Week 9 - ATP 500 - Dubai Duty Free Championships - Dubai, UAE (hard)

brittak · Satellite level

RE: Week 9 - ATP 500 - Dubai Duty Free Championships - Dubai, UAE (hard)

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

brittak wrote:
Var wrote:
Jack our of Dubai - fitness. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/c93n8pw778zo
A tad disappointing for me as I saw him here today!
Im here for the first 3 days and staying in the official hotel. I wasnt going to post given how much I was chewed off for expressing an opinion at Wimbledon last year so have been less involved but thought I would give some thoughts from here.
I was by the pool and Jack briefly walked through with Alex etc and seemed in good spirits so this must have been a late decision. He wasnt on the order of play for tomorrow so I assumed he would be down for a Tuesday start.
Anyhow its a Dan on Monday start for me. Not overly hopeful but one never knows.
Slightly surreal staying here - lots of players milling around at Breakfast and then by the pool. A number of them with their families and its really interesting to watch the sub-culture going on with partners and then the whole machinations of the tour etc.
Ill aim to report more over the next few days.

Hey Brittak - good to see you here and you live a lovely life! Very jealous! What happened at Wimbledon, I dont remember that?

anyway, look forward to some reports!

Shhh · Challenger level

brittak wrote:
Var wrote:
Jack our of Dubai - fitness. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/c93n8pw778zo
A tad disappointing for me as I saw him here today!
Im here for the first 3 days and staying in the official hotel. I wasnt going to post given how much I was chewed off for expressing an opinion at Wimbledon last year so have been less involved but thought I would give some thoughts from here.
I was by the pool and Jack briefly walked through with Alex etc and seemed in good spirits so this must have been a late decision. He wasnt on the order of play for tomorrow so I assumed he would be down for a Tuesday start.
Anyhow its a Dan on Monday start for me. Not overly hopeful but one never knows.
Slightly surreal staying here - lots of players milling around at Breakfast and then by the pool. A number of them with their families and its really interesting to watch the sub-culture going on with partners and then the whole machinations of the tour etc.
Ill aim to report more over the next few days.

I'm more than envious brittax! I'll look forward to your reports and feedback though.....enjoy biggrin

Sheddie · administrator

brittak wrote:
Var wrote:
Jack our of Dubai - fitness. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/c93n8pw778zo
A tad disappointing for me as I saw him here today!
Im here for the first 3 days and staying in the official hotel. I wasnt going to post given how much I was chewed off for expressing an opinion at Wimbledon last year so have been less involved but thought I would give some thoughts from here.
I was by the pool and Jack briefly walked through with Alex etc and seemed in good spirits so this must have been a late decision. He wasnt on the order of play for tomorrow so I assumed he would be down for a Tuesday start.
Anyhow its a Dan on Monday start for me. Not overly hopeful but one never knows.
Slightly surreal staying here - lots of players milling around at Breakfast and then by the pool. A number of them with their families and its really interesting to watch the sub-culture going on with partners and then the whole machinations of the tour etc.
Ill aim to report more over the next few days.

Please keep posting brittak! Not sure what happened last Wimbledon, but I'm sorry that happened. Looking forward to hearing all your reports this week!

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

Brendan F wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
indiana wrote:
Helen40 wrote:
9vicman wrote:
Them that's nice by the organisers. Suspect he won't be playing there next year.
Why? I feel I've missed a bit of news.
Yep, breaking news, Dan's tennis hasn't been very good of late.
But he might still be living there
It's not as if UAE has anyone better to give wildcards to

Hey ho, oh well. Glad to know I haven't missed anything radicle. lol

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

L32: Karen Khachanov (***) WR 24 defeated (WC) Daniel Evans WR 178 by 1 & 3

Evo seems to have turned into cannon fodder for the big guns. cry

Dallastone1 · Improver

Stircrazy wrote:
L32: Karen Khachanov (***) WR 24 defeated (WC) Daniel Evans WR 178 by 1 & 3
Evo seems to have turned into cannon fodder for the big guns.

Wild card because he lives there I assume ?

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Dallastone1 wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
L32: Karen Khachanov (***) WR 24 defeated (WC) Daniel Evans WR 178 by 1 & 3
Evo seems to have turned into cannon fodder for the big guns.
Wild card because he lives there I assume ?

i suppose the scoreline was similar to what a local Emirati wild card would have managed to achieve...

brittak · Satellite level

Had a good first day. Have just ducked out of the Mpetschi Perricard/Zhang match as I was getting cold!

