Murray time: on the cusp for London

Right OK I thought it was time for a tennis related post as its been quite a while since I last did one and this again will cover Andy Murray's progress in the tail end of his 2014 season, which I think its safe to say that it has been a mixed bag, but at last it is taking a turn for the good.  Last time I covered Andy's first title win in 14 months since winning Wimbledon last year as he triumphed in Shenzhen last month so this time I will cover his progress at the tournaments since then.

So starting with the China open, Andy continued his good run of form as he managed to battle his way past the big serving Jerzy Janowicz in a rematch of their Wimbledon semi final, Andy came from a set down to win the match.  After this he dismissed Pablo Cuevas or Urugay in straight sets and then continued to pull off the biggest victory of his season so far as he toppled Marin Cilic, the US Open champ, as Andy outplayed the big Croat winning in 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semis in Bejing.  However in the semis Andy came undone against Novak Djokovic who maintained his incredible unbeaten run at Beijing with a convincing straight set win over his old rival with a 6-3, 6-4 victory, which saw Andy's time in Beijing come to an end.  This was a rather disappointing loss for Andy having done so well to reach the semi final stage but in the end Nole was just too good and he went to demolish Tomas Berdych in the final.   

After this Andy headed on to Shanghai for the Shanghai Rolex Masters event which was a tournament where Andy has enjoyed success in the past as he has won the title there twice in the past in 2010 and 2011.  Andy started off well with a tricky encounter from a Russian player Teymuraz Gabashvili but he managed to overcome him in straight sets.  After this Andy went on to face Jerzy Janowicz again for the 2nd time in so many weeks but this time he made light work of the big Pole as he took a 7-5, 6-2 win over the big guy.  However in the 3rd round Andy faced off against David Ferrer and despite making a strong start by taking the opening set he faded fast after that as Ferrer sped through the 2nd set breaking three times and in the 3rd set Ferrer broke Andy twice to end his time in Shanghai as the Spaniard won 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.  Given Andy's success in the past at this Masters event it was a letdown that he didn't manage to come through it and it also saw him lose the rag and smash his racquet during the match, which is starting to become something of a trend with him although perhaps with the absence of his coach Amelie Mauresmo, there is no one to temper his frustrations.

So next up Andy decided to bump up his efforts to qualify for the ATP world tour finals in London in November by playing in the Vienna Open, an ATP 250 tour event.  Andy clearly showing high motivation to qualify for London he made short work of his first three opponents in Vasek Pospisil, Jan-Lennard Struff and Viktor Troicki all of whom he dispatched in straight sets.  And this lead into the final which was a rematch with David Ferrer and this was an opportunity for Andy to get some revenge for his loss in Shanghai.  However it was Ferrer that made the better start as Andy's serve went begging at 5-6 and Ferrer broke to nab the first set.  In the 2nd set Andy managed to make inroads on Ferrer's service games and he broke the Spaniard twice to level the match and take it to a decider.  And the deciding set itself was a dramatic one, which saw momentum swing to and fro and Andy took the early break but soon squandered and found himself a break down before he knew it, 4-2, but he broke back only to squander it once again to go 5-3 down.  But.... Andy managed to fight back and break again and this time at 5-5 he managed to break Ferrer one last time and despite any signs of more drama, Andy dispelled further fears of dropping serve as he served it out confidently with an ace to grab his 2nd title of the year with a hard fought 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 victory.  This was easily Andy's biggest win of the year to date as he toppled Ferrer it meant he had finally beaten a player ranked inside the top 8 (as Ferrer is currently No.5 in the world) and it would be one that would stand him in very good stead for what could lie ahead should he qualify for London.

And this brings us up to date (for now anyway) as Andy this week (or last now really!) entered the Valencia Open, an ATP 500 tour event, worth double the points then his last two titles, it was a very valuable tournament for Andy to compete in.  And again Andy made a confident start as he swept past his first two opponents, Jurgen Melzer and the hot tempered Fabio Fognini in straight sets.  However as Andy reached the quarter finals he had a real fight on his hands as he played the big South African, Kevin Anderson, who's massive serve proved to be a nightmare, which saw Andy have to fight back from a set down again to win the match 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.  This set up yet another clash with David Ferrer, their third in as many weeks, and this time Andy had the initiative as he broke Ferrer early on in the first set to take it.  However in the 2nd set despite going 3-0 up, Andy again dropped serve to have Ferrer roar back and take the next four games.  Andy however managed to hold on and as play to 5-5 again, Andy managed to break and serve out the match to reach his 3rd final of the season with a 6-4, 7-5 win.

Which brings me onto the final which saw Andy have another rematch with Tommy Robredo, the in form Spaniard, whom Andy edged in Shenzhen to claim the title.  But unlike thier previous match where Robredo faded away badly from fatigue and injury in Shenzhen there was no danger of that here in the indoor event of Valencia.  And it was Robredo in the first set that made his move to break Andy's fragile serve as Andy showed strong signs of fatigue himself clearly after the exhertions of his last two matches.  However despite that Andy dug deep to break Robredo early on in 2nd set but ended up blowing the lead at 4-4 and play went to a tiebreak, which was very reminiscent of their thrilling breaker in the Shenzhen final, which saw momentum swing back and forth and Andy again saved match points and went on to get the minibreak and nab the 2nd set.  In the decider we were treated to a tense nailbiting contest as both men cagily held serve until 3-3 where Robredo made his move to break Andy's increasingly fragile serve, but it was short lived as the British No.1 broke straight back.  From here play carried on with Andy having a match point chance snuffed out by Robredo and play again went into another thrilling tiebreak which saw Andy having to save four match points and he went on to defy all the odds and got the crucial break with a clean backhand pass, Andy clinched the title and collapsed to the floor with exhaustion as he claimed his 3rd title of the year with an incredible epic victory and a 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (10-8) result.

