That was 2011...in sport

THE world of sport has had to deal with a lot of aspects in 2011.  We said goodbye to some stars at their prime and other legends who had made their mark.  There were shocks, sensational returns to form and superstars who had years to remember.  Sport has seen some vintage moments in 2011, though for some – they would rather forget it ever existed.

BACKSEAT: Nadal has had to watch Djokovic take over in tennis

     The tennis year has been dominated by Serbian, Novak Djokovic.  Djokovic had an incredible season, which saw him rise to the top of the ATP rankings and win three of the four Grand Slams (Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open).  He became only the sixth individual in history to win three Grand Slams in a single year, only losing six matches in his season.  He also took control of the ATP tour, winning six events.  Rafael Nadal had to play second fiddle this year, but he was beaten in two finals by Djokovic at the Grand Slams and took his traditional title at Roland Garros.  This meant that for the first time since 2002, Roger Federer went through a season without a Grand Slam title.  Despite this, the Swiss Master still showed flashes of his best with an epic semi-final success over Djokovic at the French Open and winning the season finale ATP finals in London.  Andy Murray’s ATP season was inconsistent, littered with several early exits.  However, he did win the Aegon Championships at Queen’s and strung together his best ever Grand Slam season.  Murray reached three semi-finals and was a gallant runner-up to Djokovic in Australia.  However, he needs to raise his game otherwise he will be left behind by the three masters of the men’s game.  In the ladies singles, there were four different Grand Slam winners.  Kim Clistjers took the honours in Australia, before injury wrecked her season.  China made its breakthrough in the major honours, when Na Li overcame Francesca Schiavone to win the French Open.  At Wimbledon, the relatively unknown Petra Kvitova got the better of a rejuvenated Maria Sharapova to become the first Czech since Jana Novotna in 1998 to win the main prize.  Sam Stosur continued the run of maiden winners, when she was too powerful for Serena Williams at the US Open in Flushing Meadows.  However, this year belonged to Novak Djokovic.  

     Rugby union’s greatest showpiece took place in New Zealand during the autumn and produced a fairytale story.  New Zealand had suffered a devastating year, with the earthquake in Christchurch and the River Pike mining tragedy.  However, despite not being the greatest All Blacks side to ever take part in a World Cup, they were able to produce what many haven’t; win the Webb Ellis Trophy.  They beat France in a close final 8-7, allowing inspirational captain Richie McCaw to lift the coveted prize, their first success since the inaugural tournament in 1987.  Defending champions South Africa disappointed, but were unlucky to bow out to Australia 11-9 in the quarter-finals.  The 2011 tournament was a mixed bag for the Home Nations.  Scotland bowed out at the group stages after failing to score tries in three of their four pool matches.  Ireland shook the tournament up with a shock and deserved win over Australia in the pool stages, but came up short in the quarter-finals against Wales, who were the story of the tournament.  Warren Gatland’s young side came so close to defeating South Africa on the opening weekend and played some fantastic rugby en route to a heartbreaking semi-final defeat at the hands of the improving French.  Wales cause was not helped by the controversial red card of Captain Sam Warburton.  England’s 2011 year was a disaster.  It started well with success in the RBS Six Nations.  Even that was tempered by losing a chance at the Grand Slam in Dublin on the final weekend.  At the world cup, off-field antics got in the way of their playing performances.  They laboured to wins over Argentina, Georgia and Scotland and eventually, it was old enemy France who got the better of England in convincing fashion in the last eight.  The fallout has continued since returning from Down Under, with The Times publishing media leaks of confidential reports, Martin Johnson quitting as team manager and Johnny Wilkinson announcing his retirement from international rugby.  So, it was a year to forget for English rugby, but one that New Zealand will hail a new golden generation.

CHANGE: Long Run won both the King George VI and Cheltenham Gold Cup

     There has been a changing of the guard in horse racing, as Long Run has taken jump racing to another level.  He won the delayed King George VI at Kempton in January and then held off Denman to succeed in a thrilling Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.  Sam Wahey-Cohen nearly completed a unique double in the John Smith’s Grand National.  The amateur jockey was pipped into second place by Jason Maguire’s ride, Ballabriggs.  It was another triumph for the McCain dynasty, with Donald McCain training the winning horse in humid conditions at Aintree.  His father Ginger was there to witness it, but it would turn out to be his last attendance at the National.  He sadly passed away from cancer in September, two days before his 81^st birthday.  On the flat, the 4-1 second favourite Pour Moi won the Epsom Derby in June whilst Frankel was named Horse of the Year after stretching an unbeaten run to nine, which included success in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Royal Ascot.  The main storm in horse racing has come through an amended ruling on the whip system.  Leading jockeys included AP McCoy threatened to go on strike which brought the sport on a potential collision course with the authorities.  After some tough negotiating, the rules have been changed so jockeys can use the whip seven times in flat races and eight times over jumps.  Although the jockeys still weren’t delighted with the tweaks, they decided to agree reluctantly and carry on competing.  The year ended with Paul Nicholls announcement that Denman was to be retired after injury.  Despite a recent brilliant win at Newbury, his stablemate Kauto Star might also be bowing out soon after a year of fluctuating form.

SHOCK: Usain Bolt false starts in Daegu and is disqualified in 100m

     Daegu in South Korea was the setting for the IAAF World Athletics Championships during August and September.  With it came the biggest shock of the sporting year.  World record holder and defending champion Usain Bolt unbelievably false started in the final of the men’s 100m.  As he tore his vest off his torso, Bolt could only watch his training partner Yohan Blake collecting the gold medal.  In true Bolt fashion, he bounced back to win the 200m, and be part of the Jamaican team that broke a world record in the 4x100m relay.  It was a mixed championship for Great Britain, with the biggest success coming from Dai Greene, who won the men’s 400m hurdles and from Mo Farah.  Farah was pipped into second place by Ibrahim Jeilan in the 10,000m, but went one better in the 5,000m.  Pre-event favourites in the men’s triple jump and women’s heptathlon, Phillips Idowu and Jessica Ennis had to settle for silver, despite season bests and points records.  There was also a bronze for Andy Turner in the men’s 110m hurdles after Cuba’s Dayron Robles was disqualified for an infringement and Hannah England took a surprising and sensational silver medal in the women’s 1500m.  In all, the championships were a major success with London just a year away.  Next year’s Olympic host had more reason to celebrate when it was awarded the 2017 World Championships in November.

     By its high standards, football has had a quiet year, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened.  Manchester United made history by finally breaking Liverpool’s record of 18 league titles.  A 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers in May secured another Premiership title for Sir Alex Ferguson.  Their noisy neighbours, Manchester City currently lead the new title battle by two points and stunned United in October, with an amazing 6-1 derby victory at Old Trafford.  City also ended their long drought for silverware by beating Stoke City 1-0 at Wembley to win the FA Cup.  Birmingham City ended up as the surprising winners of the Carling Cup, with Obafemi Martins last minute winner meaning Arsenal went through another year without silverware.  Sadly, this wouldn’t have a happy ending, as Birmingham got relegated from the Premiership, along with Blackpool and West Ham United.  QPR and Norwich City returned to the top flight and a 4-2 success over Reading in the Championship play-off final meant Swansea City became the first Welsh club to reach the Premiership promise land.  Like Arsenal, Chelsea went trophy less, wasted £50million on Liverpool’s wantaway striker Fernando Torres and then sacked Carlo Ancelotti.  He has been replaced by Andre Vilas-Boas, who led FC Porto to Europa League glory in Dublin in May.  Arsenal sold Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona in the summer and it was the Catalan side who stole the football limelight.  They cantered to La Liga success again, won the FIFA World Club Championship in Japan recently and produced an exhibition masterclass at Wembley to beat Manchester United 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League final.  On the international scene, England qualified for Euro 2012 and went through the calendar year unbeaten.  The Republic of Ireland will also be at the major European party next summer.

TRAGIC: Simoncelli and Wheldon's deaths rocked motorsport

     MotoGP was meant to be saluting Casey Stoner for an incredible season, in which the Australian and his Repsol Honda team blitzed the opposition.  Stoner won 11 races and clinched the title in his homeland of Australia.  A week later, the sport was rocked by the tragic accident in Malaysia that robbed motorcycling of one of its brightest stars.  Marco Simoncelli crashed on the second lap and was struck by Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi.  He died an hour afterwards from his injuries and his death sent shockwaves through motorsport.  Simoncelli’s flair will be missed in the paddock in 2012 and it came just a week after a dreadful pile-up at the IndyCar season finale in Las Vegas.  The 15-car crash claimed the life of British driver Dan Wheldon, who was only competing in his third event of the season.  Wheldon had won the Indianapolis 500 in sensational fashion earlier in the year.  Las Vegas may have lost its race next season, but it won’t bring Dan back.  Dario Franchitti’s third successive championship was made academic.  In Formula One, Sebastian Vettel was in a class of his own, winning 11 races, taking a record breaking 15 pole positions in a season and winning a second world championship.  In a year full of vintage races and countless overtaking, Sebastian stormed to success with a third place finish in Suzuka, Japan in October meaning he became the youngest back-to-back champion.  Britain’s Jenson Button won three events, including a sensational last lap triumph from the back In Canada and he was the runner-up in the final positions.  Fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton had a troubled year, which included a high-profile split from his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger and many on-track altercations with Felipe Massa.  However, he won in China, Germany and Abu Dhabi to remind everyone of his capabilities.  Sadly though, 2011 will be remembered for tragedy rather than records in motorsport.

     In other sport, British golfers came of age in 2011.  Luke Donald became the world and European no.1, whilst there was an emotional and popular success for Darren Clarke at The Open Championship.  Having thrown away the US Masters at Augusta in April, Rory McIlroy produced a breathtaking display to win the US Open in June.  It was his first major and certainly won’t be his last.  Following their winter success in the Ashes, England’s cricketers had a summer to remember, recording a whitewash summer over Sri Lanka and India and establishing themselves as the no.1 ranked test team.  However, their performance at the Cricket World Cup was less impressive, which included shock defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh in the pool stages.  India won the trophy, beating Sri Lanka in a one-sided final.  For once, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor was usurped in the PDC World Darts Championships, being knocked out in the quarter-finals.  Adrian Lewis won the tournament, beating Gary Anderson 7-5 in the final.  Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in February to take the honours in Superbowl XLV.  Australian Cadel Evans became the first Wallaby to win the Tour de France since the war, but the headlines were made by Mark Cavendish.  The Brit won the most overall stages and ended up winning the prestigious green jersey at the end.  Boxing has had better years, which saw David Haye lose his World Heavyweight title to Vladimir Klitcshko, then retire from the sport and Amir Khan recently lose his titles in controversial circumstances to Lamont Peterson.  Lastly, John Higgins bounced back from a match-fixing scandal to win his fourth World Snooker championship, defeating Judd Trump 18-15 in a thrilling final.

     Sport has had its moments of controversy and surprise, its moments of triumph and tragedy and its moments where you will remember where you were.  2012 includes the Olympics in London and the European Football Championships in Poland/Ukraine, so it promises just as much as 2011 ended up delivering.                 

US Open 2011 Review - Novak continues his formidable run

THERE was a time last year when I questioned seriously the potential of Novak Djokovic.  The Serbian always looked unconvincing, and was simply no match for the runaway heavyweights in the men’s tennis game; Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.  However, he hasn’t just equalled them; he’s surpassed them with a year in tennis that is unlikely to ever be repeated again.

SUPREME: Nadal has had to play no.2 to Djokovic this year

     Djokovic beat Nadal in Monday’s US Open final at Flushing Meadows in New York.  The final grand slam of the year was won in a marathon contest by the Serb, who is now surely targeting a Grand Slam clean-sweep.  This year, he has won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, alongside seven major titles on the ATP circuit.  Incredibly, he has only lost two out of 64 matches he has played in this year, and one of them was an injury pull-out against Andy Murray last month.  He has hit a purple patch which I don’t think anyone expected him to pull out.  Djokovic won the match against Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 in a match which was incredible from the very first point.  Lasting four hours long, both gave it absolutely everything.  However, like at SW19 in the summer, it was Djokovic who won the key points when it was required.  His year has been phenomenal and if he doesn’t walk away with the big sporting awards at the Laureus awards, alongside Overseas Personality of the Year at the BBC ceremony before Christmas, it will be an injustice.  His resolve in coming back from two sets down to overcome Federer in the semi-finals left the Swiss ace shell-shocked.  Djokovic just has a game at the moment which can’t be matched and Nadal can vouch for that; having lost in five finals this year to his rival.  We might just be witnessing the latest domination for men’s tennis.

     As for Andy Murray, it was another case of so near, yet so far.  Affected by significant weather delays in the second week, he looked tired and weak throughout against Nadal and lost in the semi-finals to the Spaniard for the third successive Grand Slam.  Although his form on the ATP tour has been a bit patchier than in recent seasons, the Scot has had an excellent Grand Slam year and should be rightfully proud of his achievements.  One final (in Australia) and three semi-final appearances is his best yet and he is getting closer.  A bit more luck, consistency in the big points in these tight matches and the ability to keep his game together if something goes wrong is what Murray needs.  He is edging ever closer to Federer now and although I still believe the dream of winning Wimbledon will only ever be a dream, I believe he has the ability to raise his game up a notch to match the talent and supreme abilities of Nadal and Djokovic.

SHOCK: Sam Stosur joined the list of maiden Grand Slam winners

     In the women’s game, there were more upsets than you would receive on a typical FA Cup third round weekend.  Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams (through injury) and Maria Sharapova all departed before the end of the first week, whilst defending champion, Kim Clistjers had to pull out through injury.  In the final, it was the ninth seed Sam Stosur who overcame Serena Williams in straight sets.  The Australian, who seems to save her best form for the French Open earlier in the year, produced a stunning performance to blow Serena away.  It is her maiden Grand Slam triumph, adding to Kvitova success at Wimbledon and Li Na at Roland Garros as first-time winners.  With seven different ladies finalists, no-one seems to want a dominating presence like Djokovic.  Sadly, Stosur’s performance was overshadowed by a verbal abuse in the final from the temperamental Serena.  Facing break point in the second set, Stosur won the crucial point after Serena had shouted ‘Come on!’ before the point was over.  It was judged to be an illegal distraction and a furious confrontation began between Williams and chair umpire, Eva Asderaki.  Some of the taunts included;

”You’re a hater.”     

“You’re out of control.”

“You’re unattractive inside.”

     Her behaviour was disgraceful; there is no excuse for it – simple as that.

     There are still the major WTA and ATP tour finals to come in November, but another tennis Grand Slam year is over and this year simply belongs to one person; Novak Djokovic.  

Wimbledon 2011: Changing of the guard

THE 2011 Wimbledon championships were another great spectacle of tennis.  Fans were treated to many epic matches, some stunning surprises and a real changing of the guard over the past fortnight.  We now have two brand new Wimbledon champions.

NEW: A dominant year for Novak Djokovic continued at SW19

     Novak Djokovic is now the men’s world no.1 and rightly so.  He has only lost one match in this entire year, which was a belting semi-final against Roger Federer at Roland Garros.  On Sunday, the Serbian achieved his ultimate dream by beating the former no.1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal in four sets.  On an overcast day on Centre Court, Djokovic smashed his way to a 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory, continuing an incredible run of form, which he has had since leading his country to Davis Cup glory last year.  Having been a fierce critic of his in the last couple of years, I’m delighted to see Djokovic’s hard work and dedication of the game finally pay off.  His form in the second set was incredible, one of the best sets I’ve ever seen played at SW19.  He dismantled Nadal and made the grass court expert look very average.  Nadal wasn’t at his best, there’s no doubt about that in a final that won’t go down as a classic, but it was a fascinating scrap all the way through.  He will be back next year; the Spaniard wondering how he can bring Djokovic down, as Novak has now won their last five head-to-head battles.

     Once again, Nadal crushed the Grand Slam dreams of Andy Murray, as he beat the fiery Scot in four sets in the semi-finals.  Murray played some brilliant tennis in the first set, winning 7-5.  Unfortunately, he missed an easy forehand chance at 2-1 (15-30) on Nadal’s serve in the second set.  He then proceeded to lose the next seven service games; something you just can’t do in any Grand Slam semi-final.  Murray will be disappointed; he was in great form going into these championships, with victory at Queen’s Club and a best-ever run to the semis at the French Open.  At Wimbledon, he played some stunning shots to beat Ivan Ljubicic, destroyed Richard Gasquet in round four and turned the quarter-final against Feliciano Lopez into no more than a training exercise.  There isn’t much else Murray can do, apart from get a bit more luck on his side.  I still believe he will win a Grand Slam in the future, but the dream of a British champion at Wimbledon is fading fast.

      For the second year running, Roger Federer exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage.  Federer was eliminated in the match of the tournament; as he threw away a two-set lead to lose in five to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.  Tsonga, who pushed Murray all the way in the Queen’s club final and has reached the Australian Open final in the past, played some sensational tennis and although Federer didn’t’ play badly, he didn’t get another break point after the first set, which shows how well the Frenchman played.  Roger is now 29 and like Murray, certainly has the ability to win Grand Slams, but Pete Sampras record of seven men’s singles titles at Wimbledon looks safe for now.  The Nadal threat and the emergence of Djokovic has made things very tough now for Federer on the ATP tour.  On his day, he still can dismantle anyone, but I do think that the Swiss genius has had his best years.

      Two other former Grand Slam winners who exited early from SW19 and need to seriously consider their futures are Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick.  Hewitt, the 2002 champion here, has slipped outside the top 100 and lost in round two, from two sets up against no.5 seed Robin Soderling.  No-one can criticise Lleyton Hewitt’s determination.  It is still there in abundance, but he isn’t getting any younger and might want to consider his next move, especially as Australian tennis is now in safe hands.  The emergence of 17-year old qualifier Bernard Tomic was one of the stories of the championships.  Tomic knocked out former semi-finalist Xavier Malisse and Soderling on his way to a battling four set quarter-final loss by training partner Djokovic.  I would mark Bernard Tomic down as a star of the future.  As for Roddick, he made another whimpering exit on the first week, going down in straight sets to Lopez on Centre Court.  He missed Roland Garros recently with a shoulder problem and has no chance of making the top five anymore.  In fact, Mardy Fish is now American no.1 and his quarter-final run at Wimbledon is just going to push him infront of Roddick further.  Maybe it’s time for Andy to hang up the racquet, because he will never win a Grand Slam again and I’m so sure of that, someone can hit me round the back of the head with a shoe if he does! 

