Davis cup weekend: Great Britain vs France - going for it

Well in this post I will take another look at the Davis cup and this weekend's tie was between Great Britain and France as both teams looked to reach the semi finals of the sports largest team event in history.  So let's see how they got on....

Right well the first day saw the first match between the British No.2, James Ward and the French No.1, Gilles Simon in a match that heavily favoured the Frenchman given their gulf in rankings.  And the match itself reflected just that as despite a slightly nervy start from Simon, which saw him dish up a break point to James, Simon held on and held serve and after that he grew into the match with confidence and never looked back after that as he broke Ward and sealed the first set.  In the 2nd set it was more of the same from the Frenchman who outclassed Ward and broke again to take a two sets to love lead.  And in the 3rd set it was a bridge too far for James who could not cope with Simon's class, speed and defence and he went down a double break to seal the first point for France as Simon drew first blood and won the match in 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.  The outcome of this match was never going to be in doubt and it was Simon that came through very comfortably in the end however it still wouldn't be plain sailing for France....

And this proved to be the case for them as in the 2nd match of the day the British No.1, Andy Murray took on the French No.2, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in what promised to be a very stern test for Andy.  And for the most part it was just that as Tsonga is a player who has big shots and a big serve and kept raining them down.  However Andy managed to stick with Tsonga well on serve and he broke him at 6-5 to nab the first set.  In the 2nd set Tsonga went an early break up but Andy soon broke back and play went by serve into a very tense and thrilling tiebreak which saw momentum to and fro with Tsonga having a clutch of set points.  However Andy saved them all and he went to fashion a set point of his own which saw him grab the two set lead.  And in the 3rd set Andy put the hammer down and outplayed Tsonga as he took a double break and sealed Great Britain's first tie point with a 7-5, 7-6, 6-2 win.  This was a very entertaining match overall and Andy again did what he needed to do and was very impressive in how he dealt with Tsonga in this match who had several chances to level the match in the 2nd tiebreak.  But in the end it was a vital win for GB which kept them alive for the doubles the next day.

Which brings me onto day 2 which was the doubles match between the two teams and it was debated whether or not Andy or Dominic Inglot would play in the doubles with Jamie Murray but in the end it was the Murray brothers who played together against France's Tsonga and Nicholas Mahut.  And this proved to be an enthralling battle between the two teams as France took the early lead by breaking Andy's serve they nabbed the opening set.  In the 2nd set however Andy and Jamie fought back and broke the Frenchmen to level the match.  And in the 3rd set we got a thrilling tense fight between both teams and play went to a tiebreak where Andy grabbed the crucial minibreak to go two sets to one up, which saw Andy go wild and jump up and down!  So in the 4th set it all came to ahead as Andy and Jamie took the match by the scruff of the neck and grabbed a double break which saw them seal a crucial tie point as Great Britain took a 2-1 lead with the Murrays winning the match in four sets 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1.

Well there wasn't much doubt that this was a crucial match for both teams and it was a debatable decision whether or not that Andy should have played and it was one that could have backfired but in the end it proved to be the right one.  And it also give team GB the much needed lead they required to give them their best chance in singles on the final day as reverse singles rubbers took place except this time it would the British and French No.1s playing each other.

And this match turned out to be between Andy Murray and Gilles Simon and given their head to head which was overwhelmingly in Andy's favour 12-2, it looked to be a match that he could have won easily.  However it turned out to be far from it as Simon started off the stronger of the two as Andy looked fatigued after his efforts over the last two days and he made too many errors and handed Simon the break to take the opening set.  And the danger signs continued in the 2nd set also as Andy made a hash of his first service game to go another break down which left things in a precarious position for team GB as Simon maintained his lead.  However at 4-3 with Simon serving to go 5-3, Andy finally pounced and broke back and from here he held serve and from here play went by serve and both men played a tiebreak which saw Andy go 4-1 down at one point but he battled back to even the scores and he managed to grab a minibreak to win the 2nd set to keep himself alive in the match.  And from here Andy started to stamp his authority on the match and grabbed a double break in the 3rd set although he surrendered one of the breaks back to Simon before taking the two sets to one lead with a stunning lob, which was easily the point of the match.  And in the 4th set Andy took full control after Simon slipped and injured his ankle it seriously hampered his movement and took a medical timeout.  And despite Simon's best efforts he could not get himself back into the match as Andy finished off the wounded Frenchman with a bagel to seal the tie for Great Britain with a dramatic 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory.

This was an amazing effort from Andy Murray who really was under fire from Gilles Simon in this match and in the 2nd set he was on the verge of going a double break down but he somehow manage to fight against not only his opponent but also the fatigue from the effort he had put in over the last two days of the tie.  The match itself was very entertaining and had its fair share of drama as I already stated with Andy having gone a set and a break down defeat looked to be on the cards and given that the fifth rubber would have been between Tsonga and James Ward there would have been no chance for the Brits to have won the tie given the gulf in their rankings.  But if you forgive me using the cliche Andy did what champions do and he dug deep to win this one and it must rank as one of his most impressive not to mention emotional victories as after the match he sat down with his head in his hands sobbing after the sheer effort he put into not only that match but the whole weekend.  And there is no doubt that team GB would not be able to be in this position without him although James Ward also definitely deserves credit in the past for some of his impressive singles wins for GB and overall as a team they really have done a superb job to get this far.

So this means that Great Britain are now in the semi finals of the Davis cup for the first time since 1981 and even more interestingly the draw is now even more wide open this time round as there will be no Serbia or Switzerland in the semi finals this season as they have already lost out this year.  And Serbia's loss this weekened was pretty much entirely attributed to the absence of Novak Djokovic, who presumably wanted to rest after he won Wimbledon, which is understandable and given the effort he has made over the years for his country in the Davis cup it is no disgrace that he chose not to play.  So this means that if team GB play their cards right they might just have a good shout at winning the title.  And although Australia will be GB's next opponents in the semi finals, team GB will have the home advantage again and Andy has never lost to an Australian player yet in his career, which is quite an achievement in itself which bodes well for them.  However the tie could still come down to the doubles and GB will need to put in a very good performance in the doubles to give themselves their best chance of winning in order to reach the final.

However it will also be interesting just to see how the US Open will go this year for Andy as so far he has not succeeded in winning a grand slam and this will be his last chance for the season in New York.  But even if Andy does not win the US Open and maybe loses in the semi finals or the final he will still have that motivation and desire to win at the Davis cup and the way I see it is Andy has already won a grand slam but he is yet to win the Davis cup and this is probably the best chance Great Britain will ever have to win and I'm sure Andy will want to grab it with both hands.

So that's it for my look at the Davis cup which ended with a terrific result for Great Britain and it sets up an intriguing clash with Australia in September, while the other tie will be between Argentina and Belgium so it will be fascinating to see how it goes.

So that's me for now and I'll be back some other time in the future.

Till then bye for now!  

2015 Wimbledon Part 7: No.21 and No.9

Right well this is my last post on this year's Wimbledon and it will cover both men's and the ladies singles finals and who won the Venus Rosewater dish and also who won the Gentlemen singles trophy. 

So starting with the ladies the final was between the world no.1 Serena Williams and the maiden finalist Garbine Muguruza of Spain.  This promised to be quite a match especially given that Muguruza had already previously beaten Serena in straight sets at last year's French open, but that was in the 2nd round so this was a whole other deal altogether.  As for the match itself well it wasn't quite the class we could hoped for although it was still quite entertaining and it began with Muguruza taking an early break and making her presence known in the match.  However it wasn't long before Serena broke back and then restablished herself and at that point the cracks began to show in Muguruza as she was broken by Serena and lost the first set.  In the 2nd set Serena really started to take control of the match as Muguruza seemingly soon found herself way out of her depth and she crumbled under the pressure and went a double break down with Serena up 5-1 to serve for the title.  However nerves also played a part for Serena at this point and she ended up being broken back by Muguruza who then held her own service and more impressively played a great game to break Serena yet again to get back on serve.  But in the end unfortunately for Muguruza that was as far as she could get and she surrendered her own serve from 0-40 down to hand Serena her 6th Wimbledon title and also complete the Serena slam with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

This was actually quite a good match despite its short length of 83 minutes and it showed that Muguruza really is a player to watch in the future despite succumbing to the pressure in that last game.  And if Muguruza can maintain that momentum in the future then she is sure to win a few majors herself as she certainly has the power and the game to do it.  And it was something of a surprise that given Muguruza was primarily a clay court player that she was able to make the final of Wimbledon but it goes to show that she really is quite a player and no doubt we will be seeing more from her.   

