Ashes just on Horizon

"Don't forget to pack the urn" reads the projection onto the Big Ben

In a ridiculous over-reaction, Westminster Council is considering suing over a stunt where a picture of Australia captain Ricky Ponting and Michael Clark was projected onto Big Ben in preparation for the upcoming ashes. Described as "friendly banter", those responsible point out that England performed a similar stunt prior to the 2006/07 Ashes in Australia.

This is the first shot across the bows, just before the England team sets off for the Southern Hemisphere, where they would call bullfrogs chuzzwazzers, although apparently the Coriolis Effect does not cause toilet water to drain in a different direction than the Northern Hemisphere.

Andrew Strauss meanwhile talked about the upcoming series, but mentioned that the team was too friendly with their opponents last time they toured Australia as maybe one of the reasons they lost. The reason they lost was they played bloody awful cricket from start to finish. Their batting was haphazard, but barring exceptional circumstances you have to take 20 wickets to win a test match.

In 2006 they did not even get close.

Brisbane (11), Adelaide (10), Perth (15), Melbourne (10), Sydney (10) all offered up humiliating defeats. True, their batting did not give them much opportunities to really get at Australia (they were beaten by an innings in the fourth test, and left the hosts a paltry target of 46 in the fifth, but the Aussies also declared on 602-9 in the first and 527-5 in the third.

Every time their batting or their bowling had a good session they would immediately blow it in the next. Admittedly on a good pitch on the Oval, a stand of 310 between Collingwood and Pietereson was erased when the Aussies matched England's first inning total, then skittled them out for 158.

Still, the tail did not wag as it had a year and a half earlier, while most of the bowlers got shelled. Only Flintoff, Hoggard and Panesar finished with half-respectable figures, and that trio, only just. The team that we have may seem more settled, there were a number of injuries and we were without captain Michael Vaughan. Even so, there remain a number of question marks hanging over the team

Just Four Bowlers?
It seems as if we will go into the series with the same 11 that has been fixed for some time: Strauss, Cook, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Prior, Broad, Swann, Anderson and Finn (Morgan, who played all the summer tests would be dropping out for Bell). While the trio of fast bowlers tore into Pakistan's order with complete ease, bowling on the hard, bouncy Australian pitches is very different from the seam and swing movement you see on the greener pitches and cloudier climates here in England. You have to be tighter and more disciplined with your bowling, and frustrate your opponents more at the Gabba or the SCG.

Geoffrey Boycott in particular has been banging on about this for at least a year.

But if you would bring in another bowler, who would it be? Monty Panesar, cult figure, but sidelined is the second spinner if you were inclined that way, Chris Tremlett is tall and would get plenty of bounce, and took 48 wickets for Surrey in 2010 at an average of 20.19. Tim Bresnan is the all-rounder, and so would bring batting as well as bowling, but not much batting.

The only reason these things are an issue is that England's selectors are worried about our batting. If Cook, Pieterson, Prior and co. were banging in centuries they would be confident with Broad batting at six, and Swann at seven. But they are not. And since the Ashes both Broad and Swann's batting, the latter in particular has slipped considerably. Rather than being seen as all-rounders, which they have the potential to be, they are still primarily bowlers. This is why Stuart Broad's knock of 169 against Pakistan was so encouraging. If he can bat with patience, and stay around for a while, rather than waltzing to the middle, and just throw the bat at the ball, England can be a great side, instead of a merely good one.

Remember when Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener batted eight and nine for South Africa? It frustrated the heck out of opponents, and it damages team morale when they reach the tail and cannot get them out cheaply. Sri Lanka came to England in 2006 and caused untold woe by building late inning partnerships. At Lords they saved the game with Vaas and Kulasekara hitting 50s, and won the third test at Nottingham, in part due to the tail saving something from the first inning with Chaminda Vaas top scoring with 38, before the entire tail did it again in the second innings, setting England a target of 325 (they were bowled out for 190).

Graeme Swann's (arch felon for being caught drunk driving on the way back from picking up screwdrivers to rescue his cat, who was stuck under his floorboards) knock of 63 at the Oval was crucial for building a huge second innings lead in the deciding match of the series. He scored a respectable 249 runs in eight innings with one not out.

The Batting
The biggest issue with our batting is Kevin Pietersen, but not far behind that is the fact that Ian Bell missed the summer tests, and Alastair Cook's. Cook's test average of 42.78 should not be sniffed at, but still people question his consistency. The well documented problem with his footwork has been solved, at least for now, and he's failed to score a century in just three test series he's played in (2006 v Sri Lanka, 2008 v New Zealand, 2008 at India). He scored 382 runs in last year's Ashes at an average of 38.2 (although there were only two scores you would call decent 50+). In fact, most of this Cook bashing may be totally un-merited, since stats guru Simon Hughes wrote before the last test against Pakistan that Cook and Strauss are one of the most productive opening partnerships for England.

The real problems is Pietersen's state of mind. There is cover around him, as Trott, Collingwood and Bell should all be ready to go, but his form could adequately described as patchy, and he has rarely looked settled at the crease, batting within himself, and at times looking petrified at getting out. Other times he charges in and plays a silly shot long before he has really found himself at the middle. The quandary in August was what England could actually do with Pietersen in such poor form considering the domestic season was closing, and his exile from Hampshire.

 KP is a game-changer, but if he is not in the right mindset to compete, then he has to replaced with the free-hitting Morgan, test match batsmen or not. His 107 not out against Pakistain in the ODI at Southampton ridicules the notion that he cannot play the longer form of the game. If you can score a century at that level you can play test match cricket.

This time around there will be no Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne or Matthew Hayden, but it will still be a tall order to inflict upon Ricky Ponting his third Ashes loss as Australian Captain, and be the first side since Gatting's in 1986-7 to win down under.

Djokovic's Steady Nerve Enough to Top Roger

Beating Roger Federer these days is much like beating Manchester United. Pull it off and you are bound to hit the headlines. Novak Djokovic triumphed against Roger Federer for the first time in a Grand Slam event since the 2008 Australian Open, the Serbs' last Slam Final, and his last Slam win. It may be auspicious for the world number three, or it may mean nothing, as he will have his work cut out against Rafael Nadal, who will be aiming to win his third Grand Slam of 2010, and become only the fourth player in the Open Era to win all four majors, joining Rod Laver, Andre Agassi and of course, Federer.

The match itself defied any master narrative, swinging seemingly decisively one way before shifting straight back. Indeed, when Federer set up two match points in the fifth set, it all looked familiar to regular tennis-watchers, before Djokovic played two gutsy points to get back to deuce.

Back at 5-5 and on Federer's serve, the Serb broke decisively, and then saved a break point of his own while serving for the match. The world number two then saw a succession of forehands sail long, handing Djojovic the fifth set 7-5.

In six previous seasons Federer has not failed to make two Grand Slam finals in a calender year, and prior to this year's French Open, had reached the past eight finals at all four majors, winning four of them, but losing three to Nadal. The match also ended his run of six US Open finals, including five titles before being beaten by Juan Martin Del Potro this time last year.

The match also ended a streak of three consecutive times that Federer had dumped Djokovic out of the US Open. In 2007 Federer beat the Serb in his first Grand Slam final appearance, then in 2008 and 2009 the Swiss triumphed in the Semi-Finals of both years.

For Djokovic the win salvaged something from an immensely frustrating season. Beaten by Tsonga in the Quarter Finals of the Australian Open in a re-match of the 2008 Final, he was then put out of the French by Jurgen Melzter, again in the Quarters, despite holding a two sets to love advantage in the match. Then he was outclassed by Tomas Berdych in the Wimbledon semi-finals, and another Semi-Final defeat to Federer at Flushing Meadows would have compounded the Serb's woes.

The first four sets were topsy-turvy encounters with the 16-time Grand Slam winner taking the first and third sets 7-5, with the Serb picking up the second and fourth 6-1 and 6-2, breaking Federer twice in both sets. Whatever is to blame for Federer's recent performances, at times he seems a shadow of his former self, and on the Arthur Ashe court, where he has so often excelled, he racked up more unforced errors than winners. Where he showed entire matches packed with flair and brilliance, his game flickered into life invarably, and only on the odd point did he display the sort of tennis that has dominated the sport for the past six years.

He would occasionally step in and strike the ball imperiously cross-court for a clear winner, but more often than not his opponent displayed far clearer aggression, hurrying Federer's forehand, and forcing him to either net, or shoot the ball long. The match might have headed away from the Serb after the fourth set, as the cat-and-mouse tennis suited the former world number one by far.

