Wimbledon Day 1

First topic message reminder :

I mean, where the Hell's the Day 1 thread!!????


Djokovic drops serve early on.

bogbrush wrote:

Nore Staat wrote:

daltond wrote:Who should I bet on to win Wimbledon? Djoko or Fed?

I just can't see Fed getting past Nadal. Nadal would have to not reach the final from his half of the draw for Federer to have a chance of winning (IMO).

I dunno about that, but Tsonga is there in the quarter anyway.

I think this Wimbledon is going to be the least boring for ages.

Affirmative. Nadal won't reach the final because the talented Frenchman will stop him.

Another tie-breaker between Golding and Andreev.

A must win tie-break this for Golding - 3-3 and back on serve.

daltond wrote:

bogbrush wrote: I dunno about that, but Tsonga is there in the quarter anyway.

I think this Wimbledon is going to be the least boring for ages.

Affirmative. Nadal won't reach the final because the talented Frenchman will stop him.

What was the result the last time Federer played Tsonga at Wimbledon?

Not to mention someone else might have other ideas

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=T786&oId=MC10

Haddie-nuff wrote:

socal1976 wrote:Yes haddie I guess that some people are given more and others have to work harder and overcome more obstacles to win. I am powerless to change it but I will not stop commenting on the fact that my favorite player gets the harder semi draw pretty much every time.

Slasher Novak did look really good, I liked how he was moving for the most part on the grass because I do think that would take a little time to adjust. Novak is much more comfortable in the forecourt and in handling the low balls this year when compared to the past. Plus his serves has looked pretty stable and with the exception of a couple of matches here and there his serve has looked really strong all year.

I must be losing it quite honestly socal.. because my theory is that if you are No.1. in the world you have to win or lose to any and or all the players beneath you on tour.. so what the hell difference does it make what half of the draw you are in. He is No.1. for JC¨s sake.. whether he plays Federer or Murray before Nadal or maybe not Nadal at all (no saying that Rafa will get through to the finals).. it really is a nonsense socal. Dont tell me he is best in the world and then complain he has to meet Fed in the semis. Maybe its a good job he isnt meeting Sepi or Tsonga...they were more of a threat to him. If this subject hasn´t been done to death by you it would almost be laughable.

Well haddie if you don't want to talk about the subject don't bring it up. I haven't done a thread in many months on the Fed-Djoko anomaly. But since you did mention it yes it is a wonderful advantage in an era dominated by the top 3 guys to only be required to win against one of the top three while your nearest rival has to beat both in a slam to win. The facts are the facts Novak has had the tougher semi over and over again in slams. IMBL and Chydremion and many others have done threads on this subject not me. They purposelly address the issue and it is a valid one, but if they start the topic I will add my contribution and make my points.

Andreev takes the tie-break 9-7 after Golding had a set point. The Russian leads two sets to one and I can't see Golding finding the energy to go five sets.

Another unintelligent British player goes on to lose. Looks like it will be only Murray and possibly Watson from the womens going on to round 2. Stop giving them wildcards!

I could see Tsonga beating Nadal on this surface if he plays well. That could for a change be a tough quarter for Nadal.

Gulbis has an astonishingly shiny face on his Wimbledon profile!

Not quite good enough there from Golding. Let's hope he can hold serve in the fourth set.

The Gulbis brothers look strong. Which journeyman will they lose to in the 2nd round?

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=T786&oId=MC10

Dont be so sure....someone else might have other ideas all to easy to right Andy off isnt it Socal....and I didn´t bring the subject up you did.. its hard to ignore your opinion about draws fixed or otherwise and how hard done by Djoko is when you post it on every thread before and during and after every tournament

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Another unintelligent British player goes on to lose. Looks like it will be only Murray and possibly Watson from the womens going on to round 2. Stop giving them wildcards!

Actually Oliver Golding, from this excellent performance, has justified him getting a wild card. Even Josh Goodall justified his wild card in taking his match to four sets. Goodall will learn that he needs to get physically fitter and to improve his focus amongst other things. However, those managing Goodall etc should expect to see some improvement in his performances post Wimbledon to show that he has learnt from the experience.

Unintelligent British player? What a load of rubbish!

It's his slam debut, he's a former US open boys champion, and he's pushing the former world number 18 in a really tight match. That's a sign of potential, not a lack of intelligence.

Wow! Match point saved by Hawkeye!!!!

Well if there is a lack of intelligence it isn't from Golding more likely from JM.

Berdych had to save at least three match points in his last service game.

I get that its his debut Danny, you can usually tell early on whether they play intelligently, and Golding doesn't, but he does have a handy serve. Whats wrong with what I wrote? He gave that 3rd set away, should have made Andreev outplay him, but he didn't, he just lost patience and made poor mistakes.

So far this has been one classy performance from Ollie Golding. If he only loses sets to tie-breakers there cannot really be much complaint.

Gulbis is so far more skilled than Berdych, he's miles ahead. Just too flashy at important moments to be a threat consistently.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:I get that its his debut Danny, you can usually tell early on whether they play intelligently, and Golding doesn't, but he does have a handy serve. Whats wrong with what I wrote? He gave that 3rd set away, should have made Andreev outplay him, but he didn't, he just lost patience and made poor mistakes.

Hopefully his coaches will go over this at the end of the match. You see many many players making what appears to be the wrong decisions in a very close fought match. Improving match awareness is just one very important component all players have to work on.

Tough service game here for Golding.

Well said Bogbrush. Gulbis has indeed got a lot of gears to flutter with, exciting player when he's 100% confident. And he knocks out the Berdych. Nice one Ernest!

Great match from Gulbis! Nice to see him bring the talent out for its occasional outing.

Berdych out. Gulbis played very well.

Gutsy hold from Golding. Not showing a lot of physical fatigue yet.

Well done Golding for holding on to your serve. Let's at least get this fourth set into a tie-breaker.

Well done Gulbis for beating 2010 Wimbledon finalist Berdych in three sets

A surprise Berdych has been knocked out in straight sets. He'll lose a fair few ranking points and Isner is out as well so no re-run of the Isner/Mahut match.

CaledonianCraig wrote:A surprise Berdych has been knocked out in straight sets. He'll lose a fair few ranking points and Isner is out as well so no re-run of the Isner/Mahut match.

But all to tie-breakers. If you are going to lose it is best to lose on tie breakers (IMO).

Shall we just have the Djokovic/Federer semi now?

Only tuned in for the final set of the Berdych vs Gulbis match but Gulbis looked great. Would be awesome if he could get to the quarters, he certainly looks capable, quite young too. Can't say I've heard much of him in the past but certainly gives a good match, one well worth watching.

Naomi Broady (WTA ranking 228) is justifying her wildcard, performing admirably against L.Dominguez Lino (WTA ranking 71, formerly 40), Broady is currently losing 4-6 4-4. Hopefully she can try to get the second set to a tie-breaker.

ITF must be raging with Falla knocking out Isner. Destroyed their dream 2nd round.

luciusmann wrote:Only tuned in for the final set of the Berdych vs Gulbis match but Gulbis looked great. Would be awesome if he could get to the quarters, he certainly looks capable, quite young too. Can't say I've heard much of him in the past but certainly gives a good match, one well worth watching.

He's an enigma; hugely talented but infuriatingly casual. Did you see his interview? it didn't bother him when the match point was overruled out - I don't think things really bother him that much.

I think he has the raw talent to do a Federer and bloom late (he beat Fed at Rome a year or two ago) but he probably lacks application. Could easily go out next round.

Heather Watson up against I.Benesova (WTA 55 formerly 25) who made it to the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open losing in straight sets to Azarenka who went on to win the tournament.

I was just reading up about him, he comes from a very wealthy family and that perhaps ascribes why he's so casual (he more or less suggests that himself).

His interview was quite good, he's got a good sense of humour, better than Djokovic's! Would be good to hear more post match interviews from him!

The poor little rich boy is back... must be getting bored spending all Dad´s money and thought he would earn a bit of his own.
I wonder if he bothered to do any training before this tournament...tennis is just a hobby or it was a year or so ago. What a wasted talent.

