Set Point

Andy Murray vs. Richard Gasquet. Gasquet up two sets to love. Set point for Murray in the third set.

surrenders meekly

Djokovic has developed the habit of offering up weak drop shots when he is down match point. Rafa put one away at Roland Garros and another at Queens. He also quits a higher percentage of matches than any other top ten player. Yesterday he found a new way to surrender, with two straight double faults to lose his second round encounter with a reborn Marat Safin.

These habits, along with his breathing problems (and the amount of talk he offers about his confidence in himself and the weaknesses he sees in Roger and others) appears to add up to an interesting case of mental fragility. Novak must talk himself into believing that he is the best, and when things go wrong for him it can kill that belief very quickly.

If you missed the match the best write up is from the BBC game by game blog.

Getting on

Roger took the court in a Mr. Rogers style cardigan this year. Patrick McEnroe thought it made him look professorial -- a great compliment to professors. While the sweater did not exactly help Roger's recent reputation for aging, it was another moment in the match that reminded us more forcefully of Roger's developing veteran status. When Hrbaty asked if he could sit next to Roger on the last changeover, it was because Roger is already a legend even as he is at the top of the game. But the fact that he felt comfortable asking, and that Roger clearly enjoyed it so much, reminds us that this is a different, accessible, relatable, lovable sort of legend we are watching. I don't think anyone would have asked Sampras if he was using the other chair.

moving on

Well the whole team here at fuzzy dunlop was pretty broken up about the final of the French on Sunday. Thanks to those who left comments to help cheer us up.

So the photo above hopefully captures what will happen in the next few weeks, with tennis transitioning from clay to grass and Rafa looking just a bit less sure of himself on the green side of things.

But I hope it does not symbolize another possibility: Rafa having moved on and Roger still stuck (mentally) on what happened on French clay. I doubt this will happen. I loved the funny, light and self-effacing way Roger began his speech after the RG final: "Oui, cest moi." At Wimbledon I expect him to make the same statement more forcefully with his game.

allez!

Tomorrow's final offers the opportunity for the sort of match that people will talk about for decades. Will we get it? Who knows. That depends on Roger, of course, especially his serve. The tingle his fans felt a year ago when, for one slashing and exhilarating set, he appeared to have figured out Rafa only made the disappointment of the last two sets all the worse.

But no matter what happens tomorrow we should appreciate having two players at the top of the game who are so exciting, so classy, and so consistently excellent that they meet this often in important finals.

Over at tennis.com the rafa fans and the roger fans get along as long as Djokovic is in the draw, and then the knives come out. The saddest part is Federer fans who are just hoping he does not get embarrassed. I for one am hoping for much more.

If you want to see an approximation of what it will look like at my place cheering for Roger over breakfast tomorrow, watch this video of young Hewitt fans. Folks at tennis.com, this is how its done.

dreamy semi

It would be hard to imagine a more appealing semi-final for the men then friday's matchups of Nadal/Djokovic and Federer/Monfils. On one side is a rematch of the great encounter between Rafa and Nole in Hamburg -- once again with the #2 ranking on the line.

On the other is Roger and the freakishly charismatic home favorite Gael Monfils. There has been a lot of talk this week about the 2006 US Open 1st round match between Monfils and Djokovic. In the fifth set a very tired Djokovic (having lost the 4th 6-0) stretched the rules of tennis as far as they could go to stay with his friend: bathroom breaks, multiple "injuries," and at one point simply laying down on the court and not moving for 10 minutes. You can read about it here.

Despite having arms a bit like Nadal's, you rarely see Monfils put his full strength behind the ball. His shots to Ferrer today seemed to float toward the corners, inviting the tired Spaniard to hit errors. Those floaters should give Roger plenty of time to line up his shots and fire away, especially if the conditions continue to be wet and slow.