OK so that's another Wimbledon come to a close tonight as the 2012 championships came to an end with Roger Federer taking on the British No.1, Andy Murray in the singles, so here's alot more on that.
Righty so the men's final was a hugely anticipated one, and it had a lot of stake on both sides of the net, with Roger Federer looking to get his 7th Wimbledon title, as well as grab back the No.1 ranking, and Andy Murray who was looking to finally break his major cherry. The match itself was actually quite a close tight an very entertaining encounter and it was surprisingly Andy that got off to the better start, as he broke Roger's serve straight off. However soon after Roger broke back, until 4-4 where Andy made the move to break Roger, and in doing so he moved on to take his first ever set in a grand slam final. In the 2nd it was a tight contest again, with Andy putting more pressure on Federer's serve, but at 6-5, with Andy serving to go into a tiebreak, Federer seized the moment to grab a couple of break points to level the match at a set all. After this there was a rain delay, where they shut the roof so play could continue, and since Roger loves playing indoors, naturally you would assume it would benefit him more, and it did. After the roof closed play resumed, and Federer at 2-2 on Andy's serve got a break to move ahead, and he went on to take the 3rd set. And in the 4th set, Federer started applying pressure to Andy's serve, and with Andy serving to make it 3-3, he battled to hold onto his serve for nearly 20 minutes, but ultimately capitulated, handing the vital break Fedora needed. After this it wasn't long before the inevitable happened with Federer closing out the match and grabbing his 7th Wimbledon title, after a hard fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Well for starters in regards to the match, the last two Wimbledon finals prior to this have been big letdowns, with Nadal beating Tomas Berdych easily in 2010 and Djokovic beating Rafa quite easily in 2011. However this match was a far more entertaining and competitive one than either of those two put together, and right from the get go, you saw how determined Andy was to get into it, and for once in a grand slam final he looked like someone who had transformed. No longer did we see the moaning, whinging, fretting Andy Murray we even saw from the Australian Open final last year, this time we saw a guy who had come ready to fight, and fight he did. The first two sets were both excellent from Andy, as he actually pushed Federer around and put so much pressure on his serve, and he played with controlled aggression.
However after the roof was closed due to the rain, that's when the match turned in Federer's favour, who is pretty much the king of indoor tournaments, so he instantly took the advantage of this. Not that the quality of the match dipped from Andy, we just saw Federer take control of the match, and all credit to Andy, he did his best not to get affected by the change. But ultimately we had to accept that Andy was playing the world's greatest player and at some point he would take a stranglehold on the match, not only that, but Andy was playing Federer on his best surface, so you had to expect he would be the favourite to win.
But it really has to be said though that despite the fact that Andy lost the match, it does show that he is moving in the right direction, as he gave the world's greatest player a real run for his money, and he played a much better match against Fed than Djokovic did. And there is no disgrace losing to the world's greatest player ever in the manner in which he did. It was easily the best performance that Andy has made in a grand slam final so far as well, and there are so many positives he can take away from the match, especially that he took his first ever set in a slam final, after three attempts! And overall in this tournament he had transformed himself as a player, from being a defensive player who was at times being too passive, into an aggressive player who is willing to take chances and step it up. And it was a stark contrast to his underwhelming performance at Melbourne last year where he was gubbed by an inspired Djokovic in his worst straight set loss, where he won only 9 games, but this time he doubled it to 18.
And while I'm sure Andy will be really hurt and disappointed just now, I'm sure he will realise the progress he has made, and at this rate, that grand slam title might not be too far away after all. And it also shows that the work he has done with Ivan Lendl has started to pay off, as he really is taking it to his opponents now, and that's what we want to see. And given a bit more time, just maybe Andy can continue this form at the US Open at the end of August, and you never know maybe there he could finally make that major breakthrough. God alone knows he deserves it, as he has worked so hard over the years to try and prise one of these bloomin trophies from those other three guys hands!
And come the US Open I think if Andy keeps up this form consistently then he will have a strong chance of winning the title, especially as hard court is his best surface. He will of course have to face at least one of the top 3 guys at the semis or in the final, but if he keeps up the good work, takes the all the positives out of his performance from Wimbledon, and builds on that, then I can't see why he won't be a grand slam champion by the end of the year. Although that does of course all depend on the other three, but we shall leave that one for another day.
