Wimbledon 2014: MOTD Day 2 Tue 24/06/2014

Rotla has not yet picked the matches for Day 2, and by the time I wake up tomorrow it will be too late, so here we go.  We will have 7 matches to choose from, as requested by NITB:

Martin Klizan  (SVK) [33]
v
Rafael Nadal  (ESP) [2]


Stan Wawrinka  (SUI) [5]
v
Joao Sousa  (POR) [33]


Nick Kyrgios  (AUS) [33]
v
Stephane Robert  (FRA) [33]


Philipp Kohlschreiber  (GER) [22]
v
Igor Sijsling  (NED) [33]


Benoit Paire  (FRA) [33]
v
Lukas Rosol  (CZE) [33]


Pierre-Hugues Herbert  (FRA) [33]
v
Jack Sock  (USA) [33]


Marcel Granollers  (ESP) [30]
v
Nicolas Mahut  (FRA) [33]


Good luck everyone!

My picks:

Klizan
Sousa
Robert
Kohlschreiber
Rosol
Sock
Granollers

Thanks SB.. I love it how nice and helping the people in this forum are.

1. klizan
2. Stan
3. Kyrgios
4. Kohlschreiber
5. Rosol
6. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
7. Mahut..the marathon man.

Klizan (I'll be cheering!)
Wawrinka
Kyrgios
Kohli
Paire
Herbert
Mahut

Klizan
Wawrinka
Robert
Kohli
Paire
Herbert
Mahut

Thanks SB!
Some very tough choices today...

Klizan, Sousa, Kyrgios, Kohlschreiber, Rosol, Sock, Mahut.

Not sure how you do it in Slovak, so this will have to do:

IDEMO MARTINE MAJSTOREEEE!!!!!!!                     .... and for a good measure (just in case Klizan likes his football)   !!!!!

Did anyone watch Nole-Golub yesterday?

I only saw second half of the second set and a bit of third...but I really enjoyed Golub's elegance, not far from Fed's.
I wish he could afford the vest coaching and whatever team is needed these days, a beautiful talent!   

good choice, SB,

I'll go with:

1. Klizan (send the Nadal back home!)
2. Sousa
3. Robert
4. Kohlschreiber
5. Rosol
6. Herbert
7. Mahut

Should you need any help with the counting, NITB, I have a bit more time from today. Yesterday didn't see any matches.

Thanks for the offer AL, I'll let you know if I get stuck for time.

Interesting interview from tennis's most famous uncle, sorry couldn't find it in any other language as L'Equipe is subscription only.
http://www.b92.net/sport/tenis/masters/vesti.php?yyyy=2014&mm=06&dd=24&nav_id=866994

Glorious sunshine, blue sky, fresh green grass, Tim tastefully chirping away in the background, Maestro striking the ball with conviction, moving softly and swiftly.........aaaaaaah  

Wow, Klizan won the first set, but Nadal looks to take the 2nd, time to start watching.
Go Martin!!!!!  

Just saw this story about Marion today. You've got to love her, she is such a cauldron of emotion and passion!

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/blogs/2014-06-24/201406241403616718810.html

Now and then I watch the Youtube clip of her winning Wimbledon last year.
The woman who couldn't serve, aced on the match point, it always brings the lump in the throat for me...  

Nadal has lost even more hair. Agassi decision time coming pretty soon...
Talking of bald patches, I am shocked to see the baseline on CC already worn...AFTER ONE DAY OF PLAY!!!!!!!
That aside, I still can't believe Nadal actually played 5 Wimbledon finals.

Dusan-nobody-bagels-Lajovic, the SBH pride of Serbia, through to the  2nd round after beating GG Lopez.

Bravo Duci!!!  

How anyone can think Nadal is the best allsurface player in history is beyond me..  It's ludicrous.

Nadal can barely beat rank 50+ players on a slowed down grass surface...  no chance on the older true tennis grass.

Many people who watch tennis don't understand it. I don't hold it against those who have started following it with Nadal, but commentators and pundits have a lot to answer for for feeding them all the tripe and lies.
I am currently having to put up with McEnroe...

Klizan took the bathroom break after losing the 3rd set, that's a good sign, he still believes!
Nadal looks very beatable today.

Go Martin!  

Nadl finally gets time violation and gets broken back in that game, well-done Murphy, better late than never!

McEnroe: "The umpire was wrong, he should just let the guys play...."

