So, can Andy maintain the sublime form he showed today against Acasuso in the third round? Let's hope so! This will be their first meeting, whenever it is (Friday?) ...
Almagro is 27-5 on clay this year-which is quite something. Just about the worst possible R3 draw he could have got.
Still, you have to beat the best to the be the best. Andy will really have to turn up to make it, though. More of today should make it very interesting.
IF Andy can keep it up then it will be close....IF Almagro plays like anything he can then it will be a 5 setter !
I have Andy to loose to almagro both in my Pickem and 'Brits Progress'....Im crap at both so hopefully thats a good omen !
Well I had him losing to Acasuso, so at least my gloomy prediction was incorrect!
Don't see Murray winning this as Almagro is just too good on the clay, and when he plays at his best he is one of the top 5 clay courters in the world.
That said, he has a potential to choke at all moments, and often has strange losses at the French Open, losing to Blake and Llodra the last two years. Also, Murray has the kind of game that could frustrate Almagro can drive to insanity and force plenty of errors, especially if the win keeps up.
I'd say Almagro to win this in 4, but hope to be wrong.
Biggest upset of the tournament so far (unless you count the triumph of the Latvian qualifier, Ernests Gulbis, over James Blake (7) in four sets, 7-6(2) 3-6 7-5 6-3, earlier! ): Nalby has just been dumped out by the French WC, our old friend, Jérémy Chardy, in five: 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 2-6! The Frogs'll be ****-a-hoop!
Edited in: I see the censorship software on this board isn't sophisticated enough to distinguish a perfectly acceptable, even in polite company, adjective from an obscenity!
So, if ( please !! ) Andy can get past Almagro, his opponent in the last 16 wouild be either that great clay court player not Tursunov or French WC Chardy.
OK, I know Andy wasn't exactly convincing against a previous French WC, and this one is ranked a bit higher, but you'ed have to fancy his chances there.
So to me, the main obstacle now to him reaching the QFs ( that would be fun, his first Grand Slam QF coming in Paris ) is Almagro. Trouble is that's quite an obtacle. But I do believe it is winnable if Andy is at his best and Almagro isn't ( both of which seem to occur fairly randomly ).
Tursunov will beat Chardy, despite him being a complete clay-court clown.
Murray must love this draw now, as Almagro has never been the most solid mentally and also seems to be on the verge of dying to lose to someone who cannot play on the surface in a Grand Slam.
Whoever wins it'll be a first if this paragraph from the Guardian is to be believed.
'Murray next plays Spain's Nicolás Almagro, who has won two clay-court tournaments this year but who, like the Scot, has never previously reached the third round of the French Open. On yesterday's form Murray will fancy his chances tomorrow, assuming rain does not further complicate the programme.'
wow where did chardy come from! i know he lost to then started beating boggo and i was harsh on boggo but looks like the chardman is on the way up!
Numpty usually goes two sets down then wins in 5, so maybe Boggo suggested to him at the DC tie that he tried doing the opposite for a change, a Boggo in other words.
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