Posts Tagged ‘RAFAEL NADAL’
Sunday, June 9th, 2013
Rafael Nadal (Chris Johnson, Wikimedia Commons)
Rafael Nadal defeated David Ferrer in an all Spanish final 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday. However the real story will be about the complete lack of security.
In the second set with Nadal leading 5-1, a man ran on to the court with a white mask, without a shirt, and carrying a fiery flare.
The man seemed to be a protester, but he came dangerously close to Nadal. Five topless protesters were also arrested for calling for the resignation of the French president and another four were seen yelling about children’s rights.
It was simply a peculiar final and one where the protesters seemed to overshadow Nadal’s excellence on the court. It was too bad because Nadal will go down in history as one of the greatest tennis players ever and the greatest clay court tennis player ever.
However organizers of major sporting events must learn from this. Protesters cannot be taken lightly and the athletes’ safety needs to be maintained at all cost.
Tags: david ferrer, french open, RAFAEL NADAL
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |
Friday, June 7th, 2013
Serena Williams (Katherine Shann, Wikimedia Commons)
Back in 2004, Russian newcomer Maria Sharapova shocked the tennis scene when she beat the great Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 in the final of Wimbledon. Sharpova, who was only 17 at the time, proved her victory was no fluke when she beat Williams at a tournament in Los Angeles later that summer.
However over the last nine years, it has all been Williams in their head-to-head battles. Serena, who is currently ranked number one in the world, has defeated Sharapova, currently ranked second, twelve straight times. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Williams gave Sharapova a 6-0, 6-1 beatdown in which it was quite possibly Williams’s best tennis match ever.
Now Williams has not won the French Open since 2002 when she beat her sister Venus, but should go into the final as the clear favourite (Saturday, NBC, 7:00 a.m.).
Here are the other events I’ll be watching:
Saturday & Sunday–LPGA Championship–Golf Channel–1:00 p.m.–Women’s golf second major is this weekend from Rochester, New York. Once again, a South Korean is in the lead. Currently in first round action, Chella Choi at -6 leads American Morgan Pressel by two strokes. Choi is trying to become the fourth consecutive South Korean to win a major, following Na Yeon Choi, Jiyai Shin and Inbee Park. Round one was on Friday because action was rained out on Thursday. Organizers are expected to have round two on Saturday and then 36 holes on Sunday.
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Tags: 2012 olympic games, boston red sox, canadian grand prix, chella choi, Chicago Blackhawks, cn reliability grand prix, david ferrer, david ortiz, equestrian, eric lamaze, fernando alonso, french open, inbee park, jeff carter, jiyai shin, kent farrington, los angeles angels of anaheim, los angeles kings, lpga championship, maria sharapova, max decugis, Miami Heat, mike napoli, morgan pressel, na yeon choi, nico rosberg, okotoks dawgs, patrick sharp, peter loubardias, RAFAEL NADAL, san antonio spurs, saskatoon yellow jackets, sebastian vettel, serena williams, slava voynov
Posted in Amateur Sports, ATP World Tour, Ladies Professional Golfers Association, MLB, More, NBA, NHL, Western Major Baseball League |
Friday, June 7th, 2013
Rafael Nadal (Chris Johnson, Wikimedia Commons)
John McEnroe simply said it was the greatest tennis match ever played on clay. NBC’s Ted Robinson stated he was honoured to be alive.
Friday in the men’s semi-finals of the 2013 French Open, seven-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal defeated top seed and reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 9-7 in a marathon classic that took almost five hours to play.
It seemed like Nadal was going to beat Djokovic in the fourth set. Nadal was in the process of serving for the match, but got broken by Djokovic in the twelfth game. After Djokovic tied the set at 6, Djokovic dominated the fourth set tiebreak and early stages of the fifth set. Djokovic broke Nadal early in the fifth set and seemed in control himself, but saw Nadal tie the set at four games apiece with his own break of service.
What made this match stand apart from other five set marathons in the majors were the long rallies, and how difficult it was for Nadal and Djokovic to even record a single point.
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Tags: david ferrer, french open, jo-wilfried tsonga, john mcenroe, novak djokovic, RAFAEL NADAL, ted robinson
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |
Saturday, April 27th, 2013
Milos Raonic (Chris Johnson, Wikimedia Commons)
After a disappointing Monte Carlo Masters last week where Milos Raonic lost to Jarko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 in the second round, Raonic pulled off something magnificent on Friday at the Barcelona Open.
Raonic, ranked 13th in the world, won two matches in the same day. First he beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 7-6 in the third round, before beating Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 in the quarterfinals.
Raonic was forced to play two matches in a day because of the inclement weather they have been having in Spain.
Raonic’s test doesn’t get any easier however. He now has to face the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, in the other semi-final. Nadal has beaten Raonic twice before, but both wins have come on hard court in Tokyo.
The match was supposed to start an hour ago, but was postponed due to rain.
The other semi-final has Nicolas Almagro of Spain versus Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
Tags: barcelona open, ernests gulbis, jarko nieminen, milos raonic, monte carlo masters, nicolas almagro, philipp kohlschreiber, RAFAEL NADAL, tommy robredo
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |
Sunday, April 21st, 2013
Novak Djokovic (Wikimedia Commons)
Novak Djokovic has put an end to Rafael Nadal’s remarkable winning streak in Monte Carlo.
This morning, Djokovic, the number one player in the world, defeated Nadal in straight sets 6-2, 7-6.
What is remarkable is that prior to Nadal’s loss in Monte Carlo today, he had not lost at the tournament since losing to Argentina’s Guillermo Coria in 2003. Nadal won the event eight consecutive years from 2005-2012.
Djokovic dominated the first set after it was postponed because of a rain delay. The second set was significantly closer as Djokovic and Nadal broke each other twice to force a tiebreak, which was completely dominated by Djokovic.
Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open champion, won easily 7-1. Another major reason for Djokovic’s victory is that he won 60% of points on his second service, while Nadal only won 31% of the possible points.
The Monte Carlo Masters is the first of three Masters Series events on clay leading up to the French Open. There are significant events scheduled still for Madrid and Rome.
Tags: french open, guillermo coria, monte carlo masters, novak djokovic, RAFAEL NADAL
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |
Saturday, April 20th, 2013
It looks more and more like the Edmonton Oilers will not make the postseason in 2013. However, there is a still a mathematical chance after their impressive 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
The Oilers played a complete hockey game Friday night at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Jordan Eberle scored one goal and two assists, while Justin Schultz and Magnus Paajarvi had multi-point games.
The Oilers are now eight points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets with five games to go in the season. The next game on their schedule will be Sunday night against the Anaheim Ducks (Sportsnet, 6:00 p.m.). It is basically simple. Their remaining five games, of which four are at home, are mandatory for the Oilers to win.
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Tags: boston celtics, brad richards, bryce harper, carmelo anthony, Chicago Blackhawks, colorado avalanche, denver nuggets, detroit red wings, dwight howard, Edmonton Oilers, george karl, gio gonzalez, golden state warriors, John Buck, jordan eberle, justin schultz, los angeles lakers, magnus paajarvi, manu ginobili, mark jackson, monte carlo masters, new jersey devils, New York Knicks, new york mets, new york rangers, novak djokovic, phoenix coyotes, RAFAEL NADAL, san antonio spurs, stephen curry, tracy mcgrady, ty lawson, Vancouver Canucks, washington nationals
Posted in ATP World Tour, MLB, More, NBA, NHL |
Saturday, March 16th, 2013
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (David Carmichael, Wikimedia Commons)
The 2013 World Figure Skating Championships wrap up in London, Ontario today with the ice dance competition (CBC, 2:00 p.m.) an the ladies’ long program (www.cbcsports.ca, 8:00 p.m.).
Canada has a very good shot at two more medals Saturday. Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of London, Ontario are in second place in the ice dance, while Sherwood Park resident Kaetlyn Osmond is in fourth place after the women’s short program.
If you watched the championship on Friday, you would know that the quality of skating has been poor for a World Figure Skating Championship.
Patrick Chan of Ottawa was completely dreadful last night in winning the men’s competition, but came away with the gold medal. After a great start where he executed the quad, he fell on two triples, double footed another jump and seemed exhausted in the latter half of his performance. At the end of the day, Chan defended his world title.
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Tags: aliona savchenko, boston bruins, brandon sutter, carey price, caroline wozniacki, Edmonton Oilers, eric radford, eve muirhead, kaetlyn osmond, Kobe Bryant, los angeles lakers, maria sharapova, maxim trankov, meagan duhamel, michel therrien, mike d'antoni, montreal canadiens, nashville predators, new jersey devils, novak djokovic, patrick chan, Pittsburgh Penguins, rachel homan, RAFAEL NADAL, robin szolkowy, sacramento kings, scott moir, tatiana volosozhar, tessa virtue, women's world curling championship, world figure skating championships
Posted in Amateur Sports, ATP World Tour, Curling, More, NBA, NHL |
Thursday, September 20th, 2012
Like the 2012 Davis Cup in Vancouver, Team Canada will face a very difficult opponent in the 2013 Davis Cup competition.
On Wednesday, it was announced at a press conference in London that Team Canada will face Team Spain somewhere in Canada from February 1-3, 2013.
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Tags: david ferrer, davis cup, fernando verdasco, milos raonic, nicolas almagro, RAFAEL NADAL
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |
Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
Andy Murray (Wikimedia Commons)
Andy Murray of Great Britain is finally a grand slam champion. On Monday he defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia in five grueling sets, 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 in the men’s final of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York.
The term finally is used here because Murray has received an immense amount of hype the last couple of years but has never seemed to close it out. Monday was his fifth final and until Monday was never really been able to play the necessary tennis in the championship required to be a grand slam champion.
Things yesterday however. Murray was dominant in the fifth and final set, when it mattered the very most. He becomes the first man from Great Britain to win a grand slam tennis tournament since Fred Perry won the U.S. Open in 1936.
There were also two interesting statistics. Murray’s win came in four hours and fifty-three minutes. That ties the longest match in U.S. Open history for a men’s final. Also, Murray’s 12-10 win in the first set tiebreak was also the longest tiebreaker for the men’s final at the U.S. Open.
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Tags: andy murray, fred perry, novak djokovic, RAFAEL NADAL, ROGER FEDERER, tennis, u.s. open
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |
Sunday, July 8th, 2012
Roger Federer (Wikimedia Commons)
Roger Federer still has some tennis left in the tank.
On Sunday, Federer won his seventh Wimbledon of his career and 17th Grand Slam singles title with a four set win over Great Britain’s Andy Murray– 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
But more interestingly, Federer moved back into number one in the world rankings– a little bit surprisingly because both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have also played excellent tennis over the last year.
Federer also has tied Pete Sampras for the most weeks ever ranked no.1 at 286, and most Wimbledon titles in history with seven.
Federer might not have played his best tennis at times throughout the week, as he needed five sets to beat Julien Benneteau of France, but I do feel he was the best player in the second week of action. The match was very even until the roof was closed and then Federer took control.
Meanwhile, in boys action, Canada’s Filip Peliwo of Vancouver defeated Luke Saville of Australia 7-5, 6-4.
Tags: andy murray, filip peliwo, julien benneteau, novak djokovic, pete sampras, RAFAEL NADAL, ROGER FEDERER
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |
Monday, June 11th, 2012
Rafael Nadal (Vinod Divakaran, Wikimedia Commons)
For the seventh time in his career, Rafael Nadal has won the French Open.
Today in Roland Garros, Nadal beat Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
For Nadal, he has now won seven times on clay throughout his remarkable career at the French Open, only losing once to Sweden’s Robin Soderling in the forth round of the 2009 French Open.
It was also the first time he has beaten Djokovic in the final of the French Open. Djokovic had beaten Nadal at the 2011 Wimbledon and United Stats Open and 2012 Australian Open.
Nadal was up two sets to one and was down a break 2-1, when play was suspended in the fourth set on Sunday due to rain. At one point yesterday Nadal actually lost eight consecutive games to Djokovic, and was not pleased with the tournament official for having him and Djokovic play in the rain as long as they did.
Today, Nadal won six of the nine games, and broke Djokovic right back in their opening game.
Tags: french open, novak djokovic, RAFAEL NADAL
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |
Friday, June 8th, 2012
Drew Doughty (Wikimedia Commons)
The Los Angeles Kings are one win away from capturing their very first Stanley Cup. On Saturday night the Kings will play the New Jersey Devils (CBC, 6pm) leading the Finals 3-1.
The Devils meanwhile are taking a game-by-game approach according to all-star goaltender Martin Brodeur. In game four, the Devils had a solid third period and stayed alive with a 3-1 win. For the Devils to make the Stanley Cup Finals interesting, they will need a solid performance from Ilya Kovalchuk, who only has one goal in four games so far, and that one went into an empty net.
