Day 11 - Wimbledon

Djokovic (8) vs Gasquet (32)

Federer (25) vs Murray (20)

Hingis/Mirza (5) vs Kops-Jones/Spears (15)

Babos/mladenovic (8) vs Makarova/Vesnina (4)

Bryan/Mattek Sands (4) vs Paes/Hingis (12)

Wacky scoring but hey ho. Joker too.

I was just about doing it! Well done! thanks.

I have edited the points. It woudl be a shame to have only 15 or 8 points for semi finals!

Djoko
Federer - joker
Hingis/Mirza
Makarova/Vesnina
Paes/Hingis

I have a feeling it will be an easy one for Fed and that he'll lift the trophy on Sunday.

I can't imagine anyone else with it.

Somehow, everything looks possible.
It's the year of GOAT, after all!

Will you change your forum name nitb?

I did think about it, but nothing came to mind.

It would have to sum up the feeling of hitting a ball perfectly.

He, he...Fed 25 - Murray 20 points

noleisthebest wrote:He, he...Fed 25 - Murray 20 points

That's what the betting odds are.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:He, he...Fed 25 - Murray 20 points

That's what the betting odds are.

Interesting!
I'd have it the other way round...

I read that Murray has some shoulder problems, that may explain the absence of his muscled FH...

I don't think he has. I am hoping that Federer will take time away from him. I checked their H2H and Fed won 10 out of their last 15 encounters.....and knowing how tired fed was in Olympics 2012 and how in pain he was in 2013....it coudl have been even more one-sided.

I think so, too.

Federer serves better. Not to mention the movement. Did you notice how superb it's been?
Murray will have to serve the match of his life to have a chance.

In that Olympic final, the state of CC was awful, the turf laid after regular Wimbledon lasted about one day!

It looked as if Federer did not even bother in that match.

Djoko , Feds (joker) Spears, Mladenovic, Paes

AF: djok fed (joker) hing, babos, hing

To'T: Djok (joker) Murray, hing, vesnina, hingis

Here are some photos I took of Richie&Nole at Boodles two weeks ago:

https://s1118.photobucket.com/user/noleisthebest/library/?sort=4&page=1&postlogin=true

you must have been very close. But is it fun to watch players playing for fun?

Yes, I was in row one.

For me, the fun is in watching how they strike the ball, how they move, how they walk, how they are within themselves...that is not easy to see on TV.


This year they played at a very high level, none of the exo stuff at all.

I enjoyed Richie's BH a lot, how cleverly he used it and how reliable it is for him.
There is something mathematical about it.
He was outplaying Nole by sending him chipped slices all over the court, SBH grass tennis at its best.

He kept Nole on his toes & guessing all the time.
Richie can't outhit him, but he can outmanouver  him.
He served well, too.

I was pleasantly surprised!

noleisthebest wrote:He was outplaying Nole by sending him chipped slices all over the court, SBH grass tennis at its best.

He kept Nole on his toes & guessing all the time.
Richie can't outhit him, but he can outmanouver  him.
He served well, too.

I was pleasantly surprised!

Thta's why it was an exho....today you will see Djoko get to all those slices and CC BH with time to spare.

1. Gasquet . 
2. Federer

3. Hingis/Mirza
4. Makarova/Vesnina (4)
5. Makarova/Vesnina (4)

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:He was outplaying Nole by sending him chipped slices all over the court, SBH grass tennis at its best.

He kept Nole on his toes & guessing all the time.
Richie can't outhit him, but he can outmanouver  him.
He served well, too.

I was pleasantly surprised!

Thta's why it was an exho....today you will see Djoko get to all those slices and CC BH with time to spare.

Probably...
It's going to be tough for Richie.

But again, how many were thinking Richie was going to beat Stan?
Mind you, Nole does not go for broke and leave anything to chance.
You have to either blow him off the court (Stan) or send him running (Fed).

noleisthebest wrote:But again, how many were thinking Richie was going to beat Stan?
Mind you, Nole does not go for broke and leave anything to chance.
You have to either blow him off the court (Stan) or send him running (Fed).

Stan plays high risk tennis. Gasquet played well, but it was also a matter of Stan playing poor in key moments like losing the 1st and the 4th set. Actually even the 5 when he lost the final game, he gave 3 unforced errors to fall 0-40 and again even the on the 3rd match-point another BH miss by 3m. So basically Gasquet was solid but Stan beat himself.

Is Gasquet going to get such luxury from Djokovic who plays so safe?

