Andy Murray v Gilles Simon

A good win for Murray there. Credit for Simon as he played better than he did in Monte Carlo. A side note. Barry Cowan. When will sky get rid of this useless git? He clearly doesn't listen. Murray said on his pre match interview that the courts will be faster and the balls bounce off the surface quicker and the conditions are different to location in relation to courts being so far above sea level and so players will need to makes some adjustments and half way through the first set Barry Cowan comes out with this gem 'I don't understand why Murray is changing some of his tactics from Monte Carlo' is he serious? Peter Fleming did not deserve to be sat with that idiot!

Back to Murray though Belucci next for him. Shall be interesting being a lefty and uses topsin alot.

Good job, Murray his playing better and better, I hope he keeps this up. Andy is too good to just bow out early in these tourney's. Eventhough this went three sets I never felt like this match was in doubt. And i really liked how murray remained cool and focused from start to finish.

socal1976 wrote:Good job, Murray his playing better and better, I hope he keeps this up. Andy is too good to just bow out early in these tourney's. Eventhough this went three sets I never felt like this match was in doubt. And i really liked how murray remained cool and focused from start to finish.

Kim's probably getting it right now. :p

Said in his post match interview on Sky that he didn't really play that well and should be better for the next *match!

*Has a good record against lefties, but hasn't played Belucci before.

Hey socal. Glad you caught the match. Andy did play some good stuff. I saw Djokovic earlier and he played really well. Was hitting the ball cleanly and Anderson to his credit played really well.

Legendkillar, is Andy in Novak's half of the draw, must be since fed and Nadal are together. If so would like to see both players get through to the semi. Give Andy a bit of a chance for revenge. But I have to say I am hoping and praying Novak gets through to the final and gets a crack at Nadal on the clay. I think the conditions suit him, but then again he would still be up against the greatest clay courter ever on home soil.

socal. I do believe that Djokovic is in the same half as Murray. Nadal has a tough match against Del Potro which should be interesting. I think that Djokovic will have a good chance as they surface seems a lot quicker. I think if we did have a Djokovic v Nadal final then Djokovic will have the best chance in ages to beat Nadal in a final on clay.

Yes, legendkillar but quite frankly Nadal looked like he was in terrifying form in his demolition job on Baghadaditis in the first round. The altitude makes madrid a real quick clay court. I really want to see that final. Novak is better than he was back in 09 when that semi went the distance. Probably the greatest three set match I have ever seen. But as you say the field looks really tough, all the best guys have come to play and have gotten their clay legs underneath them.

socal. Nadal did look terrifying, but I thought Bagdhatis looked slow and looked as if he was carrying extra weight. Seemed a formality match for Nadal. I think Djokovic is looking very good on clay. I am hoping that the top seeds into the last 4.

I'm glad Murray won but it doesn't bode well for the future when he is the more defensive player even when playing someone as defensive as Simon. As a spectator the defensive rallies that Murray wins can be exciting but when an opponent gets bored and decides to attack (and actually wins the point against Murray) it does make you think.

Graf, I agree, how long does murray want to rely on his legs. He has the power and skill to be more aggressive and dictate play more often, but it seems he doesn't want to break out of his comfort zone. When he made a surge beating Rafa, Roger, and Nole over the course of a few master's and pushing himself to #2 in the world he was really looking to attack with his forehand.