CAMELOT FANTASIES

I was able to watch both matches vs Fognini and Anderson (our Channel 21 is showing taped delay and I was able to record both matches). Yesterday Andy played a nearly perfect match against Fognini based on the facts that he never faced any break points throughout the match and also, he was able to serve at high level and his 2nd serve was very much on. He won a high percentage off his 2nd serve.

Today however was a very different story. The 1st alone I think was over an hour long and the match was about 3 hours long. Very difficult match for Andy as suspected and his 1st serve was abysmal especially in the 1st set. My guess is, he wasn't  in the mood today and wasn't feeling particularly confident and of course, Anderson is a very solid player. But Andy continued to get better as the match went on and didn't get broken in the final set despite breaking Anderson really early. That was a very positive sign to take away. He looked completely knackered after the match though. Not sure how much is left in the tank after this. Had he won the TB things could have been in straight sets but it wasn't meant to be. Anderson's downfall was his unforced errors - 47 at that.

So while Andy had an easy time against Fognini yesterday, who pretty much self-destructed, today's match was very tough for Andy. Ferrer, on the other hand, had a really back to back easy time against his last two opponents, so he's definitely the fresher of the two and of course, the hometown factor is still there. And I am sure last week results are still very fresh in Ferrer's mind. But Andy is desperate and he really wants this and if he can get past Ferrer, he'd have a somewhat easier time against Robredo/Chardy. So he must keep that in mind. His match was first today so I am hoping that will give him enough time to recover. I really expect him to serve really well and be aggressive and keep things short. But nerves will be the main factor once again. Really disliking this match-up week after week there's no other way right now.