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Post by rubcale on Jul 6, 2022 13:34:07 GMT 1
So Wimbledon is now conforming with the other Slams.
Obviously, previously it was unfortunate that the women's quarters had to be played the day after the L16 but I personally prefer that the four quarters of each sex be played on the same day.
Norrie did good to hang in when he wasn't really playing that well - I don't think there's any doubt the crowd lifted him towards the end.
I got a terrible feeling in my gut when he led 30-0 in the last game and then made an unforced error to get brought back to 30-30, I was sure he'd blown it!
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Post by Bluewhalesroxs007 on Jul 6, 2022 16:16:29 GMT 1
When dose wimberldon end reddy on to long 😂😂😂😳 tell ne Soon woord Upp Mooo ligers
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Post by Panda on Jul 6, 2022 18:06:36 GMT 1
When dose wimberldon end reddy on to long 😂😂😂😳 tell ne Soon woord Upp Mooo ligers Sunday.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 7, 2022 0:35:02 GMT 1
So Wimbledon is now conforming with the other Slams. Obviously, previously it was unfortunate that the women's quarters had to be played the day after the L16 but I personally prefer that the four quarters of each sex be played on the same day. From a player's and my perspective, I agree.
From a scheduling (and the BBCs) perspective, this way is better as at least there is some singles tennis being played in the early evening and provides a nice balance in the schedule. Sometimes all the women's QFs could be completed within 4 hours and could be stuck watching doubles during the peak viewing time. The men's QFs you could have long 5 set matches that could last way into the night.
The other plus is at least all the QFs are now being played on either Centre Court or Court 1.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 7, 2022 1:23:27 GMT 1
Day 10
Brit news -
Joe Salisbury / Rajeev Ram won their men's doubles QF match against the experienced French pairing of Edouard Roger-Vasselin / Nicolas Mahut in 5 sets. There was some controversy in the match over the hawk-eye challenge system in the 2nd set, where a few balls which looked out on camera were being shown hitting the line on hawk-eye after challenging, which most went against Ram/Salisbury.
Apparently after some calibration, the issue was resolved but there were calls to turn off hawk-eye before the umpire stood firm to keep it on.
Defending champions Neal Skupski/Desirae Krawczyk won their SF in the mixed doubles against the 6th seeds of Mate Pavic / Sania Mirza in 3 sets. They look to defend their title against the Aussie pairing of Matt Ebden / Sam Stosur tomorrow - which will be the first final to be played in the new slot of 2nd week Thursday evening.
In the other days news - Halep is looking a strong favourite to win the Women singles title after a convincing win against Anisimova and it will be a Nadal vs Kyrgios for the other Mens SF match - if Nadal is well enough to play after straining his abdominal region after his epic win against Taylor Fritz.
Here are the semi final matches in the women's draw tomorrow:-
O. Jabeur (TUN) 3 vs T. Maria (GER)
E. Rybakina (KAZ) 17 vs S. Halep (ROU) 16
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 8, 2022 1:36:54 GMT 1
Day 11
The big news today is Rafa Nadal has had to withdraw from Wimbledon due to the abdominal injury he made worse during his QF match yesterday - stating that he could not give his 100% in the next match and the injury will only worsen if he plays. This means Nick Kyrgios received a walkover to the final on Sunday.
Norrie and Djokovic will play their SF tomorrow and play 2nd on Centre Court after a Ladies Doubles semi final match.
It's Ons Jabeur vs. Elena Rybakina in the womens single final on Saturday.
Salisbury/Ram failed to reach the final at Wimbledon for the 3rd time after a thrilling 5 set loss in their SF match against Matt Ebden/Max Purcell 3-6 6-7 (1-7) 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 6-2 - a match where Salisbury/Ram has 5 match points in the 3rd set tie break and looked a fairly comfortable match until that point.
In the mixed doubles final - Neal Skupski/Desirae Krawczyk retained their Wimbledon title after a comfortable win against Australian pairing of Matt Ebden and Sam Stosur. The last time the title was defended was 25 years ago.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 9, 2022 3:24:00 GMT 1
Day 12
Novak Djokovic will face Nick Kyrgios in Sunday's mens singles final for his 7th Wimbledon title and his 21st Grand Slam title after a 4 set win against Cam Norrie (2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4).
Although I didn't watch most of the match (thanks Friday night deadline work!), I think the story of the match was Norrie gifted Djokovic with a lot of free points and Djokovic cleverly exploited the forehand of Norrie. For the first set and a half, Norrie was the better player but Djokovic showed his class.
Nevertheless it's a great result for Norrie and I think superseded expectations not only to get in the 2nd week of Grand Slam but also give Novak a game. As with Emma Raducanu in the US Open, he's now been thrusted in the public eye (if not already) and there will be high expectation for him to succeed in the US Open and beyond.
