Sunday, July 11, 2010

Choupi reports from the land of spätzle Stuttgart and the Båstad party event

The joys of the summer clay season are upon us, which means lots of parties, warm weather, fixes and some funny results not including these fixes.

Best of all we will have the annual Stuttgart reports from Choupi. She will find it hard to take her eyes off Dustin Brown, but players there include the King playing qualies and struggling at the moment, Davydenko just coming back from injury, Gimeno-Traver who should be playing Båstad, but less travel time to Stuttgart from his Italian challenger.

As always we will look forward and appreciate the fan reports.

To Båstad, Vinciguerra gets another wildcard, but he didn't get any favours with the draw at all, getting in the same section as Söderling. Seppi first time in Båstad, hope he does better off the court, than he has been on the court.

Luczak is playing in his second home of Sweden, he got a good match up against Riba, he should be able to win the match though not in good form. Tennis is a funny game as we know.

9 comments:

Choupi, from Stuttgart said...

No worries. I´m still alive. Just the hotel computer that is a real mess. I´m taking notes anyway and will post reports when I´m home. Sorry about that.

Martine said...

Looking forward to the reports Choups!

Choupi, Monday report said...

Here am I, finally back home and with a computer that works.

1st thing I have to say is that, given the very hard conditions in Stuttgart this year -hot temperatures and desperately looking for shade- I might not have attended the matches I wanted or intended to. And yes of course, as always, I sunburnt.

As the blogger said, I admit I have a crush on the guy I would call the Jamaican Legend, sir Dustin Brown. Great guy, cute smile and a lot of fresh fun. And a mother who just can't hide how she feels when she sees him play. Haha...typical mum ;)

Ok, let's start with Monday. I saw the King in action and I was waiting a lot from him. He was playing the local hero Bastian Knittel who had played an over 3 hour match the day before, which was a sign he might be exhausted a bit. Well, he was not, definitely. Knittel is a kind of guy who isn't a natural claycourter, but let's say he can play properly on that surface. But add to this the local crowd, all behind it's local hero and you get another guy. The King has started the match pretty well, with an early break, leading 4-1. But Knittel, encouraged by the crowd, breaks back and naturally leads Oscar to a tiebreak, in which the King commits some UE at the worst times. Knittel has simply been better on important, let's say crucial, points. And that makes the 1st set in his pocket.
2nd set, the King feels frustrated, gets a warning for ball abuse and finally finds a way to calm down and get another break. I thought there was some hope. But it hasn't lasted long, as Knittel, remember the guy with the hero cap, breaks back and finally crushes the King in 2 short sets. Bye Oscar...

After that match and disappointment, I immediately reached another court where Andujar was playing Sergeyev. The 1st set was already on a good way for Andujar who seemed to be the natural winner of that match. With the 1st set in his pockets, Andujar could see that Sergeyev was down, head down, sighing a lot, and obviously suffering from the heat. The 2nd set begins with Andujar feeling confident but suddenly, Sergeyev makes some good points and is back into the match, stronger than ever. Anjujar's turn to feel a bit down and getting after the score. Naturally, Sergeyev takes the 2nd set and the 3rd set is a total different match. The guy coaching Sergeyev can't stay still and is smoking cigarette after cigarette. Someone should let him know it's no good, hehe. Fiannly, after a great battle and a great match in the end, we have a winner in the person of Pablo Andujar.

After that, I needed some break from matches and emotions. I wandered around the place, looking for familiar faces and I spot Zeballos training with Schwank. Perfect team for me. Just sad that they had to quit pretty fast their training as the wind started to blow pretty badly, saying the storm was coming up.

Den said...

Too bad these hotel computers are no good Choupi and hehe another one falls for the charm of Brown.

Can't wait for the rest of the reports.

Choupi, Tuesday report said...