Well this was without a single doubt one of the best matches of the year so far as both men raised their level as the match progressed and they played some incredible points and the home crowd were firmly behind Robredo but they were awed by the quality of hitting from both guys and they produced a great atmosphere.  And Andy yet again showed his champion fighting qualities in this final as he battled hard from being a break down in the 3rd set as well as having saved match points in the 2nd and 3rd set tiebreaks, he just wouldn't go away as Robredo had victory in his sights on several occassions.  And Robredo put in such a tremedous and spirited fight that he too deserved to win this match and it was so close that there was no favourite, but he took his defeat in good spirits as he amusingly gave a double finger salute to Andy at the net just before their exhausted embrace!  But its sheer testement to Andy's gutsy determination that he was able to come through this epic contest and it sees him rise to 5th place in the race to London, which means he is almost certain to qualify now for the event (well just about!).

However there is still one more event to go this week coming up at the Paris Masters, which is another indoor tournament and given the sheer physical torture Andy must have put his body through this week alone, not to mention having played five straight weeks in a row, it remains to be seen what condition he will be come his first match there.  The one good thing though for him is with Rafa having ended his season to have surgery for his appendicitis this has opened up a spot in the ATP WTF event so Andy is almost certain to qualify should he not do so well in Paris.  And with the withdrawal of Rafa and Marin Cilic from Paris this week coming, Andy will be seeded 8th, which will give him a bye into the 2nd round, which means he will have two days off before he needs to play again, which will let him recuperate for a while before he steps out onto court again.  Unfortunately for Andy though his draw is pretty unkind in Paris as he could possibly face Grigor Dimitrov in the 3rd round and Nole in the quarters, so we will just have to wait and see how he goes and how much he has left in the tank when he reaches the city of lights.  However if Andy reaches the quarter finals in Paris then he will qualify for London so I'm sure he will go hell for leather with whatever energy he has left to make it happen and come the quarter final maybe he will just let Nole thump him so he can go home and rest! ;-)  Well maybe not, but we will just wait and see what is in store for the British No.1 this week.   

Rrrrrrright so that's it for now and I will be back sometime soon with more results of the ATP tour and quickly I will mention the WTA tour as the WTA championships ended on Sunday with a very convincing win for Serena Williams, who thrashed Simona Halep in the final to claim her 5th year end title with a 6-3, 6-0 win.  So well done to Serena and that sees the 2014 WTA tour season come to an end. 

So that's me for now and until the next one its bye for now.

Ending the drought and the race to London begins

Right OK well I thought I do a slightly different (well actually in a way its not!) themed post as this one will cover Andy Murray's most recent progress on the tour as he came back to the ATP tour at the Shenzhen open in China last week so I'll have a look at how he has done and what it could lead to for him in the future.

Soooooooo starting with Andy's first match in Shenzhen, he played the Indian player, Somdar Devarrman who gave Andy a decent workout but in the end the Scot had a bit too much for the Indian players to handle and it saw Andy reach the quarter finals with a 6-3, 6-3 win.  In the quarter finals Andy then faced Luckas Lacko of the Slovak republic who provided Andy with a fairly testing encounter but again Andy managed to dig in and break the Slovak in the first and second sets to take him to only his third semi final of the season with a 6-3, 7-5 result.  In the semi final Andy faced a tough opponent in Juan Monaco, a former top ten player himself as Andy got off to a sluggish start and Monaco took full advantage with a double break to grab the first set.  In the 2nd set however, Andy went up a break but soon squandered it as Monaco broke back and at 3-3 things hung in the balance as Monaco had a break point at 30-40 on Andy's serve, but Andy managed to save it with a rare and potent 2nd serve and after this Andy raised his level and broke to take the 2nd set.  In the decider however, Andy found another gear and Monaco had become powerless to do anything about Andy's sizzling form as he handed the Argentine a bagel set and with that Andy booked his first final of 2014 after a hard fought 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory.

Now onto the final itself which saw Andy up against the talented veteran 32 year old Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, who has enjoyed good form this year and already secured a win over Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati last month.  And the match itself promised to be a tough one for Andy and it certainly was that as the first set saw both men trade breaks of serve, but it was Robredo who made the move to go ahead 6-5 and with that secure the first set.  In the 2nd set the audience were treated to some thrilling points from both men and Andy went up a break early to go 4-2 only to squander it again and let Robredo back in the door and back on serve.  Play then became very tense between the two men as Andy secured two set points at 5-4, but Robredo saved them and play went on into a dramatic and thrilling tiebreak, which saw Andy miraculously save five match points, coming back from a 6-2 deficit to eventually claim the second set on the breaker 11-9.  And in the 3rd set, Robredo's challenge started to finally fade as fatigue overtook him in the sweltering hot and humid conditions and Andy broke the Spaniard three times to grab his first title of 2014 and first since his triumph at Wimbledon last year, with a 5-7, 7-6 (11-9), 6-1 result.

Well to say that Andy needed to win this title is something of an understatement as he desparately needed somehow to get back in the winners circle and clearly that's why he chose to enter Shenzhen as he must have looked at the draw and figured it was quite favourable for his chances as the field of players suited his game and had decent head to heads over most of the players there.  And this win will no doubt give Andy much confidence moving ahead into the rest of the Asian hard court swing, as he still has Beijing and Shanghai to play yet and as he was out with back surgery this time last year he stands to make up plenty of points in hope that he will qualify for ATP world tour finals at London in November.  And Andy currently sits at 10th place in the rankings for the race to London so he needs to move up two more spots to 8th place to qualify.

As for the match itself it was a bit erratic in terms of the quality of the play but overall it was a very entertaining contest and both men produced some terrific points together with the 2nd set tiebreak in particular being the highlight of the match.  And in that tiebreak we saw some true shades of the Wimbledon champion of last year and we have seen moments of it here and there this season but in that tiebreak we saw a level of grit and determination from Andy Murray that has been missing for most of 2014.  And it actually echoed Andy's 3rd set tiebreak against Federer in the Australian open earlier this year where he saved two match points in the breaker to go ahead and reel off four straight points to win the 3rd set.  It also even reminded me of Andy's defeat to Novak Djokovic in their superb Shanghai final two years ago when Andy had five match points and it was Nole that saved them all and went on to win, but its good to see Andy is on the flipside of the coin this time.  And I myself knew that this tournament was Andy's best shot at winning a title all year and we all know he has had many opportunities this season so far where he could have won a title but missed all those chances due to lack of stamina from his back surgery, lack of form, poor concentration or just a loss of confidence. 

