Wimbledon Champs Federer, Serena Open Olympic Tennis Event Saturday

kim clisters to the second round. go Kim!

July 28th, 2012 at 8:12 am

berdych is down a set and a break against darcis. murray draw is opening up.

July 28th, 2012 at 8:19 am

Federer is again going to lift the title this Olympics.

July 28th, 2012 at 8:20 am

tipsy serving for the match vs. nalbandian.

July 28th, 2012 at 8:34 am

darcis serving for the match..

July 28th, 2012 at 8:35 am

Berdy knocked out!

July 28th, 2012 at 8:43 am

berdych out, darcis through. Tisparevic beats nalbandian.

July 28th, 2012 at 8:48 am

isner beats rochus, through to the second round.

July 28th, 2012 at 9:23 am

serena beats JJ easily, who thought that will be a tough match?

July 28th, 2012 at 9:58 am

‘berdych knocked out’ – music to my ears!

July 28th, 2012 at 10:07 am

i can only find streams in arabic, which i don’t understand; anyone have a link for a live stream in english or any latin language ? thanks in advance for any info you might have

July 28th, 2012 at 10:39 am

JJ-Serena, not sure who would think that was a tough match as JJ lost to a qualifier and a lucky loser in the last two tournaments since wimbledon.

July 28th, 2012 at 10:42 am

Fed back in action; Nice! Go Fed!

July 28th, 2012 at 10:42 am

disappointed McHale lost.

July 28th, 2012 at 10:42 am

Fed handling Falla quite well so far….

July 28th, 2012 at 10:46 am

Come on falla, make a surprised, close the gap, hehehe

July 28th, 2012 at 10:47 am

fed up a set, but i’m already hetting a headache from the commentators…the guy simply DOES NOT SHUT UP, even when the points are playing argh!

July 28th, 2012 at 10:48 am

set 1!!!

16 winners and Falla is playing very well. Roger just to good at the end of the set.

Berdych out… Who set Fed avoiding Berdych was a cupcakedraw? He rather face Berdych in this form then this Falla dude .

July 28th, 2012 at 10:50 am

Xmike,

Agree. These commentators suck. Feds love for Mirka, Fed is this, Fed is that, all too much. Geez..l

July 28th, 2012 at 10:53 am

Ferrer/Lopes win doubles , ,,Awesome, David has increased his game, congratulation for both, and good luck for next round.

July 28th, 2012 at 10:57 am

Falla dude will be able to make Roger a poor fella!
Go falla, show your teeth!

July 28th, 2012 at 11:00 am

hi skeezer, at least it seems you can understand the language, for me it’s just irritating background noise that doesn’t go away, after a while it’s like having a leafblower going full blast right in your living room $&/(%$& at least Fed is winning and playing well

July 28th, 2012 at 11:00 am

Xmike,

Leafblower…lol :)

July 28th, 2012 at 11:04 am

Someone heart beating is faster than normal, gooooo falla, make big bang!!!

July 28th, 2012 at 11:04 am

Falla charges in with a big rip to Feds BH, the supposed weak link. Fed responds leaning back with the flick of the wrist hits a ridiculous angled winner, and then gives a quick yell. He’s fired up. He then hits another powerful BH causing an error by Falla. The break is on. Fed serving 4-3 with 1rst set bagged. Shhhhhhh….Maestro at work. Fed, 5-3…….

July 28th, 2012 at 11:11 am

Fed? C’mon dude!

July 28th, 2012 at 11:20 am

unusual for fed to fail to serve out a match but chances to rebreak here

July 28th, 2012 at 11:22 am

actually a pretty high quality match

July 28th, 2012 at 11:22 am

Guy on tv just said Falla had match point against Fed on Wimbledon 2010. I recall he was up 2 sets to love but I dont think he had match point.
Anyone can confirm?

July 28th, 2012 at 11:24 am

first shank ive seen coming at the wrong time. falla holds and it looks like we are headed to a tiebreak

July 28th, 2012 at 11:24 am

two straight 0-40 opportunities go unanswered.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:25 am

Fed choking big time. Triple match point on Falla’s serve then triple break point and no conversions. Falla is gaining confidence from this.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:25 am

Talk about throwing away a set.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:28 am

Damm, Fed panicking!

One missed hawkeye when he served 30-40 5-4, ball out for less than a hair and Fall broke. Then Fed had 0-40 on 5-5 and he lost the second BP in a long rally where he had control of the point. But really, credit to Falla who played 5 points with no mistakes to get 6-5. Than Fed 30-15 and 2 strange missed and this bizarre point on set point down,

He better regroup quick. If he thinks he can embarass himself he will got more desperate.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:31 am

NachoF, he served for the match 2-0 5-4 and Fed broke him and turn it around.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:32 am

WOW- did not expect this at all.

