Week 12 - ATP Masters 1000 - Miami FL, USA - Hard - (ex-AM) singles & doubles

RJA · Hall of fame

RE: Week 12 - ATP Masters 1000 - Miami FL, USA (ex-AM) - Hard

A131 · Intermediate Club Player

Jan wrote:
oh crumbs, I disappear for a few minutes and Dan's lost.
Shame - I wonder if his knee is still an issue?

And I wonder if you are just looking for excuses - maybe ang just handled the conditions better.

Jan · Hall of fame

A131 wrote:
Jan wrote:
oh crumbs, I disappear for a few minutes and Dan's lost.
Shame - I wonder if his knee is still an issue?
And I wonder if you are just looking for excuses - maybe ang just handled the conditions better.

No I'm not looking for excuses - just wondering

indiana · Tennis legend

I wonder if purely wondering about a recent issue is really looking for excuses.

Yes, I wouldn't disagree that I sometimes think the "maybe they are / they must be injured" type of comment is resorted to by some folk a bit often after negative scorelines.

But seemed fair enough here.

RJA · Hall of fame

Well he did tweet a picture only a few days ago where he had some sort of probe on his knee so it is quite possible that it might still be a slight issue. That being said yesterday's very good win seems to indicate that it isn't a major problem.

Ratty · County player

An inconsistent player is, er, inconsistent. Earth-shattering news.

smile

steven · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
I wonder if purely wondering about a recent issue is really looking for excuses.

Yes, I wouldn't disagree that I sometimes think the "maybe they are / they must be injured" type of comment is resorted to by some folk a bit often after negative scorelines.

But seemed fair enough here.

Yes, I think it's fair enough to wonder (even if the theory that Wang simply handled the conditions better might be correct) - the knee clearly isn't too bad to play on but must come under a lot of stress during a match and if it's delicate at the moment, it seems more than possible that an awkward movement could have set it off again and made a significant difference towards the end of the match.

Someone has tweeted me with a theory that all the breaks means the match must have been fixed, which seems a lot LESS plausible than either Dan's injury playing up OR the conditions deteriorating and Wang handling them better!

Jan · Hall of fame

Oh dear - I'm sorry! I was really only trying to find something remotely intelligent to say.

indiana · Tennis legend

Nothing to be sorry about, Jan !!

steven · Tennis legend

No need to apologise, Jan - we're all just wondering what happened (it's natural enough when a match goes like that and we can't see what's really going on) - as I said in the last post, I think both your theory and A131's could be valid (though I wouldn't give that same credence to the fix theory on Twitter!)

-- Edited by steven on Tuesday 18th of March 2014 04:45:12 PM

A131 · Intermediate Club Player

RJA wrote:
Well he did tweet a picture only a few days ago where he had some sort of probe on his knee so it is quite possible that it might still be a slight issue. That being said yesterday's very good win seems to indicate that it isn't a major problem.

Well this is what I was getting at - his knee wasn't mentioned at all after he won yesterday looking back over the comments (well barely anyway - got the usual great win, should have a good chance next round sort of comment etc etc).

steven · Tennis legend

A131 wrote:
RJA wrote:
Well he did tweet a picture only a few days ago where he had some sort of probe on his knee so it is quite possible that it might still be a slight issue. That being said yesterday's very good win seems to indicate that it isn't a major problem.
Well this is what I was getting at - his knee wasn't mentioned at all after he won yesterday looking back over the comments (well barely anyway - got the usual great win, should have a good chance next round sort of comment etc etc).

True, we all hoped that meant it was better, but if it's still a bit dodgy, it's all too easy to tweak it during a match and be hampered again. Once again, I'm not saying you're wrong, just that the knee going again is a valid theory.

Latest from the 'fix' theorist:

"So for u is normal to defeat Smyczek 64 62 with 75% on serve and today 5 followed breaks at serve + 4/20points at serve in 2nd set"

My reply? "For Dan it is" ...

A131 · Intermediate Club Player

steven wrote:
A131 wrote:
RJA wrote:
Well he did tweet a picture only a few days ago where he had some sort of probe on his knee so it is quite possible that it might still be a slight issue. That being said yesterday's very good win seems to indicate that it isn't a major problem.
Well this is what I was getting at - his knee wasn't mentioned at all after he won yesterday looking back over the comments (well barely anyway - got the usual great win, should have a good chance next round sort of comment etc etc).
True, we all hoped that meant it was better, but if it's still a bit dodgy, it's all too easy to tweak it during a match and be hampered again. Once again, I'm not saying you're wrong, just that the knee going again is a valid theory.
Latest from the 'fix' theorist:
"So for u is normal to defeat Smyczek 64 62 with 75% on serve and today 5 followed breaks at serve + 4/20points at serve in 2nd set"
My reply? "For Dan it is" ...

Fair enough

indiana · Tennis legend

Good reply , Steven ! As Ratty pointed out, Evo is not the most consistent of players and there could be not a lot more to it than that ( but there might be ).

But anyway...

Re the wind possibly being a big factor - didn't Evo have a fairly awful looking loss in a gale last year quite soon after the US Open ?

Re his knee possibly being a factor, of course such things can reoccur and of course it was hardly mentioned after a good win. Would whatever knee it was ( and if indeed it is an issue again ) be a factor in his serving, i.e. the leg he launches off ?

philwrig · Hall of fame

Difficult to conclude why Evo lost.
Wang is a decent player, Evo is inconsistent, and he is carrying a niggle, so could all be contributory factors, plus other reasons which are not immediately obvious.