BARCELONA 2012, R3: Andy thru' to Quarters, beats Giraldo 6'1, 6'2

[Sallydaisy]

Andy's next opponent will be Santiago Giraldo who earlier today beat Robin Haase in R2.

They've never met before so the H2H (http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=MC10&oId=G725) is 0-0.

The 24yr old Colombian has a career high ranking of #44 (Feb 2011) but has slipped back to #54 for now. He considers hard courts to be his favourite surface - even though his career Win/Loss record is better for clay!!! Earlier this year he reached the Semi-Final of the Acapulco 500 (lost to Ferrer) and a couple of weeks ago he reached the Semi-Final of the Colombian Challenger.

So, on a good day he could be a dangerous opponent for Andy .....

Catch the match on Thursday - time tbc.

[harriet]

santiago giraldo who "on a good day (he)" could be a dangerous opponent for Andy ....." is just the sort of player i want to see andy play and beat, he needs to test himself against awkward players, eg almagro, berdych, give himelf more weapons and more confidence for the later rounds, and the slams

[Jan]

From Barcelona website:


ORDER OF PLAY - THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012
PISTA CENTRAL start 11:00 am
[6] N Almagro (ESP) vs [11] M Raonic (CAN)

Not Before 1:30 PM
S Giraldo (COL) vs [2] A Murray (GBR)
[1] R Nadal (ESP) vs [Q] R Farah (COL) or [16] P Andujar (ESP)
A Montanes (ESP) vs [3] D Ferrer (ESP)

Not Before 5:00 PM
[9] F Verdasco (ESP) vs [13] K Anderson (RSA)

PISTA 1 start 11:00 am
[17] A Ramos (ESP) vs [8] K Nishikori (JPN)
[7] F Lopez (ESP) vs J Nieminen (FIN)
F Gil (POR) or [Q] J Sousa (POR) vs V Hanescu (ROU) or [5] J Tipsarevic (SRB)
[7] A Qureshi (PAK) / J Rojer (NED) vs A Murray (GBR) / J Murray (GBR)
A Falla (COL) / S Giraldo (COL) or M Granollers (ESP) / M Lopez (ESP) vs [5] F Cermak (CZE) / F Polasek (SVK)

So Andy's match wil be not before 12.30pm here.

[DaveArneRiise]

Giraldo is a tricky player, knows how to play on the red stuff too. Suffice to say this won't be easy by all means for Andy. If he plays well however he should advance unscathed! Look forward to it all the same.

[david1610]

Good luck Andy!

[patmoren]

Have a good match Andy, I should be back from my next house viewing in time for the start.

[lynne]

The Very Best of Luck Andy!!!!:thumbup:

[lynne]

Bet365 have have a stream listed for Andy at 12.30pm(UK):)

[Jan]

good luck Andy!
I have to go out for a short while early afternoon, but hope to catch most of the match! See you then!

[HoopGirl]

Good Luck Andy :) will be watching you !!!!

[Sallydaisy]

Andy at practice this morning:-

http://distilleryimage11.instagram.com/e80b8c4c8f8911e19e4a12313813ffc0_7.jpg

[Jan]

It's nearly Andy time! :tennis:

[40-15]

:swingin: Good luck Andy!! :swingin:

[Jane]

Up on LS

[KnightOwl]

I'm assuming this isn't televised...?

[Jane]

I'm assuming this isn't televised...?

Oh yes it is - I have it on SkySports3HD

[Jan]

there's a stream:
http://www.lshunter.tv/streams/1/lshtennis2.html

[KnightOwl]

Oh yes it is - I have it on SkySports3HD

Brilliant - thanks Jane - it wasn't on Tuesday, so I assumed it wouldn't be today either...

[KnightOwl]

....and joy-of-joys! Marcus is back, so no more Annabel :yahoo:

[Sallydaisy]

Brilliant - thanks Jane - it wasn't on Tuesday, so I assumed it wouldn't be today either...

I think Roasty said there wasn't any TV coverage until today?
I've got a stream via livescorehunter with English commentary - not sure who yet?

[Jan]

The one I'm with is Jason Goodall and Arvind Parmar

[KnightOwl]

....and joy-of-joys! Marcus is back, so no more Annabel :yahoo:

....but on the downside, we do have to put up with Castle in the commentary box :sad:

[Jan]

safe hold from Andy to start with

[40-15]

possible early break for Andy 15 - 40

[Sallydaisy]

KITKAT!!!!!

Nice start Andy!

[KnightOwl]

Early break too - looking good but I'm not sure Giraldo has quite settled yet....

[Jan]

kitkat *2-0 :cheer:

[40-15]

great start!! 2-0

[Jan]

nice volley!

[KnightOwl]

Oops - couple of break-back points - need to be careful here...

[Sallydaisy]

Ooops, Giraldo has a 2nd break point against Andy's serve.

[KnightOwl]

Great stuff - good length, nice changes of pace....

[Sallydaisy]

Lol, I'll raise you an o in the oopsy's ..........
:lol:

[Jane]

3-0 - going to plan

[KnightOwl]

:rolling: Sally!

[Jan]

well held 3-0*

[40-15]

Andy holds on to go 3-0 in 1st set!!

[JAMES4578]

Good start, keep going Andy!

[Sallydaisy]

Very good BHDTL from Giraldo (rather Murraylike!!!) and he's going for his shots a lot more.
Good job Andy's already ahead.

