Last time they met on the clay, it was 63 - 44 in terms of points won, the final score 3-6 2-6. At the time I wrote - "Tactics weren't too bad. Andy was certainly trying to make things happen most of the time but his execution was shocking, especially on the easiest of shots, and against Nadal he just couldn't afford to smash simple put aways into the net, fire straightforward forehands wide with the court open, volley straight back to his opponent and so on.

There was enough penetration on view to suggest that Andy could become a good player on clay but his concentration is abysmal and he must have gifted Nadal 15 points with careless errors. Also worth noting that the forehand was shocking in the first set, something like 10 unforced errors and no winners in that set, though he did finally start to hit some forehand winners in the second. Double handed backhand crosscourt looked like a decent weapon and even the serve had its moments though far too many were hit at medium pace rather than flat out."

This time around Andy should adopt a similar approach but look to improve his execution. Hopefully he can start to close the gap and perhaps over the course of a few meetings on this surface, he might eventually become competitive with Nadal.

The last thing I want to see is another contest similar to their match at Wimbledon last year in which Andy let Rafa dictate throughout. Of course Andy will lose but he should do so going for his shots because if he is to beat other top players on this surface then he will need to deploy his weapons and get full value for them; few opponents will play as poorly as Fognini and Davydenko did.

-- Edited by kundalini on Friday 17th of April 2009 11:30:11 PM

Horrible match so far, but Wawrinka has taken the first set 6-4 against Djokovic.

, not least because Nole losing would give Muzza the world no. 3 slot on Monday week (unless Nole enters Barca and goes deep)

Unfortunately, Nole is a break up in the 2nd.

steven wrote:

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, not least because Nole losing would give Muzza the world no. 3 slot on Monday week (unless Nole enters Barca and goes deep)

Unfortunately, Nole is a break up in the 2nd.

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As the Barcelona draw was already out when you posted and Nole isn't in it, it's very unlikely he's going to go deep in that event!

He's a break up in the third set now as well and looks on course for the final.

 

3-5* and rafa serves for the match...mp but murray breaks!
*4-5 can he hold?

3-4* down in the TB.....