Australian Open 2012

[amurti]

I awoke toooooo early to watch this match and of course dissapointed Richard lost. Richard, if just a little more aggressive, would have won this match. He let it go too easily and just seemed quite content to have made it to the fourth round this year.

It's amazing that the players are afraid to play against Richard because they know what he is capable of. I believe everyone knows what Richard is capable of except Richard himself.

I want Richard to go home every day and scream at the mirror and say "I AM A TERRIFIC PLAYER AND I CAN BEAT ANYONE I WANT."

Richard good luck for the rest of the season - I still love u.

[cheska]

Well that was just a big blow. All credit to Ferrer because he played really well, maybe not in his best form but enough to beat Richard. Back to the drawing board then. I just hope Richard solves this Ferrer problem soon.

On to the next tournament then. I'm disappointed but still optimistic for the rest of the year.

[Puschkin]

Frankly, I am a bit disappointed. I expected a bit more from Richard tody, Ferrer was far from unbeatable today, as his waste of a 2 breaks lead in the 2nd set showed. But Richard's serve was rather average and overall he lacked the fire to take the game to Ferrer. 35 degrees just do not bring the best out of him.

[kohu]

I am not surprised or really disapponted at this result. Ferrer, even not playing his best is still a better player than Richard. No Ferrer doesn't have the jaw dropping shots that Richard has but he has a tenacity, fight and aggressive mindset that few on the tour have and that will pretty much beat Richard every time.

[blazer]

I expected better from Richard, he was mentally poor, and didn't serve well enough. He could have beaten ferrer if he took his chances and did not choke when it mattered. The reason player like Ferrer and Nadal constantly beat Richard is because of consistent good shots, which sets a high bar which Richard matches for a while but a level he cannot sustain.

[EdbergEdberggogogo]

Richard had said before the match he would have to play his best tennis to beat Ferrer. I watched the entire match live, and it was obvious Richard was going for his best stuff. Richard consistently went heavy on his first serves, going for corners and lines, going for aces or serves that would not be returned; but over and over he would just miss with serves that would have surely won him the point outright. So very close again and again! Then he had to put in a second serve, which at best got him into a neutral rally.

If Richard had been hitting these big serves, he could have won the match. Certainly the sets would have gone to tiebreakers. I had the sense Richard has the game to beat Ferrer if he makes his shots. Unfortunately, his serve was off, his backhand was erratic, his volleys and approach shots mostly came up too short. So it was an easy win for Ferrer.

Basically, Richard was trying and pressing his game too hard. If he had played more relaxed and just let the shots -- especially the serve -- flow, the match would have been much closer. I noticed many times when Richard did relax on his first serve and did not go for a perfect shot, Ferrer would often make an error on the return.

Let's admit Ferrer has been playing very good tennis lately. He took down Nadal in straight sets recently, a first for him, I believe. He's very fit and very fast and playing with immense confidence. The day will come, probably within a year, when the battles between these two will shift in Richard's favor. I'm sure of this. Richard just needs to relax, play with confidence and let his shots flow.

[blazer]

Exactly, however it is frustrating how he doesnt have the confidence to play every match the same way. He beats most players through his superior talent. However sometimes he loses when he is expected to win like Istomin because he plays too tentativly because he knows he should win. Then he plays players like Nadal and Ferrer and rarely gets the balance right. Have you noticed when he plays these players he plays brilliantly when he just relaxes and whenever he gets in sight of victory he chokes. The only way he can beat these players if he relies on his serve to get cheap points relieving pressure and his "bottling it" nature. Like his victory over federer last year.

[ImmzB]

Looking forward to Montpellier!! Richard will be up for it! Allez!