Rrrrrrright well this is the last part of my posts on the 2014 Australian open which will cover the men's final so let's gear up and have a look.....
So the men's final was a rather surprising line up as for starters the defending champion Novak Djokovic had been put out, Andy Murray was also defeated by Roger Federer, and Roger himself went on to lose to Rafa. So this set up a final between Rafa and the Swiss No.2, Stanislas Wawrinka who had reached his first major final. And with Rafa having effectively dispatched Stan's compatriot, Roger Federer in straight sets, Rafa went into the final as the overwhelming favourite against Stan, who had never even won a set against him never mind a match.
However that all changed in this match as Stan came out firing on all cylinders and apparently unfazed by nerves of his first grand slam final he put in a superb serving performance and broke Rafa to go on and win his first ever set against the Spaniard. And in the second set things took a dramatic turn as Rafa at one point grimaced in pain as he reached for a shot that he missed as he started to feel his back strain. As the second set went on Rafa took a medical timeout for his back, which left Stan waiting on court a bit rattled because he didn't know what was up with Rafa and demanded the umpire to find out. After Rafa came back there was a chorus of boos for the former champion as they suspected Rafa might have been playing a bit of gamesmanship. However that proved to be far from the case as Rafa continued to struggle with his back as he rolled his serves in as low as about 110 kmh and at one point even looked on the verge of tears, with Stan in full control he broke Rafa twice to take a two set lead. In the 3rd set however things shifted as Rafa started to feel the effects of anti-inflammatories that he had taken and he raised level to break Stan for the first time and eventually he took the 3rd set. In the 4th set there was now the danger of a real comeback from Rafa, however it was soon neturalised by Stan against who broke Rafa once, only to surrender the break, but right after he broke again to go 5-3 and on the first time of asking he served out the match to secure his first ever grand slam title with a dramatic 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory.
Well I'm sure this wasn't the result most people, and myself included, would have expected especially as Rafa looked to be in top form against Roger in the semi finals and given his emphatic head to head over Stan with no losses. And although Rafa had trouble with a blister on his hand in his last few matches there appeared to be no problems with his back, so it was a surprise when it happened. And it was difficult to watch Rafa as he was in pain and he became quite emotional as the match went on and there were times in the match where Rafa looked certain to retire. But it was actually great credit to Rafa and his fighting qualities that he didn't retire from the match and that he even attempted to try and get back into it before he fell to an inspired Stan. And after the match we also saw how upset Rafa was and how he was trying to fight back the tears and we saw that he was starting to break down as he walked off the court and into the corridors toward the locker room. But hopefully Rafa will be able to bounce back soon and let's hope that his back injury isn't a serious one like Andy's was.
As for Stan well this is a terrific victory and yeah ok he played an injured Rafa who was below par, but right from the start he played the best tennis of his career in that first set alone and in that fortnight he proved himself to be worthy of a major title, especially after he beat Djokovic in the quarter finals, it showed he really had arrived as a player. And another thing Stan deserves credit for is how he dealt with Rafa's injury in that match as at one point he got ratty with the umpire after Rafa walked off court, and for a set he was distracted by what was going on with the Spaniard. But Stan went on to then regroup and put it behind him and on the first time of asking he held his nerve and serve to close out and win his first grand slam championship. And it was also good that Stan had to win the match rather than take the title on a retiral from Rafa but thankfully this wasn't the case and Rafa is no quitter that's for sure. Also with this win, Stan will rise in the rankings to the World No.3 on Monday and he has now proven beyond a doubt that he is a big threat to the "big four" especially as he is now officially one of them! Stan is also the first player since 2009 to have won a slam outwith the big four since Juan Martin Del Potro at the US Open, which is in itself remarkable. And there's almost a nice symmetry about the fact that the Australian open was the tournament which announced Stan to the world as a top player a year ago when he had that epic match with Nole, that he would go on to win that tournament this year. And I also think that Stan can go on and win more major titles as well and with the French open coming up next in May, who is to say how he could do there, and just maybe he could also be the man to upset Rafa's apple cart at Roland Garros. But we can leave that for another time.
Right so that's it for my posts on the 2014 Australian Open and it just remains for me to say a big congratulations to Li Na and Stan Wawrinka for both winning their maiden Australian open singles titles and it bodes for an interesting and exciting season of tennis ahead.
And with that I shall see you later.
Sunday 26 January 2014
2014 Australian Open Part 6: Third time's a charm
OK so I am getting close to the end of my posts on the Australian open for 2014 and this post will be on the ladies final which was between Li Na and Dominika Cibulkova. So let's take a look at it......
So this was a big match for both Li and Dominika as for Li it was her third final in Melbourne and she was looking to win her second major and her first title there and Cibulkova was trying to win her first major. As for the match the first set was a tense affair and both players were feeling the nerves with Cibulkova dropping serve straigh away, although she soon broke back to go 2-2. And as the first went on it went by serve until Li Na broke to go 6-5 only to be broken back by Cibulkova which saw the first set go to a tiebreak which Li na dominated to take the first set. In the second set however it was a different story altogehter as Li Na setlled herself and she started playing some great tennis, hitting her backhand to near perfection as she went for the lines. And in the end Dominika Cibulkova had no answer for Li Na who went on to hand her opponent a creamy bagel to end the match and Li Na grabbed her first Australian open title in 7-6, 6-0.
Well it has to be said that this was a match of two halves with the first set being a tense encounter and the second set being a cakewalk for Li Na. But Li Na deserves all the credit and she pulled out a great win in the end and to think that back in her second or third round match when she played Lucie Safarova she was two match points down, to go on and actually win the tournament really is quite something. And with that Li Na has also played her part in breaking the dominance of Serena Williams and its great to once again see other players win grand slams other than just the usual suspects. And Li Na now has the opportunity to go and win more slams as she has proven in Melbourne that she isn't a one trick pony and with the French open next up in May as she has already won there she has a good chance to win again. So we will see how things will pan out for the two time major champion but so far so good.
Li Na also has proved to be very popular down under with the crowds as she is noted for giving funny on court interviews and her acceptance speech was no different. In her speech Li Na thanked her husband and said that he is the most famous person in China and she thanked him for being her hitting partner, making drinks and being a nice guy, and she lastly added "and you are so lucky to have me!" which had all the Aussies laughing away. And that is also great to see that in Li Na we have a likeable engaging champion who can win over the crowds with her sense of humour as well her tennis, so I'm sure in 2014 she will continue to have a great season.
As for Domimika Cibulkova well she has had a wonderful tournament as she went in as the 20th seed and with little or no expectations of her reaching the final she worked her way through her draw and she even defeated Maria Sharapova enroute to the final. It was a pity for her that she couldn't get anything going after her efforts in the first set and at one point even some arse in the crowd shouted out to Li Na "Go on bagel her!" as the Slovak tried to rescue her last serve before she fell to the Chinese No.1 with a bagel after all in the second set. And whether or not she can go on to win a slam herself remains to be seem but she has certainly shown that she is a player to watch out for in the majors and her ranking will rise to No.11 just outside the top ten with this result.
Right well that's it for the ladies tournament at the 2014 Australian Open which has seen some dramatic upsets with all the favourites including Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka going out early. And it was also great to see a new champion's name etched onto that rather nice Daphne Ashbrook champion's trophy with Li Na, a favourite of the Aussies winning the title after three attempts to prove third time was a charm.
And so that's it for now, I'll be back soon with the men's final.
Bye for noww!
So this was a big match for both Li and Dominika as for Li it was her third final in Melbourne and she was looking to win her second major and her first title there and Cibulkova was trying to win her first major. As for the match the first set was a tense affair and both players were feeling the nerves with Cibulkova dropping serve straigh away, although she soon broke back to go 2-2. And as the first went on it went by serve until Li Na broke to go 6-5 only to be broken back by Cibulkova which saw the first set go to a tiebreak which Li na dominated to take the first set. In the second set however it was a different story altogehter as Li Na setlled herself and she started playing some great tennis, hitting her backhand to near perfection as she went for the lines. And in the end Dominika Cibulkova had no answer for Li Na who went on to hand her opponent a creamy bagel to end the match and Li Na grabbed her first Australian open title in 7-6, 6-0.
Well it has to be said that this was a match of two halves with the first set being a tense encounter and the second set being a cakewalk for Li Na. But Li Na deserves all the credit and she pulled out a great win in the end and to think that back in her second or third round match when she played Lucie Safarova she was two match points down, to go on and actually win the tournament really is quite something. And with that Li Na has also played her part in breaking the dominance of Serena Williams and its great to once again see other players win grand slams other than just the usual suspects. And Li Na now has the opportunity to go and win more slams as she has proven in Melbourne that she isn't a one trick pony and with the French open next up in May as she has already won there she has a good chance to win again. So we will see how things will pan out for the two time major champion but so far so good.
Li Na also has proved to be very popular down under with the crowds as she is noted for giving funny on court interviews and her acceptance speech was no different. In her speech Li Na thanked her husband and said that he is the most famous person in China and she thanked him for being her hitting partner, making drinks and being a nice guy, and she lastly added "and you are so lucky to have me!" which had all the Aussies laughing away. And that is also great to see that in Li Na we have a likeable engaging champion who can win over the crowds with her sense of humour as well her tennis, so I'm sure in 2014 she will continue to have a great season.
As for Domimika Cibulkova well she has had a wonderful tournament as she went in as the 20th seed and with little or no expectations of her reaching the final she worked her way through her draw and she even defeated Maria Sharapova enroute to the final. It was a pity for her that she couldn't get anything going after her efforts in the first set and at one point even some arse in the crowd shouted out to Li Na "Go on bagel her!" as the Slovak tried to rescue her last serve before she fell to the Chinese No.1 with a bagel after all in the second set. And whether or not she can go on to win a slam herself remains to be seem but she has certainly shown that she is a player to watch out for in the majors and her ranking will rise to No.11 just outside the top ten with this result.
Right well that's it for the ladies tournament at the 2014 Australian Open which has seen some dramatic upsets with all the favourites including Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka going out early. And it was also great to see a new champion's name etched onto that rather nice Daphne Ashbrook champion's trophy with Li Na, a favourite of the Aussies winning the title after three attempts to prove third time was a charm.
And so that's it for now, I'll be back soon with the men's final.
Bye for noww!
2014 Australian Open Part 5: Roger and Rafa
Right time for a quick update on the Australian open remaining men's semi final on day 12 which was between two of the greatest players to have played the game, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. So let's have a quick look....
So this blockbuster clash promised to deliver loads as their last encounter in Melbourne was a tight four set scrap which saw Nadal come out on top again. But would Roger finally break that long losing streaking he has been suffering at the hands of Rafa????? Unfortunately the answer was no. And despite a tight first set where Roger threatened to attack Rafa's serve time and time again, it made no difference as Rafa proved to be just too strong in the key moments and saved any opportunities for break points on his own serve and he took the breaker against the Swiss. And from the second set onward Rafa was in full control and despite even having to deal with a nasty open sore from his burst blister on his hand, it still did nothing to take away from his superb level as he broke Roger, who made a rash of careless unforced errors, spraying balls long or wide. And after 2 hours and 24 minutes it was Rafa that made the move and forced Roger to make a few errors that brought up break points to end the match and seal Rafa's place in his 2nd Australian open final with a convincing 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Well this wasn't quite the result I think most of us would have expected as I'm sure we were all expecting a real tight pitch battle between these two legends of the game. And despite Roger having Stefan Edberg on his side, it did nothing to help him find a solution to get past Rafa and it was clear that Roger was even losing patience as he complained to the umpire at one point about Rafa's grunting and the length of time he takes between points. And this to me appeared to smack of desparation from Roger and it has to be said that it also showed as a bit of poor sportsmanship and in the end Rafa was simply too good for his old rival. And from that point of view I think it will be very tough for Roger to find a way to get past Rafa in the future and I personally don't see him ever beat Rafa in a grand slam again.
But regardless of that though Roger can at least take solace from the Australian Open in that he has managed to make the semi finals yet again for 11th year running and despite his loss to Rafa it shows that his form has much improved from last year. And given that form so far, Roger can probably use that to ensure that he can win more titles this year and come Wimbledon time if he maintains that level and he has a favourable draw, he will post a big threat to the rest of the field when we get there, but we can save that for another time.
As for Rafa well this match showed once again his imperious form of 2013 had not left him and that he remains firmly on course to win his 14th grand slam title and second title in Melbourne. And by doing this Rafa will equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 slams and not only that he will become only one of three men to have won all grand slam titles more than once. So the history books will promise to be re-written yet again tomorrow as Rafa will go for more major silverware down under.
Which brings me onto my thoughts looking ahead to the final with Rafa taking on Stanislas Wawrinka who will play in his first grand slam final. And this all begs the question: who will win the Australian open?????? Well if you wan't the short answer its Rafa, if you wan't the long version, its still Rafa, and that's it! Well OK I will go into a bit more than that.... well on one hand its easy to call because Rafa is the overwhelming favourite to win as he has never lost to Stan and not only that he has NEVER dropped a set against him either. And on that basis it does not bode well for Stan Wawrinka. However Stan right now is playing the best tennis of his career and even if he loses the final his ranking will shoot up to a new career high of World No.5, which will also see him overtake Federer in the rankings.
So while it will be exceptionally difficult for Stan to beat Rafa, its not entirely impossible either and their last two matches have been pretty close, especially at the o2 in London where Stan pushed Rafa to two tiebreak sets, which he lost, but the level of play in those matches were pretty high and Stan had quite a few opportunities against Rafa, so sooner or later he has to try and take them. So basically for me if Stan is to have a chance of beating Rafa he simply has to go out and play the match of his life and above all play very aggressively and serve well. But the trouble for Stan with Rafa also is his single hand backhand plays well into Rafa's forehand as the high bounce of the single hand backhand favours Rafa's racquet as he generates so much topspin on his shots, which means he can attack Stan's best shot alot more than anyone else can manage (and Roger's as well for that matter). And if Rafa draws Stan into long rallies then there will be really only one winner and that is where Rafa will grind his opponent down. So all in all for Stan its going to be a pretty daunting task ahead of him in order to claim his first major title.
Sooooooooo to sum up my prediction for the final tomorrow I think it will be Rafa in straight sets, but I think it will potentially be a tight contest regardless and I'm sure Stan can push Rafa quite hard. And just perhaps Stan can take his first set off Rafa and turn the match into a real contest, but beyond that I still can't see him win it, even though it would be great if he could. But for me the Spaniard remains the firm favourite to win the title and win it I think he shall, but we will just have to wait and see, so while I'm thinking it could go to four sets I think will be over in three.
Right so that's it for now more will follow on the ladies and the men's singles finals, and in the meantime all the best to you Stan in your first major final.
Until then bye for now!
So this blockbuster clash promised to deliver loads as their last encounter in Melbourne was a tight four set scrap which saw Nadal come out on top again. But would Roger finally break that long losing streaking he has been suffering at the hands of Rafa????? Unfortunately the answer was no. And despite a tight first set where Roger threatened to attack Rafa's serve time and time again, it made no difference as Rafa proved to be just too strong in the key moments and saved any opportunities for break points on his own serve and he took the breaker against the Swiss. And from the second set onward Rafa was in full control and despite even having to deal with a nasty open sore from his burst blister on his hand, it still did nothing to take away from his superb level as he broke Roger, who made a rash of careless unforced errors, spraying balls long or wide. And after 2 hours and 24 minutes it was Rafa that made the move and forced Roger to make a few errors that brought up break points to end the match and seal Rafa's place in his 2nd Australian open final with a convincing 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Well this wasn't quite the result I think most of us would have expected as I'm sure we were all expecting a real tight pitch battle between these two legends of the game. And despite Roger having Stefan Edberg on his side, it did nothing to help him find a solution to get past Rafa and it was clear that Roger was even losing patience as he complained to the umpire at one point about Rafa's grunting and the length of time he takes between points. And this to me appeared to smack of desparation from Roger and it has to be said that it also showed as a bit of poor sportsmanship and in the end Rafa was simply too good for his old rival. And from that point of view I think it will be very tough for Roger to find a way to get past Rafa in the future and I personally don't see him ever beat Rafa in a grand slam again.
But regardless of that though Roger can at least take solace from the Australian Open in that he has managed to make the semi finals yet again for 11th year running and despite his loss to Rafa it shows that his form has much improved from last year. And given that form so far, Roger can probably use that to ensure that he can win more titles this year and come Wimbledon time if he maintains that level and he has a favourable draw, he will post a big threat to the rest of the field when we get there, but we can save that for another time.
