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Post by Brinyi on Jan 13, 2005 9:47:32 GMT -5
CCCC, Your impressions of Seppi and Prpic would be appreciated. Many thanks in advance.
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 13, 2005 17:34:58 GMT -5
you's a busy guy, GW...but no report on the short Andy vs Andre? I'm greedy, want to picture everything Have another great day!!! Why I don't exactly have that much time for either player and I was doing some other things, take what you get and don't complain. ;D
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 13, 2005 17:57:54 GMT -5
Why I don't exactly have that much time for either player and I was doing some other things, take what you get and don't complain. ;D ;D LOL!! I can't wait to hear reports from the AO qualifying!
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 13, 2005 18:25:25 GMT -5
There was plenty of activity going on with matches and I only saw a few matches in full and parts of others, due to them clashing and other annoying factors.
I saw a bit of the De Chaunac vs Minar match it wasn't that good and De Chaunac for some reason I keep calling him "Cyrano" should have won it a lot earlier than he managed to and after the match he smashed his racquet and that was after he won.
These ones are not in order and sadly I missed the 'psychotic clown' Daniel Koellerer but fortunately for me he won and I can see him today. This guy is an absolute jerk and got suspended from the tour for a few months at the end of the season because of his arsehole behaviour and the argument he had with Luzzi at a challenger. The best bit was Koellerer's mother told these two German guys he had a back problem, but when I told them the truth, they found it very funny.
I saw the last set of the Rydsterdt vs Sabau match and that was the set to watch. Mikael was hitting the ball well and I think he will qualify and could do quite well in the future.
Christophe Rochus has a beard and what an interesting growth it has and it helped him maybe not get burnt and there is photographic evidence of this beard.
I saw the last bit of the Seppi/Robert match once he had won the 1st set, he wasn't in much trouble. I don't mind Seppi's game and he seems to have a good attitude and I would like him to qualify for the main draw and haven't seen his section yet.
I saw the Di Pasquale match and it wasn't pretty. He really should have won this match in two as he was better than Schukin who wasn't too impressed with. He called for the trainer again and he seemed to be cramping again as he seems to do a lot sadly. I am disappointed that injuries have wrecked his career and I find it hard to see that he can make it back, but I hope to be proven wrong.
I wanted to see Sa vs Wawrinka, but I didn't get around to it, but Stani won and that is cool as I don't mind him off the court, though on it he can be a bit of a pain, but I will watch him today.
Prpic vs Bourgeois well Filip had this match in control the whole way through, he was moving quite well and I would like to see him go up the ranking, he has a good demeanour on court and off the court as well. It's hard to say how he played as he never seemed to be in trouble at all and it will interesting to see his match today.
Two more matches I saw were Marc Lopez vs Golmard. This was quite close initially and Lopez had to call the trainer for a stomach problem which restricted his serves to slice serves and ones at the body and Golmard made a lot of errors. Lopez was very consistent and hit some very good length on his hots and kept his errors down and that is what got him home. I hope he can get some treatment as the serves weren't very fast and Golmard was absolutely cut at losing this match. Mantilla was there as well for a while, so I was happy with that and the result of this match.
The last match was the Baghdatis vs Gabashvili. I thought this would be straight forward for Marcos and it was, but there were some problems as he has difficulties with this player. Gabash is an all-forehand player with a big serve and plenty of acne and likes the ball to be hit hit hard.
Here is the thing that Marcos has tennis elbow and had to get treatment before the match as he wasn't able to be as aggressive as usual and was more reactive as he had some problems swinging through his shots, so he had to place them more effectively. It's a good sign that he was able to win while not playing well, he plays Sarstrand today.
Well this one was a long one and I think it will stay here as there aren't many stars around on this day.
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 13, 2005 18:39:37 GMT -5
Woohoo, you didn't keep me waiting for long These ones are not in order and sadly I missed the 'psychotic clown' Daniel Koellerer but fortunately for me he won and I can see him today. This guy is an absolute jerk and got suspended from the tour for a few months at the end of the season because of his arsehole behaviour and the argument he had with Luzzi at a challenger. LOL, I was wondering if you had run into him or not. Hopefully your paths will cross, I sense a funny story in the works if that happens ;D That's good to know! How does he stack up vs Johansson the Younger and Soderling? Poor DiP After he made the QF at New Caledonia I thought he was off to a good start to the year. Perhaps his luck will continue on the Challenger circuit. Meanwhile, that is a bit of reassuring news about Schukin. Wesley Moodie faces him next and I wasn't terribly confident in his chances. If Schukin isn't playing very well Wes has a slightly better chance to qualify. Rebound Ace is a bad surface for him so every little bit helps. Hmm, that's not good news. I'll have to dig out his match vs Federer at the USO and watch it tonight. He is definitely one of the most promising names in the qualy draw. Thanks for the report!! Hope its not too unbearable today.
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 13, 2005 19:39:57 GMT -5
Woohoo, you didn't keep me waiting for long It just happened that I had about 3hrs of credit of internet time from this place, so I used some of it and now it's up to date. I am glad that the people like these reports, hence that's why I put the disclaimer there initially. He is playing Arvind Parmar you know the fool who had 10mps against that great star Kevin Kim and managed to lose the match. It will be interesting and I might see "psychotic clown" just for a laugh. You mean the Swedish Roddick and the Toad? He doesn't have as much power as those guys and the Toad was there at the Prpic match yesterday for a while. I was very disappointed in his performance and he did have some serving problems, but at least he didn't hit a 1st serve 7m out. Maybe the weather had an effect and that could help Moodie, but I will check the result, though I don't think I will be watching any of that match. He said he has to great treatment as if he had an injection he would be out for 3 days before it was gone. He likes Rebound Ace as well and if he makes the main draw, he should get some very good support from the local Greek and Greek Cypriot communities.
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Post by freudo on Jan 13, 2005 20:35:17 GMT -5
thanks chinese shmorgasbord, (could use a spell checker here really enjoyed the ribs and foo yong..if I stop complaining you'll know I'm dead ;D...wonder if you will watch Federer vs Henman tonight?
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 13, 2005 21:15:36 GMT -5
He is playing Arvind Parmar you know the fool who had 10mps against that great star Kevin Kim and managed to lose the match. It will be interesting and I might see "psychotic clown" just for a laugh. Oh yes, the great British choker. That match will be a cracker, no doubt, considering both seem to like a good rage every now and again. Er, yeah. I was impressed to see Ryderstadt make the SFs in Stockholm last year but know nothing about him beyond that. So what's his game like? You don't have to watch that match, its likely to get very ugly if Wes's match vs David Sanchez last year is any indication. The quickness of the courts will be his biggest help. He has some confidence this year as well, winning the doubles title in New Caledonia, whereas last year he lost qualifying in Adelaide and Auckland before falling in five in the first round here. I'll keep my fingers crossed for him. His draw didn't look too bad but of course injury always changes things.
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 13, 2005 21:30:37 GMT -5
Poor Arvind.
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 13, 2005 21:32:38 GMT -5
CCCC, thanks for the comments about Seppi and Prpic. A tennis specialist I respect greatly thinks a great deal of Seppi. Jobba jobba Prpic!
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Post by Partridge In A Pear Tree on Jan 14, 2005 5:39:01 GMT -5
Thanks, Georgio, mate! nice new nick, btw. so, are you gonna watch Roger play Rodduck?
