Thursday, September 24, 2009

Davis Cup World Group 2010 play off

Davis Cup 2010 World group play off

Spain* V Switzerland
Germany V France*
Russia* V India
Argentina V Sweden*
Ecosder V Croatia*
USA V Serbia*
Chile* V Iseral
Czech Republic V Belgium*

* At home

Ties are shown according to quarters

Cracking ties Rafa V Roger and Novak V Andy
Rather top heavey draw, winners of Serbia/USA will almost certianly will be favorite to go to the final

But some amazing first round ties. The Roger V Rafa tie will be amazing, I was thinking at they would have to face each other, and I'm right.

2010 slam winners: sentimental & realistic

Looking ahead to next year who would be the sentimental choice to win each slam and who would be the 'realistic' choice? Bearing in mind that now Fed has beaten Sampras and won French Open he's less of a 'sentimental choice' than before (though still may be for some!).

Australian Open: Men - sentimental choice - a 1st time slam winner, lets go for Andy Murray - otherwise, a talented older player like Nalbandian (who'll be back by then) or Gonzalez. Realistic choice - Nadal has a good chance of defending. Del Potro probably as a narrow favourite, Djokovic, Federer and Murray all in with a shout.
Women: Dementieva as sentimental choice, with her game she ought to have won a slam by now, especially on hardcourts. Realistic choice - Serena, Sharapova, Kuznetsova or one of the Belgian 'de-retired' players

French Open - Sentimental choice men - now Roger's won it, lets go for a Frenchman. Out of the French, Monfils looks the best equipped to win the home slam. He loves performing in front of a partisan home crowd, he'd be a massive hero if he pulled it off. Realistic choice - A two horse race between Del Potro and Nadal.
Women, sentimental choice - Safina, I think she's at her best on clay and it would be good to see her conquer her slam demons. Sharapova, to complete her set of slams, and also possibly Serena as she's a bit of a clay underdog.
Realistic choice - Henin, if fit.

Wimbledon - Sentimental choice, for me, not Murray, but Roddick, who's in danger of going down in history as best grasscourt player never to have won Wimbledon. The crowd would be on his side having seen his valient efforts in this year's final. I'm not even particularly a Roddick fan but he'd be a worthy Wimbledon champion. Haas would be one for the purists. Realistic choice - Federer, possibly Nadal if fit. And Roddick is a pretty realistic choice too.
Women - sentimental choice - Henin, so she's won all 4 slams. Clijsters would be another sentimental choice, and out of the new players, Wozniacki would be popular. Realistic choice - Venus, Serena or (if fit) Sharapova. Henin does have a decent shout though.

US Open - sentimental choice, Nadal. Fed would be the first to congratulate him on what would be a great achievement of winning all slams. Realistic choice - Del Potro, Federer or Murray. Djokovic a possibility too - he has been v consistent at US Open.
Women - sentimental choice, Venus, she's not won a slam away from Wimbledon for a while. Otherwise, Dementieva if she's still slamless. Realistic choice - Serena, Henin, Sharapova (if fit), possibly Azarenka.

Davis Cup - Switzerland would be a sentimental choice, give Fed a Davis Cup victory. Argentina came agonisingly close last year and it'd be nice to see them win - they have a potentially tricky opening tie in Sweden though. Realistically, its difficult to see past Spain or Russia. Argentina may have an outside chance though.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Roger Federer way better than Pete Sampras

Why Roger Federer is the best of all time or why he is called the GOAT
Lets discuss
1]16 Grandslams and counting
2]An all court and all surface player
3]237 consecutive weeks as no.1 [285 total weeks*]
4]Won 2 GS for 5 consecutive years [US Open 2004-2008* and Wimbledon -2003-2007]
5]Only the 3rd man in Open era to win all 4 slams
6]23 consecutive semifinals *
7]22 Grandslam finals *
8]World No.1 ranked player for a full period of 3 years [2005,2005 and 2007]
9]All Legends of Tennis games,media and fans accept it. *
10]Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for four consecutive years (2005–08)
11]Most complete allround player of all time
Negatives
1]Poor h2h against No.2 player Rafa of his generation [even-though most losses came only on clay courts]
Lets Discuss Pete Sampras
1]14 GrandSlam wins
2]7 Wimbledon wins
3]World No. 1 by the ATP for a record 286 weeks.
4]World No.1 for 6 consequtive year end.
Negatives
1]Losing to Jack and Jill players of claycourts in Clay tournaments
2]Never Managed to Make french-open Final let alone win it
3]One dimensional player who relied heavily on his serve to win on fast surface, but found wanted on slower surface often by ordinary players
4]Negative H2h record even agains players like who never was ranked better than top 35 at their peak ,Paul Harruis, L Peas, etc,.
5]Didnt have a great record on Australian Open either , and was thrashed by Many Champions.
So final analysis
Roger Federer holds 11 plus and 1 negatives = 10 Points, in comparision Sampras holds 4 plus and 5 negatives = -1.
Lets also remember Roger Federer lead Pete Sampras h2h by 1-0.
Thats the time Roger a teenager won a Defending Wimbledon Champion in Sampras in his best surface, shows clearly how far Roger is a better player than Sampras.
Lets hail the Best Tennis Player of all time - Roger Federer , rightly declared as GOAT.

Roger Federer fined $1500 for swearing on officials

Roger Federer has been fined $1,500 (£900) for swearing while arguing with the umpire during the US Open final.

Television microphones caught the outburst as Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro ended the world number one's five-year unbeaten run in New York.

A tournament spokesman said Federer was being docked the same amount as Vera Zvonareva of Russia and Austria's Daniel Koellerer for audible obscenity.

Serena Williams was fined $10,000 (£6,000) for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The American was also fined $500 (£300) for racquet abuse.

Canada's Daniel Nestor was docked $5,000 (£3,000) for unsportsmanlike conduct towards a fan, bringing the grand total for the tournament to $31,500 (£19,000).

Can Carolina Wozniacki win a slam?

It is good to see that Wozniacki has now got a ranking of 6. She deserves it, as Wozniacki was able to reach the finals of the US open, and has won more than 60 matches this year.

So can she continue to do well? she does cover the court well, and looks like a consistent player, but doesn't seem to have weapons that can help her to get more winners. It looks like, she depends on others to make un forced errors, and also has a habit of making double faults at crucial times.

So your views on Wozniacki.

Ivo Karlovic creates the Ace Record in tennis

Ivo Karlovic hit 78 aces, destroying his own previous record of 55 to make a new record for number of aces in a match. Well done to him - an impressive achievement to not just break the record but blow it apart.

Of course one of the most interesting things about this is that he still lost the match (16-4 to Stepanek in the 5th with the 4 first sets on tiebreaks)! As he did when he hit 55! So hmm what does this tell us about the rest of his game?

Hawkeye and Umpiring standards.

I rarely comment on the tennis board too much wumming goes on. However I was wondering if people feel that the advent of hawkeye has caused a drop in umpiring and line call standards and if the knock on effect of this is players losing confidence in the officials.

I question how acurate hawkeye actually is especially after the USO as the commentors there seemed to know that it was not that acurate. Is the technology used the same the world over or does it differ from tournament to tournament.

Too often I have seen it used in a tactical way to upset a player or to allow the challenger to regroup. Surely this is gamesmanship.

I would like to see higher standards of officials especially umpires who are assertive enough to enforce the laws.

I dislike hawkeye in cricket and I dislike it in Tennis as I feel ultimately it underminds the officials.

Del Potro Bashed Bashed and Bashed

Till the week before USO started, most die hard fans of the respective heros kept bashing DP from all corners claiming the following things

1]He cannot beat a Top 4 player
2]He is too tall to win a slam
3]He cant wear sleeve less, he looks Ugly [as if only one player is allowed to wear sleeve less]
4]Del Potro is a chocker
5]Del Potro is a Federer worshiper
6]Del Potro is a Mug
7]Talentless clown
8]Just a ball basher
9]Doesnt have a weapon

Strangely after his USO win they have change their thoughts, and started to jump to DP bandwagon, while its good to have a bigger bandwagon, its pity that players are appreciated only when then win and not when the lose after a hard fought loss.

If you ask me DP played better on FO against Fed, only to tire out in the end to lose to the champion, but still some claimed him as a chocker. The same player till the fortnight before finals was branded as a chocker, isint that ridiculous?

To be frank a true tennis fan would have spot the talent on DP a long time back atleast by the start of this year.

Winning is not everything its the only thing. so respect the players rather than bashing them or calling them as chockers, a critic is fine but bashing not.

Last but not least I wont be surprised if Soderling is hailed as a hero next year by the same guys who called him chockerling till now.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Del Potro dismisses Nadal threat

In an astonishing interview, Del Potro dismissed the threat of Rafael Nadal - not even bothering to mention the Mallorcan when questioned about the challenges ahead.

"I'm starting out but my new dream is to be number one," said the Argentine. "Roger is still a cut above the rest and Andy Murray is having a great year. I'm trying to close the gap."

Yet more evidence that the Argentine has cracked Nadal’s game and feels he no longer even deserves consideration.

Thanks to Cilic

In all fairness I have to say thanks to Cilic for bringing Murray down in the USO [I am not a Murray basher], then why I am happy? simple answer if Murray would have made QF, DP then would have had to beat the world no.2,3,1 in a row to win the title, and I am not sure it ever happened in tennis history where a seeded player beat top3 in a row to win the title.

Not only Murray being Boogey Man to DP's game, it would have taken hell lot out of DP mentally as well as physically to win Murray ,Rafa and Federer in a row.

But those who didnt see Cilic vs. DP' QF match missed some superb tennis from cilic's racket. In the first 1 1/2 set Cilic made DP look like a mere ball boy, and I for once worried whether DP will get past him, thanks to Cilic again for doubting himself in the mid of 2nd set once DP's groundstrokes came into play.

Cilic certainly looked a better talent out of two in the first set with plenty of variety and matching groundstrokes, but he was no comparison to DP' mental strength and had to bow, so its time Cilic ,for you to work on this aspect, and who knows we might have two 6'6 towers at the top2 slot in the future.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

ArGaintine Firey Form

Several Del Potro fans including me having been saying this all summer "Please do not count Del Boy out", but yet his bashers were so rude to him before Rafa match and called him a chocker and some of them even thought its an easy ride for Rafa, but guess what this guy has in him to beat any player when on song, and two matches in a row was just plain evidence of his potential.

Inspite of being Del Potro fan, I myself never expected him to win the title after the 3rd set, I for once thought Roger will pull it off with his experience, but the Gentle Giant never gave up and guess what started to hit Mad Angle Winners from all parts of court.

It Indeed made Fed panic of what to do, since he would have been well aware of what happend to Rafa on the previous match who is one of the best baseliner, these kinda indecisions on what to do than thinking what he did on 1st two sets costed the match,ofcourse not to forget the Fiery passing bullet ground strokes from the Gaint.

I started to feel sorry for Federer because nobody can handle those groundstrokes and DP's movement on 4th set was shocking good.

The Key moment came When Roger lost his cool when one of his Ace was turned down on 2nd set when DP complained that he was not ready, and that made Roger a bit angry and the downfall started which otherwise could have been a straight set win for Roger. Roger then made two double faults and Potty struck a wonderfull forehand down the line passing shot the get the break back, from there on Potty was a different monster.



To conclude this win just shows how difficult it is to win a slam and Roger deserve all his accolades for the 15 titles he have, but today is the birth of new Superstar who is fearless to say the least in handling big players on big matches.

Can Del Potro be an all time Great Tennis player?

I know it's too early to make such a statement but i found this article written by rob York and i want to hear the opinion of knowledgeable tennis fans, please not childish opinions.

"DELPO certainly appears to be an evolutionary leap in the sport; at three inches taller than Boris Becker and Pancho Gonzales, he’s the tallest major champion the sport has ever seen. Also, in a game rife with Big Forehands, his may be without peer on a day like Monday.

However, he lacks the complete game that we have seen among the GOAT candidates from Federer to Sampras to Laver. Those guys had careers that spanned decades and won majors in the double-digits because they were world-class in all areas, be it the groundstrokes, the serves, the movement, and the volleys. This gave them more options and gave their games a timeless quality

Del Potro isn’t phenomenal in all these departments; it’s just that the weapons he brought to the table in this event were bigger than what had been seen before him. Players who represent evolutionary leaps, hitting and/or serving harder and/or better than those who came before them can have highly distinguished careers: Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, and Andre Agassi are all good examples.

Those who lack dedication (like Marat Safin) or who see the game evolve past them (like Andy Roddick or Jim Courier) achieve less. The quality of del Potro’s career victories from here on really depends on how bad he wants it, and whether or not there’s another evolutionary leap while he’s active.

The second factor is unknowable; regarding the first, his career progression seems a lot closer to Connors than to Safin."

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

An oppurtunity to become World no.2,Nole

I just noticed an interesting thing which could happen considering Rafa's tough first round and Murray's tough draw.

Ok let me come to the point I am trying to stress, if Rafa crash out of USO in the 1st round [faces Gasquet in 1st round] and if Murray crash out of USO before quarters [Likely opponent DP on Quarters] and if Novak wins US open 2009 he will be the new no.2.

Yea its almost close to miracle to see all possibilities go his way, but will Noval capitalise if both Murray and Rafa crash out early? I still doubt he will.

This is why Murray's achivement of being no.2 in the world should be appreciated, he got a small opening when Rafa withdrew from Wimby and he made sure he grab it with both hands.

Del Potro have tools to crack Rafa Code

I heard an interesting commentary during Cincy masters on how effective Rafa's serve is to right handers on most surfaces.

Rafa's Lefty spin with wide angle generates enormous bounce and angle that troubles right handers to a great extreme, yes he doesn't have a service that could produce ace after ace but its one of the most consistent first serve as well second serve in the circuit.

DP is tall enough to handle those high bounces Rafa could generate with his serve, this gives an edge for DP to handle Rafa's serve compared to the other top 5 players in ATP rankings.

In return DP's serve is good enough to keep on him on track even though not big enough like other tall guys lik Karlovic , Isner or Querry.

So DP is up on this issue

Then comes the rally

This will be an interesting contest, long rallies against Big Groundstrokes, so it could boil down to consistency from DP and form of Rafa to decide the winner.

Where Rafa could pound the Gentle giant is by Dropping short [Dropping short with Drop shot]time and again like Murray does.

One thing is clear if DP improves his consistency and beats one of the top3 in a slam he will take the confidence from it to become a bigger force in coming years.

I hope DP exhibits his fullest of talent come US open Semi against Rafa.

Go Del Potro Go

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Joe the Joker and Jokes

Mirka might have accidentally come across Joe , Jokers and his joke threads on 606 and would have laughed all day and would have just remained Roger ahead of the finals and Roger laughed at the court at the expense of Nole.

May be Mirka would have said to Roger "listen finish it quick,its your day to change the diapers".

Last but not least Roger earned the respect today for his awesome play, may be its time the wums show the respect rather than making Roger laugh again on the courts come US open.

Sorry Nole, if Roger's both backhand and forehand fire at will then there is least an opponent can do on the court.