God almighty, well I wasn't quite expecting that result today at the Mutua Madrid Open as Novak Djokovic rocked the king of clay in straight sets winning 7-5 6-4. I could scarcely believe my eyes when it happened, it seemed like it wasn't Rafael Nadal out there on that court today!! No one ever beats Nadal in straight sets on clay if at all and today it felt like it was an imposter out there on court.
I could digest Nadal getting beaten by Djokovic on clay but I'm just shocked at the manner of which he did get beat, a straight set win just seems utterly unbelievable!! And what makes it even more unbelievable is the fact that Djokovic was tested alot more by the Spanish World No.2 David Ferrer and by the young Brazillian Thomaz Bellucci, they both took him to 3 sets but Nadal couldn't!! I mean whit the friggg????? I honestly felt like it wasn't Rafa out there today at all, I also feel like Nadal's confidence has crumbled against Djokovic just now and its a great pity if that is the case, as Nadal can still demolish all the other players out there. However a few stats about the Madrid Open are that it is very similar in surface to a hard court as the conditions are quite fast and the altitude of the ball makes things a bit more difficult to control. In Rome the conditions will be different and a bit slower and more slippy so we will see how Rafa gets on in Rome next week at the Internationali BNL d'italia where he has had better success, although Novak Djokovic did win that title back in 2008 against Stanislas Wawrinka, but did lost it against Rafa in 2009, will the tables be turned this time???? Very possibly but it all remains to be seen.
I can't help but feel gutted that Nadal got beat tonight and also a little indignant, but I do of course have to give credit to Novak Djokovic, my gripes about his unending winning streak aside, the guy has worked extremely hard to get to where he is and I cannot deny that he is an outstanding player and no doubt soon he will be the World No.1. Its just a matter of time, if he wins at the Rome Masters and Roland Garros that'll be him. Whether or not he can win at Roland Garros is a slightly different matter, as no doubt he will face longer and much tougher matches against some high quality clay court players not to mention its a surface Rafa is well used to winning on (unlike in Madrid which he only won twice in 5 years, 2005 and 2010 last year).
In regards to the Muzza unfortunately I think in Murray's present state he doesn't pose much of a threat to Djokovic (nor does anyone else!!), but who knows maybe next year might be his time??? And just maybe if he pulls out the stops he could even challenge him at the US Open this year, then again pigs might flutter. Murray has of course been in and out of form this season so far, after the Aussie Open he had a terrible hard court season, but he had alot more success at Monte Carlo on the clay, but he did play very ropily at Madrid although he did at least win one match there. But how the rest of the clay court season pans out for Andy is uncertain, its just one of those things, I'd like to see him do well at Rome and the French and if he can stay fit and injury free he should produce some good results, but he won't be grabbing any silverware that's for sure (unless a certain Serb sprains his ankle or something similar ;-)).
Andy has recently also said in the press that he feels he is now getting back to full fitness and wants to try and win at Rome. But let's not forget he is in the same draw as Djokovic so (laughs derisively!) I don't rate his chances there! I would love to see Andy beat Djokovic and end his winning streak, he is in fact despite it all one of the few players who could actually do it, if he's at the absolute peak of his game there is a slight chance, but let's face it, if Nadal can't beat him just now then what chance has Murray???? But it reminds me of one quote from the former French Open champion Mats Wilander who said of Andy "Murray is a better player than Novak Djokovic, he just hasn't shown it yet!". And while at this present moment it sounds absurd, it potentially is very true. Andy is a top player, he always has been, its all about belief and confidence, and if he really believes enough, he can do it, as that's how Djokovic does it, by stepping on the court and believing he can win. But right now its a bit too much to expect, as Andy's current form is pretty inconsistent and his elbow injury while its probably abated for now, it might come back to haunt him. However if he does maintain good form at Rome and make it to the semis I hope he gives Djoky one hell of a match.
Another benefit to the Italian Open is that the players can acclimitise to the courts much better as they don't have the same fast conditions and high altitude as they do at Madrid. Andy has also done quite well at Rome in the past having reached the quarter finals, so maybe he can do better this time.
On the WTA side of things there was another upset as the Czeck player Petra Kvitova took out the World No.5 Victoria Azarenka to win her first Premier Mandatory title again in straight sets winning 7-6(3) 6-4 (not to mention every time she won a vital point she'd shreik like a little puppy dog!). I'm quite pleased Kvitova won as she is one hell of a player and she already beaten quite a few of the top players in different tournaments including Vera Zvonareva, Venus Williams, Li Na and even Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters. So Petra could enter the French Open as a real threat to the top players, and she herself now will enter the Top 10 for the first time this week.
But anyway that's another tournament over and another title under Novak's belt, his 6th of the year and second of the year on clay, so we will wait and see how the unstoppable machine progresses next week.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Part 6, this time itsssss bubbling!!!
The Mutua Madrid Open so far has definitely been one of the best tournaments of the clay court season, there has been quite a few tight matches with plenty of excitement and today produced some more that proved no exception to that rule.
However on the WTA side of things the semi-finals at the Madrid Open were pretty short and disappointing, my expectations were somewhat crushed by two ultimately straight forward wins. On the Victoria Azarenka vs Julia Goerges match, Julia looked a close second favourite to win the match, but Azarenka proved to be too aggressive and good for the German and closed out the match winning a comfortable 6-4 6-2. I think also Julia just bottled it under the pressure, also she had feet blisters from earlier in the week and I think by then the fatigue has set in as well so she proved to be no match for the mighty Belarusian. On the other semi final, Li Na vs Petra Kvitova proved to be somewhat even more easy, as in a surprise result the world no 6 got defeated by Petra again in straight sets 6-3 6-1, which was a really sub-par performance from the Chinese World no 1 player who was on form throughout the week. So Azarenka faces Kvitova in the final, I think Victoria will be a firm favourite to win, although Petra is one hell of a player too, so it might be tough to call, but overall I think Victoria will pull through. I also think Azarenka might even win a slam this year, she has the mentality as does Caroline, but more importantly she has the aggression, and its usually the aggressive players that have won slams in the past. Its only the injuries department that lets Victoria Azarenka down as she has had a stream of them over the years, but if she stays fit and healthy, she's in with a strong shout.
Thankfully on the ATP tour side of things, we were given two very interesting matches, the first of which was the much anticipated Rafa vs Roger showdown. We would all be hoping it wouldn't be the short lived affair that was Federer's inglorious defeat at Miami, and thankfully it wasn't as Roger brought glimpses of some of his finest tennis to the match. While both players weren't at their full best, they did produce a very fine match which stretched to 3 sets, with Federer taking a close first set, while Rafa ramped it up a notch to take the 2nd and the deciding 3rd, winning in 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. It was good to see Roger impose himself on Rafa once again on clay, even if it was just for one set, which was quite impressive as that's more than he's managed to take off Nadal in quite a while on clay. After the win in his interview Rafa was asked his thoughts on the final to which he replied "To be honest I'd rather play Bellucci!".
Which brings us onto the other men's semi final which saw the formidable and yet unbeaten Novak Djokovic take on the unseeded Thomaz Bellucci. My concerns that this match might be a total walk in the park for Djokovic actually proved to be largely unfounded as Bellucci really came out all guns blazing, and produced some amazingly pulverising forehands against Djokovic who looked tired and beaten at the start in the first set. But Djoky being Djoky did what he had to do and stepped up his game in the second set and sealed it out in the third, winning 4-6 6-4 6-1.
This again has been quite a tough match for Djokovic and it certainly shows one thing that on clay he cannot demolish players, he can try but he struggles to do so, as this is the second set he has dropped so far in the tournament, as on hard court he wouldn't have dropped a single set. And this might give Nadal the almighty advantage he needs as he can demolish these lower ranked players on clay, he would have slayed Bellucci and often defeated Ferrer in straight sets, something which Djokovic was clearly unable to do.
So tomorrow might just mark the end of Djokovic's winning reign so far this year, although it might not, as it remains to be seen. One of Rafa's great aspects is his humbleness as a person and a champion, but at times he sounds a bit too humble, he's already said how he feels Djokovic is a better player than him and he could lose this match tomorrow even if he plays well. It shows the chinks in Rafa's armour are starting to show, but I hope he can remain unbeaten on clay for now, I think he deserves to keep his record, but we shall see. But it also sounds like Rafa is losing some of his confidence while Djokovic's grows in strength. But of course we have to remember that's Rafa off court, on court he's an absolute demon, an unbelievable player and a warrior who fights till the very last point. One way or another its the dream final once again we want to see, as the World No.1 and No. 2 battle it out to take the title. Whichever way it goes it going to be a belter.
The final part ramorra!!
However on the WTA side of things the semi-finals at the Madrid Open were pretty short and disappointing, my expectations were somewhat crushed by two ultimately straight forward wins. On the Victoria Azarenka vs Julia Goerges match, Julia looked a close second favourite to win the match, but Azarenka proved to be too aggressive and good for the German and closed out the match winning a comfortable 6-4 6-2. I think also Julia just bottled it under the pressure, also she had feet blisters from earlier in the week and I think by then the fatigue has set in as well so she proved to be no match for the mighty Belarusian. On the other semi final, Li Na vs Petra Kvitova proved to be somewhat even more easy, as in a surprise result the world no 6 got defeated by Petra again in straight sets 6-3 6-1, which was a really sub-par performance from the Chinese World no 1 player who was on form throughout the week. So Azarenka faces Kvitova in the final, I think Victoria will be a firm favourite to win, although Petra is one hell of a player too, so it might be tough to call, but overall I think Victoria will pull through. I also think Azarenka might even win a slam this year, she has the mentality as does Caroline, but more importantly she has the aggression, and its usually the aggressive players that have won slams in the past. Its only the injuries department that lets Victoria Azarenka down as she has had a stream of them over the years, but if she stays fit and healthy, she's in with a strong shout.
Thankfully on the ATP tour side of things, we were given two very interesting matches, the first of which was the much anticipated Rafa vs Roger showdown. We would all be hoping it wouldn't be the short lived affair that was Federer's inglorious defeat at Miami, and thankfully it wasn't as Roger brought glimpses of some of his finest tennis to the match. While both players weren't at their full best, they did produce a very fine match which stretched to 3 sets, with Federer taking a close first set, while Rafa ramped it up a notch to take the 2nd and the deciding 3rd, winning in 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. It was good to see Roger impose himself on Rafa once again on clay, even if it was just for one set, which was quite impressive as that's more than he's managed to take off Nadal in quite a while on clay. After the win in his interview Rafa was asked his thoughts on the final to which he replied "To be honest I'd rather play Bellucci!".
Which brings us onto the other men's semi final which saw the formidable and yet unbeaten Novak Djokovic take on the unseeded Thomaz Bellucci. My concerns that this match might be a total walk in the park for Djokovic actually proved to be largely unfounded as Bellucci really came out all guns blazing, and produced some amazingly pulverising forehands against Djokovic who looked tired and beaten at the start in the first set. But Djoky being Djoky did what he had to do and stepped up his game in the second set and sealed it out in the third, winning 4-6 6-4 6-1.