The Kings are getting great production from Drew Doughty, who leads all blueliners with 14 playof points.
One player though nobody is talking about is New Jersey’s defenceman Bryce Salvador who has 13 points. Just how unexpected has Salvador’s point production been? Well his NHL regular season career high came in 2009 when he had 16 points in 76 games!
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Tags: arjen robben, atlanta braves, beezie madden, bob bryan, boston celtics, bryce salvador, cristiano ronaldo, daniel nestor, daniele de rossi, david silva, drew doughty, eric lamaze, fernndo torres, french open, ian millar, ilya kovalchuk, inbee park, jason heyward, john mcenroe, LeBron James, los angeles kings, lpga championship, maria sharapov, martin brodeur, max mirnyi, Miami Heat, mika miyazato, mike bryan, new jersey devils, nicklas bendtner, novak djokovic, paula creamer, RAFAEL NADAL, rajon rondo, rich fellers, robbie keane, sandra gal, sara errani, se ri pak, spruce meadows, stanley cup finals, toronto blue jays, wesley sneijder
Posted in Amateur Sports, ATP World Tour, Ladies Professional Golfers Association, MLB, More, NBA, NHL, Soccer |
Friday, June 8th, 2012
Rafael Nadal (Vinod Divakaran, Wikimedia Commons)
The men’s final is set for the 2012 French Open Final.
On Friday, Rafael Nadal, the six-time French Open champion defeated David Ferrer, the world’s no.6 seed 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in a dominant performance interrupted by rain midway through the second set with Nadal leading 4-1.
Just how dominant was Nadal? Nadal won 83 points to Ferrer’s 48, and had 19 fewer unforced errors. He also converted 70% of his break point opportunities.
With a win in Sunday’s final, Nadal will have passed Bjorn Borg into second place all-time in French Open wins with seven. He would only trail Max Decugis of France who has eight. But Decugis win at a time when the Open was only available to French club players.
Novak Djokovic, who is looking to hold not only a career slam, but be the current winner of each Grand Slam championship, beat Roger Federer in dominant fashion 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Federer lost despite breaking Djokovic three times in the second set.
Nadal is the favourite Sunday for two reasons– a) he is so comfortable on clay, it is amazing and b) he beat Djokovic comfortably on clay in Italy and Monaco already this spring.
Tags: french open, max decugis, novak djokovic, RAFAEL NADAL
Posted in ATP World Tour, More |
Friday, April 27th, 2012
David Perron (Matthieu Masquelet, Wikimedia Commons)
Round Two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs gets underway this weekend with the Conference Semi-Finals about to begin.
The series I will be most interested in is the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings. Can Darryl Sutter incorporate a similar game plan to shock the Blues like he did the Vancouver Canucks? The Blues looked great in beating the San Jose Sharks in five games and look even more dangerous in the playoffs than they did in the regular season because they are very healthy. Andy McDonald, Alexander Steen and David Perron, who all missed considerable time during the regular season, combined for 14 playoff points in five games.
As for the Kings, captain Dustin Brown was their best player against the Canucks. He led the team with five points and was very physical along the way.
Game one is Saturday night at 5:30pm on TSN. My pick is Blues in five. Here are the other events I’ll be watching:
Saturday–ATP–Barcelona Open Semi-Finals–(3) David Ferrer–ESP vs. (11) Milos Raonic–CAN–5:30am–Sportsnet One–Milos Raonic won the match of his career on Friday, defeating Andy Murray of Great Britain in straight sets in the Barcelona Open quarterfinals. On Saturday, he will try and defeat another elite player in Spain’s David Ferrer. The Spaniard is 3-0 against Raonic including a victory in the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2011. Spaniards Fernando Verdasco is playing Rafael Nadal in the other semi-final.
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Tags: alexander ovechkin, alexander steen, andy mcdonald, boston red sox, brad richards, chicago white sox, darryl sutter, david ferrer, david ortiz, david perron, dustin brown, fernando verdasco, kyle lohse, los angeles kings, milos raonic, milwaukee brewers, nashville predators, new jersey devils, new york rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, phoenix coyotes, RAFAEL NADAL, ray whitney, st. louis blues, st. louis cardinals, tampa bay lightning, washington capitals
Posted in ATP World Tour, Home, MLB, More, NHL |
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