Davis Cup 2017

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Beavis07 said:
A lot of bookmakers had Millman and Darcis level and the ones who didn't had Darcis a tad shorter. There was barely anything between them odds wise.
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So what about the odds. Kyrgios was favourite and Goffin smashed him.

Millman is a known choker. No way he would have been able to win with the crowd against him.

Don't think Millman has won an ATP clay match in his entire career, whereas Kokky did well against Nishikori at Roland Garros this year.
 

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Bumpswithagrin said:
What rubbish! Millman the complete opposite of a choker, fights to the end.
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Choker and not fighting to the end are completely different things.

Millman tries bloody hard and has a lot of heart, but his mental strength in tight moments is suspect. I've followed his matches for over a decade and the amount of times he gets broken when serving for sets etc on the ATP tour is quite high.

I would say someone like Kyrgios is the polar opposite. Kyrgios isn't a choker, but he lacks motivation and does not fight to the end at times. They are clearly different attributes in pro tennis.
 
Gift said:
So what about the odds. Kyrgios was favourite and Goffin smashed him.

Millman is a known choker. No way he would have been able to win with the crowd against him.

Don't think Millman has won an ATP clay match in his entire career, whereas Kokky did well against Nishikori at Roland Garros this year.
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I wouldn't call what I watched tonight smashing him but anyways.

As disappointing as this is, the fact we are relying on Thompson to win a 5th rubber sort of tells we shouldn't be in a final anyways.
 
I wouldn't call Johnny a choker but I certainly wouldn't call him mentally strong either. The problem he has is he has a weak serve so closing matches is made all the more difficult
 
matt_897 said:
I wouldn't call what I watched tonight smashing him but anyways.
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In the end its opinion, but in my view he got smashed. Only Nadal could probably win rallies against Goffin tonight as he was that good.

The scoreline seemed close because Nick was able to serve his way out of trouble.
 
Gift said:
Choker and not fighting to the end are completely different things.

Millman tries bloody hard and has a lot of heart, but his mental strength in tight moments is suspect. I've followed his matches for over a decade and the amount of times he gets broken when serving for sets etc on the ATP tour is quite high.

I would say someone like Kyrgios is the polar opposite. Kyrgios isn't a choker, but he lacks motivation and does not fight to the end at times. They are clearly different attributes in pro tennis.
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Disagree. Millman gets broken on his serve all the time because he has a crap serve. Mentally very tough IMO. He has plenty of deficiencies but choking is not one of them.
 
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Gift said:
In the end its opinion, but in my view he got smashed. Only Nadal could probably win rallies against Goffin tonight as he was that good.

The scoreline seemed close because Nick was able to serve his way out of trouble.
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6-4 in the 4th isn't smashed.
 
Gift said:
So what about the odds. Kyrgios was favourite and Goffin smashed him.

Millman is a known choker. No way he would have been able to win with the crowd against him.

Don't think Millman has won an ATP clay match in his entire career, whereas Kokky did well against Nishikori at Roland Garros this year.
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As others have pointed out it's his serve that gets him into trouble. He hasn't won a tour match as he hasn't played that much on it at tour level. He has had four matches and taken sets off Bautista-Agut, Isner and now Goffin. He has also made the final of a European Clay Challenger in his limited appearances and he has the game to do well on clay whereas Thompson's game doesn't adjust as well on the clay. Kokkinakis should be in the team over Millman but I found it surprising that Hewitt went with Thompson today. Millman's selection over Kokkinakis looks even stranger now as it is virtually a waste of a spot.
 

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Beavis07 said:
As others have pointed out it's his serve that gets him into trouble. He hasn't won a tour match as he hasn't played that much on it at tour level. He has had four matches and taken sets off Bautista-Agut, Isner and now Goffin. He has also made the final of a European Clay Challenger in his limited appearances and he has the game to do well on clay whereas Thompson's game doesn't adjust as well on the clay. Kokkinakis should be in the team over Millman but I found it surprising that Hewitt went with Thompson today. Millman's selection over Kokkinakis looks even stranger now as it is virtually a waste of a spot.
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Yeah, it seems that Hewitt saw Millman's lack of clay experience as insignificant and put greater emphasis on his recent form. Kokkinakis has come back well from injury like Millman but Kokkinakis is the better player overall so it's only fair questions be asked of Hewitt.
 
Lost at selection maybe. Can't fault Thompson's endeavour and I was keener on him playing than Millman, but he was clearly outclassed on the clay. Kokkinakis might have been the riskier selection but you would back him if he was able to play his best tennis.
 
Beavis07 said:
As others have pointed out it's his serve that gets him into trouble. He hasn't won a tour match as he hasn't played that much on it at tour level.
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I still disagree. If his serve was truly as bad as you are saying he would just be a challenger player but when fit he can hold his own against ATP players. I'd say Millman's serve is average for someone ranked 50-100 and not below par.

If he doesn't play many clay matches at tour level, maybe he knows his game isn't suited? Sounds logical to me. Hewitt knows more about tennis than you and I, and he thought Thommo had a better chance than Millman, however Darcis was too good on the day.

I reckon Hewitt thought that neither Kokky or Millman would likely win against Goffin, but was hoping Millman would grind and do some damage to soften him for Kyrgios, but Goffin was still too good.
 
I've no complaints with what our guys dished up, they all tried their best and did pretty well on an unfavourable surface but, yep, still scratching my head over selection.

I don't think Millman's form was that great coming in to this tie anyway. He beat Nick at the US because Nick did a Nick. He then beat a guy he should be able to beat anyway. And as for making the final of a Challenger, he should be eating those for breakfast! I am a big fan of Millman and did want to see him get a chance to play Davis Cup at some point but an away semi final on clay when both Kyrgios and Kokkinakis were available was not the place I thought it would happen!

I have two theories; Kokky had an injury they didn't want to make public for tactical reasons, or it's some disciplinary issue.
 
Gift said:
I reckon Hewitt thought that neither Kokky or Millman would likely win against Goffin, but was hoping Millman would grind and do some damage to soften him for Kyrgios, but Goffin was still too good.
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Given that Goffin had a day's break though was this really going to happen? Also given the gulf between Millman and Goffin in standard and throw in the clay I think this was an unrealistic expectation. In effect all Millman did was give him a nice longish match against a mediocre opponent to regain his form and match fitness. Would have much preferred someone with X factor like Kokky that would have at least made Goffin stop and think.
 

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