2017 Coupe Rogers...ATP 1000...Montreal, Canada

[don_budge]

Federer not on his A game against Ferrer today but didn't have to be, he found a way. Federer not at his best is still a far better product to watch than vast majority at their best.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Roger Federer at C- quite possibly. Nothing he did in the first set made any kind of impression on David Ferrer...the once and "EverReady Energizer Bunny". After sixteen straight defeats to Federer it appeared that David was ready to say..."nobody beats my seventeen times in a row!" Federer prevailed and maybe...just maybe he kept his future finalist opponent up past his bedtime. Roger got some additional court time and he just might have needed it on the hard courts. Next up...Roberto Bautista Agut. Federer up six to nothing in this head to head but the last time they played it was only 7-6, 7-6 to Roger. A good reason to come into the match with a bigger head of steam than he did with Mr. EverReady.

It was a strange match against Ferrer. It was late at night here in Sweden and I almost gave in to the pillow in the next room beckoning to sleep. I hung in there. Toughed it out in the third set.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer...and Denis "The Menace" Shapovalov

It's a Tennis Tournament...Roger Federer in the House

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/score...real/421/draws

Next up for Shapovalov is another potential big feather in his cap...Rafael Nadal. Nadal has a lot to lose here in Montreal. He hasn't looked all that invincible except on the clay and I think Shapovalov must be sensing some real high end drama in front of his national audience. This is the kind of situation that can launch a young man's career. An aging superstar somewhat vulnerable against a new kid trying out his wings. If Shapovalov gets it going on the serve in particular it may be a long night for Nadal. He is afterall just like the rest of us...journeying to the end of the night.

All eyes on Shapovalov and Federer. The rest of the rest will take care of themselves.

Now there are a couple of reasons that this is a tennis tournament. First of all there is Roger Federer. He only has so much time left. Yesterday it looked as if his legs were not cooperating with his brain. He seemed lethargic...which is a condition that seems to sometimes be mistaken for the aging process. Or rather it might be said...associated with the aging process. It could be that he was bored as David Ferrer is now 0-17 against "The Maestro" and he couldn't get the old noggin into it. I suspect that Roberto Bautista Agut has his attention because of the last match they played in Miami. Two tie-breaker sets that went to Federer...a point here or there could conceivably swung the pendulum in the other direction. I see Roger into the finals though. If he can get his legs under him.

So now the story of the tournament shifts to Mr. Denis "The Menace" Shapovalov. Hmmm...he survives match points in the first around against Somebody. Then he takes down the big Goliath Juan Martin Del Potro in straight sets. It just keeps getting better and better. Last night he took down the "Spaniard in Decline" Fafa Nadal. I love to watch Nadal play...when he gets his ass handed to him. Denis did just that...he handed Nadal his ass. The left handed, big serving Shapovalov was very impressive against a less than prime Nadal. The thing about Denis is he is still rough around the edges. He has a tremendous amount of room for improvement. This is because the proper foundation has been laid and now it is up to Denis and crew to continue to put the pieces together.

He looks as if he is destined to be an all-court player. I say destined because the thing is still incomplete. Hopefully he gets a taste of serve and volley as well. The serve is only going to get better and better. There will be plenty of opportunities to cruise in behind it to mop up on some weak returns. He still looks a bit wet behind the ears when it comes to play in the mid court. So much to be expected. This is an area where he will find his biggest potential yet to be fulfilled and an area where it will pay huge dividends in the future. He already has an adequate overhead and his volleys are adequate and sound enough to build upon. His inclination to actually go to the net is very encouraging. So much potential.

I had never seen Shapovalov play before tonight. His self-confidence, enthusiasm and fearlessness remind me of two other lefty teenagers at the beginning of their career: McEnroe and Nadal. I love the way he hits through the ball. First serve is much better than Nadal's. Likes to go forward. But the mental attitude is what sets the great ones apart. He may have it. Certainly did tonight.

It's getting to be fun to watch tennis matches again.

don

Yes...the left handedness is just an incredible advantage. The forehand is sort of deceptive in its lethalness. The backhand is very solid and it looks to be on the same path as a Wawrinka or a Thiem. The serve is going to be a bomb...with spin. What do you think tennis_chiro? Lots of room for improvement still...the equivalent of POTENTIAL!

Roger at 11/8 clear favorite. Nadal at 3/1. Zverev and Raonic at 10/1. Querrey looks to me like a value bet at 50/1. Denis is 100/1. I as db really like his game.

3rd round could be very interesting if Kyrgios and Zverev both get there.

That 100 to 1 is looking pretty good. Good call on the Kyrgios/Zverev match. Hard work and dedication is going to eventually win over pure talent. The match with Kevin Anderson is going to be interesting for the younger Zverev. He has beaten Anderson three times in a row and Kevin would dearly love to call a halt to that trend. All of there matches have been relatively close. What is the difference that separates two players? Sometimes it is intangibles. It may be mental.

Nadal, Raonic and Querry all gone now. The rest of the rest are taking care of themselves. An interesting match coming up with Adriano Mannarino for Denis "The Menace". Mannarino is a very deceptive player. Lacking a bit in outright power he makes up for it in cleverness.

