Week 3- Australian Open

steven · Tennis legend

RE: Week 3- Australian Open

dougie · Club Coach

Into 4th set tie-breaker;

1-0* mini-break up
*2-0
2-1* ferrer gets mini-break back
3-1* murray mini-break up
*4-1 murray 2 mini-breaks up with rasping forehand
*5-1 130 mph ace :)
6-1* ferrer backhand error
6-2*
*7-2 :) with an easy pick up winner

GSM Andy 4-6, 7-6, 6-1, 7-6 :)

angry1 · Lower Club Player

Never a moment's doubt. Especially with his recent tie break excellence. I think I relaxed for about 1 game in the entire match.

RJA · Hall of fame

Very, very strange match.

Ferrer was a bit better than I expected him to be while Andy was a strange mix of some very good and pretty ordinary tennis. The only time I was really worried was during that rut early in the second set where both his play and body language was very passive. Once he got himself going mentally I always thought he would have too much for Ferrer.

No doubt there were plenty of things you could find fault with it you were minded to but this was a Grand Slam semi final, he played well when he needed to and got the job done. That's all that really matters.

-- Edited by RJA on Friday 28th of January 2011 12:51:58 PM

steven · Tennis legend

Random stats

Andy has already matched Fred Perry at the AO in one sense - of the eight different Brits who have reached the Final of the AO since it started in 1905, only Fred and now Andy have managed to get there twice.

Perry won the AO in 1934 and was the losing finalist in 1935. Overall, Brits are 5-4 in AO Finals but have lost the last three, starting with Perry's second appearance.

It is also 99 years since the only all-Brit Final (though the winner of that Final was actually Irish, when players represented the British Isles) and 100 years since the title was won by the player the trophy is named after - expect the latter to be mentioned by the Aussies on Sunday!

Of the 15 countries that have had at least one AO men's singles winner, two have been waiting longer than us for another winner - France, for whom the legendary Jean Borotra won in 1928 and New Zealand, for whom the not quite so legendary Anthony Wilding won in 1906 and 1909 - so the kiwis have been waiting for 102 years and counting!

RJA · Hall of fame

steven wrote:
the not quite so legendary Anthony Wilding

It depends on your perspective. I would say being a 4 time Wimbledon champion makes him as worthy as Borotra for legendary status.

indiana · Tennis legend

Well done to Andy on another final smile

Bit of a curious performance overall in that when he was good he was really very good and could look in an absolutely different class ftrom such a solid citizen as Ferrer.

But then his form and the momentum would change ( and I do think it was more Andy's variation than Ferrer's ), particularly at that point after the 6 - 1 third set and 2 - 0 lead in the fourth set when he went from in really very good form and the match in an element of control to missing bad balls and so soon back in a dogfight for the fourth set.

Did generally play the big points well, particulaly on serve ( as he suggested maybe helped that he didn't know he was actually set point down on one occasion disbelief

) and of course played well in the tiebreaks when outside these they were one set all and overall just one point betweeen them.

So difficult to know know where he is exactly. At times he was hitting the ball consistently and aggersively, indeed very big at times, but those consistent periods were a bit too inconsistent if you see what I mean

I guess the great thing is his game is very much there ( remember last Spring ! ) and it looks as if much will depend on Andy producing that game over a long enough sustained period and certainly not losing grip on very good positions as has happened in his last two matches.

Hopefully physically wise Andy is going to be fine for Sunday. I don't think the 3 day as against 2 day break for the finalists is that much of a problem unless one player is carrying real knocks in which case the extra day and able to sit in bed eating popcorn watching the other semi would help a bit.

I think everything considered I'm wavering a bit from having Andy as slight favourite for a final with Djokovic to at best a 50 / 50.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
I think everything considered I'm wavering a bit from having Andy as slight favourite for a final with Djokovic to at best a 50 / 50.

Inclined to agree, Indy, though I have to say I'm basing that view on having seen very little of the match & mostly on my reading of second-hand reports... Forget Plan B. He needs to take his A game into Sunday's final!

indiana · Tennis legend

Sort of fascinating fact :

Andy has been seeded outside the top 4 just three times in the last ten Slams.

