tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86647399300493435972024-03-05T19:50:45.984+05:30Tennis....Down the Line!!!Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-42693391965328114972018-01-30T13:21:00.003+05:302018-02-09T10:51:04.678+05:30Ageless Federer, 20 and counting!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for federer 20 grand slams" class="irc_mi" height="225" src="https://e0.365dm.com/18/01/16-9/20/skysports-tennis-roger-federer-australian-open_4213565.jpg?20180124121433" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 70px;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ageless Federer, 20 and counting! Pic Credits: Google Images</td></tr>
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Roger Federer does it again and again and again, but how? How does he do it, how is he going on in a sport where players used to fall of the wayside after 30 and where his contemporary legends are slowing down.</div>
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Here are some of the why's:</div>
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<b>Talent</b>: Roger Federer is an extremely talented tennis player. He is gifted in the league of Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Usain Bolt, Babe Ruth, Michael Phelps and Mohammed Ali. When backed with hard work as in all the above cases, they tend to be the best of the best. Federer has an impeccable handiwork and movement but once he sorted his head and temperament there was no doubt he will be a great if not the greatest. That is still relevant at 36.</div>
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<b>Style</b>: He's an Artist on court. Apart from being easy on the eye he is easy on his body as well. The ease of play, aggression, shot selection and finishing the points at the net gives him longevity. Case in point is the run up to AO'18. Although he played his Semi-Final on Friday as opposed to Cilic who played on Thursday - Federer had spent 6 hrs less than Cilic in his first 6 rounds. That's a significant number for a player of this mileage. Federer is, in general known for getting the work done quickly.</div>
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<b>Conserving the energy</b>: This is something I noticed in this year's Australian Open only but I am sure has played a role last year too. When Federer was up in the set or had a break, he will conserve energy. Rather than putting extra effort in breaking the opponent's serve again - he'll focus on winning his. This lead to the 6-3, 6-4 score lines in many sets but no real threat was posed to his serve either.</div>
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<b>The break in 2016</b>: While a break gets most players out of rhythm and matchplay, thus affecting their levels of play, it did quite the opposite for Federer. Being away from competition, it gave Federer a much needed break and family time from the grind on the tour. It also helped him focus on the technical aspects of training and fitness. A 2017 Federer was leaner and meaner than the previous 2 years and he had a new and improved backhand. THE backhand. With Ivan Ljubicic in his corner, it only seemed logical for him to take his backhand to another level. It helped him take down Nadal, something that was elusive earlier.</div>
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<b>Relaxed Approach</b>: He has won everything in the sport. He has even bridged some of his lopsided H2H against his closest GOAT contender. He knows all this is not going to last forever and he wants to enjoy the last few years. This reflects a lot when he is fighting the crunch moments. At 36.5, whatever he wins is more cherry than the cake.</div>
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<b>Support System</b>: While all top players travel with a horde of coaches, fitness trainers, family and friends - Federer is the one who sets the bar for all of them. Severin Luthi has been in Federer's corner for over a decade now. His parents almost invariably are there. So is his relationships with all his coaches be it Tony Roche, Peter Carter, Annacone, Edberg and now Ljubicic. After the death of Peter Carter, Roger has his parents for his matches for years now - bearing all the costs. However a huge differentiator here is Mirka, having been a former player herself, she is like a rock for Federer. She choses to travel with 4 kids and keeps Roger going around the world. While players like Murray and Djokovic are married and are fathers, it is rather difficult to witness the same level of effectiveness (after all everyone's different). Nadal meanwhile, wants to focus only on tennis as he avoids the marriage and related distractions in his quest to catch Federer.</div>
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<b>Scheduling</b>: Roger Federer is a genius at scheduling. Of course, his team gets the credit too here but it is mainly the player who decides when and where he plays. This highlights what happened in AO'18 a lot. Djokovic and Wawrinka weren't fully fit and Nadal got injured at the Quarter Finals. Nadal promptly blamed the ATP for the schedule in the press conference after. I respect Nadal for what he brings to the court and how he competes but this is pure whining. Nadal with his constant badgering of tour length and demand for more clay courts seems to be a sore loser more than anything else (all great champions are because they don't like losing). Nadal is now exempted from manadatory tournaments (by the virtue of 30+, 600 matches and 12 years on tour rule) and yet he chose to make a mess of his schedule playing Beijing, Shanghai, and WTF after USO'17. He chose it because he wanted to grab the year end No.1 ranking from Fed, which he did. That caused him sorely in this AO'17. Federer meanwhile let go of chasing the year end no.1 by skipping the clay season and not entering any ATP 500 tournaments for the same. It requires a certain strength and wiseness to think long term while letting go of some immediate success.</div>
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<b>Loves the tour outside Tennis</b>: Most players love Tennis and competition (even Nick Kyrgios, whatever he says) but Federer loves the attention on the streets, press conferences, endorsement commitments, training and all the comes with it. You can't love enough if you only love the good.</div>
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So far, it's working for him well and he should be enthralling fans all over the world for another couple of years at least. May the force be with him! </div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-55623940527341615342018-01-30T12:01:00.002+05:302018-01-30T12:01:58.794+05:30Roger Federer reigns supreme!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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At 36 years and 173 days, Roger Federer is still lapping up Grand Slam titles. For his age, he is not expected to but for his resurrection post 2017 he cannot NOT be a favourite going into a slam. Federer is defying the logics and make the predictors eat their own words. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for federer 20th grand slam" class="irc_mi" height="571" src="https://ngpapers.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/smiles-Roger-Federer-defeats-Marin-Cilic-in-Australian-Open-to-win-his-20th-Grand-Slam-Title-NGpapers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="429" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Federer tweeted this pic after his AO'18 triumph. Pic Credits: Google Images</td></tr>
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AO 2018 was expected to bring some change over the Federer Nadal dominance of 2017. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka were all scheduled to return after an hiatus of almost 6 months; and were expected to apply some brakes to these oldies (if you say). The expectations of a fairytale return didn't pan out for any of them.<br />
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Andy Murray withdrew from the tournament, thankfully this time before the draw was announced and avoiding the mess he made at USO'17. Sadly, his hip injury did not heal from rehabilitation and he had to undergo surgery. He will return sometime this year hopefully; but the more pertinent question is will he be able to sustain his level of play post surgery. The scenario is not very hopeful.<br />
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Novak Djokovic's condition is only a little better than Murray since he has avoided surgery so far. The question is - how long? He lost to the up and coming Hyeon Chung in the Round of 16 where his elbow pain resurfaced. He is trying a new serve but does not seem in a healthy place.<br />
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Stan Wawrinka returned from knee surgery only to lose second round in straight sets to Tennys Sandgren (mostly a challenger level player who went till QF's here).<br />
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And when all expected a Fedal final once again, the Spanish bull was was dumped out by Marin Cilic with some ferocious hitting and some injury (yes, again). Nadal then decided to call out ATP for their scheduling citing injury to so many top players.<br />
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Where does it leave the ATP tour? Of course, in the safe and experience hands of Roger Federer. Federer outdoes his younger opponents - he sustained the pressure Cilic generated with his heavy hitting in the finals and took home the trophy for a record 20th time. He is now in the coveted company of Margret Court, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams for having 20 or more Grand Slam titles. He has been lucky for sure but pouncing on a presented opportunity is also a hallmark of a great champion. As for now, and for a long while now, Roger Federer is the Greatest of All Time!<br />
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-62127965583464198462017-05-21T22:56:00.004+05:302017-05-21T22:56:48.926+05:30Andre Agassi to coach Novak Djokovic - FO 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The rumour mills were not for nothing. Djokovic players box at the French Open 2017 will have the legendary Andre Agassi as his coach, at least for a certain duration.</div>
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As of now, there is no long term announcement as both would want to test the waters around their compatibility, interests and results at the French major. It's been one year since Djokovic has won anything significant and meanwhile has done away with his entire coaching staff. There have been criticism around Djokovic's attitude and hunger with Pepe Imaz around him instead of Boris Becker. This decision however, reasserts that he has the will to get back again to the top of the game. Watching his senior colleagues Roger & Rafa scooping the trophies in 2017 might have hurt as well. Yet, this is just a very first step in a long road, with lots of if's.</div>
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P.S. - Djoker Nole just lost to Next Gen poster boy Alexander Zverev in straight sets at Rome 2017.</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-87592043785692137172015-07-03T01:31:00.000+05:302015-07-03T01:31:00.535+05:30Qualifier Brown blasts off Nadal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Wimbledon grass is increasingly looking more and more alien to the two time champion Rafael Nadal. For the fourth time in a row this year Nadal has been sent packing off the Centre Court by a player ranked outside the top 100. Add Dustin Brown to the list of Lukas Rosol, Steve Darcis and Nick Kyrgios who all carry the rare honor of beating Nadal on the lush greens when nobody gave them an off chance. </div>
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Dustin Brown doesn't necessarily rings a bell in the tennis circuits. He is at best a journeyman player on the tour, currently ranked 102 but have never gone over rank 78 and at age 30 is by no means an up and coming player either. Standing at 6 foot 4 with maybe the best hair on the ATP tour hanging freely up to his back, several piercings, tattoos and loose shorts Brown gave an air of nonchalance and reckless abandon. So does his game.</div>
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Brown started with booming serves, crisp volleys and well disguised (sometimes not so disguised too) drop shots drawing admiration from the crowd but quickly fell behind 1-3 in the first set. He looked like a player who could entertain but cannot sustain the intensity and ferocity that Nadal brings to the court. To add to that this was Brown's fifth match on grass along with the qualifiers that he has come through; was part of a doubles match yesterday only that went 10-8 in the fifth and was playing at the Centre Court for the first time; although he was 1 out of 1 against Rafa having beaten him at Halle last year 6-4, 6-1. This was best of five however.</div>
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Dustin Brown played his game from the word go; the extinct tennis of serve & volley, drop shots, a mix of power & soft hands - basically the tennis that fits the grass (or rather did when Sampras made his name). Going after Nadal's first serve Brown managed to win about 69% of the first serve points (surprising stat) on Nadal's serve in the first set, in the process making some astonishing shots. The strategy worked in the first set, did not so much in the second and the match was leveled. And then in the next two sets Nadal could not break him even once.</div>
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One of the features of his game was he put Nadal in uncharted territories throughout the course of the match; Nadal was made to run for drop shots, lobs, volleys while he would have liked to stay 6 feet behind the baseline to dictate the game, Despite the swinging passing shots that Rafa made and threatened to make Brown never made any change to his game plan. He continued to send down bullets, chip and charge onto them and had the quickness to respond at the net. The average second serve speed of Dustin Brown was about 20 mph higher than Nadal in this match.</div>
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At 5-3 in the fourth set he had his first match point (on Nadal's serve) which he lost to a floating ball that he left at the net which went on and dropped just inside the baseline. He had it on his racket and it could have been game changing. In the next game however he stepped up and held his serve to send Nadal home registering the greatest upset of the tournament and his greatest win ever. Call it inspiration, being good on a day, Nadal not being at his best or whatsoever but Dustin Brown looked every bit the player who could threaten anybody on grass with the way he played.</div>
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For Rafael Nadal, the grass has been the graveyard for the past four years but that shouldn't be a shocker. Grass being the way it plays is the surface that gives plenty of upset opportunities to players who play big. There could be a few more in the days to come.</div>
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<b><i>Note:</i></b> And so with all the speculations about the draw, this quarter becomes wide open with Nadal's loss and Ferrer's withdrawal for Andy Murray to grab without beating either of them. </div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-69974883931606705092015-06-28T01:47:00.000+05:302015-06-28T01:47:39.794+05:30Wimbledon 2015: Dissecting the Men’s Draw<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The field of
