Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

[VMoe86]

No thread so far? Well, let me start then (butcher and C4iLL should report as well ).

My first match since AO SF was against JayHache at Dubai R16. The first set I won comfortably 6-1 and in the 2nd set I started with a break chance, which he could save. I then faced triple break point on serve and had to dig out there, which I did. He was defending quite well and also serving well (I picked Dubai Court which did not help my return game ), so I had to come up with good stuff to break him again. I did so and won the 2nd set 6-4, but he played better than his ELO suggested -- he should keep that up!

Then, next match was against Woowhat in the Dubai QF. We met at AO R16 where I won 6-2, 6-1, 6-0. He was using Federer back then and here it was Verdasco. I was aware of his good form recently and that Verdasco has some really accurate serve. So, right from the beginning I took one/two little steps back on return. I started holding comfortably for 1-0 and got to 0-30 on his first service game -- then he digged out with great serving. Then I managed to get to a 4-1 lead and things were looking good. However, at 4-2 I had a sloppy service game (lots of 2nd serves there) and he managed to rebreak and consolidate it. In fact, at this point he was playing better than me and he got to 4-4, 30-30 with me serving. He attacked at the net and I somehow got the ball back in play, he totally missed the ball, game point for me. I held and in the next game he made four consecutive errors so that I won the first set.

Second set starts similarly to 1st set: I hold easy, but this time I break immediately. He also makes the rebreak to 2-1 (I made an error on the break point and again a bit more 2nd serves in this game), so at 2-2 it started from scratch in 2nd set. I felt comfortable, though, I was winning majority of rallies (no matter which type) and when I focused I got into his service games. At 4-3 I put effort into breaking again -- he attacked at the net on the 2nd break point I had here and I put a low ball which he put out. I served it out after he saved one match point.

Good game, Woowhat!

Overall, quite satisfied with my level. Could have been a bit better here and there, but there is still one match to be played (or is it two?) for me here in Dubai.

[C4iLL]

Yeah I haven't post yet because I'm extremely frustrated about TE since this defeat. Even if I would have won, I would feel the same. I felt that kind of frustration a lot on TS4 but this is the first time on TE. I think only a dmo can make you understand my frustration ^^

To sum-up : perhaps I did my best match in TE with a baseliner, playing at an extremely high level during most of the second set, touching a lot the lines, but the ball often came back !
I was really pissed of to always see these balls on lines coming back and back and back again... And I completely **** up the tie-break and the beginning of third set because of that.

Butcher played at a great level too, I respect, but seeing like 20 times in a set, a cross court on line caught back, and just after, you hit the ball down the line and the guy caught it too with a moon ball, and you are here waiting for it to land, and you hit another ball on the line and the guy gets it back as well etc... At a moment you explode !

Afterwards, I try to calm myself, I had break points but I was already outside the match mentally speaking. Anyway, first time I was angry after a match !

We finished with the same amount of winners (63 each other), but I made 9 faults more than him. I'm 100% sure these faults are due to the fact the ball often come back which made me crazy... Apart from that, we both had like 13 break point occasions.

I'm now more than ever waiting for 1.13 and I really advice the staff to watch the demo of the match to see how exchanges can be ridiculous at a very high level on this 1.12 version. Guys exchange cross courts on lines, but it never ends... I advice you to watch the second set when he was leading 2-0.

[Elias]

I understand you thoughts and despair C4iLL. The ball coming back way too much and this is Dubai on Blue Green, like US Open. The power among the roster didn't changed and all this defense craze is obviously caused by the auto-step back assist introduced in TE 1.0f, i'll say it one more time : this assist is too heavy. It should be what it tells : a step, but it's actually more than that. When triggering it's more like 2-3 steps, skyroketting the char in the right direction. It's not helping the weaker/slower only like intended, but helps a majority of players in a defensive stance. You can even learn to use it at your advantage, just keeping your char slightly moving, never standing still, you get the auto-back triggering and then just following the trend with your arrow keys, you almost never get wrongfooted and get some very fast acceleration in the required direction. I call it kindly the "auto-sprint" by the way. The way it's currently working, It would fit the arcade mode perfectly.

The 1.13 "power-up" should help noticeably with this issue. I also hope we can release it soon cause i'm impatient to play with it as well, we have still a few last tests to run before release but i hope to have it ready during/by the end of the next week (also looking forward some last sound tweaks and adding an automated install).

[manutoo]

Elias,
maybe it'd be time for you to stop with AutoStep Back obsession, it's becoming rather compulsive.
Here a video to show that it's even not a full step back => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MApf9jXTPFs .

just keeping your char slightly moving, never standing still, you get the auto-back triggering

It's not how it works ; you have to release just a bit after your opponent strike to trigger the AutoStep Back (as shown in the video) & then look if your players goes back or not, which is less efficient than just reacting to the ball (at least with preview on ).

EDIT:
I'm quoting myself from another topic, as it seems you either didn't read it or forget it :

What changed the total reach is the lower speed loss when turning ; it was deeply flawed before 1.0f (and was particularly noticeable when running forward & doing some left/right), now it's much more consistent.
It doesn't change anything when you strictly run left or right, but when you add a bit of forward/backward movement, to adjust your depth positioning before hitting the ball, the change is really noticeable, thus the change of reach.

That's why back wall huggers can now reach more easily the short accelerations ; before it was harder coz the run speed was _unrealistically_ too low when not running in one of the 8 pure diagonals.

[Florian]

It just looks that this game needs more different kind of "ball-landing" while defending, the attack stuff is not perfect but it's fine concerning trajectories, but when comparing all different kind of returns or defences, we basically have all the same, meaning definitely not enough high balls or high slow balls shorter inside the court, which explains why u'll never find a shoulder accel to be played from inside the court. Same goes for the worst return that you can hit which will be the no-shot landing always to the same spot (so different from reality...) long and low enough for the defender to be able to get the attack from the server without having to guess on the next "penatly shot".

I think we need to give a shot to Elite mode but either with average autopos or with better stats (or both) overall leading to less mistakes, but it seems that people are a bit too frisky here and prefer to reduce power and consistency for the weaker wing and accentuate the stats of the stronger one (which will basically change nothing i'm sure).

Maybe manutoo you can think about making some defensive shots poorer or easier to attack because at the moment it's a quite high % of long mishits that increase defense, leading to some of our current problems...

[inseedious]

inseedious (federer) vs ugadalou (llodra) 6-3 6-4

I'm happy to have won this match, I hadn't beaten a big player in an official match for some time. It was a bit easier than I thought, but it was a great fight, despite the straight sets. He was good with llodra, and he also used his good way of countering to make some pressure on my serve. I also rarely aced him, as he was a very good returner, making me have to work hard on my service games. The key of the match was my solidity, a feature that I usually don't have in official matches, but this time I was very focussed in the match and managed to save some break points and being broken just a time in the whole match, giving only 3 break points. He said that I won quite easily according to him, but, though I'm a good tactician, I usually suffer a lot psychologically during my service games, especially just after I score a break, so it was hard to hold so much services, especially now, considering the powerful defense we have in the game. The next round is very tough, as I'll meet floriann (who has just beaten Alex) or butcher (maybe the best fed user at the moment). Thanks uga for this enjoyable match, very smooth, we have had just one turtle in a point, so also very few no-shots.

[Florian]

QF Florian def. butcher 6-4 6-3 He obviously didn't play his best there, i can feel he's losing a bit of interest in the game at the moment, but his net play is still gorgeous. Just to say i think i've been able to pass him only once the whole match without involving luck, meaning not counting his few volley ues on serve returns, nor the lucky lobs several times in a row (happened once i think), nor counting the mp where i hit the net while he did s&v...sorry for that again, and hope u'll find soon motivation again. gl next tournie

[inseedious]

SF: Floriann def inseedious 6-0 6-4

It was an enjoyable match, with a very few lag (our ping was <50ms and we played with a low auto delay). All matches should be played in such great conditions.

