The Murrays show a beastly reaction toward nemesis during Andy’s four set win
Andy Murray marched on towards a little bit of tennis history, maybe not with the spring in his step that had characterised his almost seamless progress through the Australian Open, but with resolve and confidence after going to a fourth set against brave but weary challenger, Marin Cilic, for the first time in the tournament.
Murray won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in three hours and two minutes, recovering from an uncertain start when neither his serve nor his ground strokes hit a rhythm.
In the final game he sprinted on the forehand side to clip an impossible winner that left a drained Cilic and the Rod Laver Arena dumbfounded.
"Honestly," he said later, "I actually practise this shot quite a lot in training. I never realised my mouth is so big. It was a great shot. I managed to turn it in."
Cilic at first showed few signs of his arduous battle to get to the semi-finals, and looked intent on going for a quick kill. He probably sensed that the longer it went, the more likely he was to struggle against an opponent who is a master of the counter-punch.
He played some thrilling individual winners but it was his all-round court management that impressed. He was under pressure after that shaky beginning but did not panic.
The end was marked by a bizarre court invasion by an ardent Cilic fan waving a Croatian flag. This marvellously gifted player had given his all, but it was marginally short of good enough in the end. They seem destined to be meeting each other at the highest level for many years to come.
Australian Open finalist played down the pressure of a chance to be the first British man to win a Grand Slam in 75 years. In the end, Murray's first-serve percentage with Federer dwindled and his tears at the end of the game showed how much emotional energy he had put into the fortnight, however, failed to bring his captivating previous forms when it mattered, then more grand slam finals beckon. I felt, with all my tennis pro substandard, I could play better than him, in the local tennis clubs comps people use to calling me Yannick Noah, the 80s flamboyant French tennis star famous for his flying dreadlocks and his deadly forehand. Somehow, my backhand is the best not deadliest.
No wonder I felt so humiliated for Murray sitting there and watching him demolished. Murray’s lost the open 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 and gave Roger Federer his fourth Melbourne triumph and 16th Slam.
Murray made the mistake against him of sticking rigidly to a pre-match plan to hammer Federer's backhand, his perceived if negligible weakness; he also remained hypnotised for long stretches on the baseline, faltering in mind and foot as Federer drained him of the certainty that had been welling up in Murray over six impressive matches.
Thus fascinated, the young Scot transformed from opponent to target. Despite the struggle of the long third set, this was among Federer's most impressive slam victories, even tougher than in New York. Defeat for the second time by the player he continually refers to as "the best player of all time" exposed a critical flaw in Murray's developing game, a reluctance – deep-rooted in his DNA – to scream mouth open, even in extremes. He will not have heard, of course, the millions screaming at their TV sets as he declined one juicy volley after another.
Again, at Roland Garros, this time no need to go into detail of Murray’s success and disappointment as we have witnessed his past experiences crawling up on him. Murray getting so close in another Grand Slam, missing out is tough to take, in the French Open semi-finals and lost to Nadal 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. If and only if screaming could have saved the Murray family a Grand Slam, no other player would have a chance to survive them.
Then came, home game, Wimbledon, he shattered the tough Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), to reach the fourth round, in two hours and 56 minutes under the Centre Court, carrying the captivated gathering with him.
Ljubicic, a former world Number 3 now residing at 33 in the rankings, did his part with a big serve and some sizzling ground strokes in the first two sets before Murray blew him off the court in the third. The fourth was another struggle. Nobody present could complain they did not get their money's worth, because to witness the ups and downs of Murray’s (past) match invariably is to share a psychological journey through joy, anxiety and ultimate relief. In the tie-break, at the play's peak, he prevailed with determination and flair.
Earlier, Murray showed a sizzling performance crushing Richard Gasquet 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 and in the fourth round impressively looked serious contender for his first Grand Slam sending home the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 6-4, but knows he will have to improve if he is to keep British hope to beat another Lopez’s compatriot, Nadal, in the semi-finals, who was comfortable in disposing, unfortunately, the last remaining, tenth seeded American, Mardy Fish, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Murray might have conquered Lopez but the Spaniards are not surrendered yet when the remaining world number one, Nadal, blasted the unimproved General Andy Murray 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to make sure the resurgence of British Empire well and truly dead and cremated. The Brits tenacious performance to reach the semi-final haunted him, again, to capitalize when it mattered just like his Australian Open poor performance against Federer.
The Spaniard was relentless crushing Murray denying his first crown and the nation’s hope to regain the dominance after 75 years draught.
I equally enjoyed watching the rise of the Djoker. Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic arrived at Wimbledon with questions over his frame of mind as he prepared for his first tournament since his remarkable 43-match winning run was brought to an end by Federer at the French Open.
The second seed clinched a gritty 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5 victory over Australian, promising future hope, qualifier, practicing partner, labelled as the giant killer kid, Bernard Tomic who will have made Australia proud to consider becoming a republic, maybe, had he made to the semi-finals and crushed the Brit.
Djokovic’s next opponent was none other than the crowd pleaser and the charismatic amiable France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who sent six-time champion Roger Federer spinning to a landmark defeat to set-up a semi-final showdown.
Tsonga bludgeoned Federer to a sensational 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4 6-4 loss, condemning the Swiss to his first defeat in a Grand Slam when holding a two sets to love lead.
Tsonga said, "He's the biggest champion in the sport. He has achieved so much and is the best player in the world. To be two sets down and come back was unbelievable. I served really well." Yes he did!
However, here we go again! the giant killer fell short of all his might use against Federer to hand the crown easily to the new world number one aspirant, Novak Djokovic, in a humiliating fashion losing 7-6, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. Tsonga lost all his will-power performance that ousted, “the best player of all time”, Roger Federer. Even though he trounced Tsonga, I am sure that Novak would have preferred to play Federer just to show him that he is the new champion of tennis.
The usually flamboyant Tsonga was outclassed and lost his nerves and serves, piling unforced errors, couldn’t match the powerful and brilliant shot positioning rally and unreturnable serves of the determined Serbian who set-up an epic final to end Nadal’s seven years domination of the top ranking.
Then came the moment everyone was yearning for, the final match, play and game between two of the best players, Nadal and Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic, who will become the world No.1 irrespective of the result, showed his new status was richly deserved by claiming his third Grand Slam title after winning 48 of his 49 game matches. Stunning!
He captured his first Wimbledon title with a 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 win over defending champion and world no.1 Nadal in a captivating final.
The Serbian's superb movement and clean hitting from the back of the court proved too much for the Spaniard.
The Serb had the better of the opening set, finally grabbing an advantage at the business end and the Spaniard started to make uncharacteristic mistakes.
My heart is filled with joy for Djokovic's amazing build up to victory, I am one of his fans and this really is a great day for all enthusiasts.
He has a fantastic attitude and deserved this title every bit and Serbia can be proud of what he has achieved in his very young career.
He is a real champion and will carry on with unabating hunger to add more titles to his trophy cabinet.
For the women’s tennis, the equally charismatic and exuberant Williams sisters should know that their presences have been missed which could have added spice to the all lacklustre game of the remaining contenders.
This is a short biography of the Williams sisters.
Defiant in the face of adversity & the rivalry between the two sisters didn’t hinder their aspirations of Olympic and Grand Slam Tennis Champions of the world in singles and doubles.
Both Professional tennis players, Serena was born September 26, 1981 and her older sister, Venus June 17, 1980, in Saginaw, Michigan, and the Williams took the tennis world by storm beginning in the late 1990s. The sisters harnessed their powerful groundstrokes and booming serves to rise in the rankings in both women’s singles and doubles competitions. Coached by their outspoken father, Richard Williams, Venus and Serena have been credited with raising public awareness of their sport and with bringing the women’s tennis game to a whole new level of power, athleticism and RE-SPE-CT.
