Match report

Marat Safin © Tennistalk.com
Wimbledon
3rd round
6/27/08 1 2 3 4 Tot
ru  Marat Safin 7 7 3 7 7 6 3
it  Andreas Seppi 6 5 6 6 3 4 1
Andreas Seppi © Tennistalk.com

  • Safin finds a way through in the the gloom

    6/29/08 12:53 AM | David Cox
    The match after a big win is one of the hardest for a player to deal with. The ability to refocus and and forget what's gone before is easier said than done. Marat Safin passed that test late on Friday night with a 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 win over Andreas Seppi in near-darkness

    Safin's failure to win matches like this where he is the favourite is one of the reasons he's been such a rare sight in the second week of Wimbledon. Seppi has some great shots, particularly off the backhand side and came into this with a lot of confidence. Safin was serving well in the first set but he was wayward from the baseline. He slipped down an early minibreak in the tiebreak but in the end he was rewarded for taking the risks in the breaker and playing the more aggressive tennis. A huge forehand earned him the decisive minibreak and he secured it 7-5 with another service bomb

    However after all that effort, Safin threw it away in set 2, continuing to leak errors. He handed Seppi a break in game 1 and although Safin broke back some more superb shotmaking from the Italian regained him the advantage and he was soon 5-1 up. As ever Safin felt quite strongly about this and put a ball into Staircase 20. He reduced the deficit to 5-3 but it was not enough

    Into set 3 and normal order was restored, both men holding comfortably and as dusk fell on court 1 the match was very much in the balance. The 3rd set tiebreak was always likely to be decisive and Seppi blew his chance, handing Safin a 4-0 lead with some wild errors.

    Surprisingly they opted to play a 4th set despite the worsening light and Safin took immediate advantage with the early break. Seppi wasn't done yet and levelled but the momentum was still very much with Safin and he broke again to secure a last 16 berth

    Afterwards a relieved Safin commented “It was a tough match. The guy played, I think, one of his best matches. He's a fast player, knows what to do, plays very well on grass, moves very well. At the end of the match it was pretty tough because we both, I think, couldn't see the ball anymore. I was a little bit worried because I couldn't see the ball at the end.”

Tell a friend »

Other articles related to the tournament

Click here fore more articles

Comments


Write comment

You have to be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, click here to register. It only takes a minute and you'll be redirected back to this page.
Username:

Password:

Expekt.com offers you the widest range and best odds on all tennis matches. Click here to bet and check all the latest tennis odds from expekt.com

Did you know that... Juan Martin Del Potro had Pete Sampras as his childhood idol.

Register for newsletter:

Poll

The ATP season is
Too long
Fine as it is
Too short

Poll archive

Articles - Latest commented

Blog - Latest commented

Tell a friend

Your name:

Friend's name:

Friend's email:

Other tennis links

Related articles

ru  Marat Safin it  Andreas Seppi
Wimbledon  Wimbledon