Wimbledon Day 8 or 9

First topic message reminder :

There's some ladies on. I think I want Li Na to win this one, along with Lisicki and whoever. Maid Marion too.

Apparently she has an IQ of 175, which I'm honest enough to admit is even higher than my own.

You'd have thought she'd have worked out a better service action with that.

8 serves broke in a row. That 2nd set was a bit of joke and the overall level wasnt great.

A Polish winner of both singles events?

bogbrush wrote:Apparently she has an IQ of 175, which I'm honest enough to admit is even higher than my own.

You'd have thought she'd have worked out a better service action with that.

How modest and noble of you BB.

She actually seemed nice in the interview shorn of her evil-death stare.

The Special Juan wrote:Bartoli's great.  She's so obviously an evil genius and I find her mannerisms highly entertaining.  

She had her father escorted from the court because he was annoying her.

The Special Juan wrote:Could you ever imagine someone in the men's game two-handed on both sides?  They'd be hammered by the media, pundits, everyone!!

Giorgio De Stefani - conqueror of a certain Sir Fred Perry with a unique two-forehand style was unique.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_De_Stefani#Playing_style
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_De_Stefani#Rivalry_with_Fred_Perry

The double handed FH and BH of Santoro should not be forgotten. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1au7y4rUOM

And the media enjoyed him and his tennis immensely.

Shaping up to be a very interesting tournament on the women's side. Well done Flipkens   How inconsistent is Kvitova though. I didn't really mind between Stephens and Bartoli, but must admit that however unattractive Bartoli's game can be, she is so eccentric and entertaining to watch that I'm quite glad she is still in it.

Still very much hoping this is Lisicki's Wimbledon.

Would like to see Lisicki and Bartoli in the final. That could be fun. Didn't see the Lisicki match today but she produced some great tennis to beat Serena. Enjoyed watching Batoli today. I don't think I've seen a player male or female take the ball so early. Wasn't there a theory linking reaction times to IQ? If so she would be a case to prove it.

Ha ha! bogrush... you don't have to admit exactly how much higher Bartoli's IQ is to your own. Maybe we could just guess?  

In relation to Bartoli. Can't believe the nasty and sexist comments about her appearance. Anyone would think that to be a tennis player requires modeling looks. This is clearly not the case as you can tell if you look at the motley crew on the ATP side...

laverfan wrote:

The Special Juan wrote:Bartoli's great.  She's so obviously an evil genius and I find her mannerisms highly entertaining.  

She  had her father escorted from the court because he was annoying her.

The Special Juan wrote:Could you ever imagine someone in the men's game two-handed on both sides?  They'd be hammered by the media, pundits, everyone!!

Giorgio De Stefani - conqueror of a certain Sir Fred Perry with a unique two-forehand style was unique.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_De_Stefani#Playing_style
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_De_Stefani#Rivalry_with_Fred_Perry

The double handed FH and BH of Santoro should not be forgotten. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1au7y4rUOM

And the media enjoyed him and his tennis immensely.

@ Your first point, that's very reminiscent of Bernie Tomic!!

Secondly, someone asked me ages ago if someone would ever play with "two forehands". I had no idea but you've answered that question now so thanks I wonder if we'll ever see something like that again. We'll never see someone like Fabrice again, that's for sure. I missed a lot of his matches over the years so it's great seeing all these shots on YouTube.

^ I loved it when Bartoli ordered her Dad to leave. She gave him a look, pointed dramatically at him then pointed at the exit. He just looked sheepish, collected an assortment of bags and shuffled awkwardly away. What a refreshing change from some of the female players who have coaches come onto the court to shout at them...

Bartoli's serve has some unusual prep but from trophy onwards it's pretty normal. Not a patch on Lisicki's though...she's probably, in relative terms, the most powerful server in tennis today. She has been timed at 130mph...that's just a ridiculous speed for the fairer sex and pours cold water on the arguments I oft heard about Nadal needing to muscle up to serve at 135mph at USO10.

Back to Bartoli, comes across as very astute but then most top tennis players do. Doesnt look the fittest and demonstrates how easy the womens tour must be stamina-wise given the ubiquitous Bo3 format. I'm not getting into IQ other than to say I've known some genius level people who can barely tie their shoelaces up. Lateral thinking and commonsense are so seemingly often mutually exclusive bedfellows!

Tennis has got to clamp down on these tactical time outs as demonstrated by Radwanska yesterday. We've seen Nadal abuse the system time and time again. It is unfortunate that these players do not have the sense of fair play that I find inherent in myself. Therefore, we have to place a higher burden on the player to justify any timeout. As to those complaining of Bartoli's looks, I much prefer her's to Radwanska's.

