WIMBLEDON 2011

OMG Isner and Mahut just drew each other in the first round again :o

LOL

Wimbledon radio isn't working for me :/

Crap, I kind of did NOT want Serena to be in the same half as Venus, Kvitova and Li.

Serena/Rezai 1R! Aravane better not choose that time to play her good tennis for the year.

I think Caravane's personal life is in too much turmoil for that to happen ;_; ALLEZ anyway.

OMG Isner and Mahut just drew each other in the first round again

Oh, you are kidding me. Maybe stick it on Centre and shut the roof, just in case?

Isner will probably win 7-6 6-4 6-4 in 1:25

so the weather prediction has gone from heatwave to deluge...

Yay Kimiko guaranteed a 1R win vs Katie O'Brien.

Li vs Lisicki 2R :o Auf gehts Sabine.

Mattek-Sands player party dress made me forget that Wimbledon is actually happening. Caught off-guard. French Open was too emotional.. for Wimbledon my strategy is different. Hoping for the good matches and vibrations. Don't think I have any predictions to make.

rafa with the toughest quarter, djoker with the toughest half?

tough(er)

i know right, between the Mattek-Sands dress and the Isner/Mahut rematch, studying the entire rest of the draw felt a bit inadequate yesterday. OK going in on predix now (pending qualifier placements) (and there are a couple of brackets where I'd actually pick the right qualifier).

Wozniacki d. Cibulkova
Sharapova d. Peng
Lisicki d. Radwanska
Bartoli d. S.Williams
Schiavone d. Petkovic
Hantuchova d. Errani
Kvitova d. Kuznetsova
Jankovic d. Vesnina

Sharapova d. Wozniacki
Bartoli d. Lisicki
Hantuchova d. Schiavone
Kvitova d. Jankovic

Sharapova d. Bartoli
Kvitova d. Hantuchova

Kvitova d. Sharapova

ooooooh Rafa got Raonic AND Delpo :o

Nadal d. Del Potro
Kohlschreiber d. Berdych
Murray d. Gasquet
Lopez d. Tipsarevic
Tsonga d. Ferrer
Federer d. Devvarman
Soderling d. Mayer
Djokovic d. Llodra

Nadal d. Kohlschreiber
Murray d. Lopez
Federer d. Tsonga
Djokovic d. Soderling

Nadal d. Murray
Federer d. Djokovic

Nadal d. Federer

hantuchova in the semis? ;)

I know right, I can't believe I made that prediction myself

With any luck it'll result in an epic meltdown à la the last time she reached a Slam SF

Oh I just thought, I guess this is the first year when the roof actually has to be used regularly...and THAT could be problematic, given what a massive advantage it would give to those players who just happen to be scheduled on Centre Court, while everyone else has to sit around and stew...

Funny, your semi-finalists Hantuchova and Kvitova are locked in a tiebreak now at 6-6, first set.

I hope your predictions are correct, but I fear Silliams vs Maria, if MS gets that far.

More likely that Silliams won't make that date. I know people have the spectre of her AO '07 run at the backs of their minds but her serve is erratic, her power is just nowhere near what it was and her stamina will be tested by the rain delays and inevitable backlog of matches.She almost beat our World No 3, yes, but our World No 3 is currently terrible and I'd be shocked if she made the second week.

I could see Sharapova losing to the dread Woz, but the latter's fucked-up preparation will surely bite her in the ass here. Maybe Gajdosova in the 3rd? I don't trust Gajdosova not to be brainless though.

TipsarevicJanko

I know I have a wonderfull life full of love and happiness.But sometimes I feel that I dont deserve the things that are happening to me
9 minutes ago via web

This idiot still hasn't won a title, and today he didn't just lose yet another final to fucking SEPPI on GRASS of all the fucking dumb things to do, but he lost via retirement, 3-5 0-15 down in the final set.

Tennis has no place for total losers like him.

He'll always be forgiven for that one time he beat Roddick at Wimbledon, though.

I'm so pleased Tammy Tanasugarn got a nice qualy placement.

You don't expect a guy with a Schopenhauer quote tattoed on his back to win a title, do you? Achieve his desires?

I love Tipsy, SO SHUT IT.

I kind of love him too. But really! Seppi on grass, you could not ask for an easier way to finally win a title.

Q. When we saw you at the end of the French you said you hadn't talked to your mother. Did she end up watching it? What did she have to say to you?
NA LI: No, after match she just send me the text message. She ask when I was back. I say, After Wimbledon, and then she never send me back again, so... (Laughter.)

Q. So did she watch?
NA LI: I think she know I win the tournament. I don't know if even she know how big tournament is. I didn't ask her.

Nadal first on tomorrow.

Defending champ always starts. Going by the weather forecast, Centre Court might be the only place to see tennis tomorrow.

Bump! Weather looking okay about 9 miles north of SW19...

True - now doesn't look like the rain will hit SW London until 8-9pm. Tomorrow also looks OK, Wed/Fri not so good.

why is the fucking red button not working?! KILL

oh god i think i just killed the tv

LOL, finally sorted it out and Date-Krumm is already 4-0, 40-0 up on a useless Brit <3

I am going out at lunchtime and buying a new digital box! Red button trumps!

Also buying an ice-cream scoop.

6-0 and she only lost 4 points <3

LOL Venus' outfit!!!

Credit were credit's due, I think Katie won six points in that set. Against someone who could be her mum. Holding her own (to a certain extent) in set two.

Just turned this on and yes, once again wtf is venus wearing?

Um what the hell is Venus wearing? Seriously what even IS that.

lol xp

Yay. Krumm is the first winner of Wim '11, and that's the first Wim win of her comeback. It'll be great for her to play Venus next.

i think the saddest part of venus' outfit is the limp brown cloth hanging halfway down what i can only guess (?!) was meant to be an open back? seriously woman i don't even know anymore.

It kind of looks like one of those free plastic ponchos you get at festivals. A quarter of one, anyway.

:D Nicely done by Venus, especially as Akgul came up with some ridic shots throughout.

Bepa killing Riske so far :)

Why has nike circled Rafa's armpits in blue? How is it so hard to get all-white right?

If anyone sees Boris Becker out and about can they nobble him? SHUT THE FUCK UP. I can just about manage his horrible voice when he's being serious but the jokes. The banter. Every time he opens his gob I cringe at what might come out. Make it stop.

Never forget: HEY IT'S LOU REED. OR MAYBE IT'S LOU REED'S BROTHER.

first of all i want to congradulade novak for a fantastic year

nadal with some v unusual errors

― Jibe, Sunday, July 3, 2011 4:38 PM (5 minutes ago)

i don't think it's true that nadal possesses preternatural sangfroid (as the commentators alleged), just that he seldom shows it, whereas djokovic is a picture of angst and frustration when he's slipping

What's with the announcer guy?

NEARLY WORD FOR FUCKING WORD

Lol cute.

Mic tech has just been fired.

i don't disagree with you nakh, it's just that it is so very rare to see nadal losing it and committing such unforced errors. usually he's the one provoking his opponents into committing them

sure, it was a really anticlimactic finish

i guess he's trying to make up for it with his spirited performance in this light entertainment routine

if i ever win a major tournament and i'm asked to pose for the photographs, there is no way i just stand there and kiss the trophy like every one does. sadly, however, i will never win a major tournament.

What would you do instead?

damn djokovic dballin!

he was dirking for a good minute there early

http://dimemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dirk_32_02.jpg
Novak Djokovic

idk. i guess my comment should have gone into the things that make you irrationally angry thread rather than this one, but for some reason it always bothers me to no end.

xxxpost

if i ever win a major tournament i will kiss the trophy then go home and bathe in 500 euro notes while weeping for my lost childhood

if i ever win a major tournament, i will bathe in 500 euro notes with my trophy in front of the photogrpahs. i will keep the weeping for when i get home.

ok, no i got it. if i win, gonna do like the canadian hockey team at the olympics and bring out the cigar and champagne.

Pretty un-tense final but lots of great shot making.

I will remember this year's event for Petra's barking and Bartoli's knee-lifting after winning key points. These are endearing tics, along with Tsonga's on-court dancing and general antics.

nothing about bartoli is endearing

She really loves chocolate cake, stfu.

Bartoli has nothing but horrible tics on court, come on. Be it that horrible horrible serving motion, or the way she does air-fh and -bh in between points. ugh. also, who doesn't love chocolate cake, honestly?

haha u no nuthing!

and that horrible double-jump thing she does before serving - just totally indefensible. the worst

http://www.topnews.in/files/images/MarionBartoli.jpg

i'd like to add that even though bartoli has horrible tics i find her kinda endearing. and i rather like this pic of her too:
http://timchewkc.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/183390_10150191708460278_760560277_8720536_5671344_n.jpg

Best part in a picture full of best parts is the name plaque.

bartoli falls under the category of players i kinda like but never want to win. Mainly cause she's sort of lovably mental as opposed to say, Batty Patty, who was serial killer mental.

Anybody else worried about abcfsk post-Sharapova loss?

I just finished watching my DVR of the men's final. Congrats to Novak, it was better that him beating Rafa than anyone else. Maybe Rafa is an underdog now and the weirdos that rather Murray be in the final will show some respect to the new underdog.

