Serena Weeps in Victory, Isner-Mahut II a Bust Tuesday at Wimbledon

by Staff | June 21st, 2011, 11:20 pm
  • 94 Comments

Serena Williams let loose with a river of tears following her first-round win at Wimbledon, but it wasn’t over her sister Venus’ cotton baby-jumper outfit.
ADHEREL
The younger Williams sister defeated Aravane Rezai 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, and the tears started flowing over her last 12 months of surgeries, medical emergencies and health scares.

“I usually don’t cry, so I don’t understand it, but it’s just been so hard,” said Williams, who cried into her towel after the match and was misty-eyed throughout her post-match interviews. “I never dreamt I would be here right now.”

The result and ensuing tears were a culmination of emotions after not knowing if she would return to tennis following two operations to repair a torn tendon in her right foot, then additional multiple hospitalizations to recover from blood clots in both lungs and a hematoma, which then required more surgery.


“It’s been a disaster year, but you know I’ve been praying and I have my family and I love tennis, and to be able to come back at Wimbledon is pretty awesome,” Williams said. “I didn’t expect to play. I’m just excited. I never cried with joy for anything.”

Former Wimbledon champ and No. 7 seed Maria Sharapova was also a winner Tuesday. She beat fellow Russian and former Top 5er Anna Chakvetadze, whose ground game is formidable on the grass, but whose puff-ball second serve Sharapova pounded like a locked glass double door prior to the opening of a sale day at Bloomingdales, 6-2, 6-1.

“I played against an opponent that’s been in the Top 10 before,” Sharapova said. “Hasn’t had the best results this year. But you don’t quite know what to expect. I’m sure, you know, she’d come out in the match and have nothing to lose. I thought she played a really good match, and I really had to step it up.”

Virtually the entire Top 10 of the WTA tour were in action Tuesday due to the Monday rains, with No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 3 Li Na, No. 4 Victoria Azarenka, No. 8 Petra Kvitova, and No. 9 Marion Bartoli all straight-set winners joining Serena and Maria.

“I thought it was very difficult,” Wozniacki said. “First, it was my first match on grass, a real match. But then, you know, the wind blowing everywhere, I felt like I was throwing the ball up quite a few times for the serve. But I thought actually I served pretty well. But anyways, the conditions were pretty tough. There was one point where I hit the ball and it almost didn’t come over and then I hit the next one and it just flew.”

The highest-seeded upset victim Tuesday was No. 10 Sam Stosur, upended 6-3, 6-4 by Hungarian Melinda “The Fifth Element” Czink.

Spanish all-courter Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez was also an upset winner over No. 15 seed and former No. 1-ranked Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Among other results of note, American Melanie Oudin was brutalized 6-0, 6-1 by No. 18 seed and former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic; No. 25 Daniela Hantuchova bounced back from injury with a win over Russian qualifier Vitalia Diatchenko after dropping the first set; No. 31 Lucie Safarova won the all-Czech all-Lucie battle against Lucie Hradecka after dropping the first; and India’s Sania Mirza crashed out against Virginie Razzano in three.

Matches to look for Wednesday are tough out Kimiko Date-Krumm vs. (23) Venus Williams, an all-Russian in Elena Vesnina vs. (2) Vera Zvonareva, Anabel “Funky Cold” Medina Garrigues vs. (16) Julia “Gorgeous” Goerges, and another all-Russian in (14) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Nadia Petrova.
  
On the men’s side Tuesday the hubbub centered around John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut II, a rematch of last year’s 11-hour, three-day contest that set the record for the longest pro match.

The match fittingly began with a first-set tiebreak, with both players picking up where they left off last year. Isner ran away with the opening-set tiebreak, then the match 7-6(4), 6-2, 7-6(6).

“I’m just really thrilled to have won that third set, because if I lose that third set, then chances are we don’t finish,” Isner said. “You know, our match goes to another second day. So obviously you want to be through to the next round. So tomorrow I don’t have anything to do. Just gonna practice and get ready. It’s a nice feeling I don’t have to sleep on finishing this match.”

Another American came through on Tuesday when Andy Roddick, who has yet to claim the Wimbledon crown after being turned back three times in the final by Roger Federer, patiently outlasted the forehand-centric German Andreas Beck 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-3.

“He certainly had an obvious game plan and executed it for most of the day,” Roddick said of Beck. “He wasn’t going to rally much. He was just going to take his shots and go really aggressive and it worked most of the day. Normally when you have that mindset, you can count on someone making errors in bunches. Luckily he made two when he was up in that breaker.”

Other Top 10 winners in their opening-round matches were No. 2 Novak Djokovic beating Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in straights, No. 3 Roger Federer defeating Mikhail Kukushkin in straights, No. 5 Robin Soderling downing German Philipp Petzschner in four, and No. 7 David Ferrer straight-setting France’s Benoit Paire.

“Rafa and Roger are two biggest favorites to win this tournament because of the fact that they’ve been so dominant the last couple years, especially on the grasscourts,” Djokovic said. “They are the only two players who have been winning this tournament for quite some time. Obviously, there is Andy Murray, who is home favorite. He’s playing really well on grasscourts, Wimbledon, last couple years. It’s true there is a different approach to this year’s Wimbledon from my side because I’m playing, I think, best tennis of my life in the last six months.”

Avoiding upsets were No. 18 Mikhail Youzhny edging Juan Monaco 6-4 in the fifth, No. 21 Fernando “Hot Sauce” Verdasco saving a match point to ground Radek “The Worm” Stepanek 9-7 in the fifth, and No. 32 Marcos Baghdatis outlasting James Blake 6-4 in the fifth.

The four seeds that did fall by the wayside Monday were No. 22 Alexandr Dolgopolov beaten in four by Chilean Fernando “Gonzo” Gonzalez, No. 23 Janko Tipsarevic retiring with a groin injury against “Dr.” Ivo Karlovic, Croat Ivan Ljubicic booting fellow Croat and No. 27 seed Marin Cilic in four, and Aussie Bernard Tomic straight-setting No. 29 Nikolay Davydenko.

Unseeded winners of note out of the first round were Xavier “X-Man” Malisse, Brazilian Ricardo Mello “Yello” beating Canadian Frank Dancevic in five, Andreas “Don’t Be a” Haider-Maurer, “Next” American Ryan Harrison, and former All England Club champ Lleyton Hewitt beating Kei Nishikori in four.

Matches to look for Wednesday are (1) Rafael Nadal vs. Ryan Sweeting, Victor Hanescu vs. (8) Andy Roddick, Julien “The United Colors of” Benneteau vs. (6) Tomas Berdych, (24) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Olivier “The Roach” Rochus, Gilles Muller vs. (31) Milos Raonic, Rainer Schuettler vs. Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez, Dudi “Where’s My Car?” Sela vs. (15) Gilles Simon, and Ernests Gulbis vs. Dmitry Tursunov (to finish).
 
