Week 24 - ATP 250 Series - Eastbourne : Mens Round 2

goldfish · Futures qualifying

RE: Week 24 - ATP 250 Series - Eastbourne : Mens Round 2

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

Count Zero wrote:

alex has been putting in a lot of hard work and doing a lot of sprint training, as he says though he believes mental and physical is linked so if he can get stronger and not feel so tried late in matches he will feel stronger mentally. really he didn't choke or give up here. lets hope he can carry that form into wimby. with a kind draw maybe he has a chance. makes you think what would he have done if he had Josh's draw for instance.

I agree. He looked a lot sharper physically and mentally, especially to show courage when breaking back in the final set and also to win that point in the first set when he slipped at the back of court. I also think the louder grunting when hitting his shots seemed to help him too, he seemed to have a bigger presence on court. He'll have a few nightmares about that point at 5-3 but he hits the ball so flat it's bound to hit the net sometimes

fschallenger · Improver

if boggo can keep this level of intensity then there is no reason why top 100 shouldnt be a problem.its week in week out he as to do this though.goodall as to really push on from here though, he,s 23 now and asnt got out of the challenger future circuit yet. he should be at his most confident now after his recent form . wardy still as a couple of years to phsically and mentally grow, so i will not pass judgement.the same can be said of cox and evans. good luck to all at wimby next week. great site may i ad.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

from the guardian;

Alex Bogdanovic has to be a bit nastier, according to Great Britain's Davis Cup captain, John Lloyd. Lloyd watched Britain's most criticised tennis player fall short yet again at the Aegon International today.

The Russian Dmitri Tursunov, who came from 35 down in the final tie-break to beat the British No2 67, 64, 76, said: "He doesn't need to improve anything but sometimes being a bit of an a-hole helps.

"I'm sorry that's the case. But I'm sure that you're aware that certain players act as if they are the best out there. And if you think you're better than anyone else, even if it's not true, it will help you."

Bogdanovic matched Wimbledon's 25th seed for two hours and 20 minutes. Lloyd was concerned to emphasise how close the match had been.

"There were occasions where Boggo got a couple of dodgy calls and anyone else would have got up and said, 'Listen, you have to get it right'," he said. "But Boggo gives a look and continues playing.

"He got screwed. It wouldn't be bad to be a bit nastier occasionally. Tursunov is right in that way."

-- Edited by Count Zero on Wednesday 17th of June 2009 08:09:30 PM

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

fschallenger wrote:

if boggo can keep this level of intensity then there is no reason why top 100 shouldnt be a problem.its week in week out he as to do this though.goodall as to really push on from here though, he,s 23 now and asnt got out of the challenger future circuit yet. he should be at his most confident now after his recent form . wardy still as a couple of years to phsically and mentally grow, so i will not pass judgement.the same can be said of cox and evans. good luck to all at wimby next week. great site may i ad.

Welcome! nice to see another Mozart fan on the site, we have a few already

fschallenger · Improver

cheers bud, any news on our friend amadeus recently lol

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Haven't seen the Boggo match yet so can't comment on it, but it's heartbreaking to get so close and still lose, especially with the minibreak in the tiebreak as well. Hopefully he can build on this next week and get a nice draw and get that elusive Wimbledon win. And Boggo must have played well as John Lloyd was impressed by his performance and said if he keeps playing like that there's no reason why he won't get to the top 100, but he needs to keep going for the big serves rather than just rolling the ball in.

Ward's match was strange. First set dominated by serve and then a lot of breaks in the second set. Ward should have won the first set really given the missed easy volley in the tiebreak, the great pass on the run Dancevic produced at 6-6 and then the missed forehand at 7-6.

Dancevic dropped his level to allow Ward back into the match but found it again to re-break and then move to victory. Ward still doesn't look entirely comfortable on the grass and was too inconsistent from the ground today, which is not what you'd expect from someone who has done so well on a clay court.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

i wonder if boggo has played himself back into dc contention.....

spud · Challenger qualifying

Count Zero wrote:

i wonder if boggo has played himself back into dc contention.....

Tbh Count, I think for Boggo to play himself back into DC consideration he has to do something really big now. Winning today, I would have said yes to him but losing again after coming so close is what i really expected. Yes, he probably has jst as much talent Murray i would say, honest. But how the media has attacked him from so early on in his career and how his mental side has let him down on soo many big occasions, its hard for him to be seen as a long term player for DC now as we have younger players who have that mental aggresion on a court, who want the win that bit more. My opinion, i think im fair. :)

-- Edited by spud on Wednesday 17th of June 2009 09:11:57 PM

spud · Challenger qualifying

Saying this, i think on this form, with no one else showing anything, DC this september is looking a possibility, but as a long term player i say no way.

angry1 · Lower Club Player

spud wrote:

Count Zero wrote:

i wonder if boggo has played himself back into dc contention.....

Tbh Count, I think for Boggo to play himself back into DC consideration he has to do something really big now. Winning today, I would have said yes to him but losing again after coming so close is what i really expected. Yes, he probably has jst as much talent Murray i would say, honest. But how the media has attacked him from so early on in his career and how his mental side has let him down on soo many big occasions, its hard for him to be seen as a long term player for DC now as we have younger players who have that mental aggresion on a court, who want the win that bit more. My opinion, i think im fair. :)

-- Edited by spud on Wednesday 17th of June 2009 09:11:57 PM

It was a really good effort from Alex,but as much talent as Andy?Not a chance IMO.Andy was ranked higher at 18 than Alex has ever been,exceptional talent would have shone through by now.

If he follows this up with a decent draw and a similar performance he'll win a match at Wimbledon.That would barring someone else making a big move mean that he should have a chance of DC selection.Even John Lloyd approached being complimentary,he had little option today.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

Tursunov's view:

Watching him and playing against him, I've always thought his ranking should be higher, the Russian said. He's got the shots, he's got a better serve than Andy Murray, but maybe he's just too nice a guy. Being a bit of an a**hole helps. Being a little ****y, thinking that you're the best guy out there, gets you through a lot of situations.

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Count Zero wrote:

i wonder if boggo has played himself back into dc contention.....

I'm still not sure whether Lloyd will pick Boggo for the DC, unless of course he wins a round or two at Wimbledon in which case he'll probably be forced to put him at least in the squad.

Today's match, although it ended in disappointment for Boggo losing a tight match again, it did show that Boggo, on his day, can push top 30 players all the way, which is something that I don't see any other Brit other than Murray being able to do at the moment.

Could anyone see Ward/Goodall getting to a final set TB against Tursunov or being up a set and a break on Melzer, both on surfaces where they are strong?

Bogdanovic, for all his flaws, is still the best hope by far that we have of a second second singles player scoring a big win over a higher ranked player...whether that means he should be considered for DC I'm not so sure...

Count Zero · Tennis legend

It also shows us the constant conundrum of Boggo, and why the LTA, despite begin fairly happy to let him get slaughtered in the press etc, dont want to cut all ties completely because in an era where we have very few decent players discarding one who has the potential to make top 100 just cant be risked. If there LTA were to cut Alex off and he subsequently found a way to make the grade on his own then it would look even worse for them than in already does.

As FD says over the years Alex has found himself in good situations, a few years ago he was 2 pts form beating Roddick, yesterday two points from beating DT and there are not many other brits who would get so close.

For Alex himself though it a case of making sure he can feel and play like he does in these matches on a regular basis. He has been serving well recently. he needs to keep these level's up when he returns to the challenger circuit after wimby. if he can play like this then he should have a great chance of going deep at Manchester too.

spud · Challenger qualifying

angry1 wrote:

spud wrote:

Count Zero wrote:

i wonder if boggo has played himself back into dc contention.....

Tbh Count, I think for Boggo to play himself back into DC consideration he has to do something really big now. Winning today, I would have said yes to him but losing again after coming so close is what i really expected. Yes, he probably has jst as much talent Murray i would say, honest. But how the media has attacked him from so early on in his career and how his mental side has let him down on soo many big occasions, its hard for him to be seen as a long term player for DC now as we have younger players who have that mental aggresion on a court, who want the win that bit more. My opinion, i think im fair. :)

-- Edited by spud on Wednesday 17th of June 2009 09:11:57 PM

It was a really good effort from Alex,but as much talent as Andy?Not a chance IMO.Andy was ranked higher at 18 than Alex has ever been,exceptional talent would have shone through by now.
If he follows this up with a decent draw and a similar performance he'll win a match at Wimbledon.That would barring someone else making a big move mean that he should have a chance of DC selection.Even John Lloyd approached being complimentary,he had little option today.

Yeh, i do think alex has about the same amount of talent as Murray in tennis skills on a court, maybe not as much imagination but; if you watch him hit the ball on his groundstrokes, especially the backhand which he is very clever with, he hits it as clean as any top 20 player i say. He has the ability on both sides off the ground and uses like with Tursunov his opponents power in his attack, especially on the backhand where he can time it on a short swing really well.
As i said, with Alex, he falters with wanting the win enough, playing the bigger points to a high level and just the basic mental side of the game to top 20 level. As i have heard all the commentators say when alex has played, including people like Cash, Petchey is that with the Brits but i think Alex in particular they say how. " The difference between where he/they are now and top 20 is not the tennis ability but the mental side". I totally agree.