Fantastic tournament here in Stuttgart. Great organization and a beautiful setting. Some good tennis too! Here are some pics to start with:
nadal
Yeah, that is Novak Djokovic‘s unbeaten streak today after beating David Ferrer comfortably 6-4 6-4. Who is going to stop the Serb in the final and, more importantly, in Paris? It’s hard to see Nadal, whose game is slowly getting better but who still is unusually unreliable, pose enough of a threat to a player with a 21-match win-streak confidence. Federer? Nah, not over five sets. Who else? Wawrinka, who yesterday beat Nadal 7-6 6-2? Nope, don’t think so. Still, a slam is a slam and there are lots of tennis to be played. Djokovic has never won there before so …
We’ve seen some amazing tennis so far in Rome and the best match I’ve seen until now is the swashbuckling thriller between Nadal and Murray last night. That was a spectacular show that started with Murray playing out of skin to almost bagel Nadal 6-0, but then became familiar in the second set when the king of clay fought back in style. Murray then was a break up in the decider before Nadal came swinging and took the match 7-5. These two really bring out the best in each other and it was truly a test for Nadal going into …
Not many hours have passed since Monte Carlo Masters shut its doors for this year before we look ahead to the next couple of ATP Tournaments – ATP Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy. These are the matches we can look forward to today with my picks in bold! ATP Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell Who’s playing: Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Fabio Fognini, Kei Nishikori, Tommy Robredo, Nicolas Almagro, Jerzy Janowicz, Alexandr Dolgopolov Pick to win: Rafael Nadal (oooh, risky prediction!) Find the draw here. SCHEDULE – MONDAY, 21 APRIL 2014 PISTA CENTRAL start 11:00 am [WC] D …
Coming into the quarter-finals you saw four big favorites: Wavrinka, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic. Wavrinka got tested against “Missile” Milos Raonic, but came through in the end 7-6 6-2. Then we had the match everyone felt they knew the script to: Nadal vs Ferrer. The stats were solidly in Nadal’s favour: he had won 10 of their last 11 meetings and the last time Ferrer beat him on clay was July, 2004 in the QFs of Stuttgart when Nadal was ranked No. 57. Much has changed since then of course. But already from the outset Ferrer looked super-focused and ready …
Federer played his first singles match of the year in Brisbane today and beat Nieminen comfortably 6-4 6-2. What impressed me the most is how lethal his forehand was. It really looked like the increased racquet size (from 90 to 98) helped his pace on that shot. If that’s the case we have interesting things in store. Federer also looked hungry and ready to play and moved well. Nadal on the other hand has struggled finding depth and aggression on his shots in his first two matches (in Doha) and was taken the distance by German Tobias Kamke today, but …
He’s relentless. He’s fearless. He never gives up. These are just a few words that describes soon to be(?) world number one, Rafael Nadal. He has just beaten the talented Italian, Fabio Fognini after being down 6-2 4-2 and game point at the China Open quarter-finals. The game at 4-2 in the second set seemed to decide the match, Nadal fought like a tiger throughout and although Fognini managed to get rid of three or four break points through his lethal forehand, it felt like it would be Nadal’s game. Finally, Nadal broke and that deflated Fognini completely who only …
I haven’t been posting of late due to other writing commitments, work, family, you name it. I’ve even started playing more myself again and the game is coming along decently – with the only worry being the body holding up. But I’m going to try to get back to the blog and Twitter and follow it until the end of 2013. At least a chunkier post every week. And as an add-on I’m going to write a newsletter where you who subscribe get something a little bit extra from time to time. Match predictions, gear reviews, tips and tricks for …
The battle that was on display between Nadal and Djokovic yesterday and which ended in the fifth hour with: 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-7 9-7 in the favor of Nadal – is hard to put into words. The match had everything. Fantastic points, high drama, nerves, comebacks, and brute physicality. It was another classic in their rivalry. In the end, Nadal had the edge of being (almost) unbeatable at Roland Garros and he managed to qualify for yet another final. Who awaits there? His good friend Ferrer. It’s a bit of anticlimax with an all-Spanish final, but at least we had …
The first day at Roland Garros 2013 is almost over and we have managed to get through it without the looming grey clouds in Paris infringing too much on the action. It’s cold in Paris and the weather forecast for the first week does look rather grim, but hopefully we won’t have too much of a break in the schedule. I had a feeling the weather together with the flimsy form of some of the favorites would allow for potential upsets, but the first day saw none. Federer breezed through dangerous youngster Carreno-Busta 6-2 6-2 6-3 and except for a …