Mirnyi v. Keifer

[simi]

Didn't get a chance to watch this match until last night after I got home. Must say that I really enjoyed watching Max play his S&V and Chip-n-Charge game, and on clay to boot. He made it look so easy. S&V isn't quite dead, yet. If I were one of those who want to emulate a professional player and his style, he is the one I would aspire to play like.

[North]

Yeah. Great match to see. Mirnyi was just relentless and Kiefer looked kind of lost out there. A S&Ver really on his game on a given day can be incredibly effective and it was particularly nice to see "the Beast" do it on the red clay.

[Tchocky]

Not really surprised by this result even though Kiefer was a heavy favorite...I knew Mirnyi had a very good chance to pull off the upset. It's so easy to root against Kiefer.

[simi]

first time in six matches between the two that Max was the victor

[Max G.]

Originally Posted by simi

first time in six matches between the two that Max was the victor

Oh, interesting!

...I just looked up their record - the only other time that Mirnyi has been able to get a set against Kiefer was also on clay, this year in Monte-Carlo!

Very interesting, considering that you'd expect Kiefer's game to transfer better to clay than Mirnyi's. But apparently it doesn't work that way in their head-to-head.

[LowProfile]

Mirnyi is an odd player. He physically is an incredibly dominating figure and his serve and volley game puts immense pressure on his opponents.

The problem with him is that on some days, he'll get passed like crazy and blow moderately easy volleys. On other days, he'll get to everything and volley it with power and purpose. This was one of those days. Another was when he took Federer to a third-set tiebreak at that exhibition at the beginning of this year. If Mirnyi can find a way to have more of his good days, becoming a solid top 10 player is not out of the question for him.