Wimbledon 2014 Mens Finals - Where it end all - Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic

Awesome match and a fitting climax for a tournament full of upsets, its Wimbledon Final come Sunday and it will be contested by 7 time Champion Roger Federer and the No.1 Seed Novak Djokovic.


Federer

Key Strengths - Experience , Grass court movements, Serve and finally anticipation.

A-Game - Serve, volley, aggression, grass court movements, big forehands [all], backhand slices, topspins and flatout shots DTL and experience in handling points and holding nerves.

Weakness - Lack of Stamina to play a longer 5 set game [compared to his prime], Mid match focus lapse, Loops balls on backhands, slow 2nd servers [off late a big problem].

Crowd Support - Big time on, will be undoubtedly the crowd favorite , 80-20 should be expected.

Historical Achievement - First ever Men's Champion of all time [Yes all time] to win 8 Wimbledon titles. 18 Grand Slams.


Djokovic

Key Strengths - Return, movement, stamina, Backhand [all], Big points play.

A-Game - Backhand [all], Forehand [all], Super Serbian Serves, Rebound Aces [Returns], Pace Variance [Slow and Fast Mix], passing shots, lobs, slices, top spins, volleys, drop shots.

Weakness - Grass court movements, lack of confidence, mid match focus lapse pressure to perform and Lack of Crowd Support

Crowd Support - Generally loves to play against the crowd, it won't be different tomorrow, 20% plus support should be expected.

Historical Achievement - Multiple Wimbledon Winner, World No. Status

H2H

In General - Federer 16-14
@Wimbledon - Federer 1-0
@GS Finals - Federer 1-0
@GS - Federer 6-5
@All Finals Djoko 5-4

Wimbledon 2014 Stats

Djoko vs Fed

Aces - 73 vs 69
DF - 9 vs 5
1st Serve in 68 vs 66
Server Broken 8 vs 1
Service Held - 93% vs 98%
Forehand Winners 53 vs 56
Backhand Winner 55 vs 31
Time on Court 15:09 vs 10:16

Prediction: Djoko is more or less determined and I guess destined to win his 2nd Wimbledon given his age , stamina and experienced coach Becker.

ATP Players April Fool Tweets

Andy Murray fooled his Twitter followers once again, as he got in the spirit of April Fools’ Day.

“2 bits of good news today..” he tweeted. “@CromlixHotel opening today.. thanks to everyone who has been involved in the process.. hope it's a great day.

“And 2 avoid confusion like last time i will be announcing my new coach tomorrow #pumped”.

With the first item being true - the Cromlix Luxury Hotel opened its doors Tuesday in Scotland - many media outlets took the second tweet at face value, not taking into account that Murray pulled the same prank three years ago.

“Ross Hutchins will be my new coach alongside Dani starting in Barcelona,” he tweeted in 2011, before his management confirmed it to be a joke.

Murray also caused confusion this past January during a fan Q&A on Twitter when he wrote that he would be marrying long-time girlfriend Kim Sears following Wimbledon. Murray and Sears’ dog, Maggie May, wrote in response, “FYI, NOBODY IS GETTING MARRIED. His tweets need a sarcasm disclaimer.”

Croatian Ivo Karlovic posted his own April Fools’ Day tweet, announcing that he would be bringing Murray’s old coach onto his team. “My new coach is Ivan Lendl!” he posted. “Ivan told me he dont do it for the money, he just wants to see some winners finally.”

Tomas Berdych also took part in the fun, tweeting, “Due to czech political crisis I decided to run for president #election #campaign #support”.

From N0.10 to No.1 in a months time - Djokovic at Race to London 2014

I have always loved the concept "Race to London", for the first time I see too much anomaly at the start of the year, yes its just 2 month but lot of interesting things already, who expected Wawrinka to top the Race by the end of 2nd month and who expected Djoko to lie on 10th place. Even if Djoko wins the upcoming masters IW he might still find himself at 5th place in the race. Is the consistency of other players slowly catching up with him?

Great to see Grigor Dimitrov and Cilic in the list.

Had Federer won the last set tie breaker against Djoko he would have been the No.1 in race to London and Djoko would have been in No.6.

