The fed loses to Tsonga after being two sets up and cruising.
Well well well.
Tsonga wins 3-6 6-7 6-4 6-4 6-4
Very weird. Federer didn't even look like he was trying in the fifth set. Really sluggish and careless and way way too casual. That is not what I expect to see from Federer. I'm disappointed. Can feel the claws of unhappiness squeezing at my heart. Hum.
Djoko beat Tomic in four tight sets (well, three tight sets - the first was a bit of a walkover as I suspect Tomic gave in to a few nerves at the big occassion and Djoko capitalised) - 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5.
So Djoko will face Tsonga in the semis - a repeat of the US Open final that Djoko won easily. What will come of Ray-ray/Lopez and GoNads/Fish? I don't think I can handle anymore shocks.
I'll keep you blogged...
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Magic Monday and Thunderstorm Tuesday
Hmm, may need to work on the title a little. In my head 'Thunderstorm Tuesday' sounded great but written down it looks a little... well, rubbish.
MONDAY was a mind-blowing day of tennis. So many three-/five-setters; so many upsets. The biggest casualties? I guess it's a toss-up between world number 1 (not to mention my tip for the title) Caroline Wozniacki crashing out to Diminutive (because she's only 5'3"...) Cibulkova, and both Williams sisters being beaten - Serena to Bartoli and Venus to Pironkova. Who'd have thunk it? Well, actually, I have to point out that I did think that from the get go. No further than the third or fourth rounds. You can see it in writing a few blogs down. proof that occassionally I know what I'm talking about.
Bartoli was brutal in her demolition of Serena, winning in straight sets 6-3 7-6. Serena's fighting instincts saw her pushing through to a tie break in the second set, after being a break down with Bouncy Bartoli serving for the match at 5-4, but she was unable to withstand the accurate and powerful hitting from the double-handed Bartoli. Or perhaps she was mesmerized by Bartoli's bizarre pre-point-post-point bouncing and swishing and running around. I know I was distracted. As Alistair McGowan quipped, 'She seems to be playing two matches at once - one against her opponent and one against an imaginary friend.' (NB: NOT an accurate quote.)
Pironkova is becoming something of an achilles heal for Venus. She beat her at Wimbledon last year, didn't do a lot of anything in between, and now comes back to SW19 only to beat Venus again. And comfortably at that - 6-2 6-3. Perhaps Venus was reeling from the shock of her sister losing but I suspect her defeat, and the defeat of Serena, has more to do with the inevitable decline of the sisters. They've been unbeatable for over 10 years but with Venus turning 31 and Serena 30 in September, surely their time has passed?
The men's draw fared much more predictable results as all four of the top four got
through, although that isn't to say there were not some tricky matches. Ray-ray found his best form of the Championships so far and beat a dangerous Gasquet 7-6 6-3 6-2, whose challenge all but crumpled after losing a very tight first set. Dojoko creamed Llodra 6-3 6-3 6-3 and never looked threatened. The Fed and GoNads both dropped sets against their opponents - Youzhny and Del Potro respectively - but the Swiss came through far more comfortably than GoNads, who required treatment before the first-set tie break on his heel. He put in a typical gritty performance and eventually over came old Potty but it was not an easy win and I sense he'll be feeling the repurcussions of it going into his quarter final.
The other quarter finalists are Tomic (that's ICK not ITCH) who continues his amazing run and becomes the youngest player - at 18 - to go into the quarters since Boris Becker in 1986 by beating Malisse 6-1 7-5 6-4. He'll now play Djoko in the next round. Tsonga beat Ferrer in rather convincing fashion and will become The Fed's dangerous quarter-final opponent. My tennis coach reckons Fed will win in four with Tsonga squeezing a tie break, I countered with straight sets to Fed but close all the way. We shall see. Ray-ray's opponent will be one Feliziano Lopez who beat Kubot in 5 nail biting sets - 3-6 6-7 7-6 7-5 7-5. That is one close match. Last but not least we have GoNads who will be playing America's number 1 male and only remaining American player in the torunament, Mardi Fish.
