OK so this is the last post on the Sony Open Tennis event from Crandon Park in Miami, which will cover the two finals on both the mens and ladies events. So without any further interruptions let's have a look at em!
Right starting off with the ladies final, which was between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, and in prospect it looked to be like Serena would have taken it pretty easily from the Russian, as her 11-2 head to head record suggests. However the match itself was far from easy as Maria came out firing on all cylinders, playing incredibly aggressive tennis against Serena, pinning her back and blasting all sorts of winners, she broke the American's serve and took her first set off her in nearly 10 years! In the 2nd set Maria went up a break against Serena before the World No.1 mounted her fightback, and from there it was all about Serena who went on to break to level the match at a set all, and in the 3rd she raced to victory, as Sharapova capitulated spectacularly on serve, firing down one double fault after another, and in the end American claimed a record breaking 6th Miami title after a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win.
Although I didn't see the match from what I gathered Maria for half of it was the stronger player, as she played some of her best and most aggressive tennis against Serena. But it just goes to show Serena's sheer tenacity and willpower and how it managed to get her through and when she turned it up, there was no way back for Sharapova. So this sees Serena back up her World No.1 ranking once more, and despite her early defeats in Melbourne and Doha, its safe to say that she definitely proved to be the world's best player so far this year. And with Azarenka being absent, this leaves more room for Maria to keep the momentum going and rack more points, with a view of coming the world no.1 again.
But whether or not Maria can wrestle the No.1 ranking from Serena or not will depend entirely on how well she plays in the next coming months, and Maria herself has a lot of points to defend in the upcoming clay season, having won titles in Stuttgart, Rome and the French Open last year. But there will be room for opportunity as if Maria maintains her impressive form on clay then she has an excellent chance of retaining her titles, and Serena it has to be said does struggle a bit on clay, despite winning the Mutua Madrid Open last year, she suffered a shock first round loss at the French Open. But I somehow doubt that Serena will suffer the same fate this year, but its going to be interesting to see how things pan out on the clay this year for the ladies game, which starts this week at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston in America, where Serena and Caroline Wozniacki are the top seeds.
So now onto the men's final, which was between Andy Murray and David Ferrer. Both men had a fair bit on the line here with the outcome of this final, as Andy would be looking to overtake Roger Federer in the rankings to become the World No.2, whereas Ferrer was looking to overtake Rafa and regain the No.4 spot. The match itself was one gruelling affair, and despite being the hot favourite to win the title, it was Andy that got off to a woeful slow start, suffering in the sweltering heat and the windy conditions on court, Andy went a double break down against Ferrer. And despite getting back one of the breaks, at 2-5, Andy double faulted to hand the set to Ferrer. From here Andy's level needed to improve drastically, and to an extent it did as he turned up in the match and the two men engaged in some terrific rallies, although Andy still struggled badly on serve, but he somehow managed to break Ferrer and level the match. In the 3rd set we were treated to breaks aplenty, as neither player could hold onto serve successfully until 4-4, and Andy took another break to go 5-4 and serve for the title. However another shocking service game let Ferrer off the hook, and at 6-5, with Andy serving to stay in the match, Ferrer had a match point, and at the end of crucial rally, Ferrer challenged Andy's return, which turned out to be just inside the baseline. After this Andy miraculously held onto his serve and in the tiebreak he dominated play, just as Ferrer crumbled badly, with cramp setting into his legs, Andy finally made his move after multiple goes he sealed the deal, to grab the title and No.2 ranking with a brutally exhaustive 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(1) epic victory.
While it has to be said this wasn't the highest quality of finals, it nevertheless remained compelling viewing, and despite the poor stuff, there was also some terrific rallies from both men from the 2nd set onward and some wonderful points in between the dodgy stuff. And both men deserve nothing but credit for how they battled on through such brutal and tough conditions, with sweltering heat, unbelievable humidity and high winds. And it would be hard not to feel sorry for Ferrer who fought his heart out in this match, and came so close to winning as he had that match point on Andy's serve at 6-5 in the final set, which was nullified by a hawkeye challenge, and if it wasn't for that, it would have been quite a different result. Ferrer also had the crowd on his side as the underdog, and also with a strong Spanish contingent in Miami, naturally the crowd were more for him than Andy, which is understandable. So unforuntately for Ferrer he is still yet to gain a win over the top four in a big final, but on the basis of this match that win might just yet come.
As for Andy well, while he was far from the top of his game, his sheer grit and determination to make it through was by far the most impressive thing about this match, again showing the growing mental fortitude he has learned under Lendl's coaching. And throughout the tournament you could just tell at certain points in matches when he looked down and out, that you knew that somehow he would come through and win it. And the main point that sealed it for me was when at 5-6 in the 3rd set, after Ferrer waited too long to challenge a point he had lost, it went to 15-15, with a hostile crowd booing the umpire's decision to not let him, Andy calmly went on to produce a service winner and garner a big cheer from the crowd. In moments like that you know you have a champion on court, as champions even when they are not at their best somehow know how to dig out a win, and that's what Andy did and he got the job done.
Although some concerns about these two back to back Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami are the brutally hot conditions and the fact players are expected to play a maximum of six rounds (the top seeds anyway) or seven if unseeded players are fortunate to reach the final, which over the space of four weeks is lot of tennis. Physically also the final between Andy and Ferrer was a real war of attrition and the last man standing won, which raises a concern for players fitness on the tour, that at times it no longers appears to be about winning a match or a title, but surviving one. However fortunately from here going into the clay season, the conditions despite high altitude and bounce on certain courts such as in Madrid, will not be as brutally hot, and that will in part help players cope with the demands of playing. But it does remain a concern of course as Andy himself said he planned his schedule this year to play fewer tournaments, as to save himself physically for the bigger ones, and alot of players are complaining about the toll the tour takes on their bodies, which remains an ongoing concern, but we can leave that for now.
So that's it, we now have a new World No. 2 in Andy Murray, having won his 9th Masters title, and his 2nd title in Miami, and his 26th career title overall, and Andy no doubt can take great heart from his efforts at Key Biscane. And in regards to the fight for the No.1 spot, from here it really is all still up in the air, as with Rafa back on the scene it remains to be seen how the rankings will go, and Roger so far looks to be taking a bit of a back seat, although you can never write him off in any situation. What is for sure is Rafa will have alot of points to defend during the clay season, so he won't actually gain many of them, as all the titles he has won he will need to defend on points, which means his ranking won't really go up for now. And from here we can only guess how Andy will adapt his game to playing on clay, as last year he had a pretty mediocre clay season, despite reaching the quarter finals at the French open (where he lost to the very man he just beat today). It also remains to be seen just how well Rafa will play against the new top two players in the world, i.e. Andy and Nole, and if Andy can sustain his ranking and keep on improving, or will he end up being relegated back to No.3 or No.4, but time will tell on that.
But what is really encouraging to see is Andy's improved commitment to getting more consistent results on the ATP tour events throughout the year. As in a post interview he admitted that prior to winning his first major he was more obssessed with winning a major than trying to do well on the tour, but now he has won one, he is more dedicated towards winning the other titles on the tour as well, which is what he should be doing, so its good to see that and let's hope he continues to do so.
So a big well done to Andy Murray who thoroughly deserves his victory today in Miami and let's hope he will win plenty more big titles this year whether it be Masters or majors. And as a rather bizarre coincidence, the last four titles that Andy has won on the men's side, Serena Williams has won the same one's on the ladies side of the tour (i.e. Olympics, US Open, Brisbane and now Miami), which is strange to say the least! So let's hope if Andy reaches the final of Wimbledon again this year and Serena wins the final there, that it remains a good omen for him. And as we move into the clay season it will be exciting once the big four have all been properly reunited how things will pan out on the red dirt.
But for now that's all for Miami, next up will be Monte Carlo for the men's tour and ladies clay season starts this week on the green clay in Charleston, but I will probably wait and cover the WTA tournament in Stuttgart, which is easily one of the best on the ladies tour.
So until the next time bye!
Sunday 31 March 2013
Saturday 30 March 2013
2013 Miami Part 4: One to go....
Ok so now we are really getting down to the deep end of the tournament at the Sony Open Tennis in Miami, as I will talk about the men's semi finals in this post, so let's gie it a look...
Right to start off I will discuss the first semi final between David Ferrer, the World No.5 and the in form again German player Tommy Haas. Haas came into the semi final in top notch form as he stunned Novak Djokovic in the 4th round and beat Gilles Simon very convincingly in the quarter finals, so it looked to be a tough proposition for Ferrer. And right enough the match itself was a tight affair, with Haas taking the initiative early in the first set, breaking Ferrer to go 5-2 up, but Ferrer managed to get one of the breaks back, but afterwards Haas closed the set out. In the 2nd set, Ferrer started his comeback as he broke Haas twice to level the match at a set all, and in the 3rd, despite going a break down, Ferrer battled back and broke Haas for the final time to close out the match and reach his 5th 1000 Masters final and his first final in Miami with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 triumph.
And the last semi final match of the day was between Andy Murray and the French player Richard Gasquet, which promised to be quite a tough encounter, as Andy lead their tight head to head 4-3, and it certainly turned out to be just that. In the first set Andy got off to yet another nervy start like he did against Cilic and Dimitrov, going a break down, but soon breaking back, and later in the 1st set Andy went a break up 5-4 in a postion to serve for the set. However nerves got the better of him as Andy played a sloppy service game, which let Gasquet back on serve to make it 5-5, and with play going to a tiebreak, it was Gasquet that came up with some moments of brilliance to clinch the opening set and the breaker 7-3. But it was in the 2nd set where Andy battled back into the match and started dominating the play aggressively, and he went on to break Gasquet twice to secure the set and level the match. In the 3rd Andy broke again, but he once again handed the break back to Gasquet to make it 1-1, but the British No.1 took the initiative once more and broke to go 2-1. From here Andy went on to hold serve with relative ease and he took a final decisive break to eventually serve out the match and seal his place in the final for a 3rd time, toughing out the win in 6(3)-7, 6-1, 6-2.
It was great to see that for both semi finals we were given a treat as all four men were put to the test by each other and they played some great tennis and admittedly some not so great tennis as well at times. Ferrer in his match made an impressive comeback against an inspired Haas who looked so solid in the 1st set and ready to take the match with an early break in the 3rd. But that's the reason why Ferrer is at the top of his game and in the top 5, as he knows how to grind it out against just about any player on the tour, and he was always my favourite to win that match. So its great to see the humble Spaniard back in another 1000 Masters series final, and it will be interesting to see how he get's on.
Which brings me to his opponent in the final, Andy Murray, who at times this week has played some of his best tennis and has been way below par on others. And despite some of his ropey service games, and getting off to an edgy slow start in some matches, Andy really has shown some champion qualities this week in Miami, and I definitely think he is the favourite to win the title this Sunday. Andy also has an excellent record on hard court over Ferrer, and while it will no doubt be a tough match, I can see Andy coming through in the end to claim his 9th 1000 Masters series title and the World No.2 ranking, where he will overtake Federer in the rankings. But as I said it will be far from easy, and I think this match will go to 3 sets, and I'm sure Ferrer or "the wall" as he's known, will put Murray through his paces, playing long rallies and getting him to move around the court from pillar to net. Ferrer also having won his maiden Masters title last year in Paris will also be playing with alot of confidence, having won one of these titles already, which could give home more of an edge than he had in the past, so no doubt this will be a tough test for Andy. But I think it will be a really good final and hopefully one that will live up to expectations.
So that's it for men's just now, next up will be the ladies which starts on Saturday, which of course is between the top two players in the world, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova respectively. Serena leads their head to head emphatically with 11-2 in the World No.1's favour, so its going to be a tough ask for Maria to pull off a victory. However its not entirely impossible that Sharapova cannot do it, as she has won her last 11 matches without even dropping a set, but against Serena its a tough proposition to beat at all let alone in straight sets. But personally for me I think Serena will win the title in straight sets, hopefully it will be a fairly tight match, but I can see the usual from Sharapova, double faulting to the hilt and a slew of unforced errors, and against Serena especially with her serve, which is just about the best in the women's game, that's just doesn't cut it. However we will see what transpires.
So on that note I shall leave it there, I will report back with more on the ladies final once it is over and done with, or I might just combine that with men's final, we'll see.
Until the next time, bye the nowwww!
Right to start off I will discuss the first semi final between David Ferrer, the World No.5 and the in form again German player Tommy Haas. Haas came into the semi final in top notch form as he stunned Novak Djokovic in the 4th round and beat Gilles Simon very convincingly in the quarter finals, so it looked to be a tough proposition for Ferrer. And right enough the match itself was a tight affair, with Haas taking the initiative early in the first set, breaking Ferrer to go 5-2 up, but Ferrer managed to get one of the breaks back, but afterwards Haas closed the set out. In the 2nd set, Ferrer started his comeback as he broke Haas twice to level the match at a set all, and in the 3rd, despite going a break down, Ferrer battled back and broke Haas for the final time to close out the match and reach his 5th 1000 Masters final and his first final in Miami with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 triumph.
And the last semi final match of the day was between Andy Murray and the French player Richard Gasquet, which promised to be quite a tough encounter, as Andy lead their tight head to head 4-3, and it certainly turned out to be just that. In the first set Andy got off to yet another nervy start like he did against Cilic and Dimitrov, going a break down, but soon breaking back, and later in the 1st set Andy went a break up 5-4 in a postion to serve for the set. However nerves got the better of him as Andy played a sloppy service game, which let Gasquet back on serve to make it 5-5, and with play going to a tiebreak, it was Gasquet that came up with some moments of brilliance to clinch the opening set and the breaker 7-3. But it was in the 2nd set where Andy battled back into the match and started dominating the play aggressively, and he went on to break Gasquet twice to secure the set and level the match. In the 3rd Andy broke again, but he once again handed the break back to Gasquet to make it 1-1, but the British No.1 took the initiative once more and broke to go 2-1. From here Andy went on to hold serve with relative ease and he took a final decisive break to eventually serve out the match and seal his place in the final for a 3rd time, toughing out the win in 6(3)-7, 6-1, 6-2.
It was great to see that for both semi finals we were given a treat as all four men were put to the test by each other and they played some great tennis and admittedly some not so great tennis as well at times. Ferrer in his match made an impressive comeback against an inspired Haas who looked so solid in the 1st set and ready to take the match with an early break in the 3rd. But that's the reason why Ferrer is at the top of his game and in the top 5, as he knows how to grind it out against just about any player on the tour, and he was always my favourite to win that match. So its great to see the humble Spaniard back in another 1000 Masters series final, and it will be interesting to see how he get's on.
Which brings me to his opponent in the final, Andy Murray, who at times this week has played some of his best tennis and has been way below par on others. And despite some of his ropey service games, and getting off to an edgy slow start in some matches, Andy really has shown some champion qualities this week in Miami, and I definitely think he is the favourite to win the title this Sunday. Andy also has an excellent record on hard court over Ferrer, and while it will no doubt be a tough match, I can see Andy coming through in the end to claim his 9th 1000 Masters series title and the World No.2 ranking, where he will overtake Federer in the rankings. But as I said it will be far from easy, and I think this match will go to 3 sets, and I'm sure Ferrer or "the wall" as he's known, will put Murray through his paces, playing long rallies and getting him to move around the court from pillar to net. Ferrer also having won his maiden Masters title last year in Paris will also be playing with alot of confidence, having won one of these titles already, which could give home more of an edge than he had in the past, so no doubt this will be a tough test for Andy. But I think it will be a really good final and hopefully one that will live up to expectations.
So that's it for men's just now, next up will be the ladies which starts on Saturday, which of course is between the top two players in the world, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova respectively. Serena leads their head to head emphatically with 11-2 in the World No.1's favour, so its going to be a tough ask for Maria to pull off a victory. However its not entirely impossible that Sharapova cannot do it, as she has won her last 11 matches without even dropping a set, but against Serena its a tough proposition to beat at all let alone in straight sets. But personally for me I think Serena will win the title in straight sets, hopefully it will be a fairly tight match, but I can see the usual from Sharapova, double faulting to the hilt and a slew of unforced errors, and against Serena especially with her serve, which is just about the best in the women's game, that's just doesn't cut it. However we will see what transpires.
So on that note I shall leave it there, I will report back with more on the ladies final once it is over and done with, or I might just combine that with men's final, we'll see.
Until the next time, bye the nowwww!
Friday 29 March 2013
2013 Miami Part 3: Closing in....
Right onto the third part of my posts on the Sony Open Tennis tournament (although why they don't call it the Sony Tennis Open is a bit beyond me as it sounds better!) which will cover the quarter finals matches on the men and ladies side, so let's have a look!
Starting with the ladies first up we had Maria Sharapova who took on the plucky Italian and pint sized Sara Errani, who despite her size gave Maria something to think about in their quarter final match. The match itself was a real war of attrition as Errani managed to succeed where quite a few have failed in driving Sharapova up the wall, with her court coverage, speed and defence making Maria's life hell throughout. And in the 1st set both women traded breaks of serve, but after a very long and tense set it was Sharapova that made the final move and closed it out breaking Errani once more. In the 2nd set it was more of the same with breaks aplenty, and Errani came agonisingly close to nabbing her first ever set off Sharapova, as she had 3 set points against the Russian-American(!). But Sharapova dug deep and saved all 3 to hold to make it 5-5 and Sharapova once again manufactured a break of her own and sealed the deal, with a very hard fought 7-5, 7-5 victory.
