SW19 2012 Part 4: Narrow scrapes and last man standing.

Oh well I'm now onto part 4 of my coverage of the Wimbledon Championships, which saw the round 3 matches get under way and there were some apt moments of real drama today as well.

Sooooooooo in fine tradition starting with the ladies, the feature match of the day was the British No.3, Heather Watson, who made impressive progress in reaching the 3rd round of Wimbledon, which no female British player has managed for the last 10 years.  However Heather had a big task ahead of her in trying to make it into the 4th round, as she faced the World No.3, Agnieszka Radwanska, who has been playing the best tennis of her career this year.  So did Heather manage to pull off the miracle and get past the tenacious Pole?????  Well the short answer is no, as Heather struggled badly to get anything going against Radwanska at all.  Radwanska isn't the most powerful of players, as she is counterpuncher, but what she lacks in power she makes up for with guile and ingenuity in her game, and Radwanska completed outclassed Heather throughout the match.  But Heather also gifted many free points to Aga as she made quite a few careless unforced errors, so in a way she was engineered her own downfall in the match, and she simply wasn't aggressive enough against Radwanska either, which saw Radwanska take a very easy win in 6-0, 6-2.

Well as usual that's all the Brit players out of Wimbledon except Andy Murray, and despite James Ward's gutsy performance against Mardy Fish, it has to be said the ladies in their last matches all played very poorly, and they were beaten way too easy.  And while Heather Watson was by far the best out of the four female players, she too fell way short of the mark on this occassion.  But it was a real step up in terms of the quality of opponent, as Radwanska is a world class player and is one of the most consistent players on tour just now as well, so it was too much to really expect that Heather could beat her.  Regardless of that, Heather did a great job in getting as far as the 3rd round of Wimbledon, and she is still young, so in a few years time she could even become a top 50 or top 20 player, and with time she might come that much needed spearhead figure for British ladies tennis.

So briefly in other ladies matches we had Maria Sharapova who safely made it throught to the fourth round by defeating Su-Wei Hsieh, defeating her in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.  Kim Clisters also made it through after Vera Zvonareva was forced retire with an injury, with a 6-3, 4-3 ret score.  This will set up a rather mouth watering match between Kim and the in form German player, Angelique Kerber, which promises to be quite a belter, especially if Kim maintains her good form.  

Right onto the men's matches of the day, starting with Novak Djokovic who was up against the Czeck player Radek Stepanek.  Stepanek proved early on in the match to be problematic for Djokovic as he broke Djoko to take the first set, however from there onward Djokovic took control of the match, breaking Stepanek twice in the second three sets, which saw him come through finishing strong with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win.  This was an enteratining match, and despite Djokovic dropping the first set, you knew that he would take control of it sooner or later and he certainly did, but there were quite a few enjoyable points, and Stepanek's net play was very enteratining as well.  But Djokovic is safely through to the fourth round where he will next play his compatriot, Viktor Troicki, which could well be an easy match for him, but we shall see, its hard to tell in this event!

So onto the match of the day, which saw No.3 seed, Roger Federer go up against the talented French player, Julian Benneteau, who seriously gave Federer a run for his money.  And despite starting off the tournament so strong, dropping only 9 games into this match, Federer dropped a whole lot more.  Benneteau came out strong off the blocks as he blasted powerful serves and winners past Federer, and after taking the first set, Benny continued his fine form in the 2nd set, which he won on a tiebreak.  In the 3rd however, Federer finally found form and secured a double break to take it into the 4th set, which was a real nerve shredder and featuerd a terrific tiebreak, which Federer ultimately won to take the match into a decider.  In the 5th set however, Benneteau's legs were starting to feel the strain as he called the trainer on after the first three games, after this Benny had nowhere to go as his injury caused his game to capitulate and before we knew it, it was Federer with another double break who secured an epic victory in 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-1.

After Rafa's shock exit, I thought for a short while that Federer's number would be up next as Benneteau played so well throughout the first two sets, and in the fourth set he could have taken his chances to win the match in the tiebreak.  But in the end it just shows that the players ranked outside the top 10 or morely the top 5 don't quite have the same level of endurance and fitness as they do, and Federer ultimately outlasted Benneteau, in the same way like he did with Del Potro at the French Open.  But for the most part it was an enthralling and highly entertaining match, and once again the atmosphere on centre court was terrific, as the crowds once again really got their money's worth.  And in the end it really showed once again Federer's champion qualities and his ability to battle through any situation, so in the end I was kind of relieved that Federer didn't go out, as it would have sent a message to the other players that the top seeds can all be beaten, but then Benny was playing the greatest player of all time.

However this match did show that Federer was making alot of unforced errors and his game had fallen below par and it made him look less than convincing in his pursuit to win a 7th title there.  Unlike Djokovic who so far has looked the best out of the top three, and Andy so far has looked possibly 2nd best overall, if you take Federer's match into account tonight. 

Soooooooo after all that Day 6 awaits, which will have the other half of the draw on court, and for once there is no Rafa, but the British No.1 is still in action and he will take on the talented Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis, which will prove to be a stern test for Andy, but hopefully one he shall get through.  And thankfully the draw could start to open up for him a bit more, as he no longer has to worry about Milos Raonic who went out to Sam Querrey, who I would rather see him play.  But there are still some real troublesome players in Andy's draw such as Cilic, Del Potro, Roddick and Tsonga.  And it really is a cruel draw, but giving the way Federer was playing tonight, his draw doesn;t appear to be as kind to him as I thought, so it looks like things might even out.  The main thing is that Andy get's through to the 4th round, so he will take match by match, and I wish him the best of luck that he does. 

As for the ladies tomorrow there will be the other half of the draw in action, which includes Serena Williams taking on China's Jie Zheng.  Sara Errani will play Yaroslava Shvedova, the French Open finalist and quarter finalist respectively, and Francesca Schiavone will play Klara Zapokalova.  Petra Kvitova, the defending champion will take on Vervara Lepchenko of the USA, and the former World No.1, Victoria Azarenka will play Jana Cepelova.  So it all looks good!

Right so i will report back once tomorrow's potentially dramatic matches have finished.

And that'ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss it. 

SW19 2012 Part 3: Shocked and stunned.

Wow well its not often I start a post with some incredible news but this is one of them, as Day 4 of Wimbledon 2012 is now over and there has been quite a few dramatic matches on the go today, so let's have a look at em.

Starting with the ladies, the biggest upset on the ladies today was the exit of the No.9 seed, Marion Bartoli, who was beaten by the unseeded Mirjana Lucic from Croatia, who stunned the Wimbledon 2007 finalist with a straight set victory in 6-4, 6-3.  And sadly for the two of the remaining brits in the draw there were some early exits ahead, starting with Anne Keothavong, who went out against the French Open finalist, Sara Errani.  From the start Errani was simply too solid for the Anne who only scraped a game per set, as she suffered a drubbing in 6-1, 6-1.  Elena Baltacha also exited against the defending champion Petra Kvitova, who overpowered her and raced to an emphatic straight set win in 6-0, 6-4.  But on the brighter side of things, the Austrian Tamira Paszek, who conquered Eastbourne and defeat Caroline Wozniacki in the first round, is now into the 3rd round having dispatched Alize Cornet in 6-2, 6-1, which is great to see.  Tamira got to the quarter finals at Wimbledon last year, and it looks like she is on course to put in another great performance, and who knows maybe it could be her in the final.

Anyway now onto the men's and there was some real drama on court today, starting with Andy Murray's much against the giant Ivo Karlovich (also from Croatia) which promised to be a real tough test for Andy.  And it proved to be just that as big Ivo rained down serves well over 140 mph and for the most part his serve was unpenetrable  However Andy got some luck when Karlovic double faulted to give the 1st set to Andy, however the 2nd went by serve and it went to Ivo on a tiebreak.  But in the 3rd Andy got an immediate break and consolidated with a double break, to win the 3rd, however it was back to even stevens in the 4th, which went to another tiebreak.  This time however, fortune favoured Andy as Ivo double faulted at 4-4 to let Andy get the crucial point, that saw his next two serves seal the match for him, after a very tough 3 hour plus match and the final score reading 7-5, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6. 

This match it has to be said sparked a bit of controversy after from big Ivo who complained that the Wimbledon line judges kept calling out that he foot faulted on 11 separate occassions.  Ivo was not happy with this as he felt that the line judges were biased as the home favourite player was playing, but if he foot faulted then he did it, and there's not much he can do about it.  But for Andy this was another impressive performance, and despite dropping his serve on the 1st game, after that he broke back and never dropped serve again, and he returned really well against the giant Karlovic serve.  Andy also kept his compsure in the crucial moments and he did very well to negotiate such a tough opponent, which sees him safely into the 3rd round and I'm sure there were collective gasps from the crowd after that match finished.  Next up for Andy is Marcos Baghdatis, who will be another dangerous opponent, but given his form I'm sure Andy will be able to come through. 

Also quickly onto the other British match of the day which was between the Brit No.2, James Ward and the American No.2, Mardy Fish, who has returned to the sport after heart problems.  And despite the gap in rankings, Ward put on a very gutsy effort against the much higher ranked Fish, and he battled against the Yank, pushing him to a deciding 5th set before Fish triumphed in 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.  It was a real pity to see James Ward go out in the 2nd round, as it was the best he had played at Wimbledon so far, and he put in a terrific effort against Mardy Fish, and the crowd were really behind him all the way, but it was by far the best perforamance out of the three losing British players today, so big well done to James Ward for his terrific effort.

Now onto the most dramatic match of the day as Rafael Nadal played the unseeded Czeck player, Lukas Rosol, who was ranked 100 in the world, and on paper it sounded like a straight forward victory for the former two time Wimbledon champion.  However it proved to be anything but as Rafa seriously met his match with Rosol, who played with great power and precision, as he hit winner after winner against the mighty Raf.  Despite dropping the first set on a tiebreak, Rosol battled back to take the next two sets, and Rafa went on to level the match to take it to a decider.  In the decider however, Rosol made his move and got a break straight off on Rafa's serve, and from there he never looked back.  And despite fears that at 5-4 serving for the match that Rosol would choke, they were quickly dispelled as Rosol pulled off the seemingly impossible in defeating Rafael Nadal in the 2nd round of Wimbledon with an unbelievable 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 scoreline. 

This was the mother and father of all upsets, and this year alone we have already seen Serena Williams go out in the first round of the French Open, but I think this even tops that!  Rafa clearly wasn't playing his best in Halle on grass as lost to Philipp Kolschreiber, and he played a ropey match against Thomaz Bellucci in the opening round at Wimbledon.  So in a way while he wasn't playing his best, you would still expect him to win through, but this really was a major deal and its something I think no one could have expected.  But for Rosol this was nothing short of a miraculous achievevment as he had only won 18 matches in his ATP tour career up until this, and there is no doubt his performance was spectacular and he totally deserved the win.

So this all of a sudden makes the Wimbledon men's draw far more interesting, well on Rafa's side, which also features Andy Murray.  Andy still has a tough draw ahead of him with Baghdatis next, and possibly Querry, Cilic or even Raonic awaiting in the 4th, but if he manages to make it into the second week and into the semis, then for the first time he won't be facing Rafa.  It also means that Andy is now the highest ranked player left in his side of the draw, so if he can keep up his performance level then he's in with a strong shout of reaching his first Wimbledon final.  Can he do it?????  I sincerely hope so.  And Andy made it to the final last time when Rafa went out in the Australian Open, so this is a big chance for him, and if he continues to play to his strengths it could be him lifting that trophy next Sunday.  But that also depends on the fates of the remaining two guys ahead of him. 

Soooooooooo exciting times ahead at Wimbledon, and there is still one other Brit left in the draw, Heather Watson who plays Agnieszka Radwanska.  However I have to say Radwanska is the firm favourite to win, so its going to be a really big ask to expect Heather to come through, but nothing is impossible, so we will just wait and see, and if she goes down, I hope she goes down fighting.

Righhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhtt after that very interesting and intruiging post I will leave it there.  

Acting schmacting

Well its time for a change of subject from my usual critique and analysis of tennis, tv shows and films, so instead I will talk about some of my extra curricular activities, well one of them, which has been some acting classes that I have been doing of late.  The class have been with the teaching school, ACS, who specialise in giving actors a no-nonsense approach to the process and art of acting (so to speak), so that means you don't get any nonsensical games, or being a tree and all this crap, its all practical skills they think an actor should have.

So I've been doing the classes over the last five weeks, and at first they sounded interesting and intruiging, but to be honest as the weeks have gone on, I've grown more of tired of them, and they are supposed to be fun classes.  But for me there isn't much fun in them, as so far all we seem to have done is exercises on repetition, which involves two people standing facing each other and making a "call", starting with say "you're smirking" which the other person says back and forth.  After that it could change to a "you and I" call, so one person says "You're smirking" and the other says "I'm smirking".  And the idea is to keep saying this until the other person notices a change in that person, then they make another call such as "you're frowning" "I'm frowning".

So the whole idea I think is to get each person to connect with the other, and pay attention to their body language and what they say and how it is being said.  The bottom line I guess is giving that other person your full attention and undertstanding what they are saying or meaning, and ultimately the more you do the repetition, the more it becomes just you up there being yourself.  There is other stuff as well, such as the standard physical and vocal warm ups.  And in the last week we were given tasks to do, that relate to a scene, and its about finding the motivation and the want behind the task, and putting that into the scene, and no doubt there will be more to follow. 

And to be honest I think while I appreciate what they are trying to do, I just think these classes just take the fun out of acting, well for me anyway.  I think these classes would benefit more a person who is probably serious about getting into acting rather than someone who is just wanting to do it for the fun of it, which is basically what I got into acting for in the first place.  And I admit I had lost some interest in acting recently, and also I had a touch of nerves about going back to it, and nerves have always played a part in my acting, and I was doing these classes to see if they would spark me back into action, although I think they have had the opposite effect!  And this process of acting is more about trying to strip away all the bullshit to find the real person or real actor, but to me that just sounds like bullshit in itself.  And to me real acting and truthful acting is difficult to do if you overthink it, as if you do that it just doesn't look natural, it looks like its forced, and surely if you want to find a performance, its something you must try and feel your way through as well.  

But for me at times it just feels like you are attending a social sciences or a philosophy class, and I leave the class feeling inside "this isn't fun and it isn't enjoyable".  It also overly complicates the whole acting process, and surely there must be an easier way to break things down than the way they are trying to, but well that's just my opinion. Perhaps it might have sunk in more if I had more classes, but I am yet to really walk away and think "oh yeah I see the point of this.  Its really cool!".  And it sounds like someone is saying to you "try and think of you in this scene, but that its not you, its someone else and that other person is you, and try and bring a real life situation into the scene, but don't use the person from the situation".  Bla bla bla.  Info overload!  And the irony of their way of teaching is that the whole process makes your overthink about things, yet at the same time they are saying "don't try to overthink things", but you can't help but do that because of what they are teaching you contradicts with what they want you to do when you try to do it.  

So after five weeks I've decided not to go back, as so far I feel I have been forcing myself to try and enjoy it, and if you are doing that then what's the point.  Also the class started with 9 people but as the weeks have gone on there are only 5 of us (well 6 but one of the girls was not present tonight).  And yes previous acting classes I had taken were a bit wanky and had some useless stuff in them, but I think this school of acting is almost like saying "this is the way to go about it" perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm coming to the conclusion its just not for me.  And there is not much point in doing something if its supposed to be for fun and enjoyment, but leaves you feeling puzzled and disatisfied at the end of the night.  And this is in no way a slight on the tutor who is a very nice guy and also quite encouraging as he appreciates the difficulty of what he teaches, its just what they are teaching I can't relate to it, and I'm sure the people who dropped out can't either. 

And I read one of the testimonials of the people that have done the course and have benefited from it, but one of them said quote "if you think these classes are easy, forget it! If you aren't cutting it, you don't progress to level 2".  Which possibly means that if you fail to grasp the concepts of the step one classes then not only can you not go onto level 2, but you also would need to repeat level 1 again, which could mean you need to pay for it again.  If that is the case then it is a total utter con, and frankly these classes simply aren't worth hassle of repeating, certainly not for me, as the enjoyment factor was so small.  

So if you wish to go and dig deep into the processes of acting then its worth a go, but if you are looking for a way to revitalise the fun in your acting, well it might not be for you.  But I guess its up to the individual at the end of the day, so if you see their classes on the web and like what you hear then give it a go.  But I don't want to bad mouth them, and for the people who do get it, maybe it could be very rewarding, but if you don't, well give it a miss. 

Anyway on that rather flat note, I will leave it there and move onto something else.

For now byeeeeeeeee!!

SW19 2012 Part 2: A new star in the making and a player in decline

Well ok now we are onto Day 3 of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, which saw more exciting tennis take place with most of the 2nd round matches taking place, while some of the 1st round matches were still to to be completed.

So starting with the ladies, the first result of the day was a great one for the Brits, which saw Heather Watson, the fast rising young player from Guernsey make further headway at Wimbledon, as she put on another a very impressive display in defeating her opponent, the American Jamie Lee Hampton, to reach the 3rd round, with a 6-1, 6-4 win.  This was another great win for Heather Watson, and it was something of a landmark in that she became the first British player to reach the 3rd round of Wimbledon since Elena Baltacha back in 2002.  It really does show that Heather is fast becoming a star in her own right, and she will only get better and better as her career progress.  In fact I think she has the chance to become the female equivalent of Andy Murray in terms of success as a player, and surely it won't be too long before she starts winning titles on the WTA tour.  However Heather's next opponent will be a very stern test as she will play the World No.3, Agnieszka Radwanska, although Pole came into 2012 in top form, she has been in and out of form a little bit of late, having exited early both at Eastbourne and the French Open.  So just maybe if Radwanska doesn't play as well then Heather will have a chance, but its a pretty tell order to get past Aga if she is on form.

Which brings me on to the match of the day, ladies or mens, which was between the former World No.1, Caroline Wozniacki, and the current Eastbourne AEGON International champion, Tamira Paszek.  Tamira actually came into this match as the slight favourite, mainly because of her excellent run of form at Eastbourne, which incredibly prior to the event, she had only won two matches all year.  However Tamira had a far from easy encounter with Caroline, as the two of them battled it out for well over 3 hours, with Caroline going a break down in the 1st set, she fought back to level at 5-5 and then went on to break Tamira to take the first set 7-5.  The second set saw the two players trade breaks until it went to a tiebreak, but this time it was Tamira who had the edge and sealed the breaker to level the match.  And in the 3rd despite going a break down, Tarmia broke back and made the final decisive break, and sealing Caroline's fate and probably her toughest loss of the year, as Tamira's fine run continues onto the 2nd round of Wimbledon, winning after an epic 5-7, 7-6, 6-4 battle.

This was easily one of the best matches of the tournament so far, and it was a shame that one of them had to lose as both players played some terrific tennis for the packed crowd on centre court.  And Tamira Paszek definitely deserved her win, and it was great to see her maintain her excellent form that won her the Eastbourne title last week, so I hope she continues to have a good run at Wimbledon.  Tamira also comes across a really nice bright girl and its really encouraging to see someone be so positive in victory and also have a gutsy positive attitude out on court to go with it.    

As for the Wozzer, well this is another tough loss for Caroline Wozniacki to deal with, and its a great shame, as only a year and a half ago she was on fire, playing some of her best tennis.  But already at this time last year, we could see the cracks in Caroline's game, and this year there have been so many players that have beaten her that she is looking too vulnerable, in fact her 2012 record so far stands at 22-11, which isn't too great, and as the stats show she has literally lost half of her matches this year!

