Welly welly welly well, its been quite a day at the Wimbledon championships as the two men's semi final matches got underway to see who would make it into the final so let's get to it.
In the first match we had the World No.1, Novak Djokovic take on the former 6 time champion, Roger Federer in what promised to be a real battle of the wits. However with the roof closed, it gave Federer the advantage of it being an indoor event, and well the mighty Fedora's indoor court record is remarkable to say the least. So as the match went it was Federer who got off to a strong start, breaking Djokovic in the 1st set to take it, however in the 2nd set, Djokovic managed to secure an immediate break and went to take it, with the first two sets adding to a mere 50 minutes! In the 3rd however being that Djokovic is the world No.1 and everything, I expected him to take control of the match, however the opposite happened as Federer broke Djoko at 5-4 to take a 2 sets to 1 lead. And in the 4oth set, Djokovic struggled on serve, only to be broken yet again by Federer, who went on to close out the match to secure his place in his record breaking 8th Wimbledon final, with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
This was quite a performance from Federer and for the most part he really took it to Novak, who frankly was well under par in this match, as he continually struggled to find his serve, it was almost like the old Novak was on court. Djokovic did show some flashes of brilliance here and there, but as he was the defending champion his performance in this match was disappointing and it was like he just didn't show up today, and it also marks the 5th title from last year he has failed to defend, and his 7th loss of the year (one more than last year put together!). Regardless of that though Roger has once again shown that he is the king of grass and he will go into the final as the hot favourite to win. And should Roger win on Sunday, then he will return to the No.1 spot, which will see Djokovic be relegated to the No.2 spot, so he has quite a bit of work to do in getting it back.
Which brings me onto the 2nd semi final of the day which was between the British No.1, Andy Murray and the French No.1, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, both men had a lot at stake in this match as they were both playing for a place in their first ever Wimbledon final. In the first two sets, Andy Murray probably played some of the greatest tennis he has ever played on a tennis court, and served magnificently, with Tsonga struggling to keep up and he was clearly showing signs of nerves at the start of the match. However in the 3rd set, Andy's bubble burst somewhat as he dropped his serve for the first time to let Tsonga into the match, who soon picked up his game, and found his powerful serve as he swatted down some brutal winners against Andy, and went on to take the set. Into the 4th however we were treated (or subjected to, depending on your point of view!) to an absolutely nerve shredding display as both men battled it out, and yet again Andy showed his mettle in saving break points on his serve, as Tsonga continued his forehand onslaught at the Murray serve.
However at 6-5, with Tsonga serving to take the match into a 4th set tiebreak, the big Frenchman made a couple of costly errors, which lead to a match point for Andy, who returned a stunning cross court forehand, although the left edge of the court was obscured by sunlight, Andy challenged to ensure that his shot was in fact in, which it was! After which an understandably emotional Muzza embraced Tsonga at the net, and the whole crowd went wild as it was the first time that a British player had ever reached the Wimbledon final since Bunny Austin in 1938, and the Muzza sealed his historic (and yes dramatic!) victory with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 scoreline.
Well this definitely will rank as one of the most memorable matches in the history of the Wimbledon championships, and Andy Murray yet again broke a record in being the first British player to reach the final of the All England Club in 74 years! And when you think that he has already reached three grand slam finals, to be the first British player to reach the Wimbledon men's singles final is quite an achievement. And throughout these two weeks there was a sense of inevitability that Andy would achieve this moment in his career, especially with Rafa being knocked out of Wimbledon, it was Andy's best chance to reach the final, and he took it. And the fact that he was able to pull off such a historic win on the most famous and prestiguous court in the sport, under the most extreme pressue imaginable was truly remarkable.
Soooo this sets a mouth watering final where Andy will face Roger Federer, for the third time in a grand slam final. So far Andy has had no success against the mighty Fed as he has lost the previous two finals in straight sets. And the question has to be asked, can he win this time?????? Well its possible, but its hard to look past Roger who is arguably the greatest player to have ever played the game, with 16 major titles to his name, the odds are firmly and snugly in his favour, so its going to be a mighty mighty mighty mighty mighty tough task.
