Tonight I went and saw a production of MacBeth at the Cottier Theatre, a place which I am familiar as that's where I performed in the Another Road play I was part of back in May there. The drama group Incorporated media put on their production and it was overall quite an entertaining adaptation of the play.
The plot of the play is very much in the public eye with the army general MacBeth under the rule of King Duncan who seizes the chance for power to become king by committing the bloody murder of the king, after his wife Lady MacBeth plots to kill Duncan. However of course after MacBeth commits the murder and takes power, as well as being the spearhead behind the murders of some of his fellow soldiers, he starts to see images of his friend Banqo, and soon begins to succumb to madness as does Lady MacBeth. And its all downhill from there.
Overall Incorporated Media's production was quite impressive, as they made good use of the excellent Cottier theatre, which in itself almost resembles inner halls of a castle, and their use of lighting as well as dark atmospheric music definitely added to the menacing tone of the play. The performances while maybe perhaps lacking a little in passion and uneven in quality, certainly offered more in restraint, as the play could easily have been overdone with over the top theatrics, instead we are treated to quite an intense low key piece, and its very much about the mood of the piece. The central performance from Derek Crawford Munn was particularly good as he subtly grasped the moral dilemma that MacBeth faces in seizing power for himself, and John Scougall was also excellent as MacDuff, the thane of Fife. The actress who played Lady MacBeth, while she displayed her authoritive qualities well, I felt she was a bit uneven overall, but her perforamnce of Lady MacBeth's famous soliloquy was pretty good. And my good acting bud Martin Haddow also did very well in his smaller roles, as he is a fine actor, and whatever he does, you can see the thought he puts into his performance.
Having not seen a production of MacBeth before myself it was also good to see an intepretation of the play, although I briefly did cover one or two scenes in past acting classes. But as with all things Shakespeare, you have to see it for yourself as if you read it from a book you won't understand a word of it, as I had tried to read it for the classes back then and couldn't take it in!
But overall it was a fine production from Incorporated media and if you haven't seen the play yet, its definitely worth getting along to Cottier theatre before its finishes its run on Saturday 24 September.
So on that note, that's eeet.
Saturday 24 September 2011
Thursday 22 September 2011
Every dalek has its day
OK so the title of this blog entry refers to the classic Jon Pertwee Doctor Who story The Day of the Daleks, which I got on DoovD the other day, so this is essentially what this post is all about in case you hadn't notice (or rather I!).
Day of the Daleks is definitely of Jon Pertwee's strongest stories in his time as the Doctor, as it has some very well written scripts and despite the fact there are clearly only three daleks in the whole story doesn't really detract from its quality in the other areas of the show. The plot deals with an attempt being made on the life of a peace delegate Sir Reginald Styles who is attacked by a guerilla who quickly vanishes before he can kill him. As a result UNIT get involved (the Brig et al) and the Doctor and Jo as they try to get to the bottom of who and what was behind the assassination attempt. The Doctor and Jo soon discover that the daleks are the masterminds behind the whole lot and the guerillas who went back through time were trying to stop a future war which erupted as a result of Styles allegely luring the world leaders to a mansion where he killed them in an explosion. So the Doctor and Jo get tangled up in the mess and are transported to the 22nd century on Earth where the daleks now rule the Earth and are intent on ensuring their version of events stays the same.
The story definitely has some very good standout moments especially the scene where the Doctor has it out with the Earth controller (the excellent Aubrey Woods) and asks "who really rules this planet of yours??!" and the scene where the Doctor discovers the truth behind the war and the future with the guerillas. There are also some fun little moments, my favourite of course being when one of the guerillas enters Styles house where he attacks the Doctor who uses his venusian karate to disable him, with wine glass in hand, he takes a sip of wine after! The Doctor also got one of the best lines of the story as well when he says to Styles "try and use your intelligence, man, even if you are a politician!!".
The weaker side of the story is of course the somewhat poorly directed action scenes with the Ogrons, who despite their impressive makeup moved way too slowly to provide any major threat, as anyone could outrun them, especially in the last battle scene where the ponder slowly toward Auderly house (the peace conference setting). The pacing of the daleks movement also is pretty sluggish, but then again they only had three working daleks back then. The dalek voices at the time were also a bit of a disappointment as the voice actors spoke their lines too slowly as it came out even more staccato then usual "do-----you------have-----the-----space---------time----------co------ordinates??" gives you an idea of that problem. Despite that though the story definitely has a lot going for it and the plot and quality of scripts definitely make up for any shortcomings of the story. Although I still cringe at Katy Manning's faux cry for help in the scene where the Doctor and Jo create a diversion so they can escape with Jo screaming "aghhh help me!!" but I like the Doctor's line after Jo smashes the Ogron over the head with a plastic wine glass, "pity that was rather a good vintage!".
Coming onto the Special Edition DVD version of Day of the Daleks, it is essentially the same version except with a few extra added effects and tidied up vocal fluffs from some of the actors. But the main part of the new version is of course Nicholas Briggs re-dubbing of the dalek voices, which is definitely an improvement on the original actors voices. Nicholas definitely provides more pace and hysteria to the daleks voices, although perhaps he does add a little too much sarcasm into their voices, as his voice always seems to go up on the end of lines such as "you may goooooooo!". It just sounds a bit out of place in those moments, but overall he does a fine job on improving one of the story's less impressive aspects.
Another aspect of the special edition that has been altered slightly is the scene where the Doctor appears to murder an ogron in cold blood with a disintegrator gun, this time round they have added in the old "Greedo shoots first" principal, with the ogron firing first at the Doctor who in turn shoots the baddie. They also added in the Doctor shooting another ogron inside Styles house just before he leaves and shoots up the next one. It does in some way make the Doctor seem a bit more moralistic in that he is killing the ogrons out of self defence, and I guess it does make up for what appears to be a very out of character moment for the Doctor. Although if you look at other stories you see the Doctor is put in position where he does have to directly kill his enemies, such as pushing Magnus Greel into the distillation chamber in the Talons of Weng Chiang, or killing the Cyber Leader in Earthshock with Adric's golden badge and then with a cybergun (OK a bit of nerdy referencing there!).
In regards to the DVD's extras it has also a fine documentary about the story detailing how it was made, etc, and it also features a documentary on the special edition where we see that they actually used new actors to potray some of the UNIT soldiers being killed by the Daleks or Ogrons. We also see Nicholas Briggs delivering his lines into a mic with fine hysteria, as well as how they did the special effects for the new explosions, the background of the future factory, and the video screen effects. Overall the special edition is actually pretty good and doesn't in anyway detract from the original story. We also get the second part of the UNIT family documentary which is really good as the actors from the Pertwee era, such as Richard Franklin, Katy Manning, Nick Courtney and John Levine all reminisce on their times on the show, and there is also a rather poignant moment with John Levine nearly in tears describing everyone's upset at Roger Delgado's untimely death and departure from the show.
Sooooooooo Day of the Daleks is a pretty good buy and a fine Doctor Who story to shoes, so with that I'll leave it there for now.
Day of the Daleks is definitely of Jon Pertwee's strongest stories in his time as the Doctor, as it has some very well written scripts and despite the fact there are clearly only three daleks in the whole story doesn't really detract from its quality in the other areas of the show. The plot deals with an attempt being made on the life of a peace delegate Sir Reginald Styles who is attacked by a guerilla who quickly vanishes before he can kill him. As a result UNIT get involved (the Brig et al) and the Doctor and Jo as they try to get to the bottom of who and what was behind the assassination attempt. The Doctor and Jo soon discover that the daleks are the masterminds behind the whole lot and the guerillas who went back through time were trying to stop a future war which erupted as a result of Styles allegely luring the world leaders to a mansion where he killed them in an explosion. So the Doctor and Jo get tangled up in the mess and are transported to the 22nd century on Earth where the daleks now rule the Earth and are intent on ensuring their version of events stays the same.
The story definitely has some very good standout moments especially the scene where the Doctor has it out with the Earth controller (the excellent Aubrey Woods) and asks "who really rules this planet of yours??!" and the scene where the Doctor discovers the truth behind the war and the future with the guerillas. There are also some fun little moments, my favourite of course being when one of the guerillas enters Styles house where he attacks the Doctor who uses his venusian karate to disable him, with wine glass in hand, he takes a sip of wine after! The Doctor also got one of the best lines of the story as well when he says to Styles "try and use your intelligence, man, even if you are a politician!!".
The weaker side of the story is of course the somewhat poorly directed action scenes with the Ogrons, who despite their impressive makeup moved way too slowly to provide any major threat, as anyone could outrun them, especially in the last battle scene where the ponder slowly toward Auderly house (the peace conference setting). The pacing of the daleks movement also is pretty sluggish, but then again they only had three working daleks back then. The dalek voices at the time were also a bit of a disappointment as the voice actors spoke their lines too slowly as it came out even more staccato then usual "do-----you------have-----the-----space---------time----------co------ordinates??" gives you an idea of that problem. Despite that though the story definitely has a lot going for it and the plot and quality of scripts definitely make up for any shortcomings of the story. Although I still cringe at Katy Manning's faux cry for help in the scene where the Doctor and Jo create a diversion so they can escape with Jo screaming "aghhh help me!!" but I like the Doctor's line after Jo smashes the Ogron over the head with a plastic wine glass, "pity that was rather a good vintage!".
Coming onto the Special Edition DVD version of Day of the Daleks, it is essentially the same version except with a few extra added effects and tidied up vocal fluffs from some of the actors. But the main part of the new version is of course Nicholas Briggs re-dubbing of the dalek voices, which is definitely an improvement on the original actors voices. Nicholas definitely provides more pace and hysteria to the daleks voices, although perhaps he does add a little too much sarcasm into their voices, as his voice always seems to go up on the end of lines such as "you may goooooooo!". It just sounds a bit out of place in those moments, but overall he does a fine job on improving one of the story's less impressive aspects.
Another aspect of the special edition that has been altered slightly is the scene where the Doctor appears to murder an ogron in cold blood with a disintegrator gun, this time round they have added in the old "Greedo shoots first" principal, with the ogron firing first at the Doctor who in turn shoots the baddie. They also added in the Doctor shooting another ogron inside Styles house just before he leaves and shoots up the next one. It does in some way make the Doctor seem a bit more moralistic in that he is killing the ogrons out of self defence, and I guess it does make up for what appears to be a very out of character moment for the Doctor. Although if you look at other stories you see the Doctor is put in position where he does have to directly kill his enemies, such as pushing Magnus Greel into the distillation chamber in the Talons of Weng Chiang, or killing the Cyber Leader in Earthshock with Adric's golden badge and then with a cybergun (OK a bit of nerdy referencing there!).
In regards to the DVD's extras it has also a fine documentary about the story detailing how it was made, etc, and it also features a documentary on the special edition where we see that they actually used new actors to potray some of the UNIT soldiers being killed by the Daleks or Ogrons. We also see Nicholas Briggs delivering his lines into a mic with fine hysteria, as well as how they did the special effects for the new explosions, the background of the future factory, and the video screen effects. Overall the special edition is actually pretty good and doesn't in anyway detract from the original story. We also get the second part of the UNIT family documentary which is really good as the actors from the Pertwee era, such as Richard Franklin, Katy Manning, Nick Courtney and John Levine all reminisce on their times on the show, and there is also a rather poignant moment with John Levine nearly in tears describing everyone's upset at Roger Delgado's untimely death and departure from the show.
Sooooooooo Day of the Daleks is a pretty good buy and a fine Doctor Who story to shoes, so with that I'll leave it there for now.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Knock knock knocking on God's door
Just caught up with the latest episode of the sixth series of Doctor Who, The God Complex, which was almost a homage to The Shining, especially with its set design.
The story starts with the Doctor, Amy and Rory having landed the TARDIS in what appears to be a big hotel with winding corridors, not to mention endless staircases. The Doctor soon comes into contact with three humans and an alien who have been captured and lured into the hotel as well, but the hotel appears to be just a fake as the Doctor believes they are on an alient planet. To make matters worse, there is a monster lurking around which has been possessing the other occupants of the hotel and feeding of their worst fears, which they see realised in the hotel rooms. But the Doctor does his best to put his mega troubleshooting to the fore and try and get to the bottom of this nasty dilemma.
This was a fairly entertaining episode, which starts off strong with the creepy theme of the unknown monster lurking, and the images akin to The Shining with the long narrow corridors, and the peoples fears behind the doors. On the casting side David Walliams making his first appearance as the alien Gibbs (some cool facial make-up there!) who is a compulsive coward and comes from a planet which has been overthrown so many times, and he gives one of the best lines of the story "where we are from, we have a saying: resistance is exhausting!". The rest of the cast are also fine with their small roles as they are slowly taken over by the beast, which turns out to be a minotaur, that is closely related to the Nimon, from the Tom Baker story, The Horns of Nimon. This story also borrows from a few other stories also, with references from The Curse of Fenric where the Doctor makes Amy break her faith in him to ensure the minotaur doesn't take her over, as well as the Weeping Angels from the episodes "Blink", "Flesh and Blood" and "The Time of Angels".
However I wasn't overly impressed with the resolution of the story as I felt in a way the conclusion was a bit of an anti-climax. But the last scene between Amy and Rory more than made up for that, as the Doctor drops them off at their home, and not only that he gives Rory the keys to his favourite car (not sure which one!). The Doctor fears for Amy and Rory that if they continue to travel with him, he might end up getting them killed, so let's them go as he takes off in the TARDIS, once again, alone. But of course you do very much get the feeling that the Doctor hasn't seen the last of Amy and Rory (well for a start they have been confirmed to appear in series seven!) and it won't be before long they will be back in the picture.
So the next episode promises to be a good one as the Doctor revists a familiar face, Craig (played by James Corden) whom he previously lodged with in The Lodger episode. In the episode the Doctor of course encounters one of his oldest foes, the Cybermen, so it will be good to see his old enemy back in the show. Also let's not forget at the start of the sixth series we saw the Doctor 200 years into his future die at the hands of a figure in a spacesuit, and he dies before he can regenerate. So will this be the end of the Doctor??? Well most likely not, as they said in the fifth series, time can be written, even in David Tennant's swansong "The End of Time" he faced certain death, but still managed to regenerate into who we see now as the Doc. So its just another plot device to keep us guessing what will happen to the Doctor, whatever happens we haven't seen the end of the Time Lord yet.
Welly welly well, that's quite enough fer now. More Who to follow, as I was to get The Day of the Daleks DVD, don't you hate waiting on post to come???!
Anyway that's another blog entry done.....
For now....
Tarra.....
That's me now...
Seriously...
OK that's enough! :-)
The story starts with the Doctor, Amy and Rory having landed the TARDIS in what appears to be a big hotel with winding corridors, not to mention endless staircases. The Doctor soon comes into contact with three humans and an alien who have been captured and lured into the hotel as well, but the hotel appears to be just a fake as the Doctor believes they are on an alient planet. To make matters worse, there is a monster lurking around which has been possessing the other occupants of the hotel and feeding of their worst fears, which they see realised in the hotel rooms. But the Doctor does his best to put his mega troubleshooting to the fore and try and get to the bottom of this nasty dilemma.
