PARIS 2021 R1: Andy vs LL Koepfer - Monday not before 6.30 pm.

[cazza99]

Andy vs qualifier Brooksby (WR59) match thread.

Match is on not before 6.30 pm UK time Monday on Centre Court.

[cazza99]

This is what Andy had to say on Twitter about Brooksby back in August




Jenson Brooksby is the sort of player I love to watch…lots of variety..high tennis IQ….great in defence..His slice and backhand volley are almost identical to Florián Mayer.#tennis (https://twitter.com/hashtag/tennis?src=hashtag_click)@atptour (https://twitter.com/atptour)

[HoopGirl]

This is what Andy had to say on Twitter about Brooksby back in August




Let’s up Andy tennis IQ and serve are better today!

[Teresa]

It’s just come up as cancelled. Anyone any idea why?

[Teresa]

Jenson has withdrawn. What happens now?

Playing Koepfer Ranked 58. He never gets a break does he?

[RosieBear]

Andy is now playing LL Dominik Koepfer. Shame, I think Andy/Brooksby would have been very entertaining.

[exislander]

Replaced by LL Dominik Koepfer.

[RosieBear]

Jenson has withdrawn. What happens now?

Playing Koepfer Ranked 58. He never gets a break does he?

Koepfer is a LL, not even a qualifier, literally cannot get lower opposition within the event.

[cazza99]

Andy is now playing LL Dominik Koepfer. Shame, I think Andy/Brooksby would have been very entertaining.

I was looking forward to the matchup too. But hayho, hopefully Koepfer will be easier opposition.

[Sallydaisy]

Andy v Dominik Koepfer.
H2H is 0-0. https://www.atptour.com/en/players/atp-head-2-head/andy-murray-vs-dominik-koepfer/MC10/KE73
The 27yr old German plays left-handed, has no titles so far and is currently ranked #58.

[Jane]

Players warming up. Good luck, Andy :thumbup:

[Sallydaisy]

Andy held serve 1-0.
:thumbup:

[Hawkeye]

Andy broken to 15. Barely managing to get a first serve in.

[Teresa]

Struggling today. It’s like he is not at the races.

[Hawkeye]

2 chances to break straight back.

[Hawkeye]

Had the first one on his racket, but... Koepfer holds.

[RosieBear]

Really poor start from Andy tonight. Leaking UEs and generally flat. Koepfer just keeping ball in court, Andy beating himself. Andy needs to find another gear and take advantage of LL draw.

[Hawkeye]

Andy broken again to 30. All over the place.

[HoopGirl]

Oh dear!

[RosieBear]

Andy turns up and breaks K at will. Andy should have this guy on a string. 2 classes apart.

[Teresa]

Got one break back. Can he ho,d and get the second?

[Hawkeye]

Andy gets one of the breaks back.

[Hawkeye]

Andy holds, can Koepfer fail to serve it out again?

[HoopGirl]

First set gone.
Andy needs to get some fire in his belly!

[Sallydaisy]

Andy holds, can Koepfer fail to serve it out again?
Koepfer took the first set 6'4. Andy'll have to buck up to win this match and progress.

[Hawkeye]

Nope, first set to Koepfer, 6-4.

[RosieBear]

Oh Andy :facepalm: so much for the ruthlessness, I'd settle for competence at this point :rolling: Seriously though, putting in this kind of performance against this oppo is just daft.

[RosieBear]

18 UEs and only first game of 2nd set. That's four and half games gifted away.

[Hawkeye]

Andy broken in game 1 of set 2.

[Hawkeye]

Andy not ruthless enough. Smack that straight at him!

[clancy]

Can't believe this is happening!

[Teresa]

Perhaps he is just tired. Who knows?

[RosieBear]

Andy hasn't faded after decent start, he's been poor from first point, and improved slightly as match progressed so not simply tiredness imo.

He keeps hitting his racket and seems to think the tension is wrong. Maybe not taken account of evening humidity. But he has to find a way round it - can't blame one's tools.

Come on Andy, don't squander this opportunity, you can do it!

