Right OK well I thought I do a slightly different (well actually in a way its not!) themed post as this one will cover Andy Murray's most recent progress on the tour as he came back to the ATP tour at the Shenzhen open in China last week so I'll have a look at how he has done and what it could lead to for him in the future.
Soooooooo starting with Andy's first match in Shenzhen, he played the Indian player, Somdar Devarrman who gave Andy a decent workout but in the end the Scot had a bit too much for the Indian players to handle and it saw Andy reach the quarter finals with a 6-3, 6-3 win. In the quarter finals Andy then faced Luckas Lacko of the Slovak republic who provided Andy with a fairly testing encounter but again Andy managed to dig in and break the Slovak in the first and second sets to take him to only his third semi final of the season with a 6-3, 7-5 result. In the semi final Andy faced a tough opponent in Juan Monaco, a former top ten player himself as Andy got off to a sluggish start and Monaco took full advantage with a double break to grab the first set. In the 2nd set however, Andy went up a break but soon squandered it as Monaco broke back and at 3-3 things hung in the balance as Monaco had a break point at 30-40 on Andy's serve, but Andy managed to save it with a rare and potent 2nd serve and after this Andy raised his level and broke to take the 2nd set. In the decider however, Andy found another gear and Monaco had become powerless to do anything about Andy's sizzling form as he handed the Argentine a bagel set and with that Andy booked his first final of 2014 after a hard fought 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory.
Now onto the final itself which saw Andy up against the talented veteran 32 year old Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, who has enjoyed good form this year and already secured a win over Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati last month. And the match itself promised to be a tough one for Andy and it certainly was that as the first set saw both men trade breaks of serve, but it was Robredo who made the move to go ahead 6-5 and with that secure the first set. In the 2nd set the audience were treated to some thrilling points from both men and Andy went up a break early to go 4-2 only to squander it again and let Robredo back in the door and back on serve. Play then became very tense between the two men as Andy secured two set points at 5-4, but Robredo saved them and play went on into a dramatic and thrilling tiebreak, which saw Andy miraculously save five match points, coming back from a 6-2 deficit to eventually claim the second set on the breaker 11-9. And in the 3rd set, Robredo's challenge started to finally fade as fatigue overtook him in the sweltering hot and humid conditions and Andy broke the Spaniard three times to grab his first title of 2014 and first since his triumph at Wimbledon last year, with a 5-7, 7-6 (11-9), 6-1 result.
Well to say that Andy needed to win this title is something of an understatement as he desparately needed somehow to get back in the winners circle and clearly that's why he chose to enter Shenzhen as he must have looked at the draw and figured it was quite favourable for his chances as the field of players suited his game and had decent head to heads over most of the players there. And this win will no doubt give Andy much confidence moving ahead into the rest of the Asian hard court swing, as he still has Beijing and Shanghai to play yet and as he was out with back surgery this time last year he stands to make up plenty of points in hope that he will qualify for ATP world tour finals at London in November. And Andy currently sits at 10th place in the rankings for the race to London so he needs to move up two more spots to 8th place to qualify.
As for the match itself it was a bit erratic in terms of the quality of the play but overall it was a very entertaining contest and both men produced some terrific points together with the 2nd set tiebreak in particular being the highlight of the match. And in that tiebreak we saw some true shades of the Wimbledon champion of last year and we have seen moments of it here and there this season but in that tiebreak we saw a level of grit and determination from Andy Murray that has been missing for most of 2014. And it actually echoed Andy's 3rd set tiebreak against Federer in the Australian open earlier this year where he saved two match points in the breaker to go ahead and reel off four straight points to win the 3rd set. It also even reminded me of Andy's defeat to Novak Djokovic in their superb Shanghai final two years ago when Andy had five match points and it was Nole that saved them all and went on to win, but its good to see Andy is on the flipside of the coin this time. And I myself knew that this tournament was Andy's best shot at winning a title all year and we all know he has had many opportunities this season so far where he could have won a title but missed all those chances due to lack of stamina from his back surgery, lack of form, poor concentration or just a loss of confidence.
Yet Andy has even had moments this year especially at Wimbledon where he looked every inch the champion for the first four rounds there but then inexplicably fell to pieces in his quarter final match against Grigor Dimitrov, which was pretty much the match that has brought him directly to the place he is at now in falling out of the top ten as prior to that he had gained valuable points at the French open which helped his ranking bump up to No.5. And on a similar note a funny thing about the Shenzhen final was that due to the intense heat Andy had to abandon his usual dark grey adidas kit and wear his white Wimbledon kit for the match, so at least this time round it played its part in helping him win a title! And another neat coincidence in the match was the umpire, the colourful Mohammed Layani, was also the umpire of the Wimbledon final last year aswell, so he must have served as a good omen for Andy here in securing his victory (sorry about the pun!).
But despite Shenzhen being a small tournament it is still nonetheless a very important one for Andy in terms of his season and with it hopefully he can build on his form to finish the year strong. It also proves that Andy is still a vital player aswell and that he isn't ready to go away yet and similar to Roger Federer, Andy is a player that you write off at your peril because the bottom line is that he is too good to keep down permanently. And after the end of match Andy was quite emotional as he sank exhausted with relief into his chair and sobbed into his towel, which showed that he had lifted yet another heavy burden after going 14 months without a single title to his name. So Andy deserves nothing but credit for pulling off this win and as for Robredo well you have to feel for him as he too was upset after the end of the match especially after he realised how close he was to winning his first title also in over a year. This result will also hopefully help allay the question marks over Andy's decision to hire Amelie Mauresmo as his coach, whom no doubt will be delighted that he has won his first title since they began their parternship even though she wasn't even there to witness it! But then again Mauresmo has only committed to so many weeks on the tour throughout the season with Andy so she can't make it to every event he plays, regardless however I'm sure she will be very pleased with the result. And despite the disappointment that Andy has had to deal with so far this season, overall he hasn't had a bad year if you look at his results as he has reached three quarter finals and a semi final at the majors, he has also beaten a top 10 player in Tsonga and now he has won his first title of the season as well so things are definitely looking up.
So next up for Andy is the China open this week in Beijing where he will join Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal, who makes his return to the tour this week after being laid off with a wrist injury. However Andy has a pretty unkind draw as his first opponent is a literally a big test as he takes on the big bean Pole, Jerzy Janowicz, who is an unenviable opponent for any player at the best of times! However Janowicz hasn't been at his best this season and has been very up and down so far in 2014, so it might give Andy a chance to win if the big guy is off his game, but if the Pole is on his game then Andy might be in real danger of an early exit in Beijing, so he will need to play a good match if he is to win. And if Andy does win the match his draw gets tougher by the minute as he could go on to potentially face the reigning US Open champion, Marin Cilic in the quarter finals, followed by a possible clash with Novak in the semis and Rafa in the final. Personally though I think it will be a real struggle for Andy to secure back to back wins in Shenzhen and Beijing given the strength of the field of players at Beijing and Andy still has to work on his inconsistent form (not to mention that serve has always been his undoing!). But regardless of his outcome in Beijing this week, there is no doubt that Andy is starting to move in the right direction and despite his dips in form he is beginning to show signs of being that player who just over a year ago triumphed at SW19 and that he still has that hunger and determination to win and get back to the top.
Right so that's it for now and once again I'll say congrats to Andy Murray for winning his first title in nearly 15 months after that historic victory at Wimbledon last year, and after his first week in China he has show he is far from done and hopefully there will be more titles yet to come for him.
And with that I shall leave yee there and be back again some time soon with more posts on that sport with the net and a fluffy yellow ball.
Until the next un bye for now!
Monday 29 September 2014
Tuesday 9 September 2014
2014 US Open Part 9: Men's and ladies finals
Rrrrright so now its time for my last post on the 2014 US Open which will cover the ladies and men's singles finals which saw who would lift the champion's trophy and claim that crowning slam glory (or something like that!). So let's gear up for the last time and give these matches a look....
So starting with the ladies final it was between the World No.1 and five time US Open champion, Serena Williams and the former 2009 finalist, Caroline Wozniacki. There last two matches were tight three set battles so this match promised to be quite similar although Serena has been in top form throughout the tournament so far. And the match itself turned out to be quite an easy affair for Serena as despite an edgy start and four breaks of serve at the start, Serena soon settled her nerves and got into the match and broke Caroline to take the opening set. In the 2nd set Caroline went down a break straigh away and Serena started to find her groove on serve and from here there was no way back for the Dane who tried in vain to serve at 5-3 to keep herself alive in the match but a couple of errors saw her lose the game, set and match to Serena who claimed her 18th grand slam title and 6th US Open title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Well this final was a bit of a letdown in the end as after a tense start it just became one way traffic for Serena who effortlessly moved past Caroline, who played not too bad overall but on the day Serena was just too good. The match did have some good rallies though and both players shared a terrific 26 shot rally in the 2nd set which amazed the crowd, but in the end you knew there was only going to be one winner in this match. So this sees Serena now tied with Martina Navatrilova at 18 grand slam titles and there is no doubt that she can go on and surpass that record although she still has some way to go before she can equal Margaret Court's all time record of 24. And it was the perfect end to a difficult year for Serena who had struggled to make it past the first week in the majors at the French open and Wimbledon and throughout the tournament we saw how determined she was to win this one and no doubt she would and did it in very impressive style without even dropping a set. So going into 2015 Serena is in a good position to win more majors next year and no doubt she has a good shout at defending her title at the WTA championships at the end of the season next month.
As for Caroline well it was a shame she couldn't fight past Serena and in the end she was up against one of the all time great competitors, but she still did great in reaching her second US Open final and it showed some very encouraging signs for her tennis, which has really been up and down over the last two years, so thankfully now we are starting to see her get back to her best. And if it wasn't for Serena Williams then just maybe it would be Caroline holding that trophy right now and I still think one day she can win a major as she has now reached two slam finals she can sure reach another and just maybe third time round she might get lucky. And another good bit of news for Caroline is that she will return to the top 10 and is now ranked No.9 in the world and if she stays on course she might just qualify for the WTA championships, which she missed last year so let's hope she can get back in it, as she sure deserves her place in the top 10 again.
Now we get onto the men's final which featured two very unlikely finalists, Marin Cilic, the big Croatian and Kei Nishikori, the Japanese fella. The pressure was on for both men in this match as it was both their first grand slam final, but it was Nishikori that felt the pressure more as Cilic continued his impressive form after dismissing Roger Federer in straight sets and broke Kei early on in the set and with that he continued with some incredible serving to close out the first set. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Nishikori struggled to get anything going, making more unforced errors and struggling to get his first serves in which saw Cilic grab a double break and with it the match by the scruff of the neck. Nishikori however managed to break back as Cilic tried to serve for the two set lead, but it was short lived as Cilic broke again to take that 2-0 lead. And in the 3rd set it was yet again more of the same as Nishikori played second fiddle to Cilic's might and his impressive serving and he went down a break and with the end in sight, Cilic with no nerves, served out the match at 5-3 to claim his first ever grand slam title with an almighty impressive 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win.
Well this wasn't quite the match I was expecting as I'm sure most people weren't as I thought we might get a five set pitch battle, and I figured Nishikori would be the slight favourite here given the dogged competitiveness, but in the end Cilic proved everyone wrong and pulled an incredible performance out of the bag to make a bit of a history for himself. But in a way it wasn't too surprising if you look at Cilic's previous two matches which were both won in straight sets as he defeated Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer with ease and Nishikori had spent significantly more time on court than Cilic had. And the fact that Cilic was able to win his first major and his last three matches in straight sets was in itself quite remarkable and it really shows this guy has got some serious chops and he maybe a big guy, but he's got the full package and all the shots that go with it. And its also good to see different players come into the big events now with chances to win the slams as it helps shake up the routine of seeing one or two of the big four (or three now really) reach the final of just about every slam. And Cilic himself deserves great credit for this win as does his coach Goran Ivanesivic who has helped immeasurably toward reaching this point and it doesn't hurt having a coach either with one of the best serves in the men's game (and I bet Andy Murray is kicking himself that he wasn't able to snap up Goran to help him with his!). And with this it looks likely that Cilic can go on and win a few more as well, although whether or not he does remains to be seen and he could just go the way of Juan Martin Del Potro, who just the one US Open title, but I guess we will soon find out.
As for Kei Nishikori well it was a great shame that he wasn't able to make more of an impression in this match than he was allowed to but you also got the fact that he looked rather fatigued for the most part and he had spent much more time on court up to that point. And in the end despite the fact that Kei lead their head to head, it didn't really matter in the end as Cilic was simply too good overall. But it does show by reaching the final that Nishikori also has announced himself to the world of tennis and he had already reached a big final in Madrid earlier this year where he almost certainly would have beaten Rafa in the final if it wasn't for his back injury. So despite his loss, the future is still very bright for Nishikori also and he might have more chances in the future to claim a maiden major title for his country and himself.
So that's it for this year's US Open which has come to a rather surprising conclusion with a unlikely but very well deserved champion in Marin Cilic and an altogether expected one for Serena. And despite two rather short finals it was a great tournament with some great matches on either side of the net (particularly the men's). And it also sees a big change up in the men's game with Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori both reclaiming their top 10 spots as the line up of the top 10 guys is now forever in flux. And with this win, Cilic has said it has opened the door for other players to go in and win slams and he hopes that his victory will also inspire other players to do the same.
However this change is not good news for Andy Murray (yep him again!) who has dropped out of the top 10 down to No.11, which marks the first time in six years that Andy has been out of the top 10. So this could be a very worrying time for him ahead unless he can gain more ranking points before the end of the year, he may also not qualify for the year end championships in London. And the lower ranked Andy is that means he will face the top seeds sooner which is not good, particularly not in the slams where he could meet the likes of Roger or Nole in the 4th round, which is not ideal at all. So we will just have to hope that Andy can get his game together and start building up those points before the end of the season as he still has potentially three tournaments to play before the race to London and if he doesn't get there it isn't the end of the world. But sooner or later Andy will really need to start stepping up his game in order to keep up with the rest of the pack but he did show some very encouraging signs in New York and he did manage to defend his points there and beat his first top 10 player since Wimbledon in defeating Tsonga. So now this is where the hard work begins for him and we will just have to see how the remainder of 2014 pans out for Andy and let's hope he has a much brighter year in 2015.
Right so that's it for now so I will goodbye for now and I'll be back sometime soon with more tennis stuff.
Bye the now!
So starting with the ladies final it was between the World No.1 and five time US Open champion, Serena Williams and the former 2009 finalist, Caroline Wozniacki. There last two matches were tight three set battles so this match promised to be quite similar although Serena has been in top form throughout the tournament so far. And the match itself turned out to be quite an easy affair for Serena as despite an edgy start and four breaks of serve at the start, Serena soon settled her nerves and got into the match and broke Caroline to take the opening set. In the 2nd set Caroline went down a break straigh away and Serena started to find her groove on serve and from here there was no way back for the Dane who tried in vain to serve at 5-3 to keep herself alive in the match but a couple of errors saw her lose the game, set and match to Serena who claimed her 18th grand slam title and 6th US Open title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Well this final was a bit of a letdown in the end as after a tense start it just became one way traffic for Serena who effortlessly moved past Caroline, who played not too bad overall but on the day Serena was just too good. The match did have some good rallies though and both players shared a terrific 26 shot rally in the 2nd set which amazed the crowd, but in the end you knew there was only going to be one winner in this match. So this sees Serena now tied with Martina Navatrilova at 18 grand slam titles and there is no doubt that she can go on and surpass that record although she still has some way to go before she can equal Margaret Court's all time record of 24. And it was the perfect end to a difficult year for Serena who had struggled to make it past the first week in the majors at the French open and Wimbledon and throughout the tournament we saw how determined she was to win this one and no doubt she would and did it in very impressive style without even dropping a set. So going into 2015 Serena is in a good position to win more majors next year and no doubt she has a good shout at defending her title at the WTA championships at the end of the season next month.
As for Caroline well it was a shame she couldn't fight past Serena and in the end she was up against one of the all time great competitors, but she still did great in reaching her second US Open final and it showed some very encouraging signs for her tennis, which has really been up and down over the last two years, so thankfully now we are starting to see her get back to her best. And if it wasn't for Serena Williams then just maybe it would be Caroline holding that trophy right now and I still think one day she can win a major as she has now reached two slam finals she can sure reach another and just maybe third time round she might get lucky. And another good bit of news for Caroline is that she will return to the top 10 and is now ranked No.9 in the world and if she stays on course she might just qualify for the WTA championships, which she missed last year so let's hope she can get back in it, as she sure deserves her place in the top 10 again.
Now we get onto the men's final which featured two very unlikely finalists, Marin Cilic, the big Croatian and Kei Nishikori, the Japanese fella. The pressure was on for both men in this match as it was both their first grand slam final, but it was Nishikori that felt the pressure more as Cilic continued his impressive form after dismissing Roger Federer in straight sets and broke Kei early on in the set and with that he continued with some incredible serving to close out the first set. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Nishikori struggled to get anything going, making more unforced errors and struggling to get his first serves in which saw Cilic grab a double break and with it the match by the scruff of the neck. Nishikori however managed to break back as Cilic tried to serve for the two set lead, but it was short lived as Cilic broke again to take that 2-0 lead. And in the 3rd set it was yet again more of the same as Nishikori played second fiddle to Cilic's might and his impressive serving and he went down a break and with the end in sight, Cilic with no nerves, served out the match at 5-3 to claim his first ever grand slam title with an almighty impressive 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win.
Well this wasn't quite the match I was expecting as I'm sure most people weren't as I thought we might get a five set pitch battle, and I figured Nishikori would be the slight favourite here given the dogged competitiveness, but in the end Cilic proved everyone wrong and pulled an incredible performance out of the bag to make a bit of a history for himself. But in a way it wasn't too surprising if you look at Cilic's previous two matches which were both won in straight sets as he defeated Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer with ease and Nishikori had spent significantly more time on court than Cilic had. And the fact that Cilic was able to win his first major and his last three matches in straight sets was in itself quite remarkable and it really shows this guy has got some serious chops and he maybe a big guy, but he's got the full package and all the shots that go with it. And its also good to see different players come into the big events now with chances to win the slams as it helps shake up the routine of seeing one or two of the big four (or three now really) reach the final of just about every slam. And Cilic himself deserves great credit for this win as does his coach Goran Ivanesivic who has helped immeasurably toward reaching this point and it doesn't hurt having a coach either with one of the best serves in the men's game (and I bet Andy Murray is kicking himself that he wasn't able to snap up Goran to help him with his!). And with this it looks likely that Cilic can go on and win a few more as well, although whether or not he does remains to be seen and he could just go the way of Juan Martin Del Potro, who just the one US Open title, but I guess we will soon find out.
As for Kei Nishikori well it was a great shame that he wasn't able to make more of an impression in this match than he was allowed to but you also got the fact that he looked rather fatigued for the most part and he had spent much more time on court up to that point. And in the end despite the fact that Kei lead their head to head, it didn't really matter in the end as Cilic was simply too good overall. But it does show by reaching the final that Nishikori also has announced himself to the world of tennis and he had already reached a big final in Madrid earlier this year where he almost certainly would have beaten Rafa in the final if it wasn't for his back injury. So despite his loss, the future is still very bright for Nishikori also and he might have more chances in the future to claim a maiden major title for his country and himself.
So that's it for this year's US Open which has come to a rather surprising conclusion with a unlikely but very well deserved champion in Marin Cilic and an altogether expected one for Serena. And despite two rather short finals it was a great tournament with some great matches on either side of the net (particularly the men's). And it also sees a big change up in the men's game with Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori both reclaiming their top 10 spots as the line up of the top 10 guys is now forever in flux. And with this win, Cilic has said it has opened the door for other players to go in and win slams and he hopes that his victory will also inspire other players to do the same.
However this change is not good news for Andy Murray (yep him again!) who has dropped out of the top 10 down to No.11, which marks the first time in six years that Andy has been out of the top 10. So this could be a very worrying time for him ahead unless he can gain more ranking points before the end of the year, he may also not qualify for the year end championships in London. And the lower ranked Andy is that means he will face the top seeds sooner which is not good, particularly not in the slams where he could meet the likes of Roger or Nole in the 4th round, which is not ideal at all. So we will just have to hope that Andy can get his game together and start building up those points before the end of the season as he still has potentially three tournaments to play before the race to London and if he doesn't get there it isn't the end of the world. But sooner or later Andy will really need to start stepping up his game in order to keep up with the rest of the pack but he did show some very encouraging signs in New York and he did manage to defend his points there and beat his first top 10 player since Wimbledon in defeating Tsonga. So now this is where the hard work begins for him and we will just have to see how the remainder of 2014 pans out for Andy and let's hope he has a much brighter year in 2015.
Right so that's it for now so I will goodbye for now and I'll be back sometime soon with more tennis stuff.
Bye the now!
Sunday 7 September 2014
2014 US Open Part 8 men's event: Big four no more????
OK so now its time to look at the men's remaining quarter finals and the semi final matches from the 2014 US Open. So let's get to it....
Right the first match was between Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych as both men were looking for a place in the last four of the US Open and the two have a fairly close head to head with Berdych leading it 5-3 but Cilic had won their most recent encounter at Wimbledon. And it looked like this one was heading the same way as Cilic got off to a flyer and broke Berdych who struggled with the windy conditions on court and took the double break to grab the 1st set. In the 2nd set Berdych did a bit better but he was broken early on and kept it to the single break, but in the end Cilic's serving was in mighty impressive form and he soon took the two sets to love lead. In the 3rd set however there was a change of momentum as Cilic played a sloppy service game that let Berdych break and move ahead 4-1 but Berdych's concentration was broken when he failed to try and reach the ball on a point before it bounced twice and he tried to argue this case with the umpire to no avail and as a result he lost his break. Play then went onto a tiebreak where Berdych had an early advantage but he squandered yet again and Cilic went on to serve out the match in fine style to book a place in the last four of the US Open with a convincing 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 win. Well so far Marin Cilic has looked very impressive in this tournament and he continued to here in his match with Berdych as he served superbly for most of it and he played the big points very well and with Goran Ivansevic coaching him the improvements to his game have been immense so he could yet go on to win here.
Next up we had Roger Federer who faced the talented French showman, Gael Monfils in what proved to be an epic battle of an encounter where Roger got more than he bargained for. And it was Monfils who got off to a great start as he looked on course to carve out a major upset as he took a two set lead in just over an hour into the match over the five time champion. However Roger soon fought back and he started to dig in and broke Monfils to move ahead and take the 3rd set and in the 4th set he dug deep as he saved two match points on his own serve and went on to break Monfils to level the match at two sets all. And in the 5th set the momentum was firmly with Roger as Monfils began to make more errors and it saw Rog complete a miracle comebackas he won from two sets down for the 9th time in his career with an incredible 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 result.
This was a very entertaining match as you might expect between Rog and Gael as both men have great variety in their games and there were some great points from both of them throughout. The match also echoed Gael's match with Andy Murray earlier this year at the French Open (also a quarter final), except this time the position was reversed as Gael was two sets up and not two sets down (like he was at the French) but he went on to lose in the final set. But despite his loss Monfils has shown some great promise this year in the majors even though he may never win one he still has proved he is a very worthy competitor. As for Rog well this was quite a turnaround but you would expect nothing less from the former US Open champion but the rounds don't get any easier and Rog will have his hands full against Marin Cilic next in the semis.
So now we get onto the men's semi final matches which took place on Super Saturday (as they call it in New York!) and first up we had Novak Djokovic face Kei Nishikori who had made some very impressive progress in reaching his first major semi final after beating Stan Wawrinka in the previous round. Regardless of all that though Novak was still very much the favourite to win this match as well as the title despite Nishikori's great form in the tournament. However.... the match itself turned out to be quite a surprise as it was Kei that made the strong start as he broke Nole to grab the first set before Djokovic went on to grab the 2nd set with a double break. With things all level in the 3rd it would seem that Nole would have the match well in hand but Kei bested Nole again and broke him to move ahead but Novak then broke back and pushed played into a tiebreak, where Kei regained his momentum and took the breaker 7-4 and a two sets to one lead with it. And in the 4th set it was Nishikori that did the unthinkable and broke a shockingly sloppy Novak Djokovic who all of a sudden looked like he had swapped places with Andy Murray in their quarter final duel and trailed 5-3. And with Nole serving to make it 5-3 he capitulated on serve as Kei gained two match points, Nole saved one and went on to blow the other as he fell to a massive upset against the Japanese No.1 as Nishikori reached his first ever grand slam final with a dramatic 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory.
Well to say I wasn't expecting this was an understatement as Nole had looked in top form throughout the tournament and wasn't even threatened until he played Andy Murray in their gruelling quarter final match. But it just shows that even the very best can have a bad day out there and that certainly was the case with Nole in this one and it seemed to also echo his defeats to Tsonga and Tommy Robredo during the Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati where he just looked flat. As for Kei Nishikori well there is no doubt he deserves this victory and I'm sure all of Japan will be going wild over the fact they finally have a Japanese player reach a grand slam final for the first time. And given how Nishikori has played so far in this tournament I'd dare say I would fancy his chances for a shot at the title, but that will all depend on the outcome of the next match...
And this match was between Roger Federer and Marin Cilic and Cilic has been in top form so far in the tournament whereas Roger had a close call against Gael Monfils in the previous round, but the match itself looked to be quite a close one despite Roger's emphatic 5-0 head to head over Cilic. But in the end that head to head meant nothing as Cilic looked determined to rewrite the book as he charged into a two set lead against Roger, just as he did against Berdych in the previous round, with some phenomenal serving and powerful groundstrokes. And if Roger was to win he would now have to dig deep for the second time in the tournament and at the start of the 3rd, it looked like Rog was capable of starting it off as he broke Cilic to move ahead, but in the end he couldn't maintain and let Cilic back in the door. Cilic then went on to secure a break of his own and with expectations of nerves lurking for the Croatian he quickly dismissed them as he served out the biggest game of his career so far with three aces and a backhand winner to reach his first ever grand slam final with a very convincing 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 result.
Well I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't have expected this outcome either as Roger looked pretty subpar throughout the match and Cilic grew with confidence as every point was played. There was a chance that Roger may have been physically or mentally fatigued after having to come back from two sets down against Monfils in the quarter finals but in the end it came down to the simple fact that Cilic was the better player on the day. So this really has seen the balance of the big four violently topple to the wayside as after Andy's ropey run of form this year after coming back from surgery, Rafa's surprise defeat at Wimbledon and his current wrist injury keeping him out of the game and now Nole and Rog's shock defeats here it signals just maybe the big four are starting to slowly come to an end. However I'm sure that they all have plenty of time left at the top of the game but these defeats certainly indicate that they are not the force they once were and also there are plenty of other very talented players on the rise as well threatening to upset their apple cart. But Cilic deserves alot of credit for this win as he played a superb match and served brilliantly yet again and it really does show that the hard work he has put in with his new coach and fellow Croat, Goran Ivanesvic is really starting to pay off. And its also great to finally see some new faces emerge into the finals of the big events and for the first time in so long we will have a new grand slam champion outside the big four both playing in a final of a slam at the same time.
So this sets up the clash between Kei Nishikori and Marin Clic and the question begs to be asked.... did I leave the kettle on??? No, sorry! Who will win???? (and no I didn't leave it on!). Well...... I don't know a great deal about their rivalry together but I'm going to go with Nishikori as I think he really has shown some great fighting spirit in this tournament and he also probably is the faster and more athletic of the two of them. Not only that Kei has a positive head to head record over Cilic as he leads theirs 5-2 but in the grand scheme of things I don't think that will really come into play here and it will boil down to who plays the better tennis on the day. Cilic has of course been playing great and he has served his way out of trouble very well and played the big points superbly in his matches and he too showed great fighting spirit against Gilles Simon in their dramatic 3rd round match. Cilic may have the advantage fitness wise as in his previous two matches he has spent significantly less time on court than Nishikori, but somehow Nishikori still managed to come through those matches and his match with Djokovic may have been a tricky one but overall it wasn't the longest encounter as it clocked in at just under three hours. So my prediction is that I think Nishikori will win this one in five tough sets to claim his first major title, I might be wrong of course as Cilic might comfortably beat Kei if he is heavily fatigued after his efforts to reach the final, but we will see, but it does promise to be quite a match. And while I like both players and both of them deserve to win, I think I would like to see Nishikori win because Japan have never had a Japanese grand slam singles champion and if Kei can pull it off that would be quite a feat in itself.
Sooooo that's it and I will be back soon with the results of who will win the champions trophies in the men's and ladies finals.
Until then bye the now!
2014 US Open Part 7 Ladies event: The last four
Right OK so this post will cover the ladies semi final matches at the 2014 US Open which would determine the finalists for the final slam of the season. So let's get to it...
So the first match was between former 2009 finalist, Caroline Wozniacki and the surprise of the tournament, the Chinese No.2, Peng Shuai who had never made this far into a grand slam before and never had even won a WTA singles title either so the match promised to be an intruiging one. And right enough the matche itself was of pretty high quality for the most part, particularly in the first set where both ladies traded some intense baseline rallies and there were beaks aplenty with Peng Shai eventually having an opportunity to serve for the first set at 6-5. However the nerves of the occassion got to Peng who then got broken and play went into a tiebreak which eventually went the way of the Dane, Caroline to get her half way toward reaching her 2nd US Open final. In the 2nd set things got tight again but Caroline managed to get an early break however it didn't matter in the end as Peng was forced to retire due to severe cramps and heat illness, which enabled Caroline to reach her 2nd major final at the US Open with a 7-6, 4-3 ret result.
Well it was a shame the match ended the way it did as it was for the most part very competitive and entertaining to watch, with nerves on both sides, but it seemed inevitable that Caroline would be the one who would eventually get through. And its great to see Caroline Wozniacki back in the final of another major as it proves that she is no one trick pony in reaching major finals and just maybe she will have a chance of winning this title although there are no guarantees of course. But for me Caroline has always been a very talented player who's tenacity and ability put her way ahead of quite alot of the other female competitors in the field, which was especially the case when she the was the world no.1. However Caroline has had her struggles even at the top of the game in trying to win a major as she in some cases she would get overpowered by her opponents and has always struggled against the big hitters such as Sharapova or Serena Williams. And I always equated her in a way to Andy Murray as a player (pre Ivan Lendl of course) who has all the talent in the world to win a major but has never been able to win one. But if Caroline can somehow come through this one then it could well change everything for her for the better and she could go on to win more in the future so I will keep fingers crossed for her.
As for Peng Shuai well it was a real shame to see her very impressive campaign at the US open come to an end in such an abrupt fashion as the poor girl was barely able to stand up in the 2nd set as she desparately tried to cling on and break Caroline's serve to level the match at 4-4. And after recieving a medical timeout in the end it was no use and Peng was forced to retire and due to her condition they ended up having to take her off court in a wheelchair! So it just shows you how severe the on court conditions must be over there in New York during the extreme heat of their summer, which also a reflection of what happened to some other players during the tournament one of them in particular being Andy Murray. So here's hoping for Peng Shuai that she will recover OK and continues to improve her form for the remainder of the season.
So now onto the second ladies semi final which was between Serena Williams and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia (Makarova that is, Serena isn't Russian!). Makarova has been a bit of an upset artist at the US Open as she scalped Victoria Azarenka in the quarter finals and she has even secured a victory over Serena herself a year ago at the Australian open so threatened to be a danger to the World No.1. But.... this time Serena had no such trouble against the Russian as she was clearly intent on revenge for her loss in Melbourne a year ago and she blasted Makarova off the court and dropped just four games on her way to victory as she reached the final with an emphatic 6-1, 6-3 win.
