Andy Murray Wins the US Open

Posted by Jeff in Sports, Tennis

Andy Murray wins the 2012 US Open tennis championship & becomes the first British male in 76 years todo so.

Murray 7-6 (12-10) 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2 Djokovic

In an epic contest between in form Andy Murray and Novac Djokovic that lasted almost 5 hours, Murray came out on top on the final set.

In the year that London held the Olympics and on the day British Olympians paraded through London, it somehow seems appropriate that this should be the year that Murray finally achieved his dream and lived up to his potential by winning a Grand Slam.

Andy Murray got off to a flying start when he grabbed the first two sets 7-6 & 7-5. This was followed by a resurgence by Djokovic who managed to break in the 3rd set and maintain momentum to control the 4th.

So it went to the 5th set and Andy Murray regained his composure to start playing the best tennis of the match, possibly helped by a light injury to Djokovic’s thigh. In the end he was the comfortable winner, seeing the match out 6-2.

At the end Djokovic was his usual graceful self,

“It wasn’t to be but I want to congratulate Andy for his first Grand Slam, he absolutely deserves it,” said Novak Djokovic

The new US Open Champion Andy Murray summed up the match by saying,

“They were incredibly tricky conditions. After the third and fourth sets it was tough mentally, Novak is so strong. He fights until the end of every match & I don’t know how I managed to come through in the end.

Murray also joked about the iceman that is Ivan Lendl,

“That was almost a smile [from Ivan Lendl]. He’s one of greatest players ever to play, here he made eight consecutive finals. Having him here supporting me has helped in the tough moments, but not only him, everyone else too. They’ve been there since the start. Thanks very much.”

Photo: Karlnorling

Djokovic Wins Mens Wimbledon 2011 Title

Posted by James in Sports, Tennis

Novak Djokovic celebrated winning his first men’s Wimbledon title by eating the centre court grass. He beat Rafael Nadal in 4 sets, 6-4,6-1,1-6,6-3.

Novak Djokovic really confirmed his imminent world no. 1 status today as he out-played, and yes, out-muscled Rafael Nadal in a pulsating Wimbledon final on the famous Centre Court.

Djokovic’s defence was at times astonishing and Nadal must have been wondering what on earth he would have todo to win a point.

It was a tight first set, but the fact that Djokovic was always able to get just one more ball back over the net forced Nadal into making a few uncharacteristic errors. A Nadal shot into the net gave the Serbian the first set.

Nadal knew he had to hit the corners to try and win the points which increased the risks of missing. Ironically, it is exactly what Nadal usually does to his opponents, today the shoe was on the other foot.

In the second set Djokovic was really in the zone, winners were zipping off his racket at an alarming rate and the set flew past Nadal in much the same way as one of Djokovic’s passing shots.

The arrival of the third set at least enabled Nadal to get his breath back, regroup and refocus. As the defending champion and winner of 10 Grand Slams he wasn’t going to let go of the Wimbledon trophy that easily.

And so it proved, Djokovic had suddenly lost the momentum that he had in the 2nd set and Nadal dug deep to play a perfect set of his own winning a comfortable 6-1.

So, onto a fourth set. Could Nadal do what very few manage, come back from 2 sets down?

A very poor service game in the middle of the set by Nadal proved to be the turning point and gave Djokovic the chance to serve for the Wimbledon Championship.

One of the hardest things todo is to serve out a Wimbledon final under the spotlight of the world but Djokovic somehow managed to stay calm. Nadal seemed to sense that it wasn’t going to his year and looked uncomfortable has he stood waiting to receive after having just been broken.

A couple of Nadal errors enabled Djokovic to get to Championship point and after a return from Nadal, he hit a rasping shot into the corner that Nadal couldn’t get back into play.

Falling on his knees, where most players kiss the grass, Djokovic decided to go one better and actually eat some of the Wimbledon grass!

Who can blame him, if we had just won Wimbledon we would want to take the court home too.

Photo: Carine06

Petra Kvitova Upsets the Odds to Beat Sharapova for the Wimbledon Title

Posted by Clive in Sports, Tennis

Petra Kvitova ended Maria Sharapova’s dream of a second Wimbledon title today as she powered to her first Grand Slam title.

