2014 Wimbledon men's predictions

Well its not too long now before the third grand slam and most prestiguous tournament in the world of tennis get's under way at London SW19 in the town of Wimbledon, as the Wimbledon championships nears us once more.  Last year Andy Murray made history by becoming the first British singles player to win the title in 77 years so he goes in as the defending champion.  But as Wimbledon has been a tad unpredictable the last couple of years its hard to pick out the regular favourites, i.e. Djokovic or Nadal being the outright champions.  So here are my predictions, which will probably not be that accurate but for what its worth here they are.

Novak Djokovic



Well believe it or not but I'm putting Novak Djokovic right at the top of this list and that's because in terms of consistency he has been the best player in the world over the last two or three years in the majors and most tournaments.  And while Nole has struggled on the grass since his Wimbledon victory three years ago, he still has an excellent chance of winning should he reach the final and I think he will reach the final this year as he has been in the last four out of six major finals over the last year!  However despite his consistency in his results, Novak has to yet win a slam this year and he hasn't won one since his win over Andy Murray in the Australian open final last year, so there is still a question mark over his head.  And should Rafa reach the final then there is a fair bet that Rafa will win it given he has won their last four grand slam meetings.  But given Rafa's back injury and very limited time to adjust to the grass, I can probably see Novak having a better chance of reaching the final than Rafa has.  The other complication for Novak is of course Andy Murray, whom he has never even won a set against on the grass at Wimbledon never mind a match, so if the Scot finds his best form in the final again, well Nole is sure to be second best.  However if neither Rafa, Roger or Andy reach the final then I think Novak will have his best shot at winning the title again for the 2nd time and as he has no fitness issues like Rafa has or has not had to have surgery like Andy and Roger might be getting a bit long in the tooth to go all the way.  So the way I see it, Nole is a top contender with a real shot.  Prediction: finalist or champion.

Andy Murray 

 

Next up is the defending champion, Andy Murray, who made his mark in history by being the first British player to win the singles title in 77 years since Fred Perry back in 1936, which is in itself an incredible feat.  However Andy after having come back from his back surgery isn't quite the same player this year and despite some good results in the slams so far with a quarter final result in Melbourne and the semis in Paris, he is yet to find his top form and hasn't won a title since Wimbledon last year or reached a final either.  Andy also had a troubling dip in form this week at Queens club where he was the defending champion there too and he went out early in the 3rd round to Radek Stepanek, the Davis cup Czeck team hero.  However we could attribute this to a bit of fatigue from Andy after having played such a gruelling yet promising campaign at the French open, which despite his drubbing from Rafa, saw his ranking bump up three places to No.5 in the world.  But there is still a big question mark hanging over Andy as to whether or not has can defend his title this year, and despite hiring a new coach, Amelie Mauresmo (funnily enough they both have the same initials!) it remains to be seen how they will get on as a partnership.  So there is much uncertainty ahead for Andy going into Wimbledon, however I don't think his result at Queens will be a true reflection of how he will play at Wimbledon and I think he will go pretty deep into the tournament.  Can he win it this year???  I'm not entirely certain he will but I would really like to see Andy do it, and he just might with Mauresmo's help, who herself is a former Wimbledon champion and she has done very well at overcoming adversity in her career.  There is also of course the issue of Andy's serve as his first serve percentage isn't high enough most of the time and his 2nd serve at Wimbledon will most likely get pummelled by his opponents, and whether or not Mauresmo can help with that or another is again another matter altogether.  So a title defence for Andy is tough at this stage to predict but I do think Andy will be in the last four or final two.  Prediction: semi finals or finalist

Roger Federer

 

So after Nole and Andy I have gone for Roger Federer, the seven time Wimbledon champion, who normally in the past you would bet your mortgage on each year that he would come out on top in his favourite tournament.  But the problem for Roger this year is his schedule has taken a bit of a setback due to his wife Mirka, having given birth to their twins, it saw an impressive run from Roger earlier in the season disrupted.  Roger is generally considered the greatest player of all time and it would be hard to argue with that, however in terms of fitness he isn't the same player he was, and in the slams he results over the last year or so haven't been that stellar and he made a surprise exit to Ernests Gulbis at the French open in the 4th round this year.  Despite that I think Roger can still enjoy a pretty good run of form at Wimbledon and there is no doubt he will be sharper and more on his game this year than he was a year ago so it wouldn't be surprise he went real deep into the tournament.  I don't see him as the champion, but I think he will still make an impact.  Prediction: quarter or semi finals.

