OK so the French open is only a few days away now as it start on Sunday and as its the second grand slam of the season, and we will see the world's top players fight it out to win the major silverware. So here are my thoughts on who are the contenders and who might win, also who I will say a bit more about the withdrawals from the tournament.
So to start with the ladies favourites right at the top we have Serena Williams, who is on a 24 match winning streak going into the French, however despite her recent success on the red dirt, she has only won at Roland Garros once and it was 11 years ago. Also Serena suffered a heavy defeat last year in the first round so it does leave a slight question mark over how well she will do this year. But Serena has improved beyond belief since this time last year and it would insane to write off her chances of winning the title this year, and if she then that winning streak can carry on through to Wimbledon and the hard court season. So Serena is the overwhelming favourite but whether or not she can win again we will just have to wait and see.
Next up we have Maria Sharapova who is the defending champion and she completed her career slam last year by winning at Roland Garros, and next to Serena there is no finer player on the clay. So can Maria win again????? Well that is the question and her success this year will be based purely on how her draw will open up, and if Serena goes out before the final then Maria will automatically become the favourite and her chances will go up dramatically. But again Maria will just have to and wait see how things pan out for her. After this there is Victoria Azarenka who so far has been out with injury for half of the season, but she made a good return to the action last week at the Italian open, but I have to admit that I don't rate Vika's chances of winning as clay remains her weakest surface, but I can see her go deep into the second week maybe the semi finals, but not beyond that.
Next up there is Sara Errani, last year's surprise finalist, who has been on great form ever since as she broke into the top 10 for the first time in her career. Errani definitely has a very good chance to go deep again at RG but it seems doubtful that she will be able to fight her way past the big hitters such as Serena, Maria or Vika, so her chances of winning will depend purely on how well or bad the big hitters do, but I can Errani do pretty well all the same. Then there is Sam Stosur, who has had a bit of an up and down season so far, but she is a very good clay court player, and having reached the final three years ago, Stosur has a good opportunity to do well again here. And finally I will mention Li Na, the former champion from two years ago, who also made the final of the Australian open this year, and Li is great on clay as we know, so surely she will do well again this year.
Now onto the men's and I'll start with the bad news that Andy Murray has decided to withdraw from the tournament due to his lower back injury which had been worsened by his return to the red dirt this year. Last year Andy reached the quarter finals and he also came under fire choosing to participate after suffering from a back spasm during his 2nd round match, and he was accused by Virgina Wade of being a drama queen, but this year his back problem really resurfaced and it turned out to be as Andy rightly said "a proper injury". So its an unfortunate decision for Andy to make, but undoubtedly the right one as this will hopefully give him the time he needs to recover and get ready for Wimbledon, and let's hope he get's better in time for his best shot at winning a major this year. Also after Andy, Juan Martin Del Potro has withdrawn from the French Open as well due to suffering from a virus, which sees the tournament lose another big name, and let's hope Delpo recovers soon, as he is due to play at Queens, as is Andy at the start of the grass court season.
Now onto the contenders, starting Novak Djokovic, who came agonisingly close last year to completing his career slam or the Nole slam as it might have been known. Nole still remains the only player on the tour who has a shot at defeating Rafa at the French and this year you could argue that he has an even better one as Rafa, while he is not far off his best form, he still ins't quite at the peak he was last year, but that might change next week. There is also the possibility that due to the withdrawal of Andy Murray that it could see Rafa meet Nole on the same side of the draw, which means they will have a semi final clash. But I'm sure we would all rather see Rafa and Novak face each other in the final for a rematch of last year, and hopefully the draw will work out in that favour.
Which brings me onto Rafa who has made a remarkable comeback this season after a 7 month absence due to his knee injury, and so far he has reach all eight finals of the tour events he has played, and seven of them have been on clay. So to say that Rafa is going into the French open with a fair bit of clay court preparation behind him is something of an undestatement! And for me he remains the overwhelming favourite to win the title again, and this time it would be for the 8th time, which is amazing in itself. And the only complication for Rafa this year is of course Djokovic, who he could either face in the semi final or the final, and in either match Rafa will need to be on top form. But as the French is just round the corner, Rafa has worked very hard and he is not far off his best form and I think come next week he will be back in full stride and the king of clay will be mighty tough to stop.
Other outside contenders include Tomas Berdych, who so far has had an excellent clay court season and he has already defeated Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in Madrid and Rome. However Berdy does lack the belief in the big matches and on the key points, and that is usually what stops him from beating the likes of Rafa, who on their last meeting Rafa beat him very convincingly, but Berdych I'm sure will do quite well. Next up there is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who last year did well at the French and reached the quarter finals where he had an amazing match against Djokovic and even had several match points before losing out, but hopefully Tsonga will do well again here. And lastly I thought I would mention David Ferrer, who outside the Rog, Rafa and Nole, is the best clay court player in the game, and he deservedly reached the semis last year, where he suffered a crushing defeat to Rafa. However this year Rafa hasn't quite been at that form, and their last two matches in Madrid and Rome were real battles, and if they face each other again let's hope they have another epic clash. Unfortunately for Ferrer though I can't see him get past Rafa, and despite how good he is he will always play second fiddle to his compatriot, but I would be great to see Ferrer do really well this year, as he deserves too, as he's one of the best, most dynamic and entertaining players to watch on the tour.
So that's it for now, I'll be back with more once the French Open get's under way.
Bye the now!
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Best men's matches of 2013 Part 1: The hard court swing round 1
Ok so now that we are well into the clay court season and as the
French Open is just around the conrer, I thought I would a little post
on my favourite matches from the first hard court swing of the season,
i.e. from January to the end of March, so I've posted up my top five
matches. And with that let's start her up....
5. Sony Open Final, Andy Murray d. David Ferrer, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(1)
OK I'm starting with this one as it was one of the most significant matches in Andy Murray's career, not to mention one of the toughest finals he has played in quite some time,which was erratic in quality but also a gripping contest. The match started off with Andy serving horribly and making all sorts of unforced errors, which saw Ferrer bringe ahead to a 5-0 lead. However Andy served to stay in the set, and when Ferrer served at 5-1, Andy broke back, only to double fault and lose his own serve and the set. In the 2nd set there were more breaks aplenty, but the level of tennis rose (and fell at times) as both men traded some terrific points, and Andy battled his way to take the 2nd set. In the 3rd set both men again struggled badly on serve, as well as in the blazing hot conditions on court, and even as Andy went a break up 5-4 and was in with a chance to serve for the title, he messed up and let Ferrer back in. Play went to 6-5 with Andy serving to take it into a tiebreak, when Ferrer had a match point, but he made the mistake of making a challenge on a shot Andy made that was in, and he soon held serve. In the breaker Andy dominated Ferrer, who started to cramp up in the legs, and as Andy hit a forehand winner to win the title he limped to the net in disbelief at how he pulled off this brutal yet remarkable victory. It has to be said for me though despite the lapses in quality, overall this was a fascinating encounter between the two men, who already have an excellent rivalry, and Ferrer no doubt will be haunted by having missed his opportunity to get a win over the top four in a big final. As for Andy well he showed incredible resilience and a champion mentality in battling past Ferrer and on that match of Ferrer's he went for his shots and kept believing which was the main thing here, and that was what got him through in the end and up to the No.2 spot in the world four the first time in four years. So overall it was an interesting and intruiging battle, with the last man standing.
4. BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells final, Rafael Nadal d. Juan Martin Del Potro, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
When Rafa made his return to the tour there was a big question mark over him as to how he would perform not only on clay, but also on other surfaces. And with the change in surfaces from his comfortable clay to the more physically jarring hard courts Rafa had a tough job in making a smooth transition. However he surprised everyone by making a strong debut back on the hard courts for the first time in a year, as he breezed his way into the final dismissing Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer en-route. In the final however it was no picnic as Rafa was up against the talented big Argentine and former US Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro, who really put Rafa through his paces. Delpo despite going 3-0 down in the 1st set, soon broke back and reeled off the next three games to level, and he then went on to win the set. In the 2nd set, Rafa made a nervous start and he went a break down, however the seemingly cast iron serve of Delpo started to break down as Rafa secured a break and nabbed the 2nd set. In the 3rd however it was Rafa that made the decisive break and he went on to close out a remarkable victory, as when he won he went flat on his back in delight, in typical Rafa fashion. This match really did show that Rafa was well and truly back and it was overall pretty high quality stuff, with some great play from Delpo aswell who was searching for his maiden 1000 Masters series title only to come up short. As for Rafa well with this title it saw him win his first hard court title for nearly three years (or a title on any other surface than clay for that matter!) and it really did show how strong a comeback he had made to the scene and after a 7 month absence he was hungry as ever.
3. Australian Open quarter final, Roger Federer d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.
There were quite a few picks from the first hard court grand slam of the season in Melbourne and for No.3 I thought I would go with this one, which was between Roger Federer and Jo Wilfried Tsonga. These two men have had their fair share of spats, and in their last five set encounter it was Tsonga that came out on top at Wimbledon two years ago. But this time Roger was the man that got off to the better start taking the opening set on a tiebreak, but with Tsonga fighting back to take the 2nd set. In the 3rd Roger edged another tiebreaker and looked to take the decisive lead, but Tsonga was still not done as he broke Rog in the 4th and took it to level the match. But in typical Rog fashion he went on to seal the deal in the 5th set as he closed out a very entertaining hard fought encounter. This was definitely one of the highlights of the tournament as Tsonga really showed his A game at times in the match and put up some terrific resistance against Roger, who only in the previous round dismissed big Milos Raonic in straight sets, but here he was pushed all the way. And it showed really encouraging signs for Tsonga in future tournaments and come the French Open he could go on to do really well once again.
2. Australian open semi final, Andy Murray d. Roger Federer, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2
I had to put this as my second favourite match on this list as it is flat out the best grand slam match that Andy Murray and Roger Federer have ever played. Last year in the Wimbledon final, Andy showed promising signs of his new found mental belief under the coaching of Ivan Lendl as he took a set off Federer for the first time in his career in a major final. And here Andy went two better as he took three off the maestro to secure his place in his 3rd Melbourne final. The match itself had some terrific rallies and wonderful points from both players, and there were times were you had to marvel at the tennis these two men can produce together on a tennis court. Andy was the better player in the key sets, but Federer put some great resistance in the tiebreak sets, as he dominated Andy in them and lead to eventually levelling the match at 2 sets all. But in the 5th set Andy made the decisive move and he broke Roger twice to seal the deal and reach the final where he would meet his old friend and rival, Novak Djokovic. This match pretty much had it all, as there were so many highly entertaining points, and Andy showed a new level of aggression against Roger that we hadn't seen since the Olympics last year, and the victory in itself was a very important one, as it once again showed that he could beat Roger Federer when it really counts. The match also had a rather amusing moment where in the 4th set with Andy serving for the match that Federer got annoyed at him and cursed at him over the net, and Andy gave him an old fashion glare (possibly because he was about to to beaten??). But overall this was a highly entertaining match, with the only thing missing was a tighter 5th set, but despite that it really was one of the highlights of the Australian Open.
1. Australian Open 4th round, Novak Djokovic vs Stanislas Wawrinka, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7, 12-10.
Ok if the top honours deserve to go to any match then it is certainly this one. In this 4th round encounter between the defending champion Novak Djokovic and the 16th seed Stan Wawrinka, it seemed like Nole would garner a fairly comfortable win. However it was far from it as these two men produce an absolutely epic encounter that lasted over 5 hours that was the match of the tournament. And it was Stan that got off to a great start as he raced through the opening set. In the 2nd however Nole eventually found his feet and broke to level the scores and he went on in the 3rd to take a 2 sets to 1 lead. In the 4th however it was an even battle as Stan pushed play to a tiebreak which he won to level an incredible match at 2 sets all. And in the 5th we were treated to an epic decider where it went by serve up until 11-10 when Nole made his move on Stan and fired a backhand winner to seal the deal and afterward he ripped off his shirt and roared with delight just like he had just won the title. There is no doubt this match deserves this spot and Wawrinka despite his loss played the match of his life and he may never come this close again. As for Novak well it was sheer testament to his skill, talent and above all belief that he was able to come through this one. And Nole's post match celebration was almost like he had won the title there and then, and in a way he did just that.
So that's it for my pick of the men's matches from the first round of the hard court swing. More to follow soon on the French Open, then after its over I will post up my favs from the clay court season.
Bye for now!
5. Sony Open Final, Andy Murray d. David Ferrer, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(1)
OK I'm starting with this one as it was one of the most significant matches in Andy Murray's career, not to mention one of the toughest finals he has played in quite some time,which was erratic in quality but also a gripping contest. The match started off with Andy serving horribly and making all sorts of unforced errors, which saw Ferrer bringe ahead to a 5-0 lead. However Andy served to stay in the set, and when Ferrer served at 5-1, Andy broke back, only to double fault and lose his own serve and the set. In the 2nd set there were more breaks aplenty, but the level of tennis rose (and fell at times) as both men traded some terrific points, and Andy battled his way to take the 2nd set. In the 3rd set both men again struggled badly on serve, as well as in the blazing hot conditions on court, and even as Andy went a break up 5-4 and was in with a chance to serve for the title, he messed up and let Ferrer back in. Play went to 6-5 with Andy serving to take it into a tiebreak, when Ferrer had a match point, but he made the mistake of making a challenge on a shot Andy made that was in, and he soon held serve. In the breaker Andy dominated Ferrer, who started to cramp up in the legs, and as Andy hit a forehand winner to win the title he limped to the net in disbelief at how he pulled off this brutal yet remarkable victory. It has to be said for me though despite the lapses in quality, overall this was a fascinating encounter between the two men, who already have an excellent rivalry, and Ferrer no doubt will be haunted by having missed his opportunity to get a win over the top four in a big final. As for Andy well he showed incredible resilience and a champion mentality in battling past Ferrer and on that match of Ferrer's he went for his shots and kept believing which was the main thing here, and that was what got him through in the end and up to the No.2 spot in the world four the first time in four years. So overall it was an interesting and intruiging battle, with the last man standing.
4. BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells final, Rafael Nadal d. Juan Martin Del Potro, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
When Rafa made his return to the tour there was a big question mark over him as to how he would perform not only on clay, but also on other surfaces. And with the change in surfaces from his comfortable clay to the more physically jarring hard courts Rafa had a tough job in making a smooth transition. However he surprised everyone by making a strong debut back on the hard courts for the first time in a year, as he breezed his way into the final dismissing Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer en-route. In the final however it was no picnic as Rafa was up against the talented big Argentine and former US Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro, who really put Rafa through his paces. Delpo despite going 3-0 down in the 1st set, soon broke back and reeled off the next three games to level, and he then went on to win the set. In the 2nd set, Rafa made a nervous start and he went a break down, however the seemingly cast iron serve of Delpo started to break down as Rafa secured a break and nabbed the 2nd set. In the 3rd however it was Rafa that made the decisive break and he went on to close out a remarkable victory, as when he won he went flat on his back in delight, in typical Rafa fashion. This match really did show that Rafa was well and truly back and it was overall pretty high quality stuff, with some great play from Delpo aswell who was searching for his maiden 1000 Masters series title only to come up short. As for Rafa well with this title it saw him win his first hard court title for nearly three years (or a title on any other surface than clay for that matter!) and it really did show how strong a comeback he had made to the scene and after a 7 month absence he was hungry as ever.
3. Australian Open quarter final, Roger Federer d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.
There were quite a few picks from the first hard court grand slam of the season in Melbourne and for No.3 I thought I would go with this one, which was between Roger Federer and Jo Wilfried Tsonga. These two men have had their fair share of spats, and in their last five set encounter it was Tsonga that came out on top at Wimbledon two years ago. But this time Roger was the man that got off to the better start taking the opening set on a tiebreak, but with Tsonga fighting back to take the 2nd set. In the 3rd Roger edged another tiebreaker and looked to take the decisive lead, but Tsonga was still not done as he broke Rog in the 4th and took it to level the match. But in typical Rog fashion he went on to seal the deal in the 5th set as he closed out a very entertaining hard fought encounter. This was definitely one of the highlights of the tournament as Tsonga really showed his A game at times in the match and put up some terrific resistance against Roger, who only in the previous round dismissed big Milos Raonic in straight sets, but here he was pushed all the way. And it showed really encouraging signs for Tsonga in future tournaments and come the French Open he could go on to do really well once again.
2. Australian open semi final, Andy Murray d. Roger Federer, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2
I had to put this as my second favourite match on this list as it is flat out the best grand slam match that Andy Murray and Roger Federer have ever played. Last year in the Wimbledon final, Andy showed promising signs of his new found mental belief under the coaching of Ivan Lendl as he took a set off Federer for the first time in his career in a major final. And here Andy went two better as he took three off the maestro to secure his place in his 3rd Melbourne final. The match itself had some terrific rallies and wonderful points from both players, and there were times were you had to marvel at the tennis these two men can produce together on a tennis court. Andy was the better player in the key sets, but Federer put some great resistance in the tiebreak sets, as he dominated Andy in them and lead to eventually levelling the match at 2 sets all. But in the 5th set Andy made the decisive move and he broke Roger twice to seal the deal and reach the final where he would meet his old friend and rival, Novak Djokovic. This match pretty much had it all, as there were so many highly entertaining points, and Andy showed a new level of aggression against Roger that we hadn't seen since the Olympics last year, and the victory in itself was a very important one, as it once again showed that he could beat Roger Federer when it really counts. The match also had a rather amusing moment where in the 4th set with Andy serving for the match that Federer got annoyed at him and cursed at him over the net, and Andy gave him an old fashion glare (possibly because he was about to to beaten??). But overall this was a highly entertaining match, with the only thing missing was a tighter 5th set, but despite that it really was one of the highlights of the Australian Open.
1. Australian Open 4th round, Novak Djokovic vs Stanislas Wawrinka, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7, 12-10.
Ok if the top honours deserve to go to any match then it is certainly this one. In this 4th round encounter between the defending champion Novak Djokovic and the 16th seed Stan Wawrinka, it seemed like Nole would garner a fairly comfortable win. However it was far from it as these two men produce an absolutely epic encounter that lasted over 5 hours that was the match of the tournament. And it was Stan that got off to a great start as he raced through the opening set. In the 2nd however Nole eventually found his feet and broke to level the scores and he went on in the 3rd to take a 2 sets to 1 lead. In the 4th however it was an even battle as Stan pushed play to a tiebreak which he won to level an incredible match at 2 sets all. And in the 5th we were treated to an epic decider where it went by serve up until 11-10 when Nole made his move on Stan and fired a backhand winner to seal the deal and afterward he ripped off his shirt and roared with delight just like he had just won the title. There is no doubt this match deserves this spot and Wawrinka despite his loss played the match of his life and he may never come this close again. As for Novak well it was sheer testament to his skill, talent and above all belief that he was able to come through this one. And Nole's post match celebration was almost like he had won the title there and then, and in a way he did just that.
So that's it for my pick of the men's matches from the first round of the hard court swing. More to follow soon on the French Open, then after its over I will post up my favs from the clay court season.
Bye for now!
Sunday, 19 May 2013
When in Rome Part 2: 1-3 x2, 24 matches and Masters titles
Forgive the rather technical title of this post as I will get to its meaning in a bit, but suffice to say I will cover the men's and ladies finals from the Italian open today, so let's give them a look.
The first final of the day was a much anticipated one between Serena Williams the current world No.1, and Victoria Azarenka, former No.1 and now No.3, which promised to be quite a cracker in itself. The match itself didn't quite live up to those expectations, but it was actually a surprisingly competitve one giving the scoreline, as in the first set Serena dominated Azarenka on serve, with Vika only winning one game from a break on Serena's serve, other than that she failed to hold serve in the first set, but there several tight duece games in the opening set as Serena met with some stern resistance from Vika throughout. In the 2nd set Victoria did a better job of holding onto her serve as she had to battle through a couple of tough service holds, however it wasn't long before Serena nabbed the crucial break to go 4-2 up and from there she never looked back and closed out the match to claim her 51st career title with a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
As I said the scoreline of this match really betrayed what the two women had on court, particularly in the first set where Azarenka took Williams to deuce several times throughout and they both played some excellent rallies. But it was Serena that proved to be utterly indomitable in the end as she played at her defensive best and showed she is a class above everyone else in the game just now. Serena has also extended her winning streak up to 24 matches, which is the longest one she has put together so far in her career (two shorter than Azarenka last year) and she stands as the absolute favourite to win the French open now. Although she was also the favourite last year and she went out in the 1st round, but if that doesn't happen this time round then I can possibly see her carry on to win the title there as well, which could see her put her winning streak carry on all the way past Wimbledon.
As for Victoria well she put up a good fight in the end, and she did well enough to hang in as long as she could, and it was good to see her get back on form after a ropey spell last week in Madrid. But clay is easily Azarenka's worst surface so I think it will be tough for her at the French to go any deeper than say the quarter or semi final, but we'll see how it goes for her, and she has had a good week in Rome despite her loss, it shows encouraging signs for her in the second major of the year.
Now onto the men's final which was a hugely anticipated match up between two of the biggest rivals in the game, Roger and Rafa. So this one promised much, but however in the end it delivered very little and from the get go Rafa was on absolute fire as he sped to a double break lead against his old rival who had no answer at all to him. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Roger struggled badly on serve and Rafa's dominance continued and once again he sped to a double break 5-1 lead. But on serving for the title, Rafa put in a poor service game and let Roger back in the door slightly as he broke back and went on to hold to make it 5-3. But it was only a temporary blip as Rafa had no trouble in serving it out a second time and he sealed the deal in just over an hour with an emphatic score of 6-1, 6-3.
The problem with hugely anticipated matches is that at times they can fall flat on their face and this certainly was the case today, as it was a big letdown that Roger was unable to get anything going against his old rival. But with each passing final Rafa is looking better and better on court, and after his two epic tussles early on against Enerst Gulbis and particularly David Ferrer, it suprising to think this is the same player and by the time he reaches the final, Rafa has totally raised his game to another level altogether. And I really do think that despite Djokovic's chances, that Rafa will win the French open yet again this year, as with each tournament he is getting better and better since his comeback. What's even more remarkable is that he reached the final of every tournament he has played since his return to the tour, and already he has won six titles this season out of eight finals (five of them being on the clay, and the other at Indian Wells, which was his first non clay title for nearly 3 years!). It also now sees Rafa continue to put the Masters title record beyond anyone else, as he has now 24 Masters titles to his name, and I'm sure there will be plenty more to come.
As for Roger well he did play really well this week and he looks more rejuvanted after a sluggish return in Madrid last week. But it is a little surprising the difference between Roger last year and this year, who was pretty dominant in 2012, but this year he has struggled up until now to reach a final. But I'm sure come the start of the French Open that Roger will look to up his level even more, and by the time he hits Wimbledon we might just have to watch out.
Anyway so that's it for now, next time I will report back on Andy Murray's progress and his decision to either play or not at the French Open next week, which he will make on Wednesday this week. And after that its all about the second grand slam of the season from Roland Garros.
Oh and to re-iterate the meaning of the title refers to each final in Rome having the same scorline for the winner 6-1, 6-3 (hence 1-3 for the loser), and Serena winning 24 matches in a row this season and Rafa now having won 24 Masters titles. So no need for answers on a postcard!
So that's it for now!
The first final of the day was a much anticipated one between Serena Williams the current world No.1, and Victoria Azarenka, former No.1 and now No.3, which promised to be quite a cracker in itself. The match itself didn't quite live up to those expectations, but it was actually a surprisingly competitve one giving the scoreline, as in the first set Serena dominated Azarenka on serve, with Vika only winning one game from a break on Serena's serve, other than that she failed to hold serve in the first set, but there several tight duece games in the opening set as Serena met with some stern resistance from Vika throughout. In the 2nd set Victoria did a better job of holding onto her serve as she had to battle through a couple of tough service holds, however it wasn't long before Serena nabbed the crucial break to go 4-2 up and from there she never looked back and closed out the match to claim her 51st career title with a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
As I said the scoreline of this match really betrayed what the two women had on court, particularly in the first set where Azarenka took Williams to deuce several times throughout and they both played some excellent rallies. But it was Serena that proved to be utterly indomitable in the end as she played at her defensive best and showed she is a class above everyone else in the game just now. Serena has also extended her winning streak up to 24 matches, which is the longest one she has put together so far in her career (two shorter than Azarenka last year) and she stands as the absolute favourite to win the French open now. Although she was also the favourite last year and she went out in the 1st round, but if that doesn't happen this time round then I can possibly see her carry on to win the title there as well, which could see her put her winning streak carry on all the way past Wimbledon.
As for Victoria well she put up a good fight in the end, and she did well enough to hang in as long as she could, and it was good to see her get back on form after a ropey spell last week in Madrid. But clay is easily Azarenka's worst surface so I think it will be tough for her at the French to go any deeper than say the quarter or semi final, but we'll see how it goes for her, and she has had a good week in Rome despite her loss, it shows encouraging signs for her in the second major of the year.
Now onto the men's final which was a hugely anticipated match up between two of the biggest rivals in the game, Roger and Rafa. So this one promised much, but however in the end it delivered very little and from the get go Rafa was on absolute fire as he sped to a double break lead against his old rival who had no answer at all to him. In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Roger struggled badly on serve and Rafa's dominance continued and once again he sped to a double break 5-1 lead. But on serving for the title, Rafa put in a poor service game and let Roger back in the door slightly as he broke back and went on to hold to make it 5-3. But it was only a temporary blip as Rafa had no trouble in serving it out a second time and he sealed the deal in just over an hour with an emphatic score of 6-1, 6-3.
The problem with hugely anticipated matches is that at times they can fall flat on their face and this certainly was the case today, as it was a big letdown that Roger was unable to get anything going against his old rival. But with each passing final Rafa is looking better and better on court, and after his two epic tussles early on against Enerst Gulbis and particularly David Ferrer, it suprising to think this is the same player and by the time he reaches the final, Rafa has totally raised his game to another level altogether. And I really do think that despite Djokovic's chances, that Rafa will win the French open yet again this year, as with each tournament he is getting better and better since his comeback. What's even more remarkable is that he reached the final of every tournament he has played since his return to the tour, and already he has won six titles this season out of eight finals (five of them being on the clay, and the other at Indian Wells, which was his first non clay title for nearly 3 years!). It also now sees Rafa continue to put the Masters title record beyond anyone else, as he has now 24 Masters titles to his name, and I'm sure there will be plenty more to come.
As for Roger well he did play really well this week and he looks more rejuvanted after a sluggish return in Madrid last week. But it is a little surprising the difference between Roger last year and this year, who was pretty dominant in 2012, but this year he has struggled up until now to reach a final. But I'm sure come the start of the French Open that Roger will look to up his level even more, and by the time he hits Wimbledon we might just have to watch out.
Anyway so that's it for now, next time I will report back on Andy Murray's progress and his decision to either play or not at the French Open next week, which he will make on Wednesday this week. And after that its all about the second grand slam of the season from Roland Garros.
Oh and to re-iterate the meaning of the title refers to each final in Rome having the same scorline for the winner 6-1, 6-3 (hence 1-3 for the loser), and Serena winning 24 matches in a row this season and Rafa now having won 24 Masters titles. So no need for answers on a postcard!
So that's it for now!
When in Rome Part 1: Upsets, revelations, and the classic showdown...
OK time for a quick update on the latest ATP/WTA tour event of the clay court season, the Italian Open, from Rome, where the top players from the men's and ladies tour compete for that rather nice trophy.
So start as usual with the ladies, so far we have had one or two surprises, such as Laura Robson taking down Venus Williams in her first round match after a straight set 6-2, 6-3 win. Laura however went on to be schooled by her younger sister, Serena who beat her convincingly in 6-2, 6-2. But Serena showed much respect for Laura after the match with a kind exchange at the net, as Serena appreciates just how good Laura is and how much she improve her game. However for me personally I think the one area Laura has to improve in is her serve, as she has recently served way too many double faults in recent matches, and those double faults cost her last two losses, as she double faulted against Serena in Rome and Ana Ivanovic in Madrid. Laura also has just departed with her coach Zeljko Krajan after nearly a year together, and obviously from here she needs a new coach that can help her with her serving problems, but if she does then there is no reason that Laura's game can't become even better than it is, and then she will pose a bigger threat to the top players.
Also we had Victoria Azarenka who enroute had to battle past Sam Stosur in the quarter finals, as Stosur managed to take only her 2nd ever set off Azarenka, before Vika fought back to win the match in the 3rd in 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. A pity for Sam Stosur as clay was her best shot at beating Azarenka on, but he performance showed great promise for the French Open in a week's time. Vika went on to face Sara Errani in the semis where the two of them, after an easy first set bagel set for Victoria, they had quite a tussle in the 2nd set, but Azarenka finally broke Errani's serve to win the match in 6-0, 7-5 and land her first final in Rome.
On the other side of the net Serena had a much easier transition toward the final as she gubbed Simona Halep in 6-3, 6-0 in the semis, and so far she hasn't dropped any more than five games in a match! And Serena is looking mighty formidable at the moment and its going to take alot to stop her. Simona Halep also deserves alot of credit for her performance in this tournament as she took a couple of big scalps in defeating Agnieszka Radwanska in the 2nd round and also Jelena Jankovic in the quarter finals. So her progress at the French open will be very interesting indeed.
So this sets up quite an intruiging final between for my money the two best players in the world (sorry but I have to say Maria isn't quite as good as Vika when it comes to Serena) and hopefully it will be a really good one. And Victoria managed to win their last encounter on the hard courts in Doha, which was a close match, so hopefully tomorrow will prove to be the same, but we will just have to wait and see. But personally I think Serena will win it, as she is already on a 23 match winning streak and I don't think she will stop anytime soon, but if anyone can, Vika will. As for the French open well it remains to be seen how well Serena can do there but I think she's got a mighty good chance of winning, if she can get past the first round at least, unlike last year when she lost in that epic match against Virginia Rezzano. But time will tell all I'm sure.
Now onto the men's quarter final and semi final highlights, starting with Rafa and David Ferrer who played in a real epic battle on court centrale in front of a thrilled full capacity crowd, as the two men hammered it out. Ferrer already having pushed Rafa quite hard in their previous match last week in Madrid, pushed Rafa that bit harder this week. Rafa took the close opening set after securing a break on Ferrer's serve, but in the 2nd it was Rafa that went off the boil and even went 4-0 down, before breaking back to make it 5-2, and Ferrer double faulted to make it 5-4 for Rafa. But on Rafa's next service game, Ferrer showed great resistance and defensive skills as he sealed the 2nd set with a stunning point and an incredible forehand pass. In the 3rd set Rafa broke Ferrer twice, but it still wasn't all his way as Ferrer continued to push Rafa hard, before he finally came through in just over 2 hours and 45 minutes, with an exhaustive 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory.
This really was quite a match and I hope when it comes to Roland Garros should these two men meet again that Ferrer maintains this level of play, as he was at points simply phenomenal against the king of clay. And if they do continue to play at this level then we will be in for a treat, althought admittedly Rafa wasn't at his best, particularly in the 2nd set, but all great champs know how to win from a down position.
Now onto the semis quickly, as Rafa took on Tomas Berdych who had stunned Novak Djokovic in their quarter final clash, despite being a set and a break down, Berdy fought back into the match securing the break back, he never looked back and went on to claim only his second win against the Serb in 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. But in the Rafa match, Berdych was nowhere to be seen as he started off badly in the 1st set and was broken twice, and in the 2nd set he was broken once by an unstoppable Rafa who breezed to the finish line with a 6-2, 6-4 win. Roger Federer had a slightly tougher time of it in the quarter finals as he played the big talented player, Jerzy Janowicz, who throw Roger off track at times with his deftly disguised drop shots. But Roger managed to come through in straight sets with a 6-4, 7-6 win, and he also came through in similar style against his semi final opponent, Benoit Paire with a reverse score of 7-6, 6-4.
So this sets up a potentially great final between possibly the greatest rivalry the game has seen in Roger and Rafa. So who will win this one???? Well its on clay, I would be mad not to go with Rafa, so I will go with him, but Roger has been in great form this week, so I think it will be quite a tough long match, but Rafa will in my opinion prevail in 3 sets. And let's hope its a great one, like their epic Rome final back in 2006 was, although that was back in the days where they played 5 set Masters finals, which they no longer do of course, and that match was over 5 hours in length, so this one will be at least half as long (or even shorter!).
Which brings me finally onto Andy Murray who last week has suffered some real woes on the clay, as he played his only match in Rome on his 26th birthday against the Spaniard, Marcel Granollers. Given the normal circumstances, you would expect Andy to come through this one relatively easily, but it was far from the case, as Andy was struggling with injury throughout, as he repeatedly grabbed his lower back. Andy went a set and 4-1 down in the 2nd, and he even had the trainer on during the 2nd set, but despite all that he still managed to battle back into the match and push it to a 2nd set tiebreak, which Andy eventually won. But despite having levelled the scores, the match had taken its toll on Andy physically as he was forced to retire from the match, the first time had done that in six years, and he bowed out with a 3-6, 7-6 ret scoreline.
There's no doubt this was a very disappointing result for Andy and it was a shame to see that he was forced to retire from the match, but he was clearly struggling with his hip injury throughout, and he said himself its not enjoyable when a player plays in pain. What is more of a concern is that Andy's hip injury now leaves him in serious doubt for playing at the French Open which is now only a week away. Andy has since said he would be very surprised if he was fit to play, but has since had a scan to check the extent of the injury, and will confirm his decision to play or not this Wednesday coming. Personally I think he shouldn't play, as physically his injury would no doubt flare up again, and I think realistically he doesn't have a chance at winning the French Open anyway, and he would do much better at conserving his energy and work on his recovery to get in shape for Wimbledon. And there is no doubt that Wimbledon is far more important to Andy than the French Open is, and I'm sure he will want to be in peak condition for the tournament. But it remains to be seen what the extent of his injury is, but let's hope its not so serious that it will keep him out the game for too long, and that he makes the right choice for himself.
So that's it for now, I will report back with the results and my thoughts on the men's and ladies finals in Rome.
Till then bye for now.
So start as usual with the ladies, so far we have had one or two surprises, such as Laura Robson taking down Venus Williams in her first round match after a straight set 6-2, 6-3 win. Laura however went on to be schooled by her younger sister, Serena who beat her convincingly in 6-2, 6-2. But Serena showed much respect for Laura after the match with a kind exchange at the net, as Serena appreciates just how good Laura is and how much she improve her game. However for me personally I think the one area Laura has to improve in is her serve, as she has recently served way too many double faults in recent matches, and those double faults cost her last two losses, as she double faulted against Serena in Rome and Ana Ivanovic in Madrid. Laura also has just departed with her coach Zeljko Krajan after nearly a year together, and obviously from here she needs a new coach that can help her with her serving problems, but if she does then there is no reason that Laura's game can't become even better than it is, and then she will pose a bigger threat to the top players.
Also we had Victoria Azarenka who enroute had to battle past Sam Stosur in the quarter finals, as Stosur managed to take only her 2nd ever set off Azarenka, before Vika fought back to win the match in the 3rd in 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. A pity for Sam Stosur as clay was her best shot at beating Azarenka on, but he performance showed great promise for the French Open in a week's time. Vika went on to face Sara Errani in the semis where the two of them, after an easy first set bagel set for Victoria, they had quite a tussle in the 2nd set, but Azarenka finally broke Errani's serve to win the match in 6-0, 7-5 and land her first final in Rome.
On the other side of the net Serena had a much easier transition toward the final as she gubbed Simona Halep in 6-3, 6-0 in the semis, and so far she hasn't dropped any more than five games in a match! And Serena is looking mighty formidable at the moment and its going to take alot to stop her. Simona Halep also deserves alot of credit for her performance in this tournament as she took a couple of big scalps in defeating Agnieszka Radwanska in the 2nd round and also Jelena Jankovic in the quarter finals. So her progress at the French open will be very interesting indeed.
So this sets up quite an intruiging final between for my money the two best players in the world (sorry but I have to say Maria isn't quite as good as Vika when it comes to Serena) and hopefully it will be a really good one. And Victoria managed to win their last encounter on the hard courts in Doha, which was a close match, so hopefully tomorrow will prove to be the same, but we will just have to wait and see. But personally I think Serena will win it, as she is already on a 23 match winning streak and I don't think she will stop anytime soon, but if anyone can, Vika will. As for the French open well it remains to be seen how well Serena can do there but I think she's got a mighty good chance of winning, if she can get past the first round at least, unlike last year when she lost in that epic match against Virginia Rezzano. But time will tell all I'm sure.
Now onto the men's quarter final and semi final highlights, starting with Rafa and David Ferrer who played in a real epic battle on court centrale in front of a thrilled full capacity crowd, as the two men hammered it out. Ferrer already having pushed Rafa quite hard in their previous match last week in Madrid, pushed Rafa that bit harder this week. Rafa took the close opening set after securing a break on Ferrer's serve, but in the 2nd it was Rafa that went off the boil and even went 4-0 down, before breaking back to make it 5-2, and Ferrer double faulted to make it 5-4 for Rafa. But on Rafa's next service game, Ferrer showed great resistance and defensive skills as he sealed the 2nd set with a stunning point and an incredible forehand pass. In the 3rd set Rafa broke Ferrer twice, but it still wasn't all his way as Ferrer continued to push Rafa hard, before he finally came through in just over 2 hours and 45 minutes, with an exhaustive 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory.
This really was quite a match and I hope when it comes to Roland Garros should these two men meet again that Ferrer maintains this level of play, as he was at points simply phenomenal against the king of clay. And if they do continue to play at this level then we will be in for a treat, althought admittedly Rafa wasn't at his best, particularly in the 2nd set, but all great champs know how to win from a down position.
Now onto the semis quickly, as Rafa took on Tomas Berdych who had stunned Novak Djokovic in their quarter final clash, despite being a set and a break down, Berdy fought back into the match securing the break back, he never looked back and went on to claim only his second win against the Serb in 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. But in the Rafa match, Berdych was nowhere to be seen as he started off badly in the 1st set and was broken twice, and in the 2nd set he was broken once by an unstoppable Rafa who breezed to the finish line with a 6-2, 6-4 win. Roger Federer had a slightly tougher time of it in the quarter finals as he played the big talented player, Jerzy Janowicz, who throw Roger off track at times with his deftly disguised drop shots. But Roger managed to come through in straight sets with a 6-4, 7-6 win, and he also came through in similar style against his semi final opponent, Benoit Paire with a reverse score of 7-6, 6-4.
So this sets up a potentially great final between possibly the greatest rivalry the game has seen in Roger and Rafa. So who will win this one???? Well its on clay, I would be mad not to go with Rafa, so I will go with him, but Roger has been in great form this week, so I think it will be quite a tough long match, but Rafa will in my opinion prevail in 3 sets. And let's hope its a great one, like their epic Rome final back in 2006 was, although that was back in the days where they played 5 set Masters finals, which they no longer do of course, and that match was over 5 hours in length, so this one will be at least half as long (or even shorter!).
Which brings me finally onto Andy Murray who last week has suffered some real woes on the clay, as he played his only match in Rome on his 26th birthday against the Spaniard, Marcel Granollers. Given the normal circumstances, you would expect Andy to come through this one relatively easily, but it was far from the case, as Andy was struggling with injury throughout, as he repeatedly grabbed his lower back. Andy went a set and 4-1 down in the 2nd, and he even had the trainer on during the 2nd set, but despite all that he still managed to battle back into the match and push it to a 2nd set tiebreak, which Andy eventually won. But despite having levelled the scores, the match had taken its toll on Andy physically as he was forced to retire from the match, the first time had done that in six years, and he bowed out with a 3-6, 7-6 ret scoreline.
There's no doubt this was a very disappointing result for Andy and it was a shame to see that he was forced to retire from the match, but he was clearly struggling with his hip injury throughout, and he said himself its not enjoyable when a player plays in pain. What is more of a concern is that Andy's hip injury now leaves him in serious doubt for playing at the French Open which is now only a week away. Andy has since said he would be very surprised if he was fit to play, but has since had a scan to check the extent of the injury, and will confirm his decision to play or not this Wednesday coming. Personally I think he shouldn't play, as physically his injury would no doubt flare up again, and I think realistically he doesn't have a chance at winning the French Open anyway, and he would do much better at conserving his energy and work on his recovery to get in shape for Wimbledon. And there is no doubt that Wimbledon is far more important to Andy than the French Open is, and I'm sure he will want to be in peak condition for the tournament. But it remains to be seen what the extent of his injury is, but let's hope its not so serious that it will keep him out the game for too long, and that he makes the right choice for himself.
So that's it for now, I will report back with the results and my thoughts on the men's and ladies finals in Rome.
Till then bye for now.
Monday, 13 May 2013
2013 Madrid Part 3: Easy peasy
Well here is my late entry on the 2013 Mutua Madrid Open men's and ladies finals so I will keep it fairly brief and get on with it...
So starting with the ladies final which was between Serena Williams, the defending champion and Maria Sharapova, who were both fighting it out for the No.1 spot, Serena to cling on to it and Maria to take it off her. But given the fact that Maria hadn't beaten Serena since 2004, it was going to be a mighty tough ask for the Russian to get past her. And as predicted the match itself turned to be yet another straight forward victory for Serena, as Maria did her usual capitulation on serve, double faulting, letting the unforced errors pile up, as Serena took the first set with great ease. In the 2nd, Maria managed to get a break on Serena's serve, but was unable to captilise on it as Serena broke back and at 5-4, with Sharapova serving to make it 5-5, she faltered for the last time and Serena closed the deal with her successful title defence win in 6-1, 6-4.
This was a pretty disappointing final and it was to be entirely expected that once Maria couldn't fight her was past her nemesis, and its a pity that their rivalry isn't more balanced, which is something that is missing in the women's game as it is. The ladies game, as good as it is, does lack great rivalries, and there are some interesting rivalries out there, but no truly great ones like in the men's game, where we have four superb players go at it (i.e. Rog, Andy, Nole and Raf), and they all can bounce off each other brilliantly when they play (no pun intended). But the ladies game desperately needs a great rivalry just now, and the only one that might fit that bill is Serena's rivalry with Victoria Azarenka, as the Belarusian is about the only player that can really go toe to toe with Serena in the ladies game at the moment. However Azarenka has been out with injury and has just made her comeback in Madrid, where she lost her first match of the year, and it might be a slow pick up for her to gather momentum, but hopefully when Victoria get's back on form, we might just get treated to the rivalry we all want to see between her and Serena.
Regardless of that though Serena deserves credit for pulling out another title win, especially as she had gotten to a slow start in the tournament, and she now has 50 titles to her career, and she remains undoubtedly the best player in the world and one of the greats in the game. Whether or not any can knock her off the top spot remains to be seen, but for now its going to mighty tough for anyone to touch her, and she surely will be a favourite for the French open (where surely she will do better than her first round dramatic exit last year).
So now onto the men's final, which was an unlikely match up, as we had Rafa take on the Swiss no.2, Stanislas Wawrinka, who has been in great form since the start of the season, and especially in the clay court swing. However if their head to head was anything to go by then it would indicate that before the match, Rafa would be the overwhelming favourite as Rafa has never lost to Stan in all their previous eight meetings, and not even dropped a set! And this meeting turned out to be no different as Rafa was in great form, playing probably one of his best matches of the year so far in terms of his aggression and precision. Stan on the other hand faltered badly on serve in the first set and he kept overpressing his backhand, making unforced errors, as he was broken twice in the opening set. In the 2nd set, Stan did a better job at holding serve but at 3-3, he was broken with ease by Rafa, who went on to confidently serve out the match to grab his 55th career title, and 40th clay court title with a 6-2. 6-4 victory.
Again this was a rather underwhelming match and throughout Rafa was in no danger of being broken by Wawrinka, who to be fair was up against the worst opponent imaginable on a clay court. Regardless of his loss though, Stan has shown terrific form so far this season and he has already beaten four players inside the top four on clay alone, Murray, Ferrer, Tsonga and Berdych, so come the French I think its safe to say that Stan will be a real danger to the rest of the draw. As for Rafa well his record on clay speaks for itself and in Madrid has gone from strength to strength as he is starting to look like he is getting back to his best form. And I think come the time we hit Roland Garros, Rafa will be back on peak form, like he was last year, and I can still actually see him winning an 8th RG title this year as well, as Djokovic is his only real threat on a clay, and while Nole stands a really good chance, I think in the end Rafa will win through. But we can wait for it when it comes.
So that's it for now, next up is the Rome Open, which is another 1000 Masters ATP tour event and a WTA Premier 5 event for the men and ladies tours respectively, which is on this week, and we should see more great tennis no doubt, which I will cover later this week.
And with that I shall leave it right there!
So starting with the ladies final which was between Serena Williams, the defending champion and Maria Sharapova, who were both fighting it out for the No.1 spot, Serena to cling on to it and Maria to take it off her. But given the fact that Maria hadn't beaten Serena since 2004, it was going to be a mighty tough ask for the Russian to get past her. And as predicted the match itself turned to be yet another straight forward victory for Serena, as Maria did her usual capitulation on serve, double faulting, letting the unforced errors pile up, as Serena took the first set with great ease. In the 2nd, Maria managed to get a break on Serena's serve, but was unable to captilise on it as Serena broke back and at 5-4, with Sharapova serving to make it 5-5, she faltered for the last time and Serena closed the deal with her successful title defence win in 6-1, 6-4.
This was a pretty disappointing final and it was to be entirely expected that once Maria couldn't fight her was past her nemesis, and its a pity that their rivalry isn't more balanced, which is something that is missing in the women's game as it is. The ladies game, as good as it is, does lack great rivalries, and there are some interesting rivalries out there, but no truly great ones like in the men's game, where we have four superb players go at it (i.e. Rog, Andy, Nole and Raf), and they all can bounce off each other brilliantly when they play (no pun intended). But the ladies game desperately needs a great rivalry just now, and the only one that might fit that bill is Serena's rivalry with Victoria Azarenka, as the Belarusian is about the only player that can really go toe to toe with Serena in the ladies game at the moment. However Azarenka has been out with injury and has just made her comeback in Madrid, where she lost her first match of the year, and it might be a slow pick up for her to gather momentum, but hopefully when Victoria get's back on form, we might just get treated to the rivalry we all want to see between her and Serena.
Regardless of that though Serena deserves credit for pulling out another title win, especially as she had gotten to a slow start in the tournament, and she now has 50 titles to her career, and she remains undoubtedly the best player in the world and one of the greats in the game. Whether or not any can knock her off the top spot remains to be seen, but for now its going to mighty tough for anyone to touch her, and she surely will be a favourite for the French open (where surely she will do better than her first round dramatic exit last year).
So now onto the men's final, which was an unlikely match up, as we had Rafa take on the Swiss no.2, Stanislas Wawrinka, who has been in great form since the start of the season, and especially in the clay court swing. However if their head to head was anything to go by then it would indicate that before the match, Rafa would be the overwhelming favourite as Rafa has never lost to Stan in all their previous eight meetings, and not even dropped a set! And this meeting turned out to be no different as Rafa was in great form, playing probably one of his best matches of the year so far in terms of his aggression and precision. Stan on the other hand faltered badly on serve in the first set and he kept overpressing his backhand, making unforced errors, as he was broken twice in the opening set. In the 2nd set, Stan did a better job at holding serve but at 3-3, he was broken with ease by Rafa, who went on to confidently serve out the match to grab his 55th career title, and 40th clay court title with a 6-2. 6-4 victory.
Again this was a rather underwhelming match and throughout Rafa was in no danger of being broken by Wawrinka, who to be fair was up against the worst opponent imaginable on a clay court. Regardless of his loss though, Stan has shown terrific form so far this season and he has already beaten four players inside the top four on clay alone, Murray, Ferrer, Tsonga and Berdych, so come the French I think its safe to say that Stan will be a real danger to the rest of the draw. As for Rafa well his record on clay speaks for itself and in Madrid has gone from strength to strength as he is starting to look like he is getting back to his best form. And I think come the time we hit Roland Garros, Rafa will be back on peak form, like he was last year, and I can still actually see him winning an 8th RG title this year as well, as Djokovic is his only real threat on a clay, and while Nole stands a really good chance, I think in the end Rafa will win through. But we can wait for it when it comes.
So that's it for now, next up is the Rome Open, which is another 1000 Masters ATP tour event and a WTA Premier 5 event for the men and ladies tours respectively, which is on this week, and we should see more great tennis no doubt, which I will cover later this week.
And with that I shall leave it right there!
Saturday, 11 May 2013
2013 Madrid Part 2: Back to No.2 and the battle for No.1
Right time for Part 2 of my posts on the Mutua Madrid Open, the joint WTA/ATP tour event, which will cover the men's and ladies quarter finals and the ladies semi finals matches.
So to start off with the ladies, first up we had Serena Williams who had a real tough battle against one of the home favourites, Anabel Medina Garrigues, who put the World No.1 to the test in a 3 setter. After taking the first set with fair ease, Serena went on to suffer something she had not done for five years, losing her first bagel set. However Serena fought back in the decider as she eventually went on to break Garrigues and sealed the victory in just over 2 hours and 15 minutes with a 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 win. This was quite a stern test for Serena, but like all great champions she knew how to fight back and dig out the win, especially after losing the 2nd set so dramatically.
Next up on the ladies quarter finals was Sara Errani, who had an easier time of it against Ekaterina Makarova, who conquered Victoria Azarenka in the 2nd round, however the plucky Italian had more than enough to take down the Russian, which she did in 6-4, 6-3. Ana Ivanovic also breezed past the 6th seed, Angelique Kerber in just a mere 6-3, 6-1, showing great form on the clay, probably her best since winning the French open five years ago. And Maria Sharapova also in her match took on Kaia Kanepi, who she also dismissed in an error prone match from Kanepi in just 6-2, 6-4.
This set up the ladies semi finals, the first of which was between Serena Williams and Sara Errani, which for the first set was a real test for Serena, as Errani showed her tenacity and also went up a break twice. But Serena soon levelled the scores 5-5 and went on to break Errani to close out the set, and in the 2nd set it was all about Serena who swiftly moved into a double break position and sealed the win to reach her 2nd consecutive final in Madrid with a 7-5, 6-2 scoreline. And the 2nd semi final was between Ana Ivanovic and Maria Shararpova, who both had a tough encounter in their last meeting in Stuttgart. However this time it was a much more forward affair, and despite trading breaks in both sets, it was Sharapova broke when it counted most and closed out the match with a 6-4, 6-3 win.
So this sets up the ladies final which will see the top two players in the world, Serena and Maria go at it for the No.1 spot, with Maria looking to get it back and for Serena to cling on to it. So who will win this one???? Well personally I think given tremendous record over her, that Serena will once again win this one, most likely in straight sets, although in their previous meeting Maria definitely suceeded in getting closer to Serena than before. And on clay Maria moves pretty well and it suits her game also, whereas Serena this week has not played her best, and that could go against her. However Serena is only one of the best players to have played the game, and she knows how to dig out a win, no matter how down and out she might be, and no doubt she will use her overwhelming record against Sharapova in her favour tomorrow, so for me she's the only winner.
Now onto the men's matches and the quarter finals proved to be pretty eventful, starting with Rafa who took on his compatriot David Ferrer, whom Rafa has a great record over on clay. But it was Ferrer, who for once got off to the stronger start as he broke Rafa to take the opening set, and the first against him on clay for 6 years! In the 2nd set Ferrer had his chances to gain his first win on clay over his good friend, as he went a break up, but he couldn't maintain and before long Rafa got back into the match and levelled the scores into a tiebreak, which Rafa won. And in the 3rd set Ferrer wilted badly as he made a rash of unforced errors allowing Rafa to ease to victory by dishing out a creamy bagel set to Ferrer and taking his quarter final place after a tough 2 hours and 35 minutes, with the score reading 4-6, 7-6, 6-0. It was a pity for Ferrer that he wasn't quite able to shut the door on Rafa, as this was probably his best chance, but again it just wasn't to be as Rafa was always going to find way to get it done, which he did.
In other matches we had Kei Nishikori take on another Spaniard, Pablo Andujar, and with having stunned Roger Federer in the previous round, Kei looked like the favourite. However Andujar took the initiative in the 1st set to win it, and in the 2nd despite being a break up and being broken back at 5-5, he broke again and went onto to win in 6-3, 7-5. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his quarter final faced once again Stan Wawrinka, who so far in the clay court season has been in terrific form, as he had already defeated top players such as Andy Murray in Monte Carlo, and David Ferrer in the final of the Portugal open last week. And he continued his great form here with a tough match against Tsonga, as both men took a set each in the 3rd it was Stan who made the move and made the semi final in Madrid with a 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 win.
So now onto the last match which was Andy Murray who took on his clay court nemesis, Tomas Berdych, whom he has never beaten on the red dirt. And unfortunatley for Andy his clay court sorrow continued here, as despite going a break up in the 1st set, Berdych broke back, and as play went by serve into a tiebreak, it was Berdy that nabbed the set. In the 2nd the two men traded service breaks, but it was Andy after breaking back to make it 2-2, who made the fatal error of dropping serve again, and from there Berdych never looked back and went on to win his 3rd successive clay court match over Andy in 7-6, 6-4.
Well all things considered this was not a bad effort from Andy who in his previous match had to really battle his was past an inspired Gilles Simon, who refused to go away in their 3rd round encounter, and Andy edged in a near 3 hour trial. And it was always going to be a tough ask for Andy to win against Berdych, who is an excellent clay court player, who has a more natural flair for the surface than he does. But overall its been a good week for Andy, as he has managed to secure the World No.2 spot again as Federer suffered an early defeat and being the defending champion having lost most of his ranking points, and he outlasted Djokovic in the event as well. So while its a disappointment that Andy lost, at least as he said himself that his clay court season is starting to move in the right direction, so I'll wish him all the best for the Rome Open, which starts on Monday.
And that's it for now, more to follow soon on the men's and ladies finals.
Bye the now.
So to start off with the ladies, first up we had Serena Williams who had a real tough battle against one of the home favourites, Anabel Medina Garrigues, who put the World No.1 to the test in a 3 setter. After taking the first set with fair ease, Serena went on to suffer something she had not done for five years, losing her first bagel set. However Serena fought back in the decider as she eventually went on to break Garrigues and sealed the victory in just over 2 hours and 15 minutes with a 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 win. This was quite a stern test for Serena, but like all great champions she knew how to fight back and dig out the win, especially after losing the 2nd set so dramatically.
Next up on the ladies quarter finals was Sara Errani, who had an easier time of it against Ekaterina Makarova, who conquered Victoria Azarenka in the 2nd round, however the plucky Italian had more than enough to take down the Russian, which she did in 6-4, 6-3. Ana Ivanovic also breezed past the 6th seed, Angelique Kerber in just a mere 6-3, 6-1, showing great form on the clay, probably her best since winning the French open five years ago. And Maria Sharapova also in her match took on Kaia Kanepi, who she also dismissed in an error prone match from Kanepi in just 6-2, 6-4.
This set up the ladies semi finals, the first of which was between Serena Williams and Sara Errani, which for the first set was a real test for Serena, as Errani showed her tenacity and also went up a break twice. But Serena soon levelled the scores 5-5 and went on to break Errani to close out the set, and in the 2nd set it was all about Serena who swiftly moved into a double break position and sealed the win to reach her 2nd consecutive final in Madrid with a 7-5, 6-2 scoreline. And the 2nd semi final was between Ana Ivanovic and Maria Shararpova, who both had a tough encounter in their last meeting in Stuttgart. However this time it was a much more forward affair, and despite trading breaks in both sets, it was Sharapova broke when it counted most and closed out the match with a 6-4, 6-3 win.
So this sets up the ladies final which will see the top two players in the world, Serena and Maria go at it for the No.1 spot, with Maria looking to get it back and for Serena to cling on to it. So who will win this one???? Well personally I think given tremendous record over her, that Serena will once again win this one, most likely in straight sets, although in their previous meeting Maria definitely suceeded in getting closer to Serena than before. And on clay Maria moves pretty well and it suits her game also, whereas Serena this week has not played her best, and that could go against her. However Serena is only one of the best players to have played the game, and she knows how to dig out a win, no matter how down and out she might be, and no doubt she will use her overwhelming record against Sharapova in her favour tomorrow, so for me she's the only winner.
Now onto the men's matches and the quarter finals proved to be pretty eventful, starting with Rafa who took on his compatriot David Ferrer, whom Rafa has a great record over on clay. But it was Ferrer, who for once got off to the stronger start as he broke Rafa to take the opening set, and the first against him on clay for 6 years! In the 2nd set Ferrer had his chances to gain his first win on clay over his good friend, as he went a break up, but he couldn't maintain and before long Rafa got back into the match and levelled the scores into a tiebreak, which Rafa won. And in the 3rd set Ferrer wilted badly as he made a rash of unforced errors allowing Rafa to ease to victory by dishing out a creamy bagel set to Ferrer and taking his quarter final place after a tough 2 hours and 35 minutes, with the score reading 4-6, 7-6, 6-0. It was a pity for Ferrer that he wasn't quite able to shut the door on Rafa, as this was probably his best chance, but again it just wasn't to be as Rafa was always going to find way to get it done, which he did.
In other matches we had Kei Nishikori take on another Spaniard, Pablo Andujar, and with having stunned Roger Federer in the previous round, Kei looked like the favourite. However Andujar took the initiative in the 1st set to win it, and in the 2nd despite being a break up and being broken back at 5-5, he broke again and went onto to win in 6-3, 7-5. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his quarter final faced once again Stan Wawrinka, who so far in the clay court season has been in terrific form, as he had already defeated top players such as Andy Murray in Monte Carlo, and David Ferrer in the final of the Portugal open last week. And he continued his great form here with a tough match against Tsonga, as both men took a set each in the 3rd it was Stan who made the move and made the semi final in Madrid with a 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 win.
So now onto the last match which was Andy Murray who took on his clay court nemesis, Tomas Berdych, whom he has never beaten on the red dirt. And unfortunatley for Andy his clay court sorrow continued here, as despite going a break up in the 1st set, Berdych broke back, and as play went by serve into a tiebreak, it was Berdy that nabbed the set. In the 2nd the two men traded service breaks, but it was Andy after breaking back to make it 2-2, who made the fatal error of dropping serve again, and from there Berdych never looked back and went on to win his 3rd successive clay court match over Andy in 7-6, 6-4.
Well all things considered this was not a bad effort from Andy who in his previous match had to really battle his was past an inspired Gilles Simon, who refused to go away in their 3rd round encounter, and Andy edged in a near 3 hour trial. And it was always going to be a tough ask for Andy to win against Berdych, who is an excellent clay court player, who has a more natural flair for the surface than he does. But overall its been a good week for Andy, as he has managed to secure the World No.2 spot again as Federer suffered an early defeat and being the defending champion having lost most of his ranking points, and he outlasted Djokovic in the event as well. So while its a disappointment that Andy lost, at least as he said himself that his clay court season is starting to move in the right direction, so I'll wish him all the best for the Rome Open, which starts on Monday.
And that's it for now, more to follow soon on the men's and ladies finals.
Bye the now.
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
2013 Madrid Part 1: Finding your feet and a new star is born...
OK so here is the first of my posts on the Mutua Madrid Open, which is a joint ATP/WTA event, which is a 1000 Masters title on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the ladies tour. So let's have a look at some of the matches so far on the men and women's side of the net.
To start off we had on the ladies starting with Serena Williams, who got off to a slow start in her first round match (surprising none of the top seeds appeared to have a bye into the 2nd round in Madrid!) but came through in 7-5, 6-1, and in her 2nd round match against Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain, she beat the Spaniad 6-2, 7-5. Victoria Azarenka had a tough time of it as she had to battle past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova after two tight tiebreak sets she came through in 7-6(8), 7-6(3) where she will face Ekaterina Makarova in the 2nd round. Sara Errani also had a tough time getting past Sorana Cirstea of Romania (lovely!) as she was taken the distance in a 3 set battle, winning 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Petra Kvitova also fought hard to win against Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory. And Marion Bartoli made progress into the 3rd round after she beat Maria Teresa Torro Flor (now that's a name!) in 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Also on the ladies front there was good news for British tennis, as Laura Robson after suffering six straight defeats in so many tournaments, bounced back brilliantly in Madrid, as she overcame a slow start in her first match against Magdelina Rybarikova, after losing the first set, she battled back in and went to win the match ease as broke the Slovak twice, and went to secure a much needed win in 6-7, 6-2, 6-2. And things got better from there as Laura went on to pull of arguably the biggest win of her career by defeating Agnieszka Radwanska, the world No.4 in straight sets with a stunning score of 6-3, 6-1. Laura has already proved to be something of a giant killer, as she has already taken the scalps of Kim Clijsters (having ended her career last year at the US Open) Li Na and Petra Kvitova, so this adds to her impressive record, and its great to see her return to form, as there is no doubt that with time Laura will get even better, and she's got it in her to beat the best.
So onto the men's starting off with Andy Murray who took on the tricky German player, Forian Mayer, who put on a dazzling display of great tennis and fired down 13 aces in the match, which made life difficult for Andy as he struggled to get a ready on the German's serve. However Andy himself served well, and pushed the match to a first set tiebreak, which was a real epic marathon as both players had set points, with Mayer having three, but Andy finally fashioned one and took the opening set. In the 2nd set, Andy dropped serve straight away and Mayer raced into a 4-1 lead, looking certain to level the match and push it to a decider. However Andy managed to break back and again things went by serve into a tiebreak, where Andy dominated the German and seal a tough victory in 7-6(11), 7-6(3).
This was a tough opening test for Andy, but he came through in fine style and used all his mental resolve to fight off Mayer's resistance. This also shows an encouraging start to his tournament in Madrid, and hopefully this time Andy can avoid an early exit, as his next opponent will be Gilles Simon, the Frenchman who has only beaten Andy once, and Andy has beaten him in both their previous clay court encounters. And hopefully Andy's clay court training looks to have paid off, and let's hope he can go deep into the tournament, or reach the quarter finals at least, although there he might face Tomas Berdych which could be a tough test for him, but we can deal with when and if we get there.
Next up we had the defending champion Roger Federer, who played against Radek Stepanek, and despite this being his first match in almost two months, Roger came out in fine style and defeated the Czeck player with great ease, with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Roger looks fit and fresh as no doubt he would be after taking such a long break, but whether or not that works against him in the later round we will just have to wait and see.
But now onto the match of the day which was between the world no.1, Novak Djokovic and the up and coming Grigor Dimitrov, the very talented player from Bulgaria, who promised to give Nole a stern test. And the Bulgarian did just that as he battled it out with Djokovic over 3 hours, and despite their last two meetings, where he failed to even win a set, Dimitrov this time had no such trouble, as he took the first set breaker. In the 2nd play went by serve again and Djokovic managed to win the set in the tiebreak. However in the 3rd set despite the fact that the odds looked to be stacked in Novak's favour, it was Dimitrov that made the key move and broke the Serb straight off and maintained that break. And at 5-3, Djokovic capitulated on serve and handed in that game Dimitrov the biggest win of his career, after a brutal 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 victory.
This was quite a performance from Grigor Dimitrov, who last year and this year has shown unbelievable promise, as he has slowly and surely posed a big threat to the top guys, as he has already given Andy Murray and Rafa tough tests this year. But in this match Dimitrov has started to make the transition and he has proven he is a real talent and one to watch as the year progresses, and its great to see a new name arrive on the scene, who has got it in them to cause upsets, as the Bulgarian did tonight. And with Nole out of the tournament, things just that bit more interesting...
Anyway that's it for now, more to follow as Rafa and Ferrer will be in action tomorrow, as well as Laura Robson who will take on Ana Ivanovic for a place in the quarter finals.
So until then bye the now.
To start off we had on the ladies starting with Serena Williams, who got off to a slow start in her first round match (surprising none of the top seeds appeared to have a bye into the 2nd round in Madrid!) but came through in 7-5, 6-1, and in her 2nd round match against Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain, she beat the Spaniad 6-2, 7-5. Victoria Azarenka had a tough time of it as she had to battle past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova after two tight tiebreak sets she came through in 7-6(8), 7-6(3) where she will face Ekaterina Makarova in the 2nd round. Sara Errani also had a tough time getting past Sorana Cirstea of Romania (lovely!) as she was taken the distance in a 3 set battle, winning 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Petra Kvitova also fought hard to win against Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory. And Marion Bartoli made progress into the 3rd round after she beat Maria Teresa Torro Flor (now that's a name!) in 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Also on the ladies front there was good news for British tennis, as Laura Robson after suffering six straight defeats in so many tournaments, bounced back brilliantly in Madrid, as she overcame a slow start in her first match against Magdelina Rybarikova, after losing the first set, she battled back in and went to win the match ease as broke the Slovak twice, and went to secure a much needed win in 6-7, 6-2, 6-2. And things got better from there as Laura went on to pull of arguably the biggest win of her career by defeating Agnieszka Radwanska, the world No.4 in straight sets with a stunning score of 6-3, 6-1. Laura has already proved to be something of a giant killer, as she has already taken the scalps of Kim Clijsters (having ended her career last year at the US Open) Li Na and Petra Kvitova, so this adds to her impressive record, and its great to see her return to form, as there is no doubt that with time Laura will get even better, and she's got it in her to beat the best.
So onto the men's starting off with Andy Murray who took on the tricky German player, Forian Mayer, who put on a dazzling display of great tennis and fired down 13 aces in the match, which made life difficult for Andy as he struggled to get a ready on the German's serve. However Andy himself served well, and pushed the match to a first set tiebreak, which was a real epic marathon as both players had set points, with Mayer having three, but Andy finally fashioned one and took the opening set. In the 2nd set, Andy dropped serve straight away and Mayer raced into a 4-1 lead, looking certain to level the match and push it to a decider. However Andy managed to break back and again things went by serve into a tiebreak, where Andy dominated the German and seal a tough victory in 7-6(11), 7-6(3).
This was a tough opening test for Andy, but he came through in fine style and used all his mental resolve to fight off Mayer's resistance. This also shows an encouraging start to his tournament in Madrid, and hopefully this time Andy can avoid an early exit, as his next opponent will be Gilles Simon, the Frenchman who has only beaten Andy once, and Andy has beaten him in both their previous clay court encounters. And hopefully Andy's clay court training looks to have paid off, and let's hope he can go deep into the tournament, or reach the quarter finals at least, although there he might face Tomas Berdych which could be a tough test for him, but we can deal with when and if we get there.
Next up we had the defending champion Roger Federer, who played against Radek Stepanek, and despite this being his first match in almost two months, Roger came out in fine style and defeated the Czeck player with great ease, with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Roger looks fit and fresh as no doubt he would be after taking such a long break, but whether or not that works against him in the later round we will just have to wait and see.
But now onto the match of the day which was between the world no.1, Novak Djokovic and the up and coming Grigor Dimitrov, the very talented player from Bulgaria, who promised to give Nole a stern test. And the Bulgarian did just that as he battled it out with Djokovic over 3 hours, and despite their last two meetings, where he failed to even win a set, Dimitrov this time had no such trouble, as he took the first set breaker. In the 2nd play went by serve again and Djokovic managed to win the set in the tiebreak. However in the 3rd set despite the fact that the odds looked to be stacked in Novak's favour, it was Dimitrov that made the key move and broke the Serb straight off and maintained that break. And at 5-3, Djokovic capitulated on serve and handed in that game Dimitrov the biggest win of his career, after a brutal 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 victory.
This was quite a performance from Grigor Dimitrov, who last year and this year has shown unbelievable promise, as he has slowly and surely posed a big threat to the top guys, as he has already given Andy Murray and Rafa tough tests this year. But in this match Dimitrov has started to make the transition and he has proven he is a real talent and one to watch as the year progresses, and its great to see a new name arrive on the scene, who has got it in them to cause upsets, as the Bulgarian did tonight. And with Nole out of the tournament, things just that bit more interesting...
Anyway that's it for now, more to follow as Rafa and Ferrer will be in action tomorrow, as well as Laura Robson who will take on Ana Ivanovic for a place in the quarter finals.
So until then bye the now.
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