Aussie Open Final Review - Novak Djokivic Vs Andy Murray

Nole dominates!

Andy Murray (left); Novak Djokovic (right)



Pre-match festivities

The match started off with all the pomp and circumstance expected of the final in a major, even when the game began, one would think this is going to be a good match - maybe even a five setter - no such luck for Andy Murray. 

The first set started off with Djokovic looking sharp & going for his shots, and Murray playing defense - nothing out of the ordinary.  Nole held his service games with ease and had a couple of break points on the Murray serve doing the first set, then with Murray serving at 4-5, Nole pounced - first set to Djokovic 6-4. 

Then in the second set, the bottom fell out for Murray - he looked dejected, with good reason.  Nole's defensive skills were on full display, and the offense he showed should put the other players on notice for the rest of the year.  Djokovic, looking like a man on a mission, broke Murray's serve time after time.  Finally, while serving at 0-5, Andy Murray wins a service game, and gets on the board.  Now, on the board, a glimmer of hope pops up for Andy Murray when he breaks Djokovic's serve, but it didn't last long - Djokovic immediately breaks back to take the second set 6-2.

Andy Murray

Andy Murray looked flat throughout the match up to this point.  His feet seemed like they were glued to the court, he was constantly blinking/rubbing his eyes and grabbing at his left leg.  Nole took no pity on him. 

Novak Djokovic



Novak



Andy & Novak

Game one of the third set should a little promise for the Scot, breaking the Djokovic serve.  That lead didn't last, nole immediately breaks back, then on Murray's next service game, he is broken again - now down 3-1.  The storm seemed to end for Murray when he broke Nole's service game, then held his on serve to get the set even at 3-3.  But once again, Hurricane Nole roared thru, holding his service game & then breaking Andy to go up 5-3.  Then finally, with a forehand shot from Murray that goes into the net, Mr. Djokovic is no longer a one slam wonder, taking the set & the match 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. 

 None of what Andy Murray used to get to the final was highlighted today.  Aside from the first seven games of the match, he was like a deer caught in the headlights.  There's no doubt Andy has the game to win a major, but he's head definitely fails him.  Nole on the other hand looks like a guy who can & should overtake 'The Federer' for the number two ranking position before the end of this 2011 season.

The hottie of the day is none other than the 2011 Australian Open Men's Champion, Serbia's pride & joy, Novak Djokovic!

 

Nole after winning '11 Aussie Open



Aussie Open 2nd Semi Andy Murray Vs David Ferrer

David Ferrer (left); Andy Murray (right)

Thursday's second semi-final match between Andy Murray & David Ferrer started off as a slugfest, with both guys knocking the fuzz off of the balls.  Serving at 4-5 in the first set, the Scot was broken - first set goes to David Ferrer.  This was the first time that Andy Murray had lost a set to Ferrer on a hard court.
The second set didn't get much easier for Andy Murray.  He began to realize that the scrappy Spainard was going to be a backboard who liked the pace, so Murray began to mix things up, using the slice (not overusing the slice).  He broke Ferrer's serve, but was soon broken back.  Onto the tiebreak, where Murray's steadiness proved key.  He kept down his unforced errors & protected his serve to race out to a 6-0 led in the tiebreak, before taking the set 7-2 in the tiebreak.

David Ferrer

Seeing that his foe had been rattled by the second set tiebreak, Murray took full advantage, taking the third set 6-1.

Murray victorious

Forth set was almost a replay of the second, with Murray breaking early, then being broken back.  Andy mixed up his pace & shot selection, taking the set to the second tiebreak of the match.  Ferrer must have been thinking about his poor tiebreak record (1-11 overall, 0-11 at the Melbourn Park), and Murray once again won the tiebreak 7-2. 
Next up for the Scot will be 2008 Australian Open champion, Novak Djovokic.  Nole holds a slight lead in their head-to-head (4-3), but Murray has won the last three matches they've played against one another.  Their last meeting was at the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Murray winning in straight sets 6-2, 7-5.  Murray will try to become the first British citizen, since Fred Perry 75 years ago, to win a mjor title, and the odds seem to be in his favor.

