# Wimbledon 2019: Go, go Coco! You're cleared for takeoff, FAA! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 3, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475 "2019-07-03T21:54:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/21 "2019-07-06T17:48:13Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > [W]hen you’re on the baseline and your opponent is at the net, hitting the ball at them can be a legitimate tactic, if it looks like a better percentage play than hitting a lob or pass. And even more so when you’re both up at the net. Common doubles tactic too. Heh - then again, if you ask McEnroe about this, he might have a word or two about one certain Mr. Lendl. Just make sure you put that hand up in apology, orelse (as my dad once saw at an _exhibition_ match, of all things) you’ll have a pissed, glaring Andre Agassi bean an opponent, later, for not doing so. Somewhat unrelated: ultimate fantasy - an Isner/Karlovic match with Dr. Steve Brule as a centre line judge. Fantasyland.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/22 "2019-07-06T17:56:00Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > [W]hen you’re on the baseline and your opponent is at the net, hitting the ball at them can be a legitimate tactic, if it looks like a better percentage play than hitting a lob or pass. And even more so when you’re both up at the net. Common doubles tactic too. Heh - then again, if you ask McEnroe about this, he might have a word or two about one certain Mr. Lendl. Just make sure you put that hand up in apology, orelse (as my dad once saw at an _exhibition_ match, of all things) you’ll have a pissed, glaring Andre Agassi bean an opponent, later, for not doing so. Somewhat unrelated: ultimate fantasy - an Isner/Karlovic match with [ulr=“[https://youtu.be/sVCuKVRMfJs?t=40](https://youtu.be/sVCuKVRMfJs?t=40)”] Dr. Steve Brule as a centre line judge. Fantasyland.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/23 "2019-07-06T20:02:29Z")
GodDDAMN! Serena is fucking GOOD! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/24 "2019-07-06T21:01:50Z")
I’m thinking [this should prolly be frowned upon](https://apnews.com/d19cb0d2f3bc421abd32f53a39928a56): > [@](#): > > During a three-set loss to Tennys Sandgren at tiny Court 14, the 10th-ranked [Fabio] Fognini referred in Italian to the “damned English” and said he wished “a bomb would explode at the club.” > > More than 1,000 bombs fell in the area during World War II, destroying thousands of nearby homes, and 16 fell on the tournament grounds. One hit Centre Court. > > At his news conference Saturday, Fognini said his comments came in the heat of the moment. He said he was upset about not playing well and the condition of the court’s grass. > > “If I offended anyone, I apologize,” Fognini said in Italian. “That definitely wasn’t my intention.” Is it just “bad boy time” at Wimbledon this year? > [@](#): > > The volatile Fognini, who is married to 2015 U.S. Open champion Flavia Pennetta, also bloodied knuckles on his right hand after punching his racket during the match against Sandgren. > > An All England Club spokeswoman said there was no immediate comment from tournament officials. > > But the episode will be investigated to determine whether it rises to the level of a major offense, because he is still under a two-year probation stemming from when he insulted a female chair umpire at the 2017 U.S. Open and got kicked out of that tournament. > > In October 2017, the Grand Slam Board said Fognini would be suspended for two major tournaments if he commits another major offense before the end of this year. > > He was docked a then-record $27,500 of his prize money at Wimbledon in 2014 for a series of outbursts during a first-round victory. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/25 "2019-07-06T22:34:24Z")
Brutal - don’t know how I made a double post that was eight minutes apart. (AND botched [link](https://youtu.be/sVCuKVRMfJs?t=40)) Apologies. Yeah, Fognini has always given Kyrgios a good run for the money for Most Unpredictable Asshat. Settling into (PVR’ed) Tsonga/Nadal. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/26 "2019-07-08T16:32:52Z")
Good job, Coco! At 15 you already did better than lots of people will ever do, and it’s pretty obvious you are not yet at your peak! Head high, woman! You done good! ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/27 "2019-07-08T18:54:20Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Checking against the WTA rankings, the seeds match the rankings for Seeds #1-9. Oddly Serena is #10 in the WTA rankings yet seeded 11th at Wimbledon I thought all majors were seeded using an identical procedure: #3 and #4 have a 50-50 chance of being switched #s 5-8 can be in any of the 24 possible orders within that group #s 9-12 can be in any of the 24 possible orders within that group #s 13-16 can be in any of the 24 possible orders within that group #s 17-24 can be in any of the 40,320 possible orders within that group #s 25-32 can be in any of the 40,320 possible orders within that group (assuming they still seed 32) Using this method, there is only a 1/192 chance that all nine of the top seeds would match their rankings. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/28 "2019-07-10T01:04:52Z")
