Week 39 - Kuwait F2 ($10,000) - Meshref (Hard)

indiana · Tennis legend

RE: Week 39 - Kuwait F2 ($10,000) - Meshref (Hard)

korriban · Challenger level

HossTheBoss wrote:
I too know Marcus well friends on facebook and so on,
I use to write a bit on here mainly about EVO pronounced EV O
and yes I am north of Watford Gap
Some of the things I have said was EVO the real british Number 2 when he was ranked in the 300 -400
because knowing Dan like I do and having seen him winning events since he was fourteen I always knew he had the game to make top 100.
Before a ball was hit this year I made the prediction in the prediction thread that willis would make top 350 before the end of year a few people
questioned my decision ,but I did know that Marcus had been working hard and is results this year prove it.
So how can people come on here and criticise someone who this year as done so well.
Do you think anyone who is not anywhere near 100 per cent fit could do so well in 40 degrees of heat.
Marcus is heavy boned and is always going to come across as being big.
But at least while some of you are slaging willis off your not slaging EVO off.

I don't think that anyone has been "slagged off" at all - I think most of the forum members have always been very positive about the pure talent of both Dan and Marcus, even to the extent of making it clear that these 2 players probably exhibit more natural tennis ability than almost everyone else in the country, including the majority who were or still are ranked above them. It's therefore hardly surprising that there is frustration among forum members that both players have not exhibited absolute dedication to their careers over a number of years. This is something that Dan has admitted to openly, and I suspect Marcus would probably hold his hand up as well. I am delighted to say that their results and performances have been transformed by applying themselves so much more in 2013 (and of course, there was never a guarantee that would happen - so it's a real good news story), and in both cases there is clearly much more that can be done behind the scenes to step up their level another notch or two or three. The players themsleves seem to be saying precisely the same thing, in word or deed or both.

So it's not the case that forum members have been "slagging off" these players and certainly we haven't treated one player differently to the other. There was a recent contributor "Bob the Ballboy" who was very close to the GB pro tennis scene, and who clearly knew Dan and Marcus very well indeed, both professionally and socially. His view was that both players needed to "mature", that this was likely to happen much later than with many other players given their characters, and indeed that it might never happen. There are signs that this maturity IS happening for both, although it is early days, and noone knows for sure whether Dan and Marcus will stick to their new more professional approach long term or fall off the wagon.

wolf · Tennis legend

In the doubles final, Marcus and Lewis have taken the 1st set 6-4 with 3 breaks of serve to 2.

RJA · Hall of fame

I don't think anything posted on this site in the last few weeks constitutes slagging Marcus off. There have been many posts making constructive and reasoned criticism and quite few posts putting his achievements this year in context (In response to Gary's needless over promotion of his man). I think I was the first person to mention his level of fitness (about 3 weeks ago) and my comments were something like "In much better shape than he was 12 months ago but quite a bit of work still needed". I think anyone that has seen Marcus play recently would agree with that. It is pretty much universally accepted on this site that Marcus is having a good season and that there are reasons to be positive about the future. This is tempered by the undeniable fact that a player with Marcus' natural talent should be winning futures and a feeling that if he is to continue moving up he needs to be a lot fitter.

steven · Tennis legend

HossTheBoss wrote:
I too know Marcus well friends on facebook and so on,
I use to write a bit on here mainly about EVO pronounced EV O
and yes I am north of Watford Gap
Some of the things I have said was EVO the real british Number 2 when he was ranked in the 300 -400
because knowing Dan like I do and having seen him winning events since he was fourteen I always knew he had the game to make top 100.
Before a ball was hit this year I made the prediction in the prediction thread that willis would make top 350 before the end of year a few people
questioned my decision ,but I did know that Marcus had been working hard and is results this year prove it.
So how can people come on here and criticise someone who this year as done so well.
Do you think anyone who is not anywhere near 100 per cent fit could do so well in 40 degrees of heat.
Marcus is heavy boned and is always going to come across as being big.
But at least while some of you are slaging willis off your not slaging EVO off.

