Rain hits the Grass!!

Heavy rainfall in England has caused a backlog of matches in Queens, London and Edgbaston, Birmingham. Friday should see the quarter finals taking place in both tournaments, however some players havent even played there 3rd round matches, meaning they will be forced to play at least 2 matches in one day and thats not including the doubles either! The rain is still pooring down at the DFS Classic and organisers may be forced to use 3 indoor courts at the club to get the tournament back on track.

On Thursday British rising star Alex Bogdanovic narrowly missed out on a huge upset against Andy Roddick losing in 3 close sets 4-6 7-6 6-4. This will surely boost Bogdanovic's confidence when playing in nottingham next week where he has been awarded a 'wildcard' for his efforts. Rafael Nadal was just one game away form defeating Max Mirnyi of Belarus when the heavens opened.

Bogdanovic wins battle of the Brits

Alex Bogdanovic beat his friend and fellow British Davis Cup player Jamie Baker today in 3 sets. The 2nd round match at Queens had the added incentive of a 3rd round match against former world number 1 Andy Roddick of the USA. Each player had there chances in the match with numerous break points. A decisive break of serve to love in the 7th game of the 3rd set gave Bogdanovic the momentum to finish the match off, after Baker had been a set and a break up in the second set. The win should enable Bogdanovic to reach the top 100 in the rankings and hopefully set himself up for a good run at Wimbledon.

In Birmingham Naomi Cavaday could not cope with the powerful French top 20 player Marion Bartoli losing 6-3 6-1. The players exchanged serves early in on in the match before Bartoli started to dominate, helped by poor serving throughout by Cavaday. However the British 18 year old should gain a place in the top 200 with her first round win against Bardina and like Bogdanovic will be hoping for a few more wins on the British grass courts in the next few weeks.

Cavaday races into 2nd round

Naomi cavaday played an almost perfect match to record her 1st WTA full tour win. She defeated Bardina of Russia ranked inside the worlds top 70 6-2 6-1 in less than an hours play. Cavaday is Britains best hope of a regular top 100 player in almost a decade and this win should allow her to climb into the worlds top 200 rankings. Cavaday has also just been awarded a wildcard for Wimbledon where she lost narrowly last year to top 20 player Ai Sugiyama of Japan.

Brits rule at Queens Club.

2 British men qualified for the second round of the Stella Artois tournament at Queens Club on Monday. Alex Bogdanovic and Jamie Baker had excellent wins over higher ranked opponents H. Lee of Korea and A. Peya of Austria respectfully. Now the players must put a side their off court friendship to play each other for a place in the 3rd round and a possible meeting with former world number one Andy Roddick. The 2 youngsters have been practising hard for the grass court season and Bogdanovic if he is able to get a victory over Baker will be ever closer to a place in the worlds top 100!! Baker is aiming to break into the worlds top 200 this year for the first time.

It wasnt all good news for the Brits as Richard Bloomfield couldnt produce his form of Surbiton a week ago and fell in straight sets to his more experienced opponent Robbie Ginepri of the USA, 6-4 6-2. Bloomfield found the courts difficult to play on and will now attempt to gain a wildcard for Wimbledon or win a place in qualifying for the prestigious event.

In Birmingham 3 British players take to the court on Tuesday, all having difficult matches against higher ranked opponents. Naomi Cavaday playes Bardina of Russia, Baltacha plays Sequera of Venezuela and British number one Anne Keothavong takes on Austrian rising star Tamira Paszek. Lets hope the confidence of the home territory will help the British girls achieve success in Edgebaston.

Nadal and Henin - Champions again!!!

Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin both won their 3rd French open titles over the weekend at Roland Garros. Henin powered to victory over a very nervous Ivanovic. The 19 year old Serbian playing in her first Grand Slam final couldnt get her serving working after what had seemed a bright start, breaking Henin in the opening game. However the experience Belgian and world number one started to find her angles on the court and was soon victorious with a simple 6-1 6-2 victory. The win will surely give Henin a confidence boost going into the grass court season and she will have her eyes set on victory again. Nadal used his clay court all round game to win in 4 sets against Federer. The Swiss ace had his chances indeed squandering 10 break point chances in the first set but the Spaniard kept plugging away and forced Federer to make too many errors. Nadal still only 21 will have his eyes set on Bjorn Borgs six victories in France!!!

In the doubles events Mark Knowles of The Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada won their 3rd Grand Slam Mens Doubles Title with victory over their Czech opponents. In the ladies event Mara Santangelo of Italy and Austrliam Alicia Molik took victory over Srebotnik and Sugiyama while in the mixed doubles Natalie Dechy gave the home crowd something to cheer about with her partner Andy Ram with a striaght sets victory.