Tom
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Post by Tom on Jul 2, 2021 13:01:31 GMT 1
Day 4 - pretty much as good as yesterday!
Emma Raducanu beat Vondrousova 42 (CH 14 July 2019) 6-2 6-4 in almost 1 hr 15 Vondrousova came into this match on the back of a 3 set win over the 24th seed Kontaveit (who up until recently was coached by Nigel Sears) but on the back of Raducanu's first round win i thought she would make this close. Interesting to hear Mel South in commentary (alongside Simon Reed), thought she was good. They mentioned that Nigel Sears has been coaching Raducanu during the grasscourt season, and Jeremy Bates (who is Boulter's coach) was watching and is part of her team too, so she's got a great team behind her. Even with my sky high expectations this was impressive! Fantastic first set, second set definitely not as impressive as the pressure got to her at the start with her serve deserting her and producing double faults as she went 3-0 down and then almost went another break down but just about hung on for 1-3 before out of nowhere breaking back to love. The rest of the set was scrappy. It's hard not to be excited, she's in the 3rd round on merit. Next plays Cirstea which feels like a 50/50 match, although i've never seen Cirstea lose when i've seen her matches! (US Open 2012 v Lisicki, US Open 2014 v Watson, and French Open this year v Konta).
(29) Norrie beat Bolt 149 (CH 125 March 2019) 6-3 6-1 6-2 in about an hour and a half Norrie came back from 3-0 down in that first set, for what was in the end a routine win.
There seem to be more Brits playing in the men's and women's doubles than ever, which may be partly because they no longer do doubles qualifying, but it may also show how many of our doubles players are high enough ranked to get in directly without a wildcard. They've reduced the men's doubles in the first two rounds to best of 3 sets to catch up as the doubles matches were scheduled to start on Wednesday but got pushed back a day because of the rain earlier in the week. A wise decision as there's still first round matches being played today and there's rain forecast for tomorrow. Here are the wins:
Brilliant win for Dart/Watson 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour against Kanepi/Zhang. If only they could have taken that form into their singles...The Skupskis beat Liam Broady/Ryan Peniston in an all Brit match 7-5 6-3 in almost an hour and a half. Lloyd Glasspool (best known for being Heather Watson's ex...) and his partner beat the 10th seeds Koolhof/Rojer 5-7 6-3 6-4 in almost 2 hr, stunning comeback win! Luke Bambridge/Dom Inglot won another all Brit match 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 against Scott Parker/James Ward in about an hour and a half.
Discovered yesterday that they're not doing the seniors this year, thought "why not", but then realised that those players wouldn't be in the bubble, many of them also commentate i think. A shame though, enjoyed catching bits of that in the past, especially Bahrami, which is why i decided to go to the seniors at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019. Bahrami is even more entertaining to watch in the flesh! Was planning to go again last year until the pandemic hit.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 3, 2021 0:47:45 GMT 1
Presumably they got him playing to stop the schedule going further behind with possibly more rain in the week? The luck of Wimbledon really - something that Djokovic was moaning earlier in his career when he had to play multiple matches in a short time. That may be true, they were probably more keen to get the men's matches started with them being best of 5, they cancelled a couple of the Brit women's matches. Although there wasn't any rain in the end yesterday (which surprised me a bit) and the forecast for Thursday and Friday i think was always going to be ok, so still don't think it was really necessary. Yep that too. I suppose if there's a hours play available, the ref would want to utilise it whilst there is a threat of rain coming. Hindsight and all that.
Hopefully there will be some ease to this from next year when there is play on middle Sunday.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 3, 2021 1:10:47 GMT 1
R1 Emma Raducanu 338 (CH 333 March 2020) beat (Q) Diatchenko 150 (CH 71 Nov 2014) 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 in almost 2 hr (first set lasted not far short of an hour and a half)!!!Raducanu is an 18 year old from Kent so like Matusevich is someone that was mentioned on BBC Radio Kent when she was in the juniors. Interesting to read that she got to the quarter finals of the girls in 2018 losing to Swiatek (the eventual champion) as i did try to think how she'd done in the juniors, have a vague memory of starting to wonder how far she could go that year at some point. That must have been the year the BBC did an interview with her during the event. She impressed in the Battle of the Brits last summer but has barely played since, junior events were cancelled (though i don't know whether she was still interested in playing juniors anyway) but she didn't want to travel in the pandemic. I was surprised she got a wildcard, but wow, this was the best Brit match i've seen, bordering on the ridiculous! Only watched the 2nd set, Diatchenko served for the first set at 5-3. At the start of the second set she was rattled and was broken to go 2-0 down. She did regain her composure but then Raducanu stepped it up on the big points. In the last game Raducanu simply took Diatchenko's serve apart which again rattled Diatchenko and the match ended on a double fault. Andy Murray beat (Q) Otte 151 (CH 129 Oct 2017) 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-2 in 3hr 51Didn't think it would be as close as this. Didn't see anything before the roof closed, watched most of it when play resumed. He did struggle on his serve at times but was on fire in that 5th set. In the end really good win from 2 sets to 1 down. I too watched Emma play in Battle of the Brits last year and I thought the experience would have overwhelmed her playing against some seasoned tour pros (and from lockdown too). She held her own and really impressed as a star of the future.