Go Serena, go! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/29 "2019-07-11T16:34:10Z")
Serena looked dominant, but so did Halep. Should be a good final. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/30 "2019-07-11T17:01:37Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I thought all majors were seeded using an identical procedure: > > #3 and #4 have a 50-50 chance of being switched > #s 5-8 can be in any of the 24 possible orders within that group > #s 9-12 can be in any of the 24 possible orders within that group > #s 13-16 can be in any of the 24 possible orders within that group > #s 17-24 can be in any of the 40,320 possible orders within that group > #s 25-32 can be in any of the 40,320 possible orders within that group (assuming they still seed 32) > > Using this method, there is only a 1/192 chance that all nine of the top seeds would match their rankings. I think you’re conflating seeds with their position in the bracket. In majors, the #4 seed does not always get put in the same half of the bracket with the #1 seed. Rather, as you note, half the time, the #2 and #4 seeds are in the same bracket. So this means, effectively, that the #3 and #4 seeds have equal value, as do seeds #5 to #8, #9 to #16, and #17 to #32. But they are **seeded** first, THEN placed. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/31 "2019-07-12T13:24:34Z")
Later today, Federer vs Nadal face each other for the first time since 2008. As great as these two players, hard to believe that they have played each other in Wimbledon in 11 years. Must watch TV. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/32 "2019-07-12T21:55:10Z")
It was “must watch” and it lived up to it. Federer defeats Nadal in an incredible match, their first at Wimbledon since the greatest match of all time 11 years ago. So Federer manages to beat Nadal and now what task does he have? Defeat Novak in the final. If he does it, it will be one of his best grand slam championships. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/33 "2019-07-13T02:35:33Z")
Got to think Federer would have a better head to head record against Nadal if Nadal was better on grass. Federer is the GOAT of grass and Nadal kept losing in earlier rounds so FED didn’t have many opportunities to pad his record against Nadal. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/34 "2019-07-13T15:14:16Z")
Congrats Miss Halep! Well done! ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/35 "2019-07-13T15:26:36Z")
Discounting clay matches: All matches: Federer 14-10 All finals: Federer 8-3 Grand Slam matches: Tied 4-4 Grand Slam finals: Federer 3-2 ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/36 "2019-07-13T16:01:38Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Discounting clay matches: > > All matches: Federer 14-10 > All finals: Federer 8-3 > Grand Slam matches: Tied 4-4 > Grand Slam finals: Federer 3-2 and on Clay: Nadal leads 14-2 Oddly, Federer’s record against Nadal on Clay is bad, because Federer is (was?) a great clay court player. If Federer was a poor clay court player, he would not have faced Nadal as frequently as he did, he simply would have lost before he faced Nadal in the finals (or semis) Serena looked old in today’s match against Halep. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/37 "2019-07-13T16:40:03Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Congrats Miss Halep! Well done! Absolutely relentless excellence on the return, and total focus. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/38 "2019-07-13T19:17:05Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I think you’re conflating seeds with their position in the bracket. > > In majors, the #4 seed does not always get put in the same half of the bracket with the #1 seed. Rather, as you note, half the time, the #2 and #4 seeds are in the same bracket. So this means, effectively, that the #3 and #4 seeds have equal value, as do seeds #5 to #8, #9 to #16, and #17 to #32. But they are **seeded** first, THEN placed. You’re right; I meant to say “bracketed.” Aren’t seeds based pretty much solely on rankings? ISTR when WTA complained because Wimbledon had a “the defending champion is the #1 seed” policy. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/39 "2019-07-14T09:09:36Z")
Wimbledon is unique among the slams in having seeding that can deviate significantly from the rankings, because of grass court tennis being so different (and so rarely played) compared with the other surfaces. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475/40 "2019-07-14T10:36:23Z")
Great men’s doubles final match. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wimbledon-2019-go-go-coco-youre-cleared-for-takeoff-faa/836475.md?page=3)