More on Mr Cellophane

My beloved Roger Federer is, as I write this, one set down to Andy Murray. Excuse me while I go and punch a wall.

Back now (and slightly hamfisted, so let's not talk about Roger and Muzz again). The first match this morning went the distance like whoa, with Juan Martin del Potro taking down Fernando Verdasco in a third set tie breaker. The breaker itself was a bit of a fizzer - JMDP won it 7-1 - but for the match to get to that stage... wow. This tournament has been a real struggle. We've only seen one match finish in straights, and that was Soderling's victory over Nadal (stuffs fist in mouth and refuses to admit something similar might happen in the match currently taking place).

But the match I really want to talk about was the second match yesterday, which was a really interesting affair - Djokovic against Davydenko. I'm not a Djokovic fan, as we all know, so I was pulling for Davydenko, and he nearly got there - nearly, but not quite. There was a bit of choking at the end from both players - Djokovic tried to serve it out, Kolya broke back to level at 5-5, btu then promptly got broken again and Novak managed to hold to take the match. But on the whole, I find this whole match up quite... intriguing.

Actually, I'm always intrigued to see how players fare against Kolya. He's one of those players who is capable of scoring a win on pretty much any given day against pretty much anyone, but he manages to fly under the radar on account of having the personality of porridge. (I've called him Mr Cellophane before, and I think it holds). But he's certainly beaten Nadal and Djokovic before in his career - has he beaten Murray? I'm not sure... a little research reveals that their head to head is 5-4 in Murray's favour. Kolya's beaten Nadal three times and Djokovic twice. The only person he's never had a win over is the Big Man Roger Federer, and even then he's managed to give him a scare or two.

I was sad to see Kolya lose yesterday, because I think that, if he makes it to the semis, he actually has a pretty serious shot at winning this title. He's easily the best player in the world who has never reached a Slam final and a title here would be... well, it would be pretty awesome for him. It would be validation. (Though I obviously am all about R-Fed winning... but we're not talking about him right now).


Today's Results

Barclays ATP World Tour Championships (London)

Juan Martin del Potro def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-1)
Novak Djokovic def. Nikolay Davydenko, 3-6 6-4 7-5