As for Rafa well this match showed once again his imperious form of 2013 had not left him and that he remains firmly on course to win his 14th grand slam title and second title in Melbourne. And by doing this Rafa will equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 slams and not only that he will become only one of three men to have won all grand slam titles more than once. So the history books will promise to be re-written yet again tomorrow as Rafa will go for more major silverware down under.
Which brings me onto my thoughts looking ahead to the final with Rafa taking on Stanislas Wawrinka who will play in his first grand slam final. And this all begs the question: who will win the Australian open?????? Well if you wan't the short answer its Rafa, if you wan't the long version, its still Rafa, and that's it! Well OK I will go into a bit more than that.... well on one hand its easy to call because Rafa is the overwhelming favourite to win as he has never lost to Stan and not only that he has NEVER dropped a set against him either. And on that basis it does not bode well for Stan Wawrinka. However Stan right now is playing the best tennis of his career and even if he loses the final his ranking will shoot up to a new career high of World No.5, which will also see him overtake Federer in the rankings.
So while it will be exceptionally difficult for Stan to beat Rafa, its not entirely impossible either and their last two matches have been pretty close, especially at the o2 in London where Stan pushed Rafa to two tiebreak sets, which he lost, but the level of play in those matches were pretty high and Stan had quite a few opportunities against Rafa, so sooner or later he has to try and take them. So basically for me if Stan is to have a chance of beating Rafa he simply has to go out and play the match of his life and above all play very aggressively and serve well. But the trouble for Stan with Rafa also is his single hand backhand plays well into Rafa's forehand as the high bounce of the single hand backhand favours Rafa's racquet as he generates so much topspin on his shots, which means he can attack Stan's best shot alot more than anyone else can manage (and Roger's as well for that matter). And if Rafa draws Stan into long rallies then there will be really only one winner and that is where Rafa will grind his opponent down. So all in all for Stan its going to be a pretty daunting task ahead of him in order to claim his first major title.
Sooooooooo to sum up my prediction for the final tomorrow I think it will be Rafa in straight sets, but I think it will potentially be a tight contest regardless and I'm sure Stan can push Rafa quite hard. And just perhaps Stan can take his first set off Rafa and turn the match into a real contest, but beyond that I still can't see him win it, even though it would be great if he could. But for me the Spaniard remains the firm favourite to win the title and win it I think he shall, but we will just have to wait and see, so while I'm thinking it could go to four sets I think will be over in three.
Right so that's it for now more will follow on the ladies and the men's singles finals, and in the meantime all the best to you Stan in your first major final.
Until then bye for now!
Thursday 23 January 2014
2014 Australian Open The Men's singles Part 4.2: Roger is back and Stan is still DA MAN!
So now its time for my post on the men's tennis at the 2014 Australian Open and it will cover the quarter final and semi final action that took place on Days 10 and 11. So let's give it a look....
Right so starting with Day 10 we had up first on court Rafa Nadal who took on the Bulgarian new hope, Grigor Dimitrov, who has proved so far and last year that he is one to watch out for. Dimitrov has had comparisons of his gamestyle being similar to Federer's so much so that he has been nicknamed "Baby Fed". And it would be difficult to ignore them as Dimitrov does have a similar attacking style and a single handed backhand that is molded on Federer's own. And like Federer, Dimitrov actually did an excellent job at sticking it to Rafa out on the Rod Laver arena court as he took the opening set with a break. Rafa who still appeared to be suffering from a blister on his hand had to again have it redressed with tape during play, but he did what he had to do and soon got back into the match as he levelled at a set all winning a tiebreak. In the 3rd set play went to a tieberak again and this time Dimitrov had two set points to take the two sets to one lead, but in the end he couldn't take them as Rafa fought back and snatched the set instead. And in the 4th set Rafa soon found cruise control as he eventually wore down the gutsy Bulgarian after a tough four set battle, the World No.1 reached the final four with a 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 win.
Well this once again proves you simply cannot dismiss Rafa in any given circumstance and even with a nasty blister on his hand, which at times even affected his serve badly, he still managed to dig deep and get the job done. Dimitrov it has to be said definitely played his part in the match and he proved in Melbourne that is one to watch in the future and with his aggressive style of play and growing belief, I think there's a fair chance that he can go on to become a major champion himself in years to come. As for Rafa well a blockbuster match awaits him in the semi finals as he will take on the winner of the next match I will discuss....
And this match was between Roger Federer and the Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray, who had a rematch of their thrilling semi final encounter at Melbourne last year. But would this match live up to expectations???? Well not quite. For starters with Andy having just returned from surgery he was never the favourite to win the title in the first place, especially as he had a lack of matchplay going into the event. Roger on the other hand plenty of matchplay experience throughout the tournament in Melbourne showed impressive form in reaching the quarter finals, especially after he dismissed Tsonga so easily in the previous round.
And in the quarter finals Roger started off where he left against Tsonga as he overwhelmed Andy with a powerful display of his sharpened net skills and great serving, which left Andy wilting as the Swiss maestro soon took a two set lead. And in the third set despite Andy becoming a bit more aggressive he ended up surrendering his own serve at 4-4 to hand Rog the break, which would see the former four time champion with an opportunity to serve for the match. However.... at this point Andy was not yet done as he started to raise his level just in time to break Fed for the first time in the match to get back on level pegging at 5-5 and keep his hopes alive. And play went to a tiebreak in the 3rd set where the momentum swung to and fro and Federer even had two match points, but out of nowhere Andy managed to dig deep and save both of them and go on to take fashion a break of his own to win the breaker and the 3rd set with it. In the 4th set the Rod Laver arena crowd were treated to a thrilling contest where Andy battled to hang onto his serve which he did to level 1-1 in an epic 19 minute game. However as play continued Andy started to show signs of fatigue and he began to fade as Roger eventually wore him down and managed to fashion the crucial break to go 5-3. And after this Roger finally managed to serve out the match at the second time of asking with an ace which sealed his place in the semi finals with a dramatic 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(6-8), 6-3 scoreline.
Well this match certainly showed more than anything that Roger Federer is back well and truly as in the first two sets he showed incredible form against Andy, who then had no answer for him at all. And with this win it sees Roger with a strong chance of keeping title hopes alive and with the opportunity to win that 18th grand slam. As for Andy well despite his disappointing loss he deserves a great deal of credit for how he fought his way back into the match, especially as he was staring down the barrell at two sets and a break down, before he managed to claw his way back into the match by taking the 3rd set, which was remarkable in itself as he was two match points down in that as well, and it was only the second breaker he'd ever won against Federer in out of nine! And it was fair to say it was also a match of two halves with the first being a cakewalk for Federer and the second a tight competitive scrap which finally saw Roger come through. So although Andy is out of the Australian open he did in some ways exceed expectations as there were some people who thought he wouldn't even make it into the second week. So the signs are encouraging for Andy's return to the tour so far as making the last eight of a grand slam on just his second tour event is a good result and we will see how goes from here.
So this sets up a tantalising semi final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as two of the greatest rivals in the history of the sport will clash for a place in the final. Now it begs the question who will win that one???? Well its tough one to call, as Roger hasn't won against Rafa in a grand slam match since the 2007 Wimbledon final so he really has his work cut out here to try and do so again. On the other hand with Roger's new coach, Stefan Edberg, he has been given a new lease of life and maybe with his help, Rog can rekindle that form he had back then and find a way to get the job done. Also another factor is Rafa's blistered hand, which has affected his serve somewhat badly in Melbourne over the last two matches, and that is something that Roger could exploit to his advantage if Rafa is off his game, he could use it to help him win. However Rafa has time and time again always found a way to get it done against Federer in the past and you can't help but think no matter how far down he might be in the match he will find a way to win it, which is what makes him the great champion he is.
But.................... having said all that this tournament so far has seen plenty of upsets and I'm willing to wager that we might just see another tomorrow and I will predict that Roger will triumph this time over Rafa in either four or five sets. This is simply because in Melbourne alone he has shown a tremendous new lease of life and having already beaten two top 10 players in the event his belief will be pretty high just now, so I think if he can maintain his high level, serve well and stay aggressive then he has a chance to win this one and if he does he will surely be the favourite to win the title. I might very well be wrong of course but we will soon find out and whatever happens let's hope the match is a cracker.
And lastly I will get on to the first men's semi final match which was between two unlikely semi-finalists, Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka, neither of whom had ever reached the last four in Melbourne before now. So there was alot riding on this match for both men and it was only Tomas Berdych who had previously reached a grand slam final at Wimbledon four years ago with Stan having never reached one himself. And the match itself was a tight and competitive one as both guys slugged it out on the Rod Laver arena for a place in the final. And it was Stan that got off to the better start as he broke Berdych to take the 1st set, but from here things got tighter as both men hung on to their service games in the 2nd and it went to a tiebreak, which Berdych took 7-1 to level the match. In the 3rd set play went to a tiebreak yet again except this time Berdych handed the initiative back to Stan as he double faulted to give him the minibreak to nab the two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set play yet again went to a tiebreak and this time it was Stan who made his move and he sealed the match to reach his first ever grand slam final with an impressive and hard fought 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 victory.
So this sees one half of the men's final set up and I can't think of a more deserving finalist than Stan Wawrinka, who has worked incredibly hard to get to this point. And Stan has shown tremendous resilence and confidnce in reaching this stage and the fact that he got past the three time defending champion Novak Djokovic enroute to do is even more remarkable. And I would like to see Stan win the title here in Melbourne as he certainly has shown he has the heart of a champion in reaching the final and it would be the perfect end to his dream run down under. As for Tomas Berdych well he has also done very well in reaching the last four, however overall it has to be said that he lacks that mental edge that all but stops him from making that final hurdle to reach the final. And whether or not Berdych can do this in the future remains to be seen, but I'm sure he can continue to do well in the future.
But in the meantime I will say a big congrats to Stan on reaching his first grand slam final and he thoroughly deserves his place in the finale. He has a very daunting task ahead of him however in trying to defeat either Roger or Rafa, but then again nothing is impossible (well almost!) and he might just yet do it, especially if he can maintain the level he has shown, particularly when he played against Djokovic. But it has to be said that Stan's record against Roger and Rafa isn't good to say the least as he has only beaten Roger once and he has NEVER beaten Rafa and he has never even taken a set off him, so if he meets Rafa in the final then the signs might not be good, unless he plays the match of his life. But sooner or later something has to give and just maybe this tournament has one or two upsets left before its all over and we shall soon find out what will happen.
Right so that's it for now. I will be back with the result of the Roger and Rafa semi final tomorrow, which promises to be an absolute belter. Whether or not it will live up to expectations we will need to wait and see but both players are highly motivated right now and playing good tennis, so it should be one to watch. And if Roger wins then we will have for the first time in the history of the sport an all Swiss grand slam final, now how about that?! ;-)
So until the next time, bye for now!
Right so starting with Day 10 we had up first on court Rafa Nadal who took on the Bulgarian new hope, Grigor Dimitrov, who has proved so far and last year that he is one to watch out for. Dimitrov has had comparisons of his gamestyle being similar to Federer's so much so that he has been nicknamed "Baby Fed". And it would be difficult to ignore them as Dimitrov does have a similar attacking style and a single handed backhand that is molded on Federer's own. And like Federer, Dimitrov actually did an excellent job at sticking it to Rafa out on the Rod Laver arena court as he took the opening set with a break. Rafa who still appeared to be suffering from a blister on his hand had to again have it redressed with tape during play, but he did what he had to do and soon got back into the match as he levelled at a set all winning a tiebreak. In the 3rd set play went to a tieberak again and this time Dimitrov had two set points to take the two sets to one lead, but in the end he couldn't take them as Rafa fought back and snatched the set instead. And in the 4th set Rafa soon found cruise control as he eventually wore down the gutsy Bulgarian after a tough four set battle, the World No.1 reached the final four with a 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 win.
Well this once again proves you simply cannot dismiss Rafa in any given circumstance and even with a nasty blister on his hand, which at times even affected his serve badly, he still managed to dig deep and get the job done. Dimitrov it has to be said definitely played his part in the match and he proved in Melbourne that is one to watch in the future and with his aggressive style of play and growing belief, I think there's a fair chance that he can go on to become a major champion himself in years to come. As for Rafa well a blockbuster match awaits him in the semi finals as he will take on the winner of the next match I will discuss....
And this match was between Roger Federer and the Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray, who had a rematch of their thrilling semi final encounter at Melbourne last year. But would this match live up to expectations???? Well not quite. For starters with Andy having just returned from surgery he was never the favourite to win the title in the first place, especially as he had a lack of matchplay going into the event. Roger on the other hand plenty of matchplay experience throughout the tournament in Melbourne showed impressive form in reaching the quarter finals, especially after he dismissed Tsonga so easily in the previous round.
And in the quarter finals Roger started off where he left against Tsonga as he overwhelmed Andy with a powerful display of his sharpened net skills and great serving, which left Andy wilting as the Swiss maestro soon took a two set lead. And in the third set despite Andy becoming a bit more aggressive he ended up surrendering his own serve at 4-4 to hand Rog the break, which would see the former four time champion with an opportunity to serve for the match. However.... at this point Andy was not yet done as he started to raise his level just in time to break Fed for the first time in the match to get back on level pegging at 5-5 and keep his hopes alive. And play went to a tiebreak in the 3rd set where the momentum swung to and fro and Federer even had two match points, but out of nowhere Andy managed to dig deep and save both of them and go on to take fashion a break of his own to win the breaker and the 3rd set with it. In the 4th set the Rod Laver arena crowd were treated to a thrilling contest where Andy battled to hang onto his serve which he did to level 1-1 in an epic 19 minute game. However as play continued Andy started to show signs of fatigue and he began to fade as Roger eventually wore him down and managed to fashion the crucial break to go 5-3. And after this Roger finally managed to serve out the match at the second time of asking with an ace which sealed his place in the semi finals with a dramatic 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(6-8), 6-3 scoreline.
Well this match certainly showed more than anything that Roger Federer is back well and truly as in the first two sets he showed incredible form against Andy, who then had no answer for him at all. And with this win it sees Roger with a strong chance of keeping title hopes alive and with the opportunity to win that 18th grand slam. As for Andy well despite his disappointing loss he deserves a great deal of credit for how he fought his way back into the match, especially as he was staring down the barrell at two sets and a break down, before he managed to claw his way back into the match by taking the 3rd set, which was remarkable in itself as he was two match points down in that as well, and it was only the second breaker he'd ever won against Federer in out of nine! And it was fair to say it was also a match of two halves with the first being a cakewalk for Federer and the second a tight competitive scrap which finally saw Roger come through. So although Andy is out of the Australian open he did in some ways exceed expectations as there were some people who thought he wouldn't even make it into the second week. So the signs are encouraging for Andy's return to the tour so far as making the last eight of a grand slam on just his second tour event is a good result and we will see how goes from here.
So this sets up a tantalising semi final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as two of the greatest rivals in the history of the sport will clash for a place in the final. Now it begs the question who will win that one???? Well its tough one to call, as Roger hasn't won against Rafa in a grand slam match since the 2007 Wimbledon final so he really has his work cut out here to try and do so again. On the other hand with Roger's new coach, Stefan Edberg, he has been given a new lease of life and maybe with his help, Rog can rekindle that form he had back then and find a way to get the job done. Also another factor is Rafa's blistered hand, which has affected his serve somewhat badly in Melbourne over the last two matches, and that is something that Roger could exploit to his advantage if Rafa is off his game, he could use it to help him win. However Rafa has time and time again always found a way to get it done against Federer in the past and you can't help but think no matter how far down he might be in the match he will find a way to win it, which is what makes him the great champion he is.
But.................... having said all that this tournament so far has seen plenty of upsets and I'm willing to wager that we might just see another tomorrow and I will predict that Roger will triumph this time over Rafa in either four or five sets. This is simply because in Melbourne alone he has shown a tremendous new lease of life and having already beaten two top 10 players in the event his belief will be pretty high just now, so I think if he can maintain his high level, serve well and stay aggressive then he has a chance to win this one and if he does he will surely be the favourite to win the title. I might very well be wrong of course but we will soon find out and whatever happens let's hope the match is a cracker.
And lastly I will get on to the first men's semi final match which was between two unlikely semi-finalists, Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka, neither of whom had ever reached the last four in Melbourne before now. So there was alot riding on this match for both men and it was only Tomas Berdych who had previously reached a grand slam final at Wimbledon four years ago with Stan having never reached one himself. And the match itself was a tight and competitive one as both guys slugged it out on the Rod Laver arena for a place in the final. And it was Stan that got off to the better start as he broke Berdych to take the 1st set, but from here things got tighter as both men hung on to their service games in the 2nd and it went to a tiebreak, which Berdych took 7-1 to level the match. In the 3rd set play went to a tiebreak yet again except this time Berdych handed the initiative back to Stan as he double faulted to give him the minibreak to nab the two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set play yet again went to a tiebreak and this time it was Stan who made his move and he sealed the match to reach his first ever grand slam final with an impressive and hard fought 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 victory.
So this sees one half of the men's final set up and I can't think of a more deserving finalist than Stan Wawrinka, who has worked incredibly hard to get to this point. And Stan has shown tremendous resilence and confidnce in reaching this stage and the fact that he got past the three time defending champion Novak Djokovic enroute to do is even more remarkable. And I would like to see Stan win the title here in Melbourne as he certainly has shown he has the heart of a champion in reaching the final and it would be the perfect end to his dream run down under. As for Tomas Berdych well he has also done very well in reaching the last four, however overall it has to be said that he lacks that mental edge that all but stops him from making that final hurdle to reach the final. And whether or not Berdych can do this in the future remains to be seen, but I'm sure he can continue to do well in the future.
But in the meantime I will say a big congrats to Stan on reaching his first grand slam final and he thoroughly deserves his place in the finale. He has a very daunting task ahead of him however in trying to defeat either Roger or Rafa, but then again nothing is impossible (well almost!) and he might just yet do it, especially if he can maintain the level he has shown, particularly when he played against Djokovic. But it has to be said that Stan's record against Roger and Rafa isn't good to say the least as he has only beaten Roger once and he has NEVER beaten Rafa and he has never even taken a set off him, so if he meets Rafa in the final then the signs might not be good, unless he plays the match of his life. But sooner or later something has to give and just maybe this tournament has one or two upsets left before its all over and we shall soon find out what will happen.
Right so that's it for now. I will be back with the result of the Roger and Rafa semi final tomorrow, which promises to be an absolute belter. Whether or not it will live up to expectations we will need to wait and see but both players are highly motivated right now and playing good tennis, so it should be one to watch. And if Roger wins then we will have for the first time in the history of the sport an all Swiss grand slam final, now how about that?! ;-)
So until the next time, bye for now!
2014 Australian Open The Ladies Part 4.1: Upsetting the odds....again....
Righty so now we get onto the next part of my posts on the 2014 Australian Open, which has already seen so dramatic upsets on both the men's and ladies side of the net. And this post will cover days 10 and 11 from the ladies event and we will see who reached the semis and who will play in the final.
So starting with Day 10 first up on court we had Dominika Cibulkova of the Slovak Republic who took on the in form Romanian, Simona Halep in the quarter finals. Halep who has become one of the most dangerous opponents to the game last year alone on the WTA tour was expected to give Cibulkova a real match. However Cibulkova turned that on its head as she went ahead and demolished the young Romanian in a convincing fashion as she beat her in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 to advance to her first Melbourne semi final. Cibulkova has really proven to be quite impressive in Melbourne and while she is a pint sized tennis player (and pretty nice!) what she lacks in size, she makes up for in power and sheer effort as she really outplayed Halep. Dominika also has more big match experience as well as she has previously reached the quarters and semi finals of grand slams in the past, especially at the French Open and she has proven that she can be dangerous here as well, so I'm sure can do well.
After this we had Victoria Azarenka the defending champion who faced off against Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the last four as well. And the the odds were stacked firmly in Vika's favour as she has dominated Radwanska in their last six meetings where Aga has never even won a set! But here it was Aga who turned the tables and she must have taken something from those six defeats and used it to push herself out there to play a great match against Vika as she used all her guile and ingenuity to outplay Victoria and she broke her twice to take the first set. In the 2nd set Vika managed to fight her way back into the match as she broke Aga to level the match at a set all. But despite the pressure being back on Radwanska to deliver, deliver she did as she sped to victory and outplayed a frustrated Azarenka and ended her 18 match run in Melbourne with an impressive 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 win. This was quite a remarkable victory for Radwanska and she played a terrific match from the outset as she outwitted Azarenka in just about every way. And its almost inconcievable to think that Radwanska would be able to beat her given their previous matches where Aga was completely whitewashed, but then things change and Radwanska deserves alot of credit for playing a terrific match. And there is a nice irony in that the one player that became a cakewalk for her to beat, ended up being the player who would be Azarenka's undoing at her biggest and most successful tournament. As for Vika well its time to just regroup and I'm sure will bounce back in time for the American hard court swing to begin.
Moving onto day 11 we had the semi finals matches take place which first up saw Agnieszka Radwanska, the second highest seed left in the draw face the pint sized Dominika Cibulkova for a place in the final. Aga walked into this match as the heavy favourite as she has only lost to Dominika once and she already has been a previous finalist at Wimbledon. However Cibulkova had other ideas as she turned up on court, fresh as a daisy, whereas Radwanska looked tired and fatigued by comparison, as the two women played tennis, Aga could very little to stop the determined Slovak, who soon sped tio victory with a 6-2, 6-1 win to reach her first grand slam final. This was quite a surprise result and certainly not the one I had expected as I thought Agga would use her head to head against Cibulkova. However in the end it just wasn't to be and Radwanska later admitted that she felt tired after having played longer matches and spent more time on court, which in the end aided her defeat and costing the match, which is a shame as its a match I would have liked her to win, but I'm sure Aga will get back out there again soon enough for the rest of the year. As for Dominika Cibulkova this was a very impressive win and especially she is ranked inside the top 20 her defeat of Maria Sharapova and now Radwanska shows that on her day she can just about beat anyone, so I'm she will go into the finals with alot of confidence.
And lastly we had Li na who played against the newcomer Eugenie Bouchard, the Canadian teenager who stunned Ana Ivanovic in the quarter finals. However Bouchard was not able to do the same here as Li Na utilised her experience to take down the plucky young Canadian with a double break in the first set. The second set however was a tighter affair as Bouchard started to push Li Na more, but in the end it was the more experienced player in Li Na that allowed her to beat Bouchard and saw the Chinese No.1 go through to her third Melbourne final with a convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory. Well they say third time is a charm and this just might prove to be the case for Li Na and given her experience on tour she was always going to be the overwhelming favourite to win the match and reach the final. As for Bouchard, despite her loss she has had a terrific tournament in Melbourne having reached her first grand slam semi final it shows she could go a long way in the future.
So this sets up the ladies Australian Open final and it has to be said the lineup isn't exactly what we would have expected as I'm sure we were all backing a Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka final. However in a tournament that has had so many dramatic upsets (just like Wimbledon did last year as well) it give things an unpredictable feel which is always refreshing in grand slam tennis and in tennis generally. So this all brings on the question, who will win???? Well for me it has to be Li Na as she has already won the French Open so she knows what it takes to win a slam also this is her third final in Melbourne, so surely she can utilise her previous experience to win the title this time. Also Li Na has a commanding lead over Cibulkova as she has never lost to her in their previous four meetings. However that is not to say that Cibulkova doesn't have a chance her as she had been in great form in Melbourne and she still has alot of energy after two quick wins against Halep and Radwanska, which should leave her fresh for the final. But because she has never won a slam its hard to say if she has got what it takes to actually win one here. So while Cibulkova is not the favourite she does have a chance, but overall the favourite for me still has to be Li Na. However their previous matches have been quite close in the past so it should hopefully prove to be an entertaining final.
Anyway so that's it for now for the ladies, next up is the men's remaining quarter finals and the first semi final from Days 10 and 11.
See you in a bit. :-)
So starting with Day 10 first up on court we had Dominika Cibulkova of the Slovak Republic who took on the in form Romanian, Simona Halep in the quarter finals. Halep who has become one of the most dangerous opponents to the game last year alone on the WTA tour was expected to give Cibulkova a real match. However Cibulkova turned that on its head as she went ahead and demolished the young Romanian in a convincing fashion as she beat her in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 to advance to her first Melbourne semi final. Cibulkova has really proven to be quite impressive in Melbourne and while she is a pint sized tennis player (and pretty nice!) what she lacks in size, she makes up for in power and sheer effort as she really outplayed Halep. Dominika also has more big match experience as well as she has previously reached the quarters and semi finals of grand slams in the past, especially at the French Open and she has proven that she can be dangerous here as well, so I'm sure can do well.
After this we had Victoria Azarenka the defending champion who faced off against Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the last four as well. And the the odds were stacked firmly in Vika's favour as she has dominated Radwanska in their last six meetings where Aga has never even won a set! But here it was Aga who turned the tables and she must have taken something from those six defeats and used it to push herself out there to play a great match against Vika as she used all her guile and ingenuity to outplay Victoria and she broke her twice to take the first set. In the 2nd set Vika managed to fight her way back into the match as she broke Aga to level the match at a set all. But despite the pressure being back on Radwanska to deliver, deliver she did as she sped to victory and outplayed a frustrated Azarenka and ended her 18 match run in Melbourne with an impressive 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 win. This was quite a remarkable victory for Radwanska and she played a terrific match from the outset as she outwitted Azarenka in just about every way. And its almost inconcievable to think that Radwanska would be able to beat her given their previous matches where Aga was completely whitewashed, but then things change and Radwanska deserves alot of credit for playing a terrific match. And there is a nice irony in that the one player that became a cakewalk for her to beat, ended up being the player who would be Azarenka's undoing at her biggest and most successful tournament. As for Vika well its time to just regroup and I'm sure will bounce back in time for the American hard court swing to begin.
Moving onto day 11 we had the semi finals matches take place which first up saw Agnieszka Radwanska, the second highest seed left in the draw face the pint sized Dominika Cibulkova for a place in the final. Aga walked into this match as the heavy favourite as she has only lost to Dominika once and she already has been a previous finalist at Wimbledon. However Cibulkova had other ideas as she turned up on court, fresh as a daisy, whereas Radwanska looked tired and fatigued by comparison, as the two women played tennis, Aga could very little to stop the determined Slovak, who soon sped tio victory with a 6-2, 6-1 win to reach her first grand slam final. This was quite a surprise result and certainly not the one I had expected as I thought Agga would use her head to head against Cibulkova. However in the end it just wasn't to be and Radwanska later admitted that she felt tired after having played longer matches and spent more time on court, which in the end aided her defeat and costing the match, which is a shame as its a match I would have liked her to win, but I'm sure Aga will get back out there again soon enough for the rest of the year. As for Dominika Cibulkova this was a very impressive win and especially she is ranked inside the top 20 her defeat of Maria Sharapova and now Radwanska shows that on her day she can just about beat anyone, so I'm she will go into the finals with alot of confidence.
And lastly we had Li na who played against the newcomer Eugenie Bouchard, the Canadian teenager who stunned Ana Ivanovic in the quarter finals. However Bouchard was not able to do the same here as Li Na utilised her experience to take down the plucky young Canadian with a double break in the first set. The second set however was a tighter affair as Bouchard started to push Li Na more, but in the end it was the more experienced player in Li Na that allowed her to beat Bouchard and saw the Chinese No.1 go through to her third Melbourne final with a convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory. Well they say third time is a charm and this just might prove to be the case for Li Na and given her experience on tour she was always going to be the overwhelming favourite to win the match and reach the final. As for Bouchard, despite her loss she has had a terrific tournament in Melbourne having reached her first grand slam semi final it shows she could go a long way in the future.
So this sets up the ladies Australian Open final and it has to be said the lineup isn't exactly what we would have expected as I'm sure we were all backing a Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka final. However in a tournament that has had so many dramatic upsets (just like Wimbledon did last year as well) it give things an unpredictable feel which is always refreshing in grand slam tennis and in tennis generally. So this all brings on the question, who will win???? Well for me it has to be Li Na as she has already won the French Open so she knows what it takes to win a slam also this is her third final in Melbourne, so surely she can utilise her previous experience to win the title this time. Also Li Na has a commanding lead over Cibulkova as she has never lost to her in their previous four meetings. However that is not to say that Cibulkova doesn't have a chance her as she had been in great form in Melbourne and she still has alot of energy after two quick wins against Halep and Radwanska, which should leave her fresh for the final. But because she has never won a slam its hard to say if she has got what it takes to actually win one here. So while Cibulkova is not the favourite she does have a chance, but overall the favourite for me still has to be Li Na. However their previous matches have been quite close in the past so it should hopefully prove to be an entertaining final.
Anyway so that's it for now for the ladies, next up is the men's remaining quarter finals and the first semi final from Days 10 and 11.
See you in a bit. :-)
Wednesday 22 January 2014
2014 Australian Open The Men's Part 3.2: Stan is DA MAN!!!
Right so now we get onto the men's matches from Days 8 and 9 from the Australian open and what a couple of days they were of which day 9 featured the father of all upsets, but we'll get to that in a bit, so in the meantime let's get started...
OK starting with Day 8 we had Rafa take on the Japanese player, Kei Nishikori in what turned out to be a really tough and tense affair. Nishikori who on paper seemed like toast for Rafa actually proved to be the sternest test of Rafa's tournament so far as the Japenese player really took it to Rafa as both men traded breaks of serve throughout. And despite Nishikori's chances to serve for the 2nd set Rafa soon snuffed them out, and he even battled against blisters on his hands and survived that too as Rafa in the 3rd sent went on to close it out in a tense tiebreak which saw Rafa leap in delight after a hard fought 7-6, 7-5, 7-6 win. This was a really good match and Nishikori actually put up some great resistance with Rafa over three sets but Rafa proved yet again why is the best player in the world just now and still remains on course for a possible 2nd Melbourne title. And next up Rafa will face the Bulgarian player, Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter finals, who has reached his first grand slam quarter final by beating the Spanish player who upset Del Potro, Roberto Bautista-Agut in 4 sets.
Next we had Roger Federer who was up against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in what promised to be a real tough encounter like their great match last year when Jo pushed Roger to five sets before losing to the Swiss player. However Roger went on court and stunned everyone and rolled back the years by putting in a stunning performance as he blasted Tsonga off the court with his power and sharp net game and with that Rog put out the 10th seed in a convincing manner with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win. This is a match that showed that you can never ever write off Roger Federer in any circumstances and with Stefan Edberg in his corner and a large racquet to give him that extra power, Roger is looking more formidable than he has for a quite while and if he continues this form in the next round then I think it will be very tough for him to be stopped.
Which brings me onto the next match which was between Andy Murray and the French qualifier Stephane Robert, a lucky loser who has enjoyed a good run of luck so far in Melbourne. And in this fourth round clash, Andy was the hot favourite to win and for the first two sets and a half, Andy looked to be coasting. But as Andy secured an early break and was set to serve for the match at 5-4, he suddenly suffered his first real wobble of the tournament after the Frenchman broke him back to go 5-5. And play went to a tiebreak in the 3rd set which saw momentum swing to and fro and at one point Andy even had two match points in the breaker at 6-4 only to hit a couple of wayward shots to let Robert back in who went on to grab the breaker and the 3rd set, which saw Andy smash his racquet out of frustration of losing the set. In the 4th set however Andy regrouped and managed to get the job done as he broke the Frenchman twice and after six match points he eventually secured his place in the quarter finals with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 win.
Well this certainly wasn't in the script that Andy would drop his first set of the tournament as he looked comfortably in the lead and to serve for the match at 5-4 in the 3rd. However as time and time again has shown Andy's main weakness remains his 2nd serve, which is far too slow in itself as it can clock as low as 70mph, which leaves him wide open for it to be attacked and this certainly was the case against Robert in the 3rd seet. So this match did leave a bit of a question mark about his form and how will he stack up against the greatest player to have played the game in Roger Federer. Well that is one question that will be answered soon enough but given Roger's current form and Andy's questionable match sharpness its difficult to reallty answer just now until the match get's started. What we do know is that Andy has put in the hard work and for the most part he has played well down under so far but in order to go further he really will still need to up his game against Roger to give himself any chance of getting through to the semis.
So in my opinion who will win????? Well I hate to not sound supportive of Andy but my gut instinct tells me that Federer will win this one in maybe four or five sets, as I feel Roger is far more match sharp and given his dismissal of Tsonga in such an effective fashion it seems likely if Andy is even slightly off his game then that is all Roger needs to beat him. But on the other hand Andy is now a veteran big match player and with two majors under his belt, he now knows how to win the big important matches and if he serves well and plays aggressive then he's got a good chance. But whatever happens I just hope it turns out to be a real cracker of a match like their semi final in Melbourne last year and if it is, win or lose, it will continue to show the exciting rivalry that these players can hopefully develop together if they continue to meet this year in the grand slams.
