June 2009 Archives

      Andy Roddick could legitimately win this tournament.  It is unbelievable how hard he has worked, and the results are showing.  A-Rod will win his semi-final match, and give Federer a major run for the title.  This tournament is going GREAT, with so much excitement (I love it).  How about Tommy Haas?!  What did this guy eat for breakfast?!  Tommy's game is suited better for grass, meaning he could beat Federer en route to the finals.  We all saw how close Haas came to ousting Fed at Roland Garros; so there is major potential for another 5 set Grand Slam epic.  And what about Juan Carlos Ferrero?!  This is the "event of veterans".....and Lleyton Hewitt?!   If Goran Ivanisevic played this year, he'd probably make the quarterfinals, based on these results.  With all joking aside, it is very good for the game to have these legendary veterans still alive in the draw, and if you had to make a prediction, it will be Federer, Roddick or Murray winning, with an asterisknext to Roddick's name, due to his extreme hunger and physical shape.

      As for the ladies, the top 4 seeds will make the semifinals, and one of the Williams sisters will win.  Yes, I know that's a boring prediction, but it appears to be accurate.  I'll be at NBCSports.com with Tiffany Simons tomorrow to break down the action in studio.  GO TENNIS!

    Andy Roddick is very gutsy for consistently hanging in the top 10.  So many critics questioned that he would be a has been 4 years ago, but now more than ever, he is a Grand Slam threat.  If A-Rod hadn't injured his ankle against James Blake in the Queens semifinals, he would be my favorite to win Wimbledon.  Apparently Andy is healthy, and he will continue to wreak havoc as the event continues.  For all those rising junior or college players out there, it's a very simple equation that Agassi, Muster, Nadal and Roddick have displayed:  Extreme training leads to results.

     Maria Sharapova losing, is the biggest upset thus far at Wimbledon.  After a very impressive run at the French Open, it appeared that Maria's stamina and match toughness would be strong enough to make a logical run at the Wimbledon title.  Today's 3 set result further strengthens the notion that Serena Williams is the player to beat on the ladies' side.  Her groundies are unstoppable on grass, and her serve is looking as unpredictable as ever.

      American Tennis has lived up to my predictions thus far (which isn't saying much, since the tournament is just getting underway).  Andy Roddick looked solid in the first round, as did Sam Querrey; but the BIGGEST result thus far is the impressive play of young qualifier, Jesse Levine.  Jesse scored a huge win over 15th seeded Marat Safin, and has clearly set the tone for the Wimbledon fortnight.  I just checked Levine's facebook wall, and he had about 100 messages from friends saying "NICE WIN".....he deserved it.   On the other hand, what happened to James Blake?  This could be the closest thing to a nail in the coffin for the James' summer, unless he digs deep for the American hard court season. 

Tomorrow will be another exciting day at NBCSports.com, as we preview the Men's and Women's events at Wimbledon.  I also wanted to thank Jon Wertheim for his shout out in Sports Illustrated, on our new NESN World Tennis TV Show.  He's been a great friend in tennis, and has done a lot to help the sport...thanks Jon.

Assuming Roddick is healthy....it could be a very interesting grass season for Blake, A-Rod and Querrey....something is telling me this.....and how about Tommy Haas beating Djokovic for his first title of the year?  Tommy is in great form.

 

RESULTS - SUNDAY, 14 JUNE, 2009
 
Singles - Final
[1] A Murray (GBR) d [6] J Blake (USA) 75 64

Doubles - Final
W Moodie (RSA) / M Youzhny (RUS) d [6] M Melo (BRA) / A Sa (BRA) 64 46 10-6