Floriann was just perfect, awesome while defending and very precise when attacking, he gave me no chance in the first set, though I could score more than a game. What I usually like when playing vs him is that he lets you play your best tennis, thanks to his very clean shots. Mishits are always ready to break some good rallies, but we both get some points because of them so it was OK. In the second set I was solid and precise too, holding my first service games without giving break points. In fact, I broke him, but since I was *4-3, he scored 3 straight games and won the match. I think I could bring him to the 3rd set, just playing a bit better and having a bit more luck at the end. I also had some balls for the 5-5 on my service, but he, also helped by my UEs and my tiredness, broke me again and finally won.

I'm very happy to have reached an atp 500 SF, I'm coming back to my best form. I think that Floriann is maybe the best in form guy in the tour at the moment, he's gonna win Dubai and Indian Wells to me. Though the loss, I'm just happy to have given Floriann some troubles during our match, almost forcing him to a 3rd set.

[Florian]

SF Florian def. inseedious 6-0 6-4 I was very happy about my first set, didn't play brilliant tennis there but was pretty efficient and everything worked fine, while in the 2nd he started to serve much better and defended also great, some unbelievable gets in the middle of the set that landed relatively high but very deep, preventing me to come at the net as often as i wish. He broke me for 3-4* thanks to some successive and successfull damned deep mishits, but was able to break straight back and took the last 3 games of the match.

Anyway in a general way his defence was pretty good, he was actually very close to get my winners (yeah that game definitely needs a noticeable buff in terms of speed and power and some help for the net) so just a bad day for him i guess.

GG&GL next tournie

[inseedious]

Yeah I hope that in 1.13 offensive players will be helped a bit. Picking you as an example is not correct, as you and alex are the best defenders here, but I had to hit more than 2-3 times the lines to score a **** winner! And every time I went to the net, you were able hit slow and low balls because you always managed to position well when defending. Yeah, this game has its limits, and high level matches clearly show it, but this game is also easily moddable, so stats and surface fixing are the only weapon we have to counter unbalancing and unrealistic situations. Otherwise, we'll play back with 1.0e, where things were way better

[butcher]

Yeah I haven't post yet because I'm extremely frustrated about TE since this defeat. Even if I would have won, I would feel the same. I felt that kind of frustration a lot on TS4 but this is the first time on TE. I think only a dmo can make you understand my frustration ^^

To sum-up : perhaps I did my best match in TE with a baseliner, playing at an extremely high level during most of the second set, touching a lot the lines, but the ball often came back !
I was really pissed of to always see these balls on lines coming back and back and back again... And I completely **** up the tie-break and the beginning of third set because of that.

Butcher played at a great level too, I respect, but seeing like 20 times in a set, a cross court on line caught back, and just after, you hit the ball down the line and the guy caught it too with a moon ball, and you are here waiting for it to land, and you hit another ball on the line and the guy gets it back as well etc... At a moment you explode !

Afterwards, I try to calm myself, I had break points but I was already outside the match mentally speaking. Anyway, first time I was angry after a match !

We finished with the same amount of winners (63 each other), but I made 9 faults more than him. I'm 100% sure these faults are due to the fact the ball often come back which made me crazy... Apart from that, we both had like 13 break point occasions.

I'm now more than ever waiting for 1.13 and I really advice the staff to watch the demo of the match to see how exchanges can be ridiculous at a very high level on this 1.12 version. Guys exchange cross courts on lines, but it never ends... I advice you to watch the second set when he was leading 2-0.

i completely agree with c4ill. its pretty annoying this defense overpower (i will post our match soon). but we all know it, so i hope 1.13 will be more fun. c4ill played really good and i think he deserved to win more than me, but thats tennis... wish you good luck in next tournaments and thanks for advice. i started to use llodra now and its almost completely different game and the defense op doesnt bother me that much with him. although, still having troubles with lefties.

