ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

Nishikori just going for slightly too much throughout that set

Well, at least the doubles has been competitive.

Though I do fancy Murray-Raonic to go the distance.

Berdych and Cilic picking up exactly where they left off. First 8 points all UEs

11 UEs out of 12 points in that game. Berdych broke, then immediately bounced the ball on his foot, then smacked a drive volley into the stands

It didn't get any better. Not even possible to sugarcoat this tournament. Imagine being told during the Murray/Nishikori mess that opened it that, 3.5 days in, no other match would have approached its quality

Hopefully Stan vs. Nole will be at least somewhat competitive. I didn't know that Stan has only won 36 matches this year which seems insane for a slam champion.

Nole's response to going 0-2 down is to win 17 of 18 points. Could be another blow out.

Yep. This is getting daft now. Can we just have the Fed-Djokovic final extended to best of five to make up for some of this?

Welp.

From 0-2, Wawrinka won 4 more points in set one, and 7 points in set 2.

And the Bryans recovered from 0-4 in a champions' t/b to win and stay in the tournament. So, not a great day.

Raonic pulls out, saves the WTF. Nishikori/Ferrer is better quality than anything else so far

Looking good for Kei. I don't suppose Fed is in the mood to lose in two and hence give up the top spot in the group to Murray.

Kei's dropshots <3

Kei's BH <3

Decent match, though lol that we finally get a three-setter and a) the third set was a breadstick b) it should really have been straight sets if Kei hadn't inexplicably mini-choked in the first set

I p much assume the organisers encouraged Raonic to gtfo bc they knew Ferrer would provide a better match

Impressive stat: Nishikori is 21-2 in deciding sets in 2014.

fed is teeing the fuck off on murrays 2nd serve

Way to end the year, Andy.

lol this is amazing

^^

bloody hell

i was rooting for the double bagel by the end :(

i look forward to waving this tournament in the faces of anyone who starts whinging about equal pay tho

this Nole/Kei match is the first one I've bothered to stay up for, it had better be good.

Haha oh man, if you watch just one point from this, 6-1 3-4, break point to Kei.

(Novak just put on a total clinic in set one, broke to open set 2, then his serve went to shit.)

And after failing to convert two break points in the opening game, Kei has just collapsed himself. More ill-advised drop shots, barely any first serves..

And of course, ends on a DF.

this game stan tryna close out rog is crazy

Crazy shot selection from STan, in a bad way. Stop S-V-ing!

yea it was sweet how rog hit a drop return to force stan in also

wtf that was in?

That was proper.

feel badly for stan but that s/v on every match pt was bzarre so

typical that i miss the only classic! tennis twitter was doing its nut, my bf was texting me point by point updates and i was stuck on a train that resembled a circle of hell. selfishly rooted for fed from afar for a better chance of a good final, which i'm looking fwd to a lot. what a choke by stan tho.

really with those serving stats i'll be surprised if this is closer than like 6-4 6-3.

First walkover in the history of the ATP YEC. Shame for Fed, appropriate end to the tournament.

damn was looking fwd to this

Radwanska's hired Navratilova as her new coach! And this after declaring she'd bulk up in the off-season. Props, she's had a couple of disappointing seasons where she looked like she was just coasting in the top 10 but getting further away from a Slam. Good to see she's serious about changing things up at least.

murray looked gooood in this abu dhabi match vs rafa

lol saw a murray trophy presentation vid scrolling twitter and was like o shit he beat djoko? ok obv withdrawal

- First tennis watched of the season: Wang Qiang vs Timea Babos. Of course. It was actually a really high quality first set
- Second tennis watched: Diyas vs Vekic. Well, Vekic hasn't improved a single thing in the off season, that was absolutely dire, and she completely quit at the end.

LOL @ Bouchard getting bagelled in her first match back, she made such a huge revamp to her game last off-season and this year players will start figuring her out if she hasn't improved it again.

Completely baffled as to why Russian junior Natalia Vikhlyantseva (who beat CiCi Bellis in the USO juniors after Bellis's big senior win) got a WC into Shenzhen but she made the most of it beating Friedsam, and she'll probably play Halep next.

this year's edition of the month-long tragicomedy known as Stosur In Australia kicks off with Sam blowing a 5-1 final set lead and a MP to lose to Lepchenko

Ah, tennis. I didn't have time to miss you.

At the start of this set I was like "man, Taylor Townsend has no discipline to her game at all" but she got better and better - from SP down some of her shotmaking was just breathtaking. Such a natural talent.

she's a genius

konjuh's serve is pretty amazing

Bepa still fighting.

Amazed that Bepa beat Peng given that she a) entered b) struggled in c) withdrew from a $10K last week.

Garcia/Kerber was really good until Garcia blew 0-40 on Kerber's serve at 3-2 in the second set, then she pretty much melted down. Five or six DFs in her last two service games including on MP. The usual. So talented, so mentally frail.

WTF happened in the Serena/Flavia match? 0-6 6-3 6-0 is a batty scoreline.

Siniakova reminds me so much of Radwanska in the way she hits the ball and "sees" the court to construct rallies. She has more power, less craftiness and definitely less emotional control though.

impressive composure from KlisPlis to serve it out against azarenka. some great passing shots as well

That was Karolina not Kristyna!

Azarenka is as we last saw her at the USO. Oscillating between solid and hideous seemingly at random. Strange to see Pliskova be the more consistent one. Her defence is a revelation now she actually tries to do it - she can't run but she's so tall that her reach alone allows her to get to tons of shots (not that Azarenka's exactly powering her strokes these days), and she has GREAT hands/timing, so anything Pliskova does get her racquet on she'll get back in court - some terrific passes and lobs. And obviously her serve and FH are as massive as ever.