I am taking a mild upset again, Fish over Murray

Why bet against the form horse at this stage of the tournament. Mardy has beaten Murray I believe the last 3 times they have played, although the career head to head is very tight. Even old Mardy used to give an in form Murray problems. So a lighter, healthier, and much more confident Mardy playing the best tennis of his life will take Andy. Plus this isn't an inform Murray, after his wimby defeat to Nadal he has looked shakey after playing well on clay and winning queens. The only way I see Andy winning this is if Mardy's first serve percentage drops and Andy gets a lot of looks on Mardy's second serve. If Andy goes with his usual game plan of just relying on his speed and defense while playing deep behind the baseline against the Mardy fish we are seeing at the moment, Mardy will have a good chance of hitting through Andy. The conditions also don't favor that style of play as cincy is the fastest court and conditions of all the North American outdoor events. I look for Mardy to continue in his attempt to bring S and V tennis back and charge Andy, attack his second serve and play a lot of shots at Andy's forehand from back of the court to see if he can break it down in the baseline exchanges. Fish says this is his favorite court and favorite tournament in terms of conditions, more so than the other hardcourt events he has being doing well in.

I see this one being closer and being three sets however with fish somehow winning.

Also I am quite nervous about Nole v. Berdych. Novak looks real scratchy and if Berdy serves like he did against Fed he really does have a shot at the upset as conditions in cincy are pretty quick. But I think Novak will do a better job than Fed of reading the Thomas' serve. Still not overly impressed with Novak in Cincy. If Novak serves well he wins this one, but I think this is definetly is a danger match, as it should be at the semis of a Masters. Nice to see Berdych though break out of a bit of a slump.

Comeback after the match tonight socal and let's see how accurate you were!

Somehow i feel with Andy going in as the underdog against Mardy it is preferred to him being favourite where a disappointment can usually follow against a lower player.

May the best man win.

I am not rooting against Andy. I just think it is a fast court, Fish is the in form guy, and would be a tough matchup for murray anyway as his career 4-3 advantage indicates. Andy to me doesn't look good since his wimby loss. Clearly he is the better overall player and talent but mardy fish presents some problems in terms of the matchup. Would I be stunned if Andy won, no he can beat anyone on his day. But I really think that if he decides to play this match scrambling around like a chicken with his head cut off and waiting for fish to miss then that will play right into Fish's hands. Murray really needs to be aggressive to win this match and I have a feeling that he is just going to go with the same defensive gameplan as before.

socal if he plays defensive which I hope he won't then he well deserves to get beat.

Somehow I think he won't but it will not be easy against Mardy who if he continues to play the way he has then Andy for sure will have his work cut out.

Hopefully he will want to put his previous encounters with him to rest with a win here.

Whoever wins this has a great chance of picking up the title, Novak providing he gets past Berdych is still beatable.

I don't know about the Cinci semis ( I pick Fish for this one), but the impression is Murray is one of the player who can benefit the most from the decline of the Fedal ticket.
Next year will probably be, on this regard, of paramount importance for him to try to lift a long awaited slam trophy, as it may open a short window without dominant players monopolizing the wins. Also I don't think Djoko is going to be anywhere as dominant as either Fed or Nadal, as yesterday's match clearly showed.

My mind says that this US open is Andys best chance yet to lift a slam but my heart tells me when it starts Rafa, Fed and Nole will find there A game. That is how these guys roll.

Them losing in a 3 set match is leagues away from a 5 set defeat and they live for these big moments.

just my view on the tennis at the min

It's not an upset if Fish wins... i think he is surely the better hard court player these days! Murray will find a way to get himself frustrated (mental midget) handing Fish plenty of unforce errors, start serving like Dementieva and there we have it... Fish makes 2nd MS final in a row...

mental midget - mental poster

Mental? No.. I would feel mentally deranged if I had to watch and root for Murray though... how many sets won in 3 GS finals of bo5? I forget

Andy up a set JM...

Murray has totally let Fish back into this match... his fragility is similar to a zebra in a crocodile reservoir.

Have to say that this 2nd set has been poor. The humid conditions clearly wearing both players there. I think whoever wins this 2nd set will take the match.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Mental? No.. I would feel mentally deranged if I had to watch and root for Murray though... how many sets won in 3 GS finals of bo5? I forget

Still pains you does it to realise he is the best player Britain has produced since Fred Perry pre-World War Two.

