JonH comes home wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

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Russell Fuller on Radio Five Live Extra was saying that he is hearing the Tour Finals at the O2 will be held, all things being equal. Dan is of course 11th in the Race and thus it will be a big couple of months if that is the case, with two slams, 3 Masters (Cinci, Madrid, Rome) confirmed, maybe Shanghai and Paris to come after that. So most of the events are big events and split reasonably fairly between clay and hard - shame he has lost the grass of course. But with Federer out for the rest of the season, Dan is effectively 10th and must have a fighting chance of making those finals - big incentive for him and something to look forward to watching as the season unfolds

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 Also, related to above, Joe leads the Doubles race with Rajeev and Jonny is also in the top 8 with Arevalo. With others in the top 20 teams or thereabouts (Ken (and Gonzalez) , Luke (and Maclachlan), Dom (and Al-Qureshi) and Jamie and Neal). So we could have several players with real chances of reaching London in a season where one or two really good results could make the difference. 

Will be really interesting to see how it pans out, if of course it pans out at all and I , for one, wonder  about some of the events... 

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 Talking of Luke Bambridge, why was he not in the Battle of the Brits :(? 

-- Edited by Tennis Saltire on Sunday 28th of June 2020 02:19:10 AM

Bless

Lovely news

JonH comes home wrote:

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Stircrazy wrote:

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SF:  Daniel Evans (WR 28) defeated Andy Murray (WR 129) by 1-6 6-3 [10-8]

Still a good week for Andy. 

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 and  he has a third place play off tomorrow as well , it turns out!

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He's withdrawn with a shin problem.  His place will be taken by Dino & Andy will apparently be on court "in a coaching capacity" for him.

Bob in Spain wrote:

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Stircrazy wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

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Stircrazy wrote:

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SF:  Daniel Evans (WR 28) defeated Andy Murray (WR 129) by 1-6 6-3 [10-8]

Still a good week for Andy. 

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 and  he has a third place play off tomorrow as well , it turns out!

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He's withdrawn with a shin problem.  His place will be taken by Dino & Andy will apparently be on court "in a coaching capacity" for him.

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For "shin problem" read "knackered".  I think 4 games in 5 days was enough for him at the moment.

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I wouldn't be at all surprised.  That said, under the heading "Andy Murray revival gathers strenght despite Dan Evans defeat" in The Sunday Times, James Gheerbrant offers an upbeat assessment of Andy's week at the NTC (first half of the article only, but arguably the more important one ):

The curtains had finally come down on Andy Murray - but not in the way that you might have thought. Long black drapes at the courtside added a distinctly funereal air to this semi-final of the Battle of the Brits exhibition tournament, but despite the result, this felt more like a rebirth than an epitaph for the country's greatest player.  Murray may have been beaten 1-6 6-3 10-8 by the British No 1 Dan Evans, but in defeat - and especially in a first set where he summoned a level of intensity that has rarely been seen since he lost to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon three years ago - he showed that his peak form may yet exist in more than mere glimpses.

To outclass Evans, the world number 28, as utterly as Murray did in the first set was hugely impressive for a player competing in his first tournament in seven months, and still adjusting to the constraints of two major operations and a full resurfacing on his right hip. Thereafter the momentum of the match shifted, but it was wrested by a performance of canny court-craft and level temperament from Evans, underlining his own hard-earned status as the British number one. "He did a lot good in the first set. In the end it came down to the big points," Evans told Amazon Prime. "I got a little lucky today."

Murray had played down his own expectations of the tournament, describing himself as the "sixth favourite", but had grown in stature throughout the week and was the dominant player from the off. Perhaps showing the benefit of having spent more time on court than Evans, Murray was hitting his groundstrokes with zip and grinding Evans down from the back of the court, often forcing the Birmingham native to send up a floaty mid-court slice. The Scot broke in the second game, hitting a down-the-line pass which Evans could only get his racket frame on.

Though Evans got on the scoreboard with a lovely caressed forehand, Murray was by far the more explosive and assertive player, hitting the ball hard, dictating the points, and sending down his first serves at a speed hitherto unseen in his comeback. A typically aggressive point at 4-1 cramped Evans, forcing a long slice which conceded the double break. Murray duly served out. Murray's coach Jamie Delgado described it as "the most consistent set he's played at this level for a long time".

Dan Evans is some player now!
He didn't have this level in any of his past performances against Kedders x3. Kyle is playing well but this a master class and outstanding from Evo.

Evo breaks Kedders a second time.. Immense all round skills from Dan.