Today we have the final between Japanese wunderkind Kei Nishikori (born 1989!) and the king of clay, Rafael Nadal. This has perhaps been Nishikori’s year more than anyone else so far, he has won two titles and has an amazing 22-4 win record in 2014. After Madrid Masters he rightfully moves within the top 10. But that aside, I find it difficult to believe that he has a proper chance to win against Nadal on clay. If he plays spectacular tennis, I think he will win one set, but in the end Nadal will be too strong. If you’re a …
Being spoiled with the era of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray – I’m worried that the coming generation won’t be up to the same standard. I know it’s almost impossible to reach the drama of the last 8-9 years, but I want to keep watching tennis and I want to enjoy it to the max. Federer drew me back to the game after a stint of disenchantment and I would hate to lose that passion again. So I keep hoping we get another back of truly great players to keep the sport alive and kicking for many years to come. …
On the heels of a Federer early-round loss there ‘s always talk about when he’s going to retire, whether he’s lost his appetite for the competitive aspect of the sport and the possibility of the surprising defeat being the start of his downfall. Yesterday the mighty Fed Express lost against up-and-coming Kei Nishikori in a rollercoaster match that ended 4-6 6-1 2-6 (Fed’s numbers first). You could see in Fed’s play that he was rusty. He looked slow on returns and was missing some shots that I bet he would make if he had played an event prior to this. …
Today I’m cheering Kei Nishikori in his ATP Rome Masters first round match against Gael Monfils. A few thoughts the early Rome action. Let’s do it kinda bullet form to make it easier to read (and write) – I’ll call it “My Take On Tennis: (date)” Verdasco beat Raonic 6-4 6-4 yesterday after “trash-talking” him last time they played. He basically said that Raonic is all serve and if he could play him on clay it would be a different story. I think that was a really stupid thing to say, although it does make for decent publicity, because Raonic …
