Friday 31 December 2010

Abu Dhabi 2011 Semi-Finals final score

Federer beat Soderling 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3. Federer wins a close match, which he looked as if he would lose and overall it was a bit of a shaky performance for Federer but in the end he won.

Nadal beat Berdych 6-4, 6-4. Nadal only needs 2 sets to beat Berdych, he looked in great form but looked a bit shaky at the end at 4-1 up in the second set, where Berdych broke his serve and held, but he recovered andwon convincingly in the end.

Order of play tomorrow (GMT time)


third place play off


Soderling vs Berdych - 11 am

to be followed no earlier than 1 pm

Final


Nadal vs Federer

Abu Dhabi 2011 Semi-Finals LIVE comments every game

Federer vs Soderling - 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3


set 1

Federer is currently looking in good form and brought deuce in soderling's service game, though he looked a bit shaky at 40-0 on his second service game he still went on to take it to 30.
2-1

Soderling does well to win 4 consecutive points from 15-40 in his second service game.
2-2

Soderling storms to a 0-40 lead but Federer plays brilliantly to win 5 consecutive points and go 3-2 up
3-2

Soderling hits two aces to go 30-0 up then Federer comes back to 30-40 for a break point and Soderling responds with another ace and an unreturned serve. Federer gets it back to deuce but Soderling hits a fourth ace and a second unreturned serve to take the game and level the match
3-3

Federer takes the lead again with some stunning shots to win a love service game.
4-3

Great play by both players but Soderling holds after another scare on his service game.
4-4

Federer allows Soderling to have another break point but Federer comes back and takes the game. Both players look shaky on serve and neither can seem to convert their break point, even after so many.
5-4

Good serving by Soderling and he take the game to 15.
5-5

Federer holds to love.
6-5

We are going to a tie breaker as Soderling adds to his ace count
6-6

Federer takes the first point.
6-6(1-0)
Federer tries to come to the net on the first point but fails and a Soderling winner puts him in the lead.
6-6(1-2)
Soderling takes both points with errors from Federer.
6-6(1-4)
Another two mistakes by Federer, giving Soderling 5 set points.
6-6(1-6)
Two good serves by Federer saves the first 2 set points.
6-6(3-6)

Federer loses the first set with a backhand error.
6-7(3) to Soderling.

set 2


Soderling continues his dominance with a love service game, after great shots by Soderlings as well as bad errors by federer.
6-7(3), 0-1

Federer responds with some powerful serves and an effective serve and volley tactic but is a bit shaky after going 40-0 up but wins to 30.
6-7(3), 1-1

Soderling looks to have taken the game with a convincing 30-0 lead but Federer storms back with a break point, which is saved by Soderling, but Federer takes a second break point and this time wins it to achieve the first break of the match.
6-7(3), 2-1

Federer solidifies his lead with a hold to 15.
6-7(3), 3-1

Soderling responds with powerful serves and holds to love.
6-7(3), 3-2

Federer stays a break up with some good serves and he bags his 10th ace.
6-7(3), 4-2

Soderling runs to 40-0 but Federer takes the next two points but Soderling keeps the pressure on Federer in the second set.
6-7(3), 4-3

Soderling starts the game well with a 0-15 lead but a few bad shots gives Federer a 40-15 lead and Federer goes 1 game away from taking the second set, holding to 30.
6-7(3), 5-3

Soderling starts the game with a double fault, leading him to go 15-40 down, but Soderling saves both set points. Then Federer challenges a second serve, which gives him a third set point, which he takes to level the match.
6-7(3), 6-3

set 3

More aces and good serves by Federer gives him the first game of the third set, he is in great form now.
6-7(3), 6-3, 1-0

Soderling levels the match with a crucial hold, after saving a break point in a game with a few deuces. He finishes it with another ace.
6-7(3), 6-3, 1-1

Federer holds to love, after a few good shots by Federer and bad shots by Soderling.
6-7(3), 6-3, 2-1

Some great shots by Federer puts him 15-30 up but Soderling comes back to win the next 2 points and Soderling eventually takes the game, after 1 deuce.
6-7(3), 6-3, 2-2

Soderling goes 15-30 up but Federer comes back with the next 3 points to win the game.
6-7(3), 6-3, 3-2

Soderling comes back from 0-15 down to win the game with the next 4 points and is playing great tennis now.
6-7(3), 6-3, 3-3

Federer hits back with a love service game.
6-7(3), 6-3, 4-3

Federer has a chance to break at 15-30 and then has a break point at 30-40 and a terrible miss by Soderling gives Federer the break.
6-7(3), 6-3, 5-3

Soderling gives a double match point after a terrible volley and Federer wins it with an ace.
6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3

No live comments for the nadal match but results will be in later and there should be live commentary for the final tomorrow here at no earlier than 1 pm GMT time.

