WIMBLEDON 2014

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BqQjBvBCcAAWKcC.jpg

(Also, qualy draws are out)

Truly an image for the ages.

Troll Tennis sounds like a content farm for the ages

for no reason whatsoever i watched a whole embedded video of dimitrov being asked vapid questions yesterday, not sure whether it was filmed before or after he won the thing but his patience was impressive

gulbis for the championship, of course

coral offering an impresive 33/1......

Gulbis's endearing idiosyncrasies tipped with thudding inevitability into outright misogyny in the past month

"such a character, at least he's not like the others" m8 he revealed himself to be as run-of-the-mill as you get

dont find him particularly interesting in terms of 'personality' although he is probably less boring and more unpleasant than most, but for being latvian, for being stylistically heterodox and most importantly for being a formerly hyped kid who looked like he would amount to nothing, these are all good reasons to support him

those are all the reasons I did support him!

I probably won't be mad if he makes another run but ehhhhhh ATP sexists need to gtfo

Gulbis is def dead to me. We did have an on court atp/wta proposal today, in more harmonious news.

hmmn im just reading these last quotes by gulby they are really stupid
i suppose i will enjoy him failing miserably now as well as being successful, please let it be one or the other not a respectable 4th rnd loss or whatever

Love Murray to win one more slam, like that he has chosen Mauresmo so that team ftw!

Excellent Judy Murray interview in the paper today. Very intelligent, always switched on.

I said this before on the RG thread but I still think that e.g. Tsonga's comments were much worse than Gulbis'. Of course that's not an excuse, but it's weird to me that people were so quick to condemn Ernests while still supporting someone like Jo.

I didn't even see what Tsonga said.

Here's an article with direct quotes. This all happened a year ago, though.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/2013/01/23/jo-wilfried-tsonga-women-unstable-emotionally/1858055/

Oh, I thought he said something about the Murray/Mauresmo coaching relationship. (I still had never seen those quotes, that I remember anyway)

ATP sexists need to gtfo

sadly, there'd prob only be about 10% of the ATP left.

I've always been a fan of Gulbis' game but never had any doubt that he'd be an asshole off-court - I mean, dude's big scandal before this was for soliciting a prostitute and pretending he had been duped about it, so I don't think he ever had much respect for women even before his recent statements. Gave up seriously supporting him long ago but won't be too mad if he suddenly decides to get good at tennis. I feel similarly about Tsonga.

either way, this is the year I switch rooting interests - I dislike Murray's game but want him to win so badly just to shut up everyone who gave him crap about hiring Mauresmo.

I think at the time I tried to pretend Tsonga came across worse than he intended because of the language barrier. Which is probably foolish (cf Hingis in 1999). Simon is actually the real conflict for me because I really do love his game, which is so unique - like, if I give up Tsonga or Gulbis I have plenty of other bashers to support, but Simon's one of a kind. And as Roz says there's the suspicion that the ones who've wisely kept their mouths shut are probably as bad or worse. So, reason enough to support the vocal non-sexists like Murray, Kukushkin and...er...Stepanek!

I really want great things out of Murresmo and everything about it has probably reignited my support of Murray to an even greater degree. Win it all, I don't even care about the BBC's idiot nationalism any more.

Murray's forehand bothers me. Logically I know there's nothing wrong with it but it somehow looks 'off' to me so I can't root for him. Nadal takes too long in between points so he's out. Nole used to really annoy with the ball bounce thing but it's not as bad now. I guess my support will futilely go to monfils. Find the women more interesting, lots to support there.

I actually have no idea who will win this. I guess out of the big 4 I would pick Fed over Murray which seems kind of ridiculous.

How much shit has Murray got for hiring Mauresmo? Couple of comments here and there but not much?

I went to qualifying yesterday. Reiterate that if you're able to go it's free and a SPLENDID day out. Quality tennis, quality drama. Report: http://unforcederrani.tumblr.com/post/89090511977/wimbledon-2014-qualifying-report-day-2

Not going today but intend to go tomorrow for the final rounds.

Missed 16-yr-old GBR WC Gabriella Taylor whomping former top 30 player Arvidsson 1 and 3!

I didn't put this in the report but Allie Kiick, who was one of the worst-behaved players we saw all day, was previously mostly notable for RTing the charming sentiment that "I hope all Obama supporters get AIDS" a few years ago. She's the daughter of some millionaire US athlete. I was there with two people who regularly tutor rich kids and the sentiment that money can't buy manners was expressed more than once.

Went to the final rounds of qualifying as well, splendid again: http://unforcederrani.tumblr.com/post/89296427392/wimbledon-2014-qualifying-report-day-4

Draw ceremonies under way now. NIGHTMARE draw for Nadal - Klizan in R1, potential Rosol rematch in R2, potential Karlovic match in R3. If he navigates all of those massive hitters, Gasquet or Monfils in R4 will probably be his easiest pre-QF match

nice draw for nadal lol

That one quarter on the women's side is pretty tough

that whole women's top half even

Potential Errani/Pironkova R2 on grass could be interesting.

Potential Giorgi vs Sharapova R3, can I dare dream?

Vinci vs Vekic and Rybarikova vs Bencic, youngsters vs experienced grass-courters (who haven't had the best years)...

Puig has had Keys' measure on clay, whoever wins that gets Townsend (if she upsets Koukalova) in R2...and then JaJa (if she gets past her nightmare R2, Shvedova or one of the Pliskova servebots) (Kanepi in R1 is probably not a threat this year)

Niculescu vs Van Uytvanck is the Finesse Special R1 on the women's side

The White Mug had BETTER deal with Vandeweghe better than she did this week in 's-Hertogenbosch. Nothing in tennis, not even Ma$ha's RG, has me as pressed as Coco fucking Vandeweghe actually starting to find success on Tour. I don't know how anyone can support her.

Betting on Hantuchova vs Bouchard getting Centre Court billing for the senile old white men to wank over?

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/80687504/a-handy-guide-to-keeping-sexism-out-of-womens-tennis-coverage#!1iIQg

*applause*

omg you guys, Wertheim's women's seed report for Wimbledon made me lololol for a good five minutes even before he (maybe he's trolling) put in Julia Goerges as a potential SFist, omg I can't at that really now

jesus it's like he's predicting Wimbledon 2010 or something, instead of based on any of the players' current form (and even then the Goerges pick is just baffling).

when did he get so bad, or was he always this awful and I hadn't noticed? Haven't read anything by him in a couple of years though i can't remember why i stopped.

Excellent article. Attributing the higher number of service breakdowns in the women's game to a basic physical difference between men and women is not something I was aware of actually. How true is that? Serena's (and Lisicki when she beat her iirc) can be very consistent and hard to break

Lets stop the grunt complaints on the thread. Thanks.

it's pretty logical that it would be true. the difference between serve speed of men & women is obv larger than the difference in ground speed wrt return of serve, height also enables men to get better angles on the serve which increases margin for error and allows for spin and stuff.

re #9, i've noticed bet365 refer to the mens and womens tournaments as e.g. 'Wimbledon 2014' and 'Wimbledon 2014 Womens', so unnecessary and infuriating.

great article

Promise to make no grunt complaints AFTER THIS POST

Fuck the grunters.

There.

Maybe telling that Lisicki and Serena are among the fastest servers.

Fantasy Tennis over at the wimbledon site. Anyone trying this out?

tsrobodo - what do you mean?

Just noting that if speed of serve is a factor in the amount of service breaks, then it maybe goes some way to explaining why fast servers like Serena and Lisicki are tough to break.

ah right yeah...maybe

I've always tried to ensure my grunt complaints are aimed equitably! *stares hard at Granollers*

Wertheim's Goerges pick is just...even at her best she was useless on grass, there's a really obvious technical reason for that (long takeback on the FH, her main weapon; heavy topspin FH doesn't have as much impact on grass) (this is also why Stosur's weaponry is blunted on grass, yet every year we have to put up with commentators making the basic "grass court skillz = big serve" connection and wondering why Stosur's never had a result of note on it AAARGH). I mean, Goerges is not a new player, how can a professional tennis journalist get something so basic so wrong? Ah yes, he called Cirstea a finesse player at RG o_0

The Keys/Kerber Eastbourne final yesterday was superb, I thought. So weird to think that Keys got thrashed by Babos just the week previously.

Gonna try the fantasy Wimbledon thing out today if I grab a moment, looks interestingly different but it's only relevant to the top players I think...

predix!

S.Williams d. Bouchard
Kerber d. Giorgi
Halep d. Diyas
Keys d. Ivanovic
Muguruza d. Safarova
A.Radwanska d. Pironkova
Kvitova d. Stephens
Li d. Wozniacki

S.Williams d. Kerber
Halep d. Keys
Muguruza d. A.Radwanska
Kvitova d. Li

S.Williams d. Halep
Kvitova d. Muguruza

S.Williams d. Kvitova

Djokovic d. Youzhny
Gulbis d. Cilic
Murray d. Anderson
Dimitrov d. Brown
Lopez d. Istomin
Federer d. Hewitt
Raonic d. Nishikori
Nadal d. Gasquet

Djokovic d. Gulbis
Dimitrov d. Murray
Federer d. Lopez
Raonic d. Nadal

Djokovic d. Dimitrov
Federer d. Raonic

Djokovic d. Federer

I don't even believe half of those latter rounds, they just...happened. A lot of vulnerable seeds have easy draws in that last women's quarter. Really, Watson/Kerber could decide a QFist (if Giorgi does her job). I guess Lisicki won't be beating the RG champ this year. Went with form to pick Lopez but surely he's exhausted? Wawrinka probably has the real nightmare draw if he's still feeling the pressure. Everyone inc me went "oooooh" at Nadal's draw but it's probably just the sort of thing he actually comes through. If Muguruza loses to Vandeweghe again I shall rampage in anger

I will do cartwheels and dance and sing if Federer OR Kvitova even make the QFs. I guess neither can complain about their draw.

Kimiko off to a blazing start <3

Oh my god a new low in camera angles on that court though

Kirilenko playing a lot better than I thought she would. Stephens as lacklustre as ever

KDK tried to choke from 5-0 and then 5-1 40-0 up but has finally stumbled her way to the first set

That thing Kirilenko is wearing, what in the actual fuck. It's like the bottom two layers of a wedding cake.

red button isn't working for me, don't have access to a computer, seems like bbc2 are just gonna show sue barker schmoozing all day. nightmare

Stephens' second serve is hilariously bad and the grass still being slick means Kirilenko actually is doing legit damage with her forehand.

Crazy end to the Stephens/Kirilenko match. Kirilenko wins her sixth MP, Stephens' streak of OK-sort-of Slam consistency comes to an end.

That first MP save was lololol. Kirilenko actually played well tho her transition game was pretty lousy there.

Er, the first SP save. It was I think the fourth MP save that was the funny one.

Nice to see Lucic can still smack the crap out of the ball. Not so nice to see her attempt a drop-shot.

Kirilenko actually played well tho her transition game was pretty lousy there.

I thought her volleys were weirdly dire, given that they used to be one of her actual strengths. Returns were on point though, she's never used that BH DTL return with such purpose.

Makarova/Date-Krumm was a tremendous match, yet another tremendous epic match that Kimiko lost ;_;

Nice to see Ana Konjuh win her first Slam match with a bagel in the third over Erakovic!

Not nice to see Verdasco fuck up against that moron Matosevic.

Nice to see Lucic-Baroni get that set against Azarenka! Keep it up! 15-year anniversary over her Wim SF run!

Er, she didn't get that set yet. First day of a Slam always scrambles my brain

Mirjana blows three SPs and gives the game away on a shitty challenge :(

:((((((((

can someone I like please win a match, any match

Henman: "Earlier I was asked who I thought the best volleyer in the top 100 is"
McEnroe: "I'll tell you what my answer to that would be...RAFA NADAL"

Surely this can't happen too often. Meusburger wins 12 straight games against King, yet neither set is a bagel (she won them from 0-5 down in the first; at 5-0 up in the second, King won three games)

lol @ Sloane, when I saw she was playing Kirilenko I knew she was toast

really bbc, the best you can do his a nole virtual walkover?

yassss so glad that twat Evans lost, love Andrey Kuznetsov's BH
simultaneous Kuznetsov drama!

Fognini/Kuznetsov = v appealing to watch for me. PS I am incredibly shallow.

Muguruza saved 13 MPs against Vandeweghe only to lose the match with two consecutive DFs ;______;

SO ANNOYED at Vandeweghe winning any matches

Hi from the Wimbledon queue! Gonna see Bencic later

She's in my fantasy team

hi does anyone know how court 3 ticketing works? I've got court 3 tickets for tomorrow (!) but it's also open to grounds pass people right? are only half the seats ticketed or is that under the assumption that people won't wanna sit there all day?
never been to Wimbledon before

Klizan about to serve for the 1st set

Nadal played a terrific first point, gets it to 0-30 but Klizan plays aggressive to win the 1st

lololol this doesn't get old <3

that DF shank to get broken!

those wasted break chances will bite him in the ass

Nadal did play really well to break again in the 3rd - expecting to pull through now.

Bouchard about to start in court 1

ugh Sweta lost to De Brito??

Bepa ;o

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bq6nM2aCMAMO4gh.png

just saw that Victoria Duval won ^_^

Had an excellent day yesterday, much better than the overcrowded and stressful day I had in 2013. Not sure why the crowds seemed less intense this year but grateful for it. Report - http://unforcederrani.tumblr.com/post/89847620832/wimbledon-2014-report-day-2

Virginia Wade is so pressed about how rich, successful and likeable Li Na is.

stakhovsky took the first set against gulbis, pretty cool match

Nara playing really well vs Venus

I post that and she immediately loses six points in a row from 4-1 up in the TB, ugh

...and Gulbis goes down a break in the second. Def thought this might be an upset with Gulbis struggling so much vs Zopp in R1

I don't know or care much about the actual tennis but who are the hottest female players to look out for this year?

Virginia Wade

Stakhovsky celebrates the one-year anniversary of his Federer upset by upsetting the man who upset Federer at RG. I wish we didn't know Stakhovsky was a dick, he doesn't seem like it on court

Is Bepa really serious about this comeback? I thought she'd abandoned it...

A-Rad does her best to choke set 1 v Casey Delinquent but ultimately can't...starts set 2 better and you already have the impression CD is hanging on for dear life.

Stakhovsky is fun to watch on a fast court, good to see him defending his points.

my god this bepa match is hilariously awful

Actually, the Radwanska/Dellacqua match started out really well, the first four games were wonderful. Then Dellacqua was horrible for a few games, then Radwanska was horrible for a few games, and then the default asserted itself.

If Bepa loses this I think we can be sure she's done.

She fought through

Bepa looked psychotic at the handshake and she _won_. If she'd lost, I reckon the entire crowd would have run in terror.

Murray monstering some poor sod called Rola (R-O-L-A Rola)

Tuning in just to see Chardy choke against that twat Matosevic -_-

The local tissues have got 'behind' Marinko lately, telling us what a good fellow he is, not at all the obnoxious clot we'd all assumed.... spose yeah, he is Likeable Simon from Get Smart next to the likes of Tomic.

Matosevic is a bit of a dick, but I did kind of have sympathy for him when his "supporters" kept calling him a nickname he has previously said he hates. Ugh, the tendency to assume that people are OK with nicknames shits me no end, so I felt for him for that one moment. Not at other times!

chardy/matosevic are hitting some massive groundstrokes

I LOVE YOU FOREVER PETRA, PLEASE WIN

So much frustration rn. Kuznetsov played so well at the end of that set and blew 4 SPs only for Ferrer to outgrind him in the TB. Then you have Chardy choking every BP opportunity against Matosevic, who is even more dislikeable than Tomic because he doesn't even have the excuse of a fucked-up family, only to tamely surrender his own serve. UGHHHHH

Matosevic declaring that he's no politically correct = warning sign of the worst type of human in existence. TWAT

YASSSSSSS Chardy won anyway and Matosevic is out

and Kuznetsov was just inspired to peak even higher in the second set :D

I'd never watched Kuznetsov play before, how is he ranked outside the top 100? Such lovely groundstrokes.

I've been high on his game for a while, saw him in qualies a few years ago. Have assumed that despite his awesome groundstrokes, it's his relatively slight build holding him back from really establishing himself in the top 100

Was he skinnier before? His game reminds me of Cilic a bit.

Yeah...he's still skinny compared to most of the top men though (and without the height of a Raonic or Delpo or Cilic to compensate). Similar to Goffin's problem, really

Kuznetsov practically hobbling but refusing to go away... nice. Think Ferrer might still take it though.

Aahh excellent net approach and Kuznetsov breaks to open the fifth!

fearless stuff

Some peak Berdych FHs in that TB

Q. Obviously England football is out of the World Cup now. Do you feel you are now giving British sports fans something to cheer about?

ANDY MURRAY: No. I'm here to do my thing. I don't think that the English football team get asked about me in their press conferences. So I'd appreciate it if that wasn't brought up when I was playing because I'm yet to hear Wayne Rooney talk about my matches at Wimbledon. I don't think it's fair.
THE MODERATOR: I agree.

:D

Every time I think Kuznetsov's out of gas he's come back, but Ferrer's defence is JUST SO TOUGH

Huge returns and Kuznetsov will serve for the match! Loving this.

like. a. boss.

Terrific upset. Limping to the net even!

Did not expect having choked from 4-1 vs Azza that at 4-4 30-30 it'd be BoJo to smack that awesome FH winner

BoJo also holds an epic service game at 5-5...

LMAO, 46 76 76 61 is such a Tomic scoreline to lose by

Jovanovski's mental peak, those last two games. Props.

currently rooting for Smitkova

Smitkova is GREAT. Saw her in qualies, she absolutely smacks the ball. Should be ranked a lot higher than she is.

She took the first set against Coco, thank god

I pretty much blame Muguruza entirely for making Coco happen. Two losses within one week smh

Meanwhile, Ana Konjuh has taken the second set off Wickmayer 6-2 :D And she's dominating it tbh. Wickmayer can't touch her serve.

stepanek giving djokovic a scare here. novak looking like he's getting he yips almost

haha stepanek with the demonstrative challenge

whoa did djokovic concede the point to stepanek after the challenge??

classy move. takes the game anyway

Christ. Ten deuces, seven break points, Konjuh finally breaks back. Wickmayer looks livid

haha hawkeye shows stepanek's serve to be out after chalk clearly flew up

wow there have been some real sitters missed by both players

Konjuh never looked back after that epic game. Banging down aces and return winners like it was nothing, especially if it was a big point.

Vandeweghe lost to Smitkova, thank god. Yet again, she refused to shake the umpire's hand - how many times in her career is this now? I feel like I hear about this at least three times per month. God, her rise is so regrettable *stares at Garbiñe*

today was amazing. felt about 10 years old again.
someone lent us centre court tickets for Djokovic match (right at the back in almost complete darkness) and that was great but also kind of the worst bit of the day cos it felt so claustrophobic and detached from the rest of Wimbledon. I'm just gonna come down to London and queue next year if I don't tickets, not sure why I haven't done that before

:)

slightly surprised that between the ATP Young Prospect vs French Headcase match-ups, Vesely's repping youth better. Great TB from him whereas Kyrgios/Gasquet is a damp squib

(I am all prepared for today's big REMATCHES of past glorious Wim upsets, Rosol/Nadal and Zheng/Ivanovic, to also fall flat)

OK, Monfils tanking now, lol

Rosol can't possibly beat Rafa again.

I don't think so either but we can hope, for the next 10 mins or so

An "explanation" of sorts from Monfils: http://sport360.com/article/international/22701/nadal-banishes-wimbledon-ghosts-en-route-700th-tour-win

French No24 seed Gael Monfils won a bizarre match against Arab No1 Malek Jaziri where the Frenchman continuously made conversation with his box, moaning about his shots, joking with them as well as with umpire Mohamed Lahyani, before advancing 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-4.

The former world No7 gave an inconsistent performance where he would tank several points before hitting four aces in a row. Jaziri was up 3-1 in the first set and 4-1 in the second but was unable to bring his best serving when it mattered.

“I was just talking about some stuff, like funny stuff,” said Monfils of the conversations he was having during the match. “On grass it is never easy for me. I'm very relaxed. I'm just the coolest than ever on grass.

“Then it’s hard for me to play like solid tennis because I can't move. I don't feel comfortable. So I try to play just some part of the match. It was fun, so it's good for me.”

Rosol started ok, couple of dumb approach shots allowing Rafa to make an easy pass.

lmao, Vesely choked and let Monfils back into the match anyway

0-30 with a thundering FH on Nadal's serve.

what a challenge..

DF, two BPs

Breaks in the end!!

!!!!!!

a long way to go but !!!!!!!

this rematch is not falling flat..

Rosol should play Nadal in all the slams ever.

Peak rosoling to serve it out :DDDD

Dismissive of Nadal's serve straight away in the 2nd.

lol at that netcord past the baseline.

This is monstrous so far - can he keep this up?

He can - 3BPs

Broken to love.

C'MONNNN

I mean, only the sliced serve to Rosol's BH gives nadal a chance - nowhere near enough right now.

Reasonable chance for Rafa to make Rosol hit a volley - in the net

Rosol not finding 1st serves so interesting.

I'm guessing this is what 2012 was like? I missed that - v appreciative of this little reprise so far

Rafa doing everything..

Breaks back with some really good play.

It was nice while it lasted :(

Rosol can still string 'em so if he can get that serve working again and in a tie break..

Tie break.

Nadal favourite no doubt. He is now more into the Rosol serve.

COME ON!

Winner on the run

6-6. Can't believe Rafa can't lose this..

can lose I mean..

DF man

welp

why couldn't he play like thrash from the start instead of raising our hopes like this!

Too much simuldrama atm

Monfils/Vesely and Gasquet/Kyrgios going into fifth sets

Rosol choking that TB lead and that DF ;_;

Diyas taking the TB 14-12 on her ninth SP over CSN

aaaahhhh

Rosol has balls of steel. How many players would even have made it into a tie-break from 5-6, or actually won the first game of the third set?

