OK here's a quick update on the WTA/ATP tour event finals that finished today for the men's it was the Barcelona open and the ladies we had the Porsche tennis grand prix from Stuttgart. So let's have a quick look at the finals...
Starting with the ladies we had Maria Sharapova who took on the former French open champion, Li Na in the final, which looked to be a real tough test for the world no.2, as Maria had to do things the hard way to reach the final having been taken the distance in her last three matches at the event. However Maria was more in control in the final, as she broke Li Na twice in the opening set to take a 4-1 lead, but Li Na did manage to fight back and get one of the breaks back, before Maria closed out the set. In the 2nd it was an even pegged fight until 3-3 and it was Maria that made the decisive break and at 5-3 with Li Na serving to make it 5-4, the Chinese No.1 suffered a cruel twist of fate as she double faulted to hand the match and the title to Maria with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
While it wasn't the best final it did have some good moments and both women traded some great rallies, and Li Na has usually been a good match up against Maria, as she too is a big hitter and is therefore quite dangerous to the Russian. However it was a shame for Li Na that she wasn't able to push the match into a decider and no player I'm sure wants to lose a match by double faulting, as Li did today. But for Maria its another successful title defence on clay and it also records her 16th straight match win on clay since last year she remains undefeated on the red dirt, and it was her 29th title of her career. And if Maria maintains this level then there is no reason that she can't go on to defend her French open title next month, whether or not that happens we will need to wait and see, but for the Russian she couldn't have asked for a better start to her clay season.
Which brings me onto the men's final from Barcelona, which was between Rafa Nadal and his compatriot Nicolas Almagro. Judging by their head to head, Rafa came into this match as the overwhelming favourite to win it as he had a 9-0 record over Almagro. But it was Almagro that got off to the better start as he broke Rafa's serve straigh away, and took a 3-0- lead. However it soon turned out to be no more than a slow start as Rafa's soon broke back and went on to break Almagro himself to take the opening set, after some resistance at 4-4 from Nicolas. In the 2nd set Rafa secured an early break and from there, it was a simple case of holding serve, which it turned out to be for Rafa as sped to victory to clinch his 8th title in Barcelona and his 54th career title with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Again this wasn't a classic final, but Almagro did put up some decent resistance before he fell to the mighty Rafa, who at times wasn't at his best, but he had more than enough to take down his compatriot. Regardless of his loss Almagro showed very promising signs and its a really good start to his clay court season, and no doubt he will continue to do well on his best surface, having already won 12 titles on the red stuff. But today it was all about Rafa and after losing to Djokovic last week in Monte Carlo, I'm sure this victory will give him a reassuring shot in the arm. However Djokovic still remains Rafa's biggest obstacle not just on the clay but as a player overall, and I think this year its going to be tougher for him to win at the French Open than before, especially as he is still not quite 100% back on form. It also will depend on how the draw will work out, and as no doubt most people would rather see Rafa and Nole drawn on opposite sides to ensure a final showdown in Paris, but it could well work out that they will be in the same side of the draw. But we will just have to wait and see how things will pan in once we reach Roland Garros which is still another month to go.
So that's it for now, more to follow once the Mutua Madrid Open get's under way in a week's time, where the big four will be reunited on the men's tour as Roger Federer returns after an extended break from the tour. Andy will also be back and having just lost his No.2 ranking to Federer again, he will be looking to try and get it back, but that will all depend on how he get's on in Madrid. The good news for Andy is that as he didn't play Madrid last year, he stands to gain more points than he will lose. And hopefully with the hard practice he has been putting in with Ivan Lendl on the clay courts, he will be able to get some match wins under his belt to give him the much needed boost he needs to jump start his clay court season.
But that's all for now, more to fellow next week from Madrid.
Until then bye the nowwwww!
Sunday 28 April 2013
Sunday 21 April 2013
Monte Carlo Part 3: The man who broke the king at Monte Carlo....
OK this is my final post on the men's atp tour event the Monte Carlo Rolex masters, which is from Monte Carlo funnily enough, and I will cover the men's final which was a much anticipated match up between Novak Djokovic and eight time champion Rafa Nadal. So let's have a look at the match...
So the match itself promised to be quite a barnburner (or courtburner if you like or whatever) however despite being the favourite to win, Rafa started off nervous and jittery as he struggled to get things going on his serve, and making uncharacteristic unforced errors as well. Djokovic however was by contrast in great form as he powered his way to a very surprising 5-0 lead, and Rafa had to dig deep to even hold onto his own serve as he narrowly avoided a bagel set. Nole however showed signs of tightness as well as he faltered on trying to serve out the set at 5-1 and Rafa broke back to take hand him a lifeline, but Rafa soon squandered it with a double fault to give Nole the first set. In the 2nd set, things were on a more competitive keel, and Rafa's level improved considerably as he got himself in the match and finally broke Nole's serve. However at 4-3, Rafa serving to make it 5-3, he was broken back by Novak once again, who levelled the scores 4-4, and play went by serve until the tiebreak, where it was Djokovic that dominated the Spaniard, and after 8 years of reign in Monte Carlo, Nole dethrone the king with a stunning 6-2, 7-6(1) victory.
This was quite a match from Novak Djokovic who broke Rafa's eight year winning streak at Monte Carlo and he did it quite a stunning fashion here, with an incredible performance and despite the odd dip or two he looked in full control. And this now sees Djokovic in terms of actual individual Masters titles won as the most successful player in the history of the game, as he is the first man to win 8 out of the 9 Masters events on the men's tour, the only one remaining is Cincinnati and he will have the full set. And given the doubts over his ankle its even more incredible that Djokovic was able to come into this event and go on to win it, and after a slow start he did so in great fashion, so a big well done to him for claiming his first Monte Carlo title, which sees him complete the whole clay court set of Masters titles, adding to his already incredible record.
