Showing posts with label final. Show all posts
Showing posts with label final. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Djokovic reaches Wimbledon final

By Chris Bevan
BBC Sport at Wimbledon Venue: All England Club, LondonDate: 20 June-3 JulyCoverage: Live on BBC One, Two, 3D, HD, Red Button, online (UK only), Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra; live text commentary from 0900 BST on BBC Sport website (#bbctennis); watch again on iPlayerNovak Djokovic Djokovic too good for spirited Tsonga

Novak Djokovic battled past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach his first Wimbledon final and replace Rafael Nadal at the top of the world rankings.

The second seed won 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-7 (9-11) 6-3 in three hours, six minutes.

Djokovic dominated after edging a tight first set but flashes of brilliance kept the Frenchman alive in the third.

However, Djokovic held his nerve in the fourth set and the Serb will go on to face Rafael Nadal in Sunday's final after the Spaniard beat Andy Murray.

The two-time Australian Open winner, who has now lost only one of his last 50 matches, will be aiming to leave SW19 with a third Grand Slam title to go with his new accolade as the world's top player.

He has overhauled Federer, the only person to beat him in 2011, and Nadal to become number oner.

"They don't give you a lot of chances to become number one," Djokovic said afterwards with a smile. "I guess you need to lose only one match in seven months to get there."

Novak Djokovic Final dream 'comes true' for Djokovic

He is likely to face a more sustained challenge in the final than he faced from the flamboyant Tsonga, who flitted in and out of their clash mixing moments of acrobatic genius with the sloppiest of mistakes and made 29 unforced errors in all.

The powerful 26-year-old, playing in the last four at the All England Club for the first time, attacked from the start and made the most of a tense opening by Djokovic that saw him broken when he sent a wild forehand flying long.

Tsonga survived repeated pressure on his own serve but cracked when he was serving for the set at 5-4, gambling on a 133mph second serve that failed to clear the net and being broken back when he put a forehand wide.

More mistakes followed in the tie-break, which Djokovic wrapped up on his second set-point when Tsonga flopped a routine volley into the net.

The second set was a one-sided affair, mainly because Tsonga's first serve deserted him and Djokovic was able to rip into his slower second delivery, breaking twice to go 4-1 up before wrapping it up in only 28 minutes.

A rapid conclusion to the match looked likely when Djokovic broke again at the start of the third set but Tsonga, helped by his brutal forehand and the backing of the Centre Court crowd, soon returned to life.

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He won three games in a row to go from 2-4 to 5-4 before the pair shared breaks and some thrilling exchanges to take the set to a tie-break.

That proved just as tense, with Tsonga denying Djokovic on two match-points with a smash and an ace before he saw out the set on his third set-point when the Serbian went long with a return.

Tsonga had fought back from two sets down to beat six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals but his hopes of a repeat were hit when he was broken to love at the start of the first set and soon found himself trailing 1-4.

There was still time for more moments of brilliance from the world number 19, in particular a lob that helped him hold at 2-5, but he could not stop Djokovic serving out to complete a memorable victory.

A delighted Djokovic, who sank to the ground to kiss the Centre Court turf in celebration, told the BBC: "It is difficult to put it into words but it is one of the best feelings I have ever had on a tennis court.

"My dreams are coming true. It will be my first Wimbledon final and I am so happy to be through. Hopefully there will be more celebrations to come."

Novak Djokovic 'Point of the Tournament' three times over


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Saturday, July 2, 2011

Kvitova blasts her way into final

By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Wimbledon Venue: All England Club, LondonDate: 20 June - 3 JulyCoverage: Live on BBC One, Two, 3D, HD, Red Button, online (UK only), Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra; live text commentary from 0900 BST on BBC Sport website (#bbctennis); iPlayerPetra Kvitova Kvitova is the first Czech to reach the final since Jana Novotna in 1998 Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova produced a blistering display to beat Victoria Azarenka and reach her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.

The 21-year-old left-hander, who lost to Serena Williams in the semi-finals last year, reeled off the winners as she came through 6-1 3-6 6-2.

Belarusian Azarenka, seeded fourth, was making her Grand Slam semi-final debut but could not contain Kvitova.

The Czech will play Maria Sharapova or Sabine Lisicki in Saturday's final.

Kvitova, who beat Azarenka in the third round at Wimbledon last year, is known for her shot-making ability and she made a blistering start on Centre Court, making 13 winners and breaking twice as the first set flew by in 27 minutes.

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The power and depth of the Czech's groundstrokes, and her ability to hit clean winners off both sides, left Azarenka reeling, but for all her her talent Kvitova remains inconsistent and her level dropped at the start of the second set.

After making only three unforced errors in the first, the mistakes began to creep in and Azarenka finally got a foothold in her opponent's service games.

Azarenka, 21, won the first six points to take control of the second set and would not relinquish that lead, pummelling her way to the set with a succession of backhands in game nine.

The Belarusian was the one playing in her first Grand Slam semi-final but the world number five has been a contender at the top level for some time now, and might have been expected to hold her nerve better in the decider.

It was her misfortune that the Kvitova of the early stages began to resurface with a love hold to open the set, before Azarenka buckled under more huge hitting to drop serve.

Kvitova had won the second set of their third-round clash 6-0 last year and she was on course for something similar at 3-0, but Azarenka slowed the Czech express in game five, only to miss two break-back points.

It was still a huge task for Kvitova to close it as she tried to become only the fourth Czech woman to reach the Wimbledon final after Martina Navratilova, Hana Mandlikova and Jana Novotna, but she held her nerve as Azarenka's cracked.

With Navratilova watching from the Royal Box, Kvitova worked her way to two match points at 5-2 and was thankful to see Azarenka double-fault on the second.

"I can't say anything, I'm so happy," Kvitova told BBC Sport.

"I started very well, and it was all about the serves in both sets, so I'm very happy with mine in the third. I'm not thinking about the final too much yet."


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