Sri Lanka vs India 1st ODI

You are watching the game. Sri Lanka are cruising at the halfway stage with 139 runs on the board for the loss of a solitary wicket. It seems as though Sri Lankan captain Upul Tharanga actually wanted to bat first and got his wish despite losing the toss( most captains say they would have done the opposite of what the toss winning captain said they would do so as to not give an impression to the opposition that they are unsettled)

You decide to take a late afternoon siesta on a rainy Sunday. You get up and turn on TV and you see the score 187-8 and for a split second you wonder if this is an old match that is being telecast. But then you see the live beneath the Sony Six box at the top right corner of the screen. You rub your eyes and stare again. No change. Yet another collapse by Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka proceed to get bundled out for a paltry 216 in just under 44 overs.

In the evening, India put on a batting masterclass to thrash Sri Lanka by 9 wickets and in the process record their biggest win in terms of balls remaining(128 balls) when chasing a score in excess of 200.

The one wicket was just unfortunate as Rohit Sharma's bat got stick in the pitch and popped out of his hand. Had that not happened, his bat would have crossed the stump line at the time the ball made contact with the stumps.

Shikhar Dhawan seems to be in the form of his life and picked up from where he left off in the test series. He played a relatively slow innings till he reached his half century and then just went after the bowling to remain unbeaten at 132.

Dhawan along with Captain Virat Kohli who scored 81 runs put on a massive match winning 197 run partnership.

The loss of 7 wickets for 48 runs in the middle part of the innings showcases the stark contrast between the teams. India are a team that recognises the importance of not letting the opposition form a launch pad for the final onslaught in the last 10 overs. They are a well settled unit, whereas Sri Lanka have virtually no experience after no.5 and that is reflected in the score card. None of the batsmen after 5 managed to reach double figures. They don’t look or play like a team.

The younger players need to learn the art of holing up one end while the experienced and set partner goes about accumulating the runs. Angelo Matthews was unbeaten and he was upset. He didn't even wait for his partner at the end of the Sri Lankan innings and walked off.

This collapse signifies the sorry state of Sri Lankan cricket. But all is not lost. There are 22 months left for the next World Cup in England and Wales.

For now though they find themselves at the mercy of a rampant Indian side who are on a 4 match winning streak in the Emerald Island. Can Sri Lanka get a tick in the wins column or will the men in blue continue their imperious march. Find out on August 24, when India and Sri Lanka meet for the 2nd ODI at Kandy.

India vs Sri Lanka: 1st Test

India beat Sri Lanka by a whopping 304 runs inside of 4 days. The match at Galle, a unique stadium by the sea, with a fort overlooking the playing field instead of a usual sight of empty stands that we are accustomed to seeing in tests, was the setting for the 1st test between India and Sri Lanka.

DAY 1: INDIAN DOMINANCE

DHAWAN’S BLITZKREIG

Very rarely since the days of Virender Sehwag, have India headed abroad for a test match and been in such a commanding position at stumps on the first day. Illness to KL Rahul saw Dhawan drafted into the eleven as an opener and he sent the Sri Lankan fielders on a leather hunt, notching up at unbeaten 126 runs in the first session.

Dhawan had been dropped on 31 and his luck further increased in the post lunch session when the oppositions third spinner, Asela Gunaratne suffered a fractured thumb and was subsequently ruled out of the series.

When Dhawan's luck finally ran out in the 55th over, when he attempted to clear the infield but ended up hitting the cherry to mid on. Dhawan had scored 190 runs of 168 balls with an astonishing 31 boundaries.  India was on 286 runs scoring in excess of  5 an over, which is something that ODI teams would be proud of.

His 190 bought back memories of of Sehwag's 195 at the MCG in 2003. In that innings, India didn’t have any substantial contribution from the middle order to build on the foundation.

Here at Galle, Cheteshwar Pujara laid anchor and ensured there wasn't a batting collapse. The "new wall" was unbeaten at 144 from 240 odd - a more conventional test innings which built on the foundation laid by Dhawan. With Virat Kohli falling cheaply Sri Lanka would've been hoping that would be the foot in the door they so desperately needed, but it was not to be. Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara saw out the rest of the day. Nuwan Pradeep was the only bowler to pick up wickets on he first day.

At 399-3 India had the Sri Lankans on the mat.

DAY 2

THE LANKAN FIGHTBACK: PRADEEP GETS SOME SUPPORT

Overnight rain helped make the pitch lively and Sri Lanka made an early breakthrough.  Cheteshwar Pujara was dismissed shortly after crossing the 150 run mark by guess who - Nuwan Pradeep. Ajinkya Rahane followed him back to the pavilion. Nuwan Pradeep would have been the happiest man on the field as this was the first Indian wicket not picked up by him- he finally had some support.

The Indian tail order contributed in excess of 100 runs with Hardik Pandya scoring a half century on debut. He was ably supported by Ravindra Jadeja(15 from 24), Mohammed Shami(30 from 30) and Umesh Yadav(11 from 10) as India recovered from 495-7 and reached the 600 run mark

WICKETS AT REGULAR INTERVALS

Sri Lanka were facing a mammoth 600 run deficit. They lost the early wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne . The Indian pacers got breakthroughs at regular intervals and dented the Sri Lankan top order.

Sri Lanka finished the day at 154-5 trailing India by 446 runs and needing a further 247 with 4 wickets in hand to avoid the follow on- Asela Gunaratne has been ruled out of the match and as per injured players cannot be replaced.

DAY 3

THE PERERA AND JADEJA SHOW

Much was expected of Angelo Matthews, if Sri Lanka were to have a good first innings total. He played well for his 83. Dilruwan Perera remained unbeaten on 92 and was extremely unfortunate to miss out on what would have been a maiden test century. He batted gamely and  shepherded the tail to help Sri Lanka reach 291. Jadeja picked up 3 of the 4 wickets that fell and was the star bowler of the morning session.

BATTING OUT THE OPPOSITION

India had a massive 309 run lead and predictably decided against enforcing the follow on. This was a smart tactic by India to give their bowlers some rest and to tire out the opposition. By batting again India would maximise their lead and leave Sri Lanka facing huge chase.

Pitches in the sub continent deteriorate drastically on the fourth and fifth day and if Sri Lanka got a lead, India did not want to be chasing in the 4^th innings.

India lost 1^st innings heroes Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara early. Opener Abhinav Mukund and captain Virat Kohli put on a 133 run 3^rd wicket stand. Mukund’s half century cemented his place in the Indian test team for the series,(Dhawan’s first innings score had many calling for him to leap over Abhinav Mukund as the first choice opener to partner KL Rahul who was set to regain his place in the second test)

Mukund was dismissed for on the last ball of the day. Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 72, with India 189-3 runs ahead.

DAY 4

INDIA ALL THE WAY

India came out all guns blazing. Virat Kohli raced to his 17^th Test Century and 10^th as captain. With Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane at the crease, India scored 51 runs in the 6.3 overs they batted on the day.

Facing a daunting task of scoring 550 runs to win with 179 overs left, the Sri Lankan batsmen would have to occupy the  crease for long periods of time.

The Indian pacers made early breakthroughs removing top order batsmen Upul Tharanga and Danushka Gunathilaka in the first six overs itself.

THE SPIN TWINS SHOW

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja split the next 6 wickets between themselves. The duo were getting the ball to spin viciously and an Indian win on Day 4 was looking more and more likely with each passing minute.

