Wimbledon: Quarter Final Preview

We are getting down to the business stages at the All England Club so I thought I'd better look at some of matches that are to be played today. No surprises early with the top 4 guys making it through relatively unscathed, but the unexpected run of Bernard Tomic is certainly creating massive headlines across the world of tennis and the bandwagoning by certain media identities was never in doubt. I won't go into that here but John Newcombe saying that he has the best slice currently in mens tennis is too funny. I guess he forgot what he was saying about the kid a couple of years ago. Then again, we all love a winner. Feliciano Lopez and Mardy Fish are the other somewhat unexpected quarter finalists, however defeating Roddick these days is no claim to fame and he could have easily have gone out to Kubot in the previous round who blew match points on his serve in the tiebreak. Fish has played well the past week and a half and defeated last years finalist Tomas Berdych in the 4th round. A renewed dedication to the game over the last year has really benefitted his game and attitude. Tsonga has gone about his business quietly and is in good form on the grass, having also reached the Queens final in the lead up to Wimbledon. Let's have a look at each of the matches more closely and I may even stick my neck out on the winners:

Federer vs Tsonga

Federer will come into this encounter feeling very confident (when does he not mind you) with a 4-1 record over the Frenchman in past meetings, with the only loss coming in Montreal a couple of years ago where Federer choked a 5-1 lead in the final set. This will be the pairs first meeting on grass however, and Tsonga has the tools to ask the world number 3 some questions on the surface. Whether he implements the right game plan to use those tools effectively remains to be seen but if he has one of his lights out days and Roger is a little bit off this one could get interesting. Federer, well we all know what he's done here in the past so no need to ramble on about it here. The man is the most successful player of his time and most importanly, he still believes he can win more majors. That thought alone makes him dangerous. Tsonga is making his second consecutive appearance at the quarter final stage at the Championships and no doubt loves the surface, and hopefully for his sake, this won't be played indoors. Still, Federer should have too much variety for the Frenchman and the slices and change of pace will do his head in. Roger in 3.

Murray vs Lopez

The hometown hope is here again and will be secretly liking his chances of progressing to the semi finals. The Brit (if he wins) is 4-0 against the Spaniard but like the previous matchup, these two have never met on grass which without a shadow of a doubt is Lalo's best surface. "Deliciano", as he has been dubbed by Murray's cougar mother Judy, has made the quarter final stage here on two previous occasions in 2005 and 2008 and was the last person to beat Tiger Tim Henman here back in 2002. However, Murray will be liking this match up against the big server. The Scot (if he loses) has one of the best return games in the world and will fancy his chances of getting most of the balls back into play. From there he can work himself into the rally and then dictate to the Lalo backhand, which is the weakness for the Spaniard. Sure, he has a nice slice of that wing, but the drive backhand is poor and can be exposed. If Murray can stay aggressive throughout and reframe from becoming passive when he gets comfortable in the match, I can only see one winner here. Murray in 3.

Djokovic vs Tomic

The Aussie media are billing this one to be the most important match played by an Australian since Lleyton Hewitt went down to Marat Safin in the 2005 Australian Open decider. Yes, the bandwagon has well and truly taken off for Bernie Tomic and the future is certainly looking bright for this kid. His more immediate future however is looking ominous with a showdown with world number 2 Novak Djokovic in the quarters here. The Serb has been the form player this year, losing only one match to Roger Federer at the semi final stage at the French Open last month and winning 7 titles already. It would be fair to say that Djokovic hasn't found his best form on the grass so far, but has still been winning his matches comfortably although he was tested in the previous round against Baghdatis. The main thing that Tomic has had going for him this week was the element of surprise. Most of the players he has faced so far have never encountered a player on the tour who mixes up his shots and pace of the balls so much. The slice is class and his serve has been working very well, with the youngster not dropping serve in his last 8 sets of tennis. However the unknown factor will go out the window today as the pair have become quite good mates over the last year, and even practicing together quite frequently these championships. Djokovic will know what to expect and his superior return of serve should get him into a proactive postion in the court to dictate play from the baseline and thus taking away Tomic's time and being able to expose his weak movement. Nole in 3.

