So my hope of seeing Roger go unbroken until the fourth round was dashed by a break back in the first set. Still, being broken just once is not half bad knowing what Nalbandian is capable of.
The first set was a little iffy from Roger. He continued to serve very well, almost imperiously, and even when he was broken it was a result of Nalbandian's good play. But for most of the first set his groundstrokes were a little short and that gave David a chance to tee off a little bit on his huge groundies. Roger did well not to get down on himself after that and served out a tricky first set well.
Once it was clear Nalbandian was struggling with an injury, Roger went about the task of taking advantage of that quite ruthlessly by serving out wide, hitting a lot more drop-shots to make David charge forward. For his part, David showed in patches why he was once Roger's biggest threat. There were flashes of brilliance in extended rallies when Roger did find it hard to hit through him because of David's remarkable eye-hand coordination and ability to see the ball early. David also approaches very well and is a very good volleyer, and for now is as good or better than Roger as a net player. He hit some great backhand volleys and kept Roger working throughout despite being run around like hell. The combination of a big serving Roger who was finding his range on groundies and his own injury was just too much to handle in the second set, and it was over all too quickly.
The third set was simply fantastic tennis, and is the kind of tennis I miss sorely nowadays. I don't need to watch players charge in on every ball, but I do like to see them take initiative early in the rally, and when both players seek to do this it can be very exciting. Roger and David had some wonderful flat-groundstroke exchanges in the third set, and made the tennis look quick on what seems to already be a bouncy, slow-ish grass court. What made Nalbandian up his level in the third was the fact that he knew Roger was simply running him around in the second set. So he decided to swing from the hip a little more, even throwing in a second serve ace on a BP, and coming in a good deal. He measured his groundstrokes a little less and really went for them, which in turn produced some great defence from Roger and a couple of beautiful passes early in the set.
David didn't really go away in this match, which was good to see. Even when Roger was serving for the set he saved three match points and made it difficult for him to hit the ball past him.
But Roger in this form is simply hard to touch. He showed great focus throughout the match, never panicking when a break point was lost or even a break was given back, simply putting his head down and working hard for the next opportunity in his own graceful manner.
What is a little troubling is how little Roger approached in this match. I do know from his last interview that Roger is wary of approaching too much against Nalbandian since he felt that early in his career, when he lost a number of matches to him, he approached too much because he couldn't stay with him from the back. He now finds it unnecessary to do that with his ground game being as good or better than Nalbandian's when both players are playing their best tennis. Still, I couldn't see why Roger couldn't have a approached a little more in the second set when his plan was to make Nalbandian move around and make sudden changes in direction. He heads to the later rounds with very little net play under his belt. The good news is his next two rounds are against players that don't necessarily steal the net from an opponent (apart from Tsonga, though he still is inconsistent at the highest level), so he still has opportunities to work on that until the big semifinal. I hope he gets down to it.
Overall, a great serving performance from Roger and an absolute pleasure to see Nalbandian on the big stage again. These two are as high quality as it can be in tennis when it comes to clean ball-striking. I hope they are both around for many more years.
The first set was a little iffy from Roger. He continued to serve very well, almost imperiously, and even when he was broken it was a result of Nalbandian's good play. But for most of the first set his groundstrokes were a little short and that gave David a chance to tee off a little bit on his huge groundies. Roger did well not to get down on himself after that and served out a tricky first set well.
Once it was clear Nalbandian was struggling with an injury, Roger went about the task of taking advantage of that quite ruthlessly by serving out wide, hitting a lot more drop-shots to make David charge forward. For his part, David showed in patches why he was once Roger's biggest threat. There were flashes of brilliance in extended rallies when Roger did find it hard to hit through him because of David's remarkable eye-hand coordination and ability to see the ball early. David also approaches very well and is a very good volleyer, and for now is as good or better than Roger as a net player. He hit some great backhand volleys and kept Roger working throughout despite being run around like hell. The combination of a big serving Roger who was finding his range on groundies and his own injury was just too much to handle in the second set, and it was over all too quickly.
The third set was simply fantastic tennis, and is the kind of tennis I miss sorely nowadays. I don't need to watch players charge in on every ball, but I do like to see them take initiative early in the rally, and when both players seek to do this it can be very exciting. Roger and David had some wonderful flat-groundstroke exchanges in the third set, and made the tennis look quick on what seems to already be a bouncy, slow-ish grass court. What made Nalbandian up his level in the third was the fact that he knew Roger was simply running him around in the second set. So he decided to swing from the hip a little more, even throwing in a second serve ace on a BP, and coming in a good deal. He measured his groundstrokes a little less and really went for them, which in turn produced some great defence from Roger and a couple of beautiful passes early in the set.
David didn't really go away in this match, which was good to see. Even when Roger was serving for the set he saved three match points and made it difficult for him to hit the ball past him.
But Roger in this form is simply hard to touch. He showed great focus throughout the match, never panicking when a break point was lost or even a break was given back, simply putting his head down and working hard for the next opportunity in his own graceful manner.
What is a little troubling is how little Roger approached in this match. I do know from his last interview that Roger is wary of approaching too much against Nalbandian since he felt that early in his career, when he lost a number of matches to him, he approached too much because he couldn't stay with him from the back. He now finds it unnecessary to do that with his ground game being as good or better than Nalbandian's when both players are playing their best tennis. Still, I couldn't see why Roger couldn't have a approached a little more in the second set when his plan was to make Nalbandian move around and make sudden changes in direction. He heads to the later rounds with very little net play under his belt. The good news is his next two rounds are against players that don't necessarily steal the net from an opponent (apart from Tsonga, though he still is inconsistent at the highest level), so he still has opportunities to work on that until the big semifinal. I hope he gets down to it.
Overall, a great serving performance from Roger and an absolute pleasure to see Nalbandian on the big stage again. These two are as high quality as it can be in tennis when it comes to clean ball-striking. I hope they are both around for many more years.
First! Thank you. The analysis made up for which I couldn't see the 2nd and the 3rd set. The 1st set really showed how Nalbandien troubles Rog in their early days. XD
ReplyDeleteBTW, when will tvradke give birth his first blog? XD
Thanks for the comment WG!
ReplyDeleteTVRADKE might be too busy for now to write anything. We've told him he is free to come and write here when he has the time, so we're sure he will when the opportunity presents itself.
What I liked most about Nalbandian in the third set is that he went after Roger with even more gusto. No wimp this man. I lost track of how many times the trainer emerged to work on his upper right leg. And rather than protect it for the hard court season, he went back and did his best. Those rallies in the third set were pure joy. Crimeny I've missed Nalbandian and it's a damn shame for fans of his game that he seems to rise only for the big occasions. He's just not one to grind through the early round matches on the outer courts. Were it different, we would have see far more fine Fed/DN matches than those of Fed/RN.
ReplyDeleteRICKEYROGER - thanks for your wonderful match analysis.
ReplyDeleteI was hugely disappointed that this match wasn't the one I had wished for!! Being on centre court & drooling over the prospect of a feast for the eyes, it was a relatively tame match & one in which neither Roger nor David played at their best. There were flashes of the Beautiful Game though ....... how I long for more of it!
And I agree WCR - as a fan of David, it is a crying shame that he doesn't play more.