Same as it ever was : Foki loves a 5 setter

Sometimes the sequel isn't as shit. Here is the second last report for the tournament and for those who are mad enough to read this rather strange blog,  thank you.    The matches were very contrasting but for differing reasons.

Fran Cerundolo vs.  Dzhumur

The elder and more talented Cerundolo is now coached by Salto's favourite and all round Uruguayan legend Pablo Cuevas.  This was potentially a tricky match for Cerundolo if he was not switched on.

Dzhumur managed an early break in the 1st set and it seems like he's complaining a lot less on court these days.  Cerundolo was able to get the break back quickly and use his superior skills to dominate the match.

                                           Fran Cerundolo

Cerundolo played an outstanding match.  He showed the right amount of patience and aggression.  The Argentine was hitting with good length and dominating with the forehand to open up the court,  using his drop shot at the right time to finish the point.

Coach Cuevas was happy with that performance and will need to keep a high level for his next match against Rublev.

Davidovich Fokina vs.  Opelka

Now this was the match between the tennis player and servebot.  These matches are very difficult mentally for the player as a lot of the match isn't on their racquet.  The most important thing is for them to hold serve and then taking any break chances that come their way.

Foki has started fairly well and was comfortable on serve.   Opelka was either ace,  service winner or double fault.  The one game he got broken in the first set  it was Opelka serving a double fault going for 200km/h second serve.   You'd think being almost 3m tall that would be able consistent kick serve which would bounce over the head.  The second set was just both players holding serve until the tiebreaker,   Foki was able to get the mini break and won it comfortably.

So far so good with Foki's mentality in the match,  but that was about to the change at 5-5 all in the 3rd set where he plays an absolute stinker of game and Opelka breaks without having to do anything really special.   He easily serves out to set to take it to 2 sets to 1.  Foki is annoyed and then leaves the court for a kit change,  though some would say a strategic timeout.

Start of the 4th set Foki holds serve and then has a break point at 30-40 to go 2-0 up.   He worked the point very well and had a very high forehand volley with no pace and dumps into the middle of the net.  It was a lot harder to miss,  even very poor volleyers would have got that over the net at least.   The inner rage was coming out and he manages to get broken at 3-2 in the big American easily closes out the set.

Foki confronting idiot fans

Foki was seething and went over to confront these obnoxious Opelka fans in the corner of the court.   The umpire got down very quickly to prevent a heated discussion,  don't get me wrong I don't mind a bit of niggle but got to concentrate on the game.

Opelka has never come back from 2 sets down.  Then this is the Australian Open and it's not natural without a Davidovich Fokina 5 setter.   You can tell that I have been through experience a few times.    Opelka has started playing better,  actually hanging in the rallies and not just slapping the ball for the sake of it.   He was even hitting backhand down the line winners.

At 2-2 in the 5th set  Foki was down 0-40,  but was strong mentally and was able to hold serve.  This gets back to my original point that he had to do everything to hold serve as break chances are limited.  Opelka serving to stay in the match at 4-5 and thankfully Foki was able to break for the match and let out a huge roar.

Thankfully the tennis player won on this ocassion and yes we've seen the Foki 5 set movie a few times,  but a good ending.

Other Stuff

It's interesting to see the serious Bublik these days.   So many previous experiences on the outside courts where he was a mix of the brilliant,  the bizarre,  stupid and the running commentary as well.

The turnaround in attitude has been immense and he is deserving of the top 10 ranking.   Bublik is definitely needed in a tennis world that has been homogenised to a degree where it is almost indistinguishable and a cardboard cutout could be used as a replacement.

He was always just a bit better than Fuscovics,   even when Fuscovics had the break in the 3rd and served for it.   Bublik previously would have just tanked the game,  but went to work broke back and got it done in straght sets.

Bublik has managed the balance by playing within his skillset and doing it his way.   After the match Fuscovics as was leaving the court,  he shook hands with Bublik.   Then his team went over to Bublik's as well,  good touch.

The crowds are so huge these days,  the after 5pm ground pass was sold out which has never happened before.  At the same time,  they definitely need to make the courts have a greater capacity.