Week 9 - ATP 500 - Acapulco, Mexico (Hard)

indiana · Tennis legend

RE: Week 9 - ATP 500 - Acapulco, Mexico (Hard)

Spectator · All-time great

Just going by live scores, Mr Murray is fighting hard in this match. 6-4, 6-7(5), was down an early break in the third, but broke as Dimitrov served for the set, and just held for 6-5.

PS: Fair points above, Indiana.

-- Edited by Spectator on Saturday 1st of March 2014 08:22:25 AM

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Got to love a bit of squeaky culo time.

Vamos Andy.

RJA · Hall of fame

Depressing match from Murray's perspective. Dimitrov gifted him the first set with an awful start but once he picked up his level Andy never looked like breaking apart from when Dimitrov chocked when trying to serve it out (5 errors). Second set tie break was poor and the third set tie break was woeful.

I honestly don't see Andy as a serious contender for Indian Wells or Miami. I expect him to turn up at Queen's still looking for his first title of the year.

paulisi · Tennis legend

Andy still doesn't look like he has the gears to up his level at crucial times.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Just for the record:

SF: (4) Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) WR 22 defeated (2) Andy Murray WR 7 by 4-6 7-6(5) 7-6(3) cry

The first time Dimi's taken a set off Andy... hmm

stevemcqueen · Futures qualifying

A very close match, Andy winning two more points the Grigor. For me, there are three reasons Andy lost: An average first tie break - no horror shots, but he can play better. He had won 84% of his own service points in this set, but couldn't fashion amy BPs. He won 4 points more than Dimitrov in this set. In the final set, Andy served a v. poor second service game that included consecutive unforced errors. I was suprised by this, he had won something like 18 of his previous 20 service points. Andy played well and imposed pressure to force some errors at 6-5 when Grigor served for the match. Andy's level in the final tb wasn't great - uncharacteristic mistakes.

I don't think Andy will too upset by his performance overall. Yes, there is some room for improvement but this is to be expected in the period after his operation. I think he'll be looking forward to next week.

Regards

-- Edited by stevemcqueen on Saturday 1st of March 2014 12:05:28 PM

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

I haven't seen any of the match yet, but I'm not surprised he lost to a young gun full of enthusiasm. From what I have read in reports of the match elsewhere, he mostly played well but was having trouble with his shoes - with all the humidity, his feet were slipping inside them. This is a problem I noticed in several of the matches this week. Adidas had better get this sorted ASAP, it's bad publicity for them. Add that to problems with his serve - if he was still having that, I haven't seen any comments either way - and the fact that his fitness is still not back to his best, it was almost inevitable. Dimitrov should win this tournament I think, if he is not too tired - Anderson has had an easier way through.

At least the back itself doesn't seem to be causing problems, and fitness will no doubt be regained gradually. It's not something that will miraculously improve overnight. He was in dire need of match practice and at least he got a fair amount of it here.

Spectator · All-time great

It was a lot closer than I thought it would be, given form coming in and the fact that it was Mr Murray's first time playing four matches in four days. Assuming assorted issues mentioned by others can be sorted, it's a good sign for the future.

On tomorrow's final, I think the issue with tiredness may be Anderson's - he played two matches yesterday, as he is in both the singles and the doubles final, and both went the distance.

TMH · Futures qualifying

Rankings aren't going to be pretty after Miami. Clay season is going to be crucial - it's the only time of the season he can really gain points until late summer.

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

Can see Andy being 8th ranked going into clay looking at the points. And I think he would do well not to be 8th seed for Wimbledon which must be the lowest ranked for a champion in about 20yrs.

Jumping the gun here with that but it certainly looks that way.

BeefyDeedz · Pro player

I think the biggest problem is going to be Miami. QFs are tough but doable at Indian Wells, dependent on the draw, but with Murray having the full 1000 points to defend in Miami, I really can't see him winning it unless there is some remarkable improvement within the next month. Of course, as TMH said, there's no doubt that clay court will be crucial for rankings going into the grass-court season, in which Murray is defending maximum points in both of his tournaments.

From what I remember, Murray's points spread was quite sporadic over the 2013 season. He bossed his grass-court season, and the early Asian hard-court swing, but apart from Miami, he did little else. So if Andy can pick up some good points during this clay-court season, including the French Open which he missed last year and his mediocre performances in the clay Masters, he won't be too badly done for the grass-court season, I believe.

I'm most excited for late 2014, including a string of tournaments such as Montreal, Cincinatti and the USO which he could pick up some extra points in. And, of course, the string of Masters that he missed in the late end of the year, along with the WTF's. It's gonna be a tough year for Andy, but I'm confident he'll be back up there come end-year. And then, of course, he will have the Asian hard-court season to pick up some points he didn't attain this year.

TMH · Futures qualifying

Jaggy1876 wrote:
Can see Andy being 8th ranked going into clay looking at the points. And I think he would do well not to be 8th seed for Wimbledon which must be the lowest ranked for a champion in about 20yrs.

Jumping the gun here with that but it certainly looks that way.

You're forgetting the Wimbledon seeding system which will give him a huge boost over everyone else (2900 points). Wawrinka by comparison will get 168 (by my calculations, which are probably off, truth be told, but should be around that). Federer will get around 1545, DelPo around 975, Ferrer around 630 and Berdych 394.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, I too remain confident that Andy will be top 4 again come the year end. Though, of course as long as he is outside the top 4 he is more at the mercy of the draw, which could have quite an effect in Slams and Masters.

The clay court season, where he clearly could gain a lot on last year will be interesting. In another couple of months he should be in better condition, physically and general matchplay wise. After the back op, he may also feel rather more at ease on the surface than he has in a while.

Spectator · All-time great

Well, when we discussed this after the AO and I was being gloomy, I predicted a stretch at 7/8. That was before Mr del Potro's injury recurred ... which does alter the dynamics. And Mr Ferrer seems unlikely to defend all his points, especially if he's also injured. All told I'd now say 6/7 looks realistic going into clay. Of course, a big run by one of the 9 - 14s could change that ... as could a very good run by Mr Murray.

(On a side note, it will be interesting to see where Mr Fognini is at the end of the clay season. He's only defending about 500 points on clay, which given his recent record, he should be more than capable of improving upon)