Its great to start off a post with some good news as I was watching the final of the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club between British No.1 Andy Murray and the French 5th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. And it was great to see Andy pull through after a real battle against the very talented French player Tsonga, to clinch his 2nd title at Queens and his 17th title overall, in fact it neatly pegs him equal with Caroline Wozniacki who has 17 titles as well now too having won in Copenhagen the other day.
From the get go I could tell we were in for a tough and very entertaining match as Tsonga, who I'd already seen last week beat Rafa in a close match, was a great player with a lot of talent. Between the two players, they enthralled the audience with a variety of different shots and Tsonga himself pulled off a series of diving shots where he successfully won a point every time except in a crucial game in the 3rd set when Andy had the break 4-3 and was serving for the game to make it 5-3, when he played a between the legs trickshot, which was hilarious and quite cheeky as well! After that Tsonga held his service game to make it 5-4 to Andy, but in the end the Briton sealed the title with a love service game, winning overall in 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.
It never ceases to amaze me just how much Andy seems to like doing things the hard way, as at one or two moments in the match he was close to losing it, but he still managed to come through, especially in the 2nd set when he just managed to push it to a tiebreak which he won quite easily. It is testament to his talent and ability and sheer determination to come through it when he really needs to. It was also good to see how happy he was when he won, as in the past he has had the tendancy to be a bit sour faced (Andy??? Nah!!). But it was a really good match and a great win, and no doubt it will give him a tremendous boost of confidence going into Wimbledon. He is also the first British player to win the title more than once in over 85 years. So again he's broken another record. Its a shame Norris McWhirter isn't still round! I mean 3 grand slam finals, the first player to reach the semi finals in Rome in donkeys years, and the first man to reach the semi final at Roland Garros since Tim Henman. Surely one day he can pull off that major miracle.
Which of course begs the old question, can he win Wimbledon this time???? Well to be honest I still think no, because he is up against those top 3 players and he's bound to face one of them in the semi-final and unless he can raise his level to the highest it can go, then he won't be in with a chance. But it would be terrific if he can, and one thing I have noticed is his attitude is definitely improving, yeah ok he still does mutter to himself and whinge a bit, but I could see he was smiling that bit more and holding his composure better than he has in the past. Perhaps this is a new Muzza we are seeing?? In fact if you follow his comments on Facebook via his Twitter account it does reveal Andy's lighter and humourous side, it really is a contrast to his somewhat serious demeanour on court. And I think a bit of levity helps take the pressure off himself quite a bit, perhaps that is his part time coaching advisor Darren Cahill's influence. So if he can go out on court and just enjoy himself that bit more, its definitely a step in the right direction, but I can see Andy is improving as a player, and yeah ok he has been a bit inconsistent throughout the year, but he's already had a great clay court season and this is the perfect start to his grass season as well. Whether or not he can claim that ultimate prize at Wimblydon remains to be seen. But he deserved his title win today, so big well done Andy, lad, and keep up the good work as they say.
In the meantime there is more tennis action from the WTA/ATP at Eastbourne, which sees all the top seeds return to the action, except Wozniacki, as well as the Williams sisters, and its a joint tournament as the men are out to play too, with Tsonga being the No.1 seed, so surely he will have a chance to win a title here, best of luck to him.
Anyway, thett's eeet for nowww.
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