Tag Archives: Verdasco

Fiasco

Madrid Masters 1000, First and Second Rounds It is a testament to the rankings trout-farm between 10 and, say, 30, that so few of today’s ostensible upsets were surprising. The betting market was a shambles, which should have been a … Continue reading

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A Confluence of Cock-Ups

BMW Open Munich, Final Davydenko d. Mayer, 6/3 3/6 6/1 Estoril Open Portugal, Final Del Potro d. Verdasco, 6/2 6/2 There isn’t a single good reason why Nikolay Davydenko and Juan Martin del Potro are closely linked in my mind, … Continue reading

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Weeks Like This

The biggest problem with weeks like this, in which three concurrent 250 tournaments have snuck in just as the clay season hits its stride in Madrid, is that for the most part the events are disposable. Understandably, players are unwilling … Continue reading

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Humble Pie

Monte Carlo Masters 1000, Second Round Robredo d. Verdasco, 6/4 6/3 Almagro d. M Gonzalez, 6/7 7/5 7/6 By losing today to Tommy Robredo – and the scoreboard does the flaccidity of the loss scant justice – Fernando Verdasco has … Continue reading

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Band-chariots and Backstops

Monte Carlo Masters 1000, Second Round Raonic d. Gulbis, 6/4 7/5 Can you envisage the chaos that results when bandwagons collide? What does a bandwagon even look like? (It looks like this.) As a metaphor for the slavish and temporary … Continue reading

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Candles To The Sun

Miami Masters 1000, Second Round Bogomolov Jnr d. Murray, 6/1 7/5 As he did last year, Andy Murray made it all the way to the second round in Miami, but no further. Today he fell in straight sets to Alex … Continue reading

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Real Tennis

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, Memphis Raonic d. Verdasco, 6/4 3/6 7/6 My resolution not to write about Milos Raonic again for a while has been rendered shaky by the fact that he keeps on winning. Efforts at slowing his progress … Continue reading

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Don’t Watch This Space

Yet another week with three tournaments running concurrently, meaning that for the general tennis fan – whose interest begins and ends at the majors – there is a vast array of tennis to not get caught up in. Depending on … Continue reading

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Diverting Grotesqueries

Brisbane International Stepanek d. Kamke, 5/7 6/1 6/4 Becker d. Verdasco, 6/1 6/7 6/4 If one were to compile a crib sheet on Radek Stepanek – who today saw off the sporadically promising Tobias Kamke in three sets – there … Continue reading

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The Professional

Roddick d. Gulbis, 6/3 7/6 After some weeks devoid of almost any discernible suspense, the eight qualifiers for the World Tour Finals have been decided. In the end it all came in a flurry, and panned out exactly as expected. … Continue reading

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