Yet Andy has even had moments this year especially at Wimbledon where he looked every inch the champion for the first four rounds there but then inexplicably fell to pieces in his quarter final match against Grigor Dimitrov, which was pretty much the match that has brought him directly to the place he is at now in falling out of the top ten as prior to that he had gained valuable points at the French open which helped his ranking bump up to No.5.  And on a similar note a funny thing about the Shenzhen final was that due to the intense heat Andy had to abandon his usual dark grey adidas kit and wear his white Wimbledon kit for the match, so at least this time round it played its part in helping him win a title!  And another neat coincidence in the match was the umpire, the colourful Mohammed Layani, was also the umpire of the Wimbledon final last year aswell, so he must have served as a good omen for Andy here in securing his victory (sorry about the pun!).    

But despite Shenzhen being a small tournament it is still nonetheless a very important one for Andy in terms of his season and with it hopefully he can build on his form to finish the year strong.  It also proves that Andy is still a vital player aswell and that he isn't ready to go away yet and similar to Roger Federer, Andy is a player that you write off at your peril because the bottom line is that he is too good to keep down permanently.  And after the end of match Andy was quite emotional as he sank exhausted with relief into his chair and sobbed into his towel, which showed that he had lifted yet another heavy burden after going 14 months without a single title to his name.  So Andy deserves nothing but credit for pulling off this win and as for Robredo well you have to feel for him as he too was upset after the end of the match especially after he realised how close he was to winning his first title also in over a year.  This result will also hopefully help allay the question marks over Andy's decision to hire Amelie Mauresmo as his coach, whom no doubt will be delighted that he has won his first title since they began their parternship even though she wasn't even there to witness it!  But then again Mauresmo has only committed to so many weeks on the tour throughout the season with Andy so she can't make it to every event he plays, regardless however I'm sure she will be very pleased with the result.  And despite the disappointment that Andy has had to deal with so far this season, overall he hasn't had a bad year if you look at his results as he has reached three quarter finals and a semi final at the majors, he has also beaten a top 10 player in Tsonga and now he has won his first title of the season as well so things are definitely looking up.       

So next up for Andy is the China open this week in Beijing where he will join Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal, who makes his return to the tour this week after being laid off with a wrist injury.  However Andy has a pretty unkind draw as his first opponent is a literally a big test as he takes on the big bean Pole, Jerzy Janowicz, who is an unenviable opponent for any player at the best of times!  However Janowicz hasn't been at his best this season and has been very up and down so far in 2014, so it might give Andy a chance to win if the big guy is off his game, but if the Pole is on his game then Andy might be in real danger of an early exit in Beijing, so he will need to play a good match if he is to win.  And if Andy does win the match his draw gets tougher by the minute as he could go on to potentially face the reigning US Open champion, Marin Cilic in the quarter finals, followed by a possible clash with Novak in the semis and Rafa in the final.  Personally though I think it will be a real struggle for Andy to secure back to back wins in Shenzhen and Beijing given the strength of the field of players at Beijing and Andy still has to work on his inconsistent form (not to mention that serve has always been his undoing!).  But regardless of his outcome in Beijing this week, there is no doubt that Andy is starting to move in the right direction and despite his dips in form he is beginning to show signs of being that player who just over a year ago triumphed at SW19 and that he still has that hunger and determination to win and get back to the top.  

Right so that's it for now and once again I'll say congrats to Andy Murray for winning his first title in nearly 15 months after that historic victory at Wimbledon last year, and after his first week in China he has show he is far from done and hopefully there will be more titles yet to come for him.

And with that I shall leave yee there and be back again some time soon with more posts on that sport with the net and a fluffy yellow ball.

Until the next un bye for now!  

2014 US Open Part 9: Men's and ladies finals

Rrrrright so now its time for my last post on the 2014 US Open which will cover the ladies and men's singles finals which saw who would lift the champion's trophy and claim that crowning slam glory (or something like that!).  So let's gear up for the last time and give these matches a look....

So starting with the ladies final it was between the World No.1 and five time US Open champion, Serena Williams and the former 2009 finalist, Caroline Wozniacki.  There last two matches were tight three set battles so this match promised to be quite similar although Serena has been in top form throughout the tournament so far.  And the match itself turned out to be quite an easy affair for Serena as despite an edgy start and four breaks of serve at the start, Serena soon settled her nerves and got into the match and broke Caroline to take the opening set.  In the 2nd set Caroline went down a break straigh away and Serena started to find her groove on serve and from here there was no way back for the Dane who tried in vain to serve at 5-3 to keep herself alive in the match but a couple of errors saw her lose the game, set and match to Serena who claimed her 18th grand slam title and 6th US Open title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Well this final was a bit of a letdown in the end as after a tense start it just became one way traffic for Serena who effortlessly moved past Caroline, who played not too bad overall but on the day Serena was just too good.  The match did have some good rallies though and both players shared a terrific 26 shot rally in the 2nd set which amazed the crowd, but in the end you knew there was only going to be one winner in this match.  So this sees Serena now tied with Martina Navatrilova at 18 grand slam titles and there is no doubt that she can go on and surpass that record although she still has some way to go before she can equal Margaret Court's all time record of 24.  And it was the perfect end to a difficult year for Serena who had struggled to make it past the first week in the majors at the French open and Wimbledon and throughout the tournament we saw how determined she was to win this one and no doubt she would and did it in very impressive style without even dropping a set.  So going into 2015 Serena is in a good position to win more majors next year and no doubt she has a good shout at defending her title at the WTA championships at the end of the season next month. 

