Flushing Meadows Part 1: Ills and spills

So that's the final grand slam of the year well under way now, the US Open now in its 3rd day, we've already seen some pretty good tennis and some early upsets too.

Starting with the ladies there have been quite a few upsets, particularly on the first couple of days (well all three actually) as the first casualty was Petra Kvitova who went out in straight sets after a very poor performance against Alexandra Delgharu in 6-7, 3-6.  And on day two Li Na followed suit after going out in 2-6, 5-7 against Siimona Halep.  So this is two grand slam champions that have fallen at the first hurdle, and both of them have been playing poor tennis ever since they won their respective slams in Wimbledon and the French Open.  It just makes you wonder what is going on in their minds?  Naturally you think after playing great tennis to win a major that they will continue to play great tennis, but obviously it must be a case of the pressure and expectation gets to them after such a title win.  I think Djokovic said the same thing after he won the Australian Open the first time 3 years ago, that he felt far more pressure and expectations put on him and he struggled to try and win one after that (until this year of course!).  But I hope for Li Na and Petra's sakes that they pick up their tennis again and play better for the rest of the tour. 

In other ladies matches, another top seed went out in another upset as Marion Bartoli was put out by American newcomer Christine McHale, who had already claimed a few scalps previously as she had defeated Caroline Wozniacki a few weeks back, as well as some other top players such as Ailsa Kleybanova (name right???) and Svetlana Kuznetsova.  However some of the top seeds are still in as Vera Zvonareva is through in her 2nd round match, Andrea Petkovic and Julia Goerges also have advanced in their matches.  And its also really good to see that Elena Baltacha is still in the draw also as she had a tough 1st round match against American Jamie Hampton who eventually had to retire near the end of their match.  So Elena next up faces Svetlana Kuznetsova, which should be a real tough one but I hope Elena can come through as she could well do it and it would be great if she did.  Although I was disappointed for Laura Robson who went out today in her 2nd round match against Medina Garrigues of Spain who outplayed and outpaced her winning in 6-2, 6-3.  But of course the match of the tournament on the ladies so far has to have been the clash between Maria Sharapova and the British No.3 Heather Watson, who put on a gutsy display by taking the mighty Russian to a 3 set battle, which the mighty Pova won in 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.  Heather deservedly got alot of credit after the match as she played a terrific game against one of the world's best players, although Sharapova herself didn't play her best, but take nothing away from Heather's achievement, as despite her loss she went and played a great match from start to finish.

Anyway onto the men so far no upsets on the top seed side of things, apart Robin Soderling who has had to pull out due to illness.  To start off Federer got through his match in straight sets, Djokovic who was up against Irishman Conor Niland breezed past the man in 6-0, 5-1 after Niland had to retire due to food poisoning.  This would be a blessing for Djokovic no doubt who would want to avoid a real match in order to preserve his shoulder, which he said was fine anyway, not that Conor could have bothered him much!  Nadal though in a way not surprisingly had a much tougher against Andrev Gubolev who surprised the former World No.1 with some stunning shots, although he couldn't do enough in the end to beat Rafa, who managed to close out the match in straight sets, eventually winning in 6-3, 7-6, 7-5.  Rafa actually did play quite well in the match although he did drop his serve quite a few times, but despite that Rafa did what he needed to do to get the straight sets win.  But it still does show a few worrying signs for the Spaniard, but hopefully as he progresses he will get better. 

So onto the other top seed, Andy Murray who took on the talented Indian Somdev Devvarman, who proved quite a test in the opening set, with the Muzza even dropping his serve in the first game!  But Muzza broke back and soon they played a very even pegged first set, which the Muzza closed out in the tiebreak.  After this Andy put on a powerful display of forehand hitting, which saw him pulversing his shots down the court which allowed him to hit many winners.  It was quite an impressive display, but what I still found troubling was that his first serve percentage was still off, a point in case was when he had a chance to serve out for the match at 5-2, but then he double faulted to hand a break back to Devvarman.  But fortunately for Somdev he couldn't do anything with the break and Andy seized the chance to win the match 7-6, 6-2, 6-3.  Its great to see Andy play with more aggression and power on court, and it could be one of the keys to secure his first grand slam win at the US Open, but its a matter playing consistently well with that level of aggression.  I just keep thinking of how he played against Rafa at Wimbledon, he hit like that for one set brilliantly and then it went south, and he didn't come back into the match.  So if he can maintain that level over the next two weeks then this will stand him in good stead, but his 1st serve is still a big concern, and he might be able to get away with throwing away free points to lower ranked players but not against the top 3 guys.

However its a good solid start to Andy's campaign, a straight sets win is always good, his next opponent is Robin Haase though, who could prove to be very tricky, as he played Rafa last year and took him to 5 sets at Wimbledon, so it could be a stern test for the British No.1.  But I'm sure Andy will prevail one way or another.

So I will leave it there.  More to follow........

We are only one River

Saturday night saw the return of Doctor Who to our screens with the second half of the sixth series, with Matt Smith as the Doc.

The episode sort of takes off from where it left off before, with River Song (Alex Kingston) making the surprise revalation that she is in fact Amy's daughter.  But in this episode Amy has a new character come in who is a friend of Amy's called Mels (played by the rather foxy Nina Toussaint-White), who holds the Doctor at gunpoint and insists they go back in time in the TARDIS to kill Hitler.  The episode soon reveals that Amy and Mels were childhood friends and at school Mels got into serious trouble with her teachers, and later on after leaving school got into some fracases with the law.  But Mels isn't all she appears to be after she is caught in the crossfire of a confused and rather disorientated Hitler who shoots her, and then after this, Mels suddenly bursts into a familiar looking ray of light that the time Time Lords tend to when they regenerate, and from there things get a bit more complex.

For a opener to the second half of the series Let's Kill Hitler is highly entertaining, and has quite a few amusing scenes especially the ones with the robots that threaten to kill Amy and Rory when they are unidentified on the spaceship containing miniaturised humans with the lines "you are not identified, you are no longer allowed to live" and "you have been identified, you're allowed to continue your existence".  Its also good to see the continued development of the characters, particularly Rory, who throughout the series has grown to be more brave and resourceful, I mean at one point he even decks Hitler and locks him in a cupboard!  Matt Smith continues his assured command of the role of the Doctor, and even in the face of death he appears to be one step ahead.  Alex Kingston also keeps her role of River Song very much alive and interesting, as she is almost as big a conundrum as the Doctor is, and (PLOT SPOILER) she was as I figured a Time Lord, or was born with Time Lord DNA, as she helps save the Doctor by using up her regenerative energy.  This leaves River no longer able to regenerate and she is stuck with her one remaining life.  Amy also remains something of a complex character herself, as she clearly is another character which the universe seems to revolve around, one thing I will say about Karen Gillan though is, while she is lovely, she does have a rather pale complexion!  

Steven Moffat, the creative head writer (and writer of this episode) continues to delight in confounding his audience, and what's great is he does it in the most entertaining and clever way.  The Doctor is forever instrinsically linked to River and the characters of his latest regeneration, although once the Eleventh Doctor's time is up, we can expect to encounter a whole new assortment of characters, as of yet we have seen no sight of Rose, Donna or Martha, or Jack for that matter (although the first three do appear as projected images briefly in this episode!).  Also another thing about the Doctor's relationship with River is that its so backward and complex I wonder if Steven Moffat himself knows where he is going with their story half of the time!  Clearly when the Doctor in David Tennant's era first meets River, that is indeed the first time he has laid eyes on her, and this was the last time River laid eyes on him.  So it does get to the point where you get mixed up about just when their relationship will meet at a certain plateau.  Its almost as if Moffat used The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as his inspiration, with the Doctor's relationship with River running backwards, like Benjy's life was running in reverse, aging from old to young while his mind started as a child and got older as he grew physically younger, and while he met his childhood sweetheart when he was an old man, their relationship peaks when they are both in the middle of their lives.  Similarly in the Doctor and River's case they must meet in the middle at some point where their relationship will really click and that's when they know each other the most, but the more the Doctor knows River, the less she knows him.  So its a real heid fook.  

The only negative thing I would probably say about the episode though was that the actor playing Hitler wasn't so great at playing the infamous dictator.  The Fuhrer was reduced to simply a comical figure who made an all too brief appearance and was quickly forgotten about and put in the background.  I was also half expecting the Nazi officer and Hitler to have a halfway decent German accent, but I think the actor in particular who played Hitler went for a half hearted German/English accent.  I mean even Hitler in Red Dwarf's was museum episode was more convincing and a better Hitler to boot! (or uniform). 

So it remains to be seen how the second half of the sixth series pans out, but Let's Kill Hitler makes for a really positive start, so here's hoping we get more good stuff in a similar vein.  I'm sure we will so I'll blog up more for the remaining episodes when they come on.

US Open 2011 pre-match preview

So on Monday the fourth and final grand slam of the year begins at Flushing Meadows in New York City, yep its the 2011 US Open.  So here's some of my thoughts on who and what might go on and just who might get through to the final on both the mens and ladies draws.

