Red-Hot Murray Railroads Roddick for Second Doha Crown

Congrats to Murray!! I missed the match so can’t comment on the play obviously, but I will say it’s a great result for Roddick in getting to the final, given he’d been matched by Monfils in their last two or three meetings. So both Andys should feel good as they head into the AO.

January 10th, 2009 at 12:53 pm

Yes great result for Andy. Did not catch the match on Tv but got the end on Justin. Roddick, as well as being fired up as usual, was playing some good tennis.

Looks like the long wait for a British male grandslam champion will be over sometime this year.

My dark horses for the Aussie Open are Gilles Simon and JMDP

January 10th, 2009 at 1:03 pm

For all his great form he still has to prove he can do it when it counts. Federer wont be making as many errors should they meet in Australia, Nadal will probably be on better form and theres Djokovic, Tsonga et al who could cause him problems.

But really he should win it and if he doesnt he ought to be a bit disappointed because it’ll just show that his wins in these small events have meant nothing.

January 10th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

They are showing the match right now on Eurosport. Better late than never.

January 10th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

He’s on a great run. Murray is one of my favorite player- but I have my doubts about an AO title. In his last two tournaments have been very physical and hes needed back treatment. Second the afore mentioned players (Nadal,Djoker,Tsonga, and Gasquet) and some long five setters may lead to a surprise defeat.

January 10th, 2009 at 1:37 pm

Lucy, you make a very good point about Murray – I’m not sure if he’s entered in any more tournaments, but I think he should just rest up and get ready for the Australian Open, because in his current form, he’s easily the favorite.

January 10th, 2009 at 1:47 pm

go murray. dispatching players all over town.

let’s hope he makes it into week two of the AO.

And Roger thought he only had Nadal to deal with….oh oh!

January 10th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

Graham, Murray would prove it to you, don’t Murray ! I’d be happiest with Fed if he wins at the Oz Open ! But Fed’s not looking ready or willing enough to cast his magic at the Aus Open, I’d like either Murray or Tsonga to be the champion !

January 10th, 2009 at 2:24 pm

My heart’s with Fed, Murray and Tsonga at the Aus Open, but my mind’s with Murray, Rafa and Fed .

January 10th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

If you are to believe me, Nole and Rod have no realistic chance at the Aus Open this year. JMDP & Simon (I hate him ! ) are my dark horses for the Oz extravaganza.
How about Nalby striking like a bolt from the blue, it’d be normal as well strange for us !

January 10th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

Graham,

I think Murray will be more disappointed if he does not win the US Open or Wimbledon. The Aussie Open is a bit of a lottery and will depend a lot on the draw he gets.

He has now won 9 atp titles. Just 2 short of (Tiger) Tim Henmans career total.

January 10th, 2009 at 2:39 pm

Nole’s every right to prove me wrong though ! I forgot him when I was talking about those with whom my heart’s, my heart’s with him too ! Thus I have 4 guys whom I’d like to win-Fed, Tsonga, Murray and Nole.
May one of you lift the Aus Open 2008 !

January 10th, 2009 at 2:43 pm

I’d add Rod to my list of dark horses for sure !

January 10th, 2009 at 2:44 pm

Leftykick, I adi to disagree! Murray’d the most disappointed if he fails to win Aus Open. But interestingly if Fed ( may luck be with him this time ! ) is able to wins Aus Open, many of his miseries would end, he’d start playing better, much better !

January 10th, 2009 at 2:53 pm

Sorry for some ridiculous printing mistakes !

January 10th, 2009 at 2:56 pm

Hoping for a Nole win at AO. He can do it.

Also JJ for AO.

January 10th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

Sar,

Yes I agree.

Nole is almost the forgotten man of tennis right now. However, he is the defending champion and I have a feeling he will we will see something like the same kind of form from him that he showed when he won last year.

January 10th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

Graham, how do you know Fed won’t make as many errors if he plays Murray in Oz? People tend to make errors against Murray, because he forces them into errors.
As for the question of 5-setters, unless the draw is unkind to him, he could get to, say, the quarters or even semis, without playing any 5-setters. Wasn’t it at the Oz Open a year or two ago, that he almost triple-bagelled some poor guy early on?

January 10th, 2009 at 4:44 pm

Muuray has been a good learner, he now start to “not spend too much energy” on the early rounds. This is very important especially in Grand Slams. He did not do very well in the 08 Us Open, I remember he was almost loosing with Melzer but I beleieve he now has improved very much.

As long as he can play first few rounds with care, he should have a lot of energy left to fight with the big guns.

Everybody will be soooo hungry at the AO. Federer match with Murray in Doha showed he gave up in the end of 3rd set, this match was almost the same as FO with Nadal, he also seem to give up in the end. I hope this is not his trend now, things not looking good for him. But I still have hope for Fed, he needs to work on his serve, Fed serve when on is a big weapon. good luck.

January 10th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

Hello everyone,

I am disappointed that my Andy (Roddick) was not able to pull off the upset in the final but I am pleased with his performance at Qatar this week overall and it bodes well for him at the AO. Please for the love of God will he have some good luck with him in Australia this year? congratulations to the Murray fans here.

gulu Federer he doesnt need any more luck he’s had four years worth of luck already, I would like to see somebody else get lucky for once!

January 10th, 2009 at 6:06 pm

Hi TD(Tam), I really wish for Fed to win 3 more slams, after that I don’t care.
Similarly I want some luck for Fed as I want him to win 4 more masters at least !

January 10th, 2009 at 6:57 pm

Completely agree with Kimmi’s last post !

January 10th, 2009 at 6:59 pm

Gulu,

Good point about Feds Masters count.
I think he is actually behind Nadal in this respect with Agassi holding the record for Masters Shields.

I believe Roger definitely has at least 2 more slams in him and he might even get the 3 ;-)

I heard him in a documentary today say that he is targeting Pete Sampras’s grand slam singles record. So he is very focused on breaking that record. Probably more so than anything else now.

January 10th, 2009 at 7:04 pm

gulu is a third world piece of shitt!!!!!

January 10th, 2009 at 7:46 pm

By the way………..fed is gonna meet murray in the aus open semis.Thats guaranteed…..Mark my words.

January 10th, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Just who is this uncouth person named Ryan?

January 11th, 2009 at 12:37 am

Hi sar, Ryan looks like some mad guy, ignore him !

January 11th, 2009 at 12:56 am

Sorry guys, the last post bearing my name’s posted by my friend Ricky who was sitting with my P.C., he doesn’t know Ryan but got angry with him as he has called me third world piece of shit ! But the two comments using the word f**k were posted by me !

January 11th, 2009 at 1:06 am

Sorry to all of you here for using such uncivilised language in my last of posts ! Sorry to tennis-x staff as well ! I won’t use that stupid word in futu posts ! Or I may be started to get disliked too! Again very very sorry for my bad behaviour !

January 11th, 2009 at 1:11 am

Sorry to all of you here for using such uncivilised language in my last of posts ! Sorry to tennis-x staff as well ! I won’t use that stupid word in future posts ! Or I may be started to get disliked too! Again very very sorry for my bad behaviour !

January 11th, 2009 at 1:11 am

Hey, but I’m not apologising to Ryan !

January 11th, 2009 at 1:13 am

hello every body, i know federer has the potential to win Ao this year but he must have to make his service parfect have to work hard on to regain his confidence.four years on the top rank is not a joke so he can win more 4 to 5 grandslam.

January 11th, 2009 at 2:16 am

Hi muhammed and thanks for your encouraging words about Roger ! It’s great to see that Roger has admirers like you.

January 11th, 2009 at 4:22 am

Ryan’s a real idiot ! The Oz Open draw even hasn’t been out and this fool wants us to believe that there’d surely be a Federer v. Murray semi. That means Fed & Murray reaching semi, being in same half of draw etc are foregone
conclusions for this stupid !

January 11th, 2009 at 5:14 am

As a newcomer to tennis-watching online, can I ask this – is it possible to watch the slam tournaments (like the Oz Open) free online, or are they all sewn up by the big television people?

January 11th, 2009 at 6:10 am

I’m one of the elite bloggers here along with grendel , von , skorocel , MMT etc. But I come here once in a while.

