Sports Betting Blog

It seems as if the Olympic Gold medal Andy Murray obtained at the London 2012 Summer Olympics have certainly helped him get in the right state of mind to keep on showing that he might just have what it takes to get into the elite trio of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Let’s not forget that just a few weeks earlier, in the same grass courts of the All English Club, Andy Murray had managed his way up to the Wimbledon’s final, were he eventually lost to Roger Federer. But in a nice touch of fate, Murray would go on and face this Swiss Maestro again in the gold medal matchup in the London Olympics. And this time, for the first time in 5 distinct shots, it would be Murray taking the win and his first Olympic medal.

Now, it seems as if he has been able to translate some of that momentum into a solid performance in the US Open that is certainly making him look like one of the favorite to go on and give both Novak Djokovic, the US Open defending Champion, and Roger Federer, in his route to a record-breaking 18^th Grand Slam title, a good run for their money. After beating Milos Raonic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, last night, he made it quite clear that this is the best tennis we’ve seen him play ever, and that he is ready to go and get his first Grand Slam title. His recent performances have been phenomenal and after the surgically precise win over Raonic, Murray has now reached his 8^th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Don’t let the overwhelming score make you think for a second that Milos Raonic was not a brilliant contestant. Just consider the following statistics to make up your mind about Raonic. The 21-year-old’s best weapon is his serve. He came into the match with 89 aces in three matches, this is 21 more aces than the Argentinean Nicolas Almagro, who had played four games. His fastest serve was clocked at 143 mph, one off the tournament high established by John Isner. As a matter of fact the Canadian (although born in Montenegro) pro who currently resides in Monte Carlo hit 14 aces for the game. That included one bullet that hit 140 mph on the radar. And yet, Andy Murray made it look real easy as he toyed with the ATP World Tour’s No. 16-ranked player. It looks as if the confidence boost has given Murray the trust he needs to star playing towards the lines under pressure and his artillery seems now much more diverse and effective on the key games.

“I used a lot of variation tonight,” Murray said in the postgame press conference. “Milos has a massive game. I had to guess sometimes. I was lucky, because they fly past you and sometimes you get a racket on it. Tonight I got a racket on it.” Now it’s really up to him to find a way to get back in the game and bring back home his first mayor. He has the motivation, and to make it a bit easier, Rafa Nadal is out resting his sore knee. This looks like his best shot yet. Let’s see if he can get it.

Once they closed the roof of Centre Court at the All England Club in Wimbledon, the Scottish Andy Murray simply held no chance to defeat the Swiss Maestro. Roger Federer was as dominant and as hungry for titles as he has ever been, and gave Murray no chance despite the support he was getting from the locals. Murray became the first British man to reach the finals at Wimbledon since 1938, so sure enough, the fans had their hopes set on 25-year-old Scotsman. And for a moment there this was certainly his best shot ever at winning a Grand Slam. Roger Federer proved that at 30 he’s still got a lot to give and that his career is far from over. The Swiss Maestro grabbed his 7^th title after beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday.

Let it there be no doubt: Roger Federer has recovered the No.1 spot in the ATP rankings and has done so in spectacular fashion. He managed to conquer his record-tying 7^th title at the All English Club in Wimbledon, and got his long-awaited 17^th Grand Slam title, just to make it clear that he really does have a strong argument to hold the title for the best tennis player ever. He is now officially reaching his 286^th week as the top-ranked player in the World, reaching the all-time record holder Pete Sampras, and surely, it’s now going to impose and take over. So, the correlations are all there. For those who had ever made a case for Sampras been the best player ever, little by little and before reaching his 31^st birthday, Roger Federer is coming down and breaking all the records.

His 7^th Wimbledon title ties him with Pete Sampras, and you would have to go back to the XIX Century to find another player who has won 7 titles here. Only 1880s player William Renshaw has also won seven Wimbledon titles. Then again, this came at a period in the tournament when the defending champion was given a bye into the following year’s final. So, it’s certainly not the same thing, but you get the idea. Still, the local fans had their hopes set on Murray, but once the roof was closed and there was no more wind, Federer won 65 of the 117 points played indoors, and it was all over for Murray.

This was a big win. This is going to fuel him into the next few seasons, and hopefully give him what it takes to clinch his 18^th Grand Slam title. Even Pete Sampras came out to talk about his success.  “He doesn’t want to stop now,” Sampras said in a telephone interview in regards to Federer’s win. “He knows he’s going to continue to play well and try to break seven, and he could very well end up with eight or nine Wimbledon titles. I just think he’s that much better than the other guys on grass, and he loves the court the way I loved that court. He’s a great champion, a classy champion, and I’m really happy for him.”

