Tactical Analysis of Aston Villa against Newcastle

Last night's 2-1 defeat against Newcastle plunged Aston Villa deeper into the relegation mire. Once again, Paul Lambert's tactic came under fire. We shall take a closer look at these tactics and see whether they are to be blamed.

The 5-3-2/3-5-2 formation that Villa used against Newcastle was designed to give extra cover in the defence - an area that Villa have badly struggled with this season. By adding a third centre-back, in theory it provides added cover. However, rather than acting as a back five, the reality is that the two full-backs/wing-backs in Matthew Lowton and Joe Bennett are simply not good enough to play in this system. Instead, it really ended up as a back three.

The two diagrams below show the heat maps for the two full-backs during the first half of the match:

We can see that the two players were really acting neither as conventional full-backs, nor as wing-backs. They were rarely involved in attacking positions, but they were also not overly involved in the defensive third. This is especially true in the case of Matthew Lowton. It generally meant that either Davide Santon and Mathieu Debuchy, the full-backs of Newcastle, or the two wide players, had space and time on the ball.

As a result of this, it often resulted in either one of the central defenders having to pull wide to cover or one of the central midfielders to drop out wide. While this in itself is not a problem, when compounded with the attacking trio of Newcastle that we shall look at later, it left Villa short of cover.

With Newcastle playing Papiss Cisse up front on his own, it meant that three defenders to cover him was excessive. Despite this, he was still left unmarked when Moussa Sissoko threaded the ball through to him to open the scoring for Newcastle.

However, the other major problem was the attacking trio of Moussa Sissoko, Yoan Gouffran and Jonas Gutierrez. Rather than sticking to assigned positions, the trio tended to float around the attacking third causing Villa all sorts of problems. With Villa's having just two holding central midfielders - Barry Bannan and Ashley Westwood – it meant that one of these was often left unmarked. This problem was compounded when either Bannan or Westwood pulled out wide to close down the Newcastle full-backs.

The diagram below shows Yoan Gouffran's heat map:

This backs up the earlier observation. Rather than sticking to one position, he floated all over the pitch. The heat maps for Sissoko and Gutierrez look similar. It meant that they were often unmarked and in space to create chances for Newcastle.

Normally, you would look for one of the central defenders to step out and cover the unmarked man. However, with one of them being dragged out wide to cover for the full-backs, stepping out would have left just one defender to cover Cisse and any other players attacking forward.

Twice this cost Villa. Moussa Sissoko was able to find plenty of space and time to run forward and thread the ball through to Papiss Cisse for the first goal, while Yohan Cabeye found himself in acres of space on the edge of the area to rifle in an excellent second goal, but under no pressure at all.

The tactics also prevented Villa from attacking effectively. With the full-backs failing to get forward, there was virtually no width in their attacking play. Once you realise that the five defenders, plus two holding midfielders were generally pre-occupied with the defensive side of the game, it left just three Villa players to try and find the attacking threat.

Charles N'Zogbia was playing in the offensive midfield position behind the front two, in theory as the link between the defence and attack, and to create chances. However, he found himself up against Newcastle's pair of holding midfielders, Yohan Cabeye and James Perch.

The diagram shows N'Zogbia's passes in the first half:

Given that he was meant to be the link between the defense and the strikers, it is noticeable that the vast majority of his passes actually went backward. In fact, in the final third of the pitch, there is only one completed pass that went forward. Naturally, this is not just N'Zogbia's fault - he can only pass to players that are in the right positions. However, it helps to demonstrate why there was so little attacking threat in the first half.

Christian Benteke and Darren Bent found themselves very isolated up front against Coloccini and Steven Taylor. However, they also had the two Newcastle full-backs dropping back to cover when necessary. In reality, Santon and Debuchy played far more as wing-backs than Villa's actual wing-backs.

The diagram below shows Benteke's aerial duels during the first half:

The two headers on the edge of the area that he won, he merely flicked through to Tim Krul with Darren Bent further back down the pitch. The duels in the areas where he might have given Bent the opportunity to run onto behind the defense, he lost.

Given his usual standards, Benteke was relatively ineffective in the air. Coloccini and Taylor did a good job battling with him in the air, and on the couple of occasions where he did win the ball, they were in positions where there was little threat.

In achieving little threat going forward, it merely invited Newcastle to push forward themselves, putting the fragile Villa back-line under continuous pressure. The midfield pairing of Villa was asked to do far too much in dealing with Newcastle's five-man midfield, as well as covering the full-backs, while the two Villa full-backs were often caught in between – neither providing width going forward, but playing too advanced and allowing too much space in behind.

Paul Lambert did change his tactics in the second half, but at 2-0 down, it was far too late. It will be interesting to see whether Lambert will finally give up on the back five after yet another failure, particularly given the improved second half performance with a standard back four.


