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.

Djoker Top of the World Down Under

Novak Djokovic was just too good for Murray in the Australian Open final. This ES article

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/other-sports/andy-murrays-real-pain-is-playing-in-such-a-golden-era-8469326.html

had a rather negative statistic about Murray losing five out of six Grand Slam finals. However, losing to Fed three times & twice to Djokovic is hardly a poor showing. You could say that in fact winning even one final is a great achievement, in this golden age of excellence where tennis is being taken to new levels of athleticism.

The same article did point out , that in their first Slam finals, Nadal & Federer faced easier opposition on paper, against lower ranked opponents. Whereas it used to be rare, nowadays it's unusual for the Big Four, or the top four seeds in the absence of Nadal, not to make it through to the semis of every Slam.

At the moment, it's hard to look beyond Murray & Djokovic contesting more Slam finals. Federer might be able to upset one of them at Roland Garros or maybe both at Wimbledon. The other big intangible is the state of Rafa Nadal's knees. He's due to make his tournament comeback next week in Vina del Mar, Chile. Will he be able to get back to his former level, & can his knee joints withstand the pounding of seven consecutive best -of five set matches ?

Performance of the Month

Djokovic.

Honourable Mentions:

Phil Taylor, still got it at 52, & now owner of 16 world titles.

Mark Selby, Masters snooker champ. ‘The Jester’ is as sharp on the green baize as he is in the sartorial stakes.

It Was a Very Good Year

Year in Review

2012 was a brilliant year for British sport with Wiggo winning Le Tour, Team GB’s sensational performance in the Olympics & Chelsea upsetting the odds to win the Champions League.

Bolt & Phelps underlined their legendary status with standout performances in the summer. Rudisha’s 800 metre win was even better.

In football, Spain showed they’re still a class above the rest, winning Euro 2012 with style. Aguero’s injury time winner for Man City capped the most exciting finish to a top flight title race since 1989. Leo Messi broke Gerd Muller’s record for goals in a calendar year, with an astonishing 91, helping Barcelona to a nine point lead in La Liga.

Europe pulled off one of the great comebacks in the Ryder Cup.

It was another vintage year in tennis.  The marathon Aussie Open final, record-breaking  wins for Nadal at the French & Federer at Wimbledon. Murray breaking his grand slam duck & the winning the Olympic title. Serena, when fit & focused, proved to be a class apart from the rest, but it seems Azarenka may be getting closer.

Alistair Cook scored 562 runs & broke the English record for most Test centuries, captaining the side to a rare Test series win in India. He will surely break many more batting records.

Uefa Champions League round of 16

A tough draw for the Britsih clubs. Both Man U & Celtic are favoured to go out by the bookies. (Arsenal’s chances are rated 50-50) Madrid v United should be closer than the odds suggest, but I think all the British sides will go out.

Performance of the Month

England’s great upset win over the All Blacks, ending their 20 match unbeaten streak.

Honourable mention: Juan Manuel Marquez getting his revenge for being on the wrong side of some questionable points decisions with a brutal one-punch knockout of Manny Pacquiao.

Comeback Kings

Only a handful of boxers have been able to make successful comebacks in their thirties: Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson etc. Bernard Hopkins is another of that rare breed able to compete successfully at elite level outside the heavyweight division (the heavies can make up for diminished reflexes with punching power-Foreman is the best example). It’s a cliche that there’s no hiding place in the ring, but Ricky Hatton was the latest to suffer the unforgiving examination last weekend, when he was stopped in the ninth by Senchenko. The Ukrainian is the kind of opponent he would have comfortably handled at his peak.

Speaking of great comebacks: in October there were two great recoveries from 4-0 down, Arsenal v Reading in the League Cup (7-5 aet),& Sweden grabbed a 4-all draw against Germany in their World Cup qualifier.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic reputedly has quite an ego, but now has the feats to back it up against an English team . His four brilliant goals against an experimental England side dispelled the myth that he can never bring his best form against English teams.

The days of English teams dominating the Champions League are long gone. (Chelsea’s win last year was something of a freak, they massively over-achieved) The scale of the decline is evident this year with two teams (Man City & Chelsea) looking likely to go out at the group stage.

Performance of the Month

October- Sweden.

November-Ibrahimovic.

Honourable Mentions:

Tonga beat Scotland in international (15 a side) rugby for the first time, with several Tongan players in tears at the final whistle as the scale of their achievement sunk in.

Celtic, who averaged 20 % of possesion in their two UCL games with Barcelona, but pulled off an upset 2-1 win at Parkhead & were unlucky to lose in Camp Nou.

Djokovic, undefeated champion at the ATP Tour Finals & the first player since Federer to finish as year-end no. 1 in two consecutive years.

Carl Froch, who destroyed Yusaf Mack in four rounds to re-establish his status as the leading contender at super-middle.

Sebastian Vettel, who became the youngest to win a hat-trick of F1 world titles & must be a great bet to beat Schumacher’s record of seven titles.

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.