Wimbledon - Mens Semi Final Day 12

First topic message reminder :

Well here we are at the business end. Centre Court will be the gladitorial theatre. Here's hoping for some blockbuster encounters and winners by the bucketloads!

Novak Djokovic v Juan Martin Del Potro

Andy Murray v Jerzy Janowicz

The first one certainly the pick of the matches.

The money is on another Andy v Novak final. Can Delpo and Jerzy cause the top seeds a massive upset to rival the biggest upsets?

time please wrote:Now James Corden is cheering Janowicz's error - unnecessary and pretty classless!

That was the case even before he cheered the error.

Janowicz poor since the 1st set, don't see what the big deal is here, Murray will cruise the next set.

Another break point for Murray. Mr. Janowicz keep your self cool. You are down to 5-4 from 3-1. Murray is serving second set already in the bag of Murray.

lydian wrote:Janowicz is still very raw, very much a work in progress.
Don't think he's playing particularly well though.
All that said, I don't like it when the crowd get this involved.

Agree - James Corden and co behaving like it is the football terraces, but then there are 11 guys on the pitch for one side, not just one individual.

Murdoch - just seen yours as went to post - quite!!!!

Serious choke from janoviscz here, sad to see a player implode like that. Very poor behaviour from the crowd too, cheering errors and even a double fault earlier

By the way, can I just have a moan about the scheduling? Yes? Thanks.

What are they doing delaying Eastenders. It is a mega popular program with a routine slot that people will plan their evening around. Any fool could see that there was a good chance of the semis going to beyond 8pm, why does the tennis have to be on BBC1 and Eastenders too? What is this obsession with putting the best most popular stuff on BBC 1? Are there people who don't know how to press the "2" button out there? Or who just put on 1 and watch whatever is on.

Just schedule tennis on BBC2 until 9pm and then an old repeat from 9 to 10pm with a note in the TV guide "may be cancelled". It is so easy. And leave Eastenders on at 8.

You could argue that some might want to watch both but just repeat Eastenders later at 10pm or 11pm like they often do.

Presumably they'll at least have the sense to put it on while they close the roof.

Shades of Ivanisevic Henman here Janowicz getting a break for the roof here

I love hearing the actual argument by Murray. It's so much more informative.

He makes a fair point.

I think JJ's gonna be great for the game, but he's gonna have to stop motivating his opponents

Don't think I've seen Murray as pumped since he read some of the critcism on these boards

Did he say play to start in 20 minutes, I thought it was 40 due to air con, did they improve that from the early years?

What is happening here guys? Why they are moving out?

Eastenders is repeated each night on BBC3 anyway.

Actually, why don't they put Eastenders on now!

Very sorry for Murray here - Janowicz has just bullied the tournament officials into closing the roof and that is a very bad lesson for the young player to let him feel this powerful.

Terrible decision.

What a unsporting match in contrast to the first semi!

HM Murdoch wrote:

time please wrote:Now James Corden is cheering Janowicz's error - unnecessary and pretty classless!

That was the case even before he cheered the error.

People are expecting class from James Corden?

bogbrush wrote:I love hearing the actual argument by Murray. It's so much more informative.

He makes a fair point.

Hopefully not a repeat of the last time a Murray match had the roof put on, half way through

Roof closure? 30+ minutes. Janowicz has a life-line, but will it make any difference? :chin:IMO, no.

Hi folks. Murray now with the edge but how much will the roof closing change things?

Andy serving excellently but some shots I'd normally expect him to get he has missed. Janowicz acquitting himself well considering this is his first slam semi. Djoko V Del Potro was a classic earlier. Commiserations to Del Potro but Djokovic has refound his balls of steel.

C'mon, it's 8.45. The roof needs to close.

Why are we even seeing James Corden? I agree with Bogbrush in the annoying excessive showing of famous people and family members in the audience.

One of these days I don't know when but the organisers will grow some balls and some brains.

Its 8 45 but they used to play till about 9 15 9 30 there was a chance of one more set, and it should be played in outdoor conditions if possible, whcih it still is or was

With men's singles taking so much longer nowadays with baseline play, isn't it time to start the day on the show courts earlier and let Wimbledon remain an outdoor tournament as long as there is no rain?

They should have closed the roof at the beginning of the match, but there was no way to predict it would not be a quick 3-setter.

Precisely as I predicted hours ago, of course they are going to close the roof at 8.40pm if a set finishes then. The set is 50 minutes long on average, that would take us to 9.30pm which would be the latest ever finish which is in week 1 which had more light. 9pm is failing light, 9.30pm is borderline farcical. They either close the roof now or have to do at 4-4 or 5-5.

For me the argument is that Janowicz benefits from faster conditions while Murray wants slower, so they are both biased. Well done to Wimbledon for being fair and correct.

I do think it was silly for Janowicz to be sniping on at the start of the third set when it was obviously not going to be closed then and it was a decision to take later, but that doesn't affect this.

time please wrote:Very sorry for Murray here - Janowicz has just bullied the tournament officials into closing the roof and that is a very bad lesson for the young player to let him feel this powerful.

Terrible decision.

What a unsporting match in contrast to the first semi!

Janowicz is trying his best to be a heel, unfortunately its not suiting him, even those arguments with chair umpire didn't look natural to me, its like some body adviced him to be a bad boy like Connors and Mac use to be on their hey day, but those legends had it natural in their game unfortunately not the case with JJ.

In fairness, I always thought they brought the roof on at the beggining of the next set - if they think they haven't got enough light to last the entire set

I actually think this just pumps Murray more

Not certain why JJ wants the roof. Is he thinking of Paris indoors last year? Different match, different conditions and he's not played under the roof

laverfan wrote:Roof closure? 30+ minutes. Janowicz has a life-line, but will it make any difference? :chin:IMO, no.

Why the roofs are being closed here. Please give some information..

If anything Murray needs to use this as a motivational kick up the arse to keep him focused.

Henman Bill wrote:Why are we even seeing James Corden? I agree with Bogbrush in the annoying excessive showing of famous people and family members in the audience.

He is pretty hard to miss. A one man crowd.

If it wasn't a Brit leading and with momentum then they'd be no argument about the roof being closed. McEnroe just can't help moaning about things. Someone should tell him rebellion is only cool in the young.

banbrotam wrote:In fairness, I always thought they brought the roof on at the beggining of the next set - if they think they haven't got enough light to last the entire set

I actually think this just pumps Murray more

Not certain why JJ wants the roof. Is he thinking of Paris indoors last year? Different match, different conditions and he's not played under the roof

May be he thinks he can do a Roger Federer of 2012 Wimbledon this year when roof closed  

bogbrush wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:

time please wrote:Now James Corden is cheering Janowicz's error - unnecessary and pretty classless!

That was the case even before he cheered the error.

People are expecting class from James Corden?

  fair point.  No BB, not even at my most charitable!

time please wrote:With men's singles taking so much longer nowadays with baseline play, isn't it time to start the day on the show courts earlier and let Wimbledon remain an outdoor tournament as long as there is no rain?

Could be. There is an argument to start at 12 sharp (if the courts would be OK to play).

JJ has wanted the roof closed for over an hour. For the extra pop on his serve I guess.

Should the roof be closed when its perfectly light and there's at least 25 minutes (maybe more) of light left? Well it's an outdoor tournament as Murray says.

I'd personally rather it stayed outdoor until it was too dark for anymore tennis. Then close it.

Murray should just focus now though. What's done is done.

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

laverfan wrote:Roof closure? 30+ minutes. Janowicz has a life-line, but will it make any difference? :chin:IMO, no.

Why the roofs are being closed here. Please give some information..

Well it is because of the fear of bad light. Under the roof the lamps give enough light. However, there is probably about 30 to 40 minutes of light left so theoretically enough time for another set in the open air and that was Muray's point.

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:

laverfan wrote:Roof closure? 30+ minutes. Janowicz has a life-line, but will it make any difference? :chin:IMO, no.

Why the roofs are being closed here. Please give some information..

Its 9.30 night bro, we don't have natural lights anymore. 

This is what makes me cringe.

Tim Henman on Andy: "He's in a league of his own when he turns it on".

Rather a bold statement about a player who has never been number 1. Why is it not sufficient for him to be an excellent player, amongst the best?

Constant hyperbole.

Henman Bill wrote:For me the argument is that Janowicz benefits from faster conditions while Murray wants slower, so they are both biased. Well done to Wimbledon for being fair and correct.

I think Murray wanted to keep playing because he has the momentum. Not certain that it will be faster than the current outside conditions.

Remember, normally the roof is coming on because of rain, i.e cloudy conditions, cool and humid (due to the impending rain) - that obviously makes the roof conditons faster

But as we've seen tonight with Murray's serving, this is about as fast as we get - hence I think under the roof it will be slightly slower and probably grip the surface better keeping low, which should favour Murray?

laverfan wrote:They should have closed the roof at the beginning of the match, but there was no way to predict it would not be a quick 3-setter.

Disagree its meant to be an outdoor tournament. As much as sensible should played outdoors. Not complaining about the roof being closed at this time. It's annoying but a decision had to be made.

banbrotam wrote:In fairness, I always thought they brought the roof on at the beggining of the next set - if they think they haven't got enough light to last the entire set

I actually think this just pumps Murray more

Not certain why JJ wants the roof. Is he thinking of Paris indoors last year? Different match, different conditions and he's not played under the roof

Janowicz is the more aggressive, hard hitting player and will benefit from the indoor conditions as the ball will cut through the air a little faster improving the chances of aces, unreturenables and winners and making it harder for the returner/ retrieiver part of Murray's game.

