Madness Gets to Murray; Federer, Djokovic Roddick in Action Today at Indian Wells

by Sean Randall | March 13th, 2011, 11:32 am
  • 156 Comments

Raise your hand if you hand Andy Murray losing to Donald Young? No one? I’d be surprised if anyone did. In an absolute head-scratcher, yesterday Murray was sent packing in his opening match by much-maligned qualifier Donald Young 7-6(4), 6-3.

“Most of it was not great today,” Murray said. “I didn’t serve particularly well. I didn’t move very well, which is normally something that, you know, early on in tournaments when you’re not hitting the ball well, you know, running a lot of balls down and making your opponent play can sometimes get the job done. But I didn’t move particularly well, and, you know, he hit a lot of winners. He gained in confidence I guess from hitting more winners.

“I started the match well, and then, you know, when it got close to the end of the first set,” Murray said. “I just didn’t — I didn’t do anything particularly well. I didn’t, you know, do anything to really make I guess lift myself. You know, kind of the crowd were, you know, for him. He started playing better. I didn’t find my way back into the match.”


For Murray it was his third straight loss, all of which have been in straight sets (seven straight sets lost). Clearly the Scot has not yet recovered from the Novak Djokovic loss at the Australian Open. But at least he’ll have a few weeks to prepare for Miami and freshen up on his video gaming once he loses in the doubles (he and brother Jamie play Querrey/Isner today).

Meanwhile Young picks up his best career win just a week after hitting with Pete Sampras. The ballyhooed junior star with the exceptional hands never found firm footing at the pro level, but maybe this is the breakthrough he needed, or it’s just a one-off thanks to Murray.

“I thought I played pretty consistent. I’m sure he didn’t play his best today,” said Young. “I got a little nervous, some double faults that didn’t make it halfway up the net. I’ve been in this position a couple of times with a few players and had not won the match. I just told myself this time I was going to see it through and not let the nerves get the best of me.”

Young also addressed his slow rise up the ranks. “Not great. It’s tough. But I think it’s getting better. It’s been patchy. I play well at times. Haven’t been able to do it consistently, but I’m happy to, you know, like you said, string together a couple wins in a row. It’s four in a row now because I quallied in. It’s been a tough couple of years and it’s behind me now, and hopefully moving forward.”

Murray’s loss blows a whole in what was otherwise a weak part of the draw. Young now plays Tommy Robredo to play either Fernando Verdasco or Sam Querrey, two players struggling in their own right.

Also yesterday, Ivo Karlovic upset David Ferrer in straight sets – the courts must be pretty fast and JW Tsonga fell at the feet of Xavier Malisse. Juan Martin Del Potro, Robin Soderling and Rafael Nadal were also winners are on very busy Saturday in the desert.

Today’s schedule is just as packed with Roger Federer v. Igor Andreev, James Blake v. Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic v. Andrey Golubev.

Some interesting outer court matches pit Mardy Fish v. Milos Raonic, Nikolay Davydenko v. Stan Wawrinka and Ryan Harrison v. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Among the picks, I still give a slight edge to Fish who has does well in the desert before, and a win by Harrison wouldn’t surprise. I think the big names – Federer, Roddick and Djokovic – should all get through comfortably and avoid any madness.

Andreev did push Federer to five sets on a fast US Open court a few years ago, but the Russian has virtually dropped off the map since. Blake is also well past his prime and I don’t think he can beat Roddick in what could be his farewell Indian Wells match.

Tennis Channel once again has full coverage and the ATP offers live streaming both at 2pm ET.