January 11th, 2009 at 6:38 am

gulu is a stinking indian!!!! hahahaha

January 11th, 2009 at 7:14 am

Colin,

Of course i dont know for sure that Federer will make less errors if they play down under. But he will be more focussed im certain. And i sense hes a bit angry at his recent losses to Murray too. Federer is only ever willing to give him faint praise and backhanded compliments in interviews. I dont think he really respects Murrays game that much. And the US Open showed that when Fed is on his game and isnt spewing errors then he has what it takes to beat Murray. But Murray is one of those players you cannot beat if you’re not 100% motivated and i think in the small tournaments Federer is still a bit half hearted with his efforts at times.

The bottom line for me is that Murray needs to win a slam or two this year. Until he does then for me he hasnt proved anything. He has no chance at the French and a slim one at Wimbledon. He is a great player on hard but hes nothing on clay and very beatable on grass. So its either the Oz or US Open and with the form hes in at the moment he should win the Oz. He has to strike now when everything is going right for him though because you never know what can happen with injuries, or new talented players arriving on the scene. He has like a 5 year window realistically where he has to win slams so the Oz Open ought to be the first for him. If its not then people are going to start questioning if he has the goods when the chips are down.

January 11th, 2009 at 7:15 am

Hey Ryan, your joke about you being an elite blogger once drove Vulcan, mem and Ezorra mad !!! And now it’s my turn to fall off the chair laughing, ha ha ha ha !!!!! YOU ARE STUPID PAR EXCELLENCE !! Ha ha ha ha !!!!!!!

January 11th, 2009 at 7:46 am

Indians ? Stinking ? If it were so, why europeans set out on voyage to find the sea route to the East Indies during the medieval age? Why Europeans & Arabians fought with each other to gain upper hand in trade with us? But how’d ‘Ryan-the fool’ know it ?!

January 11th, 2009 at 8:21 am

Hey Ryan, spray some perfume on your body, come on, do it man ! I can’t stand your foul smell anymore, it’s just too much, aghhh….!!!

January 11th, 2009 at 8:43 am

Federer is definitely on a slide. He used to be such a joy to watch but now, it is becoming increasingly painful to watch him. He makes so many mistakes and plays poorly on break points. Even worse, during interviews, he never really gives full credit to whoever beats him and disregards the loss by pretending it does not matter because it is not a “big event”. How can it not matter? For a champion, a loss is a loss and should hurt somehow. And losing again and again to the same person (Nadal for years now and more recently, Murray), should be some cause for concern. He has been the best for so many years and may go down as the best ever. He should feel secure about that and start acting more gracefully when he talks about whoever beats him. A little humility could not hurt. In fact, it could make him look even better.

January 11th, 2009 at 8:46 am

Let me add: Federer’s big problem now is that he is in a state of denial.

January 11th, 2009 at 8:48 am

Totally agree with Polo, Roger’s indeed in a state of denial !

January 11th, 2009 at 9:03 am

Please could Gulu and Ryan go and throw each others toys out of the pram on some other website?
Lets stick to talking about tennis! There, you can both hate me now!
Fed wants the record, who knows what he will deliver in Australia, but he’s gonna have to watch his back, the young Turks are coming. How great is that for the game?

January 11th, 2009 at 1:04 pm

Margot please !!! I have never abused Ryan, but he, without any fault of mine, says first & from his own side that I’m a piece of shit from the third world ! What does he mean by that? It’s a terribly offensive ! What’s my fault ? Try to understand me !

January 11th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

I always considered Ryan a friend before he said this to me. I never knew that he considers me a piece of shit from the 3rd world ! But if some of you think such racist taunts & personal attacks on me’s ok, then I’d regret to have ever posted here !

January 11th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

No, Gulu, I do not think racist taunts and personal attacks are OK. I am sure a majority of people here think the same way.

January 11th, 2009 at 2:16 pm

Polo, I just wanna say thank you very much to you for your kind support ! I express my sincere gratitude to you for standing by me on this matter. Regards !

