Nadal and Djokovic on Court 1

The No.1 and 2 seeds, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been relegated to Court 1 at the mercy of the weather while the No.3 and 4 seeds will play in the comfort of Centre court with a roof over them should the need arise. Strange decision I have to say. Federer Tsonga at least is deserving of CC but No.4 seed Murray ahead of No.1 and 2 seed? No ways. The slams is an international event which happens to be held at Wimbledon in Britain. Patrotism shouldn't be a factor here.

I can understand the order of play but not the courts. I mean Feliciano Lopez had a tough match that finished latish on Monday so logic dictates his match started second and same goes for Rafael Nadal. I do feel that Andy should have been put on Court One as he is playing an unseeded player with Nadal's match switched to Centre Court.

What a stupid decision.

Nadal and Djokovic are multiple Slam winners, whereas Murray can only win the smaller events.

Only one of the big three make centre court - the other two banished due to home support.

Probably the right choice though - Fed/Tsonga looks the best match and the other two get relegated because Murray is the nearest thing Wimbledon has to and English player

All the slams favour their home players. According to reports the vast majority of the people in the queue are there to watch Murray - some of them queuing for 72 hours - plus the BBC want the Murray match. So, more demand = Centre.

I agree with SA that Nadal (defending and 2 times champion, world number 1) is more deserving of a CC spot.

Unfortunately, as alluded to by Decrepitude, commercial and cultural pressures ensure that Murray will always get a CC spot.

As to which is better for the tournament, I can see pros and cons for both.

I can see why Murray would be CC - to be honest that really is fair enough in a GB tournament QF - its not really a surprise.

Fed/Tsonga - well that obviously a crowd puller, but to be honest it would be better to have 1 or 2 seed on CC and NOT both on court 1.

Order should be same positions for the respective SFs. As Nadal kicked the week off, in my mind Him and Murray should be first. Nadal at greatest risk of weather effects - guess who that would benefit? Lopez of course

Federer shouldn't be on Centre Court.

He's a former 6 times champion, note the word former.

He currently holds no majors.

Nadal currently owns the French, SW19 and Flushing Meadows.

Djoker has the Australian Open.

Utter stupidity.

Hmmmmm weather is sunny tomorrow.

What is the problem? Both are show courts.

Doesn't look like rain is a factor tomorrow i have to admit

I do think theres been some dubious decisions though - like putting both Williams on CC while the top women are scattered outside

So long as Nole makes it to CC on Sunday, I don't mind

I understand murray in CC as he is british but federer number 3 over number 1 I dont understand

It wouldnt be important if good weather was expected, but its not the case

naxroy wrote:I understand murray in CC as he is british but federer number 3 over number 1 I dont understand

It wouldnt be important if good weather was expected, but its not the case

They may have tried to be "fair" and split top and bottom half more evenly...

'Federer shouldn't be on Centre Court.

He's a former 6 times champion, note the word former.

He currently holds no majors.

Nadal currently owns the French, SW19 and Flushing Meadows.

Djoker has the Australian Open.

Utter stupidity.'

Federer is a 16 times Grand Slam champion who made the final of the most recent Grand Slam and the semis of the one before it. His match up is the most interesting of the four quarter finals, since it is the only one where I see a potential upset occurring. I therefore think that Federer vs Tsonga definitely warrants a place on Centre Court. The match that definitely doesn't is Murray vs Lopez...

Chazfazzer wrote:'Federer shouldn't be on Centre Court.

He's a former 6 times champion, note the word former.

He currently holds no majors.

Nadal currently owns the French, SW19 and Flushing Meadows.

Djoker has the Australian Open.

Utter stupidity.'

Federer is a 16 times Grand Slam champion who made the final of the most recent Grand Slam and the semis of the one before it. His match up is the most interesting of the four quarter finals, since it is the only one where I see a potential upset occurring. I therefore think that Federer vs Tsonga definitely warrants a place on Centre Court. The match that definitely doesn't is Murray vs Lopez...

Nadal is the reigning French, Wimbledon and US Open King, Djokovic is the Australian Open King.

Federer's 16 Slams are in the past, SW19 should live in the present.

There are more people queuing to see Andy Murray than any other player, there are more people wanting to see Andy Murray than any other player, hence he is on centre court. I don't see why that's so wrong? Yes the reasons for this are because he is British and the tournament is in the UK. So?

