Yes I saw that and it's a very good idea.

Those are nice touches showing the world is changing.

Wish they coudl stop rigging draws now!

"Wish they coudl stop rigging draws now! "
No chance.
That was the condition for being given more $ by the sponsors

order of play out for tomorrow.
I'd be interested to see Filip Krajinovic, who was hailed as great talent a few years ago and than vanished fro the scene.
He is from the same town as Monica Seles.
He spent some time at the Boletieri, and was the guy know knocked out Djokovic from Serbian Open 2 years ago when Novak was suffering heavily from pollen allergies.
From my memory, he has a very pleasant game.

From what I read, the pretty boy looks distracted his focus; this is the first I heard of him since 2010,

Certainly not a grinder like Ferrer and will be interesting to see where he is and what is to be expected from him.

Bollettierri about Krajinovic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lor0TfB7ugc

had a little search on him, he has actually had a serious shoulder injury which took him out for 7 months still didn't heal in summer 2011.

I can;t quite get excited beyong Nadal, Murray and maybe Raonic, Tomic. Nadal has noone in his draw to fear. Raonic, Tomic and Ferrer are all in Murray's draw again, isn;t it?

where else....

Madrid Maybe? watch for the draw there as well.

Have you watched the matches today? I saw 2 games of Murray Stakh but clearly it was a one way traffic...despite the russian's talent. He is Russian btw?

He is Ukrainian. Same as Dolgo. All used to be USSR, i.e. "Russia"
I haven't seen anything (refused to watch Fognini on principle )
Was at the gym during Murray match. I'll def watch a bit tomorrow.

@ nitb

Day2:
Tomic - Montanes
Krajinovic - Ferrer
Nadal - Garcia-Lopez

-----------------------------------

Tomic is looking good to win this one. I saw him changed some of his endless slicing in MC. Montaneas is experienced on clay. But this test might be a bit for him to win, especially when his confidence is not that high due to not winning any tournaments for a long time now. Tomic in 3, close sets. Total points won shall be close, decent no. of break-points and breaks as well.


Krajinovic - Ferrer

I don't know this Filip Krajinovic guy. A WC as I read it. Ferrer in 2 comfortable sets.

Nadal-GGL

GGL has a win against Nadal, but its was just one-off case. IIRC correctly Nadal could only take 2/26 BP in that match. Very strange. This one though is going to be a comfortable 2 setter like 6-3 6-2. GGL may have few BPs but won't be able to convert any.


Other notable ones:

Victor Hanescu (ROU) - Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)

Hanescu is good player on clay. This is anyone's guess for me. Slightly towards Tipsy because he simply is a better player. But only just.

Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) - Kei Nishikori (JPN)

A tester for Nishikori. He should pass it, but it will be close.

Igor Andreev (RUS)- Milos Raonic (CAN)

Andreev has good serve and a decent forehand. But Raonic has both things better. A straight sets win for Raonic, with a possible tie-breaker set. Not many BPs and breaks.

thanks rotla,

you're pretty good at match previewing. Why don't you do the Match of the day thread?
There used to be one on the old 606.
I don't mind doing the tournament ones.
Back to today's matches, I hope I get to see some of them on free streams as tennis tv only starts tomorrow.
I'm ba bit surprised that hansecy chose to play in Barelona and not in his native Romania.
Tipsarevic is liking his top ten status very much and apparently wants to move to top5, that's his ultimate dream...very ambitious.
It's funny to see what players think like that; he's basically saying he's better than anyone but top 4, so they all this who's the daddy mentality (which I never doubted for a second), just put on the facade and "humble" talk for the media.
I know Hanescu is a decent player. However, my prevaling memory of him was that spitting incident in Wimbledon, no idea what has been happening to him since.
Kuku is a funny character, but Nishi should beat him, I am pleasantly surprised by the fire he shows, not easy to shake off,much more watchable grined than Ferer at the moment.
As for Raonic, I was not that nicely surprised to see him on clay in Monte Carlo, he really doe not have the movement, so how far his serving and powerfuls forehand will take hi on clay is going to be interesting.
I will definitely want to see Krajinovic, apparently a big talent, and has Nike and IMG behind him in the big way, has been training with Pete and Fed quite a few times, quite handsome, so I can see the Money can't wait to start cashing him in.
He had a big injury which took him out just as he was starting to go pro properly, hence my interest to see where he is now.
He has a nice build, but quite a natural kind of lad not massive , a bit like Nole, will take some time to fill out.

GGLopez, well, he's the one Spaniard that doesn't roll over in the form of a red carpet for Nadal and actually CAN play on clay, too. Single backhand though...

Has anyone noticed Robredo (aka Boredo) has been missing from the tour?
News on him:
"Former world No. 5 Tommy Rodredo, who hasn’t played a match since late October due to a serious left leg injury, says that while he is feeling great and rehabbing six to eight hours a day, he will not attempt to compete at Roland Garros, as he does not believe he is up to playing five-set matches yet. "I envy my colleagues," he told Mundo Deportivo. "I’ll be 30 years old next week. I'm young and I have always been very careful, I see two, three or four more years of playing quietly. To wake in the morning and compete is awesome. When you are on the outside you see more things you value, what you have and want it back."

Interesting to hear from Robredo. Another under-rated player. Not a great fan but certainly more talented than some give him credit for.

Funny how he sees himself playing another 3/4 more years.

And Soderling??? bizarre that disappearance.

I read somewhere that Soderling is apparently undergoing a silent band due to match fixing.

Just had a pee k at Nishi Kuku match, the court looks like orange hard court, and plays like one, at least these two make it look like that ....

Wow!
Montanes bagels Tomic in the first set!
As I said, an old clay dog

@nitb

Why don't you do the Match of the day thread?
There used to be one on the old 606.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll do that from Madrid on wards. This week is busy as hell. My day work is always in front of a computer, which allows me to access internet and follow up forums in between "work" .

Wow!
Montanes bagels Tomic in the first set!
-------------------------------------------------------
What??? I was just looking to open livescorehunter and already a set is over. Tomic is sleeping still?? He is an old fashioned slow starter.

Tomic with a break up.. 2-0 in 2nd set.

No links in livescorehunter . Where are you guys watching?

I am not watching...very busy too.

Sad to learn about Sod. I had heard about a silent ban too but thought it was something else....(the ususal )

the onlyavailable lilnk is for Nishikori Kuku match which is really boring to watch as none of them seem to be bring any flair out of each other.
TennisTv starts tomorrow, so should be better.

"I'll do that from Madrid on wards."

That would be brilliant

Montanes comes on top of Tomic in 3, same as Nishikori. Anderson in two (tiebreakers)
Watching Ferrer Krajinovic. 4:0 at the moment. Krajinovic not able to convert even 40:0 on his serve....
Hope he recovers in the second set...

And down goes young Filip....6:0, 6:3, in urgent need of some cardio fitess....easy prey for the never-tiring Ferrer....

Never heard of this Krajinovic. What does Kraji mean?