john wrote:

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However well he may/may not have played you must admit that getting broken at 5-5 and the complete lack of first serves in the crunch is a big worry and he'll win nothing doing that.

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He was serving badly anyway. I don't think the 5-5 had anything to do with it. He was lucky to still be in the match at that point. THe lack of first serves is a worry but that's all.

john wrote:

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Basically Almagro handed Murray the match on a plate after the first set. Once Murray had the lead in the 3rd set, he just had to serve solidly and put him away.

Once again though, he just couldn't press on when it mattered and started choking.

Like someone was saying earlier in the week, when was the last time Andy won a close match? When the heat is on and things get tight, he just can't put the ball in play at anything other than a snail's pace.

However well he may/may not have played you must admit that getting broken at 5-5 and the complete lack of first serves in the crunch is a big worry and he'll win nothing doing that. I'm not convinced it's anything to do with his age/development either. Some players go their whole careers with unfulfilled potential and a fragile mind.

As for taking a sole set off Almagro being a good result, I'm not convinced. Murray today became the first man to ever lose to Almagro in a match 4 sets or longer. Almagro has never been involved at the business end of any mandatory clay event. He's pretty fragile mentally but Murray actually managed to outchoke him today

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Kind of what I was expecting, with Murray choking at times, while Almagro was apparantly hitting some big winners at times, but it's worrying when you outchoke Almagro (who is definately top 10, arguably top 5 on a clay court, but always losing some horrible matches)

The business of Murray losing it when it gets tight is worrying as it has become a bit of trend now... if it was just this match then it wouldn't be so bad, but against Ancic and Haas he messed it up in Indian Wells and Miami, arguably in Barcelona against Ancic as well dropping serve twice at 4-5, against Verdasco in Dubai he choked as well but just hung on.

If we go further back we could cite Tsonga at the Aussie Open, Gasquet in Paris, Nadal in Madrid and Robredo in Metz.... all matches that he was in control of at times yet managed to lose, suggesting that this is beginning to become a worrying trend indeed.

Now that I have calmed down, I can say that I don't think it has been a bad French Open for Andy. I didn't expect him to beat Almagro on clay, and though he raised my hopes a bit at the end of set two and the beginning of set three, my expectations were sadly fulfilled. I think he did pretty well overall, considering his lack of experience on clay (and don't throw back at me his couple of years training on clay, Juniors and Futures are a different ball game to the Big Boys League) At least now he can get some grass practice in before Queens - though it is Wimbledon where he needs to do well, as his 18th score for non-mandatory is 75 while at Wimby any score he makes is replacing a big fat zero. Don't forget that he is not the first player to be inconsistent at 21. Several players have not been at their best until 22-24 and I am not giving up on him before that.

-- Edited by Madeline at 17:26, 2008-05-30

Nicolas Almagro defeated Andy Murray 6-3 6-7 6-3 7-5 in the third round at Roland Garros. The huge serving spaniard restricted Murray to few opportunities on his own serve while taking advantage of yet another disappointing serving display from the british number one.

Murray started slowly. No first serves in play as he gave away his opening serve with careless play. He fought hard to save a couple of break points in his next service game but struggle to make an impact on the Almagro serve until a somewhat chaotic game as Nicolas served for the set; even then there were too many wayward shots and he failed to create a break point opportunity.

Three break point chances each during the long second set but excellent serving and crisp volleys prevented the break of serve. Murray coming back from 0-40 when serving at 4-4. Into the tiebreak a super forehand passing shot for an outright winner seemed to give Andy the advantage but he proceeded to double fault the very next point. Almagro's sliced backhand drifted long and Murray took the next three points to level the scores at one set each.

When Nicolas struggled to reach a Murray lob, directing the ball marginally wide, for the first break of the Almagro serve, Andy appeared to have control of the match. But out of nowhere his intensity dropped, barely a first serve in play, double faults, drop shots failing to make it over the net, volleys missing the target; Almagro cruised past Murray to take the third set 6-3 and establish a 2-0 lead in the fourth.

Murray saved 3 break points serving at 2-4, his touch on the volley returning to his normal high standard. Then a match point in his next service game before Almagro stepped up to serve for the match. In a nervous game Almagro handed Murray a 0-30 lead then Andy gave away the next two points before Nicolas fired a forehand long and for once, Murray took his chance with a fierce forehand deep for a winner to level the score at 5-5.

With the match in the balance, Andy promptly threw it away again, combining wretched serving with wayward groundstrokes. Twice serving and volleying on second serve he saved break points but unable to find a first serve, he gifted Nicolas the break with a shocking forehand into the net. This time Almagro got the job done, finishing with a sublime backhand pass.

Plenty of bold play from Andy but once again he was let down by a terrible serving display. Only 49% of first serves in play, 9 double faults with little pressure from the returner on his second serve was extraordinary. For long spells he was competitive against an impressive Almagro but having recovered from a desperately slow start, he could not afford the drop in intensity midway through the third set. For almost thirty minutes he couldn't execute a single shot; nothing worked.

While Almagro impressed, especially the penetration on his second serve, Andy will believe this was a match he could have won had he maintained his level throughout the third set; He certainly had his opportunities and the manner of his defeat will disappoint the Murray camp, having broken back late in the fourth set, only to gift his opponent another chance. Andy is clearly capable of playing aggressive tennis on a clay court but right now the consistency isn't there. Not enough first serves in play is a regular complaint but it applied here as well.


-- Edited by kundalini at 17:59, 2008-05-30

-- Edited by kundalini at 18:01, 2008-05-30

Best man won on the day.  Flashes of brilliance from Andy and some goddamn awful serving. Almagro served well for practically the whole match and Andy, normally a good returner, had little answer to the serve down the middle. Almagro was by far the most consistent player of the two and for someone purported to be a poor mover round the court, looked okay to me. I hope Andy has learned plenty this week that will stand him in good stead for future forays on clay.

The seeding here is a large part of the problem, Almagro 19 and Andy 10 on clay - get real.

ATP rankings are one thing but I doubt if any of us expected Andy to
have an easy win against Almagro on clay.

Put them on a hardcourt or grass and it's a different thing.
If Andy lost to Almagro in this round at the US Open I'd feel pretty gutted.

At least there's another week of RG ahead where I don't have to agonise over whether Andy will lose and Amelie choke.

Happy Days