Sharapova is the highest paid female sports star in the world and the winner of 3 Grand Slam titles, so started as slight favourite for today’s final; but since coming back from a serious shoulder injury she has had to change her serve and still hasn’t quite recovered the form that saw her reach the top of women’s tennis.

Both players however, struggled from the start of the match to hold onto their serve. Sharapova broke Kvitova’s service game early on but failed to capitalise as Kvitova immediately broke back.

They were the first of 8 breaks of serve and both players really suffered when they failed to get their 1st serve in, Sharapova’s % of points won on second serve was below 30% for the entire match and Kvitova’s wasn’t much better.

It was Kvitova’s ground strokes that did the damage though. She manages to get enormous power, especially off the forehand side, and Sharapova struggled to deal with it.

In the end it was relatively straightforward for Kvitova who served out the match to win 6-3, 6-4.

Do we have a major new force in women’s Grand Slam tennis?

Photo: Huge.Look.Left

Tsonga Knocks Federer Out of Wimbledon

Posted by James in Sports, Tennis

The biggest Wimbledon upset this year as Tsonga knocks Federer out of the tennis competition in the quarter-final.

It was a remarkable victory for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as he had to come back from 2 sets down against Federer, a player who has never lost at Wimbledon or any of the other Grand Slams, after going 2 sets up.

After claiming the first 2 sets it looked like it would be business as usual for Roger Federer, on course for yet another semi-final, but Tsonga had other ideas.

Tsonga hadn’t been playing badly in the first 2 sets but he did take time to get going in the first set and was broken quickly. The second set was closer, won by Federer in the tie break.

In the 3rd set Tsonga started to become even more aggressive, attacking the Federer serve and hitting some huge shots.

Suddenly everything started going in for the Frenchman and he managed to break Federer’s serve once in each of the next 3 sets, finally winning through 3-6,6-7,6-4,6-4,6-4.

Tsonga will now play Djokovic in the semi-final on Friday after he beat the Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic.

Photo: Carine06

Murray Into Wimbledon 2nd Week, Roddick Crashes Out

Posted by James in Sports, Tennis

Andy Murray is the first of the big 4 mens seeds to make it through to the second week of Wimbledon while Andy Roddick crashes out, beaten by Feliciano Lopez.

On a rainy Wimbledon day, Lopez showed a set of skills that suggest that he will reach alot higher than his current world ranking of 44.

Both players have enormous serves and both Roddick and Lopez struggled to break each other in the first two sets, forcing both to go to tie-breaks. Lopez managed to take advantage on both occasions.

In the 3rd and deciding set it was Roddicks unforced errors that proved to be the turning point in the match. Lopez running out a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 victory.

The 4th Seed Andy Murray survived the rainy afternoon by playing under the confines of the centre court roof, against the talented and experienced Croat, Ivan Ljubicic.

Ljubicic’s huge serve asked constant questions of Murray, although one of the best returners on the mens circuit was always going to have a chance of breaking.

Ljubicic was the first to break in the first set though, Murray’s serve letting him down and handing the initiative to Ljubicic.

However, the Croat then had serving problems of his own giving away 2 double faults and allowing the instant break back. Murray then managed to keep the initiative and a huge forehand secured the first set.

Murray again had serving problems at the start of the 2nd set, double faulting on break point to give Ljubicic the advantage which he never relinquished, winning the set 6-4.

Murray then seemed to step up another gear in the 3rd set though, just as it looked like Ljubicic might push him all the way he played on a different level from his opponent.

Suddenly he was in the zone playing some great tennis and rampaged away to a 6-1 set win that belied the difficulties that were present in the first 2 sets.

The fourth set was more competitive with Ivan Ljubicic at one point hitting a 139mph service, but ultimately it was Murray who had the greater range of shot making, including an audacious shot through his legs. To the delight of the British crowd on centre court their man claimed the 3rd set 7-6.

Murray will now play the 17th seed, Richard Gasquet, bringing back memories of an epic Wimbledon 5 set battle a few years ago between the two players. As the matches get harder it will be interesting to see how Murray can react in his mission to claim his first Grand Slam title.

Womens Tennis Launches Wimbledon 2011 With Party in London

Posted by Jo in Sports, Tennis

With the Wimbledon Tennis Championships 2011 about to start in London, the stars of the Women’s tennis tour glam up for a party.