This was a fairly entertaining episode, which starts off strong with the creepy theme of the unknown monster lurking, and the images akin to The Shining with the long narrow corridors, and the peoples fears behind the doors. On the casting side David Walliams making his first appearance as the alien Gibbs (some cool facial make-up there!) who is a compulsive coward and comes from a planet which has been overthrown so many times, and he gives one of the best lines of the story "where we are from, we have a saying: resistance is exhausting!". The rest of the cast are also fine with their small roles as they are slowly taken over by the beast, which turns out to be a minotaur, that is closely related to the Nimon, from the Tom Baker story, The Horns of Nimon. This story also borrows from a few other stories also, with references from The Curse of Fenric where the Doctor makes Amy break her faith in him to ensure the minotaur doesn't take her over, as well as the Weeping Angels from the episodes "Blink", "Flesh and Blood" and "The Time of Angels".
However I wasn't overly impressed with the resolution of the story as I felt in a way the conclusion was a bit of an anti-climax. But the last scene between Amy and Rory more than made up for that, as the Doctor drops them off at their home, and not only that he gives Rory the keys to his favourite car (not sure which one!). The Doctor fears for Amy and Rory that if they continue to travel with him, he might end up getting them killed, so let's them go as he takes off in the TARDIS, once again, alone. But of course you do very much get the feeling that the Doctor hasn't seen the last of Amy and Rory (well for a start they have been confirmed to appear in series seven!) and it won't be before long they will be back in the picture.
So the next episode promises to be a good one as the Doctor revists a familiar face, Craig (played by James Corden) whom he previously lodged with in The Lodger episode. In the episode the Doctor of course encounters one of his oldest foes, the Cybermen, so it will be good to see his old enemy back in the show. Also let's not forget at the start of the sixth series we saw the Doctor 200 years into his future die at the hands of a figure in a spacesuit, and he dies before he can regenerate. So will this be the end of the Doctor??? Well most likely not, as they said in the fifth series, time can be written, even in David Tennant's swansong "The End of Time" he faced certain death, but still managed to regenerate into who we see now as the Doc. So its just another plot device to keep us guessing what will happen to the Doctor, whatever happens we haven't seen the end of the Time Lord yet.
Welly welly well, that's quite enough fer now. More Who to follow, as I was to get The Day of the Daleks DVD, don't you hate waiting on post to come???!
Anyway that's another blog entry done.....
For now....
Tarra.....
That's me now...
Seriously...
OK that's enough! :-)
Sunday 18 September 2011
Thick and fast
I watched the lastest Fast and Furious movie there at the weekend, or Fast 5 as it was called in America, but here they just called it Fast and Furious 5. Its confusing all these different names they have for films!
But anyway while it was not the best in the series, it wasn't the worst either, and it was good to see that some of the original characters are back in it again, especially Dominic Toretto (played by the ice cool Vin Diesel) and even their big clod buddy Vince (Matt Schulze) was back in it this time, having obviously his gunshot wound from the end of the first film.
The plot isn't up to too much but it basically boils down to Toretto, and his good friend Brian (Paul Walker) and his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) busting Toretto out of a prison bus on its way to Lompoc prison, via a death defying car assault. Later on they escape to Rio DiJenaro where they meet up with Vince, who plans to do a job to boost some cars on a train, but the train has DEA agents on it who have been assigned to the vehicles. After they escape from the authorities with some of the vehicles, one in particular has a chip contained in its video screen, which actually details plans on where crimelord Herman Reyes (played by Joaquim de Almeida) keeps his money in vaults worth 100 million dollars, which Dominic plans to steal, so they can get out and set themselves up for the rest of their lives. However an American team the Diplomatic Security Service, lead by the hulky Luke Hobbs (played by Dwayne Johnson, who has the build sneakily enough of a wrestler, so I wonder what his nickname is!) tracks down Toretto's whereabouts with the intention of arresting him and bringing him to justice as it where.
Fast and Furious 5 is quite an enjoyable flick, and while it goes on about 20 minutes too long, there are some good fun moments as well, especially where Toretto gets his team to plan how they are going to do the robbery, at this point the film is across between Ocean's Eleven and Mission Impossible. Vin Diesel as usual plays Dominic with an almost languid cool, and despite the somewhat simplistic dialogue he is given, he gives Toretto just about enough of a mysterious aura that you like how he interacts with the other characters, and he always seems to be one step ahead. Its almost like watching Patrick McGoohan in the Prisoner, a character who answers a question without actually answering it. Paul Walker, while he isn't the best actor in the world, still does not too badly as Brian O'Conner, who originally was an undercover cop, has given up his life as a law enforcer to help out Toretto as well as keep his relationship with Mia, played by rather nice Jordana Brewster, who is quite good. It was also good to see the return of Matt Schulze who was in the original film as Vince, Toretto's brash friend, although he shows signs of wisdom in this film, and it was a shame that his character was underwritten here. But Dwayne Johnson also deserves a mention too as the DSS agent Luke Hobbs, as physically he's so big that he even imposes himself on Vin! Dwayne also does not too badly with his role, although he does make that usual uneven lurch from trying to capture Toretto guy to eventually helping him. It may not be Johnson's best performance of course, but he isn't too bad an actor though, and it would be worth watching a few other films of his.
But anyways Fast and Furious 5 is fun albeit somewhat forgettable fun, and its hard to say if they will make another one, but I guess they have left it open ended, so FAF6 could well be on the cards (or cars).
So that's ennoooughh for now.
But anyway while it was not the best in the series, it wasn't the worst either, and it was good to see that some of the original characters are back in it again, especially Dominic Toretto (played by the ice cool Vin Diesel) and even their big clod buddy Vince (Matt Schulze) was back in it this time, having obviously his gunshot wound from the end of the first film.
The plot isn't up to too much but it basically boils down to Toretto, and his good friend Brian (Paul Walker) and his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) busting Toretto out of a prison bus on its way to Lompoc prison, via a death defying car assault. Later on they escape to Rio DiJenaro where they meet up with Vince, who plans to do a job to boost some cars on a train, but the train has DEA agents on it who have been assigned to the vehicles. After they escape from the authorities with some of the vehicles, one in particular has a chip contained in its video screen, which actually details plans on where crimelord Herman Reyes (played by Joaquim de Almeida) keeps his money in vaults worth 100 million dollars, which Dominic plans to steal, so they can get out and set themselves up for the rest of their lives. However an American team the Diplomatic Security Service, lead by the hulky Luke Hobbs (played by Dwayne Johnson, who has the build sneakily enough of a wrestler, so I wonder what his nickname is!) tracks down Toretto's whereabouts with the intention of arresting him and bringing him to justice as it where.
Fast and Furious 5 is quite an enjoyable flick, and while it goes on about 20 minutes too long, there are some good fun moments as well, especially where Toretto gets his team to plan how they are going to do the robbery, at this point the film is across between Ocean's Eleven and Mission Impossible. Vin Diesel as usual plays Dominic with an almost languid cool, and despite the somewhat simplistic dialogue he is given, he gives Toretto just about enough of a mysterious aura that you like how he interacts with the other characters, and he always seems to be one step ahead. Its almost like watching Patrick McGoohan in the Prisoner, a character who answers a question without actually answering it. Paul Walker, while he isn't the best actor in the world, still does not too badly as Brian O'Conner, who originally was an undercover cop, has given up his life as a law enforcer to help out Toretto as well as keep his relationship with Mia, played by rather nice Jordana Brewster, who is quite good. It was also good to see the return of Matt Schulze who was in the original film as Vince, Toretto's brash friend, although he shows signs of wisdom in this film, and it was a shame that his character was underwritten here. But Dwayne Johnson also deserves a mention too as the DSS agent Luke Hobbs, as physically he's so big that he even imposes himself on Vin! Dwayne also does not too badly with his role, although he does make that usual uneven lurch from trying to capture Toretto guy to eventually helping him. It may not be Johnson's best performance of course, but he isn't too bad an actor though, and it would be worth watching a few other films of his.
But anyways Fast and Furious 5 is fun albeit somewhat forgettable fun, and its hard to say if they will make another one, but I guess they have left it open ended, so FAF6 could well be on the cards (or cars).
So that's ennoooughh for now.
Tinkering with the Davis cup
So that's my tennis weekend at Braehead Arena over, as I went to see Great Britain again there who took on Hungary to win a place in Group I of the Africa/Europe Zone in the Davis Cup.
I went both on the Saturday and the Sunday, so I had an excellent opportunity to catch up with both the singles and the doubles, although the crucial rubber matches took place on Friday and Saturday. On Friday the first two singles matches were between James Ward and the Hungary No.2 Atilla Balazs and Andy Murray and Sebo Kiss. The first match was naturally the tougher of the two, as James Ward took Balazs who is ranked in the top 300, and the match also at one point was threatened when Wardy sprained his ankle, but thankfully despite being sick on court at one point in the 3rd set and dropping that set, he managed to come through and win the match in 4, winning 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. This was a gutsy effort from James Ward and it was also a crucial win for Great Britain to get that first match under their belt.
The second match proved to be also fairly tricky for Andy Murray who took on part time player Sebo Kiss, who has no ranking, and is currently studying law. And by the evidence of this match he made the wrong career choice, as Kiss, while he was outplayed in the first two sets, really found his feet in the 3rd and pushed Andy to a tiebreak, which the Muzza won to seal the match in 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(3). It was a really good performance from an unknown player such as Kiss, and surely it should encourage to carry on playing more tennis, so much so that Andy encouraged him by praising his efforts too.
In the doubles match on Saturday, the upcoming and very talented doubles partnership of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins took on the Hungarian team Atilla Balazs and Kornel Bardoczky. This was a very entertaining tight match, which the two brits managed to seal in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Despite the scoreline it was a tough match and again credit has to be given to Balazs and Bardockzy who themselves are excellent players. It was also really good to see Colin and Ross play in the flesh as I had previously not seen them before on TV or anywhere else. But this match was the key one in securing Great Britain's victory and their move into Africa/Europe Group I.
On Sunday the last two matches were dead rubber matches, so it was the best of 3 sets, and the Muzza was given quite a test in the Hungarian Gyorgy Balazs (brother of Atilla I think!) who pushed him to a first set tiebreak, which Andy won, but in the 2nd set Andy got a break and closed out the match in 7-6(3), 6-3. This was another really good match and it was also good to finally see Andy in action in a real match, as last time when he played Laurent Bram it was just a straight set drubbing. I managed to take some halfway decent pics (not many though) and some shaky vids of the Muzza playing so they will be going up onto Facebook real soon. And onto the final match of the tie, which was between Colin Fleming and Sebo Kiss, who again provided a very entertaining and farily tight contest. Despite being a break down in the 2nd set, Colin managed to break back and take a break himself before winning the match and sealing Hungary's fate in 6-4, 6-3. Overall that's a 5-0 win to Great Britain.
Despite their loss though I really do have to say well done to Hungary as they were all really good talented players, who unfortunately were up against a stronger team in Great Britain. But they did show some real promise, and every match proved to be quite a contest, which made the tie all the more entertaining to watch. But well done to Great Britain, as that's them moving onwards and upwards, and as long as Andy plays with them, they can move further up the ranks, so here's hoping he continues to play.
So quickly to catch up with the other teams results in the Davis Cup world group, France has been defeated by Spain as Rafa lead the team to victory, defeating both Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. However the defending champions Serbia, have unfortunately been knocked out by Argentina, as Novak Djokovic didn't participate in the Friday match, and Victor Troicki lost the match to Del Potro. The doubles team however did throw Serbia a lifeline as did Janko Tipsarevic in his match, but Djokovic who did play on the Sunday, due to his back injury he sustained during the US Open, was forced to retire again as he collapsed in great pain during the 2nd set, trailing 6-7, 0-3 ret. This match marks Djokovic's third loss of the season and second retiral.
Its a great shame for Djokovic who fought so hard to win the US Open only to have to play the Davis cup so soon after the event, he said himself in a press conference last week that he felt it was too much in too little time to play both events. And there is no doubt about the fact that Djokovic this year has played more matches than any other player, so the fatigue and physical strain have finally taken their toll on his body. In fact in his post match interview that he said that he felt the pain in his back even from the start of the US Open and it gradually grew throughout the tournament where it really manifested itself toward the end of the final, so in retrospect it was a miracle that he managed to come through and win the US Open without facing another retiral. So we will just have to wait and see how Djokovic is for the next few tournaments as its possible he may have to take time out from his tennis for now, next up for him is supposed to be the China Open in early October of which he is the defending champion, but it remains to be seen if he will be well enough to play. Anyway all the best to you Djoko, hope you recover soon, although the longer he is out, the more chance it gives other players to win the bigger titles! ;-)
But Spain deserve a big congrats for getting through to the final once again and Argentina also, and it has to be said that Rafa is without doubt the fittest athlete on the men's tour. Despite playing the brutally exhaustive final at the US Open, Rafa still went out on the clay and won both of his rubber round matches for Spain in straight sets no less. So it is sheer testament to his incredible stamina and fitness that he was able to come through both events. And Spain are the hot favourites to win the Davis cup now for sure, although Argentina might have the home advantage and they have in form Del Potro on their side, but on the other hand Spain has Rafa, so I would really have to go with Spain on this. It would also be a great end to the year for Rafa, having lost in 3 of the 4 slams this season, he will have the chance to reclaim the Davis Cup for his country.
Anyway that's enough tennis for now, there a few more tournaments to follow, Toyko and China, Shanghai for the men, also Toyko and Beijing for the ladies.
Till then tarra.
I went both on the Saturday and the Sunday, so I had an excellent opportunity to catch up with both the singles and the doubles, although the crucial rubber matches took place on Friday and Saturday. On Friday the first two singles matches were between James Ward and the Hungary No.2 Atilla Balazs and Andy Murray and Sebo Kiss. The first match was naturally the tougher of the two, as James Ward took Balazs who is ranked in the top 300, and the match also at one point was threatened when Wardy sprained his ankle, but thankfully despite being sick on court at one point in the 3rd set and dropping that set, he managed to come through and win the match in 4, winning 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. This was a gutsy effort from James Ward and it was also a crucial win for Great Britain to get that first match under their belt.
The second match proved to be also fairly tricky for Andy Murray who took on part time player Sebo Kiss, who has no ranking, and is currently studying law. And by the evidence of this match he made the wrong career choice, as Kiss, while he was outplayed in the first two sets, really found his feet in the 3rd and pushed Andy to a tiebreak, which the Muzza won to seal the match in 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(3). It was a really good performance from an unknown player such as Kiss, and surely it should encourage to carry on playing more tennis, so much so that Andy encouraged him by praising his efforts too.
In the doubles match on Saturday, the upcoming and very talented doubles partnership of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins took on the Hungarian team Atilla Balazs and Kornel Bardoczky. This was a very entertaining tight match, which the two brits managed to seal in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Despite the scoreline it was a tough match and again credit has to be given to Balazs and Bardockzy who themselves are excellent players. It was also really good to see Colin and Ross play in the flesh as I had previously not seen them before on TV or anywhere else. But this match was the key one in securing Great Britain's victory and their move into Africa/Europe Group I.
On Sunday the last two matches were dead rubber matches, so it was the best of 3 sets, and the Muzza was given quite a test in the Hungarian Gyorgy Balazs (brother of Atilla I think!) who pushed him to a first set tiebreak, which Andy won, but in the 2nd set Andy got a break and closed out the match in 7-6(3), 6-3. This was another really good match and it was also good to finally see Andy in action in a real match, as last time when he played Laurent Bram it was just a straight set drubbing. I managed to take some halfway decent pics (not many though) and some shaky vids of the Muzza playing so they will be going up onto Facebook real soon. And onto the final match of the tie, which was between Colin Fleming and Sebo Kiss, who again provided a very entertaining and farily tight contest. Despite being a break down in the 2nd set, Colin managed to break back and take a break himself before winning the match and sealing Hungary's fate in 6-4, 6-3. Overall that's a 5-0 win to Great Britain.
Despite their loss though I really do have to say well done to Hungary as they were all really good talented players, who unfortunately were up against a stronger team in Great Britain. But they did show some real promise, and every match proved to be quite a contest, which made the tie all the more entertaining to watch. But well done to Great Britain, as that's them moving onwards and upwards, and as long as Andy plays with them, they can move further up the ranks, so here's hoping he continues to play.
So quickly to catch up with the other teams results in the Davis Cup world group, France has been defeated by Spain as Rafa lead the team to victory, defeating both Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. However the defending champions Serbia, have unfortunately been knocked out by Argentina, as Novak Djokovic didn't participate in the Friday match, and Victor Troicki lost the match to Del Potro. The doubles team however did throw Serbia a lifeline as did Janko Tipsarevic in his match, but Djokovic who did play on the Sunday, due to his back injury he sustained during the US Open, was forced to retire again as he collapsed in great pain during the 2nd set, trailing 6-7, 0-3 ret. This match marks Djokovic's third loss of the season and second retiral.
Its a great shame for Djokovic who fought so hard to win the US Open only to have to play the Davis cup so soon after the event, he said himself in a press conference last week that he felt it was too much in too little time to play both events. And there is no doubt about the fact that Djokovic this year has played more matches than any other player, so the fatigue and physical strain have finally taken their toll on his body. In fact in his post match interview that he said that he felt the pain in his back even from the start of the US Open and it gradually grew throughout the tournament where it really manifested itself toward the end of the final, so in retrospect it was a miracle that he managed to come through and win the US Open without facing another retiral. So we will just have to wait and see how Djokovic is for the next few tournaments as its possible he may have to take time out from his tennis for now, next up for him is supposed to be the China Open in early October of which he is the defending champion, but it remains to be seen if he will be well enough to play. Anyway all the best to you Djoko, hope you recover soon, although the longer he is out, the more chance it gives other players to win the bigger titles! ;-)
But Spain deserve a big congrats for getting through to the final once again and Argentina also, and it has to be said that Rafa is without doubt the fittest athlete on the men's tour. Despite playing the brutally exhaustive final at the US Open, Rafa still went out on the clay and won both of his rubber round matches for Spain in straight sets no less. So it is sheer testament to his incredible stamina and fitness that he was able to come through both events. And Spain are the hot favourites to win the Davis cup now for sure, although Argentina might have the home advantage and they have in form Del Potro on their side, but on the other hand Spain has Rafa, so I would really have to go with Spain on this. It would also be a great end to the year for Rafa, having lost in 3 of the 4 slams this season, he will have the chance to reclaim the Davis Cup for his country.
Anyway that's enough tennis for now, there a few more tournaments to follow, Toyko and China, Shanghai for the men, also Toyko and Beijing for the ladies.
Till then tarra.
Saturday 17 September 2011
Who of old and new
Guess what?? This post has nothing to do with the T word. How good is that?? So any mention of it stops here.
Right, well I was catching up on Doctor Who last week with the latest episode The girl who waited which sees the Doc, Amy and Rory head off to a strange alien planet (as they do) and they meet some weird robots that kill with "kindness" and affects the population with two hearts or something (yep its very confusing) which basically a plague. Anyway to cut a long and rather complex story short, Amy is trapped on the planet, and somehow an older version of herself appears, while Rory comes looking for her, he encounters the old Amy, who has become bitter (not to mention wrinkly) and is pretty handy with a sword, as they cut their way through the bad robots. Meanwhile the Doctor is stranded onboard the TARDIS due to the virus and tries to find a way to save the young (and fit) Amy.
I quite liked this episode, the idea of the older Amy worked quite well, although she claimed she had spent 36 years of her life waiting of Rory and the Doctor to come and get her, but she seemed to hold on well to her marbles, after 36 years you think she would go mad! Karen Gillan's makeup was also pretty good as she looked fairly convincing all aged-up, in fact she might get a bit paranoid wondering if that's how she will look in 30 years time (not that she looked that bad!).
However again the plotlines are forever confounding in their complexity, everything is rattled off to quickly and in the 45 minute format of the show I think they always try to squeeze in too much plot. This again highlights the problem of the new show's format, as one part stories running at 45 minutes each, doesn't allow for much story development, it always has to be cram packed with too many ideas, and some of them don't make much sense. This isn't so much of a problem with the two part stories or the occassional three parters, but I also think at times the writers should take heed of how the original series structure worked and to learn from that, yeah ok they don't have money or time to make 26 episode series anymore, but its a bit annoying when everything in the show has to be rushed. Also with Steven Moffat who just insists on writing everything out of synch and in a backward fashion is also a tad annoying, I like Steven though as a writer as he is clever and has good ideas, and has definitely contributed a great deal to the new series.
But I guess I do miss the old format of the show and ultimately I am a fan more of the show from its old days than I am now. But I am pleased that the show has been brought back to the small screen (well not so small these days) and every week it does give us something that is worth a watch on a Saturday night other cack like the X-Factor, quiz shows and whatever else might be on. But I digress, so just to finish off on the latest Who episode, I quite enjoyed it, so I will look forward to the next episode.
Oh and the old Jon Pertwee classic story The Day of the Daleks is out on DVD already this week, so I've ordered that and will look forward to watching it once it arrives. The Day of the Daleks while not one of Pertwee's absolute best is a pretty good story, which features some fine performances, particularly from Aubrey Woods as the Controller of Earth in the future. It will also feature a remastered version with some new effects and the even more monotonous than usual dalek voices been redone by Nicholas Briggs, who will cut down on the inordinant time it took for the voice actors to deliver the dalek lines in the original! So that will be worth a watch in itself, if you are a Who geeka-phile.
Rrrrrighttt that's enough the now.
Right, well I was catching up on Doctor Who last week with the latest episode The girl who waited which sees the Doc, Amy and Rory head off to a strange alien planet (as they do) and they meet some weird robots that kill with "kindness" and affects the population with two hearts or something (yep its very confusing) which basically a plague. Anyway to cut a long and rather complex story short, Amy is trapped on the planet, and somehow an older version of herself appears, while Rory comes looking for her, he encounters the old Amy, who has become bitter (not to mention wrinkly) and is pretty handy with a sword, as they cut their way through the bad robots. Meanwhile the Doctor is stranded onboard the TARDIS due to the virus and tries to find a way to save the young (and fit) Amy.
I quite liked this episode, the idea of the older Amy worked quite well, although she claimed she had spent 36 years of her life waiting of Rory and the Doctor to come and get her, but she seemed to hold on well to her marbles, after 36 years you think she would go mad! Karen Gillan's makeup was also pretty good as she looked fairly convincing all aged-up, in fact she might get a bit paranoid wondering if that's how she will look in 30 years time (not that she looked that bad!).
However again the plotlines are forever confounding in their complexity, everything is rattled off to quickly and in the 45 minute format of the show I think they always try to squeeze in too much plot. This again highlights the problem of the new show's format, as one part stories running at 45 minutes each, doesn't allow for much story development, it always has to be cram packed with too many ideas, and some of them don't make much sense. This isn't so much of a problem with the two part stories or the occassional three parters, but I also think at times the writers should take heed of how the original series structure worked and to learn from that, yeah ok they don't have money or time to make 26 episode series anymore, but its a bit annoying when everything in the show has to be rushed. Also with Steven Moffat who just insists on writing everything out of synch and in a backward fashion is also a tad annoying, I like Steven though as a writer as he is clever and has good ideas, and has definitely contributed a great deal to the new series.
But I guess I do miss the old format of the show and ultimately I am a fan more of the show from its old days than I am now. But I am pleased that the show has been brought back to the small screen (well not so small these days) and every week it does give us something that is worth a watch on a Saturday night other cack like the X-Factor, quiz shows and whatever else might be on. But I digress, so just to finish off on the latest Who episode, I quite enjoyed it, so I will look forward to the next episode.
Oh and the old Jon Pertwee classic story The Day of the Daleks is out on DVD already this week, so I've ordered that and will look forward to watching it once it arrives. The Day of the Daleks while not one of Pertwee's absolute best is a pretty good story, which features some fine performances, particularly from Aubrey Woods as the Controller of Earth in the future. It will also feature a remastered version with some new effects and the even more monotonous than usual dalek voices been redone by Nicholas Briggs, who will cut down on the inordinant time it took for the voice actors to deliver the dalek lines in the original! So that will be worth a watch in itself, if you are a Who geeka-phile.
Rrrrrighttt that's enough the now.
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Flushing Meadows Part 7.2: Heavyweight champion tennis
Now onto the men's US Open singles final which was between the worlds two best tennis players, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as they slugged it out for the title.
And slug was the right word indeed as these two went at it not so much hammer and tongs, but sledgehammer and battering rams in what was an absolute epic battle of immense proportions. This match was of unrivalled quality and was without a doubt the best match of 2011, as it even toppled the French Open semi final between Djokovic and Federer for quality. If there is a better match to come this year, its going to take some doing to outdo this one!
From the first game we could see we were going to be in for a treat as Rafa came onto court with great purpose and power and moved to break Djokovic 2-0, who after broke straight back, and much to Rafa's shock and surprise he rattled off the next 6 games to take the opening set. In the second the men traded breaks once again, with Rafa breaking Djokovic straight away again and then Djoky breaking straight back, until they were all even at 4-4, but on Rafa's serve Djokovic broke again and sealed out the set. In the third set it was a more evenly pegged contest, but again breaks of serve aplenty, but this time Rafa wasn't going to give up as he pushed it to a thrilling tiebeaker, which he won to seal the 3rd. However despite getting his trainer onto court at the start of the 4th set for back pain, Djokovic managed to fight the pain and exhaustion to produce an unbelievable effort, in breaking Rafa in half to close out his first grand slam US Open title, winning in 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(3-7), 6-1 in an exhaustive and punishing 4 hours and 10 minutes (which was four times longer than the ladies final!). It seems almost incredible in a way that Djokovic managed to win that 4th set and the title by fighting through his growing back problem, but I think going for his big shots from the back of the court, was enough to overpower Nadal at that point.
To say this match was amazing would be an understatement, right from the start you could see Rafa's intentions to boss Djokovic about and try and take the game to him. But Djokovic having already beaten Rafa 5 times in a row was not about to let him, and he fought back with some amazing play, both men also traded some of the greatest rallies you will ever see. In fact the rallies were so incredible, you thought at certain points that either man had hit the definite winner, but then they carried keeping the ball in play until the point was eventually won. And while the first two sets showed a pretty easy scoreline for Djokovic, they were anything but as both those sets were packed with long duece games before either man won the game or the break. Rafa also in this match produced an unbelievable effort, and out of all their matches this year, it was undoubtedly the best Rafa played against Djokovic this year, it was just a shame he wasn't able to push it to a deciding set after winning the 3rd, which must have been the hardest fought set of his entire career! Its a testament to Rafa's fighting spirit to carry and fight for every point and play until the last ball.
But I think Djokovic given his back strain wanted to try and close it out as fast as he could without taking it further, as maybe a retiral would have been on the cards. The match was also noteworthy not only for the amazing quality of play the two men displayed but also how hard they were hitting the ball, as the rallies grew more and more intense, it was tough to tell who was hitting the ball hardest or grunting the loudest. One thing for sure is that both men had the New York crowd in the palms of their hands, as they metaphorically blew the roof of the place (well Ashe stadium of course doesn't have a roof!) and I'm sure the audience made enough noise loud enough for people in New Jersey to have heard them!
Anyway so that's Djokovic now truly cemented his World No.1 ranking, as he has now defeated Rafa six times in a row, and two of them were at grand slam level. And despite my misgivings and wariness of his unending winning streak earlier this year, I really have to say that Djokovic totally earned his win in that match today, and he has spent the whole year earning that ranking, and he thoroughly deserves it. Its a shame for Rafa, as he now knows what it must feel like for Roger and Andy, having stepped into their shoes and faced a virtually invincible opponent. And its not like Djokovic is an infallible player, because he isn't and even throughout this tournament he showed signs of fatigue and struggle, and again he dropped four sets, as earlier this year at the Australian Open he dropped only one. But when Djokovic faces Rafa now, he just knows what to do and how to win against him. And this has definitely left Rafa confused, rattled and most probably irritated at how he can beat Djokovic, its something he will definitely have to work at, maybe next year he can get his own back, but for this year I think its all about the Djoker and we know it and so does he.
So that's the US Open over for another year and it has been quite a tournament for both the ladies and men's and it also sees two new champions. But of course there is plenty of tennis to follow with some more events on both the mens and ladies tournaments.
Until then that's enough for now. Next up I need to do some posts that have nothing to do with tennis, well until the Davis Cup and that's this weekend, it never ends!
Ta the now anyway.
And slug was the right word indeed as these two went at it not so much hammer and tongs, but sledgehammer and battering rams in what was an absolute epic battle of immense proportions. This match was of unrivalled quality and was without a doubt the best match of 2011, as it even toppled the French Open semi final between Djokovic and Federer for quality. If there is a better match to come this year, its going to take some doing to outdo this one!
From the first game we could see we were going to be in for a treat as Rafa came onto court with great purpose and power and moved to break Djokovic 2-0, who after broke straight back, and much to Rafa's shock and surprise he rattled off the next 6 games to take the opening set. In the second the men traded breaks once again, with Rafa breaking Djokovic straight away again and then Djoky breaking straight back, until they were all even at 4-4, but on Rafa's serve Djokovic broke again and sealed out the set. In the third set it was a more evenly pegged contest, but again breaks of serve aplenty, but this time Rafa wasn't going to give up as he pushed it to a thrilling tiebeaker, which he won to seal the 3rd. However despite getting his trainer onto court at the start of the 4th set for back pain, Djokovic managed to fight the pain and exhaustion to produce an unbelievable effort, in breaking Rafa in half to close out his first grand slam US Open title, winning in 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(3-7), 6-1 in an exhaustive and punishing 4 hours and 10 minutes (which was four times longer than the ladies final!). It seems almost incredible in a way that Djokovic managed to win that 4th set and the title by fighting through his growing back problem, but I think going for his big shots from the back of the court, was enough to overpower Nadal at that point.
