From the 'what ifs' of the earlier post, I think that means Andy will be at least ranked 9th if he loses to Nadal unless either Lopez or Ancic are able to beat Federer when he could finish 10th.
Fantastic win to come back from two sets down. He deserves all the plaudits that I hope he'll get in the press tomorrow. He played some devastating shots with the odd drop shot thrown in, to keep us fretting. Can't wait to see how he does against Rafa. The weather forecast for Wednesday is not good and I'm going on Thursday, so if the match has to be held over...
Fantastic from Andy. I'd given up all hope at 5-4 down in the third. Amazing comeback. Wish he had Clement or Schuettler in the quarters to keep it going. Still can't see him beating Rafa on Wednesday but then again who knows and then the semi final.
Could we really get Murray v Federer on Sunday with Andy winning in 5 sets? We can dream until Wednesday evening at least.
Yes, he could have served better in the first 2 sets, and I have said before how important it is to his matches to keep up a high 1st service %. But, it has to be said that Gasquet played excellent, pretty near faultless tennis, and fully deserved to be 2 sets up.
But how Andy raised his game, and when he was totally in the zone he was constantly hitting out, and surely he sees how it can work for him. Passive Andy must be consigned to the past !
The drop shot does concerns me in that I am not sure it is proving a % shot generally in that what % of times is it successful as against what % of these poiints would he win if he played another shot, given he usually plays it from a strong position in the rally. However, at times it is a great weapon and he needs to have it in his armoury. On balance, no way would I try and say just don't do it, but I do think he could be a bit more selective.
As to his relationhip with the crowd today, the second half of the match was absolutely magic. I think today he won over Wimbledon, including Murray Mound ! Not that I think it was as subdued before as the "hushed Centre Court" the BBC reported about on his match against Haas, but admittedly it had never reached the levels of today.
Part of me was having a smile when I saw Nadal seemingly have a quite serious injury problem earlier today. But thinking about it now, I hope Rafa is fully fit to play. Andy v Rafa, bring it on ! I do still think Rafa is favourite for this, but it will hopefully be a great match.
I had to go out when he was just about to lose the second set. I came home, said to my husband, "Well, how much did he lose by?" The reply, " Yeah, he lost." Long pause. "That set, but won the next 3"
I thought he was kidding! I can't wait to watch this match!
What a brilliant match, I don't remember ever getting so caught up in a match (and I've witnessed plenty of Tim and Greg's - maybe the latter's PAris Masters win, but that was a complete destruction of Sampras, not this kind of epic) and to come back from a set and a break down against someone you have an 0 & 2 record against and who has never lost a 5-set match before, saving 15/18 break points in the process - awesome doesn't even come close to describing it!
I got almost as excited as Andy did when he played that unbelievable shot to win the 3rd set, and you could get the best part of a week of highlights shows just from that one match!
Now if Andy is ever staring defeat in the face, even without a crowd behind him urging him on, all he has to do is think of this match and know that there is never, ever a reason to give up.
And his fitness - it's phenomenal - today must be the day that all the hard work must have seemed worthwhile.
In the end, it did pretty much come down to 1st serve %s, though whether in the second half of the match the higher % led to him playing better or the higher % came about because he was playing better and feeling more relaxed is hard to tell. Remember those three aces in one game near the end, that's when I knew he was going to win.
Kim was great too today - it was great to see her really getting into it and not being afraid to show how she felt - far more Lucy Rusedski than Lucy Henman. (and from me, that's a compliment!)
I hope Wedesday isn't an anti-climax, though Andy could almost be forgiven if it was, but whatever happens, and especially if he can take this on-court attitude with him to other events, I think Andy has taken a BIG step closer to the top 5 tonight.
A couple of other thoughts. Can you imagine how many Brits who were unsure about him he must have converted today?
I do feel sorry for Richard, who played brilliantly for two and three quarter sets (and even at some points after that), and he certainly didn't deserve to be booed when he too the toilet break, and was very gracious in defeat at the end) but Andy needed that win so bad, for so many reasons, and the way he achieved it was fabulous!
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
Absoultely great, that match met and exceeded all expectations. So enjoyable. I just loved the way Andy fought and saved all those break points in the 3rd set, he just ground Gasquet into submission in the end and come the 4th set Gasquet had nothing left. The shot to win the tiebreaker was the shot of the championship so far by a long distance.
And he really got the crowd involved too. Was great to see. Hopefully that wins a lot of people over. Great match, great experience watching it.
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience