CAMELOT FANTASIES

Hmm....Dimitrov has fallen apart just as I thought. Berdy leads Dimitrov 3-0 in the 3rd. Can Dimi make a comeback?

wow emma. Giraldo is playing some great tennis as of late.

Tsonga is not too shabby on clay.



good win for giraldo.


here is the order of play for tomorrow. some outstanding battles tomorrow.



http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/schedule.aspx?EventId=1536

You got that right General.  Giraldo is playing top 10 clay tennis right now. I thought he looked better against Tsonga,  but then he didn't need to be at his best today against Andy Murray, OBE.  I'll have to say that Murray looked like he was on some other planet today, or wanted to be on one.

Murray was making errors left and right, his not so good serve today getting broken once in the first and twice in the second, but instead of being furious with himself, yelling at his box, his usual persona to get himself sorted out, instead he was often smiling and chuckling to himself like he was deranged or something.  He just looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.  I don't think the match with Almagro could have taken that much out of him.  Maybe the late Baltacha's death is affecting him?  Who knows?  Maybe he's feeling back problems again?  I expected a better effort from him today, but alas, it wasn't to be. 

I know clay is not Andy's surface, but I think it will help him with his ground game if he could play a few more matches on it before giving up the ghost.  We know on clay that his serve is negated, so that doesn't help him. It could be this Lendl separation is mentally affecting him more than he is letting on.  Again, who knows?   I think we will really know what's going on this summer, when he plays on grass and the US Open series.   I had predicted near the end of last year not to expect Murray to be near his best till summer because of the back surgery, but I had hoped for more progress than this.  IF he doesn't do well at Wimbledon, we could see him slip out of the top 10.  Oh well, it is what it is.

Nadal is the only one left in the tournament out of the "big 4".   He still needs to improve.  Nieminen was no test on clay.  Berdych is up next for Nadal.  He played fairly well against Dimitrov, but is winless in his last 17 matches vs. Nadal, so I'm not sure he'll be a good test either. But who knows? Almagro had never beaten Nadal before Barcelona, so anything can happen.

Respectfully,
masterclass

Little beast 5'9" David Ferrer took down the towering 6' 10" John Isner, yet again, 6-4, 6-4. 

Ferrer's return of the Isner serve was just incredible.  In the first set, Isner put 83% of his first serves in, but Ferrer won 38% of those, which is a high number against Isner. Isner's first serve in pct, declined to 73% (still very good) in the second set and Ferrer's pct won increased to 42%.  Of course, clay tends to negate the serve some, but still a great return game from David.  And then once the returns were in Ferrer has the better ground game, and one break for Ferrer each set is all it took.

So Quarter Finals are going to be:

[#5] Ferrer vs. Gulbis
[#10] Nishikori vs. F. Lopez

[#1] Nadal vs.  [#6] Berdych
Giraldo vs. Bautista Agut (edited:  Bautista Agut is now a very slight favorite)

Favorites in bold.
Do you see any upsets?

Respectfully,
masterclass

Quote from: Clay Death on May 07, 2014, 06:00:27 pm

wow emma. Giraldo is playing some great tennis as of late.

Tsonga is not too shabby on clay.



good win for giraldo.


here is the order of play for tomorrow. some outstanding battles tomorrow.



http://www.atpworldtour.com/Scores/schedule.aspx?EventId=1536

You got that right General.  Giraldo is playing top 10 clay tennis right now. I thought he looked better against Tsonga,  but then he didn't need to be at his best today against Andy Murray, OBE.  I'll have to say that Murray looked like he was on some other planet today, or wanted to be on one.

Murray was making errors left and right, his not so good serve today getting broken once in the first and twice in the second, but instead of being furious with himself, yelling at his box, his usual persona to get himself sorted out, instead he was often smiling and chuckling to himself like he was deranged or something.  He just looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.  I don't think the match with Almagro could have taken that much out of him.  Maybe the late Baltacha's death is affecting him?  Who knows?  Maybe he's feeling back problems again?  I expected a better effort from him today, but alas, it wasn't to be. 

I know clay is not Andy's surface, but I think it will help him with his ground game if he could play a few more matches on it before giving up the ghost.  We know on clay that his serve is negated, so that doesn't help him. It could be this Lendl separation is mentally affecting him more than he is letting on.  Again, who knows?   I think we will really know what's going on this summer, when he plays on grass and the US Open series.   I had predicted near the end of last year not to expect Murray to be near his best till summer because of the back surgery, but I had hoped for more progress than this.  IF he doesn't do well at Wimbledon, we could see him slip out of the top 10.  Oh well, it is what it is.

Nadal is the only one left in the tournament out of the "big 4".   He still needs to improve.  Nieminen was no test on clay.  Berdych is up next for Nadal.  He played fairly well against Dimitrov, but is winless in his last 17 matches vs. Nadal, so I'm not sure he'll be a good test either. But who knows? Almagro had never beaten Nadal before Barcelona, so anything can happen.

Respectfully,
masterclass

Funny stuff, masterclass, especially the way you described Andy. He did seem out of it. I thought the same thing. I was perplexed at him laughing, but maybe it was a combination of all those things.

Andy seems to be biding his time, as well. Maybe, he's saving his energies for the grass and hard court season, not wanting to over tax his back.

Had to repost this. I don't know what happened.


I know what you mean. I don't like that all out dominance either. If Anderson could at least win once, it might unlock some of the demons in his mind.

It has to be hard to know, that no matter how hard you try, there's a possibility that you might meet your nemesis, and then it's game over.
Did you hear the commentators say Anderson's wife tweeted, "there are three things certain in life: death, taxes, and berdych vs. Anderson.

At least she has a sense of humor about it.

Nishikori snatches the first set.

Yeah, I agree. I am too not getting Andy's smile either. Some of the Murray fans think it's so cute and cheeky but I can't help but feel there's more to it than that. I have a hunch but I want to wait for it until the end of year.

Wimbledon will tell a lot or perhaps it will tell all.