 
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Serena Williams
is a perfect 44-0 in Grand Slam first round matches. Like Rafael Nadal, who also has never lost in the first round of a Slam, Serena is on a 15-match winning streak at Wimbledon…Why does Andy Murray always seem to play late in the day on Center Court? Because he’s Andy Murray, that’s why…The Williams family is now 2-2 against Aravane RezaiJohn Isner’s rematch win over Nicolas Mahut was nine hour shorter than the epic they played last year…Sam Stosur is on a three-match losing streak at Wimbledon…Anne Keothavong is 0-15 career against Top 20 players…Li Na has won 14 of 15 Grand Slam matches this year….Did you know all of John Isner’s career wins at Wimbledon are over Nicolas Mahut?…Rafael Nadal has lost eight games in five sets against Ryan Sweeting this year…Two players who went five sets Tuesday play again on Wednesday. Good luck to Olivier Rochus and Fernando VerdascoSerena Williams has now won 200 career Grand Slam matches…Elena Vesnina is 1-12 career against Top 5 players. Wednesday she plays Vera ZvonarevaKimiko Date-Krumm first played Wimbledon in 1989…Austrian 31-year-old mom Sybille Bammer announced her retirement after losing in the first round at Wimbledon. She won two career singles titles and was a quarterfinalist at the US Open in 2008, in 2007 reaching a career-high No. 19…ESPN’s Chris Evert, cut down on the “I’s” and “me’s” and “my’s,” it’s less about you, more about “The Championships.” And how about Evert and Pam Shriver alone in the booth doing women’s matches, is that a nightmare come true?…Someone needs to write a book about American “Iron” Mike Russell, and USTA junior development director Patrick McEnroe needs to make it required reading for all the soft American kids…Jonathan Scott at Tennis.com LOVES Venus Williams’ sack cloth look: “Venus unveiled an immaculate, flowing one-piece�a jumper, as she called it — replete with gold hot pants in her first-rounder at the All England Club. It may look like something that the dazzling broad Blanche Devereaux would wear, but the romper itself is perhaps fitting for the elder Williams sister, freshly aged 31 as of Friday…This loose, super-short toga all but gives her the appearance of the goddess for whom she is named.”…That was some funny gushing by the pseudo-medi ata Serena Williams’ post-match conference Monday — everything short of running up and hugging her saying ‘We’re so glad you’re back!’ Have the bloggers and British media finally outnumbered the media-media?…Andy Roddick tells of scouting unknown opponents on YouTube…ESPN’s Chris Fowler making fun of Lleyton Hewitt for falling to his knees and getting pumped up after making point against Kei Nishikori? He can’t get pumped? He’s Lleyton “The Lawnmower” Hewitt. Especially when he has been sucking of late. You ever beat Baby Japanese Fed, Fowler?…Between the new injected of egos and characters at ESPN for Wimbledon, Brad Gilbert is coming off as positively level-headed and mild…Good on Chris Evert after being baited by Hannah Storm to bash women’s tennis with the Williams sisters being favorites after Wimbledon after coming off lengthy injuries: “I think it says more about them, the Williams sisters, how good they really are,” Evert said. “They are exceptional athletes.”


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94 Comments for Serena Weeps in Victory, Isner-Mahut II a Bust Tuesday at Wimbledon

steve-o Says:

There was almost no way the Isner-Mahut match was going to live up to last year’s performance; that was a once-in-a-century occurrence, and thankfully so.

I don’t think it was coincidence they met in the first round, either. Any more than it was coincidence that Federer/Djokovic and Nadal/Murray were placed in the same half of the draw.


funches Says:

Steve-o,

You’re an idiot. Yeah, they really are going to fix the draw . You are your conspiracy theory ilk are a sad case study. You must live an unhappy life and feel like everything goes against you.

Newsflash: the draws aren’t rigged. They are done live with plenty of witnesses. Coincidences happen. Why is that so hard to grasp?


Polo Says:

Who really cares about the Isner-Mahut match anyway?


Kimberly Says:

Venus williams losing to a 40 yr old? So much for my gut feelings. I am a bigger jinxer than Sean.


Kimmi Says:

date-krumm has broken venus three times already. tough match for venus.

was hoping she wears something else. oh well, i will have to get used to this.


Kimmi Says:

OMG 1-5 venus.


Kimmi Says:

she needs to hold here.


Kimmi Says:

the serving has served her


Kimmi Says:

kamiko playing very well..she is winning all the net points


Kimmi Says:

why did they put murray on outside court?


Kimmi Says:

wow from 1-5 to 5-5. now, go venus


Kimberly Says:

venus timing is way off, dont know if its the roof or the year off tennis but she is seriously mistiming her shots.


Kimberly Says:

venus drops the first set, go venus make a comeback.


Dory Says:

Serena’s going to win Wimby and Venus is going to lose in the first round.


Kimberly Says:

tight match. Hope V can pull thru.


Kimberly Says:

BM Sands outfit may be worse than V even. What’s up with our American ladies embarassing us around the world?

Off to show property so unfort. I will miss the end of this great match and Rafa’s match.


jane Says:

Of all the slams, I think I like the crowds at Wimbledon best.

Feel badly for Date-Krumm (what an effort!), and also that we still have to look at men’s-backwards-shirt-with-slashes-sack-type-outfit. ;) Erm. Maybe Venus will change??


jane Says:

It’s hard to see Rafa losing here based on what I have seen from him so far. He is uber focused and serving extremely well. Hard to know based on his opponents, though. I am not sure what to expect from Russell and Sweeting, but both are getting pummeled.