On Tuesday, the 1st match I saw was Chela vs Schwank. In the 1st set, Schwank played total crap, making errors like a beginner. He looked asleep, like he was in need of a nap. Chela didn't need to play exceptional points to finally take the set 6-2. Schwank, who had lost some weight since last time I had seen him in Stuttgart, began the 2nd set breaking Chela's serve, but couldn't hold. He suddenly seemed to have woken up from his nap, encouraged a lot by coach. He hits heavier balls, puts more power in his shots and finally breaks again. I thought we would gonna have a 3rd set but he cracked at 5-4, again. Chela takes the match in 2 sets 6-2 7-5. The outcome might have been totally different if Schwank hadn't played so crappy in the 1st set. But that's life.

Then I went to see local hero Knittel vs Andujar. The match had already begun when I reached a place in the shade. Knittel took the 1st set 6-4, on the same pattern and with the same help he had the previous day against the King. The crowd was delighted, of course. But Andujar is a good claycourt player. And Knittel isn't unbeatable. 2nd set didn't see any break until 5-4 for Andujar. He takes the set in a very powerfull way.
Knittel, still pushed by the crowd, breaks Andujar in the 1st game of the 3rd set. But Andujar wants that match and breaks back straight afterwards. At 3-2, Knittel needs a medical timeout for his left thigh. The local hero is falling apart. The crowd is disappointed. Their hero is...human. No more 1st serves for Knittel, looks totally burnt out, and naturally gives the match 4-6 6-4 6-3 to Andujar, who just falls on his knees, realizing he gave a great battle. But no more hero for the crowd, how sad.

Then, I was waiting for the upcoming match very badly. The Jamaican Legend vs Simon. Yes I'm French, but I guess I'll never be rooting for Simon...First time I was seeing Dustin play a match. His serve is impressive. Poor linesmen must still feel their bruises. 1st set, Dustin plays too much confident, like he thought this would be so simple. But he makes too many errors and Simon isn't the kind of guy to give it away so easy. 1st set to Simon 6-3. You can imagine that the crowd was all for Dustin, the showman. Yes, he likes to make the show. Makes me think of Monfils so much on that point. Dustin breaks Simon, middle of the 2nd set. 1st serves reach 247kmh!! That guy is dangerous for sure. Mum is encouraging her son so much, like the whole crowd. Dustin makes less errors and uses some dropshots and lobs and finally takes the 2nd set 6-3. But Simon doesn't want to give up and no break in the 3rd set. Brown is in danger whenever his 1st serves don't work out well. Very tight set logically ending in a tiebreak that Simon plays better than Dustin. Bye Jamaican Legend but thanks for the show. Impressive.

Choupi, Wednesday report said...

Wednesday was my last day in Stuttgart. I decided to watch more training than matches, as the oop wasn't really interesting in my opinion. So I watched Zeballos, then Hanescu with Crivoi and then GGL.
I ended up watching the only match I was interested in, Zeballos vs Ferrero. Zeballos gets broken straight in the 1st game. He makes a lot of errors, like impressed by playing a former French Open winner. At 5-3, Ferrero serves for the set but Zeballos breaks back and pushes to a tiebreak. He finally is in the match. Ferrero loses ground in the tiebreak and I'm relieved. The 2nd set begins pretty slowly, each player winning his serve. But Ferrero breaks at 2-2. Zeballos, who has finally realized that the guy in front of him is a guy like any other, breaks back straight afterwards, bringing it back to 3-3. At 6-6, the play is suspended because of the storm. It was night and the wind was too strong. Ferrero had been whining already for 2 games to Cédric Mourier. I think that if the tiebreak had been played on that night, Zeballos would have been the winner in 2.

Martine said...

Great reports Choupi!!

Glad you got to see some good matches and yes, the Jamaican legend is winning the fan's hearts head over heels hehe!

Too bad Schwanky didn't play better.

Thanks again for the life reports!! :yeah:

Martine

Disquieting Muse said...

Dreddy's got something so special that people tune in to see him and his mum is German, so.

it was a free-flowing read, Choupi.

GWH said...

Too bad no DGT stuff and horrible organisers with no shade this makes me upset.

Glad you had fun and the reports were worth reading of course.