Recap of the Rogers Cup - Montreal/Toronto

Hey everyone, been away a while but decided to get back and give you guys an update in the tennis world. As you all know the US Open is only a few weeks away and I'm pretty excited about it. It would be cool to see Djokovic win and continue his amazing record of 50 something and one. But honestly I'm tired of him winning. I'd like to see Rafa win it.

Anyway this past week I watched quite a bit of the Rogers Open up in Canada. The women played in Toronto and the men in Montreal. I liked seeing Serena win her first tourney back from her injury.

I watched a good amount of the men's side and was really impressed with Mardy Fish. He is playing the best tennis of his life which is odd given he is almost 30. He defeated guys like Feliciano Lopez, Ernest Gulbis, Stan Wawrinka and Tipsarevic only to lose to Novak in the final 2-6, 6-3, 4-6.

Mardy lost in the final of the Farmers tourney in Los Angeles a week or so ago to Ernest Gulbis but the week before that won the Atlanta Tennis Championships.

Anyway there were quite a few upsets in this tourney with Andy Murray, Rafa and Federer all losing early. Murray lost His opening match to the American, Kevin Anderson 3-6, 1-6. Rafa Lost his opening match as well. Losing 6-1, 6-7(5-7), 6-7(5-7) to Ivan Dodig. Federer won his first match but lost his second 6-7(3-7), 6-4, 1-6 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Uruguay - 2011 Copa America Champs

Congrats to Uruguay on their fantastic run in the Copa America tourney and their stomping of Paraguay in the Final 3-0 with Forlan scoring two and Suarez one.  They played great and the vet who plays for Athletico Madrid, Diego Forlan showed up just like he did back in the 2010 World Cup.  They deserved it and are the best team in South America.

To be honest Paraguay didn't have a chance against Uruguay, tying all their matches except their last two and winning on pk's.  They have no offense.  Nothing like Uruguay with Forlan and Suarez up top. 

Suarez puts Uruguay up 1-0.

Forlan after he scored his second goal in the 90' to seal a 3-0 victory for Uruguay.

Evey one expected Brazil and Argentina to be in the final but I am kind of sick of all the talk about them.  Lately they haven't showed up.  Brazil is young and all that but they do not play as a team.  Same happened in the World Cup.  Guess we got to wait and see if they can deliver in the 2014 World Cup and overcome the pressure of their fans as they host the Cup.  Argentina started out awful in this tourney and got better but never got to the level they should of.  Messi is a beast but their team just didn't come together.  But what can i say I guess its hard when you got all these superstars that play on different club teams that come together to play a couple games for their nation.

Uruguay after they eliminated Argentina.

Suarez after he scored against Peru in the Semis.

Wimbledon 2011 - Quarters, Semis and Final

In the quarterfinals Rafa beat Mardy Fish of the US 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.  Novak won against Tomic of Australia 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.  Roger Federer was upset by number twelve Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.  In the last quarterfinal match Murray defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Friday Novak Djokovic took the world number one ranking from Rafael Nadal as he defeat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-7 (9), 6-3 to reach the final of Wimbledon.  Tsonga played very well coming of his stunning victory over Roger Federer in the quarters.

Tsonga and Novak fight out a tough point.

Novak after he beat Tsonga and took the world number one ranking.

The defending champ Nadal was back in the final as he beat Andy Murray 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 just a few hours after Novak secured a spot.

Rafa fist pumps to the crowd after beating Murray.

On Sunday Novak proved that he deserved to take the number one spot by beating Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

"Well, we all know the careers of Nadal and Federer. We don't need to spend words again. They have been the two most dominant players in the world the last five years," Djokovic said after his win today. "They have won most of the majors we are playing on.

"So sometimes it did feel a little bit frustrating when you kind of get to the later stages of a Grand Slam, meaning last four, last eight, and then you have to meet them. They always come up with their best tennis when it matters the most.

"But, look, you know, it's a process of learning, a process of developing and improving as a tennis player, as a person, and just finding the way to mentally overcome those pressures and expectations and issues that you have.

"I always believed that I have quality to beat those two guys. I always believed I have quality to win majors, Grand Slams, and that was the only way I could be here in this position, you know. I mean, I have full respect for those two guys, what they have done. Anytime I play them, I mean, it's a great match. But the mental approach has to be positive. You know, (you tell yourself) I have to win this match. There's no other way."

Wimbledon 2011 - Third and Fourth Rounds

Juan Martin Del Potro

Number one Rafael Nadal beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6, 7-6, 6-0 in the third round Friday/Saturday.  On Monday Rafa took on Juan Martin Del Potro, the 24th seeded player from Argentina who is looking to climb the rankings.  Del Potro beat Gilles Simon of France 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 in the third round, but on Monday he did not have the same luck as he lost to Nadal 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.  The game was intense and they both had thier ups and downs.  Delpo definetly had a shot at winning this one especially when Rafa had a bit of a knee injury.  Tempers flared for both players as Nadal argued a point.  It is unusual for him to get angry about it like he did, especially at Wimbledon.  As Nadal got back to his usual ways Del Potro showed his anger and frustration of the long and physically draining match by smashing his racquet down during a change over.