Rafael Nadal 



Right so you might ask why I have put the world no.1 at the bottom of the "big four" and the reason why is because while Rafa is at the top of the men's rankings and the undisputed king of clay having just won his 9th French open title, when it comes to grass over the last two years, if you will pardon the pun, he just hasn't been cutting it (sorry!).  This might well be to do with the very short turnaround time between the French and Wimbledon, which at a mere two weeks is simply too short. especially given the fact there are months in between the other slams in comparison.  And this has left Rafa turned and fatigued from his French open campaigns and without match practice for the grass courts.  Rafa did travel to the tournament in Halle this year after his sucess at Roland Garros but he went out in his very first match to the German player, Dustin Brown, which showed his lack of match play on grass was evident and also a concern.  So his success at Wimbledon will purely depend on how well he can put together a good run of form and also find a way to win his matches.  If Rafa can survive the first week, I'd give him a good shout at reaching the semis or even the final, but if he plays a much fresher Novak Djokovic for example in the final, then I think we could be looking at the Serb lifting the title instead.  There is also the issue of Rafa's back, which had been troubling him during the French open again, and given the sudden change in surface, this could prove a problem again.  So as far as Rafa is concerned he's a difficult one to root for in Wimbledon this year as it will depend purely on his fitness, form and ability to find a way to get his matches won even if he isn't up to par.  But if he get's into the second week then he's got a good shot at making a run to the title.  Prediction: 2nd round, semis, final or champion.

Grigor Dimitrov



Next is Grigor Dimitrov who I thought would do a great job at the French open, however his campaign there didn't go as planned at all as he exited in the first round.  But this time I think Grigor will go much deeper and he won his first grass court title today at the Aegon championships today at Queens club in London and there he proved he has the belief to tough it out and win.  Grigor also has a game that is well suited to grass as well which will make him a very dangerous player at SW19 and should he make a good start then he's got every chance of pushing himself into the second week of the tournament.  Can he win it????  Not so sure but unlike the French open I think he can make a better impact there than he did on the red dirt.  Prediction: quarter or semi finals.

David Ferrer

 

My next pick would be David Ferrer who quite alot of people would see morely as a clay court specialist, but this guy is no specialist, Ferrer can play great on every surface.  Ferrer may not yet have won a slam but he has shown remarkable consistency in his results over the years on all surfaces and he has also reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon over the last two years, which shows the Spaniard's game translate well to grass.  Ferrer however despite his tremendous foot speed, athletic ability and sublime return game, lacks the big weapons to take down any of the big four on grass and he might be at risk to one or two other top players as well, which most likely will stop his progress at SW19.  However I do think that Ferrer will once again show his consistency and it would be surprise me if the Spaniard will go deep and another quarter final most likely be on the cards and perhaps he might go a little further, we'll see.  Prediction: quarter or semi finals.

Tomas Berdych
 
Then there is Tomas Berdych who was a former finalist back in 2010 at Wimbledon and he is also a very solid and consistent performer at SW19 over the years and with his big game and powerful serve he is a real threat to anyone on his day.  However Berdych also lacks the mental edge that's needed when he get's closer to the finish line and he has often put himself in a position where he could go deep but then he squanders more often than not.  So I don't quite see the big Czeck win the title but he definitely could make it into the second week given his pedigree on grass, he is a danger to anyone out there when he's on his game.  Prediction: quarter finals.

Kei Nishikori

Kei deserves to be on this list as well as he is quite some player in his own right and he too has made it into the quarter finals of the slams in Australia, and he also recently reached the semi finals of the Gerry Webber grass court tournament in Halle (where Federer plays every year).  The only issue with Nishikori will be his fitness as he had some back trouble during the clay court season where he managed to reach the final in Madrid, where he was a set and a break up against a less than convincing looking Rafa, before he was forced to throw the towel in because of his back injury.  And if Kei's back flares up again well things might not be that good for him, but if it doesn't then I can definitely see the Japanese player reach the last eight or at least the final 16.  Predictions: 4th round or quarter finals.
 

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Then we have Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who has been two times a former semi finalist at Wimbledon, and he has also reached the final at Queens club three years ago as well, so Tsonga's quality as a grass court player is undeniable.  Tsonga however hasn't been having the best year as he has really been struggling with form and he made a puzzling exit at the French open in the 4th round against NOvak Djokovic, where he was sure to give the Serb a real match, but instead he faded badly, making a rash unforced errors he won only six games, perhaps he folded under pressure.  And that is the problem with Tsonga as he is an all or nothing player, when his game is on, he can just about beat anybody, but when its off, and half the time it is off, then Tsonga really struggles to do anything well.  So Tsonga if he can refind his form will have the chance to do well at Wimbledon, like he has in the past, but if he plays like he has so far this year, then he hasn't a chance, but despite that Tsonga could still pull himself together at SW19.  Whether or not he does in time remains to be seen, but he could do well and get into the 2nd week.  Prediction: 4th round or quarter finals.

Stan Wawrinka

And then we have Stan Wawrinka who's season has enjoyed mixed fortunes, he started off the possible way by winning the Australian open, his major title and then went on to claim his first Masters title at Monte Carlo.  But since then Stan has struggled to find consistency and he also suffered a few early exits, the most notable one being his departure at the French open in the first round.  But what can be said for Stan is when he finds his form, he is very dangerous and difficult to stop, especially given the power of his game, with a big serve and the perhaps the best single handed backhand of all time.  So Stan's progress at SW19 will again purely depend on him finding his form at the right time, he sure will want to make up for his early exit at the French open and I'm sure he will.  Can he win it???  No don't think so because his game isn't really tailor made for grass but he can possibly make the second week if he plays well enough.  Prediction: 4th round, quarter or semi finals.   


