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game-set-canet · 6 months

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Red Bull BassLine 2023 - besties, get ready for “Mira’s tennis experience - part 3”

long story short: last year's edition was better.

don't get me wrong it was really good this year, but i think last year's was better (and 2021's edition was better as well).

line-up 2023 was: Andrey Rublev, Domi Thiem, Jurij Rodionov, Fábián Marozsán, Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Zverev. obviously, i had my difficulties with a part of the line-up.

what was really sad was that 4 out of the 6 players left before the event was over. Andrey left after his last game, Tiafoe, Marozsán and Rodionov left before the break before the final, which means only the finalsts Domi and Zverev stayed until the very end.

Autographs i got an autograph from Domi - which i'm very very proud of!! 🥰🥰 but for most kids it's it wasn't very easy to get an autography. Andrey didn't do any (same for Marozsán), Rodionov only did like 5 autographs, Tiafoe didn't want to get up from his chair to write autographs...so he asked you to throw the stuff you wanted to get signed at him (works for all the tennis balls, doesn't work for pictures/photos, posters, etc. but he didn't really care), Domi and Zverev were the only ones to write LOTS of autographes after their final.

Andrey It was Andrey's birthday yesterday, so Domi and the whole crowd sung "happy birthday, dear Rublo" before their match <33 in Austria we say "laut, falsch und mit Begeisterung" when people sing something very enthusiastic but it doesn't match the notes 😂 and he got a "Sacher-Torte" a typically Austrian cake. They wanted Andrey to eat or at least taste it and while Andrey was discussing with the presenters if he wants to do it or not, Zverev cut the cake, put a piece of it on a plate and handed it over to Andrey. But because there were no forks Andrey had to bite off??? it was a bit of a chaos 😂 BUT I HAVE A VIDEO OF IT!

During Red Bull BassLine there is a DJ playing music almost during the whole event and Andrey was singing along almost the whole time. personally i think his best performance was during Friday by Nightcrawlers and Riton.

Domi Domi looked so happy when the crowd was cheering for him when he entered the arena <33 his tennis was quite good, a few mistakes but some BEAUTIFUL long line back hands 🥹 i've never seen something more beautiful (and i've seen Carlitos play live). and he is so unbelievable beautiful in real life 💕 his smile is so so cute, i honestly can't 😭😭

Zverev I'm so pissed that i have to say this but the friendships between Domi and him and Andrey of him are really cute (in terms how they act around each other etc.). He acted very sympathic yesterday and i was honestly so annoyed by him the whole evening bc he knew exactly what to do and to say that the crowd would cheer for him...at the end he stayed until almost every fan had an autography etc, he was the last to leave and of course ppl loved it 😒 and his tennis was really good yesterday. very high serves speed, lots of aces and he moved good on court 😒 it was disgusting.

Tiafoe, Marozán, Rodionov and i know i sound ignorante now or like i don't care about the others but...i don't know what to say about the other three 😂 Tiafoe looked happy to be here, but his tennis wasn't that good, he made a lot of mistakes, played a bit too fast and lost his matched really clear. Marozsán seems quite nice but he didn't do anything...his tennis was nice but he didn't interact with the crowd or the other players. And almost the same for Rodionov, he said he was very nervous to play this kind of tennis-event with such different rules and all that stuff (and his puls was the highest of all six during playing (Zverev had the lowest))

#i hate that i said something positive about Zverev #red bull bassline 2023 #mira's tennis rambling #tennis

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kingfisherprince · 8 months

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It’s super annoying when people act like Rafa and Djokovic only beat Federer because he was SO much older than them. No. He was 5 years older than Rafa and 6 years older than Novak. That’s the age gap between Alcaraz and Tsitsipas or Zverev. Not really an excuse. Stop diminishing their accomplishments. Comparing that to what Djokovic is doing when he’s SIXTEEN whole years older than Alcaraz is insane.. Is it so hard to imagine Rafa and Djokovic were just better tennis players than him?

the 30% of my heart that belong to roger wants to argue that the ideas of longevity have changed, etc, etc but tbh ... yeah. it's not a very good argument in his favour. just like saying he played in a 'weak era' isn't a good argument against him. you only get the circumstances (read: rivals) that you get, and you do what you can with them. and if you lose, you lose. in that sense do i think novak and rafa are better players than roger? i mean ... yes. i do.

that said: to me the word 'greatest' is plural in tennis, and what roger did was iconic. his playstyle was unbelievable. he broke records that we didn't think were breakable. he transcended the sport. and rafa and novak would not be rafa and novak without him. [insert usual nostalgic musings about the big 3 and how you can never separate them from the context of each other]

what novak is doing against carlitos right now (16! there are whole people younger than their age difference) is just unbelievable, and we're all lucky to be around while they play. but it's not the same as the big 3 rivalries, it's not even close.

nothing ever will be.

#sorry i ended up emotion dumping and also taking the original statements a bit on a tangent #did try to address the actual content of the ask #but idk i get nostalgic too easily #i really really don't like when people compare carlitos to the b3 though like. he's good. he's got a long way to go #tennis #carlos alcaraz #novak djokovic #rafael nadal #the right questions #roger federer

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emma-radfemcanu · 6 days

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Stefanos is never winning a 500 I fear 😭 on the ATP tour there are 4 types of tournaments- 250s, 500s, masters, and slams, the number is the amount of ranking points you get if you win (for a masters it's 1000 and a slam is 2000)

He was in the Barcelona final today, a rematch of last week's Monte Carlo final but this time Casper won. I'm slightly frustrated because Stef is now 0-11 in 500 finals and this was on paper a really good shot to finally get there. But I am pleased for Casper- who before this had never won anything above a 250 (and was regularly clowned on for this) and he is actually a much better player than that stat makes it look. They both had a curse of sorts and one of them was going to have to blink lol

I mean I'm not really that annoyed by it because Stef won MC last week which is a bigger deal. He has bigger titles and has won objectively more difficult matches, and of all the opponents he's lost to (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Zverev, etc etc) none of them are nobodies who he had no business losing to, and barring Alcaraz he has beaten all of them before. So I think it is just an odd stat more than anything else but it is funny

There are a few odd stats actually. The other really bizarre one imo is how Medvedev has won several titles but never the same one twice- either as a defence the next year or just later on. Or how Matteo has never won a hard court title- he has a few grass titles which tend to be what people are missing, and even though the majority of tournaments are hard court for some reason he has never won one

The next two weeks are the Madrid masters, and then the two weeks after that are Rome- they're two week events now so the matches are a bit more spaced out, whereas they used to be 1 full week with a week in between. Stef seemed tired today (I don't mean that as an excuse just an observation) so hopefully this will be a bit gentler. The conditions in Madrid don't suit him particularly so I'm not sure what to expect but we will see I guess

#rambling about tennis again

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youreamonocoque · 3 years

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Uh oh I'm rambling about tennis. Idk how to summarise this here because it's a bit all over the place but the basic TLDR is number 1 and number 2 in the world were much closer in terms of tennis/performance in 2012 than they are this year.

