2017 WIMBLEDON: Men's Final Preview (and Semifinals Review)

Here are my predictions for the men's final at the Wimbledon Championships for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted Andy Murray would defeat Milos Raonic in the men's final.  This year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 men's semifinals, 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 4 of 4 this year's women's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. I also incorrectly predicted that Venus Williams would beat Garbine Muguruza in the women's final this year.

MEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Marin Cilic (CRO) [7] d. Sam Querrey (USA) [24] 6-7(8) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-5. Sam Querrey was playing in his very first major semifinal after defeating the World #1 and defending champion Andy Murray in the round before. Unfortunately, in this important match he had to face someone in Marin Cilic whom he had never beaten before (in four meetings). Although Cilic ended up losing that first set tiebreaker because his backhand started to going off, he was able to get an early service break in the second set. The third set was key and when Cilic was able to win it fairly easy in a tiebreak you thought that might signal quick end to the match. However, Querrey broke early in the 4th set and a fifth set seemed imminent until out of nowhere Cilic broke back to level the set at 4-all and eventually broke Querrey to reach his first Wimbledon final.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] d. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [11] 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 6-4. This scores does not quite reflect how ultimately competitive this match was. Federer was up a break in the first set and was expected to maintain the lead and run away with the first when Berdych surprisingly broke back and it was only through very good luck and opportunistic aggression that Federer won the first set tiebreak. In the second set, Berdych was actually the better player but again somehow Federer was able to sneak out the second set in a tiebreaker. Then with a 2-0 set lead Federer was able to up his aggression and earn a break which he could use to ensure success in the 3rd and final set.

MEN'S FINAL PREVIEW

I have no doubt that Marin Cilic will indeed win Wimbledon someday. The question is, will that day be Sunday July 16 2017? It is very possible. He has impeccable grass bonafides. Cilic had 4th set match points against Federer last year in the quarterfinals but lost that set and then the match in the fifth set. He is playing excellent grass court tennis and has reached the quarterfinals or better for four years in a row here at Wimbledon and had very deep runs in both grass court warm-up tournaments he played in. However, Federer is clearly the most accomplished grass court player of all time. he has the most grasscourt victories of any active player and he has planned his entire year (by missing the entire clay court season) to maximize his chances at winning Wimbledon. He has reached the final by not dropping a set, although he has played 5 tiebreaks and won all of them. I suspect there will be at least one tiebreak against Cilic and hopefully Federer's luck will hold or else things could get complicated. However, I do think that if it does get deep into a 5th set Federer will prevail (even though overall Federer does not have a great 5-set record, primarily because he  usually wins his grand slam matches easily enough so that he doesn't have a lot of experience playing them). But Federer's 2009 win over Andy Roddick and his 2017 win over Rafael Nadal are evidence that Federer can do well in tight situations. I didn't like how irritated Federer got when he got so much resistance and excellent play from Berdych. I suspect he will be mentally and physically prepared for Cilic to do well and does not expect this match to be easy. If you had told Federer that he would be able to reach the Wimbledon final without having to face any of the other members of the Big Four he would take that bet in a second. Although lots of people expect Federer to win this match to win his 8th Wimbledon title and 19th major, it must be noted that he has lost the last two Wimbledon finals he played, in 2015 and 2014 (both to Novak Djokovic). However, there's a reason why Federer has a 6-1 head-to-head lead over Cilic, but it must be noted that they have only played once since Cilic won his major title at the 2014 US Open which included a blistering straight sets win over Federer in the semifinals. That being said, I believe Federer will find a way to prevail.  PREDICTION: Federer.

2017 WIMBLEDON: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2017. Last year I correctly predicted 1 of 2 men's semifinals and correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's quarterfinals. This year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals, 4 of 4 this year's women's quarterfinals and 2 of 4 men's quarterfinals. 

Andy Murray (GBR) [1] Sam Querrey (USA) [24] vs Marin Cilic (CRO) [7].  For the second year in a row, American Sam Querrey pulled off the biggest upset of his career on tennis' grandest stage, by defeating the current World #1 and defending Wimbledon champion. Last year it was Novak Djokovic and this year it was Andy Murray.  He became the first America male player to reach a major semifinal since Andy Roddick did it here in 2009 when he lost an epic final to Federer. Querrey can now make a claim to being the most successful American male player of his generation. He will face Marin Cilic, who took 5 sets to eliminate Gilles Muller, the lefty serve-and-volleyer who had cracked open the draw with a 15-13 5th set win over Rafael Nadal on Monday.Cilic is a dangerous grass court player and although he owns an undefeated 4-0 head-to-head lead over Querrey, the two played the second longest men's match in Wimbledon history 5 years ago when Cilic prevailed 17-15 in the fifth. Despite never having beaten Cilic, Querrey has a reasonable chance to cause the upset. No one expects him to win, so he really should be able to play the tension-free tennis which saw him beat two World #1's at Wimbledon in two years (altough to be fairthere is no question that Murray was literally hobbled by a hip injury which reduced his mobility and service power). Querrey's matches with Cilic have actually been rather closely fought affairs, and although Cilic has been playing well, so has Sam, and he's got the firepower to defeat the Croat, who realizes this is an amazing opportunity for him to reach a second major final and perhaps "pull a Stan Wawrinka" and sneak another major title. PREDICTION: Cilic.