I think the Women have a much stronger argument for being treated unfairly than Federer or Djokovic. For the first 7 days there are twice as many men's matches as women's matches played on the show courts. But a lot of people here seem to accept that on the basis that the men's game is more popular.

For instance Chazfazzer posted a few days ago:

I think you have to be realistic here. The male players bring in the crowds far more than the female players do; this isn't being sexist, it's just a fact. Many people would buy tickets to Centre Court if they knew Federer or Nadal were playing; I doubt they would buy them just to see Serena Williams play

Now he is saying Murray shouldn't be on Centre Court? I think he has to be realistic, Murray pulls in the crowds at Wimbledon more than the other players, it's jut a fact.

Hmm let's look at this objectively <puts objective hat on>

Federer vs Tsonga: cracking match-up. Fed is a six-time winner here, and Tsonga made the QFs last year (more than can be said for the other top 4 opponents), plus is off the back of a final at Queens. This match certainly deserves to be on CC.

Djokovic vs Tomic: probably the least exciting game on paper. Djokovic has never made it past the semis here, nor has he won a grass court tournament. He has however been the best player in the world this year. Tomic is making his GS QF debut and is the lowest ranked of the remaining players. This match is understandably on court 1 (apologies to Nole or Tomic fans).

Which leaves a choice for the second CC match between Nadal-Fish and Murray-Lopez. For all that Lopez is unseeded here this is his third wimbledon QF, so he has more pedigree going by past performances than Fish. The latter however is top 10. Nadal is world n°1 and reigning champion, while Murray is Queens champ and the great Brit hope (silly to say this shouldn't affect scheduling, how often do you see the French on CC at RG?)

Really, even as a Murray fan, you have to say Nadal-Fish is prob more worthy of CC status, but they've decided to give Murray a bit of a helping hand and put him on CC instead, which is fair enough.

'Now he is saying Murray shouldn't be on Centre Court? I think he has to be realistic, Murray pulls in the crowds at Wimbledon more than the other players, it's jut a fact.'

Is it? Can you provide some evidence to back that up? I personally would rather watch any of the top 3 play than Murray.

Anyhow... I have court 1 tickets tomorrow and whoever wants to swap their centrecourt tickets with mine, let me know!

Chazfazzer wrote:'Now he is saying Murray shouldn't be on Centre Court? I think he has to be realistic, Murray pulls in the crowds at Wimbledon more than the other players, it's jut a fact.'

Is it? Can you provide some evidence to back that up? I personally would rather watch any of the top 3 play than Murray.

I know you would, there are people going to Wimbledon who would rather see Serena or Wozniacki play than Djokovic or Murray too. But as you pointed out, they are probably not in the majority. Honestly I can't be bothered to try and find some hard evidence that Murray is the most popular player at Wimbledon in general as it seems so plainly obvious. Did you bother to provide evidence that more people are at Wimbledon to see the men play than the women?

I'll admit I didn't, but I think this is a more contentious issue. I'll concede that Murray probably pulls in the crowds more than, say, Djokovic in Britain, but Federer or Nadal? I'm not totally convinced. Amongst the people who only care about tennis for 2 weeks a year you're right, but amongst the true tennis supporters I would wager that Federer or Nadal would be the more popular. Whatever; in the long run I don't think the court they play on tomorrow is going to make a huge amount of difference.

At Wimbledon the players in the same half of the draw play at the same time!

The Wimbledon organisers chose to put Murray and Federer on CC over Nadal and Djokovic respectively.

Murray is British and is in Nadal's half so they chose to put his match on centre.

Federer was put on CC because he is much more popular than Djokovic and also Federer v Tsonga seems to be the most interesting matchup.

This was also why Nadal was on court 1 last year and Federer was on CC.

Chazfazzer wrote:Whatever; in the long run I don't think the court they play on tomorrow is going to make a huge amount of difference.

I don't necessarily agree with the rest of your post but I 100% agree with this. And I doubt Nadal or Djokovic really care that much either.

Masked Magician wrote:

Chazfazzer wrote:'Federer shouldn't be on Centre Court.

He's a former 6 times champion, note the word former.

He currently holds no majors.

