Right back at you: Paul-Henri Mathieu hits a shot to John Isner during their match at the French Open on Thursday. Mathieu won 6-7(2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16. APPARIS — This, then, is who John Isner is for now: The Marathon Man of Tennis, the guy who plays and plays and plays, for hours on end, until the last set seems interminable.At Wimbledon two years ago, he won 70-68 in the fifth, the longest set and match in tennis history. At Roland Garros on Thursday, as afternoon gave way to evening, the 10th-seeded American lost 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16 to Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the second round, a 5-hour, 41-minute test of stamina and attention span.This one goes in the books as the second-longest match, by time, in French Open history."I just didn't get it done. I felt like I got caught in patterns that weren't ideal for me," said a somber Isner. "I wasn't going for my shots at certain points in the match, and that comes from a little bit of a lack of confidence."If Isner is going to become more than a novelty act, he needs to win encounters like Thursday's, and not because of the duration but because it was a first-week Grand Slam match against a player ranked 261st who got into the field thanks to a wild-card invitation from the tournament.After finally converting his seventh match point — Isner never had one — an emotional Mathieu thanked the partisan crowd in the main stadium for willing him to victory. Their sing-song choruses of "Po-lo! Po-lo!" — the French equivalent of "Paulie" — and roars of approval rang out after pretty much every point he won down the stretch."I dug deep," said the 30-year-old Mathieu, who hadn't played in a major tournament since the 2010 U.S. Open because of a left-knee injury that forced him off tour all of last year. "I was away from the courts for quite a while, and I came back to live moments like this."He helped provide easily the most intrigue on a day that featured straight-set wins for defending champions Rafael Nadal and Li Na.About 10 hours earlier in that stadium, it appeared a man seeded even higher than Isner would be on his way out of the tournament: No. 4 Andy Murray's back was so painful he could barely move, let alone play tennis at the level required to win a Grand Slam match.Or so it seemed.For the better part of an hour, the three-time major finalist looked downright miserable. He grimaced. He clutched at the small of his back. He contorted his body. He stepped gingerly, as though barefoot on a hot day at the beach. He tapped in serves at speeds so slow they'd be OK while driving on a highway. He considered quitting."Just kind of gritting my teeth," Murray said, "and (trying) to find a way of turning the match around, because I was a few points, probably, from stopping."And then, thanks in large part to a couple of massages from a trainer, Murray began to feel better. It helped, too, that his opponent, 48th-ranked Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, was incapable of taking advantage of Murray's nearly incapacitated state. So Murray managed to come back to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the third round at Roland Garros for the fifth consecutive year.What's unclear, even to Murray, is how his back will be for his next match."I have no idea what will happen in two days," said Murray."But if it's something like a spasm, it's not like you're doing major damage. You know, it's just a really, really tight muscle."The 25-year-old from Scotland had been dealing with a bad back for months. It forced him to pull out of the Madrid Open in early May.But Murray insisted that Thursday's problem was different — although might have been related, because he might have bothered a muscle by compensating for the earlier injury."It was his fault for letting me back into the match, because I didn't do anything special," Murray said. "I just tried to put some balls back in."Nieminen agreed, saying: "I feel like I had him. . . . It's not often that somebody looks that bad and can keep going."But Murray did trudge on, putting in serves at 110 kph or so, and taking big cuts at returns to try to end points then and there, until he could swing more freely.
Showing posts with label match. Show all posts
Showing posts with label match. Show all posts
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Isner comes up short in marathon match with Mathieu
Right back at you: Paul-Henri Mathieu hits a shot to John Isner during their match at the French Open on Thursday. Mathieu won 6-7(2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16. APPARIS — This, then, is who John Isner is for now: The Marathon Man of Tennis, the guy who plays and plays and plays, for hours on end, until the last set seems interminable.At Wimbledon two years ago, he won 70-68 in the fifth, the longest set and match in tennis history. At Roland Garros on Thursday, as afternoon gave way to evening, the 10th-seeded American lost 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16 to Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the second round, a 5-hour, 41-minute test of stamina and attention span.This one goes in the books as the second-longest match, by time, in French Open history."I just didn't get it done. I felt like I got caught in patterns that weren't ideal for me," said a somber Isner. "I wasn't going for my shots at certain points in the match, and that comes from a little bit of a lack of confidence."If Isner is going to become more than a novelty act, he needs to win encounters like Thursday's, and not because of the duration but because it was a first-week Grand Slam match against a player ranked 261st who got into the field thanks to a wild-card invitation from the tournament.After finally converting his seventh match point — Isner never had one — an emotional Mathieu thanked the partisan crowd in the main stadium for willing him to victory. Their sing-song choruses of "Po-lo! Po-lo!" — the French equivalent of "Paulie" — and roars of approval rang out after pretty much every point he won down the stretch."I dug deep," said the 30-year-old Mathieu, who hadn't played in a major tournament since the 2010 U.S. Open because of a left-knee injury that forced him off tour all of last year. "I was away from the courts for quite a while, and I came back to live moments like this."He helped provide easily the most intrigue on a day that featured straight-set wins for defending champions Rafael Nadal and Li Na.About 10 hours earlier in that stadium, it appeared a man seeded even higher than Isner would be on his way out of the tournament: No. 4 Andy Murray's back was so painful he could barely move, let alone play tennis at the level required to win a Grand Slam match.Or so it seemed.For the better part of an hour, the three-time major finalist looked downright miserable. He grimaced. He clutched at the small of his back. He contorted his body. He stepped gingerly, as though barefoot on a hot day at the beach. He tapped in serves at speeds so slow they'd be OK while driving on a highway. He considered quitting."Just kind of gritting my teeth," Murray said, "and (trying) to find a way of turning the match around, because I was a few points, probably, from stopping."And then, thanks in large part to a couple of massages from a trainer, Murray began to feel better. It helped, too, that his opponent, 48th-ranked Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, was incapable of taking advantage of Murray's nearly incapacitated state. So Murray managed to come back to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the third round at Roland Garros for the fifth consecutive year.What's unclear, even to Murray, is how his back will be for his next match."I have no idea what will happen in two days," said Murray."But if it's something like a spasm, it's not like you're doing major damage. You know, it's just a really, really tight muscle."The 25-year-old from Scotland had been dealing with a bad back for months. It forced him to pull out of the Madrid Open in early May.But Murray insisted that Thursday's problem was different — although might have been related, because he might have bothered a muscle by compensating for the earlier injury."It was his fault for letting me back into the match, because I didn't do anything special," Murray said. "I just tried to put some balls back in."Nieminen agreed, saying: "I feel like I had him. . . . It's not often that somebody looks that bad and can keep going."But Murray did trudge on, putting in serves at 110 kph or so, and taking big cuts at returns to try to end points then and there, until he could swing more freely.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Uribe, Gulbis hold off Japanese golfers in Match Play Championship
Gladstone, New Jersey — Ai Miyazato and Mika Miyazato fell in the first round at the Sybase Match Play Championship on Thursday.Columbia's Mariajo Uribe defeated fourth seed Ai Miyazato 2-up, while Mika Miyazato, the 23rd seed, fell 1-up to Natalie Gulbis of the United States, who is seeded 42nd.Having trouble with both her shots and her putter, Ai Miyazato allowed Uribe to come from behind by winning four of the last five holes."Match play certainly has its attractions, but today I got the other side of the coin," Ai Miyazato said. "It's too bad that there is no tomorrow."Unable to get good distance off the tee, Ai Miyazato couldn't match the big-hitting Uribe down the stretch."Now I have three extra days off," Ai Miyazato said. "I'll rest up and get ready for my next (competition)."
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Dempsey leads Fulham past Liverpool in ill-tempered match
LONDON — United States midfielder Clint Dempsey brought Liverpool's eight-match unbeaten run in the Premier League to an end on Monday, pouncing on a late error by goalkeeper Pepe Reina to earn Fulham a 1-0 at Craven Cottage and ease his team's relegation worries.The Spain 'keeper failed to hold a speculative shot by former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy in the 85th minute, and Dempsey slotted home the rebound from close range for Fulham's third win of the campaign to lift the London club five points clear of the bottom three.The visitors had been reduced to 10 men by that point after defensive midfielder Jay Spearing was sent off in the 72nd minute for an overzealous tackle on Moussa Dembele, at a time when they were on top and threatening a win that would have lifted them above Newcastle to sixth.Liverpool hit the goal frame twice, through Jordan Henderson in the first half and substitute Stewart Downing just before Dempsey's winner, while Luis Suarez had a goal harshly disallowed for offside in the 67th.But Spearing's dismissal was the turning point in a fractious match. There was nothing wrong with the youngster's initial full-blooded tackle but he followed through by catching the Belgium forward's leg, leading referee Kevin Friend to brandish the red card."He has won the ball but he has probably upset the referee with his follow through," said Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, whose team lost for the first time since Sept. 18 to dent its hopes of keeping pace with its rivals for the Champions League positions.Fulham manager Martin Jol said the sending off was the pivotal moment in the game, which threatened to boil over a number of times — particularly when Dempsey went forehead-to-forehead with Craig Bellamy at the start of the second half."After the sending off, we had a little bit more space and took advantage of that," Jol said. "I thought it was a bad tackle. I thought it was a sending off."Dempsey's 37th goal in the Premier League made him the most prolific American scorer in England's top division, surpassing the record he shared with former Fulham striker Brian McBride.He nearly gave Fulham the lead minutes prior to eventually grabbing the winner, curling a shot against the bar before Downing went up the other end and smashed a fierce drive that was touched onto the post by goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer in the 84th."I think we would have taken something from the game if we had been left with all our men," Dalglish said. "I think we did enough to come away with something."PARIS — Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez will be up against Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo for the FIFA world player of the year award.The three Ballon d'Or finalists were selected Monday from among 23 nominees. Messi beat Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi to win last year.Messi also won the award two years ago when France Football magazine chose the best player in Europe. The Ballon d'Or is now merged with FIFA's player of the year award to create one trophy.Messi and Ronaldo already have scored 17 league goals this season. They play each other in the Spanish League on Saturday.
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