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<b> Top
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<b>1<sup>st</sup> Quarter<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>2<sup>nd</sup> Quarter<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>3<sup>rd</sup> Quarter<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>4<sup>th</sup> Quarter</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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(1) Novak Djokovic<o:p></o:p></div>
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(4) Stan Wawrinka<o:p></o:p></div>
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(3) Andy Murray<o:p></o:p></div>
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(2) Roger Federer<o:p></o:p></div>
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(5) Kei Nishikori<o:p></o:p></div>
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(7) Milos Raonic<o:p></o:p></div>
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(8) David Ferrer<o:p></o:p></div>
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(6) Tomas Berdych<o:p></o:p></div>
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(9) Marin Cilic<o:p></o:p></div>
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(11) Grigor Dimitrov<o:p></o:p></div>
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(10) Rafael Nadal<o:p></o:p></div>
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(12) Giles Simon<o:p></o:p></div>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(14) Kevin Anderson<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(16) David Goffin<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(13) JW Tsonga<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(15) Feliciano Lopez<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(17) John Isner<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(19) Tommy Robredo<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(22) Viktor Troicki<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(18) Gael Monfils<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(24) Leonardo Mayer<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(21) Richard Gasquet<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(23) Ivo Karlovic<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(20) R Bautista Agut<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(27) Bernard Tomic<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(26) Nick Kyrgios<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(25) Andreas Seppi<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(29) G Garcia Lopez<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(28) Pablo Cuevas<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.5pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(32) Dominic Thiem<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(30) Fabio Fognini<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 115.55pt;" width="193">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(31) Jack Sock<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Potential</i></b>
Match-ups for the top four seeds (and Nadal):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
(1) Novak
Djokovic: Philip Kohlschreiber <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Lleyton Hewitt <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Bernard
Tomic <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Kevin Anderson <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Kei Nishikori/Marin Cilic <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Stan Wawrinka <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Roger Federer/ Andy Murray<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
(2) Roger Federer:
Damir Dzumhur <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Sam Querrey <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Jack Sock <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Feliciano
Lopez <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Tomas Berdych <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Andy Murray/Rafael Nadal <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Novak Djokovic<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
(3) Andy
Murray: Mikhail Kukushkin <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Robin Hasse/A Falla <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Andreas Seppi/Borna Coric <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
JW Tsonga <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Rafael Nadal <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Roger Federer <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Novak Djokovic<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
(4) Stan
Wawrinka: Joao Sousa <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Benjamin Becker <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Fernando
Verdasco/Dominic Thiem <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
David Goffin <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Dimitrov/Raonic/Kyrgios
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Novak Djokovic <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Federer/Murray<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
(10) Rafael
Nadal: Thomaz Bellucci <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span>
Dustin Brown <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Stepanek/Troicki
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> David Ferrer <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Andy Murray <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Roger Federer <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span> Novak Djokovic<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On paper the
draw seems nightmarish for Murray and Nadal. While Nadal is seeded 10<sup>th</sup>
and cannot expect anything else, Murray seems to have hurdles a bit too many
for the title run. Djokovic, though avoids the other members of big four, has
plenty on his plate with dangerous floaters and his newfound rival Stan
Wawrinka. The two Swiss have somewhat favourable draws but the paper drawings
result in nothing substantial. The last two matches (semis & final) are
bound to be against the two top in-form guys and all the favourability or
toughness of the draw goes straight out of the window. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And then, in
the past few years itself, how many times have we seen the draws opening up
with upsets by motivated floaters?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Anyone from
the five above can win it or maybe even someone outside of them but that’s rather
unlikely, not even remotely possible, actually impossible as it seems. One of
these guys will claim it but not without some serious resistance. What we can
be assured of are plenty of high intensity matches, match-ups both old and new,
surging adrenaline, quality and passion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Time to watch
the white powder fly up from the painted lines on the green surface with the
swirl of the racket and twirl of the tennis ball!<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-78157006170960952822015-06-24T23:37:00.002+05:302015-06-25T01:08:12.267+05:30French Open '15 shockers - The Big Spaniard loses, lesser known Swiss wins, the Serb still waits!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That’s what the sport is for. That
is, to defy the odds, people, pundits,predictions and patterns. The question about this
French open was pitted as Rafa again or Novak finally? And when both of them
settled in one half to meet at the quarters that match became the heaviest of
all. Winning it would be the title, well almost. That almost remained almost.
The ‘heavy’ match between Novak and Rafa was not so loaded except the first
set. Nadal fell for just the second time at Roland Garros but pretty meekly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What was heavy about this year’s
French open was what it should be. The finale! As Novak stepped up to claim his
first RG crown after demolishing the long reigning ‘king’ and handed the newly
wed Andy Murray his first defeat since marriage, nobody dared to put their money
anywhere else. Yet, that’s why there are two sides of the draw and they play
rather than just let the supposedly best man take it all. It is all in that
day, in that moment that winning and losing is decided. The other man who
walked out of the tunnel was Stan-the occasional man these days – seemingly
well aware of the occasion. He played loaded, heavy, spoiler, unaware of the
history on the other side and blasted the world no 1 off the court.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sounds easy, execution way too tough.
There were moments when the expert script seems to take over when Novak broke
on right occasions and threatened to run away with the goods as he usually
does. Stan hung on. He brought his A-game in the most clutch moments. The
booming serve, booming forehand and the yes, booming backhand down the line
(Isn’t everything about Wawrinka booming when he is in the zone). And yes that
backhand is a thing of rare beauty too. He did not fade, kept on the belief and
saw it through. It’s by no means an easy thing to do in your first Paris final
and only second ever against a most seasoned campaigner who also happens to be
the top dog. But then I guess Stan focussed on the positives – nobody expected
him to win, the pressure was more on the other side, and he had stretched and
beaten Novak before in the past and in run to his maiden GS title.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Stan – even the occasional man has
finally gotten out of the massive shadow of Roger Federer. He isn’t young to
register himself as one of the greats but he can continue to be one of the
great spoilsport for some of the greats. He snatched Novak’s AO streak last
year before surprisingly plummeting Nadal (injured or not) of one GS pedestal. AO
was so sure Nadal will win and equal Pete Sampras as they flew him in all the
way to present the trophy. Not to be! This FO Stan the man emerged again to
hand his big friend Rog (who had a decent chance having avoided Nadal) a ticket
back home before clutching that elusive clay win over Djokovic even after
losing the first set.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Having witnessed all that, we got to
have great respect for the following:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nadal winning it 9 times when even 1
is so elusive<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Novak finally beating Rafa and for
keep coming in for the title – he might just get it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Stan for grabbing it – the one handed
BH beauty lives<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Roger Federer 2009 win – imagine the
pressure after Nadal’s loss<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 18pt; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bye Clay! Bring on Grass (The Wimbledon
draw is out tomorrow)!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; tab-stops: 55.2pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">P.S. - Moral of the story is – Don’t
beat Nadal at French Open – It is jinxed at the final hurdle. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-54954613731113581052015-02-02T13:51:00.002+05:302015-02-02T13:51:37.939+05:30Takeaways from the Australian Open 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The first grand slam of the year is over. There are three more to go and an even otherwise long and competitive season looms. Lets look at the takeaways from the recently concluded Australian Open and the possibilities for the rest of the year.</div>
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<b>1. Serena Williams will continue to make/break records</b></div>
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Champion for a sixth time in Australia, she has stamped her authority once again. Serena grabbed her 19th Grand Slam and now stand 3 short of Steffi Graf and 5 less than Margaret Court's all time record of 24. Serena is hungry, the records in sight are a great motivation and there is no evident challenger.</div>
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<b>2. Novak Djokovic is one of the best in Australia</b></div>
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The Djoker is a great player but is not yet in the conversation of all time greats. His peers Federer and Nadal reserve that distinction for now. However, when it comes to the Australian Open he is one of the greatest. With the fifth title this year, he is only one short of Roy Emerson's six wins. While Federer has four, Rafa has only one Australian Open title. It's clear who is the boss in Australia.</div>
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<b>3. Maria Sharapova is good but second best</b></div>
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It's not just the WTA ranking or the AO'15 result that puts Maria at No.2. She is good and can beat anyone on the tour; anyone but Serena Williams. As long as Serena is in the draw or on the tour, Sharapova will only be a second choice. It's been almost 11 years since she last beat Serena and twitter is full with 'how famous celebs look when Sharapova last beat Williams'. Grigor Dimitrov included.</div>
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<b>4. The Big Four still rule</b></div>
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Ok, Federer went out in round 4 to a player he never lost and Nadal went out in Quarters to a player he has never lost in last 17 meetings. Still the 'Big Four' are still a class above the rest. Murray returned after a dismal 2014 and Djokovic continued to pile up big titles. On their way to the final they dismantled the young guns Raonic, Dimitrov, Kyrgios in routine matches. About Federer and Nadal, rule them out at your own risk. Come grass and clay we know they will be back.</div>
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<b>5. Mr. Honest Tim Smyczek</b></div>
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The world is rotting with liars and cheats and sport is as competitive as ever. Yet Tim Smyczek stood courageous. Against Rafael Nadal in the fifth set at the Rod Laver arena, with the greatest win of his life a possibility, he did the right thing. A spectator shouted while Rafa was serving disturbing his rhythm and the ball went in the net. As the umpire begged for silence again and Nadal prepared to deliver his second serve, Tim asked the umpire to let him serve the 1st again. That potentially ruined his chances as Rafa being Rafa won the point and brought up match points. Tim lost the match but he won the hearts and the right to a proud and peaceful sleep.</div>
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<b>6. Djokovic gunning once again for Paris</b></div>
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Djokovic has the right game, slide and potential hold the French Open. But, Spanish Bull is too adamant to move out of his territory. Djokovic is a potential threat at Roland Garros at least since 2011 when Federer stopped him in the Semis and gifted the trophy to Nadal in the Final. The next three years, Djokovic lost to Nadal in hard fought battles and even losing the advantages. Can he cross the hump this time having already regaining his mental edge in big matches? Wimbledon '14 and AO '15 suggest so but the Bull will be ready.</div>
