indiana wrote:

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... so be interested to hear from those who saw it how he played.

 

fwiw I thought it was the kind of performance you wouldnt have seen a year or two ago. He was hitting (the forehand esp) more aggressively and (as a consequence) making many more errors than would have been normal in the past.

As in the previous round I thought the biggest factor was that Andy won a lot more cheap points on 1st serve. The 2nd serve stats reflected the fact that Simon was outlasting Andy on a lot of long rallies i.e. it wasnt a result of Simon hitting tons of winners off Andy's 2nd serve.

Simon looked pretty jaded. His returning wasnt great - don't know how many times when he needed a cheap point Andy hit a big serve out wide from the Ad court (lots over 130 - max 134 iirc). Simon seldom got close and sometimes when he did - he hit fresh air.

I expect Andy will raise his game for the next round. He may revert to one of his old games plans, but there's growing evidence that his style of play may be in transition.