Serena v. Sharapova, Henin v. Clijsters, Hewitt v. Djokovic Today at Wimbledon

Zvonerova is simply taking Jankovic apart. Their games are oddly similar, but Zvonerova has a little bit more power at her disposal and a lot more imagination, touch, whatever you want to call it.

Janko having mto. Don’t think it’s gamesmanship as suchh. Jankovic is one of these people who always has a reason for why things go wrong, and it is rarely because the other player is just too good for her. It was quite funny watching janko solemnly going through the various movements suggested to her by the physio when really none of that has anything to do with it. Supposing the scores were reversed – would Janko be having the trainer on? But like I said, I don’t think it is cheating as such, unless you want to say she’s cheating herself.

For my money, Zvonerova is the most talented of the great phalanx of Russian women players to have emerged in the last 10 years. She just doesn’t quite have the power, otherwise they’d all be scared of her.

June 28th, 2010 at 8:07 am

If Sharpie manages to win this match, then she will have the confidence to get back to being world no.1 again. She just needs one big match on a big stage in order to turn the page on what have been two very disappointing years.

She’s the huge underdog, but she must believe. GO SHARPIE.

P.S. Which do you think is more noisy: the vuvuzelas or a Serena vs. Maria match? :P

June 28th, 2010 at 8:16 am

Grrrr! Federer hits a tremendous bh drive off Melzer serve – just the sort one has been aching to see him do – and Melzer somehow gets a racket on it, and it pops over the net for a winner. I hope it doesn’t put Fed off, and back to the passive bh returns. At least mix it up….

June 28th, 2010 at 8:22 am

someone must have told Melzer that to beat Federer he’s got to hit out at everything. But this is reckless, not controlled hitting. Sorry, I’ll shut up for a bit, time for somebody else to have a crack. You keep seeing stuff, odd stuff, and want to say something. Doesn’t everyone feel that?

June 28th, 2010 at 8:33 am

too easy for federer here but remember djoko was cruising against melzer at the FO and suddenly things change on the third set.

fed needs to keep it up

Glad clijsters is playing better in this second set

June 28th, 2010 at 9:04 am

federer breaks, needs to finish it here..c’mon

June 28th, 2010 at 9:26 am

Hey Kimmi Madmax,Huh, Skeez other fed fans.. just seeing last few games of feddy.. any idea how our man has played.. He is cruising through.. is it because of our man playing well or Melzer breaking down and putting up a bad show.. any assessment of feddy’s game and his chances based on today’s performance

June 28th, 2010 at 9:33 am

game set and match federer..yepeee!

June 28th, 2010 at 9:34 am

hard to tell gannu. fed was too GOOD for melzer in this match. melzer tried a lot of thing just did not work.

Big servers are coming next, so its wait and see game.

June 28th, 2010 at 9:36 am

wow, kim turn this match around. easily actually.

henin yet to beat kim since they came back from retirement. too bad.

great chance for kim to get to the semi. she is facing zvonareva next.

bring on clijsters/venus in the semi please

June 28th, 2010 at 9:39 am

@Gannu

I missed it too :( Kimmi? Madmax?

June 28th, 2010 at 9:41 am

Gannu, Fed played excelent, he is getting better and better.
Grendel, Fed’s backhand return was awesome today.

June 28th, 2010 at 9:43 am

I know he hasnt dropped a set yet, but I think that Murray will go down to Querrey today. Dont have a real credible reason for saying this, but I’m just putting it out there.

June 28th, 2010 at 9:44 am

OOOOPS berdych is a set and almost a break down in the second.

Brands is on a roll. i have now to find out who this guy is.

June 28th, 2010 at 9:45 am

Thanks Kimmi/Daniel for the Fed report.

Wow. Kim beat Henin. Missed a couple of good matches. Should have gotten my happy butt up earlier. BBQ party last night didn’t help…..

June 28th, 2010 at 9:45 am

berdych saved out a 0-40 game. could a changing point in this match?

June 28th, 2010 at 9:48 am

Daniel, I was just going to say, one thing Federer must have been pleased with was his bh return – it was terrific,wasn’t it? Federer isn’t often given credit for his returns, and the fact is, he isn’t consistently good. But when he gets it right, it’s formidable – he’s going to need it against the big servers. Who is this Brandes guy who’s one set up against Berdych?

Why does the umpire call Clijsters Mrs.Clijsters? I mean, do they call her husband Mr.Clijsters? No reason why not, of course, just struck me as unusual.

June 28th, 2010 at 9:49 am

hi skeezer, yes you shoul have gotten up early. you cannot miss the fed at round 16 wimbledon. :)

Wozniacki in trouble. I never really liked her game..to defensive. now kvitova is just killing her.

the courts are too fast too, its hard for defencing players i think.

June 28th, 2010 at 9:51 am

Thanks Kimmi, Daniel and Grendel for your feedback.. somehow i hope feddy takes this wimbledon.. havent seen him win anything since aussie open;-) But good to see him getting good rest due to a quick match…

Sean what do you feel abt fed’s game?

June 28th, 2010 at 9:52 am

Fed’s performance against Melzer was one of the best I have seen so far in the tournament. The only issue is he started off a little slow on the serve. In the 1st set he had 0 aces and 42% 1st serve percentage. If he serves like that in a set against Nadal he will probably lose it. The commentators noted in particular how well he was returning serve. I think part of the reason for that which the commentators didn’t mention is Melzer has the flattest lefty serve I have ever seen. Fed has a much more difficult time returning slower serves with a lot of spin and curve to them especially on the ad side.

June 28th, 2010 at 9:55 am

grendel, i heard about mrs. clijsters..haha funny.

June 28th, 2010 at 9:56 am

sharapova needs to serve well or else!

2 double faults does not help in this game.

June 28th, 2010 at 10:04 am

I would actually suggest wimbledon to grant the rophy to serena … her serve is unbreakable… She is serving like karlovic these days..!!!

June 28th, 2010 at 10:06 am

I like Hewitt on most days but not today.Come on NOLE!!!

June 28th, 2010 at 10:07 am

sharapova breaks back..c’mon give us a match

June 28th, 2010 at 10:10 am

i mean no.3 seed wozniacki loses 6-2 6-0 to unseeded player. really bad..

June 28th, 2010 at 10:13 am

@NELTA

True if you’v ever played a Lefty with a slice or kick you know it is much harder to return than a flat serve, granted uts not 150. :).

June 28th, 2010 at 10:19 am

serena has won 0 (zero) points on her second serve

June 28th, 2010 at 10:22 am

I expected a lot of service breaks in the Djoko-Hewitt match, but after 10 games there hasn’t even been a break point yet.

June 28th, 2010 at 10:34 am

watched first 3 games Williams trouncing Sharapova, looked like repeat AO final, so switched to Hewitt/Djoko. At a service break, thought I’d have a quick dekko, and blow me if Sharapova isn’t in a tie break! What’s going on?

June 28th, 2010 at 10:40 am

Ha ha just after I said that Djoko gets the break to take the 1st set.

June 28th, 2010 at 10:42 am

sharapova with a mini break

now 2 set points

can she take the set ?

Nooo..

June 28th, 2010 at 10:44 am

great tiebreak. serena took it in the end. its just about who serves better

June 28th, 2010 at 10:51 am

Brands just fell apart at the end of the 3rd set. He was serving for it at 5-4 then was broken twice and lost the set 7-5.

June 28th, 2010 at 10:58 am

Soderling down 15-40 after a couple of wild shots, and scrappy Ferrer looks set to break back. But after 140 mph serve for 30-40, Soderling handles a difficult ball at his ankles. No way he could have done volleys like that even a year ago. that was impressive!

June 28th, 2010 at 11:15 am

Djokovic is playing his best tennis since paris masters last year. I hope he does not let the fitness/breathing/allergy or whatever get the better of him. hewitt is one guy you do not want to get involved with in a long match.

Come on djokovic. you are too good to be stuck on only one slam!

June 28th, 2010 at 11:23 am

Can’t believe it, Nole taking the first two sets against Hewitt so easily. :(
C’mon Hewitt, make a match of it at least!

June 28th, 2010 at 11:29 am

c’mon sharapova….battle back!!!

i was torn between henin and clijsters – i like them both and know that henin wanted wimbledon.

June 28th, 2010 at 11:29 am

C’mon Sod, finish Ferrer!

C’mon Rod, you too win your match, quick, Please!!!

June 28th, 2010 at 11:31 am

Ferrer is making a match of it. had another break point, and one senses he is troubling the Sod – for the time being, anyway. Soderling is up against a strong will, which means he has to play close to his best. if he does, nothing Ferrer can do. But if he lapses, Ferrer will pounce. that’s the feeling I get.

June 28th, 2010 at 11:34 am

Hopefully Venus will be able to reach final and beat Serena there(if she too manages to get there).

June 28th, 2010 at 11:35 am

Get this – Serena has served 15, 9, 19, 18 aces in her 8 sets in 4 matches = 61 aces. at an average of 7.5 aces per set. I wonder if Rafa/Roger/Djokovic/murray or even roddick can match that?

i mean isner served 112 aces in like 16sets of play which comes to 7aces per set!

i cannot remember this kind of ace blasting ever in the women’s side! only one word – IN-fcukin-SANE!

June 28th, 2010 at 11:36 am

Sean, didn’t you pick Hewitt to win the whole thing?

June 28th, 2010 at 11:36 am

“Sean Randall Says:

Djokovic has suddenly woken up? Why now? He’ll have to play Roddick in the next and we know how that’ll go.”

What do you mean by saying you know what’ll happen in the next round if Rod and Nole meet?

June 28th, 2010 at 11:37 am

Oh no, Becker said Djokovic looks sick with breathing or stomach or something.

June 28th, 2010 at 11:38 am

Sean @ 11:13

” He’ll have to play Roddick in the next and we know how that’ll go. ”

That is very funny Sean. If Joker gets through in straight sets, roddick better watch out.

Oh wow! Joker just called the trainer. i cannot believe djokovic is doing this. It is supposed to be a hot day in london today. Joker boy, just 4 more games!

June 28th, 2010 at 11:41 am

Is this how Djokovic will be forever? :(

Will the physical issues never go away? I hope it is nothing serious. The doc is out too. Djokovic matches must be rated R for Drama! LOL!

He played 2 sets that would make connors proud and then this!

to quote becker : ai ai ai!

June 28th, 2010 at 11:46 am

Roddick vs djoko will be a classic. especially djoko lost quite a few of their last meeting. Now he playing better i think

June 28th, 2010 at 11:47 am

Is Hewitt going to do the same thing to Djoko that Melzer did at the FO?

June 28th, 2010 at 11:58 am

C’mon Hewitt, take this set, and if possible, the match!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:02 pm

OMG so many ace matches on, so much pressing of red button!
Lu’s got a set off other Andy, Hewitt’s fighting back’ now Ferrer has suddenly decided he wants to play and there’s my dour Scot playing the sunny Californian.
Just whattawedo folks??

June 28th, 2010 at 12:02 pm

What is Djoko problem, why he needed a doctor?!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Ferrer to serve for the set. there’s no doubt that Soderling is in big trouble. ferrer is the more convincing by quite a long way. The problem seems to be the low bounce. the Wimbledon authorities, in their wisdom, have exiled Soderling to an outer court, where the bounce is quite different to what he is used to.

This is going to be a difficult one for Soderling to win.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:04 pm

Even if Nole reaches the quarter and faces Rod there, I’d be hoping for Rod to give him some grass court tennis lesson! People heavily underestimate Rod when it comes to his ability w.r.t. Nole.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:04 pm

He lost to Tsonga after leading 2-1 and to Melzer after leading 2-0. This seem to be pattern of this year for Djoker. Lead by 2 sets and then surrender due to physical inability. It is such a pain to watch him. I get a feeling he is only good enough for ATP tournaments and not for GS.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:06 pm

C’mon Sod, you can win this match!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:06 pm

No problem Sod, you can still win it! C’mon!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:13 pm

C’MON HEWITT!!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:13 pm

oh no. murray broken while serving for the set..

grendel..i hope soda can figure out the bounce out there on court 12.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:23 pm

I think Djokovic will still win this match. How come ailing players get more difficult to beat? I have yet to see a player take advantage of an ailing player. I notice that when one player gets sick, the other one becomes stupid.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:23 pm

Nole Nole Nole, ai ai ai

June 28th, 2010 at 12:24 pm

federer’s interview is out

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/interviews/2010-06-28/201006281277741945488.html

June 28th, 2010 at 12:25 pm

God, Roddick’s in for a long fight, it seems.

Anyway, C’mon Rod!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:25 pm

soda has a breathing problem too..we have a doctor on site..oh god.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:26 pm

murray is breaking down..c’mon concentrate

June 28th, 2010 at 12:28 pm

Becker says Nole has asthma.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:29 pm

I get up today at 830 west coast time expecting to wake up to Wimbledon on TV and there is nothing. sportscenter, some game where guys are kicking around a white ball. no tennis on NBC, ESPN, nothing. thank god for the internet. and thank god Fed crushed melzer like a rotten pumpkin.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:30 pm

Sod a break up in 3rd set, but summat’s up, nobody seems to know what. Stomach cramps? Not a muscle tear, anyway. Perhaps this explains the somewhat lethargic play of Sod – intermingled with very rash shots, as if he wants to get it over with.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

It appears the beginning of the end for Nole. Alongwith medical problem, he simultaneously suffers from lack of concentration. Unforced errors galore, not to talk of forced errors.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

Hey Gannu, nice to see you again! :) :D

June 28th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

I see Nole is contemplating another magical disappearing act.Murray was crusining. what happened.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

C’mon Sod, please, please, please, win this match, you can do it!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:32 pm

Grendel, re Sod its called stress. the burdensome feeling of high expectations.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:32 pm

tennisfansince76, Wimbledon coverage is now on NBC. They switch around ESPN2, ESPNU and NBC. One of them should have it at any point in time. I turn to my computer only when TV starts showing the ladies.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:33 pm

yepee murray back in it..just. GO MUZZA

June 28th, 2010 at 12:36 pm

well, the Sod took the set following an incomprehensible service game of Ferrer’s including two double faults. When did you last see that in a ferrer game? He was so angry, he belted the ball into the crowd. the umpire apparently didn’t see it, and it was funny seeing Sod’s expression – he was kind of peering as if to say surely this merits a code violation. he quickly let it go – you can afford to be generous, can’t you, when you’ve just won the set. Mind you, I can’t personally see what’s wrong with knocking the ball into the crowd, bit of catching practice and so on.

tennisfansince76 – you cld be right. But why stress now? What’s so special right now – unless he just hates this bounce.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:40 pm

Kimmi: thought it must be Sam’s birthday and Andy was giving him a present! What was that about? His first serves gone off a bit too talk about nerves…

June 28th, 2010 at 12:40 pm

@kimmi

YOU called it!!! :)

“Q. Any concerns about fitness at all? There was a photograph with some strapping on your thigh the other day. Is that just precaution?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it was after my first‑round match. MY thigh was hurting a little bit, which already was the case in Halle. In the finals it was hurting me as well.

But honestly now I have no more problems, no more strapping. I’m happy I recovered that. ”

Thought this was interesting from the Fed….

“I know Jurgen too well to play tricks with him. I always say, you know, if you’re not good enough and you have to use stuff like that, then you have issues.”

June 28th, 2010 at 12:41 pm

PS his and mine!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:41 pm

wow, this Lu guy is really pushing roddick. I think this is the best he is played him. must be the 4th round confidence.

Soda complained to the umpire why ferrer was not given a code violation. few games before he breaks the raquet, nothing. Then he swears loud, nothing. Then he hit the ball to the crowd after he lost the 3rd set..still nothing… i am with soda here.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:43 pm

skeezer, thanks for that. I am glad he is feeling better.

let me read fed presser..did not understand the last quote skeezer. What tricks he is talking about?

June 28th, 2010 at 12:46 pm

So far only Fed had a 3 sets win and there is only Nadal match to start, Murray also can win in straight.

I think Berdych hype is the same with Davy in AO. He may win a set, but Fed won’t lose in Wimby to Berdy. To beat Fed in a Slam, if you are not named Nadal, you must had all divine intervention to create the best environment, this year French for Soda (rainny and delays which are always trick), last year US Open, the back to back matches to see if his body will hold. Is a herculean effort to do it, and since his playing himself into form, very hard task.

If Roddick is struggling to break this guy serve, how is he suppose to break Fed’s serve, and his record in tiebreaks are not good agaisny Fed.

I see Fed will be in the final, almost 90% sure.
Nadal I will wait today match to figure him out.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:46 pm

Kimmi, it is because tennis umpires are in general stupid cowards.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:47 pm

Thanks Huh.. ;-) We need to support our man all the way…He has a nightmare wid berdych on Wednesday.. Hope feddy wins comfortably…

June 28th, 2010 at 12:47 pm

margot – yes, was very poor from andy. he was lucky to get out of that 0-40 game. Needs to concentrate here.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

Your Birthday today Margot? If so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)and Sam is not your fav? LOL

June 28th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

Ferrer saves two break points with brave play following another d-fault. This match is a scrap alright. You sense it cld still go either way.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:51 pm

Djoko won, at least all top players are going accordingly as expected.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:52 pm

At this point in Wimbledon, I will just be happy for each match that Federer wins. I will not downplay the chances of other players who are in line to play against Federer. I am superstitious. I think it jinxes Federer.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:53 pm

Roddick is now down 2 sets to 1. DF on tiebreaker did not help.

Lu guy is pumped up..wow

June 28th, 2010 at 12:54 pm

margot – happy birthday!! Or was it “his and your” nerves to which you referred? Or perhaps both? : ) Go Murray (love Sam but want Murray to win today).

Congrats (and phew) to Nole! Also congrats to Fed (who looks to be improving every round), Tsonga and T-Berd.

Come on Soda pop and Andy R!!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:56 pm

Well Roddick not having good tiebreak record at all in Wimby, last year he lost two to Fed and now lost two again.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:56 pm

soda broken early in the 4th after being 40-15 up on the game.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:56 pm

As much as I hate Djoko, I can’t believe Sean picked Hewitt to win the tournament….He couldn’t even beat ailing Djoko. Hewitt doesn’t have weapons to beat any of top 6 players now.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:56 pm

Do you guys realise Lu has just taken two tie break sets off Andy r!! How the heck did he do that and where the heck did he come from!!
skeezer:LOL no-one who plays Andy could be my favourite at that moment but generally I like Mr Sunshine surfer.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:57 pm

I wonder who Djoko will be rooting for in the Roddick-Lu match. LOL

June 28th, 2010 at 12:57 pm

go yu!

June 28th, 2010 at 12:57 pm

Players like Lu almost always fades against a top-ranked player like Roddick. They are mostly mentally weak. How many have we seen at Wimbledon this year when somebody is up at by two sets and end up losing very badly at the end?
I won’t worry about Roddick.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:58 pm

re: grendel. this is a whole new point in Sod’s career. he’s now expected to do well. he’s expected to win this match and then give Nadal a match in the quarters. he’s playing against a player he’s expected to beat but that player is scrappy and mentally strong. if he weakens it will be taken advantage of.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:58 pm

Ferrer breaks. Thing is, Soderling is just not serving at his best and, as I suggested earlier, if he falters, Ferrer will pounce. And he has. His returning has been awesome. Looks like this will now go into the 5th. Wld you bet on the Sod? Not unless he can pull himself together.

June 28th, 2010 at 12:58 pm

I know I will be rooting for Lu. LOL

June 28th, 2010 at 1:00 pm

Did you notice that Djok said it was stomach discomfort but clearly it was breathing and Becker even said it looked like asthma? I would never say I had asthma.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:05 pm

soda does not look good. he is losing this match i am afraid

June 28th, 2010 at 1:10 pm

He he he… :-)

June 28th, 2010 at 1:11 pm

Paul Annacone is doing some excellent commentating on ESPN2.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:12 pm

Please Sod, C’mon! Win it!

June 28th, 2010 at 1:13 pm

kimmi and jane if you’re popping in from Hollywood: Andy takes the second set a bit more comfortably than the first. Can we breathe now do you think? First serve percentage seems to be up too.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:15 pm

Sod has been brought down to earth, though he might win ultimately. Only Muzza is sky high in this tournament, so far.But no extrapolation possible.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:15 pm

So what happened to Sean’s pick to win the tournament again? Oh right, he lost to the wheezing Nole.

I told you guys time and time again: there are those who win the Roland Garroses and Wimbledons, and then there are those who win the Dohas and the Halles.

Never pick the Davydenkos and Hewitts of the world to win slams.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:15 pm

WOW, what a save by roddick..

June 28th, 2010 at 1:16 pm

Sod broken again and Ferrer takes the set. His serve lacked all venom – however, presumably he tanked to prepare for the 5th. We’ll see. What a terrier Ferrer is. Of course Nadal fans will be delighted, since no way ferrer will beat Nadal. I think Guy’s thinking appropriate here: he thought non Nadal fans shld want Nadal to win Petz etc so’s to have battle with Sod. Same logic applies here. if Sod wins, we have a battle with Nadal. If Ferrer wins, Nadal walks thru to the semis. One of the reasons Ferrer is handling Sod is not just the latter’s nerves, though clearly something is wrong. but also, Sod’s game is a bit one dimensional – if he can’t manage the long hard hitting, he’s kind of snookered. No such worries for Nadal. Can’t see any way Ferrer can hurt him.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:16 pm

Looks like the draw’s finally gonna open up for Rafa. But that’s not the prime concern, I’d very much like Sod not to lose to Ferrer, that’s all. Far better to lose to Rafa, and even better winning vs Rafa. But the worst thing would be if Sod loses today itself. That said, Ferrer is no slouch either, I mean if he’s gonna face Rafa in the QF, then even he shouldn’t be completely dismissed. If Petz/Haase can extend Rafa to 5 sets, then it’d be foolish on my part to write his chances off completely vs Rafa. That said, in a Rafa-Ferrer match, I’d root for Rafa. I’d rather see Rafa in semi than Ferrer.

Of course, this is only speculation. Nobody knows who’s gonna reach which round.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:20 pm

Of the Roland Garroses, Wimbledons, Dohas and Halles, which ones has Djokovic won? I know Hewitt has won Wimbledon.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:27 pm

Lu is not going away at all..i am impressed by his fighting spirit. Good for him

June 28th, 2010 at 1:32 pm

All those who did well at AEGON have performed poorly at Wimby. What does it show? Does it mean that tournaments too close to the G.S are likely to be taken as mere practice sessions by the top players. There was too much hype over Hewitt win at Halle.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:32 pm

Polo said:

“Of the Roland Garroses, Wimbledons, Dohas and Halles, which ones has Djokovic won? I know Hewitt has won Wimbledon.”

