The Machine And Sliderman Sightings

Written by: Staff on 11th March 2010

The Machine And Sliderman Sightings |

I started off the morning by walking around the practice courts. Rafael Nadal was hitting and looked good as his movement was fluid and he was flattening out all his shots. Only about ten people were watching practice as the tournament grounds were not open to the public yet.

There was a Mario Ancic sighting as he played out some points with a hitting partner. He is looking for his second win of the year. After he left the courts, Nikolay Davydenko stepped on with his brother Eduard, and his nephew Philip. They hit on the court for slightly over an hour. “The Machine” was sharp, hitting his deep ground strokes from corner to corner.

Roger Federer stepped onto the court moments later for a two and a half hour practice session. He looked good, playing two sets and a tiebreaker before spending ten minutes signing for fans. Roger was followed by Andy Murray who practiced for an hour before heading back into the player’s area.

An evening walk through the grounds was chilly, but it was enough to have a few players putting in some practice time. The biggest name was Gael Monfils, sliding all over the court, retrieving drop shots and running along the baseline. Since there was not much action on the grounds, his practice drew a large crowd.

Topics: Andy Murray, Baseline, Brother, Drop Shots, Eduard, Evening Walk, Ground Strokes, Half Hour, Large Crowd, Mario Ancic, Nephew, Nikolay Davydenko, Practice Courts, Practice Session, Practice Time, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sharp, Sightings, Tiebreaker