posted Nov 13, 2009

EddietheEagle may have hit on something. Frankly, to put world no4 on the second court lacking atmosphere was close to an insult, coupled with a late night performance the previous night.

Compare AM's court placings with that of Djokovic and we witness a different scenario. ND is a favoured player - AM is not!

However, despite the foregoing, I have a major concern.

During the year, Andy has lost matches he was slated to win. These are as follows:-

Verdasco:AO (currently 7-1);
Del Potro:Madrid Masters 1000(currently 4-1);
Roddick: Wimbly (currently 6-2);
Monaco: Rome Masters 1000 (currently 1-1).

He cannot keep on losing matches that he was expected to be the winner. There was always reasons for his defeat but such excuses have to cease. He has to consider changing his playing stile if he is to really succeed.

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posted Nov 13, 2009

Ok, well played stepanek, but the gruelling scheduling of the frankly inept organisers at Paris this year were also a contributory factor to the result. This could be a blessing in disguise for Murray. He will be re-energised and fresh for London, although having said that Roger will be as well. Maybe its a tactical ploy by both of them?
Both Murray and Roger did not kill themselves out there. They know the big one is to come in 10 days time and naturally want to be as fit as possible for it.

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posted Nov 13, 2009

Well done Turbot.

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posted Nov 13, 2009

Fantastic performance, he did not loose, he was simply tired. Augurs well for London... Groin next?

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posted Nov 13, 2009

And by trying to win rather than trying to make the other player lose.

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posted Nov 13, 2009

och haud yer wheest!

Yes Stepanek has done well but I wonder how many other top 10 players would have been able to come back onto court after 14 hours rest and beat a decent player after a long tough match like murray had with blake and only their second tournament back after injury?

I'm not giving excuses but surely any player, particularly a top 10 player, should have say a minimum 18 hours if not 24 rest before their next round match? Really I'm talking about any sport here which has some form of endurance to it. You wouldn't have an athlete run 10000m race and then be back out to do the same in 14 hours.

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posted Nov 13, 2009

GlasgowCanary:

Yes Stepanek has done well but I wonder how many other top 10 players would have been able to come back onto court after 14 hours rest and beat a decent player after a long tough match like murray had with blake and only their second tournament back after injury?

I'm not giving excuses but surely any player, particularly a top 10 player, should have say a minimum 18 hours if not 24 rest before their next round match? Really I'm talking about any sport here which has some form of endurance to it. You wouldn't have an athlete run 10000m race and then be back out to do the same in 14 hours.
******

I agree, that scheduling was nonsense! Andy must have been shattered. Why didn't they try and get his match on sooner v Blake? There must have bene a free court somewhere - it finished at 2am, I fell asleep watching! He then had to do press, see physio, eat etc and would have got to bed about 4am. A LATE NIGHT BY ANYONE'S STANDARDS!

Not an excuse, it's a fact. I sppose Andy should have been more agressive, he seemed to go to bits in set 2 whihc was odd after set 1 was won 6-1. I do think Steppy is a class act though and he really upped it in the second and third sets, so well done to Radek

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posted Nov 13, 2009

The scheduling was stupid! Andy should not have been on court that early, it was terrible and unfair. Andy did well to take the first set but the poor bloke was way to tired to take it.
However i would like to say well done to Radek who uped his game and played some great tennis in the second and third and like great players do, he capitolised on the advantage he had.
Only a week to wait till Andy will be back so dont worry. Personnally i am waiting to see the draw mid-week, i expect Andy to get a tough group. We shall wait and see.

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posted Nov 14, 2009

Yeah well done to Andy n a close game, you nearly won it n I'll always support you on ere.

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posted Nov 14, 2009

Stepanek has recovered from a set down against Monfils and according to the scorecard it's 4-4 currently, so it's very possible he'll repeat the feat. He's made the final here before and also in Hamburg when it was still a Masters event, and had a match point in the Wimbledon quarter-final against Bjorkman. Great player, very underrated and should have won more titles.

Having said all that, I hope Djokovic wins the final (this is written after he beat Nadal yet again on a hardcourt and once again without dropping a set), because he hasn't won a Masters events since Rome last year. But I'll shed no tears if the winner of Stepanek/Monfils gets the job done instead.

As for Murray, he was tired and is still recovering from his injury lay-off despite his title last week, but there needs to be no excuses made. Stepanek deserves more credit than that.

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