Queens Day 5

First topic message reminder :

Good morning tennis fans. This is squeaky bum time for those wanting to make a statement on the grass. Today's schedule is:

Verdassco v Roddick 12:30pm Centre Court
Ward v Querrey 1:00pm Court 1
Murray v Cillic to follow Verdassco v Roddick
Nadal v Tsonga to follow the above match
Ward or Querrey v Mannarino to round things off

Can Ward possibly cause another major upset? The match is going into a deciding final set. For British Sky viewers on Monday on Sky Sports News at 7:30pm is a special report on Womens no.1 Caroline Wozniacki.

all going horribly wrong for James Ward, broken to love in the first game of the third set...

how he needed that hold, come on James it's not over yet!

he's only gone and broken back, brilliant!

great hold from 15-40 down having squandered a couple of BPs in the previous game. Manners to hold to stay in the match

Fabulous stuff James Ward. Loved his reaction celebrating that win. Hopefully he can build on this week. Great stuff James.

He's done it! That's a brilliant recopvery after the loss of the second set, and you can see how much it means to him! Fantastic!

Great play there by Jamie !

2 Brits in the Semis (Faints)

Best result for rafa, guy looks knackered...he needs to pull out of doubles too.

When was the last time we had two Brits in the semis of Queens, can't have happened for a while! Brilliant stuff from Jamie!

Mad for Chelsea wrote:When was the last time we had two Brits in the semis of Queens, can't have happened for a while! Brilliant stuff from Jamie!

I am no tennis expert but I'd hazard a guess it may have been in the late 1990's early 2000's with Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski?

If there ever was a call to allow more time between slams and give players more events to acclimatise to grass, then it is now.

Sad to see Nadal go down like that, Tsonga played well and served brilliantly, but I think the organisers should get together with the ITF and try to balance things out a bit more.

Of course the other side of the coin is the fact that players have to realise such high levels of fitness to win many long stretches of matches, it all plays against them at times like this, when the slams and other events bottleneck in such a short space of time.

what to do, what to do ???

James Ward.

Bet nobody would have put money on 2 Brits in the semi at the start of the tournament - great result for him.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:When was the last time we had two Brits in the semis of Queens, can't have happened for a while! Brilliant stuff from Jamie!

I am no tennis expert but I'd hazard a guess it may have been in the late 1990's early 2000's with Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski?

"It is the first time since Rotterdam in 1999 that two British players have reached the semi-finals at the same ATP World Tour event; on that occasion Greg Rusedski lost in the semis and Tim Henman went on to finish runner-up to his victor, Yevgeny Kafelnikov."

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2011/06/23/Queens-Friday-Tsonga-Ends-Nadal-Run.aspx

thanks for that LF, only 12 years then

Unbelivable I missed this!! but my god what a fighter he is. Well done James Ward

What a tournament for British tennis.

Just amazing guys. Tomorrow I will not leave the house. I will be here watching both semi-finals in delight.

If you had said to me at the start of this week that we would have 2 Brits in the semi-finals I would've got admin to ban you for such nonsense!

I cannot tell you how proud I am of British tennis. Forget the streak that lasted nearly 6 months, Forget the finger wagging that shows there is life in the legend, Forget the Spainiard struggling to wear the crown, This is the story of the year!!

Yep, incredible win for Ward, fought like a true cage fighter! Great boost for British tennis - here's to an all Brit ATP tour final, when was the last time that happened BTW?

Agree Jubba, if these events want the top guys they need to string out the events - after all that Federer, Nole and Rafa who have all not appeared this week (Rafa was not really 'there'). You sometimes wonder what it takes for the ATP/ITF to wake up and agree a proper new tennis calendar that spaces the slams out properly to allow more breathing room for the 1000/500/250's.

lydian, lavefan did some sterling work and worked out that in 1999 in Rotterdam both Rusedski and Henman reached the semi-finals. Rusedski lost, however Henman reached the final and lost. It is the first time in a British tournament since the open era begun in 1968.

Cool LK, so if Ward can beat Tsonga and Murray should win too, then the 1st British ATP final of the Open Era! (nice digging BTW Laverfan )

He does have a chance lydian. Small crowd, favouring Ward on an enclosed court. Wonder if Tsonga can handle that pressure.

And Tsonga might be a little tight/tired from today...he's not the fittest on tour. It'll be almost a Davis Cup atmosphere tomorrow and as its not during the week there'll be less of a corporate presence, ie. true tennis fans!

Indeed lydian. I think if Ward plays a Murray like game and keep the ball in play, make Tsonga try and hit through him, he could do it. I really can't wait for it.

Yep, alot will also depend on how well JDubya serves too...

He has a brilliant second serve. The key is cheap points. I would imagine international tennis fans are wondering why we are making such a fuss about another Brit being in a semi final

Well its not very often we have "another Brit" in an ATP semi final...must be years now since we had a Brit other than Murray in a SF....Henman I guess, must be at least 6 years?

get into plenty of backhand to backhand rallies I say. Ward has a very fine backhand while Tsonga's can be vey hit and miss. If he lets Tsonga have a swing at too many forehands, he'll struggle.

Well Henman made 2 semi finals in grand slams in 2004. Other than that it is all Murray since.

last Brit (other than Murray) to make an ATP semi was indeed Tim Henman, at the Japan open in october 2006 (nearly five years ago). He ade the final there, losing to Roger Federer. He made two other semis that year, one at Queens interestingly enough (where he lost to Hewitt).

I am hoping Ward has another miracle in the bag.

lydian wrote:Best result for rafa, guy looks knackered...he needs to pull out of doubles too.

Nah! It was not physical...it was mental.

Good information Mad for Chelsea, Henman could still play well late into his career, amazing how he got to the French semis in 2004, and took the game to Coria really well for 2 sets...

Thats why the press and public should not expect miracles from Ward after this week. He is still far from the finished article.

At least he's got his SW19 wildcard too so can use this week as springboard no matter what happens now. He'll just need a good draw...

Ward, in all fairness to his new found confidence boost, will have to keep the UE's to an absolute minimum if he wants to beat Tsonga.

He gave away hundreds of cheap points to Mannarino today and if it had been a more quality player, he would not be in the semi's.

I think he was well aware of this, as the UE percentage went down in the 3rd set and he hung out in the rallies more often, and although his 1st serve percentage was not as good as the 1st, it was a lot better than the 2nd set, but not as good as Mannarino's in the last set, which means he was winning more of the Frenchmans first serve and more of his second too, so he improved his returning in the final set.

I don't think he'll get the same percentages with Tsonga on the other side of the net, but whatever happens tomorrow, it'll be a huge boost for his game and experience levels, which hopefully will bode well for Wimbledon in the early stages.