Tag Archives: andy murray

the semis

Posted on July 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

The semifinals at Wimbledon are matches almost in a category of their own.  It’s rarefied air, but not quite the experience of a final.  Where you might have a one-sided final, you’re more likely to have great battles in the semis.  And in its own distinct way, the psychology is different as well.  This is where nerves and experience really enter into the equation and affect success.

Yesterday the four women semifinalists took the court.  First up were Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova.  This one could have gone either way and it did go the distance.  Kvitova dominated the first set and took it 6-1.  She doesn’t move as well as Azarenka but she has even more power, on average hitting the ball ten miles faster than her opponent.  And Vica hits the ball hard.

The second set was the inverse, with Azarenka dominating as Kvitova started to feel the occasion and make more errors, especially off the forehand side.  But she learned her lesson from Paris just last month, where she imploded in her fourth round match against Li Na, which she should have won.

This time she didn’t melt down.  She came back in the third set, composed and playing her game.  When all was said and done, she took the last set 6-2, and won the match.   Petra Kvitova, who played in her first Wimbledon semifinal last year, now does herself one better.  On Saturday, she will play in her first Wimbledon final.  So there.

The other semi between Maria Sharapova and Sabine Lisicki played out a little differently.  Lisicki came out gangbusters and went up for a 3-0 lead.  But Maria, being Maria, fought back and evened things at 3-3.   Even though she was having a very rough service day, dumping in more than ten double faults, the combination of her spot on return to serve and her legendary tenacity took her to the victory.

She won the first set 6-4 and then the second 6-3.  After a strong start, Lisicki began to look like the newbie she is.  Her own serve let her down and after awhile she resembled the proverbial deer in the headlights.  As John McEnroe said at one point, she didn’t know what hit her.   Maria is a force to be reckoned with, as we all know and surely Sabine knew it, but it’s one thing to know it and another to face it.

Apparently, when Maria walks from the locker room to Centre Court, the famous walk down the long hall and then down the interior steps to the double doors beneath the Royal Box area of the the court, she is now accompanied by her fiance, NBA basketball star Sasha Vujacic, a fellow Russian; he walks a few feet behind and waves and says hello to everyone while Maria acknowledges no one, keeps her fist clenched and her eyes straight ahead.  You almost never see Maria smile during a match.

Everyone was pumped to see the two men’s semis today.  Djokovic against Tsonga to begin, followed by hometown boy Murray against Rafa.

Novak came out a bit nervous and the first set was settled by a tiebreak which he won.  As he worked his way into the match, becoming more and more comfortable, it looked like it was going to be a three and out.  But at the end of the third set, Novak served for the match and couldn’t close the door.  The set went to a tiebreak, a wonderful, entertaining affair where match points and set points alternated until finally Tsonga took the set 11-9.

But Novak broke Tsonga in the second game of the fourth set and that was all it took.   The 35 minute set went quickly and at the end, with so much on the line, Novak fell to the grass, legs splayed.  As he got up, he pivoted and shared the moment with his box.  A look of disbelief and relief, and you could see the four year old boy who began to play tennis, saw his first Wimbledon on television in Serbia, and has been dreaming ever since of being just where he is today, all these years later.    Winning this match not only meant he was into the finals on Sunday, it insures his status on Monday as the number one player in the world.   After shaking hands with Tsonga and embracing him, he fell to the ground again and kissed the grass.

It’s hard to imagine exactly how all that would feel but you know it’s fantastic and satisfying, deeply.

When Rafa and Murray took the court for the second match, it was time for yet another tennis experience.  Murray played the best he has ever played and won the first set, an amazing start.  But it’s just too hard to do that for a second and third set, and who can fault the guy?  Rafa is the freak he’s always been.  I just heard Mary Carillo quote Jimmy Connors who described Rafa’s game this way:  he plays like he’s broke!