Nirohan Dickwella and Dimuth Kanuratne put on a huge 101 run 5^th wicket stand. The duo were the only roadblocks and the sole reason India needed 76.5 overs to wrap up the win. Due to Rangana Herath and Asela Gunaratne being unable to bat that 8^th wicket (Lahiru Kumara's top edged slog sweep to mid-on) was the last. India won the match by picking up just 17 Sri Lankan wickets across the two innings.

Shikhar Dhawan, for his magnificent first innings performance was awarded the Man of the Match award.

The second test match begins on 3rd August at the SSC Ground, Colombo.

The beasts on the flanks

The Manchester City defence cost exceeds the annual cost of defence budgets of a few nations. Teams do need this sort of dream defence line ups with the influx of new strikers and creation of new look strike forces in the Premier League. After all, this is war and it looks as though 7 teams can challenge for the title, and in the EPL, anyone can beat anyone.

Benjamin Mendy

WAS IT NEEDED?

With the departure of right backs Pablo Zabaleta and Bacary Sagna and left backs Aleksandr Kolarov and Gael Clichy, the Citizens were in need of major reinforcements for the full back positions. The EPL’s best right back of the last two seasons Kyle Walker was signed from Tottenham Hotspurs for a whopping 45 million pounds. The left back position will be occupied by Benjamin Mendy who was signed for 52 million pounds from A.S.Monaco. 

With the purchase of Danilo from Real Madrid for 26.5 million pounds, who will mostly be the backup right back and start in cup competitions. Pep Guardiola has spent an unprecedented 123.5 million pounds on fullbacks. Yes, the purchases were needed.

HOW WILL THEY LINE UP?

With Benjamin Mendy in his line-up, Pep Guardiola could be tempted to switch to the 3-5-2 formation which has been utilised by Antonio Conte in helping Chelsea win the Premier League. But, he already has extremely good wingers in Leroy Sane on the left and Raheem Sterling/Kevin de Bruyne/Gabriel Jesus on the right. Wing back play would mean nullifying his team’s advantage.

It's more likely that he invested heavily in full backs to counter the oppositions 3-5-2 formation which sees the wide player operate as a wingback, with a 4-4-2 or a 4-1-4-1 formation. No wide player will be able to operate for the whole 90 minutes dealing with city's powerful threat on the flanks. Take for example, a right wing back dealing with the combined threat of Benjamin Mendy and Leroy Sane down City’s left flank. He may be able to do it but will he have the legs to get up front and provide crosses into the opposition penalty box?

This would result in them committing an extra body on the flank thus freeing up space in the midfield for guys like Kevin de Bruyne (if he plays as a 10) or David Silva to work their magic in the middle of the park.

IS IT WORTH IT?

While many may ridicule the spending and term Guardiola as the reason for the inflation in prices of defenders and a manager who can’t win anything without spending exorbitant sums of money, this decision was a masterstroke as it was the only place that needed strengthening. The two first choice full backs are proven players and at clubs like Manchester City, instant success is desired. They can hit the ground running. These purchases make City look like a complete unit with no chinks in their armour. With the beasts on the flanks, City, are now the favourites on paper for the 2018 Premier League Title.

Why couldn’t Pep promote a youth team player?

That just doesn't happen in world football anymore. La Liga’s Athletic Bilbao are the only club that would promote a youth player into their first team. Even if Pep Guardiola did promote a youth player, it would take a minimum of two seasons for that player to establish himself, thus throwing the desire of instant success into jeopardy.

Defence has always been the area which has traditionally seen the least amount of money invested. Even the football awards are dominated by the forwards. The transfer records also are held by the attackers. With top class attackers costing in the region of 70-80 million pounds, a quality defender with an average price of 40-45 million pounds, is reasonable. 

Why Lukaku to Manchester United is a good buy

Manchester United have signed Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku from English Premier League side Everton for 75 million pounds(could rise to 90 with add-ons). Is this a good or a bad buy? Let's find out.

1.HE IS A STRIKER

With Zlatan Ibramhimovic not being offered an option of a 1 year extension (at this moment) and Wayne Rooney looking like he has played his last game for Manchester United( he has since returned to his boyhood club Everton) the Reds only had the teenage Marcus Rashford on their books as a striker.

With the experiment of false 9s (Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marouane Fellaini) and converting wingers like Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay, Angel Di Maria into strikers failing, Jose Mourinho recognised the need for a proper centre forward if Manchester United were to challenge for the Premier League Title. Antoine Griezmann, Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane, Alvaro Morata and Andrea Belotti were some of the names that the club was reportedly interested in signing.

The club had significant interest in striker Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid, but the Frenchman chose to remain as his club were handed a two transfer window buying ban by FIFA. A deal with Real Madrid for Alvaro Morata seemed unlikely as the Spanish side wanted any deal to include Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea.

2. PREMIER LEAGUE EXPERIENCE

From the above mentioned list of players only Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku have the experience of playing in the Premier League. In the past Manchester United have signed quality players from leagues across the continent-Angel di Maria from La Liga side Real Madrid, Memphis Depay from Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven, only to see them struggle to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League.

Anthony Martial from Ligue 1 side A.S.Monaco, is one player who has somewhat held his own but he hasn't exactly set the league on fire. His returns are what a club like Manchester United would expect from their attacking midfielders. The Premier League experience category left only Harry Kane and Romelu Kukaku as options that the Manchester United board and manager Jose Mourinho would consider.

3. PRICE TAG?

With Harry Kane leading the line at the most consistent side in the Premier League over the past two seasons, and Spurs qualifying for the Champions League on a regular basis, any attempt to bring Tottenham to the negotiating table would have to see Manchester United stump out in excess of 120 million pounds.

In the present day, there is a lack of true centre forwards. They are so scarce a commodity that it is massive news when a top quality centre forward is transferred. The prices are exorbitant for these rare individuals who are deemed as worthy of being part of top clubs.

75 million pounds for Lukaku is a steal, as he has the Premier League experience. He is the 2nd best Premier League striker and has hit in excess of 60 goals in the past three seasons, with mid table club Everton. He is 24 and is yet to really reach the prime of his career and the club could have purchased him as a long term investment.

A combination of these 3 factors could show us that it's a good buy.

The lure of the Champions league could drive him to find that extra gear-

Romelu Lukaku has publicly stated that it his dream to play in the Champions League. With Manchester United he will be assured of that opportunity as the lead striker.

He scores against small teams and disappears in big games-

Everton is a team that is a rung below the Big 6 of EPL. When Everton play the big teams, the defences know they just have to focus on Lukaku, while the midfield aims to stifle out the supply to the Belgian who cuts a lone figure in the opposition half. At Manchester United, the defences won't know who to mark and Lukaku could have a free reign. Defences will have to be alert from a run from Manchester United's star studded midfield. 

Lukaku has been accused of being a small team bully-

The people behind those accusations really need to sort out their definition of small teams as the Belgian has netted against teams like Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspurs and Liverpool.

Also, Manchester United struggled to break through the so called small teams defences like Burnley where they had 38 shots on target. Smart strategy by Jose Mourinho? Struggle to score against small teams, buy a small team destroyer.

Lukaku has scored just 1 goal in 3 halves played during pre-season, but what matters is how he fares in his first competitive game which could be considered as a ‘ Baptism by Fire’ where Europa League Champions Manchester United take on Champions League winners Real Madrid.

Rooney's return

Just two months after lifting the Europa League Trophy with Manchester United, Wayne Rooney returned to Everton. In his first competitive game back at the club he fulfilled his boyhood dream of representing ‘The Toffees’ in European competition.

English Premier League side Everton took on Slovakian Fortuna Liga side Ružomberok in the 3rd qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. The game was Rooney’s first at Goodison Park in thirteen years where he was not booed by the Everton faithful. It must have felt strange. 13 years is an eternity in sport. Wayne Rooney must have felt like he was back at Everton in 2003 where he was the starry eyed teenager who was destroying defences and making his name in football.

The game at Goodison Park, saw Wayne Rooney restored to the central striker role he so desperately craves, but Manchester United's highest goal scorer struggled to find space upfront and spurned a couple of gilt edged chances.

On the hour mark, following the introduction of Sandro Ramirez for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Wayne Rooney dropped into the midfield role which we have become accustomed to seeing him in during his later years at Manchester United.

It was no fairy-tale return for Wayne Rooney, but left back Leighton Baines saved it from becoming a night to forget as his strike is what separates the two clubs ahead of next week’s return leg in Ruzomberok. For Rooney all that matters was that his return was a winning one.

Focus aside from Rooney though, the newly assembled Everton line up worth over a 100 million pounds in new signings were extremely scrappy. They will have to get their act together to get past this gritty and resilient Ruzomberok side at the Stadion pod Cebrat’om .

Wimbledon Men's Singles Final

 A 114 MPH ace down the T saw Roger Federer clinch his 8th Gentlemen's Singles Wimbledon Title. He had beaten Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 and had become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1976 to win Wimbledon without dropping a set.

At 35 years old, 23 days shy of his 36th birthday, Federer who had been written off following a four year drought at the majors had added to his collection in Australia. He then followed it up with his 2^nd Grand Slam win of 2017 at Wimbledon, which proved that his win in Australia wasn’t a fluke.

The match saw both competitors make tentative starts. Roger Federer hit two double faults in his first two service games. Cilic's forehand kept flying long or wide and he was struggling to get his first serve in.  Federer faced break points in the first set at 1-2, 30-40 and that seemed to awaken the legend. He saved the break points and then raced up the gears. He broke Cilic immediately in the next game to take a 3-2 lead, normal service resumed with each player holding his next service game. Federer reeled off the next 5 games in succession winning the first set 6-3. He took a 3-0 lead in the second set and post the changeover Cilic was surrounded by the tournament doctor and other officials. He was seen crying. At the end of the 1 minute change of ends break the chair umpire said, "time." Federer got up and headed to the baseline like an emotionless machine. The occasion had gotten to Cilic, he seemed lost. Tennis is a cruel sport as once you are on court you have no one from your camp to talk to you. You are all alone.

Cheered on by the Centre court faithful who wanted to see a bit of a contest. Marin Čilić held on to his serve and got in the board in the second set, but that was it before Federer held, broke and held to wrap up the second set just under the hour mark.

Cilic must have been hoping that quicksand would swallow him whole. He was the villain in this pantomime- the one barrier between Roger Federer and his 8^th Wimbledon Title.

Federer wanted this title so bad. According to commentator and German tennis legend Boris Becker, what I felt were random yells was actually Federer admonishing himself in Swiss German. This was when he was just 2 points away from the win and sent a down the line forehand wide.

The final was completely one sided owing to what was later revealed to be a blister on Marin Cilic foot. Only Federer could have carried this final without the crowd losing interest in the match. At the French Open in an almost similar one sided final between Rafael Nadal and Stanislas Wawrinka, the crowd had lost interest in the match (despite it being the match Nadal needed to win to secure his tenth French Open) and lukewarm applause followed after the points. There was raucous cheering for both players throughout the game at Wimbledon.

Federer got his tactics spot on such as slowing down the pace of his shots which made Cilic have to generate power, as well as get the ball up and over the net and down to bounce within the baseline-not possible unless heavy topspin is applied. Cilic with his flat shots kept hitting the ball long. Federer began racing through his service games and continuously took Cilic to deuce on his serve. In doing so he denied quick holds to the Croat who in a bid to reduce time spent on serve decided to reduce the number of bounces before serve. It was about 6-8 bounces in the latter half of the 3rd set compared to the 16-20 bounces in the initial part of the first set. When Cilic got accustomed to the slow pace of the rallies Federer switched back to quick play which left the 6’ 6” man on the backfoot more often not.

Federer: We've been away for a long time, 5 years to be precise. So good to have you back!

Out of all of Federer's triumphs at SW19, this one would have to be the sweetest.The 5 years since 2012 was the longest he has been away from the Wimbledon Trophy. In the Rolex advertisements he stated that 8 is his favourite number. He was born on the 8th day of the 8th month and was his country flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic games which was on 8.8.2008, his 28th birthday.

The win over Marin Cilic was his 91st match win at Wimbledon and 1,111th win overall. He became the first man to win 8 Wimbledon Singles Titles. With his win he broke Arthur Ashe's record as the oldest ever Gentlemen's Singles Champion at Wimbledon. He became the oldest Wimbledon finalist since Ken Rosewall- who made the final in the 1974 edition as a 39 year old. He extended his own record of most Men's Singles Grand Slam Titles to 19, now 4 ahead of second placed Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic with 12 is 3rd among active players.

WHAT'S NEXT
For Marin Cilic, a return to the North American hardcourts where he ended the hegemony of the Big 5 could serve as motivation. For Federer, he heads off into the part of the season traditionally dominated by him, he is 560 points behind 2017 ATP points leader Rafael Nadal and 1205 points behind current world No.1 Andy Murray in the official 12 month ATP rankings.

India vs West Indies T20

Sabina Park in Jamaica played host to a mauling received by the inaugural T20 World Champions India at the hands of the only two time T20 World Champions, the West Indies. The one off T20 saw the party atmosphere synonymous with cricket in the Caribbean return as the stands were jam packed and the music was blaring out loud.

India had won the ODI series 3-1 ( West Indies were lucky to get a win after an Indian meltdown in the fourth game of the series.)
 India had just strolled through the 5 match series. This game however, was not going to be a walk in the park as the West Indian T20 specialists Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine made their return to the squad. ( I wish the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies players can come to some sort of compromise about the playing of domestic cricket being made mandatory for consideration for selection in tests and ODI's. Especially after West Indies embarrassingly missed out on a spot in the recently held 8 nation ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales.)
Evin Lewis is a name that team India won't be forgetting for a long time. The young batsman overshadowed his illustrious teammate Chris Gayle and scored a magnificent 125 of 63 as the West Indies romped home with 9 wickets and 1.3 overs to spare.

India's bowling, barring Bhuvneshwar Kumar looked like a city club attack. Spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja failed to contain the batsmen.

Earlier in the day West Indies won the toss and sent India in to bat without any hesitation.
Openers Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan struck boundaries at will and India crossed the 50 run mark in the 5th over. They looked set for a huge total before Virat Kohli who had just struck a monstrous six over long on was looking to make the most of the final balls of the power play, ended up mis timing one straight to mid on. On the very next ball Rishabh Pant felt the nerves and did not respond to a quick single which saw Shikhar Dhawan get run out. Pant and Dinesh Karthik steadied the ship, but abysmal shot makingby India's lower middle order and beautiful death over bowling by the West Indians saw India restricted to 190 in their allocated 20 overs.
India's next assignment is an away series against Sri Lanka commencing in the last week of July.