Nadal after he defeated Del Potro.

No. 2 ranked Novak Dkojovic has to put up a tough fight against Marcos Baghdatis.  Novak won 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and in the fourth round he had no problem beating Michael Llodra of France 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.  Novak will take on Bernard Tomic of Australia in the quarters and honestly Tomic doesn't have a chance.

Novak after he beat Llodra.

Federer beat David Nalbandian in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in his third rounder.  Fed had more of a challenge in the fourth round but still came out victorious, beating Mikhail Youzhhny of Russia 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.  Roger will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the quarterfinals.

Fed playing against Youzhny.

Andy Murray has kept the dreams of the British alive of being the first person from Britain to win Wimbledon in a long long time.  He beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 and went on to beat No. 17 Richard Gasquet of France who I thought would give him problems, but Murray prevailed 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.  Murray will play Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the quarters and you got to give the edge to Murray in that one.

No. 5 Robin Soderling was upset in the third round losing to Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.

No. 6 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic beat Alex Bogomolov Jr. of the USA quite easily 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.  Berdych who is last years runner up failed to equal or beat that bench mark when he lost to the American Mardy Fish in the fourth round.  Mardy will play Nadal in the quarterfinals.

Mardy pumps his fist after a winner against Berdych.

Ferrer dodged a bullet when he was almost upset by Ryan Harrison back in the second round and in the third round he took care of business, beating Karol Beck of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.  In the fourth round though he didnt have such luck, losing to the Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 4-6, 6-7.

Tsonga after he upset Ferrer.

No. 8 Andy Roddick of the US could not reach it back to the final of Wimbledon like he did in 2009 after his third round loss to Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-7, 6-7, 4-6.

Gael Monfils who is seeded number nine also lost in the third round to Lukasz Kubot 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6.

Wimbledon 2011 - First Two Rounds

Wimbledon, one of four Slam events in tennis is underway.  The tourney started Monday with Nadal breezing through his match on Centre against Michael Russel 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.  It is tradition for the defending champion to play his first match on Centre Court.

"I started so-so in the first set, but after that I start to hit very well the forehand and I think I finished playing a very good level," Nadal said.

On Day 3 Rafa beat Ryan Sweeting 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 and will now play in the third round on Friday against Gilles Muller.

Novak Djokovic has also reached the 3rd round quite easily, defeating Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 and in the second round beating Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.  Novak will face the always tough No. 32 Marcos Baghdatis.

Novak dives across the court to hit a backhand.

 

Roger Federer returned to Wimbledon to try and gain his 17th Grand Slam trophy.  In the first round Roger beat Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 and in the second round he beat Adrain Mannarino of France 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.  Federer will play David Nalbandian who is seeded 28th and will put up a strong fight against Federer, making for a great match.

The pressure is on Murray as he plays in his home country but so far he has been able to keep it at bay as he will play in round three.  In his first round match he beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 and in his second round match Murray defeated Tobias Kamke of Germany 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.  Murray is scheduled to take on Ivan Ljubicic in round three.

Lleyton after going up two sets to zero.

No. 5 Robin Soderling of Sweden Philipp Petzschner of Germany in his first round match 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 and then went on to play a great round two match against former number one Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.  Hewitt played great and almost got Soderling going up two sets to zero but Robin came through and won the last three taking the match 6-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

Robin celebrating his victory of Hewitt.

No. 6 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic is back after a loss in the first round of the French Open.  In his first match he beat Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 and in his second he defeated Julien Benneteau of France 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.  Berdych was the runner up in Wimbledon last year and is a real threat to make that run again this year.  He will face Alex Bogomolov Jr. of the USA.

No. 7 David Ferrer of Spain Won his first rounder against Benoit Paire of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.  Ferrer's second round match is postponed due to light and will be finished Friday.  He is currently down two sets to one against the up and coming Ryan Harrison of the USA.

Roddick after his victory over Hanescu.

Andy Roddick of the United States and number eight in the world beat Andreas Beck of Germany 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 and then went on to beat Victor Hanescu 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.  Roddick has performed very well at Wimbledon and was a runner up in 2009.  Andy will play Feliciano Lopez of Spain who should give him a tough match.

Gael Monfils of France who is the ninth seed in the tourney beat Matthias Bachinger of Germany 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 in the first round and beat Grega Zemlja of Slovakia 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6.  Monfils should win his third round match against Lukasz Kubot of Poland.

Monfils about to serve.

The United States also has Mardy Fish in the top ten and he is into the third round with victories over Marcel Granollers of Spain 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 and Denis Istomin 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.  The American will take on Robin Haase of the Netherlands in round three.

