Wimbledon 2010

I just checked out the website and they've seeded Roger #1 and Rafa #2 even though Rafa is #1 in the rankings and Roger #2.

Good old English logic!

Serena and Venus are #1 and #2 and Sciavone is 5th seed for the women.

Can't wait!!!

me too looking forward to it. got my fingers crossed for Andy Murray be great if a scotsman could win wimbledon this (or any!) year!

I wonder if the fact that Roger has won Wimbledon for the past 37 years or so (okay, maybe I exaggerate slightly) has affected how they seeded him?

My feeling is that, despite his French Open win last year, clay is his third-best surface. So I certainly wouldn't count him out of the running . . . though Rafa looks very very good these days, too.

I'm so excited--two days!!

This article explains the formula for determining men's seeds at Wimbledon and why Federer was made the top seed. (Basically it comes down to Nadal missing the grass court season last year).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/explaining-wimbledons-seeding-...

I'm psyched, I have the day off tomorrow so I'm planning on catching some tennis. Woot! I love grass.

2 hours and counting - it makes a refreshing change from football football football

Thank you, Harry_Vincent. That was very interesting.

lg - you are lucky! Enjoy your day off.

pammie1320 - this is my favorite tennis event of the year. It occurs around my birthday and I just love watching tennis on grass, just like lg.

Today's schedule is fantastic - Federer, Hewitt, V. Williams, Schiavone, Petrova, Davydenko, Jankovic, Djokovic.... on and on.

Heart-attack time - Roger had to go 5 sets against Falla. I thought he was out in the 3rd..... what a comeback.

Wish I had woken up early enough to see more of Roger. He better step it up! I liked when he told the announcer he was "perfect."

He looked very tired and rather pale for someone who is "perfect" ;D

I didn't hear the interview with Roger, but I wonder if there wasn't a touch of irony in his voice - an obvious answer to an obvious question.

Check out this article on the Wimbledon site

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2010-06-21/201006211277121321206.ht...

Thanks for the link, pmarshall. I enjoyed reading that.

There sure were a lot of 5-setters yesterday among the top players - Federer, Davydenko, Djokovic. Really surprising, actually. Andy Roddick made it through in 3, though. I'm surprised Wawrinka's out. So're Robredo, Cilic, Ljubcic.

I didn't hear the "perfect" comment.

He was definitely taking the piss out of the announcer. As if he would tell him if there were anything wrong.

Soderling looked really good today.

The fourth best player in Serbia gave Roger a workout today. Very entertaining match. And ESPN insisted on showing the "historic" endless Isner match instead. Thank god for the internet.

I'll watch Roger tonight.

Right now I'm sneaking peeks at the live stream on espn3 at work. Amazing. It's currently 52-51 on serve in the 5th set.

There's actually been some good tennis. I can't imagine how they're even standing, much less hitting winners.

Yes, it's not so much that the tennis is that amazing as that the endurance is. I'm just wondering how their legs are holding up.

They're still not done! I had it on in the background, but it wasn't exactly electrifying, almost uncomfortable to watch. I'll be surprised if either of them can walk tomorrow.

I just checked the schedule - they're playing "not before" 15:30, so will have quite a bit time today to try to recover. You're right, though - they're still going to be exhausted. The match that the winner of this match was supposed to play today will obviously have to be rescheduled.

Is it just Wimbledon that allows the fifth set to go on like this? Or all grand slams? (excuse my ignorance here ;) Its INSANE!!!!!

Mahaut has already been interviewed and says he feels great! I'm not sure I entirely believe that . . . but they are both gamers. Nice interview with Isner's mother, too, who said she texted with him last night but they didn't discuss the game (that's not her job). Cool.

Tennis noob question:

I'm watching court 18 on ESPN3 and it appears that Isner and Mahaut are warming up together, hitting balls to one another. Is it normal in tennis to prepare with one's opponent like that?