STADIUM 1 start 11:00 am
R Mello (BRA) vs [30] J Isner (USA) – ATP
[8] A Roddick (USA) vs [WC] J Blake (USA) – ATP

Not Before 2:30 PM
S Errani (ITA) vs [2] K Clijsters (BEL) – WTA
I Andreev (RUS) vs [2] R Federer (SUI) – ATP

Not Before 7:00 PM
A Golubev (KAZ) vs [3] N Djokovic (SRB) – ATP

Not Before 8:30 PM
[25] D Cibulkova (SVK) vs [3] V Zvonareva (RUS) – WTA

STADIUM 2 start 11:00 am
[5] F Schiavone (ITA) vs [Q] A Cornet (FRA) – WTA
N Davydenko (RUS) vs [12] S Wawrinka (SUI) – ATP
[WC] R Harrison (USA) vs [22] G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) – ATP

Not Before 4:30 PM
[6] J Jankovic (SRB) vs [32] J Goerges (GER) – WTA
[13] M Fish (USA) vs [WC] M Raonic (CAN) – ATP
M Cilic (CRO) / I Karlovic (CRO) vs M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) – ATP

STADIUM 3 start 11:00 am
[18] R Gasquet (FRA) vs P Cuevas (URU) – ATP
[19] A Ivanovic (SRB) vs B Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) – WTA
B Becker (GER) vs [26] T Bellucci (BRA) – ATP
J Benneteau (FRA) vs [10] J Melzer (AUT) – ATP
[17] A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs [10] S Peer (ISR) – WTA


You Might Like:
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Backhands Hammered in Losses for Roddick, Federer at Indian Wells
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156 Comments for Madness Gets to Murray; Federer, Djokovic Roddick in Action Today at Indian Wells

Kimmi Says:

Congrats to donald young!

Go federer, go milos, go kim!


Patty Says:

Muarray might be like Haas, Nalbandian, or Davydenko and many others who get near to the top but can’t quite put it all together. He can still have a great career, make tons of money and have adoring fans…he just won’t win any slams.
No shame in that!!!


billyboy512 Says:

Hey, editor..it’s James Blake, not James Black.


Novak_theClown Says:

Murray’s loss blows a whole

Editor is on his spring break.


billyboy512 Says:

Thank you, editor.


jane Says:

Patty agree there is no shame in that, but I still think Murray will win a slam. He is just 23. Too soon to draw conclusions.

Speaking of Davy, he may have a hard time versus Stan. I think Wawa will probably win. Fed should be okay versus Andreev, who had a tough one versus Nishikori. Hoping Nole continues his run. Roddick will beat Blake, and I think Sean may be right; James has to be thinking about retirement on some level. No that he has to retire! But he doesn’t seem able to compete with the best or even go deep-ish at his favorite events. Whatever happens, Blake is someone I will always admire: such a fighter and yet such a nice guy. He just never really developed a “plan b” on the court, which is maybe what held him back from truly breaking through at a hard court slam.


Kimmi Says:

I would like to see davydenko play well again. he is so good to watch when he is on..i remember delpo saying davy can play like a play station ha-ha. I like stan but I think davy is a better player.

here we go!


jane Says:

Kimmi, I agree with you re: Davy. I hope he finds his form and pulls out the win today, but Stan can be dangerous, as well know.


Kimmi Says:

davydenko is not that confident anymore. not hitting those down the line FH and BH! no way he is going to win this match playing like this!


Kimmi Says:

davydenko just hit a magnificent shot..way to go!


Kimmi Says:

davy breaks first..early days yet but looking good so far!


Kimmi Says:

hmmm wawa breaks right back


steve Says:

Now three consecutive breaks of serve, and Davydenko is again ahead a break.


Kimmi Says:

davy with the first set..go go!

I see blake has an early break in the second. can he keep it up?


Kimmi Says:

davy with an early break in the 2nd..wawa making too many errors. davy has been just steady!


Kimmi Says:

roddick breaks back and about to break again..that will it for blake!


Kimmi Says:

wawa breaks but but could not hold his serve. another break for davy. wawa needed to hold there now i think davy will win this..