She did say I think on social media not long after she needed to focus on her A-Levels but continued to train at the tennis centre - hence why the lapse between then and now.
Is it just me or is it easier watching Murray now when there's no expectation for him to win the whole tournament? Otte had a brutal 1st round where it went over 2 days and I think gone to a 5th set tie break. You could sense that match was catching up to him in the 5th set.
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Post by Pablo on Jul 4, 2021 0:29:22 GMT 1
Watched the 2nd set of the Raducanu Cirstea match. I see what Tom meant by "bordering on the ridiculous". Some of her shots she played both defensively and offensively were delightful to watch.
I love how she embraced the Court 1 crowd, got them engaged and involved in the match. A total contrast to the Evans/Korda match, where Dan seemed to have alienated the crowd and not using it to his advantage.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jul 4, 2021 21:20:10 GMT 1
R1 Emma Raducanu 338 (CH 333 March 2020) beat (Q) Diatchenko 150 (CH 71 Nov 2014) 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 in almost 2 hr (first set lasted not far short of an hour and a half)!!!Raducanu is an 18 year old from Kent so like Matusevich is someone that was mentioned on BBC Radio Kent when she was in the juniors. Interesting to read that she got to the quarter finals of the girls in 2018 losing to Swiatek (the eventual champion) as i did try to think how she'd done in the juniors, have a vague memory of starting to wonder how far she could go that year at some point. That must have been the year the BBC did an interview with her during the event. She impressed in the Battle of the Brits last summer but has barely played since, junior events were cancelled (though i don't know whether she was still interested in playing juniors anyway) but she didn't want to travel in the pandemic. I was surprised she got a wildcard, but wow, this was the best Brit match i've seen, bordering on the ridiculous! Only watched the 2nd set, Diatchenko served for the first set at 5-3. At the start of the second set she was rattled and was broken to go 2-0 down. She did regain her composure but then Raducanu stepped it up on the big points. In the last game Raducanu simply took Diatchenko's serve apart which again rattled Diatchenko and the match ended on a double fault. Andy Murray beat (Q) Otte 151 (CH 129 Oct 2017) 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-2 in 3hr 51Didn't think it would be as close as this. Didn't see anything before the roof closed, watched most of it when play resumed. He did struggle on his serve at times but was on fire in that 5th set. In the end really good win from 2 sets to 1 down. Is it just me or is it easier watching Murray now when there's no expectation for him to win the whole tournament? Otte had a brutal 1st round where it went over 2 days and I think gone to a 5th set tie break. You could sense that match was catching up to him in the 5th set.
Yes for Murray's first match but I was quite nervous for his second match as it was one I expected him to win. Interesting comments from Broady after his win saying he was close to retiring in 2018 but an amazing conversation he had with Murray at the Battle of the Brits changed things around for him. Makes you wonder what Murray said! Failing to back up his last win at Wimbledon in 2015 was disappointing, kept on hoping he'd have a tournament which enabled him to kick on but it never came. Whilst I don't follow the challengers these days anyway must admit I rather lost interest and haven't really followed him since, hence his surge up the rankings this year has come as a shock! His comments about almost packing it in should come as a surprise but they don't really, especially when we've lost other promising players like Oliver Golding and Lewis Burton.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jul 4, 2021 22:00:46 GMT 1
Day 5 - the worst day so far
(22) Dan Evans lost to Korda 50 (=CH) 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 in about 2 and a half hours I thought this was a 50/50 match, Korda beat 15th seed Alex De Minaur (also Boulter's boyfriend) in 4 sets in R1, (think it was McEnroe who said the same), quite disappointing.
