Tennis 2018

InstaFace

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Why couldn't you have wished for a slightly smaller number? Yikes. Nadal-DelPo is going to have to get punted till tomorrow. I figured they'd have started them on Court 1 by now.
On second thought, McEnroe just pointed out that they have the roof now, so I assume they can play a lit nighttime match. So I'm guessing they play today come hell or high water.
 

jon abbey

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I don't really like watching Isner in general, I really enjoyed Anderson/Federer, but two of these guys against each other isn't compelling at all to me (admittedly I missed the first four hours or so of this one).
 

jsinger121

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Jul 25, 2005
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I don't really like watching Isner in general, I really enjoyed Anderson/Federer, but two of these guys against each other isn't compelling at all to me (admittedly I missed the first four hours or so of this one).
Isner stinks. way too many unforced errors in general. He's been lucky with his draw to make it this far.
 

jsinger121

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I think there's an 11 pm curfew for Wimbledon matches on Centre Court, actually. That might come into play today...

FWIW, I commentated on an Isner match this year that finished 6-7, 7-6, 7-6. I'd have loved having no tiebreaker in that final set, btw.
Indeed will come into play no question.
 

jon abbey

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It's like watching Scherzer against Sale, except the hitters are also Scherzer and Sale. :)
 

InstaFace

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Isner's got a lot more game than just his serve. His net play is really impressive, he's got great spin shots, and while he's a big lunk, his court coverage with only a step or two is very impressive. He will never be as beautifully creative as Federer, but he's been a top-20 player in the world for 8 years running, you don't get there by being a one-trick pony.

edit: he won Miami earlier this year, beating Cilic, whipping Del Potro, and then beating Sasha Zverev in the final.
 

InstaFace

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We are talking about someone who played a 70-68 5th set here in the past, 20-18 is nothing.
yeah but he had 3 days to get there. This is all in one day, they'll let 'em play all day. Isner's already starting to look like the exhaustion is getting to him, at least on his forehand and approaches. Hasn't competed on an Anderson service game in like 5 or 6 games.
 

riboflav

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Isner is barely hanging on and can't do anything with Anderson serving. His best hope is Anderson makes a couple consecutive unforced errors and that seems almost impossible given the way Anderson is playing.
 

riboflav

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Since the 5th set began, I have

taken a shower
had lunch
picked up my son from camp
worked for an hour
run to the grocery store

Each time I've embarked one of these activities, I've foolishly expected the match to be over by the end.
 

Senator Donut

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Are they seriously starting the final two hours before the World Cup on Sunday? Whose pea-brained idea was that?
 

jon abbey

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Other match starting in a few minutes, their window is a bit under three hours. I am guessing it will be suspended after three sets.
 

jon abbey

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Nice first set for Novak, a late break and closed it out at 6-4. He has played a lot less than Nadal and that intense Del Potro match must have been draining, even for Nadal.
 

jon abbey

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So who will be the next American Male to win a major?
Jack Sock and Mike Bryan are in the doubles final tomorrow, I know that's not what you meant. Singles, no one seems able to break through the Federer/Nadal/Djokovic chokehold on the sport, American or otherwise.
 

jon abbey

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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.
Isner: “personally think a sensible option would be 12-All....I'm a proponent of changing that rule, for sure. I think it needs to be done.”
 

jon abbey

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1 set all between Nadal/Djokovic, a little over an hour left before the curfew.
 

InstaFace

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(I didn't realize they could continue through to the end of the breaker, even if it carried on past 11:00.)
It's too bad, how British would it have been for someone in a silly suit come running out onto the field in the middle of a game, yelling "you all simply MUST go home now! Can't play any more! Sorry! Come back tomorrow! So sorry!"
 
It's too bad, how British would it have been for someone in a silly suit come running out onto the field in the middle of a game, yelling "you all simply MUST go home now! Can't play any more! Sorry! Come back tomorrow! So sorry!"
I was thinking more that the 11 p.m. curfew was a legal requirement pursuant to the building of the roof and lights above Centre Court, designed to ensure that the residents of Wimbledon (the London suburb, not the All England Club) don't have to put up with thousands of fans making noise late at night on their way back to and through the train/Tube stations and elsewhere. But presumably the legalese must dictate that the curfew only kicks in as soon as any game ongoing as of 11 p.m. is finished.
 

InstaFace

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or they're not too bothered about a militaristic adherence to the precise stop time of 11:00 because there's a give-and-take understanding in play here.

Frankly, if the last tubes go at 12:30am, they really ought to play till midnight. It's two weeks a bloody year.
 

BigMike

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I was thinking more that the 11 p.m. curfew was a legal requirement pursuant to the building of the roof and lights above Centre Court, designed to ensure that the residents of Wimbledon (the London suburb, not the All England Club) don't have to put up with thousands of fans making noise late at night on their way back to and through the train/Tube stations and elsewhere. But presumably the legalese must dictate that the curfew only kicks in as soon as any game ongoing as of 11 p.m. is finished.
Well I am sure it is a legal or negotiated requitement.

But generally the nature of curfews are written such as you can't start a game after curfew, or you cant start an inning after curfew (basesball)

In terms of the fifth set tiebreaker, yeah I guess it could happen, some suggest they do it at 12-12. But honestly we are talking 2 matches in the history of the event where it got to the point of being almost silly not having that tiebreaker. There have been a few other matches that have gone past 12-12 , but very few
 
There are a lot of killjoys out there who couldn't (and can't) enjoy a historical moment when it's staring them in the face. I'm not sure what the US commentary was like, but on the BBC we had John Inverdale and John McEnroe making it sound like the crowd was bored during the fifth set and was desperate to get Nadal-Djokovic on court, and that the lack of a final-set tiebreak was an affont to the sport and indeed humanity. Ridiculous. I'd be fine with a tiebreak at 12-12 in the 5th, or maybe a 10-point match tiebreak at that stage - except in the final, when there's no reason not to keep playing until they drop. But the drama of an extended final set like that, even when the tennis isn't that great (and there were still some great points toward the end anyway), is unbelievable.
 

bosox188

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After a long grinding first game with Nadal eventually holding his serve, he very quickly breaks Djokovic to go up 2-0. Exactly what he needed to do. I'd give Nadal the mental edge with the break between days, even down a set.
 

jon abbey

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There are a lot of killjoys out there who couldn't (and can't) enjoy a historical moment when it's staring them in the face. I'm not sure what the US commentary was like, but on the BBC we had John Inverdale and John McEnroe making it sound like the crowd was bored during the fifth set and was desperate to get Nadal-Djokovic on court, and that the lack of a final-set tiebreak was an affont to the sport and indeed humanity. Ridiculous. I'd be fine with a tiebreak at 12-12 in the 5th, or maybe a 10-point match tiebreak at that stage - except in the final, when there's no reason not to keep playing until they drop. But the drama of an extended final set like that, even when the tennis isn't that great (and there were still some great points toward the end anyway), is unbelievable.
I think most of the sport wants it to change at this point, and I don’t personally think there’s much drama in dozens of consecutive holds, most of them routine.
 

jon abbey

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Now this match is actually high drama, too bad it had to be cut into two days.
 

jon abbey

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What a match of the best two players in the world.
The guy with three of the previous six Grand Slams who also happens to be the best player of all time would like to disagree with this characterization.
 

jon abbey

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Awesome tennis, Novak should send Del Potro a gift basket for making Nadal play almost five hours in the quarters.