Roger Federer (SUI) [3] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1]Tomas Berdych (CZE) [11]. This is quite an unlikely match-up since basically everyone had pencilled in a Djokovic-Federer clash in this semifinal when the draw came out, an expected reprise of the 2014 and 2015 Wimbledon finals. But after going down a set and a break, Djokovic retired with an arm injury, giving Berdych his 3rd win in 28 matched played against the Serb. Berdych also has a pretty horrible head-to-head record with Federer too (6W-18L) but he does have a win over Federer at Wimbledon (in 2010) and has beaten Federer in majors at important moments. But Federer beat Berdych in Australia (in the 3rd round) and the ease with which he did that was the signal to his myriad fans that  he was not going to take long to resume his place at the top of men's tennis after his 6-month sabbatical. I would be shocked if this semifinal is the more interesting of the two. Federer has yet to drop a set in this year's tournament, but that is primarily because he has had a lot of extraordinarily god luck in tiebreakers. Almost certainly Federer will be making records again, reaching his 11th final at Wimbledon (7-3) and 29th overall (18-10) record. He is playing in his 42nd major semifinal (and has a 28-13 record).  PREDICTION: Federer.

Federer Wins 1000th Career Match; Defeats Raonic for 83rd ATP Title in Brisbane

Roger Federer won his 1000th career match in Brisbane Australia, defeating Milos Raonic in a tight, seesaw final, claiming his 82nd 83rd career ATP title by the score 6-4 6-7(2) 6-4. The 17-time major champion is the 3rd person to reach the 4-digit win threshold, after Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071). 21 of those 1000 wins have been against Andy Roddick.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Francis Tiafoe, 15, Wins 2013 Orange Bowl

Francis Tiafoe, a 15-year-old African American who last year was the subject of a front page New York Times profile, won the 2013 Orange Bowl Boys' 18 and Under Singles title this weekend. Tiafoe defeated another American, Stefan Kozlov (who is also 15), in the championship match 7-6(3) 0-6 6-3. By winning, Tiafoe became the youngest 18-and-Under Boys Singles champion of the Dunlop Orange Bowl, the most prestigious junior tournament in the world. Previous winners of this title include Jim Courier (1987), Roger Federer (1998), Andy Roddick (1999), Robin Soderling (2001), and Marcos Baghdatis (2003). However, there are also many previous winners of the 67-year-old tournament who never went on to win a professional tennis tournament.

The all-American final of the Orange Bowl was the first time since 2004, when Timothy Neilly (who??) won the title.

Could Tiafoe become the future face of American men's tennis? I should note that Donald Young won the Under-16 Orange Bowl title in 2003.

Interestingly, Francis has a twin brother named Franklin who also plays tennis. The family lives in College Park, Maryland.

Queer Quote: Andy Roddick Joint Athlete Ally

Other sports stars have been responding to Jason Collins groundbreaking announcement yesterday as the first gay male athlete in American professional team sports. American tennis players Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish have joined the organization Athlete Ally, whose mission is to "encourage athletes, coaches, parents, fans and other members of the sports community to respect all individuals involved in sports"


Quoth Andy:

Yesterday was an incredible day for athletes everywhere. Jason Collin’s courage and leadership in coming out reminds me of how important it is for an athlete to be able to be true to him or herself. As an Athlete Ally, I want to support every athlete to feel comfortable and confident being themselves and to make sure that all people - players and fans alike – are welcome and included in tennis.

Other tennis stars like Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King also tweeted their support yesterday.

hat/tip to Joe.My.God

2012 US OPEN: Men's Quarterfinals Preview, Part 2

Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals. This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals and correctly predicted 1 of 2 of the first two men's quarterfinals. Below are my predictions for the last two men's quarterfinals.

Janko Tipsarevic SRB (8) vs David Ferrer ESP (4). Interestingly, these two are playing for the "Rafael Nadal" semifinal slot, if the great Spaniard had not removed himself from the draw to concentrate on recuperating and rehabilitating his now-fragile knee joints. These two have only met 3 times, with the Spaniard holding a slight 2-1 edge. However, the last time the two played Barack Obama had not even been elected President of the United States yet, so it's pretty safe to ignore their career head-to-head record. Tipsarevic is playing in only his second career quarterfinal at a major, but his first was right here in New York exactly one year ago, where he lost to his countryman Novak Djokovic. Ferrer is playing in his 9th major quarterfinal and has won a  quarterfinal at every grand slam except Wimbledon. He is considered one of the hardest workers on the tour and almost never loses to players he shouldn't, always living up to his ranking. In some sense this should be the most interesting quarterfinal of the four, despite the blockbuster upset in the Federer-Berdych match because the two are so evenly matched and both want it so badly. That being said, it is really hard to bet against the dogged tenacity of David Ferrer. Mad Professah's pick: Ferrer.

