Murray beat Federer in three sets, but it wasn't as tight as it sounds. It was tight in the first set, which Fed won in a tie-break, then he started spraying errors off his forehand and the Scot won the second and third sets 6-2, 6-2. Much more surprisingly, Andy Roddick was able to beat Gael Monfils. Apparently, Roddick's steady high-level of play was enough to get him past an intermittently spectacular Frenchman.
However, Roddick will need to be more than steady to beat Murray in the final. He'll have to play out of his mind, serving at least 70% and having a lot of success at the net. I really think Roddick's best chance is if Murray's back trouble, which seemed to be a problem for him in the Federer match, keeps him from playing at the top of his game.
Props to Nadal for continuing in the doubles, and eventually winning the Doha title. He could have pulled out and headed to Melbourne for some extra AO training. And beating Nestor & Zimonjic? That's a serious pair of doubles players, right there. Maybe Nadal could add a doubles Grand Slam to his title list?
The Brisbane final is also set - Stepanek against Verdasco? Weird. I don't know who to pick in this one, since I would have bet against both of them in the semis. They're both very talented players who can just go away for no good reason, so it will go to whoever holds it together.
In Chennai, the hometown hero Devvarman continues his improbable run, managing to hold Karlovic to only 10 aces and beating him in two sets. He's up against Schuettler, who is also impressing. I'd love to see the wildcard continue on. The other semifinal is Cilic-Granollers, and this should really go to Cilic. It would be interesting if Schuettler could win, since he hasn't even been to an ATP final since 2004.
Kudos to Elena Dementieva, who won the first women's title of the season. Maybe she'll get back to her first slam final since 2004 this year. It was a real shame to see Mauresmo retire against Bartoli trailing 4-0 in the first set. That does not bode well for the Frenchwoman's chances at a career Renaissance this year. Azarenka-Bartoli should be an intriguing final.
Showing posts with label zimonjic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zimonjic. Show all posts
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
2009 season almost underway!
If this is a preview of the 2009 season, we should be in for some fun. After beating Federer in three sets in Abu Dhabi yesterday, Andy Murray went on to beat Nadal in three in the final. I think the young Scot is trying to make a statement, that he's a serious contender this year. Should be fun.
I've started taking a look at the draws for the three tournaments taking place this inaugural week of the season, but I'll hold off on much serious commentary until tomorrow, when the qualifying rounds will have hopefully completed. As for the quallies...
In Chennai, the weakest of the three tournaments taking place next week, I'd like to see Michael Berrer and Rajeev Ram make it to the main draw. Flavia Cipolla probably will, too. And there are a lot of unknown (at least to me) Indian tennis players in this draw. I know that it's a burgeoning sport in that region, so it would be nice to see somebody new make a splash, and there's no better place to do it than a hometown tournament.
It's interesting that Doha has such a great main draw, but there isn't much going on in qualifiers. I expect it's because the top players are getting appearance bonuses for showing up, but the players outside the top 100 probably aren't. One interesting note is that doubles phenom Nenad Zimonjic is playing in the qualifiers. It'll be interesting to see how he does.
Most of the interesting play is going on in Brisbane, since players are there to start prepping for the Australian Open. Gilles Muller and Frank Dancevic are both high-quality players that could use a good start to their year. I see that John Isner lost Andrea Stoppini already, but I'm encouraged to see him out there getting in the matches. Ivo Karlovic couldn't get a handle on his playing style until he was much older than Isner, so maybe it will just take time. There are quite a few other Americans in the draw, and I see that Amer Delic has already ousted local favorite Chris Guccione. Not a good day for big servers.
In addition to the guys I've already mentioned, I think that young Kevin Anderson and veteran Xavier Malisse have good odds to make it into the main draw. And then we can get the season started in earnest. I can hardly wait.
I've started taking a look at the draws for the three tournaments taking place this inaugural week of the season, but I'll hold off on much serious commentary until tomorrow, when the qualifying rounds will have hopefully completed. As for the quallies...
In Chennai, the weakest of the three tournaments taking place next week, I'd like to see Michael Berrer and Rajeev Ram make it to the main draw. Flavia Cipolla probably will, too. And there are a lot of unknown (at least to me) Indian tennis players in this draw. I know that it's a burgeoning sport in that region, so it would be nice to see somebody new make a splash, and there's no better place to do it than a hometown tournament.
It's interesting that Doha has such a great main draw, but there isn't much going on in qualifiers. I expect it's because the top players are getting appearance bonuses for showing up, but the players outside the top 100 probably aren't. One interesting note is that doubles phenom Nenad Zimonjic is playing in the qualifiers. It'll be interesting to see how he does.
Most of the interesting play is going on in Brisbane, since players are there to start prepping for the Australian Open. Gilles Muller and Frank Dancevic are both high-quality players that could use a good start to their year. I see that John Isner lost Andrea Stoppini already, but I'm encouraged to see him out there getting in the matches. Ivo Karlovic couldn't get a handle on his playing style until he was much older than Isner, so maybe it will just take time. There are quite a few other Americans in the draw, and I see that Amer Delic has already ousted local favorite Chris Guccione. Not a good day for big servers.
In addition to the guys I've already mentioned, I think that young Kevin Anderson and veteran Xavier Malisse have good odds to make it into the main draw. And then we can get the season started in earnest. I can hardly wait.
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