So with ladies first, I was thinking of a few favourites, naturally right at the top will be Serena Williams who has just recently made her comeback, and has already won two titles since then at Stanford and in Toronto.  Serena had serious injuries with two blood clots, so the fact she has managed to come back into the sport has been quite incredible so it would be just the perfect finish to her year to come in and win her home soil title once more.  Other potential favourites could well be Victoria Azarenka, who has been playing some very good tennis of late, and is also quite an aggressive player as she really goes for her shots, and is seeded as the World No.5, however she has a tendancy to become injury prone so it remains to be seen how she will fare in New York.  Maria Sharapova of course is another strong favourite as she has made quite a really good comeback also this year, having won two titles also in Rome and Cincinnati this year, and reached the Wimbledon final.  But Maria's game is pretty erratic and she has been known to serve up double faults and unforced errors like an overloaded dessert tray, but her sheer determination and strength of character still make her a favourite.

Then of course there is the current World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, who has of yet never won a grand slam, but this would be a great place to start.  But Caroline has had a dip in form lately as she went out early in both Toronto and Cincinnati, but she has made up for that since in New Haven last week as she won her 4th title in a row there (a record in its own) and her 18th overall.  But can she win a grand slam here in New York???? Well with all these names its hard to tell, she certainly has the stamina and mental strength, but there are a few holes in her game, such as her weak forehand and she isn't the most natural vollier, which can leave her vulnerable to other player's shots.  Last year she did very well in getting to the semi finals, but this year she hasn't fared so well in the slams, having reached only the 3rd round at the French Open and the 4th at Wimbledon.  But hard court is her best surface so she must try her best to make an example of that, and having won in New Haven will give her a boost going into the US Open, and that's Caroline and Andy both tied at 18 titles each, so it would be great if they could win their first major in New York to make it 19 all, but we'll see. 

So onto the mens side of the draw, well the top 4 seeds have to be the overwhelming favourites going into the US Open, but that of course doesn't mean someone else might not get in there as well.  At Wimbledon for example Jo-Wilfried Tsonga put out Federer in the quarter finals and they are in the same side of the draw again, so there is that danger that Tsonga could do it again.  Rafa also has looked pretty vulnerable since his Wimbledon defeat to Djokovic, and put in poor performances in Toronto and Cincinnati, but when it comes to the slams, I'm sure Rafa will regroup and get back to his best form or somewhere near to it.  So I would definitely expect Roger and Rafa to be back on form at the US Open, upsets could happen and if they do for both of them it could dramatically increase the other two's chances.

Rafa however who does respect his opponents seems to have built up a bit animosity towards Djokovic this year, I'm sure its not on a personal level, but on a professional level, as he obviously feels dismayed at having lost to the Serb 5 times in a row.  And I have to say if Rafa does make it to the final and faces Djokovic once more, I would have to put my money on Djokovic winning, its a safe bet, but I can't really say at this stage of course we will find out on September 11 (which also marks the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on New York, not exactly the best day to play a final maybe).  All we know for sure is that so far this year Djokovic has got the measure of Nadal's game, and this is a real problem for Rafa, and he has said since in press conferences that he needs to find a solution.  I think Rafa will at some point beat Djokovic again, but it may not be anytime this year, so the Spaniard will need to bide his time and find that moment.   

Which brings me onto Djokovic, who has apart from lost out in two tournaments, won every other title he has taken part in, 2 Grand Slams, 5 Masters, the Serbia Open and Dubai, make for a mighty impressive year so far, but can he keep it up in New York??? Well if he is fit and well there is no reason that he shouldn't win the US Open or at least be in with the strongest chance as he is the World No.1 so naturally he is right up there at the top.  However Djokovic had sustained a shoulder injury in Cincinnati which saw him lose the Cincinnati title to Andy Murray, what if that injury reappears throughout the US Open??? Well it is possible, but I'm positive Djokovic will have done all the recovery preparation necessary to ensure he will be fine for this title, and its one he certainly won't want to miss.  So naturally if Djokovic will be back to full fitness he will certainly be the overwhelming favourite.  

Which brings us onto the last of the top four, and well we know a thing or two about him already this year, the British No.1 Andy Murray (never mentioned him before though!!).  Andy so far as we all know, has never won a grand slam, he's been in three finals, but unfortunately for him he was up against formidable opponents in each one.  However looking at those three finals, first off the US Open 2008 final, Andy was up against Federer who was still in his heyday and naturally you would expect him to take out the British Numero uno and did in 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.  Next up again he played Federer in Melbourne last year and faired a bit better, but still was handed another defeat, which resulted in 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(11).  And this year he faced Djokovic, who was on fire and went in all guns blazing and handed Andy probably his worst defeat in 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.  However Andy has faired better since playing Djokovic in that final, having played a very close match in Rome earlier this year and beaten him in Cincinnati, albeit through Djoko's retiral due to injury.  So if he does by some chance reach that final and faces Djokovic I do hope he is ready to give him yet another real match.

But I do have a better feeling about Andy Murray this year at the US Open, he's walking into the tournament in a much stronger position, having won in Cincinnati.  He did the same in 2008, having won Cincinnati, again defeating Djokovic no less, and he reached the US Open final that year too.  Can he do it this year and take it that step further????????  Well I've asked this question time and time again so I guess the only real way we will find out is to see if he is still there come Day 13, then we'll find out.  But the sceptic in me again says he could fall to Nadal once more, I sincerely hope not, if I want Andy to repeat one thing from the 2008 US Open, its his defeat of Rafa, Andy's best surface is hard court, but Nadal is no slouch on that surface either.  But this time we want Andy to prove he can do it, this is his best chance, and if he comes in strong to the tournament, conserves energy and dismisses his first four opponents or so in straight sets to leave more in the tank for the latter stages, then he's got a really good shout.  He has a potentially tough draw of course, he faces Sondev Devarmann in his opening round, which hopefully won't give him too much trouble, but after that he could potentially face Robin Haase, then Feliciano Lopez, and then Stan Wawrinka.  And it was Wawrinka that put out Andy last year, but I don't think the same thing will happen to him this year, as I'm sure he will be in it for the long haul, or at least till the semis where he most likely could face Rafa.  

So I'm not saying Andy will win it, he certainly is capable of it, but its all down to him and those other three guys and who plays their best tennis on the day.

So that's it.   

Damn yous ta hell!!!!

I went on saw The Rise of the Planet of the Apes there at the weekend and I actually thought it might be at first another clumsy semi remake just like the naff Tim Burton film was.  But thankfully it turned out to be not bad at all, as these origin films actually tend to be quite good, as case in point Wolvering X-Men Origins was quite decent, X-Men First Class also pretty good.

SO PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!

So the plot basically follows how Government scientist Will Rodman (James Franco of the Spiderman films) is trying to discover a cure for Alzheimer's disease and tests it on chimpanzees.  However one of the chimpanzees they test it on runs amok and is soon killed by one of the security guards, but it is later revealed that the chimp was protecting its new born son.  When ordered to put down the other chimps, Will decides to secretly take home the new born chimp and names him Caesar.  Then we cut to Caesar over the years developing and growing, as he too was born with the genes of his mother with the retrovirus, as he shows intelligence and problem solving capabilities.  However years later Caesar one day attacks a neighbour who threatens Will's father (John Lithgow) who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease himself.  As a result Caesar is taken away to a facility where other apes are held in captive and are also treated cruelly by one of the staff Dodge (played by Tom Felton, or Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter).  In time though Caesar manages to escape the facility and go back to Will's house to steal the retrovirus which is held in canisters, and rolls them into the apes cells.  After this the other apes show growing intelligence and after this they fight their way out of the facility and run amok through San Francisco in order to release their fellow apes from zoos so they can establish their own race, free from the humans.

The film does though have a bit of a slow start as it establishes how the apes are used for testing and how Caesar grows up etc, but it is quite entertaining and as the pace moves it gets better.  The performances aren't too bad, James Franco, while not terrific in his part, is not bad as the compassionate scientist who takes his chimp away from facing death at the hands of a cold research facility.  Brian Cox, who naturally is easily one of the best performers in the film, does quite well with his part, playing a man who isn't evil but is definitely thoughtless, although I think John Lithgow give the film's best performance, as Will's dad, a man who is tormented by a terrible disease that disintegrates his mind.  I also quite liked Tom Felton as the nasty Dodge who takes great pleasure with sadistically mistreating the apes, and Frieda Pinto as James Franco's love interest is without a doubt quite the honey (sexist!).  But of course they can't resist but put in dialogue that references the original film with Tom Felton at one point using the classic line "get your hands off me you damn dirty ape!!". 

Special mention also deserves to go to Andy Serkis who performs the actions of Caesar, and this is certainly something he isn't in any way unfamiliar with, having done the movement for Gollum in LOTR and King Kong.  On thing I would say about the film that did irk me a little is that the film is set over 10 years or so and James Franco and Frieda Pinto don't appear to age one bit!!  I guess they just wanted to avoid using any unecessary makeup, but its almost like they never age! :-/ I also think the CGI in the film, while it isn't bad, doesn't work quite as well for all the apes, Caesar's CGI is very good though, but the orangutang in the film does look a bit daft! 

Despite that The Rise of the Planet of the Apes (also quite a mouthful) is a worthy addition to the series and marks a big improvement over the duff Tim Burton flick from almost 10 years ago.  So give it a watch if you get the chance.