Aussie Open 1st Men's Semi Djokovic vs Federer review

Let me start off by saying that I really love what Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have done for the sport of tennis.  Between the two of them, they have won 21 of the last 23 majors that have been played.  The 2008 Aussie Open (Novak Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final, Roger Federer in the semi-final), and the 2009 US Open where 'The Fed' was beaten by Juan Martin Del Potro in the final - getting hit off the court in the fifth set - were the only two breaks in their party.  Bravo, job well done guys - but other guys in the mix would without a doubt make things much more exciting. 

A lot of the top guys definitely have the game to battle Rafa & Fed, but they seem to be losing matches against the 'Big 2' before they even get out on the court.  Maybe this Aussie Open is the beginning of an thrilling year of Men's tennis - a year where names other than Nadal & Federer are etched onto the trophies & winner's checks.  Now admittedly, Rafa had a bit of bad luck in his quaterfinal match against David Ferrer - the Aussie hard court has never really been his body's friend (he also had to retire in a match last year), but even without the injury, I was expecting the scrappy Ferrer to take that match. Federer on the other hand got beat.

Novak Djokovic (left); Roger Federer (right)

Nole came out for his semi against Federer with that look in his eye.  Roger was just his normal chill self, maybe thinking about his head-to-head record against the Serb.  The first set was a tight one, even the tiebreak, there was just one mini-break against Federer and that's all it took.  Second set, Nole breaks, then Roger breaks back.  Roger breaks again to go up 5-2, before Nole starts to swing free again & levels the set.  Mind you, Federer made a lot of errors in the second set (and the match as a whole), those errors were because the guy on the other side of the net had gotten in his head, thus getting him off his game.  In the first service game of the third set, Nole saved 3 break points.  Nole goes on to break the Federer serve, but then Roger breaks back to get the score back to 4 all.  But that was it for Roger, as Nole got back the belief that took gave him a win over Roger in their last meeting at the 2010 US Open semi-finals.  Will this be another flash in the pan for the Serb, or has he truly come to break up the Federer/Nadal dominance of the past five years?  That book is still unwritten. 

In Sunday's final, Nole will face the winner of the Murray-Ferrer match.  David Ferrer is a hell of a player, but if the Andy Murray we've seen throughout this tournament shows up, we will see a Djokovic-Murray final.  If Murray reverts back to his passive style of play, Mr.  Ferrer will run over him.  Either or, this Sunday's finals proves to be a good one, even if it's Nadal/Federer-less.

Buckle your seatbelts tennis fans, I think this year is going to be an exiting one!

In honour of his semi-final birth, today's hottie will be Spain's own, David Ferrer.  Vamos!

Hotties of the Day - Boyce Avenue

Today's Hotties will be a trio, the Manzano brothers, also known as Boyce Avenue.

 

 

Boyce Avenue

Alejandro Manzano - the sessiest Manzano brother

Fabian Manzano

Daniel Manzano

I really have to thank my friend StormKatStorm for turning me on to Boyce Avenue, the Manzano brothers.  I've spent a better part of the morning at home, and most of my time at work this evening checking out their youtube page.  Every time I think I have found my favorite video, I find another that's my favorite.    Everyone should check them out...their website has all their cyber info.

My gorgeous fruit fly turned me on by sending me a link to this Katy Perry joint

Aussie Open Day 4 Results

Day 4 is over, and I'm sad to report that Juan Martin Del Potro's run at the '11 Aussie Open has been brought to an end by the Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis 1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6.

Del Potro (left); Baghdatis (right)

 

 

 

 

 

Juan Martin Del Potro

Marcos Baghdatis

Marcos played like the guy who made it to the '06 Aussie final (losing to Roger Federer), and Del Potro played like a guy who had been out of the game for almost a year.  Juan Martin's movement wasn't there for him, nor was his weight of shot.  At one point during the match, Juan Martin had the trainer come out to look at the wrist that he had surgery on.  Baghdatis hit 46 winners/29 errors against Del Potro's 34 winners/41 errors.  Oh well, I guess Juan Martin has to crawl before he can walk.

