Tennis 2018

jsinger121

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We'll see, He is looking at Anderson or Querry in the Quarters, and then likely Isner or Roanic in the Semi's. So he will likely still face two top 15 players on the way, but who knows.

On the other side, a Nadal / Del Potro quarter could be a war if JDP can stay healthy. He was incredible today
The only one of those that could even threaten Federer is Raonic. Federer would dispose of Isner, Anderson and Querry pretty easily.
 

InstaFace

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Updates from day 5 so far:

- Federer plays at 1pm ET, so if you're looking for a way to kill the time before Brazil-Belgium...
- Taylor Fritz was up 2 sets to 1, including a 7-0 victory in the 3rd set tiebreak, but lost the last two decisively to Sasha "the good" Zverev
- Querrey was downed in 4 by - not a misprint - Gael Monfils. Now I'm upset I missed the match and will be sure to catch his next one, since he's apparently in good form.
- On the women's side, Serena narrowly beat a quality opponent in Mladenovic, in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6(2). She will play on Manic Monday, against a qualifier, Rodina. Winner likely gets Makarova in the quarters.
- Keys didn't fare so well, as she lost against that very qualifier, Rodina, in 3. Venus also went down, 8-6 in the 3rd, against a resurgent Kiki Bertens.
- The only women remaining in the top 10 are #1 Halep (plays Hsieh tomorrow) and #7 Pliskova (down 4-2 in the early going against a seeded Buzarnescu). Serena, to some consternation, is playing under a protected-ranking seeding of #25. #11 Kerber has a tough draw, but looked really on her game in the match I saw.
 

jon abbey

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Halep goes out, so 9 of the top 10 women are out now, just #7 Pliskova left. Serena has no seeds left until the semis, big chance for her to get her first post-baby Slam.
 

jon abbey

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On the other hand, if men's seeds hold (very unlikely), we have a potentially awesome final 8 in store:

Federer/Anderson (1/8)
Raonic/Isner (13/9)
Djokovic/Nishikori or Krygios (12/15 or 24, Nishikori is up a set and a break on Krygios right now)
Del Potro/Nadal (5/2)
 

BigMike

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On the other hand, if men's seeds hold (very unlikely), we have a potentially awesome final 8 in store:

Federer/Anderson (1/8)
Raonic/Isner (13/9)
Djokovic/Nishikori or Krygios (12/15 or 24, Nishikori is up a set and a break on Krygios right now)
Del Potro/Nadal (5/2)
Roanic Isner could be an interesting match perhaps. Sure it could be a straight sets 3 tiebreaker game, but it sure has the chance to be a 5 set, 21-19 in the 5th type of match. Isner had a 64 Ace victory the other day

Kind of an ugly afternoon/evening today. The Djokovic match took an ugly turn on a point at 3-3 in the 4th set, with the British Edmiond facing 2 break points. The was a drop shot by DJoker, Edmond cae in played the ball on the second hop, hit it a 6 inches out of bounds, and touched the net with his body in the process, yet somehow won the point. Djoker lost that game but was able to win the set. Lots of ugliness in the set with the crowd heavily favoring Edmonds, and Djoker repeatedly making gestures to the crowd, blowing them kisses, finger to the ear, etc. Honestly I think the anger fueled him

Nishuikori blew Krygios off the court. Not sure what happened there, but Krygios in particular didn't show up in the first set (lost in 16 min). They showed some highlights during the Djoker match, and Krygios looked completely out of it on the court. (really embarrassing stuff)

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/he-gave-up-nick-kyrgios-sent-packing-from-wimbledon-20180708-p4zq6l.html

Looking utterly disinterested, Kyrgios gifted Nishikori a second service break - and effectively the set with a 5-1 advantage - when he fired a 215kph second-serve double-fault on break point.

"He kind of gave up," ex-British Davis Cup star Andrew Castle said on the BBC after Kyrgios surrendered the opening set in 16 minutes.

Former Australian Open finalist and British Davis Cup captain John Lloyd went further, saying the tempestuous talent "has to make his mind up to how much he wants to commit to winning slams"
 

jon abbey

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Pliskova goes out, so #11 Kerber is the top seed left of the final 8. Serena marches on, 6-2, 6-2.
 

InstaFace

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Serena's gonna play Bertens in the semis, and Kerber in the finals. They're both just playing really well and I can't see them losing to anyone else.