As for Rafa well it was a bit of a strange and underwhelming performance at times from him, especially in the 1st set where he looked edgy and nervous, and he clearly wasn't hitting the ball the way he wanted to, without the usual level of venom and pace that he injects into his groundstrokes. In the 2nd set Rafa's level definitely went up and it became quite a tight and competitive match in that set, and once Rafa got the break at 3-2 and even at 6-5, you felt he had a good chance to level the match at a set all, but it just didn't happen for him. This leaves a few concerns for Rafa, as for the rest of the clay court season he has a lot of points to defend and having lost the title in Monte Carlo today he has already automatically dropped 400 points, which will drop even more if he were to lose in the upcoming Masters in Madrid and Rome.
There is also the concern that Rafa might end up on a big losing streak to Djokovic once again as he did in 2011, and in this respect it might actually still give an opportunity for Andy Murray to step in again and re-seize the No.2 spot at some point in the future. However that's all ahead and for now Rafa has got another tournament ahead of him in Barcelona, where again he is the defending champion and with no Djokovic to worry about, this should hopefully see him with a strong chance to win there again and restore some confidence in his game and his rythym, which he voiced concerns about in Monte Carlo. But for now Rafa has now dropped back down to No.5 in the world with his Spanish compatriot, David Ferrer once again overtaking him in the rankings. Whether or not this will reflected or not in Barcelona remains to be seen, as despite that, Rafa is still very much the favourite. All we can hope is that Rafa doesn't start losing confidence in his game, as he still isn't 100 percent physically yet, but I'm sure the king of clay will make a resurgance in the future.
Right so that's it for now, I might well post up some stuff on the ladies WTA clay court indoor event from Stuttgart, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where some of the top seeds will fight it out for the right to win either a funny shaped trophy or take home a Porsche (the latter more tempting!).
So that's it for now.
So the match itself promised to be quite a barnburner (or courtburner if you like or whatever) however despite being the favourite to win, Rafa started off nervous and jittery as he struggled to get things going on his serve, and making uncharacteristic unforced errors as well. Djokovic however was by contrast in great form as he powered his way to a very surprising 5-0 lead, and Rafa had to dig deep to even hold onto his own serve as he narrowly avoided a bagel set. Nole however showed signs of tightness as well as he faltered on trying to serve out the set at 5-1 and Rafa broke back to take hand him a lifeline, but Rafa soon squandered it with a double fault to give Nole the first set. In the 2nd set, things were on a more competitive keel, and Rafa's level improved considerably as he got himself in the match and finally broke Nole's serve. However at 4-3, Rafa serving to make it 5-3, he was broken back by Novak once again, who levelled the scores 4-4, and play went by serve until the tiebreak, where it was Djokovic that dominated the Spaniard, and after 8 years of reign in Monte Carlo, Nole dethrone the king with a stunning 6-2, 7-6(1) victory.
This was quite a match from Novak Djokovic who broke Rafa's eight year winning streak at Monte Carlo and he did it quite a stunning fashion here, with an incredible performance and despite the odd dip or two he looked in full control. And this now sees Djokovic in terms of actual individual Masters titles won as the most successful player in the history of the game, as he is the first man to win 8 out of the 9 Masters events on the men's tour, the only one remaining is Cincinnati and he will have the full set. And given the doubts over his ankle its even more incredible that Djokovic was able to come into this event and go on to win it, and after a slow start he did so in great fashion, so a big well done to him for claiming his first Monte Carlo title, which sees him complete the whole clay court set of Masters titles, adding to his already incredible record.
As for Rafa well it was a bit of a strange and underwhelming performance at times from him, especially in the 1st set where he looked edgy and nervous, and he clearly wasn't hitting the ball the way he wanted to, without the usual level of venom and pace that he injects into his groundstrokes. In the 2nd set Rafa's level definitely went up and it became quite a tight and competitive match in that set, and once Rafa got the break at 3-2 and even at 6-5, you felt he had a good chance to level the match at a set all, but it just didn't happen for him. This leaves a few concerns for Rafa, as for the rest of the clay court season he has a lot of points to defend and having lost the title in Monte Carlo today he has already automatically dropped 400 points, which will drop even more if he were to lose in the upcoming Masters in Madrid and Rome.
There is also the concern that Rafa might end up on a big losing streak to Djokovic once again as he did in 2011, and in this respect it might actually still give an opportunity for Andy Murray to step in again and re-seize the No.2 spot at some point in the future. However that's all ahead and for now Rafa has got another tournament ahead of him in Barcelona, where again he is the defending champion and with no Djokovic to worry about, this should hopefully see him with a strong chance to win there again and restore some confidence in his game and his rythym, which he voiced concerns about in Monte Carlo. But for now Rafa has now dropped back down to No.5 in the world with his Spanish compatriot, David Ferrer once again overtaking him in the rankings. Whether or not this will reflected or not in Barcelona remains to be seen, as despite that, Rafa is still very much the favourite. All we can hope is that Rafa doesn't start losing confidence in his game, as he still isn't 100 percent physically yet, but I'm sure the king of clay will make a resurgance in the future.
Right so that's it for now, I might well post up some stuff on the ladies WTA clay court indoor event from Stuttgart, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where some of the top seeds will fight it out for the right to win either a funny shaped trophy or take home a Porsche (the latter more tempting!).
So that's it for now.
Monte Carlo 2 Part 2: The showdown looms....
OK so now onto a quick update for the men's tennis from the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, the 3rd 1000 Masters series title of the ATP tour season. So I will cover the men's quarter and semi final matches that lead up to the final which I will quickly mention at the end.
So start with the quarter finals, first up we had Rafa take on the talented and fast rising Bulgarian player, Grigor Dimitrov, who has been in impressive form this week in the principality, which promised to be quite a tough encounter. And it certainly was that, and Rafa had to work very hard against the in form Bulgarian, who after dropping the opening set, went on to break Rafa twice in the 2nd to level the match. And in the 3rd set it was a tense battle as play went by serve until 4-4 when Rafa got the crucial break, but at 5-4 Dimitrov continued to put pressure on Rafa's serve, but in the end the 8 time champion finally managed to graft past Dimitrov and seal his place in the semis with a hard fought 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win.