Too true.  He does spend a small portion of his vast bank account on a new Play Station wherever he goes, but Connors could not have stated it better.  However this man is put together inside, I think it’s safe to say none of his motivation is dampened by the fact that he has enough money to retire for a couple hundred years.

So the final on Sunday will be between Novak and Rafa and Novak has beaten him four times this year.  I’m all in on Novak this time, not only because he was my pick before play began to win the tournament, but because I’d like to see him win Wimbledon.  Rafa’s done it, gloriously and repeatedly.  Let this be Novak Djokovic’s time.

Enjoy breakfast at Wimbledon the next two days.  Is there a better way to spend the holiday weekend?

Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.  Cheers.

 

PS – I’m watching the Nadal Murray match again, always interesting to hear both the NBC commentary and ESPN.  A few more words about Murray’s performance today.  Sometimes there is a definite turning point in a match and today that was the case.  After winning the first set and striking the ball so well, and serving well, the score was 2-1, Murray up, on serve.  Rafa was serving and went down love-15, then love-30.  On the next point, Andy had an easy forehand that would have given him three break points and he missed it long.

He lost the game and then on his own serve in the next game made two forehand errors and missed an overhead, basically donating the break and the lead to Nadal.  Nothing was ever the same after that.  Even Nadal termed it the turning point in his post match comments.

What Murray doesn’t quite have is belief.  And though he has changed things significantly in terms of his on court attitude, he doesn’t have that mental fortitude and positiveness that you need to work your way through a difficult match, especially five setters.  In a word, Murray needs to play as if he’s broke.

That said, Rafa was the most gracious of critics.  When asked what Murray needs to do to win a Slam, he said really nothing more, that he needs a little luck.  (And it’s true, luck enters into it and Andy hasn’t been that lucky.)

You have to feel for Murray, Rafa certainly did.  Three times he has made it to the semis in his homeland, three times the country has rallied behind him.  Three times he has bounced.  It must be dispiriting.

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the grass is green, and wet

Posted on June 12, 2011 | 1 Comment

And just like that, clay is a memory.  Now it’s all about the grass.  It’s a strange and delightful part of the tennis year.  So short.  Three weeks, four if you make it to the second week of Wimbledon.  That’s the grass court season.  Is that a season?  Blink and you’ll miss it.

Add the rain factor and you might just miss it due to weather.  Today, Sunday, I was looking forward to seeing the finals of the Aegon International outside London, between Andy Murray and Jo Wilifred Tsonga.  They were looking forward to playing, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow, hopefully.  Rain!

Ditto for the Birmingham competition on the women’s side.  That’s a final I really want to see.  I watched the semis yesterday.  Hantuchova took it over Ana Ivanovic.  Sabine Lisicki delivered a beatdown to Peng.  When the Racquet Bracket comes out for Wimbledon, I’ll be looking to see where these two girls are because they both are there to play.  I think Daniela Hantuchova is realizing time is not on her side and she’s just done with choking at the important moments.  She wants the good feelings that come from not choking.  Great to see, she’s got a good strong game.

And Sabine Lisicki doesn’t have a history to overcome, she just hasn’t yet gotten the top results and she’s all in.  So let’s see who wins the final between them and then how they do in Eastborne and Wimbledon.

The weather was dry in Halle, Germany and that is a gorgeous looking stadium.  Turned out to be an all German final, between Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petschner.  Two Phillipp’s even and yes, they spell it with two p’s.  Kohlschreiber took the title after a first set tiebreak and two games of a second set where he was up 2-0 and Petschner retired with a back injury.

The big excitement this week will be seeing Venus and Serena Williams both playing after long absences due to injury and illness.  All of us want to see how they look on court.  They’re planning to play Wimbledon and that’s their playground more than any other tournament.  Venus comes to life on grass like a new woman.  Serena’s powerful serve makes her difficult to break and therefore difficult to defeat.  It they’re playing anywhere close to form, they are both top contenders for the title.

I think Kim Cliijsters will be in Eastborne and she’s another one we need to see before making any predictions for Wimbledon.  If her foot is healed from the wedding dance double insult, she should be at the top of the short list.

Neither Roger nor Novak played this past week, and Rafa looked tired.  He almost let Tsonga beat him in the quarterfinals.  I’m not sure it was that great an idea to run right over to England.  Maybe a week in Mallorca would have been a better thing in the long run.

I’ve been thinking about the men’s final a week ago in Paris.  They’ve shown it again a few times during the week.  At one point towards the end of the first set, beginning of the second, when Roger should have won the first set and didn’t, Ted Robinson was quoting some sports person, whose name I didn’t recognize at the time, as saying something along the lines of “you have to keep your foot on your opponent’s neck”.  It’s a strong image, and clear, no wondering hmmm, exactly what does that mean?

Basically, he was saying that’s what Roger had needed to do at that crucial time in the first set when he was up 5-2.  And he didn’t.  So guess what?  Rafa volunteered.  As unpleasant as the image and concept might be, you can’t say it’s irrelevant.  So if you have an opponent, you might want to remember to keep your foot on his or her (her!) neck.

That’s the brutal truth from Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.  Thanks for reading.

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give it your all

Posted on June 3, 2011 | 2 Comments

If tennis players live to win Grand Slams, tennis fans live to watch matches like the two men’s semifinals played today on Court Chatrier.  My personal request to the gods to provide sun and calm were only half heard; the first part of the day was sunny and extremely windy, the second part of the afternoon cloudy and somewhat less windy.  But in both matches wind was a factor.

Today is Rafael Nadal’s birthday, and he has celebrated it in Paris five of the last six years.  Usually there is some incredible cake the likes of which you would only find in this city.  Whatever else he did today, though, Rafa spent over three hours on court taking care of business in a match against Andy Murray that put on display some of the best tennis each player is capable of.

No small thing for Murray who, in addition to coming in with the handicap that every other player comes into a match against Rafa on clay, was playing with a massively strapped ankle.  It didn’t seem to inhibit his movement, fortunately.  It was a three set match but a long one.  Both players were deliberate in the extreme, but with the wind, who could blame them?  And anyway, where else did you want to be?  The men’s semifinals at Roland Garros is one of the best tickets of the tournament.

The final score was 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 and as it indicates, Murray really kept up with Rafa.  The Spaniard looked even better than he did two days ago in his quarterfinal match and I think it’s safe to say that the Rafa who will play in his sixth final on Sunday is the real Rafa.   Today, he was, as he always is, especially on clay, the that much better player although there were certainly many points that Andy Murray gave him plenty including a fabulous volley for a winner in response to a passing shot from Rafa that was incredible itself.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer began their match at exactly six o’clock which meant they had 3 1/2 hours of light to get off the court, hopefully with a completed match and a winner ready to go the distance on Sunday.  And that is exactly what it took.

This was a riveting match.  Federer came out the more relaxed of the two.  In an interesting twist, this was really the first time Roger came out onto Chatrier with no pressure on him.  He has flown under the radar nearly the whole tournament, few picked him to win this match-up.  It turned out to be a blessing.

Novak, on the other hand, started nervous, tight.  The first set was a seesaw affair.  They traded breaks to begin.  At 4-5, 15-40, Djokovic had two set points on Roger’s serve.  Roger served himself out of trouble and held for 5-5.  Then Novak found himself in a hole at 15-30 in the next game and at that exact point the umpire decided to give him a time violation warning.

The two took the first set to a tiebreak and Federer showed his stuff for an early lead but in the end he won it by the narrowest of margins, 7-5.  First set to Roger.

Novak still wasn’t in this match.  He seemed lacklustre, he didn’t seem to be feeling or showing how much he wanted it.  For the first time in his glorious year of winning, he was in a foul mood.   Roger took advantage and went out to a 4-1 lead.  Novak finally started to find himself and his game, but in the end the second set went to Roger, 6-3.

