Madeline wrote:

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Federer-fodder tomorrow.

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In many respects Tim would have been a worthy winner of the match. He was the aggressive player throughout, he played some good tennis in the first set and had he continued to strike his forehand as accurately as he did in the opening set, he would surely have won. As it was a missed backhand volley at 5-5 40-40 on the Murray serve in the third set was an error he could not afford.

Andy played ok but his returning, especially of the Henman second serve, lacked ambition, very few aggressive returns, nevermind return winners; only 45% won returning second compared to close to 60% in his matches last week.

Yet again Andy failed to serve out a set, a mixed game with an ace and a double fault never looked like a Murray hold. He was fortunate that Tim served second in the final set allowing him to break to win the match. Otherwise his serving was improved on recent displays though there were still periods when he struggled and the faster surface may have played its part.

Tactically Tim chose not to serve and volley but to use his forehand as the approach shot, hitting it aggressively into Murray's backhand corner, then coming into the net to put away the volley. In the first set the tactic worked but as the match went on, Henman's forehand broke down with far too many shots not getting past the net. Andy's tactics seemed bizarre, he would slice mid-court balls then attack the net but Henman had little trouble finding a pass, drop shots were a very strange choice against an opponent fast on his feet and supreme at the net, and he made little effort to construct the points instead letting Tim dictate.

The standard of tennis fell away dramatically in the third set. Henman broke to love as Murray struggled with his serve, then a shocking game from Tim, error after error on his forehand, gifted Andy the break back. Henman successfully challenged a poor overrule from the umpire only to find the umpire making another blunder as he determined the point should be replayed as he believed, incorrectly, that Murray was within reach of Henman's winning volley. Tim survived that game but at 6-5 he gave Andy the opportunity to strike a winning pass and that was it.

So a somewhat disappointing match. Andy showed few signs of the aggressive play he has produced under Gilbert, but Tim couldn't quite execute the victory he deserved.