Marin Cilic defeated Igor Andreev today in Monte Carlo but there was a game at 4:1 in the second set that can demonstrate what kind of situations happen in tennis and how mentally tough one has to be to overcome those.

Marin Cilic backhand - Photo by MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images

It was 4:1 for Cilic and he was also serving.

Here are 3 critical situations where Marin Cilic had basically won the the point but immediately “lost it” because of some external factor which he couldn’t control: (more…)

Andy Roddick has played some great tennis yesterday in the semi-finals of Miami Masters 1000 to beat Rafael Nadal 4:6, 6:3, 6:3.

Nadal has been playing great the whole week (except the first set against Nalbandian) and while Roddick didn’t have big problems with his opponents either, I personally had big doubts that Andy could beat Nadal in his current form.

The reason for my doubts is this: Andy has been playing too controlled and too conservative tennis – in my opinion.

I mean too controlled tennis to win major tournaments and to get into the top 3 in ATP rankings.

His game has matured so much in the last 5 years as a result of his work with Jimmy Connors and other experiences coaches but there was also a hidden drawback to this – all the coaches were focused on eliminating Andy’s errors and weaknesses and Andy has been listening to them too well.

He cut down on his unforced errors and I believe that he became just too focused on not making any mistakes at all.

If you’ve been watching tennis closely in the last few years, try to remember some spectacular or inspirational shots from Roddick. I personally cannot remember many. (more…)