First set down the pan

Wardy a break down :((((( 2-4*

steven wrote:

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FQR: (q8) James Ward WR 178 lost to (q4) Ricardas Berankis (LTU) WR 153 (CH 67 last May) by 5 & 3

James will be 1st in line for a lucky loser spot if Guez beats Schoorel, 2nd behind Guez otherwise.

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So far, so good:  Guez has just taken the first set by 6-2... 

James started his match solidly enough and quickly went 2-0 up, although in truth Berankis gave him those two games with a string of UEs. From then on, Berankis gave him nothing at all and played a very controlled game.

Berankis plays his tennis like a chess match which was never going to be a good match up for James. He rarely hits with much power but has a great ability to move his opponent around the court. He had James scampering all over the place and after those 1st two games there were very few errors. James battled away as he always does but struggled to find answers to the tactical problems he was being set and when he tried to up the pace and attack, his rhythm wasn't quite there and several attempted passing shots went just long.

That isn't to say he didn't have his chances. Serving at *4-3 in the 1st set, two service winners saw him at 30-0. On the next point he played a fabulous attacking forehand down the line. Berankis, at full stretch, barely got a racket on the ball and simply chipped a slow short return bouncing on the T. James had a chance to kill the point there and then but chose to chip and charge with a backhand sliced approach which he hit long. Berankis won the next 3 points and I don' think James got his nose back in front at any stage.

Without wishing ill on anyone, let's hope James sneaks in on a LL spot and does an Evo.

One final comment for now is about the crowd. There were several school parties there to boost the numbers within the sparse crowd. And whilst it is great to get the youngsters there watching tennis, there doesn't seem much point dragging along the ones who don't really want to be there.

The vast majority of them had no interest in the tennis and even less in the necessary etiquette on such occasions. They talked their way through the whole morning and listened to music on their I-phones, at times singing along as if they were in the school playground.

Consequently the matches were played against a constant backdrop of noise causing the players to pull away during the service action on multiple occasions. They were upset that the umpires (particularly during Wardy's match) did very little to stop the noise. Berankis in particular complained on numerous occasions and was right to do so.

-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Thursday 28th of November 2019 07:14:16 PM

See you guys noticed the MTO for Wardy. Just seemed to be a contact lens problem - assuming he wears contacts.

L32: (WC) Kyle Edmund WR 322 v Tobias Kamke GER WR 89 (CH 64 in 2011)
L32: (Q) Dan Evans WR 124 v Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR WR 91 (CH 31 in 2010)

Guez won so James is first in line for a lucky loser place.

-- Edited by steven on Monday 17th of February 2014 02:36:41 PM