West Indies take on England in mid August

Austrain GP

After an adventure on the second longest circuit in the calendar the F1 circus headed off to the Red Bull Ring in Salzburg, Austria i.e. second smallest circuit. This race didn't have the same level of excitement as the previous round in Azerbaijan, but such races are fun only if they happen on rare occasions.

Normal service between Ferrari and Mercedes resumed.
Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes started on pole and had what he called the start of his life(reaction time of 0.21 secs) and put in a spectacular drive right to the chequered flag. After a drab 68 laps, 4 time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari closed to within DRS range of Valtteri Bottas (1 second) and mounted a late challenge over the last 4 laps for the race lead.

Max Verstappen started fifth, but was taken out in a first corner collision triggered by Daniil Kvyat leaving his braking too late and tipping Fernando Alonso's McLaren into a spin. Both Verstappen and Alonso retired immediately. Alonso had scored the first championship points of the season for the beleaguered McClaren team and had made a good start to the race.  Home fans were slightly disappointed with Max's retirement as they were hoping to see both Red Bull cars on the podium.

Lewis Hamilton who had a 5 place penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change was unlucky to miss out on a podium place as he was held off beautifully by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo who thrilled the home fans(Red Bull is an Austrian team) with a 3rd place. The sheer pace of Ferrari and Mercedes means that they can afford to take a penalty for unscheduled gearbox and engine changes, rather than risk running a race with a failure that would result in a DNF.

The win was Valtteri Bottas’ second in his Formula 1 career

Ricciardo  performing the "shooey"(drinking champagne from his race boot) as per his own podium tradition

 

Courtesy his 2nd place finish, Sebastian Vettel increased his lead in the World Championship over Lewis Hamilton to 20 points.

It was also Daniel Ricciardo's 5th podium in a row and he continued the tradition of a shooey( drinking champagne from his race boot. Yes that sweaty race boot which was on the accelerator for the past 2 hours and he drove around the km circuit. )

Formula 1 will return next week from the Silverstone Circuit in Great Britain.

Manic Monday

Wimbledon has a tradition of keeping the middle Sunday as a rest day for two reasons. One, because of its proximity to the Wimbledon village so as to allow the residents to have a peaceful Sunday away from the hustle and bustle of fans who troop down to SW19 to catch a glimpse of the action. Two, because the organisers recognise the need to allow grass (the only live surface on which tennis is played) to recover after 6 days of relentless action. The need for grass to rest is even more this year as unlike previous years the grass has a faded green tinge to it compared to the lush green lawns we have grown accustomed to seeing during the 1st week.

The end result is that the 2nd Monday sees all the 16 round of 16 matches(8 each in men’s and women's singles) slotted in for Monday. (In Australia, France and USA the top half of the draw sees their round of 16 clashes played on Sunday, which leaves only 8 matches for the 2nd Monday. )
Manic Monday right? In my opinion, the 2nd Monday is the best day for someone to have tickets to watch the action at Wimbledon. This year is the 1st time since 2014 and only the 2nd time since 2011 that all members of The Big 4 will take to the court of the 2nd Monday.

 With London being London imagine the scheduling nightmare should the rain gods decide to visit SW19.

This year's Manic Monday on the men's side has blockbuster clashes like:-

Andy Murray vs Benoît Paire

Andy Murray has waltzed through his first three matches with the loss of just 1 set. He was errant against Fabio Fognini but managed to raise his game when it mattered most and saved 5 set points to avoid being taken to a fifth set. Benoît Paire is just lucky to be here and should make the most of his few minutes of fame as he has a date with the World. No.1 on Wimbldeon’s centre court.

Prediction: Murray to win in straight sets

 Rafael Nadal vs Gilles Müller

Rafael Nadal is in the form of his life. He has won the last 29 sets he has played in Grand Slam competitions. Gilles Müller is having is best year on tour and has made the semi finals at Queens and won the tournament in Holland. He is serving like a machine. His groundstrokes are not his best weapon but he will have to be ready for shots that wouldn't come back had it been anyone else across the net.

Expect a Nadal straight sets win, unless Gilles Müller has a serving masterclass and can raise his game in the tie breaks.

 Novak Djokovic vs Adrian Mannarino

Novak Djokovic has seemingly rediscovered the hunger and competitive spirit that seemed missing from his game for the past 12 months. Adrian Mannarino had a tough match against Gaël Monfils to reach this stage, but to progress further would be an absolute miracle.

Djokovic to advance in straight sets.

Grigor Dimitrov vs Roger Federer

This match is the toughest to call. Roger Federer hasn't been playing like he did in Australia, Indian Wells and Miami. He seems to be struggling and is hitting a slice backhand. His flat backhand seems to be meeting the net more often than not. In Grigor Dimitrov he faces an opponent who was nicknamed Baby Federer and is now looking a younger version of the Swiss Maestro himself. Dimitrov, a former semi finalist at Wimbledon has reached the last 16 losing just 18 games. Federer on the other hand has lost 28 games. The young Bulgarian has never beaten Federer and based on current form this could be his best chance of ending that run.

Too tough to call this one. Expect a 4 or 5 setter.

 Milos Raonic vs Alexander Zverev

A finalist last year, Milos Raonic of Canada takes on the man touted to be tennis’ next superstar. Alexander Zverev is making his first appearance in the 2^nd week of a Grand Slam, but despite being 20, he isn’t a kid who has had a lucky first week and should just be glad to be here. He is the only man apart from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to win a Master 1000 title this season. Zverev is at home on the grass and has a good forehand, backhand and serve. If he can return Milos Raonic’s bullet serves, expect the Canadian to struggle.

This one is tough to call. Expect a 4 setter.

Marin Čilić vs Roberto Bautista Agut

Dominic Thiem vs Tomáš Berdych

Kevin Anderson vs Sam Querry

 On the women's side we have

Angelique Kerber vs Garbine Muguruza

The world No.1 and 2016 Wimbledon runner up takes on the 2015 runner up. With Serena Williams out of action many expected the German to grab the opportunity to consolidate her position atop the WTA rankings. Early departures in Melbourne and Paris have given the WTA tour the belief that it won’t be a one woman show. Kerber was on the brink of elimination in the previous round, she will have to play well right from the moment the referee yells out play. Based on form, it’s looking unlikely. But grass is Kerber’s favourite surface, whereas Muguruza prefers the slower clay courts.

Tough to call. Expect a 3 setter

Caroline Garcia vs Johanna Konta

This match should see the home favourite Johanna Konta march into the Quarter finals without a massive test.

Konta in straight sets

Victoria Azarenka vs Simona Halep

What a return it has been for Victoria Azarenka! After a year out of the game, the Belarusian has made it to the second week of Wimbledon having played only 5 matches since making her return to tennis. Standing between her and the last 8 is World no.2 Simona Halep, who will pose the toughest test on paper for the 2 time Grand Slam Champion. Victoria Azarenka will have nothing to lose here. On paper it’s World No.2 vs World No.683. On court it should be worthy of a final.

Halep to win in 3 sets

Ana Konjuh vs Venus Williams

9 years back Venus Williams won her 5^th Wimbledon title. With her sister Serena missing the tournament, Venus is the one with the most Grand Slam titles under her belt. She has the experience to get through these rounds. Like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on the men’s side, Venus Williams has been experiencing a career renaissance this year. Ana Konjuh earned her spot in the 4th round by knocking out the World No.9 Dominika Cibulkova, but to pull off two upsets in a row could be tough.

