Ok the last post was getting ridiculously lengthy so I've decided to start another one. And yes its about a certain game where two players hit a ball back and forth around a cement coat surface with lines either side and a net in the middle.
So getting right on to it, the Sony Ericsson Open 2011 men's semi final between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal was a bit of a letdown. What I hoped to be an exciting battle turned out to be a simple straight set win for Nadal winning 6-3 6-2. I was hoping it would be more of a fight from Federer but I guess he is now finally getting past his best, he is still more than good enough to take on the players ranked underneath him, but he's no longer the top dog for sure. However speaking of the two top dogs, I think that Rafa and Djokovic have been playing so consistently well throughout this tournament together that its going to be hard to call who will win this time. Because if there is one man who is capable of ending Djokovic's winning streak, that one man is Rafael Nadal. Rafa certainly proved tonight he still very much has an appetite for destruction by dismanteling Roger's game so convincingly, he is for sure still the world number 1. So I think Rafa might be out for revenge this time against Djokovic, it will be a tough match to call this time and who knows might win this time. Djokovic could be a firm favourite, but judging by Nadal's performance tonight its not so easy to tell. One way or another, any disappointments that came before at Miami, will be made up in the final. And Djoko although he could beat Nadal, this time I think Rafa will be baying for blood.
In fact I think overall the women's tournament has actually been alot more exciting in Miami, more lengthy battles with plenty of upsets, especially with Caroline Wozniacki going out in the 4th round, Jelena Jankovic in the quarters, both fell victim to Andrea Petkovic. And now we have the two champion screamers Sharapova and Azarenka in the final, which could make for a very interesting and also very loud match. But disappointment reared its head again as it was largely a one sided match with the odds firmly stacked in Azarenka's favour who defeated Sharapova in straight sets 6-1 6-4. In the first set Sharapova just couldn't get anything going at all, and made a big number of unforced errors and double faults, continually trying to play cross court shots and hitting them wide or into the net, and for most shots Azarenka had the answers. In the second set things improved for Sharapova although it took a while as she was 0-4 down, but she managed to break back and make it 4-5 before she sunk more forehands and handed the championship point to Azarenka. Overall it was a bit of a letdown but the match did show some signs of promise and there were some excellent rallies in the second set once Sharapova found a little bit of form, but Azarenka despite her ridiculous grunts (they can't be real surely!) was the better player on the day and played very well throughout the tournament. Its usually the same when you have great expectations for a match it can be a disappointment, but if you have no expectations, like with the Wozniacki vs Bartoli final at Indian Wells, I expected little from it, but it turned into one of the best matches of the year so far. And overall women's tennis is in a more interesting place just now, as there is no one dominant player overall in all surfaces, Caroline Wozniacki is fairly dominant in hard court but not on other surfaces and last week she proved she wasn't infallible on hard court. So it leaves plenty of room for other great players to win the tournaments and mix things up.
But overall I felt the Miami men's tournament lacked the same excitement, also probably in part due to the absence of an on form Andy Murray, which might also have a bit to do with that as well, as having the Briton in any tournament is always worth a watch, well when he's on form that is! And Djokovic's undeniably impressive but now almost unceasing winning streak throughout this season, leaves no room for unpredictability. When we hit the clay season I think more variety will be injected into the proceedings though of who will win and won't. In the end it can be more an exciting journey of how they get there rather than the final outcome.