Yeah, EIGHT years ago.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:34 pm

Gotta go to work now. Go Lu.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:37 pm

4 all in the 5th. Sod hanging on by the skin of his teeth. Ferrer making much more inroads into Sod’s serve than t’other way round. It’s true Sod not serving at his best – but how much of that is due to Ferrer? His indomitable will plus crackerjack returning – ferrer at his best. Sod sort of baffled.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:41 pm

margot – i have andy match on the laptop. third set still on serve..needs to finish it up here.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:41 pm

grendel – this match looks ferrer. he is holding v. easily on his serve. Too sad for soda, but credit to ferrer for hanging in there.

just like Lu. unbelivable

June 28th, 2010 at 1:43 pm

had a quick look at Querry – you know, he has a pretty good game from back of the court, by no means all serve. Murray will have to dig this one out, will be no gifts.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:44 pm

mathieu is going to roll over like a French Poodle for Nadal.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:45 pm

Correct Kimo. Hewitt won Wimbledon EIGHT years ago. Therefore, there are “Davydenkos and Hewitts” that are able to win slams. Djokovic can only hope to join the “Davydenkos and Hewitts of the world”.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:46 pm

tie break Lu vs Roddick..Roddick needs to win this. now or never

June 28th, 2010 at 1:47 pm

As good as Lu is playing, this is not Roddick’s best performance. Down an early mini break but hopefully he can get back on track. He needs to do so fast if he wants to win this match.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:48 pm

Why would Djokovic hope to joing the Davydenko’s of the world? If anything he already has, and he needs to get back to being a Federer and Nadal of the world.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:49 pm

RODDICK in trouble

June 28th, 2010 at 1:49 pm

Soda breaks hahahahah unblevable..C’mon

June 28th, 2010 at 1:49 pm

God, please help Rod!

C’mon Rod!!!

June 28th, 2010 at 1:50 pm

If Roddick comes back to win this, that lob may have been a turning point because it was a poor dropshot he played.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:50 pm

Too bad if Rod loses today. :(

But, haven’t given up still.
C’MON ROD!!!

June 28th, 2010 at 1:51 pm

Keep the faith. Roddick will prevail.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:51 pm

For the 1st time in the match it looks like Lu is tightening up.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:52 pm

soda DF on the match point

June 28th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

Murray has defeated Querrey in straights. I thought Querrey had a chance to pull off the upset but to no avail. Murray will have to improve his 1st serve % though.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

Polo said:

“there are “Davydenkos and Hewitts” that are able to win slams.”

Hewitt is not the same player he was eight years ago. The game has evolved so much since then, it has passed him by.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:54 pm

Pweh..Soda. great win.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:54 pm

Congrats to muzza.

Roddick scraped thru the 4th set..unbelivable.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:56 pm

Oh man. That forehand Lu hit at 5-5 in the tiebreak was a terrible choke.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:56 pm

Murray through against a tough one, STILL without dropping a set, and Soda is through too. Now Roddick has levelled it so he should win the fifth set. This means some very competitive quarterfinal matches: Rafa v Soda; Murray v. Tsonga; Djoko v. Rod; Fed v Berdy. Wowsers!

June 28th, 2010 at 1:56 pm

Oops – I jumped the gun on Rafa there, as he is still play Mathieu and it’s too early to say he’ll come through. But I think Roddick is a safe bet now.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:57 pm

F****** YES!!!

C’MON ROD, BEAT THAT (expletives here!!)!!!

June 28th, 2010 at 1:57 pm

Lu had the match for the taking and he blinked. up 4-2 w/ a bad dropshot for the taking. wow Soda escaped!

June 28th, 2010 at 1:58 pm

Sod breaks out of nowhere, Ferrer didn’t do nothing wrong, it was just Sod being inspirational for one of the very few times in the match. Good time to pick, eh? Then Sod servesat 40-15, and he is quite tentative, you sense Ferrer’s going to win point and he does. Sod double faults – the man’s choking big time – but what’s this, Ferrer gifts Sod the next point, the man’s not a machine, and then Sod holds his nerve and sends down a good serve.

What a gallant chap Ferrer is. What is more, he has shown Nadal that he has nothing to fear, Soderling is human, to say the least. Still centre court next time, let’s hope his timing comes back.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:58 pm

No more tiebreaks now. Lu will have to do what Fed did last year: break Roddick’s serve for the 1st time in the 5th set.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:58 pm

The fifth set should be easy for Roddick now. The way it was easy once for Federer and twice for Nadal. That’s the way the story goes when you pit a top-ranked player against a low ranking player. As I said earlier, they are all mentally weak. They could not keep the fire for five sets.

June 28th, 2010 at 1:59 pm

grendel – nice commentaru on soda v ferrer. I was watching it on and off as there is so many matches right now.

Roddick still on the slugfest. but Lu is very impressive :-)

Who would have thought he gave roddick the toughest match of the tournament? this guy is one to watch for sure.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:01 pm

Breathing normally! Now will you guys please shut up about Andy not being able to play big hitters!
Sod came through not playing his best. John Lloyd really sarky said “he seems to have read the hype about himself.”
Djko through too, even though he looked seriously distressed.
Come on Andy R., it may be your last chance!
Now I can relax and watch Rafa.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

Lu is not going away like the other guys i tell you. Roddick needs to bring his A game in this set.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

The game may have passed Hewit by, the same way that the same fate will happen to Federer, then Nadal, etc, etc. I still hold that such players should not be referred to in a rather condescending manner.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

Kimmi, who is Lu? He’s not the same Taiwanese as beat Murray at the Olympics, is he?

June 28th, 2010 at 2:05 pm

LOL about john Lloyd margot. I agree with him :-)

June 28th, 2010 at 2:06 pm

How much further can the game progress to pass by Nadal?

June 28th, 2010 at 2:06 pm

“Oops – I jumped the gun on Rafa there, as he is still play Mathieu and it’s too early to say he’ll come through. But I think Roddick is a safe bet now.”

Mrs.Jane:

Don’t take it personal. But why exactly you think Roddick’s a safe bet but Rafa’s not at this stage! Rafa after all owns Mathieu, but the same cannot be said about Roddick with re:Lu, and you know that! Like you almost always say that Fed is a safe bet, but you somehow seem too concerned about Nole/Rafa, even if they’re playing an average guy! And still you always say that Rafa’s mentally strongest! Why be so sure about a mentally weaker’s victory instead of, in your words, the mentally strongest Rafa, especially when Rafa’s won the first set so easily? And here you’re saying Rod’s a safe bet, all this despite you seeing that it has been tiebreaks for three sets. How do you assume it’d be so easy for Rod to break Lu and win the match? I am a bit lost here.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:07 pm

gendel – yes, he beat murray at the olympics. I could see the talent there but i think he was injured for a long while.

I am surprised the way he is holding his own in this match. great to see.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:09 pm

Nadal fined $2000 for coaching.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:09 pm

Ben, that progress in the game includes time. When a young good player comes along and meets an old great one on his way down.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

re: Polo it is Roddick who has ben mentally weak this match. he has unleashed his inner Michael Chang for this match. playing consistently way behind the baseline.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

Lu has played very well but his 2ns serve is attackable. a top ranked player playing like a top ranked player would be going after it.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:13 pm

tennisfansince76, let’s see who will crumble first. Lu had a chance in the tiebreak. Michael Chang was very mentally tough. He had to play consistently behind the baseline because he is very short and could be easilty passed at the net. I do agree though that Roddick has no business playing like a short guy.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

Q. Could you tell there was anything wrong with him in that third set?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I don’t know. He’s always got something. So I wasn’t focusing on it, yeah, at all. I was just trying to play my game. Yeah, he looked fine again in the fourth.

Hahaha. It’s funny because Hewitt fully recognizes how good Djokovic is tennis-wise, but he’s still…

June 28th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

huh, I don’t have visuals, so I am going by score. I don’t know Lu, and I know Rod’s grass pedigree, and I agree with Polo that he is mentally very strong, so I like him in a fifth set against most guys. That’s all. I thought that winning the fourth set tiebreak would give him momentum. However, 5th sets are very tense sometimes; this is true.

I didn’t know that about Rafa’s H2H vs. Mathieu. But I had already penciled Rafa into the quarters before the first set was over, and then thought it was not fair to make that call so early considering Rafa was pushed to 5 sets in his last two matches.

So there’s my thinking. Hope both Rod and Rafa come through.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:17 pm

“Polo Says:

The game may have passed Hewit by, the same way that the same fate will happen to Federer, then Nadal, etc, etc. I still hold that such players should not be referred to in a rather condescending manner.”

Exactly Polo, exactly! It’s unbelievable how people here disrespect great players like Hewitt while at the same time praising almost equally insignificant, so to speak, players like Safin to moon and sun’s heights!!! It’s so sad to see that people brag so much about Nole’s superiority over Hewitt, just on the basis of a victory over Hewitt, who’s btw 29 years old! Let’s see what this Djokovic fellow attains by the age of 29, then may be we can talk.

And it’s even more sad to see people out here always talking so disparagingly of everyone starting from Rafa to Hewitt to almost everyone else, apart from their Fed. If the condescending talks about Hewitt continues here, then I may be forced to sincerely rejoice the next time Rafa beats Fed in a slam final! Only by Rafa routing Fed, can some Fed fans learn to start respecting tennis players other than Fed! It’s so sad that there are Fed fans who constantly take pleasure in dismissing Hewitt’s chances & talking of him as if he’s some piece of crap, wishing or foretelling Rafa’s demise and what not!

June 28th, 2010 at 2:21 pm

C’mon Rod!

June 28th, 2010 at 2:24 pm

I love Hewitt.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:24 pm

Huh, if the 08 FO final routing by Nadal wasn’t enough to garner respect from Fed fans, then I don’t know what will.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:25 pm

That play by Lu at break point 4-all has changed my outlook about the Roddick-Lu match. This match will be won by the better player and not lost due to mental weakness.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:33 pm

Lu has done very well to stave off break points judging by the stats. Anyone know much about Lu?

June 28th, 2010 at 2:33 pm

Lu has done very well to stave off break points judging by the stats. Anyone know much about Lu?

June 28th, 2010 at 2:33 pm

tennisfansince76 Says:
mathieu is going to roll over like a French Poodle for Nadal.
————————————————-

You called that one right.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:35 pm

How the hell did Rafa get into the discussion?!

Rafa is the no.1 player in the world right now. How can you compare him to Hewitt? Rafa won a slam three weeks ago. Hewitt won his last slam eight years ago. There’s no comparison.

I’m not disrespecting Hewitt, but his slam winning days are over. That not disrespect, that’s just saying it like it is.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:36 pm

BEn,

Do you have more info on the fine on Nadal for coaching?

June 28th, 2010 at 2:36 pm

Kimo Says: “How the hell did Rafa get into the discussion?!”

Because someday, Rafa will be a 29 year old player who may have had surgeries and he will lose to a younger player and he will be referred to by a tennis fan the way you have to Hewitt.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:40 pm

jane – what i know is Lu beat murray in the first round of olympics. everybody was kind of surprise but Lu played very well that day.

he has played roddick couple of times I think but lost both in straight set with a tie breaker on one set.

he played federer last year 1st round wimbledon and the match was kind of tricky. you could see some great shot making.

he is a talented player..had few injuries end of last year / begining of this year. This is his biggest showing in the GS so far. he is ranked 82 a.t.m. …highest ranking 55

June 28th, 2010 at 2:42 pm

Mathieu is getting an ass massage. could the match be more over!