John Isner

And last of all we have big John Isner, who is already a star at Wimbledon because he played that incredible match against Nicholas Mahut four years ago, which lasted well over 11 hours and the final set alone featured 138 games!   So Isner has got a decent chance of doing well at Wimbledon given his powerful and largely accurate serve as well as a good net game, as long as Isner isn't drawn into big long rallies he may have a good chance of preserving himself for the latter stages.  However the problem for John is that he is quite often drawn into big long matches and if he has to endure two five setters in a row it could really impinge on his chances to go any deeper.  But with a decent 4th round result at the French open already this year, I can see the big man reach the second week this year as well at SW19 and if his serve is on, there's not much anyone can do.  So he won't win it, but John is still a threat (and a very big one!).  Predictions: 4th round or quarter finals.

So that's it for my look at my Wimbledon predictions, so I guess we'll soon see how they pan out.  I'd personally rather see a repeat of last year's final between Andy and Nole, which could give Andy a good chance of winning again.  But I'd rather not see Rafa and Novak in the final as its all too familiar and Wimbledon has been the slam that has shaken things in the last two years, so let's hope things are shaken up once more.

So my next post will cover the start of the Wimbledon championships so we will see how it goes, it should be fun.

Until then bye for now! 

2014 Roland Garros Part 6 Men's Final: Cloud 9 and breaking the mould

Right so this is my last post on the 2014 French open will cover the mens final which was a highly anticipated clash between the world no.1 and 2, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.  So would Rafa win his record breaking 9th Roland Garros title or would Nole complete his career slam with his first title in Paris?  Let's have a look and find out....

OK so we've been there many times before, we know the story with these two guys, the two best players in the world no question and they have met more than any two players have in the history of the game as this was to be their 42nd career meeting with Rafa leading 22-19 in their very close head to head.  So this match promised to be a classic, but what is it???  Well in all honesty no it wasn't one exactly, although it got off to a decent start with Djokovic imposing himself on Rafa as he broke the Spaniard's serve to claim the 1st set.  In the 2nd set play went by serve until 6-5 with Nole serving to take it into a tiebreak, when he had a lapse in concentration and as someone called out in the crowd he double faulted to go 15-15 and Rafa went on to win the next three points to even the scores at a set all.  In the 3rd Rafa now had the momentum and an increasingly weary looking Djokovic started to misfire and make alot of unforced errors which saw him hand a double break to Rafa who took the two sets to one lead.  And in the 4th set, Nole continued looking worse for wear and at one point even spat out phlem on the court (yuk!) clearly suffering from fatigue and possibly also from a suspected virus (as hinted in the press).  And during the 4th Nole was broken again by Rafa, which looked to spell the end, however Nole managed to break back once again to level 4-4.  However.... the fate of the Gods was with Novak once again as at 4-5, serving to make it 5-5, Nole at 30-40, was distracted by someone calling out while he was about to serve, which prompted him to serve a double fault for the second time in his second French open final, which saw Rafa sink to his knees in tears of joy as he won his 9th French crown with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Well as far as finals go, especially between these two men, this was pretty disappointing and the level of play was mixed throughout, with both men at different times feeling fatigued on the court.  And it didn't even have the feel of a Djokovic-Nadal match, which are usually liberally peppered with wonderful baseline rallies and great exchanges, and if you were lucky there were probably three or four good rallies tops in the match!  Instead the points were largely kept short as both men were trying to attack one another, probably because of the intense heat on the court, with the temps in Paris soaring around 30 degrees, so you can imagine the heat on the court being worse.  So in terms of finals it came up way short on expectations of being a great final, especially given their 2012 final was a slow burner, but turned into an excellent contest as it carried on.  Djokovic out of the two men it has to be said was definitely the more worse for wear especially as play went into 3rd and 4th sets, he looked like he just wanted a lie down.  And it was a great pity that he suffered the same cruel fate two years ago when he double faulted to hand the title to Rafa once again and afterwards Djokovic clearly looked emotional as the crowd gave him a warm reception on the podium when he received his runner up dish.  And I wonder if last year Novak missed his golden opportunity to win his first RG title last year as he squandered his break in the 5th set of his Rafa match last year in the semi finals, which if he'd held onto it could even have been a different story this year.  But Nole might yet get his chance to win the title in Paris.   

