Jack Sock the next big super star American Tennis Looking for

Jack Sock - Tennis Grandslam blogspot

Mr.Show time silently pushed himself to the 3rd round once again, he did that last year as well, and this year in my view he had a very good FO and was very unfortunate to have met Tommy Haas in the 2nd round whom he pushed to a 4 set.

Sock is more deadly in USO considering his huge fan base among the natives, we Canadians support him as well, he did get a huge round of reception on and before his match against Raonic which says the story.
Sock like Nalby is a way too huge for his height, he is just 6'1 a perfect height to play the tennis [Federer, Sampras and Nadal all being 6'1 proves it] but he looks bigger than that due to his heavy body frame, this is one aspect in my view preventing him from honing his skills further, his game perfectly mocks the yesteryear legend Jim Courier, may its time Sock to step it up from youngsters count in the USO.


He next faces a very tricky challenge in Tipsarevic, given Tipsy form a upset is more than possible and it could be in st.sets as well, but if Tipsy steps it up he might be too much for Sock, but I hope Sock step it up and make a good match out of it.

Boy Oh boy, those who missing this match is missing something special, Sock's forehand is next only to Del Po in terms of power and next only to Fed in terms of Skill and Next only to Rafa in terms of Precision.
Sock rules, leading 3-2 with a break in the 1st set. Lemme apologize if I haven't spoke much about his down the line backhand its as crispier as his forehand, something we miss on tour barring few players like Djoko and Murray.

Sock the way to go. I will talk about his serve and returns next, right now Sock leads 4-2 in the first set, and mind you he is playing a very good opponent in Tipsaravic.

Roger Federer presented another cow by Gstaad

Roger Federer received a warm welcome Tuesday night at the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad, presented with a cow named Desiree during a homecoming ceremony on Roy Emerson Arena. Ten years ago, in commemoration of his first Wimbledon triumph, he had received another cow, Juliette, on the same court.

“She won’t be in my trophy room, that’s for sure,” said Federer. “But we’ll find a good solution, she needs a nice place and enough to eat.”

During the on-court ceremony, Federer was also shown the sport of flag throwing, a traditional activity in the Swiss Alps and one of the country’s oldest sports. He asked his instructor for advice before showcasing his skill in handling flags.

Federer is making his first appearance at the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad since his triumph in 2004. He made his ATP World Tour debut as a wild card at this tournament 15 years ago.

Roger Federer to face Florian Mayer in Hamburg Quarter Finals

Top seed Roger Federer will face German Florian Mayer in his eighth tour-level quarter-final of the season. The Swiss reached the last eight at the bet-at-home Open - German Tennis Championships on Thursday in Hamburg as he defeated Jan Hajek 6-4, 6-3.

Federer squandered 10 of his 13 break points, including five match points in the eighth game of the second set, but prevailed in 72 minutes.

"I’m just still looking for the timing and the rhythm here, but the longer I stay in the tournament, the more confident I am that I’m going to play better and better as the tournament goes on," he said.

In his first tournament since a shock second-round exit at Wimbledon, the Swiss is playing with a new racquet, with a larger 98 square-inch frame, and is bidding to win his second ATP World Tour title of the season.

"I guess it’s to a degree some more getting use to, just to see how it reacts on every single shot," he said of his new racquet. "Clearly it reacts better to some shots. But it's important not to think of it the whole time, not to talk about it all the time, but more just sort of go with it, fight for every point, have the right mindset, be optimistic about playing here now and wanting to achieve a good result and that’s what I'm doing."

The 31-year-old Federer has a 31-4 event record in Hamburg, where he is playing for the first time since 2008. He won the title in 2002, 2004-05 and 2007 and finished runner-up in 2008 (l. to Nadal).

Mayer will be looking to oust a seeded player for a third straight match when he plays Federer, whom he trails 0-4 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head. The 45th-ranked German followed up his win over No. 7 Alexandr Dolgopolov by defeating No. 11 seed Feliciano Lopez 7-6(1), 6-2.

The 29 year old advances to his third quarter-final of the year on home soil, and also to the Hamburg quarter-finals for a fourth straight year. Mayer is two match wins shy of 200 career singles wins.

Belinda Benic the Next Gen Swiss Superstar

The Swiss as a nation are prone to throwing champions are very young age, now we have the next gen super star in Belinda Benic, lets look at her junior stats for 2013

Win-Loss Win Loss
Current Year Singles 35 0
Current Year Doubles 15 6
Career Singles 105 23
Career Doubles 56 21

Yea Staggering 35-0

Belinda Bencic last defeat in the junior circuit came in December at the Orange Bowl Championships. Since then her record for 2013 is 35-0. Bagging both the French Open Juniors title and Wimbledon Juniors title. She is currently coached by Martina Hingis's former coach Melanie Molitor. She first gained attention reaching the US Open doubles final in 2012 at the age of 15. She then went to Egypt for a ITF tournament where she defeated the top seed and fourth seed for just the loss of 7 games. She made it to the final where she met the second seed and was downed in 3. However, her results this year are quite astonishing.

Has anyone seen this kid in action?

Can she be Switzerland's next star?

Isner Bares All For ESPN's Body Issue

American John Isner plays tennis in the buff in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue, which annually celebrates the physique of athletes.

“This is something I never would've imagined myself doing,” he told ESPN The Magazine. “Tennis players aren't jacked like football players, but we are certainly in good shape, and if my photo shows that in any way, that will be good.”

The 6’9” Isner, who once used to call his belly his “reserve tank”, turned down ESPN’s offer to appear in the issue last year before mustering up his courage to be photographed nude in Palm Springs.

Though he shared that he’d “done a good job” of toning his stomach, he revealed the one area of his body he wish he could change.

“I would like to have a bigger chest, but right now, when I'm playing tennis, is not the time,” he said. “A big upper body is not a great thing for tennis, and for me, flexibility is important. But when I'm done playing tennis -- which is hopefully a long way away -- I'll have time to work on that.”

He also stated that the biggest challenge with his body was not his height, but rather “Keeping myself limber and not so stiff.”

“I've been on the tour now for six years, so I've played a lot of matches and spent a lot of time on airplanes,” he said. “When you take a long flight, you're sort of naturally stiff.

“Nowadays, I feel like I need to warm up five extra minutes to get myself feeling better. The most important part is lower-body activation to make sure my glutes and lower body are firing properly. That's when I'm feeling the best. I also travel with a chiropractor, and that's been beneficial. When we're on the road, he works with me every day.”

Isner is the first ATP player to feature in the Body Issue since James Blake, who joined cover girl Serena Williams in the inaugural edition four years ago. The 2013 issue has eight different covers, featuring the likes of 77-year-old golfer Gary Player, Olympic volleyball champion Kerri Walsh Jennings and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick

Murray To Cash In After Ratings Bonanza

Andy Murray’s historic win in the Wimbledon final was the most-watched television broadcast of the year in Great Britain, the BBC has reported. A peak audience of 17.3 million tuned in for Murray’s three-set win over World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, shattering the earlier record for 2012.


At peak viewership, 79.6 percent of all televisions in use were tuned to the final. An average 12.1 million UK viewers watched the full match for a 73 percent share. In Murray’s home country of Scotland, the peak audience of 1.9 million represented a 90 percent share of all televisions in use.

Before Sunday, the most-watched TV programme in the United Kingdom of 2013 had been the final of Britain’s Got Talent, with an average of 11.1 million viewers and a 13.1 million peak.

In related news, advertising executives have said that Murray’s effort to become the first British men's Wimbledon champion in 77 years could earn him anywhere from $12 million a year to a jaw-dropping $74 million a year in endorsements. “The sky really is the limit for him,” branding consultant Jonathan Gabay told Bloomberg News.

Tommy Haas Edges Gulbis in Stuttgart 2013

Tommy Haas, the 1999 runner-up, recorded his third straight victory over Ernests Gulbis, on German soil, on Thursday at the MercedesCup.
Top seed Haas advanced to his ninth ATP World Tour quarter-final (or better) this season with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 victory in just over 90 minutes. Haas, 35, lost nine points in the first set.

"It was very nice to play in front of a great crowd," Haas told ATPWorldTour.com. "It is never easy to play Gulbis again in Germany – the third time in a row on German soil in the second round. It just came down to a few points here and there, so I am happy to have advanced to another quarter-final."

Haas will next play fifth seed Fabio Fognini, who beat Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 6-3.

Fourth seed Benoit Paire will have to overcome a 0-3 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Victor Hanescu on Friday if he is to reach his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final of the season.

