Wimbledon 2015 - Day one

Day one at Wimbledon and in the women's draw Serena Williams won her match in straight sets and Serena really found her range in in the second set and went on to get a comfortable victory. 

Venus Williams doubled bagled Madison Brengle and it has been a while since Venus has doubled bagled anyone.

Maria Sharapova beat Johanna Konta and it was expected victory for Maria but it's sad that Johanna had to exit the tournament so early. 

The surprise of the day was Carla Suarez Navarro getting knocked out in three sets.  She is now a top ten player so I was expecting to do reasonably well. 

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic got a straight sets win against.., and it was good first win for Novak who is hoping to make it to the final and win it.

Stanislas Wawrinka won in straight sets and he is through to the second and as the winner of the French Open he is looking to get is third grand slam.

Day one is only had one real surprise but all the players who have real potential of winning the tournament made it to the second round. 

Wimbledon 2015 preview

Ok to my shame I didn't complete the review of the French Open.. However it was truly wonderful to see Serena Williams win her 20th grand slam and it was nice to see Stanislas Wawrinka get is  2nd Grand Slam. 

But I am sure that Wimbledon challenge will be very different for both of these champions. 

The women's draw looks quite competitive this year but I cautiously optimistic that Serena will get the 6th Wimbledon title and her 21st Grand Slam. 

However it's not going to be easy and she will probably need to beat Maria Sharapova in the semis to even make it to the final. 

Last year winner Petra Kivitova is a contender to retain her title she has a very good grass court game and as there normally isn't many rallies on the grass it suits her game perfectly.

From a British prespective both Heather Watson and Johanna Konta have very tough draws and it will not be easy for either to progress to the second round. 

Heather faces Caroline Garcia and who has some powerful ground strokes and for Heather to win she will need to be aggressive and her serve has to be on point. 

Johanna faces Maria Sharapova and the chances of her winning are even more remote. Maybe if the crowd get behind her that might help to get one set! 

 

The men's draw is much more open and realistically either Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stanislas Wawrinka or Rafael Nadal can win the title. 

Rafa is my personal favourite but he has been having a torrid time of lately so is chance of winning the title do not look great. 

Andy Murray is home favourite and a former winner and he knows how to win so I would rule him out of at least getting to the final. 

Novak Djokovic is current champion and I would not bet against him making it to the final as the three time winner he can do it again. 

Stanislas Wawrinka will be feeling very confident so I would not rule him out of getting to at least the finals. 

Roger Federer is a Wimbledon favourite and has won at least six times but he is older now and he cannot win matches like he used and he is unlikely to win a tough five set matches like he used to and but as a former champion I cannot totally rule him out. 

So it should be a another great Wimbledon and hopefully a record breaking Wimbledon for Serena Williams. 

Australian Open - Day four

Day four of the Australian Open and Agnieszka Radwanska beat Johanna Larsson in straight and it was not much of a contest and Aga barely broke sweat to win this match. 

However she has got a tough draw ahead and reastically it will be hard for her  to beat both Venus and Serena to make to the final were could face either Simona or Maria so it could be a tough ask. 

Serena Wiliams beat Vera Zvonareva in straight sets and it was tough first set for Serena who came two sets down to win the set and ultimately the match. 

Venus Williams beat Lauren Davis in straight sets and it was pretty routine win for Venus who did not have to expand much energy to get this win. 

Victoria Azarenka beat Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets and this was a bit of a surprise result for me as I thought that Caroline was going to win as Victoria is still coming back from injury. But it was a very comfortable win for Victoria. 

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic beat Andrey Kuznetsov in straight sets and it was another routine win for Novak and I would not bet against him from winning the title. 

Stan Wawrinka beat Marius Copil in straight sets and as the defending champion there must be a lot of pressure on his shoulders which he seems to be handling very well. 

Australian Open - Day Two

Day two of the Australia Open and Tsvetana Pironkova  beat Heather Watson in straight sets. This would have been bitterly disappointing for Heather after winning Hobart at the weekend she was expecting to do well. 

This was sadly not meant to be and Heather looked like she had zero energy or the strength to chase the balls. In her press conference she blamed her loss on "women problems". Hopefully Heather will find a better way to manage these "women problems" or her career will be very short. 

Venus Williams had a good straight sets win and was particularly impressive on serve and Venus never looked like she was going to lose the match. This in stark contrast to last year were she would have scrapped into the second round. 

