OK after that tennis marathon here's a wee change of subject, as this is about my Microsoft exams as I was studying to get my 2nd Microsoft Windows 7 exam out of the way (70-685), but I have had a bit of a debacle with the college out in Motherwell (or Motherwell college if you like!).
At the start of the year, I was supposed to sit the exam just after I had started work with Zurich Financial Services (which I am still there, for now!) and I went out to Motherwell college. But when I got there I found out from the woman invigilating the exams that my exam didn't download as the Prometric server had crashed. Now Prometric are supposed to provide testing and assessment services for IT exams, and to say they have given the college problems has been an understatement. Suffice to say that night I didn't get to sit my exam as the supervisor was concerned I would run short on time, and the Windows 7 70-685 is very difficult (perhaps even more so than the 70-680).
So after that I arranged another date to go back (which was last Thursday there on 26th January) to Mothewell college again, and I was quite keen to get it out the way, and hopefully get a pass. And on that day, that's when the snow decided to come to town, regardless I was able to still get out to the college, but again when I got there the problems with the Prometric server reared their ugly head again. This time the exam invigilator (Laura I think!) said that my exam voucher was no longer valid as it had already registered me to sit the exam, even though I had never started it, since it hadn't properly downloaded last time! And of course she couldn't get me another one, so that meant once again my attempt to sit the exam had been thwarted!! So I was pretty pissed off by then, as by this time I had wasted two trips out to the back of beyond (at Shieldmuir station) to get there. And the first time was particularly annoying since I had to wait an hour for the train (as only one train an hour comes at Shieldmuir!) and then it was another hour to get home. Thankfully the second time, my tutor from the course very kindly gave me a lift back. But it was another wasted journey, and it was really infuriating to wait all this time to no avail once more. It was also the same for one of the guys I was on the course with, as he had sat the exam once, it first of all said he had passed, then it came up as an error, then he had to resit the exam and it chucked out half way through it!!
As for Prometric for a so called "leading global provider of comprehensive testing and assessment services" they really are utterly pathetic and provide a really piss poor service. Despite the fact they are closely connected with Microsoft, you think they should provide a professional service to its clients that is efficient and works. Instead they made the Motherwell college staff look like idiots and me and my fellow course man without a qualification once again.
And this does lead me onto another bugbear about the Microsoft exams in general, as with this exam and the previous one, I felt from the course material I have learned something, but from doing the exams I feel have learned nothing, as the two are so different. The exams definitely encompass stuff that is way outside the course material we were given, which really annoys me. I guess you will always get stuff like that in exams, but Microsoft seem to have taken a mish-mesh of different exams, such as Windows Server exams and Windows Desktop Support exams, and blended them together, in order to confuse and annoy the students taking the exam. In fact when I originally did this course I later found that our class was actually used as guinea pigs to see how the course was and how easy/difficult it would be. As it turned out it was anything but easy, however it certainly is a good course to do and if you want another IT qualification under your belt, then its one to go for.
But once again that's me waiting to find out, just when the hell am I going to finally be able to sit this exam and get it out the way. Hopefully I won't be out at Motherwell college again as it really is too far away, and its been a massive waste of my time so far going out there. I've made it clear to my tutor so far that I don't want to go out there again, so if they can try and get my a test centre somewhere in Glasgow, that would be much better.
Anyways that's all waiting to be sorted, in the meantime I'll just on with work and gaming. ;-)
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Melbourne Part 6: The immovable object
Soooooooooooooooooooooooo that's the end of another Australian open and what a tournament it has been, as there has been the usual mix of drama and excitement, and it also easily ranks as one of the best year's of the tournament's run. And the focus of this post is of course the men's singles final between the two best players in the world, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal, as they faced off each other for the title.
And the final itself, intiailly was a slow burner but when it kicked it in it became one of the most exciting and thrilling matches in the Australian open era. It also made history as it was the longest grand slam final in the history of tennis, as Djokovic who easily defeated Rafa quite a few times in the past, especially at Rome, Madrid and Wimbledon, faced off a relentless opponent in Rafa who just refused to go away. Early on Rafa took the first set, but in the 2nd and 3rd, the match dipped in quality as Djokovic dominated the play, but in the 4th set after holding at 4-4 all, Rafa turned it around into one of the most thrilling contests seen in the sport, as he took the magnificent 4th set tiebreak, and the match went into a pulsating decider. In the 5th, Rafa seized the initiative and took the break at 4-2, however, against all the odds, Djokovic being the immovable object that he is (hence the title!) then broke back, and at 5-5 all, he made the vital break on Rafa's serve, where he then served it out, to win the title after an extremely gruelling and intense 5 hours and 53 minutes, ultimately winning in 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6(5)-7, 7-5.
This definitely will go down as one of the most memorable finals in the annals of the sport, and both players couldn't have given more, it even made their US Open final from last year look like a picnic, as the two players battled it out for almost two hours longer than that one! In fact you could almost say it was two matches, the first three sets being a bit lacklustre in places, and the second two sets being absolutely thrilling. Djokovic himself toward the end, despite having already played a brutal match against Andy Murray, looked at times both absolutely exhausted, especially at the start of the match, and near the end he look so done in, he could barely stand up! However he had moments where he was able to just muster whatever reserves he had in the crucial moments to come through. The fact that the man over the space of two days just spent 11 hours on court and still won is just utterly remarkable in itself as well as unbelievable. Although I have to say I was really gutted for Rafa when he lost, as I was really hoping he would have won the match after breaking in the 5th set, and he looked so determined at that point, but still Djokovic came back! I'm sure it will be a tough loss for Rafa to take, and its just as well he is taking Februrary off to recover, and if I were Djokovic, I would do the same! Although Rafa later on said that he took alot of positives out of the match, and that he felt that he no longer had the inner demons that haunted him from last year when to losing to Novak. In fact Rafa even looked happier standing alongside Djokovic with their respective trophies, as he turned to leave Djokovic to his photos, he gave a smile and winked at Djokovic afterwards. And I recall even last year at Wimbledon he looked almost indignant towards Djokovic after the final, but this year so far he seems to have gotten rid of that seeming animosity, which is a good thing.
So that's five majors now in the cabinet for Djokovic, so where do things go from here??? He can easily go on and win more this year, whether or not he can complete the career slam this year or not, remains to be seen. Djokovic has a new threat in Andy Murray emerging as he has really come into his own in the tournament despite his semi final loss. But it has to be said that Djokovic will certainly be the favourite going into the French Open when it comes, and who knows how big a winning streak he will go on this year. After 2011 we didn't know where Djokovic's game would be, but even he felt he could possibly carry on and repeat last year, and at this rate, he might just be right! One thing is for sure, Djokovic is the player to beat in 2012, and undoubtedly the world's best player. I also think that its possibly that Andy could move up in the rankings this year and usurp Roger to get to number 3, whether or not he does we shall find out as the year progresses. But it really says something about the top four guys in tennis, they really are that league above everyone else, and yeah ok you can say that its really the top 3 and Andy, but I think Andy as he said has closed that gap. And it also really says a lot about the other top three guys that they are the only ones to have managed to take Djokovic the distance in a grand slam match.
Anyway it was quite an encounter between the world's two best players and they both gave very fine speeches in the award ceremony, with Rafa joking about how early it was in the morning to the crowd, and they were also rightly given seats afterwards as well! It will certainly take a long time for both players to recover physically from this match and where it goes from here we will soon find out.