January 11th, 2009 at 3:11 pm

Colin:

I found the following, but it seems you need Windows Media, which is the media player for Windows Vista Ultimate, the sound is incredible, and it gives that cinema type feeling. However, you may be able to download it for free, to watch the AO. From time to time, I’ll post any info I come across which should help you. I would suggest you try experimenting with this link watching Sydney, and that should give you a fair idea of what you most probably could expect for the AO.

You have my empathy with regard to having zero access to the matches — been there, done that. I know how frustrating, helpless, and hopeless the situation can feel, so I promise you that I’ll do my very best to help in any way I can. The following is a safe, virus free site, McAfee virus scan recommended, to watch the AO.

http://www.xomba.com/watch_atp_australian_open_live_online_free_streaming_with_wmp_link_0

http://shravanitv.blogspot.com/2008/01/australian-open-2008-live-streaming.html

http://wordpress.com/

TO ALL: Please feel free to use as you see fit.

Ps: I hope this post does not vanish.

January 11th, 2009 at 4:05 pm

Von – thanks for the links.

Federer has always had a secrecy about him that makes me wonder if he is 100% or not. His serve is not what it used to be, and the fact that he is double faulting so much may indicate his back has not yet healed.

That being said, beating him in a 5 set match is still a formidable task and should Murray and Federer meet in the semis it will be very interesting.

Speaking of draws – it was interesting how last year we looked to the draws to see where Djokovic was positioned, because Rafa and Fed would rather (you would imagine) play Davydenko than that wacky good Serb. However, I think Murray has now taken over the ‘most dreaded semi-finalist’ position and the way things are levelling out I doubt we will see a Rafa-Federer final prior to the clay court season.

If Murray is pitted against Federer when the AO draw comes out on the 16th I think we will be in for a great match. If Murray is on Rafa’s half of the draw I don’t know who will emerge from that side, but I’m sure Federer will be patiently waiting.

In a perfect world this is the tourney where Fed catches Pete, and then he sets the record at Wimbledon. A 100% healthy Federer, although not in a breeze, should not be denied.

O Boy O Boy – 1 week to go!!!.

January 11th, 2009 at 5:33 pm

I hope I don’t get prosecuted for plagiarizing, if I do, I hope some of you will testify for me to my probation officer that I did this for the greater good of all tennis fans. Anyway, forget the preamble, I stole the following link from Tennis Planet, one which I personally find to be very informative on the different World time zones. Hopefully, some of you will find this helpful as well as informative. Did you know that australia is 15 hours ahead of us? I thought it was 12 hours.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html

January 11th, 2009 at 5:54 pm

Gordo:

You are welcome. This evening is my allotted computer time to re-introduce myself to my computer with respect to surfing the web, and to endeavour to learn some more new tricks to make computer surfing easier for me — I’m a computer dummy!

I thought we had lost you forever, and I’m glad to see you back again, so stick around will ya. One poster, who began posting around the same time period as you did, viz., Kroll, has vanished, and I really miss his humour and outspokenness. Whenever I see posts from you, Gordo, I always remember Kroll. Hence, Kroll, if you’re reading this, won’t you stop by and say hello to us, pretty please!

Yes, in the past the draw made it a lot more easy for the top 2 to reach the SFs in a GS, however, it’s not that simple anymore. Presently, they are being attacked left, right and oft-times even center, from some unexpected players. WOW, how much the times have changed, which establishes the precedent of “unpredictablilty” personified.

January 11th, 2009 at 6:07 pm

Don’t forget me, says Federer:
http://blogs.abc.net.au/grandstand/2009/01/dont-forget-me.html

Murray still has plenty to prove: Federer
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/12/2463554.htm?section=sport

Roger Federer becomes the world’s most vulnerable tennis ace:
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24897939-23216,00.html

Federer remains confident of beating Murray:
http://www.gulfnews.com/sport/Tennis/10274341.html

January 12th, 2009 at 12:39 am

Von:

“Did you know that australia is 15 hours ahead of us? I thought it was 12 hours.”

We have Daylight savings when you do not, and the reverse, so the time difference can swing by 2 hours. Also it depends on whether you’re on the east coast or west, or somewhere in between. We are far ahead in official time, but that in itself is arbitrary since no country is really positioned in front of any other on the globe. Some point on the globe had to be picked as the leading time, and it was New Zealand. It could have been anywhere.

