Bob in Belgium is in the house - with the heating on full blast. I am not used to (or liking) these temperatures. Made it as far as Charleroi this evening and driving to Ghent in the morning. Glad Andy kept his part of the bargain and leveled the tie at 1-1.

I was truly gutted for Kyle. For 2 sets he looked like a world beater. In fairness, I think Goffin was all over the place, but perhaps that was simply because of the quality and power of Kyle's onslaught. Didn't see much after that as I was heading for the airport. It is true that Kyle's movement is his biggest weakness and I think when he starts to get tired, that problem is exacerbated. Maybe that was the problem. Or maybe he simply began to sense the enormity of what was going on. Having not seen the last three sets, it is difficult to say.

But the first two sets proved to many who may never seen him before, what he is capable of. He will have his day.

Hoping for a dominant display in the doubles tomorrow to keep Andy as fresh as a daisy for Sunday.

indiana wrote:

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Not a huge JL supporter, but I do recall him commenting on Kyle's top 50 chances and basically indicating that he had a decent chance of reaching the top 50 but top 20 say would could get a whole lot tougher and one thing he would certainly need to improve is his defensive movement.

Without arrguing ranking figures, I think he's absolutely right about defensive movement, which was something I have thought before and was thinking today even in the first set. I would have been saying "move him around, David".

Kyle does have big strengths, the serve and the err forehand ( and as I already said JL is of course well aware it is the forehand ), but that is an area of concern. I guess stepping round his backhand can certainly leave him often vulnerable, but that defensive anticipation and movement is IMO not up with the generality of at least the top 50 players.

-- Edited by indiana on Friday 27th of November 2015 10:09:50 PM

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I agree with most of this, although I'm not that impressed with Kyle's serve at the moment. It has relatively little variety. No surprise factor, and Kyle often hits too many flat bombs that opponents can zone in on. Massive forehand, yes. A monster weapon. Solid backhand, but nothing special. Solid court craft, but nothing special. Average movement and anticipation. Average endurance. But all of these things keep on improving, and will get better yet. And Kyle had shown he can battle with the best and win tournaments......so I'm certain he will keep rising up those rankings. Top 50. Almost certainly. Top 20. Not for me, but you never know. A mighty fine player!

korriban wrote:

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indiana wrote:

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Not a huge JL supporter, but I do recall him commenting on Kyle's top 50 chances and basically indicating that he had a decent chance of reaching the top 50 but top 20 say would could get a whole lot tougher and one thing he would certainly need to improve is his defensive movement.

Without arrguing ranking figures, I think he's absolutely right about defensive movement, which was something I have thought before and was thinking today even in the first set. I would have been saying "move him around, David".

Kyle does have big strengths, the serve and the err forehand ( and as I already said JL is of course well aware it is the forehand ), but that is an area of concern. I guess stepping round his backhand can certainly leave him often vulnerable, but that defensive anticipation and movement is IMO not up with the generality of at least the top 50 players.

-- Edited by indiana on Friday 27th of November 2015 10:09:50 PM

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I agree with most of this, although I'm not that impressed with Kyle's serve at the moment. It has relatively little variety. No surprise factor, and Kyle often hits too many flat bombs that opponents can zone in on. Massive forehand, yes. A monster weapon. Solid backhand, but nothing special. Solid court craft, but nothing special. Average movement and anticipation. Average endurance. But all of these things keep on improving, and will get better yet. And Kyle had shown he can battle with the best and win tournaments......so I'm certain he will keep rising up those rankings. Top 50. Almost certainly. Top 20. Not for me, but you never know. A mighty fine player!

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 Top 50 a certainty but top 20 unlikely?
 
The gap between 15 in the world and 50 really isn't all that large.

And as pointed out, Goffin, for instance, was far, far lower down the rankings at the age Kyle is now. In-fact, many players who have historically made the top 20 had a weaker track record. 

Top 10, you might have a point. I think top 20 is very feasible though. Hell, when someone like Victor Troicki can make the top 10 in his career, I think someone with Kyle's talent, attitude and professionalism stands a very good chance of at least making the top 20 at some point in his career.

Goffin and Darcis for the Belgian doubles.

Bit of a surprise that it's Goffin rather than Bemelmans and that the doubles is where the Belgians are putting all their eggs above the Goffin vs Andy singles match and saving Goffin. The Brits practising a lot with the leftie Ken Skupski suggested to some that they expected Bemelmans to play.

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 28th of November 2015 01:42:08 PM

We're off and running, 1-0*

And as soon as I say that, GB go down 0-30 and then 30-40, but they pull out the hold. 5-4*.

Castle as clueless as ever. He's referred to Jamie as Andy on at least three different occasions so far.

And GB break for the set! Great timing. 6-4.