Week 8 - ATP 250 - Marseille (Hard)

DWH · Club Coach

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

TMH · Futures qualifying

6 points in the bag and will probably play Berankis (WR 153) in the FQR - tough match but the Lithuanian is known to blow hot and cold. Berankis currently leads Texeira 6-1, *0-1.

RJA · Hall of fame

Likely to be Berenkis in the final round which would be a pretty tough match.

TMH · Futures qualifying

Round-up of today's QR2's then:

QR2: (q2) Dan Evans WR 123 beat Roberto Marcora (ITA) WR 348 by 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4. smile
QR2: (q8) James Ward WR 178 beat Lorenzo Giustino (ITA) WR 229 (CH 228 in Jan) by 6-4, 6-2. smile

paulisi · Tennis legend

Nice to see James string a couple of wins together and pick up some points.

I wander if there is a bit more drive/motivation this week, with Kyle and Dan there pushing each other on and the fact this is a tour event.

steven · Tennis legend

FQR: (q2) Dan Evans WR 123 v Henri Laaksonen (SUI) WR 241 (CH 187 last Jul)
FQR: (q8) James Ward WR 178 v (q4) Ricardas Berankis (LTU) WR 153 (CH 67 last May)

Ward v Berankis H2H: 0-1 - that 7-6(4) 6-3 6-4 Berankis win in Davis Cup in 2010

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Good wins today. Will type a couple of reports out now, so should be ready in a couple of hours (or in French) because of the keyboard.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Evo came through a tough match today. Marcora was off to a flyer at the start of the match and it was clear he had every intention of keeping the points short. He simply went for winners on almost every shot. By the time he was 4-2 up, he had only won one point where the rally went beyond 4 shots. In truth that only happened about 5 times. 90% or the rallies were either Marcora winners (mostly off his single handed backhand) or Marcora errors very early in the rally. His serving stats in the 1st set were 71% first serves, 7 aces and probably the same number again or more of unreturnable serves. Evo couldn't get any rhythm going and at times his frustration showed. It was really just a case of trying to weather the storm and survive.

There were signs towards the end of the set that Evo was beginning to get into the match, but the tiebreak ran away very quickly. Marcora took the 1st mini break with a BH winner down the line. Evo followed up with a couple of errors and Marcora was 5-0 up and there was no way back.

Evo, to his credit kept fighting and having gone a break down early in the 2nd set, started to be more aggressive. The Marcora storm also showed signs of abating (cause and effect?) and from 3-1 down, Evo won 5 games in a row.

The 3rd set was much more under Evo's control. He broke early and served well. He was never really under pressure on his serve and in the end deserved his win.

I must have been quite animated on the sidelines as after the match, a French spectator sitting close by asked me if I was Evo's dad. Made me feel old !!

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Wardy played great today. Or as I told him after the match - "not bad for gooner".

Giustino was a feisty little Itailan whose sole purpose in life seemed to be to bash a tennis ball as hard as he could at every opportunity. There was no subtlety to his game at all, although he did hit a clean ball quite regularly. But this tactic seemed to bring the best out in James who decided to meet fire with fire.

As some people here see to believe (correctly in my opinion) James is at his best when he is aggressive. And that was the case today throughout the whole match. He also served consistently well and on the one occasion when he was under pressure at 15-40, two big service winners overcame that problem. Another plus was that James' forehand was a lot more reliable today than yesterday.

One break in the 7th game of the 1st set was enough for a 6-4 win and when James broke again in the opening game of the 2nd, there was an air of inevitability about the result. James broke again mid set and then served out without any drama.

All-in-all, a really solid performance.

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Tuesday 18th of February 2014 10:29:53 PM

Jan · Hall of fame

thanks for the reports Bob.
Glad to see the two wins!

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Definitely. Many thanks for the reports. But how old are you ?

(I could be Evo's grandmother )

-- Edited by Julia Carrot on Sunday 16th of February 2014 05:18:52 PM

RJA · Hall of fame

Evo first up tomorrow at 11:00 local time (10:00 GMT), immediately followed by James.

Colin and Ross then play their opening doubles match later in the day.

-- Edited by RJA on Sunday 16th of February 2014 05:45:25 PM

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Julia Carrot wrote:
Definitely. Many thanks for the reports. But how old are you ?

(I could be Evo's grandmother )

-- Edited by Julia Carrot on Sunday 16th of February 2014 05:18:52 PM

Old enough to be his dad, but not (quite) his grandad smile

Julia Carrot · All-time great

biggrin biggrin biggrin

LouieG · County player

Good luck to Evo & Ward today, you can do it guys!