Week 6 - ATP 500, Rotterdam, NED - Indoor Hard - doubles

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

RE: Week 6 - ATP 500, Rotterdam, NED - Indoor Hard - doubles

Jan · Hall of fame

Kounosuke wrote:
Jan wrote:
well done to the J's!
Out of curiosity, if Bautista and Sousa are ranked so far below the J's, how come they were in the main draw and the J's had to go through qualies? (Sorry - there is probably a very straightforward reason!)
They're using their Singles rankings (16+46) to get in to MD the Doubles tournament.

ah thank you!

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
And John & Jamie take full advantage of their stroke of good fortune:
R1: (LL) Jamie Murray & John Peers CR 73 (36+37) defeated Roberto Bautista & João Sousa (ESP/POR) CR 310 (229+81) by 3 & 4
They won't have such an easy ride in the QF, though:
QF: (1) Julien Benneteau & Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA/FRA) CR 12 (5+7) vs (LL) Jamie Murray & John Peers CR 73 (36+37)
It gets better saw the top seeds have withdrawn giving Jamie and John a W/O into the semis.

Excellent! biggrin

Jaffa · Challenger level

Without wishing too ill on either Julien or Edouard, glad that J&J have taken advantage of their good fortune.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
And John & Jamie take full advantage of their stroke of good fortune:
R1: (LL) Jamie Murray & John Peers CR 73 (36+37) defeated Roberto Bautista & João Sousa (ESP/POR) CR 310 (229+81) by 3 & 4
They won't have such an easy ride in the QF, though:
QF: (1) Julien Benneteau & Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA/FRA) CR 12 (5+7) vs (LL) Jamie Murray & John Peers CR 73 (36+37)
It gets better saw the top seeds have withdrawn giving Jamie and John a W/O into the semis.

I was prepared to be cynical, given that both Frogs had big matches coming up in the singles, but the PDF version of the draw gives the reason for the withdrawal as a "lower body injury" to Benneteau &, to be fair, he lost his first-round match against Chardy by 3-3 retired, while ERV, a qualifier, lost to Monfils by 3 & 2...

EddietheEagle · County player

Intersting match-up today on Court 1 at 11.00am with three top British doubles specialists involved.

In my view, Team GB's best Davis Cup pick is not A. Murray plus A.N.Other. Davis Cup is a team effort, not a one man band. Picking Andy for doubles when we have excellent doubles players (players who have chosen to specialise in that discipline) would do nothing for their morale generally. Andy's doubles record in Davis Cup isn't that good and it's unlikely that any GB doubles pair, whatever the combination, would beat the Bryan Brothers anyway. Best to have Murray concentrate exclusively at what he excels.

goldfish · Futures qualifying

Interesting - according to this blog

eeyoretennisblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/we-have-a-murray-in-the-semi-final-at-rotterdam-already/

Andy was going to play doubles with James Ward

emma · Strong Club Player

EddietheEagle wrote:
Intersting match-up today on Court 1 at 11.00am with three top British doubles specialists involved.

In my view, Team GB's best Davis Cup pick is not A. Murray plus A.N.Other. Davis Cup is a team effort, not a one man band. Picking Andy for doubles when we have excellent doubles players (players who have chosen to specialise in that discipline) would do nothing for their morale generally. Andy's doubles record in Davis Cup isn't that good and it's unlikely that any GB doubles pair, whatever the combination, would beat the Bryan Brothers anyway. Best to have Murray concentrate exclusively at what he excels.

yes, tend to agree with your point Eddie. It is a team effort and only last week in the Fed Cup the doubles team were amazing so anything can happen. I always feel a little disappointment when Andy steps into doubles. don't know who makes the ultimate decision whether its Andy or Leon but well whatever they decide will happen and I'll support that.

goldenboy · Club Coach

random that muller withdrew from the doubles but was fine to play (and win) singles

my view in the DC is that in isolation, Andy + one other would be the best combination. however, given that Andy will also be playing 2 singles matches, I think its best to go with a specialist team for the doubles.

indiana · Tennis legend

Davis Cup is about winning, and if the perceived most likely way to achieve that is Andy playing 3 matches, then that is sensibly the way to go.

And while we do clearly have some excellent doubles players, to me Andy would be in our best pair.

The Bryans almost certainly being involved may complicate things a bit, and it is one tie I might be tempted to pick 2 doubles specialists in the team of 4 and play them both if we are 2-0 ( as last year ). But at the more likely 1-1 score, I would play Andy.

However much Andy is involved, the Davis Cup choice almost always seems pretty pragmatic ( I'd say Ross Hutchins being in Naples with no further backup excepted ). That in itself earns respect.

Of course players want to play, but as long as they recognise that the selection is in the best interests of the team winning ( as distinct to any supposed messages it might send ), you should have much less of an issue.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

R1: Dom Inglot & Florin Mergea (ROU) CR 65 (46+19) defeated (Q) Colin Fleming & Jonny Marray CR 139 (79+60) by 6-2 7-6(2) smile cry

*****

QF: (4) Rohan Bopanna & Daniel Nestor CR 31 (26+6) vs Dom Inglot & Florin Mergea (ROU) CR 65 (46+19)

Win that & they take on Jamie & John in the semi.

Spectator · All-time great

You have to feel for Mr Fleming and Mr Marray. You play a FQR. You win fair and square. As a reward, you get a top in-form doubles pairing. Meanwhile, the pair who lost to you get in as LLs, are given a weak 1st round draw, and then get a w/o to the semis. Ouch.

That said, well done to Mr Inglot and Mr Mergea, and good luck to them in the next round.

Sim · County player

Spectator wrote:
You have to feel for Mr Fleming and Mr Marray. You play a FQR. You win fair and square. As a reward, you get a top in-form doubles pairing. Meanwhile, the pair who lost to you get in as LLs, are given a weak 1st round draw, and then get a w/o to the semis. Ouch.

That said, well done to Mr Inglot and Mr Mergea, and good luck to them in the next round.

That is why it is called Lucky Loser, although in this case perhaps VLL (Very Lucky Loser) would be more appropriate.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Well, M. Muller looks like he's recovered - beats Dimitrov in two sets :)

(well done, Jamie D)

Miriambee · Futures level

Miriambee wrote:
spud wrote:
It gives the reason for withdrawing as Muller-'Illness' ... which I'm sure was just a way of getting Jamie in, especially after Muller posted a big first round win in the singles
Lets see if he gives a walkover in the singles for R2 then?

Well he didn't, of course!, only went and won against Dimitrov, so for Muller - illness, read muller tiredness, in my book!