Roger has a 174-0 record when he wins the first two sets.  Whether Novak knew that fact or not, he knew he was in deep trouble.

Novak might have disappeared at that point and it would have been a shame if that had happened.  Fortunately, it didn’t.  He fought back.  Took a 3-0 lead in the third set and ended up winning it 6-3.

At that point there was less than an hour of daylight left so it was clear either Roger would win or they would leave the court for the night and come back tomorrow to play a fifth set.  Which would it be?  They held serve to 4-4.  Then in a very long ninth game, Djokovic finally broke to take the lead 5-4.  Surely he would hold his own serve and force a fifth set!

Roger would not have it.  He returned the next three points to perfection and then squared things to 5-5.   He served and held for 6-5.  Then Novak took things to the tiebreak.

At 4-3 in the tiebreak, Roger hit ace number 17, then added another service winner to go up 6-3.  Three match points!  Incredibly, Novak survived a lucky net cord for 6-4 and hit an ace for 6-5.  But then Roger, who had been having an exceptional serving day, came up to the line.  He threw up the ball, followed through with his elegant motion and delivered the ball right up the T, for an ace!  And for the match.  Could there have been any more fitting conclusion?  I think not.

This time, in the fading light, unlike Wimbledon in 2008, it was Roger who held court.  And here was the former number one proving to be the spoiler.  Had Novak won, he would have become the number one player in the world and his winning streak would have jumped to 42 and would have remained, at least for another couple days, unbroken. Not to mention he would have advanced to his first final in Paris.   Didn’t happen.  The moment meant a lot to Roger as you could tell from his reaction after the win, holding up one finger, feeling right at home in victory.  The best player in the history of the game trumped the best player of the year.

All was well in the tennis world.

The umpire for the first match was the one and only Kadir Nooni, he of the midnight blue voice.  His voice is so remarkable and low and beautiful, I suspect it is something everyone who meets him comments on.  You can’t help but notice it.  It’s a thing of beauty, like Federer’s movement, like Gasquet’s backhand.  At one point, John McEnroe said “I hope he doesn’t smoke.”, explaining that he hoped that voice wasn’t the result of cigarettes and therefore harder to endorse.  Hey, the French smoke, still.  A lot.  I don’t care how he got the voice, just keep talking.

We’re down to the finals, the bittersweet ending.  The women’s final tomorrow between Schiavone and Li Na.  The men on Sunday between Roger and Rafa.

Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.  Enjoy the finals, I’ll be here the next two days and for a wrap-up, before we head over to England and the run-up to Wimbledon and then the Championships.  This is a great time of year for tennis fans!

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the heart of the matter

Posted on May 31, 2011 | 2 Comments

Maybe it’s because so much tennis is being played, maybe it’s because the stakes aren’t yet that high, but in the beginning of a major tournament the focus of attention isn’t always on the role that heart plays.  But if you want to see heart on the court, heart that makes the difference, that is the critical component,  stick around for the quarterfinals, the gateway to what matters most to players, a Grand Slam title.

It was well on display today on both Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen.  Francesca Schiavone, the defending champion, found herself in a deep hole the same size as the one Maria Sharapova was in a few days ago in her match against newcomer Caroline Garcia.  Nineteen year old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the last teenager in the draw, was having her way with the nearly thirty one year old veteran.  The score?  6-1, 4-1.  In the words of the late Yogi Berra, it’s getting late early.

How was Schiavone going to get herself out of this one?  Well, Maria did it with steely determination, unwaivering self-belief and that worked for her, it usually does.  Francesca is Italian, though.  She’s all heart.

She came back to win the second set 7-5.  The third set was a topsy turvy affair.  Francesca took the lead 5-1 and served for it at 5-2, but couldn’t convert.  She served for it again at 5-4, and couldn’t convert.  Yikes.  The wind was swirling, the temperatures were cool.  Conditions were difficult.

Finally she broke her opponent to go up 6-5 and then she served for the match for the third time.  She had two match points that went begging.  Finally, Francesca created a third match point for herself with a drop shot executed from the baseline, to perfection.  Gutsy.  You could see her look up at her box, on their feet, and say “Forza!”

And so, finally again, on that match point, a microcosm of the whole match, Anastasia made a volley reply and Schiavone drove it past her for a winner down the line, taking the deciding set 7-5 as well.

Walking off the court, Francesca scooped a handful of the red clay and smeared it on her face.

Who wants it more?  Who doesn’t get tight?  Who doesn’t choke?  Who has the most heart?

All of these questions were to be answered on Lenglen in the fifth set between Murray and Troicki, the resumption of their match from the day before that was suspended as darkness fell, two sets each.   Murray came from two sets down to take sets three and four, and when they took the court this afternoon for the deciding set, he was working from behind all the way again.

Troicki went out to a 5-2 lead.  He served for the match at 5-3 and was up 30-0, two points from the victory,  and then the wheels fell off.  He choked, he got tight, you could see it.  He kept looking around and up to his box with a self-defeating smile, shoulder shrugs that seemed to say it was out of his control, it was someone else’s fault.  That is not going to get it done.  That is the opposite of heart, of digging deep.

Nineteen minutes later Murray had charged back all the way and was at 6-5, serving for the match himself.  He went up 40-0, Troicki fought back and saved those three match points.  But it was too little too late.  Murray had a fourth match point on the Ad and as in the women’s match, he ended the last point, requiring some incredible gets from him that he made, with a glorious shot, in this case a backhand crosscourt passing shot for the winner.  This is the fifth time in his career that Murray has come back from two sets to love to win a five setter.

Murray is into the quarterfinals (the match against Troicki was still round of 16) and he’ll play Juan Ignacio Chela, a match he is much the favorite to win.

While Djokovic was having another day off, due to Fognini’s withdrawal, Roger Federer and Gael Monfils took the court for their quarterfinal match.  Roger won the first two sets and you had to wonder if it was already over or if Gael was going to put up more of a fight.  To his credit he played a very competitive third set, 6-6,  but Roger went out in front in the tiebreak and never looked back.

At 6-1 in the tiebreak, I found myself saying out loud “A handful of match points”, only to be echoed in exactly those words by Patrick McEnroe who was calling the match on ESPN.  Hey, Patrick, wanna spend more time at home with the wife and kids?  I’m available.

Federer has not dropped a set in the tournament.  And this is his 28th consecutive appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal or better.  Think about that.  Seven years, all four tournaments, round and round we go from Paris to London to New York to Melbourne and start all over again, not to mention all the other stops on the tour.  He has never retired from a match; he has been nearly totally injury free.  It makes a case for staying relaxed in your body.  He’s fluid, light on his feet.  Even Rafa Nadal has said that he would play like Federer if he could, that it takes much more effort for him to play his game.

Roger will play Novak in the semifinals on Friday.  It should be a fantastic, exciting match.

On both the men’s and women’s sides, history is being made in this year’s French.  Never before in the Open era have the top three women’s seeds been gone before the second week.  And never before have all five of the top men’s seeds advanced.

In a day of play that was marked by heart, the match between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Marion Bartoli on Lenglen was no exception.  Sveta won the French in 2009, I saw her win it against Dinara Safina (who?), someone you had to feel sorry for she went into such a meltdown.  Kuzy, as she is known, is the first to admit she often gets nervous at the end of big matches, but that day Safina’s nerves took up all the air and space.

Today, Marion Bartoli was on her game.  She’s such a quirky player, with the weird serve motion, and the constant jumping around and shadow cuts at the ball to get ready.  She’s a little chunky too.  But she hits the ball well off of both sides, two hands for forehand and backhand, and if you get it in her strike zone, she’s lethal.  Today she was relentless and Sveta played well, but not quite well enough.  Was it heart?  Lord knows Marion wanted it.  She’s French, the crowd was really behind her and she used it and worked it.