I love reading comments under posts saying that Pablo's into the semi final because some of them are like 'oh damn!' and others are just a sad 'well now no one can stop Djokovic' like hello? Did you think if somehow Daniil had won today that he would've been able to beat Novak? 'But he's number 2 in the world' Novak has already qualified for the tour finals. He is 3k points ahead of Stefanos despite having played just over half the tournaments that Stef has.

The way Novak is playing, unless he has an off day I think he's winning the Gold no matter who is on the other side of the net. I think he'll face a challenge in Zverev but nobody can touch Novak, he's playing so well.

I get that they're going 'oh but Daniil is number 2 he could at least challenge Novak' as if the 3 guys left can't.

Zverev took a set off of Novak at the Australian Open this year.

Khachanov has not beaten Novak since 2018 but he still has a win over Novak.

In their previous meeting Pablo took a set off of Novak. In the meeting before that Pablo broke Djokovic and was about to serve for the first set, Novak got defaulted. (It counts as a win soooo)

The 3 left aren't shit. Daniil isn't shit. It's just that Novak is that good. It's not like when the top of the rankings were dominated by Roger, Rafa and Novak where they were basically unbeatable except to each other.

Let's go back to 2012 say. Imagine that the Olympics that year are the same as they are this year in terms of rankings.

Novak(1+), Rafa(2*), Tsonga(5), Almagro(11), Cilic(25), Bennetau (28), Lacko(58) and Dodig(69).

If we match them up like the 2020 last 8 was then you've got

Novak against Dodig Tsonga against Lacko Cilic against Benneteau Rafa against Almagro

Rafa would not be beaten by Almagro. Cilic would beat Benneteau. Tsonga would beat Lacko and Novak would beat Dodig. Which gives us semi finals of

Novak against Tsonga Rafa against Cilic

Every meeting in 2012 against Tsonga, Novak won (even beat him at the Olympics). Rafa would beat Cilic. This gives you a final of Novak against Rafa, who wins?

Compare that to this year where you've got a last 8 of

Novak(1), Daniil(2), Zverev(5),Pablo(11), Khachanov(25), Humbert(28), Chardy(58) and Nishikori(69)

Novak is not being troubled by any of those. If you got a final of Novak against Daniil with the form Novak is in you're not really guessing? You're going "Well maybe Daniil has a chance???"

My point is that in 2012 you would not be seeing Rafa be beaten by the world number 11. Rafa was too good. (Fun fact want to know where Almagro's last title was before he retired? Estoril. Who did he beat in the final? Pablo)

1 and 2 in the world in 2012 is not the same as 1 and 2 in 2021. This year the gap in terms of tennis is way larger, Novak is just on another level. In 2012 both Rafa and Novak were on that level.

(Obviously ranking doesn't mean everything as in 2012 we didn't get a final of world number 1 against number 2 but when people are saying Daniil had the best chance of beating Novak because Daniil is number 2 in the world (and a very good tennis player idk if he's better than Tsitispas or Zverev, I'd say they're all very equal around 2 to 8?? whereas in 2012 there was a smaller gap between the top 3 (Andy was sort of on his own at number 4) and then there was a bigger gap to 5 from there. In 2012 Novak wasn't out on his own, whereas this year he is.). People saying that Daniil has the best chance because he's number 2 are ignoring the performance gap between Novak and him and also forgetting that rankings don't mean everything. E.g Thiem is currently at 6 in the world but missed Wimbledon and therefore a huge chunk of points due to injury and people have different amount of points to defend etc. Rankings don't mean everything. Daniil being world number 2 does not mean he has the best chance of beating Novak because there are other factors that need to be considered)

(Interestingly in 2012 the final 8 was world number 1 Novak, 3 Roger, 4 Andy, 5 Tsonga, 9 del Potro, 10 Isner, 11 Almagro and 18 Nishikori. - Way less range than this year. )

+(Note: Novak was world number 1 at the time of the Olympics but was not the number 1 seed. In this theoretical, seeding does not matter and the draw is done by ranking- No I have no idea how Roger was number 1 seed I imagine it's because it was at Wimbledon and until this year Wimbledon did it's seeding differently. For the purpose of this theoretical we're also ignoring the surface lmao (I should've used 2016....sigh....Welp i've written the post now and I'm too lazy to change it!)

*(Note: At the time of the Olympics Rafa was ranked number 2 in the world but did not compete. But he is still present in this theoretical)

(I have not proofread this lmao and there is no real conclusion because I am lazy :D)

#tennis #tokyo 2020 #honestly i could've used 2016 but errr i didn't #i probably should've used 2016 #oh well!#have some terrible analysis!#also like most of this is just me rambling in parenthesis #parenthesis or parentheses??? idk

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domiandsascha · 6 years

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Wimbledon diary ~ Tuesday the 3rd of July 2018

If you've followed my adventures at the French Open (x x x x x), you must know I don't do short reviews so… You've been warned :D

I arrived at Wimbledon early, alone (because Jue, my partner in crime, had to work until 1pm) and super stressed. We had tickets for Court 1, which granted us access to every single court except for Centre Court and Court 2. The order of play on Court 1 was Kyle Edmund, then Petra Kvitova, then Novak Djokovic. Pretty good and Jue was super happy that she wouldn't miss the beginning of Novak's match. Also the program on the side courts was awesome. BUT. Massive BUT. Bigger than Domi's but-- Shut up Helene. BUT, on Court 2, Sascha, then Domi were playing. And, I mean… What are the chances of having the both of them, on the same court, the exact same day I'm attending a tournament? One percent? Well, that was the one, I couldn't miss it and I was ready to sell my soul to the Queen for a Court 2 ticket. Few problems: The Queen was nowhere to be found (although I've heard that Meghan was around that day, I should have looked for her). I had only one ticket to exchange which made my task trickier as people, weirdly, have friends and family. And mostly, Wimbledon officials are crazy uptight and bound by rules. So the one rule I heard over and over again during my first hour in the resort was "Tickets are not exchangeable". It felt like I was talking to robots. One guy even told me I would be removed if I were to try and swap my ticket outside of Court 2. Seriously? Dude, come on, have some weed and chill… Anyway, I usually like and follow rules but I decided to completely disregard this one. I made my way to Court 2, at the very end of the resort, and started my quest, using my sweetest smile and sweetest French accent. It was still quiet as matches hadn't started yet, but there were already people waiting outside the court. I truly believed my "Edmund + Djoko" combo was gonna be super appealing to British tennis fans but it turned out it wasn't. The five first persons I approached bluntly replied "Absolutely not. Court 2 is way better today!" Well, yeah, I know… but you guys aren't supposed to think the same! The only interested guy I found had a girlfriend who had no intention of spending the day away from him… It started to feel like I was gonna fail, when I spotted a woman, obviously on her own and who seemed nice enough to hear me out. When I asked if she would be interested on swapping for a Court 1 ticket, she replied "No." She paused, just the time for my heart to break again, and then she casually added "But I've got a spare ticket for Court 2 if you want." OMG. It was good I was wearing my sunglasses because I legit started tearing up. She refused my money offer and just gave it to me. I could have hugged her, but she didn't look like the hugging type and I didn't want to scare her to the point of changing her mind, as we were about to spend the day next to each other. But I gave her my Court 1 ticket, which she gladly accepted. OMG. I couldn't believe my luck. I couldn't process I was actually gonna see Sascha and Domi. I couldn't go and sit down yet. I needed to calm down. I needed a coffee, three cigarettes, a wee and a walk. So I left Court 2 to go and explore the resort I had barely looked at earlier, too obsessed with my mission. Gosh, Wimbledon is so so so pretty, all green and purple and flowery. It makes you want to drink all the Pimm's and eat all the strawberries (but to do so, you'd need all the money…). I crossed path with Rafa in an alley, the exact same way I had at Roland Garros : he was surrounded by security, followed by a crowd of fans, super close yet untouchable (I mean, I could have touched him, but I wasn't taking any risk to be actually removed by security now that I had my ticket haha). But my timing is always quite amazing! I tried to go to the fanzone, which is the only place where players stop for pictures and autographs on their way back from practice, but it was packed so I turned around. I went to sit and drink my coffee on the Henman Hill, because apparently, you cannot go to Wimbledon and not sit once on the hill, and then I went back to Court 2 to watch the second set of Jo Konta's match. I discovered how good my seat was and I tore up again. OMG I was so close!!!! Jo was lovely enough to win her 2nd set tie break so there it was : Sascha time! I think I lost plenty of brain cells when he walked on court. I don't need to describe how amazing he looked in his white kit, you've all seen the pictures, but. Wow. And his hair is just perfection. He's truly a piece of sunshine. The 1rst set was tight, but I was too happy to stress. Plus he was playing really good and won it. The way he "Come ooooooooon!" after he got the break destroyed what was left of my brain cells. He also yelled in Russian at some point, that was hot. I was a bit disappointed with the British crowd, way quieter than the French one. It was deeeeead. The only person I could hear was Hugo, Sascha's physio, and his constant "Allez, allez, allez!!!!" haha. I tried to scream "Come on Sascha!!" once and ten people turned to look at me like "what the hell are you doing girl?" so I kept cheering for him in my mind. There was something highly disturbing : whenever Sascha was on his chair, and even sometimes on the court, he was looking towards me. I'm not saying he was looking at me, I know he wasn't, there was no way I was standing out from the rest of the crowd, no. He was probably looking at the score board above me. But as it felt like it, I chose to believe he was looking at me haha. Fun. He won the 2nd set super easily and I totally called the 3rd set bagel. I said it to Claire, my ticket provider, and she didn't believe me. But I was right. Sascha was doing everything perfectly and his opponent wasn't doing much anymore. So straight sets stress-free victory. Thank you Sascha! I think the gods of tennis should make it a regular thing : if I attend one of my favs' match, my fav should always win easily, for the sake of my nails, my hair, my stomach and my sanity. That'd be super great. Yeah. That would have been great to ask the gods before the start of Domi's match… Oh sadness… But let's start at the beginning. D.o.m.i.n.i.c. First of all, he was clean-shaved. Clean-shaved Domi makes me weak, it's not even funny. Second of all, he looked like an angel who could sin at any second in his white kit and I. couldn't. handle. it. Third of all, I just love him so much, it's unreal. I spent the entire warm-up staring at him, my hand on my chest, smiling like an idiot, feeling blessed. If a therapist were to ask me where my happy place is, I'd say "On a tennis court bleacher, ten rows away from Dominic Thiem". Also, just like Sascha, he was looking in my direction all the time, so my heart was crumbling. I was legit talking to him, moving my lips and all, just in case he would actually look at me at some point and understand my motivation speeches haha (spoiler alert : he obviously didn't…). Now, the match itself. Well… Not gonna lie, it's way more fun to watch him on clay. I didn't have much expectations for Wimbledon but I believed he could at least beat Baghdatis. Until he got broken. And lost the 1rst set. Then got broken again. And lost the 2nd set… I was mad at him, yet still hopeful at first, but I quickly made my peace with the idea I was going to watch him lose badly. Because he wasn't "there". He wasn't yelling at himself or fist bumping like he does when he truly wants it. He looked so out of it. I couldn't understand why, as I hadn't made much of his fall in the first set. Sure, it had been quite a bad and scary one, but he had stood up so quickly and acted like it was nothing. So it was nothing to me. I went out for a smoke between the 2nd and the 3rd set so when my friends talked about the physio in our group chat, it was a massive and very unpleasant surprise. I rushed back in and… baby… <///3 He looked so small and fragile, it broke me (and also, how do I become a physio on call please??). The 3rd set started really badly and at this point, it just felt like watching the inevitable. So it was almost a relief when he retired. It was still sudden and heartbreaking and disappointing as I wouldn't have minded an extra set of clean-shaved white-wearing Domi. But it was safer, all things considered. A small consolation : I'm 90% sure Günter spotted me from the box. He was on the opposite of the court but right in front of me and looking in my direction super often (really, there probably was someone or something super attractive on my bleacher!). At some point I was standing to stretch my legs and Günter kind of froze and removed his sunglasses as if he wanted to have a better look. His eyes were clearly on me, but I got too shy to wave or nod, stupid me haha. So after a few seconds, he went back to his conversation with Alex. But yeah, I believe he had a flash of "I've seen this girl before" and as I still want him to adopt me, it really pleased me. I left the court immediately after Domi did and ran to the side courts area. Jue had arrived during Sascha's match. She had been to Diego's match, then Karen's match, but she was now on Court 1 for Djoko. I was a bit torn between Karen and Mischa vs PH. But they were closer and as I managed to find a seat in the first (and only haha) row, I stayed there. PH was already two sets up and playing amazing. I was cheering for both though. After Domi, it was soothing to watch this match. Both outcomes would have made me happy. I realized towards the end that Alexander Senior and Irina Zverev were six seats away from me. When Mischa lost, we left the court at the same time. I walked right behind them in the crowded alley (didn't have any other choice) then I passed them, but I turned around on an impulse. My friend Aline really wanted me to ask them if she could marry their youngest son, but I'm not that bold haha. I just said congratulations for Sascha's win and wished them luck for the rest of the tournament. Alexander thanked me five times and Irina just smiled, nicely. Next time Aline, next time… I saw Nadal again, standing on a bridge above an alley and being a sweetheart. Karen had won so I tried to go see Shapo but the queue for his court was huge. So I went to buy a Pimm's (thought Domi's heartbreaking match called for some comfort alcohol) and decided to try and push my luck because why not ? I texted Jue to get our gate-row-seat number on Court 1, thinking I could pretend I had lost my ticket or something (I knew Claire wasn't on my seat then). Didn't even need to. Perfect timing being perfect, I walked in with a group. The security guys were too overwhelmed to check tickets. Haha! Epic win! So I finally joined Jue and we watch Djoko destroy Sandgren and everything was right in the world. Then we tried Shapo again. Impossible again. So we went to the court where Benoit was playing. As we've certainly been blessed by all the gods of tennis, after two minutes, we were seated, front row, next to each other. Benoit was so much fun to watch hahahaha. We laughed a lot. And we cheered in French, really loudly, so after he won, he smiled at us and gave us a thankful thumb up. He didn't come to our side to sign stuff but he had to leave the court same way as the audience. He spent so much time in the alley, taking pictures and being amazing with fans. We both got a selfie with him. Gotta love Benoit. We went back to Shapo's court and queued, but we didn't have much hope to get in. Our only chance would have been for him to lose the 4th set and we couldn't wish that to happen. So we just spent fifteen minutes, listening to the cheering, chatting with a French fan and following the England football game on our phones. Shapo won and I made my way to the bleacher just in time to see him wave goodbye. That's something I guess haha. There was only one match still on : Sharapova on Court 2. And again, we decided to try our luck. They were still checking tickets at the doors, which I found silly and unfair considering half of the court was empty. British people and their rules… Anyway, I showed mine and hid Jue behind me so she managed to sneak in. Truly, we win at life. I didn't think someone could be as loud as Maria, but I was wrong. Vitalia Diatchenko is. Their long rallies were hilarious to listen to. It was kind of a shocker to see Vitalia win this one, but she played great tennis so that was well deserved. And… that was it. Tennis was over for the day. So we wandered around the resort and then we left, hungry, tired but so so so so so so so happy. We're going back tomorrow. We're on Court 1. And. OMG AGAIN ! They put Sascha on Court 1!!!!! Ahhhhhhh! I was so sure they wouldn't!!!! I'm so happy! We'll also see Simona's match and Kyrgios VS Nishikori. I mean, we probably won't watch this one as Karen will be playing on a side court. So will PH and Nico! And also, Dennis Novak didn't finish today so unless it collides with Sascha's match, I'm so gonna go cheer the hell out of my lungs for him (and ask Günter to adopt me). I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and if you're watching Sascha's match, I'll be wearing my green Germany jersey so you might see me on TV (they kept showing jersey-wearing people during Angie and Sascha's matches yesterday) :D Thanks for reading and thanks for all your lovely messages and comments when I said I had managed to swap my ticket <3

