Topic: Western & Southern Open

[Jamesdster]

Doess anyone know when the draws will be out?  I am especially interested in the Qualifier draw.  I am taking my son on Saturday for Kids Day and the qualies will be going on.

[euroka1]

Draw Party is tonight, 5:30pm - 7 pm but the invite says "please join us as we determine the first round singles match-ups" which implies that they may do the qualies earlier.
I won't be driving over until tomorrow and unfortunately will probably not get to the courts Saturday unless I make a very early start.

[Dallas]

I understand Roger is already there practicing on court!

[Dallas]

   
   

      
2

Tsonga in car accident, pulls out of Cincy
Ticker - Friday, August 10, 2012

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was involved in a traffic accident in Toronto that has forced him to pull out of next week's event in Cincinnati, the French journalist Eric Salliot reports. Tsonga received several stiches in his knee. The sixth-ranked Tsonga's participation at the U.S. Open does not appear to be in doubt. The Open starts on August 27.

[monstertruck]

Yikes, Jo Willie in a wreck!

I hope it's nothing serious.

[ashwin#1]

Tsonga's definately out of cincy, but i read another version of the accident..apparently, he walked into a fire hydrant & had eight stitches in his right knee and has been told to rest for 10 days


LINK : http://asia.eurosport.com/tennis/tsonga-out-of-cincinnati_sto3383508/story.shtml

Here :  The Frenchman walked into a fire hydrant and required eight stitches to his right knee, prompting him to pull out of next week’s tournament in Cincinnati.

“Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has had to pull out of the Cincinnati tournament because of an unfortunate accident in the streets of Toronto,” Tsonga’s agent said.

“Jo had to have eight stitches in his right knee and has been told to rest for 10 days. His participation in the US Open is not in doubt.”

The 27-year-old won silver in the Olympic men’s doubles last weekend, with Michael Llodra, had already been knocked out of the Toronto Masters, suffering a second round loss to another compatriot Jeremy Chardy.

[masterclass]

The Cincinnati Southern and Western Main Draw pdf.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/422/mds.pdf

Respectfully,
masterclass

[masterclass]

2012 Cincinnati Draw Quality Analysis by Masterclass

The 2012 Cincinnati Western and Southern Open comes on the heels of the almost washed out Toronto debacle.
Among the missing for this tournament will be #3 ranked Rafael Nadal who is still recuperating from problems and #6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who is recuperating from an accident. 

In the top list of those present, #4 Andy Murray should be feeling better after the obligatory withdrawal in Toronto following his massive Olympics performance. #2 Novak Djokovic might be too pooped to pop after the attempt to defend his Toronto title, but we will see. World #1 Roger Federer has rested from the Olympics after taking a holiday in the Swiss Alpine region with his family. #5 David Ferrer will likely be his usual hard working self. #7 Tomas Berdych has taken a nosedive in form and will be easy to overlook. Janko Tipsarevic and John Isner might be a bit tired from their Toronto efforts, while Juan Martin Del Potro led Andy Murray out of Toronto early, exiting courtesy of Stepanek and should be recovered.

Now here is my draw quality analysis by eighth section (section quality does not include the section head):
Each Qualifier is treated equally.

Starting with the bottom half of the draw:
MQF* - Section Name
40 - #2 seed Novak Djokovic
75 - #7 seed Janko Tipsarevic

38 - #3 seed Andy Murray
22 - #6 seed Juan Martin Del Potro

43 - #4 seed David Ferrer
40 - #5 seed Tomas Berdych

48 - #1 seed Roger Federer
34 - #8 seed Juan Monaco

*MQF - Masterclass Quality Factor - lower number is stronger (factor primarily based on player rankings, but adjusted by class, event history, current form, etc.)


By Quarter (toughest to easiest, excluding top participants)
30 - Murray/Del Potro
41 - Federer/Monaco
41.5 - Ferrer/Berdych
57.5 - Djokovic/Tipsarevic

Comments:
The Tipsarevic section is the easiest by far mostly due to 3 qualifiers in the section.
Del Potro's section is the most difficult. A lot of old class in that section still playing well and Isner.

Respectfully,
masterclass

[Start da Game]

this is probably the most unnoticed masters event on the tour.......i only remember this event for one thing - tennis4you gathering.......

[oracle86]

this is probably the most unnoticed masters event on the tour.......i only remember this event for one thing - tennis4you gathering.......

That's why Nadal has never even reached the finals here, right? 

[euroka1]

this is probably the most unnoticed masters event on the tour.......i only remember this event for one thing - tennis4you gathering.......

That's why Nadal has never even reached the finals here, right? 

I've been coming to this now for four or five years. In his previous appearances Nadal has never played really well so won't be missed by me at least. I saw him in top form in Monte Carlo earlier in the year and that will be fine for me. This is a very friendly sort of tournament which is why I keep coming back. Last year I found myself sitting in the middle of team Murray, which was an interesting experience. A few years ago, Karlovic beat Federer which was something unheard of at that time. Fed had a good final verses Mardy in 2010. After Mardy won the first set, he upped his game considerably and won the next two. The downside of this event is that the big players are not usually playing at their best (e.g. Nole last year). They are saving it for the US Open.

Good drive over here in 9 hours, one more than usual because of an unwanted detour and much roadwork in the Columbus area.

[Jamesdster]

My 15 yr old, Anthonydster and I just returned home from Cincy after day 1 of the qualies.  We had a great time.  It started off with a great match between Benjamen Becker and Matosevic with Mats pulling it out in the 3rd.  Then we walked over to the practice courts and Dallas was proven correct as we watched Roger and Stan practice for 45 minutes.  Then we headed over to the center court and watched Rochus school Jack Sock.  Sock tried to blast Rochus off the ct but Olivier was too steady.  Then we headed back to the practice court and now it was Murray and Lendl practicing.  Lendl really had him working hard on returning wide slice serevs to his forehand in the deuce court.  Then in the best match of the day, PHM took out Ebden 7-5 in the 3rd.  Now back to practice cts and watched Ferrer.  Love that guy!  Now for the Chris report of the day: On to ct 9 where Robson snuck by Dushevina 7-5 in the 3rd.  Then we walked to the next ct where Aranxta Rux and Sesil Karantantheva were doing battle.  The score was 6-3 5-2 Rux when we sat down.  Sesil proceeded to win the final 12 games <gulp>.  Rux asked us to please NEVER attend another match of hers.  All in all a great say with the young padawan.  Oops.  I somehow forgot to mention we also watched Youzhny practice.

Sorry I missed you euroka.

[Dallas]

Did you get any pictures?

[Jamesdster]

Did you get any pictures?

Anthony took a 2 min movie on his crappy phone plus a couple of photos but they are pretty bad.   

[euroka1]

I walked over in time to see the last set of that Mathieu - Ebden match. I felt obliged to wave the Australian flag. I thought PHM was playing the better game once the ball got into play but if Ebden had a few less double faults, he might have got it on his serve. A tough encounter for Ebden in the No1 qualies. Thought Jamesdster might have been there but was too tired to really look hard.

After that match I went to Goffin - Russell. I had not seen Goffin before. He certainly can cover the court (oh to be young again!) but I thought in many ways his game was patchy. Russell took a long medical timeout after losing the first set and only lasted a few games into the second before quitting. In that set and a half, Goffin had 6 double faults! Too many in my opinion.

I was sorry to see Gulbis went out earlier in the day. I've always enjoyed watching him in the past.

[Jamesdster]

I was at the 1st set of the Russell - Goffin match.  We left for the Robson match at that point so I guess I just missed the injury timeout.  Enjoy your stay E!

[Dallas]

Did you get any pictures?

Anthony took a 2 min movie on his crappy phone plus a couple of photos but they are pretty bad.   

OK...maybe  euroka will get some.

[euroka1]

Sorry Dallas, i'm not into taking pictures at all.

[euroka1]

2012 Cincinnati Draw Quality Analysis by Masterclass

The 2012 Cincinnati Western and Southern Open comes on the heels of the almost washed out Toronto debacle.
Among the missing for this tournament will be #3 ranked Rafael Nadal who is still recuperating from problems and #6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who is recuperating from an accident. 

In the top list of those present, #4 Andy Murray should be feeling better after the obligatory withdrawal in Toronto following his massive Olympics performance. #2 Novak Djokovic might be too pooped to pop after the attempt to defend his Toronto title, but we will see. World #1 Roger Federer has rested from the Olympics after taking a holiday in the Swiss Alpine region with his family. #5 David Ferrer will likely be his usual hard working self. #7 Tomas Berdych has taken a nosedive in form and will be easy to overlook. Janko Tipsarevic and John Isner might be a bit tired from their Toronto efforts, while Juan Martin Del Potro led Andy Murray out of Toronto early, exiting courtesy of Stepanek and should be recovered.

Now here is my draw quality analysis by eighth section (section quality does not include the section head):
Each Qualifier is treated equally.

Starting with the bottom half of the draw:
MQF* - Section Name
40 - #2 seed Novak Djokovic
75 - #7 seed Janko Tipsarevic

38 - #3 seed Andy Murray
22 - #6 seed Juan Martin Del Potro

43 - #4 seed David Ferrer
40 - #5 seed Tomas Berdych

48 - #1 seed Roger Federer
34 - #8 seed Juan Monaco

*MQF - Masterclass Quality Factor - lower number is stronger (factor primarily based on player rankings, but adjusted by class, event history, current form, etc.)


By Quarter (toughest to easiest, excluding top participants)
30 - Murray/Del Potro
41 - Federer/Monaco
41.5 - Ferrer/Berdych
57.5 - Djokovic/Tipsarevic

Comments:
The Tipsarevic section is the easiest by far mostly due to 3 qualifiers in the section.
Del Potro's section is the most difficult. A lot of old class in that section still playing well and Isner.

Respectfully,
masterclass

Thanks for your thoughts.
Here for convenience is the mens singles draw.
http://assets.usta.com/assets/663/15/MDS4.PDF

I think you are right about the DelP = Murray section. If Roddick's serve is on, he could get to the quarters. If not, he's been looking heavy again lately and I don't see him running down distant balls much.

I'm going to have a fairly quiet day today. Looking at the OP, I'll try to see Radwanska - Robson on Court 3 and then move to Center Court for Harrison - Tomic and Anderson - Blake.  Anyone with any special suggestions?

[Gawdblessya]

Thanks for your comments JAMESDSTER & EUROKA1!  Hearing about personal experiences adds life to the tournament.

Here is a link to the draw:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/422/mds.pdf

MASTERCLASS - Thanks for your analysis. Good stuff.     The Murray / Del Potro proposition looks the most appetising!  If they both play well, it could be worth staying in to see it!    
The potential Djokovic / Tipsarevic match looks the least interesting.  Federer / Monaco should be good, as Monaco has played very well of late & seems to be brimming with confidence. Ferrer / Berdych too should be fun. 

Who do you see playing the final here?  I'd like to see an "outsider" do it but the reality is that even with the top players away, few have been able to muster up the where-with-all to achieve the win. Much as I love his game, I can't help feeling that the only reason Gasquet got to the final is because of the absence of the higher ranked players in Toronto. 

The starting point is to get some good weather - may the rains remain away! 

EDIT  :       John Isner withdraws from W&S Open .........
Add John Isner to the list of W&S Open withdrawals.  The 6-foot-9 American pulled out of the tournament tonight because of a back injury. Earlier today, he lost in a Rogers Cup semifinal to Richard Gasquet in Toronto. Isner was slated to play Viktor Troicki in the first round in Mason.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tennis/2012/08/11/john-isner-withdraws-from-ws-open/