Weeks 35-36: US Open (men's main draw) - hard

korriban · Challenger level

Weeks 35-36: US Open (men's main draw) - hard

indiana · Tennis legend

I have not commented on what specifically went wrong in the Wawrinka match, because :

a) I do believe the answer lies much more in focus and prep, and

b) err, I didn't see the match.

But re Andy's serve, I am a bit confused.

Andy's serve match stats :

Aces : 5
Double Faults : 4
First serves in : 63% ( 69/109 )
First serve points won : 54% ( 37/69 )
Second serve points won : 55% ( 22/40 )
Fastest serve : 135 MPH
Average first serve : 110 MPH
Average second serve : 84 MPH

The standout figure to me there is the first serves won % of 54% - awful and will never get the job done with that. Under all the circumstances, the second serve won % looks decent and ( while pretty slow for most players ) it is Andy's highest average second serve speed of the tournament.

Some folk may be aware that I have in the past long harped on about Andy's serve, particularly the second. That I have been rather quiet on the subject speaks a lot for how it has improved over the last year or so.

So while stats at times can be misleading, and there is rather more to serve points than the serve itself, I have real difficulty paring these presumably accurate stats with korriban's :

"..his first serve was pretty good today ; without that it would have been a rout. His second serve was terrible."

confused.com

john · Top national player

Interesting take on the Djokovic match from the BBC. Saw it differently to most:

"With the night crowd desperate for a contest, Youzhny stormed into 4-1 lead in the decider and held off a Djokovic fightback when the Serb double-faulted to hand over a second break. "

korriban · Challenger level

indiana wrote:
I have not commented on what specifically went wrong in the Wawrinka match, because :

a) I do believe the answer lies much more in focus and prep, and

b) err, I didn't see the match.

But re Andy's serve, I am a bit confused.

Andy's serve match stats :

Aces : 5
Double Faults : 4
First serves in : 63% ( 69/109 )
First serve points won : 54% ( 37/69 )
Second serve points won : 55% ( 22/40 )
Fastest serve : 135 MPH
Average first serve : 110 MPH
Average second serve : 84 MPH

The standout figure to me there is the first serves won % of 54% - awful and will never get the job done with that. Under all the circumstances, the second serve won % looks decent and ( while pretty slow for most players ) it is Andy's highest average second serve speed of the tournament.

Some folk may be aware that I have in the past long harped on about Andy's serve, particularly the second. That I have been rather quiet on the subject speaks a lot for how it has improved over the last year or so.

So while stats at times can be misleading, and there is rather more to serve points than the serve itself, I have real difficulty paring these presumably accurate stats with korriban's :

"..his first serve was pretty good today ; without that it would have been a rout. His second serve was terrible."

confused.com

I did watch the match in full, Indy. The stats are the stats, but the commentators on Eurosport pretty much said the same thing as me. His first serve was pretty good, and he got himself out of a lot of sticky situations with big deliveries at the right time. Not as good throughout games as Wimbledon, but good first serves on clutch points. However, where Stan simply managed to get the ball back in play on first serve, I would say that the Swiss was then winning far more than his fair share of those rallies - something that you simply wouldn't expect normally with Andy. It was his game off the ground where he was taken to the cleaners yesterday. He wasn't hitting with any power or conviction and so Stan quickly took over the points.

On second serve, overall the percentages look decent, but he was back to rolling in serves that sit up begging to be hit - especially after the first set. A number of them were simply crushed, and frankly they deserved to be. Like you, I think his second serve has improved a lot, even if the pace is slow, the variety and spins make it harder for the returner........but yesterday looked like Andy from 3 or 4 years ago. I'm surprised that the percentages are as high as they were.....it didn't feel that way!

steven · Tennis legend

Ask a silly question ("Listening to the Murray v Wawrinka SF on BBC 5Live and it sounds like slow torture at the moment Is it any better if you watch it?") ... get a lot of answers:

https://twitter.com/GBtennis/status/375718492994940928

Not very funny yesterday, but clearly quite a few people thought it was a good chance to let out some frustration ... good to see a few people giving Stan plenty of credit too.

The most surprising thing? Nobody had a go at me for typing SF instead of QF disbelief

I did see the end of the match and Wawrinka looked to be in total control of the court, but lots of Andy's shots hardly reaching the service line, which was always characteristic of bad losses in the past.

indiana · Tennis legend

Steven, I would have thought your tweet might at least have brought a job offer from BBC Sport !

indiana · Tennis legend

I did hear a brief radio clip of Andy basically confirming what many folk thought.

Achieving his Wimbledon dream left him finding it difficult to be "fired up 110% to put in the training".

Very honest, as he has been on at least one of his MIA periods after the Aussie Open.

steven · Tennis legend

Muzz was a *little* frustrated last night (via @FortyDeuceTwits on Twitter)

DF · Tennis legend

I hope that Stan brings his 'A game' to his next two matches

If he won both (as is possible if he believes in the new Stan) then people would look back at this loss with a different perspective.

Stan usually lets the top players beat him although I do remember him beating Nadal in a final.

Although Andy was not at his best,Stan played some AMAZING tennis

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

After the initial disappointment in the result (didn't see the match), I can't help but feel pleased for Stan - it must be tough to be a top ten world player in a high prestige sport that has no real history in your country (we;re not talking downhill skiing) AND STILL NOT BE your country's number one.

Talk about having spent your whole career in the shadow of the master . . . .

And he seems a gent and nice guy.

Also really pleased for Gasquet. He's a shy, rather awkward, gauche sort of bloke, and has always been at the centre of slightly disparaging tittle-tattle. Having been such a precocious talent, without ever quite coming good (pretty mean really considering his career but true nonetheless), must sit heavily on his shoulders too.

I wish both of them all the best.

Spectator · All-time great

Wholehearted agreement! If Mr Murray was going to go out to any of his potential QF and beyond opponents, glad to have it be Mr Wawrinka.

Spectator · All-time great

Hoping that Mr Wawrinka can move beyond his favourite Beckett quote, which presumes failure by ever smaller margins in the face of noble effort.

-- Edited by Spectator on Sunday 8th of September 2013 06:09:51 AM

steven · Tennis legend

There was almost a British Andy in a US Open singles final this year after all - if I have understood the round robin rules correctly, Andy Lapthorne needed to win in straight sets against Lucas Sithole (RSA) to make the Quads Final ahead of him and he was 6-1 5-3* up ... before losing the next 4 games

Armchair · County player

You get the feeling that although he's a great player the significant thing here is that Stan is just enjoying himself.

I'm so pleased that he's giving Novak a good match and that win or lose he'll have a lot of new fans.

And Dan must feel pleased that although he lost to Stan, it was to a man that beat Fed and made Novak look ordinary for at least one set.

korriban · Challenger level

Armchair wrote:
You get the feeling that although he's a great player the significant thing here is that Stan is just enjoying himself.

I'm so pleased that he's giving Novak a good match and that win or lose he'll have a lot of new fans.

And Dan must feel pleased that although he lost to Stan, it was to a man that beat Fed and made Novak look ordinary for at least one set.

Agreed. Well not the last sentence but the first two.