Nadal currently owns the French, SW19 and Flushing Meadows.

Djoker has the Australian Open.

Utter stupidity.'

Federer is a 16 times Grand Slam champion who made the final of the most recent Grand Slam and the semis of the one before it. His match up is the most interesting of the four quarter finals, since it is the only one where I see a potential upset occurring. I therefore think that Federer vs Tsonga definitely warrants a place on Centre Court. The match that definitely doesn't is Murray vs Lopez...

Nadal is the reigning French, Wimbledon and US Open King, Djokovic is the Australian Open King.

Federer's 16 Slams are in the past, SW19 should live in the present.

More Nadal-centric extremism.

Firstly, you show no respect at all to the best player in the quarters outside the top 4, Tsonga. That match is the obvious stand-0out game and is an automatic for CC.

Secondly, relax on the Federer obsession, it's doing you no good. He has 16, he's an active player and that makes them relevent to the present.

Mad for Chelsea;

That is exactly what I thought. Fed and Tsonga definitely in CC, Djoko and Tomic definitely in C1, and from the remaining two Nadal and Fish has better reasons to be in CC. I don't mind as long as the rain holds up.

something is wrong with my post - the second para came from some other post. I don't know how it happened

It's one of those days when the committee could have settled for pretty much any permutation. I can understand why they went for the match up they did as in my view the CC matches are the two most interesting ones:

Federer vs. Tsonga has the potential for an upset and also to be a very attractive match to watch with two very attacking players. Fed's days as a contender at Wimbledon can't last forever and Tsonga is getting to be a bit of a crowd favourite there and rightly so - I'm sure most in the CC crowd would want this match.

Murray vs. Lopes involves two players who play with huge variation. Lopes is having a very good tournament (I was lucky enough to watch him at CC vs. Roddick when he was excellent). The match promises to be fascinating and I think an upset is possible if Lopes keeps serving as well as he has - at 29 his chances of a return to the QF are not increasing (it would be interesting to know where he played his other QF's, whether he got CC or not). Of course, there's no point ignoring the fact that Murray is our latest apres Perry hope......

Nadal v. Fish - I think that this is the match that has the strongest claim to replace one of the CC matches. Nadal won't care - he'll be back to CC in big matches for a year or so to come, his place in the affections of the crowd at Wimbledon is assured, and he's played plenty of matches there this year; it's bad luck for Fish who's reached a career high at 29 and is playing in one of his biggest ever matches. Even so, I can only see one outcome, which takes a bit of the edge off this match for me.

Djoko v. Tomic - I think this will be a step too far for the young Aussie who, like Djoko, has time on his side.

superochog , Just click edit on your post and take it out, I would do it but not 100% sure which bit you want removing!

I think Barrystar and MfC have already expressed my opinions:

Federer v Tsonga is the pick of the matches, so was the obvious choice ahead of Djokovic v Tomic (which I expect to be quite straightforward for Novak).

The two QFs in the top half of the draw are not so clear cut - from an entirely neutral perspective, Nadal v Fish looks to be the better match but you have to factor in Andy being Britain's great white hope and that as such a large proportion of the crowd on site are there primarily to watch him.

Fortunately, the weather forecast is OK, so playing on Ct 1 should not be a significant disadvantage today (unlike yesterday).

Uncle Toni doesn't seem too pleased with Nadal playing on court.

Simple_Analyst wrote:Uncle Toni doesn't seem too pleased with Nadal playing on court.

he he he......maybe in the road outside?

The Centre Court roof and the rain make CC tickets even more like gold dust. Everyone saw what happened yesterday where the CC crowd effectively got three of the four quarters due to the need to even up the days off for the women semifinalists.
In years to come I can see a wash-out second Tuesday or second Wednesday when ALL FOUR quarters will be played under the roof on CC. They'd have to start earlier but I reckon they could get them all in if they go on to 11pm which appears to be the cut-off point.
Great if you've CC tickets on that day and pretty miserable if you've been lumbered with Court One. Personally, the roof has saved the tournament this year and was bound to come into its own after two very dry Wimbledons.

Simple_Analyst wrote:Uncle Toni doesn't seem too pleased with Nadal playing on court.

Uncle Toni fully understands why Murray is on CC, what he does not like is the scheduling with Nadal playing second and having the greater risk of being affected by a rain delay (fortunately the forecast is not for rain).

