RESULT: Andy Murray Vs Ivo Karlovic - Final - SAP Open (San Jose) 2007
Murray retains his title: 6-7 6-4 7-6
I'm enthusiastic inside, but after a late night watching a 3-set epic, I'm too tired to inject sufficient enthusiasm into my post.
Suffice to say, it was tense and Murray showed unbelievable mental strength to cope with such an unusual opponent.
At 6'10, Karlovic smashes his serves from a height of about 10 feet with Roddick levels of power. And, on a hard court, this means that even if you can get to the serve, the ball is going to be bouncing up around your ears.
In the run-up to the final, Karlovic averaged two aces PER GAME and consequently, had only been broken once in this tournament.
To top it off, Karlovic has a loooong reach making him a very handy at volleying at the net.
There's a reason why Karlovic is outside of the top 100. The rest of his game is decidely average. But when you're playing on a fast court and you're almost impossible to break, what else do you need?
In the first set, Murray only managed one break point and, although the finish looked a cinch, Murray found the net. By the time it got to the inevitable tie-break, Murray seemed frustrated.
And who could blame him? Murray had only lost three points on his serve all set (even less than Karlovic), and yet he just couldn't get past Karlovic's immense serve. Karlovic got the edge in the tie-break and won it 7-3.
Murray seemed deflated and Karlovic pushed on to break Murray in the opening game of the second set. Things looked ominous. To get back into the match, Murray would have to break Karlovic (only happened once so far in this tournament, remember).
Murray broke him twice.
Karlovic's first serve percentage dipped to 41% and Murray started punishing the second serve. Murray got to 15-40 and had two break points. He only needed one, smashing a first serve back with a two-handed back-hand that dipped over the high part of the net at a, seemingly, impossible angle. At 5-4 up, Murray broke Karlovic for the second time to take the second set 6-4.
Credit to Karlovic; this was only his second final and you might have expected him to fade away. But he pushed his 1st serve percentage up to 76% for the third set (his highest of the match) and began pressuring Murray on his own serve.
But Murray showed incredible composure to save a small handful of break points during the final set - especially when the scores were locked at 5-5 and failure would have allowed Karlovic to serve for the match.
At 6-5 to Murray, Karlovic found himself a break point down and Murray had a match-point. Again Karlovic held his nerve. The entire tournament would come down to a single tie-break.
Murray and Karlovic stared each other down. And... Karlovic blinked.
Murray held his opening serve, as did Karlovic. But Murray played an exquisite lob over the Croatian giant and, although Karlovic got back in time to run round it, Murray had anticipated and had charged the net. A sweet volley and Murray had the mini break.
Murray held both his serves to take a 4-1 lead and Karlovic was beaten. He only managed one more point and Murray won the tie-break 7-2 with an ace down the middle to take only his second title - ironically at the place where he won his first exactly one year ago.
Looking back at the players who have won this tournament twice, back-to-back, and you see names like Roddick, Sampras and McEnroe. Good company to be in, to be sure.
So Murray keeps his ranking points level and retains 13th place. Next up is Memphis where Murray has fewer points to defend.
Some are mentioning the fact that Murray slumped last year after winning in San Jose but, to be fair, last years victory was a bolt out of the blue anyway. Murray winning this week was impressive, but nowhere nearer as unexpected. Murray has now reached two finals out of the first three tournaments of this year and, crucially, there is no sign of the player that could have an "off-day" without warning.
A slump of last years scale is unlikely.
Even when Murray has his back to the wall, he is finding a way to change his play, wear his opponent down. About Murray, Roddick said it best, "he makes you beat him".
His opponents are now under no illusion. To beat Murray you're going to have to play at your very best for at least two full sets. And, even then, there is no guarantee that that will be enough.
At the end of last year it was said that the second year would be harder than the first. After so much success in 2006, expectation would be higher and the presure to duplicate performances would be tough.
Earlier indications are that Murray is going to make us forget 2006 very quickly.
Source:
BBC SPORT | Tennis | Murray fights back to keep title
I'm enthusiastic inside, but after a late night watching a 3-set epic, I'm too tired to inject sufficient enthusiasm into my post.
Suffice to say, it was tense and Murray showed unbelievable mental strength to cope with such an unusual opponent.
At 6'10, Karlovic smashes his serves from a height of about 10 feet with Roddick levels of power. And, on a hard court, this means that even if you can get to the serve, the ball is going to be bouncing up around your ears.
In the run-up to the final, Karlovic averaged two aces PER GAME and consequently, had only been broken once in this tournament.
To top it off, Karlovic has a loooong reach making him a very handy at volleying at the net.
There's a reason why Karlovic is outside of the top 100. The rest of his game is decidely average. But when you're playing on a fast court and you're almost impossible to break, what else do you need?
In the first set, Murray only managed one break point and, although the finish looked a cinch, Murray found the net. By the time it got to the inevitable tie-break, Murray seemed frustrated.
And who could blame him? Murray had only lost three points on his serve all set (even less than Karlovic), and yet he just couldn't get past Karlovic's immense serve. Karlovic got the edge in the tie-break and won it 7-3.
Murray seemed deflated and Karlovic pushed on to break Murray in the opening game of the second set. Things looked ominous. To get back into the match, Murray would have to break Karlovic (only happened once so far in this tournament, remember).
Murray broke him twice.
Karlovic's first serve percentage dipped to 41% and Murray started punishing the second serve. Murray got to 15-40 and had two break points. He only needed one, smashing a first serve back with a two-handed back-hand that dipped over the high part of the net at a, seemingly, impossible angle. At 5-4 up, Murray broke Karlovic for the second time to take the second set 6-4.
Credit to Karlovic; this was only his second final and you might have expected him to fade away. But he pushed his 1st serve percentage up to 76% for the third set (his highest of the match) and began pressuring Murray on his own serve.
But Murray showed incredible composure to save a small handful of break points during the final set - especially when the scores were locked at 5-5 and failure would have allowed Karlovic to serve for the match.
At 6-5 to Murray, Karlovic found himself a break point down and Murray had a match-point. Again Karlovic held his nerve. The entire tournament would come down to a single tie-break.
Murray and Karlovic stared each other down. And... Karlovic blinked.
Murray held his opening serve, as did Karlovic. But Murray played an exquisite lob over the Croatian giant and, although Karlovic got back in time to run round it, Murray had anticipated and had charged the net. A sweet volley and Murray had the mini break.
Murray held both his serves to take a 4-1 lead and Karlovic was beaten. He only managed one more point and Murray won the tie-break 7-2 with an ace down the middle to take only his second title - ironically at the place where he won his first exactly one year ago.
Looking back at the players who have won this tournament twice, back-to-back, and you see names like Roddick, Sampras and McEnroe. Good company to be in, to be sure.
So Murray keeps his ranking points level and retains 13th place. Next up is Memphis where Murray has fewer points to defend.
Some are mentioning the fact that Murray slumped last year after winning in San Jose but, to be fair, last years victory was a bolt out of the blue anyway. Murray winning this week was impressive, but nowhere nearer as unexpected. Murray has now reached two finals out of the first three tournaments of this year and, crucially, there is no sign of the player that could have an "off-day" without warning.
A slump of last years scale is unlikely.
Even when Murray has his back to the wall, he is finding a way to change his play, wear his opponent down. About Murray, Roddick said it best, "he makes you beat him".
His opponents are now under no illusion. To beat Murray you're going to have to play at your very best for at least two full sets. And, even then, there is no guarantee that that will be enough.
At the end of last year it was said that the second year would be harder than the first. After so much success in 2006, expectation would be higher and the presure to duplicate performances would be tough.
Earlier indications are that Murray is going to make us forget 2006 very quickly.
Source:
BBC SPORT | Tennis | Murray fights back to keep title
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