However no matter how daunting and brutally difficult the task may appear, it isn't impossible, and Andy has shown great resilience throughout these two weeks, and it really does appear that his working relationship with Ivan Lendl has started to pay off, as he might not have got this far without him. But Andy's next match will be one of the most important, if not the most important of his career, and to get past Federer he will have to play the greatest match of his career in order to do it. And it definitely seems like it is his time this year, he has reached the final, he has Lendl on his side, and on Sunday we will truly see just where his working relationship with Lendl is at, when he has to face the greatest adversity of all.
But we also can't forget that throughout these championships, Andy has reached his peak, and played some of the best tennis we have ever seen from him. His first serve percentage overall his improved considerably as it was over 60% throughout the tournament so far, and he has also improved points won on his second, with 65%. Whichever way it goes it will be one hell of an intruiging final and just maybe one of the most historic and important matches in the history of the sport, atlhough it would have to go some way for it to reach the dizzying heights of the Wimbledon 2008 final. So as a prediction I would have to say Roger will win in maybe 4 sets (maybe even 3!), but if Andy does pull off that major miracle than it will be in 5 sets, as you couldn't dethrone the king in any other possible way. So it could be a real thriller or it could just a straight sets blow out for Andy, but we shall see (I hope not!!).
But for me Andy has already done the really tough part in getting to the final, as the weight of expectation was just so enormous, but yet he did it, so from hereon in the pressure is more on Federer than Andy. Federer has alot more at stake as well as he is looking to return to No.1 ranking and match Pete Sampras's record of 7 Wimbledon titles. But Roger Federer is no stranger to pressure and he excels at playing under it, so its still a ginormous task ahead of Britain's best player.
However the more I think of it, Andy just might have a chance, and it is possible that he can do it, no matter how tough it will be, and if he can come through, it would rank as one of the greatest achievements in sporting history. Throughout the tournament he has shown champion qualities, and the old whinging Andy Murray has barely been in sight, he has dealt brilliantly with the pressure and the expectations of making it this far, so why can't he make that final step. One thing I do know is when after his victory against Tsonga, he pointed his fingers aloft to the sky, full of emotion. It was clear there and then just how much it meant to him, and in that moment he looked like a champion, and he showed something that we have never truly seen from him before when he reached a major final: real belief.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet, time will tell all, and I think I've droned on enough about it all, so either delight or massive disappointment await for Andy Murray on Sunday. All the signs point towards Federer winning the title, and the odds couldn't be stacked higher against Andy, but as I said nothing is impossible, but its in the hands of the gods and the two guys who will play out there on centre court on Sunday.
Rrrrrright well that's it for now, and so it leaves me to say a big congratulations to Andy Murray for reaching his maiden Wimbledon final, and I wish him the very best of luck on Sunday. He already has got one monkey off his back in reaching his home slam's final, and in doing so he has defied alot of cynics and naysayers who said it could never be done, so it only remains for him to get the other monkey off his back in winning that elusive first major title. Oh and he's not the only British player into the finals of Wimbledon as the British doubles player, Johnathan Marray, has reached his first ever grand slam men's doubles final with his Danish partner Freddie Nielsen, which will be played on the Satuday, so the very best of luck to him also. So its either Murray or Marray that could triumph this weekend.
And finally, the ladies final is on tomorrow between Serena Williams, and the world no.3, Agnieszka Radwanska, who today has raised fears of her involvement in the final as she apparently was suffering from a respitory illness. However Aga has since said she will be well enough to play in the final on Saturday, which I hope she does as it would be a great shame if she didn't.
Soooooooooooooooooo that's finally it, its going to be quite an exciting weekend, and I will report back once its alllllllllllllllll over.
Till then I will bid yee farewell with sweaty palms and a heart in my mouth.
Byeeee.
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