Wimbledon 2018

[VReddy]

I am firm believer that unless someone is super-natural, everyone needs time to stabilize at the higher level before they start showing results. Its the same case for us in our personal careers/life too.

This is the first time, that Yuki has put himself in the top-100 for a period of time (last time, he was there, he was out with injury in no time). This time with team behind him, hopefully he is there for a period of time. I personally feel we should set the expectation for him at 90-120 level for an year or year and a half before he makes the next jump into the 60-85 bucket (in terms of stabilizing at that ranking). Its not just about the opponent but its also about the occasion, the arena and so much more.

We have the same discussion of bringing down Yuki when he loses and praising him when he wins (frankly i expect us as to be a bit more long term mindset than a casual fan on social media). I put my expectations of how I view Yuki's success back then given the lack of support he gets in terms of sponsors: viewtopic.php?p=4390775#p4390775 and I am extremely happy with his progression already.

[Atithee]

Vishnu, you can’t be serious! Yuki has more Bhakts in this forum than Modi has in India. Ever think why he doesn’t have sponsors?

Mods—please move Yuki related discussion to his thread from Wimbledon 2018 thread. Thanks.

[sportsfan]

The Australian Open (his favourite Slam) is on hard courts, and he failed miserably there. I don't know how many more excuses we need to make for him.

Wow, this coming from PKB? Thank you because truer words have never been said. The fact of the matter is that Yuki has usurped the favorite top-100 opponent mantle from guess who — Somdev! Any player facing Yuki is wallowing in delight when he draws Yuki, his few higher level challenger level wins not withstanding. At least in the slams. Like it or not, but it’s the truth.

Somdev was cerebrally in a different mold. He was well aware of his game, his strengths, his limitations. Knowing himself well he was mentally more poised going through his matches, connected well with what's happening in the match he knew what he could do. Perhaps his major limitation was to step up his offense (against higher ranked players) when needed and close the game or set emphatically. I watched him from the sidelines, playing Seppi in the second round of US Open in 2013 and it was very apparent. Had he closed out the opportunities that got presented, the mini breaks and the break points at crucial times in that match, it would have been a different result. However, I do not recall him having wild swings in his level of play going through the matches. Given what he had (his strengths, limitations, weapons or lack thereof ), I believe he had a storied career.

[Atithee]

However, I do not recall him having wild swings in his level of play going through the matches. Given what he had (his strengths, limitations, weapons or lack thereof ), I believe he had a storied career.

All that may be true but it doesn’t distract from the fact that less “storied” opponents would have been salivating to draw Somdev in a slam or really at any level. Yuki is an even more delectable offering.

[arjun2761]

Not sure what Atithee's point is in comparing Somdev and Yuki since their relative career paths and talent levels are quite different.

Somdev had only top 300 level tennis talent who could grind his way to compete at the ATP level. He overachieved in every sense of the word as no part of his game was any where near ATP level. His fitness and ability to retrieve and focus were what got him to the top 100 for a significant spell before injury slowed him down (and he never got back to his best level after his first significant injury after his IW/Miami run in 2011). Because he was a good retriever, he did very well against the 50-100 level ATP opponents but consistently struggled against challenger level opponents where he had to generate the pace when competing against fellow lower level grinders.

Yuki has top 50 level shot making talent and it is largely injury and fitness which has been the struggling to make his mark at the ATP level. He has already had 2 major injury breaks and appears to be on his way to a third. I suspect his problem was that he didn't do much physical work when he was younger and didn't build the muscles and flexibility he needed to compete at the highest level. Once you have a major injury, many don't come back to the best and certainly after 2 major injuries it is even less likely that you can achieve your best strength and fitness. So, even though Yuki may be working hard now (or harder than before), he may never get the fitness to be a ATP tour regular. Otherwise, for the brief spells when he is fit, he definitely has the game to compete at the ATP 50-100 level. His record this year against ATP 50-100 is 2-2 and in 2017 it was 4-4. He did struggle against the top 50 with a 1-3 record this year and 0-2 record last year although he was pretty close to beating Dzumhur which would have improved it marginally. Also, when fit, he dominates at the challenger level, so there is no doubting his level of play. The fact that he is now struggling against challenger level players indicates he isn't fully fit which is also why he is likely skipping events in which he has direct ATP main draw entries.