This was quite a match and showed just how dangerous a player Dimitrov is and how he will continue to threaten the top four and all the other players on the tour. It was also the first time in a while that Rafa had been given such a scare at Monte Carlo, where he has shown great dominance and has rarely then threatened. But it was full credit to Rafa's champion qualities that saw him come through this match. However this match really has shown that Grigor Dimitrov is a name to watch out for in the future as no doubt he will continue to get better as time goes on.
Next up we had Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who took on another in form player just now, Stan Wawrinka, who defeated Andy Murray with ruthless efficiency in the 3rd round. However Jo and Stan have had their fare share of spats in recent times and their latest was on the clay last year at the French Open, where Jo narrowly avoided defeat in a very tough 5 set battle. And this match proved to be quite a tough encounter as well with Stan getting off to the better start as he broke Tsonga twice to take the 1st set. In the 2nd set that was where Tsonga mounted his fightback and broke Wawrinka to level the match at a set all, and in the 3rd Tsonga got the break but he had to work hard to close it out, which he eventually did with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.
After this we had Richard Gasquet, the French No.2 take on the Italian player Fabio Fognini and despite an even first set with Fabio edging it, in the 2nd set it was the Italian who defeated Gasquet, breaking him twice to close out the win in 7-6, 6-2. And finally Novak Djokovic showed more encouraging signs that his ankle is getting better, as he faced Jarko Nieminen, who despite going a break down against, soon broke back and after this he never really back as he swept aside his Finnish opponent in just 6-4, 6-3. This shows that Nole has made an impressive recovery as the matches have progressed he is hitting his stride on the red dirt.
Which brings me onto the semi finals, starting with Rafa who faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and they have had their share of battles in the past. But Rafa got off to the stronger start as he broke Tsonga, who made a rash of unforced errors which saw him come undone as Rafa took the opening set. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Tsonga made more errors, and Rafa went 5-1 up! However at that point, Tsonga started an incredible fight back as he even saved three match points on his own serve and he went on to break Rafa's serve, and levelled the scores till it was 5-5! And from here both men pushed the match into a tiebreak, but it was there that Rafa got the crucial minibreak and went onto to hit a blazing forehand winner to seal his place in a record 9th final.
As semi finals go this was quite an entertaining match, and it was an impressive fightback from Tsonga as he came from 5-1 down in the 2nd set to level the scores. In the tiebreak however Rafa was always the favourite given his excellent record in breakers and there was no real doubt in the end that he could come through it. And despite Tsonga's loss it showed that he is getting back on form and he should remain a strong threat when the French Open comes around.
Which brings me onto the second semi final which was between Novak Djokovic and Fabio Fognini and again they have had some pretty competitive matches in the past, with Fognini being an excellent clay court player. But in the end the match turned out to be child's play for Nole who swept past the Italian with great ease, snapping Fognini's serve in two and breaking twice in both sets to set up his final with his arch nemesis, Rafa, in the final, after an easy 6-1, 6-2.
So Nole's impressive form has grown ever more in his match with Fognini, and this sets up a potentially great final between the Spaniard and the Serb. So who will win it???? Well its tough to say, but I think its going to be pretty close and Rafa has been a bit tight this week and not quite at his best on the clay, but he is very comfortable on the red dirt and is one of the all time great clay court players, so it would hard to bet against him. And on the other hand Djokovic has come into this as the underdog, but he knows how to beat Rafa on any surface and has done so twice in Rome and Madrid on the clay two years ago. But Djokovic has had lower ranked players in his draw so it will be mighty tough to dislodge the king of clay on one of his best and single most successful tournament. So it will be interesting, but I think Djokovic has a fair chance to win, and I might just pick him to be the slight favourite, but it wouldn't surprise me if Rafa digs out another title defence here.
And on that note I shall leave it there and report back once its over.
Bye for noww!
So start with the quarter finals, first up we had Rafa take on the talented and fast rising Bulgarian player, Grigor Dimitrov, who has been in impressive form this week in the principality, which promised to be quite a tough encounter. And it certainly was that, and Rafa had to work very hard against the in form Bulgarian, who after dropping the opening set, went on to break Rafa twice in the 2nd to level the match. And in the 3rd set it was a tense battle as play went by serve until 4-4 when Rafa got the crucial break, but at 5-4 Dimitrov continued to put pressure on Rafa's serve, but in the end the 8 time champion finally managed to graft past Dimitrov and seal his place in the semis with a hard fought 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win.
This was quite a match and showed just how dangerous a player Dimitrov is and how he will continue to threaten the top four and all the other players on the tour. It was also the first time in a while that Rafa had been given such a scare at Monte Carlo, where he has shown great dominance and has rarely then threatened. But it was full credit to Rafa's champion qualities that saw him come through this match. However this match really has shown that Grigor Dimitrov is a name to watch out for in the future as no doubt he will continue to get better as time goes on.
Next up we had Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who took on another in form player just now, Stan Wawrinka, who defeated Andy Murray with ruthless efficiency in the 3rd round. However Jo and Stan have had their fare share of spats in recent times and their latest was on the clay last year at the French Open, where Jo narrowly avoided defeat in a very tough 5 set battle. And this match proved to be quite a tough encounter as well with Stan getting off to the better start as he broke Tsonga twice to take the 1st set. In the 2nd set that was where Tsonga mounted his fightback and broke Wawrinka to level the match at a set all, and in the 3rd Tsonga got the break but he had to work hard to close it out, which he eventually did with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.
After this we had Richard Gasquet, the French No.2 take on the Italian player Fabio Fognini and despite an even first set with Fabio edging it, in the 2nd set it was the Italian who defeated Gasquet, breaking him twice to close out the win in 7-6, 6-2. And finally Novak Djokovic showed more encouraging signs that his ankle is getting better, as he faced Jarko Nieminen, who despite going a break down against, soon broke back and after this he never really back as he swept aside his Finnish opponent in just 6-4, 6-3. This shows that Nole has made an impressive recovery as the matches have progressed he is hitting his stride on the red dirt.
