Week 4 - USA F3 ($10,000) - Weston, FL (clay)

Tennis36 · Masters Series Champion

RE: Week 4 - USA F3 ($10,000) - Weston, FL (clay)

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Any idea what his plans are after DC will it be futures in Murcia and Cartagena again?

RJA · Hall of fame

Futures in Croatia in week 7. Wild Card in ATP Marseille the following week

-- Edited by RJA on Sunday 26th of January 2014 07:01:52 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

Another really good weeek for Kyle, and Crivoi is very decent on clay. Still, maybe in general a reality check re any possible Davis Cup playing role. Understandable that he was rather physically tired, ahough he did appear to fade away fairly dramatically. The Davis Cup though could be emotionally tiring.

A lot really depends on how good James looks in practice. I still certainly think that a fairly reasonably firing James should be the selection.

steven · Tennis legend

C10s says he spoke to Crivoi after the match and the Romanian thought Kyle was cramping a bit in the 3rd set.

Jan · Hall of fame

Ah I missed all the action.
A good week for Kyle, despite the loss.
Not sure about the DC - but hope it's a good experience for him, whoever ends up playing.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Oakland2002 wrote:
Any idea what his plans are after DC will it be futures in Murcia and Cartagena again?

I wish it was. I know I would enjoy it.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Missed the whole thing - a day full of minor (luckily) household disasters made me completely forget about this match. A bit worrying if he was really cramping in the third set - in DC you have to play at least 3 sets.

Priesty · Challenger level

Sometimes defeats like this are no bad thing - I'm sure Kyle and those around him will use it as a learning curve and it'll help him stay grounded, not that he isn't already of course.

Agree about this probably being not quite the right time for him to play live DC rubbers and that Wardy should be the ideal choice. It's just a pity that since the latest Evo scenario the options are very limited.

RJA · Hall of fame

Madeline wrote:
Missed the whole thing - a day full of minor (luckily) household disasters made me completely forget about this match. A bit worrying if he was really cramping in the third set - in DC you have to play at least 3 sets.

To be brutally honest if a player cramps in the third set it would be totally irresponsible to throw him into a best of 5 set match. In many ways the first day doesn't matter. Unless Isner is injured there is no way Kyle is beating him but on the third day Kyle could face a deciding rubber against Querrey. Okay, I know he wouldn't be under that much pressure because he would be expected to lose but it isn't inconceivable that he puts up a fight. Imagine that it went to fifth set and Kyle's stamina him down, worse still imagine if he went two sets up and couldn't finish the job due to lack of fitness. That kind of defeat could be very damaging, even to someone as mature as Kyle, as he would no doubt feel that he had let the team down. There is simply no way that he should be put in this position when the squad includes a player in James Ward who has proven that he can play 5 set matches.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Kyle cramping, now I think I've heard that story before, and that guy didn't have such a bad career.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, that Andy Murray character, who rather dramatically cramped at Queens, and then after winning two rounds at Wimbledon was memorably two sets up against David Nalbandian, but he agonisingly couldn't complete the job largely due to his fitness at that time.

Best of five, particularly on clay, can be unforgiving.

Kyle's time to play Davis Cup will almost certainly come, but I don't see it as now.

korriban · Challenger level

I don't agree with the consensus on this......,

IMO James cannot win either match on clay, however fit. With 4 days light training Kyle has a small chance, but it's still a chance. I wouldn't expect either to win and I'd rather see Kyle get the experience (like Coric) than watch James go through the motions.

steven · Tennis legend

Challenger10s's report on the Final: http://bit.ly/1iBZtPQ

Tennis Nut · Social player

I know little compared to most of the posters on here but my view is Kyle had no match practice between the end of September and starting the tournament in Sunrise (apart from one match in India). Whilst he has worked on his physical development, nothing really prepares you for matches like matches.

So to play 10 matches in 12 days, winning all but the last match shouldn't we expect him to run out of steam. I expect he will go away now, rest for a day or two and then be ready for a five setter. Hope so smile