I’m playing at Bournemouth on clay this week however rain stopped play today so its been quite boring hanging around. We were told that we can’t use the indoor courts at the club because they were members only! What a joke – I thought they were holding a tennis tournament here. We weren’t even allowed to use the gym even though it was half empty – only in England!
Wednesday 30th April
Its been raining again today which is very annoying. My match was moved to an indoor bubble hard court. This was interesting considering the tournament was meant to be on clay! However I played well and beat a Spanish qualifier 6/0 6/3 which was pleasing – a good start. Back at the club though i found out my room mate for the week had been knocked out first round which means that he will now leave and I’ll have to worry about forking out extra for my room! All these little factors mount up and you can take them on court as extra baggage… it’s not all plain sailing!
Thursday 1st May
It finally stopped raining so we were back on the clay. In my first match I played Daniel Cox and won 6/1 6/4. I started well and felt in control but perhaps relaxed a bit in the second set. Once off court I had a couple of hours to rest and eat before I had to play again in the quarter final against Conor Niland. I played well but lost 6/3 6/3. It was a tough match but I played aggressively and although I lost i was pleased with my performance. I have noted a few things that I need to improve on in the long term.
Friday 2nd May
I’m now back in London to train and work on the things that didn’t go so well for me in my match but at the same time I’m going to take the positives with me to Edinburgh next week!
Saturday 3rd May
I had another early morning practice to work on some things. I have just booked my flight to Edinburgh on Monday morning and now I have to work out how to pay for it! It’s not the best preparation to go the day before but I can’t afford the extra night before hand on the Sunday… the life of a struggling British tennis player!
We are pleased to announce that British number seven James Ward will now be blogging for The Tennis Centre as he travels around the world on his tennis journey.
Ward, 21, is currently ranked 470 in the world and joined the professional tour in 2007.
He moved to Spain with his family at age 16 in order to further his tennis career and joined the Juan Carlos Ferrero academy in Alicante.
He said: “Over the last 12 months i have jumped 500 places up the rankings having got into the top 1,000 a year ago.
“My father Jim, a taxi driver in North London, and mum Tina have given me a huge amount of support to achieve my dreams of breaking into the top 100 players in the world and representing Great Britain in the Davis Cup.
“However, the last year has been particularly difficult because my dad has had a brain tumour and been unable to work for long periods. I’m pleased to say he has recovered now but I do need some extra help.”
Despite James’ climb up the rankings finanaces are still tight and he is looking for a sponsor to help him with the final part of his journey.
“I am sponsored by Fila for clothing but I am looking for a company or a private individual who could contribute to the cost of travelling and playing in tournaments all around Europe.
“I would be happy to wear their logo on my shirt and shorts.”
It costs a minimum of £500 a week to compete at tournaments and any help would be greatly appreciated.
In my opinion this will be Federer’s best chance to beat Nadal on clay this season. The Spaniard came through against Djokovic in three as I predicted but was tested to the limit both mentally and physically. The three hour long match was fantastic with at least 10 points that could be included in the collection of ’amazing point’ videos on Youtube.
Nadal will definitely feeling the after effects of that match today and the Swiss master will be much fresher having cruised through every round. If Federer goes 4-0 ahead in a set like in the Monte Carlo final I very much doubt the Spaniard will perform the same sort of fight back. I really fancy the world number one here to reclaim his title here but this will be no walkover however and Federer will need to be on top of his game attacking the Spaniard’s backhand as much as possible. A three setter could be on the cards but Federer will prevail.
Federer has not been pushed in this tournament as yet and it is hard to see Seppi providing him with too much trouble here. The Italian looked very nervous a number of times during his quarter final clash with Kiefer yesterday and if the highly charged German could have kept his cool at the crucial times he would have advanced. Instead Kiefer lost focus moaning at the referee and line judges at balls that were clearly in.
To a certain extent I think that the German deserved a semi final place as he has played very well this week but he got lost in the moment. Fair play to Seppi for plugging along but against Federer he will not allowed a second chance and I think a routine straight sets win is on the cards here for the Swiss master.
Predicted Winner :: Federer
Novak Djokovic SRB (3) – Rafael Nadal ESP (2)
The biggest match of the year so far in my opinion. Can Djokovic reach number two in the world? I’m not so sure. Nadal will do everything possible to beat the Serb here to protect his ranking and I think he will pull a big performance out of the bag.
Djokovic is without question a better player on hard but on the dirt its a different story. The Spaniard is known as an unbelievable mover, particularly on clay and I can back this up having seen him training in Monte Carlo a couple of weeks ago. He is extraordinarily quick around the court and Djokovic will have to be at the top of his game. The Serb is yet to take a set of Nadal on clay but I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened here.
The player of the year so far is full of confidence and he will surely fancy his chances as Nadal possibly isn’t 100 percent after his second round exit last week, due to a blister on his foot. With Djokovic’ solid groundstrokes we are sure to see some long rallys and he will have to keep away from Nadal’s forehand wing as much as possible as it has been devastating in recent weeks.
I think this match will be close but Nadal will come through in three.
Richard Gasquet’s first round match in Rome was a spectacle for all the wrong reasons.
Firstly due to various rain delays throughout day there was hardly any people watching as they had all got fed up of waiting around.
There was literally three old men and a dog watching the clash between Horna and Gasquet which made for a deadly silent atmosphere which made it quite surreal when there was absoultely no reaction to good shots.
It was also interesting to hear what the players were actually saying when speaking to the umpire and when they got frustrated. This was particularly humourous in the Murray match later on for obvious reasons but thats another story.
Gasquet has had some bad results recently most notably losing to Sam Querrey where he was cruising at a set and a break up. I think he got complacent which allowed Querrey back into the match and then the Frenchman shattered into small pieces.
Gasquet was competitive in the first set against Horna with the Peruvian just sneaking it but the second was horrible. It was the worst set of tennis I have ever seen a professional play.
It took about 20 minutes with Gasquet giving no effort whatsoever. He hit so many wild shots and it was like watching a ten year old who couldn’t be bothered and didn’t want to be there. He won just 7 points on serve compared with 19 in the first set.
He has clearly hit rock bottom and it was not nice to see such a talented player deliver a performance like this and I hope that he sorts himself out in time for the French Open.
My tip Nadal won the Monte Carlo Masters last week beating Federer in straight sets. He gave chances to Federer however the Swiss master was unable to capitalise particularly in the second set where he was 4-0 up.
It was interesting to see Nadal not having the upper hand in the match on a few occasions for example when going a break down twice in the first set, but he broke back immediately each time and he showed when really needing a game he can turn on the style. I think Federer certainly has the game to trouble the Spaniard on this surface but he would need to play a near flawless match.
Ferrer is obviously a very different player when compared with Federer and I’m not sure his battling style of play is capable of beating Rafa. To beat Nadal you simply have to do more than just battle as he will battle just as hard. Ferrer doesnt really have the power or accuracy in his groundstrokes to trouble the World Number 2 and you can be sure there will be a few long rallys in this match.
The only similarity between Federer and Ferrer is that they were both a double break up against Nadal in the second set in their most recent matches and both times Nadal rallied back to win the respective sets 7-5. This shows Nadal’s level of grit and determination and if he is going to lose a set on this surface he will not let it pass easily.
It has to be noted that Nadal is in fact yet to lose a set this clay court season and the only thing that is ever going to stop him winning every match is physical condition.
However he is looking 100 percent here and I think I routine straight sets win is on the cards here.
Bolelli came back from the dead against Mathieu who is not on particularly good form at the moment. I have been waiting for Gonzalez to finally show some form and the time is now for the Chilean.
A short time a go I tipped Gonzalez to do well in the Sony Ericsson Open and said:
“Fernando Gonzalez did not make the most of his draw losing in two tight sets to Canas so I will be kept waiting for the Chilean to hit the form in which he is virtually an unstoppable force and it just a matter of time before he gets back into the top ten.”
Well I think Gonzalez will be able to win his first title of the season here as he has looked quite comfortable on the clay this week. Bolelli has shown in recent performances that he is no mug but the quality of the ‘Gonzo’ serve and forehand coupled with his experience should be the telling factors in this match but don’t be surprised if this goes to three sets.
