Archives for June 2011

Five memories from the first week at Wimbledon, in customary reverse order:

5. Andy Murray's audacious trick shot against Ivan Ljubicic.

4. Qualifier Bernard Tomic's Wimbledon announcement: a 17-minute first-set demolition of fifth seed Robin Soderling.

3. Wild card Sabine Lisicki's look of disbelief, on her knees as she beat French Open champ Li Na, having saved match points.

2. Serena Williams' tears of joy at winning on her favourite stage after all her recent troubles.

1. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga leaping the net to haul his gallant victim Grigor Dimitrov up from the ground in an everlasting image of sportsmanship after battle.

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When the top four in the world made the final four at the French Open, we were granted a pertinent reminder of one thing; what a glorious era this is at the top of the men's game.

Three of the top four had made the semi-finals at the Australian Open and the top two had contested every mandatory Masters 1000 final since the start of the year.

From Miami to Madrid, Indian Wells to Rome, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic duelled in the Championship matches while, at the majors, it was Djokovic versus Andy Murray in Melbourne and Nadal versus Roger Federer in Paris.

Now Murray has returned to form, after his springtime slump, we have a genuine top four again.

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Roland Garros, Paris
During a year dominated by one man, the extraordinary Novak Djokovic whose 43-match unbeaten run came to an end in the French Open semi-final, this was a timely reminder that the Rafael Nadal / Roger Federer rivalry still ticks every box.

The Swiss genius with the single handed backhand, aggressive intent, the
flair and flourishes versus the Spanish bull, with the tough two-hander and a
potent brew of devastating defence and relentless retaliation.

They even looked like rivals; Federer in red and white, Nadal in blue and
white. Old school sporting colours like an FA Cup final from the 1980s which
reminded me of my first Subbuteo set.

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When Novak Djokovic netted a regulation forehand at 3-3 in the fourth set tie-break, he pulled his shirt over his head, turned his back on the play and went as white as a sheet. He knew full well the significance of the miss.

Roger Federer rifled down two massive first serves to move from 4-3 to 6-3 and, even though Djokovic saved the first two match points, the almighty duel came to a close with another Federer ace.

Paul Annacone, the former coach of that great serve-monger Pete Sampras, must have been thinking, "Where have I seen that before?"

It was devastating stuff, just as it had been in the 5-5 game to save break points, with the serves so accurate the top returner in the game couldn't get close.

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