Not too surprisingly, Daniil Medvedev vs. Andy Murray in round two of the Miami Open was a better matchup on paper than it was on the court.
Medvedev had no trouble in the battle between former world No. 1s, as he disposed of Murray 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 27 minutes on Saturday afternoon. The top seed won 30 of 36 first-serve points and did not give his opponent a single break chance.
“I think it was a great match,” Medvedev assessed. “It’s never easy, [opening] matches; even if you practice on the same courts for one or two months, it’s never going to be the same as a competitive tournament match. So I’m happy that I managed to have zero break points against me. I feel like I have some room for improvement, but it was a great match against an amazing player and I’m happy that I managed to go through.
“On the days when you serve good, your opponent doesn’t have this freedom to return–it helps you. (In the) second set, the scoreline was easier, (but) it was much tougher in the beginning. When your opponent knows you’re probably going to get some aces and it’s not going to be easy for him to return, he gets pressure on his serve and many times that is what happens in close matches.”
Medvedev’s match wasn’t close, but a couple of other seeded players did endure tough days at the office. No. 23 Karen Khachanov lost to Tommy Paul in a third-set tiebreaker and No. 32 Albert Ramos-Vinolas went down to Sebastian Korda 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 after leading 5-2 in the second-set tiebreaker.
No. 11 seed and Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz managed to survive and advance, but not before requiring two hours and six minutes in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 struggle against Mikhail Kukushkin.
It will be Fritz vs. Paul in a third-round showdown between good friends on Monday.
nice one, Meddy
It’s so sad to c Murray struggling against other players considering not so long ago he was part of the big 4!!
er, Murray hasn’t been part of the big 4 since Jan 2017. He finished 2016 at #1 with Djoker close behind. That’s over 5 years ago. Weirdly, both of them lost in the first round at AO in 2017 and both eventually dropped out of the Top 10, leaving Fed and Rafa to duke it out for #1 that year. Murray is planning a training block with Lendl until grass season, skipping the clay this year. He’s planning to focus on his serve and return if I remember correctly. There’s an article out there, which popped on my news feed this morning, but can’t remember the source, sorry.
Where’s Lendl when you need him?
I get the feeling that Murray is feeling the pressure as soon as the competition ramps up.
Is he playing with enough margin for error?
How’s his one two punch going?
He needs to re-establish a formula to remain competitive and stop thinking he has to hit amazing shots on every ball to remain competitive.
It was only few months ago that Nadal said he was happy to see Andy playing so well, so I think a large part of it is psychological at this stage.
It just shows how difficult it is to get back to the top once you drop outside the top 100 because you meet top seeds too early in the draw and cant get enough rythmn and wild cards are probably a disservice right now.
First serve % 77% v Delbonis
First serve % 51% v Medvedev
Clearly he’s feeling the pressure when the competition ramps up. If he can sort that out, that could be 80% of the problem solved.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/mar/26/andy-murray-switches-focus-to-grass-after-another-early-exit-in-miami
Murray will begin working with coach Ivan Lendl
Oh nice!! I think ure analysis is a good one. If that’s the case then he should be able to see results quickly. I hope things work out for him with Lendl!
And he needs to slow the points down. Most likely he is playing way too quickly both between and during the point with not enough margin for error in his game.
Andy can’t seem to win two matches in a row. Maybe because he gets tired quickly, maybe because he’s coming up against top seeds too early, maybe because however hard you try, you just can’t cut it any more in top tennis with a metal hip.
If he doesn’t do well on grass I can see him quitting.
Having Lendl onboard will allow him to draw some definitive conclusions, so i think that’s a wise decision getting him involved. He played some of his best tennis under Lendl will know whether what he’s trying to achieve is still possible.
“and Lendl will know”
Margot,
I think it’s all of the above. I would have liked to see him come back after the hip surgery and be a force in tennis. It hurts to see him struggling this way.
🙁