ATP Miami - R3 : Kendrick v Murray

Sheddie · administrator

ATP Miami - R3 : Kendrick v Murray

Sheddie · administrator

K serving:

0-15: K bh long on 2nd shot

15-15: ace down the T

15-30: K s-vs, great return from M at his feet and K nets bh half-volley

30-30: big serve out wide

30-40: K puts easy short fh long on 2nd shot

Game: K nets bh going for big winner dtl

6-3, 2-1

Sheddie · administrator

Kendrick making way too many ues atm. To be fair to him it's tough against Murray as two of his biggest strengths are neutralised. Murray's such a good returner and that cancels out K's big serve, he gets so few cheap pts off it against Murray. Kendrick's A game is to serve-volley a lot, his strength is at the net. However, Murray's returns, lobs and passing shots are so good that he can't do that

Sheddie · administrator

Murray serving:

15-0

30-0: K dominates the pt with big forehands but then sends easy bh volley wide with the court open

40-0: M hits fh dropshot, K gets there but M has an easy shot into an open court

40-15; M nets short fh

Game: M attacks net with bh slice, K nets passing shot

6-3, 3-1

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Set and a break! I leave and hope to come back to an easy finish!

mkkreuk · Admin:Moderator + ATP qualifying

Murray won 6-3 6-1. Easy peasy. much better.

Sheddie · administrator

K serving:

0-15: Pt of the match, maybe the tournament so far. K s-vs, hits great fh volley into the corner. Pt looks over but Andy sprints the length of the court and flicks it from behind him with a single-handed backhand....somehow it floats down the line and dips in. Kendrick looks in despair

15-15: K plays great drop volley, M somehow gets there, and then nets with the court open

30-15: big serve out wide, M nets return

30-30: df

40-30: ace out wide

deuce: K blasts fh long and screams at himself...Murray's defence is so good he just can't penetrate

Ad K: short bh slice from M, K hits fh winner

deuce: K attacks net behind good bh approach.

Ad M: K nets fh going dtl

Game:

6-3, 4-1

Murray serving:

15-0: Outrageous dropshot from outside the tramlines, K gets there but puts it long

15-15: Massive fh winner from K, dtl

30-15: wild fh return long

40-15: K nets bh slice

Game: K sends fh long

6-3, 5-1

Kendrick serving:

15-0: big serve, puts fh away

15-15: K nets bh going for winner dtl

30-15: K smashes fh winner dtl on 2nd shot

40-15: M fh return long

40-30: K s-vs, M passes him with bh return cross-court

deuce: double fault

Ad M: double fault

GSM Murray: K fh long

6-3, 6-1

Sheddie · administrator

34 ues from K to just 11 from Murray tells the story

Drew · Mar 25, 2007

Expected result....surprised Kendrick won so many games

Sheddie · administrator

Tbh, Murray didn't have to do much to win that match, just played v consistently, returned well and hit some great passing shots. He served pretty solidly too.

Kendrick just had a day to forget, he played a bit of a crazy match, reminded me a bit of Verdasco at his worst....just going for big winners off everything, trying to smack the cover off the ball. He was teeing off on every 2nd shot on his serve and missed most of the time...made no attempt to draw the margins in, he had a few long rallies with Murray but in the end Kendrick almost always made the error. I think Kendrick ran out of ideas in the end....he serve-volleyed, he got passed.....he stayed back he just couldn't get past the Murray defence and ended up making the error

andyjmr · Intermediate Club Player

Andy in the 2nd set - 80% 1st serves in, and 83% of those won.

not bad, even if his opponent did have an off day.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

In the windy conditions Andy Murray's high percentage tennis was far too good for the reckless, though great to watch, shotmaking of Robert Kendrick.

Having beaten Kendrick in their two previous meetings, Murray knew what to expect: big serving, huge groundstrokes, and a determination to get to the net as quickly as possible. Robert produced some fantastic winners but they were overshadowed by an almost endless stream of unforced errors.

Andy knew what he had to do. Cut the pace off his first serve to make sure he got the ball in play. Keep groundstrokes deep or angled crosscourt into Kendrick's backhand. Make Robert hit one more shot in the hope that he might miss.

Serving at 1-2 Kendrick managed to save four break points with aggressive tennis; Andy missing one real opportunity when his passing shot down the line never made it past the net. Robert's next service game went a long way towards explaining his current ranking. A double fault made it 15-15, a backhand unforced error followed by a forehand unforced error took the score to 15-40, then Murray's deep return of impressive wide serve, Kendrick going for a ridiculous forehand winner but missing the baseline by yards to gift Murray the first break. Andy held serve twice to take the set 6-3.

If Kendrick's game had been patchy in the first set, it was truly horrible in the second. Double faults, wild forehands long, backhands into the net. Some nice shots from Andy, a beautiful running single-handed backhand pass down the line and an amazing drop shot that clipped the top of the net, barely bouncing when it landed, being the pick.

Serving at 1-5 Kendrick's aggressive play got him to 40-15. Murray came up with a return winner then watched as two double faults and wild forehand long finished the match. The final score 6-3 6-1.

A sensible display from Andy given the conditions and the opponent. 79% of first serves in play, winning 74% on first and 78% on second with just a single ace.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

I had to miss all but the first few games, but a very nice scoreline to come back to!

Thanks for the commentary

Andy_Murray_Fan · Junior player

NICE

scoobsuk · Club Coach

Andy played well within himself and just took his erratic opponent apart - a much better performance than against Goldstein, and, confidence-wise, sets him up nicely for a tilt at likely Gonzalez in R4.