Whether the quickness of the courts got to the big German, or his strong start to the summer hard courts is just on the wane, or his karma is catching-up with him, having made some ill-advised, snotty little comments about Tsitsipas after his loss to the Greek in Toronto. . . or Haase showed how he knows the game and can complicate matters on the court with just about anyone.
Haase returned well in this match, came to net on occasion which proved wise, showed some nice offense, especially in that third set, hitting a couple of inside-in FH winners, Tsitsipas-like 😀
In other words, there are a few reasons this result transpired. Zverev looks a little out of sorts out there. My esteemed Polish reader WJ mentioned a problematic attitude of the German a few weeks ago on this blog. He’s right. Zverev only has a giant Bo5 hard court date in a couple of weeks to prepare for. Work on your game, Sascha.
His coming-to-net numbers were pretty poor. He wasn’t able to convert one volley late, though Haase’s BH CC did dip nice and shallow, tough angle, etc. But Zverev, I will keep saying this about nearly every player, despite the fact that we’re in the heart of this BL power era: come to net or get out-classed. Haase out-classed Zverev.
In addition to his fantastic win, I watched the Tennis Channel interview after the match, in English of course; good words from the Dutch player, positive and noting his continued decent form (he beat Nishikori early in Toronto).
But the best part of this post-match interview session was how Haase dealt with the next reporter, who wanted to do the interview in Dutch. Haase asked who he worked for. “Fox.” Haase declined comment, mumbling a few words about his distaste for said company.
I am not sure if Haase might have had an issue in the past with the Fox syndicate, but you and I know how that brand, in various ways, has managed to violate itself over the years, has become, virtually, a brand for garbage. Well done, Robin!
In tennis and intelligence.
Scores:
Novak is down a set to Mannarino who is playing a very offensive brand of tennis. Novak started the second set with a break, but the Frenchman has broken back. Wow. Novak is indeed relapsing a bit — and these courts might not be exactly to his liking.
Cilic beat Copil.
Stay-tuned.
Mcshow Blog 
So many characters in this circus 🙂 Tennis is better than any other sport (maybe not, I don’t follow other sports) to show, who you are. I have invented (was it me?) some special classification – normal-performers, over-performers and under-performers.
Sascha belongs to over-performers. Meaning – he wins more than he deserves in terms of quality of his game. Grigor (in his good times) belongs there. To some extent and not on the same level – maybe Robin too. Thiem is a classic case of under-performer. With his skills he should principally win everything. But he has no upset in his (but he is being upset regularly). Every season closer to Roland Garros crown. Every season a bit better on surfaces other than clay. But still under the radar.
Tsitsipas – another rocket-starter after Kyrgios, Zverev. I’m curious, if the media hype about him of late will damage him like it damaged Kyrgios and is going to damage Zverev. Maybe not – Tsitsipas has something of ancient Greek – majestic and philosophic at the same time. He may survive the hype. Don’t see him smashing rackets or behaving like All-My-Gold wearing Sascha. I think, he understands, not yet time for him to reach back-to-back Masters finals. Maybe better for him to rest and prepare for USO (Mouratoglu and Baghdatis seem to be good helpers).
Where is Thiem in this constellation? I think, he is on the right place (for his character). Next year he maybe makes another RG final and wins 1 Masters on clay. And maybe some semi on hard. And he will be happy with this. And who is the real winner in every circus of life? Federer and Rafa and Djoker are made for tons of slams. Some are happy to win maiden 250 crown short before retirement. Who likes to write about tennis, will never miss a content 🙂
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I think you’re right about Zverev, but Dimitrov is more like Thiem — under performer. Dimitrov is just older than Thiem so has a longer history of under-performing. And you’re over-valuing Thiem a bit here: “With his skills he should principally win everything.” Remember, I am a big Thiem guy — love his style and character, but he has to develop his game — which he appears to be working-on.
I think Kyrgios is too unprofessional. Zverev has strong family/professional guidance. Kyrgios tells his box to F#ck Off! Kyrgios is the ultimate under performer.
