Tennis League All Thread

[romero121]

He now faces Hurkacz in the semi final which is a hard one to predict. I think both players
are kind of on the same level.

This is Korda's first masters semi final! hard to believe!

Odds are: Hurkacz 1.83 - 1.91 Korda

The first semi-final is set. Dimitrov against Rublev. Both won in the quarter-finals with 2 sets each. Rublev is the favourite in this semi-final and he is also the favourite to win this Masters. But there were already been a lot surprises in this tournament and I am curious to see who will win the second semi-final. The odds are very similar and the form of the day will probably decide at the end.

The first semi final is Hurkacz v Korda and is going to be close, very close.

Second semi final is Dimitrov v Rublev. Dimitrov had a bit of a battle in the first set
tie break but won in two sets. Rublev won easily in two sets against Humbert, I
thought that was going to be closer.

Odds tomorrow on the send semi final are:
Dimitrov 2.35 - 1.59 Rublev
I think thats about right, Rublev should win but if Dimitrov can replicate his quarter final
performance he will post a bigger threat to Rublev.

I will be betting on Rublev in Rublev v Dimitrov. Dimitrov is playing possibly the best tournament of his entire career. Haven't seen him play so good in years. As to the second semifinal you're absolutely right - it will be damn close, therefore I won't be betting. Normally I'd say Hurkacz but Korda was just perfect during the whole tournament too. Hard to say really.

I expect Dimitrov to continue the performance same as what he had done against Alcaraz. As said Dimitrov is playing the best and I want him to win the title. In the other semifinal Korda vs Hurkacz we can't be sure of the winner. Korda had an awesome match against Ben Shelton and a match as this should be the finals. Possibly the finals will be between Dimitrov and Korda in my prediction, lets wait and see what happens.

Didn't made a bet, both the predictions have failed. Rublev have won against Dimitrov in the semi-final with the first set being a tie breaker and the second set won easily by Rublev. In the other semifinal match Hurkacz won it comfortably 6-3 6-4. Final match is really good as it got extended to the third set. Hurkacz is really good winning the third set in a tie breaker and it had went to 7¹⁰-6⁸. With the win Hurkacz lifts the second Masters title.

[LittleBitFunny]

It was a very close three-set match, especially the deciding set and it was Hurbet Hurkacz's second ATP Masters 1000 title.
The third set was quite difficult to predict when in the tiebreak Hurkacz managed to equalize the points at 5-5 and Rublev had at least one championship point opportunity which he couldn't take advantage of.

WTA Zhengzhou, Krejikova vs Zheng, this will be a tight match as well as it should be even though the host tennis player is more favored but Krejikova so far in this tournament is still solid so even though Zheng can become champion it will be difficult, but I predict Krejikova will be the champion in this tournament.

Congrats to Hubi on his second Masters title! Well done! Tie-breaker was very close and Rublev was even ahead 5:4 with 2 serves!

As to Zhengzhou WTA, I agree, Krejcikova is very likely to win. The match is underway now, the Czech is leading comfortably 6:2.

The last set was really close. It could have gone either way. Rublev showed a good performance to win the second set, and after that, I thought he might actually be able to win the match. But in the end, Hurkacz was able to get the win in a very competitive match. Congratulations to him for being able to win the Shanghai Masters.

Zheng was able to win the final. This was kind of unexpected for me because I thought her opponent was really good. I actually thought she would not win the final. But even though she did lose the first set, she was able to make a good comeback and win the next two sets. And it was a pretty dominating performance from her in those final two sets in my opinion.

[aoluain]

As I posted yesterday, if Hurkacz could lift his game once more he could win the title,
and that is what he did. It was a very even match 3-6, 6-3 and then a deciding tie break
to separate the two.

Rublev was devastated at the end and rightly so, he was the favourite and deservedly
so too, he played so well during the tournament, I dont think he dropped a single set
before the final.

Hurkacz was definitely worth that great price of 2.50!

[Strongkored]

Zheng was able to win the final. This was kind of unexpected for me because I thought her opponent was really good. I actually thought she would not win the final. But even though she did lose the first set, she was able to make a good comeback and win the next two sets. And it was a pretty dominating performance from her in those final two sets in my opinion.

I skipped this match after the first set was over because I thought Krejikova would easily overcome Zheng to lift the trophy but it didn't and this was her best title so far in Zheng's career who was disappointed after being abandoned by her coach because Wim Fissette returned to train Naomi Osaka who said she was ready returning to the world of tennis and the 2024 Australian Open will be her first debut after giving birth.

ATP Tokyo, Zverev was immediately eliminated in the first round after losing to Thompson in straight sets, it is not easy to keep playing well when facing a fairly close tournament schedule, and we often see when a top player can win at the previous tournament but loses at the next tournament because Maintaining performance is not easy.

[LittleBitFunny]

Zheng was able to win the final. This was kind of unexpected for me because I thought her opponent was really good. I actually thought she would not win the final. But even though she did lose the first set, she was able to make a good comeback and win the next two sets. And it was a pretty dominating performance from her in those final two sets in my opinion.

I skipped this match after the first set was over because I thought Krejikova would easily overcome Zheng to lift the trophy but it didn't and this was her best title so far in Zheng's career who was disappointed after being abandoned by her coach because Wim Fissette returned to train Naomi Osaka who said she was ready returning to the world of tennis and the 2024 Australian Open will be her first debut after giving birth.

ATP Tokyo, Zverev was immediately eliminated in the first round after losing to Thompson in straight sets, it is not easy to keep playing well when facing a fairly close tournament schedule, and we often see when a top player can win at the previous tournament but loses at the next tournament because Maintaining performance is not easy.

It was actually a little surprising to me that Zverev got eliminated so early in this tournament. I never thought that he was going to lose this match against Thompson. I actually thought he was going to go a lot further in this Japan Open. but I also agree with you that it is not easy at all to perform consistently when the tournaments are being played so closely to each other. of course, he was tired of playing the last tournament. But I still think that he definitely should have performed better. But as you said, maintaining consistent performance is not easy while playing these tournaments, and I agree with you on that completely.

[romero121]

Zheng was able to win the final. This was kind of unexpected for me because I thought her opponent was really good. I actually thought she would not win the final. But even though she did lose the first set, she was able to make a good comeback and win the next two sets. And it was a pretty dominating performance from her in those final two sets in my opinion.

I skipped this match after the first set was over because I thought Krejikova would easily overcome Zheng to lift the trophy but it didn't and this was her best title so far in Zheng's career who was disappointed after being abandoned by her coach because Wim Fissette returned to train Naomi Osaka who said she was ready returning to the world of tennis and the 2024 Australian Open will be her first debut after giving birth.

ATP Tokyo, Zverev was immediately eliminated in the first round after losing to Thompson in straight sets, it is not easy to keep playing well when facing a fairly close tournament schedule, and we often see when a top player can win at the previous tournament but loses at the next tournament because Maintaining performance is not easy.

It was actually a little surprising to me that Zverev got eliminated so early in this tournament. I never thought that he was going to lose this match against Thompson. I actually thought he was going to go a lot further in this Japan Open. but I also agree with you that it is not easy at all to perform consistently when the tournaments are being played so closely to each other. of course, he was tired of playing the last tournament. But I still think that he definitely should have performed better. But as you said, maintaining consistent performance is not easy while playing these tournaments, and I agree with you on that completely.

He lacks consistency in performance. Zverev won against Safiullin last month in the Chengdu Open and in the Shanghai Open lost to the same player. This is common, yet in a very short time period complete change in the performance. This time in the Japan Open Zverev had lost to Thompson and there is no hard competence. Today the match between Ofner and O'Connell is really interesting that O'Connell won the first set after tie breaker. The second set won by Ofner through a tie breaker and the third set after hard fight Ofner won it 7-5 and won the match.

[CryptoBuds]

As I posted yesterday, if Hurkacz could lift his game once more he could win the title,
and that is what he did. It was a very even match 3-6, 6-3 and then a deciding tie break
to separate the two.

Rublev was devastated at the end and rightly so, he was the favourite and deservedly
so too, he played so well during the tournament, I dont think he dropped a single set
before the final.

Hurkacz was definitely worth that great price of 2.50!

