Category: Tennis

  • THE 2015 CRAZY SPORTS AWARDS – NOMINEES

    THE 2015 CRAZY SPORTS AWARDS – NOMINEES

    Team of the Year

    Nominees: Golden State Warriors, US Women’s Soccer Team, New England Patriots

    Male Athlete of the Year

    Nominees: Steph Curry, Mike Trout , Cam Newton

    Female Athlete of the Year

    Nominees: Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Alex Morgan

    Upset of the Year

    Nominees: Roberta Vinci over Serena Williams, Holly Holm over Ronda Rousey, Wisconsin over Kentucky

    Controversy of the Year

    Nominees: Deflategate, Fifa Scandal, Peyton Manning’s HGH

    Best Title Win

    Nominees: Golden State Warriors, American Pharoah, Kansas City Royals

    Did That Seriously Just Happen? Moment of the Year

    Nominees: Holm KO’s Rousey, Butler’s INT, Miami’s 8 lateral miracle vs Duke

    2015 Sports Story of the Year Award

    Nominees

    • Serena Williams’ near Grand Slam
    • Desaun Watson leads Clemson to 13-0 year
    • Brock Osweiler replaces Peyton Manning
    • Cam Newton and Panthers go 14-1
    • Iowa football going 12-1, falling inches short of the playoff
    • Jeff Gordon’s final year in Nascar
    • Todd Gurley’s rookie year
    • Michael Phelps comes back to swimming
    • Royals win World Series
    • Mets win NL
    • Leonard Fournette’s monster year
    • Ole Miss beats Alabama
    • Aaron Rodgers leads Packers to 10-5 year
    • Mariota debuts
    • Deflategate
    • USC wins Pac 12 South
    • Cubs make the playoffs
    • Cardinals overcome injuries
    • US wins Women’s World Cup
    • Jordan Spieth’s year in Golf
    • Warriors win NBA title
    • Blackhawks win Stanley Cup
    • Warriors vs Cavaliers
    • American Pharaoh wins triple crown
    • Ronda Rousey – from most dominant athlete, to KO’d
    • Jim Harbaugh at Michigan
    • Mayweather – Pacquiao
    • UConn wins Women’s NCAA Basketball title
    • Rex Ryan signs with Bills
    • Duke wins Men’s NCAA Basketball title
    • Kentucky goes 38-1
    • Gonzaga rises in NCAA Basketball
    • James Harden – From Sixth Man to MVP Candidate
    • Patriots win Super Bowl
    • Ohio State wins inaugural College Football Playoff
    • Seahawks beat Packers in wild NFC Title Game
    • The rise of Gronk

  • DJOKOVIC INTO WIMBLEDON FINAL

    DJOKOVIC INTO WIMBLEDON FINAL

    Novak Djokovic is going to the Wimbledon finals after defeating Grigor Dimitrov in 4 tough sets 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7). Marcin Cilic pushed the Djoker to the brink in the quarterfinals and Dimitrov cruised past defending champion Andy Murray setting up what was a very exciting matchup. As expected Djokovic came out with a sense of urgency, winning the first set. Dimitrov answered with a well-played 2nd set. The final 2 sets were VERY CLOSE, both of which going to tiebreakers, where Djokovic won, advancing him to the finals at Wimbledon.

  • DJOKOVIC WINS EPIC FINAL

    DJOKOVIC WINS EPIC FINAL

    The 2014 Men’s singles finals at Wimbledon was a 5 set battle for the ages with both sides going back and forth but in the end Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4 for his 9th grand slam win. It was a match for the ages w\with rallies, beautiful shots and just flat out amazing tennis. Federer won the first set to get a early advantage but Djokovic won the second and then soon after the  third set. The Serbian fell in the tiebreaker in the 4th set to even it at 2 sets apiece going into the final set. “Of course, after dropping a fourth set, it wasn‘t easy to regroup and compose myself and find that necessary energy to win the fifth,”Djokovic said “I don’t know how I managed to do it.”. Federer shed a single tear after the loss, there’s always next year buddy. 

  • PETRA KVITOVA WIN WOMEN’S SINGLES AT WIMBLEDON

    PETRA KVITOVA WIN WOMEN’S SINGLES AT WIMBLEDON

    Petra Kvitova is the Women’s Singles champion at Wimbledon for the 2nd time in 4 years after defeating Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 in a match where Kvitova played the match of her life, Bouchard never really had a chance. “I can’t say that it’s more special, but after three years to stand here with the trophy again is amazing.” said Kvitova after the match, which was possibly the best of her career. Bouchard, a rising star who is only 20 and has a lofty ceiling said after the finals “It was really tough for me today, but I’m proud of how I’ve played this whole tournament. I love coming back to Wimbledon”

     

