I must admit I have usually cringed at this statement this year as Roger Federer has had an incredibly difficult year battling with mononucleus (aka Glandular fever). People started writing him off months ago when Novak Djokovic beat him in the Australian open semi’s, and after which having some shock losses. I couldn’t believe this because this is Roger Federer, who has been (and still is for that matter) world no.1 since January 2004! Yes his year has not been up to his usual impeccable standards but even after that, the rest of the pack still haven’t caught up.

This is reflected in the fact the Rafael Nadal won Wimbledon yesterday, and now owns 2 of the 4 grand slams in comparison to Federer’s one, and is still behind him in the rankings! However, after Nadal beating Federer at Wimbledon (Federer’s favourite surface where he had a 64 match unbeaten run), it would be difficult to argue now that Rafa is indeed the best player in the world at the moment. It leaves Federer needing to retain his US Open title in September, and have a great end-of-season run to have any hope of holding on to his no.1 spot, and perhaps more importantly for him, a chance of equalling Pete Sampras’ record of 14 career grand slams to be considered the best player ever (Federer is on 12).

Yesterdays final was amazing, probably one of the best tennis matches I’ve watched ever, and I watch a lot of tennis! I am traditionally a Nadal fan, but I was won over by Federer’s incredible heart to come back from 2 sets down, and facing championship points. Two of the best points you will ever see was Nadal’s pass to get championship point in the 4th set tiebreak from an almost perfect approach shot from federer. Then only to have Federer save it with an equally as amazing pass from practically in the spectator stands. It was heart breaking to see him lose after such a fightback, and I felt so sorry for him when I saw his face at the prize-giving. I do hope he doesn’t lose motivation like Borg did after such a demoralising defeat.

I think the match was more lost by Federer than won by Nadal, that is no disrespect to Nadal for he too played extremely well.  Coming into the net is grass court tennis 101 and as the kind of grass, Federer should know that only too well, but he seemed reluctant to do this. In fact the whole first two sets he seemed scared to play his best shots. This is because Nadal is in his head and has been ever since that 5 set comeback in Rome 2006. Perhaps this rivalry would have a completely different look if Federer had won that. I said before the beginning of the match that Federer’s serve would be key and I was proved right, for when he served well, Nadal could not get close to his service games, but in each of the 1st, 2nd and 5th set Federer lost his focus and played some mindless points which cost him the sets. What did work for Federer was playing the dangerous yet if done right, successful tactic of playing wide to Nadals’s forehand to open up a show at the backhand wing. Perhaps this will be a feature in a future Federer comeback?

Watch these highlights of the epic Wimbledon final between roger federer nd rafael nadal courtesy of the BBC, enjoy!
For live scores and other interactive stuff click here

We have returned from our  fantastic trip to wimbledon. It has to be said it was brilliantly enjoyed and the tennis was of the highest quality (except for maria sharapova!). We caught glimpses of a new british star in chris eaton on court one, while watching the swiss maestro federer, who made things look effortless on centre. We also got a chance to just walk around the grounds and enjoy the general ambience of wimbledon. You could watch some doubles on the outside courts, or you could take part in the different activities about, or simply go for a well deserved snooze on henman hill! We even managed to make the best of the queuing from 5:15am!! Click here for the full story and read peoples experiences and also check out the bebo for the pictures.

Hi folks just got an email (see below about the tennis ireland level one qualification coming to belfast. We need a response by 4th July if you’re interested in taking it and you can do this by either dropping us an email or clicking on the “# comments” link below and leave a comment/

I need you to identify people interested in doing this Level One course.  As you will be aware this is a fantastic opportunity that will not be available again for at least 5-years.  We have places for 8 people at £200 per person (they will offer BCSDN 10 hours of voluntary coaching as the actual cost per person is over £1,000).

What I need each of you to do is identify people who are interested and send back details to me - Name, Address, Mobile number and email address.  The selection process will take place at Ozone Tennis Arena on Wednesday 6th August from 7-9pm.

