Ok so this will be in two parts this entry as I'm oot and aboot just now. But i thought i would say a little something about Andy Murray's match today against Jarkko Neiminen, which was one of the most bizarre matches I have ever seen!
At the start of the match Andy struggled badly as his dreaded back problem resurfaced with a vengeance and in the first set he only managed to win one game as he could barely serve or return. This let Jarkko dominate the match earky on and we see saw Andy get the trainer on twice to massage his aching back. In the 2nd set however despite being a break down, Andy clawed his way back into the match breaking back to level 4-4 and went on to break Jarkko to take the 2nd set. And from the 3rd set onward Andy dominated the play as Jarkko came apart at the seams unable to deal with Andy's game. In the 4th set Andy went on and pulled off the impossible in battling his back and breaking Jarkko twice to close out a truly whacky match in 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
This was one of the most unbelievable matches i have seen from Andy Murray and he looked dead and buried in that first set and i was totally convinced that he would retire as he looked to be in so much discomfort. However Andy has shown us time and time again that he is one of the greatest fighters in the game and his ability to fight his way back into a match is just incredible. But it begs the question as to what cost? His injury which he claimed was much better had come back in quite a serious way and he still looked in pain. Andy was quite fortunate that he was able to use talent and skill to defeat the Finn player, but I doubt he could utilise that against someone like Ferrer or Gasquet as they would exploit his weakness to win the match.
So this leaves a big question mark over Andy's continued involvement in the event. Will he pull out? If i were him i definitely would as if he continues he will do his back further damage and Roland Garros is the most demanding slam of the four and it would be madness if he did, especially as Wimbledon is only 3 weeks away and the calendar is even fuller than usual with the Olympics, so if he stays in he could put the rest of his season at risk. However Andy has since said that he will see how his back is over the next two days and if it doesn't get any worse then he will play on Saturday in his 3rd round match, which is against Santiago Giraldo. Andy's last match against Giraldo went very much in his favour as he defeated him with considerable ease in Barcelona, winning in 6-2, 6-1, but that was before he back got really dodgy of course.
So once again for the second year running, the French Open remains a very dramatic tournament for Andy Murray, and once again his involvement in it hangs in the balance. We all want to see him do well at Roland Garros but not at the expense of his health and his chances in future events, especially with Wimbledon so close. But I guess we will find out Andy's intentions in the next day or so, and just perhaps this could be a good omen for him, as he got to the semi finals last year, so just maybe he could do the same this year. Who knows, as you can never predict with ol Muzza.
One thing that came from the match was a bit of controversy as former Wimbledon ladies champion, Virgina Wade, lashed out at Andy Murray and called him a "drama queen" for how he played injured in the 2nd round match. I personally thought this was a totally ignorant comment from Wade, as she clearly had no idea what Andy must have been going through on the court, so its all very well for her to sit in her cosy armchair and pass judgment on a player who is fighting through a match with an injury. Andy himself responded very well by saying that he was disappointed in her reaction and that she also has no idea what he was going through out on court. And I thought myself that Andy didn't appear to make a big scene about his injury, he tried his best to just get on with the match. I must admit I did feel a bit of sympathy for Jarkko Nieminen who must have been psychologically going through the ringer as the match progressed, watching Andy improve as it went on, but he too didn't think he was play acting at all.
Anyway as a quick update (02.06.12!) Andy has decided to stay in the tournament as he will now face his third round opponent Santiago Giraldo on Saturday for a place in the 4th round. How Andy's back will hold up tomorrow, time will tell, but something tells me that he will be fine and there is a fair chance he could still be in the event come next Friday, with a possible showdown with Rafa, or failing that a possible showdown with Ferrer in the quarter finals. Nothing surprises me about Murray at times, as you know how single minded and stubborn the guy can be when it comes to try and win a major. In the end it is all about the majors for Andy, and if he can help it, there will be no early exits for him, so if he doesn't withdraw tomorrow and plays out the match, I'm pretty sure he will be in the last 16 for Monday.
Right as a quick update of other matches, Radwanska on the ladies gubbed Venus Williams in just one hour, in 6-2, 6-3, throroughly outclassing the former World No.1 and 7 time grand slam champion. Victoria Azarenka redeemed herself from her first near scare as she defeated her 2nd round opponent in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. Sam Stosur also breezed through her match against Irina Falconi in 6-1, 6-4, and Li Na in her 2nd round dismissed Stephanie Foretz-Gacon in emphatic fashion in 6-0, 6-2. And one of the biggest upsets, next to Serena Williams on the ladies, was Marion Bartoli who went out against the qualifier, Petra Martic, who took the 1st set, in the 2nd Bartoli fought back, and in the 3rd, Bartoli capitulated on serve, handing a break to seal her fate in losing the 2nd round match. Its a great pity when a player you root for goes out, and as a supporter you almost feel helpless for him, as I did for Bartoli here, but its only a tennis match after all!