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Post by Choupi on Jan 14, 2005 5:50:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the good report, as always...and I like the new nickname! ;D
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 14, 2005 6:00:44 GMT -5
Interesting results today and it only looks like that Baghdatis is the guy that I want to watch, but there will be some more guys training which will be good. There was this Italian guy Lorenzi who is baby Massu. He has the same hairstyle, the same kind of game, but not as much grunt as Nico and doesn't have the strength of Massu and he lost to this joker Bobby Reynolds, he could only be American with that name. Nettle/Mazrakis match was very close and Nettle got some hometown calls in the 3rd set which helped him for sure and some of the local Greek community weren't very happy about that. Garcia-Lopez won again and made it tough for himself, he might lift his game and win easily in the last match and I would like to see him in the main draw. Ryderstedt forgot about his form in the 2nd set of yesterday, but the conditons changed rapidly as it was very windy and overcast, a total contrast to yesterday and he couldn't handle it. Bracciali was good, but Ryderstedt definitely helped him along the way. Prpic I was disappointed with him in this match, he was a bit too passive, he had a good start then and Van Gemerden lifted his game and was hitting with good length and Prpic was hitting too many short balls and got punished for it. Marach and Seppi well Seppi was somewhere else today in the mind, except from where he needed to be. Marach was solid, but nothing special and he did well to beat Mackin the ghost who is the whitest guy I have seen in ages. Seppi is definitely better on the clay, but he was a fool and not good enough and Marach took advantage. Koellerer and Parmar well that was an interesting math for the time that I saw it. After the 3rd game "Dani" was up to his tricks whining about the calls, screaming at the ballboys and after losing a break at 2-1 in the 1st set, he threw his racquet down. Parmar again showed his choking capabilities and was serving for the match at 5-4 in the 2nd, but as usual didn't have the bottle and "psychotic clown" fought hard and won the 2nd and I had no doubt he would win the 3rd. Tomorrow he is making my list if you know what I mean. Baghdatis was a lot better than yesterday, he was able to be consistent and to swing through his shots more than yesterday and Sarstrand had his forehand broken down, as his backhand is a very good shot. He was clearly the better player and had plenty in reserve and hopefully he gets through to the main draw. Lopez/Suzuki match was frustrating for sure. Lopez should have won this in straight sets he was up 4-2 and 15-40 on Suzuki's serve, but he played a silly shot and lost that opportunity. He had problems with his stomach again and it's a chronic problem as he couldn't hit kick serves at all. When he could get rallies Lopez had him on a string, but the game he lost in the 1st set to lose his advantage, he didn't get a first serve in at all. His serve isn't fast enough for that to happen. Marc fought hard and won the 2nd, but Suzuki remained calm, chipped and charged and moved forward a lot. Lopez is quite good at the net, but he let nerves get the better of him and wouldn't move forward and when the chance to run around the backhand to use his stronger forehand he wouldn't do it. There were a few more training today. I saw Monfils today and he was training with Sargsian and I realised that Gael is playing Ginepri, so allez Gael. He isn't arrogant at all and seemed fine after practice and I don't get negative vibes from him. Zabaleta was there training with Acasuso. It was plenty of fun as always and there is a surprise involved here, but I am not saying what it is They weren't really trying hard and Zaba was having his groin stretched and some of the ladies would have loved that for sure. Mantilla was training as well and he wasn't hitting them that well, but if he is prepared to run and run he could win a few matches, I hope he can do this for sure, as I don't see him playing for much longer at all. Massu was there watching Garcia and then he trained, so his injury wasn't too serious and when I left Schalke was working on his serve. Not a bad day tomorrow should be better.
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 14, 2005 6:06:51 GMT -5
Thanks, Georgio, mate! nice new nick, btw. so, are you gonna watch Roger play Rodduck? No need to watch it. I just enjoy the 8-1, but what those Rodduck clowns think if he wins he has turned it around and claim he has solved the problem and the like.
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 14, 2005 6:51:50 GMT -5
The closest to a Schuettler sighting was seeing his coach Dirk Hordoff having a smoke and joking around at the venue, but I think Chela and Cañas should be around tomorrow.
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 14, 2005 8:35:16 GMT -5
Awesome stuff, CKTGCS!
Too bad about Prpic and Seppi. Seems like Crazi-Dani is living up to his rep. And Ears Suzuki is too cool. ;D
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Post by freudo on Jan 14, 2005 9:07:01 GMT -5
thanks Clayetc, nice new nick, are you at AO just for the quallies, or next week, too
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 14, 2005 13:06:00 GMT -5
Love the new name, GWH!! There was this Italian guy Lorenzi who is baby Massu. He has the same hairstyle, the same kind of game, but not as much grunt as Nico and doesn't have the strength of Massu and he lost to this joker Bobby Reynolds, he could only be American with that name. Indeed he is. I don't know much about him, I think he's straight out of the junior leagues and the fast courts are probably being a big help to his cause. Parmar had chances to take the match in the third and I thought he was going to do it, but he pulled off another gigantic choke Tim Henman shouldn't feel so bad now, nor should the young ones coming up. It appears Parmar's choking talents are unmatched ;D I'm watching the Federer match now and he has certainly charmed our commentators, including JohnnyMac It's interesting to watch him here, considering he played til he couldn't play juniors anymore. He and Monfils might just redefine the chances of "old" juniors. I can see why he likes Rebound Ace. Hopefully he'll draw someone worthy of a TV match. It would be interesting to see him on clay. Today will be interesting for sure! Thanks for the reports.