Robin Soderling

Number 4 Robin Soderling is still moving thru the rounds under the radar, partly because of all the talk about the 'Rafa Slam' or the possible Rafa/Roger final.  He took out Gilles Müller 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1.  Soderling ended the match with an above decent stat sheet - overall first serve percentage was 58%, winning 93% of his first serves, and 67% of his second serves.  He hit 6 aces/5 double faults, 30 winners/15 unforced errors, and won 10 out of 13 net approaches.

Andy Murray

Andy Murray is still looking good (his tennis game wasn't bad either).  He beat Illya Marchenko 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.  Murray had 16 aces for the match and NO double faults.  He hit only 15 unforced errors, compared to 31 winners.  Maybe he got the 'be more aggressive' memo.

David Ferrer

Spainard, David Ferrer, gave America's Michael Russell absolutely no slack in their match, stomping him 6-0, 6-1, 7-5.  Ferrer didn't face a break point throughout the match, hitting 8 aces with 3 double faults, 28 winners and 22 unforced errors.  He won 82% of his first serves & 71% of second serves.

Rafael Nadal

Rafa was typical Rafa - he rocked American Ryan Sweeting like a hurricane 6-2, 6-1, 6-1.  Sweeting (23 yrs old, just one year Rafa's junior) did manage to break Rafa's serve once during the match, but... 

Michaël Llodra

Today's hottie will be another Frenchmen,  Michaël Llodra.

Michaël Llodra

Michaël Llodra

 

Aussie Open Day 3 results

Day 3 at the Aussie Open & things (for my picks at least) are starting to heat up!  No blow outs to report from last night.  

Roger Federer after defeating Gilles Simon

Gilles Simon (left) & Roger Federer (right)

Mr. Federer as expected got pushed by Gilles Simon, but he did manage to win 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3.  This was only the third career meeting for the two, Roger losing both times (back in 2008).  Gilles is a 'slight' guy in stature, but even still, he gave Roger all he could handle.  After having dropped the 3rd & 4th sets, Roger took control of the fifth, by using out-wide serves to get Simon off the court.  The backhand slice that Roger uses too much actually brought on some errors from Simon in the fifth.

Novak Djokovic

Ivan Dodig (left) & Novak Djokovic (right)

Novak Djokovic didn't have to go the distance against Ivan Dodig, but he did get pushed in the first set 7-5 before losing the second 7-6 (8-10 in the tiebreak).  Third set, he just starting pushing Dodig further & further behind the baseline, making him cover extra distance , before finally taking out Dodig's legs altogether.

Andy Roddick vs Igor Kunitsyn

World number 8, Andy Roddick, won in straight sets against Igor Kunitsyn, but he got pushed to a tiebreak in the first.  Roddick took it 7-6 (9-7), 6-2, 6-3.  Not a lot to say, Andy cleaned things up after the first set & then put it in cruise control.

Verdasco rolls his ankle in the 4th set

Janko Tipsarevic

Now...Fernando Verdasco Vs Janko Tipsarevic.  Janko came out as he so often does, on fire.  But like he so often does, he burned out.  For the 1st two sets, Tipsarevic absolutely took it to Verdasco, controlling the points & playing like his life depended on it.  Then comes the third, and things began to look as they should with Verdasco starting to connect with his inside-out forehand.  Verdasco saved a bunch of match points during the fourth set.  Then comes the fourth set tiebreak & away goes Tipsarevic's pride - tiebreak score 7-0. Fifth set, Tipsarevic was just ready to get his second round paycheck, losing 6-0.  He said it was because he was cramping, but I think he needs to take a lesson from Venus Williams about toughing it out.  That being said, I still think he's a hottie!