NERVE: Petra Kvitova held hers to become a surprising champion

      It might have been the return of the Williams sisters that caught the attention in the women’s game, but we have a new champion instead, from the Czech Republic.  Does that sound familiar?  20-year year Petra Kvitova, the eighth seed at Wimbledon became the first left-hander to win the women’s dish since her compatriot Martina Navratilova won her ninth and final singles title in 1990.  With Navratilova and fellow former Czech champion Jana Novotna in the Royal Box watching on, Kvitova produced a performance of power and class to beat the 2004 champion Maria Sharapova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.  Sharapova made too many errors in a final where breaks of serve were the order of the day.  However, it was Kvitova who held her nerve longest to become the youngest winner here since Sharapova herself seven years ago.  As for the Williams sisters, both exited at the fourth round this year.  Venus Williams lost in straight sets to her conqueror from last year, Tsvetana Pironkova and Serena suffered a similar fate at the hands of 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli.  For the game, it was a real bonus to see the Williams sisters come back and actually not waltz into the final.  Both have suffered injury problems in the last twelve months and for Serena, it was even more critical than injury and they will be back, because the hunger of the game doesn’t seem to have diminished from either of them.  Like Federer though, I do think their best days have gone.  

AMAZING: Run of form which shows Lisicki's true potential

     Finally, for me, the fairytale of the championships was the form of German wildcard Sabine Lisicki.  Lisicki missed the whole of 2010 with a career threatening ankle injury, after breaking into the world’s top 20 a year earlier.  She produced one of the individual performances of the championships to send the French Open champion and many people’s favourite for glory, Li Na in the second round.  Lisicki’s emotion on Centre Court afterwards had to be felt, after what she has been through.  She also knocked out Bartoli in the last eight, before coming up fractionally short against Sharapova in the last four.  If she avoids injury problems again, I think Lisicki has all the class and ability to become world no.1. 

     The balance of power has shifted in both the men’s and women’s game.  Novak Djokovic has many Grand Slam victories to come and messers Nadal, Federer and Murray have a lot of work to do to stop the force of Djokovic.  In the women’s, the talents of Lisicki, Kvitova and Pironkova, combined with Sharapova’s return to formidable form means the days of underachieving from Jelena Jankovic  and the Williams sisters domination is well and truly over.  Both genders have prosperous futures and overall, it was a great 125^th championship.

Many congratulations to Petra Kvitova and Novak Djokovic on their glory at Wimbledon in 2011.

Murray's Grand Slam dream shattered in Oz

ANDY Murray has to play the patient game, after being beaten in another Grand Slam final.  He was outplayed and outclassed on Sunday in Melbourne, losing the men’s singles final at the Australian Open to the Serbian Novak Djokovic.

CELEBRATION: The Djokovic winning team pose for the cameras

It took Djokovic, the world no.3 just over two and a half hours to wrap a comfortable 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 success, the scoreline sadly backing up the fact that Murray didn’t bring his A-game to the court on Sunday.  For Djokovic, it’s his second Grand Slam title, his first since winning the Australian Open himself back in 2008.  Then, it failed to kick-start his career – but following recent Davis Cup success with Serbia, he may now have the confidence and conviction to threaten Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on a regular basis.

Djokovic has largely cantered his way to the final.  His performances against Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych and Federer in the quarter-finals and semi-finals were simply majestic.  Novak is currently playing the best tennis of his life, looking almost a completely different figure to the one that kept choking on the big stage in 2009 and 2010.  Finally, that shock 2008 second round loss at SW19 to retired Russian Marat Safin seems to be out of his system.  This was the Djokovic we knew from when he burst onto the scene as a promising teenager.  Thanks to an injury for world No.1 Nadal, which denied him the chance at the ‘Super Slam’ and the early exit of Robin Soderling, world No.5 Murray had also been largely untroubled on his way to Sunday’s showdown.  However, the Scot’s marathon semi-final with Spaniard David Ferrer on Friday looked to have caught up with him 48 hours later.  His returns were weak, the lob shot he liked to play simply wasn’t coming off and his service game, almost unbreakable throughout the tournament was effortlessly exposed by the determined Djokovic.  Once the Serb broke Murray’s serve to clinch the first set, the game looked up as a contest.

