O2 tennis

[jodjam]

Heading down to London today for the tennis. Got tix for wed/thu so hopefully Murray and nole both win today so they play each other on Wednesday. Canny wait

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Dinnae understand the way the groups are set up.
1 3 5 7 & 2 4 6 8 which gives Federer the easiest draw, surely it should be 1 4 5 8 & 2 3 6 7.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Berdych takes set 1 6-3 v Murray

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Set 2 to Murray 6 3.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Murray takes the match 6-4 in the 3rd set.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Murray v Djokovic due on court at 1345 today, looking forward to it.

[jodjam]

Managed to blag front row tickets for Murray v nole. Happy days

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Immense first set from Murray 6-4

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Djokovic takes set 2 6-3

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Murray a break down in the 3rd, match is drifting away from him now.

[Hibee87]

Murray a break down in the 3rd, match is drifting away from him now.

or is it :greengrin

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Djokovic now serving to stay in the match. You cannae beat matches between these two!

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Heading down to London today for the tennis. Got tix for wed/thu so hopefully Murray and nole both win today so they play each other on Wednesday. Canny wait

Hope you're enjoying this!

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

or is it :greengrin

Aye :-(

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Match to Djokovic 7-5 in the 3rd set.

[jodjam]

Hope you're enjoying this!

Aye it was some game. £22 a ticket is great value. Looking forward to tonight's game.

[jodjam]

Off to O2 again today. Fed v ferrer and del Potro v tipsarivic. Only downer is no nadal this year. Last time I saw him down here was just amazing. Gives everything to every shot

[euansdad]

Shame to see Murray lose this but im sure he will have more Grand Slam success. IMO, Federer (whilst probably the best tennis player thats ever lived) is in his twilight and Nadal looks like injuries have caught up with him so these are the top two now

[euansdad]

Match to Djokovic 7-5 in the 3rd set.


Who is that gorgeous lady in your avatar?:aok:

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Who is that gorgeous lady in your avatar?:aok:

SSN's very own Millie Clode.

[euansdad]

Oh aye she is a crumpet i would definitely enjoy for breakfast. Nice

[Sir David Gray]

Not seen much of this so far this year but I'm off tomorrow so I'll be watching Murray tomorrow night against Tsonga.

There's a lot of permutations regarding qualification for the semi finals from that group, in fact it's actually possible for Murray to win tomorrow and still go out (if Berdych beats Djokovic in straight sets and Murray beats Tsonga in three sets then Murray will finish 3rd).

If Murray loses tomorrow, he'll still qualify as long as he takes a set against Tsonga and Djokovic beats Berdych.

The good thing for Murray is that he plays second tomorrow so he'll know exactly what he has to do to qualify. Although extremely unlikely, it is still possible that Djokovic won't qualify so he won't be wanting to take any chances tomorrow against Berdych.

If Djokovic wins, Murray knows that if he takes the opening set then he will be through.

Tsonga could also be eliminated by the time he takes to the court against Murray. Unless Djokovic beats Berdych in straight sets, Tsonga will be out, regardless of how he gets on against Murray so that may go in Murray's favour as well.

The problem will be if Berdych beats Djokovic, the pressure will really be on as Murray will then have to beat Tsonga, possibly in straight sets, to go through.

[Sir David Gray]

Djokovic takes the opening set 6-2 and is a break up in the second set.

As long as Berdych doesn't come back to win this, Murray will be through if he takes a set tonight against Tsonga.

A straight sets win for Djokovic, though, does keep Tsonga's hopes alive so he will know that he has nothing to lose tonight if this match goes as planned.

[Sir David Gray]

Berdych gets the break back though.

2-2 in the second set.

[Sylar]

Berdych gets the break back though.

2-2 in the second set.

Have you been away somewhere of late FH? Not seen you posting in a wee while. Either that, or we may just be frequenting different threads of late!

Your doppleganger keeps confusing me!

Incidentally, we did a tour of Wimbledon whilst down in London not too long ago - very interesting indeed!

[Sir David Gray]

Have you been away somewhere of late FH? Not seen you posting in a wee while. Either that, or we may just be frequenting different threads of late!

Your doppleganger keeps confusing me!

Incidentally, we did a tour of Wimbledon whilst down in London not too long ago - very interesting indeed!

Just been working a lot lately, really long hours etc, doing my head in particularly when I need to work every second weekend. :boo hoo:

Been off yesterday and today though so enjoying watching the tennis.

