Australian Open: Day Ten - 2014

First topic message reminder :

http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/schedule/schedule15.html

Day 9 somehow got lost , but Day 10 is ready to start.



Cibulkova would be an interesting winner, but she has a hard time closing matches (she is a class apart from the recent Djokovic antics).

Vika should have an easier time, but ARad is a tough cookie.

The Mens side has seen two "upsets" already, is there room for more?

Can Grigor (Baby Fed, to the French version) do the possible and upset Nadal the Iron Man?

Perhaps Federer (the elder) is the more capable between the two to cause an upset and beat Murray?

Fun day of Tennis awaits. Goodluck to all contestants today.

If Fed takes the TB (have my doubts) then the scoreline will be exactly as per their 2010 Final. Spooky, eh .....?

No, guys, play to 5 sets! Go on, for Raf... I mean, the audience!

There's the first mini-break

Fed giving lessons on defense!

Federer channelling his inner-Djokovic, impressive retrieving

5:2 come on Feddddddddddd

MP...

2 rockets Fed, 2 rockets NOW

Crazy return from Andy,

If Rafa's watching I wonder who he'd prefer to win this tiebreaker...

Andy, clearly. He'll want Fed to win in 5 sets

Kudos to murray for some great resilience there but seriously, Federer has wilted twice with the match on his racket, played scared when it mattered.

Whew! Comeback is on! Fed's 1st serve lets him down in the TB

Oh man. Well, a little wobble, costs a lot.

4'th set 6:3 for Fed to be

Scheiße

lags72 wrote:If Fed takes the TB (have my doubts) then the scoreline will be exactly as per their 2010 Final. Spooky, eh .....?

And after that Match Fed said he was very relieved to have taken it when he did, because he was not looking forward to a 4th set.

This is not the best of Murray, any Murray fan will tell you that... But the fight, wow! Murray has not played matches like this, so I think there is a good chance we may see Federer race through this 4th set.

But even if he does, great signs for Murray.

I'm stunned.

If Federer can't take those opportunities against a below-best Andy, he's not going to take them when it's Rafa in his headlights.

Well Fed had 2,5 strong sets, he cant keep it 3 full sets when the other guy starts to wake up.

Danny_1982 wrote:Ha, I think Fed will take the tie break.

If Murray managed to steal it, then it would be fun... But I really don't think the comeback is on.

And I'm still not convinced you're right Danny wrt ruling out the comeback

Those Murray fingernails haven't snapped yet ........!

I agree HM. Even if he wins this set comfortably (which looking at Andy now is a real possibility) it won't paper over the fact that Fed looked extremely tight with the match in his hands.

Andy is shattered. This will be over within 20 mins.

0:40 break him Fed

It would be a positive for Federer to come through in four. If he had steamrolled through Tsonga and Murray, he just would not have been battle ready for Nadal. So its a blessing in disguise. Best to feel those nerves now imho.

Roger can't afford there kinda mistakes at this stage of his career. 

Spending an extra 1hr on court will make beating Nadal even tougher, if he can still close out this match...

Danny_1982 wrote:I agree HM. Even if he wins this set comfortably (which looking at Andy now is a real possibility) it won't paper over the fact that Fed looked extremely tight with the match in his hands.

Andy is shattered. This will be over within 20 mins.

Federer is gonna get tight against Nadal. Thats a given.

Lionel Hutz wrote:It would be a positive for Federer to come through in four. If he had steamrolled through Tsonga and Murray, he just would not have been battle ready for Nadal. So its a blessing in disguise. Best to feel those nerves now imho.

 
Best darned disguise I ever saw.

Morning chaps. Pretty good match, eh?

Poor from Federer to not close it out, but credit to Murray for persistently stepping his level up. If I'm honest, I'm just glad that he's back, seemingly pain-free and competing with the top players again. Spoken as someone who's not a particular fan of his!

barrystar wrote:

Lionel Hutz wrote:It would be a positive for Federer to come through in four. If he had steamrolled through Tsonga and Murray, he just would not have been battle ready for Nadal. So its a blessing in disguise. Best to feel those nerves now imho.

 
Best darned disguise I ever saw.

Well, its not all bad. Maybe thats a better way to put it. We've all seen it before. Federer cruises to Nadal, but cruise control wont cut it against Nadal.