And thankfully in the end the men's singles Sony Ericsson Open final was the magnificent match we'd hope it would be. It stretched out to an epic 3 set battle between the top two world players, as Rafa and Djoko had slogged it out in a battle to the last breath, which ultimately saw Djokovic prevail after a suprising tiebreak upset (something which I thought was always his weakness no less!!!) the final result being 4-6 6-3 7-6 (4) for Djokovic. The fact that the man came back from being 5-1 down in the first set to Nadal and then turned it around in the second set onward was just incredible and reminded me of Federer in his heyday. It once again showed that Djokovic is the player to beat, and let's face it no other player is going to stand a chance on hard court unless he is injured (or a grand slam for that matter). Also Djokovic has on top of winning 24 matches since the beginning of the year, he has also only dropped six sets in all, which is pretty damn good! Murray in comparison has only dropped nine as has Nadal for that matter, but then he hasn't won 4 titles since alas, nor has Nadal for that matter so they have that in common at least! Regardless of his loss, Rafa has had a great start to his season after his disappointment of losing out in Australia due to his hamstring injury, reaching two hard court 1000 Masters series final is still no mean feat. In fact it was bizzare, because for once in so many moons, Rafa was the underdog and I was really hoping he would win as he had never won at Miami before, but in the end Djokovic has proved time and time again that he's master of the hard court now.
But it remains to be seen if Djokovic can carry on his incredible success to the clay court season and defeat Nadal there, if he can, there is no stopping him at all, even Rafa has tipped Djokovic as the future number 1. What we do know is Rafa gave his absolute all in this final match, he threw the kitchen sink, table and fridge at him, and yet still Djoky won, although I think towards the very end Nadal was pretty tired. But the only man that can get under his skin is Nadal, and this could really be the case when it comes to clay, as Djokovic showed signs of frustration in both Indian Wells and Miami when he lost the first set in both finals.
In retrospect I think the ultimate turning point for Djokovic was when he beat Federer in the US Open semi final last year, and then Serbia won the Davis Cup which I think was the icing on the cake. One thing is for sure and that is its Djokovic's year. So with the clay season coming we'll see how things pan out for Djokovic and Nadal, whatever way it goes, there is a new rivarly in town, and it no longer involves Federer.
Anyway the clay court season is up next and gets properly under way with the Monte Carlo Masters which starts next Sunday. And I've just read that Andy Murray has accepted a wildcard entry into the Monte Carlo tournament, so will it be a fourth loss in a row???? I sincerely hope not, but let's face it, if he got trounced on hard court, what will happen to him on clay, his least preferred surface??? He could end up losing 0-6 1-6 in the first match.
I just hope Andy can finally start to turn it around, God if he could at least win one match (or a set even!) in Monte Carlo that would be something! And its been just revealed that Andy might work with temporary coaches such as Darren Cahill and Sven Groeneveld as a temporary fix until he finds a full time coach. At least this would provide Murray with some much needed training and advice for the season ahead. Andy also said that he hopes to play better at Monte Carlo as he has been playing well in practice, and that he's not too worried if it doesn't happen for him next week, or in a couple of weeks, as it will come in time, which is the best attitude you can have really. He also said in another interview that he felt he was trying to make too many changes to his game, experimenting with them, which he felt really put him off in Indian Wells and Miami. In those tournaments Andy also said he didn't go into them with a clear mind and that obviously showed in his body language, and that he really needs to get back to the basics of his game. Again if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And its a clear mindset that Andy really needs in order to start winning matches again.
And on another recent development, Novak Djokovic has just announced he has pulled out of Monte Carlo due to a knee injury, so that at least leaves other players a chance to face Rafa in the final! Rafa might be disappointed that he won't be facing Djokovic, but I think its safe to say the Monte Carlo title will be his, mind you perhaps if Murray by pure chance plays well maybe he might be in the final with him, but he won't win of course, even if he get's that far!
And (another update here!) the tournament draw has just been confirmed for the tournament and I think Murray's first game is with either Radek Stephanek or Marcos Baghdatis again, who instigated his losing streak on the ATP circuit this year back in Rotterdam. If it is Baghdatis he'll face, I hope Murray can get payback for his loss last time and make this his first win since defeating David Ferrer at the Australian Open in January. Either way he's got a potentially very tough first match. So Andy all the very best to you at Monte Carlo, and I hope you can finally put this losing streak behind you, even if you only win one match, that will be a victory of its own.
And on those revelations I'll leave it there.
No comments:
Post a Comment