While it wasn't always the highest quality match, with plenty of errors on both sides, mostly from Sharapova who served up 14 double faults and 57 unforced errors, it remained a really entertaining and intruiging one throughout and Errani is shaping up to being a real thorn in Sharapova's side, as she slowly and surely is becoming a bigger threat to the Russian every time they play. And as far as rivalries go I think this is one to watch out for, as the contrast in styles is also great to watch, with Sharapova being the out and out aggressor and Errani being the counterpuncher. And let's hope they have plenty more tough matches like this one in the future, because the ladies game really needs good rivalries just now, and it will be reat to see this one continue to develop.
Serena Williams also had a tough encounter against Li Na, who is quite a big hitter herself, so after a solid start from Serena in the 1st set taking it, Li Na went on to impose her game on the American. In the 2nd set both players traded breaks, and Li went 5-3 up, however she was unable to close out the set as Serena broke back there could be only one winner. But despite that the remainder of the set remained very tight and competitve and we were treated to an excellent tiebreak, which Serena won 7-5 to seal her place in the semi finals with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win. Serena who has already won the title in Miami five times, looked to be in fine battling form despite one or two dips you knew she would always come back into it, and if she isn't the favourite to win the title her again, then no one is.
Agnieszka Radwanska also had a tough match against her opponent, the Belgium player, Kirsten Flipkens, who she battled against and went on to eventually win in 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. This match was notable for an amazing shot that Radwanska played as she played a winner by swivelling behind herself and hitting a volley over the net, which amazed the crowd and left her opponent totally befuddled. And in the remaining quarter final match Roberta Vinci played an in form again Jelena Jankovic, as the two of them battled it out with Jelena eventually coming out on top with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 victory.
As for the ladies semi finals, well they were both pretty short affairs, starting with Maria Sharapova who played Jelena Jankovic, the Serb had no answer whatsoever for the mighty Pova and she went down in 6-2, 6-1. This also was in a way an unfair bit of scheduling on the part of the organisers, as Jankovic had to play a late night match the night before, and played at just after noon the very next day, so naturally having played such a long match before that, Jelena wouldn't be in the form, but in the end I don't think it would have made a difference to the outcome, as it was always going to be Maria that would come though. And in the other semi final, Serena Williams took on Agnieszka Radwanska and the defending champion had no answer at all for Serena, who blasted winner after winner against Aga, who looked totally fed up and lost on the court, especially as she was handed a bagel set in the 1st. In the 2nd set Radwanska got into the match a little more but it was too little too late in the end as Serena sealed the deal to reach her sixth final in Miami with a 6-0, 6-3 gubbing.
So this sets up quite a promising final between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, and for me there is really only one winner in this match, and that is Maria.... whoops, sorry I meant Serena! ;-) Given the stat that Maria has only beaten Serena once in her career, it will be tough to bet against the American, but then you never know, whichever way it goes, it could be quite a good final, although if I were to guess, I think Serena will win comfortably in straight sets.
Anyway moving quickly onto the men's ATP tour at Miami, where starting with David Ferrer who faced Jurgen Melzer. Ferrer got off to a slow start however as the Austrian broke Ferrer to take the opening set. In the 2nd set however Ferrer started his comeback and broke Melzer to level the match, and in the 3rd set Ferrer hit top gear and blitzed past his opponent handing him a bagel set and sealing win in 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. In the next match Tommy Haas faced the Frenchman, Gilles Simon, and given Haas's great form against Djokovic it would be hard to best against him. And right enough Haas continued his impressive form against Simon, as he hammered in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-1 win.
Moving onto the 2nd bout of men's quarter final matches we first off had Andy Murray who faced Marin Cilic, the big Croatian player, who in the past has posed a bit of a threat to Andy, but the Scot always has had the lead over him as the head to head was 7-1 in his favour. The match itself promised to be quite a tough one, and it sure turned out to be that, as Andy got off to a ropey start, going down a break straight away, before breaking back, and eventually going on to break Cilic to nab the first set. In the 2nd set Andy broke Cilic straight off, but he had a tough time holding onto his own serve, but eventually coming through to go 5-2 up to serve for the match. However Andy suffered a wobble to let Cilic break back to make it 5-3, but in a tight last game Andy eventually broke Cilic's serve for the last time and sealed his place in the semis after a tough 6-4, 6-3 win.
Despite a ropey start this was an impressive performance from Andy and with each match he plays in Miami, he's looking more comfortable out there, and I think he has a really good chance of winning the title, and if he does we all know what that means (i.e. he will become the World No.2). And I think the Andy looked like a champion out there in that match in terms of his movement, speed, defence and his tenacity to chase everything down. However whether or not he can go on to win the lovely glass trophy or not remains to be seen and there is still a fair bit of work ahead of him.
Which brings me onto the last men's quarter final match which was between Richard Gasquet, the French No.2, and Tomas Berdych, the world no.6. Out of the two I expected Berdych to be the favourite, however it was Gasquet made the better start as he broke Berdych in the 1st set and closed it out, and he did the same in the 2nd as the ailing Czeck gave little answer to Gasquet's performance, which saw the Frenchman secure his place in the semi final with a 6-3, 6-3 win.
So this sets the men's semis, which will be between David Ferrer vs Tommy Haas, and Andy Murray vs Richard Gasquet. So who will win em???? Well it would be hard to bet against the top seeds, but anything can happen, and for all we know it could Haas and Gasquet in that final, which would make for an interesting set up as neither player has reached the final there. But my personal preference would be to see Andy and Ferrer reach the final, which I think could make for a very good final, but we will just have to wait and see, and its hard to predict what can happen. And naturally I would really like to see Andy win the title and claim the No.2 spot, but first things first. But for all I know Andy might just falter and blow it, but we will just have to wait and see, but hopefully not! :-)
And I shall leave it there for now. More soon.
Starting with the ladies first up we had Maria Sharapova who took on the plucky Italian and pint sized Sara Errani, who despite her size gave Maria something to think about in their quarter final match. The match itself was a real war of attrition as Errani managed to succeed where quite a few have failed in driving Sharapova up the wall, with her court coverage, speed and defence making Maria's life hell throughout. And in the 1st set both women traded breaks of serve, but after a very long and tense set it was Sharapova that made the final move and closed it out breaking Errani once more. In the 2nd set it was more of the same with breaks aplenty, and Errani came agonisingly close to nabbing her first ever set off Sharapova, as she had 3 set points against the Russian-American(!). But Sharapova dug deep and saved all 3 to hold to make it 5-5 and Sharapova once again manufactured a break of her own and sealed the deal, with a very hard fought 7-5, 7-5 victory.
While it wasn't always the highest quality match, with plenty of errors on both sides, mostly from Sharapova who served up 14 double faults and 57 unforced errors, it remained a really entertaining and intruiging one throughout and Errani is shaping up to being a real thorn in Sharapova's side, as she slowly and surely is becoming a bigger threat to the Russian every time they play. And as far as rivalries go I think this is one to watch out for, as the contrast in styles is also great to watch, with Sharapova being the out and out aggressor and Errani being the counterpuncher. And let's hope they have plenty more tough matches like this one in the future, because the ladies game really needs good rivalries just now, and it will be reat to see this one continue to develop.
Serena Williams also had a tough encounter against Li Na, who is quite a big hitter herself, so after a solid start from Serena in the 1st set taking it, Li Na went on to impose her game on the American. In the 2nd set both players traded breaks, and Li went 5-3 up, however she was unable to close out the set as Serena broke back there could be only one winner. But despite that the remainder of the set remained very tight and competitve and we were treated to an excellent tiebreak, which Serena won 7-5 to seal her place in the semi finals with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win. Serena who has already won the title in Miami five times, looked to be in fine battling form despite one or two dips you knew she would always come back into it, and if she isn't the favourite to win the title her again, then no one is.
Agnieszka Radwanska also had a tough match against her opponent, the Belgium player, Kirsten Flipkens, who she battled against and went on to eventually win in 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. This match was notable for an amazing shot that Radwanska played as she played a winner by swivelling behind herself and hitting a volley over the net, which amazed the crowd and left her opponent totally befuddled. And in the remaining quarter final match Roberta Vinci played an in form again Jelena Jankovic, as the two of them battled it out with Jelena eventually coming out on top with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 victory.
As for the ladies semi finals, well they were both pretty short affairs, starting with Maria Sharapova who played Jelena Jankovic, the Serb had no answer whatsoever for the mighty Pova and she went down in 6-2, 6-1. This also was in a way an unfair bit of scheduling on the part of the organisers, as Jankovic had to play a late night match the night before, and played at just after noon the very next day, so naturally having played such a long match before that, Jelena wouldn't be in the form, but in the end I don't think it would have made a difference to the outcome, as it was always going to be Maria that would come though. And in the other semi final, Serena Williams took on Agnieszka Radwanska and the defending champion had no answer at all for Serena, who blasted winner after winner against Aga, who looked totally fed up and lost on the court, especially as she was handed a bagel set in the 1st. In the 2nd set Radwanska got into the match a little more but it was too little too late in the end as Serena sealed the deal to reach her sixth final in Miami with a 6-0, 6-3 gubbing.
So this sets up quite a promising final between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, and for me there is really only one winner in this match, and that is Maria.... whoops, sorry I meant Serena! ;-) Given the stat that Maria has only beaten Serena once in her career, it will be tough to bet against the American, but then you never know, whichever way it goes, it could be quite a good final, although if I were to guess, I think Serena will win comfortably in straight sets.
Anyway moving quickly onto the men's ATP tour at Miami, where starting with David Ferrer who faced Jurgen Melzer. Ferrer got off to a slow start however as the Austrian broke Ferrer to take the opening set. In the 2nd set however Ferrer started his comeback and broke Melzer to level the match, and in the 3rd set Ferrer hit top gear and blitzed past his opponent handing him a bagel set and sealing win in 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. In the next match Tommy Haas faced the Frenchman, Gilles Simon, and given Haas's great form against Djokovic it would be hard to best against him. And right enough Haas continued his impressive form against Simon, as he hammered in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-1 win.
Moving onto the 2nd bout of men's quarter final matches we first off had Andy Murray who faced Marin Cilic, the big Croatian player, who in the past has posed a bit of a threat to Andy, but the Scot always has had the lead over him as the head to head was 7-1 in his favour. The match itself promised to be quite a tough one, and it sure turned out to be that, as Andy got off to a ropey start, going down a break straight away, before breaking back, and eventually going on to break Cilic to nab the first set. In the 2nd set Andy broke Cilic straight off, but he had a tough time holding onto his own serve, but eventually coming through to go 5-2 up to serve for the match. However Andy suffered a wobble to let Cilic break back to make it 5-3, but in a tight last game Andy eventually broke Cilic's serve for the last time and sealed his place in the semis after a tough 6-4, 6-3 win.
Despite a ropey start this was an impressive performance from Andy and with each match he plays in Miami, he's looking more comfortable out there, and I think he has a really good chance of winning the title, and if he does we all know what that means (i.e. he will become the World No.2). And I think the Andy looked like a champion out there in that match in terms of his movement, speed, defence and his tenacity to chase everything down. However whether or not he can go on to win the lovely glass trophy or not remains to be seen and there is still a fair bit of work ahead of him.
Which brings me onto the last men's quarter final match which was between Richard Gasquet, the French No.2, and Tomas Berdych, the world no.6. Out of the two I expected Berdych to be the favourite, however it was Gasquet made the better start as he broke Berdych in the 1st set and closed it out, and he did the same in the 2nd as the ailing Czeck gave little answer to Gasquet's performance, which saw the Frenchman secure his place in the semi final with a 6-3, 6-3 win.
So this sets the men's semis, which will be between David Ferrer vs Tommy Haas, and Andy Murray vs Richard Gasquet. So who will win em???? Well it would be hard to bet against the top seeds, but anything can happen, and for all we know it could Haas and Gasquet in that final, which would make for an interesting set up as neither player has reached the final there. But my personal preference would be to see Andy and Ferrer reach the final, which I think could make for a very good final, but we will just have to wait and see, and its hard to predict what can happen. And naturally I would really like to see Andy win the title and claim the No.2 spot, but first things first. But for all I know Andy might just falter and blow it, but we will just have to wait and see, but hopefully not! :-)
And I shall leave it there for now. More soon.
Tuesday 26 March 2013
2013 Miami Part 2: Upsets and opportunities
OK so now I'm onto part two of my posts on the Sony Open Tennis tournament from Crandon Park in Miami, where the top men's and ladies players in the world compete for the right to win that rather nice glass trophy (better looking than the Indian Wells one at any rate!).
And to start with the usual, let's have a look at the ladies matches, starting with a catch on the remaining ladies 4th round matches. Starting with Roberta Vinci, the Italian No.2 who battled it out hard against the Carla Suarez Navarro in the 3rd round, gaining her first ever win over the Spaniard in 3 sets, and Vinci later went on to beat Alize Cornet in another tight battle winning in 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sara Errani, Vinci's compatriot and doubles partner also had to fight past Ana Ivanovic as she came from a set down to beat the saucy Serb in 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. And Jelena Jankovic, who has recently made a return to form, winning her first title in nearly three years back in February in Bogota, also powered her way past Sorana Cirstea with a 6-0, 6-4 win. And finally Maria Sharapova eased her way past Klara Zakopalova with another routine straight sets win of 6-2, 6-2.
As for the quarter finals ladies matches, so far we have had Serena Williams take on Li Na, which turned out to be a bit of a dramatic one, as Serena had to take a medical timeout for her leg in the 2nd set. Serena's usually impeccable serve faltered badly here and allowed Li Na who went a set and a break down in the 2nd set to break back, and move ahead in the match to 5-3. However Serena wasn't finished as she went on to break back, and the set was pushed to a tiebreak, which featured some great points, but it was Serena who shut down Li Na with a winner to end the match, sealing her place in the semis in 6-3, 7-6(5). This match just goes to show that even when she is injured, there is no one more dangerous on a tennis court than Serena Williams, and in this match she used her fighting spirit to come through, but you always know one way or another she will get it done. So that's Serena to be the first to make it through to the semis, next up will be Angieszka Radwanksa who takes on Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium for a place in the semis with Serena.
Now for the men's fourth round matches so far, starting with David Ferrer who faced Kei Nishikori, and the two men so far have shared their head to head 2-2 coming into this match. But it was Ferrer who took command of the match and he wasted little time in breaking Nishikori and putting him away in just 81 minutes, winning in 6-4, 6-2. Ferrer so far is looking in really good form in Miami, and he has gone a long way in making up for his 2nd round loss in Indian Wells two weeks ago, and if he carries on this route he is sure to face Novak Djokovic in the semis, which as I said in my last post that should hopefully be a good one. Next up Ferrer will face Jurgen Melzer in the quarter finals for a place in the semis where he may very well have a showdown with Novak Djokovic.
Tomas Berdych also wasted very little time in getting past the big yank, Sam Querrey as he dismissed him cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Berdych did well to survive his match against Alejandro Falla who very nearly took Berdych out in the 3rd round, so this was quite a turnaround in the 4th round, which will set up a quarter final clash with Richard Gasquet. This promises to be quite a good match as well, as Gasquet took on Nicolas Almagaro in a pitch (or court) battle where he edged the Spaniard with a 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 result. The next matches up will be between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marin Cilic, and Janko Tipsarevic and Gilles Simon.
And finally we get to Andy Murray who took on the Italian player, Andreas Seppi, who has shown good form in Miami. However Seppi proved to be no threat to Andy as the Scot simply had too much for the Italian, and Andy came out firing well, and (finally) getting that first serve percentage up, he broke Seppi twice to swiftly take the first set. In the 2nd set Seppi did offer more resistance and played better and he even rattled Andy 4-3, as he took Andy to 0-30 on his serve, but it was short lived as Andy held serve afterwards, he then went on to break Seppi himself. And despite a last ropey service game, facing break points, Andy went on to hold his nerve and seal his place in the last eight, winning the match in 6-2, 6-4. This was a big improvement from Andy's performance against Dimitrov the night before, as this time Andy started strong and served well throughout most of the match, despite one or two loose forehands and the odd double fault, he came through the match fairly untroubled. Seppi did show signs of promise in the 2nd set but in the end he was just a bit too passive and wasn't able to take his chances when he could against Andy.
So this sets up a quarter final clash for Andy with Marin Cilic, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 7-5, 7-6(4). This could be quite a tough match, but Andy thankfully leads their head to head 7-1, which puts the odds well in his favour, and although he was upset by Del Potro in the quarter finals of Indian Wells, I hopefully don't see this happening here. And hopefully from here, Andy can build on his performance so far, as he is starting to look more comfortable out on the courts, which he should do in Miami since he practices there for about three months out of the year.