Prob worth remembering that Rosol did it in five from a set down in 2012

Kyrgios has saved six MPs vs Gasquet so far. Fifth one was called a DF but he was saved by a Hawkeye overrule

Really impressed by Vesely gutting out the win over Monfils after all of Gael's antics

Diyas is a mental rock. Not just the first set - completely lost track of how many deuces that 4-4 game on CSN's serve went to, and she won it with another big return

Then she lost her serve from 30-0 up, sob

Kyrgios saves another MP

SIMULDRAMA DAY

Ah c'mon Kyrgios! Basically the only Australian player who's not a shithead

Also Gasquet is a wimp and isn't sexy anymore.

kyrg!

9 MPs that's crazy

Kyrgios was 1mm from losing on a DF, lol. Had to save MPs in every service game from 4-5 and then served out to love. LOL @ Wuss obv.

Diyas vs CSN is such a ridiculously tight match, I swear I've seen neither win more than two pts in a row

some super rallies in Watson/Kerber, Watson really has improved her attacking tennis - FH is unrecognisable

would not have expected bepa to beat vekic

This Janowicz chap seems fun

Even if he's a total gru-

Bepppppppppppppppppppppppppa

happy for Bepa and she played much better than in R1 (not hard) but eesh, Vekic seems to take one step forward and two steps back, this is the kind of match she needs to win

gonna be on No 1 court today ^_^ except the forecast -_-

and I was slightly surprised that they didn't put Konjuh/Wozniacki on No 1, seemed like the obvious pick of today's women's R3s after Petra/Venus.

also I have been VERY RESTRAINED this year but the fucking football has been siphoning off stupid amounts of attention from Wimbledon this year. Judging everyone who prefers it very hard indeed

lol thank you for your restraint because THE MOMENT a match starts I switch over from Wimbledon!

But today its the first day of no WC so I would be able to see more. Except aargh I have a load of other shit to do because I would try not to do it because of the WC.

THE MOMENT a match starts I switch over from Wimbledon!

EVEN if it's Zarina Diyas????????? ;_;

irl I have just taken the policy that if anyone breathes a word about football in conversation with me I am just going to respond by talking about tennis with no explanation

i'm generally pro World Cup but not a fan when i'm trying to find red button tennis and it's just giving me Ghana-Portugal

I judge that to be ok, as long as its not done in anger. xp

It's definitely done in anger -_-

;-)

sportlemon is listing 'Zahlavova Strycova' as a match along with 'Halep-Tsurenko' etc.
would watch tbh

lol lex, the World Cup is the only time I'm vaguely interested in football. :p Also, there are a lot of hot dudes. /shallow

anyway, it's not that bad this time around for me because of the time difference - the first football match tends to clash with the last tennis match of the day but other than that, I still get to watch/follow everything.

Konjuh about to be bageled by Woz. :/

Super sloppy play from Li gives BZS the first set.

BZS is amazing

BZS has been impressive yeah but seriously Na, what the hell are you doing? All those missed putaways...

haha wow the challenge

holy shit

Oh dear Li...

omg lol

li no

having another slump year after a slam win

just watched an astonishing point between hewitt and janowicz. the latter playing astonishing drives but hewitt winning with a lob out of nowhere

lol what an absurd way for that match to end, but pretty much sums up Li's day. great win for BZS, the way she served on big points and esp her volleying were lovely to watch. xp

janowicz is a spectacle & i want him to win the whole thing, although he won't

meanwhile, my kitten is obsessed with Gilles Simon: http://instagram.com/p/pv4pK3RFcr/ :D

forgot that Safarova-Cibulkova was a 3rd round match. seems like Lucie's to lose on recent form

that's a great kitten

fabulous first set between Dolgopolov and Dimitrov - so much crazy shotmaking. Really would be happy with either of them going through. <3 <3

going a bit nuts switching between this match and Kvitova/Williams - Venus serving up some vintage grass court magic.

was hoping for a deep run from Kvitova here but it's so good to see Venus playing this well again

Dimitrov and Dolgopolov at one set all. :)

Nice to see that Grigor has grown some tennis brains to go with his talents.. deciding to chip and charge on his return games was enough to rattle Dolgopolov who, up to the point he got broken, had been practically impenetrable on serve.

Petra isn't even playing terribly but Venus is just so tough right now. <3

Petra bossing this TB. Every one of their matches has gone to three sets...

NID

this is such an intense match - centre court audience seem almost stunned into silence on every point. shame it's a third round, feels like it should be a final!

Incredible defence from Venus... Petra looks gassed.

Holy shit Petraaaaaaaa...

happy for petra, she reall needed this

this was such a fantastic, high quality match - right up until the very end, there was pretty much nothing between them. so, so good.

on days like today, I'm 100% with lex - why the fuck would anyone choose to watch football over this??

and right on cue, Dimitrov breaks to serve for a fifth set!

Dolgo got broken again :( I really wanted him to win this

that's right Dimitrov, a win like that definitely requires shirtlessness. :D

Dimitrov getting naked here.

In your office???

One powerful serve

"Clothes hate him because of this one weird serve"

dam whats the latest theyve ever played

hope berd loses here

I can't believe they were still playing when I got home/in that light! 100% expected it to be called off at 6-6. Did Berdych actually explicitly ask for it to be suspended? Can't imagine he'd have been made to play on.

That match was gonna be our third on No 1 but I can't complain after we got Li/BZS and Dimitrov/Dolgopolov, what a day. Li's form has been bad since the AO, but it's remarkable given her past rep how she's turned winning ugly into her MO. As tricksy and grass-loving as I know BZS can be, she'd never been to a Slam second week or beaten a top 10 player and I didn't expect she'd keep it together - she can do a lot with the ball but her lack of power, lack of temperament for grinding and general emotions always get in the way at some point. Probably the best match I've seen by her, toughing out a messy first set and then really peaking throughout the second with those awesome volleys and dropshots on key points. Li was just intermittent and mostly awful. Ludicrous ending - BZS genuinely thought that Li shot was out, she was celebrating for real, and the crowd couldn't believe that Li's desperation challenge worked. AND THEN LI HANDED THE REPLAY OVER ON A DF ANYWAY LMAOOOOOOOO.

Was really disappointed that Dolgopolov, once again, spurned so many chances to put the final nail into the match through sheer sloppiness throughout the fourth set, then of course his first serve disappears at the worst time and then the fifth is a formality. I mean, Dimitrov was woeful towards the end of the third and start of the fourth, but he was always searching for a way back in - as well as the chip and charging as Roz noted he started taking a lot of pace out of the rallies, giving Dolgopolov little to work with. Still, I see that more as one that got away from Dolgopolov than a grand comeback. Oh well, at least I got Dimitrov nudity.

Most disappointing result surely Kuznetsov's letdown? A letdown is natural but to a terrible claycourter like LEONARDO MAYER? When you've just ousted the hundred-times-better version of him? Come on now.

I can only imagine how the final two sets of Fognini's loss looked like from the scoreline. Shame Konjuh couldn't do much against Wozniacki but Woz tends to be a nightmare for that sort of young player, Konjuh's improvement on grass between qualies and the Wickmayer match was already leaps and bounds beyond what I could have hoped. Future champ here, 100%. Ew, though, Wozniacki probably in the QFs...though I guess she needs something to rub in McIlroy's face.