Thursday 30 December 2010

Abu Dhabi 2011

I'm sorry for missing a few days of posting but come back tomorrow as there will be more.

The season has kicked off with an exhibition tournament at Abu Dhabi. There are 6 players in the draw:Rafael Nadal, world number 1, Roger Federer, world number 2, Marcos Baghdatis, subject to intensive training recently, Robin Soderling, world number 5, Tomas Berdych, world number 6 and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, returning from injury.

The draw is in a different style to conventional tournaments. The top 2 seeds, Nadal and Federer, get a first round bye, while Baghdatis faces Tomas Berdych for a place against Nadal and Soderling faces Tsonga for a place against Federer in the Semi-Finals. Today the first two matches have taken place and we have found out who has made it to the semi-Finals.

Berdych beat Baghdatis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Berdych stormed to an early lead but Baghdatis levelled in the second set. He was then broken in the eighth game of the last set, immediately breaking back. He then needed to save 2 match points but eventually faltered with a low quality volley, allowing Berdych to go into the Semi-Finals to play Nadal.

Soderling beat Tsonga 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1. Soderling was in great form, as he brushed aside Tsonga in three sets and will play Federer tomorrow.

Order of play tomorrow (GMT time)


Federer vs Soderling - 11 am

to be followed by

Nadal vs Berdych

Sunday 26 December 2010

Advent calendar day 25 #1 Rod Laver

I'm sorry for posting this late but it has been busy during the last few days.

We come to the end of our countdown as we reach the greatest tennis player.
The Best Player of all time

Rod Laver

Grand Slams won - 11
Grand Slam Finals lost - 6
Overall amount of singles titles won - 199
Overall Match Winning percentage - ?
Top rank - 1

We finish the count down with the incredible Rod Laver, who dominated the tennis world in the 1960s. He won 11 Grand Slams in 17 Finals. Rod Laver was the third of seven male tennis players to complete the career grand Slam. He made his first Grand Slam Final in 1959 at Wimbledon and won his first Grand Slam in 1960, at the age of 22, at the Australian Open, he then won Wimbledon the next year. One year later, in 1962, he completed the career Grand Slam, with titles at the French Open and US Open, but in 1962 he didn't just finish the career Grand Slam he became the second male player to complete a season Grand Slam, after Don Budge, and the last player to do this. In addition to the 4 Grand Slams he won 18 other titles, a record. At the end of this dream year, he left to the pro-slam tour. Every year there are only 3 pro-slams and he played 15 in his 5 years, making the Final of 14 of them and winning 8 of them, including winning all three pro-slams in his last year on the pro-slam tour. In 1968 he returned to playing Grand Slams, due to the emergence of Open era. In his first Grand Slam back, at the French Open he lost in the final but won Wimbledon that year. In his second year back he did the Season Grand Slam for a second time, he is the only player to ever do this. After this he seemed to lose his grip on Grand Slams and played just 5 Grand Slams in the next 3 years and 3 more after that in the next 5 years, until he played in his last Grand Slam in 1977 and retired in 1979. At the Australian Open he won 3 titles in 4 Finals, after having 9 attempts. At the French Open he won 2 titles in 3 Finals and 8 attempts. At Wimbledon he won 4 times in 6 Finals and 10 tries. And finally at the US Open twice in 4 Finals and 12 attempts. He would have almost certainly won more Grand Slam titles if he hadn't gone to the pro-slam tour for 5 years. In 1963 he was ranked world number two, then for the next 7 years after this he was ranked world number 1, until 1970, his last year as number 1. He won an amazing 199 titles in his career, including his titles won on the pro-slam tour, this is a record. Between 1961 and 1970, he won more than titles each of those years, except 1963. In 1962 he won 22 titles, a record, and in 1969 he won 18 titles, an open era record. He helped Australia win the Davis Cup for four consecutive times between 1959 and 1962 as well as in 1973. Rod Laver used an effective serve and volley game, equipped with powerful ground strokes to dominate the grass courts, which most Grand Slams were played on. He was brilliant at running down balls and was agile and quick. To conclude I think Rod Laver's great achievements has made him famous and has gotten him to the top of the count down, even when missing 5 years of Grand Slams, he still had a large haul and still was dominating the pro-slam tour.