Juan Martin Del Potro ARG (7) vs Novak Djokovic SRB (2).  Del Potro has already played the villain at this tournament, dispatching the last American male to win a grand slam into his retirement by beating Andy Roddick 6-7(1) 7-6(4) 6-2 6-4. Despite having a 2-5 career head-to-head deficit against Djokovic, Del Potro has managed to beat him in crucially important matches, such as the London Olympics Bronze medal match this summer and in the 2011 Davis Cup semifinals tie between Argentina and Serbia. However, even though Del Potro won the 2009 US Open over Roger Federer there's no question in my mind that Djokovic right now is the better hard court player (after all, he has won the last three majors played on hard courts). This match-up is exciting enough that it would be reasonable for a major final and I suspect that it may be, sometime in the future. The fact that he is even here is a good measure of Del Potro's progress since his devastating wrist injury following his major breakthrough removed him from the ATP tour for over a year. Even though he probably won't win this match, it is a good indication the tall Argentine will be competing for major titles in the very near future. Djokovic is the defending champion and I full expect him to be playing to defend his title on Sunday (weather permitting). Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.

2012 US OPEN Day 8: Serena and Federer Win

REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Serena Williams reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 US Open where she will face 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic by winning 6-0 6-0 against Czech doubles specialist Anna Hlavackova. Earlier, Roger Federer reached his record 34th consecutive major quarterfinal by also not losing a (or winning) a single game when Mardy Fish withdrew from the tournament on the advice of his doctor. Fish has been struggling with a heart condition (accelerated heart rate) for most of the 2012 tennis season. The world #1 will face Tomas Berdych, who beat Federer in the quarterfinals en route to his appearance in the 2010 Wimbledon final. Serena is in dominating form, having won 38 of her last 40 matches, with losses only to Angelique Kerber in Cincinnati and Virginie Razzano in Paris, grabbing the Wimbledon title and gold medals in Singes and Doubles.

The double bagel Serena served was only the 5th in her career and the first at the US Open since Maria Sharapova did it in 2009. Speaking of the Russian, she came back from being down 0-2 in the deciding set against Nadia Petrova after a brief rain delay last night to eventually win her 11th 3-set match of 2012 6-1 4-6 6-4.

The other big result of the weekend was Marion Bartoli taking out 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 1-6 6-2 6-0 to reach a quarterfinal match up with Sharapova. #1 seed Victoria Azarenka has reached her very first US Open quarterfinal by losing a mere 10 games in her first four rounds. (Even with the double bagel, Serena has lost more games than Vika: twelve in four rounds.) Kerber lost a very tough, tight match against 2012 French Open finalist Sara Errani 7-6(5) 6-3.

Andy Roddick continued his last run at a major tournament after announcing his retirement by taking out his handsome buddy Fabio Fognini 7-5 7-6(1) 4-6 6-4. He will face Juan Martin del Potro in a tough 4th round match tomorrow night.

US OPEN Day 4: Day of Drama and Despair

Yesterday was Andy Roddick's 30th birthday and he stunned the tennis world by announcing that he would be retiring from professional tennis at the end of this year's US Open. Since he had fallen out of the Top 10 late last year questions about when he would retire had started to come fast and furious at his always lively and sometimes combative press conference. Roddick had refused to answer such questions and insisted he wasn't done yet. The American with the huge serve (in his heyday he regularly hit serves in the mid-140mph range) and the booming forehand was dismissed by many as a "one-slam wonder" by only winning the 2003 US Open title days after his 21st birthday. However, he was unfortunately in an era where at least two (and possibly three) of the greatest players to ever strike a tennis ball (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic) rose to prominence to dominate the sport. The biggest obstacle of these was Federer who cruelly beat Roddick in 4 major finals (2009 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open, 2005 Wimbledon and 2004 Wimbledon) and racked up a gaudy 21-3 career head-to-head record against him. Federer once dismissed Roddick as a "great server" (i.e. not a great player) but Roddick got the last laugh by winning their last career meeting in Key Biscayne earlier this year. Federer was voluble in his   praise for Roddick and said that he would be rooting for him in his 2nd round showdown with talented Aussie teenager Bernard Tomic tonight.

Last night what some are calling the best women's match of the year was played under the lights of Arthur Ashe stadium when Angelique Kerber of Germany met another slowly fading American star Venus Williams in an unfortunate second round clash. The match started on unpropitious terms with 5 consecutive breaks of serve leading to Kerber winning the first set 6-2 in 31 minutes. That all changed in a pivotal 3rd game of the match when Venus gritted out a service hold (for the first time in the match) already down 0-2. The veteran American used that momentum and the glimmers of hope from a partisan crowd to win 3 consecutive games and eventually win the second set 7-5 in 1 hour 16 minutes. But the drama was not over yet as the level of play increased in the third set, with Venus eventually taking a 4-2 lead. Unfortunately, she was not able to hold on to the lead and the set got back to dead even at 4-all as midnight approached. Venus was able to hold sserve again and was a mere two points away from winning the match at 30-all on Kerber's serve in the 10th game but the German was able to hold and then broke Venus as the double faults and unforced errors returned to the American's racquet. (Venus ended the match with 16 double faults and 1 measly ace; she littered the stats sheet with 43 winners and 60 unforced errors compared to Kerber's 20 winers and 25 unforced errors). After getting the final break Kerber was able to hold serve relatively easily to win 6-2 5-7 7-5 in 2 hours, 45 minutes, concluding at 12:19am on Friday morning.