As for Serena well she proved yet again in this final that she is the undisputed World No.1 and now she is only one major away from equalling Stefi Graff's record of 22, which I'm sure Serena will want to put the record well beyond reach before she retires.  And given her fitness and form I don't quite see Serena retiring anytime soon especially as there are only one or two players that can stay with her on a tennis court.  And Serena will also no doubt target the US Open as well, the final slam of the season which would see Serena complete the calendar slam, which is something she is not done before in her career, which would put her even further into the stratosphere with the greats in the game (bit wanky but you get what I mean).  And I personally think the only way anyway is going to win another major is if Serena beats herself in a match or if she retires but until then she can go on winning with virtually no one else to stop her.

Now for the men's final which was between two greats in the game Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer the current No.1 and No.2 which was a rematch of their epic encounter last year which went the distance and saw Novak triumph.  So this year everything was on the line again for both player and Roger once again was determined to try and win a record 8th Wimbledon title with Novak looking to defend his title and claim a 3rd.  As for the match was it quite the thriller of last year???  Well not quite but it came fairly close at times and still had its moments.  As for the match itself it began with Roger coming out strong and breaking Novak, however Nole soon broke back himself and play went into a tiebreak where Novak asserted himself to dominate the breaker which saw Rog feebly surrender the set with a double fault.  In the 2nd set play went by serve again with Roger having some opportunities along the way but the tiebreak itself was one of the best of the year, which saw momentum to and fro and finally saw the champion in Roger stave off several set points to go on claim the 2nd set 12-10 on the breaker.  In the 3rd set however there was a rain delay with disrupted play and Roger then made the mistake of dropping serve and from here Novak took the two sets to one lead.  And in the 4th set Nole took full control of the match as he broke Roger twice to seal the deal and claim his 3rd Wimbledon title with a 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 win.

While this was a very entertaining finale it didn't quite scale the heights of last year's thriller but it did show that a year on how much more confident Novak Djokovic has become as a player as once he got his nose ahead in the match he never looked back.  Roger after his incredible performance against Andy Murray in the semi finals was impressive at times in the match but he made too many unforced errors in the end and struggled to keep up the pace as the match went on.  And this match really showed the gap between Novak and Roger and also the gulf between Novak and everyone else in terms of form as he really looks set (no pun intended) to dominate the men's game for the next few years. 

And from here it has to be said that it will be difficult for most players to live with Novak from now on in matches and Roger, Stan and Andy are just about the only ones that can hang with Novak on a tennis court just now.  And I also think it would fairly safe to say that I can't see anyone but Novak win the US Open this year, the only remaining major left this season unless he drops his form just a bit during Flushing meadows, which I very much doubt.  Novak now also has won the last three meetings against Roger and it looks likely that he, like he has done against Andy, go on unbeaten against him as this guy is no stranger to winning streaks.   

As for Roger well by reaching the Wimbledon final it still shows that he might have one more major left in him and going by his form leading into the final he looked to me like the surefire champion.  But again you can never count out Novak Djokovic and in the end once the match became a physical contest it would always be Novak that would come out on top and in the end Roger couldn't quite cope with Djokovic's incredible defensive skills.  But despite all that it still proved that Roger is very much a vital tennis player with a shot at winning another major before he retires, which I'm sure he won't do until he decides it time to stop.

So that's it for my look at Wimbledon 2015, which has been another excellent grand slam tournament which has seen some great matches either side of the net and it has proved that the current No.1's on both the men's and ladies sides of the net are still very much the No.1 in their sport.  So I might be back soon with another post on the Davis cup tie between Great Britain and France at Queens club, which begins this weekend so I'll look forward to that.  

Until then its bye for now. 

2015 Wimbledon Part 6: Men's semi finals - life in the old dog yet

Well this is my second last post on the men's matches at Wimbledon this year as I will cover the men's semi finals from today at SW19 and will find out who made it into the final this year.

So let's have a look at how they got on....

OK to kick off we first up had Novak Djokovic take on Richard Gasquet in what was billed to be a pretty one-sided match given that Novak leads their head to head 11-1.  But what is it one-sided???  Well kind of but Gasquet put in a good account of himself particularly in the first set which saw Gasquet recover an early break from Nole and went on to push him into a first set tiebreak however it quickly went the way of the World No.1 and the first set along with it.  And from the 2nd set onward Djokovic dominated Gasquet as all he needed was a single break in both sets 2 and 3 to seal the win even though Gasquet continued to battle on valiantly before he finally fell to the world's best player who reached his 4th Wimbledon final with a 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Well it has to be said that while this wasn't Novak Djokovic at his very best he still played more than good enough to take down Gasquet in a convincing fashion to reach his 17th major final.  And again its an indication as to just how good Novak Djokovic is as a tennis player that he is able to time and time again to reach these major finals.  And I'm sure Novak would have jumped for joy when he found out that Gasquet had beaten Stan Wawrinka as really did ensure his safe passage into the final.  As for Gasquet well despite his inevitable loss he acquitted himself very well in this match and he played some really nice points for the crowd and he utilised his terrific one-handed backhand very well in the match to let rip some great winners.  But in the end there was never any doubt who would win this one and in the end there always going to be only one winner.

So after that we had the second men's semi final in what was one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament ever since the draw was announced which was between Andy Murray the former 2013 champion and former seven time champion Roger Federer.  This match promised to be a real cracker and had much riding on it with even alot of pundits claiming that Andy could win it in five sets.  But........ it didn't work out that way sadly and instead what we got was an absolute masterclass in men's tennis from Roger Federer who rarely ever put a foot wrong throughout.  But to quickly sum up both men did serve pretty well in the first set and there wasn't much to separate them on serve until 6-5 when Andy made an error which cost the set and saw Fed take the lead.  In the 2nd set play went by serve until 4-5 with Andy serving he was put under the severest of pressure by Rog and he had to save several break points before going on to hold in one of the games if not THE game of the tournament lasting 14 minutes.  However Andy was unfortunately yet again broken again at 5-6 and this saw Rog nab the two set lead and take the match by the scruff of the neck.  And in the 3rd set play went by serve again until 5-4 when Andy serving to make it 5-5 blinked again and it saw his hopes of winning a 2nd Wimbledon title go up in smoke for another year as the majestic Swiss swept into his 10th Wimbledon final with a very convincing 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 victory.

Well it has to be said this wasn't quite the result I would have expected and while I always figured Roger could win the match I didn't realise he would win it in such an emphatic fashion as he did here.  And this match really did roll back the years for Federer as he played like his old self from years ago when he really dominated the game.  And really it has to be said this was one of the finest performances of Roger's career bar none and he served up an asbolute masterclass as he was virtually flawless on his own serve and only faced one single break point in the match on his own serve, which shows just how good he was in this match (and that is frighteningly good at that!).  And if Roger continues this form in the final I can easily see him lift his unprecedented 8th Wimbledon title as no one could live with him in that form today (well except maybe one man).

As for Andy well this was a very disappointing end to his tournament, which saw many people tip him for the title after his very impressive run at Queens club but in the end he came up against a guy that was just too good on the day.  And the fact of the matter was that Andy actually played a pretty good match himself and if you look at Roger's form here it was actually similar if not even better to his form against Andy at the o2 last year in London where Andy managed to win only one game and this time he managed 14 so that's quite an improvement!  And at the end of day I think you just have to look at a match like this and say that your opponent was the better player on the day and realistically there wasn't much Andy did wrong in the match and ultimately there wasn't much more he could have done.

So even though Andy's Wimbledon has come to an end his grass court days aren't quite behind him yet this year as next he has the Davis cup tie and he will play for Great Britain against France at the Queens club in London.  And this should promise to be quite a tie and hopefully it might see GB in with a chance of reaching the semi finals but given the strength of the French team which will include Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon it will be far from easy for team GB to get a win over them.  However victory over France will not be impossible and with Andy on the team as well as an excellent doubles team of Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot and given that James Ward always plays his best tennis at the Davis cup they might have a fighting chance to make it through so it should be a very interesting tie.

And on a further note to the Davis cup I read Andy's last BBC column on his Wimbledon where he said how he was disappointed by the defeat to Roger but he felt he deserved to win as he served so unbelievably well throughout which was never in doubt.  And Andy then went on to say that he loves to represent Great Britain in the Davis cup, which is something Roger Federer has the exact opposite attitude towards because as soon as he won the Davis cup for Switzerland last year he pretty much disowned the team this year for the first tie and as a result they lost the title.  So I don't mean to sound like I'm getting at Roger here but at least Andy is willing to show his commitment to the Davis cup which is something Roger can no longer be bothered to do as he always saw it as a burden rather than a privilege.  And similar to Andy, Novak holds the same opinion as he has always been proud of his country and more than happy to play for Serbia, yet this is an attitude that is totally unsupported by Roger.

As for Andy moving ahead onto the hard court swing after the summer well he should still be in a very good position to do well in the North American hard court tournaments prior to the US Open given that he has won both of those warm up Masters tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati in the past.  And regarding Andy's chances at the US Open despite this loss I think he still has a very good shot at winning the title there also and if you look at Roger, Novak and Rafa the first slam title they won was the one they went on to dominate.  And while I don't think Andy can dominate the US Open I do still think he can definitely win it again this year as there will certainly be less pressure on him to win it again unlike there is at Wimbledon.  So I wouldn't be surprised if Andy was the one to lift the champion's trophy at Flushing meadows in a couple of months time there.  But that's a good way away yet so in the meantime we will see how the season goes for Andy before that.

Sooooooo that's the Wimbledon final set, its a repeat of last year's final again between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, the world's two best players going at it once more.  And it all begs that question once more: who will win it????  Well this is a tough one to predict given that Roger's form is even more red hot this year than before as this gives him an excellent chance to win the title for the first time in three years.  And never before has Roger served so well at this tournament than he has this year and so far he has only had his serve broken once going into the final!  Now that is a frightening stat!  And if he continues serving like that in the final against Novak then I find it hard to see him lose to the World No.1.

However it has to be said that Novak can never be underestimated and while he appeared to be suffering a hangover from his tough loss at the French open at the start of the tournament he soon got over that after he defeated Kevin Anderson in five sets.  And if there is one guy who knows how to solve a problem gamewise on a tennis court then its this man.  And even at below his best Novak can work his way into any tennis match and find a way to win it.  So its going to be hard to say how exactly how this one will go also given that both men have such a close head to head 20-19 in Roger's favour and one more win for Novak will see this being the closest head to head of all time.

Sooooo my feeling as to who will win it is this......I think this time Roger will win this one and I picked Roger last year and despite his defeat last year I'm still picking him again this year.  And the reason why is because I think he is playing even better than he did last year and his serve throughout the championships has been immaculate and if he serves like that in the final then not even Novak will have a chance against him.  However you can never ever write off Novak's chances as he is not the No.1 for nothing and a case in point was when he was two sets to love down against Roger at the US Open four years ago and he fought his way into the match and won the last three sets to reach the final.  But I just wonder if Novak is truly over his French open hangover as he still showed a few signs of rustiness in his semi final against Gasquet, which he cannot afford against Roger in his current form.  However I still expect this to be a very entertaining and competitive final similar to last year's one.  Also for Sunday the weather forecast is supposed to be for rain and this might also favour Roger as they may have to close the roof and if they do then this could allow Roger to take full advantage in the match as he will have better control over the ball with no outside elements to deal with if they play indoors.     

Anyway as for my prediction I will go with Roger in four sets as he really has been magnificent in these championships but I can definitely still see Novak briefly halt the overwhelming barrage of sublime serving and attacking game that he is likely to face and grab a set.  And Roger will want to make up for his loss last year where he came so close when Novak froze in that fourth set and had two break points in the 5th when he was serving at 2-3, which pretty much would have been the end of Novak in that match there and then.  But this time Novak really will be up against the Roger of old and from the days when he really dominated the game and this event.  I don't think Roger can quite get back to that form for the US Open but as far as Wimbledon is concerned I think its his for the taking.  

And so that's it for my look at the men's semi finals and all that remains now is for me to give the update on the ladies and mens finals so I will be back in a day or two to post on that.

Until then bye for now.

2015 Wimbledon Part 5: Ladies semi finals - the newbie and the veteran

Right well its getting near that time as Wimbledon is drawing to a close and we are now seriously getting to the deep end of the tournament and this post will cover the ladies semi finals and who made it into the final. 

So let's get a move on and have a look how the matches went....

So up first we had the former finalist Agnieszka Radwanska take on the Spaniard Gabrine Muguruza who was looking to reach her slam final so there was alot riding on this match for both ladies.  As for the match itself well it was a very entertaining and competitive match and it started off with Muguruza as the stronger player as she used her firepower to overwhelm Radwasnka in the opener a she broke the Pole twice to grab the 1st set.  In the 2nd set Muguruza carried on her good form as she broke Radwanska again and it looked like her victory would be inevitable.  However Radwanska broke back as nerves seemed to get the better of Muguruza which let the Pole back into the match and she went on to break Muguruza herself and served out the second set to level the match.  In the 3rd set however Muguruza rediscovered her form from the 1st set and broke Radwanska again and when it came to serving it out she held her nerve and sealed her place in her first ever grand slam final with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win. 

This was a high quality match which had alot of great points from both players and its great to see yet again another new face in the final of the sport's biggest tournament in Garbine Muguruza who deserves much credit for her performance and reaching her first grand slam final.  Muguruza after dropping the 2nd set did exceptionally well to hold her nerve in the 3rd set and for the most part was able to overpower Radwanska to get over the finish line.  As for Radwanska well it was a disappointing loss for her and she even had a line call at one point which went against as she hoped to keep her hopes alive as she chose to challenge a line call which went against her.  But regardless of Aga's loss it has seen her turn her season around after a dismal first five months and hopefully she should do well in the next swing of the tour.

Next up we had a clash between two of the game's biggest rivals: Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in what promising to be an engrossing encounter.  However their head to head has been far from kind to Maria as she hasn't beaten Serena in 11 years since she herself won Wimbledon in 2004 so it was a big ask for her to try and win this match.  And the match itself proved to be more of the same as Maria was unable to get her serve working in the first set making a rash of unforced errors and double faults which saw Serena in imperious form serve out the opening set with ease.  The 2nd set proved to be a bit more competitive however but Maria went down a break again and she had to stave off match points serving at 3-5 before held once more for Serena to serve for the final.  And in the last game well.... Serena had no trouble whatsoever in serving it out and reaching another Wimbledon final as she looks to clinch her 6th title at SW19 with a convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Well this match unfortunately failed to live up to expectations especially given they played an excellent final at the Australian open this year it promised much more.  But it was the usual case of Maria unable to hold onto her serve as she struggled badly to deal with the power and accuracy of Serena's.  And the problem for Maria is whenever she takes on Serena she doesn't try anything different and just tries to bludgeon the ball back at her and she has no plan B which will always leave her at a big disadvantage which sees Maria once again on the losing end of her old rival.  As for Serena well that's her 25th grand slam final and she is looking good for title 21 right now and also for completing her Serena slam by holding all four slams from the US Open last year to Wimbledon at once. 

So this sets up a very intruiging between the new girl on the block Gabrine Muguruza and the veteran Serena Williams, a 20 time grand slam champion.  So who will win this one???  Well its going to be a tough to decide as this really is a good match up for the ladies final as both players are big hitters so we not likely to see Serena blast Muguruza off the court as Muguruza has plenty of firepower herself.  So I expect to see some tough long rallies in this match and I think Muguruza can definitely give Serena something to think about in this match and she also has previously beaten Serena at a grand slam in the 2nd round of the French open last year so the young Spaniard has that going for her already.  However where this match could most likely be won is on experience and when it comes to that Serena is by far the more experienced of the two given that she is 33 and Muguruza is only 21.  And with this being Muguruza's first and only major final so far that could have an effect on her nerves going into this match and even if she get's ahead in the final set she could get tight.   