Was that in the museum etc? I've never actually been in there despite being down for the tennis over the past few years. It really is an iconic place to be though, particularly when you get into Centre Court. There's just something special about being inside the Centre Court at Wimbledon. I remember feeling like an excited wee boy on Christmas morning, only a few years ago, when I went in there for the very first time.

I think you just recognise the history that comes with Wimbledon over the past 100 years or so whenever you're in there. Amazing place.

[Sir David Gray]

Djokovic won 6-2 7-6 and knocks Tomas Berdych out of this year's tournament, whilst he goes through as group winner with a 100% record.

Berdych looked like taking the match into a decider in the tiebreak but Djokovic saved 3 set points and won 5 points in a row to win the tiebreak 8-6.

That result now means that Andy Murray will join him, as long as he manages to win at least a set tonight against Jo Wilfried Tsonga. However Tsonga also has an outside chance of qualifying, despite losing his first two matches, but only if he wins in straight sets.

Djokovic will now play the runner up of Group B on Sunday, in the semi finals. At the moment, it's really too close to call.

[Sir David Gray]

Perfect start for Murray, breaking Tsonga in the first game of the match. :thumbsup:

[Sir David Gray]

Murray takes the opening set, 6-2 and takes his place in Sunday's semis.

Far too easy so far and really disappointing from Tsonga who really had to go for it from the start if he was going to have any chance of making the last four.

[euansdad]

Can see another Murray djokovic final

[Sir David Gray]

Murray wins 6-2 7-6.

Tough second set for Murray but the damage was done in the first set.

All the best for Sunday, Andy! :aok:

[Sir David Gray]

Now that he's through, Murray can look forward to his day off tomorrow and then concentrate for his big match on Sunday.

But who will he play?

Murray will play Roger Federer in the semis.

UNLESS

Juan Martin Del Potro beats Roger Federer in straight sets or he beats him in three sets and Janko Tipsarevic beats David Ferrer.

Personally I don't see Del Potro beating Federer so I think it will be a Murray-Federer semi.

I think David Ferrer will beat Janko Tipsarevic so that would mean Djokovic-Ferrer would meet in the other match.

[euansdad]

Tough road that, to beat federer then djokovic

[jodjam]

Can see another Murray djokovic final

Aye I would not bet against that. Gutted that the only Murray match I watched live at the O2 was murrays defeat. Impressive first set from Murray tonight.

[Sir David Gray]

Del Potro beat Federer earlier today but as long as David Ferrer beats Janko Tipsarevic then Federer will still top the group and he will play Murray tomorrow in the semis.

It was looking like a Del Potro-Murray semi tomorrow at one point, though, as Tipsarevic took the opening set against Ferrer, who was probably a bit down after Del Potro's victory ended his hopes of qualification. But Ferrer has come back, taking the second set and is now 4-1 up in the decider.

So in tomorrow's semis, it will be;

Roger Federer v Andy Murray
Novak Djokovic v Juan Martin Del Potro

[jodjam]

Murray on in evening session.

Nice mention for hibs in the atp programme. Players are asked their fav team.

[Sir David Gray]

Think it might be a Djokovic-Federer final.

Certainly don't see Del Potro beating Djokovic and Federer's just got such a great record indoors that I can see him beating Murray.

Hope I'm wrong though as another Murray-Djokovic final to end the year would be great.

[euansdad]

Is the final and semi in the same day?

[Sir David Gray]

Is the final and semi in the same day?

No, the final's on Monday.

[euansdad]

Cheers mate off on Monday so hope I can watch Murray in the final

[Sir David Gray]

Cheers mate off on Monday so hope I can watch Murray in the final

Likewise.

I'm working tomorrow so I'll not see either of the semi finals (or the football for that matter :boo hoo:) but I'm off on Monday so hoping to see a classic. :aok:

[Biggie]

Think Murray will beat federer, obviously still a fine player, but cracks beginning to show with federer.

[euansdad]

Yeah. Starting to think federer is in his twilight

[Pretty Boy]

Anyone watching Murray v Federer?

Just gone to tie break in the 1st set, the both of them playing some stunning tennis.

[Golden Bear]

Federer seems to have a bigger support than Andy.

[PatHead]

High quality tennis but Murray lost on tie break. Can't believe the crowd seem so pro Federer.

[jodjam]

High quality tennis but Murray lost on tie break. Can't believe the crowd seem so pro Federer.

