OK time for my look at the men's semi finals matches at the Australian open which saw the last four guys go at it to try and get into the final. So let's have a look at them....
So the first semi final was between Andy Murray, three time finalist and Tomas Berdych, the 7th seed in what was to an intruiging clash partly because Andy's former assistant coach, Dani Vallverdu left his team to go and work with Tomas Berdych. As for the match itself it was a pretty tense affair and it started off with an edgy first set with both men unable to find their proper rhythym but Berdych broke first, however he was unable to consolidate as Andy broke back and play went into a tiebreak where momentum swung and it was Berdych that got the minibreak and the first set. In the 2nd set however Andy regrouped and used his disappointment of losing the first set to his advantage as Berdych came way off the boil and Andy ruthlessly dished out a bagel set to level the match. In the 3rd set Andy continued his dominance over Berdych as he broke again to go 5-3 up and he served out for two sets to one lead. In the 4th set things were more evenly contested but Andy started to show signs of pressure as he had stave off some break points at 3-2 to Berdych, however he himself went on to break Berdych to go 6-5. And from here Andy confidently served out the match to love and sealed it with an ace as he reached his 4th Australian open final with a convincing 6-7, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
Well it has to be said that in this match and even throughout most of the tournament that I have never seen Andy play as well as this since the Wimbledon final two years ago and also the 2012 Olympics. In the match Andy was furious at himself for losing the first set but after that he totally regrouped and channelled his anger positively and used it to get himself back into the match and after that he never really looked back. So its great to see Andy reach yet another final in Melbourne and given his current form I would have to say he has a strong chance of winning the title if he maintains the form he has shown so far particularly in his matches with Nick Kygrios and Berdych. And at the end of the match we saw a look in Andy's eyes that has been missing since winning that Wimbledon final, which was a look of real hunger and the desire to win. And because of that I really think Andy has a shot on Sunday at lifting his maiden title in Melbourne and it will be quite an achievement if he does and it will also be the perfect validation of his working relationship with his coach, Amelie Mauresmo should he do just that. Although the one thing that overshadowed the match itself was the press attention toward Andy's fiance, Kim Sear, who apparently was caught on camera swearing at Berdych, which lead to a whole lot of silly headlines and also some twitter abuse for Kim, which is undeserved, but it does highlight with the cameras on you, you need to be careful with everything you do. Anyway hopefully the incident will not ruin Andy's chances of doing well on Sunday and given the amount of rubbish he's put up with in the media over the years this will be nothing in comparison.
So now we get onto what easily had to be the most anticipated men's match of the tournament, which was between Novak Djokovic, the four time champion and the defending champion, Stan Wawrinka, who have played three epic five setters in their previous slam matches, so we were all hoping this would be another. The match itself was a five setter but it wasn't quite of the quality of their previous two Melbourne clashes and the first set went to a tiebreak where Novak dominated proceedings to take the set. In the 2nd set Stan started his fightback as he started to go for his shots and his tennis started to flow and he broke Nole to take the 2nd set, which saw Novak drop his first set of the tournament! In the 3rd set it was Nole that reasserted himself and his broke Stan but Stan later broke back and yet again there was another break when Nole broke to take the two sets to one lead. But in the 4th set Stan was not yet done as he too kept on fighting and he finally managed to fashion a break of his own and served it out to level the match and take it into a deciding 5th set. And as the match went into its 5th set it looked like we were in for yet another classic like the previous two years but... that is when the wheels came off Stan's game as he appeared to run out of steam and his unforced errors started to mount up. And Novak watched the breaks go in his favour, not one, two but three breaks of serve and Stan gave up the ghost and his title defence with it as the World No.1 got his revenge and his place in the final with a topsy turvey 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 win.
This really was a strange match as both men struggled to find their rhythm and naturally there were some momentum swings throughout the first four sets and it certainly wasn't the classic we'd hoped for. Despite that though there was still some great rallies to be found and Stan delighted the crowd with some wonderful touch especially as at one point he played lovely drop shot close to the net, which just stayed within the line. But Stan curiously came off the boil drastically in that 5th set and I can only imagine it was down to fatigue that he started to make so many mistakes and once he lost his way in that set well that was that. Despite his loss though, Stan has played very well in the tournament and the fact that he made the last four was a very impressive effort as the defending champion it would put alot of pressure on any player in that position but Stan handled it very well and he showed that he is still a contender for future slams. As for Djokovic well he showed yet again his resiliance and that he is the world's best player and when it comes to competition he is second to none. And despite not even playing anywhere near his best he is still in the final and there he will look to pick up an unprecedented 5th Australian open title, which has not been done before in the history of the game. So I'm sure come the final Djokovic will do his best to refocus and start again from zero and just play his game in the match.
Sooooo this sets up quite a final yet again between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as they will meet for the 5th time in their careers in a grand slam final and they stand at two apiece so far. So who will win the title is the question that begs to be asked, so who will win it????? Well normally I would go with Novak but this time I have to go with Andy as he really has come into his own again in this tournament and particularly in his last two matches we have seen him go from strength to strength and if he continues like that in the final then he will win regardless of what form Novak might be in. But then again you can never count out Novak out of anything and he has won this title four times already and he is very comfortable on Rod Laver arena as its almost like his back yard. So it would not surprise me at all if Novak were to work his way into the match and find a way to win as he usually does and a perfect example of that was three years in that epic final between Novak and Rafa where Rafa went 4-2 up in the 5th set and then he lost the break and later the match 7-5 in the 5th. But yet again if there is one man that can beat him and has done so already in slam finals, then it is Andy.
So my prediction (for what its worth!) is that Andy will win the title in five sets and I could very well be wrong as Novak could take this one himself in four or five sets but this time I really sense something different about Andy and I think to use a cliche, the stars are in alignment for him to take this one and might just have his name on it. His look at the end of the Berdych match spoke volumes as he roared to the crowd, confidently pointed to his camp and then sat down gave three passionate fist pumps (which I have to say was quite funny to watch!). It showed in that moment his hunger and desire to win a major title again and as one Eurosport commentator, Chris Bradnam said "Wimbledon is well and truly out of his system" which means he is ready to move on and win more grand slams and by what we've seen some from the last two weeks he might just do it on Sunday. Whatever happens though it should this time be a cracker, as the last Aussie open finals they played were just warm ups, this time it will promise to be the real deal.
Right so that's it for now and I will be back with my last post on the ladies and men's finals soon.
Until then I shall (with baited breath) bye for now!
Saturday 31 January 2015
Friday 30 January 2015
2015 Australian Open Part 7 Ladies semi finals
OK so now I'm getting to the real deep end of the Australian open tournament as this post will cover the semi finals of the ladies matches and we will see who made it into the final. And with that let's get on with it....
Right so the first semi final of the day was between Maria Sharapova and the unlikely Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova, who stunned Simona Halep, who was seen to be a real favourite for the title but it was not to be as the wily Makarova put her out. But Sharapova would prove to be a much sterner prospect for Makarova to try and upset as she had never beaten her in any of their previous matches and the match itself proved to be just that as Makarova found herself a break down straight away but she did manage to get herself back in to make 3-4. However it was short lived as Sharapova then broke Makarova once again and went on to take the set. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Sharapova continued to dominate Makarova and before we knew she was up a double break and served it out for a place in her 4th Australian open final with a straight forward 6-3, 6-2 victory. Well there is no doubt this would be the outcome of the match given that Sharapova had never been beaten by Makarova and given that Maria is the ultimate warrior in the ladies game it would be hard to see anyone else contend with her, except for maybe one person....
And that one person would be the winner of the second semi final which was between Serena Williams and the American newcomer Madison Keys who reached her maiden semi in a slam in Melbourne. And the match itself was much hyped given Keys qualities as a player not to mention an exceptionally hard hitter of the ball (even more so than Serena or Maria!) and Keys certainly came out swinging as she went a break up 3-1. But it wasn't long before Serena got herself back in the set and play continued on serve into a tiebreak where things were tightly contested again but it was Serena who came through it 7-5 to claim the first set. In the 2nd set however it was more plain sailing for Serena, although she broke twice, Keys still showed some brave resistance as she saved nine match points before she fell to the mighty Serena who powered her way into another Melbourne final with a 7-6, 6-2 win.
This was a really good match and a brave effort from Madison Keys as she went toe to toe with Serena in the first set but unfortunately she ultimately came up short in the 2nd set. But Keys should also be applauded for her gutsy efforts and she also did brilliantly to get so deep into the tournament and she is certainly one player to watch out for in the future. Keys is also currently being coached by Lindsay Davenport, a former Australian open champion herself and no doubt she will improve Keys mindset to potentially go on and win a major someday. As for Serena well she was just too good in the end and that was the difference as the World No.1's experience shone through and now she is about to enter her 23rd career grand slam final.
Sooooo this sets up the ladies final between the No.1 and No.2 seeds, Serena and Maria, so who will win this un???? Well........... its a pretty safe bet that it will be Serena as Maria has failed to beat her in their last 16 meetings and to take that amount of beating from one player, not to mention the greatest player in the world must be tough to recover from. However that's not to say the match itself might not be a competitive one as Serena and Maria have still had their share of competitive matches over the years although most of them have been won in straight sets by Serena. But the problem for Maria generally in her game is that against Serena she tends to go for too much and ends up piling up the error count and the double faults and she doesn't really have a plan B to back that up as she relies on her power game and her sheer will to win to see her through matches, but this doesn't wash with Serena. So the best we can hope for is a good contest between these two warriors of the ladies game and its just a bit of a shame in a way they aren't a better match up for each other as their rivalry can be occassionally exciting but not enough overall. But as for my prediciton???? Welllll I think Serena will win this one in straight sets but I think it could be tight, or at least one set will be tight and one easy. But whatever happens I think we will see Serena claim her 19th grand slam career title and that is quite a feat in itself.
Anyway that's it for my look at the ladies matches and let's hope the final is a good one and just maybe Maria might get her way this time (but I doubt!).
So I will be back soon with the men's semi finals....
Right so the first semi final of the day was between Maria Sharapova and the unlikely Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova, who stunned Simona Halep, who was seen to be a real favourite for the title but it was not to be as the wily Makarova put her out. But Sharapova would prove to be a much sterner prospect for Makarova to try and upset as she had never beaten her in any of their previous matches and the match itself proved to be just that as Makarova found herself a break down straight away but she did manage to get herself back in to make 3-4. However it was short lived as Sharapova then broke Makarova once again and went on to take the set. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Sharapova continued to dominate Makarova and before we knew she was up a double break and served it out for a place in her 4th Australian open final with a straight forward 6-3, 6-2 victory. Well there is no doubt this would be the outcome of the match given that Sharapova had never been beaten by Makarova and given that Maria is the ultimate warrior in the ladies game it would be hard to see anyone else contend with her, except for maybe one person....
And that one person would be the winner of the second semi final which was between Serena Williams and the American newcomer Madison Keys who reached her maiden semi in a slam in Melbourne. And the match itself was much hyped given Keys qualities as a player not to mention an exceptionally hard hitter of the ball (even more so than Serena or Maria!) and Keys certainly came out swinging as she went a break up 3-1. But it wasn't long before Serena got herself back in the set and play continued on serve into a tiebreak where things were tightly contested again but it was Serena who came through it 7-5 to claim the first set. In the 2nd set however it was more plain sailing for Serena, although she broke twice, Keys still showed some brave resistance as she saved nine match points before she fell to the mighty Serena who powered her way into another Melbourne final with a 7-6, 6-2 win.
This was a really good match and a brave effort from Madison Keys as she went toe to toe with Serena in the first set but unfortunately she ultimately came up short in the 2nd set. But Keys should also be applauded for her gutsy efforts and she also did brilliantly to get so deep into the tournament and she is certainly one player to watch out for in the future. Keys is also currently being coached by Lindsay Davenport, a former Australian open champion herself and no doubt she will improve Keys mindset to potentially go on and win a major someday. As for Serena well she was just too good in the end and that was the difference as the World No.1's experience shone through and now she is about to enter her 23rd career grand slam final.
Sooooo this sets up the ladies final between the No.1 and No.2 seeds, Serena and Maria, so who will win this un???? Well........... its a pretty safe bet that it will be Serena as Maria has failed to beat her in their last 16 meetings and to take that amount of beating from one player, not to mention the greatest player in the world must be tough to recover from. However that's not to say the match itself might not be a competitive one as Serena and Maria have still had their share of competitive matches over the years although most of them have been won in straight sets by Serena. But the problem for Maria generally in her game is that against Serena she tends to go for too much and ends up piling up the error count and the double faults and she doesn't really have a plan B to back that up as she relies on her power game and her sheer will to win to see her through matches, but this doesn't wash with Serena. So the best we can hope for is a good contest between these two warriors of the ladies game and its just a bit of a shame in a way they aren't a better match up for each other as their rivalry can be occassionally exciting but not enough overall. But as for my prediciton???? Welllll I think Serena will win this one in straight sets but I think it could be tight, or at least one set will be tight and one easy. But whatever happens I think we will see Serena claim her 19th grand slam career title and that is quite a feat in itself.
Anyway that's it for my look at the ladies matches and let's hope the final is a good one and just maybe Maria might get her way this time (but I doubt!).
So I will be back soon with the men's semi finals....
Wednesday 28 January 2015
2015 Australian Open Part 6 Men's singles matches: Back on form and upsetting the odds
Right now its time to look at the men's action from days 9 and 10 at the Australian open which will cover the men's quarter final matches to see who made it into the last four. So let's give this a look....
So Day 9 started off with Rafa Nadal taking on Tomas Berdych for a place in the semis in what turned out to be a very surprising match. Going into this match Rafa was on a 17 match winning streak against Berdych so the odds were firmly against the big Czeck player. However... it was Rusty Rafa who turned up on the court in the match as he struggled to get anything going in the first set and he lost it to the Czeck with a double break. In the 2nd set Rafa struggled even more and the Czeck dished out the unthinkable in the form of a bagel set to a frustrated Rafa. The 3rd set however was more competitve and Rafa at last started to find some rythym and play was pushed to a tiebreak but again it turned out to be Berdych's day as he pulled off a big upset and took out the 3rd seed with a convincing 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 victory to reach the final four. This was quite a win for Berdych and no doubt will give him alot of confidence going ahead into the semi finals where he will face the winner of the next match I will come to just now.
And that match was perhaps the single most hotly anticipated match of the tournament, which was between Andy Murray and the home favourite and rising new star in Australian tennis, Nick Kygrios in what promised to be an epic battle. However it wasn't quite to be that as it was Andy who put the youngster in his place and he play some inspired tennis from the off to catch Kygrios off guard as he used all his variety and pace to outwit the young Aussie and this allowed Andy to nab the first set. In the 2nd set Kygrios started to find his game and make life difficult for Andy as play went by serve and Kygrios showed off some of his flair as he played outrageous shots which had the crowd whooping and hollering and it went into a tiebreak, where Kygrios went 4-2 up but Andy soon hit a great lob, which brought it back on serve and from here Andy edged the breaker to take the two set lead. And in the 3rd set Kygrios finally began to give up the ghost, despite getting a break back, it didn't last long as Andy broke again to make it 5-3 he served it out to make his 5th Australian open semi final with an impressive 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 win.
Well this had to be the best match in terms of quality Andy has played in the whole tournament so far as he took on the home favourite and a partisan crowd and dealt with them impeccably as he did just about everything well despite surrendering that one break in the 3rd set before he regained control again. And another impressive thing about the match from Andy and throughout most of the tournament is his serving which has been much improved as Andy has reverted back to his older style of serve, which has improved his 1st serve percentage drastically and even he realised that the changes he made to his serve last year were detrimental to his game and it had to be changed and this will be a big help for him in his next match in the semis and hopefully in the final should he get there. As for Nick Kygrios well he really has introduced himself as the next big thing in men's tennis and he has already reached his second grand slam quarter final (after Wimbledon last year) which shows he has got what it takes to go far and it will be really interesting to see how far he will go in the future and on this basis I think it is looking pretty bright for him.
Now we get onto day 10 which started off with the defending champion, Stan Wawrinka take on Kei Nishikori, who defeated Stan in their previous meeting at the US Open quarter final last year so Kei started off this match as being a slight favourite. However Stan proved them all wrong as he showed his confident form on Rod Laver arena, which over the last year has come like his second back yard and put in a fine display of great serving and powerful hitting that Kei couldn't handle on the day as Stan quickly took a two set lead. In the 3rd set however Kei started to show some resistance and pushed the match into a tiebreak and despite Stan being 6-1 up in the breaker, Nishikori fought back to level 6-6, but that was as far as Kei could get as Stan sealed the breaker to win 8-6 and the match to reach his 2nd semi final in Melbourne with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 result. This was quite an impressive result from Stan and so far he has played very well in Melbourne and it is also great to see how well he has coped with the expectations of being the defending champion as he could easily have faltered and lost early on in the tournament but instead he has shown his quality and confidence, which will stand him in good stead for what lies ahead as he will play the winner of the next match I will discuss.....
And the match was between the World No.1, Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian in their quarter final clash. Raonic however had never beaten Djokovic in their previous meetings and had only won a singlet against back when they played last year in Rome so it was a big ask for the big guy to try and beat Nole on his favourite court. And right it was indeed the case as despite a tight first set going to a tiebreak, Nole edged the breaker 7-5 to take the 1st set lead. And from here Novak never really looked back as Raonic struggled to cling onto his serve and Djokovic outmanoevered him with his sublime baseline game as Raonic was broken once in the 2nd set and twice in the 3rd set, which saw Novak confidently move into the semi finals with a comfortable 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. Well this match shows that Novak is in incredible form once again and he goes into the semi finals without even having dropped a set which is remarkable in itself! As for Raonic well this match showed that he is still very much a player who is a work in progress and whilst he is showing signs of improvement in his game it will take him time before he can really be right at the top of the game. And the problem for Raonic is trying to add an extra dimension to his game as he relies heavily on his great serve to get him out of trouble and against the elite guys that on its own isn't quite enough. But Raonic still is working on these things as he is starting to employ a bit more serve and volley and improve his return game, but in the battle against the world no.1 he would always be on the losing side if he is to trade from the baseline. Regardless no doubt we will see more of Raonic in the latter stages of the slams in the future.
Sooooo that's the men's semi final matches set and they both promise to be crackers, especially as Stan and Nole are set for a rematch and no doubt Novak will be out for revenge after Stan defeated him last year in their five set epic match. So to start with Stan and Nole's match who will win this time????? We'll.... its very tough to call but I think I will go with Novak this time as I think he will be hugely motivated to try and beat Stan and give himself the best chance to regain the title. However Stan has lived up to the task of defending his title so far and he himself has said he feels very confident going into this match that he can win it and Stan remains one of the very few players that can actually beat Novak Djokovic on a hard court in a grand slam. So it is a tough one to call but given Novak's form so far in the tournament having not dropped a set he is definitely the sharper looking of the two overall (although Stan has only dropped one so far himself) but I fully expect it will be another epic battle and so I will go with Nole winning in five sets.
As for the Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych's semi final match.... well this is an interesting one mainly because Andy has recently changed his team after his former hitting partner and assistant coach, Dani Vallverdu left, who now happens to be Berdych's new coach. And as Dani knows Andy's game inside and out, it will give Berdych a huge tactical advantage in knowing what to expect from Andy and how it can be neutralised. Another factor involved here is the fact that Berdych has a winning head to head over Andy and leads theirs 6-4 and Berdych has won the last two matches they have played back in 2013 in Madrid and Cincinnati. Berdych will also have taken much confidence from having beaten Rafa so convincingly in the quarter finals aswell. However I do think Andy will actually relish this match-up and will look forward to seeing what Berdych can do against him with Dani's input. Also if this match comes down to a battle of wits then Andy is sure to win it as Berdych has always come up a bit short in these big occassions and he has often found himself get tight in the big matches. And a perfect example of this was when Berdych reached the final in Doha at the start of the year where he had chances to push the eventual champion, David Ferrer into a final set and he couldn't take them and if he does that here he is sure to come up second best.
Andy also won their previous slam encounter at the US Open semi final three years ago when Andy went on to triumph in the final and overall when it comes to the crunch he could have the mental edge on Berdych. But it may also come down to the court conditions as Andy did have a bit of help from blustery windy conditions that day in New York against Berdych and if the conditions are nice and dry tomorrow this could favour Berdych. Not only that it will of course also come down to the serve for Andy and so far he has served impressively in this event but he has also dropped serve in each of his matches at some point and Berdych himself is yet to drop a set (with Andy only having dropped one).
So there are all these factors to consider in their match tomorrow (or this evening if you are on Melbourne time!). But it has to be said that there is no clear favourite in the match and there is no doubt that Berdych can beat Andy and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he did especially given the insider coaching Dani will have given him on Andy's game plan. Regardless of that though I predict that Andy will beat Berdych tomorrow in four or five sets and reach the final as when push comes to shove in the big matches, Andy I think will have that edge on him, however I could be wrong! So whichever way it goes it promises to be quite a match and no doubt a real nailbiter!
And that's it for now and I will be back soon with the results of the ladies and mens semi finals matches and see who made it to the final.
Until the next time its bye for now! :-)
So Day 9 started off with Rafa Nadal taking on Tomas Berdych for a place in the semis in what turned out to be a very surprising match. Going into this match Rafa was on a 17 match winning streak against Berdych so the odds were firmly against the big Czeck player. However... it was Rusty Rafa who turned up on the court in the match as he struggled to get anything going in the first set and he lost it to the Czeck with a double break. In the 2nd set Rafa struggled even more and the Czeck dished out the unthinkable in the form of a bagel set to a frustrated Rafa. The 3rd set however was more competitve and Rafa at last started to find some rythym and play was pushed to a tiebreak but again it turned out to be Berdych's day as he pulled off a big upset and took out the 3rd seed with a convincing 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 victory to reach the final four. This was quite a win for Berdych and no doubt will give him alot of confidence going ahead into the semi finals where he will face the winner of the next match I will come to just now.
And that match was perhaps the single most hotly anticipated match of the tournament, which was between Andy Murray and the home favourite and rising new star in Australian tennis, Nick Kygrios in what promised to be an epic battle. However it wasn't quite to be that as it was Andy who put the youngster in his place and he play some inspired tennis from the off to catch Kygrios off guard as he used all his variety and pace to outwit the young Aussie and this allowed Andy to nab the first set. In the 2nd set Kygrios started to find his game and make life difficult for Andy as play went by serve and Kygrios showed off some of his flair as he played outrageous shots which had the crowd whooping and hollering and it went into a tiebreak, where Kygrios went 4-2 up but Andy soon hit a great lob, which brought it back on serve and from here Andy edged the breaker to take the two set lead. And in the 3rd set Kygrios finally began to give up the ghost, despite getting a break back, it didn't last long as Andy broke again to make it 5-3 he served it out to make his 5th Australian open semi final with an impressive 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 win.
Well this had to be the best match in terms of quality Andy has played in the whole tournament so far as he took on the home favourite and a partisan crowd and dealt with them impeccably as he did just about everything well despite surrendering that one break in the 3rd set before he regained control again. And another impressive thing about the match from Andy and throughout most of the tournament is his serving which has been much improved as Andy has reverted back to his older style of serve, which has improved his 1st serve percentage drastically and even he realised that the changes he made to his serve last year were detrimental to his game and it had to be changed and this will be a big help for him in his next match in the semis and hopefully in the final should he get there. As for Nick Kygrios well he really has introduced himself as the next big thing in men's tennis and he has already reached his second grand slam quarter final (after Wimbledon last year) which shows he has got what it takes to go far and it will be really interesting to see how far he will go in the future and on this basis I think it is looking pretty bright for him.
Now we get onto day 10 which started off with the defending champion, Stan Wawrinka take on Kei Nishikori, who defeated Stan in their previous meeting at the US Open quarter final last year so Kei started off this match as being a slight favourite. However Stan proved them all wrong as he showed his confident form on Rod Laver arena, which over the last year has come like his second back yard and put in a fine display of great serving and powerful hitting that Kei couldn't handle on the day as Stan quickly took a two set lead. In the 3rd set however Kei started to show some resistance and pushed the match into a tiebreak and despite Stan being 6-1 up in the breaker, Nishikori fought back to level 6-6, but that was as far as Kei could get as Stan sealed the breaker to win 8-6 and the match to reach his 2nd semi final in Melbourne with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 result. This was quite an impressive result from Stan and so far he has played very well in Melbourne and it is also great to see how well he has coped with the expectations of being the defending champion as he could easily have faltered and lost early on in the tournament but instead he has shown his quality and confidence, which will stand him in good stead for what lies ahead as he will play the winner of the next match I will discuss.....
And the match was between the World No.1, Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian in their quarter final clash. Raonic however had never beaten Djokovic in their previous meetings and had only won a singlet against back when they played last year in Rome so it was a big ask for the big guy to try and beat Nole on his favourite court. And right it was indeed the case as despite a tight first set going to a tiebreak, Nole edged the breaker 7-5 to take the 1st set lead. And from here Novak never really looked back as Raonic struggled to cling onto his serve and Djokovic outmanoevered him with his sublime baseline game as Raonic was broken once in the 2nd set and twice in the 3rd set, which saw Novak confidently move into the semi finals with a comfortable 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. Well this match shows that Novak is in incredible form once again and he goes into the semi finals without even having dropped a set which is remarkable in itself! As for Raonic well this match showed that he is still very much a player who is a work in progress and whilst he is showing signs of improvement in his game it will take him time before he can really be right at the top of the game. And the problem for Raonic is trying to add an extra dimension to his game as he relies heavily on his great serve to get him out of trouble and against the elite guys that on its own isn't quite enough. But Raonic still is working on these things as he is starting to employ a bit more serve and volley and improve his return game, but in the battle against the world no.1 he would always be on the losing side if he is to trade from the baseline. Regardless no doubt we will see more of Raonic in the latter stages of the slams in the future.
Sooooo that's the men's semi final matches set and they both promise to be crackers, especially as Stan and Nole are set for a rematch and no doubt Novak will be out for revenge after Stan defeated him last year in their five set epic match. So to start with Stan and Nole's match who will win this time????? We'll.... its very tough to call but I think I will go with Novak this time as I think he will be hugely motivated to try and beat Stan and give himself the best chance to regain the title. However Stan has lived up to the task of defending his title so far and he himself has said he feels very confident going into this match that he can win it and Stan remains one of the very few players that can actually beat Novak Djokovic on a hard court in a grand slam. So it is a tough one to call but given Novak's form so far in the tournament having not dropped a set he is definitely the sharper looking of the two overall (although Stan has only dropped one so far himself) but I fully expect it will be another epic battle and so I will go with Nole winning in five sets.
As for the Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych's semi final match.... well this is an interesting one mainly because Andy has recently changed his team after his former hitting partner and assistant coach, Dani Vallverdu left, who now happens to be Berdych's new coach. And as Dani knows Andy's game inside and out, it will give Berdych a huge tactical advantage in knowing what to expect from Andy and how it can be neutralised. Another factor involved here is the fact that Berdych has a winning head to head over Andy and leads theirs 6-4 and Berdych has won the last two matches they have played back in 2013 in Madrid and Cincinnati. Berdych will also have taken much confidence from having beaten Rafa so convincingly in the quarter finals aswell. However I do think Andy will actually relish this match-up and will look forward to seeing what Berdych can do against him with Dani's input. Also if this match comes down to a battle of wits then Andy is sure to win it as Berdych has always come up a bit short in these big occassions and he has often found himself get tight in the big matches. And a perfect example of this was when Berdych reached the final in Doha at the start of the year where he had chances to push the eventual champion, David Ferrer into a final set and he couldn't take them and if he does that here he is sure to come up second best.
Andy also won their previous slam encounter at the US Open semi final three years ago when Andy went on to triumph in the final and overall when it comes to the crunch he could have the mental edge on Berdych. But it may also come down to the court conditions as Andy did have a bit of help from blustery windy conditions that day in New York against Berdych and if the conditions are nice and dry tomorrow this could favour Berdych. Not only that it will of course also come down to the serve for Andy and so far he has served impressively in this event but he has also dropped serve in each of his matches at some point and Berdych himself is yet to drop a set (with Andy only having dropped one).
So there are all these factors to consider in their match tomorrow (or this evening if you are on Melbourne time!). But it has to be said that there is no clear favourite in the match and there is no doubt that Berdych can beat Andy and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he did especially given the insider coaching Dani will have given him on Andy's game plan. Regardless of that though I predict that Andy will beat Berdych tomorrow in four or five sets and reach the final as when push comes to shove in the big matches, Andy I think will have that edge on him, however I could be wrong! So whichever way it goes it promises to be quite a match and no doubt a real nailbiter!
And that's it for now and I will be back soon with the results of the ladies and mens semi finals matches and see who made it to the final.
Until the next time its bye for now! :-)
2015 Australian Open Part 5 Ladies matches: More upsets and getting to the deep end
OK so we now I'm onto Part 5 of my look at the Australian open this year and I will cover days 9 and 10 of the ladies action in this post, so let's look at how the matches went as the ladies quarter finals got underway to decide the final four in Melbourne.
So starting with Day 9 we first up had Simona Halep, the No.3 seed take on the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova, who has always been something of a dark horse in the slams and quite often slips underneath the radar and has also played very well in them over the last couple of years. Naturally going into this match however Halep was the top favourite to win it and one of the heavy favs for the title, but Makarova yet again showed her skills and form as a player as she took the opening set with a break. In the 2nd set however Makarova outplayed Halep as the Romanian had no answers to the Russian and before she knew it Makarova handed Halep a tasty bagel of a set and in doing sealed her place in his first semi final in Melbourne with an emphatic 6-4, 6-0 victory. This really was quite a surprise result given that Makarova is not a high profile player as the other top 10 players, perhaps this is because she is also a great doubles player aswell you don't immediately associate her with one or the other. Still Makarova has done great to get this far in Melbourne and she might stand a chance of going even further, but that would all depend on the her next opponent.
And this was Mara Sharapova who took on the Canadian rising star, Eugenie Bouchard in the second quarter final, which promised to be quite a tough encounter. However in the end it was experience over age that count as Maria dominated the young Canadian right from the start and broke her to take the opening set. And in the 2nd set there was little more resistance from Bouchard as the mighty Pova powered her way through the young Canadian to land her place in the semi finals with a 6-3, 6-2 win. Despite the billing there was no real doubt who would have won this match but it was a bit disappointing that it turned to be so one-sided in the end given that Bouchard is quite a tough competitor. But Sharapova is the ultimate warrior in ladies tennis and in the end she had all the answers and proved too strong for Bouchard and she looks to be pole position to reach final as she will next face Ekaterina Makarova for a place in the final. And Maria has never lost to Makarova so that straight away makes her the favourite to win this match unless Makarova can come up with something really special, so I think for me it will be Maria who will win and make it through to her 4th Australian open final.
Now we get onto day 10 which saw the remaining quarter final matches being played and the action kicked off with Venus Williams, who had made it into her first grand slam quarter final in five years, take on the young rising American star, Madison Keys. Venus made the better start as expected as she broke Keys to take the opening set, but Keys with her powerful ball striking fought her way back into the match and got her own break to level the match at a set all. And in the 3rd set despite Venus being a break up, Keys soon fought back to level and soon went on to pull off a big upset as the teenager beat Venus to land her first ever grand slam semi final with a remarkable 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory. This was quite a turnaround but in a way it was to be expected that one of the Williams sisters might be a casualty in one of these tournaments as it is very rare they tend to be play one another on the tour. As for Madison Keys well it was a hugely impressive effort for her to have reached the quarter finals and to make it to the last four is even more so. However Keys has one more stern opponent in her path who would be the winner of this next match.
And the second semi final was between Serena Williams and last year's finalist, Dominika Cibulkova and this was another match where the World No.1 started off the heavy favourite over Cibulkova as the pint sized Slovak player had never beaten Serena before. And this match turned out to be no different as right from the get go Serena was too good and too strong for Cibulkova who could do nothing against her powerful game and first class serve and she sped to victory in straight sets to the last four to win in 6-2, 6-2. Well now that Serena Williams is in the last four I really think she remains on course to be the top favourite to win the title on Saturday. But one feisty teenager still stands in her way in the semi finals, Madison Keys who will give Serena something to think about no doubt if she get can her powerful game into play. But despite Keys best efforts I think Serena's experience will see her through this one and I think that just maybe Keys might land a set but she won't able to beat Serena and no doubt the World No.1 should be in the final.
So that's the ladies semi finals set between Maria Sharapova and Ekaterina Makarova and Serena Williams and Madison Keys and they promise to be fun, but hopefully the Serena and Keys match will be the one to watch.
Right so I'll be back soon with the men's matches.
See you in a bit.
So starting with Day 9 we first up had Simona Halep, the No.3 seed take on the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova, who has always been something of a dark horse in the slams and quite often slips underneath the radar and has also played very well in them over the last couple of years. Naturally going into this match however Halep was the top favourite to win it and one of the heavy favs for the title, but Makarova yet again showed her skills and form as a player as she took the opening set with a break. In the 2nd set however Makarova outplayed Halep as the Romanian had no answers to the Russian and before she knew it Makarova handed Halep a tasty bagel of a set and in doing sealed her place in his first semi final in Melbourne with an emphatic 6-4, 6-0 victory. This really was quite a surprise result given that Makarova is not a high profile player as the other top 10 players, perhaps this is because she is also a great doubles player aswell you don't immediately associate her with one or the other. Still Makarova has done great to get this far in Melbourne and she might stand a chance of going even further, but that would all depend on the her next opponent.
And this was Mara Sharapova who took on the Canadian rising star, Eugenie Bouchard in the second quarter final, which promised to be quite a tough encounter. However in the end it was experience over age that count as Maria dominated the young Canadian right from the start and broke her to take the opening set. And in the 2nd set there was little more resistance from Bouchard as the mighty Pova powered her way through the young Canadian to land her place in the semi finals with a 6-3, 6-2 win. Despite the billing there was no real doubt who would have won this match but it was a bit disappointing that it turned to be so one-sided in the end given that Bouchard is quite a tough competitor. But Sharapova is the ultimate warrior in ladies tennis and in the end she had all the answers and proved too strong for Bouchard and she looks to be pole position to reach final as she will next face Ekaterina Makarova for a place in the final. And Maria has never lost to Makarova so that straight away makes her the favourite to win this match unless Makarova can come up with something really special, so I think for me it will be Maria who will win and make it through to her 4th Australian open final.
Now we get onto day 10 which saw the remaining quarter final matches being played and the action kicked off with Venus Williams, who had made it into her first grand slam quarter final in five years, take on the young rising American star, Madison Keys. Venus made the better start as expected as she broke Keys to take the opening set, but Keys with her powerful ball striking fought her way back into the match and got her own break to level the match at a set all. And in the 3rd set despite Venus being a break up, Keys soon fought back to level and soon went on to pull off a big upset as the teenager beat Venus to land her first ever grand slam semi final with a remarkable 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory. This was quite a turnaround but in a way it was to be expected that one of the Williams sisters might be a casualty in one of these tournaments as it is very rare they tend to be play one another on the tour. As for Madison Keys well it was a hugely impressive effort for her to have reached the quarter finals and to make it to the last four is even more so. However Keys has one more stern opponent in her path who would be the winner of this next match.
And the second semi final was between Serena Williams and last year's finalist, Dominika Cibulkova and this was another match where the World No.1 started off the heavy favourite over Cibulkova as the pint sized Slovak player had never beaten Serena before. And this match turned out to be no different as right from the get go Serena was too good and too strong for Cibulkova who could do nothing against her powerful game and first class serve and she sped to victory in straight sets to the last four to win in 6-2, 6-2. Well now that Serena Williams is in the last four I really think she remains on course to be the top favourite to win the title on Saturday. But one feisty teenager still stands in her way in the semi finals, Madison Keys who will give Serena something to think about no doubt if she get can her powerful game into play. But despite Keys best efforts I think Serena's experience will see her through this one and I think that just maybe Keys might land a set but she won't able to beat Serena and no doubt the World No.1 should be in the final.
So that's the ladies semi finals set between Maria Sharapova and Ekaterina Makarova and Serena Williams and Madison Keys and they promise to be fun, but hopefully the Serena and Keys match will be the one to watch.
Right so I'll be back soon with the men's matches.
See you in a bit.
Monday 26 January 2015
2015 Australian Open Part 4 men's matches: The rise of the Aussie
Right OK so now its time for a look at the men's action at the Australian open and I will cover days 7 and 8 which saw some fun and dramatic matches take place, so let's give them a look....
So to start with Day 7 we had first up Rafael Nadal take on the South giant, Kevin Anderson in a 4th round clash. Rafa had suffered a real scare in the 2nd round which he battled through against the American, Tim Smyczek, but since then has recovered his good form against Dudi Sela in the 3rd round. And in this match Rafa continued that form as despite a tight first set, Rafa broke to take the lead and after that he never really looked back as he broke the giant fella twice in the 2nd set and got the key break in the 3rd to close out the match with a straight forward straight set 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win. At the start of the tournament Rafa (in his usual style) downplayed his chances in the tournament and did not see himself as one of the favourites and for once we had to agree with him given his rusty form at the very start of the season in Abu Dhabi and Doha. But here Rafa is really starting to hit his stride and is looking dangerous again and the grand slams often bring out the best in him and I think its safe to say that Rafa is now a top contender to win the title, so the rest of the draw should now beware as Rafa's back.
Next up we had Tomas Berdych who took on one of the home crowd favourites, Bernard Tomic who made the last 16 a few years back and made it here again. But Berdych proved to be too good for the young Aussie as Berdych's experience and powerful game saw him come through as he dismissed the Aussie in straight sets 6-2, 7-6, 6-2. However all was not lost for the Aussies just yet as the last man standing, Nick Kygrios went out to play Federer's conqueror, Andreas Seppi in what turned into a real epic tussle as both guys hammered it out on the Hisense Arena. But it was Seppi who made the better start and he took a two sets to love lead, leaving Kygrios sure to be on the end of a stinging defeat. But Nick had other ideas as he started to fight back in the 3rd set and he worked his way into the match and broke to take the 3rd set to push the match into a 4th and he went on to take it on a tiebreak. Nick then inspired and fired up by the crowed went on to break Seppi to go 4-1 up and looked sure to have the win in hand, but Seppi soon broke back and scores become level pegged until 7-6 when Seppi finally wilted on serve with three match points, Kygrios went flat on his back in delight after a line call had been confirmed as out and with that he had reached the quarter finals of his home slam after a dramatic 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 8-6 epic result. This result really proved that Nick Kygrios is one to watch out for and he is one dangerous player to take on in any tournament but especially in the slams where the young guy seems to already have a big match mentality and going into the quarter finals he will be tough to beat.
And Nick will go on to face the winner of the next match which was a highly anticipated match between Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov pulled off a big upset last year at Wimbledon when he routed Andy in straight sets to end his title defence and there was some speculation as to how Andy had lost the match so badly. But this time there was no such danger as Andy from the get go showed his grit and determination as despite going a break down, he quickly wrestlted it back from Dimitrov and went on to take the first set with a break of his own. In the 2nd set Andy went a break up twice but squandered the lead both times at 3-2 and 6-5, which saw Dimitrov fight his way impressively into the match and he clinched the 2nd set on a tiebreak to level. In the 3rd set Andy regrouped and he managed to finally break Dimitrov again to go 5-3 and he served it out to take the two sets to one lead. However in the 4th set it was Dimitrov who stamped his authority early on as he broke Andy to move ahead until it was 5-2, where Andy was serving to make it 5-3 he had to save a set point and went on to save it to force Dimi to serve it out. From here Dimitrov was unable to do so and Andy broke again to get back on serve and from here, Andy reeled off the next couple of games as he broke Dimi again and finally served out the match from a 5-2 deficit and he sealed his place in the last eight after an exhaustive and epic 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 result.
Well there was no doubt that this was one of the best matches of the tournament so far as both players played some high quality tennis for the crowd and they both played some great points that wowed the spectators. The match also had plenty of twists and turns with both men trading breaks of serve at different points and in the 4th set Dimitrov looked sure to push the match into a decider. However in his last few big matches in slams, Dimitrov has had chances to take a lead or level things against three of the big four (his match with Andy at Wimlbedon last year notwithstanding) and blown those chances. And this shows that Dimitrov is still a work in progress when it comes to his mental strength and stamina in the slams, which no doubt will improve over the time but he still has some way to go but regardless of that he was very impressive in this match. As for Andy well he really showed that in this match that he means business this year and he responded incredibly well to Dimitrov's stern resistance. It was also great to see Andy being tested in the tournament as his first three rounds were pretty comfortable wins overall so it was good that he faced Dimi at this stage and it will stand him in good stead for his next match against Nick Kygrios but more on that in a bit.
Now get onto Day 8 which kicked off with Kei Nishikori taking on David Ferrer in their much anticipated clash and their previous matches have been pretty close encounters all won by Nishikori. However Kei this time had little trouble in getting past Ferrer, which in itself was a real surprise as the Japanese No.1 and World No.5 dismissed the dogged Spaniard in straight sets with a convincing 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win. Its good to see that Kei's good form from last year has continued into this season as his progress in the tournament so far has been pretty self assured and confident and no doubt he will be a serious danger to the other top guys left in the draw and he too can't be far away from winning his maiden major title. After that we had the defending champion, Stan Wawrinka face his first stern challenge of the tournament as he played his nemesis last year at the French open, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his last 16 encounter as the Swiss player needed four tight sets to battle past the Spaniard but he eventually came through in 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6. This has been quite an impressive result so far for Stan, as a first time major champion he has handled the pressure and the expectations well that must come with being one but from here the challenges will only get tougher especially as Stan will next face Kei Nishikori in the quarter finals, who defeated him last year in a five set epic, so we will wait and see what happens this time.
Next up we had Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian who took on Feliciano Lopez in what looked to be a very promising encounter as both men possess impressive serves. And the match itself was quite a battle as Raonic and Lopez really went at it in trying to get that win to reach the first quarter final at the Australian open. But in the end it was Raonic who made the final 8 as he made his 3rd grand slam quarter final by beating Lopez in five sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. I must admit since Raonic came on the tour I've not been overly impressed with him as a player to watch as he only really possessed a great serve and not much else, but it has to be said that Raonic is now starting to develop his game and a few extra shots to it, as he is become a decent returner and volleyer and with that it will stand his game in good stead for the future.
And last of all we had Novak Djokovic, the four time champion in Melbourne take on a surprise opponent in the 4th round, Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. However as predicted despite a good and plucky effort from Muller, Djokovic never lost control of the match and he soon secured a break in each set, which was all he needed to eventually seal the deal and his place in the quarter finals with a comfortable 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 result. Well Nole so far has done exceptionally well in what is after all his best and most successful grand slam as he has got into the quarter finals without even dropping a set, which shows just how good and consistent a server he is, not to mention the rest of his game that goes with it. So Novak will next play Milos Raonic in what promises to be quite an encounter although their last slam meeting at the French Open last year was a pretty easy win for Djokovic in straight sets. But I think Raonic is definitely improving as a player and this could be a tight match, he won't win it but I think he can push Novak to a 4th set before he goes out.
So that's it for now and Day 9 lies ahead which will feature some more great tennis on play with Rafa taking on Tomas Berdych in their quarter final clash but the bad news for Tomas is that Rafa is on a 16 match winning streak against him and it is unlikely that Berdy is going to snap it tomorrow given Rafa has recovered his good form in the tournament. However I think it could still be quite a close and entertaing match and I will bet that Rafa will go through in four sets to the semi final. As for Andy Murray's match against Nick Kygrios its a bit harder to predict as although Andy has played Nick once on the tour and beat him convincingly last year in Toronto (6-2, 6-2) this is a grand slam match and its Kygrios's home soil and with that in mind the young Aussie will surely be fired up to try and win the match with the full crowd of the Rod Laver arena right behind him. But despite that I still think Andy will come through and win this one as he is the more experienced and fitter player of the two, but it won't be easy and I can see Kygrios push this match into a 4th set at least unless he is too fatigued from the effort of his previous matches but time will tell. So I think Andy will win this one in four or maybe five sets, or if Kygrios's win it will be in five, but I'll go with Andy and I could be wrong but we will soon find out!
Right so that's it for now and I will be back soon with more results once the quarter final matches on both sides of the net are done.
Bye for now.
So to start with Day 7 we had first up Rafael Nadal take on the South giant, Kevin Anderson in a 4th round clash. Rafa had suffered a real scare in the 2nd round which he battled through against the American, Tim Smyczek, but since then has recovered his good form against Dudi Sela in the 3rd round. And in this match Rafa continued that form as despite a tight first set, Rafa broke to take the lead and after that he never really looked back as he broke the giant fella twice in the 2nd set and got the key break in the 3rd to close out the match with a straight forward straight set 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win. At the start of the tournament Rafa (in his usual style) downplayed his chances in the tournament and did not see himself as one of the favourites and for once we had to agree with him given his rusty form at the very start of the season in Abu Dhabi and Doha. But here Rafa is really starting to hit his stride and is looking dangerous again and the grand slams often bring out the best in him and I think its safe to say that Rafa is now a top contender to win the title, so the rest of the draw should now beware as Rafa's back.
Next up we had Tomas Berdych who took on one of the home crowd favourites, Bernard Tomic who made the last 16 a few years back and made it here again. But Berdych proved to be too good for the young Aussie as Berdych's experience and powerful game saw him come through as he dismissed the Aussie in straight sets 6-2, 7-6, 6-2. However all was not lost for the Aussies just yet as the last man standing, Nick Kygrios went out to play Federer's conqueror, Andreas Seppi in what turned into a real epic tussle as both guys hammered it out on the Hisense Arena. But it was Seppi who made the better start and he took a two sets to love lead, leaving Kygrios sure to be on the end of a stinging defeat. But Nick had other ideas as he started to fight back in the 3rd set and he worked his way into the match and broke to take the 3rd set to push the match into a 4th and he went on to take it on a tiebreak. Nick then inspired and fired up by the crowed went on to break Seppi to go 4-1 up and looked sure to have the win in hand, but Seppi soon broke back and scores become level pegged until 7-6 when Seppi finally wilted on serve with three match points, Kygrios went flat on his back in delight after a line call had been confirmed as out and with that he had reached the quarter finals of his home slam after a dramatic 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 8-6 epic result. This result really proved that Nick Kygrios is one to watch out for and he is one dangerous player to take on in any tournament but especially in the slams where the young guy seems to already have a big match mentality and going into the quarter finals he will be tough to beat.
And Nick will go on to face the winner of the next match which was a highly anticipated match between Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov pulled off a big upset last year at Wimbledon when he routed Andy in straight sets to end his title defence and there was some speculation as to how Andy had lost the match so badly. But this time there was no such danger as Andy from the get go showed his grit and determination as despite going a break down, he quickly wrestlted it back from Dimitrov and went on to take the first set with a break of his own. In the 2nd set Andy went a break up twice but squandered the lead both times at 3-2 and 6-5, which saw Dimitrov fight his way impressively into the match and he clinched the 2nd set on a tiebreak to level. In the 3rd set Andy regrouped and he managed to finally break Dimitrov again to go 5-3 and he served it out to take the two sets to one lead. However in the 4th set it was Dimitrov who stamped his authority early on as he broke Andy to move ahead until it was 5-2, where Andy was serving to make it 5-3 he had to save a set point and went on to save it to force Dimi to serve it out. From here Dimitrov was unable to do so and Andy broke again to get back on serve and from here, Andy reeled off the next couple of games as he broke Dimi again and finally served out the match from a 5-2 deficit and he sealed his place in the last eight after an exhaustive and epic 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 result.
Well there was no doubt that this was one of the best matches of the tournament so far as both players played some high quality tennis for the crowd and they both played some great points that wowed the spectators. The match also had plenty of twists and turns with both men trading breaks of serve at different points and in the 4th set Dimitrov looked sure to push the match into a decider. However in his last few big matches in slams, Dimitrov has had chances to take a lead or level things against three of the big four (his match with Andy at Wimlbedon last year notwithstanding) and blown those chances. And this shows that Dimitrov is still a work in progress when it comes to his mental strength and stamina in the slams, which no doubt will improve over the time but he still has some way to go but regardless of that he was very impressive in this match. As for Andy well he really showed that in this match that he means business this year and he responded incredibly well to Dimitrov's stern resistance. It was also great to see Andy being tested in the tournament as his first three rounds were pretty comfortable wins overall so it was good that he faced Dimi at this stage and it will stand him in good stead for his next match against Nick Kygrios but more on that in a bit.
Now get onto Day 8 which kicked off with Kei Nishikori taking on David Ferrer in their much anticipated clash and their previous matches have been pretty close encounters all won by Nishikori. However Kei this time had little trouble in getting past Ferrer, which in itself was a real surprise as the Japanese No.1 and World No.5 dismissed the dogged Spaniard in straight sets with a convincing 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win. Its good to see that Kei's good form from last year has continued into this season as his progress in the tournament so far has been pretty self assured and confident and no doubt he will be a serious danger to the other top guys left in the draw and he too can't be far away from winning his maiden major title. After that we had the defending champion, Stan Wawrinka face his first stern challenge of the tournament as he played his nemesis last year at the French open, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his last 16 encounter as the Swiss player needed four tight sets to battle past the Spaniard but he eventually came through in 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6. This has been quite an impressive result so far for Stan, as a first time major champion he has handled the pressure and the expectations well that must come with being one but from here the challenges will only get tougher especially as Stan will next face Kei Nishikori in the quarter finals, who defeated him last year in a five set epic, so we will wait and see what happens this time.
Next up we had Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian who took on Feliciano Lopez in what looked to be a very promising encounter as both men possess impressive serves. And the match itself was quite a battle as Raonic and Lopez really went at it in trying to get that win to reach the first quarter final at the Australian open. But in the end it was Raonic who made the final 8 as he made his 3rd grand slam quarter final by beating Lopez in five sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. I must admit since Raonic came on the tour I've not been overly impressed with him as a player to watch as he only really possessed a great serve and not much else, but it has to be said that Raonic is now starting to develop his game and a few extra shots to it, as he is become a decent returner and volleyer and with that it will stand his game in good stead for the future.
And last of all we had Novak Djokovic, the four time champion in Melbourne take on a surprise opponent in the 4th round, Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. However as predicted despite a good and plucky effort from Muller, Djokovic never lost control of the match and he soon secured a break in each set, which was all he needed to eventually seal the deal and his place in the quarter finals with a comfortable 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 result. Well Nole so far has done exceptionally well in what is after all his best and most successful grand slam as he has got into the quarter finals without even dropping a set, which shows just how good and consistent a server he is, not to mention the rest of his game that goes with it. So Novak will next play Milos Raonic in what promises to be quite an encounter although their last slam meeting at the French Open last year was a pretty easy win for Djokovic in straight sets. But I think Raonic is definitely improving as a player and this could be a tight match, he won't win it but I think he can push Novak to a 4th set before he goes out.
So that's it for now and Day 9 lies ahead which will feature some more great tennis on play with Rafa taking on Tomas Berdych in their quarter final clash but the bad news for Tomas is that Rafa is on a 16 match winning streak against him and it is unlikely that Berdy is going to snap it tomorrow given Rafa has recovered his good form in the tournament. However I think it could still be quite a close and entertaing match and I will bet that Rafa will go through in four sets to the semi final. As for Andy Murray's match against Nick Kygrios its a bit harder to predict as although Andy has played Nick once on the tour and beat him convincingly last year in Toronto (6-2, 6-2) this is a grand slam match and its Kygrios's home soil and with that in mind the young Aussie will surely be fired up to try and win the match with the full crowd of the Rod Laver arena right behind him. But despite that I still think Andy will come through and win this one as he is the more experienced and fitter player of the two, but it won't be easy and I can see Kygrios push this match into a 4th set at least unless he is too fatigued from the effort of his previous matches but time will tell. So I think Andy will win this one in four or maybe five sets, or if Kygrios's win it will be in five, but I'll go with Andy and I could be wrong but we will soon find out!
Right so that's it for now and I will be back soon with more results once the quarter final matches on both sides of the net are done.
Bye for now.
2015 Australian Open Part 3 Ladies matches: big sis (i.e. Venus) is back!
Right OK time for another post on my coverage of the 2015 Australian open which is now into its second week and things are hotting up nicely as the temperatures rise both on court and off the court in Melbourne as the first slam of the year has just gone past the half way mark. So I will cover days 7 and 8 here of the ladies so we will see what is what.
Right so starting with Day 7 we had the first bout of 4th round matches which kicked off with Eugenie Bouchard who took on Irina-Camelia Begu, who gave the Canadian rising star a real run for her money as Bouchard was pushed into a 3rd set after taking the opener, her Romanian opponent took the 2nd. In the 3rd set however Bouchard wrestled back control of the match and broke Begu twice to seal the deal and reach her second consecutive Australian open quarter final with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win. After this was Maria Sharapova who had faced the tricky counterpuncher, Peng Shuai, who is now the Chinese No.1 singles player since Li Na retired last year. And the start of the match promised to be quite a competitive one as Peng took an early break but after that Sharapova fought back into the match and after that she didn't look back as she routed the Chinese player in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 to reach the last eight. Simona Halep up next also made short work of her opponent, Yanina Wickmayer, who prior to this meeting, Halep had never beaten her but Halep is now a very much improved player and she defeated Wickmayer with ease in 6-4, 6-2. And lastly Ekaterina Makarova played her match against the German player, Julia Goerges and the Russian, Marakrova who has enjoyed a good run of form in the slams lately continued that run as she beat Goerges with ease with a straight forward 6-3, 6-2 win.
So now we get onto day 8 which saw the remaining big guns go at it in their respective matches which saw the 4th round matches being rounded off to see who would make the quarter finals. So to start off we had last year's finalist, Dominika Cibulkova take on the two time former champion Victoria Azarenka who had made her comeback after sustaining a foot injury that left her out alot of last year. But it was Cibulkova who made the stronger start as she took the opening set, despite being broken initially by Vika (that's Victoria's nickname!) but Victoria was not yet done as she fought back to level the match at a set all. In the end however it was Cibulkova who caused the upset as she defeated the two time champion in the 3rd set with a break, which saw her reach the quarter finals after a tough 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win. This really saw Cibulkova step things up again like she did last year and she proved again she has got what it takes to potentially win a major of her own and just maybe she might yet.
After this we had Serena Williams take on Garbine Muguruza, the Spanish player who stunned Serena last year at the French open, so Serena no doubt would be out for revenge in this one. But Muguruza made life difficult for Serena once again as she broke the World No.1 to take the opening set. Serena however did what she usually does and fought back in the 2nd set to break Muguruza and before we knew it, we were into a 3rd set where Serena finally got her revenge on the Spaniard as she broke her twice to close out the match and seal her place in the final 8 with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 result. Well now that Serena has made it into the final eight I have to now see her as the top favourite to win the title as I don't think from this stage on there are any players in the draw that will beat her if she reaches the final, unless she get's upset on the way to it, but we will wait and see. Serena's next opponent however is Dominika Cibulkova so I can't quite see the dimunitive Slovak player get the better of Serena in a slam as Cibulkova has never beaten Serena, but then again there is always a first time for everything!
Next up was Agnieszka Radwanska who took on the other half of the Williams sisters, Venus, in their clash of the last 16. Radwanska actually went into this match as the favourite given Venus's fitness concerns over the last few years and also the fact that Aga (Radwanska's nickname) had never lost a set to her in their last three meetings. However that all changed in their match here as it was Venus that made a strong start and took the first set, but Radwanska soon fought back in the 2nd set to break Venus twice to level the match. And in the 3rd it was Venus that made her breakthrough as Radwanska started to crumble and Venus's power was too much for her, which saw the former World No.1 reach her first grand slam quarter final since 2010 with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory. Well this match really does signify the return of Venus to the big time as she is looking in really good form again after having suffered in recent years from Sjorgen's syndrome (an auto-immune disease) which left her in a state of chronic fatigue. But Venus is starting to really look like her old self and it looks likely that she could even deeper here in Melbourne.
And last of all we had the surprise of the tournament, the young American, Madison Keys who enroute caused a big upset as she stunned the 4th seed and current Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova in straight sets enroute to this point in the 4th round. And in the 4th round Keys faced another American, Madison Brengle who in the end was no match for the powerful big hitting Keys who blasted her opponent off the court with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 victory to see her reach her first ever grand slam quarteer final. Its great to see with these wins the emergence of fresh new talent in the ladies game as Keys now also joins the likes of Bouchard and Halep who have also made a strong impression in their short careers. Keys will next up face Venus Williams so I think that Keys might not make it into the last four but I'm pretty sure she can give Venus a match in the process.
Sooooo that's it for the ladies for now as the quarter finals are now set and they are pretty promising looking with some fresh new talent in their too which helps keep things fresh and there promises to be some really good matches ahead.
And with that I will be back soon with the men's matches.
See you in a bit.
Right so starting with Day 7 we had the first bout of 4th round matches which kicked off with Eugenie Bouchard who took on Irina-Camelia Begu, who gave the Canadian rising star a real run for her money as Bouchard was pushed into a 3rd set after taking the opener, her Romanian opponent took the 2nd. In the 3rd set however Bouchard wrestled back control of the match and broke Begu twice to seal the deal and reach her second consecutive Australian open quarter final with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win. After this was Maria Sharapova who had faced the tricky counterpuncher, Peng Shuai, who is now the Chinese No.1 singles player since Li Na retired last year. And the start of the match promised to be quite a competitive one as Peng took an early break but after that Sharapova fought back into the match and after that she didn't look back as she routed the Chinese player in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 to reach the last eight. Simona Halep up next also made short work of her opponent, Yanina Wickmayer, who prior to this meeting, Halep had never beaten her but Halep is now a very much improved player and she defeated Wickmayer with ease in 6-4, 6-2. And lastly Ekaterina Makarova played her match against the German player, Julia Goerges and the Russian, Marakrova who has enjoyed a good run of form in the slams lately continued that run as she beat Goerges with ease with a straight forward 6-3, 6-2 win.
So now we get onto day 8 which saw the remaining big guns go at it in their respective matches which saw the 4th round matches being rounded off to see who would make the quarter finals. So to start off we had last year's finalist, Dominika Cibulkova take on the two time former champion Victoria Azarenka who had made her comeback after sustaining a foot injury that left her out alot of last year. But it was Cibulkova who made the stronger start as she took the opening set, despite being broken initially by Vika (that's Victoria's nickname!) but Victoria was not yet done as she fought back to level the match at a set all. In the end however it was Cibulkova who caused the upset as she defeated the two time champion in the 3rd set with a break, which saw her reach the quarter finals after a tough 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win. This really saw Cibulkova step things up again like she did last year and she proved again she has got what it takes to potentially win a major of her own and just maybe she might yet.
After this we had Serena Williams take on Garbine Muguruza, the Spanish player who stunned Serena last year at the French open, so Serena no doubt would be out for revenge in this one. But Muguruza made life difficult for Serena once again as she broke the World No.1 to take the opening set. Serena however did what she usually does and fought back in the 2nd set to break Muguruza and before we knew it, we were into a 3rd set where Serena finally got her revenge on the Spaniard as she broke her twice to close out the match and seal her place in the final 8 with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 result. Well now that Serena has made it into the final eight I have to now see her as the top favourite to win the title as I don't think from this stage on there are any players in the draw that will beat her if she reaches the final, unless she get's upset on the way to it, but we will wait and see. Serena's next opponent however is Dominika Cibulkova so I can't quite see the dimunitive Slovak player get the better of Serena in a slam as Cibulkova has never beaten Serena, but then again there is always a first time for everything!
Next up was Agnieszka Radwanska who took on the other half of the Williams sisters, Venus, in their clash of the last 16. Radwanska actually went into this match as the favourite given Venus's fitness concerns over the last few years and also the fact that Aga (Radwanska's nickname) had never lost a set to her in their last three meetings. However that all changed in their match here as it was Venus that made a strong start and took the first set, but Radwanska soon fought back in the 2nd set to break Venus twice to level the match. And in the 3rd it was Venus that made her breakthrough as Radwanska started to crumble and Venus's power was too much for her, which saw the former World No.1 reach her first grand slam quarter final since 2010 with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory. Well this match really does signify the return of Venus to the big time as she is looking in really good form again after having suffered in recent years from Sjorgen's syndrome (an auto-immune disease) which left her in a state of chronic fatigue. But Venus is starting to really look like her old self and it looks likely that she could even deeper here in Melbourne.
And last of all we had the surprise of the tournament, the young American, Madison Keys who enroute caused a big upset as she stunned the 4th seed and current Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova in straight sets enroute to this point in the 4th round. And in the 4th round Keys faced another American, Madison Brengle who in the end was no match for the powerful big hitting Keys who blasted her opponent off the court with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 victory to see her reach her first ever grand slam quarteer final. Its great to see with these wins the emergence of fresh new talent in the ladies game as Keys now also joins the likes of Bouchard and Halep who have also made a strong impression in their short careers. Keys will next up face Venus Williams so I think that Keys might not make it into the last four but I'm pretty sure she can give Venus a match in the process.
Sooooo that's it for the ladies for now as the quarter finals are now set and they are pretty promising looking with some fresh new talent in their too which helps keep things fresh and there promises to be some really good matches ahead.
And with that I will be back soon with the men's matches.
See you in a bit.
Sunday 25 January 2015
2015 Australian Open Part 2 Men's singles matches: There are upsets....then there are upsets....
So now I will get onto the men's matches at the Australian open which will cover the first six days of action and first three rounds of play in Melbourne. So let's see how they got on....
Right so to kick off with Day 1 we had Rafael Nadal start proceedings on Rod Laver arena as he played Mikhail Youzhny which promised to be a pretty tough opener for Rafa, especially given his ropey form of late having come back from his apendectomy. However Rafa soon dismissed those fears as he romped past the Russian, who seemed powerless to do anything against Rafa's power and precision who in this match looked like he had never been away from the tour as he won convincingly with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 result. Roger Federer also got off to a strong start after he beat Lu Yen-hsun with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 win, which shows that the Fed was in fine fettle. Getting onto Andy Murray, who made a fine start to his season in winning the exhibition event in Abu-Dhabi, also got off to a fine start as he took on the lowest ranked player in the draw, the Indian, Yuki Bhambri. However Bhambri proved to be not entirely straight forward as he produced some fine tennis to challenge Andy after going two sets to love up comfortably, Andy squandered his serve to hand the Indian a break, but soon broke back to get back on level terms and play went into a tiebreak, which the Scot dominated and showed his class to win the match in 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. This was a good solid start from Andy, which saw that he improved his serve by reverting to the old style of service he used prior to the changes he made (for the worse!) to his serve last year and looked to be promising for what lies ahead.
As for the other day 1 matches we had good luck for the Aussie players as Bernard Tomic beat Tobias Kamke in four sets 7-5, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 and the new star, Nick Kygrios who made his mark by defating Rafa last year at Wimbledon, battled past Federico Delbonis in five sets to the 2nd round after a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win. And the most notable win of the day came from yet another promising future Aussie prospect, Thanasi Kokkinakis, who stunned the 11th seed, Ernests Gulbis in a five set epic match, which saw the young fella drop to the ground in delight as he took out Gulbis winning in 5-7, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6, 8-6. And last of all the huge serving, Sam Groth beat Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 7-6, 6-4 to reach the 2nd round. Groth is notable in having the fastest ever recorded serve on the tour as he fired one down during a challenger event at 163 mph!
Now we get onto day 2 which saw the defending champion, Stan Wawrinka get his title defence off to a confident start as he beat the Turkish player, Marsel Ilhan in 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and it showed that Stan still means business down under and will be intent on hanging onto that trophy as long as he can. Next up we had Novak Djokovic, the four time champion and current World No.1, who started things off very confidently as he dismissed Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in just 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the 2nd round. Kei Nishikori also started well with a good win over Nicolas Almagro of Spain as he beat the clay court specialist in 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. Milos Raonic, the big Canadian server made his mark after he started his campaign with a solid victory over Illya Marchenko in 7-6, 7-6, 6-3. Gael Monfils, the talented flashy Frenchman, who had a good season last year, continued his promising form after enduring a five set battle against fellow Frenchman, Lucas Pouille and winning in 6-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4. And last of all Lleyton Hewitt got off to a winning start and redeemed his first round exit last year with a four set win over his opponent, Zhang Ze in four sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Moving onto day 3, the 2nd round matches got under way with Roger Federer who suffered an early blip in his match against Simone Bolelli as he appeared to have been stung by a bee or something and it knocked him off his game as he dropped the first set. But Roger came back strong in the 2nd and went on to win it and sets three and four to seal his place in the 3rd round after a four set 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory. Andy Murray also continued his promising form as he faced off an old friend of his on the tour and home crowd favourite, Marinko Matosevic, however Marinko was no match whatsoever for Andy as he was ruthlessly dismissed by the British No.1 with a straight set 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 result. But the home crowds got some joy as Bernard Tomic continued his run after beating the German player, Philipp Kohlschreiber in four tight sets, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 and Sam Groth halted Thanasi Kokkinakis in his tracks with a five set win and defeating the teenager 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the 3rd round.
And last but far from least on day 3 we had Rafa take on the virutally unknown American player, Tim Smyczek in the 2nd round in what should have been a walk in the park for Rafa (Melbourne park in this case!) but turned out to be anything but. Rafa however started off confidently taking the first set with a break but then he started to suffer a bout of dizziness and then cramps in the 2nd set as his condition worsened letting his opponent, Smyczek take the 2nd set and even more worrying for Rafa the 3rd! In the 4th set however, Rafa started his fightback and broke the American again to level the match at two sets all. And in the 5th set play went by serve until Rafa made the final move and broke Smyczek's serve to close out the match, which ended with Rafa sinking to his knees full of emotion as he made his great escape with a gutsy five set win in 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5. This was quite a thrilling encounter and easily one of the best matches of the tournament so far which saw Rafa in quit a strange position where he suddenly suffered a bout of cramps and nausea on the court that let his American opponent into the match. But it is full credit to Rafa for showing his champion fighting qualities once again proving why he is one of the all time great players in the sport and as always he somehow found a way to fight through the pain and get it done. Smyczek also deserves much credit for the match aswell as he came with a good plan to try and take down Rafa, which didn't quite work but he also showed really good sportsmanship by letting Rafa replay a point in his final service game when someone called out, which Rafa later showed his appreciation for after the match.
Now we get onto day 4 which saw the 2nd round matches continue with Novak Djokovic taking to Rod Laver arena again where he showed just why he is the world's best player by dispatching Andrey Kuznetsov in 6-0, 6-1, 6-4, dropping just five games, he looks as good as ever. Stan Wawrinka continued his defence also with another straight set win over Marius Copil, which was a tighter affair however as Stan was pushed in two tiebreak sets before he broke his opponent in the 3rd to win 7-6 7-6, 6-3. Milos Raonic also continued his good form as he beat the American player, Donald Young in straight sets to reach 3rd round with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 score result. Kei Nishikori however had a tougher time of it against the talented Croatian, Ivan Dodig as he battled past the Croat in four sets to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6. And last of all we had Jerzy Janowicz who took on Gael Monfils in a five set clash which saw the big Pole get the better of the Frenchman as both man hammered it out but Jerzy beat Monfils in 6-4, 1-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.
So now onto Day 5 which saw the 3rd round matches get under way, and it began with the mother of all upsets as Roger Federer faced Andreas Seppi. On paper this match appeared to be a straight forward affair to Roger as he had never lost to Seppi before and beaten him in all 10 of their previous meetings (10 out of 10 in otherwords). But it was Seppi who came out the sharper of the two as he served and returned well and broke Rog to nab the first set. In the 2nd set play went by serve on a tiebreak where Roger made some errors to hand the breaker to Seppi and a two set lead with it aswell. However in the 3rd set we saw evidence of the Federer comeback as Roger broke Seppi finally and went on to take the set to half the deficit. And in the 4th set both men went by serve into another tiebreak where it was Seppi who did the near unthinkable and stunned Rog with an impressive passing shot to win the match and knock out the four time champion in Melbourne with a 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 victory. This was a real upset indeed and if there was any player I thought would knock out Roger Federer, Andreas Seppi is one of the last ones I would think of to do it, but Seppi deserves all the credit for playing a great match. So this will be something of a seismic shock for Roger having being dumped out so early on in a slam for the second time since Wimbledon two years, which leaves a question mark over how his year will pan out in 2015. But I guess we will soon find out.
Now onto other matches, Rafa had no trouble whatsoever against Dudi Sela as he had gotten over his cramps and illness and got back to business as he dispatched Sela with brutal efficiency in straight sets to reach the 2nd week with a 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 result. Tomas Berdych, who I haven't mentioned so far and has somewhat slipped under the radar almost, continued his fine run of form in Melbourne as he beat Viktor Troicki in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Nick Kygrios also made his second appearance in the last 16 of a grand slam after he beat Malek Jaziri in straight sets 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 to continue to give the Aussies some hope for the home crowds. And Bernard Tomic defeated Sam Groth in an all Aussie clash also, which saw Tomic regain his good form with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 result. And last of all we had Andy Murray who continued his impressive (and so far unbeaten) run in 2015 after he dispatched a game Joao Sousa who after being thrashed in the first two sets, put some resistance in the 3rd set, but it was soon halted as Andy broke Sousa for the final time and won the match to seal his place in the last 16 with the score reading 6-1, 6-1, 7-5. And Andy will now encounter his first big test of the tournament as he will face Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the quarter finals after Dimi beat Marcos Baghdatis in a compelling five set battle in 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. And we all know that Dimitrov beat Andy convincingly last year at Wimbledon, so I'm sure Andy will be out for revenge and whichever way it goes it promises to be quite a match and hopefully NOT a repeat of last year's Wimbledon win or lose for Andy. But I think I will be bold and say I think Andy will be out to make amends for his previous loss in London and will win this one in maybe four sets.
Now finally we get onto day 6 which finished out the 3rd round matches, began with Stan Wawrinka continuing his excellent form and hold onto his title defence after he breezed past the Finn player, Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Stan is of course on yet another collision course with Novak Djokovic for the quarter finals so just one more match stands in the way of Stan having another potential epic clash with the World No.1 and if they met (and hopefully will!) it promises to be another cracker. Speaking of which Novak Djokovic got his first test in the form of Fernando Verdasco in their match, where the former semi-finalist pushed Nole hard in the 1st set, which went into a lengthy tiebreak, which Novak finally took 10-8. After this though Novak had a relatively easier time of things as he broke Verdasco in sets two and three to seal the deal and his place in the last 16 with a 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 result. David Ferrer had a close match against an old foe of his, Gilles Simon, who got the better of Ferrer last year in the US Open, but Ferrer this time got his revenge after dropping a two sets and a break lead to let Simon back in to claim the 3rd set, Ferrer finally clinched match in the 4th set tiebreak to seal his place in the last 16 with a 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 score result. Milos Raonic also progressed through but had a more comfortable time of it as he beat the German, Benjamin Becker in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. And last of all is Kei Nishikori, who overcame a slow start to beat the American, Steve Johnson 6-7, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.
Soooooooooo that's it for now and I will be back with more results soon!
G'dnight!
Right so to kick off with Day 1 we had Rafael Nadal start proceedings on Rod Laver arena as he played Mikhail Youzhny which promised to be a pretty tough opener for Rafa, especially given his ropey form of late having come back from his apendectomy. However Rafa soon dismissed those fears as he romped past the Russian, who seemed powerless to do anything against Rafa's power and precision who in this match looked like he had never been away from the tour as he won convincingly with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 result. Roger Federer also got off to a strong start after he beat Lu Yen-hsun with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 win, which shows that the Fed was in fine fettle. Getting onto Andy Murray, who made a fine start to his season in winning the exhibition event in Abu-Dhabi, also got off to a fine start as he took on the lowest ranked player in the draw, the Indian, Yuki Bhambri. However Bhambri proved to be not entirely straight forward as he produced some fine tennis to challenge Andy after going two sets to love up comfortably, Andy squandered his serve to hand the Indian a break, but soon broke back to get back on level terms and play went into a tiebreak, which the Scot dominated and showed his class to win the match in 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. This was a good solid start from Andy, which saw that he improved his serve by reverting to the old style of service he used prior to the changes he made (for the worse!) to his serve last year and looked to be promising for what lies ahead.
As for the other day 1 matches we had good luck for the Aussie players as Bernard Tomic beat Tobias Kamke in four sets 7-5, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 and the new star, Nick Kygrios who made his mark by defating Rafa last year at Wimbledon, battled past Federico Delbonis in five sets to the 2nd round after a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win. And the most notable win of the day came from yet another promising future Aussie prospect, Thanasi Kokkinakis, who stunned the 11th seed, Ernests Gulbis in a five set epic match, which saw the young fella drop to the ground in delight as he took out Gulbis winning in 5-7, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6, 8-6. And last of all the huge serving, Sam Groth beat Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 7-6, 6-4 to reach the 2nd round. Groth is notable in having the fastest ever recorded serve on the tour as he fired one down during a challenger event at 163 mph!
Now we get onto day 2 which saw the defending champion, Stan Wawrinka get his title defence off to a confident start as he beat the Turkish player, Marsel Ilhan in 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and it showed that Stan still means business down under and will be intent on hanging onto that trophy as long as he can. Next up we had Novak Djokovic, the four time champion and current World No.1, who started things off very confidently as he dismissed Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in just 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the 2nd round. Kei Nishikori also started well with a good win over Nicolas Almagro of Spain as he beat the clay court specialist in 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. Milos Raonic, the big Canadian server made his mark after he started his campaign with a solid victory over Illya Marchenko in 7-6, 7-6, 6-3. Gael Monfils, the talented flashy Frenchman, who had a good season last year, continued his promising form after enduring a five set battle against fellow Frenchman, Lucas Pouille and winning in 6-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4. And last of all Lleyton Hewitt got off to a winning start and redeemed his first round exit last year with a four set win over his opponent, Zhang Ze in four sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Moving onto day 3, the 2nd round matches got under way with Roger Federer who suffered an early blip in his match against Simone Bolelli as he appeared to have been stung by a bee or something and it knocked him off his game as he dropped the first set. But Roger came back strong in the 2nd and went on to win it and sets three and four to seal his place in the 3rd round after a four set 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory. Andy Murray also continued his promising form as he faced off an old friend of his on the tour and home crowd favourite, Marinko Matosevic, however Marinko was no match whatsoever for Andy as he was ruthlessly dismissed by the British No.1 with a straight set 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 result. But the home crowds got some joy as Bernard Tomic continued his run after beating the German player, Philipp Kohlschreiber in four tight sets, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 and Sam Groth halted Thanasi Kokkinakis in his tracks with a five set win and defeating the teenager 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the 3rd round.
And last but far from least on day 3 we had Rafa take on the virutally unknown American player, Tim Smyczek in the 2nd round in what should have been a walk in the park for Rafa (Melbourne park in this case!) but turned out to be anything but. Rafa however started off confidently taking the first set with a break but then he started to suffer a bout of dizziness and then cramps in the 2nd set as his condition worsened letting his opponent, Smyczek take the 2nd set and even more worrying for Rafa the 3rd! In the 4th set however, Rafa started his fightback and broke the American again to level the match at two sets all. And in the 5th set play went by serve until Rafa made the final move and broke Smyczek's serve to close out the match, which ended with Rafa sinking to his knees full of emotion as he made his great escape with a gutsy five set win in 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5. This was quite a thrilling encounter and easily one of the best matches of the tournament so far which saw Rafa in quit a strange position where he suddenly suffered a bout of cramps and nausea on the court that let his American opponent into the match. But it is full credit to Rafa for showing his champion fighting qualities once again proving why he is one of the all time great players in the sport and as always he somehow found a way to fight through the pain and get it done. Smyczek also deserves much credit for the match aswell as he came with a good plan to try and take down Rafa, which didn't quite work but he also showed really good sportsmanship by letting Rafa replay a point in his final service game when someone called out, which Rafa later showed his appreciation for after the match.
Now we get onto day 4 which saw the 2nd round matches continue with Novak Djokovic taking to Rod Laver arena again where he showed just why he is the world's best player by dispatching Andrey Kuznetsov in 6-0, 6-1, 6-4, dropping just five games, he looks as good as ever. Stan Wawrinka continued his defence also with another straight set win over Marius Copil, which was a tighter affair however as Stan was pushed in two tiebreak sets before he broke his opponent in the 3rd to win 7-6 7-6, 6-3. Milos Raonic also continued his good form as he beat the American player, Donald Young in straight sets to reach 3rd round with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 score result. Kei Nishikori however had a tougher time of it against the talented Croatian, Ivan Dodig as he battled past the Croat in four sets to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6. And last of all we had Jerzy Janowicz who took on Gael Monfils in a five set clash which saw the big Pole get the better of the Frenchman as both man hammered it out but Jerzy beat Monfils in 6-4, 1-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.
So now onto Day 5 which saw the 3rd round matches get under way, and it began with the mother of all upsets as Roger Federer faced Andreas Seppi. On paper this match appeared to be a straight forward affair to Roger as he had never lost to Seppi before and beaten him in all 10 of their previous meetings (10 out of 10 in otherwords). But it was Seppi who came out the sharper of the two as he served and returned well and broke Rog to nab the first set. In the 2nd set play went by serve on a tiebreak where Roger made some errors to hand the breaker to Seppi and a two set lead with it aswell. However in the 3rd set we saw evidence of the Federer comeback as Roger broke Seppi finally and went on to take the set to half the deficit. And in the 4th set both men went by serve into another tiebreak where it was Seppi who did the near unthinkable and stunned Rog with an impressive passing shot to win the match and knock out the four time champion in Melbourne with a 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 victory. This was a real upset indeed and if there was any player I thought would knock out Roger Federer, Andreas Seppi is one of the last ones I would think of to do it, but Seppi deserves all the credit for playing a great match. So this will be something of a seismic shock for Roger having being dumped out so early on in a slam for the second time since Wimbledon two years, which leaves a question mark over how his year will pan out in 2015. But I guess we will soon find out.
Now onto other matches, Rafa had no trouble whatsoever against Dudi Sela as he had gotten over his cramps and illness and got back to business as he dispatched Sela with brutal efficiency in straight sets to reach the 2nd week with a 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 result. Tomas Berdych, who I haven't mentioned so far and has somewhat slipped under the radar almost, continued his fine run of form in Melbourne as he beat Viktor Troicki in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Nick Kygrios also made his second appearance in the last 16 of a grand slam after he beat Malek Jaziri in straight sets 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 to continue to give the Aussies some hope for the home crowds. And Bernard Tomic defeated Sam Groth in an all Aussie clash also, which saw Tomic regain his good form with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 result. And last of all we had Andy Murray who continued his impressive (and so far unbeaten) run in 2015 after he dispatched a game Joao Sousa who after being thrashed in the first two sets, put some resistance in the 3rd set, but it was soon halted as Andy broke Sousa for the final time and won the match to seal his place in the last 16 with the score reading 6-1, 6-1, 7-5. And Andy will now encounter his first big test of the tournament as he will face Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the quarter finals after Dimi beat Marcos Baghdatis in a compelling five set battle in 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. And we all know that Dimitrov beat Andy convincingly last year at Wimbledon, so I'm sure Andy will be out for revenge and whichever way it goes it promises to be quite a match and hopefully NOT a repeat of last year's Wimbledon win or lose for Andy. But I think I will be bold and say I think Andy will be out to make amends for his previous loss in London and will win this one in maybe four sets.
Now finally we get onto day 6 which finished out the 3rd round matches, began with Stan Wawrinka continuing his excellent form and hold onto his title defence after he breezed past the Finn player, Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Stan is of course on yet another collision course with Novak Djokovic for the quarter finals so just one more match stands in the way of Stan having another potential epic clash with the World No.1 and if they met (and hopefully will!) it promises to be another cracker. Speaking of which Novak Djokovic got his first test in the form of Fernando Verdasco in their match, where the former semi-finalist pushed Nole hard in the 1st set, which went into a lengthy tiebreak, which Novak finally took 10-8. After this though Novak had a relatively easier time of things as he broke Verdasco in sets two and three to seal the deal and his place in the last 16 with a 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 result. David Ferrer had a close match against an old foe of his, Gilles Simon, who got the better of Ferrer last year in the US Open, but Ferrer this time got his revenge after dropping a two sets and a break lead to let Simon back in to claim the 3rd set, Ferrer finally clinched match in the 4th set tiebreak to seal his place in the last 16 with a 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 score result. Milos Raonic also progressed through but had a more comfortable time of it as he beat the German, Benjamin Becker in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. And last of all is Kei Nishikori, who overcame a slow start to beat the American, Steve Johnson 6-7, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.
Soooooooooo that's it for now and I will be back with more results soon!
G'dnight!
Saturday 24 January 2015
2015 Australian Open Part 1 ladies singles matches: Upset city
OK well this is a bit of a late start to my first post on the first grand slam of the tennis season, the Australian open, which sees the top players in the world compete to win the year's first major title. So let's start with the ladies first and see what went on with them during the first six days of play, which is quite alot to summarise so I will try and cut it down a fair bit to cover things without going overboard. So here we go....
Right to start with on Day 1 we had Simona Halep, last year's French open finalist, make short work of her first opponent, Karin Knapp as she beat her in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to cruise into round 2. Maria Sharapova also got off to a strong as she beat the Croatian player, Petra Martic with a rather routine 6-4, 6-1 victory which saw Maria signal her intent to make a strong impression in the draw. But on day 1 we also had a couple of big upsets with the biggest being Ana Ivanovic who was stunned by the Czeck player, Lucie Hradecka who pulled off an unlikely victory as she fought back from a set down to beat the former Melbourne finalist in three sets, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. And the other was also Angelique Kerber who was upset by the Romanian player Irinia-Camelia Beguin three sets 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 to suffer her earliest exit in a slam for quite a while. Other notable seeds that tumbled on day 1 also included Sabine Lisicki, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Lucie Safarova.
So now we get onto Day 2 which started with home favourite and former US Open champion, Sam Stosur take on Monica Niculescu for a place in the 2nd round and despite some inevitable early match jitters and having suffered a few 1st round exits in Melbourne, Sam came through in straight sets in 6-4, 6-1. Caroline Wozniacki also made a good start against the American player, Taylor Townsend who she also beat with a straight set victory in 7-6, 6-2. Serena Williams also made her start against Alison van Uytvanck of Belgium, despite an edgy start from the World No.1, she went on to take break and take the 1st set and raced through the 2nd handing out what must be a very long line in bagel sets to her opponent as she sped to a 6-4, 6-0 win. Victoria Azarenka, who was the former two champion in Melbourne made her return to the courts after being laid off for most of last year with a foot injury, which saw her ranking plummet into the top 50. However Vika had no trouble getting past Sloane Stephens as she dismissed the American in 6-3, 6-2. Petra Kivtova made a good start also as she beat Richel Hogenkamp with an easy 6-1, 6-4 scoreline and last of all Venus Williams got things going with her first round victory over the Spaniard, Maria Teresa Torro Flor, dropping just four games, Venus went through in 6-2, 6-2.
Moving onto day 3 which saw the round 2 matches get under way, things kicked off with Ekaterina Makarova, who has faired pretty well down under as she has been a two time quarter finalist and here she got off to a fine start by beating Roberta Vinci in 6-2, 6-4. Maria Sharapova on the other hand had to endure an almighty battle as she fought against Alexandra Panova, who after losing the first set went on to level the match in the 2nd and Panova went a break 4-1 up in the 3rd set and looked sure to end Maria's campaign early. But Maria fought back in only the way she can as she battled back on serve to 5-5 and went on to break Panova to close out the match with a very hard fought 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win. Simona Halep however had no problems whatsoever in getting past her 2nd round opponent Jamila Gajdosova dropping four games with a 6-2, 6-2, Halep is looking every inch a future major champion at this point and she still remains a favourite to lift the title. Sara Errani made her way into the 3rd round aswell after defeating the Spanish player, Silvia Soler Espinosa 7-6, 6-3. And lastly Eugenie Bouchard, who was a semi finalist last year, won her match easily as she took out Kiki Bertens dropping three games with a 6-0, 6-3 result.
Onto day 4 we go we had Agneiszka Radwanska begin play as she faced the Swedish player, Johanna Larsson who she thrashed with a 6-0, 6-1 scoreline. Radwanska recently recruited Martina Navatrilova as her coach and she will be hoping she can benefit from her experience to try and win her first major, but whether or not she will remains to be seen. Serena Williams took on an old foe in Vera Zvonareva who's career has been plagued with injuries over the last few years and despite a close first set, the Russian proved to be no match for Serena who raced to the finishing line handing out yet another bagel set (she likes doing that obviously!) and moving into round 3 with a 7-5, 6-0 scoreline. Venus Williams also easily moved through to the 3rd round after beating her fellow American, Lauren Davis in 6-2, 6-3, which shows the former finalist is in fine form after winning her first title of the year in Auckland. Victoria Azarenka also pulled off a big win as she proved she was back for real after defeating Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets with a stunning 6-4, 6-2 victory to show she has put herself in the running as a potential favourite to winning the title again. Sam Stosur however suffered an upset also as she lost to the American, Coco Vandeweghe, 6-4, 6-4. And lastly Dominika Cibulkova came through after beating Tsvetana Pironkova by dropping only two games, 6-2, 6-0 and Petra Kvitova also took out the German player, Mona Barthel in 6-2, 6-4.
Now we move to day 5 with the start of the 3rd round matches, which kicked off with the German, Julia Goerges defeating Ana Ivanovic's conqueror, Lucie Hradecka in a tight straight set match winning 7-6, 7-5. Eugenie Bouchard continued her self assured form also as she beat the dangerous Caroline Garcia in a lopsided match, after a tight first set, Bouchard dismissed Garcia with a bagel in the 2nd to win the match 7-5, 6-0. Maria Sharapova after her almighty scare in the 2nd round restored parity as she drubbed her 3rd round opponent Zarina Diyas with a 6-1, 6-1 scoreline. Ekaterina Makarova continued her smooth progress as she beat Karolina Pliskova in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last 16. Simona Halep on the other hand had a tougher time of it as she played the American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who she defeated in a tight match winning 6-4, 7-5. And last of all Yanina Wickmayer showed her fine form in Melbourne as she defeated Sara Errani in a tough three setter, rallying from a set down to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
And last but not least is day 6 which saw the 3rd round action continue with Agnieszka Radwanska continuing to prove she is a threat after she beat the American, Vervara Lepchenko with a straight set 6-0, 7-5 result. Serena Williams faced her first test of the tournament as she faced the rising talent, Elina Svitolina and she had to come from a set down to beat, but Serena finished strong as she won the match with yet another bagel set for her opponent to reach the last 16 with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win. Venus Williams also proved she is still a vital player after she beat the dangerous Camila Ciorgi, also from a set down to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-1 to reach her first 4th round of a grand slam since Wimbledon 2011 to show that old sis still has got it too. Victoria Azarenka, the former champion continued her strong form too after she defeated the temperamental but much improved player, Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (now there is a name!) with a straight set 6-4, 6-4 score. Garbine Muguruza, who made a name for herself last year at the French open as the women who took down Serena Williams there, also progressed into the last 16 with a three set win over Timea Bacsinszky in 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. And last of all one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far came from Maidson Keys, the American player, who stunned Petra Kvitova in a tense match which saw both players trade breaks of serve but eventually it was Keys who saw it out and won in 6-4, 7-5 and reached the 4th round of a grand slam for the first time in her short career.
Sooooo that's it for the ladies matches so far and I will be back soon with another update for them, but for now I will head over to the men's matches....
Back soon!
Right to start with on Day 1 we had Simona Halep, last year's French open finalist, make short work of her first opponent, Karin Knapp as she beat her in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to cruise into round 2. Maria Sharapova also got off to a strong as she beat the Croatian player, Petra Martic with a rather routine 6-4, 6-1 victory which saw Maria signal her intent to make a strong impression in the draw. But on day 1 we also had a couple of big upsets with the biggest being Ana Ivanovic who was stunned by the Czeck player, Lucie Hradecka who pulled off an unlikely victory as she fought back from a set down to beat the former Melbourne finalist in three sets, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. And the other was also Angelique Kerber who was upset by the Romanian player Irinia-Camelia Beguin three sets 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 to suffer her earliest exit in a slam for quite a while. Other notable seeds that tumbled on day 1 also included Sabine Lisicki, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Lucie Safarova.
So now we get onto Day 2 which started with home favourite and former US Open champion, Sam Stosur take on Monica Niculescu for a place in the 2nd round and despite some inevitable early match jitters and having suffered a few 1st round exits in Melbourne, Sam came through in straight sets in 6-4, 6-1. Caroline Wozniacki also made a good start against the American player, Taylor Townsend who she also beat with a straight set victory in 7-6, 6-2. Serena Williams also made her start against Alison van Uytvanck of Belgium, despite an edgy start from the World No.1, she went on to take break and take the 1st set and raced through the 2nd handing out what must be a very long line in bagel sets to her opponent as she sped to a 6-4, 6-0 win. Victoria Azarenka, who was the former two champion in Melbourne made her return to the courts after being laid off for most of last year with a foot injury, which saw her ranking plummet into the top 50. However Vika had no trouble getting past Sloane Stephens as she dismissed the American in 6-3, 6-2. Petra Kivtova made a good start also as she beat Richel Hogenkamp with an easy 6-1, 6-4 scoreline and last of all Venus Williams got things going with her first round victory over the Spaniard, Maria Teresa Torro Flor, dropping just four games, Venus went through in 6-2, 6-2.
Moving onto day 3 which saw the round 2 matches get under way, things kicked off with Ekaterina Makarova, who has faired pretty well down under as she has been a two time quarter finalist and here she got off to a fine start by beating Roberta Vinci in 6-2, 6-4. Maria Sharapova on the other hand had to endure an almighty battle as she fought against Alexandra Panova, who after losing the first set went on to level the match in the 2nd and Panova went a break 4-1 up in the 3rd set and looked sure to end Maria's campaign early. But Maria fought back in only the way she can as she battled back on serve to 5-5 and went on to break Panova to close out the match with a very hard fought 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win. Simona Halep however had no problems whatsoever in getting past her 2nd round opponent Jamila Gajdosova dropping four games with a 6-2, 6-2, Halep is looking every inch a future major champion at this point and she still remains a favourite to lift the title. Sara Errani made her way into the 3rd round aswell after defeating the Spanish player, Silvia Soler Espinosa 7-6, 6-3. And lastly Eugenie Bouchard, who was a semi finalist last year, won her match easily as she took out Kiki Bertens dropping three games with a 6-0, 6-3 result.
Onto day 4 we go we had Agneiszka Radwanska begin play as she faced the Swedish player, Johanna Larsson who she thrashed with a 6-0, 6-1 scoreline. Radwanska recently recruited Martina Navatrilova as her coach and she will be hoping she can benefit from her experience to try and win her first major, but whether or not she will remains to be seen. Serena Williams took on an old foe in Vera Zvonareva who's career has been plagued with injuries over the last few years and despite a close first set, the Russian proved to be no match for Serena who raced to the finishing line handing out yet another bagel set (she likes doing that obviously!) and moving into round 3 with a 7-5, 6-0 scoreline. Venus Williams also easily moved through to the 3rd round after beating her fellow American, Lauren Davis in 6-2, 6-3, which shows the former finalist is in fine form after winning her first title of the year in Auckland. Victoria Azarenka also pulled off a big win as she proved she was back for real after defeating Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets with a stunning 6-4, 6-2 victory to show she has put herself in the running as a potential favourite to winning the title again. Sam Stosur however suffered an upset also as she lost to the American, Coco Vandeweghe, 6-4, 6-4. And lastly Dominika Cibulkova came through after beating Tsvetana Pironkova by dropping only two games, 6-2, 6-0 and Petra Kvitova also took out the German player, Mona Barthel in 6-2, 6-4.
Now we move to day 5 with the start of the 3rd round matches, which kicked off with the German, Julia Goerges defeating Ana Ivanovic's conqueror, Lucie Hradecka in a tight straight set match winning 7-6, 7-5. Eugenie Bouchard continued her self assured form also as she beat the dangerous Caroline Garcia in a lopsided match, after a tight first set, Bouchard dismissed Garcia with a bagel in the 2nd to win the match 7-5, 6-0. Maria Sharapova after her almighty scare in the 2nd round restored parity as she drubbed her 3rd round opponent Zarina Diyas with a 6-1, 6-1 scoreline. Ekaterina Makarova continued her smooth progress as she beat Karolina Pliskova in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last 16. Simona Halep on the other hand had a tougher time of it as she played the American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who she defeated in a tight match winning 6-4, 7-5. And last of all Yanina Wickmayer showed her fine form in Melbourne as she defeated Sara Errani in a tough three setter, rallying from a set down to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
And last but not least is day 6 which saw the 3rd round action continue with Agnieszka Radwanska continuing to prove she is a threat after she beat the American, Vervara Lepchenko with a straight set 6-0, 7-5 result. Serena Williams faced her first test of the tournament as she faced the rising talent, Elina Svitolina and she had to come from a set down to beat, but Serena finished strong as she won the match with yet another bagel set for her opponent to reach the last 16 with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win. Venus Williams also proved she is still a vital player after she beat the dangerous Camila Ciorgi, also from a set down to win 4-6, 7-6, 6-1 to reach her first 4th round of a grand slam since Wimbledon 2011 to show that old sis still has got it too. Victoria Azarenka, the former champion continued her strong form too after she defeated the temperamental but much improved player, Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (now there is a name!) with a straight set 6-4, 6-4 score. Garbine Muguruza, who made a name for herself last year at the French open as the women who took down Serena Williams there, also progressed into the last 16 with a three set win over Timea Bacsinszky in 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. And last of all one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far came from Maidson Keys, the American player, who stunned Petra Kvitova in a tense match which saw both players trade breaks of serve but eventually it was Keys who saw it out and won in 6-4, 7-5 and reached the 4th round of a grand slam for the first time in her short career.
Sooooo that's it for the ladies matches so far and I will be back soon with another update for them, but for now I will head over to the men's matches....
Back soon!
Monday 12 January 2015
2015 Australian open men's singles predictions
Well its a new year for tennis as the 2015 season is already under way as the new year get's into its second week and with tournaments on the go down under just now in Sydney and Hobart, things are warming up nicely for the beginning of the Australian open, the first grand slam of the season, which begins a week today. And with it nearing ever closer I thought I would do my predictions for the contenders of the men's singles title. So let's delve into this un starting with the top favourite and working my down to the dark horse contenders.
1. Novak Djokovic
Well there is no getting past it that Novak is the world's best player, he has already won the Australian open four times and although he lost out last year to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka, he is a surefire favourite every time to lift another title down under and that's why he is right at the top. There is some room for uncertainty however with Nole as he did show signs of rustiness in Doha where he suffered an upset defeat by the giant serving giant, Ivo Karlovic in three sets. However I'm certain that Nole will use the time in between his shock defeat to iron out the creases in his game and he will find his top form when he get's to Melbourne and in the past we have seen Novak play some of his very best tennis there, which is no wonder how he has won the title there already so many times. There were also some question marks raised over Novak now being a new dad with his wife Jelena having given birth to their first child last year, which might have affected the sharpness of his game, but so far despite one defeat, he has far from shown anything to worry about and he will be a sharp as ever come a week today. Will he win it??? Its a relatively safe bet, but given the upset he suffered last year at the hands of Stan Wawrinka and also the surprise defeat to Kei Nishikori at the US Open last year also, it sees some new faces step into the light to threaten the World No.1. But if anyone could win it, its this man and he's got a better chance than most. Prediction: champion or finalist or even semi-finalist.
2. Roger Federer
Next is Roger Federer who over the last 12 months has rediscovered his top form ever since hiring Stefan Edberg, the former Wimbledon champion, he has sharpened his net game and his serve and become once more the formidable opponent he has been for most of his career. And to top it off he also made a bit of history in becoming only the 3rd man in the history of he sport to win 1000 matches after he clinched the title in the final of the Brisbane International against Milos Raonic to cap off his first four figured win. Roger time and time again he can beat just about any record and he is going for his record 18th grand slam title in Melbourne next week and given his form he sure is a top contender for the trophy. Like Nole however, Roger does have some threatening opponents lulling around such as Kei Nishikori not to mention Milos Raonic, who really gave Roger something to think about in their Brisbane final. Roger also has to contend with the usual suspects such as Nole and Rafa, although Rafa is pretty rusty in form just now due to his lack of matches having just come back from his apendectomy, so is Roger wants to secure his first grand slam win over Rafa in nearly 8 years, this would be the time to do it. But before that Roger will potentially face a rematch of last year's quarter final with Andy Murray. Given Andy had just returned from surgery last year, Roger in his rejuvenated form was the favourite to win, but this year its a bit trickier to see Roger as the outright winner as Andy has shown great promise already in his pre-slam warm up events and he is now back to full fitness. But Roger last year showed by reaching the Wimbledon final that he still has at least one more grand slam in him somewhere and it wouldn't at all surprise me if he were to lift his first major silverware in almost three years down under. Prediction: semi finals, finalist or champion.
3. Andy Murray
OK at Number 3 I thought I would be a bit bold and put Andy Murray in there. Why? Well so far in 2015 he has gotten his pre-season warm up off to a great start as he won the exhbition title (albeit by default and there is Andy holding the trophy in the pic) in Abu Dhabi and then went on to win all three of his singles matches at the Hopman cup last week, despite him and his team partner losing out in reaching the final there. But having said that Andy is yet to lose a singles match this year in 2015 and this could be a very good omen for him at the Australian open. OK in the grand scheme of things winning matches in exhibition events doesn't count the same as winning tour matches and certainly not in the majors. But this year something appears to be a bit different about Andy Murray as he appears to be more relaxed and confident again out on the court and we are starting to see signs of the Andy Murray during his Ivan Lendl era emerge again. Not only that Andy has been a three time finalist down under in Melbourne so he has a pretty decent chance of eventually cracking his nut in Oz and given the right frame of mind and great form he might just do it this year. The only problem for Andy is of course his serve and it appears to be the one aspect of his game that has gone on unaddressed, with Andy roughly serving a woeful 50 percent first serves in on average, its simply not good enough against the top players, and his 2nd serve speed of roughly 75-80mph leaves him wide open to be attacked by his opponents. But if Andy were to iron that out and improve his serve it would make him as good a player as Novak Djokovic is just now and the two of them would be ruling the roost together. But such as it is Andy has still got alot of work to do in that department. However I still think Andy has got a very good chance of doing well down under and whilst I don't see him as an outright favourite to win I do think he can go deep into the 2nd week. The problem for Andy now is (updated 18.01) that he has been handed much the same draw as last year as he now will potentially face Roger Federer in the quarter finals again this year and a possible showdown with Rafa in the semis. Given Rafa's lack of matchplay I can't quite see him go too deep in Melbourne but I could be wrong, but Roger is a different proposition altogether and he just happened to hand Andy in their last meeting the heaviest defeat of his career. But Andy is a different animal this year so far as he has shown good signs already in Abu Dhabi and Perth and he is also much fitter and stronger than he was last year, so if he will meet Roger I'm sure he will be intent on getting revenge for such a brutal loss last year at the o2 in London. But having said that given Andy's tough draw and not to mention a possible 4th round clash with Dimitrov, its hard to predict just how far Andy can go this year down under, but I think at the very least we can expect to see him in the last eight or if he plays his cards right even last four or the final. And if he can battle past Fed then he'll give himself a good shout for the title. Prediction: quarter finals, semi-finals or finalist.
4. Kei Nishikori
Next up is Kei Nishikori, last year's surprise US Open finalist, who stunned Nole enroute to the final in New York last year before being beaten himself by Marin Cilic. Over the last 12 months, Nishikori really has proven himself to be a force to be reckoned with in the men's game and he has really stepped up to the plate and beaten three of the big four (except Rafa, who he could have done in Miami) in 2014 alone. Last year in Melbourne Kei also did well in reaching the 4th round at the Australian open where he pushed Rafa quite hard over three tough fought sets, which showed he is a player to watch out for. The only problem for Kei possibly lies in the fact that he doesn't have any big weapons in his game, as his serve lacks penetration and he has to rely more on his speed and court coverage to produce the points. Kei is also in that position of never having won a major and the nerves sooner or later may kick in for him should he reach the final, he has also struggled off and on with injuries last year also, so that could also potentially derail his title bid down under should they resurface. However Kei is still a strong contender to win the title and he sure has the talent, the game and the growing belief that he can win a major and if so he will make his own bit of history in becoming the first Japanese man to win a grand slam singles title and it might just happen this year, but it might not just happen yet in Melbourne, but reaching the final four is a decent bet. Prediction: semi finals.
5. Stanislas Wawrinka
After Kei we have the defending champion, Stanislas Wawrinka, whom pulled off a wonderful feat last year of stunning both the then current champion, Novak Djokovic and also Rafael Nadal in the final. Stan went on to have mixed fortunes in 2014 as after he won his first major in Melbourne, he also went on to win his first 1000 Masters series title in Monte Carlo, but after that his year took a dip and he suffered a first round exit at the French open, although faired better at Wimbledon and the US Open where he reached the quarter finals and finished it off in style by reaching the semi finals of the ATP world tour finals. But who is to say that Stan might not recover that great form that won him the title last year as there is no doubt that this will be his favourite grand slam after last year. Stan also has the power and the game to blow any player off the court as he has a powerful serve and just also happens to have the best single handed backhand in the game. However despite being a major champion already, Stan still lacks the mental edge needed to keep on winning the big events, as he has folded in several matches last year and somewhere along the way the same thing could happen to him this year in Melbourne. So will Stan defend his title??? Well to be honest I would have to say no because I think he will struggle with the expecation and the pressure of having to defend his title as the tournament progresses, but I do think he can still go quite deep into the event and he should at least reach the last eight or four before losing out to his successor. However I could be wrong and Stan could go on and defend his title, and he already has defended his title in Chennai last week, so maybe that could be a good omen for him for Melbourne, but we'll see. Prediction: quarter finals or semi finals.
6. David Ferrer
After Stan we have David Ferrer who has made a good start to his 2015 as he fought his way into the final of the Qatar Exxon Mobile open last week and beat Tomas Berdych comfortably in straight sets to claim his 22nd career title. Ferrer had his struggles in 2014 however, which left him with a couple of early exits in the slams at Wimbledon and the US Open and he also lost out in a few finals, one of which was the Vienna open in which he was serving for the title in the 3rd set before Andy Murray fought back and claimed it himself. But it is a new year and I'm sure Ferrer will be refreshed after his break (and has also started a new coaching partnership having split from his former coach of 15 years, Javier Piles) and his title in Doha is a great start and sees him getting back on the right track just before Melbourne starts. Ferrer is also a former semi finalist at the Australian open so the chances of him going deep down under are pretty good. Can he win the title there? Unfortunately I don't think so as he has time and time again come up short against the big four in the majors and he is sure to bump into at least one of them enroute to a possible final (also with one of them!). Regardless of that though, Ferrer is still one of the world's best players (and one of my favourites aswell!) and he has been at the top of the game for a long time and with good reason and if he will fall down under, he will go down fighting, and I think he could definitely reach the last eight or maybe four. Prediction: quarter finals or semi finals.
7. Milos Raonic
Then we get to Milos Raonic who has gotten his year off to a good start as he reached the final of the Brisbane International, where he gave Roger Federer a stern test in the final before falling in three sets to the Swiss. Raonic also has proven over the last 12 months alone that he is rapidly improving as a player and he is now starting to add one or two extra shots to what has to be one of the game's best serves, as he is now a comptent returner and a decent volleyer. Raonic also made his breakthrough last year in reaching his first major quarter final at the French open last year and he went one better at Wimbledon where he reached the semi finals there before losing out to Roger Federer, so Milos is starting to learn a thing or two about going deep into the majors. However I don't see Raonic as the eventual champion down under as his game does lack that extra dimension required to take down the guys right at the top, which he would need to work on in order to do that. So while I think Raonic can reach the 2nd week I don't quite see him progressing further than maybe the last eight, depending on who he faces enroute. Prediction: quarter finals.
8. Grigor Dimitrov
Then we have another young gun, Grigor Dimitrov, who is surprisingly quite far down the list the time although you might ask why??? Well that's a good question as Dimi has been in very good form over the last 12 months and he has racked up some good victories, especially as he claimed his first win over Andy Murray in Acapulco enroute to winning the title there, his first ATP 500 tour title and he went on to win the title at Queens club and then toppled Andy Murray out of Wimbledon to reach the last four there. The problem is since then something is missing from Dimitrov's game that will make him appear to be the big threat that he can be as he appears to have lost a bit of that edge towards the end of last year. However it is the start of a new year and no doubt Dimitrov will be hugely motivated to do well in Melbourne and he did reach his first grand slam quarter final last year in Oz where he gave Rafa a stern battle before losing in four sets. So for me Grigor remains a bit of a question mark this time round, he sure has the game and all the aspects to win a mjor, but he could well do it this year, but I'm not certain if Melbourne is the one he will do it at. But I think Dimitrov should do pretty well and maybe reach the last eight again. Prediction: quarter finals.
9. Rafael Nadal
OK just why is Rafa this far down the list?????? Well there are one or two reasons, the main one is because he is not long back from surgery after recovering from appendcitis, which has left him without much match practice and as such he is looking pretty rusty. So if you put Rafa out on a tennis court in rusty form against some top players he could very well become the victim of a big upset and so far in 2015 he has been beaten by an in form Andy Murray and also in his first ATP tour match in Doha by a German player, Michael Berrer ranked inside the top 200. So to say at this stage that Rafa might be a favourite to win the title is a bit of mute point as I think its safe to say he would have to seriously step up his form several gears over the next few weeks if he is to stand any chance of winning the title down under. However that's not to say that Rafa won't give his all, as he always does in victory or defeat and the grand slams certainly bring out the best in him so there is no doubt his motivation will be very high. So whilst I don't see Rafa as a favourite to win the title he is still one to watch out for and just maybe he could surprise us all, and I think he might just make the 2nd week maybe in the last 16 or 8 if not further. Prediction: 4th round, quarter finals.
10. Tomas Berdych
OK right at the bottom of the list although in a way I'm not quite sure how, is Tomas Berdych, who last year had a real shot at reaching the final in Melbourne as he took on Stan Wawrinka, but ended up losing to him in four tight sets. Berdych however sure has the firepower to knock out any player's lights on the tour as he has powerful groundstrokes and a potent big serve. But Berdych unfortunately as he has often proved in big matches, lacks the mental edge to make the final push necessary to win the big events. And he proved this again last week in Doha as he played brilliantly to reach the final but he came undone against an in form David Ferrer and in the match he had his chances to push it to a 3rd set but he couldn't take them and in the big events players need to take their chances. Berdych however has made an interesting change of coach as he has taken on Dani Vallverdu, Andy Murray's former assistant coach, who was a real asset to Andy during their time, as Dani would regularly be seen scouting matches and making notes on future opponents for Andy, and no doubt Dani will do the same for Berdych. Tomas however is yet to achieve what Andy has in his career and the fact that he has lost more finals than he has won (15 lost to 10 won) doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence in Tomas lifting his first major in Melbourne. But he is a top player and I think he will reach the 2nd week and a place in the last 16 or 8 is a safe bet. Prediction: 4th round or quarter finals.
Rrrrrrrrright so that's it for my exhaustive look at the contenders for the Australian open title and I will be back on this blog once the action in Melbourne get's under way.
Until then bye for now!
1. Novak Djokovic
Well there is no getting past it that Novak is the world's best player, he has already won the Australian open four times and although he lost out last year to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka, he is a surefire favourite every time to lift another title down under and that's why he is right at the top. There is some room for uncertainty however with Nole as he did show signs of rustiness in Doha where he suffered an upset defeat by the giant serving giant, Ivo Karlovic in three sets. However I'm certain that Nole will use the time in between his shock defeat to iron out the creases in his game and he will find his top form when he get's to Melbourne and in the past we have seen Novak play some of his very best tennis there, which is no wonder how he has won the title there already so many times. There were also some question marks raised over Novak now being a new dad with his wife Jelena having given birth to their first child last year, which might have affected the sharpness of his game, but so far despite one defeat, he has far from shown anything to worry about and he will be a sharp as ever come a week today. Will he win it??? Its a relatively safe bet, but given the upset he suffered last year at the hands of Stan Wawrinka and also the surprise defeat to Kei Nishikori at the US Open last year also, it sees some new faces step into the light to threaten the World No.1. But if anyone could win it, its this man and he's got a better chance than most. Prediction: champion or finalist or even semi-finalist.
2. Roger Federer
Next is Roger Federer who over the last 12 months has rediscovered his top form ever since hiring Stefan Edberg, the former Wimbledon champion, he has sharpened his net game and his serve and become once more the formidable opponent he has been for most of his career. And to top it off he also made a bit of history in becoming only the 3rd man in the history of he sport to win 1000 matches after he clinched the title in the final of the Brisbane International against Milos Raonic to cap off his first four figured win. Roger time and time again he can beat just about any record and he is going for his record 18th grand slam title in Melbourne next week and given his form he sure is a top contender for the trophy. Like Nole however, Roger does have some threatening opponents lulling around such as Kei Nishikori not to mention Milos Raonic, who really gave Roger something to think about in their Brisbane final. Roger also has to contend with the usual suspects such as Nole and Rafa, although Rafa is pretty rusty in form just now due to his lack of matches having just come back from his apendectomy, so is Roger wants to secure his first grand slam win over Rafa in nearly 8 years, this would be the time to do it. But before that Roger will potentially face a rematch of last year's quarter final with Andy Murray. Given Andy had just returned from surgery last year, Roger in his rejuvenated form was the favourite to win, but this year its a bit trickier to see Roger as the outright winner as Andy has shown great promise already in his pre-slam warm up events and he is now back to full fitness. But Roger last year showed by reaching the Wimbledon final that he still has at least one more grand slam in him somewhere and it wouldn't at all surprise me if he were to lift his first major silverware in almost three years down under. Prediction: semi finals, finalist or champion.
3. Andy Murray
OK at Number 3 I thought I would be a bit bold and put Andy Murray in there. Why? Well so far in 2015 he has gotten his pre-season warm up off to a great start as he won the exhbition title (albeit by default and there is Andy holding the trophy in the pic) in Abu Dhabi and then went on to win all three of his singles matches at the Hopman cup last week, despite him and his team partner losing out in reaching the final there. But having said that Andy is yet to lose a singles match this year in 2015 and this could be a very good omen for him at the Australian open. OK in the grand scheme of things winning matches in exhibition events doesn't count the same as winning tour matches and certainly not in the majors. But this year something appears to be a bit different about Andy Murray as he appears to be more relaxed and confident again out on the court and we are starting to see signs of the Andy Murray during his Ivan Lendl era emerge again. Not only that Andy has been a three time finalist down under in Melbourne so he has a pretty decent chance of eventually cracking his nut in Oz and given the right frame of mind and great form he might just do it this year. The only problem for Andy is of course his serve and it appears to be the one aspect of his game that has gone on unaddressed, with Andy roughly serving a woeful 50 percent first serves in on average, its simply not good enough against the top players, and his 2nd serve speed of roughly 75-80mph leaves him wide open to be attacked by his opponents. But if Andy were to iron that out and improve his serve it would make him as good a player as Novak Djokovic is just now and the two of them would be ruling the roost together. But such as it is Andy has still got alot of work to do in that department. However I still think Andy has got a very good chance of doing well down under and whilst I don't see him as an outright favourite to win I do think he can go deep into the 2nd week. The problem for Andy now is (updated 18.01) that he has been handed much the same draw as last year as he now will potentially face Roger Federer in the quarter finals again this year and a possible showdown with Rafa in the semis. Given Rafa's lack of matchplay I can't quite see him go too deep in Melbourne but I could be wrong, but Roger is a different proposition altogether and he just happened to hand Andy in their last meeting the heaviest defeat of his career. But Andy is a different animal this year so far as he has shown good signs already in Abu Dhabi and Perth and he is also much fitter and stronger than he was last year, so if he will meet Roger I'm sure he will be intent on getting revenge for such a brutal loss last year at the o2 in London. But having said that given Andy's tough draw and not to mention a possible 4th round clash with Dimitrov, its hard to predict just how far Andy can go this year down under, but I think at the very least we can expect to see him in the last eight or if he plays his cards right even last four or the final. And if he can battle past Fed then he'll give himself a good shout for the title. Prediction: quarter finals, semi-finals or finalist.
4. Kei Nishikori
Next up is Kei Nishikori, last year's surprise US Open finalist, who stunned Nole enroute to the final in New York last year before being beaten himself by Marin Cilic. Over the last 12 months, Nishikori really has proven himself to be a force to be reckoned with in the men's game and he has really stepped up to the plate and beaten three of the big four (except Rafa, who he could have done in Miami) in 2014 alone. Last year in Melbourne Kei also did well in reaching the 4th round at the Australian open where he pushed Rafa quite hard over three tough fought sets, which showed he is a player to watch out for. The only problem for Kei possibly lies in the fact that he doesn't have any big weapons in his game, as his serve lacks penetration and he has to rely more on his speed and court coverage to produce the points. Kei is also in that position of never having won a major and the nerves sooner or later may kick in for him should he reach the final, he has also struggled off and on with injuries last year also, so that could also potentially derail his title bid down under should they resurface. However Kei is still a strong contender to win the title and he sure has the talent, the game and the growing belief that he can win a major and if so he will make his own bit of history in becoming the first Japanese man to win a grand slam singles title and it might just happen this year, but it might not just happen yet in Melbourne, but reaching the final four is a decent bet. Prediction: semi finals.
5. Stanislas Wawrinka
After Kei we have the defending champion, Stanislas Wawrinka, whom pulled off a wonderful feat last year of stunning both the then current champion, Novak Djokovic and also Rafael Nadal in the final. Stan went on to have mixed fortunes in 2014 as after he won his first major in Melbourne, he also went on to win his first 1000 Masters series title in Monte Carlo, but after that his year took a dip and he suffered a first round exit at the French open, although faired better at Wimbledon and the US Open where he reached the quarter finals and finished it off in style by reaching the semi finals of the ATP world tour finals. But who is to say that Stan might not recover that great form that won him the title last year as there is no doubt that this will be his favourite grand slam after last year. Stan also has the power and the game to blow any player off the court as he has a powerful serve and just also happens to have the best single handed backhand in the game. However despite being a major champion already, Stan still lacks the mental edge needed to keep on winning the big events, as he has folded in several matches last year and somewhere along the way the same thing could happen to him this year in Melbourne. So will Stan defend his title??? Well to be honest I would have to say no because I think he will struggle with the expecation and the pressure of having to defend his title as the tournament progresses, but I do think he can still go quite deep into the event and he should at least reach the last eight or four before losing out to his successor. However I could be wrong and Stan could go on and defend his title, and he already has defended his title in Chennai last week, so maybe that could be a good omen for him for Melbourne, but we'll see. Prediction: quarter finals or semi finals.
6. David Ferrer
After Stan we have David Ferrer who has made a good start to his 2015 as he fought his way into the final of the Qatar Exxon Mobile open last week and beat Tomas Berdych comfortably in straight sets to claim his 22nd career title. Ferrer had his struggles in 2014 however, which left him with a couple of early exits in the slams at Wimbledon and the US Open and he also lost out in a few finals, one of which was the Vienna open in which he was serving for the title in the 3rd set before Andy Murray fought back and claimed it himself. But it is a new year and I'm sure Ferrer will be refreshed after his break (and has also started a new coaching partnership having split from his former coach of 15 years, Javier Piles) and his title in Doha is a great start and sees him getting back on the right track just before Melbourne starts. Ferrer is also a former semi finalist at the Australian open so the chances of him going deep down under are pretty good. Can he win the title there? Unfortunately I don't think so as he has time and time again come up short against the big four in the majors and he is sure to bump into at least one of them enroute to a possible final (also with one of them!). Regardless of that though, Ferrer is still one of the world's best players (and one of my favourites aswell!) and he has been at the top of the game for a long time and with good reason and if he will fall down under, he will go down fighting, and I think he could definitely reach the last eight or maybe four. Prediction: quarter finals or semi finals.
7. Milos Raonic
Then we get to Milos Raonic who has gotten his year off to a good start as he reached the final of the Brisbane International, where he gave Roger Federer a stern test in the final before falling in three sets to the Swiss. Raonic also has proven over the last 12 months alone that he is rapidly improving as a player and he is now starting to add one or two extra shots to what has to be one of the game's best serves, as he is now a comptent returner and a decent volleyer. Raonic also made his breakthrough last year in reaching his first major quarter final at the French open last year and he went one better at Wimbledon where he reached the semi finals there before losing out to Roger Federer, so Milos is starting to learn a thing or two about going deep into the majors. However I don't see Raonic as the eventual champion down under as his game does lack that extra dimension required to take down the guys right at the top, which he would need to work on in order to do that. So while I think Raonic can reach the 2nd week I don't quite see him progressing further than maybe the last eight, depending on who he faces enroute. Prediction: quarter finals.
8. Grigor Dimitrov
Then we have another young gun, Grigor Dimitrov, who is surprisingly quite far down the list the time although you might ask why??? Well that's a good question as Dimi has been in very good form over the last 12 months and he has racked up some good victories, especially as he claimed his first win over Andy Murray in Acapulco enroute to winning the title there, his first ATP 500 tour title and he went on to win the title at Queens club and then toppled Andy Murray out of Wimbledon to reach the last four there. The problem is since then something is missing from Dimitrov's game that will make him appear to be the big threat that he can be as he appears to have lost a bit of that edge towards the end of last year. However it is the start of a new year and no doubt Dimitrov will be hugely motivated to do well in Melbourne and he did reach his first grand slam quarter final last year in Oz where he gave Rafa a stern battle before losing in four sets. So for me Grigor remains a bit of a question mark this time round, he sure has the game and all the aspects to win a mjor, but he could well do it this year, but I'm not certain if Melbourne is the one he will do it at. But I think Dimitrov should do pretty well and maybe reach the last eight again. Prediction: quarter finals.
9. Rafael Nadal
OK just why is Rafa this far down the list?????? Well there are one or two reasons, the main one is because he is not long back from surgery after recovering from appendcitis, which has left him without much match practice and as such he is looking pretty rusty. So if you put Rafa out on a tennis court in rusty form against some top players he could very well become the victim of a big upset and so far in 2015 he has been beaten by an in form Andy Murray and also in his first ATP tour match in Doha by a German player, Michael Berrer ranked inside the top 200. So to say at this stage that Rafa might be a favourite to win the title is a bit of mute point as I think its safe to say he would have to seriously step up his form several gears over the next few weeks if he is to stand any chance of winning the title down under. However that's not to say that Rafa won't give his all, as he always does in victory or defeat and the grand slams certainly bring out the best in him so there is no doubt his motivation will be very high. So whilst I don't see Rafa as a favourite to win the title he is still one to watch out for and just maybe he could surprise us all, and I think he might just make the 2nd week maybe in the last 16 or 8 if not further. Prediction: 4th round, quarter finals.
10. Tomas Berdych
OK right at the bottom of the list although in a way I'm not quite sure how, is Tomas Berdych, who last year had a real shot at reaching the final in Melbourne as he took on Stan Wawrinka, but ended up losing to him in four tight sets. Berdych however sure has the firepower to knock out any player's lights on the tour as he has powerful groundstrokes and a potent big serve. But Berdych unfortunately as he has often proved in big matches, lacks the mental edge to make the final push necessary to win the big events. And he proved this again last week in Doha as he played brilliantly to reach the final but he came undone against an in form David Ferrer and in the match he had his chances to push it to a 3rd set but he couldn't take them and in the big events players need to take their chances. Berdych however has made an interesting change of coach as he has taken on Dani Vallverdu, Andy Murray's former assistant coach, who was a real asset to Andy during their time, as Dani would regularly be seen scouting matches and making notes on future opponents for Andy, and no doubt Dani will do the same for Berdych. Tomas however is yet to achieve what Andy has in his career and the fact that he has lost more finals than he has won (15 lost to 10 won) doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence in Tomas lifting his first major in Melbourne. But he is a top player and I think he will reach the 2nd week and a place in the last 16 or 8 is a safe bet. Prediction: 4th round or quarter finals.
Rrrrrrrrright so that's it for my exhaustive look at the contenders for the Australian open title and I will be back on this blog once the action in Melbourne get's under way.
Until then bye for now!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)