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Pete Sampras in the Royal Box watching the Men's Final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick.
the legend
joyful rogger fedder
Showing posts with label Mardy Fish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mardy Fish. Show all posts
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Roger victorious
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Roger Federer celebrates his sixth Wimbledon crown, beating Andy Roddick in five sets.
Roddick in a tangle
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Andy Roddick plays an almost impossible backhand shot during his match against Roger Federer.
Roddick double-hander
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Andy Roddick plays a two-handed backhand shot in his final match against Roger Federer.
Federer Scrambles
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Roger Federer at full stretch as he battles Andy Roddick for he Wimbledon Championship.
Roddick and Federer step onto Centre
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Andy Roddick and Roger Federer walking onto Centre Court before the Gentlemen's Final.
Federer, Navratilova top champions' poll
Roger Federer and Martina Navratilova have risen to the top to be respectively named the greatest men's and women's champions of Wimbledon of all time after tennis fans from around the world voted in the HSBC Champions of Wimbledon poll. Nearly 100,000 votes were cast as the public had its say in the debate of who is the greatest Wimbledon champion of all time. The final voting results are as follows: A total of 96,298 combined votes were cast for the greatest men's and women's HSBC Champions of Wimbledon of all time. Men's: Roger Federer 28,794 Roger Federer led from the start and had 80% of the vote at one stage,holding on comfortably to finish with 59.8% of the vote, despite a late surge from Pete Sampras. Women's: Martina Navratilova 19,546 Steffi Graf made the early running and led into the second week, before a surge of voting for Navratilova brought her ever closer to Graf. |
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Nestor/Zimonjic fight back to reach final
Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic on their toes against James Blake and Mardy Fish in the men's doubles. Holders Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic came back from two sets down to see off Americans James Blake and Mardy Fish and keep their hopes of a second straight men’s doubles crown alive. Nestor and Zimonjic eventually recovered to win 5-7, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 10-8 in a match lasting three hours and 28 minutes to set up a meeting in the final with Bob and Mike Bryan.They had to see off an inspired attempt by the Americans and, in particular, an on-song Blake, who has impressed immensely in the doubles competition since his shock first round exit in the singles to Italian Andreas Seppi. Blake underlined his form in the team game with some terrific return winners throughout the match but it was enough. The return winners continued in the second set and Fish/Blake broke with Nestor serving at 3-4 thanks to a double fault by the Canadian and Fish served out the set. But Nestor and Zimonjic came roaring back into the match. Some fine net play from both helped them to break both the Blake and Fish serves in the third set and they took it 6-2. The fourth set was a close affair but the Americans were left to rue their luck. Nestor held serve at 3-4 after saving a break point. The set went to a tiebreak and a poor shot by Blake into the net at 3-3 gave Nestor/Zimonjic the crucial mini-break. They forced three set points and when Blake shot wide on the first, it ensured a fifth set. Both sets of players kept their nerve throughout the final set, with all holding serve until 8-8. But then Fish was broken, with Nestor smashing backhanded to take the crucial break. And Zimonjic jubilantly held out to end an excellent day’s entertainment on Centre Court.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Blake/Fish on fire in doubles
Blake, who as 17th seed in the mens' singles was knocked out in the first round, will be relishing the chance pick to up a consolation doubles title. He and fellow American Fish will now play last year's winners Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, the second seeds, in the semi-finals. South African Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman of Belgium were forced to work harder for their place in the semis. The ninth seeds were on court for three and a half hours during their 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 win over fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles. Moodie and Norman now face brothers and number one seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in the next round. The American pair are in imperious form in the tournament so far, having coasted through to the semis with three straight sets wins. |
Friday, June 26, 2009
Djokovic cruises past Fish
Novak Djokovic marched into the fourth round of Wimbledon with an almost routine 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory over Mardy Fish.
Only a momentary lapse in the second set threatened to knock the Serbian off course, but he quickly recovered to set up a clash with Dudi Sela of Israel in the last 16.
Fish, seeded 28th at SW19, was up against the ropes in the opening game but saved two break points thanks in part to a lucky net cord.
However, Djokovic looked the better player throughout the opening set and eventually gained an edge in game seven when, facing a fifth break point, Fish sent a forehand wide.
The fourth seed quickly wrapped up the opening set, and with the wind in his sails raced into a 4-0 lead in the second with Fish continuing to make the errors.
But it was Djokovic who then began to struggle and his American opponent took advantage with a fine volley at the net to pull one break back and reduce the deficit to 4-3.
Djokovic recovered from the lapse though and with the rest of the set going with serve, was able to extend his lead.
Fish had never gone beyond the third round in six previous appearances at Wimbledon, and it became apparent he would suffer the same fate again when Djokovic broke again in game seven of the third set.
