Murray v. Delgado (Raemon)

mkkreuk · Admin:Moderator + ATP qualifying

RE: Murray v. Delgado (Raemon)

Sheddie · administrator

johnnylad wrote:

good solid win from Andy. Who's next?

Next up is either Felicianio Lopez or Teimur Gabazvilli

mkkreuk · Admin:Moderator + ATP qualifying

johnnylad wrote:

good solid win from Andy. Who's next?

winner of feli lopez vs gabashvili. both good players but i think murray is quite a bit better than them.

Niall · Pro player

A 36% first serve percentage isn't great but at least Andy has got the new regime off to a decent start. Onwards and Upwards.

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

Ok so I didn't see the match but those stats look more like 2005 numbers than 2006. Andy serving below 50% first serves in play (this year's numbers tend to be 55%) but striking several aces and winning a fairly high percentage on first serve (this year's figures are awful). Second serve numbers still look horrible.

So I wonder if Gilbert has told Andy that all this getting the first serve in play nonsense just hasn't been working for him and he'd be better off hitting the ball hard?

Sheddie · administrator

A good opening win for Andy, took just over 90min so he will have conserved a good amount of energy.

Andy served and returned a lot better than Delgado today which was the difference. He was always in with a chance on the Delgado serve, got a bit sloppy on his own serve towards the end of the match but still a good opening match for him.

Looking ahead, I'd prefer him to play Gabazvilli in rd3 but it'll probably be Lopez so Andy will have to cope with that tricky leftie serve and massive forehand. Lopez doesn't tend to do aswell on hard courts as he does on grass so Andy will be favourite. With Agassi going out, his section has opened up nicely. Fish looks like the most likely possible quarter-final opponent at the moment

Sheddie · administrator

kundalini wrote:

Ok so I didn't see the match but those stats look more like 2005 numbers than 2006. Andy serving below 50% first serves in play (this year's numbers tend to be 55%) but striking several aces and winning a fairly high percentage on first serve (this year's figures are awful). Second serve numbers still look horrible.

So I wonder if Gilbert has told Andy that all this getting the first serve in play nonsense just hasn't been working for him and he'd be better off hitting the ball hard?

I agree, it looks like a return to 2005 tactics. 11 aces is really impressive. 44% points won on 2nd serve isn't bad, most players win below 50% of points on their 2nd serve unless they're Fed or Nadal.

Gilbert has been doing a lot of work on Andy's serve in the past week apparently, he feels that it really needs improving. He's also mentioned doing lots of work on Andy's fitness but he says he'll leave that until the end of the season.

Montana Doug · Futures qualifying

UltimateFlemingFan wrote:

Montana Doug wrote:

yeah Massa quit....the heat out there is crazy...in some ways I wish Tim was not playing doubles

How hot is it out there ? Maybe it will help Tim acclimatise after being in Britain for so long. It's a good job Brad stopped Andy playing doubles, it wouldn't have been good for him fitness-wise

It is a 100 today! That is fine and dandy at Indian Wells where it is a dry heat....but in DC and humid....it is hell.....I'd rather have 100 in LA/Indian Wells than 85 in the South or New York or something...same in the winter....dry heat is always much better

Sheddie · administrator

Tipsarevic has the early break against Gambill. I'd prefer Tim to be up against Gambill in rd3 but I'd be confident of him beating Tipsarevic aswell from what I saw in the April DC tie.

mkkreuk · Admin:Moderator + ATP qualifying

UltimateFlemingFan wrote:

kundalini wrote:

Ok so I didn't see the match but those stats look more like 2005 numbers than 2006. Andy serving below 50% first serves in play (this year's numbers tend to be 55%) but striking several aces and winning a fairly high percentage on first serve (this year's figures are awful). Second serve numbers still look horrible.

So I wonder if Gilbert has told Andy that all this getting the first serve in play nonsense just hasn't been working for him and he'd be better off hitting the ball hard?

I agree, it looks like a return to 2005 tactics. 11 aces is really impressive. 44% points won on 2nd serve isn't bad, most players win below 50% of points on their 2nd serve unless they're Fed or Nadal. Gilbert has been doing a lot of work on Andy's serve in the past week apparently, he feels that it really needs improving. He's also mentioned doing lots of work on Andy's fitness but he says he'll leave that until the end of the season.

I look forward to Gilbert making murray "put on a stone of muscle"

Sheddie · administrator

Some info on Gabashvili and Lopez:

Gabashvili is a 20 year old Russian, ranked 123. Lost in rd1 of ATP Umag last week and lost in rd2 of ATP Stuttgart the week before. He's made 3 challenger semis since the beginning of June, didn't play any grass tournaments. Lost in French Open qualies. His best results this year have been those challenger semis and reaching ATP rd2 in Barcelona, Stuttgart and here.

Lopez is a 24 year old Spanish pin-up boy ranked 63 with a career high of 20 reached in Jan 2005. He's twice a Wimbledon quarter-finalist. His game is based around a tricky leftie serve with a variety of spins - his fav serve is the one down the T to the ad court. Booming topspin forehand, a little like Nadal's except without the extravagant topspin and dip which Nadal gets. He's a great volleyer, often serve-volleys quite a bit. Andy would need to pass well. This year he lost in rd1 of Wimby to Ljubicic in 5 sets but made the quarters of Nottingham. He reached the final of Gstaad on clay earlier this month

aria81 · Club Coach

Good win from Andy - the serve is still an issue, but it;s good that he's firing down the aces.

Andy should beat either of the next two, although I think I would fancy his chances a little more against Lopez as he loves a target and him playing against young challenger level guys never seems to go as smoothly as it should.

Drew · Aug 2, 2006

Just back from a curry night with the guys from the drawing office...kept an eye on the score...easy win for a change..serve got stabilise a bit if he is serious about winning this !

Sheddie · administrator

Some newspaper reports:

Murray off to a good start:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5205-2297310,00.html

Brad gave Andy a "C" for his performance as he dropped his serve at 5-2 in the 2nd. Regarding Andy's game, Brad says that he's not really going to do anything with it until after the US Open as Andy's got continuous tournaments until then. He says he's going to try and make little tweaks to Andy's game but not big chances because he doesn't want to take away Andy's confidence. The big thing Brad is concentrating on at the moment is Andy's fitness, he had him hitting for 3 hours in the heat before the match and he's also working on Andy's mental approach as Andy's doesn't really like playing in the heat

Sheddie · administrator

More match reports:

Andy's official website report:
http://andymurray.com/about/news/03-08/brad-gives-andy-a-grade-c-after-first-win/

Andy on the match: “He said I played a tentative service game at 5-2 in the second set. I was maybe a little too defensive with the weather….Working with a new coach, it’s always a little difficult. You always want to impress him. I was just glad to get through.”

As Doug said, it was baking in Washington: “Heat plays a big factor in all the matches. You have to try to finish points a little faster. It’s so humid you have to catch your breath between points.”

Hopefully, the fact that it's so hot will make Andy become a little more aggressive on the mid-court balls to try and finish the points off faster.

Andy signing autographs after the match: