Wimbledon 2014 - June 23rd to July 6th

[bones]

So Nadal also wins.no problems for the top seeds so far

That was far from easy for Nadal. Murray, Djokovic and Federer coasted through their matches, Nadal had a tussle. If anything Rosol having watched today match should feel quite confident, he can ball bash his way past Nadal if he's lucky.

[zep1706]

As we all expected, this was a tough test for Nadal but what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger! He will gain a lot of confidence from this performance which was lacking before this match. I think Nadal played well enough. He was nervous early on, but found his game as the match progressed. He was up against a very tough opponent and he did what he had to do to win it. There are certainly areas where he can make improvements but he was moving well unlike last year, which is a good sign for him. Rosol would be a tough opponent, that goes without saying but Nadal would be better prepared for that this time after playing 3 hours of tennis on grass and also knowing what to expect from Rosol.

[zep1706]

This is spooky, Nadal played Klizan in R1 of 2013 Roland Garros and beat him 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-3; he played Klizan again in R1 of Wimbledon 2014 and beat him with the exact scoreline. Also Rosol and Nadal's rematch is a rematch in the true sense of it. Same tournament, most likely same court and same round. :haha:

[Raghav_12]

This is spooky, Nadal played Klizan in R1 of 2013 Roland Garros and beat him 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-3; he played Klizan again in R1 of Wimbledon 2014 and beat him with the exact scoreline. Also Rosol and Nadal's rematch is a rematch in the true sense of it. Same tournament, most likely same court and same round. :haha:

Nadal need not to worry about that if you go by probability. What is probability a player with 50+ rankking defeating ranked 1 player in 2 consecutive matches in GS?

[bones]

Nadal need not to worry about that if you go by probability. What is probability a player with 50+ rankking defeating ranked 1 player in 2 consecutive matches in GS?

Based on what we saw from Nadal today and his recent matches, it's not as unlikely as you think. Unlike Fed, Murray or Djokovic yesterday Nadal looks way off his game. Hopefully he is slapped around the centre court like he was last year and 2 years ago, would give most tennis fans great pleasure.

[bones]

Gu;bis vs Stavokshky should be fun. I can see Tomic vs Berdych being quite entertaining too. Janowicz and Hewitt face off in 2 days. Of course Rosol vs Nadal, hopefully late evening and under the roof could be a cracker. I don't think any of the ball bashers fear Nadal on grass and most of them have a good chance at running him ragged. Stepanek vs Djokovic could be tasty, but depends on how well Stepanek is with his S/V. There are some good matches in prospect, hopefully they don't disappoint.

[Raghav_12]

Based on what we saw from Nadal today and his recent matches, it's not as unlikely as you think. Unlike Fed, Murray or Djokovic yesterday Nadal looks way off his game. Hopefully he is slapped around the centre court like he was last year and 2 years ago, would give most tennis fans great pleasure.

I think he got just the right kind of match that he needed. He got to spend good amount of time with his feet feeling grass. He came from behind to win the match. So in fact this match would do just well to boost his confidence.

[bones]

I think he got just the right kind of match that he needed. He got to spend good amount of time with his feet feeling grass. He came from behind to win the match. So in fact this match would do just well to boost his confidence.

Yes I'm sure. Let's rather waste time and spend extra time on court getting into rhythm rather than finish your opponent off quickly and get off court as quick as possible. The thing about winning in straights, sure you're not tested, but you're not wasting time and energy and too often one finalist is more tired in the final.

[zep1706]

For all the talk about slow courts, Stakhovsky just beat Gulbis in straight sets playing pure serve and volley, just like he beat Federer last year. It goes to show that on grass if you are good at SnV you can still win at Wimbledon, just that no one is good enough to do it consistently these days. Stakhovsky himself does not have a huge serve. Someone with a serve like Sampras and good volley skills would still be successful on grass. Players who have big serves these days are pathetic volleyers, so they can't take the advantage of SnV. Here is an interesting article I read a few days ago, statistically SnV is till very useful on grass. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/sports/tennis/a-misguided-departure-from-the-serve-and-volley.html

