No major yet for Andy Murray

I have been trying to figure out why Andy Murray is ending yet another year without any majors. This is a difficult question. Andy has been one of the most dominant and consistent players this season yet like Dinara Safira, it’s another year without a Grand Slam. Where does it go wrong for the guy who has been a favourite for a few of the Grand Slams especially the US Open?

Talent – There is no doubt Andy has the talent. He has a very good record against the top players. He has beaten Federer on several occasions. Who would not expect a player who regularly beats the number one to have a major by now.

Temperament – Andy has come a long way in this regard. His demeanour on the court has improved considerably. This is now more of a strength than a weakness for him. He is able to keep a cool head regardless of the situation and does not go ahead of himself. He is extremely patient in play, perhaps too patient sometimes.

Fitness – Andy has improved incredibly in his fitness. He has come back from a set down in many matches and gone on to win. I would think he is now one of the fittest players  on the tour.

Pressure – Could it be that Andy is choking on the big occasion? I doubt very much. More than anything Andy seems to love to centre court atmosphere. He even said so himself. The frenzied fans do not get to him, rather he feeds off the energy and support they give him.

Lethargy – I believe this could be an Archilles heel for Andy Murray. While he has a fine all-round game, a remarkable ability to change pace and direction of the game, not forgetting that he is already one of the best returners in the game, Andy’s game is far too cautious. He seems content to keep playing until his opponent makes a mistake. Maybe this is a gross generalisation but the only time I see Andy attacking is when he is receiving serve. This strategy has paid off many times as Andy has gone through matches with a much lower margin of unforced errors. I don’t think Andy is going to win a lot of majors with this playing style. I think other players who are hungrier than him and harder hitters of the ball will put him under severe pressure. He might be fit physically but hisplay could be too passive.

Playing schedule – Andy could be playing in far too many tournaments to be competitive when it really matters at the Grand Slams. Because Andy has been doing so well in the Masters events, he has many points to defend. But the time he is playing at the Slams he is just no longer in peak form.  I think if Andy is to win a major he needs to trim on the schedule and maybe remove a few Masters events from his schedule.

Psychology – Does Andy have the mentality of winner or rather of someone who does not want to lose?  The psychology of a player will influence his playing style. Is he ready to take the necessary risks to win the match or content with minimal risk taking. Will be attacking or he will be defensive? Will he seek to dictate playor follow the course as set by the opponent?

Is Andy prepared to change the way he looks at things. Is he prepared to be a winner on the big stage? To cut a long story short Andy is playing badly when he needs to be at his best. BTM

Wimbledon reflections!

That great tournament has come and gone and Roger Federer is the King yet again.  It was very disappointing not to see Rafael Nadal defend his title but once he was out of the way Roger had an even bigger chance of winning the title again.

Federer won the title but my heart really went out to Andy Roddick. For a long time I was very skeptical about Andy’s game. Apart from his serve and forehand, Andy did not have much to offer in the past. However, this year at Wimbledon, he had a lot more weapons at his disposal including an improved backhand and more variety in play. The aces were raining but interestingly Federer served more aces in the game. Roddick played his heart out in the finals and I have new found respect for him.

So is Federer the greatest tennis that ever lived? Well in terms of Gland Slam titles won in the open era, at 15 he stands heads and shoulders above everyone. I was very happy for Federer after the victory in Paris but I did not expect him to win back the Wimbledon title and number 1 ranking so soon. How things can change in such a short space of time. I remember last year around this time Federer was gutted. He just lost in the French open finals a month earlier and had also gone on to lose his title at Wimbledon in one of the great epics. Nadal looked absolutely unstoppable then! Now I would like to see Federer play more Davis Cup Tennis and possibly get a title for his country.

It was an all Williams’ affair in the ladies’  final won by Serena Williams. While the Williams sisters are no longer the top act in the women’s rankings, when it comes to the Grand Slams it’s still a different game.  Serena and Venus are just different players when it comes to the Slams. They now pick and choose which tournaments they play in. Their top priority is now winning Grand Slams and adding to their impressive trophy cabinet.  I could not believe that a reigning champion Dinara Safina, could only win one game in her match against Venus Williams. Even stranger is that after winning Wimbledon and 2 other Gland Slams, Serena Williams is still ranked number 2 while the world number 1, Safina, is still to win a  single Slam. I reckon it was too early for Maria Sharapova to make a great impression after a long lay-off due to injury. In any case it’s great to have back in the game. Consistency is one thing that really missing in the ladies game. There are so many new names in the Slams it is so difficult to keep up.