Murray lost to (10) Shapovalov 12 (CH 10 last September) 6-4 6-2 6-2 in about 2 hrs and a quarter. The roof was closed for the 3rd set, wondered if it might make a difference but in the end it didn't really. Disappointing performance, the kind that makes you wonder if he was distracted by anything off court, he was negative which is never a good sign. He didn't sound convinced in an interview he gave to the BBC later that night that he'd be back next year but guess he's only really looking short term atm. Got the Olympics coming up (though rather fear that playing both singles and doubles may be too much) and will be back in the top 100 very soon.
Doubles
Norrie and Munar won 7-5 7-6 (7-5) in almost 1hr 45 against the Tsitsipas brothers. There was a 6-3 5-7 6-4 win in over 2 hr for Sam Murray Sharan and her husband Divij Sharan in the mixed doubles against Behar and Voskoboeva. (6) Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram won 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour against Djere and Mager. Lloyd Glasspool and Jodie Burrage withdrew from their mixed doubles against Luke Bambridge and Muhammad, maybe because Glasspool wanted to focus on the men's doubles? Alistair Gray/Aidan McHugh two players just starting their pro careers (especially Gray) had a ridiculous 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 win in under an hour and a half against Jebavy/Vesely! Naomi Broady and Chardy beat Ryan Peniston and Eden Silva 6-4 6-2 in about an hour in the mixed doubles. (7) Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares beat Monroe/Pospisil 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 in about 1hr 45. Ken/Neal Skupski lost to (4) Granollers/Zeballos in R2 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 10-8 (that's a full set not tiebreak) in about 2 hrs 45 And in the mixed doubles Joe Salisbury and Harriet Dart beat former champions (and Harriet's doubles partner) Kontinen/Watson 6-1 7-6 (7-3) in about hour and a quarter.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jul 4, 2021 23:27:12 GMT 1
Day 6 results will mention tomorrow but got to mention about Raducanu! The rain didn't affect play as much as I thought it would. It rained during the first set of Raducanu's match and umbrellas went up so it was surprising they didn't put the covers on (and they didn't on the outside courts either) but it didn't last long. Apparently there was rain at the start of play so don't know whether there was any delay then as some of the doubles matches started later than I thought they would. Emma Raducanu beat Cirstea 45 (CH 21 Aug 2013) 6-3 7-5 in 1hr 40 Absolutely staggering performance, the best Brit women's match I've seen since Konta beat Vekic in 2017 (and on another day Vekic could have won that match, Raducanu deserved the win). Was absolutely buzzing afterwards! Cirstea was her toughest opponent, she didn't buckle under the pressure like her previous opponents did, and she could have done numerous times in the 2nd set. She said she was nervous at the start which came as a surprise as it didnt show. But being broken to go 3-1 down seemed to be the cue to really step it up, so maybe the nerves went then as she then won 8 games in a row to go 6-3 3-0 up. She then went 0-40 up in the next game with some forehand passing shots and she looked to be going through in style, and it seemed like she felt it too as then failed to break. It didn't come as a surprise when she then lost the break. At 4-3 up there was an epic game which lasted just short of 15 mins where she had 5 break points but failing to break didn't affect her. Ended by playing a great game to break and win the match. Watched the 2nd set of the Raducanu Cirstea match. I see what Tom meant by "bordering on the ridiculous". Some of her shots she played both defensively and offensively were delightful to watch. I love how she embraced the Court 1 crowd, got them engaged and involved in the match. A total contrast to the Evans/Korda match, where Dan seemed to have alienated the crowd and not using it to his advantage. Interesting comments about getting the crowd involved. Hadn't thought about that with Dan but noted how flat the crowd was in his match. It has been noticeable that Murray, Broady and Raducanu have all definitely got the crowd involved, plus Boulter on Centre Court, and Clarke and Dart have in the past. I'm not sure whether Dan always has when he's played on the bigger courts.
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Post by rubcale on Jul 5, 2021 9:43:03 GMT 1
I'm getting fed up with the Brits being stuck third match on court so the BBC can get good viewing figures.
In the circumstances AndyM did about as well as he could. I certainly wouldn't blame him if he thinks his time is up.
Norrie probably did as well as he could and can probably break into the top 20 but I'd have loved to see the match played on Court 1 - it might have even made it a bit closer.
I'm actually glad Emma Raduancu is playing on Court 1 today - I know she seems a confident person but with her inexperience I just wonder how she will have reacted to all the hype over the weekend and Centre Court might have been a nightmare for her.