Berdych, meanwhile, faced a good opponent in Benneteau but put him away with no problems. Gasquet, too, is clipping along.

Dimitrov about to come through another round? Looks like it.

Anyhow, off to find a Murray stream…weirdly ESPN are showing all of Rafa’s match so far, which they haven’t done with most other top matches, in which they switched around between other courts and interviews. I assume it’s due to his opponent being a young American.


Humble Rafa Says:

I assume it’s due to his opponent being a young American

I don’t think so. They show old americans as well. I saw a 92 year old lady playing against an even older 112 year old lady this afternoon.


Humble Rafa Says:

Now, Ms Venus Williams will lose in the next round. How can that not happen? You think this match didn’t affect her knee, shoulder, groin, foot, etc. Any one of them? I am sure it did.


Queen Mirka Says:

Come on Sweeting, you can do it. Break him again. Beat the hell out of RAfael Nadal. Nadal is going home today. FEderer will win.


andrea Says:

oh raonic….bummer. had high hopes for you.


marrisv Says:

It looks like Raonic retired…. after a thigh or an ankle injury


madmax Says:

Terrible news, Raonic injured. A fall, a slip on the grass – if the grass is too wet, why are they letting players get injured like this?


jane Says:

Too bad about Raonic. :(


dari Says:

oh :( just heard raonic is out, didn’t see, anybody have any word? poor guy


stu Says:

^ Sucks.


stu Says:

^ Sucks.


marrisv Says:

It looks like he had a bad fall during the match for what i could gather from live text on some of the websites.


Dory Says:

zOMFG! Why did this happen to Raonic just when he was to meet Nadal in round 3? Hopefully JMDP will slay the beast.


Dory Says:

Simone Bolelli also took out Wawrinka.


jane Says:

Monfils lost set one, and Hotsauce is once again down two sets so will have to go five to come through again.

Meanwhile ESPN continues to blather on about the Williams sisters, show clips from old matches, etc, etc. Anything but show the matches going on! ARrrrrrrgh.


Eric Says:

Raonic…sucks for him. And for us, no chance to see his grass mettle.

Haase is ripping Verdasco a new one… I wish I had had the gumption to pick him like I wanted, my bracket would be killer. :) I think I had Stepanek going to the third round or so…


Queen Mirka Says:

Oh, Nadal got lucky once again today. Sweeting deserved so much more. But I’m sure Raonic will beat Nadal in straight sets. Raonic’s serve is awesome.


Eric Says:

Verdasco actually staging a bit of a comeback here somehow. Got a break and a narrow hold, now Hasse to serve at 5-4.


Eric Says:

Well, apparently I did pick Haase here, but then I had him losing to Kohls, who was supposed to upset Fish and make it to the quarterfinals. Oops… ahem.


dari Says:

same here eric, cool/whoops


dari Says:

early rounds suck on the bracket!
oh, look i picked kubot? hope no one else did…


Eric Says:

Epic pair of opening games in this third set…!


Eric Says:

Dari, I only picked Kubot to the second round because I thought Tipsarevic would recover in time to play. If I had known that Ivo would be the one advancing I would have terminated him there… alas.


margot Says:

hmm beefy Boy’s decision to leave his family in order to spend more time at work, really paid off…not
(joke, politicians always say opposite when sacked)
Andy wasn’t playing very well, but did the job in 3 :) Come on!
shame re Raonic :(


Eric Says:

Haase is predictably starting to play poorly under pressure and if Verdasco can nab the fourth set too, Robin’s complete lack of conditioning will kill him. So sad – he’s such a fantastic player, but only ever for two sets.


margot Says:

Eric did u c Phillip Pechner, can’t spell it, but he could be a fantasic player but..but..is so casual it’s infuriating! Commentators said he needed 10% of Andy’s angst! Feel the same as you about Haase, he’s brilliant but, as you say, for two sets only then he fades. Bah!


jane Says:

Laura Robson has made a great comeback; she was down a break in the second set, or even two (?), anyhow, she’s now up a break in the third after squeaking through the second set in a tiebreak. Come on Laura!

margot, I thought Murray played well, though Kamke is a good up-and-comer, so he gave Andy a workout. But Andy didn’t have any major letdowns, or start slowly like last match. He seems focused and when he would lose a point, you could see him saying “Focus!” to himself, rather than swears. Good sign methinks! :)

Gulbis implodes again first round – just when you thought, maybe? Maybe he’ll do it in five?

