ATP Doha - Final - Murray v Roddick

Drew · Jan 9, 2009

ATP Doha - Final - Murray v Roddick

indiana · Tennis legend

Well, I said that the Federer match would probably go to three sets, but if Andy won he would win the final. And in the end, it was a more straightforward three sets than I anticipated.

I stick to that. Andy ( M ! ) in straight sets ( edit : or reading elsewhere, Andy R to win by default )

-- Edited by indiana at 00:13, 2009-01-10

andyjmr · Intermediate Club Player

Report on the beeb he might not play. He's had some back problems since Abu Dhabi. I think I'd be too nervous to watch now even if he does decide to play. I'd prefer if he rests it.

goldfish · Futures qualifying

Well he's turned up and the match is about to start. Fingers crossed that he wins but doesn't pay the price for playing when injured.

mjd · Challenger qualifying

Andy M serves to love for 2-2 and breaks Arod for *3-2

Good live feed here http://atdhe.net/live-tv-2024.html even at full screen

mjd · Challenger qualifying

So where is everyone as Murray serves at 6-4 *5-2 ?

The back holds out and he makes it look easy!

mjd · Challenger qualifying

Andy M wins easily 6-4 6-2.
Only break point against him was that last game but he pulled back having outplayed Roddick.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

Has Andy ever played better than that? - The match against Wawrinka at the US Open is the only display I can think of that was of a similar quality. I can recall a backhand down the line dumped in the net at 30-30 in one game and a couple of poor passing shots that landed halfway up the net, and there was one service game in which he missed 5 out of 6 first serves but otherwise his displayed was close to perfect.

I thought Roddick played well but got destroyed because Murray's level was astonishingly high. 70% first serves in play from both players.

On that form no-one would beat Murray on hardcourt. Some of the points were amazing. The person who lost the point had often produced fantastic tennis. Have to feel sorry for Roddick because he put in a super performance and yet whenever he created a slight opening on Murray's serve, he got blown away by huge serves and sublime skills.

Roddick came up with some fantastic backhands, one hit having been forced wide, another fired down the line. While his smashes against some excellents lobs from Murray were of the highest quality. Even his sliced backhand approaches had real bite to them. Sure there were moments when Roddick's technical weaknesses were exposed; he lost control of a few aggressive crosscourt backhands and the odd volley was not as cleanly struck as it might have been but overall his tennis was of a high standard.

A much better display than against Federer.

-- Edited by kundalini at 18:38, 2009-01-10

indiana · Tennis legend

I didn't see any of the match, but yes he sounded in tremendous form. They said on Radio 5 Live that at times he was quite unplayable.

What a tremendous start Andy has made to the year.

We'll ignore the fact that aginst the rest of the top 4, he has somehow managed to go backwards in points comparison since the turn of the year. Cheers ATP for recognising what a mundane tournament Qatar is

The cream, though, will ultimately rise to the top !!

Hopefully there is no serious problem with the back. I suspect that it may just be temporary twinges after all the work Andy has been doing in the close season.

Mikeduke · County player

Wow

That was a great result. I honestly didnt expect him to play!

Andy is now favourite for Aussie Open!

steven · Tennis legend

I had to be out unfortunately, but sounds like Andy played imperious tennis to win his 9th title.

indiana wrote:
Hopefully there is no serious problem with the back. I suspect that it may just be temporary twinges after all the work Andy has been doing in the close season.

Hopefully, though he mentioned at one point that it might be something to do with the courts, which wouldn't bode well - the AO surface has been implicated in causing injuries in recent years, though if I remember right, they changed it last year because of that. Also, Doha is played on the same surface as the AO but Abu Dhabi wasn't and it does seem like it was the latter that caused the problem (if it was a court surface problem) so hopefully he'll be ok.

Andy could hardly have planned and executed a better start to the season, could he? By playing Abu Dhabi and not Kooyong this year, he'll get a rest before the AO while the other top players try to get one over each other, knowing all the time that the bookies' fav for the title is putting his feet up (maybe not, but you know what I mean!) having proved he can beat any of them.

wolf · Tennis legend

Didn't watch the match but sounded like it confirms that Andy is the favourite for the Australian Open. He just needs to perform now over five sets and on the biggest stage of all. He has shown he can do it by beating Nadal at the US Open lasy year but Federer over 5 sets on a hard court is a different challenge altogether.