Back!

A child got hold of the remote control at the party at the start of the third set and managed to pause the TV (I DID NOT KNOW YOU COULD DO THAT) - we managed to unpause it but not forward to where it presumably would have been live, so I had to take myself off the internet. Last two sets are more of a blur for me than the first two but great stuff Djokovic etc etc, I think the one thing that characterises both our new Wim champions is ability to put adversity behind them.

Surely that is true of, like, every Wimbledon champion ever.

This wimbledon seems a bit strange because for once it was the womens' matches that seemed to be more memorable. There was something a bit ho-hum about the mens' tournament - even Roger's early exit didn't produce the same angst as last year. Is it now a given that Fed is past his best and right back in the pack? Rafa and Djoko progressed rather than barnstormed their way through, as did the great white local hope until he (completely predictably) progressed headlong into Nadal.

Tsonga had a great tournament, Tomic a good one, a few lights of distant days (such as Lleyton, Sandshoe Face and D'denko) dimmed even further. Mardy Fish found his name up in lights for the regulation 15 mins (which is surely more than enough for that particular name). Jose Ferrer beavered away but may have found his natural level. Soderling, JMDP? Can't call.

As far as the womens' goes, Cake acing Silliams three times on second serve on big points is the abiding memory of the last fortnight. Petra was wonderful throughout, while Maria the Screaming Iceberg provided the imposing Russian presence I'd have far preferred coming from Bepa (another early casualty), but credit where due - her comeback from injury was excellent.

Doubtless Clan Williams' long-term future at the top of the heap, following their single-file exit on Monday, will be speculated about to within inches of its life between now and day 1 at AA. Kim's absence was barely noticed, Woz' presence likewise, quite amazingly for a seed 1.

Two first-time winners: one ahead of schedule and excited but somehow overawed by her sudden arrival, the other bang on if not slightly behind and decidedly underwhelmed, declaring himself (how wisely?) 'born to win' the tournament. The after-the-final vibe reflected the event that had gone before perfectly in both cases.

Kim's absence was barely noticed, Woz' presence likewise, quite amazingly for a seed 1.

I know right! As it should be.

The "end of an era????" articles post-Williams losses were odd, in Serena's case I'd have drawn the opposite conclusion (damn good result considering what she went through, and even more than that she was playing great tennis by the end and even more than THAT she showed she's still got the desire), and in Venus's case her era ended years ago (I don't totally rule out one last hurrah Sampras-style at some point obv).

Roll of honour.

Men's singles: Novak Djokovic
Women's singles: Petra Kvitova
Men's doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan
Women's doubles: Kveta Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik
Mixed doubles: Iveta Benesova & Jurgen Melzer
Boys' singles: Luke Saville
Girls' singles: Ashleigh Barty
Boys' doubles: George Morgan & Mate Pavic
Girls' doubles: Eugenie Bouchard & Grace Min

Double AUS triumph in the juniors - AUS posters, any info on Saville and Barty?

New rankings.

1. Caroline Wozniacki (1)
2. Kim Clijsters (2)
3. Vera Zvonareva (3)
4. Victoria Azarenka (5)
5. Maria Sharapova (6)
6. Na Li (4)
7. Petra Kvitova (8)
8. Francesca Schiavone (7)
9. Marion Bartoli (9)
10. Samantha Stosur (10)
11. Andrea Petkovic (13)
12. Svetlana Kuznetsova (12)
13. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (14)
14. Agnieszka Radwanska (11)
15. Jelena Jankovic (15)
16. Julia Goerges (16)
17. Shuai Peng (20)
18. Ana Ivanovic (18)
19. Yanina Wickmayer (19)
20. Dominika Cibulkova (24)
21. Flavia Pennetta (21)
22. Daniela Hantuchova (23)
23. Shahar Peer (22)
24. Maria Kirilenko (27)
25. Roberta Vinci (29)
26. Kaia Kanepi (17)
27. Sabine Lisicki (62)
28. Alisa Kleybanova (26)
29. Jarmila Gajdosova (28)
30. Lucie Safarova (32)
...
34. Venus Williams (30)
41. Tamira Paszek (80)
48. Tsvetana Pironkova (33)
50. Kimiko Date-Krumm (57)
55. Petra Cetkovska (81)
61. Ksenia Pervak (89)
81. Tamarine Tanasugarn (108)
107. Misaki Doi (133)
169. Melinda Czink (262)
175. Serena Williams (25)
185. Laura Robson (254)