All diagrams are taken from www.squawka.com...

'20 to Watch' - Australian Open Review

Now that the Australian Open has come to a close, there has been plenty of activity from the '20 to Watch' in both the senior and junior draws.

There were seven of our players that played in the main draw of the Australian Open:

Donna Vekic, the youngest player in the draw, had an excellent win in the first round, demolishing #66 ranked Andrea Hlavackova for the loss of just three games to set up the biggest match of her career so far against Caroline Wozniacki. While she lost 6-1, 6-4, there were plenty of positives to take from the match and the experience will serve her well in the future.

Annika Beck had the biggest win of her career in the first round as she knocked out the 28^th seed, Yaroslava Shvedova, in three sets, eventually coming through 6-3 in the decider in a match dominated by breaks of serve. However, it clearly took a lot out of her as she was poor in the second round, crashing to a 6-2, 6-0 defeat against Ayumi Morita in a match that she would hoped to have won.

Daria Gavrilova came through qualifying, defeating Stephanie Vogt, fellow '20 to Watch' player, Eugenie Bouchard and Yi-Miao Zhou to reach the main draw, dropping just one set. She then had an excellent win against the in-form American, Lauren Davis, in the first round to set up a meeting with Brisbane semi-finalist, Lesia Tsurenko. Despite taking a 4-0 lead in the opening set, the Ukrainian's talent proved vital in the end as she won 7-5, 6-3.

Elina Svitolina just scraped in automatically after several withdrawals, but drew the unenviable task of facing fifth seed, Angelique Kerber, in the first round. While she lost 6-2, 6-4, there were plenty of positives that she could take from her first meeting with a top 10 player.

Ashleigh Barty continued her good form from the Hopman Cup, taking a shock one set to love lead against Sydney finalist, Dominika Cibulkova. However, the Slovak's superior quality shone through as she crushed the youngster in the next two sets, but it was a valuable learning experience for Barty, and she showed plenty in the first set to suggest that she has the potential to rise up the rankings.

Madison Keys was the highlight of the Australian Open for the '20 to Watch'. Continuing her stunning form from Sydney, she cruised past Casey Dellacqua and the thirtieth seed, Tamira Paszek, before running up against Angelique Kerber. Again, the German was able to see off one of our players, but there is no little doubt that Keys has a massive future in the game. A big serve and powerful groundstrokes are already there, and it just needs some consistency to be added.

Yulia Putintseva beat Christina McHale in the first round in three sets, although it really should have been done in straight sets. She then flew into a set and a break lead in the second round against Carla Suarez Navarro. However, she threw away the second set, then collapsed mentally in the third to lose the match. It is clear that the shot-making ability is there, but her mental strength needs a great deal of work.

In addition to these seven players, there were four players that were eliminated in the qualifying tournament for the main draw:

Eugenie Bouchard struggled to a three set win against the clay courter, Teliana Pereira, in the first round of qualifying, before losing to fellow '20 to Watch' player, Daria Gavrilova, in straight sets in the second round. It has been a disappointing start to the year for the talented Canadian.

Monica Puig would have been hoping for better after her impressive performances in Brisbane, but slumped to a first round defeat to the Chinese player, Qiang Wang, despite having won the first set. There is still work to do for the Puerto Rican.

Irina Khromacheva struggled physically in her first round match against Tereza Mrdeza, eventually being bagelled in the final set, having brought it back from a set down. Some time off to heal properly before making her return would be wise.

Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova had one of the more difficult qualifying draws against the former top 100 player, Vesna Dolonc. She lost 6-1, 6-1, but there will be easier matches to come. However, it shows the improvements that she will have to make to break into the top 100 in the future.

There were two players involved in the Australian Open Juniors tournament:

It was a hugely successful week for our two competitors in the junior tournament, as they met in the semi-final. It would be Anett Kontaveit that would be eliminated in the semi-final, but the fourth seed can be pleased with her week.

Katerina Siniakova was seeded number two, and she backed up her seeding by reaching the final without dropping a set. Sadly, she would lose in the final to Ana Konjuh, but it was a week that should boost her confidence. It seems likely that she will continue to focus on the junior tour for this year, although we might see her in the odd ITF tournament later in the year.

There were two players involved in ITF tournaments:

Sachia Vickery began her season in Innisbrook, Florida, although will have been disappointed with her first round defeat to Lauren Embree.

However, there was a first title of the year for Alison van Uytvanck in the $25k tournament in Andrezioux-Boutheon. She did not drop a set all week and her victory should propel herself to the brink of the top 200.