This again has been quite a tough match for Djokovic and it certainly shows one thing that on clay he cannot demolish players, he can try but he struggles to do so, as this is the second set he has dropped so far in the tournament, as on hard court he wouldn't have dropped a single set. And this might give Nadal the almighty advantage he needs as he can demolish these lower ranked players on clay, he would have slayed Bellucci and often defeated Ferrer in straight sets, something which Djokovic was clearly unable to do.
So tomorrow might just mark the end of Djokovic's winning reign so far this year, although it might not, as it remains to be seen. One of Rafa's great aspects is his humbleness as a person and a champion, but at times he sounds a bit too humble, he's already said how he feels Djokovic is a better player than him and he could lose this match tomorrow even if he plays well. It shows the chinks in Rafa's armour are starting to show, but I hope he can remain unbeaten on clay for now, I think he deserves to keep his record, but we shall see. But it also sounds like Rafa is losing some of his confidence while Djokovic's grows in strength. But of course we have to remember that's Rafa off court, on court he's an absolute demon, an unbelievable player and a warrior who fights till the very last point. One way or another its the dream final once again we want to see, as the World No.1 and No. 2 battle it out to take the title. Whichever way it goes it going to be a belter.
The final part ramorra!!
A bit of theatre
Well for a change I thought I'd type up a bit about some theatre I've been to see recently in Glasgow as I seen two plays over the weekend (well technically three).
Last night I went to see a double bill of the theatre group Rekindle Theatre who put on two plays My Child and One Good Beating at The Arches in glasgow. The first play My Child featured one or two familiar faces (well one really) one of which was one of my former acting tutors John Gilmour who played the lead part of a father who is accussed of hurting his son, while he also has to contend with his incontinent aging mother in law and his bitter ex-wife, but then he runs off with his estranged son in a desparate attempt to get to know him better. The overall tone of My Child was pretty bleak but it did feature some excellent performances from the cast, also the liberal use of Mogwai on the soundtrack added to the mood of the piece. I also quite liked the minimal use of props in the play, the sparse space in the Arches made it quite effective to the kind of despairing tone of the play. Perhaps overall the play was a bit too bleak, but it did feature some moments of humour too, my favourite bit was where one of the girls (playing a foreigner) in the play asks John "does this train go to Miln-gavvyy??".
The play which featured my fellow acting thesp Scott (founder of Rekindle) One Good Beating had quite a different change in tone, as it was more humorous although at the core it was still a very dramatic piece. One good beating focussed on a bitter cynical father who's two children have locked him in their garden tool shed. The father berates his weak son (Scott) although he has a strange fondness for his daughter as he sees himself in here, as she is feisty and strong, but they very much have a love-hate relationship (with more hate). It was a very entertaining and funny play and the cast were all excellent, particularly good was the actor who played the father, he brought out alot of bitter and bullying humour at the same time. The end of the play was also hilarious with the daughter promising to let the dad out of the garden shed by giving him her permission and she waits poised with a shovel in her hands to give him his good beating!
So onto tonight's theatre at the Ramshorn theatre, where Rona Munro's play Bold Girls was on its final night. Again it was a really entertaining and enjoyable play, which focussed around the lives of two sisters and their mother during the troubled times in Belfast in the year 1990. Again the performances were all great, and of course my acting buddie the lovely Gillean Young was great in a part that was tailor made for her as she played one of the feisty sisters Cassie (loved her dancing, quite funny!), and also Amy Williamson who was terrific as her older sister Marie. The actress playing the mother Nora was also very funny as she came out with plenty of funny stories from her olden days. And Jennifer Joyes was also quite creepy and mysterious as the young Deirdre. It was a fine production with a good set and a nifty soundtrack (being of course an Irish play they couldn't go without Shane McGowan's Fairy Tale of New York could they??! :-)). And of course a lot of credit goes to the actresses who all had perfect northern Irish accents, which has always been a really tough accent for me to try to do, its one that I could never do and keep it consistent, it would fall into Swahili or something similar!
But it was good to see another show at the Ramshorn, which unfortunately is falling foul to the budget cuts at the hands of Strathclyde Uni who want to push the arts out the door so they can save money and concentrate on making the university a "centre of business and technical excellence" as they have put it in the past. This unfortunately of course means that the Ramshorn will close in July, as of course in small part this is also due to the expense of maintaining of the building too. But hopefully the STG can try and find another venue where they can continue to put on their shows, it would be a great shame to see many talented performers without a place to be on stage, so I hope something will work out for them. Its a great shame that the arts and culture always seems to suffer at the hands of organisations and finance, as quite often the case is the people behind all this are more concerned about expenditure, its clearly a case of "know the price of everything and the value of nothing!".
And well that's all for now.
Last night I went to see a double bill of the theatre group Rekindle Theatre who put on two plays My Child and One Good Beating at The Arches in glasgow. The first play My Child featured one or two familiar faces (well one really) one of which was one of my former acting tutors John Gilmour who played the lead part of a father who is accussed of hurting his son, while he also has to contend with his incontinent aging mother in law and his bitter ex-wife, but then he runs off with his estranged son in a desparate attempt to get to know him better. The overall tone of My Child was pretty bleak but it did feature some excellent performances from the cast, also the liberal use of Mogwai on the soundtrack added to the mood of the piece. I also quite liked the minimal use of props in the play, the sparse space in the Arches made it quite effective to the kind of despairing tone of the play. Perhaps overall the play was a bit too bleak, but it did feature some moments of humour too, my favourite bit was where one of the girls (playing a foreigner) in the play asks John "does this train go to Miln-gavvyy??".
The play which featured my fellow acting thesp Scott (founder of Rekindle) One Good Beating had quite a different change in tone, as it was more humorous although at the core it was still a very dramatic piece. One good beating focussed on a bitter cynical father who's two children have locked him in their garden tool shed. The father berates his weak son (Scott) although he has a strange fondness for his daughter as he sees himself in here, as she is feisty and strong, but they very much have a love-hate relationship (with more hate). It was a very entertaining and funny play and the cast were all excellent, particularly good was the actor who played the father, he brought out alot of bitter and bullying humour at the same time. The end of the play was also hilarious with the daughter promising to let the dad out of the garden shed by giving him her permission and she waits poised with a shovel in her hands to give him his good beating!
So onto tonight's theatre at the Ramshorn theatre, where Rona Munro's play Bold Girls was on its final night. Again it was a really entertaining and enjoyable play, which focussed around the lives of two sisters and their mother during the troubled times in Belfast in the year 1990. Again the performances were all great, and of course my acting buddie the lovely Gillean Young was great in a part that was tailor made for her as she played one of the feisty sisters Cassie (loved her dancing, quite funny!), and also Amy Williamson who was terrific as her older sister Marie. The actress playing the mother Nora was also very funny as she came out with plenty of funny stories from her olden days. And Jennifer Joyes was also quite creepy and mysterious as the young Deirdre. It was a fine production with a good set and a nifty soundtrack (being of course an Irish play they couldn't go without Shane McGowan's Fairy Tale of New York could they??! :-)). And of course a lot of credit goes to the actresses who all had perfect northern Irish accents, which has always been a really tough accent for me to try to do, its one that I could never do and keep it consistent, it would fall into Swahili or something similar!
But it was good to see another show at the Ramshorn, which unfortunately is falling foul to the budget cuts at the hands of Strathclyde Uni who want to push the arts out the door so they can save money and concentrate on making the university a "centre of business and technical excellence" as they have put it in the past. This unfortunately of course means that the Ramshorn will close in July, as of course in small part this is also due to the expense of maintaining of the building too. But hopefully the STG can try and find another venue where they can continue to put on their shows, it would be a great shame to see many talented performers without a place to be on stage, so I hope something will work out for them. Its a great shame that the arts and culture always seems to suffer at the hands of organisations and finance, as quite often the case is the people behind all this are more concerned about expenditure, its clearly a case of "know the price of everything and the value of nothing!".
And well that's all for now.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Clay part 5, this time itssss exciiittttting!!
So far the Mutua Madrid Open has been an absolutely excellent tournament with some great matches so far and today we were treated with some more.
On the WTA tour side of things, there were some good results with Petra Kvitova who came through a tough battle against Dominika Cibulkova in 3 sets to make the semi finals. Victoria Azarenka also came through a fairly tough match against Lucie Safarova (Tomas Berdych's bird in case you didn't know) in 3 sets, 6-3 3-6 6-2. Also Stuttgart Tennis Porsche Gran Prix winner Julia Goerges came through her quarter final match against Anatasia Pavly in a fairly easy straight set win in 6-4 6-2. And finally Li Na fought it out against a game (and still bizarrely dressed like a character from the fighting video game Tekken!) Bethanie Mattek-Sands in 3 sets also winning 6-4 4-6 6-4. I was quite pleased to see Li Na come through to the semis after so many early round defeats in previous tournaments since her impressive Australian Open finalist run. So Li Na will face an on form Petra Kvitova tomorrow and Victoria Azarenka faces an also on form Julia Goerges. Its going to make for two great semi finals and to be honest there will be no favourites among any of them, they are all on form players. Li Na is playing great as is Petra and Azarenka is playing her most aggressive tennis I've seen so far, while Goerges is shown sheer utter determination, so its going to be very interesting to see who will come through.
On the men's ATP side of things, it was no less exciting and intruiging. Rafa though had the easiest match against Michael Llodra winning comfortably in 6-2 6-2, but Tomas Berdych also got an upset defeat at the hand of Andy Murray's conqueror, Thomaz Bellucci who defeated Berdych in straight sets 7-6(2) 6-3 without dropping his serve. Federer also played a fairly tricky match against Robin Soderling, but he came through in straight sets winning 7-6(2) 6-4.
But the match of the day without a doubt was from the so far unbeatable Novak Djokovic and clay court veteran David Ferrer. I somehow didn't think this match would be a walk in the park, but I did think it might be a straight set win for Djoko, but thankfully I was proved wrong, as the match was a very tough battle for the World No 2. Ferrer showed the same incredible resiliance as he showed Andy Murray at the Australian Open and he pushed Djokovic as far as he could into a 3 set battle. The windy conditions on court also made things difficult for Djoky too as he dropped his serve in the second set and made some unforced errors allowing Ferrer to take his chances to take the second set away from him. But in the third set Djokovic found his game again and defeated the world no 7 scoring 6-4 4-6 6-3. But I really do admire Ferrer's spirit, guts and sheer determination to battle it out against such an opponent as Djokovic. It makes me think if he got to the Australian Open final instead, he could have punished Djokovic a whole lot more than Andy could have done. In fact in retrospect I wish Ferrer had got to the final as I think it would have been a much tigher match, and Ferrer would have gone down fighting, unlike Andy who just went down whinging.
Not to sound mean spirited towards Djokovic, I do appreciate his tremendous talent and formidable skill that he has displayed this year so far, but I was glad to see him tested so much tonight on the clay, as I don't believe he should be allowed to steamroll his way through the season. It also showed while Djokovic can demolish players on hard court, he certainly can't on clay, and it signals he could be in for a really tough French Open.
