Brisbane ATP 250

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https://www.instagram.com/p/DEZa-WrMA6L/?igsh=bXVnMjBuZ3B2bnM1

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Great win for Opelka over GMP. He just played a little better. The final stats winners and errors pretty much told the story.

[jimlosaltos]

Opelka played a great game to take down Novak and proved at times he's more than just a humungous serve. At one point Novak got to look at Opelka's second serve 4 points in a row, but it made no odds as Opelka hit great second serves and played some great baseline tennis to wrap up the game. As for Novak, he's a little slower and becoming more dependent on spot serving these days.

So much for our anticipated immovable object vs irresistible force match of Djoko vs Gio.

Now, we'll get "Serve Bot Shoot Out" wit Reilly vs Gio. Note, Reilly got 16 aces vs Djokovic, Gio got 19 vs Jakub Mensik.

Fans in the front row baseline are advised to wear hockey masks at all times. A public serve announcement

[stotty]

Opelka played a great game to take down Novak and proved at times he's more than just a humungous serve. At one point Novak got to look at Opelka's second serve 4 points in a row, but it made no odds as Opelka hit great second serves and played some great baseline tennis to wrap up the game. As for Novak, he's a little slower and becoming more dependent on spot serving these days.

[jimlosaltos]

Here are the quarters. If Djokovic gets by OPelka we might get the Gio-Novak match you guys wanted!
Opelka would be the best prep Djoko could possibly get for Gio.

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https://www.instagram.com/p/DEUdo24iI7o/?img_index=1&igsh=N2tvN2dkMTJnbTY5

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I was quoting the stats I saw on TennisTV. I will say Zverev and Berrenttini have great serves, but to me, clearly not as good as Raonic and Opelka. I also am not clear on all the criteria that goes into the final numbers.

[jimlosaltos]

Novak looked like Novak. I would love to see him deal with the GMP serve. The shot quality serve rankings I saw for 2024 had GMP at 9.5, Raonic at 9.1, and Opelka at 8.9 at number 1 through 3. That pretty much says it all.

Gio appears to me to be different than the prior "Giants" or "Serve Bots", more athletic as well as more willing and able to get to the net.
Seems to more often aim for near lines when serving than the other big guys.

As for the ratings, I'm not arguing, I'd simply like to see an explanation from the ATP comparing and contrasting the TDI ratings that you quote and the "Infosys Leaderboard". The "Leaderboard" stat ratings seem to be more based on results (how they are weighted is a mystery), while the TDI "Shot Quality' has metrics that seem about means to an end, such as "close to lines". The older, Leaderboard ratings have:

1) Zverev 300.3
2) Gio 299.5
30 Berrettini 296.2
4) Hubi 295.8,
5) Sinner 295.6
6) Shelton 294.0

Since the "Leaderboard" serve table is sortable, that's also intersting. Sort on "% First Serves Won" and Grigor Dimitrov is numero uno. Gio second. While Zverev tumbles all the way to 10th.

Sort on "% Service Games Won" and Jannik is at the top, Gio "sinks" to fifth.

BTW: Sorting and looking for outliers can be grist for thought. Most sorts yield the same people, just shuffling up and down a few places. But not always, Example: Serve Rating puts Novak Djokovic at 10th, BUT sort by % First Serves Won", and Novak plummets all the way to 17. Sort of service games won and Djoko falls to 12th.

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Novak looked like Novak. I would love to see him deal with the GMP serve. The shot quality serve rankings I saw for 2024 had GMP at 9.5, Raonic at 9.1, and Opelka at 8.9 at number 1 through 3. That pretty much says it all.

[jimlosaltos]

Nick played well, but he definitely had the 2nd best serve on the court. GMP is just getting better. His backhand seems to be looking better all the time. He does not seem to get as rushed off that side as a lot of one handers, and because of that, he does not seem to give up nearly as much court off that side.

Absolutely. Kyrgios "Got run over by a bus" in his own words, meeting Gio. Here's that scoreline, no breaks, three tiebreaks, 36 aces for Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Welcome back, Nick, is that a Penn logo on your forehead!?

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Nick played well, but he definitely had the 2nd best serve on the court. GMP is just getting better. His backhand seems to be looking better all the time. He does not seem to get as rushed off that side as a lot of one handers, and because of that, he does not seem to give up nearly as much court off that side.

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https://www.tennistv.com/tournaments/339_2025/brisbane/draws

I guess the GMP vs Kyrgios is the most intriguing 1st round matchup. GMP is the slight betting favorite in that one. A nice 1st round loss for Kyrgios would be good to see.