CricSim Tennis Tournament: Monte Carlo

CMON MASTERS

 

MATCH OF THE DAY
O'Driscoll rallies as Morris blows lead

England's Eddie Morris has had a day he'd rather forget, as he gave up a two-set lead against New South Wales' Alex O'Driscoll to crash out of the second round of the singles draw in Monte Carlo.

The highly rated 22-year old played professionally for most of the match, as he took his chances in the first two sets against his slightly more experienced opponent. O'Driscoll, meanwhile, was uncharacteristically lazy on serve, and could only watch as the few break point opportunities he gave his busy opponent were converted, to put him on the brink of a second round exit.

But in a sign of things to come, Morris was too relaxed as he came to the net in his first service game of the third set, and put his volley straight into the net to give O'Driscoll a break point. The New South Welshman made no mistake as he drew an unforced error for a 2-0 lead.

O'Driscoll picked up his second break of service in the eighth - and final - game of the set, and it was game on again, with the Aussie growing in confidence. Morris stuck close with O'Driscoll in the fourth set, and actually had two break points at 3-4. O'Driscoll, however, was finding his serving mojo again, and, despite the surface, was finding ways to earn free points, with the ball kicking off the surface.

At 5-6 and 30-0, Morris looked set to try his luck in a tiebreaker, but dumped two backhands into the net to give O'Driscoll a look. After two deuces, O'Driscoll finally brought up a set point, and converted with a well crafted point that he ended by polishing off a volley.

That blow crippled Morris' confidence, and he was further angered by a contentious line call that effectively gave O'Driscoll a 2-0 lead. The young Englishman looked to have saved break point as he smacked a forehand into the back corner, only for the linesman to wrongly call it out. While the chair umpire was quick to overrule, he also ruled that O'Driscoll could have made the shot, and ordered the point to be replayed. This drew a furious reaction from Morris, who then compounded his anger with a double fault and a code violation for a broken racquet.

O'Driscoll, meanwhile, did not look overawed by the situation, and played confident tennis en route to a dramatic 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 win. He will play Ezequiel Ames in the quarterfinals, following Ames' impressive straight sets victory over Luka Popovic.

Bits and Bobs:

• 25-year old New South Welshman Luka Popovic would have been feeling confident following his first round win over Jono Chewie, but failed to test English opponent Ezequiel Ames, who picked up his second straight sets win of the week, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

• In an all-Sri Lankan clash, Clay Evans backed up his first round victory with a quality four-set win over Leumas Himann. Himann was almost unsighted during a dreadful first two sets, but rallied to win the third 6-4. His newfound competitiveness, though, was extinguished in a tight fourth set, as Evans advanced to the quarters 6-0, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3).

• In a truly bizarre contest, Samuel Vimes advanced to the quarters with a five-set win over Bruce Force. Despite dropping the first set, Vimes played inspired tennis to take the second set to love against a bewildered looking Force. Inspired turned to insipid, though, as Force put a breadstick on the Norwegian with some aggressive tennis, before Vimes returned to his second set form to drop just two games in the next two sets, and set up a showdown with Evans 4-6, 6-0, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1.

• The commencement of the doubles draw did not produce too many thrilling encounters, but the best viewing was to be found on Court des Princes as Kiwi pairing Jonty Rhodes and Gareth Weaver bested compatriots Joshua Ritchie and Lucas Schaw. While they won in straight sets, the second two sets produced some exciting tennis, with Ritchie and Schaw falling just short in both sets despite a number of chances.

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do love a good cuppa

 

Gunnest win ever, carn AOD you superstar.