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NO SPOILERS 🎥

If you don't want to see the results yet, and want to catch up with the highlights first, stop scrolling now. (If these links have been taken down, tap the ‘view in browser’ button at the top of this email and there should be updated links):

Federer 🎥 Verdasco

Nishikori 🎥 Hurkacz

RESULTS 🎾

💥 = Beatdown \\ 🤕 = Injury \\ ‼️ = Upset

DUBAI 🇦🇪

(ATP 500 - Hard)

Federer d Verdasco: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Federer went up an early break for a 3*-1 lead after Verdasco nearly hit the Burj Khalifa with a double fault shank:

Federer had started the match in great form, getting lots of joy out of loading spin into Verdasco’s backhand corner, and profiting from the invariably short reply:

Fed was also making clever use of serve and volleying, targeting Verdasco’s slice backhand return to put away numerous free points:

— After 10 games played Federer had hit 61% slice serves to Verdasco’s backhand. Verdasco just couldn’t get anything on the return, giving Fed plenty of easy put-aways. 3 serves and volley’s in one game👆.

Federer closed out a routine first set 6-3, winning 20/25 points on serve, and not facing a single break point. Excellent performance so far.

But something strange happened at the start of the 2nd set. After Verdasco saved a break point in the first game, Fed seemed to abandon the successful strategies mentioned above in his own service games, and suddenly stopped serving and volleying. The Swiss also decided to serve to Verdasco’s forehand on a few big points, which given how vulnerable the Spaniards backhand return had been, was puzzling. These change-ups got Federer in immediate trouble as he went down a break of serve early in the 2nd set. Verdasco’s serve and forehand both started clicking, and in the blink of an eye the Spaniard had served out the set to love to force a 3rd set. This time it was Verdasco’s turn to lose just 5 points on serve in a set, playing much tidier tennis overall.

As the third set started it was clear that not only was Verdasco now reading the slice serve out wide, but Federer also wasn’t getting the same width on it he had managed in the 1st set. Less free points were coming Federer’s way early on in this set, and the Swiss had to save a key break point at 1-1 after some great Verdasco returning. But the tide turned firmly back in Federer’s favour after a lucky net cord set up a break point on Verdasco’s serve at 3*-4, followed by a brilliant 14 shot rally, won by Federer, to convert his chance (and let Fed serve for the match). A love service game saw the Swiss into the next round after a hard fought match. Federer finished with a very solid 36 winners to 27 unforced errors, Verdasco with 13 winners to 21 errors. 14 unforced forehand errors will probably concern Federer a bit, as should his strange serving change-ups in the 2nd set. However the Swiss’s serving performance in the 1st and 3rd sets were nothing short of stellar (80% or 42/52 service points won in the fist and third sets combined). Plays Fucsovics next.

Basilashvili d Bautista Agut: 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3 ❗️

Stunning ball striking from Basilashvili today. Simply the Georgian’s aggression was too hot for Bautista Agut (RBA) to handle, especially at the tail end of the match. Aside from one minor Basilashvili blip in the 2nd set, RBA got nowhere near his opponents serve in the 2nd and 3rd sets, as Basil consistently found aggressive 1-2-3 punches to dictate play. RBA also really struggled to win points when missing his 1st serve as the match progressed, with Basilashvili jumping all over RBA’s lightweight 2nd serves (RBA won just 43% or 6/14 2nd serve points in the 3rd set). Simply offence beat defence today.

Hurkacz d Nishikori: 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 ‼️

Absolutely bizarre match in which Nishikori should have probably won both sets 1 and 2 with ease. Kei served for the first set at 5-4, before losing it 5-7, and then was up 5-1 in the 2nd set before scraping through it 7-5. The Japanese got a bit unlucky at the start of the 3rd set to go down an immediate break, and Hurkacz was borderline unplayable from that point on, landing 70% of his 1st serves, and crushing groundstrokes off both wings. Nishikori’s normally impeccable footwork looked a bit off today, and his serving, especially in the 2nd and 3rd sets just didn’t seem to have as much pace as usual (Kei won just 33/62 service points in the final 2 sets…). Bad day at the office for Nishikori.

Also:

Coric d Berdych : 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)

Tsitsipas d Gerasimov : 6-3, 6-1

Monfils d Baghdatis : 6-3, 6-2

Berankis d Kudla : 6-4, 6-1

Fucsovics d Struff: 6-4, 6-2

INTERVIEW/PRESSER BEST BITS 🎙

Federer on the Davis Cup changes and the state of the players council communication:

“I think important was to see how the Davis Cup was going to go a little bit maybe as well, to be quite honest. I did speak to Rafa during the tournament. Novak I didn’t see. I guess that was my fault because I lost earlier. That robbed me of spending more time there.”

“I had some meetings also with council members at the Australian Open. It’s been quiet recently. It’s always like that. It’s always busy, busy, just before the Australian Open. After that everybody focuses on tennis. After that the tour moves on, you don’t see each other anymore. Things flatten out. Like you said, things are going to come back to the surface a little bit in Indian Wells. Good or bad, it’s going to happen.”

Source

On the match vs Verdasco:

Tsitsipas on taking a recent break from social media:

“I was just sick & tired of all those messages, all those people talking about me. All the notifications, like, I felt my brain blocked. I felt like I couldn't process all of that information coming to me.” Full Video

(After his very short social media hiatus, Stef went on Instagram announcing how great his social media break had been and that he was going to be making a vlog on his experience.)

Hurkacz after upsetting Nishikori:

“It means so much to me, and gives me so much self-belief… It maybe wasn’t the best match, with lots of ups and downs, but still a very important win for me against a player like Kei.” Source

Monfils on the Players Council communication:

“We don’t have so much say what happens. Honestly, in Australia what happened, I have no clue about that. You are just like come up, boom, Chris (Kermode), not Chris (Kermode). Okay, what happened? Why?”

“Most of the time when we have the meeting, it seems like he’s doing a great job. Apparently some say, No, he’s not doing a great job. Okay, why? They tell you in two minutes. Thank you, see you in Indian Wells. No, is not that easy to follow, honestly. I think they might improve a little bit the communication. I think some guys travelling a bit more, should try to have some chat with us because in Australia we said we’re not super happy because we’re not really informed.”

Source

Kyrgios looked unusually motivated in his win over Seppi yesterday in Acapulco. Then said this in press:

Nick also mentioned Rafa in the middle of the match while lamenting the patella tendonitis that’s bothering him.

Kyrgios: “What would I do if I played Rafa like this? I wouldn't be able to move.”

5 SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮

— Monfils is a very underrated volleyer. Baghdatis had done so well to get that slice low and awkward.

— Huge forehand from Federer when pushing for an early break vs Verdasco.

— Verdasco probably should have done better on the drop shot, but Federer’s pace and controlled dink down the line were pretty special.

— For much of the 2nd, and beginning of the 3rd, sets Federer lost his width on the slider serve out wide. Verdasco crushed this backhand which flew right into his hit zone. This shows the fine line difference between where this serve landed and where many of Fed’s more successful wide serves landed in the 1st and 3rd sets (just under a foot wider and shorter). That foot was the difference between a Verdasco backhand topspin return ace (as above), and a Verdasco weak slice backhand (like the GIFs in the match report). A good indication of how important it is for the very best to hit their spots given how comfortable most pro’s are at returning balls about a metre either side of their starting return position.

— Great pace and touch from Berdych (vs Coric). Wasn't a bad drop shot at all.

— One of the most important points of the match. Federer got a bit lucky with the frame on the first volley, but his anticipation made that luck.

WHAT’S ON TOMORROW/TONIGHT 📅

DUBAI (Thursday)

— Centre Court: (2pm Local, 10am UK, 4am CT) —

🇫🇷 Monfils vs Berankis 🇱🇹 (H2H: 1-0) (1st Meeting on HC)

Prediction: Monfils in 2

🇬🇷 Tsitsipas vs Hurkacz 🇵🇱 (H2H: 1-0) (Hard Court H2H: 1-0) 🔥

Prediction: Tsitsipas in 3

— NB 7pm Local, 4pm UK, 10am CT) —

🇨🇭 Federer vs Fucsovics 🇭🇺 (H2H: 1-0) (Hard Court H2H: 1-0)

Prediction: Federer in 2

🇭🇷 Coric vs Basilashvili 🇬🇪 (H2H: 2-2) (Hard Court H2H: 1-1)

Prediction: Basilashvili in 3

ACAPULCO (Wednesday)

— Cancha Central: 6pm Local, 12am UK, 6pm CT) —

🇨🇭 Wawrinka vs Johnson 🇺🇸 (H2H: 2-1) (Hard Court H2H: 1-0)

Prediction: Wawrinka in 2

— NB 8pm Local, 2am UK, 8pm CT) —

🇪🇸 Nadal vs Kyrgios 🇦🇺 (H2H: 3-2) (Hard Court H2H: 1-1) 🔥

Prediction: Nadal in 3

— NB 10pm Local, 4am UK, 10pm CT) —

🇩🇪 A.Zverev vs Ferrer 🇪🇸 (H2H: 3-2) (Hard Court H2H: 2-1) 🔥

Prediction: Zverev in 3

— Grand Stand Caliente: 4pm Local, 10pm UK, 4pm CT) —

🇺🇸 Isner vs Querrey 🇺🇸 (H2H: 2-5) (Hard Court H2H: 4-1) 🔥

Prediction: Querrey in 3

🇬🇧 Norrie vs Schwartzman 🇦🇷 (H2H: 0-1) (Hard Court H2H: 0-1) 🔥

Prediction: Schwartzman in 3

🇦🇺 De Minaur vs F.Lopez 🇪🇸 (H2H: 1-1) (Hard Court H2H: 1-1) 🔥

Prediction: De Minaur in 2

— Other Courts To Watch:

🇺🇸 Tiafoe vs McDonald 🇺🇸 (H2H: 1-0) (1st Meeting on HC) 🔥

(1st match on Court 4 @ 6pm Local)

Prediction: Tiafoe in 3

— Full OOP

EXTRAS 🔍📊🎤

Justin Gimelstob’s battery case has been postponed until the 13th March.

The full story is reported here by Stephanie Myles who was in the courtroom yesterday.

The ATP Board and Players Council is due to meet in Indian Wells in around 10 days time to discuss, among other things, the presidency of Chris Kermode. One would assume the fact that Gimelstob’s court case won’t be resolved by then will probably hurt his potential candidacy.

— Berdych vs Coric disrupted by Federer-mania.

— Tsitsipas confirmed for the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid.

— This change has been received poorly due to the widely held opinion that 32 still isn’t big enough. But at least the ITF are acting quicker (to make changes) than many expected them to. Next, personally speaking, I’d like them to reign in the many resorts and hotels that are wielding far too much power over players competing at their events.

— Johansson had been coaching Krajinovic in Montpellier a few weeks ago, including a match where Krajinovic beat Goffin. Funny turnaround…

— Tsitsipas will play Queens this year (for the first time) for his Wimbledon warm-up. Source

— Staggering consistency from Nishikori.

Finnish world number 573 Mia Eklund on the recent ITF changes to the Transition Tour:

NEW BALLS PLEASE 👀

— The headband is social media.

— This match made no sense (Nishikori vs Hurkacz).

— Zverev laying waste to Kokkinakis on Instagram.

Matt: If you’re wondering where the Acapulco Recaps are, I decided that due to the timezones (Zverev & Nadal played at midnight - 4 am UK time), that there would only be Acapulco coverage from Friday onwards (Dubai still daily). Apologies to anyone hoping to get early round coverage, but it would spread my time way too thin and compromise the Dubai recaps as well. Here’s a quick video of last nights matches if you haven’t caught up yet:

GAME, SET, MATCH 👋

— The Racquet is created, and written, by Matt.

— You can find me on Twitter here.

See you tomorrow for Day 4 of Dubai & Acapulco