Right so now we go onto day 9 of the men's which started with Tomas Berdych who faced off against David Ferrer for a place in the last four and we knew this was never going to be an easy ask for either player. Berdy was in the better form of the two players as he hadn't dropped a single set going into the last eight, but that all changed against Ferrer who fought back to grab the 3rd set to threaten to take the match to a 5th. However Ferrer soon dropped his serve at 2-2 in the 4th and from there Berdy ran with it and served out the match to reach his first ever semi final in Melbourne with a 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory. This is mighty impressive stuff from Berdych who has overcome some quality opponents such as Ferrer and Anderson in his draw and done so quite effectively to reach the last four, which sees him with an opportunity to reach his second grand slam final.
And nowwwwww for the match of the day which was a rematch of last year's 4th round between Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka, which was pretty much the match of 2013. So this match had much to live up to in trying to reach the same heights in quality, but would it????? As it turned out it sure did and any fears that Stan wouldn't be able to live with Nole like he did last year were quickly abated after Stan dropped the opening set he fought back to level in the 2nd and he also nabbed to the 3rd set to put extra pressure on Novak. In the 4th set however Stan was on the receiving end of the defending champion's wrath who ensured the match would go the distance and he levelled proceedings at two sets all. And despite Novak taking an early break in the 5th set, it was short lived as the defending champ made some careless shot selections to hand the break back to Stan. And from here we were treated to some thrilling rallies and Stan showing tremendous mental resiliance against Novak's barrage of break points. And play went by serve until 7-7 when at 8-7 with Nole serving to go 8-8 the defending champion, the four time Australian open champion, made two sloppy unforced errors at the net which handed Stan the game, set and match, which ended Novak's dominance in Melbourne with a remarkable 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 triumph.
Well.... of all the results you could expect, we could never have expected this one especially given Novak's confident and remarkable record in Melbourne having won 25 straight matches there before his run came to an end. It also makes you question Novak's decision to bring Boris Becker on board to his team and was it a wise decision??? Well that is the question, however what is certain is that Boris was brought onboard to help Novak sharpen his net game, and that certainly played its part in his downfall here as his net game has always been his main weakness. And given that both Novak and Stan are baseliners its funny how Novak would try to make the decision to try and come in more and disrupt the winning formulae which has worked so well for him in baseline and defensive game. What is for sure is that Novak certainly doesn't need Boris Becker to help him win a major as that is something he is already capable of. But of course if Boris is to improve Djokovic's game, just like with Andy and Ivan Lendl, those adjustments will take time I'm sure and it remains to be seen how their partnership will continue. And regardless of such a heavy loss, there is little doubt that Novak will bounce back soon enough.
But getting back to the match itself and while it wasn't quite as high in quality as last year's Stan/Nole clash it still featured some truly remarkable tennis from both men at times and above all its Stan Wawrinka that deserves all that credit for winning this match. And its a testament to just how good a player Stan is that rather than never recover from his "so near yet so far" defeat just a year ago, instead he used it as a springboard to produce the best tennis of his career and his best season to date in 2013, which is just incredible in itself. And with that Stan has reached his second grand slam semi final and with Tomas Berdych next up in the semis, Stan has a seriously good chance of reaching the final and let's hope he does as he sure deserves it. Although it has to be said that Berdych will be the fresher of the two men going into that match as he has spent much less time on court, however it as they say or as Jimmy Connors once said "95% mental and 5% physical out there" (well I'm sure its a bit more physical than that! ;-)). So in the meantime I will wish Stan all the best and let's hope it works out for him on Thursday.
Rrrrrrrrright so that's it for now, day 10 and 11 will follow and Day 10 will see a potentially very exciting rematch between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, will it be another classic or will it fall flat on its face???? We will soon find out.
Till then bye for now. :-)
OK starting with Day 8 we had Rafa take on the Japanese player, Kei Nishikori in what turned out to be a really tough and tense affair. Nishikori who on paper seemed like toast for Rafa actually proved to be the sternest test of Rafa's tournament so far as the Japenese player really took it to Rafa as both men traded breaks of serve throughout. And despite Nishikori's chances to serve for the 2nd set Rafa soon snuffed them out, and he even battled against blisters on his hands and survived that too as Rafa in the 3rd sent went on to close it out in a tense tiebreak which saw Rafa leap in delight after a hard fought 7-6, 7-5, 7-6 win. This was a really good match and Nishikori actually put up some great resistance with Rafa over three sets but Rafa proved yet again why is the best player in the world just now and still remains on course for a possible 2nd Melbourne title. And next up Rafa will face the Bulgarian player, Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter finals, who has reached his first grand slam quarter final by beating the Spanish player who upset Del Potro, Roberto Bautista-Agut in 4 sets.
Next we had Roger Federer who was up against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in what promised to be a real tough encounter like their great match last year when Jo pushed Roger to five sets before losing to the Swiss player. However Roger went on court and stunned everyone and rolled back the years by putting in a stunning performance as he blasted Tsonga off the court with his power and sharp net game and with that Rog put out the 10th seed in a convincing manner with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win. This is a match that showed that you can never ever write off Roger Federer in any circumstances and with Stefan Edberg in his corner and a large racquet to give him that extra power, Roger is looking more formidable than he has for a quite while and if he continues this form in the next round then I think it will be very tough for him to be stopped.
Which brings me onto the next match which was between Andy Murray and the French qualifier Stephane Robert, a lucky loser who has enjoyed a good run of luck so far in Melbourne. And in this fourth round clash, Andy was the hot favourite to win and for the first two sets and a half, Andy looked to be coasting. But as Andy secured an early break and was set to serve for the match at 5-4, he suddenly suffered his first real wobble of the tournament after the Frenchman broke him back to go 5-5. And play went to a tiebreak in the 3rd set which saw momentum swing to and fro and at one point Andy even had two match points in the breaker at 6-4 only to hit a couple of wayward shots to let Robert back in who went on to grab the breaker and the 3rd set, which saw Andy smash his racquet out of frustration of losing the set. In the 4th set however Andy regrouped and managed to get the job done as he broke the Frenchman twice and after six match points he eventually secured his place in the quarter finals with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 win.
Well this certainly wasn't in the script that Andy would drop his first set of the tournament as he looked comfortably in the lead and to serve for the match at 5-4 in the 3rd. However as time and time again has shown Andy's main weakness remains his 2nd serve, which is far too slow in itself as it can clock as low as 70mph, which leaves him wide open for it to be attacked and this certainly was the case against Robert in the 3rd seet. So this match did leave a bit of a question mark about his form and how will he stack up against the greatest player to have played the game in Roger Federer. Well that is one question that will be answered soon enough but given Roger's current form and Andy's questionable match sharpness its difficult to reallty answer just now until the match get's started. What we do know is that Andy has put in the hard work and for the most part he has played well down under so far but in order to go further he really will still need to up his game against Roger to give himself any chance of getting through to the semis.
So in my opinion who will win????? Well I hate to not sound supportive of Andy but my gut instinct tells me that Federer will win this one in maybe four or five sets, as I feel Roger is far more match sharp and given his dismissal of Tsonga in such an effective fashion it seems likely if Andy is even slightly off his game then that is all Roger needs to beat him. But on the other hand Andy is now a veteran big match player and with two majors under his belt, he now knows how to win the big important matches and if he serves well and plays aggressive then he's got a good chance. But whatever happens I just hope it turns out to be a real cracker of a match like their semi final in Melbourne last year and if it is, win or lose, it will continue to show the exciting rivalry that these players can hopefully develop together if they continue to meet this year in the grand slams.
Right so now we go onto day 9 of the men's which started with Tomas Berdych who faced off against David Ferrer for a place in the last four and we knew this was never going to be an easy ask for either player. Berdy was in the better form of the two players as he hadn't dropped a single set going into the last eight, but that all changed against Ferrer who fought back to grab the 3rd set to threaten to take the match to a 5th. However Ferrer soon dropped his serve at 2-2 in the 4th and from there Berdy ran with it and served out the match to reach his first ever semi final in Melbourne with a 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory. This is mighty impressive stuff from Berdych who has overcome some quality opponents such as Ferrer and Anderson in his draw and done so quite effectively to reach the last four, which sees him with an opportunity to reach his second grand slam final.
And nowwwwww for the match of the day which was a rematch of last year's 4th round between Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka, which was pretty much the match of 2013. So this match had much to live up to in trying to reach the same heights in quality, but would it????? As it turned out it sure did and any fears that Stan wouldn't be able to live with Nole like he did last year were quickly abated after Stan dropped the opening set he fought back to level in the 2nd and he also nabbed to the 3rd set to put extra pressure on Novak. In the 4th set however Stan was on the receiving end of the defending champion's wrath who ensured the match would go the distance and he levelled proceedings at two sets all. And despite Novak taking an early break in the 5th set, it was short lived as the defending champ made some careless shot selections to hand the break back to Stan. And from here we were treated to some thrilling rallies and Stan showing tremendous mental resiliance against Novak's barrage of break points. And play went by serve until 7-7 when at 8-7 with Nole serving to go 8-8 the defending champion, the four time Australian open champion, made two sloppy unforced errors at the net which handed Stan the game, set and match, which ended Novak's dominance in Melbourne with a remarkable 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 triumph.
Well.... of all the results you could expect, we could never have expected this one especially given Novak's confident and remarkable record in Melbourne having won 25 straight matches there before his run came to an end. It also makes you question Novak's decision to bring Boris Becker on board to his team and was it a wise decision??? Well that is the question, however what is certain is that Boris was brought onboard to help Novak sharpen his net game, and that certainly played its part in his downfall here as his net game has always been his main weakness. And given that both Novak and Stan are baseliners its funny how Novak would try to make the decision to try and come in more and disrupt the winning formulae which has worked so well for him in baseline and defensive game. What is for sure is that Novak certainly doesn't need Boris Becker to help him win a major as that is something he is already capable of. But of course if Boris is to improve Djokovic's game, just like with Andy and Ivan Lendl, those adjustments will take time I'm sure and it remains to be seen how their partnership will continue. And regardless of such a heavy loss, there is little doubt that Novak will bounce back soon enough.
But getting back to the match itself and while it wasn't quite as high in quality as last year's Stan/Nole clash it still featured some truly remarkable tennis from both men at times and above all its Stan Wawrinka that deserves all that credit for winning this match. And its a testament to just how good a player Stan is that rather than never recover from his "so near yet so far" defeat just a year ago, instead he used it as a springboard to produce the best tennis of his career and his best season to date in 2013, which is just incredible in itself. And with that Stan has reached his second grand slam semi final and with Tomas Berdych next up in the semis, Stan has a seriously good chance of reaching the final and let's hope he does as he sure deserves it. Although it has to be said that Berdych will be the fresher of the two men going into that match as he has spent much less time on court, however it as they say or as Jimmy Connors once said "95% mental and 5% physical out there" (well I'm sure its a bit more physical than that! ;-)). So in the meantime I will wish Stan all the best and let's hope it works out for him on Thursday.
Rrrrrrrrright so that's it for now, day 10 and 11 will follow and Day 10 will see a potentially very exciting rematch between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, will it be another classic or will it fall flat on its face???? We will soon find out.
Till then bye for now. :-)
Tuesday 21 January 2014
2014 Australian The Ladies Part 3.1: And the seeds keep on tumbling...
Right so now we get on to days 8 and 9 of the Australian Open on the ladies event which saw some more upsets and top seeds tumbling by the wayside as the quarter finals progressed. So let's have a look at the matches....
OK so starting with day 8 we first had Maria Sharapova up on court against the pink sized Slovak player, Dominika Cibulkova in a fourth round clash, which was a match that had Maria's name written all over it. However as this tournament has been no stranger to big upsets, it was Cibulkova who pulled off another here as she stunned the former World No.1 with an impressive 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory. With Maria having not long returned from injury of her shoulder, its not entirely surprising that she went out here, and her game has always been all or nothing, with not much in between, so I'm sure she will spend more time regroup and get back on track. Next we had the defending champ Victoria Azarenka who faced the American player, Sloane Stephens and despite the billing the match itself was a straight set win for Vika as she raced past the American with a 6-3, 6-2 win to reach the last eight. This sees Vika building up her form as the tournament has progressed with the early rounds looking less impressive, but with each round Vika is looking more likely to defend her title, but it remains to be seen if she can.
And lastly just to summarise the other matches as we had Agnieszka Radwanska who made safe passage into the quarter finals as well as she dismissed Caroline Wozniacki's beater, Gabrine Muguruza in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. And Simona Halep who burst onto the scene last year continued her impressive form as she beat Jelena Jankovic in three sets after dropping the 2nd set, she sped to victory in the 3rd to reach her first ever grand slam quarter final in 6-4, 2-6, 6-0.
So getting onto day 9 we had Li Na who was up against Flavia Pennetta for a place in the last four and she was more than up to the task as she ruthlessly dismissed Pennetta with an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 result. Li Na so far has been in great form in this tournament and as a two time finalist already and having won over the crowds with her self effacing sense of humour, she is sure to reach another final in Melbourne and just maybe third time will be a charm. After this we had another big upset with Ana Ivanovic taking on the upcoming Canadian teenager, Eugenie Bouchard, who proved she is one to watch as she defeated the Serb in three sets with a very impressive 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 victory to taker her into her first grand slam semi final. This certainly wasn't on the cards but it is nonetheless a great achievement for the young teenager to come through so far into a grand slam and surely it will hold her in good stead, although next up will be Li Na for Bouchard so it might be a tough proposition for her to get by the two time finalist, but we'll see.
Anyway so that's it for the ladies and days 8 and 9, now we'll get to the men.
See you in a bit.
OK so starting with day 8 we first had Maria Sharapova up on court against the pink sized Slovak player, Dominika Cibulkova in a fourth round clash, which was a match that had Maria's name written all over it. However as this tournament has been no stranger to big upsets, it was Cibulkova who pulled off another here as she stunned the former World No.1 with an impressive 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory. With Maria having not long returned from injury of her shoulder, its not entirely surprising that she went out here, and her game has always been all or nothing, with not much in between, so I'm sure she will spend more time regroup and get back on track. Next we had the defending champ Victoria Azarenka who faced the American player, Sloane Stephens and despite the billing the match itself was a straight set win for Vika as she raced past the American with a 6-3, 6-2 win to reach the last eight. This sees Vika building up her form as the tournament has progressed with the early rounds looking less impressive, but with each round Vika is looking more likely to defend her title, but it remains to be seen if she can.
And lastly just to summarise the other matches as we had Agnieszka Radwanska who made safe passage into the quarter finals as well as she dismissed Caroline Wozniacki's beater, Gabrine Muguruza in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. And Simona Halep who burst onto the scene last year continued her impressive form as she beat Jelena Jankovic in three sets after dropping the 2nd set, she sped to victory in the 3rd to reach her first ever grand slam quarter final in 6-4, 2-6, 6-0.
So getting onto day 9 we had Li Na who was up against Flavia Pennetta for a place in the last four and she was more than up to the task as she ruthlessly dismissed Pennetta with an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 result. Li Na so far has been in great form in this tournament and as a two time finalist already and having won over the crowds with her self effacing sense of humour, she is sure to reach another final in Melbourne and just maybe third time will be a charm. After this we had another big upset with Ana Ivanovic taking on the upcoming Canadian teenager, Eugenie Bouchard, who proved she is one to watch as she defeated the Serb in three sets with a very impressive 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 victory to taker her into her first grand slam semi final. This certainly wasn't on the cards but it is nonetheless a great achievement for the young teenager to come through so far into a grand slam and surely it will hold her in good stead, although next up will be Li Na for Bouchard so it might be a tough proposition for her to get by the two time finalist, but we'll see.
Anyway so that's it for the ladies and days 8 and 9, now we'll get to the men.
See you in a bit.
Sunday 19 January 2014
Australian Open 2014 The Men's Part 2.2: Setting up the re-matches
OK now we get onto the men's matches on days 5, 6 and 7 from the 2014 Australian open, which will cover the men's 3rd and 4th round matches. So let's crack on with it....
