The draw is out for the Cincinnati Masters series tournament next week and there are some INTRIGUING first round matches.

*Blake vs Federer
(on paper Federer should roll and I expect him to wins, but Blake is riding a high of his Legg Mason wins and appearance in the final and I think he could make a bit of a match of it. Its better to face a Federer who is playing his first match in awhile since being out with injury rather than one who has been playing consistently)

Other first round matchups include:

*Moya v Agassi
*Ginepri v Puerta
*Gaudio v Robredo
*Srichapan v Coria
*Davydenko v Grosjean
*Mathieu v Haas
*Gasquet v Lopez
*Nadal v Berdych
*Monfils v Stepanek

Interesting matchups

[ August 12, 2005, 09:38 PM: Message edited by: ltskinmdterp ]

Wow, that really sucks for James. He's been playing well to get his ranking back up but it seems that he gets stuck with first or second round matches like this at most big tourneys that could really get him some points.

Well...as I expected...Andre withdrew from Cincinnati Sunday night. I figured he would. Nadal ran his old bones ragged today and I'm sure the old man wants 2 weeks rest before the Open starts. Carlos Moya I'm sure isn't complaining as he will now draw a lucky loser I guess. Ashame though...that was one of the first round matches I was anticipating. But, can't blame Agassi. He knows his body and knows what he needs to do to give it one final go at the Open.

Correct me if I am wrong here, but no tv coverage until tonight, right? frown

Here's the draw:
http://www.atptennis.com/en/common/TrackIt...005/422/MDS.pdf

Damn, some pretty interesting first round matches indeed. I sort of feel for Federer, having to face Blake right off the bat and then probably Kiefer in round two. And with Ljibicic and Safin to follow.

Nadal's half of the draw is as difficult, with Hewitt, Roddick and Ferrero all looming. This looks like a Grand Slam draw, really impressive.

The Roddick/Melzer match is somewhat of a snoozefest. Andy up a set and leading 3 games to 2 in the second set. Not a whole lot of excitement. Melzer is complaining often about the line calls. Andy playing fairly well. All the excitement comes tonight with Blake.

Andy cruised. You KNOW that after his first round loss in Montreal he will be looking to make a statement. The courts here will play to Roddick because he can hold serve and get in position for the return because he's not the quickest. I'm foaming at the mouth for a Roddick/Nadal quarter matchup. I want to see how Nadal, with his improved play will matchup against Roddick on hard courts. Roddick will be looking to put a temporary halt on all the Nadal hype. I think Andy will be pissed if he loses to Nadal on hard courts. Hopefully Blake can give Federer a good match tonight. Its nice to see Blake back playing at a decent level and Blake may be able to take advantage if Federer is rusty at the start.

Sorry I just saw your post. But ESPN2 had Roddick's first round match on earlier today.

Okay, nothing against Little League Baseball, but really, broadcasting a slacking 12-1 little league game in extended time is ridiculous. Just call it already and move on with your US Open Series stuff.

Grrrr...James Blake clearly has the talent to be...not a top 5 player but I can see him top 10-15 but the boy obviously doesn't have the mental toughness. He hung well with Federer in the first set and Federer simply upped the ante in the tiebreaker. James played some loose points and that was it. I thought James would typically fade and go away in the second, but NO....he breaks and consolidates to go up 3-0. Next thing you know..Federer is right back in it at 3-3. Then...Blake is able to hold and its 5-5. So I'm thinking ok James...get to 6 and you're at least assured of a tiebreak for yourself if you can't break Roger the next game. Its 40-love...I'm feelin pretty good and he loses 5 straight points to go down 5-6 and Federer closes out the match. Those are the spots in matches that you have to play your best. He did it for 3 points and just couldn't close it out. He is going to have NIGHTMARES about that 5-5 game. I would've been ecstatic for a 3rd set. Would've been a good opportunity for James as Federer was obviously shakin off the rust from a 6 week layoff. Its ashame that James didn't play Montreal as I think he could've done well with that weaker field. Roddick went out immediately and the only other great players were Agassi and Nadal. Depending on his draw James could've done a little somethin there. But, playing Federer tight he should feel good. He's playing Pilot Pen where I hope he can do something to give him a boost going into the Open. James...I love you and your fabulous protruding ass but DUMP YOUR COACH!! American men's tennis is really goin in the toilet. I heard that the youngster Donald Young got a wild card into the Open. He is one of the only hopes for the future of American tennis as Roddick is going down in the rankings and doesn't scare as many people with his serve anymore. Lindsay is near retirment and who knows how much longer Venus and Serena want to keep playing. We got to get it together.

