What do these professional tennis players have in common? Vasek Pospisil Lorenzo Sonego Karen Khachanov Jack Sock Nikoloz Basilashvili Guido Pella Paolo Lorenzi You know the answer and if you don't know you better act like you do. Your sport is on life support. A study from 2011 surfaced that uncovered pretty corrupt U.S. Open …
Category: Draw Analsysis
Thoughts on the USO Draw
Start at the top. It's a bit fruitless to complain about certain players' draws, their luck or bad luck, and/or hint at some sort of suspicion or conspiracy. Two recent major draws that seem a bit soft are the 2018 Aussie Open for Federer and the 2017 U.S. Open for Nadal -- won by each …
Wrap D.C. and Preview Toronto
Washington, D.C. You know the big theme in D.C.: taken-over by a bunch of teenagers and Sascha, who's only twenty-one. Tsitsipas had a whiff of hope in that second set, but one can see the difference between these 19 year-olds and Sascha: inexperience and just a natural lack of professionalism. Sascha was de Minaur or …
2018 WB Quarter-finals Preview
We'll make this as quick as we can. Raonic v Isner. Raonic has been to this tournament's final, so clearly he has the experience (beating Federer in the SF that year -- 2016 -- doesn't hurt either even though the Swiss was ailing and about to forego the rest of the season). Isner is 3-1 …
Queen’s Club Draw
We touched briefly on the Halle draw this week, at least from Federer's perspective. His top half really gets interesting in the SF, although to overlook those first three opponents seems a bit rude, no? But you get the picture. Thiem, if he can sell his wares on grass, something he's been able to do …
French Open Draw 2018
Wawrinka I was literally preparing a few notes for a post on the Swiss second-string, in fact looking at his 2015 pre-Roland Garros results to see any kind of pattern that might lift our hopes for his 2018 French Open campaign. We have a pretty good indicator of Stan's chances against Rafa in Paris …
2018 Madrid Draw: A Few Thoughts
Stefanos v Sascha tomorrow could be quite an occasion, seemingly cousins though I am still a bit smitten with the 19 year-old's ability to come to net. That bottom bracket seems loaded (for tourney runners-up), but clay generally has that evened-playing-field feel. Fognini, Ramos-Vinolas and anyone else, practically, who gets the good wind (even Isner …
2018 AO Draw Analysis
First Quarter: We'll call this the Nadal/Cilic quarter. Nadal is set to see Estrella Burgos, then maybe Leo Mayer R2, perhaps Coric (who's beaten Nadal twice) or Dzhumer R3, and a fourth-rounder against the likes of Isner or Dogopolov. If the Spaniard can get through that bracket, he's into the QF. Granted, his knee is …
U.S. Open Early Observations
I didn't weigh-in on Federer getting put into that top half, but I suppose I did mention the draw was a joke. Murray's pull-out highlighted the stupidity of the draw; it was lopsided and a joke even before Murray's exit. I think we're all pretty skeptical of there being some kind of objective draw. I …
2017 U.S. Open Draw
There you have it. Top Half Nadal's route to the final: R1 with a Serb. . . who looked dangerous vs Federer in Wimbledon, as they went to a first set TB. Or so I heard. Or not really. Then my boy Tommy Paul (if he survives and arrives) R2 gets a shot at Rafa …