As for Caroline well it was a shame she couldn't fight past Serena and in the end she was up against one of the all time great competitors, but she still did great in reaching her second US Open final and it showed some very encouraging signs for her tennis, which has really been up and down over the last two years, so thankfully now we are starting to see her get back to her best.  And if it wasn't for Serena Williams then just maybe it would be Caroline holding that trophy right now and I still think one day she can win a major as she has now reached two slam finals she can sure reach another and just maybe third time round she might get lucky.  And another good bit of news for Caroline is that she will return to the top 10 and is now ranked No.9 in the world and if she stays on course she might just qualify for the WTA championships, which she missed last year so let's hope she can get back in it, as she sure deserves her place in the top 10 again.

Now we get onto the men's final which featured two very unlikely finalists, Marin Cilic, the big Croatian and Kei Nishikori, the Japanese fella.  The pressure was on for both men in this match as it was both their first grand slam final, but it was Nishikori that felt the pressure more as Cilic continued his impressive form after dismissing Roger Federer in straight sets and broke Kei early on in the set and with that he continued with some incredible serving to close out the first set.  In the 2nd set it was more of the same as Nishikori struggled to get anything going, making more unforced errors and struggling to get his first serves in which saw Cilic grab a double break and with it the match by the scruff of the neck.  Nishikori however managed to break back as Cilic tried to serve for the two set lead, but it was short lived as Cilic broke again to take that 2-0 lead.  And in the 3rd set it was yet again more of the same as Nishikori played second fiddle to Cilic's might and his impressive serving and he went down a break and with the end in sight, Cilic with no nerves, served out the match at 5-3 to claim his first ever grand slam title with an almighty impressive 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win.

Well this wasn't quite the match I was expecting as I'm sure most people weren't as I thought we might get a five set pitch battle, and I figured Nishikori would be the slight favourite here given the dogged competitiveness, but in the end Cilic proved everyone wrong and pulled an incredible performance out of the bag to make a bit of a history for himself.  But in a way it wasn't too surprising if you look at Cilic's previous two matches which were both won in straight sets as he defeated Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer with ease and Nishikori had spent significantly more time on court than Cilic had.  And the fact that Cilic was able to win his first major and his last three matches in straight sets was in itself quite remarkable and it really shows this guy has got some serious chops and he maybe a big guy, but he's got the full package and all the shots that go with it.  And its also good to see different players come into the big events now with chances to win the slams as it helps shake up the routine of seeing one or two of the big four (or three now really) reach the final of just about every slam.  And Cilic himself deserves great credit for this win as does his coach Goran Ivanesivic who has helped immeasurably toward reaching this point and it doesn't hurt having a coach either with one of the best serves in the men's game (and I bet Andy Murray is kicking himself that he wasn't able to snap up Goran to help him with his!).  And with this it looks likely that Cilic can go on and win a few more as well, although whether or not he does remains to be seen and he could just go the way of Juan Martin Del Potro, who just the one US Open title, but I guess we will soon find out.

As for Kei Nishikori well it was a great shame that he wasn't able to make more of an impression in this match than he was allowed to but you also got the fact that he looked rather fatigued for the most part and he had spent much more time on court up to that point.  And in the end despite the fact that Kei lead their head to head, it didn't really matter in the end as Cilic was simply too good overall.  But it does show by reaching the final that Nishikori also has announced himself to the world of tennis and he had already reached a big final in Madrid earlier this year where he almost certainly would have beaten Rafa in the final if it wasn't for his back injury.  So despite his loss, the future is still very bright for Nishikori also and he might have more chances in the future to claim a maiden major title for his country and himself.

So that's it for this year's US Open which has come to a rather surprising conclusion with a unlikely but very well deserved champion in Marin Cilic and an altogether expected one for Serena.  And despite two rather short finals it was a great tournament with some great matches on either side of the net (particularly the men's).  And it also sees a big change up in the men's game with Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori both reclaiming their top 10 spots as the line up of the top 10 guys is now forever in flux.  And with this win, Cilic has said it has opened the door for other players to go in and win slams and he hopes that his victory will also inspire other players to do the same. 

However this change is not good news for Andy Murray (yep him again!) who has dropped out of the top 10 down to No.11, which marks the first time in six years that Andy has been out of the top 10.  So this could be a very worrying time for him ahead unless he can gain more ranking points before the end of the year, he may also not qualify for the year end championships in London.  And the lower ranked Andy is that means he will face the top seeds sooner which is not good, particularly not in the slams where he could meet the likes of Roger or Nole in the 4th round, which is not ideal at all.  So we will just have to hope that Andy can get his game together and start building up those points before the end of the season as he still has potentially three tournaments to play before the race to London and if he doesn't get there it isn't the end of the world.  But sooner or later Andy will really need to start stepping up his game in order to keep up with the rest of the pack but he did show some very encouraging signs in New York and he did manage to defend his points there and beat his first top 10 player since Wimbledon in defeating Tsonga.  So now this is where the hard work begins for him and we will just have to see how the remainder of 2014 pans out for Andy and let's hope he has a much brighter year in 2015.

Right so that's it for now so I will goodbye for now and I'll be back sometime soon with more tennis stuff.

Bye the now!

  

2014 US Open Part 8 men's event: Big four no more????

OK so now its time to look at the men's remaining quarter finals and the semi final matches from the 2014 US Open.  So let's get to it....

