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 …
federer
While people were talking about Djokovic‘s fantastic streak and Nadal‘s lack of confidence, Roger Federer found his form and has now won all his matches on the road to the semi-final without losing a set. This should be a slight warning to Djokovic. The Serb is also bound to be a little nervous as he for once is the favorite and has a lot more on the line than Federer. If Djokovic wins he will be the number one player in the world and play his first Roland Garros final. In the final the winner of the Djokovic vs Federer …
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 …
One of the keys for a good tennis stroke is balance. If you’re not in balance you will put a lot of focus on your upper body, especially the arms, doing all the work and control will suffer. The way to be balanced for a shot is good footwork, trying to keep the feet moving through small steps and preparing as early as possible for your shots. Just look at the way Rafael Nadal runs around his backhand to hit a forehand, he takes so many small steps that you would think he’s a flamenco dancer. Just search for Nadal …
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 …
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 …
It was the first “real” day of Roland Garros and both Federer, Djokovic and dark horse Del Potro were in action and they all managed to get through their rounds although Del Potro had to concede a set against serve-demon Ivo Karlovic. Djokovic looked light on his feat as usual, not dropping more than 6 games against Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker. It must be really tough to feel comfortable against Djokovic these days. Whatever you throw at him comes back with interest. Federer looked casual and relaxed against Lopez who he had huge problems with in Madrid (down 2-5 in …
It’s out and it’s cruel. At least for John Isner who faces Rafael Nadal in the first round. I’m talking about the French Open draw. If we break it down into quarters, the first quarter definitely has Nadal as the semi-finalist although you would put up a warning sign on Robin Soderling, because the Swede loves the French clay. Nadal will be pumped though to show the world that he can beat Novak Djokovic and that’s why he’s my favorite to win this year, despite Djokovic’s superpowers. A great first round match is Verdasco vs Monaco. Two talented chokers. The …
I couldn’t believe my eyes, because yesterday Novak Djokovic played another amazing match to defeat world number one Rafael Nadal in straight sets. I couldn’t believe it because Djokovic should have been tired, Nadal should have been rested and pumped, and you can’t possibly play as well as Djokovic has for that many matches. But Djokovic blasted all our doubts about this streak being ruined and played another amazing match. It wasn’t Nadal who who played badly – the result was all Djokovic’s doing. He’s just so confident that losing must be the furthest thing from his mind and he’s …