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ROLAND GARROS 2015 - DAY 14 IP: 46.255.183.159 Posted on June 6, 2015 at 10:15:27 PM by David Barnes
ROLAND GARROS 2015
SATURDAY 6 JUNE - DAY 14
"Fight, Andy, fight!", a woman had shouted out from the stands during the second set of the Scot's preliminary skirmish with Novak Djokovic yesterday evening, an exhortation he only belatedly took up, as he made the brilliant forehand winning pass, from a seemingly impossible position near the baseline, that reversed his fortunes late in the third set. Play resumed today at 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 3-3, in their semi-final match, with Djokovic on serve. Murray continued his form from yesterday, and, putting huge pressure on the Serb's second serve played a brilliant game to break at 5-5, being rewarded with two break points at 15-40. On the second of these Djokovic pushed a forehand long. Murray had two set points on serve in the following game and on the second, saw another Djokovic forehand sail over the baseline. The Serb said later of Murray; "At 5-5 he just played a great game. He deserved to win that set".
It was unfortunate that, by his own admission afterwards, Murray "played a loose game" at the start of the fifth set, allowing his opponent to break him to love. The 2-0 lead became 4-1 with serve, then 5-1 when Djokovic broke again, and the Serb wrapped up the set and the match 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-1 in just over four hours. The score-line may have been an accurate reflection of Murray's performance, but hardly did justice to the Scot's rejection of the usual introspective carping that has so blighted his previous performances, against Djokovic and others. If Murray thinks he is any nearer beating the Serb superstar, as his remarks afterwards suggested, then he needs to reassess his fifth set today; this will show him just how much work he still has to do, and reveal how Djokovic moved him from side to side and kept him, for the most part, pinned a yard or two behind the baseline in most of the rallies. Or, as Cole Porter first put it, way back in the 1940s; " My dear, I've a feeling you are, So near and yet so far, You appear like a radiant star, First so near then again so far".
Murray said afterwards; "Obviously right now I'm upset, but my game is back close to where it needs to be to be winning Slams. Physically I'm back there again and hopefully I can play much better going into the grass this year than I was last year". The Scot may not have given himself enough of a fighting chance of being the first Briton since Bunny Austin in 1937 to win the Coupe des Mousquetaires, but he clearly considers himself to be in the running for another Wimbledon title. We shall see. The fact remains that the only time he has beaten Djokovic in the last three years, since he did so at the US Open in 2012, has been at Wimbledon in 2013, and that was before the Serb had switched fully to his gluten-free diet and employed Boris Becker as a coach, in other words when he was still more or less an ordinary mortal.
Serena Williams, another Grand Slam champion who likes to show her human side, had decided that the unbecoming antics of a couple of days ago had served their purpose and need not be repeated this afternoon. It took her 31 minutes in her final against Lucie Safarova to win the first set 6-3, and she led 4-1 in the second. Then she served two double faults to concede the next game for 4-2, was broken again a couple of games later for 4-4, splaying backhands into the tramlines - and beyond - as if she had just picked up a racket for the first time. She regrouped to win her serve and draw level at 5-5, broke Safarova for a 6-5 lead, and served for the match. An ace at 0-15 was followed by two scorching forehands from Safarova, a forehand into the net from Williams, and, at break point, another scorcher from the Czech player, this time a backhand down the line, which forced a tie-break. Williams struggled to find any touch whatsoever, was 0-3 down, then 1-4, and Safarova took it 7-2 to draw level at a set apiece. Williams had made six unforced errors in the tie-break, including her seventh double fault of the match.
This pantomime of a tiebreak, and the two games that preceded it, at least rescued this final from the tedious spectacle that it been for the previous hour and a half. There was further drama at the start of the third set, when Safarova broke the American's serve at the first attempt and held her own to love for a 2-0 lead. It was to be the last game she would win, as, predictably in the eyes of many, she next suffered the sort of meltdown that used to be the norm on the women's tour but has, thankfully, become more of a rarity nowadays; Serena ran out an unsurprising 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 winner.
In the Williams player's box, one of her physios, Cane Haupt, remained fast asleep throughout the final set, thus missing out on a vintage comeback from the American, an exhibition of the raw power and animal intensity that she often brings to matches and which may, indeed, be due in part to him. Mr Haupt woke finally on match point, to join in the exaggerated celebrations immediately thereafter. As usual the Williams box included more than its fair share of teamsters, look-alike mobsters and fraudsters, and other motley hangers-on, and they constitute a lot of mouths to feed, fully justifying the American's decision to stay in the tournament and collect the winner's cheque of 1,800,000 euros (9% up on last year).
Looking back at the escapades of La Williams over the fortnight as a whole it felt, for once, that the women's champion had earned her equal prize money, if for melodramatic effect as much as for sporting prowess. The American is, moreover, enormously popular with vast swathes of the crowd at Roland Garros, who whoop and cheer like demented meerkats every time she wins a point. It's an extraordinary spectacle, and one not entirely explicable in rational terms.
Martina Navratilova presented Serena Williams with the winner's trophy, which allowed the FFT to show some grainy black and white footage of the 'Legend' in her prime, winning twice here in 1982 and 1984. It is the younger American's twentieth Grand Slam title, and was her ninth victory over the Czech player de nos jours. Some phenomena in the tennis world are more explicable than others.
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David Barnes/Topspin, 2015
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