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Summer Clay Season Thursday

1K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  LSD 
#1 ·
Paire @ 2.25
Hogenkamp @ 4.00
 
#3 ·
GOAT -6 games over Jan Swine Hajek
New racquet (Fed had the smallest racquet on tour BY FAR for 11 years where in 2002 ironically enough he went from an 85 to 90 here at Hamburg) which gives Fed a 98 square inch racquet instead of the 90 along with a 7 week dirt hiatus probabaly explains going the distance against Brands (the same guy who took a set off of Rafa at Roland Garros). After that first set where Federer literally went from being in control to facing down *5-3, the world #5 (lol) looked splendid. Dominated service games and hit the ball as sweetly as I've seen him the entire 2013 campaign (which isn't saying much but he did make the semis in Melbourne and the finals in Rome). I look for Fed to sweep through this entire week dominating this relatively respectable field en route to his 78th career title, although I am still baffled at his decision to commit to play 2 clay court tournaments just 3 weeks away from AMS Montreal and just 6 weeks away from the US Open. Why not play Bogata (I know he's had tons of success in Hamburg, I know they pay 3x what Bogata pays, I know they probably paid him a ton in appearance fees and I know that Hamburg is an ATP 500 whereas Bogota is an ATP 250)? The ONLY thing that should matter for Roger at this point is winning slams so I don't know how playing a clay court tournament on the heels of the final grand slam which is played on hard courts makes any sense. I understand he wants to bash a few skulls after losing to Sergey Stakhovsy of all people inside of his own living room but I seriously have no clue how playing Hamburg and Gstaad are going to boost his US Open chances in the least bit. You're not going to be facing Tommy Haas or Nic Almagro in the semis or the finals in Flushing Meadows so you may as well get the practice on a surface where it matters.

Play Bogota (I'm sure they'll give you an absolutely massive appearance fee), collect the essentially automatic 250 ATP points and some confidence on hard courts and then play Atlanta. Another small tournament that would break the bank in appearance fees and would give him some competition he might potentially see in the round of 16 or maybe even QF action in the likes of Fish, Hewitt, Isner, Querrey, Haas, Anderson, and Gulbis.

AMS1000 events are unforgiving and especially now that he's going to be entering Montreal as a 5 seed theres no guarantee that he's going to get ANY easy matches there to get acclimated to the surface. Just my 2 cents, seems like Roger is way, way past thinking about going to a tournament that's going to pay him more just to show up rather than going and playing at a tournament that will prepare him for the final slam of the year. Maybe I'm wrong. Actually I'm definitely wrong.

Lalo 2.37 over Flo Ma

Lalo had a forgettable clay court campaign (2-3) which we all thought was mercifully over after a 1,5,4 beat down by compatriot David Ferrer in Roland Garros. Lopez though came back strong and had an excellent grass court run going 11-2 losing only to top 12 playes Marin Cilic and Tommy Haas and adding his 1st title of the year and the 3rd of his career in Eastbourne.

Appearance fees though do a lot of talking especially for guys ranked in the 30's or worse (I remember in late 2011 Lalo was on fire making the semis of Shanghai and then not playing an ATP tournament but instead playing a challenger in Orleans because they paid him a SIX FIGURE appearance fee. He promptly bowed out in the first round at Orleans in the first round in straight sets to Arnaud Clement). I was very shocked to not see Lalo continue his white hot form on grass in Newport last week and then take a week off before playing Atlanta, DC and then Montreal but I guess Lalo set his eyes on a potentially bigger prize and decided to stay in Europe to play Hamburg and Gstaad.

Nando Verdasco 1.87 over the anorexic Ivan Drago

Nando is too hot atm to fade against this big goofball at the moment. Just like how he told Raonic 2 years ago on the heels of back to back hard court losses "We'll see when I play him later on the year on clay where real tennis is played", I'm sure he'll also teach the clumsy Pole a lesson on clay as well, where of course, "real tennis is played".

Haas 1.41 over Warlock

The former should be ashamed for losing in a final to Carlos Berlocq but unless Haas has two broken legs he's not losing to this South African bum especially at home. My site refunds retirements fyi.
 
#6 ·
Haas 1.41 over Warlock

The former should be ashamed for losing in a final to Carlos Berlocq but unless Haas has two broken legs he's not losing to this South African bum especially at home. My site refunds retirements fyi.
Haas is losing momentum since Halle, Berlocq could produce the upset if the German doesn't play his best. However, I'm not sure how tired the Argentine is, after his Bastad run.
 
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