ATP Masters Series Hamburg

[Drummond]

So the third clay court Masters Series event is officially underway with coverage beginning tonight at 9:00pm on Fox Sports 3. Last years final saw Federer beat Nadal in 3 sets, but keep in mind that Federer is a 4 time champion at this venue so it probably doesn’t give an entirely accurate picture of what is to come. This is one of my favourite MS events, I have to admit that's mainly due of the roof. I'm predicting a Federer/Nadal final with Nadal taking the title as he will be determined to bounce back after an early exit at Rome.

Draw:

(1) FEDERER, Roger SUI/BYE
NIEMINEN, Jarkko FIN v (WC) SCHUETTLER, Rainer GER
ANDREEV, Igor RUS v SODERLING, Robin SWE
MAHUT, Nicolas FRA v (14) TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA

(10) YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS v VERDASCO, Fernando ESP
CANAS, Guillermo ARG v LLODRA, Michael FRA
LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP v (LL) Minar, Ivo CZE
BYE/(5) FERRER, David ESP

(4) DAVYDENKO, Nikolay RUS/BYE
DARCIS, Steve BEL v LJUBICIC, Ivan CRO
WAWRINKA, Stanislas SUI v (Q) Martin, Alberto ESP
KIEFER, Nicolas GER v (16) MATHIEU, Paul-Henri FRA

(12) MONACO, Juan ARG v VOLANDRI, Filippo ITA
BOLELLI, Simone ITA v (Q) Granollers, Marcel ESP
(WC) BERRER, Michael GER v SEPPI, Andreas ITA
BYE/(8) GASQUET, Richard FRA

(7) BLAKE, James/BYE
TIPSAREVIC, Janko v (WC) BECK, Andreas
MONTANES, Albert v FISH, Mardy
ACASUSO, Jose v (17) ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP

(13) ROBREDO, Tommy v KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp
(WC) ZVEREV, Mischa v KARLOVIC, IVO
CHELA, Juan Ignacio v (Q) Sanchez de Luna, Jose Antonio ESP
BYE/(3) DJOKOVIC, Novak

(9) BERDYCH, Tomas/BYE
CILIC, Marin v (Q) Safin, Marat RUS
(Q) Naso, Gianluca ITA v (LL) Rochus, Olivier BEL
(Q) Benneteau, Julien FRA v (11) MOYA, Carlos

(15) MURRAY, Andy v TURSUNOV, Dmitry
MALISSE, Xavier v SIMON, Gilles
(Q) Horna, Luis PER v STARACE, Potito
BYE/(2) NADAL, Rafael

 

[dUkez]

a few early retirements

 

[Drummond]

a few early retirements

Why am I at my computer when I could be watching the blockbuster that is Davydenko v Ljubicic!? Possibly the worst match ever but at least one good thing comes from it; one will no longer be in the tournament.

 

[Ricketts]

What happened during the Robredo/Kohlschreiber match? Lots of arguing between players, chair umpire, and referee, but i missed the incident.

 

[Drummond]

What happened during the Robredo/Kohlschreiber match? Lots of arguing between players, chair umpire, and referee, but i missed the incident.

I had it on in the background but didn’t see it. I started to pay attention when things got heated. This is what someone posted about the incident:

Armstrong gets out of his chair then immediately rules the ball as being in, then changes his mind after taking a closer look and rules it as out admitting that he called it too quickly. Then Robredo complains about it and the supervisor argues about it saying that he has to go with the initial call because he can't be influenced by Kohlschreiber so they decide that Kohlschreiber should lose the point because he didn't make a play on the ball. Then Kohlschreiber argues that the linesman called it as out so he left the shot for good reason, so they decide on a replay.

Basically everyone is bagging the umpire.

Richard Gasquet continuing his fine form, this time getting thrashed 6-3, 6-2 by Andreas Seppi in just 71 minutes. Unbelievably overrated.

 

[Karbo]

What happened during the Robredo/Kohlschreiber match? Lots of arguing between players, chair umpire, and referee, but i missed the incident.

[YOUTUBE]__c2nfnIDN4[/YOUTUBE]

Robredo is scum

 

[Drummond]

No wonder wh Robredo has no fans. Shocking umpiring too.

Djokovic v Nadal currently underway with Nole out to a 3-0 lead. The winner will play Federer who destroyed Seppi in a truly classic Semi Final match-up...

Anyway I won't be reading too much into the results at Hamburg but if Djokovic manages to beat Nadal it'll at least make things interesting for the French Open.

 

[Drummond]

One of the BEST matches I have ever seen, and no, I’m not going overboard. Truly a magnificent display, that right there is tennis at its finest.

Djokovic take a bow, you were unbelievable. Missed some crucial opportunities such as having two break points to go 4-0 up in the first set. I felt he was the better player over much of the game but just failed to take his chance and Nadal is just a freak. The guts and determination of the man cannot be put into words. He is a machine who fights for every single point, driving his opponent insane. Some of those rallies he manages to extend just shouldn’t happen.

Djokovic is the new threat to Nadal on clay, not Federer. I believe if anyone can beat Nadal at the French Open it’s Nole, not the man he’ll play tomorrow.

 

[pepsi]

One of the BEST matches I have ever seen, and no, I’m not going overboard. Truly a magnificent display, that right there is tennis at its finest.

Djokovic take a bow, you were unbelievable. Missed some crucial opportunities such as having two break points to go 4-0 up in the first set. I felt he was the better player over much of the game but just failed to take his chance and Nadal is just a freak. The guts and determination of the man cannot be put into words. He is a machine who fights for every single point, driving his opponent insane. Some of those rallies he manages to extend just shouldn’t happen.

Djokovic is the new threat to Nadal on clay, not Federer. I believe if anyone can beat Nadal at the French Open it’s Nole, not the man he’ll play tomorrow.

Unbelievable match. For anyone who thinks clay court tennis is boring, please watch this match. It was entertaining throughout and was thirlling to watch a lot of the time. Djokovic had chances, but I thought Nadal alwayshad the slight edge in the match.

And yes, he is a bigger threat to Nadal than Roger. Nole is able to hit his backhand on the rise and able to come into the court a bit more. When Roger tries to attack with his backhand on clay against Rafa it more often than not doesn't work.