[RosieBear]

Koepfer to serve for it, have to hope the nerves kick in. Come on Andy!

[HoopGirl]

Last chance coming up!

[Teresa]

3 Break points

[Hawkeye]

If this doesn't spark him into life, nothing will.

[RosieBear]

A couple of good points from Andy to set the tone then Koepfer obliges. Well done Andy, now crack on

[Hawkeye]

Break!

[Hawkeye]

Andy HOLDS for 6-5*. Let's not have a tie break!

[exislander]

Finally he finds a way!

[Hawkeye]

0-30...

[Jane]

Woo-hoo - one set all:worship::worship:

[RosieBear]

Finally Andy looking like Andy and into a decider.

[Hawkeye]

He made that harder than it needed to be!

[clancy]

From nowhere he's taken the 2nd set! Does he think he's at Roland Garros and has 5 sets to go at?

[Hawkeye]

Andy serves first in the decider.

[Hawkeye]

Andy had chances in game 2 but didn't take them, and has now gone from 40-15 to deuce in his next service game...

Advantage Murray.

[Hawkeye]

Holds!

[Hawkeye]

Koepfer with an easy hold, 2-2.

[Hawkeye]

Andy holds to love, 3-2*.

[Hawkeye]

Another hold to love, 3-3.

[Hawkeye]

0-30...

[Hawkeye]

0-40...

[Hawkeye]

15-40...
30-40...
Deuce!

[Hawkeye]

HUGE hold!

[Hawkeye]

Now, a break here would be nice...

[Teresa]

Not sure how he managed that….

[Sallydaisy]

Classic Murray!

[Hawkeye]

It's still a bit of a struggle but Koepfer will now need to serve to stay in it at 5-4*. This is roughly the point where he has dropped serve in the first two sets...

[Hawkeye]

Andy had 2 match points, both saved...

[Sallydaisy]

5-5
C'mon Muzz - hold and break!!!
:big grin:

[Hawkeye]

Koepfer holds for 5-5. Hope Andy doesn't regret those missed chances...

[cazza99]

My stream has gone. Aaaaah.

[Hawkeye]

6-5* so a tie break at worst... Let's avoid one though Andy!

[Hawkeye]

A deciding tie break it is as Koepfer holds to love...

[Jane]

tb time:sofa:

[Teresa]

I hate tiebreaks. Even more than I dislike the sainted Feddykins.

[Hawkeye]

Andy starts with a double fault...

[Hawkeye]

Andy gets the mini break back and takes a 3-2* lead... They change ends at 3-3*.

[Sallydaisy]

Andy serving first - DF
*0-1
0-2* Koepfer keeping Kool whilst Murray mutters
1-2* back on serve. Needs to hold 2
*2-2
*3-2
3-3* all on serve at the change of ends

[Hawkeye]

Mini break for Andy, *4-3!

[Hawkeye]

Back on serve, *4-4.

[Hawkeye]

5-4*, let's get one of these!

[Hawkeye]

Match point!

[Sallydaisy]

Andy gets a break courtesy a miss from Koepfer
4-3*
*4-4
*5-4 and still on serve. Andy must break him now.
6-4* and 2 match points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hawkeye]

And now a match point on his own serve... *6-5...

[Sallydaisy]

Koepfer defends well ... Andy has to serve for the match with 1 matchpoint
:help:

[Hawkeye]

Saved...

[Hawkeye]

That's 4 match points come and gone.

[Sallydaisy]

All credit to Koepfer who isn't giving up either!!!!!!!!!!!!

6-6 at the change of ends. Andyhas another serve to come and he must hold it!

[Hawkeye]

A 5th match point...

[Hawkeye]

Saved again...

[Hawkeye]

A DF gives Andy a 6th match point, and on Andy's serve... Surely this time?

[Sallydaisy]

DF from Koepfer offers Andy a 6th match point on his own serve.
An Ace will do Muzzah

[Hawkeye]

Nope... 8-8.

[Sallydaisy]

8-8 ...

The French fans can't quite believe what they are seeing!
Come on Andy - hold this serve!

