ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

surprised that nishi changed his shoe deal from adidas to nike!

1st legit tragedy of 2017, my current cable provider is in a dispute and isn't carrying tennis channel!!

what a way to lose a davis cup tie!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38876048

Pretty much how Henman started his top-level career (ball girl on that occasion), so expect the kid to get over it and go top 5...

(So much worse if the match vs Edmund had actually been tight)

oh man the video of this

great win for qualifier pierre hughes hebert over thiem @ rotterdam

also good revenge for goffin to knock out dimitrov

basilashvili v ebden is an entertaining watch but im sure the memphis open would prefer some players anyones heard of lol

raonic could be v tough when he can bend his 2nd serve enough to charge the net behind it

damn i didnt realize ruud was still alive in rio

into the semis!

some great shots by delpo to break querrey & serve for the match

wow delpo breaks raonic @ 5-6 and a set down w some prayer backhands

raonic has played really well but i would win this tiebreak or momentum wld really swing

really impressed with Ruud's game, though the SF was rather sad - I tuned in as he was leading 6-2, 4-4, then he held after an absolutely epic (like, at least 10 deuces) service game that felt totally decisive - and it was, just the other way, because he didn't win another game in the match

elsewhere it was funny to see Wozniacki making Svitolina look like an all-out basher in Dubai

yep i saw that ruud hold, then ran out to the store and returned when he was down 0-5 3rd set o_o

sock wins delray w/ milos withdrawal

novak decides to play acapulco, will play delpo in 2nd rd if both make it

v impressive by donskoy
first loss by fed to a player outside of the top 100 on hardcourts since 2000

damn i didnt realize ruud was still alive in rio

relax, it's his son :-p

(more seriously: he is the first Norwegian ATP quarterfinalist since his dad reached the Acapulco qf 16 years ago)

five years in a row Federer has lost from MP up

Tiafoe looked like a future number 1 tbh

Fed probably didn't prepare properly for this tournament, seemed like he was still doing photo shoots with the trophy a week ago

Meanwhile, Murray escapes from 7 MPs vs Kohlschreiber after a 20-18 second set TB. Wins the third 6-1 naturally.

Feel bad for Kohly there...

I feel like as many as 6 people have a legitimate chance to win the French open, something which hasn't happened since maybe 1999?

whos your 6

querrey plays so well in mexico for some reason jeez

whos your 6

Rafa, Novak, Murray, Stan, Thiem, Dimitrov

I think delpo would be in the picture if he got his backhand back to how it was last year but it seems something is wrong there

if raonic is healthy he cld win imo; fed will also prob be better odds to win than everyone but rafa/novak/andy

Stan on clay is always in the mix post-2013 imo

Thiem will put it together someday and win a French and with how messy things are right now it wouldn't shock me

raonic isn't really a good bet on clay is he?

Yeah I don't think Raonic is a factor at RG yet. He's not uncomfortable on clay but he's not good enough to overcome the disadvantages there.

Dimitrov otoh is about as good on clay as he is on hardcourt and he's been maybe the best hardcourt player in 2017

i think milos got p far at the french last yr iirc

He had a pretty bad clay season. R16 at the French where Ramos-Vinolas handled him

kyrgios is playing like such a maniac

The Kyrgios talent, what can you say

16 aces in a set vs Novak Djokovic

That Murray/Kohlschreiber TB was ridiculous. About as good as I've seen Kohlschreiber play. He really only had one MP on his racquet.

Kyrgios has now beaten Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in his first meetings with all three. He's 3-1 against them combined...and 0-5 against Murray, lol.

I would probably go further than Matt A's six: if the current state of the tour persists we could be looking at a pretty random winner to back into a collapsed draw. Not as likely as in the pre-Nadal era but if for whatever reason the established winners flop, I don't think the anointed next-in-lines will take advantage. Thiem is running his career into the ground with his schedule and other than last week's weak Rio title has had mediocre results for half a year now. I don't think I'll ever be convinced of Dimitrov's mental strength in a Slam final unless it actually happens.

I would definitely add Tsonga to the list of serious contenders though, with the start of the year he's had and his historic peaking at home.

meanwhile very interesting to see the new head of the FFT come out with such a strongly worded statement against a potential Sharapova RG WC...

Thiem is still essentially a clay specialist and he's won his only clay event of the year so I think it's viable.

His scheduling is a curiosity and Bresnik said they're finally going to stop it.

A real wild, chaotic, 90s/early 2000s fluke slam winner pick would be Goffin

the more I think about it...I think RG might be the least likely to have a rando winner atm. Like, a LOT of established clay-proficient names have to flop for that to happen and if Nadal, Wawrinka and Djokovic are still around at the QF stage they're probably in good enough form not to lose to anyone.

But at Wimbledon you can definitely envisage carnage à la 2013 and someone like Delpo peaking. PLEASE GOD NOT RAONIC.

watched the re-air end of kyrgios lmao @ him firing tshirt cannons into the audience after the win

rafa looks good

wow @ rafa

cilic has actually come back and played better this set and pushed him, he looks kindof incred

nadal / fed / novak (plus delpo, kyrgios, sasha zverev) all in the bottom qtr of indian wells

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_BNP_Paribas_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles