Wimbledon 2013: Day1

The greatest tennis tournament starts tomorrow, amidst rains of course. Lets hope for a good tournament.

We will have our very own mother of all prediction games, The OTF Daily prediction game.

All the pundits and gurus and tennis scholars out there, dare to get involved. To freshen up the memories and FYI the some of the new poster who have only cropped after Nadal's RG victory, nitb is the defending champion.

1. Victor Hanescu (ROU)
v
Roger Federer (SUI) [3]

2. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
v
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [11]

3. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
v
Marin Cilic (CRO) [10]


4. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [6]
v
David Goffin (BEL


5. Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
v
Ernests Gulbis (LAT)

6. Robin Haase (NED)
v
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [20]

7.
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) [14]
v
Viktor Troicki (SRB)


My picks:

1. Fed
2. Wawrinka
3. Cilic
4. Tsonga
5. Gulbis
6. Youzhny
7. Tipsarvic

Thanks Rotla.

1. Roger Federer (SUI) [3]

2. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [11] - Stan not in form but should make that one.

3. Marin Cilic (CRO) [10]


4. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [6]

5. Ernests Gulbis (LAT)

6. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [20]

7. Viktor Troicki (SRB)

1. Federer
2. Wawrinka
3. Cilic
4. Tsonga
5. Gulbis
6. Youzhny
7. Tipsarevic

I just got offered a ground ticket for today...any body else there?

Tenez wrote:I just got offered a ground ticket for today...any body else there?

wow!! . Enjoy the tennis on green turf.

Thanks Rotla.

I'll check the interesting outside courts. Like the ones where you just stand by the players.

Did I get the silent ban or not in the end?

noleisthebest wrote:Did I get the silent ban or not in the end?

 What??
 What r u talking about?

Rosol losing the first set. I thought he would be different player after winning his first title. But he looks the same old. Inconsistent and lack of self belief.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Did I get the silent ban or not in the end?

 What??
 What r u talking about?

I'll take that as a no, then.
Federer, Hewitt, Cilic, Tsonga, Gulbis, Youzhny, Tipsarevic.

Paire - Ungur 1-1 sets.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Paire - Ungur 1-1 sets.

Oh, didn't even know Paire was on. Just finished watching Ivanovic bagel Razano into the second round.
Switching courts FAAAAAST!!!

ALLEZ Benoit!!!!!!!!!!!

Glorious Roger is on CC, already 4:1 up

That was a sight for sore eyes...just beautiful

Poor people on CC now, after THAT display from Fed to Sharapova.....

Too bad as usual a lesser player has Nadal on the ropes but chokes...  Nadal just blocking back Darcis serves and letting Darcis implode while serving for the set.

well,well,well.. I spoke to soon and Darcis takes the set...  Won't matter in the long run as he doesn't have the weapons to do it over 3 sets, but interesting development.  Darcis is already huffing and puffing-- shocking some of the conditioning with lesser players... they are still professionals for goodness sakes- hit the courts.

I actually think it helps Nadal to get some tough matches in.. he's lacking grass play... he's got plenty of energy in the tank and can put in more in the veins if he needs it- so a couple of extra sets will just give him more grass play.

Darcis take the first set in the TB

GO STEVIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back home now...after a pint and a half of Stella. They don;t serve Grolsch there anymore sadly.

Got to catch up with a bit of work and then back to Nadal Darcis.

Was a good experience.

Tenez wrote:Back home now...after a pint and a half of Stella. They don;t serve Grolsch there anymore sadly.

Got to catch up with a bit of work and then back to Nadal Darcis.

Was a good experience.

Glad you had a nice time, Grolsch or not

I've got to go to the gym at 6, so hope to see this finished by then.
One excellent sign this year, no wolf-whistling on Nadal's shirt changing he,he!

Nadal's clearly hurt but why does it hurt 3 weeks after resting?

Interesting again to see the crowd supporting Nadal's opponent.....how many times I have said that. Nadal divides...he has lots of fans but lots of people who dislike him.

Tenez wrote:Nadal's clearly hurt but why does it hurt 3 weeks after resting?

I don't even want to think about, am ready to pop some champagne any minute....I tell you what, if he broke Darcis, he'd last 5 sets all right.

very strange match, only seen it from the beginning of the third, so i can't really say what's going on.
Nadal looks very inmobile but that's what he looked like in the beginning of the clay season too.
Darcis' performance is solid but not special, not Rosol-like

Tenez wrote:Interesting again to see the crowd supporting Nadal's opponent.....how many times I have said that. Nadal divides...he has lots of fans but lots of people who dislike him.

Oh all tennis people I know I only know 2 who like Nadal, a 6 year old boy and an untalented 50 year old woman who is paying  for 10 lessons a week just to be able to moonball

Even if Nadal breaks now, i doubt he'll win this

Steve, you are the man, please serve it out!!!!!!!!!PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

have to say, a fit Nadal would have chased that ball

gallery play wrote:very strange match, only seen it from the beginning of the third, so i can't really say what's going on.
Nadal looks very inmobile but that's what he looked like in the beginning of the clay season too.
Darcis' performance is solid but not special, not Rosol-like

I am not sure about the knees, I reckon he'd last 5 sets if Darcis let down a bit.

2MPS

GO DARCIEEE!!!!!!!!!

