Serra Falls in Three

Friday, January 22, 2010

Andy is through to the fourth round of the Australian open after a 7-5 6-1 6-4 win over Florent Serra that was pretty comfortable in the end.

Andy will now face John Isner for a place in the quarter-finals.

We saw glimpses of the game that had seen Serra through two tough five-setters, particularly in an edgy first set where his loose forehand helped him play his best tennis.

But It wasn’t good enough, and after pushing hard in the first set he appeared to lose belief that he had any chance in the match.

Against an opponent who hit 49 winners in the match, that’s understandable; Andy was just too good for him, and with another match gone in less than two hours, he’s well set at this stage of the tournament.

Serra took his time to get into the first set, and facing five break points at 0-3 he looked odds on for a lengthy period of reflection in the chair, left to ponder how his best tennis just came back at him with interest.

But after saving those break points, his go-for-broke style paid off; a rasping forehand return gave him a break back point which Andy converted with a missed backhand volley.

With the Frenchman finding his stride, it then took three stunning points from Andy to break back. Watch out for his forehand pass from a starting position outside the trams on the backhand. They’ll be showing replays, for sure.

With his forehand sharp as a tack, the Frenchman broke immediately back as a topsy-turvy first set threatened to go the distance.

In the end, Andy closed it as Serra served to stay in the set: a deft lob set up the pass and the Frenchman could only dump it into the net.

Having bristled with confidence for periods of the first set, Serra quickly had the stuffing knocked out of him in the second.

This time round, Andy wasn’t going to let go of a double break, and he looked well worth his 5-1 lead as a lob looped over his stranded opponent, before a love hold sealed the set 6-1.

Serra had never come back from a two-set deficit in his career, and getting broken in the opening game of the third set didn’t enhance his prospects.

He probably didn’t enhance his prospects with the crowd when he called for the trainer to treat a graze he picked up trying in vain to cut off a pass either. Sadly, the antiseptic spray didn’t help him from slumping to 0-3.

Serra managed one more break, but by that stage the result was a formality.

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