20 Cricketers to Watch - Part 2

In part one of our look at 20 of the brightest young prospects in cricket, we looked at two Englishmen, two Australians and a Bangladeshi. Now, in part two, we preview two more Englishmen, a South African that is already making waves in the international game, and two fast bowlers, hailing from India and the West Indies. So, from our guest cricket writer James Fenn (@JamesTigerGib), here are the next five:

6. Sam Northeast (ENG)

Age: 23
Role: Top Order Batsman

2012 was the year that Northeast started to really show his promise in County cricket. Alongside the experience of Rob Key, he has pushed on and started to convert starts into fifties and hundreds. He managed three centuries last season, including a very impressive 165 against Derbyshire, helping him to finish with an average of 55, more than healthy in a season dominated by the weather and seam bowlers.

I do not see England colours for him this year, but perhaps as somebody who later on his career manages to pile on the runs consistently and earning a place at number three as an experienced head, much like Jonathon Trott has. He needs to improve his One-Day form, as he tends to get bogged down early on and get out trying to catch up, but he may end up as a First Class specialist along the lines of Australia’s Chris Rogers and he has had a very good career. 

At the very least I see him as Kent’s next captain, assuming one of the ‘big’ Counties don’t snap him up first.

7. Quinton de Kock (RSA)

Age: 20
Role: Wicketkeeper

I will say unequivocally that de Kock will succeed AB de Villiers as South Africa’s Wicketkeeper in all formats. 

Currently, he is the leading runs scorer in First Class cricket in South Africa, with a career strike rate of a preposterous 86.42. He also averages more than one six per innings, showing that this a man that can take a game away from you before you even know you have lost. He has the potential to be a great as long as he is groomed properly and taken care of, especially in this age of year round T20 cricket. 

He is just as good a short form player though, so keeping his focus away from money and fame may be difficult. A star player in the recent U19 World Cup introduced him to the world with some swashbuckling yet accomplished performances live on Sky, proving himself to be a cut about the rest in a tournament full of potential. South Africa have been tracking him closely and taking him in squads to get used to the international scene without denying him playing time for the Lions.

He must have impressed them with his attitude as he was awarded his first full international cap on 21 December in a T20 against New Zealand where he finished the innings with a solid 28*. For me that was when de Kock was unleashed on the world. God help us all...

8. Sandeep Sharma (IND)

Age: 19
Role: Medium-fast Bowler

Having only seen him live in the U19 World Cup, I only have his one-day bowling to go by. However, even a cursory glance at his current form for Punjab in First Class cricket shows a young man making a mockery of the notoriously batting friendly pitches.

For all of India’s faults in international cricket, not giving Sharma a run in any format is a big one to me. Very much in the mould of Praveen Kumar, he creates prodigious swing both ways to such an extent that, in the World Cup, he had batsman swinging in entirely the wrong direction and leaving balls going harmlessly wide of off stump only to see their middle-stump cartwheeling. He produced a masterclass to bamboozle the Australians in their own back yard in the final, taking 4/54 to set up an improbable India victory. 

This man must make it to the top if India has any chance of competing outside the subcontinent. My suggestion is a stint in England for the County Championship, as in the early season he will be virtually unplayable. Wickets, coupled with confidence and experience outside India and they would be more than mad not to have him in the test or one day side. Surely this is the year.

9. Ben Stokes (ENG)

Age: 21
Role: All-rounder

In a post-Flintoff era where England are obsessed with finding a genuine all-rounder, Stokes may be the man to fill that role. A big hitting middle order batsman with deceptively quick swing bowling who is hugely effective in all three formats.

One only has to look at his figures to see how talented he is. In first class cricket he has a high score of 185 and 6/68 in an innings. These were no fluke occurrences as he manages to keep a batting average over 37.5 and a bowling average under 29 which as we know is the sign of a genuine all-rounder. Stokes has been capped by England in 5 ODI’s and 2 T20’s, where he has been solid if not spectacular, but England do seem very keen on him and I’m positive that 2013 is the year where he really declares himself in International cricket. I may even go as far as saying he will be key in the Champions trophy.

The only problem so far is him being pigeonholed as injury prone, he really needs to be fit and firing at the start of the season to shut up any naysayers about him. Although, for me, the fact that he carries such good figures in a stop-start early career shows just how good he can be. A year or two injury free and he has more than has the potential to play test cricket and add the balance England believe they need. 

Currently in India with the England Performance squad, Stokes has shown his all-round quality and, without a doubt, cast himself back in the minds of the selectors and a possibility of getting back into international cricket in New Zealand. If not, the start of the English season will be another opportunity to show what he can do for Durham.

10. Delorn Johnson (WI)

Age: 24
Role: Fast bowler

From the country that prides itself on its incredible history of tall, fast bowlers, the West Indies have been lacking in the last decade or so with few exceptions.

