Archive for the ‘Male Players’ Category
Men’s Draw Surprises
First, let’s admit it: Aiur probably has it right: the four semi-finalists are going to be Nadal, Murray, Roddick and Federer. And, yes, probably it will be Murray and Federer in the final. I think Murray wins that one if it happens.
But let’s assume that conventional wisdom is wrong for a moment and consider the possibilities. Rafa will probably have little trouble with Denis Istomin, or with the Simon/Kohlschreiber winner in the third, though both matches contain elements of danger for Rafa. If Rafa wins those two, he has a virtual walkover in R16. That’s when it gets tricky, friends. He gets whoever comes through of Verdasco, Ferrer and Nalbandian. No problem, you may say: Rafa owns the other Spaniards. True enough, but Nalbandian is Argentine, and I think he makes it through to the quarters with a nearly even shot against Rafa.
Murray will waltz through to the quarters, where the only thing that can keep him from meeting Berdych would be a miracle recovery by John Isner followed by a great serving day in R16. Personally, I’m hoping that occurs, but I’m not exactly holding my breath. In all likelihood, it’s Murray over Berdych in four sets, but if Murray were having an off day serving and Berdych were able to overcome his nerves, an upset could occur.
Roddick will roll over Monfils in R3. He has only the Davydenko/Gasquet winner to worry about before the quarters. Once again, there it gets dicey. He will meet the winner of Djokovic/Fish. This is abs more »
US Open Preview
Well ladies and gentleman, it’s late August and for a tennis fan that can only mean it’s US Open time. The last ‘Slam of the year, hosted by America’s most famous city in a time of transition. Back to school for the kids, Summer passing the torch to Autumn. In this time of transition, however, there is one constant. Every year at this time the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center springs to life for one last grandiose event of the season. One last event for someone to make history, to turn a good season into a great one or a bad season into a spark for next season. So, with the tournament only a few hours away, the questions on everyone’s minds are simple: who are the tournament favorites, who is most likely to be upset and of course, who will be the cinderella story. Well, without further ado, let’s get into those topics.
Starting with the men’s field, let’s delve into some of the favorites.
1. Rafael Nadal – Rafa will get another chance to tackle the only ‘Slam that has eluded him in his young career. Nadal comes in with a sparkling hardcourt record on the season, but he has had trouble finding his game in Toronto and Cincinnati. Is it possible Rafa is out of gas, much like he has been at the US Open in the past? Final prediction – Semis
2. Roger Federer – 5-time champion Roger Federer will look to become King of New York again after a stunning defeat last year. Federer comes in riding high, winning the more »
Clay Season underway
Andy Murray’s year not improving…
Poor Andy Murray’s year is not looking any brighter. Starting with that blaze of form at the Australian Open, the loss in the finals and the following few months seem to have knocked it all out of the Scot. At home he is garnishing criticism for not playing in the GB Davis Cup team, and out on the circuit he is being knocked out of the earliest of the early rounds. His latest disappointment was at the Monte Carlo masters. He had a bye in the first round, but was out in the second, losing 6-2 6-1 to Philip Kohlschreiber. ‘Muzza’ is going to have to pick himself up from this quickly; last year his clay season was an impressive improvement on the surface, and if he gets a bad season under his belt who knows what that’ll do to his confidence come Wimbledon.
…but Rafael Nadal’s year improving significantly
It’s been a bit of the grind the last eighteen months or so for the Majorcan. Fortunately for Rafa fans, he appears to be back to fighting fitness ready for his favourite season of the year. Those vibrant clay courts just wouldn’t be the same without him. His latest title, and first for a while, was taken at the Monte Carlo Masters, beating Fernando Verdasco 6-0 6-1. This is the sixth consecutive time he has won his tournament. Well, some people are just greedy like that. With his form as blistering as it is at the moment, he looks on track to get his old French Open title back from Federer. Finger more »
Starkly Different Semi-Finals
To get to the epic final that has now been set up, two very different semi-finals took place. First, there was Murray vs. Cilic. The excitement was palpable. In Britain, the BBC had whipped every ‘Muzza’ fan into an hysteria. Supporters of Cilic were trembling with the idea of another fairy-tale final for a lower ranking player.
Anyone who saw the match will know that the big Croat made the Scot work for the advance to the finals that he desired. He took the first set in a rather brutal fashion, with his serve his best bet against a nifty Murray. The eventual scoreline was 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-2, but the battle to get the finals for Murray only really began to ease off at the end of the third set.
As the third set came to a close, Cilic needed to step it up a gear to have a chance, and unfortunately he just couldn’t find it. The words ‘pummel’, ‘batter’ and ‘broken’ started to appear in the running commentaries, whether they were Murray-backing or not. It was four sets, but it may as well have been 3. After a rocky start, Andy Murray found his game, the kind of form that may win him this Open.
The second semi-final, Roger Federer vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was over and done in 88mins. With a scoreline of 6-2 6-3 6-2 and a time like that, I’m sure you wouldn’t need more than the one guess at who was the winner. Federer demolished an exhausted, listless Tsonga, who looked like he had decided he wasn’t going to win before he even arrived on the cour more »
Men’s Quarter Finals
With all the drama of the past few days, and two of the top four seeds making their exit, the quarter finals of this years French Open are wide open, and with Federer barely able to scrape through his fourth round match the safest bet of the tournament is that there are no safe bets.
Robin Soderling vs Nicolay Davydenko
Can Davydenko beat the man who beat ‘The Man’?
On paper he is the higher ranked of the two players and has a superior track record on clay, but suprisingly trails 2-3 in their head to head matches – with two of those losses to Soderling coming on clay.
There has to be a massive come down for Soderling after such an upset win, and history is littered with examples of such winners being unable to raise their game in their very next match and tumbling out straight after.
The one that instantly springs to my mind is the Australian Open of 1996 when a 19yr old (and not yet broke) Mark Phillipoussis turned in a stunning performance to dominate world number 1 Pete Sampras in straight sets.
He was bundled out in the very next round, and as it turns out never made it past the 4th round of the Aussie Open in his whole career, even though at the time he was being pegged as a future champion.
So I’m going to go with Davydenko in this one – he’s a talented player who’s been involved in his fair share of controversy but he seems to be playing close to his best at the moment.