Monfils now down a break in the fourth (but up 2 sets to 1); Hotsauce now down two breaks in the fourth (and down 2 sets to 1).


Eric Says:

Margot, looks like we might have spoken a bit too soon, Haase is up 3-0, serving at 30-30 in the fourth set. I guess he was as infuriated with his drop in level and effort as me… :)


jane Says:

margot, to me Petz overused the slice yesterday; it’s a good strategy versus tall big hitter like Soda, but some of those rallies yesterday were like a metronome and almost put self to sleep. zzzzz. He’s got potential but needs more heart and killer instinct. Tried to really grind Soda down, but didn’t work.


Eric Says:

And he got it, Verdasco serving at 0-4 now.


Eric Says:

Woot! Haase through 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Very nice.


jane Says:

Yay, Laura.

Hotsauce is O-U-T.

Ljuby: up two sets and a break.


margot Says:

We spoke too soon indeedy! Come on Haase, but Verdasco has been living on borrowed time for ages. Down the slippery slope he goes…
jane, agree re over-use of sliced backhand but PP had loads of chances to win that and just couldn’t seem to be a****.
Yay, Laura but she plays Maria next…..good luck to her!


dari Says:

Vamos to my boy delpo!
Acknowledgments he slipped- seems ok. Nothing worse than watching a big guy fall :/


dari Says:

I wrote “ack” and auto correct changed it to acknowledgments hehe.
Way to go L-Rob


Eric Says:

Wow. Del Potro really is just freaking abysmal on grass.


dari Says:

And way to go, A- Rod


Kimberly Says:

Humble Rafa says:
Now, Ms Venus Williams will lose in the next round. How can that not happen? You think this match didn’t affect her knee, shoulder, groin, foot, etc. Any one of them? I am sure it did.

_______________________

If she can power thru her next match fast she will get time to rest until Monday. She should play aggressive and fast. The spanish girl she’s playing (who took out JJ) can take her out, but i think its unlikely. In the second week of the tournament her timing should improve and if so she will be extremely dangerous.

Sweet for Laura Robson she won a match. Hopefully she won’t win another. Go Maria!


dari Says:

I only saw about ten points ESPN showed, but delpo had poor movement and footing, slip sliding everywhere, but a couple of running moves that looked fine…
I’d have to watch more to see, plus its more slippery in the evening, but still


Eric Says:

Dari, exactly. He would have won the tiebreak 7-4 if he could move. But he can’t. I guess that’s why he’s never been past the second round. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Rochus beat him, although it’s far from expected, and now I would be even a bit surprised if Delpo can recover. But I guess it’s been postponed until tomorrow, so maybe the grass won’t be as slippery?


dari Says:

re: timing, Kimberly, I agree that it will improve for Venus, but I also think that nobody else is gonna take the tiny backswing swat at the ball date-krumm was hitting this am on the fh.
I was in and out of the match, but what I saw it was very high level from both.


Tennis Vagabond Says:

Things are lining up for Nadal with Raonic injured and Del Potro not doing great today. Only Berdych is looking much better than I anticipated.
What a shame for Raonic.


Eric Says:

Hey, did you guys know that Sabine Lisicki has the fastest serve on record for women?


veno Says:

And she’s nice on the eyes too ;-)


jane Says:

Did Rochus win the first set over Delpo? I had to leave before the first set was over, but it was a tiebreak just beginning. Yes, it looks like Rafa has a good path to the quarters anyhow. Then it might be a little tougher, but Rafa has looked dangerously efficient in his last two matches.

Nole’s got a big server in Anderson next. Fed has Marinara sauce; that should be a cruiser.