[Yoda-esque]

For all the talk about slow courts, Stakhovsky just beat Gulbis in straight sets playing pure serve and volley, just like he beat Federer last year. It goes to show that on grass if you are good at SnV you can still win at Wimbledon, just that no one is good enough to do it consistently these days. Stakhovsky himself does not have a huge serve. Someone with a serve like Sampras and good volley skills would still be successful on grass. Players who have big serves these days are pathetic volleyers, so they can't take the advantage of SnV. Here is an interesting article I read a few days ago, statistically SnV is till very useful on grass. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/sports/tennis/a-misguided-departure-from-the-serve-and-volley.html

only the first week

[zep1706]

only the first week

The grass in the service boxes does not change much even in the second week these days because very few players come to net. If you compare the state of the courts in the second week now with that with 80s and 90s you would clearly notice that it is greener in the second week now than it used to back then. It gets worn out completely around the baseline now, which helps lateral movement but the main court remains quite green. Take a look at the following videos and tell me which court looks more worn out in the actual playing area, not the baseline. D42zQnNR2n4 f6dhXpVUyuc So imo the serve would have the same effect in the second week too. But you have to have a really big serve to execute SnV, because players move better and return better due to the higher bounce and improved racquets. But with a serve like Sampras' you will still get easy returns on most occasions.

[zep1706]

You have to also consider that with the improvement of string technologies, the serves have also gotten bigger in the last 10-12 years. A 130 mph serve was considered really huge back in the 1990s, that was close to the top speed of huge servers like Goran. Occasionally they could reach around 135, but big servers these days reach 140+ mph and can routinely serve 130 mph. I am talking about the likes of Raonic and Isner. If you look at the service stats, the effectiveness of the serve has not decreased. In fact it is exactly the opposite of that as the stats reveal.

[Yoda-esque]

You have to also consider that with the improvement of string technologies, the serves have also gotten bigger in the last 10-12 years. A 130 mph serve was considered really huge back in the 1990s, that was close to the top speed of huge servers like Goran. Occasionally they could reach around 135, but big servers these days reach 140+ mph and can routinely serve 130 mph. I am talking about the likes of Raonic and Isner. If you look at the service stats, the effectiveness of the serve has not decreased. In fact it is exactly the opposite of that as the stats reveal.

thanks for that info..any information on return stats?

[zep1706]

thanks for that info..any information on return stats?

I will try to find it. If I am not mistaken there is an ITF research done on serves and returns, let me see if I can find similar stats for returns. But I am pretty sure people return much better now than they did 15 years ago on all surfaces and serve and volley would not be an ideal tactic on surfaces other than grass. That is also a reason why people stopped doing it, there is no incentive of SnV outside grass and there are only a few grass tournaments. Feliciano Lopez won Eastbourne and played the final of Queens by serve and volleying. Both of those surfaces are very similar to Wimbledon, may be just slightly faster because they are a week long tournaments. Let's see if Stakhosky can make a run here. I absolutely love his old school grass court game.

[adi B]

Old stepanek trying hard against Novak.5-5 in the 4th set tie breaker

[zep1706]

As I was expecting a tricky match for Djokovic, escaped in 4 sets. Could have easily lost it too. Djokovic served well on break points. But luckily for him there are not many players who have the variety like Stepanek to trouble his ground game.

[bones]

Djokovic showed some lack of match time, nothing beats having good preparation and winning a few 1000, 500 or even 250 matches before a GS. Novak hasn't looked good so far, yes he's won and well enough in the end with a 3 set and 4 set match, it's not the performance he needs. But as we all know, it's not how you win, but if you win and win he did. Gulbis out, what a shame, maybe RG was just a one off then.

[bones]

Nadal a set down, Rosol playing all out tennis. I know lightning isn't supposed to strike twice, but oh the joy if it were to strike twice on this day.

[Raghav_12]

Is Nadal through this scare? Probably yes.

[Yoda-esque]

Nadal a set down' date=' Rosol playing all out tennis. I know lightning isn't supposed to strike twice, but oh the joy if it were to strike twice on this day.[/quote'] Jinxed him