Tennis: Miami Masters Round Up

Rafael Nadal had to fend of a spirited battle from Federico Gil to go through the 4^th round in yesterdays clash, he went through after a tough first set winning 7-5, and then claim the second 6-3 after some impressive tennis from his opponent.

Murray also went through in straight sets Nicholas Massu, but the score line didn’t reflect how well the Chilean played, I watched this game in full and he played aggressively, but Murray did the business and took down the sets to join Nadal in the fourth round.

Roger Federer is another top seeded player to advance into the fourth round of the Miami masters, he is on a mission this season to hold his 2^nd spot and challenge for 1^st, Murray is catching up and head to head Murray has disappointed Federer several times. The Swiss star was very convincing in his victory against Nicholas Kiefer 6-4, 6-1 to reach the 4^th to face local Taylor Dent, should be a good match up.

Former world No.1 Andy Roddick powered into the fourth round by defeating Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 7-6 (11-9), 6-2. The fifth-seeded American, who won the title here in 2004, will face either French ninth seed Gael Monfils or Russia’s Marat Safin after coping with strong winds.

So that’s the update with some of the top names left in the tournament. I will update from every round now so keep posted. These masters are really exciting now as everyone apart from Nadal needs to win in order to hold their rank.

Tennis: US Open Final: Federer Vs Murray

Federer bt Murray

6-2, 7-5, 6-2

Andy Murray felt the full wrath of Federer yesterday as the world number 2 showed no mercy in his victory at the US Open, it was one of the most sensational one-sided finals I have ever seen, no discredit to Murray who just never had a chance to get into the match, Federer was simply awesome
 

First Set 

This set started off with Federer pushing from the off-set, making his intentions clear that he is going for the line every shot. He knew this was Murray’s biggest match-up ever so he took advantage of the fact that he may be nervous. Murray was on edge and Federer won two clean serves without dropping a point.

We got to 2-1 Federer and some good serves from Murray were not good enough for Federer’s returns, as he approached the net the whole game and broke Murray early on, 3-1. Federer went on to take the next and Murray held, 4-2, Federer held again and broke Murray in another David vs Goliath game where Murray’s shot looked extremely feeble and Federer just looked so overpowering with his forehand smashes!

This match really depended on how Murray played his first set, and you really can’t say he played bad, Federer just had too much momentum.

Second Set

Federer managed to carry his momentum into the second set to break in the very first game, Murray went down 0-40 and really now way back with the mood Federer was in. However, we all know Murray isn’t the type to just sit there and get rolled over, he went straight on the offensive, and broke back! Well done to Murray and at this point it was looking good. 

Federer never lifted his foot off the pedal, no matter how much Murray pushed he just kept going, and we got to 6-5 Federer in the second, and the game got to 40-40, one amazing rally and an unforced error by Murray led to a set point to Federer, another amazing rally, Murray came into the net and laid off a drop shot, Federer ran in and hit a forehand down the line and took down the second set.

Third Set 

At this point it looked like an ominous victory for Federer, and he was looking to pick up his 13^th title, and that’s exactly what happened, Federer won the first, broke the second, and carried on the same pattern until he got to 5-0, this really looked bad for Murray, who pushed back to win 2 games to save some pride, and Federer broke finally to win and for us to see his trademark celebration.

Overview 

Unfortunately, there really wasn’t much analysing to do in the game, the reason Murray beat Nadal is that he is the best at returning serve, and Nadal’s serve is no way good enough for Murray, and at times you saw Federer was troubled in his serves against Murray because he stands so far back but comes in really quickly. But that’s about it, a few back hand winners for Murray but Federer was simply awesome, he didn’t give Murray a chance to get into any kind of rhythm.

Tennis: US Open Semi Final Review

Murray bt Nadal

6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4

Andy Murray took down the world number 1 Rafa Nadal in an amazing performance, there was no weird explanation to how this happened but that Murray bullied Nadal’s serve throughout the whole game, rally wise both players were impressive, Murray really showed huger for it.

After Nadal took the 3^rd set to make it 2-1 to Murray, the final set kicked off with Murray taking the first game and Nadal levelling, the Spaniard kicked into gear and broke Murray. Murray though broke back brilliantly to make it 3-3, won his serve comfortably and forced a break point in Nadal’s serve but no cigar, Murray went up to 5-4 and we got to Nadal’s serve, we hit deuce and Murray played an excellent rally to get Nadal to force an error…

…match point Murray, another attack on Nadal’s serve but it sat up for Nadal who hit a powerful forehand down the line, Murray gave a weak return and Nadal returned it with a slice approach shot to the net, but made it too easy for Murray to get, which he did and hit is straight past Nadal to celebrate his first final.

