Miami Match Thread (Murray wins!)

[Silver]

First topic message reminder :

After watching Rafael Nadal complete a triumphant hardcourt transition at Indian Wells and break his own record for Masters titles won, the tour rumbles on and circles the wagons at Key Biscayne, Miami. The Miami Masters has been held here since 1987, after originally setting up at none other than Delray Beach in 1985. The cream generally seems to rise to the top at Miami, and by far the most prolific winner of the tournament is Andre Agassi, who notched up an amazing six titles over the course of his career. Amongst currently active players who are present at the 2013 tournament, only Djokovic, Murray and Davydenko have lifted the title previously - though Berdych was a finalist in 2010. Although Federer and Nadal are missing, the vast majority of the tour seems to have turned up, and hopefully we'll have an interesting tournament this year.

Prize: $719,160 (purse of $5,185,625), which marks an increase from last year. And of course, 1000 precious ranking points are on offer to the winner.
Defending champion is Novak Djokovic, who defeated Andy Murray in straight sets in 2012. He also won the 2011 tournament, and is therefore going for a hat-trick of wins.
Click for an updated draw on the ATP website.
Morning sessions typically begin at 11:00 local time, and evening sessions around 20:00.

[ryan86]

Oh, maybe not.

[Guest]

5-4... Ferrer to break serve to stay in the match next

[Guest]

Unsurprisingly, Ferrer cracks.

All he needs to do now is break serve

[Cogen]

If Murray doesn't serve this next game out, I am going to get on a plane, hunt him down... and... and... hand him a very angry letter!

... and kick him in the nuts... maybe.

[ryan86]

He'll probably hold to love.

[Guest]

Hes a dogfighter is our Muzz, but it seems like he can only play when hes in one. Oh to be a fed fan 8 -9 years ago.

[Guest]

Is this just me or does Murray seem to have a low 1st serve percentage on "big points"

[Guest]

nope, hes choking it again

[Cogen]

[summerblues]

The most hilarious set of tennis I have seen in a while.

[LuvSports!]

so murray served for the match and choked?

[Cogen]

Yes... hilarious...

[summerblues]

That should do it. David just needs to break the set out now.

[Guest]

Hes more aggressive now Muzz but hes lost his tennis brain, or likely he not using it anymore,

[CaledonianCraig]

If David Ferrer wins I say well done to him it will be thoroughly deserved. Murray just has not been good enough today.

[Guest]

I hope Ferrer does win it... he deserves it, Murray should not go to number 2 on the back of this...

[Guest]

bit o luck at the tb start for muzz

[ryan86]

This is exhausting.

[Guest]

ferrers givin away now... this is soo weird

[Guest]

ferrers leg collapses on him...

[summerblues]

It was not pretty, but congrats Andy.

[Cogen]

THANK YOU ANDY!

I HATE tie-breakers, but that was the least tense I can remember being in a tie-breaker for a loooong time.

[Guest]

GSM Muzz... crikey, i feel there may be some debate on the back on this one, but well done to both, more guts than anything ive seen

[prostaff85]

I guess on the wikipedia page of the word "slugfest', a YouTube link to this match could be posted

[socal1976]

Well we have a new world #2 on monday, the heat, the nervers, the match up of two great retrievers and returners made for a match that lacked winners but in my mind made up for it in twists and turns and competiveness. Poor ferrer challenging on championship point.

[Guest]

phew errs to unforced 14-50 ferrer 23-45 murray

[laverfan]

Well done Murray!.

Ferrer, that last challenge will be a stark reminder of how close he was. :console:

[bogbrush]

I guess on the wikipedia page of the word "slugfest', a YouTube link to this match could be posted

True. Well gutsed-through.

Pity about attacking, risk taking tennis though.

Still, never mind that; just think about the quantity.

[CaledonianCraig]

It wasn't a classic lacking outright winners and more solid serving. Ferrer deserved it I would say as he was more consistent but Murray can take credit for winning despite being a level or two below his best. Andy seals his ninth Masters title and moves to No.2 in the world. Congratulations Andy but must up your level for the clay court season.

[ryan86]

Guying choking on his speech.

[Guest]

tense indeed... too tense for my stone heart

[JuliusHMarx]

phew errs to unforced 14-50 ferrer 23-45 murray

Ferrer hit 14 winners in 200+ points.

[NickisBHAFC]

Fantastic game of Tennis, was a really enjoyable game to watch. Great bit of character from Murray to come from behind to win, after his dreadful start. But Ferrer full credit to him, played some lovely tennis and seems to be improving whenever i see him play.

[erictheblueuk]

Looking at the way they play, it's hard to believe either guy is in the top 10.

[Guest]

Ive never said this before, but i do think they have to star thinking about making things quicker, least on HC, save this for the clay. It does hurt the tennis a lil i feel but more than that someone is gonna get more than injured one day.