She served for it at 5-2 in the second, having won the first in a tiebreak.  Unable to close the door, she got another chance at 5-4 and she took it.

At this level of tennis, you can’t fade, you can’t blame, you can’t hold back.  Famously, Guga Kuerten, drew a heart on the clay on Chatrier, and then lay down inside it.  That says it all.

gustavo kuerten at roland garros, laying in the heart he drew in the clay

guga laying in the heart he drew

(Via Kamakshi Tandon)

One last comment on today’s action.  There was a unique moment in the Murray Troicki match early in their deciding set.  A ball kid thought the point was over when Troicki, up at the net, hit an overhead, but Murray got it back and Troicki angled another overhead for a winner.  But just as he was going for that shot, the ball kid was running out on the court at the net, just barely not colliding with him.  It was disruption of play, unintended, and the umpire ruled that the point be replayed.  Troicki was upset, understandably.  The kid felt terrible, a young boy, maybe ten or twelve. Being a ball kid in France is a huge honor, thousands of kids apply from all over the country for the coveted positions.  A point or two later when the same boy hesitated to retrieve the ball, Troicki messed with him in a way that was testy and unkind and to my mind, showed his true character, not a pretty picture.  I just hope the head of the ball kids wasn’t too hard on him.

That’s it for today.  This is really a fun, special French Open.  Stay tuned for the remaining matches, there are bound to be some great moments.

See you tomorrow at Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

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happy memorial day

Posted on May 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

Here it’s Memorial Day Monday, in Paris it’s Day 9 of the French Open.  If you were judging from the packed stands on Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen this afternoon, though, you’d swear it was a holiday.

One of the most exciting matches of the tournament so far was the two parter between David Ferrer and Gael Monfils.  With Monfils up two sets to one and Ferrer  up 2-0 in the fourth set, play was suspended last night due to darkness.  The two opponents had to wait out a five setter between Chela and Falla, the former taking the victory, before they could get on court today to finish.  There was a great shot of them in the players’ lounge hanging around until they were called with Ferrer sitting up right next to a reclining, possibly sleeping, Monfils.

Finally on court, Ferrer continued to press in the set he already had a lead in and took it rather quickly 6-1.  But then Gael actually did wake up from his nap and the fifth set was completely riveting.  Gael broke early to take a 3-1 lead.  At 5-3 Monfils served for the match. The crowd was just wildly excited.   He had two match points and relatively easy shots for the win on both of them and he dinked them into the net.  Ferrer ended up breaking for 5-4.  That quieted the crowd down.

They go into fifth set no tiebreak battle.  In the next game, Monfils had another match point, his third, and couldn’t convert.  Ferrer got out of that game, 6-6.   At 7-6, Monfils in the lead, Ferrer quickly dug himself in a deep hole, 0-40,  and all of a sudden, Monfils is looking at three more match points.  After squandering three, who knew he would get all these chances again, and so soon?  He was not to be denied this time, winning the match on the fourth match point with a no guts no glory passing shot down the line, 8-6 in the fifth.  The French crowd, not a seat empty, were rewarded and could go have dinner.

In the 6-5 game, there were a couple of dicey line calls on Monfils’ serve.  On the first, Ferrer walked up to the line and immediately rubbed out the mark, indicating it had been good.  But shotspot showed it had been out.  It happened again, Monfils now with two serves instead of a second serve only, and the chair umpire came out to have a look and called it good, giving Monfils another first serve, but shotspot again showed it to be out.  Now the technology isn’t one hundred percent, but it’s pretty close.  At moments like these in matches, this kind of thing gone wrong can be terribly expensive, can cost someone the match.  Ferrer ended up winning that point, but still.

