Billy wins as O'Connell retires after losing the fist set tie break. Watching the end of the ties break there was no obvious sign that O'Connell was struggling. He said to the umpire "I need to retire", giving no reason. It will be interesting to know the reason for him and Ryan's retirement only minutes apart.
Makes you think a bug or sickness might be the cause? As you say, it was unusual two players, separate courts, retiring so close together
Ryan listed as an ankle injury and OConnell listed as illness.
Its great! Really cementing his place in the top 200 because hes not defending many points at all until April. Possibly Gasquet in the next round but he hasnt played yet. He hasnt won many matches this year so might be a good time to play him!
Its great! Really cementing his place in the top 200 because hes not defending many points at all until April. Possibly Gasquet in the next round but he hasnt played yet. He hasnt won many matches this year so might be a good time to play him!
Its great! Really cementing his place in the top 200 because hes not defending many points at all until April. Possibly Gasquet in the next round but he hasnt played yet. He hasnt won many matches this year so might be a good time to play him!
Its great! Really cementing his place in the top 200 because hes not defending many points at all until April. Possibly Gasquet in the next round but he hasnt played yet. He hasnt won many matches this year so might be a good time to play him!
Certainly better than fifteen years ago!
Definitely!
Very encouraging, thanks Indy, 184 is great. If he can get into qualies of all four slams plus a deserved (in my view) WC for main draw Wimbly it will be a cracking year for Billy and a reward for all his sacrifices and hard work on the circuit.
If Billy ends the year anywhere in the Top 250, I feel it will have been a really good year of consolidation. Although given his rise in the last 2 years seemed to come from nowhere, who knows where he could get to! Exciting to see how it unfolds for him.
Billy looks extremely solid all around now. Very efficient and effective tennis - so its rare that he gets blown away. Really maximising his ability and its great to see someone gradually rising up the rankings by playing tournament after tournament and getting better and better as they simply play week in and week out and experience more playing styles, tournaments and environments. Theres probably no star dust here, and I cant imagine too many wins against top 50 players (like a Liam might do on a great day), but I could see him being a member of the 100-200 club for another 3 or 4 years, playing Challengers and perhaps 3 or 4 ATP Tour events a year, and making decent money - certainly more than breaking even. I really like a story like this - a minimum of fuss, just getting on with it in his own way, and making tremendous progress without making many headlines.
Very impressed with Billy. I remember following him a few years back when he was down at 700 or lower in the rankings and was very impressed at how he was using his old camper van to get about. Back then I never thought for a moment that he would get to where he is now. But delighted to be wrong. 30 years a go you would be written off before even reaching age 29. But here's Billy treading new ground and looking good. Just shows you can never write someone off and hard work and dedication can reap rewards. Long may his success continue.
Very impressed with Billy. I remember following him a few years back when he was down at 700 or lower in the rankings and was very impressed at how he was using his old camper van to get about. Back then I never thought for a moment that he would get to where he is now. But delighted to be wrong. 30 years a go you would be written off before even reaching age 29. But here's Billy treading new ground and looking good. Just shows you can never write someone off and hard work and dedication can reap rewards. Long may his success continue.
L16: (1) Luke Johnson & Skander Mansouri (TUN) CR 194 (94+100) defeated Ivan Sabanov & Matej Sabanov (SRB/SRB) CR 310 (155+155) by 3 & 2
And a spot of luck in the next round:
QF: (1) Luke Johnson & Skander Mansouri (TUN) CR 194 (94+100) "defeated" Marc-Andrea Hüsler & Alexander Ritschard (SUI/SUI) CR 902 (264+638) by a walkover