 

Cincinnati Part 5: a win is a win

Well as a result of the mens singles final in Cincinnati it wasn't the one any of us was quite expecting as the much anticipated rematch of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic ended with the Muzza defeating the World No.1 not through closing out the match but through the Serb's retiral, with the final score being 6-4, 3-0 ret.  This saw Djokovic's second loss of the year, with his win-loss record of 2011 now standing at 57-2.  Sheesh that is some record!  

But I suppose after having played nearly 60 matches and won so many titles that fatigue is bound to set in sooner or later, and the searing heat on court combined with a shoulder injury did nothing to help Djokovic's game.  In fact as soon as Novak came on court we could see how fatigued he looked, he was a former shadow of his imperious self, and I think his arm injury had been troubling him throughout the tournament and I wonder if he carried on playing his match against Berdych even he would have retired if Berdych wouldn't have first!  So it does prove one thing at last that Djokovic is human after all, so I think it is also safe to say that his incredible winning streak of 43 matches will probably not be repeated again, well not this year at any rate (which let's face it, is a good thing for the rest of the players on tour!). 

But as the title of the post says a win is a win, and I have to give full credit to Andy Murray for his performance throughout the tournament, while it was patchy in places, he really looked quite strong after that first set against David Nalbandian.  He also managed to come through the tournament without even dropping a set, which was even more impressive, and out of all the players in Cincinnati he looked the strongest and fittest, who didn't succumb to the searing heat of the court.  I also think he played a terrific set of tennis against Novak in the first set in the final, as he returned so well, served fairly well and looked strong from both the back of the court and at the net.  Its just a shame that Novak had to retire, but it was going to happen sometime given the physical punishment he has put his body through this year, so I think submitting to defeat was the right thing for him to do.  But I do think also think that Andy has posed enough of a threat to Djokovic to show that he really is a contender for beating him, and possibly being the Serb's own nemesis.  And I really do have to say that Andy totally deserved to win this title, as he came through it very well and looked quite strong right from the get go, and its also great to see someone else win a big title for a change!  But I also think that if Andy had lost that first set to Djokovic, and then Djoky conceeded the win to him in the 2nd, then Andy's victory would have looked hollow, but thankfully Andy did win that set and that made the win more deserving. 

So its a big congrats to Andy as it always great to see the Briton win a title, regardless of the manner of the win, and it adds to his Masters 1000 series trophy cabinet also, as that's 7 in the bag now, so Novak, Andy is catching up on you!! :-)  And once again it proves beyond any doubt as I said before that Andy Murray is the best British player to have come along since Fred Perry.  As an example Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski have won only 1 Masters title each, Andy has won 7, and his record at the grand slams speaks for itself, not to take away from Greg and in particular Tim as they are both great players in their own right.  Yeah ok Andy is still to win one and its hard to tell if he ever will, but New York will be the perfect place to start. 

So onto the woman's WTA final between Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic, the match delievered more than the men's final to an extent, but the match was also a highly inconsistent affair as both players kept exchanging breaks of serve.  Sharapova also served many double faults once again, but Jankovic also served up a ridiculous amount of unforced errors and handed as many opportunities for Sharapova to get ahead as Maria herself did, but in the end it was Jelena who handed the crucial break to Maria and after a long battle the American sounding Russian won the match in 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 to take the ladies title.  But it has to be said while it was great to see Maria win again (although I am disappointed for Jelena, and for once Serbia lost all round!!) it wasn't the most convincing win.  Which I have to say was the real difference between mens and ladies final here, Andy looked very convincing, but Maria certainly didn't, as she served a ludicrous amount of double faults (as she does!).  But it is a testament to Maria's sheer determination that despite her erratic game, can still make it through and pull out a win, but can she win a grand slam again with that type of play???  Hmmm I'm not so sure, but she certainly is a strong contender for the US Open and she has had an excellent slam record this year, but its just in those crucial moments she might drop her own serve to throw it away like she did at Wimbledon or the French Open semi finals where she double faulted to hand Li Na her place in the final. 

So that leads us to the US Open which is the fourth and final grand slam of the year (its amazing its nearly upon us already!) where the mens and ladies will again battle it out for the ultimate prize.  And both the mens and ladies game are in a potentially unusual place as with the ladies, Serena has recently re-entered the game again which makes her a strong favourite for the title, but lets not forget other potential winners like Li Na, Kvitova, Azarenka, Wozniacki, Sharapova and why not (as Rob Curling said on Eurosport) Bartoli (well for a start Bartoli has had a much better grand slam season than Caroline Wozniacki!). But of course Caroline isn't looking too convincing at the moment and her No.1 ranking really is questionable just now.  Earlier in the year though she did play like a No.1, and despite her loss at the Australian Open semi finals to Li Na, she picked herself up and went on to win some big titles in Dubai and Indian Wells, and there she crushed alot of players, it was almost like she was the female Djokovic for that time.  But as the year has gone on things have gotten more difficult for her, but it is hopefully a minor slump and we would like to see Caroline get back on the horse (so to speak) in the US Open, she has to, hard court is her best surface and she needs to prove that. 

But as for the men, the field is limited to the top 4 guys really, and with Rafa having hit something of a slump this year, it remains to be seen what form he will be in for the US Open.  Roger could well have another slam in him yet, and he wants to prove he can still do it, Djokovic claims he should be fit for the US Open but again what if his injuries plague him during the tournament?? So this does leave Andy Murray, and having just won Cincinnati, its the perfect preparation for going into the last slam of the year.  But can he win it????  Its always the ongoing question that can't be answered till we see it, the last two years Andy has had a poor record at the US Open, having went out to Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka in 4th and 3rd rounds respectively.  However I do feel he is playing significantly better tennis this year, but its just holding that mental strength together over 5 sets.  Can he do it??? Yes he can, but it does purely depend on the luck of his draw and his mental belief, and if he faces Rafa he really will have to be ready for him, and the same for Djokovic, permitting Djoky can come through injury free. If Djokovic doesn't come through then that will increase Andy's chances dramatically.  In fact it would be great for example to see a Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Muzza rematch in the US Open final, now if Andy doesn't win that dream matchup in the final, he never will win a slam, but that's just a theory of course. 

One troubling fact about Andy though is that in the three grand slam finals he has been in, he hasn't won a single set, having been soundly beaten by Federer and Djokovic in all three.  If he does get to the final, this time he will have to up his game to the highest it can go, he should try taking a leaf out of Del Potro's book for example, having reached the US Open final back in 2009, he seized the title with both hands and played the match of his life against Federer over an epic 5 set match.  And this is the sort of tennis he has to play if he is to have his chance.  Andy already has showed potential winning qualities against Rafa at Wimbledon for at least one set, we saw a glimpse of what he can do even though it wasn't enough, and also in Rome against Djokovic where he came within two points of defeating him.  And I also remember John McEnroe's previous comment that Andy's grand slam breakthrough will be at the US Open this year, will it be the case???? We'll you can but live in hope, even if it is blind hope! ;-) 

So after that rather exhaustive post I'll leave it there, so well done again to Maria and Andy for their wins in Cincinnati and for once Serbia lost out, whodda thought that????

The end.

Cincinnati Part 4: we're having a showdown!!!

Welly welly well, it just doesn't get anymore mouth watering than this for a prospective final on the ATP men's tour in the Cincinnati masters as Andy Murray is set to face the World No.1 Novak Djokovic tomorrow for the title.

So a bit more on the mens semi finals to begin with as the first match was between the Muzza and the American No.1 Mardy Fish who has really been on form lately and especially in this tournament, having defeated Nadal previously in the quarter finals.  However what I actually expected to be another win for Mardy fish turned out to be quite the opposite as it was the first victory for Andy in their last four meetings.  But as expected it was anything but easy, Andy edged the first set, breaking Fish's serve early on to take it 6-3, but in the second set it was a really topsy turvey affair (something that appears to have dominated this entire tournament!!) as both men shared breaks of serve, and it was very much a set of mixed quality, but the best was saved till the last with a nerve shredding tie-breaker.  In the tiebreak Fish took the upper hand early on, until Andy broke back and at 7-8 it appeared Andy had match point but his return just went long by a gnats scrotum (so to speak!) but in the end Mardy couldn't close it out and sailed his return long after that with Andy finally sealing the win in 6-3, 7-6(8).  In the other semi final between Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych, it promised much even in the first set Berydch was at one point 5-3 up until Djoko broke back to make it 5-5 and then win the set in 7-5.  But unfortunately due to injury Berdych was forced to retire allowing Djokovic to make his 10th final of the year.

Now as we all know so far this season, Djokovic has had only one loss, which was to Roger Federer at the French open semi finals.  But on hard court, he has had zero losses this year, none, nil, zip.  So how do we reckon Andy's chances for tomorrow??? Hmmmmmmm, that's a big hmmmmmmmm, to be honest the Serb knows more than enough about how to win so I'm more than inclined to think that he will win this one.  All we can hope for is that Andy gives Djokovic another thrilling match like he did in Rome, and not allow another trouncing like his defeat at the Australian Open.  But I think Andy has also learned a few things since then, and there just might be that chance he could beat Djokovic and take that title.  Andy's performance at this tournament has been mostly impressive but there has been some real dodgy stuff too, but to be fair Djokovic hasn't exactly played his best either, so that could even things out for them.  It would be terrific to see Andy finally hand a loss to Djokovic, and its their third meeting this year, could third time be a charm for Andy??  We shall see. 