I thank all readers for following this advent calendar and hope you all have a great Christmas.

Come back next year, where we will probably make a new advent calendar.

Saturday 25 December 2010

Advent calendar day 24 #2 Roger Federer

I'm sorry for posting this late.

Now we reach our number 2 and tomorrow the best tennis player of all time will be announced.

image found here
2nd Best Player of all time

Roger Federer

Grand Slams won - 16
Grand Slam Finals lost - 6
Overall amount of singles titles won - 66
Overall Match Winning percentage - 81.03% (743-174)
Top rank - 1

The master of tennis is, surprisingly for many, slotted in at number 2. The Swiss maestro has won a record 16 Grand Slams in a record 22 Finals and this amount may possibly increase. He has already completed the career Grand Slam, winning Wimbledon in 2003, the US open and Australian Open in 2004 but had much trouble winning the French Open and won it in 2009. He made a record 23 consecutive Semi-Finals, a run which was ended at the 2010 French Open. From the latter stages of 2005 to the end of 2007, he made a record 10 consecutive Grand Slam Finals. At Wimbledon he has seen much success, winning 5 titles in a row a joint open era record with Bjorn Borg. On top of that he made 7 consecutive Finals, the only player in history to do this, and overall has won 6 titles already. He has shown much success at the US Open as well, winning 5 consecutive titles, an open era record, and participating in 6 Finals in a row. He also has a record 40 consecutive match wins. At the Australian Open he has been slightly less successful but has still won 4 titles and played in 5 Finals. Not much success has come from the French Open, being in the Final 4 consecutive times and winning on the fourth of those finals. This is probably because of Nadal, who beat Federer at the Semi-Finals in 2005 and the Finals between 2006 and 2008 at the French Open. If Nadal wan't playing, Federer could have won more Grand Slams, losing 5 of his 6 Grand Slam Finals to Nadal. In 2006, 2007 and 2009 he made the Final of all 4 Grand Slams, winning 3 in 2006 and 2007 and winning 2 in 2009. In Grand Slams he has a winning record of 87.4, only bettered by Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg in Open era. Federer is the second player to ever hold Grand Slams on 3 different surfaces, after Rafael Nadal. Federer has won a joint record of 5 ATP World Tour Finals, in 6 Finals, in 9 consecutive tries. He has been world number 1 for 285 weeks, one week behind the record set by Pete Sampras. This includes a record 237 weeks consecutively as number one, a record. He has been year end number 1 for 5 years, including 4 consecutive as well as being in the year end top 2 for a record 8 consecutive years. Federer has the record of 29 Finals at Masters 1000 events, winning 17, second only to Nadal with 18. Federer won a record 65 consecutive matches on grass, ended by Nadal. He also has a record 56 consecutive wins on hard court, before again losing to Nadal. His longest winning streak was 41 consecutive wins in matches from 2005 to 2006. His best year in 2006, when he won 12 titles and had a winning record of 92-5. As of the end of 2010 he still flies strong and is dangerous all around but has lost some his dominance to recent stars and has started to lose to players he didn't used to. Federer is a remarkable player, known for his great ability to adapt to other surfaces and is one of the best players, if not the best player, on all 3 surfaces. Federer is in general a baseline player but he has a very effective volley. He is not known for hitting the ball hard of having the best shots but is known for the elegance in each of his shots, whcih win him many points. However, we may not see much victories in the future for Federer, as Nadal peaks in form, he will always be one of the greatest players of all time.

P.S. Federer may become number 1 in this count down in the future if he wins more titles and continues to play well. 

