Dubai 2012 - Semi-finals

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Murray v Djoko

Can anyone be sure of the winner?

I'll pick Murray to tease NITB!

Delpo V Federer

Pretty tough one to call. Can Federer again keep Delpo on his toes and force him into errors? The fast conds coudl work for both. I am not sure which way it's going to go.

Ok...Federer cause I like his game.

legendkillar wrote:If Andy loses this, I will make it my mission to impregnate Judy Murray so she can bear a player with mental fortitude!

That's very generous of you

legendkillar wrote:If Andy loses this, I will make it my mission to impregnate Judy Murray so she can bear a player with mental fortitude!

Those courts are too small for those players! They can get to anything!

Andy Andy Andy

This is turning into a very handy test - a good one for either player to win.

barrystar wrote:This is turning into a very handy test - a good one for either player to win.

No. Djokovic has done this too often. It is a far better test for Murray.

2 Match points for Andy

Great stuff from Murray.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

legendkillar wrote:If Andy loses this, I will make it my mission to impregnate Judy Murray so she can bear a player with mental fortitude!

That's very generous of you

Call it national service

The child will have a lethal BH slice and the mouth of a sewer.

Oh wait we already have a player like that....

Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Andyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Oh yessssssssssssssssssss 6:2 7:5

The demise of Djoko has started.

Wow. Murray beats Djokovic convincingly and Djokovic is not carrying any injuries.

how's that for mental strength?!

Oh excellent - well done

Andy is the GOAT......oh wait

legendkillar wrote:If Andy loses this, I will make it my mission to impregnate Judy Murray so she can bear a player with mental fortitude!

Ouch! That's a tough job!

It makes my highlight watching later that more bearable later

Well done Murray

Fed will have to win another slam or two to be GOAT, for now Murray's title is safe.

Let's see if Murray can keep it cool and get himself focussed for the final.

71% first serve, 85% of it won.

legendkillar wrote:If Andy loses this, I will make it my mission to impregnate Judy Murray so she can bear a player with mental fortitude!

Thats what I call taking one for the team!

You must be mightily relieved.

Is going as I said it a few days ago, Fed-Andy Final, Fed in 3.

Murray, served really well and credit to him great match. Novak was just off with the forehand today. Spraying way too many errors. Not a good performance, but credit to Murray fully deserved that win, the serve set everything up for him today. He didn't give novak many seconds to look at.

Murray's BH is pretty good but his FH ....again when under pressure!

bogbrush wrote:

legendkillar wrote:If Andy loses this, I will make it my mission to impregnate Judy Murray so she can bear a player with mental fortitude!

Thats what I call taking one for the team!

You must be mightily relieved.

What Murray fan would've done the same

Jahu wrote:Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Andyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Oh yessssssssssssssssssss 6:2 7:5

The demise of Djoko has started.

LOL! or did it start when he won in Melbourne?

As I have said Andy murray best player to never win a slam, that will change as well he get that taste of slam victory. And for sure Novak and Andy will be the matchup to watch over the next 18 months in tennis.

Ideal time for Nole to lose a match. No streak to worry about.

Legend unless you look like deliciano Lopez, she might not give you a go. Oh who are we kidding when you get to be Judy's age you usually are ready to go.

Djokovic struggling on a court with serious speed. Rushed and made errors.

Not significant on the tours slow surface norm.

Didn't see the match but looks like Nole did some choking of his own!

Interestingly the two players won just 10 of the 32 second serves they had. There were moments when Andy played really well. Djoko looked a little flat but that's not to take anything away from Andy.
Nole fans can argue that this takes a little pressure of their man. Let's face it, he himself said he was never again gonna have the sort of run he had last year.

noleisthebest wrote:Ideal time for Nole to lose a match. No streak to worry about.

Nole needs to focus on Roland Garros to make his own piece of history ... and achieve something neither Federer or Nadal have done - the modern day grand slam - holding the four titles at the same time.

Nore Staat wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Ideal time for Nole to lose a match. No streak to worry about.

Nole needs to focus on Roland Garros to make his own piece of history ... and achieve something neither Federer or Nadal have done - the modern day grand slam - holding the four titles at the same time.

He is. Peaking for RG. I wish I could be there on THAT day ....

bogbrush wrote:Djokovic struggling on a court with serious speed. Rushed and made errors.