^ I will speak from a neutral point of view. And from a neutral point of view, it was really great to watch this final. Rublev and Hurkacz both performed really well in this match. It was just unlucky for Rublev. But I will not take anything away from Hurkacz as well. He performed really well and I think we can all agree that he was actually the better player in this final. And in my opinion, he definitely deserves to win the final. I know a lot of people will say that Rublev was the favourite in this match, and that's why he should have won. But I think his performance was definitely more than decent.

[vennali]

As I posted yesterday, if Hurkacz could lift his game once more he could win the title,
and that is what he did. It was a very even match 3-6, 6-3 and then a deciding tie break
to separate the two.

Rublev was devastated at the end and rightly so, he was the favourite and deservedly
so too, he played so well during the tournament, I dont think he dropped a single set
before the final.

Hurkacz was definitely worth that great price of 2.50!

Rublev was the better of the two in the finals until the end as well. He definitely was winning the groundstrokes battle and was leading in the tiebreaker being a mini break up as well but that being said, tiebreaker is skewered towards a better server generally speaking. That's where Hurkacz shined with multiple ace's in the tiebreaker and many unreturnable serves. While rublev couldn't do the same. 2.5x was definitely a good catch if you managed to get it. When I started following (in the final set) it was 2x on Hurkacz at best and usually was 1.9 each.

[aoluain]

@CryptoBuds @vennali

You could argue that Hurkacz in this match was the better all rounder, they were so close
over the 3 sets that it took Hurkacz' superior service to beat Rublev.


I just learned today that Leyla Fernandez won the Hong Kong Open final against
Katerina Siniakova over 3 sets 3-6, 6-4 and 6-4. This is her first tournament win in
over a year and only her 3rd overall.

I havent been following any WTA matches at all lately but I would have liked to
watch this one

[vennali]

@CryptoBuds @vennali

You could argue that Hurkacz in this match was the better all rounder, they were so close
over the 3 sets that it took Hurkacz' superior service to beat Rublev.


I just learned today that Leyla Fernandez won the Hong Kong Open final against
Katerina Siniakova over 3 sets 3-6, 6-4 and 6-4. This is her first tournament win in
over a year and only her 3rd overall.

I havent been following any WTA matches at all lately but I would have liked to
watch this one

I followed both matches closely. Siniakova played great but got injured in the 3rd set. Was still a close match and both played insanely high standard tennis. If they both can keep that level up consistently, they will be top 10 in the world very soon. Regarding Rublev vs Hurkacz, it was meant to be close as even h2h in their previous 4 meetings was split 2-2. Rublev is 5th in the world ranking while Hurkacz is 11th. Both in their respective places only because of some lucky draws and form changes here are there, not much to separate between them. That being said, Rublev looked better for the most part of final set only to be hard done by the serving.

[bct_ail]

Zverev was on a good path to reach the season finale in Turin. But after disappointing results in Shanghai he has now disappointed in Tokyo. He was knocked out in the first round with 6:3 and 6:4 against Thompson. A very weak service game, no ideas and no used break points. No idea why he often loses in the first rounds. But it will not be easy for qualifying for Turin. Fritz, Ruud and Hurkacz are the candidates who can still bring him back to place 9.

[serveria.com]

Zverev was on a good path to reach the season finale in Turin. But after disappointing results in Shanghai he has now disappointed in Tokyo. He was knocked out in the first round with 6:3 and 6:4 against Thompson. A very weak service game, no ideas and no used break points. No idea why he often loses in the first rounds. But it will not be easy for qualifying for Turin. Fritz, Ruud and Hurkacz are the candidates who can still bring him back to place 9.

Yeah, actually Zverev and Tsitsipas are the biggest disappointments of this season for me. Bigger disappointment was only Holger Rune who simply screwed up his season completely. Honestly, Medvedev and Alcaraz also sort of underperformed this year too. At least, I was expecting more from them. Medvedev had a great start of the season but he couldn't keep the momentum going. Carlitos also missed several opportunities, including Grand Slam titles due to injuries and losing to Djokovic in the final. 

[shogun47]

Zverev was on a good path to reach the season finale in Turin. But after disappointing results in Shanghai he has now disappointed in Tokyo. He was knocked out in the first round with 6:3 and 6:4 against Thompson. A very weak service game, no ideas and no used break points. No idea why he often loses in the first rounds. But it will not be easy for qualifying for Turin. Fritz, Ruud and Hurkacz are the candidates who can still bring him back to place 9.

