A preview of The Asian Swing

After the US Open there has been the Davis Cup and then the tour moved over to Asia. 

In the Asian Swing there are five different tournaments. The first two tournaments of the swing are at the same time with Bangkok and Kuala Lumpa. Both of these tournaments are 250 tournments. After these tournaments we find the two 500 tournaments in the shape of Beijing and Tokyo. After these two weeks we find the main event of the Asian swing, the Masters tournament, Shanghai.

The reigning champion in Bangkok is Guillermo Garcia-Lopez after he won his second career title. The main match of last year's tournament was the match between Garcia-Lopez and Nadal where Garcia-Lopez saved 24 out of 26 break points! This year the top four seeds are Andy Murray, Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. In the semi-finals this year we have Andy Murray vs Gilles Simon and on the other side of the draw we have the young American, Donald Young vs Gael Monfils.

In Kuala Lumpa this year the top seeds are Nicolas Almagro, Victor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic and Jurgen Melzer. Last year's champion was Mikhail Youzhny who is not back this year to try and retain his title. The two Serbians seeded 2nd and 3rd have made it to the last four but the other two seeds in the top four have fallen short of the Semi-Finals. The semi-finals are Nishikori vs Tipsarevic and the other is Victor Troicki vs Marcos Baghdatis.

The first of the two 500 tournaments is Beijing or the China Open. In the Chinese Open you can always expect to see some big names at the tournament. The top four seeds so far in the Tournament are Gael Monfils, Tomas Berdych, Nicolas Almagro and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. Last year's champion was Novak Djokovic and he also won the title in 2009 as well.

The second of the two tournaments is Tokyo. Tokyo is the longest-running tennis tournament in the whole of Asia with its first appearance in 1973. This year Tokyo will have the pleasure of having Rafael Nadal try to defend his championship. A very strong group of players will contest the championship this year. Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Mardy Fish will all be part of the tournament this year.

The Final tournament of the swing is the Masters 1000 tournament hosted in Shanghai. The tournament was conceived only in 2009 when it was voted the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year, as voted by the ATP players. The two past winners of the tournament was Andy Murray last year when he defeated Roger Federer and in 2009 Nikolay Davydenko. This year the top four seeds are the top four players in the world apart from Roger Federer. 

Great Britain back in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I

After a thrashing against Hungary 5-0 Great Britain are back into the second tier of the Davis Cup.

British Team celebrating after victory against the Hungarians

Great Britain are back in the Europe/Africa Zone I after wins against Tunisia, Luxembourg and Hungary. The first test for the Brits was against Tunisia. 

The first match played in that tie was the Brit Jamie Baker vs this year's US Open second round player Malek Jaziri. Jaziri took the match in 4 sets. The rest of the matches were won though by the British team and a weakened GB side won the tie comfortably 4-1.

Their next tie would be against Luxembourg. Luxembourg had a weapon in their side which was the big serving lefty, Gilles Muller. There was another comfortable win for the Brits who now had Andy Murray by their side and he catapulted Great Britain to another 4-1 win. Andy played in 3 out of the five rubbers and he won all of the matches he played in.

The next and final opponents for Great Britain was Hungary. Britain had a full strength team with Andy Murray, James Ward, Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins. Hungary stood no chance against a strong British side. Great Britain won all five of the rubbers and not one of the matches went to five sets. Even with Murray and Ward not being in their best form Colin Fleming stepped up and won his first ever singles match in the Davis Cup in straight sets.

Can Britain make it back into the big time? 

The Future of British Tennis

With five boys junior players inside the top 100 is there to be a big resurgence in professional tennis from the Brits?

With Oliver Golding winning the US Open gold it brings the debate about the future of British tennis back. Britain has had a slump ever since the great champions of decades and decades ago and with Football taking control over most of the British kids sporting life tennis has taken a big back seat.

There have been a few players that have to take tennis in Britain to another level, for example, Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman and Andy Murray but even though we have had at least one player near the top of the game there has been a huge deficiency in the depth of British tennis, our British No2 is ranked 141st in the world in the moment which is quite disapointing.

But some believe that our wait for a big depth in British tennis is over as 5 different junior players are inside the junior top 100. Those players are Oliver Golding ranked 2nd, George Morgan ranked 8th, Liam Brody ranked 10th, Kyle Edmund who is ranked No27th and Luke Bambridge who is ranked 90th.

For the first time in a long time we saw three semi-finalists from Britain this year at the US Open. Even for a tennis rich country like America or Spain that would be incredible but for a country like Britain who hasn't seen a grand slam winner in 1936. Even Liam Brody who didn't quite make it to the semis in New York still made it to the Wimbledon final this year so he is also a terrific prospect.

I think that the most important thing about the great coming of this batch of British teens is competition. Competition is the thing that drives people to become better. With competition comes the determination to improve and do better than you friend. A great example of this comes from outside tennis. Middle-distance running actually.

Think back to the days of Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett if you can. They pushed themselves to the absolute limit. They both pushed each other on. In a 10-day period in 1981 they also traded the world record for the mile between them three times. Coe at one point held the 800m, 1500m and mile world records at the same time, while Ovett subsequently became both the 1500m and mile world record holder.

Now think today with apart from our very own Mo Farah the best in the field are the Kenyans and Ethiopians. How did it change to be this way? Competition. Once one got good others wanted to emulate him and so on until there is about a group of five (like todays British juniors) who are ruling the world of middle distance running.

The reason why there has been a huge lack of British tennis is the lack of competition and luckily today is looks as if that problem has been stopped. Here are now a series of players that are looking to make on the big stage so look out for a batch of home grown young talent coming through the ranks and making it into the top 100 at least.

For once you are allowed to expect something from the world of British Tennis.

US Open Final 2011

The final of the US Open had all the chance of being one of the greatest matches of the year. It didn't disappoint. The match was won in four sets by Djokovic against Nadal. The final score was 6-2 6-4 6-7 6-1.

The first game really set the tone for the whole match with terrific ball striking from both players. You had the feeling right from the start this was going to be an epic. Nadal drew first blood in the opening set. It was a great start to the match from the former World No1. A great response though from the Serb and he broke straight back 2-1 in the opening set.

Djokovic went on to hold his serve and then an incredibly tight game on Rafa's serve where Djokovic played some breath taking tennis to get himself up in the match for the first time 3-2 Djokovic. Another great game in this set, Djokovic wins it though and the following game on Nadal's serve Djokovic wins it in some style. That was his 5th game in a row! Djokovic won the first set 6-2 with the shortest game of the match. Nadal looked like he had a lack of confidence as he played too far away from the baseline.

Nadal stops the run of six straight lost games by winning the first in the second set comfortably on his serve. Nadal then broke Djokovic to take an early lead in the second set. 2-0 Nadal. After an epic 17 minute long game with spectacular hitting Djokovic got the break back 2-1! Djokovic went on to hold his serve and look to attack Nadal on Nadal's serve. Djokovic was on rampage and managed to break Nadal again! Many were getting the feeling of "Déjá Vu". 3-2 Djokovic second set.

The Serb held serve to put even more pressure on the Spaniard. It was a must win game for the former world No1. Another terrific game in the match was played out. Nadal after a tricky game somehow managed to hold serve and then in another epic game Nadal played the best tennis of his life and broke back to get both men back on serve!

A faulty game not to remember from Nadal as Djokovic took the initiative and broke again. 5-4 Djokovic second set. He then held his serve to close out a tough second set 6-4.

A good start to the third set from Nadal saw him hold his serve to love but Djokovic wasn't going to let Nadal get an early advantage like he had done in the past two sets and held his own serve. Djokovic charged in front by breaking the Nadal serve once again to get a very important break in the third set. Nadal broke back though to bring the score back to 2-2.

