Wimbledon, Day 2: Who did what? Murray, Federer, Querrey, Kvitova, Bouchard, Halep & more

Can Tsonga find new life under Rasheed?

Can Tsonga find new life under Rasheed?

 

 

Andy Murray is so un-concerned about the outside the 20 guys that he seems to know exactly what he’s doing. To me, he’s the favorite to win the title once again and he looked fairly good to knock off Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4.

Many folks think that the time Wimbledon champion Rafa Nadal doesn’t have a great shot, but eventually he will come back again and he looks pretty darn and smoking Thomaz Bellucci 6-4 6-2 6-4.

Perhaps Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will stay healthy during this week, and he hung in there to tough out the lefty   Gilles Muller 7-6(8) 6-7(3) 6-4 3-6 6-2, but he is not going to make his knees fall apart again?

The American Sam Querrey says that he is much happier on the grass rather than clay. As he said, he just can’t go deep on the red dirt. So now the 27 year old can hit his serve very hard, blast his forehand and on occasion, coming into net. He was quite happy after beating   Igor Sijsling 7-5 6-3 6-4. Guess who has to play in the second round? Roger Federer? A serious underdog.

Does the seven time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer have a real chance to win a major again? It’s been three now which is a long time, but nobody can mix it on the grass like he can. He crushed Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-3 6-3.

The huge serve Samuel Groth upset the young American Jack Sock 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3. Sock was clearly hurt with his left knee and his arm. He appeared to be a lot of pain. He will have a decent shot of reaching the top 20 by the US Open, but he has to make sure that he is healthy and not over do it.

The young teenager has a ways to go, but in the very least Borna Coric doesn’t appear to give up, especially at the Slams. He beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2 1-6 9-7. My he can smoke the ball.

THE WOMEN 

Props to Jana Cepelova for playing quite well, but the world No. 3 Simona Halep faded again, falling 5-7 6-4 6-3. Halep has looked excellent on the hard courts this year, but she was so-so on clay, and she has been mentally checked out

The defending champion Petra Kvitova says that she is still a little bit ill, but she played excellent ball and thrashed Kiki Bertens 6-1 6-0. In the side of the draw, she is the favorite to reach the final. Can she possible beat Serena Williams? Perhaps not, but if she were banging the balls cleanly she would have a legitimate chance.

Caroline Wozniacki has never loved the grass but her section is wide open. She was pretty pleased to best Zheng Saisai 7-5 6-0. If she can play aggressive, she could go far.

The left-hander Angelique Kerber has dictated with her forehand over the past four months, and that is what she did to beat Carina Witthoeft 6-0 6-0. Kerber can certainly reach the semifinal.

Way to go for Duan Yingying who upset the 2014 Wimbledon final Genie Bouchard 7-6(3) 6-4. Bouchard went out there with a small tear and perhaps she shouldn’t have played anyway, but she wanted to try in London and hang around this week. But once again, she lost quickly and she will have to go back to square one.

Perhaps Agnieszka Radwanska is still is shaky mentally but over the past 2 and half weeks she has improved. She looked happy be beating Lucie Hradecka 6-3 6-2. If she can get to the fourth round vs. Kvitova, watch out.

 

 

 

Australian Open final: Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Murray

Rod Laver Arena / Night

1-Novak Djokovic vs. 6-Andy Murray

It’s Murray, Murray, Murray again! Or is he actually playing well enough to finally win his first Australian Open title? The Brit has been playing very well, in fact, better than anyone else during the tournament. He was very smart and aggressive against Grigor Dimitrov and Tomas Berdych, while Djokovic was so-so in besting Stan Wawrinka at five sets. Andy was a little upset after losing the first set against Berdych, but then recomposed.

However, Murray has played three Aussie Open finals so far and has gone down to Djokovic twice and Roger Federer once. He has also been there, but then pulled back.

The only way Murray will win is if the two-time champion (US Open and Wimbledon) jumps on Djokovic’s serves and races around as fast as he can and whales away. Murray can race from side to side and paste the ball with his backhand (and occasionally his volley), but Djokovic is harder off his forehand, his serve and might be a might bit faster. Frankly, Djokovic has been overlooked during the past year and a half.

These two have played against each other since their junior days … so they know each other’s games inside out. Novak is 15-8 head to head, so they know who has been the better guy overall.

But Djokovic seems a little off and not as focused as in the past. Maybe I am off, but that’s the way I read him. Murray seems to be happy and ready to capture another Slam. He is going to have to play excellent all night, but in the end he will. Murray in five sets.

Sony Ericsson Open/Miami Draw Breakdown

Nalbandian shows a resurgence. Photos: Mal Taam/MALTphoto

THE MEN: DJOKOVIC FAVORED IN ALL HIS MATCHES

Novak Djokovic’s path to the Miami semis looks fine; he could face the mercurial Marcos Bagdhatis in R2 (who says he can beat him but really can

Caro Mia! Wozniacki Upsets Kirilenko for Sexiest Award

Caro edged out two Russians.

Nadal Repeats as Sexiest Male; Newcomer Goes to Tomic by 1 Vote

The public has spoken in the seventh annual TennisReporters.net Readers’s Poll.

In the most anticipated and heavily populated voting ever, Caroline Wozniacki rode a wave of a European votes to outshine last year’s winner, Maria Kirilenko, and win the “Ana Ivanovic” Sexiest Female Player.  The Dane also outpolled two women who lead the early returns, Maria Sharapova and Julia Goerges.

Defending champ Rafael Nadal prevailed among the men for the “Marat Safin” Sexiest Male Player, edging fellow Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez

Both awards are named after the two players who won the award for five straight years and were retired from competition.

In 2011, Novak Djokovic basked in the glory of his standout season with a large lead over the field in the Top Male Player. Somewhat remarkably, despite winning Roland Garros, No. 2 Nadal came in third in the poll behind Roger Federer, who did not win a 2011 major.

Wimbledon and WTA Championships winner Petra Kvitova outdistanced No. 1 Wozniacki by a commanding number for Top Female Player.

Even though the annual poll drew in an amazingly large vote total