8pm BST.  Cushions at the ready!

How anout a poll, they are always fun!  

A quick assessment of Andy this week based on last night's match and the stats for the other matches and a look at his opponent in the final:

First serve has been fairly typical of this year but with an even worse first serve percentage this week 47% compared to his average of 56% for the year. Yesterday he tried a few faster serves but tended to miss narrowly, mixed in with some medium paced body serves and a few kick serves which did trouble Tursunov on the backhand side. 16 aces this week of which 13 came in the very first match. Andy's been winning 75% of points on first serve this week compared to 67% for the year while on second he is also doing better with 56% won up from his average of 50%. Overall he is holding serve close to 90% of the time compared to 71% for the year.

And the reason for this improvement, apart from opponents not really playing that great, is that Andy has been more aggressive on his initial groundstroke, striking forehands for outright winners, forcing errors from his opponent and enabling him to dominate points. His second serve seemed somewhat more ambitious than usual, surprising Tursunov with faster serves to the forehand, better direction on body serves, typically deeper than usual, which may explain the increase in double faults this week with 18 so far when he would typically have made 10.

This week Clement has yet to drop a set with wins over Hrbaty, Hewitt and Safin on route to the final. He has been dominant on serve winning 77% on first and 58% on second; his opponents have struggled to compete in his service games with only Lleyton Hewitt having much of an impact and he failed to take enough of the break point opportunities he created. Clement certainly gives the impression of being a player that has hit top form this week though Andy might be encouraged that Hewitt wasn't too far away despite a disappointing first serve percentage.

In his last match against Clement Andy was guilty of playing very passively for the first two sets, with long rallies usually being won by the frenchman who would move Andy around the court before taking him wide then come into the net to make a straightforward volley. Murray adopted a more aggressive approach in the third and fourth sets but didn't have the energy to win the match in the fifth. It was noticeable that Arnaud made very few unforced errors during the match which will be quite a change from the erratic groundstrokes of Tursunov.

So the key to this match is likely to be control of the points. If Andy lets Clement dictate then he could be in trouble as Arnaud is capable of constructing the points intelligently so that Andy is forced to attempt a low percentage passing shot from a position deep behind the baseline if not beyond the tramlines as well. 

I'd expect Clement to make far more returns than Tursunov managed so Andy will need to serve better on first, and continue to be adventurous on second serve, backed up with an aggressive initial groundstroke.

mkkreuk wrote:

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"I get on with him well, we've had good fun when we've been together, but I'd probably like to speak to someone first before the decision is made."

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Correct me if I'm wrong but that sounds like code for 'I'd rather it wasn't him'.

Thanks for the insight Kundalini once again.

I've gone for Andy in three. I think Clement is more in form than any of the players he's come up against so far, however I think Andy was playing great last night so should be able to handle it.

OK, here we go. Is a post per game OK, or do you want it more often? Brad is once again all in black.

Clement to serve first.

second serve. 0-15, good rally from Murray, forces the error from C who nets.

0-30, passing winner.

second serve. 15-30, A nets.

30-30, great bh from C, A couldn't get the reply in court.

30-40, ue from C, he nets. bp, a whoop from the crowd!

game A. C sends a fh long.

15-0. Ace/unreturnable not sure which, either way a first serve!

15-15, A got a very lucky net cord there but C recovered and A made teh mistake.

30-15, great serve, C replies only half-way down the court and M puts away the half-volley.

40-15, ace. Really good serving from A so far.

saying that, he went about 6inches wide! but wins the game with a fh winner.

2-0.