Well its been quite a while since my last tennis post but I thought I would post up something about Andy Murray and his recent form since his return to the tour after having back surgery last year. So let's have a look at how the British No.1 has been faring....
Well so far 2014 has been far from kind for Andy Murray with him having lost Ivan Lendl as his coach it has left a big gap to fill in his career and he is already keen to find a replacement pretty quick and has said he would ideally like to have someone in place by the time the French Open starts. However given that it is now only two weeks until the French open begins it appears rather unlikely that Andy will be able to get a coach in place before it begins, especially as he himself has said its not ideal to hire a new coach just a few days before the beginning of a grand slam and he would rather spend time with the coach before diving head first into a major.
So this leaves open the strong possibility that Andy will go into the French open without a coach, which is in itself a worrying sign given his recent form, having sustained one of his worst defeats of the season just there at the Mutua Madrid open against Santiago Giraldo who beat Andy emphatically in 6-3, 6-2. And only two years ago this was a player Andy dismissed at the French open in straight sets, where the Colombian failed to even convert a single break point. However times change and players improve as Giraldo has done that this year and there are also so many others players emerging to step up and challenge the "big four" which is now starting to dimish in strength. Andy himself is now ranked lower than he has for almost six years as his ranking sunk to No.8 in the world, which could be worse, but he doesn't want to sink any lower otherwise he will be facing some of the top players even earlier in the tournament, such as facing Rafa in the 3rd round of the French, which isn't very encouraging!
And it has to be said that with Lendl now gone there is a big vaccum that needs to be filled and even Andy himself has said that he feels he has lost direction and motivation since his former coach has departed. And when Lendl left it appears he took the mental edge he has given Andy with him, as we no longer now see a confident self assured fighter out on court, instead we have a man who doubts himself, and plays well one day and terrible the next. And its this lack of consistency more than anything else Andy needs to address, as its all good and well he could go on to do fairly well at the French and the other slams, but he needs to play more consistently throughout the season, which is something he has always struggled to do over the last few years in the ATP events. In the past Andy seemed to priortise winning events on the tour, while providing rather underwhelming results in the slams, but in recent years this has changed and it has become all about the majors, leaving himself short when it came to the ATP tour events. And this is something where the other "big three" have excelled in both the majors and the tour events, which in that regard is where Andy stands apart, he's more than good enough to be ranked along side them, but he just struggles to consistently string it togther. However since his return to the tour, his results on hard court so far haven't been too bad as he has reached three quarter finals at the Australian open, Rotterdam and Miami, and his best result was reaching the semi finals in Acapulco where he lost a very tight match to Grigor Dimitrov. And on clay its always been Andy's weakest surface where he has not performed his best particularly in Madrid having never gotten past the last eight ever since the event changed surface to clay.
However with Lendl gone, Andy certainly won't have a shortage of candidates to take over as his new coach and one of them being John McEnroe, who potentially could be an excellent choice for Andy to go with, although its ironic that his next coach could be one of his former coach's biggest rivals! But its all a case of how good a fit would McEnroe be for Andy and will they partner up and then split just after a few weeks??? Who knows? Andy needs to be certain as he very well knows, that he can get a coach that can fully commit to his busy schedule, which was something as time moved on that Lendl wasn't able to do, which possibly was in part one of the reasons Lendl chose to leave. Although it does appear ironic that Lendl said one of the reasons he chose to move on was to play more on the seniors tour, which in itself is bizzare as McEnroe, who has expressed interest in coaching Andy, already plays alot on the seniors tour, yet he is willing to take the time to coach Andy as well! This makes me think that Lendl's decision to leave in regards to playing more on the seniors tour is nothing but hot air and there were other reasons behind his departure.
What I do think though was Lendl timed the split badly just as Andy was heading into the Sony Open in Miami, where he was the defending champion, which no doubt left him feel dispirited. Regardless of that though he put in a decent performance in reaching the quarter finals and played a pretty good match against Novak Djokovic, which saw him produce some of his best form we had seen since he won Wimbledon the year before. But since then Andy Murray looks like a man who has no plan and without a coach he has lost his sense of direction and motivation and that is something that needs to address very quickly otherwise we could be looking at Andy making early exits at Queens and Wimbledon, which is something he will want to avoid at all costs. And while Andy will want to make the right decision and get the right person for the job, which is the right thing to do, the longer he goes without a coach, he will have more chances of stringing together a series of bad results, which is the last thing he will want to do.
But I'm sure that Andy will one day get back to his best form, if not at some point this season, then surely in the future he will get there. Its been a tough time for him of late, not only with the depature of Lendl but also the tragic death of Elena Baltacha, a close personal family friend and his comeback to the tour could not be more different than Rafa's last year, but every player is different. In the meantime with Rome and the French open ahead, Andy has no points to defend and he stands to gain points, so that's one encouraging thing that he has nothing to lose in either tournament and hopefully he can gain some if not in Rome then at Roland Garros, which he really needs to do. And Andy could potentially face Marcel Granollers in his first match in Rome, whom he faced last year in his only match there and he was forced to retire due to his back injury. And if is Andy is fortunate enough to beat either player then he could go on to face Santiago Giraldo again in the 3rd round which is not an enviable prospect, either that or play Jurgen Mezler or Marin Cilic. Either way its not looking very promising for Andy in Rome either, but we will wait and see how his form is once he get's there. And should he be lucky to reach the quarter finals then he could play Rafa, but given they haven't played for almost three years, it looks like at this rate their much anticipated match up is going to have to wait a bit longer. (Update 12.05) In fact we now know it will be Marcel Granollers that Andy will play after all in Rome this year, so it will be a rematch and not an enviable one, so let's hope Andy is up to the task, because it won't be easy.
So I will leave it there and let's hope Andy Murray can recover his form soon and that he get's the right person for his new coach.
And I will return with more posts once the French Open get's under way, in fact I will probably do a French open preview for the men and ladies with my pick of favourites to win the title.
Till then bye for now.
Saturday, 10 May 2014
Monday, 7 April 2014
Davis cup weekend: fightbacks and letdowns
Right well this is a slightly different post as this will cover the quarter finals of the Davis cup which took place last weekend there. And I will cover mainly the tie between Great Britain and Italy as both teams were looking to reach the semi finals, which could set up a clash potentially with Switzerland. So let's have a look at how the weekend's tennis went....
So starting with day 1 of the tie, which was a home tie for Italy as it was in Naples and it saw the Italian No.1, Fabio Fognini, who has had an excellent run of form this season so far, especially on clay, up against the British No.2 (actually 3) James Ward. Wardy certainly went into this match as the underdog as his chances of winning were pretty remote, however he still had his chances especially as Fognini was misfiring quite a bit throughout. And after Fognini took the 1st set he started to wobble in the 2nd as James broke him twice to level the scores at a set all. In the 3rd set things were tight again but Fognini got the break and he took the lead and in the 4th he motored his way to victory as he downed Wardy with a double break and nabbed the first point for Italy with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win. This was good effort from James Ward who played a good match against an admittedly up and down Fognini, but in the end it was the Italian's calibre and experience that got him through.
The second match on day 1 was between Andy Murray and the Italian No.2, Andreas Seppi and Andy has an excellent head to head record over the Italian as he leads 5-1 going into this match. However the match itself was no gimme as Seppi put Andy through his paces especially in the first two sets and due to an earlier rain delay, played was eventually suspended toward the end of the second set. And as Andy had taken the first set with a break, the second was a real tussle as well and there were two very tight games which eventually saw both players level at 5-5 and then play was suspended due to bad light. On the 2nd day play resumed and Andy finally managed to break and take the two set lead and in the 3rd set Andy finally managed to get the win as he broke Seppi again and closed out the match with a tough 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 win. This certainly was a tough opener for Andy but he proved to be more than up to the task and he played some great tennis when he needed to as he managed to get that much needed win under GB's belt and Seppi also deserves credit for his efforts.
As for the doubles match on day 2, the GB team captain, Leon Smith opted for Andy Murray to play with Colin Fleming, as he felt it would guarantee them better success. And it turned out to be a wise decision as Andy and Flemo took the courts against Fognini and Simon Bolelli and they dominated the Italian duo ruthlessly in the first two sets as they quickly established a two set lead. In the 3rd set however the Italians started their fightback as Andy and Colin made a few loose errors which let them right back into the match and they took the 3rd set. In the 4th set, the Italians continued their comeback as they broke early on in the set to take the lead, but it didn't last too long as at 5-4, Andy and Flemo broke back again and they went on to seal their own break and the stunned Fognini and Bolelli by taking the rubber and a 2-1 lead with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 result.
Now we move onto day 3 which saw Andy Murray take on Fabio Fognini in what proved to be a crucial rubber, which would either see Great Britain make it through to the semi finals if they would win or Italy square up the tie at 2-2 to force a deciding rubber. And in all honesty given Andy's performance so far in the tie he seemed to be the favourite to win this one, but Fognini had other ideas and also given that Andy had already spent over six hours on court over the last two days, it was the Italian that upset the odds. Fognini throughout the match played stellar tennis, despite going a break down at the start of the match, as soon as he broke back, Fabio raced to take the first set. In the 2nd set however Andy had some chances to break Fognini and move ahead, however Fabio saved all the break points on his serve and he went on to fashion a break of his own and nabbed a two set lead. In the 3rd set things looked pretty grim for Andy as Fognini showed no signs of wavering, holding serve superbly, whereas Andy struggled to hold onto his own. And at 5-4, the seemingly inevitable signs of defeat that had been looming since early on in the set finally reared their ugly head as Andy capitulated once more on his serve and Fabio pulled off a big upset to square the tie at 2-2 with a very impressive 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Well this certainly wasn't the result most people would have predicted (apart from maybe the Italians!) and while Fognini's best surface is clay, I would have expected Andy to have put a great fight. However we have to remember that clay is Andy's weakest surface and Fognini is one of the best clay court players in the world and as he is ranked just outside the top 10 at No.13 in the world there really wasn't much between their rankings either. In the end though Fognini was the better player on the day and he thoroughly outplayed Andy who cut the figure of a beaten man by the time he went two sets to love down. And prior to this Great Britain looked to be in the driving seat, but with this loss it totally changed things and from hereon it looked like Italy would be the favourites and it would all hinge on the next and final decisive rubber.
