Week 16 - Challenger ($100,000) - Sarasota, FL, USA (clay)

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

RE: Week 16 - Challenger ($100,000) - Sarasota, FL, USA (clay)

RJA · Hall of fame

korriban wrote:
Just saw something interesting via twitter. When James beat Zverev at AO qualifying earlier this year, when he went a break up in the final set, guess what happened next.....................
That's right, Zverev took a Medical Time Out. That's a small sample of 2 matches, but in both the German took a MTO in precisely the same match situation, break down final set.......his opponent's momentum stopped in it's tracks, and forcing the opponent to think about holding onto serve more than probably required.
Clearly this problem appears to be more openly abused in the womens' game, the recent Azarenka incident against Stephens was blatant cheating, but surely MTO abuse is a bigger issue to tackle for the sport than time violations.
Just about to google Zverev and MTO asnd see what I find!!!!

On the face of it this is poor sportsmanship from Zverev but no way should such a tactic work against a player of Ward's experience.

korriban · Challenger level

No. You are absolutely right on that. There's no excuse I can think of for what happened to James in the final set yesterday. Even at *4-5 down he's still very much in it, 2 service holds from a TB, but that last game was so bad it beggared belief.

Spectator · All-time great

Thank you, Korriban, for the explanation! And sorry if I took things the wrong way. You've left me thinking about my own ways of constructing meaning -- I suppose I tend to see "excuse" as involving an element of judgement, which in turn suggests that one is assuming a capacity or authority to judge. Hence my response. But if it's perceived simply as an equivalent of explanation, such issues indeed don't arise.

-- Edited by Spectator on Friday 19th of April 2013 03:59:37 PM

RJA · Hall of fame

More strange goings on with Zverev. he was playing in the doubles semi-final with Kuznetsov against Johnson and Klahn. The Americans won the first three games but then lost by default. Will be interesting to see what happened there.

EDIT: Never mind, it appears to have been a scoreboard glitch.

-- Edited by RJA on Friday 19th of April 2013 11:08:04 PM

korriban · Challenger level

Just noticed Zverev is a set and a break down in his QF. Desperately trying to get a livestream to see if he MTOs again!

RJA · Hall of fame

I have read a few things on various websites which suggest that Zverev does have some genuine injury problems (arm and/or shoulder) which might account for his total lack of aggression in the match against Ward.