Gael Monfils seems to be in great form at the moment, as he has just booked himself a place in the Stuttgart ATP World Tour final. Gael defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-4 4-6 6-0. He will now face Albert Montanes in the final. Montanese has been playing some great clay court tennis and he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 7-6 to make the final.
Since Rafael Nadal needed to miss this weekends Davis Cup tie with France due to treatment on his knees, he has announced he will be attending the World Cup final. Nadal has a lot of good friends in the Spanish national football team and there is no reason to miss them playing in the worlds largest sporting event!
Samantha Stosur to play Francesca Schiavone is the French Open Womens singles final. I didnt want to run through the matches and the results again, Im sure you already know! If not check out the French Open website.
Back in the USA the University of Southern California and Tennessee will face off in the NCAA Men’s tennis final.
USC, the defending champion and No. 5 seed, beat top-seeded Virginia 4-2 in the semifinals on Monday and will face No. 2 seed Tennessee for the championship on Tuesday. Tennessee beat host Georgia 4-1.
Meanwhile, Florida will face Stanford in the women’s final on Tuesday. Florida beat North Carolina 4-0. Stanford beat Notre Dame 4-1.
Well a few days ago we previewed the quarterfinals and then tipped a player in each match. I thought I would just quickly run through and see how we went.
Robin Soderling (23) vs Nikolay Davydenko (10) = We tipped Davydenko to come back from two sets to love down to win. Well we were right about one thing, Davydenko would lose the first two sets, but he never recovered. Wrong
Andy Murray (3) vs Fernando Gonzalez (12) = I thought an upset would happen here and I was right. Gonzalez pushed aside Murray in four sets. Right
Juan Martin Del Potro (5) vs Tommy Robredo (16) = I thought Robredo would really put all of his experience into this match, but he never got into the match at all, Del Potro winner. Wrong
Gael Monfils (11) vs Roger Federer (2) = Roger was always the favourite for this match and he didn’t disappoint. It was a great performance by Roger and its good to see him in the semi’s again. Right
Dinara Safina (1) vs Victoria Azarenka (9) = Safina is in great form at the moment and we tipped he to win this match as well, and she didnt disappoint. Safina wins in three sets, but after losing the first in which we knew Azarenka had to win to even be in the match. Right
Dominika Cibulkova (20) vs Maria Sharapova = I really thought Maria had a shot of winning this match in three sets on paper, but in real life tennis matches are a lot different. Maria got punished and tought how to play clay court tennis from Dominika. Wrong
Sorana Cirstea vs Samantha Stosur (30) = I thought that Stosur had a game that was too strong for Cirstea and I was right, plus I knew she would win in straight sets. Right
Svetlana Kuznetsova (7) vs Serena Williams (2) = Serena played some of the worst tennis I have seen her play in a very long time. It was like she had a brain cramp today on court. Kuznetsova played a very solid match but didn’t really control the match at all. Wrong
Well after all that we only got 50% right. The French Open is the main tournament all year in which upsets happen, and it is great to see that this year has live up to that expectation.
Who will be in the final for both singles? Well I think the Men’s final will be between Roger Federer and Robin Soderling. Women’s final will be between Dinara Safina and Samantha Stosur.
Roger Federer has stunned Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-4 to win the Madrid Masters event yesterday. Rogers win against Rafael ended a five match, 18 month lising stream against the Spaniard. That run included three Grand Slam titles and ended Nadal’s 33 match winning streak on clay, which streaches back over a year to the Rome second round in 2008.
Federer heads into the French Open in a week’s time with a huge confidence boost after finally defeating the man who stripped him of his Wimbledon title last summer.
Nadal, who had won clay-court titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome this year, was visibly jaded from his semi-final the day before, when he needed over four hours to defeat Novak Djokovic. It was one match too many for the top seed, who was unable to squeeze motivation or power out of a weary body after complaining of problems with his knees in that marathon encounter.
“I think this (fast clay) favoured Roger,” said Nadal, who has won nine of 11 clay meetings against his rival.
“He deserved this victory more than I did. He played well. I wasn’t able to play aggressively enough.”
Nadal and Federer, who have contested the last three French Open finals, both head to Paris with the Spaniard hoping to regain his powers after playing and winning for three of the last four weeks on his favoured surface.
Federer won €585,000 ($1.05 million) and a car as he extracted some revenge in the pair’s first meeting since the Australian Open final five months ago which ended with him reduced to tears.
“I’m sorry to have beaten a Spaniard on your court, I’m sorry to spoil the party,” he told tournament director and former great Manolo Santana on the showcase court named in his honour.
The Spaniard’s defeat was only his fifth on clay over 155 matches dating back to 2005.
Rafael Nadal will miss Spain’s Davis Cup final against Argentina because of a knee injury.
The top-ranked Nadal said Monday he was still struggling with tendinitis in his right knee following a week of treatment.
“The knee said no,” the 22-year-old said.
Spain team doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said Nadal would need three to six weeks to recover from the injury.
“These are very difficult moments, but I have done all that I could to be ready for the final,” he said. “It was a huge objective, and I’m used to playing with pain, but this is a distinct, new pain that I couldn’t control.”
Nadal’s absence deals a big blow to Spain’s bid for a third Davis Cup title since 2000. Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario has until Tuesday to name his team.
Spain plays Argentina on indoor hard court at Mar del Plata from Nov. 21-23.
“We’re sorry for him, but it’s good news. Spain is one thing with Nadal and another thing without him,” Argentine captain Alberto Mancini told Buenos Aires-based radio station Continental.
Argetine Davis Cup player Juan Martin del Potro is said to be very happy with Mar del Plata as the venue for the Davis Cup Final. Argentina will play Spain in the 2008 final, and not all players are happy with choice of venue. David Nalbandian would have rather the final be played in Cordoba.
“For me it’s the same. I’m happy to play in Mar del Plata. It’s a big city, a beautiful city and I think it’s a good choice,” the 20-year-old insisted after his 6-0 6-4 Paris Masters second-round win over Croatia’s Mario Ancic.
Tonight is the night for British tennis. Andy Murray has beaten some great players in the last two weeks, including Raphael Nadal, but is it time that he stepped forward and took a Grand Slam title?
Murray will be facing Roger Federer in about two hours time and of course Murray will be the underdog, but we will see if there is fight still left in the dog.
Andy played some of the best tennis he has ever played, in the semi final against Raphael Nadal. It will be a big tasks for him to back it up again against Roger in the final, but I’m not too sure he can!
Over the last six months to a year Murray has made a lot of progress on his fitness and this is starting to show in his tournament results. Somehow, according to the rankings he is already the number 4 player in the world (which I don’t think is entirely correct), but he has earned his spot in the top ten, and this could be the night a Brit proves something to critics.
Congratulations Serena Williams on winning the 2008 US Open Womens Final. This win became Serenas 3rd US Open Win and ninth Grand Slam Title. Australian Open 2003, 2005, 2007. French Open 2002. Wimbledon 2002, 2003 and US Open 1999, 2002 and 2008.
Serena Williams from the USA defeated Jelana Jankovic from Serbia 6-4 7-5. This win also places Serena as the number 1 player in the world again (since 2003).
Im sitting here watching the Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal, and this is really starting to remind me of some Borge and McEnroe matches. It seems like every time these to play the level of tennis is just getting better and better. Nadal has just had 2 match points in the fourth set and Federer has pulled off some of the best passing shots I have ever seen to get out of the set and the match. Currently they are at 2-2 in the fifth set and I really cant see Federer losing from here. The commentators just stated that no one has had a match point in the Wimbledon final and lost since 1949. At this rate I think Nadal is going to be the first. Federer has definitely not played his best today, but he still seem to play with a great deal of heart. This time I think his heart will get him through. Nadal on the other hand has again stepped up his game and seems to be playing at a level that no one would have expected. As it is Wimbledon it would be the same if there wasnt some drama and now the rains have come play is again delayed. Looks like they will be finishing it tomorrow.
