Melzer claimed yesterday that there is nothing personal between him and Andy. Whether the reverse is true is up for debate. Andys repeated choking gestures and comments to the media and on court to the crowd does make you wonder if the Scot has been offended by Jurgens claims that perhaps Murray cant take the pressure of Davis Cup. Perhaps some gamesmanship is involved. Who knows ?
At just before 11.30am this morning that will all be put to one side and Andy will be looking to defeat the Austrian for the second time in a month and the third time this year. Melzers 6-7(5) 4-6 7-6(5) 6-1 6-3 loss to Andy at Flushing Meadow would have been painful to take especially having match point and only winning 4 games in the last two sets. Andy barely got more than 50% of his first serves in but did serve 18 aces (Melzer 9). A repeat of that should be enough to see Britain level the tie at 2-2.
Melzer will have to cope with losing every 3rd point on his first serve and every 2nd point on second serve to the Murray returns. Thats what happened in New York and more than likely will happen today. A Murray off-day is Jurgens best chance of winning. A 75% fit Murray should still be enough to beat the Austrian.
Melzer has had a decent year but his 24/23 W/L tour record is barely more than 50% win/loss ratio. Whilst Andy has had a real breakthrough year reaching world number 4 and winning 43 out of 57 matches on tour.
