You wrote:
"Gulbis, meanwhile, is enduring a dismal stretch of tennis in which he has lost in the first round of 10 straight tournaments."
In fact he's lost in the SECOND round of ten straight tournaments, which has been sufficient recently for him to slowly creep up the ATP rankings. Of course, if he performs no better between now and Wimbledon, he could well find himself back at around the 80 mark.

Yes, obviously I meant second round. Which is terrible results for a player of his talent, especially when you consider some of the opponents he's lost to during that stretch.

Gulbis has few points to defend until the French, but he will plummet in the rankings thereafter.

Isn't Yen-Hsun Lu the guy who defeated Nalbandian in Australian Open? Then,I won't be surprised if he beats Hewitt!

Lu beat Nalbandian then got DESTROYED by Robredo. Playing Hewitt is much different than Nalbandian. You always have to play well to beat Hewitt. You can easily beat Nalbandian when he's having one of his off days, like he did at the Aussie Open.

Hewitt is going to CRUSH Lu in straight sets.

You don't think Djokovic can beat Cilic? Hmmm interesting; but Novak is certainly not playing well. I still think he'll reach the finals.

mmm Ricky... a reminder to not be so sure about sports lol

sampra - of course Djokovic CAN beat Cilic. I'm just predicting he WON'T on this specific occasion.

Ricky, with all the facts on the table your predictions for Dubai seem logical.
I just hope for your prediction on Djokovic to be correct as the one for Hewitt in Delray Beach.

I agree that Murray will win the Dubai unless he chokes or feel sick. I

Yup Lu does it again. I think Ricky, you probably didn't consider the fact that Robredo played really well up to the match against Lu, and Lu was also probably drained after his match against Nalbandian, which was a series of rollercoaster games.

I highly doubt this result was because Lu played well. Lleyton must have been...just awful.

hey ricky ne idea why del potro didnt play dubai? and when hes playing next since hes not playing DC??

bad luck about querry right- i mean what the hell. i know why he lost, cos hes the guy i was supporting this week (after ernie did his usual loss). neone i support majorly loses. sucks suck sucks. so yeah, sorry, my bad.

kaitepai
delpotro is not playing in Dubai because he wants to avoid the "Big 4" as much as possible.He never managed to beat anyone of them and he only wins small tournaments where none of them even bothered to show up.That's how he managed to become world no.7: by choosing the tournaments he will play very cleverly.Sorry,if I'm speaking too harshly but that guy has been the most disappointing for me for a couple of months.Until the beginning of this year,I was actually following his career but now,I'm very angry at him!

LOL sister. Del Potro already has a title and a QF at the Australian Open this year. I didn't expect him to do well indoors, that doesn't suit him. He hasn't been disappointing at all this year aside from one match.

Gulbis has been by far the most disappointing player in 2009. 2nd is probably Djokovic. 3rd is probably Soderling.

Ooops, Novak won.

Now that Djokovic has reached the Semi's the smart money has to be on Djokovic lifting the Winners Trophy.

theres a reason i directed my question at ricky. hes unbiast AND he knows what hes talking about. sisterofnight- get over it. hes 20. give him time. he said that himself, that he needs time. ur mental to expect nething more.

yeah my gulbis sucks. but im not giving up on him!!! ;)

Also Del Potro is not playing DC because he didn't want to go from hard courts to clay and back to hard courts for the Masters Series. He just wants to stay on hard courts all the way through March.

I highly doubt Djokovic will beat Simon.

The history of your predictions is against Novak, nothing new to hear from you.

I would be very surprised if Djokovic lost tomorrow. He looked rejuvenated today

djok will beat simon! simons not really that great. and last time novak whipped him (but si did play bad).

so sorry ricky, is his next tounry indian wells? this sucks without him and and fed! and gulbis playing like shit.

Nothing against you Ricky, but you said Cilic would beat Djokovic. The result was a resounding straights set victory, and even though Novak struggled a lot, the fact that he comes through these ones is due to his great clutch play and ability to summon brilliance when he needs it.

I think Novak is a favourite against Simon; given that the games match up better for him.

resounding?

the only difference in the match was break points.

Ooops, Novak won, AGAIN.