As for the Rafa well once again he has defied all odds and shown that he is the man to beat at Roland Garros and he now stands with an incredible 66-1 record in Paris, 9 titles, it is a record that will most likely never been equalled again in anyone's lifetime.  This also now sees Rafa tied with Pete Sampras at 14 grand slam titles to his name and he is only three away from Roger Federer who holds the record for the men's at 17.  And with Rafa having won at the French he now goes into Wimbledon as a heavy favourite next to Andy Murray, the defending champion (more on him in a tick or two!).  And Rafa will be determined to make up for his early departures from SW19 in the last two years due to his knee injury, as even last year his knee wasn't holding up as well on the grass as he'd hoped and suffered his first round exit of a slam for many years against the journeyman player, Steve Darcis.  And if Rafa wins at Wimbledon then I can see him go on to win the US Open as well this year too, which will see him continue to dominate the game and hold the world's top spot, which is safe just now for him after his triumph in Paris.

Now onto another tennis related subject which is Andy Murray's coach, as since his departure from Ivan Lendl, there has been much speculation as to who Andy would choose for his next coach and there have been different names thrown into the mix such as John McEnroe, Larry Stefanki (who coached Andy Roddick) and even Martina Navratilova.  However in the end Andy has decided on the former Wimbledon ladies singles champion, Amelie Mauresmo, who won the title back in 2006.  Mauresmo herself has already previously coached other players including Marion Bartoli, whom he she guided to her Wimbledon victory last year, and also Michael Llodra.  So its an interesting choice and it could very well work out in Andy's favour as he said he chose her as he felt it was time for input from a new voice, and he already has been coached by his mother, Judy, years ago, so he is no stranger to a female coach.  Andy also felt that Mauresmo would provide a calming influence for his camp and her playing style was to think out her opponents and try solve problems, similar to Andy's approach.

So as the Queens club tournament starts this week and the grass court season get's under way, Andy will start working Mauresmo straight away and we will see how they get on.  Although if he doesn't do well at Queens or Wimbledon I wonder if he will decide to end their partnership, but only time will tell on that one (which may prompt patronising headlines such as "Never send a woman to do a man's job!" no doubt).  However if their partnership does work out then it will see Andy as something of a pioneer in terms of coach selection, as he had Djokovic and Federer follow suit on recruiting former major champions to coach them, maybe other plays might consider a female coach as well.  But again the gender of the coach doesn't really matter as long as Mauresmo can help Andy achieve his goals to win more majors then that's what counts and if he can defend his titles at Queens and Wimbledon this year, then she's got him off to the perfect start.  So for now its an interesting time for Andy and we will wait and see how his new coaching partnership will pan out.

Right so that's it for now, I will be back soon and probably do cover something on Queens later in the week.

Till then bye for now.         

2014 Roland Garros Part 5 Ladies Final: The queen of clay

OK so this is my last post on the ladies 2014 French Open tournament which will cover the final which was between Maria Sharapova and the talented and in form Romanian and World No.4, Simona Halep.  So let's give this one a closer look....

Right so the final in a way was a bit of unknown terrority as it was Simona Halep's first major final so it was hard to predict how it would pan out.  However the final turned out to be one of the best grand slam ladies finals in quite some time, after so many routine straight set wins for the likes of players such as Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Li Na over the years this was a real battle to the very end.  And in the first set Halep expressed her intent as she got a break on the Sharapova serve straight off, although the Russian typically battled back to break the Romanian and get on even terms.  And play went by serve in the first set after that until 5-4, with Halep faltering to hand the first set to Sharapova.  In the 2nd set Sharapova looked to be in full control as she broke Halep early on, however the plucky young Romanian was far from done as she broke back and continued to use her impressive court coverage and defensive skills to keep her in the match.  And Halep even broke Sharapova twice at 5-4 and 6-5 to serve for the 2nd set, however Sharapova broke back both times and play went into a tense tiebreak, which saw momentum swing back and forth but Halep finally got the vital break and clinched the 2nd set to push play into a decider.  In the decider things were close again as Sharapova got an early break but Halep yet broke back and showed her tenacity to go 4-4, but Sharapova once again showed her grit and broke yet again.  And in the final game at 5-4, Sharapova held her nerves of steel and served it out to claim her second title at Roland Garros after an epic 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory.

There is no doubt this was an incredible and very worthy final to what has been an excellent ladies tournament at the French and it would difficult to imagine a better match than the one we got.  Sharapova once again showed her incredible fighting spirit as she was taken the distance for the 4th time in a row in the tournament and as soon as Serena Williams exited the tournament you just knew that the Russian (should be Russian/American really!) was the favourite.  So this sees Maria now hold the French open title for a second time and overall its her 5th major and out of all the surfaces Sharapova would have been expected to lift more than one slam on, you would least of all expect it to be clay.  But Sharapova over the last few years has worked exceptionally hard on her clay court game and with the exception of Serena Williams, who can transcend any surface, Maria is now the best clay court player in the ladies game.  And if Serena doesn't stand in her way next year I can see her winning it again and maybe a few more times before she is done. 

As for Simona Halep well this was a terrific and gutsy effort for her first slam final and at no time in the match did she look flustered or overawed by the occassion.  Halep also proved here beyond a doubt that she is a potential future grand slam winner and I'm sure before her career is over she will have plenty more opportunities to win a major and she will surely finish her career with at least one before she hangs up her racquet.  And what was also so impressive about Halep at the tournament was the fact that she didn't even drop a single set going into the final, which was remarkable in itself and if she maintains that level for future slams then she is going to be mighty tough to stop.

