I’m so bummed about Nadal. He definitely was at a disadvantage playing all those weeks on clay, only to turn around and try to adjust on grass. For anyone who’s ever played on different surfaces, it is amazing how different the timing is. To make that switch so quickly shows you how remarkable it is for the players who can successfully make the transition in just a few short weeks, and win both the French and Wimbledon in the same year.
Anyway, I didn’t see Fed play yesterday, but lately he’s played with such lack of confidence that I really don’t see him making it very far in this tournament. Of course, with Nadal out, it may give him the mental boost he needs. I’m sure that his heart sank when he saw Nadal’s name on his side of the bracket.
I agree that it’s quite possible that this is Murray’s year, and I’d love to see that, though you can’t count out Djokovic either. I love watching the two of them play each other because it’s such a cat and mouse game, with drop shots and slices, etc.
Of course, I’d still love Ferrer to win a big title, too.
As far as the women go, my favorite players (Li Na, Schiavone) don’t have much of a chance to make it to the finals on grass, but I’ll still root for them. I’m sure Serena will go far just because she can out-muscle most of the women players, but I won’t be watching because I can’t stand her.
Yahoo Sports also wrote of Johnny Mac’s complaints about the Wimbledon seeding. I wonder if there is a way for TPTB to change the seeding despite what was written on their web page. Or perhaps he’s calling for a change to the method of choosing seeds entirely, even though it apparently ranked Nadal too high v. too low!
“Nadal’s seeding of No.5 was a result of his time off tour to fix injury issues and was criticized by former players such as John McEnroe as it put him, Federer and home favorite Andy Murray all in the same half of the draw.”
I just love it when the players I dislike go out in the first round. Especially in straight sets. Bye bye, Maria!*
Nice to see that James Blake won (finally). I wonder if he’s going to retire this year at the Open?
Tommy Haas is also impressing me this year. I love this new trend of players in the 30s playing the best tennis in the careers.
Speaking of which, I’m with PunditLisa in that I’d love to see Ferrer win a major, I’m just not sure that grass is the surface for him to do so.
While I don’t think it will happen, I’m picking Tsonga as my wildcard to win.
Everybody’s at the same disadvantage, but it’s very tough switch. I was reminded today that they even use different balls at the French and Wimbledon. There’s a reason the only guys to win the French and Wimbledon in the same year in the last three decades are Nadal and Federer.
He looked great, and he won almost as fast as Serena did. Of course it was a first round match against Victor Hanescu, so make of that what you will. His next couple of rounds shouldn’t be too tough, he said, tempting fate, and it’s Wimbledon.
I noticed today that Feliciano Lopez beat Gilles Simon in the first round. Those guys played in the first round in Eastbourne on Saturday! Lopez won that one, too. And since I don’t get too many of these right:
I didn’t think Hewitt was going to win, let alone in straight sets!
Not a great effort from Querrey. On the other hand it’d be a good thing if Tomic has his shit together.
This is one of those matches that’ll either be fascinating with some upset potential or be a total washout. I’m sure Tsonga will show up, but you never know with Gulbis.
A fairly easy win for Lisicki, unfortunately. I have nothing against her at all, but I think Schiavone is just about at the end of the road.
And a big win for Robson! Will I sound like a clod if I say she sounds like Hermoine?
Keys and Stephens won, and I’m glad Petko did, too.
So much for that last part. By the way, tomorrow’s matches include Sharapova vs. Larcher de Brito. I recommend jamming on the mute button.
Very sad about Rafa but not a huge surprise. His knees are very suspect and have so many hard miles on them that without major surgery it is difficult to see them standing up to repeated hammering on grass and hard courts. Clay? perhaps. He may just have to put all his effort into that and hope for the best.
I’ve said it before and it bears repeating, The reason he has won the majors he has is the same reason he won’t win as many as Federer…his style. It wins him games but it fucks his body.
