o well always other compotitions , getting to the final is better that a first round defeat

Damn damn damn damn damn.

I got an important phone call and missed the end entirely.

I had been about to post that I thought Andy was tiring, and would not have won a third set anyway; he seemed to me to be coming in to the net to try to shorten the points and it wasn't working.

Madeline wrote:

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Damn damn damn damn damn.

I got an important phone call and missed the end entirely.

I had been about to post that I thought Andy was tiring, and would not have won a third set anyway; he seemed to me to be coming in to the net to try to shorten the points and it wasn't working.

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I didn't think he was tiring. It's just that Ljubicic was playing so well from the baseline, mkaing few errors and defending exceptionally well. Andy was having difficulties finding ways to break him down, everything just kept coming back. Unfortunately, L's passes and lobs were too good in the final few games.

Well a really close final with very little between them....okay Ljubo plays the drop shot better even saying that some of the ground strokes from Andy were awsome and only half a dozen players in the world IMO could have kept up with him. If Andy had played like that against Clement in Washington last year he would have won it in 2.

Andys serve is much improved...76% serves in in that 2nd set (no DF's)....better than Ljobo ! Andy could only muster winning 35% service returns...thats just down to Ljubo's serve...what a weapon !

So well done Ljubo....and Andy for a great final.....my prediction of top 10 by the USO is still on track.

Hope he enjoys next week before the serious stuff in Melbourne starts !

Andy_Murray_Fan wrote:

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o well always other compotitions , getting to the final is better that a first round defeat

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Yeah, despite this loss it's been a fantastic week for Murray. So many positives he can take out of it, he's reached a final in his first week of the year despite having a cold, he got revenge over the undertaker; completely dismantling the game of the world no 3, he's at a new career high ranking and it took a brilliant performance by the world no 5 to stop him.

Ljubicic's performance today was of a much, much higher quality than in any of his previous matches, his serving was so much more consistent and his backhand was hugely improved. It had really let him down against Youzhny and Soderling but today it was a big weapon.

Murray's serving this week has been so much better than before, he's getting a much higher percentage and it's allowing him to dominate the points more on his serve.

The first game of the match was very key. If Murray had taken one of those 5bps (and he had a big chance on one of them) then the match could have gone completely differently. Ljubicic was looking a bit shaky at the start but grew in confidence and his serving got better.

As it was, the match came down to a few points. A few missed half-chances on the Ljubicic serve and some sloppy play on certain points when serving to stay in the set/match.

Maybe Andy could have come into the net a little more, earlier on, I don't know. It'll be interesting to get kundalini's verdict

Arka wrote:

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Grr... I missed the full thing because I had to go to the doctor.

What a sad day for me - Andy, Boggo and Dan - all three lost.


It's okay for Andy. It has been a great week for him. Four Tour finals the age of 19 is highly impressive for a player who isn't fully mature. Federer had just the one.

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That's a shame. If you check back later though, there will be some highlights which you have to see. Some of the points were just amazing. Murray is a real dark horse for the AO title imo with Nadal out of form still.

Yeah I'm gutted about Boggo but still it was only his 2nd match of the season, he's only just arrived in Aus and playing 2 matches in a day must be tough in the Sydney heat. He had a great win over Delic who's top 100 and more suited to those courts. Minar is only about 150 now but he has been ranked 70 in the world in 2005 and was top 100 for quite a bit of 2006, still is a quality player.

ultimateshedman wrote:

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It'll be interesting to get kundalini's verdict

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I'm afraid it's going to be harsh, verging on brutal. Of course first week of the season to reach the final is a good effort, especially since he's not been well, and Ljubicic is a top player but I think most of us thought that Andy had a good chance of winning on this surface.

I guess of all the members of this board I'm the one who thinks Andy has the talent to do well now, rather than in say 4 years time, and as result my assessments of his matches tend to be brutal because naturally, he doesn't perform as well as he might. Today was no exception. I would add that historically, many of these talented players, junior slam winners etc, do come through to win their first slam before they reach 22. Does Andy belong in this category? In tennis terms he seems to have the weapons but the physical side is nowhere near what would be required. Then there is the Federer and Nadal problem.

Anyway, I can't see Andy winning a slam, or even a Masters event just yet, but he should start to get closer this season. Perhaps a slam semi-final (I know I predicted that last year) and a Masters final.

In the second set Ljubicic played some excellent tennis, with the exception of a poor game that handed Andy the break. His serving had steadily improved throughout the match, backed up with smart plays such as wrong footing Murray after a wide serve and his groundstrokes were beginning to fire, some super passing shots too. By the end of the match Ivan was playing at a very high level.

As for Andy, so little quality from him today. His trademark shots are the double-handed backhand down the line, delightful passing shots, and the notorious drop shot; today they were barely on view. I can't recall a single backhand winner and the drop shots were simply horrible, never looking like they were going to make it over the net. Instead there were numerous returns of second serves, especially when 15-30 up, that failed to land inside the court, and errors off simple groundstrokes under no pressure.

Tactically it seemed as though Andy thought he would win the rallies by playing safe. Beforehand I might have agreed but Ljubicic soon figured out that he didn't need to press too much as Murray's shots had little penetration. Even on Ljubicic's second serve, there wasn't that sense that Andy was going to dominate the rally, ask questions of his opponent, try to win the point.

Ljubicic was under no pressure. He could take his time, wait for a short ball then open up for a big groundstroke. Andy just didn't seem to trust himself to go for anything; that is unless he was break point down in which case he would launch into a reckless, low percentage drive that landed miles out of court or as in the last point of the match, attempt a drop shot when his touch had been missing all match.

Watching this match you would have thought that Ljubicic was the more talented player; which is simply not the case. But for reasons unknown Andy let Ivan dominate the match. he could have chosen to attack the second serve, going for return winners, he could have used the slice more often, he could have taken on enough backhands down the line so he would eventually find his range.

I'm afraid, looking at the break points Andy had on Ljubicic's serve, he really didn't deserve to win the match. His play during these key points was timid, full of careless errors, and completely lacking in quality. Even the single break he achieved was down to errors from Ivan.

Even to think he could win a match against Ljubicic playing in that manner is tantamount to saying that Ljubicic is rubbish, that his game would breakdown under no pressure. Sure, players have bad days, Davydenko yesterday was a prime example, though his injury might have explained that. But guys in the top 10 are good players and to beat them you have to take them out of their comfort zone. You have to ask questions, come up with aggressive tennis, make them go for a big shot too early in the rally because they fear you will hit a winner if they don't.

I seem to repeat this point again and again, but here it is once more, Andy has the big weapons that you need to be a top 5 player but he is very cautious about using them.  He can beat ordinary players by minimising the number of errors, by getting a decent first serve percentage, by playing safe. But if he is to win Masters events, Grand Slams etc he is going to have to beat top players who are playing well. And that will require him to put all his talents on display, to go for his shots and for them to find the target.

Today he played passively and lost. In the long run it would have been beneficial to play aggressively, to take the initiative, to control the points, even if the result had been the same. Because he would at least have gained some practice of using his weapons in a tense match situation.

Ljubicic played well and thoroughly deserved to win though quite how he managed to hold serve throughout the first set I do not know.

 

-- Edited by kundalini at 19:21, 2007-01-06