2002 and 2003 was the year of Serenity. Serena bested Venus each time in their four consecutive Grand Slam finals, the only siblings in the history of the sport to do so. In all, Serena has won eight Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal in women's doubles (2000 & 2008), which she shares with her sister. The pair didn't enter the doubles competition in, 2004, Athens because Serena was hurt at the time.
Serena’s 27 Grand Slam titles places her ninth on the all-time list: 13 in singles, 12 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously and only the fifth woman in history to do so. She was also the first woman to hold all four Grand Slam doubles titles simultaneously since Martina Hingis did so in 1998 (with sister Venus Williams).
Her 13 Grand Slam singles titles are sixth on the all-time list and she has won more Grand Slam titles in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles than any other active female player.
Williams has won two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles and she has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history. The pair has won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together.
Serena defeated Venus in the finals of the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. The string of victories propelled the younger sibling to the top of WTA tour rankings, with Venus dropping to second place.
Despite her impressive record and growing confidence, Venus had yet to achieve the accolade she had dreamed about her whole life: a Grand Slam victory. Her younger sister, Serena, whom their father had once claimed would be the better player of the two, reached that goal first, when she won the 1999 U.S. Open.
Venus became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first black woman to achieve this success during the open era.
Her 21 Grand Slam titles ties her for twelfth on the all-time list and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams. Venus Williams' titles consist of seven in singles, twelve in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles.
Williams has won three Olympic gold medals, one in singles and two in women's doubles and she has won more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis player. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games.
Venus Williams has played against her sister Serena Williams in 23 professional matches since 1998, with Serena winning 13 of them. They have played against each other in eight Grand Slam singles finals, with Serena winning six times.
Despite the inevitable rivalry, the Williams sisters remain close friends. Raised as devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, both were home-schooled by their mother, and have received their high school diplomas. In 1999, Serena joined her sister at the Art Institute of Florida, where they studied fashion design. Known for her flamboyant fashion choices on the court, Serena has launched her own line for Puma and Nike, as well as a designer clothing line called Aneres, which is "Serena" spelled backward and sister Venus is now the CEO of her own interior design firm, V Starr Interiors, residential & commercial interior designers located in the Palm Beach, Florida. Good Luck Gurls!
In 2011 Wimbledon, seven years after her stunning triumph, over Serena, as a 17-year-old, Maria Sharapova was playing her best tennis and looked aiming to crown her career resurrection with a second Wimbledon title.
It's Sharapova's first appearance in a grand slam final since the shoulder injury in 2008 which threatened to derail her career.
Sharapova became an international sensation following her straight-sets victory over Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final, her beauty, confidence and on-court scream making her a marketing dream.
The world's highest paid sportswoman met dangerous first-time grand slam challenger Petra Kvitova in a title decider game at the All England Club.
Wow! Wow! Who would have believed that, except those who have watched Andy Murray’s successive loss of opportunities?
The Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova (who?) stunned everyone including the finalist, Maria Sharapova, to win her first Grand Slam title in only two sets 6-3, 6-4 by trouncing her with unbelievable groundstrokes and big swinging forehands. That’s how champions play in finals with absolute determination. Boy! O! Boy! That was really good.
Equally Sharapova was impressive to come back with improved speed around the court but not the quickest, Kvitova was everywhere like, I remember, (“Rabbit”, Wendy Turnbull), former Australian player. Sharapova was also in perfect physical shape and looked needless to say glamorous.
Kvitova was maybe unknown for this year’s Wimbledon but has now become a household name and she will be around for a long time.
She reminds me so much of what Sharapova did to Serena Williams in 2004. Serena was the more experienced player when Sharapova came into that final being the underdog.
Like Andy Murray, she will be so disappointed for not doing so well in the final and it will be a tough loss to forget for a long time.
Honestly, apart from her determination to come back to tennis, her heavy grunting was deafening for the spectators and those watching her on screen let alone did nothing to save her, and without the Williams sisters the Championship looked gloomy and bleak.
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