So that's it for the ladies French open and it was quite a finale and it certainly announced the arrival of Simona Halep and it was also a testament to Mara Sharapova's fight qualities that she was able to claim her second RG title.  Next up of course is Wimbledon and despite the fact that Serena Williams remains the favourite there, last year's tournament was very unpredictable which saw alot of upsets with Serena herself being stunned by the eventual finalist Sabine Lisicki.  As for the defending champion, Marion Bartoli, well we all know that she retired not long after winning there, which was a shame as Marion was quite a player, but due to recurring injuries she felt it was time to "call it a career" as she put it herself.  So whatever happens at Wimbledon this year it promises to be quite a tournament and I personally very much look forward to it.

Right well that's it for the ladies French Open in 2014 and overall it has been a better tournament to watch from the ladies perspective than the men's as the matches have been more exciting to watch.  But next up is the men's final between Rafa and Djoko and it promises to be a great final, which should hopefully make up for what's been a rather underwhelming tournament on the men's side.

So until the next one its au revoir for now. 

2014 Roland Garros Men's Part 5: 3-2-1 and the battle for World No.1

So this is my penulimate post on the men's French open of 2014 which will cover the men's semi finals matches which would feature three grand slam champions and one newcomer to the top of the game.  So let's give the matches a look...

Right so for the first match we had Novak Djokovic, the 2012 finalist, taken on the rising star, Ernests Gulbis for a place in the final. The match on paper sounded like a bit of a classic and also a real test for Nole given Gulbis's form, however as we all know expectations can be difficult to live up to and the match itself wasn't a cracker even though the level of play at times was pretty good.  Nole got off to the better start naturally as he moved and served great and left Gulbis quite often flat footed, who was feeling the pressue and Nole took a two set lead in just over an hour.  However things changed in the 3rd set as Novak lost his concentration and let Gulbis in, who broke serve and went on to push the match further into a 4th set.  In the 4th set Nole got an early break as Gulbis appeared to suffer with his back, but he left Gulby off the hook, who broke back again.  In the end however Gulbis's comeback was shortlived as he dropped serve to let Nole go 5-3 up and the Serb didn't need anymore than that as he went on to seal the match and a place in his second final at the French open with a 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

Well this match in the end wasn't too bad but considering the billing it was a bit of a letdown and it had to be said that both players were struggling a little physically during the match, although it was surprising to see Novak was struggling a bit too in the 3rd and 4th sets.  The temperatures on court were however pretty high as the temps were in the late 20s so obviously both players were literally feeling the heat.  But despite all that its credit again to Novak who has so far played a pretty solid tournament and its second final at Roland Garros which is no mean feat and he will have another chance to complete his career slam and win the elusive title he wants most.  As for Gulbis well he has had a great tournament and its sees his best career result so far in the slams by reaching his first semi final in Paris, and he will be sure to get inside the top 10 soon enough.

So this brings me onto the second semi final of the day which was between Rafael Nadal, the eight time champion at Roland Garros and the Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray.  The prospect of this match was undeniably mouth watering especially given their previous match in Rome, which was the first they had played in nearly three years was one of the best matches of the year, so this one promised to be real special.  But.... sadly it didn't turn out that way and despite a very positive first point of the match won by Andy on Rafa's serve, that was about as good as it got as after that Andy's game degenerated into a calamity of errors which Rafa capitalised on throughout.  But things didn't look too grim in the first set as Rafa broke Andy only once and took the set, however after that things just went from bad to worse as Andy struggled horribly on his serve and it hit an all time low of 40% first serves in during the second set!  And in the 3rd, Andy looked a beaten man and he did everything short of waving the white flag, which he pretty much did anyway.  And at 5-1, Andy failed to even hold serve to force Rafa to serve it out, as the king of clay smashed away a final winning forehand to crush Andy's dreams of reaching his first French open final, which saw the Spaniard reaching his 9th final with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 rout.

So to say this match didn't live up to expectations is a real understatement and I'm sure it was possibly one of the worst grand slam matches I have ever seen Andy Murray play, as well as one of the heaviest losses he has suffered in a major tournament.  However it has been a pretty gruelling tournament physically for Andy having played two five set matches on his way to the semis and he seemed to complain about his legs again during play, which maybe suggests he was cramping again, although he didn't call for a trainer at any time so who knows?  What was clear though was Andy just wasn't allowed to play his game as he was up against a near invincible opponent who was just unstoppable.  And whoever Andy chooses as his next coach will really need to try and address his extremely problematic serve as I stated above at one point during his match, Andy's first serve percentage plummeted to 40% which is nowhere near good enough and he will never beat the big guys like Rafa with those types of figures.  And given the slower surface of clay, Andy's flat serve doesn't travel so well on the surface, which probably results in his percentage going down further.  Rafa on the other hand had the match in the palm of his hand after losing the first point, he never looked back and the conditions for play were perfect for him with a warm sunny day and a light wind, the ball travels fast through the air and the high bounce on clay let's Rafa get the perfect topspin he needs for his shots, which he executed to perfection today.