And to make things even more interesting, Novak Djokovic suffered a big upset in his 4th round match against Tommy Haas, who stunned the world no.1 by playing a great match, using his tactics and tenacity to outplay the Serb (now there's something you don't hear often) and claim a big scalp winning in 6-2, 6-4. Well it has to be said I certainly wasn't expecting this result as I thought that Djokovic winning the match would be a dead cert, however I was proven wrong, and this is quite a result for Haas, who is on the verge of turning 35, and despite that he is playing some of the best tennis of his career just now, so he will be hard to stop on the basis of this. But with Djokovic out of the picture, this now leaves Andy Murray as the top seed, and he has an excellent chance to win not only the title but grab the World No.2 ranking from Federer. However with Cilic up next, and Berdych being a strong possbility for the semis, it will still be a very tough passage for him before he reaches the final, but if he can make the final I'm sure he stands a great chance of winning and taking the No.2 spot. So its going to be quite exciting to see how it all pans out and let's hope Andy can pull it off.
So that's all for now, more will follow once the remaining quarter final matches are played oot.
Till then bye for now!
And to start with the usual, let's have a look at the ladies matches, starting with a catch on the remaining ladies 4th round matches. Starting with Roberta Vinci, the Italian No.2 who battled it out hard against the Carla Suarez Navarro in the 3rd round, gaining her first ever win over the Spaniard in 3 sets, and Vinci later went on to beat Alize Cornet in another tight battle winning in 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sara Errani, Vinci's compatriot and doubles partner also had to fight past Ana Ivanovic as she came from a set down to beat the saucy Serb in 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. And Jelena Jankovic, who has recently made a return to form, winning her first title in nearly three years back in February in Bogota, also powered her way past Sorana Cirstea with a 6-0, 6-4 win. And finally Maria Sharapova eased her way past Klara Zakopalova with another routine straight sets win of 6-2, 6-2.
As for the quarter finals ladies matches, so far we have had Serena Williams take on Li Na, which turned out to be a bit of a dramatic one, as Serena had to take a medical timeout for her leg in the 2nd set. Serena's usually impeccable serve faltered badly here and allowed Li Na who went a set and a break down in the 2nd set to break back, and move ahead in the match to 5-3. However Serena wasn't finished as she went on to break back, and the set was pushed to a tiebreak, which featured some great points, but it was Serena who shut down Li Na with a winner to end the match, sealing her place in the semis in 6-3, 7-6(5). This match just goes to show that even when she is injured, there is no one more dangerous on a tennis court than Serena Williams, and in this match she used her fighting spirit to come through, but you always know one way or another she will get it done. So that's Serena to be the first to make it through to the semis, next up will be Angieszka Radwanksa who takes on Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium for a place in the semis with Serena.
Now for the men's fourth round matches so far, starting with David Ferrer who faced Kei Nishikori, and the two men so far have shared their head to head 2-2 coming into this match. But it was Ferrer who took command of the match and he wasted little time in breaking Nishikori and putting him away in just 81 minutes, winning in 6-4, 6-2. Ferrer so far is looking in really good form in Miami, and he has gone a long way in making up for his 2nd round loss in Indian Wells two weeks ago, and if he carries on this route he is sure to face Novak Djokovic in the semis, which as I said in my last post that should hopefully be a good one. Next up Ferrer will face Jurgen Melzer in the quarter finals for a place in the semis where he may very well have a showdown with Novak Djokovic.
Tomas Berdych also wasted very little time in getting past the big yank, Sam Querrey as he dismissed him cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Berdych did well to survive his match against Alejandro Falla who very nearly took Berdych out in the 3rd round, so this was quite a turnaround in the 4th round, which will set up a quarter final clash with Richard Gasquet. This promises to be quite a good match as well, as Gasquet took on Nicolas Almagaro in a pitch (or court) battle where he edged the Spaniard with a 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 result. The next matches up will be between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marin Cilic, and Janko Tipsarevic and Gilles Simon.
And finally we get to Andy Murray who took on the Italian player, Andreas Seppi, who has shown good form in Miami. However Seppi proved to be no threat to Andy as the Scot simply had too much for the Italian, and Andy came out firing well, and (finally) getting that first serve percentage up, he broke Seppi twice to swiftly take the first set. In the 2nd set Seppi did offer more resistance and played better and he even rattled Andy 4-3, as he took Andy to 0-30 on his serve, but it was short lived as Andy held serve afterwards, he then went on to break Seppi himself. And despite a last ropey service game, facing break points, Andy went on to hold his nerve and seal his place in the last eight, winning the match in 6-2, 6-4. This was a big improvement from Andy's performance against Dimitrov the night before, as this time Andy started strong and served well throughout most of the match, despite one or two loose forehands and the odd double fault, he came through the match fairly untroubled. Seppi did show signs of promise in the 2nd set but in the end he was just a bit too passive and wasn't able to take his chances when he could against Andy.
So this sets up a quarter final clash for Andy with Marin Cilic, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 7-5, 7-6(4). This could be quite a tough match, but Andy thankfully leads their head to head 7-1, which puts the odds well in his favour, and although he was upset by Del Potro in the quarter finals of Indian Wells, I hopefully don't see this happening here. And hopefully from here, Andy can build on his performance so far, as he is starting to look more comfortable out on the courts, which he should do in Miami since he practices there for about three months out of the year.
And to make things even more interesting, Novak Djokovic suffered a big upset in his 4th round match against Tommy Haas, who stunned the world no.1 by playing a great match, using his tactics and tenacity to outplay the Serb (now there's something you don't hear often) and claim a big scalp winning in 6-2, 6-4. Well it has to be said I certainly wasn't expecting this result as I thought that Djokovic winning the match would be a dead cert, however I was proven wrong, and this is quite a result for Haas, who is on the verge of turning 35, and despite that he is playing some of the best tennis of his career just now, so he will be hard to stop on the basis of this. But with Djokovic out of the picture, this now leaves Andy Murray as the top seed, and he has an excellent chance to win not only the title but grab the World No.2 ranking from Federer. However with Cilic up next, and Berdych being a strong possbility for the semis, it will still be a very tough passage for him before he reaches the final, but if he can make the final I'm sure he stands a great chance of winning and taking the No.2 spot. So its going to be quite exciting to see how it all pans out and let's hope Andy can pull it off.
So that's all for now, more will follow once the remaining quarter final matches are played oot.
Till then bye for now!
Monday 25 March 2013
2013 Miami Part 1: Digging out the wins....
Right ok so now its time for my first post on the Sony Open Tennis event from Miami, which is the 2nd 1000 Masters series ATP and Premier Mandatory WTA event of the season, which sees once again all the big names in tennis in action. However there are a few absences as well on both sides, as in the men's Roger and Rafa are taking a break and Victoria Azarenka and Sam Stosur have both withdrawn from the event with injury. However it does see the return of Venus and Serena Williams after their boycot of Indian Wells its back to business. So let's get a move on with it....
So starting with the ladies first in the tradition I've set in this blog, we had Maria Sharapova, the Indian Wells champion, continue to make an impressive start in Miami, especially in her 2nd round match against Eugenie Bouchard, who she defeated with ease in a 6-2, 6-0 win. In the 3rd round Maria had it slightly tougher as she played her Russian compatriot, Elena Vesnina, who pushed Maria hard in the first set even taking a 4-1 lead, but Maria soon battled her way back in to level the scores and go on to break Vesnina. And in the 2nd set Maria took control as she broke twice to win the match and seal her place in the 4th round. Maria so far is looking really good, and after winning Indian Wells last week she is sure to be feeling really confident, and realistically the only player that stop her from going back to back in Indian Wells and Miami is Serena.
And this brings me onto Serena Williams, who so far has made a decent start, as she blasted her way past the Italian, Flavia Pennetta with a bruising 6-1, 6-1 win, and in the 3rd round she wasted little time against Ayumi Morita with a 6-3, 6-3 scoreline. In the 4th round however Serena faced a stiffer challenge against the pint sized Dominika Cibulkova who she battled against and had to come from a set and a break down to level the match and she went on to break the Slovak player twice more in the 3rd set to win the match 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. The windy conditions on court in this match really wreaked havoc with Serena's serve and she certainly didn't play her best, but she did what she always does when she in down in a hole, she get's out the spade and digs out the win (hence the title of this post!). So this now sees Serena take on Li na for a place in the quarter finals, which promises to be quite a tough encounter, and no doubt one to watch.
Agnieszka Radwanska also had to work pretty hard to make progress in the event, as after a straight forward win in the 2nd round winning 6-3, 6-2 against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan, she had to fight her way past Magdalena Ryabrilkova, where she eventually prevailed in 3 sets 7-6, 3-6, 6-2. And in the 4th round Radwanska had some more work ahead of her as she overcame a plucky Sloane Stephens, coming from a set down to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. This will set up a quarter final with the in form Belgium player Kirsten Flipkens, who has already defeated Petra Kvitova enroute to the last eight, but I'm sure Aga will somehow find a way through.
In other matches, Caroline Wozniacki suffered a shock loss in the 3rd round against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, as she went in just straight sets with a lacklustre performance, and the Spaniard pulling off a big win in 6-2, 6-4. Heather Watson also suffered a 1st round exit against Ayumi Morita despite taking the 1st set, she went on to lose to the Japanese player who won 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. Laura Robson enjoyed just a little bit more luck by winning her 1st round match, but she went on to lose in the 2nd round match against the French player Alize Cornet, who won in 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, in a match that was laiden with drama as there were power cuts, court movings and all sorts of problems. However Laura is still in action in the doubles as she has partnered up with top US doubles player, Lisa Raymond and they are already in the quarter finals, so best of luck to her there. And finally in another shock defeat Angelique Kerber, who's season has not been quite as good as her incredible one last year, also went out in the 3rd round against Sorana Cirstea of Romania, who win in 6-4, 6-0. So this does leave a bit of question mark over Kerber's progress for the rest of the season, and we will just have to wait and see how it pans out.
Now onto the men's, which sees the absence of Roger and Rafa, which is a shame, but the other top guys are still in action. Starting with Novak Djokovic, who took on Lukas Rosol, the man who will always be remembered as the guy who toppled Rafa at Wimbledon last year. However Rosol stood no chance whatsoever of pulling off the same feat against Nole, as the Serb thrashed the Kazhak player, conceding just one game in all, with a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing. Nole continued his fine form in the 3rd round where he took on the Indian player, Somdev Devvarman, whom he dismissed in 6-2, 6-4. Nole looks to be very much on top form and with having won two Miami titles back to back, he's looking for a 3rd this year. Next up though Djokovic could have a stiffer challenge against Tommy Haas in the 4th round, as the German has made an impressive comeback on the tour since last year, so we will see how it goes.
Next up we have David Ferrer who so far has made amends for his early exit at Indian Wells, as he got a walkover into the 3rd round after Dimitri Tursunov withdrew with injury, and he went on to defeat Fabio Fognnin of Italy in straight sets 6-1, 7-5. This will set up a potentially tough encounter with the Japanese No.1 player, Kei Nishikori, who beat Xavier Malisse in straight sets. Hopefully Ferrer will do well and should he makes the semi finals he could face Djokovic, but he will have to get there first, and he'll have to play way better than he did in Melbourne to stand any chance against the World No.1, but they played an excellent match here last year in the quarter finals, so let's hope they have a really good one this year, if they meet.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also made it into the 3rd round after a tricky first match against Viktor Troicki of Serbia, with a 7-6, 6-3 score. John Isner, the big yank, who so far has had mixed success this year, also managed to ace his way out of trouble against the talented Croatian, Ivan Dodig, battling it out to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-6. Tomas Berdych also had it tough in his 2nd round match as he faced the Spanish player, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, whom he eventually overcame in 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 to reach the 3rd round, where is facing Alejandro Falla. And Janko Tipsarevic also had to struggle his way past the giant Kevin Anderson, who beat him in their only previous match, but this time Janko fought from a set down to go and level the match and win in the 3rd handing the big fella a bagel set, and Janko earning a 4-6, 7-6, 6-0.
So finally we get onto Andy Murray, who started his campaign against the Aussie bad boy, Bernard Tomic, which had the promise of a tough match. But if their previous match was anything to go by (which it was) then Tomic wouldn't have proved to be much of a problem, and he wasn't. Tomic started off well in the 1st set, but as he was broken, he started to look more and more disinterested as the match went on. And in the 2nd set Andy broke Tomic twice to go and serve out the match, as Tomic got booed as he walked off court, and Andy sealing the deal in 6-3, 6-1. This was a poor attitude form Tomic and his reactions in the match didn't do him any favours with the crowd, so we will just have to see how he get's on once the clay season get's under way (not that I care really!).
Now onto Andy's 3rd round match, which was a far tougher and more entertaining encounter, with Andy taking on the talented and up and coming player, Grigor Dimitrov, whom he has a 2-0 record over. But it was Dimitrov that made the stronger start as he blasted off winner after a winner, playing aggressive high level tennis, as Andy got off to a terrible start and trailing 2-5. However Dimitrov struggled with nerves as he tried to serve out the set a 5-3, and he doubled faulted three times in the one game to hand the break back. From here Andy started to serve better and got himself into the match, as the first set went to a tiebreak, which he dominated and sealed the first set. In the 2nd set, after a tight and entertaining 2nd game, Andy broke Dimitrov to move ahead, and with a struggle he held his own serve to go 3-0 up. By this time Dimitrov was still game, but Andy proved to be just too good on return and eventually finding his serve, he manage to shut down the talented Bulgarian with a hard fought 7-6, 6-3 result.
The early signs of this match from Andy were hardly encouraging, as we saw time and time again his very flaky serve let him down badly at the start in the 1st set, to go 5-2 down so quickly. However with a bit of help from a nervy Dimitrov, Andy managed to fight his way back into the match, and as he levelled the scores you knew once the first set was won, it was the Muzza's to take. And right enough he played better in the 2nd set, and eventually bumping his first serves percentage up after a woeful start, Andy managed to eventually close it out. So it has to be said its not the best start from Andy, but he did do well in the end as he showed his fighting qualities, especially as he saved set points when he was 30-40 down on his own serve in the first set at 2-5, and went on to eventually win. And Grigor Dimitrov is definitely a player to watch in the future, and despite his bout of nerves, he has a great game, with a big powerful serve, great single backhand and some terrific court coverage, once he matures further, he will become a big threat on the tour in years to come. But despite his loss Grigor has won over someone else, and that is Maria Sharapova as they two of them are now dating, so he's done pretty well there I have to say!
As for Andy well he will need to up his game from here, as he next faces Andreas Seppi, which should be an interesting encounter, and once he starts to face the likes of Tsonga and should he reach the final potentially with Djokovic, he will need to be much sharper, but hopefully he can iron out the kinks in the meantime. But if he can win the title here, he will overtake Roger Federer in the rankings as No.2 in the world, but its going to take some doing no doubt.
Anyway for now that's it, more to follow on the 4th round matches once they get under way.
So starting with the ladies first in the tradition I've set in this blog, we had Maria Sharapova, the Indian Wells champion, continue to make an impressive start in Miami, especially in her 2nd round match against Eugenie Bouchard, who she defeated with ease in a 6-2, 6-0 win. In the 3rd round Maria had it slightly tougher as she played her Russian compatriot, Elena Vesnina, who pushed Maria hard in the first set even taking a 4-1 lead, but Maria soon battled her way back in to level the scores and go on to break Vesnina. And in the 2nd set Maria took control as she broke twice to win the match and seal her place in the 4th round. Maria so far is looking really good, and after winning Indian Wells last week she is sure to be feeling really confident, and realistically the only player that stop her from going back to back in Indian Wells and Miami is Serena.
And this brings me onto Serena Williams, who so far has made a decent start, as she blasted her way past the Italian, Flavia Pennetta with a bruising 6-1, 6-1 win, and in the 3rd round she wasted little time against Ayumi Morita with a 6-3, 6-3 scoreline. In the 4th round however Serena faced a stiffer challenge against the pint sized Dominika Cibulkova who she battled against and had to come from a set and a break down to level the match and she went on to break the Slovak player twice more in the 3rd set to win the match 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. The windy conditions on court in this match really wreaked havoc with Serena's serve and she certainly didn't play her best, but she did what she always does when she in down in a hole, she get's out the spade and digs out the win (hence the title of this post!). So this now sees Serena take on Li na for a place in the quarter finals, which promises to be quite a tough encounter, and no doubt one to watch.
Agnieszka Radwanska also had to work pretty hard to make progress in the event, as after a straight forward win in the 2nd round winning 6-3, 6-2 against Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan, she had to fight her way past Magdalena Ryabrilkova, where she eventually prevailed in 3 sets 7-6, 3-6, 6-2. And in the 4th round Radwanska had some more work ahead of her as she overcame a plucky Sloane Stephens, coming from a set down to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. This will set up a quarter final with the in form Belgium player Kirsten Flipkens, who has already defeated Petra Kvitova enroute to the last eight, but I'm sure Aga will somehow find a way through.
In other matches, Caroline Wozniacki suffered a shock loss in the 3rd round against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, as she went in just straight sets with a lacklustre performance, and the Spaniard pulling off a big win in 6-2, 6-4. Heather Watson also suffered a 1st round exit against Ayumi Morita despite taking the 1st set, she went on to lose to the Japanese player who won 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. Laura Robson enjoyed just a little bit more luck by winning her 1st round match, but she went on to lose in the 2nd round match against the French player Alize Cornet, who won in 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, in a match that was laiden with drama as there were power cuts, court movings and all sorts of problems. However Laura is still in action in the doubles as she has partnered up with top US doubles player, Lisa Raymond and they are already in the quarter finals, so best of luck to her there. And finally in another shock defeat Angelique Kerber, who's season has not been quite as good as her incredible one last year, also went out in the 3rd round against Sorana Cirstea of Romania, who win in 6-4, 6-0. So this does leave a bit of question mark over Kerber's progress for the rest of the season, and we will just have to wait and see how it pans out.
Now onto the men's, which sees the absence of Roger and Rafa, which is a shame, but the other top guys are still in action. Starting with Novak Djokovic, who took on Lukas Rosol, the man who will always be remembered as the guy who toppled Rafa at Wimbledon last year. However Rosol stood no chance whatsoever of pulling off the same feat against Nole, as the Serb thrashed the Kazhak player, conceding just one game in all, with a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing. Nole continued his fine form in the 3rd round where he took on the Indian player, Somdev Devvarman, whom he dismissed in 6-2, 6-4. Nole looks to be very much on top form and with having won two Miami titles back to back, he's looking for a 3rd this year. Next up though Djokovic could have a stiffer challenge against Tommy Haas in the 4th round, as the German has made an impressive comeback on the tour since last year, so we will see how it goes.
Next up we have David Ferrer who so far has made amends for his early exit at Indian Wells, as he got a walkover into the 3rd round after Dimitri Tursunov withdrew with injury, and he went on to defeat Fabio Fognnin of Italy in straight sets 6-1, 7-5. This will set up a potentially tough encounter with the Japanese No.1 player, Kei Nishikori, who beat Xavier Malisse in straight sets. Hopefully Ferrer will do well and should he makes the semi finals he could face Djokovic, but he will have to get there first, and he'll have to play way better than he did in Melbourne to stand any chance against the World No.1, but they played an excellent match here last year in the quarter finals, so let's hope they have a really good one this year, if they meet.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also made it into the 3rd round after a tricky first match against Viktor Troicki of Serbia, with a 7-6, 6-3 score. John Isner, the big yank, who so far has had mixed success this year, also managed to ace his way out of trouble against the talented Croatian, Ivan Dodig, battling it out to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-6. Tomas Berdych also had it tough in his 2nd round match as he faced the Spanish player, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, whom he eventually overcame in 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 to reach the 3rd round, where is facing Alejandro Falla. And Janko Tipsarevic also had to struggle his way past the giant Kevin Anderson, who beat him in their only previous match, but this time Janko fought from a set down to go and level the match and win in the 3rd handing the big fella a bagel set, and Janko earning a 4-6, 7-6, 6-0.
So finally we get onto Andy Murray, who started his campaign against the Aussie bad boy, Bernard Tomic, which had the promise of a tough match. But if their previous match was anything to go by (which it was) then Tomic wouldn't have proved to be much of a problem, and he wasn't. Tomic started off well in the 1st set, but as he was broken, he started to look more and more disinterested as the match went on. And in the 2nd set Andy broke Tomic twice to go and serve out the match, as Tomic got booed as he walked off court, and Andy sealing the deal in 6-3, 6-1. This was a poor attitude form Tomic and his reactions in the match didn't do him any favours with the crowd, so we will just have to see how he get's on once the clay season get's under way (not that I care really!).
Now onto Andy's 3rd round match, which was a far tougher and more entertaining encounter, with Andy taking on the talented and up and coming player, Grigor Dimitrov, whom he has a 2-0 record over. But it was Dimitrov that made the stronger start as he blasted off winner after a winner, playing aggressive high level tennis, as Andy got off to a terrible start and trailing 2-5. However Dimitrov struggled with nerves as he tried to serve out the set a 5-3, and he doubled faulted three times in the one game to hand the break back. From here Andy started to serve better and got himself into the match, as the first set went to a tiebreak, which he dominated and sealed the first set. In the 2nd set, after a tight and entertaining 2nd game, Andy broke Dimitrov to move ahead, and with a struggle he held his own serve to go 3-0 up. By this time Dimitrov was still game, but Andy proved to be just too good on return and eventually finding his serve, he manage to shut down the talented Bulgarian with a hard fought 7-6, 6-3 result.
The early signs of this match from Andy were hardly encouraging, as we saw time and time again his very flaky serve let him down badly at the start in the 1st set, to go 5-2 down so quickly. However with a bit of help from a nervy Dimitrov, Andy managed to fight his way back into the match, and as he levelled the scores you knew once the first set was won, it was the Muzza's to take. And right enough he played better in the 2nd set, and eventually bumping his first serves percentage up after a woeful start, Andy managed to eventually close it out. So it has to be said its not the best start from Andy, but he did do well in the end as he showed his fighting qualities, especially as he saved set points when he was 30-40 down on his own serve in the first set at 2-5, and went on to eventually win. And Grigor Dimitrov is definitely a player to watch in the future, and despite his bout of nerves, he has a great game, with a big powerful serve, great single backhand and some terrific court coverage, once he matures further, he will become a big threat on the tour in years to come. But despite his loss Grigor has won over someone else, and that is Maria Sharapova as they two of them are now dating, so he's done pretty well there I have to say!
As for Andy well he will need to up his game from here, as he next faces Andreas Seppi, which should be an interesting encounter, and once he starts to face the likes of Tsonga and should he reach the final potentially with Djokovic, he will need to be much sharper, but hopefully he can iron out the kinks in the meantime. But if he can win the title here, he will overtake Roger Federer in the rankings as No.2 in the world, but its going to take some doing no doubt.
Anyway for now that's it, more to follow on the 4th round matches once they get under way.
Monday 18 March 2013
Indian Wells Part 6: He's backkkkkkkkkkkk!
Ok so new I've reached the final post of my entries on the BNP Paribas Open from Indian Wells, which will cover the men's and ladies singles finals.
So to begin with the ladies, the final was between Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki, the 2nd and 8th seeds respectively. And Sharapova in their previous recent meetings came out on top quite easily, but more was at steak in such a big final in Indian Wells. As for the match though, Sharapova was on fire from the word go, as she ruthlessly broke Wozniacki right at the start of the match, blasting winners left, right and centre, and she went onto break her again to close out the set. In the 2nd set, it was more of the same, with Caroline trying her best to stay in the points, but ultimately just had too much firepower and was too strong for the Dane to handle. So after two service breaks, Sharapova served out for the title with great ease, as she sealed her 2nd title at Indian Wells with an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Sharapova probably in this final hasn't played a better match in her career than she did today, and while it has to be said I was rooting for Caroline, you have to admire Sharapova's sheer determination, and aggressive form, and her ability to just power through in such a convincing manner. So this now sees Sharapova take over the No.2 spot in the world, having won the title in Indian Wells will give her 1000 points to her ranking, and Azarenka will go down to the No.3 spot. And if Sharapova maintains this incredible form then there is every chance that she will reclaim the top spot again this year.
As for Caroline Wozniacki, well it would be hard not to feel for her in this match, as she tried everything she could, but she was just outplayed in every sense of the word. However the really encouraging thing for Caroline out of this tournament was that it saw her back in the big time in a big final on the WTA tour, and it also saw her beat another player inside the top 10, Angelique Kerber. So from here things can only get better for her (hopefully) and her difference in play is noticeable over the last 6 months or so, as Caroline has become a more aggressive player, which has definitely helped her form this year so far. So I wish her all the best for Miami, and we'll see how she get's on there.
Now onto the men's final, which saw Rafael Nadal, who so far has made an impressive comeback on the tour, having already picked up two titles on clay, take on Juan Martin Del Potro for the title. The match on paper was without a doubt an exciting one, and thankfully the match itself more than lived up to it. Rafa at the start came out firing and racing to a 3-0 lead over a rather nervy looking Del Potro, however it was not long before Delpo settled down and broke back to take 3 games in a row to level the score. And even more remarkably he broke Rafa in the opening set using his powerful forehand and his near iron clad serve to take it. In the 2nd set, it was Rafa's turn to look edgy as Delpo broke the Spaniard again, but it wasn't long before Rafa started to settle down and find his rythym and he finally broke Delpo to eventually go on and take the 2nd set and push the match into a decider. In the 3rd set, Delpo started to look rather jaded from his previous two lenghty matches, and he dropped his serve early on, which let Rafa make the crucial move to take the lead. However Del Potro wasn't quite finished as at 5-3 and 0-40 down, he battled back with a remarkable service hold to force Rafa to serve out for the title. But Rafa went on and did just that with relative ease as Del Petro's final forehand went wide, Rafa went flat on his back with delight, in the same fashion he does when winning a major, securing his 3rd Indian Wells title, with a terrific 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumphant win.
Well if this doesn't signal that Rafa is well and truly back, then I don't know what will, as the Spaniard looked back to what was close to his very best. And despite a nervy start, with Delpo dishing out some bludgeoning forehands, Rafa soon gathered himself and fought back the only way he knew how to level the match. And once Rafa levelled it you just knew there was no way back in for the big Argentine fella, which was a great shame, as a Masters series title still eludes Del Potro to this day, and in this match he couldn't have played or tried any better, giving it his all. It also sees Rafa break the record for the most won Master series titles, as he now stands at 22 Masters titles, with Roger Federer just below with 21. It was also Rafa's first hard court title in nearly three years, with the last one being the Japan Open back in 2010.
So this really does send out a strong message to his other rivals, and at this rate its hard to imagine anyone else taking Rafa at the French Open, as I don't think even Djokovic will do that. I also think Rafa could possibly even go on to win Wimbledon and the US Open again this year, and if he does well he will almost certainly reclaim the World No.1 spot. And it also makes you wonder what will happen to Andy Murray's ranking, and how will he play Rafa on their first match, as it could very well see him relegated back to the No.4 spot, but we will wait and see. At this rate I can see Andy overtake Federer on a steady basis, so if Rafa moves up to the top spot, then he could still remain at No.3. However it all remains to be seen how Rafa will play Andy or Nole, as they are yet to meet this year, but on the basis of Rafa's performance at Indian Wells this week, I think they should watch their asses, as Rafa will be out to get them.
In the meantime Rafa deserves nothing but credit for his incredible comeback to the tour, and his triumph at Indian Wells signals that he is getting ever closer to his very best form. And clearly his knee is no longer a big issue, as Rafa has also dispelled the fears over how it would hold up on hard court surfaces. As we have seen this week Rafa run from pillar to post, change direction, chase down balls with effortless ease and move with his usual great speed and agility that we have come to know so well. And he has come back to the tour feeling re-energised and ready to go to take on any challenge that is infront of him. So its going to be quite exciting to see how the rest of 2013 unfolds.
And that's it for now on the posts, until next week once the next ATP/WTA 1000 Masters series/Premier Mandatory title get's under at the Sony Open in Miami. And Rafa unfortunately will not be playing at this event, as the doctors have advised him to rest the knee and restart at the beginning of the clay court season in Monte Carlo, and Roger Federer won't be playing either, as he elected to take an extended break with his family. However Andy and Novak will be playing in Miami, and as they will be the top seeds, if they both reach the final it should make for one hell of a match, but there will be a lot of work to do before they can get there. And Andy will look to avenge his three straight losses to Nole, which here's hoping he can do just that, but it will be far from easy. But on the good side of things, even if Andy fails to win the title but does reach the final in Miami, he will be guaranteed to overtake Federer in the rankings, and grab the No.2 spot. However we will just have to wait and see how it pans out.
So until then bye for nowwww.
So to begin with the ladies, the final was between Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki, the 2nd and 8th seeds respectively. And Sharapova in their previous recent meetings came out on top quite easily, but more was at steak in such a big final in Indian Wells. As for the match though, Sharapova was on fire from the word go, as she ruthlessly broke Wozniacki right at the start of the match, blasting winners left, right and centre, and she went onto break her again to close out the set. In the 2nd set, it was more of the same, with Caroline trying her best to stay in the points, but ultimately just had too much firepower and was too strong for the Dane to handle. So after two service breaks, Sharapova served out for the title with great ease, as she sealed her 2nd title at Indian Wells with an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Sharapova probably in this final hasn't played a better match in her career than she did today, and while it has to be said I was rooting for Caroline, you have to admire Sharapova's sheer determination, and aggressive form, and her ability to just power through in such a convincing manner. So this now sees Sharapova take over the No.2 spot in the world, having won the title in Indian Wells will give her 1000 points to her ranking, and Azarenka will go down to the No.3 spot. And if Sharapova maintains this incredible form then there is every chance that she will reclaim the top spot again this year.
As for Caroline Wozniacki, well it would be hard not to feel for her in this match, as she tried everything she could, but she was just outplayed in every sense of the word. However the really encouraging thing for Caroline out of this tournament was that it saw her back in the big time in a big final on the WTA tour, and it also saw her beat another player inside the top 10, Angelique Kerber. So from here things can only get better for her (hopefully) and her difference in play is noticeable over the last 6 months or so, as Caroline has become a more aggressive player, which has definitely helped her form this year so far. So I wish her all the best for Miami, and we'll see how she get's on there.
Now onto the men's final, which saw Rafael Nadal, who so far has made an impressive comeback on the tour, having already picked up two titles on clay, take on Juan Martin Del Potro for the title. The match on paper was without a doubt an exciting one, and thankfully the match itself more than lived up to it. Rafa at the start came out firing and racing to a 3-0 lead over a rather nervy looking Del Potro, however it was not long before Delpo settled down and broke back to take 3 games in a row to level the score. And even more remarkably he broke Rafa in the opening set using his powerful forehand and his near iron clad serve to take it. In the 2nd set, it was Rafa's turn to look edgy as Delpo broke the Spaniard again, but it wasn't long before Rafa started to settle down and find his rythym and he finally broke Delpo to eventually go on and take the 2nd set and push the match into a decider. In the 3rd set, Delpo started to look rather jaded from his previous two lenghty matches, and he dropped his serve early on, which let Rafa make the crucial move to take the lead. However Del Potro wasn't quite finished as at 5-3 and 0-40 down, he battled back with a remarkable service hold to force Rafa to serve out for the title. But Rafa went on and did just that with relative ease as Del Petro's final forehand went wide, Rafa went flat on his back with delight, in the same fashion he does when winning a major, securing his 3rd Indian Wells title, with a terrific 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumphant win.
Well if this doesn't signal that Rafa is well and truly back, then I don't know what will, as the Spaniard looked back to what was close to his very best. And despite a nervy start, with Delpo dishing out some bludgeoning forehands, Rafa soon gathered himself and fought back the only way he knew how to level the match. And once Rafa levelled it you just knew there was no way back in for the big Argentine fella, which was a great shame, as a Masters series title still eludes Del Potro to this day, and in this match he couldn't have played or tried any better, giving it his all. It also sees Rafa break the record for the most won Master series titles, as he now stands at 22 Masters titles, with Roger Federer just below with 21. It was also Rafa's first hard court title in nearly three years, with the last one being the Japan Open back in 2010.
So this really does send out a strong message to his other rivals, and at this rate its hard to imagine anyone else taking Rafa at the French Open, as I don't think even Djokovic will do that. I also think Rafa could possibly even go on to win Wimbledon and the US Open again this year, and if he does well he will almost certainly reclaim the World No.1 spot. And it also makes you wonder what will happen to Andy Murray's ranking, and how will he play Rafa on their first match, as it could very well see him relegated back to the No.4 spot, but we will wait and see. At this rate I can see Andy overtake Federer on a steady basis, so if Rafa moves up to the top spot, then he could still remain at No.3. However it all remains to be seen how Rafa will play Andy or Nole, as they are yet to meet this year, but on the basis of Rafa's performance at Indian Wells this week, I think they should watch their asses, as Rafa will be out to get them.
In the meantime Rafa deserves nothing but credit for his incredible comeback to the tour, and his triumph at Indian Wells signals that he is getting ever closer to his very best form. And clearly his knee is no longer a big issue, as Rafa has also dispelled the fears over how it would hold up on hard court surfaces. As we have seen this week Rafa run from pillar to post, change direction, chase down balls with effortless ease and move with his usual great speed and agility that we have come to know so well. And he has come back to the tour feeling re-energised and ready to go to take on any challenge that is infront of him. So its going to be quite exciting to see how the rest of 2013 unfolds.
And that's it for now on the posts, until next week once the next ATP/WTA 1000 Masters series/Premier Mandatory title get's under at the Sony Open in Miami. And Rafa unfortunately will not be playing at this event, as the doctors have advised him to rest the knee and restart at the beginning of the clay court season in Monte Carlo, and Roger Federer won't be playing either, as he elected to take an extended break with his family. However Andy and Novak will be playing in Miami, and as they will be the top seeds, if they both reach the final it should make for one hell of a match, but there will be a lot of work to do before they can get there. And Andy will look to avenge his three straight losses to Nole, which here's hoping he can do just that, but it will be far from easy. But on the good side of things, even if Andy fails to win the title but does reach the final in Miami, he will be guaranteed to overtake Federer in the rankings, and grab the No.2 spot. However we will just have to wait and see how it pans out.
So until then bye for nowwww.
Sunday 17 March 2013
Indian Wells Part 5: All things come to an end in the desert...
So now I'm getting near to the end of my posts on the BNP Paribas Open from Indian Wells, and I will cover the two men's semi finals matches to see who will make it to Sunday's final.
OK so to start the first semi final was between Rafa Nadal and Tomas Berdych, who have played each other quite a bit over the last few years or so, and Rafa has won all of their last 12 meetings, so the prospect of Berdy pulling off a win here was quite daunting. And right enough it was a big big ask, as Rafa was looking mightier than ever, as he seemed even more determined than ever to prove that his knee is no longer a problem, as he moved impeccably round the court with ruthlessly efficiency, breaking Berdych in the opening set to clinch it. In the 2nd set however Berdych fought back to break Rafa's serve and go up 5-3, but he unfortunately was not able to close out the set as he played a sloppy smash, allowing Rafa to get back on serve. And then at 5-5 with Berdych serving to go 6-5, Rafa made his move and broke the Czeck one more time, and despite a tense last game, with Berdy forcing two break points, Rafa managed to come through to reach his fourth final at Indian Wells with a 6-4, 7-5 win.
Any match with Rafa in it is not going to be an easy one, and Berdych made a decent stab at taking him on, but in the end Rafa was just too strong for the big Czeck. Rafa himself is now on a 13 match winning streak, and having only lost one match in Brazil earlier this year, and picked up two clay court titles already, he is looking close back to his very best. And I think its safe to say that in the final he will be hot favourite to win the title, which I would quite like to see him win as he has not won a title on any surface other than clay for nearly three years. And Rafa has spent less time on court in his previous two matches which will give him a big advantage in the final as he will be fresher, having only dropped one set in the tournament in the 4th round, he has since gone strength to strength and looked near unstoppable. In fact Rafa could possibly even put together a winning streak of his own this year, and I shudder to think how he will be at Roland Garros this year based on his performances so far.
Anyway moving onto the second semi final, which was a potentially very exciting encounter on paper, between Novak Djokovic, unbeaten in 2013, and Juan Martin Del Potro, the 7th seed, who has been in great form this week. And the match itself turned out to be just that as it was a real cracker right from the start as both men went at it in the baking sun, with Djokovic's amazing speed and agility early on in the 1st set ensuring he broke Del Potro to win the set. In the 2nd set however, both traded breaks, with Delpo breaking straight away, only to be broken straight back by Nole, and after this Delpo broke again to go 3-1, and he confidently maintained his serve after to level the match at a set apiece. And in the 3rd there were yet more breaks of serve, and despite Novak breaking Delpo to secure a 3-0 lead, the Argentine battled his way back into the match by taking the next three games to level again. After this big Delpo rasied his game as he made his trademark brutal forehand count, by firing winners at Djokovic, who just couldn't keep with the pace of big Argentine, who went to secure the win by breaking Nole and serving it out with an ace, to hand Djokovic his first defeat of the season with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumphant victory.
Well it promised to be quite a match and it certainly lived up to expectations, as both Nole and Delpo put on a superb display for the capacity crowd at Indian Wells on the main stadium (named stadium 1 if you want to know). Djokovic naturally came into the match being the favourite to win as he was unbeaten in 2013 up to this point, and on a 22 match winning streak (17 from this year and 5 from the end of 2012) so no matter how tough it was, it looked inevitable that he would come out on top. But Del Potro deserves nothing but credit for his terrific performance in defeating the Serb, as he showed great determination in doing so, as he raised his game like he did against Andy Murray to get the win. It was also a remarkable victory for Del Potro that he was able to end Djokovic's unbeaten winning streak this year as well, which if Djoko had won might have gone on for God knows how long! ;-) But I could see on the surface of it that Djokovic wasn't playing quite as well at Indian Wells this year as he has in the past, certainly not as well as he did in 2011, and there was some room for doubt that he would be able to repeat his efforts from two years ago. But I'm sure that Nole will waste little time in bouncing back and he will have his chances to defend his title at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami coming up in a week's time.
So this sets up a terrific final between Rafa and Del Potro, which should be an absolute belter of a match, as both men are on great form, and they have both had their share of tough matches in the past. So who will win it???? Well to be honest its hard to bet against Rafa, and given his currrent great form it will be hard to look past him. However Delpo will have his chances as well and if he plays anything like he did in his last two matches, then he might just be able to pull it off, and in doing so win his first ever 1000 Masters series title. So whoever wins, I'm sure it will be a great one.
And that's it for now, I'll report back once the men's and ladies singles finals are done.
Bye for now.
OK so to start the first semi final was between Rafa Nadal and Tomas Berdych, who have played each other quite a bit over the last few years or so, and Rafa has won all of their last 12 meetings, so the prospect of Berdy pulling off a win here was quite daunting. And right enough it was a big big ask, as Rafa was looking mightier than ever, as he seemed even more determined than ever to prove that his knee is no longer a problem, as he moved impeccably round the court with ruthlessly efficiency, breaking Berdych in the opening set to clinch it. In the 2nd set however Berdych fought back to break Rafa's serve and go up 5-3, but he unfortunately was not able to close out the set as he played a sloppy smash, allowing Rafa to get back on serve. And then at 5-5 with Berdych serving to go 6-5, Rafa made his move and broke the Czeck one more time, and despite a tense last game, with Berdy forcing two break points, Rafa managed to come through to reach his fourth final at Indian Wells with a 6-4, 7-5 win.
Any match with Rafa in it is not going to be an easy one, and Berdych made a decent stab at taking him on, but in the end Rafa was just too strong for the big Czeck. Rafa himself is now on a 13 match winning streak, and having only lost one match in Brazil earlier this year, and picked up two clay court titles already, he is looking close back to his very best. And I think its safe to say that in the final he will be hot favourite to win the title, which I would quite like to see him win as he has not won a title on any surface other than clay for nearly three years. And Rafa has spent less time on court in his previous two matches which will give him a big advantage in the final as he will be fresher, having only dropped one set in the tournament in the 4th round, he has since gone strength to strength and looked near unstoppable. In fact Rafa could possibly even put together a winning streak of his own this year, and I shudder to think how he will be at Roland Garros this year based on his performances so far.
Anyway moving onto the second semi final, which was a potentially very exciting encounter on paper, between Novak Djokovic, unbeaten in 2013, and Juan Martin Del Potro, the 7th seed, who has been in great form this week. And the match itself turned out to be just that as it was a real cracker right from the start as both men went at it in the baking sun, with Djokovic's amazing speed and agility early on in the 1st set ensuring he broke Del Potro to win the set. In the 2nd set however, both traded breaks, with Delpo breaking straight away, only to be broken straight back by Nole, and after this Delpo broke again to go 3-1, and he confidently maintained his serve after to level the match at a set apiece. And in the 3rd there were yet more breaks of serve, and despite Novak breaking Delpo to secure a 3-0 lead, the Argentine battled his way back into the match by taking the next three games to level again. After this big Delpo rasied his game as he made his trademark brutal forehand count, by firing winners at Djokovic, who just couldn't keep with the pace of big Argentine, who went to secure the win by breaking Nole and serving it out with an ace, to hand Djokovic his first defeat of the season with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumphant victory.
Well it promised to be quite a match and it certainly lived up to expectations, as both Nole and Delpo put on a superb display for the capacity crowd at Indian Wells on the main stadium (named stadium 1 if you want to know). Djokovic naturally came into the match being the favourite to win as he was unbeaten in 2013 up to this point, and on a 22 match winning streak (17 from this year and 5 from the end of 2012) so no matter how tough it was, it looked inevitable that he would come out on top. But Del Potro deserves nothing but credit for his terrific performance in defeating the Serb, as he showed great determination in doing so, as he raised his game like he did against Andy Murray to get the win. It was also a remarkable victory for Del Potro that he was able to end Djokovic's unbeaten winning streak this year as well, which if Djoko had won might have gone on for God knows how long! ;-) But I could see on the surface of it that Djokovic wasn't playing quite as well at Indian Wells this year as he has in the past, certainly not as well as he did in 2011, and there was some room for doubt that he would be able to repeat his efforts from two years ago. But I'm sure that Nole will waste little time in bouncing back and he will have his chances to defend his title at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami coming up in a week's time.
So this sets up a terrific final between Rafa and Del Potro, which should be an absolute belter of a match, as both men are on great form, and they have both had their share of tough matches in the past. So who will win it???? Well to be honest its hard to bet against Rafa, and given his currrent great form it will be hard to look past him. However Delpo will have his chances as well and if he plays anything like he did in his last two matches, then he might just be able to pull it off, and in doing so win his first ever 1000 Masters series title. So whoever wins, I'm sure it will be a great one.
And that's it for now, I'll report back once the men's and ladies singles finals are done.
Bye for now.
Saturday 16 March 2013
Indian Wells Part 4: Going down in the desert and back in the big time
Right so now I'm onto part four of my posts on the BNP Paribas Open from Indian Wells, which features the finest of men's and ladies tennis fighting it out to win that rather bizzare (and very heavy!) star shaped glass trophy! So in this post I will cover the remaining men's quarter final matches and the ladies semi finals.
So starting up with the WTA (i.e. ladies) tour, the first semi final was between the 8th seed Caroline Wozniacki and the 4th seed Angelique Kerber. Kerber came into this match as the favourite, especially as she had beaten Wozniacki in their last three encounters, so it promised to a real uphill battle for the Dane. The match itself proved to be just that, as Kerber broke Caroline twice in the opening set to take it, and in the 2nd set, Caroline trailed 2-0 down, but she fought back as both player's traded breaks aplenty (14 in total in the match) and she went to clinch the set to level the match. In the 3rd set, Kerber clearly feeling the pressure of the prospect of reaching the biggest final of her career, went 4-1 down, but she fought back to level the scores at 5-5, but in the final game, Wozniacki made her move as Kerber made a few unforced errors, which saw Wozniacki reach the Indian Wells final for a fourth time in her career, with a hard fought 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory.
This was a terrific result for Caroline Wozniacki, and I think it definitely sees the beginning of her slow ascent back to the top. And the match itself despite some erratic play was overall a terrific encounter with some great shot making from both players, and I don't think I've seen as many moon balls in one match than here! But I think what made the difference in the end was of course Caroline's mental toughness, and it was great to see her breakthrough and beat Kerber after three straight defeats. And that is one thing about Kerber, is that she does seem to feel the pressure in trying to break through in the big matches, and in that regard I kind of equate her to Tomas Berdych on the men's tour, as she has all tools at her disposal to beat the big names, but she can't quite get past them. So this sees Caroline reach her biggest final for two years, since she reached the final of Indian Wells back in 2011, and here's hoping she comes out on top, but it will be far from easy.
So onto the next ladies semi final, which saw Maria's Sharapova and Kirilenko face each. However Sharapova had less trouble in breaking through her Russian compatriot as he she broke Kirilenko once in both sets as she made a comfortable straight sets victory in 6-4, 6-3. Sharapova so far looks to be in pretty sharp form in Indian Wells and she is yet to drop a set in the desert so far. But Caroline Wozniacki awaits her in the final, and no doubt this could be a cracking match, although if I had to pick a favourite, I would definitely pick Sharapova. And Caroline has not beaten Sharapova (that I'm aware of) since this very event two years ago in the semi finals, although this could give Caroline an advantage as she plays really well at this event, she might have a chance of beating the mighty Sharapova. But whichever way it goes, I'm sure it promises to be a really good final, so let's hope it lives up to its billing.
Now onto the men's quarter final matches, starting with Tomas Berdych who took on the big South African, Kevin Anderson. The two men have had some pretty tough matches in the past, and Berdych had won all of them. And the result was no different here as Berdych eased to a straight sets win in 6-4, 6-4. Berdych so far has shown impressive form in 2013 and he continues to do well here in Indian Wells, but from here it doesn't get any easier, so the big Czeck will need to stay on top of his game to reach the final.
Which brings me onto Berdych's next opponent, who would be the winner of the next match I'll cover, which was between one of the greatest rivalries in tennis, Roger and Rafa. This was the first time both players had met each other in a year, at the same event, where Roger came out on top with a straight sets win. But this time the tables were turned as Rafa, went on to further dispel any fears over the condition of his fitness and his knee, as he blasted his way past Roger with a devastating display of ruthless aggression. And after a tight first set, Roger faded away in the 2nd set, as his back problems started to play up, he had no answer to the might of Rafa, who sealed the victory in 6-4, 6-2, in just under 1 hour and 25 minutes.
I think its safe to say that with this result that Rafa is well and truly back, as he dismantled Roger on the main stadium at Indian Wells, and his game and movement were both top notch, although admittedly Roger was well below par, I still think the result would have been the same, even if Rafa faced Roger in form. And next up for Rafa will be Tomas Berdych, which promises to be a really good match, but its one I'm pretty sure that Rafa will come out on top, and let's hope so as its great to see the king of clay back in action, and edging closer to his best.
Now onto Novak Djokovic, the world no.1, who scarily enough remains on course to maintain his winning streak, just like he did in 2011, as he is now up to 22 matches in 2013, still unbeaten. And his 22nd match was against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who despite an even start in the 1st set, soon capitulated on serve, as the Serb ruthlessly dismissed him in the 2nd set, conceding only one game, as an ailing Tsonga had no answer for him, which saw Nole extend his winning streak with a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Djokovic so far in 2013, has shown nearly his very best, although his standard isn't quite as amazing as it was in 2011, its not far off, and he looks to be in no mood to be stopped. And I think its safe to say should he remain on course (which he most likely will!) he will be lifting that BNP Paribas Open trophy on Sunday.
Which brings me onto the final men's quarter final, which was between Andy Murray and the 7th seed, Juan Martin Del Potro. Andy prior to this match had a convincing lead over Del Potro with a 5-1 record. However this was their first match together in nearly four years, and Del Potro has been showing great form this week so far in the desert, so it was never going to be easy. And in the 1st set we were treated to a high quality set of tennis with both players being tactical, if a little tentative in their games, with Andy serving superbly at 70% 1st serves in, by taking the speed off his first serve. The 1st set went by serve until the tiebreak, where it was Andy that made the breakthrough, as both men wrestled with minibreaks, Andy nailed the 1st set breaker 7-5. In the 2nd set however that's when Andy's problems started, as he failed to hold onto his serve in the opening game, with Delpo taking the first serve break of the match, he went on to confidently hold and level the match. And in the decider Andy's misery continued on serve, as he was broken twice by the Argentine to go 5-1 down, and in the final game, to add vinegar to his wounds, he double faulted to hand the match to Del Potro, after a gruelling two and a half hours of tennis as Delpo sealed the win in 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.
It has to be said that this was a pretty woeful performance from Andy Murray, who despite a strong start, with his first serve percentage being as high as 75%, went downhill badly from the 2nd set, and he served up a whopping 8 double faults, the last one which cost him the match. And whether it was a mixture of tiredness and the blazing heat on the court, Andy was never going to break the big Argentine's cast iron serve, and he needed to hold his own to have any chance of winning the match (i.e. he would needed to have push a 3rd set tiebreak). And this forever remains a problem for Andy, as his serve has always been erratic, and more often than not many of his losses have been attributed to his poor service percentage, which needs to improve if he wants to beat the big hitters such as Raonic, Del Potro and Berdych on the ATP tour not to mention those other three guys. Regardless of his loss, Andy did well to reach the quarter finals of Indian Wells, and it was a big improvement over his previous two years early exits, and maybe its a tournament that doesn't quite suit his game. But Del Potro deserved the win as he played a really solid match to secure his 2nd career win over Andy Murray and I'll wish all the best to him for the semi finals.
So this sets up the men's semi finals on Saturday, both of which sound great on paper, as Rafa will play Berdych, and Djokovic will take on Del Potro. And if I had to guess I would say we are in for another Djokovic vs Rafa final, at least let's hope so, because that will be quite a match.
So more to follow later. Till then bye the now.
So starting up with the WTA (i.e. ladies) tour, the first semi final was between the 8th seed Caroline Wozniacki and the 4th seed Angelique Kerber. Kerber came into this match as the favourite, especially as she had beaten Wozniacki in their last three encounters, so it promised to a real uphill battle for the Dane. The match itself proved to be just that, as Kerber broke Caroline twice in the opening set to take it, and in the 2nd set, Caroline trailed 2-0 down, but she fought back as both player's traded breaks aplenty (14 in total in the match) and she went to clinch the set to level the match. In the 3rd set, Kerber clearly feeling the pressure of the prospect of reaching the biggest final of her career, went 4-1 down, but she fought back to level the scores at 5-5, but in the final game, Wozniacki made her move as Kerber made a few unforced errors, which saw Wozniacki reach the Indian Wells final for a fourth time in her career, with a hard fought 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory.
This was a terrific result for Caroline Wozniacki, and I think it definitely sees the beginning of her slow ascent back to the top. And the match itself despite some erratic play was overall a terrific encounter with some great shot making from both players, and I don't think I've seen as many moon balls in one match than here! But I think what made the difference in the end was of course Caroline's mental toughness, and it was great to see her breakthrough and beat Kerber after three straight defeats. And that is one thing about Kerber, is that she does seem to feel the pressure in trying to break through in the big matches, and in that regard I kind of equate her to Tomas Berdych on the men's tour, as she has all tools at her disposal to beat the big names, but she can't quite get past them. So this sees Caroline reach her biggest final for two years, since she reached the final of Indian Wells back in 2011, and here's hoping she comes out on top, but it will be far from easy.
