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2010-01-18 17:51:18
The Tennistalk panel will be breaking down the “Matches of the Day” for each day of the Australian Open. Four matches are on the list for Day 2 of the tournament.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Igor Andreev
Ricky: Federer in 3 - Federer battled past Andreev in five entertaining sets at the 2008 U.S. Open, and even though this is not the same Federer, it's clearly not the same Andreev. The Russian struggled immensely in 2009 and it's hard to imagine him taking even one set this time around. Still, this is not the easiest of first-round matchups for the world No. 1.
Cheryl: Federer in 4 - Andreev isn't the player he once was, but Federer really hasn't been playing all that well so far this year. I expect Federer to win the first, but for Andreev to figure out a way to take the 2nd or 3rd before Fed puts the beatdown on him again.
Cheryl: Gulbis in 5 - Predicting is difficult in a Gulbis match, mostly because you never know which Gulbis is going to show up. If the 2010 Gulbis comes to play, he'll win, but if we get a redux of the 2009 Gulbis, Monaco will wipe the court with him. Either way, it should be an interesting match.
Cheryl: Youzhny in 4 - I am looking forward to this match probably more than other first rounder on the docket. Gasquet has been quickly regaining his form and the tacky surface in Australia can only help the Frenchman by giving him time to set up his shots. That being said, the fact that he drew Youzhny straight off is not exactly a stroke of luck. Youzhny is a good hard court player and though he'll probably deal with off-season rust (he only played 1 match in Doha), I expect him to come out swinging.
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Thought you were through with picking Gulbis, Ricky? ^^
SGHIceman , 1/19/10 10:40 AM
Gasquet and Youzni.... woooohooooooo what drama!!!!
zare , 1/19/10 1:30 PM
what a match! both reechard and youhzny were cramping. reechard as usual chokes.
reminded me of last years match with gonzo.
i was hoping it would go longer, maybe an hour or so.
attackingtennisrulez , 1/19/10 2:28 PM
well...we experts were spot-on with Gulbis. Just goes to show that when push comes to shove, we'll pick pretty tennis even when it comes with a headcase of a player.
cherylmurray , 1/19/10 2:34 PM
@cheryl yup gasquet made alot of graceful and beautiful errors.
gasquest is great to watch but he goes defensive wayyyyy too much, when he attacks he is lethal.
attackingtennisrulez , 1/19/10 2:47 PM
So sorry Gulbis is out, I would have loved to see him take on Davy.
carrie , 1/19/10 2:53 PM
I think Gasquet played too tentatively at those important points, esp in the fourth and the last set. He preferred to stay at the back of the court and merely hit the ball back to Youzhny, hoping that Youzhny made mistakes. Gasquet really lack the killer instinct. Youzhny has that, and he dares to take risk and do the attack, esp during the last few games of the match. He deserves the win.
I hope Gasquet learned from all these mistakes, its being the third time at a slam that he lost the match when he was leading by two sets - at Wim 08 to Murray; AO 09 to Gonzo and now to Youzhny. I hope his coach can do something to help him.
luckystar , 1/19/10 3:14 PM
expected loss for Gulbis. I just refuse to pick Monaco in any match played on a hard court.
Youzhny-Gasquet did NOT disappoint!
RickyDimon , 1/19/10 3:33 PM
Youzhny-Gasquet was AMAZING. I entered Margaret Court after Hewitt's match at Rod Laver and Gasquet was about to wrap 2nd set...and I ditched Molik v Coin (where I had insanely good seats) to finish watching Youzhny-Gasquet.
It was unbelievable and ridiculously good tennis by BOTH. Both players came out all guns blazing, never let a single ball go. Both are solid returners and blazing forehands/backhands. Every point makes my heart skip beats and they were so evenly matched! Breaks of serve traded back and forth until that very last break by Youzhny. Both were cramping and limping but still dragging their feet all over the court to hit ridiculous balls at crazy spins and speed and angles.
Gasquet sorta choked at the deciding set when serving and leading at 4-3 to hand Youzhny back the break cos he played an awful game. And after that, never really recovered, and Youzhny saluted the court just shy of 5 hours.
EPIC match.
Also, crazy freezing weather.
jyannis , 1/19/10 3:49 PM
jealous that you were there for that one, jyannis. I just KNEW Youzhny was going to win. He earned it to - though I don't know how he's going to fare in the next round after that effort.
Roger didn't look so good. He better be careful of the Baghman.
cherylmurray , 1/19/10 4:03 PM
I hope Youzhny can continue fine for his next match. But this one seriously took a lot of toll on him. He (and Gasquest) never once took his foot off the pedal. It was really a match that could have gone either way. Well, for now Youzhny didn't need to bang his head with his racquet ;)
Roger was, frankly, awful. He was crap in the 1st set, okay in second, completely lost his head in the third, and then Andreev lost HIS head in the 4th to hand Fed the victory. I would honestly say luck played a part in Roger's victory today more than skill. Still being a Fed fan, I'm relieved and happy he pulled through, but I had about, oh, 5434345643 heart attacks on Rod Laver Arena.
Fed is either going to meet Baggy or Hewitt in the 4th round, right? Hewitt and Baggy to meet in the third? Either way both are not going to be easy. Hewitt did take a set off Roger last USO. And I'm in completely agreement, he REALLY should be more careful, and step up.
Hope he'll get through all the rounds I've scheduled myself to see him. /antijinx
jyannis , 1/19/10 4:18 PM
Hewitt has no chance vs. Federer.
Baghdatis, however, would be a major problem.
jyannis thanks for the live report
RickyDimon , 1/19/10 4:29 PM
yea agree hewitt has no chance with fed, doesnt have a killer weapon.
feds real test will be with davy.
nadals real test will be kholschreiber.
then muzza.
attackingtennisrulez , 1/19/10 4:37 PM
Baghdatis is going to be a test for Roger if he makes it that far - which he probably will. In fact, if I were a betting woman (and if it were legal in the US), I might even put a few dollars on Baghdatis.
Kohlschreiber is not going to beat Nadal. Murray might, but since Anderson was no kind of test at all, we'll have to see how Muzz looks against Gicquel.
cherylmurray , 1/19/10 5:54 PM
Apparently in an interview Gasquet said he did not want the pressure of being in top 10. Perhaps that comes into his mind every time he's winning...Yes, a gr8 match but at crucial points in first set tie breaker both players tanked...I thought only British players did that kind of thing.....NOT including Andy obviously.
deuce , 1/19/10 7:36 PM
Both Gulbis and Gasquet out. I swear I will learn to ignore flash this season, no matter how hard I have to work at it.
Nice to see Young get through- he's well overdue for a decent showing.
Kelli , 1/19/10 8:41 PM
Gasquet is just...fragile. Always has been always will be.
As for Gulbis - I've about given up hope.
cherylmurray , 1/19/10 9:12 PM
After watching Fed's match with Andreev and hearing how well Baghdatis is playing right now, that one could be extremely interesting to watch. Baghdatis seems to be getting his form back and that could spell some real trouble for Fed. He will definitely have to play better than he did against Andreev.
Nativenewyorker , 1/20/10 2:17 AM
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I would go for monaco! just becoz i wud like to see him longer in the tournament.
ekattor , 1/18/10 6:24 PM