QF Florian def. butcher 6-4 6-3 He obviously didn't play his best there, i can feel he's losing a bit of interest in the game at the moment, but his net play is still gorgeous. Just to say i think i've been able to pass him only once the whole match without involving luck, meaning not counting his few volley ues on serve returns, nor the lucky lobs several times in a row (happened once i think), nor counting the mp where i hit the net while he did s&v...sorry for that again, and hope u'll find soon motivation again. gl next tournie

florian played really good and guess he is in great form now. not a suprise result really, he deserved it. very hard to get a winner against him, fantastic footwork. still trying to pick some of that from you thanks for your nice words and gl in the final. its gonna be interesting

[VMoe86]

Florian mows down VMoe86: 7-5, 5-7, 6-3

First of all: Congrats to Florian for winning Dubai (and also for stopping Alex at IW ), you deserve it! I am happy with the performance I put up, had my chances, did not take them.

We could have played in 1.13, but since Elias uploaded it like 20 minutes before we scheduled to play I did not find it fair to demand playing in 1.13. So, it was my final 1.12 match. I knew I had to play very well to win, but that I would have chances to do so if I played well (based on past exhibition matches in that match-up between us). What I did before the match today: I practiced Davydenko's serve like a maniac, just the slice serve. Since we had a great connection (except one or two little freezes) I could pull out great slice serves when I was very focused.

So, first set I start with 40-0 on serve. A couple of loose points later he has break point, saved by me and I finally held. I then broke for 2-0 and held for 3-0. He got on score and was starting to get more into my service games, but the slice serve saved me a couple of times (either ace or setting up a good point) to hold for 4-1. Then I had chances to go for 5-1, did not take it and so it was 4-2.

The set was getting to its crucial stage and it all reminded me of that match against Fox at Rogers Cup in 2012. I managed to get to 5-2 and had double set point on his serve. I honestly don't remember what happened there on the first set point, second set point he did a great first serve and I did a safe return, point over.

He held and started to be like a wall, Djokovic-like. So, serving for the first set I did not feel comfortable, I relied on his errors. I managed to get to 40-30, but I missed that one. I got my fourth and last set point then afterwards: Open court, I run around the BH and put the FH out. He eventually broke and held for 5-5, the momentum was with him, getting almost everything back and attacking when he had the chances. I was serving to reach tie break, but he was too good now and on the break point I once again had open court -- running around the BH and hitting the FH out again.

"Not again!", I thought, "You choker!". Well, I stayed focused even on 40-0 in his next service game: I saved all three set point! But it was not enough, he managed to snatch that first set, which I seemingly had won (he was having a slow start which gave me the chance to win it).

The 2nd set did not have that much drama, but it was also a "comeback" set. I was serving first and got broken, making it 6 straight games for Florian. This (inofficial) bagel he fed to me was good, though, I broke back immediately and was determined to snatch this set. The match got more ugly since we both were less focused and made more errors, especially when dealing with deep counters. I was the first to get another break at 4-3, but how lucky I was there (he totally missed the balls, air swings) to break. Well, as a consequence I was broken to 0 when serving for the second set. He really has that Djokovic attitude. I somehow broke him at 6-5, he made an error.

In the third set he then was determined to seal the deal, no more gifts. I was down quickly 0-2. I should have held for 1-2, but he broke and had double break advantage. I still believed, though, hung in there and got one break back. He then started to place his serves in a smart way and I was maybe lacking a bit of reaction after both of us playing with high pace for over one hour. I wasn't getting into his service games anymore and so he broke me a second time in this set when I served at 5-3.

Long summary, I know, but it was an enjoyable match. Both of us trying to dictate, playing quickly. Florian maybe defending better and serving better, which was key in the end. Again, congrats to him and I can move on in IW with some confidence, I think I played on a high level in my last 1.12 match. Oh, Sinna or Elio should put it on YouTube, it is more deserving than other matches.

