Right OK so now I'm moving onto my pick of the matches from the European clay court season and some of the best ones played on the red dirt. So here is my top five.
5. Rio open semi finals, Rafael Nadal d. Pablo Andujar 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(12-10)
Right I thought this is a great one to start with as it was a terrific clash between two Spaniards one of them being the best clay court player of all time and the other putting in a really good performance to test the king of clay to the limit at the Rio open. And Andujar from the start played some powerful and aggressive tennis and landed a double break to grab the first set from a struggling Rafa. In the 2nd however Rafa started digging deep to fight back and doing what he does he sezied his chance to break Andujar and he levelled the match a set apiece. And in the 3rd set both men played some thrilling points as the match went into a gripping epic tiebreak, which saw momentum swing to and fro and Andujar had match points, which Rafa staved off until he himself triumped in a tough battle 12-10 in the break to reach another clay court final. In this match it has to be said Rafa was below his best but he still showed what a great champion he really is and he coped with adversity incredibly well. Andujar also played his part in this match and he played some terrific tennis especially as he kept himself in the final set's thrilling tiebreak, but in the end it was Rafa again who came through in a gripping encounter which deserves its place on here.
4. Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome open) semi finals, Novak Djokovic d. Milos Raonic, 6-7(5-7), 7-6(7-4), 6-3
In this clash it was the battle of the serves as the World No.2 came up against one very tough customer in the big serving Milos Raonic in what was an epic three hour battle. And from the first set Nole found it incredibly hard to get any points on the Raonic serve and play went into a tiebreak, which Raonic took 7-5 and the set with it. In the 2nd set play went by serve again and Djokovic somehow managed to secure the 2nd set tiebreak 7-4, which is no mean feat against such a big server as Raonic. However in the 3rd set the big Canadian's serve was finally broken as Novak moved ahead and finally served it out to reach the final in Rome after three exhaustive hours. This match really was a brutal serving contest and Novak was almost incredibly luck in the end to come through it but his experience also got him over the finish line. Raonic it has to be said as a player is a bit one dimensional as he relies on his big serve and isn't the best returner, but he still played his part in turning this match into a gripping contest, which was certainly worth watching.
3. Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome open) 2nd round, Rafael Nadal d. Gilles Simon, 7-6(7-1), 6-7(4-7), 6-2.
At a tournament which was packed with excellent matches and certainly one of them being one of the best matches of the season, this was a real brutal contest between Rafa and the talented Frenchman, Gilles Simon. Rafa having shown some ropey clay court form coming into this tournament having come close to losing in the final of Madrid to Kei Nishikori only to turn it around just when Nishikori's back injury got the better of him, got off to a rough start here as well, but somehow managed to grab the first set. In the 2nd set Rafa again had to scrap hard against the gutsy Simon and this time Simon's dilligence paid off as he levelled the match by winning the 2nd set breaker. However in the 3rd Rafa finally worked through the gears and garnered a double break from the fading Frenchman, which saw Rafa seal his place in the next round after an exhaustive three hour fight. Rafa again here showed what a great competitor he really is as Simon threw everything he had at him although Rafa was admittedly below par in form, but the match still produced some great tennis for the crowd and it certainly deserves its place on this list.
2. French Open 3rd round, Andy Murray d. Philipp Kohlschreiber 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 12-10
In what had proven so far to be an up and down season for Andy Murray he started to appear to hide his stride when he arrived at the French open, although he made life hard for himself at times in this erratic but still high quality clash with the very talented Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. And in the match Andy got off to a bad start no thanks to his usual ropey serving and he went down a break to lose the opening set. However Andy in the 2nd set started to turn things around as he broke the German and grabbed the 2nd set and he also nabbed the 3rd to take a two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set Andy broke again and appeared to have things under control, when his serve let him down and Kohlschreiber went on to break Andy and level the match at two sets all. In the 5th set we were treated to a thrilling contest where momentum swung back and forth at times and Andy went down a break but he somehow managed to break back. And from here play went by serve until 7-7 when play had to be suspended due to darkness and when it resumed the next day both men played some high quality tennis for the crowd, which finally ended with a break from Andy to seal his place in the last 16. As far as rollercoaster matches go this was right up there and it has to be Andy did not make life easy for himself at all as he should really have closed this one out in the fourth set as he went a break up only to squander it. However Kohlschreiber also deserves a great deal of credit in this match as he played great tennis and for the most part he was the better player, but in the end it was down to Andy's grit and skill as a player that he came through this one. It also marked the first match Andy had played in a grand slam that past 6-6 in the deciding set, so to somehow win this one 12-10 in the 5th set made it that bit more special as well. And this match easily ranks as one of the highlights of the French open.
1. Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome open) quarter final, Rafael Nadal d. Andy Murray 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.
There is no doubt this match deserves its place at the top of the list as it was a much anticipated clash between two of the best players in the world and it marked their first ever meeting in nearly three years so it had alot to live up to. And it sure delivered on its promise as the match proved to be a superb contest, which saw Andy made a strong start and hit a subpar Rafa off the court to grab a double break and the first set with it. In the 2nd set however Rafa started to weave his way into the match as Andy's level started to dip and he broke serve to go on and take the set. And in the 3rd set both men played some incredible stuff for the crowd with Rafa taking an early break, but Andy somehow managed to break back and saved game point for Rafa to consolidate his break with a spectacular passing shot. And Andy then went on to break Rafa to move 4-2 up but Rafa was still not done and he broke back again and play went on until 5-5 where Rafa started to pull the trigger and make his move as Andy double faulted to hand the break to Rafa, who went on to serve out for a place in the semis and emerged victorious in a great match. This easily ranks as one of the best matches of the year and its great to see that Andy and Rafa's first clash in almost three years (two years and seven months to be exact) was a real classic, however it was just a pity that Andy wasn't able to hold serve at 4-2 as he could have went on to win the match. But Rafa once again showed why he is the greatest clay court player to grace the red dirt and his fightback from a set down for the 3rd successive match at the tournament in Rome was remarkable in itself. So for me this is easily the best clay court match of the year and thoroughly deserves its place at the top of the list.
Ok so that's it for the clay court season matches, time to move on to the grass.
Back soon....
Tuesday 15 July 2014
Best men's tennis matches of 2014 Part 1: Hard court season round one
Right so just for a change back on the tennis blog I thought I would do a round up of what I think have been some of the best matches of 2014 so far on the men's tour, which will be a combination of the ATP tour and grand slam matches on the first part of the hard court season from January to the end of March. So let's get a move on and have a look at the top five....
5. ABN AMRO World tennis tournament Rotterdam, 2nd round - Andy Murray d. Dominic Thiem, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
OK so I thought I would put this match up first as it was a real cracker in its own right and it saw Andy Murray, having just recently returned to the tour from his back surgery last year, take on a rising star, the young Austrian player, Dominic Thiem, who really announced himself here in the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam. Early doors Andy got the break in the first set as Thiem looked nervous but it wasn't long before the plucky Austrian found his A game and started moving through the gears to test the British No.1's mettle and he broke back but Andy managed to close the first set out. In the 2nd set however, Thiem really asserted himself and broke Andy's serve and with it the 2nd set and in the 3rd set, it took all of Andy's experience to battle past Thiem to reach the quarter finals. This was a really entertaining contest from start to finish as the young Thiem (you could almost say he is a Thiemager, OK bad joke I know!) grew in confidence throughout to challenge Andy with his blistering backhand and he wonderful net game. And in this match we saw the emergence of an exciting new talent in the men's game and I'm sure Thiem will continue to be a threat in the future and is one to watch out for. So this place definitely deserves it place in the list.
4. Australian Open, quarter finals, Rafael Nadal d. Grigor Dimitrov, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2.
In this match we saw another emergence of the Bulgarian young gin, Grigor Dimitrov, who many people have tipped for big things and this match definitely showed the first signs of this as Dimitrov reached his first ever grand slam quarter final here. But Dimi was up against a big test against the World No.1, Rafa Nadal, but he proved to be up to the task as he made a bold start and broke Rafa to grab the first set. In the 2nd set, Rafa got an early break but Dimitrov fought back to break and play went to a tiebreak, which Rafa took 7-3. In the 3rd set the intensity of the play remained very high and we got another breaker and this time Dimitrov looked poised to take a two sets to one lead with set points, but they went begging and Rafa took the lead instead going into the 4th. And in the 4th set, Rafa finally wore down the gritty Dimitrov who eventually fell down a double break and Rafa finally reached the finish line after an intense four set scrap. In this match Dimitrov really showed he is a big match player and his mental strength has certainly grown and in the future I think he will be a major champion. However this match ultimately was all about Rafa who did what he always does and ground it out to wear down the plucky Dimitrov and the Spaniard also even overcame some nasty blisters on his hand to reach the last four in this high quality match which is worthy of being on the list.
3. Dubai tennis championships semi final, Roger Federer d. Novak Djokovic, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
In their first clash of the season, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic had a highly entertaining encounter with one another in Dubai, which saw the momentum swing to and fro throughout. In the first set it was Nole that came out sharp from the blocks and broke Roger, however the Swiss fella was not to be outdone as even at a break down he produced some wonderful tennis before dropping the opening set. In the 2nd set the momentum started to swing Roger's way and he got a break on Nole's serve and it saw the maestro take the set to level. In the 3rd set however Roger showed his class and rejuvenated form in 2014 as he went on two grab a double break against a fading Nole and sealed his place in the final after a wonderful three set win. This really was showboat tennis at its best and it showed Roger Federer bounce back wonderfully after having suffered the worst year of his career last year and there were plenty of great points throughout which had the full capacity crowed thrilled. Perhaps the last set could have been alot tighter but in the end it doesn't matter as Rog emerged the righful winner.
2. Australian Open quarter final, Stanislas Wawrinka d. Novak Djokovic, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7
This was the repeat of one of the best tennis matches in recent years from last year against Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka who battled it out on Rod Laver arena and it eventually saw Novak prevail 12-10 in the final set. So could Nole do it a second time???? Well no, not quite as he was up against an even more improved Stan Wawrinka who refused to go away despite dropping the opening set, Stan went on to create a two sets to one lead. But Nole being who he is was not to be outdone and was determined to cling onto his title defence as he nabbed the 4th set with a double break to take things into a tense decider, which saw breaks aplenty as well as some thrilling level of play from both guys. But in the end the unthinkable happened at 7-8, as Nole played a couple of loose points to lose his title to the very man he beat the year before in their epic encounter, which saw Stan edge ever closer to his first major title and dethroning the Aussie king in the process. Despite not quite hitting the level of quality throughout that their epic encounter had, this was still an engrossing contest and the 5th set in particular featured some great quality and some really tense and dramatic moments. And it was full credit to Stan to finally pull off the biggest win of his career in defeating the Australian open defending champion and little did we know that he would go on to win the title himself. So all in all its was a great encounter for the most part and one of the real highlights of the Australian open.
1. BNP Paribas Open final, Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
There is no doubt this final deserves its place at the top of the list as it was another terrific contest between two legends in the game, Roger and Nole in the final at Indian Wells. And from the start Roger looked razor sharp with his serving and net play which kept Novak well off balance and he took the first set with a break looking like he was the man to beat. But it wasn't long before Nole started to find his feet as he grew into the match and finally managed to break Fed's serve to take the match to a deciding set. And in the final set Nole took the early advantage by breaking Federer who looked so much in control of the match up to this point. But Rog was not done yet as he went on to break Novak once more to go 5-5 to deny the Serb a chance to serve for the title and play went into a tiebreak, which finally went Novak's way and he won his first title of 2014 after an epic three set battle. This was a highly entertaining and gripping match from the start and you had to be impressed at Roger Federer's level throughout and it is testament to just how much he has improved this year. However you can never count out Novak Djokovic and he showed once again that he is toughest player to put away and once he works his way into a match he is mighty tough to beat, which shows us why is one of the best competitors in the game. And with that it remains one of the best matches of the year and one of the top ones if not the top one of the hard court swing so far.
