When it comes to Federer, Murray is the right place, right time man.

Yesterday at the Dubai Classic, Scot Andy Murray beat Roger Federer for the second time in three matches.

Does this mean that Murray is the second coming or the only one who can stop the almighty Fed? Well... quite frankly, no it doesn't.

Of the three games that Murray has played against Federer, twice Federer has been the worse for ware. And both of those times he unsurprisingly lost. The first loss came at the tail end of a bout of food poisoning and the next was at his first match back after a very long break.

This won't stop the British media from proclaiming Murray as some sort of hero of course, but then, they kind of do that anyway even when he's losing. It's important to keep some perspective though. Federer is still a class above the field.

[BBC Sport]

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[digg=http://digg.com/tennis/When_it_comes_to_Federer_Murray_is_exceptionally_lucky]

The Lendl Legacy Continues (But Not In Tennis)

Come on now, you remember Ivan Lendl don't you? The Tennis star whose own country tried to stop him from playing?

Well it turns out that instead of becoming star tennis players, Lendls seeds have turned to a different (and far duller) sport. Three of his five daughters have become excellent junior golfers.

Marika, Isabelle and Daniela Lendel, 17, 15 and 14 respectively, regularly take on and beat their Pa over the greens and both Marika and Isabelle have competed on the Us Junior Championship circuit. Marika, the eldest of the three, has even made the Junior American Ryder Cup Team, which probably
sounds more impressive then it actually is.

Whilst Ivan tours the celebrity circuit, where he plays a 2 - handicap, his daughters all have an eye on turning pro. And with a handicap of 1 in their teenage years, it looks like they have every chance.

The Other Tiger

Wimbledon aka The Tennis World Championships, is well under way at the moment. Actually the tournament is well under way, the actual matches are being rained off to a slightly ridiculous level at the moment.

Nevertheless, Federer, Nadal and Roddick eased their way through the first round matchups without too much trouble. But the real story was Tim Henman's four hour five set marathon victory over Carlos Moya. Henman had won an incredible two matches this year on the international circuit and was looking every part the washed up old pro in a world of young robots.

The pundits never gave him a chance against Moya (and neither did I) but we may have forgotten that this is Henman's House. He may never have won Wimbledon but he's still a hero to the British fans who cheered him louder then ever before. And, for once, he responded to them. I've never seen Henman so fired up as he was against Moya. It was pretty exciting to watch this former number six in the world playing so damned determined and aggressively, he refused to let the British crowd down by busting
out in the first round.

There was a film a couple of years ago with Kirstin Dunst, where this old English Tennis Ace goes on the streak of his career and wins the whole thing. Watching Henman yesterday you almost believed he could do the same. Almost.

The truth is Henamn is almost certain to go out in the next round, but in my mind, he's done enough. He came in and entertained the fans one more time, gave them a victory they didn't expect and left them with a smile on his face. Win or lose the next game, he's done a great job.

[SI.com]

Competition Time. Win $30 worth of Amazon.com Goodness! Free to enter!!

That's right, you can win a $30 Amazon.com gift voucher just by entering our free competition. It's open to anybody 18 or over who has an email account, so check out the rules below and join in!

To enter all you have to do is tell me why you love your favorite sport. In three words or less. It doesn't matter what sport you love or why you love it but the reason must be no more than three words in length. For example:

I love football and my reason (one of them anyway) is "Unnecessary Roughness". Having a foul for 'Unnecessary Roughness' implies that, in order to play the game, there is necessary roughness. Which is brilliant and humorous at the same time.

You can choose a facet of the sport, a player that you love to watch, or whatever you like, as long as it's three words or less, it's all gravy.  You can leave an explanation of your choice if you want. The winner will be the one that I like the best and my decision is final bitch.

The competition will run from right now to the 1st of July. Entries can be made by comment or by email to shottonothing[/at/]gmail.com and you can enter as many times as your heart desires. The winner will be announced on Monday the 2nd of July and will be notified by email (so remember to send me your email address if you're answering via a comment!)


Good luck and thanks for taking part!

Not In Nadal's House Rog

Raphael Nadal has become the French Open Champion for the third year in a row. He beat Roger Federer in four sets 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4.

The final itself did not disappoint with both players seeming to step it up time and time again in the face of their awesome opposition. This one came down to determination however, and Nadal was simply not going to lose this one. Clearly hurting from his loss to Federer on Clay a couple of weeks ago, Nadal came out with a 'Not in My House' jawline and a
racket set to 'revenge'.

Although Roger was a little bit unlucky at times, it was the soul destroying way that Rapha came back from two-three break points in the first two sets that broke Federers spirit. Nadal simply would not let go of the advantage and fought for every single point with gritty will power and unrelenting determination.

This was a very good result for the sport of Tennis. Not only has it cemented a fierce rivalry but it also prevented one person from dominating every event. Federer may win against anyone everywhere else without breaking a sweat but when it comes to facing Nadal on Clay - Forgeddaboudid...

