Match Prediction 27/04 Monte Carlo Masters

Best of three sets – Clay

Final

Roger Federer (1) SWI – Rafael Nadal (2) ESP

I tipped Nadal to win this tournament and he has cruised through the rounds so far. His battling displays have been impressive on his favourite surface and its going to take a seriously flawless performance from Federer to stop him winning his first title of the season. The interesting point is that the Swiss master has actually played near flawless tennis in his last two matches which makes for a thrilling prospect.

Nalbandian was brushed aside easily after he lost the first set and Djokovic is going back old ways as he retired in the second set as Federer was dominating him. His reason for retiring was that he hadn’t been well for three days. Well this obviously didn’t effect him against Querrey two days earlier and I think this makes Djoko look weak. Federer did not look at all impressed when the Serb came over to him to shake his hand.

Federer must have some belief back after coming back from 5-1 down in the third in his first round match and he really looks fired up here. This is why I think this match will be very close and most probably go to three sets. I feel if Federer gets his tactics right, for example not trying to beat Nadal from the  back of the court and mixes his play up he could unsettle the Spaniard. Moving into the net is an essential tactic here so he can avoid long drawn out points which Rafa revels in.

However overall I still feel this match is Nadal’s to lose as he has been on quite stunning form this week himself and there was a point against Davydenko yesterday which said everything about his character and ability on clay. He was sent wide by the Russian and Rafa attempted a pass down the line which Davydenko drop volleyed. The Spaniard then ran from one side of the court to the other and got the ball just as it was about to touch the ground and he passed Davydenko at the net. I couldn’t believe my eyes as Nadal had absolutely no right to get to that ball.

If Nadal replicated this sort of grit and desire against Federer he will be picking up his first title of the season.

Predicted Winner :: Nadal

Kuerten completely outclassed at Masters Series

Former world number one Gustavo Kuerten said goodbye to Monte Carlo in slightly embarassing fashion as he was dominated 61 62 by Ivan Ljubicic in 51 minutes.

This will be Kuerten’s last year of competitve tennis and he is hoping to play in tournaments which have sentimental value to him with the help of wild cards.

However on this showing ‘Guga’ may as well retire now as he is simply nowhere near the standard required to compete.

Many people are debating whether he deserves wild cards into tournaments as there are far more active players who are having to come through qualifying. 

If Kuerten did have to enter qualifying rounds I’m pretty sure he would not make it into the main draw as he is completely out of touch and his movement around the court is now poor.

There is no doubt that Kuerten is one of the best clay courters of all time and maybe this alone should allow him wild card entries but if he is to lose this badly every time his reputation will surely be tarnished.

 Why would he want people to remember him as the old boy who tried to return to the tour for one last year but was no good anymore?

I think an appearance at each of his favourite tournaments possibly addressing a crowd before a big match would be far more suitable than getting beaten easily.

This really was a painful match to watch and I’m sure if Ljubicic had wanted to win 6/0 6/0 he could have done. 

I say this because Ljubicic simply cruised through this contest hardy breaking sweat and I’m sure he felt a bit sorry for the 31 year old Brazilian.

Kuerten did not win his three games on the scoreboard, Ljubicic lost them. This was particularly evident when the Brazilian was serving at 5-1 down in the second set and Ljubo made four wild errors to hand him an extra game.

Title Prediction

My prediction for the winner of this Masters Series is Rafael Nadal. He has not won a tournament this year despite his good form. Back on his favourite surface, Nadal should have too much class for the rest of the field.

 

Davydenko retires to hand Federer title

My tip Nikolay Davydenko retired at 2-1 up in the second set in the final of the Estoril Open.

This is a disappointing outcome for this match particularly as the Russian was playing so well and a break up. He looked uncomfortable towards the end of the first set and I suspected that he may be about to retire. In the post match interview he did not sight a reason however he had been having trouble with his groin earlier in the week due to playing so many matches this year.

 It was a very even match and Federer sneaked a first set tie break by 7 points to 5 but was then broken in the first game of the second set after some strong hitting by Davydenko.

Despite losing, Davydenko won 56 out of 111 points and Federer won 55 out of 111 and had the world number four been fit I think he would have gone on to win.

Credit must be given to Davydenko for playing despite not being 100 percent and he certainly put up a good fight with Federer failing to break his serve.

 

Match Prediction 20/4 Estoril Open Final

Roger Federer (1) SWI – Nikolay Davydenko (4) RUS

Davydenko has not beaten Federer in 11 meetings and if he is ever going to defeat him its going to be here. The Russian is very much on form at the moment where as Federer is not looking at his best and has struggled through matches on the dirt. He was broken three times in his match against Denis Gremelmayr which is far from impressive considering the German’s world ranking of 104.

 Davydenko’s game is suited to clay as he is machine like when hitting from the back of the court. Federer on the other hand has had trouble adjusting to the surface as shots that would be winners on hard courts are now coming back and as a result he is making too many un-forced errors.

