91Èȱ¬

For the first time ever, I m delighted with the scheduling.Why shouldn t the top players be put on other courts.A.Rus froze for the first hour today against Kim,overawed by where she was.Happens at every Major,giving the top seeds an immediate advantage,Match can be nearly over before the "lesser"players begin to give their best.Well done to the organisers of the FO I say

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

The Tsonga match should be good, unlike the Bartoli one. But you can't blame the scheduling for empty stands, the French clearly don't like their tennis very much!

Suppose you have to take the thick with the thin; when it's boring, they don't show, but when it isn't, they are parmesan partisan. Bad day for tennis when it's gusting degrees off.

On Murray, you always have to worry with Andy where his mind is, because when he progresses deep into a Grand Slam on playing merit, like the past two Aussies and Wimbledons, he overcomes the first two opponents in straight sets (usually), with no tie-breaks, like Jan Hajek or someone, then gets taken to 4, or tie-breaks without moving too far through the gears....then ends up meeting a top 3 guy like Novak or Nadal for the semis or final and despite playing his best from the off gets overcome far too easily. On clay, though he is less at ease, he doesn't underestimate anyone, which is good, because he knows that on clay, he must graft rather than being his usual classy self. But I wish that attitude were carried on to his favourable surfaces.

@1

The top players should be put on the biggest courts as they are the players who pull the fans in. Why would tens of thousands of people want to come and watch two players, who most of them will not have heard of, play tennis? If the junior players can't hack being watched play, then they shouldn't be professional tennis players!

I believe Murray is good enough to win a slam - it's just getting his mind in gear. He was two points from ending Djoko's run. If he could channel the anger into good play then he'd probably win a few slams. Invariably, when he's got into a slam final, he hasn't turned up. When I see the engaged Murray that almost beat Nadal at the ATP tour finals turn up at a grand slam final then I'll have hope he can finally do it.

At 1: It like saying a non-league team drawing Man Utd in the FA cup and being told they can't play at Old Trafford but at Gay Meadows instead. These lower rank players i.e qualifiers, dream of playing on centre court and if it means playing Fed, Nad or Mur then i think they don't really mind. It prob once in a life time experience.

I despair when I read comments like:

"Jurgen Melzer's a goner? Yup. Isn't he in Murray's section? He was."

So blinking what? This is a "loser's" attitude - that and the other article on how eays Murray's draw is. That is written by someone who doesn't understand how competitive sports work.

If you are just trying to get a paycheque, then yes, it is great to get an easy draw to the latter stages of a competition. If, however, you want to win, then you don't look at a draw and say "Oh, it's an easy draw, I don't have to work to hard and should beat these folks... until round X". It is why whenever some hackneyed journo asks the top players about playing someone way below them in the rankings, you'll get the same reply about the fact that they don't underestimate anyone.

If you are going to try and win a GS competition or be #1, you have assume that you will beat everyone or at least target that, and not focus on how "easy" the draw is.

What about the guy who beat Melzer? It has happened several times where some "unknown" has beaten a seeded player and then gone on to knock other players out as they progress, blowing predictions of "an easy draw" out of the water.

/rant

1: I doubt it bothered Federer one bit where he plays or whether there are any fans at all. It's more a point of putting the top matches on where they can sell the most tikets and give the fans the best action for their money.

8.
At 08:24 27th May 2011, Carlos R wrote:

I despair when I read comments like:

"Jurgen Melzer's a goner? Yup. Isn't he in Murray's section? He was."

So blinking what? This is a "loser's" attitude - that and the other article on how eays Murray's draw is. That is written by someone who doesn't understand how competitive sports work.
---------------------

Sorry Carlos but you are the one who doesn't seem to understand how tourament play works.

Nobody is suggesting that Murray can take it easy, meerly that he should find it easier if he performs properly, which in turn should leave him with better physical shape in later rounds.

Murray out next round, his brother will go futher than him, allbeit in the doubles :)

Novak or Rafa to win

@ Hackerjack (post 10)

I disagree with you. I fully understand that in knock-out competitions you can only play who is in front of you, but I took Mr Overend's comment to mean that because Melzer was out, it would make Murray's passage to the next round (or whichever round he was "due" to face him) easier.

If you read it another way, then so be it, but I annoys me when reports talk about "an easy route to the final" in whatever competition/sport (e.g. for world cups as well). If you really aspire to be the best you'll be happy to play anyone. Indeed the best competitors look for the biggest challenges, and would rather test themselves against the best (and win, of course!).

I bet money that Federer and Nadal don't "plot" their way through a competition in terms of how "easy" their route to the final is. Sure they'll assess who their are playing against, but from a tactical point of view.

A lot of nonsense in here.
It's grand slam time, Murray's won his first two matches and his section of the draw "is now wide open", implying that he now only has to turn up to win. So, no pressure on him as usual !!
How many times has Murray been touted as the winner early in the first week of a slam tournament? Murray may well win a Grand Slam tournament one day, but Roland Garros 2011 will not be it.

As for Federer being the forgotten man because he has played two rounds away from Centre Court. Well, Suzanne Lenglen is still a show court. He's hardly being cast out to the periphery is he. It probably doesn't bother him in the least

Apart from the ongoing issues with his serve ... first is not reliable under pressure, second weak although better than it used to be ... the only thing holding Murray back from being a Grand Slam winner is Murray himself.

For me, to be ranked 4 in the world and make three Slam finals without winning even a single set tells its own story.

British tennis top star Andy Murray has experience and the necessary game tools to go far in this Grand Slam. Best wishes.


Dr. Cajetan Coelho

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

You know something: Murray with a dodgy ankle might be more dangerous than a fully fit Murray.

He'll know that he needs to attack far more, be far more decisive and that's what it'll take to win a Grand Slam.

He won't beat Djokovic, Federer or Nadal playing forward defensives, that's for sure.

So if he can use his injury to his advantage, he can play himself into the champions' mentality.

Let's hope Andy can emulate Tim Henman in 2004 when he beat Juan Ignacio Chela to make it to the semis of the French.

murray is looking like he is getting in some good form, hopefully he will continue his run at queens club then wimbledon
[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]

I do dismay when Andy Murray swears and loses his temper.He should heed the advice of John Lloyd who whilst commenting on Murray's behaviour in the Stroiskie match.Lloyd said Andy should now act like No 4 in the World.That Nadal Federer and Djokovic keep their cool and earn the respect of lesser players because they do.When less talented players than Andy see him losing his cool they feel they can exploit his bad behaviour because with it comes a lack of concentration.I think that all that lies between Andy and winning his first Grand Slam is his temper tantrums.He is a GREAT player let down by his volatile temprement.

Sheilah

They have all had their moments but Murray does strop more than the others and it is one of the least appealing features of his game.

Still he showed some grit yesterday wrapping up the match and Rafa is not looking invincible so who knows, although the Joker is going to be hard to beat.

Some interesting semi's look like they're on their way...

Another heart-in-mouth performance from Murray who seems to thrive on giving his fans as much stress as they can stand. He can't do this against Nadal - he'll have to to go all out against him in the semi-final and not mess about if he has any chance of progressing to the Final which he is well capable of. I sometimes think he needs a mantra to help him calm down when he is at his most troubled. It could be something as simple as that.

Sheer quality by Federer this evening, in a real quality match.
Turns out the greatest is still too great on his day.

It takes two players to make a great match but Federer was sublime at times - he may not be able to sustain that level of play but it is a treat to see him reprise his best form and of course we have the dream final.

Possibly Federers best chance against Rafa for a while.

Djok played superbly at times and I was impressed by his sporting behaviour - no disgrace going down to the GOAT.