I'm curious, given his personality, how he will handle that expectation going forward.
Interestingly Djokovic has a losing record against Kyrgios. No doubt there will be fireworks and has the potential to be a memorable final for the right and wrong reasons.
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Post by rubcale on Jul 9, 2022 8:51:46 GMT 1
In the end Norrie was making too many unforced errors probably because of the pressure he was under.
As Djokovic himself said the turning point came when he was leading 4-3 in the second set, Norrie serving at 15-15 missed an easy put-away volley and that was that.
Norrie has done well to make the top 10, just outside it now and the pity is that he doesn't benefit from any points this tournament - I really think though he's a step short of winning a Slam title.
This could be a nightmare end for the organisers - to all intents and purposes Rybakina is a Russian and Kyrios' attitude has been disgraceful.
What goes round comes round, maybe this was some payback for Nadal, for years he benefitted by deliberately flouting the time limit between points and the officials turned a blind eye to it - of course his opponents should have continually called him on it.
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Post by Robin on Jul 9, 2022 16:04:41 GMT 1
I don’t watch much women’s tennis, and today’s final reminded me why. A poor quality game and so not worthy of a Wimbledon final. I’m sure tomorrow will be much much better.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 9, 2022 19:16:40 GMT 1
I don’t watch much women’s tennis, and today’s final reminded me why. A poor quality game and so not worthy of a Wimbledon final. I’m sure tomorrow will be much much better. To be fair, this one was one of the better finals at Wimbledon in recent times but most of the women's finals haven't been great. The last one I can think was memorable was when the Williams sisters played each other over 10 years ago
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 10, 2022 3:09:03 GMT 1
Day 13
Elena Rybakina wins the Wimbledon Ladies singles in 3 sets 3-6 6-2 6-2 against Ons Jabeur. She is the first Kazakh to win a Wimbledon title and this is her only her 3rd title in her career on the WTA tour.
As I said previously, this was one of the better finals to watch in recent times just watching the contrast of playing styles and emotions during the match. Ultimately once she settled after losing the first set, Rybakina's serve was the difference.
It will be a final famous for the non-celebration by Rybakina, as if it was a 1st round victory. I think she has good potential of winning another Wimbledon if she gets her net play sorted out.
On the back of this, I'm sure there will be questions asked regarding her Russian background (if there hasn't been already) and to the Kazakh Tennis Federation strategy of providing financial support to struggling Russian tennis players and providing them Kazakh citizenship.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 10, 2022 21:06:48 GMT 1
Day 14
Novak Djokovic wins his 4th Wimbledon in a row and 7th overall after a hard fought win against Nick Kyrgios. 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(3)
After a shaky start by the loss of the 1st set, as with his other 4 set matches at Wimbledon - the turning point was early in the 2nd set (at 1-2 I think?) where Djokovic held his serve after deuce and immediately broke Kyrgios the game after. After this, you felt Djokovic was in control and Nick was up to his usual antics of yelling in his box.
Kyrgios got a code violation (I presume for swearing?) but how he wasn't docked points, especially with a large TV audience and kids watching - I have no idea.
I assume he'll get some sort of fine again by Wimbledon but the ATP need to look at this and stop being so lenient on Kyrgios.
On the whole - the tournament has been good given the no ranking points situation. So despite Djokovic's win, he will move outside the top 5 and Emma Raducanu will lose her 4th round points gained from last year and dropping her down. I've been impressed with the Brits both in singles and doubles and British tennis is looking bright. Hope we do see some of them in the US Open.
I like the new additions to the BBC - especially Todd Woodbridge who's been insightful in his analysis. Both the cricket presenters (Isa Guha and Alison Mitchell) have done decent jobs in their first outing but there is room for improvement. John Inverdale is still as annoying as ever.
It was a nice tribute by the BBC of Sue Barker too. Wish her a happy retirement.
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Post by Panda on Jul 10, 2022 21:13:49 GMT 1
I thought Alison Mitchell had been part of the tennis coverage before - maybe it was just on the radio. I didn't see loads of Wimbledon this year so I didn't actually see her at any point. I wouldn't be surprised if BBC pushed Lee McKenzie into a more Sue Barker-type role at Wimbledon.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 11, 2022 2:09:21 GMT 1
Forgot to also mention the changes for Wimbledon this year have refreshed the tournament IMO.
I like the championship tie-break after 3/5 sets, middle Sunday play has balanced the matches significantly with all the major finals now being played on Centre Court and the shot clock has made a difference to players prep time prior to serving - a clear example was this year Djokovic bouncing the ball 7/8 times before serve but last year it was 17/18 bounces.
