Posts Tagged ‘obtains’

Wimbledon – Federer Obtains the Glory by Winning his 15th Grand Slam

The 27-year-old Swiss, Roger Federer, obtained the glory this past Sunday, after beating Andy Roddick in an electrifying final at Wimbledon 5-7, 7-6(8-6), 7-6(7-5), 3-6, 16-14. The match was 4 hours and 18 minutes long and was exciting from the beginning through the end.

Both players played incredibly, but Roddick was too anxious in his 15th serve of the fifth set, and this lead it to be the only serve he lost in the match, but this was enough to let the triumph go to Federer’s hands. Roddick played almost perfect during the whole match but he could not hold the Swiss for longer and let Federer to surpass Pete Sampras’ most Grand Slam’s titles record and also reaching the top ranking spot.

The game started really good for both players, but Roddick did something unbelievable in the first set and broke Federer’s serve to win the set 7-5. Things looked really tough for the Swiss in the second set as well, the American didn’t give any easy options for Federer to break his serve, however after going to a tiebreak, the Swiss proved why he is the best player in the world since he remained calm and did some incredible plays after being down in the tiebreak and won the second set 7-6(8-6), to equalize the match.

In the third set, things were similar than in the second one; Roddick kept battling by not giving any opportunities for Roger to break his serve whereas Federer was trying to do so and even though he could not do it, Federer did won the tiebreak again in a great way to win the third set 7-6(7-5).

However, things changed during the fourth set and Roddick was more consistent than Federer; he had only 4 unforced errors compared to 7 from the Swiss, which gave him an advantage, and broke Federer’s serve to finish the set 6-3.

During the final and decisive set, things were amazingly tied between the two players, who played really hard and consistently and it seemed that the title could go either way. But at the end, Federer managed to break Roddick’s serve for the first time in the entire match in the 30th game of the set and that was it; the Swiss was the winner and the champion of the tournament with a score of 16-14 fifth set, which lasted 95 thrilling minutes.

During the ceremony, Federer couldn’t contain his happiness of surpassing Sampras’ record and obtaining the No.1 ranking, but he said also that he felt very happy for his best tennis against a great player like Roddick as well. Moreover, he said that he knows it is going to take him a while to assimilate the great way he obtained the 15th title of Grand Slam of his career and what it means for the world of this sport.

“I have never been part of a match that has ended 16-14 in the fifth set so it was a special moment, although everything still feels pretty crazy. It’s going to take some time to digest what I’ve done because it was such an historic day for me and for tennis. It’s unbelievable that I am the main character in such a wonderful journey and I could not go to bed on Sunday night because I was still so excited by what I had achieved,” said the Swiss and now the No.1 of the world.

On the other hand, Roddick expressed his disappointment of been the loser after playing in such an incredible way, but said that he knows that he was facing the best player of all-time and that he also performed in a great way by not giving up in any moment of the match.

ATP Tennis – Nadal Obtains his 5th Straight Title of Monte Carlo Masters

Rafael Nadal, a Spaniard of 22 years and world No.1, won the final at the Monte Carlo Masters by beating the Serbian Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 this past Sunday in two hours and 43 minutes. This is the Spaniard’s 5th straight title in this tournament and he is now the first player to win five consecutive games in Monte Carlo. Moreover, this is also Rafa’s 27th victory at the Monte Carlo Masters and the 21st straight win in clay since his defeat against Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round of the Rome Masters in 2008.

The Spaniard had problems with his serve in the beginning of the match, trailing 3-1 in the first four games, but he recuperated from that bad start and won five games in a row to win the set 6-3. Then, before the start of the second set, the Serbian needed a back massage and it seemed that was the end for Djokovic. However, the Spaniard struggled with his serve and Djokovic took advantage of that, breaking Nadal several times by sticking behind the baseline and beating him off the net. The Serbian won the second set comfortably 2-6.  That was the first set that Rafa lost since the final against Roger Federer in 2006 at this tournament.

The third set, however, was key for the Spaniard. After Djokovic lost three break points needed to win, his game went down completely and he lost his focus. Nadal took advantage of Djokovic’s breakdown, and using his experience in finals, completely destroyed the Serbian with impressive plays, winning the set 6-1. For Rafa Nadal this was a tough win in clay but a memorable one since it is his fifth title.

