This will be my final day at the tennis, but this won't be the last report as there will be a summary at the end for those who care about this odd blog haha.
Today was such contrast in fortunes. It started out very badly, but ended beautifully.
Paul vs. Davidovich Fokina
Tommy Paul the man with two first names was looking rather stylish in purple plays very well in Melbourne and has a favourable record against Foki. Paul is pretty crafty and loves pace on the ball.
Foki as much as I like the guy, he is not a tactical genius. Tennis is a difficult game in many ways, but in others not so much. For example Paul loves pace, so why would you feed him pace in his hitting zone. Need to vary the heights and pace of shots to him. If he's able to generate pace from shoulder high, then too good but doing the same shit has not worked.
Paul started the match very well and not making many errors. Foki looked a bit flat and clueless to be fair, he ended up going off the courr to get some treatment on his hamstring. After losing the first 2 sets 6-1 6-1, Foki pulls the pin. No point going on if you are unable to compete, it's just a shit way to go. Paul's reward is to face Alcaraz.
Cerundolo vs. Rublev
Another match between two top 20 players which was at a much higher level than the previous one. Rublev has beautiful hair and Marat Safin in the box, yes he's one dimensional in the see ball, hit ball kind of way. Cerundolo has a massive forehand when he has the chance to use it and is better at the net/
The match started ot as expected with extended rallies waiting for the opportunity to dominate with the forehand. Cerundolo break early and took the first set. The Argentine continued on from the previous match, moving well hitting good length and working the angles.
These two know each other well and the thing I noticed was that Rublev has maybe lost a bit of pop on his shots. Maybe, it was the sun wrecking my brain, but he was not able to dominate or hit through Cerundolo. The second set was close and no major dramas or fluctuations. Cerundolo played an excellent tie breaker to take a 2 sets to love lead sending the Argentinian fans into delirium.
Rublev breaks Cerundolo in his first service game who had a bit of a letdown from the tiebreaker. The reaction is what impressed me the most. Cerundolo didn't mope or whine about being a break down, where he has had moments like this previously. He broke back at 2-2 and the turning point was the huge hold of serve with multitude of break points for Rublev which was unable to break.
Cerundolo was able to break serve and then served out the much comfortably. Now he's into the 4th round without losing a set. The Argentine fans gave him a lot of support, creating a very fun and dynamic atmosphere. Cerundolo took in the atmosphere and now has to beat Zverev next up.
1 comment:
Argentinian fans are so passionate and good that Cerundolo is playing well.
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