Roger Federer will kick off his Gstaad campaign on Thursday against familiar foe Daniel Brands. Janko Tipsarevic and Robin Haase are also looking for a spot in the quarterfinals. Chris Skelton previews the action.
Roger Federer vs. Daniel Brands
Welcome to Part 2 of this home-and-home series between the Swiss superstar and the German journeyman. Despite his lowly status, Brands often has risen to the occasion against elite opponents. He took a set from Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros this spring, for example, and just last week he won a set from Federer at Hamburg in their only meeting to date.
Federer’s morale must languish at its lowest ebb in many months after he sustained two losses in two tournaments to opponents outside the Top 100. The upsets secured by Sergiy Stakhovsky and Federico Delbonis will have emboldened underdogs like Brands. And the relatively fast, slippery clay in the mountainous setting of Gstaad will not help a player searching for rhythm, as Federer is this week. Home-court advantage may boost his confidence, but he must serve more impressively than he did in Hamburg, where a back injury may have troubled him again.
But Federer will know what to expect from Brands this time. He should enter their rematch more on guard, aware of the massive serve and fearlessness of his opponent. Federer also may know what to expect from his own racket. Testing a larger, more powerful Wilson frame at Hamburg, he struggled at times with control. The additional time to practice with it should smoothen the transition as Federer looks to give his home fans something to cheer.
Skelton pick: Federer in 2
Dimon pick: Federer in 2
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Robin Haase vs. (3) Janko Tipsarevic
Like Federer and Brands, Haase and Tipsarevic have met only once before. Both men probably would rate clay as their least favorite surface, so they may battle the court as much as each other—and themselves.
Tipsarevic has watched his ranking plummet outside the Top 10 this year as he has suffered seven opening-round losses. Playing smaller tournaments like Gstaad usually helps top players emerge from slumps, but he has crashed out of such events just as ignominiously. The top seed at a 250 in Bogota last week, Tipsarevic lost his second match to unseeded Alejandro Falla. Now he faces a rapid transition from hard courts to clay, a strange decision considering his preference for hard courts and the additional travel involved.
Never a threat of Tipsarevic’s quality, Haase earned himself some attention this year of the dubious variety. He set the ATP record for consecutive tiebreaks lost, and he long has been one of the worst players in the Top 100 at closing out matches after he wins the first set. Staying in Europe after Wimbledon, Haase took the much more formidable Jerzy Janowicz to a final-set tiebreak in Hamburg (which, of course, he lost). One round before, though, he went to 7-5 in the third set against the anonymous Diego Sebastian Schwartzman. That pair of results shows how much Haase’s mind and game can fluctuate from one day to another.
Considering the generally unreliable form of both men all season, one can expect a match of modest quality in which both men struggle to capitalize on opportunities. Haase probably owns the superior serve, which may give him an edge at this altitude. But it’s nearly impossible to choose between two slumping, enigmatic competitors too fond of low-percentage tennis.
Skelton pick: Haase in 3
Dimon pick: Haase in 3
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on a seperate note, I dont understand why delpo often overplays before slams… i think he is a genuine contender, he can take down all 4 members of the big 4 on his day..sometimes, lack of physical fitness undoes his power baseline game so why not preserve energy before the slams? playing montreal and cincy should be ENOUGH..come on big man !
not playing any more than he did last summer.
Testing…….
got the Nadal Cincinnati news up (and a poll, as well) so we can move related discussion there
https://tenngrand.com/2013/07/30/nadal-reportedly-back-on-board-for-cincinnati/
ritb, you found us! We wondered what you’d make of the demise of Tennistalk.
Hi nadline, good to see you guys here! Well, still digesting not being able to post on TT actually. Will take sometime to get over it really, which is funny seeing how unbearably toxic it had become. Yeah, went to tennis-x and asked and a poster directed me to here..
yes true ,Ricky..but that is what I a questioning..why exhaust himself by playing three tournies in a row !
Rafa’s has a title and final appearance in his last two USOs same as Nole. Muzz has a title and a SF appearance. They each have a major title this year. Rafa leads the Race. Nole is No. 1.
Seems pretty even to me.
USO is not a fast indoor tournament last time I checked.
(Aside: more often than not, I can’t post under my WordPress account. #WTF)
#Humb1e
Nadal was better those years than he is now. Murray was worse.
Ricky, is this the same Rafa who won IW nearly a year after not playing on the surface beating Delpo who had already dispatched Murray and Djokovic?
IW on a far more favorable surface for Rafa
Conspirator (July 30, 2013 at 7:03 pm) !
As for posting, my conclusions:
¤ I can’t post, if I use icon W (WordPress) to log in. I receive an answer: Sorry…
¤ If I fill in the fields ‘Email’ and ‘Name’ under the ‘Leave a Reply’ box, posting is OK.
BTW, where is willmw101?
Anyone know who Humble Rafa is on T-X? Reminds me of willmw or nadline lol.
Me being Humble Rafa or willmw…………that’s sacrilege!
I would actually really love to know who Humble Rafa is on tennis-x. I have wondered about that poster for a while now. Willmw was very direct and sometimes in your face, so I don’t see it being him/her. I never thought it was anyone who posted on TT.
I guess we are all scattered all over the place. I know that ritb used to post on tennis-x as nadalista but when I have read there I haven’t seen her. The last we heard she was getting ready to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro!
I miss the rest of the gang – Monalysa, natashao, sanju, luckystar, and all the others.
they’ll probably stumble over here soon enough
Hey @nny, I am back from the mountain! So gutted about what happened to TT, I guess we just have to move on and accept that. We have to thank Ricky for creating this space where some of us can at least keep in touch. I hope the rest of the TT gang finds it’s way here, and yes, that includes those who were not Rafans! There is this malicious line which has been peddled, especially on tennis-x blog, that TT was a Rafan site (as if that is a bad thing). I also miss the rest of the TT gang, even those I did not always agree with.
So looking forward to seeing Rafa next week……kick ass, Rafa!
Ricky your understanding of the term favorite is wrong. Favorite doesn’t mean only bookies’ favorite. It can and in fact more correctly means one who has maximum chance of winning. According to my analysis, he is the favorite.
No point in carrying on this tedious argument. You refuse to accept that your statement about Rafa being bad on hard courts is factually incorrect and is absolutely outrageously wrong, I cannot expect you to accept that you are wrong when you insist that favorite only means bookies’ favorite.
We will see how USO plays out. Hope Rafa doesn’t play both Montreal and Cincy unless he crashes out early in Montreal.
you don’t decide who the favorite is. betting patterns do. Nadal is the third favorite.
wc0206 says:
July 30, 2013 at 9:00 pm
“IW on a far more favorable surface for Rafa”
This is such a trite excuse every time Rafa proves his dissenters wrong by winning on h/c.
Well hallo RITB. Glad to know you survived Kilimanjaro. I was having ‘mares you might have succumbed to altitude sickness and were languishing in hospital somewhere. You must be very fit!!!!!!
Pleased you’ve found your way over to this site. We all worried what you would do when you found TT had gone up in a puff of smoke. It was such a sad moment but luckily Ricky was able to provide a new home. I tried to get to grips with Talk Tennis as a lot of people were proposing that as an alternative meeting place but I found it bewildering and too time consuming. On principle I will not show my face on Tennis X for fear of reprisals from old enemies!
What did you make of another Brit lifting the TdF trophy?
Well, I’m loving TalkTennis and I don’t find it the least bit bewildering. So much to talk about there and subjects for discussion are poster driven which is what I like. There is access to so much information and articles I might otherwise miss. Of course I’m glad we also have Tenngrand but there is no harm in having many outlets.
Though TalkTennis appears too busy, you soon get the hang of it by concentrating on the aspects you like and can ignore the rest. There is even a Nadal News thread which gives up to date news on all things Rafa on and off court which is now on it’s 840th page…………brilliant! There is also a cross section of fans of all colours and sizes even diehard Muzza fans.
ritb,
Hey you’re here! So glad to see you! We were wondering if you would hear about TT and when you would come back. It was best that you were gone because seventeen and a few others took advantage of the lack of moderation and it got beyond ugly!
Ricky told us about this tennis when the news came that TT was shutting down. I haven’t been on here much because I am waiting for Montreal and Rafa’s return. I needed a break from tennis after those horrible last days at TT. I did try to post on tennis-x a few times, but I have never felt entirely comfortable there. I know what they thought of TT, but who cares! They have their Fed fans in the majority over there.
I am so proud of you for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro! So glad to see you back!
ritb,
My mother told me about a special on PBS or somewhere about Machu Picchu in Peru. She and my father went there years ago. But my mother said that when they got up to 8000 feet where the city is, she got altitude sickness so bad that she had to leave. They didn’t really get to see much.
So you were able to handle the high altitude. In fact, when my mother was telling me to watch this special, I told her about you. I told her that there was a woman on the tennis site I go to all the time who was taking on the challenge of Mt. Kilimanjaro. She was very impressed!
nny,
I cannot begin to tell you what a profound experience it was for me. You know, when my son mooted the idea, I basically gave it the silent treatment and pretended it wasn’t taking place! I underestimated the fact that my son has my genes, therefore stubborn, he just went ahead and arranged the whole thing ignoring my silence!I only participated in the preparation when it was time for me to get my yellow fever jabs etc…
To cut a long story short, I kept a daily diary, it is buried somewhere in one of my suitcases. Altitude sickness? We took our time, and it helped that we went with an experienced guide group who did not rush us so we pretty much acclimatised as we went along. We had a lady 10 years my senior in my group and we both were okay…..It’s only recently that I have noticed I have lost a bit of weight and It is dawning on me that this is related to the climb! Forgot to eat sometimes………….
So looking forward to seeing Rafa on court next week…..
OK Nadline I will persevere and give it a go! I got as far as trying to register but kept being refused. I eventually discovered it was because I have just got a new computer and had managed to screw up the settings. In the meantime, be a love and keep up your good work by publishing important Rafa news here!!!!
@Ricky, I know you are on this but please try to get that thing we had in TT: listing most recently commented blogs/articles rather than recent comments only..that wud be great
RITb, BIG WELCOME 🙂
i’ll try….at some point!
(dont hold your breath)
Thanks vamosrafa! Good to see you here, just like old times………here’s hoping sanju, abhirf, bharata, chr18 and all the rest of the TT gang find their way here a some point….