Murray handed tricky start

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Murray handed tricky start « on: January 11, 2008, 01:03:13 AM »

Andy Murray has been given a tough first round encounter against French powerhouse Jo Wilfried Tsonga, in the 2008 Australian Open.

The British number one finds himself in the bottom half of the draw with Nadal, Gasquet, Robredo and Roddick alongside him. Providing that Murray prevails against Tsonga, he will face either the qualifier, Sam Warburg, or Juan Pablo Brzezicki in the second round.

R1 - Tsonga
R2 - Warburg or Brzezicki
R3 - Chela (expected)
R4 - Gasquet (expected)
QF - Davydenko/Youzhny (expected)
SF - Nadal/Roddick (expected)
When asked about his first round opponent, Murray saidHopefully I’ll come through it and then start to look at the draw a little bit.

But when you’ve got a first-round match like that, you are not going to look past someone as tough as him.

He beat (Lleyton) Hewitt pretty convincingly in Adelaide and made the semis there, so he has obviously started the year well.

In other news
Andy Murray finished his Australian Open warm-up campaign at Kooyong by defeating Brydan Klein 6-2 7-6 (9-7) to win the fifth-spot play-off.


[ Last edit by Mark January 14, 2008, 10:41:54 AM ]	Logged

nkp2

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #1 on: January 11, 2008, 01:20:51 AM »

It;s Davy or Youzhny quarter.... Rafa/Roddick semi.


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Mark

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #2 on: January 11, 2008, 01:27:49 AM »

I'm glad he gets Rafa in the semis, that's great. I feel if Murray gets to the semi-finals then he will totally rise to the occasion and seriously come close to reaching the finals.


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ljsmall

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #3 on: January 11, 2008, 01:29:34 AM »

Agreed. Gasquet though... what's his results so far this year?


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Mark

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #4 on: January 11, 2008, 01:30:15 AM »

R4 looks to be quite a bit harder than QF I think nervous


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nkp2

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #5 on: January 11, 2008, 01:31:09 AM »

Quote from: ljsmall on January 11, 2008, 01:29:34 AM

Agreed. Gasquet though... what's his results so far this year?

Singles Record:
   0 - 0

Singles Titles:
   0
Doubles Record:
   0 - 0
Doubles Titles:
   0
Prize Money:
   $0

He's not played...


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Mark

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #6 on: January 11, 2008, 01:31:22 AM »

Well that's good!


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ljsmall

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #7 on: January 11, 2008, 01:32:39 AM »

He actually got beat R2 of Sydney this week by Tursunov. Beat Andreev R1. Won't have appeared cause it's this week.


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netcord

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #8 on: January 11, 2008, 01:43:59 AM »

Not the worst draw if he gets past Jo-Willy....think I'll take week 2 off after all cmon yeah


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ljsmall

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #9 on: January 11, 2008, 01:54:53 AM »

Good plan. I see at least a repeat of last year, probably better. If Dmitry can put Gasquet away I'm pretty sure our Andy can. He does have a bagal on him.


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netcord

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #10 on: January 11, 2008, 02:03:51 AM »

Absolutely...get that baker's shop open early next week LOL


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annross

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #11 on: January 11, 2008, 08:18:10 AM »

oh no Im worried now its quite a tough draw ........


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Allan

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #12 on: January 11, 2008, 09:11:36 AM »

A part from the 2nd round the whole for Andy is tricky. nervous

I think Andy can get to at least the quarters. yay


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nads

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #13 on: January 11, 2008, 09:27:52 AM »

I think this is an excellent draw: he's facing the preferred choice of top 4 in the QF, he's playing against the guy in front of him in the rankings who went out in Sydney in the second round to Tursunov, he has no up-and-coming people that have been truly amazing anywhere near him... EXCEPT Round 1. Tsonga in my opinion is more dangerous than anyone up to (and looking at results this year including) Gasquet.

Having said that, Andy beat him pretty comprehensively on Metz which was also Hardcourt, so that makes the Draw look about as good as it could have been... yay

I agree with Allan, QF at least...


[ Last edit by nads January 11, 2008, 09:29:37 AM ]	Logged

Bevc

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #14 on: January 11, 2008, 09:51:39 AM »

It certainly is a tough opening match for him.

Think

Will the new surface pose any problems do you think? I missed why they changed it on the news tonight, only that they've replaced the courts (new blue ones) and that Vodafone arena has hawkeye this year too.


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bestofbarry

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #15 on: January 11, 2008, 10:33:56 AM »

It may be a tough opening round, but Andy has to be confident of beating these types of players if he has serious ambitions to win a slam. Im confident he'll do great things down under!


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ljsmall

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Re: Murray handed tricky start « Reply #16 on: January 11, 2008, 11:04:25 AM »

Quote from: Bevc on January 11, 2008, 09:51:39 AM

It certainly is a tough opening match for him.

Think

Huge numbers of reasons. Main two being that the old surface was getting inconsistent across the courts from the outside to the show courts. Cause the showcourts were played more they were more worn. Plus, with the new technology for laying it they can apparently keep it consistant for as long as the courts stay the same. Something about layers of resin? Plus, these courts are safer for the players as they don't get as hot or sticky in the extreme temperatures as rebound did. Or at least that's the official line!