Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal will kick off their Cincinnati campaigns on Wednesday. They are set for respective second-round meetings with Mikhail Youzhny and Benjamin Becker.
Mikhail Youzhny vs. (2) Andy Murray
Youzhny and Murray will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers and for the second time this summer when they clash in round two of the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday. Murray has won all three of their previous encounters, including a 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-1 victory just a few weeks ago in the Wimbledon fourth round. The Scot is 7-1 lifetime in sets against Youzhny, having survived once in a third-set tiebreaker (2007 St. Petersburg).
Murray’s form is somewhat in question because his only matches since his triumph at the All-England Club have come in Montreal, where he beat Marcel Granollers then lost to Ernests Gulbis in straight sets. Youzhny denied a rematch by taking care of Gulbis 7-5, 6-3 in his Cincinnati opener on Tuesday. The 25th-ranked Russian is 27-17 for the season, which includes a recent clay-court title in Gstaad. Murray may not be back completely in peak form, but he is a two-time champion in Cincinnati and that should help him regain some confidence.
Pick: Murray in 2
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(Q) Benjamin Becker vs. (4) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Becker will be squaring off for the second time in their careers and for the first time in more than five years when they do battle on Wednesday night. Their only previous meeting came at the 2008 Miami Masters, where Nadal cruised 7-5, 6-2. The third-ranked Spaniard is contesting his Cincinnati opener three days after triumphing at the Rogers Cup. That improved Nadal’s 2013 record to an incredible 48-3 with eight titles.
Becker is most famous for ending Andre Agassi’s career at the 2006 U.S. Open. The 32-year-old German has never done anything else particularly of note, but he has sustained a nice career for himself. Becker registers right at 100th in the world and he qualified for the main draws in both Montreal and now in Cincinnati. After beating Lukasz Kubot and Michael Russell over the weekend, he ousted fellow qualifier Pablo Andujar 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday. Still, Becker is a mere 6-14 at the ATP level this season. While Cincinnati is far from Nadal’s favorite tournament and a quick turnaround won’t help, all other signs point to this being a straightforward opening match.
Pick: Nadal 7-5, 6-2
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he was in a decent mood. seemed like he gave longer answers than usual. he came in IMMEDIATELY after his TV interview so maybe he wasn’t in a hurry to get out since it was going to be an early night no matter what.
I said another night match tomorrow and asked him if he had a preference. He said “It’s a seven so that’s my preference because there is no other option.” then lots of laughter from both Rafa and the rest of the room.
once again some great observations about the rafa service NNY! he is definitely serving the 2nd serves faster and with more spin… toni pointed out rafa’s 2nd serve as the major area of development in rafa’s game some time ago so they are surely working hard to improve it…. I agree with your comments about the 1st serve too…
about the slice, well I think it has also to do with rafa being more offensive minded right now …in the past he usually might be content to to throw in the slices to just mix up the pattern of play but now he is using the slices as an offensive weapon.. not saying he has not done it in the past but he is doing it more now…
Oz 2012 final , I observed rafa using a tactic against novak…he sliced deep to novak’s backhand and when novak’s backhand is attacked by that shot, he often responds with a relatively short CC backhand and rafa is waiting to punish it with a deadly forehand DTL ! He also used this pattern in montreal so he likes using it against novak on hard courts..best thing is that even if novak directs his backhand to rafa’s backhand, rafa is ready to pounce on it with his backhand too ! I think rafa has developed some winning patterns against novak..
another observation is about rafa’s return of first serves..he is definitely taking bigger and flatter swipes at the ball now ! In the past, his first serve returns were relatively safe but sinc montreal has begun, he has been more offensive with the returns..2nd serve ROS, i dont need to mention, we all know how well he is doing it
@Ricky, hahaahha thanks 😀
most interesting part was him saying that grass is harder on his knees than hard courts
Only whilst he is recovering.
Nadal-Dimitrov preview – https://tenngrand.com/2013/08/15/cincinnati-r3-preview-and-pick-nadal-vs-dimitrov/
I fell asleep during Novak’s opening match, believe it or not. I know he won, did he dance after?
ritb,
You had me laughing out loud with your comment! 🙂
Actually the first set was very interesting when Djoker was up 4-1 and then Monaco broke back and evened it up at 4-4 and then broke again to lead 5-4. Unfortunately, when he was serving for the set, Djoker must have had a wakeup call or a reality check. He upped his level and Monaco didn’t have the goods. So Djoker managed to win the first set and it was business as usual for him in that second set.
You know, I don’t know if he danced or not. I didn’t bother to watch him after the match or his interview on the tennis channel. All day they had the winning player come to their little booth for interviews. But I made sure to watch Rafa’s interview after his match!
No thank goodness. In fact, for Nole, he looked almost sheepish! I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming he is pacing himself. He was mediocre against Monaco, who he virtually owns, in the lst set but played a better second set.
Rafa on the other hand was in scintillating form. A joy to behold!
I’m not as concerned as some people about his lst serve percentage because he was able to serve himself out of trouble on the few occasions he faced BPs and that’s what matters.
ed,
Someone on vb said that they think Rafa wasn’t pushing it with his serve because he didn’t have to against Becker. That is a possibility. All I know is that Rafa took off some speed from his first serve to get a higher percentage. He wasn’t serving as big as he did against Djoker because he just didn’t have to do it.
His body language is quite extraordinary on the court. I can’t remember when I have seen him like this. Some of it must be about not having to defend any points. So he’s not under that kind of pressure. Every match he wins means more rankings points. But he has such purpose and focus in his face. He seems incredibly confident and sure about what he wants to do in his matches.
Luckystar must be loving this if she is watching. This is what she has wanted to see from Rafa for some time. Well, we all wanted to see it!
There is so much more pop on Rafa’s shots. I love hearing the commentators praising how he is playing!
You are correct that Rafa has been able to serve himself out of trouble. What a joy it is to see him holding his serve even when he is down like 0-30 or 0-40!
I get the chills when I watch him now. He is looking fierce!
Everything in his body language exudes his confidence and sense of purpose. It takes me back to 2005 when he prowled around the court like a hungry cat waiting to pounce on his hapless victim.
I was struck too by his concentration and the grimaces of annoyance when he missed a shot he knew he should have pulled off. But I’m not sure about the praise from the commies last night – I would say it was more like grudging admiration!
Oh happy days again 🙂
i had reached the same conclusion about his serve last night. I’m sure he is intent on not overdoing things and risking any unnecessary injuries before the USO – at least in the early rounds: why use a sledgehammer if it’s not needed?