I genuinely believe she's in with a shout today.
Not surprised at Dan Evans - he can' really perform on the very big stage - his game is lightweight and I don't really see him as a top 20 player.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jul 5, 2021 16:31:13 GMT 1
I'm getting fed up with the Brits being stuck third match on court so the BBC can get good viewing figures. In the circumstances AndyM did about as well as he could. I certainly wouldn't blame him if he thinks his time is up. Norrie probably did as well as he could and can probably break into the top 20 but I'd have loved to see the match played on Court 1 - it might have even made it a bit closer. I'm actually glad Emma Raduancu is playing on Court 1 today - I know she seems a confident person but with her inexperience I just wonder how she will have reacted to all the hype over the weekend and Centre Court might have been a nightmare for her. I genuinely believe she's in with a shout today. Not surprised at Dan Evans - he can' really perform on the very big stage - his game is lightweight and I don't really see him as a top 20 player. My only gripe with the BBC coverage, and this is also when they used to show the Aus Open in the latter stages, is their constant channel switching. I've recorded matches and on more than one occasion missed the end because they did this, and got lucky i think on another occasion. I was a bit surprised Emma Rad was on No 1 on Saturday. She wasn't facing a seed (and Cirstea has never reached the 2nd week of Wimbledon before) and it was a big jump up from Court 18 and Court 12 (late switch from 18) for her previous two matches. It seems right today though. Didn't expect Centre as Tomljanovic is also unseeded and isn't like a former champion. She's actually lower ranked than Rad's last two opponents and surprisingly hasn't beaten a seed to get here, which is unusual. With the form that Rad is in I think she's actually the slight favourite, which makes me a bit nervous. Forgot to add last night, seeing her emotion on Saturday made me feel a bit emotional too..
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Post by rubcale on Jul 5, 2021 18:00:52 GMT 1
My only gripe with the BBC coverage, and this is also when they used to show the Aus Open in the latter stages, is their constant channel switching. I've recorded matches and on more than one occasion missed the end because they did this, and got lucky i think on another occasion. Yes, really frustrating.
Delighted with Angelique Kerber's victory today - thini she's in with a real shout on who's left
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 5, 2021 22:20:48 GMT 1
Gutted for Emma having to retire early against Tomljanovic.
1st set could have gone either way but it's a shame she couldn't finish the match. Hopefully whatever the reason is, it's not too serious.
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 6, 2021 0:14:00 GMT 1
Interesting comments from Broady after his win saying he was close to retiring in 2018 but an amazing conversation he had with Murray at the Battle of the Brits changed things around for him. Makes you wonder what Murray said! Failing to back up his last win at Wimbledon in 2015 was disappointing, kept on hoping he'd have a tournament which enabled him to kick on but it never came. Whilst I don't follow the challengers these days anyway must admit I rather lost interest and haven't really followed him since, hence his surge up the rankings this year has come as a shock! His comments about almost packing it in should come as a surprise but they don't really, especially when we've lost other promising players like Oliver Golding and Lewis Burton. Didn't Murray do the same with Dan Evans when Dan was at one of his lowest points of his career as well? Both Liam and Dan are quite similar in a way - both made stupid mistakes in their youth and taking tennis for granted. I suppose Murray showed them the commitment and sacrifices needed to succeed.
I'm not surprised at his comments, he was fast becoming a journeyman in the sport and spending time in the challengers with little reward being made must be demoralising. To be fair, he's had quite a strange career with the feud with the LTA over funding (for Naomi I think?) early on can't have helped matters.
This is where Battle of the Brits is a great idea too, not only to get match experience for the lesser known players but get that insight and advice from experienced players.
I think Dan's consistent onslaught of negative comments to his coach during his match made the crowd fall flat, you could sense the crowd weren't comfortable shouting out encouragement and if there was, it didn't feel like it was sinking in.
I can accept the odd burst of frustration like Andy does from time to time but I think Dan's was next level. Shame really as Murray and Raducanu have demonstrated how to utilise a crowd on a show court.
