Foot Fault!

Calling all the lines of professional tennis

Category Archives: Other ATP Events

Video Vault: How to play a Match Point – by Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic, Bernard Tomic and Ashleigh Barty

3 Comments Posted by footfaulter on January 2, 2013

(1:03:07)

It’s safe to say that not everyone is a fan of mixed doubles, but when executed correctly it can be just as entertaining as either of the other two disciplines. Look no further than today’s Hopman Cup deciding rubber which saw prolific Serbs Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic scrape past Aussie youngsters Bernard Tomic and Ashleigh Barty in an epic 3 (more like 2 and a quarter) set match.

For better or worse, crazy things happen when the ATP and WTA collide. But even so, I can’t think of too many more surreal sights in any sport than watching the 5-time Grand Slam winning current ATP world number one and greatest returner on the planet gravely struggling to read and return the serve of a 5ft4, 16 year old girl ranked 175 on the women’s tour. Oh, and there’s also the small matter of the above jaw-droppingly outrageous 29-stroke stroke rally between the four on Serbia’s first match point. (Mixed) Doubles? Love it.

Ana Ivanovic, Ashleigh Barty, Australian Series, Bernard Tomic, Novak Djokovic, Other ATP Events, Players, Video Vault

This Week In Tennis: Guangzhou, Seoul, Metz and Bucharest

1 Comment Posted by footfaulter on September 19, 2011

WANLIMA Guangzhou International Women’s Open
Where: Guangzhou, China
What: International
Who: Kirilenko, Gajdosova, Zheng, Jovanovski
Singles Draw
Doubles Draw
Order of Play

Hansol Korea Open
Where: Seoul, South Korea
What: International
Who: Schiavone, Bartoli, Goerges, Cibulkova, Hercog, Martinez Sanchez
Singles Draw
Doubles Draw
Order of play

Moselle Open
Where: Metz, France
What: 250
Who: Tsonga, Gasquet, Dolgopolov, Llodra
Singles Draw
Doubles Draw
Order of play

BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy
Where: Bucharest, Romania
What: 250
Who: Chela, Mayer Robredo.
Singles Draw
Doubles Draw
Order of play

Other ATP Events, Other WTA Events

John Isner Beats Andy Roddick in ‘Winston-Salem’

Leave a Comment Posted by footfaulter on August 27, 2011

It says a lot about how much attention I’ve been paying this tournament that only just now have I realised that ‘Winston-Salem’ is an actual real place, rather than just the sponsor of the ATP event held this week. But there ya go; you learn something new every day. Down Winston Salem, John Isner yesterday notched up a pretty predctable victory over Andy Roddick 7-6(7) 6-4. He’ll play Julien Benneteau in the final with the rare opportunity to win a title practically in his backyard.

For Roddick, It’s tough to really pass comment on him and his current form. It goes without saying that derailed by injuries and poor health, this is by far his worst season since god knows when. But that’s it – the question is whether this form is an indication that he’s simply in decline and will never again be a threat on the ATP, or else he just needs some time to find his way again before powering back to the top echelons of tennis.

I think next week will answer many of those questions. All things considered, his draw is just about as good as it gets considering how low his seeding has dropped. And if he can find his way into the second week and quarters with a confidence-boosting 5 matches under his belt; maybe, just maybe he’ll find the confidence to start hitting the ball like the Roddick of 18 months ago and stop losing to the likes of Isner and Kohlschreiber? We shall see.

Andy Roddick, John Isner, Other ATP Events

Gael Monfils Shows A Bit O’ Toughness

Leave a Comment Posted by footfaulter on August 7, 2011

Gael Monfils saved a match point to move into the Legg Mason ATP 500 final with a 6-4 3-6 7-6(6) victory over John Isner in a rain delayed match that finished in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Robin Haase Wins In Kitzbuhel

Leave a Comment Posted by footfaulter on August 6, 2011

Robin Haase picked up the first title of his career in the Kitzbuhel ATP 250 event, defeating Albert Montanes 6-4 4-6 6-1 in the final.

I was so determined to act as if this tournament didn’t exist as not only is the title Bet-at-Home Cup insanely tacky, but the fact that we’re practically right in the middle of the US hardcourt season and there are still claycourt events going on is beyond me.

But even so, it has been an impressive tournament for Robin, and particularly his victory over Lopez earlier on in the week. His year had been quite disappointing thus far and hopefully this will be the turning point in his fortunes. I see no reason why he shouldn’t be in the top thirty by the end of this year or start of 2012.

Other ATP Events, Robin Haase

Ernests Gulbis Makes Us Remember….

Leave a Comment Posted by footfaulter on August 1, 2011

That is, he made us remember why the hell we ever bothered to care about him last week by unexpectedly storming through to the LA Farmer’s Classic title. He knocking off Juan Martin Del Portro and Xavier Malisse en-route before taking out top-seeded Mardy Fish in the final. We’ll soon see if this is just another teasing flash in the pan, or if will be the humble beginning of something special. Make it the latter, Ernie.

(Picture: Getty)

Ernests Gulbis, Other ATP Events

Quotable Quotes: SO WHY DID YOU DO IT THEN?

1 Comment Posted by footfaulter on July 30, 2011

After choking away the lead against Alex Bogomolov Jr, Thomaz Bellucci played a game of “stating the obvious” in the following presser;

“You cannot lose such a match, leading 6-4 *4-3.”

No, you can’t. Yet you just did.

At this point I have fully come to accept that Thomaz is a mental midget, and though he is undoubtedly talented, his brain, or lack thereof will always hold him back. But it’s one thing to choke to the unbeaten Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Madrid masters, and it’s another thing altogether to choke to the great Alex Bogomolomolov in the quarters of a lowly 250 event. Poor eff.

Other ATP Events, Quotable Quotes, Thomaz Bellucci

Thomaz Bellucci Kicks Off US Hardcourts In Style

4 Comments Posted by footfaulter on July 29, 2011

Fourth-seeded Thomaz Bellucci made a not-too-shabby start to his title run in LA by crushing Alejandro Falla 6-0 6-1 in 52 minutes.

This marks only Thomaz’s third ever tour quarterfinal on hardcourts. With his big serve, forehand and solid technique, it seems quite unbelievable that he has been unable to find any form off clay. But it’s all about movement and confidence, both of which he has lacked so much on hardcourts surfaces. However, it seems that Larri Passos has forced him to actually take the hard court season semi-seriously for once by ditching the useless claycourt 250s and training hard in the US ahead of the US Open series. And I have a funny feeling that it all may just pay off this Summer.

Also, earlier on this week, Wilson tennis decided to illustrate what Belluccinho would look like if he actually had a working head. If only!

Other ATP Events, Thomaz Bellucci

Ernests Gulbis Wins One! Whole! Match!

Leave a Comment Posted by footfaulter on July 27, 2011

The proof:

From the sounds of it, he tried his hardest to choke the third set tiebreaker and was given the match with an atrocious backhand error from Malisse, but a win is a win and you can’t take that shining achievement away from Mr Gulbis. Now let’s see if he can (*gasp*) win two matches in a row.

Elsewhere, Ryan Harrison fought back from 6-7 2-4* 40-30 to defeat Ricardas (I WILL NOT call him Richard) Berankis 7-6(4) 5-7 6-3. Certainly an impressive comeback from Harrison, and also understandable that Berankis wasn’t able to close it out having only just returned from that pretty serious back injury. Even so, Rikkie B will be very disappointed with this. Thanks to his injury, his ranking has taken a massive plunge, with more points coming off in the near future. He has dropped so low that he’ll be forced to once again play in the US Open qualies.

Anyway, fresh off his first career ATP semifinal, Harrison is in with a very good shot of reaching two semis in a row. Now he just needs to put the twelve year-old on-court tantrums down and all will be good.

Ernests Gulbis, Other ATP Events, Ricardas Berankis, Ryan Harrison

Gilles Simon Wins Hamburg – BUT WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

2 Comments Posted by footfaulter on July 25, 2011

1. He’s Back
It has been a long road back from injury for Gilles Simon. Though he was officially out for around four months last year with his knee injury, in reality the injury in both his knees and consequent surgery set him back practically a year, with the knees bothering him from 2009 Wimbledon to the grass season a year later. But finally he is back, and he took a huge step forward this week by beating Monfils, Youzhny and Almagro back to back to back to take home the biggest title of his career at the Hamburg ATP 500.

2. Top eight beckons
Looking forward to the rest of the season, Gilles’ prospects couldn’t be any better. With this win he’ll be ranked 11th on Monday, and the fact remains that the claycourts of Hamburg is traditionally his worst surface, while the upcoming US decoturf hardcourts followed by the indoor courts are where he plays by far his very best tennis. That coupled with the relative average form of practically every player from #7 and under, and you have to think that it will be a huge disappointment if Simon doesn’t reach the top ten by the end of the year.

3. Call him pusher at your own peril
I still find it silly that people continue to refer to him as a “pusher”. Sure, his game isn’t even close to being as obviously brilliant as his rival countrymen or many of the other top ten players, but so much thought goes into his tennis. This was no more evident than in the final against the in-form Almagro. The key to the match was the way he was able to keep Almagro guessing and unable to anticipate well enough, alternating between keeping the ball deep, flicking the ball so low and short that it barely creeped over the net, unleashing on random balls and then making a handful of unexpected forays to the net for good measure. This week Almagro has been blasting through the field, with players such as Kohlschreiber and Verdasco giving him so much power to redirect, but today he was forced to create his own power, but he simply couldn’t. Thus that purposeful and extravagant ballstriking was replaces with tentative and passive play, usually enabling Gilles to work the rallies – eventually outmanouvring his Spanish opponent and winning the point.

4. Little Timoteé is here to stay
After the match Gilles gave his son Timothee a cute little high-five before crediting his son as being his lucky talisman; “My son was here for the second time, this is the second time I’ve won,”

Gilles Simon, Other ATP Events

← Older posts