Category: Monte-Carlo Masters 2019

Fabio Fognini, Monte Carlo Masters, Monte-Carlo Masters 2019, TennisLeave a comment

Fabio Fognini’s Monte Carlo win has left us with a lot of questions…

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I’ll be honest, I’m not Fabio Fognini’s biggest fan. The Italian has more often than not made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. In 2017 he got suspended from two majors and fined for sexist comments made to an umpire at the US Open. He’s super talented but his behaviour has not been good enough. One quarter final appearance at a major in 44 attempts, and now one Masters 1000 title. 8 of his 9 titles have come on clay, he is so good on the surface but his career numbers don’t stand up and it all starts with … Continue reading Fabio Fognini’s Monte Carlo win has left us with a lot of questions…

Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Kei Nishikori, Monte Carlo Masters, Monte-Carlo Masters 2019, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roland Garros, Roland Garros 2019, Stefanos Tsitsipas, TennisLeave a comment

The best have been left with plenty to think about…

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Who would have said on Monday that we’d get to the Monte Carlo final without; Rafa, Novak, Kei, Thiem, Zverev or Tsitsipas? Well that was the case and following the tournament everyone has plenty to think about going forward Rafa ‘worst clay court match in 14 years’ Well, that says it all! He said it was his worst performance in 14 years when he lost to Fognini. I would say during the course of the week that he looked sharp but rusty and that is expected but he looked lost against Fognini. We see him at his best and his … Continue reading The best have been left with plenty to think about…

Coaching / Analysis, Fabio Fognini, Monte Carlo Masters, Monte-Carlo Masters 2019, Rafael Nadal, TennisLeave a comment

How Fabio Fognini executed the perfect performance against Rafael Nadal

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Pure dis-belief. Even at 4-6 0-5 I still didn’t quite believe what was happening in Monte-Carlo. A man who has only lost 36 career matches on clay until now picked up defeat number 37 as Fabio Fognini perfected his way to a first Masters 1000 final. The performance was sexy, this is clay court tennis at it’s spellbinding best. 24 hours ago he was down 1-6 to Borna Coric and has now just recorded his 3rd top ten ranked win in 3 days and now in a Masters 1000 final, truly remarkable! His whole game connected, I can’t tell you … Continue reading How Fabio Fognini executed the perfect performance against Rafael Nadal

Coaching / Analysis, Daniil Medvedev, Monte Carlo Masters, Monte-Carlo Masters 2019, Novak Djokovic, TennisLeave a comment

Medvedev 6-3 4-6 6-2 Djokovic – Deep hitting & Unbreakable backhand

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Daniil Medvedev knows how to cause an upset. His first top 10 win in 2017 against Wawrinka at Wimbledon and has followed it up this week with wins against Tsitsipas and now  Djokovic. Daniil is one of the players on the tour that has gone under the radar but with four titles (all since beginning of 2018, 1 this year) Impressive wins and a fourth round in Melbourne he has started to come out of the shadows. I remember previewing his match against Stan and I said I fancied him to win it and I called his game ‘predictable’ which … Continue reading Medvedev 6-3 4-6 6-2 Djokovic – Deep hitting & Unbreakable backhand

ATP, British Tennis, Bruno Soares, Jamie Murray, Monte Carlo Masters, Monte-Carlo Masters 2019, TennisLeave a comment

Jamie & Bruno cruise into semi-finals

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Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares are safely through to the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo. The third seeds who have needed all three sets so far in their opening two victories down in Monte-Carlo only needed two sets to see off Joao Sousa and Diego Schwartzman who usually play their trade on the singles tour. For the first ten games it was even. There was nothing to separate either teams who held service games easily but you could see that the Schwartzman and Sousa pairing don’t play as much because some balls got left for each other but when Murray and Soares … Continue reading Jamie & Bruno cruise into semi-finals

Alexander Zverev, Monte Carlo Masters, Monte-Carlo Masters 2019, TennisLeave a comment

Sascha set for his biggest challenge yet!

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Sascha Zverev is set for his biggest challenge yet. Almost twelve months ago he made the second week of a major for the first time, not long after then he hired Ivan Lendl before the US Open but left New York in the third round but finished his season with four top ten wins in a row as he won the World Tour Finals in London. 2019 was meant to be the year of kicking on but it has been anything but for the German number one. Zverev ranked at three (career high) in the world now faces a big … Continue reading Sascha set for his biggest challenge yet!

Coaching / Analysis, Dominic Thiem, Monte Carlo Masters, Monte-Carlo Masters 2019, TennisLeave a comment

Dominic Thiem; Style & Entertainment without any Substance

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It actually annoys me to write this. At the World Tour Finals in London in 2017 I wrote a piece about Dominic Thiem which said; “Style but no substance” It was frustrating then and even more so now as he has improved but that performance against Dusan Lajovic lacked any substance. Where was the power? It isn’t often a first serve in at 76% gets criticised but it was bad. It was like someone had dropped it in and I got tired of watching that lefty serve out-wide because this is a shot only a few can do and to … Continue reading Dominic Thiem; Style & Entertainment without any Substance