WIMBLEDON 2013

It arrives amidst a FLURRY OF HEADLINES. Stepanek allegedly divorcing Vaidisova for - allegedly - KVITOVA. Tomic and his abusive dad. Serena coming over all rape apologist.

Also, Bethanie Mattek-Sands just turned up on the WTA party red carpet looking like this:

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNOhER-CQAAWdor.jpg

I also went to qualifying yesterday and did a report: http://unforcederrani.tumblr.com/post/53445190672/wimbledon-2013-qualifying-report-19-6-2013

I look forward to these threads almost as much as I do to the tournament

unbelievably good draw for Novak. Enough to make him the strong favorite I think.

Rafa and Fed got screwed, obviously

Nothing much to stop Fed making his 37th straight QF. Where he'll either lose to Nadal or beat whoever took out Nadal.

he could certainly lose to Janowicz if he's in the zone

Murray ftw! ;-)

At the risk of incurring Lex's wrath, given that Wimbledon made a bunch of dick moves about seedings in the past, bumping Rafa to 4 would have improved the tournament if perhaps had some dubious optics. In any case, Federer definitely goes out a round earlier, he's got 900 slams, people will deal. That said, the "formula" has been a real band-aid solution that doesn't work because the grass season is too damned short. It'll get better in future years, though.

I didn't realise until recently Stuttgart was switching to grass for the 2015 season (dropping into the week following the French; it's a three-week gap between RG and SW19 in 2015, right? Not sure if Queens/Halle are going to be the week after.)

it's about time Rafa/Rog got relegated to QF status, it's not as if it's an enthralling match-up any more. Wimbledon fucking around with seeds in the past is a reason for them to STOP, not CONTINUE. People can just deal with bad draws tbh.

SOMEONE OUT OF CADANTU AND PASZEK WILL HAVE TO WIN A SLAM MATCH!

In an airport so those will be the extent of my thoughts until tomorrow

People can deal, of course, but really, the seed-dicking-around-with-formula, in an attempt to be "transparent" has, with the tiny grass season, the effect of doing sod all really. I mean, what's the point in bumping some flake like Youzhny? Remember when it bumped Tomic - Tomic ffs! with one QF to his name. TBH they should just scrap it.

(i.e. do it right or scrap it. The grass season is so short that you can get anomalous results, or if you get injured that is a much bigger handicap than it would be if you'd hurt your back during the clay swing.)

right, further thoughts.

You'd think the Ferrer/Pony section would be the most open, right? I thought Delpo's efforts at serve-and-ponying a couple of years ago boded well for his grass future but he lost to Ferrer here last year, IIRC. I trust everyone has learned their lesson about seeing Dimitrov's name in an open section but I could see Nishikori or Kohlschreiber come through.

Can't work out whether Haas is unlucky to draw Nole or the other way round.

God, how much do I want Vekic to avenge her AO loss and take Woz out in R2. That would be amazing.

Hampton/Stephens...I fear Jamie has tired herself out with her Eastbourne run, she's talented but not very physically resilient. Shame - that section of the women's draw is very open, she could have made the QF for sure. Well, OTOH, Vekic might be the beneficiary!

I hope Serena gets booed for her rape apologism and Jie finally gets a win against her after pushing her so many times. I guess the fallout from those comments might be the only vague question mark over her, though. It's not much of a straw.

LOLed when I saw a tennis journalist tweet that Robson, Kirilenko and Goerges in the same place = a stacked section. Gorgeous is completely useless on grass (and everywhere, these days), and Robson is in terrible form. If I was Kirilenko I'd do cartwheels at that draw.

Watson/Keys could be a pretty nice match. Winner gets Niculescu or Barthel - hey, prime opportunity for Mona to extend her Slam losing streak to, what is it now, seven? Grassonkova should strike against Chunkova too.

Li will probably find a way to lose to Halep, A-Rad for the SF?

If Petra dares lose to fucking Vandeweghe...if she DARES. SURELY she wouldn't do that to me. *places bet on Colleen*

I didn't realise until recently Stuttgart was switching to grass for the 2015 season (dropping into the week following the French; it's a three-week gap between RG and SW19 in 2015, right? Not sure if Queens/Halle are going to be the week after.)