If you think players get gratuitously slagged off on here, I hope for your sake you don't visit too many other tennis forums wink

I accept that sometimes people go a bit too far or bang on about a single issue more than perhaps we should, but the fact is, the vast majority of people on here rate the players concerned (or we probably wouldn't talk about them so much!), want them to succeed and don't want them to end up having regrets. In that context, it's perfectly valid to talk about any obvious issues that might be stopping them from being the best they could be if it's done in a reasonably sensitive way (I know it's not always done that way, but for the most part on here, it is) and as long as it is combined with recognising progress and success.

How was it wrong for some people on here to question Evo's commitment in the past when it sounds like nearly everyone around him, including Dan himself, was questioning it? Most of us will be absolutely delighted (mainly for Dan himself but also, selfishly, as GB tennis fans) if he continues to put the past behind him and ends up fulfilling his obvious potential.

Also, I'm well aware that people don't all have the same natural body shape (there is quite a bit of variety even among players in the top 100) and the more Marcus proves that he is fitter than he looks by continuing to do well in the brutal conditions out in Kuwait, the happier all of us will be. However, even he must surely know that he could get fitter and then do even better and the fact Gary says Marcus has asked for an off-season fitness program to be set up shows that he knows it is the next step. In fact, that's a very positive thing - he has made spectacular progress this year and one of the main things he needs to sort out to make even more progress next year is something that is almost completely under his control - as with Evo, the future could be very bright!

We hugely value input from people like you who have inside info (especially when it helps any speculation that actually is wrong to be put to bed) but we should be allowed to have opinions and raise questions too without being accused of slagging players off and while the majority of us lack any real inside knowledge, there are some things you don't need day to day access to a player to have a valid opinion about.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

And in the doubles we're into a MTB . . .

steven · Tennis legend

0-4* ... things can only get better (hopefully!) - there's a big streak on the line here, after all

wolf · Tennis legend

F: (3) Ruan Roelofse & Tak Khunn Wang (RSA/FRA) WR 1296 beat (1) Lewis Burton & Marcus Willis WR 1066 4-6 6-3 [10-6] cry

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

steven wrote:
0-4* ... things can only get better (hopefully!) - there's a big streak on the line here, after all

I read that as 'there's a big streaker on the line here' which REALLY got my imagination kick-started ! smile

Shame about that but it was still an excellent run. On to the singles tomorrow . . . hope his back's OK.

steven · Tennis legend

Well, things did get better but not better enough. A bit gutted for the boys, since they were just a few points away from going through September undefeated, but their winning streak together ends at 13 (though 16 for Marcus given than he also won a title with George Coupland in the last week of August, as has no doubt been mentioned before.

DWH · Club Coach

Marcus is up a break 4-1 in the first set.

Edit: Now 5-2. No break points conceded, 1/1 taken.

-- Edited by DWH on Saturday 28th of September 2013 07:38:39 AM

freerider · Futures level

livescores can be found on itf livescore (sorry tried to post the link but it didn't work.

Willis a break down in set two 3-0*

-- Edited by freerider on Saturday 28th of September 2013 07:55:47 AM

-- Edited by freerider on Saturday 28th of September 2013 07:57:16 AM

john · Top national player

Is there actually any evidence whatsoever that Marcus has "fitness" problems. As johnnylad pointed out, he seemed to outlast his opponent the other day in extreme conditions.

He my be a big lad, but does that actually prove that he is anything other than extrememly fit? Not necessarily. He might lose some bulk and lose some power, which I assume his game relies on if his movement is indeed hindered by his "rugby forward" build.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

5*-1 to Ivo.

my livescores keeps re-setting and all I get is the qualies for next week's Kuwait futures !

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 28th of September 2013 08:15:16 AM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Klek wins the second set 6-1

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 28th of September 2013 08:15:38 AM