Which brings me onto the semi finals, starting with Rafa who faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and they have had their share of battles in the past. But Rafa got off to the stronger start as he broke Tsonga, who made a rash of unforced errors which saw him come undone as Rafa took the opening set. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Tsonga made more errors, and Rafa went 5-1 up! However at that point, Tsonga started an incredible fight back as he even saved three match points on his own serve and he went on to break Rafa's serve, and levelled the scores till it was 5-5! And from here both men pushed the match into a tiebreak, but it was there that Rafa got the crucial minibreak and went onto to hit a blazing forehand winner to seal his place in a record 9th final.
As semi finals go this was quite an entertaining match, and it was an impressive fightback from Tsonga as he came from 5-1 down in the 2nd set to level the scores. In the tiebreak however Rafa was always the favourite given his excellent record in breakers and there was no real doubt in the end that he could come through it. And despite Tsonga's loss it showed that he is getting back on form and he should remain a strong threat when the French Open comes around.
Which brings me onto the second semi final which was between Novak Djokovic and Fabio Fognini and again they have had some pretty competitive matches in the past, with Fognini being an excellent clay court player. But in the end the match turned out to be child's play for Nole who swept past the Italian with great ease, snapping Fognini's serve in two and breaking twice in both sets to set up his final with his arch nemesis, Rafa, in the final, after an easy 6-1, 6-2.
So Nole's impressive form has grown ever more in his match with Fognini, and this sets up a potentially great final between the Spaniard and the Serb. So who will win it???? Well its tough to say, but I think its going to be pretty close and Rafa has been a bit tight this week and not quite at his best on the clay, but he is very comfortable on the red dirt and is one of the all time great clay court players, so it would hard to bet against him. And on the other hand Djokovic has come into this as the underdog, but he knows how to beat Rafa on any surface and has done so twice in Rome and Madrid on the clay two years ago. But Djokovic has had lower ranked players in his draw so it will be mighty tough to dislodge the king of clay on one of his best and single most successful tournament. So it will be interesting, but I think Djokovic has a fair chance to win, and I might just pick him to be the slight favourite, but it wouldn't surprise me if Rafa digs out another title defence here.
And on that note I shall leave it there and report back once its over.
Bye for noww!
Thursday 18 April 2013
Monte Carlo Part 1: Seeds falling by the wayside and ta ta to No.2
OK so quickly I thought I would do an update on the 3rd 1000 Masters series event of the season, and the first of the clay court swing, the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, which saw three of the top four guys compete (minus Roger) among the other best players in the world for the trophy. This event has been strongly dominated by Rafa over the last eight years so toppling the king of clay is not going to be an easy one here for anyone else. But let's have a look at some match results.
To start with there has been quite a few upsets with alot of the top seeds tumbling out already, starting with Janko Tipsarevic who went out against the fast rising Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov who took out the Serb in 7-6, 6-1. Tomas Berdych also went out in a surprise defeat to Fabio Fognini of Italy, who dismissed the big Czeck in just 6-4, 6-2, which was not to be expected, but Fognini is quite a clay court player, and these events will favour the specialists. And Juan Martin Del Potro also made an early exit against the Finn, Jarko Nieminen, who battled his way past the big Argentine in 6-4, 4-6, 7-6. Milos Raonic also went out to the Finn in the previous round as well, and the big serving Canadian just couldn't quite dig out the win, in another hard fought match, where Jarko beat Raonic in 6-3, 1-6, 7-6. Marin Cilic also exited the tournament but he did so at the hands of the French No.2, Richard Gasquet, who has been in impressive form so far this year, and he took out the big Croatian in 7-5, 6-4.
Now for the biggest upset of the week so far, which was Andy Murray who despite making an impressive start in his opening match against Eduardo Roger-Vasselin, he went on to face Stan Wawrinka in the 3rd round. And this match promised to be quite a tough test for Andy, and right enough it proved to be just that and more, and despite a fairly promising start with Andy gaining two break points on Stan's serve, that was about as far as he got as the Swiss went on to hold serve, and snap Andy's in two, with a double break to take the opening set. And despite a slightly better start in the 2nd set at 2-2, things went sharply downhill as Andy's tame serve got a beating from Stan and the unforced errors piled up, and before we knew it, Andy sustained one of the heaviest recent defeats in his career with a 6-1, 6-2 drubbing.
After such a fine start to the week, it seems almost puzzling how Andy could go from being good to... well frankly shit in just the space of a day. Andy's serve is well known to be his Achilles heel and it was certainly exploited today by Wawrinka, who just pummelled the British No.1 without mercy. But it does raise the question of just how Andy seems to curiously go through these moments where he sustains heavy defeats, yet for example Djokovic, can always find a way to battle through more times than not against most in form opponents even when he's not playing his best, which I will get to soon. Also as a result of this defeat Andy will drop back to the No.3 spot, as he needed to reach the quarter finals in Monte Carlo to maintain the No.2 ranking, and so unfortunately that has gone by the wayside for now, and Rog as of next week will be back at 2. But all that aside we have to remember that clay is Andy's least preferred surface, and by his own admission he has said that clay is his "worst" surface, something which was certainly proved today! So even though it was a tough loss, I'm sure Andy will bounce back (no pun intended) and it is just the start of the clay court season, so he will have plenty more chances to improve his game and adapt to the tricky red dirt before the French Open arrives.
Now onto the remaining top seeds, starting with Novak Djokovic, the World No.1, who came into Monte Carlo recovering from an ankle injury he sustained during his Davis cup tie against the USA. Regardless of that though Nole confirmed he was fit enough to play and so far he has made progress in Monte Carlo, but he's not had it easy. In his 2nd round match, Novak came up against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, and Nole started off slow, with the Russian taking the opening set. But from here Nole worked his way into the match and went on to seal it in 3 sets, winning in 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. And it was the same in his 3rd round match against Juan Monaco, as Novak had to fight from a set down once again to beat the Argentine, with an eventual 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win.
Despite his injury concerns, Novak so far has put them mostly to rest, but judging by his results so far, he has not been playing at his best, but being the No.1 player in the world, he knows how to dig in and fight on no matter what. And that for me is what sets him apart from the rest of the players on tour just now, including Andy Murray, who in moments like today against Stan Wawrinka, seemed to just uncharacteristically fall apart, and overall Djokovic has better consistency on all surfaces than Andy does, which I guess is what makes him the world's best player. So for that alone Nole deserves much credit for fighting on and finding a way to win in these situations, and next up he will face Jarko Nieminen, so we will see how that one goes.
So this brings me onto the 8 time defending champion, and the undisputed king of clay, Rafael Nadal, who so far has made a very impressive comeback to the tour after a 7 month absence due to his knee injury. And its safe to say so far in Monte Carlo he has continued his superb form, as in his 2nd round match he raced past Marino Matosevic in just 6-1, 6-2, and also comfortably swept past the German player, Philipp Kolschreiber in 6-2, 6-4 in the 3rd round to make it to his 9th quarter final in the principality. At this rate and given his current form I think it will be tough to imagine anyone defeat Rafa at this event, as his 8 time champion record speaks for itself, and having not dropped a set so far (and probably most likely not to!) he will be mighty tough to defeat. And for me the only man who could do it is Nole, but given the currrent circumstances with his ankle, it has to be said that I can quite see the World No.1 take down Rafa here, but we'll see how it goes, and who will come out on top should they meet in the final.
And that's it for now, will follow soon on Monte Carlo again.
Until the next one, bye the now!
To start with there has been quite a few upsets with alot of the top seeds tumbling out already, starting with Janko Tipsarevic who went out against the fast rising Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov who took out the Serb in 7-6, 6-1. Tomas Berdych also went out in a surprise defeat to Fabio Fognini of Italy, who dismissed the big Czeck in just 6-4, 6-2, which was not to be expected, but Fognini is quite a clay court player, and these events will favour the specialists. And Juan Martin Del Potro also made an early exit against the Finn, Jarko Nieminen, who battled his way past the big Argentine in 6-4, 4-6, 7-6. Milos Raonic also went out to the Finn in the previous round as well, and the big serving Canadian just couldn't quite dig out the win, in another hard fought match, where Jarko beat Raonic in 6-3, 1-6, 7-6. Marin Cilic also exited the tournament but he did so at the hands of the French No.2, Richard Gasquet, who has been in impressive form so far this year, and he took out the big Croatian in 7-5, 6-4.
Now for the biggest upset of the week so far, which was Andy Murray who despite making an impressive start in his opening match against Eduardo Roger-Vasselin, he went on to face Stan Wawrinka in the 3rd round. And this match promised to be quite a tough test for Andy, and right enough it proved to be just that and more, and despite a fairly promising start with Andy gaining two break points on Stan's serve, that was about as far as he got as the Swiss went on to hold serve, and snap Andy's in two, with a double break to take the opening set. And despite a slightly better start in the 2nd set at 2-2, things went sharply downhill as Andy's tame serve got a beating from Stan and the unforced errors piled up, and before we knew it, Andy sustained one of the heaviest recent defeats in his career with a 6-1, 6-2 drubbing.
After such a fine start to the week, it seems almost puzzling how Andy could go from being good to... well frankly shit in just the space of a day. Andy's serve is well known to be his Achilles heel and it was certainly exploited today by Wawrinka, who just pummelled the British No.1 without mercy. But it does raise the question of just how Andy seems to curiously go through these moments where he sustains heavy defeats, yet for example Djokovic, can always find a way to battle through more times than not against most in form opponents even when he's not playing his best, which I will get to soon. Also as a result of this defeat Andy will drop back to the No.3 spot, as he needed to reach the quarter finals in Monte Carlo to maintain the No.2 ranking, and so unfortunately that has gone by the wayside for now, and Rog as of next week will be back at 2. But all that aside we have to remember that clay is Andy's least preferred surface, and by his own admission he has said that clay is his "worst" surface, something which was certainly proved today! So even though it was a tough loss, I'm sure Andy will bounce back (no pun intended) and it is just the start of the clay court season, so he will have plenty more chances to improve his game and adapt to the tricky red dirt before the French Open arrives.
Now onto the remaining top seeds, starting with Novak Djokovic, the World No.1, who came into Monte Carlo recovering from an ankle injury he sustained during his Davis cup tie against the USA. Regardless of that though Nole confirmed he was fit enough to play and so far he has made progress in Monte Carlo, but he's not had it easy. In his 2nd round match, Novak came up against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, and Nole started off slow, with the Russian taking the opening set. But from here Nole worked his way into the match and went on to seal it in 3 sets, winning in 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. And it was the same in his 3rd round match against Juan Monaco, as Novak had to fight from a set down once again to beat the Argentine, with an eventual 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win.
Despite his injury concerns, Novak so far has put them mostly to rest, but judging by his results so far, he has not been playing at his best, but being the No.1 player in the world, he knows how to dig in and fight on no matter what. And that for me is what sets him apart from the rest of the players on tour just now, including Andy Murray, who in moments like today against Stan Wawrinka, seemed to just uncharacteristically fall apart, and overall Djokovic has better consistency on all surfaces than Andy does, which I guess is what makes him the world's best player. So for that alone Nole deserves much credit for fighting on and finding a way to win in these situations, and next up he will face Jarko Nieminen, so we will see how that one goes.
So this brings me onto the 8 time defending champion, and the undisputed king of clay, Rafael Nadal, who so far has made a very impressive comeback to the tour after a 7 month absence due to his knee injury. And its safe to say so far in Monte Carlo he has continued his superb form, as in his 2nd round match he raced past Marino Matosevic in just 6-1, 6-2, and also comfortably swept past the German player, Philipp Kolschreiber in 6-2, 6-4 in the 3rd round to make it to his 9th quarter final in the principality. At this rate and given his current form I think it will be tough to imagine anyone defeat Rafa at this event, as his 8 time champion record speaks for itself, and having not dropped a set so far (and probably most likely not to!) he will be mighty tough to defeat. And for me the only man who could do it is Nole, but given the currrent circumstances with his ankle, it has to be said that I can quite see the World No.1 take down Rafa here, but we'll see how it goes, and who will come out on top should they meet in the final.
