Week 8 - ATP 250 - Open 13 Provence, Marseille, France (hard)

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

RE: Week 8 - ATP 250 - Open 13 Provence, Marseille, France (hard)

theemptyvessel · Club Coach

JonH wrote:
Another win should see Aljaz back into the Top 100. Would be good to see, although he is up against a tricky opponent next

Looking at recent results it seems Lucas has had a rather Pouille start to the new year so hopefully that continues for at least one more match. On todays evidence, 20 aces, it would seem Aljaz is in good nick. The first serve winners and aces are a huge part of his game when he is playing well and take a ton of pressure off him.

indiana · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
Another win should see Aljaz back into the Top 100. Would be good to see, although he is up against a tricky opponent next

I have doubts that beating Pouille will be enough to get Aljaz back into the top 100 next Monday. It looks possible but unlikely.

He is due to drop 45 points from Acapulco last year so reaching the QF here would 'just' replace these 45 points and leave him still on 577 in total.

Now Naomi on Monday managed the trick of rising 3 places to WR 100 while still being on the same points, but I'm doubtful Aljaz would manage it.

Live rankings currently show 577 points would be good enough for at best WR 100, but there appear to be quite a few players who can beat that mark with further wins and I suspect that at least one will do so.

So just go reach the SF or further then, Aljaz

JonH · All-time great

indiana wrote:
JonH wrote:
Another win should see Aljaz back into the Top 100. Would be good to see, although he is up against a tricky opponent next

I have doubts that beating Pouille will be enough to get Aljaz back into the top 100 next Monday. It looks possible but unlikely.
He is due to drop 45 points from Acapulco last year so reaching the QF here would 'just' replace these 45 points and leave him still on 577 in total.
Now Naomi on Monday managed the trick of rising 3 places to WR 100 while still being on the same points, but I'm doubtful Aljaz would manage it.
Live rankings currently show 577 points would be good enough for at best WR 100, but there appear to be quite a few players who can beat that mark with further wins and I suspect that at least one will do so.
So just go reach the SF or further then, Aljaz

yes, you are probably right Indy, it looks like a few of the guys around him are still in other events with better draws. Mind you, if Aljaz wins the whole tournie, his ranking could hit around 60 so a lot to play for and I still think Pouille is beatable for starters.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

No second successive win for Aljaz, I'm afraid:

L16: (4) Lucas Pouille (FRA) WR 17 defeated Aljaz Bedene WR 102 by 5 & 5 cry

theemptyvessel · Club Coach

Good effort but couldn't quite win the big points when it mattered. Overall a pretty encouraging 3 weeks though with wins in all 3 tournaments entered and a standard of play significantly above where he was at in the second half of last year. Onwards and upwards.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

QF: Robin Haase (NED) & Dom Inglot CR 224 (181+43) defeated (2) Mate Pavic & Alexander Peya (CRO/AUT) CR 60 (34+26) by 7-6(6) 6-3 biggrin

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

SF: (WC) Nick Kyrgios & Matt Reid (AUS/AUS) WR 378 (295+83) vs Robin Haase (NED) & Dom Inglot CR 224 (181+43)

Nix · Futures level

On the face of it weird that Dom was doing so badly with Mergea but has picked up some useful wins here. Any ideas from the experts here on why that might be?

Kyrgios will be a tough opponent as he is outrageously talented when he can be bothered to show it, and I should imagine seriously underranked in doubles. Good luck Dom.

indiana · Tennis legend

Nix wrote:
On the face of it weird that Dom was doing so badly with Mergea but has picked up some useful wins here. Any ideas from the experts here on why that might be?

Kyrgios will be a tough opponent as he is outrageously talented when he can be bothered to show it, and I should imagine seriously underranked in doubles. Good luck Dom.

I don't know much about Robin Haase's doubles other than the evidence is that he is very underranked in doubles.

He is a very serious singles player, currently WR 58, and his doubles points come from just 10 counters including 2 Grand Slam mandatory zeros.

He has a doubles CH 38 from 2015 and he was runner-up in the Australian Open final 2013 with Igor Sijsling ( that GS runner-up result does rather stand out from his other GS doubles, but again who he was partnering and with how much focus I don't know ).

So part of the answer will be that Haase is actually very good.

JonH · All-time great

Nix wrote:
On the face of it weird that Dom was doing so badly with Mergea but has picked up some useful wins here. Any ideas from the experts here on why that might be?

Kyrgios will be a tough opponent as he is outrageously talented when he can be bothered to show it, and I should imagine seriously underranked in doubles. Good luck Dom.

I think Dom and Mergea was a car crash waiting to happen - they tried before and split up when Mergea dumped Dom with (if i recall rightly) no real warning after poor results and it seemed to leave bad feelings at the time. I was surprised they tried again, almost felt like no other options existed and it clearly hasnt worked out, so I think it is actually for the best that Dom has split from him again, however it was initiated this time. Glad it has worked out this week and hope Dom keeps it going, regular partner or not

wolf · Tennis legend

I read they have split only temporarily as Dom's ranking is not high enough, but they hope to get back together for the clay season.

Nix · Futures level

Thanks for all the answers. Good to hear that Haase is underarnked in doubles. Dom just seems to have been a bit unlucky with partners in the last few years. It would be good to see him progressing.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

I was getting ready to curse bloody Kyrgios...

SF: Robin Haase (NED) & Dom Inglot CR 224 (181+43) defeated (WC) Nick Kyrgios & Matt Reid (AUS/AUS) WR 378 (295+83) by 3-6 7-6(5) [10-8] smile

*****

Final ( biggrin ): (1) Julien Benneteau & Nicolas Mahut (FRA/FRA) CR 31 (30+1) vs Robin Haase (NED) & Dom Inglot CR 224 (181+43)

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Good win. Here's hoping that Dom can become the 2nd Brit to partner Robin Haase to the title in Marseille.