Monfils will face Federer in the quarterfinals and I imagine it will be a lot of fun to watch, but I don’t think Roger is going to walk off the loser.  I’m a big fan of Ferrer, but I doubt he would have given Roger trouble in the end.  Against both these players, Federer has been dominant.

What is great is to see Monfils doing more with his talent than he has previously.  His coach, Roger Rashid, has been with him for three years, a record in itself apparently as Monfils has gone through coaches like they were paper napkins.  Rashid coached Lleyton Hewitt, a player who is more like Ferrer, no work too hard or too much, fighter spirit, utterly maxing out on what they’ve got to work with on small frames.  For Roger Rashid to make an impact on Monfils has been exceedingly difficult it seems.  He’s tried hard to get Gael in better physical condition so he won’t suffer all the injuries he’s had, and you can actually see him shouting at Gael on court to play harder, want it more.  I’d bet there have been more than a few times that he thought of throwing in the towel, I don’t need this shit, and getting on a plane back to his family in Australia.

That’s the thing about coaching, it takes you on the road for weeks and weeks every year.  If you’re going to do it, you damn well better have a player who makes it worth your while.

Nadal won his match against 32 year old Ivan Ljubicic, in straights, but in his press conference afterwards, he spoke candidly about how he still isn’t feeling quite right out there.  Not as consistent, more nervous at times.  If Rafa thinks he’s a different Rafa, at least so far, on court at his beloved French, I guess we ought to believe him.

Meanwhile, fierce contender and Superman tennis player Novak Djokovic is into the semifinals.  He won’t be playing a quarterfinal match because Fabio Fognini had to withdraw with what indeed wasn’t just cramping yesterday.  He’s got a muscle tear and it won’t get better in time for him to play the match tomorrow.  You had to feel bad for the guy.  His best result in a major, about to have the opportunity to maybe be the one who breaks the Novak streak, or at least have the challenge of playing him on Chatrier, a huge pleasure and privilege, and he can’t do it.

Andy Murray and Victor Troicki played the last match of the day on Lenglen and they’ll have to finish it tomorrow.  At first it looked like Murray was having real difficulty moving, the result of a bad ankle tweak two days ago.  But he fought back and the players walked off at darkness with one deciding set yet to be played.  Don’t miss that tomorrow.

On the women’s side, Li Na defeated Petra Kvitova, both surprising and not.  Either one of them could have won that match, but Kvitova beat herself.

Maria Sharapova faced off against Agnes Radwanska and piled up huge numbers of winners and unforced errors in a game of total aggression on her part and steady play by her opponent.  But Maria is playing well and when you combine that with her dogged determination, she’s going to come out on top.  Aggie had five set points to win the second set and take it to a third and she couldn’t close the door.  Maria did it instead winning the match 7-6, 7-5.

And on Court One, Andrea Petkovic, the German player who has come into the spotlight this year, won her match in three tough sets against Maria Kirilenko.  Last year she lost on the same court to Kuznetsova, so it must have felt good to her to take the victory this year.

Finally, Azarenka dispensed with Makarova in two easy sets.

So it’s down to eight women and you still don’t know who’s going to win.  Sharapova, Li Na, Schiavone, Petkovic, Azarenka, Pavlyuchenkova, Kuznetsova and Bartoli.  Do you know?  I don’t.  The quarterfinal matches should all be interesting.

And it’s down to seven men.  Nadal, Soderling, Chela, Monfils, Federer, Djokovic and either Murray or Troicki.  Besides Novak, already there, who else will be in the semis?

Still some great tennis to come as we now head into the true business end of the tournament.  Thanks for reading Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot.

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no more fooling around

Posted on January 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

It gets down to the final few days and all of a sudden, I’m suffering tennis withdrawal.  Whaddya mean, there’s no live tennis on tonight?  But since we can’t have this going on week in, week out in Melbourne or any place else, it has to diminish and then end.

