2012 Olympic Games Summary

Hi everybody,

First, we all know the Olympic games are going on right now. But for tennis, they are already over. In case you were somewhere with no civilization, meaning no television, no internet or no phone (does it really exist anymore??), we all know that Andy Murray for the men and Serena Williams on the women’s side won.

Surprising? Not so much. Interesting? Definitely!!

First of all, let’s take a step back and look at the circumstances. Federer won his 17th Grand Slam at Wimbledon a few weeks prior, the first in over two years (Australian Open 2010), against hometown favorite, Andy Murray. With the #1 spot on the line for Federer and his first Grand Slam combined to ending a 76 years drought for the Brit, the stakes were high for this final. With Federer clinching his 17th Grand Slam, Murray wanted to forget that disappointment and redeem himself.

And redeem he got! With a straight set victory 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 against Federer, Murray did the impossible: beating two out of the top three. And made his point: he is here to stay. In the semifinals, Murray won a tough, very brilliantly played 7-5 7-5 match against world #2 Novak Djokovic. His serve definitely got him out of trouble a few times, but his fearless groundstrokes were enough to outlast Djokovic. To then have the physical and mental strength to go back out there and battle with world #1 Roger Federer is very impressive.

Everything worked for Murray, his grounstrokes, net play and of course his serve. How did he finish his match? An ace, please! I’m not going to lie, Federer is my idol, the smoothness of his stroke, his calm on the court, his ever-ending willingness to get better. But I have to give props to Murray for always fighting, always trying harder to break the top 3.

If you follow tennis, you know how Nadal, Djokovic and Federer have been dominating in the last 7 years. An example: you have to go back to te US Open 2009 to see a different winner at a  Gand Slam, Juan Martin Del Potro against Federer. And before that, hold your breath, the last different winner at a Grand Slam goes back to the AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2005!!! I think now we can all understand and appreciate the magnitude of Murray’s win…

On this note, I am going to end my first post and I truly hope that you all enjoyed a little bit of history and a little bit of refection.

I hope to see you all back for my next post about the Women’s side of the Olympics…

#Olympics #Tournament