Right well that's enough tennis for now, more to follow soon, with the ladies next week coming from the Suez Open in Paris, where some of the top seeds will be playing such as Maria Sharapova, Marion Bartoli and Jelena Jankovic, so that should be good. And I will be going to Great Britain's Davis cup tie out at Braehead arena again next month, which unfortunately this time will not include Andy Murray as he is taking time off due to niggling injuries, he picked up in Australia. So that means GB will have a tough time against their next opponents, Slovakia, as they have a few players that are ranked inside the top 100, and with the absence of Andy, it will be tougher for them to come through. Fortunately the GB team still have James Ward, who is an excellent singles player, ranked around 160, and they also have the great doubles partnership of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins. Last time Hutchins himself played a singles rubber round match (a dead one) and he won the match, but this time they will be up against sterner opposition. But hopefully the GB team will be able to come through what should be a testing round robin.
So that's enough tennis for now. Till the next one, bye the now!
And the final itself, intiailly was a slow burner but when it kicked it in it became one of the most exciting and thrilling matches in the Australian open era. It also made history as it was the longest grand slam final in the history of tennis, as Djokovic who easily defeated Rafa quite a few times in the past, especially at Rome, Madrid and Wimbledon, faced off a relentless opponent in Rafa who just refused to go away. Early on Rafa took the first set, but in the 2nd and 3rd, the match dipped in quality as Djokovic dominated the play, but in the 4th set after holding at 4-4 all, Rafa turned it around into one of the most thrilling contests seen in the sport, as he took the magnificent 4th set tiebreak, and the match went into a pulsating decider. In the 5th, Rafa seized the initiative and took the break at 4-2, however, against all the odds, Djokovic being the immovable object that he is (hence the title!) then broke back, and at 5-5 all, he made the vital break on Rafa's serve, where he then served it out, to win the title after an extremely gruelling and intense 5 hours and 53 minutes, ultimately winning in 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6(5)-7, 7-5.
This definitely will go down as one of the most memorable finals in the annals of the sport, and both players couldn't have given more, it even made their US Open final from last year look like a picnic, as the two players battled it out for almost two hours longer than that one! In fact you could almost say it was two matches, the first three sets being a bit lacklustre in places, and the second two sets being absolutely thrilling. Djokovic himself toward the end, despite having already played a brutal match against Andy Murray, looked at times both absolutely exhausted, especially at the start of the match, and near the end he look so done in, he could barely stand up! However he had moments where he was able to just muster whatever reserves he had in the crucial moments to come through. The fact that the man over the space of two days just spent 11 hours on court and still won is just utterly remarkable in itself as well as unbelievable. Although I have to say I was really gutted for Rafa when he lost, as I was really hoping he would have won the match after breaking in the 5th set, and he looked so determined at that point, but still Djokovic came back! I'm sure it will be a tough loss for Rafa to take, and its just as well he is taking Februrary off to recover, and if I were Djokovic, I would do the same! Although Rafa later on said that he took alot of positives out of the match, and that he felt that he no longer had the inner demons that haunted him from last year when to losing to Novak. In fact Rafa even looked happier standing alongside Djokovic with their respective trophies, as he turned to leave Djokovic to his photos, he gave a smile and winked at Djokovic afterwards. And I recall even last year at Wimbledon he looked almost indignant towards Djokovic after the final, but this year so far he seems to have gotten rid of that seeming animosity, which is a good thing.
So that's five majors now in the cabinet for Djokovic, so where do things go from here??? He can easily go on and win more this year, whether or not he can complete the career slam this year or not, remains to be seen. Djokovic has a new threat in Andy Murray emerging as he has really come into his own in the tournament despite his semi final loss. But it has to be said that Djokovic will certainly be the favourite going into the French Open when it comes, and who knows how big a winning streak he will go on this year. After 2011 we didn't know where Djokovic's game would be, but even he felt he could possibly carry on and repeat last year, and at this rate, he might just be right! One thing is for sure, Djokovic is the player to beat in 2012, and undoubtedly the world's best player. I also think that its possibly that Andy could move up in the rankings this year and usurp Roger to get to number 3, whether or not he does we shall find out as the year progresses. But it really says something about the top four guys in tennis, they really are that league above everyone else, and yeah ok you can say that its really the top 3 and Andy, but I think Andy as he said has closed that gap. And it also really says a lot about the other top three guys that they are the only ones to have managed to take Djokovic the distance in a grand slam match.
Anyway it was quite an encounter between the world's two best players and they both gave very fine speeches in the award ceremony, with Rafa joking about how early it was in the morning to the crowd, and they were also rightly given seats afterwards as well! It will certainly take a long time for both players to recover physically from this match and where it goes from here we will soon find out.
Right well that's enough tennis for now, more to follow soon, with the ladies next week coming from the Suez Open in Paris, where some of the top seeds will be playing such as Maria Sharapova, Marion Bartoli and Jelena Jankovic, so that should be good. And I will be going to Great Britain's Davis cup tie out at Braehead arena again next month, which unfortunately this time will not include Andy Murray as he is taking time off due to niggling injuries, he picked up in Australia. So that means GB will have a tough time against their next opponents, Slovakia, as they have a few players that are ranked inside the top 100, and with the absence of Andy, it will be tougher for them to come through. Fortunately the GB team still have James Ward, who is an excellent singles player, ranked around 160, and they also have the great doubles partnership of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins. Last time Hutchins himself played a singles rubber round match (a dead one) and he won the match, but this time they will be up against sterner opposition. But hopefully the GB team will be able to come through what should be a testing round robin.
So that's enough tennis for now. Till the next one, bye the now!
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Melbourne Part 5: Queen of the grunters
Wellllllll that's the end of another Australian Open ladies campaign as the final concluded today with Victoria Azarenka facing off against the mighty Maria Sharapova, so here's more on that.
In the first set there were a trade of breaks between the two as Sharapova broke early on, only to have Azarenka break back, and then she herself broke Sharapova to win the first set in 6-3. However in the second set, Sharapova didn't even get a look in as Azarenka ruthlessly dominated the play and totally outplayed her opponent, to secure her first ever grand slam title, handing Sharapova an Aussie open cream bagel to take home as a rather inglorious reminder of the set, winning in a crushing 6-3, 6-0. After she won, Azarenka fell to her knees and had a dazed look of disbelief on her face as she got up and looked at the crowd as if to say "did this really just happen????".
So the ladies game now has a new world no.1, Victoria Azarenka, who frankly I always saw as a possible grand slam champion, ever since she won the Sony Ericsson Open last year, where she ruthlessly dismissed Sharapova there too, albeit that was a tougher match despite its scoreline. But if I have one major criticism of the ladies slam finals and that is that they are way too short, usually you find the men's finals are at least three or four times as long! Victoria on court definitely has an intimidating demeanour but off court she is actually quite a nice sweet lass, and despite the rather muted response throughout the tournament she got from the audience (probably because of her ridiculous grunting!), they finally warmed to her in the award ceremony as she gave a fine acceptance speech. And that is already her second title of the year and I'm sure many more will follow and possibly no doubt one or two more slams. Although the ladies game now clearly has two new rivals in Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitvoa, both whom are now slam champions, so it could be a fascinating rivalry to follow throughout the year, when they should meet up.
And Azarenka's play throughout the Australian was so impressive it was almost like watching Djokovic at work last year, who ruthlessly cast aside so many players in straight sets, she herself could even go on an invincible winning streak this year. Although the women that have won grand slams last year have failed to capitlise on their wins and went on to struggle badly (except Petra), but I think it would be good for the sport to have one or two dominant players, such as Petra and Victoria to provide the excitement and consistency that the ladies tennis really needs as well as the rivalry. But Azarenka without doubt deserved the title, as she played brilliantly throughout and rarely had a dip, dropping only two sets on her way to the final, so this should give her massive confidence for the rest of the year.
So this leads me on to say a bit about Caroline Wozniacki, who now drops to the No.4 in the womans rankings, which is a bit of a letdown for her, it also now sees her as the equivalent of Andy Murray, a great player who has never yet won a major. But for me Andy is starting to move in the right direction, as he use to be a counterpuncher and a bit too passive, but now he is stepping forward and playing more aggressively, and that's what Caroline needs to do if she is to win a major. If you look at all the players that won majors on the ladies and the men's side of the tour, they have all been aggressive players and that is the key to winning one. Azarenka and Kvitova have both proved to be just that, aggressive powerful hitters who take chances and move forward in their games, but for Wozniacki this remains a problem, as too often I have seen her passively trade blows from the baseline. Wozniacki games also appears to lack variety too, as its mainly forehand/backhand, forehand/backhand. But maybe one day she can step up to the plate and maybe win one herself, as the ladies game for the moment is still wide open, unless Azarenka is about to dominate, but that remains to be seen. Until Wozniacki makes the move herself, the game will always belong to the players like Azarenka and Kvitova, who are willing to take their chances. But it is only the beginning of another season and anything can happen.
Welllllllllllllllll that's my critique for the ladies game over, admittedly the ladies campaign at times, lacked exictement, there has been some terrific matches, but in some ways it could have been better, but I'm plenty of great stuff awaits on WTA tour.
Next up is the men's final between Djokovic and Rafa, so I will post that up once Djokovic has won, ahem!! Or will he????? The stats point towards it, but we shall see, but I think it will be one hellva of a final.
Bye the now.
In the first set there were a trade of breaks between the two as Sharapova broke early on, only to have Azarenka break back, and then she herself broke Sharapova to win the first set in 6-3. However in the second set, Sharapova didn't even get a look in as Azarenka ruthlessly dominated the play and totally outplayed her opponent, to secure her first ever grand slam title, handing Sharapova an Aussie open cream bagel to take home as a rather inglorious reminder of the set, winning in a crushing 6-3, 6-0. After she won, Azarenka fell to her knees and had a dazed look of disbelief on her face as she got up and looked at the crowd as if to say "did this really just happen????".
So the ladies game now has a new world no.1, Victoria Azarenka, who frankly I always saw as a possible grand slam champion, ever since she won the Sony Ericsson Open last year, where she ruthlessly dismissed Sharapova there too, albeit that was a tougher match despite its scoreline. But if I have one major criticism of the ladies slam finals and that is that they are way too short, usually you find the men's finals are at least three or four times as long! Victoria on court definitely has an intimidating demeanour but off court she is actually quite a nice sweet lass, and despite the rather muted response throughout the tournament she got from the audience (probably because of her ridiculous grunting!), they finally warmed to her in the award ceremony as she gave a fine acceptance speech. And that is already her second title of the year and I'm sure many more will follow and possibly no doubt one or two more slams. Although the ladies game now clearly has two new rivals in Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitvoa, both whom are now slam champions, so it could be a fascinating rivalry to follow throughout the year, when they should meet up.
And Azarenka's play throughout the Australian was so impressive it was almost like watching Djokovic at work last year, who ruthlessly cast aside so many players in straight sets, she herself could even go on an invincible winning streak this year. Although the women that have won grand slams last year have failed to capitlise on their wins and went on to struggle badly (except Petra), but I think it would be good for the sport to have one or two dominant players, such as Petra and Victoria to provide the excitement and consistency that the ladies tennis really needs as well as the rivalry. But Azarenka without doubt deserved the title, as she played brilliantly throughout and rarely had a dip, dropping only two sets on her way to the final, so this should give her massive confidence for the rest of the year.
So this leads me on to say a bit about Caroline Wozniacki, who now drops to the No.4 in the womans rankings, which is a bit of a letdown for her, it also now sees her as the equivalent of Andy Murray, a great player who has never yet won a major. But for me Andy is starting to move in the right direction, as he use to be a counterpuncher and a bit too passive, but now he is stepping forward and playing more aggressively, and that's what Caroline needs to do if she is to win a major. If you look at all the players that won majors on the ladies and the men's side of the tour, they have all been aggressive players and that is the key to winning one. Azarenka and Kvitova have both proved to be just that, aggressive powerful hitters who take chances and move forward in their games, but for Wozniacki this remains a problem, as too often I have seen her passively trade blows from the baseline. Wozniacki games also appears to lack variety too, as its mainly forehand/backhand, forehand/backhand. But maybe one day she can step up to the plate and maybe win one herself, as the ladies game for the moment is still wide open, unless Azarenka is about to dominate, but that remains to be seen. Until Wozniacki makes the move herself, the game will always belong to the players like Azarenka and Kvitova, who are willing to take their chances. But it is only the beginning of another season and anything can happen.
Welllllllllllllllll that's my critique for the ladies game over, admittedly the ladies campaign at times, lacked exictement, there has been some terrific matches, but in some ways it could have been better, but I'm plenty of great stuff awaits on WTA tour.
Next up is the men's final between Djokovic and Rafa, so I will post that up once Djokovic has won, ahem!! Or will he????? The stats point towards it, but we shall see, but I think it will be one hellva of a final.
Bye the now.
Melbourne Part 4.2: Naahhh it can't..... but what a match!
Well that's the ladies and men's semi finals over for the 2012 Australian Open and we have seen some pretty extraordinary tennis on display, particularly from the men, so a bit more on that in a tick or few.
So starting with the ladies and the first semi final match between defending champion Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka, the World No. 3, who went at it in a see saw battle which ultimately saw Azarenka pull off a win that will see her go into her first grand slam final. Naturally the crowd were behind Kim Clijsters to win as she is such a popular champion, but Azarenka I really have to saw was very impressive in this match, as she really dug deep to bring out the win against Kim in 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. In fact I felt a bit sorry for Vika, as I think the crowd almost seemed against her throughout the tournament, but she has worked very hard and played so impressively throughout the tournament. So Azarenka will go on to face the winner of the next semi finals match, which was even more impressive as Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova battled it out for a place in the final. And Maria managed to get the perfect revenge over Petra, as Maria broke her serve to win out a tough match in 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Its great to see a big name in the ladies game go through to the final, and I'm sure Maria will get the audience's full support behind her. Although one pretty alarming factor to Maria's game is her double faults, as in her semi final match she served up 10 double faults! This isn't going to be good news if she continues to serve up that many in the final, and on that basis it could leave Azarenka as the favourite to win the title. But overall though I think the final will be a really good one, and hopefully it will be a 3 set pitch battle (or court battle!). But its hard to predict who will actually win, as the head to head is 3-3 between them both, so it really could go either way. There are also a couple of other factors to consider too in this match, for one Azarenka has never won a grand slam before, as Maria has won three, so will Victoria be able to hold her nerve???? I guess we will soon find out that one, either way it promises to be a good one!
So onto the men's single semi finals, starting with the ultimate showdown between two of tennis's biggest ever rivals, Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal, as Rog and Raf went right at it in a high quality encounter on Rod Laver Arena. In the first Roger came out of the blocks and played some pretty spectacular tennis and edged Rafa in the tiebreak, however after that Rafa broke Roger and clawed his way back into the match, winning the 3rd set tiebreak and securing the final crucial break in 4th. This saw another bruising victory over Roger with Rafa winning in 6(5)-7, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4, and this now sees Rafa's head to head reach 18-9. Its also marks his second Australian open grand slam semi final, where he will have a chance to lift his 11th slam title. But all that hinges on his next opponent...
Which leads me to the second men's semi final, which was a much anticipated re-match of last year's final between World No.1 Novak Djokovic and the World No.4 Andy Murray. Last year Andy suffered a pretty inglorious defeat at Djokovic's hands, as Djoko blasted Andy off the court in a straight sets defeat. However this year's encounter promised to be quite different, and that couldn't have been more true, as this year's match was night and day in difference. A year on we could see evolution of both men's games, and what we were given was a remarkable semi final, which featured some magnificent tennis, although it was peppered with unforced errors from both players. But this didn't detract from the sheer guts, determination and drive from both players out on the court, as they played an intensely brutal match that lasted very nearly 5 hours. Andy nearly pulled off unthinkable here, as he pushed the World No.1 to the absolute limit and took him the distance in an incredible 5 sets. In a quick summary of the match, Djoko broke Andy in the 1st and took it, in the 2nd Andy broke Djoko and took it, and in the 3rd we were treated to a thrilling see-saw set which Andy took in a tiebreak. However despite 2-1 sets lead, Djoko fought back as he is known to do in the 4th set, which took us to a decider, which despite being broken by Djokovic and trailing 5-2, Andy broke back to level the match at 5-5 all. But in the end it was Djokovic that made the crucial break on Andy's serve, which saw the world's best player fall flat on his back, winning an epic match in 6-3, 3-6, 6(4)-7, 6-1, 7-5.
While I have to say the quality of the match was mixed at times, this match was undoubtedly superb in terms of the skills, grit and bravery of the two men on the court. And yes ok Andy lost again, but he made a stellar leap forward from his ignomious defeat last year, and mentally he did not falter, as he hung tough and pushed the world's best player to the limit. Taking Djokovic the distance in a grand slam match, apart from Roger Federer, no other player has been able to do since 2011, and I think Ivan Lendl definitely deserves credit for this as you could clearly see Andy's greatly improved attitude on the court. Yeah ok Andy did fret once or twice, but he mainly kept it under wraps, and it was a match that showed a man who finally is starting to come of age. Throughout match I could scarcely believe the scoreboard at times, as Andy made such great progress against Djokovic, and one of the best things about the match, was for the first time in a while in Andy's camp, he had given them so much to cheer about in a big match situation. And with Lendl coaching Andy, given Lendl's experience, he has the rest of the year to improve and progress, which I'm almost certain he will.
Throughout the match, Andy showboated some of his best tennis and shotmaking, particularly in winning a crucial point in the 3rd set tiebreak against Djokovic at 6-3, he produced a stunning forehand winner. And perhaps Andy's finest moment came when he broke Djokovic to love when Djoko was trying to serve it out at 5-3, simply superb stuff. Based on that performance, Andy could very possibly go on and win a grand slam at some point, and if he is fortunate to reach another final this year, he could stand every chance of making that final step. But that's all ahead of him, for now Andy should take so many positives from that match, just like he should from his match in Rome last year against Djokovic, as it really showed he truly is a threat to the Serb and could yet be his nemesis. So the young Scot may yet lift some of that silverware.
Sooooo anyway that sets up the men's final, which again is between the world's two best players, Rafa and Djoko, it promises to be an absolute belter, and if that's anything like the US Open, it will be quite amazing. The winner of that one clearly points toward Djokovic, he's beaten Rafa six times in a row, and with that record you can't really bet against him. However one thing in Rafa's favour is that he will have had two full days rest before his match with Djokovic, which will leave him the fitter and fresher of the two, especially as Djoko has just finished a very gruelling 5 hour match. But this doesn't necessarily guarantee he will win against Djokovic, as he proved today against Andy, the will to win is still as strong as ever, and by hook or by crook he will try.
Anyway more to follow soon on the ladies final once that's over tomorrow, Maria Sharapova vs Victoria Azarenka, looking forward to that one!
Till then bye for now.
So starting with the ladies and the first semi final match between defending champion Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka, the World No. 3, who went at it in a see saw battle which ultimately saw Azarenka pull off a win that will see her go into her first grand slam final. Naturally the crowd were behind Kim Clijsters to win as she is such a popular champion, but Azarenka I really have to saw was very impressive in this match, as she really dug deep to bring out the win against Kim in 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. In fact I felt a bit sorry for Vika, as I think the crowd almost seemed against her throughout the tournament, but she has worked very hard and played so impressively throughout the tournament. So Azarenka will go on to face the winner of the next semi finals match, which was even more impressive as Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova battled it out for a place in the final. And Maria managed to get the perfect revenge over Petra, as Maria broke her serve to win out a tough match in 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Its great to see a big name in the ladies game go through to the final, and I'm sure Maria will get the audience's full support behind her. Although one pretty alarming factor to Maria's game is her double faults, as in her semi final match she served up 10 double faults! This isn't going to be good news if she continues to serve up that many in the final, and on that basis it could leave Azarenka as the favourite to win the title. But overall though I think the final will be a really good one, and hopefully it will be a 3 set pitch battle (or court battle!). But its hard to predict who will actually win, as the head to head is 3-3 between them both, so it really could go either way. There are also a couple of other factors to consider too in this match, for one Azarenka has never won a grand slam before, as Maria has won three, so will Victoria be able to hold her nerve???? I guess we will soon find out that one, either way it promises to be a good one!
So onto the men's single semi finals, starting with the ultimate showdown between two of tennis's biggest ever rivals, Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal, as Rog and Raf went right at it in a high quality encounter on Rod Laver Arena. In the first Roger came out of the blocks and played some pretty spectacular tennis and edged Rafa in the tiebreak, however after that Rafa broke Roger and clawed his way back into the match, winning the 3rd set tiebreak and securing the final crucial break in 4th. This saw another bruising victory over Roger with Rafa winning in 6(5)-7, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4, and this now sees Rafa's head to head reach 18-9. Its also marks his second Australian open grand slam semi final, where he will have a chance to lift his 11th slam title. But all that hinges on his next opponent...
Which leads me to the second men's semi final, which was a much anticipated re-match of last year's final between World No.1 Novak Djokovic and the World No.4 Andy Murray. Last year Andy suffered a pretty inglorious defeat at Djokovic's hands, as Djoko blasted Andy off the court in a straight sets defeat. However this year's encounter promised to be quite different, and that couldn't have been more true, as this year's match was night and day in difference. A year on we could see evolution of both men's games, and what we were given was a remarkable semi final, which featured some magnificent tennis, although it was peppered with unforced errors from both players. But this didn't detract from the sheer guts, determination and drive from both players out on the court, as they played an intensely brutal match that lasted very nearly 5 hours. Andy nearly pulled off unthinkable here, as he pushed the World No.1 to the absolute limit and took him the distance in an incredible 5 sets. In a quick summary of the match, Djoko broke Andy in the 1st and took it, in the 2nd Andy broke Djoko and took it, and in the 3rd we were treated to a thrilling see-saw set which Andy took in a tiebreak. However despite 2-1 sets lead, Djoko fought back as he is known to do in the 4th set, which took us to a decider, which despite being broken by Djokovic and trailing 5-2, Andy broke back to level the match at 5-5 all. But in the end it was Djokovic that made the crucial break on Andy's serve, which saw the world's best player fall flat on his back, winning an epic match in 6-3, 3-6, 6(4)-7, 6-1, 7-5.
While I have to say the quality of the match was mixed at times, this match was undoubtedly superb in terms of the skills, grit and bravery of the two men on the court. And yes ok Andy lost again, but he made a stellar leap forward from his ignomious defeat last year, and mentally he did not falter, as he hung tough and pushed the world's best player to the limit. Taking Djokovic the distance in a grand slam match, apart from Roger Federer, no other player has been able to do since 2011, and I think Ivan Lendl definitely deserves credit for this as you could clearly see Andy's greatly improved attitude on the court. Yeah ok Andy did fret once or twice, but he mainly kept it under wraps, and it was a match that showed a man who finally is starting to come of age. Throughout match I could scarcely believe the scoreboard at times, as Andy made such great progress against Djokovic, and one of the best things about the match, was for the first time in a while in Andy's camp, he had given them so much to cheer about in a big match situation. And with Lendl coaching Andy, given Lendl's experience, he has the rest of the year to improve and progress, which I'm almost certain he will.
Throughout the match, Andy showboated some of his best tennis and shotmaking, particularly in winning a crucial point in the 3rd set tiebreak against Djokovic at 6-3, he produced a stunning forehand winner. And perhaps Andy's finest moment came when he broke Djokovic to love when Djoko was trying to serve it out at 5-3, simply superb stuff. Based on that performance, Andy could very possibly go on and win a grand slam at some point, and if he is fortunate to reach another final this year, he could stand every chance of making that final step. But that's all ahead of him, for now Andy should take so many positives from that match, just like he should from his match in Rome last year against Djokovic, as it really showed he truly is a threat to the Serb and could yet be his nemesis. So the young Scot may yet lift some of that silverware.
Sooooo anyway that sets up the men's final, which again is between the world's two best players, Rafa and Djoko, it promises to be an absolute belter, and if that's anything like the US Open, it will be quite amazing. The winner of that one clearly points toward Djokovic, he's beaten Rafa six times in a row, and with that record you can't really bet against him. However one thing in Rafa's favour is that he will have had two full days rest before his match with Djokovic, which will leave him the fitter and fresher of the two, especially as Djoko has just finished a very gruelling 5 hour match. But this doesn't necessarily guarantee he will win against Djokovic, as he proved today against Andy, the will to win is still as strong as ever, and by hook or by crook he will try.
Anyway more to follow soon on the ladies final once that's over tomorrow, Maria Sharapova vs Victoria Azarenka, looking forward to that one!
Till then bye for now.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Melbourne Part 4.1: Can it???????
Re: Muzza vs Djokovic?????? Will it???? Can it?????? We shall soon find out.
One thing is hopefully for sure, it will be quite a match, hopefully even better than Roger and Rafa's incredible encounter yesterday, or it could be just a straight set whitewash for Andy, or even maybe Djokovic (but I doubt it!!).
Anyways more to follow, need to go work..... bah! So I will keep an eye on the scores with panicked breath.....
But for now, and what has easily got to be shortest post of all time from me, tarra the now.
One thing is hopefully for sure, it will be quite a match, hopefully even better than Roger and Rafa's incredible encounter yesterday, or it could be just a straight set whitewash for Andy, or even maybe Djokovic (but I doubt it!!).
Anyways more to follow, need to go work..... bah! So I will keep an eye on the scores with panicked breath.....
But for now, and what has easily got to be shortest post of all time from me, tarra the now.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Melbourne Part 4: Fab four in the semis....
Welly welly well, its great to report (or at least type up) that in the men's Australian Open that all four of the top seeds are through to the semi finals. It happened last year twice in the slams at the French Open and the US Open, and its really good to see it happen again this year already into the first slam. It shows just how good the top four guys really are and they totally deserve to be there at the latter stages of the tournament.
Anyways here's a bit more about the matches and how they went, I've already updated about the Rafa and Federer matches in my last post, the former being the best by far as Rafa was pushed nearly all the way in a 4 set epic against Tomas Berdych. Federer however had the easier match in a surprising dispatch of Del Potro in straight sets. And there's one thing I have to say about the difference between Roger and Rafa's matches, for me Roger's matches can at times be a bit too precise and clinical at times, as he dispatches his opponents. But Rafa's matches can tend to be that bit more exciting as Rafa fairly often has to grind out his wins, which makes for longer games and tighter matches, which overall makes it more satisfying to watch.
But I digress, so onto the other two men's quarter finals matches today, starting with Andy Murray who took on the up and coming Japanese player, Kei Nishikori, who made a bit of history in being the first man from Japan to reach a quarter final of a grand slam in over 70 years. And Nishikori, in this match, while clearly it was Andy who was in control, actually acquitted himself pretty well, especially in the first two sets, which were despite the scoreline, pretty tight, as the young player threatened Andy from the baseline. In the third set however I think tiredness had set in for Nishikori, from his 5 set match against Tsonga the other day, and Andy broke easily to clinch the set, winning in 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, in just under 2 hours and 15 minutes. This was another fine performance from the Muzza, and it also sees him as being the freshest he has ever been going into a grand slam semi final match, which is a very good thing indeed. However one very alarming thing that arose from this match was his drastically low first serve percentage, which dropped to 44%! This is pretty woeful even by Andy's standards, and he cannot afford to serve like that in his next match, which I will say more about in a minute.
Now onto the second match of the day between Novak Djokovic, and the World No.5 David Ferrer, and this match turned out to be a much tighter encounter, well for the most apart, as Djoko faced off a very dogged and agile opponent in Ferrer. And for two sets, Ferrer really gave Djokovic the runaround and impressed the audience with his atheletisism and his groundstrokes. But Djokovic being who he his, refused to be undone, and soon went two sets to love up, after a tiebreak in the 2nd, and by the 3rd, Djokovic took total control and sealed the win in 6-4, 7-6, 6-1. This was quite a gripping and entertaining match as both players put on a very high standard of play for the audience, and Djokovic, despite struggling a little with a hamstring injury, still came through in great style. It was a pity for Ferrer who fought so hard and well for the first two sets, to quickly fade away from the match in the 3rd, but he did very well for the most part.
So this sets up two blockbuster semi finals matches, with Roger vs Rafa, and Andy vs Novak, they both promise to be terrific encounters. However tennis is unpredictable game, so you can never tell how things are going to go, as each player could beat the other, but its just a matter of who it will be. My thoughts on the matches are, starting with Roger and Rafa, that I would favour Federer to win this one, as his level of play has been exceptional throughout this tournament and he is yet to drop a set, but I think it will be a much tighter contest than their last meeting in London, where Fed demolished Rafa in 6-3, 6-0. Also I'm sure Roger will want revenge for when he last lost to Rafa at the Australian open final back in 2009, which saw Roger reduced to tears during the award ceremony. It must always be a tough thing for a great player to except when his roll at the top is over, but the way Federer is playing, he could easily win it back.