Right the first match was between Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych as both men were looking for a place in the last four of the US Open and the two have a fairly close head to head with Berdych leading it 5-3 but Cilic had won their most recent encounter at Wimbledon.  And it looked like this one was heading the same way as Cilic got off to a flyer and broke Berdych who struggled with the windy conditions on court and took the double break to grab the 1st set.  In the 2nd set Berdych did a bit better but he was broken early on and kept it to the single break, but in the end Cilic's serving was in mighty impressive form and he soon took the two sets to love lead.  In the 3rd set however there was a change of momentum as Cilic played a sloppy service game that let Berdych break and move ahead 4-1 but Berdych's concentration was broken when he failed to try and reach the ball on a point before it bounced twice and he tried to argue this case with the umpire to no avail and as a result he lost his break.  Play then went onto a tiebreak where Berdych had an early advantage but he squandered yet again and Cilic went on to serve out the match in fine style to book a place in the last four of the US Open with a convincing 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 win.  Well so far Marin Cilic has looked very impressive in this tournament and he continued to here in his match with Berdych as he served superbly for most of it and he played the big points very well and with Goran Ivansevic coaching him the improvements to his game have been immense so he could yet go on to win here.

Next up we had Roger Federer who faced the talented French showman, Gael Monfils in what proved to be an epic battle of an encounter where Roger got more than he bargained for.  And it was Monfils who got off to a great start as he looked on course to carve out a major upset as he took a two set lead in just over an hour into the match over the five time champion.  However Roger soon fought back and he started to dig in and broke Monfils to move ahead and take the 3rd set and in the 4th set he dug deep as he saved two match points on his own serve and went on to break Monfils to level the match at two sets all.  And in the 5th set the momentum was firmly with Roger as Monfils began to make more errors and it saw Rog complete a miracle comebackas he won from two sets down for the 9th time in his career with an incredible 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 result. 

This was a very entertaining match as you might expect between Rog and Gael as both men have great variety in their games and there were some great points from both of them throughout.  The match also echoed Gael's match with Andy Murray earlier this year at the French Open (also a quarter final), except this time the position was reversed as Gael was two sets up and not two sets down (like he was at the French) but he went on to lose in the final set.  But despite his loss Monfils has shown some great promise this year in the majors even though he may never win one he still has proved he is a very worthy competitor.  As for Rog well this was quite a turnaround but you would expect nothing less from the former US Open champion but the rounds don't get any easier and Rog will have his hands full against Marin Cilic next in the semis.

So now we get onto the men's semi final matches which took place on Super Saturday (as they call it in New York!) and first up we had Novak Djokovic face Kei Nishikori who had made some very impressive progress in reaching his first major semi final after beating Stan Wawrinka in the previous round.  Regardless of all that though Novak was still very much the favourite to win this match as well as the title despite Nishikori's great form in the tournament.  However.... the match itself turned out to be quite a surprise as it was Kei that made the strong start as he broke Nole to grab the first set before Djokovic went on to grab the 2nd set with a double break.  With things all level in the 3rd it would seem that Nole would have the match well in hand but Kei bested Nole again and broke him to move ahead but Novak then broke back and pushed played into a tiebreak, where Kei regained his momentum and took the breaker 7-4 and a two sets to one lead with it.  And in the 4th set it was Nishikori that did the unthinkable and broke a shockingly sloppy Novak Djokovic who all of a sudden looked like he had swapped places with Andy Murray in their quarter final duel and trailed 5-3.  And with Nole serving to make it 5-3 he capitulated on serve as Kei gained two match points, Nole saved one and went on to blow the other as he fell to a massive upset against the Japanese No.1 as Nishikori reached his first ever grand slam final with a dramatic 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory. 

Well to say I wasn't expecting this was an understatement as Nole had looked in top form throughout the tournament and wasn't even threatened until he played Andy Murray in their gruelling quarter final match.  But it just shows that even the very best can have a bad day out there and that certainly was the case with Nole in this one and it seemed to also echo his defeats to Tsonga and Tommy Robredo during the Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati where he just looked flat.  As for Kei Nishikori well there is no doubt he deserves this victory and I'm sure all of Japan will be going wild over the fact they finally have a Japanese player reach a grand slam final for the first time.  And given how Nishikori has played so far in this tournament I'd dare say I would fancy his chances for a shot at the title, but that will all depend on the outcome of the next match...

And this match was between Roger Federer and Marin Cilic and Cilic has been in top form so far in the tournament whereas Roger had a close call against Gael Monfils in the previous round, but the match itself looked to be quite a close one despite Roger's emphatic 5-0 head to head over Cilic.  But in the end that head to head meant nothing as Cilic looked determined to rewrite the book as he charged into a two set lead against Roger, just as he did against Berdych in the previous round, with some phenomenal serving and powerful groundstrokes.  And if Roger was to win he would now have to dig deep for the second time in the tournament and at the start of the 3rd, it looked like Rog was capable of starting it off as he broke Cilic to move ahead, but in the end he couldn't maintain and let Cilic back in the door.  Cilic then went on to secure a break of his own and with expectations of nerves lurking for the Croatian he quickly dismissed them as he served out the biggest game of his career so far with three aces and a backhand winner to reach his first ever grand slam final with a very convincing 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 result.

Well I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't have expected this outcome either as Roger looked pretty subpar throughout the match and Cilic grew with confidence as every point was played.  There was a chance that Roger may have been physically or mentally fatigued after having to come back from two sets down against Monfils in the quarter finals but in the end it came down to the simple fact that Cilic was the better player on the day.  So this really has seen the balance of the big four violently topple to the wayside as after Andy's ropey run of form this year after coming back from surgery, Rafa's surprise defeat at Wimbledon and his current wrist injury keeping him out of the game and now Nole and Rog's shock defeats here it signals just maybe the big four are starting to slowly come to an end.  However I'm sure that they all have plenty of time left at the top of the game but these defeats certainly indicate that they are not the force they once were and also there are plenty of other very talented players on the rise as well threatening to upset their apple cart.  But Cilic deserves alot of credit for this win as he played a superb match and served brilliantly yet again and it really does show that the hard work he has put in with his new coach and fellow Croat, Goran Ivanesvic is really starting to pay off.  And its also great to finally see some new faces emerge into the finals of the big events and for the first time in so long we will have a new grand slam champion outside the big four both playing in a final of a slam at the same time.

