Week 38 - Kuwait F1 ($10,000) - Meshref (Hard)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

RE: Week 38 - Kuwait F1 ($10,000) - Meshref (Hard)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

QF: Lewis BURTON (GBR) / Marcus WILLIS (GBR) [1] def. Phillip GRESK (POL) / Lewis THOMPSON (GBR) 6-3 6-3

SF : Lewis BURTON (GBR) / Marcus WILLIS (GBR) [1] v Mohammad GHAREEB (KUW) / Abdullah MAQDAS (KUW) [3]

korriban · Challenger level

Well he held serve at the start of set 2, which is a good start. Have a go, but no heroics here - be sensible!

Well as Luke Skywalker might say, "I don't believe it". Marcus breaks for *3-2 second set. He may not be as fit as one might like, but you can't help but admire his guts......this must be horrendous to play in!

-- Edited by korriban on Thursday 19th of September 2013 09:22:17 AM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Marcus already a break up in the first.

As he's playing well and has only 2 points to come off in the rest of the year, and two zero-pointers and lots of 1-pointers to push off, it'll be very interesting to see where he is in a couple of months.

Three 'easy-ish' 10ks in Kuwait could yield him, conservatively, say, 22 points (2 semis and a final ?). This would put him at about WR 364.

If he's second seed he should, in theory, do better. So, if he won one, made a final and lost in a quarter (one bad one), that's 30 points which makes him WR 344

Last year he went to Thailand at the end of the year. If he does that again, and clocks up a few more points, he's not far off the top 300 !!!!

korriban · Challenger level

Coup Droit wrote:
Marcus already a break up in the first.

As he's playing well and has only 2 points to come off in the rest of the year, and two zero-pointers and lots of 1-pointers to push off, it'll be very interesting to see where he is in a couple of months.

Three 'easy-ish' 10ks in Kuwait could yield him, conservatively, say, 22 points (2 semis and a final ?). This would put him at about WR 364.

If he's second seed he should, in theory, do better. So, if he won one, made a final and lost in a quarter (one bad one), that's 30 points which makes him WR 344

Last year he went to Thailand at the end of the year. If he does that again, and clocks up a few more points, he's not far off the top 300 !!!!

All true and doable on paper. But with 40 degree heat again, if the Kuwaiti can simply keep the match close today for over an hour, you feel that Marcus' chances could "melt" very quickly. Even with excellent conditioning, some players struggle in the heat. With let's say "average" conditioning, unless the matches can be kept short, with quick rallies.......you fear for the outcome.

Marcus was a break up but pulled back. 4-3*

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, I know exactly what you mean.

And Ghareeb is 33, he's going to know a thing or two, been round the block, have a good idea of exactly what's needed . . .

It's well possible Marcus melts and loses today. But maybe next week will be a little cooler ?

Glad to see his serving stats though - 9 aces and 3 DFs - means he's really going for it on the serve - which must be a smart tactic !

5*-6 with Ghareeb serving . . .

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

And Marcus loses the tie-break 7-0 :(

oh well . . .

korriban · Challenger level

Coup Droit wrote:
And Marcus loses the tie-break 7-0 :(

oh well . . .

Which suggests the first clear sign of a physical "white flag".

Would anyone want to play another 2 sets to win this? Frankly, is Marcus even able to play another 2 sets? The temperature is now 41 celsius, rising to 43/44 over the next hour.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

korriban wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
And Marcus loses the tie-break 7-0 :(

oh well . . .
Which suggests the first clear sign of a physical "white flag".
Would anyone want to play another 2 sets to win this? Frankly, is Marcus even able to play another 2 sets? The temperature is now 41 celsius, rising to 43/44 over the next hour.

Unbelievable, isn't it ? Yes, I wish him well but if he 'threw in the towel', you'd absolutely understand why . . . might even be wiser . . . it's not worth making yourself ill over . . .

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

One 'sensible' approach would be to use this as an exercise in ultra aggressive returning and serving - one-shot tennis, if you will.

Stand in and go for direct winners on all second serves, knock the cover off the ball on the first serve, and most of the second ones too (who cares about a few DFs).

There's no point engaging in the exchange . . .

And presumably Ghareeb is feeling the heat a bit too !

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I keep flicking back to the score, actually hoping that Marcus has lost !

Get the poor man back into the air-conditioned players' lounge . . .

However, bless him, as Ghareeb serves for it, Marcus breaks back. 4*-5

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

And Marcus loses the second set TB 7-3.

Which is arguably the best result.

And well done to him for firing down 20 aces in only 2 sets of tennis.

john · Top national player

Coup Droit wrote:
And Marcus loses the second set TB 7-3.

Which is arguably the best result.

And well done to him for firing down 20 aces in only 2 sets of tennis.

Why is it the best result? Most bizarre comment I've ever seen on this set.

If the better result is a loss, why bother even going out there, and certainly why bother staying there for another 2 weeks??

I can see the sentiment but think you took it too far lol

Tennisnow · Lower Club Player

I don't understand this at all. Why would you hope Marcus would lose and why is him doing so 'the best result'?!

He went out there to play tennis and needs to be able to deal with adverse conditions, it's all part of the job. Even at a set down, I would still expect him to go for the win in 3 sets.

Disappointing result, I can't see how a professional tennis player should hope to lose a match like this against lower opposition.

Not sure if I'm in the minority here but I was hoping that Marcus would win here and that that was the best result.

BTtennisfan · Improver

Marcus is not fit enough to cope with such extreme conditions...I don't think he has played in them at all (maybe as a young junior but definitely not recently)