Updated List after Miami Masters [Federer and Djoko are the prime gainers]
------------------------------
Rank Name (Nation) Points Week Change Tournaments PLayed
1 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 2,690 3 5
2 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 2,595 1 6
3 Wawrinka, Stanislas (SUI) 2,470 -2 5
4 Federer, Roger (SUI) 2,190 -2 6
5 Berdych, Tomas (CZE) 2,045 0 7
6 Dolgopolov, Alexandr (UKR) 1,130 3 10
7 Ferrer, David (ESP) 1,080 0 8
8 Nishikori, Kei (JPN) 1,025 7 7
9 Dimitrov, Grigor (BUL) 1,015 -1 6
10 Cilic, Marin (CRO) 1,010 -4 8
11 Murray, Andy (GBR) 1,000 0 7
12 Fognini, Fabio (ITA) 930 -2 8
13 Anderson, Kevin (RSA) 855 -1 6
14 Gulbis, Ernests (LAT) 800 -1 7
14 Isner, John (USA) 800 0 7
16 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA) 605 1 7
17 Gasquet, Richard (FRA) 570 1 8

Back to Back Masters win has propelled Djoko from No.10 in the race to No.1 in the race, for the first time in this year the race and the ranking has coincided with the Top 5 with Dolgopolov breaking the ice with No.6 spot in the Race ahead of Ferrer.

2 months on the year and Djoko finds himself on the 10th place in the Race

I have always loved the concept "Race to London", for the first time I see too much anomaly at the start of the year, yes its just 2 month but lot of interesting things already, who expected Wawrinka to top the Race by the end of 2nd month and who expected Djoko to lie on 10th place. Even if Djoko wins the upcoming masters IW he might still find himself at 5th place in the race. Is the consistency of other players slowly catching up with him?

Great to see Grigor Dimitrov and Cilic in the list.

1 Wawrinka, Stan (SUI) 2,290 0 3
2 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 1,950 0 4
3 Berdych, Tomas (CZE) 1,675 0 5
4 Federer, Roger (SUI) 1,410 0 4
5 Ferrer, David (ESP) 990 1 6
6 Dimitrov, Grigor (BUL) 925 8 4
7 Cilic, Marin (CRO) 910 -3 6
8 Fognini, Fabio (ITA) 750 -1 6
9 Murray, Andy (GBR) 730 0 5
10 Djokovic, N (SRB) 690 1 3

Other Notable names

11 Anderson, Kevin (RSA) 630 10 4
13 Gulbis, Ernests (LAT) 610 -3 5
14 Dolgopolov, Alexandr (UKR) 590 2 8
15 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA) 505 0 5
19 Del Potro, Juan Martin (ARG) 385 -2 4
25 Delbonis, Federico (ARG) 325 112 6 [Rising Fast this year, somebody to keep eye on]
97 Goffin, David (BEL) 125 69 5
98 Rosol, Lukas (CZE) 120 171 7

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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]

The Myth of Djokovic's Gluten Free Diet

Gluten free Diet got its heroic status once Djokovic started his unbeaten run in 2011, fans all over the world claimed Gluten-free as Nole spinach to success, but how exactly did Gluten Free diet helped him out? and would it have worked wonders for every player to try it? I personally doubt it.

I met my friend who graduated from University of Toronto [a Medical student] to discuss about this gluten free diet myth and see how successful this forumula could be on me, but to my surprise my friend laughed at me, he said firstly I am vegetarian and secondly Gluten is very good for health as the contain essential protein and vitamin blocks necessary for the body, and gluten diet is inbred in most vegetarian diets, so he questioned me why should I consider this formula of gluten free when gluten is actually good for my body. However he put an argument citing Celiac disease, gluten free would help all those who have this danger associated with the body but outside that gluten he confirmed helps body to perform at its best as it acts as energy cells.

So how exactly Gluten free diet helped Djokovic? we all know he suffered with some respiratory issues early on his career, but I don't think that's anywhere related to Celiac disease, so how exactly it helped Djokovic enhance his performance, is this just a myth that the gluten free diet played a big role in improvement of Djokovic's performance? or did Nole's team used it as a secret technique to divert media and fans attention on something which didn't need much attention and hence his secret to sudden rise still remain mystery? or did it really played a pivotol role in enhancing Nole's performance if so do anybody have a clue how it played its part?

I personally think Nole's team was smart enough to divert the attention on gluten-free diet and hence his sudden metoric rise secret still remain as secret and hence he could use it as an advantage till the myth is out.

Andy Murray will cling on to No.1 ranking in 2013

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.

Youngsters to look For

1]Christian Harrison -
Just watched his match with Jamie Baker in challanger Binghampton, lost a close 3set match, but should have closed it out in st.sets really when he was serving 5-4 for the 1st set.

Good attacking tennis player, need to improve on his temper, if he does work on this aspect then yes he could be a future top 25 for sure.

2]Jack Sock [USA] - Aged 19 got some big serves to back with heavy forehand. Got a very strong mentality showed no signs of nerves on Tiebreakers.
Lost to Favio Cipiolla after a great run in last two challenger tournaments.

3]Gianluigi Quinzi - Added after review by JM, Lemme add him to my watch list.

Marathon Man Mahut sends Murray Packing

The Marathon Man Mahut sends Murray packing in the second round, we were talking Murray as a strong challanger if not a contender for the upcoming Wimbledon but here you go yet another early loss. What is the main problem for Murray these days? Focus or lack of stamina, or the changes made to his game?

Lendl partnership started very well but didn't improve him any bit indeed for me it looks like Murray is losing confidence but I wish he does well in Wimbledon forgetting the disaster.

Novak Djokovic Luck running out?

Novak Djokovic © Gallo Images

This match will be labelled some kind of classic, but in fact it was anything but. Far more noteworthy for the stakes than the performances, the drama lay only in a combination of extreme nerves from Nadal and the rain-affected conditions, in particular last night.

It opened in fairly predictable circumstances and Nadal sprinted to 3-0, 30-0 only to exhibit the tension that he normally masks. Djokovic also showed us the shape of things to come by giving up two breaks of serve on double faults. The Djokovic serve was abysmal, with under half 1st serves finding their mark. And so the match progressed fairly steadily to 6-4, 5-3 - despite turgid conditions - until the rain forced the players from the court.

On resumption Nadal secured that set and ran into a 2-0 lead only for heavy rain to come down. The effect on Nadal was astonishing; his shots lost their pace and kick, his movement deteriorated and he became weaponless. Djokovic sensed the kind of break he got at USO '11 when his desperate slap shot on match point surprised him by landing in, and he capitalised in the same way, playing tidy, controlled tennis against the hapless Nadal as eight games routinely came his way. Eventually good sense prevailed over the desire to keep the show on the and the match was suspended. That was the moment the final was decided; as predicted by many experienced posters there was to be no serious contest once the conditions became playable.

On resumption Djokovic showed what a factor the rain had been by being broken immediately, but he creditably played his best tennis of the match to hold on to 5-6, unable as he was though to make the slightest impression on the Nadal serve.

And so to the final game, and Djokovic reprised his nervous show earlier by cracking on the first break point, handing over the match with a fearful push of a 2nd serve. In truth Nadal probably appreciated it as his nerves were somewhat shredded.

So what do we learn from this? Quite lot really;

Nadal is still the man on clay, though perhaps we have seen more vulnerability than before. He was nervous long before the rain (choking up the early 3-0 lead).

Djokovic fell sadly short on his big day, and in reality needed a downpour to give the scoreline a respectable look. In hot conditions this would have been a schooling. The double faults on THREE break points brought back memories of the "Chokovic" tag he earned after losing the USO 2007 first set to Federer. He will win more Slams, as Federer has declined, Nadal perhaps leaning that way and no competition in sight, but the myth of INAT has been laid bare.

It wouldn't be a bogbrush article without a mention of Federer! The old guy looked his years in labouring through this event but his two runs in the past (three, if you count the USO 2009 loss as also stopping him) at the Grand Slam will be revised upward, having taken sets off Nadal in his final attempts in prime clay conditions. He will also feel that the #1 slot is still there to take - he's survived his worst phase of the year, passed the highest points to defend and will fancy his chances of pipping Djokovic.

Nothing to lose attitude - Federer will bounce back even stronger

People have written off champions in the past, so its no big issue they write Federer off and I am not going to discuss that but something more interesting to look for.

Federer all his prime years kept winning slams like there is no tomorrow , and the monster of pressure grew heavily onhis back that anything less than a title is deemed as failure, I still can't figure when another champion had to face this kinda pressure, even Sampras at his prime was not expected to win everything, this is the pressure Federer has to face during his prime years.

Nearing 30, he won a Slam and made two QF, but barring the slam win the other two results are deemed as terrible failure for Fed, I understand Fed's level was so high but that graph has to fall some day to rise back again.

Actually these failures are good for Federer, since he has lost all his precious title he won last year, I don't expect him to win USO 2010 either, but do that mean there will be more pressure on Fed?

Answer would be no, Fed would come back 2011 with nothing to lose attitude and every thing is a win-win situation for him.

Nadal is a great warrior, and everybody do agree he is a mental beast, but how will he cope-up of defending the titles next year, after all he was found wanting physically and mentally in 2009 after a super-success year in 2008, its a tough road ahead for Nadal to stamp a legacy on his own specially all the media focus will be on him more than any player.

2011 could easily be the toughest year for Rafa and hope so his bashers do jump on him if there is a failure, since its easy to win when you have nothing to lose and easy to lose when you have everything to win. Given that there could be a blessing in disguise for Rafa in 2012 since he would come back even stronger with the same attitude.