Tag: Andy Murray

Lucas Pouille punctures Andy Murray’s comeback in Cincinnati.

Published on by Liam_RichnerLeave a comment

The 24-year-old Frenchman defeated the double Wimbledon winner in three sets. 

Andy Murray’s comeback hit another bump in the road after defeat to Lucas Pouille in the first round of the Western & Southern Open.

Cincinnati is well known for being home to the famous Graeter’s Ice Cream, but unfortunately for Murray, his hopes for a decent tournament ahead of the US Open melted quickly in the Ohio sunshine.

It was his first appearance on court since pulling out of the Citi Open two weeks ago and rustiness showed as the former world number one began timidly against a fresher Pouille.

Whether he was still recovering from those titanic matches in Washington, or changed his approach, something wasn’t quite right from the outset. His serving was not up to scratch during the opening set, as he recorded six double-faults. He was broken three times by his French opponent, who closed out a comfortable first set 6-1 within 29 minutes.

The one positive the Scot could take from a lacklustre opening set was that he was winning the majority of points from the long rallies. However, Pouille hadn’t needed to get out of second gear and looked well on course to end the contest quickly.

But where most players would capitulate in such a situation, Murray rallied. His performance levels improved during the second set, and the roles were quickly reversed. The 31-year-old broke the 16th seed, before holding serve to take a 2-0 lead. The former world number one only made three unforced errors, and won more points on his first serve as he raced to take the second set 6-1, as the match went to a decider.

The tables then turned once again. Murray started the final set nervously and double-faulted the opening point, before being broken by a resurgent Pouille desperate to make amends for a poor second set.

Missed chances then cost the 31-year-old the match. He failed to convert a crucial break point before falling 3-1 behind. Despite saving a match point at 5-3, Murray was helpless as his French opponent served out the match to claim a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 win.

Whilst this defeat will disappoint British fans, it was a first victory over Murray for Pouille at the fifth attempt.

The Frenchman has been a regular on the ATP Tour this season, with this being his 17th competition in 2018. Whilst he is gaining more experience on court and slowly climbing up into the world top 20, the 24-year-old can still be a loose canon on the court.

His performance against Murray showed why. His game heavily revolves around speed, and this can sometimes effect the accuracy and precision of his shots. Where he was clinical in the opening set, he lost composure during the second and mistakes began to creep in.

But he held his nerve in the final set, and found his range once again to hit some impressive winners. Pouille hit a total of 40 in the match as he defeated the former world number one in an hour and 53 minutes to book his place in round two.

Murray is not scheduled to play again until the US Open at Flushing Meadows, which begins on the 27th August. He now has four tournaments under his belt after missing a year out with a hip injury, but there is much that needs improving still – especially his serving.

He may take up a wildcard at the Winston-Salem Open next week after this defeat, but it will depend on whether his body can cope with another tournament just one week before the gruelling five-set matches at the final Grand Slam of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

The Swiss and Spanish renaissance: A year to remember for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Published on by Liam_RichnerLeave a comment

They won all four Grand Slam titles between them and will end the year as world number one and two. What a 12 months it has been for the 36-year-old Swiss and 31-year-old Spaniard.

Just when it seemed like two legends of tennis had been chewed up and spat through the exit doors by the impressive, younger stars at the end of 2016, both came rallying back to dominate the 2017 season.

Of course, I’m talking about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Both subsequently came into this year following injury lay-offs. Federer had been out of action since Wimbledon 2016 with a knee injury, whilst Nadal ended his tour in October of that year after problems with his wrist.

As a result, Nadal was seeded ninth and Federer 17th going into January’s Australian Open.

However, the Swiss beat two of the top 10 seeds in Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori in the early rounds, before defeating Mischa Zverev (Andy Murray’s victor in the fourth round) to become the oldest player to make it to a Grand Slam semi-final since Jimmy Connors in 1991.

Federer battled past fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in five sets to become the oldest singles male player to make a final since 1974, where he would meet old nemesis Nadal.

The Spaniard himself had beaten Zverev’s impressive younger brother Alexander and Gael Monfis before coming out of his five-hour, semi-final grudge match against Gregor Dimitrov victorious.

This was Nadal’s first Grand Slam final since 2014, whilst Federer had not been in a major final since the 2015 US Open.

The subsequent match at the Rod Lever Arena was almost a reincarnation of that exhilarating Wimbledon final of 2008, but this time it was Federer – who was playing in his 100th match at the Australian Open – who came out on top in five sets.

Federer’s win was his first Gram Slam title for five years, but it was also his first Grand Slam win over his old rival since 2007 and the first that wasn’t at Wimbledon.