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<b>7. Federer will pin his hopes at SW 19</b></div>
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With a shock upset the mighty Rog got his streak of 11 consecutive Semis broken at the Australian Open. Nobody will write him off not after his showing in 2014 and not because its too risky. These champions prove the critics wrong time and again and make them look like fools. But at 34 in August, Federer's best hope of winning a major is still Wimbledon. He may go deep in Paris but winning is nearly impossible. The US open hasn't brought him any luck since 2008. Grass on the other hand, is his territory. Roger Federer at the centre court of Wimbledon will always be a threat. However, the clock's ticking.</div>
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<b>8. Nadal need the French Open</b></div>
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Even though Nadal has 9 French Opens, higher than anybody else at any slam, he needs it this year even more. Great players have great goals. Nadal's will be to try and cross Federer in the number of Grand Slams. Though he is just three short and is only 28, it is clay where he thrives. Winning the French sets the tone for the rest of his year. And to fend off Novak's challenge once again can provide him a plenty of edge for their other encounters and a 15th title. If he did not get the French, Federer's 17 won't be easy. History at stake.</div>
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<b>9. Andy Murray need the killer instinct</b></div>
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Muzz is a top talent, two time grand slam champion and a trendsetter on tour. What he lacks is the major trophies that keep on going in the cabinets of Rafa, Djoker and here and there. He is now better than last year and the back injury is now in hindsight. With both Novak and Rafa his peers in terms of age, he needs to find another gear to snatch some more of those majors. This year will define Murray's legacy.</div>
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<b>10. If Novak wins the French this year....</b></div>
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A great 'if' but a lucrative 'if'. With AO in bag, if Novak wins the French people will talk about the the most illustrious achievement in the sport of Tennis. The Calendar Slam - which means winning all four grand slams in a season. Rod Laver did it twice but nobody in the open era has ever. Roger came close for many years and failed. Rafa showed that form for a year or two but fell short. Djoker has the game but a Calendar Slam need some luck as well. Let's take them one at a time for now.</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-21546770392009458662015-01-23T13:35:00.002+05:302015-01-23T13:54:46.427+05:30Australian Open 2015: Federer bundled by Seppi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When Andreas Seppi of Italy stepped out on the Rod Laver arena today he must have presumably done some packing and have gotten the flight tickets for back home. Justly so. The odds were overwhelming. He was to face Roger Federer in the third round at the Australian open. Yeah, the usual adjectives (justifyingly though) - greatest, 17 time champion, crowd favourite, 4 time winner at AO, and blah blah. Add to that fact that Seppi has managed just one set in their previous ten meetings and Federer hasn't bowed out of Australia before semis for last 11 years. Geez!! Even Seppi himself wouldn't have put his own money on himself, only to now wonder what if he had.</div>
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Andreas Seppi went for it. You lose so much to one man you really lose something in your mind as well. It's either the belief to ever win or the fear to lose. Seppi went hard for his shots. He was solid on serve. When he took the first set, not many wondered any result different from the odds. Federer will pick up, Seppi will drop is the usual chatter. Federer never picked, Seppi never dropped. When Federer picked, Seppi maintained the pressure. At 5-3 in the second set tiebreak, the Italian unleashed himself to turn it around. At 2 sets to love, Federer was pinned down. Yet he had survived this 9 times before in his illustrious career. Federer did win the third, but the legs seem to hold him back in the fourth. At 33 years of age it isn't the same.</div>
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Shanking forehands and backhands has a great deal to do with positioning and Federer was just a bit short in that area. Federer clearly had a bad day in office. His serve which had bailed him on several occasions had 9 double faults today. When he had the opportunities he failed to produced the goods and take advantage. Equal credit to Andreas Seppi though for keep throwing punches at the Swiss giant. The last three points of the match in the fourth set tie break were a thing of enormous belief that Seppi was playing with. Federer had the fourth set on his racket to force a decider when Seppi took three to wrap it up. </div>
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The scoreline read 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 for the winner. Federer must be wondering he only needed those two breakers and he would be doing the winners press conference. So many times he has turned around matches like these. Seppi can feel the same. Yet, today is different. The winner tonight is from the other side of the Alps and deservedly so. When Federer patted Seppi on the back at the net, he knew the guy had to topple the baggage of last 10 losses to make it happen. Who knows about mental fortitude better than a 17 time champion.</div>
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For winning is a matter of trying, no matter the losses incurred. For putting oneself in a position to try an 11th time is a matter of courage and then who knows, you may defy the odds. For odds are nothing but a piece of history and on a today of fresh fight they can be yours to defy.</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-48126475121054585452014-07-01T22:57:00.001+05:302014-07-01T23:12:15.652+05:30Why Nick Kyrgios needs a special mention?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Nick Kyrgios. Tennis player. Doesn't ring a bell? </div>
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Well he's just 19 yr old teenager from Canberra, Australia who has got a wildcard from the All England Club to play at Wimbledon 2014. And in what way he has put that wildcard to use?</div>
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As of now, he is involved in a gruelling fight with one of the all time greats Mr. Nadal on a jam packed Centre Court of Wimbledon. He'll most likely lose this fight since Rafa Nadal has made a name in tennis burying challengers. Yet, Nick Kyrgios has already won hearts of fans and pundits alike.</div>
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He won the first set over Nadal and lost the second. It'll most likely be over in four sets with his loss. Still looks like the Australian teenager is here to stay. Let's just look at a few things why he can be the future of Men's tennis.</div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">He's got this bullet of a serve using which he has piled over 20 aces on Rafa in the first two sets. Fast, accurate and consistent. The second serve also matches up to the reputation. Big Serve! Yes, we have heard that before - Isner, Raonic, Karlovic. So what?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The forehand has a lot of fire power when hit with abandon, as he usually does.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The backhand is more consistent and solid shot for Kyrgios and he can do some damage from that front as well.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The court movement is remarkable, even more considering he is 6 ft 4 inches.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">However, the greatest asset is his attitude. That's what makes a Champion a mere talented player and vice versa. He seem to thrive under pressure, in front of a large audience to showcase some of his talents. For instance, he doesn't seem to belt under the overwhelming presence of Nadal on the other side at the Wimbledon Centre Court; his first. He shows his frustration, but moves on before the next point. And above all, he believes he can go toe to toe with the top guys.</li>
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Despite all that - as John McEnroe mentioned, "he's a work in progress". He may not start winning them all at once. He is still lean, he'll gain muscle. It's hard to believe how his serve can still improve! His forehand will get a lot more lethal and accurate; the backhand more venomous. And he might just learn to volley a little bit too. For now, lasting for 5 tough sets would be tough for him but he'll learn to do that with a few more years. Over and above the skill, he's also a delight to watch. Plays quick, energizes the crowd and has a tough mental forte at just 19. </div>
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If he stays fit the tennis world is going to talk a lot about him, beginning with Rafael Nadal in today's post match conference. Nick Kyrgios is one for the future!<br />
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<i>Edit: Nick isn't going down to Rafa in four at least. Will he in five?</i></div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-28029391814984228962014-04-03T21:45:00.002+05:302014-04-03T21:45:57.955+05:30Topsy Turvy at the Top of Men's Tennis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The state of utter confusion at the helm of Men's tennis. No Stan Wawrinka is not the World No.1 and David Ferrer is not beating the shit out of Rafael Nadal, yet there is a lot of cat and mouse chase and games happening at the top. With one Grand Slam down and US hard court swing dusted, lots have happened that will define the clay play. </div>
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Let's first feel for the Brit who arrived as the Messiah for Grand Slam thirsty British Men's Tennis and ended the epic draught since almost the dinosaur era. Thanks to Ivan Lendl. Andy Murray got a back surgery at the end of last year and was just planning to make a solid run against the top opponents when Lendl decided to leave. Shocking and breaking. This was one of the most rewarding player-coach relation recently and it's sad to see this happen. Andy has now slipped to 8th in the rankings and the climb without Lendl will undoubtedly put a stress on his already hurting back. No titles so far this year for Muzz and with clay around not much hope for the recent future.</div>
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Yet Andy is fit and playing on the tour and that could be a bigger blessing than anything else if you look only as far a Juan Martin Del Potro. 2009 US Open Champion - blasting away Nadal and Federer in consecutive matches - the next big thing - lost 2010 to a wrist injury and is out again for the same surgery in his other hand. Poor thing. Just to say that he being in the mix makes things much more exciting than otherwise. Wishing him luck, hope he returns sooner than later.</div>
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The breakthrough of Stan Wawrinka in the ranks of Grand Slam title holders was credited to the back spasm of Rafael 'chasing his 14th crown' Nadal. Those who have seen the first set and a half of that Final will give him a bit more credit. Unsurprisingly, great endeavours can easily lead to lethargy and slump. At the US Hard Courts Stan wasn't the same man as he was down under. He is the No.1 Swiss player now which is a lot to say while a certain 'RF' is still hanging around. Stan has to be hungry again and up his mojo if he wants to even stay where he is.</div>
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With that, let's talk about a happy go lucky man who also happens to be 'a legend already from some time'. Yes the ageing, declining, losing his GOAT status to a Spanish bull - Federer. What makes him so 'happy go lucky' if he isn't what he once was. Fit again at almost 33, the back problems of last year gone, a new stick working better and a new coach, a childhood idol sitting in the box. To top that, two 4 year old twin daughters and a once again expecting wife can be also be seen when he plays. With virtually a lot less points to defend this year than usual, an upward climb is what many are expecting. From slipping to 8th and returning to top four post AO, not bad. Still Fed beating Nole to grab an ATP 500 was a tad bit soured for him by losing to Nole in ATP 1000 Final and surrendering a comfortable lead to Kei Nishikori in another. He is better than last year but not until Grass should we come to expect anything really remarkable, if at all. Except for Kryptonite Rafa, Fed can run deep into the clay season as well.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUwVclNMbA2pxpTuBJ8x0Uba8Kq2cI_znTQ08D2ELsnTqbkTdyeDP59EhCNxJwEGPGVLW1DIdQ9KRy16vuORK5gHfbEPIfHYlKB5OV-AhinRREnkA1Lpsr6MQIPNSTLoCDtFA8ghPwK2I/s1600/Nice-Thought-of-Djokovic-and-Fedrar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUwVclNMbA2pxpTuBJ8x0Uba8Kq2cI_znTQ08D2ELsnTqbkTdyeDP59EhCNxJwEGPGVLW1DIdQ9KRy16vuORK5gHfbEPIfHYlKB5OV-AhinRREnkA1Lpsr6MQIPNSTLoCDtFA8ghPwK2I/s1600/Nice-Thought-of-Djokovic-and-Fedrar.jpg" height="272" width="400" /></a></div>
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That brings us to our beloved top two seeds Rafa and Nole who are so like Tom and Jerry for some time now. Just as we see and assume one player dominating the other, we also see the other turning on the tables and bounce back from the dead. Rafa rampaged last year, torn down Nole's dream of winning at French clay, beat him hands down at his favoured US Open hard courts, snatched the No. 1 ranking from him and it seemed Rafa had solved Nole. The ugly memories of 7 consecutive losses to Novak and the potential threat to clay dominance seemed like another lifetime. Rafa has found the solution to Djokovic's most dangerous weapon against him - the backhand down the line - with his own forehand bullets down the line. And just when that seemed enough, Djokovic - having lost all (metaphorically) - shed all his inhibitions and came out on top of Nadal in Beijing, World Tour Finals and Miami. That and that too in straight sets. </div>
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This time Djokovic is targeting Nadal's forehand rather than the presumably weaker backhand. From the famed backhand down the line, its his backhand cross court that is hurting Nadal the most. Why so? Because Nadal stands closer to his backhand side to cover his slightly weaker shot and count himself to run down the forehands. Nole has thus ripped his cross court backhand, depriving Rafa of a split second and deriving errors from Nadal's long swing forehand. </div>
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With the trusted Marian Vajda in Djokovic's box he seems an assured player. The world is still wondering the reason of why they have to bear the sight of a grumpy, stuffed, more nervous than Nole himself - Boris 'the not so booming or beaming' Baker. How long we'll see! The Bull from Spain however still has the ever trusted, eternally aligned, the 'we' speaking Uncle Toni at his box but it's his game which hasn't been top notch. With even the organizers of Australian Open expecting him to grab his 14th GS and Pete Sampras flying all the way across the globe to do the honours, that loss (for whatever reason) must have hurt. While some would say he hasn't recovered physically from AO'14 but that seemingly is a lame argument. The next however is clay, and we all know who rules the roost there. The Greatest Clay Courter of All Time has some match-up issues to resolve but the red dirt is the perfect setting he can expect to turn the tables again.</div>