So this sets up the ladies final between Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki and it promises to be quite a cracker if it is anything like their previous two meetings on the WTA tour, both of which were very close three set battles won by Serena. But this is a grand slam final however and things are a bit different here as the stakes will be even higher than before. So who will win???? Well I have to say it will be Serena as she has looked in top form throughout the tournament and is yet to drop a set going into the final and no one has dare to even take her past four games in a single set! So it remains an extremely daunting task for Caroline to try and pull off a major upset here (no pun intended!) but you never know until the match is under way. And in order for Caroline to win she will need to play the match of her life and play at her very defensive and aggressive best and also hope that Serena is a bit off her game as well. So for me I think Serena will win it in straight sets but I think it could be quite a tight close encounter as long as Caroline keeps serving well then just maybe we could see two tiebreak sets even. It is possible that Caroline could also extend the match into a deciding set but if Serena is right on top of her game then there will be no chance of that. But the match lies ahead and time will tell and let's just hope its a good win and personally I would love to Caroline win her first major to vindicate her status as a top player and prove that she has got what it takes to win a slam so I wish her all the best and will keep my fingers crossed.
So that's it for now and I will be back soon with the results for the ladies later but next up is the men's...
See you in a bit.
So the first match was between former 2009 finalist, Caroline Wozniacki and the surprise of the tournament, the Chinese No.2, Peng Shuai who had never made this far into a grand slam before and never had even won a WTA singles title either so the match promised to be an intruiging one. And right enough the matche itself was of pretty high quality for the most part, particularly in the first set where both ladies traded some intense baseline rallies and there were beaks aplenty with Peng Shai eventually having an opportunity to serve for the first set at 6-5. However the nerves of the occassion got to Peng who then got broken and play went into a tiebreak which eventually went the way of the Dane, Caroline to get her half way toward reaching her 2nd US Open final. In the 2nd set things got tight again but Caroline managed to get an early break however it didn't matter in the end as Peng was forced to retire due to severe cramps and heat illness, which enabled Caroline to reach her 2nd major final at the US Open with a 7-6, 4-3 ret result.
Well it was a shame the match ended the way it did as it was for the most part very competitive and entertaining to watch, with nerves on both sides, but it seemed inevitable that Caroline would be the one who would eventually get through. And its great to see Caroline Wozniacki back in the final of another major as it proves that she is no one trick pony in reaching major finals and just maybe she will have a chance of winning this title although there are no guarantees of course. But for me Caroline has always been a very talented player who's tenacity and ability put her way ahead of quite alot of the other female competitors in the field, which was especially the case when she the was the world no.1. However Caroline has had her struggles even at the top of the game in trying to win a major as she in some cases she would get overpowered by her opponents and has always struggled against the big hitters such as Sharapova or Serena Williams. And I always equated her in a way to Andy Murray as a player (pre Ivan Lendl of course) who has all the talent in the world to win a major but has never been able to win one. But if Caroline can somehow come through this one then it could well change everything for her for the better and she could go on to win more in the future so I will keep fingers crossed for her.
As for Peng Shuai well it was a real shame to see her very impressive campaign at the US open come to an end in such an abrupt fashion as the poor girl was barely able to stand up in the 2nd set as she desparately tried to cling on and break Caroline's serve to level the match at 4-4. And after recieving a medical timeout in the end it was no use and Peng was forced to retire and due to her condition they ended up having to take her off court in a wheelchair! So it just shows you how severe the on court conditions must be over there in New York during the extreme heat of their summer, which also a reflection of what happened to some other players during the tournament one of them in particular being Andy Murray. So here's hoping for Peng Shuai that she will recover OK and continues to improve her form for the remainder of the season.
So now onto the second ladies semi final which was between Serena Williams and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia (Makarova that is, Serena isn't Russian!). Makarova has been a bit of an upset artist at the US Open as she scalped Victoria Azarenka in the quarter finals and she has even secured a victory over Serena herself a year ago at the Australian open so threatened to be a danger to the World No.1. But.... this time Serena had no such trouble against the Russian as she was clearly intent on revenge for her loss in Melbourne a year ago and she blasted Makarova off the court and dropped just four games on her way to victory as she reached the final with an emphatic 6-1, 6-3 win.
So this sets up the ladies final between Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki and it promises to be quite a cracker if it is anything like their previous two meetings on the WTA tour, both of which were very close three set battles won by Serena. But this is a grand slam final however and things are a bit different here as the stakes will be even higher than before. So who will win???? Well I have to say it will be Serena as she has looked in top form throughout the tournament and is yet to drop a set going into the final and no one has dare to even take her past four games in a single set! So it remains an extremely daunting task for Caroline to try and pull off a major upset here (no pun intended!) but you never know until the match is under way. And in order for Caroline to win she will need to play the match of her life and play at her very defensive and aggressive best and also hope that Serena is a bit off her game as well. So for me I think Serena will win it in straight sets but I think it could be quite a tight close encounter as long as Caroline keeps serving well then just maybe we could see two tiebreak sets even. It is possible that Caroline could also extend the match into a deciding set but if Serena is right on top of her game then there will be no chance of that. But the match lies ahead and time will tell and let's just hope its a good win and personally I would love to Caroline win her first major to vindicate her status as a top player and prove that she has got what it takes to win a slam so I wish her all the best and will keep my fingers crossed.
So that's it for now and I will be back soon with the results for the ladies later but next up is the men's...
See you in a bit.
Friday 5 September 2014
2014 US Open Part 6 men's event: Going out swingin...
Right so now its time for the men's 4th round and quarter final matches from the US Open over days 9 and 10. So let's get started with this un....
OK so start off we had Grigor Dimitrov, who was tipped as a hot favourite to do very well here and was up against the flashy and talented French player, Gael Monfils, so it promised to be an entertaining match and one which still favoured Grigor. However it turned out to be quite the opposite as Monfils stunned Dimitrov by turning the match on its head and he took the first set with a break, the 2nd set on the tiebreak 8-6, and he went on to win the 3rd set with another break to reach the quarter finals with a surprising 7-5, 7-6, 7-5 victory. This was quite an upset from Monfils who has shown in the past that he can go on a hot streak in the big events and he certainly did so here with Dimitrov and beneath all of that flash there is indeed some serious substance as well and moving into the quarter finals Monfils could well be dangerous for who he plays next.
And the player he would be up against next would be the winner of the match between Roger Federer and Roberto Bautista-Agut. Agut is a player that has started to announce himself this year on the tour and he had already claimed one or two big scalps in earlier in the season such as beating Tomas Berdych in Indian Wells so he could be considered a dangerous outsider. But then again he was playing Roger Federer and Rog himself had no trouble whatsoever against the Spaniard and instead made him look pretty ordinary with his skill and class and he ended up sweeping past Agut in straight sets with a comfortable straight set win of 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Well there really was no question of who would win this one and right enough it was Roger who claimed it very comfortably in the end. And it has to be said that so far even though Rog has been looking pretty good he also has had quite a cosy draw and it makes you wonder just how he will respond to being really tested by the top players. But we do know one thing about Roger and that is he is the greatest player to have played the game so he knows a thing or two about taking on tricky opponents so regardless I think Rog might still be on course for the final. And with Monfils next he will be given a bit of a test but and it will be a very entertaining match but in the end I think Rog will come through in four sets.
So in other matches Tomas Berdych took on the talented youngster Dominic Thiem in what potentially could have been a real test for the Czeck No.1. But in the end Berdych showed his experience and class and outplayed Thiem and defeated him with great ease in straight sets to reach the quarter finals with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win. And lastly we had Marin Cilic who took on the Frenchman, Gilles Simon in what was a real battle and Cilic had never beaten Simon before in their previous four meetings. However that was all set to change as both men hammered it out over five sets and in the end it was Cilic that came through with a break in the 5th set sealing his first ever win over Simon and reaching his 3rd quarter final in New York with a 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win. This was a great win for Cilic who had never beaten Simon prior to this encounter and it shows under his new coaching from Goran Ivansevic that he is showing great form this year and more belief that he can go deep in the big events so Cilic might yet go all the way.
Now onto day 10 which had the blockbuster billing of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as the night match but I'll get to that one in a bit. So first I will look at what transpired to be the match of the day between Stan Wawrinka, the reigning Australian open champion and Kei Nishikori of Japan. Stan went into this match as the favourite as he had never lost to Nishikori before and beaten him in straight sets both times. However this match was a completely different thing altogether as both men engaged in an intense battle on Arthur Ashe stadium as they both locked horns for over four hours. Stan started off his perfect run of sets against Kei in the first as he took it with a break, but Kei soon fought back to level the match at a set all and went on to nab the 3rd set on a tiebreak to take the two sets to one lead. But Stan was not to be outdone and went on to push the match to a decider by taking the 4th set tiebreak, but in the 5th it was Kei that pulled off an amazing upset by stunning Stan with a five set victory winning in 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 to reach his first grand slam semi final. This was a terrific contest between both men and it was sheer testament to Kei's determination and skill tht he was able to come through this match after having to battle past Milos Raonic in the round before also five sets. And with two whole days off before Kei needs to play again he should be well recovered enough to play for the semis on Saturday.
So..... now we get to the match of the night, which was the blockbuster between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, the former and current Wimbledon champions respectively in what promised to be an epic duel similar to their five set marathon back in the 2012 final. The match itself however didn't quite live up to its billing but for the most part the audience on Arthur Ashe were still treated to a thrilling contest between two of the game's biggest current rivals. And in the first two sets both men traded breaks of serve as well as some jaw droppingly intense rallies which wowed the New York crowd and they shared the first two sets on a tiebreak, with Nole winning the first and Andy the second. However in the 3rd set Nole started to assert his authroity on the match and Andy's intensity started to drop as he began to struggle physically with trying to keep up the pace, which saw him surrendered the set with a double break. In the 4th set Andy restored parity on serve until 4-5 when he was serving to stay in, it was clearly a set too far at this point as Nole had physically worn down his old foe which saw Andy eventually surrender his serve to end his US Open campaign and the Serb reach the last four with a gripping 7-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 win.
Well this wasn't quite the epic match alot of people may have hoped but it was still a largely enthralling contest between two great players. And despite the loss for Andy it showed some very encouraging signs after his bitterly disappointing defeat at Wimbledon to Dimitrov, he stepped up to the plate and for two sets he went toe to toe with the World No.1, who prior to this match in the event had never been tested. But the match did raise some concerns over Andy's physical conditioning as he clearly wasn't able to sustain the pace and keep up with Novak by the time they had played the 3rd set as the match ended with Andy's legs and hips start to stiffen up. And if Andy is to beat Novak over the best of five sets then he needs to be in perfect physical condition to do so and on the basis of this match there is still a ways to go yet for Andy before he can get back to peak physical form for the slams to contend with the world's best player and it remains to be seen if he can get back into that kind of shape in the future. But despite that it was still a gutsy and firey performance from Andy which saw him hit his forehand as about as massive as we have ever seen it and he showed high levels of aggression and intensity for the first two sets and if he was able to have maintained it then just maybe he might have had a chance.