June 28th, 2010 at 2:43 pm

Thanks Kimmi; yes, I remember Murray’s surprising loss at the Olympics, but I didn’t remember it was against Lu. Clearly he’s tough based on this match today. Cheers.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:47 pm

Honestly speaking Ben, seems that even the FO routing wasn’t enough otherwise why’d people so callously and so proudly and arrogantly disrespect Hewitt and also other players like Roddick. The way Fed fans used to make fun of Roddick, during the good times of Fed, was beyond contemptible, in most of the cases. Apart from that I still remeber how intolerably Fed fans used to boast of, be it the Fed double-bagelling of Hewitt or straight setting of Safin in AO 04, !But Karma in 2008 forced the Fed fans to learn something. The Fed fans then started understanding that how bad Rod or Hewitt must be feeling due to their defeats at the hand of Fed, and to take it a step further, how disgraceful and pathetic it’s to make the mockery of somebody (in this case Rod,Hewitt, Safin) for losing to their guy(Fed, that is) in a lopsided manner! But probably the humble pies served by Rafa at WIM 08, F0 08 and AO 09 wasn’t enough, otherwise why rate Hewitt so low! If I’m not wrong, I had already gotten tired of some Fed fans whining about the or much more recently about the straight setting of DP at A0 09 by Fed! They have probably not learnt the whole lesson still. But I’m afraid, unless and until Fed fans really learn to respect players like Hewitt, Karma’d have something even worse for them.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:48 pm

Polo said:

“Because someday, Rafa will be a 29 year old player who may have had surgeries and he will lose to a younger player and he will be referred to by a tennis fan the way you have to Hewitt.”

Not all grand slam players are created equal. Rafa has won seven slams. Hewitt has two. Rafa won slams on all surfaces. Hewitt didn’t. Rafa is one of the greats of the game. Hewitt isn’t. Rafa won’t keep playing for eight years after his last slam victory, and neither would Fed for that matter.

These are all facts. Not my opinions about Rafa and Hewitt. So why are you so upset that I am counting Hewitt out when he is so clearly out?! Would I call Rafa or Fed non-slam contenders when they’re eight years removed from their last slam? You bet. I still why don’t see it rubs you the wrong way.

Hell, Sampras’s and Agassi’s last slams came later than Hewitt’s last slam. Would I be disrespecting them if I said they’re no longer slam contenders?!

June 28th, 2010 at 2:52 pm

I meant “I still don’t see why….”

June 28th, 2010 at 2:53 pm

Kimo, you are ignoring the fact that Hewitt’s career was decimated not by not being as good anymore, but by health and injury issues beyond his control. His form in 2010 has been excellent again. Predicting to him Wimbledon was stupid (looking at you, staff) but he’s still a fine player who had every chance in the world of beating Djokovic. Didn’t he just beat Federer or was that some weird dream.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:55 pm

Match point for Lu!

June 28th, 2010 at 2:57 pm

Wow! Roddick is out!

June 28th, 2010 at 2:58 pm

Roddick’s out.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:58 pm

That was a great point from Lu!

June 28th, 2010 at 2:59 pm

OMG – Lu…one word UNBELIVABLE!

June 28th, 2010 at 2:59 pm

I’m sure Djokovic is smiling right now.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:59 pm

Oh no : ( So sad for Rod. : ( huh – you were right. I was wrong. I really thought Roddick would have momentum after winning the 4th set. S*** But Lu wins.

June 28th, 2010 at 2:59 pm

nicely done lu!!!!!! congrats.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Like last year, Roddick lost despite being broken only once…on match point.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Hu hu hu hu Huh! I told you to see you in the semis! :-)

June 28th, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Roddick is gone. the better player definitely won today. no question. Roddick’s serve kept him in it but in other phases of the game Lu was the better player. hope he has enough in the tank to bother the Djoker.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:01 pm

Eric:

Don’t you know Hewitt beat Fed in Halle coz Fed focusses only on slams? Lol!
He didn’t care about winning Halle at all, Fed just lies when he says he wants to win big titles like slams and MS and also other small tournaments like Halle, that’re close to his heart! ;)

June 28th, 2010 at 3:01 pm

Duro – i wouldn’t be sooooo sure. unless Lu is very tired on wednesday but the guy is playing well..i wouldn’t under estimate.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:01 pm

NELTA Says:

Re: Nadal vs. mathieu

You called that one right.

Hmmm I can’t take much credit for that as it was an easy call. Mathieu is outgunned in every dept by Nadal and has zero belief that he can beat him.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:03 pm

Kimo, you know I support Nole but by NO MEANS did I presume Djoko would win today. Hewitt has 2 slams and has been number 1. He is so feisty and I think no one would say he didn’t deserve his Halle title, which was over Fed no less! He deserves a lot of respect. Hewitt is great to watch, and I have always liked him. I think he’s a threat still, perhaps especially on this surface.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:03 pm

I’m going to eat some Chinese cuisine tonight in honor of Lu’s victory over “over rated” Andy Roddick.

LOL…..Andy Roddick and his massive serve gets beaten by a weak Asian player.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:03 pm

DURO!

SINCERE CONGRATS MY FRIEND!!! :D
KEEP THE FAITH! :)
YOUR FAITH’S PROBABLY GONNA MAKE NOLE STRONGER AS HE GOES DEEPER! :)

June 28th, 2010 at 3:03 pm

Eric said:

“Kimo, you are ignoring the fact that Hewitt’s career was decimated not by not being as good anymore, but by health and injury issues beyond his control.”

Yeah, so was the case for Sampras and Agassi. They got older. That too is out of their control.

“His form in 2010 has been excellent again.”

His form has been very good considering his ranking. I like to preserve the word excellent for something a bit more special.

“Predicting to him Wimbledon was stupid (looking at you, staff) but he’s still a fine player who had every chance in the world of beating Djokovic.”

Not arguing with you there.

“Didn’t he just beat Federer or was that some weird dream.”

Yeah he did, so did Davy, Baghdatis, Berdych, and Gulbis. That proves nothing. Slams are a whole different ball game. That’s all I said. Hewitt can win the 250 tournaments, maybe even a 500, but a slam? Come on.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:05 pm

MRS. JAN, STU, SAR AND OTHER NOLE FANS:

CONGRATS TO YOU ALL AS WELL ON NOLE AGAIN REACHING THE WIM QUARTERS. :)

June 28th, 2010 at 3:05 pm

I knew that Mathieu was a good match up for Nadal, but I figured he would put up a little more resistance. I was also surprised how quickly Fed dispatched Melzer.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:05 pm

all in all, probably better for roddick’s psyche…assuming he met fed in the following round, don’t know if yet another wimbledon loss against fed would make him feel much better.

that being said, roger now has to get past berdych. no small task.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:06 pm

WHY IS THE OLD ##### OUT AGAIN DISSING RODDICK?

June 28th, 2010 at 3:06 pm

Congrats to Lu. If he beat Roddick on grass, he must have played really really well, but by the sounds of it Roddick wasn’t at his best? I wish I could’ve seen the match to know what happened more. Still sad for Roddick and want to read his presser as he usually has good insight into what happened.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:06 pm

Kimo, you probably belong to the minority who don’t consider Hewitt one the tennis greats. Which is another sign that you are disrespecting him which you continue to deny. Hewitt won two majors and he was year-end number one for two consecutive years. Those are unequivocably great achievements. But I give it to you, that you would do the same to Federer and Nadal when their time comes. You are an equal opportunity disrespecter.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:08 pm

Kimmi, I actually wanted Novak to beat Roddick on the way to the semis. I said it before Hewitt match to see Huh in the semis. It didn’t change a thing. Roddick or Lu the outcome will be the same.

Huh, thanks. Your first fave is waiting in the semis so nothing changed. The change is gonna happen there. :-).

Allez alleeeez…

June 28th, 2010 at 3:08 pm

jane, yes, he deserved the Halle title. I never said he didn’t.

Being feisty is great, but I think some people tend to over-hype feisty-ness. Feisty can give you an extra nudge to go over the finish line, but you still have to have game. Being feisty alone won’t win you slams.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:09 pm

Kimo, fair enough. :)

Roddick wasn’t playing that great, but Lu definitely deserved his win.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:09 pm

Now I am hoping for Nole to put the Lu fellow in his place in the QF. Go Nole!!!

But Roddick losing is truly unfortunate for tennis and WIM. :(

June 28th, 2010 at 3:09 pm

DURO – for sure nole great chance to the semi. I think Lu will be very tired. This was a very long match. 4 tie breaker set and more….

June 28th, 2010 at 3:12 pm

Wonder how Nadal’s knee is doing today…I still think that was poor sportsman behavior from Nadal on taking medical timeouts in the previous round. He is a drama queen.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:13 pm

Polo, I RESPECT HEWITT. How can I be disrespecting him when I respect him? Doesn’t make sense!!!!

And no, winning two slams and being no.1 does not make you “one of the greats”. It makes you a hall of famer, that’s a lock for Hewitt, but by great I mean Federer, Sampras, Nadal, Agassi, Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Laver, Edberg, Wilander, even Boris Becker gets a nod.

Are you telling me Hewitt should be mentioned alongside those true tennis greats? Get real.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:13 pm

Congrats to Lu. Not great for Roddick but boy did Lu play great. Simply great, can’t take anything away.

Skeezer I don’t know anything else about the fining. I heard the commentators say it.

Huh, aren’t you a Federer fan? Saying what happened in 08 was karma is kinda mean towards Federer. It’s not like he was a douche about winning all the time in his day, so when he started to lose more often it wasn’t like “there you go, Fed you douche.” But I see how that works towards his fans.

Hewitt is a good player, and as far as I’m concerned, he’s top 5 on grass easily. Djokovic’s win just goes to show how good Djokovic can really be. It’s not like he’s unaccomplished on grass, either.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:14 pm

It happened to roddick the way it happened against federer last year. he was not broken the whole match, the only time he is broken is the time he loses..sucks!

June 28th, 2010 at 3:14 pm

Kimmi, Lu doesn’t have to be tired…

June 28th, 2010 at 3:15 pm

Can’t believe I didn’t mention Borg. My apologies.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:15 pm

I don’t always(sometimes I of course do) put much emphasis on the words of some people coz since long, they have kept on saying Rafa’s gonna fade into oblivion, Hewitt is not a tennis great, Rafa’s never gonna beat JMDP in a HC slam ever again, Rafa’d find it really difficult to win even RG, let alone other slams, and what not! It provides timely fun here, which is good.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:17 pm

I’m getting a little tired of folk lumping anyone who diss Nadal, Roddick, and others as “Fed Fans”! Stop lumping everyone into that category!

OK…now you guys can continue.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:18 pm

Fed vs. Berdych could be very good; I think they met last year at Wimbledon or no? Can’t remember. Anyhow, look forward to that match. Fed is getting better each round, and Berdych is coming off a successful slam result at the FO. So this could be very exciting. Rafa vs. Soda may depend a lot on which Soda turns up. By sound of comments Soda wasn’t at his best today, but if he is he can challenge Rafa. Same with Tsonga vs. Murray; judging by Murray’s course through the draw so far, he is looking very strong to make it through, maybe to the finals!! Djoko and Lu have never played, just checked the ATP site. Hope Djoko can come through to the semis!! It would be the first time since 2007 he’d’ve made it that far here.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:18 pm

Ben:

Mean or not, but it’s the harsh truth.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:18 pm

“Kimmi, Lu doesn’t have to be tired…”

duro – lol i wouldn’t be sure. djoko probably needs a tired Lu. Did you see him today, he was having some problems with something…a strong Lu will be tough for your “No1vak”.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:18 pm

Now who’s lumping on whom?

June 28th, 2010 at 3:20 pm

Huh knows nothing.

A win of this magnitude by an Asian player will inspire an army of young Asians to do the same. Lu’s win in the grand scheme of things will improve tennis world wide. Asians multiply like rabbits and learn quickly.

A ho hum win by Andy Roddick would have done nothing inspirational. It’s better for tennis that he loses.