I don’t think i picked davy on my bracket


dari Says:

Shoulda picked petzschner over chela. A lot if his ranking is from lots of clay court play, petzschner can do better than he can jm a faster hard court. Ah well.
Stan, come back and get the second set!


Kimmi Says:

davy serving for the match and not starting well..c’mon davy finish it


Kimmi Says:

oh no! wawa breaks! no confidence to serve it out!


Kimmi Says:

tense tie break, davy with a double fault. dari, looks like wawa will take the second


Kimmi Says:

wawa fights back takes the second, poor davy!


dari Says:

Way to go Stan! I want the win for myself and for my bracket! And its good for Stan of course ;)


Kimmi Says:

dari – chela with a break in the second. the match is not over!


dari Says:

I was just gonna say that kimmi! He must have broken twice cause he took that second set!
Shout out to Kimberly for setting up the draw challenge on ATP website- this time feels so official compared to tennis channel AO challenge- its really getting the competitive juices flowing!


dari Says:

df on break point down Stan, really?
Don’t get me wrong, love davydenko, man can he strike a ball and has made the most of his size, but stan is my man right now.


jane Says:

Competitive dari? lol :) I think it’s really fun mostly to see how I make out essentially “guessing”. ha ha. I also like the camaraderie, how we can carry over our discussions and knowledge from here, to there. Quite fun – so yeah, major kudos to Kimberly for setting up our group last year and for reminding us all to play!

Come on Davy, find your inner giant.


Kimmi Says:

i picked stan but i want davy to play well again:)
well, my pick petz in trouble..after these matches i think dari will take the lead again…


dari Says:

Yeah, jane! I think “guessing” would be an overstatement for what I did on AO draw challenge. I at least had the head 2 heads right there handy on the atp IW draw!


dari Says:

Competitivem or not, your guessing has served you well!


dari Says:

SERVE IT OUT, Stan.


Kimmi Says:

congrats to stan..davy should take his chances when he has them!


jane Says:

Congrats to Stan the Man (and dari who will pull ahead! :)). I really wanted Davy to win too Kimmi. contador had her doubts, and she was correct! I think I picked Petz too – doh!


Kimmi Says:

i am watching kim at the mo. there are so many breaks in this match, unbelievable. no one seem to know how to hold serve..


dari Says:

Congrats, Stan!
Thanks,Jane, we’re all tied!
Kimmi clijsters needs to pick it up a little. Errani is playing well, she does not need to drag this into a third set!


Kimmi Says:

errani gets everything back..kim just makes errors. she was awful at the end of 2nd set


Kimmi Says:

another break and break back..if kim continues like this she will lose


Daniel Craig Says:

Seems like Kim is saving energy but she breaks again, so there we goooo


dari Says:

Love the nickname, DC!


Kimmi Says:

11 double faults for kim..hold pls


Kimmi Says:

she manage to hold but this match is still not over. i feel like errani can break anytime.


dari Says:

Ok, Kim! Don’t make it so hard next time. 13 df’s?!


Kimmi Says:

OMG! she wins but definitely has to play better. 13 double faults and lots of UE! 50 UE WOW!

federer next!


Kimmi Says:

Ryan Harrison takes the first set..don’t think i picked him.


Kimmi Says:

melzer break back in the 2nd jane. must have woken up!


Daniel Craig Says:

Thanks dari! Good that Kim got thru but it’s like she never got out of first gear the entire match, kind of like Nadal in his opener. I missed the draw at the end of the match. Who does she play next?


Kimmi Says:

she play batolli DC


dari Says:

Let’s go, roger!
Oh, roger won toss chose to receive, did I hear right?


Kimmi Says:

i didnt see that dari..strange! I guess he wants to get used to andreev spin?


dari Says:

Nice, fh roger!


Kimberly Says:

That’s not his style. Roger usually chooses to serve. Today is calm compared to yesterday. I saw Mchale beat kutzy. That is a shocker.


Kimo Says:

Roger has got to break here…


Kimmi Says:

go roger, take these 0-30 games


dari Says:

Two things I didn’t remember about igor a:
He’s huge
He has a weird toss and service.motion.
Let’s go Rog, get the break!


Kimo Says:

Unlucky with the net cord there :(


Kimmi Says:

bad returns, aaargh! c’mon rog


dari Says:

Andy and Jamie take first set from isner and Querrey


Kimmi Says:

go murrays. at least the doubles wins will give him something to cheer about


Kimmi Says:

great game from igor. crunch time now. go rog


dari Says:

Allez, Rog!


Kimo Says:

Roger has got to stop wasting these chances!!!


Kimmi Says:

YAY! break. go fed!


Kimmi Says:

contador and skeezer must be sitting in the stadium :)


Kimo Says:

At 30 years of age, Roger is still lighter on his feet than most young folk :)


dari Says:

Way to go, Rogelio.


dari Says:

Aww, you’re right kimmi, I’m gonna ask them how big igor is in person!


steve Says:

What a set from Roger! Kept Andreev guessing the whole time. Andreev did very well to hold serve but the pressure from Roger was just too much in the end.


Kimo Says:

Ryan Harrison wins.


Kimmi Says:

melzer came back and wins. no more upsets pls!

ok rog, lets finish!


dari Says:

Thanks for the Harrison update, kimo.
That’s a good win for him, don’t mind taking the hit on my bracket :)
Bet skeeze and contador were holding their breath when Rog couldn’t make that shot an overhead and had to run back. mighta been a tweener…


Kimmi Says:

aaaagh..break back! going too close to the line on that BP!


dari Says:

Ok, well roger can’t let this get to him. Damn. Its never easy anymore.


Kimberly Says:

Nice second serve by fed.


dari Says:

Good for Rog to hold there.


Kimmi Says:

igor going for broke on second serve returns..some have been going in.


jane Says:

Wow Gulbis is imploding at the end of set one; he got the break to serve for it, now he’s in the tiebreak and flubbing, down 1-5. Grrr Ernie. :(


Kimberly Says:

Jane, unfortunately that is not surprising.


Kimmi Says:

igor going for broke, federer not serving first serves..c’mon rog


Kimmi Says:

federer needs to serve well now..crunch time! igor playing well too!


steve-o Says:

Andreev has never been easy for Federer. They played a five-setter at US Open some years ago, and then a very tough four-set match at AO last year where Andreev had multiple points for a two-sets-to-one lead, but failed to convert.

His forehand is huge and has a lot of topspin on it. He can really blast it through the court, with incredible acceleration. If you could somehow take Sampras’ serve and convert it into forehand form, I think Andreev’s forehand would be the result.

Of course it’s very hard to control a shot that powerful, otherwise Andreev would easily be a top ten player.


dari Says:

5-5 its getting tense in here.
Drop shots, whatever it takes rog. He just needs to execute in this game.


Kimmi Says:

steve-o, so true. I have been saying that before the match. i knew this would be a tough match.


Kimmi Says:

I hope federer finish in 2. too tough to go to decider :(


Kimberly Says:

Feds running down the line backhand is ridiculousl very hard shot to make with a one hand bh.


Kimberly Says:

Tiebreak!


Kimmi Says:

double faults at critical moments..


Kimmi Says:

bad error frm igor


dari Says:

You guys are right, for sure. Even in Roger’s prime igor has been tough for him. But roger has always found a way and we’ll hope the same for today.
Great point Rog!


Kimo Says:

That pickup was outrageous from Roger!!!


Kimmi Says:

wheeeeee! what pick up from those 2 points. WOW!


dari Says:

Roger was so far back running up there. Geeze


Kimmi Says:

Igor with the biggest FH..tough tie break! Need this point rog!


dari Says:

Holy heck, that fh from igor.
Come on, roger!


Kimmi Says:

david ferrer cheering for igor! i didnt know they are good friends?


Kimberly Says:

Major shank from igor


Kimmi Says:

shank! bad bad shank! c’mon rog!


Kimmi Says:

match point..gooo rog!


Kimo Says:

Roger looks really happy with this win :)


dari Says:

Whew! Roger able to get it done in straights- he’s never done that with igor. :)


Kimmi Says:

phew! tough match especially the second set. good test for rog, he needs these tough matches early on!


Kimberly Says:

Congrats to fed and his fans


Kimmi Says:

fortunately no major shanks today from rog at critical points :)


steve-o Says:

Great job for Roger to get it done in straights. I thought it would go all the way, but am happy to be proved wrong.


dari Says:

Kimmi- commentators on tennis channel kept talking about David and igor. Apparently igor plays a lot on Spanish clay and for maybe some reason I missed david’s coach is a big supporter of igor and his tennis. It’s just like regular life, you can’t always predict who will be buds!


Kimmi Says:

Cilic beat serra 6-1 6-3. wow..go cilic


dari Says:

Kimmi says: “fortunately no major shanks today from rog at critical points :)”
Little victories, huh, kimmi?


Kimmi Says:

dari – good to know. ferrer was really cheering.. even pointing at some bad shots that igor made. kirilenko was there too..apparently she is the girl friend.


Kimmi Says:

yap dari, baby steps!


Kimmi Says:

murrays beat isner/querrey. woot! go murrays!


jane Says:

Go for the bagel Ernie! Go Nole!

Good win for Fed; Andreev is not an easy first rounder.


dari Says:

Golubev and nole boring so far. Djoko too good. I can’t like Nole anymore, he’s too dangerous right now ;)


Kimberly Says:

Bagel coming!


Kimmi Says:

jane – i bet you are relaxing now :)
i am thinking if i should predict this match, but maybe not :)

kimberly i am with you. smell a bagel!


Kimmi Says:

milos vs fish coming up! goo meeeelosh!


Kimmi Says:

bagel for u kimberly!


dari Says:

Nole too hot, golubev too cold.switch it over to milos and mardy, please tennis channel


dari Says:

Well, good for golubev!
Not gonna worry too much about it for nole, though!


Kimmi Says:

I am on milos vs fish. i see golubev breaks, seem to start to play now..


Kimmi Says:

milos first serve not clicking today, his second serve is soo good..no problems so far. go milos!


Kimmi Says:

milos serving at 38%. not good! duece now!


Kimmi Says:

serving at 36% now. its getting worse! duece!


Kimmi Says:

adv fish


Kimberly Says:

Novak looks scary. Serious contender for number one ifnhe plays like this. Hope my boy can hold him off!


Kimberly Says:

Two all, I can’t explai. Why imfound myself pulling for Raonic v an American who ivke. Hmmm. Maybe because he’s young? My bracket? I am going ton force myself to pull for fish.


Kimmi Says:

when i saw a bagel, i thought it will be all djoko. golubev has done well to stay close in the second set..

milos is very calm..no fist pumps nothing at the mo. his serve not on today. hope it will pick up!


jane Says:

Glad Nole got through; that second set was definitely tighter and showed Golubev’s potential I think. :)

No major upsets today right? Or am I missing one?


Kimmi Says:

well, golubev tried but not quite! picking up where he left it off djoko!


dari Says:

Nah, nole wanted to finish it fast. 59 mins.


Kimberly Says:

I thought I heard Raonic calling trainer?


Kimmi Says:

milos just called the trainer. the commentator said back injury. hmmmm, thats why he cant serve!


Kimmi Says:

too bad he is injured. does not have a good chance to win this match now :( oh, well!


jane Says:

Yeah, bummer for Milos. : (


dari Says:

Give him a chance, guys! Let’s see how bad the back is.


dari Says:

Right now, serve is not problem for milos its the fh! And fish just making him play extra balls


dari Says:

Milos able to hold


jane Says:

Go Milos – hold! He’s a fighter.


steve-o Says:

Fish looks mentally flaky at the moment. And Raonic looks to have the first set wrapped up.