It was the only break the Serbian needed and he eventually found himself serving for the match, sealing the win in just under two hours when Fish returned wide.
Djokovic had few complaints with his performance.
"Today I performed the best match so far in Wimbledon, which is really encouraging for the remainder of the tournament," he said.
"The more matches I play, I seem to be playing better, which is always a positive fact.
"I was saying prior to the match that return is probably one of the key elements in the game against Mardy. And I think I did well with that.
"I was always making him play an extra shot, which he obviously doesn't like. He has a big serve and he gets a lot of free points on the serve.
"But since I returned so well, he was having a lot of ups and downs and a very low first serve percentage in."
Despite being the fourth seed, Djokovic has managed to keep a low profile so far at Wimbledon with the attention very much on former champion Roger Federer and home favourite Andy Murray.
And the Serbian seems happy to keep it that way.
"I realise the situation that I am in right now," said the world number four.
"Andy Murray and Roger Federer are in the spotlight, and obviously they deserve to be in that situation because they have been playing great tennis the last six, seven months.
"But you have to look from the brighter side. I think it's good as it kind of releases the pressure on me."
Fish also believes Djokovic could be one to keep an eye on in the men's draw.
"He's playing real well," said the American. "He's a tough match-up for an attacking player.
"He plays great defence. He even slides on the grass and he gets a lot of balls back.
"It's not too bad to lose to someone like Novak. He's made the semi-finals of every slam. I certainly see him going further here than the fourth round."
Djokovic sails past Fish
Mardy Fish tackles Novak Djokovic in the third round on centre court. Novak Djokovic, the fourth seed and probably the greatest threat to Roger Federer's peace of mind in the lower half of the men's singles draw, marched into the last 16 with a solid and competent 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory in one hour 58 minutes over Mardy Fish of the US. The Centre Court setting for this match was appropriate reward for the 28th-seeded Fish, who has known some bleak times with injury, especially to the wrist, but he rarely threatened to break his losing streak against Djokovic, which now stretches to four. It was a good-natured contest, clearly enjoyed by both men as well as the audience. At one point, the 22-year-old Serb challenged (unsuccessfully) on his opponent's behalf against a line call when he had already won the point. But the prospects of a Fish upset were never realistic once Djokovic had hit his stride by breaking to lead 4-3 in the opening set after a long deuce game terminated by an overhit Fish forehand. Much of the good fortune also went Djokovic's way. He held serve to lead 5-3 with a dead net cord, but there was nothing lucky about the ace, his third of the match in an overall total of eight, which helped to close out the first set in 38 minutes. Opting for headgear, and then discarding it in the late evening sunshine, Fish seemed in a similarly mixed frame of mind in the fourth set, falling 4-0 behind. But he shrugged off any negative thoughts with a three-game run of his own and for a while Djokovic struggled to fend off the newly-invigorated American 27-year-old. He managed to do so with the help of another ace and a couple of bad volley errors from Fish and in his next service game won to love, leaving Fish clearly dejected. With Djokovic below his very best level, however, there remained faint hope for Fish until the seventh game of the third set when he extinguished those hopes entirely off his own racket. In a deuce game Djokovic was not required to win any of the five points that went his way, since every one was a Fish error. From then on, Djokovic's progress into the fourth round was a formality.
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Djokovic happy to stay low-profile
“Right now I feel quite okay, that people are not talking about me too often, which gives me a freedom to perform the best tennis I can on the court,” said the Serbian player. The world No.4 certainly looked to be back to his best on Centre Court during his third round match and was always in the driving seat despite coming up against his most resilient opponent yet in these Championships. “I was saying prior to the match that return is probably one of the key elements in the game against Mardy. And I think that element in the game was actually the best today from my side. Having benefited from a distinct lack of hype, Djokovic will undoubtedly find it more difficult to remain in the shadows during week two where he is likely to face sterner tests both on and off the court. So far it has been firm favourite Roger Federer and home champion Andy Murray who have hogged the headlines, but as the competitors are gradually whittled down Djokovic could yet attract the increased level of attention that followed his Australian Open victory in 2008. “I got extreme amount of the pressure and obviously expectations on each event I play on. I had to get used to that and set my mind that the people are looking at me always as one of the favorites in each event I play. “Today I performed the best match so far in Wimbledon, which is really encouraging. Match after match I play better, which is always a positive fact.” The Serbian player looks to be regaining much of the confidence, that has been so apparently absent of late and that could yet prove to be his most potent weapon with Federer likely to be waiting at the semi-final stage. “I'm taking every match one at a time. I'm really happy and satisfied with today's performance. You know, if I play like today, I think I have a good chances to get far in the second week. “If I perform like that, there is no reason to underestimate me,” he said. |
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