The King of Kaltern Andreas Seppi strikes down a legend

Apologies for not writing reports about yesterday it was due to mostly tiredness but today is a special day so motivation won't be lacking here.

Giraldo vs. Johnson

This match showed the weaknesses of Giraldo which are his movement. It's not that he is slow around the court just doesn't read the ball as well as some and defensively he doesn't hit very well. He was on edge and these idiot fans who have no clue about tennis etiquette are just walking in as he is about to serve which is right in his eye line. Giraldo took matters in his own hands and let these gronks know what they shouldn't be doing.

Johnson had this very bright orange shirt and was serving well which pissed off Giraldo and the words like puta, mierda were coming out of his mouth. Giraldo had a lot of break points but Johnson kept serving huge on these leading to more frustration.

My friend thinks Johnson is a Poor Mans Todd Martin but I am not sure about that. Though one can tell he plays the typical American hardcourt game which worked for him in this match. With the quicker courts rushing Giraldo into errors it was just the match up in this case that worked for him. Giraldo tried but was just too pissed off.

Berdych vs. Troicki

Tomas Berdych he really needs to get some bigger legs the ones he has at the moment aren't big enough. Troicki was just outclassed in this match it was one Berdych was never going to lose unless he was in Berdbrain mode. It's something that isn't as common as in the younger days but he has that moments.

It's interesting to see what Jack Reader is doing with Troicki, they are quite different as characters but good for each other. Troicki is quite intense on court but very dogged whereas Reader is more relaxed but he can add some things to bring the best out of Troicki though it could be argued he reached #12 that is an excellent peak. The fact he played 8 matches last week and 3 here at the end the Serb was fatiguing but Berdych was in a groove and hitting huge from the baseline.


Berdych

This is what we call never in doubt. Berdman plays Tomic the next, the question is how will Berdych handle the junk that will be served from the Nard Dogg.

Seppi vs. Federer

As for never in doubt this is a phrase which normally comes up for the Federer-Seppi matches. It's usually a very comfortable match up for Federer but as good as he still is these days. There are moments where he is vulnerable but still have to be able to take advantage, it's just these moments come around so rarely these days.

Having watched quite a lot of Seppi over the years plus his matches against Istomin and Chardy. He has been hitting the ball well, though not quite at the level where he won 3 ATP titles in the one year but not far off it. Federer was a little bit off his game but Seppi wasn't allowing him to play his game through solid hitting from the back. When Federer has faced this before, he has had the tools to find the solution to these problems within his varied game.

Seppi took the 1st set and this was momentous in its own way in the 10 previous matches he played he has only won one set. Seppi continues on his hitting his forehand well and the backhand while not technically the best looking is very solid. Federer gets a break of service off a "Boris" aka a dead letcord because Boris Becker got so many in vital moments. The second set is always huge in a contest when there is a potential upset when the favourite wins that, they normally win in 4. Seppi played a solid tiebreak and was able to get the job done taking the 2nd. Still even then I was unsure of whether he would be able to take the match or Federer would equal Aaron Krickstein and Boris Becker in coming back from 2 sets to 0 down and winning. That record is 10 times for those who like that sort of info.


Seppi

Federer takes the 3rd and here we go speeding along the Highway of Inevitability. Seppi while not the most flash player has always been an excellent competitor and hard worker. He never lost belief in what he was doing out there which counts more than what anyone else things. Seppi served quite well which was important as the second serve is very attackable. For a tall guy he doesn't get much topspin on it, as it's more of a flick.

They manage to get to the tiebreaker which pretty much came down to Seppi winning in 4 or Federer taking the buster and winning in 5. The South Tyrolean Sex Machine was as calm and studly as ever in the tiebreaker playing the match point brilliantly with that forehand. The reaction was very measured but that's not surprising from the King of Kaltern.

As Stakhovsky said when playing Federer "You're the playing two people the man himself and the legend of Federer". This time Seppi was able to stay the course and get a win over a top 10 player which has been a long time coming. The poor guy had to do a lot of interviews afterwards though the joys of speaking German, Italian and English well will do that do you.

Personally I'm happy for his coach Max Sartori who has been with him since the age of 10. Then there is his daughter who has travelled with them all the time I remember her when she was 6 now she's 17. That was the young girl who celebrated with great joy when Seppi won. I threatened to put the clip on youtube but I am not that cruel. To those who know and read this rather strange blog know that there has been the odd promotion of Seppi. He deserves this moment, now time to slay the giant Nick Kyrgios.


Suave Seppi

Many of the players were delighted for Seppi as he is very well respected among his peers for his character and work ethic.

Random stuff

- Malek Jaziri is a top guy who didn't hit a gym until 2 months ago so yes he has made it on talent and playing a lot of tournaments.
- Pablo Cuevas is doing well in doubles and can tell he watched Gaudio hitting backhands. The preparation is pretty sexy.
- Donny Young doesn't have the pimp headphones anymore.
- Bernie Tomic peaking for 1 month of the year is never in doubt.

Tomorrow is Heineken Day which mean the amount of drunk gronks around are going to be nauseating though there might be some eye candy. At the same time there is some still tennis to be watched.