GSM Roddick 6-3, 7-6

Donnerundblitzenundhagelundsturmwetterund. . .

Ah well. He has just won 8 matches on the trot, I suppose it had to end.

Disappointing loss for Andy considering he did have chances in 2nd set and that he was ahead in the tiebreak. i wonder what his excuses will be? Maybe Roddick wanted it more than Murray, or maybe Murray tired to face Roddick 2nd time in a week so chucked in the towel! lol. nevertheless a good week for him, lets hope he enters the top 10 come April! Good luck for the double header Andy!

Madeline wrote:

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Donnerundblitzenundhagelundsturmwetterund. . .

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  Strong feelings.


This is terrible. But it's obvious that he'll lose a few matches at this age. Next year....

Not a good day for Scottish sport. A combination of sloppieness and stupidity gave Italy a first win at Murrayfield and tonight it was basic inconsistency that let Andy down.

Similar to the Karlovic match Andy missed some good opportunities but this time he didn't get any more. Roddick went to the big serve on the big points even on a second serve and it very rarely let him down. It was just criminal to get broken tamely when serving for the match as Andy had fought so hard to hold his serve up till that point.

Against Karlovic it looked like the serve had improved from last year but it was pretty mediocre today and more work is required as Andy was playing of a disadvantage today.

Revenge for Roddick as a tired Murray struggled to find any rhythm in a straight sets defeat. It wasn't just his first serve that went missing today, Murray's groundstrokes regularly missed their target by large distances, some finding the middle of the net, others landing a couple of yards wide.

This time around Roddick was far more reluctant to attack the net, recognising that Murray's passing shots would be a real threat; he was right. When given the rare opportunity, as he was on break point at 4-3 in the second set, Murray took it, matching Roddick's deep volley behind a second serve with a measured backhand passing shot that Roddick could only volley safely, allowing Murray to whip a winning forehand pass crosscourt.

As poorly as Murray played, the chance to win the second set arrived, largely due to Roddick's errors. Serving at 5-3 Andy played an absolute shocker. Roddick returned a medium paced first serve deep making it difficult for Murray to do much more than get the ball back, Roddick crashing a backhand crosscourt for a winner.  Murray then dumped a routine backhand into net and went 0-40 down as his game collapsed, this time an aggressive forehand finding the middle of the net. A volley saved one break point but another wild error handed Roddick the break.

At 6-5 some careless play from Roddick gave Murray set point. When he missed his first serve Roddick appeared in serious danger but he pulled out a second serve with real bite that Murray failed to return. Throughout the match Roddick's second serve impressed, winning him 65% of the points compared to the mid 20s he achieved in San Jose.

The tiebreak was not as clear cut but Murray looked well positioned at 3-0 with 2 mini-breaks. Could he find enough big first serves to hold on? Not on a night when 44% of first serves in play made life very difficult. Roddick completed the win in style.

Roddick's groundstrokes held up well in the longer rallies. If anything it was Murray who looked unreliable off the ground. On this court he needed to up the pace in order to penetrate but the accuracy just wasn't there. Even when he did force Roddick on the defensive Andy seemed reluctant to come into the net to finish points.

Roddick's returning, especially of the second serve, was much improved from last week's contest. Regularly he would dictate the play with deep aggressive returns that Murray could do little with. Again the Murray second serve was predictable, kicked into the backhand side, the only variation being the depth, some short, some close to the line, three in a single game failing to find the box.

So some alarming signs for Murray. His first serve percentage is back in the 40s and low 50s while his second serve is a major liability. When the rest of his game is on form he can get away with poor serving displays but against Roddick his touch simply wasn't there. The match appeared to be in the balance late in the second set yet Andy couldn't find any magic or even a few big serves to take him into a third set.

In truth this looked like one match too many for Murray. It had a similar feel to the loss against Gasquet in Toronto last summer; not enough energy left to do the simple things nevermind come up with something special. Roddick was a deserved winner but his display was patchy rather than brilliant.


-- Edited by kundalini at 01:44, 2007-02-25