Tennis Thread: Countdown to the Return of Delpo at a Very Specific Time

[JaneJeffer]

New thread for February. Happy St. Brigid's Day everyone

I think you're right kazza

I would have been more hopeful that Milos could beat Fed, tbh.

Fed will be happier this year than the bad tempered performance he put on last year- since he was playing Delpo then- and Juan has a very vocal fan base, which caused him to get stroppy. I can't see Thiem's camp being a problem.

Not saying Fed's fans are a rude bunch, but, you know...

(Not that it's over yet - but it's looking like a Dom win)

getting ahead of myself

or maybe not yet

See, look, it was my evil plan, in cahoots with Stan the man.

it's 1 set all now.

Come on Milos.

Greg put the jinx on Milos with his prediction (or did he?!....)

PS I just saw Rafa said he won't play until Monte Carlo at the earliest - sorry if this has already been posted.

Private no surprise there. He's nothing to lose, it would be silly to try to play next week.

oh and Dom is through.

Come on, Dom!

Only just seen that Paul Hutchins has died, motor neurone disease.

I couldn't post because I think the site crashed, but very sad. He is Ross Hutchin's dad, isn't he? Very sad for the family. Horrible thing, MND, and and can take lives very quickly. Most people think of Stephen Hawking. I have personally known 2 people who have died within 2 years of diagnosis.

kazza yes I saw that too - there were some lovely tributes to him.

Hmm Thiem played really well there but I think Fed will have it in the bag tomorrow.

They are now having an exhibition doubles featuring Djok and Sampras (!) v Haas and Johnny Mac, in place of the Fed v Rafa semi. I can't find it on prime though.

I'm so fed up of not being able to watch. Just realised Amazon will have Monte Carlo too. Feck Sky!

I'd love Dom to win. He's such a lovely young man.

I like Dominic as well Jane - it’s rubbish that most tennis is on prime now - we’ve got it but I don’t like it and I can’t record it if I want to watch a match later. Also like your use of the word feck

I do like Dom, and he has really improved his results on hard courts over the past year, he came so close to beating Rafa at the US open , for example. That was a mammoth match. So, I'm hoping it won't be an easy match for Federer today.

Still gutted for Rafa, but it's impossible for him to avoid the surface that causes him the most problems, injury wise, when it makes up the majority of the tour. It's why he has tried to play- and ended up withdrawing and retiring. If it was only grass (also not great for his knees), it would be simple.

I like Dom as well. He played a clever match against Milos and I hope he can do it tonight as well. Come on Dom!!

It doesn't start until 10.30pm here, wtf?! Actually I do remember staying up late last year for the men's final, but that was for Delpo so it obviously it was different I might not make it this year!

I don't remember it being quite so late, Private , but I guess it must have been. I might be awake- but at the moment, I can't guarantee much.

Not sure if I’ll stay up to watch the match - I might have done if Rafa had been playing.

Although it’s not good that Rafa is injured I do think he is being a bit more sensible these days and retiring from tournaments/resting when he needs to. This isn’t great for us but hopefully better for him and his future career.

Hoping for a Dom win in the final but not sure if that will happen - hopefully he’ll put up a good fight.

Delpo has also withdrawn from Miami. Is it going to be worth watching at all??

Can anyone bring me up to speed with the Jamie / Bruno situation please? Jamie has won in Phoenix with Neal Skupski, not Bruno. Have they split? Hope not.

Im not sure kedgeree - I know Phoenix was a challenger rather than a main tour event so maybe it was just a one off? I hadn't heard that he and Bruno had parted ways.

Oh yay he won!!

hurrah! That's a good win for Dom.