“It is always really important for me start the clay season like this, for the confidence,” said the world No.1. “To win another time here is more than a dream for me, is unbelievable, a fifth title here in Monte Carlo. I never expect something like this,” stated the Spaniard champion.

The Serbian, on the other hand, expressed his satisfaction with his performance after the game, and even though he did not play the way he was supposed to in certain moments of the match, he thought this final match was one of his best performances against Rafa Nadal on clay surface. 

Moreover, since this tournament turned professional in 1968, no one has matched Nadal’s feat: 5 victories in a row. Some players like Reggie Doherty won the tournament on several occasions but never so many in straight years.  It is certain that Nadal has made history in Monte Carlo. Now he hopes that next year he will play well enough to get his sixth title.

The Spaniard’s next tournament will be the Open Banca Sabadell tournament in Spain, where he will play against the winner of the match between a qualifier and Yen-Shun Lu in the first round. If he wins this tournament, it will also be for the fifth time in a row.

Congratulations to this amazing Spaniard player and best of the luck to the world No.1 Rafa in the following tournament.

Tennis ATP- Andy Murray obtains Sony Ericsson Open title

The British of 21 years-old and No.4 of the world, Andy Murray, played in great way beating the Serbian Novak Djokovic 6-2, 7-5 in the Sony Ericsson Open final this past Sunday.  The No.3 of the world, Djokovic had a hard time with the 85 degree-heat and his fitness was not at his best at one point of the match, when the Serbian had to call his trainer to check on him and it seemed that he was going to retire at the beginning of the second set, but after some minutes he returned and finished the game.

Since the beginning of the match, the British played with great confidence making vast of great shots and converting amazing plays into points. Djokovic for his part was rushing on his strokes and was converting too much unforced errors. Although the Serb rallied momentarily in the second set, he was outplayed for long periods. The Scot produced his typical combination of great defense and offense, smartly changing the pace and mixing his shots. On the other hand, Djokovic was trying to attack the net but was beat by Murray with his incredible passing cross shots.

During the first set, Djokovic drop his serve with four unforced errors and was down 4-0, however he tried to comeback with some good plays but was too late and he lost the first set 6-2. The second set started with Murray breaking right in the first game, but right after this, an exhausted Djokovic called his trainer, which inevitably recalled the Australian Open quarterfinal game against Roddick when the Serb also struggled with the heat and retired. However, this time Djokovic decided to return, but this moment of doubt seemed to affect Murray’s concentration lowering his game a little and as a result Djokovic rapidly found the way to make a comeback winning four consecutive games.

In that moment the Serbian managed to take a 5-2 lead and he had two set points when serving at 5-3, but Murray saved the first and a double-fault adding for the second. Later on, the Scot equalize 5-5 with three aces and Djokovic when down. The British, winning 10 of the last 11 points for five straight games fulfill his triumph at Miami.

The advantage and superiority of Murray over Djokovic was evident during the match, from their fitness strength to the statistics, in where the Serbian converted 43 unforced errors compared to just 19 from the British.  This title is the first for a British in this tournament and the third one for Andy Murray of the last five Masters Series 1000. Murray has an amazing win-loss record of 57-7 since last season, which is currently the best in the ATP Tour and has lost just two times this year, against Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round of the Australian Open and against Rafael Nadal in the final of Indian Wells.

Definitely the Scottish has improved and this has been shown in every part of his game. His motivation is at the top and he is confident that he will continue climbing in the rankings and on his game. With this title the British is only 170 points away from world No.3 Novak Djokovic and the clay-court season coming up could be a key in the Scots pursue for the top rankings, since this has been the most difficult surface for him in the past and he intends to improve his performance this season. Moreover, one of his main goals for Murray this season is a Grand Slam but he knows he has to work hard for that.

“I’m training very hard to try and do that but there are so many great players just now, Novak, Rafa (Nadal), Roger (Federer) and they’ve been dominating the slams for the last few years. It would be nice to get in there and take one,” expressed the No.4 of the world.