Right so that's it for my first look at the best matches so far of the season, next up is the clay court season.
See you in a bit....
5. ABN AMRO World tennis tournament Rotterdam, 2nd round - Andy Murray d. Dominic Thiem, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
OK so I thought I would put this match up first as it was a real cracker in its own right and it saw Andy Murray, having just recently returned to the tour from his back surgery last year, take on a rising star, the young Austrian player, Dominic Thiem, who really announced himself here in the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam. Early doors Andy got the break in the first set as Thiem looked nervous but it wasn't long before the plucky Austrian found his A game and started moving through the gears to test the British No.1's mettle and he broke back but Andy managed to close the first set out. In the 2nd set however, Thiem really asserted himself and broke Andy's serve and with it the 2nd set and in the 3rd set, it took all of Andy's experience to battle past Thiem to reach the quarter finals. This was a really entertaining contest from start to finish as the young Thiem (you could almost say he is a Thiemager, OK bad joke I know!) grew in confidence throughout to challenge Andy with his blistering backhand and he wonderful net game. And in this match we saw the emergence of an exciting new talent in the men's game and I'm sure Thiem will continue to be a threat in the future and is one to watch out for. So this place definitely deserves it place in the list.
4. Australian Open, quarter finals, Rafael Nadal d. Grigor Dimitrov, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2.
In this match we saw another emergence of the Bulgarian young gin, Grigor Dimitrov, who many people have tipped for big things and this match definitely showed the first signs of this as Dimitrov reached his first ever grand slam quarter final here. But Dimi was up against a big test against the World No.1, Rafa Nadal, but he proved to be up to the task as he made a bold start and broke Rafa to grab the first set. In the 2nd set, Rafa got an early break but Dimitrov fought back to break and play went to a tiebreak, which Rafa took 7-3. In the 3rd set the intensity of the play remained very high and we got another breaker and this time Dimitrov looked poised to take a two sets to one lead with set points, but they went begging and Rafa took the lead instead going into the 4th. And in the 4th set, Rafa finally wore down the gritty Dimitrov who eventually fell down a double break and Rafa finally reached the finish line after an intense four set scrap. In this match Dimitrov really showed he is a big match player and his mental strength has certainly grown and in the future I think he will be a major champion. However this match ultimately was all about Rafa who did what he always does and ground it out to wear down the plucky Dimitrov and the Spaniard also even overcame some nasty blisters on his hand to reach the last four in this high quality match which is worthy of being on the list.
3. Dubai tennis championships semi final, Roger Federer d. Novak Djokovic, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
In their first clash of the season, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic had a highly entertaining encounter with one another in Dubai, which saw the momentum swing to and fro throughout. In the first set it was Nole that came out sharp from the blocks and broke Roger, however the Swiss fella was not to be outdone as even at a break down he produced some wonderful tennis before dropping the opening set. In the 2nd set the momentum started to swing Roger's way and he got a break on Nole's serve and it saw the maestro take the set to level. In the 3rd set however Roger showed his class and rejuvenated form in 2014 as he went on two grab a double break against a fading Nole and sealed his place in the final after a wonderful three set win. This really was showboat tennis at its best and it showed Roger Federer bounce back wonderfully after having suffered the worst year of his career last year and there were plenty of great points throughout which had the full capacity crowed thrilled. Perhaps the last set could have been alot tighter but in the end it doesn't matter as Rog emerged the righful winner.
2. Australian Open quarter final, Stanislas Wawrinka d. Novak Djokovic, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7
This was the repeat of one of the best tennis matches in recent years from last year against Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka who battled it out on Rod Laver arena and it eventually saw Novak prevail 12-10 in the final set. So could Nole do it a second time???? Well no, not quite as he was up against an even more improved Stan Wawrinka who refused to go away despite dropping the opening set, Stan went on to create a two sets to one lead. But Nole being who he is was not to be outdone and was determined to cling onto his title defence as he nabbed the 4th set with a double break to take things into a tense decider, which saw breaks aplenty as well as some thrilling level of play from both guys. But in the end the unthinkable happened at 7-8, as Nole played a couple of loose points to lose his title to the very man he beat the year before in their epic encounter, which saw Stan edge ever closer to his first major title and dethroning the Aussie king in the process. Despite not quite hitting the level of quality throughout that their epic encounter had, this was still an engrossing contest and the 5th set in particular featured some great quality and some really tense and dramatic moments. And it was full credit to Stan to finally pull off the biggest win of his career in defeating the Australian open defending champion and little did we know that he would go on to win the title himself. So all in all its was a great encounter for the most part and one of the real highlights of the Australian open.
1. BNP Paribas Open final, Novak Djokovic d. Roger Federer, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
There is no doubt this final deserves its place at the top of the list as it was another terrific contest between two legends in the game, Roger and Nole in the final at Indian Wells. And from the start Roger looked razor sharp with his serving and net play which kept Novak well off balance and he took the first set with a break looking like he was the man to beat. But it wasn't long before Nole started to find his feet as he grew into the match and finally managed to break Fed's serve to take the match to a deciding set. And in the final set Nole took the early advantage by breaking Federer who looked so much in control of the match up to this point. But Rog was not done yet as he went on to break Novak once more to go 5-5 to deny the Serb a chance to serve for the title and play went into a tiebreak, which finally went Novak's way and he won his first title of 2014 after an epic three set battle. This was a highly entertaining and gripping match from the start and you had to be impressed at Roger Federer's level throughout and it is testament to just how much he has improved this year. However you can never count out Novak Djokovic and he showed once again that he is toughest player to put away and once he works his way into a match he is mighty tough to beat, which shows us why is one of the best competitors in the game. And with that it remains one of the best matches of the year and one of the top ones if not the top one of the hard court swing so far.
Right so that's it for my first look at the best matches so far of the season, next up is the clay court season.
See you in a bit....
Monday 7 July 2014
2014 Wimbledon Part 7 ladies and men's final: The Becker effect takes effect!
Right well welcome to what will be my last post on the two Wimbledon 2014 finals for the ladies and men's singles titles. So let's get the racquets, load up the Pimms and give it a look....
So ladies first and the ladies final comprised of Petra Kvitova, the former champion and the Canadian newcomer, Eugenie Bouchard, in what promised to be quite an exciting match. However the match itself was nothing more than an exhibition of Petra Kvitova's sensational skills on a grass court as she dominated Bouchard in the first set and took a break to seal it. In the set however any chance of a fightback from Bouchard was quickly snuffed off as Kvitova went on to obliterate the Canadian's chances of a comeback by handing her a bagel set to clinch her second Wimbledon title in under an hour with a 6-3, 6-0 victory.
Well while this final fell way short of the expectations that it promised it has to be said that Petra Kvitova without a doubt deserves her victory as she put in a simply stunning performance in destroying the young Eugenie Bouchard, who almost looked out of her depth in the final after the first set, she was nowhere on the court. And it also showed that Petra appears to have conquered her nerves in regards to winning more majors and after her remarkable year in 2011, she was tipped to be the next big thing in the ladies game, however she failed to handle the pressure involved and it never really happened for her and Petra went on to suffer a string of early defeats in slams as well as upsets. But now with her second Wimbledon title, Petra has proven that she is no flash in the pan and from here, she can surely go on and win many more major titles and I'm sure she will have plenty more before she hangs up her racquet.
However it also shows Bouchard's very impressive consistency this year in the slams as she has already reached two semis and one final and she also deserves a great deal of credit for her efforts. And Bouchard undoubtedly has the potential to be a grand slam winner in the future as she is an aggressive player with a tough mindset, even though she came short in the final on Saturday, she still managed to show that she got what it takes to get there again and I'm sure she will one day. So that's it for my look at the ladies final, which I know is pretty short but then again it was a pretty short final and so there wasn't as much to talk about. But overall for the ladies it has been a very entertaining 2014 Wimbledon and I'm sure we will get some more high quality tennis next year from them aswell.
So now to get on to the men's final which was a much anticipated clash between two old rivals, Roger Federer, the seven time champion and Novak Djokovic, the 2011 champion. And this match promised to be a cracker, given the dramatic and entertaining matches they've played in the past and thankfully the match itself did not disappoint as it was a high quality affair from start to finish, which saw both guys battle it out on centre court. The first set itself was a very tight close affair with nothing in it and play went to a tiebreak, which saw Roger seal it 9-7. In the 2nd set Nole started his fightback and he broke Roger to move ahead and grab the 2nd set to level the match and in the 3rd set, play went by serve again into a tiebreak, but this time Novak wrestled the breaker in his favour and took the two sets to one lead. In the fourth set, Novak appeared to have the match firmly in his hands as he broke Rog to go ahead and at 5-3 he served for the title, but nerves got the better of him and Roger broke back and he went on to break Nole to grab the 4th set and push it to the decider. And in the decider things remained close until 5-4 when Novak after piling the pressure on Roger's serve, he finally managed to get the breakthrough, which saw him win the match and his 2nd Wimbledon title after a dramatic and enthralling 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 result.
There is no doubt this was one of the best Wimbledon men's finals in recent memory and both Rog and Nole played a very high quality match from the get go and it saw the momentum swing to and fro throughout. And for Novak it was a very important victory as he had lost the last three major finals he has been in and it was good to see that he was able to make that breakthrough. It also saw Novak reclaim the No.1 spot from Rafa and in a way it rightfully sees him take that spot as he is without a doubt the best player in the world right now in terms of consistency and his ability to reach the finals of most of the major tournaments. And with the US Open coming I think its safe to say that Novak will be the top favourite to win it as his favourite surface is hard court, but having won his 2nd Wimbledon title it has shown that he is no specialist for one surface and he can play great on all surfaces.
And I'm sure one man who will be relieved with this result will be Boris Becker, who so far has had a couple of near misses with Novak in the slams and if, as a former Wimbledon champ himself, wasn't able to help Novak get over the finish line this time, then maybe it could have been curtains for their partnership??? Well yeah OK maybe not, but you never know, but the signs of the Becker effect seemed to finally take effect here in the final as Novak was handed several chances to close out the match and didn't take them but he hung tough and go it done in the end. So I'm sure their partnership will continue for the foreseeable future although how it will pan it out remains to be seen, but I think together they can win a few more majors before they are done.
As for Roger Federer well he proved once again that there is still life in the old dog yet, if you can forgive the cliche and you can never write him off, especially in this match where he was a two sets to one and a break down and he managed to break Nole back twice in the 4th set and take the set to level the match. And that Rog was able to reach the final and play as well as he did throughout the tournament and take the world's best player the distance, just shows how good Roger Federer still really and just maybe there will be another slam left in the guy yet. However I think that was Roger's best chance to win a slam this year has just passed him and I don't see him winning the US Open this year and he may well have to wait another year until Wimbledon comes around again before he will have a chance to win his 8th unprecedented crown at SW19. But on the plus side Roger's great form in 2014 continues and I'm sure he will continue to do very well on the tour this season and there might be a few titles with his name on it yet this year.
Well that's it for my posts on Wimbledon 2014 which has been another rollercoaster ride of a tournament just like last year's was, which saw quite a few big upsets the top one being Andy Murray being toppled in the quarter finals by Grigor Dimitrov. And it was good to see we were also treated to such a great quality final for the men's singles and it also saw a funny symmetry in terms of the results for the champions this year, as both Petra Kivtova and Novak Djokovic won the Wimbledon title three years ago and they both did it again this year. Funny eh????
Anyway I shall leave you there and be back in the near future.
Bye the nowww!
So ladies first and the ladies final comprised of Petra Kvitova, the former champion and the Canadian newcomer, Eugenie Bouchard, in what promised to be quite an exciting match. However the match itself was nothing more than an exhibition of Petra Kvitova's sensational skills on a grass court as she dominated Bouchard in the first set and took a break to seal it. In the set however any chance of a fightback from Bouchard was quickly snuffed off as Kvitova went on to obliterate the Canadian's chances of a comeback by handing her a bagel set to clinch her second Wimbledon title in under an hour with a 6-3, 6-0 victory.
Well while this final fell way short of the expectations that it promised it has to be said that Petra Kvitova without a doubt deserves her victory as she put in a simply stunning performance in destroying the young Eugenie Bouchard, who almost looked out of her depth in the final after the first set, she was nowhere on the court. And it also showed that Petra appears to have conquered her nerves in regards to winning more majors and after her remarkable year in 2011, she was tipped to be the next big thing in the ladies game, however she failed to handle the pressure involved and it never really happened for her and Petra went on to suffer a string of early defeats in slams as well as upsets. But now with her second Wimbledon title, Petra has proven that she is no flash in the pan and from here, she can surely go on and win many more major titles and I'm sure she will have plenty more before she hangs up her racquet.
However it also shows Bouchard's very impressive consistency this year in the slams as she has already reached two semis and one final and she also deserves a great deal of credit for her efforts. And Bouchard undoubtedly has the potential to be a grand slam winner in the future as she is an aggressive player with a tough mindset, even though she came short in the final on Saturday, she still managed to show that she got what it takes to get there again and I'm sure she will one day. So that's it for my look at the ladies final, which I know is pretty short but then again it was a pretty short final and so there wasn't as much to talk about. But overall for the ladies it has been a very entertaining 2014 Wimbledon and I'm sure we will get some more high quality tennis next year from them aswell.
So now to get on to the men's final which was a much anticipated clash between two old rivals, Roger Federer, the seven time champion and Novak Djokovic, the 2011 champion. And this match promised to be a cracker, given the dramatic and entertaining matches they've played in the past and thankfully the match itself did not disappoint as it was a high quality affair from start to finish, which saw both guys battle it out on centre court. The first set itself was a very tight close affair with nothing in it and play went to a tiebreak, which saw Roger seal it 9-7. In the 2nd set Nole started his fightback and he broke Roger to move ahead and grab the 2nd set to level the match and in the 3rd set, play went by serve again into a tiebreak, but this time Novak wrestled the breaker in his favour and took the two sets to one lead. In the fourth set, Novak appeared to have the match firmly in his hands as he broke Rog to go ahead and at 5-3 he served for the title, but nerves got the better of him and Roger broke back and he went on to break Nole to grab the 4th set and push it to the decider. And in the decider things remained close until 5-4 when Novak after piling the pressure on Roger's serve, he finally managed to get the breakthrough, which saw him win the match and his 2nd Wimbledon title after a dramatic and enthralling 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 result.
There is no doubt this was one of the best Wimbledon men's finals in recent memory and both Rog and Nole played a very high quality match from the get go and it saw the momentum swing to and fro throughout. And for Novak it was a very important victory as he had lost the last three major finals he has been in and it was good to see that he was able to make that breakthrough. It also saw Novak reclaim the No.1 spot from Rafa and in a way it rightfully sees him take that spot as he is without a doubt the best player in the world right now in terms of consistency and his ability to reach the finals of most of the major tournaments. And with the US Open coming I think its safe to say that Novak will be the top favourite to win it as his favourite surface is hard court, but having won his 2nd Wimbledon title it has shown that he is no specialist for one surface and he can play great on all surfaces.
And I'm sure one man who will be relieved with this result will be Boris Becker, who so far has had a couple of near misses with Novak in the slams and if, as a former Wimbledon champ himself, wasn't able to help Novak get over the finish line this time, then maybe it could have been curtains for their partnership??? Well yeah OK maybe not, but you never know, but the signs of the Becker effect seemed to finally take effect here in the final as Novak was handed several chances to close out the match and didn't take them but he hung tough and go it done in the end. So I'm sure their partnership will continue for the foreseeable future although how it will pan it out remains to be seen, but I think together they can win a few more majors before they are done.
As for Roger Federer well he proved once again that there is still life in the old dog yet, if you can forgive the cliche and you can never write him off, especially in this match where he was a two sets to one and a break down and he managed to break Nole back twice in the 4th set and take the set to level the match. And that Rog was able to reach the final and play as well as he did throughout the tournament and take the world's best player the distance, just shows how good Roger Federer still really and just maybe there will be another slam left in the guy yet. However I think that was Roger's best chance to win a slam this year has just passed him and I don't see him winning the US Open this year and he may well have to wait another year until Wimbledon comes around again before he will have a chance to win his 8th unprecedented crown at SW19. But on the plus side Roger's great form in 2014 continues and I'm sure he will continue to do very well on the tour this season and there might be a few titles with his name on it yet this year.
Well that's it for my posts on Wimbledon 2014 which has been another rollercoaster ride of a tournament just like last year's was, which saw quite a few big upsets the top one being Andy Murray being toppled in the quarter finals by Grigor Dimitrov. And it was good to see we were also treated to such a great quality final for the men's singles and it also saw a funny symmetry in terms of the results for the champions this year, as both Petra Kivtova and Novak Djokovic won the Wimbledon title three years ago and they both did it again this year. Funny eh????
Anyway I shall leave you there and be back in the near future.
Bye the nowww!
Friday 4 July 2014
2014 Wimbledon Part 6 Men's and ladies semi finals: getting down to it
Right well its time for what could be my penultimate post on the 2014 Wimbledon championships which will cover the men's and ladies semi final matches and will see who came out ontop in the semis on both sides of the net. So let's give it a look...
So in the first ladies semi final we had an all Czeck affair as the former 2011 champion Petra Kvitova took on her good friend, Lucie Safarova for a place in the final. And the match itself started as being quite tight as Petra took an early break but Safarova then broke back and pushed play into a first set tiebreak, which Petra edged to win the opener. In the 2nd set however it was a different matter as Safarova started to fade badly and Petra took the lead with a double break and at that point there was no way back for Safarova and Petra went on to close out the match to reach her 2nd Wimbledon final with a 7-6, 6-1 result. So this sees Petra into her second major final and its great to see her back into the big time again as after her trumph of 2011, she was tipped to be the next big thing but she just seemed to fold under the pressure and went off the boil. However tomorrow Petra has a real chance to prove herself again that she can be a multiple major champion and that 2011 was no fluke, but it will all depend on her opponent in the final with her.
And the other opponent of the final would be decided by the other semi final match between Eugenie Bouchard and Simona Halep, the two young guns that have fast risen up the rankings in the last year. And given that they are both aggressive players this promised to be quite a match and it certainly started off as one as both of them came out firing, however at 2-2 there was a bit of drama as Halep turned her ankle a bit and she was forced to take a medical timeout. However after the timeout Halep managed to continue playing and she pushed Bouchard into a tiebreak, which Bouchard edged 7-5 to nab the opening set. And in the 2nd set, Halep's movement was hampered by her ankle and it lead to her dropping serve and surrendering to a double break, although she made one last gutsy hold before Bouchard served it out (albeit a little nervily!) to reach her first ever grand slam final with a 7-6, 6-2 victory.
So this sets up the ladies final and Petra Kvitova and Eugenine Bouchard will battle it out to lift the famous Venus Rosewater dish and it has to be asked: who will win??? Well...... I'm going to go with Bouchard as she really is a very determined young player and she is also mentally very tough so I can see that she has the belief to win a major. Petra has already been there and done it but her problem is her consistency and she has often come off the boil in her career and she can be very erratic in her form as she is either brilliant or awful and there little in between at times (a bit like a famous British male player I could mention! ;-)). So if Petra is going to win she is going to have be consistently at her best and consistency is not a problem for Bouchard, who will of course have her nerves but she has shown she has the ability overcome adversity. So I think it will be a tigh match and I predict Bouchard in three sets, although in the past we've found at times the favourite to win is the one that loses, however time will tell all.
Right so now we get onto the men's semi finals starting with Novak Djokovic who took on the rising star, the Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov in a highly anticipated clash, which promised to be quite a match. And its good to say that the match more than lived up to its expectations as both guys went at it hammer and tongs on centre court on a very sunny day with tricky ground conditions as the court surface was very dry and dusty. And as expected Novak made the better start as he got an early broke over Dimitrov and the Serb exhibited some clinical serving to take the first set. In the 2nd set however Dimi started his fightback and Novak came off his sharpness a bit and Dimitrov got a break of serve from the Serb and he went on to level the match at a set all. In the 3rd set play went by serve and went into a tiebreak, which was a lop-sided affair and went all the way of Djokovic in 7-2 as he took the two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set both men battled it out as play went into another tiebreak that had some thrilling points in it and Dimitrov himself even had 3 set points to level the match, but Nole saved all of them and went on to grab the minibreak which saw him seal his place in his 3rd Wimbledon final after a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 result.
This really was a thrilling and entertaining match and its great when these clashes live up to expectations and they certainly did here and it really heralded the arrival of Grigor Dimitrov as a player who had finally entered the big time. And Dimitrov really put up a great fight and showed that he really has got the potential to become a future major champion and he never once shirked away from the challenge of the occassion or was overawed by playing Djokovic, proving that he really does belong at the top of the men's game. And Dimitrov as a result of his efforts at Wimbledon will see him break into the top 10 for the first time in his career and rightly so as this young guy it has to be said is the future of tennis in the men's game and in a few years time it will be something to think how good he will be.
As for Djokovic well he once again showed what an incredible competitor he really is as he won this match but not even playing anywhere near his best, but he produced some great tennis in the points when he really needed to. So Nole will have another shot at winning a major title in an effort to end his year and a half slam drought as he hasn't won one since the Australian open final last year and has lost his last three finals in a row, so he will have alot to prove to himself come Sunday. But how Novak does in the final will depend purely on the winner of the next match....
And that match was between Roger Federer, the seven time champion and the rising Canadian star, Milos Raonic, who has steadily rose into the top ten in the last year or so. So the match was an intruiging one and Rog and Milos have had some tight encounters on the ATP tour over the last couple of years. However that hasn't translated so far into the slams as Raonic in their previous meeting was dismissed by Roger in straight sets, so how would he fare this time???? Well not that much better in all honesty as Roger came out on court looking very sharp, moving and serving great, meanwhile Raonic's main weapon, i.e. his serve, kept going off at certain points. And to cut the story short Raonic surrendered a break in each set and he went down to the mighty Fed in straight sets as he Roger reached his 9th Wimbledon final with a very straight forward 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Well it has to be said we couldn't have been given two more contrasting semi finals today, as the first one beween Nole and Dimi was a high quality thriller, this was one unfortunately was a real yawn fest, which comprised mainly of very short service games and some rather untidy unforced errors frorm Raonic. And that for me is my main problem with Raonic as he really is a one dimensional player and there is no real variety to his game, he just has his big serve, unlike Grigor Dimitrov who has all the shots as well as a potent serve of his own. And at the end of the day I really don't see Raonic as a grand slam winner as he doesn't really have the solid mentality for it and he appears to choke at the keys moments as he did today at 4-4 in each set, Roger broke him to move ahead. So on the whole it was a disappointing match apart from Roger's class and sharp net play, there was really not much to get your teeth into, but it has to be said that Roger is looking very good indeed for the final and he played the perfect match from start to finish.