[Gerry SA]

I don't see what the fuss about World Number 2 is.

Murray could easily be in the same half as Nadal and Federer on the European a Clay season.

[LuvSports!]

golden era my left buttock!

[laverfan]

Ive never said this before, but i do think they have to star thinking about making things quicker, least on HC, save this for the clay. It does hurt the tennis a lil i feel but more than that someone is gonna get more than injured one day.

Quite agree, Falzy. There were also complaints about trainer being available to one vs another player.

[CaledonianCraig]

I hope Ferrer does win it... he deserves it, Murray should not go to number 2 on the back of this...

Sorry I take issue with this. Murray getting to No.2 comes on the back of three slam finals on the bounce (one slam win), an Olympic title and this Masters title coupled with his run last Autumn. That certainly merits the No.2 slot even though Andy was far from his best today. I take it as a sign of a great player who wins a Masters title despite being below your best.

[Guest]

No no Cal I agree with you there, he deserves to be number 2 on merit, of course he does, i didnt word it well, its just he threw it away soo much, 4 yimes i think he was a break up? I felt Ferrer was the guy I felt should have got it, its just that Andy on that form isn't really his number 2 form, i might have preferred him to get it in the clay court, playing more fluently cos he was bound to get it anyway

[CaledonianCraig]

Yes falzy it wasn't great today. However, Djoko wasn't great against Haas and lost in 4th Round here but nobody says he didn't merit No.1 on the strength of that one random match.

Hopefully, better (more consistent form) to come from Murray but there is nothing wrong with his guts.

[Guest]

Fair enough, bear in mind im a Muzz fan and i wrote that in the middle of the third set... never felt soo up and down for a Muzz match, even wimbo 2012, on a year performance hes the clear number 2, it was an odd match to seal it though

[CaledonianCraig]

It was a very weird match and very frustrating for Murray fans. He won and am delighted about that but his form throughout was patchy and have noted he was having back problems earlier in the week. Here is hoping he can now have an improved clay court season and cement that No.2 spot.

[Guest]

cementing it looks likely regardless of his form, both Fed and Nadal have plenty of points to hold onto in this stretch and Fed in particular's gonna start off a bit rusty

[banbrotam]

so murray served for the match and choked?

No. He was up agaisnt the current best returner on a court that is a returners dream in baking hot sun and high humidity

We have some wonderfully understanding members on these boards

[banbrotam]

[quote="bogbrush"]

Pity about attacking, risk taking tennis though

For that watch the Murray v Gasquet match. After his usual dopey start Murray produced 30-odd winners in the next two and half sets against a good player on form

Or did you miss it?

I ask, because we will have the usual suspects droning on about how poor the rallies were, where have all the attackers gone, why do they allow such slow conditions, when will we have an economy growing at faster than 2% blah blah blah

[CaledonianCraig]

so murray served for the match and choked?

No. He was up agaisnt the current best returner on a court that is a returners dream in baking hot sun and high humidity

We have some wonderfully understanding members on these boards

Yes. I will throw in an observation that holds more water - what guts and bottle from Murray. He looked out on his feet and down on form but still steeled himself and pulled through. Like he said post-match, this was a match that he would have lost a couple of years ago.

[The Special Juan]

Oh my, what a match. It was certainly entertaining thrilling high quality interesting.

Daveed.... What can I say. Even I was near cheering him on at one point. You could just see him break when the ball was shown to have landed in. I think once his mental strength slipped he felt the physical pain and never fully recovered. Vamos Daveed . Frankly, I think he deserved to win but unfortunately in life, you don't get what you deserve.

As for Sir Andrew, I think he can take positives and negatives from this week. The main plus is that he won the tournament without playing particularly well for a whole match. We saw glimpses but nothing more. The main negative is the bad case of Double Faultitis he's had this week and, generally, very poor serving. Maybe it was the conditions, I don't know, but I certainly want to see an improvement come a few weeks time.

Roll on MC, hopefully Novak and Nadal are in the same half

[banbrotam]

Incidentally, Murray, in the past month, has played at his best for around an hour - don't get the impression that I think this is good stuff he's just played

But I think some people need to take into account the brutal conditions they had today

[banbrotam]

The main negative is the bad case of Double Faultitis he's had this week and, generally, very poor serving. Maybe it was the conditions, I don't know, but I certainly want to see an improvement come a few weeks time

I'm unconcerned, simply because the rest of his game has on admittedley rare occassions looked electric and he is still a bit rusty

Del Potro, Gasquet, Ferrer and even the 'new' Cilic are not players you can rock up and beat if you're a little undercooked - but he did so

The gamble has paid off - I maintain that we won't see him at his very best until probably Madrid

[Sponsored content]