Come back a bit later for the best player of all time.

Thursday 23 December 2010

Advent calendar day 23 #3 Bill Tilden

We now reach the third best in a count down to the best tennis player of all time.

image found here
3rd Best Player of all time

Bill Tilden

Grand Slams won - 10
Grand Slam Finals lost - 5
Overall amount of singles titles won - 138
Overall Match Winning percentage - 93.60% (907-62)                                         
Top rank - 1

I can now imagine many people reading this will be thinking who is Bill Tilden, even though he was a great player, he is widely unknown because he dominated tennis in the 1920s, in a way no player has ever done before or after him. He was able to win 10 Grand Slams in 15 Finals, after playing in just 23 Grand Slams. In all but his first 2 Grand Slams he made it to at least the Quarter Finals and in all but 3 Grand Slams, including his first 2, he made at least the Semi-Finals. He made his first Grand Slam Final in his third attempt in the 1918 US Open at the age of 25, after entering his first Grand Slam at the age of 23 and he won his first Grand Slam 2 years later at the age of 27 in the 1920 Wimbledon. At the US Open he made an amazing feat of 8 consecutive finals, including 6 consecutive victories, and 9 Finals in 10 years. He finished his career with 7 wins and 3 runner-ups, in 14 attempts. He didn't win a single Australian Open because he didn't even play in a single Australian Open because it was too difficult to get to Australia around this time. He never won at the French Open in 3 attempts, falling at the Semi-Finals once and at the Finals twice, however he was 34, 36 and 37 during his 3 attempts. At Wimbledon his was considerably more successful, winning 3 times in 6 attempts and losing at the Semi-Finals 3 times. He won his last Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 1930, before moving to the pro-slam tour to get more money. At the pro-slams he continued consistency, winning 4 and being runner-up in 3. His complete dominance was shown by his incredible play in helping USA to 7 consecutive Davis Cup titles between 1920 and 1926, a record. In his career he was number 1 for a total of 7 years, including 6 consecutive years between 1920 and 1925, as well as being number 2, 3 times. In his career he had an incredible 93.6% winning percentage, the best in the history of the game, and an amazing 138 titles in 192 tournaments, a 71.88% of tournaments played. Tilden was not only a great player but he was a great sportsman and is said to have dropped the first set of matches on purpose to make it more interesting for both him and the audience, to give them their money's worth of good play. Before the times of challenges, what ever the umpire said would go and when Tilden disagreed with a call, he would purposely lose the point to be fair. Once he even refunded money to a promoter because the turn out for a match was bad, so the promoter would lose money. He was well known for a great ability to run down balls as well as his blistering shots and finally a cannon ball serve, which apparently was measured once at 165 MPH. This is thought to be untrue because of the poor measuring equipment and the fact that wooden racquets were used, which gave less power than modern racquets and the current record is 155 MPH. His form is quite incredible for a few reasons, one amazing thing is that part of his middle finger of the hand, with which he held his racquet was amputated, also throughout his career he had chronic knee pain. One more disadvantage he had compared to the modern era was the length of the season, which meant he could win less titles. He was not only a great player physically but his mental play was very good and he could adapt his tactics to work his opponent's strengths against him. In 1946 he played his last pro-slam and retired at a old age of 53. After retiring, he occasionally played in celebrity matches but in 1953 at the age of 60 he died, after he had a stroke. Tilden was a late starter and had to work hard to get to the top, by improving his game.

Come back tomorrow as we reach the climax, when we reveal the 2nd best player of all time.

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Advent calendar day 22 #4 Andre Agassi

We now come to number 4 in our count down to the greatest player of all time.

image found here
4th Best Player of all time

Andre Agassi

Grand Slams won - 8
Grand Slam Finals lost - 7
Overall amount of singles titles won - 64
Overall Match Winning percentage - 77.44% (762-222)                                         
Top rank - 1                                                                                    