Nadal vs Fish

Well all the talk has been about how serious Nadal's foot injury was and if there was a little bit of gamesmanship on his part during his 4th round encounter against Juan Martin del Potro. All I will say on the matter is I fail to see the advantage of taking a MTO at the beginning of a tiebreak and then proceeding to go down 3-0 in that tiebreak. People will see what they want to see here and I'm not here to discuss this matter or attempt to change anyones opinions because that isn't going to happen. Maybe the ATP need to look at the rules regarding when a player can take a MTO. Anyway back to the matchup. Fish has been playing some very good ball these championships and comes into this clash on the back of a very strong performance against reigning finalist Tomas Berdych dismantling the Czech in straight sets. The serve has been on fire and the grass compliments this nicely. He has lost a lot of weight in the past year and his off court life couldn't be better which has in turn translated into his performances on the court. Nadal is a different proposition however, and will make the American number 1 play a lot more balls than what the Berdman did in the 4th round. The world number one and defending champion has done what he has needed to do so far this event and has been his usual relentless self. He has been going for more on his serve in an effort to get more free points and this good signs for him, especially on grass. I can see this one going to a couple of tiebreaks and when it gets to that stage, it is often a lottery. But, I like Nadal's odds of taking this one in straight sets.


Well, I've predicted all of these matches will get done in straights. We can all check back in tomorrow and see how wrong I was!

Paul Capdeville Wins 7th Challenger Title In Guadalajara

In the midst of the top 100 stars competing in Wimbledon during the past week, people can forget that there are other events going on within the professional tennis landscape. These are the guys who are fighting every week just to cover their expenses on the tour such as flights and accommodation. From the outside looking in, one can easily assume that the life of a professional tennis player is a glamourous one,(which it can be for the top players), but for the most part, it is a life of living out of a suitcase and trying to make a living just like any other job. And just like normal jobs in the real world, if you perform you will get rewarded and promoted, and in this case the reward is the promotion to the upper echelons of mens professional tennis.


For the 32 players in the main draw of the Guadalajara event in Mexico, this was the ultimate goal that was driving them to succeed during the past week. Because a couple of good weeks on the challenger tour can mean a huge springboard in the rankings, and in return, a jump into the larger and more prestigious events on the circuit. This event is a new addition to the 2011 calendar and is already looking the goods, with tremendous facilities and notable sponsors. The next step will be getting a live stream up and running and then it will be complete. Anyway, back to the tennis and for one of the finalists this week, the event started in the qualifying tournament played on the weekend before the main event. And for Canadian Pierre-Ludovic Duclos, it ended a week later than he would have anticipated having lost in the final round of qualifying to world number 758 Juan Sebastian Gomez from Columbia. Due to Fernando Romboli pulling out of the main draw at the last minute with a back injury, Duclos was given a lucky loser spot into the main draw and the Canadian took the opportunity with both hands, fighting his way through the draw all the way to the final where he went down to Chilean veteran Paul Capdeville.

Capdeville was tested in his opening match against Moldovan Roman Borvanov, eventually prevailing in a tight 3 setter, 7-6(7) 4-6 6-2. Borvanov had the Chilean on the ropes in the first set and could have easily snatched the tiebreak but it was not to be. He showed good composure to rebound from the initial disappoint of the first set to take the second, however he ran out of steam in the 3rd and Capdeville has a huge engine room and was never going to go away in this one. The Chilean, who is being managed by his brother, had a simpler passage in his next two matches where he made the semi finals without too much trouble. He then survived another tough 3 setter, this time against Jan Mertl from the Czech Republic. Mertl had defeated the 3rd seed and probably the favourite for the title Bobby Reynolds in the 1st round and was no doubt feeling confident coming into the semi final, but again Capdeville weathered the storm and hung tough again for another 3 set victory.

His opponent in the final had some equally as tough battles as well on his road to the decider. I've already touched upon his run through qualifying and his advancement into the main draw courtesy of being a lucky loser and Duclos made the most of the opportunity fighting hard in all his matches. His year to date had consisted of predominantly slugging it out in challenger qualifying and had only made one challenger quarter final before this week. This was simply an opportunity he had to take and take it he did, defeating the number one seed from Brazil Joao Souza in 2 tight sets 7-5 7-6(7) in their semi final encounter.

