Top 5 matches on the 2010 ATP tour – Part two
Here is the second part explaining the top five best clashes from the men’s side in 2010.
3. John Isner vs Nicolas Mahut: Wimbledon first round
It may not have featured the excellent shot making or exciting rallies, however, it was a superb exhibit of fitness, serving and perseverance without any question. Above all, the score line alone for the match is enough to rank
it among the top five this season.
The lengthiest tennis match ever played in the history of the game concluded after a time period of eleven hours and five minutes over a period of three days at the All England Club. Isner, in the end turned out to be the winner
of the marathon battle with a score line of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 70-68. He blasted a total of 246 winners to cruise past his opponent. The decisive set alone had lasted eight hours and eleven minutes.
Isner after sealing the win, while commenting about his opponent said, “The guy is an absolute warrior. It stinks someone had to lose. To share this with him was an absolute honour. Maybe we will meet again somewhere down the road
and it won't be 70-68.”
Both of them also broke record with the total number of aces they smashed as Isner fired 113 whereas Mahut went for 103 aces in their classic opening round match at the grass court Grand Slam tournament in London.
4. Robin Soderling vs Michael Llodra: BNP Paribas Masters semifinal round
The French tennis sensation Michael Llodra had delighted the home crowd at Bercy throughout the week, getting the better of Novak Djokovic as well as Nikolay Davydenko to make his way into the semifinal round.
Michael put up a strong fight throughout the match but couldn’t win it in the end. After bouncing back from a deficit of 1-4 in the decisive set, the 30-year-old Frenchman squandered three match points during the twelfth game and
as a result Soderling held on to seal win in the end. The battle was stretched to a time period of two hours and forty nine minutes. The final match score was 6-7(0), 7-5, 7-6(6).
"Today it was a great match. It was not maybe pretty, but I am here as a winner. I think tennis is a very mental sport, because everybody can play; everybody is so good. So it is the mental aspect that is going to decide a lot
of matches,” explained Soderling, who eventually went on to pick up his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown over Gael Monfils the next day.
5. Gael Monfils vs Roger Federer: BNP Paribas Masters semifinal round
Crowd at the BNP Paribas Masters on semifinal day definitely had the golden ticket as they witnessed two of the best clashes of the season, back-to-back. After the tennis fans had suffered the disappointment of seeing Michael Llodra
brushed aside in first semifinal, the local favourite Gael Monfils lifted the roof of the Palais Omnisports as he got the better of the Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer to advance into the title battle on the second occasion in a row. The final match score
was 7-6(7), 6-7(1), 7-6(4).
Monfils was fully supported by the home crowd to prevent five match points on serve during the twelfth game of the decisive set, having earlier rallied back from a deficit of 1-4. Seeded twelfth to win the title, Monfils then sealed
win in the decisive tie-break after two hours and forty one minutes of action. It was his first victory in six clashes with the sixteen time Grand Slam winner, Roger Federer on the tour.
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