Aimee Howarth talks about her sporting hero, Cristiano Ronaldo
Steve Puddicombe on why he thinks Mark Cavendish should win Sports Personality of the Year 2011
The Yorker's sports team says what they would like for Christmas this year
The second blog for The Yorker from the University of York Riding Club
The Brit sailed through the first round against Devvarman of India, not dropping a set to his unseeded opponent. Then he came up against Haase of the Netherlands and was forced to fight a lot harder for victory.
Murray went two sets down after losing a first set tie-break and then the second set 6-2. He fought back strongly however, winning 12 games in a row to take the third set 6-2 and the fourth 6-0. Haase looked like he might stop the Scot’s fantastic revival but Murray clung on to take the lost set 6-4 and claim victory, only his sixth ever win from two sets down.
In the third round Murray faced 25th seed Lopez and won the match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. He looked strong and in control against his opponent and will now face wild card American Donald Young in the fourth round.
So, does this prove Murray has what it takes to finally win an Open? Some players would give up at two sets down – maybe Murray would have a couple of years ago – but the Murray of today looks mentally and physically stronger. On the brink of defeat he dug deep and believed in his own ability and that’s what he’ll have to do against the top players if he wants to win an Open. He’s proved he can do it, so let’s hope in a week’s time he manages.
Meanwhile, top seeds Nadal, Djokovic and Federer all sailed through to the third round and look strong going into the second week of the competition. 13 seeds fell in the men’s half of the draw, including Monfils (7), Almagro (10), Berdych (9) and Gasquet (13).
A surprisingly high number of players have retired from the competition in the first three rounds, as 16 men and women were hit by injury or illness.
This includes Venus Williams, who was gliding impressively through her games before succumbing to fatigue, caused by Sjogren's Syndrome she has recently been diagnosed with. Sister Serena will face Ana Ivanovic (16) in the fourth round after knocking out fourth seed Azarenka in straight sets.
Third seed Sharapova has also been eliminated after losing to Pennetta (26) in the third round. After falling behind, Sharapova levelled the match at one set all but then lost the final set 6-4 to crash out.
Other seeded women who have also failed to make it to the fourth round include Kvitova (5), Na Li (6), Bartoli (8) and Petrova (24). Generally, the women’s seeded players have performed well however and only three unseeded players have progressed to the last 16.
Things haven’t gone so well for GB’s women as for Murray: Anne Keothavong lost in the first round 7-5, 6-3 to unseeded Scheepers, continuing her struggle to progress in major competitions; Helen Watson was also knocked out but did manage to take the first set off Sharapova before losing 6-3, 5-7, 3-6. Laura Robson made it through to the second round, bringing some success to the GB camp, but then the 17-year-old couldn’t make it past Medina Garrigues (30), losing 6-2, 6-3.
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