Right so day 5 started with David Ferrer taking to the court against the Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy, who reached the quarter finals last year. Chardy however was not to be so fortunate this time round as Ferrer moved up the gears and put the Frenchman out of his misery as he won the match in straight sets 6-2, 7-6, 6-2. Tomas Berdych next up continued his fine run of form in Melbourne as he dismissed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovenia in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Tommy Robredo also progressed to the fourth round after he had a tough four setter against another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, whom he defeated in 2-6, 6-5, 6-4, 7-6. Fabio Fognini had an impressive win over the American giant, Sam Querrey as he defeated the big Yank in 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. And Kevin Anderson beat yet another Frenchman (quite popular in the draw!) Eduardo Roger-Vasselin after coming from two sets to love down to win in 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-5.
And last but not least we had Novak Djokovic who faced off against Denis Istmon of Uzbeikstan, and Nole soon found himself two sets to love up as he was utterly imperious against Istomin who had no answer for him. There was however a glimmer of hope as Istomin managed to break Nole's serve in the third set, but it was short lived as the Serb soon managed to find his way and got the break to win the match in 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. So far Novak is looking ominously good in the tournament and as he is already a four time champion, having won the last three, its going to be hard to see anyone else knock him off his throne in Melbounre any time soon.
Which brings me onto Day 6, starting with Roger Federer who continued his excellent form by breezing past Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia with an effortless straight set 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win. This is a great start from Roger however so far he has not been tested yet and as the rounds progress don't get any easier as we got into the second week of the tournament, so with Roger having Stefan Edberg at his side, it remains to be seen what Edberg effect will have on the very best players in the game. But the signs so far for Roger are looking pretty good and with his new coach in Stefan Edberg and a heavier racquet to add that little extra power, they could both make a formidable combination down under.
Andy Murray next faced what potentially could have been his toughest test yet as he played Feliciano Lopez for a place in the 4th round, and given their last encounter at the 2012 US Open, which was a very tense and tight four set battle, this match promised to be just as tough. However it wasn't to be as despite dropping his serve in the opening game, Andy never really looked threatened after that as he took the first set on a tie break 7-2 and after that Andy cruised to victory in sets two and three in just 2 hours and 15 minutes to reach round four in 7-6, 6-4, 6-2. After his shaky performance in the 2nd round, this saw Andy make a confident return to form and he never really looked to be under any threat from Lopez throughout, which sees Andy's draw open up favourably as he will play lucky loser Stephan Robert in round four, for which he is the firm favourite to win, so hopefully Andy can come through this one in straight sets to conserve energy for what lies ahead.
And Rafael Nadal in the late night match on Rod Laver arena was up against yet another Frenchman (yep loads of them!) Gael Monfils, the flashy and talented player whom Rafa faced in the final of Doha at the start of the year. Rafa from the start was in top form and despite a few tight deuce games from Monfils, Rafa never was in any threat from the Frenchman, who lacked consistency on his shots, even though he produced some wonderful points for the crowd. After going two sets to love up, Rafa appeared to have a mini battle on his hands as Monfils threatened to break to move ahead in the set, but Rafa averted danger at every point and went on to break Monfils and close out the match with great ease, securing a thumping 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win. So far it has to be said that Rafa's form has been ominous and to say that he doesn't have a chance of winning the title given his form would be madness as he is got a great chance, although it does all depend on how well the defending champion does. Rafa next up will face Kei Nishikori of Japan, whom I don't think will make a dent on Rafa so I think Spaniard will sail confidently into the last eight.
As for a quick sum up of the remaining day 6 matches:
Jo Wilfried-Tsonga took down his fellow compatriot, Gilles Simon in straight sets scoring a 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Simon to book his place in the 4th round with Roger Federer, which will be a rematch of their quarter final from last year, which was an epic in itself that went the distance and saw Roger prevail, so that promises to be a cracker.
Grigor Dimitrov also racked up a very impressive win over the 11th seed, Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian, as the Bulgarian beat Raonic in a very tough four set 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(12-10) battle.
And lastly Kei Nishikori of Japan dismissed the American player, Donald Young with a straight thrashing in 7-5, 6-1, 6-0.
And so we leap onto day 7, which sees the tournament now at the half-way mark, and first up on court Novak Djokovic faced the flashy and charismatic Italian player, Fabio Fognini, in what promised to be an intruiging clash. However Nole was more than up to the task of dealing with the Italian as he swept him aside with ruthless effiency, which at times left the Italian really frustrated, swearing, growling, mumbling and at one point even throwing his racquet at Djokovic. And in the end Nole put the struggling Italian out of his misery as secured an emphatic straight set victory in 6-3 6-0, 6-2. David Ferrer on the Hisense arena took on another unorthodox player, Florian Mayer of Germany, who Ferrer beat from a set down but ended the match strong to reach the quarter finals for the fourth year running with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory. Tomas Berdych also continued his great form as he beat his rival, the giant Kevin Anderson from South Africa with a straight set win, and Berdych dropped just seven games to win in 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. This so far is pretty formidable performance from Berdy and he is dangerous and with David Ferrer up next, he might have his first test, but given how he has played, I think Berdych has an excellent chance to reach his first semi final in Melbourne.
And lastly we had what promised to be a cracking match between Stan Wawrinka and Tommy Robredo, although it was the Spaniard, Robredo, who has the winning record of 7-1 over Stan. But Stan right from the start put in a solid and confident performance as he took the first with ease with a break, and although he got tight serving for a two set load and let Robredo push play to a tiebreak in the 2nd, Stan still manage to nab the lead to go two sets up. The third set again went to a tiebreak, with both players having break point opportunities, but in the end it was Stan that sealed the deal and made into his second quarter final in Melbourne with a solid 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 scoreline.
Although it was a pretty decent match, it never really caught fire and I half expected Robredo to at least push the match into a fourth set, but in the end it wasn't to be and Stan deserves nothing less than his place in the last eight. And this will see a rematch of last year's encounter with Novak and Stan as they will be set to do battle again on Rod Laver arena in what promises to be a cracker. But whether or not Stan can replicate the form he showed a year ago in the amazing match he and Nole had remains to be seen and could be doubtful, especially as Novak has beaten Stan with ease in their last two matches. Also last year Stan's performance really took Novak by surprise as it was a bolt out the blue and no one could have predcited it, but this year Nole will be fully expecting Stan to give his all and he will be well prepared for him. However it is on one of the biggest stages in tennis and Stan no doubt will be motivated to win and he goes into the quarter finals in great form so hopefully he will be able to come up with something special again. Although I can't see Stan defeat Novak, so for me I think Nole will emerge victorious once again, and this time maybe in four sets as I think it will be tough for Stan to push the defending champ all the way once more, but we'll see.
Right so that's it for now and next up I will cover the remaining 4th round and quarter final matches over days 8 and 9. But so far it has to be said that the ladies matches have actually proved to be more exciting than the men's, which have been a bit disappointing and yet to catch fire, but I'm sure over the next couple of days that will all change as we get into the business end of the tournament.
So until the next one bye the now!
Right so day 5 started with David Ferrer taking to the court against the Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy, who reached the quarter finals last year. Chardy however was not to be so fortunate this time round as Ferrer moved up the gears and put the Frenchman out of his misery as he won the match in straight sets 6-2, 7-6, 6-2. Tomas Berdych next up continued his fine run of form in Melbourne as he dismissed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovenia in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Tommy Robredo also progressed to the fourth round after he had a tough four setter against another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, whom he defeated in 2-6, 6-5, 6-4, 7-6. Fabio Fognini had an impressive win over the American giant, Sam Querrey as he defeated the big Yank in 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. And Kevin Anderson beat yet another Frenchman (quite popular in the draw!) Eduardo Roger-Vasselin after coming from two sets to love down to win in 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-5.
And last but not least we had Novak Djokovic who faced off against Denis Istmon of Uzbeikstan, and Nole soon found himself two sets to love up as he was utterly imperious against Istomin who had no answer for him. There was however a glimmer of hope as Istomin managed to break Nole's serve in the third set, but it was short lived as the Serb soon managed to find his way and got the break to win the match in 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. So far Novak is looking ominously good in the tournament and as he is already a four time champion, having won the last three, its going to be hard to see anyone else knock him off his throne in Melbounre any time soon.
Which brings me onto Day 6, starting with Roger Federer who continued his excellent form by breezing past Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia with an effortless straight set 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win. This is a great start from Roger however so far he has not been tested yet and as the rounds progress don't get any easier as we got into the second week of the tournament, so with Roger having Stefan Edberg at his side, it remains to be seen what Edberg effect will have on the very best players in the game. But the signs so far for Roger are looking pretty good and with his new coach in Stefan Edberg and a heavier racquet to add that little extra power, they could both make a formidable combination down under.
Andy Murray next faced what potentially could have been his toughest test yet as he played Feliciano Lopez for a place in the 4th round, and given their last encounter at the 2012 US Open, which was a very tense and tight four set battle, this match promised to be just as tough. However it wasn't to be as despite dropping his serve in the opening game, Andy never really looked threatened after that as he took the first set on a tie break 7-2 and after that Andy cruised to victory in sets two and three in just 2 hours and 15 minutes to reach round four in 7-6, 6-4, 6-2. After his shaky performance in the 2nd round, this saw Andy make a confident return to form and he never really looked to be under any threat from Lopez throughout, which sees Andy's draw open up favourably as he will play lucky loser Stephan Robert in round four, for which he is the firm favourite to win, so hopefully Andy can come through this one in straight sets to conserve energy for what lies ahead.
And Rafael Nadal in the late night match on Rod Laver arena was up against yet another Frenchman (yep loads of them!) Gael Monfils, the flashy and talented player whom Rafa faced in the final of Doha at the start of the year. Rafa from the start was in top form and despite a few tight deuce games from Monfils, Rafa never was in any threat from the Frenchman, who lacked consistency on his shots, even though he produced some wonderful points for the crowd. After going two sets to love up, Rafa appeared to have a mini battle on his hands as Monfils threatened to break to move ahead in the set, but Rafa averted danger at every point and went on to break Monfils and close out the match with great ease, securing a thumping 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win. So far it has to be said that Rafa's form has been ominous and to say that he doesn't have a chance of winning the title given his form would be madness as he is got a great chance, although it does all depend on how well the defending champion does. Rafa next up will face Kei Nishikori of Japan, whom I don't think will make a dent on Rafa so I think Spaniard will sail confidently into the last eight.
As for a quick sum up of the remaining day 6 matches:
Jo Wilfried-Tsonga took down his fellow compatriot, Gilles Simon in straight sets scoring a 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Simon to book his place in the 4th round with Roger Federer, which will be a rematch of their quarter final from last year, which was an epic in itself that went the distance and saw Roger prevail, so that promises to be a cracker.
Grigor Dimitrov also racked up a very impressive win over the 11th seed, Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian, as the Bulgarian beat Raonic in a very tough four set 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(12-10) battle.
And lastly Kei Nishikori of Japan dismissed the American player, Donald Young with a straight thrashing in 7-5, 6-1, 6-0.
And so we leap onto day 7, which sees the tournament now at the half-way mark, and first up on court Novak Djokovic faced the flashy and charismatic Italian player, Fabio Fognini, in what promised to be an intruiging clash. However Nole was more than up to the task of dealing with the Italian as he swept him aside with ruthless effiency, which at times left the Italian really frustrated, swearing, growling, mumbling and at one point even throwing his racquet at Djokovic. And in the end Nole put the struggling Italian out of his misery as secured an emphatic straight set victory in 6-3 6-0, 6-2. David Ferrer on the Hisense arena took on another unorthodox player, Florian Mayer of Germany, who Ferrer beat from a set down but ended the match strong to reach the quarter finals for the fourth year running with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory. Tomas Berdych also continued his great form as he beat his rival, the giant Kevin Anderson from South Africa with a straight set win, and Berdych dropped just seven games to win in 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. This so far is pretty formidable performance from Berdy and he is dangerous and with David Ferrer up next, he might have his first test, but given how he has played, I think Berdych has an excellent chance to reach his first semi final in Melbourne.
And lastly we had what promised to be a cracking match between Stan Wawrinka and Tommy Robredo, although it was the Spaniard, Robredo, who has the winning record of 7-1 over Stan. But Stan right from the start put in a solid and confident performance as he took the first with ease with a break, and although he got tight serving for a two set load and let Robredo push play to a tiebreak in the 2nd, Stan still manage to nab the lead to go two sets up. The third set again went to a tiebreak, with both players having break point opportunities, but in the end it was Stan that sealed the deal and made into his second quarter final in Melbourne with a solid 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 scoreline.
Although it was a pretty decent match, it never really caught fire and I half expected Robredo to at least push the match into a fourth set, but in the end it wasn't to be and Stan deserves nothing less than his place in the last eight. And this will see a rematch of last year's encounter with Novak and Stan as they will be set to do battle again on Rod Laver arena in what promises to be a cracker. But whether or not Stan can replicate the form he showed a year ago in the amazing match he and Nole had remains to be seen and could be doubtful, especially as Novak has beaten Stan with ease in their last two matches. Also last year Stan's performance really took Novak by surprise as it was a bolt out the blue and no one could have predcited it, but this year Nole will be fully expecting Stan to give his all and he will be well prepared for him. However it is on one of the biggest stages in tennis and Stan no doubt will be motivated to win and he goes into the quarter finals in great form so hopefully he will be able to come up with something special again. Although I can't see Stan defeat Novak, so for me I think Nole will emerge victorious once again, and this time maybe in four sets as I think it will be tough for Stan to push the defending champ all the way once more, but we'll see.
Right so that's it for now and next up I will cover the remaining 4th round and quarter final matches over days 8 and 9. But so far it has to be said that the ladies matches have actually proved to be more exciting than the men's, which have been a bit disappointing and yet to catch fire, but I'm sure over the next couple of days that will all change as we get into the business end of the tournament.
So until the next one bye the now!
2014 Australian open The ladies Part 2.1: There's upsets and THEN there's upsets.....
Right ok so now its time for the third of my posts (I've split these into two sub-parts because of the ladies and men coverage for each individual post) on the Australian Open, which will cover the days 5, 6 and 7 of the ladies singles event. So let's give them a look....
OK so to start with day 5 and Serena Williams was first on Rod Laver arena where she took on the Slovak Daniella Hantuchova who she had little trouble in dispatching in the blazing heat as she defeated her with a convincing 6-3, 6-3 to reach the 4th round. After that we had the surprise of the tournament so far with the Aussie, Casey Dellacqua who defeated Zheng Jie of China with a straight sets win of 6-2, 6-4. Next up was Ana Invanovic against Sam Stosur, who is the Aussie No.1 player, however Sam didn't fare so well against Ivanovic, despite taking the first set on a breaker, Ana soon levelled and broke Sam twice in the 3rd set to reach the 4th round and end Sam's hope of winning her home title with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 scoreline. Li Na on the other hand survived a real scare as she faced the Czeck player, Lucie Safarova, who had two match points against the Chinese player in the 2nd set, however Li Na turned it around to win the 2nd set breaker and she went on to win the match in the 3rd in 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 keeping her hopes alive of reaching a 3rd final in Melbourne.
And quickly to summarise the other matches of the day:
Angelique Kerber took down the American player, Alison Riske, whom she beat in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to also reach the 4th round.
Flavia Pennetta also reached the 4th round after she defeated the German player, Mona Barthel in straight sets as well in 6-1, 7-5.
Moving right on to Day 6 the action started with Maria Sharapova who took to the court to play the French player, Alize Cornet, with whom she had to withstand a second set fightback before she closed out the match in straight sets in 6-1, 7-6. And in one of the bigger upsets of the tournament so far we had Caroline Wozniack suffer an early defeat to the Spanish player Gabrine Muguruza, who came from a set down to stun the former World No.1 in 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. This sees Caroline's poor run of form at the grand slams continue, which is a troubling sign as again there too many players that can hit through her counterpunching defensive style, which means at some point Caroline will somehow need to step up her game to go any deeper in the big events, but whether she can or not remains to be seen. The defending champion however, Victoria Azarenka had little trouble in getting past her opponent Yvonne Meusburger, whom she made burger meat of as she demolished the Austrian player, conceding just one game with a crushing 6-1, 6-0 win. And Agnieszka Radwanska had a stern test in getting past the Russian player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as she battled from a set down to win in 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
And to summarise the round up of the other matches of the day:
Jelena Jankovic downed the Japense player Kurumi Nara with a straight set 6-4, 7-5 score to reach the 4th round, which shows Jelena's continued return of form after a two year dip out of the top ten.
Dominika Cibulkova also made it through to the last 16 after she destroyed the Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro by dropping just one game, 6-1, 6-0.
