Wk.32- Murray's Momentum Mounts

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

I sit in a Seattle hotel room as I write this, so it will have to be a shorter update, a mini update if you will, this week. It always seems to coincide with a week when Murray wins a title. It's not intentional, I promise. It's just what seems to happen.

Something else that happened this week was that in the Pan American Games Para series of events that concluded their wheelchair tournament.



Goolagong-Cawley and Ashe. These two faced persecution, or at least their races did, back in their home countries. In Australia the government stole a whole generation of Aborigine children. In America, well just watch "Mississippi Burning." Heck, visit Texas today. When Jesse Owens won the race it was the President back home who snubbed him, not Hitler. He was made to walk through the kitchen.

In tennis if you're gay, lesbian or somewhere in between we have a home for you. If you're an ethnic or religious minority we have a home for you. If you have a disability we can work with that. I think our sport may be the most excepting and welcoming. The NFL seems to do a double take whenever women get involved in however small a capacity. In other sports racism is rife and homophobia is unofficially acceptable. But not in our sport. Not in the sport we hold dear. Of course, as we move through the years and decades acceptance is everywhere. But we were first. We were the first to give homes to those who had none. We have wheelchair tournaments. And they are a key part of the grand slam. The thing that could be great to see is more coverage and more events. At the Masters they should have mixed doubles and wheelchair tennis. It would draw crowds.

It's nice to be able to look at the sport you love and say to yourself actually we're an inclusive sport that only dislikes those that truly deserve it. Mostly.

On that note, BACKSPIN officially condemns the comments made by Kyrgios [you know the ones and they're not being repeated here] and we hope the situation can be resolved shortly. Kokkinakis gets a big gold sticker for how he handled the situation. He is well liked and respected within the locker-room. He has a flawless character and it is was bad that he was dragged into it. He and Kyrgios could meet in the second round.

QUESTION: When did Murray last beat Djokovic on a hard court?

Well, some other things happened. Shall we have a look?

*Rankings Watch*
Top 32 - Kyrgios up 4 to 37 with a seed at the U.S. Open a possibility. Australia will have three seeds at the 2016 Australian Open. Mannarino and Fognini fall two and four places respectively. They hold 32 and 31. Up five places to 30 is Sock. Up 22 places to 27 is Chardy.

Top 10 - Little change. Raonic holds off the Frenchman in 11 and 13. Isner is in at 12 but expect him to drop off after the U.S. Open when he leaves U.S. soil. Simon and Raonic have fourth round points to defend. Cilic at 9 has a lot, obviously. Gasquet and Isner will gain points in New York.

Top 8 - Nadal knocks Cilic into ninth and that will make it nigh on impossible to defend his title unless the draw falls for him. Nadal is 15 points behind Ferrer. He didn't do the U.S. Open last year, though. Ferrer has little to defend.

Top 4 - Murray overtakes Federer and holds second by a few hundred points, but he is not the second best player in the world. Federer is still miles ahead of fourth. Djokovic is clear by a little under 6000 points.


*WEEK 32 CHAMPIONS*
MONTREAL, CANADA
S: Andy Murray def. Novak Djokovic 6-4/4-6/6-3
D: Bryan/Bryan d. Nestor/Roger-Vasselin