Andy11 wrote:Tennis has got to clamp down on these tactical time outs as demonstrated by Radwanska yesterday. We've seen Nadal abuse the system time and time again. It is unfortunate that these players do not have the sense of fair play that I find inherent in myself. Therefore, we have to place a higher burden on the player to justify any timeout. As to those complaining of Bartoli's looks, I much prefer her's to Radwanska's.

How very humble.

I am sure I am not the only Englishman left with a strong sense of fair play.

Oh Dear! This is the Wimbledon of whoever is left standing literally.

I can't see delpo continuing much longer, such a shame

It'll be interesting if say this match does end early and say Nole takes 3+ hours to beat the Birdman

Friday will be hot on centre court and I'm not certain I'd want to be giving 3hrs time away to someone like Ferrer

djoko handles ferrer very well, he should have no problem at all.

LuvSports! wrote:I can't see delpo continuing much longer, such a shame

No joy in the injuries - but it's interesting that a slightly quicker Wimbledon than normal has resulted in certain players simply not having the balance for the surface

I'm pleased to see that for once, we've got a Wimbledon that is different to the other slams. I think there has been a bit of complacency on how to play on grass and it's then 'bitten' some people

Ferrer only practiced for a few minutes then had to call a doctor for an ankle injury. There was speculation that he would not even play. Whoever wins this will be unlikely to have another match in them.

LuvSports! wrote:djoko handles ferrer very well, he should have no problem at all.

All things been equal, yes. Which is why I gave a scenario if they were unequal

hawkeye wrote:Ferrer only practiced for a few minutes then had to call a doctor for an ankle injury. There was speculation that he would not even play. Whoever wins this will be unlikely to have another match in them.

Didn't realise that. Thanks for this HE

Hopefully delpo can continue as he is soldiering on admirably. Maybe he can open up more because of it, but it still doesn't look good despite the lead.

Ferrer's falling for the classic '10 man' syndrome that always seems to affect sportsman when they have an advantage

5-2 double break for delpo!

I've just come in. What's happened?

Delpo had a heavy fall on that knee in the very first game, looked as if he wasn't going to continue, but he has played great, despite moving gingerly and has taken the set 6-2! remarkable!

And is Ferrer injured too?

Djokovic can't keep on missing these break points. It's been a low conversion rate all week and that's already 0/4 today.

according to HE yes, but i cannot see it atm.

LuvSports! wrote:Delpo had a heavy fall on that knee in the very first game, looked as if he wasn't going to continue, but he has played great, despite moving gingerly and has taken the set 6-2! remarkable!

Thanks I wonder if it's the same knee he hurt a few matches ago.

The Beeb seem astonished that a former finalist and permanent member of the Top 10, who beat Novak three years ago, is playing well

Well he has heavy strapping on the left one and I think that one took the brunt of the fall.
Switching between this and bird djoko.

Delpo is much more aggressive because of this debilitating injury!

Is a tibreak really a "lottery"?

1st set novak

And Novak squeaks home in the tie break.

Good performance from Berd so far though.

That looks like an absolute body blow for Djoko to Berdych. Despite having pushed Djoko really hard Berdy has an absolute mountain to climb now - will he start asking himself what he has to do and get disheartened?

If Berdych can keep this level up, he's still in the match.

And he's already got 3 bps!

bird breaks to love

barrystar wrote:That looks like an absolute body blow for Djoko to Berdych.  Despite having pushed Djoko really hard Berdy has an absolute mountain to climb now - will he start asking himself what he has to do and get disheartened?

If the second set goes I think the Berd will crumble, however he can take heart from their previous meeting where Djokovic just collapsed for no apparent reason.

Oh Novak, must you keep doing this to us?

Hang tough to take the tie break and then stink the joint out on your first service game of the 2nd set.

For someone playing with only one working knee and ankle, Del Boy is playing phenomenally well. Ridiculous pace on his groundstrokes, even when he looks to be moving backwards, and he is competent when brought forward in the court as well.

The Special Juan wrote:Is a tibreak really a "lottery"?

Don't ask Stefan Edberg as that nightmare SF against Stich might resurface That's the match that Edberg was never broken in a match of just seven break point chances

Crickey, they'd still be playing if there was no tie-breaks

Easily the worst SF I've ever seen and followd up by an even worse F

I remember thinking how appropriate the Kraftwerk hit, "We are the Robots" (in the charts around the time) was  

A definite cautionary tale about the wish fulfillment for fast courts

Del Potro striking the ball better than I've ever seen him doing on grass. Just fired a torpedo with his forehand.

Ferrer saving breakpoint at 4-4, possible turning point of the match.

double break 3-0 bird

Double break for Berdych!

Good tennis from him but Novak is sleepwalking.

dp breaks and will serve for a 2-0 lead!!!

...or not