Djokovic Broke Nadal's Winning Streak At Monte Carlo

At last Djokovic has done it.  He has done that work which no one could do for last 8 years.  He beat eight time defending champion Rafael Nadal for the first time at Monte Carlo Country Club in last 9 years.  He beat his old rival in straight sets.  And with this victory he improved his record to 19-15 against Nadal all time and 12-3 on dust.  He has also become the only man who beat Nadal in final of clay event three times.  Previously he was tied with Roger Federer, who also beat Nadal in two clay court finals.
 

His path to this incredible victory was not so easy.  He also reached in the finals of Monte Carlo in 2009 and 2012 where he was defeated by Nadal.  He won against Nadal in third attempt and second in a row.  Djokovic's participation in this event was uncertain in the start due to some injury, but he participated and showed a slow start.  In his first two matches Djokovic was far away from his best.  But as time passed he continued to get better and better.  In quarter finals and semi finals he showed a good tennis and gave message to the tennis world that he will the man to beat on dust also.  He beat Fognini in semi finals by losing  just 3 games and without facing the break point in the whole match.  That was a clear massage to king of clay that Nole of 2011 has come back.  And he proved that at Monte Carlo 2013.
He beat Nadal by 62 76(1).  The whole match has seen many twists and turns.  In the start Djokovic served first and hold the serve pretty easily and after that he started to strengthen his grip on the match.  He broke Nadal and immediately got 3-0 lead.  But that was not a finish line, he broke Nadal again and he flies to get 5-0 lead.  At this time everyone was thinking that it would be a love set.  But Nadal hold the serve in very next game to get respectability and get himself on scoreboard at 6-1.  After that he broke Djokovic's serve and get scoreboard to 6-2 which tennis fans thought could be come back moment for Nadal  but that moment was short lived.  Because Djokovic broke Nadal again in very next game to take the opening set by 6-2.
In the second set, tennis fans were waiting impatiently for Nadal's comeback.  Djokovic again served first and hold the serve to get 1-0 lead.  In the second game Nadal also hold the serve to level 1-1.  In the third game Djokovic again hold his seve to get 2-1 lead.  Nadal again level the set by 2-2.  In next game Djokovic faced huge test because Nadal raised the level of his game and broke Nole to get 3-2 lead and immediately consolidated the break to get handsome 4-2 lead.  Nole did not lose heart and hold his serve to love to get scoreboard to 3-4.  In the very next game Djokovic broke back to level the match at 4-4.  And hold the serve to get 5-4 lead again.  Nadal again displayed an epic tennis and hold his serve to get himself at 5-5 and then he broke to get 6-5 lead.  That was considered as turning point of the match because if he was able to to get the match in the deciding set, the match would be in his pocket.  He was seving for the second set, but Djokovic had other things in his mind, he was a deternmined man.  He broke Nadal to take the set into the tie break.
After this Nadal looked exhausted because Djokovic took that tie break by 7-1 and sealed the victory in a very special way.

Best Returners In 2013 So Far

The best returner in the game of tennis is the athlete who returns those balls in the court and make the point playable, which is looking impossible to return.  The athlete who is best returner should possess the quality of breaking anyone's serve especially when it matters.  In 2013 season, here are given top returners in the tennis game.  In my previour articles i discussed best servers in 2013.  Let us now assess best returners in ascending order.

8) Jo Wilfried Tsonga:

The French veteran Tsonga is last in the top eight because he could not give good performance on return as he performed with his serve.  In 2013 Tsonga won 28% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 46% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 110 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 45% of break points.  He played 241 return games in total so far.  And won 20% of them.  He won 35% of the points which he played on return game in total.

7) Juan Martin Del Potro:

Juan Martin displayed a good tennis with his serve.  But his defeciency in return game is still there as compared to other elite players.  Anyhow, he won 30% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 53% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 151 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 40% of break points.  He played 251 return games in total so far.  And won 24% of them.  He won 39% of the points which he played on return game in total.

6) Roger Federer:

Roger Federer is considered as best servers in history of the game.  His return game clicks in a match very well, when it really matters.  This season his return game was not so impressive.  Anyhow he fulfills this defeciency with precise and good serve.  He won 31% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 51% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 152 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 37% of break points.  He played 222 return games in total so far.  And won 25% of them.  He won 39% of the points which he played on return game in total.

5) Rafael Nadal:

Rafael Nadal is probably one the best returners in the game of tennis.  He boost up his career with high level return game.  This season, he was at top of server in my last article.  He won 33% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 55% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 151 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 42% of break points.  He played 190 return games in total so far.  And won 33% of them.  He won 42% of the points which he played on return game in total.

4) Tomas Berdych:

Tomas Berdych is no 4 in the list because he is playing best tennis than ever.  And stats show this.  He won 32% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 57% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 181 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 45% of break points.  He played 292 return games in total so far.  And won 28% of them.  He won 41% of the points which he played on return game in total.

3) Novak Djokovic:

Novak Djokovic is top player in the world and there is a reason behind it.  He has mental toughness, huge serve and excellent return game.  All these things make an athlete a true champion.  Novak Djokovic won 34% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 57% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 179 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 47% of break points.  He played 245 return games in total so far.  And won 34% of them.  He won 43% of the points which he played on return game in total.

2) Andy Murray:

Andy Murray was last in top eight servers in 2013, but he made up that defeciency with his return game and won two titles and was runner in OZ open 2013.  He  won 35% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 57% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 200 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 49% of break points.  He played 268 return games in total so far.  And won 36% of them.  He won 44% of the points which he played on return game in total.

1) David Ferrer:

Here comes no 1 returner of 2013.  He is non other than David Ferrer.  He won two titles so far.  He was runner up Miami despite of getting championship point( unfortunate).  But he is displaying great skills on his return game.  He  won 37% of the points that he returned on the first serve.  He won 57% of the points on 2nd serve return.  He had 282 break point opportunities out of which he was able to convert 48% of break points.  He played 329 return games in total so far.  And won 41% of them.  He won 46% of the points which he played on return game in total.

Best Servers Of 2013 So Far

The best server athlete is one who not only fires aces, but also wins most important points especially when it matters.  The following are top eight servers in 2013.  These positions are given purely on the basis of statistics.  Here are these big servers. 

8) Andy Murray:

Andy Murray has a pretty good season so far.  He has won at Brisbane and Miami.  He was also runner up in Australian open 2013.  In 2013 he fired 161 aces, committed 53 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 62%, out of which he won 75% points.  He won only 48% of points on his second serve.  Due to which he faced 129 break points so far, out of which he saved 65% of break points.  He played total of 266 service games, out of which he won 83% of service games.  He won 69% of total service points he played in 2013 so far.  Murray’s weak portion of serve was his weak second serve and many double faults, as compared to other top players. 

7) David Ferrer:

David Ferrer is displaying a good tennis with increasing age interestingly.  He has given no 7 position because of his grinding hard work on his service points.  He fights for each and every point.  Although Ferrer is not a big server yet he has 82 aces in 2013 so far.  His double faults are little behind Murray 51.  His first serve percentage is 64%, out of which he won 70% of points.  He also did hard work on his second serve point and won 52% of second serve points.  He faced 179 break points and saved 59% of them.  He played most of 350 service games and he won 79% of these service games.  Also he won 63% of total points on his serve.  He has won two titles and was runner up at Miami in 2013 so far. 

6) Juan Martin Del Potro:

Juan Martin Del Potro has huge serve due to his great height.  He is also improving day by day.  He won Rotterdam and was runner up at Indian Wells masters in 2013.  In 2013 he fired 156 aces, committed 39 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 65%, out of which he won 75% points.  He also won 55% of his second serve points.  He faced 103 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 72% of break points.  He played total of 249 service games, and won 88% of them.  He won total of 68% service points that he played. 

5) Jo Wilfried Tsonga:

Tsonga the French veteran could not perform well this year.  But he tried to maintain his good serve in 2013.  He fired 174 aces, committed 37 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 63%, out of which he won 76% points.  He also won 53% of his second serve points.  He faced 102 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 74% of break points.  He played total of 240 service games, and won 89% of them.  He won total of 68% service points that he played.

4) Roger Federer:

Federer is facing problems this season so far.  He could not qualify for a final in even a single tournament so far.  However he displayed good serve as compared to other player in era.  .  He fired 109 aces, committed 36 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 63%, out of which he won 78% points.  He also won 53% of his second serve points.  He faced only 77 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 66% of break points.  He played total of 226 service games, and won 88% of them.  He won total of 69% service points that he played.

3) Tomas Berdych:

Tomas Berdych is also improving this year.  He defeated Federer in Dubai by saving two match points.  He was runner up in Dubai and also performed well in Indian wells and Miami.  The big serving Czech fired 186 aces, committed 52 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 59%, out of which he won 78% points.  He also won 54% of his second serve points.  He faced only 136 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 71% of break points.  He played total of 299 service games, and won 87% of them.  He won total of 68% service points that he played.

2) Novak Djokovic:

Novak Djokovic is currently ranked no 1 and he finished 2012 as top player in the world.  Now he is in good position to maintain no ranking for coming few months at least.  He won Australian open 4^th time in his career this year.  The Serbian ace fired 117 aces, committed 32 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 64%, out of which he won 77% points.  He also won 60% of his second serve points.  He faced only 81 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 68% of break points.  He played total of 252 service games, and won 90% of them.  He won total of 71% service points that he played.

1) Rafael Nadal:

Rafael Nadal has come back in action this year after eight months rest.  He is performing very well this season.  He won three titles in 2013.  He won at Indian Wells by beating Federer and Berdych.  He is not a big server, he don’t fire big aces as other players but he plays each and every point with great courage.  He has huge heart.  Therefore he lost least service games this year so far.  He fired 48 aces, committed 32 double faults.  His first serve percentage was 68%, out of which he won 75% points.  He also won 56% of his second serve points.  He faced only 61 break points in 2013 so far, out of which he saved 72% of break points.  He played total of 195 service games, and won 91% of them.  He won total of 69% service points that he played.

Why Rafael Nadal Is “King Of Clay”

Rafael Nadal is back in action on tour after shocking 2^nd round exit against Lukas Rosol.  He remained away from the court for plenty of months.  He came back and participated in three clay court events.  He won two clay title one 250 and other 500 level by beating David Ferrer.  His come back has given tennis a new life, because tennis courts were looking very dull without him.  Now he made a strong comeback and won Indian Wells master by beating Federer and Del Potro.  His successful comeback is a huge good news for tennis world especially Nadal’s fans.  Everyone who is attached to tennis by any mean knows that Nadal is king of clay and he is man to beat on clay.  This is not only the phrase but the stats on Nadal on clay speak themselves.  He is unbeatable there, he won 38 titles on clay.  His has 255-9 record on clay, amazing record that is.  It means that he played 264 matches on clay and lost only 9 matches, after his debut on tour in 2002.  Lets take a brief look at his amazing stats on clay. 

Frech Open:

Since Nadal participated in Frech open 2005, he lost only one time there in 2009 to Robin Soderling.  He has 52-1 record at French open.  It means that French open belongs to Rafael Nadal.  He will be again man to beat there in 2013.  He won record 7 French open titles breaking Borg record of 6 French open title.  In 2012 he became only man in tennis history who won French open 7 times.  Amazing record that is.  He is only 26 and hungry for more titles.  So won most of matches in French open in straight sets.  The only man who could take him to five sets after Soderling was John Isner in 2011. I think he will collect at least 10 French open title if he continue to perform like this.  Moreover he never lost a best of five sets match on clay outside French open.  And most of his wins are in straight sets. 

Masters 1000 Tournaments:

Rafael Nadal has an amazing record in masters 1000 titles played on clay courts.  He has appeared in 20 masters 1000 finals on clay tournaments.  Out of which he won 16 finals.  He lost only to Roger Federer twice at Hamburg and at Madrid in 2009.  He also lost twice to Djokovic in 2011 at Madrid and Rome finals.  No other man could catch Nadal on clay courts masters 1000 events.  He won Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 8 straight years and this streak is still alive.  He also won Rome in 2012.  He would surely won at Madrid if it were to play on red clay.  That event was played on controversial blue clay.  Where he was defeated by Fernando Verdesco.  He lost only this match on clay last season.  Now he will appear in Monte Carlo with 42 match winning streak.  No one was able to beat him on this slow surface since last 8 years.  Amazing! 

Other Clay Events:

Rafael Nadal never lost a Davis cup match played on clay.  And he is backbone of Spanish team in Davis cup.  Also Nadal has a 34 match winning streak at Barcelona and 32 match winning streak in straight sets.  He never lost in Barcelona for last 6 years.  Another amazing fact is that he never lost in April since 2005.  He has 77 match winning streak on tour in April.  Recently he lost in Brazil open final.  That was his only 5^th defeat in any clay court tournament final after Djokovic and Federer.  Also he is the only man who has won two titles 7 or more times(French and Monte Carlo).  He has also won at least two clay court titles since 2005.  I don’t think anyone can match Nadal’s records.  All these brief stats show that why Nadal in named as king of clay.  He will be man to beat on clay again.  Djokovic and Murray are the players who can stop him, but if he shows that level he had shown in previous years, no one will be able to touch him this year also.  I think he will again win at least three more clay court titles this year again( he has already two clay titles in his bag).  But this is just the beginning.

Andy Murray Wins Second Miami Masters

Andy Murray won Miami masters title for the second time in his career despite facing a match point against committed David Ferrer.  David Ferrer was pretty much disappointed because when he had match point there was a long rally, which David Ferrer stopped and challenged.  But that challenge proved as beginning of the end of David Ferrer.  Because the ball of Murray catches the baseline.  And Murray won the match in third set tie break.  Another good news for Murray is that he is now raised to no 2 in Emirates Atp ranking this Monday, overtaking the declining Federer.  He raised to no 2 spot for the first time since 2009, when he remained at no 2 for four weeks only.  Now he will try to catch Djokovic.    

There were a lot of twists and turns in this match.  This match was the second longest final in Masters 1000 three sets history.  This match continued about 2 hours and 46 minutes.  Before that the match between Djokovic and Nadal was about three and half hours.  Epic match that was.  Moreover this is the first match in Miami masters history that a player won the title by saving match point in the final.  Also Murray won semi final and final when he was a set down for the first time in his career.  This is his second title of the season, after winning at Brisbane.  And this is Murray’s first masters 1000 title after winning at Shanghai 2012 by beating the same man.  Murray beat David Ferrer  2-6 6-4 6-7(1). 

In the first set David Ferrer got an early break and lead by 2-0.  He continued his dominance in this set and took that set by 6-2.  In this set Murray committed 19 unforced errors and plenty of double faults.  In the second set Murray regroup as every champion do, and hold his serve pretty well and took the set by a break by 6-4.  In the third set the situation became more and more tense when both of players struggled to hold serves.  They exchanged the breaks of serves until they were at 3-3.  At last David Ferrer broke the ice and hold serve and lead 4-3 in the set.  Murray also raised the level of his game and took the next two games.  David Ferrer again came back and lead by 6-5 in the deciding set.  In this game David Ferrer had a match point but his challenge proved a huge bad luck for him, because by losing that challenge he lost the match.  Murray took the set in the tie break and took that tie break by 7-1.  With this victory Andy Murray is now 7-5 head to head against Ferrer.

Andy Murray And David Ferrer Will Collide For Miami Title

The no 2 seed british no 1 Andy Murray and Spanish no 2 David Ferrer will compete each other for the second masters 1000 event of 2013 season.  Andy Murray was runner up to Djokovic here last year.  Now he has again qualified for the final in second straight year.  But this time he has to face his old foe David Ferrer.  In the semis Andy Murray beat Richard Gasquet in an epic match despite losing the opening set.  He defeated Gasquet by 6-7(3) 6-1 6-2.  In this match both men were struggling with their serves therefore there were 10 breaks of serve in 2 hours battle.  Murray broke Gasquet seven time whereas Gasquet broke Murray three times in the match.  After winning first set in the tie break Gasquet lost his concentration completely because Murray raised the level of his game.  He won next two set by double break and hold his serve more efficiently than the first set.  He again showed why he is an elite player. 

In the other semi final David Ferrer beat Tommy Haas.  In this match Ferrer also came from a set down as Murray did.  He beat Tommy Haas by 4-6 6-2 6-3.  David Ferrer fired 7 aces despite of his small height.  He is not a big server but he showed that he is capable of some huge serves.  Although his first serve %age was not so good.  He make good use of important points of the match and sealed the victory in two hours and two minutes.  After this victory Ferrer is now 3-0 head to head against Tommy Haas.  Haas had a good chance to make it 2-1 but he could not jump upon the opportunities despite winning first set.  But overall he displayed a good tennis in the tournament.

Andy Murray leads head to head series by minor 6-5.  They are 1-1 in their last two meetings.  In which Ferrer downed Murray at 2012 French open and Murray beat Ferrer at Wimbledon quarterfinals.  Both of these meetings were on non hard surfaces.  Andy Murray leads 2-0 in their last two hard court meetings.  In Shanghai 2011 and at Australian open 2011 semi finals.  In this way we can say that Murray will prevail but anything can happen in tennis match because both opponents have to start form 0.

Djokovic, Murray And Ferrer Face Tougher Test At Miami 4th Round

The world no 1 Navak Djokovic, no 2 seed Andy Murray and no 3 seed David Ferrer will be in action on tuesday at Sony Ericson Open 4th round.  This time they have to face the tests which are tougher to some extent as compared to the previous rounds.
First of all David Ferrer will take court against Asian no 1 Kei Nishikori.  David Ferrer and Nishikori are tied at 2-2 head to head at atp world tour.  Both met two times in grand slams, their first meeting was at Australian open where Ferrer prevailed, the other meeting was at US open where Nishikori won in epic five setter.  The other two meeting were at London Olympics where Nishikori won and other meeting was at Tokyo where Ferrer won.  So overall both of these guys have pretty much even record.  So no solid prediction can be given about this match.  I think no one will take risk to bet against Nishikori because he has ability to come on the top at any stage.

After that Murray will be in action against Italian Andreas Seppi.  Andy Murray leads head to head against Seppi by 4-1.  His only defeat by the hands of seppi was in 2006 Notingham open in three sets.  After that all the meetings were one sided in which Murray won in straight sets.  Their latest meeting was at Rome in 2010 where Murray won by 6-2 6-4.  In this match Murray have to avoid those mistakes that he committed in previous match because Seppi is the man who always jumps upon the opportunities.  If he gives any chance to Seppi as he gave to Dimitrov then he has to pay the price.
In the night session Djokovic will lead the show, when he will take on against Tommy Haas.  Tommy Haas got the Atp award of most improved player last year.  In his compaign last he was the only man in 2012 who beat Federer on grass court at Gerry Weber open.  Djokovic leads head to head against Haas by 6-2.  Tommy Haas beat Djokovic twice in 2009 Wimbledon and at 2009 Gerry weber open.  Both events were on grass, and at that time Djokovic was not the same man as he is now.  All meetings on other surfaces were won by Djokovic.  Their most recent meeting is in 2013 Hopesman cup in which Djokovic thrashed Haas by 6-2 6-0.  In today's match same thing is expected but in tennis any thing can happen because both players have to start from 0.

The other matches of the day include Gasquet vs Almagro, Tsonga vs Cilic and Berdych vs Querry.

Djokovic And Del Potro Will Take Court At Miami

On Friday 22 march 2013, the top players in the top half of the draw will be in action in Miami.  At first David Ferrer will get in action against qualifier Dmitry Tursunov.  This is their first meeting in the career.  David Ferrer has most wins in 2013 season so far.  He has a 21-4 record in 2013 season.  He is one of most busiest athelete on tour.  He has won 2 titles this season.  He was semi finalist here in 2005 and 2006.  Unfortunately he has to suffer a defeat by the hands of Kevin Anderson in 2nd round of Indian wells masters last week.  But his overall record is good in this season.  His opponent is not a stranger in Miami.  He has reached to 4th round of this tournament in 2006 and 2008.  So he is familiar to these courts.  Therefore he will not so easy to handle by Ferrer, who in shock of last week defeat.
Secondly, Juan Martin Del Potro will take court against Kamke.  Del Potro is playing good tennis this season so far.  He has won a title and has 16-4 record so far.  At this tournament he 13-5 record.  He was semi finalist here in 2009, where he lost to Andy Murray that time.  Del Potro undoubtedly played a high level tennis last week.  If he plays at the same level, he will surely cruise into the next round without any trouble.  Because Kamke has qualified for this tournament.  And he has 1-5 record in the tournaments of Masters 1000 level.  Therefore it is difficult to believe that he can create problems for del Potro.
In the night world no 1 Novak Djokovic will play against Lukas Rosol.  Novak Djokovic is bidding for his third straight title here.  He has won this title three times in his career and won two title in 2011 and 2012 in a row.  He was defeated by del Potro at Indian Wells.  He is 24-4 at this tournament.  Lukas Rosol is not stranger to the tennis world.  He reached in the 2nd round by beating Muller by 7-5 6-4.  In this match he served 14 aces and saved 7 break points that he faced.  This is their first meeting on tour.  Lukas made the headline by beating Rafael Nadal in five sets in 2nd round of Wimbledon 2012, which shows that he is tricky player and he can create difficulties for Djokovic.