As well as it was played, and as entertaining as many of its points were, Michael Llodra’s 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over Sam Querrey in the quarterfinals at Bercy will not make anyone’s list of Top 10 matches of 2012. But it should be remembered nonetheless, for inspiring one of the most creative lines you'll ever hear from a tennis commentator. After watching Llodra hit a no-look forehand volley winner with his body spinning away from the net, ATP TV's Robbie Koenig raised his voice and cried that the Frenchman had, “the reflexes of a mongoose on amphetamines.” Those sound like some pretty good reflexes.
Watching Llodra net-rush his way to victory this week, a different analogy has come to my mind: He has looked like a cat preparing to spring on his prey. Llodra has been playing fast; for anyone who hates slow play, this no-nonsense, brisk-clip quarterfinal was right up your alley. He has been serving as well—with power and variety—as I’ve ever seen him; until the second set today, Llodra hadn’t faced a break point in the tournament. And he’s been carving up the front court, both in his serve and his return games, like it’s 1989.
Llodra is 32 and, at No. 86, was the lowest-ranked player in the tournament. But his run to the semis here, which includes wins over seeds Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner, shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Llodra also made it to this round at Bercy in 2010. That time, though, the court was slick; this year it’s slow and high-bouncing, which has made his triumphs over the towering baseliners del Potro, Isner, and Querrey that much more impressive.
The first set today was what you might call competitively uncompetitive—each player held his way to the tiebreaker with relative ease. Llodra moved Querrey off the court with his serve, while Sam bombed his own deliveries and fended off the Frenchman with well-measured forehand passes. The tiebreaker, though, hinged on a pass that he couldn’t make. At 1-2, with Llodra charging his second serve, Querrey pulled a forehand pass wide. That was all Llodra needed. He fired two aces (he finished with 13, four more than his ace-machine opponent) and two service winners to lock up the set.
Hopped up in front of the home folks, attacking but not with reckless abandon, lunging and reflexing at the net, Llodra continued to blast from the past by breaking Querrey to start the second. It appeared to be all he needed, and it was. But Sam, who also had a breakthrough week, with wins over Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic, made him sweat. By 2-4 in the second, he was beginning to read Llodra’s serve, and he raced to love-40 on it. Llodra fought off those three breakers; Querrey earned two more. Llodra hit an ace on one of them, but on the other Querrey had a look at a backhand pass. It missed by inches. The danger had passed. Llodra wrapped it up two games later with one more service winner at match point.
Llodra, who plays David Ferrer in the semifinals on Saturday, finished with a stellar 30/14 winner-to-error ratio, and won 62 percent of his second serve points. Curiously, he finished just 29 of 49 in points won at net, a lower percentage than what we see from even the most net-allergic baseliners. Which just shows, I guess, that playing true serve and volley tennis means living with the risks. In the right hands, with the right mongoose-like reflexes, it pays off in the end.