Onto Djokovic who came through a spirited fight from his dogged opponent Blaz Kavicic, who despite being thoroughly outplayed in the 1st set, fought back in the 2nd, going up a break before Djokovic broke back and soon break to close out the set. In the 3rd Blaz hung in again putting up a good fight, but ultimately the World No.1 had just too much for him winning in 6-0, 6-4 6-4. Overall it was a very entertaining match with some very good points, particularly from Kavicic who looks to be a very promising player, who just sits inside the top 100. Federer also similarly had a fairly tough encounter against the very talented shotmaker, Adrian Ungar, who gave Federer a good run for his money and succeeded in making Fed drop his first set of the tournament, before he regained control in the 4th, to close out 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. Nadal today had very little trouble in getting past his opponent, Dennis Istomin, whom he thrashed in 6-2, 6-2, 6-0, and still looks on course to be the champion for a 7th time. And other players, Tomas Berdych also scooshed past Michael Llodra in 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, and David Ferrer continued his impressive form in also brushing past Benoit Paire in 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
But here is one match that deserves it own paragraph as John Isner took one of the many Frenchman in the draw, Paul Henrei Matthieu, and the two men played one of the biggest epic battles that the French Open has seen. In a match that lasted nearly six hours (and almost the length of Aussie Open final earlier this year!) Isner and Matthieu went hammers and tongs, toe to toe and anything else that sums up a real barnburner of a match. Before falling though Isner saved a slew of match points as he kept himself in the match, but it took a titanic effort from the Frenchman who must have summed up all the power support of the crowd to take him through a historic and important victory no doubt, the scoreline reading 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16. I've not yet seen the highlights of the match yet but I wouldn't mind catching some of them, although it might take me a while! ;-)
RRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright after all that, that's quite enough for now, it was quite a dramatic day out there, with the Muzza's victory and Isner's defeat. More to follow soon!
Byeee!
At the start of the match Andy struggled badly as his dreaded back problem resurfaced with a vengeance and in the first set he only managed to win one game as he could barely serve or return. This let Jarkko dominate the match earky on and we see saw Andy get the trainer on twice to massage his aching back. In the 2nd set however despite being a break down, Andy clawed his way back into the match breaking back to level 4-4 and went on to break Jarkko to take the 2nd set. And from the 3rd set onward Andy dominated the play as Jarkko came apart at the seams unable to deal with Andy's game. In the 4th set Andy went on and pulled off the impossible in battling his back and breaking Jarkko twice to close out a truly whacky match in 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
This was one of the most unbelievable matches i have seen from Andy Murray and he looked dead and buried in that first set and i was totally convinced that he would retire as he looked to be in so much discomfort. However Andy has shown us time and time again that he is one of the greatest fighters in the game and his ability to fight his way back into a match is just incredible. But it begs the question as to what cost? His injury which he claimed was much better had come back in quite a serious way and he still looked in pain. Andy was quite fortunate that he was able to use talent and skill to defeat the Finn player, but I doubt he could utilise that against someone like Ferrer or Gasquet as they would exploit his weakness to win the match.
So this leaves a big question mark over Andy's continued involvement in the event. Will he pull out? If i were him i definitely would as if he continues he will do his back further damage and Roland Garros is the most demanding slam of the four and it would be madness if he did, especially as Wimbledon is only 3 weeks away and the calendar is even fuller than usual with the Olympics, so if he stays in he could put the rest of his season at risk. However Andy has since said that he will see how his back is over the next two days and if it doesn't get any worse then he will play on Saturday in his 3rd round match, which is against Santiago Giraldo. Andy's last match against Giraldo went very much in his favour as he defeated him with considerable ease in Barcelona, winning in 6-2, 6-1, but that was before he back got really dodgy of course.
So once again for the second year running, the French Open remains a very dramatic tournament for Andy Murray, and once again his involvement in it hangs in the balance. We all want to see him do well at Roland Garros but not at the expense of his health and his chances in future events, especially with Wimbledon so close. But I guess we will find out Andy's intentions in the next day or so, and just perhaps this could be a good omen for him, as he got to the semi finals last year, so just maybe he could do the same this year. Who knows, as you can never predict with ol Muzza.
One thing that came from the match was a bit of controversy as former Wimbledon ladies champion, Virgina Wade, lashed out at Andy Murray and called him a "drama queen" for how he played injured in the 2nd round match. I personally thought this was a totally ignorant comment from Wade, as she clearly had no idea what Andy must have been going through on the court, so its all very well for her to sit in her cosy armchair and pass judgment on a player who is fighting through a match with an injury. Andy himself responded very well by saying that he was disappointed in her reaction and that she also has no idea what he was going through out on court. And I thought myself that Andy didn't appear to make a big scene about his injury, he tried his best to just get on with the match. I must admit I did feel a bit of sympathy for Jarkko Nieminen who must have been psychologically going through the ringer as the match progressed, watching Andy improve as it went on, but he too didn't think he was play acting at all.
Anyway as a quick update (02.06.12!) Andy has decided to stay in the tournament as he will now face his third round opponent Santiago Giraldo on Saturday for a place in the 4th round. How Andy's back will hold up tomorrow, time will tell, but something tells me that he will be fine and there is a fair chance he could still be in the event come next Friday, with a possible showdown with Rafa, or failing that a possible showdown with Ferrer in the quarter finals. Nothing surprises me about Murray at times, as you know how single minded and stubborn the guy can be when it comes to try and win a major. In the end it is all about the majors for Andy, and if he can help it, there will be no early exits for him, so if he doesn't withdraw tomorrow and plays out the match, I'm pretty sure he will be in the last 16 for Monday.
Right as a quick update of other matches, Radwanska on the ladies gubbed Venus Williams in just one hour, in 6-2, 6-3, throroughly outclassing the former World No.1 and 7 time grand slam champion. Victoria Azarenka redeemed herself from her first near scare as she defeated her 2nd round opponent in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. Sam Stosur also breezed through her match against Irina Falconi in 6-1, 6-4, and Li Na in her 2nd round dismissed Stephanie Foretz-Gacon in emphatic fashion in 6-0, 6-2. And one of the biggest upsets, next to Serena Williams on the ladies, was Marion Bartoli who went out against the qualifier, Petra Martic, who took the 1st set, in the 2nd Bartoli fought back, and in the 3rd, Bartoli capitulated on serve, handing a break to seal her fate in losing the 2nd round match. Its a great pity when a player you root for goes out, and as a supporter you almost feel helpless for him, as I did for Bartoli here, but its only a tennis match after all!
Onto Djokovic who came through a spirited fight from his dogged opponent Blaz Kavicic, who despite being thoroughly outplayed in the 1st set, fought back in the 2nd, going up a break before Djokovic broke back and soon break to close out the set. In the 3rd Blaz hung in again putting up a good fight, but ultimately the World No.1 had just too much for him winning in 6-0, 6-4 6-4. Overall it was a very entertaining match with some very good points, particularly from Kavicic who looks to be a very promising player, who just sits inside the top 100. Federer also similarly had a fairly tough encounter against the very talented shotmaker, Adrian Ungar, who gave Federer a good run for his money and succeeded in making Fed drop his first set of the tournament, before he regained control in the 4th, to close out 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. Nadal today had very little trouble in getting past his opponent, Dennis Istomin, whom he thrashed in 6-2, 6-2, 6-0, and still looks on course to be the champion for a 7th time. And other players, Tomas Berdych also scooshed past Michael Llodra in 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, and David Ferrer continued his impressive form in also brushing past Benoit Paire in 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
But here is one match that deserves it own paragraph as John Isner took one of the many Frenchman in the draw, Paul Henrei Matthieu, and the two men played one of the biggest epic battles that the French Open has seen. In a match that lasted nearly six hours (and almost the length of Aussie Open final earlier this year!) Isner and Matthieu went hammers and tongs, toe to toe and anything else that sums up a real barnburner of a match. Before falling though Isner saved a slew of match points as he kept himself in the match, but it took a titanic effort from the Frenchman who must have summed up all the power support of the crowd to take him through a historic and important victory no doubt, the scoreline reading 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16. I've not yet seen the highlights of the match yet but I wouldn't mind catching some of them, although it might take me a while! ;-)
RRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright after all that, that's quite enough for now, it was quite a dramatic day out there, with the Muzza's victory and Isner's defeat. More to follow soon!
Byeee!
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