It took the Swiss Maestro four sets to beat the defending champion, but once again, Roger Federer is trying to prove that he still got what it takes to get back to the top of the sport. And he just might. Earlier today, Roger Federer was facing Novak Djokovic at Centre Court. He knows very well how it feels to be here, what it takes to be successful at the All English Club. Knowing well that Rafael Nadal was out of the picture and that if he managed to defeat the Serb, he will meet either Andy Murray or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday’s final, Roger Federer made sure to play this matchup as if it was the championship game. He has won the Wimbledon Championships 6 times, and is now officially going to make it to the final for the 8^th time. The only time he lost at a Wimbledon Final was back in 2008 when he lost game 5 to Rafa Nadal.

Federer made the best of the matchup against the No. 1 ranked player in the world. At the end, the six time Wimbledon Champion defeated Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. As of press time, it looks as if it is going to be Andy Murray who will be facing Federer in the final. This is Murray’s first trip into the Wimbledon Finals. As a matter of fact, this is the first time a British has made it into the final since 1938. Oh yeah, the crowd can’t be as static to see one of their own holding a chance to win the Championships. Then again, Murray has not won a single Grand Slam and before him, will be standing no other than Roger Federer, a player who has won 16, and is just one tennis matchup away from reaching a record breaking 17^th Grand Slam win, tie Pete Sampras for his 7^th Wimbledon Championship, a record they will share with a player from the 1880’s William Renshaw. As if that was not enough, if Federer wins the Wimbledon Trophy, he will take over the No.1 spot in the rankings currently held by Djokovic and tie Sampras record of 286 week as the top ranked player in the world.

So things are looking very, extremely, well for Roger Federer. And defeating Novak Djokovic in the semis is going to give Federer the needed stamina to close the deal in the final. Sure enough, there is still a chance that Murray or Tsonga could pull off one heck of an upset. But it’s just not too likely. Despite Murray having all the support from the local crowd, Federer is looking very well and he never showed a sign of the back pains that have slowed him down in the past. Federer realizes that there is a lot at stake for him. “There’s obviously a lot on the line for me in terms of winning here, the all-time Grand Slam record, world No. 1,” Federer said in the press conference after defeating Djokovic. “I’m also going into that match with some pressure, but I’m excited about it. That’s what I play for.”

David Ferrer was born on April 2^nd, 1982 in Valencia, Spain. Ever since he turned a professional at the turn of the century, the clay court specialist has lived under the shadow of his fellow countryman Rafael Nadal. And it’s not as if the second best ranked Spaniard hasn’t been doing well for himself. On the contrary, he has proved his worth especially in the last three years. Let’s not forget for a moment there that he reached the semifinals of the 2012 French Open, proving that he’s strong hold is set over the red crushed brick clay of Paris, but he has also has had success on hard courts. For instance, Ferrer made it to the semifinals of the the 2007 US Open and 2011 Australian Open. As a bonus, perhaps, he was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2008, 2009 and 2011. But despite holding some good numbers and plenty of tournament wins, his resume is just not in the same league as that of one Rafael Nadal.

Even though the grass courts of the All English club have by no means been his forte, this year, the 30-year-old Spaniard is proving that his got what it takes to become a real contender down the stretch. Ranked 6^th in the World by the ATP Rankings, Ferrer has placed himself in a very interesting position this year at Wimbledon. He managed to defeat Andy Roddick 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-4, 6-3 in the third round of the latest Grand Slam, but he also did so, just two days after Rafael Nadal suffered one of the most exciting upsets we’ve seen in years when Nadal was stunned by Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-7(9-11), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Rosol was certainly more powerful and his very strong serve proved to be a little too much for the Spaniard who just couldn’t keep up with the Czech’s rhythm. Ferrer will now have to face the argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the fourth round of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships.

Both Ferrer and Roddick arrived to the third round with a strong run. They both had had a good run at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Eastbourne respectively, and even though Ferrer had a short 6-4 advantage in their head to head history, they had never played together over a grass court. Roddick took an early lead in the first set with his strong serve and managed closed the first set under 23 minutes of play. Still, in the second set, Ferrer got his fighting gloves on and began attacking the net. Soon enough, he had the game turning his way with his masterful groundstroke that kept Roddick holding back in the baseline and playing a very defensive match.

Now, if Ferrer manages to defeat del Potro in the fourth round, he will be advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time ever in Wimbledon. Sure enough he’s got an 8 game winning streak behind him as a motivational boost, but it seems that the 2009 US Open winner is going to be a hard bone to chew on. “It’s going to be going to be so difficult. To win him I will have to play very consistent. Is very important my first percentage with my serve. I will have to play very, very good,” Ferrer said of his game against DelPo. Let’s see what happens for now as these two guys take the courts tomorrow.