Like today as a prime example - one minute I had the warm up on BBC2, then come back 5 mins later and Eastenders was on! I don't get why the change and then just mess up both schedules
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Post by Panda on Jul 6, 2021 0:39:47 GMT 1
It seems the issue with Emma Raducanu was breathing difficulties. Martina seemed to pick up on it quite quickly on commentary as she mentioned something about hyperventilating.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jul 6, 2021 16:42:30 GMT 1
Wimbledon 2021: Emma Raducanu is 'feeling better' after retiring from fourth-round match - www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/57737252Will post more about the match last night later but thought I'd post this link for now. Just happened to see her interviewed by Sue Barker and thought she looked tired. She basically confirmed two of the the three things that had crossed my mind (she dismissed the idea that she wasn't prepared for the long wait to play).
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Post by rubcale on Jul 6, 2021 18:50:30 GMT 1
Disgraceful scheduling tomorrow - Djokovic and Federer on Centre Court.
Federer should have had a match on Court 1.
It means that if Matteo Berrettinil the #7 seed and Queens Club winner reaches the semis he will not have played at all on Centre.
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Post by rubcale on Jul 6, 2021 18:51:13 GMT 1
Wimbledon 2021: Emma Raducanu is 'feeling better' after retiring from fourth-round match - www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/57737252Will post more about the match last night later but thought I'd post this link for now. Just happened to see her interviewed by Sue Barker and thought she looked tired. She basically confirmed two of the the three things that had crossed my mind (she dismissed the idea that she wasn't prepared for the long wait to play). Who am I not to believe her? - but I don't!
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Pablo
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Post by Pablo on Jul 7, 2021 0:14:52 GMT 1
Wimbledon 2021: Emma Raducanu is 'feeling better' after retiring from fourth-round match - www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/57737252Will post more about the match last night later but thought I'd post this link for now. Just happened to see her interviewed by Sue Barker and thought she looked tired. She basically confirmed two of the the three things that had crossed my mind (she dismissed the idea that she wasn't prepared for the long wait to play). Who am I not to believe her? - but I don't! I do have some sympathy for her and maybe everything did catch up with her. To have your whole life changed from an unknown to almost superstar level in a week, as an 18 year old without your parents supporting you in person due to the Covid bubble can overwhelm you. Didn't Coco Gauff had a similar experience not long after her heroics at Wimbledon in 2019 too?
At the end of the day, whether the long delay did affect her (I think it did too) or not, it's all good experience for her on how to deal with situations like this, especially in a tournament like Wimbledon.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jul 7, 2021 17:10:07 GMT 1
Lot of catching up to do. Will just do Saturday for now, only half a dozen matches completed yesterday which will help.. Day 6 - an improvement on the day beforeEmma Raducanu already covered her match that day, but a few other things i've discovered since. Youngest Brit woman into the 4th round in the open era and the first since Christine Truman in 1959. Also the first on debut since Debbie Jevans in 1979, she's best known for being London 2012 director and has been chief executive elsewhere since. She's currently on the board on the All England club, she was picked out during one of the matches as she was in the Royal Box and it was mentioned she was a former player, had no idea until then! Raducanu was initially given a wildcard into qualifying which Nigel Sears complained about which was later upgraded after she beat Babos at Nottingham. There's probably more consternation this year about the wildcards as they scrapped the wildcard playoffs because of the Covid restrictions. Sears also mentioned that when she played Harriet Dart at Nottingham she actually froze in front of 5 people. (29) Norrie lost to (6) Federer 8 (CH former world no 1) 6-4 6-4 5-7 6-4 in 2 hr 35Thought the first set flattered Norrie, looked nervous and started off with a bad service game with 3 DFs and an ace where he somehow held serve. Got better and better in the next two sets and by the time he won the 3rd set the crowd were fully engaged. The 4th set was a grind but Federer's class showed in the end. Doubles