[RohitG]

I checked the match for every alternate set. After the first set I thought Yuki had this in the bag since it seemed that things were finally going his way. He was hitting some winners and Fabiano was committing multiple errors. After it was 1 set all, it looked like Yuki was psychologically down, the commentators were repeating that point at the start of the third set, about needing to forget what has happened and focus on the next. Yuki did put up a strong fight in the third set, he had a break opportunity, he was pumped up for a brief period when he earned that BP. After that, everything went downhill. Fabiano got in the zone, took his chances, while Yuki made error after error and his serve didn't work either. Vijay's counterpart also mentioned that he was surprised why Yuki wasn't attacking the net more often since he had won 80% of those, as opposed to 40 something for the Italian

Yuki has posted on instagram, apologising for the loss and thanking those behind him. He also highlighted that it was a dream come true for him to play at Wimbledon. Make what you want of that, but I personally felt that a player of his caliber shouldn't be just happy to be there for the first round. He had drawn Murray, Berdych in the slams at AO. We had lesser expectations when he played on clay since it wasn't his best surface. But in this case, this was an easier opponent. Perhaps he got overwhelmed by the situation. This is after all the first time he's played in main draw of all the 4 slams. Maybe he's not fit, as his scheduling suggests. Maybe the TOPs thing and lack of sponsorship is playing on his mind. Or maybe it was just a bad day at the office. Whatever the reason might be, the fitness issues or the mental issues, I pray that he gets them sorted and vindicates himself in the US hard court season.

[ornatebrute]

V. Diatchenko defeats M. Sharapova in a 3h 11min thriller of a match.

[IndiaSports]

Vitalia is a former top 100 player, Ankita took a set off her and pushed her pretty hard, she really needs a good coach and a proper sponsor, to help her move to the next level. She has the potential to be there at least in 120-150 range if not top 100.

[IndiaSports]

Is India going to have any representation in the Juniors this year?

[meyyis]

Doubles

[R1] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Mirza Basic (BIH)/ Dusan Lajovic (SRB) : 2-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-1

Purav and Fabrice are playing against Mirza Basic and Lajovic in their first round doubles match. After losing the first 2 sets, they managed to win the third set TB and are now up by a break in the fourth set serving at 2-1.

[prashanthm]

*8-9 in the decider now... Nail biting stuff..

[prashanthm]

[R1] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l. Mirza Basic (BIH)/ Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 2-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 9-11

Saved 3 match points on purav's serve in the final game, but couldn't save the4th one. Mighty close, but should've won this against two singles players...

[PKBasu]

Fabbiano is a set and a break up against Wawrinka in the second round!

Update: Fabbiano leads 76(7) 63 00 against Stan Wawrinka (conqueror of Dimitrov in R1).

And NOW I notice that Fabbiano beat Shapovalov, Bhambri, Stakhovsky (who beat Federer at Wimbledon a few years ago) and Groth to make the Nottingham Challenger final last year, then qualified into the Eastbourne ATP and made R2. So he can definitely play on grass. (His first serve is pretty decent too). And last year he made R3 at the US Open too in 2017.

Fabbiano a break up in the third set too. And as the commentator says, it’s not because Wawrinka is playing badly, but simply that Fabbiano is playing superbly — and looks totally comfortable on grass. 3-1 in the 3rd set.

[sscoobeedoo]

I just had the opportunity to read through this thread and all the pronouncements on how Yuki has not figured things out after all these years. It is quite amusing to say the least -- Baghdatis, Bemelmans and Fabbiano are not pushovers as they are made out to be, it is easy to make dismissive statements about their abilities based on a review of their past results etc., but these guys can play at a high level and they are proving that in a best of 5 match against the current India #1. I saw the Baghdatis match and it was an error fest and Yuki was very content having made the draw and did not fight against a sub-par Baghdatis in that match, but bagdhatis was able to use all his experience and skills to win when he was not playing well. To me, this is what needs to happen w Yuki to produce consistent results at slams, its not about producing the occasional brilliant streak or may be a set here or there, but set the bar higher to perform when not playing great; it is not possible to play in the zone always, so figuring out how to win when the timing or movement is not quite there and yet pulling through is where the focus should be, especially if you don't have a material weapon that you can produce on demand, under pressure. I didn't get to watch bemelmans/fabbiano matches against Yuki, but saw the way bemelmans was fighting against isner and the quality Fabbiano was showing vs. Wawrinka, I can tell you that they are not easy to beat on any surface. Its not like you just show up and because you have a better ranking, they are going to give the match to Yuki. Performance on the day matters. it is very annoying to read how non-indian players are belittled automatically based on some "expert" analysis, especially when there is very little evidence of consistent results from Indian players for ever. It shows extreme naivete and makes one lose all credibility.

[Atithee]

Wow! Where did this fresh breath of air come from? Are you an alien sscoobeedoo?