Andy Murray let me down again. He has been dominating the tour this year and when it really mattered , he did not rise to the occasion. Honestly with all the pressure piling on him, I would have been surprised to see Andy win even though he said the media and fan pressure was not a big problem. Some have complained that Andy is too defensive in his play, waiting for his opponent to make mistakes, instead of taking the game to them.

Tommy Haas and Lleyton Hewitt both rolled back the years at Wimbledon. Haas accounted for Novak Djokovic yet again after knocking him out at Halle Germany. Not sure how to feel about Djokovic. It seemed like he was going to quietly make the finals at SW19. Hewitt surprised me by knocking Juan Martin Del Potro. I expected Del Potro to at least make round 4.

Robin Soderling proved that he can play at a very high level. Once again it took a Roger Federer to halt his progress in the tournament.

I was happy to see Juan Carlos Ferrero going so deep into Wimbledon but with Murray on the other side of the net it was always going to be a tough one. I used to be a big fan of Ferrero and he was a number 1 at some stage. However, he had injury problems and it has taken him a very long time re-establish myself. It’s great to see him winning again.

I am very much looking forward to seeing Nadal back and trying to reclaim what he has lost.  Murray believes that the US Open offers him the best chance of winning a Slam. We will wait and see. I think Federer is playing with less pressure, less errors and great hunger than before. It will be interesting to see who is going to win.

Without Nadal in Wimbledon I was afraid that the tournament might really suffer without him. The tennis was just as absorbing and exciting as in the previous years. Federer broke Roddick right at the very end. I will never forget that one! BTM

French open experience – My perspective

I have really enjoyed watching the French open over the past two weeks. I will probably remember this tournament for the number of shocks that it produced. As a Federer fan I have gone through several moments of anxiety as I have had to watch the man come back from behind in  matches where on paper he would have been firm favourite to go through in straight sets. Never before have I seen Federer struggle so much. Never mind the fact the he was taking on players rated several places below him. I believe the draw was rather kind to Federer.  I also  saw another side to Federer, a fighter, a man who really wants to win.  I had never seen him come back from two sets down to win.  More unforced errors are now coming off his racket than ever. However, we have also started to see glimpses of the vintage Federer, the man who was once World numbe 1.  He is attacking the net more often and changing pace more easily. He is showing greater flexibility in changing strategy during matches.  I would love Roger to win this elusive title and join the greats like Andre Agassi in winning all the Grand Slams, and equalling Pistol Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slams. I believe it could even spur him on to greater success.  However, Soderling will give him a good run for his money in the final.

Rafael Nadal’s defeat  was the biggest upset in this tournament and maybe even the biggest in the history of the game. The Nadal I saw playing in Roland Garros was a tired one who did not show his usual hunger and intensity. I have a feeling that Nadal for a World Number 1, plays far too many tournaments. Before playing at Roland Garros he was in Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and Monaco. He plays in almost all the Masters tournaments. I think this would be put huge strain on any player. Unfortunately for Nadal, he had rating points to defend as a defending champion in several tournaments. I did not read too much into Nadal’s defeat to Federer in Madrid because the courts  there are very fast, which suited Federer’s game much more and very different from Roland Garros. Nadal is only 23 but it looks like his knees are already a big problem. I think his tournament schedule needs to be revisited if Nadal is to continue winning more Grand Slams. Even though Nadal was not at his best, I thought there were more players taking him on the baseline rallies. No matter how good you are, sooner or later the other players will figure a way of playing you. I don’t know what Nadal needs to do to  gain the fans’ support at the French Open. They cheered when he lost to Soderling.

Robin Soderling has been the revelation of this tournament. He has swept aside many top seeds and proved beyond reasonable doubt that beating Nadal in straight sets, even though Nadal was not at his best, was no fluke. He comprehensively beat Nikolay Davydenko. Ironally enough, Davidenko, in comments before the match remarked that with Soderling the points would be shorter and involve much less running. How wrong he was! Watching Soderling it’s just hard to believe that before Roland Garros, he had never progressed beyond the third round of  a major tournament. He has never beaten Roger Federer in all their meetings. However, all this statistics could count for nothing because right now he is playing the game of his life. Perhaps it has something to do with his partnership with Magnus Norman, a former world number 2 player.

