Wimbledon 2008

[Matra1]

Issues at the All England Club for 2008:

Is Roger Federer done? Yes, I know it is ridiculous but every day now I'm reading news stories like this one arguing that he is fading. Incidentally he won his first round match easily but was pestered by ESPN about his "bad year" in the interview afterwards. (Just to add parody to it all they even asked him what he thought of Tiger Woods' US Open victory!). As of this post Federer has a 60 match unbeaten streak on grass.

Can Rafael Nadal finally win on the grass court at Wimbledon? He beat Novak Djokovic to win the Queens tournament just before Wimbledon - Rafa's first tournament win on grass.

Speaking of Djokovic, the Serb has improved his serve a lot this year and has already won the Australian Open.

On the women's side Ana Ivanovic has just moved up to #1 after her win in the French.

The Williams sisters have won 6 of the last 8 Wimbledon titles. Serena has confirmed she'll be around for another decade. (What happened to her movie career?)

Maria Sharapova won the Australian and was briefly ranked #1 following the retirement of Justin Henin. She lost that ranking after the French but that is her weakest Grand Slam tournament; she's usually better at Wimbledon.

 

[Poacher]

They are desperately trying to shove Federer off the stage.

 

[Matra1]

Second Round

The only major surprise so far is the elimination of Novak Djokovic in straight sets by the always unpredictable Marat Safin of Russia.

His countrywoman Ana Ivanovic just scraped through after a tough battle with a (white) Frenchwoman.

Federer won in straight sets.

Serena Williams also won.

 

[Matra1]

The Wimbledon website had a profile on black American Donald Young

One to watch: Donald Young

He was eliminated by a Boca Raton kid called Levine - presumably Jewish - in the first round.

 

[Poacher]

Fed is playing really well.

Got a laugh out of seeing Djokovic get beat so early after he jumped aboard the "Roger Federer is done!" bandwagon saying how Federer was "vulnerable" at Wimbledon this year. Right Novak, who's vulnerable now?

We'll see how long the Williams brothers can hold it together.

Donald Young has been overrated for years. He won some junior titles and everyone started wetting their pants.

 

[Guest]

The Williams brothers! Classic!

 

[Don Wassall]

I'll be rooting for Federer. Hopefully he'll beat Nadal in another classic final. Six straight would be a monumental sporting achievement. Plus the media is gleefully anticipating his downfall.

 

[Bart]

I'll be rooting for Federer.

Me too.Nadal is awesome on clay, but Wimbledon's grass courts are more amenable to Roger's game. If Federer isn't tested too severely he may have enough gas left in his tank to do some damage in spite of his bout with mono.

 

[Don Wassall]

Sharapova loses to the 154th ranked female player, a fellow Russian. Let's go, Ana Ivanovic!

 

[Guest]

The NCAA assault on men's sports is having it's effect. American men are doing nothing in tennis anymore.

Wrestling may be the next casualty.

 

[Don Wassall]

Now Ana's out, losing to a Chinese player.

 

[Quiet Speed]

Now Ana's out, losing to a Chinese player. 

Dang. Now would be a good the time for the photogenic Nicole Vaidisova to make a statement. Jelena Jankovic is the top seed left now.

 

[GiovaniMarcon]

The media makes no big deal of Federer because:

1 - he's white
2 - he's not American
3 - he dominates a sport that America does not

 

[Poacher]

I can't believe Sharapova tanked.

Fed advances. Without Henin we may be in for a long tournament on the women's side. Ughhh.

 

[guest301]

Roddick out early again.

I like Roddick but his star and window of opportunity is fading fast. He needs to play much more aggressive and get his act together. His talent is much better than his actual performance. Hope he gets it together.

 

[Quiet Speed]

Here's the way the week two brackets shape up. Possible match up between Fed and Ancic, the last to beat Roger on grass. Oddly, Ancic battled mono and was out for months. The up and down Marat Safin is lurking.

The Gasquet - Murray is an interesting match, with the winner most likely taking on Nadal. Gasquet, when on, is a shot making wizard. The crowd will be abuzz pulling for Murray. No telling how they will react if there is a Murray - Nadal match-up. A bunch of matches are worth watching.

No comment on the Ladies at this time. Things are a little dicey there.

Men

Top Half

Roger Federer SUI (1)
v
Lleyton Hewitt AUS (20)

Fernando Verdasco ESP (22)
v
Mario Ancic CRO

Marat Safin RUS
v
Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (13)

Marcos Baghdatis CYP (10)
v
Feliciano Lopez ESP (31)

-----------------------------

Bottom Bracket

Janko Tipsarevic SRB
v
Rainer Schuettler GER

Marin Cilic CRO
v
Arnaud Clement FRA

Richard Gasquet FRA (8)
v
Andy Murray GBR (12)

Mikhail Youzhny RUS (17)
v
Rafael Nadal ESP (2



Women

Jie Zheng CHN
v
Agnes Szavay HUN (15)

Nicole Vaidisova CZE (18)
v
Anna Chakvetadze RUS (8)

Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (4)
v
Agnieszka Radwanska POL (14)

Bethanie Mattek USA
v
Serena Williams USA (6)

-------------------

Elena Dementieva RUS (5)
v
Shahar Peer ISR (24

Nadia Petrova RUS (21)
v
Alla Kudryavtseva RUS

Venus Williams USA (7)
v
Alisa Kleybanova RUS

Tamarine Tanasugarn THA
v
Jelena Jankovic SRB (2)

 

[Angelcynn]

The only 3 players that I have heard been called athletic so far this Wimbledon tournement is the Williams sisters (as always) and James Blake.

The funny thing is that when I heard Blake labelled athletic it was becuase he was ''running all over the court and making athletic plays''. This was because Schuettler who beat him was totaly out playing Blake and stretched Blake to make unecessary diving shots of which most he missed. So if a white player is being run all over the court does he get labelled athletic for being out played? Clearly not as we all know!

By the way this is English commentators aswell! Not good!

 

[Quiet Speed]

Down goes Jankovic. One, two and three seeds gone. Edited by: Quiet Speed

 

[Quiet Speed]

Correction. One, two , three and four seeds gone. Number four Kuznetsova bites the dust.

 

[waterbed]

during the match monfiels- federer at Roland garros the dutch commentator said 7 times that monfiels is so athletic.
But being so athletic he was not be able to take a set from Federer

 

[guest301]

I wouldn't mind seeing Brit favorite and Scotsman 12th seeded Andy Murray win it all. I just watched him come back from two sets down to beat 8th seeded Gasquet today. The crowd got louder and louder for him throughout the comeback. He advances to play Nadal in a few days and has the game to give Nadal some trouble. He played with alot of emotion today and I like to see that in tennis.

 

[Matra1]

Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Rep. beaten by the same Chinese woman who beat Ivanovic. It's looking like an all Williams sisters final. The NBC/ESPN crowd must be loving it. TV ratings in Europe, though, will be rock bottom.

 

[guest301]

If it's a all Williams final, I will not be watching. I will get a migraine if I do watch, just listening to all the media fawning over those two in the finals would be insufferable.

 

[darthvader]

As great as federer is, I still miss the days of Mcenroe, connors, lendl and borg. I don't think federer would have played at such a high level in that era.

 

[guest301]

As great as federer is, I still miss the days of Mcenroe, connors, lendl and borg. I don't think federer would have played at such a high level in that era.

I agree. Those were the days of the wooden rackets where the real game of tennis was played. Everything is about power now and it's not as fun to watch as it used to be. Federer would have been great in any age but probably not as dominant if he had came along twenty years earlier.