Well, that would only apply if Mahut broke Isner. Credit to Mahut for serving to say in the match over and over and over again. Mind-boggling numbers...
Yes, I was pulling up the link when I typed that. Didn't know who was serving first. I didn't catch any of yesterday. Only game of the match I saw was the final game.
he should be alright in doubles. won't have to move as much and has a partner that can try to pick up the slack for him. Plus Querrey is still playing singles right now so doubt they get to the match today.
Isner is now playing in the second round against Thiemo de Bakker (Dutch talent), he is now trailing 4-0 in the first set. Lets see if he recovers (I hope not :grin: ) edit: Ok now it is 6-0 6-3 for de Bakker
I know nothing about De Bakker but Isner's 1st serve speed today is what his 2nd serve was at in the last match. The crazy thing is that had Isner won this match, which he obviously won't, he would've had to play for 5 days in a row when you typically always get at least a day of rest between matches.
6-0 6-3 6-2 in a little over an hour, now he has the longest and the shortest match during this tournament. Isner was not a shell of what he should be. Logical after such a match. De Bakker is one of the 2 big Dutch young players (Haasse that played nadal yesterday is the other) He is 21, and got into the third round in Roland garros a few weeks back. Isner should be able to beat de Bakker. But it would not have been easy. de bakker will be top 30 within 2 years if you ask me. He might get to the top 20 (maybe 10) before his career is done. Finally we have some talent again.
I saw part of that Haase-Nadal match. Haase has a great serve. Nadal, one of the best defensive players in the game, only won 4 points in the 1st set on Haase's serve, if I recall correctly. Haase seemed to have some kind of hip/back problem though and once his serve lost effectiveness, it was all Nadal. Until Isner adds to his return game, I just don't see him ever being a real threat at majors and I'm not sure how much he can improve in that area given his body type and general lack of athelticism. Today was the first time I've seen De Bakker and it wasn't a good match to judge him by but I imagine he has a better overall game and a higher ceiling than Isner. Back to Nadal, if he ever wants to be a consistent threat off of clay, he needs to improve his serve more than anything else. He just doesn't get enough cheap points. It's amazing what he's been able to do at Wimbledon, the Australian and many hard court tournaments given his weak serve. If he improves that part of his game just marginally and stays healthy (improving his serve will also contribute to his health and lengthen his caeer), he could become an even more dangerous and complete player which is a scary thought.
Nadal barely wins a tough 5-setter. Unlike Haase, Petzschner didn't let up with his serve for the most part and his serve was nothing short of dominating. Nadal broke in the very first game of the match then wasn't able to do so again until the 4th set. He actually called the trainer out a few times, including right before Petzschner's serve at 1-2 in the 4th. You almost wonder if he was trying to play mind games because Petzschner had his worst service game of the match right after they resumed play and that was largely the turning point of the match. Nadal also went off on the chair umpire after he got a warning about getting coaching from his box. The ump had already brought it up with him once during a changeover. This is nothing new for Nadal as he's always looking up at his uncle during matches while is uncle constantly seems to be talking to him. Nadal doesn't look to be in top form but he still looks better than post-Australian Open 2009. I actually don't think Nadal even looked his best at the French despite not dropping a set. He's just so dominant on clay that at 90% or whatever, he's still the best.
Yea, that was a surprise. I saw a little of the match. Despite improved fitness and some minor improvements to his overall game in recent yesars, Roddick has just never made enough progress with his ground and return game to be more of a threat late in majors. He's always dangerous because of his serve but the weaknesses in his game consistently catch up to him against better players, sometimes even players he should beat, as was the case today. I also believe he wasn't in his best form coming into this tournament but this was still a major disappointment for him.