At present we have 4 people interested, but I know not all people will pass the assessment. Jim Watt is aware that the people we are identifying are not necessarily involved with Tennis Clubs, but if they have played a bit of tennis and have good hand eye co-ordination they may still get through the assessment.  The course will start 27th Sept 08 involve 16 Sundays up to the end of June 09.

From a development perspective, we plan to roll out Park Tennis across Belfast over the summer 2009 and these guys will be the core coaches involved, hopefully registered through sportopps.

Get back with information re people for Friday 4th July.

In a recent poll we asked was our club unattractive to females, and encouragingly 66% of you said no. None the less 33% said it was, and if half of all the voters were female then there’s a chance that over 60% of females think the club is unattractive to them and that is not good. We need to find out why that is and what we can do about it, so please leave a comment to this messae with your thoughts by clicking on the “No Comments” link below this post, or by emailing them to us.

// Update…  We will be staying in Picadilly Backpackers Hotel, right on picadilly circus’ doorstep on the Thursday 26th night. Most of us are gonna stay there but if you wish to join us, please let us know. Check out the hotel at http://www.piccadillyhotel.net

// Update… I was looking into the possibilit of booking a room each night for storing luggage, having a shower (and sleeping in for those who want to) and the cheapest I could find based on 10 people sharing the cost of a double room was £6 a night. So if you are planning on doing that I suggest you book now!

The time has finally arrived to announce our very exciting trip to wimbledon. The plan is to go from Wednesday 25th to Saturday 28th June (note the difference in date from the email, but you can go earlier or stay on if you want); the idea being to be their for the 3rd round where the seeds meet the seeds, with the following general itinerary:-

- fly over Wednesday evening, set up camp and go for dinner
- Go to wimbledon Thursday & Friday
- one day in all courts, the other in centre court
- go out somewhere at nights
- Camp overnight in tents
- spend last night in a hotel
- walk around london a wee bit on sunday before flying home
- should be noted some people are going tuesday - friday

I was looking for flights online and they are all pretty cheap still if you book smart and book early. Don’t just choose one airline check outward and return flights individually from all the main operators (Aer lingus <belfast, dublin>, Easyjet <belfast>, ryanair <belfast, dublin, derry>, flybe <belfast>, bmibaby <belfast>). It doens’t matter much which london airport you fly to, more will follow on which flight most people will be on.

Centre Court will cost around £45 or an all court pass will be about £18 which gets you in all courts except court 1 and centre court. You can also buy resale show court tickets for a fiver after 5pm - bargain! Overall including the flights, accommadation, tickets, food and spending money you would ideally need about £150-200. It really is a class time away, and the tennis is amazing so why not come and bring people even if they don’t go to tennis! So let us know if you would like to join us (email, tennis phone, forum etc).

Just a wee reminder for those looking play tennis in belfast over the summer. Forthriver do an amazing student offer of only £20 a year! They’ll even throw in your own set of keys so you can access the courts anytime you like. They are a friendly bunch and are very keen to have us down to play with them. They also play in league competitions. If you are interested please contact their captain Jackie on 07967319407

// Update… That’s it for tennis this year. There will be no more tennis until September awww! All that is left is our trip to wimby. Keep an eye out on the website however for updates.

// (20/05/08) Update… Tennis will be on tomorrow afternoon for those who can make it!

(13/05/08) We will be having a couple of extra wednesdays during the exams for those who would like a break from revision. Usual time and usual place. If it proves popular enough we will keep them running. Hope you come.

Spot the difference

Stephen at it again…

More on the bebo 

All has been done and dusted now. The sun was out for us on what was a beautiful day. 34 sets were played over the course of the day, with Simon Guist doing the ladder and cup double by prevailing in the final over our men’s captain Thibaut, but not without a fight! Chris McLaughlin from SRC Newry made impressive movement through the draw by knocking out the new captain Steven Smyth! In the ladies after many hard-fought rounds Claire Thompson beat the ‘club sweetheart’ Mairead Kelly.

Finally we capped off the evening with some fine food at the boat club, a quiz and a raffle which Mairead Kelly also walked away with, congratulations mairead! Thanks for everyones participation and we look forward to next year!

Click on ‘Intervarsity’ or here to see the full results (also photos should be up on the bebo soon).