He has also walked into this tournament with a similar attitude than he did at Queens club, where he was just looking to get a few grass court matches under his belt and then he went onto win title.  Its the same here, Andy has gone in to get a few hard court matches for US Open prep, and he has played despite some poor stuff here and there, very well, so just maybe he could be in with a shout.  Another thing about Djokovic is as I said, when he played in the Australian Open this year his performance was absolutely imperious, he only dropped one set that entire tournament, and when he played in Indian Wells and Miami he played with the same clinical precision, destroying players with great ease, and it took Nadal or Federer to break his serve, no one could come close.  But he isn't quite playing at that level anymore, he is still playing a high high level but after so many matches, he certainly isn't as high flying as he was.

But today will let us see where not only Andy's tennis is but also Novak's. Another case in point was Andy's Wimbledon semi final this year against Rafa, he came out so strong in the first set and took it 7-5, but after he fired a forehand just long in the 2nd set at 2-2 break point on Rafa's serve, everything changed and Andy didn't recover.  After that it became an embarrassing, painful match to watch, as Andy's mindset just caved in and he went for more aggressive shots and kept missing them.  And that's what he really struggles with, its when making mistakes, its knowing how to recover mentally from them quickly.  Or as Tim Henman said its having the mental adversity to deal with those mistakes, which Andy is lacking in, and this could also really hamper him today.  He has been working on his compsure, and is slowly getting better at keeping his cool, but he does still have his moments, losing his temper, like he did against Mardy the other day when certain shots didn't work out.  It wasn't as bad in the past but its still there to be seen, and Djokovic who used to do the same has greatly improved his attitude and adopted a far more composed attitude on court.  And all it could take is that one point today if Andy gains momentum and drops the ball, it will be all over for him.  But as Andy has won 6 Masters titles already, he might not feel the same pressure as he did in Melbourne, so it might not be as big an issue, but who knows.   

But the Serb is overwhelming favourite without a doubt so we will have to wait for tomorrow, either way it should be a belter, or maybe just a straight set gubbing.   Another factor that could work against Andy might be the searing heat on court, and yesterday it looked like he was having a little bit of bother with his hamstring, which doesn't bode well.  Djokovic doesn't appear injured so he definitely could use that to close out the match quickly, I just hope for Andy's sake that it's not an issue. 

But regardless of the outcome, Andy's in another final and that's his third this year and its a great achievement, win or lose regardless, and its also on hard court, so I think its fair to say his slump on this surface is over (well for now!!).  Another thing also is that clearly Andy won't be expected to win this match, so hopefully that should let him go in and try and relax a bit more and try and play his best tennis regardless of the outcome.  Andy has also said it will be a good gauge for him to work out where his tennis is and what he needs to work on going into the US Open.  Already Andy is definitely showing that he is a better player than last year in 2010, when throughout that year he really struggled, Toronto and Shanghai being the exceptions, and reaching the Aussie Open final, Wimbledon semis and the ATP World Tour Finals semis. 

On the WTA tour due to the time difference I was unfortunately not able to catch any of the woman's matches but I think they both looked pretty good, as Maria Sharapova took on Vera Zvonareva and Jelena Jankovic faced off Andrea Petkovic, so I would like to see the highlights.  Maria after being a set down against Vera, fought her way back into the match and closed it out in 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 securing her place in the final.  Meanwhile Jelena Jankovic who has had a run of bad form this year managed to redeem herself further by beating Andrea Petkovic in straight sets, after a tight first set, Jelena breezed through the 2nd set to secure her first final of the year, winning 7-6(4), 6-1.  So that's the ladies final setup also, and it promises to be a really good one, although Sharapova is the firm favourite as she leads in their head to head 5-1 against Jankovic.  But I am really pleased for Jelena that she has reached her first final of the year and its great to see her play good tennis again, so I hope she wins.  And it could be yet another glorious day for Serbia, but us Scots deserve our day too!!  So it would be great if it was a great day for the Serbs and the Scots, i.e. Andy wins the mens, and Jelena wins the womans! 

So predictions, Sharapova in 3 sets for the ladies, and Djokovic in 3 sets for the men (unless Andy is really hampered by injury or simply by awful serve then 2 easy sets).   But I hope to God that Andy wins the title, however playing against a man who has won every single final he has been in this year, its a big big big ask.  But as General Melchett from Blackadder Goes Forth once said "if nothing else works, then a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through!".  So its in the hands of the two men and which one will falter more, so excitement and jubilation, or total frustration and disappointment awaits. 

Baited breath, that's it for now. 

Cincinnati Part 3: Third time lucky maybe???

So that's us into the semi finals now for the ATP/WTA Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati and things are to forgive the pun starting to really heat up (I say because its been 30C degrees plus out there!) with the remaining top seeds still in play. 

Starting with the woman's tour, the quarter finals saw some intruiging line ups first off with Maria Sharapova who played against Sam Stosur.  This match as I expected was a pushover for Sharapova as she has won all of their previous matches and this one was no exception, with the Russian putting in an almost clinical performance, blowing Stosur off the court in 6-3, 6-2.  Stosur didn't help matters by simply playing really poor tennis, committing too many unforced errors, she looked beaten from the word go.  However there are times where Sharapova can hand her opponents a gift horse through her poor serve record, as she can double fault badly through her matches, and toward the end of the match Stosur broke Sharapova's serve effectively to make it 5-2, but it was just too little too late.  Following up from that match was a better somewhat tighter setup between Vera Zvonareva and Daniella Hantuchova, after a 6-3 first set to Vera, the second set proved much tighter as it went to a tiebreak, with Vera winning in 6-3, 7-6(6).  The third woman's semi final was between Nadia Petrova and the current top 11 player, Andrea Petkovic who after a tough first set blasted Petrova off the court, winning in 7-5, 6-1.  Jelena Jankovic was supposed to play Peng Shuai in her quarter final match, but Peng had to pull out an hour before play due to injury.

So that's the woman's semi final setup, its the battle o the Russians, Sharapova vs Zvonareva, I would favour Maria to win that one as she leads the head to head record against Vera, in fact I would favour Maria to win this title, but we will see.  And in the other semi final setup we have Jelena Jankovic and Andrea Petkovic, Petko has the advantage of their last two meetings where she beat Jelena in two tight 3 set matches, so maybe (and here's the first reference to the title post of this blog entry!) its third time lucky for Jelena, I hope she wins as its good to see her playing well again, but I'd favour Petko to win really.  Jelena I think has really struggled this year, so if she manages to get to the final it will definitely give her a boost in confidence which she badly needs, if she doesn't get there I hope she does well for the US Open. 

So onto the men's tour, we saw a couple of upsets as the former World No.1s Rafa and Roger went out in their matches.  First off Rafa played a very sub-par match against a very much in form Mardy Fish, who is now the World No.7.  Rafa probably also after the fatigue of his lengthy battle against Verdasco the other day, had no answer to Mardy's incredible form and accurate serve, and went down in 6-3 6-4 to secure Fish's first win over Rafa in their 7 meetings.  Rafa really has been struggling with his form of late, he appears to be having a similar year to what Federer had last year, winning only one slam and losing out so many matches, I think that's 9 losses he's had already this season.  I also think his 5 defeats at the hands of Djokovic play a big part in that, as the Serb really has knocked Nadal off his perch.  After winning the French Open it did give Nadal a boost, but when he lost again at Wimbledon I think it knocked him back down again.  So Rafa will seriously have to regroup for the US Open, but if he faces the current No.1 I think we know who will win that one before it starts. 

Onto other matches, Andy Murray who's had a fairly comfortable tournament so far, beat Frenchman Gilles Simon quite easily in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.  Simon couldn't answer or respond to Andy's attack on his serve, and repeatedly drop shotted against him, even so much so that's how he won the match!  After that Roger Federer took on one of his nemesis Tomas Berdych, who once again defeated him in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(3).  Berdych appears to be in great form once again and he said he's been working on his serve so we will have to see how far he can go next.  The next and final match was between Djokovic and the current French No.1 Gael Monfils, after last week's pummelling I think we all expected this to be a scoosh for Djoko, but it was anything but.  Monfils appeared to have learned a thing or two from his previous defeat, and broke Djokovic straight away and then a second time to take the first set.  Inevitably though after a tight contest at 4-4 in the 2nd, Djokovic broke and took the second set, and in the third Djoko managed to find the break and closed out another win in 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.  I do think though Djokovic has been struggling with the fast conditions of the court in Cincinnati, and as I said he is no longer playing absolutely imperious tennis he was before, I guess the fatigue of playing so many matches is setting in somewhat, but it doesn't stop him winning though!! 

And that is the semi finals setup for the men, it looks like a pretty good match up, with Andy vs Mardy and Novak vs Tomas.  Andy will have a real battle on his hands though if he wants to win against Fish, as he is in real form just now, and I have to say I would favour Fish to win this one.  But I would rather see Andy win any day.  But having said that if Mardy does beat Andy (and it seems more likely) I think he could stand a pretty good chance of beating Djokovic in the final should they meet (again they most likely will!).  As for Djokovic and Berdych, well no points for guessing who will win that one!  But I think it could be a really tight match and Berdy is serving very well, it could also be a chance to avenge his loss at the Aussie Open, however the Serb knows a thing or two about winning (more so than anyone else!!).