FINAL REVIEW - MURRAY ENDS BRITISH TITLE DROUGHT

• ATP World Tour No. 3 Andy Murray ended Great Britain's 71-year wait for a homegrown champion at the AEGON Championships after defeating No. 6 seed James Blake 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday in the final of the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament at The Queen's Club in London.
• Already a strong contender to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, Murray further boosted his campaign by receiving 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points and €84,300 in prize money. Blake, a runner-up at The Queen's Club for a second time, earned 150 Ranking points and €48,000.
• Murray is the first British man to win the title at The Queen's Club since Henry "Bunny" Austin beat Sin-Khie Kho of China 6-2, 6-0 in the 1938 final. Later that month, Austin reached the final of The Championships at Wimbledon (l. to Budge) - where Murray will hope to taste his first Grand Slam success and become the first British men's singles champion since Fred Perry triumphed in 1936.
• Since Austin's 1938 success, four British players had tried and failed to lift the prestigious AEGON Championships trophy - with Tim Henman coming the closest as he finished runner-up three times in 1999 (l. to Sampras) and 2001-02 (l. to Hewitt).
• The 22-year-old Murray was contesting his fifth ATP World Tour final of the season and collected his fourth title; only World No. 1 Rafael Nadal with five trophies has won more tour-level titles in 2009. It is Murray's first grass-court title, making him the first Briton to achieve that feat since Greg Rusedski defeated Vincent Spadea in the 2005 Newport final.
• Under a cloudless sky and bright sunshine on Sunday afternoon in south-west London, Murray stepped out to a wave of hope and expectation on centre court and did not disappoint the British fans as he broke Blake's serve early with a drop-shot winner to lead 2-1. However, the Scot - who later admitted to suffering from early nerves - immediately handed the break back to his American opponent in a subdued service game, which Blake capitalised on with rifling forehand winner to level at 2-2.
• A patient Murray settled in to the match and bided his time and was presented with another opportunity to break the Blake serve in the 11th game and seized his opportunity to earn a 6-5 lead as the sixth seed netted a forehand. The Scot then closed out the first set after 35 minutes as Blake's driving forehand down-the-line found the net.
• Murray earned a key break through in the seventh game of the second set as a frustrated Blake netted a sliced backhand approach shot. The Dunblane native then coolly served out to love his first victory on home soil, sealing the championship win after 67 minutes when Blake's backhand return hit the net.
• Her Royal Highness The Duchess Of Gloucester presented the AEGON Championships trophy to Murray.
• After exhibiting what he claimed to have been some of his best tennis en route to the title, Murray became the seventh different player since 1979 to have won the AEGON Championships without losing a set. He joined John McEnroe (1980-81), Jimmy Connors (1982-83), Ivan Lendl (1990), Stefan Edberg (1991), Boris Becker (1996) and Lleyton Hewitt (2000). The Scot has a 21-1 record in grass-court matches after winning the first set and lost serve just twice in 48 service games this week.
• Appearing in his 18th tour-level final, Murray improved to a 12-6 mark. The right-hander had triumphed at Doha (d. Roddick), Rotterdam (d. Nadal) and ATP World Masters 1000 Miami (d. Djokovic) earlier in the season, while also finishing runner-up to Nadal at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells. Victory at The Queen's Club means that Murray is the third player this season to have won 40 tour-level matches as he improved to a 40-6 mark in 2009.
• World No. 16 Blake was looking for his first grass-court title after finishing runner-up at Newport in 2002 (l. to Dent) and at The Queen's Club in 2006 (l. to Hewitt). The 29 year old dropped to a 10-14 mark in ATP World Tour finals, having also lost out to Albert Montanes in the Estoril final on clay last month. The right-hander has not won at ATP World Tour title since August 2007, when he defeated Mardy Fish in the New Haven final.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Murray: "It's pretty special. There have been some great grass-court players from Britain the last 70-odd years. Tim (Henman) and Greg (Rusedski) were both very good grass-court players. The names that are on the trophy, there's a lot of great, great players. So to be on that trophy is great. Obviously because it's not happened that a British player has won for so long, that makes it nicer."

[On the hype surrounding Wimbledon] "For me, if I go into a Grand Slam feeling confident and having won a tournament, regardless of whether it's here or in Paris or the US Open, it's good for my game," commented Murray. "I'm not planning on getting caught up in the whole hype and the pressure, because I don't think that that helps if you do. I'm going to try and just concentrate on playing and winning matches. You can let the pressure affect you if you want to. You can let the expectation get to you if you really want to, but I'm just going to play tennis and not worry about the rest of the stuff.

"I'm playing very well just now. I feel physically strong, and I'll work on my fitness the next four or five days going into Wimbledon. Hopefully that will make a difference here."

Blake: "A match like this, top players, it comes down to a couple of points, who plays those big break points better. I don't think I saved one break point today. He just played those points a little better than me today. That's frustrating, but when it just turns on a couple points here and there, I feel like I'm right there. I have another week of practice and preparation for Wimbledon. Hopefully I'll be ready and playing this well or even better there." courtesy ATP media

A surprise exit by Andy Roddick at Queens, his health could be a major factor at Wimbledon, and this result is a huge disappointment for one of the "hottest" players on tour at this time.  James Blake is going to make a run on grass, watch out.  In short, it's very sad to see top players such as Rafael Nadal and Roddick struggling with injuries this early in the season; without those two in a Grand Slam draw, it makes it 50% less exciting [in my own opinion].  