We need a miracle here. Or maybe 2 coz 1 may not be enough.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:
Stan plays high risk tennis. Gasquet played well, but it was also a matter of Stan playing poor in key moments like losing the 1st and the 4th set. Actually even the 5 when he lost the final game, he gave 3 unforced errors to fall 0-40 and again even the on the 3rd match-point another BH miss by 3m. So basically Gasquet was solid but Stan beat himself.
Is Gasquet going to get such luxury from Djokovic who plays so safe?
We need a miracle here. Or maybe 2 coz 1 may not be enough.

I know what you mean...

Riche is not an aggressive player, that's the crux of it, but with him serving quite well, he may have a chance in his own service games.
At least not to be pushed too far behind the baseline, that's the end of him.

As I mentioned before, Nole said how Richie improved his fitness (it takes one to know one I suppose!), so I expect longer rallies.
Actually, the more I think about it the more I get depressed....

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:But again, how many were thinking Richie was going to beat Stan?
Mind you, Nole does not go for broke and leave anything to chance.
You have to either blow him off the court (Stan) or send him running (Fed).

Stan plays high risk tennis. Gasquet played well, but it was also a matter of Stan playing poor in key moments like losing the 1st and the 4th set. Actually even the 5 when he lost the final game, he gave 3 unforced errors to fall 0-40 and again even the on the 3rd match-point another BH miss by 3m. So basically Gasquet was solid but Stan beat himself.

Is Gasquet going to get such luxury from Djokovic who plays so safe?

We need a miracle here. Or maybe 2 coz 1 may not be enough.

Yes but you could say that of Gasquet too. I don;t think he played his best either. Richi reached his first semi here at Wimbledon 10 years ago or so. SO the talent was always there. And his record shows he was never scared of Stan...certainly not on grass.

Problem is, as GP mentioned, Stan likes to play the ball at a higher bounce. On grass he was hesitating to hit hard from a low bounce.

However I agree with you that Gasquet is doomed versus Djoko.

For me it was a bit surprising to see how very few players actually look natural on grass.
Most are just ball-striking baseline robots now. Even the so-called "talented" ones.
They have no idea how to move or use the court.

Tennis has moved away from its roots so far away...

So we have Garner umpring again, interesting....

Henman will be surprised if Gasquet wins more than 10 games!

Tenez wrote:Henman will be surprised if Gasquet wins more than 10 games!

We'll see...

Quick cos im on the phone

Djokovic
Federer - joker
hingis/mirza
babos/mladenovic
bryan/mattek-sands

Did you just see how Richie outplayed Nole with the BH at 30:15?
I hope he hold his serve now.

Richie's FH is so frustrating, it is killing him.

He hits it so much better in practice, amazing difference, in fact.

Shame gasquet lost his service game from 40/15 up....he'd be a break up now!

Oh yes!
What a BH!!!! Allez Richie!

noleisthebest wrote:Richie's FH is so frustrating, it is killing him.

He hits it so much better in practice, amazing difference, in fact.

Yes, tat's his weakness.

I wish McEnroe would stop going on about Stan's BH, Richie's one is the real deal!
So much superb variety and quality, hugely creative shot!

I hope the nerves are gone for Richie now.
He looks happy and into the match now.
Needs to get hist 1st serve going.

yes...first serve would help.

Shame he is not covering the ground quicker, a step short on reachable shots.
Definitely not an (super) athlete...only a tennis player.

Beautiful to see a thinking player!

what a scrapper!

He could've won this game...
What is it with people not being able to put away overheads!

yes he is very slow mouvement wise.

Nole looks clueless atm, playing some really junk tennis.

His FH is too loopy and not precise enough.....essentially due to his BH grip! This big mushroom he has on his grip prevents him from having a good feel on his FH.

Anyway...so far he has done better than expected.....except in that TB.

Tenez wrote:His FH is too loopy and not precise enough.....essentially due to his BH grip! This big mushroom he has on his grip prevents him from having a good feel on his FH.

Never thought of that...his racquet looks slightly shorter , too (the handle).
Regardless, he can hit the FH very well, maybe the footwork could be imoroved,

Shame he threw away this TB with both hands, Nole was there for the taking.

Tenez wrote:Anyway...so far he has done better than expected.....except in that TB.

Told you!
The exos ain't what they used to be

Is his shoulder bothering him?

Yes the footwork is clearly the problem...as the standard is so high nowadays in that department.

I really don't like Djoko's safe game. Even his smashes are depressingly safe.

Some nice tennis...

Nole getting away with so much here. Richie doing all the work for him.
Needs to learn how to pace within a game.
But enjoying himself and that's nice to see.

Tenez wrote:I really don't like Djoko's safe game. Even his smashes are depressingly safe.

Yes, he played about 3-4 good points in total...it's not even a counter-punching tennis...don't know what to call it....survival tennis?