So what is behind her drastic dip in form???  Well to be honest its hard to say, other than there are so many players that can hit her off the court with power and pace and weight of shot such as Serenia Williams, Sharapova, Kvitova, Azarenka, Kerber, Goerges and quite a few others, and her forehand is still suspectible to error.  Caroline recently changed coaches as her current coach is Thomas Johanssen who is a former Australian Open champion, but she is yet to see any benefit in the change from that.  And this marks the first time she has lost in a grand slam open round since about 2007, which is a really poor result and quite worrying.

But it seems almost like both Caroline and her beau Rory McIlroy's careers have both taken a bit of a dip just now as Rory has been struggling in some of his golf events, particularly at the US Open this year, which he was defending the champion as he went 11 over par, and failed to make the cut.  So something bad is rubbing off on both of them! (or perhaps they have been rubbing off each other a little too much! Dirty joke I know!).  Also Caroline has been without a title since August last year when she won the New Haven Open at Yale, which she has won the last four years running, but something tells me that someone else will win it this year.  But I hope she does one day soon pick up her game and get back on track, she showed a glimmer of hope with her excellent performance in Miami earlier this year in reaching the semi finals and defeating Serena Williams enroute before losing to Maria Sharapova.  But if she can at least pick up another title somewhere along the way this year, then it will hopefully give her game the confidence it badly needs.  One way or another I'm sure this will be one grass season she will want to forget, and at this rate 2012 as a year to forget as well in her career.

Anyway quickly onto the mens today, which saw Roger Federer in action against Fabio Fognini, who he demolished in straight sets, in just a mere 74 minutes, yup that's right!  And once again we saw Roger in spellbinding form, just taking his opponent apart and giving the Italian hardly anything in return.  In fact it was remarkable the Fognini managed to take as many as games from Federer, given the maestro's form, who raced to a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 win.  So far its been a dream draw for Federer but sooner or later it will get tougher for him, especially in the second week, but so far in the first, its been a cakewalk.  Later on in the day Novak Djokovic was in action as he took on the young rising star from the USofA, Ryan Harrison, who gave a very good account of himself in playing a very high quality match against the World Numero 1.  However despite Harrison's valiant attempts, it was not enough to take it to Djokovic, who made a decisive break in each set, winning in 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.  Regardless of his loss though Harrison put in an excellent performance and he has shown great promise for the future.

And finally another update on another British player today, Jamie Baker who took on the 3 time Wimbledon finalist, Andy Roddick.  Their match was postponed from yesterday due to bad light, but overall it was a very good quality encounter as well, with Baker make a very impressive stab at taking the game to Roddick.  But ultimately it was Roddick who managed to come through, albeit in a very tight straight set win, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5.  Regardless of his loss, Baker showed great promise as well for his future, and its good to see him back on tour after suffering from so many injuries and having had numerous srugery over the years.

Sooooooo that's that tomorrow we will have the remaining second round matches, with Andy and Rafa in action.  Andy has the sterner test of the two as he will play the giant 6ft 10 Ivo Karlovich, with his massive serve, but hopefully if the Muzza maintains his fine form from the first round the he should come through.  The other brits will be in action as well, as we James Ward take on Mardy Fish, which should be a real test for the British No.2, and unfortunately its one he may not come through, but you never know, he could go on a little run this year at Wimbledon, like he did last year at Queens (but he won't reach as far as the semis for sure!).  Anne Keothavong will play Sara Errani, the French Open finalist, which should be another tough test, but again I would have to favour Errani to win, because of her pedigree and form this year.  And finally Elena Baltacha will probably have the toughest test of the lot as she is playing the defending champion, Petra Kvitova, and to be honest you can only see one winner there, and its not Bally.  So its a tough testing day ahead for the Brits tomorrow, but you can live in hope that at least one or two of them get through.

Plus briefly Maria Sharapova is still in action and to complete her 2nd round match against the former Wimbledon semi finalist, Tetsana Pironkova from Bulgaria, who after a tight first set, which Sharapova won on a tiebreak, she looks to be in the driving set in the 2nd with a 3-1 lead.  

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright well that's it for now.

SW19 2012 Part 1: The British Quintet

Well that's Wimbledon well under way now with the first two days of action over with, and they have been pretty eventful days at that, so let's start looking at it.

On Day 1, Novak Djokovic, the defending champion opened up on centre court, with his first round opponent being the potentially tough Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former World No.1.  But Djokovic being the current No.1 proved to be more than a match for the former French Open champion, as he broke his opponent in the first two sets once, and twice in the 3rd to secure a place in the 2nd round with a very comfy win of 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.  Next up was Federer who looked in formidable form as he played the Spaniard, Albert Ramos, who gave the Fed express very little trouble at all, and as the Swiss maestro went right through his opponent, gubbing him, and conceding only one game per set, to reach the 2nd round in 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.  This is some victory and certainly sends out a strong signal to the other players in the locker room, that Roger is still a very dangerous opponent and is hungry for a chance to lift that 7th Wimbledon title, and based on this performance, it looks very likely.

In other Day 1 performances there were a couple of upsets on the men's side, the biggest being Tomas Berdych, the World No.6, who came up against an inspired Ernest Gulbis, who played brilliantly in the key points, and overcame the No.6 seed in straight sets, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6.  This was quite a surprise indeed, and Gulbis at one point even thought he had won the match at 5-4 in the 3rd, but his return was just a centimetre long, but it was short lived for Berdych, as Gulbis went to victory in the 3rd tiebreak.  So it was quite a shock result, however Gulbis did defeat Andy Murray in an exhibition match not along ago at the Mary Cohr Guinot Masters, so its not that much of a surprise that he won, although I'm not a big a fan of his personality, as he comes across as being a bit of a dick in his post match interviews, as he gave smart alec answers after his win against Berdy.  

The other big upset (big is the right word!) was John Isner who battled against the significantly shorter Colombian player, Alejandro Falla, who the big fella lost to in 5 sets, winning 6-4, 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5.  This means that we won't see a rematch of Isner playing Nicholas Mahut unfortunately, but Mahut for a change has made it through to the 2nd round in his match, so well done to him, in fact it would be fair to say that if they had met that Mahut would have had a real shout of winning this time.

Anyway onto the ladies Day 1 matches, which saw the World No.1, Maria Sharapova in action, who came through in flying colours against her opponent, Anastasia Rodionova in 6-2, 6-3, which sees the current French Open champion looking in real good form for a shot at the title here also (and looking rather good!).  Kim Clijsters also made it through against the fading Jelena Jankovic in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, and Agnieszka Radwanska, the current World No.3, also came through in straight sets against Magdalena Rybarikova with a 6-3, 6-3 win.  And Sam Stosur also made it safely through to the 2nd round against Carla Suarez Navarro, winning in 6-1, 6-3.  And one of the biggest upsets on the ladies was Venus Williams, who went out agaist Elena Vesnina of Russia in straight sets also in 6-1, 6-3, with Venus clearly starting to look past her best.  And perhaps the win of the day came from the Brit player, Heather Watson, who this year has started to really shine, and she continued to at Wimbledon as she breezed past, the Czeck player, Iveta Benesova, in 6-2, 6-1.

This was a really impressive performance from young Heather and it was also her first win at Wimbledon, and not only that it was the first time a British singles ladies player won a match on centre court since Jo Durie (former British No.1).  And judging by her performance, she could do even better in future, and for me she is becoming the real ray of light in British ladies tennis, which the ladies game badly needs.  In fact we could even be looking at the female equivalent of Andy Murray in terms of her playing ability, as Heather has already beaten several players ranked well above her this year, so she can only get better from here.

So onto Day 2, which on the ladies front saw the defending champion, Petra Kvitova take to court, although she got off to a slow start against her opponent Akgul Amanmuradova, who raced to a 3-0 lead.  But Petra soon found her form, and got over her nervy start to break back even and take the first set in 6-4, and the second set was the same at 6-4, after a brief rain delay.  Victoria Azarenka, the former World No.1, also got off to a good start as she raced to a 6-1, 6-4 victory against the American, Irinca Falconi.  And Serena Williams managed to avoid another first round slam defeat, by defeating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.

Now for an update on the British ladies matches today, which saw some good news and some bad news.  Starting with the bad news as one of the Brits didn't make it through, Laura Robson who was up against Francesca Schiavone, the former French Open 2010 champion.  Laura started off strong in the 1st set taking it 6-2, but in the 2nd, Fran fought back and broke to take it 6-4, and in the 3rd, despite going 5-2 down, Laura battled back to make it 5-4, but after staving a couple of match points, she eventually fell to the Italian in 6-2, 4-6, 4-6.  But the good news is today we had the two seasoned ladies players make it through as Elena Baltacha, who played Karin Knapp, after a set down, came back to defeat Knapp, who became injured in the 2nd set, but sped to victory winning in 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.  And Ann Keothavong also made it past Laura Pous-Tio of Spain, in straight sets in 6-3, 6-3.  So its great to see three of the ladies British players make it through, although it gets tougher for them from here.

Now onto the men's starting with Rafa Nadal who was up second on centre court (after Petra) and played the big serving Brazilian, Thomaz Bellucci.  Rafa got off to a real slow start as he went 4-0 down in the first set, but after Bellucci missed a simple smash to save a break point, Rafa broke back and rattled off the next 4 games, and it went to a tibreak which Rafa won 7-0.  And in the 2nd and 3rd sets, it was all Rafa really, who started to find his footing and played much better, cutting down on the unforced errors, and blasting past the big Brazilian in 7-6, 6-2, 6-3.  Juan Martin Del Potro also overcame the talented Dutch player, Robin Haase, in 4 sets.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took out former Wimbledon champion, Layton Hewitt in convincing fashion, firing 60 winners against the former World No.1, to take his place in the 2nd round with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.  And Mardy Dish got past his opponent, Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in 7-6, 7-5, 7-6, returning to the sport after having heart surgery.

And now for a couple of British victories, starting with the World No.4, Andy Murray, who came into this tournament in questionable form, as he lost his first match in his title defence at Queens club, and also lost his two exhibition matches at Boodles last week.  However Andy quickly dispelled any fears of his form as he put on a brilliant display against the former World No.3, Nikolai Davydenko, who was powerless against Andy's superb performance.  In this match Andy looked like a player that had been transformed, as he hit forehand about as well as it has ever been hit, rarely missing, and above all serving brilliantly, consistently in the high 60s (67% 1st serves in!).  It was the best start that Andy could have hoped for at Wimbledon, and despite the concern over the toughness of his opponent, Davydenko looked a former shadow of himself, and grass also is his weakest surface, so in a way, it was the perfect first round opponent.

However things get tougher from here, but if Andy can keep this performance up then he's in with a very strong shout of at least reaching the semis and maybe even the final.  In the meantime tougher challenges await Andy ahead, but this a very encouraging sign, which hopefully will see him through to the later stages.  But he has to maintain that level to have any chance of winning the title, and as we all know from the past, it tends to be a case of which Andy Murray you get on the day, so perhaps today was just a good day at the office, and who knows which Andy we will get in the 2nd round, but regardless I think he's still going to go deep into the tournament, even if he doesn't win. 

And finally another British victory saw the British No.2, James Ward, battle against his opponent who is ranked well over 100 places above him, Pablo Andujar, as they fought in a match that went the distance.  And despite being 3-0 down in the 5th set, Ward managed to break back and level at 3-3, and then went on to take the last 3 games, as Adujar crumbled and double faulted to hand the match to Jamesy in 4-6, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.  This was a terrific effort from James Ward and its great to see another British player into the 2nd round of their home slam, other than Andy Murray, so a big well done to Wardy for his match win today.  And Jamie Baker another Brit was in action on Day 2, and will be on Day 3, as his match with Andy Roddick was suspended due to bad light.  Roddick was leading but a set and a break 7-6, 4-2, when play was halted, and Roddick too was a bit of a dick, as at one point he demanded for the towel from the towel boy.  Where are you manners Roddick??? Say PLEASE!  Coh. 

Soooooo that's it for now it was a really good for the Brits at SW19, so a big well done to the quartet getting through (quintet if you count Heather from day 1).  Heather Watson will be in action on Day 3 against the American, Jamie Lee Hampton, but it gets tougher from here.  So I will post up another update in a couple of days time, and keep up to date on the matches as they continue.

Until then that's all for now folks!

The Three Doctors

OK after more tennis marathons on the blog, time for a quick change back to the old Doctor Who analysis as I will look at another story from the classic series, during the Jon Pertwee era, The Three Doctors.  This story celebrated the show's 10th anniversary and reuinted the three doctors (hence the title) as we saw the first doctor, William Hartnell and the second doctor, Patrick Troughton return to the small screen.

So here's a bit more about the plot, as the story starts with a scientist, Dr Tyler (Rex Robinson) who seeks help from UNIT with strange results of a scientific survey, which also results in the disappearnce of a local poacher, Mr Ollis (Laurie Webb).  The Doctor and Jo (Katy Manning) investigate the area where Ollis went missing, and on returning to UNIT HQ, they see a strange energy blob, which consumes the Doctor's car, Bessie, which vanishes.  The energy blob infiltrates the HQ and it also consumes part of the Doctor's laboratory, where the Doctor and Jo are forced to enter the TARDIS along with Sgt Benton (John Levine).  The Doctor activates the TARDIS forcefield to prevent the blob from attacking it, and sends a message to the Time Lords for help.  However the Time Lords themselves are suffering from the attack, which apparently appears to be anti-matter energy from a black hole, which is slowly draining away the energy from the Time Lords planet.  The Time Lords then in order to help the Doctor, send them his previous incarnation, the second doctor (Patrick Troughton) to help the third doctor in their plight.  However the two doctors argue with one another and refuse to co-operate, so the Time Lords try to send the first doctor (Hartnell) along, but he is trapped in a time eddy is unable to fully appear.  The first doctor advises the other two doctors that the energy blob outside the TARDIS is a time bridge and insists they cross it.  The third doctor goes out the TARDIS, but Jo follows him and they are both transported into the anti-matter universe.  The third doctor soon finds that a legendary Time Lord, Omega (Stephen Thorne) is behind the attack on the Time Lords.  Omega was once one of the pioneers in creating time travel, but as a result he was caught up in a supernova and blown out of existance in a world of anti-matter, where he has remained since, and he feels he was abandoned by his race, so he now seeks revenge. 

Meanwhile the second doctor is still in the TARDIS with Sgt Benton and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) both whom are in the spaceship for the first time.  The first doctor then calls on the second doctor and insists him to turn off the forcefield, so the TARDIS can be transported to the anti-matter world so they can help the third doctor.  The second doctor does so, and the TARDIS and UNIT HQ are both transported to the anti-matter world.  Pretty soon the two doctors reunite and pit their wits against the deranged Omega, who insists that the two Time Lords remain there, so he can escape.  But it is soon revealed that Omega is unable to esacpe as the corriosion has destroyed his body and that he only exists now because of the power of his will.  The drives Omega mad who howls with dispair, which lets the Doctors escape back to the TARDIS, where they must come up with a way to thwart Omega's plan to destroy the Time Lords.

The Three Doctors is one of the most entertaining stories of the Pertwee era, and its an inspired way to celebrate the series 10th anniversary.  Although the two actors didn't get along with each other initially during the filming of the show, Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton share a wonderful chemistry together on screen, as the two of them bicker and argue with each other.  Patrick Troughton is simply wonderful in his reappearance as the second doctor, and he has pretty much all the best lines in the story, especially in his scenes with the Brigaider, when they arrive on the anti-matter world, the Bridgadier thinks they are on a beach in Norfolk!  And when the Brigadier steps outside to see where they are and sees a sandy quarry, he storms back in and shouts "Now, see here, Doctor, this time you have gone too far!", to which the doctor replies "I rather think we all have!".  His bickering with the third doctor also reveals some funny lines, where he explains to Jo about who he is, and he says "I think I will explain and I hope you don't mind", "Yes I do!" says the third doctor, and the second says "I didn't think you would.". William Hartnell, due to ill health, had to have his role cut down, as at this time his arteriosclerosis had advanced greatly, but his part is also entertaining.  Hartnell also provided one of the story's most memorable lines, as he looks at his two counterparts from the TARDIS video screen, "Ah so you are my replacements.  A dandy and a clown!". 

The regulars are also all on good form, with Nicholas Courtney providing some amusing moments, especially the aforementioned scene where the TARDIS is transported to Omega's world, with the Brig saying "I'll see if I can get someone on the radio.  I'm fairly sure that's Kroma".  Katy Manning as Jo Grant by then had grown very well into her role, and she started to show more self assuredness in her character.  Jo also provides another amusing line when the third doctor tries to explain about the second doctor and who he is, "Look Jo, its perfectly simple, I am he, and he is me!" and Jo replies "And we are all together, goo goo gijub???".  And one of the story's best performances comes from Stephen Thorne as the crazed Time Lord Omega.  Thorne himself, disguised underneath his costume and mask delivers his lines with great relish (and dips maybe ;-) and his booming voice is very impressive.  At times maybe he might sound a bit cheesy uttering some of his lines, especially as he boasts about his world "And I created it! I ALONE!!! OMEGA!!!".

Credit for the story also deserves to go to Bob Baker and Dave Martin, the writers, who wrote a fine script for the 10th anniversary show.  The plot is also really well layed out, and its also quite an important story from the point of view that it expands on the Time Lords history and the genesis of their power of time travel.  The story also neatly brought the Doctor's exile on Earth to a close, after the Omega crisis is thwarted, the Time Lords restore the Doctor's freedom and give him a new dematerialisation circuit for the TARDIS, so he can resume his travels in time and space.  At this point I'd imagine the script editor Terrance Dicks and producer Barry Letts had let the Doctor's exile go on long enough, even though they had a few stories in between where they let the Doctor and Jo travel in the TARDIS to different planets, courtesy of the Time Lords sending them on missions.

The story however of course does have one or two negative points, the main one being the monsters this time round, the Gel guards who are pretty silly, as its clearly just men in a blobby looking outfits, shifting along blindly!  By this time in the Barry Letts era there had been plenty of silly monsters played by actors in rubber suits, but these ones certainly took the biscuit tray.  The effects of the anti-matter energy blob are also pretty naff and primitive looking, and is typical of the limitations of the show's budget at the time, which I guess can't be helped. 

Regardless of that though the Three Doctors is a very entertaining celebration of the show and it was great to see the reuniting of the thee principal actors who played the part.  It would also see a repeat of the format in future stories, where we would once again see previous incarnations of the doctor reappear in The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors (where Troughton would appear yet again) during the 1980s.

Soooooooooo I will leave it there on that one.  

The grass is always greener on the other side of the court

Well might as well start off with another tennis post about something that could well be a concern for a certain player, who just happens to the British No.1 (or so it appears!) Andy Murray, and his grass court season so far has gone far from swimmingly, so here's my thoughts on that.

Starting with Andy at the AEGON Championships at Queens club, he was the defending champion, but he went out in his first match to Nicholas Mahut, albeit in a tight 3 set battle.  After that Andy went on to take more time to prepare for his grass court season and entered an exhibition tournament, The Boodles Challenge at Stoke Park.  This of course would be quite a challenge for any player, as it featured the creme de la creme of the tennis playing world, with so many top players such as Djokovic, Del Potro, Isner, Tipsarevic, Wawrinka and Dolgpolov playing.  Andy played his first match against Janko Tipsarevic, who is now a well established top 10 player, so naturally it would be a tough match, and it proved to be just that.  To be fair to Andy it was a close match as both players took a set, and played a decisive tiebreak (first to 10), but it was Tipsy that edged it as he closed out the match, winning in 6-7, 6-4, 10-7.  So there is no great disgrace in losing out to a player of the calibre of Tipsarevic and it would be tough playing against anyone in the top 10.  After this Andy was scheduled to play the World No.1, Novak Djokovic, which was today, after a rain delay, the two went out on court, but it was Djoko that played the better tennis, breaking Andy once in the 1st set, and twice in the 2nd set (after Andy broke back to make it 4-4, Djoko broke again) to win the match in convincing style with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

On the face of it there was nothing too disgraceful about Andy's defeats, and you wouldn't expect him to beat Djokovic who was on good form today, and his previous matches with Mahut and Tipsarevic were both very close.  However it is a worrying sign that Andy keeps losing these matches, and not holding his serve at the crucial points, and that is something we have seen too much already this year where he has had his serve broken, or if he converts a break, he can't hold onto to it.  So it does raise concerns over his chances at Wimbledon, and is it good for him to go into SW19 having not won a single match on grass?  Possibly not, but at the same time there have been plenty of top players that have gone out in the first round of Queens, one of them being Tim Henman, who reached the Wimbledon semi finals four times in his career, which is in itself impressive.  

However Andy no doubt will just see these matches as preparation for next week, and he will be less worried about the results, win or lose, its just practice, which is fair enough.  But there is still that concern that Andy will drag his bad habits into Wimbledon, including poor serving, converting break points then failing to hold onto breaks, dropping serve all the time, and making a strew of unforced errors, but they come part and parcel with his game, so they will crop up, as they do in every player (with varying degrees!).  For the last three years, Andy has played very well at Wimbledon, reaching the semi finals, despite losing to Roddick in 2009, and Rafa in the past two years, but will he be able to keep it up this time???? Well that's the million dollar question, will he???  Or will he just go out in the first round, which he could even be in danger of doing if he plays bad enough.  Its only a theory just now, but there is that worrying possibility that it could become a reality.

And if Andy does go out early on in Wimbledon, whether it be the first, second or third round, then it will raise even further questions about his new working relationship with Ivan Lendl.  And that's another key question, will Lendl be good for Andy in the long run???  Well if he loses early on in Wimbledon, I think it would be a clear indicator that Lendl won't be good for Andy in the long term, as this time last year, he was having the best season so far of his career, not to mention the most consistent season in the grand slams, reaching all four semi finals in 2011.  And it really makes you wonder if Andy really needed a full time coach like Lendl to come along, in theory and on paper it sounded great, and for the first couple of months it looked promising, but since then it has backfired somewhat.  And prior to Lendl's appointment as coach, Andy was playing some great tennis without his help, so it makes you wonder if he is really necessary.  Time will tell on that one I guess.  

However so far this year Andy has far from disgraced himself in the slams, having reached the semi finals at the Australian Open and the quarter finals at the French Open, which are fine results in themselves.  But the question remains can he ramp it up at Wimbledon this year???  It looks doubtful, but for all I know, he could stun everyone and win the title, as Mats Wilander, the former French open champion once said, the tennis is there, and the ability to win the majors is somewhere within him, its just a matter of finding it.  But of course other experts such as Andre Agassi, former Wimbledon champion, have pointed out that Andy is just cursed to playing in a golden age of tennis, when there are 3 of the greatest players to have played the sport, who are just dominating the game in Djoko, Fed and Rafa, and they are making it much tougher for him to achieve his goals. 

And then there is the Olympics as well, which is also being held on the grass courts at Wimbledon, at the end of July.  There again the top 3 guys in the game will also compete with Andy for the right to earn the Olympic gold medal, which is something Djokovic is desperate to achieve, along with winning the French Open, which he failed to do.  And in that respect it would be great that if Andy didn't win Wimbledon (which he most likely won't) that he went on to win the Olympic gold medal, just to prove to those other three guys that he can take one of the ultimate prizes and do it on his home soil, and for once its not the top 3 that win something really important in their sport.

However from here, it all looks like a bit of a pipe dream for Andy Murray, and he will have to work very hard and up his game considerably from what it has been so far for the most of this year for him to get anywhere near lifting that much needed slam or claiming the Olympic gold.  Its not impossible for him to achieve, but it will be extremely difficult, and with those 3 guys in his way, along with the rising competition below him, it doesn't get any easier. 

And the Wimbledon draw has now been announced and it isn't the kindest by any means for Andy, as he will face Nikolai Davydenko in the first round, which will be a real tough opener, although Andy has won the last five of their nine meetings so hopefully he will win.  But after that it doesn't get any easier as Andy may face giant and giant serving Ivo Karlovich in 2nd round, then possibly the giant Kevin Anderson in the 3rd, and maybe Milos Raonic or Marin Cilic in the 4th round, so that's potentially three big hitters in a row, all of them dangerous, so Andy will need to be really on his game in order to progress to the later stages, and it makes you wonder if someone in the tournament organisation doesn't want Andy to win this year, by giving him such a brutal draw!  But its funny how in contrast that Roger Federer has a relatively easy draw with only John Isner to threaten him as a potential quarter final opponent, and at Wimbledon I can't quite see big man upsetting Fed.  Djokovic also has a fairly decent draw as well with only one or two players that might give him some trouble, with Berdych most likely being his first real test in the quarter finals.  

But whichever way it goes for the Muzza, I wish him the best of luck for SW19 and the Olympics, and I personally don't think we will see an early exit from him at Wimbledon, but don't quote me on that! ;-)  And judging by his latest BBC column entry, he is raring to go and hungry to go as deep as he can into Wimbledon, and here's hoping he can, and dispel fears about a possible early exit.  And we have to remember its his home slam, he has the crowd on his side and he can draw from that, and fingers crossed that he does.

Oh and as a quick update, I was really chuffed to see the unseeded player, Tamira Paszek, triumph at the AEGON International event at Eastbourne this weekend, as against all odds she beat the favourite, Angelique Keber, and current World No.8, to win the title.  After being a set down, Tamira battled back to level the match, and saved 5 match points, before getting 3 of her own, she pulled off a great win to grab her first WTA Premier level event, with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win, and its remarkable to think prior to this event she had only won two matches all year!  So well done, its great to see the underdog come through for a change, and Tamira Paszek thoroughly deserves her win this week.  The same goes to Andy Roddick, who has been going into decline in recent times, bounced back brilliantly as he reached the final of the ATP Eastbourne event and defeated Andreas Seppi in convincing fashion, with a straight sets win of 6-3, 6-2.  This was his first title in well over a year and a half, so well done to Roddick, and here's hoping he does well at Wimbledon.  

And on that note I will leave it there!

Penalty kick at Queens Club

Wellllllllll, guess what??? Yup more tennis now! (naw!!).  This post will be all about on the men's ATP AEGON Championships final, which was controversial to say the least in its outcome, so here is more on that.

So the men's final at Queens club was between, the Croatian player, Marin Cilic, and the former World No.3, David Nalbandian.  The match itself for the first 1 hour and 20 minutes or so was very tight and entertaining, with play all square with Nalbandian serving at 3-3 in the 2nd set.  But Cilic however managed to break Nalbandian's serve, to move ahead in the set 4-3, and at this point Nalbandian become angry and kicked an advertisement sign that was enclosed around a line judge's chair, which resulted in a shin injury for the linesman.  As a result Nalbandian was disqualified from the match, which meant that Marin Cilic became the champion by default, with the scoreline reading 6-7, 4-3 in Cilic's favour, in what was a very dramatic end to a promising match.

It was a great pity that the final had to end in such a way as this, and I can understand that Nalbandian would want to vent a bit of frustration.  But if you look back at the footage of what he did, you see it was almost like he was taking a penalty kick in a football match, as he really lashed out at the line judge's box chair, and there was really no excuse for it.  However Nalbandian was quite apologetic afterwards and there clearly was no malicious intent in his actions, as it was just a spur of the moment thing.  Nalbandian afterwards in his post-final interview apologised to the crowd for what happened, but he also went on to blame the ATP for their strict rules and he felt that they can do a lot to players and nothing happens.  This didn't go down too well with the Queens club crowd, and I personally think Nalbandian should have just apologised to the crowd and the line judge, and left his comments about the ATP for some other time, but he continued re-stating them while being interviewed by Sue Barker, and even further so in his press conference.  Marin Cilic himself wasn't too happy about winning in this way either, and he was sorry too for the fans, but on the face of it he was a more deserving winner, and its a pity his triumph was not the way he wanted it, as well as being overshadowed by Nalbandian's actions.

But it also does raise one or two questions about how the tournaments are organised as well as the line judge seats and how they have these silly enclosures, with advertisements on them, as clearly these enclosures are a bit of a safety hazard.  If a line judge wants to get up from the chair, he or she could trip up on the enclosure for example, and in Nalbandian's case, he could have a lawsuit in the offing.  The line judge himself was in a bit of shock after the incident and clearly his leg was bleeding afterwards.  And as a result of this Nalbandian could face a hefty fine from the ATP, and its a pity it had to come to this for him, as he will no doubt face all sorts of questions in the press.  Anyway despite all that, that's the end of another Queens club tournament, it was definitely quite a controversial one, not to mention it saw just about all the top seeds, including Andy Murray topple out of the event, one after the other.

As for Andy Murray, well he remains upbeat, despite his loss, he has said in his BBC column that it was in a way a good thing, as it allows him more time to prepare for Wimbledon than it did last year, where he hardly had any after winning the Queens title.  So hopefully Andy will go into Wimbledon feeling alot fresher and fitter than last year, and hopefully his preparation at the Boodles Challenge event this week will give him a couple of wins (or at least one!) before the next slam begins.  At least with this Nalbandian thing the press will get off his back (so to speak!) about his back, and they have something more meaty to get their teeth into. 

But what are his actual chances this time around??????  Hmmmmm.  To be honest I'm still not convinced he will win the title, as no doubt he will have to face Nadal in the semis, should he get there again.  And last year after winning the first set in his match with Rafa, he missed one shot in the 2nd set and his game proceeded to fall apart.  And he cannot let that happen this time around, as he will have to play as well as he did, if not better as he did in Melbourne earlier this year to have any chance to get past Rafa (again assuming he get's that far!).  And for me it still has to be Rafa and Djokovic for the Wimbledon final, and the best we can hope for Andy is that he has a very tight semi final Rafa match like he did in Australia earlier this year against Djokovic in the semis there.  But if he can improve on that performance then he surely will have a good chance of reaching the final and just maybe winning that elusive grand slam.  However given his recent form I remain sceptical of his chances, but it is another grand slam and for Andy nowadays it is all about the majors, so here's hoping he can do well again on his home soil.  But I think Andy will realistically only get as far as the semi finals again this year, that's assuming he can actually get there, but fingers crossed!     

Anywayyyy that's it for now, more will follow on the ladies WTA Premier event this week from Eastbourne, which starts tomorrow, so that should be really good.

So that's it for now.    

Seeds to the slaughter

Well well well, here's another quick update on the mens tennis this week at Queens, as this week so far, its not only Andy Murray, the defending champion that has been upset this week so far, but most of the other top seeds have suffered as well.

So to start off with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who after Andy was knocked out, was the next favourite to win the title.  However Tsonga was up against the talented Croat player, Ivan Dodig, how last year had beaten Rafa in Shanghai in his first round match.  And this proved to be the case too for Tsonga, as Dodig played a very consistent match throughout, despite a couple of service breaks in the 2nd set, which saw Tsonga take the set, but in the 3rd, Tsonga suffered an injury to his finger, however he still managed to play on, and the match went to a deciding tiebreak, which Dodig won to seal the match and winning in 7-6, 3-6, 7-6.  After this match there were fears that Tsonga wouldn't be able to play Wimbledon as there was a chance that his finger was broken, but after a scan it was revealed it was just a severe sprain.  So at least Tonga, even though he's out he will still be ok for Wimbledon.

And another casualty at Queens was Janko Tipsarevic, who also fell to an unseeded player, Lu Yen-Hsun, in 3 sets, as the young Taiwanese player beat the No.3 seed in 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5).  In fact out of the top 16 seeds in the draw at Queens, there are now only two left, which are David Nalbandian and Marin Cilic, who is top remaining seed.  Strangely enough the 2010 champion, Sam Querrey, is also still in the tournament, so there would be a nice even symmetry if he won the title this year!

But anyway that's it so far for Queens, now onto the ATP grass court event in Halle, the Gerry Webber Open, which Federer plays every year.  This year due to the tax laws, Rafa chose to play at the event along with Federer, and having won his first match against the Slovak player, Lucas Lacko in 7-5, 6-1, he went on to face the defending champion, Philip Kolschreibber.  Kolschreibber having never beaten Rafa before, was on this occassion in luck, as he played aggressively and took it to the two time Wimbledon champion, and upsetting him in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.  This was quite an upset for Rafa, but at the same time, he has always not fared too great in the last few years after winning the French Open.  Last year went out to Tsonga at Queens, and the year before he went out to Feliciano Lopez as well, and Rafa will no doubt be more interested in playing his best at Wimbledon.  Federer however who played for the 3rd time against the very talented and big serving Canadian, Milos Raonic, was again put to the test, but due to his experience and skills, Roger once again saw off the plucky Canadian after a very close match in 6-7, 4-6, 7-6.  As for the others players left in the draw at Halle, there is Tommy Haas, who defeated Tomas Berdych, and Mikhail Youzhny who defeated Radek Stepanek.

So it just shows you that in the smaller tournaments that upsets can be abound everywhere, but I'm sure the top seeds will do better at Wimbledon.  And one such man that needs to do is better Andy Murray, but I've already harped on about that one.  But next week Andy will continue his preparation for Wimbledon at the exhibition event, The Boodles Challenge, which is held at Stoke Park.  The Boodles Challenge is held every year, and this year Andy will be joined by a number of top players, including the World No.1, Novak Djokovic, as well as Juan Martin Del Potro, Stan Wawrinka, John Isner, Gilles Simon and Nicholas Almagro.  Andy is scheduled to play two matches, so here's hoping he can win at least one of them!

Anyway the Queens club final will be on tomorrow and it will feature two of the only surviving seeds left, Marin Cilic, the Croation player and David Nalbandian, the former World No.3. who both came through today against Sam Querrey and Grigor Dimitriov respectively.  So it promises to be a very good final, and will be worth a watch for sure. 

So in the meantime that's it for now.  More to follow on the Queens club champion once the event is over.  Next week the ladies grass court season continues as well, as the WTA Premier event held at Eastbourne, the AEGON International, will start, which will see more of the top seeds fight it out, including Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova and the defending champion Marion Bartoli.  So that promises to be good!

Byee!

Not cutting it on the grass

Ooooooooh dear oh dear, its a pity to start a tennis post (yup another!) with some bad news, but I have to say that it appears to be habitual that every year that the British No.1, Andy Murray, always seems to suffer a slump, and right now, he is suffering it.

At the start of the grass court season, Andy came into the AEGON Championships at Queens club as the defending champion, and he had a tough opponent for his first match in the second round, Nicholas Mahut, who is an excellent grass court player.  And in this match he proved just why he is, as Mahut quickly took to Andy and broke him in the first set, and held onto his own to take the first set.  In the second set however, Andy held serve better and pushed the match to a 2nd set tiebreak, which he won to take it into a decider.  In the decider, Andy had an immediate break on Mahut's serve, but he was broken straight back by the Frenchman.  Play went by serve until the deciding tiebreak where Mahut turned on the turbo and overpowered Andy and went to a 6-0 lead, with Andy only managing one feeble point on serve, and after this Mahut served out for a big upset with the No.1 seed and defending being put out, with the scoreline reading 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.

This was far from the best start to Andy's grass court season, and also as he was the defending champion of the title, it was a big disappointment to see him go out so early on in the tournament.  But Mahut was the better player it has to be said, as he played aggressive and held serve well, as did Andy in the key service games, but the fact he played such a poor tiebreak in the 3rd set, just leaves you puzzled as to what is going on with him.  It was in all fairness a very tough first match and a very tough first round opponent and its not like in the grand slams where you can start with lower ranked players and ease into the matches.  But when you look at the top 3, especially Federer who had a real tough match against Mahut in the French Open, you know they will find a way to win, but Andy just doesn't seem to have that ability at times, especially in the ATP tour matches, and the best of 3 sets.

It also makes you wonder just what Ivan Lendl, his new coach is actually doing with him and what advice he is giving him, as whatever it is, it isn't translating well into his game and match play.  From what I gather Lendl was trying to help Andy with the mental side of the game, but so far Andy has reverted back to type, still berating himself on court and playing too passively.  But its another setback from the great progress he made at the beginning of the year in Melbourne and even in Dubai and reaching the final in Miami.  But in the end even Ivan Lendl probably has to realise that he is dealing with Andy Murray, and just maybe there isn't any changing him, but it also makes you wonder what they must be saying to each other just now.  I also wonder if Ivan Lendl will be good for Andy in the long term???  As so far things don't seem to be going Andy's way, although they have just been working together over the last six months, so you can't expect miracles to happen overnight, it may take another year or two to get the benefit of Lendl's coaching. 

However in his post match press conference Andy did say he wasn't overly worried that he lost the match, as it was very close, which it was, and it wasn't like he was blown off the court.  And while it is far from the perfect preparation for Wimbledon to go out so early, it doesn't mean Andy won't have his chances at Wimbledon.  But he does need to ensure that he can get more match play in before the next slam at SW19 starts, and there is talk that he might play a couple of exhibition matches (let's hope he doesn't lose them!).  And in the grand slams so far this year, he has done very well in Melbourne and fairly well in Paris, so hopefully Andy will raise his game for when he plays at Wimbledon.  Also in the best of 5 sets, grand slams can be that bit more forgiving and it has to be said that Andy is a bit of a slow starter in matches, so if he goes a set down, he still has those two extra sets to get back in the game.  And as for the AEGON Championships at Queens, Andy Murray wasn't the only one to go out in the top seeds, Andy Roddick went out today to another Frenchman, Eduard Roger-Vasselin, and Gilles Simon was stunned by the Italian player, Simon Bolleli.  So you are never alone.  

But despite another setback in his season, I'm fairly sure that he will perform much better at Wimbledon (well he better!)  as he has done so for the past three years.  Even in 2010 when he had one of his worst seasons, he still managed to reach the semi finals of Wimbledon and played a pretty decent match against Rafa in the semis before losing out in a tight straight set defeat, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.  However I'm still not convinced that Andy will win Wimbledon at all, but you would expect him to at least reach the quarter finals or the semis.  So I will wish the best of luck for SW19 and hope he can at least reach another semi final.

Right that's it for now!

Woke up this morning, got yourself a gun......

OK so here's a different post, this time its on one of the most celebrated and critically lauded series of all time, The Sopranos, which as we all know, or who are familiar with it, centres around a mob boss and his struggles with his job, his crew, and his family.  This is tough to do one post on and it will be a LONG one, and its more my general anaylsys of the characters in the show and my thoughts on the show itself, so here goes....

Starting with the premise of the show, which basically is about a mob boss, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) who starts off as a capo in the DiMeo crime family.  Tony suffers from panic attacks, which see him pass out, which leads him to go into therapy, where he meets with Doctor Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), an Italian American psychiatrist.  At first Tony has a difficult and confrontantial relationship with Melfi, but soon after he settles into the therapy, and he takes medication for his panic attacks and depression.  The main reasons behind his anxiety attacks being the pressues of his work, and also the aggravation of his homelife, particularly his mother, Livia (Nancy Marchand), who is cynical, difficult, and almost impossible to please.  As the series progresses Tony encounters difficulty from his Uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano (Dominic Chianese) who is in charge of the crime family, but at the end of the first series, Junior is arrested by the FBI, and put under house arrest in the second series.