So Andy's grand slam season has come to an end for 2014 but at least he went out giving it all he had and it was a promising sign of things to come in 2015 where he will during the interim period be able to try and get himself in even better physical shape and by then he should be able to seriously compete at the latter stages of the slams as he did before his surgery. So when you look at his year in the slams, Andy has not done badly at all as he has reached three quarter finals and one semi final, which for a man who has come back from a fairly big surgery is quite remarkable when you think about it even if the nature of his defeats at the French open and Wimbledon were particularly disappointing. Not only that, Andy also finally managed to get one monkey off his back by defeating a top 10 player in beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round at the US Open, which hopefully will also boost his confidence when taking on the other elite players in the game.
So for the remainder of the year Andy has two more tournaments scheduled to play in, the Shanghai and Paris Masters events and if he gains enough points he will be able to qualify for the ATP world tour finals in London at the end of the year. However Andy has said that qualifying to play at the o2 arena in London is not a big goal of his, so in that respect it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't qualify to play there, but we will just wait and see how Andy does in the tournaments that lie ahead which don't start until October although there is a chance he might accept a wildcard into one of the events prior to Shanghai, e.g the ATP 500 events in Beijing or Tokyo. But as it stands just now Andy will drop down to No.10 in the world again after the US Open has finished next week, which while it isn't ideal, it still keeps him inside the world's top players for now and hopefully he can gain more points to boost his ranking up further before year is over.
As for Novak well he was just too good in the end and we all know he is a remarkable physical specimen of a guy but he certainly did recognise the threat in Andy and when he finally won the match after 3 hours and 32 minutes, he didn't roar with delight like he tends to do, but instead breathed a sigh of relief, which was surely a mark of respect toward the challenge his opponent had given him. And for me Nole remains firmly on course as the favourite to lift the title in New York, with Roger a close second, but I just think in terms of fitness, defence, offence, speed and court coverage, just who can live with Novak Djokovic out there??? Just about no one! But we shall soon find out what happens.
Right so that's it for now and I will be back with more results soon in the next couple of days.
Bye for now.
OK so start off we had Grigor Dimitrov, who was tipped as a hot favourite to do very well here and was up against the flashy and talented French player, Gael Monfils, so it promised to be an entertaining match and one which still favoured Grigor. However it turned out to be quite the opposite as Monfils stunned Dimitrov by turning the match on its head and he took the first set with a break, the 2nd set on the tiebreak 8-6, and he went on to win the 3rd set with another break to reach the quarter finals with a surprising 7-5, 7-6, 7-5 victory. This was quite an upset from Monfils who has shown in the past that he can go on a hot streak in the big events and he certainly did so here with Dimitrov and beneath all of that flash there is indeed some serious substance as well and moving into the quarter finals Monfils could well be dangerous for who he plays next.
And the player he would be up against next would be the winner of the match between Roger Federer and Roberto Bautista-Agut. Agut is a player that has started to announce himself this year on the tour and he had already claimed one or two big scalps in earlier in the season such as beating Tomas Berdych in Indian Wells so he could be considered a dangerous outsider. But then again he was playing Roger Federer and Rog himself had no trouble whatsoever against the Spaniard and instead made him look pretty ordinary with his skill and class and he ended up sweeping past Agut in straight sets with a comfortable straight set win of 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Well there really was no question of who would win this one and right enough it was Roger who claimed it very comfortably in the end. And it has to be said that so far even though Rog has been looking pretty good he also has had quite a cosy draw and it makes you wonder just how he will respond to being really tested by the top players. But we do know one thing about Roger and that is he is the greatest player to have played the game so he knows a thing or two about taking on tricky opponents so regardless I think Rog might still be on course for the final. And with Monfils next he will be given a bit of a test but and it will be a very entertaining match but in the end I think Rog will come through in four sets.
So in other matches Tomas Berdych took on the talented youngster Dominic Thiem in what potentially could have been a real test for the Czeck No.1. But in the end Berdych showed his experience and class and outplayed Thiem and defeated him with great ease in straight sets to reach the quarter finals with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win. And lastly we had Marin Cilic who took on the Frenchman, Gilles Simon in what was a real battle and Cilic had never beaten Simon before in their previous four meetings. However that was all set to change as both men hammered it out over five sets and in the end it was Cilic that came through with a break in the 5th set sealing his first ever win over Simon and reaching his 3rd quarter final in New York with a 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win. This was a great win for Cilic who had never beaten Simon prior to this encounter and it shows under his new coaching from Goran Ivansevic that he is showing great form this year and more belief that he can go deep in the big events so Cilic might yet go all the way.
Now onto day 10 which had the blockbuster billing of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as the night match but I'll get to that one in a bit. So first I will look at what transpired to be the match of the day between Stan Wawrinka, the reigning Australian open champion and Kei Nishikori of Japan. Stan went into this match as the favourite as he had never lost to Nishikori before and beaten him in straight sets both times. However this match was a completely different thing altogether as both men engaged in an intense battle on Arthur Ashe stadium as they both locked horns for over four hours. Stan started off his perfect run of sets against Kei in the first as he took it with a break, but Kei soon fought back to level the match at a set all and went on to nab the 3rd set on a tiebreak to take the two sets to one lead. But Stan was not to be outdone and went on to push the match to a decider by taking the 4th set tiebreak, but in the 5th it was Kei that pulled off an amazing upset by stunning Stan with a five set victory winning in 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 to reach his first grand slam semi final. This was a terrific contest between both men and it was sheer testament to Kei's determination and skill tht he was able to come through this match after having to battle past Milos Raonic in the round before also five sets. And with two whole days off before Kei needs to play again he should be well recovered enough to play for the semis on Saturday.
So..... now we get to the match of the night, which was the blockbuster between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, the former and current Wimbledon champions respectively in what promised to be an epic duel similar to their five set marathon back in the 2012 final. The match itself however didn't quite live up to its billing but for the most part the audience on Arthur Ashe were still treated to a thrilling contest between two of the game's biggest current rivals. And in the first two sets both men traded breaks of serve as well as some jaw droppingly intense rallies which wowed the New York crowd and they shared the first two sets on a tiebreak, with Nole winning the first and Andy the second. However in the 3rd set Nole started to assert his authroity on the match and Andy's intensity started to drop as he began to struggle physically with trying to keep up the pace, which saw him surrendered the set with a double break. In the 4th set Andy restored parity on serve until 4-5 when he was serving to stay in, it was clearly a set too far at this point as Nole had physically worn down his old foe which saw Andy eventually surrender his serve to end his US Open campaign and the Serb reach the last four with a gripping 7-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 win.
Well this wasn't quite the epic match alot of people may have hoped but it was still a largely enthralling contest between two great players. And despite the loss for Andy it showed some very encouraging signs after his bitterly disappointing defeat at Wimbledon to Dimitrov, he stepped up to the plate and for two sets he went toe to toe with the World No.1, who prior to this match in the event had never been tested. But the match did raise some concerns over Andy's physical conditioning as he clearly wasn't able to sustain the pace and keep up with Novak by the time they had played the 3rd set as the match ended with Andy's legs and hips start to stiffen up. And if Andy is to beat Novak over the best of five sets then he needs to be in perfect physical condition to do so and on the basis of this match there is still a ways to go yet for Andy before he can get back to peak physical form for the slams to contend with the world's best player and it remains to be seen if he can get back into that kind of shape in the future. But despite that it was still a gutsy and firey performance from Andy which saw him hit his forehand as about as massive as we have ever seen it and he showed high levels of aggression and intensity for the first two sets and if he was able to have maintained it then just maybe he might have had a chance.
So Andy's grand slam season has come to an end for 2014 but at least he went out giving it all he had and it was a promising sign of things to come in 2015 where he will during the interim period be able to try and get himself in even better physical shape and by then he should be able to seriously compete at the latter stages of the slams as he did before his surgery. So when you look at his year in the slams, Andy has not done badly at all as he has reached three quarter finals and one semi final, which for a man who has come back from a fairly big surgery is quite remarkable when you think about it even if the nature of his defeats at the French open and Wimbledon were particularly disappointing. Not only that, Andy also finally managed to get one monkey off his back by defeating a top 10 player in beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round at the US Open, which hopefully will also boost his confidence when taking on the other elite players in the game.
So for the remainder of the year Andy has two more tournaments scheduled to play in, the Shanghai and Paris Masters events and if he gains enough points he will be able to qualify for the ATP world tour finals in London at the end of the year. However Andy has said that qualifying to play at the o2 arena in London is not a big goal of his, so in that respect it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't qualify to play there, but we will just wait and see how Andy does in the tournaments that lie ahead which don't start until October although there is a chance he might accept a wildcard into one of the events prior to Shanghai, e.g the ATP 500 events in Beijing or Tokyo. But as it stands just now Andy will drop down to No.10 in the world again after the US Open has finished next week, which while it isn't ideal, it still keeps him inside the world's top players for now and hopefully he can gain more points to boost his ranking up further before year is over.
As for Novak well he was just too good in the end and we all know he is a remarkable physical specimen of a guy but he certainly did recognise the threat in Andy and when he finally won the match after 3 hours and 32 minutes, he didn't roar with delight like he tends to do, but instead breathed a sigh of relief, which was surely a mark of respect toward the challenge his opponent had given him. And for me Nole remains firmly on course as the favourite to lift the title in New York, with Roger a close second, but I just think in terms of fitness, defence, offence, speed and court coverage, just who can live with Novak Djokovic out there??? Just about no one! But we shall soon find out what happens.
Right so that's it for now and I will be back with more results soon in the next couple of days.
Bye for now.
Thursday 4 September 2014
2014 US Open Part 5 Ladies event: Wozzer making a move
Right so now its time for the next part of my look at the US Open from the ladies side of the net and I will look at the quarter final matches from days 9 and 10. So let's get to it...
So beginning with day 9 we first up had Peng Shaui who faced one of the surprises of the tournament, Belinda Bencic who made her way into the last eight and upset a few names along the way. However Peng who was in her first grand slam quarter final was not to be outdone and she showed her experience as she thrashed the 17 year old Bencic and reached her first slam semi final by dropping just three games and winning 6-2, 6-1. Well this was quite an achievement for Peng Shuai who has always been second fiddle to Li Na, the Chinese No.1 who already has won the Australian open earlier this year, but was forced to withdraw due to injury from the US Open. So this gives her an excellent opportunity to reach her first grand slam final and it would be quite an achievement if she can as she is a top player in her own right so we will see how it goes for her.