With the men:
- Federer bageled a fellow seed, #22 Mannarino, in the first set en route to a straight-sets win.
- Monfils has lost two tiebreaks to Kevin Anderson and may be on his way out, I'm watching this right now.
- The miracle run by American Mackenzie McDonald ends in the R16, losing to Raonic in 4. He will face Isner in the quarters.
- Del Potro and Nadal play later, and will play each other if they win, in a matchup worth of the semis or even finals, but fated to happen in the QF.
 

jon abbey

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No men's upsets today (Del Potro up 2 sets and down a break, Djokovic up a set and a break, the other six done), so we are looking at this exciting final 8:

Federer/Anderson (1/8)
Raonic/Isner (13/9)
Djokovic/Nishikori (12/24)
Del Potro/Nadal (5/2)
 

InstaFace

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Kerber and Ostapenko won earlier, so starting now are Serena-Giorgi, and Bertens-Goerges on Court 1. The latter will be the closer match, but it'll be worth watching Serena just to see what kind of form she's in.

To my eye, she's improved over the course of the tournament, especially in her consistency of shotmaking and her power. When she was down a break against Mledenovic, at 4-5*, she shifted into her famous Fifth Gear that made me a fan of hers all the way back in 2002. She basically beat the shit out of Mladenovic, going for (and making) tough shots with a ton of power while amping up her foot speed at the same time. She won the last 3 games of that set, and the first 4 of the next set before she finally downshifted again.

That said, she's also got some aspects of her game that aren't yet up to her championship-level standards. Her footspeed isn't going to magically appear overnight. Her serve speed is basically at her late-career average again, which means she's fully healed from the shoulder injury (maxed out at 119mph this tournament, tied with her opponent Giorgi, and behind only her sister who busted a 123mph early on). Both she and Goerges are leading the tournament in 1st-serve points won, at 78%. However, her first-serve % is down, and to my eye her footwork on cross-court runs, packpedaling, and overheads, isn't as crisp as I'm used to.

Camila Giorgi leads the tournament in double-faults, so it won't be a "choke" if she continues that trend, she's just bad at second-serves. She's also an absolute smokeshow, which is always nice.

Should be fun.
 

Eastchop

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Giorgi appears to be serving well today. She doesn’t look particularly sharp but is dominating in the first set. Serena looks very slow.
 
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BigMike

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Very disappointing that DelPo got a very late start yesterday, and wasn't able to finish. He had to really battle today, and compared to what I saw earlier in the tournament looked rough. Now I have far less confidence he will give Nadal a match

Giorgi, playing well in the first set against Serena. Her serve fell apart for a bit after breaking Serena, but she rebounded form -40, and was able to finally win the game. Shewins the set 6-4, and did fairly well control it. Hope she can keep her emotions in check, and not fall apart
 

InstaFace

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The service game Serena lost in the first set was one where she should have won the first point, but it was called out, she didn't challenge, and TV replays showed it was actually in. She ultimately lost the game on 30-40, whereas a successfully replayed point would have just put that game to deuce.

She moved to beast mode and got that *0-40 lead on Giorgi, but Giorgi tightened up, just like BigMike said.

This is a great match. We'll really see what Serena's game is made of in 2018 now, especially her endurance, as she hasn't lost a set yet. The other match seems likely to go to a third set too.
 

BigMike

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Girorgi had a good chance in the second set, up 15-30 she had a simple backhand volley to put her with a few break points, and blasted it over the court, and you could see it beat her up mentally, and lost the game, and followed up with a poor service game, and now it looks like Serena will cruise through he second
 

InstaFace

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From wikipedia: Over her career, Giorgi has won more matches against top-10 players than she has lost. Seems almost impossible for a player currently ranked #52.

Serena breaks at love in the early going in the 3rd, now serving *2-1.
 

InstaFace

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Both sides hold out, despite some openings on each side, and Serena comes away with it 6-4. A great match, she'll sleep well tonight (after playing on back-to-back days).
 
Very disappointing that DelPo got a very late start yesterday, and wasn't able to finish. He had to really battle today, and compared to what I saw earlier in the tournament looked rough. Now I have far less confidence he will give Nadal a match
I don't really get the way matches are scheduled on tour. In an era where Nadal and Federer are still head-and-shoulders above everyone else in the men's game, do they really need to be on Centre Court (or its equivalent elsewhere) for virtually every match and to get extra days of rest over their opponents? I get that you want to put the biggest attractions in front of the most fans as much as possible - although scheduling a doubles match involving Jamie Murray on Centre Court at the end of the day while DelPo was stuck on a court with no roof and no lights was very weak - but surely there ought to be an element of competitive balance involved.

Incidentally, this may interest only me, but I was watching some of the DelPo-Simon match yesterday on the BBC and was bemused to hear it being called by Simon Reed (my contact and occasional boss at Eurosport) and Mark Petchey. Petchey, the former no. 80 in the ATP Tour rankings, is the ex-player and was nominally in the color commentary role, but at Sky Sports he has become basically their main play-by-play tennis guy, and has called US Open finals and the like in that capacity. The BBC often hires commentators from the other networks just for Wimbledon, but hearing Petchey being used as an analyst was almost like hearing Chris Fowler or Dick Enberg being used as an analyst. Very jarring.
 