And this was between GB's James Ward and Italy's Andreas Seppi to decide who would move into the semi finals and it had to be said that Italy were the overwhelming favourites going into this match especially as Seppi is ranked inside the top 40 and Wardy is ranked inside the top 200! And despite an edgy first set with both men showing signs of nerve and trading breaks it was Ward that blinked first and Seppi took the opening set. In the 2nd set things started to go downhill for James as the unforced errors starting to pile up and he went down another break to Seppi who was starting to find his ryhtym and he knocked Wardy off his own to grab the two set lead. And in the 3rd set, Wardy was in serious trouble as he went a double break down, but he somehow managed to wrestle back one of the breaks from an edgy looking Seppi. Ward also saved two tie points at 3-5 as he managed to hold on to go 4-5 to force Seppi to serve for the match and the tie. However in the end, Seppi dispelled any signs of nerves as he served out the match with ease and secured Italy's place in the semi finals with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 result.
Well this was a very disappointing end to the tie for Great Britain who looked to be set for victory after taking the 2-1 lead going into the final day with Andy looking good to close it out. Unfortunately however Great Britain didn't really count on Fabio Fognini's terrific form in the crucial singles match with Andy and after the Italian whipped Andy, there was only going to be one winner. James Ward however to his credit fought as well as he could also on the day, but in the end Seppi was the better player as well and it was always going to be a very very big ask for Ward to dig out the win and matters weren't helped with his unforced errors which clocked in at 64 for the whole match. So in the end Italy's home tie worked to their advantage and playing on clay proved to be the right choice, especially given its Andy's weakest surface, and most of the European countries prefer to play clay. Perhaps the result might have been different if Great Britain had the advantage of playing at home as they certainly would have chosen indoor hard court over clay, also given there aren't that many clay courts in Britain anyway. But in the end Italy deserve the win and they did very well in fighting back to make it to the semi finals with Fognini no doubt being the hero of the tie.
As for Great Britain well that's them for this year in the Davis cup, but they have done exceptionally well in getting this far and they will still remain in the world group next year since they got into the quarter finals. And for Andy well its four weeks off ahead (well I'm sure he might put in a decent training block on clay at some point before May) as he won't return to the tour until the Mutua Madrid Open at the beginning of May and there is also a small matter of him trying to find a coach to replace Ivan Lendl, who given what he has helped Andy accomplish over the last two years, leaves some very tough shoes to fill.
So Andy will no doubt start his look for a new coach soon and he has already said that during his four weeks away from the tour before Madrid next month, that he intends to properly think it over and start making decisions on who he wants to choose and he aims to have his new coach in place before the French Open begins. Whoever it is they will of course have to ensure they can make the commitments necessary for Andy's career to progress and that was something Lendl eventually wasn't able to keep up as their partnership neared its end, Lendl spent less and less time on the tour with Andy, and this is something Andy needs to remedy with his next coach.
And in a way his split with Lendl has always bugged me as I think Lendl chose a poor time to split with Andy, not only did he do it before he was set to defend his title in Miami, it has also left him without a coach to help him prepare for the clay court season especially given that Andy is playing largely pain free now, which was something he wasn't doing pretty much the whole time on clay in the last two years when Lendl was still with him! And now that he is pain free he could very much have benefited from Lendl's invaluable input on how to perform well on clay given that he was a three time French Open champion. But what's done is done.
The good news for Andy is however over the clay court swing he has a chance to gain some points to help out his ranking, although he still has to reach the quarter finals of Madrid to maintain his points there from last year. But last year he retired in Rome in his first match against Marcel Granollers due to his lower back injury and he withdrew from the French Open, so now that Andy is injury free (well so far) he can stand to gain more points once he hits Rome and Roland Garros. However I think we will also have to accept that Andy doesn't really stand much chance of winning the French Open anyway or in Madrid or Rome either given that he has never reached the final of a clay court even. But regardless of that let's hope he can have a decent run on the red dirt before he is set to return to his beloved grass and defend his titles at Queens and Wimbledon.
As for the other teams in the Davis cup quarter final clash we had Switzerland who had a real battle on their hands against the Kazakhstan nation players who like Great Britain provided a surprising 2-1 lead over the Swiss, who were playing at home in Geneva. But on the 3rd day Stan and Rog dug out the wins they needed and secured their place in the semis to meet with Italy as they nabbed a close fought tie in 3-2. France also a narrow scrape as they had to fight from 2-0 down and battled their way back into the tie as they won the next three rubbers to win the tie 3-2 to reach the semis. And lastly the defending champs were in invincible form as Tomas Berdych, Lukas Rosol and Radek Stepanek combined their efforts to demolish Japan, who were missing their top player in Kei Nishikori, and the Czecks won 5-0.
So that's it for the Davis cup weekend and it was a disappointing end for Great Britain who will have to wait until next year to have another crack at going deeper next time.
And I with that I will leave yeeee there.
So starting with day 1 of the tie, which was a home tie for Italy as it was in Naples and it saw the Italian No.1, Fabio Fognini, who has had an excellent run of form this season so far, especially on clay, up against the British No.2 (actually 3) James Ward. Wardy certainly went into this match as the underdog as his chances of winning were pretty remote, however he still had his chances especially as Fognini was misfiring quite a bit throughout. And after Fognini took the 1st set he started to wobble in the 2nd as James broke him twice to level the scores at a set all. In the 3rd set things were tight again but Fognini got the break and he took the lead and in the 4th he motored his way to victory as he downed Wardy with a double break and nabbed the first point for Italy with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win. This was good effort from James Ward who played a good match against an admittedly up and down Fognini, but in the end it was the Italian's calibre and experience that got him through.
The second match on day 1 was between Andy Murray and the Italian No.2, Andreas Seppi and Andy has an excellent head to head record over the Italian as he leads 5-1 going into this match. However the match itself was no gimme as Seppi put Andy through his paces especially in the first two sets and due to an earlier rain delay, played was eventually suspended toward the end of the second set. And as Andy had taken the first set with a break, the second was a real tussle as well and there were two very tight games which eventually saw both players level at 5-5 and then play was suspended due to bad light. On the 2nd day play resumed and Andy finally managed to break and take the two set lead and in the 3rd set Andy finally managed to get the win as he broke Seppi again and closed out the match with a tough 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 win. This certainly was a tough opener for Andy but he proved to be more than up to the task and he played some great tennis when he needed to as he managed to get that much needed win under GB's belt and Seppi also deserves credit for his efforts.
As for the doubles match on day 2, the GB team captain, Leon Smith opted for Andy Murray to play with Colin Fleming, as he felt it would guarantee them better success. And it turned out to be a wise decision as Andy and Flemo took the courts against Fognini and Simon Bolelli and they dominated the Italian duo ruthlessly in the first two sets as they quickly established a two set lead. In the 3rd set however the Italians started their fightback as Andy and Colin made a few loose errors which let them right back into the match and they took the 3rd set. In the 4th set, the Italians continued their comeback as they broke early on in the set to take the lead, but it didn't last too long as at 5-4, Andy and Flemo broke back again and they went on to seal their own break and the stunned Fognini and Bolelli by taking the rubber and a 2-1 lead with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 result.
Now we move onto day 3 which saw Andy Murray take on Fabio Fognini in what proved to be a crucial rubber, which would either see Great Britain make it through to the semi finals if they would win or Italy square up the tie at 2-2 to force a deciding rubber. And in all honesty given Andy's performance so far in the tie he seemed to be the favourite to win this one, but Fognini had other ideas and also given that Andy had already spent over six hours on court over the last two days, it was the Italian that upset the odds. Fognini throughout the match played stellar tennis, despite going a break down at the start of the match, as soon as he broke back, Fabio raced to take the first set. In the 2nd set however Andy had some chances to break Fognini and move ahead, however Fabio saved all the break points on his serve and he went on to fashion a break of his own and nabbed a two set lead. In the 3rd set things looked pretty grim for Andy as Fognini showed no signs of wavering, holding serve superbly, whereas Andy struggled to hold onto his own. And at 5-4, the seemingly inevitable signs of defeat that had been looming since early on in the set finally reared their ugly head as Andy capitulated once more on his serve and Fabio pulled off a big upset to square the tie at 2-2 with a very impressive 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Well this certainly wasn't the result most people would have predicted (apart from maybe the Italians!) and while Fognini's best surface is clay, I would have expected Andy to have put a great fight. However we have to remember that clay is Andy's weakest surface and Fognini is one of the best clay court players in the world and as he is ranked just outside the top 10 at No.13 in the world there really wasn't much between their rankings either. In the end though Fognini was the better player on the day and he thoroughly outplayed Andy who cut the figure of a beaten man by the time he went two sets to love down. And prior to this Great Britain looked to be in the driving seat, but with this loss it totally changed things and from hereon it looked like Italy would be the favourites and it would all hinge on the next and final decisive rubber.
And this was between GB's James Ward and Italy's Andreas Seppi to decide who would move into the semi finals and it had to be said that Italy were the overwhelming favourites going into this match especially as Seppi is ranked inside the top 40 and Wardy is ranked inside the top 200! And despite an edgy first set with both men showing signs of nerve and trading breaks it was Ward that blinked first and Seppi took the opening set. In the 2nd set things started to go downhill for James as the unforced errors starting to pile up and he went down another break to Seppi who was starting to find his ryhtym and he knocked Wardy off his own to grab the two set lead. And in the 3rd set, Wardy was in serious trouble as he went a double break down, but he somehow managed to wrestle back one of the breaks from an edgy looking Seppi. Ward also saved two tie points at 3-5 as he managed to hold on to go 4-5 to force Seppi to serve for the match and the tie. However in the end, Seppi dispelled any signs of nerves as he served out the match with ease and secured Italy's place in the semi finals with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 result.
