OK the tennis season maybe as good as over (bar the Davis cup) but I couldn't resist but look back at some of my favourite matches from this year from the hard court season. I've already done grass and clay, but as the hard court season continues after Wimbledon I thought I would update it a bit. So here they are....
5. ATP World Tour Finals final, Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer, 7-6(6), 7-5.
In what was the last match of the ATP tour season, it promised to be a
real cracker, which saw the world no.1, Novak Djokovic take on Roger
Federer, the defending year end champion. And the match itself proved
to be just that as they both produced some scintallating tennis in front of
17,800 crowd at the o2 London arena. Roger started out the stronger of
the two as he broke Nole to take a 3-0 lead, before Novak broke back
himself to level the scores. The first set continued to have breaks of
serve, and it lead into a terrific tiebreak, which saw Federer pull off
an amazing retrieving shot to level the score at 6-6, before handing
another set point to Djokovic who took it to seal the set. In the 2nd
set the match dipped slightly in quality at the start, but it rose again
as Federer went a break up, Djokovic eventually battled his way back to
level at 5-5, just as Fed was to serve for the 2nd set. But at 5-6,
with Fed trying to level to make a 2nd set tiebreak, it was Djokovic
that took the initative and secured his 2nd year end championship with a
superb backhand passing shot. This was a real high octane, fast paced
match, and both guys were terrific pretty much throughout, despite the
odd lull, the matchplay was of the highest quality you can imagine. It
also saw Djokovic restamp his authority as the world no.1 once more,
after losing the ranking to Federer for 3 months, he not only re-took
it, he backed it up with a significant victory at the year end
championships. And no mistake can be made that Nole is back and that he
is the best player in the world.
4. Australian Open final, Novak Djokovic d. Rafael Nadal, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6(5)-7, 7-5.
In
what turned out to be the longest grand slam final in the history of
the open era, the 2012 Australian Open final was quite a historic
encounter the world's two best players, Rafa and Novak. Going into this
match Novak had the advantage over Rafa having won the last six of
their meetings, the majority of which he won with relative ease. However this
meeting turned out to be anything but easy, as Rafa ran the World No.1
ragged round the Rod Laver arena, as the two of the battled it out in an
epic 5 set match which lasted nearly six hours. In the match Rafa started
off the better by breaking Nole, who then broke back, but Rafa went on
to take the 1st set. In the 2nd and 3rd however, Novak established his
authority in the match by taking a 2 sets to 1 lead. But in the 4th
set, with Rafa facing break points at 3-4, he battled his way back in
and push the match to a decider, after winning a thrilling tiebreak.
And in the 5th set, Rafa despite going a break up, was unable to
maintain it as Novak broke back once again, and he went on to make the
curcial break at 6-5, and served it out for his 3rd Australian open
title. One of the most remarkable things about this match was not only
did Novak spend nearly five hours before that on court in an intense battle against
Andy Murray in the semis, he also found the reserve energy to outlast
Rafa in this incredible encounter (who had two full days rest, as opposed to Nole's one!). And with this win, Novak really
continued to cement his No.1 ranking. And Rafa also deserves alot of
credit for playing his part in such a match, and despite the match being
a rather slow burner, by the time we hit the 4th set it really took off
as both men played some immense stuff for the crowd. So the 2012
Aussie open final was an excellent one as much as it was entertaining,
it also set itself rightfully in the history books as the longest final
ever.
3. US Open final, Andy Murray d. Novak Djokovic, 7-6(10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2.
Well this match is one that can't be forgotten in a hurry, simply because of its historic value in that it saw Great Britain's 76 year wait for a British men's singles grand slam champion finally come to an end. In an intense and lengthy epic battle, two of the best players in the world, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray went at it on Arthur Ashe stadium in a memorable final, which saw Andy clinch his first ever grand slam title. Due to the windy conditions however, the match at times lacked pace, as it looked like the two men were trying to play tennis in quicksand at some points, but there were also some great points as well between Murray's amazing retireving skills and Djokovic's flashy volleying at the net. However what made the match so fascinating was how the two men had to adapt their game to the conditions, and as the match progressed, the level of play increased in quality. The first set tiebreak also was a big highlight, which had nothing but twists and turns and with a final 12-10 score, it was the longest tiebreak in the US Open final history. With Andy having gone two sets to love up, Novak started to fight back in the 3rd as he broke twice and he also continued his dominance in the 4th to level the match. And in the 5th set after levelling, Novak looked surely to be the favourite, however Andy refused to go down like he did in his four previous slam finals, and hung in there and fought it out, to pull off his ultimate goal, to win his first major title. This match more than anything really showed how Andy has matured as a player throughout 2012, and it showed that all the hard work he put in with his new coach Ivan Lendl, had well and truly paid off. Novak played his part in the match aswell, and he fought really well to try and keep a hold of his US Open title. And its full credit to Andy that he was able to beat one of the best players to have to played the game to win that elusive major, and I'm sure more will follow next year.
2. Davis cup final, deciding rubber, Radek Stepanek d. Nicolas Almagro, 6-4, 7-6(0), 3-6, 6-3.
In what proved to be the very last match of the season we were expected to be in for a treat, with the Davis cup final from Prague, as the host nation, the Czech Republic took on the defending champions, Spain. This was the deciding match for the title as coming into this final rubber, David Ferrer managed to level the scores to 2-2 for Spain so it was literally all to play. And with the weight of the nation on his shoulders, it looked like an extremely daunting task for Radek Stepanek, ranked the world no.37, against Nicolas Almagro, ranked the world no.11. However the 33 year old Czech didn't fold under pressure, quite the opposite as he thrived off the energy from the racuous crowd who cheered their man on all the way, as he put on a terrific display from the home audience. Throughout the match, Stepanek looked the stronger player, but Almagro played his part too, and after a shaky start, he also played some great tennis to challenge the Czech fella. However Stepanek stepped it up (no pun intended) and proceeded to step on Almargo's neck, after going 2 sets to 1 up, he made the decisive break in the 4th, and soon went on to serve it out for the Czech Republic's second Davis cup triumph in over 30 years. This was a great match to finish off an incredible 2012 season of tennis, and Radek Stepanek, became the unlikely hero of the final, as he put in a superb, gutsy performance and he was backed up considerably by an immense crowd, who must have blown the sound barrier with all the noise they made. It was a pity for Almagro, who tried his best and fought so hard to try and stay in the match, but for the Czechs all the credit must go to Stepanek and Tomas Berdych who between secured their nation's triumph at the Davis cup. And it was a fitting finale for a great season.
1. Shanghai Rolex Masters final, Novak Djokovic d. Andy Murray, 5-7, 7-6(11), 6-3.
I just had to put this match at the top of the list as not only did it contain some of the most magnificent stuff you will see all year on a tennis court, it also was further proof that tennis has a new exciting rivalry in Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. And throughout this match these two players proved why they are the best around just now, with not much to separate them both in the first set, except a break at 6-5, which saw Djoko angrily smash his racquet, before Andy took the 1st. In the 2nd it went by serve until Andy broke to go 5-4, serving for the championship however, he faltered on serve, and Djoko fought back to level 5-5, and the two of them battled on into another incredible tiebreak, which Djokovic won (which saw Andy uncharacteristically smash his racquet after also!). In the 3rd set, despite dropping his serve, Andy still produced some incredible resistance to Djokovic's near imperious performance, but in the end it was Novak that came through to win his 3rd Masters title of the season, with an incredible 3 set victory. There are times in this match where the tennis reached near magical heights, with some of the shot making both men produced, in fact it was so good it threatened to put Novak's rivalry with Rafa to shame, and that is saying something. On the negative side there was no doubt about it that Andy had five match points and plenty of chances to put Nole away, but he just couldn't quite do it, as let's face it Nole is the toughest player in the game to try and finish off, and he certainly proved it here. So for me this is the top match of the season, just incredible stuff, and it shows just how great the Djokovic vs Murray rivalry can and will be.
So that's it for my hard court fav matches of the season, I noticed that Novak Djokovic features in four of them, but with the guy being that good its hard to not include him is it???? And that Andy Murray isn't too bad either it has to be said.
And with that, that's it!
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