Tomorrow, Tsonga plays Dimitrov and Soda meets Hewitt; both could potentially be crackers??


veno Says:

@Jane:

congrats on Nole’s incredible year so far.
Good to see how he matured and is capitalizing on his full talent. I enjoy watchng him play now ;-)
As a tennis fan a top Nole against a top Fed is by far the best match up in modern tennis!!!! RG semi was mind blowing, especially the pace of shot.

It will be Nole-Fed again in the semis, I have little doubt. I think it will be 60-40 in Fed’s favour, but definitely Nole never looked better on grass, especially with his confidence way up now.

Muzza and Rafa on collision course too. We are so spoiled with 4 such good players in the game!!!


veno Says:

Bummer to see Raonic go out :(

Great young gun….Hope he can make it to the big leagues.

Delpo lost the first set breaker after serving at 5-4 in it…Pity.
But I would be surprised if Olivier gets another set…

Berdych has been impressive in 1R and 2R, see if he can keep it going. Soderling and RAndy also looking ready to play….How great to see the lawns at SW19….it is such a special tournament!!!


dari Says:

watching some replays- rafa look gooood


veno Says:

Yes he does….

Operating at 50%

But so did Murray


dari Says:

when’s roddick’s first “tough” match?
he looks better than he has for a while(yes i know we are on grass), returning a little better than usual.
i would like to see how this form holds up to a good grass player.
ps. booo, stan wawrinka, but i guess grass ain’t his bag.


veno Says:

Randy is going to have tough matches from now on…

F-Lo, then prolly Le Monf, then Muzza, then Rafa and then Fed/Nole

If Andy Roddick wins Wimbledon this year it will be the win of the last decades!!!!

I for one would love to see it happen. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy


Kimberly Says:

boooo wimbledon for putting Serena on Court 2. I hope that’s not the graveyard court but i think it is!


veno Says:

It sure is, but it has had a make-over 2 yrs ago me thinks…..

It won’t affect Serena I think…


Kimberly Says:

I cribbed the below from wilkipedia, but you are right Veno, it was made over.

The “Graveyard of Champions” tag was coined as many former champions fell to ignominious defeats on the no. 2 Court, including:[3]

John McEnroe (1979 to Tim Gullikson)
Jimmy Connors (1983 to Kevin Curren, 1988 to Patrik Kühnen)
Pat Cash (1991 to Thierry Champion)
Michael Stich (1994 to Bryan Shelton) [4]
Andre Agassi (1996 to Doug Flach)
Conchita Martínez (1998 to Sam Smith)
Richard Krajicek (1999 to Lorenzo Manta)
Boris Becker (1987 to Peter Doohan)
Pete Sampras (2002 to George Bastl)
Serena Williams (2005 to Jill Craybas)
Venus Williams (2006 to Jelena Janković)
Martina Hingis (2007 to Laura Granville)


Eric Says:

Erm… Roddick winning Wimbledon? Okay, 2009 was close & not that long ago, but all I can do is LOL at that idea. Any one of his opponents going forward could easily eliminate him. Okay, F-Lo would be a shock, but Monf, Gasquet, or Murray would all be expected wins over Roddick, in my opinion. And Roddick over Rafa? LOL.


veno Says:

Lol Eric, I didn’t state he will win…Just gave him the most likely road he would have to travel to take the title….all difficult matches….give him about 0.1% chance of pulling it off….

However if he did…oh mi oh my, that would be the win of a lifetime….


veno Says:

@Kimberly…thanks for the list of fallen champions on the graveyard…

The biggest imo is the 2R loss of Pete to Bastl

I saw that one live in ’02….flabbergasted!!!


veno Says:

p.s. Kimberly: Johnny Mac wasn’t a champion yet in ’79, he won ’81(finally dethroning the Iceman) ’83 and ’84


jane Says:

Hi (!) & cheers, veno. Hope we get some exciting final rounds again in this slam.


veno Says:

You bet Jane! It will be the big 4!!!! Can’t wait!!!


Kimberly Says:

veno, blame wilkipedia, i totally cribbed their list.


Kimberly Says:

pete was the biggest upset of that list. Def. If I were a champion I wouldn’t want to play there!


veno Says:

Wasn’t to stand you correct K ;-)
Just put it up for informational purposes.

Trivia: which ones on that list were defending champs?