In the blink of an eye, the clay court season is over, and it's time to play on grass; which totally changes the list of favorites, underdogs and unsung heros.  My gut is telling me that American tennis will make a strong run during the brief grass court season, with Andy Roddick leading the charge, followed by James Blake and Sam Querrey.  They all have big/flat games which seem to be suited well for the surface, and with the exception of Roddick, they need to break out of nasty slumps.  Also, players such as Marcos Baghdatis and Ivo Karlovic could find new life after rough clay schedules.  

What an emotional day for all of us tennis fans. For years, I have continually been a tough critic of Roger Federer, and have always used the French Open as his measuring stick, to determine who the best player of all time is....he now has that crown, and won it with the utmost guts and determination.

When Andre Agassi came back to win the French Open in 1999, it was an event that changed my life. Knowing that Andre had fallen in the rankings, had been berated by colleagues and the media, and knowing that his marriage with Brooke Shields had ended, leaving him in pain...... then to see him claw back against Medvedev in an epic 5 set battle...to finally complete the career Grand Slam.....it's an event that set my junior tennis career on track, and allowed me to reach for my dreams on the court and in life. The fact that I was able to tell that to Andre during the 2007 US Open (in the player's lounge), was very special to me. The reason I bring this up, is because it was very symbolic to see Andre hand the trophy to Federer today, and see two of the more gutsy champions embrace each other. They are both people who have carried our sport, and who aren't scared to get emotional in public. Federer has answered my years of critiques.....he has finally won the French Open, and at this moment in time is the best tennis player ever.

However, there is still one point worth making...Rafael Nadal will be back, and the rivalry [quest to be best of all time] is still alive between the two. GO TENNIS PS- Pertaining to the women's final, Dinara Safina's loss could be very detrimental to her mental state/career. Only time will tell.

Dear Friends and Tennis Talk Colleagues,

 

    The dust has settled in Paris, and another French Open final is upon us.  Contrary to what some ratings analysts may think, there are two primetime match-ups on the men's and women's sides respectively.

    So who will win the women's crown?  As you may know by now, I haven't made great predictions on the ladies side, with the exception of Maria Sharapova's stamina being an issue, and Ana Ivanovic's early exit in the second week; so it will be difficult to choose a winner.  However, here's how the ladies final is shaping up......  Dinara Safina is the clear cut favorite, but two issues that could hinder her chances of winning, are experience and nerves.  Safina is playing flawless tennis, the best of any player in the draw throughout the fortnight.  I foresee her jumping out to a big lead on Svetlana Kuznetsova, and ultimately having problems closing out the match.  If there's ONE thing I am positive of, it's that Kuznetsova WON'T choke, and she will be extremely composed throughout the 2 out of 3 set battle. 

     Svetlana made the Roland Garros finals in 2006, and already has a 2007 US Open title under her belt, so this stage is second nature.  Safina did make the finals last year, and also was second in the running at the Australian Open; however, she has dreamed of this moment for decades, and knows that this is a priceless opportunity to get the "major title" monkey off her back.  I predict that Safina will most likely win in 3 sets, but will have a major nerve/gut check while doing so.

     As for the men, this will be a doozey:  Roger Federer, just one win away from being regarded as the best tennis player of all time, and tying Pete Sampras' record of 14 major titles.  Two years ago, Pete, and everyone else, believed that Roger would have 18-20 grand slams at this stage in his career; however, a lefty named Rafael Nadal continued to improve, and spoiled that dream for Fed.  Roger's opponent, Robin Soderling, ended that nightmare, by ousting Nadal, the 4 time defending champion. 

      I often question Roger's guts, but if he wins this tournament, he will have officially silenced my critiques.  Federer beat Tommy Haas and Juan Martin Del Potro on pure guts, digging deep to advance in 5 sets.  He will most likely have to do the same against his Swedish counterpart in the finals, and will capture his career Grand Slam, with a dramatic win on Sunday.  The single key to victory for Robin would be to run around his forehand and rip heavy balls to the Federer backhand.  Soderling proved against Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez that he has the stamina, so if he can tame his nerves and execute those inside-out forehands, he may complete the dream of hoisting his first major title.  Both men's and women's matches will be great spectacles, most likely with Safina and Federer on top of the podium by the end of the weekend!