Serena Williams had a very good straight sets win and in this match Serena showed her grit and ability that were missing at the Hopman Cup. This is really Serena title to lose and it all depends on how motivated she is for 19th title. 

Agnieszka Radwanska had a good straight sets win against Kumi Nara and Agnieszka's ability to chase down those loss balls helped to win her this match. 

In the men's draw Novak Djokovic had a reasonably comfortable first round win and against Aliz Bedene. 

Stanislas Wawrinka also won his first match reasonably comfortably and as defending champion there would presume to retain the title and losing early would be a disaster for his ranking.

Gael Monfils had a thrilling five set match and came through it make the second round. He was playing against a player that I had never heard off and his name was Lucas Pouille. 

Gael did well to come back and I am hoping the energy he spent on winning this match does not affect him too much in the next round. 

Preview of Wimbledon 2014

So my favourite tournament starts today! And in the women's draw my personal favourite to win is Serena Williams. 

However Serena has had quite a few injuries this year and they seem to be occurring around the grandslams. 

I would say that barring injury then I  cannot see her losing in this tournament. I also think that Maria has a great chance of winning this tournament her confidence would be high after winning the French Open. 

Looking at the draw I would not be surprised if Venus Williams was able to string some results together and win this title.

Li Na is someone else I can imagine winning she has a good draw and will be difficult to beat. 

I am hoping that Britain's Heather Watson will follow up on her Eastbourne success and at least make it to the third round and this could see her getting  back into top fifty. 

In the men's draw my personal favourite to win would be Rafael Nadal. However he faces a stiff challenge from players like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or last year winner Andy Murray. 

The dark horse in the men's draw would be Stanislas Wawrinka he is the current Australian Men's champion and he has got a strong grass court game and will be tough beat. 

French Open - Day two

Day two at the French Open and in the women's draw Maria Sharapova beat Ksenia Pervak in straight sets and this was a routine win for Maria, who is hoping to win her fifth grand slam. 

Petra Kivitova beat Zarina Diyas in straight sets and it was also a fairly routine win for Petra who is aiming for her second grand slam. 

Eugenie Bouchard beat Shahar Peer in straight sets and Eugenie has been playing great tennis and she should at least make it to the semi-finals. 

In the men's draw Rafael Nadal beat Robby Ginepri in straight sets and it was a very good win for Rafa who also bagled Robby twice in the three sets.

Novak Djokovic beat Joao Sousa in straight sets and it was a fairly routine win for Novak who is hoping to at least make it to the final. 

The shock result of the day was Guillermo Garcia- Lopez beat Stanislas Wawrinka in four sets and bagled Stanislas in the fourth set. 

Stanislas is the current Australian Open champion and many pundits thought he was going to do well here so losing to Guillermo in the first round was definitely the shock of the day. 

Review of the Australian Open from the sofa!

This years Australian Open was interesting to say the least. The adverse weather conditions meant players where playing tennis in forty two degrees heat. 

These weather conditions lasted for almost the first week of the slam and resulted in players getting dehydrated, vomiting or some even passing out. 

The second week started with a shock when the women's favourite for title Serena Williams was beating by Ana Ivanovic. 

Serena's exit of the tournament was closely followed by Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka's exits. This ultimately lead to Li Na beating Dominika Cibulkova in the final. 

The men's draw was much more stable and than the women's. It was only final that had me most surprised when Stanislas Wawrinka beat Rafael Nadal. 

The Aussie fans where particularly vocal in the men's final and had some point sections in the crowd where booing Rafael Nadal for his injury time out. Which I thought was particularly unpleasant and was totally uncalled for. 

Some of the men's matches where played until 01.30 in the morning which I thought was a little strange. 

Overall I was surprised by wins of Li Na and Stanislas Wawrinka which I did not see coming. I guess that is why I love tennis because sometimes it can be unpredictable. 

However I can bet a bottom dollar that the players who under performed at this tournament will have a bigger impact in the remaining Gram Slams. 

Australian Open - Day Fourteen- Men's Final

Day fourteen at the Australian Open and Stanislas Wawrinka beat Rafael Nadal in four sets to win the men's final. 

Rafa later on stated in his press conference that he hurt his back in the warm up. Which got progressively worse with each game. 

Rafa did his best to compete but the back injury made it difficult for him to serve or run. So it was amazing that he was able to get the third set. 

Stanislas served very well and was hitting winners everywhere and this was made easier by the fact that Rafa could not get to half the balls. 

So it was a gripping final but I am sure it would have been better if Rafa had not got injured. 

Australian Open - day twelve

Day twelve of the Australian Open and in the second men's semi- finals, Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in straight sets. 

This result did not come as a huge surprise to me as Roger is not getting any younger and as much as some  tennis pundits still think of him as world number one. 

 

I think Roger's time has come and gone and he is not getting any younger and yes he is supremely talented. 

But it is asking too much to expect him to compete and beat men that are five years younger than him now that he is a step slower.   

So the men's final will be between Stanislas Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal. This is a match that I think Rafa should win quite comfortably. 

Australian Open - Day Eleven

Day eleven at the Australian Open and it is ladies semi finals day. Li Na beat the young Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets. 

This result was not a surprise as Eugenie did incredibly well to get to this stage and I am sure in a few years time she will be winning grand slams. 

Dominika Cibulkova beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets and this result was a surprise as Agnieszka is the higher ranked player. 

But at the same time Agnieszka has played a lot of three set matches and it was only matter of time before her energy levels dropped. 

So the women's final will be between Li Na and Dominika Cibulkova. 

In the men's draw Stanislas Wawrinka beat Tomas Berdych in four sets and he is now through to the final where he will face  either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. 

Australian Open - Day Nine

Day nine at the Australian Open and Ni La beat Flavia Pennetta in straight sets. This result was not a surprise as Ni La has been playing very well and did not really give Flavia the opportunity to really get into the match. 

Eugenie Bouchard beat Ana Ivanovic in three sets. Bearing in mind that Ana beat Serena Williams in the previous round. I would have thought Ana would have beat Eugenie. 

However Eugenie battled through to victory after losing the first set and she will now play Li Na for a place in the final. 

In the men's draw Tomas Berdych beat the number three seed David Ferrer in four sets. This was a surprise result for me as David has been playing well so I thought he was going to win the match. 

The shock result of the day was Stanislas Wawrinka beating Novak Djokovic in five sets.It was a pulsating match that had twists and turns.

 Stanislas just seem to play the bigger points better and had the marginal advantage of serving first in the fifth set. Novak made to very costly errors which cost him the game and the match. 

ATP Men's Finals London - Review

There were few surprises at this years ATP men's tour finals.

I was surprised by the notable improvement of Stanislas Wawrinka. I am not his great fan of his style of tennis but he did well to make the semi-finals. 

I was disappointed with Rafa Nadal's performance in the final. After playing well to reach the final, his below par performance was certainly a surprise and disappointment. 

I personally can't see Roger Federer winning anymore major titles. I think he has had his time and for him to beat either Rafa or Novak at any of the majors in 2014 sounds a tad unrealistic. 

Novak Djokovic performed better than I expected. But then I think losing the the world number one ranking motivated him to play even better. 

Overall it was a good tournament and it was good to see both the number one and number two players in the final. I was only disappointed that Rafa couldn't win it.

 

ATP Men's Finals - Semi - Finals

The ATP men's semi finals took place yesterday and Novak Djokovic beat Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets. 

To be fair it was probably the expected result, whilst Stanislas has had good year  he probably needs to focus on winning his first grand slam. 

Novak has lived up to expectations to reach the final. He has additional motivation of wanting his world number one status back so he will be doubly motivated for the final. 

In the other semi final Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in straight sets. Rafa nows seems to have no problems beating Roger which is different to a few years back. 

Roger has achieved and won so much in tennis and if he wants to have a successful 2014. He is going have to dig deep to beat the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. 

Rafael Nadal has had a good year since coming back from injury. The current world number one will want to win this final to sign off on what has been a great year. 

ATP Men's finals, London - day five

Day five of the men's final and Stanislas Wawrinka beat David Ferrer in three sets.  

Stanislas has worked had and very much deserves his place in the semi finals where he will play Novak Djokovic.  

 

This will be a big match because if he can beat Novak then anything could happen. 

Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych in three sets and Rafa had already qualified for the semi finals. But this win knocked Tomas out of the tour finals.

 To be fair it always going to be a tough match for Tomas but he he pushed Rafa all the way. 

ATP Men's Finals, London - day three

Day three at the ATP Men's finals and Rafael Nadal beat Stanislas Wawrinka in two close sets. This win meant that Rafa will now finish the year as the world number one.

Rafa is my pick to win this tournament and he seems to be getting better with each match. 

