There is a great posting on tennisoxygen.com about the Murray/Garcia Lopez match. Here is an excerpt. The article refers to a previous blog posting which is also linked at the bottom of this page.
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What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Two weeks ago, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez lost in straight sets to the 67th player in the world, Xavier Malisse, in the first round of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. Two nights ago, he defeated the number 4 player in the world, Andy Murray, in straight sets at Indian Wells.
I have seen similar matches go the other way. So often the lower-ranked player will dominate during the first set, only to unravel in the second set because they are unable to maintain a high level of play as the match progresses. It happens all the time, but great players are always able to weather the storm. Agassi was the master of weathering the storm because opponents would get so pumped up to play him and bring their “A game” early in the match. Agassi, like the great champion that he was, would always keep his cool knowing that his opponent would not be able to maintain that high level of play. His opponents would eventually self-destruct and Agassi would edge out his opponent after a close first set. Next time you take a look at a draw sheet, check out the score difference between the first and second set of Djokovic‘s, Nadal‘s, and Federer‘s early round matches when playing much lower-ranked players. You will see a pattern repeat itself.
Here is a link to the entire article – CLICK HERE
Here is a link to the previous article – CLICK HERE
Related articles
- Andy Murray baffled after Indian Wells upset against world No92 (guardian.co.uk)
- Andy Murray Hits Unexpected Bump In the Road (the1lackstertennis.wordpress.com)
- Jon Wertheim: Best of Three: Murray’s inexplicable play; prospects making noise (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
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