Wimbledon 2019

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Fair weather, at least for the first few days, beckons at Wimbledon. There's a roof on number one court, which is excellent news for those with tickets for that court and for the organisers if the rain arrives.

Djoko is my favourite for the title followed by Federer. Rafa has a difficult draw but how often have we seen tricky draws work out simply due to the fact that projected opponents fall by the wayside.

Difficult to make a case out for anyone outside the top three having a good run. Last year Anderson and Isner made the semis but have not played much this season. Not sure Tsitsipas or Thiem really have the game for grass.

Predicting a women's champion is far from straightforward. Barty is the new number one and with that terrific BH slice could do extremely well. Kerber looked very good in beating Halep at Eastbourne and Pliskova has a chance, although her Wimbledon record is woeful.

You can never rule out Serena and, as I said before the French, practically all the top players have a chance. Intriguing first-round match between Coco Gauff (aged 15) and Venus (aged 39).

This year sees a tiebreak kick in at 12-12 in the final set. It just remains to be seen just how much talk the BBC come up with before showing any action when they start the programmes. Thank God for the red button.

sirfredperry wrote: Konta made heavy weather of it at the end of the match, needing to serve for it twice. Excellent win, though. She seems to relish the big occasions ...

Konta making heavy weather of dispatching two times Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova ...  Konta seemed to get a boost from her Fed Cup performances earlier in the year - before then she was in a poor vein of form.   Strange how in the womens game in general there are huge fluctuations in form of which presumably Konta is no exception.

Men’s game outside the top 3 is pretty dire, so no surprise with these outcomes. Just waiting for the semi finals.

Just John wrote:Men’s game outside the top 3 is pretty dire, so no surprise with these outcomes. Just waiting for the semi finals.

Between the three of them today they won half as many sets as their opponents won games.

Can't recall the courts ever playing this slow! It's like the courts have Velcro in them. Says a lot when Federer had a dig in his post match interview over the courts.

Berrettini had a bit of a shocker. Pella did well to come back from two sets down to beat Raonic. A couple of years ago I thought that Raonic had so improved his game and his movement. I know he's had his injury problems but he looked a tad slow today.

I must say I've not been very impressed with the men's standard this year. To have the big three win so comprehensively in the fourth round is hardly encouraging. I've liked what I've seen of Pella, though.

As it is, Djoko won't have to face a top 20 player in either the quarters or the semis. He should be in good shape if he has to play a long final.

Only two of the top 10 seeds - and none of the top six - have made the quarters in the women. Konta now has a great chance to reach another Wimbledon semi.

Agree SFP. The men's side has been dire. It's the first time in a long time I've been more intrigued by the Women's side.

Semi-Finals
N. Djokovic vs D. Goffin
G. Pella vs R. Bautista Agut
R. Nadal vs S. Querrey
R. Federer vs K. Nishikori

Guido Pella beat Raonic (4R - 2016 Finalist), Kevin Anderson (3R - 2018 Finalist), A. Seppi (2R), M Copil (1R).  
Aged 29 Pella has hardly done anything in the Grand Slams but here for the first time he has gone beyond his previous best of third round to the Quarter Finals - beating a very impressive set of opposition.   Maybe he will run out of energy in the QF.

In theory Querrey could prove difficult to break for Nadal, if Querrey is at his best.  

The last time Querrey played Nadal (2017, Acapulco, hard court) Querrey won in straight sets.  
The last time Nishikori played Federer (2018, ATP Finals, Indoor Hard) Nishikori won in straight sets.
The last time David Goffin played Djokovic (2017,  Monte Carlo,  Outdoor Clay) David Goffin won in three sets.

So if things go to form we might expect Querrey, Nishikori and Goffin getting through to the semi-finals.  These are very exciting times in mens tennis

NNB - Not so sure it is that exciting in men's tennis, although your last-meeting stats above are interesting.

Being a bit Fed fan, I'm quite happy to see the Swiss still going head-to-toe with Rafa and Djoko at the top. But no doubt there are some just yearning for the trio's rule at the summit to be properly challenged.

