For Monte Carlo Masters, next week NOVAK DJOKOVIC and Marian Vajda reportedly taking their reunion step by step.
Victoria Azarenka has probably been the only player in the recent times who has matched Serena Williams in terms of class and ability.
But, Azarenka has not been as lucky as Serena fitness wise. She has had to go through an enormously grieving period with injuries continuously haunting her. Not only did she lose her no. 1 status because of injury issues, she just kept on slipping southwards and currently, finds herself outside top 30 in the rankings. Continue reading AZARENKA AIMS HIGH
Andy Murray is eagerly waiting to play for Great Britain in the next Davis Cup.
Great Britain has to face United States of America first up in March and Murray is excited about it.
The team which wins that tie in the opening round would make its way to the Round of 8 where it would be up against the winner of the tie between Germany and France.
The British players would have the fond memories of the win that they had secured over America in the first half of this year. They would surely want to repeat that in Glasgow where there would be huge crowd support for them.
Talking about the upcoming tie in a press conference, Murray said, “It’s always exciting when you play with the crowd behind you. I have already played here, I think 3-4 years back, and the support back then was just fantastic, but, there will be a different sort of pressure this time around as we are in the world group. We would try and do whatever required and hopefully, end up on the winning side.”
The skipper of the Great Britain side, Leon Smith, was also accompanying Murray in the conference. He was quoted as saying, “Andy hasn’t played in Scotland that often in the recent past. This is probably going to be his first appearance in almost 2 years. He is one of the favourite sons of the soil and there is no doubt in my mind that a large number of people would gather to watch him live.”
“In 2011, when he had represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup, you would have seen the desperation of the people despite the fact that it wasn’t World Group fixture. He is immensely loved here.”
Roger Federer is going to take on Gael Monfils of France in the Round of 8 in the ongoing US Open. There are no prizes for guessing who the favourite in that contest is.
The Swiss maestro is in a fine shape at the moment. He is steam rolling over opponents and if he doesn’t bring any complacency in his game going into the quarters, it would be hard for Monfils to clinch even one set against him. Continue reading FEDEX FACES MONFILS
Sara Errani will lock horns with Sabine Lisicki of Germany in her first match in the upcoming Canadian Open tennis tournament which is also known as Rogers Cup.
It’s going to be the second match between these two players in the professional circuit. They had faced each other for the first time in 2013 at Rolland Garros and its Errani who had emerged victorious there.
Errani has not featured on hard courts of late. After the Wimbledon, she opted to take part in a clay court event which was not such a smart move by her as she is already quite strong on clay. It’s the other surfaces that she is not that comfortable with and thus, she should have rather played in a grass court event after her exit from the All England Club.
As far as Lisicki is concerned, she has gone down quite a lot ranking wise in the recent past. She is currently at the 29th position and she would definitely be eager to move up from there. Her journey in Wimbledon wasn’t that bad as she had managed to get to the Round of 8.
Thereafter, the German player suffered first round exit in the Bank of the West Classic. However, in spite of the defeat, it was a memorable match for her as she broke Venus Williams’ world record of the fastest serve in the female category in that match.
Although Errani is quite higher than Lisicki in the world rankings, she is not the favourite to win this contest purely because her game doesn’t suit to the hard courts as much as Lisicki’s game does.
Lisicki, in all likelihood, would put Errani in trouble with her lightening serves. The 24-year old German might wrap up the proceedings in a short period of time. A straight set victory for her is very much possible.
The British people seem to get impatient with their sports personalities very soon. No matter which sport those personalities belong to, as long as they are having a good time, they are getting plaudits and just as they go down a little bit, severe criticism starts.
The sportsperson who is experiencing that criticism thing at the moment in Britain is Andy Murray. One year back, the Scot was at the top of the world. He had given the British tennis fans something that they had been waiting for 70 odd years. A year later, he is finding himself on the floor. All the love that was being given to him at the same point of time last year has turned into hatred now. Why? It’s just because he couldn’t defend his crown at All England Club this year.
The disappointment of the fans is totally understandable. But, being disappointed doesn’t mean that you should start using harsh words against somebody who, just about a year ago, had given you a whole lot of joy.
It’s only a game at the end of the day. Somebody has to lose and the other one has to win. Murray is not the only one to have suffered a shocking defeat in his career; the other greats have suffered too. Roger Federer is a good example. He was almost impossible to be beaten at one point of time, but, in the last couple of years, he has lost to a lot of young players. Has he been criticized the same way in Switzerland as Murray is being criticized in Britain at the moment? The answer is no.
Murray is a tough character mentally and he would not let this tough phase get him down and out, that’s for sure. He would bounce back at some stage, but, right now, the Scot needs a bit of support from the British fans.
Rafael Nadal absolutely smashed the Australian superstar Lleyton Hewitt in the second round match in the Sony Open. He secured a 6-1, 6-3 win to move ahead.
With this performance, Nadal has sent all his rivals a very strong message. He has made it clear that he would come hard at them in this tournament.
Considering Hewitt’s recent form, he was expected to give the Spaniard some fight, but, no, it wasn’t the case. There was no contest out there. It was Nadal all the way. He played some charismatic shots to just blow his opponent away.
Speaking in the post match interview, Nadal said, “Lleyton can prove to be very dangerous on his day. I am one of his biggest admirers. He has been an absolute champion. So, I am happy to put up such sort of performance against him.”
Hewitt who was very excited about taking on Nadal looked disappointed when he came in front of the press after suffering a humiliating defeat. However, he showed the sportsmanship and admitted the fact that his opponent was far better than him.
The Australian said, “Well, he is the best in the business. I tried whatever I could, but, couldn’t just put him in any kind of trouble. He is all class and when he is in this good touch, you can’t do much as an opponent.”
“I wouldn’t say I played poorly. The timing of my shots was good, but, as I said I just got outclassed.”
Nadal broke the service of Hewitt three times in the opening set. The Australian improved a bit in the second set though, but still, couldn’t match his opponent and eventually ended up being handed a hammering.
This was the 7th time that Nadal beat Hewitt.
Lleyton Hewitt has made it clear that this is not the last time that he is going to participate in the Australian Open.
Hewitt has not been at his best in the last few years and with him not getting any younger, there had been talks that this could be his last appearance in the Australian Open, but, the 32 years old veteran has denied all that.
Hewitt is believed to have put in a lot of effort to improve his fitness in the last few weeks and according to him, he is determined to do well in the Grand Slams and in the Davis Cup next season.
Talking to the reporters recently, Hewitt said, “It’s not going to be my last Australian Open. I am feeling good about my game at the moment and I have no plans of quitting.”
Hewitt will start the upcoming season by participating in the Brisbane International Tennis tournament. He might have to face one of the greatest players of all time Roger Federer at some stage in that tournament.
When asked about that, the Australian superstar said, “Roger is a quality player and he is one of those guys whom you don’t prefer to face especially at the start of a tournament. He is one of the greats of the game.”
During the last season, Hewitt had put up good performances in patches. He wasn’t consistent enough, but, he had got better of some players who are quite high in the world rankings and he believes that those wins have given him a huge amount of self belief.
Hewitt said, “To defeat Juan and Stanislas who are two of the top 10 players in the world, it has certainly boosted my confidence.”
Hewitt has so far won a couple of Grand Slam singles titles in his career.
Andy Murray’s countrywoman, Laura Robson, will take on the Czech player Petra Kvitova in the second round of the ongoing Southern California Open.
Robson entered the second round with a tough win over the Japanese player Ayumi Morita. She was down by a set in that match, but, she showed great fighting spirit and eventually, managed to come on top.
This has been a great season for Robson so far. She has defeated some very good players off late and as a result, her world ranking has improved significantly. She wasn’t even in top 50 at the start of the season and at the moment she is at no. 32.
Even in the most recently played Grand Slam i.e. Wimbledon Championships, Robson had managed to make her way into the pre quarter final round where she got beaten by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
Kvitova, on the other hand, is way ahead of Robson as far as the ranking is concerned. She is currently ranked 7th in the world. She got a bye in the opening round. So, it’s going to be her first match in the event.
This hasn’t been a fruitful season so far for Kvitova. She has made a couple of quarter final appearances, but, she hasn’t played up to her potential at all and she herself would be aware of that.
In the Wimbledon Championships also, Kvitova’s performance was below par as she lost to a lower ranked Belgian player in the quarter finals.
Kvitova has played a total of 46 matches this season out of which she has won 31 and has lost 15.
Robson and Kvitova have played against each other once before and that match was surprisingly won by Robson. It was in the second round of the Australian Open this year. Kvitova would surely be looking to avenge that loss.
Agnieszka Radwanska has made it to the final 8 of the ongoing Korea Open by securing win over Estrella Cabeza of Spain. Radwanska won the match in the straight sets by 6-2, 6-1.
Radwanska is the top seeded player in this tournament and she was supposed to pull off this game easily. The Polish player did live up to the expectations and knocked out her opponent by playing some fabulous tennis. The match was over in just about an hour. Continue reading RADWANSKA MAKES FINAL 8