When Andy Murray lost to Nicolas Mahut, many felt Murray was still struggling with his game. Unlike Nadal, fresh off a French Open win, Murray wasn't given the benefit of the doubt that his loss was to keep him fresh for Wimbledon. Unlike Andy Roddick, who also had an early loss, then begged for a
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the top 3 women players were practically guaranteed smooth sailing until at least the quarterfinals. Players like Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, and Steffi Graf would lose a game or two in early rounds when women could either not keep up with the consistency or the power or these top
Today, 3 of the 4 quarterfinalists were Spaniards. On the one hand, there was Rafael Nadal against Nicolas Almagro. Almagro's a hard hitter, but Rafa's battled with hard hitters and does a great job moving his opponents around. Add to that, he's never beaten Rafa. Rafa's played and beaten many a hard hitter including Berdych,
Let's get caught up on other news before addressing the subject at hand. Two matches were postponed due to lateness. The shorter of the two matches was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Stanislas Wawrinka. Tsonga was up 4-2 in the fifth before the match was called. Wawrinka was able to break and tie it up at 4-all,
Having heard that David Goffin, Roger Federer's fourth round opponent, had posters of him in his room, Federer recalled a match he played against Patrick Rafter. He took a set off of the Aussie, but the Aussie claimed the next 3 sets. He felt, once Goffin claimed the first set, that it was his job
Since I haven't reported in the last few days, let's start with John Isner. With Mardy Fish's heart problems causing him to leave the tour since March and Andy Roddick's quick exit and Ryan Harrison not quite ready to make the leap, John Isner has become the beacon of men's tennis. Brian Baker might become
First, Rafa had a much first round than he did last year when he was pushed to a five setter for the first and only time by John Isner. This year, he played Simone Bolleli and had a straight set romp dropping no more than 2 games a set. Andy Murray's opponent, Tatsuma Ito, said
Ever since the US Open, Roger Federer has been playing some solid tennis. Indeed, even if you include the US Open, Roger Federer came within a hair of beating Djokovic. Only a go-for-broke return by Djokovic followed by a dig-out return and a Federer slap shot that clipped the net causing the ball to fall
Tournament organizers must have crossed their fingers for a Djokovic-Nadal final. When Nadal fell to countryman, FernandoVerdasco, organizers must have hoped that the Federer-Djokovic semi would have to do. Only Djokovic didn't accommodate. Like Nadal, Djokovic had complained about the surface. And like Nadal, who lost to a countryman, Djokovic also lost to a countryman
Four times David Ferrer has made the Barcelona finals and four times he's met Rafael Nadal. Nadal is to Ferrer as Federer is to Roddick except occasionally you get glimpses that maybe Ferrer could break through. In all respects except possibly heart, Ferrer comes up second best against Nadal. His serve is comparable, but with