And that's it for now, will follow soon on Monte Carlo again.
Until the next one, bye the now!
Sunday 7 April 2013
Davis cup update: against all the odds
Ok time for a different tennis post, this one is on the Davis cup, which took place this weekend, which is basically the world cup of men's tennis, and players from their respective countries play as a team, with most of the world's top players doing their bit.
So as a quick update, I'll start with the main world group tie results, with the defending champions, the Czeck Republic, who managed to maintain their defence, as they beat Kazahkstan 3-1, with Lukas Rosol finsihing things off to take the lead they need to reach the semi finals. In another tie result, France lost in a tight tie against Argentina as the victory was sealed by the loud grunting Carlos Berlocq (who cheesed off Andy Murray when they played in Indian Wells! ;-)) with a 3-2 result.
And in another world group tie, Serbia, the former defending champions took on the USA, with Novak Djokovic headlining the team. With Nole in the team for Serbia, they had to be the favourites for the singles matches, however the Yanks have the Bryan brothers for the doubles, the best doubles team in the world. So to get onto the singles matches, the first one was between Nole and the big John Isner, and after a tight first set, it was Djokovic that went on to take full control of the match, with only a small chance of Isner fighting back in the 3rd set, but Nole went on to break to win in 7-6, 6-2, 7-5, to win the first point for Serbia. In the 2nd singles rubber, Sam Querrey battled it out to level the scores as he dug out a 5 set win against Viktor Troicki with a 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory.
However the real fate of the contest would be decided on the doubles day as the world's best doubles team, the Bryan brothers took on the Serb team, Nenand Zimonjic and the unknown Illija Bozoljac. Naturally the Bryans looked to be the hot favourites to win the match and take the 2-1 lead they needed to move ahead. However the Serb team put together an inspired performance, particularly from the unknown Bozoljac, and took a two sets to love lead against the Americans, before the double duo fought back to level the scores at two sets all. And the decider was a real marathon as both teams refused to budge on serve until the Serbs managed to get the crucial break at 14-13, with Zimonjic finally serving it out to gain the vital 2-1 lead against the USA, coming through an epic encounter in 7-6, 7-6, 5-7, 4-6, 15-13. This was a real upset and totally unexpected, and while Zimonjic is a well established doubles player, Ilija Bozoljac (I'll resist the temptation to nickname him as Bozo!) was a total unknown, who's double ranking was in the 1000s! So it was quite an incredible performance from the Serb who served brilliantly throughout the match and pretty much in a way was the hero of the tie for their country.
As for what was to be the deciding singles rubber, between Novak Djokovic and Sam Querrey, it promised to be an intruiging one. However Djokovic early on in the first set twisted his ankle, which put the match under threat, but after taking a medical timeout and having his ankle strapped, Nole fought on and dug in to take the first set. In the 2nd set, Novak was clearly struggling with his ankle somewhat, which allowed for Querrey to dominate some of the points, and the set went to a breaker, which Querrey won to level the match. However from the 3rd set onward, Nole took total control of the match as Querrey fell to pieces in spectacular fashion, dropping his serve no less than five times (or maybe six!) to let Djoko seal his country's place in the semi finals with a triumphant 7-5, 6-7, 6-1, 6-0 victory, and a 3-1 score for the tie.
It just goes to show even if he looks down, you can never ever count Novak Djokovic out, and after turning his ankle, things did look pretty dodgy for him. But like all great champions do, Nole toughed it out and obviously he wanted to fight to try and get the win for his country, which he certainly did, as he romped to victory taking 11 of the last 12 games. As for Djokovic's ankle well it remains to be seen if there will be any damage as a result of his playing on it in this match. However I'm sure that Nole will be fine for the clay court season as it starts up in a week's time at the Rolex Monte Carlo masters.
So now moving onto Great Britain's tie against Russia, as both teams were competing to try and win a place in the world group play offs in September. And obviously Great Britain, given their lack of Andy Murray in this tie, and their lower ranked players, were the underdogs going into this tie, so to pull off an upset victory seemed a big big ask.
And from the first day it looked to be just that, as despite fighting valiantly in their first two rubber matches, it was Russia that took the early 2-0 lead on Friday. In the first match Dan Evans, the British No.6 (ranked outside the top 300!) faced the Russian No.1 (well in the absence of their actual No.1, Mikhail Youzhny) Dimitri Tursinov. Tursinov despite his much higher ranking of 67, was given quite a good run for his money from Evans however, as Evo took the opening set, and despite dropping the 2nd and 3rd, fought back to level things in the 4th. And in the 5th it was Tursinov's experience that finally got him through to take the first rubber, after a hard fought 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 battle. And James Ward, the British No.2, took on Eugene Donskoy, and it was Wardy that got off to the better start as he took a confident two sets to love lead. However from here it was Donskoy who fought back to level the match at two sets apiece, and in the 5th, we were treated to a real tight contest, but it was the Russian that made it over the line, edging Ward in 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 8-6, to take an ominous 2-0 lead.
On the second day however, the Brits started their fightback as the doubles partnership of Colin Fleming, and current Wimbledon doubles champion, Jonathan Marray put in a great performance in thrashing the Russian team Kunitsyn and Baluda in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, to keep GB's hopes alive. And on Sunday, with the odds firmly against team GB it was down to James Ward and Dan Evans to try and come up with two inspired performances to try and pull off a massive upset.
