WIMBLEDON 2016

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/msdraw.pdf
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/ls/lsdraw.pdf

stan v fritz rd 1

can't believe Pironkova drew Bencic again

On recent form and taking into account Bencic's injuries, I think Tsveti might win this time.

Other upsets I'm thinking: Rybarikova over Bouchard (is this even an upset, lol? I suppose with Magda's GS record it probably would be, as noted previously in threads, she's a quality fast-court player whose only two wins at SW19 were last year; hoping that Nottingham retirement was precautionary), Hibino over Petkovic (maybe you shouldn't go on about how much you hate grass, Andi?) and, obviously, Linette over Stosur. Plus a whole bunch that shouldn't happen where the seed just flops randomly, NOT YOU MUGURUZA AND KERBER, FFS DO SOMETHING.

Djokovic winning it all seems so obvious on the men's side that I haven't even bothered to look at the draw beyond which of Wawrinka/Federer ended up on which side.

There aren't words to describe how pissed I'm going to be if Kerber loses to Robson.

Giorgi hasn't played well this season but she could beat Mugu. Match of the day, obviously (at least for me)

feels very strange to be embarking on Wimbledon right now, with this rainy fascism island in the state it's in.

The very last time I saw Kerber before she transformed her career with the USO SF was a terrible Wim R1 vs Robson where she looked grumpy and unfit. This time Robson will be lucky to win games.

Puig/Konta is the big women's R1 for me, both in form, only played once before and that ended in a third set TB. Giorgi is an absolute nightmare R1 in Muguruza's circumstances but she's been in such bad form herself I don't feel as confident calling that upset as I do about eg Pironkova over poor broken Bencic.

The section with Stosur, Goerges, Shvedova AND Lisicki in it is quite funny. Helmets required.

Very pressed about Vandeweghe's perfect draw to defend her QF points.

Either Watson or Mladenovic in R3 for Serena, that's a banana skin. She'd probably rather it was Watson right now, can't imagine Heather reprising last year.

Fritz/Wawrinka made me go oooooohhhh but I think it'll be an anticlimax and Delpo will get Stan in R2.

lol @ Mayer landing in the same section as Zverev and Thiem.

R1 upsets I'm calling -

Peng d. (18) Stephens
Wozniacki d. (13) Kuznetsova
Kumkhum d. (11) Bacsinszky
Hsieh d. (21) Pavlyuchenkova
Riske d. (6) Vinci
Pironkova d. (7) Bencic
Ostapenko d. (26) Bertens
Wickmayer d. (15) Pliskova
Witthoeft d. (25) Begu
Giorgi d. (2) Muguruza
and Kontaveit def has a shot at Strycova.

Rosol d. (28) Querrey
Chardy d. (17) Monfils
Kuznetsov d. (29) Cuevas
F.Mayer d. (8) Thiem
Copil d. (32) Pouille
Baghdatis d. (18) Isner
Skugor d. (26) Paire

Oh yeah I went to qualies and wrote about it - https://thetennisisland.com/2016/06/25/road-from-roehampton-qualifying-wraps-at-wimbledon/

and then actual predix

(1) Serena Williams d. (31) Kristina Mladenovic
Caroline Wozniacki d. Shuai Peng
Su-Wei Hsieh d. (Q) Luksika Kumkhum
(27) Coco Vandeweghe d. Alison Riske
(3) Agnieszka Radwanska d. Katerina Siniakova
(19) Dominika Cibulkova d. (16) Johanna Konta
(24) Barbora Strycova d. Ekaterina Makarova
Tsvetana Pironkova d. Elena Vesnina
Jelena Ostapenko d. (5) Simona Halep
(9) Madison Keys d. Alizé Cornet
Misaki Doi d. Anna-Lena Friedsam
(4) Angelique Kerber d. Madison Brengle
(8) Venus Williams d. (29) Daria Kasatkina
(12) Carla Suárez Navarro d. (22) Jelena Jankovic
(17) Elina Svitolina d. Sabine Lisicki
(28) Lucie Safarova d. Camila Giorgi

S.Williams d. Wozniacki
Vandeweghe d. Hsieh
Radwanska d. Cibulkova
Strycova d. Pironkova
Keys d. Ostapenko
Doi d. Kerber
V.Williams d. Suárez Navarro
Safarova d. Svitolina

S.Williams d. Vandeweghe
Radwanska d. Strycova
Keys d. Doi
V.Williams d. Safarova

S.Williams d. Radwanska
Keys d. V.Williams

S.Williams d. Keys

(1) Novak Djokovic d. Lukas Rosol
(21) Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Nicolas Mahut
(11) David Goffin d. Nicolás Almagro
(6) Milos Raonic d. (27) Jack Sock
(3) Roger Federer d. Daniel Evans
Steve Johnson d. (Q) Bjorn Fratangelo
(9) Marin Cilic d. (23) Ivo Karlovic
(5) Kei Nishikori d. Gilles Müller
Florian Mayer d. (Q) Dennis Novikov
(24) Alexander Zverev d. (10) Tomas Berdych
(14) Roberto Bautista Agut d. (19) Bernard Tomic
Juan Martin Del Potro d. (Q) Marius Copil
(7) Richard Gasquet d. Albert Ramos Viñolas
(12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Marcos Baghdatis
(15) Nick Kyrgios d. (22) Feliciano López
(2) Andy Murray d. John Millman

Djokovic d. Kohlschreiber
Raonic d. Goffin
Federer d. Johnson
Nishikori d. Cilic
Zverev d. F.Mayer
Del Potro d. Bautista Agut
Gasquet d. Tsonga
Murray d. Kyrgios

Djokovic d. Raonic
Nishikori d. Federer
Del Potro d. Zverev
Murray d. Gasquet

Djokovic d. Nishikori
Murray d. Del Potro

Djokovic d. Murray

feels very strange to be embarking on Wimbledon right now, with this rainy fascism island in the state it's in.

We need all the distraction we can get. I'll be glued to the screen every chance I get.

I think I saw you at the qualies, Lex! I was with my 9yo and she didn't want to budge from her favoured spot on the grassy bank above Alexandrova-Dart to come say hello. Well, we had been walking around all day - I don't think a mile walk from Barnes station was what she had in mind when I picked her up from school.

Here's a few photos... first one by Lulu with my camera:

https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7302/27924396975_c8aeeefbb9_b.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7334/27311266993_18c55d88cc_b.jpg

https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7257/27890154766_a92ea32124_b.jpg

that trek from Barnes station to the qualies kills me every year! It was getting pretty cold towards the end of that match too.

kind of annoyed that Nishioka/Stakhovsky and Kasatkina/Duval ended up on two of the few camera-free courts but Sakkari/Zheng and Kohlschreiber/Herbert are fun enough

It was my first time! I've been saying for years I would take a half-day and go and as I always pick up the kids on Fridays, it was an impulse excursion (11yo was away on school trip, so that was one impediment removed; Minecraft >>>> live tennis in her world). Gipsy Hill to Barnes via Clapham Junction is 35min if you're lucky with the connection so we were guaranteed a smattering of all four events by the time we made it.

Struff/Brown vs Ratiwatana x 2 was even longer than Dart's match, but ended on two doubles from the Thai bros.

the Barnes-to-qualies trek kills me every year. It's SUCH a good day out though and at this point I think I prefer it to Actual IRL Wimbledon with its overcrowding and queues for outside courts.

We saw a bit of the Brown doubles but it was so cold at the end of Alexandrova/Dart that I just went home. Felt bizarrely proud to see Alexandrova beat Ivanovic yesterday! It's always odd getting to know a player irl in qualies and then suddenly you feel vertiginous bc they're on TV. Also, gigantic lol that she needed 14-12 to beat Vogt and 13-11 to beat Dart but just straight-sets Ivanovic (and that should've been 2 and 2 if she hadn't spent the second set choking).

pretty impressed that Muguruza navigated Giorgi, that was an upset waiting to happen but she looked pretty good.

James Ward came out as a Brexiter in his presser, Djokovic should've triple-bagelled him. Wish I could feel vaguely happy about the Willis cinderella story but he seemed like a dickhead when I saw him in qualies.

very much enjoyed Safarova/Mattek-Sands, Pliskova/Wickmayer, Cuevas/Kuznetsov and Kohlschreiber/Herbert yesterday. Most shocked and disappointed in Ostapenko...

god bless marcus willis, but i don't really want to watch fed eviscerate him

point of the tournament already

yo lex, saw on twitter ur going to sw19 tomorrow
i'm gonna be queuing tomorrow too if u wanna chill / hear me talk about serena williams for 10 hrs

let's do that uberweiss! i'll be with my bf and he just bought some prosecco. what's your twitter name? or webmail me contact details? we're getting there for 6am.

Willis was one of the most irritating players I saw in qualies and I am not here for this cinderella story at all

I did wonder, going into this Centre Court match, whether Willis would do better than Alan Mackin. Mackin lost love, love and two vs Fed in a Davis Cup tie in Geneva 11 years ago (Murray just a teenager then, and well beaten by Stan W in the other opening day singles). Mackin is three days younger than Fed but has been retired since 2007... the life of the Challenger/Futures-level player. He did once beat Nadal on clay though (2002, Nadal was 16, maybe 15).

And... Willis edges Mackin.

emailed u! and i am glad we are on the same page re: willis

mug being hit by a wrecking ball atm

wow what happened there?

cepelova peaking at wimbledon again!

Only saw the end of that but pretty commanding. (Watching Radwanska/Konjuh now.)

Mug mugged.

Radwanska in trouble.

Looking pretty tense here

A squeaker! Pretty good match.

Aga wins! Hooray!

was the Aga score just because Konjuh is finally on her way to fulfilling her immense talent? if so, sad I missed it, would've been a great contrast.

lol, everyone thought Muguruza would lose in week one but everyone was looking at Giorgi or Safarova as the dangers, not Cepelova (who is turning into a massive upset artist! Serena, Halep and Muguruza scalps now).

I was there yesterday. Highlights: Niculescu slice irl, Kontaveit/Strycova was a great match (Kontaveit's now played two straight brilliant Slam R1 matches and lost both), front row seats for the entirety of Cornet/Errani, Paire's childish tantrum about fans cheering for his opponent and refusing to shake the umpire's hand, minutes after this incredible Troicki tantrum on the next court

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl_0LYjTozM

then we got on No 1 court to see Thiem lose, sadface, but Vesely's serve was just too strong

Watching Del Potro these days is so stressful. YESSS BIG FOREHAND, but jesus, don't hit it so hard, you're going to hurt yourself again.

yep, wincing every time he hits a flat backhand. he's winning though!

Delpo!

Dustin Brown!

Keep this up!!!

Delpo kept it up <33333

<3 chuffed for the guy

Kasatkina has hit some brilliant BH dropshots en route to leading 5-3 from 1-3 down here

Incredible Delpo win, messed up backhand and all. So happy for him. <3

Brown-Kyrgios is ridic. Nick did his usual tanking thing in set three and then woke up. They're into a 5th set in 1hr 35. Kyrgios' last service game took 39 seconds.

Brown hit a no-look tweener dropshot winner at one point

Four-and-a-half sets in under two hours!

Venus/Kasatkina is riveting, 6-6 in third...

aaahhhh it starts TORRENTING down with Venus at match point up over Kasatkina

And the rain forces NK-DB off at break point for Nick K. They were slow to leave - the court got a bit of a soaking. Isner and Fognini both two sets up in the only other outstanding men's r2 matches.

bizarre argument on twitter over whether you'd rather be in Venus or Kasatkina's shoes right now. like, clearly Venus's!

Very good timing for what is presumably the final rain of the day from Djokovic's PoV. Two sets down. Moore gave Kuznetsova a hell of a match.

yeah Moore played so well, loved how she kept on laughing throughout!

Stephens/Minella was one of the most dire matches I've ever watched by contrast.

Serena/McHale was like a reprise of Serena/Watson.

Can't believe Djokovic here. Even if you hate ND, which a lot of people (not here) do, why anyone would want him to lose to Querrey I don't know.