It was always going to be a tough ask to Stanislas who has worked hard to reach this final. He needs to develop his game so he can become a grand slam winner.

Tomas Berdych beat David Ferrer in straight sets and this was a good win for Tomas. 

But to have any chance of realistically winning this title he needs to beat either Juan Martin Del Potro, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. 

Whilst this is not impossible it will take monumental effort from Tomas to do this. If he does win this tournament it would be big confidence boost for 2014. 

, 

ATP Men's finals, London - Day One

ATP Men's finals got under way yesterday and Juan Martin Del Potro beat Richard Gasquet in three sets. 

This was a tough match for Juan Martin against someone like Richard who has not had the best year. 

Juan Martin was probably relieved to have gotten the win. But there will be tougher matches for him to face and hopefully he will rise up to the challenge. 

Stanislas Wawrinka beat Tomas Berdych in three sets. If I am totally honest I am not really fan of either player. 

I will be somewhat surprised if either player makes it to the final and wins. 

However both Stanislas and Tomas are playing well and If I was a betting women I would say that Stanislas has the greater chance making it to the final. 

But neither plays the type of tennis I think will really help not only to win this tournament but to win grand slams. 

But at the same time they are both here so anything can happen. 

US Open - Men's Final

US Open men's final took place yesterday between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. 

Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in four highly entertaining and competitive sets. It was match a battle of wills as well as  talent. 

Rafa played quite tentatively in the first three sets and in these first three sets he played to Novak strengths. 

It was only in the fourth set that Rafa was able to play his own game and win the match. 

I always thought this match was going to be  physically tough for Novak. He had to play a five set match against Stanislas Wawrinka to reach final. 

Novak played well in the first three sets then seem to lose his momentum in the fourth set. 

It was a good match and I thought that Rafa played key the points better than Novak. 

Rafa has now won thirteen grand slams and health permitting, there no reason why he cannot beat Roger Federer current record of seventeen grand slams in the next few years. 

US Open - day thirteen

Day thirteen at the US Open was the men's semi finals day. 

Novak Djokovic beat Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets. It was an great match which could have gone either way. 

In the fifth and deciding set, the third game on Stanislas's serve had twelve deuces an lasted twenty one minutes! and that particular game was won by Stanislas. 

It was a physically tough match and lasted about four hours. So hopefully Novak will get enough rest to properly compete in the final. 

Rafael Nadal beat Ricard Gasquet in three sets. The first set when to a tie-break but after that Rafael was able to control the match and win the game.

So the final will between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal and it also has the potential to be a great match.  

US Open - Men's semi-finals

The men's semi-finals is taking place today and the first semi-final will between Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka. 

On paper it would seem that Stanislas as little chance of beating Novak. Novak has great serve and he also moves very well around the court.

Stanislas is going to need to serve very and return very well to have any chance of beating Novak. However I do think that Novak will probably win in four sets.

The second semi-final will be between Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet. Richard has not beaten Rafael since they played each other at junior level.

Therefore I think Rafael will probably in straight sets.

My prediction is that final will be between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. But I would not rule out Stanislas Wawrinka or Richard Gasquet as they could spring  a surprise.

US Open - day eleven

Day eleven at the US Open certainly had the element of the unexpected and expected results. 

Stanislas Wawrinka beat Andy Murray in straight sets to make it to the semi-finals. Even when Andy went down to two sets to love. I still thought that he was going to come back and win it in five sets.

However it was not meant to be as Andy had a slow start and his serve was not as potent as it normally is and Andy made a lot of unforced errors. 

It was always going to be a tough ask to expect Andy to win both Wimbledon and the US Open. 

Andy did well to reach the quarter finals and would have been nice to see him in the semi- finals but it was not meant to be. 

Now Andy needs to get some rest and come back stronger and more purposeful.

Novak Djokovic beat Mikhail Youzhny in four sets to reach the semi-finals. This result was not unexpected but it was nice that Mikhail managed to get a least a set from Novak. 

However it made Novak step up his game and he bagled Mikhail in the fourth set. Novak now faces Stanislas 

 in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile in the women's doubles Venus and Serena Williams beat Sara Errani  and Roberta Vinci in straight sets.

I was little surprised with the ease in which Venus and Serena managed to beat Sara and Roberta.

 I thought that it was going to be a very tough match for Venus. However Venus played very well which has helped them to reach the semi-finals.