6-4 7-5 6-3. For a Federer fan it was pure pain. The maestro who we all were waiting for, the one who had managed to put a dent in Djokovic’s amazing 2011 season last year and who holds pretty much every record in the world of tennis, didn’t show up. Sure, he was there, he pulled his hair to the side, he spun his racket when receiving, he took the usual casual strides around the court, but the real Roger Federer wasn’t there. It happens sometimes with Federer. He doesn’t have rhythm, he doesn’t have heart, he doesn’t even look …
nadal
That’s the sem-final line-up of Roland Garros. Not a very surprising one either, three top players in the world and I would put Ferrer as number 4 when it comes to clay court tennis (#6 in the overall rankings). We start tomorrow’s play with Nadal vs Ferrer. Like I wrote in my previous post, Nadal looks absolutely unbeatable. He’s moving fantastically, the courts are slower which allows him time to chase down everything and the extra time also benefits the giant swing on his forehand. I would love to see a stat on how many winners vs unforced errors he …
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 what made Djokovic win was his confidence in this particular match-up right now. If this final had taken place a year ago, before Djokovic had beaten Nadal in those six …
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 over and over again, a heavier serve, a better backhand and also better footwork. What Nadal has and kept him in the match for long stretches was a big, big …
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 who had two break points at 15-40 and 5-5 in the fifth set against Djokovic after fighting back from 2-5. In the end Djokovic showed his true lion heart and …
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 over David Ferrer, he looked hampered in his movements and his head was hanging like we never saw it in 2011. He still managed to play well enough to get …
Two spectacular quarter-finals took place today, and they were spectacular in very different ways. Federer‘s trashing of Del Potro was masterclass in efficient and brilliant tennis. Whatever Del Potro threw at the great Swiss, the tennis maestro had an answer to which shows in the final score 6-4 6-3 6-2. Del Potro didn’t play bad at all, but today he was still a class below Federer who looks really eager to play his best in 2012. He will sure be a tough nut to crack for… Rafael Nadal, who was really on the ropes against a Tomas Berdych playing the …
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 keep that up he will be dangerous for Federer who has had problems getting past the QF stage of Grand Slams of late. On the other hand, Federer looked absolutely …
It has begun! For all us tennis fans the wait from the ATP World Tour Finals to the first slam of the year is excruciating, but at last we don’t need to wait no more. Here’s my brief summary of an exciting first day of Australian Open 2012. Australian youngster Bernard Tomic managed to come back from two sets down to beat Verdasco in five! Seems like Tomic is destined for great things and that is time to start is now. Verdasco, on the other hand, is far from the form he had a year or two ago. Federer had …
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 to Federer’s semi-final withdrawal instead play an exhibition set against Stefan Edberg! And this is exactly what happened. Tsonga continued his great form from 2012 and beat Monfils in final …