his banana.

Top ten in 2 years. Goodness I'll try...


1) Djokovic. On virtue of who looks like displacing him
edit: to rank them I have
Raonic-4th
Wawrinka-5th
Murray-3rd
Kyrgios 8th
Theim-6th
Zverev 9th
Rba 10th
Nishikori-2nd
Goffin 7th

It's assumed that Fedal have retired to their millions

Murray occasionally hitting a punchy shot, but somehow still looking careful and tentative while doing it. I reckon he's vulnerable here, although I'd still be very surprised if Kyle can make the most of it.

Andy breaks back by sheer force of will.

Yikes, Andy broken from 40-0 up. Had a nasty tumble at the net, but looks ok.

temporary21 wrote:Top ten in 2 years. Goodness I'll try...


1) Djokovic. On virtue of who looks like displacing him
edit: to rank them I have
Raonic-4th
Wawrinka-5th
Murray-3rd
Kyrgios 8th
Theim-6th
Zverev 9th
Rba 10th
Nishikori-2nd
Goffin 7th

It's assumed that Fedal have retired to their millions

Surely Fed will be hanging on for the Tokyo olympics in 2020.

Given that you'd expect a great tennis player to have keen eyesight, why is Andy so bad at HE challenges? Good news is that he seems to have recovered from his dying swan routine at the net.

Totally deserved second set for Kyle. Andy slipping and sliding all over the place and this third set will be a real test of his mettle.

Re Lydian's top 10 question, you'd think Thiem would be a no brainer, but then look what's happened to Dimitrov. Overall, the missing generation makes it harder to predict, as, instead of a steady progression, we could be faced with sudden and enforced change as the older generation hits the wall. I've got so used to the status quo, I'm having trouble conceiving any changes at all, although I know they have to happen eventually.

Are you saying he's no chance of the gold this year then?

Murray gets the double break and there almost certainly goes Temp's chances of stealing Socal's Nostrafreakingdamus crown. As instructed, I placed a sizeable bet and will now have to live out my days in penury. Thanks for nothing Temp.

My apologies. I honestly though Kyle had a good shout. He woke up the old murray though.

temporary21 wrote:Are you saying he's no chance of the gold this year then?

He will need a good slice of luck and Mirka to sledge like she's never sledged before.

Fair play to Andy, I would totally go to pieces if Lendl was watching me play tennis. That glassy stare freaks me out.