I'm hoping Halle and Queens get bumped up to 500s and then after a couple years we can finally have a grass Masters somewhere.

btw I think it's a little premature to just book a Rafa win over Fed in the quarters. Let's see how they look first. Also they haven't played on a fast surface in 5 years (though by quarterfinals Wimby has slown down a bunch).

Petra needs to FIND SOME FUCKING FORM, stop fucking around with ugly men, and make it to the QFs so she can show Azarenka how to play on grass. Or just have a random run of good luck and play like shit and win anyway, whatever.

I fear Li won't be around the tournament very long and this is extremely sad. Halep's form, not just the wins, but the scorelines, has been pretty impressive. I would do cartwheels if Hampton made a nice run, I really like her and she's an unlucky draw for anyone given that she could be as high as #21 if she wins her next match (and it is against someone who has a dismal finals record!) and Stephens is just the kind of person who deserves it. GO JAMIE.

I haven't looked at the men's draw yet other than to say "Well, Nole, you got a shit draw in Paris. Here's your reward". Fed obviously got the opposite treatment at both Slams. I guess he could beat Nadal if they close the roof, he has beaten him on quick indoor courts a few times in the last few years.

Bethanie Mattick-Sands is where WTF turns into WGAF.

And while we're on WGAF, Bernie the FOAT already pre-emptive bleating, saying he'll do well v Querry 'if my leg doesn't play up'.

BMS spent a lot of her career playing like a total scrub but when she's on, she hits lots of winners and is a tiny bit awesome to watch. More interesting is that she's planning to wear Google Glass while playing.

BMS has been resurgent this year, she's a real threat right now.

Predix (plus actual analysis at http://unforcederrani.tumblr.com/ )

Serena Williams d. Sabine Lisicki
Maria Kirilenko d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Agnieszka Radwanska d. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova
Roberta Vinci d. Daniela Hantuchova
Donna Vekic d. Sara Errani
Maria Sharapova d. Marion Bartoli
Ana Ivanovic d. Garbine Muguruza
Victoria Azarenka d. Kirsten Flipkens

Williams d. Kirilenko
Radwanska d. Vinci
Sharapova d. Vekic
Azarenka d. Ivanovic

Williams d. Radwanska
Sharapova d. Azarenka

Williams d. Sharapova
------------------------------------------
Novak Djokovic d. Tommy Haas
Tomas Berdych d. Richard Gasquet
Philipp Kohlschreiber d. David Ferrer
Juan Martin Del Potro d. Kei Nishikori
Rafael Nadal d. Stanislas Wawrinka
Roger Federer d. Jerzy Janowicz
Marin Cilic d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Andy Murray d. Mikhail Youzhny

Djokovic d. Berdych
Del Potro d. Kohlschreiber
Nadal d. Federer
Murray d. Cilic

Djokovic d. Del Potro
Nadal d. Murray

Djokovic d. Nadal

In the Vinci section, I did that thing where I went, well, Halep will probably beat Li and has never lost to Hantuchova, who will upset Zakopalova. Vinci is pretty safe for the last 16 and Halep whomped her last week. BUTTTTTT Halep has played two weeks in a row and surely will be tired out at some point? She's not used to that many matches. Appropriately, the resulting brain freeze threw up Hantuchova.

As for Tomic...he's an asshole, yeah. But I feel more sympathetically towards him these days - like Dokic, he has an abusive father. It explains why he is the way he is, to an extent. And he's probably going through some shit at the moment.

I've prepared for this tournament very sensibly: 1. Play lots of Virtua Tennis (doubles: Wozniacki/Wozniacki v Wozniacki/Wozniacki of course), 2. Watch 2011 women's final highlights. 3. Quit job. ALL FUCKING SET.

well, here's some pre-Wim press conference drama.

Ben Rothenberg ‏@BenRothenberg 6m
Sharapova lashes HARD at Serena. "She should talk about her own relationship, her own boyfriend, *who was married and is getting divorced*"

tbh I'd completely forgotten Serena was mildly catty in that RS piece, it seemed rather insignificant in comparison. Wish a player would call her out on her rape apologist BS instead

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

but serena didn't mention maria, so she just comes off rather insecure. it wouldn't even make sense for the comment to be about maria, because i'm pretty sure maria/grigor were being "secretive" about their PR relationship back then and maria surely wasn't going on about it in interviews.

it would make just as much sense for the comment to be about wozniacki. especially the "she still won't get invited to the cool parties" bit lol.

I assume either Ma$ha hasn't deigned to read the RS piece and someone just asked her about "what Serena said about you", or she senses Serena's vulnerable media-wise right now and wanted to get her own dig in. I totally assumed the comment was about Wozniacki.

Oh! Nice story from the Dutch tournament - Nicolas Mahut won it. And it was indirectly down to losing the 70-68 Isner match - Wimbledon gave him a WC because of it, which meant he could play Rosmalen instead of Wim qualies this week => his first title. Glad that match benefited him eventually...

I'm sure the questions were formed with a purpose...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNY_YwVCUAA8MY2.jpg

Indeed, but having watched the video, no way were Sharapova's comments off the cuff - the dig about Mouratoglou being married was premeditated.

Also more importantly, and this does reflect well on Sharapova, is that she said she was disappointed in Serena for the Steubenville comments. I wish Serena had delivered a half-sincere apology so we could move on but after that utter bullshit she still needs to be dragged HARD by the media and fans for it. I mean who cares about the high school ~drama~ really in comparison.

I reckon its Murray to disptach Nadal in four sets but then to yes lose to Djoko in four as well.

Puig killing Errani out there...

How did this player get bagelled by Oudin in Eastbourne qualies last week?!

Whoa. Errani tries to switch things up with the slice, Puig casually hits clean backhand slice winner in response

Elena B a set and a double break down. Panetta, aside from a semi in Strasbourg, where she qualified, has barely won a match in a year (I guess she was injured after August?).

She had wrist surgery, every time I've seen Flavia play this year she's been a shadow of her former self

Errani saves MP when Puig slips...

Lesia Tsurenko is your first winner of Wim 2013!

Puig missed three MPs in the last game, more through Errani battling rather than her own choking. Now she has to serve for it...

OK Puig now choking hard

Puig wins on her 7th MP! Well, we all knew Errani was vulnerable on grass - I just didn't realise Puig would play so well on it. Great performance.

No golden set for Errani this year. :(

Meanwhile, all Oz is in thrall as Wally Masur and co breathlessly describe Marinko Matosevich going 5-0 down to a Frenchman called Ruffian or similar.

Marinko is bog ordinary in all respects (except maybe his resemblance to Memo from Acropolis Now), we all know it, even he himself must strongly suspect it, amd why of all the 20 or 30 games going on ATM we are watching this one, is anybody's guess.

I met Benoit Paire yesterday btw, at some sunglasses brand-sponsored tennis clinic @ Wimbledon (I played on grass for the first time ever!). Nice to see him playing well right now. Ferrer and Robredo turned up too.

Kyle Edmund is on my TV. He looks about 12.

Eva Birnerova wins over Lepchenko! Heartwarming result. Her sixth win of the year, and first in a main draw.

watching federer dance through the first few rounds at wimbledon is still the best thing

Fed made mincemeat of Hanescu....meanwhile, Azarenka takes a tumble and is back on after a long time-out, but one knee is practically mummified and she can barely walk.

Koehler is pathetic so it probs won't matter. I'm trying hard to feel sympathy towards Vika but it's not coming.

If Azarenka had drawn someone with a good, reliable serve, maybe she'd lose.

LUCIC WON SO FUCKING HAPPY NOW

Why does SlamTracker think Hsieh's opponent whom nobody has ever heard of, is a seed?

SlamTracker has been getting progressively worse since its first introduction (2001 IIRC?)

jmdp is my sentimental fave right now but murray for today

otoh he has beaten him b4; Murray still needed to win that and the court coverage in the end was phenomenal. xp

Murray graduating to multi-Slam winner is the most significant aspect of this, I think. And after losing so many Slam finals early in his career.

My newsfeed being filled with tennis is heartwarming

Actually really excited about how this might change how tennis is viewed in this country.

― lex pretend, Sunday, 7 July 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

btw Lex what do you mean by this?

Omg I just realised that Andy and Marion will make the most hilariously awkward pair at the winners' ball.

xp I don't know! I'm excited to see what the Murray effect will be. Hopefully it will involve paying attention to the sport for more than a fortnight per year.

The problem really is a seasonal one - lets face it, a lot of that crowd probably felt more involved in his Olympics win than the US Open win.

So happy though! Happiest slam win since Roger completed the set at the French.

ANDY MURRAY WON WIMBLEDON

After 77 Years, Murray and England Rule

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/sports/tennis/after-77-years-murray-and-england-rule.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

erm...

^ Was just coming here to post that.

Also: "Yahoo! ‏@Yahoo 1h
BREAKING: Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic to end England's 77-year drought without a men's singles Wimbledon title."

oh america

Shamelessly stolen off FB:

No British male has won Wimbledon for 77 minutes. The wait continues.

this tournament is going to be insufferable for the next five years

Hurrah for England!

Liking what I'm seeing from Mladenovic in the mixed doubles final. Nice to see Bartoli supporting her!

That angle by Kiki <3

Soares and Raymond had two MPs on Kiki's serve and both missed their returns...

Kiki is a Wimbledon champion :)

yay - that was exciting! This has been the first Wimbledon I've been off work throughout and able to give it my full attention, and it hasn't let me down at all.

Roll of honour!

Men's singles: Andy Murray
Women's singles: Marion Bartoli
Men's doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan
Women's doubles: Su-Wei Hsieh & Shuai Peng
Mixed doubles: Daniel Nestor & Kristina Mladenovic
Boys' singles: Gianluigi Quinzi
Girls' singles: Belinda Bencic
Boys' doubles: Thanasi Kokkinakis & Nick Kyrgios
Girls' doubles: Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova

Great tournament for me - I had a fav win in all senior disciplines except the men's doubles.

Murray donating his entire prize money (£1.6m) to the Royal Marsden cancer hospital. Good show.

yeah this wimbledon has been ideal

Murray donating his entire prize money (£1.6m) to the Royal Marsden cancer hospital. Good show.

thats awesome of murray

No confirmation of winnings donation - he did donate his Queens winnings though.

oh is there a bit of chinese whispers on twitter happening then? pah

From the Telegraph's chief sports writer:

Paul Hayward ‏@_PaulHayward 12m
Just bumped into Andy Murray and asked him whether it's correct he's donating his entire prize-money to Royal Marsden. Not correct.

So now he's going to seem like a bad guy because someone made some shit up about him. Good work, internetz :-(

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/men-prefer-beautiful-champions-20130707-2pk1h.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/08/andy-murray-marion-bartoli-john-inverdale?CMP=twt_gu as well.

love seeing one's favs at the champions' dinner - all WERKING it.

Marion:

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Marion+Bartoli+Wimbledon+Championships+2013+rokkHWFbOoPx.jpg

Su-Wei & Shuai:

http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Shuai+Peng+Wimbledon+Championships+2013+Winners+Q_rYp01iZMWx.jpg

Marion & Andy:

http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Andy-Murray-and-Marion-Bartoli-Wimbledon-winners-2013-580x381.jpg

Junior winners Bencic & Quinzi:

http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Gianluigi-Quinzi-and-Belinda-Bencic-Champions-Ball-Wimbledon-2013-559x700.png

Marion's heels!

New rankings:

1. Serena Williams (1)
2. Maria Sharapova (3)
3. Victoria Azarenka (2)
4. Agnieszka Radwanska (4)
5. Na Li (6)
6. Sara Errani (5)
7. Marion Bartoli (15)
8. Petra Kvitova (8)
9. Angelique Kerber (7)
10. Caroline Wozniacki (9)
11. Roberta Vinci (11)
12. Maria Kirilenko (10)
13. Samantha Stosur (13)
14. Jelena Jankovic (14)
15. Kirsten Flipkens (20)
16. Sloane Stephens (17)
17. Ana Ivanovic (12)
18. Sabine Lisicki (24)
19. Nadia Petrova (16)
20. Carla Suarez Navarro (18)
21. Dominika Cibulkova (19)
22. Elena Vesnina (22)
23. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (21)
24. Kaia Kanepi (46)
25. Ekaterina Makarova (27)
26. Sorana Cirstea (23)
27. Laura Robson (38)
28. Svetlana Kuznetsova (28)
29. Lucie Safarova (30)
30. Simona Halep (32)
...
49. Monica Puig (65)
57. Tsvetana Pironkova (72)
65. Kimiko Date-Krumm (84)
72. Karin Knapp (104)
98. Michelle Larcher De Brito (131)
100. Flavia Pennetta (166)
114. Tamira Paszek (57)

1. Novak Djokovic (1)
2. Andy Murray (2)
3. David Ferrer (4)
4. Rafael Nadal (5)
5. Roger Federer (3)
6. Tomas Berdych (6)
7. Juan Martin Del Potro (8)
8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (7)
9. Richard Gasquet (9)
10. Stanislas Wawrinka (10)
11. Tommy Haas (13)
12. Kei Nishikori (11)
13. Marin Cilic (12)
14. Janko Tipsarevic (14)
15. Milos Raonic (15)
16. Nicolas Almagro (16)
17. Jerzy Janowicz (22)
18. Gilles Simon (17)
19. John Isner (21)
20. Juan Monaco (20)
21. Sam Querrey (19)
22. Kevin Anderson (23)
23. Andreas Seppi (28)
24. Alexandr Dolgopolov (24)
25. Philipp Kohlschreiber (18)
26. Jeremy Chardy (25)
27. Benoit Paire (27)
28. Tommy Robredo (29)
29. Grigor Dimitrov (31)
30. Feliciano Lopez (32)
...
35. Fernando Verdasco (54)
37. Ivan Dodig (49)
42. Bernard Tomic (59)
62. Lukasz Kubot (130)
75. Adrian Mannarino (111)
96. Sergiy Stakhovsky (116)
130. Steve Darcis (135)
157. Dustin Brown (189)

The junior champs looks like CGI though. "Welcome to our casino..."

Marion's just tweeted that her heels were Louboutins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7M-FWjPRDk

Lisicki might've taken a set if Marion had played in those.

love those Louboutin booties, would wear. She looks badass.

Su-Wei's dress is great as well.

bartoli_marion Marion bartoli 9m
Kind of like this guy!!!! Sorry @CARO_GARCIA__ I hug Andy for u
Amazing memories, will never forget #dreamcometrue pic.twitter.com/fMDpYXVSYo

david ferrer is ranked #3, his highest ranking ever. he's 31

note Haas creeping top 10-wards at the age of 35 as well

Ferrer was always a late bloomer, though - he wasn't really doing much in his early 20s. very different styles but it's kinda comparable to Li Na, who's also 31 and playing her best, most consistent tennis (and who doesn't seem to be ready to retire). or Serena for that matter - if 2012-13 isn't her actual peak (2002-03 obv) then it's at least her second peak.

surprised that flipkens gained so few places

i don't watch women's tennis really but my impression was that serena's reemergence as a dominant player had a bit to do with the dearth of transcendent players on the circuit over the last 5 years or so

well, that doesn't really fit timing-wise, given that Serena's current dominance only started well after the Wozniacki doldrums era ended

VERY nice to see Ferrer in the top 3!

also for the love of god will someone in the 11-20 area step it up and push Woz out of the top 10, I mean seriously

Marion's heels!

Marion looking awesome, has that twat Inverdale looked in the mirror lately?

has he been sacked yet? oh of course not

now he has! at fucking last

http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/259811.html

excellent

rewatched this final, all props to andy esp to win in straights but this level of novak was markedly off his peak; he also let the moment get to him a bit maybe, out of character unforced errors & repeatedly rattled by close line calls etc