I think fed maybe is feeling nervous- he said so prior to the tourny that he feels abit of pressure going in.

It’s natural to do so really.

He should come through this still, since i expect falla to get nervous at some point towards end of this set.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:35 am

This grass is like the blue clay. Wimbledon must have done some type of treatment to repair the grass faster than normal because it is very slippery.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:35 am

Really surprised to see the score now. I thought Roger was about to serve for the match, but now he seems to be into 3rd set. Is it Roger’s bad play or Falla played well? Anyone watching the match.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:36 am

Don’t know about you guys, but I expected Fed to have some issues with Alejandro “once-nearly-beat-Federer-at-Wimbledon” Falla, just not in this hilarious fashion. If Fed manages to hold his break in this third set he’ll face Julien “also-nearly-beat-Federer-at-Wimbledon” Benneteau, so these early rounds are probably going to be much more a minefield for Fed than people expected.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:43 am

And there goes the break.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:43 am

Federer panicking and rushing the net prematurely. He did the same thing against Roddick in Miami this year. He is very nervous.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:44 am

Daniel,
Interesting. Do you think he got a match point on that game though?

July 28th, 2012 at 11:54 am

No NachoF, i think Fed broke 15-40

July 28th, 2012 at 11:58 am

Roger playing clutch now. Good to see.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:59 am

Oh no not again. Triple match point for the 2nd time.

July 28th, 2012 at 12:01 pm

It would be a shame if Roger let’s this match go now, having MP in Falla’s serve.

July 28th, 2012 at 12:02 pm

champion always finds a way…

July 28th, 2012 at 12:02 pm

So he gets through. Pity it was taken to 3rd set. The stats were clearly in favour of Roger at the end of 2nd set, not sure what really happened there. But good to see clutch tennis from Roger. Saw the last few games of the 3rd set. Falla did not go away, Roger played well to win.

July 28th, 2012 at 12:03 pm

Best of 3 on grass in a high pressure tournament like the Olympics is brutal.

July 28th, 2012 at 12:04 pm

Nice clutch play to finish. Let’s see how he does against Benneteau.

July 28th, 2012 at 12:08 pm

— champion always finds a way —

Not always. See Olympics 2008.

July 28th, 2012 at 12:36 pm

Looks like Berdych is gone. Whose draw was he in. Is it Murray or Novak.

July 28th, 2012 at 1:15 pm

murray

July 28th, 2012 at 2:08 pm

The second set probably turned when Federer had matchpoints 0-40 and 0-30 at 5-3 in the second set. Just as Falla was about to serve, a few over-excited fans (wanting-to-be-part-of-the-match) started loudly shouting “c’mon Federer” which prompted both sides to shout expressions of encouragement during Falla’s serve motion. The Brazilian umpire Carlos Bernardes did a poor job controlling the unruly fans, just one gentle “thank you” instead of instructing the audience to be quiet when players are in their serve motion. Those ‘c’mon ons’ were stupid and unnecessary (as Fed had triple set point) — it probably threw off Federer’s concentration a little (especially as he probably already prematurely mentally checked out of the match) and contributed to his moodiness when he could not put Falla away in a match he should have won in that game. I’ve seen this before over the years in Federer: he was not panicking but occasionally becomes moody and annoyed with himself when he feels he allows these things to happen. Something similar happened at his 2011 USO match against Djokovic.

Credit to Falla for keeping his concentration and playing excellent tennis throughout the match — though he is surely used to playing in much noisier Davis Cup matches in South America. Despite swinging freely and frequently going for broke, Falla made just 11 unforced errors in the entire match and would have had more winners if not for Federer’s great court coverage and improvisational magic.

Today’s match showed Federer’s competitiveness and fighting spirit, as well as calmness after dropping the second set to work on winning the third set. It wasn’t by accident that Federer broke Fall in the seventh game of each set. Federer’s serve is slightly rusty, but otherwise the rest of his game is in good shape after a two week break. Fed knows he can’t afford to keep playing three setters in singles since he is also playing doubles, as it will hurt his chances at the Canadian Open in 11 days’ time. So although Benneteau is a friend who stretched him to a five setter partly because of Roger’s sloppy play in the first two sets, Roger wants to win his next match in two straight forward sets.

