AMS Indian Wells R4: Murray v Haas

Andymonium · Satellite level

RE: AMS Indian Wells R4: Murray v Haas

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Andy serving at 6-2 5-6,

15-0,
15-15,
15-30,
30-30,
30-40,
Deuce,
Adv Haas,
5-7

Can't face another set!

Enjoy every1.

murrayfan99 · Lower Club Player

2nd serve, good cc bh from andy 15-0

bad 3rd shot miss 15-15

2nd serve, andy charges net and misses volley 15-30

3rd shot put away 30-30

2nd serve, andy rushes net, th passes with 30-40

long rally, th misses bh deuce

return missed A-40

good volley from th deuce

2nd serve, andy misses passing shot with th rushing net 40-A

long rally: horrible bh error from andy - 2nd set to th

murrayfan99 · Lower Club Player

missed return 15-0

longish rally, andy retrieving 30-0

shortish rally, andy retrieving 40-0

very short, andy not bothering - game th

murrayfan99 · Lower Club Player

lame stuff 0-15

return long 15-15

2nd serve: horrible bh 3rd shot 15-30

serve/volley 30-30

lame 3rd shot, 30-40

strange rally 40-40

very wide serve ace A-40

serve down the middle game 1-1

going to bed - still think andy has more gears

-- Edited by murrayfan99 at 01:07, 2008-03-20

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Didn't realise the game by game coverage in here had stopped.... I'll briefly recap the last few games then... Murray had 4 break points at 2-2, Haas had 2 at 3-2, Murray had 1 at 3-3

Haas now leads 4-3 in the final set

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Murray to serve - 3-4

0-15 - Haas return winner
0-30 - Murray backhand into net after Haas dominates the point
0-40 - Murray nets volley after being in total control of the point until a poor dropshot
Game - Murray misses a mid court forehand

Haas leads 5-3

What the hell was that Murray!!!!!!!!

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Haas to serve 5-3

15-0 - ace down the middle
30-0 - ace out wide
30-15 - murray puts a smash away after controlling the point
40-15 - Murray drags passing shot into the crowd
40-30 - Haas backhand long after excellent return
GSM Haas - Murray nets backhand

Haas wins 2-6, 7-5, 6-3

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Bad loss for Murray really - he has in total control of the match it seemed until playing a bad game at 5-6 in the second set. Had chances in the 3rd set as well and should have taken at least 1 of the BPs that he had as Haas never looked totally convincing at all

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Drat

First serve % must have been abysmal. . .

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

A desperately poor display cost Andy Murray as he lost 6-2 5-7 3-6 to Tommy Haas in Indian Wells. Murray looked to be cruising to victory as he took the opening set easily but his serve and his form deserted him for the rest of the match and Haas ended a well deserved winner.

The first set was all Murray. Haas saved two break points in his opening service game but a forehand error gave Andy the break. Murray then found a big serve to save break point before breaking again, this time to love, for 5-2. Too many errors from the german as he looked to attack.

Andy started the second set as though he was on the practice court, rather than playing a serious match. Tommy was dominant on his own serve, while Murray lost all rhythm on his. Haas was slightly fortunate with a netcord to get the break but it was one way traffic at this stage of the match. Serving to level the match Haas found himself under pressure for the first time in the set; a clean return winner from Andy and a couple of unforced errors from the german giving Murray 3 break points. Aggressive play from Haas saved two but a fierce backhand from Murray earned him the break back. Just when it looked as though they were headed for a tiebreak, Andy produced one of his worst service games of the year. Only 2 out of 10 first serves in play, and a series of shocking errors from Andy as he handed Haas the set.

The third set was another desperate showing from Murray who appeared exhausted. Haas attacked continously, Andy sat deep behind his own baseline and hoped for the error. Murray survived for 2-2 then saw Tommy fire a couple of backhands out of court to present Andy with an opening. A brilliant lob gave him 3 break points but a passive Murray let Haas dominate each time and paid the price. A fourth opportunity came and went before Haas held. Andy then rescued himself, saving two break points with a backhand winner and an unreturned serve. A forehand long from Tommy gave Andy yet another chance to break but the pattern was set, Murray allowing Haas to dominate again. When the break of serve finally came it was a truly wretched game from Murray, broken to love. In simple terms he got what he deserved.

Andy's new coaching team have a lot of work to do if they are to transform the talented Scot into a serious contender at the top of the game. Somehow they must convince him of the need to take the attack to his opponent and stop playing deep behind the baseline.

-- Edited by kundalini at 02:38, 2008-03-20

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

That was abysmal, truly abysmal. All the worst aspects of Andy's game packed into two sets. A horror show. Tactically so bad you couldn't believe what he was doing.

Even if Andy had somehow won the match, he would have had no energy left for the next round.

Have to say I approved of Tommy Haas' approach. He was prepared to attack and to continue to attack even after he made some horrible mistakes on what could have been key points in the match. Total respect to him.

Don't think I can face watching Miami after this.

-- Edited by kundalini at 03:43, 2008-03-20

goldfish · Futures qualifying

Very disappointing to see Andy still persevere with his drop shot tactics and lose the point. Also presented Haas with far too many chances to storm the net and put away the volley. Hung his head and looked dispirited in the 3rd set. Didn't see Nadal do that at any point when he was down to Tsonga.

Frustrating to watch after such a great start.

christian · Intermediate Club Player

Once again just very, very frustrating. The more I watch him in recent weeks, the more I wonder just where is he going with this idea of having lots of different coaches. He looks like a player with all the attributes but without the knowledge to put them to effect often enough. He just looks like he needs a good coach.

Shot selection against Haas certainly in the 2nd set that I saw was just bizarre at times. The frustrating thing is on his day he will beat anyone. However you watch him in weeks like this and you see only glimpses of the ability he needs to get to challenging alongside Djokovic and oushing the top 2. He isn't capable of stringing 2 decent sets togather at present let alone 2 decent matches, and a mile away from looking like he could challenge for any grand slams.

Sorry for the negativity but I think it so frustrating when you can see how close he is to be being a top player and the only thing stopping him, is himself.

steven · Tennis legend

christian wrote:
Sorry for the negativity but I think it so frustrating when you can see how close he is to be being a top player and the only thing stopping him, is himself.

It's hard to disagree with any of the comments on here about last night's match, and the quote above pretty much sums it up. No doubt Andy's stubborn streak is part of what has helped him to reach the heights he already has, but now all it seems to be doing is limiting him from making further progress.

He allegedly fell out with Mark Petchey over him wanting Andy to attack more, and still doesn't seem to realise that Petchey was right all along. I know some people say that this standing way behind the baseline counter-punching game is the way Andy plays, is the way he's got himself up this high in the rankings, and has been responsible for one or two of his good results, but I think that completely misses the point.

It's not as if he can't play a more attacking style (he's more than capable of playing any style he likes, that's one of his biggest strengths) and nowadays he almost invariably does better when he plays a more attacking style (e.g. against Rafa at last year's AO, against Karlovic in the previous round, etc) than when he reverts to camping out behind the baseline and running from side to side all night.

If he wasn't so naturally talented, if he wasn't so capable of playing from anywhere on the court, he wouldn't have this much potential, but equally it wouldn't be nearly as frustrating!

Also, the one thing he could do with more than anything is getting more consistency on his serve - and although I think there have been signs oof improvement (on and off), that's been a problem since 2005.