Johnson could be the man to join up with Kemar Roach and bring back some West Indian glory to the test arena. His nickname ‘Sprint’ tells a lot of the story - Johnson is very fast, mid 90’s fast. However the difference between him and other young fast bowlers is his control; his economy rates in first class (2.44) and T20 (6.39) prove this. Coupled with a strike rate of 47.9, his stats do suggest a very promising bowler.

My only concern is why has it taken this long for him to be found and given an opportunity at first class level? 

I don’t know the answer, but I know that he deserves his chance and, watching him bowl, he could do a job with the new ball in test cricket, especially being left-handed, and the combination of him and Roach both bowling 90+mph from completely different angles would be the stuff of nightmares for openers the world around.

What he also has in his favour is his batting ability, which is rare in West Indian cricket, and may set him apart from any other up and coming bowlers. I see a bright future for Johnson which I can see starting this year. A Champions trophy appearance should be on the cards and, if he performs well, test cricket should beckon at the end of the year. Good luck to him, as a strong West Indies is very important in world cricket.

Ivan Fernandez Anaya: Sportsmanship Lives On

Over the past week, the issue of cheating and sportsmanship has been squarely in the headlines. While the admission of diving by Luis Suarez and doping by Lance Armstrong have fallen into the category of cheating, the emergence of a video of the end of a cross country race, featuring a number of the biggest names in the sport has shown the opposite end of the spectrum.

The race in question was the cross-country race in Burlada, a small town on the outskirts of Pamplona in northern Spain. A strong field had lined up for the race, including the Olympic 3000m steeplechase bronze medallist, Abel Mutai, Eliseo Martin, the former world bronze medallist in the 3000m steeplechase and Ivan Fernandez Anaya, a former Spanish youth champion at 5000m.

A group of eight leading contenders were together until two laps from the end. At this point, the Olympic bronze medallist, Abel Mutai, stepped up the pace. Nobody was able to go with him, but two Spaniards, David Solis and Ivan Fernandez Anaya, were able to peg the gap. Fernandez Anaya then stepped up the pace, and caught Mutai, although Solis was dropped from the group.

With around 250m remaining, Mutai pulled a few metres clear again. This time, Fernandez Anaya was not able to close the gap. However, the crux of the story comes in the final 10m. Mutai, thinking that he had already passed the finish line, slowed right down and began to greet the crowd.

Fernandez Anaya, rather than accelerating past him and taking the victory, ushered the Kenyan across the finish line with a series of gestures, ensuring that the Olympian took the victory. In his words afterwards, he explained “I didn’t deserve to win it. I did what I had to do. He was the rightful winner. He created a gap that I couldn’t have closed if he hadn’t made a mistake.”

However, his coach did not seem to approve of the gesture, saying “he has wasted an occasion. 
Winning always makes you more of an athlete. You have to go out to win.” Despite this, the gesture has won him a new legion of fans, particularly in a week when cheating and negative sportsmanship has been such a prominent part of the news.

Lance Armstrong Blood Passport Analysis

One of the more interesting claims that Lance Armstrong made during the first part of his interview with Oprah was that he was clean during his comeback. He openly admitted that he was using performance enhancing drugs during his seven titles, but said that he was hurt by the accusations that he was using them again during his two year return to the sport.

However, there are plenty of doubters, many of which point to his blood passport to argue that there is significant evidence of doping, even during this period. The data is available on the Livestrong website (available here) for the public to scrutinise. The three important columns are those titled hemoglobin, hemocrit and reticulocytes.

A few basic definitions to begin with. Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen. Therefore, the higher the level of hemoglobin in the blood, the more oxygen-carrying potential that your body has. Hematocrit is a measure of the percentage of the blood that is made up of the oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Again, the higher the hematocrit rating, the more red blood cells that are contained in your blood, and the greater the oxygen that can be transported in the blood. Finally, reticulocytes are immature red blood cells, that general mature into mature red blood cells within two days.

As a further piece of background, an academic study, conducted by the Danish academic, Jakob Mørkeberg, looked at the hemoglobin and hematocrit levels of a number of cyclists during the 2007 Tour de France. This study revealed lower hemoglobin and hematocrit levels on the final day of the tour, when compared with those on the first day of the tour. In fact, hemoglobin dropped by an average of 11.5% and hematocrit dropped by an average of 12.1%.

So, we now begin to look at Lance Armstrong’s blood passport readings from 2009. The graph below shows the hemoglobin readings throughout the period:

During 2009, Lance Armstrong rode both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France - two of the most challenging stage races in the sport. The first race was the Giro d’Italia, which began on the 9th May and ran through until the 31st May.