Which brings onto the first match of the day between James Ward and Dimitri Tursinov, and despite their gap in rakings by about 150 places, it was Ward that got off to a great start, breaking Tursy to take the opening set. However things started to look sticky for GB when Tursy fought back, and started to cut down on his errors, and get his fearsome forehand working as he went on to take a 2 sets to 1 lead. But Wardy was not done yet as in the 4th set he found more inspiration as he broke Trusy early on and went on confidently to hold his serve to level the match. And in the decider, it was with one of the best performances of his career so far that Ward once again managed to break the Russian, and held his nerve to serve it out to level the tie for GB with a much needed and thrilling victory in 6-4, 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. And in the final and decisive rubber, between Dan Evans and Evgeny Donskoy, it was Dan, who once again showed off his skills and his new found nack at sealing crucial tie matches for his team, as he raced to victory and outplayed his significantly higher ranked opponent with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 win.
It has to be said that I myself was hugely sceptical of GB pulling off this one, as the contests continue, the teams get tougher and the opponents become higher ranked. But the Davis cup GB team deserve nothing but credit for their terrific efforts and performances this weekend at the Ricoh arena in Coventry. And even in the first day Dan and James put in terrific gutsy efforts, despite their losses they came very close indeed, and to turn it around on the final day was nothing short of superb. Its also even more incredible an achievement considering just the gulf in rakings between the GB and Russian singles players, with Dan Evans ranked 325 in the world, having taken down Evgeny Donskoy who is ranked 80, and James Ward ranked 215 beating Tursinov who is ranked 67 in the world! And on the basis of this, its more than safe to say that both these guys are playing well above their ranking, and if anything they should be ranked even higher. But I suppose that is also the advantage of playing for a team in Davis cup, as it brings the best of its players, given the right support and attitude, they can pretty much do anything.
And while it was a terrific collective effort from the team and another terrific victory for Leon Smith, who has enjoyed six out of seven wins in his tenure as the Davis cup GB team captain, the real hero of the tie this weekend was James Ward. Ward by beating Tursinov to level the match no doubt gave his team the inspiration and belief they needed and no doubt it urged on Evans to the team's victory. And it showed great guts and determination from Ward to fight back from 2 sets to 1 down, and throughout the match he put in a superb serving performance, as he fired down 31 aces in all. And with performances like this it would be great to see Ward try and push his ranking even higher in the future, and if he can try and maintain a similar level he can just that.
As for the next tie, well it will be in September and it says team GB reach the world group play offs, and hopefully Andy Murray will be set to play in the tie, and let's hope he does as they sure will need him. And while I appreciate that the top players, such as Andy have hectic schedules throughout the year, I do find it disappointing at times when he doesn't play in Davis cup, so let's hope he can adhere to his promise as sooner or later his team really will need him, and with his help they should definitely make that transition into the world groups. And it is yet to be confirmed but there is a chance out of the eight teams GB could face in the world group play-offs in September could be either Switzerland or Spain! Now, do we know any players from those countries???? Maybe! And if the GB team are to face either team in September then they will definitely need Andy Murray on their side! Although it depends on who they play, it could be either a home or an away match, as if they play Spain it would be away, and if it were Switzerland it would be at home. But the chances of a match up with Andy and Roger or Rafa would no doubt prove too tantalising for Andy to turn down, and he has so far said he will play in September, so let's hope for the sake of his team that he does.
So that's it for now, a big well done again to team GB and of course to the world group teams, the Czecks, Serbia and Argentina in making through with Canada facing off Italy just now for the final place in the semis. So more to follow next week once the clay season kicks off for the men in Monte Carlo.
Until next time, bye for nowww!
So as a quick update, I'll start with the main world group tie results, with the defending champions, the Czeck Republic, who managed to maintain their defence, as they beat Kazahkstan 3-1, with Lukas Rosol finsihing things off to take the lead they need to reach the semi finals. In another tie result, France lost in a tight tie against Argentina as the victory was sealed by the loud grunting Carlos Berlocq (who cheesed off Andy Murray when they played in Indian Wells! ;-)) with a 3-2 result.
And in another world group tie, Serbia, the former defending champions took on the USA, with Novak Djokovic headlining the team. With Nole in the team for Serbia, they had to be the favourites for the singles matches, however the Yanks have the Bryan brothers for the doubles, the best doubles team in the world. So to get onto the singles matches, the first one was between Nole and the big John Isner, and after a tight first set, it was Djokovic that went on to take full control of the match, with only a small chance of Isner fighting back in the 3rd set, but Nole went on to break to win in 7-6, 6-2, 7-5, to win the first point for Serbia. In the 2nd singles rubber, Sam Querrey battled it out to level the scores as he dug out a 5 set win against Viktor Troicki with a 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory.
However the real fate of the contest would be decided on the doubles day as the world's best doubles team, the Bryan brothers took on the Serb team, Nenand Zimonjic and the unknown Illija Bozoljac. Naturally the Bryans looked to be the hot favourites to win the match and take the 2-1 lead they needed to move ahead. However the Serb team put together an inspired performance, particularly from the unknown Bozoljac, and took a two sets to love lead against the Americans, before the double duo fought back to level the scores at two sets all. And the decider was a real marathon as both teams refused to budge on serve until the Serbs managed to get the crucial break at 14-13, with Zimonjic finally serving it out to gain the vital 2-1 lead against the USA, coming through an epic encounter in 7-6, 7-6, 5-7, 4-6, 15-13. This was a real upset and totally unexpected, and while Zimonjic is a well established doubles player, Ilija Bozoljac (I'll resist the temptation to nickname him as Bozo!) was a total unknown, who's double ranking was in the 1000s! So it was quite an incredible performance from the Serb who served brilliantly throughout the match and pretty much in a way was the hero of the tie for their country.
As for what was to be the deciding singles rubber, between Novak Djokovic and Sam Querrey, it promised to be an intruiging one. However Djokovic early on in the first set twisted his ankle, which put the match under threat, but after taking a medical timeout and having his ankle strapped, Nole fought on and dug in to take the first set. In the 2nd set, Novak was clearly struggling with his ankle somewhat, which allowed for Querrey to dominate some of the points, and the set went to a breaker, which Querrey won to level the match. However from the 3rd set onward, Nole took total control of the match as Querrey fell to pieces in spectacular fashion, dropping his serve no less than five times (or maybe six!) to let Djoko seal his country's place in the semi finals with a triumphant 7-5, 6-7, 6-1, 6-0 victory, and a 3-1 score for the tie.