The two had already met once before on the tour this year, with Capdeville defeating the Canadian in the first round of qualifying at the Acapulco 500 event in February at the beginning of the year. The same result would happen again here with Capdeville taking it in straight sets, 7-5 6-1. Some good fight from Duclos to make it this far and to trouble the Chilean in the 1st set but he had nothing left for the second. Still, Duclos gained some very valuable ranking points, 60 to be precise, and will be confident of playing well and improving the ranking throughout the rest of the season. For Capdeville, it was 100 ranking points and a 7th challenger title. Both players will now head to the Winnetka challenger in America next week.


In the weeks other challenger event in Marburg Germany, local Bjorn Phau defeated Czech Jan Hajek in 3 sets, 6-4 2-6 6-3.

Wimbledon Day 1 Highlights

Rain, court speed and hilariously inaccurate interviews dominated day one proceedings at the 125th Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club in London yesterday. Most matches went according to plan for the top dogs in the mens field, with perhaps the most notable upset of the day being Denis Istomin prevailing in a four set victory over recent Halle champion Philipp Kohlschreiber. This result is both surprising and expected and yes I know that doesn't make sense. The German just can't deliver when it's expected of him, especially in the slams. 

No one will ever forget the way he dismantled Andy "duck" Roddick at the Australian Open in 2008, clocking 107 winners in 5 sets of flawless tennis, only to proceed to lose to Jarkko "shark" Nieminen in 4 sets the next round, after being up in the tiebreaks of that match as well. I know it isn't the same situation here, however he was playing very well in Halle and people were expecting better things. It has been reported in the German media that he was carrying a groin injury so perhaps I'm being a tad harsh here, but you can't help but feel this result was coming anyway. Props must go to Istomin as well, the Uzbek had only won 6 matches all year on tour and he played a strong match. Always nice to see a player doing well on the tour after coming back from serious injury a few years ago with that horrible car crash incident.


Centre court action saw world number one and defending champion Rafael Nadal open proceedings against American journeyman Iron Mike Russell. This was a fun match, played in good spirits and both players played well. Iron Mike was on fire early, storming off to a 4-2 lead in the opening set playing some excellent controlled tennis from the baseline. Of course, you've never broken until you hold serve yourself and unfortunately for Russell, Nadal awakened to the situation and broke straight back. The Spaniard quickly held serve the next game and Russell was suddenly on the back foot before he knew it.  The American played a poor game at 4-4 and was broken after a couple of double faults and unforced errors. The set and the match was over right then and there. Still, Russell fought hard as he always does and was enjoying himself immensely out there which was nice to see as he probably hasn't got too many more seasons left in him and won't have too many more chances to play on the biggest courts in the world. Nadal would win the match in the end in straight sets, 6-4 6-2 6-2.

On the outside courts, results went as expected for most of the mens matches. Czech runner up from last year, Tomas Berdych, was loving his draw against Italian Pippo Volandri, barely raising a sweat in a comprehensive 6-2 6-2 6-1 victory. Volandri can now go back to the Italian clay challengers where he will easily forget about this match. A court 5 showdown pitted two players who had lost to Nadal in the first two slams of the year, Ryan Sweeting and Pablo Andujar, in a match to see who would again face Nadal in the second round. The player from the Bahamas living in America emerged victorious in 5 sets and at least will get to play on centre court in Wimbledon, that will be more than enough for him. Talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet also got through his opening match unscathed, winning in straight sets against Columbian Santiago Giraldo. There was a little hiccup for Gasquet in the final set where he served for it at 5-3 and Giraldo broke him, but other than that, he served very well for the most part which is important for him and the backhand was on as well. The Frenchman is on course for a potential round 4 encounter with Andy Murray which has enormous potential if both play their best tennis.

