Wimbledon 2014: MOTD Day 1 Mon 23/06/2014`

Hello everyone,
          The greatest tennis tournament Wimbledon starts tomorrow. We have our prediction game here as well. The defending champion is SB.

The following are the matches for tomorrow. Good luck everyone and Federer  .

1. Andy Murray (GBR) [3]
v
David Goffin (BEL) [33]


2. Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) [33]
v
Carlos Berlocq (ARG) [33]


3. Jurgen Melzer (AUT) [33]
v
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [14]


4. Victor Hanescu (ROU) [33]
v
Tomas Berdych (CZE) [6]


5. Dustin Brown (GER) [33]
v
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) [33]



My picks:


1. Goffin
2. Berloq
3. Tsonga
4. Berdych
5. Brown

Thanks, rotla   

I can 't believe Wimbledon's starting tomorrow!
The weather has been very nice here and apparently we are not going to see much rain in the next two weeks.

Murray, Tsonga, Brown, Berdych, Stakhovsky

Murray
Stakhovsky
Tsonga
Berdych
Baghdatis

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:The defending champion is SB.

Huh?  I wish this were true...

Murray
Stakhovsky
Tsonga
Berdych
Brown

In the shadow of the glitzy limelight of Centre Court, another match with a different story taking place:

Grigor Dimitrov vs. Ryan Harrison

"Two former hot shots who have gone two very different directions. The 23-year-old Dimitrov is knocking on the Top 10 door, while the 22-year-old Harrison is currently ranked No. 140. It wasn’t long ago that they were mentioned together as two possible future Grand Slam champs. The future is a funny place. They’ve never played as pros." S. Tignor

I had similar thoughts when I first saw the draw. It feels like it was yesterday that the two were equal subjects in the conversation of future.
Now that their paths have split at the crossroads called ATP Break-through, it's inevitable to think about what made the difference:
Is Dimitrov more talented?
Several years ago, it looked like Harrison was the one with bigger game, challenging even Djokovic in his peak 2011. His serve and FH were booming and we all started to get excited a little about the new young name. I remember "wanting" him to improve his footwork and make it lighter....
Three years later, Harrison is playing the same game, but the tour has moved on and Dimitrov with it.
Hiring Rasheed, he added fitness to his "skill" set and started winning more matches.

Another example of where modern tennis is at now. Fitness, scrambling, percentage, spin.

Looks like only Earnie doesn't care about the latest trend

Hey, don't wanna miss the start of the game again, so here my quick tips for today:

1. Murray
2. Stakh
3. Tsonga
4. Berdych
5. Brown

Anyone missing Delpo?



Having just mentioned Gulbis in the previous post in the context of modern game and spin, I had a clear image of one of the FHDTL he hit at Boodles. It was a superb shot with plenty of topspin, but a nice low trajectory and great pace.

I know pure FH flat-hitting is virtually non-existent these days, but my thoughts drifted to Delpo next and I recalled one of the best FHs I have ever seen live.
That was last year in Wimbledon, I can't even remember who he played, but I do remember him striking this pure missile of a FHDTL...
It was as flat as a pancake, hit on the run, unreturnable, spectacular shot.
Delpo's signature.
I have really missed him this year, and I believe his absence has been partly the reason we haven't had (m)any instant classics in 2014.

He is planning to come back for USO, and I so hope he won't have to undergo any more surgeries!

It's Wimbledon time!! Can't wait to hear the opening music to the BBC programme at 11:30.

I missed the French Open, can I still participate?

Murray
Stakhovsky
Tsonga
Berdych Brown

Of course you can, the more the merrier!

A suggestion for rotla (I know I'm killing myself in the foot here with all the calcs I'll have to do )

Can we please have 7 instead of 5 matches to pick from, it adds up to the risk factor

Thanks!

While we wait for the magnificence that is SW19, lets indulge ourselves in some pure tennis magic. Ladies and Gentlemen, the aura of Wimbledon...

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/media/3621446698001.html

Oh yes....the one and only!

Good of Wimbledon (or was it Stella?) to honour Federer with this clip.
I liked the sentence that said:
"...perfectly balanced on the surface thats shows up any clumsiness..."

How true!

If anything, the video didn't do Maestro's glorious game enough justice
I managed to scramble a very good C1 seat/ticket for second Monday. I know it's in the realms of science fiction, but wouldn't it be fabulous if he played there instead of CC.
I did see him on the same court a few years ago, on the first Monday, but being round one, it wasn't a competitive match. Still...

Yeah, I liked that one too, and this, "one-handed, stylish, ruthless"

Oh that's great, enjoy! You know, it might not be that far fetched for him to play on C1 on Monday as the day is jam packed with players. So someone has to be on C1, and there are 3 players higher than him on the rankings so... who knows. He's been there before.

I've got tickets for Centre tomorrow, woop! So, I'm thinking Lisicki, Federer, Nadal? I hope so anyway, unless something strange happens.

Brilliant!!!
You'll definitely see both Fed, and, God willing, an exiting Nadal

Have a super day!

Oh I hope so  Maybe I'll become Slovak for the day (and Swiss of course).

The only thing I'm worried about is that I have to leave after 7 to catch a train  I'm sure that Lisicki will open the day, but I'm afraid that things will go on for ages, or they'll try to fit 4 matches in, and Fed will be the last match. What do you think?

summerblues wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:The defending champion is SB.

Huh?  I wish this were true...

 Opps.. GP is... 

But good luck SB for this wimbledon.

noleisthebest wrote:Of course you can, the more the merrier!

A suggestion for rotla (I know I'm killing myself in the foot here with all the calcs I'll have to do )

Can we please have 7 instead of 5 matches to pick from, it adds up to the risk factor

 Sure.. tomorrow will put 7 matches...

Thanks rotla.

Watching Dimitrov-Harrison, quite a nice, close match, Harrison playing well, but again falling short in baseline rallies....2 sets down now.

Shame he didn't have an easier 1st round draw.

And out goes Ryan in straight sets.
As the match went on, esp after winning the 1set TB, Dimi grew in confidence and started playing better and more relaxed, the opposite from Harrison.
Pecking order already showing in that generation: Dimitrov, Thiem, Harrison, Raonic....
I am still waiting for someone "brand new" to turn up and blast them all away with a great attacking FH!

Next, Nole....here comes the send-off:   


IDEMO MAJSTOREEEEEE!!!!!        

1set bagel   
poor Golub...
Gorgeous BH, nice serve...it's all really there...except the belief; and what a difference that is making...mind you, Nole is a tough opponent in more than one way. Superb returning today.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Fed's been put on Court 1 tomorrow  

the hype surrounding dimitrov is premature in my opinion
i dont think he is as good as everyone is making him out to be ( yet)

Polly 81 wrote:Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Fed's been put on Court 1 tomorrow  

That's a shame (to put it very mildly), you've really pulled the short straw with CC tomorrow as there are some great matches on C1.
Mind you, you cam always stroll around and watch matches on smaller courts: Paire and Mannarino are playing among others, that's my plan for Friday.
Now that the played Fed on C1 my chances of seeing him there on Monday are getting close to zero...but I have a cunning plaaaaaan

Veejay wrote:the hype surrounding dimitrov is premature in my opinion
i dont think he is as good as everyone is making him out to be ( yet)

I agree completely.
His game is weaponless. His FH is nothing more than OK.  At least Raonic has that serve...
They are both overrated and overhyped. Nike need to think of "future" after Fedal.

Call me cynical, but I think that even Sharapova is part of Dimi's contract with Nike, just like Serena who he also had a fling with...all the dirty laundry stays "in the (Nike) family" that way...

noleisthebest wrote:

Polly 81 wrote:Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Fed's been put on Court 1 tomorrow  

That's a shame (to put it very mildly), you've really pulled the short straw with CC tomorrow as there are some great matches on C1.
Mind you, you cam always stroll around and watch matches on smaller courts: Paire and Mannarino are playing among others, that's my plan for Friday.
Now that the played Fed on C1 my chances of seeing him there on Monday are getting close to zero...but I have a cunning plaaaaaan

Yes, yes I have  It's wrong, all wrong I tell you. The 7 time champion should always trump the 5 time Serena.
Is this cunning plan the art of schmoozing

noleisthebest wrote:

Veejay wrote:the hype surrounding dimitrov is premature in my opinion
i dont think he is as good as everyone is making him out to be ( yet)

I agree completely.
His game is weaponless. His FH is nothing more than OK.  At least Raonic has that serve...
They are both overrated and overhyped. Nike need to think of "future" after Fedal.

Call me cynical, but I think that even Sharapova is part of Dimi's contract with Nike, just like Serena who he also had a fling with...all the dirty laundry stays "in the (Nike) family" that way...

I was thinking the same, I just turned to my mother and said that they're all jumping on the Dimitrov bandwagon. And with no real basis. (But to be fair I think it was John McEnroe, the bandwagon king, who was going on about it just now). 
They did however, start today's programme with the obligatory dramatic montage of the possible champions, and I was suprised to see Dimitrov's name being emblazoned among all the other defending champions.

I disagree.  Dimitrov is a rising star, and it looks very likely that sooner or later he will win multiple Slams.  Federer was at this stage once in his career and people wrote him off as well.  I don't think Dimi is another Federer. but he is a cut above most.  And he will prove it.