Game after Game they continued to produce one of the most watchable matches I had ever seen. The average of a game in the match was over 6 minutes for sure. It was as if they had forgotten how to hold serve! To be perfectly honest there were literally to many talking points in each game that my brain couldn't keep up.

Djokovic broke for the eighth time in the match to give the score 3-2. Nadal broke back though once again. 3-3 third set! Nadal held serve playing like a man on a mission. 4-3 Nadal.

Eventually Novak Djokovic held his serve. 4-4 in the third. Two confident holds in a row from Nadal 5-4. A hold from Djokovic put the set at 5-5. An Exceptional series of points from Djokovic brought him to another break of Nadal's serve and he had a chance to take the match and championship. On 15-15 the best point ever was played out with the last shot a backhand down the line from Nadal!

Nadal broke back at 6-5 to bring one of the best sets of tennis to a nail-biting finale. An great tie-break saw Nadal triumphant, this match would go to a fourth set! At the beginning of the fourth set Djokovic's back felt tight and we thought that maybe he would have to retire but he worked his way into the set and managed to loosen up.

Djokovic took control of the set with incredible, champion-like play and never looked back. Djokovic stormed to victory in the fourth set 6-1.

US Open Diary Day 13

Super Saturday was exactly as expected with two exciting semi-final matches.
  
The first match of the day was the match between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The third seed was looking to prove himself as a true competitor at the top of the men's game. Novak Djokovic was also looking to improve his amazing year by making it to the final of the US Open.

The match started off with Djokovic looking slightly tired and Federer playing terrific. In the first set Federer was looking stronger and eventually he managed to close out the set 7-6 on the tie-break. In the second set in was more of the same with Federer looking the man more up for the job and he reasonably comfortably won it 6-4. That wasn't the end of the fight though. 

Djokovic came back in the third showing great bravery and played the kind of tennis that has brought him to two grand slam victories already this year. The third set was one which Djokovic won 6-3. The fourth set followed quickly with Djokovic winning it 6-2.

The fifth and final set was one of the most entertaining of the tournament. With both men playing terrific tennis they both held their serve until Djokovic was serving at 3-3 when Federer broke him to love. Many thought this was "the deciding break" when Federer had two match points at 40-15. Djokovic though showed immense bravery by blasting a return winner past Federer and then saving the other match point and then broke back. He then broke Federer at 5-5 and the match was all over 6-7 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5!

The second semi-final of the day was between Nadal and Murray. Nadal was looking to prove that he is the best male player in the world and Murray was still on the search for his first Grand Slam win. The first set was as most suspected, Nadal dominated, it seemed like Murray was fatigued and every time he tried to come forward and finish of a point Nadal would pass him dramatically. Nadal won the opening set 6-4.

The second set wasn't any closer and Nadal dismissed Murray emphatically 6-2. In the third set though Murray decided to open up his shoulders and go for shots and really attack Nadal and managed to salvage a set 6-3. Murray attempted to keep the same level of play but Nadal upped his own game and destroyed Murray in the fourth set 6-2.

On Monday Nadal and Djokovic will contest a hugely anticipated final for the US Open 2011 title! 

Preview of US Open Super Saturday

A look at one of the most exciting days in the tournamt.

For the second time this year all four top seeds have made it to Grand Slam semi-finals. The matches are Nadal vs Murray and Federer vs Djokovic. The first match that I will look at is the match between Federer and Djokovic.

The third seed is looking put himself back on top of the tennis world by winning the US Open this year. He has been written off throughout the whole year and it feels that people have completely forgotten about his amazing run through to the French Open final where he managed to beat Novak Djokovic in a thriller.

Roger Federer disagrees fully with the claims and says that he has a few years left in him and you can just feel that he feels like he has something to prove today and when Federer is this determined then he can play absolutely faultless so this will certainly not be a walk in the park for the world number 1.

No doubt that Novak Djokovic is the favourite but I believe that for this tournament apart from that destroying effort against Calos Berloq he has not looked in imperious form and if Tipsarevic's leg could have held out then maybe Djokovic could've been out of the tournament!

