The Germans

The Germans. I’d written off Bayern for the UCL in the last blog. How wrong can you be ? Barcelona, widely considered one of the all-time great club sides, were handed an incredible 7-0 hiding on aggregate in the semi-final. Dortmund were equally impressive in seeing off Madrid. I would still rate the Spanish national side over their German counterparts though. With hindsight, Man City finishing third in their UCL group behind Madrid & Dortmund doesn’t look like such a bad result now.

Bayern are 20 points clear in the Bundesliga. Unlike the Bavarians, Man United have not won the plaudits but despite not having an outstanding season, performance-wise, won the league at a canter.

When Lukas Rosol famously knocked Nadal out of Wimbledon last year, many people, including me, thought it would be the highlight of his career. Instead, since then he has climbed the rankings (from 100)  to world no. 35 and the best may be yet to come for the Czech.  There was a pleasing symmetry last Sunday with both Rafa & Rosol winning clay-court tournaments in Barcelona & Bucharest. An emotional Rosol dedicated the win to his late father who’d died only two weeks before.

The GB Davis Cup team had a great result at the start of April, beating a top nation despite being without Andy Murray. Youzhny, Russia’s top-ranked player, wasn’t in the Russia team but still the Russians, Donskoy(80) & Tursunov (67) were ranked far higher than the Brits, Ward (214) & Evans (325).

Novak Djokovic ended Rafa Nadal’s  incredible eight year win streak on the Monte Carlo clay. Andy Murray lost in the second round to Wawrinka. I  feel Murray can never get to world no. 1 with his inconsistent clay court results, he’s yet to make a final on clay.  

Performance of the Month

Robert Lewandowski’s four-goal haul in the first leg against Madrid.

Honourable mention:

Chris Gayle hit the fastest ever first class century, off 30 balls, for RCB in an IPL match. No cutting edge sports nutrition for Gayle either, he did it on an old school sports breakfast of omelette, pancakes & hot chocolate.

Going The Distance

The packed tournament calendar is a continual complaint from the top tennis pros, and to avoid injuries & burn-out their schedules have to be carefully managed. While some of the top players, most notably Federer & Murray, skip Davis Cup duty , others give their all. The Davis Cup doubles rubber Czech Republic  v Switzerland was proof of this. Berdych & Rosol beat Wawrinka & Chiudinelli after a gruelling 7 hours 2 minutes, 24-22 in the fifth set. It was the longest  ATP match ever, bar Isner-Mahut.  Incredibly Wawrinka and Berdych still had the energy to play their singles rubber the next day.

Rafa Nadal made a successful return to action after his injury long lay-off,  with a runner-up spot in Vina del Mar & winning in Sao Paulo. He plays Ferrer in the Acapulco final today, the toughest opponent he’s faced since his comeback, should be a tough test.

Performance of the Month

The Czech/Swiss doubles foursome.

Honourable mention:

Gareth Bale. His recent scoring record (seven in Feb) speaks for itself.

The History Boys

Spain put on a masterclass against Italy to retain the European championship. Portugal had taken them to penalties in the semi & I thought a repeat could be on the cards in the final, but Spain were irresistible. Not only are they setting new standards of technical play, but Del Bosque has also used revolutionary tactics. The Spanish starting formation was six passing midfielders with no conventional centre-forward, though you would expect David Villa to come back into the team when fit. Italy can be proud of surpassing all expectations with an excellent win over Germany in the semi.

June has been quite the month for record breaking, with Nadal breaking Borg’s record by winning his seventh title at Roland Garros. Overall the French Open had enough epic matches (Mathieu-Isner, 18-16 in the 5^{th set}) & upsets to be one of the best editions of recent years. Judging by the first week though, Wimbledon has trumped it. There was the biggest underdog win in a slam for many years with Rosol over Nadal, & the Cilic Querrey 5hr 30 marathon (17-15 in the 5^th).

Nadal’s loss to Rosol was just one of those freak results where the Czech played the game of his life, hitting the lines with fearsome power: 65 winners, including a 99 mph backhand & numerous aces. Nadal’s performance in the French final typified his mental strength for me. At the start of the 4th set he lost a 44 shot rally & dropped serve. Other players would have been discouraged, but Nadal held his next service game. The rain break that followed didn’t help Djokovic's momentum (he had won 8 of the last 9 games) & he was broken when they resumed the next day, but Nadal was the deserved winner.

It’s often said we are lucky to be in a golden age of tennis, with Federer, Nadal & Djokovic all playing to such a high level & continually setting new records. The same could now be said with Spain now having very strong claims to be the best national team ever. Brazil, Germany, Holland, Argentina & Hungary have produced sides with exceptional talent in the past, but it’s tough to argue with Spain’s run of trophies.

Performance of the Month

The history makers, Spain.

Honourable mentions:
Rafa Nadal.
Yohan Blake, who clocked a 9.75 100 m to beat Bolt at the Jamaican Olympic trials & then repeated it in the 200 final.