Thiem seems to be able to mount serious efforts at the French but
nobody else looks remotely like winning a slam or getting anywhere near top three in the rankings.

Look at the ages of the men's quarter finalists. One is nearly 38, five are over 30 and the other three are either 28 or 29.

Some might bemoan the lack of consistency among the women, but at least we're getting loads of GS winners and different number ones. Also it seems pretty much anyone can beat anyone else and there are exciting youngsters (Gauff, Potopova, Anisimova, Yastremska, Vondrousova) coming thru.

Yes, the last meeting stats from NnB were interesting - but perhaps no more than that. They were all at non-Slam events, and when it comes to Bo5 matches in a high-pressure QF Slam match, things are generally very different.

Goffin and Querrey - on their best days - can certainly trouble Djokovic and Nadal respectively, but I just can’t see either of them making progress tomorrow whilst the two top dogs are both in such good form. As for Nishi v Fed .... that is perhaps a little less predictable and Nishi could prove quite a test for Fed and probably has the best chance (of the three) of causing an upset.

In other news ..... there is an Italian journo (don’t know his name) who crops up regularly at post-match pressers and can unwittingly provide good entertainment. There was an absolute gem with Novak after this year’s AO (which I think I posted a while back) and now I caught another in yesterday’s presser with Federer. Worth a watch here ...... the fun begins at around 5:24 into the coverage ......  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cq5vcVRQv4Q

Alison Riske takes Serena into a deciding set.

Alison takes a few more chances and they're paying off. Risk is her middle name.

Halep beats Zhang 7-6(4) 6-1

No name Bertie wrote:In the mixed doubles we have
A. Murray & S. Williams
J. Murray & Mattek Sands
Tiafoe & V. Williams

Hence we have some possibilities of sibling match-ups if they all keep winning.   Andy Murray made a point that both he and Serena were the youngest children & hence used to being bossed around.

If everything goes to plan we could have a:
A. Murray & S. Williams vs Tiafoe & V. Williams  Semi-final
A. Murray & S. Williams vs J. Murray & Mattek Sands Final.

Both Tiafoe & V. Williams and Jamie Murray & Mattek Sands were knocked out in the Round of 32 (corresponding to the 2nd round of the mixed doubles). Andy and Serena are expected to play their R32 match on centre court later today.

No name Bertie wrote: Ashleigh Barty gets beaten by Riske in the fourth round  6-3 2-6 3-6.  Alison Riske is 29 years old and currently ranked at about 89 in the world.   This is her best result ever in a grand slam - reaching the QF.  Since 2014 her average performance level has been being knocked out in the first round of grand slams and making an occassional third round appearance here and there.

I thought Serena would dispatch Riske with ease - but Riske's sudden purple vein of form on the grass seems to be continuing.

Serena vs Alison Riske currently poised at: 6-4 4-6 3-3

Halep was too experienced to let her opponent's dream start phase her and Svitolina will have to do likewise after a fantastic beginning by Muchova, who has taken four games in a row after dropping her opening service game.

Riske, from what I saw, put up a much better fight of it against Serena than I expected. Konta about to start. Could be tense.

Strycova wins the first set 7-5 on the breaker. Konta somewhat choked it away, wildly missing with the forehand at times

Strycova wins 7-6(5) 6-1

Konta was 4-1 up in the first set, missed the opportunity to go 5-1 up. Then totally fell apart. Got to question her mental strength. Strycova adapted whilst Konta just tries to wildly belt the ball.

Chris Evert looking reasonably good (with a fair bit of help from the BBC make-up people ...) but I’m not sure for how much longer. Time marches on !

Not a great day for Jo Konta. She has undoubtedly done well this season to pull out of her slump ; but I do wonder whether she ever will make it to the top table ?? Hopefully there is still time. BUT ....is it perhaps simply the case that she has already reached maximum potential...... ?

The main problem with Konta is that she is just a ball-basher. As Jimmy Mac said, she plays better against the top players, like Stephens and Konta, who give her pace. A total of 34 UEs tells its own story.

Problem now is that you just know that Strycova will be completely blown away by Serena. Doubt whether she'll get more than four or five games, although I hope, for the sake of a decent match, I'm wrong.

Amazing how similar the Halep and Svitolina matches were, with the higher-ranked player having to withstand a storming start, gradually getting back into the match and finishing on top.

Svitolina has the weight of shot to trouble Halep but is likely to make more errors. I think we're looking at a Wms-Halep final.

An historic day.   A brit is the first to lose a final set tie-breaker at Wimbledon.  May this herald in a new era in British tennis.   It occurred in a mens double's match:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/48911037

Just watching the SerAndy MD match.

Line judges are - presumably - put through a suitably rigorous eye test. But there is, evidently, no weight restriction .....

Konta having a hissy fit at the press conference after her weak mental strength was questioned. Laughable

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Konta having a hissy fit at the press conference after her weak mental strength was questioned. Laughable

As soon as Konta lost I predicted she would have a stormy press conference. She could so easily have said: "Look guys, I played poorly. I'm desperately disappointed. End of story."

What sportsmen and women don't realise is the Press is desperate for them to do well and are as disappointed with the performance as the player. We've seen it with the World Cup Cricket this summer, with Bairstow claiming the Press want them to fail. Wrong. The Press want them to win.

Just seen some of the Ser-Andy doubles. Andy was only average but Serena hit some blistering shots.

It's Mur-ena, apparently.

Konta did handle herself rather poorly in the face of that question and won’t have done herself any favours with such an ill-tempered response.  

But I will cut her a bit of a slack in as much as she was no doubt highly emotional after the manner of her loss and overall performance. Losing is of course part & parcel of any sport and I guess we don’t fully understand just how unpleasant it must be to sit and be grilled when you just want to leave immediately and hide away in your hotel / rented house.

Ultimately I can’t see her winning a Slam because she appears to be lacking in mental toughness when it comes to the crunch. But then perhaps others have never rated her Slam material at all ..... ?

Konta should realise she won't get a good Press by slagging off the Press. (I speak as a retired journalist, so I'm a bit biased).

Also crazy for her to question the reporters' tennis pedigree. The questions were quite legitimate and I don't go along with Bartoli's reported remarks about "bullying".

Anyway, back to today and men's quarter finals. Can any of the big three be downed? Djoko, IMHO, is the least likely to lose. Rafa will only be in trouble if Querrey serves bullets practically the whole time and plays the match of his life.

Federer has the toughest match of the three. But second-Wednesday Wimbledon wobbles for Federer (Berdych, Tsonga, Anderson) have been caused by big servers and I think Rog will find ways to deal with the Nishi serve.

Hi SFP, forgive my inquisitiveness - what type of journalist were you - were you a generalist, a specialist, attached to an employer, freelance ...  Did it require a University Degree or was it through apprenticeship ... what do you think of "todays" journalism compared to the past ...

No name Bertie wrote:Hi SFP, forgive my inquisitiveness - what type of journalist were you - were you a generalist, a specialist, attached to an employer, freelance ...  Did it require a University Degree or was it through apprenticeship ... what do you think of "todays" journalism compared to the past ...

I reckon he was one of those gruff ones who wore a tie and a fedora and had a cigarette dangling out of his mouth at all hours.

Galted wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:Hi SFP, forgive my inquisitiveness - what type of journalist were you - were you a generalist, a specialist, attached to an employer, freelance ...  Did it require a University Degree or was it through apprenticeship ... what do you think of "todays" journalism compared to the past ...

I reckon he was one of those gruff ones who wore a tie and a fedora and had a cigarette dangling out of his mouth at all hours.

You got it spot on, Galted! NNB - Degrees were not really needed in the "old days" - just A levels. I worked for local and evening papers and then for a national news agency.

Journalism has changed a lot over the years. It's even more of a 24-hour business than ever. Over-worked staff stay office-bound glued to social media and TV screens. Headlines are mere "click-bait".

