A bit of a turn-up for the books, this! They've met only twice before & the honours are even: 1-1! Andy beat Jo-Wilfried in Metz in 2007, but JWT had his revenge big time at the Oz Open the following year, when he beat Andy in five (or was it four?) sets in the first round & went on to reach the final, where he lost to NoDjo. Like Mad, I'd have felt happier if Andy had been playing Rog in the SF. Then again, Andy will no doubt be keen to avenge that defeat in Melbourne last year. I hope so anyway...
This is the type of player Andy could struggle with if he serves poorly and sits back in ultra-defensive mode. Has to go for his shots and serves at least 60% 1st serves in.
Probably because most of his best wins have come when he has 'gone for his shots' and most of his worst losses have come when he hasn't? (just a guess!)
__________________
GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
Now let me think what Miles and Alex will be talking about with Andy this morning ...
Could it be:
Tsonga's an adrenaline player who loves hitting spectacular shots, particularly the running forehand, and feeds off an excited crowd. Andy should smack the ball around as well, to give him plenty of opportunity to show his talent.
Or could it be:
Tsonga's a gifted athlete who is prone to injury, and does not like long rallies. Andy should mix it up with lots of junk balling and slices, grind him down, and let him beat himself.
Pretty, no. Effective, yes.
__________________
"Where Ratty leads - the rest soon follow" (Professor Henry Brubaker - The Institute of Studies)
I don't think Murray "going for his shots" means that he has to keep the rallies short, hit the ball as hard as he can and take chances to try and win points.
Rather going for his shots simply means taking the opportunities to hit winners when they present themselves, still quite high percentage shots, instead of what Murray can be prone to do sometimes and simply hit another short rally shot which, unless the other player makes a ue, can be punished and lose Andy the point. No one (at least no one on here) is disputing that Andy's counterpunching and long rallies game is effective, it's clearly got him to the world number 3 position but he does need to make sure he "goes for his shots" and finishes the points off when the opportunity presents, something he does very well most of the time anyway and if he doesn't do this against JWT then there is a good chance he will lose.
__________________
To look at a thing is quite different from seeing a thing and one does not see anything until one sees its beauty
Completely different match-up this to the Davydenko match which may require a different game plane from Murray.
Davydenko likes to the ball to have pace on it and doesn't deal well with slice, so against him, it made perfect sense to "junk-ball" and let him hang-himself, which he pretty much did, but against Tsonga, those tactics might not work so well.
If Tsonga is on his game, he has the power to hit Murray off the court (see the Aussie Open meeting where Murray waited for him to miss and Tsonga kept on finding the court) which means if Murray does play a defensive game he has to be careful that he keeps his length good to stop Tsonga being able to step-in and hit the big groundstroke and then dominate from the net.
If Murray keeps a good length to stop Tsonga being able to get the strike in and also serves well, as Tsonga returning is pretty average at best, then he should have enough to win the match, but if Murray's level drops and Tsonga finds his form, then it's a very dangerous opponent.
I expect Murray will have to enough to beat Tsonga and will be able to stop him from getting the first strike in, and will become world number two, probably in a couple of tight sets.
Edit - I have just realised nobody has mentioned the time - not before 8pm UK time. The doubles match before is scheduled for 6pm so should be finished before 8.
-- Edited by Madeline on Saturday 15th of August 2009 09:22:30 AM
Given what happened in the overnight (our time!) matches, in which Rodders (5) saw off NoDjo (4) 6-4 7-6(4) & Potty (6) beat Rafa (2) 7-6(5) 6-1 (shock! Horror! ), & that Rodders is clearly in the form of his life, Andy could be in line for an early chance of revenge for that Wimbledon defeat. I'd say all the QF results looked like the changing of the generation guard, were it not for the fact that Rodders is very much one of the "old" guard, albeit one enjoying a bit of a resurgence in his career courtesy of the Stefanki(*) influence!
They once did, he was Tim Henman's coach for a short while, and was widely "credited" with having destroyed Tim's already flaky serve....
I'm well aware that Stefanki was once Tim's coach, but I'd assumed that Tim was sufficiently well-heeled by then to "employ" him direct, as opposed to having him "provided" by the LTA! Moreover, that remark was made tongue in cheek, hence the !
Now let me think what Miles and Alex will be talking about with Andy this morning ...
Could it be:
Tsonga's an adrenaline player who loves hitting spectacular shots, particularly the running forehand, and feeds off an excited crowd. Andy should smack the ball around as well, to give him plenty of opportunity to show his talent.
Or could it be:
Tsonga's a gifted athlete who is prone to injury, and does not like long rallies. Andy should mix it up with lots of junk balling and slices, grind him down, and let him beat himself.
Pretty, no. Effective, yes.
But then if his opponent plays well then Andy will lose, as has happened on countless occasions in Grand Slams in the last 18 months.
Tsonga's a gifted athlete who is prone to injury, and does not like long rallies. Andy should mix it up with lots of junk balling and slices, grind him down, and let him beat himself.
Pretty, no. Effective, yes.
... tactics as used in R1 of the AO against, er, Tsonga. Ooops!
__________________
GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!