2015 Australian Open…ATP 2000...Melbourne, Australia

[bottle]

Commentatoes and Soulless Politicians

The commentato I witnessed gleefully pointed out that Wawrinka will now sink to number nine in the world without once pointing out that a single line call of two inches might have changed momentum and given Wawrinka the first set, which would have changed outcome of another five-set match between him and Djokovic.

We bloggers and letter writers in the world should relentlessly stay on the case of every commentato and soulless politician whether in tennis or anything else.

The goal is that through our relentless making fun of them they will go away, replaced by better professionals.

[stotty]

I came to the conclusion that it must be physically tiring playing Wawrinka. He hits the ball so hard and having to continually move out to the far reaches of the court to track down his bullets must be exhausting, especially when he has a player retreating further behind the baseline. Even Djokovic was glugging for air at times.

I found the game patchy and didn't enjoy it as much as their previous encounters. I find Wawrinka doesn't return all that well but few seem able, Nadal excepted, to take advantage of it.

I think Murray has hit the highest standard/level of play so far in the tournament.

It's a tremendous asset to be a great mover because you can make the other guy play one shot too many. All the top four have this quality...Borg had it too. Getting the ball over the net one more time than the other guy is pretty much what the game boils down to.

[klacr]

Djokovic wins in 5 sets. Hoping he takes it to Murray. Djokovic and Wawrinka played a sloppy match but Djokovic too strong in the end.

Players combined for 69 winners and 118 unforced errors.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Perfect…a fifth set. Service returns

Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka tied at 2 sets all. See saw match…neither player able to seize it by the horns. Play is predominately predictably from the backcourt with an occasional foray to the net.

The most impressive aspect of this match is the Wawrinka backhand. It is possible to play this game in more than one fashion.

Wilander says that the court is the quickest it has been in years. He claims the slice serve is very effective but it doesn't look as if the players are fully prepared to take advantage of this nuance in the court.

Lack of service tactics are in evidence as is the lack of net play. A combination of court surface, string technology, coaching fallacies and propaganda.

The respective service games appear to cancel each other out with neither service game or motion significantly superior to the other. The serve return tactics are actually more interesting than the serve aspect of the match.

[stotty]

I think Murray was allowed to roll in very tame second serves today and get away with it. Berdych surprisingly ran around very few, which I felt was a big mistake. Berdych has a hoofing great forehand and he missed many opportunites to pressurise here. Murray's second serve is his biggest weakness. Under pressure he has been known to clock under 80mph at times. On the other side of the coin Murray's first serve went well. The ones out wide to the forehand were beauties.

I am just watching the replay of the two middle sets I missed. Murray is looking awfully good physically. He is playing tighter to the baseline and moving like a bullet. Funny how he lollops and plods around between points yet moves so fluently once a rally starts His forehand is working better than usual...a great sign. The trophy is liftable for Murray. He has one hand on it already...

[don_budge]

Morons asking questions...

Tomas Berdych does some good footwork dancing around the idiots in the interview room. Can't they think of more intelligent and tennis oriented questions?

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/01/4/Australian-Open-Thursday-Berdych-Reaction.aspx

He's a good fellow…he just needs some tactical options. He tried to beat Andy Murray at his own game. He has been trying to beat Rafael Nadal at his own game all of these years. You would think that his "team" would have come up with something. What good is a team if they cannot come up with the goods? It only takes one guy to come up with the proper game plan…with the long term plan. Everyone is trying the exact same blue print but nobody chose the "Roger Federer" mode of operation. It is rather surprising that there aren't more players playing like Roger. Even Grigor Dimitrov who is an obvious copy doesn't play with the same tactical acumen.

Federer is a derivative of the don_budge paradigm…Tilden is the book. Gonzales is the model with the Don Budge backhand. Harry Hopman is the coach and Roger Federer is the living proof. Sooner or later some academy or some coach is going to wise up. Perhaps Roger has gotten the ball rolling again with his resurgence. The courts in Australia are obviously playing much quicker again this year. Things don't change over night. It will take a long time to alter the current paradigm which is pretty much confirmed in the Tomas Berdych interview.

"It was a really tough battle. It was about controlling the baseline".

That's pretty remedial tennis. It takes a lot longer time to develop the all court package. Too much emphasis on competitive results in young tennis players traps them into playing the current edition. Stan Wawrinka can help this process along. Let's see how he fares.

[don_budge]

The respective service games…and a couple of other thoughts

Looking forward to Stan vs Novak. Berdych could not hit through Murray. Lets see if Stan can hit through Novak. Stans one handed backhand, which looked like the best one handed bh in tennis vs Kei, will need to be clicking. I do think Stan has a better serve than Novak.

One would have to give the nod to Novak Djokovic in terms of service game at this point in history and their respective careers. With all of his success Novak's service game has consistently put him into position to win and win big for the past five years or so. I am constantly impressed at how consistently he holds his serve and how he holds it relatively easy.