  • DEFENDING WIMBLEDON CHAMPION ELIMINATED

    DEFENDING WIMBLEDON CHAMPION ELIMINATED

    Defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray was eliminated by Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in straight sets on Wednesday. Dimitrov will advance to the semifinals with the win and it will be his first Grand Slam (Wimbledon, US Open, French Open, Australian Open) Semi EVER. The match was an upset as Dimitrov was ranked 11th, 8 spots lower than Murray who checked in at No. 3 but Dimitrov, who is one of the rising stars in Tennis won’t be an underdog for long, Murray said before the match: “Now he’s starting to come into his prime. He’s won a lot of matches this year. He’s a tough player. Will be a hard match for me. It’s a big opportunity for him as well, playing on the Centre Court at Wimbledon for the first time. It’s a great opportunity for him. Hopefully we can play a good match.” The Bulgarian destroyed Murray in the first set, breaking him twice and taking the first set 6-1 in just 25 minutes. The 2nd set was more competitive and a tiebreaker was needed with Murray taking a early lead but Grigor rallied, eventually taking the tiebreaker 7-4. Murray never even got a comeback started, the match was basically won when Dimitrov broke Murra, taking a 4-2 lead in the final set. That hole was too deep for the defending champ to dig out of and Dimitrov took the final set 6-2 to officially seal the biggest win of his career. 

  • SHARAPOVA, NADAL FALL

    SHARAPOVA, NADAL FALL

    WOMENS: 5 Maria Sharapova vs 7 Angelique Kerber

    The chaos kept on going on Tuesday as Angelique Kerber upset Maria Sharapova 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 in what was one of the best women’s tennis matches I’ve witnessed. Kerber’s plan was to play without fear because she had nothing to lose as she said before the match. “I think it will be a nice match,” Kerber said. “I have nothing to lose. I will go out there, try to enjoy the match and try to just focus on myself and how I’m playing. I need to play at a high level to beat her.” Kerber won the first set after a tiebreaker after coming back from down 3-1 to tie it at 4-4 and 3 straight errors by Sharapova cost the 5 time grand slam winner the set. Sharapova tied it at 1 set apiece after wining the 2nd set 6-4, setting up for an exciting showdown in set #3. Kerber controlled the beginning, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. Sharapova finally got on the board with a hold but Kerber answered right back, making it 4-1 in the final set! Sharapova then held again but Kerber won the following set edging closer to victory at 5-2. Let’s skip ahead a few sets, Sharapova on the edge of being eliminated, match point for Kerber but a backhand down the line sent it to deuce. The next game Sharapova found herself down 40-0 but the resilient Russian rallied fighting off 7 straight match points before finally losing, completing the upset. Kerber will face Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals.

    MENS: 1 Rafael Nadal vs 144 Nick Kyrgios

    #1 Rafael Nadal, an immense favorite over #144 Nick Kyrgios lost to the Australian TEENAGER 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in one of the most shocking upsets of all-time. This was a great match, it was back-and forth especially in the first set. Kyrgios jumped out to a 4-0 lead but a comeback from Rafa sent it to a tiebreak which Kyrgios won 7-5 to win the first set, Nadal responded, leading 4-3 in the second set and taking it 7-5 to even it at a set apiece. The third set, much like the first was back and forth, requiring a tiebreaker. Kyrgios put it all out there and won it 7-5 putting the #1 player in the worlds proverbial back against the proverbial wall. Then came the moment, leading 2-1 in the 4th set Kyrgios broke Nadal,sending him reeling! And the worlds youngest tennis star shocked the world, winning the set 6-3 as Madal just couldn’t answer from Kyrgios’s serves. Kyrgios becomes the first player outside of the top 100 to beat #1 since 1992

  • NADAL SAKES OFF ROUGH START;ADVANCES TO ROUND 4 AT WIMBLEDON

    NADAL SAKES OFF ROUGH START;ADVANCES TO ROUND 4 AT WIMBLEDON

    #1 tennis player in the world Rafael Nadal shook off a slow start to cruise to a victory over #63 ” Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7(4),6-1,6-1,6-1 on Saturday to advance the 4th round at Wimbledon. Nadal lost the first set but then shook off the scary start and blew through the next three winning by a combined total of 18-3.”Every match is so difficult here. Especially when you play against players that really decide to play every shot (at) full power. I played a bad game in the 4-4 and I lost the first set. I think until that moment I was playing better than him, but didn’t have my chances on the return because he was serving well. (I am) very happy. It is a very important victory for me. … I finished the match playing at a very high level.” The shaky starts are concerning as this is the third straight match Nadal has dropped set#1, Nadal was destroyed in the tiebreaker only scoring 4 times but against the best player in the world Kukushkin dropped the next three sets consecutively: 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.

    HERE IS HOW THE TOP 32 SEEDS ARE DOING

    Seed Rank Player Next Match/Match they lost in
    1
    2
    		 Serbia Novak Djokovic
    		Fourth Round vs. France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [14]
    2
    1
    		 Spain Rafael Nadal
    		Fourth Round vs. Australia Nick Kyrgios [WC]
    3
    5
    		 United Kingdom Andy Murray
    		Fourth Round vs. South Africa Kevin Anderson [20]
    4
    4
    		 Switzerland Roger Federer
    		Fourth Round vs. Spain Tommy Robredo [23]
    5
    3
    		 Switzerland Stan Wawrinka
    		Third Round vs. Uzbekistan Denis Istomin
    6
    6
    		 Czech Republic Tomáš Berdych
    		Third Round lost to Croatia Marin Čilić [26]
    7
    7
    		 Spain David Ferrer
    		Second Round lost to Russia Andrey Kuznetsov
    8
    9
    		 Canada Milos Raonic
    		Fourth Round vs.  TBD
    9
    11
    		 United States John Isner
    		Third Round vs. Spain Feliciano López [19]
    10
    13
    		 Japan Kei Nishikori
    		Third Round vs. Italy Simone Bolelli [LL]
    11
    12
    		 Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov
    		Fourth Round vs. Argentina Leonardo Mayer
    12
    10
    		 Latvia Ernests Gulbis
    		Second Round lost to Ukraine Sergiy Stakhovsky
    13
    14
    		 France Richard Gasquet
    		Second Round lost to Australia Nick Kyrgios [WC]
    14
    17
    		 France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
    		Fourth Round vs. Serbia Novak Djokovic [1]
    15
    24
    		 Poland Jerzy Janowicz
    		Third Round lost to Spain Tommy Robredo [23]
    16
    15
    		 Italy Fabio Fognini
    		Third Round lost to South Africa Kevin Anderson [20]
    17
    16
    		 Russia Mikhail Youzhny
    		Second Round lost to Chinese Taipei Jimmy Wang [Q]
    18
    23
    		 Spain Fernando Verdasco
    		First Round lost to Australia Marinko Matosevic
    19
    25
    		 Spain Feliciano López
    		Third Round vs. United States John Isner [9]
    20
    18
    		 South Africa Kevin Anderson
    		Fourth Round vs. United Kingdom Andy Murray [3]
    21
    19
    		 Ukraine Alexandr Dolgopolov Third Round lost to Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov [11]
    22
    27
    		 Germany Philipp Kohlschreiber
    		Second Round lost to Italy Simone Bolelli [LL]
    23
    22
    		 Spain Tommy Robredo
    		Fourth Round vs. Switzerland Roger Federer [4]
    24
    21
    		 France Gaël Monfils
    		Second Round lost to Czech Republic Jiří Veselý [WC]
    25
    34
    		 Italy Andreas Seppi
    		First Round lost to Argentina Leonardo Mayer
    26
    29
    		 Croatia Marin Čilić
    		Fourth Round vs. France Jérémy Chardy
    27
    28
    		 Spain Roberto Bautista Agut
    		Third Round lost to United Kingdom Andy Murray [3]
    28
    31
    		 Spain Guillermo García-López
    		First Round lost to Serbia Dušan Lajović
    29
    33
    		 Croatia Ivo Karlović
    		First Round lost to Canada Frank Dancevic [LL]
    30
    30
    		 Spain Marcel Granollers Second Round lost to Colombia Santiago Giraldo
    31
    35
    		 Canada Vasek Pospisil
    		First Round lost to Netherlands Robin Haase
    32
    32
    		 Russia Dmitry Tursunov
    		First Round lost to Uzbekistan Denis Istomin
  • NADAL ADVANCES TO SEMIS

    NADAL ADVANCES TO SEMIS

    No. 1 men’s singles player Rafael Nadal overcame a tough start to beat  No. 5 David Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 in a rematch of the 2013 French Open championship game. “Well, I think at the beginning David was playing with a higher intensity than me,” Nadal, a Spainard said. “Is true that I started first two points playing well, but then I make a lot of mistakes with my backhand. Amazing with how much mistakes I had with my backhand today. Difficult to understand, because last two days I was practicing the best that I practiced since a long time ago in terms of feeling with my forehand, with my backhand. I went on court relaxed. Not relaxed thinking that I’m going to win, but relaxed thinking I’m going to play well. I really felt the ball better than probably during the whole year.”

     

  • DJOKOVIC ADVANCES TO SEMIS

    DJOKOVIC ADVANCES TO SEMIS

    #2 Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals of the French Open on June 3rd with a 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over No. 8 Milos Raonic at Roland Garros. The Serb will take on No. 17 Ernests Gulbis in the semi’s. “He’s been playing really well. He’s confident,” Djokovic said “But I like my chances because I have had a couple of great weeks on the clay courts, from Rome [where Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal for the title] to now the last 10 days in Roland Garros.”

  • STEPHENS FALLS TO #4 HALEP AT DAY 9 OF THE FRENCH OPEN

    STEPHENS FALLS TO #4 HALEP AT DAY 9 OF THE FRENCH OPEN

    No. 4 women’s tennis player Simona Halep asserted her dominance as the top ranked remaining competitor at Roland Garros by eliminating the final american, #19 Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-3 to advance to her first ever French Open quarterfinal. “She beat me in Australia on hard [courts], but I remember that I beat her in Barcelona on clay court a long time ago,” Halep said. “But it was good for me because I knew how to play on clay. She’s better I think on hard court. I’m better on clay. So I had [the] advantage. I think I managed very well the match. I opened the angles. I wanted [her] to run a lot on court. I think I played aggressive. I dominated the match, I think.”