Pity I missed Petra/Venus, this is their third super-tight classic in a row I think? Maybe fourth? Intended to pop outside to watch on the screen but prioritised seeing Dimitrov and Dolgopolov IRL. I am against watching matches on the screen on principle. Tutted out loud at the people who left post-Dimitrov to watch Murray on Aorangi Terrace (I refuse to acknowledge its nickname) when the RODIONOVA SHOW was upcoming in mixed doubles. Turns out the joke was on me, I left after the one-sided first set and it turns out it went to 9-7 in the third. I was very cold and hungry though.

So Smitkova is the only qualifier in the second week! 10-8, wow. I TOLD Y'ALL SHE WAS GOOD in my qualies report. LMAO that the previous week she lost in the first round of $50K *qualies* to a British junior.

A bit in love with Wimbledon this year

Excellent roundup Lex!

the most impressive thing about Dimitrov's win was that his backhand, while still the weakest part of his game, held up for most of the match which is prob a testament to Roger Rasheed's fitness regime than anything else. And agreed, Dolgopolov should have taken his chances but then again, he almost never zones longer than two sets. It was only a matter of time before the errors crept in.

am working the night shift today so will miss most of the matches. But they all seem a bit boring on paper anyway, apart from Halep-Bencic, and maybe Petkovic/Bouchard.

gonna miss all of monday so today had better be good

oh is it just gonna rain all day?

intermittent showers I guess? anyway I just caught the last game of Kvitova/Venus on replay, lol @ how Petra was a hundred times more animated on winning than when she won Wimbledon. Great win for her though given that much the same happened in their last two matches, I'm not gonna get excited about how she's BACK!!!!1111 - but she's gotten very lucky in that everyone else left in the bottom half is a really good match-up for her (whereas Flipkens last year was the type she was always going to flop to). Then who knows what can happen in a final...

I had to rewatch the ending of the Li match even though I saw it live just for the sheer hilarity. THAT FLOP DF WHEN SHE'D BEEN HANDED A LIFELINE

No one has put the conclusion of the Smitkova match on Youtube yet :(((((

Serena - Kvitova final plz.

Q. In the good old days you always got to the fourth round, a couple years in the doldrums. You seem to do better when Rory is not about.

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Is that a statement or a question? I'm not sure.

Q. It's a question.

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think it was more of a statement.

Her game is still a boring nothing but awww, way to stick it to cunts, Woz, love it.

BEPA/ZARINA TIME

BBC2 showing a replay of Dimitrov even though Serena/Cornet has started. Fuck's sake

watched about 2 games of Diyas-Mladenovic on wednesday but it was just Kiki spraying errors so i moved on

Rafaelol Nadalol, amirite?

soooo today's schedule is already backed up, the weather doesn't look like it's going to get much better...and Wimbledon confirm that unfinished matches will roll over to Monday. FUCK STUPID SUNDAY FOREVER

play resuming on outside courts again fyi everyone

11(?) deuce opening game between Bencic and Halep

cornet up a break against Serena in the 3rd. can she do it again?

up a double break now! please don't choke

lol serena got one of the breaks back, then gave it away with dumb errors.

that was really bad, Serena

wtf is happening to Serena?

There has probably been enough play not to push anything to Sunday.

Zarina just won.

just looks like she has no confidence.
idk if she has lost a step of pace and that has affected the rest of her game and that has affected her confidence and has sent her into a defeatist spiral like with Federer last year

Manic Monday not so manic - looks like they've pushed all of the bottom half of the men's to Tuesday, seeing as only Nadal-Kyrgios and Federer-Robredo are ready to go in that section. They've rolled Halep-Diyas to Tuesday too, as the rest of that quarter is still stuck in R3.

Ah, Wimbledon, showing the distinction between doing it right and getting it right.

Also I managed to work out that it was possible to make my mostly-broken bedroom TV split-screen Kyrgios/Vesely and Serena/Cornet and more or less for the last set the points and between-point breaks coincided awesomely well! Only I only had the sound of the latter.

PETRA THIS IS YOUR TIME DO NOT FUCK IT UP. (I don't see A-Rad getting through her parade of big lefties, but I guess grass helps her v the first two.)

WELP.

Was at a bbq, SO lucky that a fellow guest - fuelled by shared disgruntlement at the football that was on the TV - checked the scores midway through the third set. Together, we took over the TV :D

Cornet beating Serena on hard courts in Dubai was bizarre enough, but to repeat that on grass at a Slam? I mean, Cornet is a) the kind of retriever who can drive Serena nuts, b) unintimidateable, c) not actually as bad/powerless as she's made out to be, but WTF how did that happen.

Easily Serena's strangest year on tour, she's not generally slumping, no player has won more titles than her, yet she's completely flopping at the Slams. Outfought by Ivanovic and Cornet, trashed by Muguruza. Horrible to think about what this does for the draw for the second Slam in a row.

We kept the tennis on and football off the TV for Diyas :D I love Bepa but I also love Zarina and am so thrilled she's made a Slam second week.

Wimbledon organisers once again displaying maximum stupidity scheduling-wise. It's a glorious day for tennis today FYI.

Also, so weird to think that I saw Cornet's entire first-round match, and she started off her Wimbledon by going down 0-4 to Schmiedlova in five minutes.

*stares at draw*

SURELY Lisicki can't end up beating the RG champion yet again? It'd have to happen in the SF...and I can actually see it.

Really hoping that Halep (or DIYAS) comes through the top half though. Would be sweet to get revenge over Ma$ha on grass.

Halep vs Kvitova could be a really good final.
Halep is bringing so much to the tour already <3

Thanks wanted to know how Cornet was in that match (certainly not listed in the young ones coming thru articles I've been seeing) but it rained then you know football, etc. That was frustrating, was hoping the singles was going to be mostly done by 5.

Really wanted to see prime Serena and Kvitova - dream final that won't happen but there is lots of interest out there.

Cornet isn't a young player coming through, lol, she's 24. Though she was the first '90s-born player to get a ranking and a leading teenager in 2007-09! Then that heartbreaking AO R4 loss to Safina happened (and it became clear she was a limited player) and she really slumped for a few years. Improvement and resurgence in the last two years but I don't think this foreshadows imminent greatness.

The 2012 Serena/Petra QF was pretty decent iirc.

ok must've missed it.

What we have of a last 16 so far:

(25) Alize Cornet vs. (13) Eugenie Bouchard
(9) Angelique Kerber vs. (5) Maria Sharapova
(3) Simona Halep vs. Zarina Diyas
(11) Ana Ivanovic or (19) Sabine Lisicki vs. Madison Keys or Yaroslava Shvedova
(Q) Tereza Smitkova vs. (23) Lucie Safarova
(22) Ekaterina Makarova vs. (4) Agnieszka Radwanska
(6) Petra Kvitova vs. Shuai Peng
(16) Caroline Wozniacki vs. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova

Predict: Bouchard, Sharapova, Halep, Lisicki, Smitkova, Radwanska, Kvitova, Wozniacki
Cheer: Cornet, Kerber, either, Shvedova, Smitkova, Radwanska, Kvitova, Zahlavova-Strycova

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (14) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jeremy Chardy vs. (26) Marin Cilic
(3) Andy Murray vs. (20) Kevin Anderson
(11) Grigor Dimitrov vs. Leonardo Mayer
(5) Stanislas Wawrinka or Denis Istomin vs. (19) Feliciano Lopez or (9) John Isner
(23) Tommy Robredo vs. (4) Roger Federer
(8) Milos Raonic vs. (LL) Simone Bolelli or (10) Kei Nishikori
(WC) Nick Kyrgios vs. (2) Rafael Nadal

Predict: Djokovic, Cilic, Murray, Dimitrov, Lopez, Federer, Raonic, Nadal
Cheer: Djokovic, Chardy, Murray, Dimitrov, Istomin, Federer, Nishikori, Kyrgios

Anyone see the post match interview with Nadal - with this clueless twat who has no discernible talent for anything but for some reason ended up at the BBC (I assume he knew someone) and who they've tried using at every other sport going, to no avail, so now they're trying him with tennis, I don't know the guy's name but you'd recognise him - where Nadal, having just come off court, was asked what he thought of the fact that whenever he took his shirt off he got a big cheer from the crowd. Good work, BBC!