As we can see, at the start of the race, the hemoglobin measure was at 14.8. As the race progressed, we see it drop off, reaching a trough on the final day of the Giro at 13.0. In percentage terms, it fell by 12.2% - slightly above the average found by the Mørkeberg study - but around the level that we would expect.

The Tour de France began on the 4th July, running through until the 26th July. At the start of the race, the hemoglobin was recorded at 14.3. However, unlike the Giro d’Italia, we see the level drop, but then unexpectedly rise, not once but twice. In fact, the level of hemoglobin at the end of the race was actually recorded at 14.5 - higher than it had been at the start.

Indeed, the two sharp upturns that we see in the data were from tests carried out on the 14th and the 25th. Interestingly, they were the first tests carried out after the two rest days during the race. In accounts, his former teammates have described how blood transfusions and doping practices would take place on the days off during these races in the past.

Looking at the chart for the hematocrit percentages that were recorded during these tests paints a similar picture:

Again, we can see the sharp fall that we would expect during the period of the Giro d’Italia. The percentage fell from 43.5 to 38.2 over the course of the race - a 12.2% fall. This is almost spot on the average of what we expect to see from a clean athlete.

However, if we look at the data during the Tour de France, we again see these dramatic spikes following rest days that would be coherent with some form of doping or blood transfusion.

Finally, the level of reticulocytes during the period of the Tour de France are significantly below the average of the rest of the year. This would also be consistent with blood doping, where blood would be being reinserted into the body, reducing the need for new immature red blood cells to be produced.

The chances of these measurement occurring naturally is believed to be around one in a million. Given his history of doping, it would seem that there are certainly questions to be answered. Is this conclusive proof that Lance Armstrong lied in the interview and was doping during his comeback? No. However, particularly given his past, it does throw doubt onto the claims that he is making in this interview.

Lance Armstrong Interview Part 1: A Few Thoughts

The first part of the Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah Winfrey was broadcast last night. While I intend on waiting to watch the second part before making any overall judgements, there are a number of questions and issues that have already been raised in the first part.

As an aside, there has been a lot of discussion over Oprah’s handling of the interview. In my opinion, she has asked the right questions so far, but has been far too easy on him and it would have been interesting for her to push him on some of the issues further, rather than seemingly just moving onto the next question on her sheet.

1. His claim that the last time that he doped was during the 2005 Tour de France

There is evidence from the blood passport that he doped during his comeback in 2009 and 2010. Given that he acknowledged that he felt that the blood passport was a game changer, and that it worked, how can he now claim that it was wrong in suggesting that he had been doping during his comeback.

Another very convenient aspect of this claim is that the statute of limitation. In the WADA code, there is a statute of limitation of eight years. Further back than this, they cannot charge Armstrong with any doping offenses. Therefore, the timing of this interview is very interesting. Now that we are into 2013, it means that WADA cannot go back beyond 2005, i.e. the year of his retirement.

2. The issue of his donation to the UCI

He claimed in the interview that, after his retirement in 2005, the UCI approached him for a donation as they were short of money. As he was already retired, he donated the money. However, there are a number of discrepancies between his story and that given by the head of the UCI, Pat McQuaid. McQuaid has stated that Armstrong offered the money himself, and that it was long before his retirement in 2005.

The other question is that he emphasised repeatedly in the interview that he does not like the UCI. However, when approached, he was perfectly happy to donate $125,000 to the organisation. It raises questions as to what exactly his motivations were?

3. He did not feel that he was cheating

He argues that he did not feel that he was cheating during the period that he was doping. His argument that cheating involves gaining an unfair advantage that was not available to others seems ridiculous, and by stating that the preparation was everything and that the actual winning was simply ‘phoning it in’ does not seem to match up.

If he was doping simply to create a ‘level playing field’, then it seems difficult to accept that the win was as guaranteed as he suggests. It can only be that guaranteed if you do have an advantage over the rest of the competition.

4. His treatment of those that he ‘ran over’ in his quest to preserve his innocence

The question of his treatment of those that accused him of doping was raised, in particular, Betsy Andreu and Emma O’Reilly. While he admitted that Emma O’Reilly had not lied, despite his previous claims, he barely came across as contrite, and his refusal to withdraw his claim that Betsy Andreu was a ‘lier’ was disgraceful.

After the interview, Betsy Andreu has stated how “this is a guy who used to be my friend who decimated me... The hospital is where it all started... if he wants a shot of redemption here, he’s dropping the ball.”

5. His overall demeanor and motivation for the interview

While he has admitted a lot of things during the interview, there does not seem to be any real regret or contrition, with the exception of having been caught. The arrogance is still there, and the only believable thing that he admitted that he regret was his comeback, which he admitted probably led to the snowball effect that has resulted from the Floyd Landis testimony. In other words, he regrets being caught.

It is still unclear really what his motivation for doing the interview is. It would appear that they intend to go into this in more detail tomorrow, so we shall have to wait and see.


For a look at how straight-forward it was for Armstrong and other leading athletes to pass drugs tests, check out our article "Can We Trust Drugs Tests?"

Brian Baker's Cindarella Story

Everyone knows the fairytale about Cindarella. A girl, deprived of the position in the family that she deserves, helped by her fairy godmother, defies the odds to escape her situation and attend the ball, where she meets her prince. Entirely unexpected and against all the odds.

The tale of Brian Baker follows the same story. Runner-up at Roland Garros juniors in 2003, he reached #2 in the world as a junior. He was the next big hope of American tennis. He gradually worked his way up the rankings and was awarded a wildcard into the 2005 US Open, ranked number 195 in the world. Drawn to play the ninth seed, Gaston Gaudio, who only a year earlier had lifted his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, he stunned the Argentinean, winning in straight sets.

He would lose in the second round to Xavier Malisse, but he had made his impact on the big stage. However, he would not return to the court in a main draw ATP match for almost seven years. In a nightmare three years after that monumental US Open victory, he would undergo surgery five times – twice on his left hip, once on his right hip, once on a hernia, and reconstructive surgery on his right elbow.

Meanwhile, he would remain involved in the game, working as a tennis coach at Belmont University in Nashville. Naturally, there were dark moments. In USA Today, he explained, “sitting in the operation room, I told myself that I’m not going to keep on coming back, having surgery, prolong my ‘career’, if I can call it that.”

Ignoring a failed comeback in 2007, the next time he would step on court at any level was in July 2011. Having not played a match in almost four years, he had no ranking and had to rely on a wildcard into an ITF tournament in Pittsburgh. Cruising through qualifying into the main draw, he sailed to the title without dropping a set, demonstrating that he still had a future in the game.

His first venture into the challenger level saw him lose 6-2, 6-2 to former British number two, Alex Bogdanovic, but he remained determined to succeed. The following week, he raced through the draw in Knoxville, losing to the Canadian, Jesse Levine, in the final. Savannah, in April 2012, would be the location of Baker’s first challenger title for almost eight years. However, that was just a prelude to his dream reappearance on the big stage.

Qualification in Nice was simple, and on the 22^nd May, 2012, Brian Baker returned to the court for his first full-draw match since his defeat to Malisse at the US Open in 2005. However, he was not there to make up the numbers. Several impressive victories, including wins over Gael Monfils and former world number 4, Nikolay Davydenko, saw him reach an unlikely final. Despite being comfortably beaten by Nicolas Almagro, he had proven that he belonged at that level.

Fittingly, his first Grand Slam match in almost eight years came against the same opponent that had beaten him on the previous occasion. This time, Baker beat Malisse in straight sets at Roland Garros. Since then, a  fourth round at Wimbledon and a second round at the US Open has propelled him to the verge of the world's top 50.

However, it is time to return to the section of the Cindarella fairytale that is generally ignored in these stories. At midnight, her fairy godmother’s magic elapses and Cindarella is forced to leave the ball, returning to her life of servitude. Darkness returns.

Sadly, Baker’s story is following the fairytale almost to the word. 7-6, 1-1 ahead against his compatriot, Sam Querrey, in the Australian Open, he over-hit a shot and crumpled to the ground. In obvious agony, he struggled back to his seat, where he tore his headband off in frustration. He is no stranger to serious injury, and it was obvious from his reaction that he knew this was serious.

Querrey explained in the interview afterwards, “he said he kind of felt his knee almost buckle and kind of heard like a pop or a snap. He didn’t know if it was bones or a tear, but he couldn’t straighten it, couldn’t walk.”

Wheeled off the court in a wheelchair, the tennis world feared the worst. Speculation of a ACL tear spread – a serious injury for any athlete.

Given those rumours, the announcement that he had only torn his lateral meniscus and that he would likely return in around four months was almost greeted with a sigh of relief. Clearly, it is still a serious injury, but it seems likely that he will return this year. Yet another surgery will be required, but he is no stranger to that.

Yet, as everybody knows, the Cindarella tale does not end there. It is meant to be happy after all. Having lost her slipper at the ball, the prince searches non-stop until he finds her and rescues her from her destitution  ending with the couple living happily ever after.

It is too soon to predict the impact of this injury on Baker. However, given the struggles that he has overcome to this day, you know that he will not give in. He has given almost everything to live his dream. One only hopes that his story will continue to follow that of Cindarella, and that he will achieve his happy ending.