Stats:

[Florian]

Well it is tough to write something as clear as Vmoe just posted, but i'll try to give a few more impressions. First of all he started better, reading my patterns better than me, and i was quite eager to finish points at the net even when i wasn't close to it, so i got passed pretty easily there each time i came, mostly because i didn't want to see my stamina drop early in the match. Then Vmoe said it all, it looked very much like a Djoko mental-strengh match, but that's also because saving those double break points reminded me how bad i was playing, and if i continued that way i'd have lost 6-1 6-2 because he played really deep and it bothered me a lot, so the next game at 2-4* when he held and i had an opportunity to break, i knew i could come back, and that momentum started when he missed that relatively easy fh dtl while i guessed the other part of the court.

In the 2nd set i was disappointed after losing the break, and couldn't profit from other occasions, so i had to start losing focus, missing 3 balls in the same game, and even if i broke back pretty easily the very nex game, i couldn't profit from the momentum and a quite easy ue on sp costed me the 2nd set.

Still in the 3rd there was no reason to lose hope so as i felt more comfortable on my return games than on my serves, i decided i had to give everything to break him as many times as possible, to avoid any surprises like 2nd set. He started slower than me and even if he broke once, i focused a lot on my serve patterns which seemed more important than gameplan in that set. Even if my serve % wasn't as high as it usually is, i managed to hold and keep pressure, until his ues costed him the match.

To sum up, i think Djokovic gave me the edge because it was all about who was going to play faster than the other, for that matter the .dmo will prove how fun this game can be when there is no pusher around (although i had to do some in the 3rd since Davydenko hates spin), and since my momentum was on, it lasted longer than my bad periods.

Anyway i wished in a general way that we could see some deep counters arriving down our feet, because it troubled the rallies and tactics especially in the 3rd. I also wished there was a way to play volleys a bit more securely, since i think i lost many points at the net because i couldn't go more for them, allowing him to pass me successfully (annoying grrrr ).

Definitely my best and most enjoyed match in ITST so far, I'm convinced Vmoe will have a tremendous run in IW, especially with Fed, and wish him the best of luck there.

[VMoe86]

To sum up, i think Djokovic gave me the edge because it was all about who was going to play faster than the other, for that matter the .dmo will prove how fun this game can be when there is no pusher around (although i had to do some in the 3rd since Davydenko hates spin), and since my momentum was on, it lasted longer than my bad periods.

I think that Precision = Power + 1 for Djokovic was key to playing a bit faster than Precision = Power for Davydenko -- therefore a couple of errors for me. The spin is also a good weapon against Davydenko, but Precision was maybe a bit more important.

Anyway i wished in a general way that we could see some deep counters arriving down our feet, because it troubled the rallies and tactics especially in the 3rd. I also wished there was a way to play volleys a bit more securely, since i think i lost many points at the net because i couldn't go more for them, allowing him to pass me successfully (annoying grrrr ).

For seeing them there is only one option: Being focused all the time if you always want to see them or use Previews. Quality of first volley depends pretty much directly on Net Presence and Volley stats, with Net Presence affecting how efficient the volleys are. I know you are pointing at something else.

Definitely my best and most enjoyed match in ITST so far, I'm convinced Vmoe will have a tremendous run in IW, especially with Fed, and wish him the best of luck there.

Thanks, these words remind me of another 3-setter I lost: Malaysia Open 2012 SF. Then I met Michael.D in Shanghai Final quickly after.

So I hope that we both meet soon in an official match (the tension of a tour match is just something else) again, preferably in IW. Good luck there, too!

[C4iLL]

I really agree about Florian being the best representant of Djokovic on the tour in terms of style ; there are a lot of common points in the way to play, the character used till now, and other stuff. Previously I think Elias was the Djoko's of the tour, Fox was the Murray (more for his results than his style which was like Fed) and VMoe-Davydenko. Robbin was a good Berdych too !

Anyway about Florian, I remember a practice where I led 5-2 as you VMoe, and he beat me 7-6 I think. It was the first time someone did that to me in this game, fortunately it was a training. But you it's the second time after this match vs Fox, it must be disappointing !