[Hawkeye]

Match point number 7...

[Sallydaisy]

Murray has a 7th match point and the French crowd are going nuts.
Koepfer *8-9.

[Hawkeye]

9-9.

[Sallydaisy]

9-9. This could go on all night.
:facepalm:

16 minutes ...

:coaster::coaster::coaster:

[Sallydaisy]

Match point Koepfer, can Andy save this one more time.

[Hawkeye]

Match point Koepfer... We know how this has gone of late...

[Hawkeye]

Yup.

[Jane]

:crying::crying::crying::crying:

[Teresa]

Yep. Never mind. He would have been too exhausted for the next match.

[Sallydaisy]

Koepfer wins - he held on, stayed calm and played exceptionally well.
6'4, 5'7, 7'6(9)

Sad for Andy but he is showing so much of his old fire and flair ...
... 2022 can't come quick enough.

[HoopGirl]

That was a shocker!
Struggle to believe he lost 7 match points to a lucky loser!

[RosieBear]

Oh Andy. 7 match points. 7!! Let's be honest, a totally unnecessary dogfight of Andy's making that he couldn't come through. Even if he'd come through would have hurt chances down the line - benefit of favourable draw evaporated. Should have won 3&3. Andy is honest and fans can be too - ruthlessness/efficiency is the big deficit in his game right now. Hope for his sake he can change that.

[clancy]

Should have played in the first set. x

[Hawkeye]

For me, not so much the 7 blown match points as the inevitability of losing on Koepfer's first.

[pabbers]

A very lack lustre performance.

[JAMES4578]

Very tight but such a disappointment after fighting back and seemingly having the match in his grasp, however credit to Koepfer who was strong mentally in the 3rd set. Still some great shots from Andy if not enough of them and should hopefully be promise for the future.

[patlowe]

What a match that turned out to be in the end, especially the 3rd set. I'm still trying to process that Andy actually lost it. I'm in shock! This is definitely a hard one to take. I'm too shook to find more words!

[Gary D]

That was torture. He looked like he was half-asleep for over an hour. Serve not working, - but against crucial break points finds aces, sometimes more than one in a game. But serving for the match in a tie-break, he can't.
Jesus, he's complex!
He's also making wrong-shot choices some of the time, - he never used to. I would have thought after all these Tour years it would be instinctive. ????

[Teresa]

I am sorry he lost, but the fact he is playing at all, given his hip is flipping impressive. He just wasn’t there today. It has always happened to him. He was psyched up to play one player that he was probably fully prepared for and then switched at the last moment.

Tiebreaks to me always seem to be determined more by luck than anything else.

[RosieBear]

After that performance I'd put money on Andy splitting from Jamie Delgado at the end of the year. He's in the Amelie and Miles M mould - lovely people but wishy-washy coaches.

[HoopGirl]

After that performance I'd put money on Andy splitting from Jamie Delgado at the end of the year. He's in the Amelie and Miles M mould - lovely people but wishy-washy coaches.

Funny I just read on Twitter someone saying maybe it’s time for a change of coach.

He certainly needs something different to break this funk!

[RosieBear]

Funny I just read on Twitter someone saying maybe it’s time for a change of coach.

He certainly needs something different to break this funk!

Absolutely. Watch this space, if he can't reunite with Lendl I wouldn't be surprised if he hires someone of a similar feisty/dynamic ilk. Andy's a gentle person, he thrives with a coach who counterbalances that, not softies like himself.

[HoopGirl]

Andy - I didn’t deserve to win!

https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/paris-bercy/2021/paris-masters-2021-i-didn-t-deserve-to-win-andy-murray-after-missing-seven-match-points_sto8611523/story.shtml

[banskogirl]

Oh Andy :crying: you almost did it 7 times!

You played some amazing shots and we all still truly believed you would do it which is saying a lot about how far you’ve come! I believe you will find a way around this but today will be a hard day.

[Stell]

I heard about Andy having seven match points and converting none of them. I agree with RosieBear, as he had great success when he was with Lendl.