What I do hope is that he (and Federer) pick the right times to quit because no-one wants to see them either sleepwalk into mediocrity or be on crutches for the rest of their lives.
Neither has anything left to prove.
Anyhow, I see a Djokovic-Murray final (really sticking my neck out there) with Murray winning.
The women? don’t really care as long as it isn’t Serena. Don’t like her, never have.
I watched the highlights of Robson/Kirilenko and it looked like the Brit played some amazingly good shots. OK, it was highlights, but the winners were really streaming off her racquet. She did very well to hold it together in front of a nervous home crowd. If she can keep up that standard she could easily win the tournament, but sadly I don’t think that’s very likely - there will be quite a bit of expectation on her now so I expect her to go out in the third or fourth round. Hope she doesn’t, though.
Damn - Tsonga retires injured and Shvedova withdraws. And Sharapova slips a few times and looks like she is going to lose her match to maybe the only person who has a more annoying trill than Sharapova & Azarenka.
ETA: Heard on commentary that Clisters tweeted to one of the commentators that some of the slipping issues is due to the Wimbledon officials changing the allowed shoes so the ‘nubs’ that help with traction have to be shorter to keep the grass pristine longer.
Yeah, I saw that too. Apparently it’s because of the “all white” rule. But if that’s the case, I sure hope they make Djokovic change his shirt since those big blue bars down each side of it is certainly more color than orange on the bottom of Fed’s shoes.
I mean I didn’t even notice Roger’s shoes on Day 1, but immediately remarked to myself that I was surprised Djokovic was able to wear that shirt.
Down goes Sharapova!! And somebody tell Chris to stop rooting… call the dang match… and someone tell Tirico I don’t care how he feels about the grunting…
#135 in the world… wow Larcher-Brito hit with some serious pace… she’s quite a powerhouse…
Such a bad day for tennis fans. I thought concrete was supposed to be the hardest on your knees, but I can see how slippery grass would be a major threat to joints.
On the upside, it’s looking better for Murray and Ferrer! Oh, and Serena. :mad:
Actually, as Nadal has argued again and again, it’s even rougher for the players who keep winning. Think about it, those who finished in the early rounds of the French had almost another week off to prepare for Wimbledon vs those who made it to the quarters on. They’ve finally changed the rules (I think I have this right) so that the finalists in prior tournaments get an automatic bye the first round of the following tournament, but the rule doesn’t apply to the Majors. French/Wimbledon are especially difficult because they’re so close, and both are best of 5 with no final set tiebreak. As young and fit as these players are, the pace of these tournaments, and the increased physicality of the matches, are wearing them out. Add in slippery grass and stupid rules against wearing certain shoes, and it’s a recipe for injuries. Not to mention lackluster tournaments.
I wonder how many Wimbledon tickets went to scalpers following Nadal and Federer’s losses?
That’s the craziest day of tennis that I can remember. I hate seeing injuries and withdrawals like this and nobody seems to know what’s going on- but I hope we’ve seen the last of it. The ESPN2 announcers mentioned that Center Court and court 1 and maybe 2 don’t get played on in qualifying, and the slipping seemed to be worse there. And I’m wondering if the weather is a factor, too. I’m sad and surprised to see Federer lose, but Stakhovsky played the match of his life. Federer missed a few opportunities and mishit some balls badly, but the biggest problem was the guy on the other side of the net. Stakhovsky served very well and he just played fantastic grass court tennis. He deserved to win and I hope he can capitalize on it. Too bad that Darcis couldn’t do the same on his win over Nadal because of his shoulder.
One of the announcers pointed out today that there’s going to be an extra week between the French and Wimbledon starting in 2015. I forgot about that, and while I like the challenge posed by switching surfaces, that’s a good thing - and I’d even argue for an extra week on top of that one to give the players more time to adjust. It wouldn’t entirely solve the problems we saw today, but it would help.
Oh, and Serena. :mad: