Wimbledon 2014

[Matra2]

The draw has been held for this year's Wimbledon which begins on Monday 23 June.

Defending champ Andy Murray, who should now be back to his best after his back surgery, is on the same side of the draw as Novak Djokovic. So if both make it to the semi-final they'll play each other then. Dimitrov, Gulbis, and Berdych are potential quarter final opponents for the big two.

Federer and Nadal are in the other half of the draw. Last year both men went out at the earliest in their careers. Nadal also went out in the 2nd round the previous year. Even though he's won the tournament twice grass is the Spaniard' worst surface. If he can get past the first week when the ball bounces lower and faster on the grass he should be OK to get the semi-final. Realistically, Wimbledon is the only major Federer can still win, if even that. So the two of them could meet in the SF but Fed would likely have to get past Wawrinka in the QF.

I don't care too much about the women's side but i did note that some US media are claiming the All England Club has snubbed Serena. Again. Read all about it:

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/06/serena-williams-wimbledon-draw-tough-2014

 

[PamelaOC]

Serena is entitled to the honor, because...uh, slavery 200 years ago. The typical left-wing belief system, anything but the highest praise and worship for their beloved Saint Serena is a racist snub.

LOL @ "brutal draw." Is that their way of saying that all those white players are better than her?

 

[Freethinker]

The corporate sports media's 2nd favorite female player, Sloane Stephens, was knocked out of Wimbledon already. To make matters worse for the Marxists, the lovely and Russian (you know, the "bad guys") Maria Kirilenko was the woman to do it. Ouch!

Happy Monday everyone.

 

[schwefelgezwerg]

It was great to see Stephens lose in the first round. I hope fat Taylor Townsend follows tomorrow, and of course Unserene Williams. Venus got through but I doubt she will go far.

The "German" player Dustin Brown also lost against Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. Great to see him out after the libtard hype he has received following his victory over hapless Nadal in Halle two weeks ago.

In other good news, Jürgen Melzer is currently up two sets to one against Tsonga. This one could still go either way because Melzer is a bit of a choker, but I'd love to see the Austrian send him back to the Congo. Hard to see anyhting other than a five set match.

Donald Young, the USTA's favourite wildcard choice, has just lost the first set against Benjamin Becker.

 

[PamelaOC]

The corporate sports media's 2nd favorite female player, Sloane Stephens, was knocked out of Wimbledon already. To make matters worse for the Marxists, the lovely and Russian (you know, the "bad guys") Maria Kirilenko was the woman to do it. Ouch!

Happy Monday everyone.

I thought the Russians were good because they loved their children too. Did they stop? Ask that to a Russia-bashing gay-worshipping anti-white and watch their hypocritical head explode.

 

[Matra2]

With the World Cup on I haven't watched much Wimbledon this week. Looking over the scores though I see Taylor "my body is a total gift" Townsend was eliminated in the first round.

Djokovic plays a struggling Tsonga (who usually plays well at Wimbledon) in the next round.

There don't appear to have been any upsets thus far.

 

[Don Wassall]

Not exactly an upset, but Petra Kvitova just outslugged Venus Williams, winning a close three set third round match.

 

[icsept]

With the World Cup on I haven't watched much Wimbledon this week. Looking over the scores though I see Taylor "my body is a total gift" Townsend was eliminated in the first round.

I see she begged her way to a wildcard entry into Wimbledon and promptly bombed out. Hopefully she quickly fades into tennis oblivion because I can't stand another drama queen negress - this one crying about persecution because she's obese.

 

[Quiet Speed]

No. 2 Li Na was knocked off by Barbora Zahlavova Strycova from the Czech Republic. That pretty much opens up the bottom half of the draw. Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and even Caroline Wozniacki could reached the finals. The other half has some interesting match ups tomorrow. I’ll strictly be watching the Ana Ivanovic – Sabine Lasicki match for the tennis only as both of the ladies are unattractive.opcorn: Maria Sharapova meets young American Alison Riske who could be Eugenie Bouchard's sister if you look at the two. Bouchard also plays tomorrow. She’ll meet Andrea Petkovic.

 

[Matra2]

She’ll meet Andrea Petkovic.

Petkovic fancies herself as an intellectual and a feminist. I hope she loses.