#wimbledon 2018 #dominic thiem #sascha zverev #helene writes

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dpinoycosmonaut · 3 years

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NADAL GEARS UP FOR FRENCH OPEN WITH VICTORY OVER DJOKOVIC IN ROME

by Bert A. Ramirez / May 17, 2021

La Decima. Ten championships. Now, Rafael Nadal has completed double figures in championships won in four events in his career when he beat world No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 to win his 10th Italian Open title.

The victory, completed after two hours and 49 minutes of riveting tennis, enabled Nadal to raise the total of ATP championships he has won to 88, moving him just six titles away from Ivan Lendl for third-most career ATP titles in the open era behind only Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer. He has compiled more than half of these in four events – 13 in the French Open, 12 in the Barcelona Open, 11 in the Monte-Carlo Masters, and 10 here in Rome – a phenomenal feat when others struggle to win just half of that in their entire careers.

“It’s amazing. To have this trophy in my hands for the 10th time, it’s just something impossible to imagine,” Nadal said after his latest victory, which came against no less than the player who has made it hardest for him to win. Rafa also won in Rome in 2005 (the year he won his first of 20 Grand Slam titles in the French Open as a 19-year-old), 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2019.

“I’m super-happy. I can’t thank my team enough, and life for all these opportunities, and everybody’s support has been huge during all these years,” the always-grateful Spanish legend said. “To have the trophy on this day, this year, it’s amazing.”

The victory did not come without a struggle though, as it’s almost always been against Djokovic, whose edge in head-to-head battles against Nadal has been narrowed down to 29-28 in this their 57th meeting as they gear up for the year’s second Grand Slam event at Roland Garros at the end of this month.

As expected, this year’s clash for the Italian Open crown was a battle throughout, despite Nadal’s mostly lopsided win in his last match against his Serbian rival in the French Open finals last October. Djokovic drew first blood by breaking Rafa to go up 2-0 in the first set, but Rafa broke right back, and the two titans exchanged holds for seven straight games before the Spaniard broke Nole in the 11th game to go up 6-5. He then served out the set, clinching it with a sizzling inside-out forehand that was too far for Djokovic to reach.

As in the two rivals’ last championship clash in the event in 2019, however, Djokovic would not go away, waiting for that break where Rafa would loosen his grip just a bit before pouncing to regain the advantage. And this came with Nadal a point away from breaking Nole with the score tied at 1-1. Once the Serbian survived that break point, he went on to break Rafa twice en route to winning the next five games to send the match into a deciding third set.

That set had the makings of a humdinger as it started at 2-all and Djokovic then earned two break points on Nadal’s service game. But instead of giving the game away to his arch-rival, Nadal found a way to hold in the end for a 3-2 advantage, then went on a four-point spree in the next game to break Nole at love for a decisive 4-2 edge, which he never relinquished until the end.

The victory is almost poetic in terms of record as it gave Nadal his 36th ATP Masters 1000 title, which puts him level for the career record with Djokovic at that number, and also evened his head-to-head matchup with the 18-time Grand Slam champion in 14 Masters 1000 finals at seven victories apiece. And it looks like a virtual repeat of the 2019 finals between the two in the same event where the Spaniard beat Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. Rafa lost in the Rome event last year when it was played under pandemic conditions during the quarterfinals against Diego Schwartzman, who went on to fall to Djokovic in the finals.

This year, however, Rafa reasserted his Rome dominance with the help of his lethal forehand. In his championship win over Djokovic, he hit 26 forehand winners, accounting for the bulk of his 37 total winners in the match even as he committed 23 unforced errors.

“Well, I think I have been playing better and better with my forehand the last couple of weeks, getting to the confidence point,” Nadal assessed. “Yes, today has been a positive day, but I think I could change more times down the line than what I did, something I can’t keep doing, and I can keep improving.”

Both Nadal and Djokovic, to be sure, did not arrange their 14th Masters title showdown without going through their own battles. Djokovic, for example, had to spend almost five hours on the court the previous day just to complete a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 quarterfinal win over Stefanos Tsitsipas and then hold off hometown boy Lorenzo Sonego in the semis 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2. Nadal, meanwhile, had to survive the challenge of youngsters like Denis Shapovalov, who he had to overcome in a third-round bloodbath where he had to surmount a 3-6, 0-3 deficit in the first two sets and two match points in the third before prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

“Well, I was lucky at some moments this week, especially against Shapo,” Rafa recalled when it was all over. “I think I played a good tournament here in Rome this week. I think I’ve been playing better and better, finding my rhythm on clay, and I think I had a very positive week, and I’m very happy.”

