Well this one was a very tough day, but it was redeemed in some ways, but in reality there are only two matches that I saw in great detail and they are the ones that I will comment on.Gaudio vs. Hrbaty was first on Vodafone or as I call it the Velodrome.
The feelings about this match were very mixed as I knew that Gaston could win this, if he believed he can and the other side is he could easily lose it as well in a big way.We were there from the start and it was a promising start and when I saw the length of the rallies this was a good sign, and there were a few breaks of serve in this match. It started out as Hrbaty was playing close to the baseline and Gaudio was a bit behind hitting with good length and spins and wasn't making errors, and Hrbaty started serving very well and Gaston was getting frustrated, but he managed a break of serve at 4-2, but as the saying goes it's not a break of serve unless it's confirmed straight away.
Then of course Gaston loses his break and they make it to a tiebreaker which was decided by the simple fact that Gaston served 2 dfs and Hrbaty served 2 aces and Hrbaty takes it.The 2nd set is more of the same Gaudio is bringing Hrbaty to the next and exposing his lack of confidence around the net area and breaks to lead again, but once again he didn't confirm the advantage and Hrbaty breaks back. It's a battle at the moment, which I enjoyed plenty of running to the corners from both players using the court,
Gaston trying to break the rhythm of Hrbaty and Dominik hitting the corners attempting to wear down Gaudio. These two end up in another tiebreaker and I thought here it goes that Gaudio will lose it again, but he saves 3 sps from Hrbaty and then ends up winning the breaker with a winner and starts getting excited. I thought this is not too good he should really be up 2 sets to love, but alas this was not the case.
The 3rd set continues on this grinding pattern which I love and many others around me are enjoying. Gaston does the trick shot he did at Kooyong the crosscourt between the legs for a winner and he shook the umpires hand after he managed to hit it for a winner. Once again there were breaks traded between them and Gaudio once again led by a break and couldn't hold it and I was forced to sit through another tiebreaker, which Gaudio had played the better and I thought with the momentum he might win, but if it went to the 5th, then things change into Hrbaty's favour.
Then early in the 4th set with Gaston leading 40-30 in the service game, he couldn't move and called the trainer for cramps or a leg injury. To all the muppets out there who read this and if they want to question my consistency on this issue, then should be clear. No, Gaston shouldn't have been treated for cramps at all, as cramping isn't an injury, two he shouldn't have had it during the game and if I had my way he would have lost the game.
When I saw this I didn't think Gaston would win as Hrbaty would see the cramping and then being the fitness machine that he is, that he will lift and able to increase the pressure on Gaudio and it will be tough for him, but all I could was cheer him on. The 4th set was a 6-1 flogging with Gaudio trying to conserve energy and playing some silly shots and I was laughing too much to be upset.The 5th set well Gaston hasn't won a 5 setter away from RG and Hrbaty wasn't even looking close to being tired, so all I could hope for is Gaston to try and his best and if he was to lose, then do it like a man. The 5th set Hrbaty lifted his game and was even making volleys and Gaston was fighting and trying everything to get back into it, but he was spent and Hrbaty was the man when it counted and deserved to win. Hrbaty was better phyiscally prepared and Gaston didn't take his chances and in reality he had the opportunities to win this match in 3 sets.
The thing is that Gaston played much better in this match against Hrbaty than his previous two and I was proud in the way that he didn't give up at all, but all credit to Hrbaty he was the better player when it counted and the extra training benefitted him and it's not just talent that wins tennis matches.
Robredo vs. Baghdatis:
I thought here is a great chance for Marcos to take another scalp as I don't rate Robredo that highly and if Marcos could get the 1st set, then Robredo would get agitated with all the Greek fans and the fact that Marcos plays well with good crowd support and if he could keep the momentum up, then he would win the match.Geez I love it when I am right in so many ways. Robredo was playing his Robredo style not doing anything great and Marcos was hitting some good forehands and able to keep a good length on the backhand and he settled down quickly.
The 1st set breaker was the one he had to win to get the momentum his way, he managed that and the Greek fans were in fine voice and Robredo looked lost out there and this pattern continued as Marcos stepped up his level of play and then Robredo lacked the ability to change the momentum in his favour and didn't even call for the trainer. The 2nd set was 6-4 and then Marcos just steamrolled him with forehand passes and just a very good level of play that couldn't be faulted.He is now in the top 100 and has no points to defend until the French Open as he was out injured.
Saturday
There were 60 000 people at this day, but only a percentage of those were watching tennis.Actually I only really watched 2 matches and snippets of others. Cañas vs. Stepanek. This match I expected to be closer, but Radek was having a shocker, though as I have said many times before his girlfriend is absolutely gorgeous and that made up for his display.Willy was solid, but Radek kept missing his forehand and when he tried to serve/volley Cañas had drilled returns right at his feet and wasn't able to make too many telling volleys at all.
Radek was just out of his depth in this match and when they had baseline rallies it was in Cañas's favour, then when he tried to change it up, he would miss the opportunity to put the ball away, just that Cañas was too tough. Sidenote Radek was good enough to sign some autographs after that performance.
Gonzalez vs. Nalbandian. This I thought would be a good match for Nalle as he has a very good record over Gonzo and the best thing about this match it was the one after the Cañas mauling, so I didn't have to move too far and the court was packed as well. The Chilean fans definitely outnumbered the Argentines and luckily it wasn't football and there was some good singing going on which is always good.
That's the thing with the Chilean players as there are so many Chileans around the world, they can always get big support.The match started out in the usual pattern Gonzo trying to dominate with the big forehands and Nalle using his Gonzo's power to change the direction of the ball on his strokes.
Nalle got a lead and was playing well better than he was against Ventura and he had to go against a better opponent. Then the evil Nalle service let him down, please could you get some kick to that serve and better length, Coria has a serve that doesn't get broken as often and he can do better than that. As he was serving for the 1st set then Gonzo started being more aggressive and the winners were flowing and he broke the back, then got some momentum from the Chilean fans and took the 1st set.
As to be sure whether he was going to continue on that vein I wasn't sure and felt that Nalle would be able to prevail in the end as Gonzo had some problems with his feet and the shoulder, so the pattern was that Nalle would hit some short angles and then just step up his game and he saw that Gonzo was struggling and the match totally changed when Nalle won the 2nd set 7-5, which he should have won the 1st set, but after that Gonzo was getting treated and not very happy with the situation and Nalle just ground him out and took the last 2 sets easily and it was a very good performance and he does have quite a lot of fans here, more than what some people would expect and the Chileans gave him a good ovation as well.
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