1. Novak Djokovic (2)
2. Rafael Nadal (1)
3. Roger Federer (3)
4. Andy Murray (4)
5. Robin Soderling (5)
6. David Ferrer (6)
7. Gael Monfils (8)
8. Mardy Fish (9)
9. Tomas Berdych (7)
10. Andy Roddick (10)
11. Richard Gasquet (13)
12. Jurgen Melzer (11)
13. Nicolas Almagro (15)
14. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (19)
15. Stanislas Wawrinka (14)
16. Viktor Troicki (12)
17. Mikhail Youzhny (17)
18. Gilles Simon (16)
19. Juan Martin Del Potro (21)
20. Florian Mayer (18)
21. David Nalbandian (23)
22. Juan Ignacio Chela (20)
23. Fernando Verdasco (22)
24. Marcos Baghdatis (30)
25. Alexandr Dolgopolov (24)
26. Milos Raonic (25)
27. Marin Cilic (26)
28. Michael Llodra (35)
29. Janko Tipsarevic (29)
30. Nikolay Davydenko (27)
...
31. Feliciano Lopez (44)
60. Grigor Dimitrov (62)
69. Lukasz Kubot (93)
71. Bernard Tomic (158)
84. Yen-Hsun Lu (57)
88. James Blake (102)
101. Ryan Harrison (122)
173. Lleyton Hewitt (130)

Double AUS triumph in the juniors - AUS posters, any info on Saville and Barty?

Barty: massive bogan. Don't know anything else, sadly.

Wasn't there talk at some point that Lisicki might not be eligible to points from thsi event owing to having taken too many wild cards? I was sure there was some way around this given that it's Wimbledon and not just some WTA event but I never read the resolution..

as is the way with the WTA, I think they just ignored the rule or found a loophole or something.

(iirc, the rule implies that past winners of the year-end championships can get more WCs, but the wording is such that it could, if you squint, mean past winners of any premier event, and Lisicki won Charleston in '09.)

this is cute i guess though the competition's a little thin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/books/review/essay-a-tournament-of-tennis-writing.html

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/a3/fullj.6f809d521034c48dfcf9bc6b659cfdf6/6f809d521034c48dfcf9bc6b659cfdf6-getty-118108318.jpg

<3

^^^needs to be a daily mail story about eastern europeans taken over

Petra looks GREAT

Cor, came back from the cinema to find out I did call this. Dead pleased.

I hope that Serena was watching and she works at getting herself back -- a final between her and Kvitova would be something.

Was thinking about what we have learnt over the last couple of slams: (1) Djoko will own Nadal for a while, except (2) I think Roger can beat Djokovic on his day but (3) Roger will never beat Nadal again, so Nadal's best chance of winning a slam (at least for a while) is for Roger to beat Novak to then lose to Nadal in the final.

But as the rankings have changed those scenarios anyway so hey ho. Besides, you throw in a resurgent Del Potro and a Murray in America and I say I just can't wait for the US open to start! Bring on the end of August!!

I mostly agree, but I think the best thing about the four-way rivalry at the top of the ATP is that even when one of them appears to own another, the matches are must-watches because you never know exactly when the balance will tip the other way. Even Fed/Nadal on clay's gone the unexpected way a couple of times.

At RG, Roger looked more motivated to puncture a press narrative than I've seen him in years. He wanted to prove a point. Almost like every time Silliams has played Ma$habot post the 2004 losses. But for that reason I think it might have been a one-off, as far as Slams are concerned.

Soooo many narratives set up for the second half of the year. The Big Four rivalry as outlined (feels even more stupid putting Murray in with that now, lol). Delpo joining the Top 5 again. How will Kvitova (and Li) react to Slam champ status. How soon will Serena get back to elite status.

I think the nature of Murray's loss is such that he'll probably never win Wimbledon - reckon he will win a slam, but just one, and place an 'if' there.

But agree, he isn't really 'in' with the other three. Del Potro is much more like it.

Its a shame but if you show that kind of promise that Murray has and don't bag a slam between 18-23 its a lot of pain, which is what we are witnessing right now.

Murray is not really a legitimate part of the rivalry in Slams yet. On tour events (best of three), sure. But he was maybe 70% of the way towards beating Nadal here if it had been best out of three.. only maybe 40% in best of five.. he comes up short over and over again and yep, Del Potro is the fourth part of the rivalry now. He won't be getting shit low-seed draws forever!

Just to clarify: Murray is a better tennis player than Del Potro.

I think Raonic will win a slam before Murray.

holy shit, check out the crowd in belgrade to see novak

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/07/05/article-2011350-0CDDF89700000578-825_634x422.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/07/05/article-2011350-0CDE33A100000578-716_634x427.jpg

the 222 winners Kvitova hit on the way to the title, condensed into 6 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R26RvRctz4Q

<3