Week 8 - ATP 250 - Marseille (Hard)

A131 · Intermediate Club Player

RE: Week 8 - ATP 250 - Marseille (Hard)

RJA · Hall of fame

It's probably more a case of mental stamina than physical stamina.

Stakhovsky is also a good front runner, once he gets ahead he is difficult to catch.

steven · Tennis legend

Stakh breaks again but just when he looks down and out, Dan gets break back points, which Stakh manages to save (at least one with another ace) ... Evo then holds to love to leave Stakh serving for the match.

6-3 6-7(4) 2-5*

steven · Tennis legend

15-40 ... and Dan gets one of the breaks back!

6-3 6-7(4) *3-5

Tennisnow · Lower Club Player

Poor Dan has been able to maintain his intensity for 3 sets in recent tournaments. If you look at the games he's won in three, the set he's lost is a one-sided set which means he can focus on the decider.

Still, an encouraging result which gives confidence that he can beat players like Stakhovsky on another day.

-- Edited by Tennisnow on Tuesday 18th of February 2014 03:22:21 PM

RJA · Hall of fame

Stakh served it out with 3 aces in the final game (at *4-1 he also saved two break points with aces).

You just can't give decent players a a two break lead on indoor hard.

airsmashers · County player

Stakhovsky's experience probably telling in the end

steven · Tennis legend

L32: (Q) Dan Evans WR 124 lost to Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR WR 91 (CH 31 in 2010) by 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4

Spectator · All-time great

Not a bad score against a player with far more experience playing at this level.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Evo played great today. No time for a report as I am already missing Jonny Marray's match and need to get back for the Skupskis.

In the end, Stakhovsky served superbly on the most important points. The result could easily have gone the other way.

More later.

RJA · Hall of fame

The important thing for me is that in 3 different ATP events this year Dan has shown that he can be competitive at this level.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Shame, but at least he got the 12 points for qualifying.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Two down, one to go!

R1: Paul Hanley (AUS) & Jonny Marray CR 128 (82+46) defeated (WC) Hsin-Han Lee & Chieh-Fu Wang (TPE/TPE) CR 712 (157+555) by 4 & 3 smile

45 points in the bag, but probably no more to come in the south of France: it'll be a big upset if it's not Llodra & Mahut in the QF. hmm

indiana · Tennis legend

Pity, but another encouragingly close scoreline.

And I was certainly imagining that Dan played closer to "great" as Bob briefly reports rather than possibly "badly", given Stakhovsky is still generally a very decent player, as was thrown in earlier as a possibility.

The win would have been very nice, but he has come out this year with a pleasing consistency.

Spectator · All-time great

As we await BiS's (BiF's?) next report, just trying to work out when the last time was that a roving reporter could have watched two GB MD singles and three GB MD doubles matches at ATP level in the same (non-Slam) tournament on the same day outside the UK. Any takers?