So this sets up a potentially cracking men's final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, and it begs the question: who will win it?????????????????? Well this really is a tough one to decide on, on one hand you would have to give Roger the immediate advantage as he moves so well on grass and Djokovic so far has struggled with his movement on the courts at Wimbledon this year, so much so he had to change his shoes during his Cilic match! However it will purely boil down to how well each player plays on the day but overall form wise they have both been very impressive, although if you want to go by pure overall form I would say Roger would be the favourite as he has looked very sharp throughout the tournament and has only dropped one set going into the final. But then again the only minus there is Roger really hasn't been tested in the tournament, except by his good friend, Stan Wawrinka who was the only player so far that has taken a set off him. So when Roger reaches the final he could be in for a shock in the same way Andy was in for a shock against an inspired Grigor Dimitrov. But Roger hasn't won this title seven times for nothing and he will be in top form when he goes out to play on Sunday.
Nole on the other hand has been superb in certain matches especially in his opener against Andrey Golubev and also in his 4th round clash against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, where he played masterclass tennis. But Nole has had some difficulties as well against not just Dimitrov, but also Marin Cilic where he fell behind two sets to one before he went on to win the match in five set, as well as Stepanek who pushed Novak really hard over four sets. So Novak really will need to make sure he plays the best match of the tournament on Sunday or else he will come up second best, just like he did against Fed in their previous Wimbledon meeting two years ago when Roger beat Nole in four sets in just over 2 hours and 15 minutes! But hopefully this time we will be treated to a cracking final and my prediction will be that Roger Federer will in his 8th Wimbledon trophy in four or five sets. I could be wrong but that's how I see it going, although I would quite like to see Nole win his second title at Wimbledon, so we will see what happens.
Right that's it for now and I will be back with the results of the men's and ladies finals and who was crowned the Wimbledon champions of 2014.
So with that I'll see byeee for now!
So in the first ladies semi final we had an all Czeck affair as the former 2011 champion Petra Kvitova took on her good friend, Lucie Safarova for a place in the final. And the match itself started as being quite tight as Petra took an early break but Safarova then broke back and pushed play into a first set tiebreak, which Petra edged to win the opener. In the 2nd set however it was a different matter as Safarova started to fade badly and Petra took the lead with a double break and at that point there was no way back for Safarova and Petra went on to close out the match to reach her 2nd Wimbledon final with a 7-6, 6-1 result. So this sees Petra into her second major final and its great to see her back into the big time again as after her trumph of 2011, she was tipped to be the next big thing but she just seemed to fold under the pressure and went off the boil. However tomorrow Petra has a real chance to prove herself again that she can be a multiple major champion and that 2011 was no fluke, but it will all depend on her opponent in the final with her.
And the other opponent of the final would be decided by the other semi final match between Eugenie Bouchard and Simona Halep, the two young guns that have fast risen up the rankings in the last year. And given that they are both aggressive players this promised to be quite a match and it certainly started off as one as both of them came out firing, however at 2-2 there was a bit of drama as Halep turned her ankle a bit and she was forced to take a medical timeout. However after the timeout Halep managed to continue playing and she pushed Bouchard into a tiebreak, which Bouchard edged 7-5 to nab the opening set. And in the 2nd set, Halep's movement was hampered by her ankle and it lead to her dropping serve and surrendering to a double break, although she made one last gutsy hold before Bouchard served it out (albeit a little nervily!) to reach her first ever grand slam final with a 7-6, 6-2 victory.
So this sets up the ladies final and Petra Kvitova and Eugenine Bouchard will battle it out to lift the famous Venus Rosewater dish and it has to be asked: who will win??? Well...... I'm going to go with Bouchard as she really is a very determined young player and she is also mentally very tough so I can see that she has the belief to win a major. Petra has already been there and done it but her problem is her consistency and she has often come off the boil in her career and she can be very erratic in her form as she is either brilliant or awful and there little in between at times (a bit like a famous British male player I could mention! ;-)). So if Petra is going to win she is going to have be consistently at her best and consistency is not a problem for Bouchard, who will of course have her nerves but she has shown she has the ability overcome adversity. So I think it will be a tigh match and I predict Bouchard in three sets, although in the past we've found at times the favourite to win is the one that loses, however time will tell all.
Right so now we get onto the men's semi finals starting with Novak Djokovic who took on the rising star, the Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov in a highly anticipated clash, which promised to be quite a match. And its good to say that the match more than lived up to its expectations as both guys went at it hammer and tongs on centre court on a very sunny day with tricky ground conditions as the court surface was very dry and dusty. And as expected Novak made the better start as he got an early broke over Dimitrov and the Serb exhibited some clinical serving to take the first set. In the 2nd set however Dimi started his fightback and Novak came off his sharpness a bit and Dimitrov got a break of serve from the Serb and he went on to level the match at a set all. In the 3rd set play went by serve and went into a tiebreak, which was a lop-sided affair and went all the way of Djokovic in 7-2 as he took the two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set both men battled it out as play went into another tiebreak that had some thrilling points in it and Dimitrov himself even had 3 set points to level the match, but Nole saved all of them and went on to grab the minibreak which saw him seal his place in his 3rd Wimbledon final after a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 result.
This really was a thrilling and entertaining match and its great when these clashes live up to expectations and they certainly did here and it really heralded the arrival of Grigor Dimitrov as a player who had finally entered the big time. And Dimitrov really put up a great fight and showed that he really has got the potential to become a future major champion and he never once shirked away from the challenge of the occassion or was overawed by playing Djokovic, proving that he really does belong at the top of the men's game. And Dimitrov as a result of his efforts at Wimbledon will see him break into the top 10 for the first time in his career and rightly so as this young guy it has to be said is the future of tennis in the men's game and in a few years time it will be something to think how good he will be.
As for Djokovic well he once again showed what an incredible competitor he really is as he won this match but not even playing anywhere near his best, but he produced some great tennis in the points when he really needed to. So Nole will have another shot at winning a major title in an effort to end his year and a half slam drought as he hasn't won one since the Australian open final last year and has lost his last three finals in a row, so he will have alot to prove to himself come Sunday. But how Novak does in the final will depend purely on the winner of the next match....
And that match was between Roger Federer, the seven time champion and the rising Canadian star, Milos Raonic, who has steadily rose into the top ten in the last year or so. So the match was an intruiging one and Rog and Milos have had some tight encounters on the ATP tour over the last couple of years. However that hasn't translated so far into the slams as Raonic in their previous meeting was dismissed by Roger in straight sets, so how would he fare this time???? Well not that much better in all honesty as Roger came out on court looking very sharp, moving and serving great, meanwhile Raonic's main weapon, i.e. his serve, kept going off at certain points. And to cut the story short Raonic surrendered a break in each set and he went down to the mighty Fed in straight sets as he Roger reached his 9th Wimbledon final with a very straight forward 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Well it has to be said we couldn't have been given two more contrasting semi finals today, as the first one beween Nole and Dimi was a high quality thriller, this was one unfortunately was a real yawn fest, which comprised mainly of very short service games and some rather untidy unforced errors frorm Raonic. And that for me is my main problem with Raonic as he really is a one dimensional player and there is no real variety to his game, he just has his big serve, unlike Grigor Dimitrov who has all the shots as well as a potent serve of his own. And at the end of the day I really don't see Raonic as a grand slam winner as he doesn't really have the solid mentality for it and he appears to choke at the keys moments as he did today at 4-4 in each set, Roger broke him to move ahead. So on the whole it was a disappointing match apart from Roger's class and sharp net play, there was really not much to get your teeth into, but it has to be said that Roger is looking very good indeed for the final and he played the perfect match from start to finish.
So this sets up a potentially cracking men's final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, and it begs the question: who will win it?????????????????? Well this really is a tough one to decide on, on one hand you would have to give Roger the immediate advantage as he moves so well on grass and Djokovic so far has struggled with his movement on the courts at Wimbledon this year, so much so he had to change his shoes during his Cilic match! However it will purely boil down to how well each player plays on the day but overall form wise they have both been very impressive, although if you want to go by pure overall form I would say Roger would be the favourite as he has looked very sharp throughout the tournament and has only dropped one set going into the final. But then again the only minus there is Roger really hasn't been tested in the tournament, except by his good friend, Stan Wawrinka who was the only player so far that has taken a set off him. So when Roger reaches the final he could be in for a shock in the same way Andy was in for a shock against an inspired Grigor Dimitrov. But Roger hasn't won this title seven times for nothing and he will be in top form when he goes out to play on Sunday.
Nole on the other hand has been superb in certain matches especially in his opener against Andrey Golubev and also in his 4th round clash against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, where he played masterclass tennis. But Nole has had some difficulties as well against not just Dimitrov, but also Marin Cilic where he fell behind two sets to one before he went on to win the match in five set, as well as Stepanek who pushed Novak really hard over four sets. So Novak really will need to make sure he plays the best match of the tournament on Sunday or else he will come up second best, just like he did against Fed in their previous Wimbledon meeting two years ago when Roger beat Nole in four sets in just over 2 hours and 15 minutes! But hopefully this time we will be treated to a cracking final and my prediction will be that Roger Federer will in his 8th Wimbledon trophy in four or five sets. I could be wrong but that's how I see it going, although I would quite like to see Nole win his second title at Wimbledon, so we will see what happens.
Right that's it for now and I will be back with the results of the men's and ladies finals and who was crowned the Wimbledon champions of 2014.
So with that I'll see byeee for now!
Wednesday 2 July 2014
Wimbledon Part 5: Men's and ladies: dethroning the king and the rise of the young guns
Right well time for an update on the men's and ladies events at the 2014 Wimbledon championships and today's action, covering day 9, which saw the men's and ladies quarter final matches get under way, so let's give them a look....
Soooooo to start with the ladies first we already had the first two quarter final matches played yesterday so today we had the remaining two. And the first was between Sabine Lisicki and Simona Halep, with Lisicki being the slight favourite given her grass court skills. And Sabine got off to the better start as she broke Halep to move ahead, but it was short lived as Halep eventually broke back and broke Lisicki herself to close out the opening set. In the 2nd set it was all Halep as Lisicki's challenge faded totally and the young Romanian raced to victory winning the match and sealing her place in her first Wimbledon semi final with an emphatic 6-4, 6-0 victory. Well Halep's consistency this year and last year has been remarkable so far and she has continued it here at Wimbledon and given her high standard of play she remains a strong favourite to win the title, as she reached the final at the French Open I think she can go one step further this time.
Which brings me onto the second quarter final match which was between Angelique Keber and the rising star, the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. This match promised to be quite a tough encounter, however the young Canadian made a strong start and broke Kerber to take the lead and the first set. In the 2nd set Bocuhard went up a double break, but Kerber managed to wrestle one of the breaks back but it was in vain in the end as the Genie rubbed her lamp (poor pun sorry!) and served her way to victory to seal her 3rd consecutive grand slam semi final of the year with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
So this sets up the ladies semi finals which are very intruiging as we have two Czeck players on one side, Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova, and on the other we have Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard, both of which are potentially excellent matches. So who will win out of these two???? Well I would have to go with Kvitova for the all Czeck encounter as she has already won Wimbledon, so she has been there before and I can see her hold her nerve a bit better than Safarova can, but I might be wrong, but time will tell. As for the other match between Halep and Bouchard well this promises to be a real cracker and I think it could well be one of the best matches of the ladies tournament as these two are already developing a fledgling rivalry and there is no clear favourite in this either as they are both playing very well and are also both aggressive chance takers. However I think Halep might just edge this one and she will reach her 2nd grand slam final, but it will be a real tight match and one to watch out for.