Williams should win this one in 3 sets

Coco Vandeweghe vs Caroline Wozniacki

Agnieszka Radwańska vs Svetlana Kuznetsova

Jelena Ostapenko vs Elina Svitolina

Magdelena Rybarikova vs Petra Martic

For the love of the game

  Tennis is dominated by athletes in their late 20s and early 30s, but, Roger Federer is defying the odds and is playing at a high level even in his mid-30s. Federer who will be 36 in 6 weeks time has spent 302 weeks as the World no.1 and is the winner of 18 Grand Slams (a record in men’s tennis)

  What motivates someone to do something with as much passion, even after they have achieved everything they possibly can and have reached the pinnacle of the sport? Possibly they just want to be doing more of what they love? They do it for the love of the game.

Roger Federer falls knee first on Wimbledon's centre court

 

  8^th July, 2016 Wimbledon semi-finals, 34 year old Roger Federer vs 25 year old Milos Raonic. Federer scuffed a two sets to one lead and a 5-6, 40-0 advantage on his own serve to take the fourth set into a tie breaker. He lost the set and got broken early in the 5^th. Later on in the set he fell knee first on the grass of Wimbledon’s centre court and he just stared at the grass for a few seconds. The King had fallen on the very same turf where he had announced himself to the world on his first appearance on centre court as a 19 year old in 2001, when he beat Pete Samparas(7 time Wimbledon champion and at the time 13 time Grand Slam Champion). Federer then went on to win 7 Wimbledon titles(2003-07, 2009, 2012). His year was plagued by knee injuries and that fall on his injured knee had many pundits and fans writing his career obituaries. “Federer can’t compete against the younger generation anymore.” “Has age finally caught up with the great man?”

Federer on his knees, staring at the grass.

  

  Following his semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in January, Federer injured his knee while running a bath for his twin daughters. He rushed back into action following surgery and realised he wasn’t performing at an optimum level. Defeats in the semi-finals at Stuttgart, Halle and Wimbledon made him realise that he had to respect his body as at that age (34) the healing process takes longer. With an aim to let his knee heal properly, he decided to sit out for the remainder of the 2016 season which meant missing the 2016 Rio Olympics and announced that he would return to the ATP World tour in January.

  In January 2017, Roger Federer would be 35 years and 5 months old. He would be ranked outside the world’s top 16. He could beat lower ranked players while playing on one leg as we saw all through Wimbledon last year, but, his struggles against top 10 players like Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic made me wonder whether a single victory over a top 10 player in the early rounds would be a pyrrhic victory, leaving him with nothing left for the next round. Being ranked 17^th meant, he was on course to meet a top 10 player in the 3^rd round itself. A loss in the 3^rd round, would result in a ranking points drop which would see Federer fall out of the top 30 in the world- he was defending 720 points from his semi-final appearance in 2016. An exit in the 3rd round would see him lose 630 points.

  The longer a player is out of the game, greater is the speculation if he would ever be able to make it back. The career obituaries increased. Questions were asked about why Federer has to return after 88 titles, over a 1000 career match wins and $95 million plus in prize money. What more did the man have to prove? Was he coming back for a farewell tour?

  Why couldn’t he respect the fact that sport is a young man’s game and walk away whilst still at the top of the game? If the money from endorsements were to be taken into consideration, he wouldn’t have to work a day for his entire life, if he called it quits. The man could just disappear from the public eye and settle in the Swiss Alps for good. But, Roger Federer loves tennis, which is what keeps him on tour.

  He returned to action at the Hopman Cup in Perth and then headed off to Melbourne for the Australian Open. There was nowhere for him to hide if the comeback went bad. Firstly, tennis is an individual sport. Also in the televised world of professional sport, there was nowhere to hide. The world was watching closely.

  After an unimpressive first 2 rounds, he produced a master class against Tomas Berdych (straight sets victory) before beating Kei Nishikori in 5 sets. He beat Stan Wawrinka in 5 sets to advance to the final where he took a sets lead against Rafael Nadal twice and made a comeback from 1-3 down in the final set to win it 6-3. The world was stunned and his legion of fans were delighted. He had won his first 7 competitive matches (3 of them 5 setters against top 10 ranked players) back after a 6 month hiatus and had ended a 4 and half year Grand Slam drought. This was his 3^rd Grand Slam win after becoming a father and he was the 4th oldest Grand Slam winner.

With the Australian Open Trophy, his 18th Grand Slam title which ended his longest Grand Slam drought

 

  On the same weekend, the 2003 U.S.Open Champion and last man to be World No.1 before the dominance of the Big 4, Andy Roddick(34) who had played 4 Grand Slam finals against Federer, was announced as a class of 2017 inductee into the tennis hall of fame. Lleyton Hewitt (36), Marat Safin  (37), David Nalbandian (35) were the guys whom Federer used to battle with regularly between 2001-2005. They were all retired at this time. What had kept Federer going, long after his contemporaries had retired?

  In 2017, Federer notched up further titles in Indian Wells and Miami. He has a 19-1 win loss record on tour this year. He had a 2000+ points lead in the 2017 ranking charts and to many pundits, he had a chance to amass a bulk load of ranking points on clay as he was actually being aggressive in his play.

  Stunning? Appetite for success not over? What made him dig deep and overcome and win a slam yet again? What changed? Roger Federer is hitting the ball harder and looking to finish points at every possible opportunity. He has improved his backhand and is actually hitting it flatter and deeper. Should we be surprised? The man has been reinventing himself all throughout his career.

  As he entered his 30s the struggles began, he got blown off court in the 1^st week of grand slams(Wimbledon 2013 and U.S.Open 2012, 2013). The reason for that was his small racquet head. While most players would not tweak with equipment or playing style so late into their career, this was Roger Federer. He was prepared to do anything within his power to be good at the thing he loved the most.

  Federer experimented with larger racquets and from the 2014 ATP season, hired Stefan Edberg as his coach so as to successfully incorporate the serve and volley into his game. He was growing older and needed to keep the points shorter. His coach was the king of the serve and volley game. Roger Federer started making more and more forays to the net and kept the points short, he did get passed on many occasions but the points were won or lost without him exerting a lot of energy. You win some, you lose some, but here he was giving himself a chance to win rather than getting outhit from the baseline.

  At the end of the 2015 his weak backhand was still hampering him. He began reaching finals again(Wimbledon 2014, 2015 and U.S.Open 2015, losing to Novak Djokovic each time). Most 33 year olds would just be pleased that they were reaching the 2^nd week of Grand Slams, let alone finals. Federer wanted to win, to be the best at what he loved doing and that is playing tennis.

  In 2016, Federer hired Ivan Ljubicic with an aim to improve his backhand. He began hitting the backhand, rather than lobbing or slicing it. The weakness was now a weapon. The main weapon in defeating Rafael Nadal in Australia. His opponents were now being presented with a shot that had an injection of pace in it, a shot which was surprising them.

  Any athlete knows the importance of setting goals. Setting the right goals were of utmost importance to a player who is in the twilight of his career.

  Roger Federer knew that in order to prolong his career at the top of the game, he had to take adequate rest and not play every tournament. After winning in Indian Wells and Miami. Federer identified that the demands of playing well on a clay court would be taxing on his surgically repaired knee. Also ,with clay being a slow surface he wouldn’t get as much value for his shots as he would on grass and hard courts. With an eye on the grass and the autumn hardcourt season, Federer decided to sit out the entire clay court season in order to stay well rested.