Overall the stats show that Federer has won 14 out of 24 matches against Novak Djokovic. But this year Djokovic has won 3 out of the 4 matches. One thing is sure is that if Djokovic isn't playing great tennis then Federer will punish him.

The second semi-final of Super Saturday is Andy Murray vs Rafael Nadal for a re-match of the 2008 semi-final. Nadal is hoping to show that he is the deserved world's best and that he should be on top.

The records shows that Nadal is the overwhelming favourite because he has won 12 matches out 16 against Murray and this year Nadal has won all of the matches including the Wimbledon semi-final and Roland Garros semi-final. Also Nadal has won 5 out of 7 matches against Murray in Grand Slams. Nadal has also had a smoother journey through to this stage of the tournament than Murray.

Nadal showed in his match against Andy Roddick where he beat the American 6-2 6-3 6-1 that his huge top spin forehand is completely devastating in this tournament and that Murray will have to play the best tennis of his career to win.

One thing that is going Murray's way is that he has beaten Nadal twice out of 3 times in hard court Grand Slams. Murray is still searching for his first Grand Slam victory whereas Nadal is looking for his 11th.  Nadal and Murray suspect that this could be a long drawn out match and I feel it could be a classic!

   

Learning Tennis as a 14 year old

Looking back now it was quite funny thinking that when I saw people playing tennis I would try and pick out how people were hitting the ball subconsciously. Back then though I thought that Badminton was the best racket sport.

Gradually after many times at lunch looking over the tennis courts at my local sports centre I decided I wanted to learn a little bit more about the sport. The first time I really watched Tennis was the Australian Open in 2008. Ever since that tournament I have been a tennis addict and a huge enthusiast for the sport.

I started having tennis lessons in September 2009 after managing to persuade my parents to let me give it a go. At first I was a poor player I could hardly get a point off the other people in my lesson, I felt down. I was stroppy and disappointed. Even though I was a bad player this just gave me more determination to become better.

I kept at it and seeing that I was being forced to get better at it to stay in competition with the others in my group I quite quickly improved my game. I already had a bit of an advantage with good stamina, speed and hand-eye co-ordination. The easiest part for me to get very confident with was my forehand. The forehand has always been the strongest shot for me, then my backhand and then my serve.

My first competition was after a year of playing tennis once a week. I went into the competition without much expectation but came out with 2 wins and reached the semis.

Over the past couple of years of playing tennis I have learnt a lot about myself, my mental abilities along with my physical. Today I am one of the best players in my group. When I watch tennis, the older I have become the more interested I have become in the way tennis is played and that Tennis is played in the mind as well as on the court, also in how the game has evolved since wooden rackets.

For my birthday this year we were on holiday in Mallorca and I was lucky enough to have a private lesson with a great coach. She has completely transformed my game. The way I hit all of my shots have changed. My backhand has changed from a two-handed continental grip to a grip close to a Semi-Western grip, a bit like Nadal’s; my serve is now hit with more topspin.

Thanks to the change in my technique my backhand and serve have had huge benefits and my game is far more imposing. I can actually hold my serve!

In recent times I have been watching old tennis matches and the thing that gets me is that in the past players were at the net to finish the points but now it is rare to see a player that consistently serves and volleys. An example of this is was the difference between the Wimbledon tennis courts of 1981 and 2001 whereas the courts of 1981 had worn out grass near the net but in 2011 all the grass at the net was completely untouched.

Because of this I would like to do more serving and volleying because I feel it’s a shame that it has almost been wiped out of the game.

  

      

Murray vs Young

After 2 days of stop and start action who came out on top?

The match started on Wednesday lunchtime with both men holding serve till Young was leading 2-1 but then the rain fell and the match was going to be carried out at the same time on Thursday. When play resumed Murray started to play good tennis and didn't allow the American wildcard a game until the end of the set. First set 6-2.

In the second set it was more of the same from Murray as he was certainly looking the stronger man as Young's game was faltering. Throughout the whole match Murray was the better man as he looked the capitalise on Young's quite poor performance. Second set Murray 6-3.

In the third Young went for his shots a bit more but to no prevail as Murray continued to play the tennis he needed to break down the young American. Murray was better in all departments and with the third set ending 6-3 Murray charges into the quarter finals against another American John Isner who came through in 4 sets against Frenchman Gilles Simon. 

Bernard Tomic

A quick look at the 18 year old Wimbledon quarter-finalist

The Australians have something to cheer about on the tennis front for the first time in a while as Bernard Tomic made his way into the top 100 after a brilliant set of displays from the Aussie this year. He has been a household name for Australian tennis fans for a few years now as the man that will put Australian tennis back on the top stage.

In the Australian Open 2008 he became the youngest boy ever to win the boys singles title at age 15. He then went on to win the US Open junior titles in 2009. He had an illustrious career as a junior as he also won the prestigious orange bowl tournament three times!

He is having his breakthrough year right now with a win to loss ratio of 9-9 which is amazing for an 18 year old he also managed to make it through  to the round of 32 in the Australian Open where he lost to the former world No1 Rafael Nadal.

He then played the best tournament he has played yet at Wimbledon where he managed to make it through qualifying which was quite impressive in the first place. He then took out the 27th seed Nikolay Davydenko, the 79th seed Igor Andreev, 5th seed Robin Soderling and 42nd seed Xavier Malisse in a row! Before reaching the in form Serbian Novak Djokovic who he still managed to get a set off in the quarter finals. He came into the competition ranked 158th and left the competition ranked 71st!

He has played alot of good tennis until now but has come up against strong players but the most impressive thing about him is that mentally he is always strong. Like a true champion.

One thing is for sure. Expect to see Bernard Tomic and the top of the men's game in the next few years!

US Open Diary Day 8

Another day came and went at the US Open. What were the main talking points in the men's game?

One of the first matches of the day was the match between Djokovic and Dolgopolov. Djokovic was obviously the overwhelming favourite but with Dolgopolov's arkward game and the wind blowing maybe there was a slight chance of an upset.

The match started suprisingly with Djokovic and Dolgopolov all square sending the first set to a tie-break. An eppic tie-break saw Djokovic manage to close it out 16-14! From then on Djokovic found his task easier and won the next two sets 6-4 and 6-2.

Another match that was highly anticipated was a contest between Janko Tipsarevic and Juan Carlos Ferrero. Both men were in good form coming into the match and even though there is an 85 rankings position gap it was difficult to pick a favourite.


in the first set there was good play from both men but Tipsarevic looked slightly in control and won it 7-5. The second set was even more competetive and after a long set it would go to a tie-break. The former world number 1 Ferrero found a way to win it 7-3.


The third set was very close as well but again Tipsarevic edged it 7-5. In the fourth set Tipsarevic managed to distance himself from Ferrero and won it comfortably 6-2. The next match was a much anticipated duel between Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Mardy Fish.


Many believed this was the match to watch for the day. The players are close in rankings and both have played great tennis throughout the summer. The first set started with both men playing well but Tsonga broke Fish and won it 6-4. The second was extremely competitive and Fish somehow won it on the tie-break 7-5.


After this set Fish had the momentum and won the third 6-3. The fourth saw Tsonga find his feet and his best tennis as he won it 6-4. In the fifth Tsonga had the momentum and Fish was tiring. Tsonga took the set confidently 6-2. He reached the quarter finals in flushing meadows for the first time.


The final match of the day between the No3 seed Roger Federer and Argentine Juan Monaco. Because of the five set epic between Mardy Fish and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga the match started at midnight! That didn't stop Federer though as he dismissed Monaco in an hour and twenty minutes with a score of 6-1 6-2 6-0.
 

 

US Open Diary Day 7

As another day at the big apple ends what thrills and spills happened?

One of the first matches of the day was a largely anticipated match between the former world number 1; Rafael Nadal and former number three David Nalbandian. Although Rafa was the favourite we had seen in the past that Nalbandian’s game could definitely trouble the Spaniard.

The match started off with Nalbandian playing world class tennis. He had obviously come out to try and blast Nadal of the court. Nalbandian had his chances in the first set but Nadal managed to claw his way back playing top tennis and won the set on the tie-break. He carried on playing top tennis throughout the match and won the match 7-6 6-1 7-5.

Young American hopeful Donald Young had the tough task of backing up his terrific victory against Stanislas Wawrinka against the 24^th seed Juan Ignacio Chela.

Donald Young dismissed all critics by destroying the 24^th seed in straight sets. Donald Young’s next opponent will be the British No1 Andy Murray. Speaking of the 4^th seed Murray had the potential problem of the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez who famously was tweeted by Murray’s mother, Judy, “Deliciano”.

Murray started strongly with 14 straight points. It was a fine performance by the Brit and in less than two hours Murray beat Lopez 6-1 6-4 6-2. A very welcome win for nervous fans. Another piece of good news for Murray is that Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 champion, was defeated by the Frenchman Gilles Simon. 

The first set was reasonably close but the Argentine managed to grind it out 6-4. But Gilles Simon is the 8^th best player at coming back to win from a set down and he won the second and third 7-6 and 6-2. With Simon being one of the fittest men on tour and Del Potro still not quite at his best Simon won the final set 7-6 to reach the fourth round for the first time.

The last interesting fact from me, it is the first time since 2003 that 4 Americans have reached the fourth round of the US Open.   

  

Has Federer lost his touch?

As Federer reaches the milestone age of 30 is his career coming to an end?

Federer turned 30 on the 8^th of August this year and instead of saying that he is nearing the end of his career he believes he has a few years left in him and that he isn’t finished yet.

30 years is the age known today as the age players start to go down in the rankings.

Federer hasn’t won a grand slam since last year’s Australian Open the longest wait for a grand slam since he won his first back in 2003. He still has belief in himself that he can win another but with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray on the prowl it is becoming increasingly harder to do so.

Federer still believes that he is playing world class tennis. Federer also says that “his love for tennis has not dimmed”. Federer has only won one title this year which is the lowest total for him since 2001.

For the past year it has been evident that Federer has become transfixed on hitting winners. Some believe that this is because he feels the longer the point goes on the less chance he has to win against Nadal or Djokovic because they are younger, fitter and are more consistent.

Federer has been very understanding and has always been the first to praise whoever is playing well, if it’s Djokovic, Nadal or Murray. He has always been gracious in victory and defeat and he is “a great figure for the game” and is a great idol for young tennis fans and players.

 

Today, even though he has lost his reputation as the world’s best he is still a living legend of the game and is still the 3^rd best player in the world! Whatever anybody says they truly want to see him back on top of the game and with Federer doing well at the US Open that could be sooner rather than later. Also Pete Sampras having one more week at the top maybe that’s the motivation to push himself to his limit for that one week.

Andy Murray’s run-up to the US Open

After a good tournament in Cincinnati is it Murray’s time to win his first Major?

Andy Murray is looking to win his first Major title in Flushing Meadows this year. After three disappointing finals in Grand Slams Murray believes that he has learned from those misused opportunities.

Murray finished off Wimbledon by losing to Rafael Nadal in the semis, another decent Wimbledon appearance for the Scot. Murray felt disappointed after a “tough” four set match. He admitted that he “needed to work harder” and “work on his professionalism”.

He then decided to play for Great Britain against Luxembourg to the delight of British tennis fans. He demolished Laurent Bram to achieve his first ever triple bagel allowing the man than doesn’t even have an ATP Ranking only 15 points. He also beat Gilles Muller with ease and won the doubles with brother, Jamie.

