Weeks 3-4 - Australian Open (hard)

indiana · Tennis legend

RE: Weeks 3-4 - Australian Open (hard)

MiloTheCat · Lower Club Player

Great performance - only saw all of the sets he lost - saw the terrific tiebreak though

In the 5th set he won 2/13 on 2nd serve.

Overall in the match 2nd serve pts won was a big difference.

It's been a weak spot for so long I'm amazed Indy hasnt noticed smile

alex03maccy · Grand Slam Champion

For the first time I actually believe Andy will go on to win one. Great match and Andy should be proud of his effort. Well done Nole.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Very proud. Next time Andy !!

RJA · Hall of fame

Absolutely gutted for Andy but also incredibly pleased with how he played. My faith in him eventually winning Grand Slams has been restored. If he keeps approaching big matches like this he will start winning them and after today he must surely realise how he must play in this type of match.

Spectator · All-time great

This looks really good. Not close to the same player who fell in straights last year. Very, very good stuff.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

In the last FIVE slams, Andy has only been beaten by Novak and Rafa; in the last four, they were both ranked either #1 or #2, with the first of the five Novak being ranked #3 at the start of the tournament but #2 by the end of it. Not a bad record: I think the rest of the players bar the ones ranked above him would kill for such a statistic.

RJA · Hall of fame

Going to expand a bit on what I said earlier.

All those final and semi final defeats over the last couple of years were really hard to take because I always felt that Andy let himself down. It wasn't losing the matches,or losing them in straight sets (or maybe a one sided 4 setter), it was the feeling that he never gave those matches everything. That isn't to say he wasn't trying his hardest but he never looked like he believed that he could win those matches, never quite had the belief that he belonged in those matches, never trusted himself to play the way that he knows he must. Those matches just left you feeling "what might have been" and Andy's own reaction to those matches was of a man who deep down knew he had failed on the big stage and knew that he had not only lost but that he had deserved to lose.

This match, all though even more heartbreaking, was completely different. Sure he made mistakes, sure you can point to a few moments and say what if (the insane drive volley that probably cost him the first game of the 4th set) but overall he can be incredibly proud of how he played. He finally trusted himself on the big stage, gave absolutely everything and arguably deserved to win. There is nothing to look back on and regret and every reason to be positive about the future. Best of all his comments after the match indicates that he knows this. He may have lost the match but in his head this was a triumph. If he keeps the faith with what he did today he will win Grand Slams.

indiana · Tennis legend

Re my favourite subject, I'll say no more than Andy ( I can't imagine you're not ), please, please work on improving that first serve percentage and second serve speed / penetration ( apparently while his first serve fastest speed and average speed at this Aus Open was the same as last year, his already quite slow second serve average speed was slower ). I worry though that for whatever reasons it has spent years not getting notably better.

It is just remarkable how well he does ( and actually how decent his second serve won statistics ) considering how poor it is, but he can get away with it against most players, but the best will take advantage of it.

Just about everything else is so positive. He is now generally playing the way we want him to and really stuck with it this year. unlike Wimbledon against Rafa when one missed shot seemed to really cloud his mind.

If anything as well as playing with good controlled aggession he has been taking on the ball earlier at the Aus Open than I've seen him. It can cause some mistakes, but does look the way to play.

What a point by Djokovic, serving in the final set at 5 - 6 30 - 40, great rally and then to end with that shot down the line. I was even prepared to let him away with his heart thumping stuff on that occasion. It did show real heart.

Overall, I'd say Novak just about deserved it, but so positive for Andy.

Yet another semi final appearance shows a consistent dominance over players outside the top 4 that so many previous Slam winners never had, but they didn't have the top 3 Andy has to deal with. Damn them wink

That is unlucky, but I love how he is working and taking the steps to make himself better to be a real force against them.

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 28th of January 2012 05:01:14 PM

Ratty · County player

Yes, I would like to cancel what I said a few days ago about Rafa losing his mojo and Fed being too old.

To think that in the Sampras-Federer hiatus, the likes of Hewitt, Costa, Gaudio and Johannson won slams! Ferrero was briefly ranked no 1, and known as the King of Clay!

Tragic ...

indiana · Tennis legend

Well, another phenomenal endurance effort by Djokovic. After nearly 5 hours against Murray, he wins in 5 hours and 53 minutes.

Could do without some of the hamming that he is much more tired than he clearly is at earlier points in the matches.

philwrig · Hall of fame

He looked dead and buried halfway through the fifth set and could hardly walk, but suddenly found another wind to finally finish off Rafa.