So this sets up the clash between Kei Nishikori and Marin Clic and the question begs to be asked.... did I leave the kettle on???  No, sorry!  Who will win???? (and no I didn't leave it on!).  Well...... I don't know a great deal about their rivalry together but I'm going to go with Nishikori as I think he really has shown some great fighting spirit in this tournament and he also probably is the faster and more athletic of the two of them.  Not only that Kei has a positive head to head record over Cilic as he leads theirs 5-2 but in the grand scheme of things I don't think that will really come into play here and it will boil down to who plays the better tennis on the day.  Cilic has of course been playing great and he has served his way out of trouble very well and played the big points superbly in his matches and he too showed great fighting spirit against Gilles Simon in their dramatic 3rd round match.  Cilic may have the advantage fitness wise as in his previous two matches he has spent significantly less time on court than Nishikori, but somehow Nishikori still managed to come through those matches and his match with Djokovic may have been a tricky one but overall it wasn't the longest encounter as it clocked in at just under three hours.  So my prediction is that I think Nishikori will win this one in five tough sets to claim his first major title, I might be wrong of course as Cilic might comfortably beat Kei if he is heavily fatigued after his efforts to reach the final, but we will see, but it does promise to be quite a match.  And while I like both players and both of them deserve to win, I think I would like to see Nishikori win because Japan have never had a Japanese grand slam singles champion and if Kei can pull it off that would be quite a feat in itself.

Sooooo that's it and I will be back soon with the results of who will win the champions trophies in the men's and ladies finals.

Until then bye the now!    

      

2014 US Open Part 7 Ladies event: The last four

Right OK so this post will cover the ladies semi final matches at the 2014 US Open which would determine the finalists for the final slam of the season.  So let's get to it...

So the first match was between former 2009 finalist, Caroline Wozniacki and the surprise of the tournament, the Chinese No.2, Peng Shuai who had never made this far into a grand slam before and never had even won a WTA singles title either so the match promised to be an intruiging one.  And right enough the matche itself was of pretty high quality for the most part, particularly in the first set where both ladies traded some intense baseline rallies and there were beaks aplenty with Peng Shai eventually having an opportunity to serve for the first set at 6-5.  However the nerves of the occassion got to Peng who then got broken and play went into a tiebreak which eventually went the way of the Dane, Caroline to get her half way toward reaching her 2nd US Open final.  In the 2nd set things got tight again but Caroline managed to get an early break however it didn't matter in the end as Peng was forced to retire due to severe cramps and heat illness, which enabled Caroline to reach her 2nd major final at the US Open with a 7-6, 4-3 ret result.

Well it was a shame the match ended the way it did as it was for the most part very competitive and entertaining to watch, with nerves on both sides, but it seemed inevitable that Caroline would be the one who would eventually get through.  And its great to see Caroline Wozniacki back in the final of another major as it proves that she is no one trick pony in reaching major finals and just maybe she will have a chance of winning this title although there are no guarantees of course.  But for me Caroline has always been a very talented player who's tenacity and ability put her way ahead of quite alot of the other female competitors in the field, which was especially the case when she the was the world no.1.  However Caroline has had her struggles even at the top of the game in trying to win a major as she in some cases she would get overpowered by her opponents and has always struggled against the big hitters such as Sharapova or Serena Williams.  And I always equated her in a way to Andy Murray as a player (pre Ivan Lendl of course) who has all the talent in the world to win a major but has never been able to win one.  But if Caroline can somehow come through this one then it could well change everything for her for the better and she could go on to win more in the future so I will keep fingers crossed for her.

As for Peng Shuai well it was a real shame to see her very impressive campaign at the US open come to an end in such an abrupt fashion as the poor girl was barely able to stand up in the 2nd set as she desparately tried to cling on and break Caroline's serve to level the match at 4-4.  And after recieving a medical timeout in the end it was no use and Peng was forced to retire and due to her condition they ended up having to take her off court in a wheelchair!  So it just shows you how severe the on court conditions must be over there in New York during the extreme heat of their summer, which also a reflection of what happened to some other players during the tournament one of them in particular being Andy Murray.  So here's hoping for Peng Shuai that she will recover OK and continues to improve her form for the remainder of the season. 

So now onto the second ladies semi final which was between Serena Williams and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia (Makarova that is, Serena isn't Russian!).  Makarova has been a bit of an upset artist at the US Open as she scalped Victoria Azarenka in the quarter finals and she has even secured a victory over Serena herself a year ago at the Australian open so threatened to be a danger to the World No.1.  But.... this time Serena had no such trouble against the Russian as she was clearly intent on revenge for her loss in Melbourne a year ago and she blasted Makarova off the court and dropped just four games on her way to victory as she reached the final with an emphatic 6-1, 6-3 win.

So this sets up the ladies final between Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki and it promises to be quite a cracker if it is anything like their previous two meetings on the WTA tour, both of which were very close three set battles won by Serena.   But this is a grand slam final however and things are a bit different here as the stakes will be even higher than before.  So who will win????  Well I have to say it will be Serena as she has looked in top form throughout the tournament and is yet to drop a set going into the final and no one has dare to even take her past four games in a single set!  So it remains an extremely daunting task for Caroline to try and pull off a major upset here (no pun intended!) but you never know until the match is under way.  And in order for Caroline to win she will need to play the match of her life and play at her very defensive and aggressive best and also hope that Serena is a bit off her game as well.  So for me I think Serena will win it in straight sets but I think it could be quite a tight close encounter as long as Caroline keeps serving well then just maybe we could see two tiebreak sets even.  It is possible that Caroline could also extend the match into a deciding set but if Serena is right on top of her game then there will be no chance of that.  But the match lies ahead and time will tell and let's just hope its a good win and personally I would love to Caroline win her first major to vindicate her status as a top player and prove that she has got what it takes to win a slam so I wish her all the best and will keep my fingers crossed.

So that's it for now and I will be back soon with the results for the ladies later but next up is the men's...

See you in a bit.         

2014 US Open Part 6 men's event: Going out swingin...

Right so now its time for the men's 4th round and quarter final matches from the US Open over days 9 and 10.  So let's get started with this un....

