Weeks 22 & 23: French Open (Roland-Garros) (red clay)

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

RE: Weeks 22 & 23: French Open (Roland-Garros) (red clay)

murrayman650 · ATP level

15-0

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adv Murray

40-40

adv mUrray

3-0

murrayman650 · ATP level

0-15

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adv Murray

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3-1

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4-1

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Andy takes the third set by 6-1 to lead for the first time in the match, by two sets to one! Un-bloody-believable! disbelief

murrayman650 · ATP level

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5-1

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2 sets to 1 Murray

murrayman650 · ATP level

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1-0 Murray

murrayman650 · ATP level

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2-1

murrayman650 · ATP level

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3-1

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3-2

murrayman650 · ATP level

15-0

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4-2

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adv Nieminen

5-2

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

From torture to rapture biggrin . How did Andy pull that particular rabbit out of the hat?

R2: Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) WR 48 lost to (4) Andy Murray WR 4 by 6-1 4-6 1-6 2-6 disbelief

Andy really started to get into Nieminen's head after he turned the second set round, whereupon Nieminen started to fall apart at the seams! disbelief

*****

R3: Santiago Giraldo (COL) WR 50 vs (4) Andy Murray WR 4

Andy played the Colombian for the first time at tour level in the last 16 at Barcelona at the start of the clay season & beat him by 1 & 2. Normally, this encounter would be regarded as another comfortable match-up for him, but somehow I doubt he'll manage it if he's not fully fit... hmm

murrayman650 · ATP level

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Gsm Murray

1-6 6-4 6-1 6-2

indiana · Tennis legend

Didn't see the match, but was looking at stats. Andy's first serve % in was 78% which looked better in isolation until I saw his serve speeds. Average 1st S 166 KPH ( his 1st R 185, Haather's 1st R 167 ), 2nd S 133 ( his 1sr R 143, Heather's 1st R 139 ) . That won't get the job done against better opponents mate, so dodgy back or no dodgy back needs to be doing some thinking.

Spectator · All-time great

Agreed. The victory was testimony to his extraordinary toughness -- and the fact that he does not like to lose! -- but one has to worry. I would foresee his team having a really hard time convincing him not to play the 3rd round against Giraldo: at a guess, if he thinks he can win quickly, he's going to want to go for the points and hope that things get better. But he could still do damage, even against an opponent he should beat. And with (possibles) Gasquet/Ferrer/Nadal coming in after that, can't really see him going much further if he's injured.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Well he said in the on-court interview that his camp were telling him to stop at the end of the first set. Obviously he ignored them! I suspect he is ignoring medical advice as well. Today just confirms what I said about the first match - he had a physical problem but decided to play through it until it eased.

Today's problem was much more obvious. At one point he could hardly stand up, let alone run. He practically fell over when just rolling in a gentle serve.

As somebody who has suffered from lower back problems for over 30 years, I can only sympathise. It is a very variable problem, excruciating if you are having back spasms, but they do wear off. However I am inclined to agree that he should have retired. I know he hates doing it, but realistically there is no way he is going far in this tournament with a problem that does not let him run. The likes of Ferrer and Nadal (if he even gets past Giraldo) are not going to implode as Nieminen did. Rest and treatment before the grass season would have made more sense, I would have thought.

wolf · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
Didn't see the match, but was looking at stats. Andy's first serve % in was 78% which looked better in isolation until I saw his serve speeds. Average 1st S 166 KPH ( his 1st R 185, Haather's 1st R 167 ), 2nd S 133 ( his 1sr R 143, Heather's 1st R 139 ) . That won't get the job done against better opponents mate, so dodgy back or no dodgy back needs to be doing some thinking.

You can't really comment on this match unless you watched it. doh

Nieminen on clay suffering from a mental breakdown was one of the few scenarios where Andy could have won this match. If he was playing against a player who could hit through the ball, or playing on a faster surface or if Jarkko didn't mentally go to pieces he would have barely won a game.