When I was down there earlier the place is full of Middle Aged wimmin stotting about in federer gear. He could do a Tom kite on a Union Jack and they would applaud him

[jodjam]

Murray bossed first 20 mins then took a doing

[Biggie]

Murray had to close the set out at 3-1 up...hold serve...but he lost his serve with new balls and it was downhill from there. I think he needs to mix it up, but he seems to get involved with just rallying with federer, and he just kept the ball up and waited on the errors coming...which they did.

[Sir David Gray]

Saw it from the middle of the first set, just before Federer broke back and it was really one way traffic. The second set was just vintage Federer.

As for the support he got, I think it's normal for someone of his stature to get a great reception regardless of where he goes to play. He's probably the greatest tennis player of all time and is a worldwide legend so I can't grudge him that too much.

[euansdad]

Ach well, so much for federer in his twilight. I'll shut it next time

[Shrekko]

Saw it from the middle of the first set, just before Federer broke back and it was really one way traffic. The second set was just vintage Federer.

As for the support he got, I think it's normal for someone of his stature to get a great reception regardless of where he goes to play. He's probably the greatest tennis player of all time and is a worldwide legend so I can't grudge him that too much.
To be honest it was the type of support Rojahhhh was getting that really annoyed me. On several occasions they were clapping when Murray netted a first serve.

I expect any of the big 3 to have support wherever they play but that shocked me tonight, especially with Andy's new popularity amongst the middle Englanders. I'm sure he'll secretly have been very disappointed. At the Olympics he absolutely thrived on having 95 per cent of the crowd behind him.

[euansdad]

stuff em. Taken a Scot and not a middle Englander to break the UK's Grand Slam duck. Still convinced he will notch a few more in his career to

[Wilson]

When I was down there earlier the place is full of Middle Aged wimmin stotting about in federer gear. He could do a Tom kite on a Union Jack and they would applaud him

I never watched it but I have to ask..... did he?

[Sir David Gray]

Final's just started and it's a great start from Federer, he's won 12 out of the first 14 points of the match and is currently 3-0 up in the first set.

Djokovic looking very flat so far.

[Sir David Gray]

It's all change now though as Djokovic has taken five of the last six games and will serve for the first set in a minute after breaking Federer after a marathon ninth game.

[Sir David Gray]

Djokovic can't serve it out though as he wastes a set point and Federer comes back to break him again to level things up at 5-5.

What a set of tennis!

[Sir David Gray]

First set goes to Djokovic on the tiebreak but what a fantastic match this has been so far!

Absolutely brilliant.

[Sir David Gray]

What an opening game to that second set!

Lasts for about 12 minutes and eventually it's won by Federer who breaks to go ahead!

[Sir David Gray]

Federer had the second set in the bag there as he had two set points at 5-4 up.

However Djokovic came back and it's now 5-5!

[Shrekko]

Djokovic wins 7-6 7-5.

Glad he put the smug Swiss in his place and sent his army of middle aged female middle Englanders home unhappy. GIRUY's :greengrin

[Sir David Gray]

Djokovic won 7-6 7-5 to win his first ever season ending championship title and consolidates his world number one ranking.

Roger Federer had so many chances tonight and will be kicking himself that he didn't at least take it into a third set as he had the set points at 5-4. You have to take your hat off to the defensive abilities of Novak Djokovic though. Some of the balls that he is able to return are just unbelievable.

2012 has been another great year for men's tennis and once again it's been dominated by four players. It seems so long ago now but the Australian Open final of 2012 will go now in history as one of the greatest tennis matches of all time. Almost 6 hours of captivating entertainment between Djokovic and Rafael Nadal and it was eventually won by Djokovic in five amazing sets.

It was made even more remarkable considering that Djokovic had just seen off Andy Murray in the semi finals a couple of days beforehand, in a match that had lasted almost 5 hours!

The fitness and stamina required to play almost 11 hours of tennis in 48 hours, and win both matches, is just incredible and is so impressive.

Then we moved on to the clay court season and at the French Open the final was once again, contested between Nadal and Djokovic and for a record 7th time, Nadal won at Roland Garros and at the same time ended Djokovic's hopes of becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all Grand Slam titles at one time.

At Wimbledon we saw the astonishing performance from Lukas Rosol who defeated Nadal in the second round, Nadal's worst Grand Slam performance since 2005. This was the start of a long lay off for Nadal and he hasn't appeared in a competitive match since that defeat almost five months ago, due to a recurring knee problem.