All this, of course, still came down to his famed matchup against Djokovic, whom he has now beaten in five of their last eight meetings, including that decisive straight-sets victory in the finals of last year’s French Open. Djokovic had beaten Nadal seven straight times between 2015 and 2016 during the latter’s worst seasons when he failed to win a single Slam, while Rafa had also beaten Nole six straight times between 2008 and 2009, and that makes up all the difference in their head-to-head career matchup.

With his latest Italian Open victory, Rafa now has a 4-2 edge against Djokovic in their head-to-head clashes in the finals of this event, and has an overall 6-3 edge over the Serbian in Rome. He also has 12 finals appearances in this tournament while Djokovic has 11, the most in the latter’s career in any event. The duo, in fact, has won 15 of the last 17 Rome championships, with only Andy Murray in 2016 and Alexander Zverev in 2017 breaking that duopoly in the Italian capital.

"I really wanted this title,” Nadal said after beating Nole. “This had been one of the most important titles in my career. I'd won 10 in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros and really wanted it here too."

It’s no doubt a momentum-building victory going into the French Open, where Rafa is gunning for a record-extending 14th title and a record 21st Grand Slam victory that will put him one clear of Roger Federer for the all-time record in this category. Will he continue his dominance in a tournament that he loves and on a surface where he thrives most of all?

We shall see about a month from now.

Photo captions:

1) Rafael Nadal poses with the 2021 Rome Masters trophy with his trademark bite at the hardware. (Photo from rafaelnadalfans.com)

2) Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic shake hands after their tough finals battle. (Photo from rafaelnadalfans.com)

#RafaNadal VamosRafa #novak djokovic #italian open

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mytennisdiary · 3 years

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Australian Open 2021 - Day 9

(Osaka didn’t make an error in the last 22 points of the Muguruza match)

(They keep hitting the button early with the crowd noise)

(Just announced, fans will be back on Thursday)

Osaka vs Hsieh This is Hsieh’s quarterfinal debut. China and Taiwan had a bidding war for her, both offering her $1 million to represent them. At 35, she’s the oldest player to reach her first quarterfinal. She’s also #1 in doubles. Hsieh plays with 2 hands on both sides. Naomi has never lost when reaching the quarterfinal at a major She’s going after Naomi’s 2nd serve at the start. Hsieh takes the ball early and low; not a lot of topspin. The serve is the weakest part of her game, Osaka is yet to dial in on the serve; she’s hitting it long. The lack of pace is a problem for Naomi. Hsieh’s coach is an Aussie. He says that Hsieh is a real free spirit and that the hard part was bringing a little discipline without changing her. Hsieh controls the points with angles, not pace. Hsieh dug out of a 0-40 hole, but Osaka managed to break her at deuce. Osaka is not making a lot of 1st serves, but when she does make them she dominating. It’s just really hard to get ahead of Hsieh in points. Because of her small swing she’s able to turn balls she’s just barely getting to around into good offensive shots. Osaka had to weather a long game on her serve in order to get to 4-1. Yea, I see what they mean by Hsieh being unpredictable. She just doesn’t play standard patterns in terms of moving the ball cross-court and down the line. She’s change directions almost every point. (A bunch of talk about how Wim Fasset prepares video presentations for Naomi about her opponents; part of the changes in coaching). Naomi is dominating now, timing the ball better. Hsieh is making a lot of errors. Only concern with Naomi is that her ball toss seems a little erratic. Chrissy told the story about Hsieh playing with the same racket/string for 3 years and not noticing in a match when she broke her strings. Also told a story about how Hsieh had never gone on a run in her life. 6-2 6-2

They showed a bit of Coco/McNally’s QF doubles loss.

Dimitrov vs Karatsev Karatsev was born in Russia, lived in Israel between ages 3-13 which is where he picked up tennis. At 13 he went back to Russia, spent time in Moscow until about 19-20. Then went to Germany, then went to Barcelona, to academies. Then, he connects with his coach and ends up in Minsk, Belarus. Strategy for Dimitrov is to bring Karatsev in with the short slice. Karatsev has been a great baseliner, but not necessarily comfortable at the net. Both players look tight to start. Karatsev gets the early break off a lot of poor shots from Dimitrov. McEnroes think that Dimitrov’s serve has really held him back. That and his ok backhand and net game. Dimitrov breaks back. Long game at 3-2 that gives Dimitrov control of the 1st set. Karatsev is struggling to get 1st serves. His defense is also drawing misses and he’s serving well. Karatsev’s movement looks sluggish. Dimitrov’s slice is starting to look really good. Karatsev’s forehand is starting to improve, but his backhand is a disaster. 10+ minute game to start the 2nd set; Karatsev manages to hold. Dimitrov starting to get a little frustrated, making more errors; Broken at 2-2. Dimitrov, despite playing some good defense, makes some bad errors, including 2 double faults. Karatsev breaks for 5-4 in set 2. Karatsev winning free points on his serve takes the 2nd. Karatsev seems to have found the feel on his backhand. McEnroe wants Dimitrov to go short or up the middle. Also pointing out the Dimitrov’s timing on his topspin backhands are way off. At 1-3 in the 3rd set, Karatsev is hitting insane shots; Dimitrov is serving soft, he looks hurt. Another abdominal issue? Why didn’t he call for the trainer at 1-4? He can’t play. Back injury it seems. Dimitrov looks a bit better, but he still doesn’t seem to be able to serve his hardest or make quick reactions. 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 (Karatsev is the lowest ranked player to get to a semi-final since Ivanisovic in 2001)

S. Williams vs Halep Halep hit some good returns; had some close misses on aggressive shots which I like that she’s going for. Serena taking advantage of the wide serve. Halep’s strategy seems to involve playing up the middle with her ground strokes. This doesn’t give the ability to let Serena find big angled winners, which she is finding early in the match. Also, she wants to serve into the body and jam her for similar reasons. Serena played an insane defensive point and her forehand looks extremely dangerous. She’s up a break. Serena makes a few unforced errors to let Halep break back, particularly off the backhand which Halep is targeting. Long game at 2-3 on Halep’s serve. Serena breaks behind some well positions ground strokes. She’s cut out the errors and is hitting it on the line. Halep is going big on the 2nd; only one double so far. MJ thinks Halep is being hurt by the wide serve because she’s too far back. Long 6+ minute game to start Set 2; not enough first serves from Halep, but she got some errors from Serena and managed to get out of it. Serena is only winning 36% of points on her 2nd serve, 10% less than Halep. Error filled 2nd game to get the break, not getting her legs into her backhand. Serena breaks back; Simona just not quite able to execute some tough shots on the run. Better, more aggressive game from Halep to break again; 3-1. Too many second serve to Serena’s forehand. Serena breaks back. Serena has adjusted, she’s hitting the ball higher over the net. Errors are just creeping into Halep’s game as she’s trying to be aggressive. Halep gets out of 0-40 at 3-3, Halep saved 5 break points into the game, but too many errors into the net and great defense from Serena on the 6th break point. Serena serves well and then Simona just couldn’t do enough, but hung in there. Not good enough serving, didn’t take enough advantage of Serena’s lapse at the start of the 2nd. 6-3 6-3 (Serena ties Roger for most career wins in majors.)