For Kerber, a current Top 10 player, it was her 3rd win against Venus this year and adds to her mystique following her clutch win over Serena Williams in Cincinnati a few weeks ago.

All in all it was a day of drama and despair for American tennis.

Olympiad XXX Day 4: Nole(2),Masha(3),Venus Win

Day 4 of the tennis competition at the XXXth Olympiad in London was historic, with the longest match in Olympic tennis history occurring between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Milos Raonic.

Additionally, #2seed Novak Djokovic dismissed 3-time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick in straight sets 6-1 6-2. Venus Williams continued her excellent play by beating Aleksandr Wozniack in straight sets.

Other noted players to win today include Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Sabine Lisicki.
Also winning were David Ferrer(4), Andy Murray(3) and Lleyton Hewitt.

In other news,Venus and Serena Williams defeated the German team of Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki 7-5 6-2. They will face the #2 seeded team from Italy Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.

Surprisingly, Serena has decided NOT to compete in the mixed doubles competition, instead deferring to the doubles specialists on the American team, Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber, the #1 women's doubles team in the world, who will play with the men's doubles team, Mike and Bob Bryan. Huber will play with the lefty Bob Bryan, while Raymond will play with Mike.

Serena had said she could not decide whether to play with John Isner or Andy Roddick, but in the end decided that competing in the women's singles and the women's doubles was more than enough.

Olympiad XXX Day 3: Venus, Serena, Raja, Vika Win

Venus Williams won her first round match over 2012 French Open finalist Sara Errani of Italy, while her sister Serena won her second round match over Urszula Radwanska of Poland. #1 seed Victoria Azarenka  17-time major champion Roger Federer won his 2nd round match over Julien Benneteau of France. Americans Varvara Lepchenko, John Isner and Andy Roddick also won. The latter win sets up a 2nd round clash with World #2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia will face American John Isner in the 3rd round. Interesting second round match-ups include Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France against Milos Raonic of Canada, Djokovic versus Roddick and Richard Gasquet against Marcos Baghdatis.

On the women's side, Venus will play Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada next while Serena will face Vera Zvonareva. Kim Clijsters will face Ana Ivanovic in the 3rd round while Caroline Wozniacki(8) will face Daniela Hantuchova.

Other players of note still in the hunt for medals are Petra Kvitova(6) and Maria Sharapova(3).

Olympiad XXX Day 1: Most Seeds Get Through

Serena Williams, Roger Federer, John Isner, Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters all won their first round matches in the singles competition of the London Olympics at Wimbledon today. Serena beat Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-1 while World #1 Roger Federer took 3 sets to defeat Alejandro Falla after failing to convert a match point in the second set. Isner and Roddick won their singles match but then lost their doubles match to a veteran Brazilian doubles team. The Bryan Twins defeated another Brazilian doubles team of Tomaz Belluci and Andre Sa in 3 sets.

Other winners on the first day of competition included Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki, Juan Martin del Potro, Janko Tipsarevic and Ana Ivanovic. 


Li Na was upset by Daniela Hantuchova and Sam Stosur was upset by Carla Suarez Navarro. Tomas Berdych lost in the biggest upset on the men's side to Steve Darcis.

Roddick Wins Atlanta; 23rd ATP Tour Title

Andy Roddick won his 32nd ATP tour title by defeating Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 1-6 7-6(2) 6-2. Roddick has won 11 of his 12 matches, and 2 of the last 3 tournaments he has played in, winning the Queen's Club title on grass the week before Wimbledon and now the Atlanta Open. These results may bode well for his next tournament, which is the London Olympics. There he will be playing doubles with John Isner, who he defeated in a very tough semifinal in Atlanta on Saturday night 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4.

Muller is the most accomplished player from his country and was playing in his 3rd career final (Roddick was playing in his 52nd) and although he led 6-1 he served very well (ended the match with more aces than Roddick) until things got tight in the second when Muller double faulted multiple times and his forehand went off and never returned before the match concluded with two breaks of his serve.

USTA Names Men's and Women's Olympics Teams

The United States Tennis Association today named the members of the men's and women's teams who will represent the United States at the London Olympics. As I predicted, Venus Williams and Serena Williams were named to the team in both singles and doubles. Interestingly, John Isner and Andy Roddick  (as well as Mike and Bob Bryan, of course) were named to the doubles team, so I wonder who will get to play with Serena in the new mixed-doubles competition?

2012 FRENCH OPEN: Day 1

The second major tournament of the year, Roland Garros, began in Paris today. Two Americans in the twilight of their careers, Andy Roddick and Venus Williams, took the court and had contrasting results. Roddick, playing with a very pedestrian win-loss record of 7-9 for 2012 lost in the first round of a grand slam tournament for the first time since 2007 by falling to hometown favorite Nicolas Mahut 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-2.

Venus, playing in her first grand slam match since she withdrew from the 2011 US Open after revealing she suffers from Sjogren's Syndrome (an energy sapping auto-immune disorder), started off slowly but eventually won her first round match against Paula Ormaechea 4-6 6-1 6-3. Unfortunately, she will almost certainly play World #3 Agnieska Radwanska in the next round. I don't see her getting through that match, despite sporting a 5-2 career head-to-head against the red-hot Polish player who has the most wins on tour this year.

Other players to watch who survived Day 1 were 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur, #5 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Angelique Kerber, Juan Martin del Potro, Fernando Verdasco and 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Madrid 2012: Federer and Serena Win Titles

As I predicted, Roger Federer won his 3rd Madrid Masters title and record 20th ATP Masters series title by coming back to edge Tomas Berdych 3-6 7-5 7-5 in a tightly contested 3-set match whose result hinged on one or two points. With his victory, Federer is now the #2 player in the world, and since losing to the World #1 Novak Djokovic (despite having double match point in the 5th set) at the 2011 US  Open semifinals the Swiss great is now 45-3 (losses to Rafael Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open semifinals, John Isner on clay in Basel, Switzerland in Davis Cup and Andy Roddick in the 3rd round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami).

As expected Serena Williams overwhelmed putative World #1 Victoria Azarenka 6-1 6-3 (the identical score by which she eliminated World #2 Maria Sharapova) in a match whose outcome was almost never in doubt. Serena broke Azarenka's serve in the very first game of the match and basically never looked back, blasting 26 winners (including 14 aces in 8 service game!) to a mere 5 winners (no aces) for the world's top ranked player.

The Madrid Mutua Open title is Serena's 41st of her career (15 losses) and Roger's 74th (30 losses).

KEY BISCAYNE '12: Roddick Beats Federer!

Well, well! Former World #1 Andy Roddick shocked almost all observers by defeating World #3 Roger Federer 7-6(5) 1-6 6-4 in the 4th round of the Sony Ericsson Open, almost exactly 4 years after he had last beaten the Greatest of All Time in an ATP tour match (coincidentally) at this same tournament.

Federer came into the match sporting a  record of 40 wins, 2 losses since his heartbreaking semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic in the 2011US Open Semifinals and had won last week's ATP Masters Series tournament in Indian Wells for a record 4th time, defeating arch-nemesis Rafael Nadal in the process. The Swiss Maestro was on a 16 matches winning streak and had won 77 consecutive matches against players outside the Top 20.

But Monday night belonged to the American, who served a bucketful of aces and exhibited uncharacteristic aggression on his return games coupled with surprisingly tenacious defense. Both were pivotal to Roddick's win Monday night. In the first set tiebreaker Roddick returned a surprisingly weak Federer ovehead on a sitter and tracked down an angle volley to hit a winner and clinch a mini-break which he nursed to claim a razor-thin 7-6(7-5) first set. In the 2nd game of the 3rd set, after losing 7 consecutive games, Roddick was down 0-40 on his serve when he suddenly stopped missing first serves and was able to save 4 break points and hold serve. Roddick followed up the momentum change by forcing 0-40 in Federer's very next service game by playing the most aggressive return game of his career I have ever seen, hitting four forehand winners to break serve. With his win, Roddick improved to 3 wins and 21 losses against Federer, but showed the rest of the field that even though the former top American is now over 30 and his ranking is in the 20s he can still string together enough strong points to make an impact at any tournament.

AUS OPEN 2012: Stosur(6) Loses In 1st Round

Reigning U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur crashed out of her home country's Grand Slam tournament, losing 7-6(2) 6-3 to Sorana Cirstea in the first round. Her opponent in the 2011 U.S.Open final, 13-time major champion Serena Williams won her first round match 6-3 6-2 over Tamira Paszek. Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova Vera Zvonareva and Marion Bartoli all won their first round matches.

Other first round winners on the male side of the draw were Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and French superstars Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils.

Best (Men's) Tennis Matches of 2011

Here are my picks for the "best" (or most memorable) tennis matches by men in 2011. These are basically the matches that had the most impact on me while they were occurring, feature some of the best play or most amazing shots, had the most impact on the rest of the tennis season or are matches that I would most likely to watch again in the future. You can see my previous lists: Best Men's Tennis Matches of 2010, Best Men's Tennis Matches of 2009 and Best Men's Tennis Matches of 2006. (There were no men's lists in 2007 or 2008 for some reason.) I have also compiled lists of the Best Women's Tennis Matches for 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010. These can all be accessed at my MadProfessah.com Tennis tab.

1.  N. Djokovic SRB d. R. Nadal ESP, 6-2 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3, 2011 U.S. Open final, New York.

For the sixth time in 2011 the World #1 and World #2 met in tournament final, this time at the last grand slam of the year (with the ranking positions reversed from the 5 previous meetings), in New York where Rafael Nadal had had his career defining success the year before, completing the career slam by defeating this same opponent at this very same tournament.  After surviving a double match point against the Greatest Player of All Time in the previous round Novak Djokovic was playing with "house money" in the final. Surely the new #1 player from Serbia would be unable to snatch another major tournament title from the Spanish defending champion? The most amazing part of this match was that in my estimation Nadal played better tennis than Djokovic for the majority of the first two sets but somehow managed to lose them both. Djokovic seemed impervious to the score and just refused to go away in the first two sets, repeatedly responding to ridiculous shots and enervating rallies from Nadal with one more clear strike of the ball on or near the lines. The mental stakes of this match were even more important than the physical impact. By winning this match Djokovic showed that there was no question that he was the best player in the world, and that he had truly demolished the Federer-Nadal duopoly at the pinnacle of tennis, and was in the process of filling new pages in the tennis record books with the name of the new kid on the block, Novak Djokovic.

2.  R. Federer SUI d. N. Djokovic, 7-6(5) 6-3 3-6 7-6(5), 2011 Roland Garros Semifinal, Paris. This match was the only result standing between Novak Djokovic's astonishing 2011 season of three major titles, 5 Masters series shields, a record $12.6 million dollars and 70 tour wins and the rare, sheer perfection of a calendar year slam, which only a handful of male or female tennis players have ever accomplished. After all, Roger Federer has thrice won 3 of the 4 major tournaments in a year (2004, 2006 and 2007) while Nadal did it last year in 2010. Players like Mats Wilander (1988) and Jimmy Connors (1974), who are superb champions but arguably not indelible names in the tennis pantheon, have been able to win 3 major titles in a calendar year. But no man sincethe great Rod Laver has been able to win 4 in a year or 4 in a row. In this match, Federer demonstrated, for the umpteenth time, that he is the second-best clay court player of his generation, behind Rafael Nadal who is the Greatest Clay Court player of all-time, when he faced off against a Djokovic who had not lost a match for the entire year and who had dismissed Federer relatively easily (3 times!) in his 42-match winning streak through the first 5 months of the year. Djokovic's confidence was at its peak and he (and most observers) believed that he would win this match to face Nadal in the final. I sincerely believe that if Djokovic had won this match he would have beaten Nadal in the Roland Garros final and won the elusive calendar Grand Slam to cement his superlative year in the record books for ever. 2011 was the first year since 2002 that Federer did not win a major title but handing Djokovic his only defeat in a Grand Slam match all year long is something the Swiss will long remember and treasure even if his total remains stuck at 16 major singles titles.

3. N. Djokovic SRB d. R. Federer SUI, 6-7(7) 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5, 2011 U.S. Open semifinal, New York.
Just to get to the final of the U.S. Open for the second year in a row, Djokovic had to face the best hard-court player of his generation, Roger Federer. Amazingly, for the second year in a row Federer held two match points against Djokovic and managed to lose! For Djokovic he had the added mental pressure that he was also facing the only player who had beaten him at a major tournament all year long. However, in the fifth set, having made the herculean effort to overcome a 2-set deficit to even the match, Djokovic faced a match point with Roger Federer serving at 5-3, 40-15. On a pretty good first serve Djokovic hit a forehand go-for-broke service return winner, smacking away a match point in jaw-dropping, history-making fashion. The second match point was lost on a difficult half-volley by Federer (caused by another Djokovic excellent service return) which hit the net and bounced out of bounds. It was this point, 5-3, Deuce in the5th set of the 2011 US Open semifinals that Federer will remember for decades. He should have been able to regroup and serve out the game by finding a way to win two points in a row on his serve but instead he lost the next two points and before he knew it Djokovic had held serve and the match was dead even at 5-all with a complete momentum switch and soon it slipped away completely. It is precisely these very small moments and individual points which extremely close matches can be decided on, and these kinds of matches often decide major championships which are remembered forever.


4. J-W Tsonga FRA d. R. Federer SUI, 3-6 6-7(3) 6-4 6-4 6-4, 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinal, London. 
Roger Federer had won 178 Grand Slam matches in a row when he had won the first two sets of a 5-set match at a major tournament, never losing a match with such a huge lead. He was playing at Wimbledon, in the quarterfinals, on a surface he had dominated for the better part of a decade, collecting 6 titles (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009). On the other side of the net was the wildly talented Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who had lost to Federer the last three times they had played but who had acquitted himself well in the Queen's Club warm-up tournament, losing a hard-fought final to Andy Murray. Somehow, after facing a breakpoint in the 1st set Tsonga was able to raise his service effectiveness to stratospheric levels and never even faced a break point in the subsequent 4 sets, managing to break Federer three times, once each time in the three final sets, which was enough to win the match. Federer did not play badly, but he did not play aggressively enough to jar the Frenchman from his self-conceived (and self-confident) game plan once he gained that 2-0 set lead. I believe that Federer was hurt by the fact that he had won so many times due to his opponent basically giving up at the thought of trying to win 3 consecutive sets against The Greatest Player of all Time that he was unprepared for the stiff resistance put up by Tsonga. It was literally a very unfamiliar position for Federer to be in. This match was critical to demonstrate to the rest of the field that Federer, like everyone else, can lose a match despite holding a commanding a lead, and providing a reminder that a match is ot ove runtil the final point is played. Tsonga also exposed the truth that Federer was no longer at the very top of the game, and that there were other players besides former and reigning Grand Slam champions, who could defeat the Swiss Maestro.