Blake is a good player, but not great in my opinion. I agree, that he needs to consider a coaching change. I think he could be great, with desire, and a new Coach. It would be great to see. I know he is coming off a bad year last year, but I would love to see him knock off Federer every once in awhile.

Saw some of the first set last night, crazy to be broadcasting this tournament so late at night, but anyway. Yes, Federer was rusty, even his forehand was going long, but what really impressed me about both players was the frigging speed of the game--that ball was sonic speed and they were going for it. I'm not a fan of the winning service games a la Sampras, I like rallies and ball speed changes and nuances, but last night was a little thrilling because as fast as they were playing there was still a game. And Federer just looked too cool. I'm a little nervous about this tournament and especially the way Nadal is playing. I want Federer to win everything and to retain the number one ranking, but it is good to see a challanger stepping up to the plate. (mixed metaphor or something like that)

James Blake's game is just maddening. He is so talented, but can't seem to get it together during the big points. It is the same story time and again. Remember when he was in the finals in DC, he just caved at the end of the match, much like what he did against Federer. Brad Gilbert might be a good coach for him. What James needs is a better mental approach for his game.

His game is very high risk as well. I don't know if he could be top 10. I mean he just hits the hell out of the ball and his backhand is a liability. Plenty of people have done well with a weak backhand, but his just seems more problematic. Too bad...I'd love to see him do well.

Can Kiefer PLEASE stop landing in Federer's part of the draw...please!

his backhand is lousy. top ten??? what's his best grand slam performance???

It was quite an opportunity for Blake but Federer, however rusty, stepped up when it counted. James played well for most of both sets but closing out a set or a match is key to winning important matches. Roddick had better beat Nadal here just for his own confidence going into the US Open...I'm not ready to admit that Nadal might be the #2 player in the world on any surface but soon I may have to..I'd like to see a healthy and in form Safin play Nadal on the hard courts - that would be fun.

Yet another rain delay in Cincy. What is up with the weather back east this summer? Is this kind of normal? First Montreal, now Cincy. frown

Well...well...well...Rafael Nadal came up against a power server on hard courts and lost. THAT is the kind of matchup I wanted to see to gauge how well I'll think he'll do at the Open. People are already making excuses about him being fatigued and making the transition from Montreal to Cincinnati. Not buyin it. Its best of 3. I didn't allow Andy to get away with that excuse when he won Legg Mason and lost Montreal first round and I'm not allowing Nadal to get away with it here. While Nadal is showing he can do a little somethin somethin on hard courts I'm hearing way too many people putting him in the final of the US Open and its not gonna happen. Tonight proved that he has work to do to handle the power servers better. He didn't face any in Montreal and got bounced here first round. This is his breakout year though and he will get better so I think his time will come. This year though...he better hope some of the big servers are more on Federer's side of the draw for the US Open.

[ August 16, 2005, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: ltskinmdterp ]

I don't think Nadal's loss is that significant. He had three match points but fell in a third set tiebreaker to Berdych, who also has a career victory over Federer. If anything, this might give Rafael a little break and the rest could do him good at the U.S. Open.

It's been INCREDIBLY funny watching people's opinions change on Nadal at the drop of a dime. Prior to Montreal, most people wern't sure about his chances on hardcourts ... then, he wins and almost EVERYONE says that he'll be a force at the Open. Now, he loses in the first round of Cincy and someone is saying that he can't play against big servers.

Frankly, the sample size for which we can base Nadal's play on hardcourts is incredibly small ... and most importantly, a loss to Berdych doesn't mean that Nadal can't play against big servers. (IMO, Berdych doesn't have THAT big of a serve, *shrug*, but your mileage may vary.) IIRC ... Nadal did pretty damn well against Ljubicic (130+ topper on the gun), Verdasco, Thomas Johansson (the guy can hit 140 on the gun quite a bit), and Mathieu this year and they have some big serves.

BTW ... fatigue definately plays a role, however, with two major TMS events back to back, the people who get to the finals are going to be fatigued ... period. Now ... should that be used as an excuse for his loss against a guy who can play out of his ass? Not really, but, *shrug* ... I wouldn't be surprised if he was tired after playing a long 3 set match the previous day where his opponent did not.

(Now ... with respect to Roddick, there is someone who has HAD more frequent issues against big servers.)

There are going to be tons of question marks at the Open this year and as usual, it's all about the draw. If Nadal happens to draw someone like ... Moya or Carlsen in the first round, I won't feel nearly as confident about his chances as I would against Rajeev Ram.

Nick

Any commentary about Marat's performance yesterday? Much better 2nd set!
Anyone else notice the red thong or jockstrap he had on yesterday?

RED jockstrap on SAfin--I'm there. Are there any screen captures of this?

How could I have missed that? I was too busy wishing he'd cut his hair, I guess.

I thought Safin played well when he needed to and not bad considering how long his layoff was. He said he only started practicing two days ago! I was a little worried about his knee when he fell in the second set, but he didn't seem phased much at all.

Nick, I think it's because of the small sample size that people's opinions on Nadal are shifting so rapidly. Still, he's played three hard court masters events, won one and made two finals. I think you have to take him seriously at the open.

First of all...I didn't say he COULDN'T play with big servers. Going 3 sets and getting 13 break points on Berdych as well as 2 match points certainly means that he can play with the big servers. I simply pointed out that he has more trouble with the power servers. It puts more pressure on him to hold his serve as he is not the best return server.

Secondly, yes fatigue plays a role but Nadal had chances to win that match. I also think the matchup itself had something to do with the loss. A big part of tennis is about matchups and a tournament can be won on who you don't play as much as who you do. Berdych and Nadal know each other pretty well. Nadal needed 3 sets to beat Berdych in Bastad and Nadal went 3 with Berdych here in Cincy. That tells me that surface isn't really the issue but rather Berdych does damage with his serve and forehand and they know each others game. I also know that its a bit of a rivalry. Berdych said he wanted a piece of Nadal on hard courts and he got it. Good win for Berdych. Berdych has played well this summer so the upset was not surprising to me. I also agree that the sample size is too small to really gauge Nadal's prowess on hard courts. But my opinion of Nadal has always been the same. Decent hard court game but not quite ready to dethrone Federer yet.

I wonder if Berdych's height helps him handle Nadal's heavy topspin. He certainly seems to play well against him.

Yup JC...thats another factor. Cincy courts aren't bouncing as high as Montreal so the high balls that gave everyone fits in Montreal weren't going to be as bad in Cincy. The US Open courts have a medium bounce too so don't look for it to be as big a weapon for Nadal there. The Australian Open though..I'm putting early bets on Nadal getting to the final there. That high bouncing rebound ace gave Hewitt fits and I expect Nadal to have his best early chances for slam wins at the Aussie Open and lets be honest...that kid will probably end up with as many French Opens as Pete had at Wimbledon.

Footnotes: Gael Monfils beat Beck in str8s. I am expecting big things from Monfils the frenchman next year. I think he is sending a message to the tour this year that he's coming but I expect next year to be his breakout year. Gasquet is doing the same thing. I expect big things from him. Berdych is playing well too. We've got some good young players coming up who will be challenging Federer, Nadal, Roddick, Safin, and the rest of the top players.

[ August 17, 2005, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: ltskinmdterp ]

Like what is up with Federer? Kieffer takes the first set 6-3.

Federer's timing is off. His record at Cincy is not that good and he's still shaking off the rust. If you are going to beat Federer its gonna happen early rather than later. He was practicing in Dubai which is rebound ace and he's just not making contact with the ball very well and isn't confident in a lot of his shots.

There are also some players whose games you don't like. Boris Becker hated playing Brad Gilbert, for example. I think Kiefer's game bugs Roger Federer. Nick seems to do well against Roger ... I mentioned this the other day about Keifer - he's the only player who was able to take a set of Federer at Wimbledon. And the match was very close. On any other surface outside of grass, I think Kiefer would have won that day. Perhaps today the time is right.

Federer is going to be pissed, especially if he loses this match. He was up 5-1, and Kiefer has gotten it back to 5-4. That's not going to sit well with Rog...

Oh no...it's official...I'm a real member of the board now. I'm commenting during matches and posting scores. Oh no...

You can check out any time you like ... but you can never leave.

ultimately an interesting match (fed/kiefer). federer finally started finding his touch at net. what's great is watching him figure out a gameplan while he's playing. things were'nt going so well and you saw him make the adjustments. if roddick could do the same he'd be close to unbeatable. unfortunately roddick doesn't have the physical variety.

and kiefer...no wonder he's popular on this site...what legs and chassis! an argument to bring back short shorts...go roger.

I dunno JC ... I'm not even thinking about the Open until I see the draw. SOOOO many matchups that could really throw things off. There are people who you expect to do well ... Federer, Hewitt, etc. ... but as for people who can win the tournament, I'm not even thinking about anyone until I see the draw.

The thing about Nadal that really confuses me is that ... he hits a lot of things short in the court, so you would think that someone would be able to pounce on that. However, his forehand is so wicked heavy that it can jump on you if you're not prepared for it. Then, if you try to serve and volley, he has the capability to pass you up the line because the mofo can scramble. *shrug*

IMO, he's like Double H ... in theory, you know what you should do (against Justine, attack her serve to get her under pressure and work her backhand CONSTANTLY b/c eventually, you're going to get the chippy slice where you can approach and put away the volley), but both players have that uber competitive nature that keeps them in points that others would give up on.

Gaby ... *smirk* ... It's easy to leave the board, but you always come back for another quick fling to realize why you left in the first place.

Nick

One thing is for sure. Roger won't win the Cincy Masters with that quality of tennis for sure. I noticed the crowd didn't seem to be really in it either in my opinion.

I remember when I was analyzing Nadal's chances at Wimbledon, I thought that all those backhands that drop into the mid-court would hurt him. I guess maybe they did there, but if he can get away with it against Agassi and (at least to some degree in Miami) Federer...well, is there anyone who would make more hay off a short return than those guys?

My only guess about Nadal is that he puts so much junk on the ball that players have a tough time dealing with it. *shrug* During the finale in Montreal against Agassi, I remember ESPN showing Nadal's backswing and I was amazed at how low he got on his shots and how high he finished his backswing, so ... *shrug*, the ball may be tough to attack ...

Personally ... I HATE playing people with incredible topspin because the ball just jumps off of the court and for myself, I have a tough time stepping up and attacking.

Having said that ... at Wimbledon, on a court that plays quick and can take funky bounces, he struggled against Muller ... possibly because it took time away from him.

Point being ... *scratches head* ... someone has to take time away from Nadal. How to do that ... good question. I dunno ... I'm just not one to hand over the title to anyone ... unless, we're talking about Serena Williams.