Good to hear Cilic won his match, Kimmi.


dari Says:

Just saw a bit of the head rackets commercial with Andy Murray and all the trick shots, like with him hitting plates with tennis balls a la skeet shooting, and they cut it down and made it a penn balls commercial! Weird.


dari Says:

Mardy is not converting any of his bp chances!


jane Says:

Go Milos!!!!

Has anyone else noticed this trend? I have been checking the stats periodically all day yesterday and today as I’ve been too busy to much more than follow scores for most matches; anyhow, to get to my point, I have noticed lower first serve percentages from a lot of the players. I wonder why that is: rustiness? Something to do with the surface? The conditions? Anyone know?


Skeezerweezer Says:

Kimberly says

Novak looks scary….

Yes he is looking extremely solid. Saw him up close practicing yesterday and he is hitting unreal. Will report later here from IW, so much to report, so little time, having too much fun at the moment :). Cheers everyone, and yes, contador and I met up. She is such a great tennis fan! :)I am not worthy!!


jane Says:

skeezer!!! So glad to hear you are alive, well and enjoying the tennis.

Milos seems to be choking here just like he did the last match when trying to serve it out; interesting. I wonder if it is the bigger event that has his nerves going – or maybe it is his back that’s throwing him off mentally?


Gordo Says:

Some say you have arrived on the tour when you win your first ATP tournament.

Milos Raonic did that last month, but no!

You know you have arrived when Sean Randall picks you to lose against someone you have beaten before and you just go out and thump him again.

Another win for M I L O S !!!!!!!

And that is even with his first serve sputtering in the first set. So much for the “All the Canadian kid has is that big serve. He beat Fish in the first set with the rest of his game and was cucumber cool when facing all his break points.

Meanwhile, he followed up his one break in the first set with a hold at love.

In the second set he warded off two break chances and then broke Fish on his single chance. Then for good measure he fought off 4 additional break points, going a total of 8 for 8 in the match, while going 2 for 2 on his break chances. That’s all you need sometimes.

In the semis of the Tennessee tournament this year Milos defeated Fish 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. This time he cut out the part where he lost a set and won 7-5, 6-4.

— — — —

From his interview after his 4th round win at this year’s AO –

Q – which seeded player do you want to beat next?”
A – “All of them.”

Milos is one round away from a first meeting with Roger.


jane Says:

Yay Milos – saw the Canadian flag-waving that conty was talking about. Must be snowbirds who live down there or Phoenix for the winter, or possibly travellers. Why not? We don’t have much tennis to cheer about round here.


dari Says:

Skeezer- Glad you’re having fun and glad you met contador, will be excited for your report!


dari Says:

Mardy didn’t take any of his chances- milos didnt let him!
And good of him to take the injury time out and then just be able to.move past it.
Jane- your trend across the board day and night matches?


jane Says:

I think so dari; I mean I don’t think Roddick’s or Blake’s first serve percentages here great early on in today’s match, although Rod’s got better. I can’t recall specifics, but it just seems like something I have noticed. I would have to go back and check the stats over the last couple of days to be sure about day – night though.


Gordo Says:

As much as I am looking forward to when Milos meets Roger, none of us should look past Raonic vs Harrison. This will be their first of probably many meetings on the big stage, and might be odd for Raonic to finally play someone younger than him (he is a year and a half older than 18 year old Harrison, who knocked off the 22 seed today).


jane Says:

Yep agree Gordo: Harrison is on a roll, whereas you’d think Raonic has to be getting a wee bit tired; he played (and was clutch) in Davis Cup too.


andrea Says:

what a great day of tennis. the stands were jammed for fish/raonic. standing room only…lots of buzz around milos. everyone was talking about him and how he has become a ‘must see’ at this event.

roger in fine form. schiavone is looking strong as well…she dusted cornet who couldn’t handle the power.


mmm Says:

Blows a whole what…?