Can't believe this guy won 2 Wimbledon!

The sun in shining brightly in Wimbledon, I bet Fed is beaming

Last year Nadal had a much tougher time to leave the CC as the beaten one.

Tenez wrote:Can't believe this guy won 2 Wimbledon!

Did you see any of the first 2 sets?

And how did Fed play today?

And one last time before I kill myself on the bike to get to the gym only 5 mins late
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:DB-)

and one Grolsch for T

gallery play wrote:And how did Fed play today?

pure magic

noleisthebest wrote:

gallery play wrote:very strange match, only seen it from the beginning of the third, so i can't really say what's going on.
Nadal looks very inmobile but that's what he looked like in the beginning of the clay season too.
Darcis' performance is solid but not special, not Rosol-like

I am not sure about the knees, I reckon he'd last 5 sets if Darcis let down a bit.

2MPS

GO DARCIEEE!!!!!!!!!  

Usually i don't trust him eighter but today Nadal looked like he shouldn't have played at all

noleisthebest wrote:And one last time before I kill myself on the bike to get to the gym only 5 mins late
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:DB-)

and one Grolsch for T

Dutch beer!
This brand can give you a nasty hangover though

Fantastic performance from Darcis, deserved to win. 

BBC should focus more on Darcis and his great result, than Nadal and his body- show some more respect.

Nadal played pretty well in that last game as if the knee issue had disappeared.

gallery play wrote:

Dutch beer!
This brand can give you a nasty hangover though

Really? I like the taste though.....shame they don't serve them anymore in Wimby.

gallery play wrote:

Tenez wrote:Can't believe this guy won 2 Wimbledon!

Did you see any of the first 2 sets?

I only saw from end of second set and clearly Nadal issue at first was the confidence. What was strange is that teh BBC commentator were talking about his knee but to me it was something different as he prefered to cover more ground to play his FH instead of a straight fwd BH.

Was his BH hurting his knee more than to run around his BH? Doubt it. To me his probem was that he really lacked confidence in his BH.

And at then end he clearly showed some knee issues...but how come it was hurting now more after 2 weeks of rest than after 6 months straight on clay?

Really weird.

Tenez wrote:Can't believe this guy won 2 Wimbledon

He did though, if you want I can show from ATP and Wikipedia.

When Nadal hits the backhand, he has to plant the left knee into the ground much more firmly, before putting pressure on it while hitting the shot, he generates pressure from there.
On his forehand he generates the pace and pressure from the arm itself.

Anyway I think it's unfair to talk about injury, Darcis should be given fully credit for the win first and foremost.

The funny thing GP is that being there live today I saw the conds so slow that I was convinced Nadal had a great opportunity...but clearly what's killing him is not the pace but the fact that the lower bounce doesn't draw so many UEs like it does on clay.

Tenez wrote:

gallery play wrote:

Dutch beer!
This brand can give you a nasty hangover though

Really? I like the taste though.....shame they don't serve them anymore in Wimby.

The taste is probably a bit better than Heineken, and the brace bottle is kinda rock n roll isn't it?

I cannot drink Heineken actually. What's your favourite beer GP? I arrived in England 23 years ago I did not like beer.....now I look like a beer barrel!

Tenez wrote:

gallery play wrote:

Tenez wrote:Can't believe this guy won 2 Wimbledon!

Did you see any of the first 2 sets?

I only saw from end of second set and clearly Nadal issue at first was the confidence. What was strange is that teh BBC commentator were talking about his knee but to me it was something different as he prefered to cover more ground to play his FH instead of a straight fwd BH.

Was his BH hurting his knee more than to run around his BH? Doubt it. To me his probem was that he really lacked confidence in his BH.

And at then end he clearly showed some knee issues...but how come it was hurting now more after 2 weeks of rest than after 6 months straight on clay?

Really weird.

He did not leave RG injured imo. He  outlasted Djoko...what's more to say?
However, he did not show much fighting spirit, from what i saw his will was already broken. It was totally different compared with last year.

I think it is essentially confidence. It's like he knows he has not a game to win on grass...even if he did win it twice.

The thing is even if you look the first rounds at the FO...the players he played coudl have beaten him with a bit more composure....but here on grass those lower ranked players get that extra help.

Very strangely I am in 2 minds aboutg his knees....despite all the information we have.

Yes at time he looked like he was struggling but as you said you he showed no sign 2 weeks ago so how come he suffered today?

Maybe Julia can explain that?

And Frankly the conds are dead slow.

I was saying earlier how can you explain to have 6 aces between 2 great servers like Hanescu and Federer in 2 sets?

That's ridiculous. The ball looks big and really sound flat when being hit.

It's depressing to see Rosol look whack the ball so hard (I saw him live today from very close by) and yet look pretty easy to handle.

Tenez wrote:I cannot drink Heineken actually. What's your favourite beer GP? I arrived in England 23 years ago I did not like beer.....now I look like a beer barrel!

but still ruling the veteran competition, right?

I like wheat beer or weissbeer (try "Hoegaarden" with a slice of lemon), especially in the summer. But at home i hardly drink beer, i'll go for a dry white wine instead.
Beer's more for going out to a bar or concert, Heineken is ok for me in those settings.
In France of course: good old mainstream Kronenbourg! You see, i'm not a beer purist