Mac should be hung, drawn and quartered for this one....

noleisthebest wrote:Nadl finally gets time violation and gets broken back in that game, well-done Murphy, better late than never!

McEnroe: "The umpire was wrong, he should just let the guys play...."

Mac should be hung, drawn and quartered for this one....

Did you hear McEnroe say "if you take out the past 3 Wimbledons, Nadal has dominated the Majors the past 3 years"

REALLY!!   Take out 25% of the Majors and the greatest one..... I didn't realize that's how you judge players Major success, but  okay--   then he has 1 US Open, 0 AO's and his 3 French!   That's dominating the Majors in the past 3 years?!   That's all surface dominance?  lol..  McEnroe is insane. 


Klizan made Nadal look silly early in the match...  It's so clear how one dimensional and condition related Nadals game is..  Then the 2 McEnroes were saying that the reason Nadal struggles so much now is he is trying to take the returns earlier and closer the baseline and is not comfortable there..  Gee-- you mean he's trying to play the game and style that actually shows tennis talent and can't do it....  smh... They think he should go back to his clay positioning which tells you all you need to know about Wimbledon conditions now.  

One thing McEnroe did bring up in the Fed match which also shows the travesty of what tennis has become is he listed the #'s of serve/Volley and net approaches starting with the Fed/Sampras Match and then the 2002 final till today---    shocking what the slowdown in 2002 with new grass and balls created.   Nadal would have 0 Wimbledons under true grass conditions.


The only problem is that the more guys let Nadal off the hook in these early rounds-- the more confident he becomes and conditions will revert to what he needs for success.   Unlike most players who when they get tested in the early rounds, it often builds on itself and they wear down to where they are easy pickings in the quarters and later--- Nadal will only get better-  not in a skill or ability standpoint, but he's get matchplay and then the grasss turns to dirt and he's right into his comfort zone.

Fed would have a better chance being ranked 20 something and facing him in the 3rd round than facing him in the semis where it's just a slightly faster clay match.

noleisthebest wrote:(...) I don't hold it against those who have started following it with Nadal, but commentators and pundits have a lot to answer for for feeding them all the tripe and lies.
I am currently having to put up with McEnroe...

I don't think starting to follow tennis with the arrival of Nadal is a viable excuse. It's not like he is the only player out there and he must be appalling to every person with the slightest sense of grace and beauty. The dripping sweat alone puts me off, then there's his grunting and his "OCD"-ticks. I know, I would never follow tennis, if there were only guys like Nadal around. Should tennis develop in that direction, then bye-bye I guess.

The pundits are another good reason besides the grunting to switch the sound off. McEnroe's comments on Nadal are something else, clearly Nadal is the greatest of all time and the greatest volleyer to boot.   Henman followed suit today with similar remarks, totally lost respect for him. Federer not a natural mover at the net? Who is then? Nadal?   I know they only try to push current players at the expense of past players to promote the game, but how can they expect to be taken seriously if they reach such levels of ridicule?

truffin1 wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Nadl finally gets time violation and gets broken back in that game, well-done Murphy, better late than never!

McEnroe: "The umpire was wrong, he should just let the guys play...."

Mac should be hung, drawn and quartered for this one....

Did you hear McEnroe say "if you take out the past 3 Wimbledons, Nadal has dominated the Majors the past 3 years"

REALLY!!   Take out 25% of the Majors and the greatest one..... I didn't realize that's how you judge players Major success, but  okay--   then he has 1 US Open, 0 AO's and his 3 French!   That's dominating the Majors in the past 3 years?!   That's all surface dominance?  lol..  McEnroe is insane. 

Klizan made Nadal look silly early in the match...  It's so clear how one dimensional and condition related Nadals game is..  (...)

Unfortunately the limitations of Klizan's game became all too obvious. I could see why he has no pedigree on grass. His movement just not good enough, he was slipping all over the place. He was also in trouble generating pace, when Nadal used the slice and ended up hitting errors more often than not.

He got dragged in some long rallies too and ended up going for too much, but that's what Nadal does to you.

McEnroe is a clown, but why does he still make me so sad and angry? Maybe I am just afraid, Nadal will show his all surface talents once more. Today was not a good day in Wimbledon and I hope it doesn't continue in this vein.

I think Tim was right in the context. He was talking about fast conditions and how tennis has changed.
The reason why Federer hired Edberg is to improve his movement to and at the net and round his game off there in current slowed down tennis.
S&V-ing in current era is a whole different prospect from what it used to be 20 years ago.
Modern racquets and spin provide much safer ball-control from the base-line.
Even the sublimely talented ball-striker like Federer needs lots of practice with his volleys, and nothing beats match practice!

Tim was right, Fed pulls off the toughest ones, because he is such a quick and instinctive player, but he also missed one or two easy ones.

truffin1 wrote:Klizan made Nadal look silly early in the match...  It's so clear how one dimensional and condition related Nadals game is.
The only problem is that the more guys let Nadal off the hook in these early rounds-- the more confident he becomes and conditions will revert to what he needs for success.   Unlike most players who when they get tested in the early rounds, it often builds on itself and they wear down to where they are easy pickings in the quarters and later--- Nadal will only get better-  not in a skill or ability standpoint, but he's get matchplay and then the grasss turns to dirt and he's right into his comfort zone.

Yes, Nadal was a shocker today and frankly - looked ridiculous. I dread to think he'll play in the second week, but looking at his draw, it's not that far-fetched. Klizan could have done it today, just wasn't sharp and focused the whole match. Even Karlovic got knocked out today.
But then, maybe 5% of viewers are able to see it. You only need to look around tennis forums to fall in deep despair...
Tennis is just another example of sheep mentality. People are happy to be brain-washed. They simply don't care.
If they did, tennis would not be in the state it's in.
Just like film/music/food industry it's a profit making business and bosses have become very greedy, cutting corners and selling us cheap and nasty stuff.
Sadly, tennis is gone in my opinion.
It was good while it lasted, enjoy it while Fed is still playing....

truffin1 wrote:
Fed would have a better chance being ranked 20 something and facing him in the 3rd round than facing him in the semis where it's just a slightly faster clay match.

Interesting and potentially true. I still prefer to see Fed ranked as high as possible.
Bring on some rain and closed roof on Thursday for Rosol The Great!

noleisthebest wrote:I think Tim was right in the context. He was talking about fast conditions and how tennis has changed. (...)

I understood that he jumped the Nadal bandwaggon there. If that's what he meant he is excused and I got him wrong.    I liked Tim Henman as a player. 

On another note: I got reminded that Klizan belongs to the players who publicly accused Nadal of PED use. I don't speak Slovak, but the main point is recognizable with the help of translations and some fundamental knowledges of slavic languages.

http://isport.blesk.cz/clanek/tenis/110433/skandalni-vyrok-slovenskeho-tenisty-klizana-nadal-bere-drogy.html

He, he I didn't know I could understand Slovak...good on Martin to speak out, no wonder it never made it to Western media...
But even if it did, the evidence would be destroyed like those 200 blood bags in Fuentes trial.
Worse things happen in everyday life in the name of profit, though.
What's interesting is that nobody bats an eyelid when politicians lie/cheat to us on a daily basis with far-reaching consequences, and yet we get so sensitive when it happens in sport.

Interesting to hear what Fed had to say after his match today:

"I think as a traditional serve-and-volley player, which I’m clearly not anymore, they’re used to taking return winners, passing shots. It’s the overall picture. You have to be willing to dig deep on the volleys and not only think, ‘Only if I have high volleys it’s good, otherwise if I have to volley deep I’m in trouble and lose the point every single time.
I think there’s a way to do it here. You need to be able to serve well, move well at net, anticipate well, come in on the right shots in the right way. Many things need to work well, but it definitely still is worth it.
Today he also said that Stefan Edberg has “reinforced the concept that [net-rushing] is possible."We’ll see if Edberg can get Federer to dig a little more, and make his forays forward a real factor in his results."

noleisthebest wrote:(...) What's interesting is that nobody bats an eyelid when politicians lie/cheat to us on a daily basis with far-reaching consequences, and yet we get so sensitive when it happens in sport.

I think the difference is that everybody knows that politics is dirty business, evolving around money and power. So nobody is surprised at lying and cheating politicians - little outrage, in fact everybody would be surprised at a virtuous politician.  

While sports is supposed to be pure, to show in fair spirits the best mankind has to offer. Sports is supposed to be a game, a playful competition - athletes are supposed to compete for love of the game and honour. Nobody wants to see medically enhanced cyborgs fighting it out, we want to see what the best humans are capable of. Hence the ongoing belief, this or that athlete wouldn't cheat, even with all evidence pointing to the opposite. The audience wants to belief, superhuman feats are possible. And whenever a cheater is caught the disproportionate disappointment leads to abandonment of interest in the incredibly superhuman abilities. These guys are heros that bring down their sport with them if they fall.