Now onto the men's action starting with Novak Djokovic who took on the big Croatian, Marin Cilic for a place in the semis, which promised to be quite a stern test for the Serb. And it proved to be just that as Cilic was more than up to the task of challenging Nole as after Novak took the opening set, Cilic fought back and nabbed a two sets to one lead, putting Nole in some hot water. However the Serb was able to weather the storm as he broke Cilic twice in the 4th set to level the match and he went on to secure a double break again in the 5th, which saw Nole overcome the Croat's challenge after a tough 6-1, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory. This was a real stern test for Novak but in the end he showed his champion qualities again, although his movement was somewhat hampered by the shoes he was wearing earlier in the match as he kept slipping all over the place and at one point asked for his head coach, Boris Becker, for some new ones, which helped him glide almost a la Federer like! ;-) So Novak remains on course for the final and it has to be said he still is a top contender to win the title as many predicted before the start of the tournament.
Next up we had Roger Federer who took on his fellow Swiss compatriot, Stan Wawrinka in an all Swiss quarter final. And so far Roger has had it all easy street, but in this round he faced his first test as Stan put Roger through his paces and took the opening set with a break, which was the first set Roger had dropped in the tournament. However Rog did what he does and fought back, showing his grass court mastery, he went on to secure the second set on a tiebreak, and he soon went to grab the 3rd set to take a two sets to one lead. In the 4th set Roger made his move and got the break as Stan's challenge finally started to dwindle but Stan made a last ditch effort to try and break back to go 5-5 but in the end Roger closed the door after five match points he sealed his place in the semis for the first time in two years after a tricky 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 result. Well this was the result that was predicted by most people but Stan did well enough to push Fed and take the opening set as well as nearly breaking back at the end of the match. As for Roger well he is looking very good indeed and he might just yet be on course to win his record breaking 8th Wimbledon title.
After that we had the battle of the young guns, the newcomer Nick Kyrgios who toppled Rafa in the 4th round and the big Canadian server, Milos Raonic. And Nick started in the same fashion as he did against Rafa by taking the opening set on a tiebreak, which is no mean feat against a player with Raonic's serve! However as play went on the young Aussie looked increasingly out of his depth and Raonic showed his class and greater experience to take a two sets to one lead. In the fourth set however it was a tight affair and play went by serve into another tiebreak, but this time it was Raonic that took control and got the minibreak and won the match with an ace to reach his first ever grand slam semi final after a hard fought 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 result. With this win Raonic continues to show his ascent to the top of the men's game and I'm sure given his form that this could be the first of many semi finals as the more experienced Raonic will become and the better he develops the rest of his game, combined with his formidable serve, he will be very tough to beat. However as Raonic is next up against Roger Federer I don't quite rate his chances of beating the Fedster just yet in the majors. Raonic will be a tough proposition for Federer but I think in the end Roger will defeat the big Canadian in four sets.
And last but not least we had the defending champion, Andy Murray, take on the Bulgarian tennis star, Grigor Dimitrov in a much anticipated clash for a place in the semis. This was always going to be a tough match for Andy to negotiate but most folk would have seen him as being able to negotiate his way through it. However......... it turned out to be not the cast as despite a good first service hold, Andy's game went downhill real fast as Dimitrov started off sharp and aggressive and he went on to break Andy twice, who made careless unforced errors to surrender the first set in just over 20 minutes. In the 2nd set, Andy once again struggled on his serve and he dropped it as Dimitrov took a 4-3 lead, however the seemingly unstoppable Bulgarian showed his first sign of nerves as Andy broke back to go 4-4 and from here play went to a tiebreak, but once again Andy surrendered the breaker making some errors, which saw Dimitrov take a two set lead over the defending champion, much to the stunned British crowd. And in the 3rd set with Andy facing a steep mountain to climb, coming back from two sets down, in the end there was no coming back as he was broken twice and with that he relinquished his title as the young Dimitrov took the win of his career by defeating Andy Murray in straight sets 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 to reach his first Wimbledon semi final.
Well to say this wasn't the result we were expecting would be a total understatement as I for one thought that Andy would have battled his way through this one, given the form he has shown at Wimbledon over the last five years or so, he has managed to fight his way into the semi finals, but this time it wasn't to be. And the one thing that was so perplexing about this match was Andy's total reversal of form, as in his first four matches of the tournament he looked sharp, in control and well poised to defend his title. But as soon as Andy took to the court against Dimitrov he looked flat and the old Andy Murray seemed to surface again as he had that hangdog look and as the match progressed he looked deflated and a beaten man, and it was shadow of the man we had seen last week and on Monday! Andy said afterwards it was just not his day and he played a poor match and at this level and this stage in a grand slam he simply cannot afford to play like that against high ranked quality opponents such as Dimitrov as he racked so many unforced errors, 37 in total over three sets.
And in a way it was understandable that Andy would lose to Rafa in such an emphatic way, but for Andy to lose to Dimitrov in this way is quite worrying and it shows that he appears to be suffering from a lack of belief in his own game just now. And its Andy's wild moments of inconsistency are what cost him these matches and I still find it hard to believe how he could go from playing so well one week to being so bad the next, but then as they say you don't which Andy Murray you will get on court from one day to the next. Perhaps however part of the problem was that his title defence in the first week was too easy and he simply wasn't tested and going into the second week that left him at a serious disadvantage and maybe if he had been tested earlier it might have given some mental resilience going into the second week. And this was I think of some help to Andy two years ago when he first reached the final as he had a very tough draw that year, but mentally it helped him stay strong until he finally reached the final. But this time Andy struggled very early on with Dimitrov and despite showing some promise in the 2nd set as soon as he lost that set it was all over.
There was also some press speculation that during the match Andy yelled toward his box a couple of expletives which were "shut the fuck up!" and more obscurely "five fucking minutes before the match!". This would suggest that something happened behind the scenes before the match that threw Andy off his game completely, and obviously it had a bad effect on him and even Dimitrov speculated that Andy didn't seem to be hitting the ball as cleanly during the warmup prior to the match. There has also been further suggestions that Andy had an argument with his girlfriend Kim Sear, prior to the match as it was later said he left Wimbledon alone later without her as she normally drives him to and from the All England Club. However this is just press speculation and hot air really as we don't know what happened and just maybe all it was, was simply a bad day at the office indeed, so these tabloid stories should of course be taken with a big pinch of salt. And if you look at the last day before that we had Maria Sharapova and Rafa both exit the tournament as well, so at least Andy had company and it showed even the very best can have their bad days.
However it has to be said that Grigor Dimitrov really deserves a great deal of credit for his performance on court today as he really dominated Andy from the get go and despite a few edgy moments in the second set, he was in full control of the match, especially after he took the two set lead. And now that Dimitrov has made that breakthrough in the slams I think he can go on and possibly even win the title, although he still will have to beat Djokovic in the semis and possibly Federer in the final. However Dimitrov has already beaten Djokovic as well as he defeated him last year in Madrid in a thrilling three set match so if he can try and draw on that experience he might just have a shot, not to mention his game is much more suited to grass than Djokovic's is and the match itself promises to be a real cracker. However I still would have to say that Djokovic is the favourite to win that one and I would favour him to reach the final instead of the rising Bulgarian, but we'll see. So my prediciton for this match will be Djokovic in four very tight sets or at a pinch maybe five but whatever the result it promises to be a real cracker and let's hope it lives up to expectation.
So getting back to Andy Murray well that's his Wimbledon title defence come to an end and it happened in a very disappointing way as Andy ended with a whimper and not a bang, similar to his defeat to Rafa at the French Open last month. And on the basis of this match Andy has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to get back to really competing with the top players and he has said that himself he needs to train harder and get physically stronger if he his to stay with the new guys coming up to the top such as Dimitrov and Raonic. It will also see Andy's ranking plummet once more as he will take a hit on points for losing in the quarter finals, he will lose 1620 ranking points out of his 2000 for the title defence and it will see his ranking plummet from No.5 to No.10 which is quite a drop and not good. So Andy will need to work very hard over the final swing of the season if he wants to qualify to play the ATP world tour finals championships in London in November.
On the plus side Andy will stand to gain alot of points during the American hard court swing in Toronto and Cincinnati and if he can reach the quarter finals of the US Open he will at least have defended his points there from last year. On top of that Andy missed the remaining part of the tour last year after he underwent the back surgery so he will be able to pick up some points there as well which will go toward his ranking and hopefully will see him qualify for London at the o2. In the meantime I think Andy should probably consider some short term goals such as trying to win smaller tournaments just to try and build his confidence again and putting himself in a winning position as opposed to going flat out to win the big Masters titles is in itself very tough to do given the depth of competition in the men's game, but I guess we'll see what happens. And if you look at 2010 Andy Murray also had a poor season after he failed to win the Australian open final that year, losing to Federer, and he later on that season went on to win two Masters titles in Toronto and Shanghai that year, beating Federer in both finals, but alot has changed since then of course. So what Andy needs to do in the meantime is try and get his fitness back to 100 percent, improve the aspects of his game that need sharpening and take it from there.
But what he has to try and change is the nature of his defeats in the slams as three out of the last four defeats Andy has suffered in grand slam matches have been in straight sets and two of those came in losing his title defences at the US Open last year and of course this year at Wimbledon. And this for me is one of the biggest concerns as it really sees Andy has started to regress back to his old self, where he was self doubting, looking up at his box and cursing on court, its not what we expect of him as a major champion. And its the nature of his tame defeats that basically sends out a bad message to all the other players out there that Andy is now becoming very beatable not only on the tour but also in the majors. So there is alot of work to be done if Andy is to try and get back to where he wants to be and that somehow or other has to change. And whether or not Amelie Mauresmo can help him in that department remains to be seen and Andy will need to make a decision if they will continue with their partnership, so its a rocky road that lies ahead for the British No.1 as his decidedly mixed season continues.
But in spite of it all I still think Andy will come back stronger and hopefully start winning titles again in the near future and I already see parallels between Andy this year and Federer last year, who struggled badly and endured one of the worst years of his career in 2013 but this year he has come back strong and is play great again. So I think its far too early to start writing Andy off and in time he will get back on top of his game and compete again with the very best.
So that's it for now I will be back soon with more results.
Bye the nowww.
Soooooo to start with the ladies first we already had the first two quarter final matches played yesterday so today we had the remaining two. And the first was between Sabine Lisicki and Simona Halep, with Lisicki being the slight favourite given her grass court skills. And Sabine got off to the better start as she broke Halep to move ahead, but it was short lived as Halep eventually broke back and broke Lisicki herself to close out the opening set. In the 2nd set it was all Halep as Lisicki's challenge faded totally and the young Romanian raced to victory winning the match and sealing her place in her first Wimbledon semi final with an emphatic 6-4, 6-0 victory. Well Halep's consistency this year and last year has been remarkable so far and she has continued it here at Wimbledon and given her high standard of play she remains a strong favourite to win the title, as she reached the final at the French Open I think she can go one step further this time.
Which brings me onto the second quarter final match which was between Angelique Keber and the rising star, the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. This match promised to be quite a tough encounter, however the young Canadian made a strong start and broke Kerber to take the lead and the first set. In the 2nd set Bocuhard went up a double break, but Kerber managed to wrestle one of the breaks back but it was in vain in the end as the Genie rubbed her lamp (poor pun sorry!) and served her way to victory to seal her 3rd consecutive grand slam semi final of the year with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
So this sets up the ladies semi finals which are very intruiging as we have two Czeck players on one side, Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova, and on the other we have Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard, both of which are potentially excellent matches. So who will win out of these two???? Well I would have to go with Kvitova for the all Czeck encounter as she has already won Wimbledon, so she has been there before and I can see her hold her nerve a bit better than Safarova can, but I might be wrong, but time will tell. As for the other match between Halep and Bouchard well this promises to be a real cracker and I think it could well be one of the best matches of the ladies tournament as these two are already developing a fledgling rivalry and there is no clear favourite in this either as they are both playing very well and are also both aggressive chance takers. However I think Halep might just edge this one and she will reach her 2nd grand slam final, but it will be a real tight match and one to watch out for.
Now onto the men's action starting with Novak Djokovic who took on the big Croatian, Marin Cilic for a place in the semis, which promised to be quite a stern test for the Serb. And it proved to be just that as Cilic was more than up to the task of challenging Nole as after Novak took the opening set, Cilic fought back and nabbed a two sets to one lead, putting Nole in some hot water. However the Serb was able to weather the storm as he broke Cilic twice in the 4th set to level the match and he went on to secure a double break again in the 5th, which saw Nole overcome the Croat's challenge after a tough 6-1, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory. This was a real stern test for Novak but in the end he showed his champion qualities again, although his movement was somewhat hampered by the shoes he was wearing earlier in the match as he kept slipping all over the place and at one point asked for his head coach, Boris Becker, for some new ones, which helped him glide almost a la Federer like! ;-) So Novak remains on course for the final and it has to be said he still is a top contender to win the title as many predicted before the start of the tournament.
Next up we had Roger Federer who took on his fellow Swiss compatriot, Stan Wawrinka in an all Swiss quarter final. And so far Roger has had it all easy street, but in this round he faced his first test as Stan put Roger through his paces and took the opening set with a break, which was the first set Roger had dropped in the tournament. However Rog did what he does and fought back, showing his grass court mastery, he went on to secure the second set on a tiebreak, and he soon went to grab the 3rd set to take a two sets to one lead. In the 4th set Roger made his move and got the break as Stan's challenge finally started to dwindle but Stan made a last ditch effort to try and break back to go 5-5 but in the end Roger closed the door after five match points he sealed his place in the semis for the first time in two years after a tricky 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 result. Well this was the result that was predicted by most people but Stan did well enough to push Fed and take the opening set as well as nearly breaking back at the end of the match. As for Roger well he is looking very good indeed and he might just yet be on course to win his record breaking 8th Wimbledon title.
After that we had the battle of the young guns, the newcomer Nick Kyrgios who toppled Rafa in the 4th round and the big Canadian server, Milos Raonic. And Nick started in the same fashion as he did against Rafa by taking the opening set on a tiebreak, which is no mean feat against a player with Raonic's serve! However as play went on the young Aussie looked increasingly out of his depth and Raonic showed his class and greater experience to take a two sets to one lead. In the fourth set however it was a tight affair and play went by serve into another tiebreak, but this time it was Raonic that took control and got the minibreak and won the match with an ace to reach his first ever grand slam semi final after a hard fought 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 result. With this win Raonic continues to show his ascent to the top of the men's game and I'm sure given his form that this could be the first of many semi finals as the more experienced Raonic will become and the better he develops the rest of his game, combined with his formidable serve, he will be very tough to beat. However as Raonic is next up against Roger Federer I don't quite rate his chances of beating the Fedster just yet in the majors. Raonic will be a tough proposition for Federer but I think in the end Roger will defeat the big Canadian in four sets.
And last but not least we had the defending champion, Andy Murray, take on the Bulgarian tennis star, Grigor Dimitrov in a much anticipated clash for a place in the semis. This was always going to be a tough match for Andy to negotiate but most folk would have seen him as being able to negotiate his way through it. However......... it turned out to be not the cast as despite a good first service hold, Andy's game went downhill real fast as Dimitrov started off sharp and aggressive and he went on to break Andy twice, who made careless unforced errors to surrender the first set in just over 20 minutes. In the 2nd set, Andy once again struggled on his serve and he dropped it as Dimitrov took a 4-3 lead, however the seemingly unstoppable Bulgarian showed his first sign of nerves as Andy broke back to go 4-4 and from here play went to a tiebreak, but once again Andy surrendered the breaker making some errors, which saw Dimitrov take a two set lead over the defending champion, much to the stunned British crowd. And in the 3rd set with Andy facing a steep mountain to climb, coming back from two sets down, in the end there was no coming back as he was broken twice and with that he relinquished his title as the young Dimitrov took the win of his career by defeating Andy Murray in straight sets 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 to reach his first Wimbledon semi final.
Well to say this wasn't the result we were expecting would be a total understatement as I for one thought that Andy would have battled his way through this one, given the form he has shown at Wimbledon over the last five years or so, he has managed to fight his way into the semi finals, but this time it wasn't to be. And the one thing that was so perplexing about this match was Andy's total reversal of form, as in his first four matches of the tournament he looked sharp, in control and well poised to defend his title. But as soon as Andy took to the court against Dimitrov he looked flat and the old Andy Murray seemed to surface again as he had that hangdog look and as the match progressed he looked deflated and a beaten man, and it was shadow of the man we had seen last week and on Monday! Andy said afterwards it was just not his day and he played a poor match and at this level and this stage in a grand slam he simply cannot afford to play like that against high ranked quality opponents such as Dimitrov as he racked so many unforced errors, 37 in total over three sets.
And in a way it was understandable that Andy would lose to Rafa in such an emphatic way, but for Andy to lose to Dimitrov in this way is quite worrying and it shows that he appears to be suffering from a lack of belief in his own game just now. And its Andy's wild moments of inconsistency are what cost him these matches and I still find it hard to believe how he could go from playing so well one week to being so bad the next, but then as they say you don't which Andy Murray you will get on court from one day to the next. Perhaps however part of the problem was that his title defence in the first week was too easy and he simply wasn't tested and going into the second week that left him at a serious disadvantage and maybe if he had been tested earlier it might have given some mental resilience going into the second week. And this was I think of some help to Andy two years ago when he first reached the final as he had a very tough draw that year, but mentally it helped him stay strong until he finally reached the final. But this time Andy struggled very early on with Dimitrov and despite showing some promise in the 2nd set as soon as he lost that set it was all over.
There was also some press speculation that during the match Andy yelled toward his box a couple of expletives which were "shut the fuck up!" and more obscurely "five fucking minutes before the match!". This would suggest that something happened behind the scenes before the match that threw Andy off his game completely, and obviously it had a bad effect on him and even Dimitrov speculated that Andy didn't seem to be hitting the ball as cleanly during the warmup prior to the match. There has also been further suggestions that Andy had an argument with his girlfriend Kim Sear, prior to the match as it was later said he left Wimbledon alone later without her as she normally drives him to and from the All England Club. However this is just press speculation and hot air really as we don't know what happened and just maybe all it was, was simply a bad day at the office indeed, so these tabloid stories should of course be taken with a big pinch of salt. And if you look at the last day before that we had Maria Sharapova and Rafa both exit the tournament as well, so at least Andy had company and it showed even the very best can have their bad days.
However it has to be said that Grigor Dimitrov really deserves a great deal of credit for his performance on court today as he really dominated Andy from the get go and despite a few edgy moments in the second set, he was in full control of the match, especially after he took the two set lead. And now that Dimitrov has made that breakthrough in the slams I think he can go on and possibly even win the title, although he still will have to beat Djokovic in the semis and possibly Federer in the final. However Dimitrov has already beaten Djokovic as well as he defeated him last year in Madrid in a thrilling three set match so if he can try and draw on that experience he might just have a shot, not to mention his game is much more suited to grass than Djokovic's is and the match itself promises to be a real cracker. However I still would have to say that Djokovic is the favourite to win that one and I would favour him to reach the final instead of the rising Bulgarian, but we'll see. So my prediciton for this match will be Djokovic in four very tight sets or at a pinch maybe five but whatever the result it promises to be a real cracker and let's hope it lives up to expectation.
So getting back to Andy Murray well that's his Wimbledon title defence come to an end and it happened in a very disappointing way as Andy ended with a whimper and not a bang, similar to his defeat to Rafa at the French Open last month. And on the basis of this match Andy has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to get back to really competing with the top players and he has said that himself he needs to train harder and get physically stronger if he his to stay with the new guys coming up to the top such as Dimitrov and Raonic. It will also see Andy's ranking plummet once more as he will take a hit on points for losing in the quarter finals, he will lose 1620 ranking points out of his 2000 for the title defence and it will see his ranking plummet from No.5 to No.10 which is quite a drop and not good. So Andy will need to work very hard over the final swing of the season if he wants to qualify to play the ATP world tour finals championships in London in November.
On the plus side Andy will stand to gain alot of points during the American hard court swing in Toronto and Cincinnati and if he can reach the quarter finals of the US Open he will at least have defended his points there from last year. On top of that Andy missed the remaining part of the tour last year after he underwent the back surgery so he will be able to pick up some points there as well which will go toward his ranking and hopefully will see him qualify for London at the o2. In the meantime I think Andy should probably consider some short term goals such as trying to win smaller tournaments just to try and build his confidence again and putting himself in a winning position as opposed to going flat out to win the big Masters titles is in itself very tough to do given the depth of competition in the men's game, but I guess we'll see what happens. And if you look at 2010 Andy Murray also had a poor season after he failed to win the Australian open final that year, losing to Federer, and he later on that season went on to win two Masters titles in Toronto and Shanghai that year, beating Federer in both finals, but alot has changed since then of course. So what Andy needs to do in the meantime is try and get his fitness back to 100 percent, improve the aspects of his game that need sharpening and take it from there.
But what he has to try and change is the nature of his defeats in the slams as three out of the last four defeats Andy has suffered in grand slam matches have been in straight sets and two of those came in losing his title defences at the US Open last year and of course this year at Wimbledon. And this for me is one of the biggest concerns as it really sees Andy has started to regress back to his old self, where he was self doubting, looking up at his box and cursing on court, its not what we expect of him as a major champion. And its the nature of his tame defeats that basically sends out a bad message to all the other players out there that Andy is now becoming very beatable not only on the tour but also in the majors. So there is alot of work to be done if Andy is to try and get back to where he wants to be and that somehow or other has to change. And whether or not Amelie Mauresmo can help him in that department remains to be seen and Andy will need to make a decision if they will continue with their partnership, so its a rocky road that lies ahead for the British No.1 as his decidedly mixed season continues.
But in spite of it all I still think Andy will come back stronger and hopefully start winning titles again in the near future and I already see parallels between Andy this year and Federer last year, who struggled badly and endured one of the worst years of his career in 2013 but this year he has come back strong and is play great again. So I think its far too early to start writing Andy off and in time he will get back on top of his game and compete again with the very best.
So that's it for now I will be back soon with more results.
Bye the nowww.
Wimbledon Part 4 Men's event: In fine fettle and a new star is born....
Right so now its time for the men's matches covering days 7 and 8, which saw some rain delays interrupt play on the outer courts, but play carried on as usual on the centre court in among it all. So let's give the matches a look....
So to start off we had Andy Murray, the defending champion on court taking on the big South African fella, Kevin Anderson in what promised to be Andy's first test of the tournament, after breezing through three easy matches in the first week. However for the first half or so of the match it looked to be more of the same as Andy thoroughly outplayed Anderson and he broke the big guy in the first set once to take it and in the 2nd he went up a double break in double quick time! But the roof was then closed due to rain and after that Anderson finally found his game and started playing alot better as he won three games on the trot to get himself back into the 2nd set, but Andy still managed to break the big guy again to take a two set lead. In the 3rd set however Anderson settled down and started to find his range and he gave Andy his first test of the tournament and he made life difficult for the defending champ, as Anderson continually managed to stave off break points. And play went into the tiebreak in which Anderson yet again threatened Andy, but the British No.1 held on impressively to his serve after letting Anderson briefly back into the tiebreak he went on to grab a match point and he sealed it at the first chance and with it his place in his 7th consecutive quarter final at SW19 with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6.