Next up we had Caroline Wozniacki who took on Sara Errani for a place in the semis aswell and both women have been previous semi finalists in New York but Caroline has previously reached the final once before so alot was riding on this for both players. However the match itself was no more than a warm up for Caroline who trounced the Italian with considerable ease as she dropped only one game on her to the final four with a crushing 6-0, 6-1 rout. I think its safe to say that after her dramatic win over Maria Sharapova that Caroline is getting back to her best and I really think she has an excellent shout of reaching the final, although her next opponent will be Peng Shuai who is also a crafty counterpuncher by nature as a player so it will prove to be alot tougher a proposition for her than Errani was. But Caroline having already reached the final at the US Open five years ago (where she lost to Kim Clijsters in two tight sets) has the edge and Peng Shuai hasn't won a singles title on the WTA tour, whereas Caroline has won 22! So I think their matchup will be an intruiging one but I can see Caroline come through in two tight close sets to reach her 2nd final in New York.
So now onto day 10 which began with Victoria Azarenka, the two time finalist over the past two years, take on the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova, who has taken some big scalps of late in the game, so would Vika be the next victim??? Well as it turned out she was just that as Makarova outplayed Vika in the match as she broke her once to take the opening set and went on to break the Belarusian twice in the second set which saw the out of sorts Vika fall to a surprise defeat and Makarova reach her first grand slam semi final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Well this one was a real surprise as Makarova has been known for staging upsets but I figured that Vika would have found a way to get this one done in three sets, but then again it just shows you can never tell how things might pan out.
Which brings me onto the last match of the quarter finals which was between Serena Williams, the five time champion and current champ in New York and Flavia Pennetta. Serena has maintained a pretty emphatic head to head over Pennetta so she went into this one as the heavy favourite, although the only question mark hanging over Serena was her fitness as she appeared to have injury her ankle during her doubles match the day before, which potentially could have hamepered her movement. However there was no cause for alarm at all as Serena had the match well under control and she went on to sweep past Pennetta in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-2 win to reach the semi finals and set up a match with Ekaterina Makarova.
So this sees Serena Williams in my opinion stay well on course to win the title again as she will take on Makarova, who is a tricky customer and she has even beaten Serena before in the Australian open, but I think in New York on her own home soil, Serena will have a thing or two to prove and will aim to win this one in either two or three sets. And Serena will definitely want to make up for a lacklustre year by her own high standards in the slams as she had failed to go beyond the last 16 in the previous three slams of the season but now she is in the final four, she certainly has a chance to reach the final and go all the way and salvage a bit of her wounded dignity after suffering such early and heavy defeats in Melbourne, Paris and London.
And this could well set up a very intruiging final if it goes according to plan (but these things don't always though!) then we might have Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in the final and that would make for a cracker as their last two meetings have been three set battles which saw Serena edge out Caroline in the decider. So if we get those two in the final it could make for a terrific finale in New York for the ladies event and it would give Caroline a decent shot at winning the title if Serena goes in a little undercooked or if they have a close match like their previous two then it could go either way. Anyway if it transpires over the next day or so I'll get to that.
Right so that's it for now and I will be back with more once the finalists have been named for the ladies title.
Be back soon with the men's event soon....
So beginning with day 9 we first up had Peng Shaui who faced one of the surprises of the tournament, Belinda Bencic who made her way into the last eight and upset a few names along the way. However Peng who was in her first grand slam quarter final was not to be outdone and she showed her experience as she thrashed the 17 year old Bencic and reached her first slam semi final by dropping just three games and winning 6-2, 6-1. Well this was quite an achievement for Peng Shuai who has always been second fiddle to Li Na, the Chinese No.1 who already has won the Australian open earlier this year, but was forced to withdraw due to injury from the US Open. So this gives her an excellent opportunity to reach her first grand slam final and it would be quite an achievement if she can as she is a top player in her own right so we will see how it goes for her.
Next up we had Caroline Wozniacki who took on Sara Errani for a place in the semis aswell and both women have been previous semi finalists in New York but Caroline has previously reached the final once before so alot was riding on this for both players. However the match itself was no more than a warm up for Caroline who trounced the Italian with considerable ease as she dropped only one game on her to the final four with a crushing 6-0, 6-1 rout. I think its safe to say that after her dramatic win over Maria Sharapova that Caroline is getting back to her best and I really think she has an excellent shout of reaching the final, although her next opponent will be Peng Shuai who is also a crafty counterpuncher by nature as a player so it will prove to be alot tougher a proposition for her than Errani was. But Caroline having already reached the final at the US Open five years ago (where she lost to Kim Clijsters in two tight sets) has the edge and Peng Shuai hasn't won a singles title on the WTA tour, whereas Caroline has won 22! So I think their matchup will be an intruiging one but I can see Caroline come through in two tight close sets to reach her 2nd final in New York.
So now onto day 10 which began with Victoria Azarenka, the two time finalist over the past two years, take on the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova, who has taken some big scalps of late in the game, so would Vika be the next victim??? Well as it turned out she was just that as Makarova outplayed Vika in the match as she broke her once to take the opening set and went on to break the Belarusian twice in the second set which saw the out of sorts Vika fall to a surprise defeat and Makarova reach her first grand slam semi final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Well this one was a real surprise as Makarova has been known for staging upsets but I figured that Vika would have found a way to get this one done in three sets, but then again it just shows you can never tell how things might pan out.
Which brings me onto the last match of the quarter finals which was between Serena Williams, the five time champion and current champ in New York and Flavia Pennetta. Serena has maintained a pretty emphatic head to head over Pennetta so she went into this one as the heavy favourite, although the only question mark hanging over Serena was her fitness as she appeared to have injury her ankle during her doubles match the day before, which potentially could have hamepered her movement. However there was no cause for alarm at all as Serena had the match well under control and she went on to sweep past Pennetta in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-2 win to reach the semi finals and set up a match with Ekaterina Makarova.
So this sees Serena Williams in my opinion stay well on course to win the title again as she will take on Makarova, who is a tricky customer and she has even beaten Serena before in the Australian open, but I think in New York on her own home soil, Serena will have a thing or two to prove and will aim to win this one in either two or three sets. And Serena will definitely want to make up for a lacklustre year by her own high standards in the slams as she had failed to go beyond the last 16 in the previous three slams of the season but now she is in the final four, she certainly has a chance to reach the final and go all the way and salvage a bit of her wounded dignity after suffering such early and heavy defeats in Melbourne, Paris and London.
And this could well set up a very intruiging final if it goes according to plan (but these things don't always though!) then we might have Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in the final and that would make for a cracker as their last two meetings have been three set battles which saw Serena edge out Caroline in the decider. So if we get those two in the final it could make for a terrific finale in New York for the ladies event and it would give Caroline a decent shot at winning the title if Serena goes in a little undercooked or if they have a close match like their previous two then it could go either way. Anyway if it transpires over the next day or so I'll get to that.
Right so that's it for now and I will be back with more once the finalists have been named for the ladies title.
Be back soon with the men's event soon....
Tuesday 2 September 2014
2014 US Open Part 4 Men's event: major breakthrough and a rematch looms
Right OK so now its time to look at days 7 and 8 of the men's event at the 2014 US Open, which will cover the men's 3rd and 4th round matches. So let's get started then....
So day 7 began with Gilles Simon, the Frenchman taking on the dogged Spaniard, David Ferrer who never gives up on any point and Ferrer went into this match as the heavy favourite given his positive head to head record over Simon. However Simon had other ideas in the match as he played some spellbinding points and amazing tennis which left Ferrer flat footed as he took the 1st set with ease. Ferrer fought back to level taking the 2nd but Simon struck again to nab the 3rd and take the advantage and Ferrer also showed signs of struggling physically as his back appeared to be troubling him. And in the 4th set, Simon pulled off the biggest upset so far on the men's event as he toppled the Spaniard winning the match after a thrilling last game in 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Next up Tomas Berdych took on the Russian player, Teymuraz Gabashvilli for a place in the last 16 and in the end he made light work of the Russian as he beat him comfortably in straight sets in 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Gael Monfils also made good progress in all French clash as he faced off against Richard Gasquet and breezed past him with a straight set 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 scoreline.
And last of all Roger Federer took on the Spaniard, Marcel Granollers in what promised to be a straight forward win for Roger. However Rog didn't have it all his way as he was broken in the first set and against the odds, Granollers took the first set. But it didn't last long as after a weather delay, play resumed and Roger got down to business and proved that it was nothing more than a blip and he proceeded to crush Granollers in sets two, three and four with an emphatic turnaround and a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 result. Well it was a slightly strange dip from Federer in the first set but in the end he was just too good for the Spaniard and he showed his class and Rog is sure to find his way into the last eight as he continues to make light work of a cushy draw so far. But that will all soon change as Federer could potentially face Grigor Dimitrov and later Tomas Berdych before he reaches the final so we will see what is in store for the Swiss fella.
Right now we get onto day 8 which started with Novak Djokovic who was up against the tricky German player, Philipp Kohlschreiber for a place in the last eight. The match itself however proved to be not much of a test in the end as Djokovic quickly got the measure of the German and landed a double break to nab the first set. The 2nd set was tighter however and Kohlschreiber even had a set point at one point in the game but it was soon snuffed out by the Serb who went on to hold and then grabbed a break of his own to take the two set lead. And in the 3rd Nole took an early break and put the match to bed as the plucky Kohlschreiber finally succumbed to the World No.1's brilliance who came through to the final eight with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 result. This match continued to see Novak dominate the rest of the field and he remains firmly on course as the favourite to win the title in New York although he still has some very tough customers in his way before he can.
In other matches Stan Wawrinka had a much tougher prospect on his hands as he battled it out against the plucky Spaniard, Tommy Robredo and he had to fight off Robredo who was in danger of taking a two sets to one lead over Stan. However Stan in the end pulled it back and he grabbed the lead on the breaker in the 3rd set and went on to seal the match with a double break in the 4th to seal his place in his second consecutive quarter final with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 result. Kei Nishikori also had one of the biggest battles of the tournament so far in his match against Milos Raonic, the 6ft 5inch missile server as the two of them slugged it out on Arthur Ashe and the match finished with the latest finish of any match at the US Open at 2:26am and it saw Nishikori emerge victorious winning a gruelling contest in 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4. This was quite an encounter and quite a win for Nishikori who had struggled with a back injury over the last few months and its good to see him back into the latter stages of a slam again, denying the big Raonic another shot at reaching the final eight of the last major of the year. It also shows Raonic can struggle against quality opponents such as Nishikori or Dimitrov and especially the big three, who all have variety to their game which Raonic sorely lacks in his and once again he cannot rely on his big serve alone, he needs more dimensions to his game, which is why he might never win a major, but time will tell.