And the question remains, not just for Andy but for everyone else, just how do you beat a man who has won 65 matches at the same tournament and lost only once???  Its a near impossible task to pull off and the only man who managed it was Robin Soderling back in 2009 and since then Rafa has continued unbeaten on the clay, so when you think of that, it makes you realise the titanic challenge that lay ahead for Andy and unfortunately he just wasn't up to the task.  Another troubling thing that has emerged from this match and Andy's previous match with Rafa is will the Spaniard continue to defeat Andy the way he used to in the past with the same regularity?  Because if that is the case its going to be very difficult for Andy to make it into any slam finals again unless Rafa loses en route and he really has struggled with Rafa in the past in slams and it appears like he might continue to if he comes up against Rafa in that form.  And if Andy faces Rafa in Wimbledon this year how will he respond to the man from Mallorca as another painful defeat could be awaiting him.  Andy has already stated in the media that he would like to face Rafa again on grass with the intention of taking revenge over his emphatic defeat at the French open, can he????  Well you can but hope, last year if Rafa faced Andy I would almost certainly say that Andy would have beaten him at Wimbledon as he himself was unstoppable at that tournament.  Andy is currently also the best grass court player in the world and he is currently on an 18 match winning streak on grass, but can he keep that form up this year???  Its really hard to say and the signs we have seen this year suggest its doubtful, but there is no doubt that when the British No.1 steps out on that centre court at Wimbledon he will be fired up and ready to go and if he is to go out to Rafa eventually then he will give his all before it happens.  

So it was a very disappointing and heavy loss for Andy and I'm sure its one match he will want to forget, but on the bright side he reached the semi finals again at the French open, and having missed it last year, he will gain a valuable 720 ranking points, which sees his return to the top 5 in the world which is great to see.  And it has to be said that Andy has played some of the most entertaining matches of the men's tournament this year, which overall has been it a bit of a letdown.  And with the grass court season starting next week, it will see Andy back in his comfort zone again as grass is his favourite surface, having won five titles on grass already and being the defending Wimbledon champion and also at Queens club, which starts on Monday coming.  However during the grass court season, Andy will have to play very well as he has alot of points to defend, with 250 at Queens and a whopping 2000 at Wimbledon, so if he goes out early at SW19, he will take a big hit on points there, which will affect his ranking again.  But despite his tough French open loss, the signs are still looking pretty encouraging for Andy and we will see how he get's on next week at Queens.  As for his next coach, well Andy said he would make an annoucement after the French open, which ends on Sunday, so does this mean he will announce whoever it is next week???  Perhaps not, as he still seems non-committal over the subject, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

So this sets up the French open final between the world No.1 and No.2, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in a rematch of their excellent 2012 final.  So who will win this one??????  Well..... its a tough call but I would have to go with Rafa, who's form has been excellent throughout the tournament and he played a superb match against Andy, which showed every asepct of his game was on fire.  Novak on the other hand has played very well throughout the tournament overall, but he also has suffered a few lapses on serve here and there, which he cannot afford to do in the final against Rafa.  Nole has also said he felt a bit fatigued on the court during his match with Gulbis, which also leaves a bit of a question mark over his fitness and whether or not he can topple and dethrone the king of clay on Sunday.  And Novak also had his golden chance least year to beat Rafa as he went a break up in the 5th set, but he squandered it by tripping into the net at a key point, which he later lost as a result.  So this time Novak simply cannot have any slip-ups, literal or otherwise, or else he will come out second best.  And here's hoping Djokovic doesn't have a repeat in his previous final two years ago where he double faulted on championship point for Rafa, which no doubt was a point that haunted him and left him a wounded man months after.  However despite that Novak still has a decent chance of winning the title if he can find that extra gear and play a great match then he will left the trophy on Sunday.  But for me personally I think Rafa will triumph again and win his record 9th title here, so I think Rafa will win it in either four or five sets, but whatever happens it promises to be quite a final.

But one thing I have noticed is that Novak has put up a photo of himself playing chess (on Sat 07.06) with Boris Becker, his head coach, and he is wearing a bandage on his arm!  Now as Djokovic has had a prior wrist injury this doesn't look like a good sign and if his wrist has flared up again then his chances tomorrow are not good as he will need to be 100 percent to have any chance against Rafa.  So it makes you wonder is there something wrong with Novak's wrist or is he is trying to use a bit of gamesmanship to lull Rafa into a false sense of security???  If its the latter then the French crowd will come down on him like a tonne of bricks and straight away Rafa has an advantage with the crowd supporting him instead.  However Djokovic has aluded to not feeling his best on Friday and has suggested in his press conference that he had some undisclosed ailment, and if it is his wrist again or something else, then he could very well lose tomorrow, but we'll wait and see how it pans out.  But it would be ironic if we were to have another injury laden slam final again like we did with Rafa back in the Australian open earlier this year and even Rafa's back has been playing up a little bit again at the French as well although he has downplayed it alot more and it certainly hasn't impeded his play.  So again we will wait and see how tomorrow pans out but it promises to be interesting one way or another especially as the World No.1 ranking is on the line for both of them, as Nole could overtake Rafa in the rankings to the top spot if he wins and also complete his career slam, or if Nole loses Rafa will remain at the top of the rankings and claim a record 9th title at Roland Garros, so its going to be a very intruiging day.  