Djokovic vs Zverev Couple of double faults for Novak in the first game of the match to give Zverev a break. Zverev’s weakness is the forehand, which he can be a bit passive with, he’s trying to be more aggressive with it. Both guys hit big 2nd serves right now. Zverev serve is very strong to start. He also only have 1 unforced error. Zverev has tape on his abs. Djokovic is making some errors, but he’s also hitting big serves. Apparently, in his press conference Djokovic mentions that moving to the forehand is the hardest for him. Zverev is holding serve very comfortably. He has 7 aces in 4 service games. (These two both live in Monte Carlo, maybe practice together). Long game at 3-5; 6 deuces. Djokovic is hitting big, pressing at times, but dictating a lot of points. Zverev, after holding serve comfortably all set long, behind some good returns from Novak and a couple of errors, was broken. A few long rallies, Djokovic got the big one. A few more errors creeping in for Zverev. (Low 80s tonight) Tight tiebreak, came down to a long rally with a drop shot Djokovic probably shouldn't have hit. Zverev served it out. Inverse of the 1st set. Zverev got the break in the first game of the 2nd. Djokovic breaks again to go up 3-0, he's starting to look really confident on rallies going from defense to offense. Zverev gets a bit of his mojo back, but Djokovic takes the 2nd set 6-2. Djokovic makes a crucial error on an easy ball and double faults away a break to start set 3. Huge game at 1-3, Zverev makes a couple errors, Novak has a break point, Zverev saves it with an awesome second serve/winner combo and then Novak shatters his racket. First 2 double faults from Zverev give Djokovic the break back. In his next service game Zverev plays a few loose points and then looses a crushing long rally. Great reset for Zverev, down 30-0, came back and broke Djokovic. Djokovic’s drop shots and coming in to net are not working for him. Zverev is hitting good passes and overheads. Zverev gets out of a game where he had 2 double faults and djokovic had 2 break chances; finally gets some first serves. Missed opportunity for Zverev at 0-3, had 3 break point chances. Costly double fault for Zverev, not making enough first serves, Djokovic breaks, 3-2. At 3-4, Zverev putting some pressure on Novak, starting to win some long points, but Novak manages to save 2 break points. At 6-5, Zverev battled back from 40-0 to get a set point, but Djokovic saved it. No mini-breaks in the tiebreaker until 6-6 when Zverev couldn’t handle the low passing shot and Djokovic served it out. 6-7 6-2 6-4 7-6 (Story of the match is Zverev being unable to hold his break leads in the 3rd and 4th as well as Djokovic’s Serena-like serving which got him out of trouble time and time again).

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boloorsportsmania · 3 years

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#841 For 4th year in a row, ATP finals shows signs of future tennis superstars; Thiem and Medvedev comeback from the brink to shock Djokovic and Nadal respectively in ATP SF; Dustin Johnson rules in Augusta Masters; Barca and Man city shocked in EPL and La Liga; Athleticio Madrid and Spurs rule respective leader boards; Villareal hold Real Madrid and more...:-)

ATP finals is the final tournament in men’s ATP calendar where top 8 players compete. Nadal, Thiem, Rublev and Tsitsipas were in one group. Djokovic, Medvedev , Schwartzman and Zverev were in other group. Tournament started off with Thiem outclassing defending champion Tsitsipas in 3 sets. Nadal thumped Rublev in straight sets. He has never won this tournament. His record in indoor carpet has bene poor but he showed better foot movement and ball speed in Rublev match. He showed same intent against Thiem too. Nadal was leading 5-2 in first set tiebreaker and 4-3 up with a break in 2nd set but Thiem held his nerve to win 2 tiebreakers. Thiem qualified for SF. Tsitsipas beat Rublev in 3 sets to stay in contention. Tsitsipas vs Nadal was literally a knockout match. Nadal showed great court presence to win first set. At 4-5, in 2nd set, he served poorly . Tsitsipas levelled the match. In final set it was all Nadal who won it 6-2. He stormed to SF for the first time since 2015. In other group, Medvedev won all 3 matches in straight sets. His game to beat Djokovic was really good signs though Serbian was off color. Djokovic vs Zverev was a knockout match which 5 time champion won in straight sets. So SF is finalized with Thiem facing Djokovic and Medvedev clashing against Nadal. In Thiem vs Djokovic SF, Thiem showed patience. He broke Serbian at 11th game to win it 7-5. Hi serve was never broken in 2nd set . Djokovic had 3 chances to break. In tibreaker, both showed nerves. Thiem had 3 break points of which 2 was of his own serve. He double faulted in one of them. Djokovic as expected won it 12-10. When anybody shows small window, he just grabs chance . That’s why he is number 1. 3rd set was also similar to 2nd. No breaks. No break points even. Djokovic went up 4-0 in final set tiebreaker. Thiem reduced it to 2-4 with a forehand winner. Djokovic netted next point to bring it back on serve. Djokovic had another forehand unforced error to make it 4-4. Thiem made it 5-4. He hit a brilliant winner to make it 6-4. He won 6 points in a row. Djokovic saved one match point but overhit a forehand to hand Thiem the match. Thiem deserved the win since his serve was never broken in entire match against world number 1 which is a stunning achievement. Djokovic will be frustrated with his form post lockdown. He has show signs of good form but has nothing to show in kitty other than Rome open. US open knockout has rattled him which shows. In other SF, Medvedev started off brilliantly but it was Nadal who edged to win the first set 6-3. Medvedev raced to 4-1 lead in 2nd set before Nadal won 4 games in a row to serve for the match at 5-4. Medvedev had lost the match after being up 1-5 down against Nadal in last year ATP finals. Things reversed this time. Medvedev played a brilliant game to level at 5-5. It was Medvedev all the way post that. He won the 2nd set in tiebreaker before winning final set 6-2. Nadal was a bit exhausted in final set and looked off color. For 4th year in a row, it has been ATP finals where next gen have showed signs of their game. Not since 2010, any player has beaten Nadal and Djokovic in same ATP finals. Thiem and Medevev have both beaten these 2 players this week. Finals between Thiem and Medvedev will be a cracker. Medevev lost in US open SF but he was up a break in all 3 sets in that match.

