Murray into LA Semifinals, Plays Lopez Tonight; Sharapova Alive in Stanford

by Staff | July 31st, 2010, 2:33 pm
  • 57 Comments

Three of the top four seeds have reached the semifinals at the Los Angeles Farmers Classic. The quartet is led by top seed Andy Murray of Scotland who takes on No. 4 seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the evening while defending champion and No. 2 seed Sam Querrey takes on Janko Tipsarevic. ADHEREL

Murray brings a 2-0 mark against the lefty Lopez who edged James Blake yesterday in three sets. The 23-year-old Scot reached his lone final this year at the Australian Open (l. to Federer) in January while Lopez won his second career ATP World Tour title in Johannesburg (d. Robert) in February.

Murray said of Lopez, “Since the first time I saw him, I realized he was a very talented player and would be one of the best players in the world.”


Earlier, Querrey takes on Tipsarevic for the second time. In their previous meeting in the first round of Indianapolis in 2006 the American prevailed in three sets. Tipsarevic is trying to reach his second ATP World Tour final of the season and third in his career (0-2). Querrey is 3-1 in ATP World Tour finals this year and he’s the only player to win titles on three different surfaces in 2010. Overall, the 22-year-old American is 5-5 in his career in ATP World Tour finals.

Of the remaining players, Querrey (three times) and Lopez (once) have won titles on the ATP World Tour this season. Murray and Tipsarevic have turned in one runner-up showing.

In Stanford, former No. 1 Maria Sharapova salted away Elena Dementieva last night in three tough sets. She now meets Agenieska Radwanska in the night semifinals. In the afternoon, Victoria Azarenka will face French Open finalist Sam Stosur.

“Sam has been in great form the whole year. She has a huge serve,” said Azarenka, who turned 21 on Saturday and leads Stosur 3-0 H2H. “I will fight hard and play my game.”

“There have been times we played close matches, other times she has killed me,” Stosur said. “The last time we played was Miami last year though, and a lot of things have changed since then. Hopefully I can turn things around.”


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57 Comments for Murray into LA Semifinals, Plays Lopez Tonight; Sharapova Alive in Stanford

Kimmi Says:

just tuning in on tipsy vs querrey.

Tipsy taking the first set..i had a feeling this match will be a close one.

i can see tipsy winning this now

samurai sam should increase the tempo on cheering for their man


contador Says:

yeah. i go away while sam has a couple set points and comeback to see tipsy took the set.

i haven’t seen this tipsy. he’s out to win the tournament.

sam looks confused. maybe samurai sams are too! : )

my picks are jinxed.


Kimmi Says:

what..sam still fighting conty. very close match..who will win?


Kimmi Says:

sam in trouble here


Jake Willens Says:

Murray over Quer in the finals!


Kimmi Says:

sam match point


Kimmi Says:

what a fight by sam to come back from a set down..great fight back.

Congrats to sam.


Kimmi Says:

contador – i was not sure about this one. Tipsy is a fighter.

but YAY! for another correct prediction

Now Muzza needs to win his match..go muzza


contador Says:

well, i picked murray and querrey in the final. so maybe my end result works out. sort of bland with 1 and 2 seeds. muzza to win the tournament. time for andy to win one.

definitely muzza could beat querrey. (now watch lopez win all )

wasn’t watching much of querrey match. how happy for sam and janko to meet each other 2nd round in DC !

http://www.leggmasontennisclassic.com/upload/1427.pdf

okay: get your picks in by midnight!

don’t forget to account for those mystery qualifiers… : ) (rogers cup bracket practice)


Kimmi Says:

hahaha, you are kidding conty, right? picks by midnight!

OK, will play if you play ofcourse.

This one will be tough as rogers cup..guys are coming back from holiday..most of them will be very rusty.

sad my buddy soda pop pulled out..due to personal reasons as well…hahaha..is personal reasons a new trend? :)


goat galz Says:

Murray vs. Lopez

Let’s hope beauty beats the beast.


Kimmi Says:

goat galz..hahaha. who is the beauty?

3-0 murray so far


Kimmi Says:

hah do we have a bagel?


Kimmi Says:

bagel! muzza at his best on that set.


jane Says:

Gosh, feel a little sorry for F-lo having to choke that down. But you’re right Kimmi, Murray is playing great!! : )


puckbandit Says:

HEY FOLKS!

Been a while since I’ve checked in. Murray definitely playing better tonight than last night.


Kimmi Says:

it was too easy for muzza in that 1st set..F-Lo breaks to take the lead in the second. C’mon murray.


goat galz Says:

The beauty is Feliciano and most women with eyes would agree.


goat galz Says:

The crowd is for the beauty and against the beast.


Kimmi Says:

well goat galz, f-lo seem to be following your wishes. 2 breaks in a row.


Kimmi Says:

three breaks unbelivable! murray better regroup very quickly. this is not good


goat galz Says:

Gosh, feel a little sorry for the ugly one having to choke that breadstick down. Regardless what happens the stadium was graced with beauty.

Ta ta.


Kimmi Says:

what a game for murray to get out off..c’mon finish him


Kimmi Says:

Lopez saved 2 match points. Murray to serve for the match. he better finish it here. c’mon


Kimmi Says:

WOW! what a topsy-turvy affair. F-Lo came up with some crafty play too. Love the slice, drop shots and lobs from him. Too many errors at critical points tho.

Congrats to murray. one more match to go.


contador Says:

muzzzzzzza! his serve was better.

and i don’t see the appeal in lopez. to each her own taste.

anyway murray and querrey tomorrow should be great!

maria serving for match. trying to serve.

yeah im kidding but that’s remember those cruel rules for roger’s cup bracket race : )

soda pop has suffered i bet mentally as well as arm issues. i wonder about berdych too after wimbledon. all those slam losses hurt.

im in tho, kimmi studying the draw.


jane Says:

Ah, er – i stopped watching the match to start a film, and … gulp, I see Murray clearly took a nosedive. Oops. He still managed to beat F-Lo though. In goat-gal-eeze, I guess that means “la bete” conquered “la belle”. LOL!

Heya puckbandit! Long time no see you around here.


contador Says:

murray napped the 2nd set


Kimmi Says:

contador – good luck with the picking.

i have studied the draw and went for it. too many questions and too many answers…and confusion. *scratching head*

Will talk to you tomorrow…but it is a tough one i tell u.

Time for me to sleep..good nite all.


Kimmi Says:

ah almagro beat gasquet easy straight sets. Almagro on a roll..second title in three weeks. congrats. Now to the hard courts.

Better luck next time gasquet


Huh Says:

Thank God, Murray won. :)


contador Says:

ferrero won too, Kimmi. not such a great surprise over seppi.
***********
washington DC bracket practice:

really, all i’m reasonably solid on is roddick, berdych, isner and verdasco making it to their quarters.

then there’s a worst ever messed up quarter with a 2nd round querry v tipsy rematch. fish? hewitt? falla? cilic?

big problems all over the route to the final in DC and the final itself. help!

staying with muzza winning today. that’s as far as i can go atm
: )


Kimmi Says:

contador – ferrero has not played his final match yet. seppi was a semi match.

Final is ferrero vs starace..i am with you tho..ferrero to win it all.

****************

legg mason

I agree hewitt vs falla is a tough one, especial this falla.

Querrey vs tipsy too..can querrey win their rematch..it was a very close match in LA.

For some reason, i have my hopes for nalbandian.

the new berdy is a good bet, methink

I think Gulbis will go far. I have verdasco losing to Llodra..not impressed with my hot sauce a.t.m.

i have Roddick losing to nalbandian in the 1st qtr..i know, I know.

Fish losing to Querrey in another qtr..that means Queerey will beat tipsy again btw..wishful thinking, i know

berdych beating isner..oh boy. and gulbis beating Llodra who just beat verdasco in R16. (hot sauce should ofcourse prove me wrong here)

My semi is Gulbis vs berdych

and Querrey vs nalbandian

winner is nalbandian..I know i am crazy but why not. love nalbandian to take it all

out!


Huh Says:

toronto, start please!


contador Says:

hahahahaa Kimmi

i realized that a few minutes ago…that the umag final had not been played! wow did i dream that one up or what lol

now muzza win!!

and YAY vika! vika to win US open! (hit the mute button)

****************** legg mason:

your post makes me second guess my picks. but i have commited : )

maybe the fella had some wind taken outta his sails. i dunno. hewitt played **** in atlanta tho. maybe LU will falla out???

nah. querrey falla 3rd round. sadly, tipsy will lose to sam, i agree.

*************!!

that’s a whole lot of bold predicting, Kimmi!

i can see nalby beating roddick. maybe

and i love you for saying gulbis will go far, music to my ears! gulbis v berdych and beating berdych like in tennesee!

it’s a good fantasy… being optimistic, i see him getting by rainy but the EG rollercoaster comes to full stop when he gets to hot sauce. vedasco should be recovered by now. he’s great on hc.

anyway….

oh no! muzza and querrey are playing and sam is up a break.


Kimmi Says:

hi conty. watched a little bit of vika vs shriekapova. had my mute button on

Muzza vs querrey is on. muzza is just surviving. sam FH has moe steam. have a bad feeling Muzza will lose.

YAY! Thank god Muzza breaks back. C’mon wake up and do it


Kimmi Says:

sam, sam, sam..he was playing so well to take the lead and then suddenly a series of errors and DF to lose the set.

Muzza says Thank You querrey. 7-5


Kimmi Says:

sam is very erratic, i should change my picks in legg mason


Kimmi Says:

sam playing much better now. Muzza needs to concentrate


Kimmi Says:

WOW, so close for Murray to be broken. he had a match point on sam’s serve too..hope it does not bite him in the a$%#%.


dari Says:

Shaping up to a good match in the second set!
With Murray as consistent and fit as he is, you would think you wouldn’t want to get into a rally with him, but it seems that even though sam hits a few errors at the end of some of the rally”s his forehand is pretty bangin right now, so it even pays off to hang in there for a winner. I hope Sam wins the set and murray the match; my PLAY got rained out so hopefully i’ll have more tennis t WATCH!