 

[Don Wassall]

Petkovic fancies herself as an intellectual and a feminist. I hope she loses.

The feminist loses to Bouchard. Meantime, Brutus Williams is in a three set battle against Cornet of France. Bouchard plays the winner of that one.

 

[Don Wassall]

Alize Cornet comes back to beat Brutus, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4!

Three Grand Slam events in 2014, three early exits for Williams. She was winded and poorly conditioned, as usual, wailing away at the ball with no tempo or smooth movement.

 

[Matra2]

That's good news. Serena wants to catch Martina and Chrissie with 18 slams (she has 17). Then Helen Wills-Moody at 19. Steffi Graf has 22 and Margaret Court has the most with 24. At the end of last year tennis pundits were saying it was only a matter of time before Serena surpasses Evert and Navritilova and then works towards catching the rest. I'm wondering now if she's nearly done. She should still get to 18 and maybe more but I can't see her catching Graf now.

 

[foobar75]

That's good news. Serena wants to catch Martina and Chrissie with 18 slams (she has 17). Then Helen Wills-Moody at 19. Steffi Graf has 22 and Margaret Court has the most with 24. At the end of last year tennis pundits were saying it was only a matter of time before Serena surpasses Evert and Navritilova and then works towards catching the rest. I'm wondering now if she's nearly done. She should still get to 18 and maybe more but I can't see her catching Graf now.

Serena's long awaited demise is finally here, I think. We've had a couple of false alarms over the past few years, only to watch her bounce back and win majors, but it feels different this time.

2014 looks like a wash now, and I do not expect her to win the US Open. She will be 33 next year, and I don't care who you are, that is old in tennis terms, especially for someone not known for her work ethic and fitness regimen. Younger, hungrier players should be able to step up now and these losses will become less shocking. To be honest, Serena has been past her prime for a few years but the failure of any of the European women to step up as consistent challengers meant that even at 80%, she was good enough to win.

It's not all that dissimilar to what's happening with Woods. We will start witnessing a steady decline, but ideally, I want someone like Sharapova or one of the new young players to step up and win at least 2 majors in one year, instead of a revolving door of one time winners. Luckily, the new crop of American "stars", including that obese negress Townsend do not appear to be ready for prime-time, now or ever.

 

[amoeba man]

Rafa Nadal looks strong in this tournament.He looked spent after winning the French and i thought he would go out early like the past couple of years but he's playing very well.Nadal is up there with Klitschko as the most dominant athlete in the world.He's now on 14 majors and is closing in on Federer's 17.Had it not been for injuries he may have won even more.

 

[schwefelgezwerg]

Williams does seem to be past it. The only real weapon she has is her first serve, which can win her a lot of cheap points when it works. If she has to play rallies against talented players who are not intimidated by her name and reputation (their number will increase the more often she loses), the odds are that she will lose, as Muguruza, Cornet, Ivanovic and Cepelova others have demonstrated this year. She isn't agile (athletic) enough and has too little variation in her game. If not for a minor choke by Cornet, the second set in the match yesterday would've been a bagel.

I agree about Nadal. He hasn't looked this good on grass since 2011. It's a mystery that he played so badly in his match against Dustin Clown in Halle a few weeks ago. He plays Kyrgios in the next round, who will be eager to make a name for himself. With his big serve, there is a chance that Nadal will be stuck in another 4+ set match.

I have a feeling Cilic might give us a great match against Djokovic in a few days, assuming they both win the fourth round matches. He's played Djokovic twice this year and taken the first set both times. He played some superb tennis to take out Bredych in straight sets a few days ago. Given that he is better on grass than outdoor hardcourts and clay, and that grass is Djokovic's worst surface, he will have some confidence going into the quarter final. I just hope we don't get another boring Chardy/Djokovic match. I like Chardy's game (his match with Matosevic was one of the best in this tournament so far) but he has been easily routined in all of their previous grand slam matches. He doesn't trouble Djoker at all. Cilic does, and he will be motivated to pick up a lot of points here to ameliorate his ranking after his "doping" ban.

 

[Matra2]

Cilic has improved a lot lately, especially his serve.

Meanwhile on Centre Court the Djoker is mercilessly spanking Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 63 64 22 in the third. The all-white crowd is fully behind Tsonga, even applauding Djokovic's occasional mistakes.