Federer, Nadal Will Meet in French Open Final. You're Shocked I Know.

So the final that the fans, the players and even the bookies knew was going to happen (I couldn't find a single one who would offer me at-least evens on this matchup. Stupid bookies) has been confirmed.

Nadal fulfilled his end of the bargain in style by crushing Novak Djokovic (try saying that ten times at pace) in straight sets. Nadal looks fired up for this one, that loss on clay to Federer a couple of weeks ago is hurting him and he needs his revenge. It's like clay was the last fortress holding up too Federer's intensive, racket based siege and Nadal was the final gatekeeper. He stands alone, fighting to stop the takeover of his sport by a Swiss machine.

Unlike the last time they met, in a best of three sets final at a relatively small and obscure tournament, Sunday's final is the real deal. Roger has only dropped one set so far in his journey to the final whilst Rafa has dropped none. Whether this is any indication as to the result, I couldn't say, but it's going to be one heck of a game, that's for sure.

[BBC Sport]

Federer Drops Set, World Gasps...

Not that it's going to stop the French Open Final from looking any different, but it could be said that Nadal now has a psycological advantage. The chunky-armed one has not dropped a single set so far on his route to the semi-finals.

I don't think that necessarily means that Nadal is a shoe-in; we all now that this is not Federer's best surface and the guy he was playing, Tommy Robredo, loves the red stuff. Surely he's entitled to lose a set or two before we start writing him off isn't he?

Big Rog will face Nikolay Davydenko in the semis, a guy who has beaten in all eight of their previous matches, so that should pretty much see him into the final. Nadal will have a tougher time against Novak Djokovic, but not much of a tougher time.

So it looks like they could have just done away with the rest of the matches and shot straight to the final doesn't it? Either way it should be a good match.

[BBC Sport]

There'll be No Stopping Him Now.

Roger Federer has climbed the last hurdle in his way to becoming the greatest player ever to pick up a Tennis Racket (and boy what an honor that is right?)

Admitedly it was only a best of three sets match in a relatively small tournament BUT Federer has beaten Nadal on Clay. The score was 2-6 6-2 6-0, which means either Nadal was not at his best or (uh-oh) Federer has stepped it up ANOTHER level. Did you feel that shudder going down your spine Tennis Fans?

Previous to this tournament 'R-Fed' had gone a whole four tournaments without a title. Ouch, he must have been really hurting. This also means Nadal's 81 clay court winning streak is at an end.

"It will be interesting to see how we both react in the French Open"

- Was Federers kneejerk robot response to the victory.  Well what were you expecting from him? Relief, ecstasy, emotion? Nah, this is Tennis people...

Global Update

As you can see by the picture to your right, the Leicester Tigers won the Guinness Rugby Union Premiership yesterday. and they did it in spectacular form, smashing Gloucester by 44-16. The best description of the Tigers performance came from one of the commentators who likened it to "Watching a tank being driven like a sports car"

This was the tigers third attempt at the Premiership title and having finally won it they are now on course to win the treble.

Btw, the whole Ricky Williams testing positive whilst trying to re-enter the NFL thing has not passed me by. It's just that my seething disbelieve at the mans stupidity is requiring me to right a full post on the matter at a later date.

Raphael Nadal has shown how outrageously good he is on clay by taking his 76th victory on the surface and simultaneously breaking John McEnroe's previous record for most wins on one surface. It's good to see someone with a bit of passion and character taking centre stage in the Tennis world. I like Federer as much as the next guy, but he's not all that exhilarating personality wise is he?

Incidentally, Federer has unexpectedly split from his coach, Tony Roche. Both sides say the decision was mutual - yeah, sure it was. I guess if you're Roger Federer you're probably wondering if there's anything left to learn about Tennis.

The Spanish Grand Prix is the next race in the Formula 1 Calender and takes place in just over an hour from now. Felipe Massa has once again claimed pole position with a fairly ridiculous last second charge. Being a Ferrari fan, I would love to love Massa, if only he would get through a damned race without screwing the pooch several times and gifting the victory to the opposition. Ragnamit.

Other then that, The Spurs are helping the Suns to set, the Yankees have a losing record and everybody is pretty impressed with the Warriors. But then you knew that already didn't you?

That's it for your Sunday Global update, take it easy y'all.

[BBC Sport]

[SI]

CSI:NY to John McEnroe - "That Ball Was NOT On the Line"

Kudos once again goes to Michael David Smith of 'The Fanhouse' for this little beauty.

I'm not sure why the prospect of seeing John McEnroe acting in a 'CSI stylee' makes me smile, but it does and if you feel the same then the show airs tonight at 10.00pm (I believe) . I'm not a big CSI fan but I will at-least be tivo-ing this sucker.

[Michael David Smith on The Fanhouse]