BRING IT ON!
Yesterday the women's semi finalists were decided:
Screamy Shara v wildcard Lisicki
Annoying Azarenka v Kvitova.
What do I want? A Lisicki/Kvitova final. I'll leave it at that.
I'll keep you blogged...
MONDAY was a mind-blowing day of tennis. So many three-/five-setters; so many upsets. The biggest casualties? I guess it's a toss-up between world number 1 (not to mention my tip for the title) Caroline Wozniacki crashing out to Diminutive (because she's only 5'3"...) Cibulkova, and both Williams sisters being beaten - Serena to Bartoli and Venus to Pironkova. Who'd have thunk it? Well, actually, I have to point out that I did think that from the get go. No further than the third or fourth rounds. You can see it in writing a few blogs down. proof that occassionally I know what I'm talking about.
Bartoli was brutal in her demolition of Serena, winning in straight sets 6-3 7-6. Serena's fighting instincts saw her pushing through to a tie break in the second set, after being a break down with Bouncy Bartoli serving for the match at 5-4, but she was unable to withstand the accurate and powerful hitting from the double-handed Bartoli. Or perhaps she was mesmerized by Bartoli's bizarre pre-point-post-point bouncing and swishing and running around. I know I was distracted. As Alistair McGowan quipped, 'She seems to be playing two matches at once - one against her opponent and one against an imaginary friend.' (NB: NOT an accurate quote.)
Pironkova is becoming something of an achilles heal for Venus. She beat her at Wimbledon last year, didn't do a lot of anything in between, and now comes back to SW19 only to beat Venus again. And comfortably at that - 6-2 6-3. Perhaps Venus was reeling from the shock of her sister losing but I suspect her defeat, and the defeat of Serena, has more to do with the inevitable decline of the sisters. They've been unbeatable for over 10 years but with Venus turning 31 and Serena 30 in September, surely their time has passed?
The men's draw fared much more predictable results as all four of the top four got
through, although that isn't to say there were not some tricky matches. Ray-ray found his best form of the Championships so far and beat a dangerous Gasquet 7-6 6-3 6-2, whose challenge all but crumpled after losing a very tight first set. Dojoko creamed Llodra 6-3 6-3 6-3 and never looked threatened. The Fed and GoNads both dropped sets against their opponents - Youzhny and Del Potro respectively - but the Swiss came through far more comfortably than GoNads, who required treatment before the first-set tie break on his heel. He put in a typical gritty performance and eventually over came old Potty but it was not an easy win and I sense he'll be feeling the repurcussions of it going into his quarter final.
The other quarter finalists are Tomic (that's ICK not ITCH) who continues his amazing run and becomes the youngest player - at 18 - to go into the quarters since Boris Becker in 1986 by beating Malisse 6-1 7-5 6-4. He'll now play Djoko in the next round. Tsonga beat Ferrer in rather convincing fashion and will become The Fed's dangerous quarter-final opponent. My tennis coach reckons Fed will win in four with Tsonga squeezing a tie break, I countered with straight sets to Fed but close all the way. We shall see. Ray-ray's opponent will be one Feliziano Lopez who beat Kubot in 5 nail biting sets - 3-6 6-7 7-6 7-5 7-5. That is one close match. Last but not least we have GoNads who will be playing America's number 1 male and only remaining American player in the torunament, Mardi Fish.
BRING IT ON!
Yesterday the women's semi finalists were decided:
Screamy Shara v wildcard Lisicki
Annoying Azarenka v Kvitova.
What do I want? A Lisicki/Kvitova final. I'll leave it at that.
I'll keep you blogged...
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Wimbledon, Days 4, 5 and 6
So the first week of the Womble is over and there have been some juicy juicy matches, some great wins, some crushing losses, and some big names on their planes home already. The highest casualty in the men's draw so far is 8th Andy Roddick who lost in straight sets to an outrageously inspired performance by Lopez. He looked smooth as galaxy chocolate as he annihilated Roddick's game piece by piece. There's no doubt he deserved the win and an always humble Roddy acknowledged this as they shook hands. Elsewhere Monfils and The Sod suffered 3rd round losses to two up-and-coming players - Tomic and Kubot; names to watch out for. Melzer also went out to an inspired Malisse.