[don_budge]

Gush gush gush. Roger is great but the gushing gets old. The hilarious thing is that the gushers actually think they are saying something.

stroke...let's just ignore this comment. There is something more hilarious than gushers...that would be people only interested in hearing themselves talk.

[klacr]

Shapovalov is tennis' new darling. What he did with Nadal last night was stunning. A tennis player with a hockey player mentality. Toughed it out and never gave up. He grinned, he attacked, he went for shots and took body blows from Rafa. He survived.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

Shapovalov is tennis' new darling. What he did with Nadal last night was stunning. A tennis player with a hockey player mentality. Toughed it out and never gave up. He grinned, he at
tacked, he went for shots and took body blows from Rafa. He survived.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Love his outlook out there. I saw that same attitude in a very tough loss to Berdych in a Wimbledon tune up tournament, and in his 3 set 1st round victory over Dutra Silva, which was a great match and great comeback win for him that he really earned the hard way, which he seems not to mind, almost relishing. He keeps fighting. He has a very live arm and that left handed serve is a big weapon, particularly at his height. Mannarino is tough next test, but they are all tough obviously at these Masters. I read an article one time that talked about years ago Mannarino was having severe arm problems and had to completely rebuild his forehand technique to solve the issue. I was always curious what exactly this change was. He has a very compact forehand, particulary with what looks to be a pretty strong semi western girip. As we all know, it is very seldom any pro makes a significant technique change. Justine Henin an exception to this with her fh. John did an article that referenced this one time, said Agassi was used as a model for it. Gulbis tried to redo his recently I read.

[bottle]

STROKE, I'm glad you have stopped gushing so much over Roger. You know I am right on this point. It's hard to stand out when the whole world is gushing over somebody and you want to gush, too. I figure that if you thought there was something wrong with my comment you would have responded by now by trying to bite my head off.

As for the other guy, somebody told me that he persists in making snarky remarks about me even though my computer has him blocked and I never read a word he "writes" (spews).

I guess he likes self-feed. There's nobody on the other side of the net.

[gzhpcu]

Roger looked terrible in that game in the sense that he seemed not to want to be there. He looked in a bad mood. Maybe he'd had an argument with Mirka just before. Anyway, something wasn't right.

Yet, watching, I never thought he would lose,despite the unforced errors.

[stotty]

Yet, watching, I never thought he would lose,despite the unforced errors.

Oddly enough neither did I.

[stroke]

Oddly enough neither did I.

nor I

[stroke]

Roger is of course a massive 1/14 favorite vs Haase. In what appears to be the more interesting matchup, Zverev is a 3/14 favortie, Denis is 43/10. The home crowd seems to really be taking to Denis. He is creating quite the buzz on the court. If he is able to defeat Zvrerv, that would be some buzz in the stadium for the final. Roger is so beloved everywhere, it would be very interesting. Zverev can be a bit petulant as db says, but he is tall and has the model looks. He has a lot going for him in addition to the what appears to be future #1 ranking.

[bottle]

Roger is of course a massive 1/14 favorite vs Haase. In what appears to be the more interesting matchup, Zverev is a 3/14 favortie, Denis is 43/10. The home crowd seems to really be taking to Denis. He is creating quite the buzz on the court. If he is able to defeat Zvrerv, that would be some buzz in the stadium for the final. Roger is so beloved everywhere, it would be very interesting. Zverev can be a bit petulant as db says, but he is tall and has the model looks. He has a lot going for him in addition to the what appears to be future #1 ranking.

Roger is really great, isn't he? The living poof.

[don_budge]

2017 Coupe Rogers...ATP 1000...Montreal, Canada Men's Semifinals

Roger is of course a massive 1/14 favorite vs Haase. In what appears to be the more interesting matchup, Zverev is a 3/14 favortie, Denis is 43/10. The home crowd seems to really be taking to Denis. He is creating quite the buzz on the court. If he is able to defeat Zvrerv, that would be some buzz in the stadium for the final. Roger is so beloved everywhere, it would be very interesting. Zverev can be a bit petulant as db says, but he is tall and has the model looks. He has a lot going for him in addition to the what appears to be future #1 ranking.

Roger Federer hasn't looked very impressive this week at all. In fact...it appears he is sleep walking through the draw on his way to the finals. This semifinal matchup with Robin Hasse is another possible lethargic effort waiting to happen. He has looked almost bored playing the likes of David Ferrer and Roberto Bautista Agut. Normally Roger versus anybody is a pretty good watch but these last two have been sort of stinkers. He shows up with his C- game and he wins anyways. I guess that sort of proves a point about his being "The Living Proof". More on bottle at the end of this transmission.