And lastly Sloane Stephens continued to make her impression at the Australian open after she defeated Elina Svitolina in 6-4, 7-5.
So we go onto Day 7 and match play kicked off with Flavia Pennetta showing her fine run of form at the grand slams continue as she defeated Angelique Kerber in a tough three setter to reach the quarter finals with an impressive and hard fought 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 victory. Then we had the up and coming Canadian player, Eugenie Bouchard who announced her arrival on the WTA tour last year and here she continued her impressive form as she defeated Casey Dellacqua to end Australia's interest in the singles for both the men's and ladies as the Canadian reached her first major quarter final with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-0 victory. Li Na also made it through and she made short work of Ekaterina Makarova, who has had a reputation of upsets at the Aussie open, however it wasn't to be as Li Na had more than enough for her as she crushed the Russian in 6-2, 6-0.
And now for the upset of the day and indeed the tournament as Serena Williams took on Ana Ivanovic, who up until this match had never even taken a set off Serena. But this time Ana looked to defy the odds as Serena, who appeared to be suffering with a back problem, who took the first set, saw Ana take her first ever set off the American to take the match to a decider. And in the decider it was Ana who pulled the mother off all upsets as she stunned Serena and won the match in 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. This was definitely a big surprise which I'm sure most people didn't see coming, however as Serena revealed she has been suffering with a back injury and it was deinitely a big contributing factory in the outcome of the match. But nonetheless Ann played a terrific match against Serena and she thoroughly deserves her place in the quarter finals. And with Serena gone, Victoria Azarenka is now the top seed and has the best chance of defending her title, however the draw has opened up considerably and other players will have their chances such as Li Na and Ivanovic, but for me Vika still remains the favourite in Serena's absence, but we'll see.
Right that's it for the women, next up is the men's....
Bye for now and see you in a wee while.
OK so to start with day 5 and Serena Williams was first on Rod Laver arena where she took on the Slovak Daniella Hantuchova who she had little trouble in dispatching in the blazing heat as she defeated her with a convincing 6-3, 6-3 to reach the 4th round. After that we had the surprise of the tournament so far with the Aussie, Casey Dellacqua who defeated Zheng Jie of China with a straight sets win of 6-2, 6-4. Next up was Ana Invanovic against Sam Stosur, who is the Aussie No.1 player, however Sam didn't fare so well against Ivanovic, despite taking the first set on a breaker, Ana soon levelled and broke Sam twice in the 3rd set to reach the 4th round and end Sam's hope of winning her home title with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 scoreline. Li Na on the other hand survived a real scare as she faced the Czeck player, Lucie Safarova, who had two match points against the Chinese player in the 2nd set, however Li Na turned it around to win the 2nd set breaker and she went on to win the match in the 3rd in 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 keeping her hopes alive of reaching a 3rd final in Melbourne.
And quickly to summarise the other matches of the day:
Angelique Kerber took down the American player, Alison Riske, whom she beat in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to also reach the 4th round.
Flavia Pennetta also reached the 4th round after she defeated the German player, Mona Barthel in straight sets as well in 6-1, 7-5.
Moving right on to Day 6 the action started with Maria Sharapova who took to the court to play the French player, Alize Cornet, with whom she had to withstand a second set fightback before she closed out the match in straight sets in 6-1, 7-6. And in one of the bigger upsets of the tournament so far we had Caroline Wozniack suffer an early defeat to the Spanish player Gabrine Muguruza, who came from a set down to stun the former World No.1 in 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. This sees Caroline's poor run of form at the grand slams continue, which is a troubling sign as again there too many players that can hit through her counterpunching defensive style, which means at some point Caroline will somehow need to step up her game to go any deeper in the big events, but whether she can or not remains to be seen. The defending champion however, Victoria Azarenka had little trouble in getting past her opponent Yvonne Meusburger, whom she made burger meat of as she demolished the Austrian player, conceding just one game with a crushing 6-1, 6-0 win. And Agnieszka Radwanska had a stern test in getting past the Russian player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as she battled from a set down to win in 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
And to summarise the round up of the other matches of the day:
Jelena Jankovic downed the Japense player Kurumi Nara with a straight set 6-4, 7-5 score to reach the 4th round, which shows Jelena's continued return of form after a two year dip out of the top ten.
Dominika Cibulkova also made it through to the last 16 after she destroyed the Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro by dropping just one game, 6-1, 6-0.
And lastly Sloane Stephens continued to make her impression at the Australian open after she defeated Elina Svitolina in 6-4, 7-5.
So we go onto Day 7 and match play kicked off with Flavia Pennetta showing her fine run of form at the grand slams continue as she defeated Angelique Kerber in a tough three setter to reach the quarter finals with an impressive and hard fought 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 victory. Then we had the up and coming Canadian player, Eugenie Bouchard who announced her arrival on the WTA tour last year and here she continued her impressive form as she defeated Casey Dellacqua to end Australia's interest in the singles for both the men's and ladies as the Canadian reached her first major quarter final with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-0 victory. Li Na also made it through and she made short work of Ekaterina Makarova, who has had a reputation of upsets at the Aussie open, however it wasn't to be as Li Na had more than enough for her as she crushed the Russian in 6-2, 6-0.
And now for the upset of the day and indeed the tournament as Serena Williams took on Ana Ivanovic, who up until this match had never even taken a set off Serena. But this time Ana looked to defy the odds as Serena, who appeared to be suffering with a back problem, who took the first set, saw Ana take her first ever set off the American to take the match to a decider. And in the decider it was Ana who pulled the mother off all upsets as she stunned Serena and won the match in 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. This was definitely a big surprise which I'm sure most people didn't see coming, however as Serena revealed she has been suffering with a back injury and it was deinitely a big contributing factory in the outcome of the match. But nonetheless Ann played a terrific match against Serena and she thoroughly deserves her place in the quarter finals. And with Serena gone, Victoria Azarenka is now the top seed and has the best chance of defending her title, however the draw has opened up considerably and other players will have their chances such as Li Na and Ivanovic, but for me Vika still remains the favourite in Serena's absence, but we'll see.
Right that's it for the women, next up is the men's....
Bye for now and see you in a wee while.
Thursday 16 January 2014
2014 Australian Open The Men's Part 1.2: Passing out on the dance floor....
Right so now get onto the men's matches from the first four days of the Australian open which saw plenty of stuff going on and there was a fair share of drama on the men's side of the net as there were various retirals and injuries from the exertion of playing in the heat, but more on that later. So let's have a look at the men's matches....
Starting with Day 1 we had Stanislas Wawrinka who opened up play for the men on Hisense arena as he played Andrey Golubev and he had little trouble getting past Kazakh who retired in the 2nd set as the Swiss No.2 secured his 2nd round placed with a 6-2, 4-1 win. David Ferrer up next opened up play for the men on the Rod Laver arena and he faced Alejandro Gonzalez which he defeated with ease in a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win. Novak Djokovic, the defending champion next up played against the Slovakian player Lukas Lacko in an entertaining opening round for the Serb, which saw him in good form, and despite being pushed to a 2nd set tiebreak which he won, Nole never looked to be in trouble and he won the match comfortably in 6-3, 7-6, 6-1. And lastly Tomas Berdych got his campaign off to a confident start as he beat Oleksandr Nedovyesov in straight sets in 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
So quickly in other matches on Day 1:
Jerzy Janowic the giant bean Pole won against wildcard Aussie Jordan Thompson in a five set battle which saw Jerzy come back from two sets to love down to win in 1-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.
And Denis Istomin took down former Melbourne finalist Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 scoreline.
Moving onto day 2 we saw the other three of the big four out in action as Rafa, Roger and Andy are all drawn in the same half of the draw, which isn't too kind on any of them but that's how it goes (as Nole seems to have had it quite cushily this time.... well so far!). And the action started with Roger Federer taking on another Aussie wildcard, James Duckworth, whom the Swiss maestro dismissed in 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Andy Murray also had it pretty easy in his first round as he shook off the cobwebs off his comeback into 2014 and put in an effortless performance against the Japenese player, Go Soeda as he defeated him 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. This was a terrific performance from Andy which sees his season get off to a solid start in the majors, but wether or not he can maintain this over the next two weeks remains to be seen. After that Rafa was in action as he played Bernard Tomic in what promised to be quite a match, however it turned out to be an anti-climax as Tomic, who injured his groin was forced to retire after just the first set which gave Rafa safe passage into the 2nd round after just 6-4. And lastly Juan Martin Del Potro had a tough encounter against the American player, Ryhne Williams as it took four tight sets to get past him with Delpo winning in 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
And as quick round up of the other matches on day 2 we had:
Andreas Seppi who took on the home favourite Lleyton Hewitt who the Italian stunned after an epic pitch battle, with Hewitt coming from two sets to love down to level the match and despite serving for it himself he missed his chance and Seppi took his to break the Aussie and he closed it out in 7-6, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5. This was a bit of a letdown I'm sure for the home crowd (well more than a bit I'm sure!) and I was hoping to see Hewitt get into the 2nd round as well, but in the end it wasn't to be.
Jo Wilfried Tsonga had a fairly comfy ride in beating the Italian player Filippo Volandri in 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.
And last of all is Gael Monfils who has made a good comeback in 2014 so far and he defeated the American Ryan Harrison in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
And last of all John Isner was forced to retire in his match as he suffered a foot injury as did Ivan Dodig of Croatia who even said after his match he feared for his life out there and that he couldn't walk for 30 minutes after the match. So I think that was a big hint to the organisers to do something about it!
Now onto Day 3 which saw Novak Djokovic take to the courts again and he played the plucky Argentine, Leonard Mayer for a place in the 3rd round. And Nole once again proved too strong for his opponent as he defeated Mayer in just under two hours with a 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 victory, which sees him continue his fairly serene progress toward another title defence. David Ferrer had a much tougher time however against the Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino as he dropped the 2nd set but he came back strong to finish it in four with a 7-6, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 score. Tomas Berdych wasted little time in his match as he sped past another French layer Kenny De Schepper with a confident 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 result. And lastly Stan Wawrinka had a tough test on his hands as he faced off against the Colombian player, Alejandro Falla whom he overcame in 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.
And quickly as a rundown of the other matches:
The in form Canadian player Vasek Pospisil managed to take down another Aussie player Matthew Ebden after a tough four setter which Vasek won in 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-1.
Richard Gasquet also made it into the 3rd round as he made it past the former World No.3 Nikolai Davydenko in straight sets in 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.
And lastly Sam Querrey took out the 23rd seed Ernests Gulbis to reach the 3rd round comfortably in 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Sooooo now its time for day 4 which saw the organisers of the tournament FINALLY invoke their extreme heat policy and got the players off court for a few hours to cool down as they also closed the roofs on the Rod Laver and Hisense arenas. So to kick off we first up had Rafael Nadal face off against the promising youngster Thanasi Kokkinakis, whom the World No.1 ended up giving a lesson in how to play the game as he beat the young Aussie in just 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Having played his first full match, Rafa is looking in pretty good form although he has not been tested so far that will change as his draw continues but I can only see good things ahead for Rafa in Melbourne with a strong chance of reaching the final at the very least.
Andy Murray went on to face an unusual challenge in the French player Vincent Millot as Andy got off to a good start as he broke his opponent twice in the first two sets to take the lead. In the 3rd set however Andy started to suffere a puzzling dip in form and before he knew he found himself 5-1 down at the hands of the rejuvenated Frenchman who took a medical timeout for his calf injury. However despite serving for the set, Millot could not find an answer for what happened next as Andy reeled 23 straight points in a row to fightback to break his opponent's serve three times as he served it out with ease to claim a bizarre 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 victory.
This was a strangely subdued performance from Andy who as we all know can vary from one match to the next in consistency and quality and it seemed to be a strange dip in form during the 3rd set, but it was still remarkable how he managed to close it out. But Andy will definitely need to step up his game against his next opponent Feliciano Lopez who so far has looked impressive in Melbourne and if their last match at the US Open is anything to go by where Andy had to battle past Lopez in four tight sets, then he surely will have his hands full, but here's hoping he can come through it and it should be a good match.
After that we had Roger Federer who faced off against the Slovenian player Blaz Kavicic, which after breezing to a two set lead saw Roger face his first mini test of the tournament when Blaz took the mighty Fed to a tiebreak and Blaz took a 3-0 lead. However it didn't last long as Rog broke back and manufactured a break of his own as he sealed the break and the match with a comfortable 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 victory. So far Roger is looking pretty good in Melbourne and the early signs are encouraging for him although no doubt the rounds will get tougher and Andy Murray could very well be his quarter final round opponent, which if they both get there and its anything like their superb encounter last year in Melbourne, it could be a real treat to watch.
And quickly to summarise the other matches on Day 4:
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came through a tricky encounter against the big hitting Brazilian, Thomaz Bellucci with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 win, which still sees the Frenchman yet to drop a set.
Gael Monfils also made progress as he beat the American player, Jack Sock, in straight sets 7-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Another French player Benoit Paire also made good progress as he battled past another Aussie, Nick Kyrgios after he came from two sets to love down to win a five setter in 6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
And finally in the biggest upset of the tournament so far, Juan Martin Del Potro went down in a stunning defeat against the Spaniard, Roberto Autista-Agut who managed to outlast big Delpo and put in an incredible performance to win in five sets 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5. This was a big surprise which I'm sure not many people saw coming although perhaps Delpo hadn't prepared as well for Melbourne during the off season as the other top guys maybe, who knows? Anyway that's the biggest casualty of the men's event so far and I'm sure more will follow.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright so that's it for my posts on the Australian Open and I will be back in a couple of days to cover more action from the Australian open.
Until the next one, bye for now!
Starting with Day 1 we had Stanislas Wawrinka who opened up play for the men on Hisense arena as he played Andrey Golubev and he had little trouble getting past Kazakh who retired in the 2nd set as the Swiss No.2 secured his 2nd round placed with a 6-2, 4-1 win. David Ferrer up next opened up play for the men on the Rod Laver arena and he faced Alejandro Gonzalez which he defeated with ease in a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win. Novak Djokovic, the defending champion next up played against the Slovakian player Lukas Lacko in an entertaining opening round for the Serb, which saw him in good form, and despite being pushed to a 2nd set tiebreak which he won, Nole never looked to be in trouble and he won the match comfortably in 6-3, 7-6, 6-1. And lastly Tomas Berdych got his campaign off to a confident start as he beat Oleksandr Nedovyesov in straight sets in 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
So quickly in other matches on Day 1:
Jerzy Janowic the giant bean Pole won against wildcard Aussie Jordan Thompson in a five set battle which saw Jerzy come back from two sets to love down to win in 1-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.
And Denis Istomin took down former Melbourne finalist Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 scoreline.
Moving onto day 2 we saw the other three of the big four out in action as Rafa, Roger and Andy are all drawn in the same half of the draw, which isn't too kind on any of them but that's how it goes (as Nole seems to have had it quite cushily this time.... well so far!). And the action started with Roger Federer taking on another Aussie wildcard, James Duckworth, whom the Swiss maestro dismissed in 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Andy Murray also had it pretty easy in his first round as he shook off the cobwebs off his comeback into 2014 and put in an effortless performance against the Japenese player, Go Soeda as he defeated him 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. This was a terrific performance from Andy which sees his season get off to a solid start in the majors, but wether or not he can maintain this over the next two weeks remains to be seen. After that Rafa was in action as he played Bernard Tomic in what promised to be quite a match, however it turned out to be an anti-climax as Tomic, who injured his groin was forced to retire after just the first set which gave Rafa safe passage into the 2nd round after just 6-4. And lastly Juan Martin Del Potro had a tough encounter against the American player, Ryhne Williams as it took four tight sets to get past him with Delpo winning in 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
And as quick round up of the other matches on day 2 we had:
Andreas Seppi who took on the home favourite Lleyton Hewitt who the Italian stunned after an epic pitch battle, with Hewitt coming from two sets to love down to level the match and despite serving for it himself he missed his chance and Seppi took his to break the Aussie and he closed it out in 7-6, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5. This was a bit of a letdown I'm sure for the home crowd (well more than a bit I'm sure!) and I was hoping to see Hewitt get into the 2nd round as well, but in the end it wasn't to be.
Jo Wilfried Tsonga had a fairly comfy ride in beating the Italian player Filippo Volandri in 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.