Onto Murray now, and the rain meant that he would play under the roof for a second time, this time against Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver. The heavy conditions and the humidity inside centre court meant that the surface was slowed down significantly and this benefited DGT considerably. It hasn't taken long for the arguments to arise about the speed of the surface and the key dominator here is that you can't please everybody. If the grass was as fast as it was in the 80's then everyone would be complaining about "boring" tennis that would ultimately end in a tiebreak in each set and a shootout for the match so to speak. Nowadays you get people saying that the clay at RG is faster than Wimbledon which is not true in any case, and that the grass doesn't compliment the slice and serve volleyers as it is "meant" to do. Whatever your opinion, you just have to accept the fact that the contemporary grass makes for longer rallies and closer games, which in turn attracts more audiences and thus greater revenue is generated for the ATP. It's all about the benjamins these days. 

Anyway, back to the match, and DGT played some lights out tennis for a set and half, running around the backhand and cranking the off forehand which was on fire. The Spaniard was also serving out of a tree, regularly clocking them at over 120mph which is Karlovic on drugs stuff for him. Murray was getting frustrated at his inability to make inroads on the DGT serve, and this translated to his own service games where he started retreating back into his comfort zone and played way too passive, enabling DGT to dictate with the forehand. DGT managed to break and close out the first set 6-4 in front of a stunned local crowd. The beginning of the second set produced more of the same for both players, with Murray getting angry with himself after failing to capitalise on a number of break point chances in an early DGT service game and the Spaniard ripping the off forehand winners from the backhand corner. However, midway through the second set DGT's notable backhand weakness started to feature more prominently. He doesn't get into position with the feet and can sometimes hit down on the ball which ultimately leads to a lot of balls being dumped into the net. Murray started to pepper this wing and this paid dividends in the end for the Scot, breaking the DGT serve and running away with the second set 6-3. Murray had regained his confidence now and DGT had run out of steam, and he also picked up a bit of an injury as well. Murray continued to play well from the baseline now and would attack the DGT forehand in an attempt to open up the weaker backhand side. The Scot would go on to win the final two sets comfortably 6-0 6-0 and kudos must be given to DGT for not retiring when he easily could have. Fun match to watch.


We'll end this article on a hilariously bad interview from one of the journalists in the Monfils press room after he had won his opening round match in straight sets. The person was addressing Monfils on who he will play in his next match and the lucky loser situation:

Q. You are playing Slovakian qualifier, Grega Zemlja.

GAËL MONFILS: Who?

Q. Greg Zemlja.

GAËL MONFILS: I didn't check.

Q. Do you know anything? Are you familiar with him?

GAËL MONFILS: You just tell me. I don't know who I'm supposed to play. It wasn't Kendrick or... (In French.)

Q. No. He is lucky loser. Do you know anything about him, the way he plays or something like that?

GAËL MONFILS: No.

Q. Never heard of him?

GAËL MONFILS: Yes, I saw his name, but I don't watch my draw, you know. Just match after match. But I don't know. Just I saw I was playing Kendrick or qualifier, so now you tell me.

Q. Do you think the qualifiers have some advantage because of the bad weather in the past few days and prepare a little bit more matches?

GAËL MONFILS: I don't know if it's advantage, but for sure they have good match because they need to win three matches.

Q. Two.

GAËL MONFILS: Two?

Q. Lucky loser. Yes, now three.

GAËL MONFILS: Yeah. But I played last week as well, so it's the same. It's always tough to play a qualifier and someone you don't really know. Like today, the opponent I played, it was tough because I never saw him playing.

So it's always tough and tricky, but all I can tell you is I will bring my game Wednesday, and then I will try to impose my style. And then for sure I will see how he's playing, and I hope I will have a good match.

Challenger Tour, Milan Final: Albert Ramos Wins 3rd CH Title

The Aspria Tennis Cup in Milan, Italy, was played last week in conjunction with the Wimbledon qualies from Roehampton. This was where the clay courters who felt they didn't have a chance of qualifying for Wimbledon came to gain some valuable ranking points and press their claims for a challenger title. With the exception of the top two seeds of course with Pere Riba and Ruben-Ramirez Hildago making the main draw directly and lets just say that Robin Haase and Rik de Voest are very lucky human beings right about now. In any case, both of them lost early, Hildago to eventual finalist Evgeny "cousin of Kournikova" Korolev in the first round, and Riba to Galvani in the 2nd round after defeating Thomas "comeback" Muster in his opening round clash.


