Wimbledon 2013

[Quiet Speed]

Defending men’s champ Roger Federer (three seed) will be going for a record 8[SUP]th[/SUP] Wimbledon title. Currently he, Pete Sampras, and William Renshaw have seven titles. Renshaw’s titles happened in an era when the champion automatically played in the next year’s final. Last year Roger came to the net more than previous years and it paid off. He should use the same strategy this year. Guess what, Murray and Nadal are in his half of the draw. Tsonga is in there too, but Murray would meet Tsonga before a match with Federer.


With his draw, Novak Djokovic must feel like Willy Renshaw, he darn near has a clear shot to the final. There are guys who could make him sweat, though -- David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, and Juan Martin Del Potro.

 

[Matra2]

Djokovic definitely got a good draw. But right now Nadal is actually trailing two sets to love and is down a break early in the third against a Belgian, Steve Darcis, who is ranked #113 in the world. :icon_eek:

 

[amoeba man]

Federer has a great chance of winning Winbledon.He dosnt dominate anymore but his game is more suited to grass than any other surface and with Nadal going out the draw has opened up for him.I will be rooting for Federer but Murray and Djokovic will also be good winners.

 

[Quiet Speed]

Big upset, Maria Sharapova is out. Michelle Larcher De Brito, ranked 131 in the world, played a heck of a match. Of course, she is a better player than her ranking would indicate. She earned the victory by matching Maria stroke for stroke and then some. It was fun to watch, Maria saved five match points before losing. Azarenka pulled out with a knee injury suffered in the first round. That half of the draw is wide open now.

 

[Matra2]

And now Federer. Defeated by a Ukrainian, Sergiy Stakhovsky, in four sets. This might have been Roger's last chance to win a major. A shocking Wimbledon so far.

 

[foobar75]

And now Federer. Defeated by a Ukrainian, Sergiy Stakhovsky, in four sets. This might have been Roger's last chance to win a major. A shocking Wimbledon so far.

I would love to see another shocker on the women's side involving Serena Williams, but I'm afraid they should just hand her the trophy now.

Djokovic vs Murray looks to be the men's final, pending some other major upset.

 

[Matra2]

John McEnroe in Caste Whore mode today. Whilst lamenting the state of US men's tennis he said (paraphrasing here) "all our best athletes are playing basketball and football". After then referring to the Williams sisters and Sloane Stephens as great athletes he mentioned that he would like to recruit "kids from Harlem" to his new tennis academy. He then kind of caught himself and said he wanted black, yellow, white "kids from all over" but that was only added in at the end. It was clear from his initial references to football, basketball, the Williams sisters, Sloane, and Harlem that he had one demographic in mind.

For the first time in a century there are no American men in the third round at Wimbledon. Strange, I was sure Donald Young would make it.:icon_tongue:

 

[Westside]

Now I can really start to enjoy this tournament and summer.

Serena got beat! Guess she got a bad dose of PEDs

 

[Westside]

I would love to see another shocker on the women's side involving Serena Williams, but I'm afraid they should just hand her the trophy now.

Djokovic vs Murray looks to be the men's final, pending some other major upset.

Foobar75 Serena got beat. No one at this years Wimbelton is giving her anything except a request to go back home Mas pronto

 

[Awake in America]

John McEnroe in Caste Whore mode today. Whilst lamenting the state of US men's tennis he said (paraphrasing here) "all our best athletes are playing basketball and football". After then referring to the Williams sisters and Sloane Stephens as great athletes he mentioned that he would like to recruit "kids from Harlem" to his new tennis academy. He then kind of caught himself and said he wanted black, yellow, white "kids from all over" but that was only added in at the end. It was clear from his initial references to football, basketball, the Williams sisters, Sloane, and Harlem that he had one demographic in mind.

For the first time in a century there are no American men in the third round at Wimbledon. Strange, I was sure Donald Young would make it.:icon_tongue:

The Williams sisters were supposed to be the vanguard of a chocolate wave that would dominate tennis. Venus first won Wimbledon 13 years ago. They have been on the scene for quite a while. Where's the rest of the wave? Same for Tiger Woods.

 

[MilanClass]

John McEnroe in Caste Whore mode today. Whilst lamenting the state of US men's tennis he said (paraphrasing here) "all our best athletes are playing basketball and football". After then referring to the Williams sisters and Sloane Stephens as great athletes he mentioned that he would like to recruit "kids from Harlem" to his new tennis academy. He then kind of caught himself and said he wanted black, yellow, white "kids from all over" but that was only added in at the end. It was clear from his initial references to football, basketball, the Williams sisters, Sloane, and Harlem that he had one demographic in mind.

For the first time in a century there are no American men in the third round at Wimbledon. Strange, I was sure Donald Young would make it.:icon_tongue:

Yes, can someone explain me what's up with the state of tennis in this country? We used to produce some of the best players - Sampras, Agassi, Connors, etc. What happened? I know the rest of the world has gotten better but still....we probably have more tennis players than almost any other nation. Is it poor coaching or just less American kids picking up the game?

 

[frederic38]

Yes, can someone explain me what's up with the state of tennis in this country? We used to produce some of the best players - Sampras, Agassi, Connors, etc. What happened? I know the rest of the world has gotten better but still....we probably have more tennis players than almost any other nation. Is it poor coaching or just less American kids picking up the game?

some answers here milanclass:

http://www.castefootball.us/forums/showthread.php/12136-The-decline-of-tennis-in-the-USA

 

[Matra2]

Yes, can someone explain me what's up with the state of tennis in this country? We used to produce some of the best players - Sampras, Agassi, Connors, etc. What happened? I know the rest of the world has gotten better but still....we probably have more tennis players than almost any other nation. Is it poor coaching or just less American kids picking up the game?

Those reasons plus one other - the slowing of the courts. In the 90s men's tennis got pretty bad as it became all about the serve especially at Wimbledon where sometimes half a set would go by without a point lasting more than three shots. At the time tennis was divided with completely different winners and contenders for titles on grass and hard court tennis on the one hand and clay on the other. Andre Agassi was one of the few players under 6ft who played well on all surfaces in part because his amazing return of serve neutralised the tall big serving players who dominated everybody else on grass and hard court. When they decided to slow the courts (I think they also did something with the balls) it radically changed the game with few serve and volley players succeeding and baseline rally players, even short guys like Leyton Hewitt, dominating.

Who grew up in the 90s playing baseline tennis? Other than Hewitt only those who played mostly on clay. Even Federer who is at his weakest on clay was raised mostly playing on this surface. So did Djokovic and, I believe, Del Potro and, of course, all the Spanish and French players. With the exception of volleying playing on clay leads to the development of a wider range of tennis skills, including tactical aspects of the game. You rarely ever see a Spanish player just mindlessly bashing the ball back anywhere the way Andy Roddick did. Power isn't everything.

Who did NOT grow up in the 90s playing baseline-oriented clay court tennis? All the Americans. A guy like 6ft9 John Isner probably would've won a few majors in the 90s as would've Roddick. The US only has one clay court tournament on the ATP tour and apparently there are very few of these types of courts in all of the US. As much of a jerk as McEnroe is I remember him saying around 1996 that the US has to get some clay courts so young American players can add some variety to their game. Alas, no one listened to him and apparently there are no real prospects on the horizon.

 

[amoeba man]

Scottish braveheart Andy Murray does it winning Wimbledon beating Serb alpha man Novak Djokovic in the final.Im happy for Murray as he's suffered alot of heart break in finals.Its good to see him have a run of success.

 

[Quiet Speed]

Andy Murray is so complete now. Djokovic used to have the edge in fitness against almost anybody, Murray’s off the court training has put him on a par with Djokovic. Very much looking forward to the US Open.

 

[Quiet Speed]

On the women’s side, Sabine Lisicki went to pieces in the final – did not handle the moment well. Give Marion Bartoli her due, she played better and her ground strokes are nothing to sneeze at.

 

[TBProdigy]

On the women’s side, Sabine Lisicki went to pieces in the final – did not handle the moment well. Give Marion Bartoli her due, she played better and her ground strokes are nothing to sneeze at.

I missed the womens final but was absolutely shocked to see the score, Lisicki is so much better than that performance, one of the most talented female players on tour, however her mentality and temperament let her down sometimes.

Was glad to see Murray today, Murray is so good at what he does, only he needs to implement a little bit of a solid offense into his game and hell be golden. His rally play and ground strokes were superior to Djokovich's today, I didn't think i'd ever see that day.

 

[Matra2]

I wonder what would happen to a BBC commentator if he said Serena Williams is ugly?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...hn-Inverdale-mocks-Marion-Bartolis-looks.html

In addition to an apology I think he'd be fighting to keep his job.

Djokovic looked a bit sluggish against Murray in the men's final so I think that semi-final against Del Potro, the longest in Wimbledon history had an impact. That said Murray played the match of his life. There were dozens of occasions when he got the ball back to keep the rally alive when it looked like Djokovic had the point. It was an incredible defensive display by the Scot. It looks like all that south Florida fitness training that Murray does in the off season has paid off.

 

[Don Wassall]

Murray put everything into the match. If Djokovic had held him off and won the third set he would have gone on to to win as Murray seemed totally spent physically and mentally gutting out the third set.

Boris Becker is an awful commentator. His German accent is thicker than that of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Henry Kissinger. Normally German accents are taboo among commentators, but Becker has earned the CM lifetime achievement award due to his preference for black females, so he'll always have an announcing gig if he wants one.