Enjoyed the Wawrinka/Del Potro match, some absolutely beautiful forehands and smart switching up, even the slice is developing into a weapon (hey, how many Wimbledons did Steffi win slicing nearly exclusively? A LOT), but it has to be said that Stan was super-sloppy in that second set and the start of the third. Could have been over in 3! Glad it wasn't!

I just watched the replay of the first two sets of Querry/Djokovic and I have no idea what was going on. Djokovic was making Querry look like a tennis god in that second set.

When my brother told me my first q "is he injured?"

Pretty sure ND would have been out in straight sets last night if they'd played on until 8:45 or so. Now I'd make him the favourite. I can't recall the last time he played badly two days in a row.

hope querrey wins because the tour could use some excitement

Querrey not known for providing it though. Up for Djokovic losing to Herbert in R4 though.

BBC2 literally cut away from Kerber/Witthoeft at 6-6 in the TB to show Djokovic walking on to court. Like seriously...you've got time to finish the TB at least, have some respect.

(Querrey so dull that even at this stage I'm not bothering to watch)

ND up 4-0 before the rain came again. Querrey's best hope is probably to serve himself into a 4th set t/b. Wasn't it middle Saturday last year when Djoko came from 0-2 vs Anderson? I seem to recall traipsing around West End shops looking for a laptop with two very bored children, catching the odd point on display TVs. I'll be out again this afternoon for the inevitable comeback win.

Weather confusing things again, but are some players going to have to double up today, in order to get the 3rd round done? Is Stephens-Kuznetsova & Bacsinsky-Pavlyuchenkova now pencilled in for the late afternoon? Kvitova-Makarova didn't even restart though, nor did the last of the men's r2 stragglers, Youzhny-Zverev.

BBC2 literally cut away from Kerber/Witthoeft at 6-6 in the TB to show Djokovic walking on to court. Like seriously...you've got time to finish the TB at least, have some respect.

It's pretty dreadful, this kind of programming. The day I decided I *had* to get a Freeview box was when BBC left the Agassi-Philippoussis fifth set at a crucial moment to show Tim Fucking Henman knocking up on Centre. This was 13 years ago, before the advent of multiple streaming options, when the Red Button on Freeview was the only way to see what the main channel wasn't covering.

I assume the players who still had to play their R2s today will have their R3s on the Middle Sunday schedule

the Henman years were so dreadful for BBC coverage, the wealth of courts at our fingertips is obviously luxurious in comparison but it's still frustrating that the BBC fucks up so egregiously when the technology means it doesn't even need to, even if it prioritises its own stupid "better to see a famous/British player not playing than anyone else actually playing" philosophy

So we are going to have Middle Sunday? There has been a decision?

yes we are - details to be given later I believe..

Tickets all to be sold online from Ticketmaster at 3pm, schedule I guess dependent on what isn't finished today? They're still aiming to get all the R4s done on Manic Monday so assuming Kvitova and Zverev get their R2s done today, it's all the leftover R3s. If Kvitova and Zverev don't finish today they're fucked

xps not wanting someone to dominate every slam ever =/= hating them

query 4 bps at 3-2 up on the 4th..D dug himself out, wonder if query's chance is gone

serving 'em up to keep a lead on serve

surely now novak

breaks and now to serve for the 4th. but really novak on the brink for a cpl of mins

fuck me

thrash volley - break back

querrey's incompetence is pretty amusing

and yet if he breaks novak..

I'd consider retiring now instead of losing to this thrash

omg rain

lol this match
this blessed rain
this engerland

oh my god.

rip novak

lmao this is amazing

querrey

http://blog.mytennislessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/screen-shot-2015-03-09-at-11-10-24-am.png

so who fucked Novak's mind? there has got to be another explanation for this

I mean sure the slam but you might think a loss in a 2nd week - and not to this?!

Finding Makarova's black socks weirdly jarring

Petra making error after error: not jarring in the least, obv

Shades of Curren vs Connors, '83.

the funny thing about the Querrey loss is that Querrey was choking for his LIFE. I really didn't see much of it before the closing stages but the last set was atrocious quality from both. Even the MP, Querrey tentative on every stroke before Djokovic hits an error for no reason.

After the immense pressure of finally winning RG/holding 4 in a row was lifted I don't think much further explanation is needed. We saw how hard 4 in a row was, 5 in a row is unfathomable. Just one of those situations where you couldn't imagine who exactly would do it, and tbh Djokovic wobbled against Ward and Mannarino so...

No such excuses for Kvitova who seems to have finally changed her career's frustration "85% flopping, 15% peaking" ratio to "100% flopping". Easy money, cheers Kate M.

Can't believe this is Mahut's first Slam second week! Thrilled with Doi's first week 2 too, exciting that she gets a chance to avenge her loss from MP up to Kerber at the AO. Halep/Keys and Radwanska/Cibulkova are popcorn R4s, Aga was incredible against Siniakova.

Why are there so many #hormones among the men this tournament? So many tantrums and fights. Kyrgios, Paire, Troicki, Delpo v Pouille (this was a great match otherwise), Fognini v Lopez...I don't want to hear any ATP player talk about WTA emotions again. Even Cornet has been an oasis of calm in comparison.

I scored No 1 Court tkts for tomorrow! I get to see the Kyrgios circus in person.

Djokovic seriously made Querry look like a tennis god in the second set. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life.

Sloane's collapse against Sveta was highly entertaining.

Feeling sad about Delpo again though. What happened between him and Pouille yesterday? I missed the whole drama.

Isner-Tsonga BBC commentator will not shut up about Isner-Mahut, at least ten references, starting in the 4th set. Well, you've willed your marathon set into being now, let it go.

Roz - https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/02/wimbledon-del-potro-pouille-mens-singles

Thank god Tsonga put a stop to the Isner marathon stuff before it got silly again.

Got No 1 Court tickets for yesterday, Middle Sunday is so much fun! Kuznetsova/Stephens was a thriller, Sweta just threw everything at her towards the end. Didn't feel like a Sloane choke because there was never any momentum in the match...both players had patches of awful errors that seemed to come at random (ditto their winners).

Lopez was clearly just a bit too fatigued to push Kyrgios like yesterday, he didn't roll over but he was chuntering away to his box from the first game. Ultimately a Lopez without a first serve and volleys isn't a pretty sight (unlike his ass in those obscenely tight shorts). Kyrgios hit a few astonishing BH crosscourt passes.

Vesely/Sousa...by the second set I looked around and literally 10 people in my immediate vicinity were on their phones. Sousa was absolutely atrocious, could barely hit a groundstroke.

Saw some incredible junior drama at the end of the day. First saw 15yo Iga Swiatek when I went to Les Petits As for work last year (biggest U14 tournament in the world, she reached the SF iirc) and she was playing against Usue Maitane Arconada, three years older and basically outhitting her on every point. Came back from 1-5 in the final set but just couldn't get it done, lost 9-7 in the third and was in floods of tears even before she got to the handshake. Sad to see but she's one to watch and will def be winning this sort of match next year.

your last 16s for Manic Monday! I got 10/16 each, not bad, quite happy I picked Doi and Johnson in particular.

(1) Serena Williams vs. (13) Svetlana Kuznetsova
(21) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. (27) Coco Vandeweghe
(3) Agnieszka Radwanska vs. (19) Dominika Cibulkova
Ekaterina Makarova vs. Elena Vesnina
(5) Simona Halep vs. (9) Madison Keys
Misaki Doi vs. (4) Angelique Kerber
(8) Venus Williams vs. (12) Carla Suárez Navarro
Yaroslava Shvedova vs. (28) Lucie Safarova

(28) Sam Querrey vs. Nicolas Mahut
(11) David Goffin vs. (6) Milos Raonic
(3) Roger Federer vs. Steve Johnson
(9) Marin Cilic vs. (5) Kei Nishikori
Jiri Vesely vs. (10) Tomas Berdych
(19) Bernard Tomic vs. (32) Lucas Pouille
(7) Richard Gasquet vs. (12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
(15) Nick Kyrgios vs. (2) Andy Murray

And Kerber is yr first QF-ist.

Hey, A-Rad/Domi has just got good! Domi was so strong on the important points, helped by Aga missing some putaways, often hitting it back to her. The game where Domi tried to serve it out at 5-4 in the second was terrific in places, the really long rally at... deuce? It ended on a sad error but was terrific moving and punching. Aga's retrieved from 3-5 to take the second 7-5.

These two have such a great rivalry right now! Hard to believe Aga once double bageled her in the final at Sydney once. So, so happy to have Domi back as a threat!

I put a fiver on A-Rad at the start of the tournament. Hopefully I can cash that out if she survives this.

However, more smartly, I put a fiver on Cilic when Djokovic lost!

Aga/Domi is another nailbiter.

Holy shit that game at 5-5. I love both of these women so much.

Jeez-o, this is tense.

I put a fiver on Cilic when Djokovic lost!

Aye, last time Nole opened the door for Fed in a Slam, Cilic promptly shut it. May happen Wednesday.

turn on wimbledon for five minutes and cibulkova/radwanska provides the greatest rally i've seen in women's tennis, ever

;_; Aga. But what a way to go.

can you think of a greater game to win a match, jesus

gawd the injustice. One had to lose, the other's gonna be gassed. Cibulkova deserves to make the final rather than face Serena in the SF.

turn on wimbledon for five minutes and cibulkova/radwanska provides the greatest rally i've seen in women's tennis, ever

Then there was another one nearly as good!

that set was right up there with that Kuznetsova/Schiavone epic, oh oh oh and Rubin/Sanchez-Vicario from the 1996 Australian.

yeah i mean i only showed for the last two games and that alone was titanic

Here's your stats for the third set, containing 16 games:

Domi: 33W/21UE
Aga: 18W/6UE

Damn.

Man, I just missed all this.

that rally i was talking about is here in full, if bbc links work overseas: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/36704059

Yeah that was pretty nuts!

If you weren't watching Sveta/Serena just then, poor you.

BEAUTIFUL defence to score a break for Sveta! She'll serve for the first.

And she'll fail, then play will be suspended.

Hopefully it'll be patchy drops and not get in the way of Goffin de-Raonicising the tournament.

"cibulkova/radwanska"

this was so awesome. very glad i watched it. almost the exact opposite of the dull match that was happening at the same time with the american whose name i can't remember right now...

Murray dismantling Kyrgios is amazing

great work edwardo, kuznetsova didn't win another game and raonic degoffined the tournament instead

Switched on to see a zombified Kryrgios go through the motions. #retireAlready

What happened to Gasquet? I'm not exactly rushing home for Vesely-Berdych.

Cibulkova/Radwanska = match of the year after Radwanska/Vinci? And at least Domi's QF opponent also went 9-7 today (Vesnina/Makarova was a thriller too, quality not as superlative but incredibly tense - can't believe Vesnina closed it out in the end, first Slam QF for her!)

Gasquet and Nishikori both came out obviously hobbled, obvious Gasquet (against an opponent fresh of a 19-17 fifth set yesterday) threw in the towel first. Nishikori's first set lasted 16 minutes, which is only 6 more than THAT 5-5 game between Domi and Aga.

All these years I've seen Pavlyuchenkova be utterly clueless on grass (including the second set of her R1 here vs Hsieh, she was totally saved by the rain) and suddenly she makes the QF? Not that I'm complaining when Vandeweghe loses.

Goffin losing from two sets up vs Raonic makes me livid, luckily I had the Pouille/Tomic epic to console myself with. Pouille is so good, multiple highlight reel shots. Tried his best to throw it away as well but inevitably Tomic tired first.

Murray/Kyrgios had all the intensity of an exhibition between two mates, which is sort of what it was. Curious that for such a supposed ~bad boy, Kyrgios can be so wholly deferential when he puts his mind to it.

I'm not sure we got the best QFs possible out of that. (Oh yeah, Keys never seems to get major injuries but without fail some minor niggle happens to her at the most ill-timed moment possible? This is a pattern now. Sheer bad luck or psychosomatic?)

