Nadal made the more promising start as Djokovic found himself a set down, similar to his semi-final against Murray.  But Novak Djokovic fought back to lead by two sets to one and with the fourth set poised in a close tie-break, it looked like Djokovic was about to win.  But Nadal played out of his skin.  This meant so much to Nadal, who had lost all six previous meetings between the two.

Into the fifth and final set Novak Djokovic looked mentally tired and physically drained but refused to lie down.  The set was one of the most compelling I have ever watched with several rallies of 20+ shots culminating in a 31 shot rally that was full of great shots and outrageous returns that had the crowd whooping in delight.

Before a ball was hit, I had Novak Djokovic to win, not because of any weaknesses with his opponent, Rafael Nadal doesn’t have any.  But because of the ‘never say die’ attitude Djokovic possesses.  But watching the fifth set Djokovic looked weary between shots.

Just as the match moved in Nadal’s favour, as if by magic Novak Djokovic found a last gasp of energy to force the issue and take control one more time and go on to win 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 in five hours 53 minutes to win his fifth Grand Slam.

Winning the final point Novak Djokovic dropped his racket and fell to the floor screaming like a wild coyote. Before walking to celebrate with his team his tore his t-shirt from his solid torso & screamed some more.

This was possibly the most perfect display of tennis I have ever seen; and the win meant everything to Djokovic; while Rafael Nadal must have been sitting there wondering what on Earth he has to do to beat this man.

After beating the former champion, Roger Federer in the quarter-final, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga now needs to beat this year’s inform player, Novak Djokovic in the first match on Centre Court, if there is to be any chance of repeating the Queen’s Club Final last month.

If he does beat Djokovic, and I certainly wouldn’t rule out the possibility, then Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will have beaten three of the world’s current top four tennis players in the past few weeks.  I tipped Tsonga to beat Federer and I think his game is more suited to grass than Djokovic.  That alone will make the match closer than if it were played on clay.

In the second semi-final Andy Murray will have to play his best tennis while Nadal plays below par for Murray to win the match; and I think more than in the past two years at this stage, Andy Murray has the best chance of beating Rafael Nadal and winning the Wimbledon Men’s Singles final on Sunday.

In yesterday’s Ladies Singles semi-finals the fifth seed, Maria Sharapova came back from a shaky start where she found herself 0-3 down in the first set against the very athletic German wildcard, Sabine Lisicki to reach her first Wimbledon final, since winning in 2004.

Sharapova eventually found her form and won 6-3, 6-4.  She will play the 21-year-old eighth seed Czech, Petra Kvitova who beat the fourth seed Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 to reach her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.

I believe Maria Sharapova and Andy Murray will be crowned Wimbledon Champions on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, weather permitting.

Andy Murray’s confidence has never been greater after his victory at Queen’s Club following two exceptional performances to beat Andy Roddick in the semi-final and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.  But ahead of Murray in the current world rankings are Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and reigning Wimbledon champion and current no.1 Rafael Nadal.

Novak Djokovic has never been further than the semi-finals at Wimbledon but has only lost once in 2011.  Djokovic is the inform player but grass isn’t his favourite surface.  Rafa Nadal will need to be on his best form and free from injury if he is to beat Roger Federer, who I believe will be crowned Wimbledon Men’s Singles Champion for the seventh time.

The Ladies Singles has been dominated in recent years by the Williams sisters, and both Serena and Venus Williams will be among the favourites even though they have both recently returned from injuries and failed to impress at last week’s Eastbourne Aegon International event.  A former champion that comes to this year’s Wimbledon finals in great form is Maria Sharapova though Li Na will be looking to add to her recent French Open victory when she bacame the first Chinese tennis player to win a grand slam.

Wimbledon 2011 begins today with the Men’s Singles 1st Round when Rafa Nadal takes on Michael Russell (USA) on Centre Court and Alison Riske (USA) taking on Vera Zvonareva (Russia) the number 2 seed on No. 1 Court.

Weather permitting, fourth seed Andy Murray v Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Spain) will be the third match on Centre Court.

Tsonga had previously beaten Rafa Nadal and British number 2 James Ward in the semi-final for the right to play Murray in yesterday’s delayed Queen’s Club Men’s Singles Final.  Andy Murray had played possibly the best match of his career when he completely out-thought, out-moved and out-played Andy Roddick in the semi-final on Saturday.  At one point Roddick had joked “let’s keep it social” as the exemplary Murray pulled off shot after shot.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga started the first set the brighter as Murray was unable to break Tsonga’s serve. Tsonga looked like causing an upset when he won the first set 3-6. But Murray began to fight back, even though he was still unable to break Tsonga’s serve, as the second set went to a tie-breaker.  But it could have been such a different result when at five games all and Tsonga leading 30-40, his return shot hit the top of the net, only to drop down instead of over the net.  That would have left Tsonga to serve for the match.  But as it was Andy Murray appeared to step up a gear and dominated the tie-break to take this exciting match to a third set.

That was the turning point of the match.  At the start of the final set, Tsonga looked slightly jaded. Murray took advantage and finally broke Tsonga’s serve in the fifth game.

The 7,000 spectators at Queen’s Club were treated to a great spectacle and delighted when Murray began to showboat, returning a half-volley from between his legs, not once but twice.  Both players found the first trick amusing as Tsonga won the point.  But he was less amused when Murray pulled out a winning stroke later in the set.

Andy Murray ‘showboating’ has split critics.  Was it really disrespectful? I personally think it is exciting for the crowd and makes the game more enjoyable.  Seeing Andy Murray play this good against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Roddick was a delight to watch.

Murray’s attention is now on the 125th Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship that begins on Monday 20th June where he will be brimful of confidence and no doubt be one of the bookies favourite to win the Men’s Singles final on Sunday 3rd July.

Nadal looked likely to win in three straight sets but Federer played some amazing tennis to winning the third set 7-5 from being 4-2 down at one point.  But the comeback was not to be completed and Nadal went on to win the match 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 6-1.

In the semi-finals Nadal beat Andy Murray, while Federer became the first person to beat Novak Djokovic in 2011.  Rafa Nadal remains number one in the men’s tennis world rankings.

On Saturday 29-year-old Li Na became the first Chinese tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles tournament when she beat the fifth seed Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-4 7-6 (7-0).  This follows her Australian Open final defeat in January.

After winning the French Open told reporters:

“It’s a dream come true because China never had a Grand Slam champion, so that’s why so many players in China are working so hard. The dream is you can be the top player or win the Grand Slam.”