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ROLAND GARROS 2015 - DAY 7 IP: 46.255.183.159 Posted on May 30, 2015 at 09:55:01 PM by David Barnes
ROLAND GARROS 2015
SATURDAY 30 MAY - DAY 7
Nick Kyrgios said the other day that the player he most admired when younger was Gael Monfils; today against Andy Murray he showed some of the flair for which the French favourite is known, but little of the application, squandering break point after break point and losing, in three sets, a match that should have gone the distance and which he might in other circumstances have won, were it not for the elbow problem that resurfaced during the contest and put paid to his chances. The statistical bones of the match are that Murray won 75% of his first service points, made a mere nineteen unforced errors to Kyrgios' thirty seven, and won seven out of thirteen break points compared with the Australian's measly two out of ten.
The contrast between Kyrgios and Murray was especially pronounced at the changeovers; the latter, sombre and disciplined in muted grey, religiously monitoring his fluid intake, thinking calmly about strategy and tactics for the next game; the former, apparently relaxed, one leg folded over the other or arms held high behind his head, a tangle of colour in yellow, light purple and cerise, as if about to head off to the beach for the day rather than concentrate on a mission to win a Grand Slam 3rd round match (or even a set) against the third seed, albeit in difficult but not impossible circumstances,. The Australian allowed colourful indiscipline to affect him equally on-court, spraying shots wide and long and earning a warning at one point from umpire Damien Dumusois for whacking a ball out and over the stands. Kyrgios spent a lot of time shaking his head between rallies and during breaks; whether in despair at his injury or incredulity at his lack of focus and resolve, it was hard to know.
Kyrgios, who had strapping to his right arm during the match, said after his 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 pasting at the hands of an encouragingly in-form Murray; "I don't know what the problem is but you guys can see for yourselves on the stats I'm not serving anywhere near the pace I usually serve. It's pretty much my main strength and it's not there. Yeah, it's heartbreaking really. I'm going to sit down with my team and reassess". He was especially complimentary about Murray's game, both today and in general; "I don't think he served well [the stats showed that Murray put only 54% of first serves into court, while Kyrgios put in 78%, despite his handicap], but he made a lot of returns and he just does what he does best: that's make a lot of balls and mix up the game. He was too good. He's a freak athlete. He gets to so many balls, mixes up well, great feel and great slice. He can get rhythm on serve and return. He's got many things that are good. I want the best for him. I think he can do well this week. He's definitely got the game".
Kyrgios' younger compatriot Thanisi Kokkinakis was, meanwhile playing Novak Djokovic on Philippe Chatrier court, with more grace, and greater composure, than the older Australian, and enjoying a similar lack of success, losing in three wonderfully symmetrical sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, in little more than an hour and a half. To put things in perspective compared to the Murray match, Kokkinakis was offered no break points by the Serb, whose play fully reflected his record to date this year of 37 wins to only two losses, and who, coming into the match, was on a 24-match winning streak that includes titles at the Australian Open and, more recently and more relevantly, on clay at Monte Carlo and Rome. In a nice touch of scheduling after the match, the Australian Fred Stolle, now 76 years old, who won the title here fifty years ago, was presented with a special trophy to mark the anniversary. As the FFT briefing note said; "Fred Stolle is indisputably among the champions who have written the history of the tournament and contributed to its fame". Perhaps young Kokkinakis will also be among them within a few years.
Jack Sock, the young American who has bounced back from injury this year, said after his win against Pablo Carreno Busta on Thursday; "I finally found my serve three hours in, which was nice. It was letting me down there for a while". Today he had no such problem, coming through against the 18-year old Borna Coric, one of the Tour's bright young 'next generation' things, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in less than two hours. That makes three impressive wins for Sock this fortnight so far (he beat the lacklustre Grigor Dimitrov in the first round); he is making a name for himself on clay, describing it as his favourite surface. His recent story has something of a 'feelgood factor' about it, with a torn pelvic muscle at the start of the year being followed by the near-fatal bacterial Lemierre’s Syndrome illness that put his brother Eric (now recovered and back coaching in Kansas) into Intensive Care for over a week. The American is playing better and better with every passing match this fortnight, but will need to be at the top of his game on Monday in the fourth round when he plays Rafa, who beat Andrey Kuznetsov in three straightforward sets, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2, and who is getting back to his imperious, shot-bending, short-tweaking, 'take no prisoners' best at this, his 'favourite tournament in the world'.
The Philippe Chatrier crowd had its own 'feelgood' moment in the early evening sunshine, when Richard Gasquet became the fifth French player to qualify for the fourth round by squeaking past Kevin Anderson 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a three and a half hour thriller, thus joining Jeremy Chardy, Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
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David Barnes/Topspin,2015
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