This was yet another very impressive performance from Andy who is yet to drop a set in the tournament and that he has managed to reach the quarter finals without losing a set is remarkable in itself, given his penchant for dropping serve! As for Kevin Anderson well he acquitted himself well enough after being dominated in the first half of the match, he pushed Andy hard in the 3rd set and even had a set point to potentially take the match into a 4th set. But in the end it was Andy's class that shone through and his return game was spot on and his serve, despite one blip when after play was resumed when the roof was closed, was quite effective as Andy was wary of Anderson's big serve, but in the end he dealt with really well. And despite Andy's grass court winning streak ending at Queens a couple of weeks ago, he still remains unbeaten at the All England Club as he now stands at 17 matches won in a row, but whether or not he can maintain that run we will have to wait and see.
So now onto other matches as we next had Novak Djokovic take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in an intruiging 4th round clash. Their last match together at the French open however was a non-event as Djokovic dominated a desparately lacklustre Tsonga and there was always a danger of a repeat. Howevver Tsonga this time thankfully decided to show up as he took on Djokovic with a bit more vigour and intent than his flat performance at Roland Garros, but Nole was still in imperious mode as he quickly raced into a two set lead, but Tsonga still showed promise. In the 3rd set there was a slight momentum shift as Tsonga started to find his feet, he started firing off some ferocious winners, and at 4-3, he almost broke Djokovic, who used his tenacity to cling on. And play went on as both men played some wonderful points and a 3rd set tiebreak finally saw Djokovic finish off Tsonga with an incredible backhand crosscourt winner, and he roared with delight as he secured his quarter final place with a convincing 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 result.
Despite its relative short length at just under two hours, this was still a very entertaining match and it was good to see Tsonga decided to show up at the party as he played some great tennis at times, but in the end he was just a bit too erratic and inconsistent and Djokovic's sublime return game and defence was just too hot for the Frenchman to handle in the end. And this sees Nole continue his highly impressive form into the last eight and he remains on course as one of the top favourites to win the title. But there were still one or two slight concerns as Djokovic at one point still grimaced from his shoulder injury, which suggests that physically he might still not yet be out of the woods fitness wise, but despite that it was still a terrific win for the Serbinator.
And in the last two matches for day 7, Grigor Dimitrov secured his first Wimbledon quarter final place after he defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 and this will set up a much anticipated clash with Andy Murray but more on that soon. And lastly Stan Wawrinka also showed that he has much improve his grass court game by beating Denis Istomin in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Stan though later complained about the scheduling as due to the rain delays it meant he would have to play three days in a row in order to reach the quarter finals, which also affected many other players, which again brings into question Wimbleon's middle sunday rule of no play, but it is a tradition the organisers are unlikely to change.
So now we get onto day 8 which kicked off with Rafael Nadal taking on the very talented newcomer, Nick Kyrgios, who was made a great run into the 4th round so far, but beating Rafa probably might have proved a bridge too far. Well..... as it turned out, not a bit of it, and right from the get go Kyrgios didn't look fazed by the occassion at all and he went on to nab the first set in the tiebreak and he impressed the crowd with his thunderous serves and big hitting. Rafa however in the 2nd set fought back and managed to finally get a break of Krygios's serve which saw him level the match at a set all and that point it looked like Rafa would be certain to find his way into the match. However Nick was not done and he stayed in the zone and served great to push play into another tiebreak which he won yet again much to the disbelief of the audience, as he took a two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set the young Aussie did the unthinkable and became the third man in so many years to upset the World No.1 which a break of serve, he clung and without any trace of nerves he served out the biggest win of his life, taking down Rafa in four sets to reach his first grand slam quarter final in 7-6, 5-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Well this was an incredible victory for the young Australian player and very much unexpected as after his strong start you would expect Rafa to weave his way into the match after dropping the opening set for a fourth time in the tournament. But in the end Kyrgios deserves all the credit for pulling off such as terrific win and it shows that the new generation of tennis players has a new star and this may be a signal of things to come as it looks like the big four's stranglehold on the game could finally be loosening a bit, and if Kyrgios continues this level well he will be hard to stop in the future. As for Rafa well to be fair he has done better this year at Wimbledon in making it to the fourth round and the 2nd week, but it also shows that he is still lacking in confidence on the grass, so it remains debatable whether or not he will be able to do anything on it in the future to improve his results and maybe even win it again. However what is certain is that Rafa will be fully motivated to do well at the US Open, where he is the defending champion and no doubt he will be back to his best once he is fully rested and rejuvenated.
So next up we had Roger Federer who faced the Spaniard Tommy Robredo who defeated Rog in a surprise victory last year at the US Open in the same stage of the fourth round. But this time round, Roger had his revenge and he put in another hugely impressive display with a double break in the first set and a break in the 2nd and 3rd sets, Roger made his first Wimbledon quarter final in two years with a convincing 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory. So far it has to be said that Roger is probably looking the best player in the tournament although he is yet to be tested properly he certainly will soon as he will next face his good friend and compatriot, Stan Wawrinka for a place in the semis, as Stan beat grass court specalist, Feliciano Lopez in 7-6, 7-6, 6-3. But so far Roger is looking great and his match will Stan should be a tough test but he will come through it I think in maybe four sets.
So this sets up day 9's matches for Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic who will face off Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic respectively. Djokovic's match up is an intruiging one but he is sure to win it as he has never been defeated by the big Croat, however Cilic has improved his game with his new coach Goran Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champ and he pushed Nole quite hard at the French open this year. But regardless of all that I still think that Djokovic will win this one in four sets as he will have a bit too much for the big guy in the end and that Nole will make his fifth consecutive Wimbledon semi final.
As for Andy Murray's clash with Grigor Dimitrov well there is no doubt this promises to be a very exciting and thrilling encounter as both men are playing very well just now in the tournament. So what's my prediction???? Well I have to go with Andy because if for no better reason because he is much more experienced in playing big matches like this, also he is very comfortable on centre court and he will have the crowd right behind him. Dimitrov however is not to be underestimated and he will certainly give Andy a game and he does have a shot at beating the defending champion given that he is very comfortable on grass and under his coach, Robert Rasheed, he has become a much stronger player mentally and his game has a few flaws in it, so there is no doubt this will be a very tough encounter. So my prediction for this one will be Andy coming through in four very tight sets, but we will just have to wait and see, whatever happens it should be a nailbiter!
Right so that's me up to date with Wimbledon for now and I'll be back soon with more results.
So bye for now!
So to start off we had Andy Murray, the defending champion on court taking on the big South African fella, Kevin Anderson in what promised to be Andy's first test of the tournament, after breezing through three easy matches in the first week. However for the first half or so of the match it looked to be more of the same as Andy thoroughly outplayed Anderson and he broke the big guy in the first set once to take it and in the 2nd he went up a double break in double quick time! But the roof was then closed due to rain and after that Anderson finally found his game and started playing alot better as he won three games on the trot to get himself back into the 2nd set, but Andy still managed to break the big guy again to take a two set lead. In the 3rd set however Anderson settled down and started to find his range and he gave Andy his first test of the tournament and he made life difficult for the defending champ, as Anderson continually managed to stave off break points. And play went into the tiebreak in which Anderson yet again threatened Andy, but the British No.1 held on impressively to his serve after letting Anderson briefly back into the tiebreak he went on to grab a match point and he sealed it at the first chance and with it his place in his 7th consecutive quarter final at SW19 with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6.
This was yet another very impressive performance from Andy who is yet to drop a set in the tournament and that he has managed to reach the quarter finals without losing a set is remarkable in itself, given his penchant for dropping serve! As for Kevin Anderson well he acquitted himself well enough after being dominated in the first half of the match, he pushed Andy hard in the 3rd set and even had a set point to potentially take the match into a 4th set. But in the end it was Andy's class that shone through and his return game was spot on and his serve, despite one blip when after play was resumed when the roof was closed, was quite effective as Andy was wary of Anderson's big serve, but in the end he dealt with really well. And despite Andy's grass court winning streak ending at Queens a couple of weeks ago, he still remains unbeaten at the All England Club as he now stands at 17 matches won in a row, but whether or not he can maintain that run we will have to wait and see.
So now onto other matches as we next had Novak Djokovic take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in an intruiging 4th round clash. Their last match together at the French open however was a non-event as Djokovic dominated a desparately lacklustre Tsonga and there was always a danger of a repeat. Howevver Tsonga this time thankfully decided to show up as he took on Djokovic with a bit more vigour and intent than his flat performance at Roland Garros, but Nole was still in imperious mode as he quickly raced into a two set lead, but Tsonga still showed promise. In the 3rd set there was a slight momentum shift as Tsonga started to find his feet, he started firing off some ferocious winners, and at 4-3, he almost broke Djokovic, who used his tenacity to cling on. And play went on as both men played some wonderful points and a 3rd set tiebreak finally saw Djokovic finish off Tsonga with an incredible backhand crosscourt winner, and he roared with delight as he secured his quarter final place with a convincing 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 result.
Despite its relative short length at just under two hours, this was still a very entertaining match and it was good to see Tsonga decided to show up at the party as he played some great tennis at times, but in the end he was just a bit too erratic and inconsistent and Djokovic's sublime return game and defence was just too hot for the Frenchman to handle in the end. And this sees Nole continue his highly impressive form into the last eight and he remains on course as one of the top favourites to win the title. But there were still one or two slight concerns as Djokovic at one point still grimaced from his shoulder injury, which suggests that physically he might still not yet be out of the woods fitness wise, but despite that it was still a terrific win for the Serbinator.
And in the last two matches for day 7, Grigor Dimitrov secured his first Wimbledon quarter final place after he defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 and this will set up a much anticipated clash with Andy Murray but more on that soon. And lastly Stan Wawrinka also showed that he has much improve his grass court game by beating Denis Istomin in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Stan though later complained about the scheduling as due to the rain delays it meant he would have to play three days in a row in order to reach the quarter finals, which also affected many other players, which again brings into question Wimbleon's middle sunday rule of no play, but it is a tradition the organisers are unlikely to change.
So now we get onto day 8 which kicked off with Rafael Nadal taking on the very talented newcomer, Nick Kyrgios, who was made a great run into the 4th round so far, but beating Rafa probably might have proved a bridge too far. Well..... as it turned out, not a bit of it, and right from the get go Kyrgios didn't look fazed by the occassion at all and he went on to nab the first set in the tiebreak and he impressed the crowd with his thunderous serves and big hitting. Rafa however in the 2nd set fought back and managed to finally get a break of Krygios's serve which saw him level the match at a set all and that point it looked like Rafa would be certain to find his way into the match. However Nick was not done and he stayed in the zone and served great to push play into another tiebreak which he won yet again much to the disbelief of the audience, as he took a two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set the young Aussie did the unthinkable and became the third man in so many years to upset the World No.1 which a break of serve, he clung and without any trace of nerves he served out the biggest win of his life, taking down Rafa in four sets to reach his first grand slam quarter final in 7-6, 5-7, 7-6, 6-3.
Well this was an incredible victory for the young Australian player and very much unexpected as after his strong start you would expect Rafa to weave his way into the match after dropping the opening set for a fourth time in the tournament. But in the end Kyrgios deserves all the credit for pulling off such as terrific win and it shows that the new generation of tennis players has a new star and this may be a signal of things to come as it looks like the big four's stranglehold on the game could finally be loosening a bit, and if Kyrgios continues this level well he will be hard to stop in the future. As for Rafa well to be fair he has done better this year at Wimbledon in making it to the fourth round and the 2nd week, but it also shows that he is still lacking in confidence on the grass, so it remains debatable whether or not he will be able to do anything on it in the future to improve his results and maybe even win it again. However what is certain is that Rafa will be fully motivated to do well at the US Open, where he is the defending champion and no doubt he will be back to his best once he is fully rested and rejuvenated.
So next up we had Roger Federer who faced the Spaniard Tommy Robredo who defeated Rog in a surprise victory last year at the US Open in the same stage of the fourth round. But this time round, Roger had his revenge and he put in another hugely impressive display with a double break in the first set and a break in the 2nd and 3rd sets, Roger made his first Wimbledon quarter final in two years with a convincing 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory. So far it has to be said that Roger is probably looking the best player in the tournament although he is yet to be tested properly he certainly will soon as he will next face his good friend and compatriot, Stan Wawrinka for a place in the semis, as Stan beat grass court specalist, Feliciano Lopez in 7-6, 7-6, 6-3. But so far Roger is looking great and his match will Stan should be a tough test but he will come through it I think in maybe four sets.
So this sets up day 9's matches for Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic who will face off Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic respectively. Djokovic's match up is an intruiging one but he is sure to win it as he has never been defeated by the big Croat, however Cilic has improved his game with his new coach Goran Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champ and he pushed Nole quite hard at the French open this year. But regardless of all that I still think that Djokovic will win this one in four sets as he will have a bit too much for the big guy in the end and that Nole will make his fifth consecutive Wimbledon semi final.
As for Andy Murray's clash with Grigor Dimitrov well there is no doubt this promises to be a very exciting and thrilling encounter as both men are playing very well just now in the tournament. So what's my prediction???? Well I have to go with Andy because if for no better reason because he is much more experienced in playing big matches like this, also he is very comfortable on centre court and he will have the crowd right behind him. Dimitrov however is not to be underestimated and he will certainly give Andy a game and he does have a shot at beating the defending champion given that he is very comfortable on grass and under his coach, Robert Rasheed, he has become a much stronger player mentally and his game has a few flaws in it, so there is no doubt this will be a very tough encounter. So my prediction for this one will be Andy coming through in four very tight sets, but we will just have to wait and see, whatever happens it should be a nailbiter!
Right so that's me up to date with Wimbledon for now and I'll be back soon with more results.
So bye for now!
Tuesday 1 July 2014
2014 Wimbledon Part 3: Ladies event....upsets and then some
Right so its time for the 3rd part of my look at Wimbledon 2014 which will cover days 6 to 8 of the ladies tournament and without further ado let's give it a look...
So play began with Maria Sharapova who took on the American grass court specialist, Alison Riske, however despite a good start from Riske, she soon fell at the might of the big Pova and after a break in the first set, the second set saw Sharapova dish up a bagel for her opponent Riske to land her place in the 4th round with a 6-3, 6-0 win. And after that we had the biggest upset of the tournament on the ladies side as Serena Williams took on the in fom French player, Alize Cornet for a place in the last 16. And despite a good start from Serena who took a double break, Cornet started her fightback in the 2nd set and she broke Serena and went on to level the match a set apiece. And in the 3rd set, Cornet nabbed a double break as Serena started to look out of sorts, however Serena did recover one of the breaks, but in the end Cornet held her nerve and pulled off the biggest win of her career with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.
This was quite a performance from Cornet as well as big upset for Serena, who did actually look out of sorts and way below her best as the match moved on. And that also sends out a message to the other players that Serena is looking pretty vulnerable this year and this is another early exit in a slam, as she also went out in the 4th round of Australian open and the 2nd round of the French Open. So Serena has alot of work ahead of her in order to regain her best form, but at least she has another two months before the US Open comes around and hopefully for her she will get back to her best, as she will need to in order to defend her title there.
So onto day 7 which started with the very talented newcomer, Eugenie Bouchard, who so far has had a terrific season and reached the semi finals of the first two grand slams this season, and she played against Serena Williams conqueror Alize Cornet. The match itself was quite a tight encounter and Bouchard took the first set on the tiebreak, but in the 2nd Cornet looked to be in control as she broke to move ahead, however Bouchard wasn't to be outdone and she broke back and went on to seal the match a break of her own (its all breaks isn't it?!!) with a 7-6, 7-5 victory, the young Canadian reached her first Wimbledon quarter final. Well this really does see the new generation of young players rise to the fore with Bouchard right at the front of the queue along with Simona Halep, its refreshing to see some new faces step up to the challenge. And on this evidence I'm sure it won't be long before we have a new major champion on the ladies front.
And in other matches, Sabine Lisicki, last year's finalist had a tough match against Ana Ivanovic, who has been playing well of late, but Lisicki is a seasoned grass court player and she showed her form in the opening set by taking it with a single break. As the match moved into the 2nd set however, Ana complained about poor light, play was suspended, but was resumed on Monday where Ana took the 2nd set. But Lisicki soon regained her form and went on to fend off Ivanovic with a double break and reached the 4th round in 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. And lastly Petra Kvitova made an easy passage into the quarter finals and seemed to regain the imrpessive form that we had seen from her back in 2011 when she won the title, as she dismissed Peng Shaui of China in 6-3, 6-2.
So now we get onto day 8 which saw another big upset as Maria Sharapova was up against the German No.1, Angelique Kerber as they did battle on centre court in a thrilling match, which saw momentum swing back and forth. Keber took the first set on a tiebreak, but Sharapova soon found her way into the match in the 2nd set and broke Kerber to level the match. And given Sharapova's record for winning three sets matches, it was a real surprise to see what happened next as Kerber broke Sharapova's serve, but Sharapova in typical broke back, but at 5-4, with Sharapova looking to level the scores, Kerber finally converted a seventh match point to end Maria's quest to win a second Wimbledon title after a hard fought 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 win.
This was a really good win for Kerber and it was great to see her get back into the business end of the majors, as last year she struggled to get past the fourth round, but today she finally managed to make that transition. However Kerber will have her work cut out in the next round as she faces in the form Eugenie Bocuhard, who has already reached two slam semis this year and she could very well reach a third if Angie isn't too careful. But whatever happens it promises to be quite a match.
And for the last two matches I will cover, starting with Lucie Safarova who took on Ekaterina Makarova, who thrashed Agnieszka Radwanska in the 4th round, and the Czeck showed her best form as she drubbed Makarova in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to reach her first grand slam semi final. This was a terrific result for Safarova, who has always been a player that has shown the potential to be in the top 10 but has somehow always come up short, but here Safarova is starting to fulfil that potential and it looks good for her in the future if she continues in this form. And lastly the No.3 seed, Simona Halep continued her stellar season as she dismissed the Kazahkstan, Zarina Diyas in 6-3, 6-0 to reach her first Wimbledon quarter final. Halep's for has been quite incredible in 2014 and also last year, so it wouldn't surprise if Halep was able to reach the final at Wimbledon as well, and with no Sharapova in her way she just might succeed.
Right so that's it for the ladies for now and I will be back soon with the men's.
See you in a mo.....
So play began with Maria Sharapova who took on the American grass court specialist, Alison Riske, however despite a good start from Riske, she soon fell at the might of the big Pova and after a break in the first set, the second set saw Sharapova dish up a bagel for her opponent Riske to land her place in the 4th round with a 6-3, 6-0 win. And after that we had the biggest upset of the tournament on the ladies side as Serena Williams took on the in fom French player, Alize Cornet for a place in the last 16. And despite a good start from Serena who took a double break, Cornet started her fightback in the 2nd set and she broke Serena and went on to level the match a set apiece. And in the 3rd set, Cornet nabbed a double break as Serena started to look out of sorts, however Serena did recover one of the breaks, but in the end Cornet held her nerve and pulled off the biggest win of her career with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.
This was quite a performance from Cornet as well as big upset for Serena, who did actually look out of sorts and way below her best as the match moved on. And that also sends out a message to the other players that Serena is looking pretty vulnerable this year and this is another early exit in a slam, as she also went out in the 4th round of Australian open and the 2nd round of the French Open. So Serena has alot of work ahead of her in order to regain her best form, but at least she has another two months before the US Open comes around and hopefully for her she will get back to her best, as she will need to in order to defend her title there.
So onto day 7 which started with the very talented newcomer, Eugenie Bouchard, who so far has had a terrific season and reached the semi finals of the first two grand slams this season, and she played against Serena Williams conqueror Alize Cornet. The match itself was quite a tight encounter and Bouchard took the first set on the tiebreak, but in the 2nd Cornet looked to be in control as she broke to move ahead, however Bouchard wasn't to be outdone and she broke back and went on to seal the match a break of her own (its all breaks isn't it?!!) with a 7-6, 7-5 victory, the young Canadian reached her first Wimbledon quarter final. Well this really does see the new generation of young players rise to the fore with Bouchard right at the front of the queue along with Simona Halep, its refreshing to see some new faces step up to the challenge. And on this evidence I'm sure it won't be long before we have a new major champion on the ladies front.
And in other matches, Sabine Lisicki, last year's finalist had a tough match against Ana Ivanovic, who has been playing well of late, but Lisicki is a seasoned grass court player and she showed her form in the opening set by taking it with a single break. As the match moved into the 2nd set however, Ana complained about poor light, play was suspended, but was resumed on Monday where Ana took the 2nd set. But Lisicki soon regained her form and went on to fend off Ivanovic with a double break and reached the 4th round in 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. And lastly Petra Kvitova made an easy passage into the quarter finals and seemed to regain the imrpessive form that we had seen from her back in 2011 when she won the title, as she dismissed Peng Shaui of China in 6-3, 6-2.
So now we get onto day 8 which saw another big upset as Maria Sharapova was up against the German No.1, Angelique Kerber as they did battle on centre court in a thrilling match, which saw momentum swing back and forth. Keber took the first set on a tiebreak, but Sharapova soon found her way into the match in the 2nd set and broke Kerber to level the match. And given Sharapova's record for winning three sets matches, it was a real surprise to see what happened next as Kerber broke Sharapova's serve, but Sharapova in typical broke back, but at 5-4, with Sharapova looking to level the scores, Kerber finally converted a seventh match point to end Maria's quest to win a second Wimbledon title after a hard fought 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 win.
This was a really good win for Kerber and it was great to see her get back into the business end of the majors, as last year she struggled to get past the fourth round, but today she finally managed to make that transition. However Kerber will have her work cut out in the next round as she faces in the form Eugenie Bocuhard, who has already reached two slam semis this year and she could very well reach a third if Angie isn't too careful. But whatever happens it promises to be quite a match.
And for the last two matches I will cover, starting with Lucie Safarova who took on Ekaterina Makarova, who thrashed Agnieszka Radwanska in the 4th round, and the Czeck showed her best form as she drubbed Makarova in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to reach her first grand slam semi final. This was a terrific result for Safarova, who has always been a player that has shown the potential to be in the top 10 but has somehow always come up short, but here Safarova is starting to fulfil that potential and it looks good for her in the future if she continues in this form. And lastly the No.3 seed, Simona Halep continued her stellar season as she dismissed the Kazahkstan, Zarina Diyas in 6-3, 6-0 to reach her first Wimbledon quarter final. Halep's for has been quite incredible in 2014 and also last year, so it wouldn't surprise if Halep was able to reach the final at Wimbledon as well, and with no Sharapova in her way she just might succeed.
Right so that's it for the ladies for now and I will be back soon with the men's.
See you in a mo.....
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