OK so that's the setup for today, both the mens and ladies setups sound great, whether or not they are remains to be seen, but time will tell. 

The end (for now).

Cincinnati Part 2: Scores settled

So onto day 2 for the Cincinnati Western and Southern Open from the ATP/WTA tour, which saw another mixture of interesting matches.

The main one of the day being an epic battle between the two Spaniards former World No.1 Rafa Nadal and Fernando Verdasco.  They both had an amazing epic match two years ago at the Australian Open semi final and this match closely resembled that one, although perhaps not quite as high in quality.  But what it lacked in consistent quality it made up for with intruige as it was a match that kept you guessing who might win.  Rafa right from the get go wasn't playing his best tennis allowing Verdasco at certain moments to break his serve, but Rafa somehow stuck in there and broke back when he needed to.  Rafa sealed the first set in a tight tiebreaker 7-6(5), but in the second he lost his chance for a break in the breaker and allowed Verdasco to take it in 6(4)-7(7).  However after sharing breaks yet again in the 3rd and final set, Rafa and Verdasco slogged it out again in a gripping yet loose tiebreak which finally saw Rafa prevail in 7-6(9), the final score being 7-6(5), 6(4)-7(7), 7-6(9).  It was quite an encounter and I felt bad in a way for Verdasco as this was his best chance of beating Nadal for the first time in their 12 meetings, and God knows he had plenty of chances, but in the end he couldn't take them.  It just shows you that difference between one point here and there, and in the end its always Rafa who can get the crucial points when it matters, just like he did against Andy Murray last year in their amazing battle at the ATP Tour World Finals semi final in London. 

In other matches Andy Murray was also successful in securing his revenge against Alex Bogomolov who defeated him earlier this year in Miami.  This time Andy had no trouble stamping his authority early on in the match as he blew the American off the court to close the set in 6-2, but the second set saw Andy's level dip which let Boglymov back into the match to make it 5-5, squandering his earlier break at 2-0.  But Andy managed to seize his chance to break the American once more at 6-5 and sealed it oot to win 6-2, 7-5.  This was far more like it, clearly Andy wanted revenge for his loss and he sure got it, it also shows his vast improvement in his performance from his match with David Nalbandian the day before.  Next up for the Muzza though is the talented Frenchman Gilles Simon, they have already met two times this year, so it should be an interesting match, and most likely a tough one, but hopefully Andy will win.

In other matches, Mardy Fish continued his fine form against Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who he defeated in two tight sets in 7-5, 7-5.  Fish will tomorrow go on to meet Rafa, Fish is yet to win against the Spaniard, so it will be very interesting to see if Rafa after his 3 and a half hour epic match today has still enough left in the tank for tomorrow.  If Fish does beat him we could well be looking at a Muzza semi final encounter, and for once I would have to put my money on Fish winning that one, also Fish won against Andy last year in the quarter finals in Cincinnati too.  But perhaps Andy might have a chance for revenge there too, but inevitably he will face either Djokovic or Federer in the final if he gets that far.

Which brings me onto Djokovic's match against Radek Stepanek, whom has been a player that has shown good form of late, but unfortunately he wasn't able to bring any of that to their match as the Serb defeated him 6-3 6-3 in a very topsy turvey match.  Djokovic however wasn't performing that well either, his 1st serve percentage was terrible enough to put Andy Murray's to shame, as he had about 47% 1st serves in.  Djokovic certainly isn't playing the invincible tennis he was earlier in the year, where he crushed just about every player in his path, don't get me wrong he is still playing a very high standard, but its not up there like it was.  But I guess that is impossible to keep up the level all the time, but Djokovic is still winning his matches without too much trouble, especially in the early stages.  So Djokovic could well meet Gael Monfils like he did last week again, perhaps maybe it will give him a chance to shine again, but Djoko is struggling with the fast speed of the courts in Cincinnati so maybe it might give Monfils a chance to play better, probably not but we'll see.  Federer has also soundly whipped yank James Blake in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, which sees Federer on fine form once again.  Next up for Federer is Tomas Berdych, so I'm hoping he can beat him to set up another encounter with Djokovic, and this time I would still favour Federer to win.  I say that because if Federer can maintain his form like he did then he's in with a strong shout, he also loves playing on fast courts, like he did in the French Open playing with faster balls, so we could be looking at Novak's second loss of the season, as Djokovic has been struggling a bit with the courts in Cincinnati.  But then again probably not, we will soon find out, one way or another can't wait for that one. 

On the WTA tour, Maria Sharapova is through to the quarter finals as she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova quite convincingly in 6-2, 6-3.  Sam Stosur also beat Li Na in a tough 3 set match in 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, it was first time in their 6 meetings that Li Na managed to even take a set off Stosur.  So Stosur will go on to face Sharapova, who Stosur has never beaten neither, so I would expect Maria to win that one.  Andrea Petkovic once again defeated a sub-par Petra Kvitova in 6-3, 6-3, which makes you just wonder what goes in these Grand Slam champion woman players minds???? Li Na and Petra have both struggled to win matches after their respective major title wins, it seems winning one doesn't do you any favours, unless your are Novak Djokovic!

Anyway that's it for now, more to follow soon....

Cincinnati Part 1: Scores to settle

OK now (yep this about tennis once again!) we are getting closer to the US Open as it starts a week on Monday in New York, and this week the ATP/WTA comes from Cincinnati with the Western and Southern Open.  This is a ATP 1000 Masters and WTA Premier 5 title, so it is a biggie for both the men and ladies, all the top seeds are in doing their stuff, so I'll have a look at some of the matches.

On the men's side first, Andy Murray was back in action after his shock loss last week to Kevin Anderson in Montreal, this time he took on David Nalbandian.  In the first set, Andy got off to a really shaky start, as he struggled to hold his serve, but fortunately for him Nalbandian wasn't much better, in fact there were times were it was hard to work out who was worse!  But thankfully toward the end of the first set Andy picked up the pace and sealed it in 6-4, after which he found his rhythym and broke the former World No.3 early on and then he run away with the match winning in 6-4, 6-1.  This in a way was a crucial win for Andy as he has lost every match he has played on the ATP hard court season up until now, so he really needed this.  However next up is one of his nemesis from earlier in the year, Alex Bogomolov, who defeated him in straight sets in Miami back in March, so this is a chance for Andy to get revenge.  Earlier this year Andy had hit a real slump so I'm hoping he will have sorted out his game today and show Boglymov why he is the World No.4, but there is that danger he could go out again, Bogomolov already has put out Tsonga, which in itself was a surprise (although Tsonga had an arm injury from last week).  It was also good to see that Andy has continued to maintain his composure more during matches, he has been doing this of late ever since the French Open semi final match against Rafa this year, so it definitely shows a growing maturity in the Muzza, which is a good thing for sure. 

Other matches in the ATP tour saw Rafa also make a strong comeback as he took on Julien Beneteau, and survived a slight scare towards the end of the second set where Beneteau broke Rafa's serve, but Rafa broke straight back and won the match in 6-4, 7-5.  So Rafa next will face fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco, who a couple of years ago took him all the way in the Australian Open 2009 semi final, but Verdasco hasn't been playing so well since, so it might be an easier match for Rafa this time, but we'll see.  World No.1 Novak Djokovic also made a fairly strong start after he struggled with his serve initially on the lightning fast courts but ended up strong as he comfortably beat Ryan Harrison in 6-2, 6-3.  Next up for Djoky is the current in form Radek Stepanek, who might prove troublesome for the Serb, but again he might not trouble him too much but we'll see, but it should be an intruiging one.  David Ferrer also progressed through to the 3rd round as he defeated Grigor Dimitriov from Bulgari in a pretty tough 3 set match. 

On the WTA side, we saw another early exit for the World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki who went out again in her first match, this time against US qualifier Christine McHale, who defeated her in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 (same score as last week!).  This doesn't bode well at all for Caroline, as that's two early exits, and after such a strong first leg hard court season, the 2nd has gotten off to a really bad start, and with the US Open not far off, the Dane will really have to regroup for the next Grand Slam.  I was also interested to see she is going out with the top golfer from Nothern Ireland, Rory McIlroy, but if you forgive the awful pun, Caroline was well under par today (and not in a good way like it is in golf!).  Serena Williams also made an early exit, but this time it was due to injury as she pulled out of the tournament due to a injury to her toe, which deprived us of a rematch with Sam Stosur from last week.  Instead Sam Stosur will face French Open champion Li Na, so it will be a tough one to call, because it remains to be seen what form Li Na is in, lately she hasn't been playing so great, but she had a good win against Lucie Safarova there on Tuesday, so it might be a good one today.  Andrea Petkovic also made it through against Sofia Arviddson from Sweden, but I must say I wasn't so impressed with Petko's behaviour on Monday when she played Jamila Goudasova, as she was really rude to the towel girls yelling for a towel "TOWEL! TOWELL!!!".  I guess in pressure situations players can get snappy, as it was a tough match for Petkovic, but she came out on top in the end.  It was also good to Jelena Jankovic progress through as that's her won her first two matches in Cincinnati after a bad first round loss in Toronto last week.  Also Francesca Schiavone had to really battle past the Russian Maria Kirilenko as she toughed it out to win in 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.  And finally Maria Sharapova breezed past her opponent on Tuesday but today she faces Svetlana Kuznetsova, so that may prove a tougher test.