In Masters final day, Johnson was clear favourite with 4 shot lead over Smith, Im and Ancer. Smith showed great composure . After 12 holes, he was just 1 back from johnson. 2016 US open champion then showed class in hitting 3 birdies in next 3 holes to seal his 2nd major. Class finish by a very final player.

In EPL, Man City was shocked by Spurs 2-0. Son Hueng Min and Lo Celso scored the goals. Baring game against Liverpool, city have been ridiculously poor this season in EPL. Man City are placed at 11th position with 12 points. They are 8 points behind Spurs who are leaders as of now. Chelsea beat Newcastle 2-1. Fernandes goal helped ManU beat West Brom. In La Liga, Villareal held Real madrid to a 1-1 draw. Mariano scored goal in 2nd minute for Real Madrid. Moreno converted penalty in 76th minute for Villareal.Carrasco goal helped Athletico Madrid beat Barca 1-0. Sevilla beat Celta Vigo 4-2. Barca are at 10th position with 11 points. They are 9 points behind leaders Athletico Madrid and Real Sociedad.

#boloorsportsmania #Thiem #Medvedev #Nadal #Djokovic #Dustin Johnson #SOn Hueng Min #Carrasco

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bigyack-com · 4 years

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King Novak, Zverev crashes: what we learned from the ATP Cup - tennis

Five things we learned from the inaugural 24-nation ATP Cup team competition played in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney over 10 days in the lead-up to the Australian Open: - New innovations -The new tournament won plenty of plaudits, with players also hailing the team spirit and competitive matches.Fresh innovations were trialled at the ATP Cup, including on-court coaching and team zones in the corners of the court, which were wildly popular. There was also real-time statistics, data and match vision available to the captain and players, plus a video review system to challenge contentious decisions like foot faults.While it worked well, there was also high-profile criticism from Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal that playing another team event so close to the Davis Cup in November was too much.“I think is a great competition, but at the same time I can’t change my mind that two World Cups in one month is not real. So (it) is not possible,” said Nadal after his defeat to Djokovic. - King Novak -Djokovic underlined his credentials as king of the hardcourts and favourite to win an unprecedented eighth Australian Open title.The Serbian superstar never looked like losing, coming through tough tests from the likes of Denis Shapovalov, Daniil Medvedev and world number one Nadal in Sunday’s final to remain unbeaten over six matches.“I mean, it is the perfect preparation,” said the 16-time Grand Slam winner. “This has been one of the highlights of my career, because you can’t really match any big win in tennis with the win that you get to share with your team, with your friends.“It has been an amazing event,” he added.- Zverev crashes -Big things have been tipped for Alexander Zverev since he burst into the top 10 in 2017, but the 22-year-old is yet to fully deliver. The young German won just one title last year, at Geneva, and slipped down the rankings to seven from four at the start of the season.He failed spectacularly at the ATP Cup, looking lost on court as he crashed in three-of-three games.To make matters worse, he was reportedly stung by a bluebottle jellyfish while having swim at an Australian beach, although it was nothing serious. “It’s not really that high,” the dejected Zverev said of his confidence. “Generally I’m not playing good, so there’s a lot of things that I still need to improve, but it’s the start of the season.”Asked how he could fix what was wrong before the Australian Open, he replied: “On the practice court.”- Players to watch -Outside of Djokovic, unheralded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and workmanlike Russian Daniil Medvedev emerged as the early-season form players going into the Australian Open.Bautista Agut, who made the Wimbledon semi-finals last year and edged inside the top 10, went through the ATP Cup unbeaten, winning all six matches in emphatic fashion, dropping just 25 games.“It’s good for me to get confidence at the beginning of the year, to feel well on the court. That means I did a great job this pre-season,” said the Spaniard, who made the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park last year.World number five Medvedev was also strong, winning four of five. Djokovic was his only conqueror, and only just in a high-quality three set semi-final. “I think I’m not that far,” last year’s US Open finalist said of the gap between him and the Serb.- Why not women? -If an early-season team event is good enough for the men, then why not women as well?Djokovic said he supported the idea, as did former US Open runner-up Madison Keys after scathing criticism that women had been sidelined at the WTA Brisbane International.The event was played at the Queensland Tennis Centre, the same as the ATP Cup, but the men monopolised centre court with women relegated to outside courts.Maria Sharapova said it felt like a “second-hand” tournament while Sloane Stephens, who is on the WTA players’ council, complained that women players “weren’t in the conversation to even be considered” for the main court.Tennis officials scrambled to limit the fallout and insisted they were working on a “new concept” for women in the Australian summer. Read the full article

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thisdaynews · 4 years

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Davis Cup: What worked, what didn't & what needs to change

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/davis-cup-what-worked-what-didnt-what-needs-to-change/

Davis Cup: What worked, what didn't & what needs to change

Spain beat Canada in Sunday’s final to win their sixth Davis Cup title – but the first in the new format

With Rafael Nadal falling flat on his back on the baseline, his triumphant team-mates running on court to pile on top of him and a partisan home stadium rocking with pride, it was a familiar scene as Spain lifted the Davis Cup.

Yet, while the celebrations were similar to many we have seen in previous years, the host nation’s first success since 2011 came at the end of a very different week in Madrid.

Unlike in the past, Spain’s victory over Canada was not the only Davis Cup tie to take place in November as the tournament culminated. Instead it was the end of an 18-nation finals self-styled as the ‘World Cup of Tennis’.

The football-style knockout tournament, a bold concept conceived and financially backed by Barcelona defender Gerard Pique and his Kosmos investment group, faced a barrage of criticism before it had even started.

And, as with any new event, especially one of such size and stature, there were teething problems in the Spanish capital.

But there were also many memorable moments in what proved to be a high-quality tournament on the court.

Here, BBC Sport analyses what worked in the new-look finals, what perhaps didn’t and the lessons that must be learned before next year’s event.

Spain beat Canada to win Davis Cup

Jamie Murray column on Davis Cup improvements

The star names sprinkle stardust on the new finals

For years, the common consensus had been the 119-year competition needed to change.

Top players, worried about burn out on the punishing ATP Tour, were regularly not turning out to play in a 16-team world group that saw home and away ties spread over four weekends throughout the year.

Pique, a tennis fan said to have been a promising junior player, was the catalyst for change.

But his intervention, and the changing of a tradition which had existed in the previous format since 1981, was not welcomed by tennis die-hards, including the most recognisable player on the planet.

Swiss great Roger Federer resisted the change and urged that the competition should not become the “Pique Cup”.

While the 20-time Grand Slam champion was not present in Madrid after Switzerland failed to qualify three of the other ‘Big Four’ did play.

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were the star names present as 11 of the world’s top 20 singles players also appeared at the event. Russian world number four Daniil Medvedev and German world number seven Alexander Zverev were the only members of the world’s top 10 who pulled out in spite of their nations qualifying.