Tony's crew also include his nephew, Chris Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), who is similar to Tony in being hotheaded and impulsive, but also highly ambitious as he wants to climb the mob ladder.  Other associates also include Paulie "Walnuts" Gaultieri (Tony Sirico), one of Tony's capos, who is quite eccentric, while also sociopathic (well they all are!) but also wisecracking, and Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt), Tony's consigliere (Italian for counselor), who is by far the most level headed out of his crew and provides valuable advice for Tony.

For the most part Tony's crew are loyal to him, but now and then there is dissension in the ranks, as Paulie at one point in the fourth series, while in jail, out of feeling left out and paranoid tries to side with one of the New York crime family high up figures, Johnny "Sac" Sacrimento, and discloses a joke about his wife, which was told to him by his nephew, which nearly starts a mob war.  Chris also while he remains loyal to Tony, also proves to be a bit of loose canon at times, going off the handle on several occassions, particularly during his heavy period of drug abuse, and also abusing his girlfriend, Adriana La Cerva (Drea De Matteo).  Tony has other crime subordinates that include Bobby Bacclieri (Steven R. Schirripa) who is a more sensitive and big hearted than the others in his crew, and Sal Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore), who is later revealed to be an informant for the FBI, who pinched him for selling heroin, and is of course later killed off. 

As for Tony's family, he has a difficult and strained relationship with his wife Carmela (Edie Falco), and he also has several extra-martial affairs with other women, most of which end badly.  Tony also has two children, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), who is very intelligent (and pretty hot) and is A-grade student at her high school, and then proceeds to go off to college, where she does very well, and then there is A.J. (Robert Iller), who is quite the opposite, an underachieving, ignorant youngster who frequently gets himself into trouble at school.  In fact A.J. for me has to rank as one of the most annoying and obnoxious little shits I've had the misfortune to watch on television, and he is someone who you would never tire of punching in the face.  Regardless of the stress of his home life, Tony is a very loving father and he tries his best to keep his family away from the unpleasant asepcts of his work, and encourages his children to do well in their education and in life.  He also has a rather distant and stressful relationship with his older sister, Janice (Aida Turturro) who is large as life, and is also rather manipulative like her mother, but she likes to think she is a free spirit, but is really just a nutter.  

Tony himself is undoubtedly a complex character, as he has so many different sides to his personality, as he is shown as a tough, ruthless businessman, and he also isn't afraid to get his hands dirty as he would gladly mete punishment himself, and does so fairly often throughout the series.  In fact Tony in certain episodes commits several murders himself, such as his cousin Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi), who he did as an act of appeasment for the New York crime family, but also he brutally murdered one of his unstable associates, Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) for killing a prize stallion horse.  But on the other hand Tony also shows in his therapy sessions that he is very vulnerable and that he is prone to anxiety attacks, and that this something that he keeps secret from his crime associates, as if they find out, it would be a sign of weakness, although later in the series, his therapy is revealed to his associates.  And yet despite Tony's tough guy image, he has also shown to be quite sensitive towards certain comments made about him, especially in the episode in Season 5 where Junior finally starts to really suffer from dementia and insults Tony for his weight by saying at school "he never had the makings of a varsity athlete".  He also was quite affected by the death of Ralph Cifaretto's horse, Pie o my (thereafter bludgeoning Ralph to death as he suspected him of destroying the horse in a fire) and in his therapy session with Dr Melfi, he suddenly breaks down in tears. 

Tony also can show signs of compassion and kindness, as he often buys things for his family and gifts for his friends and business associates, and he has a close friendship with one of his friends from school, Artie Bucco (John Ventimiglia), who is the chef of a local restaurant.  He also is shown to have an affection for animals, which is displayed in the very first episode of the series, where he is happy to see some ducks in his back yard, which he plays with, and also a prize stallion horse, which he is very fond of, but is ultimately killed in a fire by the aforementioned Ralph Cifaretto.  Even after some of his acts of violence, he is also shown to be remorseful, one example was when one of his less than bright staff Georgie, who works at his crew's local hang-out, Bada Bing, a strip club, enrages Tony, who proceeds to beat with a metal cash tray.  After the event, Tony laments and gives Paulie some money to give to Georgie and says to him that he sees that Georgie gets the best treatment for his wounds.

Tony can also be quite mean spirited and manipulative, one example of which is were, despite his warnings, he let's a gambler and childhood friend David Scattino (Robert Patrick) play at a high steaks card game, in which Scattino get's into heavy debt, and is unable to pay back Tony.  As a result Tony forces Scattino into handing over his sports and hunting store, in order to pay his debts, and as a result Scattino is left bankrupt.  Tony's constant infidelities as a husband to Carmela are also a strain, who does her best to turn a blind eye to it for the most part.  But that does change in the last episode of the fourth series, when Tony's cheating finally sends Carmela over the edge, after receiving a call from Irina, Tony's ex-mistress who tells her that Tony also slept with her sister, Svetlana as well, which leads to their separation.  And at this point you have to really say that Tony got his just deserts, his cheating went on so long unpunished that something sooner or later had to give. 

The show itself has been lauded for is writing and acting, which throughout the series is of the highest quality.  James Gandolfini's central performance as Tony is superb, and he drives the series along, playing Tony with compassion, malice, rage and humour.  James Gandolfini get's some of the best dialogue in the series as well, and one of his funniest lines is a threat he gives to the loose canon and made man, the wide-eyed Richie Aprile (David Proval) "don't give me those fuckin Manson lamps!".

Edie Falco is also great as Tony's long suffering wife, who is a good mother to her children, and aspires to be moral and upstanding, and is occassionally conflicted with her lifestyle, but she is also shown to be quite manipulative at times, and occassionally in the series she is seen flirting with some men that she fancies, such as Furio (Frederico Castelluccio), one of Tony's ruthless crime associates.  Carmela also during her separation from Tony,  for the first time in the series has a brief affair with a high school teacher (played by David Strathairn) and she clearly shows a degree of manipulation in getting from the teacher what she wants, while they have sex, she uses him in a way to get her son a higher grade for his poor essays.  But Carmela is later accused by the teacher of her manipulating him into changing the grade, after which she angrily breaks up with him.  Carmela also briefly warns the teacher to watch his step, but she does show some moral character by not saying anything about it to Tony, because obviously there would be horrendous repercussions on both sides. 

Michael Imperioli, despite the fact I do not like Chris Moltisanti at all as a character, as he is an obnxious nasty prick, also gives an excellent performance throughout as Tony's loyal but troubled associate, through his own brashness and violent impulsive behaviour, get him into a whole lot of trouble.  And despite the fact that Chrissie is mostly a despicable character you also admire the skill of Michael Imperioli's performance and portayal of such a bad guy.  Although in the later series, Chris does mellow a bit, as he is no longer as outright abrasive and rash as he was earlier on in the series, especially towards the end where he settles down and gets married and has a baby (his wife that is!).  However at this point Chris still dances with danger having an affair with a recovering (or not so recovering) heroin addict, Julianna Skiff (played by the saucy Julianna Marguiles) and re-establishing his heroin habit, albeit for a brief time. Chris also like Tony occassionally is shown to be quite sensitive about when he is made fun of, especially in the season 5 episode where Tony and his cousin Tony Blundetto make fun of Chris's nose and other things.  Chris tries to hold back his feelings in front of the men, and the next day he drives off home, and we see he is nearly in tears, deeply hurt by the comments the two Tony's made. 

Lorraine Bracco also deserves special mention as the Dr Melfi, Tony's psychiatrist, as she plays her with a level headed calmness, even in the face of Tony's anger, and he is frequently angry in his therapy sessions with her.  Dr Melfi often has many entertaining exchanges with Tony, who is most of the time is quite defensive when she is trying rationalise his fears and thoughts.  In fact one of my favourites is when Tony angrily says to Dr Melfi that he has been trying to control his anger, as he went out to a broken down slum area with his son and he confronted by some crackheads, but rather than get angry and start something, he let it go.  So Dr Melfi replies "so I would expect you to give me the same courtesy that would give to a crackhead!". 

Of some of the other main cast, Dominic Chianese is also terrific as the crime boss, Junior Soprano, who spends most of the series under house arrest, or awaiting trial, and later on in the series, starts to suffer from dementia.  But Junior provides some of the most entertaining moments in the series, with some of the dialogue he has, one of my favourite scenes is where he flirts with a nurse who applies an oxygen mask to his face, and she says "I'll be back later", and he says "I'll be counting the beats!".  Tony Sirico is also hilarious as Paulie, one of Tony's capos, as Paulie is usually quite eccentric, and makes wisecracks often, but at the same time he can also be quite cold and paranoid.  One of Paulie's funniest pieces of dialogue is when he finds out that his mother that had raised him, in actual adopted him, as he meets his real mother later on, who was a nun, lying on her deathbed.  When Paulie enters the hospital later to see Tony (who was shot by a senile Juior prior to this time), a priest asks him "How are you doing, Paulie?", and Paulie angrily replies "Alot better than those fuckin nuns you have up there!".

Then there is Aida Turturro (sister of the actor John Turturro) who plays the whacky Janice Soprano, which Aida plays to perfection as a manipulative, rebellious woman, who also a thing for kinky sex (one example being one of her former lovers, Richie Aprile who does her from behind while holding gun at her head!).  And then there is the late Nancy Marchand, who passed away shortly into the 3rd series, who is a great as Tony's manipulative mother, Livia, who drives Tony mad, and at one point event conspires with his Uncle Junior to have him killed.  She's a lovely woman. ;-)  At one point in the series, Dr Melfi describes Livia as having a borderline personality, meaning she is not capable of showing love, or forming relationships with anyone.  