To say this match was amazing would be an understatement, right from the start you could see Rafa's intentions to boss Djokovic about and try and take the game to him. But Djokovic having already beaten Rafa 5 times in a row was not about to let him, and he fought back with some amazing play, both men also traded some of the greatest rallies you will ever see. In fact the rallies were so incredible, you thought at certain points that either man had hit the definite winner, but then they carried keeping the ball in play until the point was eventually won. And while the first two sets showed a pretty easy scoreline for Djokovic, they were anything but as both those sets were packed with long duece games before either man won the game or the break. Rafa also in this match produced an unbelievable effort, and out of all their matches this year, it was undoubtedly the best Rafa played against Djokovic this year, it was just a shame he wasn't able to push it to a deciding set after winning the 3rd, which must have been the hardest fought set of his entire career! Its a testament to Rafa's fighting spirit to carry and fight for every point and play until the last ball.
But I think Djokovic given his back strain wanted to try and close it out as fast as he could without taking it further, as maybe a retiral would have been on the cards. The match was also noteworthy not only for the amazing quality of play the two men displayed but also how hard they were hitting the ball, as the rallies grew more and more intense, it was tough to tell who was hitting the ball hardest or grunting the loudest. One thing for sure is that both men had the New York crowd in the palms of their hands, as they metaphorically blew the roof of the place (well Ashe stadium of course doesn't have a roof!) and I'm sure the audience made enough noise loud enough for people in New Jersey to have heard them!
Anyway so that's Djokovic now truly cemented his World No.1 ranking, as he has now defeated Rafa six times in a row, and two of them were at grand slam level. And despite my misgivings and wariness of his unending winning streak earlier this year, I really have to say that Djokovic totally earned his win in that match today, and he has spent the whole year earning that ranking, and he thoroughly deserves it. Its a shame for Rafa, as he now knows what it must feel like for Roger and Andy, having stepped into their shoes and faced a virtually invincible opponent. And its not like Djokovic is an infallible player, because he isn't and even throughout this tournament he showed signs of fatigue and struggle, and again he dropped four sets, as earlier this year at the Australian Open he dropped only one. But when Djokovic faces Rafa now, he just knows what to do and how to win against him. And this has definitely left Rafa confused, rattled and most probably irritated at how he can beat Djokovic, its something he will definitely have to work at, maybe next year he can get his own back, but for this year I think its all about the Djoker and we know it and so does he.
So that's the US Open over for another year and it has been quite a tournament for both the ladies and men's and it also sees two new champions. But of course there is plenty of tennis to follow with some more events on both the mens and ladies tournaments.
Until then that's enough for now. Next up I need to do some posts that have nothing to do with tennis, well until the Davis Cup and that's this weekend, it never ends!
Ta the now anyway.
Flushing Meadows Part 7.1: Did not see that one coming!
Well in order to keep down the length of both posts to a reasonable size, and since these posts are purely about the US Open 2011 Ladies and Mens singles finals they both deserve their own entries, so here goes with the ladies first.
So the ladies final was setup between the former champion Serena Williams and the number 9 seed Sam Stosur. Naturally Serena went into this tournament and into the final as the hot favourite to win, and she herself had played some terrific tennis throughout the 2 weeks at Flushing Meadows to get to the final. However that all changed when she faced Sam Stosur, who was in the form of her life, and was firing on all cylinders, as she raced through the first set breaking Serena twice in the process and took the set in just under 30 minutes. In the second set, we expected a fightback from Serena who in the first game showed signs of form until she hit a winner in the middle of which she shouted "come on!!" before Stosur could get her racquet to it, which was a code violation. As a result the umpire Eva Esderaki awarded the point to Stosur which also gave her the game and the break, and then Serena went ballistic as she launched into a tirade against Eva saying such things as "don't even look at me, you are a hater and are unattractive inside!". Perhaps as a result of her angry outbursts, Serena's level didn't really improve, and Stosur broke her again at 3-4, and at 5-3, Sam secured her first grand slam title by hitting an incredible forehand winner down the right side of the court on Serena's serve, winning in 6-2, 6-3.
Although the match was short on length, it certainly didn't lack in drama, and in a way it was unfortunate that Serena's outburst threatened to overshadow Sam Stosur's terrific achievement. But Sam deserves nothing but credit for her win as she is a really nice girl, with a professional attitude, and she played outstanding tennis, hitting incredible forehands and all sorts of winners, and she hardly lost a point on her own serve, and she moved with tremendous speed and accuracy. In fact I am so glad that Serena didn't win as she didn't deserve to in my opinion with that outburst, and in general I'm not so keen on her attitude anyway. To be fair Serena was quite gracious to Sam afterwards and they shared a laugh and smile while they were having their picture taken. Anyway as a result Serena has gotten off lightly with a fine of $2000 for her tirade, which was an improvement on her ban back in 2009.
So that's another new grand slam champion, which has been one of the best things about this year in the ladies game, there is no dominant player, and it has left the woman's field wide open for someone to come in take a major. Serena Williams however was really surprising in that final, as she seemed sluggish right from the get go, which is strange considering the incredible tennis she played through the tournament. But Sam Stosur definitely has proved to herself to any critics how capable she is as a player, as she is already a grand slam doubles champion, and now she has proven it in the singles. The only trouble for Sam is like the other first time slam champions this year such as Li Na and Petra Kvitova, is can Sam maintain such a high level from now on??? So far Li Na and Petra have both seriously struggled with their careers ever since winning at the French Open and Wimbledon, in a few events they have went out in the first matches, and especially at the US Open they both went in the first round! So it could raise the same concern for Sam, will she fall foul to this trend as well? It remains to be seen, but I hope not, as it would be great to see a player rise above the pressure and expectations and deliver the goods so to speak.
But anyway that's another US Open ladies tournament over with for another year and what a 2 weeks it has been as there have been plenty of thrilling matches throughout.
And on that note, its now over to the men......
So the ladies final was setup between the former champion Serena Williams and the number 9 seed Sam Stosur. Naturally Serena went into this tournament and into the final as the hot favourite to win, and she herself had played some terrific tennis throughout the 2 weeks at Flushing Meadows to get to the final. However that all changed when she faced Sam Stosur, who was in the form of her life, and was firing on all cylinders, as she raced through the first set breaking Serena twice in the process and took the set in just under 30 minutes. In the second set, we expected a fightback from Serena who in the first game showed signs of form until she hit a winner in the middle of which she shouted "come on!!" before Stosur could get her racquet to it, which was a code violation. As a result the umpire Eva Esderaki awarded the point to Stosur which also gave her the game and the break, and then Serena went ballistic as she launched into a tirade against Eva saying such things as "don't even look at me, you are a hater and are unattractive inside!". Perhaps as a result of her angry outbursts, Serena's level didn't really improve, and Stosur broke her again at 3-4, and at 5-3, Sam secured her first grand slam title by hitting an incredible forehand winner down the right side of the court on Serena's serve, winning in 6-2, 6-3.
Although the match was short on length, it certainly didn't lack in drama, and in a way it was unfortunate that Serena's outburst threatened to overshadow Sam Stosur's terrific achievement. But Sam deserves nothing but credit for her win as she is a really nice girl, with a professional attitude, and she played outstanding tennis, hitting incredible forehands and all sorts of winners, and she hardly lost a point on her own serve, and she moved with tremendous speed and accuracy. In fact I am so glad that Serena didn't win as she didn't deserve to in my opinion with that outburst, and in general I'm not so keen on her attitude anyway. To be fair Serena was quite gracious to Sam afterwards and they shared a laugh and smile while they were having their picture taken. Anyway as a result Serena has gotten off lightly with a fine of $2000 for her tirade, which was an improvement on her ban back in 2009.
So that's another new grand slam champion, which has been one of the best things about this year in the ladies game, there is no dominant player, and it has left the woman's field wide open for someone to come in take a major. Serena Williams however was really surprising in that final, as she seemed sluggish right from the get go, which is strange considering the incredible tennis she played through the tournament. But Sam Stosur definitely has proved to herself to any critics how capable she is as a player, as she is already a grand slam doubles champion, and now she has proven it in the singles. The only trouble for Sam is like the other first time slam champions this year such as Li Na and Petra Kvitova, is can Sam maintain such a high level from now on??? So far Li Na and Petra have both seriously struggled with their careers ever since winning at the French Open and Wimbledon, in a few events they have went out in the first matches, and especially at the US Open they both went in the first round! So it could raise the same concern for Sam, will she fall foul to this trend as well? It remains to be seen, but I hope not, as it would be great to see a player rise above the pressure and expectations and deliver the goods so to speak.
But anyway that's another US Open ladies tournament over with for another year and what a 2 weeks it has been as there have been plenty of thrilling matches throughout.
And on that note, its now over to the men......
Sunday 11 September 2011
Flushing Meadows Part 6.2: When it rains it pours
OK, so onto the men's semi finals which were altogether a tougher, lengthier more demanding affair, as the top four players in the world fought it out against each other.
The first match was certainly the more superior of the two as Djokovic and Federer promised to deliver an epic encounter and they didn't disappoint, as the two of them produce an amazing encounter, which stretched over 5 sets. At the start Federer definitely took the advantage after winning the first set tiebeaker, he broke early in the 2nd set, despite being broken back, Federer broke again to take the second set. However Djokovic inevitably fought back to even match to make it 2 sets all in the decider, despite Federer being a break up at 5-3 and being in a position to win the match, double faulted to hand the break back to Djokovic, and before we know it was 5-5 all and Djokovic secured a break of his own, which after nearly four hours, the World No.1 defeated Federer in 6(7)-7(9), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. This was quite a match without a doubt and it marked the first time this year that Djokovic was taken the distance in a grand slam match. It really does say something about Djokovic's perseverance, talent and ability to pull a win out of the most seemingly impossibly tasks, but I have to say he really deserved the win, he certainly earnt it. Djokovic certainly isn't playing to the same invincible level he was earlier this year, fatigue and tiredness has gripped him over the past month or so after having played over 60 matches. But his ability to win a match under such pressure really is quite remarkable, and it has secured his 3rd US Open final.
So onto the next semi final encounter between Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal, Rafa naturally leads their head to head which was 12-4 to the Raf coming into this match. And while it was a match of mixed quality, it certainly had some excellent moments in it as well, especially in the latter half where a lacklustre Andy Murray suddenly decided to get involved in the match. Rafa looked to be in utterly formidable form coming into this match after he demolished Andy Roddick, and right enough he kept up that form in the match (I don't think there is a player who uses the passing shot more than Rafa!). After Rafa secured a break in the first set he took it, and in the 2nd set Andy's mindset when walkies as it does when he serves poorly and let Rafa take it with more ease. However in the 3rd set Andy fought back and broke Rafa's serve early on, only to have Rafa break back, but Andy battled to break again at 5-3 to take the set. In the 4th set despite a promising start especially a terrific game at 1-1 all on Rafa's serve, with Andy trying to convert another break point, which didn't come off. By then the toll of playing back to back matches in two days started to prove to be a bit too much as Andy struggled to hold his serve at 5-2 down, his back troubles emerged which started toward the end of his Isner match, as Rafa broke Muzza's service game to love to secure his place in his 2nd US Open final and the final scoreline reading 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
But overall the match belied its scoreline as it was quite an interesting and occassionally thrilling encounter especially in the 3rd and 4th sets, where Andy stopped playing naff tennis and started to produce some great rallies, vollies, passing shots and backhand winners to counteract Rafa's frequent brilliance. But I actualy thought it was a much better match than the Wimbledon semi-final which became more painful to watch as it went on, at least Andy mounted a fightback this time rather than start strong then go downhill as it went on. However it has to be said Andy intermittently produced some absolutely brilliant tennis as well as awful, its just that lack of consistency that plagues him that is the problem, as well as his insistance at whinging every time he hits a bad point or is broken. Andy has tried a bit more this year to hold his composure, but he sure struggled to do that in this match, as he kept yelling and muttering to himself, it certainly doesn't help him, although I do find his talking to himself quite amusing sometimes. But someone needs to give him a good talking to methinks! ;-)
Regardless of all that, Andy actually put up a good fight and for the most part played a good match against Rafa, especially considering he had previously played such a gruelling match the day before. And looking back I think while the main reason he lost the match was simply due to Rafa being the better player, but I also think it had a little in part to do with Andy having to play two gruelling matches back to back. I don't think Rafa would have envied playing John Isner the day before either as he found out at the French Open, and just maybe things might have been different if the tables were turned, but then again maybe not. But I think the poor scheduling of the US Open definitely didn't help matters, they couldn't have helped with the rain delays, but the way the draw works with Djokovic and Federer getting a day off between matches while the bottom half didn't in the second week, just wasn't fair. And to ask a player to play two tough matches back to back in a slam over two days is quite a lot. Inevitably Rafa had the easier match against Roddick and that gave him quite an advantage in expending less energy and time on court. But on the day I guess Andy struggled with his serve, himself and his back, its a great shame but to be expected.
Regardless Andy has finished his grand slam season having reached a final and three semi finals which is in itself quite an achievement. And there are plenty more tournaments coming up this season, particularly the Masters in Shanghai, which is Andy is defending champion of, and Paris, as well as the big finale the ATP World Finals in London, so Andy will have his chances there, in fact it would signal the best end to his year if he won in London, buttttttt that's a while and wayyy off yet, and he will still have to go through the top 3 to do it. Slam or no slam, Andy's efforts are always considerable and he is a great fighter no doubt, and 2011 ain't over yet, so we will see what else is up for him next.
So that sets us up another tasty final between the world's two best tennis players, Rafa and Djoko, who's going to win?????? My money is definitely on Djokovic, because if for no better reasons, he is the World No.1, he is currently the best player in the world, and he has beaten Rafa five times in a row, 4 in Masters and 1 at slam level, so that's good enough for me. However Rafa is back on form just now, and I think it will be a tighter match than the one at Wimbledon, but I do think Djokovic will prevail, as he has shown time and time again how to deal with adversity this year. So I'm guessing it will be Djokovic in 5, maybe a very tight 4.
Soooooooooooooooooooo that's the end........ more soon when the silveware lifters are revealed.
The first match was certainly the more superior of the two as Djokovic and Federer promised to deliver an epic encounter and they didn't disappoint, as the two of them produce an amazing encounter, which stretched over 5 sets. At the start Federer definitely took the advantage after winning the first set tiebeaker, he broke early in the 2nd set, despite being broken back, Federer broke again to take the second set. However Djokovic inevitably fought back to even match to make it 2 sets all in the decider, despite Federer being a break up at 5-3 and being in a position to win the match, double faulted to hand the break back to Djokovic, and before we know it was 5-5 all and Djokovic secured a break of his own, which after nearly four hours, the World No.1 defeated Federer in 6(7)-7(9), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. This was quite a match without a doubt and it marked the first time this year that Djokovic was taken the distance in a grand slam match. It really does say something about Djokovic's perseverance, talent and ability to pull a win out of the most seemingly impossibly tasks, but I have to say he really deserved the win, he certainly earnt it. Djokovic certainly isn't playing to the same invincible level he was earlier this year, fatigue and tiredness has gripped him over the past month or so after having played over 60 matches. But his ability to win a match under such pressure really is quite remarkable, and it has secured his 3rd US Open final.
