Landmarks & Comebacks

Just like his coach Lendl, Andy Murray won a Slam final at his fifth attempt. When Djokovic pulled it back to two sets all, was there a tiny part of the Scot that thought 'there's no way i want to become the first man to lose five major finals in a row' ?

It was Djokovic though, the marathon man who beat Nadal in Melbourne in just under six hours, who faded in the fifth set.

Many commentators are predicting start of a new era of dominance by the two finalists. Two massive assumptions are behind this. Firstly that Nadal will not be able return to his former level before the injury lay-off. Second that Federer is on the decline now at the age of 31. I'm not so sure.

Some have even suggested Murray can reach the world no. 1 ranking. Possibly at some point in a season he will, but in the past he hasn't been able to match the consistency of the rest of the 'Big Four' on clay courts, so i can't see him finishing as a year-end no. 1.

Fred Perry will probably still be mentioned until Murray wins Wimbledon.

Performance of the Month

Murray, breaker of a 76 year hoodoo.

Honourable Mentions:
Europe Ryder Cup team. They produced one of the great sporting comebacks and overturned a four point deficit on the final day, despite the traditional strength of the USA in singles.

Laura Robson, who continued her rise up the rankings by reaching the Guangzhou final-the 1st Brit to play in a WTA final since Jo Durie.

MF Simply Brilliant

A brief, post-Olympic, August round-up.

Performance of the Month

Mo Farah (see last blog).

Honourable mentions:
The South African Test cricket team. Their series win over England meant they deposed them as the world no. 1 Test side.
Rory McIlroy, who won the US PGA by eight shots, his 2nd major at a younger age than Tiger Woods achieved it.
Laura Robson, who beat two former Slam champions, Clijsters & Li Na, to become the 1st British woman since Sam Smith in '98 to reach the fourth round of a Slam. 

As Good As It Gets

Olympics Review

Team GB had done exceptionally well in Beijing, London 2012 was even better.

Some Brits underperformed, but mostly they overperformed. The home crowd roar inspired them to ignore burning lungs, tired legs, aches & pains.

What a turnaround from Atlanta 96 where GB won just one gold (plus eight silver & six bronze). I expect GB to struggle to match that medal haul in the future, & finish around 5-6^th in the medal table in Rio.

A highly personal idiosyncratic choice of fave moments:

The first Saturday night athletics, natch.

Gemma Gibbons, who belied her lowly world ranking (42) to win silver in the judo. She mouthed ‘I love you mum’ to the skies, in memory of her late mother, after her exhausting, golden score victory in the semi-final over the world champion.

David Rudisha, who had declared before the 800 metres final he intended to break the world record, & did exactly that, leading from gun to tape with a blistering run.

The women’s triathlon ending in a sprint finish.

The exuberant, joyful celebrations of Jade Jones when she won taekwondo goal.

Andy Murray finally winning a best of five sets final, & doing it against Federer. In the gold medal match his level of play & focus was exceptional, and made the great man look ordinary.

Performance of the Games

So many exceptional performances to choose from, including the usual suspects such as Bolt & Phelps. I’ll go for Mo Farah in the 5000 metres. Most of the opposition were fresh, not having done the 10k. In the home straight it seemed the Kenyan was catching, but Farah found another gear, then it seemed the Ethiopian Gebremeskel was gaining on him, again he found the strength to kick clear.

Premier League Predictions

Man City to regain title, but by a more comfortable margin this time-5 points. United to be the closest challengers, pushed closely by Chelsea.

The Wonder of Wiggo

Wimbledon

When Djokovic & Nadal were hoovering up all the major titles, I & many experts, thought Federer might not win another Slam. However, since losing in the US Open his form has been unmatched, winning eight titles. In the semi he overturned a three-match losing streak against Djokovic, & in the final showed touches of genius to thwart Murray. He regained the world no. 1 ranking from the young bucks to boot, at the age of 30.

Serena Williams is of similar vintage to Federer, but was even more dominant, proving to be a class apart on the SW19 grass. Her serve in particular was awesome over the fortnight with 90 aces.

Wiggins

Five years ago, the prospects of a Brit winning Le Tour looked remote. A British one-two GC finish, let alone a Brit winner, is totally staggering. Wiggins went in as the favourite having done the unique treble of the Dauphine, Paris-Nice & the Tour of Romandie. When he took an early lead, I feared the commentators were giving him the kiss of death by anointing him as the champion-elect, but the strength in depth of team Sky was a major factor in allowing him to keep control. On two of the mountain stages it appeared that Chris Froome could have taken some serious time out of his team-mate, but Froome responded to team orders to wait for his team leader. Wiggins, though, was the clearly the best time time triallist by some distance.

July Performance of the Month

I decided on this before the Olympics.

It’s not often that Federer is relegated to second place, but I have to give it Wiggins as he sustained his excellence over three gruelling weeks.

Next month

Tune in for the next enthralling instalment- Olympic review.

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.

Blue Is The Colour

The month of May has seen some thrilling sporting finishes, with the last day of the Premier League, where the title was not decided until injury time, and the Champions League final going to penalties. The French Open first round match between Serena Williams & Virginie Razzano was another. Up 5-1 in the 2nd set tiebreak & cruising, Serena lost six straight points & then the first five games of the final set. She recovered to 5-3, & then there was an incredible final game lasting nearly 25 minutes, with 12 deuces & 5 break points. Razzano began cramping up, but managed to close it out on her 8th match point. It was excruciating to watch at times, with great shots alternating with tired efforts. The drama included a controversial forfeit of points for hindrance (usually called when the opponent makes a noise deemed to have put the opponent off their shot). It was the biggest win in the career of Razzano, ranked 111.

Alec Ferguson deserves great credit for the way Man U took the title race with City to the wire, despite the superior squad of the Blues. Scholes had to come out of retirement to boost the Man U midfield, & they were without their best defender, Vidic, for most of the season.
Fergie’s record of sustained excellence makes it to hard now to deny him the title of the greatest British club manager, above the likes of Paisley, Clough, Busby, Nicholson, Shankly, Revie etc.

Chelsea again rode their luck in the Champions League final, & only started to put their passing together in extra time. Crucially, they held their nerve better than Munich at penalties. David Luiz, famously derided for his defensive positional sense, smacked his into the top corner, & Drogba, with his last kick for the club, sent Neuer the wrong way to win the cup.

Performance of the Month

Chelsea. Who else ?

Honourable mentions:
Ronnie O'Sullivan, who was tested in his quarter-final with Robertson, but otherwise cruised to his fourth world title at the Crucible.
Pastor Maldonado, who became the first Venezuelan F1 winner of a F1 by winning the Spanish GP.

Chelsea Pensioners

Champions League

One of the tasks AVB was given by Abramovich was to overhaul the Chelsea squad, including ageing stars like Drogba & Lampard. However, the old guard, especially Drogba weighing in with vital goals, have been instrumental in Chelsea's recent return to top form. Having looked dead & buried in the last 16 v Napoli, they have now beaten the mighty Barca with only ten men for over 50 minutes of the SF second leg, & reached two cup finals.

Performance of the Month

Bubba Watson, who promptly burst into tears after sinking the winning putt which clinched his first major at the Masters.

Honourable mentions:
Chelsea.
Real Madrid, who inflicted Barca's first home defeat for 54 matches with a 2-1 win at the Bernabeu, & so took a seemingly insurmountable seven point lead in La Liga.