AGONY: It was third time unlucky on Sunday for Andy Murray

He stormed into a 5-0 advantage in the second set, and fair play to Murray, he never gave in and stirred a couple of brief rallies.  However, he simply couldn’t keep the momentum up throughout against an in-form and frankly, better player.  The Scot couldn’t hide his disappointment at the end, but he seemed very phlegmatic in defeat afterwards, admitting the better player had won.  This was his third appearance in a Grand Slam final and once again, he fell at the final hurdle; yet to win a set in a major final.  Fingers crossed that Murray can continue his form for the rest of the year though; 2010 went downhill once he made his final appearance in Melbourne.

Once again, Serena Williams was missing a major tournament through injury and when Venus had to pull out of a third round match, the opportunity to win a Grand Slam in the women’s game was wide open.  Justine Henin couldn’t take her chance, and after a nagging elbow injury affected her in a third round loss to Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Belgian announced her retirement from tennis again; this time for good.  She follows Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Dementieva to have given up the game in the past eighteen months.  Jelena Jankovic will surely head the same way very soon, after another pitiful display Down Under.  Even Maria Sharapova looked back to her best, until a fourth round exit.  In the end, it was Kim Clistjers who marched through to take her maiden Australian Open final, winning a hard-fought final against China’s Na Li in three sets.  Li was playing in her first major final and showed no nerves, by winning a closely matched first set.  As the match wore on however, Clistjers settled into her stride and stay more composed on the decisive points to wrap up back-to-back Grand Slam titles.  Once again, the world no.1 failed to win, with Caroline Wozinacki losing in the semi-finals to the impressive Li.

Congratulations to Novak Djokovic and Kim Clistjers on the triumphs in the first Grand Slam of the year, after an absorbing fortnight of tennis.  For Andy Murray and Britain, the long wait for a Grand Slam winner goes on a little longer.  Ah well, there’s always Wimbledon in the summer!

US Open Review - Rafa Reigns Supreme In New York

There can be no doubt that 2010 in the world of tennis belongs to Rafael Nadal.  The stunning Spaniard may have had to wait twenty-four hours to claim the 9^th Grand Slam success of his career, but his epic four-set triumph over Novak Djokovic in Monday’s men’s singles final was a special moment for Nadal.  It was his third Grand Slam in a row, and he becomes only the seventh player in the history of the game to have won all four grand slams (Australia, France, Wimbledon and the US Open).  He equals a feat set by Roger Federer, Andre Agassi and Rod Laver, but has bettered the likes of Pete Sampras, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. 

Coming to Flushing Meadows, Nadal was playing down his chances, as this was his weakest surface on the tour.  Prior to this year, he had never made the final at the US Open, but he was in unstoppable form in the previous fortnight, as shown by his ability to overcome a sticky patch in the final.  Djokovic won the second set, then went stride for stride in the third set, before a crucial break on the Serb’s serve was the turning point,  The 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 scoreline was a fair reflection on what was the best final of the entire tennis year.

After years of constant frustration, Djokovic showed he does have some extra mettle in his game, that had been previously missing.  His semi-final win over the former king of the game, Roger Federer was of immense quality, and showed that when he is on form, he should be feared.  Sadly, he doesn’t produce it on enough occasions.  His defeat in the final will be hard to take, but he wasn’t disgraced and come Melbourne next January, we will see if this run to the final in New York can take his game up a level.  Federer’s semi-final loss completes a dismal year by the high standards of the Swiss legend.  Since his Australian Open win in February, Federer suffered two shock quarter-final eliminations in the summer Grand Slams, was beaten by Lleyton Hewitt in the final in Halle and has also struggled to make an impression on the ATP circuit, with just one victory in Cinnancti.  Never write off Federer, because he has bounced back before, but it is a worring slump of form and he will hope for better in 2011.  So too will Andy Murray after quite frankly, the worst year of his professional career.  Since reaching the final in Australia, Murray’s form has been very patchy, even on the hard-court surface, which is his strongest by some distance.  Granted, he did well to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, but Andy has lacked consistent performances this season and needs to bring in a new coach quickly.  His third round exit in Flushing Meadows to the Pole, Stanislas Wawrinka was a shocking near-collapse of a player’s game.  He must do better if he is to remain in the elite next year.

With no Serena Williams, due to a broken foot, the women’s game was wide open again, and it resulted in a second successive US Open triumph for Kim Clistjers.  The Belgian ripped the Russian Vera Zvonareva to pieces in Saturday’s final, romping home 6-2, 6-0 in just under an hour.  Zvonareva’s floods of tears at the end of the contest suggested that she knew she had disappointed, especially after her impressive win over the No.1 seed Caroline Wozinacki in the semi-finals.  With Maria Sharapova returning to her best form, before being dumped out by Wozinacki, and the likes of Francesca Schiavone and Sam Stosur breaking through this year, the Williams sisters may not have it all their own way next season.

Wimbledon 2010 - Rafa & Serena In A Class Of Two

A shadow may have been cast over the best tennis tournament on the globe this year, due to the World Cup in South Africa.  Yet, the last two weeks at SW19 produced some remarkable tennis stories, a return to form for a certain Scot, and the World No.1 players in both genders of the game, not disappoint, by eventually scooping the top honours.

When Rafael Nadal missed out on Wimbledon last year, and struggled with fitness concerns at the start of this year, some doubted whether he might have already reached his peak.  However, he proved those doubters wrong, with some top-form tennis in recent months that have seen him rise to the top of the world rankings, possibly even here to stay for good.  Certainly, if his troublesome knee holds up, Nadal could well be the new king of men’s tennis for years to come.  His best form in London came in the latter stages, where he fought hard against an improving Robin Soderling, his French Open final opponent in the last eight, produced some outrageous shots to extinguish the Andy Murray challenge in the semis, then produce the untroubled performance we all expected, in the final, against the surprise package of the tournament, Tomas Berdych.  Nadal is in the form of his life, and that is a worrying sign for many of his competitors. 

As Nadal’s form gets better, the great Roger Federer is going through a lean spell.  For the first time since the beginning of 2003, he has failed to reach at least the semi-finals in consecutive Grand Slam events.  Soderling’s victory at Roland Garros over the great man in the quarters, followed by a shock reverse against Lleyton Hewitt in the pre-tournament event in Halle, were signs that the Swiss players was short of at least half a yard.  When Alejandro Falla, an unheralded Colombian took a two set lead in Round One, normally a 90-minute cruise for Roger, it confirmed these suspicions.  Berdych outplayed him on Centre Court on quarter-finals day, and thoroughly deserved his 4-set triumph.  Federer will be back, no doubt about that, you would be a fool to write him off.  However, he will find it tough to gain back his superior dominance he has held for the past decade. 

With Juan Martin del Potro’s campaign ruined by injury, Andy Roddick’s predictable and lame exit at an expected time and Novak Djokovic freezing on semi-final day, when in his best form for three years, it was Tomas Berdych and Andy Murray who were the other main successes of the ATP tour at Wimbledon.  Reaching the semis of the French Open seems to have given Berdych the new-found confidence in his game, which he had been previously missing.  His nerve in not choking the initiative he had over Federer, and the efficient ease he saw off Djokovic in the semis must be credited.  Granted, he was no match for Nadal in the final, which made the spectacle rather disappointing.  However, he deserved his berth to even be playing Nadal on Sunday, and can leave SW19 with his head held high.  As should Murray, who entered in the worst form of his career, and not having the traditional British fever that usually is associated with Wimbledon.  Once England’s sorry excuse of a football team exited in South Africa, Murray lifted our spirits, with some breathtaking and comfortable tennis, which made him look at home.  Some may say that he blew it again, especially following Federer’s early demise, but I disagree with that sentiment.  Anyone would have struggled against Nadal in the latter stages of any ATP event, and Murray gave him a real run for his money.  Whereas last year, against Roddick, he did choke on the big stage, this time, he was just outplayed by the better stages.  The maiden Grand Slam will come eventually, though I doubt whether that will be a Wimbledon honour.  Hopefully, Andy will now be able to take this momentum rebuild into his favourite surface, the hard court season.

The only surprise of the ladies event was it wasn’t a sisterly affair in the final, between Venus and Serena Williams.  Venus departed earlier than expected, at the quarter-final stage.  However, no-one could stop Serena, who won the final in just over an hour, against the surprise package, Vera Zvonareva of Russia.  Serena is serving better than she ever has, and didn’t drop a single set in the championships, which is an incredible feat in itself.  Apart from a stiff examination from a returning to form Maria Sharapova in the 4^th round, Serena blew the opposition away and will no doubt, add to the 13 Grand Slam titles she already has.  With Dinara Safina not taking part, Jelena Jankovic pulling out through injury in the 4^th round, and the usual suspects, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva making surprise exits, the Russian influence is disappearing rapidly, despite Zvonareva’s excellent run to the final.  It will take some very impressive to knock Serena Williams off the top of her perch.

Australian Open Review - So Near, Yet So Far For Andy

This blog was first published on February 3rd at http://happydude88.livejournal.com/

 

Once again on Sunday morning, Britain’s hopes of a major Grand Slam win were burst when Andy Murray fell at the final hurdle. However, Murray can hold his head high at his best-ever career tournament as the two weeks provided us with many surprises, twists and expected outcomes for the ATP & WTA circuits this year.

