The Tennis thread

[SALTIRE]

Was watching Andy play last night at 2 am, or 3 am local time - thats bloody ridiculous, how the hell did that happen?

 

[SALTIRE]

Andy speaking his mind on it :


“These are the ATP’s biggest tournaments. We’re told all of the time to speak well of the tournaments,” he said on Sky Sports. “If they want to see the top players playing the best tennis, don’t have them play matches at 3 o’clock in the morning.”

Anyway he got through with the loss of only two games tonight at least, next up the boring servebot.

 

[SALTIRE]

Andy beat Raonic and through to the semi's.

 

[Super_horns]

Andy beat Raonic and through to the semi's.

Ferrer or little Ken next.

Fancy Murray to win either.

 

[SALTIRE]

Ferrer or little Ken next.

Fancy Murray to win either.

Nishikori it is. I dunno, he's a very very good clay player, maybe in the top three in the world on that surface imo. Its going to be hard for Andy to progress much further, but we'll see, he's full of confidence after his title win on clay last week and he is playing pretty well on it, so who knows. Its still good preparation for RG next no matter what anyway.

 

[Super_horns]

Murray through in straight sets.

Good win.

Nadal in the final.

 

[Master D]

That is maybe his best ever win on the surface. If he beats Nadal I will be utterly amazed.

 

[SALTIRE]

That is maybe his best ever win on the surface. If he beats Nadal I will be utterly amazed.

Agree on both statements. He was superb today, he really dismantled Nishikori's game and his shot-making was bang on, that was a great win against one of the very best clay-courters in the game. I doubt he'll beat arse-picker, but he's had a great tournament here and last week whatever happens. He's ran him close a few times on the surface, so fingers crossed he can go all the way tomorrow.

 

[This Charming Mike]

Andy's started really well against Rafa.

 

[Master D]

Whisper it but he's a set and a 2 breaks up on Nadal.

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

is this not a 3 set match then?

 

[DarkSithLord]

That is maybe his best ever win on the surface. If he beats Nadal I will be utterly amazed.

Get ready to be amazed!!

 

[This Charming Mike]

Amazing.

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

Murray can now play on clay it seems

 

[Master D]

Nadal just isn't firing fully and hasn't been all year. I still thought even 80% Nadal is enough to beat Murray on clay. To beat Nadal for the first time on a clay court though, in Spain too. Murray has probably played his 2 best ever clay matches in the past 2 days! Some achievement. Maybe Bjorkman is adding something different to his game. This win confirms something to me at least, Djokovic is finally going to win RG this year.

But did Rusedski seriously call Nadal "arguably" the greatest clay courter of his generation?

 

[SALTIRE]

Murray can now play on clay it seems

He always could, its just there have been three or four players who have been better on the brown stuff.

That is a monumental (and pleasant) shock - I know Nadal doesn't look the player he was on it, but take nothing away from Andy, that is a tremendous performance yet again - looks like Mauresmo has been giving him some good advice on how to up his game there and it looks as if Bjorkmann has helped his serve which has looked excellent recently, much less fluffy when the heat is on.

Murray finally looks in his element on clay and could well be a dark horse to reach the final of RG, though I still think its Novaks to claim this year.

He hasn't been beaten since he got married either.

 

[TractorBoys]

Murray masterclass. Great stuff, fully deserved, he's had a great week or so.

 

[Pyeman]

Murray seems to have hit form at just the right time for RG.

Still think it'll take a super-human effort to beat Djokovic, but this is the perfect preparation and I'm far more confident of his chances than in previous years.

 

[Stee]

Fantastic win for Andy and I really didn't think he would manage it!

 

[Super_horns]

What a great win - do wonders for Murray's confidence and might put some doubts in Nadal's mind?

 

[The Iron]

Murray played very well and deserved to win, but Nadal just cannot reach the heights that he did a while back. Hardly surprising though with him being injured and missing a lot of tournaments. Djokovic will surely be the clear favourite at the French open.

 

[SALTIRE]

Said it a few weeks back (though it might not have been on here!), put your house on Djokovic to win RG.

 

[SALTIRE]

Andy wins his first match in Rome. Playing Goffin or Tsonga next. Just found this stat as well about him :

'Murray has reached at least the quarter-finals in 16 of his last 17 tournaments (94%) - the highest percentage on tour in the last 10 months.'

I thought Djokovic would have been higher than him, but that is showing he is definitely on the way back towards the form he was in in 2012/13.

 

[Super_horns]

Murray pulls out of the Rome Masters - makes good sense TBH.

Gives him a chance to rest before the French Open.

 

[SALTIRE]

Yeah, he really shouldn't have played though, but no harm done and here's hoping he stays in this form and is fresh for the assault on the French Open.

 

[The Iron]

Nadal gets beat again on clay, this time in straight sets to Stan Warinka. It looks likely that Nadal will face a much tougher draw at the french open, which will make things more interesting.

 

[Munkiki]

What's this... his fifth defeat of the season on clay? Unfamiliar ground for him. Even with his injuries, he's always been able to rely on his clay form.

Still wouldn't completely rule out him somehow finding a way to win another French Open though.

 

[JonBCFC]

His confidence will be shot to pieces now, and not the intimidating clay player to opponents he once was.. Think he could well struggle in Paris..

 

[The Iron]

Even though Nadal isn't playing his best Tennis, it's going to take a massive effort from one of the other players to beat him at the French, when it's best of 5 sets. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being a Nadal v Djokovic final and to be honest the games between those two are epic.

 

[SALTIRE]

He does look there to be shot down just now though, I know the French Open is his second home, and over 5 sets he will be tough still, but I can see him getting beat not just by Djokovic but by one or two others currently - I hope so anyway, so that someone else can win it for a change.