Welcome to my first post on the 2013 US Open, the final grand slam of the season, which is from Flushing Meadows in New York. Andy Murray and Serena Williams are both the defending champions in the singles events, so they will have quite alot on their plates over the next two weeks in order to hold onto their titles. But we've still got a long way to go before we get far enough to see how Serena and Andy both get on, so let's first off delve into the first round matches on the men's and ladies event.
Starting with the ladies on day 1 we had Agnieszka Radwanska open up proceedings on Arthur Ashe as she took on Silvia Soler Espinosa of Spain. And Aga had little trouble in getting past the Spaniard as she breezed to a 6-1, 6-2 victory, which sees her start off her US Open campaign in fine style, and its surprising to think Aga hasn't even got past the fourth round here, so here's hoping she can go a bit deeper this time. Serena Williams also wasted little time as she steamrolled her opponent, the former French Open champ, Francesca Schiavone who she beat in 6-0, 6-1. Venus Williams also joined her sister in the 2nd round as she upset the 12th seed, Kirsten Flipkens with a commanding performance, which despite the scoreline was quite tight in places, but it saw Venus close it out in style with a 6-1, 6-2 win. Li Na also made it into the 2nd round with great ease as she drubbed Olga Govortsova with a crushing 6-2, 6-2 victory. And finally Sloane Stephens, the American No.2, had to battle her way past Mandy Minella in a tight three set battle, which saw the American finally win in 6-4, 3-6, 7-6. And finally Laura Robson, the British No.1 made a great start as she beat her opponent Lourdes Dominguez Lino in straight sets with a 7-5, 6-0 scoreline.
Moving on to day 2 we had Caroline Wozniacki, the former World No.1 face a Chinese qualifier Duan Yingying (good name!) and despite taking the opening set with ease, she had to battle past the qualifier in the 2nd from a break down, Caroline came back to win the match in 6-2, 7-5. Petra Kvitova also had to fight her way past Misaki Doi of Japan with a three set win in 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, and Petra has been having alot of 3 set battles of late so she will probably need to pick up her pace a bit, but its good to see her get through. Victoria Azarenka and Sara Erannai however had no trouble whatsoever in their respective matches as they both dished out ruthless double bagel wins against Dinah Pfizenamier and Olivia Rogowska respectively both showing emphatic starts to their campaigns. Ana Ivanovic also made a great start to her US Open with a straight sets whipping Anna Tatishvilli just dropping two games with a 6-2, 6-0 victory. Christine McHale, the young American however had a tougher time against the German player, Julia Goerges as she overcame her in 6-4, 6-3.
And in the upset of the tourament so far on the ladies side the young American qualifier Victoria Duval who is just a mere 17 years old, stunned the 11th seed and former US Open champion, Sam Stosur with an incredible 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win on a packed Arthur Ashe stadium. This shows another new face to watch out for in the ladies game and if Victoria Duval can knock out Stosur who knows how far she can go, so she definitely one of the most promising looking up and coming players on the ladies tour.
And finally on the ladies we had Heather Watson in her night match take on the in form Romanian player, Simona Halep who has won four titles this year already, on all three surfaces no less, which is very impressive in itself. And a straight sets drubbing was feared to be on the cards, however the match itself was anything but and it was Heather that got off to the better as she broke Halep twice, who broke back twice herself before Heather finally broke again to win the set. The second was more of the same as Heather looked to be the better player and she even had Halep so frustrated at one point she threw her racquet to the ground. But it wasn't long before Halep fashioned a break of her own and she went on to serve out the 2nd set to level, and from here there was only one winner as Heather's game withered under the strain and the Romanian sealed a double break and Heather's fate with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win. This was a really entertaining match with lots of high quality rallies from both players and for the first two sets Heather was the better player, however unfortunately in the end she succombed to nerves in the third set and after she lost the 2nd there was no way back for her. So let's hope Heather can regroup for the rest of the season.
So now onto the men's matches starting with Day 1 we had Rafa out on Arthur Ashe stadium against the young American player, Ryan Harrison. And from the get go Rafa looked in charge as he dominated the rallies from the baseline and in the strong winds he played some incredible shots, particular in the first game where he returned a massively curved winner down the line. Play was briefly interrupted during the 2nd set for rain but it didn't last long and as it resumed Rafa continued his dominance over Harrison and closed out the match with a comfortable straight set win in 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. This was a terrific start from Rafa who is now on a 16 match unbeaten winning streak on hard courts this season and in this form it looks like he is the favourite to win the title.
In other matches David Ferrer also got off to a solid start against Nick Kyrgios of Australia as he beat his opponent in 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. Richard Gasquet of France also made a strong start as he dismissed the American player, Michael Russell with a score of 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Bernard Tomic however had a much sterner test as he had to battle his way past the Spaniard Albert Ramos with a five set win in 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. And in one of the upsets of the tournament so far on the men's side, Kei Nishikori was stunned by the young Brit, Dan Evans, who produced a superb performance to beat the 11th seed in straight sets with a remarkable 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win. This victory really shows that Dan Evans is a force to be reckoned with as a tennis player and he himself has said he has finally started to knuckle down and show more commitment to his game and training than before. And if he continues to show that discpline there can be reason that Dan can't work his way higher up the rankings as he is currently ranked inside the top 200, but right now he is playing well above that. Next up though for Dan will be Tomic so it will be a really tough so we will see how it goes.
Now onto Day 2 which saw Roger Federer finally get his match going as it cancelled the night before due to rain, and he faced Grega Zemlja of Slovenia. The match itself however was quite straight foward and there were no real surprises as Roger moved effortlessly through the gears to close out a comfortable straight set win in 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. Novak Djokovic, last year's finalist and World No.1 also put in a top drawer performance against Ricardis Berankis as he conceded just four games in the whole match and he breezed his way into round 2 with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win. Nole clearly in this match wanted to show that he means business at the US Open and he certainly did that well here and no doubt he will be real tough to beat, although I don't quite rate him as the favourite to win, but I would peg him as equal second fav beside Andy Murray, so we will see how the Serb progresses.
In other men's matches on Day 2, we had Tomas Berdych continue his fine form in 2013 with a straight set win over Paolo Lorenzi winning his match in 6-1, 6-4, 6-1. John Isner, the current American No.1 also showed fine form, despite a knee complaint, he manged to beat Filippo Volandri in straights with a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 scoreline. Milos Raonic of Canadian, the big server, also came through with fair ease in 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 against Thomas Fabbiano of Italy. And finally Sam Querrey fought his way past Guido Pella of Argentina in four sets with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win.
As for Andy Murray well despite the fact he is the defending men singles champion he has to wait until Day 3 before he get's his title defence under way against the Frenchman, Michael Llodra. And it will be a night match on Arthur Ashe, however I think the US open organisers have really mucked Andy about with the scheduling as there is no way Andy should have been made to wait three days before he plays, as he should have been out playing on Day 1 the same as Serena did. However the US Open organisers insist on spreading the first round over three days, which makes no sense, especially as some of the ladies 2nd round matches will be completed on Day 3, which means they will already be into the 3rd round before Andy has even got on court and hit a ball!
And to make matters worse the weather forecast for today (which is Day 3 incidentally) is not great either in New York, as there are forecasts of thunder and rain, which will give way for spells of rain for the rest of the night. This means that Andy's first round match might be put back even further until day 4, which if it is will be an utter disgrace as there is no way he should be kept waiting this long and the organisers in my opinion need their asses kicked in order to ensure this doesn't happen in future. Further to that due to the delay Andy will also have to play back to back matches at some point, i.e. play his 2nd and 3rd round matches one day after the other, which in itself is not fair as he will have less time to conserve his energies before he can play in the 2nd week. But at this point I'm just speculating and we will need to see how the weather pans out, so in the meantime we'll have to wait...
Right that's it for now, more to follow once the remaining round 1 men's and round 2 matches get under way.
Bye for now!!
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Monday, 19 August 2013
Cincinnati showdowns
Right ok its been a longgggg while since I've done a post on this blog but I thought I would do an update on the tennis from this week's Western and Southern Open from Cincinnati which is a joint tournament for the ATP/WTA tours. So I won't bother going too indepth on the results but I will cover some of them and there has been some terrific matches this week and its been a great tournament so let's have a look at some of the matches on both sides of the net....
Starting with the ladies, I thought would give Caroline Wozniacki who made good progress in Cincinnati as she managed to defeat Petra Kvitova for the first time in two years, and it saw her beat a top 10 player in quite a while. Her three set victory over the Czeck saw her set up a much anticipated match up with an old friend of hers and rival, Victoria Azarenka for the first time in two years since Indian Wells where Vika retired from injury. This time however it was Vika that took control of the match in the opening set, despite gamely play from Wozniacki, Victoria broke twice to take the opening set. The second set was far more competitive and it saw Caroline really dig deep and fight back after going a break down she broke back and continued fighting until she engineered a break of her own. But Caroline was unable to hold onto it as Vika wrestled the break back and play went to a tiebreak, which was a tight affair but in the end Vika sealed the deal after a hard fought 6-3, 7-6(5) win.
This was a very entertaining match with some great rallies, with one point in the first set at 4-2 to Azarenka which was quiet outstanding. It also shows that there is still pletny of life yet in Caroline Wozniacki who is far from done and while she still struggles for consistency she has shown this week that she is still a threat to the top players when her game is on.
So this brings me onto the ladies final which was between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka as both of them had to fight their way into the final, with Serena beating Li Na after a ropey performance, and Vika also struggling past Jelena Jankovic. The final however was a real treat as while the level of play was a bit up and down in places it was a terrific match with some incredible points and so many twists and turns. And it was Serena that off to the better start as Victoria struggled badly on her serve, to let Serena break twice to take the opening set. In the 2nd set Victoria started her fightback as she went on to break Serena twice and she levelled up the match at a set all. In the 3rd set there were plenty of dramatic twists and turns as Vika went a break up to go 4-2, but then Serena broke back to go 4-4, and then Serena made a key break to serve for the title at 5-4, but then Vika broke back again! Play then went by serve into a tiebreak where we were treated to a thrilling contest which saw the momentum swing one way then the other, and despite Serena having two match points on her serve, it was Azarenka that finally managed to grab a championship point and she ran with it to clinch only her third win over Serena with a dramatic and thrilling 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 victory.
This was easily one of the best matches of the year from the ladies tour and there were so many amazing points and twists in the tail made it all the more entertaining and unpredictable, as it looked likely at times that Serena would win the match easily, particularly in the first set and when she was in a position to serve for it in the 3rd set at 5-4. But it was credit to Victoria Azarenka that she was able to dig deep and fight her way back into the match and to also break Serena in the 3rd set to go 5-5 and then from there push play into a tiebreak. And this match also sees them continue to develop a thrilling rivalry which the women's game desparately needs. And the great thing is that Vika is now getting closer to Serena and she is literally the only player than can live with her on a tennis court just now and its great for the ladies game that they are playing at this level and here's hoping they continue to do so.
Now onto the men's matches and we were treated to some great stuff there as well, which I will get to soon. However I thought I would say a bit about Andy Murray who played at Cincinnati this week, and he was keen to get some matches under his belt this week, which he did as he reached the quarter finals. However in the quarters he met Tomas Berdych who outplayed him as Andy struggled on serve, and he was broken once in both sets and Berdy went on to close out the match in two straight sets in 6-3, 6-4. This was a disappointing effort from Andy and I was hoping to see a better match as he showed good form in his previous two matches against Mikhail Youhzny and Julienne Bennetau. But I also wonder if Andy was holding back a little as it looked like he was wanting to conserve his energies for his US Open title defence, which begins in just a week's time. But I'm sure come the start of the US Open that Andy will give his all in trying to defend his title, which sure won't be easy, but we'll see how he get's on.
Now moving onto other matches of the men's and one of the best of the tournament was between two of the great rivals in the modern game, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Roger has suffered a poor run of form lately having tried to adjust to using a larger racquet for added power, he had an early exit in a previous tournament, so here he went back to using his old Wilson racquet. However Rafa on the other hand has been the asbolute opposite as he has been on fire ever since his return to the tour, with 8 titles behind already this season, six on clay and two on hard court.
And they have played some magnificent matches in their career together, but their last couple have been so-so. However their quarter final clash in Cincinnati was anything but as they both played a thriller in a late night match which saw Roger revitalised as he played some terrific attacking tennis like he did in the days of old, and he took the opening set. In the 2nd set Roger's form continued, but Rafa get plugging away and he finally engineered a break to take the set and even up the scores. In the 3rd set a still game Roger went a break down and Rafa moved ahead, but even at 5-3 with Rafa serving for the match, Roger kept fighting as he pushed Rafa to deuce and even gained a break point before Rafa staved off his old rival and won the match in 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. This was one of their best encounters in quite a while as they haven't played a match this good since their Australian open semi final last year, and it was great to see a reminder of just how great these two are on a tennis court when their games are both on. It also showed encouraging signs for Roger's game which will hopefully give him more confidence going into the US Open, so here's hoping he will avoid another early exit there.
In another match we were treated to a semi final thriller between two big serving giants with Juan Martin Del Potro taking on the American John Isner. Isner had never previously beaten Delpo in their last three meetings but here he battled hard and dug deep to dig out a terrific win over his Argentine rival with a 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 win. This saw Isner reach his 2nd 1000 Masters final which was a great result in itself and it also shows that Isner clearly is more than just a big serve he has some delicate net skills and deft touch too. Meanwhile Rafa had a tough match against Tomas Berdych in the other semi final match as the Czeck pushed Rafa hard on serve, but Rafa showed his fighting abilities to dig out another win which saw him reach yet another final in 2013, with a 7-5, 7-6 win.
Which brings me onto the men's final which was between Rafa and John Isner and the match itself was quite an entertaing one, and Rafa had to battle against Isner's serve, which he found impossible to break, and in the end it took a tense long tiebreak to set them apart with Rafa edging it 10-8. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as play went by serve with Rafa at one point having a sniff at Isner's serve at 5-4, but Isner managed to escape and he on to hold. And it went to another tiebreak, but this time Rafa shut the barn door alot quicker and he sealed the victory and he contined his record breaking Masters title collection, now up to 26, he nabbed it with a hard fought 7-6(8), 7-6(3) win.
I think its fair to say that Rafa is playing somewhere approximate to his very best just now and he now has won 9 titles in 2013 and it looks he is no mood to stop now. And I think its also safe to say that he goes into the US Open as the hot favourite to win given his unbeaten record on hard court this year now stands at 15 matches. Also with Rafa's absence from the tour last year he stands to rack up alot of points which could see him nab back the No.1 ranking as he has already as a result of winning this week risen to No.2 in the world, surpassing Andy Murray who will go back to the No.3 spot. And it won't be long at this rate before he get's the No.1 spot back, with winning the US Open it will take him even closer.
But one man could still stand in his way and that man is Andy Murray, who is the defending champion at the US Open, and Rafa has not played him in two years and I think he will find him a completely different player. And I personally cannot wait to see them play one another again and depending on how the US Open seeding goes we could be looking at a semi final clash or maybe even in the final should they both get there, but that's a wee way off yet. Another thing to consider though is the US Open seedings will be based on this week's rankings on 19 August so as Andy has moved down to No.3 he may end up playing Novak in the semi finals if they are drawn on the same side, which means he would need to reach the final before he'd play Rafa. But the draw will be announced this Thursday coming so all will be revealed who will be drawn with who.
So that's it for my look at Western and Southern open from Cincinnati which was a great tournament and it brings a step closer to the final big one of the year, the US Open, which starts a week today, so can't for that one, and I will do some more posts on that over the next few weeks.
Till then that's it for now.
Starting with the ladies, I thought would give Caroline Wozniacki who made good progress in Cincinnati as she managed to defeat Petra Kvitova for the first time in two years, and it saw her beat a top 10 player in quite a while. Her three set victory over the Czeck saw her set up a much anticipated match up with an old friend of hers and rival, Victoria Azarenka for the first time in two years since Indian Wells where Vika retired from injury. This time however it was Vika that took control of the match in the opening set, despite gamely play from Wozniacki, Victoria broke twice to take the opening set. The second set was far more competitive and it saw Caroline really dig deep and fight back after going a break down she broke back and continued fighting until she engineered a break of her own. But Caroline was unable to hold onto it as Vika wrestled the break back and play went to a tiebreak, which was a tight affair but in the end Vika sealed the deal after a hard fought 6-3, 7-6(5) win.
This was a very entertaining match with some great rallies, with one point in the first set at 4-2 to Azarenka which was quiet outstanding. It also shows that there is still pletny of life yet in Caroline Wozniacki who is far from done and while she still struggles for consistency she has shown this week that she is still a threat to the top players when her game is on.
So this brings me onto the ladies final which was between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka as both of them had to fight their way into the final, with Serena beating Li Na after a ropey performance, and Vika also struggling past Jelena Jankovic. The final however was a real treat as while the level of play was a bit up and down in places it was a terrific match with some incredible points and so many twists and turns. And it was Serena that off to the better start as Victoria struggled badly on her serve, to let Serena break twice to take the opening set. In the 2nd set Victoria started her fightback as she went on to break Serena twice and she levelled up the match at a set all. In the 3rd set there were plenty of dramatic twists and turns as Vika went a break up to go 4-2, but then Serena broke back to go 4-4, and then Serena made a key break to serve for the title at 5-4, but then Vika broke back again! Play then went by serve into a tiebreak where we were treated to a thrilling contest which saw the momentum swing one way then the other, and despite Serena having two match points on her serve, it was Azarenka that finally managed to grab a championship point and she ran with it to clinch only her third win over Serena with a dramatic and thrilling 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 victory.
This was easily one of the best matches of the year from the ladies tour and there were so many amazing points and twists in the tail made it all the more entertaining and unpredictable, as it looked likely at times that Serena would win the match easily, particularly in the first set and when she was in a position to serve for it in the 3rd set at 5-4. But it was credit to Victoria Azarenka that she was able to dig deep and fight her way back into the match and to also break Serena in the 3rd set to go 5-5 and then from there push play into a tiebreak. And this match also sees them continue to develop a thrilling rivalry which the women's game desparately needs. And the great thing is that Vika is now getting closer to Serena and she is literally the only player than can live with her on a tennis court just now and its great for the ladies game that they are playing at this level and here's hoping they continue to do so.
Now onto the men's matches and we were treated to some great stuff there as well, which I will get to soon. However I thought I would say a bit about Andy Murray who played at Cincinnati this week, and he was keen to get some matches under his belt this week, which he did as he reached the quarter finals. However in the quarters he met Tomas Berdych who outplayed him as Andy struggled on serve, and he was broken once in both sets and Berdy went on to close out the match in two straight sets in 6-3, 6-4. This was a disappointing effort from Andy and I was hoping to see a better match as he showed good form in his previous two matches against Mikhail Youhzny and Julienne Bennetau. But I also wonder if Andy was holding back a little as it looked like he was wanting to conserve his energies for his US Open title defence, which begins in just a week's time. But I'm sure come the start of the US Open that Andy will give his all in trying to defend his title, which sure won't be easy, but we'll see how he get's on.
Now moving onto other matches of the men's and one of the best of the tournament was between two of the great rivals in the modern game, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Roger has suffered a poor run of form lately having tried to adjust to using a larger racquet for added power, he had an early exit in a previous tournament, so here he went back to using his old Wilson racquet. However Rafa on the other hand has been the asbolute opposite as he has been on fire ever since his return to the tour, with 8 titles behind already this season, six on clay and two on hard court.
And they have played some magnificent matches in their career together, but their last couple have been so-so. However their quarter final clash in Cincinnati was anything but as they both played a thriller in a late night match which saw Roger revitalised as he played some terrific attacking tennis like he did in the days of old, and he took the opening set. In the 2nd set Roger's form continued, but Rafa get plugging away and he finally engineered a break to take the set and even up the scores. In the 3rd set a still game Roger went a break down and Rafa moved ahead, but even at 5-3 with Rafa serving for the match, Roger kept fighting as he pushed Rafa to deuce and even gained a break point before Rafa staved off his old rival and won the match in 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. This was one of their best encounters in quite a while as they haven't played a match this good since their Australian open semi final last year, and it was great to see a reminder of just how great these two are on a tennis court when their games are both on. It also showed encouraging signs for Roger's game which will hopefully give him more confidence going into the US Open, so here's hoping he will avoid another early exit there.
In another match we were treated to a semi final thriller between two big serving giants with Juan Martin Del Potro taking on the American John Isner. Isner had never previously beaten Delpo in their last three meetings but here he battled hard and dug deep to dig out a terrific win over his Argentine rival with a 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 win. This saw Isner reach his 2nd 1000 Masters final which was a great result in itself and it also shows that Isner clearly is more than just a big serve he has some delicate net skills and deft touch too. Meanwhile Rafa had a tough match against Tomas Berdych in the other semi final match as the Czeck pushed Rafa hard on serve, but Rafa showed his fighting abilities to dig out another win which saw him reach yet another final in 2013, with a 7-5, 7-6 win.
Which brings me onto the men's final which was between Rafa and John Isner and the match itself was quite an entertaing one, and Rafa had to battle against Isner's serve, which he found impossible to break, and in the end it took a tense long tiebreak to set them apart with Rafa edging it 10-8. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as play went by serve with Rafa at one point having a sniff at Isner's serve at 5-4, but Isner managed to escape and he on to hold. And it went to another tiebreak, but this time Rafa shut the barn door alot quicker and he sealed the victory and he contined his record breaking Masters title collection, now up to 26, he nabbed it with a hard fought 7-6(8), 7-6(3) win.
I think its fair to say that Rafa is playing somewhere approximate to his very best just now and he now has won 9 titles in 2013 and it looks he is no mood to stop now. And I think its also safe to say that he goes into the US Open as the hot favourite to win given his unbeaten record on hard court this year now stands at 15 matches. Also with Rafa's absence from the tour last year he stands to rack up alot of points which could see him nab back the No.1 ranking as he has already as a result of winning this week risen to No.2 in the world, surpassing Andy Murray who will go back to the No.3 spot. And it won't be long at this rate before he get's the No.1 spot back, with winning the US Open it will take him even closer.
But one man could still stand in his way and that man is Andy Murray, who is the defending champion at the US Open, and Rafa has not played him in two years and I think he will find him a completely different player. And I personally cannot wait to see them play one another again and depending on how the US Open seeding goes we could be looking at a semi final clash or maybe even in the final should they both get there, but that's a wee way off yet. Another thing to consider though is the US Open seedings will be based on this week's rankings on 19 August so as Andy has moved down to No.3 he may end up playing Novak in the semi finals if they are drawn on the same side, which means he would need to reach the final before he'd play Rafa. But the draw will be announced this Thursday coming so all will be revealed who will be drawn with who.
So that's it for my look at Western and Southern open from Cincinnati which was a great tournament and it brings a step closer to the final big one of the year, the US Open, which starts a week today, so can't for that one, and I will do some more posts on that over the next few weeks.
Till then that's it for now.
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Men's best grass court matches of Wimbledon 2013
Well with a four week gap in between the next big tournament at the Rogers cup in Montreal for both the men's and ladies (well the women play the week before) I thought I would look at my favourite matches from the grass court season this year. So let's have a look as I've picked six of my favourite matches from the green grass...
5. Wimbledon championships 2nd round, Sergiy Stakhovsky d. Roger Federer 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.
This year's Wimbledon has been full of upsets but none came much bigger (with the exception of Serena Williams of course) than the defending champion, Roger Federer suffering his earliest exist from a major in 9 years! The match itself was a thoroughly entertaining encounter and the very talented Ukranian player, Sergiy Stakhovksy really took it to Roger, and he showed he had an excellent grass court game, and after dropping the first set, Sergiy fought his way through to take a two sets to one lead which lead into a pulsating 4th set which saw Sergiy in the 4th set tiebreak that pulled off a mammoth upset in defeating Roger in the breaker 8-6 to see off the king of grass in his earliest exit at a major since the French Open in 2004. Well upsets were abound in Wimbledon for sure this year and this was one of the biggest in quite a while, and it also showed more of Roger's recent dip in form, after losing to Tsonga in the quarter finals of the French Open, Roger seems to be going off the boil in the majors this season,but perhaps its also a sign that age is finally catching up with him on the tennis court, but let's hope he can regroup for the US Open. And despite all that it was still a very entertaining match and Serigy Stakhovsky played the match of his career in order to battle past the greatest player to have played the game at his favourite tournament.
4. Wimbledon championships final, Andy Murray d. Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
While you could say there is a bit of bias in this match as I'm a bit of a Murray fan, I had to put this match in this list as while it wasn't a classic contest, its historic meaning and good level of competitive play from both players makes it a worthy addition all the same. In this match Andy Murray looked to become the first British player to end the 77 year drought of a British Wimbledon champion with the world no.1 Novak Djokovic standing in his way it was a tough prospect. However Andy came into this match in inspired form as he was determined from the get go to make the better start and he did as he broke Nole to move ahead and he nabbed the first set. In the 2nd set Andy's level dipped as Nole got back into the match with a break, but despite being 4-1 up, Andy fought back to get back on serve, and he fashioned a break of his own at 5-5 to seal a two sets to love lead. In the 3rd set Andy got off to a great start with an early break, however he was unable to hang on to it and Novak broke back and broke to move ahead. But Andy was still not done as he once again broke back to make it back on serve and at 4-4, Andy broke Nole once more and in an incredibly tense and thrilling last game, Andy withstood a brave last attempt from Nole to get back into the match as he saved three break points, and after a 4 championship points, he eventually sealed the deal to claim his first Wimbledon title.
While the match wasn't overall the best of the championships, it was actually a pretty good solid final and both players played some terrific points and rallies, and the last game in itself was worth the admission price and was quite possibly the game of the tournament. Nole admittedly looked below par in this match with fatigue possibly having set in from his exhaustive long semi final against Juan Martin Del Potro, but he made a brave stab at giving Andy a match, given the circumstances, and despite the scoreline it was by no means easy. As for Andy well this was his match and his moment in time to win the biggest and most prestiguous title in tennis, and make tennis history by joining Fred Perry as a British Wimbledon champion for the first time in 77 years, which will give Great Britain something to smile about for quite some time. It also showed that Andy Murray was no one-trick pony in winning the US Open, as he has backed it up magnificently here and no doubt he will win more grand slams in the future, which may yet see Andy become one of the all time greats in the game.
3. Wimbledon championships 3rd round, David Ferrer d. Alexandr Dolgopolov, 6-7, 7-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
I've put this match in the list because it is one of the best of the tournament but not only that its a fav of mine simply because I was there! :-) Yep in this thrilling 3rd round encounter it was hard to know what to expect in such a line up between two very contrasting players but what we got was terrific. Although in the first set it was hard to tell what way it would go as it was a bit of a see-saw with Dolgopolov making all sorts of loose unforced errors and he went a double break down. However after a few errors from Ferrer it was even steven before we knew it and it went on serve into a tiebreak, which the Dog (Dolgopolov's nickname if you want to know) went on to win. In the 2nd set play was quite erratic as both players had breaks of serve but it went to another tiebreak and this time Ferrer pushed through to win it and level the match. However the Dog was far from done as Ferrer played some loosely again and the Ukraine player sped into a two sets to one lead. From here Ferrer dogged as ever took on the Dog (ha ha!) and levelled the match as he raced through the 4th set. And in the decider both men played some terrific tennis, although the Dog went down a break, he played a terrific game to try and avoid going down a double break, which alas he was unable to, and Ferrer went on to serve out a terrific contest to reach the 4th round.
From the start this match was very unpredictable and it had plenty of twists and turns throughout and both players delighted the crowd with their variety, particularly Dolgopolov, who was so unpredictable with his choice of slice, topspin, and acute weird angles, and for the most part he played terrific stuff, but ultimately he probably came undone by his own unorthodox and erratic style of play. Regardless of that though it was Ferrer to his credit that came through in the end, despite not being at his best, he proved he is one of the best competitors in the game today in this great match.
2. Wimbledon championships quarter final, Andy Murray d. Fernando Verdasco, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.
At Wimbledon you will get your fair share of dramatic matches and moments where the very best players are given a right scare. And no scare came bigger than this one for Andy Murray in his quarter final match up with the in form Spaniard, and the world no.54 (at the time), Fernando Verdasco. And in the match to start with it was Verdasco that came out firing on all cylinders as he took advantage of Andy's strange passive defensiveness in the rallies, as he outhit the British No.1, who flailed badly and soon found himself two sets to love down. In the 3rd set however, with his back to the wall, Andy started to fight back as he sped through the set with a double break to keep himself alive in the match, and he went on to level the scores by taking the 4th. In a thrilling decider, Andy came through a narrow scrape at 2-3 to level the scores, as he faced break points, which he miraculously saved to level the scores. And play went by serve until 5-5, where Andy made the vital break to move ahead where he finally served out a tense nailbiter and completed his great escape to reach the semi finals for the fifth year running.
Well comebacks don't come any bigger than this, and it was credit to Andy that he was able to turn around his early poor form and come back from the dead to win the match, and it marked the 7th time in his career he was able to do so. As for Verdasco well he put a tremendous fight and it showed he was back on form, and the match itself was reiminiscent to his semi final epic at the 2009 Australian open, which he lost to Nadal. So this match easily ranks as one of the best of the Wimbledon championships this year.
1. Wimbledon championships semi final, Novak Djokovic d. Juan Martin Del Potro, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
Although he came up second best in the final, Nole deserves the top spot for the best grass court match of the season as he took on the Argentine giant, Juan Martin Del Potro in a terrific epic semi final battle. From the start both players went at it hammer and tongs in front of the awestruck centre court crowd as Nole to a tight first set. In the 2nd however Delpo fought back and broke the Serb to move on to level the match at a set all, and in the 3rd play went by serve until a tiebreak, where Novak took the advantage and a two sets to one lead. However in the 4th set, despite Nole going a break up, the big Argentine fella wasn't done yet, as Delpo broke back and pushed the match into a thrilling tiebreak where he faced two match points and saved them both and went on to grab a set point, which saw Delpo level the match at two sets all. In the 5th set however, the rigours of the match started to take their toll on Delpo as his knee injury from earlier in the tournament started to hamper in and in the end Novak wore him down and broke Delpo to seal the match in just under 4 hours and 45 minutes to reach his 2nd Wimbledon final.
There is no doubt about the fact that this was one sensational match and neither player could have given more, and Del Potro really showed his fighting qualities throughout, even though he came up second best, you realise just how good Delpo is as a player, and it was a strong reminder of what the former US Open champion is capable of. And for me Del Potro has got it in him to go on and win another major as he got so close to Djokovic in this match, I'm sure when the US Open comes around he will be an even bigger danger than ever before. As for Nole well it was the perfect revenge for his loss at the Olympics the previous year to Del Potro but the match came at a price to Nole in the final, but that's another story. But for me this was the best match of the grass court season.
And that's it for my look at my favourite grass court matches on the men's tour of 2013.
More to follow later, until the next post, bye for now. :-)
5. Wimbledon championships 2nd round, Sergiy Stakhovsky d. Roger Federer 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.
This year's Wimbledon has been full of upsets but none came much bigger (with the exception of Serena Williams of course) than the defending champion, Roger Federer suffering his earliest exist from a major in 9 years! The match itself was a thoroughly entertaining encounter and the very talented Ukranian player, Sergiy Stakhovksy really took it to Roger, and he showed he had an excellent grass court game, and after dropping the first set, Sergiy fought his way through to take a two sets to one lead which lead into a pulsating 4th set which saw Sergiy in the 4th set tiebreak that pulled off a mammoth upset in defeating Roger in the breaker 8-6 to see off the king of grass in his earliest exit at a major since the French Open in 2004. Well upsets were abound in Wimbledon for sure this year and this was one of the biggest in quite a while, and it also showed more of Roger's recent dip in form, after losing to Tsonga in the quarter finals of the French Open, Roger seems to be going off the boil in the majors this season,but perhaps its also a sign that age is finally catching up with him on the tennis court, but let's hope he can regroup for the US Open. And despite all that it was still a very entertaining match and Serigy Stakhovsky played the match of his career in order to battle past the greatest player to have played the game at his favourite tournament.
4. Wimbledon championships final, Andy Murray d. Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
While you could say there is a bit of bias in this match as I'm a bit of a Murray fan, I had to put this match in this list as while it wasn't a classic contest, its historic meaning and good level of competitive play from both players makes it a worthy addition all the same. In this match Andy Murray looked to become the first British player to end the 77 year drought of a British Wimbledon champion with the world no.1 Novak Djokovic standing in his way it was a tough prospect. However Andy came into this match in inspired form as he was determined from the get go to make the better start and he did as he broke Nole to move ahead and he nabbed the first set. In the 2nd set Andy's level dipped as Nole got back into the match with a break, but despite being 4-1 up, Andy fought back to get back on serve, and he fashioned a break of his own at 5-5 to seal a two sets to love lead. In the 3rd set Andy got off to a great start with an early break, however he was unable to hang on to it and Novak broke back and broke to move ahead. But Andy was still not done as he once again broke back to make it back on serve and at 4-4, Andy broke Nole once more and in an incredibly tense and thrilling last game, Andy withstood a brave last attempt from Nole to get back into the match as he saved three break points, and after a 4 championship points, he eventually sealed the deal to claim his first Wimbledon title.
While the match wasn't overall the best of the championships, it was actually a pretty good solid final and both players played some terrific points and rallies, and the last game in itself was worth the admission price and was quite possibly the game of the tournament. Nole admittedly looked below par in this match with fatigue possibly having set in from his exhaustive long semi final against Juan Martin Del Potro, but he made a brave stab at giving Andy a match, given the circumstances, and despite the scoreline it was by no means easy. As for Andy well this was his match and his moment in time to win the biggest and most prestiguous title in tennis, and make tennis history by joining Fred Perry as a British Wimbledon champion for the first time in 77 years, which will give Great Britain something to smile about for quite some time. It also showed that Andy Murray was no one-trick pony in winning the US Open, as he has backed it up magnificently here and no doubt he will win more grand slams in the future, which may yet see Andy become one of the all time greats in the game.