2008 - US Open - seeded 6th
2010 - Aus Open - seeded 5th
2011 - Aus Open - seeded 5th

Yep, these are convergent with his final appearances.

steven · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:

Sort of fascinating fact :

Andy has been seeded outside the top 4 just three times in the last ten Slams.

2008 - US Open - seeded 6th
2010 - Aus Open - seeded 5th
2011 - Aus Open - seeded 5th

Yep, these are convergent with his final appearances.

Brilliant spot - what on earth were we worried about!

RJA · Hall of fame

Just a couple of quick stats to arm you against the increasing bitter Murray bashers who are trying to claim that winning this tournament would be a lesser achievement because he hasn't beet Fed or Nadal.

When Fed won his first Grand Slam he played the world number 48 (Phillippoussis) in the final and only played one top 10 player (Roddick No6) in the whole tournament.

When Nadal won his first Grand Slam he played the world number 37 (Puerta) in the final and only played one top 20 player in the tournament. Okay it was Fed but this was when there was serious flaws in his clay court game.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Harking back to the match (I did manage to watch it but then had to be out most of the day because of family illness) I was dismayed in the early games by Andy's grumpiness, and by his hitting the ball into the net so much and missing shots he can normally do in his sleep.

I wonder just how much of that was because he had never had a night match on RLA? The hitting the ball into the net practically disappeared after he had his racquets restrung at the end of the second set, and because he was playing better his body language and grumpiness disappeared out of sight. Whatever the reason, well done Andy on overcoming difficulties and battling through.

The Final? Hmm. I'm not counting any chickens - I was convinced Andy was going to win last year and look what happened. I think I'll have to find my old book of spells in the attic and put a hex on Novak evileye

, just to help matters along. . .

steven · Tennis legend

RJA wrote:

Just a couple of quick stats to arm you against the increasing bitter Murray bashers who are trying to claim that winning this tournament would be a lesser achievement because he hasn't beet Fed or Nadal.

When Fed won his first Grand Slam he played the world number 48 (Phillippoussis) in the final and only played one top 10 player (Roddick No6) in the whole tournament.

When Nadal won his first Grand Slam he played the world number 37 (Puerta) in the final and only played one top 20 player in the tournament. Okay it was Fed but this was when there was serious flaws in his clay court game.

Very true, and well worth bringing up.

As for Muzza being a bit old wink

, Fred Perry hadn't won a grand slam title when he was Andy's age (he won the USO when he was 24) and no Brit younger than Andy has won a slam since Wilfred Baddeley won Wimbledon in 1890!

Baddeley was the player who held the record for the youngest player to win Wimbledon for nearly a century until Boris Becker broke it.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Better late than never, this is my take on the semifinal.
A somewhat flat/sluggish performance by Andy. I believe he was nervous and as a result his movement was poor by his standards, that together with sloppy footwork led to the many UE's he committed.
The media had already put him into the final, so shouldn't feel those nerves in the final as Djoker is now the favourite. The nerves in the final will obviously come from it being the opportunity to win that elusive first grand slam.
Andy got through that match because he is striking the ball with alot more power at the moment and Ferrer dropped his level slightly as the match wore on, he was playing unbelievably at the start.
Andy used up alot of energy during the match, therefore must be some doubt if we get a long match in the final that he might run out of gas somewhat.
Before the semi I was very confident of a first grand slam win, but unless he can regain the Melzer form( powerful groundstrokes and unbelievable movement) I believe he will need the Djoker to be a little bit below his best form to get the win.
It is going to be alot hotter tomorrow so that may play a little into Andy's hands as Nole doesn't like the heat.
The revised betting odds are I feel about right at 8/11 Novak 11/8 Andy.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Not long to go. . . I'm feeling nervous already. I want him to win SO much, having followed him since he was just a junior. I'm not sure how much of the final I'll actually see as I will be