Dein erstes Forum » the third.Soon enough, Monfils ended

LONDON -- Milos Raonic knocked out Roger Federer on his way to the Wimbledon final and had been crashing down serves at more than 140mph.The great John McEnroe, in the 25-year-olds coaching corner, had his confidence flowing, too, and Andy Murray had a fight on his hands on Centre Court on Sunday.This was how the world No.2 took care of the talented Candians strengths and proved himself a great champion:Serving styleMurray usually tells it pretty much as it is, but when he said: I served very well and knew Id have to, he was being modest with the first part of his statement.He had won only 67 percent of his first-serve points in his previous 10 Grand Slam finals. As the graphic shows, he won 86 percent against Raonic. Even more remarkably, he only lost one point in the entire match when his first serve was hit to the forehand, the No. 6-seeds strength.The Briton did this predominantly by directing his serve down the Centre Court T, especially on the advantage court, making Raonics returns more predictable and improving his chances of dictating the subsequent rallies.He lost only four points in this area in total and hit five of his eight aces there.Court coverageMurray has developed a great deal over the last few years as an aggressive player and is known now for the attacking positions he takes up on the court, particularly on his opponents second serve.He is also known as one of the fittest players on the tour, and the heat map shows that he took a central position on the baseline most of the time, trying to dictate from there.Sitting in the middle of the court, the graphic shows he was well-placed to cover the court when he had to; he ran a total of 2,367 metres in the match.Both players refusal to give up even the slightest chance of making a return was a noticeable feature of the match, and some of the Raonic smashes Murray was able to track down were particularly impressive.Brilliant backhandMurray sprayed the ball around superbly with his backhand throughout the final, producing some world-class passing shots.As the graphic above shows, he preferred to hit it cross-court most of the time, but went down the line enough to keep Raonic guessing.The match statistics tell the story on their own: Murray hit 15 winners on his backhand to the 3 of his opponent. He wasnt bad on his forehand, either, making only one unforced error on that shot to the Canadians 13.Cheap Iceland Jerseys .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Cheap Brazil Jerseys . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseysoutlet.com/ . -- PGA TOUR Canada member Steve Saunders took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Web. Cheap Uruguay Jerseys . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Cheap Atletico Madrid FC Jerseys . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training.WASHINGTON -- Things were looking bleak for Gael Monfils, a man with a long history of losing tournament finals.Monfils opponent in the Citi Open title match, Ivo Karlovic, was about to serve for the championship and had not been broken all week.Down but not quite out, Monfils came through. He broke Karlovic twice in a span of four service games and erased a match point in coming back for a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory Sunday at the Citi Open to earn his first trophy in two-and-a-half years.To be honest, Monfils said, today was pure luck.Well, maybe, but he deserves credit for figuring out a way to do enough to neutralize the big serve of the 6-foot-11 Karlovic, who was trying to become, at age 37, the oldest man since 1973 to win ATP singles tournaments in consecutive weeks.Monfils, a Frenchman seeded No. 2, had lost 19 of 24 career finals and eight of his last nine. This time, he earned $348,200 in prize money for his first title since February 2014 at Montpellier, France, and the most important of his career -- his first at an ATP 500 tournament, which refers to the ranking points the champion collects.He noted that he was proud to join Arthur Ashe and Yannick Noah as winners in the U.S. capital whose names are etched on the blue awnings around the main stadium.Theyve been an inspiration for me, Monfils said. I grew up with those names. Definitely to have my name next to them, its priceless.For a while, it didnt look as if hed get that honor. Until 5-4 in the second set, when Karlovic served for the victory, the 13th-seeded Croatian had won all 53 service games in the hard-court tournament.I still had this little hope. ... Maybe he will get tight a little bit. And obviously, he ggot tight a little bit, Monfils said.ddddddddddddMonfils converted his seventh break point of the match when Karlovic pushed a forehand volley long. Karlovic put his hands on his hips, knowing he had come so close to ending things right then and there.On the ensuing tiebreaker, Karlovic was one point from victory at 6-5, but a 116 mph serve by Monfils produced a backhand return that sailed long. A couple points later, Monfils owned that set, and he broke again to lead 2-1 in the third.Soon enough, Monfils ended Karlovics eight-match win streak, which included a title last week on grass at Newport, Rhode Island.Not since 43 years ago, when Ken Rosewall won back-to-back events a month shy of his 39th birthday, has a man older than Karlovic won two ATP titles in a row.Karlovics intimidating serve can take over a match. With the temperature nearing 100 degrees Sunday, it made for even tougher conditions for Monfils to try to deal with those high-bouncing serves.Monfils, who is 29, tried a bit of everything. At the outset, he stood way back to return -- to no avail, as he dropped 18 of the first 19 points Karlovic served (the lone exception was a double-fault).Occasionally, Monfils shuffled back and forth behind the baseline while awaiting serves. Later, he moved closer to the baseline while receiving, a tactic that seemed to help.But the real secret to Monfils success might simply have been that Karlovic wore himself out with his net-rushing tactics.At the end, Monfils said, I knew a little bit that its tough to serve and volley for two hours in the heat. ' ' '