12/06/2011 00:44 CEST - ATP Queen's

Murray spazza via Roddick

TENNIS - Andy Murray ha demolito l'americano 6-3 6-1 in meno di un ora di gioco. Domani affronterà Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in finale che ha terminato la favola di James Ward. A causa delle condizioni del tempo la finale è stata anticipata a mezzogiorno (l'una in Italia). All'interno gli estratti più significativi delle conferenze stampa dei quattro semifinalisti. Da Londra, Paul Sassoon

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Le parole di Roddick - Murray e Ward

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Oggi sotto un bel sole Andy Murray ha strapazzato il malcapitato Andy Roddick in meno di un'ora col risultato di 6-3 6-1. Lo scozzese di Dunblane ha giocato molto bene e non ha lasciato opportunità all'americano di entrare in partita, tanto che verso la fine del secondo, set quando Murray mette in campo una risposta micidiale su una buona prima di servizio, Roddick dice “Let's keep it social!” ovvero “manteniamola amichevole!” con risata generale del pubblico e anche un sorriso da parte di Murray.

Dal primo gioco Murray ha servito con potenza e precisione (13 ace), e in tutto l'incontro Roddick non è mai arrivato alla palla break. Nel secondo game Murray fa vedere di essere in giornata di grazia e tutto funziona. Toglie subito il servizio all'americano grazie a continui cambi di ritmo da fondo campo e a una risposta precisa su una prima di servizio.

“La cosa è che oggi è uno di quei giorni in cui tutto va dalla tua parte. Se la palla colpiva il nastro, sarebbe stato a mio favore oggi. Se faceva un gran colpo, usciva di poco. Tutto quello che provavo mi riusciva, colpivo bene tutti i passanti. Non gli ho praticamente mai dato una chance. A volte contro Andy devi indovinare dove va il servizio. Io indovinavo ogni volta. Non mi ricordo di aver subito ace. Vedevo la palla molto presto, è difficile farlo ogni giorno. Ci vuole un po di fortuna, ma ci sono voluti molti anni di pratica per giocare cosi (sorriso)”.

Durante gli scambi da fondo campo Roddick cerca di attaccare il più possibile su qualsiasi palla non molto profonda di Murray ma spesso manda in rete non riuscendo a tirare su la palla sui rovesci tagliati che rimangono molto bassi. Quando prova a prendere la rete viene quasi sistematicamente passato da Murray, mentre sul suo servizio è proprio Murray a chiamare a rete Roddick con delle smorzate per poi passarlo se Roddick ci arrivava in tempo. Il primo set finisce 6-3 in 31 minuti in cui la differenza l'ha fatta una sola palla break trasformata da Murray nonostante la sua supremazia in campo come ha poi confermato Murray “voglio dire che il primo set è stato abbastanza competitivo, avevo solo un break. C'erano molti scambi lunghi e sono riuscito a vincerne molti.”

Il secondo set si apre subito con un altro break da parte di Murray che rinfrancato dal vantaggio di un set e un break ormai gioca i completa scioltezza. Roddick non riesce a reagire e Murray mette dentro molte risposte vincenti che fanno capire all'americano che oggi Murray è quasi imbattibile e che c'è poco da fare come conferma lo stesso Roddick quando gli viene chiesto in conferenza stampa se dopo il primo set avesse la sensazione di non poter fare nulla oggi per fermarlo, “No. Voglio dire si. Ti dici, okay sei a metà strada, ma se sta giocando così bisogna vedere se riesce a finire così. Sai abbiamo visto milioni di volte giocatori iniziare caldi. E' più dura contro uno dei più forti giocatori. Hanno molta più sostanza su cui appoggiarsi. Ma devi rimanere attento. Provare a cambiare un po le cose. Era troppo solido oggi. A giocato meglio di me oggi”. Murray vince il secondo set 6-1 in 25 minuti.

Nella seconda semifinale finisce la favola di James Ward che ha perso lottando contro Jo-Wifried Tsonga 6-3 7-6 (7) in 1 ora e 22 minuti. Nel primo set il francese fa il break nel secondo gioco e vince il set senza grossi problemi.

Nel secondo set Ward sembra essersi scrollato di dosso l'emozione riesce a fare il break nel secondo gioco per poi subire il contro break nel settimo e combattutissimo gioco. Tsonga poi vince il secondo al tie break al secondo match point e dovendo annullare un set point dell'inglese con una buona ma rischiosa seconda di servizio.