Kimmi Says:

oh no muzza breaking down with the drop shots..c’mon


Kimmi Says:

I knew it..sam take the set.

dari – i agree. sam FH is much bigger than Murray. Murray needs to be careful here. he has not won a title this year..maybe he is nervous. some uncharacteristics errors on that tie breaker


Kimmi Says:

Muzza broken..gone gone gone :(

great game querrey


dari Says:

Shux, I should know better than to hope for “more tennis” when a favorite player of mine is involved.


grendel Says:

querry wins scramble at the net – he’s looking impressive, good defence, and purposively aggressive. If Murray to win Us Open, he’ll have to be a helluva lot more agressive – as well as cutting down on the errors. At the moment, Querry looking a nice outside bet. And whereas with players like Gulbis, you think they may get a slam – have the talent – you KNOW Querry will steadily work his way to a big win, just a matter of time.


Kimmi Says:

muzza lost..bummer


grendel Says:

on break point, Querry calmly pulls out the winner, just when I’d thought his cool under pressure had deserted him. It hadn’t. b.t.w., in same game, Querry had outfoxed Murray witha great dropshot – irritating for a bemused looking |Murray, who’d been dropshotting away with conspicuous lack of success.

Querry deserved winner. If he doesn’t tire over next few weeks, he’s someone who might well cause a few surprises in NY.


dari Says:

Well, I can be happy for Sam. Back to back titles is pretty cool and he hadn’t EVER beat Murray. He was playing very well at the end, power and touch and moving better than expected. Hanging in and winning long rallies well. A-okay, sammie, even though I was rooting for Murray!


contador Says:

that was sad for murray. i think he really needed a win.

querrey surprises me. he looked gassed and sloppy at the start of the tournament and got progressively better.

he may burn out before US Open like he did on clay if he keeps this up.

hm. who will win legg mason?


Kimberly Says:

lets hope Roddick can put up a good show there or he could start floating out of the top ten


grendel Says:

this business about so-and-so has never beaten such-and-such, too much is made of it in my view. Obviously, there are certain players who will never beat certain other players, but on the other hand, some lopsided h2h’s invite the thought that they could easily be overturned. I remember McEnroe constantly getting beaten by Lendl. You could sense the American’s intense frustration – he once shouted out something quite absurd, along the lines of “stop doing [something or other, playing excellent tennis perhaps] so as I can beat you!” You knew it was only a matter of time, and so it proved.
Querry is becoming so proficient, and so gathering in confidence, that I personally wasn’t inclined to set any store in a rather fragile Murray’s unbeaten record against him.


grendel Says:

Contador says (about Querry): “he may burn out before US Open like he did on clay if he keeps this up”. Remember del Potro a couple of years ago, he won everything in sight in the American summer season, and then he had some really tough matches in the US Open, including a real grinder against the then unheralded Simon. He then had to face Murray, and he just looked out on his feet. This didn’t prevent him coming back in the match and nearly surprising Murray – who went on to beat Nadal before succombing to Federer. What might a fresher delPo have achieved?

It makes you wonder, how do real contenders for slams manage their schedules? The Nadal/Federer method is to stay away for as long as possible. This doesn’t seem feasible for the next group of top players. Furthermore, someone like Querry is still on a learning curve. So he has to balance the advantages accruing from constant competition with the almost best against the danger of underlying exhaustion. I guess there is no easy solution. This is where luck has a role to play.


jane Says:

I thought Querrey really snatched that title. He was so calm during match point for Murray in set 2, just hung in there and served to level it. However, up until then it was error after error from his end. Then Murray kind of fell apart in the tiebreak, and once Sam had leveled things at a set a piece, he stepped up his level and Murray, I thought, continued to crumble and retreat. Too bad for Muzza, though he did fight through to the finals. Sam’s had a stellar 2010 – four titles (all 250s I think). That’s 3 more than Nole and 4 more than Murray. Not too shabby.


dari Says:

Grendel- I mostly agree with what you’ve said about the h2h’s. My point was that even if you’ve only played some one once and haven’t EVER beaten them (that ONE TIME) , then its still nice to get the win. Comment (i assume your referring to mine!) was more referencing the positives of the win for Sam more than building up some grand superiority in Murray. I got beat by someone the other day, first time we ever played and I’m thinking, “I’ve never beaten player x”, can’t wait to get the opportunity to play them so I can “finally” win!


sar Says:

Querrey was defending in his hometown and had never beaten Murray. Houdini pulled it out again today.


grendel Says:

dari – I know what you mean. There are some players who rather grandly announce that they don’t like to be beaten twice in a row by the same player – rather implying that “not liking” is equivalent to “not allowing”. Nothing like confidence, eh?

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