British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Week 30 - ATP 500 - Mubadala Citi Open - Washington, DC, USA (hard)

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Dan up 12 places to live 132 again now. Anyone else feel he will be back in top 100 by end of the US swing? Hes not got points to lose.

paulisi · Tennis legend

Bit lucky there - Bergs threw in some ropey service games once he went a break up in the final set.

Jajon · Club Coach

Bergs was kind of a mess but we shall take it

stevemcqueen · Futures level

Dan's level improved in the second half of the final set. He missed way fewer trading shots and Bergs continued to miss. The stand out shot of the set was when Dan was receiving at 4-3, 0-15. Bergs hit a respectable approach and Dan nailed a backhand. Not only was this an excellent shot, it was at exactly the right moment.

Bergs hit a total of 15 DFs. Dan didn't play great, but he managed to win.

wolf · Tennis legend

It was coming, Billy gets the break in 2nd set (after Cam won the 1st).

wolf · Tennis legend

And a really, really poor game to get broken serving for the set.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
For once, the JonH jinx fails to strike:
L48: (WC) Daniel Evans WR 144 defeated Zizou Bergs (BEL) WR 52 by 3-6 6-4 6-3
*****
L32: (13) Alex Michelson (USA) WR 34 (CH = 30 last week) vs (WC) Daniel Evans WR 144

L48: Cameron Norrie WR 41 defeated (Q) Billy Harris WR 148 by 6-3 7-6(4)

*****

L32: Cameron Norrie WR 41 vs (2) Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) WR 7 (CH = 6 last month)

stevemcqueen · Futures level

Opelka is a set up against Cassone on the stadium court. The stadium court is more or less deserted. Dan against Bergs, there was a full house - this is bizarre.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Washington is the place they had a heap of 3 am finishes over the years - not sure if theyve got better scheduling this year?

wolf · Tennis legend

stevemcqueen wrote:
Opelka is a set up against Cassone on the stadium court. The stadium court is more or less deserted. Dan against Bergs, there was a full house - this is bizarre.

Everyone watching Venus Williams or Kygrios doubles matches?

Pretty hilarious given Opelka's comments about doubles.

wolf · Tennis legend

JonH comes home wrote:
Washington is the place they had a heap of 3 am finishes over the years - not sure if theyve got better scheduling this year?

Yes, I remember Andy finishing at 3am on his return from hip surgery I think it was when he burst into tears and then the tournament director had a go at him for pulling out the next day (or the same day). It was a bit like maybe look at your own job first?

Mervatron2 · Challenger level

Happy for Cam but gutted for Billy.

Wonder what he can do against Musetti next?

stevemcqueen · Futures level

JonH comes home wrote:
Dan up 12 places to live 132 again now. Anyone else feel he will be back in top 100 by end of the US swing? Hes not got points to lose.

I hate to say this, but I think Dan will struggle to be at his current ranking when the US hardcourt swing is over. He didn't excel on the grass this year, though he did have good wins against Tiafoe and Tommy Paul, but on both occasions he lost to beatable opponents in the following round. His level yesterday was frankly poor. To be ranked in the top 100 after the USO will require him winning 300 points, and I feel that this is very, very unlikely not least because his next two tournaments are just 75 challengers. I have little confidence that he will win 3 qualies matches at Flushing Meadows.

I remember many months ago we had a conversation re when Dan might retire - we speculated that he'd play the US hardcourts and make a decision after that. I think the commentator yesterday mentioned that he is travelling with his wife - is that correct? If that is right, I don't think many people would criticise him for wanting to settle down and focussing on having a family.

I'll be glued to the screen tonight, Dan plays not before 15.30 local time, I''m fairly sure this 20.30 gmt.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

stevemcqueen wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
Dan up 12 places to live 132 again now. Anyone else feel he will be back in top 100 by end of the US swing? Hes not got points to lose.
I hate to say this, but I think Dan will struggle to be at his current ranking when the US hardcourt swing is over. He didn't excel on the grass this year, though he did have good wins against Tiafoe and Tommy Paul, but on both occasions he lost to beatable opponents in the following round. His level yesterday was frankly poor. To be ranked in the top 100 after the USO will require him winning 300 points, and I feel that this is very, very unlikely not least because his next two tournaments are just 75 challengers. I have little confidence that he will win 3 qualies matches at Flushing Meadows.
I remember many months ago we had a conversation re when Dan might retire - we speculated that he'd play the US hardcourts and make a decision after that. I think the commentator yesterday mentioned that he is travelling with his wife - is that correct? If that is right, I don't think many people would criticise him for wanting to settle down and focussing on having a family.
I'll be glued to the screen tonight, Dan plays not before 15.30 local time, I''m fairly sure this 20.30 gmt.

Partly agree - I actually thought he did well on the grass, to be honest, it was a big tick up from my perspective and he is putting wins together again now, whether playing well or not.

So I am feeling more positive - in terms of rankings points, he is needing probably around 260 to get to top 100 post US Open; I hadnt done the maths but , yes, with Ch 75's as a staple, it won't be happening in that time frame. But I do think it could happen again, maybe end of the year is more realistic.

As for retiring, clearly it wont be long before he goes; I feel more optimistic it wont be post US Open than per the comments we all discussed that you reference. My feeling now would be surely he would eke out his grass points as long as he can, and aim at one more Wimbledon. His wife seems to enjoy travelling, his earnings this year to date are $347k (so he could easily top $500k by year end, or more) and he may well feel it is worth keeping going now his form is better, he is getting wins and he is earning decent money.

Who knows- he knows the end is close, but another year seems more feasible than it did a few months back