Nadal And Ferrer Will Clash In All Spanish French Open Final

The King of clay and seven tmes champion Rafael Nadal had faced ultimate test against Djokovic in the semi finals.  But now he has to beat his fellow spaniard and Davis cup team's member clay court specialist David Ferrer.  David Ferrer is a great tennis machine especially on clay courts.  He has shown an impressive performance at this tournament this year.  He beat home favourite Tsonga in straight sets to reach his first ever grand slam final.  But in this final he has to face a man who had suffered only one loss in his ninth appearance.  He is 58-1 at this tournament.  Ferrer has to show an epic display to beat an ubeatable man.  He has to continue his great performance as he has done in previous rounds.

Ferrer And Nadal Shaking Hands After French Open 2012 Semi Final

Their track record shows Nadal as heavy favourite to win this title.  Because Nadal leads Ferrer by 20-3 head to head.  With Ferrer got his three victories on hard courts.  He trails Nadal by 16-0 on clay courts encounters.  His all matches on clay against Nadal were interesting to see.  Because most of matches were close.  Their previous meeting was at Rome 2013 in which Nadal won in three sets by 6-4 4-6 6-2.  At French Open they met last year at semi final stage in which Nadal outlast Ferrer by 7-5 6-2 6-0.

David Ferrer has ability to beat Nadal.  But for this he has to get rid of thought that he is facing a man against which he never won on clay.  He has to start the battle by thinking that he is playing a man who is one of those to whome he beat in previous rounds.  For Nadal it will not be as easy match as it is expected by tennis world because Ferrer is also man to beat at this tournament.  And Ferrer showed this against Tsonga. So Ferrer can pull a huge upset of French Open history and can win  a much deserved maiden grand slam of his career.

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.

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.

Questions About Federer’s Future In 2013

The world no 2 Roger Federer is not playing at Miami masters 2013 due to limited tournament schedule of 2013.  He lessened the tournament of schedule to take more rest in order to give more impressive performance in 2013.  But tables have been turned when he suffered early exit against low ranked Julien Bennetau at Rotterdam, Tomas Berdych at Dubai semis despite of having match points and adding insult to injury Rafael Nadal ousted him in quarterfinals of Indian Wells masters. 

Now tennis world is again thinking that

1)aIs Federer’s gas in the tank has finished?.  

2) Is He no more the same player as he was three or four years ago? 

3)Another question tennis fans especially Federer’s fans are asking that will Federer add one or more grand slams in his already decorated CV?  All these questions are valid especially after the poor performance of Federer in 2013. 

The answer of the first question is “no”.  Because Federer’s gas in the tank has not finished yet.  He is still amoung the top players in the world and have no 2 ranking.  Moreover, the loss in two or three tournaments does not mean that all the season will continue in the same way.  Federer has achieved almost every thing that a tennis player or an athlete should win.  He has 17 grand slam titles in his exceptional career and he is reigning Wimbledon champion.  He cruise in the early rounds in every tournament despite of his old( so called) age.  He only susceptible to  the top player like Djokovic, Murray or Nadal.  All these and other top players have to work really hard to beat Federer.  So, Federer still has so much gas in the tank that he can achieve bigger goals (even grandslams)  at any stage.  He can never be counted out in any tournament. 

The answer of the second question is “yes”.  Federer is not the same player as he was in his prime.  His backhand is not as strong as once it was.  His serve and forehand are no more devastating as once they were.  But it does not mean that his serve, forehand and footwork are no more devastating.  They are still very dangerous.  He can still hit more winner from his forehand and can fire more and more aces from his big serve.  He can also get cheap points by his well pointed and heavy serves.  He can still manage to change the match from any moment  of the match.  Therefore Federer has to rest more and put his attention to his weak wing i-e backhand. 

The answer of third question is still yes.  He can win any grand slam at any stage.  We have to admit that Federer is king of open era and grand slam tennis.  He knows more than anyone that how to use better techniques to win a grand slam.  He can still show his master class performance to win another grand slam ( probably in 2013).  And as I said in my last articles that his best shot will be at Wimbledon 2013, where he is a defending champion also.  He is man to beat there. 

The bottom line is Federer has still two or three years to achieve more goals, break more records and make new records.  But tennis fans want him in action more and more they want that he should come back in action again.  Lets see what will happen at Madrid 2013.

Del Potro Is Favourite To Win At Miami Masters

After showing a stunning performance in Bnp Paribas Open 2013, Juan Martin Del Potro the Argentinian veteran is ready to take court at Miami Masters.  In the absence of Federer and Nadal in the draw, del Potro has huge chance to come as winner of the tournament for the first time in his career.  del Potro is in a very good form from the start of 2013.  He won Rotterdam ( Atp 500).  He was semifinalist at Dubai open, where he lost to Djokovic.  In the Indian wells he beat both Murray and Djokovic consecutively to reach in the final.
Juan Martin Del Potro has ability to win bigger tournaments.  And he knows how to beat top players at any stage.  He defeated Federer twice in last two meetings at Basel and London.  He also proved again and again that he will become top players at least in big.  He stunned the tennis world in 2009 US open, when no one could even imagine of winning a grand slam tournament except Federer and Nadal.  He defeated both of those guys in a row and claimed the title.  This time he is the only man on tour except big four( Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray) who has grand slam title in his record books.  Unfortunately he has to face a wrist injury, which kept him away from court for a long period.  Altthough he came back but he was not the same del Potro.
He worked hard again and again to reach that level and despite suffering defeats against top players he did not lose heart and countinue his struggle.  This is the time where his game is looking to click, and he proved it at Indian wells masters.  Another thing from which del Potro can gain courage is that Federer fans like del Potro more than any athlete.  If  Federer does not play a tournament, fans support del Potro.  Del potro has huge serve, forehand and great height.  He will be the biggest problem for guys in the draw.  He will be probably winner at this tournament.