Tennis 2013

[rjd2]

So Biggy and Soupy was right, Raonic may not be ready to win a slam anytime soon. Raonic will get better with experience, he needs to learn when to go for the big shots and how to stay in rallies,his decision making can be very naive at times.



Murray cruised past Simon who was half dead, even at full strength, Murray has beaten him about 8 times in a row, so it was going to take something silly  from Murray to be even tested today. Chardy next, very dangerous player, big serve, flat ground strokes, it can be all or nothing with him but when on he can be dangerous, he has also beaten Murray last year as well. Still Murray can't moan, its been a very comfortable draw so far with Del Potro losing, a knackered Simon and now an unseeded player who has never got this far before.

Think Tsonga may trouble Federer a llittle more than Raonic and Simon, has beaten Federer before at Slams, and was very good against an in form Gasquet according to reports.

[Nobody Soup]

to beat top players you need a big weapon, and then if it clicks, you can maybe hope to spend enough of the match hitting outrageous forehands, backhand or serves for an extended period. simon's primary weapon is that he's got a decent all round game and good court... hmmm, I'd call it court management, but that makes me sound like I know a lot more than I do. he plays the shots he should and then puts himself in the correct position. sometimes I'm unsure as to why simon can keep a top 20 ranking he's devoid of any menace but if you watch him against average players he generally just plays better tennis, anyway, I never gave him a hope against murray.

chardy's alright, but he's out of his depth now. seeing chardy in a slam semi final would make me choke on my pims. Tsonga as you say will definitely cause problems, he knows he can win against fed from any position, I still fancy fed but it should be 4 sets.

Djokovic surely should be a bit worried about berdych after playing a 5-setter, berdych is bit tenacious, he won't roll over and then, should he overcome that, I reckon Ferrer could pose problems if he's carrying a hint of tiredness.

[Mr_Simnock]

So its Murray V Fed in Semi on Friday. I predict Murray in 4, he's too much for Fed now.

[Mildly Diverting]

Good stuff from Murray today. No sets dropped and form improving by the match. [/tvanalysis]

I'm going for Murray in four as well, and I've got a sneaking feeling he'll be playing Ferrer in the final.

[Mr_Simnock]

sneaking feeling he'll be playing Ferrer in the final

CONTROVERSIAL.....
Where are the Djoko bummers to stomp on this crazy wild prediction

[selectivememory]

Djokovic isn't going to lose to Ferrer. I think Federer will beat Murray too, he's been on great form, though it is hard to see where Murray is at in relation to him as he's had a dream draw.

[Mr_Simnock]

Murray has a 10-9 record against fed and the way he beat him in short strait sets at the Olympics only a month after the Wimbledon loss leaves me leaning to Murray in the encounter heavily. I don't know what Lendl has done with him but Murray is now past Fed for good.

[selectivememory]

Federer did of course wallop Murray in their most recent encounter at the ATP finals, though that was indoors as was the crucial passage of the Wimbledon final.  I would have Federer as slight favourite,  but like I say, it's hard to know just how well Murray is playing - though obviously it's encouraging that he's been untroubled up to now.

I still think Novak will win the tournament.

[Nobody Soup]

I fancied ferrer at the US open, djoko was looking a bit lack lustre and had spent the summer in the shadow of murray and federer, actually I think ferrer did get a very good start in that match but it was called off for some reason (started too late?) and djoko stormed it the next day. don't see that happening here though, djoko looks revved up. credit to ferrer again because he's continually delivered performances worth his high ranking in a really competitive era, that's 4 semi finals and 2 quarters in the last 6 slams.

I'll back murray in the other semi as well, it wasn't the worst 5-setter fed was involved in, he should still have plenty in the tank. I think though federer has liked to rely on having a hold on murray mentally, lording his experience over him, apart from the record that fed has in murray in slams he's kinda lost that here. I think murray should be good enough to put him away in 3 or 4.

[rjd2]

Novak won't be losing to Ferrer, head to head against him is 9-5 but nearly all of Ferrers wins were on clay and his most recent win in London in 2011 can't be taken to seriously as Novak really wasn't up for it that week.

Serena needs to lose weight and cut back on the doubles a little, its going to be somewhat hollow Slam victory for whoever wins, because the world knows Serena is easily the best ladies player in the world.

[biggytitbo]

Olympics aside, Murrays not done that well against Federer in recent years, despite having that great early record against him.


Still the expectation is that this is a different Murray, there's no imbalance of experience or mental strenght anymore, hopefully.


In which case Murray wins.

[rjd2]

Ferrer has been totally destroyed here, everything he does so well, Djokovic does just much better. Not a winnable match up for Ferrer these days against this version of Djokovic.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Novak Dopeovic more like.

[Mildly Diverting]

I'm going for Murray in four as well, and I've got a sneaking feeling he'll be playing Ferrer in the final.

I am available for private lessons in punditry. pm me for details.

[selectivememory]

Wow, Djokovic looking very good indeed. Would expect him to win in the final regardless of his opponent on this form. 

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

That's true, but equally the 5-setter against Wawrinka Djokovic might turn up. I think Murray will take Federer in 4 sets, he now has some cast-iron self-belief underneath all his ability, and capable of taking him on. He might have a shitter and lose, but then he's only human.

[biggytitbo]

So has the hoodoo reversed since the Olympic final where Murray trounced Fed and now he has the psychological hold over him? I hope so, because purely on play Murray should win this fairly comfortably.

[Mr_Simnock]

Well that first set was a bit of a stroll for Murray, wrapped up in 45 mins 6-4 with Fed struggling on his every service game.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

The fat lady isn't singing yet, but drooling and sweating profusely.

[Mr_Simnock]

Interesting to watch someone hold so easily against Fed. A break in this second set and I don't know how Fed will get back into it.

[selectivememory]

Fuck! Had forgotten about this! Still, looking promising. Been a high quality game so far?

[biggytitbo]

Murray's playing well within himself I think.


So far so good. If it goes 2-0 we could see another Olympics final.

[Mr_Simnock]

Its level at 1-1. Murray's game just dropped a bit and Fed has raised his a bit. Still expect Murray to win it in four sets though.

[selectivememory]

Yeah, I like what I've seen so far from him. Seems he has been playing at a high level all this week, we just didn't have anything to measure it by because all his opponents have been dismal up until now.

Don't know if Federer can go 5 sets against Murray, he had to work very hard to get that set.

[selectivememory]

Federer's starting to get quite pissy. Time for Murray to twist the knife.

[biggytitbo]

Normally in slams against Fed this would be wear Murray fades away, but not anymore. You can really see the difference on court, Murrays a grand slam winner and it shows.

[Delete Delete Delete]

Murrays seemed to step up the gear at the right time here, where the old version of him would of collapsed after that tie breaker.

[selectivememory]

Yep, that second set of the Wimbledon final made him crumble, this time he's not allowing himself to get down after screwing up that tie break.

[Delete Delete Delete]

The other thing is the lack of Murray drop shots.

[Mr_Simnock]

During that last set Murray won 30 points to Feds 19, that's looking ominous, massive mountain to climb for Fed to get back into this. If Murray doesn't win on Sunday I would expect him to make Djoko work very very hard for it if nothing else.