After parting ways with Larry Stefanki, Fernando Gonzalez seems to have gone back to his  old ways of big hitting on just about every opportunity. He seems to go for the forehand at any given opportunity.  I think with Larry, Gonzalez was starting to show more variety in his game.  Fernando might have probably the biggest forehand in the game but he is probably over-reliant on you. Larry has since partnered with Andy Roddick and the variation in Andy’ game is already evident.

Juan Martin Del Potro played very well in his match against Federer and had the match in his hands at some point. Earlier in the match his serving and ground strokes troubled Federer a great deal. Del Potro is only 20 and improving all the time. The guy is over 1.9m tall but he moves well for such a big guy.  He was attacking the net a lot more than in the past. Before his semi final against Federer, Del Potro had never won a set against Federer but we saw him taking the World Number 2 the full distance. I expect bigger things from this guy in future.

Gael Monfils was playing very well until he bumped into Federer. He matched him shot for the shot in the first set but the wheels just came off in the second set. I expected a lot more from Monfils but I suspect that he has too much respect for Federer. I did not see Monfils fighting like he had done in his other matches. In any case I regard Monfils as the most entertaining player to watch.  It appears that Monfils will do anything to entertain the crowd even if its means putting his body on the line.  He made a full body lunge on the dirt against Jurgen Meltzer, managed to return and won the point. He got the crowd into a frenzy at that point. Monfils did very well to contain Andy Roddick who was doing very well until their bad tempered match.

I certainly expected more from Andy Murray who has probably been the most-in-form player this year.   Andy has been dominating the tour this year and I expected him to reach at least semi finals.  However, given that this was the further that Andy had ever gone at Roland Garros and that he is still only 22, he has given a good account of himself and we can look forward to bigger things in future. I hope Andy does not choke again in Wimbledon.

Novak Djokovic seemed to be getting back to his old best so his elimination from the tournament was a shock for me. Phillip Kohlschreiber was very solid against Novak. I thought Djokovic might be able to recover later on but he was given no chance.

Roland Garros showed me that there are many players to watch out for.  I believe that what really separates the top players from the rest of the crowd is the mental edge. The players are hitting the ball harder than ever, they are more offensive on both the forehand and backhand.

I have also been following the women’s games. I was disappointed by Ana Ivanovic, the defending champion from last year. Since she won the title at Roland Garros, Ivanovic has struggled to recapture the form that got her the title and catapulted her to number 1.  I expected at least one of the Williams sisters to make the finals. Their power which they used to shock and awe their opponents in the past is not such a big factor in matches. I believe that the other ladies have managed to catch.  That aside, I still would not write them off, they have a habit of improving their game when it really counts. I believe they will be a force to reckon with at Wimbledon. If Dinara Safina wins the tournament then she can silence a few critics. She is no longer Maraf Safin’s litte sister who plays tennis. She is a champion in her own right.

Madrid Masters impressions

It was great to see Roger Federer finally win a tournament. Its been a very long wait for his fans. Federer’s victory in some ways reminds me of his Hamburg victory over Nadal years back when just like this time, he put an end to an amazing run by Nadal. However, Nadal would go on to successfully defend his title at Roland Garros.  I am very cautious in the run-up to Roland Garros and will not read too much into the Federer victory. Nadal has probably played  more games and more tournaments than anyone else over the claycourt season. He has had a punishing schedule with several titles to defend.  While Federer has shown glimpses of the player who dominated the men’s game for some years, he still has to work on the unforced errors which are still very high, given the very high standard he set some years ago. When Federer is serving well, its usually a good sign. The Madrid claycourts are apparently the fastest of the claycourts and this suited Federer’s game well. The French Open will be a different proposition.  If Federer can continue serving well, keep the unforced errors down and play aggressively, maybe things will be different. Federer needs to build on this victory going forward. After struggling so much against the top 4 players this season, maybe this victory will mark a change in fortunes for him.