By the way, Thiem injury or illness force the cancellation? I forget if you mentioned he was struggling with something physical.
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Thiem is in a deep low with health and not managing the issue very wise, so I’m not sure, he can be again on his top in NYC. With Thiem’s skills I meant his basics. Of course he need to develop his game. Not sure if it goes with Bresnik.
Kyrgios is intentionally unprofessional. He maybe likes tennis but not tennis circus. He needs money for his social projects, that’s maybe the main reason, he puts him together sometimes and delivers some good performance for more than 1-2 matches.
Kyrgios is never celebrating wins. Kyrgios – what a paradox – has a lot in common in Thiem (I mean their personalities).
Kyrgios is extremely injury vulnerable because of his extreme technique (forehand from the pocket and more). I read Ferrero saying, Zverev’s camp is exerting too much pressure on him. Media want to see him no.1 right now. This may contribute to his frustration. But – in any case I’m not a fan of his tennis and personality.
I’m Thiem’s fan for every reason – I would only like, he finds his own way himself or Bresnik develops with him. Thiem may be happy with less than others but what’s wrong in winning some slams and Masters over the career?Right – Dimitrov and Thiem are two of biggest under-performers, but for different reasons. Dimitrov is lazy and does not work enough. Thiem is training too hard and while developing skills, is then not fresh enough to bring it into matches. We must wait maybe some years for Thiem to get really adult and start to coach himself.
IMO Thiem has now superinfection (maybe bronchitis or something) after not healed out the virus infection. Time for his recovery is going short. Bresnik’s comment: “It’s a pity, Thiem is not fit. He must decide until Friday, if he wants toplay USO.” Period.
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Thiem is a special talent, for sure. Not being healthy is a big problem. He’s had time I would think to get healthy. Like you say, I hope he can find his way maybe without Bresnik.
But he has time. He might lose some valuable points at the USO, but he can still make London. I am pulling for him. Just want to seem him in the draw wreaking havoc.
Kyrgios is a disaster. I watched a bit of the Kyrgios v Coric. He can toy with a talent like Coric (which isn’t easy). But he takes games/sets/matches off. I wish the tour had a way to say to players like him — you’re not playing this tournament. Your antics are garbage. Get your shit together and then you can play.
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Well, he does not fit well into the professional circus, for sure.
Agree, USO is not the final goal for him. He may need medical support, he can only get in Austria (where he was healed from Campylobacter after 3 years).
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And I’m worried about Thiem, because of 3 years of similar health problems being teenager. In fact he lost 3 years of development and it was only an incident, the Campylobacter infection from Ecuador Challenger was even found and then healed quickly and with simple media. Maybe every time he cannot deliver what he should be able to, is just a case of a hidden infection. But he does not like to visit doctors, when it not seems to him a must-be. He often says then – “my performance today was poor” and seems not to know, why. This year the clay effort including Paris final was maybe everything he could give. 2017 he was showing some good development in hard court game, but was still losing early in every tournament, only to show good performance in NYC (with dramatic and stupid loss to Delpo), in Laver Cup and somehow in London.
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He can play HC and grass as we know. So you may be right about the health issue. I don’t see how he plays well in NYC. Take some time off, get healthy and then play well the rest of the year. There’s a lot of meaningful tennis still to play — post- US Open.
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If you never heard about Campylobacter story, search for this word on my blog.
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Fox or not. Why not in Dutch with a Dutchman? Why not in Spanish with Rafa? Swiss-German with Fed?
Well, for a good reason I’m writing my blog in English. The reason is, I want to present Thiem to people not knowing German. But short interviews is a different thing. I can recall times, when on-court interviews or ceremony speeches were held by everyone in mother-tongue and a professional live translator was at work. Not nice to hear Rafa speaking beautiful Spanish (everyone knows, how good can Rafa speak English, no?)? and then get a professional translation in … well, why everywhere English? Why not Chinese in Beijing? Most spectators are Chines and don’t speak or understand fluent English. Then maybe live transcript in English on the telebim and in TV+streams?
I’m sure, even very fluent English speakers like Federer could tell us more in their mother-tongue. No?
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