Category: Tennis Heroes

Sighted as one of the greatest rivalries yet again it will be Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in the first semi final clash. The comparisons have already begun between the two as to who will get the better of who in a neck-neck match. Both had their share of ups and downs in the Rolland Garros grand slam 2014 and most importantly both are coming to the semi final after a rough quarter final match against David Ferrer and Gael Monfils respectively. Both Nadal and Murray dropped sets each with Nadal dropping 1 set and Murray 2.

Both had almost similar conditions to play under. While Nadal had to wait for the rain to stop, Murray continued in the darkness. It almost seemed that the match between Nadal and Ferrer would continue the next day and so did the match between Murray and Monfils. But both were in a hurry to finish off the match. It is yet another achievement for both the players to reach the semi final of the French Open.

It will be really tough for Murray to knock down Nadal as Nadal’s record in French Open reads as 64-1 losing to Robin Sorderling once. Murray however has a lot of expectations from himself and feels that it is a long tournament for him which has an underlying meaning that he wants to win the French Open title but the rock solid and only obstacle that is hinging between the two is Novak Djokovic whom no one can sideline. It is obvious that Nadal has much more experience of being in a grand slam final than Murray so he definitely has a slight edge over Murray. Nadal has beaten Murray in three semi finals of grand slam. A tough duel for the two is predicted.

Maria Sharapova won her second French Open singles title yesterday by beating Simona Halep of Romania in a very close final encounter. After toiling hard for more than 3 hours, the Russian beauty queen managed to register the victory.

The final matches at Roland Garros had been pretty one sided in the last one decade or so and it was believed that something similar could happen this time around as well. But, that wasn’t the case to be. An epic battle was fought between the two finalists and the spectators present there got their money’s worth.

Sharapova had not performed that well in the last few Grand Slams that she had played and because of that many people had started to believe that she was losing her spunk. But, in this tournament, the Russian superstar showed that she was still one of the best in the business.

When Sharapova had first burst onto the scene, she wasn’t a great clay court player. She used to be more comfortable on grass courts and hard courts. The first three Grand Slams titles that she won, neither of them came on clay courts.

But, in the last few years, Sharapova has worked very hard on her game on clay courts under the guidance of some fantastic coaches and the result is that she has now lifted two trophies at Roland Garros in 3 years.

Speaking in the post match interview, Sharapova said, “It feels surreal really. If, at the start of my career, somebody had told me that two out of my first five Slam titles would be French Open, I would have laughed that off.”

“During the last couple of weeks, things have gone absolutely perfectly for me. It’s a very emotional moment.”