Well this was a very disappointing end to the tie for Great Britain who looked to be set for victory after taking the 2-1 lead going into the final day with Andy looking good to close it out. Unfortunately however Great Britain didn't really count on Fabio Fognini's terrific form in the crucial singles match with Andy and after the Italian whipped Andy, there was only going to be one winner. James Ward however to his credit fought as well as he could also on the day, but in the end Seppi was the better player as well and it was always going to be a very very big ask for Ward to dig out the win and matters weren't helped with his unforced errors which clocked in at 64 for the whole match. So in the end Italy's home tie worked to their advantage and playing on clay proved to be the right choice, especially given its Andy's weakest surface, and most of the European countries prefer to play clay. Perhaps the result might have been different if Great Britain had the advantage of playing at home as they certainly would have chosen indoor hard court over clay, also given there aren't that many clay courts in Britain anyway. But in the end Italy deserve the win and they did very well in fighting back to make it to the semi finals with Fognini no doubt being the hero of the tie.
As for Great Britain well that's them for this year in the Davis cup, but they have done exceptionally well in getting this far and they will still remain in the world group next year since they got into the quarter finals. And for Andy well its four weeks off ahead (well I'm sure he might put in a decent training block on clay at some point before May) as he won't return to the tour until the Mutua Madrid Open at the beginning of May and there is also a small matter of him trying to find a coach to replace Ivan Lendl, who given what he has helped Andy accomplish over the last two years, leaves some very tough shoes to fill.
So Andy will no doubt start his look for a new coach soon and he has already said that during his four weeks away from the tour before Madrid next month, that he intends to properly think it over and start making decisions on who he wants to choose and he aims to have his new coach in place before the French Open begins. Whoever it is they will of course have to ensure they can make the commitments necessary for Andy's career to progress and that was something Lendl eventually wasn't able to keep up as their partnership neared its end, Lendl spent less and less time on the tour with Andy, and this is something Andy needs to remedy with his next coach.
And in a way his split with Lendl has always bugged me as I think Lendl chose a poor time to split with Andy, not only did he do it before he was set to defend his title in Miami, it has also left him without a coach to help him prepare for the clay court season especially given that Andy is playing largely pain free now, which was something he wasn't doing pretty much the whole time on clay in the last two years when Lendl was still with him! And now that he is pain free he could very much have benefited from Lendl's invaluable input on how to perform well on clay given that he was a three time French Open champion. But what's done is done.
The good news for Andy is however over the clay court swing he has a chance to gain some points to help out his ranking, although he still has to reach the quarter finals of Madrid to maintain his points there from last year. But last year he retired in Rome in his first match against Marcel Granollers due to his lower back injury and he withdrew from the French Open, so now that Andy is injury free (well so far) he can stand to gain more points once he hits Rome and Roland Garros. However I think we will also have to accept that Andy doesn't really stand much chance of winning the French Open anyway or in Madrid or Rome either given that he has never reached the final of a clay court even. But regardless of that let's hope he can have a decent run on the red dirt before he is set to return to his beloved grass and defend his titles at Queens and Wimbledon.
As for the other teams in the Davis cup quarter final clash we had Switzerland who had a real battle on their hands against the Kazakhstan nation players who like Great Britain provided a surprising 2-1 lead over the Swiss, who were playing at home in Geneva. But on the 3rd day Stan and Rog dug out the wins they needed and secured their place in the semis to meet with Italy as they nabbed a close fought tie in 3-2. France also a narrow scrape as they had to fight from 2-0 down and battled their way back into the tie as they won the next three rubbers to win the tie 3-2 to reach the semis. And lastly the defending champs were in invincible form as Tomas Berdych, Lukas Rosol and Radek Stepanek combined their efforts to demolish Japan, who were missing their top player in Kei Nishikori, and the Czecks won 5-0.
So that's it for the Davis cup weekend and it was a disappointing end for Great Britain who will have to wait until next year to have another crack at going deeper next time.
And I with that I will leave yeeee there.
Saturday, 29 March 2014
2014 Miami Part 3: Bad calls, walkovers, scraps and the big two
Right so now I'm onto my third part of the Sony Open tennis tournament covarge, which will cover the men's and ladies quarter and semi final matches, which will set up the finals for both. So let's have look at the matches.
Starting with Serena Williams who in her quarter final match was up against Angelique Kerber of Germany, in what promised to be an intruiging clash. Serena earlier in the week had to battle against her first two opponents, but by this time she had shaken off the cobwebs and played sharp tennis and proved too strong for Kerber as romped to a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory. And next up was another showdown with Maria Sharapova, who has never won a match against Serena in their last umpteen meetings and Sharapova came through her match against Petra Kvitova in 7-5, 6-1. And unfortunately for Maria it was no different this time either as Serena beat the Russian/American comfortably to reach another final in Miami with a 6-4, 6-3. This sees Serena doing what she does better than anyone else and once again she took down the mighty Pova with ease and come Saturday (i.e. today) I would be very surprised if she didn't lift her 59th career title.
In the other quarter finals, Dominika Cibulkova, this year's Aussie open finalist, battled her was past Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the semis, and it was a far cry from their Melbourne semi final as Aggie really stuck to the pint sized Slovak. But in the end it was Cibulkova that came through after a tough two and a half hour scrap with a 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 scoreline. Li Na also had a bit of a fight on her hands against Caroline Wozniacki as the Chinese player and World No.2, dispatched a plucky Caroline in straight sets 7-5, 7-5. Which left the remaining semi final between Li Na and Dominika Cibulkova, which was a tight encounter, but in the same result as the Australian open final, Li Na battled her way to victory as she reached the final in 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
So this sets up what should be a pretty good final as Serena and Li Na have had their fair share of tough matches over the years and this one should hopefully prove to be no different. But you would be mad or both to not see Serena as the winner of this one given that she has, like pretty much every other player on the WTA tour, a winning head to head record over Li Na, which is quite emphatic 10-1. So for me it will be a tight match but I think Serena will take it in straight sets.
So now we go onto the men's quarter finals starting with the mouth watering clash between Andy Murray, the defending champion and Novak Djokovic. The match itself proved to be quite a tight high quality one and the first set saw very little to separate the two. That was until 5-6 on Andy's serve as he was serving to level the scores and take the set into a tiebreak, when Djokovic played a volley at the net and his racquet passed over the other side of the net. Andy then disputed the call with the umpire who insisted that the point belonged to Djokovic but Andy continued to argue with the umpire to no avail, which ultimately lead to him losing his serve and the first set. In the 2nd set Andy managed to refocus and he nabbed a break to move ahead, but he sqaundered it by putting in two double faults and let Novak back on even terms. And from here on, Andy struggled and capitulated on serve for Novak to go 5-3 up and he served it out with ease to reach the semi finals and end Andy's title defence with a 7-5, 6-3 result.
This was a good match with some excellent rallies and it also showed really encouraging signs for Andy, who in his previous match demolished Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, which shows his game is definitely getting back on track. However the controversial line call was the main point of the match and it was a bad call from the umpire who overruled Andy's dispute even though it was blatantly clear that Novak's racquet was way over the other side of the net and Djokovic was awarded the point regardless. It was also disappointing that even though Novak admitted his racquet was over the net that he didn't concede the point, and as a result Andy played a sloppy service game, which knocked him off his rythym. But perhaps in the end it didn't make a heap of difference as Andy once again proved his main problem was his second serve, which was way too slow and he also throw in a couple of costly double faults that cost him his break, which could have seen him level the match. So it was a disappointing end to an otherwise fine match, which will now see Andy's ranking drop to No.8 in the world, which is the lowest it has been for over five years.
However Andy will have a chance in the clay court season to make up his points, so I'm sure he will do his best to try and gain as many points as he can leading up to and during the French open, especially as he missed it last year. But he doesn't want to drop any further down the rankings if he can avoid it as that means he will meet the likes of Djokovic or Federer even earlier in the tournaments which is not good. But next up for Andy is the Davis cup tie with Italy, which is held in Naples and it will be on clay, so it will be good preparation for him for the European clay court season that lies ahead. And with Italy's top player, Fabio Fognini in some doubt over whether or not he will play due to a quadriceps injury, this could be an excellent chance for Andy and team GB to win the tie and reach the semis and let's hope they will. And I definitely think Andy's tennis as he said himself isn't far off the level he wants it to be, so hopefully come the clay court season when he plays next in Madrid he will be close to his best (as he opted not to play in Monte Carlo to take some rest, and it is the only non mandatory Masters title so he won't lose any points there).
So moving onto the other men's quarter finals, there was a big upset for Roger Federer as he took on the Japanese player, Kei Nishikori, and Kei really stunned Fed as he came from a set down to beat the Swiss maestro in three sets and reached his first semi in Miami with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win. This was a great win for Nishikori who really is one of the most promising players on tour just now, although he has already been around for a few years anyway. And given Roger's recent form it was surprising to see him go out, but then Miami is a tournament where he struggled to do well at as he has never won it since 2006. Rafa Nadal also didn't have it all his way as he was forced to battle against the big serving Canadian, Milos Raonic whom he had to fight from a set down against to come back and win the match in 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. This again shows what a great champion Rafa is and he has the spirit and guts to come back from just about any situation. And the last quarter final match was between Tomas Berdych and the in form Alexandr Dolgopolov, who made his 2nd Masters quarter final in so many tournaments. However the Dog has never beaten Berdych and this match proved no different, and after Berdych took the first set, the Dog went a break up in the second but he couldn't hold onto it and he was defeated in the tiebreak, which saw Berdy win the match with a 6-4, 7-6 result.
And now we move onto the men's semi finals....... well in short there weren't any! This was a bit of a surprise as both Kei Nishikori and Tomas Berdych were forced to withdraw as Nishikori had a groin injury from the exertions of his previous matches and Berdych contracted stomach gastroenteritis (not sure if that's the right spelling!). So this gave a walkover for both Rafa and Nole to set up another big showdown between the two old rivals, who will contest their 40th match together, which is more than any other two players have faced each other in the open era! And while its a pity the Miami crowds will be denied their tennis today, it seems almost a bit peculiar that the both players got a walkover into the final and it seems almost a bit convenient as well! Whether or not there was any foul play there so we could safely get the final everyone wanted or not is highly debatable but let's face it, it would be the final we would get regardless of whether Berdych or Nishikori played or not.
So who will win the men's final???? Well I'm going with Djokovic simply because he has already won the title there three times before and he also has been playing better tennis this week and given that he has already won Indian Wells despite not playing his best in that final, he has the belief that he can come back from anything as well. However just like their previous epic Miami final in 2011, I think this will be a really close one as well, and I fully expect Rafa to come out all guns blazing as he has been looking razor sharp this week. But I still think the result will be the same as it was three years ago and we will see Djokovic lift a 4th Miami title come tomorrow, and it should be a great match and one to watch.
Right so that's it for now, more will follow as the results of the men's and ladies final are in.
Till then bye the now.
Starting with Serena Williams who in her quarter final match was up against Angelique Kerber of Germany, in what promised to be an intruiging clash. Serena earlier in the week had to battle against her first two opponents, but by this time she had shaken off the cobwebs and played sharp tennis and proved too strong for Kerber as romped to a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory. And next up was another showdown with Maria Sharapova, who has never won a match against Serena in their last umpteen meetings and Sharapova came through her match against Petra Kvitova in 7-5, 6-1. And unfortunately for Maria it was no different this time either as Serena beat the Russian/American comfortably to reach another final in Miami with a 6-4, 6-3. This sees Serena doing what she does better than anyone else and once again she took down the mighty Pova with ease and come Saturday (i.e. today) I would be very surprised if she didn't lift her 59th career title.
In the other quarter finals, Dominika Cibulkova, this year's Aussie open finalist, battled her was past Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the semis, and it was a far cry from their Melbourne semi final as Aggie really stuck to the pint sized Slovak. But in the end it was Cibulkova that came through after a tough two and a half hour scrap with a 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 scoreline. Li Na also had a bit of a fight on her hands against Caroline Wozniacki as the Chinese player and World No.2, dispatched a plucky Caroline in straight sets 7-5, 7-5. Which left the remaining semi final between Li Na and Dominika Cibulkova, which was a tight encounter, but in the same result as the Australian open final, Li Na battled her way to victory as she reached the final in 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
So this sets up what should be a pretty good final as Serena and Li Na have had their fair share of tough matches over the years and this one should hopefully prove to be no different. But you would be mad or both to not see Serena as the winner of this one given that she has, like pretty much every other player on the WTA tour, a winning head to head record over Li Na, which is quite emphatic 10-1. So for me it will be a tight match but I think Serena will take it in straight sets.
So now we go onto the men's quarter finals starting with the mouth watering clash between Andy Murray, the defending champion and Novak Djokovic. The match itself proved to be quite a tight high quality one and the first set saw very little to separate the two. That was until 5-6 on Andy's serve as he was serving to level the scores and take the set into a tiebreak, when Djokovic played a volley at the net and his racquet passed over the other side of the net. Andy then disputed the call with the umpire who insisted that the point belonged to Djokovic but Andy continued to argue with the umpire to no avail, which ultimately lead to him losing his serve and the first set. In the 2nd set Andy managed to refocus and he nabbed a break to move ahead, but he sqaundered it by putting in two double faults and let Novak back on even terms. And from here on, Andy struggled and capitulated on serve for Novak to go 5-3 up and he served it out with ease to reach the semi finals and end Andy's title defence with a 7-5, 6-3 result.
This was a good match with some excellent rallies and it also showed really encouraging signs for Andy, who in his previous match demolished Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, which shows his game is definitely getting back on track. However the controversial line call was the main point of the match and it was a bad call from the umpire who overruled Andy's dispute even though it was blatantly clear that Novak's racquet was way over the other side of the net and Djokovic was awarded the point regardless. It was also disappointing that even though Novak admitted his racquet was over the net that he didn't concede the point, and as a result Andy played a sloppy service game, which knocked him off his rythym. But perhaps in the end it didn't make a heap of difference as Andy once again proved his main problem was his second serve, which was way too slow and he also throw in a couple of costly double faults that cost him his break, which could have seen him level the match. So it was a disappointing end to an otherwise fine match, which will now see Andy's ranking drop to No.8 in the world, which is the lowest it has been for over five years.
However Andy will have a chance in the clay court season to make up his points, so I'm sure he will do his best to try and gain as many points as he can leading up to and during the French open, especially as he missed it last year. But he doesn't want to drop any further down the rankings if he can avoid it as that means he will meet the likes of Djokovic or Federer even earlier in the tournaments which is not good. But next up for Andy is the Davis cup tie with Italy, which is held in Naples and it will be on clay, so it will be good preparation for him for the European clay court season that lies ahead. And with Italy's top player, Fabio Fognini in some doubt over whether or not he will play due to a quadriceps injury, this could be an excellent chance for Andy and team GB to win the tie and reach the semis and let's hope they will. And I definitely think Andy's tennis as he said himself isn't far off the level he wants it to be, so hopefully come the clay court season when he plays next in Madrid he will be close to his best (as he opted not to play in Monte Carlo to take some rest, and it is the only non mandatory Masters title so he won't lose any points there).
So moving onto the other men's quarter finals, there was a big upset for Roger Federer as he took on the Japanese player, Kei Nishikori, and Kei really stunned Fed as he came from a set down to beat the Swiss maestro in three sets and reached his first semi in Miami with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win. This was a great win for Nishikori who really is one of the most promising players on tour just now, although he has already been around for a few years anyway. And given Roger's recent form it was surprising to see him go out, but then Miami is a tournament where he struggled to do well at as he has never won it since 2006. Rafa Nadal also didn't have it all his way as he was forced to battle against the big serving Canadian, Milos Raonic whom he had to fight from a set down against to come back and win the match in 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. This again shows what a great champion Rafa is and he has the spirit and guts to come back from just about any situation. And the last quarter final match was between Tomas Berdych and the in form Alexandr Dolgopolov, who made his 2nd Masters quarter final in so many tournaments. However the Dog has never beaten Berdych and this match proved no different, and after Berdych took the first set, the Dog went a break up in the second but he couldn't hold onto it and he was defeated in the tiebreak, which saw Berdy win the match with a 6-4, 7-6 result.
And now we move onto the men's semi finals....... well in short there weren't any! This was a bit of a surprise as both Kei Nishikori and Tomas Berdych were forced to withdraw as Nishikori had a groin injury from the exertions of his previous matches and Berdych contracted stomach gastroenteritis (not sure if that's the right spelling!). So this gave a walkover for both Rafa and Nole to set up another big showdown between the two old rivals, who will contest their 40th match together, which is more than any other two players have faced each other in the open era! And while its a pity the Miami crowds will be denied their tennis today, it seems almost a bit peculiar that the both players got a walkover into the final and it seems almost a bit convenient as well! Whether or not there was any foul play there so we could safely get the final everyone wanted or not is highly debatable but let's face it, it would be the final we would get regardless of whether Berdych or Nishikori played or not.
So who will win the men's final???? Well I'm going with Djokovic simply because he has already won the title there three times before and he also has been playing better tennis this week and given that he has already won Indian Wells despite not playing his best in that final, he has the belief that he can come back from anything as well. However just like their previous epic Miami final in 2011, I think this will be a really close one as well, and I fully expect Rafa to come out all guns blazing as he has been looking razor sharp this week. But I still think the result will be the same as it was three years ago and we will see Djokovic lift a 4th Miami title come tomorrow, and it should be a great match and one to watch.
Right so that's it for now, more will follow as the results of the men's and ladies final are in.
Till then bye the now.
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Miami Part 2: Things are heating up......
Right so let's get onto the second part of my posts on the Sony Open tennis tournament from Miami and things are getting interesting as we approach just over the mid-way mark in the event as this entry will cover the 4th round matches on the men's and ladies. So let's crack on....
So starting with the ladies Serena Williams after two tough matches finally settled into her rythym as she took on the American Coco Vandeweghe and dismissed her in just 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarter finals. Li Na also showed her impressive for as she dispatch the Spaniard, Carla Suarez-Navarro and conceding just two games on the way with a crushing 6-0, 6-2 win. Caroline Wozniacki continued the pattern of straight set routs as she destroyed Varvara Lepchenko with an emphatic 6-0, 6-1, which shows her maintain her impressive and aggressive form in Miami. Agnieszka Radwanska had it much tougher against a qualifier, Elina Svitolina, as she was forced to go the distance against the plucky Ukrainian player, who she overcame in 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. Maria Sharapova was also under the cosh as she fought against Kirsten Flipkens, and she rallied from a set down to beat the Belgian player in 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Angelique Kerber also had a fight on her hands too as she had a tough three set scrap against the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova and she survived to reach the quarter finals with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. And lastly Petra Kvitova made it past Ana Ivanovic as after dropping the first set, she never looked back with a double bagel dished out to the Serb in sets 2 and 3 to win in 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.
So moving onto the men's matches starting off with Novak Djokovic, who was up against Tommy Robredo for a place in the quarter finals. Nole having never lost to Robredo in their last five meetings was in no mood to change the result as he took the first set with a break, and despite a tighter second set, Nole managed to seal the break at 5-5 to go on and clinch his place in the last eight with a 6-3, 7-5 win. Roger Federer also continued his dominating form as he trounced Richard Gasquet with an incredible performance as he dismissed the Frenchman dropping just three games, with a 6-1, 6-2 win. David Ferrer on the other hand a real battle on his hands as he took on the Japenese player, Kei Nishikori in a scrap that lasted three hours, but it was Nishikori that upset the odds and put out the Spaniard after a mighty tough 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 battle.