Congratulations to the first Brit to get to an open final in the new millennium! The way Murray is play it will be a great game against Federer, please comment your predictions for the game and I will respond a post.

Tennis: US Open Quarter Final Update

Federer bt Muller

7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5)

and…

Djokovic bt Roddick 

6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)

The unusually emotional Roger Federer beat Giles Muller in a straight sets victory in US Open yesterday, he looked very fluid but very forceful at the same time, playing shots that weren’t there.

Muller tried his best with his big serves and powerful ground strokes, definitely a wild card and the underdog in this game, but he played well and gave a good performance, by far it wasn’t a straight forward victory as he held is serve in the first two sets forcing Federer to play a tie break.

Federer now will go onto face Novak Djokovic in the semi finals, this will be fierce contest as both players have history, Federer beat him in the final of last years US Open final, Djokovic beat him in this years Aussie Open final, and Federer, during this years Roland Garros, politely told Djokovic’s parents to “be quiet” which didn’t go so well with Djokovic. So it will be a great match up.

Djokovic was quite convincing in his victory against 8 seed Roddick, he beat him in 4 sets and managed to break the fastest server in the world twice. Djokovic is looking in fine form so it will be a very good game.

Murray vs Nadal – preview

In the other semi-final – Murray will face the world number 1 Rafael Nadal, both players look in fine form so it will be an interesting match up, but Nadal did recently thrash Murray at Wimbledon, so Murray will be fired up, but does he have the strength to overcome Nadal?

Nadal’s road to the final has not been so convincing, but this is the furthest he has been on a hard court major so it will be interesting to see if he can go the distance. This is the ideal final four, and the best 4 in the world, Murray isn’t ranked there yet but arguably should be.

Tennis: US Open Round 4 Match Review

Andreev feels the pressure

Federer bt Andreev

6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

We all knew this would be Federer’s toughest test and that it would be a great game to watch, but the match that lasted just over three and a half hours (I know because I sat through the whole thing without blinking) it was an absolute thriller!

Credit is due to Igor Andreev who gave a great performance, it was a really slow start for Federer, as Andreev started of the faster and stronger of the two, he looked sharp on his powerful forehands and his serving was amazing, Federer served and lost the first game and Andreev managed to hold served until it was 5-4 to him and he was serving for the set. Federer somehow scraped through a break there and it got to 5-5, both players held and we got to a tie breaker which led to some amazing rally’s and a first set for Andreev.

Great start for the Russian and the first player of the tournament to take a set from Federer. The second set started of with the Swiss going in attack mode, and a little disappointing to see Andreev putting his foot on the breaks a little bit, Federer couldn’t manage a break and the game went into another tie break, and with Federer’s record in tie-breaks which is nearly on the ratio of 8:1 in wins (I’m just guessing but it really is something along those lines), he wasn’t going to lose two in a row – he took the second tie brake and we got to a third.

Federer really started to wake up in the third, he started to play some of his best tennis using the net as often as possible to soften Andreev’s powerful stroke play, he got the early break in the first game and took the set comfortably.

Now in the fourth, the commentator came out and said “I think Federer is glad he got through this game and now he can focus his sights on the quarter final” and then later said “I’m sorry for assuming Federer has already won I was just thinking out loud, but Federer hardly messes up from here”. Not very respectful for Andreev and he battled really hard with Federer in the fourth, but he did get the luckiest break ever! First point Federer served and some guy took flash photograph which put him off making a double fault, 0-15, exactly the same thing happened again., 0-30, then Federer won a point back with an impressive forehand, 15-30, another exchange of Rally’s and Federer lost balance! 15-40, final point and Federer hit an awesome forehand to which Andreev gave a weak return which clipped the net and trickled over – no chance for Federer to get, Andreev apologised and took the game and the set. I have to point out here, this was Andreev’s third break of the match, he had 15 break point opportunities up to this point! 

The final set, Federer’s whole season was hanging in the balance, this was the last slam of the series and if he didn’t win here it would be huge low in his career, and so…. we got the angry Federer, the very emotional Federer, he was very angry with himself more than anything, and you could see the pressure on him for the first time ever, but the strange thing was he played no different, he played an amazing set, breaking Andreev in the first game again, no way back for Andreev now who looked exhausted, he still decided to give it everything he had and hats off to him he pushed Federer in his serves, but Federer was in the flow, and got through that set but it never looked easy one bit.

Andreev was a very respectable player who didn’t overuse the challenge system and all his challenges were spot on, but the crowd were hard on him in the final set, fair do’s he’s Russian, but cheered every missed shot in the final set, which he acted out slightly, but the pressure he was under it was very understandable.

Federer celebrated the victory a relieved man, it would be a classic in his archive along with his Agassi bout and Nadal finals!

Now to the quarter finals for him to meet Muller, don’t know too much about him but he has beaten some heavyweights on his way so should be another good game.

Tennis: US Open Round 3 update

Federer bt Stepanek

6-3, 6-3, 6-2

An awesome Federer beat an under par Stepanek in straight sets yesterday in round 3 of the US Open, it was Federer’s most convincing victory of the year where you saw him give his best performance since his ‘mono’ illness last year.

This was very new to watch as in previous matches he was always struggling a little bit, always lacked that little bit of energy – which is strange as he still won nearly all his games, he just didn’t have that extra bit. Yesterday though, he seemed the unstoppable player we all have come to love, just watching some of those backhands down the line, volleying, and precise serving – we got to see the pure instinctive Federer.

I felt quite sorry for Stepanek, I said he was under par but really had no chance, the game started full speed, Federer won the first game with 2 aces without dropping a point. He pushed Stepanek’s serves in the first set and managed to get his break in the 4^th. After that is was bread and butter for Federer. The same happened in the second set. Please do remember Stephanek beat Federer in a recent masters series, and he is ranked 28^th in the world and was once amongst the top 10, so definitely not a player to just make up numbers.

The final set was a shock as Federer dropped his serve, he was serving into the wind and things got very gusty during his game and caused him to make a few errors. To show how Federer dictated the game, he was 0-2 down that set and won it 6-2. I have always said this, but when Federer plays at his best he always looks as though he can pick and choose which games he wants to win.

A fine victory for the world number 2, if he can take this form into every game I feel he can win this tournament and make it look easy! Unless Rafa has an answer to this performance, but I feel Nadal and only Nadal could have a chance to stop Federer in his finest form.

Tennis: The Wimbledon Final – What a Game!

It’s over, a great Euro’s and now a brilliant Wimbledon, can Beijing live up to these two sporting events? The Wimbledon final was fantastic! Definitely has its place in the history, lots of emotion in the game with two players who rarely show that much emotion apart from the odd fist pump. Nadal has really matured this tournament and you could see how focused he was until the end, Federer was the same, but you began seeing in the great mans face the pressure that Nadal imposed on him.

The game started off rather slow for Federer as he hit many unforced errors and didn’t look settled one bit as Nadal played perfectly and got the first break, it was quite shocking to see no improvement from Federer in the second as he broke Nadal’s serve in the second game of the second set and then got broken twice in the same set to go two sets down.

At this point, Federer was not playing at his best and Nadal was playing at his absolute best, things did not look good for Federer as in the third set Nadal seemed to be dominating Federer’s serve but still not managing to find the break, and Federer had no impact at all on Nadal’s serve. When the game came to tie-break with Federer’s record at tie-breaks he became favourite to take the set demolishing Nadal in and taking moment into the fourth set.

The fourth set ended up being the same as the third, at this point the match was tied 2 sets all 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7 with Nadal the former. The fourth set tie break did have the excitement of a championship point, and on the championship point Federer responded, a few baseline exchanges and Nadal uncharacteristically came into the net and Federer hit the greatest backhand down the line whilst he was on the run I have ever seen, under the most immense pressure that if he misses it would be game over, fantastic point, and it rose Federer’s confidence to take the fourth.

The proposition of a five set match was a mouth watering idea for the neutral, and the fifth set was one of the most emotional sets I have ever seen, both players picked up their game, but I have to say Nadal reached further, he played phenomenally in the last set and a sad thought but he outclassed Federer, he dominated all the games until he managed to break him right at the end.

I have to admit the reason why I tipped Federer to win yesterday is because I so desperately wanted him to win, I really believe he has the potential to be labelled as the greatest ever once he retires and 6 in a row could have done that for him. I felt a real disappointment when he lost, but I was pleased that another great tennis player won it instead. Hats off to Nadal for the greatest performance of his career, a deserved winner.

Tennis: Federer Vs Nadal

The third consecutive final between Federer and Nadal at Wimbledon is set for tomorrow, and it’s the one every wanted. Last year was one of the most exciting finals I have ever seen at Wimbledon between the world number 1 and 2, a combination of hard hitting and classy winners just made it such an amazing game to watch.

The improvements Nadal has made to his game since his defeat to Federer last year have been phenomenal. His return of serve is always the reason why he is one of the best, but now his further improvements of his service game and backhand has led to him to destroy any opponent in his sights. With victory at the queens, Nadal’s confident and game is clearly reached it’s highest peak on grass, tomorrow has to be his day…

But…

I have to applaud Federer, with all the criticism and doubt that he’s had this year, and to come back with his pure focus and controlled way of playing, not dropping one set on his road to the final is almost like normal service resumed in the great man’s world, but can he win tomorrow?

I believe if both players play at the top of their game, then it is way too close to call, but if I have to predict, Federer could just edge it.