Right so that's it for now and I will be back with the result of the ladies final and see who comes out on top in the final between Maria Sharapova and the very talented and in form Romanian player, Simona Halep, who has reached the first major final of her career in Paris.

And with that I shall leave yee there.     

2014 Roland Garros Men's Part 4: Heading toward the big showdown....

OK time for the men's remaining quarter finals and this is where we get down to business and I will cover the second round of quarter final matches, which feature some big names, so let's have a look....

Right so the first match up was between Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer, two of the biggest competitors on clay just now.  Now given Rafa's incredible record over Ferrer, which stood at 21-6 in Rafa's favour you would see him as the overwhelming favourite to win.  But the match itself didn't start that way and it had an unusual complexion to it as Rafa got off to a slow start and Ferrer got motoring and he ended up taking the first set, which was also the first ever set he won against Rafa at Roland Garros.  In the 2nd set, Ferrer soon went down a break, but he kept on fighting but inevitably Rafa had started to raise his level and he took the set to level the match.  However unfortunately for Ferrer in the 3rd set, his challenge started to fade badly and his self belief evaporated as Rafa started to race through the match and go through his fellow Spaniard and dished out a bagel set.  In the 4th set things weren't much better for Ferrer as he continued his rash of unforced errors, although he had a slight glimmer of hope as he got a break back, but it did no good in the end as Rafa ruthlessly finished off Ferrer to make it into another semi final in Paris with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 victory.

Given the high quality of the first two sets it was a shame this match didn't fully live up to expectations and the most surprising thing in the end was how Ferrer dwindled so badly from the match as it went on.  And that remains a big problem for Ferrer as he has often admitted in the press that he isn't as good as the "big four" and that lack of confidence was clear in this match.  And if Ferrer is ever to have a chance against Rafa and the others he has to start believing he can beat them and not be so humble in his expectations.  And the funny thing is Ferrer has beaten Rafa already on clay this year in Monte Carlo, and if he had somehow managed to maintain his level from the 1st set it might be him in the semi finals just now instead of Rafa.  But the bottom line is that Ferrer has always lacked the belief to beat Rafa in the big events and it was always going to be a tall order to defeat Rafa in his own back yard.  As for Rafa well it just shows even when he isn't playing his best he will find a way to get the job done and he certainly did that here.

So now we get onto the second quarter final match of the day,reak Andy which was between Andy Murray and the last French man standing, Gael Monfils.  This promised to be quite an entertaining match and it sure turned out to be that as while it was a bit of a slow burner with Andy starting off where he left against Verdasco as he served well, moved and defending superbly, he didn't let Monfils into the match at all and he soon took a swift two set lead.  However that all changed in the 3rd set as Monfils started to settle down into a ryhthym and he began to feed off the energy of the Parisian (and Partisan!) crowd and he managed to break Andy at 5-4 to take the 3rd set and extend the match, which saw the French folk go wild.  Monfils continued his comeback in the 4th set as well as Andy played some sloppy serve games and suffered a double break, which gave Monfils all he needed to level the scores at two sets all.  And going into the decider with the crowd fully behind him, Monfils was the favourite and Andy's chances started to look grim.  However Andy defied all odds and got off to a solid start by holding his serve, he then went on to demolish Monfils, who failed spectacularly to hold his serve or any points and in just 24 minutes, Andy raced to victory to reach his second semi final at the French open after a bizarre 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-0 win.

Well so far Andy has played some of the most dramatic and entertaining matches of the tournament so far and this one was no exception and both men played some lovely points for the crowd as they both displayed their deft touch and power form the baseline.  Monfils is a streaky player but when he's on he is very dangerous and after levelling at two sets all he looked the favourite to win this match, but then Monfils's level dropped spectacularly as if the prospect and the pressure of actually defeating a two time major champion took its toll on him.  As for Andy well we know he likes to do things the hard way and he sure did it that way in this match but his resolve to finish off Monfils so quickly in fading light on Philipp Chatrier in front of thousands French fans was very impressive and it shows once again he really has learned that champion mentality so well from Ivan Lendl.

So this sets up one hell of a tantalising match in prospect between one Andy Murray and one Rafael Nadal and if its anything like their most recent encounter in Rome its gonna be one absolute cracker of a match.  And after waiting nearly three years for Andy and Rafa to renew their rivalry its great to see them meet each other again for the second time in just the space of three weeks, which means they surely will have a few more meetings this year ahead of them.  So who will win????????  Well........ I'm going to have to go with Rafa as he hasn't won eight titles at Roland Garros for nowt and no matter how much Andy will throw at him, which could be hell of a lot, I don't quite see Andy take Rafa out of the event.  However I do think it could be a very close match and it promises to be a terrific encounter so let's hope it lives up to expectations.  As for my prediction I think Rafa will win in four tough sets or at an absolute push maybe five, but we will just see how he performs on the day, it could even be a straight set rout for Andy, but given his impressive form at the French I sincerely doubt it.  So however it ends up I think it just might be a classic (well let's hope so).

Right so that's it for now and I will be back with the results of the men's semis and the ladies final soon.

Till the next un bye for now! 

      
 

2014 Roland Garros Ladies Part 4: Getting to the final two....

Right time for what will actually be my penultimate post on the ladies French Open tournament as I will cover the remaining quarter finals and semi final matches, which will reveal who has made it into the ladies final, so this will cover days 11 and 12.

So to begin with day 11 we had Andrea Petkovic who faced the former finalist, Sara Errani for a place in the semi finals.  And right from the get go you would favour Errani as the favourite to win the match, however it was quite the opposite as Petkovic really asserted herself with a powerful display and she broke Errani twice in the first set and then twice in the second to seal her place in her first grand slam semi final with a very convincing 6-2, 6-2 win.  And after that we had Simona Halep who took on the former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and given Kuzie's record on clay and at Roland Garros she looked the slight favourite here.  Howeve yet again the odds were in favour of the diminutive Romanian, Halep, who just like Petkovic, dominated her opponent from the get go and the errors kept flying off Kuznetsova's racquet and with a double break in both sets, Halep went on to reach her first slam semi final as well to book a place with Andrea Petkovic in the semis.

So now we get on to day 12 which was semi finals day (i.e. today) and the match ups were potentially very exciting as we had Maria Sharapova take on the very talented new young gun, Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, who already had made the semis earlier this year in Melbourne.  And this match promised to be quite tough on paper and it proved to be just that as from the start Bouchard came out the blocks and started to boss Sharapova (yep boss the boss!) and she managed to break Sharapova and take the first set.  In the 2nd set Sharapova started her own fightback and she got a break, but Bouchard wasn't done by any means as she came back fro 5-2 down to level the scores, however in the end Sharapova did what she does best, dig in and a find a way to break serve and she did that and took the set to level the match.  And in the 3rd set.... well it was Sharapova that did her usual, showed her grit and steely determination and broke the young Canadian.  And at 5-2, with Bouchard looking to serve to stay in the match fo 5-3, she had to fight off a few break points from the mighty Pova, but in the end it was no good as she finally capitulated on serve and Maria screamed with delight as she reached her third consecutive final in Paris with a hard fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory.

This certainly was quite a battle from Sharapova and this is the 3rd time in a row she had to come from a set down to win the match as she previously did against Sam Stosur and Garbine Muguruza.  But one thing is for sure and that is as soon as Serena Williams went out of the championships, Maria was automatically the big favourite to win the title and I think it will very difficult to predict another outcome come this Saturday, but that will all still depend on her next opponent, which I will get to in a minute.  As for Bouchard well she has really announced herself this year as an incredible new talent and she showed plenty of grit as well as she put up huge resistance against the mighty Sharapova and I think its safe to say we could be looking at a future grand slam winner in Bouchard and the future at this rate is looking very bright indeed for the Canadian.

Now we get onto the second semi finals match of the day, which saw the highest seed left in the draw, No.4 in the world, Simona Halep, face off against the German player, Andrea Petkovic, who has just recently climbed her way back up the rankings and also has made it into her maiden semi fnal of a slam.  But it was Halep, who's rock solid form, helped her make the better start and Petko looked nervous and made some errors to hand a double break over to Halep who took the opener with ease in just under 30 minutes.  However Petkovic's nerves settled in the 2nd set as she settled into her ryhtym and got a break of serve as well against Halep, but she was not able to hold on and Halep soon broke back.  From here however play went into a tiebreak and here Halep reasserted herself and Petko made a few costly errors, which helped Simona Halep seal the deal and reach her first ever grand slam final in 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

So this now sets the ladies final, Maria Sharapova and Simon Halep and it promises to be quite a good one, especially as these two faced each other in the final of Madrid last month, with Sharapova coming out on top in three sets.  So who will win it????  Well I think it has to be Sharapova, as she is already a four time major champion and she completed her career slam two years ago at the French open, not to mention she has already won two titles this year on clay in Stuttgart and Madrid.  As for Halep, well she has been very impressive throughout the tournament and she hasn't even dropped a set yet so to dismiss her chances would be silly as she definitely has got a shot at taking down the mighty Maria given her own power and consistency.  But in the end I think Maria's experience and warrior qualities will most likely see her come through this one in three sets and claim her 5th major title.  However whatever way it goes it should be one to watch.

Right so that's it for the ladies next up is the men's as I will look at the remaining quarter finals.

So until then au revoir!