 The 10 week break opened up the risk of allowing his rivals to catch up to him (Rafael Nadal has overtaken him). He could have potentially poured water on his chances of finishing the year ranked number 1,(he would be rested but he would lose momentum) as he would be playing lesser tournaments than his rivals and would be under pressure to make deep runs in the limited number of events he was entering.

  This is proof that he isn’t playing the game for the ranking, or to win trophies, he is looking at the surface, and his body and doesn’t want to play tournaments at the risk of producing sub-standard tennis. He can play defence and ensure deep runs in tournaments, but it isn't satisfying to him. He'd rather play an attacking brand of tennis that he thrives on. He's playing the type of tennis he loves. It doesn't matter if he wins or loses as long as he's enjoying himself.

  He isn’t going to strain himself like he did in 2013 where he played the tournament in Gstaad ,just to make up ranking points so as to qualify for the season ending ATP World Tour Finals. He isn’t going to play somewhere just for appearance fees unless he is absolutely fit and feels like playing. Sounds like how a casual club player would talk. Play the game when they want for the love of it and not just for the sake of it.
 
  The love for the game is what fuels him. What else can it be? Now he’s 35 years old, has 4 children, has won 91 titles and has amassed over a 100 million dollars in prize money alone. Why would he bother hanging on if he wasn’t enjoying himself, if he wasn’t loving what he does? The reason he continues to reinvent himself even now and take any possible step to prolong his career, is for the love of the game.

 

Lack of teenage Grand Slam champions

Boris Becker(Won Wimbledon in 1985 and 1986 as a 17 and 18 year old), Stefan Edberg (won Australian Open in 1985 as a 19 year old), Mats Wilander (won the French Open in 1982 as a 17 year old), Pete Samparas(won the 1990 U.S.Open as a 19 year old) and Michael Chang (youngest men's Grand Slam winner at the 1989 French Open)

What’s common about all these grand slam champions? They all conquered the Grand Slam events as teenagers and with the exception of Chang, all of them used the serve and volley, which was the  hall mark of that era. The evolution of the game is a reason teenagers are unable to win a Grand Slam in the present day. Tennis has evolved from serve and volley style prevalent in the 80s and the 90s, to the monstrous baseline slug fests of the present day which explains the dominance of players who are in their late 20’s and early 30s. The current top five in men’s tennis are all aged 30 and above and are primarily baseliners. 

It is common sense to understand that a full grown man who has spent numerous years on tour will have the power and experience to outhit a teenager in a baseline slugfest which goes on for over 3 hours in a best of five sets grand slam match. Youth is better in sport? Youthful energy and adrenaline maybe good enough to win matches or have a deep run in a non grand slam event where the matches are contested in a best of three sets. 

Nowadays every top player travels with a huge support staff (coach, trainer, physio, chef) Some players even have mental conditioning coaches to help them stay mentally strong so as to be able to outthink their opponents deep into matches which enter the 4^th or 5^th hour.

A young player will not amass enough in prize money and unless they win they won’t get sponsorship money like the big names do. All players will have to pay for their own travel, lodging and racket stringing and that will leave them with not enough to hire physios and trainers. Their bodies will not be as conditioned as the big guys.

People who have been watching the sport for many years will agree that serve and volley has become almost extinct, but even viewers today can watch Wimbledon Official Films from the 1980’s and closely observe the wear of the grass on any of the courts. As per tradition the defending champion opens play on a lush green court. After two weeks, when the finalists step out on the 2^nd Sunday there used to be a brown patch across the service line, but not one as prominent as the brown patches from the serving/ receiving point to the service box. In last year’s final there were just worn out patches across the service line and small barely won out patches in the box (they are caused by the doubles players) Clear evidence that serve and volley is almost extinct in the sport.

 Wimbledon's centre court during the 2014 final having worn out patches only along the baseline. The grass inside and around the service box is still fresh, showing lack of activity at the net( i.e. lack of volleying)

Wimbledon's centre court in 1986 which features worn out patches all across the playing surface(an abundance of net play and volleying)

Let’s look at a serve and volley game…. A big serve and then charge the net, if your opponent manages to make a return you simply just drop the ball back onto their side of their court.

The serve and volley requires excellent footwork and wrists. Something a teenager can possess and can have a chance at competing with the goliaths of the game.

In the current era of baseline slugfests, a serve has to be absolutely perfect. Players like Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have raised the level of service returns to such an extent that the server’s advantage is lost the moment the receiver strikes the ball back. What follows is a long rally as defensive skills have improved with players just aiming to keep the serve in and then reset the point over the next three shots. Nowadays even smashes are returned, as players go about 7-8 metres beyond the baseline and return them from right under the nose of the audience. Defensive skills have increased and sharpness at the net is gone. I blame the rise of the two handed backhand for this. The shot allows a counter punch sort of defensive shot which is extremely negative in baseline play as no player takes the initiative to finish off a point(but useful in keeping opponents from approaching the net to finish off a point as the two hander is excellent in hitting a passing shot past an opponent who is stranded at the net).

The returner in modern day tennis has gotten the confidence to stand 5-6 m behind the baseline as they know their opponent too will stay rooted to the baseline and engage them in a long rally, rather than hit a drop shot.

Among the new breed of players, only Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov have been using the single hander successfully. If coaches identify that the key to countering the defensive play is an all-out attack on both wings, tennis could witness the renaissance of the single handed backhand.

More energy is exhausted, as to defend on the baseline a player ends up constantly sprinting from one end of the court to the other and hitting a ball travelling at over 100mph back to their opponent who is 30 metres away. Rallies last about 10-15 shots per exchange on an average. A five setter has about 250+ points played. Think of the amount of physical strength and stamina required.
Do teenagers have this sort of energy? Yes! Can they sustain it across 5 sets or even across 3 sets? It’s possible. Can it be done across 7 games spread out over 14 days? Not possible in the present day.

I’ll bring up the example of this year’s Australian Open 3^rd round clash between at the time, 14 time Major winner and at the time World. No 10 Rafael Nadal and world no.20 Alexander Zverev (the then top ranked teenager in the men’s game) He managed to outhit Nadal and reach a 2 sets to 1 lead. He was going toe to toe with the Mallorcan in the 5^th set and was absolutely giving it his all. Nadal was playing smart and just working the young German all over the court and exhausting him and he finally broke. He lost his speed for the baseline slugfest had drained him, a 19 year old vs a 30 year old. He doesn’t have the physical structure that Nadal does. Had he managed to conquer Nadal in the match I’m openly saying that the young German would have run out of steam in the next round thus rendering his victory against Nadal, a pyrrhic victory.

Rafael Nadal at 19 years and 2 days old when he won the French Open. Teenagers in the current ATP top 100 do not have such a physique.

Serve and volley seems to be the only way teenagers can break out and win Slams like players did in the 80s and the 90s. At the 2005 French Open(48 Grand Slams ago), Rafael Nadal (a baseliner) won seven consecutive best of five setters to become the first teenage Grand Slam winner in the 58 Grand Slams since Pete Samparas' 1990 U.S.Open triumph (and the only teenage Grand Slam winner in the 106 Grand Slams contested from the 1991 Australian Open till the 2017 French Open). Nadal was a teenager who won a Grand Slam with a baseline style of play but that type of athlete is a once in a lifetime athlete. The average teenage athlete will not be able to overpower an athlete in their late 20s.

