Del Potro Continues Summer Tear, Meets Murray for Montreal Title

atp’s new safina has asterisks written all over the no. 2. in men’s tennis today even no. 5 requires a major title for legitimacy. no. 1 has 15, no. 3 has 6, no.4 has one, no. 5 has one. and who does not have a major title in the top 5? it’s this new no. 2 murray. until he finds a way to quickly win a grand slam, he is only no.2 in name. if murray makes another slam final and doesnt win,turns out to be a white wash like the u.s open final last year, murray will be viewed as male version of safina. he may win today but the asterisk won’t go away.

August 16th, 2009 at 11:58 am

Sean; I have a feeling this USO will be one of big upsets. I think we could see either Fed or Rafa fall before the semi-finals. Specially if they have either DelPo or A-Rod in their quarter.

August 16th, 2009 at 12:08 pm

“I am it” I hate that reasoning, why a grand slam won 6 or 2 years ago should be more valuable for the ranking system than the way you’re playing right now? Murray is without a doubt the best hard court player of the moment and he has earned the right to be number 2 in the ATP rankings. Nobody gives you nothing you have to earn it and Andy did just that.

August 16th, 2009 at 12:56 pm

daniel2 –
I with you on the ranings. Andy is an elite player and has earned his ranking. As has Safina IMHO. If events outside the majors don’t count, then why play them We can have a 4 or 6 event per year and determine best then. Sort of like world cups or olympics. But it’s a year round sport and those that do well shouldn’t be punished with disparaging remarks (safina) because they have been successful. Perhaps they’d think more highly of her if she lost a few?

August 16th, 2009 at 2:02 pm

Del Potro is emotional player.

Never know what you will get with him.

However Murray I think is too strong on hard courts.

I was surprised he didn’t win US last year.

What do you think of the WTA Ranking System?

August 16th, 2009 at 2:17 pm

Sweeeeeeeeet!! Still a long way to go but JMDP is on his way. Keep it going. Bring Murray down!

August 16th, 2009 at 2:42 pm

nadal won a slam 2 years ago? danel2, do you know how to count? did you forget how murray became no. 2 yesterday? his 1000 points from madrid is still counted. had it been normal year like any other without change in drop date…
if he wins today del potro will put more astrerisk to murray’s safina no.2.

August 16th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Ugh I think hne was referring to djokovic winning 2 years ago but it was not that long ago. The point is, roddick won his only slam in an entirely different era from today. Murray wouldn’t randomly get thrashed in a final. It’s not like he was crushed in his slam losses this year.

August 16th, 2009 at 3:25 pm

If I were the tennis commisioner, on making the rankings, I will put an asterisk on every player’s name. The footnote will be very long in trying to explain the meaning of all the asterisks. Some will have 2 asterisks, some 3, others as many as 20. Then the whole tennis world will go mad and assassinate me.

August 16th, 2009 at 3:28 pm

Great final so far: 1 set a piece. And both tiebreakers! Enjoyable battle between these two tough competitors. I am pulling more for Murray to win this, but I wouldn’t be too disappointed were JMDP to win his first Masters Series title.

Interesting point made by the Canadian commentators: they were saying that both JMDP and Murray were the most focused and reclusive players throughout this event. To the point that, while the other players were playing poker or video games in the players’ lounge, Murray would be training in the gym, and Delpo would take his meals to the locker room to eat alone! Both were trying to not get distracted by anything off court, apparently. I guess we can’t really know for sure what their motivations were, unless they state them as such, but in my opinion it’s still an intriguing observation by the commentators.

Loved how the crowd gave them a “standing O” pre-first set tiebreaker, after that excellent final point by both.

August 16th, 2009 at 4:07 pm

JMDP might have won FO 2009, had he got more gas in his tank.

The kid has most shots, great attitude,and no pressure from Fleet Street. What a package!

August 16th, 2009 at 4:20 pm

What a letdown of a third set. After such a good & competitive match for sets 1 and 2, it’s too bad it had to end like that.

But that said – whoo hoo and congrats to Andy Murray!!! The new number 2! : ) Smiles for you margot…

August 16th, 2009 at 4:23 pm

World #2 with style for Murray. JMDP has to know between DC and Montreal with more matches and fewer days off than a slam that he can play 2 weeks of top flight tennis. These two guys are making it more interesting.

August 16th, 2009 at 4:26 pm

Del potro has the game, not the fitness (yet.)

Awesome, now I get to see Safina double fault. Can one of these serbs beat the Willams and win a slam already? I am turning off the tele. Congrats to Murray.

August 16th, 2009 at 4:33 pm

Twocents – that’s a somewhat Anglocentric remark! Why would an Argentinian feel pressure from Fleet street? There might well be some people here who don’t even know what “Fleet Street” means.

August 16th, 2009 at 4:37 pm

JMDP needs to work on his fitness to be sure. He had Fed on the ropes after 3 sets in Paris only to let the 4th set more or less evaporate. Today he wilted in the 3rd. On the bright side he played 9 matches in less than 14 days with an airplane flight in the middle. The day off between matches at slams (excepting of course the U.S. Open final weekend) helps more than the 3 out of 5 set format hurts JMDP.

How much effort to put into Cincy is an interesting question for all of the top 6 but especially JMDP. Roddick almost has to give it his all as his wife is from the greater Cincy area. Federer and Nadal both need more match play. Murray has momentum and could be like Rafter in 98 or Roddick in 03 and ride a Canada-Cincy back-to-back to a USO title. Djokovic needs to show some life. That leaves me thinking JMDP could be the earliest exit of the top 6 seeds in Cincy.

August 16th, 2009 at 5:31 pm

Colin,

I shouldn’t have phrased it that way. I meant the leading English-speaking media in general. It’s much easier for up comers to stay below the media radar. Poor Murray, the prey.

August 16th, 2009 at 6:04 pm

Dan martin, I agree regarding JMDP. Though he has done very well in washington and montreal, he still has a long way to go to be as fit as other top players. He does not look good for cincy (unless he surprise us)and I feel he might be content with what he has achieved so far(which is very good). I am very impressed with his all court game though, moves very well for a guy his size. If he improves his fitness he can win his 1st GS very soon.

August 16th, 2009 at 6:23 pm

I am off to Cincy tomorrow. Looks like some good matches with Ivo vs. Monfils, Stan W. vs. Ferrer, JCF vs. Cilic, Andreev (looking forward to his forehand) vs. Kiefer

Should be fun.

August 16th, 2009 at 9:01 pm

Have fun there, Dan; I hope all is well with you and yours, b.t.w.. Say hi to tenisbebe and sar! ;)

August 16th, 2009 at 9:24 pm

I will say hi to both if I get the chance. A meeting is actually in the works.

Things in my real life have been rough this week, but closure has its own sort of peace.

August 16th, 2009 at 11:12 pm