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.

Dig the New Breed

Wimbleon Review

The Men’s final showcased a new brand of tennis, with incredible retrieving and returning, and maybe the tennis of the future at the top level. The contrast could not be greater than with the serve-dominated finals of the past, like Sampras v Ivanisevic 1998. I think there was only one serve-volley point in the whole match (when Djokovic was serving it out) and then it was only as a surprise weapon.
Mats Wilander was considered exceptional when he won three of the four majors in 1988. Now it’s almost commonplace. Federer has done it three times (2004, 06, 07) & Rafa did it last year. It’s a tough call now to bet against Nole doing the same this year.
If it wasn’t tough enough for Murray trying to win a Slam with Fed & Nadal around, now you have Djokovic, who has raised his level to leapfrog Roger & Rafa to world no. 1, & now astonishingly won 50 of his last 51 singles matches.

Petra Kvitova was the surprise ladies champion. Her big lefty serve should see her as a regular finalist for the next few years. While reaching the final was a welcome return to form for Sharapova, I wonder if it’s the end of an era with both Wiliams sisters going out in the fourth round. Serena reaching that stage after such a long injury lay-off was no mean feat however, & if she can continue to improve her fitness, I wouldn’t want to rule her out of contention for the US Open.

There was one Brit in a Wimbledon singles final this year, Liam Broady was the boys' runner-up, the best British performance since Miles Kasiri in 2004 .It’s notoriously difficult to predict whether a junior will be a success in the pro ranks. Although Federer & Edberg are past winners of the boys' titles, there is a far longer list of ex-junior champions who haven’t set the pro ranks on fire. Only time will tell whether Broady is another Murray, or another Kasiri (who peaked at 504 in the world rankings), though he does seem to have a good temperament.

Time for an exciting new feature, readers (yes, both of you)

Performance of the Week

This week I’m going for Tommy Voeckler, for his strength & guts in living with the climbers through the Pyrenees, & so holding onto the yellow jersey.