That was a 4 hour plus marathon and Andy didn't cramp once in that one. This could possibly have been due to taking an anti-cramp sodium drink during that match, the only problem with that was that it caused him to heave up [please don't post the photo again Drew !!! ].
His record in 5 setters isn't great but he's still only 19 and has plenty of time to sort out the back problem which is causing the cramp.
As Ria said, I think that the problem today may not have been leg cramp but back pains as he was struggling with serving but not with hitting groundstrokes.
Ironically, at the start of the 4th, it was Monfils who was getting the upper leg cramps.
at least andy knows what the problem is and that growth spurt like all young kids goes through!! either way i honestly believed that had andy kept his momentum up in the 1st set where he was leading 3-0, he would have won the match.
btw andy and gael have something in common losing 5 setters, and they both similar height despite gael's higher ranking. so they both also have problems with their bodies!! cramps, cramps and more cramps!!
I think anyone who is quite tall will be able to identify with what Andy's going through with his body. I'm not that tall (5' 10") but I was very tall for my age when I was a wee lassie and I had terible leg and back pains as I was filling out. I can only imagine what that would be like if you were trying to serve, on clay for 4 hours.
I think the people writing him off on the basis of his fitness are doing him a bit of a dis-service. I mean we are talking about guys liek Almagro and Berdych as potential top 10/5 players and these guys have a couple of years on Andy. It's only because we're following him so closely that it looks worse but if you compare his record with most of his contemporaries (I don't count Nadal, because he was a bit of a freak of nature - in a good way ;)) it actually holds up pretty well. We always knew he was going to have dips in form and disappointing matches, but what we should be encouraged with is the fact that for three sets today he was serving at about 70mph and he was still competitive. That shows how good his game actually is and if anything, that should be a massive carrot in front of him because as soon as he stops growing and these problems leave him, he will be even better.
Wouldn't 19 be rather old for growing pains? Is it the French sports clinic who diagnosed this? I thought growth pains were a result of bones browing, and at 19 years old one would expect this to have stopped. Anyway, I'm sure he is taking the right advice and that he'll overcome the problem eventually, it jusy may take several months though. His decision to play doubles is a curious one, he must have ruled out any injury, so I suppose we are back to cramp!
Wouldn't 19 be rather old for growing pains? Is it the French sports clinic who diagnosed this? I thought growth pains were a result of bones browing, and at 19 years old one would expect this to have stopped.
I think (but am by no means an expert) that men can continue growing until the age of 21 although they have usually stopped by 19. It's younger for women, but they can also continue growing until they are 20/21 but most stop around 17/18
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stevemcqueen wrote: Wouldn't 19 be rather old for growing pains? Is it the French sports clinic who diagnosed this? I thought growth pains were a result of bones browing, and at 19 years old one would expect this to have stopped. Anyway, I'm sure he is taking the right advice and that he'll overcome the problem eventually, it jusy may take several months though. His decision to play doubles is a curious one, he must have ruled out any injury, so I suppose we are back to cramp!
After the tests he got last year they said he still had another few inches to grow so that's what's causing the problem. He said as soon as he gets a couple of weeks he's going to get more tests done to find out when he should stop growing. It's really individual in terms of growth - some people stop at about 16 (Nadal was round about then I think), whereas some people are still growing in their early twenties. It's really different on individual bases.
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