After a 4 hour classical match against Novak Djokovic, I was doubtful whether Rafael Nadal would still have enough left in the tank to  go all the way.Djokovic is one the players I believe will trouble Nadal most on clay together with Murray. I believed that Murray and Djokovic are two players who have figured out Nadal’s claycourt game and can match him shot for shot. Of the two I find Djokovic more aggressive while Murray usually starts off more passively.  They have improved incredibly in terms of fitness. However, 5 sets at Roland Garros is going to be a differrent level. Murray and Djokovic have improved vastly on clay and are like Nadal, are very close  to becoming to becoming complete players. Djokovic had his chances against Nadal and played his heart out. I actually expected him to win and his effort would have been enough to beat any other player on the day. Unfortunately he happened to be playing Nadal who is most dominant player I have ever seen on clay.

I was disappointed by Juan Martin Del Potro’s effort against Federer. After Del Potro had overcome Murray I expected a lot more from him. He still needs to figure out Federer and improve on movement around the court.  Federer strikes the ball very early, on the rise, and this does not suit Del Potro who takes his time before striking the ball. Given that Del Potro is still on 20, there is going to be a lot coming from this guy in future. Given his height I think he can still do more to improve on  the serve. He should be getting more cheap points on the serve.

A roof for Wimbledon! Finally!

After 2 years of construction, Wimbledon finally gets a roof. This will mean that matches on the centre court will no longer be delayed indefinitely until weather conditions improve. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/21042009/58/wimbledon-wimbledon-set-late-night-drama.html

The last games of last year’s final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were played in darkness. In any case the tennis was of a very high quality throughout the match. Some experts on the game have said it was the best tennis final ever played.

Rain delays sometimes added a twist and interesting dynamic in the final results of matches. A player who was on the losing end could come back the following day, rejuvenated and suddenly turn things around. For that reason with interrupted matches it was never over till it was over. Is it ever really?

Those who play on the centre court will not be bothered by the elements. However, this could mean the playing field is no longer even with the other players on the remaining courts?

I am looking forward to this year’s instalment of SW19. Let’s see how things go with the roof and headlights.

This and that

Watching the semi finals and final of the Monte Carlo Tennis Masters, I am convinced that the future of the game is very bright. Having been following the game since the days of Stefan Edberg, it’s very interesting to see how the game has changed. Back then it was serve and volley. These days most of the guys are baseline players and serve and volleying is much more of a surprise than the norm.

However, the game of tennis is now very physical. The balls they use are heavier now and there is just so much power in the game now. I see many players hitting winners at will from all angles in the court. Defence is turned into attack in an instant. In the past there seemed to be more predictability during the course of play. It was easier to understand how a player could construct a point. These days all a player needs to do is play a short ball (somewhere close to the middle of the court) and he is immediately punished.

The clay surface is the most physically demanding of all surfaces. The ball is much slower and rallies are much longer. Many great players have simply not been able to make it on this surface because they could not adapt their game to this surface. Two names readily come to mind Borris Becker and Pete Sampras. Borris Becker won Wimbledon at the age of 17 I believe. However, he was able to follow up his success on grass and hard courts at Roland Garros, the French Grand Slam. Pistol Pete won more Grand Slams than any other player in the Open Era but he could not bring that Magic to Roland Garros. I believe what the most dominant player I ever saw. However, as to whether he is the greatest is open to debate given that he did not win all the Grand Slams.

In the final Rafael Nadal lost his first set at Monte Carlo since 2006. That is how dominant Rafael is. As a big Federer fan, it was really disappointing to see Federer lose to his close friend Stanslas Wawrinka in the quarter finals. Federer has not won a tournament for a while now and I am hoping that his luck will change soon. I have noticed that Federer is struggling with the top players particularly Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. His unforced errors are also much higher than in previous years. Federer recently got married and it will be interesting to see how he handles this. Usually I have seen the players get married in their 30s.

I also follow the ladies game. However, there is so much inconsistency with the ladies. I am struggling to keep up with the number of players winning major tournament. With the ladies we now have a situation where the top ranked player Dinara Safira is yet to win a Grand Slam. While this has happened before, it’s quite unusual. Some would argue that when winners become predictable in sport, it can become boring as was the case with Michael Schumacher in Formula 1 racing. However, great rivalries can also make sport very exciting. The Borris Becker/ Stefan Edberg, Monica Seles/ Steffi Graf, Nadal/ Federer are just some of the matchups that have done wonders for the sport.

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