Miami Masters 1000 Thread.

[temporary21]

First topic message reminder :

Cue the 80's music! Roll up roll up for all things Miami!

[temporary21]

Also bear in mind he's keeping going and taking his knocks to try and catch back up. Think about that when you sit there knocking him for whatever reason this time

[laverfan]

Odd comment LF. As others have said in no way was Murray lucky to win the second set. He got the solitary break of serve taking his chance when it came. The first set he lost because he had his chances and never took them such is the way of tennis. When you look at it like that Andy was very close to cracking the hoodoo.

The chances go abegging because Murray gets into a slug-fest with Djokovic. Leaves his aggressive shot making at the entrance to the court. I do not recall a drop shot or a lob. Djokovic brought Murray in and then hit passing shots leaving him stranded. He played well for the first set and half, as did Dolgopolov. Dolgopolov was 4-1 up in the second. Klizan played the aggressor in the second set and won it.

Djokovic has bagelled Murray twice in 2015, in quick succession (AO and Miami). Murray needs to go back to being the aggressor rather than pushing the ball in the court.

If Murray fans are are happy with him being close, but no cigar, that is fine.

[CaledonianCraig]

This is an easy one. Two words. Back surgery...  Novak has improved in the last few years his overall game whilst Murray has gone sideways having to readjust to back surgery and what not. As such there's a big gap.  Losing a set 6-0 is no guarantee of giving up.  Training for 3 hours is nothing like competing in a stressful environment for 3.  It seems the grind of trying to beat Novak is Tiring him. That said he was fairly aggressive fir much of 2 sets, which is what he needs.

Pretty much spot on. In addition much of Andy's issues have been mental belief. It took him years to build up the belief he could beat the very best players to win slams and then he had his back surgery. Now for me he is having to build up that mental belief all over again to convince himself that post-back surgery he can still beat the best.

[CaledonianCraig]

The odd comment LF was more at your claim that Murray was lucky to win the second set when he was only the player to break serve in that set so no luck there. As for being happy with being close I'd say it is more a case (for me personally) of being happier that it wasn't a tame two sets defeat and instead was a three sets defeat that, with better serving, could have been a straight sets win.

[Calder106]

Odd comment LF. As others have said in no way was Murray lucky to win the second set. He got the solitary break of serve taking his chance when it came. The first set he lost because he had his chances and never took them such is the way of tennis. When you look at it like that Andy was very close to cracking the hoodoo.

The chances go abegging because Murray gets into a slug-fest with Djokovic. Leaves his aggressive shot making at the entrance to the court. I do not recall a drop shot or a lob. Djokovic brought Murray in and then hit passing shots leaving him stranded. He played well for the first set and half, as did Dolgopolov. Dolgopolov was 4-1 up in the second. Klizan played the aggressor in the second set and won it.

Djokovic has bagelled Murray twice in 2015, in quick succession (AO and Miami). Murray needs to go back to being the aggressor rather than pushing the ball in the court.

If Murray fans are are happy with him being close, but no cigar, that is fine.

Well I wasn't happy with the third set. He needs to stop folding in these situations. However your bringing Dolgopolov and Klizan as examples of how he should have played in the first two sets seems a bit blinkered as they lost the 3rd sets 6-0 and 6-1 respectively and Klizan lost the first set 6-0. So hardly examples to follow.

As with CC my argument was that he was not lucky to win the second set. All of Novak's 4 break points came in the third game of the set. How can Murray only play well for the first set and a half when he actually doesn't have a break point against him in the second half of the second set and breaks Novak to love in the last game.

[Silver]

Incidentally, is it time to accept that Djokovic now has more variety to his game than Murray? I think so.

In his game - yes.

In his repertoire - no.

There's a lot that Andy is not bringing to the party for some reason.

My thoughts exactly. I wonder if this latest defeat will jolt him or not?

The fact that he was focusing on an empty tank (physicality) in the post-match interviews isn't exactly promising in that regard.

[Henman Bill]

Physical and mental go hand in hand. I think he started to give up in set 3. Just a little. Just a fraction here and there. I could see it. Really something strange if he gets tired in a BO3 when not having played the day before. They play 3-4 days in a row BO3 on the tour week in, week out.

And by the way, wasn't Murray's back surgery Autumn 2013, how long does he need to recover from a surgery again? 2 years?

[laverfan]

As with CC my argument was that he was not lucky to win the second set. All of Novak's 4 break points came in the third game of the set. How can Murray only play well for the first set and a half when he actually doesn't have a break point against him in the second half of the second set and breaks Novak to love in the last game.

Djokovic goes mental walkabouts, even when closing matches. Quiet a few times at 5-4, he will freeze. Murray was lucky because Djokovic froze.

Murray, after winning the second set, should have continued with the momentum. Getting broken in the first game of the third set was when the match was lost, not at 5-0.

Our difference of opinion is fine. I had much rather he play aggressive (not kamikaze) and dictate play. He has already been down the physical route and back.

[CaledonianCraig]

As with CC my argument was that he was not lucky to win the second set. All of Novak's 4 break points came in the third game of the set. How can Murray only play well for the first set and a half when he actually doesn't have a break point against him in the second half of the second set and breaks Novak to love in the last game.

Djokovic goes mental walkabouts, even when closing matches. Quiet a few times at 5-4, he will freeze. Murray was lucky because Djokovic froze.

Murray, after winning the second set, should have continued with the momentum. Getting broken in the first game of the third set was when the match was lost, not at 5-0.

Our difference of opinion is fine. I had much rather he play aggressive (not kamikaze) and dictate play. He has already been down the physical route and back.

Or was Djokovic lucky because Murray froze and was unable to consolidate after breaking first twice in the first set?? Swings and roundabouts is what we are talking here.

For me Andy's aggression levels were higher than they have been in this match-up in recent times but would love him to bring more of that variety such as slice and drop shots and varying trajectories. Yes we can be negative and say yet another defeat at the hands of Djokovic or we can be more positive and say well at least there was more aggression, it was more competitive and a few points here or there in the other direction and he would have won.

[Calder106]

LF. Clutching at straws a bit now on the lucky front aren't we. Anyway happy to leave that now.

The momentum was lost at the start of the 3rd set mainly because his first serve stopped working. Don't know the exact stats but there was a graphic part way through his second service game of the set showing that he was at 33% of first serves in. Then he netted his next one as well. It's hard to play aggressive consistently off second serves. That allied with some very poor overheads (and yes Novak had some earlier in the match) lost him the first two service games. The other thing was the fuss he was making over his drinks after losing the first game of the set. I'm not sure what that was all about but he was certainly letting that distract him. So all in all a very poor set in a high pressure match. Djokovic saw his opportunity and took it with precision.

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