And the biggest upset so far came from Stan Wawrinka, the current Australian open champion, was also not so lucky as he faced an in form Alexandr Dogopolov, who put in another fine performance to dispatch the first time major champion in 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. This sees Stan's puzzling poor form continue after his incredible run in Australia, he seems to have been struggling with his confidence after pulling off such a great achievement in Melbourne, perhaps it is first time champion nerves, but hopefully Stan's game will improve as the season progresses. And lastly Milos Raonic continued his solid progress as he powered his way to victory over the German player, Benjamin Becker in 6-3, 6-4.
And last but not least we have Andy Murray who had an intruiging clash with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, which promised to be quite a tight match. However, it was Andy that made the better start and came out firing on all cylinders, serving superbly, moving and returning well as he moved ahead in the first set and took it with a single break. Althought there was some cause for concern as Andy appeared to be feeling pain from his back again during the first set, for which he requested for the doctor to come on court and he received some painkillers. However in the 2nd set, Andy looked unfazed by his back and went on to dominate Tsonga, who had no answer for his superb net play and his (for once) sharp serving, which saw Andy reach the last eight with a convincing 6-4, 6-1 victory.
This was Andy's first win over a player ranked inside top 20 this year and with Tsonga ranked 11, its certainly the most impressive win so far this year, and it sees him starting to get back to his best form. Andy's back pain however he seemed to rear its ugly head in the match however, which threatened to overshadow his win, although hopefully it won't be anything too serious and he will be fit and ready for his next match. And this match will be with Novak Djokovic, which promises, fitness permitting for Andy, a real belter and it will also be the first time they will have played each other since the Wimbledon final last year. So there is alot on the line here for Andy as he will have to play a great match in order for him to get past Nole and he can do it, but it will be very tough, and let's hope his back is not issue tomorrow as he sure will need his movement if he is to beat Nole. However I would have to say while Andy has a decent chance of winning, I think Novak will win it in three sets, but it should be hopefully a real tight match, but we will soon find out.
So that's it for now, more to follow soon.
Bye for now!
So starting with the ladies Serena Williams after two tough matches finally settled into her rythym as she took on the American Coco Vandeweghe and dismissed her in just 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarter finals. Li Na also showed her impressive for as she dispatch the Spaniard, Carla Suarez-Navarro and conceding just two games on the way with a crushing 6-0, 6-2 win. Caroline Wozniacki continued the pattern of straight set routs as she destroyed Varvara Lepchenko with an emphatic 6-0, 6-1, which shows her maintain her impressive and aggressive form in Miami. Agnieszka Radwanska had it much tougher against a qualifier, Elina Svitolina, as she was forced to go the distance against the plucky Ukrainian player, who she overcame in 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. Maria Sharapova was also under the cosh as she fought against Kirsten Flipkens, and she rallied from a set down to beat the Belgian player in 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Angelique Kerber also had a fight on her hands too as she had a tough three set scrap against the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova and she survived to reach the quarter finals with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. And lastly Petra Kvitova made it past Ana Ivanovic as after dropping the first set, she never looked back with a double bagel dished out to the Serb in sets 2 and 3 to win in 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.
So moving onto the men's matches starting off with Novak Djokovic, who was up against Tommy Robredo for a place in the quarter finals. Nole having never lost to Robredo in their last five meetings was in no mood to change the result as he took the first set with a break, and despite a tighter second set, Nole managed to seal the break at 5-5 to go on and clinch his place in the last eight with a 6-3, 7-5 win. Roger Federer also continued his dominating form as he trounced Richard Gasquet with an incredible performance as he dismissed the Frenchman dropping just three games, with a 6-1, 6-2 win. David Ferrer on the other hand a real battle on his hands as he took on the Japenese player, Kei Nishikori in a scrap that lasted three hours, but it was Nishikori that upset the odds and put out the Spaniard after a mighty tough 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 battle.
And the biggest upset so far came from Stan Wawrinka, the current Australian open champion, was also not so lucky as he faced an in form Alexandr Dogopolov, who put in another fine performance to dispatch the first time major champion in 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. This sees Stan's puzzling poor form continue after his incredible run in Australia, he seems to have been struggling with his confidence after pulling off such a great achievement in Melbourne, perhaps it is first time champion nerves, but hopefully Stan's game will improve as the season progresses. And lastly Milos Raonic continued his solid progress as he powered his way to victory over the German player, Benjamin Becker in 6-3, 6-4.
And last but not least we have Andy Murray who had an intruiging clash with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, which promised to be quite a tight match. However, it was Andy that made the better start and came out firing on all cylinders, serving superbly, moving and returning well as he moved ahead in the first set and took it with a single break. Althought there was some cause for concern as Andy appeared to be feeling pain from his back again during the first set, for which he requested for the doctor to come on court and he received some painkillers. However in the 2nd set, Andy looked unfazed by his back and went on to dominate Tsonga, who had no answer for his superb net play and his (for once) sharp serving, which saw Andy reach the last eight with a convincing 6-4, 6-1 victory.
This was Andy's first win over a player ranked inside top 20 this year and with Tsonga ranked 11, its certainly the most impressive win so far this year, and it sees him starting to get back to his best form. Andy's back pain however he seemed to rear its ugly head in the match however, which threatened to overshadow his win, although hopefully it won't be anything too serious and he will be fit and ready for his next match. And this match will be with Novak Djokovic, which promises, fitness permitting for Andy, a real belter and it will also be the first time they will have played each other since the Wimbledon final last year. So there is alot on the line here for Andy as he will have to play a great match in order for him to get past Nole and he can do it, but it will be very tough, and let's hope his back is not issue tomorrow as he sure will need his movement if he is to beat Nole. However I would have to say while Andy has a decent chance of winning, I think Novak will win it in three sets, but it should be hopefully a real tight match, but we will soon find out.
So that's it for now, more to follow soon.
Bye for now!
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Miami Part 1: Toughing it out in the heat and good starts
Well its time for my first post on the Sony Open tennis tournament from Miami, which is the second 1000 Masters series ATP title on the men's tour and the second Premier Mandatory title on the ladies WTA tour (also worth a 1000 ranking points). Andy Murray and Serena Williams are both the defending champions in Miami so let's have a look at the latest results of the matches on both sides of the net (the sexes net that is and no that's not being dirty!).
Right so starting the ladies the defending champion Serena Williams had a tough opener against Yaroslava Shvedova as the World No.1 was forced to battle hard to win the first set which went to a tiebreak, which Serena finally won 9-7. In the 2nd set Serena had it more her way despite one or two tough moments of resistance from Shvedova, but in the end Serena showed her grit and won the match in 7-6, 6-2 to reach the 3rd round. And in the 3rd round Serena had an even tougher test ahead of her as she battled her way past the French player, Caroline Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. This shows that Serena is somewhat below par in her form so far this year, which is a bit on an alarm for her, but she did what she had to do in the end to win and it sees her in the 4th round.
Next up we had Maria Sharapova who after a straight forward win oveer Kurumi Nara of Japan in 6-3, 6-4, went on to have a real battle on her hands as she played Lucie Safarova of the Czeck Republic. Safarova put Sharapova through her paces in their 3rd round match as she the Czeck player kept blasting powerful winners back at Sharapova and they soon levelled at a set all. And in the final set Sharapova went a double break up to serve it out, Safarova still wasn't done as she kept bringing up winner after winner, and after 9 match points, Safarova finally lost as Sharapova battled to victory after nearly three hours in 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. This was quite an incredible battle from Sharapova and she once again showed what a real warrior she is on the court as she just kept taking what Safarova kept throwing at her. So it was tough test for both of the two big names in the tournament so far.
In other matches Agnieszka Radwanska who was runner up in Indian Wells last week has enjoyed a more straight forward progress so far in Miami as she defeated Romina Oprandi in 6-0, 6-4, although she had a bit tougher test against Elena Vesnina in 7-5, 6-3. Caroline Wozniacki survived her first match as she fought past Monica Puig to win 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Angelique Kerber also survived a real scare against Peng Shuai of China, as after a set all, Keber went a break down and she battled back from 4-1 down to level the scores and push the match to a tiebreak and win the match in 6-3, 1-6, 7-6. Keber however had it much easier against her next opponent which was Tsetvana Pironokova in 6-0, 6-2 as she reached the 4th round. Petra Kvitova also made it into the fourth as she beat both of her opponents surprisingly with both the same scoreline of 6-3, 6-4 (don't see that often!). Ana Ivanovic also has shown good form so far in this tournament as she thumped Lauren Davis in 6-1, 6-1 and also the newly crowned champion from Indian Wells, Flavia Pennetta in 6-4, 6-3. And Li Na benefited from a walkover Alisa Kleybanova to reach the 3rd round where she beat Madison Keys in 7-6, 6-3.
And there were also a few upsets as well, such as Sara Errani who went down to the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova in three sets as the Russian won in 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Sam Stosur also lost out to the American player, Coco Vandeweghe who beat the Aussie and former US Open champion in 5-7, 7-5, 7-5. And Jelena Jankovic also was beaten by Vervara Lepchenko in another tight battle in 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 which shows there have been quite alot of battles in Florida going on this week!
Right so now onto the men's starting Andy Murray the defending champion who announced his split with Ivan Lendl just last week, which shocked everybody and it left him with a bigger question mark over his form and will he recover well enough to do better in Miami??? Well so far he has done so as despite a slow start in his first match against Matthew Ebden, where he dropped the opening set, he then went on to speed to victory as he dished out a bagel set to Ebden in the 2nd and dropped only one game in the 3rd as he won the match in 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. It was a tricky opener for Andy as Ebden played well in the first set, but it appeared to be just a rusty start as he really cranked up the gears as he moved on in the match and despite one break in the 3rd set in the opening game, Andy never looked back.
Which brings me onto Andy's 3rd round match where he played Feliciano Lopez, whom he has never lost to and has an excellent record in his match results as he has only dropped two sets against him in total. And this match proved to be no different as after a fairly tight first set and despite Andy dropping serve once, he took the set with a break and in the 2nd set, Lopez started to struggle with the heat and his movement, due to the extensive taping on his back, he capitulated on serve twice as Andy secured a much needed straight set win to advance to the 4th round in 6-4, 6-1. This was an excellent result for Andy and after having to dig out so many matches on the tour over three sets, it was good to see he was able to get a straight set victory here.
Next up for Andy however will be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who survived a tough battle against Marcos Baghdatis as he came from a set and a double break down to win the match in 4-6, 7-6, 7-5, and that will be no easy task. However Andy does have an excellent record over Tsonga as he has only lost once to him but Tsonga poses a much bigger threat all the same due to his big serve and powerful forehand, so Andy will need to be on top of his game if he is to beat him. But if Andy does beat Tsonga then that is a big step forward for him this year as Tsonga being ranked No.11 in the world, he will be the highest ranked player that Andy will have beaten so far this year. So let's hope Andy wins and if he does we could be set for a quarter final clash with Novak Djokovic, which would promise to be a real cracker, but we can deal with that if and when it happens.
So now onto the other matches, starting with Novak Djokovic who took on the Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy, in an entertaining match, which saw the Frenchman compete well but ultimately Nole was more than enough for Chardy to deal with, as the Serb won in 6-4, 6-3. The most notable thing about this match however was Novak had an outburst with the umpire who gave him a warning for taking too long between serves, and he yelled "You do not understand the game!" to the umpire, but despite that Nole shrugged it off and went on to win. Nole has so far benefited from a relatively easy draw and he has received a walkover into the 4th round as Florian Mayer withdrew with a groin injury and he will next face Tommy Robredo whom he has never lost to, although from the quarter final onwards, it doesn't get any easier for him as Andy could await and Roger in the semis.
Which brings me onto Roger Federer who so far has been looking sharp this year and in Miami he if anything is looking even sharper, as he effectively dealt with the giant serving Ivo Karlovic, whom he dispatched in 6-4, 7-6. And Rog then went on to dismiss the Thiemo De Bakker in just 6-3, 6-3 to reach the 4th round in just over an hour and six minutes, where he will next face Richard Gasquet. Gasquet could be a tougher proposition but given the way Rog is playing I don't really see him troubling the Swiss Maestro much. And Rafa so far has made a strong start in Miami as well as he ruthlessly dispatched Lleyton Hewitt, just dropping four games on the way to victory as he won in 6-1, 6-3. Rafa has never won in Miami but on this form he could very well do this year if he continues like he did against Hewitt and the Spaniard definitely means business.
In other men's matches, David Ferrer made a good comeback from injury as he defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia in 6-4, 6-0 and he will next take on Andreas Seppi for a place in the last 16. Grigor Dimitrov also won his match against Albert Montanes of Spain as he battled to win in 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 to face Kei Nishikori of Japan. Tomas Berdych also got revenge over Stephane Robert who upset Berdych a few years ago at the French open in the first round in a five set epic, but this match was way short as the big Czeck dismissed him in straight sets 7-5, 6-1. Stan Wawrinka, the Australian open champion, had a tougher test on his hands as he faced another Spaniard, Daniel Gimeno-Tarver who he beat in 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. Milos Raonic also made it past the American player, Jack Sock whom he beat in 6-4, 7-6. And lastly big John Isner fought his way to victory against the young African American, Donald Young, as he recovered from losing the first set to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Right so that's it for now and I will be back with more results later on once the 4th round match results are in.
So until the next un bye for now.
Right so starting the ladies the defending champion Serena Williams had a tough opener against Yaroslava Shvedova as the World No.1 was forced to battle hard to win the first set which went to a tiebreak, which Serena finally won 9-7. In the 2nd set Serena had it more her way despite one or two tough moments of resistance from Shvedova, but in the end Serena showed her grit and won the match in 7-6, 6-2 to reach the 3rd round. And in the 3rd round Serena had an even tougher test ahead of her as she battled her way past the French player, Caroline Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. This shows that Serena is somewhat below par in her form so far this year, which is a bit on an alarm for her, but she did what she had to do in the end to win and it sees her in the 4th round.
Next up we had Maria Sharapova who after a straight forward win oveer Kurumi Nara of Japan in 6-3, 6-4, went on to have a real battle on her hands as she played Lucie Safarova of the Czeck Republic. Safarova put Sharapova through her paces in their 3rd round match as she the Czeck player kept blasting powerful winners back at Sharapova and they soon levelled at a set all. And in the final set Sharapova went a double break up to serve it out, Safarova still wasn't done as she kept bringing up winner after winner, and after 9 match points, Safarova finally lost as Sharapova battled to victory after nearly three hours in 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. This was quite an incredible battle from Sharapova and she once again showed what a real warrior she is on the court as she just kept taking what Safarova kept throwing at her. So it was tough test for both of the two big names in the tournament so far.
In other matches Agnieszka Radwanska who was runner up in Indian Wells last week has enjoyed a more straight forward progress so far in Miami as she defeated Romina Oprandi in 6-0, 6-4, although she had a bit tougher test against Elena Vesnina in 7-5, 6-3. Caroline Wozniacki survived her first match as she fought past Monica Puig to win 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Angelique Kerber also survived a real scare against Peng Shuai of China, as after a set all, Keber went a break down and she battled back from 4-1 down to level the scores and push the match to a tiebreak and win the match in 6-3, 1-6, 7-6. Keber however had it much easier against her next opponent which was Tsetvana Pironokova in 6-0, 6-2 as she reached the 4th round. Petra Kvitova also made it into the fourth as she beat both of her opponents surprisingly with both the same scoreline of 6-3, 6-4 (don't see that often!). Ana Ivanovic also has shown good form so far in this tournament as she thumped Lauren Davis in 6-1, 6-1 and also the newly crowned champion from Indian Wells, Flavia Pennetta in 6-4, 6-3. And Li Na benefited from a walkover Alisa Kleybanova to reach the 3rd round where she beat Madison Keys in 7-6, 6-3.
And there were also a few upsets as well, such as Sara Errani who went down to the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova in three sets as the Russian won in 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Sam Stosur also lost out to the American player, Coco Vandeweghe who beat the Aussie and former US Open champion in 5-7, 7-5, 7-5. And Jelena Jankovic also was beaten by Vervara Lepchenko in another tight battle in 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 which shows there have been quite alot of battles in Florida going on this week!
Right so now onto the men's starting Andy Murray the defending champion who announced his split with Ivan Lendl just last week, which shocked everybody and it left him with a bigger question mark over his form and will he recover well enough to do better in Miami??? Well so far he has done so as despite a slow start in his first match against Matthew Ebden, where he dropped the opening set, he then went on to speed to victory as he dished out a bagel set to Ebden in the 2nd and dropped only one game in the 3rd as he won the match in 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. It was a tricky opener for Andy as Ebden played well in the first set, but it appeared to be just a rusty start as he really cranked up the gears as he moved on in the match and despite one break in the 3rd set in the opening game, Andy never looked back.
Which brings me onto Andy's 3rd round match where he played Feliciano Lopez, whom he has never lost to and has an excellent record in his match results as he has only dropped two sets against him in total. And this match proved to be no different as after a fairly tight first set and despite Andy dropping serve once, he took the set with a break and in the 2nd set, Lopez started to struggle with the heat and his movement, due to the extensive taping on his back, he capitulated on serve twice as Andy secured a much needed straight set win to advance to the 4th round in 6-4, 6-1. This was an excellent result for Andy and after having to dig out so many matches on the tour over three sets, it was good to see he was able to get a straight set victory here.
Next up for Andy however will be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who survived a tough battle against Marcos Baghdatis as he came from a set and a double break down to win the match in 4-6, 7-6, 7-5, and that will be no easy task. However Andy does have an excellent record over Tsonga as he has only lost once to him but Tsonga poses a much bigger threat all the same due to his big serve and powerful forehand, so Andy will need to be on top of his game if he is to beat him. But if Andy does beat Tsonga then that is a big step forward for him this year as Tsonga being ranked No.11 in the world, he will be the highest ranked player that Andy will have beaten so far this year. So let's hope Andy wins and if he does we could be set for a quarter final clash with Novak Djokovic, which would promise to be a real cracker, but we can deal with that if and when it happens.
So now onto the other matches, starting with Novak Djokovic who took on the Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy, in an entertaining match, which saw the Frenchman compete well but ultimately Nole was more than enough for Chardy to deal with, as the Serb won in 6-4, 6-3. The most notable thing about this match however was Novak had an outburst with the umpire who gave him a warning for taking too long between serves, and he yelled "You do not understand the game!" to the umpire, but despite that Nole shrugged it off and went on to win. Nole has so far benefited from a relatively easy draw and he has received a walkover into the 4th round as Florian Mayer withdrew with a groin injury and he will next face Tommy Robredo whom he has never lost to, although from the quarter final onwards, it doesn't get any easier for him as Andy could await and Roger in the semis.
Which brings me onto Roger Federer who so far has been looking sharp this year and in Miami he if anything is looking even sharper, as he effectively dealt with the giant serving Ivo Karlovic, whom he dispatched in 6-4, 7-6. And Rog then went on to dismiss the Thiemo De Bakker in just 6-3, 6-3 to reach the 4th round in just over an hour and six minutes, where he will next face Richard Gasquet. Gasquet could be a tougher proposition but given the way Rog is playing I don't really see him troubling the Swiss Maestro much. And Rafa so far has made a strong start in Miami as well as he ruthlessly dispatched Lleyton Hewitt, just dropping four games on the way to victory as he won in 6-1, 6-3. Rafa has never won in Miami but on this form he could very well do this year if he continues like he did against Hewitt and the Spaniard definitely means business.
In other men's matches, David Ferrer made a good comeback from injury as he defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia in 6-4, 6-0 and he will next take on Andreas Seppi for a place in the last 16. Grigor Dimitrov also won his match against Albert Montanes of Spain as he battled to win in 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 to face Kei Nishikori of Japan. Tomas Berdych also got revenge over Stephane Robert who upset Berdych a few years ago at the French open in the first round in a five set epic, but this match was way short as the big Czeck dismissed him in straight sets 7-5, 6-1. Stan Wawrinka, the Australian open champion, had a tougher test on his hands as he faced another Spaniard, Daniel Gimeno-Tarver who he beat in 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. Milos Raonic also made it past the American player, Jack Sock whom he beat in 6-4, 7-6. And lastly big John Isner fought his way to victory against the young African American, Donald Young, as he recovered from losing the first set to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Right so that's it for now and I will be back with more results later on once the 4th round match results are in.
So until the next un bye for now.
Thursday, 20 March 2014
The Iron Man departs
Well the Sony Open tournament from Miami is already under way this week for the men's and ladies tour but this post will cover something a bit different as there has been a dramatic revelation this week in men's game as Andy Murray has announced his split with his coach Ivan Lendl after two years working together.
And there is no doubt that this comes as a real surprise to the tennis world and to the public especially considering how much success Andy has enjoyed working with Lendl who has helped him win the three biggest titles of his career. And the split seems to be more on Lendl's part than on Andy's as Ivan has stated he wishes to play more senior tour matches as well as concentrate on developing his tennis coaching academies. And this all seems fair enough as Lendl wants to move onto other projects, however it does leave Andy with a gaping hole in his team needing to be filled and it begs the question: how will Andy fare without Lendl??? Well only time will tell on that one but I think it hasn't happened at the most opportune time especially given Andy's ropey form of late. Also given that Andy is the defending champion at the Sony Open this year he has a tough field ahead of him in trying to defend it, as he will have to face Djokovic, Federer and then Nadal in succession to win it again from the quarter finals onward.
However with Lendl now gone it does open an interesting new chapter in Andy's career and while he is still searching to find his form, it will be intruiging to see how he will cope on his own without a coach. For now his hitting partner, Dani Vallverdu will probably provide support on a temporary basis in this role as he has done in the past. And its also a reminder of his split from Miles McClaghan back in 2011 and he actually went on to have a really good year after his slow start and disappointment of losing out to Djokovic in the Australian open final that year, he had his most consistent year in the slams by reaching all four semi finals and won five titles as well.
So while Andy has gotten off to a slow start in 2014 we still also have to take into consideration that he has just returned from surgery, but now that his back has improved, and he has his match fitness back, what he needs to work on is his match sharpness. And hopefully over the next few months that will come and by the time he plays the French Open even he will be back to near his best form. Also Andy has the chance to build up alot of points over the clay court season given that he didn't play for most of it last year mainly due to his back injury. And this year Andy is pain free with his back no longer an issue, its now just purely a matter of getting his game back up to scratch (not his back!).
And whether or not Andy can go on and win the Sony Open in Miami this week or not is not entirely relevant at this stage, given that there are so many players out there already gunning for him, as well as the resurgence of Federer and Nadal making his return after missing the tournament last year. But if he does lose out in Miami then I hope it will be later rather sooner as the deeper he goes the better a chance he has of winning and if he doesn't and does manage to beat Djokovic or even Federer on the way and loses in the final, he will at least take confidence from having beaten two (or one) top ten player. And this is something Andy realy needs to start doing in order to build that confidence is to beat players ranked lower than him but are close to his ranking (now No.6) such as Grigor Dimitrov or Milos Raonic, who have already beaten him this year in other tournaments.
Andy might already face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 4th round in Miami just prior to a potential showdown with Djokovic and he has an excellent head to head over Tsonga as it is (i.e. he has only lost once to him) . And if Andy can beat Tsonga then that will surely give him enough confidence to go forward and beat higher ranked players, as Tsonga is currently ranked No.11, it would be the highest ranked player he will have beaten so far this year. But that still lies ahead and for now we stil have to wait and see what the impact of Lendl's departure will take on Andy.
So I will finish by wishing Andy the best of luck for the future and let's hope his mutual split with Lendl will not backfire on him. But we have to remind ourselves that even though Lendl gave Andy the mental edge he needed to win a major, it was Andy that carried himself there as well and even without Lendl in his corner, Andy is and always will be one hell of a player. And even if Andy's patchy spell continues this year, I'm pretty sure we haven't seen anything yet and he will be back to his best soon enough.
And on that note I shall leave you there and report back once Miami get's well under way and maybe also the result of Andy's first match, which is against the Aussie player, Matthew Ebden.
And that's it, bye the now!
And there is no doubt that this comes as a real surprise to the tennis world and to the public especially considering how much success Andy has enjoyed working with Lendl who has helped him win the three biggest titles of his career. And the split seems to be more on Lendl's part than on Andy's as Ivan has stated he wishes to play more senior tour matches as well as concentrate on developing his tennis coaching academies. And this all seems fair enough as Lendl wants to move onto other projects, however it does leave Andy with a gaping hole in his team needing to be filled and it begs the question: how will Andy fare without Lendl??? Well only time will tell on that one but I think it hasn't happened at the most opportune time especially given Andy's ropey form of late. Also given that Andy is the defending champion at the Sony Open this year he has a tough field ahead of him in trying to defend it, as he will have to face Djokovic, Federer and then Nadal in succession to win it again from the quarter finals onward.
However with Lendl now gone it does open an interesting new chapter in Andy's career and while he is still searching to find his form, it will be intruiging to see how he will cope on his own without a coach. For now his hitting partner, Dani Vallverdu will probably provide support on a temporary basis in this role as he has done in the past. And its also a reminder of his split from Miles McClaghan back in 2011 and he actually went on to have a really good year after his slow start and disappointment of losing out to Djokovic in the Australian open final that year, he had his most consistent year in the slams by reaching all four semi finals and won five titles as well.
So while Andy has gotten off to a slow start in 2014 we still also have to take into consideration that he has just returned from surgery, but now that his back has improved, and he has his match fitness back, what he needs to work on is his match sharpness. And hopefully over the next few months that will come and by the time he plays the French Open even he will be back to near his best form. Also Andy has the chance to build up alot of points over the clay court season given that he didn't play for most of it last year mainly due to his back injury. And this year Andy is pain free with his back no longer an issue, its now just purely a matter of getting his game back up to scratch (not his back!).
And whether or not Andy can go on and win the Sony Open in Miami this week or not is not entirely relevant at this stage, given that there are so many players out there already gunning for him, as well as the resurgence of Federer and Nadal making his return after missing the tournament last year. But if he does lose out in Miami then I hope it will be later rather sooner as the deeper he goes the better a chance he has of winning and if he doesn't and does manage to beat Djokovic or even Federer on the way and loses in the final, he will at least take confidence from having beaten two (or one) top ten player. And this is something Andy realy needs to start doing in order to build that confidence is to beat players ranked lower than him but are close to his ranking (now No.6) such as Grigor Dimitrov or Milos Raonic, who have already beaten him this year in other tournaments.
Andy might already face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 4th round in Miami just prior to a potential showdown with Djokovic and he has an excellent head to head over Tsonga as it is (i.e. he has only lost once to him) . And if Andy can beat Tsonga then that will surely give him enough confidence to go forward and beat higher ranked players, as Tsonga is currently ranked No.11, it would be the highest ranked player he will have beaten so far this year. But that still lies ahead and for now we stil have to wait and see what the impact of Lendl's departure will take on Andy.
So I will finish by wishing Andy the best of luck for the future and let's hope his mutual split with Lendl will not backfire on him. But we have to remind ourselves that even though Lendl gave Andy the mental edge he needed to win a major, it was Andy that carried himself there as well and even without Lendl in his corner, Andy is and always will be one hell of a player. And even if Andy's patchy spell continues this year, I'm pretty sure we haven't seen anything yet and he will be back to his best soon enough.
And on that note I shall leave you there and report back once Miami get's well under way and maybe also the result of Andy's first match, which is against the Aussie player, Matthew Ebden.
And that's it, bye the now!
Monday, 17 March 2014
Indian Wells Part 4: The ultimate desert showdown
Right so this is the final part of my look at the BNP Paribas open from Indian Wells in California, which will cover the mens and ladies finals to see who came out on top to win that big awkward star shaped glass trophy thing.
So to start with the ladies final we had the World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska take on the 20th seed, Flavia Pennetta and Aga lead their head to head going into this match 4-2. However Pennetta looked determined to upset the odds as she made a strong start in the first set and got an early break to move ahead, but as the set continued Radwanska started to look in some discomfort as her knee, which was taped looked to be hampering her movement, and soon enough Pennetta got a double break to close the set. In the second set Aga's problem continued with her knee as she took a medical timeout to get it re-bandaged but it hardly helped her game as she struggled to move and Pennetta took full advantage as the errors kept piling up in Radwanska's game and she found herself a double break down. And despite one last ditch attempt to hold serve, Radwanska soon captiluated on serve and handed Pennetta the big title win of her career as she won the final in 6-2, 6-1.
It was a pity this match didn't deliver on its promise as the early stages in the first set looked good but it was just unfortunate that Radwanska's knee injury flared up. And in a way it was a reminder of Rafa's back injury in the Australian Open final, where once again a player who has gone through all the hard work to reach a big final, in the last match cannot compete as they would like to. So it was a shame for Aga to lose out on the chance of her first big title in some time especially after the letdown of coming so close in Melbourne earlier this year as well before she downed in the semis by Dominika Cibulkova. As for Flavia Pennetta well she deserves alot of credit for her title win and she has had a terrific week in the desert and will look to improve on her results as last year she showed great signs as she even reached her first major semi final at the US Open, so if she carries on like this 2014 could be a really bright year for her.