Kimberly Says:

I believe Venus was but other than that I don’t know. My tennis knowlege starts about 2003-4.


veno Says:

Correct: Venus in ’06, Connors in ’83 and Becker in ’87 are the others

Kudo’s on Venus Kimberly, I had to think hard for that one as women’s tennis is not my forté :)


veno Says:

Match of day 3: Soderling-Hewitt

Should be fun!!!


dari Says:

never warmed to hewitt, though i recognize his tenacity is admirable.
sod should take care of him, though
i like KA vs novak or the completion of delpo and rochus, i’m just curious is delpo is this bad on grass or if he can pull it out.
L-Rob vs. Maria should be fun, too, if for nothing else to see aggressive tennis, L-Rob apparently had 40+ winners today.


dari Says:

53 winners! 30 errors. i know that’s not the whole story, but at least we know she is swinging!


Kimmi Says:

just watching how milos got injured..bad :(


veno Says:

agree, sod should win, but suspect it will be tight. Hewitt gonna make Sod move and his movement horrible.

Nole will blast KA I’m afraid…Would surprise me if he gets more than 10 games.

I like L-Rob, tennis wise and personality wise. Still, women’s tennis…..it’s in a really bad place….

At least a lot of girls nice on the eyes, especially in virgin white ;-)


EdgarCayce Says:

The wind frustrates Soderling’s serve too. I can see old Rusty winning. Potential cracker! 5 setter, maybe.

Who is the likeliest ATP youngster to win? Tomic, Harrison, or Dimitrov? Thinking Dimitrov drew the shortest straw, then Harrison, and luck maybe smiled on Tomic. Oi!

Venus in another fashion fail. Way to make a great body look like a sack of spuds.


jojostryus Says:

From Tennis Planet: Have you noticed Nadal’s latest variation on his backhand?

Instead of the traditional bullet cross-court, he is adding top spin (with his right hand) while taking some pace off but creating an even more acute angle by making the ball land as close to the net as possible using the spin to clear the net for that close a shave. Did that a lot at his first match against Russell.

It’s still a cross court but a higher percentage shot that draws the opponent nearly in the stands.

Is that a sign of things to come? I mean, if he can top spin from both freaking wings, what chance does the ball then have to either get snagged at the net or sail past the lines from both sides?


scoreboard66 Says:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wimbledon/8589772/Wimbledon-2011-grunting-tennis-players-are-spoiling-the-game.html

I watched this video and thought it was hilarious. I agree that something should be done, but how do you stop what’s been going on for so many years especially with Sharapova.


scoreboard66 Says:

The 40-year old Japanese woman is a testimony that a player’s age is not an accurate indicator for Federer and other players who are up there in years. It all depends on how the player plays and his state of health. I think Fed can still make a significant contribution to the tour and win matches until he’s past 35.


Skeezerweezer Says:

@ jj

Nice observation :). If Rafa can ever hit his BH(in RPM spin) like his FH he will get 20 something slams. Yes that would(will?) be a game changer, but the restriction of the technique of his BH prohibits this as of today. No way.


Lloyd Walters Says:

Jane wrote:

“Gulbis implodes again first round – just when you thought, maybe? Maybe he’ll do it in five?”

I wonder if you actually saw the match. I did and there was no meltdown. In fact I think Gulbis showed an impressive return to form and a rediscovery of mental strength. Unfortunately for him he was up against a man playing at his very best, who had arrived in Wimbledon with the Dutch grass courts title in his pocket.

The fourth set tiebreaker score of 7-1 to Tursunov was due to some exceptional play by the Russian and just a couple of unforced errors by Gulbis. The third set tiebreaker was more typical of the match as a whole, with Tursunove winning it 14-12.

Gulbis hit 24 aces, 5 double faults, 64 winners and 30 unforced errors, but he still lost – winning 135 points to Tursunov’s 140. If you still regard this as an implosion, then I suggest you set up a tennis academy to bring your out-of-this-world standards to the game.


Polo Says:

It is time for Gulbis to give it up or his fans, if there are any left, should give him up. He has not made any progress. Instead of improving, he has gotten worse. There is no future for him in tennis. He does not have the discipline and mental attitude to succeed in this career.

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