So my prediction is that Serena is going to win this one but I think it will be a pretty tough match and I think she will need three sets to beat Guburuza who has the game and the power to contend with Serena from the baseline.  But ultimately Serena is not a 20 time grand slam champion for nothing and so far has been her most consistent season in the slams so far and it would difficult to not see her win this one either.  So I think it will be Serena in three and I think they will split the first two sets and maybe Serena will break Muguruza in the 3rd and take it 6-2 or 6-3 but I guess we will see how it goes. 

And that's it for now with my look at the ladies matches and I will be back soon with the results of the men's semi finals.

So see you all in a bit...  

2015 Wimbledon Part 4: Men's 4th round and quarter finals - back from the brink and down to the big three (plus one)

Right well its time for my update on the men's matches from Wimbledon as I will cover the 4th round and quarter final matches of today also.  So let's get started....

Right so beginning the 4th round matches we first up had Andy Murray take on the tallest man in the sport, Ivo Karlovic, the 6ft 11inch tall Croatian who has one of the biggest and best serves in the game.  And the match promised to be a tricky one for Andy and it proved to be just that as the big Croat kept firing down monster serves which were incredibly tough to get to for most players.  Andy however managed to dig deep and keep his concentration as he pushed the 1st set to a tense tiebreak which after going a break down he recovered and went on to break big Ivo back and take the breaker for the lead.  In the 2nd set Andy somehow managed to break Ivo again and then went on to hold his own serve and take the two sets to love lead.  In the 3rd set things were even pegged again but at 5-6 with Andy serving to stay in the set he broke a string, had to get a new racquet and then dropped serve to lose the set to keep Karlovic's hopes alive.  In the 4th set Andy regrouped and managed to snag a break off Ivo yet again after challenging a line call that went in Andy's favour, which saw Andy soon go on to serve out the match and reach his 8th quarter final at Wimbledon after a hard fought 7-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory.  This was a really entertaining and at times tense match and it saw Andy give an excellent performance for the most part despite dropping his serve to lose the 3rd set but now Andy stands at 6-0 against Karlovic and given the guy's serve its quite an impressive feat.  And despite that dip it sees Andy into the second week in great form and he looks confident for the even tougher challenges ahead.

After that we had Roger Federer take on the Spaniard, Roberto Bautista-Agut in what proved to be a very one-sided match and Roger was simply way too good for the Spaniard as he managed to nab a double break in sets 1 and 2 to take the two set lead.  The 3rd set saw the Spaniard go a break down but as he tried to hold on to make it 4-5 at 5-3 for Federer, Agut couldn't hold and Fed sped through to the quarter finals with a very convincing 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win.  Well so far Roger has looked the most impressive player in the tournament although it has to be said despite dropping that one set to Sam Groth, he's never really been tested so far in the championships and it will be interesting to see how he will respond to the tougher matches coming up.

Then next we had Richard Gasquet who played against the young and somewhat controversial Aussie, Nick Kygrios in a match that saw the Nickster get the back of an umpire for the second time in the tournament.  And it was Gasquet that got off to the stronger start as he won the first set and broke Kygrios early in the 2nd and in the 3rd game of the set with Gasquet serving Nick lost interest and threw the game.  Nick was given a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct and he also got into trouble for changing his socks!  Nick did however get back into the 3rd set as he won it on the tiebreak and a tight 4th set saw another breaker but this time it went the way of Gasquet who reached his second Wimbledon quarter final in quite some time with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-7, 7-6 win.  This match despite Gasquet's win would be morely remembered for Nick's antics on court and it also sparked some controversy from Laura Fraser, an Australian former olympic swimmer who in the press said she thought Nick's behaviour was "disgusting" and that "he should go back to where ever he came from with his parents".  This prompted Nick to hit back and say that she was "racist" which caused further outcry but which ended with Fraser apologising for what she said.  Clearly though Nick is still very immature as a player and a person and he's got a long way to go before he becomes anywhere near the finished article.  Anyway that's Gasquet through to the quarter finals and it was a good solid performance from him and he deserved the win

After this we had Gilles Simon take on Tomas Berdych and he managed pull off a stunning upset over the 6th seed who appeared to be the heavy favourite going into this match.  However Berdych appeared to be struggling with a foot injury and he failed to make an impression in the match as Simon put in a terrific effort to beat the big Czeck in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.  Marin Cilic also made it through to the quarter finals as well after he had a tough encounter against the American player Denis Kudla as he needed four sets to beat him and came through with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 result.  And Vasek Pospisil managed to complete a remarkable comeback against the Serb Viktor Troicki after going two sets to love down he battled back from the brink and won the last three sets to reach his first ever grand slam singles quarter final with a 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 result.   

And last of all for the 4th round matches we had Novak Djokovic take on the South African, Kevin Anderson in a match in which Nole was the heavy favourite to win.  However Novak did not anticipate Anderson's red hot form as the big guy came out firing, serving brilliantly and looking very sharp he at times made Novak look helpess.  And in the match Anderson did the near unthinakble and took a two sets to love lead against the Serb winning the first two on tiebreaks with an unbelievable upset in sight.  However Novak isn't the World No.1 for nothing and he went on to fight back and level the scores before the end of the night as play had to be suspended due to bad light as Nole levelled at two sets all.  And the next day the match resumed and Anderson started off where he finished in sets one and two as he put Novak under heavy fire yet again but the defending champion somehow managed to find a way through as he finally broke Anderson's serve and served out the match and sealed his place in the last eight with an incredible 6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 win.  Well this remarkable match was yet again proof of the pudding that Novak is the world's best player as it really took great character for him to come back from two sets to love down against such stern resistance but that's what he does and he did.  As for Anderson well it really showed what a terrific player he is and despite the loss its a match he can take much from going ahead.
 
So moving onto the quarter finals matches first up we had Andy Murray face Vasek Pospisil for a place in the semis and given Pospisil's form it looked like it would be a tricky match.  However Andy once again showed excellent form and while he faced some tricky moments from the Canadian he managed to break him to take the 1st and he later broke at 5-5 in the 2nd set and in the 3rd set Andy broke at 4-4 to serve out the match.  However Andy didn't serve it out without some difficulty as he faced a break point and a couple of deuce points before reaching the finish line on his second match point and with that he had made his 6th Wimbledon grand slam semi final with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win.  This was a pretty good match overall and a good solid effort also from Pospisil who admittedly as the match went on started to look a bit fatigued as his efforts from Monday of playing two five sets matches (in singles and doubles) finally took its toll.  As for Andy well its great to see him back in the semi finals at Wimbledon after his shock loss last year to Grigor Dimitrov at this stage but Andy will have a very stern test ahead of him if he is to progress to his third Wimbledon final.

And that test would come in the form of the winner of the next match between Roger Federer and Gilles Simon.  On paper this sounded like a fairly easy match for Roger but if you look at their two previous grand slam matches Simon pushed Rog to five sets so it promised to be potentially a tricky encounter.  But.... any fears of that were quickly dispelled as Roger continued the brilliant form he has shown so far in the tournament and broke Simon to grab the first set in just under 30 minutes.  In the 2nd set Fed broke Simon again but as he served for the two set lead, Simon finally managed to break Roger's serve for the first time in the tournament!  But despite levelling 5-5 in the 2nd, Simon was unable to hold serve again and Fed broke and grabbed the two set lead.  And in the 3rd set Simon made a catalogue of errors which finally saw his thin resistance break down and Roger sealed a place in the semi finals with an impressive 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 scoreline.  It has to be said that Roger so far has looked formidable in the tournament and he is yet to be properly tested but given that he will also be pretty fresh for the test that lies ahead between him and Andy but I will say more on that in a bit.

After this we had Novak Djokovic face his quarter final opponent from last year, Marin Cilic who pushed him to five sets in their previous match at Wimbledon.  However this time Cilic was no such threat and it was Nole who remain solid as a rock throughout the match and he broke Cilic in each set who proved to be no match for the World No.1 which saw Novak reach the semis with a very comfortable 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory.  Well after the intensive rigours of his previous five set battle this is just the match Novak would have hoped for and it will see him go into the semis feeling more refreshed especially given it was straight sets.  Cilic to his credit however did put in a decent effort especially in getting back to the quarter finals again at Wimbledon but in the end as he is now on a 0-13 losing record to Novak he was never unfortunately going to beat him today.

And last of all we have what was the match of the day which was between Stan Wawrinka, the reigning French open champion and Richard Gasquet, the last remaining Frenchman in the tournament (at this point!).  These two have only met twice previously having split their head to head with one win apiece and their last encounter was a riveting match at the French open two years ago which Stan won in five sets.  And delightfully this match proved to be a similar encounter as both men went toe to toe in front of a thrilled Court No.1 crowd.  And it was Gasquet that took the opening set before Stan fought back to take the 2nd and he went on to grab the 3rd set as well as it looked like the inevitable victory was awaiting him in the 4th.  But in the 4th set the pressure got to Stan somewhat as at 4-5 he served a double fault to lose the set, which gave Gasquet a fighting chance as the match went to a deciding set.  And in the 5th set both men engaged in a thrilling battle in which momentum swung to and fro and Gasquet like a man possessed broke Stan to serve for the match at 5-3 but Stan was not yet to be outdone as he broke back and play went by serve again.  But at 10-9 with Stan serving to make it 10-10, Stan finally blinked as he saved two match points at 0-40 but was unable to save the 3rd which saw Gasquet fall to the ground in delight having pulled off a superb win with a 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 result.

There was not much doubt this was the match of the tournament so far on the men's side of the net and it was a terrific encounter as both men played their very best tennis for a full capacity crowd on Court No.1.  And it seemed very likely that Stan given his impressive record in grand slams of late would that he would emerge the winner of this one but it was not to be.  But Stan exits this tournament having given it his absolute all and there is disgrace in his defeat here and no doubt he will aim to come back stronger for the US Open.  As for Gasquet well he deserves nothing but credit for his terrific fightback from two sets to one down and it sees him reach his 2nd Wimbledon semi final and his 3rd career semi final in grand slams.  However things will not get any easier for him as he has a mighty challenge ahead of him but more on that soon.

So this sets up the men's Wimbledon semi finals: Andy Murray vs Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic vs Richard Gasquet.  So it all begs the question..... who will win????

Well to start with Novak and Gasquet I think it really is a no brainer as put simply it will be Nole as he is the World No.1 and consistently reaching the finals of grand slams these days and not only that Novak has an emphatic head to head record over Gasquet leading 12-1.  Not to mention Gasquet in their previous meeting at the French open barely made a dent against the Serb as he crushed the Frenchman and lost just a mere six games before winning.  And I'm sure Nole would have been jumping for joy when he saw Stan go out as with Gasquet he's booked himself a very easy ticket into the final.  Gasquet however might just be able to contest against Djokovic for one set but no more than that so I think it will be straight sets for the Serb and it will put him within touching distance of that 3rd Wimbledon title.

As for Andy and Roger's match...... well that one is a bit tougher to predict as both men are playing great tennis and arguably they have been the two best players in the tournament so far (and yes despite Novak's form I put him behind these two in respect of this event, even though I think he now has a safe passage into the final).  Both men also so far remain unbeaten on grass this season as well as they both won grass court titles at Queens (Andy) and Halle (Roger) which makes this one even more difficult to decide.  However.....and I hate to say this.... but I think Roger has the edge this time as while Andy has been very impressive during the tournament, I think Roger has been even more so.  Roger also so far has only had his serve broken once in the whole tournament and that was by Gilles Simon today and he has served consistently well throughout the championships whereas Andy as we all know has had his struggles on serve.

But....that is not to say that Andy will not have his chances and he does have a very close head to head record against Roger as he trails only by one match 11-12 and you can't get any closer than that (well OK you could!).  Also both men have met twice at SW19 albeit in two different events, the Wimbledon championships and the Olympic games with Rog winning the former and Andy the latter, so it promises to be a very close match indeed.  Andy will also be hugely motivated by the home support from the crowd although given Federer's popularity it will make it difficult for Andy to have the full majority of the crowd on his side but he definitely does go into this one effectively as the underdog, which most crowds love to get behind.

Sooooooo this one will come down to simply whoever plays the better tennis on the day but one thing is for sure is if Andy is to win he will NEED to serve well or else it could be curtains and that is one of Roger's main strengths especially as he has sharpened his net skills under the coaching of Stefan Edberg.  And my prediction..... and it pains me to say it..... is that I think Roger will win this one in four or five sets but it does promise to be a real cracker of a match and hopefully it will make up for the potential dud that could be the other semi final between Djokovic and Gasquet.   I obviously would love to see Andy win this one but it will depend purely on his serve and Roger has always been the more solid and consistent server of the two and if Andy has a bad service day then that's him scuppered.  So I sincerely hope I'm wrong but that's my prediction, Fed in four or five sets (Yep I know! Boo!!!).

Actually........you know what????  I'm changing my mind I'm going with Andy.  After all that I've just said well I've had a change of heart and here's why.  First off, Andy is playing great tennis and despite the odd dip on serve the rest of his game in the tournament has been immaculate.  Secondly, Andy and Roger are one apiece as I said earlier at SW19 and in their last grand slam semi final at the Australian open two years ago, Andy came out on top and Roger similarly looked in great form at that tournament as well going into that match but couldn't quite live with Andy in the crucial moments of the 5th set.  Thirdly, Andy so far in 2015 has only lost two matches to other players outside of Novak Djokovic since the end of February and they were Gilles Simon and Borna Coric and since then he has went unbeaten against any other player except the World No.1 and that should also give Andy alot of confidence given that he has won more matches so far this year than in any other season of his career.  Fourthly, Andy is playing pain free after his back surgery he is back to full fitness and if he could beat Roger two years ago at the Australian open with a dodgy back he can surely beat him feeling both confident and fully fit.  Fifthly, Andy has learned in recent times how to utilise the support of the home crowd and at Wimbledon he will have the crowd right behind him although it might be difficult to judge in this case as the audience could be split as Roger will have plenty of support himself from his fans there.  But that home support and inspiration from the crowd might just give Andy that few extra percent he would need to get him over the finishing line.  And last of all John McEnroe the former three time champion predicted that Andy would win the title this year and he usually get's it right and has got it right the last two years running, so let's hope he's got it right again!    

So in my revised prediction I think Andy will win this match in five sets as there is no other way to beat Federer on grass at Wimbledon other than take him the distance.  And this match also will essentially be a battle for the World No.2 ranking and it could decide who really is the world's second best player right now and whoever wins it will certainly deserve that mantle.  Regarding my prediction of course I might be totally wrong and I think Roger still has a very strong shout himself and it will be an incredibly difficult match for Andy and he will need to serve as well as he possibly can and play a very consistent, solid match throughout if he is to win it, but I think he can do it and fingers crossed he will.  

Rrrrrrright so that's it for now and I will be back soon with the results of the ladies semi finals matches which promised to be really good as we have Serena Williams take on Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska face Garbine Muguruza so I'll be sure to keep my eye on those ones.

And with that I shall bid yee goodnight!  

2015 Wimbledon Part 3: Ladies 4th round and quarter final matches

Right well we are now starting to get to the business end of this year's Wimbledon championships as this post will cover the 4th round and quarter final matches for the ladies event. 

So without any further ado let's have a look at them.....

Right well to start off we had the battle of the Williams sisters which Serena and Venus go at it on centre court for a place in the quarter finals and this potentially could have been a real battle between the siblings.  And Venus also has the closest head to head of any player against Serena as its 14-11 in Serena's favour.  However.... the match itself didn't really live up to expectations as Serena easily blasted her way past big sis and broke her in both sets 1 and 2 to seal her place in the quarter finals with a straight forward 6-4, 6-3 victory.  Well despite their rivalry there really wasn't much doubt with the result here as Serena being the world no.1 she clearly is too good for just about everyone including Venus.  So Serena remains firmly on course to complete the Serena grand slam as she is trying to hold all four grand slam titles in a row having already won the US Open last year and the Australian and French opens this year and right now its looking very hard to stop her.