So the semifinal match between Andy Murray and David Ferrer was well worth watching.  Ferrer surprised everyone by winning the first set, Murray the heavy favorite to win and not looking much like it at that point.  But one of the great challenges in these really big matches is to figure out another game plan if the one you came out with isn’t working, and Andy is good at this.  He has lots of possibilities to choose, which in one way can handicap him but at times like this helps him.  He can come in and finish shots off early if staying back isn’t getting it done.  He can vary it with different slices and spins and paces and all of this works against a player like Ferrer who has basically one game.  What you accomplish by varying things is you gain control.  Your opponent gets no rhythm, he doesn’t know what’s coming next so all he can do is defend and that means he can’t dictate, you do.  And if Ferrer can’t dictate, well…

Eh, voila.  Murray took it in four, winning the next three sets 7-6, 6-1, and 7-6.  It didn’t help that Ferrer has a less than impressive tiebreak record, losing a few more than he’s won.  Neither tiebreak was close, Murray had a handful of set points, and then match points.

The women’s final between Kim Cliijsters and Li Na went three sets with Kim the winner.  Li Na won the first set pretty convincingly 6-3.  It looked like Kim didn’t have a plan and Li Na did.  I wouldn’t have been surprised to see her take the second set and walk off with the whole shebang.  But in a match rife with breaks of serve, Kim held her serve in a long multi deuce game at 2-3 in the second set and from that point on she took charge.  And like Murray, she won because she could problem solve on the court and change it up and because she also has a large number of tools from which to choose.  In the third set, Li Na was getting upset by the crowd calling out and by the camera flashes.  When a player is being distracted in this way in a match of this magnitude, you know something is off.  You simply have to focus on the tennis, no matter what, if you want to have a chance of winning.  A player of Kim’s talent and experience and success sees that kind of behavior from her opponent and it just gives her even more advantage.

So Kim finally feels, as she said in her articulate comments at the award ceremony afterwards, she has earned the right to be called Aussie Kim.  The nickname has been hers for nearly a decade, first proffered when she was Lleyton Hewitt’s fiance.  As is well known now, she didn’t marry him.  She went on to marry Brian, an American, and have their daughter Jada.  Lleyton married an Aussie girl and well known actress, Bec, and they have two children themselves.  Life goes on.   But now with her first and possibly only Aussie championship, she will still and always be Aussie Kim.  On her own terms.

Li Na is already a star in China and her success will only spur the games’ development in the world’s most populous country.  She had a great tournament by any measure.  We all got to know her better and she endeared herself to all with her refreshing honesty and sense of humor.  Whether she will win a Grand Slam title remains to be seen, and it will make it interesting in the next three majors.  She’ll certainly be a serious contender.

As for the last match remaining, the men’s final between Murray and Djokovic, it should be great.  Every chance it will go five sets and be close and hard fought.  These two are a whole new rivalry.  They know each other since they were juniors and are a week apart in age.  Novak won the Australian Open a few years back, Murray has yet to gain a Grand Slam and the entire weight of British history is once again on his back, the famous seventy five year drought.  Once he hit the semis, the British press came to Melbourne in droves and there’s certainly a strong chance their long travels will be rewarded.

It’s almost impossible to call this one, but here’s a new factor.  The weather, which is generally an issue in Melbourne, has really not been for the whole tournament.  It’s been cool some of the time, and even the warm days haven’t been hot, never mind brutal.  But tomorrow it’s supposed to hit 100 degrees and it should be warm in Rod Laver for the evening match.  I’ll be interested to see how this affects Novak whose breathing difficulties are well known, especially in heat and humidity.  That said, Novak can be sucking wind and looking like he’s all but dead and still win matches.  Still, the weather will work in Murray’s favor, I think.  And I’m going to predict he is the winner, though it’s a wobbly position I admit.

It really will be, as it always is in tennis, a case of the best man wins on the day.  We get to stay up very late or get up very early depending on where you live and drink the appropriate accompanying beverages and witness the battle.  Savor it, it’s the last match of the Aussie Open!

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