Hi Steve,
Just answering all the calls for Blake and Gasquet, plus a few of the other contests that readers expressed interest in.
Rub out James Blake and pencil in Richard Gasquet for a quarterfinal against Rafael Nadal, because Gasquet just knocked out the new American No. 1 in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Gasquet didn't play as well as I've seen him do in the past, but it was enough against an error-prone Blake today.
Blake started well, breaking Gasquet to love in the third game, but it was all downhill from there. The stats show that Blake dominated the first set -- he hit twice as many winners and errors as Gasquet -- but most of those winners came early while the unforced errors began piling up towards the end.
With the first set in his pocket, Gasquet began to hit out a little more, and Blake's level dipped. Blake tried to be more aggressive after going down 4-0 and managed to get back to 5-3, but Gasquet produced some solid serves to win the next game and the match.
"Just one of those days," said Blake afterwards.
It was the first meeting between the two, and Blake found Gasquet's forehand steadier than he expected. "I felt he did a good job keeping his forehand in play," said Blake. "Off the backhand he can hurt you from anywhere."
There were more breaks than holds in the match, and Blake thought Gasquet did a good job handling his serve. "He barely missed an returns," he said.
"The difference was my backhand to his backhand, I think" said Gasquet.
Watching the two on the court, it was clear who grew up on hardcourts and who grew up on clay. Blake likes to hug the baseline, and uses power to gain control or turn around a point. Gasquet uses more variety, and while he stands quite close to the baseline to return, he quickly retreats once the ball is in play.
"It was a great performance because I beat him here, not on clay," said Gasquet.
Asked about his injury problems, Gasquet said his stomach-muscle troubles have been over for two months. His elbow, which derailed his US Open campaign last year, also looks okay. "I'm lucky because I think it's finished," he said.
Only saw a little of Xavier Malisse and Paradorn Srichaphan, but Malisse looked pretty pumped and his shot-making flair is always nice to see when it's clicking. Next up could be Lleyton Hewitt, who survived a three-setter against Juan Ignacio Chela late last night. If you're wondering why Marcos Baghdatis' first-round exit came and went so quietly, it's because it too went late into the night.
Federer and Nadal both in action yesterday, both winning in straight sets. Plus for Federer: he looked the sharper of the two. Plus for Nadal: he didn't look as sharp and yet lost fewer games in his match
Tricky situation with Mathieu yesterday. Since Hawk-Eye does seem to go AWOL a few times a tournament, there probably needs to be a rule covering this scenario. How about this, assuming the players are unaware Hawk-Eye isn't working: If a player stops play during a point and asks for a replay, there's a let. If the player asks for a reply on a shot on which he has no play, then the original call stands.
Arguments will still happen because it's up to the umpire to decide whether the player had a play on the shot, but I've seen that happen even when Hawk-Eye is working. The ball is ruled in instead of out, and there's dispute about whether the point should be reversed or a let should be played.
Nalbandian's lacklustre first-round loss can be blamed on a fever and headache he said he developed the night before.
Well done to the eagle eyes who spotted Brad Gilbert at Murray's match. I didn't, though I did notice he seemed to be occasionally talking at that end. Murray said he's still getting used to the fact that it's Gilbert who's the celebrity here, not him. "It feels strange to have people coming up to your coach," he said. "Everyone seems to know him here."
But those eagle eyes left just when the match was about to get interesting: Ferrer came alive at 6-2, 5-0 down and took the second set to a tiebreak. He had a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreak, and would have won
it had Murray not thrown up a great lob from a very awkward position.
Murray said he got nervous when serving for the match at 5-3 and the blisters he developed in Washington had begun to trouble him in the previous
game.
Mad Marat kept us all entertained through the afternoon with a long back-and-forth battle against Robredo. I couldn't see the whole thing (Nadal
really has to start getting to his press conferences in time), but Safin looked pretty streaky. Confidence and consistency seem to go together with him even more then most players, and he's lacking both at the moment. He's still got those geometry-defying strokes, though, and the backhand looks as good as ever.
Kamakshi