In the women's draw 2nd seed Vera Zvo crashed out to Little Pironkova who looked muy impressivo as she took apart Zvo's game and booked her place for the second week. Wozza progressed serenely through and looks on course for her maiden Slam, even if Screamy Shara is the bookies favourites. Bartoli had a brute of a match against Pennetta but squeezed through eventually, 9-7 in the decider. Scary Schia did not fare as well in her equally epic match against Paszet, 3+ hours of hard-fought slogging which Paszet came through 3-6 6-8 11-9. Great match.
Of the top four men, only The Fed has progressed with grace and ease. GoNads has continued to look tired and sometimes ragged against opponents he was crushing on his way to his second Wimbledon trophy this time last year. Djoko seems to have reverted back to his old ways of looking dead on his feet and staring up at his box in disbelief as he struggles for form, energy and concentration. Ray-ray is, as ever, giving us a hell of a ride as he flirts with brilliance and rubbish from one shot to the next.
My pick of the up coming matches:
Has to be GoNads/Del Potty. What a match that could be. If Potty plays as we all know he can, it could be one hell of a humdinger. Bring it ON.
Also, Ray-ray plays Gasquet. Will it be a repeat of their 2008 first round encounter? I don't think my nerves could take it.
I'll keep you blogged...
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Wimbledon, Day 2 & 3
ATTACK OF THE KILLER BEES!
Okay, so attack is not really the right word, it was more they were mass-moving and we were getting in their way, and there wasn't a lot of killing going on either. But still, hiding under my coat and my boyfriend whilst thousands of bees swarmed overhead was not how I was expecting to spend my time on Henman Hill. Pretty interesting though.
The tennis seemed to tie seamlessly with the warm, breezy, changeable day - a sedate match or period of play in the sunshine for The Fed and Djoko and a tumultuous emotional storm for Serena Williams, playing in her first Slam since she injured her foot after winning Wimbledon last year. But she came through against a dangerous first-round opponent (Rezai) and made it clear for all the world to see that she was more than happy to be back. After the year she's had, a win at Wimbledon - nothing major for the Serena of old - must feel like a mountain climbed.
There have been few shocks so far but some amazing tennis. My matches of the Championships so far:
Stepanek v Verdasco - Verdasco the eventual winner in five scintillating sets. A match I would have seen had the rain not come early on the opening day...
Kimiko Date-Krumm v Venus Williams - absolute peach. Exactly why I like tennis.
Roll on tomorrow, hopefully with less swarms.
I'll keep you blogged...
Monday, 20 June 2011
Wimbledon, Day 1
I had the pleasure and the privilege of going to Wimbledon today. My Dad and I had Court 2 tickets and enjoyed a better than expected day as the weather held off for a good five hours of tennis. We saw a resurgent Venus Williams beat giant, 6'3" Uzbekistan, Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-3 6-1. A very entertaining and impressive Gael Monfils defeated Germany's Matthias Bachinger 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 in a great and sometimes highly competitive (especially in the second set) match. Next up was number 4 seed Victoria Azarenka against Rybarikova. They scrapped and screamed through a tight first set, Aza eventually claiming it 6-4, and it was on serve in the second at 3-2 when the rain started. I haven't been at Wimbledon where rain stops play for a significant amount of time for a number of a years so it felt a little alien at first. But then the brollies went up and the cloudy sky turned that solid wet blanket of grey... and I knew I'd seen that before. My Dad waited for half an hour with his restless leg jiggling up and down before he turned to me and suggested we go home. I have to say, I'm glad he convinced me as it's still raining now (at 8pm) and play has been suspended on all courts apart from Centre until tomorrow. Phew. So we popped into the incredibly packed shop, bought some lovely tea towels and oven gloves, new grips for my raquet (in pastel shades - very pretty) and three Wimbledon dampeners and a sweatband, and trekked across the soggy golf course to the car and drove home.
A great day all round, despite the rain.
Ray-ray, fresh off his Queens title (the second British man to win two since 1914), is playing under the roof on Centre Court right now and after a shaky start - losing his first set - he's looking very much in command at one set all and 4-0 up. Make that 5-0.
Ray-ray is the only one of the top four to have won a competition on grass this season. GoNads was knocked out in the quarters of Queens and neither Djoko nor The Fed played their pre-Wimbledon grass competition due to injury/fatigue. Does this bode well for Andy Murray?
Time to bite the bullet and commit my predictions to computer screen:
Men's final - Ray-ray v. The Fed and The Fed to win in four.
Djoko/Fed semi with Fed to come through a tight tight match. And Ray- ray/GoNads in the other with Ray-ray to beat a fatigued and sluggish Nadal.
Women's final - Wozza to win in three tight sets and get that first Slam she's been dreaming of. Serena and Venus to get nowhere past the quarters as they are both under fit and over hyped.
GOLF
Rory McIlroy won the US Open and became the youngest major winner since Tiger Woods won at the masters in 1997. Watch out for this guy - he's going to become a golfing great.
Day 2 of the womble tomorrow and I'm dragging the anti-sports boyfriend for a day of fun in the (fingers-crossed!) sun!
I'll keep you blogged...
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Alastair Cook
How I love thee.
He is a fine wine; a good cheese; Richard Geer... Just gets better the longer he's around.
His 106 in England's draw against Sri Lanka at Lord's was his 6th century in 9 matches. Yes, he's not a very quick scorer, and yes, that could well be a problem in ODIs (although I have faith that he'll be able to adapt his game from one format to the other), but when he's in he's a rock and that's exactly what England, and any side, need. He's a big, beautiful, looks-of-a-Grecian-God rock that players like Pieterson and Bell and Morgan can anchor themselves to. Plus he's really good to watch - he has a beautiful technique and more often than not these days looks serene on the crease. He's been playing amazingly over the past 6 months (will his Ashes triumph ever be repeated/bettered?) and to all those nay-sayers out there I ask you: what do you want??
I'll keep you blogged...
He is a fine wine; a good cheese; Richard Geer... Just gets better the longer he's around.
His 106 in England's draw against Sri Lanka at Lord's was his 6th century in 9 matches. Yes, he's not a very quick scorer, and yes, that could well be a problem in ODIs (although I have faith that he'll be able to adapt his game from one format to the other), but when he's in he's a rock and that's exactly what England, and any side, need. He's a big, beautiful, looks-of-a-Grecian-God rock that players like Pieterson and Bell and Morgan can anchor themselves to. Plus he's really good to watch - he has a beautiful technique and more often than not these days looks serene on the crease. He's been playing amazingly over the past 6 months (will his Ashes triumph ever be repeated/bettered?) and to all those nay-sayers out there I ask you: what do you want??
I'll keep you blogged...
French Open Men's Final and Beyond
Well what a humdinger of a final it turned out to be.
When The Fed went 2 sets to love down people were dismissing him outright. Nadal in straights; same old same old. Nevermind that the first two sets had been more fiercely contested than I can remember at the French (since GoNads started winning), and that Fed had a chance in both sets to take them. It would have been a different story had Fed capitalised on his 5-2 lead in the first set and served it out, but GoNads produced some his best tennis of, lets face it, a pretty ropey (by his standards) torunament in order to claw his way back into the set and then break a rattled Fed, who, I'm sure, was wondering where the last few games had gone, to take the first set 7-5. In the second Nadal carried on his momentum and broke the Swiss early on but Fed is not a 16 time Grand Slam champion for nothing and he broke back to level at 5-5. The set was destined for a tie-break and we were all thinking Federer would get it and it would be game on... But he played an unusually bad (and poorly timed - although is it ever a good time?) breaker with weak shots to the middle of the court which GoNads' hungry forehand lapped up and soon enough the Fed was 2-0 down and when he went a break down early in the third the doom-sayers were toasting their predictions coming true.
Federer, however, had other ideas. He fought back to level the set and then had the audacity to break the 'King of clay' and win the third set with an assured service hold. It was a feat that, as my boyfriend's Dad said, 'raised the roof' on the Philippe Chatrier court. So we were into a fourth set in a French Open final for the first time since 2007 (which was another GoNads/Fed final) and rumblings of the five set epic at Wimbledon that these two shared in 2008 were in the air. Was it possible? On clay? Could Federer keep up with Nadal for five sets? Could he possibly push him all the way? Well, no. He lost the fourth set 6-1 and looked pretty slow and knackered by the end, but then, so did Nadal. When Federer pushed a tired forehand long on his first match point, GoNads flopped to the floor in tears (as is his way). His 6th Roland Garros is matched only by Bjorn Borg and with 10 Slams already, the 25 year old looks well on course to beat the Fed's record; a record many thought could never be surpassed.
From the glorious burnt orange of the clay to the bright green grass, Nadal will only have three days to recover from his historic win before his second round match against Australian qualifier and world number 168, Matthew Ebden. Ray-ray is also back in action today, after much talk of ankles and teeth, against Xavier Malisse who he has a 100% record against. He will look to make a bright and injury-free start to the incredibly short but all the more beautiful because of it grass court season. Also in action today are Arnaud Clement, Marin Cilic, and Juan Martin Del Potro. Roddick battled his way back from injury and a resistant Feliziano Lopez yesterday to win his second round match 7-6 6-7 6-4. Britain's James Ward pulled off a shock win against in-form Stanislav Wawrinka to progress into the third round of Queen's for the first time, 7-6 6-3.
Tennis quote of the week:
'There are few sights, in sport or life, as magnificent as Federer in full flow on a grass court.'
Rowan Emslie, June 2011
Here, here!
Elsewhere the CRICKET world has been alight with more England success and broken glass. The Test series against Sri Lanka started with a rain-delayed five days in Wales (what did you expect?) but ended in bright sunshine and inspired play. It looked set for a weather infested draw when Engand declared (after Bell had made his 100) on the last day with 50 overs to go. What followed was either a miracle or a complete Sri Lankan collapse, or a bit of both. England bowled Sri Lanka out in the fading light of that fifth day for a breath-taking 82; 10 wickets in 25 overs.
High expectations were carried through to Lord's and the second test, however a flat crease coupled with yet more rain delays brought about a similar situation on the last day - where England were ahead but short of another miracle a draw was all they could hope for. And this time a draw it was. An unusually obviously frustrated Strauss (perhaps due to being dismissed for two ducks) neither crtiticised or particularly praised his team, saying he could tell they had run their race when asked why he'd ended the match an hour before the scheduled close of play. This was only England's 2nd draw in their last 16 Tests. A Draw that Straussy, and probably the rest of the team, were none too pleased about, one senses. If England had won this series 3-0 they would have gone second in the ICC Test rankings, one step closer to their ultimate goal of becomming the number 1 Test side in the world. If that doesn't happen under Strauss's reign, it'll be a travesty.
I'll keep you blogged...
When The Fed went 2 sets to love down people were dismissing him outright. Nadal in straights; same old same old. Nevermind that the first two sets had been more fiercely contested than I can remember at the French (since GoNads started winning), and that Fed had a chance in both sets to take them. It would have been a different story had Fed capitalised on his 5-2 lead in the first set and served it out, but GoNads produced some his best tennis of, lets face it, a pretty ropey (by his standards) torunament in order to claw his way back into the set and then break a rattled Fed, who, I'm sure, was wondering where the last few games had gone, to take the first set 7-5. In the second Nadal carried on his momentum and broke the Swiss early on but Fed is not a 16 time Grand Slam champion for nothing and he broke back to level at 5-5. The set was destined for a tie-break and we were all thinking Federer would get it and it would be game on... But he played an unusually bad (and poorly timed - although is it ever a good time?) breaker with weak shots to the middle of the court which GoNads' hungry forehand lapped up and soon enough the Fed was 2-0 down and when he went a break down early in the third the doom-sayers were toasting their predictions coming true.
Federer, however, had other ideas. He fought back to level the set and then had the audacity to break the 'King of clay' and win the third set with an assured service hold. It was a feat that, as my boyfriend's Dad said, 'raised the roof' on the Philippe Chatrier court. So we were into a fourth set in a French Open final for the first time since 2007 (which was another GoNads/Fed final) and rumblings of the five set epic at Wimbledon that these two shared in 2008 were in the air. Was it possible? On clay? Could Federer keep up with Nadal for five sets? Could he possibly push him all the way? Well, no. He lost the fourth set 6-1 and looked pretty slow and knackered by the end, but then, so did Nadal. When Federer pushed a tired forehand long on his first match point, GoNads flopped to the floor in tears (as is his way). His 6th Roland Garros is matched only by Bjorn Borg and with 10 Slams already, the 25 year old looks well on course to beat the Fed's record; a record many thought could never be surpassed.
From the glorious burnt orange of the clay to the bright green grass, Nadal will only have three days to recover from his historic win before his second round match against Australian qualifier and world number 168, Matthew Ebden. Ray-ray is also back in action today, after much talk of ankles and teeth, against Xavier Malisse who he has a 100% record against. He will look to make a bright and injury-free start to the incredibly short but all the more beautiful because of it grass court season. Also in action today are Arnaud Clement, Marin Cilic, and Juan Martin Del Potro. Roddick battled his way back from injury and a resistant Feliziano Lopez yesterday to win his second round match 7-6 6-7 6-4. Britain's James Ward pulled off a shock win against in-form Stanislav Wawrinka to progress into the third round of Queen's for the first time, 7-6 6-3.
Tennis quote of the week:
'There are few sights, in sport or life, as magnificent as Federer in full flow on a grass court.'
Rowan Emslie, June 2011
Here, here!
Elsewhere the CRICKET world has been alight with more England success and broken glass. The Test series against Sri Lanka started with a rain-delayed five days in Wales (what did you expect?) but ended in bright sunshine and inspired play. It looked set for a weather infested draw when Engand declared (after Bell had made his 100) on the last day with 50 overs to go. What followed was either a miracle or a complete Sri Lankan collapse, or a bit of both. England bowled Sri Lanka out in the fading light of that fifth day for a breath-taking 82; 10 wickets in 25 overs.
High expectations were carried through to Lord's and the second test, however a flat crease coupled with yet more rain delays brought about a similar situation on the last day - where England were ahead but short of another miracle a draw was all they could hope for. And this time a draw it was. An unusually obviously frustrated Strauss (perhaps due to being dismissed for two ducks) neither crtiticised or particularly praised his team, saying he could tell they had run their race when asked why he'd ended the match an hour before the scheduled close of play. This was only England's 2nd draw in their last 16 Tests. A Draw that Straussy, and probably the rest of the team, were none too pleased about, one senses. If England had won this series 3-0 they would have gone second in the ICC Test rankings, one step closer to their ultimate goal of becomming the number 1 Test side in the world. If that doesn't happen under Strauss's reign, it'll be a travesty.
I'll keep you blogged...
Sunday, 5 June 2011
French Open Finals 2011
So Li Na becomes the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title. She beat defending champion, Scary Schia, in straight sets, 6-3 7-6; a performance full of mature play, quick thinking, class shots and nerveless resolve. She was imperious in the first set against a nervy Schia and looked on course for a straightforward victory when 4-2 up in the second before she visibly tightened and allowed Schiavone back into the game. That's not to say that Schia didn't deserve it; she'd been doggedly working her way into the match and came good as Li tightened. Li, however, conquered her no doubt fluttering nerves (thinking of the estimated 330 million possible viewers in China alone, perhaps?) to take the set to a tie break, which she then completely dominated and won to love to complete her historic victory. Is this the beginning of an Asian, and more specifically, Chinese, uprising in tennis?
A stat I enjoy - Li and Schia's combined age yesterday was 60 years and 79 days (Li: 29 years and 98 days; Schia: 30 years and 346 days), making it the oldest women's Slam final since 1998.
Meanwhile Roger and Rafa are on court, Rafa having just won a hard-fought first set 7-5. Fed was up 5-2 and had a set point but GoNads doesn't know when to give up and won 5 straight games to clinch the first set, much to the Fed's disgust. He's now floundering in the 2nd set, with a break and more break points against him. He looks peeved...
I'll keep you blogged...
Thursday, 2 June 2011
I have been away, now I am back.
The French Open has been ticking away nicely in my absence and is gearing up for an explosive last few days. Mixed metaphors but you get the point. The women's draw has seen seeds falling left, right and centre and we have been left with a rather surprising final four show down:
Li Na v. Screamy Sharapova
Scary Schiavone v. Beastly Bartoli
I need a nickname for Li Na but can't think of one right now. Screamy seems back to her crushing best after she annihilated German Petkova 6-0 6-4. Her injuries (shoulder/elbow) have all but gone and she can even serve again. (Do you remember her serves when she came back from her shoulder injury? Very very bad form.) She was moving brilliantly and the penetration and length she got on her shots was nothing short of majestic. Petkovic could do nothing in the first set and Shara could do nothing wrong.
Li na continues a wonderful couple of years of winning and very entertaining press conferences and speeches (particularly enjoy when she talks about her husband) with a straight sets defeat of in-form but never-been-past-a-Grand-Slam-quarter-final Victoria Azerenka whose shrieks could be heard throughout Paris (as could Shara's on the other court) - 7-5 6-2. Thank God it won't be an Aza/Shazza semi final; the noise would have been too much to bear. Li Na can bring a little decorum to Shara's silly screaming.
In the other half Scary Schiavone saw off a sublime Pavlyuchenkova, who crushed Zvo on her way to her first Grand Slam quarter final. The teenage Russian is a 2011 sensation and many predict her to go far. Watch this space for more Pavly . Schiavone eventually came through the match 1-6 7-5 7-5, having, at one stage, been a set and 4-1 down. The defending champion will meet Beastly Bartoli in the semi-final who defeated a resurgent Kuznetsova 7-6 (7-4) 6-4. The double-handed Bartoli (do not understand double-handed forehand and backhand players - how do they do it?) looks in pretty good knick and Scary Schia will have to up her game if she wants to carry on defending her title and stop Bartoli from reaching her first Slam final.
Where there are no seeded ladies left, in the men's half there are only seeds:
Djoko v. The Fed
GoNads v. Ray-ray
Yes indeedy; the top four men are the only four men left in the competition. Where there is a lot to be said for seeds going out and seeing people you may not know much about and seeing a new winner of a Grand Slam... It's also pretty tasty when the only four players left in a tournament are the top four players in the world (according to rankings, of course). Who could resist the pull of Djoko/Fed? The man of the moment and the 16 time Grand Slam winner. Djoko has got the better of The Fed the last few times they've played but The Fed has looked in fine fettle thus far, not dropping a single set on his path to his 28th Slam semi. If Djoko wins on Friday he'll chalk up his 44th win in a row (42nd in 2011), will take the number 1 spot from GoNads and will still be on course for a Grand Slam (winning all four majors in a single year). Can he do it? I think probably yes.
The other semi involves the all-time great (especially at the French), world number 1 (for now) GoNads and the battling Briton, Andy Murray. Neither one of these players has had a straight-forward route to the semis - GoNads was given a scare in the very first round against John Isner who took him to five sets, and has openly admitted to struggling for form and confidence in his bid to retain his title and win it for a sixth time to match Bjorn Borg's record. His quarter-final performance against Soderling went a long way to settling his nerves, however, as he emerged a comfortable winner in straight sets - 6-4 6-1 7-6. Ray-ray, on the other hand, has had nothing but a torrid time of it. He rolled his ankle in the third round (against Berrer) and has been drugged up to the eye-balls and, except when on court, seems to have had a permanently frozen foot ever since in order to keep him fit, mobile, and, most importantly, on court. He has, perhaps miraculously, reached the semis of the French for the first time in his career. He says he feels good, is confident that he can beat GoNads if he plays tactical tennis, and is happy to have reached the semis now in all four Slams.
