US Open Day 15 - Cilic Reigns In New York

Turn the clock back twelve months and Marin Cilic wasn’t even a part of the 2013 US Open, a nine month ban after testing positive for a banned supplement left his career in serious doubt.  

One year on and the Croatian’s story of the event suggest he was innocent, the fact that the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the ban from nine months to four also implied the punishment was a little harsh.



It was the first major final for both men

But not even the Croatian himself could have imaged the euphoria which would follow the devastating storm, the latest Grand Slam Champion in an era many have described as the best ever, the stuff of dreams doesn’t describe it. 

He outplayed Japan’s Kei Nishikori in a historic major final, the first one since 2005 which didn’t include Nadal, Federer or Djokovic. After his remarkable dismissal of Federer in the semi-final the great Swiss had described Cilic’s game as “Old school tennis, big first serve, big forehand, and finish at the net” A deadly combination when executed well.

Some will even say that Cilic’s ban helped him; in the time he was away he clearly added more firepower onto his already effective serve while the asset of coach, former Wimbledon Champion, Goran Ivanišević has also injected some belief back into his game.

In the end it was a step too far for Nishikori who couldn’t repeat his heroic semi-final victory over Djokovic, which also came fresh off the back of two five setters. Cilic was merciless in securing a 6-3 6-3 6-3 victory and his first major title in 1 hour and 54 minutes to become the first Croatian since Ivanišević to triumph at the highest level.     

It was a match where no-one quite knew what to expect, both in their first major final, ultimately it would come down to who could handle the occasion better.

After straight set wins over Tomas Berdych and Federer, Cilic’s confidence was sky high and it was the Croatian who made the better start, breaking Nishikori in the sixth game. The single break was enough due to Cilic’s immaculate serve, he took the opening set in 33 minutes.

In the second set the momentum didn’t chance and for the majority of the match it appeared that Nishikori was clinging on for dear life. Cilic showed a greater variety of shots from the baseline and as he seized a 5-2 second set lead, despite then losing serve for the first time he had little trouble in closing it out.

The energy was visibly being drained from Nisikori’s robust tank. Anything short Cilic pounced on it and for a man at 6 ft 6 the Croatian moved well, returned well and soaked up his opponents pressure, before dishing it out with greater effect. There were a few signs of nerves but not enough to deny Cilic his first major at the age of 25, a further suggestion that the reign of tennis’s “big four” could be nearing its end. 

US Open Day 14 - Williams Powers To 18th Major

Serena Williams claimed her place in tennis’s illustrious history books, as she joined Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert with 18 Grand Slam titles.

The top seeded American powered her way to third straight US Open, in a fortnight where she never came close to dropping a set, let alone a match. She went into the final with her good friend and rival Caroline Wozniacki as the heavy favourite, 1 hour and 15 minutes later she had once again emerged the victor in typical Williams fashion.     

Williams wins her third US Open in a row

Just like the six players before her Wozniacki was simply blown away by Williams’ lethal attack, the American’s hammering forehand and thundering serve helped tear down the Dane’s so often stern defence in a ruthless 6-3 6-3 victory.

Every second serve that dropped short, Williams punished it. Every extended rally which appeared to be materialising into a trademark Wozniacki point, the world number one quickly extinguished it. In the end it was one of those days when it didn’t matter who was on the other side of the net.

The pair had gone the distance in recent matches in Cincinnati and Montreal but in truth Wozniacki never really looked like repeating those occasions in a match which many pundits described as “on Serena’s racquet”. After saving a break point with an ace in the opening game Williams broke the Dane’s serve straight away, even at that early stage Wozniacki’s task appeared a vast one.

In an uncharacteristic Williams service game Wozniacki broke straight back and the pattern of breaking serve continued as the next three games went against the server. It was then that the American seized control; she hauled herself to a 5-2 lead, the set soon followed, and she stormed into a position she has only lost from once in her US Open history.   

Despite the Dane’s efforts that statistic never looked like changing as Williams broke serve once again in the first game of the second set, from then on her own reliable serve did the rest.

Williams wasn’t broken in the remainder of the match as Wozniacki had no answer to the gulf in power between the two players, the Dane couldn’t impose her physical and demanding game on the world number one, every time she tried the ball was swept away for another winner from the top seed.

To her credit Wozniacki held her own serve with greater ease in the second set however the American remained in full control and served out the match to seal her sixth title in New York. The only record which seems left to surpass is Steffi Graf’s 22 major titles, with Williams still at the head of the game it may not be beyond her.     

US Open Day 10 - Djokovic Outlasts Murray In New York

There was no fairy tale ending or dream comeback for Andy Murray at this year’s US Open, that’s just the way men’s tennis is at this moment in time.

In a pulsating quarter-final he came up against a world number one who doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit or the definition of free point, as is always the case at any of the four Grand Slams Novak Djokovic will take some stopping.



Djokovic reaches another Grand Slam semi-final

The task to stay with the relentless Serb over five sets is something few have accomplished; Murray may have managed it here in 2012, on this occasion the Brit’s body appeared well and truly spent mid-way through the third set.

That was largely down to sheer brutality of the first two sets which alone stretched beyond the two hour mark. At time their defences appeared bullet proof, at times the intense rallies seemed like they would never stop, of course factors like that will inevitably take their toll and unfortunately for Murray his body seemed to resist first as Djokovic triumphed 7-6(1) 6-7(1) 6-2 6-4.

It was a match which had more twists and turns than a formula one race circuit, breaks of serve were a regular occurrence and both showed why they are currently labelled as two of the best returners in the men’s game.

From the first point Murray made his aggressive intentions clear, off a Djokovic second serve the Brit cracked one of his trademark backhand returns firmly into open court, a few points later he had claimed the first break of the match.

However his lead didn’t last long as Djokovic came storming back, an immediate response from the Serb saw him race into a 4-1 lead while saving further break points on his own serve along the way.

But one of the features of this match was the way that Murray quickly reeled his opponent back in after falling behind. From the baseline his groundstrokes, especially his forehand, were blistering; they had to be to puncture Djokovic’s impeccable defence. With the match beginning to boil the Brit levelled at 4-4, a deciding tie break was a fitting way to finish a breath taking set.

Yet when the pressure was really on, Murray suddenly lost his touch, a double fault when trailing 1-0 in the breaker made his job a whole lot tougher and Djokovic made him pay storming clear and taking it 7-1.

The second set followed a similar pattern Djokovic broke early, Murray responded, the Serb broke again, Murray was equal to it once more. Another tie break followed and this time it was Djokovic who faulted as Murray dominated with the same 7-1 score line.   

Then yet again the pendulum swung as Murray’s movement gradually deteriorated, Djokovic survived the early Murray resistance at the start of the third before claiming the decisive break when leading 5-4 in the fourth, in the end the Serb remained the last man standing and will now face Kei Nishikori in the last four.   

 

US Open Day 9 - Monfils Keeps French Hopes Alive

Gael Monfils is one of the many French tennis players attempting to following in the footsteps of national hero Yannick Noah and become his country’s first male Grand Slam singles champion for over 20 years

Monfils celebrates his fourth round win  

At 28 Monfils remains the only one of the thirteen male French players who started this year’s US Open just over a week ago, the highest number of representatives along with Spain. Now he will prepare for a quarter-final with the great Roger Federer with a chance to define his intermittent career.

The most impressive thing about Monfils’ fourth round victory over this year’s breakthrough act Grigor Dimitrov wasn’t his astonishing speed or his sensational shot making instead it the way he kept a lid on his fiery emotions which have a tendency to explode at any given moment.  

It was a defining win for Monfils and following his quarter-final showing at the French Open it means that he has reached the last eight of two slams in the same year for the first time in his career. The Frenchman edged three tight sets in a close encounter but was ultimately more consistent at the key moments of the match which he came through 7-5 7-6(6) 7-5 in 2 hours and 24 minutes. 