A number of journalists don't want to report anymore - they want to comment. They're keen for their views to be known rather than reporting on what other people with views are saying. The line between reporting and editorialising has become blurred.

sirfredperry wrote: ... A number of journalists don't want to report anymore - they want to comment. They're keen for their views to be known rather than reporting on what other people with views are saying. The line between reporting and editorialising has become blurred.

I read a fair amount of reviews of academic books - academics reviewing the books of other academics.   Fairly often the academic reviewing the book - writes more about themselves and their views than the work they are supposedly reviewing - so having read the review I learn more about the reviewer than the book in question.

Sometimes the review is a mishmash of the reviewers thoughts on the subject plus what the book says about the subject - so for example it becomes impossible to discern what idea came from the book (the authors) and what idea was the reviewers - because the reviewer treats the review as an opportunity to muse about the subject and the book without properly distinguishing between the two.

@SFP: Interesting stuff - my understanding is that a lot of the journalism industry is really struggling these days (print media at least), and that a lot of what is read in the media (all formats) is recycled from elsewhere, known as 'churnalism' with v little actual investigative journalism going on - 'Flat Earth News' book by Nick Davies published around 10 years ago is v good on this.  

Your take on blurring of line between reporting and editorialising is one I agree with - there's so many examples in UK political reporting today where an opinion is reported as fact and a story is excitingly pursued when there's no factual basis for it.  On a more local level, I've seen how the decline in local media can lead to a serious lack of scrutiny on decision-making from local authorities- comms teams issue releases to local media who all too often eagerly lap them up due to the work its saving in generating their own content.  There's a few dogged bloggers out there asking awkward questions but they get nowhere near the amount of readership that established outlets get.

Back to the tennis, I feel her loss yesterday highlighted why Konta is not going to win a slam.  Sure, she's v good when on form and hitting confidently, but her game lacks variety - a plan B on when the powerful groundstroke game isn't working.  Also, mentally to collapse like that shows she's not got the toughness to win the big matches when facing adversity at the business end of a slam.  That said, she's played excellently this year and looks to be on course to finish in top 10 - a great achievement in itself, but I'm not going to get my hopes up next time she has a good run in a slam.

Onto the mens' quarters, Goffin may push Djokovic early on, but it'll still end up in straight sets, something like 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.  Querrey is the sort of player with a simple but effective game (big serve, big forehand) which can hurt Nadal on fast surfaces - nevertheless I feel Rafa has played his way into the tournament and is looking v match tight - I'm going for 7-6 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.  I do feel Fed v Nishikori could go the distance, but I don't think Kei quite has the grasscourt credentials to pull off the win on this surface - Fed in 5 I reckon.  Pella v Bautista Agut - I wonder if this one will come down to physical stamina in what is likely to be a match of long rallies- Pella has had couple of intensive long matches (albeit against big servers) whereas Bautista Agut is bit fresher both physically and mentally - I'm going for the Spaniard in 4 sets.

NNB - Yes, some book reviews hardly mention the book at all.

I see the Konta interview thing is still rumbling on. Sportsmen and women never complain when praise is showered on them after a win. They have to be strong and take the defeats - and the interviews afterwards - on the chin.

But having said all that, there is no hiding place in sport. A government, a company director, an economist - they can all say things are fine, even though they're probably not.

But sportsmen and women and their managers and teams live and die by results. It's no good a football manager, say, coming out with "we're doing everything right" when the league tables show his side is in bottom place.

Konta should study other players' post-match interviews (OK, perhaps not those of Kyrgios or Osaka) to see how it's done. In the meantime, here are a few trite phrases Jo could come up with: "It just wasn't my day", "my timing was off", "I just couldn't get going", or quite simply "I played badly".

My thoughts ahead of today’s proceedings (FWIW !) .....

Querrey would need to be on sparkling form to cause serious problems for Nadal ..... especially a Nadal in such outstanding form at this Wimbledon and looking very hungry. A fairly comfortable win for Nadal, I’d say. (and please remember I do have £20 on you for the trophy itself, Rafa   )

Goffin did score one win against Djokovic and will, hopefully, prove something of a challenge ; but I cannot see him taking three sets from the No. 1. Djoko in either 4 or straights. Caveat : if Djoko does decide to suddenly have a mid-match wobble, then all bets are off.

Nishikori full of confidence after his impressive run to the QF’s and he is not afraid of Federer (as his previous opponents almost certainly were). Could go the distance in which case Federer’s experience should see him through. But not the biggest of upsets if Nishi did manage to edge it. The reality is that OAP Fed will lose more and more with each passing year. There has to be a limit to even his longevity ......

Lots of empty seats at start of play on both Centre and Court 1 ....... and this is a QF day !!

I know it’s nothing new ... and has been discussed many times before. But the fact remains it is very wrong ; and very annoying for those who find it impossible to get hold of tickets.

Goffin finally gets the break to lead 4-3. The Belgian looks quite sharp and his hitting is slightly better than Djoko's. Early days yet.

RBA a break up against Pella. Ticketholders like their lunch. They'll be back soon. But, yes, it does look bad to see empty seats.

Djoko takes the first set 6-4 despite going that break down.

Switching between the two quarters, the Pella match looks more interesting. Saw RBA get badly beaten at Wimbledon a few years back by Andy Murray. My, how he's improved since then.

Pella has got it back on serve for 4-5 in the first set.

Both of the quarter-finals in progress taken bit of turn for the worse after promising starts.  Goffin got broken twice to lose 1st set - the 1st break was v soft indeed, Djokovic didn't really have to do much to win it.  On Court 1 after a decent first few games of classic Latin baselining tennis, Pella has been broken and has called on the trainer.

Still a way to go but I reckon we'll have to wait for the other 2 quarters to set the pulse racing today.

Edit @ 14:35: My fears were realised, Goffin has not won a single game since his collapse at 4-3 in 1st set, though admittedly Djokovic is playing v well now having dished out a 2nd set bagel. Not quite as one-sided but Pella v Bautista Agut also has an air of inevitability about it - Spaniard now up a break in 2nd set. Pella has generally been playing more conservatively than he did against Anderson and Raonic and Bautista Agut is looking v difficult to break down and firing down some huge forehands.

RBA takes the second set. Pella is game, chasing everything down, but he lacks the firepower to unsettle RBA who is the more accurate, harder hitter.

Still Pella did come back from two sets down against Raonic. Somehow, though, don't see it happening again.

So at one point it was 4-4 in the first set with one break of serve each and now it is 6-4 6-0 5-2 to Djokovic.

Hold on a minute. RBA after two almost faultless sets suddenly starts making UEs and it's 3-0 to Pella in the third.

Fortunate to be working from home today (with the TV on!) - have switched over to Andy and Serena in the mixed doubles which is far more entertaining than the 2 mens' singles quarter-finals in play. Under bit of pressure - Soares coming up with some v good shots to bring up break points on Serena's serve.

Murray and Williams a set down in the mixed 3-6 to Soares and Melichar.

Pella takes the third. Suddenly he's playing with enormous energy and extra power. Seems he doesn't really get going until he's two sets down.

Another full-fat comeback by Pella would be stunning. He’s become a bit of a crowd favourite, for sure

Murray & Williams take the second set 6-4 but are now a double break down in the third set 0-4 - so Murray is heading out of the tournament. But for him it is all about not having any reaction and being able to play at this level in doubles matches.

Federer nearly goes a double break down but recovers so we have 1-2 in the first set with Nishikori serving.

Bautista Agut is a break up in the fourth so Pella may be heading out of this tournament.

First set to Nishi. Only comfort for Fed fans is that I seem to remember Nishi making a blistering start against Rog at the AO in 2017 but eventually losing in five.

Federer serves up a breadstick to Nishikori in the second set so one set to all.

Nishikori came out quickly, broke Federer in the first game, held serve then had two break points at 40-15 to go two break up - but then Federer fought back. Nishikori held serve to win the first set 6-4 and then since then Federer has taken control.

Nadal breaks early and leads 2-1 in the first set against Querrey.