Week 2 - Australian Open men's qualifying - Hard

Jiwan · Club Coach

RE: Week 2 - Australian Open men's qualifying - Hard

Spectator · All-time great

Mr Brown does as Mr Brown does, and that's part of what makes him one of the most popular players in tennis (unusually for a player relatively low in the rankings). And I wouldn't wish the UK media circus on anyone. (Not to denigrate the efforts of many fine journalists ... but the totality is problematic).

Looks like the French and US men had quite a good run today. So at least two of the GS nations got somewhere!

Jiwan · Club Coach

Agreed and on his day he can give anyone a run for their pennies....and it's a breath of fresh air to see to see personalities on the court. I know technicians win tournaments and become legends but as many will queue up to be entertained by the 'dustins' I try to avoid the negative opinions of those that knock our GB professionals, press or otherwise. unless you've walked in their shoes or know the athlete then maybe hold off on the bad vibes.

steven · Tennis legend

Thanks for the report, Jiwan. It sounds a lot more encouraging re Dan than the scoreline might suggest.

For those coming to this even later than me, here's the full rundown:

QR1: Dan Cox WR 251 lost to (q4) Denis Kudla (USA) WR 113 (CH 90 in Jul) by 4 & 1

QR1: (q26) Dan Evans WR 149 beat Huang Liang-Chi (TPE) WR 264 (CH 228 in Sep) by 1 & 2

QR1: James Ward WR 166 lost to Andrea Arnaboldi (ITA) WR 213 (CH 206 in 2009) by 7-6(2) 6-4

QR2: (q26) Dan Evans WR 149 v Márton Fucsovics (HUN) WR 182 (CH 179 last month)

steven · Tennis legend

Also, Dan is 5th on Court 8 tonight, not before 03.30 GMT (but probably more like 05.00)

Jan · Hall of fame

so pleased to see that Dan won!

RJA · Hall of fame

Fucsovics had a very easy 6-1, 6-2 win against Balleret but to put this in context Balleret didn't play a single match on any surface other than clay in the whole of 2013. He did play qualifying in Madras last week but lost in the first round.

stevemcqueen · Futures qualifying

I watched Dustin at Roehampton last summer. He is an exciting player. I shocked by how skinny his ankles are! Not much meatier than a ballerinas! A few years ago there was a chance that he was going to take British nationality ( He was essentially stateless). He would have been a real asset to British tennis and would have inspired a large group of youngsters that tennis does not currently appeal to. He would have helped reduce the perception that people have that tennis is an elitist sport.

as for working on his tan (!) and listening to music after a loss, different players deal with defeat in different ways. Tim always used to take some kind of positive from even the most abject loss which was just as absurd. Other players smash rackets. There is nothing wrong with trying to reduce the emotional peaks and troughs of pro sport. He'll need to get back up, Dustim self off (Oh no, not me as well!!) and get back to hard work. We'll be seeing him again soon enough.

Anyway, good luck to Dan in the next round....

Spectator · All-time great

Et tu, SteveMcQueen?

Jesting aside, I think that, leaving aside the fact that he's such an exciting player to watch, which makes him a fan favourite, many people admire Mr Brown because his commitment to being a tennis player has already brought him through the kind of trials that prove how much a person wants to play. Very little support from his (original) home federation. No wealthy association or sponsor behind him. Driving from Futures tournament to Futures tournament in a camper van ... As you rightly say, you don't need to do "sturm und drang" after a loss to show your commitment.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

stevemcqueen wrote:
I watched Dustin at Roehampton last summer. He is an exciting player. I shocked by how skinny his ankles are! Not much meatier than a ballerinas! A few years ago there was a chance that he was going to take British nationality ( He was essentially stateless). He would have been a real asset to British tennis and would have inspired a large group of youngsters that tennis does not currently appeal to. He would have helped reduce the perception that people have that tennis is an elitist sport.
as for working on his tan (!) and listening to music after a loss, different players deal with defeat in different ways. Tim always used to take some kind of positive from even the most abject loss which was just as absurd. Other players smash rackets. There is nothing wrong with trying to reduce the emotional peaks and troughs of pro sport. He'll need to get back up, Dustim self off (Oh no, not me as well!!) and get back to hard work. We'll be seeing him again soon enough.
Anyway, good luck to Dan in the next round....

Funny you say that. I saw Dustin at the Wimbly qualies too and also thought his ankles, and calves, were just oh so delicate, rather like a long-legged bird. Great fun to watch, though, as someone else said above. I think he's great mates with Emily W.-Smith - they're both slightly off-beat with a touch of the flower-power about them (and very endearing it is too).

savva0122 · Intermediate Club Player

Encouraging score from Dan E - his report on BBC website is also positive and let's hope he can continue.
Hoping the ladies do better tonight!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Well, the French had a pretty decent day yesterday, with 7 wins out of 11.

But, beforehand, when asking the forumites what the chances were for the French guys, the only consensus seemed to be that (in translation):

'in the section of the draw with Gicquel, Millot and Balleret, there'll definitely be one who gets through from that lot :)'

So if Dan could kindly rain on their parade for a little longer . . . .

TMH · Futures qualifying

stevemcqueen wrote:
I watched Dustin at Roehampton last summer. He is an exciting player. I shocked by how skinny his ankles are! Not much meatier than a ballerinas! A few years ago there was a chance that he was going to take British nationality ( He was essentially stateless). He would have been a real asset to British tennis and would have inspired a large group of youngsters that tennis does not currently appeal to. He would have helped reduce the perception that people have that tennis is an elitist sport.
as for working on his tan (!) and listening to music after a loss, different players deal with defeat in different ways. Tim always used to take some kind of positive from even the most abject loss which was just as absurd. Other players smash rackets. There is nothing wrong with trying to reduce the emotional peaks and troughs of pro sport. He'll need to get back up, Dustim self off (Oh no, not me as well!!) and get back to hard work. We'll be seeing him again soon enough.
Anyway, good luck to Dan in the next round....

I think Murray has already achieved that.

Coup Droit wrote:

Well, the French had a pretty decent day yesterday, with 7 wins out of 11.

But, beforehand, when asking the forumites what the chances were for the French guys, the only consensus seemed to be that (in translation):

'in the section of the draw with Gicquel, Millot and Balleret, there'll definitely be one who gets through from that lot :)'

So if Dan could kindly rain on their parade for a little longer . . . .

I thought Balleret was a Monaco national?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, he is, and a 'proper' one too i.e. born and bred there.

But most of the French think of Monaco as a sort of French tax aberration and so he's sort of quasi-French.

(Just to say, nothing against the French guys doing great, quite the opposite in fact (with a particular soft spot for the 'oldies' - three guys well over thirty left in and with a good chance - and baby-faced Enzo) but I just feel they've got enough and they (and the East Europeans) should leave Dan's path clear). :)

DWH · Club Coach

Dan had been holding comfortably it seems with Fucsovics only winning two points on Dan's serve until *4-5 when he broke to love to take the first set. I think there were two double faults in the game.

4-6

Come on Evo!