andy murray

Andy Murray’s decision to part company with his trainer was vindicated following an impressive display in Toronto where he was able to see off all three of the players ranked players above him in the World standings, to retain the Rogers Cup.

Murray’s more aggressive approach to this tournament paid dividends for the Scot, taking the scalps of David Nalbandian and Rafael Nadal to set up the final against Roger Federer.

The final was delayed for fifteen minutes at the start due to heavy rain, which would continue through the match and disrupt the flow of the game on no less than five occasions.

But Murray was off to a flier once the game got underway, racing into a 3-0 lead in the first set with Federer dipping deep into his enormous reserves to offer some resistance.

While the rain breaks caused problems for both players, it was Murray who who appeared most focused throughout, regaining the Rogers Cup with an impressive two set victory over Federer, 7-5, 7-5.

After the win Murray said;

“It was good for me to win today, three good results in a row against Nalbandian, Rafa and Roger, so that will give me confidence for next week. It was difficult today, I was up a lot in the first set and probably should have won it a bit easier. I managed to stay tough mentally, which is always tough against Roger because he started to play some great tennis, but it’s a great way to finish the week – I played very well. I think the rain delays affected both of us. It is difficult. It broke our momentum. Roger was playing better at the end of the first set and when we came back out I broke him straight away. It affected both of us a little bit but I managed to stay strong in the end.”

Murray will take part in this week’s Cincinnati Masters hoping for another confidence boost ahead of the US Open and hopes of that elusive first Grand Slam title.

The 24 year old Berdych followed his achievement of reaching the semi final stage at the Paris Open in Roland Garros earlier this month and will now face Novak Djokovic for a place in the final.

Berdych who beat Federer in their last meeting in Miami played some sweet forehand shots to accompany his trademark big hitting service, while Federer continued the uncertainty that has crept into his game over recent months.

Berdych said after the famous win;

“It was really big for my confidence. That was my first Grand Slam semi-final and it made me quite hungry for my next matches.”

Berdych won the match 6-4, 3-6,  6-1,  6-4.

Nadal back to his best

Rafael Nadal’s comeback from the tendinitis problem that forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon last year, now looks complete, the Spaniard showed exemplary form while disposing of Robin Soderling in the final of the French Open on Sunday.

Nadal brushed the Swede aside taking the match 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to win his fifth title at Roland Garros, and the Spaniard looked to be back to his exceptional best.

While Nadal does not consider himself to be the best clay court player of all time, but he has now one all of his 22 matches on that surface this season, dropping a meagre two sets on the way and taking his own win tally on clay to 203.

Nadal is now back at number one in the world  and on this form looks unbeatable and with the grass courts of Wimbledon looming we should be seeing the Spanish player at the peak of his game.

Sadly the same cannot be said of Andy Murray who is all over the place with his game. Appearing at times to lack the focus he showed last season, Murray has been unconvincing too many times this year and will have to pull out something spectacular at Queens, where he defends his title this week, to be considered a serious contender for Wimbledon.

The same could be said of Roger Federer of course, he too has not shown the consistency that took him to the top of world tennis, but then again we all know better than to write off a player who has won more Grand Slams than any other player in the game.

The year started well for Murray, pairing up with Laura Robson for Great Britain tennis team in the Hopman Cup and progressing to the the final, where they lost out to the Spanish team.

In reaching the Australian Open final aginst Roger Federer, Murray became the first Briton to reach more than one tennis Grand Slam final in 72 years.

But injuries and a lack of focus have seen Murray in decline in recent months and despite showing a glimmer of his old self in the Madrid Masters where he reached the quarter final stage, he was seen off for the second tournament running by Spain’s David Ferrer.

Murray is desperately in need of a boost and the French Open later this month will hopefully be where it materialises, just ahead of the Queens Club Championship where he will defend his title and of course a week or so later at Wimbledon.

Surprisingly, Federer has not won a tournament since beaten Murray in Australia, although he reached the Madrid Masters final against his old adversary Rafael Nadal last weekend.

Nadal is in the best form of the three players, having beaten Federer in Madrid to become the first player ever to win eighteen Masters titles.

The win in Madrid follows title winning performances in Monte Carlo and Rome, with Nadal emerging as the clear favourite for the French Open as well. British fans will be hungry to see the Spaniard in this imperious form when Wimbledon gets underway towards the end of June.

If you fancy going to Wimbledon it would be wise to book up as soon as possible, there are tickets for Wimbledon and Queens currently available, but time is running out.

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roger federer

Roger Federer has ensured that he finishes the season as World number one following his defeat of Andy Murray in the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena this week.

Federer had lost the title to Rafael Nadal towards the end of the 2008 season and said that he had made it one of his goals to win back it back this year. The win over Murray guaranteed that he would finish on top and he said “It’s a wonderful feeling,It’s one of the greatest performances I’ve achieved.”

Federer had started the season by being beaten by rival Nadal in the Australian Open, having already surrendered the Wimbledon crown and ranking to the Spaniard in the previous season.

In April Federer married  and in July he regained the Wimbledon crown and two weeks later he became a father for the first time when his wife gave birth to twins.

He has won five titles on this years tour and it has been interesting to see his form returning throughout the year. He puts it down to;

“Playing so well at the most important moments, it’s been the key this year, and staying healthy, especially after having a rough 2008. Coming back this year and being able to dominate and play at the top when the depth in tennis is so, so great at the moment. I think it’s a wonderful achievement.”

I couldn’t agree more, it has been great to see Federer coming back to form, although he lacks the consistency that we had come to expect of him, maybe that will return too. It is also true that both Nadal and Murray have spent time out of this season with injuries, so it will be good to judge things when each of them are back to full fitness, hopefully for the start of next season.