Only two of the top ten women’s seeds remaining. (Halep’s at 1-1 in sets as I type this - actually I have a lot of PVR viewing ahead of me, so I probably already have a lot of catching up to do).
Wonder when Murray will ever get court-ready again.
This Canuck glad to see Raonic cruise easily to the round of 16. He was actually showing something called court mobility! Shocking. Great to see - winning more net points now.
Before Fed comes across Raffa, he’ll have to deal with Delpo. Can’t find anywhere their career won/loss against each other, but I’m pretty sure that in the last, say, five or six matches, that Delpo has won the majority of them.
Nice in the first round when the bass lines are still green.
mmmmm Vitalia Diatchenko
(ousted second round by the spunky little Ostapenko brat)
Qualifier Ernests Gulbis defeats fourth seed Alexander Zverev in five sets - 6-0 in the final set. No one saw that coming.
ESPN coverage has hit a new low. Case in point the match today of American Frances Tiafoe against Russian Karen Khachanov.
Tiafoe was having a great tournament and was hopeful of playing the second week. He was one of handful of Americans (both men and women) left. Of course, ESPN was very one-sided in favour of the American - I understand and don’t mind that at all.
Tiafoe won the first two sets, but lost in the 3rd set tie-breaker. The momentum had obviously switched and Tiafoe was broken early in the 4th. After this his body language showed some kind of distress and he basically conceded the set. A long break between sets and he came out and tried, but the Russian was playing very strong and Tiafoe had nothing left - he lost 6-1. It was the Russian hitting winners, and Tiafoe showing some kind of injury, sickness or heat malady.
But ESPN wasn’t going to credit the Russian, or give Tiafoe any sympathy. They ripped into him relentlessly about his character and mental toughness. About 45 minutes of questioning his balls (not tennis), his training, his coaching. Just awful… when these guys get a bone they chew on it with relentless ignorance of anything else.
After the match Tiafoe said that stomach problems developed late in the 3rd set.
Heh - behind, indeed. Upset of the tournament - Hsieh Su-Wei rallies back from a 5-2 third set deficit to overtake #1 world seed Halep. The Taiwnese has absolutely has no power, and relies on sneaky shots with crazy angles. During her comeback she was hitting harder, though, eschewing her unpredictable finesse game.
She got a long, deserving standing ovation at the end.
Looks like the final will have the lowest viewing figures ever in the UK
Federer/Nadal final? I don’t think so. On the woman’s side, yes.
Djokovic wins a point in three different ways, but Umpire gives it to his opponent: https://youtu.be/Kaw4bAXv8o8
Unbelievable. Double bounce, touches the net, shot is out but Edmund wins the point.
Disgraceful behaviour by Edmund.
Anyone have experience queueing up to purchase Wimbledon tickets at 5pm? I am heading to London tomorrow and thinking about trying to get there/in.
Federer/Nadal final vs Engerland in a WC final? crickets
On this side of the pond… Engerland in a WC final vs Federer/Nadal final? crickets
The line you quoted did say …“in the UK” though. (Scottish Welsh and NorIrish viewing figures may still be slightly affected but English figures would go through the floor.)
My bad, missed that. You’re correct. The FIFA final is 18:00 local time. I tried to find out when the tennis is played, but that IBM official site craftily hide that info from me.
Does anyone think that if Federer wins this, it’s probably inevitable that he’s doping?
Given that he the ATP does both in and out of tournament drug testing and Federer himself is on record as to wanting more testing, no
//i\
I’m looking at Nadal’s muscles and injury record and thinking steroids
I think Federer’s style of play (and reduced schedule) is conducive to remaining competitive at this level without the need for doping. At least, I hope so. I don’t know how rigorous the ATP’s testing schedule is, but I think it’s pretty well up there. Certainly better than FIFA’s, for example (as far as I can tell).
You can ask this about Federer but not Nadal?! Federer’s physique doesn’t remotely suggest steroids. Nadal is the guy who is as strong as a gorilla.
This.
In my more conspiratorial moments, I’ve often wondered about Nadal and other Spaniards like Verdasco and Bautista Agut, who definitely show more musculature than most other players, without question. (Lopez and Alamagro? Maybe less so, I spose)
(Could be just insane training, possibly, but still, there’s moments when I wonder)
Federer - I would become a Jehovahs Witness and walk around naked everywhere if it turned out Feds doped. His legendary training regimen is all he needs; there’s certainly no visible signs - some degree of buffness, protruding chin or brows - to suggest (to me, anyway) that he’s been doping.
Isn’t testing flawed because it’s always announced - never randomly carried out?
Federer-Anderson is at 11-10 in the 5th set right now. With no signs of stopping soon, apparently… I don’t think there’s been anything close to a break in the last 10 games or so.
And just a few minutes later, Anderson gets a break and the win.
A year ago (I think it was), I saw Anderson lose to Zverev in the Citi Open finals, and aside from his serve (which is a cannon), I thought Anderson wasn’t particularly good. But obviously he’s either stepped up his game since then or he was having an off game that day.