And Murray/Berdych beater Thomas Bellucci also appears to share the same level of belief as Djokovic does, as he thinks he can beat anyone on his best surface too. However as much as I admire the young Brazillian's spirit, I do think he is being a little bit delusional on this one, from here I can't see Bellucci beating Djokovic. It would be terrific if he could and it would show how remarkable an achievement it could be for an unseeded player to take someone at the peak of their game. But I think its a massively big ask, and I don't really see it happening. Although it would be terrific to see if Bellucci could really push Djoko as far as he can and again test the Serbian like Ferrer did. He could be the underdog, the Rocky if you will, the southpaw jinx who comes on and shakes up the World No 2. Again Bellucci has the advantage of never having played Djokovic before so perhaps Djoky doesn't fully know what to expect from the Brazillian, so it could make for a very exciting encounter, or just a straight forward win for Djoky. But it could upset the final we all want to see Rafa vs Djoko if Bellucci does win and I can't see him upsetting Rafa too much for that matter, so we will wait and see!
Now of course there is another more interesting semi final that awaits us, the showdown between the two titans, Rafa and Roger. Now last time Rafa handed Roger's ass to him in Miami as he beat Roger quite easily in 6-3 6-2. But hopefully this time Roger will have brought his A-game to the proceedings, so we can only hope it will make for an exhilirating semi final, but I think we know the outcome of the match before it begins. But hopefully it will be the match we all hope it will be, as Roger will be out looking for revenge or something close to it. Shall see shall we.
Its all good from here, bring it on once more!!! Cue part 6!
On the WTA tour side of things, there were some good results with Petra Kvitova who came through a tough battle against Dominika Cibulkova in 3 sets to make the semi finals. Victoria Azarenka also came through a fairly tough match against Lucie Safarova (Tomas Berdych's bird in case you didn't know) in 3 sets, 6-3 3-6 6-2. Also Stuttgart Tennis Porsche Gran Prix winner Julia Goerges came through her quarter final match against Anatasia Pavly in a fairly easy straight set win in 6-4 6-2. And finally Li Na fought it out against a game (and still bizarrely dressed like a character from the fighting video game Tekken!) Bethanie Mattek-Sands in 3 sets also winning 6-4 4-6 6-4. I was quite pleased to see Li Na come through to the semis after so many early round defeats in previous tournaments since her impressive Australian Open finalist run. So Li Na will face an on form Petra Kvitova tomorrow and Victoria Azarenka faces an also on form Julia Goerges. Its going to make for two great semi finals and to be honest there will be no favourites among any of them, they are all on form players. Li Na is playing great as is Petra and Azarenka is playing her most aggressive tennis I've seen so far, while Goerges is shown sheer utter determination, so its going to be very interesting to see who will come through.
On the men's ATP side of things, it was no less exciting and intruiging. Rafa though had the easiest match against Michael Llodra winning comfortably in 6-2 6-2, but Tomas Berdych also got an upset defeat at the hand of Andy Murray's conqueror, Thomaz Bellucci who defeated Berdych in straight sets 7-6(2) 6-3 without dropping his serve. Federer also played a fairly tricky match against Robin Soderling, but he came through in straight sets winning 7-6(2) 6-4.
But the match of the day without a doubt was from the so far unbeatable Novak Djokovic and clay court veteran David Ferrer. I somehow didn't think this match would be a walk in the park, but I did think it might be a straight set win for Djoko, but thankfully I was proved wrong, as the match was a very tough battle for the World No 2. Ferrer showed the same incredible resiliance as he showed Andy Murray at the Australian Open and he pushed Djokovic as far as he could into a 3 set battle. The windy conditions on court also made things difficult for Djoky too as he dropped his serve in the second set and made some unforced errors allowing Ferrer to take his chances to take the second set away from him. But in the third set Djokovic found his game again and defeated the world no 7 scoring 6-4 4-6 6-3. But I really do admire Ferrer's spirit, guts and sheer determination to battle it out against such an opponent as Djokovic. It makes me think if he got to the Australian Open final instead, he could have punished Djokovic a whole lot more than Andy could have done. In fact in retrospect I wish Ferrer had got to the final as I think it would have been a much tigher match, and Ferrer would have gone down fighting, unlike Andy who just went down whinging.
Not to sound mean spirited towards Djokovic, I do appreciate his tremendous talent and formidable skill that he has displayed this year so far, but I was glad to see him tested so much tonight on the clay, as I don't believe he should be allowed to steamroll his way through the season. It also showed while Djokovic can demolish players on hard court, he certainly can't on clay, and it signals he could be in for a really tough French Open.
And Murray/Berdych beater Thomas Bellucci also appears to share the same level of belief as Djokovic does, as he thinks he can beat anyone on his best surface too. However as much as I admire the young Brazillian's spirit, I do think he is being a little bit delusional on this one, from here I can't see Bellucci beating Djokovic. It would be terrific if he could and it would show how remarkable an achievement it could be for an unseeded player to take someone at the peak of their game. But I think its a massively big ask, and I don't really see it happening. Although it would be terrific to see if Bellucci could really push Djoko as far as he can and again test the Serbian like Ferrer did. He could be the underdog, the Rocky if you will, the southpaw jinx who comes on and shakes up the World No 2. Again Bellucci has the advantage of never having played Djokovic before so perhaps Djoky doesn't fully know what to expect from the Brazillian, so it could make for a very exciting encounter, or just a straight forward win for Djoky. But it could upset the final we all want to see Rafa vs Djoko if Bellucci does win and I can't see him upsetting Rafa too much for that matter, so we will wait and see!
Now of course there is another more interesting semi final that awaits us, the showdown between the two titans, Rafa and Roger. Now last time Rafa handed Roger's ass to him in Miami as he beat Roger quite easily in 6-3 6-2. But hopefully this time Roger will have brought his A-game to the proceedings, so we can only hope it will make for an exhilirating semi final, but I think we know the outcome of the match before it begins. But hopefully it will be the match we all hope it will be, as Roger will be out looking for revenge or something close to it. Shall see shall we.
Its all good from here, bring it on once more!!! Cue part 6!
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Clay part 4, this time itsssss upsetting!!
If you pardon the pun of the title (upsetting,up and set, geddit??) it pretty much sums up what kind of day it has been for tennis at the Matua Madrid Open today.
Morely so for the woman on the WTA tour, as it saw not one but three top seeds being blasted off the court by lower ranked players, Julia Goerges for starters upsetted Caroline Wozniacki in 3 sets, then Sam Stosur got the boot by Anatasia Pavlyunchenko in two sets 7-6 6-3, and finally Francesca Schiavone got her comeuppance by the American (not to mention weirdly Goth like dressed and complete with war paint!) Bethanie Mattek Sands also in straight sets in 7-6 6-3 also. So its been upsets galore as we've seen so far, in fact I think there are only two of the top 10 seeds still in the tournament for the woman, Victoria Azarenka who ruthelessly dispatched her opponent today Santonja in 6-0 6-3, and Li Na who also beat her opponent Roberta Vinci in 3 sets. Its good to see Li Na back on form though as she has been playing consistently well at this tournament so far, although she will face an on form Mattek Sands tomorrow. So tomorrow's WTA tour matches will be very interesting as we will have the final eight battle it out for a place in the semis, Li Na vs Mattek Sands, Azarenka vs Safarova, Goerges vs Pavly and Cibulkova vs Kvitova. So far though I have to say I think Victoria Azarenka could be a favourite to win this one, either that or even on the outside maybe even Julia Goerges who has been formidable so far this week. So more to follow soon.
On the men's side of things there was another upset of course as Andy Murray made an early exit today against the Brazillian player Thomaz Bellucci who defeated the Muzza in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. In a way its to be expected as Murray hadn't exactly played his best yesterday against Gilles Simon, also he had never played Bellucci before or was that much aware of him, not to mention Bellucci is naturally a very good clay court player and Andy isn't so that left him at a massive tactical disadvantage. So in a way its not too big a deal, he did at least win one match and he still has time to get himself more in shape for Rome and the French Open. I also think that while Andy is perceived to be a sore loser, I think he is far from it, as he usually takes each loss in his stride and he appeared to show a lot of respect to Bellucci when he shook hands after his defeat. Also disappointingly we were robbed of Nadal's face off match with Juan Martin Del Potro, who had to pull out as he sustained a hip injury in his first game on Monday.
So tomorrow again the men's tour will be very interesting as Federer takes on Robin Soderling, should be a good one, Rafa takes on Michel Llodra, and most interestingly of all, Novak Djokovic takes on David Ferrer. Now this match is the one that I am most eager to follow as David Ferrer is a seasoned clay court player and a veteran of the red dirt, so hopefully it should be a very good match, although it does look certain that Djoky in his current imperious form will beat Ferrer. But he will be up against one of the top clay court players out there as Ferrer has already beaten Djokovic three times on clay, can he make it a forth and end Djoko's unceasing winning streak???? We shall see. So bated breath for tomorrow.
Part 5 will be along at some point.
Morely so for the woman on the WTA tour, as it saw not one but three top seeds being blasted off the court by lower ranked players, Julia Goerges for starters upsetted Caroline Wozniacki in 3 sets, then Sam Stosur got the boot by Anatasia Pavlyunchenko in two sets 7-6 6-3, and finally Francesca Schiavone got her comeuppance by the American (not to mention weirdly Goth like dressed and complete with war paint!) Bethanie Mattek Sands also in straight sets in 7-6 6-3 also. So its been upsets galore as we've seen so far, in fact I think there are only two of the top 10 seeds still in the tournament for the woman, Victoria Azarenka who ruthelessly dispatched her opponent today Santonja in 6-0 6-3, and Li Na who also beat her opponent Roberta Vinci in 3 sets. Its good to see Li Na back on form though as she has been playing consistently well at this tournament so far, although she will face an on form Mattek Sands tomorrow. So tomorrow's WTA tour matches will be very interesting as we will have the final eight battle it out for a place in the semis, Li Na vs Mattek Sands, Azarenka vs Safarova, Goerges vs Pavly and Cibulkova vs Kvitova. So far though I have to say I think Victoria Azarenka could be a favourite to win this one, either that or even on the outside maybe even Julia Goerges who has been formidable so far this week. So more to follow soon.
On the men's side of things there was another upset of course as Andy Murray made an early exit today against the Brazillian player Thomaz Bellucci who defeated the Muzza in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. In a way its to be expected as Murray hadn't exactly played his best yesterday against Gilles Simon, also he had never played Bellucci before or was that much aware of him, not to mention Bellucci is naturally a very good clay court player and Andy isn't so that left him at a massive tactical disadvantage. So in a way its not too big a deal, he did at least win one match and he still has time to get himself more in shape for Rome and the French Open. I also think that while Andy is perceived to be a sore loser, I think he is far from it, as he usually takes each loss in his stride and he appeared to show a lot of respect to Bellucci when he shook hands after his defeat. Also disappointingly we were robbed of Nadal's face off match with Juan Martin Del Potro, who had to pull out as he sustained a hip injury in his first game on Monday.
So tomorrow again the men's tour will be very interesting as Federer takes on Robin Soderling, should be a good one, Rafa takes on Michel Llodra, and most interestingly of all, Novak Djokovic takes on David Ferrer. Now this match is the one that I am most eager to follow as David Ferrer is a seasoned clay court player and a veteran of the red dirt, so hopefully it should be a very good match, although it does look certain that Djoky in his current imperious form will beat Ferrer. But he will be up against one of the top clay court players out there as Ferrer has already beaten Djokovic three times on clay, can he make it a forth and end Djoko's unceasing winning streak???? We shall see. So bated breath for tomorrow.
Part 5 will be along at some point.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Clay part 3, this time its messsyyyy!!
Its been quite an exciting day so far at the Mutua Madrid Open for both the ladies and gents tennis with quite a few good matches. On the woman's side there's been another upset as Vera Zvonareva has gone out in straight sets against Petra Kvitova who has rapidly been improving (she even beat Kim Clijsters a few months back at the Suez Open in France). And Julia Goerges came through a stern match against Danira Safina of Russia, who battled back but ultimately lost in 3 sets, 4-6 6-4 4-6. I thought Goerges would win as she has been on top form since beating Caroline Wozniacki at Stuttgart quite convincingly. Speaking of which Caroline plays Julia again tomorrow, which should make for a really interesting match, I hope Caroline can pull through and win this one this time. Hopefully she will have looked at what she did wrong last time and make it right, but if she goes out again, Goerges sure will prove to be an absolutely formidable opponent, who could even take it as far as the finals and maybe even win. We'll see, but it should be quite a match.
And as it happened it was quite a match with another upset for the World No.1 who went out against the feisty German Goerges who defeated Caroline in 3 sets, despite suffering from fatigue and blisters in the second set, she still came through and won the match in 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. But clearly clay court isn't Caroline's forte, so she will have to be very careful at the French Open as if she runs into Julia again it will be three in a row. So Goerges will go on to face either Sam Stosur or Anatasia Pavly (call her that for short as her surname is too long!) and I'm thinking she could beat either player as she beat Stosur last time as well. I'm beginning to think that Julia could go all the way in this tournament, although the noisy Victoria Azarenka has been playing very well too, as so far she's been demolishing players, so we'll see how it pans out.
On the men's side of things we had a few interesting matches, firstly Novak Djokovic continued his seemingly unending winning streak today against Kevin Anderson from South Africa, who Djoko beat in straight sets 6-3 6-4, Djokovic has now gone 28-0 this year (30 matches in total counting the last two from 2010) but it remains to be seen if he can keep it up. Perhaps more impressively Juan Martin Del Potro continued his immensely impressive comeback today against Marin Cilic, as he hammered the Croat in two straight sets with a crushing score of 6-3 6-0. Tomorrow he faces an almighty challenge against Rafa, no doubt the king of clay will triumph but it will be interesting to see how much Del Potro can push Nadal.
And of course we go to one of the main interests of the men's tennis today, Andy Murray who made his comeback from his elbow injury today, who played against Frenchman Gilles Simon for the second time this year. Simon got injured in their last match which Murray took advantage of to finish off the match. But this time he was up against a much tougher opponent in Simon, who this time pushed Murray all the way in the first two sets. In fact it has to be said it was one of Murray's poorer performances this year (his straight set losses not withstanding) as he dished out a stream of unforced errors and double faults, as Simon managed to take advantage of them, especially in the second set (which was met with a lot of angry expletives from the dour faced Murray) which Simon won. In the third set though Andy knuckled down and started playing more consistently and served better, although he still had to fend off a series of break points by Simon, but he did successfully as he broke down the increasingly frustrated Frenchman and gave him a third set bagel, the final score being 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.
No doubt about it this was a brutal match for Andy, and he certainly has played a whole lot better, I wonder if it was just a mixture of match nerves and not being used to the high bounce of the ball, not to mention the speed of the Madrid court. Let's hope he's gotten more used to the court when he meets Thomaz Bellucci in the third round tomorrrow. But he can't afford to play as shakily as he did today, although to give him credit, he did battle back very well and his own stubborness to refuse to give in saw the match through. But on the plus side it was a win, if not a pretty one.
But the match of the day had to be Federer who played against the gutsy Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Lopez already had given Djokovic a hard time last week as he took him to a first set tiebreak before losing 2-6 in the second. But this time Lopez managed to push the former world no. 1 all the way in a thrilling 3 set match, which ultimately saw him fall in the closest of margins as Federer triumphed in 7-6(13), 6(1)-7, 7-6(7). It definitely possibly will be the match of the week, but I'm sure this week will hopefully see a few more thrillers to come. Its already a great tournament, both for the men and ladies.
So part 4 beckons......
And as it happened it was quite a match with another upset for the World No.1 who went out against the feisty German Goerges who defeated Caroline in 3 sets, despite suffering from fatigue and blisters in the second set, she still came through and won the match in 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. But clearly clay court isn't Caroline's forte, so she will have to be very careful at the French Open as if she runs into Julia again it will be three in a row. So Goerges will go on to face either Sam Stosur or Anatasia Pavly (call her that for short as her surname is too long!) and I'm thinking she could beat either player as she beat Stosur last time as well. I'm beginning to think that Julia could go all the way in this tournament, although the noisy Victoria Azarenka has been playing very well too, as so far she's been demolishing players, so we'll see how it pans out.
On the men's side of things we had a few interesting matches, firstly Novak Djokovic continued his seemingly unending winning streak today against Kevin Anderson from South Africa, who Djoko beat in straight sets 6-3 6-4, Djokovic has now gone 28-0 this year (30 matches in total counting the last two from 2010) but it remains to be seen if he can keep it up. Perhaps more impressively Juan Martin Del Potro continued his immensely impressive comeback today against Marin Cilic, as he hammered the Croat in two straight sets with a crushing score of 6-3 6-0. Tomorrow he faces an almighty challenge against Rafa, no doubt the king of clay will triumph but it will be interesting to see how much Del Potro can push Nadal.
