Achhhh well that's the end of the Dubai Open Championships in.... well Dubai of course, and the final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray ended in not so much of whimper or a bang, but kind of in between.
So to recap, the first set was tight as a drum until 5-5 all, when all of a sudden after playing some highly efficient and aggressive tennis, Andy's serve went walkies and he let Roger in the door who took the break and closed out the set in 7-5. In the 2nd set Roger stepped up the pace and broke Andy in the opening game, however at 3-2, serving for 4-2, Roger dropped serve and very impressively broke back, and soon levelled it to make 4-4. But a case of servitis came back on Andy and he dropped serve yet again, and left Roger with the perfect opportunity, whic he took to close out the match winning his 5th title in Dubai in 7-5, 6-4.
Well it was definitely a disappointing end to an impressive week for the British No.1, especially considering he knocked out Berdych and beat him for the first time in seven years, and then went on to take out the World No.1 Djokovic, in straight sets no less. But Federer no doubt has had an incredible ATP tour season so far this year, and he is yet to lose a match on the tour, if you discount the Davis cup and the Aussie Open losses he sustained (because they aren't really part of the tour as such). And its a shame for Andy to come up short again, and despite the fact he succeeded in getting his 1st service percentage well into the 60s throughout the week, he chose the worst match for it to drop below 50% which it did rather, as his first serves were at a woeful 48%. However Roger's wasn't much better at 52%, but he played the better tennis in the end and that's how it goes. Perhaps this signals that it could be Roger's year, if so its a great pity and a real pisser for Andy, as its like these three guys keep taking turns in denying him a shot at the major prizes. But its only March and there are 3 more majors to go, so there will be more opportunities so we will just have to keep our eyes peeled. Regardless of his loss today, Andy can take away many positives this week from Dubai, especially as this time last year, he failed to even win a set, never mind a match.
However next up will the first big title of the year on the ATP tour circuit, and for the WTA tour for that matter, as the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells awaits for the top players in California. Without a doubt, Indian Wells is a big tournament, and it lasts almost the same length as a slam, in fact with the Sony Ericsson Open, its the only other tournament that lasts longer than the standard week for all the others. And there is also a maximum of seven rounds, just like in the slams, except of course the top seeds get a bye into the 2nd round. Novak Djokovic is the defending champion there in the men's tour, so will he be able to defend it this year???? Hmmmmm, hard to say, with Andy having inflicted Djokovic's first defeat of the season, it definitely sees him look more fallable than last year, when he was unstoppable. Andy himself is playing great tennis just now, so there's even a chance he could lift his first title in Indian Wells also. But of course we have Federer who has been playing terrific tennis at the ATP tour level, and I think he has every chance of winning, in fact I would almost tip him to be the favourite to win. And of course lets not forget Rafa, who has taken a whole month off in between the Aussie open and Indian Wells, so he will be fresh and fit as the proverbial fiddle as anyone else. Whatever happens it promises to be quite an exciting tournament, and it has the look and feel of a really big tournament, which really does add to the excitement of it all.
And quickly on the ladies tour regarding Indian Wells, its going to be really interesting to see who wins there, and the great thing is Eurosport has full coverage so I will be watching it like a hawk. The defending champion there is Caroline Wozniacki, but I really do not see her winning it again this year, as she has fallen rather sharply away from the game, looking too vulnerable and beatable these days, its going to be hard to see her come out on top. So that leaves a big chance for the new World No.1 Victoria Azarenka to step in and steal the title away, but that all depends on her being injury free throughout, if she can and keeps up her current form then I see no reason she can't win. I almost hope she does as it would be great to see her carry on her great unbeaten form, but at this rate she doesn't have the durability that Djokovic has, so at any moment it could fall away from her pretty quick.
Anywaysssss that's all coming up and I'm looking forward to it when it does. So that's it for noww.
No comments:
Post a Comment