The Tennis Thread

[Not Plain Jane]

Typical of ESPN (in Canada TSN gets the American ESPN feed, typically) commentators, though, don't you think Scott? I mean, they are so biased and blinded some of the time in their commentary that I have to switch to a Eurosport or even Skysports stream instead. The other day I actually found a stream of Nole/Tommy that had no commentary what-so-ever. What a treat! Sometimes you just want to watch and form your own opinions and thoughts as opposed to listening to the commentators blather on, saying the same things over-and-over (American Tennis is coming around; Novak retired this many times; Federer is the GOAT; Rafa's knees and/or comeback, A Brit hasn't won Wimbles in 77 years, etc - and sometimes they say these things when none of the top four and/or no Americans are even playing!!! They just blatantly ignore what's happening on the ACTUAL court, or comment only on the "marquee" player... ) Sigh. Oh well.

 

[Scott]

yeah it is....just like they kept blaming "pressure" on serena's loss. pressure? are you kidding.....serena is no stranger to pressure come on. mike tirico,however you spell it,is just terrible as a tennis analyst...and so smug to boot. but it's so surprising sometimes with chris evert of all of them....i mean to be such a legend and still so involved in the game,sometimes i'm just astonished at horribly ignorant she is.....unless of course it involves an american player or typical pretty girl.

unfortunately though i had been utilising the enhanced coverage available on my satellite provider and the majority of the commentating is either british or aussie on there. sometimes lindsay davenport,tracy austin or chanda rubin contributes but they're all generally is pretty respectful in their analysis. i think i know what streams you're talking about. i watched a lot of the online streams during the clay season and most had no commentating at all. loved it. just the noise the players made hitting the ball and moving. today sadly i had no other option as i was away from my computer.

 

[jj36]

you know,with the way flipkens played today i wouldn't be surprised if she shocked everybody. she served phenomenally well and was really connecting with that forehand and as usual using all her variety in impeccable fashion. for as heartbroken as i am for petra(and she did sort of choke away her last service game but generally kirsten was playing more consistently at a high level),i'm pretty thrilled for kirsten too. it's been a tough road for her but it's been inspiring watching how much she's come along since returning.

and to be honest aga played a great match...it was tough but i think she won the mind game today. it's nice though to see how improved li na has become on all the surfaces now thanks to her work with carlos.

and sabine,i expected probably a little drop in her level coming off that big win yesterday and probably a lot of resistance from kanepi but she went out there and did everything right. those drop shots were really effective. sad though that our commentators on espn today pretty much treated kanepi like a nobody....utter disrespect. that to me was an impressive win for sabine because kanepi is always dangerous when she's in good form and healthy.

Flipkens didn't play that well though. Petra had the flu and you could tell there wasn't a whole lot of fight left in her in that 3rd set. Too bad for petra she could have won the entire thing had she been healthy. Congrats to Flipkens though she's had to deal with a lot and has a decent chance at beating Bartoli?
Who do you want to win?
I want radwasnka to win as she's the closest thing we will ever see to Hingis ever again.

 

[VogueDisciple93]

It's so unfair that Del Poltro and Ferrer met so early. I wanted one of them to take the title. But of the two I'm leaning more towards Del Poltro.

 

[maxlinden]

Murray and Verdasco had me on edge! Murray is my favorite to Win this Major, the way he came back from 2 sets to love was phenomenal. Verdasco was serving amazingly I was soo nervous the whole match.

Some good tennis today. I can't wait for Delpo and Djoko

 

[MyNameIs]

Damn it, Verdasco. I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you! :tyragif:

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Kind of wish Delpotro was on the other side of the draw so there was a potential for a Djokovic/Delpotro final. I think that would've been great.

Verdasco played well, but he kind of blew it didn't he?

 

[Scott]

jj36,i don't think that's really fair to blame that on how the match ultimately unfolded because if you remember petra after taking that time-out and then the medication that was given to her,about a couple games into the third set petra started getting her energy and her intensity back. so no i don't think that's why she lost. it's easy to blame it on that. i think kirsten played a fabulous match against her and remember kirsten also had 2-1 h2h against her already so she knew what she was up against. also kirsten did not lose her serve once after that first set and only faced one break chance so she was serving magnificently......really using that out-wide serve that works so well on grass and setting up her forehand which i don't think i've ever seen as consistent as yesterday.

verdasco definitely choked a little bit today as so often has been the case with him in the past. that being said,this has been a wonderful comeback for fernando at wimbledon as he's struggled mightily since 2011.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Well, what a rout of a first semi - totally boring, sorry.

