The match
Suspended for rain against Danny Ferro at 5-7, 4-5, with the second set still live. Picking it up next week.
He mixes spin and pace better than anyone I have played. He will drop shot you to drag you forward and then lob you, and his lobs are genuinely good — a first choice, not a panic shot. He also sets up very wide on his serve, doubles-style, which makes the down-the-line return look wide open. It is not. He gets to those.
And he is the best returner I have played. At this level my first serve lands three times in four and about three of those are aces. Against him I had two all match. Everything comes back.
First set I fell to 1-4. I broke him to open, then he broke me twice on games where the first serve was not landing. From there I won four of the next five — every one of them on the back of first serves in — and got it back to 5-5. Then I let off the gas, had him at 0-40 and let him hold, and got broken serving at 5-6 when the first serve deserted me again.
Second set was the same film. Down 1-5, including a break where I double faulted twice. Then I stopped trying to do something with the return and just put it back in play, and it turned completely: broke him through three advantages, held with all first serves in, broke him again. 4-5, and the rain came.
Two things decide this match and both are mine. First serve percentage — every game I won comfortably, the note says first serves in; every game I lost, it says the first serve was not there. And return discipline — twice I lost break points trying to attack his serve, and the open court off that wide stance is the bait. Every time I simply got the ball back and made him play, I broke him. Against someone who does not miss, the neutral return is the aggressive one.
When we come back I am a set down and a break down, but I have won three of the last four games played. Start with the same two rules from the first ball, and do not wait until 1-4 to remember them.