And now we come to the last match (well technically it isn't but I'm saving it for last anyway!) which saw Andy Murray taking on the World No.10, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in what promised to be quite an epic battle. The outcome of this match had alot resting on it for Andy as he previously lost to Tsonga in their last match together in Toronto where the Frenchman went on to win the match recovering from a break down in the final set. Not only that Andy went into this match having not beaten a single player in the top 10 since his Wimbledon triumph last year so there definitely was an air of uncertainty around it. But in the end it turned out Andy was more than up to the task as he played a terrific match for the most part and Tsonga did well to keep in the first set, until 6-5 when Tsonga served to take it into a tiebreak, Andy seized the initiative and broke Tsonga to win the set. In the 2nd set Andy went a break down early on but he eventually clawed it back to go 4-4 and he went on to seal yet another break at 6-5 to grab the two set lead. And in the 3rd set Andy went down a break again early on and nearly a double break but he managed to hold on and he defied the odds yet again to break Tsonga with his ferocious returning. And finally at 5-4 with Tsonga serving to make it 5-5, the Frenchman finally succumbed to the pressure from the other end of the court as he struggled with the hot, humid and windy conditions as well as Andy's blistering form and he surrendered his serve to secure Andy's place in the quarter finals of the US Open with an impressive 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Well this match could be prove to be one of the most important of Andy's year so far and it is also the single biggest win of his year so far as well, as by defeating Tsonga, he has finally beaten a top 10 player after a 14 month drought, with the last one being Novak Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon final. So it has been quite a long time coming for the British No.1 but it will hopefully give him the confidence to start believing more and competing with the world's elite in the men's game on a more consistent level. And through the match, despite the odd dip on serve, Andy played some of the best tennis he has played since that Wimbledon final last year. And when Andy was down in the 2nd and 3rd sets he stayed aggressive and took it to Tsonga to break back and from there never looked back once he got the lead in the 3rd. So this was a big psychological victory for Andy as well as he really has struggled in closing out matches against top 10 opponents this year and with this win it will hopefully give him a real boost for the remainder of the season.
Sooooooo this sets up a real clash of the titans between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals and this will be a rematch of their US Open final two years ago when Andy won his maiden grand slam title. So it begs the big question...... who is going to win?????? Well......I have to go with Novak on this one as he really has shown imperious form so far in the tournament and it would be mad to bet against him as he hasn't even dropped a set yet having effortlessly dispatched two tricky opponents in Querrey and Kohlschreiber both in straight sets. However.... Andy Murray is a completely different kettle of fish altogether and their head to head is fairly close 12-8 in Nole's favour and Andy should also have taken much confidence from beating Tsonga in the 4th round to move ahead. Andy has also played some of his very best tennis on Arthur Ashe stadium and the two matches he has played on them this year have both been of a very high standard so if he get's the right conditions (i.e. a blustery windy and cool night akin to his 2012 US Open final!) then it could be his night. But as it stands it hard to predict how this one will go, what we do know is Nole is look mighty good and he himself has said he is feeling very confident just now on the court, whereas Andy feels he is starting to find his best tennis again. Hmmmmmmm.
So I might be wrong but I think we will be in for a real epic contest here similar to their final two years, but the result this time might not necessarily be the same. But I do think Andy is starting to rise to the challenge and he knows this could well be his last grand slam match of the season so he will give it his absolute all out there no doubt win or lose. So I think Nole will win this one in either four very tight sets or even five sets and if Andy is to win it he will have to go all the way to five and I think he is capable of doing it, but it will take a very special performance to do so and I'm not sure if he is ready to do it just yet. So the best we can hope for is a real classic battle out there and just hopefully and maybe it will add up to one of the best matches of the year and just maybe the match of the tournament, or.... it could be just a complete letdown, which could see Andy get thrashed in straight sets, which let's face it could happen given Nole's current form and Andy's inevitable and frustrating tendency to drop serve. And there is the danger that if Andy does get ahead in a set that he will surrender his lead as he has done so many times in previous matches this season, so this time he has to ensure he doesn't do that if he has the opportunity because against Novak they won't come along that often.
But one thing we do know about these two is they tend to bring out the best in each other when they play, and their last match in Miami this year showed glimpses of that, so I do hopefully think that we are in for something special here. Will it live up to expectations??? Wait and see, but the downside though is as its the last night match on Arthur Ashe at approx 9pm New York time then it won't be on TV until 2am in the morning our time! So I think I may have to just give it a miss and try and get some sleep and wake up in the morning in panic and nervously find out the result. But enough of my rambling, in short its a belter in the offing and let's hope it lives up to expectations and just maybe Andy Murray can pull off a massive upset, or maybe I'm just kidding myself????? I mean Stan Wawrinka stunned Djokovic in the quarter finals of the Australian open earlier this year so just maybe Andy can do the same here??? We'll see!!
Soooo that's it for now and I'll be back with more results over the next two days as some more exciting matches are to unravel at the US Open.
Till then bye for now,
So day 7 began with Gilles Simon, the Frenchman taking on the dogged Spaniard, David Ferrer who never gives up on any point and Ferrer went into this match as the heavy favourite given his positive head to head record over Simon. However Simon had other ideas in the match as he played some spellbinding points and amazing tennis which left Ferrer flat footed as he took the 1st set with ease. Ferrer fought back to level taking the 2nd but Simon struck again to nab the 3rd and take the advantage and Ferrer also showed signs of struggling physically as his back appeared to be troubling him. And in the 4th set, Simon pulled off the biggest upset so far on the men's event as he toppled the Spaniard winning the match after a thrilling last game in 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Next up Tomas Berdych took on the Russian player, Teymuraz Gabashvilli for a place in the last 16 and in the end he made light work of the Russian as he beat him comfortably in straight sets in 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Gael Monfils also made good progress in all French clash as he faced off against Richard Gasquet and breezed past him with a straight set 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 scoreline.
And last of all Roger Federer took on the Spaniard, Marcel Granollers in what promised to be a straight forward win for Roger. However Rog didn't have it all his way as he was broken in the first set and against the odds, Granollers took the first set. But it didn't last long as after a weather delay, play resumed and Roger got down to business and proved that it was nothing more than a blip and he proceeded to crush Granollers in sets two, three and four with an emphatic turnaround and a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 result. Well it was a slightly strange dip from Federer in the first set but in the end he was just too good for the Spaniard and he showed his class and Rog is sure to find his way into the last eight as he continues to make light work of a cushy draw so far. But that will all soon change as Federer could potentially face Grigor Dimitrov and later Tomas Berdych before he reaches the final so we will see what is in store for the Swiss fella.
Right now we get onto day 8 which started with Novak Djokovic who was up against the tricky German player, Philipp Kohlschreiber for a place in the last eight. The match itself however proved to be not much of a test in the end as Djokovic quickly got the measure of the German and landed a double break to nab the first set. The 2nd set was tighter however and Kohlschreiber even had a set point at one point in the game but it was soon snuffed out by the Serb who went on to hold and then grabbed a break of his own to take the two set lead. And in the 3rd Nole took an early break and put the match to bed as the plucky Kohlschreiber finally succumbed to the World No.1's brilliance who came through to the final eight with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 result. This match continued to see Novak dominate the rest of the field and he remains firmly on course as the favourite to win the title in New York although he still has some very tough customers in his way before he can.
In other matches Stan Wawrinka had a much tougher prospect on his hands as he battled it out against the plucky Spaniard, Tommy Robredo and he had to fight off Robredo who was in danger of taking a two sets to one lead over Stan. However Stan in the end pulled it back and he grabbed the lead on the breaker in the 3rd set and went on to seal the match with a double break in the 4th to seal his place in his second consecutive quarter final with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 result. Kei Nishikori also had one of the biggest battles of the tournament so far in his match against Milos Raonic, the 6ft 5inch missile server as the two of them slugged it out on Arthur Ashe and the match finished with the latest finish of any match at the US Open at 2:26am and it saw Nishikori emerge victorious winning a gruelling contest in 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4. This was quite an encounter and quite a win for Nishikori who had struggled with a back injury over the last few months and its good to see him back into the latter stages of a slam again, denying the big Raonic another shot at reaching the final eight of the last major of the year. It also shows Raonic can struggle against quality opponents such as Nishikori or Dimitrov and especially the big three, who all have variety to their game which Raonic sorely lacks in his and once again he cannot rely on his big serve alone, he needs more dimensions to his game, which is why he might never win a major, but time will tell.
And now we come to the last match (well technically it isn't but I'm saving it for last anyway!) which saw Andy Murray taking on the World No.10, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in what promised to be quite an epic battle. The outcome of this match had alot resting on it for Andy as he previously lost to Tsonga in their last match together in Toronto where the Frenchman went on to win the match recovering from a break down in the final set. Not only that Andy went into this match having not beaten a single player in the top 10 since his Wimbledon triumph last year so there definitely was an air of uncertainty around it. But in the end it turned out Andy was more than up to the task as he played a terrific match for the most part and Tsonga did well to keep in the first set, until 6-5 when Tsonga served to take it into a tiebreak, Andy seized the initiative and broke Tsonga to win the set. In the 2nd set Andy went a break down early on but he eventually clawed it back to go 4-4 and he went on to seal yet another break at 6-5 to grab the two set lead. And in the 3rd set Andy went down a break again early on and nearly a double break but he managed to hold on and he defied the odds yet again to break Tsonga with his ferocious returning. And finally at 5-4 with Tsonga serving to make it 5-5, the Frenchman finally succumbed to the pressure from the other end of the court as he struggled with the hot, humid and windy conditions as well as Andy's blistering form and he surrendered his serve to secure Andy's place in the quarter finals of the US Open with an impressive 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Well this match could be prove to be one of the most important of Andy's year so far and it is also the single biggest win of his year so far as well, as by defeating Tsonga, he has finally beaten a top 10 player after a 14 month drought, with the last one being Novak Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon final. So it has been quite a long time coming for the British No.1 but it will hopefully give him the confidence to start believing more and competing with the world's elite in the men's game on a more consistent level. And through the match, despite the odd dip on serve, Andy played some of the best tennis he has played since that Wimbledon final last year. And when Andy was down in the 2nd and 3rd sets he stayed aggressive and took it to Tsonga to break back and from there never looked back once he got the lead in the 3rd. So this was a big psychological victory for Andy as well as he really has struggled in closing out matches against top 10 opponents this year and with this win it will hopefully give him a real boost for the remainder of the season.