With far less hesitancy Djokovic stepped up the aggression in the fourth, and kept a steady nerve to triumph in a tight fifth set that could very easily have gone either way. The Serb's father, hard to miss with his son's visage emblazoned on his t-shirt, and those in the world number three's camp were sent into raptures by the win. Nadal provide a far sterner test today.

Murray's US Open Dream Turns Into a Nightmare

Dazed and Confused Murray Knocked out by Wawrinka

For every blockbuster where the Brit has pulled one out of the fire, his defeats of Richard Gasquet and Stanislas Wawrinka at Wimbledon being the two most prominent examples, there are those where he has come up short. Last night was one of those times, just like his loss to Fernando Verdasco in Australia in 2009, or Marian Cilic, this time last year at Flushing Meadows.

In what will rank as one of the most bizarre matches Murray has ever participated in, he was ousted by the 20th seed in four sets, a match that lasted three hours and 54 minutes, and finished just after midnight BST.

When Murray does eventually win a Grand Slam, it will be all the sweeter because of days like this. Only Murray will be able to fully assess his own performance, yet his on court eccentricity, and the level to which his play degenerated to was simply astounding, even more so because it was punctuated by the odd point played to perfection.

A public self-destruction from the World Number Four was not what the spectators expected on the Louis Armstrong Stadium, but that was what they got. Along the way Murray lost the crowd, his head, and full control of his body. "I was struggling physically. I tried to find a way to come back, but couldn't do it. I was disappointed that I hadn't been in that position for a long time physically," he said afterwards.

"I don't think it was a terrible performance today, I don't think I did terribly, it was very different playing a guy in the last round to a guy like Wawrinka, who is a much better player. In the third and fourth sets, I was struggling physically and I got frustrated with that.

Maybe I felt that my chance of winning here was slipping away. It happens to everyone."

The gutsy, never say-die attitude that usually characterises Murray's play was wholly absent, replaced by hours of sullen, moping body-language. There was no sprinting around the court, chasing lost-causes by the fourth seed. Instead, after dropping the second set, one he really should have won, since at one point he was serving for the set, he wandered around the court like a shell shock victim, unable to find any rhythm whatsoever against the big-hitting Swiss. At times he stopped moving entirely in the middle of points, opting not to chase balls.

Yesterday looked like an aberration, although every once in a while he seemed to be on the cusp of rediscovering form, only to lose it going for a drop shot, or hitting a ball long. Whatever was wrong with Murray, perhaps a groin strain, it shackled his serve for the last two sets of the match, and he was stuck shooting 80 mph second serves into the middle of the court, easy pickings for a hitter of Wawrinka's calibre.

Unable to take the initiative in any of his points with his serve ineffectual, he was pegged behind the baseline for most of the match, as the Swiss hit the baseline with his forehand and background with great regularity.

All credit should go to Wawrinka, as he executed his game-plan perfectly against his opponent, but it was Murray who lost the match, rather than the Swiss winning it. Wawrinka, who has failed to reach a grand slam quarter-final, merely had to wait for the right time to attack, and pounce. He will face Sam Querrey in the fourth round, after the American knocked out Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in straight-sets yesterday.

Too many people will enjoy penning their biting postmortem's of this match, as if Murray's career is on the down slope, yet he has proved over the past month, especially in Toronto, that he can compete with the best. Whether a Grand Slam comes sooner or later will depend on Murray's attitude, for what was most disappointing yesterday was not that the Scot lost, but the manner in which he lost. When it eventually ended, and Murray made a speedy exit off court, there must have been palpable relief for British tennis fans that such a tortuous experience had at last drawn to a close.

Murray deals with Lacko, Berdych out

The Brit had all his synapses firing, and playing at about 80% in challenging conditions, he defeated Slovak Lukas Lacko in straight sets. While he was toiling in the New York heat, Tomas Berdych, the man who defeated Murray at Roland Garros, and the next highest seed in his quarter, crashed out to Frenchman Michael Llodra.

It makes Murray's run to the semi finals easier, and he should have no problems with his second round opponent. Dustin Brown, a Jamaican player, is ranked 123. The winner will face either Stanislas Wawrinka or the Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela, and then probably Sam Querrey or Nicolas Almagro in the fourth round.

American John Isner or Mikhael Youzhny could meet the Brit in the Quarter Finals, but the eye-catcher in that part of the draw, is a potential third round clash between Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra, both Frenchmen, and current doubles partners. Both pulled off shocks to get to the second round, Llodra defeating seventh seed Berdych, Benneteau 29th seed Radek Stephanek.

Murray meanwhile played precise tennis, moving Lacko around the court with line to line groundstrokes, putting away anything in the mid-court, and generally mixing up his game. Every time the Slovak thought he had Murray measured, the Scot would show him a different shot, or mix it up with different spin. It was good enough to put away an opponent of Lacko's calibre, but it will be completely different if Murray faces Nadal or Federer. Yesterday's match was no real indicator of where his game is.

Men like Llodra, Querrey and Isner rely on their first serves, and Murray typically does better against those sort of opponents because he is such a good returner of the serve.

But against the top three in the world if you don't serve well you lose. If you don't put away mid court balls, you lose. If you don't hit the lines consistently, you lose. Toronto was a sighter for Murray, and will give him belief that he can beat both Nadal and Federer in the same tournament, but then that was a best of three set encounter. Five-setters are very different animals.

I worry about Murray in those situations, because his record in tie-breaks is not good. When he faced Andy Roddick for a place in the 2009 Wimbledon Final, what cost Murray was losing the last two sets in tie-breakers. Last year in Flushing Meadows he was dumped out in the fourth round by Marian Cilic. Hopefully the same will not happen this year.

For those who say the reason Murray has not won a Grand Slam because of the pressure heaped on him by the British media (English really) is utter nonsense. Can anyone point towards an instant where it was obvious he lost because of pressure. We've watched Tim Henman so long, we equate losing with too much pressure. Murray was outclassed in the two Grand Slam finals he has played against Federer. This year at Wimbledon, Nadal was in inspired form, while Berdych blew him away at Roland Garros. You talk about pressure, this is pressure. It is just an excuse built in by the English media to make some sense of national losses.

Murray is now a match for anyone on the tour, but first he needs to get to Friday, semi-final day.

Can you bet against this man? The answer is no

Roger Federer's most controversial statement this week seems to be the fact that he has grown tired with pink and will most probably sport blue in the coming US Open at Flushing Meadows, Queens- New York.

Federer, already on 16 grand slam titles, recently said he would like to reach 20, and would surely love to beat Nadal on the way to another French Open or Wimbledon title. Despite only winning his second title of the season last week at Cincinnati, the World Number Two can take heart, that the other victory was at the Australian Open. Heck Roger, why not shoot for Margeret Court's 24.

Just as Federer failed at overtaking Jimmy Conners and Pete Sampras to stand alone on six US Open titles in 2009, losing to the spirited Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro, he succumbed to Berdych this year, aiming to equal Sampras' seven Wimbledon titles. This year he will have another chance, and there will be no Argentinian to scare the willies out of him.

He has not faced his foe Nadal since the final of the Madrid Open, the only time the two have met in 2010. If the two meet again at Flushing Meadows it will be in the final, and Federer, who has won five titles here, will feel the favourite.

Nadal has looked jaded, again, as he always seems to do when we reach this stage of the season, possibly a result of his athletic style of tennis, and the wear and tear on his body. Yet even Federer must wonder how his body will cope with a seven match two-week tournament. He visibly wilted against Robin Soderling in Paris, then looked out of it at times against Tomas Berdych at SW19.

Murray lost to Mardy Fish, but will probably not mind too much, considering the American did push Federer to the limit in the Cincinnati finals. The Brit looked angry throughout the encounter, and made a shoot at the tournament organisers after his previous round match, citing the fact that he had played early afternoon in each of his last six matches (including the ones in Toronto).

Wilting in the fierce Cincinnati weather, with the intensity of the sun matched only by Murray's temper, he asked the umpire whether he had seen a net court when he intimated that he had not heard one. When he replied that he hadn't, Murray added "You haven't seen much today have you," which the umpire might not have heard, but the television microphones certainly did. And in case you missed it, Murray has yet to win a Grand Slam, foiled twice in the finals by....Federer.

The Swiss has niggling injury concerns of his own:- was his five set thriller with Alejandro Falla in the first round at Wimbledon the cause or consequence of his back and leg injuries? How much of his thigh injury was responsible for his loss to Lleyton Hewitt in Halle before Wimbledon? When he is seriously pushed in the next two weeks, will his body, and consequently his game crumble?

In his quarter of the draw, are names such as Hewitt (possible third round opponent), Jurgen Meltzer and Juan Carlos Ferrera (fourth round), and a possible quarter final against Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, Croat Maran Cilic or Soderling.

Murray meanwhile will have Berdych, Stanislas Wawrinka, Sam Querrey and Nicholas Almaggro to worry about in his quarter, and will have to run the gauntlet in most of his matches to be in with a chance of ending one of the most extraordinary fallow runs in sporting history.

But for Federer, who won five titles in a row at Flushing Meadows before being beaten last year, will still go in clear favourite.

Murray breaks through mental barrier

It was only a Masters 1000 tournament, but Andy Murray nearly choked up on the mic after beating Roger Federer for the first time in a final. When he wins a Grand Slam expect floods of tears. With the win he joined five others who had beaten both Federer and Nadal in the same tournament, while also being the first player since Andre Agassi to win the Rogers Cup twice in a row.

Ominously enough, Del Potro beat both Nadal and Federer to take the 2009 U.S. Open title, stunning the tennis world this time last year. This may finally be Murray's moment, six years after he captured the Junior title.

Murray may have hit a wall in failing to win a grand slam, but his play has never encountered similar problems. Year on year he gets better, although there has been a general feeling that, when he reaches the big occasions he tightens up and his game suffers. Not this week. Cut loose and free to play his shots on his favourite surface, and not only did he win, but he dropped just one set all week.

The Scot's fear of failure has finally been eclipsed by his desire to win- and the results were devastatingly obvious in Toronto, as Murray blew the competition away with a potent mixture of aggression and precision. Add to this unflappable poise that seemed dented only once all week, in an odd second set against Gael Monfils earlier in the week.

Federer put up stern resistance at the end of the first and second set but Murray recovered after both setbacks, firing two spectacular aces at the end, and saving a break point before the Swiss' forehand cruised long to hand Murray his first title of the year.

Neither Nadal and Federer were at their best, that much was obvious, but the question remains as to whether either will be 100% in time for Flushing Meadows in two weeks time. Federer may still be reeling from the injuries that plagued him at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, while the World Number One, Rafael Nadal seems to have burned himself out again by August. Perhaps they were both conserving energy for the Grand Slam. They will have no chance to rest up as the ATP Tour rolls on to the Cincinnati Masters today.

But there is an added dynamic in Cincinnati as Federer and Nadal are in the same half of the draw for the first time in aeons, with a possible semi-final clash in the offing. The pair have only met four times in a non-final match, with Federer winning a pair of Shangai Masters semi-finals, while Nadal triumphed in the semis of the 2006 French Open and R32 of the 2004 Miami Open.

Nadal-Federer is a thing of the past, Federer-Murray, or perhaps Murray-Federer as we should call it, will be the rivalry to watch. Murray, who has had his doubters, and quite possibly some doubts of his own has sought from day one recognition from one of the greatest players to grace the game of tennis. The 16-time Grand Slam winner was often critical of Murray's negative style, especially after losing to the Brit, but there now seems to be a healthy amount of mutual respect between the two.

Murray has been climbing the man mountain that is Federer, seeming to have conquered it twice, only to be thrown right back down to the base in his two Grand Slam final appearances. As time passes he comes back feistier than ever

Faced with three rain delays in his final match, Murray will hope that the same does not happen at the U.S. Open, as British fans have already seen the elements cost them a grand slam once this decade.

Murray receives a bye in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters, and will play the winner of Jeremy Chardy and Florian Mayer. His quarter of the draw contains Mikhael Youzhny, Fernando Verdasco, Jurgen Meltzer, Mardy Fish and Richard Gasquet. The U.S. Open starts August 30.

U.S. Open Could be Greatest Ever

August and Flushing Meadows Simmering Pot Ready to Boil Over

RARELY have so many tennis players approached a Men's Grand Slam with something to prove. As far as spectacles go, this year's Wimbledon was a dazzling success, but in terms of hype the U.S Open might top it. We have a world number one attempting to win his third grand slam in a row, the deposed champion whose run of five titles came to an end last year, and a clustre of new talent and old veterans vying for titles.

The Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada will start on Monday, while the Cincinnati Masters played the following week. Then after a week off, the best in the world will converge on Queens, New York.

ROGER FEDERER (five times champion)

Its hard to write off a player who has won 16 of the last 29 grand slam tournaments,

though some people will do it in the next month. As if defeat to Tomas Berdych was not bad enough, he slipped down to number three on the ATP tour rankings. It must have galled to perform so limply on his first attempt to equal Sampras' seven Wimbledon titles, but Roger will still have that fire. The question remains however, how extensive are his back and leg injuries? Will he be 100% in a month?

He doesn't have much to prove, but it will feel that way, as he steps out onto the court, if he makes it that is.

Federer might want to gain as many points as possible in the next two weeks, but he needs to go into the Grand Slam fully fit and fresh. Yet if he arrives at Flushing Meadows as the number 3 seed behind Novak Djokovic, we could have a Federer-Nadal semi-final. They have only met once in a Grand Slam outside of the final, with Nadal beating Federer in the 2005 French Open semi-final.

RAFAEL NADAL (never reached the final)

His record at the U.S. Open is comparably bad if you look at what he has done at other tournaments, considering he has made just two-semis in the past seven years.

Beaten in 2009 by Del Potro, he looked less than 100%, while in 2008 it was apparent in his defeat to Murray he had burnt himself out during the summer.

Considering what Nadal has achieved in the last three months, it would seem he too has nothing to prove,but if he were to triumph, it would complete his collection of Grand Slams, meaning that when January rolls around, he would have the chance to do something Federer has never done-hold all four titles at the same time. He would join Rod Laver, Andre Aggasi and Federer as the fourth player in the Open Era to win all four Slams. Now that he has eight, 16 does not seem so far away. See you in 2012 Roger?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC

Doesn't that Australian Open win in 2008 seem like an awfully long time ago? To be fair to the Serb, who was brushed aside by Berdych at Wimbledon, and squandered a sizeable lead against Jurgen Meltzer at the French, he has been there or thereabouts in the Slams for a few years. He

Last year the world number two was angry at talk of Murray as a favourite for the Australian Open. The split between coach Todd Martin earlier this year has resolved issues with his serve, and there have been a few instances of the Serb retiring from matches due to 'illness.' Considering his game, it is all about what mental state he is in.

ANDY MURRAY (2008 finalist)

John McEnroe said before Wimbledon that he thought the Brit's best chance of winning a slam was the U.S. Open, because there would be less pressure, while the hard court would suit his game. It is also a place he feels comfortable at, having won the 2004 Junior U.S. Open title. Since Federer is so immense in Grand Slam finals, Murray would have a better chance of beating the Swiss, if he faced him before the final. However, if the rankings stay the same, Murray could play Djokovic in the semis, with the possibility of facing the winner of a Federer-Nadal match in the final, where he to triumph.

JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO (2009 winner)

What a body blow 2010 must be for the Argentinian. Just as he broke into the top four, he succumbed to a wrist injury, and has been unable to compete at the French, or Wimbledon. He'll watch from the sidelines as others compete for his vacant crown.

LLEYTON HEWITT (2001 winner)

Having surgery on both his left and right hips might have taken its toll on the Aussie. He might have beaten Federer at Halle, snapping a 15 game losing streak against the Swiss, but it remains to be seen if Hewitt can challenge for a Slams. In the end victory was easy for Djokovic over the former winner in the fourth round of Wimbledon, as the two time Grand Slam winner had lost too much pace on the baseline. Retirement beckons?

ANDY RODDICK (2003 winner)

He won in Miami by beating Almaggro, Nadal, Berdych on the way to the title. However his defeat to the world number 82 Lu Yen-Hsun was an episode in overindulgence. Relegated from the show-courts, the American threw a hissie-fit, and basically threw the match. He actually lost two of three tiebreaks, unheard of for Roddick, with the Chinese Taipei player taking the fifth set 9-7. Life in the old dog yet (although he is younger than Federer)?

TOMAS BERDYCH (flavour of the month)

Did you hear? Bird is the word. Watch McEnroe commentate on Berdych and see how many times he shoehorns the name Ivan Lendl in there. Its a lot. Beating Federer twice in a year, how many people have done that? The 24-year-old is starting to show the sort of form those in the know expected years earlier. Outclassed by Nadal in the final on Centre Court, Berdych could find himself a regular at the pointy end of future grand slam events.

Honourable mentions

Marian Cilic: the Croat should be a feature in the quarter-finals

John Isner: picked as a potential upset at Wimbledon, the American will be hoping for no more marathon matches

Robin Soderling: the world number five did beat Federer in the French, but remains on the fringe of the top four.