After Davis Cup success he moved out to the US to Miami and had his hard-earned rest until the American hard court swing.

The Scot’s first opportunity to impress came at the hands of big serving South African Kevin Anderson who was having the year of his life. Murray started the match sluggishly after a lack of match fitness and Anderson was playing world class tennis. Murray was a step slow throughout the entire match and was beaten comfortably by the 32^nd seed, 6-3 6-1. A disappointing attempt at becoming the first man in history to win the Rogers Cup three years running.

He spent the rest of the week training making sure that he was completely match fit for Cincinnati.

Cincinnati is always a very important tournament for the Scot as it was the first Masters tournament that he won. This year he said he was “trying to conserve his energy so that he could come into the US Open in “optimum condition and form”. His first match was against David Nalbandian. The Argentine was certainly a potential danger to the Brit but Andy Murray likes to play against him and he overcame a potentially tricky hurdle in straight sets. Andy’s third round match would be against Alex Bogomolov Jr who managed to deter Murray from meeting Jo-Wilfred Tsonga with a great victory of the Frenchman. Murray bulldozed through him to reach the quarters.

He was then faced with his first real challenge of the competition. This obstacle came in the shape of 10^th seed Gilles Simon who has been creeping back up the rankings after slipping down them because of an injury.

The Frenchman was in good form leading into the match but the first set was a cagy affair but Murray came through it 6-3. He then pushed it up a gear and confidently put Simon away in the second 6-3.

Murray went into the semi-final favourite against Mardy Fish but only just about. Fish had a terrific lead up to the match with a win at Atlanta and finals at Los Angeles and Montréal where he pushed Novak Djokovic to the end in a thrilling final.

Murray looked in control of Mardy Fish who was slightly out of sorts and won the first set 6-3. The second set was tough and was much tighter with both men breaking each other to send the set to a tie-break. Fish was looking in control of it with the mini break but Murray clawed his way back. When the tie-break score was at 8-7 Murray thought he had done it. The ball seemed to cling on to the outside of the line.

Murray gave a fist pump and the umpire said the final words. “Game, Set, Match Murray”. But, Fish challenged and the result was that the ball was out by a few millimetres. Murray eventually managed to scrape the tiebreak 10-8 to make his way to the final of Cincinnati to face Novak Djokovic for a rematch of the 2008 final against the World No1 who had lost only once this year.

Murray went into the match in reasonably good form but knew that he would have to play better in the final against the man who already had 57 wins under his belt. The Brit started the match quickly looking to attack Djokovic. Murray took advantage of a slow starting Serbian to break early and advance 3-0 lead in the opening set.

Djokovic picked up his game though and fought back to get to 3-3 in the opener. Everyone thought that Novak would now be ruthless and take out Murray but Murray kept strong and broke Djokovic again. It was the first time we saw a sign of the Serb in any pain. His serves were slow and not penetrating. The Scot went on to win the first set 6-4.

The second set didn’t last very long. Djokovic was giving Murray errors due to his lack of power because of his shoulder injury and Murray led Djokovic 3-0 before the Serb said enough was enough and retired from the match. It was Murray’s second tournament win of the year and first Master’s tournament.

Murray wanted to have a week without complications so he could come into the US Open feeling good. But that would be too good to be true. Earthquake and Hurricane struck and Murray stayed indoors for most of the week. John McEnroe said leading up to the 2011 US Open that “this is the best opportunity he is ever going to get”. He believes this because Djokovic has a slight shoulder problem and was suffering from fatigue, Nadal had poor performances in Montréal and Cincinnati and Federer to. Murray dismissed the claims, “It's a silly thing to say. It will be Federer is not playing well and Rafa is struggling and Djokovic's shoulder is sore. But I know come Monday they'll all be fine,”

Murray is looking forward to the final major of the year. Murray has a descent draw and he is in the same half of the draw as Rafael Nadal. His first match is Wednesday against India’s number 1, Somdev Devarrman. Is this Andy’s year?