#20 digifish_books - Only the US Open plays a tie-breaker in the 5th set. The other three - Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon - play it out in service games, winner must win by two games with a minimum of 6 games for the winner.

#22 fleela - Absolutely. All the time. No hard stuff - just easy lobs and such. Then they each practice serving a bit - not hard stuff either, just warming up their muscles - away from the person on the other side of the net. There's an actual number of official minutes to warm up too.

70-68, Isner. Amazing. Once again I snuck peeks on ESPN3 at work and actually saw what turned out to be the final game. Stunning.

Noob questions: #1 only wimbledon still plays out the final set. They all used to do it in every set, then only the final, and now all other tourneys use tiebreaks. #2 Yes, they always hit to one another to warm up.

While ESPN was flapping their gums about Isner/Mahut, I was wtching Rafa lose the first set. This Dutch guy can really serve well.

Do the Australian and French play tie breaks in the 5th? I didn't think they did.

>24 littlegeek:/5 - only the US has tie-breakers in the final set and that was dictated by television.

Really? I thought the Aussies at least had adopted the fifth set tiebreak. I stand corrected.

In any case, I think it's pretty obvious why Rafa & Roger win all these 5-set tourneys - they are the fittest athletes out there. Why don't the other guys on the tour work out more?

I thought it was pretty funny that, coming into Wimbledon, Isner did a lot of fitness training, and he said that as the tournament was starting, his coach told him he was fit enough to play a 10 hour match. Try 11, haha.

Right now Isner's losing big time to de Baekker. 0-6, 3-6, 2-4.

Rafa is a stud, but the coaching and bogus trainer sessions are not studly, imo.

I agree, lg. I really wish he'd lost. He was challenged and down but that time out got the other guy thinking too much.

But also, his opponent shouldn't fall for it. He tried to play it back the same way, which is just annoying. Guys, play the head games on the court.

I think Wimbledon would be more interesting if both Federer and Nadal had lost this week - it's time for a change, something to refresh the tournament. (It's now as boring as when Sampras won consistently).

In a way I agree with you, jargoneer, because everybody talks about the coming clash and the re-match of 2008 and blah blah blah.

But being a Federer fan makes me want him to be in the final and win all the time. That goal makes most of the other matches pale into a "How does that affect Roger?" mode for me. To me watching him play is sublime.

Roger's star will fade soon, enough though - within a year or two probably. He's almost 29, after all, getting up there in tennis years, and more and more cracks show up as time moves on. I'd be surprised (but happy) if he made it to the 2012 Olympics. He hasn't had a serious injury so far, though, which is what keeps him going.

The real issue is just that so far nobody's been able to figure out how to beat either Roger or Nadal consistently. Randomly and sporadically yes, but nobody can put together anything to get to #1. Djokovic, del Potro, Murray even - might be rising stars and it's just their bad luck that they came up during this time. Maybe one of them will rise up, but I don't think there will be a dominant player like Roger/Nadal for quite a while after both of them are out of the game. I think it will settle back to lots of people having ones-ie twos-ies in the slams. And then someone might come along, totally dominant. Up and down, like it's always been.

>34 karenmarie: - the US final proved that Del Potro could blow anyone off a tennis court - if he had not gotten injured and considering he is only 21 he could easily have become the world number 1 by now. The fact that he has a wrist injury could be that we have seen the best of him. Murray is too lightweight - if he had a better forehand he probably would have won a major by now: as it is I'm not sure he will. God knows what has happened to Djokovic - most of his problems seem to exist only in his mind.

Federer does look more vulnerable this season than he has in years, and there is still a question mark over Nadal on other surfaces other than clay. On form, Soderling looks a really strong outside bet - if he serves consistently big he could be the one that breaks the Federer-Nadal duopoly.

I feel the same way about the Williams sisters on the women's side. Really enjoyed the French Open final without them, though as an American it feels a bit disloyal.