Again, huh is a dumb de dumb.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:20 pm

RE: Rafa fined. Well it is newsworthy if it is. Goes on his record. Fining is determined by the officials AFTER they have reviewed the facts. So there must have been more going on that what was explained……I did not see any coaching but I was limited to the view of the TV. It will be interesting to see the explanation of the officials…..

June 28th, 2010 at 3:20 pm

Yes, Kimo, Hewitt belongs with the true tennis greats. If you can’t live with that, then sorry for you because Hewiit is a great tennis player. By the way, Wilander was year end number one for only one year. Hewitt was twice. He was the youngest to be ranked number one. So you see, this idea about tennis greats is very arbitrary. You can twist it any way you want to fulfill your needs.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:22 pm

CB,

“Asians multiply like rabbits and learn quickly.”

Now THAT was a really dumb thing to say.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:23 pm

Wrong it was mentioned that no Asian has reached beyond the quarter finals at grand slams , well Ramanathan Krishnan of India reached the semifinals in 1960 and 1961. Yes in the open era Robinson is right

June 28th, 2010 at 3:24 pm

Skeezer, C_B would not be C_B if she didn’t say that. :)

June 28th, 2010 at 3:25 pm

Ben:

Thanks for your nice post at 3.14 pm. At least you can see my point about some Fed fans, for which I’m thankful to you. BTW, I never meant Fed to be a douche, I know he was too good, that’s why he could dominate like that over all great and good players of his time, but the thing is that there’s the saying which goes like ‘after pride, cometh the fall’ and this happened mainly to some Fed fans who had made it a habit of theirs to diss other players then.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:25 pm

Cindy Brady:

You’re a ##### indeed!

June 28th, 2010 at 3:26 pm

wasn’t expecting more than a 3 setter from nadal today…he’s just better than mathieu.

it would be heartbreaking if murray made it to the final, met fed and got beaten again…

nadal has to get past soderling next, which i don’t see being a cake walk, and then potentially murray. i hope murray makes it through. give the english fans some hysteria!

nadal was fined? wow.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:26 pm

Andrea, the “fine” is nothing more than a lightest of slaps on the wrist, a warning, a “tsk tsk” to say ‘don’t keep doing that!’. $2000 fine for someone who has raked in more than $4m in prize money so far this year. :)

June 28th, 2010 at 3:29 pm

Polo, will Hewitt’s slam wins be remembered forty years from now? I doubt it.

Immortality of achievements is the measure of greatness. Laver has his two calender slams. Borg has his three RG-Wimby doubles and six RGs. Sampras has his seven Wimbledons and six year-end no.1s in a row. Wilander was the first player ever to win slams on three different surfaces. Becker is the younger slam winner of all time. Agassi is the only man with a Golden Slam. Fed has his all time slam record, 237 weeks at no.1 record, 23 straight slam semis, 10 straight slam finals, four Wimbledon-US Open doubles. Rafa has his four consecutive RGs, the first man ever to hold grandslam titles on all surfaces at the same time.

Hewitt’s achievements dwarf by comparison. If Hewitt is an great, then Safin is a great (and btw I’m a huge Safin fan, so don’t go around saying I disrespect him). Safin too has two slams and was former no.1 one. Is he one of the greats? Greats is a big word and should not be used so casually.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:30 pm

To say world No.1 fined for coaching, it does not sound very good.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Huh: Too bad our guy lolst. Somehow, I expected he’d lose early by coming into Wimbles with too little match play. It’s good to have fun, but not 7-8 weeks prior to a GS.

Andy had many opportunities to break but somehow he couldn’t convert. For some reason he seemed very flat-footed out there today. I didn’t see any good footwork nor the crispness of his shots, especially his FH, which was way olff at times. He played much better vs. Kohls. Anyway, c’est la vie.

You stated the following to jane:

Huh: “But why exactly you think Roddick’s a safe bet but Rafa’s not at this stage! Rafa after all owns Mathieu, but the same cannot be said about Roddick with Lu, and you know that! Like you almost always say that Fed is a safe bet, but you somehow seem too concerned about Nole/Rafa, even if they’re playing an average guy!”

Good one Huh, I’ve always questioned that thinking, but it’s due to the fact that nothing’s at stake nor is there any genuine interest in the case of Fed and Roddick, so it’s very easy to mention that it’s a lock and/or easy bet for those two, Fed and Roddick. In the case of the joker the concern is way overboard IMO, and the usual lamentations and excuses re his serve, allergies, asthma, et al, are always used as some sort of preemptive measure before his matches, just in case he loses. OY

June 28th, 2010 at 3:33 pm

if there was still any doubt about roddick’s poor return, he only won 1% more return points and has a MUCH better serve that lu.

i agree hewitt is top five on grass. if you look at the people he’s lost to at wimbledon last few years, besides baghdatis, it’s all top3.

soderling got cut up a bit on serve by ferrer today and ferrer almost had the same serve stats too, which doesn’t bode well for soderling against rafa. rafa’s return is equal to ferrer’s and he has a better serve.

djokovic has always had the game to beat anyone. but mentally/physically he’s woeful. even today he was having some ailment with his stomach or hayfever or whatever. he’s much more fragile than fed and nadal even though when his serve is working he is technically superior to both on hard court and not too far away from nadal on clay.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:34 pm

Skeez, Cindy’s post looked like yours ha ha ha! Don’t be too serious, it spoils your image.

Kimmi, running Nole with same stomach… He’ll be well by Wednesday, do9n’t worry.

Someone asked about bandages on Novak’s shoulders; these are suppose to prevent minor injuries and improve circulation.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:35 pm

Roddick was very sad in his interview. He looked really down and did not have the usual humor and quick wit until that silliest of questions from an interviewer who asked if he would feel disappointed when he wakes up tomorrow. Good of Andy for snapping back at him.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:36 pm

Guy, nice to meet you. I’m Duro. How do you do?

June 28th, 2010 at 3:37 pm

Kimo, Hewitt’s slam wins will still be remembered forty years from now (and more) because they will be in the record books.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:41 pm

@Duro

True, true lol. I looked back at my post, ha!

@Eric

Sorry Eric, a fine is not a warning. A fine is you did it, and here is the penalty . Ever got a traffic ticket? If it was a warning there would be no fine. True it would mean nothing to Rafa’s piles of money, but does go on his record.

Now this is for sure he got fined. Not sure yet. Need more info..,

June 28th, 2010 at 3:43 pm

Polo said:

“Kimo, Hewitt’s slam wins will still be remembered forty years from now (and more) because they will be in the record books.”

True, but not in people’s hearts and minds (outside of his family and friends, that is).

That, my friend, is the measure of greatness.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:49 pm

skeezer: “CB,

“Asians multiply like rabbits and learn quickly.”

Now THAT was a really dumb thing to say.”

Kinda racist, IMO.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

jane – Soderling has got no chance against Nadal if he plays like he did today. But maybe he’s got the gremlins out of his system, and he has played his one bad match. Of course, exactly the same can be said about Nadal, and Federer too. So I think, as usual in this amazing tournament, we’re in unknown territory. It’s quite impossible to know what’s going to happen.

To those who say Federer will sweep Berdych aside, well, maybe. But equally Berdych could overpower Federer – if he’s at the top of his game, he is certainly capable of it.

I reckon Nadal will beat Soderling, even if the Sod ups his game. Nadal is slowly coming to his peak, and how can you bet against that? Timing is all. b.t.w., if it is true he has been fined, how typically maladroit to fine him over the coaching business. I mean, come on, what on earth does it matter just because uncle toni has got a little bit excited? Nadal has a fine tennis brain, are we really suggesting that a few mouthed words can make the slightest difference?

On the other hand, Nadal’s time wasting is a serious matter and constantly dodged by umpires – probably because they know it is more serious, and is therefore more scary to challenge. I think it was MMT who suggested they should use a clock – that would sort the matter unequivocally and to everyone’s satisfaction. Where the law is seen to be hazy and ambiguous, competitors will naturally take advantage, and you can’t blame Nadal. It’s his style to take time, to be very deliberate, as it is Sharapova’s, and it’s Federer’s or Roddick’s to be quick, and so on, and these are personal choices, reflecting the type of play which characterises the man. Still, rules are rules, and where they are important, they should not be flouted with impunity.

As for the coaching stuff, sorry, can’t take that seriously.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

The fine means the ATP had video and/or audio evidence of coaching and not just an observation by the umpire.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:51 pm

the thing about hewitt is, he has a great backhand, great defence, excellent net game, very good serve for his size and mental toughness to match nadal. he’s also tactically very good.

the reason he ceased to be such a contender is that his forehand is subpar. it has nothing on it compared to so many guys. the technique is very stiff and he doesn’t seem to generate much power. and i’m comparing it to similar size players like davydenko, ferrer etc who dictate with their forehands.

that combined with his often passive play became outdated and people started hitting him around. davydenko is kind of like a turbocharged hewitt in terms of groundstroke aggression, but lacks the net game and mental. although those two things might be improving.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:51 pm

Polo, can’t find Roddick’s interview online yet. But he’s always one to follow up on this way, as he offers solid insight into matches, whether he wins or loses, and he often adds some wit and/or sarcasm to boot. Still shocked by this upset. I really felt he had a shot to win it all this year, especially based on his first few rounds, beating Llodra and Kohls too. I saw him a bit against Ram and he looked ready to do.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:52 pm

Connors won slams on all three surfaces way before Wilander.

I don’t know how much the little match play affected Roddick today. Lu played great and, like Roddick said, Andy played a crappy return game today. He was playing pretty well up to this point, but that one thing really got him. Plus, I don’t think anyone was expecting Lu to shoot down 20+ aces.

Guy, how is Djokovic technically superior to Federer on hard court? I see it with Nadal, although I don’t know how close he really is to him on clay at this point. I think Nadal showed this year that there is no one close to him on clay, just the occasional tussle.

The problem is Djokovic doesn’t need to prepare excuses, he’ll come up with them on the spot. Hewitt’s quote says it all, “there’s always something wrong with him.” I still think he needs to take an extended leave and work out all his mental and especially physical issues.

Anyone else feel like Murray’s chances are getting better with each round? I think his match against Tsonga should be telling, but I like what I see so far. He’s definitely playing the best tennis he’s played since the Australian Open. Hopefully it’ll translate into a good hard court season. He’s won at least one of the 2 summer US Masters the last 2 years.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:57 pm

Re: This business of coaching, what about Henin? I saw her looking over at her coach and he was nodding his head while simultaneously mouthing some words, after she hit a shot. Isn’t that some kind of coaching when the coach nods as some form of assent. To me, it appears as though she silently asks him if he feels that’s the shot she should use in that situation. I think if the ATP fines one player for receiving coaching, they should make it universal for all rule-breakers, and not be selective.

June 28th, 2010 at 3:58 pm

Hi grendel,

“maybe he’s got the gremlins out of his system, and he has played his one bad match. Of course, exactly the same can be said about Nadal, and Federer too. So I think, as usual in this amazing tournament, we’re in unknown territory. It’s quite impossible to know what’s going to happen.”

I can’t disagree with anything you say here. I haven’t seen much of the matches so far this year, only bits here and there, and reading reports and comments when I can. So I take your word for it on Soda’s form today. But I’d give him a shot versus Rafa if he is playing well in their match. Same for Berdych versus Fed; I’d give him a shot too. But Fed and Nadal are so tough to count out because they are stalwarts at the slams, and deservedly so for their consistency and ability to raise their games and stay calm when needed in 5 set situations. I feel like Murray maybe really has a shot; what do you think?

June 28th, 2010 at 3:59 pm

Ben Pronin Said:

“Connors won slams on all three surfaces way before Wilander.”