You would be very unfair to say the only difference were break points. I think Djokovic looked the better player the entire match.

orion -
were you watching the same match I was? Novak looked abysmal in the first set and half - couldn't hit a forehand, volley or a smash -only his serve saved him. Gil choked at the end of the 2nd, gifting Novak the break & the set with that 0-40 game. Novak got it together in the 3rd after he was broke in the 1st game and squeaked out the win. He should count himself fortunate with this one. And throw out that damn racquet!

Djokovic always is the better player on paper. Its just a matter of whether he arrives on court with a mindset and feeling that is correct. Today's match against Simon was tough, but he managed to come through it with good serving and a change in strategy.

tenisbebe, you're right about Novak looking very patchy but he squeezed it out and played great at times.
But yes, it looks like that racquet is affecting him a lot more than he lets on.

Ferrer will beat him if he plays anything close to the way he played against Simon.

samprilica - yes, you are right: Good job today getting through. Despite almost all of his shots deserting him save his serve, he hung in there and figured out a way to win. I just see no other explanation for all the uncharacteristic UE's, off the forehand esp, (but also those missed smashes) except for his not being accustomed to the new gear. It was clearly very frustrating for him - he kept staring at the racquet after a miss (kinda funny). I give him credit for not destroying the thing in retaliation - can you imagine if that were Marat in the same situation? That racquet would have been toast...... : )

I was talking about his match against cilic, not simon

There was little difference other than break points. Djokovic was decent, Cilic was decent to mediocre. Just because it was BY FAR Djokovic's best performance of the week doesn't mean it was a good performance. His other performances have been terrible.

Simon should be ashamed to have lost that match, and as he said in his post-match interview, he is.

Maybe not brilliantly,bu Novak did play well enough to beat Cilic.But I couldn't watch his match against Simon as I was in the school and stupid Dubai organizers put this match in the day session.However,given Ferrer's form tonight against Gasquet,I assume Novak has to play a near perfect match tomorrow if he wants the title.
"theres a reason i directed my question at ricky. hes unbiast AND he knows what hes talking about."
So,am I not allowed to raise my opinions? I thought this was a free forum,I didn't insult neither you nor Delpotro nor anyone else.

And RickyDimon,I know that DelPotro's on-court performances hasn't been that disappointing,what I was referring to was more his attitudes than anything else.I used to think of him as a nice,modest and kind boy (like Rafa or Gilles as you may say) but I now realize that he's kind of a "bad boy".But that's only my opinion,of course,so I don't want anyone's attacking me for this reason.

I haven't really seen anything about Del Potro's attitude this year that suggests he has turned into a "bad boy" of tennis. Have you?

That said, he was never as nice as Gilles or Rafa. He's somewhere in between in my opinion.

But do tell us, sisterofnight, if you have seen something that we haven't.

Simon played his best at the given moment and nothing to be ashamed of. Novak chalked at the USO 2007 finals and he wasn't ashamed at all, what's the deal, you are what you are at the moment and that's all that matters, no excuses please.

Novak got completely outplayed at the 2007 U.S. Open final. Simon didn't get outplayed today. He threw the match away.

Ashamed might be the wrong word, but he knows that he should have won the match today in easy straight sets.

Don't want to split the hair but Novak served for the first set and chalked, than he had a chance to equalize but chalked again. Had he won the first set outcome might have been totally different, God knows; he pushed Fed to the wire, not sure if Fed outplayed him, anyhow Fed won and that was it ...

Simon should/would have won if he could, but he couldn't, he chalked, so he lost. Life goes on and hopefully we have a nice match tomorrow. Let the better man win.

RickyDimon - absolutely - he choked & was a gift to Novak. He clearly was playing better. But individual player fans don't see things in the same way as purely tennis fans do. We have all been there: rooting for our favourite and then watching them get shut out & you want to fall on a knife.

to copy a previous thread:

Ferrer was in "the zone" today. Gasquet just, AHHHH, let Ferrer tie him in knots - came close to eating a bagel in both sets. This sort of clarity by Ferrer is extremely rare and I doubt he will be able to duplicate that mindset tomorrow. That being said, anticipate testosterone driven final. Would be fun to see.

tenisbebe , 2/28/09 12:29 AM

"But individual player fans don't see things in the same way as purely tennis fans do"

This individual player fan happens to be tennis fan too, so i really don't know why you are trying to make excuses for Simon. Novak fought hard and deserved to win, square and fair. Would like to know the reason Simon choked (not chalked as i previously wrote, sorry ..), mental, physical, etc ... In a soccer game referee can influence the outcome of the game but this is tennis, where such thing is almost impossible. If he was better he would have found a way to close the match, but again he couldn't.

