Wimbledon 2010 thread

[Matra1]

Wimbledon has begun and as I type this defending champion Roger Federer is two sets to one down and down a break in the fourth against Alejandro Falla of Columbia. For Fed do go out in the first round at Wimbledon would be one of the great shocks in sport in recent years.

 

[JReb1]

Amazing comeback from RF, that was a really close call for Federer but RF dominated the 5th set like the great Champion that he is!

Roger just has such difficulties with fast southpaws because they've learned to keep attacking his backhand and their serves come at such odd angles that it's hard to adjust for any righty.

 

[whiteathlete33]

Well freak show Serena Williams won the first round. I'm hoping someone can knock her out.

 

[Quiet Speed]

French Open finalist Sam Stosur is gone in the first round. Too bad, she was having a very good year and could have done some damage in the later rounds. Her game is not as varied as Henin's, but she does have the capacity of putting together some well executed points which is vital on the grass courts.
Edited by: Quiet Speed

 

[j41181]

Check this out...

James Blake yells at Pam Shriver

Great underachiever James Blake yells at annoying commentator Pam Shriver. Blake's action is obviously unsportsmanlike, but Shriver tends to be annoying at times she criticizes just about EVERYONE. A good commentator tones the voice down and stays neutral.

 

[j41181]

There's quite a possibility the racial make-up of women's tennis might become like women's golf someday.

Zheng predicts Chinese Invasion

Tennis: Zheng predicts Chinese invasion</font>
by Adam Hathaway
Wed, Jun 23, 2010
AFP

LONDON, ENGLAND - Chinese women tennis players are ready to make an assault on the world rankings, according to Zheng Jie, one of the country's leading players.

There are currently three Chinese women in the top 100 rankings, headed by Li Na at number 12, Zheng at 24 and Peng Shuai at 44.

Li and Zheng made history when they both reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open this year, having previously caused a stir when they were allowed to manage their own careers by the Chinese Tennis Federation in December 2008.

But Zheng said there was plenty more talent ready to break through and make an impression on women's tennis in the next few years.

"Tennis is getting big in China because there are many girls who are coming to watch it over there," the 26-year-old said.

"The Asian players are getting better - you have Chinese players and players from Thailand but I am more familiar with the Chinese. And the women are better than the men.

"There is more support for Chinese tennis going up from the government and the sponsors are giving more support for our federation.

"The Chinese have four or five players that play a lot of tournaments around the world and in one or two years you will see more Chinese girls playing in the Grand Slams."

Zheng singled out 20-year-old Han Xinyun as one to watch but fears the Chinese men won't be emulating their female compatriots in the near future.

"The girls are better than the men. Asian men are not too tall and not too strong - so they probably need more hard work."

Zheng progressed to the second round of the ladies' singles here on Tuesday after beating France's Pauline Parmentier 7-5, 6-4 at the start of her bid to repeat her heroics of 2008, when she reached the semi-final here.

But she warned her supporters not to get too carried away and think she can repeat the trick again after her exploits in Melbourne earlier this year.

"I don't think about it too much because everyone wants to get to the Grand Slam semi-finals. I just want to play and enjoy the matches because I enjoy playing on grass courts," she said.

"This year has been amazing - the Australian was my second semi-final in a Grand Slam and back in China it is big news and I had a lot of Chinese support here."

 

[j41181]

Marathon Wimbledon 1

Marathon Wimbledon 2

Ive been following tennis for years, never have I seen something like this. If the 2009 Federer-Roddick finals match was epic, this match is 10 times that magnitude. No matter who wins this match, Nicholas Mahut, and John Isner are winners. Thanks for displaying extraordinary tennis, and giving Wimbledon another chapter to it's already rich history.

A late congrats also to Federer's amazing come from behind win. Edited by: j41181

 

[icsept]

This marathon Isner match is a prime example of what is wrong with Wimbledon. 150 consecutive service holds? That's ridiculous. It's not even interesting when the server has that great of an adavantage.

 

[Don Wassall]

This marathon Isner match is a prime example of what is wrong with Wimbledon. 150 consecutive service holds? That's ridiculous. It's not even interesting when the server has that great of an adavantage.

Maybe so maybe not (many of the men and women players in the tournament were watching it with awe), but it's definitely one of the most remarkable athletic events ever, with both men showing amazing endurance, tenacity and will. Thankfully it wasn't two WGAs doing battle or they would have already been knighted as "Sirs" by the host country.

 

[JReb1]

I think it's better to let the players win the match this way instead of using a tiebreaker in the final set where luck will play such a big part of what has been a great match when it's in the 5th set. The better man/woman deserves/should win match not the luckier one IMO.

 

[j41181]

Congrats to both Isner and Mahut, that was epic! An Epic battle between two WHITE WARRIORS!

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Isner is a Southern fella too (born in NC, went to UGA, lives in FLA).

Edited by: DixieDestroyer

 

[Matra1]

Unfortunately, and quite predictably, Isner has gone out in straight sets in his 2nd round match. It was to be expected that whoever won the marathon match wouldn't be in good shape for the follow-up.

I see Federer struggled in his 2nd round match as well as the 1st.

 

[j41181]

4th round CASTE match between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.
The Queen of Scream vs. the G-----a.

 

[Don Wassall]

Marathon Wimbledon 1

Marathon Wimbledon 2

Ive been following tennis for years, never have I seen something like this. If the 2009 Federer-Roddick finals match was epic, this match is 10 times that magnitude. No matter who wins this match, Nicholas Mahut, and John Isner are winners. Thanks for displaying extraordinary tennis, and giving Wimbledon another chapter to it's already rich history.

The TennisChannel replayed the match tonight, every point shown in a condensed form with the timebetween pointsedited out, ala the way the NFL Network does with replays of football games. It was truly epic, a monumental athletic event between two gladiators who had no give in them. Just to have the stamina to play a 138 game set over a couple of days is phenomenal. There's really nothing to compare it to in other sports; it's like a 100 inning baseball game or a hockey game with 25 overtimesora football game with 40 quarters of OT.The closest thing I can think of that compares to it are the boxing matches of John L. Sullivan's day that had no set number of rounds, with bare-knuckled fighters going at it, sometimes for a very long time, until someone won. Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[Matra1]

Roddick lost to a Chinese player today and Serena beat Maria Sharapova.

Edited by: Matra1

 

[Matra1]

My tears in the last post were for Maria Sharapova - not Roddick. Watching him at his post-match press conference reminded me what a snotty brat he is.

 

[Kaptain]

Venus just lost to a Bulgarian!

 

[icsept]

Venus just lost to a Bulgarian!

Queue up the excuses.

 

[whiteathlete33]

I was just going to post that icesept!! You beat me to it! Here is an article.http://www.northjersey.com/sports/062910_Venus_Williams_stunned_in_Wimbledon_quaterfinals.html

 

[Don Wassall]

Wimbledon is the only grand slam event that Venus is still a genuine threat to win, so that's good news, though her sumo-sized younger sister is still going strong.

Clijsters was ousted by the Russian Vera Zvonareva. Two of the women's semifinalists are unseeded.

 

[Quiet Speed]

Post match interview with Tsvetana Pironkova:

http://www.wimbledon.org//en_GB/interactive/video/index.html?vf=media.wimbledon.org/2010/web/day08_pironkova_interview_512x288_800.mp4&amp;amp;cat=interviews

 

[Kaptain]

And the Williams sisters got beat in doubles by Vesnina and the girl that beat Clisters. Ba bye black sheep.

 

[Matra1]

Federer has struggled throughout this Wimbledon. Earlier in the tournament a few sports reporters in the UK suggested that the writing may be on the wall for Fed, that he's in decline. Now he's been knocked out in the QFs by Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. Edited by: Matra1

 

[icsept]

Roger is 28. He still has a couple of grand slam wins left in him. Agassi, Sampras and Connors all won in their early thirties. He will need to pick his spots, and get a good draw (i.e. last year's French with Nadal out.) We can't expect him to reach the finals in every grand slam event anymore.