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The Changing of the Changing of the Guard…the 2026 French Open

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Moseley Moles’ semi regular roundup of the tennis. In the sliver of sports limelight between the Champions League final and the World Cup, I think the French Open delivered pretty much what you’d want from a Slam fortnight. Great matches, upsets, existing narratives completed and new ones started.

Not a good tournament – it seldom is – for the plucky Brits who sadly faded away over the first few rounds, but the thunderbolts were elsewhere. First up was Jannik Sinner’s heat-induced collapse, bundled out by Cerundulo (no me neither). This was the first of many many matches in which the more experienced players were swept aside by the young and the unfancied. It was perhaps little surprise to see Medvedev (one of the only players born in the nineties to win a slam) exit with little fuss, but Sinner was the heaviest favourite for a slam in living memory.

With Sinner gone in round two was it finally, after three years, the year in which Djokovic won that elusive 25th slam to go clear at the top….no he would go out in the third round in the match of the tournament. Fonseca had lots of hype but little profile » Continue Reading.

Wimbledon round up thread

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In between work and graduations I’ve managed to see a fair bit of Wimbledon over the last fortnight. It’s been a pretty good one, while following a pattern that the Slams have been in for the past three years: Alcaraz, Sinner or Djokovik (of which more later) for the mens, while chaos and upsets reign in the womens.

The Brits had a fair showing without the key hopes (Draper and Radecanu) looking like they could go particularly deep. Draper doesn’t appear like someone who plays effortlessly, shall we say, and after going deep in the French and Australians, plus some tour finals, he looked tired. Radecanu is still finding her way back, and in the first couple of rounds showed glimpses of her power. I think the top ten and a tour title are reasonable goals for her the next few years. Norrie and Kartal provided some early entertainment, and the sheer number of Brits in the first few rounds was encouraging.

The women’s draw saw seed after seed tumble, from Gauff and Rybakina to Sabalenka in the semis in which (let’s remember) Ansimova played out of her skin to create enough pressure to force Sabalenka’s jitters to emerge. » Continue Reading.

Changing of The Guard (no really this time)

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If there’s one takeaway from this year’s Wimbledon it’s that we are finally at that uber-tennis moment The Changing of The Guard (™). This idea first took hold at the start of the noughties when a 19-year old Federer demolished then top dog Pete Sampras, rendering his serve and volley instantly out of date. Roll on four years and those who had dominated mens tennis in the preceding decade, particularly Sampras and Agassi, were swept aside by first Federer and then in quick order Nadal Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Between them these four (actually a Big Five with Stan Wawrinka ,whose ridiculous one-handed backhand won him as many slams as Murray) won all bar 5 of the 40-odd slams in the twenty years to 2003. As a comparison you only need to go back half a dozen years in the golf majors to tot up more different winners, and a similar period in the womens tennis slams.

This year will more likely than not end with not a single slam being won by those who have dominated mens tennis for the past twenty years. Though Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev and Tsisipas have threatened, and won the odd slam, something different » Continue Reading.

Congrats to Murray

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As your occasional tennis correspondent we can’t let today pass without recording the achievement of Andy Murray. While not being as extraordinary as his first, this surely puts the seal on a stellar carer in which he has made the very most of his talents. To win three slams in the era of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer is more than anyone else has managed.

He coped with the favourite tag really well. That brings its own sort of pressure. Raonic didn’t play at all badly – losing just one break of serve, but Murray showed some pretty incredible focus in the two tie breaks which decided the match. Unlike Federer in the semi, Murray kept his own serve up and was able to not let Raonic exert the pressure of his nuclear serve under which Federer succumbed so badly in the fifth.

It wasn’t a classic match, going as did almost completely with serve. What stood out was Murray’s amazing resilience, running and ability from way out wide or behind the base line not just to keep the ball in, but to return with speed and angle that were too much for Raonic. As much son would say, Athleti » Continue Reading.

Belgium. Birthplace of Giants!

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David Goffin, Eddy Merckx, Plastic Bertrand, Herge, Kim Clijsters, Georges Simenon, Jean-Pierre Coopman, Raymond Goethals, Jacky Ickx, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Peter Paul Rubens, Jean Claude Van Damme, Rene Magritte, Enzo Scifo, Aldophe Sax, King Leopold III, Audrey Hepburn, Hercule Poirot, Willy Claes, Jan Cuelemans, Kim Huybrechts, Jean-Marc Bosman. We have beaten them all! We have beaten them all! Johan Van Herck, can you hear me? Your boys took a hell of a beating. A hell of a beating.”

That was the Wimbledon that Was

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So Roger fell at the last, the collective will of Middle England being unable to prevent him dashing against the rocks of Djokovik’s awesome groundstrokes, mobility, stamina, iron will and focus and general Real Number One quality. It didn’t quite reach the heights to last year, but the second set tie-break was one for the archives.

So how was your Wimbledon? My personal highlights included Kyrgios v Gasquet – a ridiculously entertaining match, as was the Australian terror’s earlier match against the robotic Raonic. The most thrilling match was a women’s. I caught most of Heather Watson v Serena Williams and she took the American right to the end in a match which swung almost with every ball – again something which when it happens in tennis makes it the best watch in the world. Federer’s dismantling of Murray was also astonishing – epitomised by that 17 minute game – and the fact Federer then held serve 60s later in a blink of an eye to go ahead again. Dustin Brown v Nadal may have been an entirely predictable car-crash, but Brown’s serve and volley was brilliant to watch and there’s always joy in watching a man with such awesome » Continue Reading.

French Open – one of the best tournaments ever?

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One of summer’s functions is to remind us that there are other sports than football, especially in an odd year with no tournaments. I couldn’t let Sunday’s conclusion to French Open pass by without a note, as to my mind it’s been one of the most compelling Slams in recent times. Going into it we had a wealth of sub-plots: could Nadal, the King of Roland Garros, lift himself to hold back the challengers for another year? Would a kind draw enable Federer to push back the sunset of his career? Would Murray be finally a contender on clay, having had a fantastic run-up? And then the main plot: would this be Career Slam moment for Djokovic – a two-time losing finalist, both against Nadal. One by one we had those questions answered in a second week where every day seemed to bring another fantastic match. First we had Federer, comfortable up to that point, blasted out in straight sets by Wawrinka – a man who had featured in few pre-tournament write-ups as a possible winner. This match was the first indication that Wawrinka’s single-handed backhand was capable of blasting opponents away. Then Djokovic/Nadal – a showdown in the quarters » Continue Reading.