Unfortunately the final ended on a retirement, with the luckless Evgeny Korolev having to retire while trailing 4-6 0-3 to Spaniard Albert Ramos. One can only hope it isn't a reoccurrence of the elbow injury that required surgery in September last year and kept him off the tour for 4 months. Korolev also retired in the quarter finals of the Prostejov challenger a fortnight ago, so clearly something still isn't right. Elbow injuries are a real nuisance, especially at a young age so hopefully Evgeny can rest up and still be able to compete for the rest of the year in an attempt to get the ranking, which has slipped to 214, back to where it belongs. Of course if he keeps winning matches, then the ranking will take care of itself.

Onto the eventual winner now, and Ramos has now picked up three challenger titles and in the process, has firmly entrenched himself in the top 100 and will most likely pick up a main draw spot in the US Open for his victory here.  The young Spaniard has made decent strides since turning pro in 2007 and is well placed to progress further now, just needs to hone is game more on the hardcourts which will come in time. Ramos had a fairly simple run to the semi finals where he ran into the old Italian warhorse, Stefano Galvani who gave him a tough match, with Albert eventually prevailing in three sets, 2-6 6-3 6-1. Ramos would have fancied his chances against a fit and healthy Korolev, especially on clay, let alone against the injured version that he got yesterday. Korolev was going for his shots, as he always does, in an attempt to end the match quickly and on his terms but the final was always going in one direction, and Albert Ramos victory.

The Challenger tour now moves onto Mexico and Germany next week.

Qualifying Round Up

Rain interrupted Wimbledon qualifying eventually concluded yesterday, with 16 players entering the main draw of the championships to commence on Monday. The event lasted 6 days, with schedulers having to set aside an extra three days to complete all of the matches. Wimbledon is the only slam that has the best of five set format for the third qualifying round, and maybe this is something that has to be looked at but will never happen because of tradition. The organisers had to set aside a day off for the men on the Wednesday so they could rest before potentially going 5 sets and could have completed all the matches by Wednesday if that wasn't the case. Anyway, enough of my complaining, what's done is done and the best 16 players over the week have advanced through into the main draw. Lets take a look at some of the more interesting qualifiers this week:


Kenny De Schepper (FRA) def. Simone Bolelli (ITA) 3-6 7-6(5) 6-7(2) 7-6(7) 6-2

De Schepper has been dubbed the "French Karlovic" and for good reason. The 24 year old has a devastating serve which the grass compliments nicely, and is almost has tall him as well. Interesting story about Kenny, he only decided to become a pro tennis player 2 years ago and even then wasn't sure if it was the life for him, as he lacked a genuine attacking game and wasn't at all capable at the net. He's certainly improved that aspect of his game and could do some serious damage in the main draw. Had some good wins over Kellner and Ebden in the first two rounds and showed great nerve to close this one out in five. He was down 4-0 in the 4th set breaker and managed to claw his way back and from there the win was never in doubt against the mentally fragile Bolelli. Simone has the talent to be a lot higher than he is ranked, just doesn't have the right attitude and desire to put in the hard yards to ensure his game improves. He got in as a LL in any case and got a great draw so maybe things will turn for him now?


Bernard Tomic (AUS) def. Jean-Rene Lisnard (MON) 6-1 6-4 6-1






Expected convincing win for the young Australian who everyone in Australia is hoping will be the next local to carry the flag when Hewitt retires in the next couple of years. Bernie likes Wimbledon and the whole tradition of it all, so naturally he lifts his game to play well here, which he did just dropping one set to advance in his 3 matches. A lot of people don't like Tomic and that's understandable but the problem doesn't lie so much with him personally, but by his father and the attitude instilled by him into Bernard at a young age. People have to realise as well that it isn't just going to all come together for Bernard, he has to mature physically and work on the movement and the transition onto the main tour isn't as smooth as it was a decade ago, it takes much longer now to develop because of the evolution of the game and the technology. Anyway, Tomic did what he had to do here and ended up drawing Davydenko in the main draw which isn't as bad as it might sound initially. The Russian has never been too good on the grass and isn't in great form after coming back from a series of injuries. Bernard has a chance here.


