;D ;D ;D Well done Maratik
Watched the match on livesteam...promised myself it'd be the last time but then again...he's playing singles and doubles on center court tomorrow so...
Anyways, the match itself. First set, he got broken right away but didn't let Lu work up any steam. He broke back straight away and put things back on level terms. He got the break to go 3-2 and then he just did enough to close it out. Lu started to play better and Marat was serving just a little bit under what he did Tuesday so he was constantly down 0-15 etc saved a break point or two but by and large kept his nerve.
Lu, though, came to play. i guess if you are going to travel from Chinese Taipei to San Jose, might as well make it worth while
The thing is, Marat had his chances in that set. Twice he was up a break but couldn't make it stick. Lu kept coming back in his face.
They were both hitting pretty hard off the baseline and Lu was getting just that little bit of extra luck. To the point that Marat commited racketcide. May the racket rest in peace
So of course having had his chances, it was kind of normal that Lu, who was getting more and more confident, took advantage. Marat was serving to stay in the set and played the start of the game very loosely. Dug himself two thirds of the way out of the hole
Set Lu.
In the third set, Lu was just everywhere, on fire. Ridiculous shots were going in, he had the lines, the tape, everything with him it seemed like. Even parts of the crowd.
But Marat stuck in there. Self belief never waivered even if he did get frustrated at times.
Got the break and closed it out like a champ. ;D ;D ;D
Now then, the live stream commentator...bloody hilarious at times.
As Nush pointed out, Marat could turn a straight man gay and this guy defintely sounded like he was falling hard. LMAO.
This guy was waxing lyrical about Marat all through the first part of the match. It was the same on Tuesday night. Just gonna give you a couple of the phrases that listeners were treated to.
"The Big Dog is in the house."
"The Mac Daddy (yes he really said that. Twice) is here"
"He's a tough hombre to beat."
"He's like a big cat. He floats."
"What a smooth and silky serve."
"He's in a class of his own."
Marat played a half volley off the baseline and the commentator goes "he played that like it's easy or something."
"How do you play Safin? Well you could mug him i guess."
Those are all the ones that come to mind at the moment but it was defintely a good laugh.
Maybe he was the guy that declared love to Marat during the interview the other night.
hehehehe
They won the doubles!!!!!! 
Marat and Igor for the 2nd round!!!!!
to Matatik, 
, Come on, for the next match,,,, 
If Marat wins tonight (Udachi dorogoy! ;D:-*) he will play singles and doubles back to back tomorrow with only what is described as "suitable rest" in between.
That's my couch 