So onto the next semi final encounter between Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal, Rafa naturally leads their head to head which was 12-4 to the Raf coming into this match. And while it was a match of mixed quality, it certainly had some excellent moments in it as well, especially in the latter half where a lacklustre Andy Murray suddenly decided to get involved in the match. Rafa looked to be in utterly formidable form coming into this match after he demolished Andy Roddick, and right enough he kept up that form in the match (I don't think there is a player who uses the passing shot more than Rafa!). After Rafa secured a break in the first set he took it, and in the 2nd set Andy's mindset when walkies as it does when he serves poorly and let Rafa take it with more ease. However in the 3rd set Andy fought back and broke Rafa's serve early on, only to have Rafa break back, but Andy battled to break again at 5-3 to take the set. In the 4th set despite a promising start especially a terrific game at 1-1 all on Rafa's serve, with Andy trying to convert another break point, which didn't come off. By then the toll of playing back to back matches in two days started to prove to be a bit too much as Andy struggled to hold his serve at 5-2 down, his back troubles emerged which started toward the end of his Isner match, as Rafa broke Muzza's service game to love to secure his place in his 2nd US Open final and the final scoreline reading 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
But overall the match belied its scoreline as it was quite an interesting and occassionally thrilling encounter especially in the 3rd and 4th sets, where Andy stopped playing naff tennis and started to produce some great rallies, vollies, passing shots and backhand winners to counteract Rafa's frequent brilliance. But I actualy thought it was a much better match than the Wimbledon semi-final which became more painful to watch as it went on, at least Andy mounted a fightback this time rather than start strong then go downhill as it went on. However it has to be said Andy intermittently produced some absolutely brilliant tennis as well as awful, its just that lack of consistency that plagues him that is the problem, as well as his insistance at whinging every time he hits a bad point or is broken. Andy has tried a bit more this year to hold his composure, but he sure struggled to do that in this match, as he kept yelling and muttering to himself, it certainly doesn't help him, although I do find his talking to himself quite amusing sometimes. But someone needs to give him a good talking to methinks! ;-)
Regardless of all that, Andy actually put up a good fight and for the most part played a good match against Rafa, especially considering he had previously played such a gruelling match the day before. And looking back I think while the main reason he lost the match was simply due to Rafa being the better player, but I also think it had a little in part to do with Andy having to play two gruelling matches back to back. I don't think Rafa would have envied playing John Isner the day before either as he found out at the French Open, and just maybe things might have been different if the tables were turned, but then again maybe not. But I think the poor scheduling of the US Open definitely didn't help matters, they couldn't have helped with the rain delays, but the way the draw works with Djokovic and Federer getting a day off between matches while the bottom half didn't in the second week, just wasn't fair. And to ask a player to play two tough matches back to back in a slam over two days is quite a lot. Inevitably Rafa had the easier match against Roddick and that gave him quite an advantage in expending less energy and time on court. But on the day I guess Andy struggled with his serve, himself and his back, its a great shame but to be expected.
Regardless Andy has finished his grand slam season having reached a final and three semi finals which is in itself quite an achievement. And there are plenty more tournaments coming up this season, particularly the Masters in Shanghai, which is Andy is defending champion of, and Paris, as well as the big finale the ATP World Finals in London, so Andy will have his chances there, in fact it would signal the best end to his year if he won in London, buttttttt that's a while and wayyy off yet, and he will still have to go through the top 3 to do it. Slam or no slam, Andy's efforts are always considerable and he is a great fighter no doubt, and 2011 ain't over yet, so we will see what else is up for him next.
So that sets us up another tasty final between the world's two best tennis players, Rafa and Djoko, who's going to win?????? My money is definitely on Djokovic, because if for no better reasons, he is the World No.1, he is currently the best player in the world, and he has beaten Rafa five times in a row, 4 in Masters and 1 at slam level, so that's good enough for me. However Rafa is back on form just now, and I think it will be a tighter match than the one at Wimbledon, but I do think Djokovic will prevail, as he has shown time and time again how to deal with adversity this year. So I'm guessing it will be Djokovic in 5, maybe a very tight 4.
Soooooooooooooooooooo that's the end........ more soon when the silveware lifters are revealed.
Flushing Meadows Part 6.1: When it rains it pours
So that's another men's and ladies semi finals over at the US Open and we were treated pretty well with some fine tennis.
Starting with the ladies, a very much anticipated semi final between the current World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and 13 time grand slam champion Serena Williams who's on the comeback. And right from the start you could tell who the better player on court was, and it wasn't Caroline, as Serena dominated the 21 year old from the very first point. In the first set Serena in typical fashion broke early on and took it in 6-2, in the second set Caroline did her best to fight back from a break down, but once again Serena proved to have too much for her and now she's in the final with a chance to win her 4th US Open title. I feel in a way that Caroline is almost like the female Andy Murray, well except more chirpy of course! I say that because in a way she is also very keen to win her first major, she puts in the hard graft, but she is up against other players who have pipped her to the post, so for every Caroline Wozniacki, there is a Kim Clijsters, Li Na or Serena Williams who get in her way first. So it must be tough to be the World no.1 and not have won a slam to back it up, Jelena Jankovic and Dinira Safina similarly were also No.1s who also never won a major, will know how it feels. But Caroline will also have other chances, although while Serena is still around she may not get one, but Serena may only have a couple more years in her before she retires.
In the other ladies match, Sam Stosur took on the wildcard Angeliq Kerber who amazingly pulled through to her first grand slam semi final. Keber put up a good fight against Stosur but it was the 7th seed who had the upper hand in the end and sealed the match after 3 sets in 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. I do feel a bit understandably annoyed for Sam Stosur though that her match got less publicity because she played on the Grandstand, instead of maybe the Louis Armstrong stadium, which had water damage. Again this was in part due to the organisers incompetence in refusing to provide covers for the courts simply because they don't look nice!! Excuse me, but if they help keep the court dry who gives a shit what they look like!! But the Grandstand is a good size stadium, and Sam definitely had a terrific crowd and a great atmosphere to back her.
So this will be Sam's second slam final, and her first US Open final, which is a great achievement in itself, but I don't envy the task that lies ahead of her to try and take out the former reigning 3 time champion. Can Sam win today????? Nahhhhh. Sadly not, I think Serena will have too much game for her, in fact I think it will be the same result as it was in their final in Toronto, 6-4, 6-2 to Serena. However I might be wrong, if Sam plays well enough she could push it to a decider, which would make for a better match, and Sam herself has a big serve and she is no stick insect as she has a powerful build, but she has to serve well to have any chance. But it won't make difference to the outcome as I think it will be Serena who will be lifting that silverware at the end of the day. Regardless of the outcome I think it will be worth a watch and I hope it isn't too bad a defeat for Sam, its also the last slam of the season, and so far the ladies slam finals have been excellent, so it would be great to see the season finish off with a great one.
So as this post is exceedingly long as it is, I'm splitting into two, now fer the men's tennis.....
Starting with the ladies, a very much anticipated semi final between the current World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and 13 time grand slam champion Serena Williams who's on the comeback. And right from the start you could tell who the better player on court was, and it wasn't Caroline, as Serena dominated the 21 year old from the very first point. In the first set Serena in typical fashion broke early on and took it in 6-2, in the second set Caroline did her best to fight back from a break down, but once again Serena proved to have too much for her and now she's in the final with a chance to win her 4th US Open title. I feel in a way that Caroline is almost like the female Andy Murray, well except more chirpy of course! I say that because in a way she is also very keen to win her first major, she puts in the hard graft, but she is up against other players who have pipped her to the post, so for every Caroline Wozniacki, there is a Kim Clijsters, Li Na or Serena Williams who get in her way first. So it must be tough to be the World no.1 and not have won a slam to back it up, Jelena Jankovic and Dinira Safina similarly were also No.1s who also never won a major, will know how it feels. But Caroline will also have other chances, although while Serena is still around she may not get one, but Serena may only have a couple more years in her before she retires.
In the other ladies match, Sam Stosur took on the wildcard Angeliq Kerber who amazingly pulled through to her first grand slam semi final. Keber put up a good fight against Stosur but it was the 7th seed who had the upper hand in the end and sealed the match after 3 sets in 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. I do feel a bit understandably annoyed for Sam Stosur though that her match got less publicity because she played on the Grandstand, instead of maybe the Louis Armstrong stadium, which had water damage. Again this was in part due to the organisers incompetence in refusing to provide covers for the courts simply because they don't look nice!! Excuse me, but if they help keep the court dry who gives a shit what they look like!! But the Grandstand is a good size stadium, and Sam definitely had a terrific crowd and a great atmosphere to back her.
So this will be Sam's second slam final, and her first US Open final, which is a great achievement in itself, but I don't envy the task that lies ahead of her to try and take out the former reigning 3 time champion. Can Sam win today????? Nahhhhh. Sadly not, I think Serena will have too much game for her, in fact I think it will be the same result as it was in their final in Toronto, 6-4, 6-2 to Serena. However I might be wrong, if Sam plays well enough she could push it to a decider, which would make for a better match, and Sam herself has a big serve and she is no stick insect as she has a powerful build, but she has to serve well to have any chance. But it won't make difference to the outcome as I think it will be Serena who will be lifting that silverware at the end of the day. Regardless of the outcome I think it will be worth a watch and I hope it isn't too bad a defeat for Sam, its also the last slam of the season, and so far the ladies slam finals have been excellent, so it would be great to see the season finish off with a great one.
So as this post is exceedingly long as it is, I'm splitting into two, now fer the men's tennis.....
Friday 9 September 2011
Flushing Meadows Part 5: The fab four!
So Day 12 of the US Open is pretty much stitched up which featured two very much anticipated quarter finals matches between Andy Murray and John Isner, and Rafa Nadal vs Andy Roddick, so its the remaining yanks against the Scot and the Spaniard. So who came out on top????
Well in the first QF match, the Muzza had to take on the giant serving giant John Isner, who made his first grand slam quarter final debut in this match. Isner had only played Andy once before this match at the Australian Open last year and the giant American got beat in straight sets, but this encounter was somewhat tougher. Andy early on in the match took a two set lead as he came out very strong and secured a break on Isner's serve at 5-5, and in the 2nd set Andy broke early to take it, however in the 3rd set Andy dropped his serve and then Isner rose his level and before we knew it, we were into a 4th set. The 4th set was a far more tense even pegged affair as the two men fought it out, with Andy surviving a scare at break point on his own serve at 4-4, they eventually went to a tiebreak. In the tiebreak I must confess I thought Isner would be the hot favourite to win it, but Andy served superbly in the breaker and quickly took a double mini break lead and the match in 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2). Overall it was a very good match with plenty of tense close points and I think John Isner definitely deserves credit for his excellent performance not only in this match but throughout the tournament.
So that's Andy through to his fourth consecutive grand slam semi final this year, the first time in his career he has managed to achieve that, which in itself is no mean feat. But can he take it those two steps further, get to the final and win???????? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, time will need to answer that one. So I will leave that down to the man upstairs and the four guys on court tomorrow and the two guys on court come Monday night. But so far despite a few wobbles I have to say Andy has had a very impressive US Open tournament, and he has definitely worked on improving his serve which is really good, but he still has struggled to keep it consistently high. However his 1st serve percentages in his Lopez match were 76% and his match with John Isner was 68%, which is pretty impressive, he also managed to keep his unforced errors down in those matches. But can he keep it up over the next two matches, that is the question.
One thing I do know for sure is that Andy will face Rafa in the semi final. And I have to say I do fear for Andy a bit, because so far Rafa has been formidable in this tournament, as he has just ruthlessly dismissed Andy Roddick in their match in straight sets, with a comprehensive win in 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 (of course Muzza did same to Roddick at Queens). Rafa hasn't dropped a set yet and looks superb, Andy has dropped three. Regardless of that though I don't necessarily think tomorrow will be a cakewalk for Rafa, in fact it could be quite the opposite, but I am not entirely convinced that Andy can beat him. However rather than make any assumptions (and make an ass of umption!) time will tell on this one, as I've watched too many matches this year to unrealistically get my hopes up. I just hope Andy can raise his game that bit higher than he did at Wimbledon, and if he does make a mistake then not to dwell on it and just get on with playing the next point. Another factor in Rafa's favour tomorrow could also be that he spent about only 2 hours on court, so he could be that bit more refreshed for the semis match tomorrow, than Andy is.
Achh well you never know, Andy has beaten Rafa in the semis at the US Open three years ago, but Rafa has moved on as a player on hard courts since then. But I do get frustrated for Andy when Rafa beats him in the slams, as I really do think he deserves to win a major as he trains and works so hard for them, and to be quite frank the other three have won quite enough between them. As an anology the situation with the top 3 and Andy is its like a few big boys who are all taking a big slice of the pie, while Andy is trying to desparately get a piece but they keep pushing him away, as in a way that's what tennis is like, its all about who's the hungriest.
So all we can hope for tomorrow is that Andy and Rafa give us the match of the tournament, or at least something close, and if they don't I'm positive Djokovic and Federer will. But its great to see the top four make it into the final four again, like they did at the French Open, its the dream semi final setup we all want to see, even if we suspect who might already be in that final!!
So with potential baited breath that's eeeeeeeetttttt!
Well in the first QF match, the Muzza had to take on the giant serving giant John Isner, who made his first grand slam quarter final debut in this match. Isner had only played Andy once before this match at the Australian Open last year and the giant American got beat in straight sets, but this encounter was somewhat tougher. Andy early on in the match took a two set lead as he came out very strong and secured a break on Isner's serve at 5-5, and in the 2nd set Andy broke early to take it, however in the 3rd set Andy dropped his serve and then Isner rose his level and before we knew it, we were into a 4th set. The 4th set was a far more tense even pegged affair as the two men fought it out, with Andy surviving a scare at break point on his own serve at 4-4, they eventually went to a tiebreak. In the tiebreak I must confess I thought Isner would be the hot favourite to win it, but Andy served superbly in the breaker and quickly took a double mini break lead and the match in 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2). Overall it was a very good match with plenty of tense close points and I think John Isner definitely deserves credit for his excellent performance not only in this match but throughout the tournament.
So that's Andy through to his fourth consecutive grand slam semi final this year, the first time in his career he has managed to achieve that, which in itself is no mean feat. But can he take it those two steps further, get to the final and win???????? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, time will need to answer that one. So I will leave that down to the man upstairs and the four guys on court tomorrow and the two guys on court come Monday night. But so far despite a few wobbles I have to say Andy has had a very impressive US Open tournament, and he has definitely worked on improving his serve which is really good, but he still has struggled to keep it consistently high. However his 1st serve percentages in his Lopez match were 76% and his match with John Isner was 68%, which is pretty impressive, he also managed to keep his unforced errors down in those matches. But can he keep it up over the next two matches, that is the question.
One thing I do know for sure is that Andy will face Rafa in the semi final. And I have to say I do fear for Andy a bit, because so far Rafa has been formidable in this tournament, as he has just ruthlessly dismissed Andy Roddick in their match in straight sets, with a comprehensive win in 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 (of course Muzza did same to Roddick at Queens). Rafa hasn't dropped a set yet and looks superb, Andy has dropped three. Regardless of that though I don't necessarily think tomorrow will be a cakewalk for Rafa, in fact it could be quite the opposite, but I am not entirely convinced that Andy can beat him. However rather than make any assumptions (and make an ass of umption!) time will tell on this one, as I've watched too many matches this year to unrealistically get my hopes up. I just hope Andy can raise his game that bit higher than he did at Wimbledon, and if he does make a mistake then not to dwell on it and just get on with playing the next point. Another factor in Rafa's favour tomorrow could also be that he spent about only 2 hours on court, so he could be that bit more refreshed for the semis match tomorrow, than Andy is.