So regarding his post match interview with Sue Barker, Andy really showed just how much the game meant to him, as he tried to fight back the tears, and expressed how he felt to the nation and he thanked them for all their support. Andy even managed to joke about Roger's age, being 30, and that it might be his best chance to win, and that he himself was getting closer. But clearly the poor guy was overcome with emotion, feeling the disappointment of losing yet another final, to the same opponent for the 3rd time. But the whole nation was behind him and afterwards he received floods of texts and kind messges of support from celebrities and the public over the globe.
So to sum up, yes it was a great disappointment that Andy couldn't win the title, but once again, he made an important bit of history in being the first British man to reach the final of Wimbledon in 74 years, and that in itself was a terrific achievement. And his performance in the Wimbledon final was excellent, and it shows he is moving in the right direction, he's looking sharper, faster, fitter and taking more chances and being more aggressive in his game. The only area that still appears to let him down is that dreaded first serve, but maybe in time he can remedy it, we shall see, as there were times in the tournament where he served brilliantly like we had never seen before.
But in the meantime I'm sure Andy will take a truly well earned break after an exhaustive and emotional two week campaign at SW19, and recover in time for the Olympics were he will try and do it all over again for Britain. Twice in one summer??! They don't half demand much! ;-) And with the Olympics being back at Wimbledon at the end of July, maybe if its the finals day, they can try and leave the roof open for Andy, should he get there, to see if it will help him more, if Federer is in the final with him. ;-) And what an achievement it would be if he was awarded that gold medal, as that's something even Federer hasn't done, although I think the Swiss maestro just might have something to say about that, now that's he the World No.1 again!
So a big well done to you Andy, you did a great job, even if you lost, you did yourself and your nation proud.
NOW FOR THE LADIES FINAL UPDATE
And.... here is an update on the ladies final, which took place on Saturday there, which was between Serena Williams and the current world no.3, Agnieszka Radwanska. It was very much a one-sided start with Serena dominating Radwanska, who clearly must have felt the nerves of the occassion, as she dropped her serve twice, but she eventually held to make it 5-1, with Serena closing out the set with ease. In the 2nd however, Radwanska got more into the match, settling down, she started using her craft and ingenuity in winning points against Serena, and despite going a break down, Aga broke back to make it 4-4. After this we saw the first cracks in Serena's game as at 6-5, with Serena serving to take it into a tiebreak, Aga broke her serve to take the match into a deciding set. In the 3rd set it was even pegged until 2-2, but then Serena made the decisive break to push ahead, and secured a double break, and before we knew it, Serena served it out to clinch her 5th Wimbledon title, after a tough three set, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory.
Most of the recent ladies grand slam finals have all been way too short in length, and mostly in straight sets, so it was a breath of fresh air to see this one go the distance, and Radwanska definitely deserves credit (I keep using that word!) for her fighting spirit here. The match had plenty of highlights in the 2nd and 3rd sets where the two players traded some great rallies, and Aga particularly wowed the crowd with her guile and ingenuity in constructing clever points against the mighty Serena serve. But in the end, you knew there would be only one winner, and Serena simply had too much firepower for the young Pole to deal with, especially as Aga's first serve is so slow and punishable, which Serena blasted winners off more than once.
So well done to Serena for winning her first grand slam title since coming back from ill health last year, and not only that, she went on to win the ladies doubles with her sister Venus as well, so it was a good day at the office all round for the Williams sisters. This now sees Serena's ranking shoot up to the No.4 spot, and Radwanska's go up to the World No.2, with Victoria Azarenka now back to No.1, however I think it won't be too long before Serena is right back at the top.
Well that's it for the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, it has been a thoroughly entertaining, and highly dramatic event this year, with quite a few upsets, and with a bit of history being made with Andy Murray reaching the final, and Roger winning his record 17th slam title. More will follow soon no doubt for the Fedster, but it does also show that Andy Murray is moving confidently in the right direction, and his own maiden slam might yet not be too far away.
And on that note I will leave it there for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment