[DBR]

The Doha draw is just starting!!! Allez Richard!!!!

Web source: http://www.atpworldtour.com/Media/Photo-Landing.aspx?q=Doha Photo: © QTF/Paul Zimmer via ATP website

 

[DBR]

Richard plays Andujar R1... he's in Nadal's half of the draw, and Berdych's quarter.

Web source: https://twitter.com/ReemAbulleil/status/551392807353466880/photo/1 (Twitter: @ReemAbulleil)

ATP Draw PDF - http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2015/451/mds.pdf

(Richard is not playing doubles.)

 

[T.C]

Good draw! Being in Berdych's quarter is good and Rafa is always vulnerable early in the comeback off clay. (I just hope Richard hasn't renewed his mental block after practicing with Rafa).

 

[DBR]

I'm taking the Nadal approach - that everyone is really dangerous until they are beaten. Andujar only beat 3 top 30 players last year - Benneteau, Granollers and Robredo (Bennet on hard, the other 2 on clay), but still. He and Richard have never played before so I'm not taking anything for granted. I just hope Richard is fit and healthy right now.

I saw Nadal play Murray yesterday and the scoreline was very flattering. It was much tougher than it looked and he improved a lot in his match against Stan today. Playing more matches at Doha, I don't think he will be that rusty by the time he reaches the SF. (assuming he does) I didn't see Berdych in Thailand. He won the exho, but I don't know what his play was like.

:topic: Nice moment from Mubadala...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pfGwCkKb8o4

 

[ImmzB]

Tricky R1 match against Andujar!!

ALLEZ REESHARD!!

 

[DBR]

Richard will play R1 v Andujar on Monday, 2nd match on centre court, not before 17.30pm local Doha time. Allez Richard!!!!

There are no streams showing yet, but it seems that both Eurosport and BeinSports1 will be showing Doha tomorrow, so I'm hopeful there will be some streams for this match. I will post any links when I find them.

EDIT:

EurosportTennis ‏@TennisEurosport
Live #Eurosport2 #ATPDoha Day1: Bolelli vs BBecker, @richardgasquet1 vs @AndujarPablo , @FerVerdasco vs Gabashvili & @ivokarlovic vs Rosol

I should be able to find a stream of Eurosport 2 tomorrow if there aren't any others.

EDIT 2: There are many streams with English commentary now on Drakulastream..

http://www.drakulastream.eu/free-li...squet-andujar-atp-doha-tennis-atp-263930.html

 

[Puschkin]

:banghead: I won't be able to watch today. Allez, Richard!

 

[Pratik]

Just saw this thread. Not the best draw, but it's quite good. Nadal's half is better than Djokovic's. First tournament back. I read that Murray just bageled him in their exho. For quarter, Ferrer just defeated Richie in the exho, so Berdych should be better. Again good that he avoided Nole's quarter. Plus, afaik, Berdych didn't play any exho before this, so he may be more rusty.

Bookies have Gasquet as a bigger favourite against Andujar than I expected.

 

[ImmzB]

Same kit from last year! LOL!

 

[DBR]

Richard won 6-3, 7-5 over Andujar. :cheerleader: He played well overall but got a bit tight serving for the match at 5-4 up and was broken. He broke straight back and then served it out. He came in a lot more in the 2nd set, and it worked well for him. Lots of terrific backhands today as you'd expect, and the backhand down the line was working well too. I didn't see many serve speeds but most of the ones I did see were in the 160's. But his serve was effective today, with a lot of slice out wide. He hit an ace in the 160's and there was also an ace of 195kph and another serve was 180kph. He played the big points really well until he served for the match the 1st time - incuding saving a game in the 2nd set when he was 0-40 down with some terrific serving and play. So, a good start, but my commentators said Bolleli was fantastic in his match today - he will be Richard's next opponent. Allez!

ps. They interviewed Richard on court after his match and he said he was very happy with the way he played. The idiot interviewer asked him what was wrong with his racquet/ grip that he had to change the grip tape so many times. Do these people even watch tennis?!

Stats:

Set 1

Web source: https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/552122877596946432/photo/1 (twitter: @TennisTV)

Match:

Web source: https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/552141463916904448/photo/1 (Twitter: @TennisTV)

 

[Lolina]

He doesn't have the same short,there is a little touch of white. I could only see the last two games and he has a good attitude even when Andujar unbroken before ! But Santoro said in BeinSport that he's had a little pain on his back yesterday during his practice... But they also said that he doesn't look like to feel his pain again today during his match.I really hope this is the first and the last time this season he'll have problem with his back or somewhere else !

 

[DBR]

Same kit from last year! LOL!

lol, there are subtle changes! The shorts are navy and there's a white trim on the pockets, and no split at the sides like they had last year. Also, the rooster is bigger on the shorts and it says le coq sportif on his wrist-band. The polo looks exactly the same though!

 

[DBR]

He doesn't have the same short,there is a little touch of white. I could only see the last two games and he has a good attitude even when Andujar unbroken before ! But Santoro said in BeinSport that he's had a little pain on his back yesterday during his practice... But they also said that he doesn't look like to feel his pain again today during his match.I really hope this is the first and the last time this season he'll have problem with his back or somewhere else !

I saw him stretch his back a little at a change of ends in the 1st set but hoped he was just stiff. Fingers crossed this is nothing bad.

 

[ImmzB]

Allez Richard!! Good win for him!! Andujar can be tricky but Gasquet had the more power from the back.

Regarding the kit: I'm sure Le Coq Sportif could have made his kit more stylish instead of pretty plain as it's too similar from last year. :lol:

The Navy kit looks nice, maybe Richard will wear that at the AO or for the Clay.

 

[DBR]

More news on this back problem...

Seb has told French TV (BeinSport) that Richard hurt his back at the end of his training week with Rafa, and that he had a week/ 10 days off afterwards without playing tennis.

TenMatch ‏@ten_match
#Grosjean explique sur BeIn que #Gasquet a ressenti 1 douleur au dos à la fin de la prépa avec Nadal et a eu 1 semaine 10 J ss tennis après

Could we not just have him injury-free for 5 minutes?!? Is it too much to ask for???

EDIT.

But Seb said it was not bad after today's match. He was happy to see Richard serve well despite not having much practice.

TenMatch @ten_match
@fly_break D'après Grosjean ça allait pas mal après le match Il était content de voir que ss bcp d'entrainement il avait bien servi

 

[kmaria28]

Richard really need a good physio expert, who avoid him from the injuries...Just like Monfils did.

 

[RU90]

More news on this back problem...

Seb has told French TV (BeinSport) that Richard hurt his back at the end of his training week with Rafa, and that he had a week/ 10 days off afterwards without playing tennis.

Could we not just have him injury-free for 5 minutes?!? Is it too much to ask for???

EDIT.

But Seb said it was not bad after today's match. He was happy to see Richard serve well despite not having much practice.

You cannot be serious.

Is his back going to be a problem for the rest of his career?

 

[DBR]

Richard really need a good physio expert, who avoid him from the injuries...Just like Monfils did.

Yes, I totally agree. He needs the same physio with him every week, someone who really understands what his body needs and knows how to prevent and manage his injuries. I just don't understand why he doesn't have his own personal physio travelling everywhere with him.

You cannot be serious.

Is his back going to be a problem for the rest of his career?

Hopefully this is very different to both the intercostal muscle back problem he had at Doha last year (I could hardly watch that, he was in so much pain. ) and the big back injury he got at IW and had all clay season. It's bad news that he's hurt something again in the off-season, but he's played 3 matches since then, won 2 and had his chances in a the 3rd against Ferrer. So hopefully this is/was just a strain or something, and he can keep playing well through it.

Bolelli sounds like he could be a tougher test though, if he plays as well as he did today. I didn't see it, but my commentators were going on about how great he played.

EDIT: Richard's not on the schedule tomorrow (Tuesday), so at least he can rest if he needs to.

Some quotes after the match from the ATP website - http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/01/1/Doha-Monday-Gasquet-Verdasco.aspx

“It's always important to win, because two years ago I know I won here and I did a great season after that. Finished in the Top 10,” said Gasquet, who fired eight aces and broke serve three times as he advanced in one hour and 32 minutes. “So I know at the start of the season you need to be fit and you need to be ready to win matches. I need to win, to practise my game and to find a rhythm on the court. That's why I'm happy with the way I played.”

 

[Pratik]

Thanks people for the match reviews.

And yet another injury

lol, there are subtle changes! The shorts are navy and there's a white trim on the pockets, and no split at the sides like they had last year. Also, the rooster is bigger on the shorts and it says le coq sportif on his wrist-band. The polo looks exactly the same though!

That's a crazy amount of detail that you notice!

More news on this back problem...

Seb has told French TV (BeinSport) that Richard hurt his back at the end of his training week with Rafa, and that he had a week/ 10 days off afterwards without playing tennis.

Richard really need a good physio expert, who avoid him from the injuries

Yep


Gasquet leads Bolelli 4-0 in their h2h and 9-1 in sets, but their last match was 3.5 years ago

 

[afterglows]

Thanks for the reviews everyone.

I hope the injury is not too serious.

Lots of terrific backhands today as you'd expect, and the backhand down the line was working well too.

Good news.

Allez !