I don't think I've heard Alison Mitchell commentate on the tennis before, certainly not on TV. She did some commentary on a ladies match on Court 1 - can't remember who was playing and although she did her homework of finding stats and all that, she was a tad talkative which was understandable given her background in radio.
Agree with the Lee McKenzie statement, I think she would be perfect for presenting Today at Wimbledon (which the BBC really need to sort out) and Claire Balding/Isa Guha moved to the main studio. Not sure how this could fit with her Channel 4 stuff.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 13, 2022 0:16:13 GMT 1
Unsurprisingly Nick Kyrgios was fined for his uncensored outbursts during the Wimbledon final ($4000).
After a crazy update to the rankings due to the points situation at Wimbledon, Emma Raducanu becomes one of the beneficiaries of Karolina Pliskova drop in the rankings, after her finals appearance last year, to enter into the top 10. She becomes the 5th British woman in the open era to rank in the top 10 after Virginia Wade, Sue Barker, Jo Durie and Johanna Konta.
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rewardman
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Post by rewardman on Jul 13, 2022 1:26:48 GMT 1
A £4,000 fine is a joke frankly.
His behavior was disgraceful. I’m glad Djokovic turned him over.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 14, 2022 3:12:43 GMT 1
It is lenient and I suspect it was issued based on the 1 code violation the umpire issued in the match for his potty mouth, which is on par as the match against Tsitsipas. To give you a scale of the fines Nick has been issued at Wimbledon this year: -
- 1st round match against Paul Jubb - spitting (at the end of the match) in the direction towards a spectator - $10,000
- 4th round match against Stefano Tsitsipas - obscene language - $4,000
- Final against Novak Djokovic - obscene language - $4,000
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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 14, 2022 7:15:32 GMT 1
Thank you Pablo for your regular updates. As I didn't have time to watch much of the tournament, they were very useful.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Aug 29, 2022 0:13:40 GMT 1
US Open time and the final Grand Slam tournament of 2022!
As expected, No-VAC Djokovic has been refused entry to the USA and unable to participate in the USO. Coupled with the AO and the no points situation at Wimbledon, he will lose his points he got from the final last year and will be the lowest rank he will finish the season with probably since he started.
The tournament will also mark the final tournament for Serena Williams and an end of an era. She could have a decent singles run but hard to know what her form is like. She'll also be playing with Venus in the doubles however they have a tough 1st round.
On the Brits side, unfortunately nobody came through qualification. Paul Jubb (who almost beat Nick Kygrios in the 1st round at Wimbledon) and Heather Watson came close but lost the final sets in their respective Q3 matches. This leaves 5 men and 2 women from GB to qualify in the main draw.
Mens - Cam Norrie - Seeded #7 - Tough draw for Cam as he faces a tough but volatile opponent in Frenchman Benoit Paire. Could meet John Isner in the 3rd round.
- Andy Murray - Faces 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo. Could face Matteo Berretini in the 3rd round if he makes it that far.
- Dan Evans - Seeded #20 - Faces Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic whose not had great success of the USO in the last few years, losing in the first round 4 times in the last 4 tournaments. Could face former USO champ Marin Cilic in the 3rd round. Arguably he has the easier chance of making it far in the tournament.
- Kyle Edmund - Using his injury protected ranking to enter after 2 years stuck on the sidelines. This marks his first GS since the USO in 2020. Not an easy comeback match with 5th seed Casper Ruud as his opponent in the 1st round. I'll be happy if he gets a set from the match.
- Jack Draper - Following from a stellar season where he's now ranked at his highest of 55. Potentially a tricky but a winnable match with his opponent being Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori who's currently ranked at 44. Felix AA could be his 2nd round.
Womens - Emma Raducanu - The current USO champion (which is still weird saying even after a year). Seeded #11 and faces a tough experienced opponent in Alize Cornet in her 1st round and former champ Naomi Osaka in the 3rd round. I hold back predictions given her performances and the spotlight during the season but she has had a decent run up to USO but if she gets in the 2nd week, that will be an achievement IMO.
- Harriet Dart - Having qualified with Emma last year and lost in the 1st round. Along with Emma, she qualifies directly and is rewarded with a first round match against the Russian 10th seed Daria Kasatkina. Will do well to get something out of this match. She's also the only Brit playing in the singles to be playing in the women's doubles as well partnering with another Russian in Liudmila Samsonova.
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Post by rubcale on Aug 29, 2022 9:34:27 GMT 1
TBH I'll be surprised if Emma beats Alize Cornet but here's hoping.
Probably can't do much this event but will be interesting to see how Kyle Edmund casn progress.
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