Benneteau vs. Daniel
This was a match that screamed opportunity for a win at Slam. Benneteau is definitely in the southern part of his career playing for the love of the game, plus he has a child and one has to provide for the family. Daniel is meant to be coming into his best years, but as we know players mature at different speeds.
As expected this was a clash of styles with Daniel trying to use his heavy forehand to work Benneteau around the court extending the rallies whereas Benneteau was looking to vary the style, albeit in his manner with off pace shots and scrapping which got him a break. Benne had an opportunity to serve out the 1st set but failed to do as Daniel played a solid breaker.
Taro Daniel
In the second set Daniel was playing the slightly better tennis in a scrappy match, he had a break but was broken back and the turning point was the tiebreaker which Benneteau played very well. If Daniel had won the 2nd set, the general feeling was that he'd have run away but Benneteau was riding that momentum train and not getting off any time soon.
Benneteau who was cramping slowed the serve down and was getting more of them in and placing it well. In the rallies he was being more aggressive and yes the forehand as well. Daniel wasn't pushing off on the serve at all, at the moment his game is based on defensive skills and he needs to be less reactive.
Daniel came out with a great line to the coach "I can't believe I'm losing to a guy who is cramping". The last two sets were quite one sided as Benneteau was playing very well and Daniel further and further behind the baseline. Benne has to enjoy his time left in the game, whereas Daniel has some improvements that need to be made
Gasquet vs. Kavcic
Definitely not a great draw for the Dexter lookalike who hasn't had a great start to the year, though never has Gasquet but this was a match which was always in his favour.
The first set was just rubbish from Kavcic, who couldn't get into the match. Gasquet wasn't being pressured at all and was very comfortable to taking it without breaking much of a sweat.
Kavcic does start to get into more rallies but for him to win a match like this. The matches where has taken out seeds in Melbourne were where he was aggressive with the forehand and just playing behind the baseline. At his age it's the direction his game needs to progress, but old habits die hard especially when your game is defensive orientated. The serve he has a lower ball toss and wasn't able to get the arm through quickly enough serving plenty into the net.
Blaz Kavcic
Gasquet was under a bit more pressure though not really threatened in the 2nd set. In the 3rd set Kavcic starts getting into the match, he was able to break serve a few times but didn't follow the basic rule of tennis which was not holding serve after breaking. It was strange he broke by being aggressive and taking advantage of Gasquet's court positioning, then in the following games went back to reactive tennis not doing what got him the lead.
The set point summed it up in that Kavcic hit a good first serve and then instead of hitting an aggressive backhand, he hit a nothing slice not deep at all, nor short enough to bring Gasquet in who slapped that fodder for a winner. Kavcic probably deserved to win that set, but he had enough chances and just wasn't good enough
Seppi vs. Nishioka
This was a rare Seppi match that really wasn't a grind which makes a change. Nishioka is coming back from a lengthy time out with injury but had a big win over the streaky Kohlschreiber.
It's a different thing playing the handsome South Tyrolean who has the lovely Mrs. Seppi here with him. Seppi is a very seasoned and tough professional the ones that youngsters need to test themselves against, as he is an excellent gauge of what tour life is about.
Seppi
Nishioka was trying to use his heavily spun forehand to open the court up. I did say a few years ago he had the Mariano Puerta style forehand but without the excess vitamins and it's still similar. He needs to get stronger, he will never be Tiafoe strong or have the Duckworth chest but I do like his work ethic and was going the right way before the injury.
It's difficult to say too much about this match. In reality Seppi was steady not give away the errors like Kohli can which Nishioka took advantage of. Seppi needed an easier match especially after his tournament win last week in Canberra, now he has a big battle against the serving machine Karlovic who went to 12-10 in the 5th. There is a big chance for a quarter final for the taking.
Cuevas vs. Harrison
This was a match between good and evil. Unfortunately in this case evil was triumphant in tough conditions. This is the kind of the match on this surface where Cuevas has to play a bit better and Harrison needs to be off which wasn't the case.
Harrison's serve pretty much won him the match, he was able to hit the spots with solid speeds and moved it around very well. When the Cuevas forehand is working well that's when he is on for a good day, he didn't play an awful match overall though the 0 from 0 break points makes it look he couldn't return a phone call.
Match started out both players were holding serve comfortably, there weren't too many rallies and they were won by the server. Harrison's backhand was solid, the forehand made a few errors but nothing like leaking like a sieve which happens when he is lacking confidence. Cuevas played a couple of poor points and was broken to lose the set.
In the context of the match the 2nd set was huge. It went to the same pattern as the first though Cuevas wasn't as strong on serve as Harrison. The one thing Cuevas didn't do enough of was vary his position on returning serve. He did it once jumped back on a second serve got it deep and was able to move Harrison around and won the point. The tiebreaker came down to one point where Cuevas missed a backhand down the line and Harrison took it.
I can't believe I had no break points
Cuevas was frustrated and lost his first service game and then started swinging more aggressively, it wasn't quite a Gaudio tank but he was just second best today. That's just tennis, it wasn't Cuevas was shit just Harrison was better.
Michael Russell who was the consumate professional who knew how to compete,. grind, very intelligent and excellent communicator he has already improved the Harrison forehand. First week he makes an ATP final makes a gracious speech and now in the 3rd round of a Slam.
Schwartzman vs. Ruud
Interestingly this match was between two guys who 11-9 in the 5th set in the previous round. That was as close as it got, as Schwartzman started very well and was not making many errors moving the young Norwegian around the court.
Schwartzman is solid off both sides he was winning the extended rallies hitting excellent length and Ruud wasn't able to use his forehand at all to put consistent pressure on the Argentine. Finally think there are some people who realise Schwartzman isn't a vertically challenged person impersonating a tennis player, the fact he is one of the great returners has contributed to his success.
Schwartzman
Ruud looked gassed and didn't believe he could win especially after the first set. He had a good tournament making his first Grand Slam main draw and winning a match, but this is all about gaining experience and he'll want to finish the season in the top 100.
Seppi saved the day, clean that man's cape and the longer he goes in the tournament, the better it is,
2 comments:
Excellent stuff as always and haha South Tyrolean Superman hope he keeps winning.
Your reports are better than any I read in the tabloids Nils. Your preceptive insights are really appreciated. I know that people like Blaz, Andreas and Dustin really love your support too.
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