5. N. Djokovic SRB d. A. Murray GBR, 6-1 3-6 7-6(2), 2011 Italian Open semifinal, Rome.
Clay court tennis is almost a completely different sport from tennis played on harder, faster surfaces. It requires more patience, more guile and (often), more physical tenacity than hard court tennis. Amazingly, the best clay court match of the year did not feature the presence of the King of Clay Rafael Nadal, but instead was a brutal, brilliant 3-hour slugfest between the 3rd and 4th best clay court players in the world. Some observers call this semifinal clash between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic the best match of the year but I would disagree. For pure tennis entertainment, it probably is the best match of the year, featuring some of the longest rallies of the year but as for overall significance on the future of tennis or impact on me while I was watching it, matches that occur at majors have an inherent advantage of historical significance. I would also argue that the matches higher on the list may not have as many ridiculously long rallies (although the #1 match does) but they each have more eye-popping shots attempted (and frequently made) with tennis posterity on the line. That being said, this was a heck of a match, clearly the best non-final, non-major match of the year. Murray served for the match in the third set and his play throughout was able to partially erase his disappointing performance(s) in major finals and show why he belongs to be in the conversation when discussing the best players in tennis, but in the end, he again fell heart-wrendlingly short of the win, which is all most people will ever remember.


 6. N. Djokovic SRB d. R. Nadal, 4-6 6-3 7-6(4), 2011 Sony Ericsson Open final, Miami.
This match was played a mere few weeks after Indian Wells where Djokovic had beaten Nadal for the first time in a final, after losing to him in the five previous finals they had contested. However, it was this match that really cemented in my mind that Djokovic had reached a brand new level of tennis.  Djokovic had a bad (16 losses 8 wins) head-to-head record overall with Nadal but all his 8 wins against the Spaniard had come on hard courts (but never in an important final). Nadal was the defending US Open champion and had shown that he could find a way to win on all surfaces, against anyone when it really counted, even the reigning Australian Open champion who was on a 24 match winning streak. The result was a very physical, tactical war of attrition played on a tennis court. And at the end of it all the tennis world was stunned to see Novak Djokovic standing victoriously while the indomitable Rafael Nadal looked exhausted and defeated. This was the match (along with the US Open semifinal win against Federer) that gave Djokovic the confidence to know that he could beat Nadal even if he was not playing his best tennis. After this match it was clear that would only be a matter of when, not if, Djokovic would shatter the Federer-Nadal duopoly at the pinnacle of tennis.


7. R. Nadal ESP d. R. Federer SUI, 7-5 7-6(3) 5-7 6-1, Roland Garros final, Paris.
This was the 25th career meeting between Federer and Nadal, two of the greatest players of all time. It was the 4th time they met in the final of Roland Garros and their 8th major final showdown (Nadal winning 5 times.). Nadal  had never lost a final at Roland Garros (in fact so far in his career he has only ever lost one match there!) and thus no one really expected this match to be close. Nadal lead their career head-to-head with 16 wins to 8 losses and had won all 3 previous clay court major finals, their only hard court final in Australia and also won their greatest match (which many people call the greatest match of all time), the 2008 Wimbledon final. There's no question that the physical match up between Nadal's lefty spin and power on both wings with Federer's shot-making and serving prowess is a bad one for the Swiss, but the mental challenge is even more devastating. No one else on tour wins 2/3rds  (and expects to win that many) of their matches against the 16-time major champion. So it was quite surprising for everyone watching this match when the first set was clearly on Federer's racquet after he played 40 minutes of crisp, aggressive clay court tennis to blunt and thwart Nadal's many advantages on the surface. An attempted drop shot winner from the baseline on set point which just bounced centimetres wide is what separated the two gladiators this time. Realizing that he had played better than Nadal for large stretches of the first set but had still lost it sapped Federer's mental resolve and he meekly succumbed to the inevitable defeat in four sets of elegant but futile tennis.


8.  N. Djokovic SRB d. R. Nadal ESP, 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3, Wimbledon final, London.
This was the match that really reflected the fact that the changing of the guard was complete at the top of men's tennis and the new #1 was not named Federer or Nadal but Djokovic. This was Djokovic's first match after clinching his lifetime goal of being universally (and officially) acclaimed the best tennis player in the world. He was facing a 2-time Wimbledon defending champion who had not lost since the 2007 Men's final (having skipped the 2009 tournament due to injury). Did Djokovic really have the ability to take away a major title from a defending champion on that champion's turf? The answer was clearly yes as Djokovic showed how his game with an improved serve, flawless groundstrokes combined with unmatched confidence and stunning movement were a much more problematic match-up for Nadal than what he was used to facing against his arch-rival Roger Federer.  Surely having previously lost five finals in a row to Nadal in his career, Djokovic would not be able to beat Nadal in five finals in the same year? Again, the Serbian responded to the question in the affirmative and marked the official beginning of the Djokovic era by winning the most prestigious title in tennis in a convincing fashion.




9. N. Djokovic SRB d. R. Nadal ESP, 7-5 6-4, 2011 Madrid Masters final, Madrid.
Rafael Nadal has gone through entire clay court seasons (2006, 2010) without losing a match on the surface in which he is almost universally acclaimed as the greatest of all time. So, when earlier this year Nadal faced a still undefeated Novak Djokovic it was a canonical example of an unmovable object facing an irresistible force. Most observers felt that Nadal's clay court magic would carry him to victory in this match as it had in the 10 previous times the two had met on clay. This final is most important for the significance of the result: The first time Nadal was beaten by Djokovic in a clay court final.