But what a wonderful second semi - overall, both ladies played a great match!

As is the case, though (not only in tennis but broadly speaking), she who "goes for it" often "wins it". And sometimes Aggy is just too passive. She needs to whack the ball sometimes. I love her guile and variety, but to win a slam she's going to have to take her chances and develop a kill shot occasionally. She can slice and dice and draw errors, but it's just not always going to work, especially with a mentally tough player. Lisicki is the aggressive player in this match up and she won. Grass often rewards variety, but usually players who mix that with some aggressive play come out ahead.

Now, about that final....!

 

[Scott]

i have to say i'm pretty pleased for sabine. first german woman into a major final since the greatest of them all,steffi did it in 99. wonderful achievement....even more remarkable if she she wins it. i have to say she deserves it. she worked the hardest beating the overwhelming favourite this year,defending champ and a 6 time champ at that....and add to that last year's defending finalist. she's been a giant killer this week for sure.

to your point NPJ,i have to say it has unfortunately been the case with aga against these more powerful,aggressive players who have a little more dimension and versatility in their games. she's never done well against serena or petra in the last three years and has a very poor record against maria and vika as well. and lisicki winning in the end with that serve and forehand is no surprise. it was all just a question of lisicki recovering her serve again.

have to say pretty impressed with bartoli today....she was in the zone,as she feels,indeed. nice to see momo and the french fed cup coaches with her this entire fortnight. i'm glad that she hasn't gone back to her dad after all....she needs new voices and support. disappointing that flipper's knee kind of hindered that serve which really boosted her against petra. but semifinal...not too shabby for her.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Wow, Nole versus Juan Martin was EPIC! What an incredible match, fought at the highest level by two warriors, and in excellent sporting spirit too. An absolute pleasure to watch. Too bad there has to always be only one winner. But I think this is one of my favourite matches in a long while. Not a poor set in it. No lopsided ones as you sometimes see in 5 setters. All the sets were tightly contested. BRILLIANT GUYS!

 

[maxlinden]

Really Happy for Murray and I still am rooting for him to with this major but Djokovic is a beast! I'm not a fan of Nole but I cannot deny his talent, he has dominated mens tennis for the last 2 years I think

 

[Scott]

it was a case of nerves for sabine today but i was really impressed with marion's composure out there as well as her steady aggression. she really took the timing away from lisicki. i think had lisicki served better the complexion of the match could have been different. otherwise,for sabine,maybe not the end we all wanted,win or lose,but a spectacular run to the final. hopefully we get to see another chance from her really soon and hopefully even outside wimbledon for a change too.

 

[maxlinden]

SOO Excited for Andy!

 

[VogueDisciple93]

The one time I root for Djokovic he loses, badly
Murray played a great game today, the way he came back in the last two sets was amazing (and frustrating). Djokovic couldn't keep up, he would start off fierce and energetic then crash and barely able to make it across the court.

I'm ready for the US Open!

 

[ALAUU]

Awww, so happy for Murray! I've got British pride and I'm not even British!

 

[naya]

Yay Andy! Represent.
A well deserved win, first Brit to win in 77 years.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Congrats to Andy - big win for the British/Scots.

Have to say though: I found BOTH the men's and ladies' finals to be anti-climactic after exciting semis, and both the giant killers lost in finals. Them's the breaks!

 

[Scott]

have to say i'm thrilled for andy not only nabbing his second major but his home major.....but especially thrilled for britain today....finally!! no more of that endless conversation on the horizon andy was just unwavering....even when he got into trouble in those final two sets and that heart-pounding final service game....egads! really well done.

also,congrats today as well to daniel nestor and kiki mlandenovic on nabbing the mixed doubles.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

scott, so true! they can put that 77 year old conversation to bed thanks to andy's win.

and wow, nestor just never stops winning the titles. he's amazing.