Del Potro Close To Fitness

Juan Martin Del Potro might be seen competing at Flushing Meadows in three weeks’ time. The 25-year old is not too far away from achieving match fitness.

Del Potro had gone under the knife in the last week of March to get his wrist problem sorted out. It was not a minor operation and thus, it was thought that the former US Open Champion would have to wait for at least 6-7 months before he gets fit enough to feature on the tour, but, his recovery has surprisingly been very fast and he might make his comeback in the upcoming US Open.

Del Potro has been practicing for one and half months now. There was a video of one of his practice sessions uploaded on a social networking site in June. He, in fact, himself had uploaded that file.

The backhand shots that Del Potro was hitting in that video were quite crisp. He was having some problems in hitting the return shots though, but, it was clear that he was well on track in his recovery.

Del Potro has always liked playing at Flushing Meadows. His only major title had come at this venue in 2009 when he had beaten the Swiss maestro Roger Federer in a marathon final match.

However, after that moment of glory, Del Potro’s career couldn’t quite take off as it should have. It’s not that he has not won titles. He has actually won quite a few, but, neither of them has been a major title. He has had his injury problems which have made his job tough a little bit, but, still, one would think that he has failed to fully capitalize on his potential.

Currently, Del Potro is the 8th ranked player in the World.

Roddicks Prediction Horribly Wrong

Andy Roddick’s prediction about the winner of the French Open men’s singles title went completely wrong.

The former American player was backing the Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic to get better of the Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the final at Roland Garros, but, that didn’t happen. It’s actually Nadal who emerged out victorious.

Talking to the reporters on the eve of the final, Roddick had said, “Look, I have got a huge amount of respect for Rafa in my heart. He has won a number of titles here at Roland Garros in the past and thus, it’s very difficult to pick somebody else as favourite for the title, but, I would still put my money on Novak just because of the fact that he has been in far better form than Rafa on clay of late.”

“The previous French Open semi final has been the only occasion in the last 12 months when Rafa has beaten Novak on clay. In all the other matches, Novak seems to have played better than him. So, I strongly believe this is Novak’s year and he should be able to pull it off.”

“I won’t mind to be proven wrong to be honest, but, on the basis of Novak’s recent form, I have got to pick him.”

Roddick has always been known as one of those people who don’t hesitate in saying what they feel. But, this is a real bold prediction by him. It would be interesting to see if he proves to be right or he would have to eat his words at the end. Whoever wins though, the fans can expect a tight final as both Nadal and Djokovic would give it their all at the court. This final means a lot for both of them.

Murray Appoints Mauresmo

Andy Murray has appointed Amelie Mauresmo has his new coach just a few weeks before the start of the Wimbledon Championships.

This decision of the world no. 5 has raised a few eyebrows and rightly so. There were some top names in contention for the post, then why on earth he decided to go with somebody like Mauresmo who not only belongs to a different category, but, also hasn’t had a great record as a player.

However, those who have seen Murray from close quarters are not overly surprised with his move. When he had decided to associate with Ivan Lendl, the Czech was not an experienced coach, but, everybody knows how much Murray got facilitated by that association. So, perhaps, that would have prompted the Scot to give the job to somebody lesser renowned again.

When Andy Murray was playing his first round match against Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan in the French Open, Mauresmo was present there watching, but, people didn’t pay that much attention to it at that point of time.

There have been a lot of people in the male tennis category who don’t rate female’s game that high, but, Murray is slightly different. He has always been a vocal admirer of female tennis and last week, he had even hailed Taylor Townsend, the teenage sensation from USA, for her recent performances.

As far as Mauresmo’s career graph is concerned, it isn’t as high as it should be considering her potential. She won only a couple of Grand Slam singles titles in her career out of which one was Wimbledon, while, the other was the Australian Open. She also became the top ranked player in the world, but, still, many people reckon that she should have achieved more.