Been too busy to blog, but still some activity on Twitter! (Check it out and follow). To summarize my thoughts of the day so far: Have a hard time seeing Murray go very far in Cincinnati. He looks a bit uninterested. Maybe 2012 will be the year he gets it all together. Most improved player in 2011? @mardyfish – no question about it. Taking your physique and your game seriously is key. A true role model! Tough loss for Dimitrov against Ferrer, playing well, but forehand is lacking a bit of Federeresque zip. Major talent tho! Hard to see anyone …
Murray
What happened? Bad day at the office? Rough night? What kind of excuse could Nadal (2 in the world) and Murray (4 in the world) possibly invent to explain such miserable performances away. Well, in reality they don’t need any. We should be surprised that they win as many matches as they do in such a tough, competitive and injury-prone sport such as tennis. We never marvel when they pull off hard-fought wins, but we complain when they are beaten by guys who are good and can play with absolutely no pressure. Both Ivan Dodig and Kevin Anderson are very …
Here are the amazing matches to look forward to today: Murray vs Gasquet – I think Murray is too good and Gasquet will surely get a flashback from being 2-0 sets up and serving for the match a few years ago. Gasquet has improved, but Murray looks determined to go far this Wimbledon. Nadal vs Del Potro – Match-up of the day. Can Del Potro’s ball-busting strokes knock Nadal off balance or his the defending champion too strong? If this was hard court I would place a bet on Delpo, but considering his Bambi-like movement on grass, I don’t see …
This video is completely unrelated to what I want to say, so why did I put it here? Reason: it’s funny. If you’re not following me on Twitter, I suggest you do so here @tennisnerdnet Here are some of my tweets so far today… About Nadal’s decline and the state of tennis The #Nadal decline debate shows the reporters lack of tennis knowledge and skill to find more interesting stuff to write about. Come on! How can a guy who just won his umpteenth French Open and his tenth grand slam have a decline? Does Djoko decline now because he …
People were talking, writing, twittering and commenting on Rafa’s lack of confidence in his matches. Balls were landing short, he was making unforced errors, and he looked completely out of sorts. But not yesterday against Robin Soderling, yesterday we saw the real Rafa, hitting winners of his backfoot, doing bicep pirouettes and forehand winners down the line. He looked super-focused and for the first time this tournament really motivated to play his best. Maybe he got tired of the talk about his lack of form (party spurred on by his own comments), maybe he just dislikes Soderling and wanted to …
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 …
Most people probably thought it would be easy for Nadal to beat his compatriot Andujar, but tricky windy conditions together with great resistance and aggressive play from Andujar made the three setter a whole lot tougher than predicted. Andujar was attacking Nadal and although the world number one managed to win the first two sets, he was down 5-1 in the third. Then Nadal launched his famous fighting skills and together with Andujar’s nervousness he managed to win the third set in a tie-break. Nadal has now had to fight quite hard in both his opening matches which should have …
It was a bit like the slow start on Sunday and not a very eventful day at Roland Garros, but at least we got to see three of the top names in action. Federer made it look easy against French qualifier Texeira and after an inspired start from the Frenchman made it clear that he’s still one of the most elegant and forceful players. Scoreline: 6-3 6-0 6-2. Djokovic cruised through Hanescu who had to retire early in the third set. The Djoker will now play Del Potro who also won in three straight sets today. This match will be …
Yeah, I’m sticking with the afro name until the Scot cuts his hair. And yes, I think there is a chance that with basically no pressure on his shoulders, Andy Murray can be the one to break the seemingly endless winning streak of Novak Djokovic. He needs to relax, hit out and hope that Djokovic will get tired and irritated. Although the Serb beat Soderling in fine style (the big Swede was from his best) he looked a bit out of sorts at times. His breathing seemed heavy and on one occasion he was kicking at the ball and looked …
Federer and Nadal on adjacent practice courts. Please put them on a match court as well! At the time of writing Afro Murray has just lost the first set to Bellucci and we’re seeing how Murray’s passive playing style can be a problem against guys who can control the court like Bellucci can when he is on his game. Lot of tennis left though of course. Side note: I think Murray is trying to grow his hair enough to have dreadlocks and become Rastamurray. On another court the two giant mega hitters, Tsonga and Soderling is battling it out and …