Right that's enough o that, more to follow soon.

P.S. I need more posts that aren't about tennis!  Ha ha, will think of something. 

Montreal/Toronto Part 6: guess who's gone and won another title??

So the finals day of the ATP/WTA Rogers Cup saw the finalists go at it to secure the Rogers Cup title in Toronto and Montreal.

Starting with the ladies, Serena Williams and Sam Stosur both played it out for the title there, but as predicted Serena proved to be too strong for Stosur, who came out strong in the first set but after being broken at 4-4 she never really got back into the match.  So in the 2nd set Serena dominated the play with some very impressive shot making and Stosur had no answer for the 13 time grand slam champion, winning in 6-4 6-2. Overall it was not too bad a final but the end result was to be entirely expected, so much so I was even right with my own prediction of the scoreboard!  But I must admit I'm not a big fan of Serena, over the years she has proved not to be such a popular champion with certain people, because of her attitude, and I do find her a bit smarmy, and if she wins she's all smiley and if she loses she its always moan moan moan.  This I especially noticed in her pre match interview as she was very abrupt in her answers, while Sam Stour was very pleasant and polite in hers.  Regardless though Serena has done incredibly well after coming back from a serious illness, and no doubt she is the best player in the world in the ladies game.  Caroline Wozniacki maybe No.1 on the scoreboard but she has alot more to prove yet before she truly earns that mantel in achievement. 

So that's the women, onto the men and what I expected to be a simple and easy final between Djokovic vs Mardy Fish turned out to be quite a tough encounter, as the World No.1 had to battle his way to grab his 27th title.  The first set despite a few break point chances for Fish, Djokovic managed to hold on at 2-2 and broke Fish at 3-2 and eventually sealed it in 6-2, but in the second set Fish finally got the break and fought back to take the 2nd setin 6-3.  But inevitably Djokovic managed to come back into the match and secured a break in the 3rd at 2-2, and closed it out after a tense final game, winning in 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.  This win also marks a record as Djokovic has come the first player to win 5 ATP Masters 1000 titles in the same season, so no mean feat, its also his 9th title of the year, and I'm sure plenty more is to follow.  But Djokovic really has worked hard to get to this stage in his career and he is a good ambassador for the sport, far more so I think than Serena Williams, as he comes across a nice guy and a good sportsman who respects his opponents and gives them credit, so he does deserve the titles without a doubt.  And although I'm not his biggest fan, Mardy Fish also deserves alot of credit for giving such a good match in the final, and he also is playing some of his best tennis just now, so it will be interesting to see how he does in the future.  I also laughed at a comment one interviewer made to Novak saying, why don't you do the other players on the tour a favour and take next week off in Cincinnati, and Djokovic laughed saying "well I'm not too sure about that, cos I want to play".  Achhh well you can't blame the man for trying. ;-)  Having said that, it is disheartening for the rest of the players on tour who try so hard to win a Masters title like Mardy Fish or even the select few top players who so badly want to win a grand slam, but are denied by that one player right at the top.  Its certainly not Djokovic's fault, it boils down to hard work, a bit of luck, and above all confidence and self belief, which Djoko has in spades. 

Anyway so next up for the ATP/WTA is the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati where the men and ladies will go at it again.  No doubt the top seeds will bring their game to the proceedings, and I hope this time Andy, Roger and Rafa can put in better performances this time round, especially Andy, who needs to try and redeem himself after his early exit in the Rogers cup.  In fact one fact I hadn't realised until last week was that Andy is yet to win not only a single match but also a single set in the ATP singles hard court season this year since after the Australian Open.  This is definitely something he has to remedy in Cincinnati and hopefully he will, and his next opponent will be David Nalbandian the former World No.1 so he better be on his game for the Argentine.  But if he does go out again in his first match most likely on Tuesday this week, then it does not bode well at all for the US Open round the corner.  Perhaps though last year he did peak too soon in Toronto and then when it came to the US Open, he lost his way, but I just hope he doesn't make the same mistake this year, and Cincinnati has to be the starting point to make his way back into the winning circle.  But we all know already who is going to win this title! ;-)

Right that's it for now.

Montreal/Toronto Part 5: Itsssss filleting time!!!

So day 6 of the WTA/ATP tour promised to delivered alot and unfortunately in quite a few ways it failed to live up to the expectations of what it could have done, but it still provided some good stuff in between.

For a change the ladies first (chauvinist I know!!) as the WTA semi finals in Toronto started off really well with the Radwanska vs Stosur match.  I had pegged Radwanska to be the favourite in this match, but Sam Stosur really came into this tournament very much in form and made life difficult quickly for the Pole in the first set taking it with fair ease.  However Radwanska fought back in the 2nd set to take it as she broke back and broke Stosur's serve at 6-5.  But it was normal service in the 3rd and Stosur broke early at 2-2 to close out the match in 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, to secure her place in the final.  It was a very entertaining match with each player throwing about every shot in the book at each other for nearly two hours with the Aussie prevailing in the end.  After that it was the more anticipated match between World No.4 Victoria Azarenka and 13 time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.  Unfortunately though the match failed to live up to the expectations of a great battle that it could have done, as Williams dismissed Azarenka quite easily in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to secure her a place in her second final of the year.  Williams afterwards also seemed cool as a cucumber and it looked like the match was just a warm up session for her! :->  So that's Serena Williams and Sam Stosur in the final, my money is firmly on Serena to win, most likely in straight sets, or at a push maybe 3 sets.  I don't know if Stosur has the game to really threaten Serena but I guess we will find out, I just hope its a good final.  It might be a good match up as Stosur also has a powerful build like Williams and a big serve and forehand, but she also seemed to be carrying a wrist injury yesterday so that might seriously impinge on her chances, but here's hoping its a good match for her, win or lose. 

So onto the men's tennis, the first match between Mardy Fish and Janko Tipsarevic went as expected, as the Yank proved to be too good for the Serb and was defeated in straight sets in 6-3, 6-4.  But the most anticipated match of the tournament between Djokovic and Tsonga ended in disappointment as Tsonga was forced to retire with an arm injury in the 2nd set, which saw Djoky ease through into the final in 6-4, 3-0 ret.  So its a Djoko vs Fish final, and I think the filleting knife is about to be sharpened and readied as it might be a pretty quick final, as I really don't see Mardy troubling the World No.1 much at all.  I could be wrong, Fish has definitely been improving and he does like the fast North American hard courts, so it could be a tough match, but I very much doubt it, so we will see.  One thing is for sure I think title 27 is coming up for the man from Belgrade, but we can hope its an entertaining final.

Right that's enough the now.

Country in turmoil

Just was thinking of blogging something about the current troubles in England with the riots and violence that have been outbreaking all over the country.  It seems all quite bizzare to me how one man's death would spark so much trouble, and it also shows the sheer ignorance of the people in that country that feel they want to jump on the same bandwagon, not because they want to support any protest, its just to see how much chaos they can cause and how much they can steal.

In a way it definitely mirrors the Los Angeles riots back in the early riots when Rodney King was assaulted by several policemen, after which the police officers acquittal in court caused chaos out on the streets.  With the London riots it definitely gave the gangs and criminals and any other scumbags out there a licence to steal and burn stores and homes down.  But when it spills out onto streets and affects peoples livelihoods it just frankly isn't on at all, why should innocent people suffer at the hands of some ignorant pricks who just want to wreak havoc????  But one man's death and a protest against it definitely gives enough cause for louts to get what they want and cause trouble.  But the extent to which the riots spread starting with Tottenham in London, onto Croydon, then onto Brimingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester and various other locations in the country seems totally unreal. 

However I do think the riots were certainly motivated by more than just Mark Duggan's death, I think that was used to ignite the flames so to speak, in the past as the government have made cuts to student's loans, this also caused riots and choas, and there is no such thing as a peaceful protest anyway as you are bound to get a few trouble makers along the way!  So England already was in turmoil before this in different ways, the Tory government certainly haven't helped with various cuts in budget, people's pensions, livelihoods, homes etc.

There was of course a comment on Facebook as well from one person who said lets start a riot in Glasgow, which thankfully whoever wrote that has since been arrested, the good thing about Glasgow is even if they tried to instigate a riot here and start fires the rain would put it out!  But I am definitely glad that I do not live in England, and its a great shame for the decent folk that live there that have to endure such ignorant, violent and pointless behaviour.  David Cameron also stated that potential measures that should be taken is that for one criminals who have been convicted should be banned from using social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as they could be used to plan riots and violence.  This is in itself hardly practical, one way or another criminals will be able to get a hold of a mobile phone and use it to tweet or post an entry of Facebook whether David Cameron wishes it or not (or definitely not).  Another one of the other measures he stated was one of the very rare things I totally agree with him on, is that criminals that have been convicted of taking part in the riots should have their benefits removed.  While it may seem like a fiscal corporal punishment, if these people destroy other peoples livelihoods they do not deserve any money at all, in fact they should have someone follow them home and burn their house down and see how they like it!!

Anyhow that's my thoughts on the matter, I hope for the good people that live in England that things get better, but as the saying goes "it'll get worse before it get's better", let's hope not too worse.

OK, the end. 

Montreal/Toronto Part 4: Itsss showdown time!! Well nearly.

Day5 of the WTA/ATP tour Rogers Cup saw some more interesting developments, no big upsets as such but plenty of good stuff to watch.

Once again starting with the men, the quarter finals first up saw Stan Wawrinka take on US No.1 Mardy Fish, whom the Swiss battled against for the first two sets, winning the 2nd before caving in when they reached the 3rd, which saw the yank go through to his first Rogers Cup semi final, in 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-0.  Next up was Tomas Berdych who was playing against Mr Shades, Janko Tipsaveric, who surprisingly enough defeated big Czeck in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to make it to his first Masters 1000 semi final.  After that was the match up between the formidable Frenchman and giant killer Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who took on and defeated Nicholas Almagro in straight sets, again in 6-4, 6-4.  And finally in what was a fairly anticipated match, French No.1 Gael Monfils took on the mighty Novak Djokovic, but unfortunately he wasn't up to the task at all, as the Serb gubbed Monfils easily in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, his easiest win of the tournament so far.

However now that Monfils is out of the picture, this sets up the semi final we all wanted to see, the clash between Tsonga and Djokovic.  In my opinion, despite not being the top French player, I think Tsonga is a much better player than Monfils is.  He's reached a grand slam final in Australia, won the Paris masters title, to top that off he's also beaten Roger twice this season and Rafa once (OK Rafa was fatigued from his French Open campaign) and he leads the head to head record surprisingly against Djoko, 5-3 in Tsonga's favour!  But I really don't think tonight it will be 6-3, more likely it will be 5-4 as Tsonga was defeated by Djokovic in their previous meeting at Wimbledon, albeit in a very tough match.  So tonight's match will be very anticipated and should be a belter, as Tsonga is playing really well just now, and so far Djokovic has yet to drop a set in Montreal but I think he will tonight.  I could be wrong, but I think its going to be a real tough one and hopefully the match of the tournament.  I also think if Tsonga has the type of match he had against Federer both in Wimbledon and Montreal, then the Serb hasn't got a prayer, cos if Tsonga serves that well and everything goes in, Djoko will be facing down the barrell of the gun on this one.  I almost hope that is the case as it would be wonderful to see Tsonga make it through and have a shot at a second Masters title, but most likely not. 

Now onto the wummin's tennis on the WTA (sorry I meant ladies!) in Toronto as the quarters final again saw some good stuff on display.  Sam Stosur who has been on fine form at the Rogers Cup put in an assertive performance against the wildcard Roberta Vinci as she soundly beat her in 6-4, 6-0 to secure her place in the semis.  After that Victoria Azarenka also breezed her way past the other wildcard Galina Voskoboeva (who took out Sharapova) defeating her in 6-1, 6-2.  Next up was recently Top 10 player Andrea Petkovic who faced off a very much on form Agnieszka Radwanska who surprised everyone by defeating the German in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, which was a really good match with some lengthy lung bursting rallies.  Radwanska afterwards joked when she commented on her current 9 match winning streak saying she would love to keep it going as long as Djokovic's streak went on!  And finally Serena Williams who is very much on the comeback battled past the tricky Czeck Lucie Safarova to make into the semis in 3 sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

So that sets up a very intruiging and potentially very exciting semi final draw on both the mens and ladies tour.  Fish vs Tipsy, Djokovic vs Tsonga on the men and Williams vs Azarenka and Stosur vs Radwanska, so it should be a really good one.  My predictions for the finals: Djokovic and Fish in the mens, and maybe Williams and Radwanska in the ladies.

And that'll be on later, can't wait! Blog more soon.

Montreal/Toronto Part 3: Its..... more KOs!!

So onto day four of the WTA/ATP Rogers Cup events, which more top seeds tumble on both sides of the men's and ladies tours in Canada. 

Starting with the men, the biggest exit, but not entirely unexpected, was Roger Federer who was defeated for the second consecutive time by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 3 sets, as the Frenchman continued his record over him, this time winning in 7-6, 4-6, 6-1.  Tsonga next up faces the Spaniard Nicholas Almagro, which should be a tough match, so I hope Tsonga wins so that way it will setup a potential Djokovic semi final which should be quite exciting.  In fact in terms of dangerous players, I think Tsonga poses as much a threat to Djokovic as Federer and Murray do.  He could well be one of few guys that could beat him, but I very much doubt he will.  Next up Gael Monfils took on Djoky's fellow Serb and good friend Viktor Troicki as they battled it out for victory which saw Gael Monfils seal it after a very tough 3 set match, winning in 3-6, 7-6, 7-6.  So Monfils will next face Djokovic, where I'm sure Djoko will have a chance to avenge his fellow Serb's defeat, it should be hopefully a good match, as they have had tough matches in the past, although it might be more straight forward this time.  Also Tomas Berdych made it through against the giant Ivo Karlovich in straight sets 6-3, 7-6, and Mardy Fish now the US No.1 battled past Ernests Gublis from Latvia.  Djokovic himself also secured his place in the quarter finals by defeating Croat Marin Cilic in a fairly straight forward match in 7-5, 6-2, Djoko once again had a tight first set but he found his feet easily and secured a double break in the 2nd to seal it.  And finally Stan Wawrinka, the Swiss No.2 battled his way past the giant Kevin Anderson, who defeated Andy Murray so easily, but Stan needed 3 sets to make his way past the big un in 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

So this all makes for a very promising set of quarter finals matches, the most intruiging being of course Djokovic vs Monfils, to see if the Frenchman can push Djoko all the way, in his current omnipotent state I kind of doubt it, but it will be intruiging all the same.  Also in the doubles the Murray bros continued to impress as they got past the Number 8 seeds in the draw to make it to the quarter finals in Montreal.  Next up they face Tomas Berdych and Florian Mayer, can they pull off winnig the title?? They could well do, c'mon the Muzzas!!    But time will tell. 

On the WTA side in Toronto, there were a few more upsets, the main one being Maria Sharapova who exited, falling to the Kazakstan wildcard Galina Voskoboeva in 6-4, 7-5, at one point in the 2nd set Galina had the chance to close out the match at 5-4, but she double faulted twice, then went nuts (as you do).  But the tantrum passed and she carried on by breaking Maria's serve and serving it out to ensure the biggest win of her career.  Vera Zvonareva once again also was handed a defeat by the crafty, very talented Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, who really is coming on in leaps and bounds this year.  Meanwhile 13 time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who is starting to make a confident comeback also came through a tough match against the Chinese player in 3 sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.  Sam Stosur also confidently made it past the French Open champion Li Na in straigh sets 6-3, 6-4, as the Chinese No.1 struggled with Stosur's serve.  Andrea Petkovic managed to get revenge on Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, as she Czeck failed to get anything going at all, as she battled against the windy conditions and her opponent who was on top form, with Petko winning in 6-1, 6-2, after which she did her cheesy Petko dance (this time a Mexican wave!).  And finally the mad grunter Victoria Azarenka, the Belarusian No.1, breezed past Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in straights 6-1, 6-2.

Again this makes for a very promising quarter finals setup, with four potentially great matches ahead, it will also be very interesting to see if Serena Williams can come out top again, its a fair chance she might.  She may have been out of the game for a year, but her ability and skill are still very much at the forefront and it would insane to write her off winning not only this title but another Grand Slam, so everyone better watch out at the US Open, as Serena already has won at Stanford and she will look to build on that. 

So that's my summary fer now, plenty of good tennis awaits both sides of the tours and cities. 

Montreal/Toronto Part 2: its knockout city!

Welll welll, day 3 at the Montreal Masters on the ATP men's tour saw another big upset as former World No.1 Rafael Nadal made an early shock exit to Croat player Ivan Dodig, who took the Spaniard the distance and defeated him in 1-6, 7-6, 7-6.  Now this I don't think anyone was expecting at all, this was the earliest exit Rafa has made in over 3 years, the last time was at the Rome Masters, back when it was on hard court.

But that's another shock exit for a top player, and not only a top player but one of the greatest players who's played the game!  Whit is going on?????  Last year Rafa exited in the semi finals at the Rogers Cup to the Muzza, so perhaps this isn't his tournament, ok he did much better last year, but to go out so early is just unreal.  Rafa certainly has had a rollercoaster of a year, and I do think now that the tables have turned and that he is no longer the top dog, that perhaps its knocked some of the stuffing out of him a bit.  Perhaps though no longer being the world no.2 it might relieve a bit of pressure from Rafa as its something he no longer has to defend, but inevitably every time he will face Djokovic we know the expectation of defeat for him.  But to go out in your first match is such as surprise, just imagine he played Ivan Dodig at the French Open instead of John Isner, he could well have gone out then!

So Rafa has now joined the Muzza in the shock exit stakes, however the other two guys in the top 3 are still very much in the game, as Federer made a fairly easy advance into the 3rd round after defeating Canadian player Vasek Pospisil.  Djokovic also made it through a rather tense and ropey first set to breeze his way into the 3rd round in 7-5, 6-1 against Nikolai Davydenko.  Up next for Djoko is the Croat giant Marin Cilic who knocked out Del Potro, and for Federer could be a real stiff challenge as he faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who defeated him at Wimbledon in a 5 set epic, so I'm sure Roger will be looking for revenge here, I hope he wins, so that way the chances of a Djokovic vs Federer semi final will be on the cards.  And who knows, just maybe Federer if he makes it through to the semis could hand Djokovic another shock defeat.