That win in Melbourne was a historic one for the illustrious Swiss. He became the first man to win five or more times at THREE of the four Grand Slam events and the second-oldest man behind Ken Rosewell to win a major singles tournament.

Titles at Indian Wells, Miami and Halle swiftly followed, but Federer had his eyes on one prize that was close to his heart and had evaded him for half a decade: Wimbledon.

From round one all the way to the final, the Swiss maestro dominated his opponents, and after defeating Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in the final, he managed to win his eighth Wimbledon title without dropping a single set.

Federer became the record holder for most Gentlemen’s singles Wimbledon titles, surpassing both Pete Sampras and William Renshaw who had won it seven times.

He won more trophies in Shanghai and in his native Switzerland at Basel to cap off his best season statistically since 2007.

As for Rafael Nadal, defeat at the Australian Open only spurred him on for the rest of the year.

In April he won his first title of the year at Monte-Carlo, before winning both the Madrid and Barcelona Open back-to-back in his native Spain.

Much like Federer, Nadal had an eye on the one prize he had won so many times- the French Open title.

Roland Garros was like a second home to the 31-year old, and once again he was at his very best in Paris.

He comfortably made it to the final where he would face Wawrinka, but even he was powerless to stop Nadal from winning ‘La Decima’ (“the tenth” in Spanish) and become the first tennis player to ever win 10 titles at the same Grand Slam.

Nadal dropped no sets and only 35 games at Roland Garros this year, the second-lowest return in Grand Slam history.

The final Grand Slam of the year – The US Open – was again dominated by the old guards. After overcoming a difficult test in Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi-finals, Nadal comfortably beat Kevin Anderson in straight sets for his 16th career Grand Slam title.

His final victory of the year came at the Chinese Open in Beijing in October.

In December, the ATP Rankings saw Nadal and Federer ranked as world number one and two respectively, sending a message to the ATP Tour that despite their age they are both far from finished. At 31, Nadal is the oldest man to ever end the year top of the tree.

Despite his and Federer’s successes, 2017 wasn’t so rosy for Novak Djockovic and Sir Andy Murray.  These were two of the leading members of this new, younger, ambitious group trying to push Federer and Nadal out, but now it looks like they will all need to go back to the drawing board.

Djokovic and Murray have both had injury problems this year, with the former splitting with coach Marian Vajda in April.

Beforehand the Serbian had lost to a player outside the top 100 for the first time at a Grand Slam in his career in Australia.

He appointed Andre Agassi as his new coach in the summer but an elbow injury at Wimbledon saw him retire during his quarter-final match with Berdych and ultimately ruled out for the rest of the season.

Murray went into 2017 as world number one following his best season to date the year before. However, an early exit at the Australian Open was just the first of many shock defeats that the Scot endured during the season.

He lost in the first round at Queen’s Club before also exiting Wimbledon at the quarter-final stage.

A hip injury saw him miss the remainder of the season and drop as low as world number 16 in November, his lowest ranking since 2008. He also split with Ivan Lendl for a second time in the autumn, as he now prepares for the new season which starts next month.

All of these developments set up an exciting 2018 for Men’s tennis. With Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka all set to return from injury and both Nadal and Federer in their best form for years, we could see fireworks in the months ahead.

One could even argue that there has never been a greater anticipation for an upcoming ATP Tour since it was established back in 1990.

Queen’s 2017: Day Two

Published on by Liam_RichnerLeave a comment

Andy Murray’s quest for a sixth Queen’s title is over after shock defeat. 

It’s been an extraordinary day at Queen’s Club.  Here’s a round up of all the matches that took place on Centre Court:

Thanasi Kokkinakis bt. Milos Raonic (7-6, 7-6)

Last year’s runner-up at both Queen’s and Wimbledon Milos Raonic was beaten in straight sets by wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The number three seed struggled to take control of the game, and failed to claim a single break against the Australian.

Kokkinakis, who is ranked 698th in the world, took the first set after winning the tie-break 7-5.

The second set was just as gruelling, with temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees on court.

Raonic dropped three set points to rub salt into the wound, with Kokkinakis winning the second set tie-break 10-8.

This defeat will be difficult for the world number six to shrug off ahead of Wimbledon, but for the 21-year old Aussie, this was a massive win after 18 weeks out through injury.

Feliciano Lopez bt. Stan Wawrinka (7-6, 7-5)

Three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka suffered a shock straight sets defeat at the hands of tour veteran Feliciano Lopez.

Once again, it proved difficult for the player returning the serve, with no breaks in the opening set.

Lopez, who came out on top 7-4 in the tiebreak, won the first set with a superb forehand across court that caught second seed Wawrinka.

The first break of the day came in the final game of the second set, with the Spaniard winning 7-5.

Wawrinka, who lost the French Open final against Rafael Nadal less than 2 weeks ago, has now lost in the first round at Queen’s for the second year running.

Jordan Thompson bt. Andy Murray (7-6, 6-2)

The biggest shock of the day saw defending champion Andy Murray crash out to Australian Jordan Thompson in straight sets.

The world number one became the latest top seed to struggle returning the serve, but seemed to have an off-day in all departments. His serve wasn’t as quick as it has been and his forehand let him down on numerous occasions.

Thompson, who replaced the injured Aljaz Bedene, won the first set by winning the tie-break 7-4.

The world number 90 then double-broke the five-time Queen’s champion, and won the second set 6-2.

Murray’s preparation ahead of his Wimbledon defence has taken a major setback with his early exit, but for Thompson it was the biggest win of his career.

Marin Cilic bt. John Isner (7-5, 6-3)

Number four seed Marin Cilic is now the favourite for the Queen’s title after he beat John Isner in straight sets.

The Croatian won this tournament back in 2012, and was very sharp on the court. He crucially broke Isner in the opening set and win it 7-5.

Cilic, who is currently ranking in at world number 7 ahead of Wimbledon, then made light work of the second set, winning it 6-3.

 

French Open 2015 Draw: Clash of The Titans

Published on by Liam_RichnerLeave a comment

Andy Murray has been drawn in the same half as ‘King of clay’ Rafael Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic in this year’s French Open.

Murray, seeded third for the tournament, faces some tricky looking ties but the draw could have been nastier for the Scot.

The real big talking point is the possibility of a mouth-watering heavyweight Quarter Final between Djokovic and Nadal.

There is a renewed optimism about how far Murray can go in this year’s French Open after what has been an impressive clay season for the 2013 Wimbledon winner. He has a record of ten wins and zero defeats on a surface that has been seen as his Achilles heel for much of his career.

He won his first title on clay in Munich at the start of the month before defeating Nadal in his native country of Spain to win the Madrid Masters just a week later.

“I’ve played well at Roland Garros in the past, but my game wasn’t ready to win there.” Said Murray, following his Madrid win last week.

“I’ve played Rafa a few times on clay, and this obviously gives me confidence. I don’t go in as one of the favourites, but if I play like this I’ll give myself an opportunity and that is all you can ask.”

The Scot will potentially have to get past the likes of the energetic Australian Nick Kyrgios, hard-hitting American John Isner, and the resilient Spaniard David Ferrer in order to make it to the Semi finals, where he will face the winner of that probable blockbuster between Nadal and Djokovic.

Nadal, who has won at Roland Garros an incredible nine times, has beaten Djokovic in two of the last three finals. However the Serb is on a current 22 match unbeaten run and looks set to add the only grand slam trophy missing from his illustrious trophy cabinet come June 7th.

It would be the first time in nine years that the pair would face off at the Quarter Final stage, ironically that match was also played in Paris.

“It’s strange because it hasn’t happened in a very long time.” Said Nadal following the draw.

“But at the end of the day, I have four matches before the quarter-finals and I need to be ready for that first round. I am ready to fight again and we will see.”

Nadal has struggled since his return to the court following a wrist injury he suffered last year. After that defeat to Murray in the Madrid Masters, the Spaniard lost to Stan Wawrinka in the Italian Open at the Quarter Final stage. His ranking has since dropped to seventh, meaning that this year is the first time he heads into Roland Garros since 2005 without being one of the top four seeds. But bare in mind 2005 was Nadal’s maiden French Open victory. The Spaniard has won the tournament five years on the trot so he can’t be underestimated.

Currently though, the momentum is certainly with Djokovic, which may well be enough to see him over the line. The world number one won his fourth Italian Open this year, beating veteran Roger Federer in the final. The 27 year old is arguably in the form of his life and it will take a huge effort to deny him that first Roland Garros title.

“I don’t know how it will go at Roland Garros, but I’m very confident,” said a very down to earth Djokovic, who knows that it won’t be plain sailing in order to win the tournament.

Federer will also have certain challenges to overcome if he is to win his first French Open title since 2009. The Swiss legend could come up against fellow countryman Wawrinka in the last eight should he make it that far. However, he will also have Ernests Gulbis, the man who knocked him out of the competition last year, in his section. Gulbis was the surprise package at Roland Garros last year as he made it through to the Semi Finals before being defeated by Djokovic.

Federer may also have to deal with both opponent and crowd, as French star Gael Monfils could be a potential fourth round opponent.

Federer though has been quick to say he thinks that his greatest foe will once again triumph in Paris.

“He’s (Nadal) still one of the fittest guys on tour, he’s won Roland Garros nine times and he definitely deserves to be one of the favourites,” he said.

“The guy’s only lost their once in 10 years!”