Busta Watch

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

RE: Busta Watch

RJA · Hall of fame

Helen40 wrote:
Spectator wrote:
We should never have adopted him as a quasi-Brit. 'Twas doubtless we who doomed him to this fate. (Then again, you never know ...)
Excuse my ignorance, but has Busta got any British ties, or is the 'adoption' due to him being a cool dude etc??

I don't think so. Bob in Spain brought his performances this year to the forum's attention and others have followed him with some interest ever since.

steven · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Two months ago he was playing Futures tournaments in Murcia and Cartagena, in front of "3 men and a dog", ranked way outside the top 500 and suddenly here he is, playing Federer in the 1st round of a Slam and on merit (not through a WC).

... and 4 months ago he was playing Futures qualies in Turkey!

-- Edited by steven on Saturday 25th of May 2013 12:44:07 PM

korriban · Challenger level

steven wrote:
Bob in Spain wrote:
Two months ago he was playing Futures tournaments in Murcia and Cartagena, in front of "3 men and a dog", ranked way outside the top 500 and suddenly here he is, playing Federer in the 1st round of a Slam and on merit (not through a WC).
... and 4 months ago he was playing Futures qualies in Turkey!

-- Edited by steven on Saturday 25th of May 2013 12:44:07 PM

And the really important thing is that's it's pretty much all been done on merit - relatively few WCs; lots of matches where he was down and out, yet came back to win; mostly on clay, but a few carpet/hard court tournament wins in there too; and even his losses seem to have been quite close (except for Kevin Anderson who absolutely annhililated him - frankly I think he would have beaten most of the top 5 on than day). And all this from a pretend-British player too, which is nice.

-- Edited by korriban on Saturday 25th of May 2013 01:10:24 PM

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Helen40 wrote:
Spectator wrote:
We should never have adopted him as a quasi-Brit. 'Twas doubtless we who doomed him to this fate. (Then again, you never know ...)
Excuse my ignorance, but has Busta got any British ties, or is the 'adoption' due to him being a cool dude etc??

Unfortunately not - to the best of my knowledge.

People got excited about him earlier on in the year because of the run he was on in the Futures tournaments - 7 consecutive tournament wins and I think it was a 35 match win streak (it stretched to 39 if you include his move up to challengers afterwards)

It just so happened that when I was following Kyle on his Spanish "swing" a couple of months back that Kyle ended up playing him in the semi finals in Cartagena and I reported on that match here on the forum. And what a match it was - although "Busta" ran out a comfortable winner in the end.

We basically have an interest purely and simply because it is a great tennis story. Two months ago he was playing Futures tournaments in Murcia and Cartagena, in front of "3 men and a dog", ranked way outside the top 500 and suddenly here he is, playing Federer in the 1st round of a Slam and on merit (not through a WC).

What we wouldn't give to see one of our young Brits have such meteoric rise. So will be beat Federer ? I doubt that, but I think he will surprise a few people. Personally, having seen him play in person, I am just glad others on the forum will have the chance to see him as well, as I am sure the Federer match will be televised.

Enjoy.

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

Bob in Spain wrote:
Helen40 wrote:
Spectator wrote:
We should never have adopted him as a quasi-Brit. 'Twas doubtless we who doomed him to this fate. (Then again, you never know ...)
Excuse my ignorance, but has Busta got any British ties, or is the 'adoption' due to him being a cool dude etc??
Unfortunately not - to the best of my knowledge.
People got excited about him earlier on in the year because of the run he was on in the Futures tournaments - 7 consecutive tournament wins and I think it was a 35 match win streak (it stretched to 39 if you include his move up to challengers afterwards)
It just so happened that when I was following Kyle on his Spanish "swing" a couple of months back that Kyle ended up playing him in the semi finals in Cartagena and I reported on that match here on the forum. And what a match it was - although "Busta" ran out a comfortable winner in the end.
We basically have an interest purely and simply because it is a great tennis story. Two months ago he was playing Futures tournaments in Murcia and Cartagena, in front of "3 men and a dog", ranked way outside the top 500 and suddenly here he is, playing Federer in the 1st round of a Slam and on merit (not through a WC).
What we wouldn't give to see one of our young Brits have such meteoric rise. So will be beat Federer ? I doubt that, but I think he will surprise a few people. Personally, having seen him play in person, I am just glad others on the forum will have the chance to see him as well, as I am sure the Federer match will be televised.
Enjoy.

Thanks Bob, I will watch with interest.

Miriambee · Futures level

He's beaten the likes of Fognini, Benneteau, Goffin, Haase and Serra (twice) since the end of April this year - so meteoric is the word for it!

He's lost to Wawrinka, Anderson, GGL and Bellucci, and even then he's taken a set off each of them.

If he beats the Fed!!!... of course it'll help Andy to stay as number 2 for longer, and of all the qualifiers with the best chance of doing so it must be him!

steven · Tennis legend

Busta v Fed is BBC 5Live's 'match of the day' tomorrow - full radio commentary on their website.

huntley93 · Strong Club Player

are itv showing busta fed and at what time?

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

huntley93 wrote:
are itv showing busta fed and at what time?

I would hope so. ITV coverage starts in a few minutes. Fed v Busta is 3rd match on the Chartrier court. The first match (Ivanovic v Martic) is currently 1 set all. Then there is anther ladies singles followed by Fed. So a couple of hours time at a guess.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

It's listed on livestreaming as 14h so that must be a rough idea.

the match is on the Philippe Chatrier court and there's no other really interesting match at that time so I'm pretty sure they'll show it.

PS Brad Gilbert has been tweeting like mad about how Federer is going to be really pushed . . .

huntley93 · Strong Club Player

got a choice then of federer busta or celtic v hibs!

RJA · Hall of fame

Federer in total control 6-2, *3-0

philwrig · Hall of fame

Serve seems to be his main problem, other than that I've been impressed even if the scoreline shouldn't suggest so.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

I have to admit to being somewhat disappointed. Clearly I never expected Busta to win the match, but I don't think anyone really got to see what he was like except for glimpses in the 3rd set. Whether that was down to the occasion (he was clearly nervous early on) or whether it was the ability of Fed to keep his opponent off balance, I don't really know.

For me, there were too many short balls. What impressed me when I saw him play was the consistency of length and that wasn't there today. But there was enough in the 3rd set (I hope) for people to see how well he can play.