Although the French Open is the only Grand Slam that Andy Murray has failed to reach the final of and known that Grass and Hard Courts are his stronger services, the Scotsman is certainly looking in good shape in 2015 to be a challenger at Roland Garros being now one of the very few people to claim a victory over Rafa Nadal on clay (there has been more humans on the moon than those that have beaten Rafa on clay), after beating him in the final of the Master Series Madrid Open 6-2 6-3.
Murray Mints has shown impressive form on the red stuff so far with a 100% record on clay in 2015 having won in Munich the week before albeit winning the final there on a final tie break, and in Madrid beat two other top 10 players (Raonic and Nishikori), and only dropped one set in 2nd Round. So can Andy keep this form up and possibly make his first final at Roland Garros, though as ever will be other challengers like Djokovic, and Rafa Nadal has only ever lost to one person at Roland Garros a certain Swede named Robin Soderling, is a different kettle of fish at French Open but is his amazing run there about to come to an end? We shall see.
Monday 11 May 2015
Tuesday 31 March 2015
Another epic at the Miami Masters
Dominic Thiem beats Adrian Mannarino in one of the best matches you will ever see! A true epic! Just about every shot played, every angle explored, every inch on the court covered, with both players playing some unbelievable tennis, showing amazing athleticism, fitness and skill. These tennis players sure do earn their stripes (and unlike some sports people they definitely and justifiably earn the money they make throughout what is a much more gruelling season than some non tennis people may think!
Monday 30 March 2015
Camila Giorgi, the new star of women's tennis or just another flash in the pan?
With wins in the past over the likes of Maria Sharapova and a steady rise up the WTA rankings over the past couple of years, are we seeing a young player who can at some point genuinely challenge the top players in the four majors and Masters 1000 events? or someone who will fall by the way side like others have sadly done?
With her huge, confident ground strokes, heavy, courageous serves (sometimes perhaps too courageous judging by the amount of double faults) and speed round the court, she already has a lot of weapons. What she seems to lack is control at certain times, a backhand slice and as with far too many of the female players, volleying ability and knowing when to come to the net. These things are not yet a major problem and being so young, there is ample time to iron out these faults and learn the things required to take her to a whole new level. In the meantime, her fearless, all out attack game makes her an exciting player and one to keep an eye on to see how far she goes.
It has recently come to light about the 15 year ban of Wayne Odesnik for what is his second doping offence. Rightly slammed by the likes of Andy Murray, although it doesn't exactly bring the game into disrepute, it does leave a cloud hanging over it that leads me to the question:
Is it happening more than we think? We already know about Marin Cilic and Viktor Troicki, who have already served their time (Cilic had his ban reduced which split opinion) but what can be done to make sure the game's reputation isn't tarnished further?
That leads me to match fixing. Players have been found guilty but is it happening more than we think? And if one of today's top stars was found guilty, would they be protected slightly or would they receive the full, fair punishment? No one is above the game, and that includes the likes of Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. This is hypothetical of course but what if? ....
Also, how about players pulling out of matches and tournaments when they're perfectly fine just days later to play a crucial Davis Cup tie or another big event? Is there a way of making sure things are done according to the real, proper reasons?
Another word on match fixing. How easy or difficult would it actually be to fix a match? How could we know? Betting patterns and strange behaviour and calamitous 'chokes' by certain players during matches often give a clue as to what must occasionally at least be irregular behaviour. Of course tennis being the gripping and exciting sport it is, crazy things do happen. Players come back, plenty of players upset the odds, I could go on. I'm merely stating that surely things aren't always as simple as this.
Saturday 28 March 2015
Smash Gazette is here
Hello I would like to welcome you to Smash Gazette, a new blog run by tennis fans and for tennis fans. We will bring you news, thoughts, rants, previews and recalling moments in tennis history.
we hope you enjoy this blog
Charles Ball Co founder of Smash Gazette.
we hope you enjoy this blog
Charles Ball Co founder of Smash Gazette.
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