Ouch, glad he's through though. I'm nervous about him at the mo

AB's match is starting.

L32:  (2) Andy Murray WR 2 defeated (Q) Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) WR 95 by 6-2 4-6 6-3

*****

L16:  (16) Benoît Paire WR 22 (CH = 18 in January) vs (2) Andy Murray WR 2

Again, there is no head-to-head to report.

I managed to catch most of the match and Aljaz played pretty well for the most part. The big difference in the match was that Rafa was all over his second serves and so was able to get pressure in most of his service games but there is no shame in that as many a top 10 player has seen Rafa destroy their second serves on clay. Still a good and thankfully injury free week and onwards to Barcelona and then Istanbul where he may really fancy his chances of going deep.

steven wrote:

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Jiri Vesely has just knocked out Djokovic! Hopefully good for Andy, though he'll have to up his game to get near the Final.

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The other upset of the day - & relevant to Andy's quarter - was the victory of the Bosnian qualifier, Damir Dzhumhur (WR 99, though he has been as high as 77), over Berd-brain (6).  'Twill be interesting to see how he copes against Raonic in the last 16.

Helen40 wrote:

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Michael D wrote:

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Helen40 wrote:

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Ouch, glad he's through though. I'm nervous about him at the mo

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 Yes, maybe its the sleepless nights and other multiple distractions of your first child, but he hasn't found his focus and energy back on the court yet since his daughter was born. Hope he can get his head in the right place soon.

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 You sound like Annabel Croft. I don't but it Fed and Nole have had kids and they didn't go through these blips. He's a set a piece in his dubs with Dom.

  

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 I'd be interested to know, Helen, how much either of those two got involved in the early parenting of their children. I know the Fed had twins (twice), but it all depends on how much you're involved in staying up at nights etc. For a professional (male) sportsman the choice is how much do you simply maintain your professional routine/ discipline, and how much do you help your partner? If your balance is more towards the latter, then all your routines will be disrupted, at least for a while. Knowing his personality, I would certainly see Andy as someone who would get more involved than perhaps the other two - and certainly for it to affect his psychological state more. Once he recovers a better balance though, I would expect the birth to act as a positive, but it might just take a little while (and will also depend on how quickly their daughter settles into some form of routine!). As you can guess, I've been a father, more than once and including twins (!), so I know the impact it can have. I also a comment Andy made that they weren't considering a nanny now, whilst I know the Fed had (at least) one immediately...

Andy's a professional, so he'll work out his balance, and with luck Sophie will be a big positive in his life. But it is just that it will take him some time to regain the kind of absolute focus he needs to maintain his position so near the top of the pyramid... Apologies for the lengthy comment!

Michael D wrote:

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Helen40 wrote:

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Michael D wrote:

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Helen40 wrote:

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Ouch, glad he's through though. I'm nervous about him at the mo

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 Yes, maybe its the sleepless nights and other multiple distractions of your first child, but he hasn't found his focus and energy back on the court yet since his daughter was born. Hope he can get his head in the right place soon.

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 You sound like Annabel Croft. I don't but it Fed and Nole have had kids and they didn't go through these blips. He's a set a piece in his dubs with Dom.

  

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 I'd be interested to know, Helen, how much either of those two got involved in the early parenting of their children. I know the Fed had twins (twice), but it all depends on how much you're involved in staying up at nights etc. For a professional (male) sportsman the choice is how much do you simply maintain your professional routine/ discipline, and how much do you help your partner? If your balance is more towards the latter, then all your routines will be disrupted, at least for a while. Knowing his personality, I would certainly see Andy as someone who would get more involved than perhaps the other two - and certainly for it to affect his psychological state more. Once he recovers a better balance though, I would expect the birth to act as a positive, but it might just take a little while (and will also depend on how quickly their daughter settles into some form of routine!). As you can guess, I've been a father, more than once and including twins (!), so I know the impact it can have. I also a comment Andy made that they weren't considering a nanny now, whilst I know the Fed had (at least) one immediately...

Andy's a professional, so he'll work out his balance, and with luck Sophie will be a big positive in his life. But it is just that it will take him some time to regain the kind of absolute focus he needs to maintain his position so near the top of the pyramid... Apologies for the lengthy comment!

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 I'm sorry, it doesn't excuse the level he's playing at, and spraying DFs at a rate of knots. If it were abit I would take that reason. He's playing abysmally by his standards today.