Not significant on the tours slow surface norm.

rubbish, he won Dubai 3 times.

legendkillar wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

legendkillar wrote:If Andy loses this, I will make it my mission to impregnate Judy Murray so she can bear a player with mental fortitude!

Thats what I call taking one for the team!

You must be mightily relieved.

What Murray fan would've done the same

LK, you are sick !

bogbrush wrote:

legendkillar wrote:If Andy loses this, I will make it my mission to impregnate Judy Murray so she can bear a player with mental fortitude!

Thats what I call taking one for the team!

Not especially, they don’t have to be in the same room at the same time

legendkillar

What are you talking about? What makes you think that Mrs. Murray would come within a hundred miles of you? And if she did are you sure you have any mental fortitude. Judging from your comments on this thread if you do your keeping it well hidden.

Did you notice me cheering for Murray? Unlike you I had belief...

bogbrush wrote:Djokovic struggling on a court with serious speed. Rushed and made errors.

Not significant on the tours slow surface norm.

He won this tournament 3 years in a row it wasn't the speed of the surface that gave him problems. Murray served well and most importantly Novak was back to shank mode on the forehand, something that rarely happens to him in the last couple of years but today was a bad day for the Djokovic groundstroke game.

Hell is strokes were so ineffective that he played the entire second set like a serve and volleyer and almost pulled it back. Very interesting how much Novak volleyed in this tournament and he had some fair success with it as well.

Spring 2012 is looking a whole lot different to Spring 2010 and Spring 2011. Let's hope that this is the year that Andy breaks his duck.

What impressed me was his 1st serve statistic. Even so, there was a lot of pressure on his 1st serve given the relative weakeness of his 2nd serve (the same against Berdych).

That's the sort of thing that could prove difficult to protect over a best-of-five - encouraging work in progress.

Go Delpoooooo........send FED to final NOW!

Not hugely significant for Djokovic. He was outplayed today but is still world number one and favourite for every slam this year in my opinion.

Massive win for Andy though. The way he played in those last 4 games of the first set was brilliant. Serve, forehand, aggression, playing on the baseline... Everything Murray's fans and critics have wanted him to do more of or do better he seems to have improved.

I was even pleased that having given it away in the second set, he showed the mental strength to come again. He needs a few more wins against Novak and Rafa before the slams in my opinion to convince him he can do it in the big ones. We saw how Novak managed to tun around the Rafa rivalry and therefore went on to beat him in the slams with the belief that those wins gave him.

Excellent stuff Andy, well done. This one I expect to be straightforward for Federer.

Right Barrystar, Murray did really well limiting Novak's looks at second serves. I think getting a high percentage of first serves in is a big deal in any match, but when these two guys and their world class returns play each other the importance is magnified even more. Novak looked terrible off the forehand today and Murray was hungrier as well.

Looks like Djoko needs some time off to reinvigorate himself. Weariness is written all over his body language. But Murray's is all there. He's worked hard and well deserves this win.

I don't think djokovic will be too concerned, this is a tournament he won 3 times in a row. He is consistently beating the other top 3 in slams which are what matter now. Slams at what you are remembered for. Of course he would have liked to win but would rather he just peaked for French open

it was probably the worst opening set and a half Novak has played since 2010. Today we mark the birth of Murray as a certified Brit...he shall no longer be known as that losing Scot.

It was always a more important match for Murray than it was for Djokovic.

It would have been discouraging for Murray to lose under any circumstances, and positively disastrous to lose from 5-2 up in the second set. As it is he can feel that he's making progress on almost every front and he and Lendl will no doubt be gaining confidence in their project.

Murray will obviously want to win the final, but this is probably a more significant match in the context of months to come.

This win was significantly more important for Murray than the loss was for Djoko. Had Murray have taken the time off after the Aus Open to get himself in to good condition (which he clearly has) and then still lost this game it could have had an impact on the rest of the season for him; I think it would have been very difficult to come back from another loss. Or would he have reasoned it to himself that he’s lost twice on the bounce to the best current player on the tour, shrug his shoulders and carry on?

Compare Murray's win with the recent experience of Nadal - wouldn't Nadal have loved to have won this match?

I wonder if it would have been more important to Djoko had Nadal been his opponent - any thoughts?

Beautiful concussive hitting from JMDP & Fed.

Fed is more at ease with Delpo's first serve than the second one.

A bit of a relaxed play so far.