Of course, we all hoped in a duel with Kolya Davydenko and Paul-Henri Mathieu to take the first, very important point. There was every reason for that. Kolya looked good during training and really wanted to perform successfully. And after the first set, which he won quite confidently, there was simply no doubt that he would squeeze Mathieu. But what happened happened.
There are many reasons for this. First: Davydenko sat physically. He gave his best at the start, and when Mathieu changed his tactics a bit and began to play more broadly, there was not enough strength to get the balls. Secondly, the sharp transition from hard to ground affected. And then psychological problems began. Feeling that the opponent seized the initiative, Davydenko swam a little, began to make mistakes. Mathieu realized that his only chance of victory was to spend all the remaining time of the match at maximum opportunities, and not without courage did it.
But after an unsuccessful start, no one in our team was going to sprinkle ashes on his head. Although in the second match of the South-Gasque day the chances of victory were approximately equal, I knew that Misha, a fighter by nature, would play for two.
And so it happened. From the first minutes, Yuzhny was as concentrated as possible, acting very aggressively and effectively. After the first two victorious sets for us, I was almost sure that Misha would not delay the match and win the third game - Gaske played very slurred.
But in this match, there were some unpleasant surprises - Misha began to cramp her legs in convulsions. At first it was thought that this was temporary, just such a reaction of the body to high physical stress. But when our guy fell with a grimace of pain and clutched his legs, his heart skipped a beat. The alarm was not so much even for the outcome of the match, but for Misha himself - he just got in shape after a serious injury, started showing cool tennis, to rise in the rating, and this is such a disaster.
No one at that moment was sure that Yuzhny would be able to continue the match. And if he refused the fight, everyone would understand him. What happened next, except as heroism can not be called. Barely moving around the court, our tennis player continued to play to win. Of course, he had almost no chance at Gaska's serve, but the way Misha acted effectively on his serve was admirable. And although the Frenchman evened the score on sets, there was no turning point in the game, as in the match between Davydenko and Mathieu.
Yuzhny didn’t let his opponent feel for a second that he could lose. And in the fifth decisive set, when the pains receded a little, Misha completely broke Gasquet psychologically. At decisive moments, he simply could not do anything - even if he managed to get another cannonball strike, then he beat him out more often, and if he got into the court, he was so weak that Yuzhny certainly won a point from the second strike.
Saturday's doubles will also be very difficult and validola. The French duet is played well and looks like a favorite. But I believe that after the strong-willed victory of the South on the side of our team is a psychological advantage.