Weeks 3-4 - Australian Open (men's)

Julia Carrot · All-time great

RE: Weeks 3-4 - Australian Open (men's)

RJA · Hall of fame

This looks like becoming another torturous match between these two. Quality indifferent from both me. Murray has saved the break points well.

savva0122 · Intermediate Club Player

Nole losing it bit here. SLight advantge Murray. Still, long long way to go.

RJA · Hall of fame

7-6, 3-2*

Nole is not in a good place. Andy needs to keep the pressure on and take full advantage.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

One set all, and Bob in Spain passes round the blood pressure tablets !!

RJA · Hall of fame

Should never have lost that second set. He was easily the better player but was really sloppy in so many return games. Missing those three break points at the start of the set looks very, very costly right now.

RJA · Hall of fame

14 holds each, no breaks. Who on earth would have predicted that?

RJA · Hall of fame

Andy continues to be sloppy in return games. Every good point seems to be followed by a bad one. He just can string a couple of points together in order to put pressure on Nole's serve.

RJA · Hall of fame

This is just getting ridiculous. Gets to 0-30 early in the fourth and then makes two terrible unforced errors.

blob · All-time great

aw come on, judging by your comments this AO you'd think andy was some no hope bum who'd never hit a decent shot - so negative

RJA · Hall of fame

blob wrote:
aw come on, judging by your comments this AO you'd think andy was some no hope bum who'd never hit a decent shot - so negative

It is hard not to be negative when he plays as badly as he has done today, and sorry but he was bad. He made sloppy error after sloppy error, while not being particularly aggressive, and deservedly lost the match. His first serve and Djokovic's awful early play kept the match very close for two and bit sets but Andy's all round play has been pretty poor and once Djokovic finally started to attack Andy's awful second serve there was only one winner. Djokovic didn't play that well yet won fairly comfortably in the end. The things I was critical of against Federer have proved to be Andy's undoing today, as I feared they would. It is precisely because he is not "some no hope bum" that I think such criticism is justified.

Maybe I am judging Andy by too high a standard but he himself has stated that he as aim is to be world number 1 so I am only judging him by the standards that he has set. After winning the US Open I think we all hoped that we would see a very different Andy in big matches. Since then he has thrown away the Shanghai final, played an awful SF against Federer at the WTF and played a pretty poor match today. I don't really think that beating Federer here was a major achievement. Aside from on grass and indoors Federer is no longer a top contender for major honours (not to say he can't win them but that it is unlikely). The media narrative that we are seeing a "new Andy" is not backed up by what is actually happening on court.

indiana · Tennis legend

Quality in the first two sets very good, I think better than RJA makes out.

Had to win that second set though. Legs really not there enough thereafter with the combination oif the Fed 5 setter ( if only he had won that in straight ) and the first two sets here. Seemed that much more than any injury issues

Gave it his best, but the real thrust on shots had gone from midway through the third set, meaning he could not dictate rallies iin the way he often had earlier.

Djokovic played very well ultimately too. I do get s bit annoyed re his pyschological stuff that he's more down and frustrated than he really is. But he is some tcompetitor.

Anyway, it's the feather that done it ! Onward...

SMC1809 · All-time great

RJA wrote:
blob wrote:
aw come on, judging by your comments this AO you'd think andy was some no hope bum who'd never hit a decent shot - so negative
It is hard not to be negative when he plays as badly as he has done today, and sorry but he was bad. He made sloppy error after sloppy error, while not being particularly aggressive, and deservedly lost the match. His first serve and Djokovic's awful early play kept the match very close for two and bit sets but Andy's all round play has been pretty poor and once Djokovic finally started to attack Andy's awful second serve there was only one winner. Djokovic didn't play that well yet won fairly comfortably in the end. The things I was critical of against Federer have proved to be Andy's undoing today, as I feared they would. It is precisely because he is not "some no hope bum" that I think such criticism is justified.
Maybe I am judging Andy by too high a standard but he himself has stated that he as aim is to be world number 1 so I am only judging him by the standards that he has set. After winning the US Open I think we all hoped that we would see a very different Andy in big matches. Since then he has thrown away the Shanghai final, played an awful SF against Federer at the WTF and played a pretty poor match today. I don't really think that beating Federer here was a major achievement. Aside from on grass and indoors Federer is no longer a top contender for major honours (not to say he can't win them but that it is unlikely). The media narrative that we are seeing a "new Andy" is not backed up by what is actually happening on court.

A little pinch of realism might be need here.

indiana · Tennis legend

Having now read RJA's post above mine I must really say that I think most of the match and both players' play was a lot better than he nakes out.

And the "media narrative" in this case is actually largely true. The steady real change in Andy' s general positiveness both in play and demeanour has been very clear.

I have not been afraid to often criticise Andy in the past. But this has been a pretty good tournament for him, and I have real positive thoughts for he rest of his year.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Andy had a good tournament overall, could have taken the second set but to be fair he pinched the first. Hamstring and blister played a small part I believe, oh and also that damm feather, but Nole was so impressive in the last set and a half I don't believe an Andy firing on all cylinders would have beaten him the way Nole finished the match.