Wimbledon 2010: Nadal, Djokovic, Murray Sail Through to The Semi-Finals
Day nine at the All England Club turned into a battleground of the top seeds. All the guns came out on the court blazing all their ammunition for a place in the top four of the men’s draw at Wimbledon. It was predicted to be a long afternoon of delightful tennis and it did not disappoint.
All four matches were high on adrenaline and action packed. Pumping fists, cheering crowds and high speed action were all part of the spectacle. All eyes were on the top four seeds to see if they lived up to the expectations attached to them. They all did except one. The top seed of the men’s draw tumbled out in a very surprising manner, much to the dismay of his fans. Roger Federer was eliminated from Wimbledon, but the other three top seeds continued to march on.
Court One was witness to a surprising start by the now de facto title favorite Rafael Nadal. It was a repeat of the French Open final as he took on Robin Soderling, who was out there to avenge his defeat. Soderling did just that as he raced to a 5-0 lead after just eighteen minutes in the first set. Rafael was yet to unleash his terror as Soderling surprisingly dominated the first set. The news of Roger Federer’s exit had already seeped into Court One and at this point there were fears the same treatment may be meted out to the number two seed.
Nadal however did recuperate and take one break back from Soderling. However, this was not enough as Soderling served out the first set 6-3. Nadal has made comebacks in his past few matches and this is exactly what was expected of him at this point. A very animated Nadal started the second set in his usual punchy manner. After saving a break point on his serve in the first game, Nadal did not look back. Pretty soon the tables had turned and it was Nadal who went up 4-1 and quickly wrapped up the second set 6-3.
The third set saw Nadal serving for the set at 5-4. But it seems as if the medical timeout called by Soderling became a distraction for Nadal, as a string of poor errors lost Nadal his service game and pushed the third set into a tie break. Nadal quickly shunned all his inhibitions and put his game into gear and won the tiebreak and set 7-6. Then the fourth set was just a breeze for Nadal, as he grew in confidence. He allowed Soderling to win just a single game in the fourth set as he made a place for himself in two hours and forty three minutes.
Rafael Nadal’s opponent in the semifinal will be Britain wonderkid Andy Murray. Murray was next on Center Court after he witnessed Roger Federer being dumped out of Wimbledon. Looking for a place in the semifinal, he had to battle Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga. Murray had a relatively easy route to the quarterfinals compared to the other top seeds as he did not lose a single set. But that was due to change as the Frenchman took the first set of Murray in a tiebreak.
Murray knew he had a lot at stake, so with the crowd behind him he turned on the heat. Murray was up a break in the second set, before his errors cost him his service game, thereby playing yet another tiebreak. This time though the tiebreak went his way after an error committed of the Tsonga racquet. Murray took an early lead in the third set and Tsonga seemed to be getting weary. Murray jumped at this opening and won the third set 6-2. And the icing on the cake came twenty four minutes later as Murray won the fourth set 6-2 and with it entered his second consecutive semifinal at Wimbledon.
Yen Hsun Lu’s dream run at Wimbledon ended as Novak Djokovic put his best foot forward in their quarterfinal match. Djokovic stuttered earlier in the tournament but ever since then he has not looked back. His impressive performance again as the conqueror of Roddick further strengthened his position in the competition. It was his best performance of the tournament as he blitzed past Lu 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. He said he had been working on his serve and that was very evident throughout the match. In just an hour and fifty one minutes, victory was handed to Novak Djokovic who would be looking to make his way to the final.
As the tournament nears its end, the matches seem to be getting more intense. Wimbledon 2010 has definitely lived up to its reputation of being the best fortnight of tennis action.
Tags: