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Early on Monday morning, defending champion Novak Djokovic battled it out with the second seeded Rafael Nadal in an epic, five-set Australian Open final. At 5hr 53min, the match was the longest final in grand slam history.
Djokovic fought back after losing the first set to Nadal afterwhich he also took the third and was up 2 sets to 1. However, Nadal showed his strong and relentless form and evened the scoreboard, taking the fourth set. The two battled it out for the very exciting fifth and final set with Djokovic taking it 7-5. The entire match was filled with tension and excitement and showcased the very best of championship tennis.
“Good morning everybody,” Nadal told the crowd afterwards. “I will never forget this match. Even though I lost, it was something really special for me. Thank you very much, I will come back here a lot and I will keep fighting.”
Djokovic, who walks away with prize money to the value of Aus$2.3 million (US$2.4 million), has now beaten the Spaniard in three consecutive grand slam finals and seven consecutive title matches overall.
After always coming so close to winning a championship title and reaching the semi finals of all four grand slams this year, Andy Murray has finally done it and he seems to be on a winning streak.
The 24-year-old Scotsman has outranked Roger Federer to take third place in the tennis world rankings, something he has never achieved before. Murray’s recent win at the Shanghai Masters over Spaniard David Ferrer on Sunday, marks a third consecutive win after victories in Tokyo and Bankok for the young tennis player. In a match that lasted one hour and 45 minutes, Murray seized the title with a 7-5, 6-4 score. With Novak Djokovic taking the world number one place followed by Raphael Nadal in second, Roger Federer will now hold the number fourth place as a result of his absence from Shanghai – his lowest ranking in more than eight years.
After winning the title and toppling Federer from third place, a very modest Murray commented that ”Yeah, I mean, if you finish in front of Federer in a year, then there’s not many people the last five, six, seven years that have been able to say that. So that’s obviously a nice thing if I can do it.”
Image source: Decanchronicle
Serena Williams has been making sporting headlines with her recent outburst at the 2011 US Open. The tennis champion was fined $2000 for verbally abusing the chair umpire during the final match against Samantha Stosur after a point won by Williams was awarded to Stosur. Williams lost the point when she shouted a celebratory ‘Come on’ when hitting a winning forehand before the ball reached her opponent, a violation of United States Tennis Association rules.
During the confrontation Williams responded to the umpire by saying: “Aren’t you the one that screwed be over the last time here?” This was later followed by “I truly despise you.”
Williams has recently tweeted about the incident admitting that “My emotions did get the best of me this past weekend when I disagreed with the umpire. It has been a long road to get back to the US Open this year and I am thankful to have had such a great two weeks in New York.”
Watch the video below
Rafael Nadal collapsed due to cramps during a press conference at the US Open. This comes minutes after his 3-set victory over David Nalbandian.
Source: sport24.co.za
Novak Djokovic underlined his new status as the world’s top tennis player by shattering Rafael Nadal’s winning streak at Wimbledon to add his own name to the roll of honour at The Championships for the first time.
The 24-year-old Serb, with his country’s president watching from the Royal Box, won 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in two hours 28 minutes to continue his domination of tennis – and Nadal in particular – throughout this most amazing season in his career. Five times in succession he has now defeated the Spaniard in finals, but none were as important or will taste as sweet as this.
Djokovic is the first from his country to capture a Wimbledon singles title and his joy as a Nadal backhand sailed over the baseline was unconfined. He fell flat on his back, arose with both arms uplifted before squatting down with his head in his hands to briefly contemplate what he had achieved.
By hitting back at her critics and qualifying for the Wimbledon women’s final, Maria Sharapova dispelled fears of becoming another version of the former pin-up and soon-to-be Mrs Enrique Iglesias, Anna Kournikova.
At the back of her previous victory at Wimbledon, Sharapova has done precious little to endure herself to tennis puritans and chose instead to keep the bank balance tidy with endorsement deals as opposed to prize money.
To be fair, Majestic Maria has been struggling with a recurring shoulder injury that kept her from the court and competitive tennis for close to two seasons. The leggy, blonde Russian is back to her graceful best however, and taking Europe by storm; first at Roland Garros and now at the iconic All England Tennis Club.
Rafael Nadal (1) withstood an early Andy Murray (4) assault in their Wimbledon semi-final yesterday to emerge victoriously by three sets to one.
Nadal won 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to put an end to all Britons’ hope of having a British champion in a Wimbledon final for the first time in 75 years.
Fourth seed Murray played a brilliant first set to get the Centre Court crowd buzzing but the Spaniard took it all in his stride and combining his remarkable big-match temperament and incredible consistency fought back for a fully-deserved victory.
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