Oh, forgot about that :)

June 28th, 2010 at 4:00 pm

I agree with Kimo,

Hewitt peaked at a time Tennis dipped. He was never the all time quality champion of a Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Sampras, Agassi, Federer, Nadal, Becker, Wilander, Edberg or even Courier.

He beat Sampras in the twilight of his career to win the U.S Open and Nalbadian at Wimbledon (hardly a great grass court player).

Kimo, you and me think much alike.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:00 pm

But in all fairness, Connor’s was on Har-Tru, not red clay.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:00 pm

Congrats to Novak and his fans, and condolences to Roddick and Hewitt’s fans. Good luck Djoko in quarterfinals!!

June 28th, 2010 at 4:01 pm

Kimo, this argument did not start as a question of greatness to which you have cunningly skewed it. The original argument was my contention that everybody should be given their due respect. It is not only in terms of greatness relative to some other being that respect should be accorded to anyone. Your initial post about the “Davydenkos and Hewitts” of the world was written in a manner which I find rather condescending to these two men who have tried their best to be good at their sport and who in some ways have achieved some measure of success that should not be laughed at by any lover of the game.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:01 pm

I’m looking forward to a Nadal/Murray semifinal. I didn’t see the match, but after Soda struggled so much with Ferrer you have to like Nadal’s chances. Also, as ‘guy’ stated Ferrer had comparable serve stats to Soda which is very troubling.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:03 pm

yes the coaching is silly. i’m also convinced toni knows very little about tennis.
and i’d say it’s quite hard for a player to control an overbearing coach/parent while on court.
iknow my mother told my dad to shut his mouth about somebody’s engagement. but he opened it anyway. who’s fault is that?

timewasting…i’d say it’s part of nadal’s OCD as opposed to tactical, because it’s part of everypoint. it’s still annoying though. but why not have a ‘shot clock’ on court, that might help.

hello duro. if you’re pleased to meet me i guess you’re not a one eyed fed fan?

June 28th, 2010 at 4:03 pm

Jane, the Roddick interview was on ESPN after his match. One interviewer asked him (not exact words), “How do you think would you feel when you wake up tomorrow morning?” Roddick threw him a dagger look and said “Of course, I would be thrilled!” Then he added a few words to add something to the effect that such question was stupid and insensitiv.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:05 pm

Roddick interview up now: http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/interviews/2010-06-28/201006281277754781423.html

June 28th, 2010 at 4:06 pm

Thanks Polo; good for Andy R. to fend off nonsensical questions. I hope I can catch some TV coverage on Wed but I doubt it. Maybe Friday, though, and should be back home Sunday for the final. I am loving being able to read all of the comments here as at least I get a sense of things and how they unfolded.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:10 pm

Yes, I’d make an exception for Henin on the coaching front (i.e.it matters to her) because it is clear, it has always been clear, that she is very dependant on Carlos R. In a sense, it does feel a bit as if she’s cheating, I just don’t think that’s true of Nadal so far as coaching is concerned, because it’s not necessary to him. Why not just allow it – if a rule is unenforceable in a consistent way, then perhaps we shouldn’t have it. I mean, it’s not as if it is important, on the whole anyway, and leaving aside the curious case of Henin.

jane: Murray’s looking good, isn’t he. As somebody else pointed out, England’s defeat in the world cup doesn’t help him, though, as the pressure on him to compensate will be horrendous. First he’s got to get past Tsonga. Wldn’t like to call that one.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:11 pm

Andy Roddick is a poor sport and very spoiled. Always has been. He could have shown a little more class during the interview but I’m glad he showed the world his “real” ugly side.

It’s easy to be witty and funny when you’re winning but the real measure of class is how you handle defeat. Andy Roddick is complainer, whiner, and cry baby. Gives Americans a bad name.

I’m glad his sour puss attitude is gone.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:14 pm

Jane, Eric did a better job getting the website for the interview. I don’t know if you would really like to watch the replay of the Roddick-Lu match. It was sad. If you saw Roddick in that interview, it was even more heartbreaking. He looked broken. I never wished to see that on any man’s face regardless of whether I am a fan or not.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:15 pm

…and then there are people like Cindy_Brady.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:16 pm

The interview was indeed not up yet earlier when Jane said it wasn’t online yet. :)

Roddick was definitely crushed by his loss. Seems like he thought this was his year to win Wimby.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:17 pm

Wow, I leave for a few minutes and Lu wins. I didn’t think he would pull it out. Lu is also playing dubs with Tipsy so he has that to deal with too. If Nole wins against Lu I will be thrilled point-wise. He must must must sort out his asthma somehow.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:17 pm

hahahah what did i say the other day!!! novak will roll over the feisty terrier and so did he!!!!!!!!!

June 28th, 2010 at 4:17 pm

Polo,

You can’t be serious? He’s a millionaire play boy who had to marry a blond model. He couldn’t marry the girl next door. He has to have expensive arm candy around him. It makes him feel more important.

At least Federer married an ugly girl to show he isn’t pretentious.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:19 pm

Capriati in hospital for drug overdose.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:20 pm

Huh

I really feel bad for Andy R. today. Didn’t see the match but I was shocked upon seeing the results when I googled it. :-(

June 28th, 2010 at 4:20 pm

Yep the interview sounded sad Polo/Eric (thanks for posting the link), and of course it does. But Roddick was straightforward as always and talked about the match resting a lot on him having a bad returning day.

grendel, I hadn’t thought about that displaced pressure thing you mentioned re: World Cup, but was sad when England lost yesterday. I hope Andy M can rise above it and/or shut it out as much as possible and make through. But yeah, Tsonga is always scary and he’s been a little under the radar here.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:22 pm

ben,

i say djoko is technically superior to fed on hardcourt[when the serve is working] because he has better defense a better backhand, better passes, and a MUCH better return as the stats show. the forehands are both dangerous, fed’s a little more so. but in the other departments djoko is better. fed cannot return well on the backhand side and cannot be offensive with the backhand on the stretch.

volleys are negligible because fed wins most points from baseline and only really comes to net to knock off standard volleys.djoko is competent with his transition game. i doubt there is much difference at the net.

fed has a better serve and mental, those are the main differences right now.
djoko can potentially match him on serve given his height, mentally probably not.

nadal is superior to federer from the ground no doubt. even in the wimbledon 07 loss, he was winning 60% of the ground exchanges.
the difference is the serve where federer has a massive advantage.

but serve is the most important shot, afterall.

djoko played nadal close at RG twice [closer than everyone else pretty much] and played two brutal matches with him last year at rome and montecarlo where he pushed rafa hard. of course he can’t match nadal on clay, but in form he plays him closer than anyone. the year nadal destroyed everyone at RG, bagelling fed, djoko was the only player that actually held his own.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:23 pm

guy, I’m half eyed Novak’s fan as far as some kings and other trolls are concerned. But maybe they are right ha ha ha! I like it that way, anyway. In Novak I trust!

June 28th, 2010 at 4:23 pm

In his interview, Roddick also mentions how well Lu is serving now compared to when they last played, so it’s always a combination of things and he is fair to point out that credit goes to Lu for playing so well.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:25 pm

funny, roddick having a ‘bad returning day’, more like a bad returning career…

June 28th, 2010 at 4:27 pm

Cindy_Brady – I don’t think Mirka is an “ugly girl” and I’m sure others agree with me.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:27 pm

@Von

Hey there. Re: CB remark. Exactly. That is why I called her out on it. Not acceptable.

@others

Yes coaching can be silly and not so silly. Right now, it’s a rule. Call the ATP if you want it changed. I have my own IMO on coaching but could write a novel. I know u all don’t want that. Yes, Henin IMO gets coached, as others, not just Rafa. The “coaching” rule needs to be more defined, and enforced with constency for the whole tour.

Also, I am on my phone but I did some research and I thought in the WTA they do or did?…. allow on court coaching,,, help? Look it up:)

Great Monday of Tennis, sorry Roddick fans :(

June 28th, 2010 at 4:28 pm

mirka isn’t exactly ugly, but she let herself go after the tennis career was over…

June 28th, 2010 at 4:29 pm

Polo @ 4:16 post

Lol :)

June 28th, 2010 at 4:30 pm

Rafa has his four consecutive RGs, the first man ever to hold grandslam titles on all surfaces at the same time.????

When did Rafa win US open?

June 28th, 2010 at 4:33 pm

Fot: Mirka, I’m sure, is far better looking than the one who has called her “ugly”.

And, I’m positivge that Andy Roddick has more class than the one who mentioned he doesn’t. Class, is definded by not kicking someone when they are down or turning the screws tighter.

I’m sure that CB would love to be the candy who has Roddick’s arm around her. Too bad it ain’t so.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:34 pm

skeezer: The WTA allows on-court coaching at the smaller tourneys, but not at the GS level. There are requirements to be met however, such as the coach has to be micked and the volume turned up for all to hear what’s being said.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:36 pm

Sorry got a little confused. THought you were talking about RN. My bad.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:37 pm

von: so sorry about Andy R, he must be gutted. I really thought he had a shot this year.
Our Beeb commentators were remarking on Henin’s coaching during the match. Sorry grendel, but you can’t have exceptions, either apply the rule to all, or don’t have it.
andrea: Murray fans are taking one match at a time but, if he should get to the final, I’d probably hope its not Fed there waiting for him.
Apparently Djko tore off his shirt and threw it into the crowd, which, according to johnny mac, was a good thing because he always used to do that when he was feeling good about himself.
Plenty of good women’s matches on tomorrow guys….

June 28th, 2010 at 4:37 pm

Wheeew! At least Nadal got through in 3 sets today. He better be prepared for Sod in the next round.

About the coaching thing: Im mad at Uncle Toni. He should have kept silent and mouthed “Vamos Rafa!” to himself. lol Nadal should let him pay for the fine even if it’s just $2000. Juz kiddin’. hehe They better have proof that Toni did coach Nadal.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:40 pm

Guy, I don’t know if I’d say Djokovic passes better than Federer. Federer doesn’t exactly struggle there.

I agree, the backhand isn’t so much better as it is solid. It’s more consistent, generally more lethal, and a lot less likely to break down for Djokovic than for Fed.

The forehand goes to Federer, obviously. But take time away from Federer and he struggles more than Djokovic would. Again, he’s more consistent but not as explosive.

Djokovic used to hit second serves at 118mph, I don’t know what happened. But Djokovic has a lot of untapped potential there whereas Federer has hit 50 aces in a match before, so edge Federer.

If we’re talking about right now, then Djokovic is the better defender. But Federer played a huge part in everyone learning how to transition better because he played amazing defense and turned it into even more amazing offense. That’s something, imo, Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer do better than anyone else which is why they’ve been 1-2-3 for so long.

On Fed’s day, no one is superior off the ground because he can hit winners from anywhere, but both Nadal and Djokovic tend to be more consistent. They don’t play as many low percentage shots, either.

Mentally, no point in even discussing this about Djokovic. Before he was a slam champion, he was playing like a multi slam champion. After, he plays like a chump. Unbelievable shift in mentality.

It’s funny because I thought that Djokovic would be the one to really challenge Nadal on clay this year but it wasn’t meant to be. Djokovic has the game to trouble anyone, anywhere, on any surface. But he still has a lot of work to do.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:40 pm

Fot Says: “Cindy_Brady – I don’t think Mirka is an “ugly girl” and I’m sure others agree with me.”

Fot, do you not know yet that Cindy-Brady always sees things differently?

June 28th, 2010 at 4:43 pm

Margot: Thanks for the commiserations. I’m disappointed but I sorta expected it would happen. He had too many tough matches and I have a feeling that he was beginning to feel it in his legs due to his lack of match play coming into Wimbles. Today, he was exceptionally flat-footed and his FH was misfiring.

Here’s hoping the best for your Andy M!!

June 28th, 2010 at 4:45 pm

Von,

Sorry about how it went today. I am disappointed too. I was not at all confident that Fed would win so I wanted Roddick to win Wimbledon, beating Fed in the Semis. That’s not happening this year. At work I went into a meeting room and watched bits and pieces of the 5th set…maybe having the double Decker bus on court is not such a good idea. Roddick is getting too distracted…and who wouldn’t be ;-)

But I sincerely hope Roddick can pull off an Ivanicesic and win Wimbledon before he is done.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:45 pm

Von, you too! If Cindy_Brady thinks that Mirka is ugly, that is a compliment to Mirka considering that she sees things differently.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:49 pm

Thanks Von :)

June 28th, 2010 at 4:51 pm

blank: Thanks for your kind sentiments. I’m disappointed, but it’s not the end of his career. He’s got some good years left, so who knows, maybe he can pull of an Ivaniscevic at Wimbledon. If, and when he does that, I’ll be cheering with gusto and will remember to take you along for the ride.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:51 pm

Polo: I don’t get it by “Von, you too!” Please explain for me.

I think CB is one who likes the attention albeit negative.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:53 pm

Dan Martin: hope all went well today. x

June 28th, 2010 at 4:58 pm

Aleish

Please don’t take my curiosity as a thing on Rafa. I have had a thing about the overall coaching and enforcement since way back..

I have seen signals, words, etc with other players from there coaches and I think it is unfair. It’s called Singles, not you and your coach while ur on the court.

That said, what are the standard set of guidelines that are specific about this and why is there no consistency in it by the officials?

In this I am in defense of Rafa, cause why start now? It’s a joke.

June 28th, 2010 at 5:00 pm

At least Federer married an ugly girl to show he isn’t pretentious.

June 28th, 2010 at 4:19 pm

Cindy, you certainly must have something in your eyes. I saw Mirka Federer at Wimbledon on Wednesdy, spoke to her. She is absolutely gorgeous. And by the way, she is a lot slimmer than she looks on TV. She has a beautiful face, lovely smile, shiny hair and a lovely accented voice. She is a stunner. Probably your opposite?

June 28th, 2010 at 5:17 pm

Skeeze

I also thought about it and the previous matches that I was able to witness over the years. It’s not only Rafa and Tony who does this “coaching” thing as they call it. I really wonder how much coaching can be done when a coach is a few meters away from the player. Im not defending Rafa on this one but if they really have proof that there was an incident of coaching during the Petzschner-Nadal match, then I guess the sanction is just fair. But the rules should be set and there should be a fine line between what is and what’s not allowed during a match. Otherwise, this will continue on and on.

June 28th, 2010 at 5:23 pm

If the officials contextualize every rules that must be set on court, they can avoid cases like that of Nadal’s. For example, they can say that coaches are not allowed to give even a single word towards their player, especially giving tips about the ongoing match or even a word of encouragement. No matter how stupid it may sound, we really don’t know if Toni only gave Nadal words of encouragement and just cheered for him. But if they consider it as a form of coaching then I think they should clearly stipulate the rules and strictly enforce it.

June 28th, 2010 at 5:32 pm

Does anyone know if Uncle Toni was in the players box for his losses in Doha, AO, IW and Miami?

It would be kinda funny if his only 4 losses came when Uncle Toni wasn’t at the match.

June 28th, 2010 at 5:39 pm

I don’t think he was at the US Masters and I don’t know about Doha, but I can’t imagine he wasn’t there for the AO.

June 28th, 2010 at 5:49 pm

It’s funny, after some thought, what would stop a coach within the current rules to give advice to a player during a match? Even if you pull a coach from the court? He could give a written script prior to a match to a fan/friend and yell out things or gestures which means certain things depending on how the match goes?

How do we know that yelling support well timed in a match from a coach is not coaching?

It’s all so whatever…..

All in all, it needs to be more defined and enforced in its current form, or not at all.

IMHO this may sound radical but Coaches should not be hearing or seeing distance at the match. Although where there is a will, there is a way, at least it would be minimized. Have them sit in suite or booth.

Coach them before and after the match, otherwise why not just let them run amok like in Davis Cup?

Once the players on are the court. Let them play. Leave them alone and let them figure it out on there own. Like I mentioned before it’s called “singles”, not singles and a half. If they need more help than themselves then they don’t belong on the court. These guys are grown men, not Juniors.

Yes? No?

June 28th, 2010 at 5:52 pm

Apologies for talkin off topic here, I will chill :)

June 28th, 2010 at 5:53 pm

“fed cannot return well on the backhand side” -guy. Well, as so often with Fed, generalisations can look first apt and then suddenly plain wrong. Often enough Fed delivers these passive returns which just beg to be put away and certainly do not hurt the opponent, and then all of a sudden you have a day like today where Fed’s bh return was wonderful, and extraordinarily varied. On the other hand, I don’t think his serve is what it was.

Margot: I probably explained myself badly. What I meant was, this coaching stuff seems to me to be a load of baloney – but in the singular case of Henin, it clearly matters. In general, though, I’d say it was a silly rule, so why not get rid of it. And concentrate on the things that matter – like time wasting.

Cindy_Brady

A few days ago, the camera was focusing on Mirka, and I was struck by how beautiful she looked, and thought I’d post my reaction- I’ve never said anything of this sort before on a post, but I was kind of I wouldn’t say overwhelmed, but, you know. And then I found Polo had beaten me to it. The very curious thing about Mirka is that she can sometimes look, how can one say, homely, a bit like an Austrian peasant. She can seem very womanly in a mature sort of way, which carries its own type of excitement – and, in short, she can be quite a surprise. A dolly, she is not.

June 28th, 2010 at 5:54 pm

Polo/Von – I get you about Mirka! lol! I know she said after tennis she was devoting so much of herself to Roger that she did let herself go. But it seems like motherhood agrees with her because since she’s had the twins, it seems like she’s lost some weight and she really looks pretty good when the camera’s pan in on her. Reading some post, if you didn’t know how she looks, you’d think she was the bride of frankenstein or something! She’s not a small model-type beauty, but she’s not bad at all!

Hey, after being together for 10 years, I don’t know why some folks (from what I’ve read on other forums) still try to write things like “Roger could do better” etc. That’s just dumb and stupid!

June 28th, 2010 at 6:03 pm

I don’t think Uncle Toni was at IW because I remember the commentators talking a lot about Rafa’s friendship with Gary Player and they kept putting the camera on Rafa’s box. Uncle Toni wasn’t in the box.

Not sure about Australia, but I just looked at a Youtube video of Rafa practicing serves and I didn’t see Uncle Toni anywhere. Usually I see him watching behind or to the side of Rafa when he practices.

June 28th, 2010 at 6:04 pm

I like your style Cindy.

Just wondering, are you single by any chance?

June 28th, 2010 at 6:07 pm

WTF,

I already suggested that ‘guy’ and ‘Cindy_Brady’ would make a great couple

June 28th, 2010 at 6:09 pm

Uncle Toni was in the player’s box at the AO this year. I just saw him on a youtube video.

June 28th, 2010 at 6:13 pm

uncle toni was in australia. i remember during rafa vs murray match..when rafa was struggling to move in the third set, he looked at uncle toni (even the commentator commented about it) and was kind of shaking his head like telling him “i can’t”. uncle toni signal something back and the rafa decided to retire after that.

June 28th, 2010 at 6:17 pm

NELTA – I post before reading your post.

June 28th, 2010 at 6:19 pm

That’s ok Kimmi. Thanks for the additional info on that.

June 28th, 2010 at 6:30 pm

I’m a young guy and I’m not currently in the market for anything long term, but I thoroughly admire and respect what Federer and Mirka have. They’ve been together since they were about my age, actually, and they’re still arguably stronger than they’ve ever been. Married, two kids, loads of money, and a clear commitment to each other that’s never been questioned. It’s actually incredible, a Hollywood story, if you will. So all this talk about Mirka being ugly is just plain shallow. Who cares if she doesn’t look like Brooklyn Decker, she doesn’t have to. Considering she landed the GOAT of tennis, I doubt she’ll ever feel bad about herself. I applaud the Federers and wish them the best of the best in their future because they thoroughly deserve it.

June 28th, 2010 at 6:35 pm

Ben,

Too bad I know some ladies here who have the hots for you. Maybe it’s time for you to branch out and get in the market…short term of course…lol

June 28th, 2010 at 7:00 pm

Apologies if someone has noted this already but out of all the slams so far this year, the W is already the most exciting!

June 28th, 2010 at 7:02 pm

Kimmi, does it look like it this time?

June 28th, 2010 at 7:04 pm

duro – does what look like what? i don’t understand what you mean..

June 28th, 2010 at 7:07 pm

Hey Ben, well said. Mirka might not be a supermodel, but it’s not like Federer picked her out of a catalogue (excuse me, SI swimsuit issue) like Roddick…

by the way, how old are you etc? I just graduated college.

June 28th, 2010 at 7:13 pm

Serena Williams interview today was interesting, and she made some quite sharp points:

“Q. Federer was against electronic officiating in tennis. Are you for it or what are your thoughts about Hawk‑Eye in tennis?

SERENA WILLIAMS: In tennis, I think it’s good for the fans, so I like it. I don’t really use it too much. But he uses it a lot to be against it. I think he uses it all the time.

But, uhm, I think it’s good ’cause it kind of gets the fans involved, too. So I think it’s really cool.

Q. Why don’t you use it a lot?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I’m really sure about myself. I know if I hit a ball in, then I’m like, That was in. Or if I know it’s out, then I don’t even bother.

Valid point. Actually, Serena puts it very pithily (“he uses it a lot to be against it”) and you can’t help smiling.

For one who has been dismissive about Sharapova in the past, she is quite generous towards her:”Q. You said the other day it was always intense when you guys play. Did it feel that way today?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it’s definitely tense. I mean, she’s so good and mentally focused and she’s so in it for every point. Even on match point, she’s really trying 200%. It’s every moment.

Q. How would you grade your performance today?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think I served well. It was just hard to get a rhythm out there. She served really well. It was different.”
But there are limits. For some reason, the interviewer kept harping on about how Serena viewed Sharapova’s performance:

SERENA WILLIAMS: “Uhm, yeah. I mean, you know, like I said, I’ve already answered that question.”

She’s taking her next opponent, Li Na, very seriously, and rightly so, I suspect. A very dangerous player at the moment.

June 28th, 2010 at 7:15 pm

I just have to step in to defend Fed. I think his position against Hawkeye is wrong, but there’s nothing inconsistent in opposing Hawkeye while still using it. There’s no point in taking some idiotic principled stand by saying “well, I don’t think we should have Hawkeye, so I’m not going to use it” when that means that your opponent gets wrong calls reviewed and you don’t. Stupid stupid stupid to criticize him for that.

June 28th, 2010 at 7:19 pm

Ben, great post about Roger and Mirka. I agree with you 100%.

Eric, good post on Roger using Hawk-eye. Plus, he’s on center courts (where Hawk-eye is used at just about every tournament) just about more than anyone else. It wouldn’t make sense not to use it just because you don’t like it, when it’s available.

As a fan’s standpoint, I like it. I’d rather see it used more instead of just the 3 times since it’s not like the NFL where the ref has to go behind the curtains in the little box. A tennis replay takes – what – 5 seconds at most. So I’d like to see them have more than just 3 challenges (even if they are wrong). But that’s just my personal opinion.

