Could the last Brit out please turn off the light

So the Australian Open is well under way, and for once there was decent representation in the singles draws for GB. 2 in the men (Murray, Ward) and 4 in the women (Watson, Robson, Keothavong and Baltacha).

By the end of the first day, all bar Murray were gone without so much as winning a set, or even getting as far as 5-5 in a set. There were still decent points in it for Robson and Ward after they came through the qualifying, plus apparently Keothavong was ill. Robson and Watson had horrible draws, but for the rest a wasted opportunity, and even those two (who won 3 games between them) could have done better.

It was a strong positive to have that many singles players in the draw, but when the majority have gone by end of day 1, what's the point? Few British players will fancy the French and then it's Wimbledon, who knows. Going well at slams is vital for image as despite them being just some tournaments out of a calender, most of the British public think tennis players only play the 4 in a year!

So then came Murray, who had an awkward draw against Ryan Harrison, who is only 19 and has the potential to be very good. A potential Tsonga match if ever there was one. Murray even began by making it a 11th British set dropped in a row, before coming through in 4. He has a strong chance this year, but I can't see him winning it.

So Brits first round: Played 6, Won 1, Lost 5, Sets won 3 Sets lost 11. Not the worst it's ever been but not pleasant reading.

At least there's more chance in the doubles. In the mens Fleming/Hutchins are seeded 15 and (J) Murray/Hanley (Who's an Aussie) are seeded 16. Plus Delgado/Marry are in there too. In the womens Keothavong is playing (if fit) with the woman who beat her in the singles and Robson is playing with an Aussie. Maybe they can win a match, maybe not.

As for the winner? Hard to look past Djokovic, plus I expect Tomic to do well... all year.

Rogers cup time!

Probably my favourite time of the tennis season is under way, pity it's all played over in North America and therefore at some ungodly hour over here, but its still good!


The Rogers cup has started today in Montreal (the women are in Toronto) (main draw) with a massive 1 British entrant into the singles (Murray) and one team in the doubles (Murray/Murray). Notice a pattern there?


Murray is the defending champion here, having retained the title for the last 2 years and will be looking to level Ivan Lendl's 3-in-a-row record this time, but with the form of Nadal and Djokovic I really can't see it, as much as I'd love him to win it. He'll start probably with a game against Ryan Harrison in round 2. Awkward draw though as his R16 could be Stanislas Wawrinka, followed by Mardy Fish then Nadal in the semi. But 2 wins in a row means you can't count him out. Although it's hard to look past Nadal or Djokovic for the title.


From here it's Cincinnati for another masters (Murray only defending 180 there!) and then the US Open, my favourite of the grand slam of the year. I need to get myself skysports for my xbox again. Plus the football season is starting...

A massive well done though to James Ward for winning a 100k challenger in Vancouver last week, beating Boggo in the quarters (he still deserves to be higher than 344 in my opinion). Ward up to 144, pretty good, I'm assuming he'll be off to US Open Quallies quite soon. Anyone kow when the draw is out?

Wimbledon

As regular readers may know (if there are any) I like a bit of tennis (mainly men's to be honest, the women's tends to be 'big beefy US/Russian girl beating up poor 19 year old from Belgium' or something). I'm not a sporty type, I'm an overweight, greying, diabetic about to hit 30 so that's not exactly a surprise, but I was always OK with a racquet but these days, I watch. Mainly this is as I have nobody to play with, I've even signed up to that all play tennis site and... nothing. But that's off topic.

As a result of this love Wimbledon fortnight as the only non clay grand slam in the right time zone to watch comfortably (well work hours is a pain, but you know what I mean). So far this years as been quite interesting, as long as Nadal's foot holds up I can't see it being anything than a 1v4, 2v3 semi line up but here's hoping Tomic can do something after the other 'up n comer' Milos bowed out early.

From a UK perspective, Murray is playing well, he's had a couple of awkward matches in a row and has come through them quite easily. If Nadal is hurt and he get's a Fish semi... I think he's a finalist (I think I got the draw right anyway). The UK expectation doesn't seem to be so bad this year, and I think that's a good thing. Everyone is expecting a Nadal win, with maybe Djokovic or Fed or indeed Murray having an outside shot. It was obvious from the Del Potro game, Nadal can be beaten, so who knows.

It's womens quarter finals day today, so I'm not bothered about seeing it, but tomorrow should be an excellent day, chances are with the top 4 seeds coming through, but I wouldn't mind the semis being Tomic V Tsonga and Murray v Fish!

Never gonna happen.

Good points though, the BBC coverage has actually been pretty good, almost every night programs have been moved/cancelled/delayed to allow for late finishes. If only they held a few more of the rights to 1000s and the like. Although most of them are in the middle of the night to be fair...

I'm still expecting them to be straight on Murray's back as soon as he looks like bowing out though, that's the British way after all, support respectfully while circling ready to lay a boot in!

On an unrelated note I've purchased myself a bit of XBOX 360 Kinect, thoughts to follow!

Andy Murray

OK this is only partially about him, it's also partially about the attitudes towards him especially with Wimbledon on the horizon.

Yes, today he lost, he lost 3 good sets to arguably one of the greatest clay court players that has ever been, he lost to someone that in 7 Roland Garros appearances has ever lost 1 solitary match (take a bow Rob Soderling), he lost to (until later on tonight at least) the #1 ranked player in the world. He enjoyed his best ever run in RG, playing on a surface he enjoys about as much as he enjoys major surgery, won himself 720 (up from 180) ranking points and pulled further away from #5 ranked player in the process.

Then why is the general public's reaction to pan and criticise? There's a good proportion of people who love seeing Murray fail. They probably be gutted if he did win anything. These people generally watch tennis when it's occasionally on BBC 2 (when Murray indeed gets to a decent round of a major), Queens and Wimbledon, they know of few other tournaments but think they are an authority and what they see is all there is.

Having something to have a good rant and moan about is far more fun than saying unlucky to a gallant loser and this brand of people lap it up with honours. They spout comments about his mental strength, but made no such comments when he was pretty damn excellent to come back in the 4th round from 2-0 down. They say he'll never win anything, but have never seen him win one of the 6 masters series titles he's won, at that level he's only ever lost 1 final. They say he's winy and moans... but generally the same people idolise footballers so let's say no more there.

Some people don't like him for a football related joke, I've made that joke too so they must hate me as well! If I look bothered, it's wind...

Was Murray perfect today? No, of course not, he wasted more break points than some people get in a season, but look at the company he was keeping. There's little doubt he made errors, but also, playing to the standard he was there's little doubt he'd have battered most players on the tour today. He should feel gutted he lost today, as he lost and if he was happy losing... well that's just not the right mentality, but he should also be happy with the performance, he did well. It was straight sets, but god they were long, so many games were deuce, it was close.

Wimbledon is coming and once again Murray will be on a hiding to nothing. Win it, yay! Don't win it, even if he loses 65-63 in the final set of the final and he'll be a bottler, mentally unstable, perennial loser all over again.

Truth is allot of people love a 'failure' as they then feel better about themselves, that's nothing Andy's done, that's just a bit of human nature.