Tsonga in conferenza stampa si è detto contento di aver vinto “Cosa posso dire? Solo che ho vinto . Ho vinto. Non è stata la miglior partita che ho fatto, però era una semifinale e devi vincere questo match. Non mi importa molto del mio livello oggi, perché la cosa importante è vincere. Ci sono riuscito. Sono in finale. Tutto qui. Domani giocherò molto rilassato, molto rilassato perché giocherò contro Andy Murray. E' più forte di me al momento, quindi non ho niente da perdere. Lui è un giocatore fantastico sull'erba, quindi vedremo domani, ma domani penso che giocherò meglio.”

Murray e Tsonga si sono affrontati cinque volte in passato e lo scozzese ha vinto quattro di questi confronti. L'unico confronto che ha vinto il francese era nel 2008 all'Australian open con il risultato di 7-5, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6(5). L'anno scorso si sono affrontati a Shangai dove ha vinto Murray in due set mentre la loro unica sfida sull'erba risale sempre all'anno scorso a Wimbledon, dove Murray è prevalso in quattro set (6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2).

Indipendentemente dai precedenti, se Andy Murray gioca come ha fatto oggi Tsonga non ha molte possibilità di vittoria, e se lo scozzese riesce ad arrivare a Wimbledon giocando così con questa fiducia sarà di sicuro uno dei favoriti.

Le previsioni del tempo hanno costretto ad anticipare la finale di domani alle 1200 locali (1300 in Italia) per cercare di evitare di finire la finale di lunedì, come è successo solo due volte in precedenza, nel 1979 e nel 1987.

E adesso, come ogni sera, vado al pub per una pinta...

Le parole di Roddick

Q. When someone is playing like that, do you just get a feeling halfway through that there's nothing you can really do?
ANDY RODDICK: No. I mean yeah. You also say, Okay, you're halfway through, but if he's going to do this, let's make him finish it out like that.
You know, we have seen a million times guys start off hot. It's tougher when the top guys do it. They have more substance behind it. But you just stick it out. I mixed it up. I tried going in at different sides. You try different things.
He was too solid today. He just played better than I did.

Q. If or when Andy Murray wins a Grand Slam, where do you think it will be?
ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. Guys, I'm not in the business of predictions. That's you guys. I don't it just didn't I don't know. I feel like I'm cheating the process if I start throwing out stuff like that.

Q. Can you confirm what you said in the last game to the crowd? Was it "Keep it social"?
ANDY RODDICK: It was. Good ears.

Q. Lendl got to a point in his career where he didn't play the French because he wanted to really be up for Wimbledon. Can you see where he was coming from and could that ever be you?
ANDY RODDICK: No, I don't think so. I think his was a little different. I think that was the one that he hadn't won. I certainly have options. (Laughter.)
You know, I don't think that's the case. For me, not playing the French this year was it was a matter of priority. You know, I said, Okay. Am I going to take a six day, seven day injury and turn it into potentially six to seven weeks with Wimbledon around the corner, with Davis Cup against Spain in my home town, which I tried really hard to get? I want to make sure I'm 100% healthy for those. What's my best chance of being healthy for those?
I think I made the right decision. Obviously it's tough when something's got to give and you don't want it to, but that was my reasoning. I don't think I was along the lines of Lendl in my decision making there.

Le parole di Murray

Q. Did it feel like a day when you could do virtually nothing wrong?
ANDY MURRAY: Oh, I mean, towards the end of the match I mean, when you have two breaks, you know, especially on this surface, it's a lot easier to go for shots and try things out. And when I was trying sort of different shots, all of them were going in.
No, I mean, the first set, I mean, it was for me you know, it was one break, pretty competitive. There was quite a bit of long rallies, but I managed to win a lot of them.
I came up with a lot of really good passing shots, which, you know, on another day you're not going to make every single one. Today was just one of those days where everything went right.

Q. That must give you an enormous kind of sense of where your game is with Wimbledon on the horizon, the quality of your tennis today, the sublime way that you dealt with a very, very highly qualified grass court opponent?
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. Well, it was always going to be I was expecting, going in, it was always going to be a good match and a good test to sort of see where my game's at and know that I'm obviously playing well on this surface. I'm moving well. Ankle's feeling good. I served well.
Yeah, there's a few things that I'll just need to sort of top up on, make sure I do well in the week before Wimbledon. But, I mean, the week's been pretty much perfect so far. Came through a tough first two matches, and then today was, you know, a real test against someone that I might have to play if I want to go all the way at Wimbledon. Played great.

Q. Is he one of the players you enjoy playing against because he's always such a great matchup?
ANDY MURRAY: I enjoy playing against him. You know, I think it's a tough matchup for me, you know, but he's very competitive. That's why I always enjoy playing him, because he is one of the most competitive guys on the tour. It's always good, long rallies. Today was just my day.