So onto the next ladies semi final, which saw Maria's Sharapova and Kirilenko face each. However Sharapova had less trouble in breaking through her Russian compatriot as he she broke Kirilenko once in both sets as she made a comfortable straight sets victory in 6-4, 6-3. Sharapova so far looks to be in pretty sharp form in Indian Wells and she is yet to drop a set in the desert so far. But Caroline Wozniacki awaits her in the final, and no doubt this could be a cracking match, although if I had to pick a favourite, I would definitely pick Sharapova. And Caroline has not beaten Sharapova (that I'm aware of) since this very event two years ago in the semi finals, although this could give Caroline an advantage as she plays really well at this event, she might have a chance of beating the mighty Sharapova. But whichever way it goes, I'm sure it promises to be a really good final, so let's hope it lives up to its billing.
Now onto the men's quarter final matches, starting with Tomas Berdych who took on the big South African, Kevin Anderson. The two men have had some pretty tough matches in the past, and Berdych had won all of them. And the result was no different here as Berdych eased to a straight sets win in 6-4, 6-4. Berdych so far has shown impressive form in 2013 and he continues to do well here in Indian Wells, but from here it doesn't get any easier, so the big Czeck will need to stay on top of his game to reach the final.
Which brings me onto Berdych's next opponent, who would be the winner of the next match I'll cover, which was between one of the greatest rivalries in tennis, Roger and Rafa. This was the first time both players had met each other in a year, at the same event, where Roger came out on top with a straight sets win. But this time the tables were turned as Rafa, went on to further dispel any fears over the condition of his fitness and his knee, as he blasted his way past Roger with a devastating display of ruthless aggression. And after a tight first set, Roger faded away in the 2nd set, as his back problems started to play up, he had no answer to the might of Rafa, who sealed the victory in 6-4, 6-2, in just under 1 hour and 25 minutes.
I think its safe to say that with this result that Rafa is well and truly back, as he dismantled Roger on the main stadium at Indian Wells, and his game and movement were both top notch, although admittedly Roger was well below par, I still think the result would have been the same, even if Rafa faced Roger in form. And next up for Rafa will be Tomas Berdych, which promises to be a really good match, but its one I'm pretty sure that Rafa will come out on top, and let's hope so as its great to see the king of clay back in action, and edging closer to his best.
Now onto Novak Djokovic, the world no.1, who scarily enough remains on course to maintain his winning streak, just like he did in 2011, as he is now up to 22 matches in 2013, still unbeaten. And his 22nd match was against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who despite an even start in the 1st set, soon capitulated on serve, as the Serb ruthlessly dismissed him in the 2nd set, conceding only one game, as an ailing Tsonga had no answer for him, which saw Nole extend his winning streak with a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Djokovic so far in 2013, has shown nearly his very best, although his standard isn't quite as amazing as it was in 2011, its not far off, and he looks to be in no mood to be stopped. And I think its safe to say should he remain on course (which he most likely will!) he will be lifting that BNP Paribas Open trophy on Sunday.
Which brings me onto the final men's quarter final, which was between Andy Murray and the 7th seed, Juan Martin Del Potro. Andy prior to this match had a convincing lead over Del Potro with a 5-1 record. However this was their first match together in nearly four years, and Del Potro has been showing great form this week so far in the desert, so it was never going to be easy. And in the 1st set we were treated to a high quality set of tennis with both players being tactical, if a little tentative in their games, with Andy serving superbly at 70% 1st serves in, by taking the speed off his first serve. The 1st set went by serve until the tiebreak, where it was Andy that made the breakthrough, as both men wrestled with minibreaks, Andy nailed the 1st set breaker 7-5. In the 2nd set however that's when Andy's problems started, as he failed to hold onto his serve in the opening game, with Delpo taking the first serve break of the match, he went on to confidently hold and level the match. And in the decider Andy's misery continued on serve, as he was broken twice by the Argentine to go 5-1 down, and in the final game, to add vinegar to his wounds, he double faulted to hand the match to Del Potro, after a gruelling two and a half hours of tennis as Delpo sealed the win in 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.
It has to be said that this was a pretty woeful performance from Andy Murray, who despite a strong start, with his first serve percentage being as high as 75%, went downhill badly from the 2nd set, and he served up a whopping 8 double faults, the last one which cost him the match. And whether it was a mixture of tiredness and the blazing heat on the court, Andy was never going to break the big Argentine's cast iron serve, and he needed to hold his own to have any chance of winning the match (i.e. he would needed to have push a 3rd set tiebreak). And this forever remains a problem for Andy, as his serve has always been erratic, and more often than not many of his losses have been attributed to his poor service percentage, which needs to improve if he wants to beat the big hitters such as Raonic, Del Potro and Berdych on the ATP tour not to mention those other three guys. Regardless of his loss, Andy did well to reach the quarter finals of Indian Wells, and it was a big improvement over his previous two years early exits, and maybe its a tournament that doesn't quite suit his game. But Del Potro deserved the win as he played a really solid match to secure his 2nd career win over Andy Murray and I'll wish all the best to him for the semi finals.
So this sets up the men's semi finals on Saturday, both of which sound great on paper, as Rafa will play Berdych, and Djokovic will take on Del Potro. And if I had to guess I would say we are in for another Djokovic vs Rafa final, at least let's hope so, because that will be quite a match.
So more to follow later. Till then bye the now.
Thursday 14 March 2013
Indian Wells Part 3: Withdrawals in the desert
Right ok so a quick update from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in California, which is the first Premier Mandatory/1000 Masters series title of the year on the men's and ladies tour. This post will quickly cover some of the quarter final matches and I will update it a bit later as I go, so let's start.
OK this is mainly the ladies matches, starting with Petra Kvitova who took on Maria Kirilenko for a place in the semi finals, and with Kirilenko knocking on the top 10 door, it would be a tough ask for her to beat Petra, the World no.8. However Kirilenko did just that as she fought hard and came from a set down to beat the former Wimbledon champion in 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. This is the first time that Kirilenko has made the semi finals of a Premier mandatory WTA event, which is a big win for her, not only that she has beaten two top ten ranked players this week as well, so it shows that Kirilenko is going from strength to strength at the moment, and she no doubt will be in the top 10 soon.
Next up we had Maria Sharapova who took on Sara Errani, the World No.7, in what was their toughest match to date. In previous meetings Sharapova was able to power past Errani with fair ease, but not so this time, as Errani battled hard with Sharapova throughout the first set, which went to a tiebreak, with Sharapova edging Errani to win the set. In the 2nd set however after some more resistance from Errani, Sharapova finally broke her opponent down and took the lead, breaking Errani twice, and denying her a place in the semi finals, with a 7-6(6), 6-2 win. Maria despite having not dropped a set so far in this tournament, has had some pretty tough matches so far, and this one was no exception and its shows that Errani is also getting that bit closer to her and is improving her game as well. But Maria being who she is, the ultimate warrior, was always going to come through this one as she had all the firepower and sheer grit to see her through.
Which brings on to what was supposed the next two quarter final matches for the ladies, however they were both cut short. Starting with Victoria Azarenka, who was set to take on Caroline Wozniacki in her quarter final match, Vika withdraw with an ankle injury. This was a big disappointment as I really looking forward to seeing them play, but I also figured it would have happened. And while I definitely appreciate there is a lot of wear and tear for the players on the tour, this is one area where Azarenka has always been ropey, and that is her physical fitness, as she has always been prone to injuries, and in the last few years she would retire from matches five or six times a year. To her credit though she has improved her fitness and she has never retired from a match since 2011 (that I know of, although maybe she has!). But that was where in my opinion that Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova were both better World No.1 players, as they both have great fitness and mental determination, which is where Azarenka is a bit vulnerable. In previous matches when Azarenka was in a bit of pain you could see her trying to fight through tears, and it shows that despite her aggressive bossy demeanour on court, she is also quite fragile as well. Regardless of all that, its a shame she has to withdraw from the event, especially as she is the defending champion, so she will lose some ranking points no doubt for that.
And the other withdrawal was Sam Stosur who set to take on Angelique Kerber, but she suffered a calf muscle injury, which forced to withdraw also. So this sets up a very intruiging clash with Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber for a place in the final of Indian Wells. But who will win it???? To be honest I have to go with Kerber, as she has got the measure of Caroline these days, although Caroline has definitely improved since the beginning of the year, so while she isn't the favourite I definitely think she has a chance to win, and I hope she does, as it would be great to see her in the final.
So that's the ladies semi final line up set, with Maria's Sharapova and Kirilenko facing off, and Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber facing off in the other match. So they both promise to be really good matches, so let's hope they are.
And quickly onto the men, so far Tomas Berdych who played Kevin Anderson in the first men's quarter final match, has beaten the big South African fella, with a straight sets win of 6-4, 6-4. Berdych so far this year has shown some really impressive form this year, and if he wins he could play either Roger or Rafa for a place in the final. And if he plays Roger then he has a good chance of reaching the final, as he already has beaten Rog in Dubai this year, so no doubt he could do so again.
But next up of course after that is of course the showdown between Roger and Rafa, which promises to be quite a match. Last year the two men met in the desert and the match was totally in Roger's favour as he beat Rafa quite easily with a straight sets victory. But this year it could be different so we will have to see, and Rafa so far has made an impressive transition to hard court, far better in fact that anyone so far had anticipated, so tonight should be a treat. And if I didn't know any better, then I would be inclined to say that Rafa would be my slight favourite to win this match in 3 sets. But then what do I know???? Whatever happens it will be fun finding out.
So that's it for now, Andy Murray's match with Del Potro will be on Friday night, which also promises to be a cracker, and Novak Djokovic will take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as well, so we will see how that one goes. If Andy and Nole win, well we all know what we are in stall for on Saturday, and that's another Australian open final rematch. But more on that later should it materialise.
And that's it for now. More to follow as usual soon....
OK this is mainly the ladies matches, starting with Petra Kvitova who took on Maria Kirilenko for a place in the semi finals, and with Kirilenko knocking on the top 10 door, it would be a tough ask for her to beat Petra, the World no.8. However Kirilenko did just that as she fought hard and came from a set down to beat the former Wimbledon champion in 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. This is the first time that Kirilenko has made the semi finals of a Premier mandatory WTA event, which is a big win for her, not only that she has beaten two top ten ranked players this week as well, so it shows that Kirilenko is going from strength to strength at the moment, and she no doubt will be in the top 10 soon.
Next up we had Maria Sharapova who took on Sara Errani, the World No.7, in what was their toughest match to date. In previous meetings Sharapova was able to power past Errani with fair ease, but not so this time, as Errani battled hard with Sharapova throughout the first set, which went to a tiebreak, with Sharapova edging Errani to win the set. In the 2nd set however after some more resistance from Errani, Sharapova finally broke her opponent down and took the lead, breaking Errani twice, and denying her a place in the semi finals, with a 7-6(6), 6-2 win. Maria despite having not dropped a set so far in this tournament, has had some pretty tough matches so far, and this one was no exception and its shows that Errani is also getting that bit closer to her and is improving her game as well. But Maria being who she is, the ultimate warrior, was always going to come through this one as she had all the firepower and sheer grit to see her through.
Which brings on to what was supposed the next two quarter final matches for the ladies, however they were both cut short. Starting with Victoria Azarenka, who was set to take on Caroline Wozniacki in her quarter final match, Vika withdraw with an ankle injury. This was a big disappointment as I really looking forward to seeing them play, but I also figured it would have happened. And while I definitely appreciate there is a lot of wear and tear for the players on the tour, this is one area where Azarenka has always been ropey, and that is her physical fitness, as she has always been prone to injuries, and in the last few years she would retire from matches five or six times a year. To her credit though she has improved her fitness and she has never retired from a match since 2011 (that I know of, although maybe she has!). But that was where in my opinion that Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova were both better World No.1 players, as they both have great fitness and mental determination, which is where Azarenka is a bit vulnerable. In previous matches when Azarenka was in a bit of pain you could see her trying to fight through tears, and it shows that despite her aggressive bossy demeanour on court, she is also quite fragile as well. Regardless of all that, its a shame she has to withdraw from the event, especially as she is the defending champion, so she will lose some ranking points no doubt for that.
And the other withdrawal was Sam Stosur who set to take on Angelique Kerber, but she suffered a calf muscle injury, which forced to withdraw also. So this sets up a very intruiging clash with Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber for a place in the final of Indian Wells. But who will win it???? To be honest I have to go with Kerber, as she has got the measure of Caroline these days, although Caroline has definitely improved since the beginning of the year, so while she isn't the favourite I definitely think she has a chance to win, and I hope she does, as it would be great to see her in the final.
So that's the ladies semi final line up set, with Maria's Sharapova and Kirilenko facing off, and Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber facing off in the other match. So they both promise to be really good matches, so let's hope they are.
And quickly onto the men, so far Tomas Berdych who played Kevin Anderson in the first men's quarter final match, has beaten the big South African fella, with a straight sets win of 6-4, 6-4. Berdych so far this year has shown some really impressive form this year, and if he wins he could play either Roger or Rafa for a place in the final. And if he plays Roger then he has a good chance of reaching the final, as he already has beaten Rog in Dubai this year, so no doubt he could do so again.
But next up of course after that is of course the showdown between Roger and Rafa, which promises to be quite a match. Last year the two men met in the desert and the match was totally in Roger's favour as he beat Rafa quite easily with a straight sets victory. But this year it could be different so we will have to see, and Rafa so far has made an impressive transition to hard court, far better in fact that anyone so far had anticipated, so tonight should be a treat. And if I didn't know any better, then I would be inclined to say that Rafa would be my slight favourite to win this match in 3 sets. But then what do I know???? Whatever happens it will be fun finding out.
So that's it for now, Andy Murray's match with Del Potro will be on Friday night, which also promises to be a cracker, and Novak Djokovic will take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as well, so we will see how that one goes. If Andy and Nole win, well we all know what we are in stall for on Saturday, and that's another Australian open final rematch. But more on that later should it materialise.
And that's it for now. More to follow as usual soon....
Wednesday 13 March 2013
Indian Wells Part 2: Grunting and groaning in the desert
Right so now onto part 2 of my blog posts on the BNP Paribas Open from Indian Wells, the first ATP 1000 Masters series and WTA Premier Mandatory tennis tournaments of the season. So let's have a quick look at the 3rd round and some of the 4th round matches that took place over the last two days.
OK starting with the lasses, Victoria Azarenka, the top seed and defending champion had a tough time of it to start off with against her opponent, Kirstin Flipkens, as she got off to a ropey start and dropped the opening set. However Vika fought her way back in and broke in the 2nd set to level the match, and in the 3rd, Victoria took full control as she blasted past Flipkens, giving her opponent a bagel set to go home with, as Vika secured her place in the 4th round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 win. And in the 4th round Victoria went on to face, the younger sister of Agnieszka, Ursula Radwanska, who just like her sister against Vika was no match for her, as the Belarusian breezed past her in 6-3, 6-1. This sees Victoria looking pretty good and to remain on course for her title defence, and not only that she continues to remain unbeaten in 2013, with 17 matches now behind her, so we shall see how long she can keep the run going.
In other ladies matches we had Sam Stosur, who has had a tougher time of it so far, but she managed to reach the 3rd round after beating Peng Shuai of China in 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, and in the 4th round, Stosur faced another stiff challenge as she played Mona Barthel, who she defeated in a tough 3 setter with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Its pretty good to see Sam in good form so far in this tournament as she has battled well to get through to the quarter finals, however things don't get any easier from here. Which brings me to Stosur next opponent, Angelique Kerber who made it through to the quarter finals as well, and enroute she beat Yanina Wickmayer in the 3rd round in a topsy turvey match, where in the 2nd set Angie came from a break down to level and win the tiebreak and the match with a 6-1, 7-6 score. And in the 4th round Kerber went on to face the Spanish player, Gabrine Muguruza, whom she overcame in 6-4, 7-5.
Moving onto other matches, Maria Sharapova so far has also a tricky time of it, as she played Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain (popular country for players) and fought her way to a straight sets win in 7-5, 6-3. And in the 4th round, Maria again met some stern resistance against Lara Vecino (again of Spain!) who went toe to toe with the Russian in the 1st set, but she still went on to win it, and in the 2nd set, Sharapova dominated the match and ended it with a bagel for the Spaniard, with a 7-5, 6-0 win. Sharapova will next go on to face Sara Errani in the quarter finals who so far has had it relatively easy in Indian Wells, as she beat Marion Bartoli to reach the quarter finals in just 6-3, 6-2. Petra Kvitova also made it to the quarter finals as well as she played Lesia Tsurenko in the 3rd round and beat her in 6-2, 7-5, and in the 4th round she sped to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Klara Zakopalova. In the quarter finals, Petra will play Maria Kirilenko who stunned Agnieszka Radwanska in the 4th round, as the two of them battled it out, with the Russian prevailing in 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
And finally Caroline Wozniacki also made good progress to the quarter finals as she beat Elena Vesnina in just 6-2, 6-1, although she had a tougher time of it against Nadia Petrova as she battled her way to victory with a 7-6, 6-3 win. This will see a potentially mouth watering clash set up for Caroline with Victoria Azarenka, and the two of them haven't played for two years since this very event, where Vika retired with injury. Hopefully this time we will get a treat as it would be great to see the two of them go at it, because I think it could be quite a match, although Vika has said her ankle was troubling her on court, but hopefully she will be fine for the match, as it could be a real cracker.
Right now onto the men's quickly, and to start off we had Andy Murray who had a tricky but relatively easy encounter with Lu-Yen-Shun of Thaiwan who came out firing in the first set, putting Andy in real pressue. However the British No.1 managed to maintain his nerve and his serve (more importantly) as he went on to close out the match with ease in the 2nd set, with a 6-3, 6-2 win to see him progress to the 4th round of Indian Wells for the first time in three years. Next up Andy faced Carlos Berlocq from Argentina in the 4th round, where he had a tough encounter with the Argentine, and he not only struggled with his opponent's game, but also his very loud grunting. In the 9th game of the first set with Andy being broken by Berlocq, he soon got angry with Berlocq's very loud and erratic grunting, as he complained to the umpire about how distracting it was. Berlocq also complained about Andy taking too long between points, so I can imagine there would be no love lost between them after this match, although their handshake was pretty amicable at the net. Regardless of that Andy is now into the quarter finals. So in the quarter finals, Andy will play another Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro, which promises to be quite a cracker of a match. Andy leads their head to head 5-1, but big Delpo will be very dangerous and he is in on form this week also so it will be tough for Andy to get past him.
Now onto the World No.1, Novak Djokovic who after a dicy first set with his opponent Grigor Dimitrov, regained control and dominated the second set as he raced to victory with a 7-6, 6-1 scoreline. This was a good match in the first set and Dimitrov showed he is a dangerous player, and at one point he was even 5-3 up, however he fell foul to the old nerves as choked on serve and he couldn't close out the set, and before we knew it, it was all Nole for the 2nd set. So this will see Nole face the man who inflicted his last defeat on him last year in Paris, Sam Querrey, but can he do the same this time????? As it happened, no he couldn't, as Djokovic eased past Querrey in straight sets, which were at the extreme ends of easy and tough. In the 1st set Nole raced to a bagel set in just under 20 minutes, but the 2nd set was the match in itself, where Querrey broke back after going a break down and he pushed the set to a tiebreak. But it was Nole that came through sealing his place in the quarter finals with a 6-0, 7-6 win. Next up Novak will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter finals, so that promises to be a really good one.
As for Roger Federer well he is looking effortlessly great so far, with another easy straight set win against Ivan Dodig in the 3rd round as he raced past the Croatian in 6-3, 6-1. This sets up a clash between his fellow Swiss, Stan Wawrinka, which turned out to be a real pitch battle between the two men, as they went at it hammer and tongs, with Wawrinka fighting back from a set down to level the match in the 2nd set tiebreak. However Federer eventually prevailed in the 3rd set as he once again defeated his compatriot with a gruelling 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 win. Tomas Berdych also made quick progress against Florian Mayer, as he sped to a 6-4, 6-1 victory, which will set up a clash with Richard Gasquet, who made it past big Jerzy Janowicz with a 6-,1 6-4 win. And finally Jo Wilfried Tsonga had a tougher test as he fought past Mardy Fish, who made has a comeback here, after being out with heart problems, and the Frenchman eventually saw him off in 7-6, 7-6, and he battled past Milos Raonic in 3 sets with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win to reach the quarter finals.
And finally finally, as for Rafa well he got a walkover in the 3rd round as his opponent Leo Mayer withdrew with a back injury, and he will next face the in form Ernests Gulbis in the 4th round. To be honest I sincerely hope Rafa beats Gulbis, as I really don't care for him, as he comes across as an arrogant tosser, with quite an attitude on court, as during his match with Andreas Seppi in the 3rd round he kept smashing racquets and throwing tantrums, and afterwards said "I should have beaten him easier than I did, as I played better than him throughout the match". And thankfully Rafa did just that although he had a tough time in putting away the cocky Gulbis, and he had to come from a set to down battle his way past him with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory. This will set up a potentially exciting clash between Rafa and his old rival Roger Federer, and hopefully it will live up to its billing, as they haven't played since this event a year ago, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.
So that's it for now, more will follow once the quarter final matches are complete.
Till the next time, bye the now!
OK starting with the lasses, Victoria Azarenka, the top seed and defending champion had a tough time of it to start off with against her opponent, Kirstin Flipkens, as she got off to a ropey start and dropped the opening set. However Vika fought her way back in and broke in the 2nd set to level the match, and in the 3rd, Victoria took full control as she blasted past Flipkens, giving her opponent a bagel set to go home with, as Vika secured her place in the 4th round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 win. And in the 4th round Victoria went on to face, the younger sister of Agnieszka, Ursula Radwanska, who just like her sister against Vika was no match for her, as the Belarusian breezed past her in 6-3, 6-1. This sees Victoria looking pretty good and to remain on course for her title defence, and not only that she continues to remain unbeaten in 2013, with 17 matches now behind her, so we shall see how long she can keep the run going.
In other ladies matches we had Sam Stosur, who has had a tougher time of it so far, but she managed to reach the 3rd round after beating Peng Shuai of China in 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, and in the 4th round, Stosur faced another stiff challenge as she played Mona Barthel, who she defeated in a tough 3 setter with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Its pretty good to see Sam in good form so far in this tournament as she has battled well to get through to the quarter finals, however things don't get any easier from here. Which brings me to Stosur next opponent, Angelique Kerber who made it through to the quarter finals as well, and enroute she beat Yanina Wickmayer in the 3rd round in a topsy turvey match, where in the 2nd set Angie came from a break down to level and win the tiebreak and the match with a 6-1, 7-6 score. And in the 4th round Kerber went on to face the Spanish player, Gabrine Muguruza, whom she overcame in 6-4, 7-5.
Moving onto other matches, Maria Sharapova so far has also a tricky time of it, as she played Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain (popular country for players) and fought her way to a straight sets win in 7-5, 6-3. And in the 4th round, Maria again met some stern resistance against Lara Vecino (again of Spain!) who went toe to toe with the Russian in the 1st set, but she still went on to win it, and in the 2nd set, Sharapova dominated the match and ended it with a bagel for the Spaniard, with a 7-5, 6-0 win. Sharapova will next go on to face Sara Errani in the quarter finals who so far has had it relatively easy in Indian Wells, as she beat Marion Bartoli to reach the quarter finals in just 6-3, 6-2. Petra Kvitova also made it to the quarter finals as well as she played Lesia Tsurenko in the 3rd round and beat her in 6-2, 7-5, and in the 4th round she sped to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Klara Zakopalova. In the quarter finals, Petra will play Maria Kirilenko who stunned Agnieszka Radwanska in the 4th round, as the two of them battled it out, with the Russian prevailing in 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
And finally Caroline Wozniacki also made good progress to the quarter finals as she beat Elena Vesnina in just 6-2, 6-1, although she had a tougher time of it against Nadia Petrova as she battled her way to victory with a 7-6, 6-3 win. This will see a potentially mouth watering clash set up for Caroline with Victoria Azarenka, and the two of them haven't played for two years since this very event, where Vika retired with injury. Hopefully this time we will get a treat as it would be great to see the two of them go at it, because I think it could be quite a match, although Vika has said her ankle was troubling her on court, but hopefully she will be fine for the match, as it could be a real cracker.
Right now onto the men's quickly, and to start off we had Andy Murray who had a tricky but relatively easy encounter with Lu-Yen-Shun of Thaiwan who came out firing in the first set, putting Andy in real pressue. However the British No.1 managed to maintain his nerve and his serve (more importantly) as he went on to close out the match with ease in the 2nd set, with a 6-3, 6-2 win to see him progress to the 4th round of Indian Wells for the first time in three years. Next up Andy faced Carlos Berlocq from Argentina in the 4th round, where he had a tough encounter with the Argentine, and he not only struggled with his opponent's game, but also his very loud grunting. In the 9th game of the first set with Andy being broken by Berlocq, he soon got angry with Berlocq's very loud and erratic grunting, as he complained to the umpire about how distracting it was. Berlocq also complained about Andy taking too long between points, so I can imagine there would be no love lost between them after this match, although their handshake was pretty amicable at the net. Regardless of that Andy is now into the quarter finals. So in the quarter finals, Andy will play another Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro, which promises to be quite a cracker of a match. Andy leads their head to head 5-1, but big Delpo will be very dangerous and he is in on form this week also so it will be tough for Andy to get past him.
Now onto the World No.1, Novak Djokovic who after a dicy first set with his opponent Grigor Dimitrov, regained control and dominated the second set as he raced to victory with a 7-6, 6-1 scoreline. This was a good match in the first set and Dimitrov showed he is a dangerous player, and at one point he was even 5-3 up, however he fell foul to the old nerves as choked on serve and he couldn't close out the set, and before we knew it, it was all Nole for the 2nd set. So this will see Nole face the man who inflicted his last defeat on him last year in Paris, Sam Querrey, but can he do the same this time????? As it happened, no he couldn't, as Djokovic eased past Querrey in straight sets, which were at the extreme ends of easy and tough. In the 1st set Nole raced to a bagel set in just under 20 minutes, but the 2nd set was the match in itself, where Querrey broke back after going a break down and he pushed the set to a tiebreak. But it was Nole that came through sealing his place in the quarter finals with a 6-0, 7-6 win. Next up Novak will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter finals, so that promises to be a really good one.
As for Roger Federer well he is looking effortlessly great so far, with another easy straight set win against Ivan Dodig in the 3rd round as he raced past the Croatian in 6-3, 6-1. This sets up a clash between his fellow Swiss, Stan Wawrinka, which turned out to be a real pitch battle between the two men, as they went at it hammer and tongs, with Wawrinka fighting back from a set down to level the match in the 2nd set tiebreak. However Federer eventually prevailed in the 3rd set as he once again defeated his compatriot with a gruelling 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 win. Tomas Berdych also made quick progress against Florian Mayer, as he sped to a 6-4, 6-1 victory, which will set up a clash with Richard Gasquet, who made it past big Jerzy Janowicz with a 6-,1 6-4 win. And finally Jo Wilfried Tsonga had a tougher test as he fought past Mardy Fish, who made has a comeback here, after being out with heart problems, and the Frenchman eventually saw him off in 7-6, 7-6, and he battled past Milos Raonic in 3 sets with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win to reach the quarter finals.
And finally finally, as for Rafa well he got a walkover in the 3rd round as his opponent Leo Mayer withdrew with a back injury, and he will next face the in form Ernests Gulbis in the 4th round. To be honest I sincerely hope Rafa beats Gulbis, as I really don't care for him, as he comes across as an arrogant tosser, with quite an attitude on court, as during his match with Andreas Seppi in the 3rd round he kept smashing racquets and throwing tantrums, and afterwards said "I should have beaten him easier than I did, as I played better than him throughout the match". And thankfully Rafa did just that although he had a tough time in putting away the cocky Gulbis, and he had to come from a set to down battle his way past him with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory. This will set up a potentially exciting clash between Rafa and his old rival Roger Federer, and hopefully it will live up to its billing, as they haven't played since this event a year ago, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.
So that's it for now, more will follow once the quarter final matches are complete.
Till the next time, bye the now!
Sunday 10 March 2013
Indian Wells Part 1: Lifting the curse....
Right ok after a long absence of tennis tournaments, its a big welcome return to the world of the ATP and WTA tour as I start my first post on the BNP Paribas Open from Indian Wells, which is already well under way, as the world's top players gather together to fight for one of the men's and ladies biggest titles on the tour today.
So starting with the ladies matches as a quick catch up, for starters we had Victoria Azarenka, the defending champion, who in her first match faced Daniela Hantuchova, which at first was quite a stern test in the opening set, with Daniela taking a 4-1 lead. However after Vika broke back, she asserted herself into the match and then went on to win the first set, and broke Daniela twice in the 2nd to seal her first win and continue her unbeaten run in 2013, with a 6-4, 6-1 victory. This sees Vika still in red hot form, and with Serena not at this event (as she has boycotted Indian Wells for years as a result of an unfavourable audience back in 2001 who booed Venus off the court for withdrawing from her semi final match) its going to be hard to see anyone else stop her.
As for other matches, we had Maria Sharapova who also made a pretty convincing start as she dismissed former French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone with a ruthless 6-1, 6-1 win to secure her place in the 3rd round. Sam Stosur also made a good start at the event as she beat the American player, Madison Keyes in 6-3, 6-4, which no doubt would have come as a relief for her after the poor start that Sam has had in 2013 so far. Caroline Wozniacki on the other hand had to really grind out her match against the French player, Alize Cornet, who pushed the Danish No.1 the distance, but she eventually prevailed with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win after 2 and a half hours. Petra Kvitova also survived a real battle as she faced off Olga Govortsova in a 3 setter before emerging the winner with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory.
Agnieszka Radwanska however had little trouble in sealing her victory in the 2nd round by beating Martina Sanchez with a 6-1, 6-1 thrashing. Angelique Kerber also made it through to the 3rd round with great ease after beating Irina Camelia Begu in 6-3, 6-2. And finally Sara Errani toughed out a short but nonetheless testing encounter, which belied the scoreline, as she overcame a feisty Johanna Larsson in 6-3, 6-1.
As for the British ladies contingent, unfortunately there wasn't that much good news as Heather and Laura both took tumbles at the first hurdle. Starting with Laura, who made the better effort of the two, she got off to a good start in her match against the Swede player, Sofia Arvidsson, but the older more experience Arvidsson went on to win the 2nd set on a tiebreak, and in the 3rd she never looked back as she saw off Laura with a 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 win. Laura has had a bad run of luck so far this season, and this marks another tournament where she has sustained a first round loss, as she hasn't won a match since upsetting Petra Kvitova at the Australian Open. However Laura has said in the press she has been suffering from a chest infection over the past few months, which is starting to clear, and with that let's hope her tennis improves soon. Heather also had bad luck in her match as she went down to the aforementioned Irina Camelia Begu in 6-2, 6-4. So it was a disappointing event for the British lasses, but hopefully they will play better soon.
Now for the men's starting with Roger Federer who breezed his way to victory against Dennis Istomin to reach the 3rd round (as the top seeds get a bye into the 2nd round, or basically a freebie!) as he dismissed the fella in 6-2, 6-3. Rafa, who made his debut return to hard courts since returning to the tour after his 7 month absence, also made a strong start, as he took on the talented young American player, Ryan Harrison. Harrison put up some good resistance in the first set and pushed Rafa to a tiebreak, but the Spaniard went on to seal it with ease as well as the match in the 2nd set, breaking the young yank twice to claim his first victory on hard court since the quarter finals of Sony Ericsson Open last year, with a 7-6, 6-2 win.
This was a very encouraging start from Rafa and he looked to have made the transition to hard courts with fair ease, and he has said in the press that his knee is definitely getting better. However how far Rafa can get at Indian Wells still remains to be seen and he himself has said he has humble expectations of how far he will get, but so far he looks in good shape and its a fair that he can at least make it to the quarter finals, and if he should get there, where Roger Federer could be a quarter final opponent, which will be very interesting should that happen, but we will have to wait and see.
Also at Indian Wells, the tournament is well known for its upsets and there were one or two on the horizon here, with the biggest being David Ferrer, who took on an in form, Kevin Anderson, the 6ft 8 giant from South Africa. Ferrer won the first set but after that failed to deal with the big fella's serve as he lost the 2nd set, and in the 3rd his woe continued and Anderson pulled one of the biggest wins of his career by beating the little beast for the first time in 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Lleyton Hewitt, also showing good form so far in the event also made progress as he beat another giant, John Isner, after a 3 set battle, and losing the first set, Hewitt battled his way back in and went on to pull off a big win over a big guy in 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
In other matches, Tomas Berdych had more luck against Micha Zverev of Russia, as he raced past the Russian player with a straight sets win of 6-2, 6-4. Richard Gasquet of France, also pulled off a good win as he beat the Aussie No.1, Beranrd Tomic in 7-6, 6-2 to reach the 3rd round. Juan Martin Del Potro, the former US Open champion, also made good progress against Nikolai Davydenko, as the big Argentine beat the diminutive Russian in 6-3, 6-4.