'20 To Watch' Australian Open Preview

No fewer than 14 of our twenty WTA players to watch will be in Melbourne over the next couple of weeks, taking part in both the senior and junior versions of the Australian Open.

Starting with the main Australian Open. Three of our players had rankings high enough to guarantee them automatic entry into the tournament - Annika Beck, Donna Vekic and Elina Svitolina. These three will take their place in Friday's first round draw.

They will be joined by Ashleigh Barty and Madison Keys. After her recent performances at the Hopman Cup and in Hobart, it is no surprise that the young Australian has been rewarded with the Australian wildcard. Madison Keys won a spot in the main draw by winning the US wildcard tournament for the second year running, dispatching Mallory Burdette in the final.

Now to the five players that will attempt to progress through the three qualifying rounds and reach the main draw.

Monica Puig is seeded second in qualifying and will be confident of progressing after her stunning performance against Angelique Kerber last week. She will begin against the #193 ranked Chinese player, Qiang Wang. Wang won four ITF titles last year, but all at a low level, and should not prove too much of a challenge for the Puerto Rican.

Her likely second round opponent is Valeria Solovieva. The #185 Russian is a promising talent, but again is unlikely to trouble her should she play to her potential. The final round will be the toughest test, where her opponent should be the #19 seed and home favourite, Anastasia Rodionova. The Australian is a former top-70 player and has appeared in the main draw at the Australian Open no fewer than six times.

Eugenie Bouchard is the #24 seed for qualifying and will play Brazil's Teliana Pereira in the first round. Although Bouchard has had a poor start to the season, the clay-court specialist should not trouble her. She could potentially face another of our youngsters in the second round, Daria Gavrilova, should the Russian overcome Stephanie Vogt in the first round.

The winner of this second round match will likely face a tough third round match against one of Anastasija Sevastova, who reached the 4th round at Melbourne in 2011, or #11 seed, Eva Birnerova.

The young Slovak, Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova, faces a tough first round match against #6 seed, Vesna Dolonc. The Serbian is a former top-100 player, who reached the quarter-final of the WTA tournament in Moscow last year, and it will be a big surprise if Schmiedlova comes through this. Were she to pull off the upset, she would likely face Erika Sema in the second round before a match against either Alla Kudryavtseva or Stephanie Dubois in the final round.

The final entrant into qualifying is Irina Khromacheva. The former junior Australian Open doubles finalist faces the Croatian, Tereza Mrdeza, in the first round, before a tough contest against Mariana Duque-Marino or Julia Glushko. However, it does not get any easier as she will likely face the hugely experienced Hungarian, Greta Arn, should she reach the final round.

Four further players will compete in the junior edition. Katerina Siniakova will be the top seed for the tournament, and she will be joined in the draw by Sachia Vickery, Anett Kontaveit and, surprisingly, Yulia Putintseva, who has opted to play in the juniors despite being ranked high enough to gain direct entry into the seniors.

We will look more closely at the junior tournament when it begins in the second week.

20 Cricketers to Watch - Part 1

After the success of the '20 to Watch' in tennis, DW on Sport, through our new guest cricket writer James Fenn (@JamesTigerGib), turns its eye to a group of twenty cricketers from around the globe that are expected to push on to big things in the coming twelve months.

1. Abul Hasan (BAN)

Age : 20

Role : Bowling all-rounder

His talent came to light off the back of a remarkable 113 batting at number 10 against a rampaging West Indian attack. He demonstrated flowing shots, without the usual ‘long handle’ associated with lower order batsmen, and tremendous fight to help Bangladesh post a score that they were at least able to bowl against. Hasan opened the bowling and, despite going wicketless, showed signs of a young seamer being able to swing the ball both ways with accuracy.

All he really needs is experience, maybe a yard more pace and a stint playing first class cricket abroad to turn him into the star all-rounder of an exciting Bangladesh test side.

2. Ben Cutting (AUS)

Age: 25

Role: Fast-Medium Bowler

A player who is just starting to get the recognition he deserves, he has the slap and tickle Big Bash to thank for this and his performances in it are putting him in line for Australian honours. A little sad that it has taken this long for someone, who possesses the coveted stat of a higher first class batting average than bowling average.

I will not be delusional and say that he will make the Ashes, but I can certainly see him touring and playing the short form. An IPL contract should be inevitable, and with so many excellent opportunities available around the globe, a possible career playing T20 competitions, making money and sipping cocktails in the Caribbean sounds like an ideal path. I would just like to see him judged as a class cricketer in the other forms as well.

3. Simon Kerrigan (ENG)

Age: 23

Role: Slow left-arm

A County Championship winner, having taken the final wicket with less than five agonising minutes left, who is a prodigious talent that has seemingly been leapfrogged by other very good spinners into the England team. However, I see it as more a situation of keeping him to replace Graeme Swann in the test arena when the time comes. Swann was a gifted youngster too, but years on the County circuit taught him how to take wickets the hard way. This is exactly what I see with Kerrigan.

Watch this space; he will become England’s premier twirler of destruction. He delivers on the big stage, he has now felt Championship winning joy and bitter relegation, so mentally I would say he is prepared for the big stage. England have included him in the Performance Programme in India over Christmas, where he has had some joy, and I fully expect him to be one of the top wicket takers in the Championship this year.

An outside chance of going to Australia with the test squad this year? Absolutely.

4. Ben Foakes (ENG)

Age: 19

Role: Wicketkeeper Batsman

My belief is England have their favourites. By that I mean there are people the selectors have maybe watched for years, banked on them becoming as good as they think they will without really giving much thought elsewhere. For me we have two in the wicketkeeping department, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow.

However I believe Ben Foakes is the superior keeper. At the Under 19’s World Cup, Foakes was keeping to arguably the fastest bowlers in the tournament on fast and swinging Australian pitches, and was completely at ease. Foakes was also England’s best batsman and looked polished in his shot making, striking the ball as cleanly as anyone in the tournament.  All I would suggest is that he improves his shot selection, but with experience, which he should get, I think he is all but certain for a run in the Essex side this season and I wouldn’t put it past him being their top scorer in at least one format of the game. 

5. Adam Zampa

Age: 20

Role: Leg Spinner

I really hope this kid has a big future. A big spinning, fearless, blonde Aussie leg spinner. Sound familiar? Of course it would be ludicrous to put him in the same bracket and quite honestly I cannot stand articles that do that. However, this rule will be broken once and only once, as it is true.

I have watched every single innings he has bowled in FC, Ryobi and T20 cricket and, quite frankly, he is a future test bowler. Test star? Possibly. The simple fact is he has stood up with the best in the world and come out with a very much enhanced reputation. For me, it revolves around the fact he has, like every leggy , taken a battering, but what makes Zampa different is his unwillingness to recede and just bowl singles.

He is more accurate than he is given credit for and uses this to attack relentlessly. You club him for six and feel great about yourself, fine. Next ball, he spins it past the bat and you are stumped. Job done. This has happened twice in his first Big Bash, as well as a very close to match winning spell against a Hobart team full of top Test batsman who could not get him away.

Some delivery variations need to be learnt for his full potential to blossom, but with the lack of spinners at Australia’s disposal right now, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he gets an international call up this year for the short form.

'20 to Watch' - Week 1 Review

No fewer than eight of the ’20 to Watch’ were in action as the new tennis season got underway. With WTA tournaments in Auckland, Brisbane and Shenzhen, there were opportunities for the youngsters to make an early impression.

Puerto Rican, Monica Puig, was certainly one of those to put down an early marker. She came through qualifying in Brisbane in impressive fashion, beating two former top-40 players in Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Vera Dushevina. Australian wildcard, Olivia Rogowska, was dispatched in comfortable fashion in the first round, before her most impressive performance against fourth seed, Angelique Kerber. With power and precision hitting, she won the first set, but was eventually beaten in a final set tiebreak. If she can find that level regularly, she will fly up the rankings.

Annika Beck also continued her good form from the later stages of 2012. Having gained automatic entry to the inaugural WTA event in Shenzhen, she defeated young Spaniard, Garbine Muguruza, and fourth seed, Su-Wei Hsieh, to reach her first ever WTA quarter-final, before losing in three sets to home favourite, Shuai Peng. An encouraging beginning to the New Year and a first Grand Slam main draw victory at the Australian Open will be her next objective.

The two other players from the list to play main draw matches this week were Genie Bouchard and Elina Svitolina. Bouchard was given a wildcard into the main draw in Auckland, but hit too many unforced errors in a disappointing straight sets defeat to Elena Vesnina. Meanwhile, Svitolina gained direct entry into the main draw in Shenzhen, where she beat former top-20 player, Shahar Peer, for the loss of just four games, before losing to eventual finalist, Klara Zakopalova, in straight sets.

The other big performance of the week was from young Australian, Ashleigh Barty. She gained the biggest win of her career when she beat former French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone, in the Hopman Cup for the loss of just three games. She also won the first set against Andrea Petkovic, before the injury-prone German was forced to retire.

Elsewhere, there were qualifying defeats for Daria Gavrilova in Brisbane, and Madison Keys and Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova in Auckland.

This coming week sees Eugenie Bouchard and Madison Keys playing at the WTA Apia International in Sydney, Yulia Putintseva and Daria Gavrilova in action in Hobart, and young Taylor Townsend will play in the $25k ITF tournament in Innisbrook, Florida.