It was breathtaking....in so many ways....
Reality great to be there today.
I shouted for jou all, especially Aileen;).
Ps post match Andy said the court was very different from the Asian swing.
Many thanks flowerpower, and for shouting for me! I'm glad to hear that you had an enjoyable day. As Andy didn't have much time between Shanghai and this tournament I too wondered if the sudden change of conditions had affected his game, that plus possibly still being a bit jet-lagged. Still don't think his mind was entirely focussed on the match though.
He will have had at least two matches in Antwerp this week which is surely an essential to progress his performances. It has been a very valuable three weeks for him.
At present I am a little surprised that he is not able to chase some shots then I realise how little time he has had since the operation and how much time he was told to expect to allow. At that point I kick myself for expecting too much. This last game is just another that progresses him on a hard journey back.
Well I wouldn't kick yourself too much MA! I think that the trouble is that when we see Andy playing like the 'old' Andy, we expect him to actually be like that all the time, then get brought down to earth a little when that expectation isn't met. That said, I'm really surprised at just how much his movement has improved in a fairly short space of time, particularly his lateral movement, although I have noticed that that tends to fluctuate a bit from match to match, i.e. sometimes he's scurrying round the court as though nothing had ever been wrong with his hip, yet at others there seems to be a reluctance to chase down balls like he would have done in the past. I think there could be three factors here - (a) that he's still learning to trust his new hip, (b) that, as he was told, all the surrounding muscles and ligaments still have a way to go before they get back to full strength, for his purposes anyway, and (c) fatigue, simply because his body isn't yet used to playing so many matches, therefore he tires more easily.
Andy is getting more confident in his ability and expecting to cope better with each opponent. That is when a player can be beaten a lot easier by another who lifts their game. We have all seen it a lot before. Perhaps complacent was not the correct word?
I do agree with that MA, and in a way it's an acknowledgement of Andy's continued improvement that these players are lifting their game. However that said I wouldn't say that Andy was complacent yesterday, more that his mind wasn't entirely focussed on the match in hand due to his domestic situation.