In the final, we saw Andy Murray go one step further than he had managed in the previous three years by reaching the final and becoming the first British male to play in the final at the All England Club since 1938. He came up against six time champion, Roger Federer, but although the match started encouragingly for Murray as he took the opening set, Federer slowly made his way back into the match and eventually won the match in four sets. By taking the title, Federer equalled Pete Sampras' record of seven titles at SW19, he won his 17th Grand Slam title (a record that is unsurpassed by any other individual past or present) and he also regained the world number one ranking for the first time in two years. He kept the ranking until earlier this month which meant that he has now been the world number one tennis player for a total of 302 weeks, which is yet another record!

A few weeks later, the players returned to the lawns of Wimbledon to compete in the Olympics for their countries. Just like at The Championships, the final was once again between Roger Federer and Andy Murray. However this time the outcome was much different. Murray, encouraged by a vocal home support who cheered his every shot, won the Olympic gold medal by defeating Federer in straight sets. He and partner Laura Robson also took the silver medal in the mixed doubles competition.

That win was to be the catalyst for Murray to go on and achieve even more and he arrived in New York at the end of August with some hopes to go one better than he had managed in 2008 when he got to the final at Flushing Meadows and just came up short against Roger Federer. His hopes looked over, though, in the quarter finals as he trailed Marin Cilic 3-6 1-5 at one stage. However Murray somehow came back to win the second set on a tiebreak and that, as they say, was that as Cilic only managed to win two more games in the next two sets and Murray was into the semis. He faced Tomas Berdych in the last four after he had beaten Roger Federer. Again Murray started slowly and lost the opening set but he came back strongly and eventually won a tight fourth set tiebreak to reach his second US Open final.

For the second time in his career, Andy Murray would play a Grand Slam final against Novak Djokovic after their last meeting ended in a straight sets victory for Djokovic at the 2011 Australian Open. Murray began so well, took a really tight opener on a tiebreak and then extended his lead by taking the second set 7-5.

However it would never be simple, Djokovic came back and took the third and fourth sets quite convincingly and Murray looked lost and defeated. But he somehow found energy from somewhere in the fifth set and took Djokovic apart to win 7-6 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2 to win his first ever Grand Slam title and became the first British male to win a Grand Slam since Fred Perry in 1936.

Then in the season ending championships, Djokovic came in to it knowing that he would end the year as world number one for the second in a row, regardless of what happened. He won all three group matches, including a victory over Andy Murray and played Juan Martin Del Potro in the semis. Del Potro started well though and was a set and a break up before Djokovic came back to win in three sets.

In the final he would play Roger Federer who finished top of his group as well, despite losing to Del Potro. In his semi, he played Andy Murray and although Murray took an early lead, Federer quickly recovered and after taking the first set on a tiebreak, it was one way traffic in the second set and won 7-6 6-2.

In the final obviously Djokovic won his first ever title at the season ending championships and extended his lead over Federer in the rankings. Federer was 3-0 up in the first set but Djokovic somehow managed to claw his way back and took the opener on a tiebreak. In the second set, Federer served for the set and had two set points at 5-4 but again Djokovic fought back and won three games in a row to win the final match of an amazing season 7-6 7-5.

So now the players take a short break before heading down to Australia for the start of the 2013 season.

What will be in store for 2013?

Will it once again be dominated by the same four players or will we see another player emerge to challenge the top players?

I really hope that we see the return of Rafael Nadal sooner rather than later. The tennis world is a poorer place without his presence at the top events and I, for one, have missed seeing him playing over the past few months. I hope he can regain his fitness and start competing for all the top titles again. He is a magnificent sportsman and so exciting to watch.

Will Andy Murray build on his breakthrough year where he won Olympic gold and won his first Grand Slam title? He must have gained so much confidence and belief from winning the US Open and hopefully he can add a few more majors over the next 12 months.

With Roger Federer celebrating his 32nd birthday during 2013, it's not going to get any easier for him but I think his record during 2012 shows that he's far from finished. I still think he's capable of competing for Grand Slam titles and will be confident of regaining the top spot in the rankings once again during 2013.

For Novak Djokovic, he's just been on such an incredible journey over the past two years. If it hadn't been for his form in 2011, then this season would have been considered extraordinary. He won a Grand Slam title, got to the final of two others, won the season ending championships and won three Masters events as well. In anyone's language, that is a very impressive record.

I am looking forward to the 2013 season starting already!

[euansdad]

Me to. Murray for more grand slams please