Halle – Gerry Weber 250
June 13th: Raonic and Nishikori lost in their doubles match against Kohlschreiber and Youzhny, so the grass court warm-up's over. They lost 2-6, 5-7 and only managed 3 aces (and 3 dbl faults) between them for the match.
June 12th: Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikor take on Phil Kohlschreiber and Mikhail Youzhny tomorrow, on Court 1, not before 2pm local (after Kohlschreiber has had suitable rest after his singles match versus Tobias Kamke, also of Germany, starting at noon on the main court).
Japanese player Kei Nishikori was also knocked out in singles play, against Mikhail Youzhny today. So Milos and Nishikori will try to avenge their recent singles defeats to these players. Both of the opponents have been on the upswing lately. Obviously it's great practice on the surface, but hopefully there's more rounds to come for the two young fellers. Youzhny did well in Halle last year as well, making it to a semi-final match with the Feds after Roger defeated Raonic. Watch the Roger-Milos quarter-final from last year in Halle on youtube here:
Highlights: youtube video link
Full Match: youtube video link
--wacb
June 11: Monfils defeats Milos pretty decisively 64 62; Milos did not have any break-points, was not able to get much going on Monfils' serve; meanwhile Gael returned well, especially on Milos' second serve. Monfils seemed to be having a good time out there, did not have to really stretch himself that often, just waited for errors from Milos. Open for comments here.
ATP: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/06/24/Halle-Tuesday-Monfils-Gulbis-Baghdatis.aspx << [with video]
June 10: Interesting results from opening day: Milos and partner Kei Nishikori upset the top-seeded doubles team 6(4)-7 7-6(5) 10-3 -- super-tiebreaker; see comment from Robert, thanks! -- while dream-team Federer/Haas went down in straight sets to Melzer/Petzschner. And in singles, Milos' possible second-round opponent Daniel Brands, who took a set off Rafa at Roland Garros, lost in straight sets to 254-ranked qualifier Jan Hernych; and David Goffin went down in three sets to 156-ranked wild-card Mischa Zverev.
>> http://www.tenniscanada.com/index.php?title=RAONIC/NISHIKORI-UPSET-NO.-1-SEEDS-AT-HALLE&pid=4669 <<
Milos takes on Gael Monfils first-up on Centre Court tomorrow, Tuesday, June 11: noon Halle time, 6am ET, 3am PT. Watch it live on Sportsnet ONE.
June 9: Sportsnet ONE has Halle on the schedule starting 11pm ET tonight, 2am PT Monday. Milos' doubles match starts at noon Halle time: 6am ET, 3am PT, but on Court 1; will we see it?
June 8: Draw is out for the Gerry Weber Open. Milos is seeded fifth, in Tommy Haas' quarter, Roger Federer's half. His first-round opponent? Not a qualifier, nor is it one of the German wild-cards with 100-plus ATP rankings; it's Gael Monfils. If Milos wins that match his likely second-round opponent would be Daniel Brands (ATP#59); with Tommy Haas waiting for QF, and Roger for SF.
Just on the off chance that Milos does not make it to the Finals, he'll get a bit more grass-court practice paired up with Kei Nishikori for doubles. Of course they drew the top-seeds in round one. (Then-again, unseeded Federer/Haas are in the other half.)
>> http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/500/mds.pdf << Updates daily.
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June 15th, 2013 - 11:56
Looks like milos decided to get a little more practice on grass. He received a wild card entry in eastbourne and is the top seed.
June 15th, 2013 - 12:30
Thanks for catching that Sam! Quick google search revealed this article:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/tennis-raonic-ward-edmund-get-eastbourne-wildcards-184115329.html
June 11th, 2013 - 21:46
Give Milos time to adapt to a new coach ! As in Tokyo against Nishikori, Milos couldn’t do much against a player who is known as one of the best return player against good servers (such as Roddick and Karlovic ; check Wikipedia in French for that). Besides Monfils, before his injury, was in the Top 10.
I know good serve is not enough. I know Milos has to fight whatever the score. I know he has to adapt to his opponent, and never be systematic with his opponent. All this, I am sure, he will work with Ljubicic.