(7) Jamie Murray/Soares lost 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-2 to Golubev/Haase in just short of 2 hr. Apparently Jamie has been struggling with a neck injury which may partly explain this defeat, really poor, another early exit at Wimbledon. In the mixed doubles (ALT) Arthur Fery/Tara Moore beat Ken Skupski/Pegula 6-1 5-7 7-5 in about 1hr 45 Fery/Moore are only in the draw because another pair withdrew! Luke Bambridge/Dom Inglot lost 6-2 6-4 in about 1 hr to (16) Purcell/Saville Bit disappointing (6) Ram/Salisbury beat Fucsovics/Travaglia 6-3 6-4 in about 1hr Thought this would be a bit more comfortable. (7) Neal Skupski/Krawczyk beat Luke Bambridge/Muhammed 6-3 7-6 (9-7) in about 1hr 30 in the mixed doubles Lloyd Glasspool/Heliovaara beat Alistair Gray/Aidan McHugh 4-6 6-3 8-6 in about 2 hr 15 Glasspool/Heliovaara went on to withdraw from their 3rd round doubles match, so with Glasspool having already withdrawn from the mixed doubles can only assume he had an injury which prevented him from playing more than 3 sets, or it got worse in the couple of days between this match and the next one. Harriet Dart/Heather Watson beat Martic/Rogers 3-6 7-6(8-6) 6-1 in over 2 hr Stunning comeback win, so glad for both they've been able to get wins at Wimbledon. Sam Murray Sharan/Divji Sharan lost to (10) Klaasen/Jurak 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 in over 2hr Lost from a set up but still pretty good effort. In their first match a ballgirl slipped over after picking up a ball and had to be stretchered off after hurting her ankle. Norrie/Munar beat (5) Dodig/Polasek 7-6 (12-10) 1-6 7-5 in almost 2 hr Great win! I actually hoped after Norrie had played his singles this would be cancelled for the day, even if it did start i wasn't sure it would finish, but it started only just over an hour after he finished the singles, and finished about 9pm, they showed the final point on Today at Wimbledon. Chardy and Naomi Broady were also due to play in the mixed doubles but their opponents withdrew. I expected the juniors to start this day too but with the rain in the first couple of days the juniors got pushed back a day like the doubles were.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Jul 7, 2021 18:09:29 GMT 1
Interesting comments from Broady after his win saying he was close to retiring in 2018 but an amazing conversation he had with Murray at the Battle of the Brits changed things around for him. Makes you wonder what Murray said! Failing to back up his last win at Wimbledon in 2015 was disappointing, kept on hoping he'd have a tournament which enabled him to kick on but it never came. Whilst I don't follow the challengers these days anyway must admit I rather lost interest and haven't really followed him since, hence his surge up the rankings this year has come as a shock! His comments about almost packing it in should come as a surprise but they don't really, especially when we've lost other promising players like Oliver Golding and Lewis Burton. Didn't Murray do the same with Dan Evans when Dan was at one of his lowest points of his career as well? Both Liam and Dan are quite similar in a way - both made stupid mistakes in their youth and taking tennis for granted. I suppose Murray showed them the commitment and sacrifices needed to succeed.
I'm not surprised at his comments, he was fast becoming a journeyman in the sport and spending time in the challengers with little reward being made must be demoralising. To be fair, he's had quite a strange career with the feud with the LTA over funding (for Naomi I think?) early on can't have helped matters.
This is where Battle of the Brits is a great idea too, not only to get match experience for the lesser known players but get that insight and advice from experienced players.
I think Dan's consistent onslaught of negative comments to his coach during his match made the crowd fall flat, you could sense the crowd weren't comfortable shouting out encouragement and if there was, it didn't feel like it was sinking in.
I can accept the odd burst of frustration like Andy does from time to time but I think Dan's was next level. Shame really as Murray and Raducanu have demonstrated how to utilise a crowd on a show court.
Like today as a prime example - one minute I had the warm up on BBC2, then come back 5 mins later and Eastenders was on! I don't get why the change and then just mess up both schedules
Yes I thought about Evans after reading those comments. That was after Murray had won Wimbledon for the first time in 2013 and Evans was playing challengers in the American hard court season. Think he may have won one and Murray watched his matches and gave him feedback. Then a few weeks later Evans had his breakthrough slam qualifying for the US Open and IIRC reaching R3 losing to Robredo. Always remember Robredo beat Federer in the next round and he said that playing Evans was the perfect preparation as he said he had a similar gamestyle to Federer! Which i agree with. It's interesting to have read the LTA are putting on more British events and i wondered if that was because of the success of the Battle of the Brits. There used to be loads of challengers around the country during the summer after Wimbledon and others later in the year indoors from the mid 2000s, when i properly got into British tennis because of Murray, until early part of last decade (may not have even been that long for the summer ones) but i think they got rid of them because there weren't enough Brits capable of playing at challenger level anymore. It's clear there are young players now who deserve the chance to play in these events, and against each other. The most annoying thing about the channel switch on Mon night was that they did it mid game and with Clare Balding telling us what was happening they used the camera in the far corner so they actually missed a couple of points!
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Post by Panda on Jul 10, 2021 15:44:07 GMT 1
Amazing fact on the BBC coverage that I hadn't realised: this is the first women's singles final at Wimbledon to feature two first time finalists since Virginia Wade v Betty Stove in 1977.
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