Paire, one of 13 Frenchmen in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, reached the quarter-finals Thursday on his third appearance in Stuttgart when he defeated Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-1.

"It is always difficult to play after Wimbledon on clay courts," Paire told ATPWorldTour.com. "It was a very good match and I am happy to have beaten Davydenko in two sets. I have never beaten Hanescu in three matches, but I think I have made a lot of progress this year."

Hanescu, the 2009 runner-up, converted three of his four break point opportunities to beat Thomaz Bellucci 6-1, 6-4. So far this year, Hanescu has already advanced to two clay-court quarter-finals at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest (l. to F. Mayer) and the Portugal Open in Oeiras (l. to Ferrer).

Underdog moments on 2013 - Jack Socks Win over Garcia Lopez top the list

To change the topics from Murray and Djokovic I thought lets discuss the other facets of Tennis, the Underdogs, while everybody have their favorite players the fans get equally delighted if an underdog rise to an occasion to beat the player's top rival, like in the case of Haas beating Djoko , I forgot the tournament [I guess its Miami ] but remember the result that much fun it gave me.

Lemme go through the lists in my memory without any ranking order

1] 3 wins of Robredo in FO , specifically the one against Almagro
2]Gulbis win over Berdych [sorry to say Berdych is the only player I really hated to watch in the current ATP tour, be his style of play or his court behavior or anything related to his tennis talks].
3]Dimitrov win over Djokovic
4]Haas win over Djokovic
5]Jack Socks win over Garcia Lopez
6]Del Potro wins over Murray and Djokovic in Indian Wells [Sadly he couldn't do the triple with win over Rafa in the finals]
7]Darcis win over Rafa in Wimbledon 1st round
8]Sergy win over Federer in Wimbledon 2nd round

Jack Sock Win over an established clay court veteran and seeded player on FO was so remarkable and tops my list, Sock who is touted as the next Jim Courier borught his stunning Serve , returns and forehand to create a furore in the first round and headlined all of FO site for the first 3 days, sadly he couldn't continue his success any further as he went down to another veteran and former no.2 player in Tommy Haas.

Closely missed ones
1]Del Potro failing to cross the line against Djoko in Wim 2013 semi's
2]Verdasco failing to Murray after 2 set lead in the quarters
3]Stan the Man losing the match like 12-10 in the final set against Djoko
4]Del Potro failing to win the title against Rafa in Indian Wells finals after leadin by a set and break at 3-0 in the 2nd set.
5]Almagro failing to win against Ferrer after having 2 sets and a break up at 5-4 in the 3rd, squandered like million attempts to serve out the match in every set.
6]Gulbis's inspired play yet fell short to Rafa in Rome
7]Ferrer's two close attempts to Fetch a win over Rafa after winning the 1st set.

So the one that gave me most fun was the Robredo win over Almagro from 2 sets down, it also earned me a huge money as well as crucial points in the PG, on the other hand Jack Socks inspired st.set win over a seeded player Garcia Lopez in clay was fantastic for a youngster. On the disappointments Del Po's and Stan failing to convert a win out of a great performance was huge disappointment.

If and When Murray becomes World No.1 he will cling onto it

When I first wrote this article "If Murray Becomes No.1 in 2013" after he lost his finals to Roger Federer in 2012 [yes the article was written after his finals defeat to Roger Federer in 2012] people laughed at me, some even believed he will never ever get to win a GS let alone No.1, while some believed he might some how scrap a slam but can never make to no.1 spot of his own.


1 year passed, I wanna know how much has been changed? now in stats Murray is a Multi-time Grand slam champion a multi-surface grand slam champion, a Wimbledon champion, World No.2 an Olympic Gold medallion , yea its all true, to be frank I didn't see all these coming however I did visualize some of them coming, the one that I didn't expect him to win is the one that stirred a pot of belief "The Olympic Gold Medal".

A honorable few mentions and some quotes of the old thread

1]Danny a Murray fan - "Personally I don't think Murray will ever make number 1. I think he will win slams,"

2]Lags - "I must stress that I've never been a member of the anti-Murray brigade and would be very happy to see him make the sort of leap you're talking about in 2013. But I don't think it will be anything like as straightforward as your article implies

3]HE - Ha ha! Very funny. If you are being serious you are basing your prediction on wishful thinking or maybe you've been drinking?

4]Lydian [who never believed my visions let alone this one ] - " I just dont see Murray doing it. But above all I dont he has the consistency or strength of mind to get there or sustain a great run across the tennis year, For me #1 is about being a dominant leader...Murray simply isnt that."

5]Bogbrush [Never believed in current generation] - "My reservation about Djokovic is that, apart from 9 glorious months, he's never looked like he 'owned' the sport. That just goes triple for Murray."

6]Born Slippy - "He has the talent to be a dominant number 1 but, through a combination of a bit of poor luck and his own failings at the very highest level, he is probably past the point now when that might have happened."

7]CAS [partially believed it might be possible] - "Its of course possible he can one day get number 1, but I agree he is much more likely to nick a slam or 2. "

8]88chris05 [made a surprise visit to tennis forum for this comment ] - "Can't see any possible angle for Murray to become world number one, to be honest, barring a long-term injury for one of either Nadal or Djokovic as well as a steep decline over the next twelve months or so from Federer."

9]Polished-Man [sorry a bit WUM comment] - "why should Murray become number 1 in first instance, when it is apparent he doesn't possess the charisma, nor the technique, nor the ability, nor the attitude, nor the personality, nor the class of a world number 1 and furthermore is ginger head?"

10]Barrystar - "I think Murray will win a slam or two, but that won't get him to No. 1 other than very fleetingly if he can't address his tendency to suffer shock defeats and, probably also improve a bit on clay."

11]Norestat - "Judging from all the Murray interviews I would say that Murray will become No 1 in 1913."

12]Bitf - "Hopefully it will be Murray and Fed at the top, much more interesting than the other 2. I don't think he needs to be able to do much on clay to be number 1, not if he wins everywhere else."

Finally How ever
13]Banbro was the only one who gave a slight of positive thinking like me
"Good article. But for me, if Andy reaches No.1 then he's a different player ."


Andy has not achieved my dreams yet, but he has made tremendous move to believe that it will happen sooner or later, I wanna know what you guys think of that thread and Andy's chances of becoming no.1 in the near future.

The following is the content extracted from my earlier article wrote after Wimbledon final loss in 2012.

I can understand the title is kinda confusing and strange, but my funny feeling says Murray will become number 1 sooner or later in 2013.
Murray is slowly getting used to failures and thats actually making him stronger than weaker a bit like his coach Lendl itself. As expected Federer will have one last big run before he retires, its difficult to see him repeat 2012 in 2013 even if he wins few slams here and there, that makes the other 3 fight for the pride again. Rafa for some reason looked knackered to me except for the FO, Djoko looks like a spend force already and Murray is the only one I see as improved his game from 2011.

So the interesting question is, if Murray makes no.1 do you guys think he will hold on to it longer than the other 2 [Nadal/Djoko] did? or will he last the similar amount of time like he lasted in No.2? Slams might be a bit tougher for Murray, but like we saw this year Federer achived no.1 more with success in masters and 500's than too many slam wins, which Murray can certainly do it. Four-Five masters win coupled with 4 semi-finals in slams will give him close to 8k points and wins in 500's and 250's and WTF can help him rack up points close to 10k and if the other 3 battle slams in proportional manner, Murray can easily get to no.1

I think if and when Murray makes the top spot he will cling on to it longer than expected of him, just for the reason he knows how difficult it was to get there and he won't hence goof it up easily. I see Murray handling pressure of expectation better than the other 2 [Rafa/Djoko], I tip Murray to take the no.1 with a Slam title [like Fed did] next year ,USO will be the likely case.

Andy Murray wins Wimbledon 2013

Andy Murray became the first British male champion at Wimbledon for 77 years on Sunday as he defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the final of The Championships.


Murray won his second Grand Slam championship, adding to his 2012 US Open triumph, as he became the first homegrown male winner at the All England Club since Fred Perry in 1936. His US Open victory last year had ended Great Britain’s 76-year wait for a male Grand Slam champion.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II sent Murray a private message of congratulations.

Victory for Murray comes one year on from the heartache he suffered at the hands of Roger Federer in his first Wimbledon final. The turning point for the Scot came 28 days later, when he returned to Centre Court to beat the Swiss for the London 2012 Olympics gold medal.

"It feels slightly different to last year," joked Murray on court. "Last year was one of the toughest moments of my career. It was a tough match and an unbelievably long final game. I don't know how I managed to come through. I'm just so glad.

"I understand how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon. I tried my best. I've played Novak many times. He's going to go down as one of the biggest fighters. That made it extra tough; I just managed to squeeze through in the end."

Murray’s road to the title was not without drama. In the quarter-finals he rallied from two sets down for the seventh time in his career to beat Fernando Verdasco. Then, in the semi-finals against Jerzy Janowicz, he found himself at one-set-all and down 4-1 in the third set before fighting back to win in four sets.

Against Djokovic, he prevailed in three turbulent sets. After taking a two-set lead, Murray looked to be well on his way with an early break in the third. But Djokovic turned the set on its head by reeling off four straight games.

With the 15,000-strong Centre Court crowd roaring him on, adding to the 4,000 cheering fans on Henman Hill, Murray regained his composure to break back in the seventh game and again in the ninth game. With the crowd chanting “Andy, Andy, Andy” at the changeover, he came out and saved three break points before clinching victory on his fourth match point in just over three hours. The match was played in temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius on Centre Court.

Del Potro marches on faces Cyborg World No.1 in the semis of WImbledon 2013

Juan Martin del Potro will play World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in his first Grand Slam semi-final since 2009 after defeating David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(5) in a terrific display of shot-making on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of The Championships at Wimbledon.

"Many things came to my mind after the match point," said del Potro. "It's my first semi-final here, another semi-final in a Grand Slam after a couple of years. I think I'm in the fight again with the top guys. That is my challenge for the future. And to be one of the four players left in this tournament, it means a lot for the future and for myself.


"I think I played my best tennis of the tournament. I'm so, so happy to be in the semi-finals. I played my best tennis. I hit really well my forehand and serve. At the end I played my best forehand ever in Wimbledon. I'm lucky the ball was in. It was a big performance from me. I'm so, so happy with my level at this moment. I beat one of the best players this season."

The Argentine is bidding to reach his second Grand Slam final, having defeated Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer back-to-back to win the 2009 US Open crown. He has a 3-8 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Serb, but those wins include victory in the bronze medal match on grass at the London 2012 Olympics and in March this year in the Indian Wells semi-finals, which was their last meeting.

"I will need to be 100 per cent or 110 per cent against him. He's the No. 1. He's a former champion here," said del Potro. "It's going to be a more difficult match for me like today. But if I'm okay, if I do everything good to be ready for my next match, I will be excited to play against him. I remember the match during the Olympics last year on the same surface. But this time the pressure is different. I will try to be ready and do my best."

"Of course del Potro has the chance to be in the final," said Ferrer. "He won one Grand Slam. He's a young player. I think he has everything to win another Grand Slam. He can do it."

Roger Federer wins 77th title to equal Johny Mac

Roger Federer wins 77th title

World No. 3 Roger Federer won his first ATP World Tour title of the season, and the 77th of his career, on Sunday as he came from a set down to beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. His 77 titles see him draw level with John McEnroe in third position in the career titles list.

"I'm very happy. It was a great week for me and my family," said Federer. "I thought I played well from the start and I really had to fight for it, in the semis against Tommy Haas and in the finals against Mikhail Youzhny. I think I did well today and they are exactly the kind of wins I need at this part of the season. I've been preparing well for this part of the season and I'm happy it's paying off. It's obviously important for my confidence looking forward to Wimbledon now."

The Swiss lifted the trophy in Halle for the sixth time, having previously triumphed in 2003-06 and 2008 (d. Kohlschreiber). He also finished runner-up in 2010 (l. to Hewitt) and 2012 (l. to Haas) and has a 43-5 event record.

The 31-year-old Federer clinched his 13th tour-level grass-court title, having also won The Championships at Wimbledon seven times. He will look to complete the Halle-Wimbledon double for the fifth time (2003-06) by retaining the Wimbledon crown he won last year with victory over Andy Murray.

"It's totally different [than 2003]," said Federer. "Ten years ago I went into Wimbledon with so much pressure, even though I had lost in the first round the year before. In terms of needing to prove my point that I was a legitimate Grand Slam contender, I had incredible pressure. Now, ten years later, I know Wimbledon, I know Halle, I know my way around and what I need to do to perform well. I'm going in with pressure because I'm defending my title. There's always pressure because it's a privilege to play at Wimbledon and I want to do so, so well. I feel good right now and I hope I can show it on the tennis court."