Mardy hitting a backhand in his second round match against Istomin.

Juan Martin Del Potro, former number five in the world and 2009 U.S. Open Champion is climbing his way back toward the top after sitting out all of 2010.  He beat Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 and in a match that took more then one day, Delpo beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-7, 6-1, 6-0, 6-4.  In the third round Juan Martin will take on Gilles Simon of France.

Juan Martin Del Potro

Their are many other notable players that have made it into the third round.  As stated earlier Gilles Simon is the third round.  Richard Gasquet is in the third as well as Tsonga.  Nicolas Almagro of Spain defeated John Isner of the United States to get a bid into round three.

Some upsets were Victor Troicki losing to an unranked player in round two.  Wawrinka also lost in the second.

Jurgen Melzer won his first rounder but his second rounder has been postponed and will be played Friday.

Queen's Club Final 2011

Sorry guys I am out of town right now and this is the only time I could get on and get you the updates on the Queen's Club Final.  Monday Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took on Andy Murray in the Queen's final.

Murray won  3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, obtaining his first title of the year against fifth-seeded Tsonga of France.

The match which was supposed to be played on Sunday but was postponed until Monday due to rain in the area.

This is Murray's second time winning, the other coming in 2009.  He is also the first Briton since Francis Gordon Lowe won it in 1913-14 and in 1925.  Tsonga on the other hand was the fifth Frenchmen to reach the final in the open era.  In 1995 Guy Forget lost to Pete Sampras, in 2003 and 2004 Sebastien Grosjean lost to Andy Roddick and in 2009 Andy Murray beat Nicolas Mahut.

In the match both players played at tremendous and showed off their athleticism.  Murray seemed to have the edge in speed but Tsonga had more willingness to come to the net. 

At 1-1 Tsonga just dogged a break point when a dropshot barely caught the net and fell in Tsonga's favor.  Tsonga broke at love to lead the first set 4-2, fighting off two more break points and taking the set.

The second set the play was much closer.  With Murray leading 4-3, Tsonga fought off four break points.  At 5-5 Murray held off two break points.  He then proceeded to win the last five points of the tiebreak.

In the final set Murray was the only one to earn a break point.  On his 10th break point of the match, Murray took a 3-2 lead when Tsonga sent a forehand out wide.

“It was an unbelievable week for me,” Murray said. “I started off not playing great but managed to find my way through, and the last two matches were so much fun.”

“I really look forward to Wimbledon. It’s been great preparation this week and I’ll work hard the next five or six days to get ready.”

The 2011 Queen's Club - Semifinals

Andy Murray came out firing today as he defeated Andy Roddick quite easily 6-3, 6-1.  Murray will now be in the final at Queen's Club.

Roddick made many errors against the former 2009 champion who put on a great all-around performance, winning in just 59 minutes.

Roddick was going for fifth title at Queen's club, which would make him the first person to do so.

“It was just one of those days,” Murray said. “I hardly missed a ball and that doesn’t happen too often on tour. Everything that touched my racquet was going in and it felt great out there."

“I got off to a good start. Andy’s one of the toughest guys on the tour to break, and I managed to get up an early break in both sets, which helped.”

Roddick sent a back-hand slice which gave Murray a break and a 2-0 lead in the first set which ended up determining the winner of set one.

At the beginning of the second set Roddick sent a forehand volley into the net causing another early break for Murray.  Murray then went up 4-1 when he broke Roddick for a second time in the set when Andy Roddick had another error at the net.  Murray was into the finals when Roddick sent a weak backhand into the net for a fourth break.

“He played great,” Roddick said. “I felt like I hit the ball well. I just thought he played too good today.

“I mixed it up. I tried going in at different sides. You try different things. He just played better than I did. Everything he touched turned to gold.”

Even though Roddick lost badly he isn't all that concerned as Wimbledon draws nearer.  

“I think fine-tuning more so than inventing the wheel next week,” he said. “Again, I think he did a lot right today. I don’t think I did a whole lot wrong. Maybe just execution on a couple balls, so I feel good going into the off week.”

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat James Ward 6-3, 7-6 (7) in the semis today ending his pretty amazing run in this tourney. 

Tsonga broke to lead 2-0 early in the match and later held off two break points at 3-1.  He then went on to take the set.

Ranked no. 216, Ward beat 4th seeded Wawrinka and defending champ Sam Querrey earlier in the tournament to get to the semis.  He broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set.

Tsonga came back though and at 4-2 down he broke back on his 4th break point and ended winning the match on his 2nd match point in the tiebreak.

Tsonga will be playing his first ATP tournament on grass against Andy Murray.  He has though won two challenger titles on grass.

“I was a little bit worried in the second set,” Tsonga said. “He had one occasion to break me and I came back. It was fantastic to win in two sets because in the third set, with the crowd with him, it would be difficult.”