[Kezzi]

Arnaud plays the sixth seed Albert Montanes in first round of Montpellier. Doubles draw isn't out yet.

[soulage]

They'll play Ouanna/Monfils. We can't say that Montanes is an indoor player but he had a good season and is seeded here.

[soulage]

lost his 90 points from last year losing 46/46 vs Montanes. It has been fast I didn't follow as there were no streaming but puting one eye on the scores sometimes he has been broken early in first set and I think he missed a 00-40 lead on Montanes's serve in second set I just look again and that was finished . As Nico is tired the doubles could also be short. A monday at this time he must have play in front of a small crowd

The season is long I counted that it's his 33th tournaments of year of course many first round exit but 33 that huge. Even a french tournament can't change the things for him. When you see that after all that business he'll play french tournament like Caen and the interclub If it works he could play 2 others as for Valence he's now 2nd in the alternates and still the fourth in Basel and for Bercy the Qlist is amazing with a cut around 65#. Last year he was more fresh at this time of the season. To catch some wins before the end he will need some luck imo.

[Marine]

We just have to wait for a new "declic". His career always have been made with up and downs... sometimes, we don't know why, himself neither, but he has a good serie of wins, or a good tounrament. It will be like that until the end. Many downs and suddenly, a good tournament.

[soulage]

For 2010 i think he's too tired 33th tournament I don't think a declic will happen in Valence or Bercy.
In a way he can be proud to finish again in top 100# while he's one of the oldest player on the tour I mean playing singles the doubles player are all old . For Bercy he can't play the doubles with Nico without a WC but Mika could used him as an alternate solution but for this they would need also a WC. He's forced to wait

Avec qui allez-vous disputer le double sur cette fin de saison ?
Bennet (Julien Benneteau) ne peut pas jouer avec moi la semaine prochaine parce qu'il ne reprend qu'aujourd'hui. J'attends toujours pour Bercy. Je joue normalement avec Bennet à Paris. S'il ne peut pas, je jouerai avec la Clé (Arnaud Clément).

[Lesliem]

He lost his serve 2 times on a double fault He had difficulties with his serve today and missed some opportunies

33 tournaments he said himself in the Miami chat that more than 32 was a lot !

I hope he could do some upsets for these last tournaments but he looks tired, the body is not so young

He is sure to finish the year in the top 100, even 90 it's a good thing : almost 10 years in a row in the top 100... not bad for the old Arno

[soulage]

Originally Posted by Lesliem

He lost his serve 2 times on a double fault He had difficulties with his serve today and missed some opportunies

33 tournaments he said himself in the Miami chat that more than 32 was a lot !

I hope he could do some upsets for these last tournaments but he looks tired, the body is not so young

He is sure to finish the year in the top 100, even 90 it's a good thing : almost 10 years in a row in the top 100... not bad for the old Arno

I think he served DF on BP because his stats on second serve are not good 41% of point won so he takes some risk. And yes he said that more that 30 was big but maybe he puts away all the first round exit so it's less

There is a little article on the official site and they write that Arno missed on the conclusion of the points http://www.opensuddefrance.com/ He looks lost on the pic and he didn't shave his beard while he did it normally before playing his first match in a tournament.

[soulage]

He has some regret on second set as he says he had 00-30 and 00-40 and two consecutives games and that in indoor you have to take the opportunities and apparently at those moments he played badly.He's sad because he was feeling good and though that it was an opponent he could beat in indoor. And he denies to have a pain on shoulder while he had a ice pack on . http://www.lequipe.fr/Tennis/breves2...t-elimine.html

Au premier tour, Arnaud Clément s'incline (6-4, 6-4) face à Albert Montanes, solide dans tous les compartiments du jeu.
Connaissez-vous la valeur-étalon d'un joueur ? Comme le mètre ou l'or, il matérialise une unité de mesure. Sur le circuit, Albert Montanes symbolise bien cette référence. Il n'a pas de gros points forts, mais il n'a pas de vraies faiblesses. « Il a un bon coup droit, il se déplace vraiment bien, il a beaucoup progressé en revers, résume Arnaud Clément, battu (6-4, 6-4 en 1h20') au premier tour par l'Espagnol. Un mec qui est 23e mondial, ce n'est pas un peintre. Je suis déçu, mais sa victoire n'est pas illogique. »