 

[schwefelgezwerg]

Djokovic is having a go at the crowd for supporting Tsonga, fist-pumping after winning routine points on his own serve. Legend. His level is dropping right now though. Too many sloppy errors. A fourth set wouldn't surprise me.

I'd be willing to bet that half of these people are cheering for Tsonga because they're scared of Djokovic potentially playing Murray in the semis. A far more formidable opponent than Tsonga, who Murray has beaten fairly easily in all four of their grass meetings (he's never lost to Djoker on this surface either, but even casual followers know that he is better at adapting his game than one-dimensional Tsonga). That aside, there must be a fair number of neutrals in the crowd who want a match instead of another predictable straight-set result. It doesn't justify rooting for the Congoid over the Serb, but I guess they want their money's worth. The worst crowd I've seen was the Jew York crowd at the US Open last year, rooting for monkey Monfils over American #1 John Isner. Shameless and disgraceful.

Cilic had some brilliant stats in his match today. 33 aces and 59 winners. Only 15 unforced errors. 15/20 points won at the net. He will be a serious threat if he can maintain that level in the quarter-final. The only weakness is his second serve, which Djokovic will be able to exploit better than Berdych and Chardy could.

 

[schwefelgezwerg]

...aaaand Djokovic wins! Amazing return winner on match point. That really is a killer backhand, whether he takes it crosscourt or down the line. Great reaction from Djokovic, too, giving it to the crowd for their churlish behaviour.

Tsonga was peaking in the last six or seven games. His peak game is almost entirely centered around his serve. As soon as he missed the first serve on match point, he was done. If Djokovic gets the ball back into the court with interest, there is nothing Tsonga can do to win the point. He would've been broken earlier in the tiebreak if he hadn't benefited from a lucky dead netcord (also in a second serve rally).

Can't wait for the match with Cilic. Go Hrvatska!

 

[Don Wassall]

Genie Bouchard beats Cornet in two tough sets and methodically advances on the grass at Wimbledon after reaching the semis on the hard court at the Australian and the clay at the French. It's been a long time since women's tennis has had a dominant White player; Bouchard still has a ways to go but it's certainly possible that she can become the number one ranked player and stay there for a while given that she's only 20. And needless to say she is very easy on the eyes.

 

[schwefelgezwerg]

Sharapova lost against Kerber today. A great match - huge fighting from both players at the end, with Sharapova fending off six match points before finally succumbing. Kerber vs Bouchard in the quarter-final, with the winner playing either Halep or Lisicki in the semi. Those should be two good matches, though Lisicki seems in less than pristine condition right now, hitting 20+ double faults in her fourth round match. I hope she recovers in time for Halep.

Venus and Serena Williams just retired from their doubles match in the second round. Apparently Serena hit four double faults in a row before giving up.

 

[Quiet Speed]

Nadal is in the battle of his life, down 2 sets to 1 against the Greek – Malaysian from Australia, Nick Kyrgios.

 

[Matra2]

Wow! Rafa is out! I didn't see the match and haven't seen much of Wimbledon due to the World Cup but Rafa had been losing a set in just about every match this year.

 

[Matra2]

I'm right. He lost a set in each of the first three rounds. Highly unusual for Nadal or any of the top players.

 

[schwefelgezwerg]

Kyrgios was very impressive. He just played balls-out aggressive tennis, clutch throughout the whole match, playing with the belief that he will win. 37 aces, 70 winners. His biggest weakness is his woeful net play. Almost every volley was planted into the net, including routine sitters. He can generate enough power to win winners from the baseline, but his poor net skills could be exposed by a player with more variety than Nadal.

It is great to see a teenager stepping up while he is still young. First he came back from 0-2 to beat Gasquet, saving nine match points. Now he beats Nadal. Alas for him, he only managed to break Nadal's serve once in the whole match, and his next opponent is Raonic. I doubt he will break down Raonic's serve if he returns like he did today. Raonic has improved so much over the past year with Piatti and Ljubicic in his team, so I expect him to reach the semi-final.

I hope this will get Cilic and Dimitrov pumped to pull off similar upsets against Djokovic and Murray tomorrow.

It's hard to see a better opportunity for Federer to get #18.