The presence of so many key players was seen as an encouraging sign by Pique and ITF chief David Haggerty.

“When we started a few years ago with the project of the new format, what we wanted basically was that the top players participate in the competition. I think that was a fact,” Pique said.

“You saw here the top players playing and representing their countries.”

Whether that will continue to be the case largely depends if a merger with January’s 24-nation ATP Cup – created by the men’s tour and attracting all the top-ranked players except Federer – can ever be agreed to avoid a situation where two men’s team events take place within close proximity of each other.

Star names were not only evident on the tennis court either as Pique’s long-term partner Shakira, the Colombian pop singer, provided the pre-final entertainment – presumably not for the large appearance fee she would usually command

Different format, same emotions stirred

Try telling those competing in Madrid – and their compatriots who had spent time and money travelling there – that the new format had devalued the competition as some suggested.

World number one Nadal tore around the Caja Magica as he won all eight of his singles and double rubbers to inspire the Spanish.

Novak Djokovic along with the entire Serbia team were left close to tears following a dramatic quarter-final loss to Russia. In an emotional news conference post match, Djokovic’s doubles partner Viktor Troicki – who played a woeful third-set tie-break – said he felt “the worst ever” after been given the chance to “be the hero, only for God to take it away”.

Former world number one Andy Murray was contorted with nervous emotion as he watched his older brother Jamie and Neal Skupski try to put their nation into the final by beating Nadal and Feliciano Lopez in a decisive doubles rubber.

And try telling Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, who was left in tears after winning his singles rubber against Canada three days after the death of his father, that representing his country was still not of significant pride and honour.

Fears the emotion could be sucked out of the competition proved wide of the mark, although it remains to be seen what a finals weekend without the host nation competing would look like.

Great Britain, cheered on here by team-mates Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund, reached the semi-finals in Madrid

Empty seats for most matches – give them to the kids?

Patriotism was not in short supply in the stands either.

Clearly that peaked during the Spanish ties where the Caja Magica stands were a sea of red-and-yellow flags as the partisan home crowd, encouraged to make noise by a jaunty brass band and a man barking out instructions through a football terrace-style megaphone, willed their team towards a first Davis Cup triumph since 2011.

That understandably gave those matches a flavour of the ‘old’ Davis Cup – and an advantage to Spain.

While some other teams were well backed – notably Great Britain, Canada and Kazakhstan, thanks to the help of their national federation – other matches were played out in half-full arenas.

Even Saturday’s first semi-final between Canada and Russia saw huge swathes of empty red seats.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) offered 875 free tickets to British fans for the semi-final against Spain – at a cost of about £60,000 – and British captain Leon Smith thinks there should be an arrangement between organisers and the governing bodies of all 18 finalists to subside support in the future.

“The most important thing about Davis Cup is obviously trying to maintain the atmosphere,” he said.

“Why doesn’t that become the norm that there’s X amount of investment given to each federation to get a core group of fans?”

Spain’s two group games and Sunday’s final were the only ties to officially sell out the 12,500 capacity Manolo Santana court, according to the tournament’s online ticket portal.

“I do think the organisers missed an opportunity there by not giving the unsold tickets to schoolchildren and getting them in to watch the matches,” British player Jamie Murray said in his BBC Sport column.

“That would have been a good idea and would have exposed young kids – the future of the sport as potential players and fans – to tennis.”

A second venue in Madrid would prevent 4am finishes

While Spanish custom dictates the nation generally stays awake until the early hours, a major problem which arose was ridiculously late finishes in some matches with ties outlasting all but the most nocturnal of fans.

The group tie between the United States and Italy was the most startling, eye-rubbing example, finally ending at 04:04 local time to become the second latest finish in top-level tennis history behind Lleyton Hewitt’s win over Marcos Baghdatis at the 2008 Australian Open which ended at 4:33am.

“We expect that some games will be finished late, but obviously 4am was too late,” Pique said.

“That day all the games, they were very long.

“But we will have to be more creative in the future. I think this is not a big issue. It’s something we have to think how we do it.”

Britain’s Jamie Murray has suggested the finals should be split across two venues in Madrid next year, enabling one court to host one tie every day rather than two sessions.

When asked if the Spanish capital’s WiZink Center could be used next year, or where a fourth court could be built at the Caja Mágica, Pique said both options “are right now are on the table”.

Too focused on TV fans and not those there?

Between 800 and 1,000 British fans roared their team on in each of their four matches, with some staying for the whole week in the hope of seeing the 2015 champions end victorious again.

The majority of supporters appeared to savour the sense of occasion that mixing with fans from all over the world brought, although a large portion still bemoaned the loss of the previous home-and-away format.

“It is a fantastic atmosphere, we’ve talked to people from loads of different countries,” said Pam Flatman, who flew over from Norfolk with husband Wayne and their friend Mac Boreham. “It brings people together and from that perspective it’s a good thing.”

One common gripe among fans of all nationalities was they felt the tournament was more geared towards the needs of armchair fans than those actually in Madrid.

“There are no screens dotted around, so there is no information from the other matches,” said Mac. “At Wimbledon you know what’s happening but here you know nothing.”

Pam added: “Scoreboards and TVs outside in the concourses are necessary – and more outside heaters because the Madrid winter can be very chilly. It’s been freezing standing out here.”

The tournament also ended with a tinge of disappointment for fans at the venue. Spain lifted the trophy with many supporters having already left the arena, unwilling to sit through an unnecessarily elaborate and time-consuming setting up of the presentation stage.

Those trying keeping up-to-date with the action from afar reported a series of issues.

Technological glitches surfaced on the official Davis Cup finals information channels – including website, mobile app and stadium televisions – which ranged from comical errors to more serious issues of fan engagement.

While British number one Dan Evans’ profile featuring a faceless image instead of a photograph like everyone else was not the end of the world, nor was Germany’s team page describing Zverev – absent and a harsh vocal critic – as the ‘star of the their team’, the fundamental ability to update scores and competing players correctly was a failure.

Often, the scores of matches were wrong and slow to update, while Britain were apparently represented by Argentine Guido Pella in their quarter-final against Germany.

Selling television rights proved to be a problem in some major markets, with the tournament not shown on a major American broadcaster and only being available to British television audience at a late stage when Eurosport stepped in to secure the rights.

Another peculiarity was the decision to set up new Twitter and Instagram accounts under the ‘Davis Cup finals’ banner rather than use the existing Davis Cup accounts which have a combined 500,000 followers.

Although the behind-the-scenes content was excellent – fun, interactive and engaging – and retweeted by the main Davis Cup accounts in a bid to build the brand, the new accounts only had a combined 60,000 followers which leads a suspicion that reach was not as wide as it could have been.

“Our vision is to make sure this is seen in as many places by as many people and followed around the world. That’s something that, again, is something we can improve,” Pique added.

#change #needs

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