Golding's brave challenge ends. Igor Andreev comes through 1-6 7-6 7-6 7-5. The first time he has played Wimbledon and this certainly won't be his last visit.

Lman
His father is more than wealthy he is mega rich. He doesn´t take the game seriously because he doesnt need the money he played tennis as a hobby and found he was good at itl... makes you sick doesnt it lol

Ollie wasn't able to hold serve to take the fourth set into a tie-breaker so loses 6-1 6-7 6-7 5-7. Overall a very promising performance which justifies his wildcard.

Naomi Broady did take the second set to a tie-breaker but seems about to lose it so will go out 4-6 6-7 to the much higher ranked Dominguez Lino, however a very credible performance and she justifies her wildcard.

Haddie-nuff wrote:The poor little rich boy is back... must be getting bored spending all Dad´s money and thought he would earn a bit of his own.
I wonder if he bothered to do any training before this tournament...tennis is just a hobby or it was a year or so ago. What a wasted talent.

Certainly sounds like he's not interested in tennis for the money. I'm not so sure why he can't be bothered training though. Regardless of whether he's rich or not, surely he wants to be as good as he can be and by failing to train, he can be pretty sure he will not grind out match wins when he isn't red hot.

Tennis is certainly a hobby for him. He does seem like a pretty decent guy (with a good sense of humour).

Andreev rarely beats anybody these days he's a round 1 losing merchant, just so happens he was drawn to play a Brit who isn't called Murray. Andreev couldn't lose this even with the handbrake on.

Haddie-nuff wrote:Lman
His father is more than wealthy he is mega rich. He doesn´t take the game seriously because he doesnt need the money he played tennis as a hobby and found he was good at itl... makes you sick doesnt it lol

Yeh, well I was quoting Wikipedia but when I read further, mega rich, as you say sounds more appropriate.

He's very lucky....he could be better though, he played great tennis yet he's 23 years old and I barely ever heard of him. I actually thought he was French when I heard his name!

Haddie-nuff wrote:The poor little rich boy is back... must be getting bored spending all Dad´s money and thought he would earn a bit of his own.
I wonder if he bothered to do any training before this tournament...tennis is just a hobby or it was a year or so ago. What a wasted talent.

Oh please, can we steer clear of the modern habit of showing naked resentment of rich people? If the guys wealthy, and it's made him relaxed as well as being talented, then good for him.

luciusmann wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:The poor little rich boy is back... must be getting bored spending all Dad´s money and thought he would earn a bit of his own.
I wonder if he bothered to do any training before this tournament...tennis is just a hobby or it was a year or so ago. What a wasted talent.

Certainly sounds like he's not interested in tennis for the money. I'm not so sure why he can't be bothered training though. Regardless of whether he's rich or not, surely he wants to be as good as he can be and by failing to train, he can be pretty sure he will not grind out match wins when he isn't red hot.

Tennis is certainly a hobby for him. He does seem like a pretty decent guy (with a good sense of humour).

I dont think he is the "disciplined" type Training means just that. He reminds me of another Marit Safin.. I wrote an article about him when I was on 606.. he had made the headlines in the papers because he was seeing ...erm....how can I say "ladies of the night" ...and when questioned about it he said he was only young and having fun that he played tennis but he didnt need to .It was not a career. To play higher level tennis was why he entered tournaments he enjoyed the challenge.. Not for the money or the fame it meant nothing to him. He had all he needed and more thanks to his family
He does not as far as Im aware have a coach the only person you see on camera in the stand is is father.

bogbrush wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:The poor little rich boy is back... must be getting bored spending all Dad´s money and thought he would earn a bit of his own.
I wonder if he bothered to do any training before this tournament...tennis is just a hobby or it was a year or so ago. What a wasted talent.

Oh please, can we steer clear of the modern habit of showing naked resentment of rich people? If the guys wealthy, and it's made him relaxed as well as being talented, then good for him.

Dont talk utter tripe... that was an expression which has been used about Gulbis before... I couldnt give a toss about his money...dont judge everybody by yourself BB its a habit of yours.