Up until now, Murray hadn't faced a really tough opponent. He played 32nd seed, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and pummeled him. Garcia-Lopez seemed confused and unable to pressure Murray. However, Melzer was seen as a crafty lefty with more power than Garcia-Lopez. Melzer had had an indifferent career for nearly a decade, his rankings mired in the
The quickest way to rise through the rankings? Big serve. Just ask Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, Sam Querrey, and Andy Roddick. If you can hold the vast majority of the time, that's just one thing less to worry about. Few people are like David Ferrer or Rafa, who rely on speed and the power of
Sometimes, during a Slam, you'll see seeds do really well on the first day, then seeds struggle on the second day. Federer and Djokovic had an easy day, so clearly Murray, Nadal, and Soderling had to show them up. And they did. Both Murray and Nadal's opponents retired. Nadal was up 6-0, 5-0 when his
Last year, at this time, Nikolay Davydenko was coming off a great end of 2009 and looking to continue his winning ways in 2010. He had been on a hot streak, winning Kuala Lumpur, winning in Shanghai over Djokovic and Nadal, and winning the year-end championship beating Nadal, Federer, and del Potro, the three Slam
Looking every bit like a sandy brown Apollo Ohno, soul patch included, or perhaps that faithful stoner buddy of Scooby Doo, Lukas Lacko, the Slovak Shaggy, had Rafael Nadal on the the ropes. Lacko (pronounced Lack-so by the announcers) is not exactly a young player. At age 23, he's been on the tour for a
When the world's best play one another, you hope, nay, you expect to see great matches. The ATP World Tour Finals gather the best 8 players in the world where the winner must play up to 5 different top 8 players to win. There were opportunities for greatness to happen. Roger Federer played Andy Murray
With Federer's sweep of Group B beating Robin Soderling in straight sets, Roger Federer made Andy Murray's life much easier. A victory by Andy Murray would guarantee a semifinal berth. Murray didn't even need to win. Since both Soderling and Ferrer lost their two matches in straight sets, he would finish ahead of both by
Let's start with the top seed and work our way down. Rafael Nadal Rafa's level generally never drops too low. Everyone points to how he never gives up, and while that's certainly one factor in his incredible ability to win, everyone says that about Lleyton Hewitt, and he's struggling to get in the top 20.Â
Federer is ever the optimist. At least, that's how he portrays himself in interviews. He feels, with a little more work, he can beat anyone. This, despite the fact that Andy Murray has beaten Federer the last two times they played. Murray beat the Swiss maestro in Toronto using a new-found aggressive play. He beat
Andy Murray, the only player in the field from Britain, knew the drill. Decked out in an argyle outfit that recalled the early years of Ivan Lendl, but using black as the background instead of white, Murray was a man on a mission. Last year, he, Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro and Fernando Verdasco