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: MURRAY
...After losing to Gabashvilli last week in Washington, Murray rises to world number two after winning the title in Montreal. Season long, Murray has earned it. He has done better than Federer, but then he has played about 15 more matches. He does play better at the U.S. Open, but would you back him against Federer anywhere right now? Murray moved past Robredo, Muller and Tsonga without losing a set. The defending champion Tsonga seemed powerless to stop him. Murray is really having a zenith right now. Considering slams are now beyond him he is still making a decent fist of it. Next he rolled over an apparently injured Nishikori. Kei is always injured, though. Djokovic stopped Murray from losing no sets. It would be the Scot who'd hold onto his third set break and win 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. It was a match filled with long rallies and a few drop shots. So what else is new? As he and Djokovic turn 29 within weeks of each other next year, just before the French, the question quickly becomes and is becoming "How much longer?" It looks as if Djokovic can just keep this up for longer. What will be very interesting will be the Olympics. For many of the players it will be their last chance for Gold.
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RISER: NISHIKORI
...And he keeps on rising. He has gained about 1000 points in the last two weeks and a thousand of anything is a lot. Perhaps Djokovic should be in the risers slot, but how can one rise from winning Wimbledon? It's like inventing a rocket one week and then inventing a small model airplane th next. Both are impressive but it's hard to improve from the rocket. The fourth seed manhandled Andujar 6-3, 6-3 and then eased past dangerous Goffin 6-4, 6-4. Then he dismissed Nadal 6-2, 6-4. There was no mercy, only a kind of thrilling, beautiful brutality. Nadal is no longer able to live with power and accuracy like he had been able to previously. He ran out of energy against Murray and is now apparently injured. But whether it is a genuine injury or an Azarenka injury remains to be seen. I've said it before and no doubt this is not the last but the population of Asia exceeds 4.4 billion. And he is the best tennis player out there in that continent. But is that more impressive than being the Spanish number one? There's a real culture of rackety stuff in Spain and there isn't really in Japan, so which is more impressive?
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SURPRISE: CHARDY
...Last week Mathieu surprised us all and this week it would be his compatriot Chardy. Chardy knew a solid performance here would give him a seed in New York. He knew that if he could be given protection for a few rounds a run in a slam could be on. And he was proved correct. Chardy got past Mahut in straight sets. Then he escaped Mayer 4-6, 7-6[4], 6-2. Then he just barely got away from Karlovic but won 4-6, 7-6[1], 6-4. Then he beat Isner in the most incredible three set match for some time 6-7[9], 7-6[13], 7-6[4]. He even managed to make Djokovic work for it in a 6-4, 6-4 respectable loss. Chardy is one of a handful of French players with big weapons who are very dangerous and very seeded. Some are not seeded at all but still dangerous, like Paire. Gasquet and Simon are the highest ranked and most dangerous. Both have recent slam form and both will like their chances in New York. But why can't Jeremy win three or even maybe four matches?
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DOWN: KYRGIOS
...http://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/roger-federers-strong-words-for-nick-kyrgios/story-fndkzym4-1227487877940
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UPSET: YOUNG
...Young qualified, beating recent titlist Ram, then beat qualifier Kudla in two easy sets. Then he actually did something. For once in his career he did something. He beat fifth seeded Berdych 7-6[5], 6-3. He looked good and he looked ready for a run. Then he lost to qualifier Gulbis meekly in two straight sets. Easy come, easy go, little high, little low.
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*Cincinnati Open*
=SF=
Wawrinka [5] d. [6] Berdych
Federer [2] d. [3] Murray
=FINAL=
Federer [2] d. [5] Wawrinka

...Welcome back, Mr. Federer. He could meet Rafa in the quarters, but Nadal has to get there first. Murray is in his bit, too. Murray is the second best player in the world in number only. Djokovic can't ever seem to win this event. He has made four finals but it is a bogey event. And so this year it will be Wawrinka who ends his run. Federer should win here.



After losing in the qualies in Canada, Casey lost in the first round of the doubles, too. She has a point to prove in Cincinnati. This time Casey did qualify. She was seeded 14th. After beating Glatch in straight sets she got past 6th seed Lucic-Baroni 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. In the main draw she gets qualifier Barthel. That match is winnable, but then she gets the winner of Sloane and Suarez-Navarro.

The Aussie is currently languishing around 60 in the world. In doubles, she is inside the top 15 at 14.

ANSWER: Murray beat Djokovic in the U.S. Open Final in 2012 and that was the last time. Strangely ,the first time he was world number two was August 17th, 2009.

Thanks all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

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