But when it comes to tennis, watching someone crush their opposition by firing a bunch of aces across the net doesn't really make for exciting watching, IMHO.

You might be right about Soderling, jargoneer, but I don't think he'd ever be as dominant as Rog/Raf.

I agree about the Williams sisters, ejj1955. I really enjoyed the final and am sorry that both Stosur and Schiavone are out at Wimbledon.

I'd like it to be Henin's time for Wimbledon - the only slam she hasn't won - but don't think she's strong enough. Time will tell. I'm interested in her match against Clijsters.

I don't feel disloyal when I want someone besides the Williams sisters to win, and I'm still mad at Serena about her behavior at the US Open. Beneath the surface is a real mean person.

Petzschner looked good yesterday against Nadal, but was too wild to carry it. Blasting serves and wonderful tennis, though.

The Querrey/Murray match on Monday looks to be a good one. Murray's had it relatively easy thus far, but Querrery's gonna give him some trouble I think. Djokovic/Hewitt match should be good too.

I hate middle Sunday.

Me too. I didn't want to watch soccer after the US lost. The only joy in Mudville was that my husband was desperate and watching the replay of Federer-Falla and after that they had an interview with Roger that I got to see.

It seems rather amazing that there have been no rain delays at all.

>40 karenmarie: - and it looks good for the rest of the week.

Re Nadal - there are rumours that he is having problems with his knees again.

What is your view of the crowd 'lightly' booing Venus Williams when she arrived at court 2 for her match? Her opponent had been on the court for about 7 minutes. The announcers put the timing down to her being in a different dressing room than her opponent. and were not pleased with the crowd, after all it was Venus Williams. My view is it was disrespectful of her opponent, the officials, the fans and the game. If you start work at 9:00 that doesn't mean 9:08. The announcers also went on about the Williams match being on the new court 2 not centre or court one.

I am annoyed that of all the matches being played they are showing the Williams match and not Federer or Clijsters.

>42 pmarshall: I share your annoyance, though they did switch to each of those other matches eventually. Roger was beautiful today!

>43 ejj1955: - how can anyone get excited about Federer beating Melzer for the 900th consecutive time?

I can't even be bothered paying that much attention to Wimbledon this year because in the end Federer will almost certainly win the final (probably against Soderling who will put Nadal out and then freeze on the big day again). I don't care how well Federer (or Nadal on clay) plays - it's boring. The same champion(s) over and over again is boring. It doesn't matter the sport or who you support, it's boring.

While I'm ranting - do Federer and Nadal have people who say what are thinking about to them? Has Federer seem the new Gilette ad? He's looks a total ass. As for Nadal in the Shakira ad? For heaven's sake....

I don't get why it's "boring" to watch the best tennis players in the world. Roger & Rafa make amazing shots, are steely-eyed when up against the wall, and always conduct themselves as worthy champions. Sure is better than watching some promising player tank yet again.

I'm all for people stepping up to take over the top slots, but until they do, I'm perfectly happy watching Roger & Rafa.

45:
Ditto. I don't watch tennis to see new and exciting personalities interact with each other. I watch to see amazing athletes doing really impressive stuff. Nadal and Federer do that.

I would probably watch Roger hit balls against a wall. He's just so beautiful in his movements and his shots. As for Nadal, I spent waaay too much time today thinking about what a really nice body he has. Shoot me, I'm female and I'm not dead yet . . .

What she said.

#47 Agreed!

I may be the opposite of jargoneer, because when I saw who made it through to the semis on the women's side, I was thinking, "but what about Clijsters and Henin and Venus!?" I'm sure these new ladies will be fun to watch, but I'll be missing my favs.

I am in physical pain. I can't even talk about it.

> 44 Well you will have new men to watch in the final...

After saying the Championship was getting boring with the same pair dominating this year has suddenly gotten much more interesting. Any of the semi-finalists could win it - Nadal is still the favourite but he has looked vulnerable.

