Grand Slam Tennis - Murray Slips Big Time, Tsonga Wins

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As I was typing my last article, I couldn’t help but fidget with the remaining match involving Andy Murray. He was battling Fernando Verdasco of Spain and the Spaniard shall prove to be a big test for the British number one. It was a pity that the match was being played at the Hisense Arena as it meant that it shall not be given airtime via the TV by my favorite sports channel. I’m not sure though if there were other cable channels who televised the match. It would have been fun for me to watch it as I try to figure out one thing, how did Murray lose the match against Verdasco?
Yep! Andy Murray lost to Fernando Verdasco in five sets, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6. what a crushing blow to the Scot in particular and to British tennis supporters in general. Looking at the tennis live results, he seem to be able to get the upperhand against the Spaniard as he was up*two sets to one. I can’t remember him giving up such a lead and eventually losing the match. That isn’t Andy Murray’s style of play. He knows how to finish his opponent off when he is leading. But what happened to him today showed otherwise.
As I checked the stats sheet for the match, it was evident that the two men battled neck and neck. Winners produced were almost equal with Murray having 52 to Verdasco’s 51. Total points won went to Murray with 138 to the Spaniard’s 137. Verdasco had more aces than Murray at 10 to 7* but he had more double faults at 6 to the Scot’s 3. Unforced errors went to Murray who had 40 while Verdasco had 50. I think the most important category that explains Murray’s defeat is his first serve percentage. He only had a 61% average from 85 of 140 total while Verdasco had a 74% as he converted 100 of 135 total serves. It meant that Murray was struggling to put the ball in play with his first serve while Verdasco was making sure his first serve always counts. It also meant that Verdasco was attacking Murray’s second serve which, given the high percentage of 56%, *will not make someone win the match.
As much as I also admire Murray, his latest Grand Slam tennis match loss shows that he still has a lot of things to improve on. As with Novak Djokovic’s problem of being inconsistent, Murray suffers the same thing. Djokovic’s advantage over Murray is his experience, he knows when to play the big points and when Novak sets his mind to it, can really play magnificent tennis throughout a tournament. Remember how he played against Federer last year? Murray, as I said, has to be consistent. Both of these guys just have to observe how Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer do their business in the court, they can learn a trick or two.
In the final men’s fourth round match, Jo Wilfried Tsonga defeated James Blake in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (2) to arrange a quarterfinal showdown against Verdasco. The two shall be playing against each other for the first time. Who ever wins between the two gentlemen* shall than face the winner of the quarterfinal match between Nadal and Gilles Simon of France. The top half of the quarterfinals shall pit Andy Rod**** against Djokovic while Federer shall face Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina. These match ups can provide some juicy details on how the season shall unfold for all of them. A repeat of last year’s semi-final and final match up perhaps? Your guess is as good as mine!
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