For Dimitrov it was something of an anti-climax to what has been an excellent 2014 break through, especially in the slams. However on this occasion the 23 year old Bulgarian was unable to reproduce the same quality which saw him make an incredible run to the Wimbledon semi-final, as too many errors at the crucial stages denied him a dream last eight clash against Federer.

The first set was dominated by both players serves, the first and only break point fell the way of the Frenchman in the eleventh game with the pair locked at 5-5, he confidently took it before serving out the set.

Monfils broke the Dimitrov serve again at the start of the second set but when the Bulgarian quickly struck back the Frenchman came close to collapsing into an almighty meltdown. He quarrelled with umpire Jack Garner over a point he felt should have been stopped when a piece of litter blew onto court.

However Dimitrov couldn’t close in on the advantage which had been presented to him and despite leading 6-4 with two set points in the tie break, crucial mistakes cost him and Monfils snuck in to steal the set and take a commanding lead.

Dimitrov may have looked the fresher of the two, with Monfils appearing to gasp for air on numerous occasions. However the Frenchman’s serve remained resolute and at 6-5 in the third set he pounced again to knockout the 7^th seed Bulgarian and advance to the last eight.

That’s where he’ll meet the 2^nd seed Federer after the Swiss beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-3 6-2, Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic also progressed. In the women’s draw Caroline Wozniacki set up a semi-final with Shuai Peng after both won in straight sets.

   

US Open Day 8 - Murray Slays Tsonga To Set Up Djokovic Duel

After cramping on day one Andy Murray described this fortnight’s US Open as a “bonus”.  Seven days on and three impressive wins later the Brit finds himself only three matches away from hitting the ultimate jackpot.



Andy Murray roars into the last eight

Murray admitted that he could have been on the plane home following his narrow first round victory over Robin Hasse, fast-forward a week and the British number one now has a chance to dismantle world number one Novak Djokovic in a quarter final where the Serb has it all to lose.

Murray’s confidence since that opening match wobble has evidently grown as the rounds have progressed, his latest victory over the talented Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga the most impressive by far.

A straight sets 7-5 7-5 6-4 victory was in some ways the ideal result for Murray against an opponent who beat him in Toronto a few weeks earlier, this time though the Brit progressed to the last eight tested but unharmed .

The first set was arguably the best set of tennis Murray had played since his back surgery last September. He held serve with relative ease while regularly putting pressure on some lengthy Tsonga service games as the Frenchman fended off five break points.

Murray pounced at the perfect moment claiming the first break of the match in the eleventh game. On set point he jumped onto a weak Tsonga second serve with a telling backhand which set up a routine volley into the open court which the Brit dispatched with little fuss.

Tsonga’s ability hadn’t been in doubt and at the start of the second set he showed exactly why, he took advantage of a small lapse from Murray on serve to convert his first break point of the match.

However a feature of this match was the way Murray recovered when he fell behind. At 4-2 down in the set he quickly flicked through the gears to retrieve the break, as Tsonga’s frustration showed signs of boiling over.

For the second time Murray broke his opponent when leading 6-5 and from that point on his path to the last eight appeared to unveil in front of him. However it wasn’t all that simple and another small hiccup allowed Tsonga back in, surely a similar mistake against Djokovic would be less forgiving. 

But on this occasion Murray’s sheer resolve was enough to prevail, at times his retrieving was phenomenal as Tsonga’s menacing serve and huge forehand were regularly neutralised.

Once again Murray broke back after falling behind and when leading 5-4 he struck the decisive blow. Two double faults from Tsonga immediately left the Frenchman on the back foot before Murray seized his opportunity to complete his victory in 2 hours 35 minutes.

Djokovic’s route to the quarter final was equally convincing as he defeated German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1 7-5 6-4. Elsewhere Kei Nisikori beat Milos Raonic in a five set epic while in the women’s draw top seed Serena Williams beat Kaia Kanepi 6-3 6-3.

US Open Week One Review - Women's Draw Left Open As Sharapova Crashes Out

It’s not unusual for wind, rain and the occasional thunder storm to cause havoc with the scheduling at the US Open; however the sight of Maria Sharapova leaving a Grand Slam before the second week has begun, is not something the tennis world has become accustomed to.

Wozniacki reaches her first major quarter-final since 2012 

The fifth seeded Russian stepped onto the court for her fourth round match with former world number one Caroline Wozniacki as one of the favourites for this year’s unpredictable women’s competition, a gruelling 2 hours 37 minutes later she left as the latest casualty in what has now become a wide open bottom half of the draw.

However this wasn’t simply a bad day at the office or heart breaking injury which prevented Sharapova from claiming her first title in New York since 2005. For the most part it was down to the sheer determination from a rejuvenated Wozniacki who seemed to retrieve ball after endless ball in a gripping contest.  

On paper this was the stand out match of the day on the Arthur Ashe Stadium and it certainly lived up to its billing. Wozniacki hadn’t reached a quarter final of a major since the 2012 Australian Open, however after a sweltering start from the 10^th seed an upset looked more than a possibility.

The Dane took the match to Sharapova and, for the most part, came out on top to clinch the first set. However Sharapova isn’t a five time Grand Slam champion for nothing and as Wozniacki retreated behind the baseline the Russian’s pinpoint power and accuracy helped to level the match.

At that point it appeared like normal service had been resumed and the scene was set for Sharapova to produce one of her memorable and steely comebacks.

But Wozniacki had other ideas and spured on by the Arthur Ashe crowd the Dane showed just why she was a former world number one, taking the decider by 6 games to 2 to stun the much-loved Russian whose bid for a second US Open was put on hold for another year.

Wozniacki is now the highest ranked player in the bottom half of the draw following ninth seed Jelena Jankovic’s defeat to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic. The Dane will now play Italian Sara Errani in the last eight after she beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3 2-6 6-0.

In the men’s draw Roger Federer recovered from a set down in a rain interrupted third round against Marcel Granollers, with the Swiss finally advancing 4-6 6-1 6-1 6-1.

The shock of the round came in the shape of Frenchman Gilles Simon beating 4^th seed David Ferrer in four sets, that sets up a fourth round match with Croatian Marin Cilic who defeated Kevin Anderson. There were also wins for Tomas Berdych, Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils and Dominic Thiem who all progressed to the fourth round.

US Open Day 4 - Top Seeds Show Their Worth

Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams proved their worth as the number one seeds on day four of the US Open as both progressed into the third round of the competition with comfortable straight set victories.

In back to back matches on the Arthur Ashe stadium Williams, top seed in the Women’s draw, dropped just a single game on her way to victory a 6-1 6-0 over fellow American Vania King. That was followed by a similarly emphatic win for the men’s number one Novak Djokovic who beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-1 6-3 6-0 just under an hour and a half.

Djokovic, Murray and Williams all progressed to round three

For Williams it was a triumph which reinstated the American as the favourite for this year’s event following a difficult year where she has failed to reach the quarter final stage in any of the three previous majors.

However in this second round clash her credentials as the defending champion were under little scrutiny. King simply had no answer to the power and speed that Williams possessed as the 17 time major winner appeared back to her ruthless best to reach the third round in under an hour.

A few minutes later it was Djokoivc’s turn and after early defeats in recent tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati the Serb also appeared back on top of his game and ready to reproduce to sort of form which saw him claim his second Wimbledon title back in July.

Djokovic broke the world number 81 Mathieu in the first game of the match and from then on the Serb’s solid all-round game showed no signs of cracking. After a one sided first set Mathieu did his best to make the second more of a contest however his erratic hitting did little to puncture Djokovic’s impeccable defence.

If anyone learnt anything in the third and final set it was how big the gulf in class actually was. Djokovic dominated it without wasting an ounce of energy that wasn’t required and should remain in optimum shape to face American Sam Querrey in the third round on Sunday.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw Andy Murray averted any fears that he’s not 100% fit at this year’s Championships with a straight sets 6-3 6-3 6-4 win over German Matthias Bachinger. The Brit will now face Andrey Kuznetsov in the third round after he beat Fernando Verdasco in five sets.

There were also second round wins for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga over  Aleksandr Nedovyesov, Milos Raonic over Peter Gojowczyk and home favourite John Isner over  German Jan-Lennard Struff.

In the Women’s draw Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova progressed by beating Petra Cetkovska 6-4 6-2, while Eugenie Bouchard needed three sets to overcome Heather Watson’s conqueror  Sorana Cirstea 6-2 6-7(4) 6-4.

There were also wins for Victoria Azarenka and 11^th seed Flavia Pennetta, however 8^th seed Ana Ivanovic and American hopeful Madison Keys both crashed out.

 

US Open Day 2 And 3 - Dimitrov Claims First Win

Grigor Dimitrov’s reaction under the lights of the Louis Armstrong stadium wasn’t one of a man who had just won his first match at the US Open but one from player who believes he can go all the way over the next fortnight.   

A wry smile, a wave to his ever going fan club and a few trademark autographs was all that was required in a routine celebration from the 23 year old Bulgarian which showed his aspirations at this tournament go far beyond the second week.



After his first win at the US Open how far can Dimitrov go?

Seeded seventh at this year’s Championship, his highest ever seeding at a major, Dimitrov spent little time in reaching the second round coming through a potential tricky match with a American Ryan Harrison 6-2 7-6(4) 6-2 after 2 hours and 4 minutes of play.

Nicknamed “Baby Federer”, a colossal burden for any player, Dimitrov could face the great Swiss in the quarter finals if the seedings go to plan. On this sort of form that’s a real possibility, as Dimitrov began the final Slam of the year the same way he finished the last one, producing the same assured, athletic tennis which saw him reach the Wimbledon semi-final.

After breaking Harrison early in the match the first set never looked in doubt. Dimitrov used his large variety of shots to outmanoeuvre his opponent, his superb slice back hand zipped effortlessly through the court while his hammering top spin also inflicted plenty of damage.

However Harrison, currently ranked outside the top 100 due to an injury hit year, showed more resistance in the second set and struck the first blow of it by breaking Dimitrov for the first time of the match.

But when the American was faced with a chance to serve for the set, Dimirov, aided by a few Harrison double faults, broke back before hustling to a two set lead on a tie break which he won by 7 points to 4.

From that point on Harrison had little in reserve, as Dimitrov stormed to victory to set up a second round match with Israel’s Dudi Sela who beat Carlos Berlocq in four sets.

Elsewhere Dimitrov’s other half Maria Sharapova came through her second round with Alexandra Dulgheru in a match which proved to be the contest of the day. Sharapova seeded fifth at these Championships dropped the first set to her Romanian opponent before finally prevailing 4-6 6-3 6-2 in 2 hours 38 minutes.

After three days the first real shock of the tournament came when fourth seed in the women’s draw Agnieszka Radwanska lost her second round match to Shuai Peng of China.

With both first and second rounds being played out on the third day, Tomas Berdych began his tournament with a straight sets win over Lleyton Hewitt. It was a landmark win for the sixth seeded Czech who also recorded his 100^th Grand Slam victory.

Elsewhere Stanislas Wawrinka and Blaz Kavcic became the first two men to reach the third round after winning their second round matches.

 

US Open Day 1 - Stan Starts Open Bid

He may have won the Australian Open back in January but in many ways Stanislas Wawrinka is still the forgotten man at the head of men’s tennis.

In the absence of Rafael Nadal, Wawrika, the Swiss number two, comes in to this year’s US Open as the third seed behind tournament favourites Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, as he looks build on a mixed year.

