Risk & Reward

It was one of the all-time great underdog victories. Japan’s previous world cup record read P22, W1 D1 L 22. The opposition, South Africa, are two-time world cup winners.

The lead changed hands four times in the first half, but according to the usual script Japan would succumb and the Springboks would come though after being given an almighty scare. On 44 minutes, South Africa had a six point lead, & by the 63^rd it was seven, but Japan refused to yield. On 79 minutes, trailing by 3, surely they would go for the penalty & take the draw? No, they had the guts to risk going for the win & were rewarded with a sensational victory.   

 

Novak Djokovic is on course to have one of the standout seasons of recent years. It ranks with McEnroe in 1984 (W82 L3), Federer 2006 (92-5), Nadal 2010 & his own stellar season of 2011.

Worryingly for his rivals in the indoor season , the Serb hasn’t lost on indoor (hard) court for 31 matches. Among his contemporaries only Wawrinka , Murray & Nishikori  look capable of beating him in a best-of five match. Of the younger guns, Coric is not yet at his level, Dimitrov has had an off year, & Krygios is too flaky.

At the US Open Murray ran into Kevin Anderson in the best form of his career, but still has a massive prize to play for. GB will play Belgium in the Davis Cup final after Murray won three rubbers for the second tie in succession.

 

Great credit is due to Wayne Rooney for breaking Charlton’s England goal record. He’s also closing in on the Man U club record.

Try & Try Again

The Six Nations final day try fest was the exhilarating highlight of the past two months. The staggered kick-offs & points difference favoured the running game as the title contenders tried to rack up the score. Will we see a repeat In November ? The fear factor may induce a return to the attritional style of power rugby.

In the Davis Cup two stand-out gruelling 5 setters stood out, and to describe them as marathons seems inadequate. James Ward’s gritty five hour comeback win over Isner was incredibly surpassed by Mayer v Souza. The 6 hr 43 match was the longest in Davis Cup history, beating Wilander-McEnroe. Although a great spectacle for the fans, such long matches are perhaps too tough for the players. Neither Mayer nor Souza have played since their epic rubber.

Nadal lost a match on clay-to Fognini in the Rio semis. Last year he recovered to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires at Roland Garros. I wonder if one of the young guns like Coric could thwart a 10th title this time.

The Premier league may have the richest TV rights deal in Europe, but not the playing quality to match. No English teams reached the Quarter-Finals of European competition for the first time in 22 years. Arsenal blew a great chance v Monaco & Chelsea couldn’t make an extra man count against PSG.

Two ex-Soviet  boxers  excelled. Golovkin has the reputation as the most fearsome puncher in the world, and Martin Murray was the latest knockout victim of the Kazak. Kovalev followed up beating Hopkins with a dominant stoppage of Jean Pascal.

End of an Era

The Nadal-Federer Wimbledon final was one of the all-time classics, ranking right up there with Borg-McEnroe 1980 (the 18-16 tie break match). The quality of tennis right up to the end was phenomenal. Federer on his favourite surface, threw everything he had at Nadal & still lost. I wonder whether he will win another major title. It seems the younger generation of Nadal, Djokovic, even Murray, will now thwart Federer's attempts to win another Slam. He will still have a great chance at the US Open, where Nadal's previous best is 'only' a QF. Nadal plays with both knees strapped & hard courts put the most strain on the joints. Nadal's coach & uncle, Toni Nadal, has expressed his concern at the possible long-term damage of playing on hard courts.

There are parallels between Borg & Federer. Borg beat Mac in 5 sets in Wimbledon 1980, but lost to him in the 1981 final. Now Federer has lost his title having prevailed over Nadal the year before, again in five sets. Borg never won another major after losing to Mac in the 1981 final & retired the next year. However he never won the US Open, whereas Fed has won it four times. Tennis fans need not worry that Federer will follow Borg by retiring in his prime. He promised after the Wimbledon final that he would return next year, & has even spoken about trying to emulate Agassi & Connors by playing on for another ten years, well into his thirties.

At the start of the the year I tipped Roger to finish the year as world no. 1, that now looks unlikely. Federer would probably have to win at Flushing Meadows & match Nadal's results at the other hard court events.