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*<b><i>FACT</i></b>: Match-ups mean a lot in Tennis. While Nadal easily scrapes aside Federer (on any surface these days), Nole gives him a terrible time. While a confident Novak can beat a confident Nadal more comfortably than a confident Federer - we know it's not just about who is a better player. While Nadal can exploit Federer's backhand as he wishes, no other player has been able to take much advantage of that. Djokovic's backhand doesn't hurt Federer as much as it hurts Nadal and Murray would be much happy to see Novak on the other side any day over Nadal.</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-48481188112827159072014-01-26T10:58:00.000+05:302014-01-26T10:58:56.395+05:30Rafa vs Stan: The Final Fight at Australian Open '14<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Pete Sampras was in the house at Rod Laver Arena watching the Federer-Nadal semifinal. He'll be staying for giving the Men's winners trophy this year. Anything significant? Pistol Pete post his retirement is not seen a lot in the box. He's enjoying his life away from Tennis. Still, he took an 18 hour flight on an invitation by Tennis Australia and we can only put two and two together to understand why he is here.</div>
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Last time he was seen watching was the final of Wimbledon 2009, where Federer was expected to make history by passing Pete. Today, Rafael Nadal is expected to match his record of staggering 14 Grand Slam titles. When Sampras retired in 2001, tennis experts believed that his record of 14 GS will hold for a long time to come. Unfortunately for him, just in about a dozen years, not one but two players have closed in/crossed his mark. In Wimby 2009 he watched an epic before giving the trophy, today he's least likely to witness anything of the sort.</div>
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No offense to Stanislas Wawrinka; he is a good man, a good player, the new Swiss No. 1, in great form currently but it is who he is facing makes this a one way affair. Welcome the Beast, Rafael Nadal, and this entire affair looks a mere formality before the trophy ceremony. </div>
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<b><i>Why Nadal will win? </i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6RoN6ay_OXc05dVMOGuC3zcBfHzUp82ueoCJBQJG8yPHnq4gzLpiJEh9YQAKhF-e43PlNYJGKAfDxMPj6T5l4hb0a6PIaLnZwRWtDnuD6XCSG71BiI2G95a16YF1y2T6QqvXqmMtg0s/s1600/rafa-nadal-nadal-stanislas-wawrinka-ao-2014-practice-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6RoN6ay_OXc05dVMOGuC3zcBfHzUp82ueoCJBQJG8yPHnq4gzLpiJEh9YQAKhF-e43PlNYJGKAfDxMPj6T5l4hb0a6PIaLnZwRWtDnuD6XCSG71BiI2G95a16YF1y2T6QqvXqmMtg0s/s1600/rafa-nadal-nadal-stanislas-wawrinka-ao-2014-practice-10.jpg" height="304" width="320" /></a></div>
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He is the biggest fighter the game has seen. Already cemented in the archives of Tennis, he has plenty left in his tank. He'll equal Pete Sampras' 14 titles if he wins today and will close the gap to only three from Federer. Enough motivation. About the game, he's playing as solid as ever and Wawrinka has zero experience at this level and is bound to be nervous. Rafa has lost only one set so far in the Quarters to Dimitrov before demolishing Federer. Nadal has never lost a Slam final to anybody named other than Djokovic or Federer. To top that, he holds a 12-0 lead in head to head vs Stan Wawrinka. And if all this is not enough, here comes another HUGE stat - <i>Wawrinka has not only lost his all 12 meetings against Rafa, he has never ever been allowed to win even a set! 26-0 in Sets Played!</i> </div>
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Let's all feel a bit for Stan here. Of all people, he'll face this guy in his first ever Grand Slam Final.</div>
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<b><i>What can Stan do?</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTMCgjVyxCx9H44y3ObwxwRPWHN62DbgLgiC_GxN0EwH8s0nbnsmVEPnM9dQ9K9XK5WiHt0bErhDuYPBhuRZv6bnF4ZLfp_7atgeuPtlb0ZaTKsyXSmZT3rGplozEACF1EGotji_AcH4/s1600/Wawrinka.jpg_274898881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTMCgjVyxCx9H44y3ObwxwRPWHN62DbgLgiC_GxN0EwH8s0nbnsmVEPnM9dQ9K9XK5WiHt0bErhDuYPBhuRZv6bnF4ZLfp_7atgeuPtlb0ZaTKsyXSmZT3rGplozEACF1EGotji_AcH4/s1600/Wawrinka.jpg_274898881.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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Justify his new nick name. Moving from 'Stan the Man', he is now called 'the Stanimal' - from the wild, beasty strokes that have punched holes through all his previous opponents. He'll need it much more than ever today. Stan can play with a heart of a fighter and give his best shot here. He has nothing to lose, absolutely nothing cause he has never won anything from Nadal. With no reputation to defend at this level, no odds favouring him, nobody expected to hold him to guilt if he fails to challenge Nadal - he should play freely, go for his shots and take it from there. It may still not be enough though!</div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Result - </i>Hopefully, Stan will win his first set against Rafa but the Spanish Bull will equal Pete Sampras today and will become the only player (third ever) after the Greats Rod Laver and Roy Emerson to win all four Grand Slams at least <i>TWICE</i>!</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-46056430790778177742014-01-24T13:47:00.002+05:302014-01-24T18:00:33.712+05:30Roger Rafa No.33: Battle for the Greatest of All Time?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It's the magical Maestro vs the brutal Bull, the scintillating shot-maker vs the relentless retriever, the beautiful one handed backhand vs the effective two handed backhand, the most graceful glider vs the alpha athlete; it's the suave Roger Federer vs the rugged Rafael Nadal once again...!</div>
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<b style="font-style: italic;">Federer and Nadal </b></div>
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As a teenager from Swiss mountains, Roger Federer was touted as the next big thing. In 2001 when he ousted the then Grand Slam leader Pete Sampras at his dominant Wimbledon grass, tennis pundits all around were speaking how good he is and how better he can be. Yet Federer made these people doubt themselves and took another two years to get his act together. Though once he arrived, he arrived like no other. He dominated the sport like no other. His style and elegance of movement was like no other. On grass and hard he was unbeatable, but on clay too he was no rookie like his famous predecessors. He was second best only to a bullish left hander from Spain. Federer is an artist at work and this artwork has taken him to a mightily dominant GS streak of 23 consecutive semi-finals and 36 consecutive quarter finals. At over 32 now, he is the Grand Slam leader with 17 titles, a 6 time year end championship winner and is widely considered the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) by many fans, pundits and players alike. Moreover, he isn't done.</div>
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While Federer was ascending, a child prodigy from the beaches of Majorca, Spain was also making waves. Rafael Nadal, coached by his uncle, a right hander playing with left, with an unorthodox whiplash of a forehand exposing bulging biceps and consequently raising eyebrows, was running around like a battery powered bunny beating players much more experienced than him. At 17, he beat Federer in their first meeting. At 19 Rafa was the French Open champion, in his first attempt and the first player ever to do so. In his heydays Rafa was considered by many as a clay court specialist and wasn't given much contention on hard courts and grass. Yet Nadal defies odds like no other. After years of being second best to Federer, he dethroned Federer from his beloved Wimbledon crown and the World No. 1 ranking. He went on to win all the Grand Slams initially thought to be beyond him. Still his brutal style of defensive retrieval is quite extreme and as a consequence his career has been marred with injuries. Yet at 27 yrs, he is a 13 time GS champion, almost God-like on Clay with 8 French Open Crowns (another first), already in the GOAT debate and has many years to add to it. </div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">The Rivalry</i></div>
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Roger and Rafa are five years apart in age. Technically in Tennis terms, that should not even be considered a rivalry. That's almost a next generation with a little bit of overlap between the two. Yet, Roger's late bloom and Rafa's early arrival has brought them together and gripped the tennis fans worldwide. Though there are other great match-ups in Djokovic-Nadal, Federer-Djokovic, Djokovic-Murray, Murray-Federer and Murray-Rafa but none like Roger and Rafa. Their contrasting demeanor's on court, contrasting styles of play and epic battles have captured imaginations beyond the usual. Statistically, it's lopsided. In past 32 meetings, Rafael Nadal came on top in 22. Nadal fans would say, "Rafa practically owns Federer." Federer hasn't defeated Nadal in Grand Slams since 2007 Wimbledon.<br />
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<b><i>The Match-Up</i></b></div>
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This is a clear tactical advantage that Nadal holds. Match-ups have nothing to do with the debate of Who is a better player. Some match-ups suit one player more, some are headaches for several reasons. Nadal's play of bludgeoning heavy forehands to Federer's one handed backhand is one ploy that almost never fails to work on surface that have high bounce. It works on most of the courts around these days except for indoors and a handful of fast hard courts. To Roger's Superman, Rafa Nadal is a Kryptonite. Federer may fight no matter how strongly, he hasn't been able to solve this puzzle. Nadal is relentless in his ploy of forehand to backhand, Federer is a craftier who gets bored out of lack of options. Mentally, Nadal has a slight edge over Roger for the simple reason of H2H advantage build early on. If you win against someone touted as GOAT, and you beat him two times out of three, well confidence is a natural then. Yet head to head only gives the result of when two players played against each other (not how many times the one fails to meet the other), not the surfaces, conditions of play, levels of fitness/form of players, age of players, style and is therefore not the most objective indicator.</div>
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<b><i>What's the hype all about when Nadal wins mostly?</i></b></div>
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Well, logically not much sense. Yet, Tennis matches are not won or lost on logic. Otherwise, Novak Djokovic would have been waiting in Finals and not a eighth seed Stanislas Wawrinka. </div>
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Even when Rafael Nadal is as solid as possible since his return from injury last year, has won 2 slams out of 3 since his return last year, has never lost to Federer at the Australian Open; when Roger is now old in tennis terms, only World No. 6, has had a dismal 2013, has lost last 5 meetings to Nadal; still all hope of a great match is not lost. Federer but looks rejuvenated. He is serving well and moving well. He has traversed a tough draw. Yet, he has done so before and fallen to Nadal in Grand Slams.</div>
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Speculations can go either ways but it is the heart with which Champions fight is to be wished for and watched. Even after Nadal threatening to take Federer's place in the history, Federer has not left the game after losing close matches (a la Bjorn Borg). He knows he is way past his prime but loves playing and wants to fight. He comes back again and again to reach the stages where the two can contest. It might hurt Federer a lot to lose against Nadal but he keeps on doing what best he can do, bounce back and fight again. Taking out clay from equation, even the H2H does not look lopsided. It's almost even. Even footing against a five years younger opponent who is a bad match-up and who himself is one of the Greatest Ever, is to take a lot of heart from. And some inspiration can be drawn from the history this match is going to make for future records.</div>
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Today, one of them will stop the other from more glory but not without some serious resistance. This is legends fighting once again, this one is for ages and this one is not to to be missed!</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-23358739096209863552014-01-21T18:59:00.000+05:302014-01-21T18:59:04.001+05:30Crashing Seeds at AO'14...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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First, a not 100% Serena to Ana Ivanovic, then Maria Sharapova to an inspired Cibulkova, the top seeds Brian Brothers in doubles and today Novak Djokovic goes out to a Swiss who isn't even the famous one. Stan Wawrinka stood toe to toe with Novak Djokovic like last year but this year he did one better. He won the hearts last year and he grabbed the match this year. </div>
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Seeing these upsets, the second round exit of Del Potro seem a long long time ago. He was scheduled to meet Rafa Nadal in the Quarters but will instead be replaced by a very talented Bulgarian in Grigor Dimitrov. I guess Nadal won't mind that replacement. However good, talented, future potential the 'baby Fed' may be; he is yet to prove himself at a GS level and Nadal is the ultimate challenge to have. Grigor may cause problems but taking the match in the best of five is unlikely.</div>
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Speculations at the time of the draw have fallen apart. How easy was Djokovic's draw to negotiate and how tough was Nadal, Murray and Federer's was the prime talk. Djokovic goes and either Stan Wawrinka or Tomas Berdych will be there in the Australian Open Final this year. Surely, Nadal has a huge advantage now. He is expected to outclass Dimitrov and wait for Murray and Federer to reduce each other to pieces before whosoever wins meets him in a battered state. Even otherwise, he will be favoured against an aging Roger Federer (whom he pretty much own these days) and Andy 'not so long ago injured' Murray (also owned by Rafa in Grand Slams).</div>
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Nadal might be the favourite with Novak gone but it ain't over till it's over. Nobody from Murray, Federer, Berdych, Wawrinka and Dimitrov can be discounted. They will all do their best but whose best is enough to hold the trophy this year, is to be seen.</div>
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Murray seems fit and recovered. He has lost just one set and seem to have plenty of reserves. However, a surprise development for many could be the easy win of Roger Federer over Jo Wilfried Tsonga. The famous and crowd favorite Swiss was in ominous form in his dismantling of the very dangerous Tsonga. The fickleness of Tennis pundits is such that he is even favored slightly over Murray in the Quarters tomorrow. Yet to make an impact Roger has to pass through a very tough draw, and guess what, if he fails to reach the AO finals this year Stan Wawrinka will overtake him as the No. 1 Swiss player. For that, Murray and then most probably Nadal has to be taken out. So no kindness here for One of the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), no sitting on past laurels, no aura of fear in the opponents... if he wants to do it he has to do it the hard way. Positives are that he seemed fit, back issues are not bothering, the new racquet seem to look more familiar and tactics with Stefan Edberg around are quite aggressive.</div>
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Murray has beaten Federer last year at AO but not before Federer took enough out of him and he couldn't challenge Novak as much as he would have liked. So, what would this year's theme would be if the winner is one of the following:</div>
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1. Tomas Berdych/Stanislas Wawrinka/Grigor Dimitrov - A First Time Champion/ Finally Arrived at the GS stage</div>
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2. Rafael Nadal - Strengthening the case of GOAT/Equaling Pete Sampras and only second behind Federer/Only player since Rod Laver and Roy Emerson to win twice at each GS</div>
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3. Andy Murray - Back with a Bang/ A dream return - a la Nadal/ Threat for the Year</div>
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4. Roger Federer - Return of the Champion/ Undisputed GOAT/ He isn't going nowhere</div>
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Plenty to watch out for yourselves in the last five days at Melbourne Park. For tomorrow, it's the following:</div>
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1. Rafael Nadal vs Grigor Dimitrov - Last Day Match; Around 9 AM IST</div>
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2. Roger Federer vs Andy Murray - Night Match; 2 PM IST</div>
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Have Fun!</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-16769106454170872022014-01-06T23:46:00.000+05:302014-01-06T23:46:16.486+05:30New Year, New Season...New Champions?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A new year comes with new hopes and fresh determination. Since the new tennis season has already begun, and as the wise old saying goes, "well begun is half done", the players in the top tennis fraternity have already gotten off the blocks. The end of 2013 was only a beginning for what to expect in 2014, and to respond to the challenge of either to stay on top or to fight the odds to get there.</div>
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Speaking of ladies first, Serena Williams was and still is, almost unbeatable. The bigger the tournament, the less likely she is to lose. She is the one and only contender in the ladies section and with due respect, rest all are only challengers - and ironically even they don't seem to pose any kind of challenge. As if the bulldozing of 2013 was not enough to cement this fact, the younger Williams started the year 2014 by comfortably sweeping the field at the ATP 250 Brisbane International. And the field was full too. Serena overcame Maria Sharapova in the Semi's and Victoria Azarenka in the Finals with consummate ease in straight sets. Well, if these two cannot push her any significantly, God knows who can. Williams with 17 GS titles, and in her 20th year since turning pro, is gunning for more GS glory to overcome Martina Navaratilova (18) and Chris Evert (18), and to stand in the same stead of Steffi Graf (22) and Margret Court (24). Though Azarenka seemingly push her many a times, she has not yet found any winning formula. Maria, on the other hand, has just suffered her 14 consecutive defeat at the hand of Williams to make the pro tennis look childishly lopsided. She can only try. As of now, there seems to be no stopping her and if anybody other than her wins the Aussie Open, that in itself can be called a major shock. But actually, that's where a lot of glory lie.</div>
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In the ATP world, no man is as happy as Ms. Williams. Yet, many more fancy their chances than Maria and Vika. The resurgence of Rafael Nadal and dethroning of Novak Djokovic from World No. 1 has kind of renewed their rivalry once again. Djokovic has retained a 'Nadal-less' Australian Open but could not get his hands on the French (courtesy Nadal), nor Wimbledon (courtesy Murray) and faced a beat-down at his favourite Arthur Ashe arena, again by Nadal. Of course, some of the credit in these loses also goes to the lack of hunger and tentativeness Novak showed. Nadal surely is way too happy to have come back in a fairytale fashion (with steroid usage exclamations surrounding him), having one of the best years he has had in his decade long career. Rafa, with 13 titles, is now chasing Federer in the number of GS titles and the ever argued claim of best ever, and for that Novak is his biggest hurdle. But, Rafa has started 2014 by winning the Qatar Open and coming on top of some hard fought matches. Andy Murray seemed to come around for good last year after winning his 2nd GS title and 1st Wimbledon, but it was not to be. He could not retain the same motivation at the US Open and missed the last part of the season with a lingering back surgery. He returned in Doha as the second seed to Nadal, but found himself dumped in the second round by Florian Mayer. So, his level is still uncertain and he does not seem likely to give a Nadal-esque performance post injury. Djokovic, on the other hand, is firing on all cylinders post USO. He went undefeated post US Open and defeated Nadal twice; also extending Nadal's wait for the elusive Year End trophy to at least one more year.</div>
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The loss of US Open final has seemingly got Djokovic out of a deep slumber. His pride is hurt and he seem to be doing whatever he can to reach the summit again and hopefully to stay longer this time. In an unconventional and surprising move, Djokovic has signed former star Boris Becker as his new Head Coach, and one can definitely say that it is a weird move. Becker has so far zero experience at pro level coaching and was sitting in the commentary box post retirement. Nole's former coach Marian Vajda is retained for few not so important tournaments, when he seems to be doing perfectly well for Djokovic ever since turning pro. Yet, one thing is clear that Novak is shaking things up and getting out of his comfort zone to achieve greater goals this year. Aussie Open is the place where both Nole and Rafa would want to start by stamping their authorities and gain an advantage over the other for the rest of the year.</div>
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And well, it may be for the first time since 2003 that Roger Federer is not discussed in the list of possible contenders at the start of the year. Still a World No. 6, yet he seems to be on an unending slide. He has nothing to prove and yet he wishes to contest on. Federer had a significantly poor 2013 by his lofty standards and one cannot see how it can go worse in 2014. Federer also like Novak, though both are in very different phases of their careers, is shaking things up a lot to get his hands on a few more trophies and Grand Slams, if possible. He has severed ties with coach Paul Annacone and is currently working with Stefen Edberg, his childhood idol, on a trial basis. Moreover, he has committed to the new Wilson 98" racquet that he tried after Wimbledon last year, and will play with that stick henceforth. At over 32, Roger Federer retains his class and elegance for short spans and patches but does not seem to have the same feet movement and pin point precision of his prime. He lost the Brisbane Final yesterday to Lleyton Hewitt, a former champion but ranked 60 now and is also aged 32. Despite all that, he will be around this year and Wimbledon will be his best chance to rise both in confidence and number of GS titles. All said and done, we might just be watching the last days of another legend and that has to be savoured while it lasts.</div>
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Hopefully, Tennis this year will move ahead with the Stephens, Robsons, Del Potros, Gulbis', Janowiczs, Raonics, Dimitrovs and unheard names to topple the reigning order and to take the game to ever new heights. With the hope of New Year, the longing to see a New Season, to watch the tacticians in the New Coaches, to follow the battles reaching New Levels, let us join in the fun. </div>
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Happy New Year 2014!</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-56986644486852094342013-09-11T14:52:00.000+05:302013-09-11T15:01:33.615+05:30US Open '13 - Victories and their Implications!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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With the US Open the Grand Slam drama is over for the year. Though the tennis season still goes on for some more prestigious prizes to bag, but the stage will only be a bit lesser as compared. Even amidst quite straightforward and predictable results over the fortnight, the US Open leaves us with a lot to ponder. </div>
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Most of the tennis pundits predicted Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams for the title and both of them did not disappoint. Unlike in Wimbledon '13, where both Rafa and Serena fail to meet the expectations of wise men and lost early. Of course, predicting isn't rocket science - everybody just goes with a bit of history and flow of current form and thankfully for the pundits, tennis champions are generally very consistent these days. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8G_4WdHZXTPzsrsY0kYs95RncPuoEv07FLdYsGVjz_DbPT8heU7R_XCh41djKfxxy1cpHOgIQFtbaW1IYmQ7xsch4XZjEltl8vJTo-cVyFJ9FFQd4TzCDXIpAhT57DSwSCUbRKRcYPTg/s1600/nadal-y-serena-williams-durante-la-presentacion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8G_4WdHZXTPzsrsY0kYs95RncPuoEv07FLdYsGVjz_DbPT8heU7R_XCh41djKfxxy1cpHOgIQFtbaW1IYmQ7xsch4XZjEltl8vJTo-cVyFJ9FFQd4TzCDXIpAhT57DSwSCUbRKRcYPTg/s640/nadal-y-serena-williams-durante-la-presentacion.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rafa & Serena - Heating up the Greatest of All Time Debate!</td></tr>
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Serena Williams is dominating the women's tour like anything. Yet, the first two slams of the year somehow slipped her grasp under inspired challengers. She wanted this second slam and badly. She run through the first six rounds with minimum fuss to meet Vika in the final. Serena was the favourite but she had to really get into a dogfight before clinching the trophy. Victoria Azarenka is no Serena Williams. Her arsenal is not so wide and lethal. But she is a fierce competitor and moreover, she is not afraid of Serena. Vika has a heart of a lion and when everybody (including Williams) thought that she is done, she fought her way back in that final. By just not going away no matter what, she made Serena suffer, berate herself, even cry and eventually bring out her best to win. All credit to Williams for fending off this fightback and win 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-1.</div>
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Unlike Sharapova, who despite being in the top 3 consistently cannot hold a candle to Serena in their encounters and just fades away without a fight, Azarenka brings her best against Serena. Till now, it has not been enough to topple Serena in Grand Slams but it can now be said that the only WTA player who can consistently challenge (if not defeat) Serena is Azarenka. Like Vika said in her post-match conference, "I can't wait to face her again"; well neither can we.</div>
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When Rafael Nadal missed 7 months from injury, people said he will not win another slam outside his beloved clay. When he won back to back titles in Montreal and Cincinnati before US Open, people made him the favourite to win the slam. No wonder, everybody goes with the flow. Like Serena, Nadal also wasn't really challenged en route to the final. The anticipated and expectedly tough Quarter Final against Roger Federer never happened, as Federer faltered his end of bargain to reach there. Yet, when Novak Djokovic stood across the net in the final everybody knew it wouldn't be easy for Rafa. But Nole is nowhere close to his 2011 form and he looked not so confident in the entire match. Nadal was the more determined, more consistent and more hungry player of the two and he came out on top in four sets. The 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 scoreline had only the third set which could have gone both ways. The rest did not have that great a drama. Minus the purple patch of form that Djokovic hit in the late second and early third set, it was all Rafael Nadal's day. Djokovic still remains world no.1 but only...just. Most likely, by the year end the World No. 1 ranking would have Nadal's name written against it.</div>
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Things aren't so rosy beneath the top two's of the world on the ATP tour. Andy Murray's meek loss can be easily attributed to an inspired Stan Wawrinka but Murray needs to revisit his hunger after winning US Open and Wimbledon titles. He doesn't seem as desperate as he was and the field is so tough that any slight lack in motivation could be a lethal blow in fighting for big prizes. Roger Federer surely doesn't lack motivation like Andy. In fact, it seems that's the only thing he has as of now. He is lacking in confidence and at 32 age of course is not helping. He got steam rolled by Tommy Robredo who has never won against him in 10 previous meetings. With the current rank being 6, it will take a massive effort from Federer to bounce back at the top of the table. Yet, it's not wise to count against him like experts did after 2009 Aussie Open and a major-less 2011 season.</div>
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And more disappointingly, none of the younger lot like Raonic, Janowicz, Del Potro, Gulbis or anybody for that matter showed any promising signs to break the stranglehold of few people at the top. Not yet!</div>
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Interestingly, the winning of Serena and Rafa has heated up the debate of the Greatest of All Time once more. They both surely are already One of the Greatest and will go down in history. But somehow this non-objective, superficial debate has many participants in both spectators and experts. Serena Williams at 17 Grand Slam titles is sure to get ahead of Chris Evert & Martina Navaratilova at 18 Slams and might even challenge Steffi Graf's 22. Rafael Nadal with 13 Grand Slams is breathing right at Sampras' neck and even Federer's 17 seem very much gettable. More so, with Roger Federer in no seeming possibility of adding on to his current tally, Nadal will definitely make a run at it hoping his knees to last.</div>
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As of now, both Champions of US Open '13 will go down as all time greats but whether they'll be the Greatest in the Grand Slam tally is what we'll see. What we learned till now is - Serena Williams is undoubtedly the most dominant player at the WTA tour and Rafael Nadal just doesn't know how to give up; and he definitely is among the greatest fighters in the history of tennis.<br />
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<i>Additional Note: </i>In the not so popular doubles matches, the Bryan Brother's Bob and Mike were coming of wins at all previous slams this year and were gunning for a calendar grand slam. Unfortunately, they couldn't get over Paes and Stepanek in the semi's and lost a rare opportunity. Yet, Bryan Brothers are surely one of the best Doubles pair the world of tennis has seen. Also, India's Leander Paes at 40 years won his 14th Doubles Slam and is now widely regarded as a doubles legend in his own right.</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-46297897184072974972013-08-16T19:14:00.001+05:302013-08-16T21:46:42.765+05:30The Good and the Bizarre at Cincinnati Tennis!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Like it or not, it's all happening in Cincinnati.</div>
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Marion Bartoli, the reigning Wimbledon Champion, has announced her retirement from professional tennis after her second round defeat at Cincinnati. She said the physical toll that game is taking on her is no longer bearable and after the high point at Wimby, the time seemed reasonable. She is about to turn 29 and any return prospects would not be too bright.</div>
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Seemingly, the motivation to keep going after the unexpected win at Wimbledon died and she found it best to leave on her career defining high. Her antics of relentless air swings, jumps, fist pumps and unique style of play will be missed on court. And what she will miss, with other things, is of course the opportunity to play the opening women's match at Wimbledon '14 as defending champion. She's done, most likely for good!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJWH5anh0ARvoAhNLL6y56GKwFRUkRhW0aKW_75vCebSRbWEqLnDnplTifwYBBPAeODy2LY2jOPvNVqBqpbo_TkMajk6Dq6xLHaFjfIn1x75K_q5z1hHEFyv50dZ-HbnXutv64UVxt384/s1600/Jimmy-Connors-12373.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJWH5anh0ARvoAhNLL6y56GKwFRUkRhW0aKW_75vCebSRbWEqLnDnplTifwYBBPAeODy2LY2jOPvNVqBqpbo_TkMajk6Dq6xLHaFjfIn1x75K_q5z1hHEFyv50dZ-HbnXutv64UVxt384/s200/Jimmy-Connors-12373.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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The highly anticipated pairing of Maria Sharapova with Jimmy Connors has come to a most abrupt halt. Yes, <span style="text-align: left;">Maria fired (literally) the legendary Connors after just one WTA match that resulted in her first round loss at Cincy. Well, they also practised a bit together but....it's also over. Talk about giving time to the relationship here. So the highest earning women player enters the US Open without a coach in box. That's some saving!</span></div>
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With all these, Federer returning to his small racket becomes no news at all.</div>
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Despite all this, there is some order still left in the tennis circuit. Serena Williams is still winning in Cincinnati. So are, Djokovic, Murray, Federer, Nadal and Del Potro. They have all moved into the Quarters where some potentially explosive face off's are awaiting for Friday.</div>
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(1) <b><i>Rafa vs Rog the 31st</i></b> - Yes, it comes back. For the first time at QF stage (could not happen at Wimby). Nadal in superb touch. Federer really struggling. Odds not so good anyway in favour of Roger. Hope it becomes one of the 2005-2009 Fed-Nad matches that defines their rivalry. </div>
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If you want to watch, it's 4.30 AM by IST on Saturday. Need some fire to get up and see.</div>
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(2) <i style="font-weight: bold;">Azarenka vs Wozniacki - </i>Both former World No. 1's. Baseline rallies to expect and lots to prove in this contest. And yes, two gorgeous girls in one match too.</div>
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(3) <i style="font-weight: bold;">Djokovic vs Isner - </i>A resurgent John Isner (normal for American male players in US Swing) dispatches Milos Raonic to meet World No. 1. Serve vs return contest; could really get interesting and might prove to be even better than the first two encounters.</div>
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(4) <i style="font-weight: bold;">Murray vs Berdych - </i>Only if the Berd comes to the party in form. He is way too off and on. If on, dangerous and can win; if off, well, routine win for Muzz. Murray of course will be consistent.</div>
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Enough on the platter for one day, eh?</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-58039726402022794862013-08-14T13:50:00.000+05:302013-08-14T13:50:00.975+05:30Cincinnati: Gearing up for the US Open!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjneBJQMjFB6Ifrvb2Fkn1OqRzjSwQDaUvZlCvJkgsU8vhO7EyZZTaOF6oO7rEOznQtUee-f3jklkJ3D7SCAh2fOgR1EuZ80HwRpWL2fLUj1mPwY5OepQuSgtoF0AdFiVOHXo8FBOfGprw/s1600/headercinnthread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjneBJQMjFB6Ifrvb2Fkn1OqRzjSwQDaUvZlCvJkgsU8vhO7EyZZTaOF6oO7rEOznQtUee-f3jklkJ3D7SCAh2fOgR1EuZ80HwRpWL2fLUj1mPwY5OepQuSgtoF0AdFiVOHXo8FBOfGprw/s400/headercinnthread.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The tennis bandwagon is round the corner for the final Grand Slam of the year. After crossing Montreal, Canada with some great matches it is currently treading in Cincinnati with another Masters 1000 title for the taking.</div>
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But, it's not just the title - there's plenty more at stake. Ranking points, match practice before the US Open, a place to be the top 8 in order to qualify for World Tour Finals, psychological edge over the rivals and of course, the reputations. All the big names are present in the Cincinnati draw, fine tuning their preparations for the coming Slam. Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, the notable absentees from Montreal Canada due to injuries, are back in the mix. </div>
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Though these tournaments are lesser in stature compared to Grand Slams and best of three in nature, their importance cannot be undermined in the least. They may not be the clear indicators of possible winners in the coming Slam but they give a fair idea of the current form and mindset of the players. So far in the women's draw, the top seed and prime pick of all experts, Serena Williams continues to roll. She quite easily swept the field to get her hands on the title in Montreal and there is no seemingly visible obstacle to her run at Cincinnati and the US Open. Maria Sharapova, with Jimmy Connors in her box, has lost the opening round match to Sloane Stephens in Cincinnati. That coupled with the absence in Montreal, is not the best way she would like to get into the Grand Slam.</div>
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In the men's section also, the winner at Montreal, Rafael Nadal is playing some of his best tennis on the hardcourts. His win over Novak Djokovic in the semis at Montreal and the title has made people forget his first round loss at Wimbledon and he suddenly seems to be leading the pack. Even otherwise, with the exception of Wimbledon, he has played flawless since his return from injury in February this year.</div>
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As Nadal returned more aggressively from the baseline returning to being World No 3, Novak Djokovic continue to lose the stranglehold he had on Nadal in 2011. He need to find some answers here at Cincy to give himself a better chance at the US Open. Though both Djokovic and Murray lost before the finals in Montreal, Murray is freshly confident from his Wimbledon win. Having said that, he has always struggled against Nadal in the past and hasn't got a chance to face off his nemesis for quite a long time now. He'll have to confront that question sooner or later.</div>
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The resurgent Juan Martin Del Potro, victimized by losing a key point (and the match) to Raonic's dishonesty and Chair Umpire's miss, is better than last year but is yet to go the distance on holding the trophies. He seem to lose just when everybody starts taking him seriously to threaten the quartet and win his first Masters 1000. Yet, he's up there with the big four.</div>
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While, Del Potro is moving up, Roger Federer is struggling to hold on to even his current fifth spot. Being a defending champion at Cincinnati, if he doesn't reach the Semi's here he'll be falling even further deteriorating his Grand Slam chances even further with tricky draws. To top the cherry of his problems, a possible Nadal clash in the Quarter Final awaits him should both reach there. Even without looking at his record against Rafa, Federer's current form saw him losing to 3 players outside of top 50 at Wimbledon, Hamburg and Gstaad while the problematic back made him sit out Montreal altogether.</div>
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With all this to deal with at once, Roger Federer's experimentation with a 98" Wilson prototype is officially over - at least for now. He's back in Cincy with the 90" Wilson pro staff wand and has confirmed to keep it till the US Open. Having won the US Open five times in a row, he hasn't held it for the last four years. At 32, the odds are stacked against him.</div>
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At Cincy, each of the players are keen to be as ready as possible giving themselves the best chance to come out on the top. While Serena is far ahead in the WTA contenders race; at the ATP Nadal, Murray and Djokovic, in that order, are going strong with Del Potro and Federer lurking pretty far behind.</div>
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Will this week supplement us with any possible alterations in this scheme of things? Watch it out for yourself!</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-6630903742758044662013-07-23T14:28:00.001+05:302013-07-23T14:36:50.257+05:30Between the Wimbledon and the US Open!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In tennis, there is practically no off season. But there are peaks and then not so happening times. Grand Slams of course are the ones where the greatest drama lies and right now we are somewhat in the middle of two Grand Slams; so one may call it a lull.</div>
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Wimbledon 2013 had all the ingredients like upsets, close matches, emotional new champions leading to a perfect recipe for an unpredictable two weeks of play. As Marion Bartoli and Andy Murray lifted the trophy's at the Centre Court and as former champions tumbled on course, a peek of the new world of tennis was there. Going forward, the things only get more interesting.</div>
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That is why precisely the 'lull' we talked earlier is not really dull. There is lots that is happening in the world of tennis even in these times, and players are doing their best to get ready for the US Open at the end of August. Let's have a glimpse of the current events.</div>
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The run up to the US Open is still nearly two weeks away when two back to back Masters 1000 tournaments are scheduled. Before this, you will seldom find a top four or five player in any of the lesser tournaments. As Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne acknowledges many a times, "Rest is a weapon, don't forget that." So, this is when the best players hone this weapon.</div>
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On the contrary this year, the frontrunners of major championships Serena Williams and Roger Federer are out on court, and that too on clay. Roger Federer is making the biggest waves in the off season for several reasons. He is currently World No. 5 and is in the middle of a storm as far his form is concerned; and to top that he is playing with a new racquet. Till now, he had been using a 90" square frame racket when his competitors in Nadal, Djokovic use a 100" sq frame and Murray a 98".</div>
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Federer played in Hamburg with a black framed Wilson prototype of 98 inch sq frame which is a huge shift in the racquet size. It's never easy for a tennis player to change his or her stick and even if they do, the shift is very small or gradual like adding weight to the head, changing strings, small upgrade/change in size. Considering this and that Roger Federer is already 32, the change is mammoth. Also, to let go of the wand that has won him 17 GS titles (more than anyone else on ATP) is a great 'let go'.</div>
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To add on to the mixed responses he was getting, he lost to Frederick Delbonis (another player ranked outside top 100) in the semis at Hamburg and now almost every nook and cranny of tennis is out with a piece of advice for one of the greatest player tennis has seen. Federer also hasn't committed yet to use this racket at the US Open and he'll make that decision after having some more feel at Gstaad and maybe at even the Masters 1000's.</div>
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A bigger racket is supposed to add on more power and pop to his shots while compromising on the precision somewhat. It is also supposed to give him more options to keep the ball in play while returning. One thing that comes out positive is that - Federer is still willing to play till Rio Olympics 2016 (as he said earlier) and his early loss at Wimbledon this year has not vanquished the flame. Rather, he's willing to do whatever it takes (Racquet, Play) to hang around. Right now, the critics and some fans alike are advising him to retire while on top, leaving his legacy intact. Roger Federer so far is defying all, and wants to keep playing for his love for the game, even if he slips in rankings.</div>
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Another great champion Serena Williams won the Swedish Open couple of days back to find back the lost confidence after losing to Sabine Lisicki at Wimbledon. She's good for now and will most likely be the favourite at USO. Serena's favourite bunny to beat, Maria Sharapova is also on the change road alike Federer. Maria though isn't playing due to hamstring but has let go of her former coach (with whom she has been on a good run winning the French last year, going deep in GS and holding rank 2 currently) and hired Jimmy Conners. Yeah, the legendary Jimmy Connors! The one who coached Andy Roddick when he took Federer to five sets in 2009 Wimby Final and looked like winning it all along...till he lost. Connors would hope to do for Maria what Lendl has done for Murray.</div>
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And talking of Andy Murray, his roller coaster ride has reached to the top and he's now not only a challenger - he's winning the big ones too. His earlier nemesis' Federer and Nadal are on the low and even Djokovic isn't right at the top. Murray is resting and enjoying his Wimbledon success and will return to play the tune ups for the US Open in the quest for defending his title.</div>
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Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are also on the rest mode for now (actually practising their butt out) to get ready for the US hard court challenge. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic is ready for sharing the nutrition tips in his book called 'Serve to Win' which is a 'nutrition based performance guide'. It'll be launched before the USO. It'll share how changing his diet in late 2010 made him a formidable player from 2011.<br />
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Rafa, the biggest loser of Djokovic's new diet is happy fishing, playing poker and playstation in his home town Majorca for now. It'll be interesting to see how Rafa's knees hold up on faster hard courts and how Nole finds the motivation to keep Nadal and Murray away from taking the top spot.</div>
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In the current scheme of things, Federer seem to really struggle against the top three guys; Rafa surely against Nole, and Nole against Murray to a great extent. Yet, that concludes nothing. And there is one more guy, who can potentially blast off anybody, and who is more lethal on the fast hard courts and who is also a Grand Slam Champion. Yes, Juan Martin Del Potro! </div>
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Del Potro fell short to Djokovic in the Wimbledon Semi but took enough out of him emotionally and physically to help Murray win easier than expected. Having said that, grass is his worst surface and US Open the most preferred. He's in good form and if he really wants to get back into the mix of top guys and the form of 2009; this probably is the best time and the best surface.</div>
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Federer is currently playing in his home town Gstaad and all the other big names return (well practised and rested) in the second week of August for the tune ups. The drama continues....!</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-80327080071703731902013-07-07T19:36:00.003+05:302013-07-07T19:38:48.613+05:30Wimbledon '13: The Grand Finale!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxwuMwKExpc-Djmep8Ub8IjiwFxYs3v91gOLh4PgFm1-V3TVkRMi3anUgqZi55gqIXoTyYQWq0uQBw1Gk-60kHbA7xBECuYVRBHnasV3FlVTL6uEHNQDJOy3XQdlHnhmCU1CrKZHzoME/s1600/_68584295_murray_djokovic_getty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxwuMwKExpc-Djmep8Ub8IjiwFxYs3v91gOLh4PgFm1-V3TVkRMi3anUgqZi55gqIXoTyYQWq0uQBw1Gk-60kHbA7xBECuYVRBHnasV3FlVTL6uEHNQDJOy3XQdlHnhmCU1CrKZHzoME/s640/_68584295_murray_djokovic_getty.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's time for the Men's Singles final at the Weirdest Wimbledon/Grand Slam we have seen in a while. Yet, the weirdness ends here. It's the top two seeds fighting for the right to hold the trophy. The final, does not have a Federer or Nadal in the final but it only shows that in current form Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are better than them and rightly hold the top rankings.</div>
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What to expect on Sunday? It's very very difficult to choose between these two. Nole and Muzz, as they are fondly called, are not just close in the rankings but similar in so many other aspects. They are separated by only a week in birth; they are both extremely extremely fit; they both have very similar styles of play; both like to stay at the back of the court and hit the ball hard, retrieve every ball, quickly turning defence to offence; they both practically have no 'weak spot' in the game; they have been playing each other since the age of 11 in Juniors knowing each others game like their own; they will both have their lovely girlfriends cheering up from their respective boxes, tense as ever; they have had some epic contests in the past on all surfaces - their matches almost always going the distance.... let me stop at this...phew!</div>
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In their Juniors, Murray was the one who started dominating earlier. As they turned pro, Djokovic handled the transition better and won his first Grand Slam 4 years before Murray. But now, Murray too has won one of his own at the US Open last year. Also, this late blooming of Murray can also be attributed to the humongous pressure and expectations he was under from a entire Great Britain. Andy has that monkey off his back now and he'll be playing freely with almost all of the crowd support behind him today. Novak sure is seasoned in these kind of moments, already having six Grand Slam singles titles under his belt and he won't be easy to put away at all.</div>
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Expecting all the possible celebs and royals today again at the Centre Court Royal Box; we're certain to have a long long match. Five sets maybe, but nonetheless lengthy in nature. I believe, for the first time in a Grand Slam encounter Nole and Muzz are on an equal footing in the combination of things. The only difference of GS titles 6 to 1 is nullified by the excessive crowd support and the fact that Muzz has his first by beating Nole and an Olympic Gold beating Federer. So, now he also knows how to do it.</div>
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A definite action packed match is on the cards, no matter who wins it. A few crucial points are going to make all the difference in the world. I don't want to make a pick on this one; it's so bloody damn close from how i see it. Yet, however difficult i may find it to bet against the ever consistent World No.1....maybe just, it's time for Britain to be happy! </div>
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<i>Pick: Murray in Five!</i></div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-26575687258817208742013-07-07T18:58:00.003+05:302013-07-07T18:58:36.423+05:30Marion Bartoli - the new Wimbledon Champion!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Wimbledon has a new women's champion and a first time Grand Slam winner, in Marion Bartoli. In spite of no big names being there, the final was like a wave of fresh air. Though, it wasn't any sort of an epic as Sabine Lisicki was extremely overwhelmed by the occasion. Marion Bartoli, surely benefited from her appearance in Wimbledon 2007 final where she lost to Venus Williams, took the game to her opponent with intense demeanour and shot making winning 6-1, 6-4 fending off a late fightback by Lisicki.</div>
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It was more like a blink and miss final yesterday. Many experts believed and favoured Sabine Lisicki to take up this title. That too had good reasons. Sabine Lisicki has been very consistent on grass; She has come out winning the tough three setters against quality players even while trailing; and her list of casualties on the way were opponents like Francesca Schiavone, Samantha Stosur, Serena Williams (all Grand Slam winners), Aga Radwanska (the world no. 4). On the opposite, Marion Bartoli hasn't faced a top ten opponent on her way to the Final and not even dropped a set.</div>
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Yet, Bartoli had a comfortable win. It's not about the speculations and how well one did before the Final but also the day itself that matters. Experience plays a big role at a big occasion and Baroli being there once purely made good use of Lisicki's jitters to finish the match much before she could settle herself down.</div>
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There were tears, on both ends, for different reasons. Marion Bartoli now is a Wimbledon Champion and Sabine Lisicki will surely give herself another shot at least on grass, as she's just 23 and has a lot of tennis up her sleeve. There is only one Champion but they are both winners in what they did this year at Wimbledon. Both of them can be proud of the fortnight they had at the All England Club.</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-2832223669190101732013-07-05T19:03:00.001+05:302013-07-05T19:07:58.198+05:30Men's Semifinals Wimbledon'13: Favourites vs Giants<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziawniaSy8qXvVXn-9DbGxjytqJia4fY6WnZE128PI5_g0lZ9txF6em8mgX57fQwsXS9a5AtECvgEVDP3WOVK7PDokZXYiy110XDhg-rL2d4lxu9lMoD71n2TIQyZplcw5AsENOOiBU4/s1600/Tennissemis_wimb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziawniaSy8qXvVXn-9DbGxjytqJia4fY6WnZE128PI5_g0lZ9txF6em8mgX57fQwsXS9a5AtECvgEVDP3WOVK7PDokZXYiy110XDhg-rL2d4lxu9lMoD71n2TIQyZplcw5AsENOOiBU4/s1600/Tennissemis_wimb.jpg" /></a></div>
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Wimbledon '13 is in its final lap. The Men's semifinals are already on at the Centre Court with Djokovic and Del Potro battling right now and Murray and Janowicz next. This Wimbledon has been very different from the Grand Slams we have been used to in the last 5 years or so. But in the Men's draw, at this stage, it doesn't seem that much turbulent.</div>
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The top two seeds are yet in the draw and on course to meet in the finals as per the seedings. But, who they are contesting the semifinals against is somewhat different. Djokovic playing Del Potro instead of David Ferrer in the semi's is very understandable considering the explosive nature of play the big giant has. Del Potro's win over Ferrer is no great surprise and would not even be called an upset by any standards. So, in this half we can say, we got what we were expecting, more or less.</div>
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The other half, has British hope Andy Murray as the top seed and one of the semi finalists. He has held is game and temper to come back from two sets to love down against the resurgent Fernando Verdasco. And he faces Polish Jerzy Janowicz, instead of a speculated Nadal or Federer here. The heavyweight bottom half has lightened up to quite a great extent with Federer Nadal going out early. Murray, for sure, is the biggest beneficiary here. Let's see what to expect today as they battle for a place in the finals.</div>
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<b><i>(1) Novak Djokovic vs Juan Martin Del Potro</i></b></div>
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The ever consistent World No. 1 has been meticulous in his run up to this point. He has fended off challengers like Tommy Haas and Tomas Berdych without even dropping a set. He knows he can win it, and he really wants it. But still, he would have been happier to see Ferrer on the other side than Del Potro, even if he's the favourite going in. Del Potro, has also done well and he's also here without dropping a set. He isn't in quite the form he was when he won US Open in 2009, smashing Nadal and overcoming Federer in consecutive matches, but he's nevertheless dangerous. Standing at 6'6", he's the sort of player who on his day can win over absolutely anybody...and yes, anybody it is. But he's also carrying an injured knee which did not hamper him much against Ferrer but as we all know, Djokovic is no Ferrer.</div>
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Djokovic will look to play consistent and move around Del Potro as much as possible. He'll also look to return well as JMDP has been serving very well this tournament. Del Potro will again have to serve extremely well (as Djokovic is the best returner we have) and fire his booming forehand to gain advantage.</div>
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Del Potro can in no way outplay Djokovic but he sure can out-hit anybody off the court. Only, if that rocket of a forehand is up and running today, he may just have a chance. Djokovic has advantage to get into rallies; Del Potro in finishing the point early.</div>
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<i>Pick: Djokovic in Five! -if Del Potro's knee holds.</i></div>
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<b><i>(2) Andy Murray vs Jerzy Janowicz</i></b></div>
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This seems like a no-contest to many. But, that surely isn't the case. Jerzy Janowicz might have benefited from not having to face Federer or Nadal but he's still come out as the best player in the quarter. He is not too popular but he has a lot of potential and whatever happens today, he's still most likely a future top 8 player. Janowicz stands at 6'8" and his serve is like a cannon down the barrel. Yet, he's not only all serve and no play. He has a very good forehand and a solid backhand to boast off. Despite all this, what he's facing is no petty task. Janowicz faces - (a) Andy Murray who's been a hell of a player (only improved further under the great Ivan Lendl); (b) who's seasoned for such big occasions and has won the US Open last year and the Olympics Gold to get the monkey off his back; (c) the overwhelming occasion of playing the Wimbledon Semifinals on the centre court with a lot of royalty and celebs to be expected; (d) the British crowd who wants Murray to win at any cost and who'll back him to the hilt.</div>
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Jerzy Janowicz has to hold his nerve and focus on his game (much easier said than done) and hope Andy Murray goes into the slump like he did against Verdasco. Murray needs to play solid and ride the support wave without thinking ahead about the Finals; and thank the Gods for giving him Jerzy instead of a more experienced player as expected.</div>
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<i>Pick: Murray in Four!</i> </div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-17969852203606772492013-07-01T20:55:00.000+05:302013-07-01T22:27:42.849+05:30Serena too bites the dust! - Wimbledon'13<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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No expert has picked anybody other than Serena Williams to lift the trophy at SW19 this year. She has been on a 34 match unbeaten run, has been far ahead of her competitors this year and was coming off a French Open victory recently. However, this Wimbledon hasn't been kind to these kind of statistics.</div>
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Come Sabine Lisicki, No. 23 ranked German from the lands of legendary Steffi Graf but nowhere close to Graf in terms of tennis success, and sweeps past the 16 time Grand Slam Champion Serena to reach the Quarter Finals this year. Lisicki still is no novice when it comes to play at the grass.</div>
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I like her game because she's aggressive, has a big serve and ground strokes and has been a Semi and Quarter Finalist in the past couple of years at Wimbledon. But that itself does not suffice to beat Serena Williams on the green courts where she is a five time champion.</div>
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But as we all know very well by now, Wimbledon '13 is different and unkind to past champions (Novak is still there). Lisicki caught Serena off guard with her power game to win the first set 6-2 in almost three quarters of an hour. Serena demolished Lisicki in the second 6 games to 1 in mere 27 minutes to ward off any hopes of the upset. Nobody thought otherwise when Serena went a break up in the third to lead 3-1. But, i guess, the upsets have raised the belief quotients of the underdogs like never before. Sabine Lisicki produced some scintillating 'boom boom' game of her own and romped off to take the set 6-4 and thus, the match.</div>
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She outplayed Williams in terms of hitting winners and saved a lot of break points (11 out of 16) while breaking 5 times in 8 opportunities. She did what nobody has done to Serena in last 34 matches...register a win!</div>
