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  • TMS Miami round 3: Mathieu vs Moya

    3/30/08 4:08 PM | David Cox
    TMS Miami round 3: Mathieu vs Moya Moya and Mathieu are familiar foes, they meet for the 5th time on the grandstand arena this afternoon. It was the Frenchman who won their first meeting in the Davis Cup 4 years ago, Moya suffering a surprise 5 set defeat on clay.

    However, it’s the Spaniard who’s been full dominant since then, the following year he gained revenge winning 6-4, 6-4 in Chennai and 6-4, 6-2 in Estoril. Moya increased the head-to-head to 3-1 with a 7-6(4), 7-6(7), 6-4 victory in the 2006 US Open though the first two sets were desperately close and Mathieu had more than enough chances to take both.

    Both men are regulars in and around the top 20 (though Moya was world no 1 9 years ago), Mathieu reached a career best of 14 earlier this year after making the last 16 in the Aussie Open and the Marseille semis. He was unlucky to get Tsonga in round 3 in Indian Wells losing 7-6(5), 6-4 but he had chances, Tsonga was very erratic in the early stages and Mathieu was a break up. He’s a consistent performer on all surfaces but his best results probably come on clay. A potential upset looked on the cards when he drew the dangerous Marin Cilic in the last round but the experience of Mathieu told and he came through 6-4 in the 3rd

    Moya’s 2008 to date has been unpredictable to say the least. He made the semis in Chennai at the start of the year, coming within a point of beating Nadal in a 4 hour classic but then two weeks later he was out at the opening hurdle in Melbourne. A four week trip to South America featured a final in Brazil but then two early exits in Bueno Aires and Acapulco. Last week he ran into the on-fire James Blake in round 3, the American delivering a near flawless performance to win 6-3, 6-4. He had to dig deep to overcome Nicholas Mahut on Friday saving multiple set points in the first set breaker and came through 7-6(10), 6-4

    Both men’s games are based around massive forehands. Moya’s was regarded one of the biggest on tour back in 98-99 when he was the clay-court king but then the likes of Safin, Roddick and Federer arrived on the scene. It’s still a formidable weapon though, struck with heavy topspin. Whoever wins this will be the one who manages to get the most first strikes in the rallies. If it becomes close though you’d have to favour Moya. For all his ball-striking prowess Mathieu has a reputation for being short on mental toughness when it comes to the crunch and explains why he has underachieved in the slams and masters series in the past

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