Last, I don’t think he is as good on grass, much less than Sampras. He is too tall to be and not at ease in his movements. Besides, he must keep such a bad memory of his fall and injury at Wimbledon, at least at the back of his mind. Grass can be slippery. He will be much better on hard court, for sure. Cheer up, Milos’ fans !
June 11th, 2013 - 21:51
On this last point, you will check that Milos doesn’t run much to return balls that look within his reach, as if he was frightened, some way, to fall. I am sure his fall and twist at Wimbledon is somewhere in his psyche. Be that as it may, he was rather disappointing on grass last year too.
June 12th, 2013 - 00:17
That’s a good point, we assume he will play great tennis on grass, associating him with Sampras and matching the powerful shots with the advantages grass should easily confer.
That hasn’t been the case though, as you point out. He’s shown to best on hard courts, especially indoors, and even more so if they’re on the West Coast of North America (too bad Davis Cup semis won’t be played in Vancouver as well!).
A slump, perhaps, a lasting depression? I don’t think he’s peaked by any means. He plays poorly some games, and great in others. That consistency’s got to improve. The thing is, sometimes he plays poorly in the first round, sometimes in the fourth, and sometimes he wins titles.
Those high-error, off-games creep in every now and then, almost without warning, but let’s hope for US Open seeding’s sake that they come later in tournaments over the summer… As I’ve said before, the outcome of almost all of these games rests on Milos’ shoulders, if he’s on, the playing-level of most opponents is irrelevant. If he’s off, it can be pretty bad.
I hope this doesn’t have too much an effect on his confidence leading into Wimbledon.
June 11th, 2013 - 07:50
Milos is losing against Gael playing very bad.
June 11th, 2013 - 08:04
The way Milos is playing right now gives me concern. Changing Coaches in the middle of the year probably wasn’t the smartest Decision from him.
Now down 4-6, 1-4
June 11th, 2013 - 08:22
And Milos lost 4-6, 2-6.
Big Question: Is this only a slight dip in his Form or a permanent dip?
If it’s permanent he may have already reached a peak in his career.
June 11th, 2013 - 16:49
I hate to say it, but this is a legitimate question, kind of like the economic one: when does a slump turn into a recession, a recession into a depression. My sense is that Milos is still in a bit of a slump, but that he will turn it around; and hopefully soon.
June 10th, 2013 - 18:09
To answer your question : “A 10-point tiebreaker, sometimes referred to as a super tiebreaker, is sometimes played in a tennis match in lieu of a final set when each player—or team, in doubles—has won the same number of sets. The 10-point tiebreaker has been used in play to shorten the match time since it takes much less time than playing a full set. This scoring system is often used in junior tennis and has become the standard—with the exception of Grand Slam events—for ATP men’s and WTA women’s professional tennis.” (I add ATP and WTA doubles, of course !).
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/160100-rules-for-playing-10-point-match-tiebreaker-in-tennis/#ixzz2VqkTM2DF
June 9th, 2013 - 09:31
I am so happy Milos decided to have Ljubicic as coach till The US Open. I think it’s a very good choice that will help him in his game. As for Halle, the draw is rather difficult for Milos, especially starting with Monfils who has been a Top 10 before his injury. But then it’s a good challenge too. Of course, I’ll be rooting for Milos, though Gael is French. Go Milos !
June 9th, 2013 - 22:57
I tried to be optimistic, but yes, Monfils is going to be quite a challenge…..
June 9th, 2013 - 00:12
The grass-court warm-up 250 is always a little more stacked than the regular competition at a 250….. But, this isn’t so bad. It’s not as if Monfils has completed exploded back into the rankings. The challenge will be steady, consistent play. He could make the semis even if he didn’t play at his greatest and most aggressive, as long as he plays at a high level consistently. Risking too much would cause a few errors in a row in at least one game per set, and we know Milos can have trouble at breaking back after going down in a set; he needs to stay on top! I’m hoping to see some fire to carry momentum into Wimbledon!