ATP 2010; Top ten most exciting clashes this season
The last season finished with a bang and a couple of questions. Will Rafael Nadal get a chance to perform again the way he played at Melbourne? Will Roger Federer continue to top among all the big hitters on the tour? Will Robin Soderling, Del Potro and
Marin Cilic continue to further improve their game? And have Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic experienced their top form so far?
Majority of these questions have been answered. As, we know that Novak and Murray are going nowhere, in fact they have just grown and stayed in contention in the middle of strong hitters. And among all this, Rafael and Federer continue to dominate the men’s
side.
The spectacle of tennis this season was not as great as 2009. Historical clashes were few and far between; still the quality of tennis is definitely worth talking about.
Bettor.com takes a look at this season’s best clashes on the ATP tour.
10. John Isner against Nicolas Mahut; Wimbledon Round one
This match has been mentioned in our list not because of the quality of game by both the players at All England Club. It has several other reasons for being included in the list of some memorable matches in 2010 as it lasted for more than two days and gained
the attention of every one all around the world. It was the lengthiest tennis match ever played on the tour, measured both by the number of games as well as time. It concluded after eleven hours and five minutes of action. John Isner, from the United States
of America, in the end turned out to be the winner of the marathon match. The final match score was 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68.
9. Sergey Stakhowvsky against Ryan Harrison; United States Open round two
This match is widely regarded as one of the most exciting matches of this year’s edition of the season’s final Grand Slam, the United States Open in New York. Stakhovsky, who played superior tennis than his opponent in the end turned out to be the winner.
The final match score was 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). The right hander sealed win in a dramatic duel that was one of the most thrilling clashes of the event.
"It was nice, I mean, except that 99.9% of the people were against me," Stakhovsky reflected after the match.
The beauty of this encounter was everywhere from the Partisan New York crowd, excellent all court exhibit, the domination of nerves by both players and finally in the victory of less popular contender, all added to the curiosity and excitement.
"I was trying to make sure I got the first serve in and trying to put pressure on him and missed that one barely. And then I wanted to play a long point and give myself an opportunity where I wanted to try to break him down and he didn't miss. I ended up
missing and then just kind of fell apart from there. But you know I can't change it now,” said Harrison after the match.
In spite of the fact that this match was not big enough to go into the history; however still was good enough to be included in the year book.
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