Murray serving:

15-0: Quality net play from Murray, finishing with a smash winner

30-0: Good approach from Pless but he misses a very makeable volley, possibly his last chance

30-15: Murray into the net but misses the drop volley

40-15: Good body serve, Pless return into the net

GSM: Service winner from Murray

He wins 6-0, 6-7(5), 6-4 

Yes he can thank goodness for that!

Thankfully Andy's 1st serve came good in the 3rd set, just when he needed it. If Pless had been able to convert on of those two bps in the 6th game, it could have been a lot different. As it was, Andy manages to find the big first serves and Pless' concentration wandered in the next game, some sloppy backhand errors and that cost him.

One of the good aspects for Andy today was how well he volleyed, he won a lot of points that way, sneaking into the net behind booming groundstrokes or serve-volleying. Passing shots and returns weren't as good as he would have liked in the 2nd and 3rd sets but that was partly down to Pless who served a lot more accurately and put pressure on Andy with great approach shots, in particular some massive forehands.  

lol, he played it a bit too close for comfort though !

I wish Andy would play more often with the mindset he had against Chela and Nadal in the AO, being really aggressive and fully utilising the big shots he has at his disposal. In sets 2 and 3 today...Andy was way too passive, allowing Pless to dictate most of the rallies which allowed the Dane back in the match. He made a fair few ues but he also started to really tee off on his forehand, finding his range on that wing and he smashed some massive winners . He was also really attacking Andy's 2nd serve which looked a bit weak, he was able to really lean into it and put Andy on the defensive from the 2nd shot

-- Edited by ultimateshedman at 02:06, 2007-02-15

Yep - I agree entirely.

Murray really did allow Pless to start to dictate the terms of the play a bit too much in the second and third sets. Once he grew in confidence, Pless started to get the huge serve working and Murray played too much to the Pless forehand, allowing him to tee off with it too much.

Credit to Pless, who played much better and with some very nice touch at the net. Attacking the Murray second serve paid dividends and put Murray under a fair bit of pressure at times.

In the end Pless couldn't take his chances when he earned them, and then dropped his level in response, allowing Murray to break through.

Andy will want to get that 1st serve % back up - it started superbly but went on a grand slalom from the second set onward. Needs more consistency with that delivery throughout the match - but at least he found some big ones at the clutch moments.

He'll also want to consider not allowing his opponent to play his own strengths quite so much - target their weaker wings more. I wonder if he got a bit complacent after the 60 set.

Other than that, he'll be pleased he got the W even when his own play was not as good as he'd like after that second set. He still found a way to get it done, found another gear at the crucial moment, which is a useful trick.

Hyung-Taik Lee (probably) in the QF - again, it's one he should win, but can't be complacent about it.

Hi - I'm Scoobs by the way

-- Edited by scoobsuk at 02:27, 2007-02-15

-- Edited by scoobsuk at 02:29, 2007-02-15