[KnightOwl]

Yep. I had a feeling Giraldo would turn up at some point!

[Sallydaisy]

Giraldo is 0-14 against top 10 players - that's a nice statistic.
:p

[KnightOwl]

Hmm...I still maintain that Sky must have put a specific clause into Castle's contract before they gave him the job, to say that he wasn't allowed to be negative about Andy. He's being almost sickeningly nice about him at the moment!

:big grin:

[40-15]

Andy breaks again to go 5-1 up!! - and now serving for the first set!!

[KnightOwl]

Oh wow, what a shot from Andy! Great return from Giraldo, but came back with interest :)

[Jane]

6-1 Well done, Andy:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:

[david1610]

Hello everybody! Just joined in time to see Andy get the first set. Well done Andy!

[Jan]

:clap: 6-1

[40-15]

first set to Andy 6-1

:swingin: :clap: :swingin:

[KnightOwl]

Great first set :dance:

[Sallydaisy]

That was fairly relentless from Andy. He got the early break and, apart from a break back point in game 3, Giraldo never really looked as though he had enough to worry Muzzah although he produced a couple of excellent passing shots.

Let's hope Andy can complete the match pronto and get as much rest as possible before his doubles.

[david1610]

Yes, seems to be a case of whether he can stay focused for the next ten minutes and get enough of a lead in the second to dishearten Giraldo. C'mon Andy!

[40-15]

double fault gives Andy another early break and a great start to the 2nd set!!

[Sallydaisy]

KITKAT!!!

Andy must be really in the mood for chocolate today!!!
:p

[Jan]

I have to go out for about half an hour shortly. At this rate the match will be over before I get back.
Come on Andy!

[AllyB]

Not looking good for my FTM

[KnightOwl]

Hmmm....not quite so good - c'mon, get your focus back...!

[SamP]

He's really lost his temper in some of his clay court matches over the last couple of weeks.

I don't think thats a particularly good thing, because it hasn't translated into improving his performances, as shown with being broken back there.

[KnightOwl]

Great recovery though - back to a break up....

[ljs]

good job Andy , put this guy away

[ljs]

:cheer::cheer:

[SamP]

Great recovery though - back to a break up....

Yep, as I write that, BOOM, haha

[ljs]

Andy breaks again , 1 game away :cheer:

[Sallydaisy]

:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:

Andy wins: 6'1, 6'2

A couple of blips early in the 2nd set but all in all a good performance from Andy!
First time into the Barcelona quarter finals!

Next up it's the Missile Raonic!!!

[Jane]

Well done, Andy 6-1 6-2 :yahoo::yahoo::yahoo::cheer::cheer::cheer:

[40-15]

Andy wins 6-1, 6-2 - well done Andy!!
:clap: :cheer: :clap:

[KnightOwl]

Great stuff - minor dip but only for a few minutes and well recovered from!

:yahoo:

[ljs]

so its Andy / Milos next in the quarters :excited:

[Jan]

I'm back! Well done Andy - see you in the quarters!

[harriet]

good hit against giraldo, will set him up nicely for the dubs later

[Katie]

Good performance from Andy today, looking forward to him playing Milos next. :)

[cazza99]

Well done Andy :clap: :clap:

[Alis]

:cheer::cheer::cheer: Solid match Andy - well done! :cheer::cheer::cheer:

[LC the fan]

A nice tidy performance from Andy - even after that loss of service he didnt look rattled or vunerable :clap:
Well done Andy.
Next one against the Canadian upstart might be a bit of a test but....so far...so good

[lynne]

Great play Andy even though I missed most of the second set due to visitors.............Well Done Andy!!!!:thumbup:

[david1610]

Missed most of it but seemed solid enough to avoid any potential upsets.
Now to see how Andy returns Raonic's serve on clay!

[pabbers]

G'day from wet and chilly Portugal. Saw match. Good win. Not holding my breath for tomorrow though. RL must be torn.

[Jennan]

Good play from Andy today. Looking forward to tomorrow, possibly another rollercoaster.

[lynne]

Latest from Andy's FBook...




Playing Raonic at 12:30 tomorrow...

[Jan]

Latest from Andy's FBook...
I assume that's 11.30 here. Should be home just before 12, so will catch most of it hopefully!

[ljs]

G'day from wet and chilly Portugal. Saw match. Good win. Not holding my breath for tomorrow though. RL must be torn.

and me :hide:

oh well just hope they both play well , and may the best player of the match win !!

[Fina]

Good Luck, Andy. Rooting for you as always.

[ChrisMac]

:swingin:Rooting for you Andy!!!!!!!!!!

[JAMES4578]

Wasn't expecting it so comprehensive, well done Andy!:cheer::cheer: Of course we know stiffer chalenges lie ahead, starting with Milos tomorrow.

[Linda]

Couldn't watch as at work, but the scoreline is very impressive!

[traveller7]

Great score! Well done Andy!

[hfwardhouse]

I saw the match and Andy played really well! Giraldo threw a lot of tough shots his way but Andy defended brilliantly - was nice and relaxing to watch (mostly!)

Onwards and upwards!

[-J-]

always feel so oot the loop when i dont get to see andy

[KnightOwl]

Awww! Never mind, Jay - hopefully he'll still be playing at the weekend :)

[xenon21]

Wasn't able to watch this but WAHEY!!!! Well done Andy! :)