Heartbreak For Nadal As He Loses Almost Six Hour Marathon

Posted on January 29, 2012 by admin| Leave a comment

Rafael Nadal has fought for his sanity and valiantly lost as Djokovic claimed his third Australian Open title and his third consecutive Grand Slam in a record five hours and 53 minutes, eventually winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5. Nadal has now lost seven consecutive matches to the Serbian world number one – all of the matches were finals, three at Grand Slams.

The first set was an epic one hour and 20 minute battle in which Nadal capitalized on a slow start from the Serbian and took a 4-2 lead. At this stage Rafa looked hungry and determined to snap his losing streak but soon some tightness snuck into his game and allowed Novak to break back. Read more »

Posted in Australian Open, Match Report, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal

Azarenka Crushes Sharapova To Claim Maiden Grand Slam

Posted on January 28, 2012 by admin| Leave a comment

Victoria Azarenka has crushed Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 to claim her maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open in one hour and 22 minutes. With the trophy comes the number one ranking on Monday.

Apart from a nervous start where she was broken in her opening service game Azarenka was completely dominant, absorbing the power of Sharapova and spreading the court effectively. Read more »

Posted in Australian Open, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka

Djokovic Beats Murray In Long Five Setter – Next, Nadal

Posted on January 27, 2012 by admin| Leave a comment

Andy Murray was hoping to try and change the statistic that 26 of the last 27 Grand Slams have been won by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, but it was not to be. The strange almost five hour match was won, eventually, by Novak 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 7-5. Defending champion Novak will now face Rafa for the title.

In his quarterfinal Novak had been clutching at his hamstring and struggling to breathe but initially looked to be OK, but not at his best, in his match against Murray. Despite an early break Murray stayed unusually positive even after Djokovic took the first set despite increasingly struggling to breathe. Read more »

Posted in Andy Murray, Australian Open, Fernando Verdasco, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, US Open

Cocky Tomic Treats Polic Interest Like A Joke

Posted on January 27, 2012 by admin| 2 Comments

Posted in Bernard Tomic, Media

Nadal Beats Federer To Aim For 11th Grand Slam

Posted on January 26, 2012 by admin| Leave a comment

The rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer was renewed at the Australian Open the minute Rafa opened his mouth to the media about player issues and Federer’s lack of interest in them.Tonight Federer and Nadal fought for a finals position and a chance to claim another Grand Slam and it is Rafael Nadal who will play either Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray in his bid for his 11th Grand Slam.

Rafa was forced to fight for his fourth consecutive Grand Slam final but after three hours and minutes Nadal won 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4

Roger came out firing looking like he planned to slaughter Nadal with his aggressive accuracy from the first point. He quickly found himself at 1-4 before Rafa finally found his range and got back on serve at 3-4, his forehand finding its mark. Read more »

Posted in Andy Murray, Australian Open, Injury, Kim Clijsters, Match Report, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Toni Nadal

Bernard Tomic Can’t Stay Out Of Trouble With Police

Posted on January 26, 2012 by admin| 2 Comments

Bernard Tomic, the cocky teenager who was treated like a national hero until Roger Federer taught him a lesson at the Australian Open, has again been pulled over by police on the Gold Coast.

Tomic drives a distinctive orange BMW sports car and has been given a special license while he remains on his P-Plates that allows the teenager to drive the powerful car only between home and his practice courts. Read more »

Posted in Australian Open, Bernard Tomic, Damir Dokic, Media, Roger Federer

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Raging Rafael Nadal Finds A Way To Win

Posted on January 24, 2012 by admin| Leave a comment

In a strange, yet high quality, match that saw Rafael Nadal robbed of vital points by poor line calls repeatedly, Rafa has battled the huge serves and powerful, flat ground strokes of Tomas Berdych to book a place in the Australian Open semi finals. It took Nadal four hours and 16 minutes but he eventually walked away with the 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 win that finished right at midnight.

Both players had early break point opportunities but were unable to convert, Nadal fighting against the booming serve of Berdych and incredibly flat ground strokes.

The 12th game of the first set went for over 8 minutes with Berdych having triple set point. His incredible defensive skills saved the second break point as he somehow stayed alive in a point he should have lost multiple times. Despite a fourth point for Berdych, Rafa dug deep and forced a tiebreak. Read more »

Posted in Australian Open, Match Report, Media, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych

Hewitt Battles Djokovic To The End

Posted on January 23, 2012 by admin| Leave a comment

There was never any doubt that one of tennis’ most psychologically strong men, Lleyton Hewitt, would give everything he had against Novak Djokovic and he did. After a rough first set Hewitt changed his tactics and gave Novak more of a fight.

Hewitt was handily battered by Djokovic in the first two sets and then put his body on the line to get the third. After feeling a chance to go up 4-3 Hewitt was left frustrated as the opportunity went wanting.

Lleyton struggled to scramble everything back as it became obvious he was even compensating as he walked to keep the pressure off his degenerated big toe. Then he started shaking out his hands as he struggled to block out his screaming body. Read more »

Posted in Australian Open, David Ferrer, Injury, Lleyton Hewitt, Match Report, Novak Djokovic

Caroline Wozniacki Really Does Meet A Kangaroo

Posted on January 23, 2012 by admin| Leave a comment

Posted in Australian Open, Caroline Wozniacki, Media

Fines, Controversy, Injuries And Bubbles – Strangest Australian Open Ever

Posted on January 23, 2012 by admin| Leave a comment

I think it’s safe to say that even though we’re only just into the first day of the second week that this has been the strangest Australian Open ever.

There have been a significant number of injuries on both the men’s and women’s side but at the time of writing there had been an incredible 8 retirements and 1 withdrawal on the men’s side alone.

Rafael Nadal injured his knee getting up from a chair but played on. Kim Clijsters re-sprained her troublesome ankle but played on. Li Na seemed to be the kiss of death for ankles knocking both Anabel Medina Garrigeus and Kim Clijsters to the ground in the early stages of their first set. Read more »

Posted in Anabel Medina Garrigues, Australian Open, Bernard Tomic, David Ferrer, David Nalbandian, Donald Young, Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon, Injury, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Kei Nishikori, Kim Clijsters, Li Na, Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis, Media, Nicolas Almagro, Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych