RJA wrote:

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murray_2k9 wrote:

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Definitely no signs of illness, I would say no he was certainly not ill. He didnt look downtrodden, fatigued or anything like that. It was just no concentration and not wanting to try and concentrate. There was a tiny window when he started the match and led 3-1 and when he broke back at 3-3 in the second but other than that he just didnt engage at all. What made that more frustrating is that he was the better of the two when he looked aggressive (as noted by the commentator) and Jaziri was struggling with some sort of wrist/finger problem (albeit on his left hand) that shook his concentration a bit too.

One of the earlier posts talked about the match on the next court (Kreuger v Reid) which is played adjacent to the stadium court within full view. Dan was watching rallies of that match regularly, when waiting to serve, return serve, change of ends etc. To me, if there was a more obvious way to show you were interested in anything but the match you're playing, this was it. If this is a case of Dan not wanting to go and making that clear but being pressurized to fulfill contractual agreements then I sympathise to an extent as Im sure we all know his head has been elsewhere, but then I would suggest cutting all funding and letting Dan do his own thing and share the funding with players like Fitzy who are willing to put in the hours. Beggars can't be choosers, but we still shouldnt pour hard earned money away on a man who still wants to behave like a boy

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I think that about sums up things perfectly. If he wants to make anything of his career he needs to understand that long trips abroad are an essential part of that.  If he doesn't want that then fine, if he wants to stay at home with his girlfriend and hang out with his mates, only going abroad when it suits him then so be it. It is his life to do with as his pleases and if he is happy to hang around between 250 and 350 in the rankings in spite of his considerable talent then that his choice. The obvious point however is that the LTA should not be funding him if that is the case.

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 Couldnt agree more. Weirdly, I think Evo is in the crowd watching Ward play which makes sense, particularly as they have doubles later. But this does make me more confused as to why he didnt try and fight more in his match. 

Wardy - what a start! Keep this level up and it could be a very nice run this week.