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Was Sinner spooked by Alcaraz?

Is this the best Alcaraz has ever played? Yes, he said it himself and this is certainly the best he has played against Jannik Sinner. After the chaos caused by the arrival of Donald Trump, the match eventually started an hour later than the scheduled start time. Alcaraz broke Sinner in the very first game and completely dismantled him to win the set 6-2 in under an hour. The Italian had absolutely no answer to anything that Alcaraz was throwing at him. It wasn't the usual stuff though. There was no trickery from Alcaraz or hardly any sprinkling of stardust. Alcaraz rocked up and decided to play like his opponent, being very stingy and patient with rallies. Alcaraz was prepared to be boring and Sinner got destroyed at his own game in the first hour. The Spaniard had a blip in the second set, like he often does and went 3-0 down which resulted in him losing the set 6-3. In a funny way, it looked like Sinner was trying to impersonate Alcaraz when he was riling up the crowd and frequen...
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Novak Djokovic and his craving for love

After 20 years of professional tennis, 94 ATP titles including 38 Masters 1000 wins, a record 389 weeks as the World number 1, and a staggering 23 Grand Slams later, Novak Djokovic has won every possible thing on the ATP tour multiple times. He has earned more money than anyone else in Tennis and has a lovely family to support him yet one thing evades him every single day of the life when he steps on the court on the grandest of stages. Tennis can make you feel lonely when things are not going your way. There is no hiding space and the player has to face everything all on his own. Sometimes it's the antipathy within the crowd, sometimes the overwhelming support for the home favorite, and more often than not it is the underdog who gets all the cheering from the crowd. It is probably a combination and culmination of all these things over so many years in the case of Novak Djokovic.  It would not be fanciful to say that the Serbian has gotten used to not just playing against the oppon...
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The crown jewel of women's tennis

   The 23 year old has achieved a lot in the last 12 months. She has only won 4 titles on tour out of which 1 is a grand slam and 1 is a masters title. After winning her first tour title in Bucharest and making it to several finals in the next 12 months, she reached Wimbledon final last year and came back from one set down  year against the favourite Ons Jabour. Then about 6 months later, she was playing her second grand slam final in Australia against Aryna Sablenka. She would go on to lose that thrilling match after being one set up. Elena has now won her first masters title and looks like a trailblazer on tour.      Just a tiny fist pump and a cheeky little smile towards her own box, that was all that she had to offer to the cameras after winning the in Indian Wells Masters. Maybe it's the lazy elegance on her forehand, the nonchalant speed of the backhand or the tremendous power on the serve, but there's something about Elena Rybakina that you just like...
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A Daniil Medvedev lockdown in Dubai..

He beat Novak for a grand slam in New York a couple of year ago followed by a nail biter in Paris. He stretched Novak to three sets in the ATP Finals last year and he was the better player when he had to retire at one set all in Paris a few months back. Is it just a coincidence that Daniil Medvedev happens to play his best against probably the most complete player in tennis history or is there something in this matchup that makes Novak uncomfortable? A 5-9 losing record against Novak Djokovic is in fact very impressive and I think the Russian's ability to drag Novak out of his comfort zone is probably the biggest factor in this very balanced rivalry. What we saw in Dubai was an absolute masterclass from a vintage Daniil Medvedev against the best player in the world who had looked unbeatable since the start of 2023. A couple of early breaks in the first set meant that even a break of Medvedev's serve couldn't help Djokovic save the first set as he lost that one 4-6. The Serb...
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A classic Djokovic lockdown!

    Novak Djokovic graced a jam packed Rod Laver Arena to a robust applause from his adoring Serbian contingent on yet another second sunday and produced a near perfect match of tennis, one which Stefanos Tsitsipas just couldn’t stand up against. Tsitsipas was playing good level of tennis coming into this match and Novak looked almost unbeatable having dropped only one set in the entire tournament. It was always going to be a huge mountain to climb for Tsitsipas but one thing he couldn’t afford was a shaky start and it was anything but that. Tsitsipas was making way too many errors in the first set which didn’t help him and lost serve fairly early in the match. Novak gave nothing away on his serve and closed out the opening set in less than 40 minutes. The greek looked better in the 2nd set and managed to hold onto his serve throughout the set but was very inconsistent in the breaker. He made as many as three forehand errors in the breaker to hand Djokovic the set, who in all ...
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It was nasty and valiant!

        The point to break Kokkinakis’s serve at 0-2 down in the third set really summed up Andy Murray’s entire career. He probably isn’t the most naturally talented player but he has made most of what god gave him. Always hanging onto whatever he could, Murray found a way to win tennis matches in his career more often than not. 2 sets & 2-5 down against the home favourite and any 35 year old, not named Federer, Nadal or Djokovic, would have doubted himself. If Murray hadn’t broken Thanasi’s serve in the match up until that point, I don’t think he would have believed in himself but Murray always breaks, doesn’t he? Only twice have there been matches in majors where Murray has failed to break serve, both at Wimbledon, first against Roger Federer in 2012 and second as recently as last year against John Isner. With just won the game away from the defeat, Murray was supposed to have very little business in winning that set, let alone the match. What we saw over the ...
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A Sportsman that God created on a Sunday..

Manchester 15-09-2022 To Roger,          I will not ask 'why' because everyone knows it was inevitable. Many thought you might give it another shot at a slam, preferably at Wimbledon. I personally believed that you will play Laver Cup for the reunion and then hang up your boots in Basel where you have loved to entertain the adoring home fan base over the years. But then, the knee started to cause problems once again and you chose 15th September to be the day to call it. I have always wished an endless career for you and I still pray to god for a fitter Roger Federer but I know that it is the avid fan inside me that keeps on thinking about the impractical. Now that you've announced the retirement and I retrospect on the stupid wish, I understand that it was becoming just too much for you in the last 12 months. The knee had taken its toll over the years and it just could not take anymore. You always made the right decisions, whether it was playing...
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