I think this match could easily go to three sets as Federer will without a doubt raise his game but I favour the consistent Davydenko to win his 12th consecutive match.

Predicted winner :: Davydenko

Zit trouble for Federer

Roger Federer is currently sporting a rather large lump on the right side of his face which is spoiling the world number one’s smooth style. 

 

Here are some possible explanations for the spot. ::

1. A bee sting

2. A pimple

3. A skin infection

4. The result of girlfriend Mirka hitting him with her hand bag…

Whatever the reason at least we know that Fed is human after all. Today he reached the final of the Estoril Open in Portugal struggling past World number 104 Denis Gremelmayr 26 75 61 where he will play Nikolay Davydenko as I predicted.

To see more of Federer look here where I have reveiwed his current clothing.

Also click here to see a video of him playing Agassi age 17.

Or maybe you are more interested in assessing current British talent… James Ward, 21, is currently ranked 470 in the world and he will be blogging for this site on a weekly basis.

He is looking for sponsorship to help with travel costs as he travels around Europe trying to fulfill his dream of playing in the Davis Cup.

Click here for more information.

 

Davydenko forced to battle into Estoril Open Quarters

Nikolay Davydenko was involved in a very interesting match against Ivo Minar in the Estoril Open round of 16.

Clay court season is now upon us and there is no-one in better form than Davydenko who’s superior movement and baseline play ensures he as no trouble in adjusting to the dirt.

He got the job done here surprisingly in three sets 26 62 64 against the world number 72 and I felt that in 90 percent of the match he played well but in the other 10 percent he was a bit shaky. 

In the first set he was dominated by the hard hitting and serving of Minar and only won a pathetic 5 out of 21 points when receiving. When serving the Russian number one only won 50% of points which is another very poor statistic. A very ‘off’ set.

But predictably Minar was never going to be able to keep up this domination and Davydenko raised his game and played some excellent tennis from the back of the court in the second set as he began to take control of the match.

He then breezed into a 4-1 lead in the third set, a double break of serve and it looked as if he would cruise into the next round.

However Davydenko completely lost his way in the next three games, being broken twice by the plucky Minar and it was back to 4-4.

The Russian no longer had the ability to hit a first serve in the games he was broken and I think he showed a certain degree of mental weakness here when in such a commanding lead. This should not be happening to the number four player in the world.

Fortunately for Davydenko he is such a skilled player off the ground that he broke Minar in the next game and then had a much smoother service game to move in to the quarter finals.

 I find it weird how he seemed to switch on and off in this match and this wasn’t a brilliant performance however a world class player has the ability to win even when not playing his or her best and Davydenko certainly used that skill here.

He appeared to have particular problems on his second serve today with only 9 out of 28 points won and also 4 double faults.

This match displayed a slight dip in form however he still played some very good shots against Minar, who kept fighting even when two breaks down and nearly came back from the most unlikely situation.

Despite this below par performance I think Davydenko could advance into the final where he will surely play Federer who has no player of any note in his half. A potential tricky semi final against Giles Simon awaits the Russian however on his  current match winning form he can defeat anyone. If the ideal final takes place between the number one and two seed, Davydenko has the momentum to win his second title this year.

Blake pips Mathieu at the finishing line

If this match was horse race, James Blake would have been riding into the last two furlongs ten lengths behind the impressive Paul Henri Mathieu and punters would be counting their winnings.

But from out of nowhere the seemingly down and out horse, Blake decides to challenge Mathieu and drives forward with his ears pricked to force a photo finish.

In dramatic scenes the photo finish reveals Blake has won by a nose and everyone is thinking how on earth did that happen.

This Davis Cup match was fantastic. It was a classic topsy turvy encounter you would have expected from Henman at Wimbledon. The court was very fast and both players were hitting their groundstrokes as hard as possible.

Mathieu had looked impressive throughout the match, never letting his head drop even when going a set down and 2 sets to 1 down, and it was no surprise when in the final set at four games all he broke the tiring Blake and won the chance to serve for the match.

This is never an easy game for anyone in such a close encounter but Mathieu made it look easy as he went 40-15 up giving him two match points.

Mathieu then bangs in a first serve and I am thinking game over however my tip Blake has other ideas and returns with a powerful forhand. This point was incredible as Mathieu had a short forehand to win the game, but Blake somehow mustered up the energy to hook it back into play and eventually win the point.

Mathieu then hit another first serve on the second match point but again Blake hit the return twice as hard back at him, won the point and went on to break the Frenchman.

From then on I knew there was only going to be one winner, as mentally from having two match points on your own serve to being broken must have been devasting for Mathieu and Blake won the set 7-5.

I have never seen such a close match and people who say players are not bothered about Davis Cup because you can’t win ranking points are clearly wrong with this battle a prime example. You only had to look to the sidelines at Roddick up on his feet leading the support for Blake to see what this win meant to the Americans.

Final Score : Blake d Mathieu 76(5) 67(3) 63 36 75

My other tip Philipp Kohlschrieber won the first set against David Ferrer but then lost the next three in another below par performance. D Ferrer d P Kohlschrieber 67(3) 63 64 62

Check out more results at the Davis Cup website.

Match Tipping 11/04 Davis Cup

Indoor Hard Court – Best of 5 sets

Philipp Kohlschrieber GER (25) – David Ferrer ESP (5)

This match will be closely contested and I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw a five setter here. Both men have not been in the greatest form as of late and Kohlschrieber has a brilliant chance of using his shot making skills to cause a minor upset. The German is one of my favourite players on tour and the quick court will suit his attacking game. Ferrer will be hoping Kohlschrieber falls apart as he battles away from the back of the court. This could certainly happen as Kohlschrieber is not the most resilient player but if he is able to keep enough focus throughout the match he could trouble the rock solid defence of Ferrer.

Predicted winner :: Kohlschrieber

Indoor Hard Best of 5 sets

James Blake USA 8 – Paul Henri Mathieu FRA 12

James Blake is a very talented player who has impressed me with his recent performances. In his last two tournaments he has gone out at the hands of Nadal but he pushed the Spaniard all the way with his attacking play. Mathieu’s form hasn’t been as eye opening but he will be a threat to the American as he is solid off both wings. Their serves are similar however Blake hits harder groundstrokes which will cause problems for Mathieu particularly on the forehand side which is where he will make a few mistakes. Having the home crowd on his side should bring out the best in Blake and he should win here but it won’t be easy.

Predicted winner :: Blake

Underrated Davydenko shows his class

It seems strange to label the world number 4 as underrated but this is exactly the case of Nikolay Davydenko who displayed a level of tennis in the Sony Ericsson Open final I have not seen from him before to beat Nadal 64 62, and my only question is why do we not see this type of performance on a more regular basis…

At the start of this tournament I am 100 percent sure nobody would have chosen Davydenko to take his first title of the year and he has finally justified his ranking after many people including myself were wondering just how he is world #4. It now seems very strange that he went into his match against world #6 Andy Roddick, as an underdog.

It seems he is truly on fire at the moment and trying his very best to put the betting scandal, which has cast a dark cloud over his career, firmly behind him.

I tipped Nadal to win in a three set thriller considering the Russian’s poor record against the top three players, however this was not the case as Davydenko dominated the Spaniard in all areas. His serving, groundstrokes and movement were near perfect and you could have written a text book on his performance as he ran Nadal around the court.

The number 4 in the world, is the without a doubt in my opinion the least popular player in the top 10 and this picture of him on the practice court proves he is not much of a draw for spectators compared with others near him in the rankings.

Photo credit :: Matt Whitfield for tennisservedfresh

I’m sure though after winning in Miami ‘Davy’ will be hoping to have won over a few more fans because clearly after a showing like this he deserves them. 

Why does Davydenko not attract such as following compared with his other top ten associates?

One crazy theory that I have come across is that it is due to the fact he has no hair! This is of course rubbish as being bald did not harm Andre Agassi’s popularity.

Obviously the betting scandal did not help his case but I feel the main reason for his lack of fan base is due to the fact he does not have a big personality when compared with the arrogant (in a positive way) Roddick and the entertaining Djokovic.

Davydenko is an extremely hard working pro and does not crave the spot light as others do. A lot of fuss is made when he loses a match he is expected to win but this happens to all players. He is not the fourth best player in the world for nothing and I will certainly be taking more notice of this gifted player in the future.

 

Match Prediction 06/04 Sony Ericsson Open

Final

Nikolay Davydenko RUS (4) – Rafael Nadal ESP (2)

Davydenko has surprised many with his impressive performances in Miami. He started the tournament slowly, struggling past Bolelli and Gulbis but has since upped his game and chalked up big victories over Tipsarevic, Ancic and Roddick. The Russian has had some very varied results this year including straight sets loses against Llodra and Fish and as I have said previously you never know what you will get with the world number 4. He can really put in some horrible lackluster showings considering his high ranking. But he has been very much in the zone in this tournament and displayed pure domination from the baseline against Roddick. His serve is also looking much more impressive and won an impressive 34 out of 39 first serve points against the American. To trouble Nadal he will have to repeat these stats and deliver a very solid performance if he is to beat him here.

The Spaniard is on terrific form and is playing to a level I have not witnessed before, particularly on serve he has proved to be virtually unbreakable. I thought Blake would beat him however Nadal showed his class and fighting spirit to come back from a set down. Also he grinded out a win against Berdych who had not lost a set in the tournament. He has been quoted as saying he is playing to his full potential and I think Nadal at full potential can beat anyone.

However the hard courts probably suit Davydenko’s baseline play a bit more and providing he plays to his best ability, he could enjoy picking off Nadal’s high top spin shots. This match has a massive possiblity of going the distance and although Davydenko is bang on form and certainly has a chance I would be silly not to tip up Nadal to deliver yet another unbelievable performance and take the title.

Predicted Winner :: Nadal