Archive for the ‘Tennis News’ Category
2012 cometh
The annoying thing about tennis stars is that they probably keep to their New Year’s resolutions. More than that, I doubt they make any of the same sorts that we mere mortals do. Diets, new fitness regimes, I will bet any money that these sorts of resolutions do not pop up on tennis star’s lists. Apart from, maybe, ‘a new and improved’ diet, or ‘a brand new fitness regime with my new coach’.
Well that’s one that might be on Andy Murray’s list. As the dawn rises on 2012, Andy Murray announces the addition of Ivan Lendl to his coaching team. Yes, finally, Andy Murray has sat down and made the decision about who is going to be his coach. Ivan Lendl, the former world number 1 originally from the Czech Republic, has been hired to make Andy Murray the flavour of the year. Murray has been without a coach for a while, and so far it seems like he has made a good choice. Apparently, they share the same sense of humour. Probably something you need when you are/coach Andy Murray.
Too mean? Probably for my first blog, yes. Apologies, Andy. Good luck with the year ahead and it will indeed be interesting to see how the new coaching situation is handled. Murray has just won the Brisbane Open after all. So yes, this does look like a positive thing for Murray. It’s just that if I have to hear sports pundits call it ‘Murray’s year’ I am going to break new year’s resolution number 3.
Speaking of Australia, the draws have been announced for this year’s Open. Murray is seeded fourth, with 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 »
Fourth Round and Quarter Finals
The action and drama at Roland Garros has yet to abate, and it will only get better, With the weekend being full of the typical tears and tantrums of the advancing rounds, today will be the culmination of many player’s best efforts. Today is the first quarter final day, and the mood is excitable.
The events leading up to this point in the tournament have been just as exciting. Andy Murray had to battle his way into the quarters after a laborious game against Viktor Troicki, who played probably the best tennis of his life but was unfortunately undone by a halt due to poor light, and then nerves at the prospect of advancing as he started the match on the next day. Andy Murray was at times desperately poor as he struggled with an ankle injury. But experience and grit pulled him through against a player whose experience in these late-stage rounds is considerably less. Congratulations are definitely deserved for Troicki though, a valiant effort at very nearly putting off the British number one. Andy Murray now faces Juan Ignacio Chela to reach the semi-finals.
Despite the Brit’s frothing at the mouth at this quarter-final match up none is more exciting than the semi final which was decided yesterday. Roger Federer defeated Gael Monfils in straight sets, and then Novak Djokovic beat Fabio Fognini after the Italian retired due to a thigh injury. Yes that’s right, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will be squaring up o each other in the semi-finals tomorrow. Just thinking about more »
Pre-first day build up
So what can we expect for the first day of the French Open? Not an awful lot, it seems. The start is relatively low key, with the highest seed playing on the first day being David Ferrer at number seven. There is some excitement though, particularly for the French crowds with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mathilde Johansson both stepping up for the first round. But it is only until day two that we still start the really exciting matches warming up.
In a bizarre turn of events, more attention is being paid to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal than it is Roger Federer at this year’s French Open. In fact if he goes out early (‘early’ for Federer usually being quarters or semis) he could be almost forgotten until the next grand slam. It’s the competition between Djokovic and Nadal that has become the ‘new’ rivalry, until someone pulls their socks up and beats Djokovic off his wild run. And of course if no-one does, then Roger Federer will be the third person in the top-3 party, much like Djokovic had been until the beginning of this year.
I have always joked the various tennis shocks we see throughout the seasons are signs of the apocalypse, but seeing as we are apparently in for the Day of Rapture today there could be some truth in it. Maybe the fact that Roger Federer is playing third fiddle in the rivalry of a new era could be the last sign before the righteous go to heaven. That said it is past six o’clock in my own time zone and I have located all of the true believers I know o 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 »