10. A. Roddick USA d. M. Raonic CAN, 7-6 (7), 6-7 (11), 7-5, Regions Morgan Keegan Championships final, Memphis.
 This match is the only one not featuring any of the Top 4 players in the world, Djokovic, Nadal, Federer or Murray. However, it does feature one of the most incredible shots on match points ever (although I would still argue the 2010 US Open Fernando Verdasco-David Ferrer match has the best match point of all time). It also features Milos Raonic, who is almost certainly going to be joining the Top 4 within the next few years. The 21-year-old 6'5" hard-serving Canadian ended the year at #31 and reached a career high of #25 during the year. In this match he faced off against Andy Roddick, a player who was unlucky to be playing in the era of two of the greatest players of all time (Federer and Nadal), in the throes of a hot streak which included winning his first ATP Tour title the week before in San Jose. Roddick's performance in the 2009 Wimbledon men's final is still fresh in a lot of people's memories, where Federer finally broke Sampras's record of 14 major singles titles by outlasting a determined challenge from the American. After his one major win in New York in 2003, Roddick has amassed an impressively consistent record of winning at least one ATP tour title for the last 9 years, a record he shares with Federer thanks to his amazingly gutsy effort on the final point of his match against Raonic.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The following matches are ones that should not be forgotten, but because of mathematical limitations, could not be in the Top 10 matches of the year. However each one either featured some amazing shots or extended periods of high-quality tennis or were entertaining or important to me as a tennis fan. (They are provided here, in no ranked order, for your perusal, and to jog your memory.)
J.-C. Ferrero ESP  d. G. Monfils FRA, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 2011 U.S. Open 2nd Round, New York

D. Nalbandian ARG d  L. Hewitt AUS, 3-6 6-4 3-6 7-6(1) 9-7 , 2011 Australian Open 1st Round, Melbourne.
R. Federer SUI d. R. Nadal ESP, 6-3 6-0, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals round-robin, London.

A. Dolgopolov UKR d  R. Soderling SWE, 1-6 6-3 6-1 4-6 6-2, 2011 Australian Open 4th Round, Melbourne.

N. Djokovic SRB d. A. Murray GBR, 6-4 6-2 6-3, 2011 Australian Open final, Melbourne.

N. Djokovic SRB d. R. Federer SUI, 6-4 6-2 6-3, 2011 Australian Open semifinal, Melbourne.

A. Murray GBR d  A. Dolgopolov UKR, 7-5 6-3 6-7(3) 6-3, 2011 Australian Open quarterfinal, Melbourne.

N. Djokovic SRB d. T. Berdych CZE, 6-1 7-6(5) 6-1, 2011 Australian Open semifinal, Melbourne.

F. Lopez ESP d. A. Roddick USA, 7-6(2) 7-6(2) 6-4, Wimbledon 3rd Round, London.

K. Nishikori JPN d. N. Djokovic SRB, 3-6 7-6(4) 6-0, Swiss Indoors semi-final, Basel.

N. Djokovic SRB d. R. Nadal, 4-6 6-3 6-2, BNP Paribas Open final, Indian Wells.

D. Ferrer ESP d. R. Nadal ESP, 6-4 6-2 6-3, 2011 Australian Open quarterfinal, Melbourne.

R. Federer SUI d. F. Lopez ESP, 7-6(13) 6-7(1) 7-6(7), 2011 Madrid Open 3rd Round, Madrid.

N. Djokovic SRB d. R. Nadal ESP, 7-5 6-4, 2011 Madrid Open final, Madrid.

R. Gasquet FRA d. R. Federer SUI, 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(4), Italian Open 3rd Round, Rome.

R. Nadal ESP d. J. Isner USA, 6-4 6-7(2) 6-7(2) 6-2 6-3, Roland Garros 1st Round, Paris.

A. Murray GBR d. J-W. Tsonga FRA, 2-6 7-6(2) 6-4, Queen's Club final, London.

J. Isner USA d. N. Mahut FRA 7-6(4) 6-4 7-6(6), Wimbledon 1st Round, London.

R. Nadal ESP d. J-M. Del Potro ARG, 7-6(6) 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4, Wimbledon 4th Round, London.

D. Young USA d. S. Wawrinka SUI, 7-6(7) 3-6 2-6 6-3 7-6(1), U.S. Open 2nd Round, New York. 

R. Federer SUI d. J-W Tsonga FRA, 6-4 6-3 6-3, U.S. Open quarterfinal, New York.
A. Murray GBR d. J. Isner USA, 7-5 6-4 3-6 7-6(2), U.S. Open quarterfinal, New York.
J-W Tsonga FRA d. M. Fish USA,6-4 6-7(3) 3-6 6-4 6-2, U.S. Open 4th round, New York.

J-W Tsonga FRA d. J. Isner USA, 3-6 7-6(1) 7-6(3), BNP Paribas Paris Masters semi-final, Bercy.

R. Federer SUI d. J-W. Tsonga FRA, 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals final, London.
R. Nadal ESP d. J-M del Potro ARG, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(0), Davis Cup Final.