Yeah, actually Zverev and Tsitsipas are the biggest disappointments of this season for me. Bigger disappointment was only Holger Rune who simply screwed up his season completely. Honestly, Medvedev and Alcaraz also sort of underperformed this year too. At least, I was expecting more from them. Medvedev had a great start of the season but he couldn't keep the momentum going. Carlitos also missed several opportunities, including Grand Slam titles due to injuries and losing to Djokovic in the final. 

But is it an underperformance when a player who is 20 years old wins 6 tournaments, including Wimbledon, reaches the semifinals at the French Open and the US Open and plays well at several ATP 1000 tournaments? I think we have had players that were so good that our expectations are a bit off.

The injury problems that Alcaraz had are quite concerning because players like him get the best possible medical treatment and yet he missed quite some games or couldn't play his best because injuries kept him from being able to go at 100% physical intensity. Yet the number of ATP points is impressive because he got them despite his injuries. It is still far away from the record that was set by Djokovic with 16950 points in 2016, but that is so crazy that it looks inhuman. He won those points despite Nadal and Federer being around.

[BALIK]

Zverev was on a good path to reach the season finale in Turin. But after disappointing results in Shanghai he has now disappointed in Tokyo. He was knocked out in the first round with 6:3 and 6:4 against Thompson. A very weak service game, no ideas and no used break points. No idea why he often loses in the first rounds. But it will not be easy for qualifying for Turin. Fritz, Ruud and Hurkacz are the candidates who can still bring him back to place 9.

Yeah, actually Zverev and Tsitsipas are the biggest disappointments of this season for me. Bigger disappointment was only Holger Rune who simply screwed up his season completely. Honestly, Medvedev and Alcaraz also sort of underperformed this year too. At least, I was expecting more from them. Medvedev had a great start of the season but he couldn't keep the momentum going. Carlitos also missed several opportunities, including Grand Slam titles due to injuries and losing to Djokovic in the final. 

I am interested to see how Stefanos Tsitsipas performs in his next match in the European Open. I still don't know who he is going to play against. But I hope his performance will be good.

Zverev had an unexpected loss. Nobody in the world probably thought that he was going to lose this match. But he ended up losing. Which is really very shocking to me as well. But it is what it is. He will have to look to perform better in his next match. No point in being sad about what happened in the past.

[aoluain]

Zverev was on a good path to reach the season finale in Turin. But after disappointing results in Shanghai he has now disappointed in Tokyo. He was knocked out in the first round with 6:3 and 6:4 against Thompson. A very weak service game, no ideas and no used break points. No idea why he often loses in the first rounds. But it will not be easy for qualifying for Turin. Fritz, Ruud and Hurkacz are the candidates who can still bring him back to place 9.

Yeah, actually Zverev and Tsitsipas are the biggest disappointments of this season for me. Bigger disappointment was only Holger Rune who simply screwed up his season completely. Honestly, Medvedev and Alcaraz also sort of underperformed this year too. At least, I was expecting more from them. Medvedev had a great start of the season but he couldn't keep the momentum going. Carlitos also missed several opportunities, including Grand Slam titles due to injuries and losing to Djokovic in the final.  

I am interested to see how Stefanos Tsitsipas performs in his next match in the European Open. I still don't know who he is going to play against. But I hope his performance will be good.

Zverev had an unexpected loss. Nobody in the world probably thought that he was going to lose this match. But he ended up losing. Which is really very shocking to me as well. But it is what it is. He will have to look to perform better in his next match. No point in being sad about what happened in the past.

Tsitsipas - I'm not interested at all, I stopped being interested about a year or
so ago, up to about a year ago he was promising so much and was going to be a #1
contender and all that, but it never happened.

IMO he needs to get away from the family involvement, he needs a proper coach and team.
He expects instant results though as soon as a new coach is employed and if it doesnt
work out its back to daddy.

He is currently in 7th spot in the rankings and runs the risk of being bumped to 8th if
Ruud can catch him.

[Strongkored]

He lacks consistency in performance. Zverev won against Safiullin last month in the Chengdu Open and in the Shanghai Open lost to the same player.

Maybe you are right, this is a form of inconsistency and we can see that in some players like that, only very few top players can be consistent and at least reach the quarter-finals, because Khachanov also lost in the first round and today Casper Ruud also lost in the second round to players in Ranked 79 Marcos Giron in straight sets, Ruud had a chance to take the second set when he could take his opponent's game but he couldn't maintain his lead and lost, and this year's French Open final was his best achievement and an additional title at the ATP 250 Estoril.
It's quite interesting to see the fight of several players to be able to qualify for the ATP Finals because only four players have qualified so there are still four more places left if I'm not mistaken.

[bct_ail]

Yeah, actually Zverev and Tsitsipas are the biggest disappointments of this season for me. Bigger disappointment was only Holger Rune who simply screwed up his season completely. Honestly, Medvedev and Alcaraz also sort of underperformed this year too. At least, I was expecting more from them. Medvedev had a great start of the season but he couldn't keep the momentum going. Carlitos also missed several opportunities, including Grand Slam titles due to injuries and losing to Djokovic in the final. 

Not to forget Felix Auger-Aliassime. His defeats this year are a common thread throughout this period. He has only been able to celebrate very few successes. Now he did reach the final of the last 8 in Tokyo and won against Vukic and Ofner in the games before.
My opinion is that he should change a few members in his team. But so far I do not see any changes.

[serveria.com]

Yeah, actually Zverev and Tsitsipas are the biggest disappointments of this season for me. Bigger disappointment was only Holger Rune who simply screwed up his season completely. Honestly, Medvedev and Alcaraz also sort of underperformed this year too. At least, I was expecting more from them. Medvedev had a great start of the season but he couldn't keep the momentum going. Carlitos also missed several opportunities, including Grand Slam titles due to injuries and losing to Djokovic in the final. 

Not to forget Felix Auger-Aliassime. His defeats this year are a common thread throughout this period. He has only been able to celebrate very few successes. Now he did reach the final of the last 8 in Tokyo and won against Vukic and Ofner in the games before.
My opinion is that he should change a few members in his team. But so far I do not see any changes.

With Felix AA it's a bit different story imho. His biggest mistake was hiring Tony Nadal. Tony destroyed him when he refused to sit in his box at a match vs Rafa. I know that was a clause in their contract but anyway. Knowing your coach is actually cheering for your opponent is painful. After that incident Felix's career started to fade.

[aoluain]

Yeah, actually Zverev and Tsitsipas are the biggest disappointments of this season for me. Bigger disappointment was only Holger Rune who simply screwed up his season completely. Honestly, Medvedev and Alcaraz also sort of underperformed this year too. At least, I was expecting more from them. Medvedev had a great start of the season but he couldn't keep the momentum going. Carlitos also missed several opportunities, including Grand Slam titles due to injuries and losing to Djokovic in the final. 

Not to forget Felix Auger-Aliassime. His defeats this year are a common thread throughout this period. He has only been able to celebrate very few successes. Now he did reach the final of the last 8 in Tokyo and won against Vukic and Ofner in the games before.
My opinion is that he should change a few members in his team. But so far I do not see any changes.

With Felix AA it's a bit different story imho. His biggest mistake was hiring Tony Nadal. Tony destroyed him when he refused to sit in his box at a match vs Rafa. I know that was a clause in their contract but anyway. Knowing your coach is actually cheering for your opponent is painful. After that incident Felix's career started to fade.

Never thought about it that way but it makes sense. In an individual sport like Tennis
its of the utmost importance that a coach and player have an extremely good bond and
that there is full belief by both that particular goals or targets are set.


Hurkacz played today against Zhang in a round of 32 and got beaten over 3 sets.
I'm not sure of the odds before the match but I guess he was favourite after his
win at the Shanghai Masters. With most players its tricky to bet on them directly
after a big tournament win. This was Hurkacz' first match since that win!

[bitbollo]

very bad performance of Rune that has lost against Kecmanović in this first match in Sweden tournament A bit disappointing as defeat, with second set as a complete disaster
The odds was of course in favor of him...and I was tempted to try but I was lucky enough.