Sunday, July 24, 2011

Gone With The Wind -Federer and Nadal

Hi All sorry for the lack of posts recently! Back in action again.Found this picture on the net,with the US Hard court season in full swing could this Old movie poster be a sign of the times for former World No 1s Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.............are they indeed Gone with the Wind?

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Davis Cup Live streaming Nz

Well done to the organizers that made the Live Streaming possible for the Davis Cup tie New Zealand vs Philippine's which New Zealand won 5-0.I guess for the visitors it proved one thing that former World No 72 Cecil Mamiit should  retire and let the youth develop.Mamiit is best known as Sharapova's hitting partner.For New Zealand it was a result they should of won Mamiit is 35 and well past his best and the rest of the Philippine's team hardly scare anyone. Over the weekend thanks to the internet I have manged to watch some of France vs Germany,USA vs Spain.Just post here in the comments section if you want to see matches that are not shown on Local TV but are available on the net.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Murray Fashion Statement

Andy Murray has hit back at former Davis Cup captain David Lloyd for saying that the world No. 4  needs to improve his once court appearance and shave more frequently.

"I don't think it makes any difference, guys like [Bjorn] Borg didn't shave for weeks and months until they lost," Murray said at a Davis Cup press conference in Glasgow. "I heard what he said yesterday and I used to actually practice at one of his clubs, in Renfrew, I think. He's entitled to whatever his opinion is, but I think he should stick to what he does best and that's building leisure clubs. It doesn't make a difference, it's whoever works the hardest, whoever plays the best wins the matches and that's all that's important."



My top 10 ramblings for Wimbledon 2011


1. Novak Djokovic proved he is the Worlds Best Tennis Player.


2. Nadal proved he is human admitting the previous beatings by Djoker played on his mind before the final


3. Petra Kvitova a breath of fresh air in Women's tennis without the glamour fuss associated with Grandslam pretenders.


4. Was it Luck or did the Aussies really have a good Wimbledon.High hopes for Barty girls winner.Saville did not look special.


5. Ladies doubles was like water torture


6. Federer's on the decline


7. Nadal's father was really letting loose in the players box during the final...he did not look happy.


8. Sam Stosur proved again that for someone who is touted as having one of the best serves in women's tennis ,loses her serve to easily.


9. Serena and Venus made a guest appearance.


10. Bring on the US OPEN

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Wimbledon Mens Final Preview.

The two best players in the world battle for the Men's Singles Wimbledon crown.This will be a battle,won with the heart and the mind and the will.Both are fantastic tennis players and athletes the last time they played Djokovic moved the better of the two ,both had outstanding semi final form. Djokovic will hurt Nadal if Nadal is not serving well, Nadal has to get a lot of first serves into play, on grass he gets a little more zip than the clay on which they last played, Nadal needs this to get control of the rally,Djokovic has the ability to win more free points on first serves and this could be crucial if the match is tight.Also a weapon is Djoker's backhand down the line that hurts Nadal big time if its firing.Nadal's forehand against Murray was back to its brutal best and this allowed Nadal to dictate, Djoker has a few more weapons to counter this.For me it comes down to who best keeps their mental game together.Nadal is relentless he wont give in,for me this will be the deciding factor and that he is playing his 5th Wimbledon final.Nadal to win.


Australian Luke Saville took out he boys title.Saville is the first Australian junior to win here since Todd Reid in 2002.I have to say however "what happened to Todd Reid".The transition to the Men's game is huge,but with Tomic reaching the quarters of the Maindraw there is light at the end of the tunnel.Promising news on the Junior girls front is 15 year old Ashleigh Barty from Ipswich. Barty will face Russia's third seed Irini Khromacheva in tonight's final.Barty conceded height, age and experience to Indy de Vroome - but nothing else - in a fabulous 6-4 6-1 semi-final victory.So great results with Aussie Juniors and if you follow the eye , I made mention of Barty's potential some posts ago.I had to ponder when I saw a local top ranked New Zealand junior girl last week practicing locally the gap between the top and the pretenders are immense and so are the correct tournament pathways.


If Barty wins tonight I am pretty sure that it could be a first ever that both Junior winners are from Australia.Finally wasn't it great to see another Left hander lift the Ladies Silverware ,Petra Kvitova defeated Maria Sharapova to win the Ladies title.We will be hearing a lot more of this "lefty" in the future.The 21-year-old No.8 seed became only the third Czech woman to triumph at Wimbledon after nine-time champion Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna, who were both in centre court's royal box to witness the victory.Packed with emotion its great to see a New Champion fulfill their dreams after all the hard work highs and lows and tears that go together to make a top tennis player.The tears today were tears of happiness and joy . Well done to all her team.Watch out for my future article why do Adult players hate to lose to Juniors!
This is a great story from The Telegraph a little more background on Kvitova and her colorful father.LINK

Friday, July 1, 2011

Wimbledon Semi Finals - Mens


Rafael Nadal Vs Andy Murray


What a match up this promises to be! Centre Court Crowd will be supporting Murray and should the match get close it could be a huge factor!Nadal must be fit to beat Murray, if his foot hampers his movement he will not win.He needs to be at his mobile best.Murray will have to serve extremely well ie first serve percentage must be Tsonga like from his match with Federer.


They are saying Murray has been strong mentally this past fortnight, he has not been tested really ,Nadal is relentless and should Murray start screaming at his box then he will suffer the same fate as last match.


This will be close.My predication Nadal.


Novak Djokovic Vs Joe Wilfred Tsonga


I hope Tsonga can reproduce his Federer form, I can't say Djokovic has looked comfortable on grass .If Tsonga can serve well he has the ability to win this match .As I said before he has to back up here, Novak will be different and if he leads Jo Wilfred by 2 sets to love then he wont allow him back as Federer did. My Predication Jo Wilfred Tsonga.