OK so start off we had Grigor Dimitrov, who was tipped as a hot favourite to do very well here and was up against the flashy and talented French player, Gael Monfils, so it promised to be an entertaining match and one which still favoured Grigor.  However it turned out to be quite the opposite as Monfils stunned Dimitrov by turning the match on its head and he took the first set with a break, the 2nd set on the tiebreak 8-6, and he went on to win the 3rd set with another break to reach the quarter finals with a surprising 7-5, 7-6, 7-5 victory.  This was quite an upset from Monfils who has shown in the past that he can go on a hot streak in the big events and he certainly did so here with Dimitrov and beneath all of that flash there is indeed some serious substance as well and moving into the quarter finals Monfils could well be dangerous for who he plays next.

And the player he would be up against next would be the winner of the match between Roger Federer and Roberto Bautista-Agut.  Agut is a player that has started to announce himself this year on the tour and he had already claimed one or two big scalps in earlier in the season such as beating Tomas Berdych in Indian Wells so he could be considered a dangerous outsider.  But then again he was playing Roger Federer and Rog himself had no trouble whatsoever against the Spaniard and instead made him look pretty ordinary with his skill and class and he ended up sweeping past Agut in straight sets with a comfortable straight set win of 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.  Well there really was no question of who would win this one and right enough it was Roger who claimed it very comfortably in the end.  And it has to be said that so far even though Rog has been looking pretty good he also has had quite a cosy draw and it makes you wonder just how he will respond to being really tested by the top players.  But we do know one thing about Roger and that is he is the greatest player to have played the game so he knows a thing or two about taking on tricky opponents so regardless I think Rog might still be on course for the final.  And with Monfils next he will be given a bit of a test but and it will be a very entertaining match but in the end I think Rog will come through in four sets.

So in other matches Tomas Berdych took on the talented youngster Dominic Thiem in what potentially could have been a real test for the Czeck No.1.  But in the end Berdych showed his experience and class and outplayed Thiem and defeated him with great ease in straight sets to reach the quarter finals with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win.  And lastly we had Marin Cilic who took on the Frenchman, Gilles Simon in what was a real battle and Cilic had never beaten Simon before in their previous four meetings.  However that was all set to change as both men hammered it out over five sets and in the end it was Cilic that came through with a break in the 5th set sealing his first ever win over Simon and reaching his 3rd quarter final in New York with a 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win.  This was a great win for Cilic who had never beaten Simon prior to this encounter and it shows under his new coaching from Goran Ivansevic that he is showing great form this year and more belief that he can go deep in the big events so Cilic might yet go all the way.

Now onto day 10 which had the blockbuster billing of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as the night match but I'll get to that one in a bit.  So first I will look at what transpired to be the match of the day between Stan Wawrinka, the reigning Australian open champion and Kei Nishikori of Japan.  Stan went into this match as the favourite as he had never lost to Nishikori before and beaten him in straight sets both times.  However this match was a completely different thing altogether as both men engaged in an intense battle on Arthur Ashe stadium as they both locked horns for over four hours.  Stan started off his perfect run of sets against Kei in the first as he took it with a break, but Kei soon fought back to level the match at a set all and went on to nab the 3rd set on a tiebreak to take the two sets to one lead.  But Stan was not to be outdone and went on to push the match to a decider by taking the 4th set tiebreak, but in the 5th it was Kei that pulled off an amazing upset by stunning Stan with a five set victory winning in 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 to reach his first grand slam semi final.  This was a terrific contest between both men and it was sheer testament to Kei's determination and skill tht he was able to come through this match after having to battle past Milos Raonic in the round before also five sets.  And with two whole days off before Kei needs to play again he should be well recovered enough to play for the semis on Saturday.

So..... now we get to the match of the night, which was the blockbuster between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, the former and current Wimbledon champions respectively in what promised to be an epic duel similar to their five set marathon back in the 2012 final.  The match itself however didn't quite live up to its billing but for the most part the audience on Arthur Ashe were still treated to a thrilling contest between two of the game's biggest current rivals.  And in the first two sets both men traded breaks of serve as well as some jaw droppingly intense rallies which wowed the New York crowd and they shared the first two sets on a tiebreak, with Nole winning the first and Andy the second.  However in the 3rd set Nole started to assert his authroity on the match and Andy's intensity started to drop as he began to struggle physically with trying to keep up the pace, which saw him surrendered the set with a double break.  In the 4th set Andy restored parity on serve until 4-5 when he was serving to stay in, it was clearly a set too far at this point as Nole had physically worn down his old foe which saw Andy eventually surrender his serve to end his US Open campaign and the Serb reach the last four with a gripping 7-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 win.

Well this wasn't quite the epic match alot of people may have hoped but it was still a largely enthralling contest between two great players.  And despite the loss for Andy it showed some very encouraging signs after his bitterly disappointing defeat at Wimbledon to Dimitrov, he stepped up to the plate and for two sets he went toe to toe with the World No.1, who prior to this match in the event had never been tested.  But the match did raise some concerns over Andy's physical conditioning as he clearly wasn't able to sustain the pace and keep up with Novak by the time they had played the 3rd set as the match ended with Andy's legs and hips start to stiffen up.  And if Andy is to beat Novak over the best of five sets then he needs to be in perfect physical condition to do so and on the basis of this match there is still a ways to go yet for Andy before he can get back to peak physical form for the slams to contend with the world's best player and it remains to be seen if he can get back into that kind of shape in the future.  But despite that it was still a gutsy and firey performance from Andy which saw him hit his forehand as about as massive as we have ever seen it and he showed high levels of aggression and intensity for the first two sets and if he was able to have maintained it then just maybe he might have had a chance.

So Andy's grand slam season has come to an end for 2014 but at least he went out giving it all he had and it was a promising sign of things to come in 2015 where he will during the interim period be able to try and get himself in even better physical shape and by then he should be able to seriously compete at the latter stages of the slams as he did before his surgery.  So when you look at his year in the slams, Andy has not done badly at all as he has reached three quarter finals and one semi final, which for a man who has come back from a fairly big surgery is quite remarkable when you think about it even if the nature of his defeats at the French open and Wimbledon were particularly disappointing.  Not only that, Andy also finally managed to get one monkey off his back by defeating a top 10 player in beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round at the US Open, which hopefully will also boost his confidence when taking on the other elite players in the game.   

So for the remainder of the year Andy has two more tournaments scheduled to play in, the Shanghai and Paris Masters events and if he gains enough points he will be able to qualify for the ATP world tour finals in London at the end of the year.  However Andy has said that qualifying to play at the o2 arena in London is not a big goal of his, so in that respect it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't qualify to play there, but we will just wait and see how Andy does in the tournaments that lie ahead which don't start until October although there is a chance he might accept a wildcard into one of the events prior to Shanghai, e.g the ATP 500 events in Beijing or Tokyo.  But as it stands just now Andy will drop down to No.10 in the world again after the US Open has finished next week, which while it isn't ideal, it still keeps him inside the world's top players for now and hopefully he can gain more points to boost his ranking up further before year is over.

As for Novak well he was just too good in the end and we all know he is a remarkable physical specimen of a guy but he certainly did recognise the threat in Andy and when he finally won the match after 3 hours and 32 minutes, he didn't roar with delight like he tends to do, but instead breathed a sigh of relief, which was surely a mark of respect toward the challenge his opponent had given him.  And for me Nole remains firmly on course as the favourite to lift the title in New York, with Roger a close second, but I just think in terms of fitness, defence, offence, speed and court coverage, just who can live with Novak Djokovic out there???  Just about no one!  But we shall soon find out what happens.

Right so that's it for now and I will be back with more results soon in the next couple of days.

Bye for now.       

2014 US Open Part 5 Ladies event: Wozzer making a move

Right so now its time for the next part of my look at the US Open from the ladies side of the net and I will look at the quarter final matches from days 9 and 10.  So let's get to it...

So beginning with day 9 we first up had Peng Shaui who faced one of the surprises of the tournament, Belinda Bencic who made her way into the last eight and upset a few names along the way.  However Peng who was in her first grand slam quarter final was not to be outdone and she showed her experience as she thrashed the 17 year old Bencic and reached her first slam semi final by dropping just three games and winning 6-2, 6-1.  Well this was quite an achievement for Peng Shuai who has always been second fiddle to Li Na, the Chinese No.1 who already has won the Australian open earlier this year, but was forced to withdraw due to injury from the US Open.  So this gives her an excellent opportunity to reach her first grand slam final and it would be quite an achievement if she can as she is a top player in her own right so we will see how it goes for her.

Next up we had Caroline Wozniacki who took on Sara Errani for a place in the semis aswell and both women have been previous semi finalists in New York but Caroline has previously reached the final once before so alot was riding on this for both players.  However the match itself was no more than a warm up for Caroline who trounced the Italian with considerable ease as she dropped only one game on her to the final four with a crushing 6-0, 6-1 rout.  I think its safe to say that after her dramatic win over Maria Sharapova that Caroline is getting back to her best and I really think she has an excellent shout of reaching the final, although her next opponent will be Peng Shuai who is also a crafty counterpuncher by nature as a player so it will prove to be alot tougher a proposition for her than Errani was.  But Caroline having already reached the final at the US Open five years ago (where she lost to Kim Clijsters in two tight sets) has the edge and Peng Shuai hasn't won a singles title on the WTA tour, whereas Caroline has won 22!  So I think their matchup will be an intruiging one but I can see Caroline come through in two tight close sets to reach her 2nd final in New York.

So now onto day 10 which began with Victoria Azarenka, the two time finalist over the past two years, take on the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova, who has taken some big scalps of late in the game, so would Vika be the next victim???  Well as it turned out she was just that as Makarova outplayed Vika in the match as she broke her once to take the opening set and went on to break the Belarusian twice in the second set which saw the out of sorts Vika fall to a surprise defeat and Makarova reach her first grand slam semi final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.  Well this one was a real surprise as Makarova has been known for staging upsets but I figured that Vika would have found a way to get this one done in three sets, but then again it just shows you can never tell how things might pan out. 

Which brings me onto the last match of the quarter finals which was between Serena Williams, the five time champion and current champ in New York and Flavia Pennetta.  Serena has maintained a pretty emphatic head to head over Pennetta so she went into this one as the heavy favourite, although the only question mark hanging over Serena was her fitness as she appeared to have injury her ankle during her doubles match the day before, which potentially could have hamepered her movement.  However there was no cause for alarm at all as Serena had the match well under control and she went on to sweep past Pennetta in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-2 win to reach the semi finals and set up a match with Ekaterina Makarova.

So this sees Serena Williams in my opinion stay well on course to win the title again as she will take on Makarova, who is a tricky customer and she has even beaten Serena before in the Australian open, but I think in New York on her own home soil, Serena will have a thing or two to prove and will aim to win this one in either two or three sets.  And Serena will definitely want to make up for a lacklustre year by her own high standards in the slams as she had failed to go beyond the last 16 in the previous three slams of the season but now she is in the final four, she certainly has a chance to reach the final and go all the way and salvage a bit of her wounded dignity after suffering such early and heavy defeats in Melbourne, Paris and London.

And this could well set up a very intruiging final if it goes according to plan (but these things don't always though!) then we might have Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in the final and that would make for a cracker as their last two meetings have been three set battles which saw Serena edge out Caroline in the decider.  So if we get those two in the final it could make for a terrific finale in New York for the ladies event and it would give Caroline a decent shot at winning the title if Serena goes in a little undercooked or if they have a close match like their previous two then it could go either way.  Anyway if it transpires over the next day or so I'll get to that. 

Right so that's it for now and I will be back with more once the finalists have been named for the ladies title. 

Be back soon with the men's event soon....