The tennis year was supposed to start with a bang with Federer and Nadal (Fedal) playing in Qatar. It looked like a very likely final. In the end neither Federer nor Nadal made it all the way there; Federer withdrew for the first time since 2008 because of back pain and Nadal was swashbuckled by an inspired Monfils in the semis. This left the title open for Tsonga who due to Federer’s semi-final withdrawal instead play an exhibition set against Stefan Edberg! And this is exactly what happened. Tsonga continued his great form from 2012 and beat Monfils in final …
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Monfils
Today we only have two men’s matches to look forward to, the final set of the Murray vs Troicki match and the big excitement and crowd pleaser of the day, Roger Federer vs Gael Monfils. Monfils might very well be playing the best and most solid tennis of his life, but is it enough against the Swiss maestro who looks more inspired than in a long, long time? Federer leads their head to head 5-1 but the last match they played was in Paris 2010 (indoors) and Monfils won it in three tight tiebreak sets. This together with the strong …
The big talk of day 9 of the French Open was not how local hero Gael Monfils managed to beat marathon man David Ferrer. It was not about how Andy Murray fought back from 0-2 in sets to 2-2 before the match was postponed due to bad light against Victor Troicki. It was not how veteran Juan Ignacio Chela won a tough five setter against Colombian Alejandro Falla. It was all about how five time champion Rafael Nadal doesn’t look like himself this tournament, although he won in three sets against Ljubicic. Nadal doesn’t look as confident as he did …
It was a slightly strange day at Roland Garros. It started in a pretty normal fashion though with the Fed Expess rolling through Tipsarevic in routine style, 6-1 6-4 6-3 and sending a small warning to Djokovic and Nadal that he’s in Grand slam mood. Clay court demon David Ferrer is another threat. He destroyed a tired Stakhovsky 6-1 6-1 6-3 and if I remember correctly has yet to lose serve. He can surely mix it up against both Federer and Djokovic although Nadal should have him pretty much figured out by now. The French hopes Gasquet and Tsonga looked to …
First a sad message: Mr Juan Martin Del Potro, why do you get injured now when we need you the most to stir up Roland Garros and make it even more exciting? We will miss you and your fly-swatting shots… Yesterday I only bet on one match, the one between Monfils and Nishikori and then both got injured. Bad luck for me and even more bad luck for them. Many good matches on the menu today. Serve and volley battle between Lopez and Llodra. Croat clash between Karlovic and Cilic. Serving contest between Querrey and Anderson. Big hitting hate-match between …
ATP Masters in Madrid is under way and we have already seen Roddick and Fish crash out of the tournament. Roddick looked completely lost on the red stuff against Italian qualifier Cipolla and although he showed some fighting spirit he lost in three sets and it seems like he just cannot wait to get this part of the season over with. Fish lost to Big John Isner in a three-set serve-fest. Isner won two tie-breaks and could hopefully turn the tide with a good showing in Madrid. Sam Querrey is having a completely miserable season and crashed out to Michael …
After a rain-filled yesterday, the matches today have been of extremely high class. Some highlights and thoughts: I am happy short Italian Fognini beat Monfils after that darkness debacle. They should have stopped at 4-4. You can’t play if you can’t see the ball. But Monfils got the crowd all wired up and they started booing at Fognini for every point he won. It was a weird match that ended with Fognini winning the 5th set 9-7 the next day. The Ukrainian junior Dolgopolov is a great talent and a very skilled clay court player. I am not that surprised …