As a member of the audience, though I like the game of cat and mouse in a rally and waiting for that one moment when defence will be turned into offense through an incredible passing shot. It gets boring, really boring to watch them scramble and slide rather than watching a quick game involving a test of sharp reflexes and anticipation at the net.

A shorter and sharper match is what audiences need. Shortening a match to a best of three sets has been discussed, but that is not the solution. A change in playing style is needed to make the game unpredictable and for tennis fans to once again witness a faster game(and possibly increase viewership).
 A faster game with shorter points and more usage of the serve and volley could give teenagers a chance to win the Majors once again.

Can Roger recover from this setback

In a major setback, top seed and World no.5 Roger Federer succumbed to a 6-2, 6-7, 4-6 defeat to wildcard and World no. 302 Tommy Hass on his return to the ATP World Tour at the Mercedes Cup grass court event in Stuttgart in the round of 16.

The loss was the 35 year old's first, to a player ranked 300 in the world or below since 1999 (at that time an 18 year old Roger Federer wasn't in the top 100)
Federer's game was not at the level at which it was in March and he failed to capitalise on the key moments such as a match point opportunity in the 2nd set tie break and allowed Tommy Haas to level the contest. The 39 year old rode on a wave of momentum and denied Roger 7 break points in the 3rd and converted one of his own break opportunities.

0/7 on break points in the decider against a man who has 4-8 win-loss this season, is a telling stat. Major cause of concern for Federer. He lost the 2015 U.S.Open final to Novak Djokovic as his breakpoint conversion was an abysmal 4/23 that night.

Roger Federer had created that aura of invincibility around him post the sunshine double, but with his defeat in Stuttgart, that has been shattered. Players will believe that Federer is beatable and he will be under the pump even more (most players already raise the game when they are up against a big name) Federer doesn't take many matches to get up to full speed is a common statement. But if people are looking at the start of the year as an example they are mistaken.
Federer himself has stated that he only practises on hardcourts. So, for him the court transition in January from the hardcourts in Basel to Melbourne's fast courts was relatively easier than what it will be now from the quick hardcourts to the even quicker and skiddy grass courts.

This was a test of how Federer's knees hold up to the fast grass courts after his hiatus, and he failed miserably. If last night's game was an indication of his form. One can safely say that Wimbledon won't have its first ever 8 time men’s singles champion.

No matter how rested or how many balls he had hit in practice or how talented a player is. He needs matches to get the feel of playing well and in those matches he will experience crunch situations and get the experience of having to raise his game at the crucial moments in matches. In both of Federer's losses this year he had match points and failed to convert them.

Having registered for the tournament in Halle, Federer can get in some valuable practice and matches in on the lush green lawns. A similar early exit in Halle could prove to be disastrous to the 18 time Major winner as he will head off the SW19 with hardly any grass court matches under his belt.

In the writers opinion, he played better on grass last year when he was on one leg than he did last night against Tommy Haas.
 
Can Roger recover? He desperately needs to turn this around and if his career is any indication, he will do his utmost best to do so. But will it be enough?

NBA FINALS 2017

The Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 in game 5 to secure a 4-1 win in the best of 7 NBA Finals and completed their mission of beating those Cavaliers and in the process regaining the Larry O’Brien Trophy. But will they be thrilled by it? The Cavaliers managed to spoil the Dubs’ perfect post season by winning game 4 of the playoffs and denying the Oakland based team the opportunity to become the first team to go undefeated in the NBA playoffs.

The Warriors had run riot through last year’s regular season (73-9) and had the finals in the bag before they became the first team to blow up a 3-1 lead when they lost to Cleveland Cavaliers.

During the post season the shame faced Golden State Warriors pulled off a free transfer which is considered as the move which bought the league. They signed the 2^nd best player in the Western Conference. People criticise the move, but it isn’t illegal, as any player is allowed to sign for any team and any team can sign any player. Durant followed the ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ line of thought. LeBron James did the same thing in 2011 when he left Cleveland and joint Miami. There are comments being made about how his legacy would have been enhanced had he stayed put with the Oklahoma City Thunder and beaten the Warriors. The fact is that no one remembers anything else except the team that won and who was on it.

By converting the star trio to a star quartet, the Warriors had built a team with a specific purpose of beating the Cavaliers and were imperious en route to the finals where they were widely expected to face Cleveland. Heading into the finals with a playoff win-loss of 12-0 the Golden State Warriors swept through the first 2 games at home and followed it up with a narrow come from behind win in the 3^rd game in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. On the brink of a 0-4 sweep in the finals the Cavaliers pulled off the impossible and fired in 24 3 pointers(NBA playoffs record) recording a massive 21 point win to deny the Dubs a historic 16-0 playoff clean sweep.

Kevin Durant who managed to cross 30 points in every game in the finals and was voted as the NBA playoffs MVP. LeBron James became the 4^th player and 1^st MVP to lose 5 finals. Well, to lose finals you have to reach the finals. And this time it was no fault of LeBron as he averaged a triple double in the finals and put in 41 points in game 5 which the Cavs lost by 9 points. There won't be many who will say that it took 4 Olympic Gold medallists and an all star quartet to stop a 32 year old LeBron.

The Warriors are now 5 time NBA champions and with no sign of a force rising in the Eastern or the Western Conference they look set to be the dominant team for the foreseeable future. People argue that Cleveland could mount a comeback next season, but LeBron James will be 33 and one wonders how long he singlehandedly can carry his teams. Take James out of this year’s finals and the Cavaliers would have been blown away by the Golden State Quartet. He needs help and it wasn’t there this time around. When his team performs, will he be able to? Will Kyrie Irving step up and fire a 30 pointer per game like Kevin Durant? Time will tell.

French Open: Thiem vs Djokovic

For the first time since  July 2014, Novak Djokovic is not the holder of any of the 4 majors. This time last year Novak Djokovic had become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all 4 majors at the same time.

The Serbian World.no 2 was annihilated 7-6, 6-3, 6-0 by 6^th seeded Austrian, Dominic Thiem in the last 8 of the French Open.

Thiem seemed unperturbed by a rain delay which resulted in the re scheduling of his quarter final match to early morning on Wednesday. He stepped out onto the clay against a man who had destroyed him 6-1, 6-0 just 2 weeks back at the semi-final stage in Rome.

From the moment the match started Thiem unleashed his wicked single handed backhand(the shot is even better on clay as the surface offers him more time to play the shot), which in my opinion is the best shot in the game. It beats Wawrinka’s powerful flat backhand and Federer’s artistic backhand strokes.

The backhands were powerful and deep and Djokovic’s returns were not deep. The clay caused the ball to sit up, right in Thiem’s hitting zone.

 Djokovic offered a fight in the 1^st set before squandering 2 set points at 4-5, 15-40. He lost the game and eventually and lost the set in a tie breaker.

Thiem broke early in the second set and showed no signs of slowing down thereby not allowing Djokovic to get a foot in the door. The backhand barrage continued and forehands flashed past the faltering Djokovic. Thiem wrapped up the second set and broke Djokovic in the 1^st game of the 3^rd set. He held his own serve and followed it up with two more breaks of serve and raced out to a 5-0 lead in just 17 minutes. Down a triple break, Djokovic’s will to fight back seemed to have been bulldozed aside by the Austrian. On match point Djokovic put in an effort that is associated with him and saved it, however it was business as usual on the next point with Thiem sealing the match with one last backhand winner, and advancing to his second straight semi-finals in Paris. With this win he avenged his last years semi-final defeat to the same opponent.