Now for the Muzza and Djoko, this one is really hard to call, because on one hand, Djokovic is the best player in the world, and on the other Andy has greatly improved his game since this time last year, so it will be really difficult to guage just where they will be at in their respective games till they are out there. However I do have to say, unfortunately that Djokovic might stand a better chance of winning than Andy, although Andy will go into this match feeling fresh and fit, while Djokovic has a mild hamstring injury to contend with and just finished two tough matches. This definitely could work in Andy's favour, but you can never ever understimate Djokovic, as people keep saying, he's number 1 in the world for a reason. There is of course also the danger that Andy might suffer a repeat of last year's defeat in a similar manner, but I really don't think so (well I hope not!!) as I think Andy is playing way better now than he was last year at this time. But I am struggling to actually visualise him winning the match, but he can certainly do it, I just hope he can as it would be a great bit of revenge for his loss last year. So now will be the time to consult Ivan and get all the best advice he can get as to how about he can go about defeating Djokovic this year. But whichever way it goes, I really think it could be the match of the tournament, probably even better than Roger and Rafa's encounter, however it could also be a big blowout, but something really tells me otherwise.
Anyway I shall report back soon, with more on the ladies semi finals matches.
Till then tara the now!
Anyways here's a bit more about the matches and how they went, I've already updated about the Rafa and Federer matches in my last post, the former being the best by far as Rafa was pushed nearly all the way in a 4 set epic against Tomas Berdych. Federer however had the easier match in a surprising dispatch of Del Potro in straight sets. And there's one thing I have to say about the difference between Roger and Rafa's matches, for me Roger's matches can at times be a bit too precise and clinical at times, as he dispatches his opponents. But Rafa's matches can tend to be that bit more exciting as Rafa fairly often has to grind out his wins, which makes for longer games and tighter matches, which overall makes it more satisfying to watch.
But I digress, so onto the other two men's quarter finals matches today, starting with Andy Murray who took on the up and coming Japanese player, Kei Nishikori, who made a bit of history in being the first man from Japan to reach a quarter final of a grand slam in over 70 years. And Nishikori, in this match, while clearly it was Andy who was in control, actually acquitted himself pretty well, especially in the first two sets, which were despite the scoreline, pretty tight, as the young player threatened Andy from the baseline. In the third set however I think tiredness had set in for Nishikori, from his 5 set match against Tsonga the other day, and Andy broke easily to clinch the set, winning in 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, in just under 2 hours and 15 minutes. This was another fine performance from the Muzza, and it also sees him as being the freshest he has ever been going into a grand slam semi final match, which is a very good thing indeed. However one very alarming thing that arose from this match was his drastically low first serve percentage, which dropped to 44%! This is pretty woeful even by Andy's standards, and he cannot afford to serve like that in his next match, which I will say more about in a minute.
Now onto the second match of the day between Novak Djokovic, and the World No.5 David Ferrer, and this match turned out to be a much tighter encounter, well for the most apart, as Djoko faced off a very dogged and agile opponent in Ferrer. And for two sets, Ferrer really gave Djokovic the runaround and impressed the audience with his atheletisism and his groundstrokes. But Djokovic being who he his, refused to be undone, and soon went two sets to love up, after a tiebreak in the 2nd, and by the 3rd, Djokovic took total control and sealed the win in 6-4, 7-6, 6-1. This was quite a gripping and entertaining match as both players put on a very high standard of play for the audience, and Djokovic, despite struggling a little with a hamstring injury, still came through in great style. It was a pity for Ferrer who fought so hard and well for the first two sets, to quickly fade away from the match in the 3rd, but he did very well for the most part.
So this sets up two blockbuster semi finals matches, with Roger vs Rafa, and Andy vs Novak, they both promise to be terrific encounters. However tennis is unpredictable game, so you can never tell how things are going to go, as each player could beat the other, but its just a matter of who it will be. My thoughts on the matches are, starting with Roger and Rafa, that I would favour Federer to win this one, as his level of play has been exceptional throughout this tournament and he is yet to drop a set, but I think it will be a much tighter contest than their last meeting in London, where Fed demolished Rafa in 6-3, 6-0. Also I'm sure Roger will want revenge for when he last lost to Rafa at the Australian open final back in 2009, which saw Roger reduced to tears during the award ceremony. It must always be a tough thing for a great player to except when his roll at the top is over, but the way Federer is playing, he could easily win it back.
Now for the Muzza and Djoko, this one is really hard to call, because on one hand, Djokovic is the best player in the world, and on the other Andy has greatly improved his game since this time last year, so it will be really difficult to guage just where they will be at in their respective games till they are out there. However I do have to say, unfortunately that Djokovic might stand a better chance of winning than Andy, although Andy will go into this match feeling fresh and fit, while Djokovic has a mild hamstring injury to contend with and just finished two tough matches. This definitely could work in Andy's favour, but you can never ever understimate Djokovic, as people keep saying, he's number 1 in the world for a reason. There is of course also the danger that Andy might suffer a repeat of last year's defeat in a similar manner, but I really don't think so (well I hope not!!) as I think Andy is playing way better now than he was last year at this time. But I am struggling to actually visualise him winning the match, but he can certainly do it, I just hope he can as it would be a great bit of revenge for his loss last year. So now will be the time to consult Ivan and get all the best advice he can get as to how about he can go about defeating Djokovic this year. But whichever way it goes, I really think it could be the match of the tournament, probably even better than Roger and Rafa's encounter, however it could also be a big blowout, but something really tells me otherwise.
Anyway I shall report back soon, with more on the ladies semi finals matches.
Till then tara the now!
Monday, 23 January 2012
Melbourne Part 3: Getting down to the last eight....
So we are now getting toward the business end of the Australian Open in Melbourne, as the 4th round matches are all now over and the quarter finalists on the mens and ladies draws have been decided and played out. And amidst it there has been some more excellent tennis on display.
So starting with the men, we had Andy Murray who prospectively had a tough match up with the world no.92 Mikhail Khukushkin, who the Muzz had previously met in Brisbane this year and was pushed to three sets. However Andy had no such trouble here, as Kushky was clearly struggling with injury throughout (having previously played two gruelling five setters), which ended up as being no contest for him, and his opponent was forced to retire, trailing 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 ret. So that has given Andy a safe passage into the quarter finals, where he will face a potentially much tougher opponent in Kei Nishikori, who upset Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in a surprising encounter, over 5 sets. However in their last encounter in Shanghai, Andy wiped the floor with Nishikori, but who is to say it will be the same again???? I hope not for Kei's sake, but I definitely want to see Andy get through to the semis, because all want to what hopes to be a real showdown between him and his nemesis, Novak Djokovic from last year.
But anyway more on that later in the week, for now, on with the other matches, which saw David Ferrer, who is very much in form just now, make it past Richard Gasquet impressively in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. Ferrer will next up face Djokovic, who himself came through a much anticipated and surprisingly tough encounter with the former World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt, who put up a gusty fight against the Serb. After an easy start, Djokovic broke Hewitt's serve twice to take the first set, in the second set, he went on and did the same, however in the 3rd set, Hewitt started to find his range and began to really hurt Djoko and forced to drop his first set of the tournament. However in the 4th set, Djokovic managed to break and close out the hard fought match in 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, just shy of 3 hours. This really was a great last hurra from Hewitt before he went out, and I was really impressed with his determination in the match. Frankly I knew he had no real chance of winning it, but he did exceptionally well to take it to Djokovic as much as he did, and he also handed Djokovic his first big test of the tournament. It also showed while Djokovic is still in top form, there are still a few cracks of vulnerability here and there to be exploited, as last year I think Hewitt wouldn't have made a dent on Novak. Regardles it was an excellent match with plenty of gripping points, and Hewitt deserves tremnendous credit for his effort here. So a potentially very good quarter final for Djokovic with David Ferrer awaits, which potentially could be another very tough encounter, and it will be well worth a watch.
Onto Roger and Rafa's matches, as they both managed to breeze past their forth round opponents, with Roger taking on the young Aussie up and comer Bernard Tomic, who ultimately had no answer for Fed express at all. In fact what we got was pretty much the express train flattening the young lad straight through, as Federer dispatched Tomic with great ease in 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Rafa also won his match against his fellow Spaniard buddie, Feliciano Lopez in straight sets too 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. However Tomas Berdych had a much tougher encounter against another Spaniard Nicholas Almagro as it took four sets for the big Czeck to get by Almagro. This match was also quite controversial because Almagro, accidentally hit Berdych in the arm with one his shots, and despite apologising to Berdych at the net, after the match was over, Berdych refused to shake Almagro's hand. This made Berdych very unpopular with the crowd who continually booed him throughout his interview on court. In restrospect Berdych definitely made a mistake there and he should have just shook Almagro's hand at the net, although perhaps there is something else going on between them we don't know about. Regardless of that Berdych afterward admitted he made a mistake in not shaking Nick's hand, and for his sake, let's hope he doesn't get booed in his next match, which is against Rafa.
But Roger's next match is undoubtedly the most mouth watering one of the lot, as he will take on the World No.11 and former US Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarter finals. This will definitely promise to be an absolute belter of a match, and the two men haven't played each other in a slam match since that US Open final, which saw Delpo upsetting Roger in a 5 set epic. Can Delpo do the same here????? Its really hard to say, but it certainly isn't outwith his ability to do it, and if there are a select few players that can get by Roger, Delpo is one of them. But given Federer's current form, I'd have to give Roger the slight advantage here, but one way or another I think we are in for a real treat with this one.
Update on 24/1/12: However quickly as an update, the Roger v Delpo turned out to be a bit of letdown as Federer dispatched Del potro with ease in straight sets winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, as Fed simply was too good for the big Argentine, and that means Roger is through to the semis without dropping a single set. Unlike Roger's match, Rafa had a much tougher match in order to reach the semis, as the former World No.1 had to really battle past Tomas Berdych to get to the semi spot. Berdych for the most part throughout really put Rafa through his paces, and forced Rafa to drop his first set of the tournament, albeit in a dramatic tiebreak, in which there was a line call which Rafa was not happy about, and frankly it looked like he was robbed of that first set. However Rafa battled on and managed to secure the 2nd set tiebreak, and after he was pretty much in control, albeit Berdy continued to play well. In the end though Rafa showed his champion qualities and emerged victorious in 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3. This was a tumultuous effort from Rafa and the match itself was terrific and one of the real highlights of the tournament so far, with both players putting on some high quality tennis for the thrilled Rod Laver arena crowd. So this sets up perhaps the most mouth watering match of the tournament, two old rivals meet once again in a grand slam match, Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal. How will this one go???? Who knows??? It really is easily the most anticipated match of the tournament that awaits us, but it could go either way, and you never know, Federer could even outclass Rafa in straight sets as well, so we will see, but here's hoping it lives up to its billing.
So that's two of the top four through, we will wait and see if the other two get through and I sincerely hope they do, as its great to see the best four players in the world live up to their rankings and to potentially see them once again all in the semis is just terrific. And when people say that this is the golden age of tennis I couldn't agree more, and we should all count ourselves lucky that we have these four guys providing us all with such brilliant tennis and thrilling entertainment. (Update finished!!).
So onto the ladies matches, first up in the ladies fourth round matches we have Victoria Azarenka who once again had a very straight forward passage into the quarter finals against Iveta Benesova, whom she easily got past in 6-2, 6-2. However next up for Azarenka is Agnieszka Radwanska, which should definitely prove to be Vika's first big test of the tournament, as they have had several really close matches in the past, and this one promises to be a really good one. After that Caroline Wozniacki also managed to make it past Jelena Jankovic, after breezing her way past in the first set, Caroline faced a late fightback against Jankovic, but it wasn't enough and in the end, Caz managed to close it out in 6-0, 7-5.
And next up for Caroline will be Kim Clijsters, who also had a very tough and dramatic 4th round encounter with Li Na. The match promised to be good and it certainly was, although both players weren't exactly at their best, and Li's confidence dwindled really badly toward the end. In fact its a great shame for Li Na, as she must be the single most least confident player on the ladies tour just now, as she continually doubts herself on the court and off it. And despite winning the French Open last year, you think this would have spurred her own, but has had the opposite effect largely, and as Vriginia Wade, aptly described it, its like once these woman win their first slam, its like giving birth and after they suffer post-natal depression! This certainly is a good analogy to explain what's happened to Li Na, so we can only hope she picks up again throughout the year. Caroline Wozniacki however will definitely have her hands full in her next match against Clijsters, however with Kim's ankle injury, Caroline might be able to take advantage of her lack of mobility, but its impossible to write off Kim in any situation, so this promises to be a good one.
Anyway moving onto other matches, Petra Kvitova took on the back in form Ana Ivanovic, who gave Petra a fairly testing encounter, but the Czeck ultimately came through in 6-2, 7-6 to make it to the quarters where she will play Sara Errani of Italy. Kvitova admittedly has had a minor wobble in her second round match, but she seems to have recovered from it, and looks to be back on fine form again, and she definitely still remains as one of the top favourite to win the title. And in probably the biggest upset of the tournament so far, Serena Williams has been knocked out by the Russian player Elena Makarova, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. From the match it was quite clear the Williams wasn't at her best and the lack of match play made her look pretty sluggish as she didn't move to well at all, so it remains to be seen how Serena will progress later in the year. And finally Maria Sharapova came through her 4th round match against Sabine Lisicki, which unlike last year at Wimbledon, proved to be quite a tough match, as Sharapova had to battle back from a set down to win against the saucy German player in 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. So Sharapova will next play Elena Makarova, and she has a very good head to head against her, so its a safe bet to say Sharapova could well be in the semi finals, but we shall see.
And on that rather exhaustive long posted note, I shall leave it right there!
So starting with the men, we had Andy Murray who prospectively had a tough match up with the world no.92 Mikhail Khukushkin, who the Muzz had previously met in Brisbane this year and was pushed to three sets. However Andy had no such trouble here, as Kushky was clearly struggling with injury throughout (having previously played two gruelling five setters), which ended up as being no contest for him, and his opponent was forced to retire, trailing 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 ret. So that has given Andy a safe passage into the quarter finals, where he will face a potentially much tougher opponent in Kei Nishikori, who upset Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in a surprising encounter, over 5 sets. However in their last encounter in Shanghai, Andy wiped the floor with Nishikori, but who is to say it will be the same again???? I hope not for Kei's sake, but I definitely want to see Andy get through to the semis, because all want to what hopes to be a real showdown between him and his nemesis, Novak Djokovic from last year.
But anyway more on that later in the week, for now, on with the other matches, which saw David Ferrer, who is very much in form just now, make it past Richard Gasquet impressively in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. Ferrer will next up face Djokovic, who himself came through a much anticipated and surprisingly tough encounter with the former World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt, who put up a gusty fight against the Serb. After an easy start, Djokovic broke Hewitt's serve twice to take the first set, in the second set, he went on and did the same, however in the 3rd set, Hewitt started to find his range and began to really hurt Djoko and forced to drop his first set of the tournament. However in the 4th set, Djokovic managed to break and close out the hard fought match in 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, just shy of 3 hours. This really was a great last hurra from Hewitt before he went out, and I was really impressed with his determination in the match. Frankly I knew he had no real chance of winning it, but he did exceptionally well to take it to Djokovic as much as he did, and he also handed Djokovic his first big test of the tournament. It also showed while Djokovic is still in top form, there are still a few cracks of vulnerability here and there to be exploited, as last year I think Hewitt wouldn't have made a dent on Novak. Regardles it was an excellent match with plenty of gripping points, and Hewitt deserves tremnendous credit for his effort here. So a potentially very good quarter final for Djokovic with David Ferrer awaits, which potentially could be another very tough encounter, and it will be well worth a watch.
Onto Roger and Rafa's matches, as they both managed to breeze past their forth round opponents, with Roger taking on the young Aussie up and comer Bernard Tomic, who ultimately had no answer for Fed express at all. In fact what we got was pretty much the express train flattening the young lad straight through, as Federer dispatched Tomic with great ease in 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Rafa also won his match against his fellow Spaniard buddie, Feliciano Lopez in straight sets too 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. However Tomas Berdych had a much tougher encounter against another Spaniard Nicholas Almagro as it took four sets for the big Czeck to get by Almagro. This match was also quite controversial because Almagro, accidentally hit Berdych in the arm with one his shots, and despite apologising to Berdych at the net, after the match was over, Berdych refused to shake Almagro's hand. This made Berdych very unpopular with the crowd who continually booed him throughout his interview on court. In restrospect Berdych definitely made a mistake there and he should have just shook Almagro's hand at the net, although perhaps there is something else going on between them we don't know about. Regardless of that Berdych afterward admitted he made a mistake in not shaking Nick's hand, and for his sake, let's hope he doesn't get booed in his next match, which is against Rafa.
But Roger's next match is undoubtedly the most mouth watering one of the lot, as he will take on the World No.11 and former US Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarter finals. This will definitely promise to be an absolute belter of a match, and the two men haven't played each other in a slam match since that US Open final, which saw Delpo upsetting Roger in a 5 set epic. Can Delpo do the same here????? Its really hard to say, but it certainly isn't outwith his ability to do it, and if there are a select few players that can get by Roger, Delpo is one of them. But given Federer's current form, I'd have to give Roger the slight advantage here, but one way or another I think we are in for a real treat with this one.
Update on 24/1/12: However quickly as an update, the Roger v Delpo turned out to be a bit of letdown as Federer dispatched Del potro with ease in straight sets winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, as Fed simply was too good for the big Argentine, and that means Roger is through to the semis without dropping a single set. Unlike Roger's match, Rafa had a much tougher match in order to reach the semis, as the former World No.1 had to really battle past Tomas Berdych to get to the semi spot. Berdych for the most part throughout really put Rafa through his paces, and forced Rafa to drop his first set of the tournament, albeit in a dramatic tiebreak, in which there was a line call which Rafa was not happy about, and frankly it looked like he was robbed of that first set. However Rafa battled on and managed to secure the 2nd set tiebreak, and after he was pretty much in control, albeit Berdy continued to play well. In the end though Rafa showed his champion qualities and emerged victorious in 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3. This was a tumultuous effort from Rafa and the match itself was terrific and one of the real highlights of the tournament so far, with both players putting on some high quality tennis for the thrilled Rod Laver arena crowd. So this sets up perhaps the most mouth watering match of the tournament, two old rivals meet once again in a grand slam match, Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal. How will this one go???? Who knows??? It really is easily the most anticipated match of the tournament that awaits us, but it could go either way, and you never know, Federer could even outclass Rafa in straight sets as well, so we will see, but here's hoping it lives up to its billing.
So that's two of the top four through, we will wait and see if the other two get through and I sincerely hope they do, as its great to see the best four players in the world live up to their rankings and to potentially see them once again all in the semis is just terrific. And when people say that this is the golden age of tennis I couldn't agree more, and we should all count ourselves lucky that we have these four guys providing us all with such brilliant tennis and thrilling entertainment. (Update finished!!).
So onto the ladies matches, first up in the ladies fourth round matches we have Victoria Azarenka who once again had a very straight forward passage into the quarter finals against Iveta Benesova, whom she easily got past in 6-2, 6-2. However next up for Azarenka is Agnieszka Radwanska, which should definitely prove to be Vika's first big test of the tournament, as they have had several really close matches in the past, and this one promises to be a really good one. After that Caroline Wozniacki also managed to make it past Jelena Jankovic, after breezing her way past in the first set, Caroline faced a late fightback against Jankovic, but it wasn't enough and in the end, Caz managed to close it out in 6-0, 7-5.
And next up for Caroline will be Kim Clijsters, who also had a very tough and dramatic 4th round encounter with Li Na. The match promised to be good and it certainly was, although both players weren't exactly at their best, and Li's confidence dwindled really badly toward the end. In fact its a great shame for Li Na, as she must be the single most least confident player on the ladies tour just now, as she continually doubts herself on the court and off it. And despite winning the French Open last year, you think this would have spurred her own, but has had the opposite effect largely, and as Vriginia Wade, aptly described it, its like once these woman win their first slam, its like giving birth and after they suffer post-natal depression! This certainly is a good analogy to explain what's happened to Li Na, so we can only hope she picks up again throughout the year. Caroline Wozniacki however will definitely have her hands full in her next match against Clijsters, however with Kim's ankle injury, Caroline might be able to take advantage of her lack of mobility, but its impossible to write off Kim in any situation, so this promises to be a good one.
Anyway moving onto other matches, Petra Kvitova took on the back in form Ana Ivanovic, who gave Petra a fairly testing encounter, but the Czeck ultimately came through in 6-2, 7-6 to make it to the quarters where she will play Sara Errani of Italy. Kvitova admittedly has had a minor wobble in her second round match, but she seems to have recovered from it, and looks to be back on fine form again, and she definitely still remains as one of the top favourite to win the title. And in probably the biggest upset of the tournament so far, Serena Williams has been knocked out by the Russian player Elena Makarova, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. From the match it was quite clear the Williams wasn't at her best and the lack of match play made her look pretty sluggish as she didn't move to well at all, so it remains to be seen how Serena will progress later in the year. And finally Maria Sharapova came through her 4th round match against Sabine Lisicki, which unlike last year at Wimbledon, proved to be quite a tough match, as Sharapova had to battle back from a set down to win against the saucy German player in 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. So Sharapova will next play Elena Makarova, and she has a very good head to head against her, so its a safe bet to say Sharapova could well be in the semi finals, but we shall see.
And on that rather exhaustive long posted note, I shall leave it right there!
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