Andy Murray Latest and General Tennis Chat

[H_B]

Ah well. Murray played the big points better, and had more variety. Del Potro needs to get a first serve for Christmas and an Iron Man training regime. Looked knackered after the first set.

Great forehand though. He's going to be a hell of a player in a years time.

[capybara]

Can he beat Nadal? And will he ever win over the lovies in the home counties. Their still seems to be a reluctance by some south of the border to really take to him.

Mind you i think he is a Hibby

[H_B]

Can he beat Nadal? And will he ever win over the lovies in the home counties. Their still seems to be a reluctance by some south of the border to really take to him.

To be honest, there are plenty of people in Scotland who don't like him either.

[Gaz]

To be honest, there are plenty of people in Scotland who don't like him either.

Going from the crowd reactions last night, del Potro was the crowd favourite.

I like Murray, but for me a bit of arrogance doesn't bother me if someone has the skills to back it up. I can see why a lot of people don't like him though.

[TheScarf]

Great forehand though. He's going to be a hell of a player in a years time.

Indeed. Did you notice when they were showing the game from the camera behind Del Potro at court level that when Murray was slicing back to him he couldnt generate the same power on his forehand?

A tactic Murray uses very well against the harder hitters.

[H_B]

I like Murray, but for me a bit of arrogance doesn't bother me if someone has the skills to back it up. I can see why a lot of people don't like him though.

Yeah, just not my cup of tea, though I like to watch him play. The modern day Lleyton Hewitt, who I couldn't stand either.

Hope Nadal marmelises him in the semi final.

[H_B]

Indeed. Did you notice when they were showing the game from the camera behind Del Potro at court level that when Murray was slicing back to him he couldnt generate the same power on his forehand?

I thought it was just quite attritional. DP hit 4,5,6 heavy forehands deep which Murray dug back, knowing no one can keep doing that consistently, except maybe Nadal. And so it proved.

Murray is a terrific match player. So clever. Reads the game much better than the likes of Del Potro. Time and again he did him with the backhand down the line out of the blue.

[Virtual Insanity]

Yeah, just not my cup of tea, though I like to watch him play. The modern day Lleyton Hewitt, who I couldn't stand either.

Hope Nadal marmelises him in the semi final.

Murray's got a better variety of shots than Hewitt and is one of the best, if not the best, match players on the tour. The backhand lob is very reminiscent of Hewitt and like Hewitt he executes it better than anyone else in the game. We can go on as long as we like about the misfortune of being up against the Federer/Nadal monopoly of the grand slams but he really needs to be challenging Djokovic for that third spot to make that a legitimate complaint.

[dogma]

Young Jamie is in the mixed doubles final here as well. If he and his lass win that, surely that would make Jamie Murray one of the alltime British tennis greats given that there cant be many who have won 2 slam titles, albeit the mixed swingers.

[capybara]

Anybody else think that the cameras were pish. you could only see half the game.

[RedWeb]

Thinking about the match more I was surprised at how pish the Jimmy Del Potro serve was. He has the physical tools to bash down plenty of aces but it was actually one the weakest parts of his game. Those who are going on about his big forehand need to face the fact that it takes more than one big shot to win against the top boys. Some of the best forehands you'll see are from guys outside the top 100 (ie Robbie Kendrick) but the rest of their game is shite so they lose. Del Potro needs to get more variety in his game, serve better and get fitter otherwise he'll never be a top 10 regular.

[josecomehome]

Tactically Murray proved that he is one of the best, if not the best, player on tour. The low slice caused all sorts of problems for Del Potro. Anything high and aggressive with topspin to the backhand caused him Del Potro problems as well and allowed Murray to get the slice to Del Potro's forehand. THe Murray backhand was awesome on the big points.

Del Potro played better when he had nothing to lose in the 3rd set. Looks like nerves got to him a bit.

He played pretty much as I had anticipated. Steady and deep but without the ability to workout winning patterns of play against Murray. If your groundies weren't spot on to his forehand, he would murder them.

Now- it's his big chance to beat Rafa.

I'd say it's 50/50 whether he does so. Going to be great though.

[finnersaintee]

i think one of they key weapons that Andy has is that two-handed backhand of his. The way he winds up that shot makes it hard for the other player to predict whether he's going to hit it across court or down the line.

well done andy...

can't see him getting past the semi though whoever he gets

[DomDom]

Can he beat Nadal?

Of course. Nadal has not been without his scares in this tournament, and you have to believe that Murray will up his game. Add that to the fact that we're on his favourite surface and you have possibly his best chance at a victory over Nadal yet.

[H_B]

Thinking about the match more I was surprised at how pish the Jimmy Del Potro serve was.

It's dreadful. Which is quite a good thing, as it will be fairly easy to improve considerably.

He hardly won a free point on his serve, which given how close the points won for each of them was, made a huge difference in the match.

I think he will be delighted with his progress so far this summer. We will see how much he has come on in a year's time.

[Fudge]

I've just seen this on TAMB. It's from the Daily Mirror betting section, written by Derek McGovern who apparently has a vandetta against all things Scottish

"In all my years of betting i've only ever been given one certainty. It finished second.

But the more i look at tonights showdown between Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro, the more it becomes clear that i am feasting my eyes on a bona fide good thing. He goes by the name of Del Potro at a scarcely credible 7-4. Those odds imply that if the argie met Murray 11 times he could be expected to win only 4 of them. I'd suggest he'd win 12.

This is a man who has won his last 24 matches on the ATP tour, claiming 4 titles - 2 on hard court along the way. How many sets has he dropped in that spell? Six.

The argen-teeny is so red hot right now that he could forget to take the cover off his racquet and i'd still lump on him.

There's history between Del Potro and Murray too, the combative argie badmouthing Murray's mum during a match in Rome earlier this year. He went up in my estimation immediately.

So no love lost between Murray and Del Potro and, where Del Potro is concerned, no sets lost tonight either.

The argie is very much in the zone. Gargoyle Murray belongs in the twilight zone.

Today is the day to bet like men. Get your proverbials on Del Potro at 7-4."

Quite funny looking back on it.

[drs]

...thats why he writes a betting column for a newspaper instead of having retired to the Bahamas with his gains.

Never trust a tipster in any newspaper.

[Stainrod's Fedora]

What time does the Murray-Nadal match begin?

[Fudge]

...thats why he writes a betting column for a newspaper instead of having retired to the Bahamas with his gains.

Never trust a tipster in any newspaper.

Most of the time they set out their argument in a clear and unbias way, and even if the bet doesn't come in you can look at their logic and see why it was still the right call at the time.

Instead, this 'tipster' just used his column to make attempted humourous jibes at Murray's expense with little to back up his betting claims and subsequently looks like a very bitter idiot.

[Gaz]

What time does the Murray-Nadal match begin?

Won't find out until late tomorrow night probably as it's on Saturday.