Tennis Anyone?

[H_T 2,941]

It's a funny thing when the media talk of the "Big 4" given that Fed has 17 now, Rafa 11, Djoker 5 and Murray......

He is still a class above the rest of the field but if he doesn't get one soon then he may well become that dreaded "best never".

Unfortunately for Andy cold hard reality is that he has landed in one of the most amazing eras of men's tennis and while Federer and Nadal have been going hammer and tong for years now, we

were all waiting to see who was going to step up to their amazing level and enter the battles, Djokovic has done that (his 2011 was astonishing) leaving Murray behind in a kind of limbo.

I would have loved to see him win this Wimbledon and the 11th game of the second set is where it all started to go wrong for him.

Congrats to Fed though, on that green stage he really is the king.

Federer may have just made it near impossible for Nadal to catch him having stretched it to 17.

[gsmith12 491]

Andy Murray finally cracks a GS win - well deserved. No histrionics or arrogance, just gets the job done.

[Macca 16,173]

Andy Murray finally cracks a GS win - well deserved. No histrionics or arrogance, just gets the job done.

He might have a few more chances as well now . Roger is getting on , Rafa has some injury issues and Novak might be coming back to the field a bit .

He could go 2 ways now , win 1 or 2 more slams or use this win as a spur to win as many as he can . Great win today by Andy .

Edited September 11, 2012 by Macca

[Deestroy All 14,262]

Andy Murray finally cracks a GS win - well deserved. No histrionics or arrogance, just gets the job done.

Not sure whether I'm happy because I hate Djokovic, or unhappy because I hate Murray.

I'll just go about my life happily hating stuff I guess.

[Macca 16,173]

The Australian open starts on Monday and if you want to check out the seedings go to this site ...

... Seeds set for Australian Open 2013

On the Mens side, Nadal is a notable absentee through a stomach virus (must of been a bad one) . Djokovic (1), Murray (2), Federer (3) and Ferrer (4) are the top 4 seeds. Andy and Roger are seeded to meet each other in one Semi final whilst Novak and David are a possibility for the other Semi final. (2 vs 3 and 1 vs 4).

On the Womens side the top 4 seeds are Azarenka (1), Sharapova (2), Serena Williams (3) and Radwanska (4) . Slightly different seeding match-ups on the Ladies side with seeds 1 and 3 drawn to meet each other in one Semi and seeds 2 and 4 drawn to meet in the other Semi.

Australia's Sam Stoser is seeded no.9 and if she gets through to the Quarter finals she may well meet Agnieszka Radwanska (4). Sam is in the same quarter of the draw as Agnieszka.

Edited January 12, 2013 by Macca

[H_T 2,941]

My god, what a match between Djokovic and Warinker last night. 5hr match.

[Macca 16,173]

My god, what a match between Djokovic and Warinker last night. 5hr match.

Yep, great match and apparently most of the crowd stayed as well. Federer did it much easier in the round of 16 .

Top 4 seeds in both Mens and Womens are through to the quarter finals. Should be a great week of tennis.

Djokovic (1) vs Berdych (5) tonight (Tues) could be a beauty.

[H_T 2,941]

I think Serena Williams is a certainty to win the Open. She served 95/96% of first serves in. Wow. Unheard of these days.

The Fed Express and Murray - can't split them, leaning towards Roger.

[dee-luded 2,958]

I think Serena Williams is a certainty to win the Open. She served 95/96% of first serves in. Wow. Unheard of these days.

The Fed Express and Murray - can't split them, leaning towards Roger.

Roger looks sharper to me than his last couple of Melbourne slams.

Murray is still murray underneath... Roger is still roger underneath. eats pressure.

[H_T 2,941]

Roger looks sharper to me than his last couple of Melbourne slams.

Murray is still murray underneath... Roger is still roger underneath. eats pressure.

Must admit, I was impressed by Djokovic and his movement last night given that he had come off a 5hr game two nights before. I can't rule him out of contention. He has the form in Melbourne and the defensive side of his game to withstand guys like Murray and RF.

[H_T 2,941]

Well, I did put the moz on her. Serena Williams a casualty at the Open. Out of contention, beaten by up and comer Sloane Stephens from the USA - get on her for value.

[Macca 16,173]

We could be here for quite some time. Really good match so far.

Could go either way. I'll be happy for either Murray or Federer to get through. Maybe a slight leaning to the 'Fed' though Andy is a much more rounded player after his US Open triumph over Djokovic

[dee-luded 2,958]

Must admit, I was impressed by Djokovic and his movement last night given that he had come off a 5hr game two nights before. I can't rule him out of contention. He has the form in Melbourne and the defensive side of his game to withstand guys like Murray and RF.

That was the first time I've seen the joker look intimidated, & often, against the Swiss player.

the joker comes out of that game against his swiss opponent with a real hard workout under his belt to set him up for the run to final.

Watching Fed v Murray atmo, fed looks like he's getting stale. family may be enough these days?

Fed not looking the same as 4 yrs back.... looking blunt, slow around the court & missing to many shots. I thought, back 2 matches, he looked sharper than last year, but he's dropped off again.

[Macca 16,173]

That was the first time I've seen the joker look intimidated, & often, against the Swiss player.

the joker comes out of that game against his swiss opponent with a real hard workout under his belt to set him up for the run to final.

Watching Fed v Murray atmo, fed looks like he's getting stale. family may be enough these days?

Fed not looking the same as 4 yrs back.... looking blunt, slow around the court & missing to many shots. I thought, back 2 matches, he looked sharper than last year, but he's dropped off again.

We go to a 5th 'dl' . It's a toss up. The match deserved a 5th set.

[dee-luded 2,958]

We go to a 5th 'dl' . It's a toss up. The match deserved a 5th set.

I watched the last bit in bed, but Roger looks like the boxer who has lost his anger & venom.

Comfy street has eked away his tenacity. he looks content with things & time to move on to another chapter.

I didn't want to believe it, that Rog is softening but the truth is he has come back to the fold maybe 20%. Others have lifted a little IMO, but nowhere near 20%.

IMO Nadal has dropped off from 2 yrs back, so to the Joker who IMO peaked the last 2 yrs, & now we see Murray catching the falling stars. Murray has improved a lot but is not as good as Joker 18 months ago, & not nearly as good as Roger 4 yrs ago.

Even Tsonga is catching them.

roger lacked imagination.

No sharply angled shots cross court & no variation on ground stroke speed to upset Murrays rhythm.

Rog just hit the ball back up court into the hitting area. Not hitting lines or corners. Just corridor tennis.

[Macca 16,173]

I watched the last bit in bed, but Roger looks like the boxer who has lost his anger & venom.

Comfy street has eked away his tenacity. he looks content with things & time to move on to another chapter.

I didn't want to believe it, that Rog is softening but the truth is he has come back to the fold maybe 20%. Others have lifted a little IMO, but nowhere near 20%.

IMO Nadal has dropped off from 2 yrs back, so to the Joker who IMO peaked the last 2 yrs, & now we see Murray catching the falling stars. Murray has improved a lot but is not as good as Joker 18 months ago, & not nearly as good as Roger 4 yrs ago.

Even Tsonga is catching them.

roger lacked imagination.

No sharply angled shots cross court & no variation on ground stroke speed to upset Murrays rhythm.

Rog just hit the ball back up court into the hitting area. Not hitting lines or corners. Just corridor tennis.

It's funny, I saw it as Roger making a lot of unforced errors (albeit in his attempt to hit the far corners or near the sidelines) Wouldn't be ruling a line through him yet, though if Murray wins on Sunday night we might start seeing a small gap between the top 2 and the next 2 (but probably mainly on hard surfaces) A big '4' would be fantastic for the sport. Not sure about Tsonga - maybe someone else will emerge in the next year or so.

Nadal seems to get a few injuries but he's still only 26. The next slam is the French which is Rafa's favourite. After that it's Wimbledon (and we know how good Roger is on grass) . Still a fair bit to play out 'dl' and the final on Sunday will tell us a lot (especially if Murray wins)

Edited January 26, 2013 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

Good 1st set win to Murray. Vital.

Novak needs to step it up.

[H_T 2,941]

Good 1st set win to Murray. Vital.

Novak needs to step it up.

Murray is well and truly spent, and Djokovic is as solid as ever.

After the first two sets I thought we are in for a five hour game easily here (first two sets went for over 2hrs 15mins).

At the moment it looks as though Djokovic will have it sewn up in four sets.

[Macca 16,173]

Murray is well and truly spent, and Djokovic is as solid as ever.

After the first two sets I thought we are in for a five hour game easily here (first two sets went for over 2hrs 15mins).

At the moment it looks as though Djokovic will have it sewn up in four sets.

Murray couldn't get around the court with that heal blister . His foot looked a right mess and obviously hampered him. Shame really, but those are the breaks. Djokovic got the extra day's break by virtue of his no.1 seeding. And fair enough too.

Full marks to Novak - worthy champion. Friday's Federer/Murray match and Djokovic's 5 set match against Wawrinka were the pick of the matches.

Didn't get to see Azarenka's win over Li Na but heard that the crowd played up a bit.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

French open starts Sunday evening (our time) Andy Murray is out with a back injury whilst Sam Stosur is seeded 9. Sam is in Maria Sharapova's quarter of the draw, so they are drawn to meet in the quarter finals. In the Ladies, the top seed is drawn to meet the 4th seed in the Semi-finals whilst the 2nd seed is drawn to play the 3rd seed.

In the Mens, the top seed is drawn to play the 3rd seed in the Semi-finals and the 2nd seed is drawn to play the 4th seed. This means we could get a Nadal/Federer final (in theory) What it also means is that Novak and Rafa must meet in a Semi-final if they both progress that far. For further news on this story and more ...

... Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic in same half of French Open draw

Mens seeds ...

1. Novak Djokovic
2. Roger Federer
3. Rafael Nadal
4. David Ferrer
5. Tomáš Berdych
6. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
7. Richard Gasquet
8. Janko Tipsarević
9. Stanislas Wawrinka
10. Marin Čilić
11. Nicolás Almagro
12. Tommy Haas
13. Kei Nishikori
14. Milos Raonic
15. Gilles Simon
16. Philipp Kohlschreiber

Ladies seeds ...

1. Serena Williams
2. Maria Sharapova
3. Victoria Azarenka
4. Agnieszka Radwańska
5. Sara Errani
6. Li Na
7. Petra Kvitová
8. Angelique Kerber
9. Samantha Stosur
10. Caroline Wozniacki
11. Nadia Petrova
12. Maria Kirilenko
13. Marion Bartoli
14. Ana Ivanovic
15. Roberta Vinci
16. Dominika Cibulková

Edited May 25, 2013 by Macca

[Macca 16,173]

Seedings are out for Wimbledon. The big talking point is Rafa at no.5. David Ferrer is ranked 4 so the they may meet in the quarter finals. Then again, Nadal might be drawn to meet Murray, Federer or Djokovic in the QF's. The draw comes out later today (tomorrow, our time) Sam Stosur is seeded at no.14.

Edit: After the draw was announced, Nadal will meet Federer in a QF (if both advance that far) If that does happen, the winner is drawn to meet Murray in a SF. Djokovic has the seemingly easier path with Berdych, Ferrer and del Potro in his side of the draw.

In the Ladies, 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 are the seedings match-ups for the SF's (if all the seeds advance that far) If Sam Stosur reaches the 4th round (the round of 16) then her likely opponent will be Serena Williams.

Mens seeds ...

1. Novak Djokovic
2. Andy Murray
3. Roger Federer
4. David Ferrer
5. Rafael Nadal
6. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
7. Tomáš Berdych
8. Juan Martín del Potro
9. Richard Gasquet
10. Marin Čilić
11. Stanislas Wawrinka
12. Kei Nishikori
13. Tommy Haas
14. Janko Tipsarević
15. Nicolás Almagro
16. Philipp Kohlschreiber

Ladies seeds ...

1. Serena Williams
2. Victoria Azarenka
3. Maria Sharapova
4. Agnieszka Radwańska
5. Sara Errani
6. Li Na
7. Angelique Kerber
8. Petra Kvitová
9. Caroline Wozniacki
10. Maria Kirilenko
11. Roberta Vinci
12. Ana Ivanovic
13. Nadia Petrova
14. Samantha Stosur
15. Marion Bartoli
16. Jelena Janković

Edited June 22, 2013 by Macca

[45HG 1,539]

Wow!

What a day!

Sharapova out.

FEDERER out!!!

7 withdrawals including big Jo and Azarenka.

Opens the door for Murray and probably cements it for Serena.

[Macca 16,173]

Well, we ended up with 1 vs 2 in the mens final. Djokovic vs Murray.

Can Andy be the first male winner from Great Britain in 77 years? (Fred Perry was the last GBR winner - 1936)

I hope he wins it but would still be pleased if Novak prevails. Could be a classic.

[H_T 2,941]

OMG. Great Scot!

[Macca 16,173]

Well done to Marion Bartoli for winning the Ladies title over Sabine Lisicki (who defeated Sam Stosur and Serena Williams on the way to the final)

But the big story is Andy Murray's win over Novak! He breaks a 77 year old drought. Great performance and this Murray/Djokovic match-up could be the new big rivalry ... although Federer and Nadal might have something to say about that!