OLYMPICS DOUBLES QF: Murray/Salisbury GBR v Cilic/Dodig CRO. Wed 04.30 Court

[Sallydaisy]

No date/time yet but it's Great Britain v Croatia in the Quarter-Final of the Mens Doubles.

Andy/Joe take on Marin/Ivan.
:doubles:

[Sallydaisy]

Oh Lordy, 4.30am UK time for this tomorrow.
:sleepy:

[clancy]

O lordy, will be tough! But I was saying that when I woke this morning ........

[TheHippyJesus]

I like Andy Murray. He is great

[RosieBear]

'Mon lads :GBflag: Good luck Andy and Joe :cheer:

[RosieBear]

A break then hold to 15. Andy and Joe looking super sharp :thumbup:

[david1610]

Any more information? ;)

[david1610]

Cilic/Dodig (Cro) 2-3 *Murray/Salisbury (GB)

[clancy]

This is going to be close.

[RosieBear]

Cilic just held but GB lead 4-3. Dodig serve looking much more vulnerable than Cilic's, A&J targeting that. Surprising that they put him in to serve first. Very breezy and he's the one struggling most.

[RosieBear]

GB hold to love for 5-3. They are the better pair at the moment.

[Jane]

Just up!! Glad I didn't miss too much and that things are going in the right direction!! Good luck. guys:thumbup::thumbup:

[RosieBear]

Dodig taken to deuce but holds so up to Andy to serve out set. Come on!

[RosieBear]

Andy gets important first point but then an untimely df. Now 15 - 30. Eek. Come on Andy, believe!

[RosieBear]

Huge serve sets up set point!

[Jane]

First set to GB - 6-4 :doubles: :GBflag: :cheer: :cheer:

[RosieBear]

What a volley by Joe! GB 6-4!

[clancy]

Brilliant!

[RosieBear]

Croatians have swapped, Cilic serving first in 2nd, huge strategic mistake that Dodig served first in 1st set but one I'm most grateful for.

[RosieBear]

Comfortable holds for each pair 1-1

[RosieBear]

Dodig saves bp and holds after several deuces. GB doing good job of constantly pressuring his serve. He should crack at some point :peace: 2-1 Croatia

[clancy]

Hard fought 3rd game but the Croats make it. Andy and Joe snapping at their heels.

[RosieBear]

Comfortable Andy hold, Joe very sharp at the net 2-2

[Jane]

Andy is so fired up!!

[clancy]

They break ! Hold tight boys !

[RosieBear]

Yes!!! The mighty Cilic serve broken. Andy on fire. So wonderful to see him out there roaring his head off - he's having a great time :thumbup:

[RosieBear]

Strong hold by GB for 4-2

[RosieBear]

Ugh. 4 all :sad: Come on guys!!!

[david1610]

One more break and hold. C'mon guys!

[Teresa]

Rats. I am following on here because I am too much of a wuss to watch it. Come on lads.

[clancy]

Croats coming strong. Hang in there boys.

[RosieBear]

Dammit. GB were on brink of 5-3 but it's 5-4 Croatia and their tails are up because they know they were let back in. Come on GB!!!!

[RosieBear]

Massive game coming up. LET'S GO GB! :GBflag:

[Sallydaisy]

C'mon Andy and Joe!!!
:GBflag:

[RosieBear]

5-5 phew. Ship steadied. Come on!

[Jane]

5-5 Wonder what the discussion with the ump. was about

[clancy]

Still everything to play for!

[RosieBear]

6-5 Croatia. They're looking far more energised than they were 20 mins ago, when the had 1 foot out the door. Andy and Joe need to hold very firm here.

[Sallydaisy]

This is heading to a tie-break (we hope!) for the 2nd set (? and match).
No jinxing ...
:cauldron:

[Jane]

tb time :sofa:

[RosieBear]

Uh - oh. GB claw back 1 mini break but Croatians with momentum in key part of match...

[RosieBear]

4-1 Croatia :sad:

[clancy]

Dammit!

[Jane]

One set all. mtb time:sofa: :sad:

[Sallydaisy]

1 set all and all to play for!

C'mon GB!!!!!
:GBflag:

[RosieBear]

Croatians run away with it (2). GB really need to regroup. Come on Andy and Joe, you can do it!!

[Teresa]

My WiFi dropped at the critical moment��

[Teresa]

First mini break to the right team. Long way to go.

[Teresa]

4:3 to Cillic/Dodig - not liking this at all.

[Teresa]

7:3 to Cillic and Dodig. Don’t know what’s gone wrong.

[Teresa]

8:5

[Teresa]

9:7 to the Croatians

[RosieBear]

Heartbreaking. Absolutely gutting. Wanted this so much for Andy and Joe. Momentum is such a precious commodity in tennis and the Croatians were handed it at crucial time. Stings, definitely one that got away :crying::crying::crying:

[Jane]

:crying: :crying: :crying: Absolutely gutted for them

[HoopGirl]

So disappointing. Thought Andy and Joe had a medal in them.
So sad.

[Teresa]

Gutted. Didn’t like Cillic before. Really don’t like him now.

[clancy]

Gutted !!

[JAMES4578]

Certainly so disappointing after Joe/Andy seemed to be in control but they gave the Croatians an opening and fell short in the end. OH well not to be, still had some good wins.

[themass15]

Gutted. Didn’t like Cillic before. Really don’t like him now.

Ageed, I never liked him since he beat Tim Henman at Queens back in 2007!

[themass15]

So disappointing, thought they had it when they went up a break in the 2nd set.

[clancy]

Feel for them both. Joe took a chance on Andy (and it paid off) and he lost out on the cut for mixed doubles.

[harriet]

just been watching on eurosport player - i don't follow doubles very much so hard to tell what went wrong - a few long returns maybe.
thought both very positive, andy has improved his overhead smashes, joe pretty good at diagonals.
shame to lose at this stage, semis gives you three chances in four of a medal.

[RosieBear]

I knew this one would hurt. Andy has just tweeted this:

"I feel crushed after todays loss. Sport can be brutal. Thanks so much @joesalisbury92 for the opportunity to play. You were brilliant. I wish it could have gone a little better but **** happens. And if this is the end of my @olympics journey i want to say a huge thanks to @TeamGB and all the tennis support team for everything they have done to help me perform at my best over the years. It’s been an absolute privilege to represent you and my country at 4 Olympics and it’s given me some of the best memories of my life."

https://twitter.com/andy_murray/status/1420342701514321923?s=20

[suttontennis]

Ageed, I never liked him since he beat Tim Henman at Queens back in 2007!

and yet he's such a nice chap. Had the pleasure of meeting him back when I was a driver at Nottingham. he was very friendly, always happy to talk. If I met him again now I'd have a word about the ball bouncing when he serves tho !!

[suttontennis]

Looks like it could be an all Croatia final.
Semi-finals
Nikola Mektić (CRO) Mate Pavić (CRO) v Austin Krajicek (USA) Tennys Sandgren (USA)
Marcus Daniell (NZL) Michael Venus (NZL) v Marin Čilić (CRO) Ivan Dodig (CRO)

[patlowe]

and yet he's such a nice chap. Had the pleasure of meeting him back when I was a driver at Nottingham. he was very friendly, always happy to talk. If I met him again now I'd have a word about the ball bouncing when he serves tho !!

I must say I do like Cilic, but not today! I've been sitting on this all day in the hope I could come to terms with it, but not yet. I can't get rid of the sad and 'if only' feeling. This one hurts. So so close, I think that's what makes it hard. I feel so much disappointment for Andy and Joe. They were a great team and I have even more respect for Andy withdrawing from the singles to honour his promise to Joe he would stick with him if something untoward turned up. This is going to take a while to get over, but I hope Andy will soon be back on court somewhere, anywhere.

[RosieBear]

I must say I do like Cilic, but not today! I've been sitting on this all day in the hope I could come to terms with it, but not yet. I can't get rid of the sad and 'if only' feeling. This one hurts. So so close, I think that's what makes it hard. I feel so much disappointment for Andy and Joe. They were a great team and I have even more respect for Andy withdrawing from the singles to honour his promise to Joe he would stick with him if something untoward turned up. This is going to take a while to get over, but I hope Andy will soon be back on court somewhere, anywhere.

Same, Pat. So very sad. It's because they were sooo close but also because what it would have meant. Andy said winning a medal would have been the greatest achievement of his career, which is saying something. I think he would have felt that everything he has been through with his hip was worth it even if he never won another thing. That's why I wanted it so much for him. Yep, it's going to take a while to get over.

[Genbrit]

I must say I do like Cilic, but not today! I've been sitting on this all day in the hope I could come to terms with it, but not yet. I can't get rid of the sad and 'if only' feeling. This one hurts. So so close, I think that's what makes it hard. I feel so much disappointment for Andy and Joe. They were a great team and I have even more respect for Andy withdrawing from the singles to honour his promise to Joe he would stick with him if something untoward turned up. This is going to take a while to get over, but I hope Andy will soon be back on court somewhere, anywhere.


Same, Pat. So very sad. It's because they were sooo close but also because what it would have meant. Andy said winning a medal would have been the greatest achievement of his career, which is saying something. I think he would have felt that everything he has been through with his hip was worth it even if he never won another thing. That's why I wanted it so much for him. Yep, it's going to take a while to get over.

I agree with both of you. :sad: Have no further words except I think we saw that he's still got it in him.

[clancy]

Following Andy's loss, it's good to read such eloquent comments on here and know I'm not alone in feeling such sadness. I am still angry at the gods for denying them a prize of whatever colour; it would have meant so much to both Andy and Joe. I too hope Andy returns to a tennis court somewhere, sometime soon. Having just passed my 80th and been a tennis fan for 70 of those years, I know when Andy goes a lot of my tennis pleasures will go too, sad but true. x

[clancy]

Spot on Sallydaisy!