And of course we go to one of the main interests of the men's tennis today, Andy Murray who made his comeback from his elbow injury today, who played against Frenchman Gilles Simon for the second time this year. Simon got injured in their last match which Murray took advantage of to finish off the match. But this time he was up against a much tougher opponent in Simon, who this time pushed Murray all the way in the first two sets. In fact it has to be said it was one of Murray's poorer performances this year (his straight set losses not withstanding) as he dished out a stream of unforced errors and double faults, as Simon managed to take advantage of them, especially in the second set (which was met with a lot of angry expletives from the dour faced Murray) which Simon won. In the third set though Andy knuckled down and started playing more consistently and served better, although he still had to fend off a series of break points by Simon, but he did successfully as he broke down the increasingly frustrated Frenchman and gave him a third set bagel, the final score being 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.
No doubt about it this was a brutal match for Andy, and he certainly has played a whole lot better, I wonder if it was just a mixture of match nerves and not being used to the high bounce of the ball, not to mention the speed of the Madrid court. Let's hope he's gotten more used to the court when he meets Thomaz Bellucci in the third round tomorrrow. But he can't afford to play as shakily as he did today, although to give him credit, he did battle back very well and his own stubborness to refuse to give in saw the match through. But on the plus side it was a win, if not a pretty one.
But the match of the day had to be Federer who played against the gutsy Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Lopez already had given Djokovic a hard time last week as he took him to a first set tiebreak before losing 2-6 in the second. But this time Lopez managed to push the former world no. 1 all the way in a thrilling 3 set match, which ultimately saw him fall in the closest of margins as Federer triumphed in 7-6(13), 6(1)-7, 7-6(7). It definitely possibly will be the match of the week, but I'm sure this week will hopefully see a few more thrillers to come. Its already a great tournament, both for the men and ladies.
So part 4 beckons......
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Clay part 2 the revenge
The Mutua Madrid Open is well under way now for the WTA/ATP tour season, and already there has been some really good matches and a couple of upsets. Andrea Petkovic already has made an early exit as has Agnieszka Radwanska today as well, and now Marion Bartoli has been defeated by a Russian player Anastasia Pavlyunchenkova in a crushing result of 7-5, 6-1, which was the exact reverse defeat Andy Murray suffered in Miami against Alex Bogomolov (i.e. 6-1, 7-5). Its like Marion took some of Andy Murray's losing juice, hopefully Andy has got well rid of it since!!
On the men's side of things also some upsets have taken place, Andy Roddick has gone out, as has Mardy Fish who lost out to John Isner. On the doubles Andy and Jamie Murray have already gone out in the first round as they lost to the pairing of Granollers and Lopez in 6-2 6-2. I just hope Andy's singles game is on better form tomorrow as he is due to play Gilles Simon again, thankfully he has won 5 of their previous 6 meetings, but who knows how the pendulum may swing? Andy appears to be still in good spirits after his very good campaign at Monte-Carlo last month, hopefully things will remain good for him. But the other top players start their campaign tomorrow too, as Rafa, Djokovic and Federer are all on court tomorrow too, so as things progress they will get much tougher. But with Andy's recent form it should make for another exciting tournament to watch. But it makes me think, can Novak Djokovic beat Rafa? Yesterday I was starting to think he really could, he already has won 5 titles this year and has an unceasing winning streak of 27 matches this year along (29 in total including 2 from last year). He has also said he feels a big confidence playing against Rafa now, even on clay that form could be a serious danger for Rafa. Another point was when they both met 2 years ago in Madrid at the semi-finals where Djokovic pushed Nadal to the absolute limit of his ability in an exhaustive amazing 4 hour match, where Nadal just won by a gnats hair and no more in 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9). We can at least hope if they do meet in the final, and they most likely will, that it will be another epic match of those proportions or at least similar to their Miami match last month.
So tomorrow will be an interesting day for the Madrid Open and it should see some exciting games. More to follow....
On the men's side of things also some upsets have taken place, Andy Roddick has gone out, as has Mardy Fish who lost out to John Isner. On the doubles Andy and Jamie Murray have already gone out in the first round as they lost to the pairing of Granollers and Lopez in 6-2 6-2. I just hope Andy's singles game is on better form tomorrow as he is due to play Gilles Simon again, thankfully he has won 5 of their previous 6 meetings, but who knows how the pendulum may swing? Andy appears to be still in good spirits after his very good campaign at Monte-Carlo last month, hopefully things will remain good for him. But the other top players start their campaign tomorrow too, as Rafa, Djokovic and Federer are all on court tomorrow too, so as things progress they will get much tougher. But with Andy's recent form it should make for another exciting tournament to watch. But it makes me think, can Novak Djokovic beat Rafa? Yesterday I was starting to think he really could, he already has won 5 titles this year and has an unceasing winning streak of 27 matches this year along (29 in total including 2 from last year). He has also said he feels a big confidence playing against Rafa now, even on clay that form could be a serious danger for Rafa. Another point was when they both met 2 years ago in Madrid at the semi-finals where Djokovic pushed Nadal to the absolute limit of his ability in an exhaustive amazing 4 hour match, where Nadal just won by a gnats hair and no more in 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9). We can at least hope if they do meet in the final, and they most likely will, that it will be another epic match of those proportions or at least similar to their Miami match last month.
So tomorrow will be an interesting day for the Madrid Open and it should see some exciting games. More to follow....
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