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But looking at the upset brigade this year, the next round results hasn't been anything close even when the opponents are no big guns. Steve Darcis after beating Nadal couldn't play due to a shoulder injury; Sergiy Stakhovsky coming from his win over Roger Federer gets straight setted by Jurgen Melzer and Sharapova conqueror De Brito lost to another unseeded player Karin Knapp in two sets.</div>
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One of the reasons for this is the emotional fatigue to overcome a champion, along with the attention and limelight that come along with it. It shows how great players become great. They do it day in and day out...never going away! Still, Sabine Lisicki will be looking to change this 'pattern' and go deep in the draw. Maybe, even make a title run. She sure has the game, but does she has it in the head? That is to be seen. That, in tennis, is the difference between a good player and a great player. That, is the difference between the top 8 player and a 100th ranked player.</div>
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For Serena, she sure joins the elite club this year, with Sharapova, Azarenka, Federer, Nadal and many more...unwillingly though!</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-56654012240724804772013-06-27T01:54:00.000+05:302013-06-27T02:26:51.413+05:30Federer Floored: Weird Wimbledon Wednesday...!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Rafael Nadal's first round loss on Monday was a huge upset. Federer though pushes him one down in that list with one of his own two days later!</div>
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Roger Federer! Such a loss, 10 years after his first triumph at All England Club though he came in as the defending champion. And guess, who has just tweeted in at Wimbledon tweets....? Andy Roddick. He says, "Well, this is very interesting." Yes, he was denied a lot by Federer but it's not to settle some score or so. Without Nadal and Federer within first two rounds any tournament will become interesting. It hasn't happened often in almost a decade.</div>
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Federer went out in four sets without being able to threaten his serve in any way. He only broke him once, but that was when he was himself down one in the fourth. He had chances, he had openings, but each time the door was shut by Sergiy Stakhovsky with a big serve or confident shot making. Sta...kho...whatever! Sergiy is 116 in the world, never gone beyond round 3 at any Grand Slam; but that is all history. Today, he is the winner over Federer and neither his own career history nor Federer's great past could do anything to stop him from taking on the glory. And like i said with Nadal, it's not about how bad Federer played but how well Sergiy played to defy him. He held on; solid & tough! It's for him to savour forever.</div>
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Not many believed Federer to go, even when it went to the fourth set tie-breaker; he has turned it around too many times at Slams before. In the wake of "oh no", "it can't be", "not possible", Federer went on to complete the shocker. Guess, with so many other things, it's a way of nature to tell all people that with time - everything shall pass. Nobody rules forever. Time catches up with you, no matter who you are!</div>
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I am not saying that Federer is all gone and will retire tomorrow. Most likely, he'll not. Most champions want to go out on a high and he can still have a last hurrah. But that is without denying the fact that he is not the player he once was, which is quite a natural phenomenon in sport with age. This ends the unmatched run of consistency (36 consecutive Grand Slam Quarter Finals) he has accumulated starting with Wimbledon 2004. In Nine Years, he never lost before Grand Slam Quarters. That is something!</div>
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We as people and as fans, we never want to lose our loved ones and never want good things to end in life. But it is also good in a way. It gives the opportunity for the next in line's to come and take the stage. I absolutely love this process of ageing and natural removal. Had Bradman not gone with time, a Tendulkar would never have emerged. Had Laver, Rosewell, Conners, Borg, McEnroe, Sampras and Agassi not gone, a Federer would not have raised the bar.</div>
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As a fan, i may feel bad in Federer's loss but i feel happy in what he has done in all the years before this loss. The accuracy of the serve, the elegance of the one handed backhand, the on court movement akin to a ballet dancer and the 'liquid whip' of the Forehand, which McEnroe termed as the Greatest Shot ever in Tennis are still around for some more time for all to enjoy. He may not win a lot, but the joy of watching the 'effortless' game will still be there.</div>
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Till Wimbledon 2003, critics and fans wondered if he'll ever do justice to his huge talent and fulfil his potential or will he be like so many other talents to never reach the heights. In 2013, that question is answered beyond reasonable imaginations and there could be more.</div>
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What's also interesting is now players like Darcis and Stakhovsky ranked way below are not getting bogged down by the might and aura of players like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray and are believing in themselves to win. That's a great sign. Sergiy Stakhovsky said today after defeating Federer, "With him, it's like you are playing against two players. One, as a player and two, is his aura. "Each upset gives a lot of hope to the underdogs and the results on Day 3 at Wimbledon 2013 attests to that. </div>
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Today Azarenka, Sharapova, Jankovic, Hewitt, Tsonga, Wozniacki, Ivanovic, Isner and Cilic were the top seeds to tumble along with the Big Rog. There were injuries to few, a lot many tumbles, few complaints about the courts and their slippery nature but upsets nevertheless. We'll come to see whether this weirdness will continue in the days to come or the contenders Nole, Muzz and Williams will be able to defy their lesser successful counterparts from more such upsets. </div>
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For some fans and tennis lovers, it's all over with Rafa, Rog, Maria and Vika....for the rest it's just beginning to get interesting!</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-58350800730668123622013-06-24T23:46:00.002+05:302013-06-24T23:54:13.645+05:30Rafael Nadal: Grass not so green!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It's over for Rafael Nadal at this year's Wimbledon. Yes! It is gonna take time to sink in. First round loss for the reigning French Open Champion. He went out in the second round last year to Lukas Rosol, the bad knees came into picture soon after, but he couldn't even make it to the second round this year.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3nSyQkxmVD49aK6G7LC6bdlqzZ9Lwqzncn6V0Jxaq40wjvy7x9dmTc1WImi7gGSl5peOKdQ8navCuGPZVyiwWCoK7IE1WzzyZY3fr_gCFUDNbbumVjT-DV0h1x15kwnQ6uhbhBcpcrQ/s1600/05-nadal-crop_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3nSyQkxmVD49aK6G7LC6bdlqzZ9Lwqzncn6V0Jxaq40wjvy7x9dmTc1WImi7gGSl5peOKdQ8navCuGPZVyiwWCoK7IE1WzzyZY3fr_gCFUDNbbumVjT-DV0h1x15kwnQ6uhbhBcpcrQ/s320/05-nadal-crop_7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There is a certain Steve Darcis (no we don't need to know him; he's ranked 135 in the world....35 behind Lukas Rosol also) to credit for that who served and volleyed (yes, you heard it right...some crazy people still do that) Rafael Nadal out of the grass courts of Wimbledon. And he did it in some style 7-6, 7-6, 6-4....a straight set win over the two time Wimbledon champion.</div>
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Darcis went for his shots, even after he missed them, he served well and moved ahead to the net even when he was passed by Nadal. Simple game plan, extremely well executed. He also held his nerve quite remarkably as he saw three set points went by in the second set tiebreaker. Steve Darcis held his serve in the third with the prospect of causing the biggest upset of this century, yet not letting it mess with his head. </div>
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And, for the people speculating on the reasons of Nadal's first round exit, i would like to give all the credit to Mr. Darcis for the way he played and held his nerve. But how can we complete any write up on Nadal without talking about his beloved knees. No we don't! He moved absolutely fine in the first two sets but yes, after the early break in the third set, he moved a bit hindered. That knee surely must have a nerve directly connected to Nadal's brain; maybe getting an 'upset alert'.</div>
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Nadal's is a great player, no doubt, with a troubled knee (factored in because of his grinding style of play), but giving the credit to the knee and talking too much about it after losses (Eg. Rosol, Soderling) does not do much good to his image. We'll see in the days to come, if all the blame will still be cast on to the poor knees. One has to feel for them, they take immense physical load and even the blame....phew!</div>
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Like i said, when i started writing about Wimbledon on this blog, Grass causes upsets. It suits attacking players. We have one.... a big one! The great prospect of a Roger-Rafa QF showdown is now 'poof' in the air but there is not much opening of the draw or anything. As long as the top three players are around in the draw, it's impossible for anybody else to rejoice.</div>
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Grass makes you look older and slower a bit earlier than the other surfaces; coz it's the fastest. When Sampras went out to a 19 year old Federer in 2001 at Wimbledon, his decline was registered. When Federer lost to Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon Quarter Finals in 2010, his decline was spoken of. Then Tsonga blasted off Federer next year making him look more vulnerable. Sampras never won Wimbledon after that loss to Federer; Federer has managed only one in three years after that Berdych loss.</div>
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Nadal has now had two upset losses here in two years. Is the curve bending downwards? We'll come to see that in the near future. But for sure that curve doesn't apply on the red clay. He can keep winning there for....what, another 8 years?</div>
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P.S. - Nobody will talk about it with so much focus on Nadal's shock exit but Mr. Defending Champ has romped off to a comfortable 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 win over Victor Hanescu. Ten years after his first Wimbledon crown, Roger Federer is still gunning for Major titles and at Wimbledon, he'll always have a chance. It's his territory!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtdNFannf3V2UN7XFUnFiKD3y_kotL4yBObJ9ON7VzsXf0ry4gkolFV3E4O165bT-SSt9Ai1cbFrcjfO59LeqUrBX_QBSNgX8h0ym7NKJImSrx78Og28GxQNQAuNU9Nu3Ru0S0bGiMrg/s1600/darcis-130624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtdNFannf3V2UN7XFUnFiKD3y_kotL4yBObJ9ON7VzsXf0ry4gkolFV3E4O165bT-SSt9Ai1cbFrcjfO59LeqUrBX_QBSNgX8h0ym7NKJImSrx78Og28GxQNQAuNU9Nu3Ru0S0bGiMrg/s320/darcis-130624.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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And finally, adding this pic as an afterthought, since most people have never known how Steve Darcis looks like. He, after all, is the man of the moment :)</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8664739930049343597.post-59156651700387193522013-06-24T15:08:00.001+05:302013-06-24T15:08:57.503+05:30Wimble-dawn!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The wait is over, the heat is on. A fortnight of play, seven consecutive match wins (best of five set matches for men) to get the names etched on the prestigious Wimbledon crown. Wimbledon begins today on the lawns of All England Club. In accordance with the tradition, each year the men's defending champion opens the play at the centre court. Roger Federer will yet again (for the Eighth time) do the honours; against Victor Hanescu.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadP-s2a3iXQHpZQKIxc2vvQL5lsU1cTJyk6-3HcIzf5FRlqpGe5kgTJvUyqTRgXY7KdRXzvNqsp2U1S0HVulSaDlnnG-MV3nnGnatx5ANUEKv6nXCtseLta7M8AgMBhPOBtbsGEv_Rdo/s1600/Wimbledon_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadP-s2a3iXQHpZQKIxc2vvQL5lsU1cTJyk6-3HcIzf5FRlqpGe5kgTJvUyqTRgXY7KdRXzvNqsp2U1S0HVulSaDlnnG-MV3nnGnatx5ANUEKv6nXCtseLta7M8AgMBhPOBtbsGEv_Rdo/s320/Wimbledon_Logo.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Adding to Federer, the line up for the opening Monday is star studded. Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka all have their opening round matches today. </div>
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As a result, players like Nadal and Azarenka will only get to play on Court 1 while Federer, Murray and Sharapova will take the Centre Court. Anyway, none of them will be hoping to hang around in their respective courts for too long. It's only their respective challengers who would hope for a match of their lifetime to cause some turbulence in the tall order.</div>
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Other than the star show, there are some interesting contests also that are brewing today. On Court 1, former world no.1 and Wimbledon champion Lleyton '<i>fight till you fall</i>' Hewitt takes on Swiss No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka - the 11th seed, in what promises to be a mouth watering clash. Hewitt is not a title contender these days but he really likes to take out a couple of seeds in the opening rounds of the Slams. Will Stan be up for him?</div>
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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga takes on young hope David Goffin, who might just give him a few anxious moments to start the tournament. Though an upset is unlikely, a set at best might be for Goffin's taking.</div>
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Marin Cilic, though being the tenth seed, is constantly struggling in slams and will have to put his act together to pass the tough test in Cypriot Marcos Baghadatis. Baghadatis, like Hewitt, is past his best days but that can only fuel his thirst to go deeper in the draw.</div>
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On the women's side, the bright young guns of American tennis Sloane Stephens and Jamie Hampton will have to outdo the other for advancing into the next round. Stephens, a seeded player, is a bit ahead of Hampton in the ranking race but Hampton has flatter ground strokes and more compatible game for the grass. Also, Stephens run since defeating Serena in Aussie Open hasn't been very good. An upset may be on the cards.</div>
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Nevertheless, the match-ups, anticipation and results will keep on happening for the next two weeks. As the pre-tournament preparations are over, the players are warmed up for glory, let's get into our seats to enjoy the show. As they say in Tennis, it's....TIME!</div>
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Anant Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13547413714513522521noreply@blogger.com2