Et le premier set démontre la valeur de l'Espagnol qui pourrait retrouver Michaël Llodra, opposé mardi à Olivier Rochus, au deuxième tour. Pendant une demi-heure, il prend de vitesse Arnaud Clément qui se bat pour ne pas encaisser un double break. « Il a extrêmement bien joué au premier set, constate l'Aixois qui arrive avec une poche de glace sur l'épaule tout en niant une quelconque douleur. J'essayais de sauver le double break plus qu'autre chose. Il a très peu raté et très bien joué. » Puis le match s'équilibre et les regrets arrivent. «C'était plus accessible. J'avais davantage les cartes en main, déplore le Français. J'ai des occasions avant lui, mais je ne les gère pas bien. Je ne finis pas bien. C'est un peu dommage. »

Et il compte encore ses occasions manquées. En salle sur surface rapide, cela ne pardonne pas. Une double faute « de merde » selon ses termes vient clouer les débats à 6-4, 4-4 (30-40). « Je suis vraiment déçu car je me sentais bien et je pensais que c'était un adversaire à ma portée. On est en indoor, il faut saisir les occasions, explique Arnaud Clément qui doit maintenant disputer le double avec Nicolas Mahut. Quand je mène 0-30 ou 0-40 sur deux jeux d'affilée, c'est à moi de faire le petit truc en plus pour forcer la décision.» C'est aussi ça un joueur-étalon. Cela ne pardonne pas la moindre imprécision. - S. D., à Montpellier

[Marine]

Originally Posted by soulage

For 2010 i think he's too tired 33th tournament I don't think a declic will happen in Valence or Bercy.
In a way he can be proud to finish again in top 100# while he's one of the oldest player on the tour I mean playing singles the doubles player are all old . For Bercy he can't play the doubles with Nico without a WC but Mika could used him as an alternate solution but for this they would need also a WC. He's forced to wait

Arnaud le bouche-trou !

[soulage]

yes and how do you say this in english, stop-gap Anyway I think Bennet will be enough ready for playing doubles in Bercy and to prepare DC Bennet will play it that's quite sure. Arno play today his doubles with Nico.

[Marine]

ahh it makes me angry, their association (arnaud/ nico) is so bad, they're not able to win together. Ok they're quite friends but it's not enough.
I keep on thinking bennet shoud play again with mahut and mika with arnaud.

(I know it's also a strategic team for DC, but I don't care )

[soulage]

you'll see that next year Mika will play with Zimonjic and Bennet we don't don't know I found strange that Mika split with Bennet while they had a good year together. He loves split For Arno/Nico true that they're not great but they have struggle with the injury and the tiredness of Nico most of the time or with bad draw it make me think that the double ranking of Arno will soon be too bad for 250 tournament

[Marine]

In my opinion, bennet is jealous, he didn't like mika cheated on him with arnaud in the 1/2 in Lyon
(arnaud n'a fait que récupérer son bien LOL)

[Kezzi]

I can't imagine Nenad and Daniel will split. But I guess it will be fun to watch Nenad and Mika together, though it must mean Mika needs to focus on doubles more. He can't leave Nenad hanging when he wants to focus on singles.
And I do hope Arnaud & Mika will play together in DC. My theory is that it depends on the second players in both teams, cause Nenad can lead the Serbian team on his own, so Mika needs his best partner. Which is Arnaud imo.

[soulage]

Their new first round loss 26/67(5) won't change your appreciation Marine I follow first games on scoreboard and Arno hits 3 DF in his first service game . It was not looking good so no surprised by the score . Maybe he has this pain on his shoulder anyway he didn't win a double except DC since LA. For doubles it doesn't work anymore since the spring He won't have stayed longtime in Montpellier with all his french pals . If the shoulder let him quite free he should try Valence Qualies unless he's fed up

Originally Posted by Kezzi

And I do hope Arnaud & Mika will play together in DC. My theory is that it depends on the second players in both teams, cause Nenad can lead the Serbian team on his own, so Mika needs his best partner. Which is Arnaud imo.

Nenad is not great lately but Djokovic, Tipsy and Troicki worked the doubles since one month playing in each tournament i don't know who will be his partner. For Arno his stats on doubles are awful since Miami He's tired a bit injured and feels like the weak link The only thing I hope is that Forget won't pick him as a sparring partner because 3 time in a career that's tough.