Worst possible draw for Murray?

seagull · Hall of fame

Worst possible draw for Murray?

seagull · Hall of fame

If he can win that it's Chela or Sweeting in R2

seagull · Hall of fame

It gets worse

Baggy in R3, Berdych in R4 and Tsonga in Q/F

At least he would avoid Rafa in the S/F!!

Vamos08 · Intermediate Club Player

Had to happen didn't it. Oh well he'll still be favourite I guess!

indiana · Tennis legend

Should be fun

I'd still be making Andy clear favourite on his most recent form. Anyway still time for Dammit to withdraw

philwrig · Hall of fame

Yep without doubt the toughest 1st round matchup although Andy will still be clear favourite in that match.

2nd round not too bad.
3rd round tough but Gulbis or Almagro would have been tougher.
4th round not too bad

If Andy makes the quarters that will be a far bigger achievement than last year.

steven · Tennis legend

seagull wrote:

It gets worse

Baggy in R3, Berdych in R4 and Tsonga in Q/F

At least he would avoid Rafa in the S/F!!

Gasquet is a banana skin, for sure, though he has hardly done anything since coming back, but I don't think the rest is too bad at all - he's avoided the top clay courters and we'd fancy him to get to the semis if he was on form (since he's not, I don't ...)

airsmashers · County player

Yep Baggy for sure doesn't get too many good results on clay

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

Baggy's done better on clay this season, he's made a semi and he pushed Ferrer in Madrid(?)

Josh · Challenger level

Didn't Gasquet just walk through the Bordeux Challenger? Don't see Andy as a 'clear' favourite but he should still win given Gasquet's past performances here.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

And Dammit is playing in the Nice semi today isn't he? He must have found some form from somewhere recently.

He'll surely have the crowd behind him, but seems to suffer from stage-fright at RG so it may not be an advantage. It's a bad match-up for Andy, especially on clay, though.

clayfan · Lower Club Player

This is the one draw nobody wanted. Gasquet has been blowing hot and cold since his suspension, but will be up for this one. He desperately needs to win back the support of the French Tennis public and this is just the match to do it. I regretfully have to make him favourite as this is no ordinary tournament and he is a home favourite.

Imagine them put on Chatrier after the crowd have had a nice boozy lunch, perhaps as early as Sunday. Gasquet snorting around like a bullfighter knowing he has to perform well. Andy getting crabbit, queerying lines and getting the bird from the stands. Whistling, jeering. If Andy were to win it would be a terrific result but he would be the most unpopular man in France. This is Andy's whole clay court season in a few hours of potential hell. I can't wait!

philwrig · Hall of fame

There's no way you can make Gasquet favourite for this match given his form since his comeback from suspension. I'm not saying Gasquet won't win but Andy still has to be a solid favourite.

The longer the match goes on the stronger Andy will get and eventually he will wear down the Frenchman.

Yes Gasquet might be inspired but he's going to have to be have any chance of beating Andy.

Simmy26 · Lower Club Player

Clayfan said:

'Gasquet snorting around...'

--------------------------

Not again surely!!

steven · Tennis legend

clayfan wrote:
Imagine them put on Chatrier after the crowd have had a nice boozy lunch, perhaps as early as Sunday. Gasquet snorting around like a bullfighter knowing he has to perform well. Andy getting crabbit, querying lines and getting the bird from the stands. Whistling, jeering. If Andy were to win it would be a terrific result but he would be the most unpopular man in France. This is Andy's whole clay court season in a few hours of potential hell. I can't wait!

Gasquet snorting like a bullfighter? At RG in the past, he's tended to wobble like a wet jelly, and that's just when he's been brave enough to turn up!

2002: lost to Costa WR 22 in R1 from a set up
2003: retired v Nico Lapentti WR 58 in R1 when 2 sets and at least 1 break down
2004: lost to Numpty Nalby WR 8 in R1 in straight sets
2005: beat Bracciali WR 142 & Wessels WR 82 then went out to Rafa WR 5 in R3 by 4, 3 & 2
2006: beat Jimmy Wang WR 91 then lost to Numpty Nalby in R2, bagelled in the 4th
2007: beat Mahut WR 107 then lost to Vliegen WR 74 in straight sets
2008: late withdrawal
2009: banned

So, the best Dammit has ever done at RG is to get to R3 and he has never beaten a player ranked inside the top 80 there. The main worries, then, are that he has probably never gone into RG with lower expectations for his R1 match and Muzza's flaky form at the moment.