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 Round 1 – Day 3 Update

Djokovic bt Clement

6-3, 6-3, 6-4

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic started in slightly rusty form to beat Arnaud Clement to win his opening match in straight sets. His first set was off with a few too many unforced errors, but this has become quite normal for Djokovic, never do we see a smooth win for him against an unseeded, as he always finds a way to make the game look difficult. However the rest of the game he just started playing strokes for fun and not leaving any chance for Clement.

Djokovic, who has been seeded 3 for a while now, will feel he can do it this year, he lost last year’s final to Federer but he managed to beat him in the Aussie Open so there will be a lot of passion burning inside of him to take this down. He could be set for a semi-final against Federer and then potentially a final against Nadal, which will be amazing to watch! I have no guess on how that would turn out.

Roddick Bt Santoro

6-2, 6-2, 6-2,

Big server Andy Roddick looked in fine form against Santoro, starting very strong each set breaking on the first game, after each break there was no chance for Santoro who looked a light weight compared to Roddick’s powerful serves and strokes.

8 seed Roddick, is probably getting fed up being left behind the likes of Djokovic and Murray, probably feeling he can compete and get his place back near the top, remember he pushed Federer not so many years ago and he already is a slam winner here at Flushing Meadows. Even though he is one of the most determined player out there, I just don’t think his game can match up to the best anymore, I predict a quarter final finish for him at best, but hope he proves me wrong.  

Those are the games I watched in day 3, look out for more detailed reviews as we get deeper into the tournament.