There were plenty of reasons for Arnaud Clement to lose to Andy Murray on Sunday: a much slower top serve (216kph to 196kph), fewer aces (9-1) and fewer total winners (22-20).
Plus, Murray was trying to impress his new coach, Brad Gilbert, former mentor to Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.
If Clement's play was less spectacular, it was far steadier, especially once Murray developed two blisters on his racket hand. Clement erased an early deficit and put together a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic final for his second title of the year.
The 11th-seeded Frenchman mainly worked to extend points, keeping the ball in play until No. 8 Murray erred. And Murray made repeated mistakes, finishing with 31 unforced errors to Clement's 20, often looking at his painful right hand after flubbing shots.
"He missed too much," said Clement, who won 14 of 16 points during a stretch in the second set to take complete command.
Murray, at his first tournament with Gilbert, said one blister broke open during the first set, probably because he was sweating so much with the temperature in the 30s Celsius. Murray winced as a trainer treated a blister on his right middle finger after the second game of the second set, during Clement's run to a 4-0 lead.
"You can still play, but it's just not very comfortable," Murray said. "You try not to think about it. It's just a little bit of a distraction."
He said he'd never had a hand blister before and he didn't want to tape them, because he's not used to playing with his fingers wrapped.
"It doesn't matter who you are -- it's a problem," Gilbert said.
Neither Gilbert nor Murray blamed the setback on the blisters, crediting Clement with turning things around after falling behind 3-1 in the first set. Murray was somewhat his own undoing, though, double-faulting twice and missing a forehand wide to allow Clement to break to 3-3.
"After that," Gilbert said, "Clement outplayed him."
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
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