Nick

Robo-Rod aka Andy survives a valiant fight from Juan Carlos Ferrero. I'm looking forward to seeing this match on ESPN tonight. 2 tiebreaks and then Andy just rolled over Juan in the third. Andy didn't get a sniff on breaking Ferrero in the first two sets and didn't serve well. Aces bailed him out of the second set tiebreaker and then Ferrero just went away in the third. I hate when that happens. Would've liked to have seen a tighter third set. Again...Andy is as good as his serve. Ferrero has better ground strokes than Andy and is quicker. Andy "should" get to the semis with Nadal gone but I don't know. He's got to up his serving because when he's not serving well he loses confidence in his ground game.

Oh, I wasn't about to hand the title to Nadal--I'd still pick Federer to win.

man Juan Carlos has some sexy legs. He was lookin good in the black shorts last night. He's a bit flat in the back though. Maybe he can borrow some from Roddick

Wow, Safin slaughtered Hrbaty 6-0, 6-3. He's been out or off form so long, I wasn't expecting much from him, but he may have his game on again. A potential semi with Federer is looking interesting.

watching a little of monfils/youzny. first time to see monfils oncourt...he's great to watch. they're making comparison's to his roddick-like serve and strokes. while there may be some similarities, monfils is far more graceful, particularly on the backhand side.

good to see youzny play as well. always loved the kid's backhand. great body as well...good-looking guy, in a surly russian way.

anxious to see federer/rochus play tonight. never seen rochus play a singles match. it'll be great watching him truly scramble. from yesterday's post-match interview federer mentioned they grew up friends and played doubles together. he (federer) even called him a "cute guy". gotta love roger...

Damn rain delays. Just when Roddick/Chela was starting to get interesting. Chela is a really smart player. Its almost like he is getting a bit better each time he plays Roddick. I know his serving is rather good overall, and the first set was really, really tight before the rain came down. Hurry up rain!!!

lol I caught that 'cute' comment that Roger made about Rochus. What other word can you use to describe the man's game? He's 5'5 and doesn't really have anything to hurt Federer with so he does have a cute little game compared to Roger's. I actually thought it was kind of a sly insult. I wouldn't want someone to infer my game was 'cute'. But watching the match now my goodness...Rochus looks like a midgit on the court. He actually has good groundstrokes and covers a lot of ground. He's made Roger run a bit. He's like a male Juicetine Henin Hardenne. If he had better reach he'd be much higher in the rankings.

yeah, watching some of the match as well. rochus' backhand is SWEET. beautiful motion and precise. federer surely didn't mean that to be a stab at his pal...besides, he's right. rochus is cute...great looking guy with a hot girlfriend. get a look at his rear, pretty impressive. equally impressive is how he comes up to and over the ball.

First time seeing Rochus. He's certainly eatable. Reminds me of our own cute one. Did you catch yourself against Roger tonight, G4G?

Cincy is really shaping up for a good weekend. Semis should shape up to be Federer/Safin and Hewitt/Roddick. I think Hewitt can take Roddick out and Federer/Safin is more of a toss up. Safin and Federer both found their game today. I'm still gonna go with a Federer/Hewitt final and Federer owns Hewitt. The real final will be Federer/Safin if they both get to the semis.

Speaking of Olivier Rochus' butt, check these out! I like him with the shaved head! Hot! Sorry, I posted different pics., but they just show up as the first page! Check around! Short hair is Roland Garros 2005!

http://www.olivier-rochus.com/galerie_01.php

[ August 18, 2005, 07:36 PM: Message edited by: playerten73 ]

Wow, lil Ollie is just too cute. How can you not like this guy, and he is even shorter than Henin-Hardenne. People keep harping on her height, try playing the men's tour at 5'5. This tournament is sure shaping up well. It'll be nice if Safin-Federer and Hewitt-Roddick match up.

O Rochus is adorable. Something I think is interesting about him is that he has 3-1 record over Karlovic. We all know there's more to tennis than just a big serve, but who would think the guy at 5'5" would have a record like that against a guy who's 6'10". I'd like to see what it looked like when they shook hands at the net.

*my mind is wondering into evil places with that height differential*