Sooooooo this sets up a real clash of the titans between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals and this will be a rematch of their US Open final two years ago when Andy won his maiden grand slam title. So it begs the big question...... who is going to win?????? Well......I have to go with Novak on this one as he really has shown imperious form so far in the tournament and it would be mad to bet against him as he hasn't even dropped a set yet having effortlessly dispatched two tricky opponents in Querrey and Kohlschreiber both in straight sets. However.... Andy Murray is a completely different kettle of fish altogether and their head to head is fairly close 12-8 in Nole's favour and Andy should also have taken much confidence from beating Tsonga in the 4th round to move ahead. Andy has also played some of his very best tennis on Arthur Ashe stadium and the two matches he has played on them this year have both been of a very high standard so if he get's the right conditions (i.e. a blustery windy and cool night akin to his 2012 US Open final!) then it could be his night. But as it stands it hard to predict how this one will go, what we do know is Nole is look mighty good and he himself has said he is feeling very confident just now on the court, whereas Andy feels he is starting to find his best tennis again. Hmmmmmmm.
So I might be wrong but I think we will be in for a real epic contest here similar to their final two years, but the result this time might not necessarily be the same. But I do think Andy is starting to rise to the challenge and he knows this could well be his last grand slam match of the season so he will give it his absolute all out there no doubt win or lose. So I think Nole will win this one in either four very tight sets or even five sets and if Andy is to win it he will have to go all the way to five and I think he is capable of doing it, but it will take a very special performance to do so and I'm not sure if he is ready to do it just yet. So the best we can hope for is a real classic battle out there and just hopefully and maybe it will add up to one of the best matches of the year and just maybe the match of the tournament, or.... it could be just a complete letdown, which could see Andy get thrashed in straight sets, which let's face it could happen given Nole's current form and Andy's inevitable and frustrating tendency to drop serve. And there is the danger that if Andy does get ahead in a set that he will surrender his lead as he has done so many times in previous matches this season, so this time he has to ensure he doesn't do that if he has the opportunity because against Novak they won't come along that often.
But one thing we do know about these two is they tend to bring out the best in each other when they play, and their last match in Miami this year showed glimpses of that, so I do hopefully think that we are in for something special here. Will it live up to expectations??? Wait and see, but the downside though is as its the last night match on Arthur Ashe at approx 9pm New York time then it won't be on TV until 2am in the morning our time! So I think I may have to just give it a miss and try and get some sleep and wake up in the morning in panic and nervously find out the result. But enough of my rambling, in short its a belter in the offing and let's hope it lives up to expectations and just maybe Andy Murray can pull off a massive upset, or maybe I'm just kidding myself????? I mean Stan Wawrinka stunned Djokovic in the quarter finals of the Australian open earlier this year so just maybe Andy can do the same here??? We'll see!!
Soooo that's it for now and I'll be back with more results over the next two days as some more exciting matches are to unravel at the US Open.
Till then bye for now,
2014 US Open Part 3 Ladies event: Upset central and the Wozzer is back
Right OK time for the next part of my look at the 2014 US Open ladies tournament and this post will cover days 7 and 8. So without further ado let's get on with it....
So starting with day 7 (might as well do this chronologically!) first up on court we had Sara Errani take on one of the surprises of the tournament the Croatian, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni who had caused a huge upset on her way into this 4th round match as she defeated Simona Halep, the World No.2 in straight sets in the 3rd round. Baroni however this time around wasn't quite able to pull off the same against the dimunitive Italian, Errani who fought her way past the Croat player in three sets to reach the quarter finals with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 win. Belinda Bencic who is aged only 17 and a fast rising young player also made her mark as she stunned the 9th seed, Jelena Jankovic in a tight straigth set victory in 7-6, 6-3. This shows once again the rise of the young guns and it is great to see some new faces arrive on the ladies scene as well as on the men's game just now also.
And lastly we had Caroline Wozniacki who reannounced herself back into the big time as she took on the formidable Maria Sharapova in their 4th round clash and going into this match, Sharapova was the big favourite as she had defeated Caroline in their last three matches. However Caroline has been in good form this season and she showed her own grit and fighting qualities as she took the 1st set, but in the second Maria started her expected fightback and took the 2nd set with a double break. But in the 3rd it was Caroline that rose to the challenge and she did the almost unthinkable in stunning the big Russian/American by defeating the former champion in three sets with some superb defensive and attacking play to reach her first grand slam quarter final in over two years with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 victory. Well this was a terrific victory for Caroline Wozniacki who has struggled and had her ups and downs over the last two years or so and it sees her go into the quarter finals as a favourite against Sara Errani, which should prove to be a tough match but I think in the end Caroline will have enough to get by her and reach the semi finals. I might be wrong but we'll wait and see and it would be great to see her possibly reach her 2nd US Open final as Caroline hasn't reached a major final since this event back in 2009.
Now onto day 8 which started off with Flavia Pennetta, who has played some of her best tennis at the US Open and she also capped her biggest title at Indian Wells earlier this year. And Flavia took on the Aussie player, Casey Dellacqua in their 4th round encounter and Pennetta showed her class after a tight first set, she went on to prove too good for the Aussie and beat her to reach her 3rd US Open quarter final with a 7-5, 6-2 win. Next up Serena Williams continued her serene (ha ha!) progress to the quarter finals as she dismissed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-3 victory, which sees her confidently remain on course to try and win her sixth US Open crown. Then we had Victoria Azarenka who continued her progress through the rounds and she had to battle from a set down to overcome the young Serbian, Aleksandra Krunic to reach the last eight with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 scoreline. After spending some time struggling to come back from injury, Vika really showed she means business in New York with this match and she could yet face Serena Williams in the semi finals, which would be a rematch of their incredible final last year.
And lastly there was another big upset in the ladies 4th round matches as we had Eugenie Bouchard who has been so consistent in the majors this year as she had reached the first three major semi finals of the season and she was looking to best that result here in New York. However Bouchard didn't have it her way in the end as she faced off the giant killer, Ekaterina Makarova, who has had a habit of causing big upsets in the big events. Bouchard also struggled with the extreme heat and humidity on court and play was halted in the first set where she received a medical timeout to check her blood pressure, but she managed to resume play but came up short in the first set tiebreak. In the 2nd set Bouchard battled on but the Russian had the better of her and as Bouchard served to go 5-5, Makarova sealed a couple of match points and hit a backhand winner down the line to end Bouchard's hopes of a first slam in 2014 with a 7-6, 6-4 win.
Well Bouchard's exit from the tournament it has to be said while it was a bit of a surprise in a way it was to be expected given that she has had her struggles after losing the Wimbledon final so emphatically. Makarova is also quite a singles player and she has taken a few big scalps in her time as well as she has already taken down players such as Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova and she has repeatedly made the last eight of the slams in the last couple of years. However next up for Makarova will be Victoria Azarenka, who has made a positive return and no doubt she will be the favourite in that match so I'd expect to see Vika go through in maybe three sets.
Anyway so that's it for now with the ladies matches and I'll be back soon with the action from the men's tournament.
Bye the now.
So starting with day 7 (might as well do this chronologically!) first up on court we had Sara Errani take on one of the surprises of the tournament the Croatian, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni who had caused a huge upset on her way into this 4th round match as she defeated Simona Halep, the World No.2 in straight sets in the 3rd round. Baroni however this time around wasn't quite able to pull off the same against the dimunitive Italian, Errani who fought her way past the Croat player in three sets to reach the quarter finals with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 win. Belinda Bencic who is aged only 17 and a fast rising young player also made her mark as she stunned the 9th seed, Jelena Jankovic in a tight straigth set victory in 7-6, 6-3. This shows once again the rise of the young guns and it is great to see some new faces arrive on the ladies scene as well as on the men's game just now also.
And lastly we had Caroline Wozniacki who reannounced herself back into the big time as she took on the formidable Maria Sharapova in their 4th round clash and going into this match, Sharapova was the big favourite as she had defeated Caroline in their last three matches. However Caroline has been in good form this season and she showed her own grit and fighting qualities as she took the 1st set, but in the second Maria started her expected fightback and took the 2nd set with a double break. But in the 3rd it was Caroline that rose to the challenge and she did the almost unthinkable in stunning the big Russian/American by defeating the former champion in three sets with some superb defensive and attacking play to reach her first grand slam quarter final in over two years with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 victory. Well this was a terrific victory for Caroline Wozniacki who has struggled and had her ups and downs over the last two years or so and it sees her go into the quarter finals as a favourite against Sara Errani, which should prove to be a tough match but I think in the end Caroline will have enough to get by her and reach the semi finals. I might be wrong but we'll wait and see and it would be great to see her possibly reach her 2nd US Open final as Caroline hasn't reached a major final since this event back in 2009.
Now onto day 8 which started off with Flavia Pennetta, who has played some of her best tennis at the US Open and she also capped her biggest title at Indian Wells earlier this year. And Flavia took on the Aussie player, Casey Dellacqua in their 4th round encounter and Pennetta showed her class after a tight first set, she went on to prove too good for the Aussie and beat her to reach her 3rd US Open quarter final with a 7-5, 6-2 win. Next up Serena Williams continued her serene (ha ha!) progress to the quarter finals as she dismissed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-3 victory, which sees her confidently remain on course to try and win her sixth US Open crown. Then we had Victoria Azarenka who continued her progress through the rounds and she had to battle from a set down to overcome the young Serbian, Aleksandra Krunic to reach the last eight with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 scoreline. After spending some time struggling to come back from injury, Vika really showed she means business in New York with this match and she could yet face Serena Williams in the semi finals, which would be a rematch of their incredible final last year.
And lastly there was another big upset in the ladies 4th round matches as we had Eugenie Bouchard who has been so consistent in the majors this year as she had reached the first three major semi finals of the season and she was looking to best that result here in New York. However Bouchard didn't have it her way in the end as she faced off the giant killer, Ekaterina Makarova, who has had a habit of causing big upsets in the big events. Bouchard also struggled with the extreme heat and humidity on court and play was halted in the first set where she received a medical timeout to check her blood pressure, but she managed to resume play but came up short in the first set tiebreak. In the 2nd set Bouchard battled on but the Russian had the better of her and as Bouchard served to go 5-5, Makarova sealed a couple of match points and hit a backhand winner down the line to end Bouchard's hopes of a first slam in 2014 with a 7-6, 6-4 win.
Well Bouchard's exit from the tournament it has to be said while it was a bit of a surprise in a way it was to be expected given that she has had her struggles after losing the Wimbledon final so emphatically. Makarova is also quite a singles player and she has taken a few big scalps in her time as well as she has already taken down players such as Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova and she has repeatedly made the last eight of the slams in the last couple of years. However next up for Makarova will be Victoria Azarenka, who has made a positive return and no doubt she will be the favourite in that match so I'd expect to see Vika go through in maybe three sets.
Anyway so that's it for now with the ladies matches and I'll be back soon with the action from the men's tournament.
Bye the now.
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