2 Responses to sydney07blake_moya

1. Voo de Mar says:

   January 1, 2024 at 12:29 am

   Points won by each set: | 38-32, 37-44, 32-20 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   21 % Blake – 22 of 102
   28 % Moya – 29 of 101

   Two players from the same generation more or less, I’d say they are at different levels in tennis hierarchy from histroical perspective, but matches between them were very balanced and their rivalry finished at 6-6. The explanation is quite simple: Blake’s ferocious forehand was too fast to handle for Moya’s weaker backhand wing. In the opening set of their Sydney final, all games were concluded with a two-point difference, Blake dealt better with ‘deuce’ games – won them all (4), and raced to a 4:0 (break point) lead in the 2nd set. His sheer aggression was stopped though. Moya [44] came back from *3:5 (deuce) to win four straight games and a set. Blake [5] was losing quite regularly matches he should have won, but that time he avoided a cruel loss. Moya had played four three-setters in a row, the first three were very tight (in the 1st round he fought off a match point against an unknown Bourgeois, in the second round 5 match points against Verdasco; in the quarterfinal two points separated him from defeat to Baghdatis). If Moya had won the deciding set it could have been one of the most amazing routes to the title in the ATP events, but he ran out of gas. # Four years before they had played a similar match on the same court, then Moya prevailed after blowing three match points in the 2nd set. In 2006 they could face each other there in the second round, but the Spaniard withdrew, and Blake claimed the title, so quite special situation that he won back-to-back Sydney titles receiving walkovers in both editions.

   Blake’s route to his 9th title:
   1 Kevin Kim 6-3, 6-4
   2 Nathan Healey 6-2, 6-4
   Q Evgeny Korolev 6-1, 6-4
   S Jurgen Melzer w/o [virus]
   W Carlos Moya 6-3, 5-7, 6-1

   Serve & volley: Blake 3/5, Moya 0

   # Comparison of their Sydney matches:
   2003 (1R): Moya d. Blake 6-3, 6-7, 6-3… 2 hours 8 minutes… Total points: 109-95… Breaks: 5-1
   2007 (F): Blake d. Moya 6-3, 5-7, 6-1… 2 hours 2 minutes… Total points: 107-96… Breaks: 6-3

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   January 1, 2024 at 1:19 am

   Just a few days later they play in the Australian Open first round, and Blake wins 7-6(8), 6-2, 6-4 saving a set point at *7:8 in the tie-break

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