And what do you know?
Madrid SF: [4] A. Murray d. [2] R. Federer 36 63 75
Ah, this is slightly disappointing, I think, especially with the way Federer was playing earlier this week. Stream was stop-start throughout, but from what I could make out, Murray did a good job neutralizing Federer's game. I followed most of the third set, and you could see him putting pressure on Federer's service games throughout, while Federer wasn't really doing anything on Murray's serve. Thoroughly deserved result for Murray; he's got game. I'll be cheering him on tomorrow.
Be back later, after the Nadal-Simon match.
edit
I did not expect this. Simon is about to serve for the match, a break up at 6-5 in the deciding set. The stream has gone to pot completely, but I can tell from the brief flashes I'm getting that the crowd isn't too happy about the way things are going. Great fight from Simon. As far as I can tell, he's out-Nadalled Nadal today on the "never give up" front. A very rare quality. We'll see if he can clinch it soon enough..
Nope. Tiebreak. Rafa with the early minibreak. What that portends, I'm not sure. Well, back on serve, 2-3 Simon. I'm going to have to pay more attention to this guy, that's for sure. He doesn't look like the gritty come-from-behind type, but he's been showing this sort of fight all week.
... Simon with the minibreak, serving at 5-4, but Rafa gets it back, so the Spaniard's 6-5, on serve.
Match point, Simon. This time on his serve at 7-6. I wish I could watch. And, wow, they've been out there for 3h20min.
Simon clinches the tiebreak, to 6.
Madrid SF: G. Simon d. [1] R. Nadal 36 75 76(6)
Apologies to Simon. Never thought he could do it, but he's into the final now, against Andy Murray. By all accounts this match was a fine scrap; I didn't get to see it!! *whines*
Madrid Final predictions
G. Simon v. [4] A. Murray - Murray
Well, I should probably lay off this prediction completely. Murray's the obvious choice for tomorrow, and I'll go with the obvious choice, even though Simon's showed remarkable mental fortitude in getting to the final. This is because the Frenchman is likely to be tired going in. Every single one of his matches this week has gone to three sets, and he's played one (and a half) more match(es) than Murray since the Scot had a first-round bye and (Bolelli retired against him in the second round). By that alone, he should be at a disadvantage. We'll see.
Ah, this is slightly disappointing, I think, especially with the way Federer was playing earlier this week. Stream was stop-start throughout, but from what I could make out, Murray did a good job neutralizing Federer's game. I followed most of the third set, and you could see him putting pressure on Federer's service games throughout, while Federer wasn't really doing anything on Murray's serve. Thoroughly deserved result for Murray; he's got game. I'll be cheering him on tomorrow.
Be back later, after the Nadal-Simon match.
edit
I did not expect this. Simon is about to serve for the match, a break up at 6-5 in the deciding set. The stream has gone to pot completely, but I can tell from the brief flashes I'm getting that the crowd isn't too happy about the way things are going. Great fight from Simon. As far as I can tell, he's out-Nadalled Nadal today on the "never give up" front. A very rare quality. We'll see if he can clinch it soon enough..
Nope. Tiebreak. Rafa with the early minibreak. What that portends, I'm not sure. Well, back on serve, 2-3 Simon. I'm going to have to pay more attention to this guy, that's for sure. He doesn't look like the gritty come-from-behind type, but he's been showing this sort of fight all week.
... Simon with the minibreak, serving at 5-4, but Rafa gets it back, so the Spaniard's 6-5, on serve.
Match point, Simon. This time on his serve at 7-6. I wish I could watch. And, wow, they've been out there for 3h20min.
Simon clinches the tiebreak, to 6.
Madrid SF: G. Simon d. [1] R. Nadal 36 75 76(6)
Apologies to Simon. Never thought he could do it, but he's into the final now, against Andy Murray. By all accounts this match was a fine scrap; I didn't get to see it!! *whines*
Madrid Final predictions
G. Simon v. [4] A. Murray - Murray
Well, I should probably lay off this prediction completely. Murray's the obvious choice for tomorrow, and I'll go with the obvious choice, even though Simon's showed remarkable mental fortitude in getting to the final. This is because the Frenchman is likely to be tired going in. Every single one of his matches this week has gone to three sets, and he's played one (and a half) more match(es) than Murray since the Scot had a first-round bye and (Bolelli retired against him in the second round). By that alone, he should be at a disadvantage. We'll see.