The time is 1300 hours; Ladies semi-finals here I come!
I'll keep you blogged...
The French Open has been ticking away nicely in my absence and is gearing up for an explosive last few days. Mixed metaphors but you get the point. The women's draw has seen seeds falling left, right and centre and we have been left with a rather surprising final four show down:
Li Na v. Screamy Sharapova
Scary Schiavone v. Beastly Bartoli
I need a nickname for Li Na but can't think of one right now. Screamy seems back to her crushing best after she annihilated German Petkova 6-0 6-4. Her injuries (shoulder/elbow) have all but gone and she can even serve again. (Do you remember her serves when she came back from her shoulder injury? Very very bad form.) She was moving brilliantly and the penetration and length she got on her shots was nothing short of majestic. Petkovic could do nothing in the first set and Shara could do nothing wrong.
Li na continues a wonderful couple of years of winning and very entertaining press conferences and speeches (particularly enjoy when she talks about her husband) with a straight sets defeat of in-form but never-been-past-a-Grand-Slam-quarter-final Victoria Azerenka whose shrieks could be heard throughout Paris (as could Shara's on the other court) - 7-5 6-2. Thank God it won't be an Aza/Shazza semi final; the noise would have been too much to bear. Li Na can bring a little decorum to Shara's silly screaming.
In the other half Scary Schiavone saw off a sublime Pavlyuchenkova, who crushed Zvo on her way to her first Grand Slam quarter final. The teenage Russian is a 2011 sensation and many predict her to go far. Watch this space for more Pavly . Schiavone eventually came through the match 1-6 7-5 7-5, having, at one stage, been a set and 4-1 down. The defending champion will meet Beastly Bartoli in the semi-final who defeated a resurgent Kuznetsova 7-6 (7-4) 6-4. The double-handed Bartoli (do not understand double-handed forehand and backhand players - how do they do it?) looks in pretty good knick and Scary Schia will have to up her game if she wants to carry on defending her title and stop Bartoli from reaching her first Slam final.
Where there are no seeded ladies left, in the men's half there are only seeds:
Djoko v. The Fed
GoNads v. Ray-ray
Yes indeedy; the top four men are the only four men left in the competition. Where there is a lot to be said for seeds going out and seeing people you may not know much about and seeing a new winner of a Grand Slam... It's also pretty tasty when the only four players left in a tournament are the top four players in the world (according to rankings, of course). Who could resist the pull of Djoko/Fed? The man of the moment and the 16 time Grand Slam winner. Djoko has got the better of The Fed the last few times they've played but The Fed has looked in fine fettle thus far, not dropping a single set on his path to his 28th Slam semi. If Djoko wins on Friday he'll chalk up his 44th win in a row (42nd in 2011), will take the number 1 spot from GoNads and will still be on course for a Grand Slam (winning all four majors in a single year). Can he do it? I think probably yes.
The other semi involves the all-time great (especially at the French), world number 1 (for now) GoNads and the battling Briton, Andy Murray. Neither one of these players has had a straight-forward route to the semis - GoNads was given a scare in the very first round against John Isner who took him to five sets, and has openly admitted to struggling for form and confidence in his bid to retain his title and win it for a sixth time to match Bjorn Borg's record. His quarter-final performance against Soderling went a long way to settling his nerves, however, as he emerged a comfortable winner in straight sets - 6-4 6-1 7-6. Ray-ray, on the other hand, has had nothing but a torrid time of it. He rolled his ankle in the third round (against Berrer) and has been drugged up to the eye-balls and, except when on court, seems to have had a permanently frozen foot ever since in order to keep him fit, mobile, and, most importantly, on court. He has, perhaps miraculously, reached the semis of the French for the first time in his career. He says he feels good, is confident that he can beat GoNads if he plays tactical tennis, and is happy to have reached the semis now in all four Slams.
The time is 1300 hours; Ladies semi-finals here I come!
I'll keep you blogged...
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