Come on Fed you need this break.

Yeah Silver as a Murray fan I'm chuffed. His depth hadn't been great, he hasn't looked strong on the stretch. His serve has been average and he's done very little with Feds second serves.

But the effort and fight, wow. If he loses this game there's a good chance of a 6/1 or even 6/0, but the long term signs are tremendous.

Lionel Hutz wrote:

barrystar wrote:

Lionel Hutz wrote:It would be a positive for Federer to come through in four. If he had steamrolled through Tsonga and Murray, he just would not have been battle ready for Nadal. So its a blessing in disguise. Best to feel those nerves now imho.

 
Best darned disguise I ever saw.

Well, its not all bad. Maybe thats a better way to put it. We've all seen it before. Federer cruises to Nadal, but cruise control wont cut it against Nadal.

Yes - that's true. They are both so experienced that ups and downs like a 4th set in another match probably don't amount to a great deal so long as the physical result can be absorbed. A fifth set would be more unambiguously bad I think.

BP 3/11 for Fed, Poor.

Is this trouble for Murray either way. Eurosport commentators say he's wrecked but I can never tell with him. He always looks tired to me.

Andy now ruins the net, come on man, behave yourself

How long has the second game gone on? According to Slamtracker the set is 24 minutes old.

Jahu wrote:BP 3/11 for Fed, Poor.

Hate the Break Point Stat. I think it should look at the number of games that a player gets break points in. Federer has had break points in four games by my reading and broken in three of them with the fourth still ongoing

This is great stuff. I reckon Feds knows these break points are essentially match points, but Murray won't stop fighting. I suspect he may need a sleep break after!

Danny_1982 wrote:Yeah Silver as a Murray fan I'm chuffed. His depth hadn't been great, he hasn't looked strong on the stretch. His serve has been average and he's done very little with Feds second serves.

But the effort and fight, wow. If he loses this game there's a good chance of a 6/1 or even 6/0, but the long term signs are tremendous.

I agree - the long-term prospects are what counts, here. He was always going to be up against it in this particular match, and he's done exceedingly well to take it to four. Funnily enough, a similar pattern to last year when Federer was below-par yet kept extended the match too! At least there's been no obvious pain or discomfort for Murray, that's important. The rotation low down on the backhand is a bit lacking, but since he's starting standing up to the baseline and taking it earlier he's been better off.

As a Federer fan, I'm pleased for Murray and all his fans. It's good to see him back!

Danny_1982 wrote:I agree HM. Even if he wins this set comfortably (which looking at Andy now is a real possibility) it won't paper over the fact that Fed looked extremely tight with the match in his hands.

Andy is shattered. This will be over within 20 mins.

I assume you meant 20 mins for that last game .....  

Lionel Hutz wrote:

Jahu wrote:BP 3/11 for Fed, Poor.

Hate the Break Point Stat. I think it should look at the number of games that a player gets break points in. Federer has had break points in four games by my reading and broken in three of them with the fourth still ongoing

Yes - but it can also be pretty telling. Take the RG 2007 final for example:

Fed's conversion rate was 5% (1/17)

Nadal's conversion rate was 40% (4/10)

Isn't that the story of that particular match?

Impressive winner count from Murray - 37 (vs 41 UEs).

Lionel Hutz wrote:Is this trouble for Murray either way. Eurosport commentators say he's wrecked but I can never tell with him. He always looks tired to me.

Lionel, Absolutely delighted to see you on v2. Welcome.

Ha lags, Murray keen to prove me wrong at every turn.

One good return game from Fed and this will be over. They way Murray is playing he'll need to last another hour and a half to win. You must see that he can't do that physically.

Break him Fed, go go go goooooooooooo

Great fight from Murray. He's serving very well.

How is he staying alive?

I think he should just go for winners on Feds serve. There's no point in rallying.

Hmmm...Fed not attacking the net as much in this set.

Fed playing this quite cleverly. He's just staying solid, not crazy aggressive. He knows slowing this match down is killing Murray physically.

Fed should just keep his serve going and here and there attack for a break, hes engaging in fight on Andys serve and its surprising that Andy is keeping it so strong, thought Fed is 70% of first two sets.

Fed needs a slap, Murray two of them.