First of all, can anyone stop Roger Federer? The Swiss maestro was in awesome form, and dropped only two sets in the entire tournament. Despite a very busy couple of years, he still hasn’t lost any zest for the game, and he just seems to get better with every passing year. At 28, he still has a good three/four year period where he can dominate the Men’s circuit and the question is, is there anyone good enough to challenge him on a consistent basis.

Federer’s main rival in recent years, Rafael Nadal is enduring a torrid time at the moment, through loss of form and serious injuries. He pulled out of the Murray quarter-final with what could be a recurrence of the knee injury that plagued his effort last year. Suddenly, the Spaniard is looking at a downward plunge rather than above him. He needs to get on top of these issues, if he wants to become a constant threat to the Federer armoury again.

For Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick, their time has gone and passed. Djokovic has failed spectacularly to build on his success in Australia two years ago. In fact, he seems to have gone backwards and now is in serious danger of disappearing into obscurity if the Serb isn’t careful. Roddick has been unlucky with injuries and when he has been on top of his game, so have the likes of Nadal and Federer. Both will be extremely disappointed with how their careers have shaped up. The Australian Open was a brief blip in Juan Martin Del Potro’s recent copybook performances. He shouldn’t be too worried by a last 16 exit here, and my money is on him to wrap up the Grand Slam at Roland Garros, bound to favour the Argentine’s type of game. Credit must go to Marin Cilic for his semi-final appearance, knocking Del Potro & Roddick out in the process, with two epic five-set marathons. He even briefly threatened to upset Murray in the semis – Cilic definitely was surprise of the tournament. Jo Wilfred-Tsonga also made the semis, but put in a limp and woeful display against Federer when he might have had the chance to cause a major upset. Tsonga is another player who on his day, provides stunning tennis, then on others, be beaten by random qualifiers. Just ask Robin Soderling, who may have been an on-form player, but made a traditional early exit from his bogey event.

This brings us onto the Murray phenomenon. It was a brilliant tournament from Andy, and it reminded us of his capabilities to perform on the top stage, something of which we only saw flashes of during his 2009 Grand Slam year. He outplayed Nadal with consummate ease in the quarters and his run to the final here showed he is getting ever closer to winning that maiden Grand Slam. Wimbledon might always elude him – due to the fact that grass isn’t his preferred surface, but I am absolutely convinced that he will win something big very soon. In the final against Federer, it was so near, yet so far. Murray had his chances, but failed to capitalize on the odd unenforced error from Roger and you can’t do that against Roger Federer – because you will get punished. It may have been a disappointing final outcome, but Andy Murray can look back at the 2010 Australian Open, because it finally saw him come of age.

In the woman’s game, Serena Williams showed her pure dominance again, with yet another Australian success, her 5th in total. Though sometimes not at her best, Serena is starting to break away from a close group behind her in the women’s game. However, Justine Henin made an almost fairytale return to the Grand Slam circuit after nearly two years away. Beaten in a closer ladies singles final than many would have initially predicted, I would be massively surprised if Henin didn’t at least win a Grand Slam this year. Although Kim Clistjers put in a shocking performance against Nadia Petrova here, I think the Belgians, along with Serena’s sister Venus and the surprise packages from China, Na Li and Jhe Zheng can give Serena some decent competition in the coming months.

So, where does that leave the Russians in tennis? They have flattered to deceive on their initial promise and too many now no longer seen as a major threat in the final outcome. Only Svetlana Kuznetsova has any potential to win more Grand Slams, though her constant inconsistency should be a worry to her backroom team. Jelena Jankovic has lost complete love for the game, has peaked and needs to leave the WTA tour soon. As for Dinara Safina, her career is heading the same way as brother, Marat Safin. She has lots of promise, but constantly fails to deliver. A back injury ended her dreams Down Under in Round 4, maybe Safina is heading for a massive slide down the rankings this year. Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova, once the golden girl of tennis is now down in the dumps, out of form and struggling with confidence – always a bad problem to have in the game. It seems like a century ago since she won Wimbledon in 2004. I have always been a big fan of Sharapova, but I doubt we will see her picking up any major silverware again – due to injury and the increased competition in the woman’s game.

In conclusion, the Australian Open probably answered more questions than anticipated. Tennis in 2010 could be very promising for many, and for others, make-or-break in their efforts to return to the glory days. Federer and Serena may be still on top, but in Murray, Del Potro, Henin & Clistjers especially, their days of dominance may not last as long as many will think.