BigMike

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Roger struggling now against Anderson. He won the first 2 sets, although the second set was a very tough tiebreaker.

In the 3rd set Roger saw his record 34 set winning streak at Wimbledon snapped. He had match point at 4-5, but wasn't able to break . Then he had a poor service game to dop to 5-6, at 5-6 he had triple break point and sprayed his forehand all over the place, and ultimately lost the game and set.
 

jon abbey

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Anderson takes Fed to a 5th set, Novak through to the semis in 4.
 

InstaFace

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Opening for federer at *2-3, 0-30, on Anderson's serve.

This is streaming live on ESPN3.

edit: 4 straight points to hold, punctuated with an ace. 3-all.
 

jon abbey

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Then Fed did the same thing next game, 0-30 and four straight points. 4-3 Fed.
 

jon abbey

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7-6 Fed now, no 5th set tiebreaker at Wimbledon as we all remember.
 

jon abbey

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Anderson holds and wins it, Federer now 266-3 in Grand Slams when he wins the first two sets.
 

InstaFace

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Delpo-Nadal is shaping up to be a great match too. Nadal broke in the 12th game to win the first set 7-5, just had a bit of a lull for Anderson to break him and serve for the 2nd set 4-5*, but he raised his game and broke right back. Nadal serving at 5-5 now.
 

jon abbey

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The level of play in Del Potro/Nadal is amazing, this should have been the final. Nadal close to winning, but fighting off break points up 4-3 in the 5th currently.

Edit: 5-3 Nadal, finally. One game away.
 

jsinger121

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Doesn't get any easier for Rafa with Djokovic now in the semis. Its too bad that Del Potro had so many injuries. He could have been great.
 

cromulence

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The level of play in Del Potro/Nadal is amazing, this should have been the final. Nadal close to winning, but fighting off break points up 4-3 in the 5th currently.

Edit: 5-3 Nadal, finally. One game away.
That was the best match I've seen this year. Just throwing their bodies all over the place and crushing the ball for nearly five hours. It was a nice exchange after the match with Nadal crossing the net and giving him a hug, but I still felt awful for Del Potro. I want him to win another major.
 

jon abbey

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Serena and Kerber both win in straight sets, at least Kerber has some Grand Slam winning experience so maybe she can give Serena a good final.
 

jsinger121

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Serena and Kerber both win in straight sets, at least Kerber has some Grand Slam winning experience so maybe she can give Serena a good final.
If Serena played like she did today against Kerber I am not sure Kerber has much of a chance. Kerber won easily today but Ostapenko had so many unforced errors that Kerber didn't really have to do much.
 

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Watching Isner-Anderson, and you know what, this might be the "undercard", but it is such an incredible display of mental toughness and focus, the level these two can serve at. They split two tiebreaks in the first 2 sets. Isner had held for 110 straight service games - hadn't been broken in the entire tournament, had fought off 9 break points today - and then lost it for just a second, and got broken. Anderson, serving up *5-3, had won 42 straight service games. Isner raises his game, Anderson misses just a tiny bit, bam, broken back. They're now in a 3rd-set tiebreak and it's spellbinding.

John Isner might actually make the finals of Wimbledon. I don't care if Nadal blows him away, that's fucking incredible all on its own.
 

InstaFace

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Serving to level the match, after breaking Isner a second time in the set, Anderson goes up 40-0... and has now reeled off 3 straight errors (2 forced) to go to deuce. edit: holds. 6-4 in the 4th, going to a decider. Isner is now in "Roddick in 2009 vs Federer" land, needs to actually break serve and hold. No more tiebreaks for him.
 

bostonbeerbelly

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So I have tickets for tomorrow - any chance the Nadal vs Djokovic gets pushed or finishes tomorrow morning, and I get to see it with my Saturday tickets?
 

jon abbey

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Maybe this will push Wimbledon into finally putting in a 5th set tiebreaker.
 

The Big Red Kahuna

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Maybe this will push Wimbledon into finally putting in a 5th set tiebreaker.
Would you really prefer that? This is great IMO, and I otherwise would have very little interest in this match, other than it being a big sporting event.
 

jon abbey

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Maybe there could be a compromise or something, a 5th set tiebreak once it gets to 9-9. This is just mutual destruction, and it's even worse when it's a semi.
 

InstaFace

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Maybe there could be a compromise or something, a 5th set tiebreak once it gets to 9-9. This is just mutual destruction, and it's even worse when it's a semi.
Part of me wants to agree to a 5th set tiebreak at 12-12, but part of me also enjoys the sheer spectacle of this. Wailing away, game after game, for the championship of each other.