Djokovic must have been reminded of the 2015 French Open Final when Wawrinka's single handed backhand blew him off the court. The third set which was Djokovic's first bagel set loss at the Slams since the 2005 U.S.Open, saw him win just 8 points across the set. Djokovic will fall out of the world's top 2 for the first time since 2011 and it his first Grand Slam straight sets defeat since the 2013 Wimbledon final to Andy Murray.

Though the Djokovic-Thiem encounter may have deprived us of the much anticipated Nadal-Djokovic clash, we will see the 9 time French Open Champion, Rafael Nadal take on Dominic Thiem who is the only man to notch up a victory against him on the red dirt this season(Rome Quarters) Nadal did beat Thiem en route title wins in Madrid and Barcelona.

 Hopefully the win over Djokovic isn’t a pyrrhic victory. He did it in straight sets and should have enough left in the tank to compete against the Mallorcan Matador. If Thiem can bring his today’s self onto court, Nadal’s quest for La Decima could be under serious threat.

ICC Champions Trophy game 1: England vs Bangladesh

The heavily marketed and eagerly awaited ICC Champions Trophy kicked off with hosts England taking on Bangladesh at the Kennington Oval. The game was viewed by England as an opportunity to get back at Bangladesh who had unceremoniously dumped them out of the 2015 World Cup in the group stage.

England won the toss and Captain Eoin Morgan had no hesitation in asking a Bangladesh side who had been bundled out for 84 runs against India in a warm up at this very venue to bat first. Bangladesh started of cautiously and had notched up just 6 runs in the first 4 overs before unleashing an attack on the English seamers. They reached the 80 run mark in 15 overs.

Opener Tamim Iqbal (128 of 142 balls) negated the threat of the new ball and played a brilliant One Day innings that we have been deprived of in this era of power hitting. The knock, though slow anchored the innings and was a factor in Bangladesh having a solid platform and being able to cross 300. At 261-2 in 44.3 overs with 2 set batsmen in Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim (79  of 72 balls) at the crease, Bangladesh seemed set to reach 320 or more, but lost the duo in the next two balls. The new batsmen had to go for the big shots immediately upon arrival and lost their wickets without causing much damage.

With wickets falling at regular intervals, the innings didn’t have that final flourish and they ended up scoring 305 of the allotted 50 overs.

Set a total of 306 to win, England lost opener Jason Roy(1 of 8 balls) early, but Joe Root(133 of 129 balls) came in and was a part of two huge century stands with Alex Hales(95 of 86 balls) and captain Eoin Morgan(75 of 61 balls) that saw England cross the finish line for the loss of just 2 wickets, with 2.4 overs left.

England have a health +0.40 run rate and will be upbeat ahead of their next game against New Zealand. Bangladesh have it all to do in a make or break clash against Australia.

NBA Finals 2017

The finals cap a predictable pre season that had precious little in the way of drama and a lopsided playoffs that both finalists stormed through. Cleveland Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference and Golden State swept through the Western Conference. Which led us to…..

Part 3 of Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors!

(from left-to-right) Stephen Curry and LeBron James

In 2015 Cleveland reached the finals, but were under strength with Kevin Love benched due to injury. Kyrie Irving cracked his knee in the 1^st game and an injured LeBron James was left to lead the Cavs against a formidable Warriors team which had 3 all-stars. He powered the Cavs to victory at the Oracle Arena and followed it up with another in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. However, he ran out of steam and Cleveland lost the next 3 games and the series by the score line 4-2. Unlike 2015 the Cavaliers have a full strength star trio and head into the best of 7 series with no player having any injury or niggle.
In 2016 it was the Warriors turn to suffer injuries, but they raced to a 3-1 lead. LeBron James stepped over Draymond Green and drew a violent reaction from him resulting in his suspension and the Warriors lost momentum and the next 3 games to lose the series 3-4. They became the first team to squander a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals history. Unlike 2016, none of the main players are carrying any niggles of any sort. This Warriors side is at full strength.
Being the 1^st team to squander such a lead must have hurt, but not as much as losing the decider on home turf. The wounded and broken Warriors have had only 1 goal and that is TO WIN BACK The Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy!
In 2017 both teams are at full strength and none of the 7 All Star players are a doubt.
Golden State Warriors signed Kevin Durant and bolstered an already star studded line up. They have a reply to Cleveland’s star trio(LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love) with a star quartet of their own(Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green)
Golden State weren’t able to match their incredible 73-9 record in the regular season, but tabled an impressive 67-15 in the regular season and are peaking at the right time. They won their best of 7 Western Conference quarterfinal, semi-final and final by identical score line of 4-0 each and have become the first team to reach the finals with a 12-0 playoffs win-loss record.

 This is only the third time in NBA history that a team has reached the finals on the back of a clean sweep in the playoffs. The Warriors are only the second team in NBA history to go unscathed in the playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers did it twice(11-0 in 1989 and 2001). They lost the 1989 finals 4-0 to the Detroit Pistons and won the title in 2001 after a 4-1 thrashing of the Philadelphia76ers.

With the Warriors having 4 members of the All Star team on their roster, one can’t eliminate the possibility of them sweeping the finals 4-0 and finishing the playoffs with a perfect 16-0 score.

 However, the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't pushovers and having just ended a 52 year wait to bring a sporting trophy home to the city of Cleveland and they will not want to wait another 52 years to do so again. Especially when an opportunity has presented itself just a year after their drought ended. The chance of winning back-to-back trophies for the sporting success starved city is what can drive the Cavs. They were seeded second in the Eastern Conference but turned on the heat in the playoffs and were on course to reach the finals with a score line identical to that of the Warriors and had a playoff win-loss record of 10-0 before dropping a game to the Boston Celtics in the Conference finals. A 12-1 record is incredible.

As per NBA scheduling each team plays a team from the other conference twice on a home and away basis. Both sides won their respective home games with Cleveland overturning a fourth quarter 14 point deficit to one by a solitary basket at the Quicken Loans Arena. At the Oracle Arena in Oakland, the Warriors annihilated an exhausted Cleveland side by a final score of 126-91. A blowout victory.
LeBron James has been part of the past 6 NBA finals and has a 50% success rate. He knows a lot about losing NBA finals, so despite Golden State’s historic 12-0 run to the finals they would not be taking anything for granted, especially after last year. On team Warriors is Kevin Durant who was a part of the Oklahoma City Thunder which lost the 2012 NBA Finals to a LeBron James led Miami Heat. He, along with the members who suffered a painful defeat at the hands of LeBron James, will have unfinished business with the 3 time Finals MVP.
LeBron James at 32 years of age is having one of his best seasons, but he will need Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to have better than ordinary games for the Cavs to mount a challenge. James himself will have to ensure that he doesn’t have an off day like the one he had in game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics. The NBA teams have been clueless as to how to stop the Warriors juggernaut. If any team can actually stop them, it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers.

When the playoffs began, it was almost as if everyone knew which two teams would make it to the finals. The world has been waiting for this clash, for a long time. For the sake of the fans, to reward them for their patience in waiting for the best teams to collide, the final series had better come to a gripping close when the familiar foes battle it out in the first ever three peat final in NBA history.
Who will reign supreme? Will Golden State win their fifth title? Or will it be title number 2 for the Cavs?
Find out!!!!