Women's QFs:

(1) Serena Williams vs. (21) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
(19) Dominika Cibulkova vs. Elena Vesnina
(5) Simona Halep vs. (4) Angelique Kerber
(8) Venus Williams vs. Yaroslava Shvedova

S.Williams 5-0 Pavlyuchenkova
Cibulkova 3-3 Vesnina (Vesnina 1-0 on grass, Cibulkova 2-0 since 2009)
Halep 3-1 Kerber (Kerber 1-0 this year)
V.Williams 0-0 Shvedova (!!!!)

Williams final would just mean Serena wins, right? still, for nostalgia buffs, you can't beat it.

Vesely-Berdych not bad, actually. Tomas failed to serve it out and now it's 5-5 in the 4th. Pavic/Venus-J Murray/Soares are 12-12 in the 5th (I guess they've gone back to best-of-5 from the last sixteen onwards in the Men's Doubles) after nearly five hours.

Vesely-Berdych some way above "not bad" now. Berdych has triple match point at 5-6 0/40, Vesely wins 11pts of 12 to level and go five set-points up in t/b. Vesely pushes sitter into tramlines with set at mercy. They switch Hawkeye off due to darkness. Berdych saves another s/p with shot on line (no challenge available). Now a correction / play-two on match point to Berdych.

9-9 in the breaker. 9:20pm and overcast. Berdych claimed he wanted to come off 20min ago.

Vesely takes set with a drop-shot. Now Berdych wants to play the 5th set on Centre.

back tom.

Didn't know a Berdych match could be that fun. Loved it, excited for the 5th.

Great day. Radwanska/Cibulkova was a NID classic, lol @ anyone with a ground pass not RUSHING to court 3. Serena's 2nd set under the roof was also holy. Doi/Kerber was also far better than that scoreline. SAD FOR DOI :(

Speaking of NID, Murray/Kyrgios was useless as ever.

in that match, with the number 10 guy against the unranked guy, the commentator said: "Never underestimate the importance of playing the winning patterns." which basically meant that the number 10 guy could win because he knew how to win. because he had won before. my college dorm room mind was blown off its hinges!

words to live by though. gonna remember that one.

but then the number 10 guy lost. he forgot the winning patterns. plus, it was dark.

Didn't know a Berdych match could be that fun. Loved it, excited for the 5th.

seriously! I didn't even bother watching until Vesely was down 2-5 in the fourth which turned out to be exactly the time to start watching. lol @ Berdych complaining about the darkness the minute he went down in the TB.

he was right that they should have moved it to Centre though.

Drama of umpire (who had practically lost his voice) barking CORRECTION on Berdych's baseline call on m/p. And Berdych wasting two minutes of light complaining about darkness at change of ends. I had that on the laptop and the marathon doubles on the TV (suspended at 13-13 after multi-deuce game). What a mixed bag of a Manic Monday. Two retirements, three non-events on Centre but elsewhere a good measure of madness.

great work edwardo, kuznetsova didn't win another game and raonic degoffined the tournament instead

sorry everyone. but srsly now I know why England had to go around colonising the world, needed SOMETHING to do during rain delays

this isn't the first time berdych got fucked by the umpires because of the light. happened two years ago as well against cilic so i understand his frustration.

Yeah but the time to complain was at 5-5, did he think they were gonna stop mid-TB? Vesely collapsed today anyway for, again, a less interesteing QF line-up:

(28) Sam Querrey vs. (6) Milos Raonic
(3) Roger Federer vs. (9) Marin Cilic
(10) Tomas Berdych vs. (32) Lucas Pouille
(12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (2) Andy Murray

Querrey 2-1 Raonic (1-0 on grass, 1-0 at Slams)
Federer 5-1 Cilic (1-1 at Slams)
Berdych 0-0 Pouille
Murray 12-3 Tsonga (5-1 on grass, 3-1 at Slams plus 1-0 in juniors)

In the circumstances, pretty happy that Berdych is through (three breaks to Vesely's one in today's deciding set).

NINE breaks of serve in the Halep-Kerber opener; AK takes it 7-5.

turn it on for ten minutes and shvedova tanks the first set tiebreak with 4 consecutive UEs from 5-2 up

not the same as yesterday's turn it on for ten minutes experiment lol

Kerber-Venus SF? Drool!

Vesely is back on court shortly in his *first round* mixed doubles. They're playing third round matches today too. They're taking a pretty relaxed attitude to the backlog elsewhere, with the outstanding r2 women's doubles not scheduled until 4th on court 8. Putting the brakes on the catch-up could be Serena-Venus-related, I guess. They're due on this evening (r3).

I was amazed Vesnina not only went back out for her doubles with Makarova yesterday evening but came back from a set down.

Good to see Halep fight for once but she is so much further away from a Slam title than she was in 2013-14 imo. Her game has been kind of wrecked by the constant chorus back then of "she has to be more aggressive". No, counterpunching worked for her and horrible errors don't have a good enough pay-off!

Wonderful story for Venus. First Slam SF in six years at the age of 36!

PEDs are an amazing thing

Lendl effect paying off for Vesnina :D
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CmnLf-4WgAAL5A0.jpg

Cilic takes the first set against Federer in tb (4), Raonic-Querrey 64

Fed not getting anything off the Cilic serve, even when gifted with two doubles in game four of that set. Two sets down, as is Querrey.

Perhaps surprisingly, Cilic-Federer is out-aceing Querrey-Raonic 25-14 right now.

Heading back to be office once I've seen a couple more feeble Fed BH returns off second serves.

well Fed did take the 3rd (no tv/stream, can only follow live scores sadly)

he saved 3 break points in an earlier game too

Fed's BH was actually beginning to click when I left the pub.

In other news, Querrey actually has a break point. And now a break!

cilic really hates break points doesn't he

hates them less now

he's very audibly swearing in serbo-croat, the umpire should intervene lol

raja

dear lord

Hot damn, that was tense. All the way we go.

Raonic through in four. Bleh. But it was Bleh either way.

literally don't care about work in the morning, don't care, don't care

no way I'm missing another 30 minutes of Goran Ivanisevic looking like he wants to die

lol federer being a dick to the lino

end of 4th set was choketastic

Yeah, Goran is in knots, isn't he? Compare and contrast with someone like Lendl.