June 28th, 2010 at 7:36 pm

Mirka is actually much better looking than brooklyn decker. It depends if you like a woman w/ a good figure or the concentration camp look so prevalent in hollywood right now. there is nothing so sexy as rib bones sticking out and a bony ass.

June 28th, 2010 at 9:10 pm

First, on Hewitt.
Career win-loss on grasscourt:
– Lleyton Hewitt: 101-24, 7 titles
– Pete Sampras: 101-20, 10 titles
– Roger Federer: 96-13, 11 titles
(if he wins this Sunday: 99-13, 12 titles)

Let’s not forget that not only was Lleyton Hewitt the youngest No. 1 in ATP history, he achieved it by competing against the aging Sampras/Agassi/Kuerten generation of players… much the same way suporters of Sampras like to emphasize that Sampras became No.1 competing against the (aging) Becker, (aging) Edberg and (fizzling) Courier generation of players.

*****

Second, on Mirka Federer. She is better looking in person — decently sweet and cute — than on tv, not ugly in any way (in my defence, I’ve worked in ailrine and hotel jobs with many beautiful women). I sat behind Mirka at a Masters tourney in 2006. She was texting throughout Fed’s match.

*****

Third, the comment “if the 08 FO final routing by Nadal wasn’t enough to garner respect from Fed fans, then I don’t know what will” should not impress any impartial analyst of Federer, though it would excite anti-Fed fans.

Why? In Nov 2007, a healthy Federer routed Nadal 6-4, 6-1 in 59 minutes, winning 61% of the points. This was the stat despite Fed donating one game to Nadal in the second set as a gesture to his friend so they could play soccer afterwards. Federer ended 2007 with a winning 3-2 record against Nadal, with a win on all surfaces.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR7do5BFgzA

At French Open 2008, had Federer not been hit by mononucleosis, the match against Nadal would likely have been more competitive. Nadal still took 108 minutes to defeat Federer. Had Nadal been as good at Federer was in Shanghai, he would have beaten Federer in 88 minutes over 3 sets, since Fed took just 59 minutes over 2 sets. The incompetent Nadal needed an extra 20 minutes :)

In his book, Jon Wertheim gave the most logical explanation for the lopsided scoreline: Federer tanked the match once it became apparent he was not fit enough to win it. It makes sense because Federer had defended his French Open points by reaching the final, regardless of the scoreline. By the end of the second set, Fed shut it down and his focus was on the grass events.

We know that Federer’s drop in performance throughout 2008 was due to a bout of mononucleosis he suffered in December 2007/January 2008. Federer should have rested, instead of playing from Dubai to the French Open.
http://tinyurl.com/nermtn

June 28th, 2010 at 9:24 pm

Mirka reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry was dating the “two faced” girl. She looks good half the time and the other half homely. Depends on the lighting.

I’m giving Roger Kudos for not marrying a skinny model type Barbie doll. Obviously Roddick is insecure and needs those plastic bimbos in his life like when he dated Mandy Moore. Roger went for something more meaty with substance.

Roger is far greater than Roddick on and off the tennis court. Sorry Von dearest but the truth is the truth.

June 29th, 2010 at 2:09 am

” Roger is far greater than Roddick on and off the tennis court. Sorry Von dearest but the truth is the truth. ”

I dont know about that, but I am sure whoever Von is, better than you.

I know a loser friend of mine, who $ex chats with you and he told me what a old hag like you did on the web-cam for the 10$ gift he sent you.

I am sorry for posting such personal stuff, but some people think they can get away with celebrity abuse because they are masked and can say anything and get away.

for anyone who wants more details on the real Cindy Brady, please post your email id and you will see what this B!t(h really is.

and this is the funny/stupid part. this b!t(h will do anything if you just pretend you hate roddick. i have proof. :)

June 29th, 2010 at 2:37 am

Wimbledon Champ,

What an ignorant classless clown you are. Not only was your post not funny it was a pathetic fail. Most certainly it mirrors your personality in real life. Of that, I’m sure.

Moving right along.

June 29th, 2010 at 2:50 am

I rest my case.

June 29th, 2010 at 3:40 am

Ben ,

nice post about Mirka and Federer. being a Nadal fan, there are two things ( other than Fed’s tennis that I respect), that I like about Fed. his hair and Mirka.

I too think they have something very special. being friends since the pre-TMF time. Love is not just about looks. It is about being there for each other. I like it that Federer is so loyal to her and they are so happy together. As for the looks, maybe Mirka is not a supermodel, but she is very pretty.

*****

I am always skeptical about guys who choose their spouse just based on their looks, but it worked for Sampras and so far has worked for Roddick. I think he has been working harder and has been a better player since he has married Brooklyn.

June 29th, 2010 at 4:09 am

Wow!

wimbledon Champ,

Strange posts!

June 29th, 2010 at 4:10 am

I love when people put Cindy ##### in her place! :D

June 29th, 2010 at 4:32 am

If Roddick losing yesterday’s match wasn’t enough heartbreaking enough, the inapt comparison between Brooklyn and Mirka made my day even more miserable. Too bad, just too bad.

I just can’t understand why people unnecessarily drag poor Brooklyn into conversation when someone takes cheap shots at Mirka! Is it really necessary to take a dig at Brook whenever something unfortunate, untrue or moronic is said about Mirka(about her beauty in this case)?

June 29th, 2010 at 4:41 am

For God’s sake , if you want to defend Mirka when some lunatic calls her ugly, that’s fine; but why bring up the swimsuit issue here, with typical reference to Rod and Brook and their marriage?! Sheesh!

June 29th, 2010 at 4:43 am

Please spare the innocent Roddick-Brooklyn couple!
Brooklyn is innocent and respectful in every possible way, so please don’t post things from which it appears as if you think of her as a woman of low character! So what even if she is a model?! She’s a very nice girl, beautiful, softspoken and very well-behaved!

June 29th, 2010 at 4:48 am

FOR YOU MRS.VON:

I can’t tell you about my disappointment right now, but I now you may be even far m ore disappointed than me! Believe me, the first person whom I though of after Rod’s defeat was you. But I was too upset to post anything about you, and was also uncontrollably angry to see the insult of Roddick and the Asians(here by racist remarks by the #####). So I thought I better stop posting for a while! Yesterday for me, is one of the forgettable days of my life. Hoping for our Rod to do better at USO than last year and someday, win a WIM title. Take care and please keep posting here. Miss you most.

June 29th, 2010 at 4:54 am

Everybody starting from Skeeze to Aleish and Polo to everybody else, for your kind sentiments towards Rod and nice words for me.

June 29th, 2010 at 4:58 am

Everybody starting from Skeeze to Aleish and Polo to everybody else, THANK U VERY MUCH for your kind sentiments towards Rod and nice words for me.

June 29th, 2010 at 4:59 am

Mrs.Von:

Polo was just telling you by the expression “you too” to not take anything that the foolish moronic ##### says seriously, he was just being sarcastic of ##### and agreeing with your remarks about Mirka and even probably giving an impression that he wants you to know that what the “#####” is exactly opposite of truth. In this case that fellow called Mirka ugly which means it’s clear that she’s not ugly, that’s what Polo meant IMO. All of us (me and Polo included) agree with you when you say that Mirka’s far more beautiful than the ##### could ever dream of becoming!

June 29th, 2010 at 5:05 am

HEY WIM CHAMP!!! :D

May I have your autograph please?! :D
Perfect chastisement to the “nasty and ugly one”! :D

God, I loved every bit of it, that you said to the “ugly one” here! And believe me, I am still laughing my @$$ off, hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You made my day WIM CHAMP, THANKS FOR IT!!! ;) :D

June 29th, 2010 at 6:12 am

“It is not so much fun, when someone brings out your personal life in public, no? You asked for it with your retarded posts on roddick’s personal life.”

THE BEST THING SAID IN A WHILE, KUDOS TO YOU AGAIN WIM CHAMP!

June 29th, 2010 at 6:13 am

WIM CHAMP:

MILLION THANKS FOR DEFENDING RODDICK FROM PERSONAL ATTACKS, I FEEL SO GOOD! I’D FOREVER BE GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR THIS KINDNESS. THANKS TO YOU AND MORE THANKS! :P

June 29th, 2010 at 6:16 am

Huh = Wimbledon Champion (same poster).

Very immature and inarticulate posting. What a little weirdo talking to himself. 11 consecutive posts = emotionally disturbed but more to the point, creepy.

June 29th, 2010 at 9:24 am

Good morning, Von. I am glad I dropped by and saw your post about my “Von, you too!” post before I go back to watching paint dry on my kitchen wall. Huh was absoulutely right with what he said about it. If you noticed, a couple of posts before it, I admonished Fot for arguing with Cindy_Brady about Mirka and how C_B sees everything differently from the majority. Hence, my “you, too” comment to your retort to C_B.

June 29th, 2010 at 9:37 am

Glad to see “CB” squealing at two different people assuming them to be same, namely, I and WIM CHAMP. :D
Hey, it’s fun time at tennis-x, haha! ;)

June 29th, 2010 at 9:47 am

Kimmimmissimo forgetissimo! Does it look like our finals finally!?

June 29th, 2010 at 12:03 pm

Cindy_Brady

“A few days ago, the camera was focusing on Mirka, and I was struck by how beautiful she looked, and thought I’d post my reaction- I’ve never said anything of this sort before on a post, but I was kind of I wouldn’t say overwhelmed, but, you know. And then I found Polo had beaten me to it. The very curious thing about Mirka is that she can sometimes look, how can one say, homely, a bit like an Austrian peasant
” – Grendel.

Grendel.

An Austrian peasant she is NOT. Trust me, she is beautiful. The woman is always smiling. She is super sweet. You need to see her in the flesh to appreciate how gorgeous she is. I think people just look at the weight issue, but she has lost weight and in any case, Federer loves her, so who cares what anyone else thinks?!

Cindy, I actually dont know whether to take yo u seriously. Sometimes- no – half the time- I think you are trying to be funny – but it comes across as quite nasty. I’m sure you don’t mean it though.

Am so looking forward to tomorrow’s match – I wonder what game plan federer is going to use against Berdych. When I think of earlier this year, when Federer had match point against him, was it at Miami? or Rome? Am sure he will have analysed those matches already and am certain a masters loss will not compare with a wimbledon slam QF!

Come on Federer!

June 29th, 2010 at 1:32 pm

madmax

what’s wrong with Austrian peasants? beauty has many faces…..

June 29th, 2010 at 2:59 pm

“grendel Says:
madmax

what’s wrong with Austrian peasants? beauty has many faces…..’

CANNOT AGREE MORE!!!

June 29th, 2010 at 4:03 pm

HI MAXI! :)

Actually I don’t think there’s at all anything bad in comparing the beauty of Mirka, or for that matter, any other woman to the Austrian lady peasants. I’m sure that Austria is a great and beautiful country and its peasant women are also very beautiful, sweet, humble and very graceful. And I’m sure that there are many young girls or ladies in the community of the Austrian peasants, who are far more beautiful arguably than even the Austrian queens or princesses! And Mirka doesn’t have the “royal blood” in her veins either. So honestly speaking, I feel it’s ok to make a comparison of Mirka to Austrian peasant women, nothing offensive or bad about it IMO. And it is worth mentioning that beauty’s by no means confined to or the monopoly of any particular country, race or class!

Enjoy and take care! :)

June 29th, 2010 at 4:29 pm

I believe Federer is going to come out of the gates firing tomorrow. Take the offensive. Less backhand chips and flatten them out. Drive the back hand more. Take the net position at every opportunity and serve& volley often. He needs to control the points and win the match, not wait for Berdych to lose it.

June 29th, 2010 at 5:45 pm