Federer improved to a 15-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record over Youzhny, dropping a set for only the fourth time against the Russian, whom he beat at both Halle and Wimbledon last year.

The Swiss failed to convert five break points in the first set and paid the prices for 13 unforced errors as Youzhny clinched the opener in 57 minutes. A tidier second set from Federer saw the Basel native cut his unforced error count to just four, and he secured the first service break of the match in the eighth game to level the match. The Swiss then broke Youzhny in the seventh game of the decider to claim victory in just over two hours.

Roger Federer double bagels Zverev in Halle 2013

Roger Federer recorded the second 6-0, 6-0 victory of his career on Friday.

The top seed required just 40 minutes to beat Mischa Zverev at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

“It’s not something that is easy to do. You never anyway go into a match aiming for that score,” Federer said. “Eventually you start feeling that there is an opportunity maybe and even then it’s not what you really want to think about because at the end of the day you just want to win the match and not start thinking too far ahead and then it comes back and gets you. I was very surprised today that it happened, especially on the grass.”

Federer, 31, has played 1,107 tour-level matches (902-205) since turning professional in 1998. He also beat Gaston Gaudio 6-0, 6-0 at the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai (now known as the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals).

The Swiss is making his 11th appearance at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tournament in Halle (41-5 record). He has won five titles from seven finals.

Andy Murray Starts heavy favourite for Wimbledon 2013

Andy Should Start Heavy favorite for Wimbledon, he is playing stunning tennis at the moment, might get

His two matches on 1 day was very impressive eventhough one of the matches against Mahut went for a tie breaker.

Murray looks in great shape, well toned with full of rested muscles gearing for a big go, if Murray could avoid Rafa early on then there is every bit of chance for him to go deep for the title.

Murray would ideally love Ferrer on his side of the draw and the top half be packed like Djoko - Federer semi and Djoko -Rafa quarters.

ousted himself in queens early but in 5 sets he will be very difficult to overcome, compare to his other predators like Djokovic and Nadal, Murray is a natural mover on grass, with Federer not at his best and going older Murray with home support might make the British dream of a Wimbledon single title come true.

Andy Murray wins 2 matchs in a single day to advance in Queens

Andy Murray @ Queens 2013

World No. 2 Andy Murray took the court twice at the Aegon Championships on Thursday, completing his second-round match before returning to reach the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club in London.

The top-seeded Murray first avenged his defeat at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court event from a year ago, defeating Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-6(2). It was Murray’s first match in nearly a month, having missed four weeks with a back injury.

In the third round, two-time champion Murray dismissed Marinko Matosevic 6-2, 6-2. Murray converted five of his 10 break point opportunities to seal the first-time meeting in 57 minutes.


“I thought the first match it was pretty high standard of grass court tennis. [Mahut] volleyed extremely well today,” said Murray. “He made a lot of good pickups, and I just managed to come up with some good passing shots at the right time in the tie-break.

“But this afternoon, it was hard to judge. It was so windy out there. You couldn't strike the ball that clean or really go for the lines. You just had to play high percentage tennis.”

For a place in the semi-finals, Murray will face 105th-ranked Benjamin Becker, who knocked out seventh-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6(5), 7-5. Becker improved to 27-18 lifetime in tour-level matches on grass.

For quite a while we have been saying Djoko not as popular among fans as Rafa is, but sponsors didn't see that way and Djoko's earnings [Prize money and sponsorship] seized ahead of Nadal. We can argue Nadal's prize money for 2012 is way too little as he took more than 1/2 the year in injury time out from the sport but that seemed to have affected his sponsorship as well.

Djoko is at 28 and Nadal is at 30 and no strange Fed sits a top of Tennis players and 2nd only behind Tiger woods for a whopping 70 + million income for last year.

For all those who think Fed should quit the game, think twice he makes 10 times more money in sponsorships just for playing the game, I guess he is doing the right thing by continuing his job, no wonder he wanna play for 5 more years, I am not saying he is money greed and playing for money, but what I am saying is this is his job and he does it to perfection. As long as as he plays the sponsors will still be queued up for him and whats wrong in it?

Roger Federer is No. 2 on Forbes Magazine’s list of World’s Highest-Paid Athletes with estimated earnings of $71 million in 2012, trailing just golfer Tiger Woods, who earned $78 million.

“Federer has the most impressive endorsement portfolio in sports,” writes Forbes, listing Nike, Rolex, Wilson, Credit Suisse and Moët & Chandon among his 10 sponsors.

“Federer is as bankable as they come,” the magazine explains of the 10-time ATP World Tour Fan Favourite. “He has never faced major injury that sidelined him for months, like many elite players, and over the past decade, he has reached at least the semi-finals in the vast majority of tournaments, which keeps him in front of TV viewers and in the press.”

Novak Djokovic (No. 28) and Rafael Nadal (No. 30) join Federer in the Top 100, along with WTA stars Maria Sharapova (No. 22), Serena Williams (No. 68) and Li Na (No. 85) - the only three women to make the list.

The magazine elaborates on the appeal of tennis for sponsors, calling it “wildly attractive” with its lucrative fan base, 11-month season and international reach.

“The demographics of its fans are strong thanks to high disposable incomes to be spent on tennis apparel, rackets, watches and cars,” Forbes writes. “In addition, the tennis season is almost year-round, keeping Federer in the spotlight… Another plus for tennis is the global nature of the sport, so Nike and Gillette can utilise him in advertising in Asia, Europe and the U.S.”

Rounding out the Top 10 are Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Phil Mickelsen, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

French Open Day 11 - Can Wawrinka Stop Rafa?

What a day we had, finally a French hero rising to the occasion to down a legend, but his work is not over indeed got 2 crucial matches ahead to be considered as a GS champ. Rise of underdogs as been the theme of the day will it continue another day? the biggest question is can Wawrinka somehow outset the off-color Rafa?

Haas has in him to beat Nole, but not sure Wawrinka has in him to take Rafa to even 4 sets let alone a win, but would certainly love a complete underdogs semi.

Schedule of Matches

Court Philippe Chatrier
2:00 PM Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [18] vs. Maria Sharapova (RUS) [2]


Followed byMen's Singles - Quarterfinals
Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3] vs.Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [9]

Court Suzanne Lenglen
2:00 PM Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Maria Kirilenko (RUS) [12] vs.Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [3]

Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs.Tommy Haas (GER) [12]

Jelena is a surprise semi's in my view, could get toasted at Sharapova's hands, Kirlenko vs Vika could be interesting, Two Maria's can do it.

I would love to see Wawrinka -Nadal match start atleast an hour early, so if miracle happen and Wawrinka upset Rafa I will be fully rooting for Haas, if not I would love to see Nole-Rafa semi's, so either Waw-Haas or Nole-Rafa, no other combination pls.

Tommy Haas got a good 7 odds to win the match, if people buying the hype of underdogs then Tommy's odds are eye catching. Wawrinka gets 10 odds on the other hand, I won't advice this unless somebody is an extreme gambler .

Let the theme "Rise of Underdogs" continue, most tennis fans want to see a new champ, let see whether Haas and Warinka has any say in it.

R We seeing a French Revolution in Tennis?

Lead by Jo Wilfred Tsonga we had atleast 17 players from France in the main draw if not more. Is this a French Revolution we are seeing in Tennis right now? It can be argued French Open being the home tournament and hence lot of home players, but most of them deserved a chance and some of them had mad use of it full like in case of G Monfills who over came the spirited challenge of Berdych in the 3rd and 4th set to win in 5.

This is the list of main draw players, please let me know if I missed some unknown player.

8 JW Tsonga - 2nd round

9 R Gasquet - 2nd round
18 S Gilles - 2nd round
26 B Paire - Likely 2nd round
27 J Chardy - 2nd round
32 J Benneteau - 2nd round
55 M Llodra - 2nd round
65 E Roger-Vasselin - 2nd round
69 PH Mathieu - not sure
81 G Monfils - 2nd round
91 K De Schepper not sure
98 G Ruffin eliminated 1st round

126 M Gicquel not sure
131 F Serra not sure
173 N Mahut - 2nd round
174 R Stephane not sure
182 D Guez not sure

May be USO in 90's had might have attracted more home players in a slam.

Whats the record for maximum representation of Home players in a given tournament be it slam or masters or any ATP tournament [atleast 500's]