I saw the first two sets. The final score looks worse than the actual play suggests. Kyle played some good points but struggled with something that even Andy does against Djokovic: he'd do a good shot, after a well comstructed rally, which would end the point against most other players, and Djokovic would somehow get it back, and Kyle was floundering to get back Djokovics shot. I think he'll learn a lot from that. But several of the games went to deuce and Kyle even broke Djokovic's serve at one point. Having said that, Djokovic wasn't playing his A game, so there is a step up in class, which you'd expect. I also was lucky enough to see the Pouilles/Rafa game live, and Kyle is nowhere near that level, in terms of variety of shots, weight of shot and the ability to somehow stay in a rally/game/set when you're really up against it that Pouilles demonstrated. Having said that, Kyle is continuing to improve so there is certainly room for optimism. The commentators were saying what a close eye Andy has had on Kyle and it's not a bad mentor to have.

On another positive note, just wanted to say how well Kyle came across in interviews. He seems thoroughly pleasant and thoughtful guy who thinks a lot about his game and knows he has to learn from every match, win or lose.

I had intentions, I really did, I had set up the situation, was in position and then from nowhere sleep pounced and left me helpless. Sleep may seem very inactive but it is there ready to strike.

Tremendous tournament Kyle, but that Novak is rather good.

Helen40 wrote:

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Sad but not unsuprising news to wake up to.

The only think that I am curious about to anyone who saw it, is that Kyle played Nole earlier this year and lost 6-3, 6-3. So did Kyle play worse or Nole play better? 6-1, 6-2 rather stinks of a thrashing. I hope it doesn't dent Kyle's confidence.

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As established I was fast asleep during the course of the match, but I really don't think you can read too much into 6-2 6-1 6-4 against 6-3 6-3 on a different day and different surface - hard is no doubt Novak's best surface and clay Kyle's.

And although Kyle was clearly very well beaten there is clearly very little shame in that and Nix does indicate that there were many close games lost.

But still be interesting to hear any further general thoughts from anyone who did see the match.

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 5th of September 2016 08:54:07 AM

Undoubtedly Nole has played a blinder so far, the seeds have parted infront of him. Moses was a mere amateur in comparison.

I didn't see any of the match. As Oaky correctly stated, BiS has no stamina and a 4am start time was pushing the boat out a bit too far.

But from the reports I have seen (Thanks Nix, amongst others) it seems like Kyle played pretty well. I caught the last couple of points on a rerun this morning and heard Pat Cash say something along the lines of, "Kyle will beat a lot of good players by playing at this level, just not the world Nº1."

So was this a "breakthrough" tournament for Kyle ? It was certainly an excellent tournament and one he should be very proud of. Time will tell if this is the moment for him to step up on a more regular basis and perhaps threaten to win a couple of 250s. But whatever happens now, Kyle will go away from this tournament with renewed confidence in both his ability and in the journey he is taking. He will have gained enormously from the experiences he has had and will be a better player the next time he steps on court.

What a week this has been. Both Evo and Kyle have given us moments to remember and hopefully a glimpse of what is to come over the next 5 to 10 years. Now all we need is for Andy to finished the job with a win on Sunday.

Julia Carrot wrote:

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Well, I joined the match halfway through set 2, just because I woke up and thought I'd check the result and surprised to find the match in full flow. As I result I am tired and listless and useless today as lack of sleep does not suit me at all !!!

There were flurries of brilliance from Kyle and he really did not look out of place on that court. When he broke Djoko early in the third set I really thought he might yet 'do it' and toyed with the 500/1 odds but afraid I might jinx him if I did put on a bet. When Djoko had the trainer on I thought he might begin to show some signs of being hampered, but no chance, no sign at all of any difficulty.

The match was actually horribly late for our boy also; I assume he would normally have been tucked up by then, so his body clock and energy levels were not in prime position I would have thought.

In summary I would say it was often closer than the score might suggest and Kyle continues to impress.

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 Hi Julia, good to see you posting again. Thanks for the report.

It's hard to tell by the scoreline alone, and the Beeb report was lame as usual. It's good to know that Kyle is playing so well. I am still concerned that he may get discouraged, but I suspect that his support team will be on hand to help there. (And Andy).