Wimbledon... Again

A couple of quick points on the tennis.

Andy Murray's match last night was fantastic. I don't think I've ever seen Wimbledon look as well as it did under the lights. The crowd got into it and both Murray and Warwrinka gave them a five-setter to remember. Murray now takes on Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-finals and it's a matchup I don't like for Murray. Ferrero was impressive against Gilles Simon yesterday and it was Warwrinka's punishing ground strokes that hurt Murray, something that Ferrero is well able to provide. Murray should still win, but not as smoothly as I thought yesterday.

And the women's semi's today... jeesh. Will someone do something?!!? As I type Serena has just begun her match against Radwanska so if this one turns out to be a classic, I apologise, but there hasn't been a memorable game of women's tennis at Wimbledon for, what... four years? The '05 Final? Someone fix it, somehow. Introduce a maximum arm-size maybe? This is ridiculous.

Wimbledon Preview

There's one way to know that summer has arrived. Here in Ireland, the sun can't be relied upon so the only way we can be sure that it's time to tuck into the ice cream is when Wimbledon comes on the telly.

Now you may think it odd that I'm previewing a tournament midway through the seventh of it's 13 days but to be fair, Wimbledon 2009 still hasn't taken off. There's been no drama, no scandal and even less upsets. We miss Rafa, we really do. The Spaniard's knees are a real worry for the future but it's good to see him take some R&R now, to hope that he has a future.

Nonetheless, like we missed him in the Roland Garros decider, it seems that Rafa being away leaves the Men's tournament down to two men. If you've been watching the BBC you'll know that Andy Murray is all but into Sunday's decider. Murray has been impressive, no doubt, but he's played no one. Thankfully for him, he doesn't have to. After a draw that even he would have been embarrassed to ask the ever-so-kind people at the All England Club for, Murray today plays Stanislas Warwinka for a spot in the Quarters. Warwinka. Christ. Hope mum Judy has a hat picked out for Sunday.

He'll likely take on Roger Federer in Sunday's decider. Federer has also had a relatively easy passage thus far. Sure, he's taking on Robin Söderling today but since Federer has a 10-0 record against the Swede, it's likely that he won't be too worried about facing the French Open runner-up. Some are saying that this is a return to form for Fed but I think it's unfair to say he lost his form. Last year, Federer was hit with a pre-season bout of glandular fever, something which would knock the stuffing out the average Christmas turkey. Yet he still went on to reach one Grand Slam semi-final and three finals, winning one. Federer has reached the last 21 Grand Slam semis - he's as consistent as clockwork.

There have been other contenders in Week One. It was nice to see a semi-return of Leyton Hewitt and The Other A-Rod still has the serve to contend with the World's best. Still, it'd be a major surprise if Roger The Dodger didn't take Moany Murray on Sunday. Sigh... At least we still have last year.

On the women's side the Williams sisters are my pick to advance into the final. Like the men's game, it seems that there is too large a gulf between the very top players and the next tier. Consistency is the aim of the game now and it's increasingly rare that we see interesting ties before the last eight of any of the Slams.

Who'll win the final? I think it's Serena's turn but that'll be up to Daddy Williams. And in the men's? Always rely on Fed-Express.

The King Of Clay Is Dethroned

An unseasonably warm day here in Ireland (yes, even for June) probably explains the almost complete silence from your team today but with 43 minutes remaining until the end of the warmest bank holiday weekend since the one before the last set of exams, I said I'd come along and blog about something that's a lot more genuine then Bruno's fall into the face of Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards, yet just as unexpected.

Yesterday at Roland Garros Rafael Nadal lost. He actually lost. To Robin Soderling, a man who's not very good on clay. It's been called the biggest upset in the history of the French Open and I for one won't disagree with that. Coming into this year's tournament, Soderling had a record of three wins from the eight games that he'd played in the year's second Grand Slam. Nadal had thirty-one wins. From 31 matches. The difference, nay, gulf in class between them cannot be overstated and that is why this was such a shock.

I thought the most poignant moment came after the match when a visibly shocked Nadal looked for a marker to sign the camera lens as he walked off the court, a tradition reserved for the winners of matches on the show courts in the French capital, a tradition Nadal would have taken part on every other occasion he played there.

Two points of note in the fall-out from this match. So, Rafa is human after all, and I think that Soderling may just be the one player he would wish not to lose to. The pair played a two-day, five-set epic in the third round at Wimbledon in 2007, a match that became remembered for the antics of the Swede who imitated Nadal's antics and failed to raise his hand in apology after he won a point on a shot that crept over the net chord.




To have lost to someone who angered him so would have rattled Rafa and it will be interesting to see how he bounces back going into the grass-court season.

The result also has implications for Roger Federer. The Swiss maestro barely squeeked by his opponent today, falling two sets behind Tommy Haas before coming back to win in five. He's now just three matches from winning the one Grand Slam that has eluded him throughout his career. Federer is not guaranteed the win - I for one feel that he'll do well to overcome Monfils, del Potro and the winner of Murray/Gonzalez. But if he is to do so, and remember Federer has reached the final in each of the last three years and thus is no slouch on clay, I would expect the media to tarnish the victory by reminding us that it was not he who beat Nadal. That would be a fair comment, and though Federer would have completed the sweep of Slams, the curse would still be on his back for at least one more year.