Berdych is starting to look the part - 6 years ago he was tipped to be the next big thing but nothing happened; now he looks so controlled and powerful. It was a surprise that Federer lost but he was well beaten - the excuse of back and leg injuries was poor.

What is up with Soderling and Nadal? Soderling taking the injury break when Nadal was serving for the 3rd set was one of the worst displays of gamesmanship I've seen on a tennis court. Perhaps next time they should just duke it out.

Me, too. citygirl. I didn't watch it. But it broke my heart.

I can't believe it.

jargoneer - I think it's funny that Soderling did to Nadal what Nadal did to Petzschner - taking a bogus (?) medical time out.

#51 I hope it's Murray against Berdych.

Jeeze, jargoneer, when Nadal has tendinitis that's one thing, but if Roger admits he's got some injuries, it's a poor excuse.

Anyhoo, I'm glad I didn't have to see it, not because I worship Roger (which I do) but because it was apparently inferior tennis. I hope the semis are well played. I'd kind of like to see Murray come through, I mean the English could use some cheering up (even though he's Scottish).

>54 littlegeek: - when Nadal lost to Soderling at the French last year he didn't mention he was injured, that only came to light later. Berdych was disappointed in Federer's comments. The press coverage of Federer today has almost been universally negative - champion loses and then acts shamefully sort of thing. (From one of the UK papers - Federer later gave a press conference that suggested so many injuries it was wonder that he did not arrive on court on a ventilator). Not only did he claim that he only lost because he was injured, he didn't even congratulate his opponent.

> 55 It is rare for Federer to mention injuries and I can't recall him blaming them for a loss, unlike some other players.

federer is a sore loser always has been always will be doesnt take away from the fact he has played some fantastic tennis

hopefully murray can do it this year although i can already hear andrew castle saying the victory isnt as good because federer went out

come on murray!!!

Without ranting too much, let me just say that the TV coverage in the US has mostly sucked. The same matches are shown repeatedly, others not at all.

Maybe it would be better if I had the Tennis channel, but I don't.

I'm with ej, ESPN's coverage sucks.

I didn't see him press conference so I don't know if Roger really was a prat about it. In any case, losing is not among the many things he does well.

I, for one, hope he comes back. And I hope people won't be so willing to declare him finished like they did last year with Nadal. We shall have to wait and see.

I read Roger's interview on the Wimbledon website (after being mourning for a day) and although he wasn't as polished and suave as usual, I didn't walk away thinking he was a total asshole like some of these comments implied. He doesn't give tons of credit to Berdych but he does say several times that he played some critical points well and created chances and then was able to convert. Roger also says that he himself didn't play well:

Q. Obviously he's going to come at you. Did you feel like you were as aggressive as you wanted to be in the match? You had some chances in the fourth set, Love‑40 on his serve.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, his mistakes and my mistakes. You know, he played well when he had to. It was brutal for me. Every time he had a chance, he took it. On the breakpoints, he played great on those.

Then when I had chances early on, I was actually not too bad. I just felt like I got the unlucky bounce once in a while, you know. 30‑All he got it on the line over and over again. I just felt like I couldn't create enough chances to really get the breakthrough.

When I did have chances, I played poorly. It was just a frustrating match the way it all went.

Not shining praise of Berdych, but certainly not a dis.

Roger was seriously disappointed and I think he let more of his real thoughts through than usual.

Let him go off and lick his wounds (literally and figuratively). He'll either come back or not. That's the way tennis goes. Personally, I hope he comes back to win the US Open and more slams in the future.

I think the fall-out from Federer's comments have overshadowed how well Berdych is playing - he also made the semis in France, losing in 5 sets to Soderling. He is worth remembering he was the player who beat Federer in Athens in 2004; at the time he was 18 and big things were predicted but apart from brief glimpses it's taken 6 years to get his act together. He looks as if he could hit anyone off the court at present (whether his boom-boom-boom style is good for tennis is another question).

The other thing that has slipped by is that Federer will now be the world number 3 - the first time in 7 years he's been out the top 2. Not that I think that bothers him - I can see his ranking slipping a little because he really can't get motivated for non-GS tournaments.

In the semis - Nadal to beat Murray (unless Murray can improve his first serve percentage by 10 or more). Berdych should beat Djokovic on form but will he have a big let-down. I'm going to go for...Djokovic.

I wish I had the day off tomorrow and could actually watch the semis. The US Open is annoying having the men's semis only one day prior to the final, but at least you can watch them.

Double faulting on set point, Djoker? They were talking about Berdych as a head case, but Djokovic is way worse on that score, I'm thinking.

I will feel better about Berdych if he continues as he is going and takes out Djokovic.

I think Roger will be back.

Speaking of AWFUL espn coverage. For some reason completely unbeknownst to me, they are reairing S. William's semi instead of the LIVE Murray/Nadal match. Same thing on the espn3 online feed.

Sooo angry right now.

In other news...great match played by Berdych. Don't know what was going on with Djokovic with all those double faults, though.

65:
Yeah, I have no idea why they're playing Serena's match. It makes absolutely no sense.

Perhaps Tennis Channel has sole rights to the other semi. Which would be fine, if stupid comcast would offer it!

Nope, it's on tape delay on NBC. Which is good for the availability to see it, not so great if you happen to have looked at the Wimbledon site and already know how the second set turned out when the TV coverage is only on the third game or so.

The women's finals is on NBC tomorrow at 9 a.m. and the men's finals is on NBC Sunday at 9 a.m.

Anybody want to chat in the chatroom tomorrow?

btw, personally, I find it much more "boring" when the same people always freak out and tank than when the same people always play well and win.

that's the justification I use for my love of watching Roger play, lg! I wasn't able to watch any of the matches today (darn work anyway!) and will be out tonight for a while but I will try to watch the Serena/whichever-va match tomorrow and the men's on Sunday. I'll scope the chatroom out both times. :) (just checked - it's Zvonareva).

I want Zvonareva to win and Berdych to win.

I think from what I read that Djoker tanked - did Murray tank or did Nadal just plain win?

I like the idea of chat during the matches, but will have to see--I'm also being auntie this weekend to two of my great-nieces. (Happily, despite any tennis interruption.)

> 71 Nadal won

Yeah, the match was a lot more competitive than the score indicates.

littlegeek, you should ask Comcast why they offer the Tennis Channel in the Chicago area and not yours. We get it as part of our Sports package.

The match was competitive and at a high standard but Murray failed at the crucial moments - to hold his serve at 4-4 in the 1st; to serve out at 6-5 in the 2nd set tie-break, and to hold his serve when up 4-2 in the 3rd. It is becoming increasingly obvious that Murray will not win a GS - he lacks the big weapons to rely on which always means his opponent has a chance.

flee, I did call them. Apparently, we are one of only 2 markets in California where they don't carry it. They "put in a request" for it. Whatever that means.

I see km was in the chatroom before me, well I made it in there so I hope someone comes in to discuss Serena's unbelievable serve with me. Or the pink panties, whichever.

littlegeek and I had fun chatting while serena whup Zvonareva. Serena was flawless and Zvonareva kept up until 3-3 in the first. Pretty much over after that.

I almost agree with jargoneer about the women's side. Always a Williams sister. Although, man, is Serena gnarly or what?

I am somewhat hopeful for a more competitive match tomorrow, though I still expect Nadal to win.

Never has anyone served so poorly and still won Wimbledon. What a travesty! Berdych had so many chances and just couldn't deliver.

God, I wish Roger had made it.

Me too! It was fun in the chatroom, lg, as always.

We just turned it off - I can't bear to watch Rafa chew on that damned trophy again.

I wonder if GS trophies taste good...

Ha. I managed to miss the trophy chewing. Wimbledon's done, off to the hard court season.