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 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

Murray bt Warwinka

6-1, 6-3, 6-3

Andy Murray has made a huge statement on this US Open beating the highly rated Stanislas Warwinka. Murray has been considered by many as the ‘outsider’ to win this tournament, and with a performance like that he definitely has his chance to win a slam. 

The big test for Andy Murray will be against del Porto, who is only 19 years old but has had a very long winning streak, and considered to be a future number 1. The furthest Murray has gotten to in a Grand Slam is the quarter final at Wimbledon this year where he got crushed by Nadal, so he will be extra determined to win here, and I think he just has enough experience to beat the giant del Porto. I can see it being a classic, going all the way to 5 sets.

Nadal bt Querrey

6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 

An unexpected struggle for Nadal in the 4^th round match up against the American Querrey, credit to the American to pushing all the way, but I just don’t think Nadal likes hard court as much as he likes clay and grass, though in the last year he has made the effort to adapt his game to all conditions – he still has some work to do on hard if he wants to dominate on Hard.

Dropping a set isn’t so bad, right now if I was to say my top 3 contenders I would say Federer, Murray, and Nadal, in no particular order. Nadal has a habit of losing concentration against the not so rated players, and it can occasionally affect his confidence. But, when he plays against the big players he has a habit of not letting them breath! He’s is still the only player ever to make Federer look like he has no control over a match, on many occasions.

Tennis: US Open Round 2 Update

Coin bt Ivanovic

6-3, 4-6, 6-3

A shock round 2 defeat for the women’s number 1 Ana Ivanovic, she looked very nervous in her opening match which she scraped though in 3 sets, managing to keep her cool at the death. This game though her nerves got the better of her and she gifted games away, she did show flashes of excellence however being labelled top seed you are expected to keep your cool under pressure.

Nothing taken away from Julie Coin who has never been in such a pressured situation, she really played with no fear, the first set she dominated Ivanovic and hit some powerful winners to take it 6-3, Ivanovic battled back second set getting the early break and using her experience to get the upper hand.

The final set ended up an emotional battle and one of the best sets I have seen so far this tournament, both women gave it their all and both making big unforced errors, but it was Ivanovic who really gifted the game at the end, and Coin took full advantage.

Ivanovic’s general game is brilliant, I consider her one of the best in her ability, its her mental strength that needs work on, she will most likely lose her number 1 spot at the end of the season. As for Coin, she now has nothing to lose as she has gone past expectations, we’ll see how she copes if she meets one of the Williams sisters.

 

Andy Murry bt Llodra

6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9-7)

A decent performance by Murray was just good enough to get past the Frenchman Michael Llodra in four sets. Murry would be the first to admit he didn’t play his best, and if he is to compete at a higher level he really needs to try and mop these type of games up easily. However, after the first set, which went quite smoothly, Llodra began outsmarting Murray as he exposed Murray’s weak and deep shots he likes to play and most of all exposed his second serve.

The second set ended in Murray being broken twice for Llodra to take the second set 6-1. Thankfully, Murray woke up from this in the third and fourth and though Llodra posed a threat, Murray held his nerve and took down both sets to move into the next round.

It was quite a fun game to watch with a baseline player vs a net player, there aren’t many net players around these days and Murray adapted well, each game he looks to be maturing and as I keep saying, just needs to sort his attitude a tiny bit more to really compete against the top 3.  

Murray’s best showdown at a Grand Slam has been a quarter final at Wimbledon against Nadal, so the 21 year old will really look to better that this year and feel like he has a good chance to win.

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.