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 14, 2005 14:08:00 GMT -5
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 14, 2005 18:27:48 GMT -5
thanks Clayetc, nice new nick, are you at AO just for the quallies, or next week, too I will be there until the 4th round, so these are only the warm up reports. At least there aren't too many 1st rounders that will piss me off too much with favourites playing each other, so there will be more comprehensive reports later.
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 14, 2005 18:32:18 GMT -5
Parmar had chances to take the match in the third and I thought he was going to do it, but he pulled off another gigantic choke Tim Henman shouldn't feel so bad now, nor should the young ones coming up. It appears Parmar's choking talents are unmatched ;D Well there is a guy called Gaudio how has a great skill in this field, but Parmar is good in his own way. They both have good people around them and don't forget that Baghdatis had virtually 6 months off with various injury problems and I would like to see him go through a year without them and as long as he avoids one of the guys I like then it will be cool. He doesn't like the clay too much actually.
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 14, 2005 18:39:14 GMT -5
Well there is a guy called Gaudio how has a great skill in this field, but Parmar is good in his own way. Gaudio got himself off the challengers circuit, didn't he? Parmar is one of the worst chokers, and definitely the worst among the Brits.
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 14, 2005 18:42:37 GMT -5
Gaudio got himself off the challengers circuit, didn't he? Parmar is one of the worst chokers, and definitely the worst among the Brits. Futures and challengers and the fact that he is very talented actually helps as well. Parmar is bad though. If you want I will try and direct quote from the man himself. Hewitt can move very well, but doesn't like clay either.
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 14, 2005 18:47:00 GMT -5
If you want I will try and direct quote from the man himself. Hewitt can move very well, but doesn't like clay either. True enough, but Hewitt has had some success on the clay. Baghdatis can probably have some success as well if he's patient enough.
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 14, 2005 18:55:05 GMT -5
I am off to the events to watch dickhead Dani.
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Post by TennisHack on Jan 14, 2005 19:04:17 GMT -5
Have fun!
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 14, 2005 19:44:51 GMT -5
Futures and challengers and the fact that he is very talented actually helps as well. Well said.
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 14, 2005 19:45:46 GMT -5
Lose Dani lose !!!!!!!!!!!! If Arvind tired him out, he will have served a purpose in the grand scheme of things.
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Post by tennis32378 on Jan 15, 2005 4:43:03 GMT -5
This is where I was told to go to read GWH's (sorry, haven't memorized your name here yet ) reports. I'm not new here just had to make a new name because I forgot my password from ages ago and it was going to be sent to AOL. Anyway, yes it's Tennis724...lol. i was tempted to make it "bogie fan" but that's too cheesy ;D. I loved reading your reports. I was hoping for the slim chance that you saw any of Alex Bogomolov's first round on Thursday. Seems like no one I know saw that match . I'll have to forever re-live that match in my mind through a SB. 3 hours and 7-9 in the 3rd. Still can't get over it. I look forward to reading more of your reports. Marcos & Janko Qualifying were definitely a highlight for me. Although Marcos's is a bit bittersweet.
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jan 15, 2005 7:12:16 GMT -5
Well this report I am not quite sure how it will read, but here goes anyway. I saw a lot more players training on site and that was good as there were only a few qualy matches today, but these had good results.
Garcia-Lopez got through and it was easy for once as he made heavy weather of the other 2 matches. Ferrero was there supporting his friend and my impression of him hasn't changed, he is alright and I don't dislike him, but there are other players that I want to beat him.
Marach vs Christophe "the Beard" Rochus wasn't a bad match. Marach is a very good fighter who makes the most of what he has and I was surprised he won, but happy for him. Melzer was there with his beautiful hair, though he is almost macho compared to Feli Lopez.
Baghdatis played well today and it was funny his cousin was so nervous when Marcos was leading with an early break in the 2nd he went for a walk, then one of the Greek guys texted him and then he came back and was very happy. He got in a good section of the draw and can do quite well as his elbow seems to be a lot better and he was moving very well against a guy who has been better than the last opponents.
Dickhead Dani got beaten 6-4 6-0 and he was around and his mother was there giving him a hug, it was almost a tender moment, but since it was Koellerer I could only laugh. I didn't see much or hear much whining from him. The best bit is Luzzi the guy who punched him qualified and he didn't.
This is in no order of who I saw play and the like, but these are among the illuminaries. Gambill was playing with the Aussie Healey and JMG no matter what I think of him as a player, or whether he is gay. I can't fault with him with the fans and the flies were getting to him as they do and it seems to be worse than usual.
Nieminen was training with the Toad and was striking them fairly well and Söderling has decided to get a haircut and Peta from MTF was happy that she got a photo the day before he cut his hair.
Mariano was training with Lobo at the same time, though he might have trained again later, though I am not sure about it. He was in jovial mood as always and I have the Swedish speech ready for him when he goes back to Båstad. He will need our support since he is playing an Aussie.
Robredo was training with Hrbaty and the irony is I am taking a photo for two of my friends Ariel the Argentine and Peter the Chilean and I was almost tempted to cramp up but that would have been over the top. Hrbaty when they finished ran off and trained on another court with Sluiter.
A Schuettler sighting he was training with Ljubicic and Dirk was there smirking as usual, the guy doesn't have to say anything and he is still funny. He seemed to be in a fairly good mood and no Alfie warning as of yet.
Kiefer was there with Kohlschreiber who was hitting the ball very well and giving Kiefer a workout. Hogstedt Kiefer's coach is a funny guy, he definitely had a big night out last night and Kiefer says " what do you expect, all he eats is Chinese food".
I did hear the circumstances of the gunman incident and what exactly happened to Kiefer, the basic simple truth is this guy was getting chased through Melbourne and stole a cab, as the car was crashed on the footpath and Kiefer was getting his bags out of the car, then the gunman was doing the pose of pointing the shooter everywhere and Kiefer ducked behind the car, the instant reaction.
I saw Spadea twice and Vinny Ice was at his best and I was surprised a woman asked for his autograph, and even more so he gave it. I thought Vinny Ice would have come up with a wrap and I think it would be close to see who is more unpopular among their peers Spadea, Roddick or Coria.
T.Johansson was with Pavel and Pavel is a funny guy and the Peta incident. When she went up to him and asked him for a photo and in a deadpan manner said " No" Then he was waiting and said do you want the photo with a smile on his face. He was hitting the backhands very well and that is good to see and I'll be watching his matches as usual.
Calleri and Nadal were hitting together as well. Calleri is a great guy he was there joking afterwards and Ariel was very happy to talk to him and El Gordo is one of my favourites and he is nothing off court, like he is when he is on court and that is very scary as there is an intense rage that grips him. He has a tough match against Max, maybe Max hasn't been able to sleep well with the new baby.
Chela and Acasuso were around as well, then there was Saulnier who was hitting with Spadea. There was Stepanek and Davydenko on the outer courts as well. Volandri was there as well.
Blake was there, but Costa was killing him in practice and Blake's racquet was snapped and only the head was there and the handle was in his hand when he left the court.
Massu and Mantilla were there together and Lurker would have loved that. Felix wasn't too bad and Massu as always was intense and Peter isn't a fan of Massu at all, he is happy he won the Gold medal, but doesn't care for him either way. It was fun anyway, but more crazy shit was about to happen.
In the evening Monaco and Andreev were hitting and Monaco was getting the better of it and we were joking, then this 200kg security guard with no sense of humour was trying to kick us out, but we argued then hid and came back around and decided to watch the rest of the practice. He wasn't there to be seen, maybe he needed his burger fix.
There were these Germans around, and because nobody was around, these guys had their racquets and decided to hit on the court. It was quite funny and you can see they weren't of tournament standard, then I went on there and proceded to hit from 5 metres behind the baseline with a Wilson and now I know why I don't use this one, it was crap, but fun to hit on the court anyway.
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