Tomáš Berdych

Philipp Kohlschreiber

Honorable mention for a match well played goes to #6 Tomáš Berdych.  He took out Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.  Berdych without a doubt has the game to threaten the top guys in big moments, but his head gets in his way.

Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, and Juan Martin Del Potro play tonight.  They all should make it thru, however, Juan Martin will face a tough opponent in Marcos Baghdatis.  Given that Juan Martin was out for six months, it wouldn't be a shock if he goes down to the Cypriot, Baghdatis.

Remember, I'm not a tennis expert, I'm just a boy.

Nole

Nole

Day 3 hottie, is the Serbian, Novak Djokovic.  Sexy, multi-talented & funny! Here he is impersonating Federer, Nadal, ARod, Hewitt, Sharapova,Goran Ivanisevic.

Aussie Open Day 2 results

Day two of Aussie Open coverage started off rather uneventfully, with  #1 Rafael Nadal & #5 Andy Murray both giving their guys beat downs.  

Rafael Nadal

Rafa's opponent, Marcos Daniel, showed up for the match with his left knee heavily taped - not sure if he was really hurt, or he knew what was coming so he needed an out.  Whatever, he got the snot beat out of him - 6-0, 5-0 before he called it quits.  Not really any need to go into much detail, just know, it was ugly (for Marcos Daniel).  I will say, that Rafa's serve is becoming a definite weapon - as if he needs another one.

Andy Murray

Karol Beck, Andy Murray's opponent didn't put up much of a fight either.  Beck lost 6-3, 6-1, then quit while he was down 4-2 in the 3rd set with a shoulder injury. Andy looked sharp and is starting to play more aggressively - whether he will keep that up, or go back to his old ways of being a backboard is a story yet unwritten.

Robin Soderling

World number 4 Robin Söderling, who is flying under the radar, won his match against Potito Starace 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.  The big wind-up forehand of Soderling did some damage.  The Swed hit 47 winners against only 18 unforced errors & hit no double faults.  His game is clicking & he should go deep into the tournament.  

David Ferrer

David Ferrer won his match against Jarkko Nieminen in 4 sets 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.  Mr. Ferrer is one of the scrappiest players on tour.  He can be a backboard, but is also good at turning defense into offense with the swing of his racket.  One of his flaws is that he tends to go away for a while during a match (i.e the 3rd set of this match where he only won 50% of his first serves, 29% of second serves & only hit 2 winners against 7 unforced errors).  For the match he had 32 winners, as well as 32 unforced errors.  He doesn't always win pretty, but winning is winning.

Last, but not least is one of my favorite players, Juan Martin Del Potro.  He was out for six months following a wrist surgery, and all things considered he looked good - there were at times glimpses of the Del Potro who hit Roger Federer off the court during the 2009 US Open Final.  He won his opening round against scrappy Israeli, Dudi Sela 7-6 (15-13 in the tie break), 6-4, 6-4.  Not the best winners to errors stats - 47 winners/52 unforced errors, but he used his big serve (19 aces for the match) & bigger forehand to get out of sticky situations.  When got into trouble, he hit the ball harder, unlike most players who go for less.  I like this guy cuz he has guts! He may not do as well as he could in this tournament, but by the end of the year he will once again be the guy to challenge dynamic duo of Nadal & Federer.

Gilles Simon

Gilles Simon - that's not a tennis ball in his pants

Federer, Djokovic, Verdasco, & Roddick play their second round matches tonight.  All should make it the third round. Federer may get tested, as he's playing the Frenchmen Gilles Simon, who has given him lots of problems in the past.  Simon leads their head-to-head 2-0.  The only two times they played were in 2008, but if Roger plays the way he did on day one, he should come out victorious.  It should also be noted that the Frenchmen is a pretty one!


As always, I'm not a tennis expert, I'm just a boy.

Viktor Troicki

Philipp Petzschner & his lips

Day 2 hotties will be Serbian, Viktor Troicki (who will play Nicolas Mahut tonight) & German, Philipp Petzschner.  Petzschner lost his first round match, but he's got a pretty mouth on him!