Murray Starts 2008 in style, archiving the first title of the year in Doha but the Briton’s hopes are soon dashed at the Australian Open as he runs into Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round in Melbourne.
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Archive for the ‘Tennis’ Category
Andy Murray’s magical year 2008
On December - 24 - 2008
Nadal The Cheerleader!
On November - 18 - 2008
Rafael Nadal might want to skip the trip to Argentina to be a cheerleader for Spain at the Davis Cup final. Emilio Sanchez Vicario, captain of the Spanish team, says his country will stand a better chance if the world’s No. 1 player — injured and unable to compete — is not courtside for the championship in Mar del Plata on Nov. 21-23. He says Nadal would pose too much of a distraction. “I think he’s too big mediawise,” Sanchez Vicario told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “When he wants to be there, he wants to be there to compete. He’s always center and he’s a leader, so I will miss him there, but obviously we have great players. … They have enough personality to take this team and help it forget about Rafa.” Sanchez Vicario says Argentina now faces heavy expectations because of Nadal’s absence. Read the rest of this entry »
Nadal is exhausted
On November - 4 - 2008
In the end, even the world’s most indestructible tennis player proved mortal in the face of an unbending, unending calendar.
Worn down from his most successful season ever, Rafael Nadal withdrew on Monday from the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai. There had been immediate speculation that Nadal would skip Shanghai to prepare himself for the Davis Cup final that has Spain visiting Argentina the week of Nov. 17.
Murray’s Second Title
On October - 19 - 2008
There were gigantic names like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. But no myth could stop Britain’s Andy Murray to win his second Madrid Masters title in a row.
The Briton, 21, followed up his semi-final win over Roger Federer with a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) victory.
Simon struggled physically, having needed final set tie-breaks in his previous three matches, including Saturday’s defeat of Rafael Nadal.
Murray, the world number four, won his first Masters Series title in Cincinnati in August.
He becomes the first British player to win two titles at the elite Masters level, which is below only the Grand Slams in importance, with both Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski having won in Paris during their careers.
Murray is also the first Briton to win four titles in a season, having taken titles in Doha and Marseille earlier in the year.
In truth, the Scot was well below his best in Sunday’s final as he failed to find any rhythm against an opponent who appeared exhausted from the early stages.
And while the Frenchman struggled to cope, Murray was able to rely on the almost impregnable serving that saw off Federer on Saturday.
He made 67% of first serves over the one hour and 34 minutes and did not face a single break point, although he had to fend off two set points in the second set tie-break.
Murray was largely content to rally from the baseline and wait for errors from Simon, and it worked as early as game five when he forced three break points and converted the third with a winning lob.
He had little trouble seeing out the set, taking it with a superb service game that included three aces, and had an early chance in the second set but played a wild forehand on break point.
It proved to be the pattern for much of the match, with both players hitting occasional winners but failing to string them together.
Murray saw off a brief threat in game six with a backhand winner down the line past the on-rushing Simon and it came down to a tie-break, which at last produced some real drama.
The British number one recovered an early mini-break but from 3-2 up played three drop shots in a row, two of which were unsuccessful.
He was not to be deterred, however, and went for another when facing two set points at 6-4 down, just about getting away with it and going on to win four straight points, Simon missing with a volley on match point.
“I planned to play a little bit better than that from the back of the court,” said Murray. “Both of us made a lot of mistakes but both of us were a little bit tired from yesterday, him probably more than me.
“But my serve this week has been awesome and that’s the reason why I won the tournament. I don’t think he had a break point in the whole match.
“I think he’d won his last five finals so he’s tough in finals, I knew it was going to be a difficult match.
“Maybe I put a little bit too much pressure on myself because I was expected to win and I knew he was going to be tired but I saved my best tennis until right at the end and deserved to come through.”
Murray, who has already qualified for the end-of-season Masters Cup in Shanghai, will head to St Petersburg next week to defend the title he won last year.
Roger Federer through to the 3rd round
On October - 16 - 2008
The world number two rallied from 5-3 down in the second set tie-break to win on his return from a five-week break.
“I’m happy to be back on tour,” said the Swiss. “It was always going to be tough against Radek and he played a great second set.”
Elsewhere, American qualifier Robby Ginepri battled to a surprise 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory over Nikolay Davydenko.
Murray struggles hard to reach 3rd round
On October - 15 - 2008
Britain’s Andy Murray progressed to the third round of the Madrid Masters after his Italian opponent Simone Bolelli retired hurt early in the second set.
Bolelli, who had lost the first set 6-0 in under 30 minutes, appeared to sustain a shoulder injury when he attempted a smash shot to hold at 0-1.
