So now onto Part 2 of my favourite ATP matches of the year, which is all to do with the grass court season, again pretty short but there was plenty to choose from so here goes.
Number 4: Wimbledon Championships, 3rd round, Novak Djokovic d. Marcos Baghdatis, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
On entering the Wimbledon championships, Djokovic naturally looked a hot favourite to win as well as Nadal, the ultimate crown in tennis. And after a couple of easy matches, Djokovic met his first match of the tournament in the very talented Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis, who pushed Djoko around the court in a highly entertaining match. Baghdatis was again also the first person to take a set off Djokovic in the tournament, and above all else, he was the first player to really make Djoko lose his rag on court, as in the second set when facing a break point in an exciting rally, which Djokovic lost the point, he proceeded to smash his racquet into the ground. It was the first time we had seen Djokovic lose his temper this year on court, as being a champion and in control so much this year it was something he hadn't needed to deal with. But Baghdatis despite his defeat took everything in his stride and delighted in playing to the big audience at SW19, and it certainly was one of the most crowd pleasing matches of the year.
Number 3: Wimbledon Championships Final, Novak Djokovic d. Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
Well the ultimate showdown between the world's tour best players doesn't feature in this one, that would be at the US Open, but until then this one would do. While the 2011 Wimbledon final didn't scale the heights of the legendary 2008 final (or 2009 for that matter) it certainly was a highly watchable and also historical match as for the first time since 2002 another player won at SW19 rather than Rafa and Roger. Right from the start we could see that Djokovic was intent on playing his best tennis, and utilising his prior victories against Rafa, he managed to get off to an excellent start as he broke Rafa at 4-4 and took the first set, the 2nd set was a scoosh, but in the 3rd Djokovic let his level dip and Rafa walked away with the set. However in the 4th, it was even pegged up until Djoko broke Rafa at 3-3 all, and on Rafa's serve at 5-3, Djokovic broke again to close out the game, set, match and his first Wimbledon title.
Depsite the scoreline and relatively short length of the final, there was certainly plenty of fine quality tennis on display, especially in the 1st and 4th sets from both players, and Djokovic's dominance in the 2nd was quite incredible. The fear of a straight set victory really did set in at the beginnig of the 3rd as it looked like Rafa was getting whitewashed but it was a crucial break that gave Rafa an extra lease of life and took us to that welcome 4th set. But in the end, it was a culmination of sheer hard work, talent, confidence and self belief that took Djokovic to that place where he not only took that dream trophy in his hands, but also pinched the World No.1 ranking from Rafa. As Djokovic himself put it in his post match interview to Sue Barker "A couple of good days at the office!". Indeed.
Number 2: AEGON Queens Club Championships Final, Andy Murray d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.
It was the second time at Queens that Andy Murray had reached the final and this time he played to a jam packed crowd on a Monday afternoon after a day's delay of heavy rain (some of which Andy apologised to if they had to bunk off work to go to!). And in the final Andy couldn't have asked for a tougher opponent than Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who came into the final in great form, having dispatched Rafa earlier on in the tournament. In the first set Tsonga broke early on and took the set, but in the 2nd it was a more even affair, although at 5-5 all, Tsonga did have a chance of a break point on Andy's serve, which could have gifted him the match, but Tsonga couldn't quite take it as fate took over the control of the tennis ball as it refused to go over the net! After dominating the 2nd set tiebreak, Andy went on to break Tsonga in the 3rd set, and at this point the two men were almost trying to outdo each other in the cheeky tennis department as Tsonga kept diving on the grass and making every shot, while Andy played a couple of between the legs shots (one of which paid off!). But in the end Andy managed to serve it out to love and held his arms aloft in delight as he won his first title of the year, and the first British man in over 70 years to win at Queens twice. So all in all the Queens final made for one of the most enjoyable matches of the year.
Number 1: Wimbledon Championships 4th round, Rafael Nadal d. Juan Martin Del Potro, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.
In a match anticipated 4th round match at Wimbledon, Rafa took on the former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, who made his comeback to the game this year after taking last year after wrist surgery. And the match didn't disappoint as Del Potro gave Rafa one of his sternest tests of the tournament, as his serve was almost inpenetrable for most of the match and it took till the 4th set for Nadal to finally get a break on Delpo's serve. In fact for most of the match it seemed like it was Delpo that was in control, as Rafa was fortunate enough to win the tiebreaks, but apart from that it took almost everything for Rafa to get that crucial break in the 4th set. The match also wasn't short on drama as Rafa complained to the umpire at one point about something, and he had to take a medical tiemout for blisters on his feet just prior to the tiebreak, which pissed off Delpo, which showed after the big Argentine lost the first set. But it ranks easily as one of the main highlights of the grass court season and it also showed just what an impressive comeback Delpo had made in 2011, that he pushed the then World No.1 and defending Wimbledon champion so far.
Part 3 beckons..... soon......
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