It wasn’t pretty, it was gritty. The rain ruined the rhythm of the players and the history of the moment made their nerves dangle like telephone cables in a storm. Nadal came out of the start blocks like a super-doped 100 meter runner, rushing off to 3-0 in the first set, but then the monster in his head called Novak started roaring and he got back to 3-3. The match …
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djokovic
We are soon at the quarter-final stage of Roland Garros and right now I can only see one winner, Rafael Nadal. Djokovic looked awfully off his game last night against Seppi and was grumbling like back in the old days of being “only” #3 in the world. The conditions were tough and Seppi was really playing great tennis; not going for the lines but just being solid and consistent and …
I think everybody talked a lot about the physicality of the Nadal vs Djokovic final, but I think the lesson is really how MENTAL (and by that I don’t mean crazy!) the sport of tennis is. The guys sure pushed the boundaries of the human body, clocking in the hard-fought affair at almost six hours of running, hitting, stretching and grunting. Fitness was a big part of the match, but …
He was the favorite and he took on the expectations and met them. But it was close, so close. In a nail-biting almost six hour long match Djokovic managed to serve out the fifth set 7-5, making the final scoreline 6-7 6-2 6-4 6-7 7-5. After losing six straight finals to Djokovic there was no doubt that he was the underdog for this encounter. Djokovic has undoubtedly all the weapons to beat Nadal …
After two grueling 4+ hour semi-finals we have reached a repeat third Grand Slam final between Djokovic and Nadal. It will be a tough one physically for both, especially after really exerting themselves in the semis, but as fit as these guys are both physically and mentally, they will show up pumped and ready to go. It’s a harder pill to swallow for Federer and Murray and especially the Scot …
The two quarter-finals of Australian Open were fairly straight forward for both Djokovic and Murray. Well, at least Murray’s 6-3 6-3 6-1 win of Kei Nishikori was. The Scot looks in spectacular form this year and with Lendl in the stands he might be inspired enough to beat a half-injured/hampered/hamstringed (??) Djokovic. Because something was wrong with the Djoker for the first two sets in his 6-4 7-6 6-1 win …
I can’t say I’m very surprised with how Australian Open has turned out so far. All the top players are still in the draw and no really major upsets have taken place. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray are all ready for the quarters and so let’s look at the opposition: Federer vs Del Potro – Del Potro looked back to grand slam winner form against Kohlschreiber and if he can …
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 …
Was an exhibition in Abu Dhabi against Novak Djokovic that lasted 44 minutes and ended up with the scoreline 2-6 1-6 in the Serbs favor. It was Federer‘s first match since he won the ATP World Tour Championships and he mishit quite a few balls badly, likely due to a rusty racquet. Talking about his racquet, he was playing with the new paint job (as seen in the picture). The …
