Wimbledon 2011

[Westie1875]

Anyone think Tsonga can beat Djokovic in the semis?

[LancashireHibby]

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Anyone think Tsonga can beat Djokovic in the semis?

Got to be considered a possibility given the way he was bouncing about in his quarter, the guy will be buzzing.

[lapsedhibee]

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The Chanter in Bread Street has it.

[Sir David Gray]

Just back a few hours ago from my trip to Wimbledon. Unlike the past two years, this year was seriously interrupted by rain delays and that spoiled it quite a bit for me.

I was at Wimbledon on four days in the past week and this is what I saw;

Friday June 24th-Court 1

Maria Sharapova v Laura Robson

Robson started the match really well and should have won the first set. Sharapova's experience prevailed though and in the end she just had too much for Robson.

Venus Williams v Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez

Total waste of time. I have no idea how Sanchez had even got that far in the tournament. It was embarrassing.

Rafael Nadal v Gilles Muller

This was shaping up to be a decent match as Nadal was under real pressure. However he managed to win a tight opening set on a tiebreak. However, after that the Heavens opened and play was abandoned for the day shortly afterwards. I was gutted that I didn't see the whole of this match.

Saturday June 25th-Centre Court

Caroline Wozniacki v Jarmila Gajdosova

Waste of time, too one-sided.

Roger Federer v David Nalbandian

Waste of time, too one-sided.

Novak Djokovic v Marcos Baghdatis

Great match, it made the whole day worthwhile. Really enjoyed this match and it was a shame for Baghdatis that it didn't go to five sets as he deserved that.

Monday June 27th-Court 2

Maria Sharapova v Shuai Peng

Too one-sided, although Peng wasn't that bad.

Caroline Wozniacki v Dominika Cibulkova

Decent match, although I missed most of it as I went to watch Murray vs Gasquet on the Big Screen on the hill.

Tomas Berdych v Mardy Fish

Garbage match, Berdych was awful and the match was too one-sided.

Feliciano Lopez/Andrea Petkovic v David Marrero/Andrea Hlavackova

Not the biggest fan of doubles but it was a decent match, although Lopez was by far the best player on the court.

Tuesday June 28th-Court 2

Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan v Simon Aspelin/Paul Hanley

Very good match which was spoiled by the awful weather. We only got 30 minutes before the rain came, the thunder and lightning was unbelievable and this lasted for about 4 hours. They came back on court and we only got another 2 hours of play in before it was stopped again because of more rain and that was it for the day. The match was stopped at two sets all and three games all in the decider.

As I was coming home, I was listening to the Federer/Tsonga match and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At two sets up at Wimbledon, Federer should have been home and hosed but all credit to Tsonga. There is no doubt that he is the outsider out of all those who are left but he is certainly a dangerous opponent.

Novak Djokovic had to fight to beat the Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic but it was just one step too far for him. He will definitely be a threat in future years though.

Although Mardy Fish took a set off Nadal, he was never going to win today, with the best will in the world. He just doesn't have the ability or the shots to trouble someone of Nadal's class and his only real hope was that Nadal's injured foot would break down during the match. Unfortunately for him, that did not happen.

I saw most of Murray's match tonight against Feliciano Lopez and to be honest, it was a foregone conclusion. Like Fish, Lopez isn't really in Murray's league and provided that Murray played near his best today, there was only ever going to be one outcome.

It was a useful match for Murray to have today, though, as he prepares for Nadal on Friday. Lopez is a left hander, like Nadal, and it will have been good for Murray to get a taste of playing a "lefty" before he takes on Nadal.

The smart money will be on a Nadal vs Djokovic final but Tsonga and Murray are both more than capable of causing upsets. Although I really hope that I am proved wrong, I just don't see Murray beating Nadal over five sets at a Grand Slam semi final.

I just hope that he is fully fit for Friday. I noticed that he seemed to have a bit of a problem with his stomach area during the match today so hopefully that can get sorted out.

Tsonga's aggressive style of play can trouble Djokovic and if he serves as well as he did today then he may well find himself in Sunday's final. The problem he may have is that he might have just put so much, mentally and physically, into today's match that he will just be exhausted for Friday. Tsonga has a tendency for erratic performances and he is just as likely to come out on Friday and get beaten in straight sets as he is to knock out Djokovic.

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FH have you ever played tennis?

Yes I play wheelchair tennis quite regularly. I wouldn't say I'm anything special but I really enjoy playing/watching the sport.

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Strange that we haven't heard from FalkirkHibee especially on a tennis thread and one that he started.

Hope he's okay - Maybe he's on his hols? Anybody know

You clearly don't read my posts!



I said in a post on page two that I was away to Wimbledon for a week and wouldn't be back until today.

[Liam89]

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Just back a few hours ago from my trip to Wimbledon. Unlike the past two years, this year was seriously interrupted by rain delays and that spoiled it quite a bit for me.

I was at Wimbledon on four days in the past week and this is what I saw;

Friday June 24th-Court 1

Maria Sharapova v Laura Robson

Robson started the match really well and should have won the first set. Sharapova's experience prevailed though and in the end she just had too much for Robson.

Venus Williams v Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez

Total waste of time. I have no idea how Sanchez had even got that far in the tournament. It was embarrassing.

Rafael Nadal v Gilles Muller

This was shaping up to be a decent match as Nadal was under real pressure. However he managed to win a tight opening set on a tiebreak. However, after that the Heavens opened and play was abandoned for the day shortly afterwards. I was gutted that I didn't see the whole of this match.

Saturday June 25th-Centre Court

Caroline Wozniacki v Jarmila Gajdosova

Waste of time, too one-sided.

Roger Federer v David Nalbandian

Waste of time, too one-sided.

Novak Djokovic v Marcos Baghdatis

Great match, it made the whole day worthwhile. Really enjoyed this match and it was a shame for Baghdatis that it didn't go to five sets as he deserved that.

Monday June 27th-Court 2

Maria Sharapova v Shuai Peng

Too one-sided, although Peng wasn't that bad.

Caroline Wozniacki v Dominika Cibulkova

Decent match, although I missed most of it as I went to watch Murray vs Gasquet on the Big Screen on the hill.

Tomas Berdych v Mardy Fish

Garbage match, Berdych was awful and the match was too one-sided.

Feliciano Lopez/Andrea Petkovic v David Marrero/Andrea Hlavackova

Not the biggest fan of doubles but it was a decent match, although Lopez was by far the best player on the court.

Tuesday June 28th-Court 2

Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan v Simon Aspelin/Paul Hanley

Very good match which was spoiled by the awful weather. We only got 30 minutes before the rain came, the thunder and lightning was unbelievable and this lasted for about 4 hours. They came back on court and we only got another 2 hours of play in before it was stopped again because of more rain and that was it for the day. The match was stopped at two sets all and three games all in the decider.

As I was coming home, I was listening to the Federer/Tsonga match and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At two sets up at Wimbledon, Federer should have been home and hosed but all credit to Tsonga. There is no doubt that he is the outsider out of all those who are left but he is certainly a dangerous opponent.

Novak Djokovic had to fight to beat the Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic but it was just one step too far for him. He will definitely be a threat in future years though.

Although Mardy Fish took a set off Nadal, he was never going to win today, with the best will in the world. He just doesn't have the ability or the shots to trouble someone of Nadal's class and his only real hope was that Nadal's injured foot would break down during the match. Unfortunately for him, that did not happen.

I saw most of Murray's match tonight against Feliciano Lopez and to be honest, it was a foregone conclusion. Like Fish, Lopez isn't really in Murray's league and provided that Murray played near his best today, there was only ever going to be one outcome.

It was a useful match for Murray to have today, though, as he prepares for Nadal on Friday. Lopez is a left hander, like Nadal, and it will have been good for Murray to get a taste of playing a "lefty" before he takes on Nadal.

The smart money will be on a Nadal vs Djokovic final but Tsonga and Murray are both more than capable of causing upsets. Although I really hope that I am proved wrong, I just don't see Murray beating Nadal over five sets at a Grand Slam semi final.

I just hope that he is fully fit for Friday. I noticed that he seemed to have a bit of a problem with his stomach area during the match today so hopefully that can get sorted out.

Tsonga's aggressive style of play can trouble Djokovic and if he serves as well as he did today then he may well find himself in Sunday's final. The problem he may have is that he might have just put so much, mentally and physically, into today's match that he will just be exhausted for Friday. Tsonga has a tendency for erratic performances and he is just as likely to come out on Friday and get beaten in straight sets as he is to knock out Djokovic.



Yes I play wheelchair tennis quite regularly. I wouldn't say I'm anything special but I really enjoy playing/watching the sport.



You clearly don't read my posts!



I said in a post on page two that I was away to Wimbledon for a week and wouldn't be back until today.

Cheers for sharing your week at wimbledon with us, was a good wee read!

[Removed]

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Cheers for sharing your week at wimbledon with us, was a good wee read!

Looking forward to a similar update soon from Old Trafford

[moredun]

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The smart money will be on a Nadal vs Djokovic final but Tsonga and Murray are both more than capable of causing upsets. Although I really hope that I am proved wrong, I just don't see Murray beating Nadal over five sets at a Grand Slam semi final.

He has done it before...

[Sir David Gray]

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He has done it before...

Yes, I know he did it at the 2008 US Open but Nadal wasn't the defending champion and his record at that tournament had been pretty poor back then.

Nadal hasn't lost on the Wimbledon grass since 2007 and he is currently on a 19 match winning run at the tournament. The last time he failed to reach the final at Wimbledon was in 2005, when he was just 19 years old.

It will take a massive effort for Murray to knock Nadal out on Friday. When Federer won his 16th Grand Slam title last year, people said that this record would not be beaten for decades. Nadal is so good that it's quite conceivable that he could beat that in the next couple of years. He already has 10 titles to his name.

Murray will need to play the match of his life on Friday if he's going to win and even then it might not even be good enough.

I hope I am wrong because I would love nothing more than to see Murray lift the Wimbledon trophy on Sunday evening. I just personally don't see it happening.

[iwasthere1972]

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Yes, I know he did it at the 2008 US Open but Nadal wasn't the defending champion and his record at that tournament had been pretty poor back then.

Nadal hasn't lost on the Wimbledon grass since 2007 and he is currently on a 19 match winning run at the tournament. The last time he failed to reach the final at Wimbledon was in 2005, when he was just 19 years old.

It will take a massive effort for Murray to knock Nadal out on Friday. When Federer won his 16th Grand Slam title last year, people said that this record would not be beaten for decades. Nadal is so good that it's quite conceivable that he could beat that in the next couple of years. He already has 10 titles to his name.

Murray will need to play the match of his life on Friday if he's going to win and even then it might not even be good enough.

I hope I am wrong because I would love nothing more than to see Murray lift the Wimbledon trophy on Sunday evening. I just personally don't see it happening.

Good to know you're okay. Where have you been?

Have really enjoyed the tennis over the past 10 days or so and must say that I am beginning to follow the game more now than ever before. Maybe it's the fact that we now have someone from Britain that has a realistic chance of winning a Grand Slam. It's a massive improvement compared to Jeremy Bates and Tim Henman.

There's a number of things that do annoy me in the game. Firstly all this grunting, groaning and squealing noises that a large percentage of tennis players make. I personally think that it should be banned. What are your thoughts on it. Also why do players in the doubles matches insist on touching each others hand everytime they win a point? It just looks silly and unnecessary. The excessive use of having to use a towel also annoys me. I can't remember it being that way years ago.

Anyway looking forward to Friday. I think it could belong to Andy.

Glad you enjoyed your few days at Wimbers.

[lapsedhibee]

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There's a number of things that do annoy me in the game. Firstly all this grunting, groaning and squealing noises that a large percentage of tennis players make. I personally think that it should be banned. What are your thoughts on it. Also why do players in the doubles matches insist on touching each others hand everytime they win a point? It just looks silly and unnecessary. The excessive use of having to use a towel also annoys me. I can't remember it being that way years ago.

Grunting's been on the go since Jimmy Connors's later years. Squealing's newer, and the mix of grunting and squealing - a sort of two-tone siren approach to the sport - is newer still. I blame the Williamseses for its popularity. Give all those players who play quietly a 15-0 start in every game against the gruntsquealers, that'd put a stop to it. The touching hands bit is because all pro tennis players from Jelly Bean King onwards have been gay. The pointless towelling is a kind of preening, reinforcing the gayness. Everything would be better if white balls, wooden rackets and Robinson's Barley Water were brought back, and the smarmy git that is John Inverdale butted out.

[FromTheCapital]

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Anyone think Tsonga can beat Djokovic in the semis?

If he plays like he did against Federer in the final 3 sets, he could beat anyone.
Still fancy Djokovic...Murray, final though!

[Sir David Gray]

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Good to know you're okay. Where have you been?

Have really enjoyed the tennis over the past 10 days or so and must say that I am beginning to follow the game more now than ever before. Maybe it's the fact that we now have someone from Britain that has a realistic chance of winning a Grand Slam. It's a massive improvement compared to Jeremy Bates and Tim Henman.

There's a number of things that do annoy me in the game. Firstly all this grunting, groaning and squealing noises that a large percentage of tennis players make. I personally think that it should be banned. What are your thoughts on it. Also why do players in the doubles matches insist on touching each others hand everytime they win a point? It just looks silly and unnecessary. The excessive use of having to use a towel also annoys me. I can't remember it being that way years ago.

Anyway looking forward to Friday. I think it could belong to Andy.

Glad you enjoyed your few days at Wimbers.

I think grunting is acceptable every now and again as a lot of exertion goes into some points as they are very long and guys like Nadal, who does his fair share of grunting, are putting a lot of effort into their shots.

However there are a lot of players now, especially amongst the women, who squeal and grunt after every single shot that they play and I think that is totally unnecessary. I was watching a bit of the women's semi finals today and two of the worst culprits, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, were playing. I'm glad that one of them got knocked out as it might now make the final bearable to watch and listen to.

There is a theory that this was introduced by the tennis coach Nick Bollettieri as a lot of the players who are worst at grunting were coached by him at his academy in Florida. He has denied this but they may have a point.

The towel thing, I think, was started by Greg Rusedski. He was the first player who really used to pat himself down with the towel after every single point and I think it just began from there. There's nothing wrong with that so long as the players keep within the time limit of 20 seconds between points.

As for the doubles, the touching of hands doesn't bother me so much but the one thing that does get my goat in the doubles is when they whisper something to each other after every point and whilst doing this, they cover their mouth with their hand. Jamie Murray is the one who really springs to mind as I see him doing this all the time and it really annoys me because if you just speak in a low voice, the opponents cannot possibly hear you.

Order of play is out for tomorrow;

1pm start-Novak Djokovic v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Followed by-Rafael Nadal v Andy Murray

I reckon Murray's match should be on between 3.30-4pm.

Come on, Andy!

[Sir David Gray]

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Question for the tennis buffs on here.

Has the dates for Wimbledon being played changed? I remember Wimbledon fortnight being in the school holidays. The schools aren't even off on holiday yet. I'm pretty sure that Wimbledon used to be played towards the end of July. Anyone know?

I only went back as far as the 80s and in that time, the final day of Wimbledon has either been on the first or second Sunday in July. Never any later than that.

If you're older than 50 then you'll need to check the 60s and 70s for yourself!

[lapsedhibee]

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they whisper something to each other after every point and whilst doing this, they cover their mouth with their hand. Jamie Murray is the one who really springs to mind as I see him doing this all the time and it really annoys me because if you just speak in a low voice, the opponents cannot possibly hear you.

It's to stop opponents lip-reading.

[Sir David Gray]

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It's to stop opponents lip-reading.

Why don't they just turn their backs to them then?

[lapsedhibee]

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Why don't they just turn their backs to them then?

Physically easier to put your hand to your mouth than rotate your whole body 180 degrees, would be my guess. (Also for both the serving team to be facing away from the net would mean that they wouldn't be facing each other - not good for non-verbal communicating.)

[Sir David Gray]

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Physically easier to put your hand to your mouth than rotate your whole body 180 degrees, would be my guess. (Also for both the serving team to be facing away from the net would mean that they wouldn't be facing each other - not good for non-verbal communicating.)

It still annoys me.

[hibsbollah]

Looking forward to todays matches. I'll be hoping to get a glimpse of the royal box when Kate and Will arrive.

[lapsedhibee]

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Looking forward to todays matches. I'll be hoping to get a glimpse of the royal box when Kate and Will arrive.

Are they bringing their court with them?

[hibsbollah]

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Are they bringing their court with them?

Dunno. Ex-Queen guitarist Brian May was up there this week. I was hoping John Inverdale would say 'the royal box is exceptionally hairy this afternoon' but alas he didn't.

[Sir David Gray]

One of the points of the tournament was played about five minutes ago. Amazing dive by Tsonga at the net and then he got up from the ground for the next shot to put it away.

Tsonga is a break up at the moment, serving at 4-3 in the first set.

[Sir David Gray]

Djokovic breaks back to get it back to 5-5 in the first set.

[Sir David Gray]

First set to Djokovic, 7-6.

Massive turnaround by Djokovic.

He breaks Tsonga in the opening game of the second set as well and has just held his own serve to go a set and 2-0 up.

It's all coming from the Serb at the moment.

[Sir David Gray]

Second set looks all over now as Djokovic gets a double break.

Serving at 4-1 up in the second set.

Djokovic two sets up now as he takes the second set 6-2.

Personally don't see a repeat of Wednesday as far as Tsonga is concerned.

[Sir David Gray]

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One of the points of the tournament was played about five minutes ago. Amazing dive by Tsonga at the net and then he got up from the ground for the next shot to put it away.

Tsonga is a break up at the moment, serving at 4-3 in the first set.

Scrap that.

The point of the tournament was just played. Absolutely tremendous by both men as they dived around the court. Point was eventually won by Djokovic and he's just broken Tsonga to go 2-1 up in the third set.

Looks all over now for Tsonga.

[Sir David Gray]

Tsonga breaks back in the third set to level it at 4-4.

The match, and Tsonga, needed that as it had the feel of a match that was drifting away into a poor end.

[col02]

Cannot help but like Tsonga who actually has a personality unlike the player he is facing today! Hope the big man keeps up his comeback in the third set!

[Sir David Gray]

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Cannot help but like Tsonga who actually has a personality unlike the player he is facing today! Hope the big man keeps up his comeback in the third set!

Not too sure how you can say that to be honest. Djokovic is one of the biggest characters in the men's game right now and has a brilliant sense of humour.

[Sir David Gray]

Djokovic breaks again and will now come out to serve for the match at 6-5.

But it's not over just yet!

Tsonga breaks back again and takes it into a tiebreak.

[Sir David Gray]

Tsonga takes the third set on a tiebreak. Into a 4th set we go!

Tsonga saved two match points during that tiebreak.