Welcome



This is my tennis blog, Lefty Advantage. Tennis is my biggest passion in life and I started this site to discuss the great game. I mainly follow the career of Roger Federer, but I truly love watching all tennis, whether it be the final of a Grand Slam
or a junior tournament on the other side of the world.

I have played tennis for 13 years. If you ever met me, I could talk your head off about all things tennis for hours on end if you would let me. Welcome, and enjoy the writing!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Federer Cruises in Cincinnati Opener

Roger Federer picked up his 52nd win of the 2012 tennis season, as he soundly defeated Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia 6-3,6-2 win.  It was a near perfect start to his week in Cincinnati, where he will be looking to pick up his 21st Masters title and 76th overall.

Roger took the first set 6-3, and it was pretty routine.  He wasn't his usual dominant self from the baseline (11 unforced errors), but his serve was elite and that's what won him the set.  He even had a 57-second love hold, something that is so special and unique about watching Federer play.

The Great Swiss broke at the start of the second set and didn't look back from there, getting the double break and winning the second set even more comfortably than he did the first.  He looked sharper from the ground and implemented his all-around attacking brilliance.  He picked up the win in an hour, which is a great time to be on court after a week break (so as to reserve energy for the rest of the week).

Overall, it was a very solid match from The Fed, considering it was his first one on the hard courts since the end of March.  He next faces Bernard Tomic and if he plays his solid game, the Aussie young gun should stand very little chance.

Novak Djokovic won his opening round match against Andreas Seppi 7-6(4), 6-2.  It was a close first set with neither man breaking, but the Serb prevailed in the tiebreak with basically one point making all the difference.  After that, Seppi was finished and Novak closed it out 6-2 in the 2nd set.  He'll take on Nikolay Davydenko next.  Andy Murray beat Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-4 in a routine victory.  He'll face Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the 3rd round.

Djokovic's countryman Janko Tipsarevic, the 7th seed, retired against Pablo Andujar after being down a set and two breaks.  In somewhat of a surprise, David Ferrer lost to Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-1.  Ferrer didn't play in Toronto and he'll be disappointed with his lead-up to the US Open. 

Mardy Fish advanced to the 3rd round after a fine win over veteran Carlos Berlocq.  He'll take on Radek Stepanek next, who surprisingly defeated Juan Monaco, the #8 seed, 7-6(2), 6-1.  (That is two straight weeks where Radek has beaten a top 10 player, impressive.)

Juan Martin del Potro soundly defeated the rejuvenated Tommy Haas 7-5, 6-2.  Good win for Delpo after the disappointment that was Toronto, but it must be noted that Haas was on court for nearly three and a half hours in his 1st round win over Nalbandian.  Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic,Viktor Troicki, and Marin Cilic also advanced to the 3rd round.

Not directly relating to Cincinnati, but Rafael Nadal announced that he has withdrawn from the US Open with the knee injury that has kept him out of action since his shocking 2nd round loss to Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon.

I will speak more about the withdrawal after Cincinnati ends, but for now I will say that even though Rafa is one of my least favourite players for a variety of reasons, his presence will be missed in New York.  I hope he can get healthy soon, although I doubt that he will ever be the same player again.  Heck, this summer has felt pretty strange without him there, and his withdrawal from the US Open will leave a huge hole there, and a big opportunity for players ranked 5-10 to step up and make a name for themselves.

Until tomorrow, chow.

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