As I see it the roof on CC has created an in-built problem with scheduling that Wimbledon's arrangements have always avoided as best they can in the past - namely giving an unfair advantage to a particular player.

The Fed and Djoko matches are both first up so that in the next round each SF is between players who should be equally bushed as the result of their QF (I think I am right that only RG of the other slams still tries to ensure equality of rest in the later stages). However, the fact that those on CC will not be affected by any delay for bad light/rain and those on No. 1 might can undo such arrangements as we saw yesterday.

I was pleased to see that the AELTCC are considering a roof for No. 1 Court - that seems to me to be the best way of reducing the potentially huge disparity of being on CC or No. 1 that the roof has now caused.

Lol Talatonian court 1 of course.

Again...

( https://www.606v2.com/t7816-what-a-way-to-treat-defending-champion )

Should this be a sticky article till the WTF?

yeah rafa and novak should be on centre , but its a close call really as there is definitely a case why fed and andy should be on cc. murray has been on court no. 1 already as have fed ,

There are no limits to how offended Nadal fans will get over anything at all.

The organisers will always look to put Murray on CC and on prime time tv for obvious reasons.

As for Federer, his match will be the most entertaining and possibly a dog fight the way Tsonga is playing at the moment whereas the other 2 will be straight sets victories.

As for Nadal and Djoko being 'at the mercy of the weather' is a little bit OTT. I can recall some talk last year that Nadal said he preferred Court 1 probably because it is slower than CC. Federer said on Monday that Court 1 was a bit slower than CC. So there you go. Nadal fans should appreciate that because he needs slower courts so being put on court one is definitely in his favour.

I think a 6 time champion and all time leader of slams deserves a bit of respect but I guess Nadal fans will argue as he is not holding any slams or the top spot he should be put on court 19 or his match be moved to the practice courts.

bogbrush wrote:There are no limits to how offended Nadal fans will get over anything at all.

In this case, it is just SA who has been offended when Rafa has played on Court 1 (and he has not yet used the H2h argument to make his case and seems to be slipping a bit. )

Rafa's 'banishment' to the gulag on Court 1, rather than his health, has been a topic of discussion for SA.

laverfan wrote:

bogbrush wrote:There are no limits to how offended Nadal fans will get over anything at all.

In this case, it is just SA who has been offended when Rafa has played on Court 1 (and he has not yet used the H2h argument to make his case and seems to be slipping a bit. )

Rafa's 'banishment' to the gulag on Court 1, rather than his health, has been a topic of discussion for SA.

How I love these threads.

A bit of light relief if nothing else.

By the way have any of the four involved complained

Well a bit disrespectful the No.1 and 2 seeds are on court 1. The words preached by the All England club is they are trying to be fair in the scheduling so what is fair about this?

sportslover wrote:

laverfan wrote:

bogbrush wrote:There are no limits to how offended Nadal fans will get over anything at all.

In this case, it is just SA who has been offended when Rafa has played on Court 1 (and he has not yet used the H2h argument to make his case and seems to be slipping a bit. )

Rafa's 'banishment' to the gulag on Court 1, rather than his health, has been a topic of discussion for SA.

How I love these threads.

A bit of light relief if nothing else.

By the way have any of the four involved complained

... but one of their fan has....

As the organiser you've got to stick the two matches people most want to see on centre court.

Having said that, as I write this Tomic is giving Novak a good run for his money.

Well, with Federer 2 sets up over Tsonga, looks unlikely that that's going to be a classic.

Tomic on the other hand continues to out-perform expectations. 1 set all and now a break up early in the third.

Maybe the organisation committee wish they'd put them the other way round now.

And maybe not ... Tsonga on the comback trail now and Tomic appearing to crumble. That could all change again though in 5 minutes

Davie

True - shows how quickly things can change. I guess I jinxed it.

Two ding-dong matches

Fed a break down in the 4th leading 2-1 in sets, and Djoko similarly leading 2-1 in sets and serving at 3-4 in the 4th.

Either match could go either way - and I reckon Nadal's loving this.

Tsonga takes the 4th set (with consecutive aces in a love game). Going right to the wire.

Novak v Tomic at 5-5 in the 4th

ha dummy_half you completely jinxed Federer there