Achh well you never know, Andy has beaten Rafa in the semis at the US Open three years ago, but Rafa has moved on as a player on hard courts since then. But I do get frustrated for Andy when Rafa beats him in the slams, as I really do think he deserves to win a major as he trains and works so hard for them, and to be quite frank the other three have won quite enough between them. As an anology the situation with the top 3 and Andy is its like a few big boys who are all taking a big slice of the pie, while Andy is trying to desparately get a piece but they keep pushing him away, as in a way that's what tennis is like, its all about who's the hungriest.
So all we can hope for tomorrow is that Andy and Rafa give us the match of the tournament, or at least something close, and if they don't I'm positive Djokovic and Federer will. But its great to see the top four make it into the final four again, like they did at the French Open, its the dream semi final setup we all want to see, even if we suspect who might already be in that final!!
So with potential baited breath that's eeeeeeeetttttt!
Flushing Meadows Part 4: Holy cow we have play!!
After 2 full days of rain delay at Flushing Meadows in New York, the rain has finally abaited and the remaining matches that have need to be played have been mostly played and there were a few good ones in there I'm sure.
So Day 11 first off saw Rafa resume his match against the talented Luxmbourger Gilles Muller, who after an even pegged first set, saw Rafa run away with the match, as he closed it out in 7-6, 6-1, 6-2. Rafa of course in latter stage grand slam style is playing some of his best stuff again and will prove quite a threat for his following opponents. Andy Murray also resumed his match with the American wildcard Donald Young, who made a real upset earlier this year when he beat Andy in Indian Wells back in March. But this time Andy had no such trouble as he broke the young lad twice in the opening set to take it, and despite a few breaks of serve between each player, Andy still managed to close it out quite easily in 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. It was quite a comfortable win not to mention it saw him complete his revenge against Young and Bogomolov for his losses earlier this year.
So onto the other men's matches quickly, Andy Roddick who after a few rain delays, and also spotting a crack in the surface of the court behind the baseline on Louis Armstrong stadium, had to have his match moved to court 13 (unlucky maybe???). Understandably Roddick was pretty miffed, but it didn't affect his performance against David Ferrer, which was pretty impressive, and it saw him reach his first grand slam quarter final of the year as well as a return to form. Fellow yank giant John Isner also imperssed in his match against the Frenchman Gilles Simon, who he defeated in a tough 4 set match, which Isner took after a 3 tiebreaks, while dropping the 2nd set, he won in 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4). So that's the 2nd half of the mens quarter finals matches setup to go tomorrow, so they should be corkers, its Rafa vs Roddick (yah!), Muzza vs Isner (yeeeahhh!). Its gonna be tough for all four of them, although I have to say Rafa and Andy are the favourites to win both of them, but one thing is for sure, we should be in for a treat.
Onto the womans matches briefly also as I'm pleased to say that the current World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki defeated Andrea Petkovic to make her third US semi final, where she will face a no good player called Serena Williams. ;-) Speaking of which Serena eased her way to victory against the Russian Anastasia Pavyluchenkova in 7-5, 6-1. I was a bit frustrated watching Serena before hand as she is always a bit curt and truculent in her pre-match interviews, she did everything she could to get away from the interviewer. I do apperciate she is a terrific player but I just find her attitude very ignorant, as its all about her, and its funny how she is always so sour before her matches and so happy after them in interview. Regardless of that, we have a very exciting womans semi final match setup for what is now going to be on Saturday night, due to the rain delays. So the big question must be asked: can Caroline defeat Serena???? Based on her performance throughout the tournamenet I would have to probably say no, but they have both looked pretty convincing in their campaigns. Caroline has only dropped one set in one match, while Serena has breezed through despite a tight set against Pavly tonight and a fightback from Azarenka, she hasn't dropped one yet. But I think Caroline has the energy, stamina and ability to if not beat Serena but certainly go toe to toe with her, but if she does go down, I hope its a real battle.
Oh and Sam Stosur is also through to the semis as she defeated Vera Zvonareva easily in 6-3, 6-3, which saw her improve her record against Vera. In the other semi final match Sam will play wildcard Angeliq Kerbrer from Germany, who has surprised everyone by making her first grand slam semi final, after beating Flavia Pennetta.
Well that's the ladies now onto the men, tonight we saw what so far might possibly have been the match of the tournament, between the two Serbs Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic, as the battled it out for Serbia. I wasn't expecting too much from Tipsy in this match, but he really did surprise me as he played a brilliant match against Djokovic, for two sets it was even pegged as we were treated to two thrilling sets, and for the first time Djokovic dropped a set in the tournament. However the superb play was cut short as Tipsy started showing signs of tiredness aswell as a thigh injury, which forced him to retire (that I think brings the retiral record up 19!!). But I sometimes wonder if this all revolves around Djokovic winning the title, as he pays off Federer, Rafa to take a dive in the finals, semis or quarter finals, so he can win the tournament! Haw haw, I joke of course! As Fed himself once said "tennis is a crazy game". And that it sure is. Speaking of which Fedora also got his revenge on Tsonga as he defeated him in the quarter finals in a very impressive display in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. I have to say that Federer is looking pretty formidable again just like he did at French Open, and next up is Djokovic, and we all know what happened in their previous meeting. Will it be the same result this time? Can Federer hand Djokovic his third loss this year??? Well its all in the future waiting to unfold, but we will find out. One way or another this match promises to be the match of the tournament, so can't wait for it.
So things are heating up, its getting exciting, as we are getting down to the final 8 in the mens and the final 4 in the ladies at the US Open.
But for now that's enough.... Tara.
So Day 11 first off saw Rafa resume his match against the talented Luxmbourger Gilles Muller, who after an even pegged first set, saw Rafa run away with the match, as he closed it out in 7-6, 6-1, 6-2. Rafa of course in latter stage grand slam style is playing some of his best stuff again and will prove quite a threat for his following opponents. Andy Murray also resumed his match with the American wildcard Donald Young, who made a real upset earlier this year when he beat Andy in Indian Wells back in March. But this time Andy had no such trouble as he broke the young lad twice in the opening set to take it, and despite a few breaks of serve between each player, Andy still managed to close it out quite easily in 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. It was quite a comfortable win not to mention it saw him complete his revenge against Young and Bogomolov for his losses earlier this year.
So onto the other men's matches quickly, Andy Roddick who after a few rain delays, and also spotting a crack in the surface of the court behind the baseline on Louis Armstrong stadium, had to have his match moved to court 13 (unlucky maybe???). Understandably Roddick was pretty miffed, but it didn't affect his performance against David Ferrer, which was pretty impressive, and it saw him reach his first grand slam quarter final of the year as well as a return to form. Fellow yank giant John Isner also imperssed in his match against the Frenchman Gilles Simon, who he defeated in a tough 4 set match, which Isner took after a 3 tiebreaks, while dropping the 2nd set, he won in 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4). So that's the 2nd half of the mens quarter finals matches setup to go tomorrow, so they should be corkers, its Rafa vs Roddick (yah!), Muzza vs Isner (yeeeahhh!). Its gonna be tough for all four of them, although I have to say Rafa and Andy are the favourites to win both of them, but one thing is for sure, we should be in for a treat.
Onto the womans matches briefly also as I'm pleased to say that the current World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki defeated Andrea Petkovic to make her third US semi final, where she will face a no good player called Serena Williams. ;-) Speaking of which Serena eased her way to victory against the Russian Anastasia Pavyluchenkova in 7-5, 6-1. I was a bit frustrated watching Serena before hand as she is always a bit curt and truculent in her pre-match interviews, she did everything she could to get away from the interviewer. I do apperciate she is a terrific player but I just find her attitude very ignorant, as its all about her, and its funny how she is always so sour before her matches and so happy after them in interview. Regardless of that, we have a very exciting womans semi final match setup for what is now going to be on Saturday night, due to the rain delays. So the big question must be asked: can Caroline defeat Serena???? Based on her performance throughout the tournamenet I would have to probably say no, but they have both looked pretty convincing in their campaigns. Caroline has only dropped one set in one match, while Serena has breezed through despite a tight set against Pavly tonight and a fightback from Azarenka, she hasn't dropped one yet. But I think Caroline has the energy, stamina and ability to if not beat Serena but certainly go toe to toe with her, but if she does go down, I hope its a real battle.
Oh and Sam Stosur is also through to the semis as she defeated Vera Zvonareva easily in 6-3, 6-3, which saw her improve her record against Vera. In the other semi final match Sam will play wildcard Angeliq Kerbrer from Germany, who has surprised everyone by making her first grand slam semi final, after beating Flavia Pennetta.
Well that's the ladies now onto the men, tonight we saw what so far might possibly have been the match of the tournament, between the two Serbs Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic, as the battled it out for Serbia. I wasn't expecting too much from Tipsy in this match, but he really did surprise me as he played a brilliant match against Djokovic, for two sets it was even pegged as we were treated to two thrilling sets, and for the first time Djokovic dropped a set in the tournament. However the superb play was cut short as Tipsy started showing signs of tiredness aswell as a thigh injury, which forced him to retire (that I think brings the retiral record up 19!!). But I sometimes wonder if this all revolves around Djokovic winning the title, as he pays off Federer, Rafa to take a dive in the finals, semis or quarter finals, so he can win the tournament! Haw haw, I joke of course! As Fed himself once said "tennis is a crazy game". And that it sure is. Speaking of which Fedora also got his revenge on Tsonga as he defeated him in the quarter finals in a very impressive display in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. I have to say that Federer is looking pretty formidable again just like he did at French Open, and next up is Djokovic, and we all know what happened in their previous meeting. Will it be the same result this time? Can Federer hand Djokovic his third loss this year??? Well its all in the future waiting to unfold, but we will find out. One way or another this match promises to be the match of the tournament, so can't wait for it.
So things are heating up, its getting exciting, as we are getting down to the final 8 in the mens and the final 4 in the ladies at the US Open.
But for now that's enough.... Tara.
Tuesday 6 September 2011
Flushing Meadows Part 3.2: Thrills, tiebreaks, and the rain in New York mainly stays on the court!
OK as promised (well to myself and to whoever I haven't told about this blog which is everyone!!) here is part two of the epic 2 parts of Part 3 (this is getting very confusing!) of the US Open 2011.
Briefly before I go onto day 8 there was another extraordinary match on with the ladies matches, who let's face it so far this year have had the best ones at the US Open! This match I refer to was the one between Sam Stosur and Maria Kirilenko of Russia as they two of them battled it out in an extraordinary match for a place in the quarter finals. Their match was particularly noteworthy as it had the longest tiebreak in the history of the US Open, as in the second set Stosur and Kirilenko had it out, which saw Sam lose the 2nd set in the breaker by 15-17. However Sam managed to pick it up in the 3rd set and sealed the match and her place in the quarter finals for the second time at the US Open, winning the match in 6-4, 6-7(17), 6-3. Its great to see Sam reach the latter stage of a grand slam this year, as so far I think she has struggled to make it past 3rd round in the previous slams. And her next opponent will be Vera Zvonareva, whom Sam has a very good record against, so it could see her make way into US Open semi finals for the first time, but time will tell on that one.
So onto Day 8, which featured plenty of drama and entertainment, and plenty of fine matches. On the ladies side, there was quite a ding dong match between Francesca Schiavone and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as they shared breaks of serve, but this time Pavly got her revenge for her loss at the French Open and won the match 5-7, 6-4,6-4. However her next opponent will be one Serena Williams who just happens to be playing some of her best stuff just now, despite a rather mixed match against Ana Ivanovic, so I don't rate young Pavly's chances there. But the match of the day for the ladies matches was the battle between Caroline Wozniacki the World No.1 and the former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, as they hammered it out for a place in the quarter finals. After 3 hours of tense play between the two players it was Caroline who came out top, after being a set a and double break down to reel off 10 games in a row (I think) to seal her place in the next round winning in 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-1. Its really good to see Caroline get to the quarter finals at the US Open as she has had a mixed year in terms of her grand slam performances so I hope she continues to do well. Her next opponent is Andrea Petkovic, who has broken into the top 10 this year and is currently seeded 11th, Petko has already defeated Caroline once so it will be quite a tough match, but its 1-1 in their head to head, either way it will be one to watch.
And so now we go onto the men's tennis and to start off with the American No.1 Mardy Fish had a real battle against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who he fell to after a 5 set match, which will setup another quarter final grand slam match with Roger Federer. Federer so far has been playing really good tennis at the US Open and he crushed Juan Monaco in his 4th round match, dropping only 3 games. But Tsonga will prove a much tougher challenege, and he has won the last two of their meetings, but will Federer be able to beat him this time round??? I hope so because I would love to see another Federer vs Djokovic semi final setup, perhaps the Fed can hand another defeat to the World No.1 but maybe not. Even if Tsonga gets to the semi final it should still be a really good match as he posed quite a threat to Djokovic at Wimbledon.
Which brings us onto the World No.1's 4th round match, which was with the very talented and tricky Ukranian Alexandr Dolgopolov, who proved to be more than a handful for Djokovic for about half the match. In the first set, which was undoubtedly one of the most entertaining sets you will ever see this year, Dolgopolov gave Djokovic a real run for his money, with his hugely varied game, firing all sorts of unpredictable winners at him. And the 1st set featured a simply sensational tiebreak as both players had the crowd on the edge of their seats and in such an uproar I could imagine half of Manhattan could hear them!! The tiebreak lasted nearly 25 minutes as the Djoker and the Dog kept trading set points and unforced errors, until Djokovic finally hit a winner of his serve that the Dog sent long at 16-14. Unfortunately for the Dog he lost his way a bit at the start of the 2nd set as he dropped his serve straight off, and after that he fell victim to his own unforced errors and highly erratic serve. By this time Djokovic had brought the out of this world tennis playing from Dogly back down to Earth to a level that Djokovic can overcome. Regardless for one set the Dog put on one hell of a show and he showed signs of promise in the 2nd set too, not only that he managed to successfully disrupt Djokovic's rythhym if only for an hour and 15 minutes, so in the end the result was 7-6(14), 6-4, 6-2.
So that's Djoko and Fedora into the quarter finals, and for once Federer breezed and Djoky struggled, but they are through. Djokovic will next face his fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic in the quarter finals which should be an interesting match, but I think it will be straight sets again for Nole.
Unfortunately due to heavy rain showers the schedule for the remaining 4th round matches especially the Muzza's rematch with Donald Young has been cancelled and rescheduled for Day 10, which will be a jam packed day for sure as they will combine the first ladies and men's quarter finals matches as well. So it will be a feast tomorrow, weather permitting of course, as its supposed to rain tomorrow, in fact its forecast to rain for the rest of the week in New York, so I don't how or if they will be able to complete the tournament schedule on time! This is where having a contingency plan would be useful in providing in-door hard courts or better yet providing a roof for the Arthur Ashe stadium just like they did at Wimbledon centre court!