The series also has many controversial moments in it, and also some rather shocking scenes of violence as well, the third season in particular has a very violent murder in it, where one of Tony's capos, the sleazy loose canon, Ralph Cifareto (Joe Pantoliano) beats his girlfriend, who is a stripper, to death outside the Bing.  There is also the alarming scene where Dr Melfi is raped in a car park after leaving her work by a hood.  Also the brutal murder of Fat Dom in the series 6, where Sal and one of the family's associate, Carlo, stab the big man to death  in the back of the Bing.  And one of the most surprising murders in the show (PLOT SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!) is Chris Moltisanti's where Tony and Chris are involved in a car crash, as Chris is high on drugs, and he is badly injured in the car wreck.  Tony however just has cuts and bruises and gets out to call 911, when he notices that the baby carriage in the backseat (by then Chris had a wife and a baby) has been crushed by a tree branch, which pre-empts to suffocate Chris to death.

But for all its scenes of violence, the Sopranos is about so much more than that, as it goes much deeper into looking the gangsters families, their lives outside crime, and also even from the perspective of the FBI agents and the police who are after Tony Soprano and his crew.  It also has many funny moments in it too, one of which is where after the death of Tony's mother, he is angered by his sister Janice's refusal to attend the funeral.  When Carmela's parents arrive to give their condolences, Carm's father asks "how is Tony holding up??" and then we hear in the background Tony shouting "What the fuck??! Goddamn fuckin bitch!!".  James Gandolfini also said what drew him towards the part was the humour of the show, and not the thought of playing a violent tempered bad guy, as he himself is a pacifist (although he has no qualms playing violent characters!) and had concerns over the scenes that involved guns.   

David Chase, the creator of the show also deserves no end of credit for bringing the series to our screens, and he wrote many episodes of the series, and he made the decision to ensure the cast was mostly Italian American.  Chase also throughout provides a great choice of soundtrack for the series, and he uses the music so well in many scenes.  Some examples include the scene at the end of series two "Thru and Thru" by The Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello's "High Fidelity" at the end of the first episode of series 3, which shows a shot of Tony's house.  Not to mention the memorable theme song "Woke up this morning" by Maroon 3 (which is a remix version) and one of my favourites is The Pretenders instrumental track "Space Invader".  They even use Radiohead's "Kid A" track really well at the end of one of the episodes in series 4. Chase also employs the use of some great classic tracks as well form a variety of different genres of music from folk, rock, classical, opera, ambient, electronica, and many more. 

Anywayyyyyy so that's it for my critique on The Sopranos.  Its easily the largest post I have done yet, and plenty has and will be added to it.

But that's it for now.

Roland Garros Part 10.3: 7th heaven and the cruel twist of fate

Wellllllllllllllllllllllll that's the men's final at the French Open finally over with, as the world's two greatest players went at it for the right to make history on both sides, Novak going for the career slam, and Rafa for the record breaking 7th Roland Garros title.

Soooo I'll continue from where the match left off, with the state of play being Rafa with a 2 sets to 1 lead, but Djokovic had the ascendency at this stage with a break up in the 4th at 2-1.  However when play resumed, Djokovic was unable to consolidate his break as Rafa broke back to level the scores 2-2, play from here went on serve until 6-5 (Djokovic servicing at 5 games) Djokovic was handed the cruellest of fates, in that Rafa having dealt a break point opportunity for championship point at 30-40, Djoko doubled faulted to hand the match and championship to Rafa.  With that Rafa had made history winning his 7th Roland Garros title, after a hard fought 3 hours and 49 minutes, with the scoreline reading 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

This was an extraordinary end to what has been a terrific tournament, and thankfully we were given a great finale between the two best players in the world.  Rafa had been in scarily good form throughout the tournament, crushing opponents left, right and centre to reach the final, and it was credit to Djokovic that he was able to push Rafa that far for nearly four hours.  But clearly Djokovic for half the match didn't play his best, as he struggled on serve and made a host of unforced errors, which in the end tallied up to over 50.  And with that loss it saw Djokovic's grand slam winning streak of 27 matches come to an end, and his chance for a career slam, and to hold all four majors at the same time come to an end as well.

And I have to say I felt sorry for Djokovic that he double faulted on such a crucial point to hand the title over to Rafa, and I'm sure that point will haunt him for quite a while, as his shoulders slumped in defeat as he went over to congratulate his opponent, and it was the cruellest way possible to end such a great effort.  It also happened to Djokovic as well when he played in the final of the Rome Masters, but for it to happen in a slam is even more cruel.  And another slightly troubling thing we have seen more of from Djokovic this year, is that his old negative habits have started to resurface, especially as we have seen in the French Open final, with his berating himself and smashing his racquets.  Its a sign that he is going back to the Djokovic of old, and let's face it, we hardly saw that last year, because he did so much winning, but this year with six losses already, we can see that Djokovic is getting more frustrated.   And I think the pendulum has swung for Rafa as that is now three matches he has won against Djokovic, so it looks like he could go a winning streak against the Serb, just like Djokovic did last year, but we will see. 

But this really does show that Rafa is the greatest clay court player of all time and that no matter what that he was going to win the title and make history, and this is undoubtedly his finest clay court season of his career, with 4 titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Roland Garros.  And on this form, there is a chance that Rafa can even wrestle that No.1 slot back from Djokovic come Wimbledon and points wise he can't be that far off the No.1 slot now, so it could be safe to say that Djokovic could lose his title defence at Wimbledon, but we can save that for another day.

Anyway that's the French Open finally over, after three rain delays, and an extra day required to finish the men's title, it has a great tournament, which has seen much controversy on the ladies side, and history on both sides with Rafa win his 7 titles, and Maria Sharapova completing her career slam.

So with that its time for the grass court season to begin, which begins today funnily enough with the AEGON Championships at the Queens club in London today, so more will follow on that.  Andy Murray is the defending champion there, so we will see if he can hold onto his title, and he is highest ranked player in the draw, as Rafa is playing in Halle due to the British tax laws costing him money (its not like he has enough money as it is!) and Djokovic a week off to prep for Wimbledon.

So we will soon find out, and I've always enjoyed watching Queens club tennis, so I look forward to it this week, but they have been hampered by rain delays today as well, so it will be a while before play can commence.

OK that's it for now.

Roland Garros Part 10.2: Rain delays, comebacks, and more rain delays

Well this post isn't so much as a complete entry as its more of an update on the latest state of events with the men's French Open final, which has still to be completed due to play being suspended because of heavy rainfall.

So to start off with early on in the match it was Rafa who had the ascendency, dominating the play ruthlessly at the start as he raced off to a 3-0 lead.  However Djokovic managed to somehow get himself back into the 1st set, reeling off the next 3 games to level the score, but on his service game at 4-3 (to Rafa), he doubled faulted to hand the break to Rafa, who went on to take the 1st set, 6-4.  In the 2nd it was more of the same from Rafa, who went on to break Djokovic at 5-3 on Djoko's service game, to make it 6-3.  However.... despite going a break down straight away, Djokovic broke back against Rafa, and went on to hold his serve to make it 2-2 in the 3rd set, and from then on, Djokovic fought his way back into the match, breaking Rafa's serve and rattling off the next 6 games to take himself into the 4th set, where he broke Rafa straight away in a thrilling first game on Rafa's serve.  So after Djokovic held his serve, Rafa started to get a bit riled by the downfall of rain, which was starting to affect the tennis balls, which were getting heavy and the clay getting into them, so after he held his service game, play was suspended for the night, leaving the score of this very intruiging match at 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 1-2, in Rafa's favour for now.

Well it has to be said that this match has the similar feel to it as the Australian Open final did earlier this year, as that match was a real slow burner, and it took a while to take off, but when it did became an incredible contest, and the same can be said for this one.  In the first two sets, Rafa clearly was in control, dominating a very frustrated Djokovic, who realised just how tough it was to play the king on his best surface on his favourite court, so much so he even smashed his racquet against his chair at one point, breaking part of the wood off of it (it was later replaced of course!).  And at one point in the 3rd set, you really thought that Djokovic might go down in straight sets, but its all credit to Djokovic for fighting his way back into the match, and it just shows you, with the state of play as it is, when play resumes tomorrow, Djoko could still have a chance of winning the title.

There is no doubt about the fact that Djokovic still very much believes he can turn this match around and it wouldn't surprise if tomorrow that he levels the match tomorrow when play resumes.  And given Rafa's form throughout this tournament, how he has managed too annihilate his way to the final (with the exception of Nicholas Almagro) it is remarkable that even on the Philip Chartrier court, where he has been so successful, that Djokovic can still push and challenge him to the extent that he has done, and no doubt will tomorrow, and he could well be the only person that can defeat Rafa tomorrow. 

And as usual Djokovic seemed to succeed in getting into Rafa's head, as we clearly saw Rafa get frustrated at the beginning of the 4th set where Djokovic got the break, and Rafa was furious about the rain coming down and play not being suspended at that time.  And its almost bizzare to see Rafa get so riled and angry on court, as we are always used to seeing him calm and collected on court, but he knows that Djokovic has a chance of beating him tomorrow, or whenever the match will conclude, and I think that has rattled him.  And Rafa was able to beat Djokovic in Monte Carlo and Rome in the best of 3 sets, but in a grand slam, best of 5, it definitely will be a much tougher proposition and it will take Djokovic to go the distance to win, either that or Rafa will win in 4, but the way it is going I think it will go all the way.    So history will need to wait on until tomorrow for play to resume and then we can see who will be the victor of this historic and now potentially very exciting tennis match, and if the quality of play continues as it finished off tonight, it will sure be one to remember.  And it will be very intruiging to see which way this one is going to swing.

Right OK so more will follow once its all over tomorrow, if it is over should I say, as the weather forecast for Paris tomorrow isn't too great either with chances of more heavy rain, so we will see if they get a chance to get out on court.

So until then that's it for now.