Firstly Dan.

Difficult to know what to say really. In any given rally it felt like Dan was just hanging on until Khachanov could blast something big and use his greater weight of shot.
And of course Dan kept slicing his backhand all the time without any great penetration so was just causing the Russian no real problems. Thought Dan might also have been a bit off the pace like his legs just werent moving like they did at one time which in this kind of match up doesnt really help.

Suddenly though at 1-6, 0-2 Dan got a bit more inventive and aggressive and broke back, held his serve, and then could have broken again. He didnt though and the match then drifted to its inevitable conclusion. So for a few games, we were treated to a bit more of a vintage Dan, the crowd were trying to get behind him, but it was just not enough.

Also I think that Khachanov was determined to get some revenge for that defeat in the US open. He is huge by the way - stood near him getting some toast this morning!!

The other matches were good - Sonego/Tsitipas was probably the best in terms of quality/competitiveness.

Hope to catch some of the doubles guys tomorrow. Centre court tickets give access to the other courts so hopefully I can get on.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

brittak wrote:
Had a good first day. Have just ducked out of the Mpetschi Perricard/Zhang match as I was getting cold!

Firstly Dan.

Difficult to know what to say really. In any given rally it felt like Dan was just hanging on until Khachanov could blast something big and use his greater weight of shot.
And of course Dan kept slicing his backhand all the time without any great penetration so was just causing the Russian no real problems. Thought Dan might also have been a bit off the pace like his legs just werent moving like they did at one time which in this kind of match up doesnt really help.

Suddenly though at 1-6, 0-2 Dan got a bit more inventive and aggressive and broke back, held his serve, and then could have broken again. He didnt though and the match then drifted to its inevitable conclusion. So for a few games, we were treated to a bit more of a vintage Dan, the crowd were trying to get behind him, but it was just not enough.

Also I think that Khachanov was determined to get some revenge for that defeat in the US open. He is huge by the way - stood near him getting some toast this morning!!

The other matches were good - Sonego/Tsitipas was probably the best in terms of quality/competitiveness.

Hope to catch some of the doubles guys tomorrow. Centre court tickets give access to the other courts so hopefully I can get on.

Thanks Brittak, the observations of Dan feel like time has just caught up with him really and although can pull out some flashes , its not quite enough

B00thy · Lower Club Player

I was able to watch some of the second set and saw what felt like a cameo performance from Dan, and it was just like brittak describes. It looked a bit like Dan, with not quite as much penetration, and Khachanov was just biding his time before unleashing a winner. Dan has been one of my favourites, but it felt like he was taking the opportunity to say goodbye and here are a few shots to remember me by

Sheddie · administrator

It's hard to tell - if he was on a farewell tour, I doubt he would have entered quite this many tournaments, especially the lower tier ones, but as the ranking dips, it's hard to see him going from the tour to the Sunderland 25K.

I remember he had a big coaching switch-up in 2023 after an underwhelming grass-court season, and then won the ATP 500 in Washington, biggest title of his career. Maybe he'll try something similar? Unless the legs really have gone and he's preparing for a few wildcards in June and one last foray on the grass.

LordBrownof · Futures level

I don't know what a post-tennis career looks like for Dan, at least not considering the natural options. I can't see him co-commentating or as a head coach; perhaps the LTA will hire him, but unless he has something up his sleeve, I would drag out that tennis paycheck as long as I could.

tramlines · Junior player

LordBrownof wrote:
I don't know what a post-tennis career looks like for Dan, at least not considering the natural options. I can't see him co-commentating or as a head coach; perhaps the LTA will hire him, but unless he has something up his sleeve, I would drag out that tennis paycheck as long as I could.

Padel could be his future calling. He is tailor made for it with his squash background

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

tramlines wrote:
LordBrownof wrote:
I don't know what a post-tennis career looks like for Dan, at least not considering the natural options. I can't see him co-commentating or as a head coach; perhaps the LTA will hire him, but unless he has something up his sleeve, I would drag out that tennis paycheck as long as I could.
Padel could be his future calling. He is tailor made for it with his squash background

That's not a bad idea