AO Day 7: One of Those Nights

Hey Y'all. A sad Patriots fan here.

Well, yesterday was just one of those days or nights. There were so many near-upsets. Not Serena, of course. She predictably blew away Gasparyan. In the end it was child’s play. Djokovic was very poor and nearly self-destructed, but eventually edged through. He hit 100 errors in that match. In the tournament previous to that he had hit just 78.

There was also footage of Federer and Dimitrov relaxing in the locker-room. Right before they were due on, Federer was getting excited watching Sharapova put away Davis. The following is that agonizing moment Davis played a 27 shot rally perfectly but choked on the volley.



It is fascinating to see players in the locker room, to see how they are before the match. The two men are just sitting right there, relaxing. We will never truly know what happens in the locker room, which makes the glances in even more intriguing. It works much the same way as nature documentaries do. What do whales do down there? What do the players do in there?

And speaking of the Federer and Sharapova dynamic, here is a classic video from about ten years ago now, exploring their possible feelings for one another.



The other thing that is interesting in grand slams is that there is almost always, well, the majority of times, a match which is sticky. Nadal did not have a dangerous match in 2010 in Paris and nor did Federer or Graf in a few of their runs. But there is always one for most everyone else. For Sharapova’s maiden French Open title, it was against Koukalova in the fourth round. In 2009 at Wimbledon, it was Dementieva for Serena. If the player wins this banana peel, then they usually go on a roll. It can be anyone in any round. When Azarenka won her maiden slam, she nearly lost to Clijsters in the semi-final. But she obliterated Sharapova in the final.

For Djokovic, it was Simon. And that brings me nicely onto what happened yesterday. So, what did happen?

*Suicide Picks*
MS 1st Rd: Dimitrov d. Lorenzo {W}
MS 2nd Rd: Kyrgios [29] d. Cuevas {W}
MS 3rd Rd: Tomic [16] d. Millman {W}
MS 4th Rd: Monfils [23] d. Kuznetsov
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WS 1st Rd: Gavrilova d. Hradecka {W}
WS 2nd Rd: Mladenovic [28] d. Gibbs {W}
WS 3rd Rd: Beck d. Siegemund {W}
WS 4th Rd: Keys [15] d. Zhang


ROD LAVER: DJOKOVIC D. SIMON
...This immediately enters tennis lore and legend. In just short of four hours, it was Djokovic who got through 6-3, 6-7[1],6-4, 4-6, 6-3. He hit 62 winners to Simon’s 32 but also hit 100 errors to Simon’s 68. Ten breaks, but both players served fine. That was the issue - it was just fine. At best, it was just fine. Really, it was grippingly mediocre. Nail-biting in its averageness. It was dedicated to the art of being alright. But now there are pressing concerns and questions. Was this like Anderson at Wimbledon last year - a one off? Is he going to be able to make progress in the tournament or will he crumble? Is this setting the tone for his year? I think this is a one-off but these one-offs are going to keep coming and he is bound to lose one sooner or later. I think he is going to regress this year and the French Open will forever be his white whale. For now, though, he has to suddenly turn around and face off against Kei Nishikori. He cannot play like that against Kei. The 7th seed is on form right now and will punish him for it. He also has to win quickly. Two long five-setters in the heat are not what he needs right now or ever. His tank is running low, but how did Kei get here?
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HISENSE: NISHIKORI D. TSONGA
...Sure, Tsonga was a little flat. In fact, he barely fought, even at the end. With Nishikori up 40-0 in the last game there was no swagger, no typical Jo antics. He just went quietly into the night, losing 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 with each set lasting 40-41 minutes. He only hit 13 aces and won just 63 per cent of first serve points. The Japanese man just blunted out Tsonga’s hopes and his aggressive style. Nishikori was 31-25 on the winners count and only lost serve once. He also returned well - five breaks and 43 per cent of receiving points won. It was a dominant, controlled performance from a very impressive world number seven. Tsonga really had no answers but, really, he didn’t look like he wanted to find any answers. If Nishikori can serve like he did and be the consistent wall he was in this match, he will more than trouble Novak. Forget the stats, Simon doesn’t miss. It just feels like he never ever misses and you have to win the point five different times. Imagine that with firepower. That’s Nishikori. An upset is on the cards. Kei will also make another big slam run this year somewhere. This was another odd match in a night packed full of them.
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MCA: BERDYCH D. BAUTISTA-AGUT
...Another strange one. It goes five, the upset is on and Berdych doesn’t mentally disappear. Bizarre. Agut really pushed hum, as we expected, but Berdych had just enough chutzpah to find a way through 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. In the first set, both players were finding their way but it was Agut who struck and eventually held in a lengthy tenth game. He has a softer serve which makes it harder to hold. His fastest serve was at Berdych’s first serve average. In the second set, Berdman was just able to find a few more big shots, win a few more big points. He found a way. Berdie was an impressive 66-57 on the errors to winner’s ratio. They both broke four times but Agut won four more points. The one area Berdman has to up his game, especially against Federer, is on break point chances. He had 22 but only won four. That is abysmal. He won’t get 22 chances against Rog but he has to do better than a measly 18 per cent. He can improve on the 18 aces, too - the courts are quicker than usual this year. To beat Federer the game-plan is simple - outmuscle him. No other plan will work. The good news is that back in 2009 he almost had the Fed here. He is a vastly better player than that now, so surely he can do it. But will he?
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RLA: FEDERER D. GOFFIN
...Yes, this has been done in a strange order. It is not often I leave Federer till last, but it was very whacky yesterday. On this night of upsets, oddity and strangeness, Federer would have been excused for feeling nervous. But as it turns out he wasn’t. When you see XYZ def. QRS, you don’t always get the full story just by the score. Here you do. The Swiss won 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. With seven aces and 39 winners to 20 errors, this was Federer in full-on rip apart opponent mode. He even won 47 per cent of his return points, breaking six times in the process. He needs to be a tad more accurate on the first serve but this was another glittering performance. There isn’t a more beautiful sight in sport than Federer in full flow. Federer has lost to Berdych 3 or 4 times and this time it will be all about whether or not Berdman can get a set. I think Federer right now is just too good. He will slice, dice and move the Berd around. He will, as usual, find the weaknesses of Berdych and mercilessly exploit them. He will win in three or four.
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