2025 Tennis thread

[Inglewood Jack]

well I guess that's why they're playing tennis and not hockey

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TSN4 has the Charlie - BVDZ match coming up shortly from Rotterdam - Charlie looking for revenge for the US Open loss to the Dutchman.

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Through five games, Charlie looking very uninspired (BVDZ has broken him twice). He did break back once though.

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BVDZ blinked serving for the opening set at 5-4 and then Charlie woke up in time to play a great tie-break to take the opening set.

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Going the distance as BVDZ wins set 2 6-3 - Good chance that the winner of this match will play Felix in the next round.

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Charlie advances handing BVDZ a breadstick in set 3.

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Simona Halep has retired from professional tennis - Such a shame we didn't get to see her on court the last few years.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1886854993271005262

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Oh no - Felix just now retired from his Rotterdam match tied at 1 set apiece. Hope it's nothing too serious.

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A right toe issue forced FAA to retire - Doesn't sound too serious though, better to not push it and make it worse.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1887179065171280336

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Big upset just not in Rotterdam as Mattia Bellucci knocks out Meddy in three sets. He recently cracked the top 100 and is a left-hander with a pretty good all-around game.

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Shapo is playing the Dallas Open this week and just now advanced over Kecmanovic in three sets. I thought Denis played very well tonight and safe to say his serve was on fire (20 aces to 4 double faults).

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Denis gets Taylor Fritz next and Shapo does have a 5-4 lead in the H2H matchup. If he plays as well against Fritz as he did versus Kecmanovic, he's certainly capable of advancing.

Edit: Forgot to mention that Shapo is back inside the top 50 in the live rankings with that win last night. That's great to see.

[Erick Estrada]

Not sure if it's technique tweaks or the racquet change but he's hitting his spots better. on 1st serve. He's still going for too much on 2nd serve at times as last night he got himself into a bit of trouble needlessly double faulting. Can't hand a player like Fritz free points on your serve.

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The Americans are falling in Dallas today, earlier Tiafoe lost to Nishioka and just now Ben Shelton went down in straight sets to Jaume Munar.

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Meanwhile in Rotterdam, another shocker...I'll save everyone from having to click on the tweet, Rune lost 6-4 6-1

https://twitter.com/user/status/1887616100441202775

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Nice, Shapo comes back from a set down to dispatch Fritz 2-6 6-3 7-6(2). Another fine match from Denis tonight.

[Erick Estrada]

Hands up if you thought Shapo would be the better returner over three sets against Fritz. It's good news that Shapo and Felix both look better to start 2025.

[Nadal Fan]

I honestly think Shapo has the firepower to still go deep in slams and he's still young. He always gave Nadal fits whenever they played.

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Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

I honestly think Shapo has the firepower to still go deep in slams and he's still young. He always gave Nadal fits whenever they played.

His biggest issue has been and still is at times between the ears (that said, it was a pretty serious knee injury that put him out of action and cost him essentially a year). He does seem to be keeping his emotions in check a lot better of late, though.

As for his game, like most of the top players, when the serve is working, it takes a ton of pressure off the rest of your game. He didn't serve as well against Fritz as he did against Kecmanovic, but he was still +8 (15 aces to 7 double faults) on the night. As EE mentioned, he doesn't have to hit his 2nd serve as hard as he does sometimes, it is big enough even at 80% to get the job done and count down on the double faults.

As for the 80% rule, it applies to the rest of his game as well. Shapo plays his best tennis when he dials it back a bit and hits to big targets, he doesn't have to paint lines because he has plenty of power on both wings.

Tough one tonight agains Machac, but the win against Fritz last night has to give Denis a lot of confidence, let's go Shapo!!

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Denis almost DQ'ed himself last night attempting to fix the electronic display board at the end of the court.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1887730868581487076