This year the Wimbledon tennis championship celebrates it’s 125th anniversary and the stars of the Women’s game were out and about at a pre-Wimbledon party hosted by Land Rover.

Maria Sharapova looked stunning in red and she was joined by Ana Ivanovic, as well as the up and coming British stars such as Laura Robson and Heather Watson.

You can watch some interviews below, although be aware that there is some flash photography.

It looks like this year will be the year that the new million dollar Wimbledon roof will finally get a real workout, ever since the roof was finished the Wimbledon Championships have been virtually dry.

This year, after a dry spell that has seen parts of the UK issued with drought warnings, it seems as though the weather has turned and they are in for a prolonged showery spell.

The Wimbledon Championships officially get underway on the 20th June and end on 3rd July.

French Open Tennis Reaches Semi-Final Stages

Posted by Jeff in Sports, Tennis

The French Open has now reached the semi-final stages with the top 4 seeds in the Mens draw making it through. Nadal will play Murray and Djokovic will play Federer.

Murray played the Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela in a match that at times had some brutal hitting from the back of the court.

Murray had done some ligament damage to his ankle in an earlier match but with the help of pain killers and strapping he still had decent movement around the court.

Chela is one of the older players on the tour and in the end he didn’t quite have enough to challenge Murray on the big points when it really mattered.

Nadal defeated Robin Soderling in straight sets in a re-match of last years final. It took him 2 hours and 35 minutes as Soderling failed to make any meaningful inroads into Nadal’s game.

Djokovic got a by into the semi’s when his quarter final opponent pulled out for health reasons. It means that he has had more time for rest but this doesn’t always help when trying to win Grand Slams.

Djokovic seems to be the man to beat however as it seems likely that he will claim the No.1 spot from Nadal sometime this year after going on an unbeaten run stretching back to 2010.

He will play Federer in the semis in his biggest test so far, Federer has looked back to his imperious best in France and who will win is, quite frankly, anyone’s guess.

Photo: y.caradec

Novak Djokovic Closing in on the Tennis Number One Ranking

Posted by James in Sports, Tennis

Novak Djokovic is closing in on the Tennis number one ranking after the best start to a tennis season since Ivan Lendl in the 1986 season.

Rafael Nadal once again suffered defeat this weekend at the Sony Ericsson Open final in Miami, at the hands of Novak Djokovic, and believes that he is in serious danger of losing his number one status this summer.

He is currently 3170 points ahead of the number two Djokovic, but that total is based on his hugely successful season last year. The chances of him repeating those results are looking slimmer and slimmer as the Djokovic run continues, he is now unbeaten in 24 games this year and has beaten Nadal in the 2 finals they have contested in 2011.

Djokovic himself plays down the prospect saying “I think it’s a bit early to talk about getting that top spot in the rankings” and the Australian Open champion went on to say that he thought that Nadal was currently the best player in the world.

Photo: mbevis

London 2012 Olympic Schedule Released

Posted by James in Olympics, Sports

The Olympic schedule of events has been released by the organisers of the London 2012 Olympic summer games ready for tickets to be released on March 15th.

Running from 25th July – 12 August 2012 the Olympics are the biggest sporting event of their type and it is getting closer everyday with 528 days to go until the Olympic schedule kicks off.

It is now only 4 weeks until tickets go on sale to the general public and the schedule allows people a chance to pick what they would like to see.

Highlights include the opening and closing ceremonies on 27th July and 12th August respectively, the 3rd August when the athletics begin including the big one, the men’s 100 metres final on 5th August.

In a country where football (soccer) is almost a religion there will be, for the first time ever, a British football team participating in competition. According to the Olympic schedule this starts on 26th July 2011 and you can expect stadiums to be full.

The first swimming medals will be won on Saturday 28th July and there is a lip smacking possibility of two of the greatest swimmers of all time competing against each other in the 200m freestyle.

Australian Graham Thorpe recently announced his comeback and the golden man, Michael Phelps, with 14 Olympic golds to his name is pretty much guaranteed to make the cut.

Other highlights on the Olympic schedule include the men’s singles Tennis final on Sunday 5th August at the famous Wimbledon centre court. Local favourite Andy Murray will hope to be there.

Sunday 12th August sees the basketball final, will the American ‘dream team’ be able to defend their Olympic title?

Visit www.london2012.com to get further details on the Olympic schedule.

Photo: ODA