And last of all is Gael Monfils who has made a good comeback in 2014 so far and he defeated the American Ryan Harrison in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
And last of all John Isner was forced to retire in his match as he suffered a foot injury as did Ivan Dodig of Croatia who even said after his match he feared for his life out there and that he couldn't walk for 30 minutes after the match. So I think that was a big hint to the organisers to do something about it!
Now onto Day 3 which saw Novak Djokovic take to the courts again and he played the plucky Argentine, Leonard Mayer for a place in the 3rd round. And Nole once again proved too strong for his opponent as he defeated Mayer in just under two hours with a 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 victory, which sees him continue his fairly serene progress toward another title defence. David Ferrer had a much tougher time however against the Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino as he dropped the 2nd set but he came back strong to finish it in four with a 7-6, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 score. Tomas Berdych wasted little time in his match as he sped past another French layer Kenny De Schepper with a confident 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 result. And lastly Stan Wawrinka had a tough test on his hands as he faced off against the Colombian player, Alejandro Falla whom he overcame in 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.
And quickly as a rundown of the other matches:
The in form Canadian player Vasek Pospisil managed to take down another Aussie player Matthew Ebden after a tough four setter which Vasek won in 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-1.
Richard Gasquet also made it into the 3rd round as he made it past the former World No.3 Nikolai Davydenko in straight sets in 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.
And lastly Sam Querrey took out the 23rd seed Ernests Gulbis to reach the 3rd round comfortably in 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Sooooo now its time for day 4 which saw the organisers of the tournament FINALLY invoke their extreme heat policy and got the players off court for a few hours to cool down as they also closed the roofs on the Rod Laver and Hisense arenas. So to kick off we first up had Rafael Nadal face off against the promising youngster Thanasi Kokkinakis, whom the World No.1 ended up giving a lesson in how to play the game as he beat the young Aussie in just 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Having played his first full match, Rafa is looking in pretty good form although he has not been tested so far that will change as his draw continues but I can only see good things ahead for Rafa in Melbourne with a strong chance of reaching the final at the very least.
Andy Murray went on to face an unusual challenge in the French player Vincent Millot as Andy got off to a good start as he broke his opponent twice in the first two sets to take the lead. In the 3rd set however Andy started to suffere a puzzling dip in form and before he knew he found himself 5-1 down at the hands of the rejuvenated Frenchman who took a medical timeout for his calf injury. However despite serving for the set, Millot could not find an answer for what happened next as Andy reeled 23 straight points in a row to fightback to break his opponent's serve three times as he served it out with ease to claim a bizarre 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 victory.
This was a strangely subdued performance from Andy who as we all know can vary from one match to the next in consistency and quality and it seemed to be a strange dip in form during the 3rd set, but it was still remarkable how he managed to close it out. But Andy will definitely need to step up his game against his next opponent Feliciano Lopez who so far has looked impressive in Melbourne and if their last match at the US Open is anything to go by where Andy had to battle past Lopez in four tight sets, then he surely will have his hands full, but here's hoping he can come through it and it should be a good match.
After that we had Roger Federer who faced off against the Slovenian player Blaz Kavicic, which after breezing to a two set lead saw Roger face his first mini test of the tournament when Blaz took the mighty Fed to a tiebreak and Blaz took a 3-0 lead. However it didn't last long as Rog broke back and manufactured a break of his own as he sealed the break and the match with a comfortable 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 victory. So far Roger is looking pretty good in Melbourne and the early signs are encouraging for him although no doubt the rounds will get tougher and Andy Murray could very well be his quarter final round opponent, which if they both get there and its anything like their superb encounter last year in Melbourne, it could be a real treat to watch.
And quickly to summarise the other matches on Day 4:
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came through a tricky encounter against the big hitting Brazilian, Thomaz Bellucci with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 win, which still sees the Frenchman yet to drop a set.
Gael Monfils also made progress as he beat the American player, Jack Sock, in straight sets 7-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Another French player Benoit Paire also made good progress as he battled past another Aussie, Nick Kyrgios after he came from two sets to love down to win a five setter in 6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
And finally in the biggest upset of the tournament so far, Juan Martin Del Potro went down in a stunning defeat against the Spaniard, Roberto Autista-Agut who managed to outlast big Delpo and put in an incredible performance to win in five sets 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5. This was a big surprise which I'm sure not many people saw coming although perhaps Delpo hadn't prepared as well for Melbourne during the off season as the other top guys maybe, who knows? Anyway that's the biggest casualty of the men's event so far and I'm sure more will follow.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright so that's it for my posts on the Australian Open and I will be back in a couple of days to cover more action from the Australian open.
Until the next one, bye for now!
Australian Open 2014 The Ladies Part 1: Out of the frying pan and right into the fire....
OK so its time for my first post on the 2014 Australian open, the first grand slam of the tennis season which is from Melbourne park down under. So far the tournament has proven to be quite dramatic, not so much in the matches (although there have been one or two upsets already) but morely in the extreme heat on the courts as temperatures have risen as high 43.3 celsius with several players already having retired from exhaustion as a result of the heat. But I'll get to that a bit later first up let's have a look at the first four days of play as this post will cover the 1st and 2nd round matches for the ladies events and I will do another separate post for the men's. Rather than do my usual lenghty diatribe on the matches I thought I would cut it down a bit by summarising the scores for the lower ranked players more quickly. So with that let's slap on the sun block, get out the shades and look at the first slam of the year....
Right so on day one we had Serena Williams out on court, who played against the Australian wildcard player in what proved to be a very straightforward encounter which saw Serena emerge victorious in just under an hour with a 6-2, 6-1 score. As far as good starts go this is what you would expect from Serena as she breezed her way through this one and she remains the top favourite to win the title. Next up we had Angelique Keber, the German no.1 and world no.9, who beat another Aussie player Jamila Gajdasova in a three set scrap which saw Angie win in 6-3, 0-6, 6-2. Last year's finalist Li Na managed to thump her way through her opponent Ana Konjuh as she blasted her off the court with a 6-2, 6-0 win. And Sam Stosur, the Aussie favourite made her way past Klara Zakopalova in straight sets, which made up her for loss to her in Hobart just last weekend, and Sam won this match in 6-3, 6-4.
And quickly in other match results:
Ana Ivanovic vs Kik Bertens, Ana won 6-4, 6-4.
Julia Goerges of Germany stunned Sara Errani in 6-3, 6-2.
Ekaterina Makarova of Russia also stunned Venus Williams in 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
And the biggest upset on day 1 had to be Petra Kvitova who lost to Luksika Kumkhum who won in 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.
And lastly the two British players, Laura Robson and Heather Watson both took an early exit as Laura was beaten by Kirsten Flipkens with a lucklustre performance from Laura as she won only three games and the Belgian won 6-3, 6-0. Heather played a much tighter match against Daniela Hantuchova as she levelled the match at a set all but lost her way in the 3rd and the Slovakian won 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
Moving onto day two which saw the defending champion Victoria Azarenka make her way onto court and she didn't have it easy against her Swedish opponent, Johanna Larsson as she pushed Vika hard in the first set, which Vika eventually took on a tiebreak, but in the 2nd Victoria stepped it up and got the job done with a double to win the match in 7-6, 6-2. Maria Sharapova made an erratic start against the American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, but she still got the job done in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 and it shows that while she was under prepared she is here to play. Caroline Wozniacki on the other hand got her campaign off to a solid beginning as she gubbed Lourdes Dominguez Lino conceding only two games, 6-0, 6-2, Caroline also made mention of the heat on the day as she said it was so hot her water bottle started to melt! This sees Caroline make the best possible start to her campaign and hopefully she can go fairly deep although she could face Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round. And Agnieszka Radwanska had to battle her way past her first round opponent Yulia Putintseva as she eventually prevailed in three sets 6-0, 5-7, 6-2.
As for the round of other match results on Day 2:
Jelena Jankovic beat the Japanese player Misaki Doi in 6-1, 6-2.
Simona Halep, the inform Romanian thumped Katarzyna Piter 6-0, 6-1.
Dominika Cibulkova took down Francesca Schiavone in 6-3, 6-4.
Now onto day 3 which saw the temperatures seriously start to rise up as some of the players started to seriously struggle in the blazing heat which saw temperatures rise as high as 42 degrees celsius and the Aussie open organisers were yet to deploy their extreme heat policy. As a result there were some retirals, especially on the men's side, but I'll get to that in another post.
As for the ladies matches Li Na opened up play on the Rod Laver arena and she had to work much harder to get past her opponent Belinda Bencic as after a dishing out a bagel to her opponent in the first set, she was pushed all the way in the second which went to a tiebreak, but Li Na took the breaker and the match 7-5 to win in 6-0, 7-6. Serena Williams up next had very little trouble getting past Vesna Dolonc, despite her fears of succumbing to the heat, the World No.1 flattened the Serbian player in just 6-1, 6-2. Sam Stosur also continued her fine form as she breezed past Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria with an emphatic 6-2, 6-0 score and she looks to carry on her passage to win her home slam. And next up Angelique Kerber made her way into the 3rd round after defeating Alla Kudryavtseva (good surname!) with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory.
And here's a quick round up of the other matches of day 3:
Casey Dellacqua the upcoming Aussie upset Kirsten Flipkens 6-3, 6-0.
Monica Niculescu also upset Sabine Lisicki of Germany after a three set tussle in 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Flavia Pennetta also beat Monica Puig with an easy 6-3, 6-4 scoreline.
So now we get onto day 4 and this is where things really started to heat up as in the tennis on the court started to catch fire (well not literally!) after a slow three day start this is where things get interesting. Day 4 also saw the hottest temperatures so far of the tournament as the temps rose as high as 43.3 degrees which saw the organisers finally enforce their extreme heat policy and they suspended play on the outside courts for four hours to let the players recuperate and the roofs were closed on the Rod Laver and Hisense arenas. So with that drama let's have a look at day 4....
Right well things started off with Maria Sharapova, the former 2008 champion, who took to the court in a boiling 42C as she did battle with Karin Knapp in a match in which play was interrupted while the roof was closed. And Maria was pushed all the way by Knapp after a set all the two players engaged in an intense final set which lasted nearly two hours and eventually saw Maria emerge victorious after three hours and 28 minutes with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 scoreline. This really was a test of Maria's mettle and despite the extreme conditions on court she somehow managed to find a way to get things done, which once again shows she truly is one of the greatest female warriors in the game. Caroline Wozniacki faced her first test as she was up against the young American player, Christina McHale and she eventually won a lop-sided match in 6-0, 1-6, 6-2. Victoria Azarenka next up had a bit of a tricky time also against her opponent, the temperamental Barbora Zahlalova Strycova but she overcame her in 6-1, 6-4. And lastly Agnieszka Radwanska had an easier time of it than her first round as she defeated Olga Govortsova in 6-0 7-5.
Which brings me into the last round of other matches on day 4:
Alize Cornet battled past the Italian player Camilla Ciorgi 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 and she had to not only overcome her opponent but also her emotions as she fought back tears due to the strain of playing in such brutally oppressive conditions. And lastly Sloane Stephens also had a real scrap on her hands as she eventually slogged her way past 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Right so that's it for the ladies, next up its the men....
See ya soon!
Right so on day one we had Serena Williams out on court, who played against the Australian wildcard player in what proved to be a very straightforward encounter which saw Serena emerge victorious in just under an hour with a 6-2, 6-1 score. As far as good starts go this is what you would expect from Serena as she breezed her way through this one and she remains the top favourite to win the title. Next up we had Angelique Keber, the German no.1 and world no.9, who beat another Aussie player Jamila Gajdasova in a three set scrap which saw Angie win in 6-3, 0-6, 6-2. Last year's finalist Li Na managed to thump her way through her opponent Ana Konjuh as she blasted her off the court with a 6-2, 6-0 win. And Sam Stosur, the Aussie favourite made her way past Klara Zakopalova in straight sets, which made up her for loss to her in Hobart just last weekend, and Sam won this match in 6-3, 6-4.
And quickly in other match results:
Ana Ivanovic vs Kik Bertens, Ana won 6-4, 6-4.
Julia Goerges of Germany stunned Sara Errani in 6-3, 6-2.
Ekaterina Makarova of Russia also stunned Venus Williams in 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
And the biggest upset on day 1 had to be Petra Kvitova who lost to Luksika Kumkhum who won in 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.
And lastly the two British players, Laura Robson and Heather Watson both took an early exit as Laura was beaten by Kirsten Flipkens with a lucklustre performance from Laura as she won only three games and the Belgian won 6-3, 6-0. Heather played a much tighter match against Daniela Hantuchova as she levelled the match at a set all but lost her way in the 3rd and the Slovakian won 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
Moving onto day two which saw the defending champion Victoria Azarenka make her way onto court and she didn't have it easy against her Swedish opponent, Johanna Larsson as she pushed Vika hard in the first set, which Vika eventually took on a tiebreak, but in the 2nd Victoria stepped it up and got the job done with a double to win the match in 7-6, 6-2. Maria Sharapova made an erratic start against the American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, but she still got the job done in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 and it shows that while she was under prepared she is here to play. Caroline Wozniacki on the other hand got her campaign off to a solid beginning as she gubbed Lourdes Dominguez Lino conceding only two games, 6-0, 6-2, Caroline also made mention of the heat on the day as she said it was so hot her water bottle started to melt! This sees Caroline make the best possible start to her campaign and hopefully she can go fairly deep although she could face Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round. And Agnieszka Radwanska had to battle her way past her first round opponent Yulia Putintseva as she eventually prevailed in three sets 6-0, 5-7, 6-2.
As for the round of other match results on Day 2:
Jelena Jankovic beat the Japanese player Misaki Doi in 6-1, 6-2.
Simona Halep, the inform Romanian thumped Katarzyna Piter 6-0, 6-1.
Dominika Cibulkova took down Francesca Schiavone in 6-3, 6-4.
Now onto day 3 which saw the temperatures seriously start to rise up as some of the players started to seriously struggle in the blazing heat which saw temperatures rise as high as 42 degrees celsius and the Aussie open organisers were yet to deploy their extreme heat policy. As a result there were some retirals, especially on the men's side, but I'll get to that in another post.
As for the ladies matches Li Na opened up play on the Rod Laver arena and she had to work much harder to get past her opponent Belinda Bencic as after a dishing out a bagel to her opponent in the first set, she was pushed all the way in the second which went to a tiebreak, but Li Na took the breaker and the match 7-5 to win in 6-0, 7-6. Serena Williams up next had very little trouble getting past Vesna Dolonc, despite her fears of succumbing to the heat, the World No.1 flattened the Serbian player in just 6-1, 6-2. Sam Stosur also continued her fine form as she breezed past Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria with an emphatic 6-2, 6-0 score and she looks to carry on her passage to win her home slam. And next up Angelique Kerber made her way into the 3rd round after defeating Alla Kudryavtseva (good surname!) with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory.
And here's a quick round up of the other matches of day 3:
Casey Dellacqua the upcoming Aussie upset Kirsten Flipkens 6-3, 6-0.
Monica Niculescu also upset Sabine Lisicki of Germany after a three set tussle in 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Flavia Pennetta also beat Monica Puig with an easy 6-3, 6-4 scoreline.
So now we get onto day 4 and this is where things really started to heat up as in the tennis on the court started to catch fire (well not literally!) after a slow three day start this is where things get interesting. Day 4 also saw the hottest temperatures so far of the tournament as the temps rose as high as 43.3 degrees which saw the organisers finally enforce their extreme heat policy and they suspended play on the outside courts for four hours to let the players recuperate and the roofs were closed on the Rod Laver and Hisense arenas. So with that drama let's have a look at day 4....
Right well things started off with Maria Sharapova, the former 2008 champion, who took to the court in a boiling 42C as she did battle with Karin Knapp in a match in which play was interrupted while the roof was closed. And Maria was pushed all the way by Knapp after a set all the two players engaged in an intense final set which lasted nearly two hours and eventually saw Maria emerge victorious after three hours and 28 minutes with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 scoreline. This really was a test of Maria's mettle and despite the extreme conditions on court she somehow managed to find a way to get things done, which once again shows she truly is one of the greatest female warriors in the game. Caroline Wozniacki faced her first test as she was up against the young American player, Christina McHale and she eventually won a lop-sided match in 6-0, 1-6, 6-2. Victoria Azarenka next up had a bit of a tricky time also against her opponent, the temperamental Barbora Zahlalova Strycova but she overcame her in 6-1, 6-4. And lastly Agnieszka Radwanska had an easier time of it than her first round as she defeated Olga Govortsova in 6-0 7-5.