Q. When you went on court you looked calm. You stayed calm the whole time. Do you know before you go on court how you're going to feel? Can you feel inside that everything was serene and lovely today?
ANDY MURRAY: No. I mean, I think sort of this week it can feel like that at Queen's because it's not so much pressure on you here. The pressure will start in about eight days' time. (Smiling.)
So you just have to enjoy it, realize the goal here is to win matches, to get, you know, as many sort of matches on the surface before Wimbledon.
Yeah, just felt nice and calmed. Didn't get flustered and played really good.

Q. Have you been practicing your Go Kart racing this week?
ANDY MURRAY: I haven't, but I'm really looking forward to that. Maybe tomorrow I'll take it easy on the court so that I'm fresh for that.

Q. Can you comment on James Ward sort of being in the spotlight?
ANDY MURRAY: I have seen him obviously around. I haven't spoken to him too much. I've seen him a lot of times sort of as I have been going on court just as he's been coming off or the other way around.
I was getting a little bit jealous of all the attention he was getting. I had to put in a good performance today to try and get some of the spotlight back. (Laughter.)
It's been great for him obviously to, you know, to get this far in an ATP tournament, and I think the big test for him will be after the grass court period is finished to make sure he pushes on from this, because he showed he can play against some of the best players in the world. But when the grass court season finishes is when, you know, it will be down to him to put in the hard work and push himself up the rankings.

Le parole di Tsonga

Q. Obviously you had the crowd against you today. You will probably have the crowd against you again tomorrow because you'll be facing another British player. How do you feel about that?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: You know, I feel good because I know they like me. They like my game.
So, you know, this is sports. Sometimes you play in a country, and you play against the countryman and the crowd is behind the other player. This is sports. I accept that.
Of course I will play my best tennis. I will try to play my best tennis to win tomorrow, anyway.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your preparations for Wimbledon? After tomorrow, how will you go about preparing?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: About what?

Q. For your training for Wimbledon. Will you stay in London?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: No, I will go to Eastbourne. I need to play. Last year I didn't play enough, and I need to play to improve my game and to feel confident, win some matches. Yeah.

Q. If a French player was to break through and win Wimbledon, who would it be?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: I hope me. (Smiling.)
But I hope it will happen in the future, anyway, even if it's not me.

Q. Are you still without a coach?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: I'm still without a coach.

Q. How is that working out for you?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: Not really good. (Laughter.)

Le parole di Ward

Q. What sort of feeling have you got? Is it satisfaction of having got this far or deflation of not going a bit further?
JAMES WARD: Obviously a little bit disappointed, you know. It's not nice to lose any time. Doesn't matter if it's to a top player or not so highly ranked.
Obviously it's been a great week for me, and I hope to push on from here and look forward to playing Eastbourne next week.

Q. How close were you to pulling it off today in that second set, do you think?
JAMES WARD: I had set point, so I think quite close. But he's where he is for a reason. He has a big second serve. It was a risk. He took the risk and it came off for him. I didn't expect that and it was just too good from him today.

Q. After a week like this, do you not only feel physically tired by mentally tired, as well?
JAMES WARD: A little bit. Obviously I'm not used to playing semifinals of an ATP. It will take a little while to sink in, you know, but it's also good that I don't have too much time before I play again against Tipsarevic in Eastbourne, so just try and keep the roll going.

Q. Have you looked more long term than the grass? I mean, everyone says he's got to follow this up. Where do you intend to follow it up after Davis Cup?
JAMES WARD: I don't know the calendar yet until after Davis Cup. I have only sort of planned until then.
It just depends. Depends on my ranking. A lot can change. If my ranking goes up I will start to play different tournaments. Obviously with my confidence, how it is at the moment, maybe start to play some of the bigger tournaments every week. It's where the bigger points are, and now I know that I can do it.

Q. You had the Prime Minister, David Cameron, here watching you this week. Have you had any messages or phone calls from any other...
JAMES WARD: No, I haven't; if I'm honest, no.

Q. How good do you think you could be?
JAMES WARD: Very good. (Smiling.)
Yeah, why not? You know, I beat top players this week. It wasn't expected, but I always knew I could do it. Sometimes it does take a little while to come out.
There are guys who stop playing their best tennis when they're 18, 19, 20, and there's other guys from 24, 25, 26. If you look at the average age in the top 100, it's around 26.
So I think it's different these days. You know, there are so many good players. Hopefully I can finish in the top 100 by the end of the year. It would be nice.

Paul Sassoon