This tournament is only interesting because of Roger Federer and that is only stating a fact. Everything seems to get interesting when he is in the house. Conversely tournaments seem to lose their air when he isn't in the draw. My contention is that Roger versus Anybody is worth watching as we all are aware he isn't going to be around forever. This swing through the hard courts leads up to the U. S. Open and that is the sole reason for his playing Montreal and Cincinnati. By the way stroke...how much does it cost on the day that you mentioned the "best bang for the buck"? Denis "The Menace" Shapovalov has created quite a stir with his performance here in his homeland of Canada. Good for him and great for Canadian tennis. His win in the first round saw him survive match points against him. Then it was on to slay the giant Juan Martin Del Potro. So why not take out the fading Fafa Nadal why you are at it? Adrian Mannarino was more or less a foregone conclusion which brings us to the darling of the "Next Generationers". Alexander Zverev is their hope for the future.

Zverev has been cutting a swath of a path up the ladder of the ATP tour. Nothing of real importance...nothing wholly substantial. His most impressive performance was an "almost" in a five set match with Nadal at the Australian. Other than that he has won a couple of tournaments here and there...but on the other hand Roger Federer has made him look almost like a run of the mill tour player. Zverev made the massive error of judgement in beating Roger one day in the past and Roger isn't going to let him forget it anytime soon. Shapovalov has taken down two huge names in the business and now he has a shot at the "Next Generation" title. A win over Alexander will reconstruct the conversation to a more realistic tone in my view. Denis "The Menace" is playing the whole court and isn't shy about it. He is a bit rough around the edges which in his case is not a liability as this is only to be translated into "potential" as in room for improvement. He has massive room for improvement. This is because he is playing the whole court whereas Zverev is forever perched or camped out on the baseline. Oh...he comes in once in a while to mop up or to chase down drop shots but he doesn't look comfortable doing it.

Shapovalov reminds me a bit of a Labrador Retriever as he is happy to chase down the ball to all corners of the court and he does it because he is excited about the prospects...the results. He likes hunting these big names. He's got so much natural offense and attack in him that he has overwhelmed two of the biggest names in the professional game this week. This is a match that once again Denis has nothing to lose. Zverev on the other hand has had a lot of hype heaped on him from the tour brain trust and this is going to put some additional pressure on him. The pressure can make a player perform over their ability but if I am not mistaken Zverev is just a tad insecure about his standing in the game. He has come out saying that he and Dominic Thiem are on the verge of coming out...breaking out of the pack. I'm not so sure that this is where he stands. This is a big moment for Zverev...this tournament and the upcoming tournaments. I wonder if hardcourts are his favorite surface.

We not only have the only player who has links to the origination of the game in Roger Federer left in this draw...we have two of the top contenders for the future in the semifinals. Federer's match is coming up quite soon but the other match will be played in the middle of the night here in Sweden.

One more thing...a word about bottle. I have forgotten what I was going to say. Obviously it is of little importance and even smaller consequence. I don't understand the behavior. He has become very Quirky. Unorthodox. stroke...thank you for the conversation and I certainly admire your concentration. His behavior is now only distracting. There is nothing of any relevance coming out of his keyboard...out of his noodle. Not in tennis and certainly not in politics. He is a drone...a boring troll. It's a shame. It is a warning to all of us. We must keep our wits about us...otherwise you can be subject to losing them. As bottle most certainly has.

[don_budge]

Federer in the Finals...Straight sets over Robin Hasse

Roger Federer looked a bit more impressive. Perhaps it is impressive that he is winning without looking impressive. But the announcer called him "The Great One" after he successfully won match point. More gushing. Jeez.

[don_budge]

STROKE, I'm glad you have stopped gushing so much over Roger. You know I am right on this point. It's hard to stand out when the whole world is gushing over somebody and you want to gush, too. I figure that if you thought there was something wrong with my comment you would have responded by now by trying to bite my head off.

As for the other guy, somebody told me that he persists in making snarky remarks about me even though my computer has him blocked and I never read a word he "writes" (spews).

I guess he likes self-feed. There's nobody on the other side of the net.

Trying to ruin it for everybody? Childish behavior. Grow up. Grow a pair while you are at it.

[stroke]

I have blocked bottle a while ago but the beginning of his posts show up in the preview when I pull up on "latest activity" or when someone else quotes him in their post. Oh well, I guess it is better than not blocking him. As I said before, I really can not understand why anyone has not blocked him.

Cincy, round of 32 and 16, I get a ground pass( which is for all courts except stadium). I much prefer the non stadium courts as there are no assigned seats and I can usually get a very close seat behind one of the baselines, which I much prefer over the side view. If they do not offer grounds passes when I arrive, I just buy the cheapest stadium seat which is about $60 as I remember, 10 or 15 less for just grounds pass. The nice thing to me about Cincy is access to all the other courts. Also, with the women being there, more mens matches are pushed off the stadium. For instance Thursday in Montreal, 4 mens matches were on stadium and the other 4 have matches were still on stadium 2 with a lot of reserved seating, In Cincy on Thursday, probably only 3 of the mens round of 16 will be on on stadium and the other 5 will be on grandstand or court 1 with a lot of unreserved seats. It is very bang for buck. This thing of pushing so many mens matches to non stadium courts does create some real supply and demand issues. You do need to plan accordingly. The fans see what they want to see no matter the tournament's scheduling blunders as far as what matches are on the stadiium.