Aaaaaand Fish donates the 2nd set

Now the boy with the serve that should face prosecution in court of arbitration has luckboxed his way to the final...

Nice one Andy

Murray showing he can be made of stern stuff when collectively his mind and body are in sync. Well done that man.

Big baby makes MS final. Is he sponsored by kleenex? constant whinging after losing points by this Mcenroe faker...

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Big baby makes MS final. Is he sponsored by kleenex? constant whinging after losing points by this Mcenroe faker...

Hmmm just like being back on 606.

JM just turn it in. When Djokovic is knocked off his perch lets see how many of you fans hang around eh?

Which perch? well it won't be by Nadal thats for sure the majorcan is finito...

my favourite player is actually Dolgopolov if you bothered to read my other comments

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Big baby makes MS final. Is he sponsored by kleenex? constant whinging after losing points by this Mcenroe faker...

legendkillar wrote:When Djokovic is knocked off his perch lets see how many of you fans hang around eh?

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Which perch? well it won't be by Nadal thats for sure the majorcan is finito...

Very sad to see posters' favourites being used for proxy attacks.

I am with CCraig on this one.

Since your favourites beat their opponents with their Tennis, perhaps a 606v2 tournament is in the making.

lol LK comes back to tell us the standard is poor and new players are needed.. would he be saying this if it were Nadal dominating, and not Nole?

It was a pretty awful second set, but Andy at least showed some aggressive play in the tiebreak. A pretty dreary match, Murray wins in straights but hasn't been particularly convincing. At least we get a big 4 matchup in the final that will be a nice thing to watch. Feel kind of bad for Berdy he was playing real well and had Novak on the ropes before his injury.

socal1976 wrote:Why bet against the form horse at this stage of the tournament. Mardy has beaten Murray I believe the last 3 times ...

Fish a form horse?

He was till today, he had won atlanta, finals in la, finals in Canada, and a semi with his first ever win over Nadal. But fish didn't play well against Andy today, he looked tired to me as he has had the busiest summer of any of the top ten. He played Davis cup and started up in Atlanta.

To be fair socal Mardy looked in much better shape physically in the second set tie-break than Andy Murray. True Mardy has been better of late but also so has Andy and it was he who found the way to win the tie-break despite being up against it on a couple of occasions and that deserves credit whe one isn't at the top of his game.

Every dog has it's day and Mardy has had a few more than most this week.

When he looks back over his career he will no doubt take his win over Nadal this week as one of the high points.

CaledonianCraig wrote:To be fair socal Mardy looked in much better shape physically in the second set tie-break than Andy Murray. True Mardy has been better of late but also so has Andy and it was he who found the way to win the tie-break despite being up against it on a couple of occasions and that deserves credit whe one isn't at the top of his game.

I don't know Andy hasn't been particularly convincing since his defeat at wimbeldon. I am not saying that he doesn't have a good shot of winning because frankly Djoko hasn't looked good after wimby it is still like a lot of the top players are suffering a kind of wimbeldon hangover. But the open is coming around and I think people will see the top players really flip the switch. Andy was lucky Fish was missing today, just like Novak got a bit lucky against Berdy. That was the worst I have seen fish play in a couple of months, he even said it himself that he was a bit tired of playing in the finals and semi of every event and he was a bit tired. Andy though hasn't had the same kind of match play and is much younger so I don't know what his excuse is. Mardy has played 4 matches in Atlanta, 4 in La, 2 davis cup 5 setters, 5 matches in Canada, and 4 matches in cincy. In the same time frame murray has played one match in Canada and 4 matches in Cincy.

Andy has played two tournaments since Wimbledon - one admittedly very disappointing whilst the other he has reached the final so certainly not all doom and gloom. More matches can be good as it keeps fitness levels up whilst Andy came into Cincinnati with one competitive match in around six weeks so there is bound to be a drop in match fitness levels there.

Lets see what happnes Craig, maybe both guys have saved their best for last. I think that very well maybe the case, nothing to focus your mind like playing a big rival in a final even if you have been subpar in your performance in the tournament so far. Both guys are in the same boat in that respects. In the America broadcast right before the Djoko match Andy said something really smart that I liked. While Djoko was warming up for Berdy he said that he definetly wanted Djoko in the final. He said nothing could be better barometer of where his form was before the open. It can't do anything but help his preparation for the second biggest slam of the season.