The annoyance of being down here is US and northern hemisphere chauvinism. Whenever release dates are given for some event, it’s always US dates so to us the wait seems a day longer. What’s worse is whenever some date is simply “Summer 2009” or “Fall 2009”, it’s always presumed a northern Summer. Of course no one is aware that the season is the opposite for an entire half of the globe.

January 12th, 2009 at 1:02 am

Giner, it’s not entirely a matter of Northern Hemisphere chauvinism. Australians themselves use the phrase “down under”, don’t they?
When it comes to time differences, being British makes it easier to calculate, since Greenwich time is the starting point. It’s about the only remaining situation where we are that important!

January 12th, 2009 at 6:51 am

“Giner, it’s not entirely a matter of Northern Hemisphere chauvinism. Australians themselves use the phrase “down under”, don’t they?”

Down under refers to where we live.. i.e. Australia. (I’m not sure what makes this chauvinistic, since we all accept that the northern hemisphere is ‘up’ while the southern is ‘down’). ‘Australis’ means southern, which is how Australia got its name.

The magnetic north and south poles are in the reverse direction, but I doubt this makes any difference. It will some day reverse again too.

It’s true that viewed from space, north and south have no meaning and are also arbitrary, but in diagrams we tend to consider the orientation of the solar system based on the plane that the axes of the planets rest on. It could also be viewed up-side down, but we’ve settled on this.

Australians don’t use seasonal dates like “Summer 09” as estimates because you guys have monopolised the seasons. For those we prefer Q1, Q2, etc.

January 12th, 2009 at 11:09 am

Von:

I finally saw the entire “Best of 5: Tennis Tantrums” the other day. There is one tantrum on there they missed, and I thought it would have been very creative of the if they included it, but here goes…

1977 – Borg is playing Connors in the final, and he has a match point in the second, and Connors comes to net. Connors flubs a backhand volley high and short and Borg, bearing down on it hard to finish him off, proceeds to drill the “passing shot” straight at a vulnerable Connors, but it hits the top of the tape and falls on his own side.

And then the unthinkable happens…

In fit of unprecedented violent rage Borg smashes the ball back into the net again in frustration – Pat Summeral and Tony Trabert, ignorning result of the point simultaneously exclaim that they’d never seen Borg do anything like that…ever. Connors, perhaps amused by it, proceeds to wave his finger at Borg, mocking him not to try hitting him again. Borg then loses the second 7-5.

In the third, he breaks Connors in the 5th game and wins the match.

That would have made my top 5 temper tantrums.

January 12th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

Correction: 1977 – Borg is playing Connors in the Pepsi Grand Slam of Tennis final…

January 12th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

Oh – and I recall at some point you’d spotted Bud Collins and his classic pants. Yes, Bud Collins made a habit of wearing the most ridiculous pants you could find while interviewing Wimbledon champions and runners-up for 20 years for NBC. He always made a special effort to say say thank you or congratulations in the native languages of his interviewees, which I think was a nice touch that you don’t see anymore. Today, we’d be lucky if the interviewer got the player’s country of origin right in the first place, never mind a word in their language.

I used to really dislike Bud Collins for whispering “net cord” every time the ball hit the net during rallies, and also playing up the cute-enough-to-make-you-sick images of oh-so many young tennis champions over the years, but I now officially forgive him for that.

He’s one of the funniest, goofiest guys in tennis and I was so happy to see him working for ESPN during the Australian Open last year. Just a welcome diversion from that unbearably arrogant and presumptuous Chris Fowler who seems to think he knows tennis better than his expert analysts. I just love Collins’ historical anecdotes as well. Nobody knows more about the history of tennis than Bud Collins.

He did have a tendency to speak in hyperbole and interrupt his co-commentators when he was in the booth, but that’s not the end of the world I guess. Tennis could use more humble and creative commentators like him.

BTW – he himself was a decent player, although he calls himself a hack. I had no idea, but apparently Wikipedia says he won the US Indoor mixed doubles championship in 1961 with Janet Hopps and the French Senior Doubles title in 1975 with Jack Crawford, which is (way) more than you can say for Fowler.