Which brings me into the last round of other matches on day 4:
Alize Cornet battled past the Italian player Camilla Ciorgi 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 and she had to not only overcome her opponent but also her emotions as she fought back tears due to the strain of playing in such brutally oppressive conditions. And lastly Sloane Stephens also had a real scrap on her hands as she eventually slogged her way past 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Right so that's it for the ladies, next up its the men....
See ya soon!
Sunday 5 January 2014
2014 Australian Open preview men's pick
OK so I've had a look at the ladies, now let's have a look at my pick of the bunch for the men's contenders for the 2014 Australian open to win or go deep into the event...
Novak Djokovic
Right for starters I have to put Novak Djokovic at the top of the tree as his record in Melbourne speaks for itself over the last three years, as he has won the title there four times now, it would be impossible to see him as anything but the favourite to win. Nole also has come into 2014 on an unbeaten 22 match winning streak from the ATP world tour finals in London and given that form it will be incredibly hard for anyone to stop him. But this is a new year and the slams are all about fitness and I'm sure there will be stern tests ahead of Nole in Melbourne this year, just like Stanlisas Wawrinka did last year in that amazing 4th round match they had. But over the last couple of years Novak has proven himself to be a real fitness freak and we only have to look at the combined length of eleven hours played over the space of two days when he triumphed over Andy Murray in the semis and Rafa in the final, which was a superhuman effort in itself. The only players that could potentially stop Nole are Andy Murray if he comes up against the British No.1 in top form, however given that Andy has just come back from injury I think its doubtful Andy could possibly beat him. And then there is Rafa who has always been Novak's main rival in his career as the two of them have met more times than any two players have met in the history of the game (a record 39 meetings!). And Rafa has proven over the last year that he has really upped his game on hard courts and at this tournament there is no doubt he will pose as Nole's biggest danger. But despite all that I still see Novak edging Rafa in this contest and given his incredible self belief and how comfortable he is on the Rod Laver arena court, however it will be real tight if they meet and it will be decided by just a point here or there. But whichever way it goes, it will be a real close call. Prediction: champion or possible finalist.
Rafael Nadal
Next up has to be Rafa as since his amazing comeback to the tour last year, he has won 11 titles (having triumphed already this year in Doha, which is number 11), 2 grand slams and has regained the world no.1 ranking, and five of those titles alone have been on hard courts. This shows for sure that Rafa has definitely upped his game on hard court as prior to Indian Wells last year, Rafa hadn't even won a title on hard court for three years! And I can almost see Rafa even upsetting his nemesis and rival Novak Djokovic this year at the Australian open given his record last year of having won over 20 matches on hard court in a row. But where Rafa might fall down is when he plays into Nole's into-out forehand, which really remains the one shot that can hurt Rafa, and also Nole's tremendous comfort to play his best on the Rod Laver arena court. However what I can predict with a fair degree of confidence is that it will be these two in the final and it would hard to imagine anyone else other than them reaching the final this year in Melbourne and whatever happens its going to be mighty exciting, but Rafa might just come off second best, but we'll see. Prediction: finalist or possible champion.
Andy Murray
After these two I will pick Andy Murray who has just made his comeback after having undergone surgery to correct a lower back problem. With Andy having made his breakthrough at the US Open in 2012 and having gone on to become the first British player to win the singles title at Wimbleon in 77 years in 2013, Andy knows how to win a major. Not only that he has also been the finalist in Melbourne three times and he too is very comfortable playing on the Rod Laver arena court and he had his chances last year in the final against Novak but came up short as his movement was hampered by blisters on his feet and his level dropped in the 3rd set. But the main problem for Andy is that he has just made his comeback and I think it will take a few months before he is back to his best form and for that alone I don't see him winning the title this year. And given that he also suffered an early defeat in Doha at the beginning the of this season to Florian Mayer it shows that he still has a lot of work to do physically before he get himself up to full fitness as his movement was just a half step slow in that match. But despite that I still think that Andy can make a decent inroads at this tournament and I can possibly see him reach the second week although it will purely depend on his fitness and form as there is always a danger of an early exit, but let's hope not and hopefully that won't happen. So I don't think Andy will win the title but I think he can still go deep fitness permitting. Prediction: quarters or semis.
Roger Federer
I put Roger at the bottom of the big four simply because given the poor run of form he had shown in 2013 I think it will be very tough for him to step it up and win another title again in Melbounre. And at the age of 32, Roger is getting that bit older and his results in the grand slams last year haven't been too kind to him, with a 2nd round exit at Wimbledon and a 4th round exit at Wimbledon. However Roger has had a decent start to 2014 so far as he has already reached the final of the Brisbane International where he lost to Lleyton Hewitt in a close final. But therein lies the problem for Roger as at the tournament he was pushed hard by the likes of Jeremy Chardy, the french player who even in the last year or two Roger would have defeated with ease, and you would also even expect Roger to triumph over Hewitt in the final. But again it boils down to Roger's fitness and his game just isn't as sharp as it once was and now he is far more vulnerable to being beaten by lower ranked players as he was defeated by several times last year. So for me I don't think Roger will win the title this year in Melbourne but he still has the chance to go deep and his results in Brisbane have been encouraging so we will see what happens. Prediction: quarter finals or semis.
David Ferrer
Next up would be David Ferrer, the Spanish terrier or the wall as he is also known as, who is one of the best returners in the game and Ferrer is one of the ultimate warriors on the tour just now and his fitness and speed make him a very dangerous opponent. But Ferrer it has to be said has no big weapons in his game and he has to rely more on pushing his opponents around the court and keeping them on the move and making them play long rallies. And when it comes to the big four, he more times than not usually comes up short against them. However that's not to say that Ferrer doesn't stand any chance of winning a major one day, but let's face the fact he won't win the title in Melbounre. But despite that though I still think Ferrer has a good chance to go deep here and he reached the semi finals last year in Melbourne and in all fairness I think he has a good chance to do so again this year. Prediction: quarter or semi finals.
Juan Martin Del Potro
After Ferrer would be Juan Martin Del Potro, the gentle giant from Argentina, aka the tower of Tandil. Delpo knows how to win a major as well as he is the only other player to have won a major other than the big four since Marat Safin back in 2005 (also in Melbourne!). Del Potro given his size also moves really well and he has a decent net game, not to mention that monster first serve and a brutal forehand, which can whip up winners as fast 120 mph. So physically Delpo remains an intimidating figure and against most players he also poses a literal big threat. However Del Potro hasn't made it past the quarter finals at the Australian Open and should he come up against either Rafa or Nole there is a fair chance that he will come up short. Despite that though I can still see Delpo go deep into the tournament and just maybe he has a good chance as any. Prediction: quarter or semi finals.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
And my next pick of the bunch would have to be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was a former finalist at the Australian Open back in 2008 where he lost to Novak Djokovic. Tsonga has proven on his day he can beat just about anyone and he also possesses some big weapons such as a huge first serve, sharp net game and also a powerful forehand. Where Tsonga falls down however is his lack of consistency and he also isn't the toughest of opponents mentally speaking as at times he can be quite flaky during matches where he can go off the boil, which often has proved costly. But Tsonga still has a good record in Melbourne and he managed to reach the quarter finals last year where he was beaten by Federer in very close five set match. And while Tsonga does have some chance I don't see him winning the title unless he plays very solidly and consistently throughout the tournament, which is a big ask for any player. But I'm despite that Tsonga still has an opportunity to get to the business end of the tournament. Prediction: quarter finals.
Stanislas Wawrinka
And last but not least by any means is Stan Wawrinka, who made a real name for himself last year at Melbourne as he played a spectacular match against Novak Djokovic in the 4th round, where he finally fell to the Serb after five hours losing 10-12 in the 5th set. Stan went on to have the best year of his career where he reached a Masters final in Madrid and won a title in Portugal against David Ferrer and most importantly reached the semi finals of the US Open and ATP world tour finals. So given Stan's current form I think its safe to say he will have another very good tournament this year in Melbourne and has even reached the quarter finals at this event before as well, which he did three years ago when he was beaten by Federer. Stan however while he possesses a powerful serve and probably the best single handed backhand in the game, he still doesn't quite have the edge to take down the big guys in the game, he can certainly challenge them but when it comes to beating the likes of Nole and Rafa it will remain a struggle for him. Regardless of that though Stan has already made a good start to this year having won his fifth career title in Chennai and I'm sure he will live up to his top 10 ranking and reach the second week of the tournament. Predictions: quarter finals.
Right so that's it for my look at my pick of the men's for the Australian Open. Next up I will start my coverage once the tournament get's underway as it begins a week tonight, so cannot wait for that.
Till then bye for now.
Novak Djokovic
Right for starters I have to put Novak Djokovic at the top of the tree as his record in Melbourne speaks for itself over the last three years, as he has won the title there four times now, it would be impossible to see him as anything but the favourite to win. Nole also has come into 2014 on an unbeaten 22 match winning streak from the ATP world tour finals in London and given that form it will be incredibly hard for anyone to stop him. But this is a new year and the slams are all about fitness and I'm sure there will be stern tests ahead of Nole in Melbourne this year, just like Stanlisas Wawrinka did last year in that amazing 4th round match they had. But over the last couple of years Novak has proven himself to be a real fitness freak and we only have to look at the combined length of eleven hours played over the space of two days when he triumphed over Andy Murray in the semis and Rafa in the final, which was a superhuman effort in itself. The only players that could potentially stop Nole are Andy Murray if he comes up against the British No.1 in top form, however given that Andy has just come back from injury I think its doubtful Andy could possibly beat him. And then there is Rafa who has always been Novak's main rival in his career as the two of them have met more times than any two players have met in the history of the game (a record 39 meetings!). And Rafa has proven over the last year that he has really upped his game on hard courts and at this tournament there is no doubt he will pose as Nole's biggest danger. But despite all that I still see Novak edging Rafa in this contest and given his incredible self belief and how comfortable he is on the Rod Laver arena court, however it will be real tight if they meet and it will be decided by just a point here or there. But whichever way it goes, it will be a real close call. Prediction: champion or possible finalist.
Rafael Nadal
Next up has to be Rafa as since his amazing comeback to the tour last year, he has won 11 titles (having triumphed already this year in Doha, which is number 11), 2 grand slams and has regained the world no.1 ranking, and five of those titles alone have been on hard courts. This shows for sure that Rafa has definitely upped his game on hard court as prior to Indian Wells last year, Rafa hadn't even won a title on hard court for three years! And I can almost see Rafa even upsetting his nemesis and rival Novak Djokovic this year at the Australian open given his record last year of having won over 20 matches on hard court in a row. But where Rafa might fall down is when he plays into Nole's into-out forehand, which really remains the one shot that can hurt Rafa, and also Nole's tremendous comfort to play his best on the Rod Laver arena court. However what I can predict with a fair degree of confidence is that it will be these two in the final and it would hard to imagine anyone else other than them reaching the final this year in Melbourne and whatever happens its going to be mighty exciting, but Rafa might just come off second best, but we'll see. Prediction: finalist or possible champion.
Andy Murray
After these two I will pick Andy Murray who has just made his comeback after having undergone surgery to correct a lower back problem. With Andy having made his breakthrough at the US Open in 2012 and having gone on to become the first British player to win the singles title at Wimbleon in 77 years in 2013, Andy knows how to win a major. Not only that he has also been the finalist in Melbourne three times and he too is very comfortable playing on the Rod Laver arena court and he had his chances last year in the final against Novak but came up short as his movement was hampered by blisters on his feet and his level dropped in the 3rd set. But the main problem for Andy is that he has just made his comeback and I think it will take a few months before he is back to his best form and for that alone I don't see him winning the title this year. And given that he also suffered an early defeat in Doha at the beginning the of this season to Florian Mayer it shows that he still has a lot of work to do physically before he get himself up to full fitness as his movement was just a half step slow in that match. But despite that I still think that Andy can make a decent inroads at this tournament and I can possibly see him reach the second week although it will purely depend on his fitness and form as there is always a danger of an early exit, but let's hope not and hopefully that won't happen. So I don't think Andy will win the title but I think he can still go deep fitness permitting. Prediction: quarters or semis.
Roger Federer
I put Roger at the bottom of the big four simply because given the poor run of form he had shown in 2013 I think it will be very tough for him to step it up and win another title again in Melbounre. And at the age of 32, Roger is getting that bit older and his results in the grand slams last year haven't been too kind to him, with a 2nd round exit at Wimbledon and a 4th round exit at Wimbledon. However Roger has had a decent start to 2014 so far as he has already reached the final of the Brisbane International where he lost to Lleyton Hewitt in a close final. But therein lies the problem for Roger as at the tournament he was pushed hard by the likes of Jeremy Chardy, the french player who even in the last year or two Roger would have defeated with ease, and you would also even expect Roger to triumph over Hewitt in the final. But again it boils down to Roger's fitness and his game just isn't as sharp as it once was and now he is far more vulnerable to being beaten by lower ranked players as he was defeated by several times last year. So for me I don't think Roger will win the title this year in Melbourne but he still has the chance to go deep and his results in Brisbane have been encouraging so we will see what happens. Prediction: quarter finals or semis.
David Ferrer
Next up would be David Ferrer, the Spanish terrier or the wall as he is also known as, who is one of the best returners in the game and Ferrer is one of the ultimate warriors on the tour just now and his fitness and speed make him a very dangerous opponent. But Ferrer it has to be said has no big weapons in his game and he has to rely more on pushing his opponents around the court and keeping them on the move and making them play long rallies. And when it comes to the big four, he more times than not usually comes up short against them. However that's not to say that Ferrer doesn't stand any chance of winning a major one day, but let's face the fact he won't win the title in Melbounre. But despite that though I still think Ferrer has a good chance to go deep here and he reached the semi finals last year in Melbourne and in all fairness I think he has a good chance to do so again this year. Prediction: quarter or semi finals.
Juan Martin Del Potro
After Ferrer would be Juan Martin Del Potro, the gentle giant from Argentina, aka the tower of Tandil. Delpo knows how to win a major as well as he is the only other player to have won a major other than the big four since Marat Safin back in 2005 (also in Melbourne!). Del Potro given his size also moves really well and he has a decent net game, not to mention that monster first serve and a brutal forehand, which can whip up winners as fast 120 mph. So physically Delpo remains an intimidating figure and against most players he also poses a literal big threat. However Del Potro hasn't made it past the quarter finals at the Australian Open and should he come up against either Rafa or Nole there is a fair chance that he will come up short. Despite that though I can still see Delpo go deep into the tournament and just maybe he has a good chance as any. Prediction: quarter or semi finals.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
And my next pick of the bunch would have to be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was a former finalist at the Australian Open back in 2008 where he lost to Novak Djokovic. Tsonga has proven on his day he can beat just about anyone and he also possesses some big weapons such as a huge first serve, sharp net game and also a powerful forehand. Where Tsonga falls down however is his lack of consistency and he also isn't the toughest of opponents mentally speaking as at times he can be quite flaky during matches where he can go off the boil, which often has proved costly. But Tsonga still has a good record in Melbourne and he managed to reach the quarter finals last year where he was beaten by Federer in very close five set match. And while Tsonga does have some chance I don't see him winning the title unless he plays very solidly and consistently throughout the tournament, which is a big ask for any player. But I'm despite that Tsonga still has an opportunity to get to the business end of the tournament. Prediction: quarter finals.
Stanislas Wawrinka
And last but not least by any means is Stan Wawrinka, who made a real name for himself last year at Melbourne as he played a spectacular match against Novak Djokovic in the 4th round, where he finally fell to the Serb after five hours losing 10-12 in the 5th set. Stan went on to have the best year of his career where he reached a Masters final in Madrid and won a title in Portugal against David Ferrer and most importantly reached the semi finals of the US Open and ATP world tour finals. So given Stan's current form I think its safe to say he will have another very good tournament this year in Melbourne and has even reached the quarter finals at this event before as well, which he did three years ago when he was beaten by Federer. Stan however while he possesses a powerful serve and probably the best single handed backhand in the game, he still doesn't quite have the edge to take down the big guys in the game, he can certainly challenge them but when it comes to beating the likes of Nole and Rafa it will remain a struggle for him. Regardless of that though Stan has already made a good start to this year having won his fifth career title in Chennai and I'm sure he will live up to his top 10 ranking and reach the second week of the tournament. Predictions: quarter finals.
Right so that's it for my look at my pick of the men's for the Australian Open. Next up I will start my coverage once the tournament get's underway as it begins a week tonight, so cannot wait for that.
Till then bye for now.
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