Next up we had Maria Sharapova who faced off against Zarina Dayis of Kazahkstan in what turned out to be Maria's first tricky encounter in the tournament as Maria didn't quite have it all her own way as Dayis threatend Sharapova more than once on her serve.  However it didn't stop Sharapova from breaking her opponent once per set and securing her place in the quarter finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.  Sharapova so far in the tournament has also looked really good and this was another solid performance which sees her as the 2nd favourite to lift the title but with Serena Williams in her side of the draw its going to be tough for the former 2004 champion to lift another title.

Next there was a bit of an upset as Caroline Wozniacki, the 5th seed played the French open quarter finalist and conqueror of Serena Williams at last year's French open, Garbine Muguruza.  Caroline was trying to reach her maiden quarter final at Wimbledon having never gotten past the 4th round and unfortunately for her Muguruza made sure things stayed that way as she beat the former World No.1 in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to reach her first Wimbledon quarter final and second slam quarter final of the year.

And then we had Lucie Safarova this year's French open finalist take on the American, Coco Vandeweghe in a clash that surely saw Safarova as the favourite.  However it was the American that made the move and if you want to use that very cheesy expression it was Vandeweghe that said "I should Coco!" to Safarova's hopes of reaching the quarter finals as Coco herself finished off Safarova in two tiebreak sets to reach her first ever grand slam quarter final with an impressive 7-6, 7-6 win.  This was the first Coco Vaneweghe had made the quarter final of a slam and to do it at Wimbledon was a very impressive achievement byt next up for Coco will be Maria Sharapova so her work will be cut out for her there.

And last of all we had Agnieszka Radwanska take on Jelena Jankovic, who was Petra Kvitova's conqueror in the previous round.  Radwanska had been suffering one of the worst seasons of her career for the first five months of 2015 but she started to turn things around when she hit the grass courts and she reached her first final of the season at Nottingham before losing out to Belinda Bencic there.  And despite that defeat Radwanska has bounced back in style having taken on Jankovic in this match she battled her way past her in a tough straight set win to reach her first quarter final of the year with a 7-5, 6-4 win.

Moving onto the quarter finals matches from today:

First up we had Maria Sharapova take on Coco Vandeweghe in what proved to be one of the most entertaining matches of the ladies tournament so far.  Sharapova however looked in full control earlier on in the match taking the first set with a break.  And in the 2nd set Sharapova continued her form with another break and having gone 5-2 up it looked like she was on the verge of a straightfoward victory.  However at that Vandeweghe fought back and levelled the scores in the 2nd set and pushed the match into a tiebreak which she won 7-3 to level the scores.  In the 3rd set Coco looked to threaten Sharapova again after she went down an early break but Coco broke back.  However the young American was unable to withstand the might of Sharapova and she fell to the Russian by a double break in the 3rd which saw Sharapova win through to the semi finals after a hard fought 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 victory.  Well there was not much doubt that this was one of the best ladies matches so far and it was always a hugely impressive performance from Vendeweghe who really took it to Sharapova and showed no fear out there on the biggest court in the game of tennis.  But in the end there was not much doubt that Sharapova would come through it.

Then we had Garbine Muguruza take on Timea Bacsinszky on Court No.1 as the two first time Wimbledon quarter finalists fought for a place in their first Wimbledon semi final.  And after a first close set it was Muguruza who took the initiative and the set and went on to break Timea in the 2nd set to close it out and seal her first ever grand slam semi final winning the match 7-5, 6-3.  This really was quite an impressive win by Muguruza who had beaten Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki enroute to this stage.  And considering that Muguruza is primarily a clay court player it is also quite impressive that she has done this well on grass which up until now would probably have been her least favourite surface so all credit it to her for getting this far. 

Next we had Agnieszka Radwanksa who up until the grass court season began had suffered a miserable 2015 but has turned things around on the grass in the UK so far and here she played the young American player, Madison Keys.  Radwanska had never previously lost to Keys but she had a tough match against her on grass at Wimbledon two years ago so this match promised to be a tough one.  And the match itself sure turned out to be that as both women shared breaks in the first set but play went to a tiebreak which Radwanska won to claim the opener.  In the 2nd set however Keys hit back and broke Radwanska to take it into a decider and given Aga's recent history of losing three setters this one could potentially be another danger for her.  However Aga managed to hold her nerve against Keys and went on to break the young American and Aga went on to serve out the match and grab her place in her third Wimbledon semi final with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 victory.  As a fan of Radwanska's game I thought it was great to see Aga get through this one and it should give her alot of confidence going into the semi finals.  However with Muguruza ahead of Aga it will be a very tough test for her reach her second Wimbledon final but having already been there she might just make it this time once more.

And last of all we had the big match up of the day between two titans of the ladies game, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka in what promised to be something of a classic.  And the match itself did not disappoint as from the 1st set both players came out and thrilled the crowd with ther big hitting.  But it was Vika that made the better start as she bossed Serena (bossed the boss so to speak!) around the court and she broke the American to take the first set.  In the 2nd set Serena started to knuckle down as she imposed herself on Azarenka and it was not long before the Belarusian player started to crumble under the relentless pressure of the World No.1 as Serena broke Vika twice to level the scores.  And at the start of the 3rd set Serena really found her range and her serve and broke Vika again to move ahead on the scoreboard for the first time in the match.  However Vika was still not yet done and she battled valiantly to hold onto her serve to prevent going a double break down and forced Serena to serve for the match at 5-3.  And in the final Vika very nearly broke back and got herself back into the set but Serena ultimately had just that bit extra which saw her get over the finish line and win a thrilling match in 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. 

Well this was another reminder of Serena's great rivalry with Victoria Azarenka and it was a highly entertaining match from the first point as both players went toe to toe.  It was also great to see Azarenka get herself back in the latter stages of the grand slams and she showed once again that she really is ready to compete the very best out there once more and she deserves alot of credit in hanging onto her serve without going a double break down in the final set before losing out.  And with Vika already back in the top 30 having reached the quarter finals here will hopefully give her ranking a boost that should see her go well inside the top 20 and it won't be long before she get's herself back in the top 10 given her form as long as she stays fit and healthy.  And as for Serena well what can you say that hasn't already been said as she was fully expected to win this one even if it was going to be tough she looks very determined to win the match and also to win her Serena slam, which Serena jokingly said she didn't want to talk about it in her post match interview.

So that's the semi finals set up for the ladies which will be between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbine Muguruza.  So who will win those two matches????  Well staring with there Serena-Maria match I think this is a no brainer as Serena hasn't lost to Maria for 11 years and I don't think at this stage she will be ready to do so now either.  In fact you almost have to feel sorry for Sharapova as surely she must realise what a thankless task she has ahead of her in trying to snap that endless losing streak to her old rival.  Despite that though I think it could still be an entertaining and competitive match although if you look at their last grass court match at the Olmypics, Serena utterly destroyed Maria in the final conceding just the one game on her way to completing her golden career slam. 

As for the Radwanska vs Muguruza match well that one is a bit harder to predict given that both players have never won a grand slam and only one of them has reached a major final before (that being Radwanska).  And both players are playing very well so that makes it tougher to predict although Muguruza has won their last two meetings and they are tied at 2-2 but this is the first time they will have played on grass.  So given that Muguruza has won their last two I think that might give her the edge in this one and I think she might well win it, but I think it will be quite a close match all the same.  Personally though I would quite like to see Radwanska reach her 2nd Wimbledon final but I think Muguruza might just edge it in three sets, but we'll see.

Anyway that's it for now and I will be back soon with the results of the men's 4th round and quarter finals matches. 

Until the next one its bye for now. 

2015 Wimbledon Part 2: The men's matches

Right so now its time for my look at the men's matches from the 2015 Wimbledon and we'll see who has made it so far into the 2nd week.

So let's get started.....

Novak Djokovic - well first of all we have the World No.1, Novak Djokovic who after suffering another painful defeat in the final of the French open this year has rebounded back in style so far at Wimbledon.  And so far Nole has made a great start having beaten Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in a tight straight set match but Novak was still too good for the plucky German as he came through in 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.  Next up Novak took on Jarkko Nieminen in what proved to be Jarkko's last Wimbledon... and it proved to be Jarkko's last match as well as Novak dispatched the Finn in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, but congratulated him after the end on his career.  And in the 3rd round Novak faced Bernard Tomic in a rematch of their 2011 quarter final, which was quite a tough encounter which Novak needed four sets to overcome him.  But this time round things were much easier as Tomic made the mistake of trying to rally with Nole from the back of the court which is asinine and it wasn't long before the young Aussie was dumped out by the Serb in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.  And this sees Novak confidently stride towards his title defence as he is now into the last 16 without dropping that 3rd Wimbledon title might yet be on the cards for him and he next takes of Kevin Anderson but Nole will still be the favourite there.

Roger Federer - up after Nole is the World No.2 and seven time Wimbledon champ, Roger Federer who so far has shown great form at SW19 this year in the first week.  And from the very start Roger has looked very self assured on the court as he was up against Damir Dzumhur whom he played at the French open this year and he had little trouble getting past him there and little trouble here either as Rog beat him 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.  After that Roger carried on in fine fettle as he dispatch the big American, Sam Querrey in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the last round of 32.  And in the 3rd round Roger took on the giant serving Sam Groth, who has the biggest serve of all time in what proved to be a very entertaining encounter which saw the big server give Rog his first test in the tournament.  After Roger took the first two sets comfortably with a break each, Groth hit back as he pushed play into a 3rd set breaker, which saw Roger make a careless double fault which gave Groth all he needed to serve out the set.  In the 4th set however normality was restored and Rog put his foot to the peddle and broke the big Aussie twice to seal the deal and his place in the 4th round with a very entertaining 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 win.  Despite dropping one set so far, Roger goes into the 2nd week looking about as good you could ever expect and he looks like a man who is ready to win his 8th title at Wimbledon, so everyone else including Djokovic, should watch out.

Andy Murray - next is Andy Murray who has shown great form in 2015 so far and he started off his first week at SW19 in similar form.  Although Andy did find it tricky against his 1st round opponent Mikhail Kukushkin who pushed Andy hard in the 2nd set as he was a break down but managed to break back and to push the match into a breaker where Andy took the two set lead.  In the 3rd set Andy broke again and he went on to secure the match as he served it out to reach round 2 with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 win.  In the 2nd round Andy went on to face Robin Haase in what potentially could have been a tough match given their past together, however Haase was no match this time as he made a catalogue of errors throughout and Andy sped to victory in under 1 hour and 30 minutes with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 win.  In the 3rd round however Andy took on the Italian, Andreas Seppi in what proved to be a topsey turvey match which saw Andy get off to a terrific start as he raced into a two set lead with a double break in each set.  But in the 3rd set, Seppi took a medical timeout for his ankle which totally knocked Andy off his rythym which saw Andy go down a double break and Seppi shockingly taking the 3rd set.  In the 4th Seppi continued to threaten Andy as he broke him at the start of the set and Andy took a medical timeout for his shoulder.  But afterward Andy came out firing again and broke back and then went on to ruthlessly dispatch Seppi winning six games in a row to claim his place in the 4th round with a bizzare 6-2, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory. 

This match saw some alarm bells go off for Andy and it was the first time we had seen a few question marks come over his form in the tournament as he seemed to go way off course so easily after Seppi's medical timeout.  And if Andy is to win the title again he needs to remain more focused than he has so far as it sure won't get any easier from here as Andy will next take on the massive serving Ivo Karlovic who happens to be the tallest player on the tour as well.  They have played each other before at Wimbledon in what was a very tough four set match and this time it should prove to be no different but I think Andy will still come through this one in four sets.  As for Andy's chances to win the title, well he still remains a favourite and he has shown some good promise so far but also some curious dips in form here and there and I think he will still need to improve his level if he is to have a legitimate chance at winning the title, especially if he faces Roger Federer in the semi finals, which is why it would be good if Andy were to face Berdych instead at that stage (as Berdych could clash with Roger in the quarter finals).  But we will just have to wait and see what happens but one thing that is for certain is that we can expect more Murray drama this week! 

Rafael Nadal - then we have Rafa who so far has endured arguably the worst season of his career in 2015 but he did show some real signs of promise at the start of his grass court season having claimed his first title on grass for five years in Stuttgart.  But Rafa was unable to really carry forward that form as he suffered a first round exit at Queens and despite comfortably winning his first round match here at Wimbledon against Thomaz Bellucci, he then faced his nemesis on grass from Halle last year, Dustin Brown in the 2nd round in what so far has been one of the best matches of the tournament.  And in the match Dustin carried on from where he had finished against Rafa in Halle as he rushed his opponent with serve and volley tactics and reigned down 2nd serves at 127mph!  So in short Dustin took the 1st, Rafa levelled to take the 2nd but Dusty then grabbed the two sets to one lead.  And in the 4th set history repeated itself and early defeat at Wimbledon once again reared its ugly head for Rafa as he went out to the German who claimed another stunning win over the Spaniard in 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.  This result wasn't really much of a surprise given Rafa's struggling record not only this year but also at Wimbledon over the last three years but it does highlight the fact that Rafa really does need to change something in order to get his form back.  And John McEnroe suggested that Rafa needs to get a new coach in and I for one also agree with him there because if Rafa wants to get back on top he needs new input and new ideas on how to get his form back and that is clearly something he and his Uncle Toni so far have not been able to do.  Rafa can still bounce back but now as he is sure to drop out into the top 20 for the first time in what must appear to be forever, he has a lot of work to do if he is to get back on track.

So that's it for the big four as for the others:

Stan Wawrinka - well Stan the man so far has continued his fine form after having won the French open, so far he has confidently carried on at SW19 having reached the 2nd week without dropping a set.  And looking at how Stan has made it so far, he defeated Joao Sousa in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 before going on to beat Victor Estrella Burgos of Spain with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 result.  And in the 3rd round Stan faced Fernando Verdasco in what could have been a very tough encounter but Stan showed his form again and beat Verdasco with ease in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the 2nd week.  In the 4th round Stan will face David Goffin for a place in the quarter finals and he leads their head to head 2-0 so he will be the favourite there as well.  So Stan remains on course for his clash with Novak Djokovic in the semi finals and there is not much doubt he could upset Nole's apple cart there as well, as he is clearly Nole's bogeyman just now, but we will see how the Swiss No.2 goes in the meantime.

Tomas Berdych - so far Berdych has had a good run in 2015 but has not managed to pick up a title this year as of yet.  But Berdych is without a doubt one of the most solid and consistent players on the tour in terms of his results.  However Berdych has not had it plain sailing so far at SW19 as he had a very tough match in his opening round against Jeremy Chardy which he needed four tight sets to get by the Frenchman.  In the 2nd round Berdych started to find his range as he swept past Nicholas Mahut in straight sets winning the match 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.  In the 3rd round however Tomas faced stern opposition again in the form of Pablo Andujar of Spain who took the opening set before Berdych hit back and took a two sets to one lead.  In the 4th set play went by serve into a 4th set breaker which saw Berdych finally seal his place in the last 16 after a hard fought 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-6 win.  Berdych remains on course to try and reach the last eight but next up he will face Gilles Simon who so far has made it also into the last 16 by defeating Gael Monfils in five sets.  And Berdych could face Roger Federer in the quarter finals which could prove to be Roger's first serious danger as Berdych has beaten Rog before there so this could be a good opportunity for the Czeck to do so again.

