By TW Contributing Editor, Andrew Burton
Morning, all.
Yesterday you just had the very faint sense that the Pacific Life 2008 Tournament was moving up a gear - some terrific matches, varied styles, close calls - plus Andrew Friedman (Rolo Tomassi) arrived. So we're definitely approaching the business end, and we have some great matches in store today, including at least two "rematches."
First, a quick recap of some of yesterday's action from my roving vantage point.
Andrew F and I sat high up in the press box to watch Federer play Nicolas Mahut. I'm not sure watch is the right verb here - blink and you missed the first set, and the second set felt quicker. I had the sense on Sunday that Federer wasn't quite at his sharpest, but that wasn't the case yesterday. Mahut told some French journalists after the match that he was perplexed at the way Federer could read his serves. He joked that he felt like offering to pay Federer for the lesson: I think he decided better of it because the ATP betting police would have had him in handcuffs before he reached the umpire's chair had he walked up to the net holding out a $50 bill.
Andrew F and I then walked over to Stadium 2 to see the first set of Ancic-Ferrero. This was a top quality scrap: Ferrero uncorked a fizzing crosscourt FH return to set up the only break at 5-5, then held for the set. There was no shade on the court, so we headed back to the main stadium in time to see Sharapova last out Bondarenko. Hewitt-Youzhny was a bit flat - Youzhny's DTL BH couldn't clear the tape, and after he closed out the first set 7-5 Hewitt ran away with the second, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Ancic-Ferrero went to a third set TB after Ancic saved two MPs at 5-6. The match as a whole was a superb advert for the current ATP game - big serves (both players regularly into the high 120s mph), superb returns (Ancic slightly more aggressive) and excellent BL defense (Ferrero having a slight edge here, I thought).
We got to 7-7 on Ancic's serve, then a DTL FH passing shot by Ancic clipped the tape. Somehow, Ferrero got to it with a reflex BH volley, but the ball sat up for Ancic's BH - which he netted. A serve winner finished it, and Ferrero was through, having taken 117 points to 116. (When I mentioned this to Joel Drucker, he asked if tennis scoring was moving over to the basketball system.)
The evening saw a clear contrast - Ivo Karlovic against Andy Murray. The Croat continues to impress me with his improved range, agility and consistency at the baseline. He still has a slightly shambling air, and when he misses an easy shot he stops and looks down at his racquet, for all the world like Lenny shamefaced in front of George for accidentally crushing some small creature.
I had to applaud some of Karlovic's volleys and gets, until I was quietly drawn aside and mildly reproved for violating press gallery etiquette by audibly applauding. (Apparently, the objectivity of the Press might be called into question by my actions. Oops. Andrew Friedman had tried to warn me, getting a salty response for his trouble.)
So I was reduced to muttering "Well played sir" and "Oh, I say, that's a dream of a pass" as Murray went up a gear at the end of the third set, taking it 6-3. At his first press conference on Sunday, Murray had noted his good third set record: I looked it up and if my math is right, he's 17-3 in three set matches since the start of 2007. That's impressive.
OK, on to Wednesday's matches. The marquee clash in the ATP is Nadal-Tsonga. A defeat for Nadal might cement Jo-Wilfried as a genuine top 10 threat. Nadal's hardcourt prowess was vigorously extolled yesterday by Federer, and a Spanish win sets up the prospect of a QF with the winner of Blake-Gasquet.
We play all the R16 matches today. The second rematch I'll be keeping an eye on is Murray-Haas. Their 2007 encounter was my candidate for strangest match of the year: a crocked Murray was somehow able to play his way back into the match with Haas, then take it in a third set TB. Murray, of course, is on course for another potential rematch, should he get past Haas and Federer ease past Ljubicic.
In the WTA, we're already at the QF stage. Kuznetsova has an early break over Radwanska as I type this, and the evening session leads off with Sharapova against Hantuchova, the winner here last year.
Speaking of Murray-Haas 2007 PacLife, the chair umpire was none other than Mohammed Layhani, who showed up yesterday night at The Beer Hunter with Gerry Armstrong and two other umpires. Pete, Steve Tignor, Andrew Friedman and I were going over the day with D-Wiz and her two gorgeous cousins, Caroline and Adeline. So we formed a merry company, calling it a night at 12:30pm. Covering tournaments is harder work than it looks, you know.