And now we get on to Andy Murray, the British No.1, who has not had much luck at Indian Wells in the last couple of years, as he has not only failed to win a match in the last two previous years, he has not even won a set in either of them! But Andy was determined to change all that as he took on his opponent, Evgeny Donskoy from Russia, who put in a plucky performance against him. Andy not surprisingly got off to a ropey start, as he had not played a competitive match in over a month and probably with the demons of his previous early exits still lurking, he went a double break down in the 1st set. However Andy soon gained his composure and fought back from 5-1 down to level 5-5, but was then broken again by the Russian who took the opening set. After this Andy managed to dig in and win his first set in seven at Indian Wells, in the 2nd set of the match, and in the 3rd he took full control as the Russian no longer had any answers, although Andy hardly had it trouble free in the final game as he had to come from 0-40 to eventually seal his first win at Indian Wells in 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
This in itself must have been a real psychological victory for Andy Murray and with it he can surely put to rest the demons he might have faced at Indian Wells in the past, having finally won his first match there for three years, the curse of the desert has now been lifted at last. It wasn't the prettiest of wins but the main thing is that Andy got through it and he did well to regain his compsure in the 2nd set and battle his way back in to win, and the match itself had some excellent tennis in it, especially from the talented Russian, Donskoy, who should be one to watch. So from here hopefully Andy can settle down into a rythym and go a bit deeper this time, and there is the prospect of a showdown in the quarter finals with Del Potro, and more tantalisingly a semi final with Novak Djokovic. And if Andy reaches the final and Federer loses out before then, then he will be guaranteed to overtake Federer in the rankings, and become the world No.2, however that's a big ask with the still unbeaten Djokovic in 2013 standing in his way, among others. But in the meantime he will need to take it match by match, so we shall wait and see what happens....
And finally we get on to Novak Djokovic, the world no.1 who was up against the Italian player, Fabio Fognini, and naturally with Nole who has gone unbeaten so far in 2013, you would expect him to come out on top with ease. However Nole, like Andy, also had it quite tough as after making the perfect start and dishing out a bagel set to his helpless opponent, Fabio fought back after going a break down in the 2nd, he broke back and soon went on to win the 2nd set, after Novak played a poor service game. In the 3rd set however, Novak wrestled back control of the match as he broke his spirited opponent twice to close out a tricky first match in the desert with a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 win.
This certainly wasn't quite the start you would expect from Nole, however he did what he had to do in order to get through, and we all know that he would end up wining in the end. So this now sees Nole with a perfect 14-0 record in 2013 so far, but how long can he continue with his winning streak???? Who knows?? To be honest while he is playing great tennis, I can't quite see Nole going on the same lengthy winning streak that he did in 2011, but I definitely do think he is the favourite to win this title regardless, as well as the title in the upcoming Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. So I'd imagine that Nole will be able to keep that streak going for now, and you never know just maybe he might keep it going all year! (now that's a scary thought!).
Right well that's it for now, more will doubtless follow on the first 1000 Masters series/Premier Mandatory event of the season on the ATP/WTA tour.
Till the next one, bye for now.
So starting with the ladies matches as a quick catch up, for starters we had Victoria Azarenka, the defending champion, who in her first match faced Daniela Hantuchova, which at first was quite a stern test in the opening set, with Daniela taking a 4-1 lead. However after Vika broke back, she asserted herself into the match and then went on to win the first set, and broke Daniela twice in the 2nd to seal her first win and continue her unbeaten run in 2013, with a 6-4, 6-1 victory. This sees Vika still in red hot form, and with Serena not at this event (as she has boycotted Indian Wells for years as a result of an unfavourable audience back in 2001 who booed Venus off the court for withdrawing from her semi final match) its going to be hard to see anyone else stop her.
As for other matches, we had Maria Sharapova who also made a pretty convincing start as she dismissed former French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone with a ruthless 6-1, 6-1 win to secure her place in the 3rd round. Sam Stosur also made a good start at the event as she beat the American player, Madison Keyes in 6-3, 6-4, which no doubt would have come as a relief for her after the poor start that Sam has had in 2013 so far. Caroline Wozniacki on the other hand had to really grind out her match against the French player, Alize Cornet, who pushed the Danish No.1 the distance, but she eventually prevailed with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win after 2 and a half hours. Petra Kvitova also survived a real battle as she faced off Olga Govortsova in a 3 setter before emerging the winner with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory.
Agnieszka Radwanska however had little trouble in sealing her victory in the 2nd round by beating Martina Sanchez with a 6-1, 6-1 thrashing. Angelique Kerber also made it through to the 3rd round with great ease after beating Irina Camelia Begu in 6-3, 6-2. And finally Sara Errani toughed out a short but nonetheless testing encounter, which belied the scoreline, as she overcame a feisty Johanna Larsson in 6-3, 6-1.
As for the British ladies contingent, unfortunately there wasn't that much good news as Heather and Laura both took tumbles at the first hurdle. Starting with Laura, who made the better effort of the two, she got off to a good start in her match against the Swede player, Sofia Arvidsson, but the older more experience Arvidsson went on to win the 2nd set on a tiebreak, and in the 3rd she never looked back as she saw off Laura with a 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 win. Laura has had a bad run of luck so far this season, and this marks another tournament where she has sustained a first round loss, as she hasn't won a match since upsetting Petra Kvitova at the Australian Open. However Laura has said in the press she has been suffering from a chest infection over the past few months, which is starting to clear, and with that let's hope her tennis improves soon. Heather also had bad luck in her match as she went down to the aforementioned Irina Camelia Begu in 6-2, 6-4. So it was a disappointing event for the British lasses, but hopefully they will play better soon.
Now for the men's starting with Roger Federer who breezed his way to victory against Dennis Istomin to reach the 3rd round (as the top seeds get a bye into the 2nd round, or basically a freebie!) as he dismissed the fella in 6-2, 6-3. Rafa, who made his debut return to hard courts since returning to the tour after his 7 month absence, also made a strong start, as he took on the talented young American player, Ryan Harrison. Harrison put up some good resistance in the first set and pushed Rafa to a tiebreak, but the Spaniard went on to seal it with ease as well as the match in the 2nd set, breaking the young yank twice to claim his first victory on hard court since the quarter finals of Sony Ericsson Open last year, with a 7-6, 6-2 win.
This was a very encouraging start from Rafa and he looked to have made the transition to hard courts with fair ease, and he has said in the press that his knee is definitely getting better. However how far Rafa can get at Indian Wells still remains to be seen and he himself has said he has humble expectations of how far he will get, but so far he looks in good shape and its a fair that he can at least make it to the quarter finals, and if he should get there, where Roger Federer could be a quarter final opponent, which will be very interesting should that happen, but we will have to wait and see.
Also at Indian Wells, the tournament is well known for its upsets and there were one or two on the horizon here, with the biggest being David Ferrer, who took on an in form, Kevin Anderson, the 6ft 8 giant from South Africa. Ferrer won the first set but after that failed to deal with the big fella's serve as he lost the 2nd set, and in the 3rd his woe continued and Anderson pulled one of the biggest wins of his career by beating the little beast for the first time in 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Lleyton Hewitt, also showing good form so far in the event also made progress as he beat another giant, John Isner, after a 3 set battle, and losing the first set, Hewitt battled his way back in and went on to pull off a big win over a big guy in 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
In other matches, Tomas Berdych had more luck against Micha Zverev of Russia, as he raced past the Russian player with a straight sets win of 6-2, 6-4. Richard Gasquet of France, also pulled off a good win as he beat the Aussie No.1, Beranrd Tomic in 7-6, 6-2 to reach the 3rd round. Juan Martin Del Potro, the former US Open champion, also made good progress against Nikolai Davydenko, as the big Argentine beat the diminutive Russian in 6-3, 6-4.
And now we get on to Andy Murray, the British No.1, who has not had much luck at Indian Wells in the last couple of years, as he has not only failed to win a match in the last two previous years, he has not even won a set in either of them! But Andy was determined to change all that as he took on his opponent, Evgeny Donskoy from Russia, who put in a plucky performance against him. Andy not surprisingly got off to a ropey start, as he had not played a competitive match in over a month and probably with the demons of his previous early exits still lurking, he went a double break down in the 1st set. However Andy soon gained his composure and fought back from 5-1 down to level 5-5, but was then broken again by the Russian who took the opening set. After this Andy managed to dig in and win his first set in seven at Indian Wells, in the 2nd set of the match, and in the 3rd he took full control as the Russian no longer had any answers, although Andy hardly had it trouble free in the final game as he had to come from 0-40 to eventually seal his first win at Indian Wells in 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
This in itself must have been a real psychological victory for Andy Murray and with it he can surely put to rest the demons he might have faced at Indian Wells in the past, having finally won his first match there for three years, the curse of the desert has now been lifted at last. It wasn't the prettiest of wins but the main thing is that Andy got through it and he did well to regain his compsure in the 2nd set and battle his way back in to win, and the match itself had some excellent tennis in it, especially from the talented Russian, Donskoy, who should be one to watch. So from here hopefully Andy can settle down into a rythym and go a bit deeper this time, and there is the prospect of a showdown in the quarter finals with Del Potro, and more tantalisingly a semi final with Novak Djokovic. And if Andy reaches the final and Federer loses out before then, then he will be guaranteed to overtake Federer in the rankings, and become the world No.2, however that's a big ask with the still unbeaten Djokovic in 2013 standing in his way, among others. But in the meantime he will need to take it match by match, so we shall wait and see what happens....
And finally we get on to Novak Djokovic, the world no.1 who was up against the Italian player, Fabio Fognini, and naturally with Nole who has gone unbeaten so far in 2013, you would expect him to come out on top with ease. However Nole, like Andy, also had it quite tough as after making the perfect start and dishing out a bagel set to his helpless opponent, Fabio fought back after going a break down in the 2nd, he broke back and soon went on to win the 2nd set, after Novak played a poor service game. In the 3rd set however, Novak wrestled back control of the match as he broke his spirited opponent twice to close out a tricky first match in the desert with a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 win.
This certainly wasn't quite the start you would expect from Nole, however he did what he had to do in order to get through, and we all know that he would end up wining in the end. So this now sees Nole with a perfect 14-0 record in 2013 so far, but how long can he continue with his winning streak???? Who knows?? To be honest while he is playing great tennis, I can't quite see Nole going on the same lengthy winning streak that he did in 2011, but I definitely do think he is the favourite to win this title regardless, as well as the title in the upcoming Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. So I'd imagine that Nole will be able to keep that streak going for now, and you never know just maybe he might keep it going all year! (now that's a scary thought!).
Right well that's it for now, more will doubtless follow on the first 1000 Masters series/Premier Mandatory event of the season on the ATP/WTA tour.
Till the next one, bye for now.
Sunday 3 March 2013
Rafa's back......
So here's a quick post about Rafa Nadal, who so far has made quite an impressive comeback on the tour, and since my last post has won two more titles, one in Brazil and the other Acapluco. And I think its say to say that Rafa's return is starting to look good.
Starting with the Brazil final, Rafa faced David Nalbandian, who also made his return to the sport after being out with injury as well. But in the final, despite being in form throughout the tournament, Nalbandian simply just wasn't able to keep up with Nadal, who went on to thrash him with a straight set victory 6-3, 6-2. This was Rafa's 37th clay court career title, and I'm sure getting his first title of the year under his belt gave him much confidence.
As for his next tournament, just there he played in Acapulco in the Mexico, where there were a few more of the top players in the world, namely David Ferrer, who has for now overtaken Rafa in the rankings, and Nicolas Almagro, who is the World No.11. And Rafa faced both players, in the semis he took on Almagro first, who put up fair resistance, but Rafa shut down his fellow Spaniard with a break of serve in each set, to reach the final. And with this match alone we finally got a real glimpse of where his tennis might be at, as up until then, Almagro was the highest ranked player Rafa had played and he put in a convincing performance in overcoming him. As for the final well it was expected to be a real tough test for Rafa against David Ferrer, who is arguably next to Rafa, and Roger and Nole notwithstanding, the best clay court player on the tour. However despite any fears that Rafa might be in for a real battle, were quickly set aside as Rafa went on to drub his compatriot, in a similar performance as he did at the French Open last year, as he raced to a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
This really is a good indicator of showing just where Rafa's tennis is at just now, and Rafa himself said that his knee is improving, and if this is a sign of things to come then Rafa is sure to be still the hot favourite to win the French Open. However he will still contend with one man in his way, who will pose a real threat to him and anyone else for that matter, and that is Novak Djokovic. And Novak came close to winning against Rafa last year, and if it wasn't for the rain delays the result might just have been different. But that was last year and it still remains to be seen just how Rafa's tennis and his knee will hold in the best of five set matches, although if he plays anything like he did last year, then he wont have a problem in reaching the final.
And up next for Rafa will be the American hard court swing, which get's under way this week at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which Rafa was a former champion at. But this is where the change of surface from clay to hard court could prove to be a real test of his fitness and how well his knee will stand up to the hard concrete as opposed to be smoothness of the red clay. There is also the question of how well he can play against the top three guys on hard court as well, and particularly Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, which overall its their best surface.
And in regards to Andy Murray, it will be interesting should they meet to see how Rafa will play against him, as he has never played the British No.1 since October 2011 where Andy gubbed Rafa at the Tokyo open in the final set 6-0. And now that Andy has since become a major champion, Rafa will be playing a completely different player than before. So once things get under way later this week at Indian Wells we will see how it goes for Rafa, should he reach the latter stages of the event, and how his knee will take to the hard courts. And in regards to Andy Murray quickly, I'll say a bit more about him ahead of Indian Wells, which is an event which hasn't been very kind to him in the last couple of years, as he has even managed to win a set there since the 4th round of the event in 2010! And the last two years he went out in his first match, so hopefully this year it will be third time lucky for him, at least I hope so!
So that's it for now, more to follow soon, as this blog has been missing the tour events for a bit, so I will doing some coverage of Indian Wells next week (often called the 5th slam, due its size as an event), once it gets under way. Who will win it????? Well who knows, but at a guess I'm thinking Novak Djokovic for the men's and maybe Victoria Azarenka for the ladies. But we'll just have to wait and see, however it goes, it should be good. But one thing we know for sure is that this week Rafa sent a clear signal to his rivals that he is back and to watch out, so hopefully it should get pretty exciting from here, now that in the next tournament we will have the big four back together for the first time since Wimbledon.
Right well that's all for now, more soon on Indian Wells once it gets going.
Starting with the Brazil final, Rafa faced David Nalbandian, who also made his return to the sport after being out with injury as well. But in the final, despite being in form throughout the tournament, Nalbandian simply just wasn't able to keep up with Nadal, who went on to thrash him with a straight set victory 6-3, 6-2. This was Rafa's 37th clay court career title, and I'm sure getting his first title of the year under his belt gave him much confidence.
As for his next tournament, just there he played in Acapulco in the Mexico, where there were a few more of the top players in the world, namely David Ferrer, who has for now overtaken Rafa in the rankings, and Nicolas Almagro, who is the World No.11. And Rafa faced both players, in the semis he took on Almagro first, who put up fair resistance, but Rafa shut down his fellow Spaniard with a break of serve in each set, to reach the final. And with this match alone we finally got a real glimpse of where his tennis might be at, as up until then, Almagro was the highest ranked player Rafa had played and he put in a convincing performance in overcoming him. As for the final well it was expected to be a real tough test for Rafa against David Ferrer, who is arguably next to Rafa, and Roger and Nole notwithstanding, the best clay court player on the tour. However despite any fears that Rafa might be in for a real battle, were quickly set aside as Rafa went on to drub his compatriot, in a similar performance as he did at the French Open last year, as he raced to a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
This really is a good indicator of showing just where Rafa's tennis is at just now, and Rafa himself said that his knee is improving, and if this is a sign of things to come then Rafa is sure to be still the hot favourite to win the French Open. However he will still contend with one man in his way, who will pose a real threat to him and anyone else for that matter, and that is Novak Djokovic. And Novak came close to winning against Rafa last year, and if it wasn't for the rain delays the result might just have been different. But that was last year and it still remains to be seen just how Rafa's tennis and his knee will hold in the best of five set matches, although if he plays anything like he did last year, then he wont have a problem in reaching the final.
And up next for Rafa will be the American hard court swing, which get's under way this week at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which Rafa was a former champion at. But this is where the change of surface from clay to hard court could prove to be a real test of his fitness and how well his knee will stand up to the hard concrete as opposed to be smoothness of the red clay. There is also the question of how well he can play against the top three guys on hard court as well, and particularly Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, which overall its their best surface.
And in regards to Andy Murray, it will be interesting should they meet to see how Rafa will play against him, as he has never played the British No.1 since October 2011 where Andy gubbed Rafa at the Tokyo open in the final set 6-0. And now that Andy has since become a major champion, Rafa will be playing a completely different player than before. So once things get under way later this week at Indian Wells we will see how it goes for Rafa, should he reach the latter stages of the event, and how his knee will take to the hard courts. And in regards to Andy Murray quickly, I'll say a bit more about him ahead of Indian Wells, which is an event which hasn't been very kind to him in the last couple of years, as he has even managed to win a set there since the 4th round of the event in 2010! And the last two years he went out in his first match, so hopefully this year it will be third time lucky for him, at least I hope so!
So that's it for now, more to follow soon, as this blog has been missing the tour events for a bit, so I will doing some coverage of Indian Wells next week (often called the 5th slam, due its size as an event), once it gets under way. Who will win it????? Well who knows, but at a guess I'm thinking Novak Djokovic for the men's and maybe Victoria Azarenka for the ladies. But we'll just have to wait and see, however it goes, it should be good. But one thing we know for sure is that this week Rafa sent a clear signal to his rivals that he is back and to watch out, so hopefully it should get pretty exciting from here, now that in the next tournament we will have the big four back together for the first time since Wimbledon.
Right well that's all for now, more soon on Indian Wells once it gets going.
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