We have the great Andre Agassi, well known across the globe. He won 8 of 15 Grand Slam Finals. He is one of seven people in the history of tennis to complete a career Grand Slam, winning his first at the 1992 Wimbledon, then the 1994 US open, next the 1995 Australian Open and he completed the career Grand Slam at the 1999 French Open. He didn't only do the career Grand Slam but completed the career golden Grand Slam, which means he has won all Grand Slams and an olympic gold, he is one of 2 players in the history of tennis to do this and was the first. He won the olympic gold in singles in 1996. Once more he has gone better than even the Golden Grand Slam, having also completed the career super slam. This means you have done the Golden Grand Slam but have also won an ATP World Tour Finals title, which he did only once, in 1990, Agassi is currently the only player to have done this but 2 players only need one of the remaining components to finish the career super slam. His 4 Australian Open titles is a joint record but he holds the record for the most consecutive match wins at the Australian Open, of 26. He played in 14 ATP World Tour Finals and lost in the Semi-Finals twice, was runner-up three times and won the title once. Andre Agassi was world number 1 for 32 weeks in 1995 and 1996, 55 weeks in 1999 and 2000 as well as another 14 weeks in 2003, at this time he was 33 years and 4 months which made him the oldest number one in open era. All these make a total of 101 weeks as number 1 in his career, including one year end number 1 in 1999. In this year he made the final of the last 3 Grand Slams and won 2. He would win the Australian Open next year, making him the first person since 1969, at the beginning of open era, to be in four consecutive Grand Slam Finals. In 1999 he also won 5 of 19 tournaments, had a winning record of 63-14 and lost in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals. Andre Agassi used to have been the player who had won the most ATP Masters 1000 titles, with 17, but recently this was over taken by Rafael Nadal, who now has 18. In 1995 he won a career best 7 tournaments and also had his best win record in his career, with 73-9. 1997 was a year, which Agassi has become infamous for. A wrist injury from the past came back and later he failed a drug test, which the ATP passed as a warning because he said his friend had spiked his drink but in his autobiography he admitted to taking crystal meth, after his friend convinced him. In 2006 at Wimbledon he announced retirement for the end of the year, due to many injuries, such as back, ankle and leg injuries. At the US open later that year, he made a retirement speech, after losing in the third round to Benjamin Becker. In the end injury hindered his performance for a lot of his time on the tour. Agassi was a natural player from the beginning and early in his career he was successful everywhere, except at Grand Slams. At the end of his first year on tour, at the age of 16, he was world number 91. Agassi was famously a base line player and had one of the best ever return of serve. In 1994 Agassi started charity for young people. In the future he would make more charities. To this day he works hard to raise money for charity and has done many exhibition matches for charity. 

Advent calendar day 21 #5 Rafael Nadal

We have reached the top 5 in our count down to the greatest tennis player of all time.

image found here
5th Best Player of all time

Rafael Nadal

Grand Slams won - 9
Grand Slam Finals lost - 2
Overall amount of singles titles won - 43
Overall Match Winning percentage - 82.37% (472-101)
Top rank - 1

