Showing posts with label Andy Murray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andy Murray. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Turn Style - Andy Murray's Dogs Wear Olympic Silver and Gold Medals

In Sunday's surprising straight sets beatdown of world #1 Roger Federer, Scotsman Andy Murray won the Olympic gold medal in tennis in front of a "hometown" London crowd. A couple of hours later, he won the silver medal for Britain in mixed doubles with his partner Laura Robson.

Sometime after that, Murray's pet border terriers sported his Olympic booty for the camera, and the pair looked pretty damn adorable doing so. The picture below was posted online by Maggie May, one of the terriers who apparently has her own Twitter handle and more than 10,000 followers.

If this doesn't soften Andy's sometimes crusty and curmudgeonly image in the tennis world, I'm not sure what else he can do.

Murray's pups - Rusty (silver) and Maggie May (gold).

Andy with medals and the Union Jack.

Turn Style posts highlight compelling photos or amusing content related to art/fashion.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Federer Poised for End of Season Sweep

Roger Federer at the Western Southern Open.
Roger Federer returned to championship tennis form this week in Paris winning a second consecutive ATP tour event.

With a straight set victory in Sunday's final over mammoth Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Federer won the ATP 1000 Parisbas Masters Series event, securing his biggest tournament win of the year.

Last week, Federer ended a nearly 10-month title drought by prevailing in an ATP 500 event held in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland.

With only three tournament victories in 2011 and no Grand Slam championships, this is arguably Roger's worst year since his reign at the top of professional tennis began eight years ago. In light of his lackluster season, it would be easy to discount his chances at next week's Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals in London. Federer's late season surge, however, seems to be coming just in time as he prepares to compete next week against seven other top players in the world.

Any of the seven players participating next week can beat Federer, but only the top three players provide consistently strong opposition to him. It happens, thought, that the three men ranked higher than Federer in the ATP rankings have not been completely healthy of late.

Among the top three - Serbia's Novak Djokovic withdrew from his final match this week in Paris, citing a serious shoulder injury that continues to plague him, and Andy Murray of Great Britain has been bothered off and on by a minor hamstring pull. Rafael Nadal will return from a several week hiatus to heal various niggling late season injuries, and while he should be rested, his absence from other recent indoor tournaments may leave him a little rusty.

Federer manages his play, his body, and his tour schedule brilliantly, and even as we reach the end of another gruelingly long tennis season, the thirty year-old continues to be in excellent physical condition. With a healthy Fed, and every aspect of his game from serve to net looking crisp and sharp in the last few weeks, my money is on the Swiss master to successfully defend his ATP Tour Finals title in London next week.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Cincy Tennis - Day 4 (Roger Pics Finally!)

Quarterfinals day proved to be enormously difficult for some of the most beloved tennis players on the tour. Australia's Samantha Stosur was soundly whipped and knocked out of the women's draw, while Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were both taken out easily on the men's side. I can still be totally interested in the outcome of the tournament without these megalo-superstars, but I'm certain that ESPN and the rest of the sports world will care about Cincy just a little less this weekend with these guys gone.

Still, some big names remain in the semi-finals on Saturday. World #1, Novak Djokovic, will try to extend his unbelievable hot streak in 2011. With a record of 55-1, he has amazingly lost only one match since last December (his completely unbeaten streak ended with a loss to Federer at the French Open). He's won EVERY other tournament he's played in this year. Tomorrow, Novak takes on top ten player Tomas Berdych. The other men's semi-final features world #4 Andy Murray taking on top-ranked American, Mardy Fish (who I actually picked to win it all earlier this week!). On the women's side, Maria Sharapova is the most exciting name left in the draw. She's had a long comeback from shoulder surgery a couple of years ago, so I'm hoping she can prevail.

Having featured only women players yesterday, the pictures included below are the top four men's tennis players in the world, with the most attention given to Roger Federer because, well....he is the greatest player in the history of the game. We were fortunate to see all of the top four ranked guys play today - and that is the miracle of tennis in Cincinnati (who woulda thought that, right? I mean this is reeeally close to Kentucky!).

On a personal side note, this week has also been extremely difficult for my butt ...which can only take so much sitting on metal bleachers. I broke down today and bought a stadium cushion for $9. I'm happy to report that the pain in my ass has subsided and that there will be no photos of this particular tennis injury.

Andy Murray from Great Britain. Paul and I saw him when his first big title in 2007 when he won here in Cincinnati. He is a notorious ass to work with, but he's a pretty phenomenal talent.
Rafael Nadal (Rafa to those of us who know him so well)  is the talented Spaniard who finally ousted Roger Federer from his post atop the tennis world. After an 18-24 month run of seeming insurmountability, Rafa has finally shown some weakness in his game, and he has now been toppled from the top spot by Novak Djokovic. 
Novak Djokovic, proud Serbian, has had a remarkable year.  He has won a record-breaking five "masters" level tournaments (the most important tourneys other than the four Grand Slams), and winning Cincinnati would make six. He has also won two Grand Slams in 2011 (Australian Open and Wimbledon), and he is a favorite for the upcoming US Open. One thing I learned this week - don't piss off Serbian tennis fans. For them, tennis is not just a game, it's a matter of national pride. 
Roger Federer from Switzerland - finest tennis player ever, one of the greatest sportsmen in history, among the smartest athletes you could ever hope to meet (he speaks four languages), and all-around classy guy. 
Fed's grace is apparent on the court as well as off the court. On the court, he floats elegantly from baseline to net. Fed tennis = sports ballet. Off the court, you'll never find a more gracious winner or loser.
Remember, take the racket back early, stay poised and balanced, keep your eye on the ball, and don't forget to look like a graceful Adonis while you do it.