Davis Cup Review

Well, as Meatloaf once said…”Two outta three, ain’t bad.”  Late last week, I made my predictions on the Davis Cup Semifinals, as well as the Great Britain/Austria Playoff Tie, and as you can guess, correctly predicted two of them. Read more

Davis Cup Preview

Our resident tennis writer Jeremy Howard previews the weekends Davis Cup tennis action. Over to Jeremy……

Well, it has been awhile, and now with the 2008 US Open fast becoming a distant memory, I’ll take this time to look ahead to this weekend’s Davis Cup action. Read more

Murray Beaten By Federer In US Open Final

Roger Federer has won his fifth successive US Open while ending Andy Murray’s hopes at Flushing Meadows. The world number 2 took the match 6-2 7-5 6-2 in spectacular style.

All eyes were on Andy Murray on Monday for his first Grand Slam final appearance, and his attempt to become the the first British man since 1936 to win one of the coveted major singles titles.

Murray was high in confidence, and spirits, after his semi-final win against world number 1 Rafael Nadal - his first ever win over the Wimbledon champion.

But, Roger Federer - who has had a tough year - controlled this final from start to finish, and was in riveting form throughout.

Federer himself had beaten world number 3 Novak Djokovic in the semis, Read more

Mid Summer Hard Court Action

The tennis world certainly seems split in two, which I’ll touch on a bit more, for now here are some of the results from the last week in tennis:

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina continued his incredibly hot summer by winning the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles yesterday.  He defeated American Andy Roddick (one of the few big names not competing in Beijing) 6-1, 7-6 in the finals.  In doing so, del Potro vaulted into the top 20 at spot #19 for the first time in his career.  This is the third tournament in a row that del Potro has won (also Austrian Open and Stuttgart).  Regardless of how he does in the final couple weeks leading up to the US Open, NO ONE will be excited to see del Potro in there portion of the draw. Read more

Murray Number 6 In The World After Winning Cincinnati Masters

21-year-old Andy Murray has moved up to number 6 in the world rankings after he won the Cincinnati Masters on Sunday.

Murray beat world number 3 Novak Djokovic to win his first Masters Series tournament, and jump 3 places in the world rankings.

Djokovic was defeated by a superior Andy Murray 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 23 minutes of play, after losing to the Scot just last week in the Toronto Masters. Murray always looked like winning yesterday’s final, having looked impressive throughout. Read more

Tennis Updates July 31st

Two big events going on this week- Cincinnati for the Men & Montreal for the Women. So, there are quite a few names out there playing, winning, losing, getting hurt, etc…

Perhaps the most major development this week is coming from Canada, where Maria Sharapova pulled out after a second round win over Read more

Latest Tennis News - 24th July 2008

Even though the first big US Open Series event has begun, the Toronto Masters Series Tournament, there have been constant rain delays, so not much action to report yet. Instead, here is an assortment of news from the tennis world over the past week:

Juan Martin del Potro, of Argentina, has made the biggest splash Read more

Summer Hard Court Ramblings

It has been a while since I’ve posted…but that is mainly due to the fact that anything written last week would have seemed mundane after the greatest match ever played. I thought everyone could use a little break. Well, that and of course there has been a severe lack of tennis related news lately. So here are some thoughts heading into the US Open Series, Olympics and US Open. Read more

Wimbledon Finals Wrap

Any tennis fan should really feel sorry for Serena and Venus Williams.  They played an amazing final, and although it didn’t go three sets, I still think it lived up to expectations.  But unfortunately for them, one of the greatest matches, if not THE greatest, took place the following day.  Read more

Wimbledon Centre Court round-up

CLD Sport watched the men’s semi finals from Wimbledon centre court today. On the walk to the club we were handed various freebies, only for all these products to be confiscated by Wimbledon security as we approached the grounds. This was very embarrassing for the drinks and toiletries companies who clearly hadn’t bothered to check that their handouts complied with the security rules of the club.

The atmosphere within centre court was one of expectation – people knew that Sunday’s final was going to be a Federer/Nadal affair, and were almost expecting the men’s singles matches to be exhibitions. Somewhat unusual for the most famous tennis tournament in the word at its semi-final stage.

First up was Federer against Marat Safin. Whilst Federer had cruised to the semis without dropping a set, the unseeded Safin was made to work somewhat harder, coming up against the number 3 seed Djokovic (causing the upset of the tournament) in the second round, with three of his games going to four sets with five tie-breaks on the way to this match.

Federer was in total control of the first set, breaking Safin’s serve once to win 6-3. The second was a much closer affair with Federer winning the tie-break 7-3. Safin became increasingly frustrated by the sheer quality of Federer throughout the set but was in contention right through to the end. The crowd appeared to be cheering for Safin in the second set, if only so they could watch Federer win in four instead of three.

The third set was more one sided as a tired and distracted Safin was unable to find a way past Federer. Safin did a marvellous job of entertaining the crowd, with several screams and bouts of racquet abuse, even sitting down whilst challenging a line call. Federer, meanwhile, displayed flashes of his best play, but was simply not required to display it often enough by Safin. He must start as favourite on Sunday.

Nadal came onto centre court to rapturous applause, possibly a warmer reception than for Federer. His opponent was the unseeded Rainer Schuettler, who won his quarter-final against Arnaud Clement in the longest singles match in Wimbledon history. Nadal destroyed Schuettler in the first set to win 6-1. Schuettler broke Nadal in the second after the Spaniard appeared to begin cruising a little too slowly. At times he appeared more concerned about his recurring wedgie than his tiring opponent. Schuettler was cheered on – in German – by a few excited members of the crowd. The last match had clearly taken its toll on the German, however, and he eventually lost in straight sets.

It was amazing to see the two styles of Federer and Nadal back-to-back. Federer’s occasional net play was a bit patchy but his controlling and elegant approach contrasted with the more brutal, attacking style of Nadal. There’s no doubt that both players have found their extra gear in preparation for Sunday, and will rise to the occasion.

Finally, it didn’t rain all day. Not a drop.

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