Marin Cilic - next is Marin Cilic who so far has had a very tough time of it at SW19 and he has had a tough year in trying to get back on form but so far he has started to recover his form that saw him go on to win the US Open last year.  Cilic started off his campaign with a straight set win over Hiroki Moriya of Japan who he beat 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 to reach the 2nd round.  But in the 2nd round Cilic faced a real stern test by the Lithuanian player, Ricardis Berankis who pushed Cilic to the limit and took him to a deciding set, Berankis looked poised to upset Cilic, but the US Open champion held on and broke to reach the 3rd round with a hard fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5.  And in the 3rd round Marin Cilic took the giant serving ermm giant, John Isner in what proved to be a thrilling battle of the serves.  And the first four sets were shared between the two men with Cilic taking 1 and 3 and Isner 2 and 4, but the 5th set proved to be epic battle which had to be completed the following day due to bad light.  But on resumption of play Cilic soon brook Isner and went to win the match after a marathon 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-7, 12-10 result. 

Nick Kygrios - and last of all we have the only remaining Aussie in the tournament, Nick Kygrios who has resumed the form that took him to the quarter finals at Wimbledon last year.  Nick so far has beaten Diego Schwartzman of Argentina in the 1st round in straight sets and then went to beat another Argentine, Juan Monaco in the 2nd round also in straight sets.  And in the 3rd round Nick took on his nemesis from last year's Wimbledon, the giant server Milos Raonic but this time he got his revenge as he beat the Canadian for the first time winning the match in four sets 5-7, 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 to reach the 4th round where Nick will face Richard Gasquet.  And if Nick wins that one he could very well face Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals and what a match in prospect that might be!

As for a round up of the seeds that have gone out starting off we had Kei Nishikori who was forced to withdraw in the 2nd round after his calf injury resurfaced.  Grigor Dimitrov also went out to Richard Gasquet and the Bulgarian has continued with his struggles for form this season as the Frenchman dumped out Dimi in straight sets in the 3rd round.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also suffered a 3rd round exit at the hands of the big serving big guy Ivo Karlovic in four sets.  Feliciano Lopez also suffered a surprise 2nd round loss to Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in five sets.  Gael Monfils lost out to his compatriot Gilles Simon in an entertaining five set match, which concluded on centre court after it was moved from Court No.1 also in the 3rd round.  And last of all despite his great promise shown at the French Open, Jack Sock exited early from the tournament in the 1st round to Sam Groth in four sets.

So that's it for my look at the men's matches for now and I'll be back soon with more updates once the quarter final matches have been decided.  

Until then its bye the now!   

2015 Wimbledon Part 1: Ladies update

Right well I'm a bit behind on the schedule with Wimbledon this year as the first week is already over as we go into the 2nd week of the tournament.  So rather than do a big long diatribe on how all the players got on I thought I would do a quicker summary how the main seeds are doing on both sides of the net.

So let's get on with this and take a look starting with the ladies in this post....

Serena Williams - well so far Serena has had a stern time of things as after racing through her first two rounds she faced one of the toughest tests she's had in quite some time against the British No.1 Heather Watson.  Heather took it to Serena on centre court as the home crowd got fully behind her as Heather levelled a set all and even went on to break Serena and serve for the match only for the World No.1 to break back and go on to break Heather's heart with it as she managed to win a thrilling three set battle in 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.  This was one of the best matches of the tournament so far and it was a tremendous effort from Heather who was inspired by the crowd that she very nearly pulled off the win.  However in the end Serena proved yet again why she is the world's best and greatest player so her chance to hold all four grand slams at once remains on course.

Petra Kvitova - Petra the defending champion despite making a strong start in her first two rounds as she hadn't dropped a set saw her title defence go up in smoke as she faced Jelena Jankovic in a tough match on centre court.  The match saw Petra take the first set only for Jelena fight back in the 2nd and levelled the match and in the 3rd set Petra lost her way and Jelena broke her to win the match with a surprise victory in 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.  Given Petra's form going into the tournament this really was a surprising loss for her but in a way it seemed a bit too much to ask that she could defend her title again.  

Maria Sharapova - Maria so far has had a pretty solid start in the tournament and she has made it into the 2nd week without dropping a set.  And Maria along the way had beaten the British player, Johana Konta 6-2, 6-2, Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-1 and Irina Camelia-Begu 6-4, 6-3 to reach the last 16.  So its so far so good for Maria and its Zarina Diyas next for her and Maria should be the heavy favrouite for that one.  Maria also has a pretty good chance of winning the title if she can dodge Serena Williams but that remains to be seen and she also could face her nemesis from the French open, Lucie Safarova in the quarter finals.

Caroline Wozniacki - so far Caroline has had a good run at Wimbledon herself and picked up her form over the grass court season after going out early at the French open.  Caroline has also made it into the 2nd week as well having not dropped a set either as she took out Zheng Saisai of China in 7-5, 6-0 and then Denise Allertova in 6-1, 7-6 and then she got revenge over Camille Ciorgi who has winning record over her, but this time Caroline thrashed the Italian 6-2, 6-2.  Caroline will next face Garbine Muguruza for a place in the quarter finals in which should promise to be a tough match and hopefully a pretty good one as well.  There is no favourite in that one but here's hoping Caroline can break her Wimbledon hoodoo and reach the quarter finals there for the first time but Muguruza will have her chances and could edge it.

Agnieszka Radwanska - next is Agnieszka who has had a pretty wretched year so far in 2015 having made the decision to hire one of the all time greats of the game, Martina Navitrilova which backfired disasterously on her as it saw her results go down the tubes.  However Aga has had a pretty strong grass court season so far and she also has managed to reach the last 16 without dropping a set showing some good form.  Radwanska next up will face Jelena Jankovic in which should be a pretty tough match so it will be hard to pick a favourite there although Radwanska leads their head to head 5-2.  So it will be interesting to see who comes out on top of that one but I might just go with Radwanska but Jankovic will make her work hard for it.

Venus Williams - next is the big sis of the Williams sisters, Venus, who also has had a very impressive first week in the tournament and she started with a double bagel rout of her compatriot Madison Brengle.  Then Venus faced another Kazahk player, Yulia Putintseva in what was Venu's toughest match so far as she had to win in two tough sets 7-6, 6-4 to advance to the 3rd round where Venus beat Alexsandra Krunic of Serbia in 6-3, 6-2.  This now sets up a much anticipated clash between the Williams sisters themselves and how that one might go is anybody's guess especially as Venus has been in very good form.  But despite that I still think younger sis (Serena that is) will come through this one as she isn't the world's best player for nothing but if anyone can pull off the upset its big sis.

Lucie Safarova - then we have this year's French open finalist, Lucie Safarova who so far has continued her impressive form into Wimbledon although she has had a tougher route and had to come from a set down in her first match against Alison Riske to win.  In the 2nd round Lucie took Hseih Suh-Wei and beat her comfortably with a 6-2, 6-3 victory before had to battle it out against the American, Sloane Stephens and she had to come from a set down to beat her in 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.  Lucie will next face Coco Vandeweghe for a place in the quarter finals so she is looking good to reach the last eight as she will be the favourite to win that one. 
 
Victoria Azarenka - and last of all we have the former World No.1 and renowned tennis player opera singer (listen to her grunts and you'll know what I mean!) Vika who has had her struggles with injury this year but is now back to full fitness and is regaining her form that took her to the world's top spot.  Vika has also progressed well so far in the tournament and is yet to drop a set as she has reached the last 16 where she will face the Swiss player, Belina Bencic, which Victoria should be the favourite to win.  After that however things will get tougher for Vika as she may face Serena or Venus in the final but she too will have her chances but we can deal with that one if and when we get to it.

And to finish off I will round up the seeds that have gone out starting with Simona Halep who lost out in the 1st round in a shock defeat as she lost to Jana Cepelova in three sets.  Ana Ivanovic was dumped in the 2nd round of Wimbledon as she suffered a loss to Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA in straight sets.  Sabine Lisicki the finalist from 2013 also suffered a surprise loss to a Swiss player and French open semi finalist, Timea Bascinzsky also in straight sets in the 3rd round.  Angelique Kerber also suffered a loss in the 3rd round where she booted out by Garbine Muguruza in three sets.  Sara Errani also became a victim to the grass courts of SW19 as she was defeated by Alexsandra Krunic in three sets.  And last of all Eugenie Bouchard last year's finalist suffered another shock loss in the 1st round as she went out to the cool named Duan YingYing of China in straight sets.

And that's it for my updated of the ladies matches and I'll be back soon with the men's.

See you in a bit....