Ok here's another excuse for a tennis post, and yes ok, its only April, but I quite fancied putting up some of my favourite tennis matches of the year so far, all from the hard court season, just as the clay season is looming.
5. Sony Ericsson Open, Quarter final, Novak Djokovic d. David Ferrer, 6-2, 7-6(1).
Ok to kick off I thought I would add this thoroughly entertaining and high quality match, which was between the World No.1 Novak Djokovic, and the World No.5, David Ferrer (now currently No.6). Djokovic was in imperious in Miami last year, and this year, he regrouped here after losing out in Indian Wells to play some of his best tennis of the season so far. In the first set, Djokovic showed just why he is the best player in the world, as he displayed some razor sharp play around the court, at the net, and showed off some amazing defensive skills, and broke Ferrer twice to take the set. In the 2nd set however, Ferrer fought back hard and he pushed Djokovic around the court, after being broken, Ferrer broke straight back. The 2nd set in particular had some highy entertaining and thrilling rallies, which easily must have been 30+ shots. Despite being broken again at 4-4 to make it 5-4, for Djokovic, Ferrer continued to fight and broke again to make it 5-5 all. In the ensuing tiebreak however, Ferrer in the end was unable to compete with Djokovic, who dominated the rallies and closed it out for a place in the semi finals. Djokovic also showed that he really is a worthy No.1 and a great sportsman, as he warmly shook Ferrer's hand at the net and said "David, it was a pleasure". Top stuff.
4.Davis Cup Africa/Europe Group I tie, Great Britain vs Slovak Republic, Dan Evans d. Martin Klizan, 6-1, 6-1, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3.
I'm putting this match in my favourites list because I was there, so that's good enough for me. This was the pivotal match for Great Britain in their tie against the Slovak Republic as it was 2-2 all in the 3rd day of the tie. In the first two sets, Dan Evans, who up until then had only won one Davis cup match for GB, went on put on a dazzling display of tennis, which blasted his Slovak opponent off the court. In the 3rd set, after destroying his racquet, Klizan started to find his form and broke Evans to take it into the 4th, and in the 4th he broke again to level the match at 2 sets all. In the 5th set, it looked doubtful that Evans could come back in and win the match, however we were all proved so wrong, and Evans broke Klizan eary on to take the lead and he never let go. And on Klizan's serve at 5-3, he double faulted at the crucial match point 15-40, handing the match and the tie to Great Britain, which saw the whole crowd go in an uproar of delight. This was a great match to be a part of, as I was one of the audience members that day, and atmosphere was terrific throughout, as fans knew how much was at stake, and Dan Evans stunned everyone with his terrific display, and played pretty much the match of his life in winning the tie. Kilzan to his credit, did well to get back into the match and turn it around to level things, but it was down to Dan the man, and he came through for Great Britain just in the nick of time. The tie was also very important to Great Britain as it secured them to keep their place in the Africa/Europe Group I, and they were one tie away from a place in the World Group play offs. Sadly they didn't get there, but that's a different story, but this match was a great effort from Dan Evans and one to remember.
3. Indian Wells, Semi final, John Isner d. Novak Djokovic, 7-6(7), 3-6, 7-6(5).
It was not for sure if Novak Djokovic was going to have the same kind of year he did last year after winning the Australian Open. However having already suffering his first loss of the season to Andy Murray in Dubai, it was John Isner in this match that offered Novak his 2nd shock loss of the season, marking the 2nd title he had failed to defend this year (the other being Dubai of course). But the match itself was high on quality, particularly from the massive Isner, who's big powerful serve frequently knocked Djokovic off his feet and he failed to win the 1st set tiebreak. In the 2nd set Djokovic managed to finally break Isner's serve to secure the 2nd set, but in the 3rd again it went to a tiebreak where Isner pulled off one of the biggest wins of his career, defeating Novak Djokovic the World No.1 for the first time. This match really did see John Isner arrive on the scene and it secured his place in the top 10, also for the first time in his career. It was again a highly enjoyable match with both men putting on a great display for the crowd, although Djokovic after a while started yelling in frustration with the big Yank, constantly knocking him off his feet with his big serves. But Isner without a doubt deserved big credit for winning this match, and it secured his first 1000 Masters series final.
2. Australian Open, Final, Novak Djokovic d. Rafae Nadal, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6(5)-7, 7-5.
This match in itself was unquestionably a landmark in the history of the sport, as it was the longest grand slam final of all time, just clocking in at under 6 hours (5 hours and 53 minutes to be exact). After having gotten the better of Rafa with relative ease in their last few meetings (apart from the US Open final of course) Rafa here took Djokovic all the way and showed just why he is a 10 time grand slam champion. Despite all that though, Djokovic despite showing clear signs of fatigue and tiredness after his epic match against Andy Murray, somehow managed to battle through the exhaustion and pain to once again get the better of his old rival. And for the first 3 sets admittedly the match was a bit lacking in excitement and pace, but that all changed in the 4th set, when it suddenly turned into a thrilling contest, especially at 4-3, on Rafa's serve to level it 4-4 all, he nearly was broken, but used all his champion qualities to square the set, and on winning the game, he gave the biggest fist pump he's ever given! After that Rafa battled on to take the 4th set in one of the best tiebreaks you will ever see, taking the match into the decider, where Rafa got a break against Djokovic. However Djokovic broke straight back, and at 5-5 all, Djokovic went on to take the crucial break, and after another mammoth game, facing break points, Djokovic finally closed out an exhaustive epic encounter, with him successfully defending his Aussie open title. While this match lacked the consistent quality of their US Open final last year, the Australian Open final made it up for it in producing a scintallating conclusion, where the US Open kind of petered out towards the end. In the trophy presentation, you could clearly see how exhausted Djokovic was as he stared into space while the tournament organisers gave their speeches. Its also a testement to Djokovic's improved fitness that he spent 11 hours on court over the space of three days, and still was able to come through against all adversity and everything Rafa threw at him. And despite his loss, Rafa should take nothing but positives from how he played in the final, and it also seemed to exorcise his demons from last year, when he didn't play as well against Djokovic. It was also a great start to the slam season and it signals a great French Open is just ahead, as well as proving Djokovic is without a doubt the World No.1 and one of the sport's best competitors. Great stuff.
1. Australian Open, Semi final, Novak Djokovic d. Andy Murray, 6-3, 3-6, 6(4)-7, 6-1, 7-5.
In last year's final of the Australian open, Djokovic without a doubt outplayed Andy Murray in every way possible, but even Djokovic before going out on court in his pre-match interview admitted this would be quite a different encounter, and it sure was. Andy Murray a year on, and now being coached by Ivan Lendl, made an incredible transition, from someone who folded under pressure in the big matches, to a man who stood up and dished it out to the best player in the world. Right from the start, Djoko and the Muzza traded some amazing rallies from the baseline as the two of them throughout endured a punishing and gruelling physical match, which kept the Aussie crowd thrilled. After dropping the 1st set, Andy showed no signs of faltering like he did last year, and went on to take the 2nd, and went even one better to seal the 3rd in a tiebreak. However with the advantage in his sights, Djokovic broke Andy and levelled the match at 2 sets all, and in the 5th, despite breaking Andy at 4-2, at 5-3 on Djoko's serve, Andy pulled out one of the games of his career and broke Djokovic to love. At 5-5 all we had another titanic struggle with Andy desperately trying to break Djokovic, but to no avail, only to have his own serve broken by Djoko at 6-5 to seal the match. No doubt it, this was the one of the best matches of the year so far, and not only that, its the first time in a big match situation that Andy has really managed to push a World No.1 to the limit. It saw the British No.1 come of age on court, and Andy produced some of the matches real highlights, especially one shot during his 3rd tiebreak, and that amazing 5th set game at 5-3, where he broke Djokovic to love. This match not only was one of the great highlights of a terrific Australian Open campaign, it also signals a bright future for Andy Murray in future slams this year, and if he can build on this, that first major can't be far off.
That's it for now....
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