Stircrazy wrote:

---

QF:  (6) Dan Evans WR 123 defeated (Q) Marinko Matosevic (AUS) WR 375 by 3 & 5 

QF:  Liam Broady WR 279 defeated Amir Weintraub (ISR) WR 198 (aged 29) by 5 & 3 

*****

All the oldies are crawling out of the woodwork here & the young(-ish) guns are shooting 'em down (so far)!

SF:  (8) Konstantin Kravchuk (RUS) WR 125 (= CH - he's 31) vs Liam Broady WR 279

Kravchuk saw off Ito (3) in three sets.

The top seed, Berankis, or "Stakh" (5) for Dan in the semi.

---

SF:  (1) Ricardas Berankis (LTU) WR 55 (= CH) vs (6) Dan Evans WR 123

Dan has a score to settle:  he lost a tight five-setter to the Lithuanian in the Davis Cup in March 2010 (1-6 6-4 6-7 6-3 3-6), then in QR2 at Wimbledon by 5 & 3 later that same year...

Play starts at 1.00pm local tomorrow, I think that is 5.00am UK time.  There are two doubles matches first, then Liam, then Dan.  What is the average length of a doubles match these days?    I'm guessing that Liam will start around 8.30ish, which isn't too bad....

Bob in Spain wrote:

---

stevemcqueen wrote:

---

Play starts at 1.00pm local tomorrow, I think that is 5.00am UK time.  There are two doubles matches first, then Liam, then Dan.  What is the average length of a doubles match these days?    I'm guessing that Liam will start around 8.30ish, which isn't too bad....

---

  Sadly for me, 5am UK time means 1am Brazil time, so Liam will be starting around 3am to 4am for me.  Much as I would love to watch, I think I will just have to see the results when I wake up.  Sorry Liam/Dan.

---

 I'm sure as such an experienced poster here you know this already Bob but just in case you don't/for those who don't - you can watch the full match as though live at livestream.com/atp for all challengers (with commentary for most US challengers) - it is not quite as good because if you accidentally mouse over the picture you can see how far through the match you are which can give away whether there is a third set or come back etc. but better than just checking a result.

I know what you mean about the time bar giving away the result!  But I like to watch in "catch up" mode as you can fast forward the change overs and even between points.  On the subject of fast forwarding between points, does anybody know a reliable way of jumping forward 15seconds?  At the moment I have to use the cursor which means the I often go too far  and miss the next point.   I have to say I just love watching these challenger matches online!

stevemcqueen wrote:

---

I was impressed with Dan's intensity and desire today. It was tight in the 2nd set, with MM playing a couple of loose shoots when under some pressure at 5-6.  I have to somewhat disagree with a previous post re. variety on Dan's bh.  He defended consistenly with the slice, but hit over the ball when he wasn't taken wide and sometimes hit it with big power. His bh passing shots were impressive.  

Enjoy the w/e all!

---

Glad to hear it. I hadn't watched today's match  but was (as noted) going on some past matches that I'd seen. If he's now showing more variety, that's super.

Very pleased for the boys, great results so far and again another good use of Hilts's time, reflecting on a job well done in Dallas earlier this year with Dan and Kyle making the final.

Dan for me is not new Dan but more mature Dan. I think he has always been committed to and loved playing tennis, injury was a big part of his 2014 dip and he is now back to the type of form he was in 2013.

17-20 is about adapting technique honed in juniors to deal with and optimise the strength, power and new angles around the court that come with physical maturation.

20-24 is also about development, learning how to deal with the stresses and strains of playing the tour, learning how your skill set and the way you employ it allows you to win matches, understanding the limitations of your game and how to let things go, taking the positives and acknowledging but not being eaten up by the negatives of each performance.

Dan handled his loss to Kyle in Dallas very well, taking lots of positive energy from a great week letting the loss in the final go. So for me Dan is still Dan but 25 year old Dan as opposed to 23 year old Dan, those 2 years of development should allow him to make the top 100 and assuming good health stay there for a significant period of time.

Liam is now working his way through that period and I see a lot of similarities in terms of the way he should grow his game. In the absence of major weapons but a very solid rounded game, excellent movement, Liam needs to develop strategies to beat more powerful opponents, how to be patient, how to let things go, how to build pressure... Interesting times for both players.

NB big fan of Dans backhand both his slice and top spin, the later rarer but thing of beauty when employed.

Oakland - thanks for another well considered and interesting post - lots of good points there. As you say interesting times for both Liam and Dan.

I think what you say about 'learning how your skill set and the way you employ it allows you to win matches, understanding the limitations of your game' is particularly interesting as players look to move up a level (futures to challengers or challengers to main tour etc.).

- re. Liam it was fascinating seeing how Liam did that so well late 2014 then struggled after some tough close losses but SEEMS to have now started (and hopefully will continue) to repeat that kind of play and results.

- re. Dan this is still to come as if he keep this level up at challengers he will surely be entering main tour events fairly often - I'm really eager to see whether the skill set he has employed in the last year will need much adjustment at that level - I think I'm not alone in feeling that the slice is great but his game will be improved at that level if he can get used to adding the topspin backhand more often and I was encouraged to see how he seemed to be using his first round match to get some practice at this - like he knew he could win that match using only slice so why not get the topspin practice in ready for tougher matches.

It does seem that the injury setback etc. just as he reached this stage rankings-wise/tournament entry-wise in 2014 has all added to him being more determined. It does seem to be setting things up for a very interesting grass court season for both guys - I wonder what tournaments they are each likely to get wild cards too then.