• Registered: May. 22, 2010
  • Posts: 104

Re: Now that the draws are out

Murray was well on his way to beating Rafa before Rafa retired in the Aussie BECAUSE RAFA WAS INJURED and for no other reason.  Otherwise, Rafa would have beaten Murray as usual -- just as he will Friday if he's healthy.  Unless Rafa's injuries flare up, Murray will be lucky to win a set.  Or so I think. 

Most of the people at the top on the men's side now had Murray in the finals before the tourney started.  He has done nothing to make them think they chose badly.  I think they're wrong.  We'll see.

The Djokovic/Berdych match should be close.  Both are playing extremely well.  The match will come down to a few big points.  I'm sure most people will pick the Djoker because of their past matches.  I think that's the wrong reason, because Berdych is a different player now than he was last year or any time earlier.  However, Djokovic is #1 at getting serves into play and he has a lot more big match experience.  Those are legitimate reasons to favor him slightly.

  • Registered: Jan. 16, 2010
  • Posts: 6

Re: Now that the draws are out

Good analysis of the Djokovic/Berdych match.

I was under the impression that Nadal was fine going into the match with Murray in Australia, but it was after the second set (both of which he lost) that his injuries flared up, and he had to retire.  If you look at the way Rafa was playing that first set, in particular, I don't think there is any way you could say that he was injured going into it.  Rafa and Murray were both playing awesome tennis; both were playing fantastic defense and offense.  Murray was just playing even that much better that day ... the best I had ever seen Murray play ever (his performance in the final, then, was baffling to me, however).  If Murray employs the same strategy as he did in Australia against Rafa and if he executes that game plan effectively, I think Murray has the potential to beat even a healthy Rafa.

But we'll see.

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  • Registered: May. 22, 2009
  • Posts: 114

Re: Now that the draws are out

DonDenman wrote:

Murray was well on his way to beating Rafa before Rafa retired in the Aussie BECAUSE RAFA WAS INJURED and for no other reason.  Otherwise, Rafa would have beaten Murray as usual -- just as he will Friday if he's healthy.  Unless Rafa's injuries flare up, Murray will be lucky to win a set.  Or so I think. 

Most of the people at the top on the men's side now had Murray in the finals before the tourney started.  He has done nothing to make them think they chose badly.  I think they're wrong.  We'll see.

The Djokovic/Berdych match should be close.  Both are playing extremely well.  The match will come down to a few big points.  I'm sure most people will pick the Djoker because of their past matches.  I think that's the wrong reason, because Berdych is a different player now than he was last year or any time earlier.  However, Djokovic is #1 at getting serves into play and he has a lot more big match experience.  Those are legitimate reasons to favor him slightly.

I just want to comment on the Aussie Open thing here. I saw the first set and a half of that live (came on at like 3:30 AM). There was absolutely, positively no way Nadal was walking out of that match a winner. He came into the match fired up, seemingly injury free. The match was quality stuff from the beginning, and Nadal went up an early break if memory serves. Murray then broke right back and took control of the set. Nadal was into the set from the get-go, even screaming "come on" in English, which is something I never heard him do before that and have never heard him do since. There were no signs of injury at all. Murray was the better player, period. Murray won the first set 6-3. I turned off the match and went to bed with the score probably 4-3 or something. I saw no signs of injury, and I was disappointed that I had to turn off a quality match. I tuned into the highlights the next day, and Rafa started looking labored in the second set breaker. He lost that breaker and retired shortly after.

  • Registered: May. 22, 2010
  • Posts: 104

Re: Now that the draws are out

I stand corrected.  Still, it's one thing to beat Rafa on hard courts and another altogether to beat him on grass.