And to add a bit more of an update on Day 10, the weather hasn't been any better as Andy's Murray/Roddick and Rafa have all taken to the court earlier on only to have their play disrupted only minutes into their matches by more rain! Understandably there were scenes of displeasure from Rafa who was at this point 3-0 down to his opponent Gilles Muller, so we will wait and see how that one goes. Andy Murray a bit more even pegged as it was going by service, 2-1 to Young, and Roddick was 3-1 up against Ferrer.
But having read one of the comments on the BBC Sports website, someone rightly said it seems unfair that in the US Open that they split the draw in the 2nd week, also it leaves for whoever makes it to the final on Rafa and Andy's side, they have to play four matches in five days, assuming there are no more delays! I also think that Andy and Rafa always seem to get a bit of a bum steer in the grand slams while Roger and Nole get an extra day's rest in between matches as they go out first. A perfect case in point was the Australian Open final where Djokovic had two full days of rest before meeting Andy in the final, whereas Andy only had one to recover after his brutal match against David Ferrer. I'm not saying the outcome would have been different, in fact it most likely wouldn't, but I always think Djokovic had the advantage of more time, and that seemed a bit unfair in itself. But we will soon find out how the rest of the tournament pans out timewise.
And as a further update I've just heard that due to more heavy rain that the day 10 schedule has been cancelled again!! So that puts the schedule quite far behind, as there are four 4th round matches to go for the men, and the first leg of the ladies and mens quarter finals are still to be scheduled also. So clearly there is no way there are going to finish the tournament on schedule now as that's two full days of delay, so tomorrow they have to try and make some headway in getting the schedule underway here's hoping those clouds clear up and rain goes away! Although there has been talk of them trying to schedule the ladies quarter finals matches tonight, which in a way seems unfair to the mens 4th round matches, but I guess the woman's matches might end quicker, especially Serena's match surely it will be over before we know it, but then again we don't know that, as it depends on how tough a test Pavlyuchenkova proves to be.
So while I'm rambling I had a look at the weather forecast for the rest of the week in New York City, and tomorrow its thunderstorms followed by rain, Friday thunderstorms and rain, Saturday guess what??? Yep thunderstorms, and on Sunday, supposedly the men's finals day, ermm cloudy but dry! So the weather forecast is pretty grim for the bulk of what remains of the final grand slam of the season, surely to God they must come with some contingency plan, such as putting a massive marquee tent over the courts if possible. And as Boris Becker rightly says they need to put a roof on the Centre Court, Wimbledon have done it so its high time US Open followed their example! To be fair to the organisers of the tournament they can't control the weather and all they can try to do is their best to deal with the situation, but at this rate we could be looking at maybe a Tuesday finish, which could also have a knock on effect with the next round of the Davis Cup which starts next Friday!
Anywayyyy when there is more updates on the state of play, and if matches have taken place, I'll be sure to blog it up. More to follow......
.......
......
Honestly........
Trust me......
Really.......
OK that's it.
Briefly before I go onto day 8 there was another extraordinary match on with the ladies matches, who let's face it so far this year have had the best ones at the US Open! This match I refer to was the one between Sam Stosur and Maria Kirilenko of Russia as they two of them battled it out in an extraordinary match for a place in the quarter finals. Their match was particularly noteworthy as it had the longest tiebreak in the history of the US Open, as in the second set Stosur and Kirilenko had it out, which saw Sam lose the 2nd set in the breaker by 15-17. However Sam managed to pick it up in the 3rd set and sealed the match and her place in the quarter finals for the second time at the US Open, winning the match in 6-4, 6-7(17), 6-3. Its great to see Sam reach the latter stage of a grand slam this year, as so far I think she has struggled to make it past 3rd round in the previous slams. And her next opponent will be Vera Zvonareva, whom Sam has a very good record against, so it could see her make way into US Open semi finals for the first time, but time will tell on that one.
So onto Day 8, which featured plenty of drama and entertainment, and plenty of fine matches. On the ladies side, there was quite a ding dong match between Francesca Schiavone and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as they shared breaks of serve, but this time Pavly got her revenge for her loss at the French Open and won the match 5-7, 6-4,6-4. However her next opponent will be one Serena Williams who just happens to be playing some of her best stuff just now, despite a rather mixed match against Ana Ivanovic, so I don't rate young Pavly's chances there. But the match of the day for the ladies matches was the battle between Caroline Wozniacki the World No.1 and the former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, as they hammered it out for a place in the quarter finals. After 3 hours of tense play between the two players it was Caroline who came out top, after being a set a and double break down to reel off 10 games in a row (I think) to seal her place in the next round winning in 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-1. Its really good to see Caroline get to the quarter finals at the US Open as she has had a mixed year in terms of her grand slam performances so I hope she continues to do well. Her next opponent is Andrea Petkovic, who has broken into the top 10 this year and is currently seeded 11th, Petko has already defeated Caroline once so it will be quite a tough match, but its 1-1 in their head to head, either way it will be one to watch.
And so now we go onto the men's tennis and to start off with the American No.1 Mardy Fish had a real battle against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who he fell to after a 5 set match, which will setup another quarter final grand slam match with Roger Federer. Federer so far has been playing really good tennis at the US Open and he crushed Juan Monaco in his 4th round match, dropping only 3 games. But Tsonga will prove a much tougher challenege, and he has won the last two of their meetings, but will Federer be able to beat him this time round??? I hope so because I would love to see another Federer vs Djokovic semi final setup, perhaps the Fed can hand another defeat to the World No.1 but maybe not. Even if Tsonga gets to the semi final it should still be a really good match as he posed quite a threat to Djokovic at Wimbledon.
Which brings us onto the World No.1's 4th round match, which was with the very talented and tricky Ukranian Alexandr Dolgopolov, who proved to be more than a handful for Djokovic for about half the match. In the first set, which was undoubtedly one of the most entertaining sets you will ever see this year, Dolgopolov gave Djokovic a real run for his money, with his hugely varied game, firing all sorts of unpredictable winners at him. And the 1st set featured a simply sensational tiebreak as both players had the crowd on the edge of their seats and in such an uproar I could imagine half of Manhattan could hear them!! The tiebreak lasted nearly 25 minutes as the Djoker and the Dog kept trading set points and unforced errors, until Djokovic finally hit a winner of his serve that the Dog sent long at 16-14. Unfortunately for the Dog he lost his way a bit at the start of the 2nd set as he dropped his serve straight off, and after that he fell victim to his own unforced errors and highly erratic serve. By this time Djokovic had brought the out of this world tennis playing from Dogly back down to Earth to a level that Djokovic can overcome. Regardless for one set the Dog put on one hell of a show and he showed signs of promise in the 2nd set too, not only that he managed to successfully disrupt Djokovic's rythhym if only for an hour and 15 minutes, so in the end the result was 7-6(14), 6-4, 6-2.
So that's Djoko and Fedora into the quarter finals, and for once Federer breezed and Djoky struggled, but they are through. Djokovic will next face his fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic in the quarter finals which should be an interesting match, but I think it will be straight sets again for Nole.
Unfortunately due to heavy rain showers the schedule for the remaining 4th round matches especially the Muzza's rematch with Donald Young has been cancelled and rescheduled for Day 10, which will be a jam packed day for sure as they will combine the first ladies and men's quarter finals matches as well. So it will be a feast tomorrow, weather permitting of course, as its supposed to rain tomorrow, in fact its forecast to rain for the rest of the week in New York, so I don't how or if they will be able to complete the tournament schedule on time! This is where having a contingency plan would be useful in providing in-door hard courts or better yet providing a roof for the Arthur Ashe stadium just like they did at Wimbledon centre court!
And to add a bit more of an update on Day 10, the weather hasn't been any better as Andy's Murray/Roddick and Rafa have all taken to the court earlier on only to have their play disrupted only minutes into their matches by more rain! Understandably there were scenes of displeasure from Rafa who was at this point 3-0 down to his opponent Gilles Muller, so we will wait and see how that one goes. Andy Murray a bit more even pegged as it was going by service, 2-1 to Young, and Roddick was 3-1 up against Ferrer.
But having read one of the comments on the BBC Sports website, someone rightly said it seems unfair that in the US Open that they split the draw in the 2nd week, also it leaves for whoever makes it to the final on Rafa and Andy's side, they have to play four matches in five days, assuming there are no more delays! I also think that Andy and Rafa always seem to get a bit of a bum steer in the grand slams while Roger and Nole get an extra day's rest in between matches as they go out first. A perfect case in point was the Australian Open final where Djokovic had two full days of rest before meeting Andy in the final, whereas Andy only had one to recover after his brutal match against David Ferrer. I'm not saying the outcome would have been different, in fact it most likely wouldn't, but I always think Djokovic had the advantage of more time, and that seemed a bit unfair in itself. But we will soon find out how the rest of the tournament pans out timewise.
And as a further update I've just heard that due to more heavy rain that the day 10 schedule has been cancelled again!! So that puts the schedule quite far behind, as there are four 4th round matches to go for the men, and the first leg of the ladies and mens quarter finals are still to be scheduled also. So clearly there is no way there are going to finish the tournament on schedule now as that's two full days of delay, so tomorrow they have to try and make some headway in getting the schedule underway here's hoping those clouds clear up and rain goes away! Although there has been talk of them trying to schedule the ladies quarter finals matches tonight, which in a way seems unfair to the mens 4th round matches, but I guess the woman's matches might end quicker, especially Serena's match surely it will be over before we know it, but then again we don't know that, as it depends on how tough a test Pavlyuchenkova proves to be.
So while I'm rambling I had a look at the weather forecast for the rest of the week in New York City, and tomorrow its thunderstorms followed by rain, Friday thunderstorms and rain, Saturday guess what??? Yep thunderstorms, and on Sunday, supposedly the men's finals day, ermm cloudy but dry! So the weather forecast is pretty grim for the bulk of what remains of the final grand slam of the season, surely to God they must come with some contingency plan, such as putting a massive marquee tent over the courts if possible. And as Boris Becker rightly says they need to put a roof on the Centre Court, Wimbledon have done it so its high time US Open followed their example! To be fair to the organisers of the tournament they can't control the weather and all they can try to do is their best to deal with the situation, but at this rate we could be looking at maybe a Tuesday finish, which could also have a knock on effect with the next round of the Davis Cup which starts next Friday!
Anywayyyy when there is more updates on the state of play, and if matches have taken place, I'll be sure to blog it up. More to follow......
.......
......
Honestly........
Trust me......
Really.......
OK that's it.
Flushing Meadows Part 3.1: yep its all been happening!
Well so far the US Open has very much lived up to its expectations of being a terrific tournament with plenty of exciting matches and it has to be said the yank crowds really have aided in lifting the atmos for the players as they are easily the loudest most reactive audiences you will get.
So there is a lot to cover so I've split this post over two entries since its been a few days since my last blog on the fourth grand slam of the year. So to start with the ladies match on Saturday just there, Day 6, which saw some terrific stuff particularly the match between Francesca Schiavone who played the South African wildcard Chanelle Scheepers. After dropping the first set, Fran looked pretty drained and fatigued from the word go, however she dredged as much energy as she could manage to level the match by taking the 2nd in a tense tiebreak, and after that she secured a break in the third set winning in 5-7, 7-6, 6-3. Later on that night we were also treated to a really good match up between Serena Williams and the world no.4 Victoria Azarenka, on paper this match promised to be a belter and for the most part it did live up to its expectations. After a one-way demolition job in the first set where Serena blasted off the young Belarusian off the court, Azarenka fought back and saved match point on Serena's serve and made it 5-5. Azarenka then battled onto to take the set to a tiebreaker but ultimately Serena closed out the match in the breaker winning 6-1, 7-6(5). Victoria Azarenka definitely deserves credit for her fightback in the match and it also promised to deliver a very interesting future rivalry between these two players, as Azarenka given time could prove to be one of the few players that can really threaten Serena. So I look forward to their future matches together.
On Day 7, there were some more excellent ladies matches, the main being a gusty battle from Flavia Pennetta who faced the talented Chinese player Peng Shuai who gave the 26th seed a tough test. Pennetta came out confidently like she did against Sharapova, but she soon faced a fightback from Peng Shuai and Flavia had to really battle in order to close out the first set. In the 2nd set it was even more of a battle, as the two players shared breaks of serve and Flavia showed signs of fatigue and at one point she even wretched on court. She also faced dropping the 2nd set in the tiebreaker as she was 5-0 down at one point, but Pennetta held her nerve and managed to fight her way back in to win the match in 6-4, 7-6(6). I was really pleased to see Flavia get through, as this is her 3rd US Open quarter final so it will be great to see how she does in the quarter finals where she will face Angelique Kerber from Germany.
In another day 7 match on the men's side we saw the giant Juan Martin Del Potro take on the talented Frenchman Gilles Simon. This is their 2nd meeting this year and Del Potro lead the head to head 3-1 going into the match. Delpo from the first set definitely appeared to be in control as he broke the Frenchman at 4-4 all to make it 5-4, however in the 2nd Simon held serve to take it to a tiebreak which Simon won. In the 3rd set, Del Potro seemed to suffer from fatigue and a foot injury, so he lost the momentum which saw Simon win the set. However in the 4th set, it was back to an even pegged battle to a tiebreak, but again Delpo just couldn't deliver which saw Gilles Simon win the match in 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 7-6, which marked the first time the Frenchman has made the 4th round. In another evening match between the yanks John Isner, and Alex Bogomolov Jr, Isner got off to a slow start but soon got going and won the match in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. So John Isner will go onto face Gilles Simon, I quite like to see Isner get through to the quarter finals as it will be the first time he will have reached a grand slam quarter final match.
And in another day 7 match the young American upcomer David Young took on Juan Ignaio Chela and performed another upset as he took out the 25th seed in straight sets in 7-5, 6-4,6-3. Young certainly has had a good US Open tournament so far, as he has already upset Stan Wawrinka also and next up is a certain fella who he defeated earlier in the year back in Indian Wells.
Which brings us onto the final match of the post between the Muzza and the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, which after Andy's poor form in the 2nd match might have proved a bit worrying. However Andy had no such trouble as against as he gave a performance that was night and day from his Friday near fiasco, as he dispatched Lopez easily in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. This definitely was a big improvement from his last match, and saw Andy get right back on track, in fact his performance was so impressive that his 1st serve percentage was rated at 76%!! Now this is a stark contrast to what he has been serving at before, however the problem with Andy's serve and game in general is that its inconsistent and when he plays in the slams he needs to ensure he will play his best on the day, but that hasn't as we know always been the case. So next up Andy will face his past nemesis Donald Young in the 4th round and I hope this time Andy will beat him, hopefully he should. Back in March at Indian Wells, Andy was in a bad place and his mind just wasn't on his game, but things have since changed, so I'm hoping we will see the Muzza give Young a good what for and secure his place in the quarter finals, however with American crowd behind Young and his current form, this might wel prove to be a tough match. But I'm fairly sure the Muzza will prevail this time, well he better!!
Anyway more to follow in Part 3.2.......
