Jan 27, 2016 | Australian Open, Grand Slam, Serena Williams, WTA
The excitement at the Australian Open is hotting up as we reach the Semi Final stage. The first in the Women’s Singles will see defending champion and top seed Serena Williams taking on Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, whilst the second sees unseeded Australian born Brit Johanna Konta take on German seventh seed Angelique Kerber. Here is a look at the four women hoping to book a place in the Final. Serena Williams came into the tournament nursing injuries and with huge concerns over her fitness. Any fears she may have had will be completely gone now after dominating all five of her opponents to reach the last four without dropping a single set. The six-time champion will be most people’s tip to lift the title again, and looks like she is playing better with every match that passes. Agnieszka Radwanska will be playing in the Semi Finals for the second time in her career, after reaching the same stage in 2014. She has only dropped one set during the tournament so far, the first of her fourth round match, but has looked comfortable in the remainder of her matches. She easily brushed aside tenth seed Carla Suarez-Navarro in the Quarter Final and comes into the last four looking in great form. Johanna Konta beat Shuai Zhang in straight sets to become the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam Semi Final since Jo Durie in 1983. The 24-year-old, ranked 47th in the WTA, started the tournament with a straight sets win over eighth seed Venus Williams and has gone from strength to strength since then. She is...
Jan 21, 2016 | Australian Open, Grand Slam
Australian Open – Round Two Round Up After a first round that saw high profile exits in both the men’s and women’s singles, the top seeds were even more determined than ever to keep their Australian Open dreams alive as the tournament entered round two. Men’s Singles Rafael Nadal was the biggest name of the five seeds to fall at the first hurdle but there were no such surprises in the second round. The top four seeds of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka all booked their places in round three with straight sets victories. The only two seeded players to be knocked out in this round were Jack Sock (#25) and Jeremy Chardy (#30) who realistically weren’t tipped to become Australian Open champion anyway. Fernando Verdasco, conqueror of Nadal in round one, exited the tournament with a whimper as he lost to Israeli Dudi Sela. In fact, of the five players that knocked out seeds in the first round, only Federico Delbonis has made it through to the third round and will take on 14th seed Gilles Simon. The big story on day four of the Australian Open for home fans was former world number one Lleyton Hewitt calling time on his career after a straight sets defeat to eighth seed David Ferrer. The 2005 Finalist fought valiantly until the end but the Spaniard finally got the victory to call game, set and match on a long and successful career for the Australian. Women’s Singles After the first round exits of second seed Simona Halep and eighth seed Venus Williams, as well as the other...
Jan 19, 2016 | Australian Open, Grand Slam
The first round of the first Grand Slam tournament of 2016 is over and for some, their Australian Open dream is gone for at least another year. For others though, it is only just beginning and the excitement is starting to build. Men’s Singles The top four seeds in the men’s singles all came through easily, three of them in straight sets and one thanks to his opponent retiring. Defending champion Novak Djokovic and second seed Andy Murray both beat players tipped as future number one’s in the game, disposing of Hyeon Chung and Alexander Zverev respectively. Roger Federer looked at the top of his game as he made light work of Nikoloz Basilashvili and Stan Wawrinka was cruising at two sets to nil before his opponent called it a day with an injury. Five of the 32 seeded men saw their Australian Open over after one match, with the highest being fifth seed Rafael Nadal. The Spanish former world number one was beaten in a five set thriller by compatriot Fernando Verdasco and says farewell to his title chances for this year. The other seeded men out of the tournament are Kevin Anderson (#11) who was forced to retire, Benoit Paire (#17) who was beaten in three tie break sets by Noah Rubin, Fabio Fognini (#20) also losing in a match where every set went to a tie break and Ivo Karlovic (#22) who was 2-0 down before retiring injured. One of the biggest feel good moments of the first round for Australian fans was home favourite Lleyton Hewitt, the former world number one and 2005 Finalist, making...
Jan 4, 2016 | Andy Murray, Australian Open
Andy Murray has reached the final of the Australian Open four times in his career, but has still never lifted the title. Defeat to Roger Federer in 2010 has been followed by three defeats in the championship match to Novak Djokovic in 2011, 2013 and last year. Will 2016 finally be the year that Murray can win this illusive title or will he remain forever the bridesmaid and never the bride down under? A successful 2015 saw Murray climb to number two in the ATP rankings behind Djokovic, after winning four calendar titles and he also starred for Great Britain in their first Davis Cup triumph for 79 years. Murray was also a beaten finalist in another three tournaments, losing all of them to Djokovic, whilst reaching at least the Semi Final in three of the four Grand Slam events. For all of the good form Murray showed last year, he still seems to fall short against the best players in the game. A 0-2 record against Federer and a 1-6 against Djokovic shows that he may have a psychological disadvantage against those two, which effects his chances of winning the major tournaments. This year he will hope to overcome those disadvantages though and let his off court happiness put him in a better frame of mind ahead of the big games. Marriage and impending fatherhood have obviously given Murray a boost in life that has shown on court and he will be hoping to continue his rise in 2016. His main aim is to dislodge Djokovic at the top of the rankings, starting with what he hopes will...
Dec 29, 2015 | Uncategorized
Rising ATP stars to watch in 2016 Coming into a new tennis season, all the talk is about the top players such as Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray. The players that are tipped to win everything and stand tall at the top of the rankings come the end of the year. There are a few rising stars on the ATP tour at the moment though, with 2016 promising to be an exciting year for them. Here are the top three rising stars to watch for the upcoming season. Elias Ymer The 19-year-old Swede became the first teenager to qualify for all four grand slam tournaments in 2015, losing in the first round of all of them but showing enough talent to be tipped as a future star. Currently ranked 132 in the ATP world rankings, he will be determined to qualify for as many tournaments as possible in 2016 and give that ranking a massive boost. Hyeon Chung The South Korean, ranked 75 in the ATP rankings, has been dominating futures and challenger tournaments and is now starting to make an impact on the pro circuit. The 19-year-old showed his potential in the US Open in 2015 against world number 4 Stan Wawrinka, with the Swiss player needing three tie break sets to win their second round encounter. Many people are tipping Chung as a future grand slam winner and most believe that 2016 will be the year he starts to show just how good he really is by rising up the rankings. Borna Coric Coric is an extremely talented 18-year-old rising star that is tipped as the future...