Conor Niland (IRL) def. Nikola Mektic (CRO) 6-3 7-6(5) 6-4

Conor becomes the first Irishman since 1977 to qualify for the main draw of Wimbledon. The guy has worked very hard over the last couple of years and was no doubt inspired by countryman Louk Sorenson's run into the AO main draw last year as well. Niland battled his way through the first two qualifying rounds, saving match points in a tough 8-6 3rd set win over Ouanna, and also coming from behind to defeat Greg Jones in another 3 set encounter. Had an easier time of it in the final round and got through the nerves in the last set to make his first ever main draw at a grand slam. Has drawn Mannarino in the 1st round which is a tough one but it could have been a lot worse. He will have the support of the locals and perhaps the prospect of a second round date with Federer on centre court will be enough to inspire Niland for the win.


Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) def. Ryan Harrison (USA) 6-3 7-5 1-6 4-6 7-5






Hilarious match, and one probably most affected by the rain delays. When I say most affected, I mean in the general flow of the match and the twists and turns it took after play re-commenced. The two youngsters were vying for a spot in the main draw of Wimbledon for the first time and were desperate for the win, which was evident with Harrison being fined for unsportsmanlike conduct during the 5th set. The American probably shouldn't have let it get to that stage in the first place, having a 4-0 lead in the second set, only to surrender it 5-7 after yet another rain interruption. Stebe has been on fire this year starting the year off well with some good performances in futures and challenger events, before going on to be the only man to take a set off eventual Halle champion Philipp Kohlschreiber a couple of weeks ago. The 20 year old German has a bright future and did well to bounce back in the 5th set and hold off Harrison for the win. Has a main draw date with another young gun, Grigor "baby fed" Dimitrov in the opening round. Dimitrov has all the talent in the world, but hasn't quite learned when to pull the trigger and when to be consistent from the baseline. Should be a good match, with Grigor starting the favourite in my book.


Other Qualifiers:


Rik de Voest (RSA) def. Grega Zemlja (SLO) 6-2 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2
Martin Fischer (AUT) def. Jerzy Janowicz (POL) 6-4 6-7(5) 4-6 6-3 8-6
Lukasz Kubot (POL) def. Augustin Gensse (FRA) 6-3 7-6(7) 6-7(4) 6-1
Frank Dancevic (CAN) def. Marco Crugnola (ITA) (ITA) 6-2 6-2 6-3
Lucas Lacko (SLO) def. Go Soeda (JPN) 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-4
Flavio Cipolla (ITA) def. Roberto Bautista-Agut (ESP) 2-6 6-2 7-6(10) 7-5
Igor Sijsling (NED) def. David Goffin (BEL) 7-6(7) 6-3 4-6 7-5
Karol Beck (SVK) def. Marco Chuidinelli (SUI) 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-3
Marinko Matosevic (AUS) def. Chris Guccione (AUS) 7-6(9) 6-7(3) 7-6(3) 4-6 6-1
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) def. Marc Gicquel (FRA) 6-4 4-6 7-6(3) 6-2
Andreas Beck (GER) def. Jurgen Zopp (EST) 2-6 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-3
Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) def. Guillermo Olaso (ESP) 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2


Main draw action kicks off Monday 12:00 local time.

Do You Remember?: Rafael Nadal vs Andy Murray, 4th Round, 2007 Australian Open

This is a match that I've always felt has never got enough credit as it deserved, and one where Andy Murray was the one dictating the points and being aggressive at every opportunity he got. A far cry from the pairs following matches, especially in the slams where Murray lets the nerves get the better of him. The beginning of the 2007 year was an interesting one, especially if you look at it in retrospect. Federer and Nadal were the top 2 and were dominating the sport like never before, and there were no real consistent challengers to the pair at the slams. The two players that would join them and create the "big 4" were young up and comers who were steadily climbing the rankings at 15 and 16. Of course I'm talking about Murray and Djokovic. Nole had been talking a lot of smack in the lead up to his round of 16 match against Federer and the Swiss number one dished out a tennis lesson that night, disposing of the young Serbian in straight sets. The following night Nadal would take on the other young gun Murray in another 4th round encounter. I've always thought that it was pretty interesting that this was the moment that the current top 4 and the big guns in the game really started their rivalry that would captivate the tennis world in the many years to come.






Anyway, back to the topic match. Murray had come into this match a fresh faced youngster, keen to make an impression in front of the world, and more importantly Britain, who were crying out for another top tennis player on the back of Tim Henman's retirement. It was a balmy night in Melbourne on Rod Laver Arena and Rafa had the sleeveless shirt on, boy this was a long time ago! The first set was a very tight affair, with both players holding serve until the tiebreak, which Murray managed to edge 7-3. It was a high quality set of tennis and some of the best these two have produced in their rivalry. It must be said that Nadal's game matches up well for Murray but at this point of time, it was new exciting stuff that the general public hadn't witnessed before. Murray would flatten out his groundstrokes, particularly the backhand, and really take the initiative in the baseline duels, which he still does to an extent against Nadal, but scarcely against other top players.


Nadal, ever the resilient, would proceed to claw his way back into the match and take the second set 6-4. He went about his business in typical Nadal fashion, so no need to write too much about that. Kept the ball in play and let his younger opponent think about the situation and who he was playing against. This was when Murray would let his team have a gobfull. Brad Gilbert was his coach at the time and his response when this happened would be to simply laugh and look away. He'd been with Agassi through the tough times so this wasn't anything to him at all.


Murray would be forgiven if he kind of went away after the disappointment of losing the second set. After all, he was still a young kid trying to find his mark on the tour and yet to reach the last 8 at a slam. Perhaps the magnitude of the occasion was too big for him now? Wrong. The Scot managed to turn the tide and snatch the 3rd set 6-4. I still maintain to this day that this match was the hardest I've ever seen Murray hit the ball. He would take Nadal's heavy topspin balls on the rise and hit through the ball, flattening out his forehand and backhand. I'm not saying he should revert back to this now, or against other opponents because his grinding style has obviously worked for him, but it would not be a bad option to be more aggressive from time to time, especially in today's contemporary tennis climate.

Murray had his chances to wrap this match up in 4. He was ahead 2-1 and had 15-40 on Nadal's serve but the Spaniard managed to get his way out of that game. Then at 3-3 and Murray serving, he was up 40-15 and proceeded to get broken. He would only win one more game for the match, with Nadal taking the 4th 6-3 and the final set 6-1. This was to be expected at the time, a young player overawed in the fact that he was so close to beating the world number 2 in a slam and announcing to the world that he had officially arrived. Gilbert and the Murray team absolutely copped the abuse in the final stages of the 4th set and the entire 5th set has Murray became aware that the match was slipping away from him and that Nadal had seized control. Nadal's demeanour never changed throughout the match, he was his usual relentless self and let Murray self implode when the match was nearing its climax.


All in all, one of the matches of the tournament and one of the best in a rivalry that is sure to still have many more tough battles in the future.


Check out some of the highlights here:

In The Spotlight: Ivan Dodig

There are various types of players competing at the upper echelons of the professional tennis world. You have your flashy ballstrikers who have all the shots but lack the consistency and your grinding baseliners who lack the killer shot but read the game well. I'd like to add another category to the above. It will simply be called "a fighter". Enter Ivan Dodig. The 26 year old Croatian has done it the hard way, toiling away on the futures and challenger circuit for the first 7 years of his career before finally breaking into the top 100 last year.

Told by numerous people around him growing up and during his early days as a pro, that he didn't have the talent or defining shot to make it on the ATP tour, Dodig has trained the house down to get to where he is today. His coach Martin Stepanek and trainer Milos Jelisavcic have coached him well and have been there with him through thick and thin and have helped transform him into a legitimate top 50 player. Like his idol and fellow Croatian Goran Ivanisevic, Dodig possesses a huge serve and a powerful forehand. His style is based around a solid baseline game, in which he fights for every point and attempts to limit the unforced errors and frustrate his opponent into error. It goes to show that if you put in hard work and training off the match court, it can pay dividends in the end.