Arguably, the roof was key to Federer in winning the title, and maybe to Rosol in beating Rafa.

banbrotam wrote:

Henman Bill wrote:For me the argument is that Janowicz benefits from faster conditions while Murray wants slower, so they are both biased. Well done to Wimbledon for being fair and correct.

I think Murray wanted to keep playing because he has the momentum. Not certain that it will be faster than the current outside conditions.

Remember, normally the roof is coming on because of rain, i.e cloudy conditions, cool and humid (due to the impending rain) - that obviously makes the roof conditons faster

But as we've seen tonight with Murray's serving, this is about as fast as we get  - hence I think under the roof it will be slightly slower and probably grip the surface better keeping low, which should favour Murray?

The momentum issue is clear to see but just thought people were missing the conditions as well, which is arguably more important.

HM Murdoch wrote:This is what makes me cringe.

Tim Henman on Andy: "He's in a league of his own when he turns it on".

Rather a bold statement about a player who has never been number 1. Why is it not sufficient for him to be an excellent player, amongst the best?

Constant hyperbole.

Don't think it's relevant about him being No.1. Basically, if Murray could play those 5 games like that all the time, he would be No.1' I agree with Henman that Murray is now the best when[ he puts it all together

But there is far more to No.1, never mind winning matches than that

Henman Bill wrote:

banbrotam wrote:In fairness, I always thought they brought the roof on at the beggining of the next set - if they think they haven't got enough light to last the entire set

I actually think this just pumps Murray more

Not certain why JJ wants the roof. Is he thinking of Paris indoors last year? Different match, different conditions and he's not played under the roof

Janowicz is the more aggressive, hard hitting player and will benefit from the indoor conditions as the ball will cut through the air a little faster improving the chances of aces, unreturenables and winners and making it harder for the returner/ retrieiver part of Murray's game.

Arguably, the roof was key to Federer in winning the title, and maybe to Rosol in beating Rafa.

Never bought this roof being key to Federers win over Murray more it was the 2nd set and those 2 points on the Murray serve that swung the match around.

Henman Bill wrote:Janowicz is the more aggressive, hard hitting player and will benefit from the indoor conditions as the ball will cut through the air a little faster.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I seem to remember Murray saying the court actually played slower once it was closed, after his match against Wawrinka a few years ago?

Tim Henman on Andy: "He's in a league of his own when he turns it on".
If that's really an exact quote then it's not fair, but if every comment any of us said was recorded and analysed we would probably say something equally wrong.

Here we go, found the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8125601.stm

"It slowed it down a lot and I struggled to serve because it wasn't coming off the strings that quickly. There were a lot more rallies and I got a lot less free points off my serve when it did go in.
"You can really swing very hard at the ball and it can go in the net or doesn't really go anywhere."

Henman Bill wrote:

banbrotam wrote:In fairness, I always thought they brought the roof on at the beggining of the next set - if they think they haven't got enough light to last the entire set

I actually think this just pumps Murray more

Not certain why JJ wants the roof. Is he thinking of Paris indoors last year? Different match, different conditions and he's not played under the roof

Janowicz is the more aggressive, hard hitting player and will benefit from the indoor conditions as the ball will cut through the air a little faster improving the chances of aces, unreturenables and winners and making it harder for the returner/ retrieiver part of Murray's game.

Arguably, the roof was key to Federer in winning the title, and maybe to Rosol in beating Rafa.

But we're comparing two different situations. The roof will be faster in comparison to the cool condtions of last years final, where the outside humidity made it slower (than the roof)

But surely tonight given the absence of humidity and plenty of warmth means that these outside conditions are probably faster than under the roof

I suppose we'll see - I am assuming that the roof plays the same no matter what the weather

Cogen wrote:

Henman Bill wrote:Janowicz is the more aggressive, hard hitting player and will benefit from the indoor conditions as the ball will cut through the air a little faster.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I seem to remember Murray saying the court actually played slower once it was closed, after his match against Wawrinka a few years ago?

Yes Cogen and they have just said on TV that with the roof closed it plays slower as well. Not sure how it really favours Janowicz in any real way.

banbrotam wrote: I agree with Henman that Murray is now the best when[ he puts it all together

You think Murray's best is better than Rafa, Roger and Novak's best?

I can't think of a single metric to back that up.

Need a roofless performance from Murray now!

Cogen wrote:

Henman Bill wrote:Janowicz is the more aggressive, hard hitting player and will benefit from the indoor conditions as the ball will cut through the air a little faster.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I seem to remember Murray saying the court actually played slower once it was closed, after his match against Wawrinka a few years ago?

Could be, I don't know. It looked faster to me in last year's Federer and Rosol matches after being closed. Let's see here. Let's take a straw poll after the next set?