The king of clay makes an appearance today, as we reach the top 5 in our count down. He has already won 9 Grand Slams in 11 Finals and is on his way to many more. He is one of 7 players in the history of tennis to have won the career Grand Slam and the youngest in open era to do so. He won his first grand Slam at the 2005 French Open and after 3 more wins there, he won his first other Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2008. In 2009 he won the Australian Open and this year in 2010 he finished the career Grand Slam at the US Open. He is also one of 2 players to have won the career Golden Grand Slam, winning the Olympic Gold in 2008, as well as being the only player to hold Grand Slams on 3 different surfaces and the Olympic Gold. The career Golden Grand Slam is winning the four Grand Slams and an Olympic Gold. He is the first player since the 1967 to have won 3 consecutive Grand Slams in a year and is one of two players in open era, the other being Mats Wilander, to have won two or more Grand Slams on each surface:clay, grass and hard court. He is also the only player to have ever won Grand Slams on all 3 surfaces in a season. At the French Open he has won the most consecutive matches, with 31, as well as being the only player to have won 5 titles in 6 years. He is also one of two players, the other Bjorn Borg, who won 4 consecutive French Opens in Open era. He has qualified for the last 6 ATP World Tour Finals but retired from 2 of these before playing a match. The best he has done at the ATP World Tour Finals was runner-up in 2010, when he lost in 3 sets to Federer. For 6 consecutive years from 2005-2010 he has been ranked in the top 2 at the end of the year including 2 year end number 1 rankings and was number 2 for 160 consecutive weeks before becoming number 1. He is currently, at the end of 2010, he is world number 1 and has already been world number one for 77 weeks and is guaranteed more. This year he broke the record for the most ATP Masters 1000 titles won, with 18. He is the only player in history to have won all three masters on one surface in one year, there are 3 masters 1000 tournaments per surface, doing this in the 2010 clay court season. He also is the only player to have won a title more than 5 consecutive times in open era, winning the Monte Carlo masters 1000 title 6 times in a row and could make it seven in 2011. In 2005 he won 4 ATP 1000 Masters titles, a joint record with Federer and is the only player to have won at least 2 Masters 1000 title for 6 consecutive years as well as at least 3 masters 1000 titles for 4 consecutive years. In 2010 Nadal won 7 titles, had a winning record of 71-10 and won a record $10,171,998 in a season. In 2005 he had his best year in terms of tournaments and win record. He won 11 tournaments and had a 79-10 win record. He has won 3 Davis Cups with Spain in 2004, 2008 and 2009. Nadal is well known for his great defensive play, being able to run down balls that other players wouldn't even try to get to. He is also known for his piercing forehand with top spin, which is his trademark shot. He has tried to adapt his game to grass by attempting some volleying, which has been successful and this has contributed to his great runs at Wimbledon. He has recently improved his once weak serve. He used to be able to hit great serves other pressure but now all serves have improved greatly. After all this great play, we can expect much more from him in the future and I am certain he won't stop improving.

P.S. Nadal is a player, who is currently number 5 in this countdown but in the future, if he continues his great form, he will go up higher in ranking as the greatest player of all time, as he is still only 24 and a half years old.

Tuesday 21 December 2010

Advent calendar day 20 #6 Pete Sampras

Now we are at number 6 on the count down to the best tennis player of all time.

image found here
6th Best Player of all time

Pete Sampras

Grand Slams won - 14
Grand Slam Finals lost - 4
Overall amount of singles titles won - 64
Overall Match Winning percentage - 77.44% (762-222)
Top rank - 1

Today we have the former king of Grand Slams-Pete Sampras. He won a great haul of 14 Grand Slams, a great record until Federer broke it in 2009. He lost 4 Grand Slam Finals, failing 3 times at the US Open and once at the Australian Open. He failed to win the career Grand Slam, making the semi-Finals of The French Open just once in 1996. He won a record 7 Wimbledon titles, which were won in 8 years from 1993 to 2000, this includes runs of 3 and 4 consecutive victories. He won a record of 5 US Open titles, a record shared with 2 others during Open Era. He won his first Wimbledon title and second Grand Slam in 1993, 3 years after he won his first Grand Slam in the 1990 US Open. He also holds a joint record for the amount of ATP World Tour Finals won, a total of 5. He also won 8 consecutive Grand Slam Finals, a record. Sampras is the only player to have been ranked as year end world number 1 for 6 consecutive years and holds the record for the most weeks as world number 1, of 286 weeks, one more than Federer's 285. He is fourth on the all time ATP Masters 1000 titles, with 11, 5th on the all time ATP titles, with 64 and he has made the second most money any tennis player has made, with $43,000,000. He won the Davis Cup in 1992 and 1995 with USA and in 1993 he won a career best 85 matches in the season. The next year he won a career high of 10 tournaments and a personal best winning streak of 29 matches. So in a career of 15 years, he accomplished so much. Sampras commonly used an effective serve and volley tactic, which accounts for his success at Wimbledon. He was also armed with strong ground strokes, setting up a volley. He was well known for his good play under pressure, especially his serve. He had a great serve and a blistering forehand on the run, which was one of the best ever. His biggest weakness was his back hand, which was exploited by rivals but he countered by running around his backhand and using his forehand, therefore encouraging his opponent to give him forehands on the run. His forehand utilised heavy top spin and lightning pace. In 2002 he won his last Grand Slam and before the next US Open he announced his retirement. Now he occasionally plays in the veteran tour for retired players and exhibition matches. Unfortunately in November 2010 Sampras announced that many of his trophies, including his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open had been stolen.

Later today I will release the 5th best players of all time.

