Mens Tennis Forums banner

Who will win?

  • Radek Stepanek

    Votes: 14 53.8%
  • Fernando Gonzalez

    Votes: 12 46.2%

WWW Newhaven R2: stepanek v.s Gonzalez

1K views 24 replies 13 participants last post by  TommyCZE 
#1 ·
Radek stepanek's win today sets up a very interesting match in round 2 against fernando gonzalez

neither one is playing well and both have had patchy seasons because of injruy, illness or personal reasons

gonzalez is coming back from an injury and hasnt played in a while and while radek has been in action for a while he hasnt had alot of matches
 
#5 ·
Normally gonzo but maybe radek, tough to call
 
#9 ·
well he suffered from patellar tendonitis.....ugly knee injury...sholud have played both Toronto and Cinci but cancelled

Radek is still on his comeback yeah but at least hes getting better...Fog scholled him in Toronto...was competitive in first set against Troicki and winning matches now

if he wants to win here i think it will be a quickie sth like 6-3 6-2
 
#11 ·
As far as I know, his knees are healthy now, but he had/has a calf issue which prevented him from playing the masters events. Radek is obviously farther along in his comeback, he seems to be making a slight resurgence in form, especially from where he was in Toronto, however, this is the best player he has played since his comeback, and with Gonzalez coming back himself, a player that gives him a target like Stepanek does is a good way to come back and get sharp quickly.

By he, I'm guessing you meant Gonzo? I think if Gonzo wins it's going to be easy, and if Radek wins it will be comfortable but a closer scoreline (like 6-4 6-4 or 6-4 7-5). I don't think Radek can actually destroy Gonzo but if he plays well and is sharp this is definitely a winnable match.
 
#13 ·
He knows what he needs to do to win, he's going to have to keep that serve percentage up, and whether he's quick enough right now to get to the net and cover it effectively is in question to me. But, that serve to the backhand and wait for the chip to put away strategy works every time with Gonzo.
 
#14 ·
Well, guys like Roddick, Stepanek, Karlovic, Federer, they don't allow Gonzo to get away with that backhand return. Big serve to the backhand, take the slice out of the air or simply get an easy volley and end the point. Or S&V, and make Gonzo hit the pass with the backhand. Rafa is the same way in mentality with a different game style, serve out wide to the backhand, get an easy return, dominate the point with forehand. It's a simple and very easy and effective strategy with Gonzo because he slices the backhand return so much, and the slice floats weakly most of the time. You can dare him to hit over the backhand with the return because it's not consistent, and he also struggles to create with it when he doesn't have pace and he struggles at times with it being in the middle of the court, making it easily attackable. His backhand in general is nothing more than average, so guys who know how to exploit it, beat him.
 
#16 ·
That's true :) But he does have some S&V ability, he's not an awful S&V player, he's not an awful volleyer. The main reason is because his big ass moving forward and being at the net intimidates players. Also being so tall he can get floating balls easily. What he struggles with are guys like Rafa and Roger who have the spin to put balls down to his feet. Gonzo doesn't have that with his backhand so Ivo doesn't really have to worry about it. I remember at Queens how Ivo chipped the ball to Gonzo's backhand a lot and came to net, and Gonzo kept missing the backhand. You don't even need to be a great volleyer, quite frankly, you just have to make Gonzo hit tough backhands and put the pressure on by coming to net or taking his floaters and attacking. Hold him accountable for that backhand return and you got him.
 
#19 ·
He doesn't have a low slice, or at least I've yet to see him use it a lot or enough. That's actually his biggest issue against a guy like Karlovic, Nadal or Stepanek. He has a slow, floating slice, a less effective version of Roddick's (and they had the same coach so that isn't an accident). His topspin backhand generally is either moonball-ish, or it's really flat. He lacks variety and creativity with his backhand. He will be forced to hit more backhands with his age and reduced movement as you say, so he's gonna have to put in the work to improve that shot.
 
#20 ·
Very true. He gets frustrated too quickly, gets mad, gets mopey and as you say, loses focus. Also, he likes to end points with winners and many times will go for broke and try to hit return winners when that isn't necessarily effective or even possible with big servers.
 
#23 ·
Gonzo in 2

Radek is nowhere near the form he was in their last encounter

and he needs to be at 100% to win anyone on hard, except Cuevas and maybe Dabul
 
#25 ·
Go Radecek! Big surprise for me 2 breaks in the first. Gonzo not 100 % for sure, both players need match practice though. Keep it up, Radek!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top