Tennis Vagabond Says:

Nadal vs Sweeting today. Bet Sweeting is juiced for revenge! Or, maybe, shivering in a corner with the lights off…
Dog vs DelPo looks like the only really interesting match today. Predictions anyone? Won’t be on till around 6 EST I imagine.


contador Says:

andrea!

you were at schivone match too. love her fiesty play! was sitting near the top of the south bleacher near the top, far east corner, trying to catch a little breeze.
_____________________

great day of tennis but i was confused where to be – too many matches at the same time!

started the day off with a set of richie -cuevas. had to see that gorgeous gasquet backhand. was going to go watch roddick and blake but ended up at stadium 2 for schiavone and stayed there to watch wawa and davy.

stanley and kolya were evenly matched with some great tennis straight through to almost the end of the decider when the russian appeared suddenly worn out. but there were signs of the top ten davy yesterday! in the end it was stan the man!

wawa and davy match went longer than expected…and already had missed a the start of federer and andreev. ( not keen on watching andreev v fed anyways ) and at the time, i was drawn to court #4 where very few people were to see cilic v serra. of course my reason for being there also was the match following cilic’s, my boy gulbis ; ) and, there were less seats for court 4 than for the now famous practice courts 15 and 16!! i was sitting close enough on a bleacher at one end to pat cilic on the head. i resisted. cilic serve machine was working, plus he hit the frenchman off the court. however, i saw lots of serra’s teammate… shirtless adrian mannarino, just to my right. very very easy on the eyes : )

then gulbis’ dad showed up with gumy – gulbinator’s dad dressed in a black suit. the man doesn’t sweat!! it was hot! don’t know how he does it!? LU walked on court followed by ERNIE. and he didn’t look good. completely lethargic, gulbis was literally dragging his feet as he walked on court and appeared like the last thing he wanted to do was play tennis. and he played that way through the first set. before the set was over, he got a racket abuse violation, which i was close enough to him to easily see coming. and the racket break was spectacular! LOL!! marat could not have done it better. LU won the set and was maybe too confident, thinking as all of us did, he had ernie and would take the match in 2 sets. but LU got sloppy and kinda choked. suddenly the tide turned and all of us cheering for “GOOLBIS,” in disbelief. poor LU. ernis won 2nd set tiebreak.

meanwhile, some nice fans next to me were tracking federer and we were relieved FED won. all was right in the tennisworld and gulbis playing inspired tennis won the decider in style, with help from a demoralized LU. Ernests somehow found the energy to hang in a rally if required, serve big at all the right moments and win 6-1. yes, congrats to ernie….he now gets novak djokovic..hahahaha

the gulbis match went to 7:30. by then, had to run to stadium 1 before nole match was over!! i missed the will farrell bit and got there just in time to see poor golubev get a bagel. andrey showed signs of life and even talent in the second set, while nole took a short nap and was down 0-2. but novak came to his senses and all hope for golubev taking the 2nd set was gone. wow and wow. djokovic’s returns, his deep precise backhand and speed is really something to see close up. others try the fast spin around return but have yet to see anyone as good as nole at making such a move and getting back into position for the next shot, not even dolpogo ( but i’ll check more of him today) OMG! he plays delpo!!

wanted to stay for fish and raonic but 2hrs of tennis for the bf was it for him, even though i tried to get him to stop at stadium 2 for fish and raonic on the way out. :/

marquee day today: woz, mr. dimples, dolpogo/delpo, federer doubles, stosur, and verdasco…

later…..


dari Says:

Thanks for checking in andrea and contador!
Everybody, where is youzhny?


The fighter Says:

Vamos Rafa


madmax Says:

great report contador. Keep ’em coming!

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