So there is a lot to cover so I've split this post over two entries since its been a few days since my last blog on the fourth grand slam of the year. So to start with the ladies match on Saturday just there, Day 6, which saw some terrific stuff particularly the match between Francesca Schiavone who played the South African wildcard Chanelle Scheepers. After dropping the first set, Fran looked pretty drained and fatigued from the word go, however she dredged as much energy as she could manage to level the match by taking the 2nd in a tense tiebreak, and after that she secured a break in the third set winning in 5-7, 7-6, 6-3. Later on that night we were also treated to a really good match up between Serena Williams and the world no.4 Victoria Azarenka, on paper this match promised to be a belter and for the most part it did live up to its expectations. After a one-way demolition job in the first set where Serena blasted off the young Belarusian off the court, Azarenka fought back and saved match point on Serena's serve and made it 5-5. Azarenka then battled onto to take the set to a tiebreaker but ultimately Serena closed out the match in the breaker winning 6-1, 7-6(5). Victoria Azarenka definitely deserves credit for her fightback in the match and it also promised to deliver a very interesting future rivalry between these two players, as Azarenka given time could prove to be one of the few players that can really threaten Serena. So I look forward to their future matches together.
On Day 7, there were some more excellent ladies matches, the main being a gusty battle from Flavia Pennetta who faced the talented Chinese player Peng Shuai who gave the 26th seed a tough test. Pennetta came out confidently like she did against Sharapova, but she soon faced a fightback from Peng Shuai and Flavia had to really battle in order to close out the first set. In the 2nd set it was even more of a battle, as the two players shared breaks of serve and Flavia showed signs of fatigue and at one point she even wretched on court. She also faced dropping the 2nd set in the tiebreaker as she was 5-0 down at one point, but Pennetta held her nerve and managed to fight her way back in to win the match in 6-4, 7-6(6). I was really pleased to see Flavia get through, as this is her 3rd US Open quarter final so it will be great to see how she does in the quarter finals where she will face Angelique Kerber from Germany.
In another day 7 match on the men's side we saw the giant Juan Martin Del Potro take on the talented Frenchman Gilles Simon. This is their 2nd meeting this year and Del Potro lead the head to head 3-1 going into the match. Delpo from the first set definitely appeared to be in control as he broke the Frenchman at 4-4 all to make it 5-4, however in the 2nd Simon held serve to take it to a tiebreak which Simon won. In the 3rd set, Del Potro seemed to suffer from fatigue and a foot injury, so he lost the momentum which saw Simon win the set. However in the 4th set, it was back to an even pegged battle to a tiebreak, but again Delpo just couldn't deliver which saw Gilles Simon win the match in 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 7-6, which marked the first time the Frenchman has made the 4th round. In another evening match between the yanks John Isner, and Alex Bogomolov Jr, Isner got off to a slow start but soon got going and won the match in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. So John Isner will go onto face Gilles Simon, I quite like to see Isner get through to the quarter finals as it will be the first time he will have reached a grand slam quarter final match.
And in another day 7 match the young American upcomer David Young took on Juan Ignaio Chela and performed another upset as he took out the 25th seed in straight sets in 7-5, 6-4,6-3. Young certainly has had a good US Open tournament so far, as he has already upset Stan Wawrinka also and next up is a certain fella who he defeated earlier in the year back in Indian Wells.
Which brings us onto the final match of the post between the Muzza and the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, which after Andy's poor form in the 2nd match might have proved a bit worrying. However Andy had no such trouble as against as he gave a performance that was night and day from his Friday near fiasco, as he dispatched Lopez easily in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. This definitely was a big improvement from his last match, and saw Andy get right back on track, in fact his performance was so impressive that his 1st serve percentage was rated at 76%!! Now this is a stark contrast to what he has been serving at before, however the problem with Andy's serve and game in general is that its inconsistent and when he plays in the slams he needs to ensure he will play his best on the day, but that hasn't as we know always been the case. So next up Andy will face his past nemesis Donald Young in the 4th round and I hope this time Andy will beat him, hopefully he should. Back in March at Indian Wells, Andy was in a bad place and his mind just wasn't on his game, but things have since changed, so I'm hoping we will see the Muzza give Young a good what for and secure his place in the quarter finals, however with American crowd behind Young and his current form, this might wel prove to be a tough match. But I'm fairly sure the Muzza will prevail this time, well he better!!
Anyway more to follow in Part 3.2.......
Saturday 3 September 2011
Flushing meadows Part 2: Close shaves
Well day 5 of the US Open was indeed a very eventful one which featured a couple of thrilling matches which I will go into more detail about in a bit.
But first a wee bit about Day 4, which saw on the ladies side unfortunately Elena Baltacha make an early exit as she faced off former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Despite a strong start with a 3-0 lead against Svety, Bally started to succomb to Kuznetsova's impressive movement and accurate shot making, and after 1 hour and 22 minutes Elena fell in 6-4, 6-3. In retrospect Elena played quite well against Svetlana, but she was just unlucky that the Russian was on better form and was the better player. Also on other ladies matches, Serena Williams breezed past her opponent in 6-0, 6-1, which sees the previous world no.1 continue her commanding comeback, next up for Serena will be Victoria Azarenka, so that should be a really good one. Caroline Wozniacki also showed some great return to form as she crushed her opponent in 6-2, 6-0, which is really great to see her get back on her game and puts her in a strong position to do well in the latter stages.
In the men's tennis on day 4, Djokovic proved even further just why he is the No.1 men's player as he trounced his opponent Carlos Berlocq in 6-0, 6-0, 6-2. Djokovic spent no more than 77 minutes on court as he dismantled his opponent, he even admitted after he felt sorry for him as he tried to fight his way back into the match. Federer also had no troubles getting past Dudi Sela whom he swept past in 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Although one of the first top seed upsets occured with Gael Monfils going out after an epic 5 set match against Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Onto Day 5, starting with the ladies, Vera Zvonareva made it through in straight sets as she took on Medina Garrigues, who put out Laura Robson in the previous round. And in a thrilling match, we saw the mighty Maria Sharapova fall to the Italian Flavia Pennetta (seeded No. 26) after a lenghty 3 set battle, which Flavia won in 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. This was a riveting match, and one which highlighted the great atmosphere of the US Open Arthur Ashe stadium, say what you want about the Americans, but when it comes to giving players an atmos and energy they are second to none. I was also pleased to see Flavia get through as she came out so strong early on and despite a real fightback from the Pova, she managed to make it through in the end. In the end Sharapova while she displayed the incredible fighting spirit that lead her to win her previous US Open title, also once again put in an incredibly erratic performance, as she served what must be a record breaking 12 double faults in the match and 60 unforced errors. With mistakes like that she's not likely to win another grand slam but we shall see. It also leaves the field that bit more open for the title to be taken, although Serena is still a hot favourite to win, but we will see how she does against Azarenka tomorrow.
So that brings us onto the other match of the day, which was an incredible and yet very frustrating one to watch, where Andy Murray took on Robin Haase, the very talented Dutch player who not only defeated Andy on their previous meeting, but also took Rafa to 5 sets last year in Wimbledon. And this time the match seemed to be of a similar nature and Andy himself was wary of his opponent, and rightly so as Haase come out with all guns blazing as he impressively held onto his serve in the first set, and broke Andy at one point who broke back, which saw the first go to a tiebreak which Haase won. In the second Andy worryingly went off the boil and lost it in 6-2, but in the third he regained his feet and took that set to keep himself in the match, and after easily taking the 4th set, and despite having a near 5-0 lead, he dropped his serve to let Haase back who found some inspiration to level the set until it was 4-4. But thankfully Andy managed to secure a break to make it 5-4 in the 5th set, and after a very tense final game which had the American crowd screaming for more, Andy finally won the match in 6-7, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4.
This was quite a match, and it once again showed Andy's sheer determination and talent in turning a match around, as that's the sixth time he's won a match from two sets down in a grand slam. However it did also alarmingly raise just how poor his serve was, as he frequently dropped his serve and gave away too many free points to Haase. I think after losing the first set tiebreak that Andy really went off the boil, and it took him until the 3rd set to mentally come back into the match. And this leads us back to another concern and that's his mental strength in the face of adversity, as if that was Rafa he would have just gotten on the with match and put it behind him, and that's what Andy needs to do. Andy though to his credit was nothing but honest about his performance and he also said he needs to up his game when he faces his next opponent Feliciano Lopez or else he's going home. Another positive to take from the match was that we saw Andy in a rare moment where he broke into a big smile and jumped around with joy having won the match. It just shows that he has got that passion and that he wants to win and stay in the tournament, and it also shows he has got heart. In fact he did the same thing at the Davis Cup victory in Breaehead Arena. So it would be great to see some more of that from Muzza in future.
But in the meantime he really needs to work on his game and that serve of his as that was some of the worst playing I've seen from Andy in a while, and it makes him look far from convincing as a contender for the title. So we can hope Andy will try and sort himself out for Sunday when he plays Feliciano Lopez, whom he defeated previously Wimbledon so let's hope its a repeat performance. Another potential 4th round opponent for Andy should he get there, would be Donald Young who defeated him back in Indian Wells, so if Andy were to win that one, his revenge will be complete (as he already got his own back on his Miami nemesis Bogomolov in Cincinnati). And if Andy does make it to the quarter finals he could set up another very intruiging match with the former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, which would be very exciting, but again he will need to be on form and put his 2nd round display well behind him.
Also briefly Rafa managed to ease his way through his 2nd round encounter with Nicholas Mahut, who played that incredible longest 5 setter match in history against John Isner last year at Wimbledon. This time Mahut proved no such threat against Rafa who took him apart in the first two sets before Mahut had to retire from an abdominal injury at 6-2, 6-2 6-0 ret. So the top 3 all look quite healthy, but that top 4 guy needs to sort a few things out.
So Day 6 promises to be quite interesting as Djokovic will take on possibly his first test of the tournament in Nikolai Davydenko and Federer will take on Marin Cilic. To be honest Roger and Novak are both in pretty good form so I don't think either of them will have too much trouble, so I predict straight sets win for them both, but we'll see.
And that's all fer now.
But first a wee bit about Day 4, which saw on the ladies side unfortunately Elena Baltacha make an early exit as she faced off former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Despite a strong start with a 3-0 lead against Svety, Bally started to succomb to Kuznetsova's impressive movement and accurate shot making, and after 1 hour and 22 minutes Elena fell in 6-4, 6-3. In retrospect Elena played quite well against Svetlana, but she was just unlucky that the Russian was on better form and was the better player. Also on other ladies matches, Serena Williams breezed past her opponent in 6-0, 6-1, which sees the previous world no.1 continue her commanding comeback, next up for Serena will be Victoria Azarenka, so that should be a really good one. Caroline Wozniacki also showed some great return to form as she crushed her opponent in 6-2, 6-0, which is really great to see her get back on her game and puts her in a strong position to do well in the latter stages.
In the men's tennis on day 4, Djokovic proved even further just why he is the No.1 men's player as he trounced his opponent Carlos Berlocq in 6-0, 6-0, 6-2. Djokovic spent no more than 77 minutes on court as he dismantled his opponent, he even admitted after he felt sorry for him as he tried to fight his way back into the match. Federer also had no troubles getting past Dudi Sela whom he swept past in 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Although one of the first top seed upsets occured with Gael Monfils going out after an epic 5 set match against Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Onto Day 5, starting with the ladies, Vera Zvonareva made it through in straight sets as she took on Medina Garrigues, who put out Laura Robson in the previous round. And in a thrilling match, we saw the mighty Maria Sharapova fall to the Italian Flavia Pennetta (seeded No. 26) after a lenghty 3 set battle, which Flavia won in 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. This was a riveting match, and one which highlighted the great atmosphere of the US Open Arthur Ashe stadium, say what you want about the Americans, but when it comes to giving players an atmos and energy they are second to none. I was also pleased to see Flavia get through as she came out so strong early on and despite a real fightback from the Pova, she managed to make it through in the end. In the end Sharapova while she displayed the incredible fighting spirit that lead her to win her previous US Open title, also once again put in an incredibly erratic performance, as she served what must be a record breaking 12 double faults in the match and 60 unforced errors. With mistakes like that she's not likely to win another grand slam but we shall see. It also leaves the field that bit more open for the title to be taken, although Serena is still a hot favourite to win, but we will see how she does against Azarenka tomorrow.
So that brings us onto the other match of the day, which was an incredible and yet very frustrating one to watch, where Andy Murray took on Robin Haase, the very talented Dutch player who not only defeated Andy on their previous meeting, but also took Rafa to 5 sets last year in Wimbledon. And this time the match seemed to be of a similar nature and Andy himself was wary of his opponent, and rightly so as Haase come out with all guns blazing as he impressively held onto his serve in the first set, and broke Andy at one point who broke back, which saw the first go to a tiebreak which Haase won. In the second Andy worryingly went off the boil and lost it in 6-2, but in the third he regained his feet and took that set to keep himself in the match, and after easily taking the 4th set, and despite having a near 5-0 lead, he dropped his serve to let Haase back who found some inspiration to level the set until it was 4-4. But thankfully Andy managed to secure a break to make it 5-4 in the 5th set, and after a very tense final game which had the American crowd screaming for more, Andy finally won the match in 6-7, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4.
This was quite a match, and it once again showed Andy's sheer determination and talent in turning a match around, as that's the sixth time he's won a match from two sets down in a grand slam. However it did also alarmingly raise just how poor his serve was, as he frequently dropped his serve and gave away too many free points to Haase. I think after losing the first set tiebreak that Andy really went off the boil, and it took him until the 3rd set to mentally come back into the match. And this leads us back to another concern and that's his mental strength in the face of adversity, as if that was Rafa he would have just gotten on the with match and put it behind him, and that's what Andy needs to do. Andy though to his credit was nothing but honest about his performance and he also said he needs to up his game when he faces his next opponent Feliciano Lopez or else he's going home. Another positive to take from the match was that we saw Andy in a rare moment where he broke into a big smile and jumped around with joy having won the match. It just shows that he has got that passion and that he wants to win and stay in the tournament, and it also shows he has got heart. In fact he did the same thing at the Davis Cup victory in Breaehead Arena. So it would be great to see some more of that from Muzza in future.
But in the meantime he really needs to work on his game and that serve of his as that was some of the worst playing I've seen from Andy in a while, and it makes him look far from convincing as a contender for the title. So we can hope Andy will try and sort himself out for Sunday when he plays Feliciano Lopez, whom he defeated previously Wimbledon so let's hope its a repeat performance. Another potential 4th round opponent for Andy should he get there, would be Donald Young who defeated him back in Indian Wells, so if Andy were to win that one, his revenge will be complete (as he already got his own back on his Miami nemesis Bogomolov in Cincinnati). And if Andy does make it to the quarter finals he could set up another very intruiging match with the former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, which would be very exciting, but again he will need to be on form and put his 2nd round display well behind him.
Also briefly Rafa managed to ease his way through his 2nd round encounter with Nicholas Mahut, who played that incredible longest 5 setter match in history against John Isner last year at Wimbledon. This time Mahut proved no such threat against Rafa who took him apart in the first two sets before Mahut had to retire from an abdominal injury at 6-2, 6-2 6-0 ret. So the top 3 all look quite healthy, but that top 4 guy needs to sort a few things out.
So Day 6 promises to be quite interesting as Djokovic will take on possibly his first test of the tournament in Nikolai Davydenko and Federer will take on Marin Cilic. To be honest Roger and Novak are both in pretty good form so I don't think either of them will have too much trouble, so I predict straight sets win for them both, but we'll see.
And that's all fer now.
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