Now we move onto the men's final which was a heavyweight showdown between two of the greats in the game, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. And given their very tight head to head 17-15 in Roger's favour going into this match, it promised to be a real cracker. And the match itself certainly didn't disappoint as in the first set Roger came out firing on all cylinders and he produced sublime tennis as he broke an edgy looking Novak to move up 3-0 and he went on to confidently nab the first set. In the 2nd however, the errors started to creep into Fed's game and Nole fought back as he managed to fashion a break of his own and he went on to level the match at a set apiece. And in the 3rd set we were treated to a thrilling contest between both men as they raised their levels for the thrilled crowd on Stadium 1 and played some terrific tennis. However after a tense service game it was Roger that blinked first and he went down a break to Nole, but he still managed to keep it close by keeping to the single break. And when it came for Novak to serve for the title at 5-4, he got tight and was broken by Roger and then before we knew it, the match went into a tiebreak. And despite Roger's superb tiebreak record he unfortunately made some uncharacteristic errors and it saw Novak take the lead at 6-3, with three championship points he served out the match to win his third Indian Wells title after a hard fought and thrilling 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory.
It has to be said I was somewhat surprised by the result of this match as for the most part Roger was the better player, despite a few lapses here and there. But in the end its testament again to Novak's champion qualities that he was able to win this title even though he wasn't playing his best tennis and didn't really start to fire until mid-way into the 2nd set. And throughout the tournament Novak's play was mixed in quality as there were some rounds were he was sloppy on serve, especially against Isner and even against the qualifier, Gonzalez and Cilic. But that's what the great champs do when they don't play their best they find a way to get the job done. So no doubt this title will give Djokovic much confidence for the rest of the season as it was the first year in his career since probably 2006 that he wasn't won a title going into the American hard court swing. And no doubt this will be a springboard for Djokovic to do well in Miami next week and also looking beyond to the clay court season.
As for Federer well despite his loss, he has played some superb and highly aggressive tennis this week and there were certainly alot of moments where it looked like it was going to come right for him. But I'm sure Fed will not be too disheartened by this defeat and it was still a great result and it sees him continue his impressive form and consistency in 2014, which will no doubt get better and I'm sure the time Wimbledon comes around, Roger will be a big threat again and will look reclaim his favourite trophy at the All England Club.
So that's it for my posts on the BNP Paribas Open which was given a terrific finale by the men (if not the ladies) and it now paves the way for the Sony Open in Miami, which is one of my favourite tournaments of the year. Andy Murray is the defending champion in Miami as he battled to lift the title last year against David Ferrer, so he has alot of points to defend this upcoming week and given his current ropey form, he has alot of work ahead of him if he is to have a chance to defend his title. Thankfully for Andy however he uses Miami as his training base, so it is a tournament where he has played some of his best tennis and hopefully he can use that to gain some inspiration in order to try and win a much needed title to get his season up and running. But whether or not Andy can win the title again this year remains in doubt, it would be great to see him do it or at least reach the final again, but time will tell on that one.
What we do know now is that the Sony Open draw is now out (as of 17.03.14 which is when I've updated this) and it isn't too kind for Andy as he may face Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals and Roger Federer in the semis! So I hate to say it but he may have to kiss his title defence goodbye. Up until the quarters though things aren't too bad though as Andy could play Lukas Kubot or Mathew Ebden in the 2nd round, Feliciano Lopez in the 3rd, whom beat he in Melbourne earlier this year. Although his possible 4th round opponent could be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga which could be a very dangerous test for Andy, but he does have a good head to head against Tsonga so hopefully he can find the form to beat him again.
But its going to be mighty tough for Andy to defend his title in Miami given the draw and if he loses out in the quarter finals or before, then I hope he refocuses for the clay court season and does better there. And despite it all I think Andy could have a very good clay court season this year as over the last two years his poor run of form on clay was in part attributed toward his back injury. But Andy is now playing pain free after his surgery and while every one is set to write him off on the red dirt I think he has an excellent chance to prove himself on clay. And I'm sure he will try and go out of his way to do well this year given if he goes out early in Miami he will have plenty of points to make up during the clay court season, especially after missing the French Open last year. So while we have to wait and see how he get's on this week in Miami before we get to the red dirt.
Soooo that's it for now and I will report back once the Sony Open from Miaimi get's underway.
Till the next one bye for now.
So to start with the ladies final we had the World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska take on the 20th seed, Flavia Pennetta and Aga lead their head to head going into this match 4-2. However Pennetta looked determined to upset the odds as she made a strong start in the first set and got an early break to move ahead, but as the set continued Radwanska started to look in some discomfort as her knee, which was taped looked to be hampering her movement, and soon enough Pennetta got a double break to close the set. In the second set Aga's problem continued with her knee as she took a medical timeout to get it re-bandaged but it hardly helped her game as she struggled to move and Pennetta took full advantage as the errors kept piling up in Radwanska's game and she found herself a double break down. And despite one last ditch attempt to hold serve, Radwanska soon captiluated on serve and handed Pennetta the big title win of her career as she won the final in 6-2, 6-1.
It was a pity this match didn't deliver on its promise as the early stages in the first set looked good but it was just unfortunate that Radwanska's knee injury flared up. And in a way it was a reminder of Rafa's back injury in the Australian Open final, where once again a player who has gone through all the hard work to reach a big final, in the last match cannot compete as they would like to. So it was a shame for Aga to lose out on the chance of her first big title in some time especially after the letdown of coming so close in Melbourne earlier this year as well before she downed in the semis by Dominika Cibulkova. As for Flavia Pennetta well she deserves alot of credit for her title win and she has had a terrific week in the desert and will look to improve on her results as last year she showed great signs as she even reached her first major semi final at the US Open, so if she carries on like this 2014 could be a really bright year for her.
Now we move onto the men's final which was a heavyweight showdown between two of the greats in the game, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. And given their very tight head to head 17-15 in Roger's favour going into this match, it promised to be a real cracker. And the match itself certainly didn't disappoint as in the first set Roger came out firing on all cylinders and he produced sublime tennis as he broke an edgy looking Novak to move up 3-0 and he went on to confidently nab the first set. In the 2nd however, the errors started to creep into Fed's game and Nole fought back as he managed to fashion a break of his own and he went on to level the match at a set apiece. And in the 3rd set we were treated to a thrilling contest between both men as they raised their levels for the thrilled crowd on Stadium 1 and played some terrific tennis. However after a tense service game it was Roger that blinked first and he went down a break to Nole, but he still managed to keep it close by keeping to the single break. And when it came for Novak to serve for the title at 5-4, he got tight and was broken by Roger and then before we knew it, the match went into a tiebreak. And despite Roger's superb tiebreak record he unfortunately made some uncharacteristic errors and it saw Novak take the lead at 6-3, with three championship points he served out the match to win his third Indian Wells title after a hard fought and thrilling 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory.
It has to be said I was somewhat surprised by the result of this match as for the most part Roger was the better player, despite a few lapses here and there. But in the end its testament again to Novak's champion qualities that he was able to win this title even though he wasn't playing his best tennis and didn't really start to fire until mid-way into the 2nd set. And throughout the tournament Novak's play was mixed in quality as there were some rounds were he was sloppy on serve, especially against Isner and even against the qualifier, Gonzalez and Cilic. But that's what the great champs do when they don't play their best they find a way to get the job done. So no doubt this title will give Djokovic much confidence for the rest of the season as it was the first year in his career since probably 2006 that he wasn't won a title going into the American hard court swing. And no doubt this will be a springboard for Djokovic to do well in Miami next week and also looking beyond to the clay court season.
As for Federer well despite his loss, he has played some superb and highly aggressive tennis this week and there were certainly alot of moments where it looked like it was going to come right for him. But I'm sure Fed will not be too disheartened by this defeat and it was still a great result and it sees him continue his impressive form and consistency in 2014, which will no doubt get better and I'm sure the time Wimbledon comes around, Roger will be a big threat again and will look reclaim his favourite trophy at the All England Club.
So that's it for my posts on the BNP Paribas Open which was given a terrific finale by the men (if not the ladies) and it now paves the way for the Sony Open in Miami, which is one of my favourite tournaments of the year. Andy Murray is the defending champion in Miami as he battled to lift the title last year against David Ferrer, so he has alot of points to defend this upcoming week and given his current ropey form, he has alot of work ahead of him if he is to have a chance to defend his title. Thankfully for Andy however he uses Miami as his training base, so it is a tournament where he has played some of his best tennis and hopefully he can use that to gain some inspiration in order to try and win a much needed title to get his season up and running. But whether or not Andy can win the title again this year remains in doubt, it would be great to see him do it or at least reach the final again, but time will tell on that one.
What we do know now is that the Sony Open draw is now out (as of 17.03.14 which is when I've updated this) and it isn't too kind for Andy as he may face Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals and Roger Federer in the semis! So I hate to say it but he may have to kiss his title defence goodbye. Up until the quarters though things aren't too bad though as Andy could play Lukas Kubot or Mathew Ebden in the 2nd round, Feliciano Lopez in the 3rd, whom beat he in Melbourne earlier this year. Although his possible 4th round opponent could be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga which could be a very dangerous test for Andy, but he does have a good head to head against Tsonga so hopefully he can find the form to beat him again.
But its going to be mighty tough for Andy to defend his title in Miami given the draw and if he loses out in the quarter finals or before, then I hope he refocuses for the clay court season and does better there. And despite it all I think Andy could have a very good clay court season this year as over the last two years his poor run of form on clay was in part attributed toward his back injury. But Andy is now playing pain free after his surgery and while every one is set to write him off on the red dirt I think he has an excellent chance to prove himself on clay. And I'm sure he will try and go out of his way to do well this year given if he goes out early in Miami he will have plenty of points to make up during the clay court season, especially after missing the French Open last year. So while we have to wait and see how he get's on this week in Miami before we get to the red dirt.
Soooo that's it for now and I will report back once the Sony Open from Miaimi get's underway.
Till the next one bye for now.
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