Week 17 - Challenger ($75,00+H) - Santaizi ATP Challenger, Taipei, Taiwan (carpet)

Jimmy09 · Intermediate Club Player

Week 17 - Challenger ($75,00+H) - Santaizi ATP Challenger, Taipei, Taiwan (carpet)

paulisi · Tennis legend

If Liam gets an automatic place in the Wimbledon qualifying draw, he should get upgraded to main draw. He still has a bit to go

paulisi · Tennis legend

It also means Liam has a SE for next week - Liam has confirmed this himself.

christ · Futures level

All Brit Challenger finals are getting to be a habit - it would be nice if we could have another one here.

GBJ · Club Coach

indiana wrote:
It's the "new Dan" - there I've said it ( sending Evo into reverse gear - hope not ! ). And great to see such form from Liam too. Well done, guys !

It clearly is a new Dan in that he has cut out the poor losses.

What we have yet to see from the new Dan is a top 100 or top 50 victory which the old Dan managed a number of, though I suspect that the month of June will see that change even if the tomorrow doesn't.

He's got our hopes up that he is going to 'fulfil his potential' but exactly what that potential really is could be a lot clearer by the end of the US summer. If he keeps this attitude and fitness up it would be very interesting to see whether competing regularly at tour level leads to improvements in his game over the next year or two otherwise I wonder if he might get stuck somewhere just inside the top 100.

All that is perhaps jumping the gun a bit but whilst I'm at it - it will be interesting to see if he can get top 50 wins without playing in front of a decent crowd - not sure he has any big wins in matches as poorly attended as some ATP first round matches are. I suspect that wont effect the 'new Dan' too much whereas playing in front of crowds if/when he does get the chance more often could really inspire him.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Fantastic news to wake up to. I was expecting Evo to win given the way he has been playing recently but with Liam it was more hope than expectation. GBJ asked earlier in the thread, "What has caused the improvement?". The answer is, I don't know. What I do know is that after a loss a couple of weeks ago, I suggested that Liam was looking lost strategically and needed a coach around him for advice. Is it coincidence then that his sudden improvement this week coincides with the arrival of Mark Hilton ?

Hilts is clearly doing a terrific job with Evo and for me, his credentials as a coach at this level continue to grow consistently. He clearly has a great rapport with Evo similar to that which Evo had with Jules (RIP) and that was a catalyst then, for Evo's last trip to the 120s rankings wise.

So instead of saying well done to both players this so far week, I will say well done to all three of them.

Spectator · All-time great

It is wonderful to see the "new Dan" cutting out poor losses. But my question would always be whether he can get more variety in his backhand. When I've watched him play good players in the past, his weakness often seems to be in part that once they've figured out that he will slice so consistently, they begin to take advantage.

Delighted for Mr Broady. Khachanov a step up but doable. Really hoping for that all-Brit final.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

COmpletely agree, Bob.

I posted the same thing back on page 6 when I woke up to Liam's score (although no where near as eloquently put!!!)

Mark seems to be doing a cracking job and, as we know with JoKo and Naomi, a killer coach can make all the difference.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
COmpletely agree, Bob.

I posted the same thing back on page 6 when I woke up to Liam's score (although no where near as eloquently put!!!)

Mark seems to be doing a cracking job and, as we know with JoKo and Naomi, a killer coach can make all the difference.

So you did CD. I missed that. That will teach me to read through a thread when I am still waking up so early in the morning.

Great minds though ........ and all that. smile

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
COmpletely agree, Bob.

I posted the same thing back on page 6 when I woke up to Liam's score (although no where near as eloquently put!!!)

Mark seems to be doing a cracking job and, as we know with JoKo and Naomi, a killer coach can make all the difference.
So you did CD. I missed that. That will teach me to read through a thread when I am still waking up so early in the morning.
Great minds though ........ and all that.

Oh, Bob, I didn't mean 'nah, nah, I posted that first' - not at all.

Just, yes, exactly, the coaches are so often unsung heroes and Mark's work behind the scenes with his guys (Luke too) seems to be really productive and valuable.

Good luck to him !

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Badly worded response from me CD as I didn't take it that way at all. Think I should go back to bed and then get up again, although I am so tired these days, if I go back to bed, I might choose to stay there until tomorrow. Now there's an idea smile

FriendofLouieG · Lower Club Player

Well done Liam and Dan! Great results today!

Khachanov he is not, it's Kravchuk......an entirely different proposition!

Spectator · All-time great

Oops. Don't know why I wrote Khachanov, as we all know where he's been this week - and I was thinking it was fortunate it wasn't he. Thanks for the correction.

-- Edited by Spectator on Friday 29th of April 2016 12:03:50 PM

RJA · Hall of fame

Spectator wrote:
It is wonderful to see the "new Dan" cutting out poor losses. But my question would always be whether he can get more variety in his backhand. When I've watched him play good players in the past, his weakness often seems to be in part that once they've figured out that he will slice so consistently, they begin to take advantage.

Delighted for Mr Broady. Khachanov a step up but doable. Really hoping for that all-Brit final.

He does have variety on his backhand wing it just depends on whether he chooses to use it. I do agree that he tends to over use the slice and that he is a much better player when he mixes things up on that wing . In the first round against Kelly he barely hit a single slice for the entire first set but today he was much more conservative. I think that reflects the opponent he was up against, trading heavy blow for heavy blow with Matosevic would not have been the smartest of ploys and I thought he was right to reign in the aggression a little bit for this match.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

RJA wrote:
Spectator wrote:
It is wonderful to see the "new Dan" cutting out poor losses. But my question would always be whether he can get more variety in his backhand. When I've watched him play good players in the past, his weakness often seems to be in part that once they've figured out that he will slice so consistently, they begin to take advantage.

Delighted for Mr Broady. Khachanov a step up but doable. Really hoping for that all-Brit final.
He does have variety on his backhand wing it just depends on whether he chooses to use it. I do agree that he tends to over use the slice and that he is a much better player when he mixes things up on that wing . In the first round against Kelly he barely hit a single slice for the entire first set but today he was much more conservative. I think that reflects the opponent he was up against, trading heavy blow for heavy blow with Matosevic would not have been the smartest of ploys and I thought he was right to reign in the aggression a little bit for this match.

Yes, this is the opponent nicknamed "Mad-Dog". Probably the thinking was just slice all day and wait for him to implode.