Also some articles critisized the way he spoke during the presser, if you are a sportman you praise your opponent and you don't try to explain and find excuses why you've lost. I really have nothing against Simon, he is a nice, honest guy with some nice tennis skills.

Well I asked Ricky not you, so i kinda didnt want a response from u cos uve had a go at delPo before. Hes not a bad boy, I've met him. He's confident and he's not exactly the nicest person in the world- hes not afraid to say what he wants, but he's definatly modest and has alot of respect for his opponents. He's not mean at all, he's just like pretty quiet and chilled out, doesn't say a tonload. That's an english thing 2. The experience I had with him was great and despite not exactly being charming like say, Simon, he remains my 3rd fav.

ok kaitepai,that's your opinion and I respect it.I don't wanna make this issue longer but I'm just gonna say that maybe "bad boy" was a too harsh phrase but I don't know a better phrase to express my feelings about him.For me,he's not a modest person,of course I've never met him but who in these forums has met with every tennis player? We only shape our opinions according to the tennis they play and their attitudes on- and off- the court.
RickyDimon,I was just referring to his statements after his match against Roger in Australia.

ok fair enuf, but if u read his interviews that he actually speaks properly in he says he is nowhere near the top 4. seems pretty modest 2 me. he also called himself ugly! - complete lie :)

kaitepai,you're right about that.I wouldn't consider him ugly at all;)

del potro is definitely a bad boy in my books. the guy is an arrogant fool. he's so rude to lines people, demanded a linesperson leave because he didn't like their call. Someone who was at the AO post ed here he behaved like a hooligan at the recent AO, did the same, shouted at a lineman like a street gangster. Against Murray in a match, he bitched about Murray's mum. Who does that? The guy is an arrogant bully, I bet he's a woman beater as well!

do u not think the tour could do with a bad boy? someone with a bit of spice? i doubt he is a woman beater, in fact i can almost vouch for it, but certainly he has a bad temper and is just a little bit mean. but cudnt we do with that on the atp? all the boys are so nice... del potro is so mean and so sexy all at the same time!! even sister agrees with me there :)
Bad guys rule.

oh well... if sister agrees!!! :)

I personally don't mind bad boys but mean nasty hooligans like those who spit at others players aren't my style. This is sports, not street gangsterism. So you met him, know him well and can vouch for him. I can already see what a great judge of character you are. So you find mean people sexy who rule. Excellent. Me thinks you adore domestic violence. Not an advocater are you? :)

dont get me wrong, i dont know him well, just his body. and im pretty damn positive he doesnt hit women, ok! and yeah i adore domestiv violence, i work in a hospital, i pretty much am an advocate for it. ur a meathead.

you work in a hospital so that automatically means you're not one?? and I'm the meathead!!! You just said you find mean and arrogant people sexy!! Read your own words baby, you live in a dream world. I think you need psyc assessment!!

I live in a dream world? Do I have 2 spell this out for u? U dont take a hint easily do u?

psycho alert!

lol ur just jealous. hw cud u not be?

homos= psychotic psycho

I just think kaitepai sees the bad boy side of Delpots, and homos sees something different. As long he isn't a criminal, I don't see how anyone can actually judge, Granted, if I had seen the spitting, I would dislike him too.

Yeah, I wouldn't go too much into his slight at Murray's mom. Murray just humiliated him with drop shot after drop shot at the USO.

how did murray humiliate hin? it went to 4 sets, and it was really close. nobody could hold serve and 2 be honest it was one of the most frustrating and horrible games ive ever watched. del po wasnt hitting anything aggressive enuf and muzza was playing his usual pushing game. it drove me nuts, but i wud never say murray humilated him.

when i met del i asked him if he still didnt like murray and teh answer was an emphatic no. so they still dont get on, but can u blame him? murrays a dick. i like del cos hes a sexy bad boy but also cos hes a future top player and i like his game. i dont really care if he has a touch of temper, he has alot of respect for nadal and federer and so thats enuf for me.

Yeah sampralicca, kaitepai does have a point.