2021 Qatar ExxonMobil Open...ATP 250...Doha, Qatar

[don_budge]

Fed first match will maybe be Chardy, who has been playing well. Next up maybe Coric, another tough one. Thiem #1 seed. Rubliv, Denis, Stan in the draw. Opelka and Fritz floating in there also. A tough field for a 250.

stroke...this is an interesting comment. Take a look at Daniel Evans recent activity:

https://www.atptour.com/en/players/d...layer-activity

He actually won a tournament last month beating Chardy decisively in the semis. But Chardy has been playing some really good tennis this year as well as you note. See here:

https://www.atptour.com/en/players/j...layer-activity

This is interesting because it is all about the Roger Federer effect. Since the winner of this match gets the honour of playing "The Living Proof" it makes them that much more interesting. Then it makes the quarter above him more interesting as well as it comes down to speculating as you have Coric out to the quarters...but Coric seems to have disappeared. Another interesting "What If" could be John Millman in the quarters who becomes the odds on favourite in that section with the withdrawal of Coric. Don't you just love Roger? Everything gets that much more interesting when he is in the HOUSE!!!

[stroke]

Fed first match will maybe be Chardy, who has been playing well. Next up maybe Coric, another tough one. Thiem #1 seed. Rubliv, Denis, Stan in the draw. Opelka and Fritz floating in there also. A tough field for a 250.

[don_budge]

tgrb

thank god roger is back!

The tennis world needs this. We all need this. His first opponent will either be the tricky dan evans who utilizes the slice so well or the blast away baseline bomber jeremy chardy.
Just glad to see roger back. Rf3.0
and i think he has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Kyle lacroix uspta, ptr
delray beach
sets consulting

tgkb...

[stotty]

Well, we will certainly all be watching with bated breadth. A year out of the game and 39 years old isn't a recipe that wins tournaments. Murray has a had year out and seems all but finished. Roger is six years older. It seems implausible that Roger can mount a serious tournament-winning comeback but we will all be watching because Roger is Roger and if one player is capable of the impossible it is surely Roger.

Anyway, we will soon find out. One thing is for sure, whatever the outcome, it will be pretty to watch.

[klacr]

TGRB

Thank God Roger is Back!

The tennis world needs this. We all need this. His first opponent will either be the tricky Dan Evans who utilizes the slice so well or the blast away baseline bomber Jeremy Chardy.
Just glad to see Roger back. RF3.0
And I think he has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA, PTR
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting

[don_budge]

Do you think it has been long enough? I mean...when was the last time there was an actual real tennis tournament? A tournament that featured "The Living Proof" in the don_budge tennis coaching paradigm. It's been a long time. Too long. There is simply no plot to any of these tournaments without Roger Federer. Not to mention sub-plots. There is no drama. It is like one big "who cares"? Except we all know who cares, who really cares...stroke and stotty. S & S green stamps. Personally, I believe even they have to be struggling to get up the enthusiasm to watch these cookie cutter matches. But God bless 'em. Somebody has to care. Otherwise nobody gives a shit.

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/cu...doha/451/draws

Roger Federer seeded #2 to Dominic Thiem's #1. Do you see what I mean? When Roger is in the tournament the first thing you do is look at the first round opponent. Hmmm...Roger hasn't played in a while. Can he work himself into the match and get in position to win? The answer is of course yes if you have waited as long as we have for a real tennis player to show up. You have to be optimistic that we will see some matches with Federer on the court swinging his 97 square at the little yellow ball. Roger has a bye in the first round and then he plays the winner of Jeremy Chardy (ranked #64) and Daniel Evans (ranked #28). Wouldn't it be nice to see Federer versus Evans? A couple of one hand backhands with a bit of old school flair. Is it just me? It's ok if it is.

It's hard not to get a bit carried away but one could almost project him into the finals. The bottom half of this ATP 250 event doesn't look overly impressive. Well...let's just be like Roger and take it one day at a time. One match at a time. One set at a time. One point at a time. One thing is for certain...if Roger is playing then there is at least his match that you can watch and without missing a point not be in danger of nodding off. Just because he's Roger. And you're not.