Advent calendar day 19 #7 Ivan Lendl

Today we have the seventh best of all time on the way to the best player of all time.

7th Best Player of all time
image found here

Ivan Lendl

Grand Slams won - 8
Grand Slam Finals lost - 11
Overall amount of singles titles won - 94
Overall Match Winning percentage - 81.8% (1071-239)
Top rank - 1

We have one of the biggest underachievers in the history in tennis today, Ivan Lendl. He played in a former record of 19 Grand Slam Finals and won just 8 of them. His failure to capitalise on all his Grand Slam Finals, is what he is most famous for. However, he failed to win the career Grand Slam, making the Final of Wimbledon in 1986 and 1987, but failing to win there. He won his first Grand Slam in the 1984 French Open, 3 years after his first Grand Slam Final at the 1981 French Open. He made a Final of a Grand Slam for a joint record of 11 consecutive years. He also was in an Open Era record of 8 consecutive US Open Finals, including 3 consecutive wins. At the French Open he was one of four people during open era to make four consecutive Finals there. He was a very consistent player, who made 12 consecutive ATP World Tour Finals. In all 12 tries he made the Semi-Finals, including 9 Finals and 5 wins, this is the most wins at the ATP World Tour Finals joint with 2 other players but is the only player to make 9 consecutive Finals, let alone 9 Finals in his career. He has been in the top 2 at the end of the year in 6 years, which includes number 1 four times, as well as three consecutive years as number 1. All in all he was world number 1 for 270 weeks, third on the all time list and 16 weeks off Pete Sampras, who holds the record. He is also third on consecutive weeks as number 1, having a period of 157 consecutive weeks once. More proof of his consistency was the fact that he was in the world top 5 between 1980 and 1992 and has won the second most matches of a player in Open Era. He is also second on the all time list for the amount of tournaments won in a year of 15 in 1982, second only to Guillermo Vilas' 16. Finally he won an incredible haul of 93 ATP titles, second only to Jimmy Connors on 109. Lendl was very successful as a junior and started his professional career very well. He was well known for his use of top spin and his forehands on the run. The reason he probably failed to win Wimbledon was his lack of volleying combined with the different bounces on grass court.

Later today I will release the 6th and 5th best players of all time.

Saturday 18 December 2010

Away

Tomorrow until monday I will be unable to do the advent calendar because I am abroad but on tuesday I will catch up with the missing days.

Here is the latest edition to the advent calendar.

Advent calendar day 18 #8 Roy Emerson

We have now reached the eighth best in the count down to the greatest player of all time.

image found here
8th Best Player of all time

Roy Emerson

Grand Slams won - 12
Grand Slam Finals lost - 3
Overall amount of singles titles won - ?
Overall Match Winning percentage - ?
Top rank - ?

Today we have none other than Roy Emerson, a winner of 12 Grand Slams in 15 Finals. He was one of the 7 men in the history of tennis to win the career Grand Slam but he is the only to do a double career Grand Slam. He took 6 Australian Opens, 2 US Opens, 2 Wimbledon titles and 2 French Opens. He finished his first career Grand Slam at the 1964 Wimbledon and his second at the 1967 French Open. In 1964 he had his best year, wining 3 Grand Slams, missing out on the French Open, he also had a record of 109-6, which included a run of 55 consecutive matches. All three of his losses in Finals of Grand Slams were in 1962, against Rod Laver. His last Grand Slam was in the 1967 French Open at the age of 31. He was in 7 consecutive Finals at the Australian Open between 1961 and 1967, which included 6 wins and a run of 5 wins. This is the most Australian Opens won as well as won consecutively in the history of tennis. He didn't just complete the double career Grand Slam in singles but he also did it in doubles, the only person to do this. He held the record for the most Grand Slam titles until 2000, when Pete Sampras surpassed him. He won a record 8 Davis Cups with Australia between 1959 and 1967. He was never ranked in the top 2 in the unofficial rankings, probably because when he played most of the great players had moved to the pro-slam tour. In 1983, at the age of 47, he retired, though before he retired he was only playing a few tournaments a year. He won his last tournament in 1973, 10 years before retiring! He was well known for his hard training and determination and he used an effective serve and volley tactic, which was helped by an incredible ability to run down balls and hit good forehands.