Week 5 - ATP ($442.5K) - Johannesburg, South Africa - hard

spud · Challenger qualifying

RE: Week 5 - ATP ($442.5K) - Johannesburg, South Africa - hard

spud · Challenger qualifying

BP again...

spud · Challenger qualifying

saved

spud · Challenger qualifying

40-40 2nd serve.

spud · Challenger qualifying

Adv Okun MP

spud · Challenger qualifying

GSM- Okun 6-3 6-2

Very dissapointing from Chris, but your only looking at a scoreboard so it might have been windy or he just wasnt there on the day.

Winning only 59% on his 1st serve which isnt good enough for him.

Okun winning 71% on 1st serve
and 81% !! on his 2nd serve so EAton not really getting a look in. Had 4 Bp's and took none of them.

Akhenaten · Pro player

spud wrote:

Hes won some good matches this year- Mertens, Baker, Anderson here.
I feel he should be in DC contention.

3-6 6-4 6-3 Eaton.

Sorry I know this is a day late, but I don't see why beating the world no. 535 in 3 sets should put anybody in DC contention...

Tennis36 · Masters Series Champion

Akhenaten wrote:

spud wrote:

Hes won some good matches this year- Mertens, Baker, Anderson here.
I feel he should be in DC contention.

3-6 6-4 6-3 Eaton.

Sorry I know this is a day late, but I don't see why beating the world no. 535 in 3 sets should put anybody in DC contention...

i know, i almost laughed when reading this, evo has beaten better opponents than these a few times this year, and his only loses have been against fairly high ranked players. clearly heart is speaking over head

The Magician Santoro · Top national player

I just feel Eaton is one of these players who can just about lose to anyone

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Good on Chris for trying to qualify here but losing the way he did to Okun was a bit of a disappointment. It's not so much the score but the fact he had to save so many break points and didn't even get a look in on Okun's serve that is more of a concern as he is definately a player on the way down and someone you would hope to be threatening.

Not sure that Eaton has done enough to get in the Davis Cup squad as there are others who are ahead of him in the pecking order who deserve the chance more at the moment.

clayfan · Lower Club Player

I think Eaton has the temperament for DC. In nervy DC matches it helps to have a player who can serve his way out of trouble. Don't forget, when Lloyd had his strange little trial before the Ukraine match, it was Eaton who came through the other batch of players when asked to play for his place. And he won the dead rubber, having put up more of a fight against Stakhovsky than Goodall was able to.

That said it has to be on a fast court and against a beatable player. His form has shown one good tournament, but he could not keep it up in the following ones. Okum used to be a good player so no great surprise he beat Chris, especially has he has made a career out of beating Boggo! The tie with Lithuania is not for Chris, but he should be kept in mind for future ties if the surface is right and he can get on a winning streak.

steven · Tennis legend

clayfan wrote:
Okum used to be a good player so no great surprise he beat Chris, especially has he has made a career out of beating Boggo!

This is a prime example of why, despite liking Eaton, I find it very hard to resist having a dig at people who think Boggo should never play DC again and Eaton should play instead.

Boggo played Okun three times in the days when Okun (as you said) used to be a good player and he never lost as heavily to him as Chris just has against the older, weaker version. Yet Chris should be in the DC team and Boggo shouldn't?! confuse

-- Edited by steven on Monday 1st of February 2010 03:30:50 PM

spud · Challenger qualifying

Tennis36 wrote:

Akhenaten wrote:

spud wrote:

Hes won some good matches this year- Mertens, Baker, Anderson here.
I feel he should be in DC contention.

3-6 6-4 6-3 Eaton.

Sorry I know this is a day late, but I don't see why beating the world no. 535 in 3 sets should put anybody in DC contention...

i know, i almost laughed when reading this, evo has beaten better opponents than these a few times this year, and his only loses have been against fairly high ranked players. clearly heart is speaking over head

Oh and Evans didnt get absolutely hammered by Michal Przysiezny ranked 678 in actual DC?

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

i assume you're referring to the Michal Przysiezny who is ranked 180 just 4 months later

wolf · Tennis legend

Przysiezny was very clearly underanked, a fact spotted by anyone who watched his matches and he has now gone on to be a top 200 player in a matter of months a run which includes winning the Helsinki challenger.

The trouble with picking Eaton is that you can only pick him on certain surfaces, and down in Group Two we should be looking to mould a team that can help Andy on surface in the future.

With Boggo rightly or wrongly not going to be picked our team will be surely Flemski and two out of Baker, Ward and Evans. If he wants to look totally to the future he will pick Evans, but Baker and Ward will be the favourites at the moment due to Dan's inconsistency.