3. Wimbledon championships 3rd round, David Ferrer d. Alexandr Dolgopolov, 6-7, 7-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
I've put this match in the list because it is one of the best of the tournament but not only that its a fav of mine simply because I was there! :-) Yep in this thrilling 3rd round encounter it was hard to know what to expect in such a line up between two very contrasting players but what we got was terrific. Although in the first set it was hard to tell what way it would go as it was a bit of a see-saw with Dolgopolov making all sorts of loose unforced errors and he went a double break down. However after a few errors from Ferrer it was even steven before we knew it and it went on serve into a tiebreak, which the Dog (Dolgopolov's nickname if you want to know) went on to win. In the 2nd set play was quite erratic as both players had breaks of serve but it went to another tiebreak and this time Ferrer pushed through to win it and level the match. However the Dog was far from done as Ferrer played some loosely again and the Ukraine player sped into a two sets to one lead. From here Ferrer dogged as ever took on the Dog (ha ha!) and levelled the match as he raced through the 4th set. And in the decider both men played some terrific tennis, although the Dog went down a break, he played a terrific game to try and avoid going down a double break, which alas he was unable to, and Ferrer went on to serve out a terrific contest to reach the 4th round.
From the start this match was very unpredictable and it had plenty of twists and turns throughout and both players delighted the crowd with their variety, particularly Dolgopolov, who was so unpredictable with his choice of slice, topspin, and acute weird angles, and for the most part he played terrific stuff, but ultimately he probably came undone by his own unorthodox and erratic style of play. Regardless of that though it was Ferrer to his credit that came through in the end, despite not being at his best, he proved he is one of the best competitors in the game today in this great match.
2. Wimbledon championships quarter final, Andy Murray d. Fernando Verdasco, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.
At Wimbledon you will get your fair share of dramatic matches and moments where the very best players are given a right scare. And no scare came bigger than this one for Andy Murray in his quarter final match up with the in form Spaniard, and the world no.54 (at the time), Fernando Verdasco. And in the match to start with it was Verdasco that came out firing on all cylinders as he took advantage of Andy's strange passive defensiveness in the rallies, as he outhit the British No.1, who flailed badly and soon found himself two sets to love down. In the 3rd set however, with his back to the wall, Andy started to fight back as he sped through the set with a double break to keep himself alive in the match, and he went on to level the scores by taking the 4th. In a thrilling decider, Andy came through a narrow scrape at 2-3 to level the scores, as he faced break points, which he miraculously saved to level the scores. And play went by serve until 5-5, where Andy made the vital break to move ahead where he finally served out a tense nailbiter and completed his great escape to reach the semi finals for the fifth year running.
Well comebacks don't come any bigger than this, and it was credit to Andy that he was able to turn around his early poor form and come back from the dead to win the match, and it marked the 7th time in his career he was able to do so. As for Verdasco well he put a tremendous fight and it showed he was back on form, and the match itself was reiminiscent to his semi final epic at the 2009 Australian open, which he lost to Nadal. So this match easily ranks as one of the best of the Wimbledon championships this year.
1. Wimbledon championships semi final, Novak Djokovic d. Juan Martin Del Potro, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
Although he came up second best in the final, Nole deserves the top spot for the best grass court match of the season as he took on the Argentine giant, Juan Martin Del Potro in a terrific epic semi final battle. From the start both players went at it hammer and tongs in front of the awestruck centre court crowd as Nole to a tight first set. In the 2nd however Delpo fought back and broke the Serb to move on to level the match at a set all, and in the 3rd play went by serve until a tiebreak, where Novak took the advantage and a two sets to one lead. However in the 4th set, despite Nole going a break up, the big Argentine fella wasn't done yet, as Delpo broke back and pushed the match into a thrilling tiebreak where he faced two match points and saved them both and went on to grab a set point, which saw Delpo level the match at two sets all. In the 5th set however, the rigours of the match started to take their toll on Delpo as his knee injury from earlier in the tournament started to hamper in and in the end Novak wore him down and broke Delpo to seal the match in just under 4 hours and 45 minutes to reach his 2nd Wimbledon final.
There is no doubt about the fact that this was one sensational match and neither player could have given more, and Del Potro really showed his fighting qualities throughout, even though he came up second best, you realise just how good Delpo is as a player, and it was a strong reminder of what the former US Open champion is capable of. And for me Del Potro has got it in him to go on and win another major as he got so close to Djokovic in this match, I'm sure when the US Open comes around he will be an even bigger danger than ever before. As for Nole well it was the perfect revenge for his loss at the Olympics the previous year to Del Potro but the match came at a price to Nole in the final, but that's another story. But for me this was the best match of the grass court season.
And that's it for my look at my favourite grass court matches on the men's tour of 2013.
More to follow later, until the next post, bye for now. :-)
Monday, 8 July 2013
Wimbledon Finals 2013 Part 7: Marion, Fred and Andy
OK so this is my final post on the Wimbledon championships which will cover the men's and ladies singles finals, which saw the last two standing fight it out for the most prestigous title in tennis. And without any further messing about let's going started...
So to start with the ladies final which was between Marion Bartoli, the 15th seed and the 23rd seed, Sabine Lisicki, it made for a rather unlikely one, however it also promised to be a really good one. The match itself however far from an even contest as Bartoli came out all cylinders firing and thrashed Liskci in the opening set as the German only managed one single game in the opening set. In the 2nd set, the nerves of the occassion clearly had gotten to Liskci big time as she failed to hold onto her serve, as she served up more double faults, and at one point she was even on the verge of tears, as she went a double break down. However afer one last ditch effort to hold, Lisicki made Bartoli serve for the title, and the French woman naturally got a bit tight and ended up throwing Liskci a lifeline as the German broke back, and went on to hold her own serve to make it 5-4 for Bartoli, who was forced to serve it out for the second time. However on the second go Bartoli had no such trouble in serving for the championship, as with three championship points, she served up an ace to claim her first ever grand slam singles title with an unexpected victory in 6-1, 6-4.
This match overall was a bit of a letdown to be honest, and although it was a terrific victory for Bartoli, Lisicki's capitulation and nerves also played their part in it aswell, as she tearfully admitted in her post match interview that she was overwhelmed by the pressure of the occassion. And it would be difficult not to feel sorry for Liskci as its understandable that any opponent would have a bout of nerves in as a big a final as this one. But it was a pity that Liskci just wasn't able to level the scores to 5-5 in the 2nd set after breaking back and being that one break down, it looked like there was more hope for her, but in the end Bartoli to her credit served out the match in style. However Lisicki can still take many positives from this tournament, especially as she played so well to reach the final and dumped out Serena Williams enroute as well, and just maybe if she reaches the final at SW19 again she might just be able to win it one day.
And as for Bartoli well she thoroughly deserves this title as she played great throughout the match and she never showed signs of nerves and went and played the match of her life to win the title she herself said that she dreamt of winning since she was six years old. Bartoli may not be the best all around athlete but she remains one of the best fighters and competitors in the ladies game, and by winning her first Wimbledon title, it shows that she has the mental strength and belief to carry on and win another one if she can, and let's hope one day she will. Its also funny and ironic that Martion Bartoli two years ago who reached the second biggest final of her career at Indian Wells, where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki, who was at the time the World No.1 and at the top of her game, that she said to Caroline that she knew she wanted to win a grand slam and that she will do very soon, but its Bartoli that has actually gone on and done it! Yet since then Caroline has seriously struggled to get even past the first or second round in a major tournament never mind win one of them!
But for now Marion Bartoli deserves nothing less than to enjoy her victory and let's hope it will inspire her one day to win another major. Bartoli can also serve (no pun intended!) as a great role model for other tennis players and she has shown that she is one of the great fighters in the ladies game. And on a side point regarding Marion I thought it was a ridiculously chauvanistic thing that the BBC commentator, John Inverdale said about Bartoli that she was "no looker" and that she would never be a Sharapova, so he thought her dad might have said that she had to learn to become a scrappy fighter instead. And its comments like this that give British sports journalism a bad name, and the BBC also had to an issue an apology for Inverdale's ignorant comment. And Marion to her credit said the comment didn't really bother her and that she never wanted to be a model as a kid, but she did want to win a major. And Marion in her interviews come across as a very likeable and quirky character and its a breath of fresh air to the ladies game that it has players like her on the tour, and in my opinion she is quite a nice looking lass, and its not about the looks of a tennis player, its their talent and skill at the end of the day that counts.
Nowwwwww we get on to the men's final, which was a hugely anticipated match up between the world's two best players, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the World No.1 and No.2 respectively. Given their growing rivalry in the last year alone this match promised to be a real cracker and it marked the third consecutive major final that they have played in since the US Open last year. Being the No.1 player in the world, Nole looked to be the favourite to win this match, however it was Andy who was being backed up by a whole nation and an army of his supporters on centre court. And the match itself didn't disappoint as both men from the first point traded some great rallies and exchanges in the baking hot sun on centre court, and it was Andy that seized the initative and took the early break. However Andy surrendered it as Nole broke back, and I won't say too much more about the 1st set apart from that Andy went on to break Nole and he served it out to take the 1st set. In the 2nd set Nole started to turn the match in his favour as he got an early break from Andy, but it wasn't before long that Andy utilised his superb return game and broke once again to go level at 4-4. And at 5-5 Andy once again broke Djokovic and went on to serve it out for a two sets to love lead, with only one set away from ending Great Britain's long wait for a British champion. And in the 3rd set Andy started brilliantly with an early where he went 2-0 up, but it was far from over as he dropped his own serve and let Nole back in who went on to reel off the next four games. However Andy was not to be outdone as he broke back yet again and went on to level at 4-4 and by this time the cracks really were starting to show for Novak as Andy moved within a game of victory as he broke the Serb to reach 5-4 and a chance to serve for the title. However in the last game after reaching 40-0 with three championship points, Andy got embroiled in what became a torturous yet thrilling service game, as Andy had to stave off a last stand from Nole, who tried to convert a couple of break points. But in the end, Andy bravely held on and soon he brought up a fourth championship point after which it saw Nole send his return into the net, which saw Andy drop his racquet, pumping his fists into the air in delight and proceeding to do his Pat Cash moment with his family. And with that Andy had pulled off an unbelievable victory and claimed his first historic Wimbledon title to join Fred Perry after a 77 year long wait for Great Britain with an exhaustive and hard fought 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 triumph.
It has to be said there are quite a few remarkable things about this match and probably the most remarkable one of them all is the fact Andy Murray managed not only to defeat the World No.1 Novak Djokovic, but he also did it in straight sets, which no one (himself included I'm sure) would have expected. And despite the straight sets scoreline, the match was a very entertaining and competitive one and both players produced some terrific rallies and points for the crowd, and the last game of the match in particular was the main highlight as the nation held their breath and then shouted in jubilation once Andy got over the finish line, and it must rank as one of the best and most thrilling games of the year from any tennis match.
Nole admittedly did show signs of fatigue from his lengthy semi final with Del Potro, which probably might in part have attributed to him not being able to get into the match that bit more, but on the other hand Andy's return game was top notch and he was able to just break Nole down in the end when he needed to. Plus Andy managed to beat Nole convincingly in their Olympics semi final last year, so perhaps it was no coincidence that Andy was able to do it again this year. Although one slightly worrying aspect of the match was Andy's serve, as under moments of real pressue he was unable to get his first serves in, and the 2nd serve has always been his main weakness as it way too slow and can sink as far as 70mph! However what Andy did manage to do was play the big points at the key moments exceptionally well and it was ultimately what saved him in the match, and despite his problematic serve, the rest of his game was superb, and he pulled off four or five running forehand winners down the left hand sideline, which were just incredible. And it is to Andy's full credit that he was also able to mentally hang tough in those difficult moments, not to mention defeat the world's best player on the biggest stage in tennis.
As for Novak while he didn't play his best in the final, he still played his part in an entertaining match and given the circumstances of his semi final match with Del Potro, he fought as well and as hard as he could, and no doubt he will be back on form soon enough. And if you remember Nole hasn't had the best of luck at SW19 in the last year or so, as he lost to Federer in the semis at Wimbledon, and to Andy and Del Potro at the Olympics, so in a way another defeat was always a possibility. But I'm sure this will all turn around for him as the hard court season will begin again in another month or so, and he will have a chance to fight it out for the US Open title most likely against Andy, for which the two of them will remain the favourites to win.
So this now sees Andy Murray claim his second grand slam title, and if there were ever any concerns that he was just a one-trick pony when he won the US Open, they will have been totally banished now as Andy is the real deal and its looks like he is here to stay at the top, and in time he could even eclipse Nole and take the No.1 spot. And I'm certain there will be more grand slam titles ahead of Andy in the future, and with his US Open title defence coming up, it would be the perfect place to carry on with his success. But for now Andy can enjoy his victory and take a bit of time to relax as there will be another four of five weeks before the hard court season resumes in North America in the lead up to the US Open. And once again Andy has proven he really is the one man that can rewrite history, as he has single handedly ended three waits in the last year, in ending the 74 year wait for a British Wimbledon finalist, 76 years for a British grand slam champion, and now 77 years for a British Wimbledon champion. Also I think its safe to say Andy and Nole's rivalry is now very much at the forefront of men's tennis, which has become more fascinating than ever before, as we will watch these two great players fight it out over the next few years for the biggest titles with much interest.
Sooooo that's it for now as that's the end of my posts for Wimbledon 2013, which has been a truly remarkable tournament this year, with a tremendous result for Great Britain with Andy Murray's victory and for France with Marion Bartoli taking home her maiden slam, as well as so many upsets along the way. It was also great to actually be a part of it all this year by actually getting to go down to Wimbledon and seeing matches on Court No.1, which was great and hopefully I will be able to do it again sometime in the future.
And that's it for a while for the tennis posts, which will resume in a few weeks time.
So until then bye for now, and a big well done to Andy Murray!
So to start with the ladies final which was between Marion Bartoli, the 15th seed and the 23rd seed, Sabine Lisicki, it made for a rather unlikely one, however it also promised to be a really good one. The match itself however far from an even contest as Bartoli came out all cylinders firing and thrashed Liskci in the opening set as the German only managed one single game in the opening set. In the 2nd set, the nerves of the occassion clearly had gotten to Liskci big time as she failed to hold onto her serve, as she served up more double faults, and at one point she was even on the verge of tears, as she went a double break down. However afer one last ditch effort to hold, Lisicki made Bartoli serve for the title, and the French woman naturally got a bit tight and ended up throwing Liskci a lifeline as the German broke back, and went on to hold her own serve to make it 5-4 for Bartoli, who was forced to serve it out for the second time. However on the second go Bartoli had no such trouble in serving for the championship, as with three championship points, she served up an ace to claim her first ever grand slam singles title with an unexpected victory in 6-1, 6-4.
This match overall was a bit of a letdown to be honest, and although it was a terrific victory for Bartoli, Lisicki's capitulation and nerves also played their part in it aswell, as she tearfully admitted in her post match interview that she was overwhelmed by the pressure of the occassion. And it would be difficult not to feel sorry for Liskci as its understandable that any opponent would have a bout of nerves in as a big a final as this one. But it was a pity that Liskci just wasn't able to level the scores to 5-5 in the 2nd set after breaking back and being that one break down, it looked like there was more hope for her, but in the end Bartoli to her credit served out the match in style. However Lisicki can still take many positives from this tournament, especially as she played so well to reach the final and dumped out Serena Williams enroute as well, and just maybe if she reaches the final at SW19 again she might just be able to win it one day.
And as for Bartoli well she thoroughly deserves this title as she played great throughout the match and she never showed signs of nerves and went and played the match of her life to win the title she herself said that she dreamt of winning since she was six years old. Bartoli may not be the best all around athlete but she remains one of the best fighters and competitors in the ladies game, and by winning her first Wimbledon title, it shows that she has the mental strength and belief to carry on and win another one if she can, and let's hope one day she will. Its also funny and ironic that Martion Bartoli two years ago who reached the second biggest final of her career at Indian Wells, where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki, who was at the time the World No.1 and at the top of her game, that she said to Caroline that she knew she wanted to win a grand slam and that she will do very soon, but its Bartoli that has actually gone on and done it! Yet since then Caroline has seriously struggled to get even past the first or second round in a major tournament never mind win one of them!
But for now Marion Bartoli deserves nothing less than to enjoy her victory and let's hope it will inspire her one day to win another major. Bartoli can also serve (no pun intended!) as a great role model for other tennis players and she has shown that she is one of the great fighters in the ladies game. And on a side point regarding Marion I thought it was a ridiculously chauvanistic thing that the BBC commentator, John Inverdale said about Bartoli that she was "no looker" and that she would never be a Sharapova, so he thought her dad might have said that she had to learn to become a scrappy fighter instead. And its comments like this that give British sports journalism a bad name, and the BBC also had to an issue an apology for Inverdale's ignorant comment. And Marion to her credit said the comment didn't really bother her and that she never wanted to be a model as a kid, but she did want to win a major. And Marion in her interviews come across as a very likeable and quirky character and its a breath of fresh air to the ladies game that it has players like her on the tour, and in my opinion she is quite a nice looking lass, and its not about the looks of a tennis player, its their talent and skill at the end of the day that counts.
Nowwwwww we get on to the men's final, which was a hugely anticipated match up between the world's two best players, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the World No.1 and No.2 respectively. Given their growing rivalry in the last year alone this match promised to be a real cracker and it marked the third consecutive major final that they have played in since the US Open last year. Being the No.1 player in the world, Nole looked to be the favourite to win this match, however it was Andy who was being backed up by a whole nation and an army of his supporters on centre court. And the match itself didn't disappoint as both men from the first point traded some great rallies and exchanges in the baking hot sun on centre court, and it was Andy that seized the initative and took the early break. However Andy surrendered it as Nole broke back, and I won't say too much more about the 1st set apart from that Andy went on to break Nole and he served it out to take the 1st set. In the 2nd set Nole started to turn the match in his favour as he got an early break from Andy, but it wasn't before long that Andy utilised his superb return game and broke once again to go level at 4-4. And at 5-5 Andy once again broke Djokovic and went on to serve it out for a two sets to love lead, with only one set away from ending Great Britain's long wait for a British champion. And in the 3rd set Andy started brilliantly with an early where he went 2-0 up, but it was far from over as he dropped his own serve and let Nole back in who went on to reel off the next four games. However Andy was not to be outdone as he broke back yet again and went on to level at 4-4 and by this time the cracks really were starting to show for Novak as Andy moved within a game of victory as he broke the Serb to reach 5-4 and a chance to serve for the title. However in the last game after reaching 40-0 with three championship points, Andy got embroiled in what became a torturous yet thrilling service game, as Andy had to stave off a last stand from Nole, who tried to convert a couple of break points. But in the end, Andy bravely held on and soon he brought up a fourth championship point after which it saw Nole send his return into the net, which saw Andy drop his racquet, pumping his fists into the air in delight and proceeding to do his Pat Cash moment with his family. And with that Andy had pulled off an unbelievable victory and claimed his first historic Wimbledon title to join Fred Perry after a 77 year long wait for Great Britain with an exhaustive and hard fought 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 triumph.
It has to be said there are quite a few remarkable things about this match and probably the most remarkable one of them all is the fact Andy Murray managed not only to defeat the World No.1 Novak Djokovic, but he also did it in straight sets, which no one (himself included I'm sure) would have expected. And despite the straight sets scoreline, the match was a very entertaining and competitive one and both players produced some terrific rallies and points for the crowd, and the last game of the match in particular was the main highlight as the nation held their breath and then shouted in jubilation once Andy got over the finish line, and it must rank as one of the best and most thrilling games of the year from any tennis match.
Nole admittedly did show signs of fatigue from his lengthy semi final with Del Potro, which probably might in part have attributed to him not being able to get into the match that bit more, but on the other hand Andy's return game was top notch and he was able to just break Nole down in the end when he needed to. Plus Andy managed to beat Nole convincingly in their Olympics semi final last year, so perhaps it was no coincidence that Andy was able to do it again this year. Although one slightly worrying aspect of the match was Andy's serve, as under moments of real pressue he was unable to get his first serves in, and the 2nd serve has always been his main weakness as it way too slow and can sink as far as 70mph! However what Andy did manage to do was play the big points at the key moments exceptionally well and it was ultimately what saved him in the match, and despite his problematic serve, the rest of his game was superb, and he pulled off four or five running forehand winners down the left hand sideline, which were just incredible. And it is to Andy's full credit that he was also able to mentally hang tough in those difficult moments, not to mention defeat the world's best player on the biggest stage in tennis.
As for Novak while he didn't play his best in the final, he still played his part in an entertaining match and given the circumstances of his semi final match with Del Potro, he fought as well and as hard as he could, and no doubt he will be back on form soon enough. And if you remember Nole hasn't had the best of luck at SW19 in the last year or so, as he lost to Federer in the semis at Wimbledon, and to Andy and Del Potro at the Olympics, so in a way another defeat was always a possibility. But I'm sure this will all turn around for him as the hard court season will begin again in another month or so, and he will have a chance to fight it out for the US Open title most likely against Andy, for which the two of them will remain the favourites to win.
So this now sees Andy Murray claim his second grand slam title, and if there were ever any concerns that he was just a one-trick pony when he won the US Open, they will have been totally banished now as Andy is the real deal and its looks like he is here to stay at the top, and in time he could even eclipse Nole and take the No.1 spot. And I'm certain there will be more grand slam titles ahead of Andy in the future, and with his US Open title defence coming up, it would be the perfect place to carry on with his success. But for now Andy can enjoy his victory and take a bit of time to relax as there will be another four of five weeks before the hard court season resumes in North America in the lead up to the US Open. And once again Andy has proven he really is the one man that can rewrite history, as he has single handedly ended three waits in the last year, in ending the 74 year wait for a British Wimbledon finalist, 76 years for a British grand slam champion, and now 77 years for a British Wimbledon champion. Also I think its safe to say Andy and Nole's rivalry is now very much at the forefront of men's tennis, which has become more fascinating than ever before, as we will watch these two great players fight it out over the next few years for the biggest titles with much interest.
Sooooo that's it for now as that's the end of my posts for Wimbledon 2013, which has been a truly remarkable tournament this year, with a tremendous result for Great Britain with Andy Murray's victory and for France with Marion Bartoli taking home her maiden slam, as well as so many upsets along the way. It was also great to actually be a part of it all this year by actually getting to go down to Wimbledon and seeing matches on Court No.1, which was great and hopefully I will be able to do it again sometime in the future.
And that's it for a while for the tennis posts, which will resume in a few weeks time.
So until then bye for now, and a big well done to Andy Murray!
Saturday, 6 July 2013
2013 Wimbledon Part 6: Semi final showdowns
OK so now its time for a look at the ladies and men's semi finals at the Wimbledon championships, which saw the last four on both sides fight it out for a place in the final. So let's get started and gie it a look....
Right well keeping with the usual tradition let's look at the ladies matches first, and the first one was between Marion Bartoli, the former 2007 finalist, and the surprise of the ladies tournament, Kirsten Flipkens from Belgium. However the match itself was nothing but a breeze for Bartoli as she sped to the finish line against Flipkens, who apparently looked like she was carrying an injury throughout. But it didn't make much difference anyway as Bartoli was playing lights out tennis which saw her fall to her knees as she wrapped up the victory in just over an hour in 6-1, 6-2, to reach her second Wimbledon final. This was a really impressive effort from Marion Bartoli as she showed incredible form in getting to this stage, admittedly however she was given a polite but rather cool reception from the crowd, as I think they were still annoyed with her for trying to get match play suspended in her previous quarter final match against Sloane Stephens. However regardless of that Bartoli deserves much credit for reaching her second major final at Wimbledon and I wish her the best for the final, which I'm sure will need against the winner of the next match.
And the next match was between the 4th seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, who was last year's finalist, and the grass court specialist, Sabine Lisicki, the 23rd seed. This match promised to be a real cracker and it turned out to be just that as both ladies had their work cut out in trying to reach the final. It was Lisicki however that made the stronger start as she overpowered Radwanska in the first set and went on to break to win it. In the 2nd however Radwanska start her fightback as she broke Lisicki twice to go on and level the match at a set apiece. In the 3rd however both women traded breaks of serve, with Radwanska moving ahead first and then Lisicki who had a chance to serve it out but couldn't take it at 5-4. Play then went by serve until 7-7 when Lisicki made the crucial move and broke Aga again to take the lead, and this time she had no problem in serving it out for a place in her first major final in Wimbledon (or anywhere) after a hard fought 6-4, 2-6, 9-7 victory. There is no doubt this was a terrific match and both women couldn't have put in much more, with both players levels dipping at times but they also produced some incredible tennis as well for the crowd. But its Lisicki that really deserves all the credit for making her first grand slam final and show her resilience against Radwanska's tenacity. Radwanska played her part in this match also, but I was disappointed in her rather frosty handshake to Lisicki at the net, as she clearly wasn't happy that she lost (which is understandable as no player likes to lose I'm sure) but she could have been a bit more amicable toward Lisicki, however that's the sport.
So this sets up a great and somewhat unlikely final between the 15th seed, Marion Bartoli and the 23rd seed, Sabine Liskci, and there really isn't much in it at all as I'm sure it will be a really tough match. So who will win it??? Well I have to go with Lisicki on this one as I think overall she has more variety to her game, and Bartoli despite her powerful hitting and great return of serve, Lisicki is the better athlete and Bartoli can be somewhat hampered by her double handed style on both the forehand and backhand, which will make it difficult for her to reach certain shots. But if their quarter final clash from two years ago at Wimbledon is anything to go by I think we will be in for a cracker, but in the end I think Lisicki has the wheels to outlast Bartoli, who might just run out of steam toward the end, but we'll see. One really good thing that will emerge from this match is that for once we will have a brand new first time grand slam champion, which is really encouraging and refreshing to see rather than just the usual suspects of Serena, Sharapova or Azarenka.
Now onto the men's semi finals starting with what turned out to be the match of the day, if not the tournament so far, as Novak Djokovic took on the big Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro. On paper this match never promised to be an easy one, and for sure it turned out to be anything but as it was an epic battle between two great players and there wasn't much in it for the most part. Novak started off the better by taking a break in the first set to take the opener, however in the 2nd set Delpo started his comeback and broke Djokovic to go ahead and level the match at a set all. In the 3rd set play went by serve and it was pushed to a tiebreak where Nole dominated play and took a two sets to one lead. In the 4th set Nole took the initiative as he moved ahead by taking a break to go 4-3 up, but Delpo was far from done as he broke back and play eventually went to another tiebreak. In the breaker Nole took the advantage of moving ahead and he even had match points, but Delpo made one last push as he levelled the scores 6-6 and he fashioned a set point, which he grabbed to push a thrilling match into a decider. In the 5th set however it was clear that after well over 4 and a half hours play that it started to take its toll on Delpo as he started to buckle with exhaustion and Novak eventually wore him down by breaking him and he went on to close out the match after an epic battle, to reach his second Wimbledon final, with a scoreline of 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
There is no doubt that this was the match of the tournament so far and both men threw everything at each other, with Delpo showing his fighting qualities and Nole showing superior athleticism and his defensive skills which are out of this world. And there were times were Delpo looked like he had a his chances to move ahead in the 5th set, but in the end he just run out of steam as he started to buckle, but he deserves nothing but credit and respect for his efforts which were as giant as he is, and surely one day he will have another chance to win a major title. As for Novak well there is no doubt he remains the strong favourite to win the title for a second time and he showed again his unwavering resilience in the face of adversity, with virtually nothing in his way to stop him.... except maybe the winner of the next match....
Which was between the British No.1 and World No.2, Andy Murray and the 24th seed, the giant serving and giant Pole, Jerzy Janowicz. Janowicz made a bit of history by reaching his first grand slam final as he was the first Polish man to do so, and with his big serve and his deft net skills as well as good movement, he looked to be a dangerous opponent for Andy. And he turned out to be just that as after a slightly jittery start, Janowicz impressively took his game to Andy as he rained down some monster serves which were at times over 140 mph which Andy strugged to cope with. Play went by serve however in the opening set until a tiebreak, where Janowicz dominated Andy and took the break 7-2 to nab the 1st set. In the second however Janowicz's level dropped as did his serve, which let Andy take a crucial break, and despite a few wobbles, he managed to consolidate the break and took the 2nd set to level. In the 3rd set however, Janowicz once again showed just how dangerous he can be as he broke Andy to move ahead in the match, but Andy somehow managed to break back and from here he managed to fashion a break himself and seized the initiative to take a two sets to one lead over the big Pole. However there was to be a delay in play as the organisers decided that they should close the roof as they felt there was probably only 40 minutes or so of enough daylight ahead to play with the roof open. This angered Andy who complained that they had enough light to carry on and play the match with the roof open, and Janowicz had already complained about trying to get the roof closed, so he ended up getting his way at this point, so played was suspended. However the decision to close the roof had no bearing or effect on Andy's as play as he came out and dominated the big Pole, by playing some superb tennis and served impressively as he broke Janowicz twice and he sealed the deal with a return forehand winner to reach his second consecutive Wimbledon final after a drama fuelled 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win.
While it wasn't as high in quality as Nole and Delpo's match, this match certainly had alot going for it and both men played some wonderful and varied tennis for the crowd. Janowicz for the first half or so of the match definitely looked like he was the better player and his monster serve proved very difficult for Andy to deal with. However in the end Janowicz just wasn't able to sustain his level or his serve as he made 9 double faults in the match, which ended up costing him, one of which brought match point for Andy. Janowicz also didn't help himself by complaning so much about trying to get the roof closed as I think it also messed with his concentration, and to have any chance against a player like Andy you have to put aside any quibbles and just get on with it. Regardless of that Jerzy Janowicz has shown over the last two weeks he really is a player to watch out for and there is no doubt he will continue to do well in the future, as he has the big weapons, the touch and the movement to cause alot of damage in the big events. As for Andy well he deserves nothing less than reaching the Wimbledon final again, and throughout these championships he has shown his fighting and champion qualities, particularly in his previous match against Verdasco when he came from two sets down to win. And his ability to put aside his annoyance over the delay in the roof closing and to just get on with it and to raise his level just shows how much more mature and focused a player he has become, and that alone probably was the most remarkable thing about the match.
Soooooo this sets up another tantalising, mouth watering final between the world's two best players, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, and it begs the question: who will win??????? Well for me I'm going to be bold and say Andy as I just think throughout these two weeks and even at Queens, he has shown tremendous resilience and even from a down position he has been able to turn it around and he has also played the big points really well under pressure. I also think that Andy will have the crowd well behind him which can also make a big difference as he will be able to feed off their energy in order to help him make the push, and if he can draw from his victory last year at the Olympics, that will also help him to win.
But I do think that even though Andy can and might win that there are still no favourites in this match and Nole will be supremely difficult to put away as he is not the world No.1 for nothing, and given he has already won the title once, there is every chance he can do it again this time. You could also say that given the fact that Andy no longer had to deal with Roger or Rafa in his side of the draw, that Novak has made it through the tougher half of the draw really well, especially as he had beat Berdych convincingly and battled his way past Del Potro, which shows his incredible calibre against the world's best players.
So its going to be a tough tough match to call but I do think Andy can still win it, but if he is to win he will have to go the distance just like he did against Nole at the US Open final last year. But he looks poised, confident and above all ready to take on the challenge and I think we are in for an absolute cracker of a final, and my predicition will be that Andy will come through in five tight sets to claim his first ever Wimbledon title, but then again what do I know???! But you can but live in hope! :-)
Right so that's it for now, and I will report back once we know the winner of the men's and ladies finals.
So until the next mouth watering post, that its it for now, and I will wish Andy the very very very best of luck for Sunday, and here's to a great final, and the same to the ladies.
Bye for nooooooowww!
Right well keeping with the usual tradition let's look at the ladies matches first, and the first one was between Marion Bartoli, the former 2007 finalist, and the surprise of the ladies tournament, Kirsten Flipkens from Belgium. However the match itself was nothing but a breeze for Bartoli as she sped to the finish line against Flipkens, who apparently looked like she was carrying an injury throughout. But it didn't make much difference anyway as Bartoli was playing lights out tennis which saw her fall to her knees as she wrapped up the victory in just over an hour in 6-1, 6-2, to reach her second Wimbledon final. This was a really impressive effort from Marion Bartoli as she showed incredible form in getting to this stage, admittedly however she was given a polite but rather cool reception from the crowd, as I think they were still annoyed with her for trying to get match play suspended in her previous quarter final match against Sloane Stephens. However regardless of that Bartoli deserves much credit for reaching her second major final at Wimbledon and I wish her the best for the final, which I'm sure will need against the winner of the next match.
And the next match was between the 4th seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, who was last year's finalist, and the grass court specialist, Sabine Lisicki, the 23rd seed. This match promised to be a real cracker and it turned out to be just that as both ladies had their work cut out in trying to reach the final. It was Lisicki however that made the stronger start as she overpowered Radwanska in the first set and went on to break to win it. In the 2nd however Radwanska start her fightback as she broke Lisicki twice to go on and level the match at a set apiece. In the 3rd however both women traded breaks of serve, with Radwanska moving ahead first and then Lisicki who had a chance to serve it out but couldn't take it at 5-4. Play then went by serve until 7-7 when Lisicki made the crucial move and broke Aga again to take the lead, and this time she had no problem in serving it out for a place in her first major final in Wimbledon (or anywhere) after a hard fought 6-4, 2-6, 9-7 victory. There is no doubt this was a terrific match and both women couldn't have put in much more, with both players levels dipping at times but they also produced some incredible tennis as well for the crowd. But its Lisicki that really deserves all the credit for making her first grand slam final and show her resilience against Radwanska's tenacity. Radwanska played her part in this match also, but I was disappointed in her rather frosty handshake to Lisicki at the net, as she clearly wasn't happy that she lost (which is understandable as no player likes to lose I'm sure) but she could have been a bit more amicable toward Lisicki, however that's the sport.
So this sets up a great and somewhat unlikely final between the 15th seed, Marion Bartoli and the 23rd seed, Sabine Liskci, and there really isn't much in it at all as I'm sure it will be a really tough match. So who will win it??? Well I have to go with Lisicki on this one as I think overall she has more variety to her game, and Bartoli despite her powerful hitting and great return of serve, Lisicki is the better athlete and Bartoli can be somewhat hampered by her double handed style on both the forehand and backhand, which will make it difficult for her to reach certain shots. But if their quarter final clash from two years ago at Wimbledon is anything to go by I think we will be in for a cracker, but in the end I think Lisicki has the wheels to outlast Bartoli, who might just run out of steam toward the end, but we'll see. One really good thing that will emerge from this match is that for once we will have a brand new first time grand slam champion, which is really encouraging and refreshing to see rather than just the usual suspects of Serena, Sharapova or Azarenka.
Now onto the men's semi finals starting with what turned out to be the match of the day, if not the tournament so far, as Novak Djokovic took on the big Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro. On paper this match never promised to be an easy one, and for sure it turned out to be anything but as it was an epic battle between two great players and there wasn't much in it for the most part. Novak started off the better by taking a break in the first set to take the opener, however in the 2nd set Delpo started his comeback and broke Djokovic to go ahead and level the match at a set all. In the 3rd set play went by serve and it was pushed to a tiebreak where Nole dominated play and took a two sets to one lead. In the 4th set Nole took the initiative as he moved ahead by taking a break to go 4-3 up, but Delpo was far from done as he broke back and play eventually went to another tiebreak. In the breaker Nole took the advantage of moving ahead and he even had match points, but Delpo made one last push as he levelled the scores 6-6 and he fashioned a set point, which he grabbed to push a thrilling match into a decider. In the 5th set however it was clear that after well over 4 and a half hours play that it started to take its toll on Delpo as he started to buckle with exhaustion and Novak eventually wore him down by breaking him and he went on to close out the match after an epic battle, to reach his second Wimbledon final, with a scoreline of 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
There is no doubt that this was the match of the tournament so far and both men threw everything at each other, with Delpo showing his fighting qualities and Nole showing superior athleticism and his defensive skills which are out of this world. And there were times were Delpo looked like he had a his chances to move ahead in the 5th set, but in the end he just run out of steam as he started to buckle, but he deserves nothing but credit and respect for his efforts which were as giant as he is, and surely one day he will have another chance to win a major title. As for Novak well there is no doubt he remains the strong favourite to win the title for a second time and he showed again his unwavering resilience in the face of adversity, with virtually nothing in his way to stop him.... except maybe the winner of the next match....
Which was between the British No.1 and World No.2, Andy Murray and the 24th seed, the giant serving and giant Pole, Jerzy Janowicz. Janowicz made a bit of history by reaching his first grand slam final as he was the first Polish man to do so, and with his big serve and his deft net skills as well as good movement, he looked to be a dangerous opponent for Andy. And he turned out to be just that as after a slightly jittery start, Janowicz impressively took his game to Andy as he rained down some monster serves which were at times over 140 mph which Andy strugged to cope with. Play went by serve however in the opening set until a tiebreak, where Janowicz dominated Andy and took the break 7-2 to nab the 1st set. In the second however Janowicz's level dropped as did his serve, which let Andy take a crucial break, and despite a few wobbles, he managed to consolidate the break and took the 2nd set to level. In the 3rd set however, Janowicz once again showed just how dangerous he can be as he broke Andy to move ahead in the match, but Andy somehow managed to break back and from here he managed to fashion a break himself and seized the initiative to take a two sets to one lead over the big Pole. However there was to be a delay in play as the organisers decided that they should close the roof as they felt there was probably only 40 minutes or so of enough daylight ahead to play with the roof open. This angered Andy who complained that they had enough light to carry on and play the match with the roof open, and Janowicz had already complained about trying to get the roof closed, so he ended up getting his way at this point, so played was suspended. However the decision to close the roof had no bearing or effect on Andy's as play as he came out and dominated the big Pole, by playing some superb tennis and served impressively as he broke Janowicz twice and he sealed the deal with a return forehand winner to reach his second consecutive Wimbledon final after a drama fuelled 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win.
While it wasn't as high in quality as Nole and Delpo's match, this match certainly had alot going for it and both men played some wonderful and varied tennis for the crowd. Janowicz for the first half or so of the match definitely looked like he was the better player and his monster serve proved very difficult for Andy to deal with. However in the end Janowicz just wasn't able to sustain his level or his serve as he made 9 double faults in the match, which ended up costing him, one of which brought match point for Andy. Janowicz also didn't help himself by complaning so much about trying to get the roof closed as I think it also messed with his concentration, and to have any chance against a player like Andy you have to put aside any quibbles and just get on with it. Regardless of that Jerzy Janowicz has shown over the last two weeks he really is a player to watch out for and there is no doubt he will continue to do well in the future, as he has the big weapons, the touch and the movement to cause alot of damage in the big events. As for Andy well he deserves nothing less than reaching the Wimbledon final again, and throughout these championships he has shown his fighting and champion qualities, particularly in his previous match against Verdasco when he came from two sets down to win. And his ability to put aside his annoyance over the delay in the roof closing and to just get on with it and to raise his level just shows how much more mature and focused a player he has become, and that alone probably was the most remarkable thing about the match.
Soooooo this sets up another tantalising, mouth watering final between the world's two best players, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, and it begs the question: who will win??????? Well for me I'm going to be bold and say Andy as I just think throughout these two weeks and even at Queens, he has shown tremendous resilience and even from a down position he has been able to turn it around and he has also played the big points really well under pressure. I also think that Andy will have the crowd well behind him which can also make a big difference as he will be able to feed off their energy in order to help him make the push, and if he can draw from his victory last year at the Olympics, that will also help him to win.
But I do think that even though Andy can and might win that there are still no favourites in this match and Nole will be supremely difficult to put away as he is not the world No.1 for nothing, and given he has already won the title once, there is every chance he can do it again this time. You could also say that given the fact that Andy no longer had to deal with Roger or Rafa in his side of the draw, that Novak has made it through the tougher half of the draw really well, especially as he had beat Berdych convincingly and battled his way past Del Potro, which shows his incredible calibre against the world's best players.
So its going to be a tough tough match to call but I do think Andy can still win it, but if he is to win he will have to go the distance just like he did against Nole at the US Open final last year. But he looks poised, confident and above all ready to take on the challenge and I think we are in for an absolute cracker of a final, and my predicition will be that Andy will come through in five tight sets to claim his first ever Wimbledon title, but then again what do I know???! But you can but live in hope! :-)
Right so that's it for now, and I will report back once we know the winner of the men's and ladies finals.
So until the next mouth watering post, that its it for now, and I will wish Andy the very very very best of luck for Sunday, and here's to a great final, and the same to the ladies.
Bye for nooooooowww!
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Wimbledon Part 5: back from the brink....
Right so this post will cover the men's quarter final matches from Wimbledon which saw the last eight battle it out for a place in the semi finals, so let's have a look at the matches....
Right so starting with the first match on centre court we had David Ferrer who took on the giant Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro. Both men were looking for the first semi final at SW19 and it promised not to be an easy task, and straight away there was a scare for Delpo as he took a bad fall and injured his already bruised knee (which he sustained an injury from in a previous match) in the first game. However after some more bandaging and treatment, Delpo bravely marched on and it was worth it as he broke Ferrer twice to take the opening set. In the 2nd set Ferrer fought on but big Delpo had the answers and he broke the Spaniard again to take a two set lead. The 3rd was much tighter as it went by serve and Ferrer kept his hopes alive by pushing the match into a tiebreak, however after a few hiccups Delpo came through as he put down the hammer and ended Ferrer's run at Wimbledon and reached his first Wimbledon semi final with a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 win. This was a terrific effort from Del Potro who did very well to fight through his injury and make it into the final four, where he will face the winner of the next match I will discuss...
Which was between Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych, and the two men had a previous encounter at SW19 which Berdych won in straight sets three years ago. However the tables were turned this time as Nole is not the same player he was three years ago, and despite a tight opening set, which featured some great tennis, Novak took the opening set on the tiebreak. In the 2nd set Berdych seized the early initiative and broke Nole twice to go 3-0, however he was unable to maintain his lead and let Novak back in and before we knew it was Novak's turn to break and take the two set lead. And in the 3rd Nole established his dominance and broke Berdych again and put out the big Czeck with a convincing straight set win of 7-6, 6-4, 6-3. This match really sees Djokovic playing exceptionally well so far, almost scarily so and it still has to be said that he looks to be the top favourite to win the title, however that still depends on the progress of the other four guys I will mention in the next two matches.
Which brings me onto the next quarter final which was between two very unlikely opponents, two Poles, the big serving Jerzy Janowicz and his fellow compatriot Lukas Kubot, and both men were looking make history by becoming the first of their nation to reach the Wimbledon semi finals. But it was Janowicz who came through in the end as he used his big weapons, namely his serve and his blootering forehand to beat his opponent and he came through in straight sets 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Janowicz afterward was very emotional as he warmly hugged his good friend Kubot and he could barely speak in his post match interview as he was so overcome with emotion. This really is a great landmark for Polish tennis and Janowicz who established himself last year at the BNP Paribas Paris Masters by reaching the final there has done incredibly well in getting so far in this tournament, however he will face a real uphill battle ahead of him.
And this brings me onto the final match of the day, which was between Andy Murray and the world no.54 and Spanish no.9, Fernando Verdasco. This match was potentially quite a testing one for Andy who so far had not been pushed too much in the tournament. However that changed dramatically as Verdasco came out firing on all cylinders as he played very aggressively and he pinned Andy back behind the baseline, as he forced the Muzza into playing defensively. And as a result Andy's game suffered in the opening set as he double faulted to hand the set to Verdasco, and in the 2nd set his poor form worryingly continued as despite going a break up, he quickly squandered it and let Verdasco go on to break Andy and take a two sets to love lead. In the 3rd set Andy had to start fighting back and he did just that as he took the initiative and nabbed a double break to take the set and keep his chances alive. In the 4th set Andy managed to secure another break, but Verdasco was still game and kept things close, yet Andy managed to level the match at two sets all. In the 5th set play was tense and Andy at one point was even staring down the barrel as at 2-3 he faced break points, which he managed to save with some gutsy serves and he went on to hold. And play went by serve until 5-5 when Andy made his move on Verdasco's serve and broke after a tense rally, and at 6-5 he managed to serve it out and seal his place in his fifth straight Wimbledon final with a dramatic victory in 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.
There's no doubt this match was one of the highlights of the tournament so far, and Andy once again showed his incredible fighting spirit as he came from two sets to love down for the seventh time in his career to beat Verdasco. Verdasco also played his part in a terrific match and for the most part he played exceptionally well and showed that form that previously saw him as a top 10 player and this match even echoed his form at the Australian open four years when he had his remarkable encounter with Rafa in the semi final. But in the end there was an inevitability that even though he looked down and out that Andy would come through and win the match and its testament to his mental strength and inner belief that he managed to do so. Both players also shared a nice exchange at the net at the end where Verdasco said to Andy that he couldn't believe he got him, and frankly nor could we!
So that sets up a tantalising semi final line up for the men's with Novak Djokovic vs Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Murray vs Jerzy Janowicz. So who do I tip to win for these two???? Well its hard to look past the top two seeds, but both matches could be very tough, although Del Potro's injury could sideline him and might force him to withdraw or retire, but hopefully not as it could be a great match and a real test for Novak. As for Andy well for me he has the tougher of the two matches as Janowicz is a very dangerous player, not only because of his big powerful serve, but also because despite his 6ft 8 size, he also moves well around the court. But I can still see Andy win this one as I think his experience in the majors is far greater and that will hopefully see through to his second final at Wimbledon, but we will just have to wait and see. But assuming there are no retirals or major upsets I think Andy and Nole win both these in four sets.
So that's it for now, more will follow once the ladies semi finals are over and we know who's in the final.
Till the next one bye for nowww.
Right so starting with the first match on centre court we had David Ferrer who took on the giant Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro. Both men were looking for the first semi final at SW19 and it promised not to be an easy task, and straight away there was a scare for Delpo as he took a bad fall and injured his already bruised knee (which he sustained an injury from in a previous match) in the first game. However after some more bandaging and treatment, Delpo bravely marched on and it was worth it as he broke Ferrer twice to take the opening set. In the 2nd set Ferrer fought on but big Delpo had the answers and he broke the Spaniard again to take a two set lead. The 3rd was much tighter as it went by serve and Ferrer kept his hopes alive by pushing the match into a tiebreak, however after a few hiccups Delpo came through as he put down the hammer and ended Ferrer's run at Wimbledon and reached his first Wimbledon semi final with a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 win. This was a terrific effort from Del Potro who did very well to fight through his injury and make it into the final four, where he will face the winner of the next match I will discuss...
Which was between Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych, and the two men had a previous encounter at SW19 which Berdych won in straight sets three years ago. However the tables were turned this time as Nole is not the same player he was three years ago, and despite a tight opening set, which featured some great tennis, Novak took the opening set on the tiebreak. In the 2nd set Berdych seized the early initiative and broke Nole twice to go 3-0, however he was unable to maintain his lead and let Novak back in and before we knew it was Novak's turn to break and take the two set lead. And in the 3rd Nole established his dominance and broke Berdych again and put out the big Czeck with a convincing straight set win of 7-6, 6-4, 6-3. This match really sees Djokovic playing exceptionally well so far, almost scarily so and it still has to be said that he looks to be the top favourite to win the title, however that still depends on the progress of the other four guys I will mention in the next two matches.
Which brings me onto the next quarter final which was between two very unlikely opponents, two Poles, the big serving Jerzy Janowicz and his fellow compatriot Lukas Kubot, and both men were looking make history by becoming the first of their nation to reach the Wimbledon semi finals. But it was Janowicz who came through in the end as he used his big weapons, namely his serve and his blootering forehand to beat his opponent and he came through in straight sets 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Janowicz afterward was very emotional as he warmly hugged his good friend Kubot and he could barely speak in his post match interview as he was so overcome with emotion. This really is a great landmark for Polish tennis and Janowicz who established himself last year at the BNP Paribas Paris Masters by reaching the final there has done incredibly well in getting so far in this tournament, however he will face a real uphill battle ahead of him.
And this brings me onto the final match of the day, which was between Andy Murray and the world no.54 and Spanish no.9, Fernando Verdasco. This match was potentially quite a testing one for Andy who so far had not been pushed too much in the tournament. However that changed dramatically as Verdasco came out firing on all cylinders as he played very aggressively and he pinned Andy back behind the baseline, as he forced the Muzza into playing defensively. And as a result Andy's game suffered in the opening set as he double faulted to hand the set to Verdasco, and in the 2nd set his poor form worryingly continued as despite going a break up, he quickly squandered it and let Verdasco go on to break Andy and take a two sets to love lead. In the 3rd set Andy had to start fighting back and he did just that as he took the initiative and nabbed a double break to take the set and keep his chances alive. In the 4th set Andy managed to secure another break, but Verdasco was still game and kept things close, yet Andy managed to level the match at two sets all. In the 5th set play was tense and Andy at one point was even staring down the barrel as at 2-3 he faced break points, which he managed to save with some gutsy serves and he went on to hold. And play went by serve until 5-5 when Andy made his move on Verdasco's serve and broke after a tense rally, and at 6-5 he managed to serve it out and seal his place in his fifth straight Wimbledon final with a dramatic victory in 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.
There's no doubt this match was one of the highlights of the tournament so far, and Andy once again showed his incredible fighting spirit as he came from two sets to love down for the seventh time in his career to beat Verdasco. Verdasco also played his part in a terrific match and for the most part he played exceptionally well and showed that form that previously saw him as a top 10 player and this match even echoed his form at the Australian open four years when he had his remarkable encounter with Rafa in the semi final. But in the end there was an inevitability that even though he looked down and out that Andy would come through and win the match and its testament to his mental strength and inner belief that he managed to do so. Both players also shared a nice exchange at the net at the end where Verdasco said to Andy that he couldn't believe he got him, and frankly nor could we!
So that sets up a tantalising semi final line up for the men's with Novak Djokovic vs Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Murray vs Jerzy Janowicz. So who do I tip to win for these two???? Well its hard to look past the top two seeds, but both matches could be very tough, although Del Potro's injury could sideline him and might force him to withdraw or retire, but hopefully not as it could be a great match and a real test for Novak. As for Andy well for me he has the tougher of the two matches as Janowicz is a very dangerous player, not only because of his big powerful serve, but also because despite his 6ft 8 size, he also moves well around the court. But I can still see Andy win this one as I think his experience in the majors is far greater and that will hopefully see through to his second final at Wimbledon, but we will just have to wait and see. But assuming there are no retirals or major upsets I think Andy and Nole win both these in four sets.
So that's it for now, more will follow once the ladies semi finals are over and we know who's in the final.
Till the next one bye for nowww.
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Wimbledon 2013 Part 4: ladies quarters
Right so its time for another post on the Wimbledon championships which will cover the ladies quarter finals and who made it through to the last four, so let's get started.
OK so the first match of the day was between Agnieszka Radwanska, last year's finalist and Li Na, which promised to be quite a tough encounter. And it was proved to be just that as Radwanska was put through her paces from Li Na, who actually went a break up in the 1st set, but Aga soon broke back and play went to a tieberak which Aga won to take the opening set. In the 2nd set Li Na fought back and broke Radwanska to move ahead and soon levelled the match. However in the decider Radwanska took the initiative and moved ahead to a double break, and Li Na made a gutsy last stand by trying to break Aga back at 5-2, but the Pole soon closed it out with a hard fought 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 win. This was a really good match and both players played a high level contest for the centre crowd and Aga looked a bit in doubt to finish it as she had a medical timeout to have her leg bandaged. But in the end Aga's guile and tenacity got her through to her second Wimbledon semi final.
Next up we had Petra Kvitova who faced the in form Beglium player, Kirsten Flipkens, who was very much the underdog in this match as Petra looked to be the favourite. And Petra made the stronger start as she Flipkens to take the 1st set, however in the 2nd set Flipkens mounted a fightback as she broke Petra to take the match into a decider. And in the 3rd set it was Flipkens who upset the odds as she went ahead and broke Petra's serve and her heart with it and went on to serve it out for her first ever Wimbledon semi final with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. This was another surprise result in a remarkable Wimbledon, although admittedly Petra has been in and out of form this year so it seemed likely that she would get beaten at some point. But Kirsten Flipkens deserves all the credit for pulling off a great win and as she has struggled with injury throughout her career, its great to see someone different come in the rankings. And with Petra knocked out we are now guaranteed a first time major champion as all the major champions are out.
Next up we had Marion Bartoli who played against the upcoming American player, Sloane Stephens, who made her first Wimbledon quarter final. Bartoli however has been in terrific form in the championships, and she took the first set with a break, after a two hour rain delay, as she was insistent they suspend play it made Bartoli unpopular with the crowd when she came back on. In the 2nd set both players traded breaks of serve, until 6-5, with Stephens serving to take the match into a tiebreak dropped her serve to hand the win to Bartoli to reach her second semi final with a 6-4, 7-5 win. While she wasn't too popular with the crowd, which was surprising to see the Wimbledon audience boo someone, Bartoli certainly played the better tennis and she deserves credit for reaching the semi finals again. As for Sloane Stephens well it was a pity she wasn't able to capitalise on her service breaks and get back in the match to push to a 3rd set, but she has the look of a future champion in majors and no doubt we will see more of her in the future.
And finally we had Sabine Lisicki who took on Kaia Kanepi, and after her major upset of Serena Williams, Lisicki looked to be the favourite. And right enough she turned out to be just that as Kanepi looked sluggish in the match and Lisicki played lights out tennis in breaking the Estonian once in each set to nab her second semi final at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Its great to see Lisicki do really well again as she is a likeable lass (and a babe) with a great smile and attitude on the court, and with no Serena, Sharapova or Azarenka standing in her way, she remains a firm favourite to lift the title.
So that's the ladies semi finals set up complete, which is a pretty tantalising set up between Agnieszka Radwanska and Sabine Liskci, and Marion Bartoli vs Kirsten Flipkens. So who will win????? Well its hard to choose but my money is on Lisicki and Bartoli although I could be wrong, but it would be great to see the two of them in the final as they both played a terrific quarter final match at Wimbledon two years ago.
Right well that's it for the ladies quarter final matches, next up will be the men's.
Till then bye for now.
OK so the first match of the day was between Agnieszka Radwanska, last year's finalist and Li Na, which promised to be quite a tough encounter. And it was proved to be just that as Radwanska was put through her paces from Li Na, who actually went a break up in the 1st set, but Aga soon broke back and play went to a tieberak which Aga won to take the opening set. In the 2nd set Li Na fought back and broke Radwanska to move ahead and soon levelled the match. However in the decider Radwanska took the initiative and moved ahead to a double break, and Li Na made a gutsy last stand by trying to break Aga back at 5-2, but the Pole soon closed it out with a hard fought 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 win. This was a really good match and both players played a high level contest for the centre crowd and Aga looked a bit in doubt to finish it as she had a medical timeout to have her leg bandaged. But in the end Aga's guile and tenacity got her through to her second Wimbledon semi final.
Next up we had Petra Kvitova who faced the in form Beglium player, Kirsten Flipkens, who was very much the underdog in this match as Petra looked to be the favourite. And Petra made the stronger start as she Flipkens to take the 1st set, however in the 2nd set Flipkens mounted a fightback as she broke Petra to take the match into a decider. And in the 3rd set it was Flipkens who upset the odds as she went ahead and broke Petra's serve and her heart with it and went on to serve it out for her first ever Wimbledon semi final with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. This was another surprise result in a remarkable Wimbledon, although admittedly Petra has been in and out of form this year so it seemed likely that she would get beaten at some point. But Kirsten Flipkens deserves all the credit for pulling off a great win and as she has struggled with injury throughout her career, its great to see someone different come in the rankings. And with Petra knocked out we are now guaranteed a first time major champion as all the major champions are out.
Next up we had Marion Bartoli who played against the upcoming American player, Sloane Stephens, who made her first Wimbledon quarter final. Bartoli however has been in terrific form in the championships, and she took the first set with a break, after a two hour rain delay, as she was insistent they suspend play it made Bartoli unpopular with the crowd when she came back on. In the 2nd set both players traded breaks of serve, until 6-5, with Stephens serving to take the match into a tiebreak dropped her serve to hand the win to Bartoli to reach her second semi final with a 6-4, 7-5 win. While she wasn't too popular with the crowd, which was surprising to see the Wimbledon audience boo someone, Bartoli certainly played the better tennis and she deserves credit for reaching the semi finals again. As for Sloane Stephens well it was a pity she wasn't able to capitalise on her service breaks and get back in the match to push to a 3rd set, but she has the look of a future champion in majors and no doubt we will see more of her in the future.
And finally we had Sabine Lisicki who took on Kaia Kanepi, and after her major upset of Serena Williams, Lisicki looked to be the favourite. And right enough she turned out to be just that as Kanepi looked sluggish in the match and Lisicki played lights out tennis in breaking the Estonian once in each set to nab her second semi final at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Its great to see Lisicki do really well again as she is a likeable lass (and a babe) with a great smile and attitude on the court, and with no Serena, Sharapova or Azarenka standing in her way, she remains a firm favourite to lift the title.
So that's the ladies semi finals set up complete, which is a pretty tantalising set up between Agnieszka Radwanska and Sabine Liskci, and Marion Bartoli vs Kirsten Flipkens. So who will win????? Well its hard to choose but my money is on Lisicki and Bartoli although I could be wrong, but it would be great to see the two of them in the final as they both played a terrific quarter final match at Wimbledon two years ago.
Right well that's it for the ladies quarter final matches, next up will be the men's.
Till then bye for now.
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