Chances : You Got To Take Them

Apologies for not blogging yesterday but that was due to a combination of feeling a bit crap. Takes longer to recover and too many 5th set tiebreakers.

Gulbis vs. Bedene

The enigmatic Latvian Gulbis qualified for the main draw and upset the Canadian upstart Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round whereas the Slovenian formerly British, now Slovenian Bedene defeated the double barrelled chested Aussie Duckworth in 5 sets.

Gulbis is a cat who definitely dances to his own tune. Some find it refreshing and others irritating. The knock on Gulbis was never about his ability, but his lack of work ethic which many of his critics believed is due to the fact he is from a very wealthy background. Yes, it may be true but this doesn’t explain the desire of Rafael Nadal who came from money, it all comes down to individuals.


Gulbis

Play was delayed due to rain and a bad dust storm last night. Once play got under the way Gulbis started well and was able to move Bedene around the court with ease forcing the Slovenian into mistakes. The forehand has been modified and not looking as ridiculous as usual, the backhand is still world class which he was using to pin Bedene back behind the baseline and then fool him with the dropshots.

Gulbis took the 1st set and this was pretty much the match as a whole. Bedene looked flat and after the 3rd set called for the trainer to do some work on his hip. Lord Gulbis moved him side to side and then Bedene would provide the error on cue. This was done in straight sets and for the most part Lord Gulbis behaved very well.

Seppi vs. Wawrinka

This was a match where I thought tough draw but there is a chance to win it as Wawrinka while still having some of his peak tennis in him, he’s more vulnerable these days. They have played a lot over the years and not too many secrets out there.

Seppi lost his first service game and Wawrinka jumped to an early lead. Once Seppi took his first game he was able to get into a rhythm moving the big Swiss around the court. Seppi gets the break back and on serve to 4-4 where Seppi breaks and takes the 1st set.

There were a couple of major turning points in the match. The second set continued with extended rallies with Wawrinka volleying and defending well, whereas Seppi was moving the ball around the court controlling the points. Seppi served for the set at *5-4 but played an awful game where he hardly made any first serves, as Seppi doesn’t have a Berrettini like monster kick serve, at best it’s a flick with not much work from the legs. If it’s not placed correctly, then it’s fodder for the better players. This plus a couple of cheap errors gave Wawrinka the break back, then he got his confidence to start winging hard which was successful for him to reel off the next 3 games to get the set.


Seppi got to take the chances

1 set all Wawrinka was serving well and not threatened at all was able to play his game and broke Seppi taking a 2 sets to 1 lead. Wawrinka has his patches in matches where he is average and makes a lot of errors, just a question of whether he is on song enough to win or the opponent can ride out the storm.

Seppi is finally returning better and putting them in difficult spots where he is getting the better of them. He manages to break the big Swiss and successfully serve out the 4th set, of course this was not done without some problems.

Now into the 5th set where both players are playing well with plenty of extended rallies side to side. One thing Wawrinka did very well was not give Seppi opportunities to hit his backhand down the line. The final nail in the coffin comes after Seppi breaks for 4-3 he’s 40-30 up went for a big first serve and just missed. As per second set he was unable to confirm the break of serve, a couple of passive shots and Wawrinka sniffed the opportunity out became more aggressive again, not losing another game to win 6-4 in the 5th.


Wawrinka

In this case it’s easier to be chopped 2, 2 and 3 as that’s a clear defeat whereas this leads to more frustration and devastation after the end. The opportunity to take a 2 sets to 0 lead, another to go to 5-3 in the 5th on your racquet. As was stated the other day tennis is a cruel beast, can play well and lose, then play shit and win on others. At the end of the day, just got to take your chances.

As for Seppi he’ll be a dad in March and will be interesting to see how he performs in the North American circuit, but as long as he makes a couple more trips Down Under then all is good.

Random Stuff

Micke Ymer lost a very tough 5th set tiebreaker which is an abortion on the sport of tennis. At majors you break serve to win matches. I blame John Isner for all this madness.

Kevin Anderson continues to have a poor record in Melbourne losing from 2 sets up.
Massu and Muster aren’t going to be happy with Domi Thiem going 5 sets but to be fair the 3 sets he won were easy. He is the best hope to stop Nadal making the final.

Once again there were too many people on the grounds during the day, but thankfully at night it seems a lot easier to get seats at matches outside.

Only a couple more days and the adventure will be over.