Whereas Wawrinka struggles more and is less consistent. When judging any given part of a tennis players tennis game one of the most important hallmarks is consistency. Who would you want serving for the match if it was all on the line for you? I think we both know the answer to that. But saying that Stan has proved that he can hold when it counts. He has a Grand Slam title under his belt…it just so happens that the title was here. Last year. Can he pull it off again?

So the deciding factor in tomorrows match may very well be the return of serve. How much pressure can either player exert on the other? Consistently. If Novak is routinely holding his serve it gives him more liberty to swing away at Wawrinka's service game. I'm hoping for a five set marathon…may the best server win.

Murray surely toughened up after the first set. It is unfortunate about Tomas Berdych that he is essentially playing the "junior" game. There were so many possibilities for him if he were more flexible in his approach to the game. By that I mean if he had more tactical options. The two handed backhand essentially limits him as does his service motion and service tactic. The motion is certainly not designed to send him propelled to the net and the variance in his deliveries is limited. He doesn't have a bag full of tricks…just a rather mundane and limited approach to the game.

For a man his size to not possess a Wawrinka like backhand and a compliment of tactical options is a real shame. He is so capable of "blanketing" the net…as well as holding his own from the baseline. Man…if you threw in the ability to serve (with tactics) and volley just think how that would broaden his potential. It is too late in the game now.

Give Murray credit…he has done some soul searching and he has come out ahead. He gave a pretty nice demonstration that he is more ready for the moment than lesser ranked players than himself. Berdych begin one of them. Murray was certainly better prepared for this moment than was Tomas. He took control of the match after dropping the first set. Guys that get even tougher to beat after losing the first set make it really difficult on an opponent.

I knew one guy in particular in Michigan that really had that down to an art. Once he dropped that first set he dug in and just became a wall. I remember he and Aaron Krickstein having such a battle.

Anybody remember one Juan Martin Del Potro. He is and has been nursing a wrist injury to his left wrist isn't he? If I was in his camp and he had such an injury I would have immediately converted him to a one hand backhand and retooled and reengineered his game to a more classic all-court approach. What the heck…it would beat sitting around on the sidelines doing whatever it is that he is doing. Can you imagine that big lug cranking big serves and following them to the net…or lagging back to pound forehands?

Just a thought…from your "keyboard warrior".

[klacr]

Murray wins in four...good performance. Berdych reverted back to his usual self in the end.

Still, Berdych has the better looking girlfriend and at the end of the day that's what matters most.

At least Berdych is number 1 at something.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Looking forward to Stan vs Novak. Berdych could not hit through Murray. Lets see if Stan can hit through Novak. Stans one handed backhand, which looked like the best one handed bh in tennis vs Kei, will need to be clicking. I do think Stan has a better serve than Novak.

I was thinking about Novak’s serve just the other day. I actually think Novak’s serve is just as effective as Stan’s…just not quite such a boomer. Novak’s serve is ideal for him. It's made for him. That's a good way to build a serve when you think about it...build it around the player's game. When his serve gets into the groove he serves really consistently. I’d wager his average first serve percentage is higher than Stan’s. He has a habit of hitting the big deliveries on the big points too (something neither Murray and Berdych could do today). I also like Novak’s second serve. He rolls them in deep and sets himself up nicely to start the point…a good ploy for a player like him. I never used to rate Novak’s serve all that much, but I’ve changed my mind and now think it's far better than I thought.

[stroke]

Looking forward to Stan vs Novak. Berdych could not hit through Murray. Lets see if Stan can hit through Novak. Stans one handed backhand, which looked like the best one handed bh in tennis vs Kei, will need to be clicking. I do think Stan has a better serve than Novak.

[stroke]

Looking forward to Stan vs Novak. Berdych could not hit through Murray. Lets see if Stan can hit through Novak. Stans one handed backhand, which looked like the best one handed bh in tennis vs Kei, will need to be clicking. I do think Stan has a better serve than Novak.

[gzhpcu]

Bet he has a better looking mom too....

[stroke]

Murray wins in four...good performance. Berdych reverted back to his usual self in the end.

Still, Berdych has the better looking girlfriend and at the end of the day that's what matters most.

Copy that, Berdych is number 1 in gf's

[stotty]

Murray wins in four...good performance. Berdych reverted back to his usual self in the end.

Still, Berdych has the better looking girlfriend and at the end of the day that's what matters most.

[stotty]

I watched the first set up to the tie break then left for work. I am now back. Murray played a at great point to level matters at 3-3 in the fourth.

Berdych has reverted back to his usual self and looks there for the taking to me. Murray looks a better player right now. He is defence and movement quite superb.

tennis_chiro make a good point when he says Murray generally goes deeper into slams than Berdych and can draw on that experience...quite true.

Ebb and flow...quite right...anything can happen...that's how it should be.

I should see the end of the fourth before going to work. If it goes to five, fill me in.