Despite Andy's loss, he had good news in the doubles as he and Jamie made it past their Canadian opponents as they defeated them in 6-2, 2-6, 10-7, so they have another doubles match coming up today so best of luck to them, and wouldn't it be great if they could take home a Masters doubles title?? C'moon!! 

On the WTA side we saw another shock exit as the World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki was handed a defeat by the Italian No.2 Roberta Vinci (who is also quite freckly!) in a straight set loss 6-4, 7-5.  It makes you think what is it with these top players just now???  I think it boils down to a lack of match play to be honest, as the top players haven't been playing for a month, while the lower ranked players have been actively playing over the summer, which makes their game more sharper, while the top 10 players games can be a bit sluggish.  Its also another blow to Caroline as she has been handed quite a few defeats of late, its also a shame in a way as leave another question mark over her head about her ranking.  She is yet to win a grand slam and being ranked as No.1 you would have expected her to by now, meanwhile players such as Li Na and Petra Kvitova have gone on to win grand slams and have beaten Caroline also.  Her next best bet is the US Open and hopefully by next week in Cincinatti she will have sharpened her game, so for the top seeds who have lost out, its back to the practice court.

OK enough for now. 

Montreal/Toronto Part 1: Here we go again!!

In tennis and all things in life, things can come in swings and roundabouts and once again poor fortune has favoured itself on Britain's No.1 Andy Murray, as the start of the second leg of his hard court season hasn't proved any better than the first.  In short Andy went out in the Montreal Masters in his first match, for the fourth time this year, as he lost to the South African giant Kevin Anderson in straight sets 6-3. 6-1.  Andy was the defending champion for the last two years running so to go out so early again is a real shock.

This was without a doubt the worst defeat he has suffered all year, and it really is totally baffling as to why Andy keeps going through these losing streaks.  I guess it is tough to play consistently well throughout the year even if you are a top player, but its not like Andy has had a terrible record leading up to Montreal, far from it in fact.  Its almost like being back on hard court is a bitter reminder of his loss at the Australian Open again, like a change of surface was just what Andy needed but now he is back on the hard stuff, its tougher for him to adjust to it.  But perhaps maybe the lack of match play over the last few weeks has left Andy a little bit sluggish as he hasn't played a match in about a month since the Davis Cup victory against Great Britain.  So perhaps all he needs is to play some more matches to get back into his rythym, he said himself post match he felt nothing was going on and he felt sluggish, so its all about getting into it once again.   He rightly also has entered the doubles with Jamie, so hopefully that will help him sharpen his game up a bit more.

But it does leave the worrying feeling that we will see the recurring pattern once again that we saw earlier this year, with Andy going back to a puzzling losing streak.  I don't know if the bitter sting of losing out in Wimbledon once again had got to him, but then again he did very well at the Davis Cup, so surely he would have been fired up after that.  Another worry of course is with the US Open in just three weeks time, its not the best moment to go out and start losing matches early again and in the last two years Andy hasn't had the best record at the US Open either, so this won't do much to better his chances either.

However that aside, it is only one tournament, and he does have Cincinati to play in next week, so hopefully Andy can pull it together again, but if we see him exit early again, it frankly is going to be a real worry, cos the US Open will be a real short lived affair for him if he continues.  But again looking at the WTA Rogers Cup side, Marion Bartoli for one has gone out in the first round also, as has Jelena Jankovic, well she hasn't had the best year either.  But just maybe it was a lack of match play and also probably just a bad day at the office, so better luck next time Andy, and Marion and Jelena too for that matter.  In fact reading Jelena's feedback on her loss to Julia Georges she also felt she was playing really sluggish and couldn't get anything going, so perhaps there is something in the air in Canada! 

Onto other matches in Montreal, Djokovic will play Nikolai Davydenko in his first match, which should be no probs for the Serb, and big John Isner takes on Marcos Baghdatis.  As for Rafa and Federer their matches must be on tomorrow so I will look forward to following them since the Muzza is now out the picture.  There are also plenty of really good matches coming up for the WTA ladies Rogers Cup as Serena Williams is in action as is Kim Clijsters, and its really good to see Kim back in action too, it would be great if she can play really well from now on as she has had a terrible spot earlier this year too despite winning the Australian Open at the beginning of 2011.  Caroline Wozniacki will also be in action today too as she faces Roberta Vinci, Caroline currently is also the defending champion of the WTA Rogers Cup, hopefully she can do better than Andy did.  Although I'm not fully convinced that Caroline can defend her title this year, she could well do, but with Serena Williams in the draw and getting back to her best, she might struggle to beat her.  But its part of the fun of the game, seeing which of the top players can emerge the winner, do either way it should be good.  

Soooo that is it!!

Title defence

OKKKKK its been a while since I've blogged, actually well over a week, and yes its coming back to that dreaded T word once again.  The hard court season is starting to bubble up again in the land of tennis and next week sees the start of the ATP/WTA Rogers Cup in Canada.  The two separate tournaments take place in different cities, this year the ladies is in Toronto and the men's are in Canada.

On the men's side the ATP, Britain's numero un is the defending champion, and has been for the last two years running, so the big question remains: can Andy defend his title this year????  I hope so, but there is one man (well two men really) that stand in his way, in Rafa and the Djoker, but who knows, just maybe Andy can pull it oot the bag and make a bit of history as if he does win, he will be the first man since Ivan Lendl to win in Canada three times running.  But Djokovic seems the most likely winner as there is very little he hasn't won this year, with Federer handing him his only loss this year back at the French Open semi final.  But as rivals go, Andy could well be defeated by Rafa and then Rafa could face Djokovic in the final once more and if they do I think it could be a very easy victory for Djokovic, I might be wrong but its waiting to happen.  But so far this year Andy has had a pretty good year so far, the awful first leg of his hard court season not withstanding he's reached three Grand Slam semi finals (one final), won his 2nd Queens title, reached three clay court semi finals, and has won every single match of his Davis Cup tie.  Now as the hard court season resumes for Andy we will see how he resorts back to his best surface.

Also the the US Open is just round the corner too as at the end of the month the fourth and final grand slam of the year will commence at Flushing Meadows in New York.  But I really do tip Djokovic to win that one, there is practically no one that can stand in his way now.  However there is another way you can look at that one, in terms of nemesis, Rafa is Federer's nemesis, Djokovic is Rafa's nemesis, and just maybe Andy could be Djokovic's nemesis.  Can he steal the US Open title from him???? Hmmmmm, to be honest nah, however if he does win in Montreal then it could signal a good start.  And so far Andy has played more consistently in the grand slams this year so if he can make it to another semi final this year then it would very impressive and even more so if he could take it two steps further.  But it has to be said if Andy is going to hold onto his Rogers Cup title in Canada, then he's going to have a hell of a tough time doing so as he has a rather brutal draw.  In the 2nd round he could face South African giant Kevin Anderson, who might not trouble him too much, but after that it gets much tougher as its possibly Stan Wawrinka (who defeated him at the US Open last year), then his nemesis Mardy Fish (who's leads there head to head 4-3 in Fish's favour), followed by Rafa and then the new World No.1 Djokovic.  Its very tough ask but you never know, he might pull it oot the bag, he did it last year so who knows.  But then Djoko isn't the same player as last year, so it could well be his. 

So that's the men, for the woman on the WTA tour, Caroline Wozniacki is the defending champion for the Rogers Cup, although I recently heard that the Wozzer was out of the game with a shoulder injury but I'd imagine she will be back in to defend her title.  I would quite like to see Caz defend her title too, it would also make for a nice symmetry if she went to win the US Open and so did Andy, both of them are counterpunchers in playing style.  But in looking at the history of the game, most of the players that have gone on to win grand slams are aggressive players, not counterpunchers, and therefore take more chances.  Regardless the Rogers Cup on both sides should make for a very entertaining and exciting tournament and doubtless I will be blogging away on that over the next few days doubtless of the outcomes.  Caroline similarly has quite a tough draw to Andy, as she potentially faces Vera Zvonareva, Dominika Cibulkova, Andrea Petkovic and Li Na, all of whom have beaten her this year alone, as well as Sam Stosur and Agnieszka Radwanska. 

On a slightly different note I had also recently read that the ladies British No.1 Elena Baltacha might be considering retirement new year after the 2012 Olympics, which would be a great shame for woman's tennis to see her go.  Elena has had a many struggles with injuries over the years though and she did say herself that she felt she might not want to carry on only put her body through more pain, and your health has to come first.  Elena also stated she would love the opportunity to play doubles with the Muzza at the Olympics and well it might yet happen.  Speaking of which the next Davis Cup tie for Great Britain will take place again at the Braehead Arena next month from 16th-18th September, and I'm going on the 17th and 18th, so it will be terrific to see the British team once more as well as the Muzza.  Andy already secured their victory against Luxembourg and if he continues to play in the Davis Cup he can ensure that Great Britain can go places in the event, so let's hope he carries on.

So that's enoughhhh for the tennis.... for the timebeing..........