Falla beat No. 8 Mardy Fish in straight sets at the Australian Open and also beat No. 10 John Isner at Wimbledon. Btw, Falla did not have a matchpoint against Federer at 2010 Wimbledon. Falla had served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set (he was still three points from winning that match game) when something clicked in Federer who went on to win the fourth set in a tie-breaker and won the fifth set 6-0.

July 28th, 2012 at 2:11 pm

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/28/4669519/kohlschreiber-pulls-out-of-olympics.html

July 28th, 2012 at 3:32 pm

phew!! one nemesis down, another one in benneteau coming next!!

July 28th, 2012 at 7:24 pm

wow! suarez beats stosur, good for her. a very close match indeed. so there is no tie break in the 3rd set. good to know.

Glad patra won but she should beat bondarenko easily. Hope she can improve from here..

July 28th, 2012 at 7:27 pm

For Fed fans

The only highlights I could find.

Sure there will be some nice Hd vids up tomorrow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KsE_cZ0z_0

July 28th, 2012 at 7:44 pm

Does this mean Haas could take Kohlschreiber place?

That would be awesome!

July 28th, 2012 at 7:46 pm

thanks john, missed the match. it was crazy in that second set. glad he survived. hope he plays better in the next match.

July 28th, 2012 at 7:52 pm

Haas is a US citizen too, no? if he plays and wins a medal which country will it be?

July 28th, 2012 at 7:56 pm

The article says he’ll be replaced by someone already playing in the doubles, so not Haas.

July 28th, 2012 at 8:34 pm

Congrats to roger for winning first round! falla dude played well too. nice trying.

July 28th, 2012 at 8:35 pm

metan,

Thanks for the congrats to Fed. Yeah, Falla seemed like he was going to make a early exit and he hung tough and played very well!

July 28th, 2012 at 8:59 pm

Your wellcome skeezer, now you are fair n square!

Glad, nila kumar is back, give us some insight of your tennis knowledge, you must be great too as you have been watching tennis for 27 years, hhhmmmmm few years before even I was born.

July 28th, 2012 at 9:48 pm

Sorry, nirmal kumar or nk,

July 28th, 2012 at 9:50 pm

@Kimmi

No problem. :)

I missed the match so cant really comment.

I’m sure Federer will play better next round(not lose a set).

But who knows?

Anything could happen over the next few days…

July 28th, 2012 at 10:00 pm

Correction…

Over the next week(not few).

July 28th, 2012 at 10:02 pm

Lol,tired, bed time.

July 28th, 2012 at 10:03 pm

Fed via ESPN

“He hung tough, and I got nervous,” Federer said. “It was a tough set to lose for me, particularly in the situation I was in. That’s the beauty of the game. Sometimes you’re one point away, and the next thing you know, you’re 25 points away.”

Uh right Maestro. 5-3 inthe 2nd Nervous(apperenty) at 0-40 his serve, and then go down immediately 0-40 on your serve, when you plainly were in control. Ugh! Now be consistent and keep your focus till the end dude, c’mon!

July 28th, 2012 at 10:05 pm

@Skeezer

Hah, you make a good point.

Im still convinced its better for Federer to have these mental lapses in the earlier rounds
than the later rounds.

Though he better be focused when he plays Benneteau, since he will probably really believe he can beat Fed.

July 28th, 2012 at 10:25 pm

Did anyone notice the rash on Feds face and neck? Looks like some kind of allergic reaction to me. I don’t think it messed with his game , just kind of notices the rash.

July 28th, 2012 at 11:16 pm

Congrats to Fed and his fans,i think Fed will be glad this ones out of the way,Falla was a pain in the ass at wimby for Fed two years ago,and he proved to be yet again,still i dont the result was ever in any doubt,Julian will no doubt be the same,i expect will only raise his level more from here on in.

July 29th, 2012 at 2:15 am

Andy Murray n his bro were out from doubles, hope today he will play well against wawarinka.

I cheer david ferrer, hope he will win! This guy deserves a medal for all his hardworked over these years.

July 29th, 2012 at 2:58 am

Great interview from a while back with John McEnroe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99KOyJv1ZNU&feature=related

Very interesting to see his perspective on tennis back then and how its changed..

Also good insight in terms of the GOAT discussion and the importance level of different grand slams(over the years) and how its changed.

July 29th, 2012 at 3:30 am

@dave,

Those ‘c’mon ons’ were stupid and unnecessary (as Fed had triple set point) —it probably threw off Federer’s concentration a little (especially as he probably already prematurely mentally checked out of the match) and contributed to,,,,,,,,,,

Well, if you watch life, you just couldn’t control those words, all you wanted is your guy to win, no body care about all this thing. If you ever watch life in rg, then you probably know.
It is the player who must be able to focus, otherwise you won’t win!

