Rafael Nadal’s Latest Renaissance: Can Anyone Stop Him on Clay?

Rafael Nadal won Monte Carlo and Barcelona for the 10th time each!  He also banked 1500 computer points in the process.  If one adds his 1200 points from Australia, 300 from Acapulco, and 600 from Miami, Rafael Nadal has positioned himself to make another run at the #1 ranking.  With 3600 points from those 5…

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Tennis Power Ranking 2017 #4: Nadal as the Count of Monte-Carlo

Nadal Needed No Escapes in Monte-Carlo Roger Federer – Roger stays at #1 for now, but his minimalist approach to clay in 2017 will likely not leave him at #1 beyond Madrid or Rome depending on who wins those events.   Rafael Nadal – Rafa holding 10 Monte-Carlo titles is insane.  It will take a clay court…

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Monte-Carlo 2017: Semifinal Predictions

Predicted Winners in BOLD COURT RAINIER III (11:30 a.m. start) [11] Lucas Pouille (FRA) vs. [15] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) H2H – This is the undercard match, but the winner will have 600 points in the bank and a shot at 1000 on Sunday.  I like Pouille’s game and talent a lot.  Albert Ramos-Vinolas backed up his…

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Monte Carlo 2017: Quarterfinal Predictions

Predicted Winners in BOLD [5] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. [15] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) H2H – Cilic is having his first good event since Acapulco.  Ramos-Vinolas just upset the world #1 and is due for a letdown.  I think Cilic wins in a fairly straightforward manner. [11] Lucas Pouille (FRA) vs. [16] Pablo Cuevas (URU) H2H –…

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Monte Carlo 2017: April 20th Predictions

Predicted Winners in BOLD COURT RAINIER III (11 a.m. start) [1] Andy Murray (GBR) vs. [15] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) H2H – Andy Murray had some clay breakthroughs last year.  Can he break all the way through in 2017? [3] Stan Wawrinka(SUI) vs. [16] Pablo Cuevas (URU) H2H – If one of the top 4 seeds is going…

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Monte Carlo 2017: April 19th Predictions

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Andy Murray is upbeat about his chances at the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/MonteCarloMasters?src=hash”>#MonteCarloMasters</a&gt; as he returns to action following a month out. <a href=”https://t.co/H3JiFhPBzw”>https://t.co/H3JiFhPBzw</a&gt; <a href=”https://t.co/5ThnJz6FCe”>pic.twitter.com/5ThnJz6FCe</a></p>&mdash; Tie Break Tens (@tiebreaktens) <a href=”https://twitter.com/tiebreaktens/status/854328206140329984″>April 18, 2017</a></blockquote> //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Predicted Winners in BOLD COURT RAINIER III (11 a.m. start) [3] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs. Jiri Vesely (CZE)…

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Monte Carlo 2017: April 18th Predictions

Predicted Winners in BOLD COURT RAINIER III (11 a.m. start) [11] Lucas Pouille (FRA) vs. Ryan Harrison (USA) H2H – The surface likely favors Pouille even if his 2017 has not been sparkling to this point. [7] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs. [Q] Adrian Mannarino (FRA) H2H – Tsonga has had some big wins in 2017. [2] Novak…

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My Tennis Racquet Odyssey

  Having played tennis since 1985, I have gone through a few phases of racquet use.  I loathe changing equipment when it comes to my racquets so my list of phases is not as long as one might expect.  I will go through them in chronological order.  Click on any of the links to see…

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Tennis Power Ranking 2017 #3: Federer & Nadal Strike Back

Roger Federer – Roger Federer has salted away 4000 ranking points for 2017 by winning the Australian Open, Indian Wells, and Miami,  91 career titles mean that Federer needs 3 more to tie Ivan Lendl for second place in career titles.  Roger is likely to play a very limited clay court schedule so his position at…

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ATP: Star Studded Start to 2017

There are established stars on the ATP Tour and of course there are younger players seeking to become established.  Thus far in 2017, many of the established players have faced off on multiple occasions.   If I limit this exploration to players who hold major singles titles, we have seen these match-ups in chronological order….

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