I may dip in again on my phone in about 15min but I didn't get a thing done during that t/b. Sometimes I wish grass-court tennis was somehow an evening/night-time activity. Work days are torture during the second week.

always think that if they must have a day off it should be the second mon or tue, not sun

can the crowd be banned from saying anything

LOL that is the worst challenge I have ever seen

can someone who watches more tennis than me confirm likewise

lol remember when cilic blew three break points in the middle of the third set

Desperation.

Didn't think Old Rog would pull that out. Slam #18 on Sunday or it'll never happen.

Yeah coming back from two sets down was something I didn't think he was still capable of. Was mildly rooting for Marin but I suppose I'd rather have Fed playing Raonic.

Funny how the first two sets appeared kind of close but from middle of set 1 thorugh middle of set 3 it didn't "feel" close, to watch it looked like Cilic was winning easily. Based on the sights, the comeback was unexpected but the score was never a blow-out. I cashed out on Cilic midway through set 3, turning my fiver into $25, five of which I'm going to waste on Tsonga! Hah!

Worst sound in the world? Todd Woodbridge trying to pronounce "Pouille" btw. (Also he kept saying Federer was geeing himself up in Swedish which was quite funny)

Cilic did seem to be winning easily but Federer was really, really bad in the first two sets, which covered up Cilic's wobbles. And I've seen too many collapses from Cilic to ever rule another one out at any stage, that USO SF being very much the anomaly in his career. (I put money on Federer down a set and a break.)

Federer had BETTER rid us of Raonic.

Goddam Andy you were doing so well..

Some real zip to Tsonga rn.

AM really hanging on atm..

come on 0-30, this is the moment.

jesus..breaks

come on, tim!

fuck, Tsonga responding with everything, now 0-30

brill challenge tsonga 0-40

I mean it was an awful decision

saves 3 BPs, great 2nd serve there

astonishing depth T, one mroe bp

awesome - breaks back

epic fkn game, T just about hangs on - can't even begin with this one: 4-4

rifling them thru now..0-15

If Tsonga keeps going, Fed wins his 8th Wim - one of these days

This is getting crazier as it goes.

fk a dropshot oh my life

Incredible winner - bp

and breaks..

peak tsonga is such an amazing sight

yeah, just all lines all the time

TSONGA GOING FOR HIS!

BAM!

hate this - he is so going to fail in the SF

Major murray fail here.

fkn running fh from Tsonga

WHAT THE

god. Murray has been trying to contain tsonga in what seems like forever

DAMN...

that last shot...

HA!

this keeps getting better...

Murray indominable

and then all of a sudden. idk how Murray has raced to 3-0, feels like a blur already xp

Level has def droped now and mistakes are coming.

dbl break

Just outlasted Tsonga - basically the level dropped a touch and then there is no plan B. Blowing cold..

never underestimate the importance of following the winning patterns. is what i have learned from Wimbledon.

VAMOS MURRAY!

And I am away for the final so I won't be having a nervous breakdown in here

murray -vs- federer will be fun.

lmao I had a tennis court booked at 7 and left after the second set thinking surely I'd seen the best bits.

deeply unthrilled by Raonic and Berdych in the SF, deeply unthrilled at the very real possibility of Raonic in the final, if it's a Federer/Murray final though I'll be perched (also pissed off) to see how heavily the crowd will favour Federer.

Serena/Kerber or Serena/Venus should be pretty fascinating finals either way - the latter might actually be the psychologically toughest match the sisters have ever had! (well no, the competing narratives make it seem so, but ultimately I think Serena is hungrier for her history.)

Fed record in Wimb semis is ridiculous: 10-0 and 30-1 in sets. Only Novak stretched him to four in 2012. First time he's faced a repeat opponent* though, and if he's as flat as he was for the first 90min vs Cilic, Raonic could upset him. Murray-Berdych could be a decent contest.

(*: Roddick, Grosjean, Hewitt, Bjorkman, Gasquet, Safin, Haas, Djokovic, Raonic, Murray; I think only Hewitt, Djokovic and Murray were his expected SF opponents by seeding, so he's had it a little easy).

Fed actually a month older than Connors was at the time of *that* Pernfors match and Jimbo's last run to the semis (the USO run was a further four years on, mind).

And Venus a little younger than BJK when she had her autumnal fighting years in SW19, 1980-83. I can remember getting updates on the QF vs Navratilova in '80 from my English teacher who kept disappearing into the staff room for "supplies".

13th Slam in a row on the women's side with a first-time SFist, remarkably. In the previous 70 Slams going back to 1995 the longest streak of SF debutantes was six (2004-05 and 2007-08).

That is an extraordinary stat! I wonder what the recent record is for the men? Two?

I'll go back and look at it later but I have a feeling the late 90s/early 00s may have seen the men get up to 13 or thereabouts...

how is vesnina in the sf, she is rubbish

cibulkova was amazing against radwanska but she lost 6-2 6-2 to *this* wtf was she just tired

or is serena just that far ahead? she can't be THAT far ahead, the quality in cibulkova/radwanska was some of the best i've seen

this is going to be the third time this tournament that serena has closed out the second set 6-0 to win

It's several things:

1) This is Vesnina's first time at this level and she's probably showing nerves.
2) Vesnina is still in both women's doubles AND mixed doubles and is playing more tennis than any of the other semifinalists.
3) When Serena is dialed in and focused, she really IS that far ahead of everyone else.

that's fair

kerber might be close. but we'll see how close now

Mind you I'm not watching because I'm at work; I don't know how badly Vesnina is doing aside from following the scoreline.

Kerber has the ability to hang with Serena (as evidenced by her Australian Open win). Really, everyone* in the top 10 has the ability to hang with Serena; the problem is getting that ability to hang to line up with and sustain long enough to take advantage of Serena's lapses.

* well mmmmmmaybe not Vinci

serena was good but vesnina was utterly and absolutely woeful, like beyond what you'd typically expect of a 'shit i'm playing serena' typical choke

I watched it. Fundamentally the reason that happened is because Vesnina is not an elite player and never has been; she's in the SF because that quarter of the draw collapsed a bit with Bencic's injury and Radwanska/Kvitova losing before Vesnina had to play them. It's a career best week for a veteran whose career high is 21, not a player you'd expect to be in a GS SF at all let alone regularly. So it's not disappointing because this is exactly what was expected.

And the reason it was 6-2 6-0 rather than 6-4 6-3 was because Serena played a pretty flawless match herself. Against a player with nothing to stop her doing that, but she gave Vesnina no openings (like she did to McHale last week).

Between the schedule and their epic matches, Cibulkova and Vesnina were definitely not helped by circumstances to stay fresh, too.

I don't think it's even that deep that it was a wipe-out. Sometimes players are just overmatched. It happens all the time, on the men's side as well as the women's, sometimes even in SFs and Fs! Why are you devoting multiple posts to it imago?

Doesn't watch much of it..

that, and i can't process how vesnina beat cibulkova 6-2 6-2, which i didn't see

Cibulkova was exhausted. And Vesnina is a decent player if she's allowed to play her game, which she was against Domi but not against Serena. Match-ups!

meanwhile this is a good match, except for the serving

Kerber eventually finding her range and about to serve for the set.

Kerber's ground game is soooooo good to watch

this is getting less good, but the final should be good, or something

oh there's life in it now, but life of the inept variety

hmm, every time i criticise it, the quality improves slightly. but it hasn't sustained really. kerber will give serena a game though, based on this (yes i know it isn't over)

hahaha the best point of the whole match to win it

Great final point for Kerber. She outlasted Venus in all the key points and the serve was solid the longer the match went on.

Brill FH pass to end it.

The last time we had the same two players in multiple Slam finals in one year was Henin/Mauresmo 2006!

The last time we had the same two players in multiple Slam finals in one year was Henin/Mauresmo 2006!

Didn't realise this also happened on the ATP between 1995 (Agassi/Sampras) and 2006 (Federer/Nadal).

As for the debut SFists streak on the ATP there was a streak of 10 Slams with at least one between AO 1997 and RG 1999 (going back to AO 2006 it was 13 out of 14).

From Nadal's debut SF (RG 2005) we got 14 out of 17 Slams with a debut SFist until RG 2009; since then we've had seven of 29 Slams with one :///

SESIL KARATANTCHEVA ON THE 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE SPICE GIRLS' DEBUT, EVERYONE

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/5712080/title/sesil-spice-karatantcheva-on-wannabe

for my own very selfish reasons I hate that they put the fed match first and murray second

in that you'll have to miss Fed? think of it as the Raonic match and missing it becomes much easier to take

Tsitsipas gigantically choked the boys' SF against Shapovalov, though I think Shapovalov is the better player anyway - a lefty with a lovely one-handed BH (they both have 1HBHs, the Fed impact!)

why are they letting McEnroe commentate Raonic's match?????

xxp right well I don't hate raonic its just the match of the two id rather see

(xp) I was wondering that myself.

xxp I recall gimmlestob still commentating an isner match while coaching him idk

Department of mental strength: Potapova, down a (very hard-fought) set to Day, comes through 14 total deuces across the first three games of the second set to lead 3-0.

i have a two-handed backhand for brushing my teeth :(

lmaoooo, Day stopped the rally to challenge a Potapova rally ball called in, when Hawkeye showed that it was indeed in Potapova let out the most immense C'MOOOOOOOOON from the other end

are you avoiding the raonic - federer match out of principle or something

it is quite depressing tbf

got both on, nothing to say about Raonic/Federer except "expected, stultifying" and my attention is much more with Potapova/Day

am genuinely considering switching Raonic/Federer to the other girls' SF though

a ball, bouncing on a human face forever

Pretty much.

Ban The Serve

if he only bounced it two or three times before serving he'd be instantly 50% more palatable

raonic is playing out of his mind

hmm spoke too soon. it's either winners down the line or double faults, it seems

ffs Rog, get a grip, stop this guy reaching a Wimbledon final.

http://tennismash.com/2016/07/08/equal-prize-money-opponents-cherry-picking-facts/

^^^^^

really hoping this can be the LAST word on equal prize money; so bored having to have this debate year after year

Yastremska fending off multiple SPs to draw back from 2-5 to 5-5 against Pervushina in the second set, bellowing C'MOOOOOONNNNN after literally every point she's won

Yastremska wins 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 - such an intense match. Love her BH. Some quality talent in the juniors this year.

ughhhhh Raonic randomly peaking to drag this tedious match into a 5th

ugh federer WHYYYYYYYY

That was partial Raonic peaking on those returns and mostly Fed flopping with hitting the ball straight at him and DFing tho

also McEnroe stfu

It's a fkn nightmare.

that is the worst shot federer has ever played i think

also McEnroe stfu

I can hardly hear what he's saying tbh.

this is turning into such a horrorshow

aaaaagh Raonic in the final nooooooo

Murray will destroy him, right?

Right?

Unless Fed slips into his 26yo body at the change of ends, this is 6-1.

Why are ppl disliking Raonic?

They're confusing him with Tomic, maybe?

He has the look and demeanour of that kid at school you fucking detested

From the little I've seen of him he has a boring style - huge serves, big FH winners and little else

his game is unwatchable

... as is his face.

... sorry, that's a bit much!

I have no idea how ppl in ilx tennis threads arrive at their impassioned judgments but it's fun, seems it's always GOOD VS EVIL

He looks like one of the guys in red shirts in the original Star Trek series who would go down to some planet with Captain Kirk and get killed as soon as he got there.

Murray should clean up Berdych pretty quick and be nice and rested. Right? Please?

If Fed had lost six, four and four, never getting a break point, that would have been one thing. But he had that match in his grasp. Perhaps his thigh/knee wouldn't have held up for Sunday anyway.

Pretty sure if you played all the points that involved exciting tennis b2b from that five-setter you'd barely get to 10 minutes

Raonic has actually ruined Canada for me too.

like this should feel ~momentous, first Slam final for a young player, end of an era (well this obv happened years ago but) but I just feel comatose right now

Fair enough, well done to the guy, great achievement, just lose in the final please.

Mr Roz, who doesn't regularly watch tennis, halfway through the second set: "why is this match so boring?"

Raonic is a perfectly genial sort, but he's basically a robot on court.

yeah he seems fine as a person but he's one of the only players that make me feel touch and go about even watching the final

ilx tennis threads are great and have had a real impact in who i root for irl. there are the players i would have cheered on regardless of ilx like/dislike - radwanska, federer. then there are the players i root for precisely because they are so loathed on ilx - wozniaki, ivanovic. guess i'll have to root for raonic now, anyone but murray really. tomic still a bridge too far though.

Tomic is the opposite, total douche but his game is very interesting, unique and watchable, and a good foil to a lot of other players

ILX tennis threads barely mention Wozniacki these days. Well not the slam ones lolololol

Agreed. I feel that way about Kyrgios too. Gorgeous stylist (more of a wild slapper than Tomic), bit of a dick, quite like to see him lose. But at least I like to see him.

Xp

just adds to my love, like safina
xp

kind of weird hearing people in the office here cheer after Roanic's win and then coming to this thread to see what ilx tennis people think and basically everybody hates him. (I am Canadian and know pretty much nothing about tennis)

Ditto. I'm happy.

I don't know that much either but I know enough to know that, when I actually sit down to watch tennis, which isn't often, I don't want to be sitting down to watch someone like Raonic.

^ xxp

He's no Glenn Michibata. He's no Carling Bassett either.

xp

HOPE: maybe his career will follow the post-Wimbledon final trajectory of Bouchard's!

Comparing generational peers, I feel it is extremely necessary for my tennis fandom that Nishikori ends up with a better career than Raonic.

can't speak for anyone else but i don't HATE any players, just don't want the boring ones (e.g. Raonic) to succeed at the expense of less boring ones

Raonic = Portugal at Euro 2016

having said that i reaally didn't want to watch Murray lose another slam final to old man Fed so i'm glad that's no longer a possibility

let's be fair, he played some amazing shots

you don't have to be a big tennis head to watch raonic and federer play each other and decide which is more pleasing to watch

pandemic what do you have against murray? just some euro beef?

dour, habit of having bum-fluffy facial hair, a bottler

Yeah, that's him.

i don't mind AM but he's definitely got things that you could dislike about him

I like him, the fact that he's unlikeable makes him more likeable.

gripping match here

Berdych's FH needs its own laugh track

it always kind of amazes me that you could be a tennis player who could probably beat 99.99% of the world at a game of tennis and someone like Murray can make you look like an amateur.

and he's even beaten murray before.

they had never played each other on grass before today. fun fact.

not a lot of grass court tournaments

gonna be watching the finals in ~social situations so will unfortunately be absent but I'll take Serena in three and Murray in four

(Murray's first Slam final not against Djokovic or Federer, whoa. The "he's too miserable" complaint about him pales next to the fact that he's one of the few ATP players with progressive opinions tbh)

yeah i have encountered way too many IRL murray haters who think he's awfully sour and grumpy, tbh whenever he's interviewed i'm always impressed by how articulate and sensible he sounds

saw in passing the stat of murray making at least the qtrs in 21 of the last 22 majors i think? thats p killer

some outstanding rallies here

kerb looks good

@ work, missing this, bah!

That was a solid set, so many amazing rallies. Hoping Kerber keeps it up.

The highlight reel from this match will be unreal - it's just been winner after winner from both players.

so many points making me gasp

Jesus this match

Sad for Angie. Nice net hug! Serena was generally very very good. But Wimbledon's been won with worse play than Kerber showed.

This final was everything I wanted it to be. Stellar performance from two of my favorite player.

And Serena gets 22, tying Steffi Graf's record.

Shame that had to end so soon - there were more amazing points in those two sets than the entirety of yesterday's Raonic-Fed five-setter.

Meanwhile, drama and hilarity in the girls' final. So much foot-stamping and screaming in the last game - Potapova needing six championship points to close it out, thinking she won on at least two of them only for Yetremska to challenge, both times guessing right.

By the time Potapova actually won, she looked ready to jump over the net and throttle Yetremska.

FEELING EXTREMELY 22 RN

serena <3

so crazy that serena won her first grand slam in 1999. that is a long time ago. beat hingis. i remember that one. did not know that hingis won the doubles at the u.s. open last year. missed that one.

serena/venus in the doubles final now

Maybe time to introduce best-of-5 women's tennis - dual purpose - shut up the bigots and make top matches possibly more classic

http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/the-last-stand-of-fed/?utm_network=twitter&utm_post=6008512&utm_source=TW%20%40NBCSportsWorld

posting this partly because seeing safin's name reminded me of how much i miss him

very special to see history made with such a great match yesterday! and bey in the crowd!

Excellent from Murray so far

Hewitt needs to pick a pronunciation of Raonic and stick with it, even if it's the wrong one.

(Quite a good match-up this, Milos displaying far more variety)

Far more variety than we usually see from him, I mean, not more than his opponent.

brilliant passes from murray all maych

raonic has no shot coming in against murray's backhand today

murray is serving good

murray gets back shots no_one short of novak gets back

raonic has done well to keep this respectable because murray has played one of the best matches i've seen him play

srsly he has been great

good one! unbelievable some of the serves that Murray returned today. like, how the hell do you even do it?

He did the business for sure.

this dude who always chats up the ball kids as he walks out to present the plaque always creeps me out

lol

not always an on-court interviewee throws a little simile out there

raonic seems like a nice kid tho

yeah, surprising

yeah i feel bad when people get slammed for not showing emotion or having fun or whatever when all they must be thinking inside their head is: AHHHHHHHHHHHH I'M IN THE FINALS AT WIMBLEDON HOLY SHIT! i mean you need to keep it together.

Raonic is such a clunky, one-dimensional player. Murray tight as a drum yet it was NID at every point. Raonic lumbering into net was so exactly what Murray needed today! Really glad he took the opportunity, he's put together a much better career than every other two-slam champion.

Watson's mixed doubles win was nice too :)