I didn’t watch set 3 as I knew Roger sure would eat falla dude, but that was good on second set for falla.

July 29th, 2012 at 3:31 am

metan, the South American umpire’s job was to maintain control of the situation — he could have been a little more forceful and frequent in telling the crowd not to shout when play is about to begin. But I agree with you that it was Federer’s responsibility to focus. However, Federer has always been considerd one of the best in modern tennis history at being able to remain calm when faced with increased pressure from his opponent, increase his focus, and raise his game to overcome the danger and win in the end. I posted the comments of the five-time world chess champion who was so impressed by how Federer responded to pressure compared to Djokovic and Murray. But tennis is played between humans and no player is perfect: even Federer isn’t able to maintain his concentration and calm throughout every match for an entire match. No player can, and you just have to examine their losses to see when it breaks down.

Anyway, the positive of the Falla match for Federer is that his basic game and confidence are still there. Despite some rustiness, he has up to seven days to fine-tune his game. The British newspaper Guardian tennis writer (Kevin MItchell is no Federer fan): “To everyone’s relief but Falla’s Federer started playing like the god who beat Murray three weeks ago, rediscovering those sumptuous touches that separate him from mortals again. Well as Falla played, Federer played 20% better… In the end he (Federer) showed enough of his enduring class to frighten the rest of the field. Once he got in front in the third the shots flowed like, well, gold, bringing all the familiar “oohs” and “aahs” from his adoring public, who stood and cheered his beautiful fightback. It was almost like Wimbledon.”

And yes, I would cheer for David Ferrer if he won gold. He deserves the respect and is one of my favorite players for how he does his work. Even at his age, he played 91 matches in about 22 tournaments over the past 52 weeks.

I think the idiot commentator who was talking too much during Fed’s game was Justin Gimbelstob (the NBC broadcast).

July 29th, 2012 at 4:40 am

I also like David Ferrer.
But there are a few thing that bother me when I tend to hope for Ferrer.

Does he smoke? Or is it just 1 cigarette after an winning match. That doesnot count for smoking for me. A smoker probably uses feel good moments to give praise to his body and gets a cigarette. Mhhh I would love for him to stopsmoning ifso.

Second the man has never won a major or big eventnot evena masters. So He deserves one or two maybe.

But I love for him to maximize his chances and he just goes full out in smaller venues all those 250events he plays on clay.

Are those contractual? The organisers of the smaller venues would be happy with #5 to play their tourney, but inthe end it probably deflates his chances in the real big ones. So for years he just falls short to the elite. And I would suspect he tried to focus a little more on the big events. Or has he given up?

July 29th, 2012 at 5:01 am

THE NOISE
Wimbledon press row racket drowns out racquets to the dismay of fans used to silence
http://azdailysun.com/sports/olympics/wimbledon-press-row-racket-drowns-out-racquets-to-the-dismay/article_2926129c-2d33-5263-8ff0-e051212f4875.html

THE GRASS
From British newspaper The Independent: “Worryingly for tournament organisers, the state of the courts, which have been reseeded since Wimbledon ended three weeks ago, also gave concern. Players often find them slippery at the start of the tournament here, but Ryan Harrison, who smashed his racket in frustration after losing to Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo, fell several times on Court 14, which he said was “a lot slippier” and “not in the condition it was at Wimbledon”.

Roger Federer, returning to Centre Court just 20 days after beating Murray in the Wimbledon final, said after beating Alejandro Falla 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 that the court was no different to how it played at the start of every Wimbledon, while Serena Williams, who was watched by Michelle Obama as she beat Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1, said diplomatically that the grass was “a wee bit slippery”.

The new grass is not as deeply rooted as it normally is and the fact that the courts have already started to break up along the baselines could cause increasing problems before the end of the week. “I think the grass is breaking a little faster than during Wimbledo

July 29th, 2012 at 5:03 am

@sienna,

David was just unlucky when he faces big 3, most of his lost on major are very narrow, only few points specially on tiebreaks. Probably it is mentality parts coz when you are on those moments, you must stay calm n focus, little bit annoying then it’s over. I wish all the best for him in og now.

July 29th, 2012 at 7:49 am

@Metan
Just what Ithought. He is so close to actually beat them. So why those smaller venuesmaybe they take away 1% of his actual play and he might make it. ANd the smoking of a cigarette or maybe more?
It doesnt make much sense to me.

Anyway he still deserve a big title in my view.

July 29th, 2012 at 9:57 am