After grinding it out on the futures and challenger circuit for the first 6 years of his career, Dodig had his breakthrough year last year, entering the top 100 for the first time on the back of some strong performances in Challengers and managing to qualify for 3 slams, reaching the 2nd round on all occasions. His biggest scalp occurred at the beginning of the season, where coming through the qualifying, he managed to outmuscle former world number 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the blistering Melbourne heat. It was all the more special as the Croatian managed to fight back from 2 sets down to claim the victory in 5. Sheer determination and will to win got him through that one and paved the way for a successful year to come. He also reached his maiden ATP quarter final in Stockholm, going down to Ivan Ljubicic on the indoor hardcourts.

Dodig has made even bigger strides so far in 2011. He started off the year in Melbourne with yet another 5 set opening win, this time against giant serving countryman Ivo Karlovic. The match finished around midnight and was the only match playing on the outside courts and a solid crowd was present to witness Ivan come from behind again to win in 5. He was also the only man to take a set off eventual champion Novak Djokovic, going down in the second round 5-7 7-6(8) 0-6 2-6. Dodig gave absolutely 300% in that 2nd set and had nothing left in the tank for the remaining sets and after it looked like he wouldn't be able to walk off the court, he was that physically spent.


Success was to continue for Dodig the following month in his home nation of Croatia. Ivan won his first ATP title, defeating 5 players ranked higher than him at the time to emerge victorious on the indoor hardcourts of Zagreb. It proved the culmination of a lifetime of hard work and training and you could see during the trophy ceremony how much it truly meant to him. He had finally made it on the tour and proved all the doubters wrong. Dodig's strong start to the season would continue onto the European clay, reaching the semi finals of the Barcelona Open, eventually succumbing to eventual champion and clay court god Rafeal Nadal in straight sets.






Which brings us to the present and the grass. Dodig is through to his second ATP world tour final in s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands where he will face Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the final. Helped by the often depleted fields in the events the week before a grand slam, Ivan has made the most of the opportunity in making the final, including a great 7-6 (1) 6-1 victory over former Wimbledon semi finalist Marcos Baghdatis. 

Whatever happens in the final tomorrow, one thing is for sure, Dodig will not be beaten for lack of effort.

Semi Final Preview: Eastbourne

The semi finals of Eastbourne get underway today, with all four semi finalists thinking they would be quietly confident of lifting the title come Saturday afternoon. The first match up on centre court pits Russia's Igor Kunitsyn up against Andreas Seppi of Italy. Kunitsyn (pictured), who usually saves his best tennis for the Kremlin Cup towards the end of the year, will be attempting to reach his second ATP final after winning the aforementioned KC in 2008, while Seppi will be looking to reach his second final on the tour as well. Both players have had limited success on the grass, but due to the homogenisation of all the surfaces on the tour these days, players are learning to adapt easier and this is what can happen.

 Seppi will look to play his normal game, rallying from the baseline and keeping the unforced errors to a minimum, hoping to frustrate the bigger hitting Russian into error. Igor will look to dictate with the forehand and get the first big hit in the rally and construct the point from there. The Italian hasn't made a final since 2007 so he will be hungry to make the most out of the depleted field this week and take the title. Seppi in 3.


The other semi has Serbian number 3, Janko Tipsarevic taking on Japan young gun Kei Nishikori. Still without a title on the ATP tour (0-3 in finals), Tipsy will surely count this opportunity as his best yet and he has a strong record against Nishikori, defeating him on three occasions already this year. Grass also compliments the Serbian's game well, with his flat groundstrokes sliding through the court quickly, taking the time away from his opponent. Nishikori, who has been plagued by injuries since his breakthrough year in 2008 which saw him claim his maiden ATP title in Delray beach (beat Blake in the final), will be hoping to continue on his comeback trail with a win here. The Japanese youngster has already made a final this year, albeit on clay in Houston, where he went down to Ryan Sweeting, so he will be determined to have another shot at a title here. Still, Tipsy is at his best on grass, and the head to head record doesn't lie. Tipsy to win in straights.