January 12th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

MMT:

“1977 – Borg is playing Connors in the final, and he has a match point in the second, and Connors comes to net. Connors flubs a backhand volley high and short and Borg, bearing down on it hard to finish him off, proceeds to drill the “passing shot” straight at a vulnerable Connors, but it hits the top of the tape and falls on his own side…”

I recorded those. The previous airing which I recorded last year was erased due to Verizon having to change my defective DVR. Here again is another example where that tennis database of yours is unmatachable — an ever flowing fouintain of tennis hisory.

After reading your synopsis of the Borg/Connors match, I have to agree that should be one for the archives and included in the “Top 5 best”. Your description of that encounter has my imagination running, and it almost seems as though I’m witnessing that fiasco. Why don’t you write to Tennis Channel and remind them of that one. I think if you do, they’ll include it in one of their segments. I honestly feel you should and they would listen. Do it will ya. That bit of info you supplied of Tarrango’s wife slapping the umpire is one which always makes me laush and wish I could have seen that altercation. What a spunky woman!

Re: Dear Bud, I saw him with another more hilarious outfit two days ago. He’s quite a character, but a much better commentator than Gimelstob and Fowler for that matter. I don’t think Fowler is very “tennis savvy’ at all. He’s in the anchor spot because of his “clean cut” looks and he’s adept at talking to cover up his inadequate tennis knowledge. Sadly, Bud’s too old, and so is Barry Mckay, so we’re stuck with the likes of Gimelstob, Ted Robinson et al.

January 13th, 2009 at 12:05 am

Giner, you don’t quite get my point. I never said your calling your home “down under” was chauvinism. It’s the opposite. It means that you are defining your position on the globe by its relation to Europe. In the same way, the Japanese called their country the Land of the Rising Sun, seeing themselves as rising ON THE HORIZON OF EUROPE. Because the maps were first made by Europeans, they put themselves on top. Considered as a lump of rock in space, the world has no top or bottom, or “up” or “down”. True, the compass points north, but why say it’s pointing up rather than down? Or flamin’ sideways!
To return to tennis, I’m glad to see Borg getting some coverage. His Wimbledon match with Gerulaitis (spelling?) was one of the great ones.

January 13th, 2009 at 2:14 am

Von: I have a great Barry McKay story, and this is personal. I was a ballboy at the Sovran Bank Tennis Classic (the Washington, DC tournament), we’re in the hallway waiting for the players to get ready and who should stop by and talk to us but none other than Barry McKay! I have to say, he’s about the nicest guy I’ve ever met in tennis.

He asked us how we liked working the matches, and if they were treating us well, and then he gave us a (not so) stern warning, not the to let the players pull the old “hot ball” trick.

We were all perplexed – what in the world is a hot ball.

McKay is about 6’3″ but he looks five inches taller than that, and had a booming servethat would rival the best of the best today. He said that anytime they opened a new can of balls, he would stick one of them in his pocket and keep it there until he was serving, and then, when he needed to blaze one up the T, he’d pull out that “hot ball” and let ‘er rip.

I thought he was joking, but later I heard him tell the same story to Billie Jean King on an HBO telecast at Wimbledon, and he concluded that it’s one of the reasons today, you’ll always see a player hold up the new balls when he’s about to serve, so his opponent knows to be ready for additional pace.

What a character, and what a nice guy.

January 13th, 2009 at 12:49 pm

Kimmi,

Good point about Murray learning to conserve energy in the early rounds. He definitely seems to be learning to despatch lesser players more clinically. All this talk about ‘Can Murray handle a 5-setter tournament?’ Who said anything about 5 sets? :) The way he’s playing he shouldn’t have to go past 3 sets until the QFs. The problem at the USO wasn’t just Murray’s draining SF against rafa but all the 4/5 setters he had to fight through (e.g. Melzer) in the earlier stages which had a cumulative effect. The way Murray’s playing these days, he really shouldn’t have that problem this time around. If he serves well (to me, that’s where it’s going tobe won or lost), I think Murray’s got a great chance.

January 13th, 2009 at 7:15 pm