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  • Llodra and Clement give French a lifeline

    4/13/08 12:51 PM | David Cox
    - Llodra and Clement handed France an unlikely lifeline with a surprise 4 set win last night over reigning Miami champions, the Bryan brothers to keep the tie alive going into day 3

    Andy Roddick and Paul-Henri Mathieu square off in the 4th rubber which again France must win to remain with a chance of making the semis. A lot will depend on Mathieu’s mental state with the memory of missing those two match points against Blake still fresh in his mind. If he reproduces Friday’s serving performance and strikes his forehand as well as he did in the final two sets against Blake, this could be very interesting. However, when it comes to the tight moments in the match (and on courts these quick, every set generally comes down to a couple of points) will he be able to abolish the demons of Friday ? Having a coach like Guy Forget in his corner will certainly help. Forget is vastly experienced and knows exactly how to get a player in the right frame of mind for serving to stay in a set or serving to close one out

    Their head-to-head stands at 2-2 though Roddick has won the most recent encounters, both in straight sets. Mathieu posed few problems for the American in the 4th round of Wimbledon last year, Roddick winning 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 and the same was true in Dubai last month, Roddick coming through 6-3, 6-4 on the way to the title.

    One thing is for sure, Mathieu won’t have as many looks at Roddick’s serve as he did against Blake. Roddick will hit twice as many aces and gets a much higher 1st serve percentage. He will also make more returns though not with the same devastating power that Blake often managed on Friday. One of the big criticisms of Roddick in recent years is his tendency to be content just to loop most returns back mid-court which isn’t going to trouble anyone.

    However I’m fairly confident that Roddick will take this, probably in straight sets. The psychological pressure of his serving combined with a frenzied home crowd will surely tell at the crunch end of the sets (and especially in tiebreaks) as it did with Llodra on Friday

    If Roddick wins then the final rubber will probably be a meaningless encounter between one of the Bryan twins and maybe Arnaud Clement (Llodra’s already played two rubbers and I doubt Gasquet would want to risk his blisters in a dead match).

    All could change if Mathieu pulls off the big upset and levels the tie at 2-2. Llodra is currently nominated to play the 5th rubber but that’s changeable and if it’s alive I fully expect Gasquet to come in and take on Blake. The American won comfortably in Indian Wells but the deciding rubber of a Davis Cup tie is a completely different ball game ! Anything can happen………..

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