Didn't I say some months back that to rise to the top you can't be a nice guy?

I agree with a lot of what's been said above about Andy's game, however there are at least a couple of areas where his game has improved in recent years

1. his 2nd serve has improved quite a bit over the last few years - some way still to go - but it is better than it was say at the time of the AO match with Nadal that Kundalini referred to.

2. he has become more aggressive in rallies - he's much more likely to press an advantage when he gets a ball to attack. There was a time when he would just keep it in play even if his opponent was struggling.

 

Oh and another thing.... the commentariat occasionally talk as if Andy is stubbornly refusing to win a slam through sheer stupidity - I'd suggest the opposite

1. If Andy adopted a more attacking style he wouldnt have made anything close to 8 semis in the last 13 slams

2. His record is better than it ought to be - he's just not quite as good as any of the top 3 (fit and in form)

3. He might nick a slam at some point - but it will take some luck.

4. His head is his best asset - look at his game: the 1st serve %, flaky forehand, 2nd serve etc. He's won those masters events and reached 8 semis in 13 because he is consistent and smart and keeps his head when others are losing theirs.

 

A bit of double thinking / second guessing from Andy, reported in The Grauniad, re not trusting his stamina, for whaterver reasons, on Saturday though some of it may be revisionist after the event.

" I felt I did pretty well tonight given the circumstances of playing three games over the last three days. In the first two sets I maybe didn't back myself physically as maybe I should have done. I was trying to end the points quickly, thinking maybe if it goes to three and a half , four hours I might be getting a little bit fatigued"

"It was quite difficult because I know the way to play against Nadal and I played it properly the last two sets. I made a few key mistakes in the third and fourth sets that cost me a little bit. The second set, in particular, I didn't play the way I needed to against him. A little bit was because I was second guessing myself physically and wondering how I would feel if I had to play 30 or 40 long rallies, But I felt OK at the end given the circumstances."

Flippin heck !!  I didn't think Andy was noticeably trying to shorten the points, but it may have been on his mind, so second guessing himself, maybe similar to how he seemed to start second guessing himself at Wimbledon after one shot went awry.  Second guessing yourself to me inevitably leads to one thing - errors !!

Re playing properly in the third and fourth set, surely to goodness you play properly from set one, and the more chance you might win in 3 or 4 sets, but take it as it comes later if the match does go long.  If he genuinely did change from the "proper" way to play Nadal then sorry to me that's fundamentally err plain stupid.  Though as I say how much is revisionist thinking after the event I am not sure.

Anyway it's stuff like that that as indicated in my previous post, I am not at all sure his head is his best asset. I'd say his head is variable. It does too often seem a bit confused.

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 12th of September 2011 09:51:23 PM

I thought it was an encouraging performance from Andy, when both players were playing at their best Andy was just the better player, but sadly his dips were so pronounced that games were lost too easily as a consequence. Those dips usually came after missed opportunities when his execution on BP opportunities just wasn't good enough. It was as if he had decided pre match that anything other than a perfect performance wasn't going to be good enough and thus missing those opportunities meant inevitable defeat. His in running monologue I felt broke all records previous to that.
I agree with RJA that he needs to play this more aggressive style throughout the whole tournament so he's used to playing that style and not just against the top players. Even Petch on Sky his 'lovechild' was laying into him somewhat surprisingly. The biggest improvement I saw was re. his physical fitness, he never looked overly tired during the match considering he had played 3.5 hours the day before. So all in all a performance that makes me believe that there are a couple of slams in him in the next 4 years, as there wasn't really that much to choose between the two players.

Looks like Muzz did a good job of avoiding a 4th grand slam final defeat (that's a comment on Nole, I hasten to add!)

what.a.match.

had to go bed at 4-4 in the the 3rd, what a match tho, some unbelievable tennis out there. honestly don't know how Murray can hope to cope with that in the future.