One held-over match down - Keys w/d with the injury she sustained on Sat. Real shame for her - her injuries are very ill-timed, the shoulder thing just as I thought she'd make a big move during the US swing last summer and now this, just off her first title and with a friendly draw. I love Shvedova but have a million times less confidence in her to take out Ivanovic/Lisicki.

First time ever we have two Kazakhs in the second week of a Slam, I presume (albeit Shvedova is a Fake Kazakh)

Also Czech domination

I swear Nishikori is the most frustrating player to support. Why was that game such a mess? (even though he won it.) Why is he in a fifth set against a LL in the first place? Why the errors? Completely needless. YOU CAN PLAY BETTER I HAVE SEEN YOU DO IT SO DO IT HERE PLEASE

Giving away cheap points on return from 15-30 up UGH.

But now its MP

Only needs one!

Through, thanks to Bolelli descending.

Z-S a break up vs Woz

Sweet volleying on SP and BZS is a set up on Wozniacki :D

two breaks for the set - upset is more than on.

Safarova didn't choke like I suspected she might, Smitkova never got into it - Lucie into her first Slam QF since AO 2007. God, she should have made so many more...

BZS is playing even better than she did against Li imo. Always known she was resourceful and skilled, never seen her grind out tough points like this and cover up her weaknesses so well before

Woz on the brink: 0-40

terrific return for the break

Wawr won the 1st, making inroads in the 2nd

W breaks in the 2nd.

Feeble errors from Woz on break point back.

"I'm rushing because she's not playing!" BZS yells, then smacks her leg, then smacks the ball. PEAK BZS

Errors all round and Woz breaks back

ESPNTennis @ESPNTennis · 4m
Istomin taking a break from play against Wawrinka to talk w/tournament doctor. The Russian appearing quite ill.

Why even have a professionally-run twitter account devoted to tennis if you can't get basic info correct.

Yesss, BZS back at the net - she seemed to have forgotten about it for a few games there.

My two choices are this horribly uncompetitive Istomin/Wawrinka match and ugh Isner probably winning in 3 tie-breaks :(

ALLEZ CORNET btw.

woz has just saved 2mps

Also: controversially, I like Lopez's facial hair/hair combo.

Oh dear BZS

Well, this is a really good service game from BZS so far given what just ensued!

BZS screaming out there - we're hading for the breaker.

pretty great tiebreak in isner-lopez, believe it or not

good god Wozniacki's volleys are laughable. just hacking it back to BZS three times in a row

That squash-shot forehand to get to the decisive point from Deliciano was so so good. There was no need to apologise.

or not - mp..saved. xp

4th mp, bzs praying

Woz has been clutch on these MPs -_-

df brings a 6th

and then unclutch when not down MP. DF, MP no 6

done it!

Whoop whoop

3 mps for Stan

with an ace.

Oh fuck off BBC. Fluff montage about Cornet's win when THE MATCH HAS STARTED OMG SHOW THE FUCKING TENNIS NOT THIS NONSENSE

Bouchard has returned from inside the baseline on 100% of her return points this Wimbledon.

Are you getting Martina commentating?

So far there's been a net touch, a not-up, some clutch serving and some downright lovely fluke shots in Bouchard/Cornet.

Martina is on..

Rain might be on too.

Bouchard's technique STILL fug (if undeniably effective)

Chardy/Cilic halted at 6-6 in the TB

Prefer watching the covers than a crap montage.

Definitely. Red button handy even when it rains :)

I don't hate Bouchard but I would love to imagine the disappointment on WTA people and such's faces rubbing their hands together hoping for Sharapova/Bouchard and ending up with Cornet/Kerber instead.

Peak Cornet Falling Over After Serving

that terrible dropshot at 5-4 really cost Cornet the set, sigh

most Chardyesque moment ever, losing the first set TB 8-10 on his first DF

Cornet has broken in the 2nd.

Cornet serving for the set - great drop shot from Bouchard to put the pressure.

toe to toe: deuce

BAD BAD unforced errors. we're back on serve.

Lisicki doing her usual thing of coming to life at Wimbledon after doing nothing for the previous 12 months, about to beat Ivanovic

Really amazing (and I guess impressive) how Bouchard's determination to play first-strike tennis keeps increasing - even though she technically doesn't have the natural weapons of the best power players, she'll just go for it anyway

Cornet made a couple of crap challenges. Bouchard keeping her nerve..

Kvitova has looked on top and about to serve for the 1st

Cute long drop shot from K!

Bouchard's mentality is probably her biggest strength. Nailz imo (albeit I didn't see the alleged choke vs Ma$ha at RG?). Would guess she'll break for the match here.

1st set Kvitova - in control

Bouchard is all mind - Cornet is losing this by beating herself although Bouchard always keeps the pressure.

getting dp cornet - excellent match

OOOOHHHHHH

Incredible Cornet defence and Bouchard balloons a drive volley long - would've given her two MPs

haha @ defending from Cornet, first false note from B in a while. xp

comes back hard for mp!

does it! COME ON!!

Wins anyway. Nailz, as I said.

I keep going on about the obvious limitations to Bouchard's game but her entire approach is about ignoring and transcending those limitations. There will probably always be someone at a Slam who can stop her but whatever her potential is, I'm pretty sure she'll absolutely max it out

The comparisons between Bouchard and Sharapova go beyond two hot, perhaps bitchy, blondes.

Both can just come up with the right shots at the right moments. Shame we were all deprived of a 3rd set though.

w/Bouchard its only a question of when she'll bag a slam - terrific player.

Oh, just noticed that Lisicki has now beaten the 2008 RG champion at Wimbledon, having slain the 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 champions in those respective years. If she doesn't get Ma$ha this time, I think this counts! And she just needs to get Fran at some point to complete the set...

Kvitova gets another break so she'll be winning this soon.

ha, one of the better ex-player analysts agrees re: the Ma$ha comparison:

Anna Chakvetadze ‏@achakv87 45s
Both played amazing !
Surprised Bouchard became so strong mentally. She might be next Sharapova

too much on those returns for dbl break.

Kvitova to serve for a regulation win.

Kvitova in the QFs, braely broke sweat.

3/8 women in the QFs are Czech.

In time for Murray..

Peng now 0-5 in Slam R4s to go with her 0-6 record in WTA finals. I wonder if she'll ever make a Slam QF or win a title. She'll need a draw to seriously collapse for the former, I think - often vs the top players she just looks helpless.

Ooo Deliciano serving for the match. PLEASE beat Isner, pleasepleaseplease

lol Lopez breaks after I don't know how many hours.

He will serve for the match - get this off my TV plz.

Stupid scheduling ruined Manic Monday. Isner/Lopez seriously the best option right now?

Also what are they going to do with the women's QFs - presumably the Lisicki/Shvedova R4 gets pushed to tomorrow (though I'm sure neither would mind playing again today), and I don't see Halep/Diyas on today's schedule, so presumably tomorrow gets three of the four QFs as planned and then the Halep section's QF goes on Wed?

If only we had a spare day in the week that could've recitified the situation

Lopez wins to love.

Yay Isner is gone.

No US man or woman in the second week (round-wise not time-wise obv) since...ever?

Now Murray there are 56 mins till France play Nigeria. You know I love you but I'd love you so much more if you destroyed this useless giant in the next hour k tx bye.

3x BPs, just block back, fuck all left.

incidentally, Lopez has now played 19 tiebreaks in the past three weeks across Queen's/Eastbourne/Wim, and won 13 of them

PHEW.

Dimitrov/Mayer doesn't seem particularly enthralling. Do I dare switch over to the Murray match and listen to the inevitable excruciating commentary?

McEnroe is ok but these guys will go into overdrive if Murray runs away with this.

I'm gonna get Laura Robson commentary for the Aga match? Awesome. I expect her to be good

Radwanska/Makarova is easily the best option now (they're warming up), even without Robson commentary

Dimitrov is so breaking Mayer here

Feeble unforced error. 1st set.

Good call on A-Rad/Makarova! Decent point at the net from Makarova in that game to break there. (Also blissfully sensible commentary, hurray)

Cute how Sam Smith is being so encouraging to Robson

Makarova's outsmarted Aga a couple of times at net, you don't see that often

turned this on and i officially dng radwanska, her game is made of papier mache and string

yeah so 'what do you think?' and Robson came up with a good answer.

makarova looks useful tho

Rad not Rad lame joke, another set p

awful - df for set.

Hmm. Aga saves three SPs with unreturned serves, hands over the 4th with a DF

Murray for another break in the 2nd.

what's the deal with radwanska - how did she achieve success beforehand? doesn't seem capable of it on this evidence

with shots like these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JpvTzA0C_k

Just get him on a 8+ shot rally Murray - it will come.

4th bp

Aga can't seem to take advantage of these soft draws :(

Another break for Makarova, blimey. A-Rad is falling apart a bit here :(

ever since that brilliant win over Vika at the AO, Aga's been pretty subpar, just a bit lacklustre. Although I wouldn't be surprised if she still won this

so she's a touch player. when her touch deserts her, that's trouble

lol at the most incredibly useless play at the net from Anderson. Murray breaks.

You can make 'em seven foot but if they can't play..

Makarova has been impeccable today though. Executing with confidence and has had an answer every time Aga's tried to get wily

what a volley from rad!

some life in this match..

Makes it through but maybe its too early for a break.

murray just hit anderson in the face

set cd be 6-0

oh dear - 3 BPs

what a shot to get the double break

like, by now this is a thrashing, a complete slaughter. radwanska had to play an astonishing rally just to win a point there

Missed that - too much switching.

Anyway - Murray's 2nd serve seems to have regressed. The rest of his game will need to be at his absolute best otherwise he loses to Dimitrov. xp

My sole purpose on these threads is to talk about scheduling so...

Seems likely that top-half of women's QF will now be Wednesday; Kerber-Sharapova won't get on, Halep-Diyas and Lisicki-Shvedova were always going to be tomorrow. I assume the "30% chance of rain" between now and 9pm will allow Makarova her chance to take one more game to complete the bottom half. Men's are straightforward; bottom half of R4 tomorrow (forecast good), plus Mayer-Dimitrov, if they don't complete. Rest of top half will be done tonight. Wednesday forecast good too - three matches on each showcourt, starting with the women, I guess.

The end of that set was surprisingly entertaining.

Like Peng, Anderson falls to 0-5 in Slam R4s.

So it rained for most of the wc match.

Now this breaker between Dimitrov and Mayer is quite good.

no no Mayer poor at the net.

omg!

That challenge was in despair and hawkeye saves the day - Mayer get back, the breaker is back on.

amazing point from makarova

oh dear, Mayer dfs to hand that to Dimitrov..

set cd be 6-0

― avicii usque ad arse (imago), Monday, June 30, 2014 3:58 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

done

Radwanska did not exactly look like she was committed to the comeback

Safarova v Makarova is a fascinating QF. Two talented but inconsistent hard-hitters, one a perennial Slam underachiever (until now!), the other a perennial Slam overachiever (Makarova's career highs have all come at Slams...and Eastbourne), h2h 1-1. I think Makarova takes it...

You know screw Wimbledon and their fucking traditions, they can't run a slam worth shit

It is pathetic - they get this roof but they close their eyes to reliable forecasts that give likelihood of rainfall and can't act accordingly?

But what Wawrinka is saying is they could've played their match late in the outside courts (moving doubles or juniors matches) but didn't for security reasons. See what the organisers say.

So glad Becker is not doing commentary.

Not so glad Djoko is unlikely to win a slam while he is his coach.

Tsonga putting up a fight just as I thought it was winding down.

All the scheduling nonsense could have been so easily avoided in so many ways. It's not even that severe, the infuriating thing is how little Wimbledon seem to care about disadvantaging players.

That return to finish the match <33333

So glad Becker is not doing commentary.

Not so glad Djoko is unlikely to win a slam while he is his coach.

Djokovic has done so much for the British public. Losing two Slam finals to Murray (one of those with a total flop performance) and taking Becker off our TV commentary

Hyped for Halep/Diyas tomorrow. Hoping that they play points like this again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh3O0LdoPtQ

All the while Tsonga was putting up a fight and getting the crowd going you just felt there was no way Djoko was going to allow this to a 3rd set so there.

sorry to a 4th

oh yeah Djokovic vs Tsonga matches have all been firmly in the Foregone Conclusion category ever since that RG heartbreaker.

Today...I think BZS has a shot at bringing Shitra out. She's playing so confidently and without any meltdowns, and she has a better record against Petra than she did against Li or Woz. If Petra couldn't deal with Flipkens' junk last year with an open draw ahead of her...same situation here.

Makarova played one of the best R1 matches against Date-Krumm, probably one of the best matches of the tournament, and she was on fire against Aga - much more impressed by both her form and her grass pedigree than Safarova. Plus, Makarova's the one who historically turns up at the Slams.

Wawrinka's been the one complaining loudest about the schedule (and rightfully so) but it'll hurt Lopez more - would've probably predicted Lopez for the upset but he's surely absolutely fried by now? Stan hasn't had much opposition so far.

Ugh, Raonic will probably get his first win over Nishikori here, blech.

Kyrgios will probably have a better career than any of the guys who've taken a set off Nadal this Wimbledon...I expect another annoying come-from-behind four-set win for Rafa.

Halep/Diyas will probably be fun but straightforward in the end for Simona. Peak Shvedova could challenge Lisicki on grass but we're a few years off that. Don't foresee any problems or drama for Ma$ha or Fed.

Also, still not used to Wawrinka officially going by Stan after a decade of being Stanislas on draw sheets. Such an obvious marketing thing. "Anglo audiences can't deal with a three-syllable foreign-sounding first name" blah blah blah

iirc Petra had sort of muddled her way to that QF last year and wasn't really in great shape, remember her clearly being ill in the match against Flipkens. think/hope she's less likely to let it slip this time

yeah, all of that makes sense. I just don't trust Petra one bit.

I hope Stan's rant fires him up for a Wimbledon title so that he can spend his victory speech complaining about the organisers.

Shvedova just hit The Worst Approach Shot Ever followed by jumping for a smash only to frame it and land it at her own feet

Back to Halep/Diyas

Halep comfortable at the mo.

Match should be effectively over in 10 mins if it carries on like this.

Diyas's game right now is too much of a lesser version of Halep's game. Very similar, just doesn't do it as well

Diyas had her on 30-30 but Halep was having none of it. 3-0 in the 2nd.

Shvedova 3-0 up in the 2nd so it looks like we are heading for a decider.

There was a terrific lob by S to bring 0-40 but Lisicki saves the 3BPs.

I said 'looks' but that was a huge save from Lisicki so...deep in the 2nd still.

Halep too steady

Really enjoying watching Halep play. Not exactly a grass court wonder but a lovely forehand that she seems to be able to put exactly where she wants. Tho obv Diyas not really giving her much in the way of obstruction.

(I have a few days off work and am watching as much tennis as humanly possible)

and indeed Lisicki breaks back

Course as soon as I say that she slams a forehand into the net and it's 2 break points :/

Yet another multi-deuce game goes Halep's way

And there we go with the bagel. No messing from Halep.

A Sober performance.

If Shvedova goes out => bad hour for Kazak tennis.

Hmm, what to watch. Not Ma$ha unless she starts losing. Not Fed/Boredo. Shvedova/Lisicki decider might be dramatic even if the quality is poor? Wawrinka/Lopez maybe...

Lisicki serving like Dementieva out here and Shvedova refusing to make her pay

Shvedova/Lisicki decider first for me. BP Shvedova and it was a laughable return. xp

Comedic territory now. Why is Lisicki serving at 63mph and 67mph? How did Shvedova fail to return them?

WHAT IS SABINE DOING?????? Stopping BP down????? Ivanovic pulled this shit at the YEC one year and I couldn't believe it was allowed mid-game, but apparently so

bizarre

I mean...I guess it is allowed, I've probably seen it when a player goes over and physically can't get up, they'll get treatment then and there. This is not the case with Lisicki right now, she just stopped and walked to her seat

*dons earplugs, switches to Centre Court stream*

Maria broken

...where affairs have commenced most propitiously

lol smash from Kerber.

follows with a df

Three UEs from Shvedova on resumption, Lisicki holds. RMDE

Kerber's forehand is weeeak

Her backhand is good tho

apols if this is already established knowledge

Utter collapse from Shvedova. It's not like she was playing well before but Lisicki is so damn shady for that MTO

Kerber's lefty FH DTL is her best shot, and awesome to watch. Her FH is much better than her BH

Shows what basing an opinion on two games of tennis can do! :x

Just think of me as an equivalent of the hordes of US posters on the World Cup thread ;)

oh she played a good FH DTL there, fine

Where is the collapse from Shvedova? Its on serve..

She went down 1-3, righted the ship, blew yet more chances in the last game. It's one of THOSE matches

lol at this feeble volley from Shvedova.

But I wouldn't call it a 'collpase'. Shvedova is erratic.

and clueless at the net.

Brilliant defence from Kerber

xps the collapse was Shvedova hitting something like 9 basic UEs out of 10 points after the MTO

Shvedova dropshot that nearly lands on the service line. Sigh

kerber/sharapova is a p high quality match, but i suppose you're all transfixed by the comedy of mental abjection over on court 3 ;)

hmm, but then she is just as likely to win the next 9 out of 10 points. Would you say this spoke volumes for her mentality?

Lisiscki breaks but can she serve it out?

Shvedova's mentality has always been terrible! As has Lisicki's, mostly.

I'm watching both matches...

62 mph first serve from lisicki??

3 bps for break point back

Yeah her shoulder isn't good. MTO looks ok to me.

Lisicki should pull through just because Shvedova is bound to be broken.

If anyone had to serve here we'd be here all day, or until someone retired.

Broken. Match Lisicki

'Well played' everyone.

Awful from Shvedova.

MTO looks ok to me.

Mid-game?? BP down? Absolutely not. Not denying she had a physical issue, that was apparent, but bollocks was it so urgent that she shouldn't have waited til the changeover. Just shadily exploiting a loophole in the rules, that's all it was.

When the chips were down Kerber lets a drop shot in - Maria is ruthless with it.

Yep, good stuff from Kerber/Ma$ha. Both really going for it.

Well if you feel you can't hit a ball then why wait till the changeover? Given what happened before and after MTO I wouldn't say it contributed to the outcome.

GAH I should just stop commenting, whenever I do, errors immediately start happening :(

Well if you feel you can't hit a ball then why wait till the changeover?

She could have hit the ball. Gamesmanship pure and simple and OBVIOUS. Did it affect the outcome? It certainly threw Shvedova off for a few games, though Shvedova is such a mental weakling that yes, she'd probably have lost regardless

Obviously not only hit the ball, but to also be competitive. She was clearly not 100% even after and her serve was affected. I don't see the controversy.

Even if it did affect the outcome (which as we agree it did not) you would call the losing player feeble minded for falling for this 'tactic'.

this match is of immense quality

Great challenge from Kerber. Point replayed and she wins that: 2-1

maria

What, players can call for a MTO any time they feel they're losing their timing then? No, that's why there are time rules. You don't get to pause the match unless you're physically incapacitated. All other cases, wait for the damn changeover. If it was serious enough that she couldn't get through the game, she wouldn't have been able to finish the match.

Shvedova is feeble-minded, yes, always known that.

If it was serious enough that she couldn't get through the game, she wouldn't have been able to finish the match.

Doesn't always follow, it might have been serious enough that she couldn't finish the next point.

You don't see this very often...

Maria fails in her challenge..

Kerber gets away with a mediocre dropshot, SPs...

lol, awful shot, two SPs for kerber.

Fantastic!

YASSSSS!

:D

both players mostly playing well, sharapova with more errors when it counted tho

<3 luxury of being able to look at Slamtracker at home - showing Maria had 19 UEs to Angelique's 3 in the first set.

so now Sharapova will win 6-2, 6-1?

She has broken so maybe?

yeah, winning a set against Sharapova is a dangerous ploy.

brilliant FH from Kerber to break back

serious rallying here

another cracking FH from Kerber.

When Kerber is on, she is so good

THAT FHHHHHH

incredible crouched forehand

WHAT. A. HOLD.

Wow, good on Kerber for the hold!

brilliant resistance, but can she keep it going?

Awesome.

She seems pretty pumped up, I don't see why not. xp

It was a huge effort is all. Its toe to toe, Maria also on deuce.

Elsewhere, Lopez plays his 20th and 21st TBs of the grass season, but loses both to Stan...

Kerber can get unnecessarily sulky sometimes when she hits a run of bad shots, but we haven't seen much of that yet.

take yer cap off to that from the screamer

Hawkeye really hates sharapova today

Sharapova doesn't need it tho' - wins the 2nd.

Aaand into the decider

Nishikori playing a lot more efficiently than vs Bolelli, from what I've seen in the last couple of games

...and immediately gets broken from 30-0 up. RMDE

Kerber breaks!

breaks! but maybe too early for that?

Kerber gets the break, wonderful reabsorption and redirection of pace there!

awesome!!

and not troubled after losing the 1st point on her serve: 3-0 Kerber

BAGEL HER

lol we both know that ain't gonna happen

can't remember seeing Kerber serve this well before

sharapova cd easily win the next 3, 4 or 5 games, but kerber is playing titanically

And Maria's errors are mounting up...

net cord for the game!

didn't watch any of the match but apparently Stan and Feliciano didn't shake hands and argued at the net instead?!

not stringing them, always an error from Maria's racket - Kerber holds well too.

superlative hold

Bloody hell