It just goes to show even if he looks down, you can never ever count Novak Djokovic out, and after turning his ankle, things did look pretty dodgy for him. But like all great champions do, Nole toughed it out and obviously he wanted to fight to try and get the win for his country, which he certainly did, as he romped to victory taking 11 of the last 12 games. As for Djokovic's ankle well it remains to be seen if there will be any damage as a result of his playing on it in this match. However I'm sure that Nole will be fine for the clay court season as it starts up in a week's time at the Rolex Monte Carlo masters.
So now moving onto Great Britain's tie against Russia, as both teams were competing to try and win a place in the world group play offs in September. And obviously Great Britain, given their lack of Andy Murray in this tie, and their lower ranked players, were the underdogs going into this tie, so to pull off an upset victory seemed a big big ask.
And from the first day it looked to be just that, as despite fighting valiantly in their first two rubber matches, it was Russia that took the early 2-0 lead on Friday. In the first match Dan Evans, the British No.6 (ranked outside the top 300!) faced the Russian No.1 (well in the absence of their actual No.1, Mikhail Youzhny) Dimitri Tursinov. Tursinov despite his much higher ranking of 67, was given quite a good run for his money from Evans however, as Evo took the opening set, and despite dropping the 2nd and 3rd, fought back to level things in the 4th. And in the 5th it was Tursinov's experience that finally got him through to take the first rubber, after a hard fought 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 battle. And James Ward, the British No.2, took on Eugene Donskoy, and it was Wardy that got off to the better start as he took a confident two sets to love lead. However from here it was Donskoy who fought back to level the match at two sets apiece, and in the 5th, we were treated to a real tight contest, but it was the Russian that made it over the line, edging Ward in 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 8-6, to take an ominous 2-0 lead.
On the second day however, the Brits started their fightback as the doubles partnership of Colin Fleming, and current Wimbledon doubles champion, Jonathan Marray put in a great performance in thrashing the Russian team Kunitsyn and Baluda in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, to keep GB's hopes alive. And on Sunday, with the odds firmly against team GB it was down to James Ward and Dan Evans to try and come up with two inspired performances to try and pull off a massive upset.
Which brings onto the first match of the day between James Ward and Dimitri Tursinov, and despite their gap in rakings by about 150 places, it was Ward that got off to a great start, breaking Tursy to take the opening set. However things started to look sticky for GB when Tursy fought back, and started to cut down on his errors, and get his fearsome forehand working as he went on to take a 2 sets to 1 lead. But Wardy was not done yet as in the 4th set he found more inspiration as he broke Trusy early on and went on confidently to hold his serve to level the match. And in the decider, it was with one of the best performances of his career so far that Ward once again managed to break the Russian, and held his nerve to serve it out to level the tie for GB with a much needed and thrilling victory in 6-4, 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. And in the final and decisive rubber, between Dan Evans and Evgeny Donskoy, it was Dan, who once again showed off his skills and his new found nack at sealing crucial tie matches for his team, as he raced to victory and outplayed his significantly higher ranked opponent with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 win.
It has to be said that I myself was hugely sceptical of GB pulling off this one, as the contests continue, the teams get tougher and the opponents become higher ranked. But the Davis cup GB team deserve nothing but credit for their terrific efforts and performances this weekend at the Ricoh arena in Coventry. And even in the first day Dan and James put in terrific gutsy efforts, despite their losses they came very close indeed, and to turn it around on the final day was nothing short of superb. Its also even more incredible an achievement considering just the gulf in rakings between the GB and Russian singles players, with Dan Evans ranked 325 in the world, having taken down Evgeny Donskoy who is ranked 80, and James Ward ranked 215 beating Tursinov who is ranked 67 in the world! And on the basis of this, its more than safe to say that both these guys are playing well above their ranking, and if anything they should be ranked even higher. But I suppose that is also the advantage of playing for a team in Davis cup, as it brings the best of its players, given the right support and attitude, they can pretty much do anything.
And while it was a terrific collective effort from the team and another terrific victory for Leon Smith, who has enjoyed six out of seven wins in his tenure as the Davis cup GB team captain, the real hero of the tie this weekend was James Ward. Ward by beating Tursinov to level the match no doubt gave his team the inspiration and belief they needed and no doubt it urged on Evans to the team's victory. And it showed great guts and determination from Ward to fight back from 2 sets to 1 down, and throughout the match he put in a superb serving performance, as he fired down 31 aces in all. And with performances like this it would be great to see Ward try and push his ranking even higher in the future, and if he can try and maintain a similar level he can just that.
As for the next tie, well it will be in September and it says team GB reach the world group play offs, and hopefully Andy Murray will be set to play in the tie, and let's hope he does as they sure will need him. And while I appreciate that the top players, such as Andy have hectic schedules throughout the year, I do find it disappointing at times when he doesn't play in Davis cup, so let's hope he can adhere to his promise as sooner or later his team really will need him, and with his help they should definitely make that transition into the world groups. And it is yet to be confirmed but there is a chance out of the eight teams GB could face in the world group play-offs in September could be either Switzerland or Spain! Now, do we know any players from those countries???? Maybe! And if the GB team are to face either team in September then they will definitely need Andy Murray on their side! Although it depends on who they play, it could be either a home or an away match, as if they play Spain it would be away, and if it were Switzerland it would be at home. But the chances of a match up with Andy and Roger or Rafa would no doubt prove too tantalising for Andy to turn down, and he has so far said he will play in September, so let's hope for the sake of his team that he does.
So that's it for now, a big well done again to team GB and of course to the world group teams, the Czecks, Serbia and Argentina in making through with Canada facing off Italy just now for the final place in the semis. So more to follow next week once the clay season kicks off for the men in Monte Carlo.
Until next time, bye for nowww!
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