Archive for the ‘Male Players’ Category
Men’s semi finals
The two men’s semi finals matches caught the world’s attention, as the four men faced up to muscle their way into Wimbledon’s finals. The first to be successful was Novak Djokovic, who was beaming from ear to ear in post match interviews, citing this tournament as his dream to win. He has only lost one of the last 50 matches he has played, and so it was little surprise that once he got into his
rhythm, Tsonga was merely a bump in the road. Still, a tricky bump that certainly put Nole through his paces. Despite some moments of purely brilliant, athletic and downright circus-acrobatic tennis, Tsonga made some howlers and awful unforced errors that completely undid his good work. He was playing in the last four for the first time, and with Djokovic able to smell a position as number one in the world, he just wasn’t going to let go of his dream.
The next pairing up brought slightly more attention, particularly over here in Britain. Fans of ‘Muzza’ packed out Henman hill and the stadium, although of course Nadal’s loyal supporters were there too. The ever watchful Uncle Tony was as stoic as ever, until the match got under way and then that passion that Nadal shares came to the fore. It was a spirited first set, the advantages jumping from one player to another. Britain squealed as Murray took the first set, and pundits blew forth with pride that their predictions had been so spot on. And then the second set came, and Murray could only wave over his shoulder at his good game pl more »
Men’s quarter finals
We’ve had an exciting couple of days with both sides of the tournament, but this time it was the men’s turn to shine at Wimbledon. The battle to get into the semi finals caused quite a stir, with one of the top four being knocked out.
Of course, you will all know by now that that player was one Roger Federer. Out of the top four, there were others whom I thought would be more likely to be sent out before the semi finals. Andy Murray could have been crippled by nerves, for example, and Novak Djokovic is hardly his most comfortable on grass. After Rafael Nadal’s injury you might also consider him as a potential candidate to be knocked out ‘early’. But no, it was Roger Federer, and even Jo-Wilfried Tsonga appears to be still reeling from his performance and victory over a man who is a legend at Wimbledon.
Federer is surprisingly upbeat after his defeat, saying with a smile that he still has a lot left in him and he is looking forward to the rest of the year. Either he is very good at putting on a front or he is genuinely quite happy, and I would probably agree with the latter. Federer has definitely broken into a new relaxed – although not laid back or lazy – part of his career, where cramming in as many wins as possible just isn’t the top of his agenda. Tsonga was, unsurprisingly, beaming in the post match interviews.
Tsonga will now play Djokovic, who beat the new pretender Tomic. Tomic has had a superb run, with the 18 year old making waves in the men’s tournament ju more »
And as for the men…
As for the men’s side of things, they haven’t been without their drama either. Bernard Tomic has caused a stir by beating Xavier Malisse in a four set stunner in the fourth round. His biggest upset, though, was his defeat of Robin Soderling on Saturday. This set Tomic on the road to a fantastic Wimbledon run. He is the youngest man to reach this round since 1990, when Michael Chang got to the same point in the tournament. Tomic was first noticed when he won at the US and Australian Open junior tournaments, and seems to have made a dreamy transition into the men’s tournaments. Malisse was under pressure from the word go, and despite some surges he lost 6-1 7-5 6-4 to the 18 year old. Tomic cites his confidence as a men’s player, leaving behind his junior game.
Mardy Fish got through against Tomas Berdych, which was a relative shock seeing as the Czech world number 6 was a finalist at Wimbledon last year. Fish was dominant in serve, hitting 23 aces, and it certainly played a part in keeping Berdych at bay. He has reached the quarter finals of a tournament for the first time since Feliciano Lopez had a scare against Lukasz Kubot, losing the first two sets before rallying to win 3-6 3-7 (5-7) 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 7-5.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also made it through against David Ferrer, who outranked him but couldn’t outplay him on the day. The big four were up next, with Murray progressing well against Richard Gasquet of France. Britain remain holding their breath. Djokovic played a conv more »
Wimbledon just days away
Yes that’s right, we’ve barely had time to catch our breath and already Wimbledon is bearing down on us. We’ve hardly had time to get over our sunburn from the French Open and soon we’ll be on the cool grass of the All England Tennis Club. For us Brits, this is the official start to our summer, and for the rest of the world it is the true start of the grass season and a great midway point in the tennis calendar. Standing at number 3 of the four grand slams, we start to see new faces emerge as those with grass court specialities come to the fore.
But what has been happening in this short rest between the two grand slams? In Eastbourne, the women’s players have been battling it out to prove their mettle in their warm up tournament before Wimbledon. One piece of exciting news is that both Serena and Venus Williams are back in the tournament, which is a particularly special moment for Serena after having a blood clot scare on her lungs during her injury absence.
Despite cries that their return will just place the rankings back into that usual Williams vs. Williams battle, I have faith that in the Williams sisters absence some amazing players have grown and blossomed. They definitely have more competition on their hands this year. Unfortunately, one player that won’t be able to give the Williams sisters a run for their money is Kim Clijsters. She has been ruled out of Wimbledon after injuring her foot, which is a real shame just before the start of one of the most exciting t more »
The French Open excitement is well under way
As I brace myself to write my first blog since the end of the Australian Open, I can feel that familiar wash of nostalgia and enjoyment come over me. Things have changed, quite hugely, since the end of the Australian Open, but coming back to the sport after such a long time is like putting on your comfiest pyjamas, pair of slippers, and favourite television show. It just feels right.
Like I said, things have changed since the last Grand Slam, particularly in the men’s side of the game. Where did this fantastic form of Djokovic come from? 36 straight wins? I wonder what sort of pep-talk this man had with himself on New Year’s Eve. We were all pleasantly surprised by his win at the Australian Open; Djokovic has always hovered around the top end of the rankings, but he has only had one title to his name and after a while people started to wonder how long it will be before he started to drop like a stone. And then he nabbed the Australian Open title seemingly from the blue.
A few months down the line, and he has yet to come down from his superb high. We’ve had another sign of the Apocalypse as well: Novak Djokovic even managed to beat Rafael Nadal on clay in Madrid last week. My face still hurts from the slack-jaw that news gave me. Nadal had been on a two year-winning streak when it came to clay. For all intents and purposes the man’s official name was Rafael Nadal King of Clay. And then Djokovic, who had always been much better on the hard courts and was rarely ‘the one t more »