Wawrinka could be a real force over the next fortnight  

A semi-finalist last year, Wawrinka began this year’s competition with a straight sets victory over Czech Jiri Vesely, however his 6-2 7-6(6) 7-6(3) was further evidence of the Swiss’ contrasting form over the past twelve months.

For a set and a half Wawrinka’s stupendous ball striking from the back of the court epitomised that of a Grand Slam Champion. He broke Vesily in the second game of the match before dominating a one sided first set which was over in 25 minutes

However Vesely, currently just 21 years of age, wasn’t going to be despatched easily and capitalised on a number of Wawrinka lapses to force a second set tie break which he narrowly lost by  8 points to 6.

To Vesely’s credit another breaker was required to decide the third; Wawrinka still unable to reproduce the astounding tennis of the first set. However the Swiss spared the agony of a fourth set, taking a more convincing tie break by 7 points to 3 completing the match in 2 hours 15 minutes to set up a second round tie with Brazilian Tomaz Bellucci.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw eighth seed Andy Murray had to overcame a worrying cramp issue to beat Robin Haase 6-3 7-6(6) 1-6 7-5 and set up a second round match with German Matthias Bachinger.

There were comfortable straight sets wins for top seed Novak Djokovic over Diego Schwartzman and fifth seed Milos Raonic over Taro Daniel while Jo Wilfred Tsonga beat Juan Monaco in four sets.

On the women’s side the match of the day was contested by two of the oldest players in the draw as Venus Williams took on 43 year old Kimiko Date-Krumm. There was a potential early shock on the cards as Date-Krumm stormed into a set lead however it was the home favourite Williams who finally prevailed 2-6 6-3 6-3.

Second seed Simona Halep was also given a first round scare, dropping the first set to 20 year old American Danielle Rose Collins. However Halep, still yet to win a Grand Slam title, recovered to claim a 6-7(2) 6-1 6-2 victory.

There were more convincing wins for fifth seed Maria Sharapova who lost just four games to Russian compatriot Maria Kirilenko in a 6-4 6-0 victory and fourth seed  Agnieszka Radwanska who beat Sharon Fichman 6-1 6-0.

 

The End Of A Fed-Era ?

It’s a well known fact that even the greatest champion can’t last forever, whoever you are, whatever you have achieved, a reign must always end even if your name is Roger Federer.

To his many fans who watched their idol lift 17 Grand Slam title’s the man who stepped on to court against Tommy Robredo at the US Open on Monday night will have seemed like bewildered imposter who robbed them of the real Federer for the second Slam running.

Federer's career left in doubt after forth round defeat

But it was the manor of his defeat that was so disheartening, as the man who has claimed five US Open title’s over the years made a premature fourth round exit in straight sets 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-4 to Robredo a man he had never lost to in the past and had beaten on ten previous occasions.

The worrying thing for Federer fans is that the result was no fluke, just like his astonishing defeat to world number 116 Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon this year Federer was outplayed and performed by a lower ranked opponent.  

But as well as Robredo played, it couldn’t be avoided that this wasn’t the Federer we have all watched and admired over the past ten years.

It was painful to watch as the Swiss continuously fired his usually imposing forehand long, wide or in the bottom of the net. His whole game leaked errors, 43 in total compared to 26 from Robredo who soundly deconstructed the Federer game.

Time and time again Federer found himself at the net where he was either passed or unable to put the ball away, converting only 2 of his 16 break points. Even his serve couldn’t save him as Robredo broke on four occasions.

The result leaves the question will Federer ever recover to compete for his eightieth major or is it only a matter of time before he drops out of the world’s top ten?

Federer must now rely on a strong finish to the year to remain in a top eight spot and qualify for the ATP Tour Finals in November, where he has made twelve consecutive appearances.

It seems unbelievable for a man who made 36 Grand Slam quarter finals to then miss making the last eight twice in a row. 2013 will be the first year the Swiss hasn’t appeared in a Slam final and the chances of him making another one seem to be diminishing by the day.