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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Federer v Nadal. Game, set, match?

The dust has long since settled and Switzerland's Roger Federer has achieved an unprecedented 16 Grand Slam titles, overtaking Pete Sampras' previous best of 14. The Swiss also holds the record for most consecutive weeks as the world's number one, 237. With all this in mind, surely he is the greatest of all time?

Ace: But Nadal has the Indian sign over Federer

Federer can also lay claim to the fact that he has won all four of the Grand Slams, something only six others have done in the history of the game.

While there are several reasons to suggest he is the greatest, there is one over-riding argument against it - Rafael Nadal is better. Until he overcomes Nadal, which now appears unlikely as Federer enters the autumn of his career, doubts will persist as to his true claim to be the best ever.

For a start, the Spaniard is one of the six who has won each of the slams on offer.

And Despite Federer’s record-breaking period as world number one, the rankings can frequently giving a false reading. Much depends on fitness as, when injured, a player accrues no points, whereas even the less talented players can gain points just by playing and winning the occasional match. This contributes towards the quirks regularly on offer in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) rankings. Take note of the Williams sisters’ bizarre rankings of 17 and 29, respectively, in the women's latest list.

It is highly unlikely we would even be talking about Federer's feats had Nadal stayed fit throughout Federer’s period of domination. Mallorca-born Nadal would undoubtedly have won last year’s French Open, something he had done for the previous four years (beating Federer en route to victory on each occasion), but for a knee injury curtailing his progress early on in the tournament. Admittedly, Federer was there to pick up the pieces to win at Roland Garros for the first time, but he has never even come close to defeating Nadal on clay, with the exception of a fortuitous win in Hamburg two years ago.

When we look at the last three years at Wimbledon, a pattern becomes clear. Remember, grass is Federer's strongest surface and therefore the courts of SW19 are ideally suited to the man from Basel.

In 2007 he came through to win the title against Nadal in somewhat fortunate circumstances. Rafa was on top until a knee injury prevented him from performing at his best for the final dozen or so games and Federer managed to take full advantage of his opponent’s disability.

In 2008 Nadal not only outplayed his opponent by putting in the performance of his life, but displayed arguably the greatest tennis performance in the history of the game to beat Federer in that memorable final.

And then to 2009, Federer had been on the wane for the previous 12 months with his record against Nadal deteriorating further still. Their current head to head in Grand Slams stands at 9-6 in the Spaniard's favour, with Nadal winning five of the last six meetings. But those statistics are put into greater perspective when you look at their head to head in Grand Slams, where Nadal leads 5-2, winning the last three in a row.

So it is difficult to imagine Federer winning another grand slam with a fully fit Nadal in opposition.

Even though Federer won Wimbledon in 2009, Nadal’s absence was without doubt the biggest contributing factor.

The competition contained some exciting matches that enthralled the crowd as much any other Wimbledon in previous years but the overall quality was probably at its lowest since 2003. Can you really imagine Andy Roddick pushing Nadal to five sets and to 14 all in the final set? The American has never come close to winning Wimbledon before or since.

Can you really imagine a fully fit Nadal only breaking the American's serve once in nearly 40 games as Federer managed in that final two years ago?

This is not to say that Federer cannot do something about it. Should he dispel the myth that Nadal has the Indian sign over him by actually beating him in a fair contest in the future, and perhaps improve his record against him, then he could definitely be regarded, unequivocally, as the greatest.

It is just that it appears extremely unlikely that he will do that.

Nadal's career, when his knees have been strong enough, has been on an upward curve (at least until the beginning of this year when Djokovic came to the fore) whilst Federer's has been in decline for about three years. And unless he can rediscover that forehand that used to be so deadly, the 16 times grand slam winner will almost certainly never win another major again.

The Guardian’s tennis journalist, Kevin Mitchell, is in no doubt where the big two’s career’s are heading. He said: “At this point in their careers, Nadal (is ahead). He is five years younger, owns
three of the Slams and still getting to finals. Federer has not won a slam since Australia 2010, although he still goes deep into nearly every tournament. I think he will retire after the Olympics.”

Much in the future, of course, depends on Nadal's long-term fitness. When asked if Nadal could eventually overtake Federer’s Grand Slam record of 16, Mitchell said: “He can if his knees hold out.”

The problem for Federer now is that Djokovic has at last found some consistency, squeezing the former world number one down to third in the latest ATP rankings.

Whichever way you look at it, any claims that Federer's is the best of all time will always be overshadowed by Nadal because how can the world's greatest ever player be dominated to such a degree by his ultimate rival?

Could Schumacher be regarded as the best if he was consistently beaten by Mika Hakkinen or Jacques Villeneuve?

Would Mohammed Ali be so revered if George Foreman or Sonny Liston had frequently demonstrated they were better than him?

The answer to all of the above is of course not.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Don't cry for Serena Williams

Following today's fourth round defeat at the hands of Marion Bartoli, the blog says good riddance to the American. Here are three unsavoury moments in the career of Ms Williams.

Under exposed: Serena Williams felt she didn't get enough exposure at this year's Wimbledon
 1. At the 2009 US Open she was on the verge of defeat to returnee Kim Clijsters. She foot-faulted and then shouted towards the line judge: ""I swear to God I'm fucking going to take this fucking ball and shove it down your fucking throat, you hear that? I swear to God." Williams, who was already on a warning for an earlier indiscretion, lost the point and, as a result, the match. A farcical way for her opponent to announce her return to the sport after a two year lay off with a US Open final appearance.
See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-VxYvfwVas&feature=related

2. Former Wimbledon champion Michael Stich accused her of feigning injury to help unsettle her opponent at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. Her miraculous recovery prompted Stich to say: "You're either injured or you're not. I'm not sure what I saw last night." Little wonder the German made these comments following Williams' inability to walk due to injury followed by some incredible movement around the court from the apparently disabled Serena.


3. At this year's Wimbledon she complained about being stuck out on Court Number two. Williams said: "They like to put us on Court 2, me and Venus, for whatever reason," Williams said after beating Simona Halep of Romania, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. "I haven’t figured it out yet. Maybe one day we’ll figure it out." Many dream of playing at Wimbledon but for Serena and her ego it is not enough. She needs to be the centre of attention at all times. Ah, de dums!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Czech Republic U21s 2 England U21s 1

Distraught: England captain Phil Jones trudges off as the Czech Republic celebrate

England crashed out of these championships in agonising fashion following the concession of two late goals that ensured the Czech Republic progress to a semi-final date with Switzerland on Wednesday evening and the Three Lions head home.

England took the lead through a fine headed goal from Danny Welbeck in the 76th minute, scoring his second of these championships, and the Three Lions looked set to go through at the expense of their opponents.

However, England were undone when Jan Chramosta prodded home on the edge of the six-yard box to equalize for the Czechs in the 89th minute.

Tomáš Pekhart sealed England's fate with a simple tap in following a counter-attacking move after Stuart Pearce's men had piled forward, leaving them exposed at the back.

Pearce, who has been surprisingly awarded a two year extension to his contract, said: "We probably felt we played better in this game than we did in the previous two games. Once you get your noses in front you hope to see it out but we were not dogged enough. Credit to the Czechs, they've shown great quality."

Although Pearce had a point, they did play much better in this match than the two matches that preceded it, England did not do enough throughout this tournament to be worthy semi-finalists, scoring just two goals in three matches.

Some positives can be taken, not least the form of Jones and Smalling at the back who seem to have built up a decent understanding and could be the central defensive partnership for many years to come, both at club and international level.

But this tournament will be littered with disappointment. New Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson looked out of his depth. Living up to the billing that Harry Redknapp gave him with his thinly veiled comment last week of "some footballers are going for 20 million quid who are not fit to lace Luka Modric's boots".

And Pearce himself didn't look entirely comfortable as he sought to fix England's on field problems, even receiving some words of advice from Fabio Capello following last week's draw with Spain. Tactically he was caught out and relieving Michael Mancienne of first team duties for the last game was too little, too late.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

England U21s 0 Ukraine U21s 0

England struggle once again and will have to beat the much fancied Czech Republic in their last game to ensure progress to the semi-finals.

Under pressure: Pearce knows England must improve

If it is a pre-requisite to play bland football and frustrate the watching audience with tepid performances at major championships in order to progress to the full squad, then this current batch, coach Stuart Pearce included, have passed their audition with flying colours.

There were even fewer positives to take from this game than the 1-1 draw against Spain. Even Phil Jones looked susceptible to the occasional lapse that had apparently deterred Manchester City from bidding for the 19 year old defender, prior to his £16.5 million move to rivals Manchester United.

Goalkeeper Frankie Fielding saved Jones' blushes by blocking Roman Zozulya's effort from just eight yards out with the centre-back floundering.


England only stepped up a gear in the final ten minutes. Daniel Sturridge forcing Anton Kanibolitskiy into a smart save from long distance and striker Danny Welbeck nodding straight at the keeper from the resulting corner. But it was all too little, too late.

Too often England struggled in the final third and, as a result, rarely threatened. Indeed, the nearest Pearce's side came to opening the scoring was via a 35 yard screamer from Chelsea striker Sturridge that rebounded back off the cross bar towards the end of the first half. Any nearer the Ukranian box and England seemed to run out of ideas.

To be fair, Sturridge and Arsenal's Henri Lansbury could possibly be exempt from criticism. Welbeck, however, was listless and spurned his best opportunity in the 54th minute when through on goal. Sir Alex Ferguson seems to be quite active in the transfer market this summer and it remains to be seen who will be shipped out of Old Trafford. If Welbeck performs like this in the red shirt of Manchester then it won't be long before he's shown the door.

England's championship hopes are hanging by a thread.

Nevertheless, the Czechs looked particularly vulnerable in their 2-0 defeat to tournament favourites Spain earlier today but they are fully aware that a point against England will probably be enough for them to progress to next week's semi-final. And if the English serve up more dross like this then they will surely get the draw they require.

Monday, June 13, 2011

England U21s 1 Spain U21s 1

England coach Stuart Pearce has described Spain as "arrogant" for not making the most of their dominance in this keenly fought contest and that England "would've won 4-0 or 5-0" if they had enjoyed the same amount of possession as their Spanish counterparts.

Spain, at this level, are more like Barcelona-light (aka Arsenal) than the real deal and are clearly lacking someone to put the ball in the back of the net. Indeed, there one goal in last night's Group B clash in Herning came courtesy of a hand ball from Ander Herrera, the And of God as one tabloid coined it.

And they were made to pay when two minutes from time Danny Welbeck coolly slotted home past soon to be club team-mate David De Gea.

Undoubtedly Spain were the better side throughout, but there were some classy performances in the white shirts of England, noticeably Chris Smalling and Kyle Walker

Spain will retain their status as favourites after this display but there are plenty of teams out there who can do them harm en route. It promises to be a fascinating fortnight ahead.