Russell vs Zverev: Bump In the Road (Fan’s Perspective)

  John Schaeffer  Key Largo, Florida writes: 

 I consider myself a friend of Michael and would like to help in any way.  However, I am leery of writing  something (like a match review) that a pro tennis player might find irrelevant or “off the mark”. Michael  put a lot of effort into the match and was quite disappointed with the result. I would hate to  misrepresent/misinterpret his effort.

 Anyway, here goes:

 Michael Russell’s first round match against Mischa Zverev at Delray was a seesaw three-setter      producing spotty play by both competitors. The first set opened with Zverev establishing a defensive  posture, which he maintained throughout the match, playing 10 feet behind the baseline, and hitting  low slice backhands. Meanwhile, Russell had difficulty finding the center of his own racquet and shanked numerous backhands early. When he did find his strings after being broken during his second service game, Russell seemed perplexed by them, hitting a number of balls long. According to reports, Russell sent several frames to the tournament stringer for a change.

Midway through the first set, the clouds disappeared and Zverev, coming off the European indoor season and being run hard, looked like he might have trouble in the Florida heat.

After dropping the first set, Russell found his reliable, aggressive baseline game and took control of the match. Meanwhile, Zverev’s serve totally “went-off”, producing three double faults in one game. Russell handily won the second set and seemed in control of the match.

This led me to move over one court to watch the Bryan brothers practice with Jay Berger and a good, unknown (to me) and young US player all while looking through the stands to keep an eye on Russell-Zverev. Noticing that Russell was down a break at 1-3, I returned to Court 1 to watch him regain control of the play and win four straight games.

Serving at 5-3, Russell hit (what he felt was) a first serve ace which was called “out”. He stood stunned then broke into a chuckle and tried to refocus. From that point, everything unraveled for Russell. He lost four straight games and the third set by a score of 7-5. Those last four games featured some good play by Zverev and some bad breaks for Russell—he missed several easy shots. However, it seemed that Russell would retained control and, knowing his mental toughness, would never lose the match.

I did not review the match statistics but don’t recall Zverev even attempting to hit winners. He played a relentlessly defensive game that required his opponent to take charge—something that Russell did successfully. Zverev’s best break of the day was cloud cover, which returned midway through the second set. Without it, he would not have been able to stay in this match.

The stands remained full of spectators during the match. I heard numerous comments on Russell’s grittiness.

Having dictated play and been in a position to serve for the match (and being on a year-long roll), Russell was obviously disappointed with the result.

Michael has been on the road since early January and the return home to Houston (and his lovely wife) should help prepare him for the upcoming stretch of important tournaments –Indian Wells and Miami. I think that this match was a “bump in the road” and that Michael Russell will extend his impressive year-long run.