Wimbledon 2014 - June 23rd to July 6th

[zep1706]

Can't trust fed these days' date='he can be brilliant till the qf then suddenly become federror and display horrible tennis to fet knocked out.which side of the draw is stan in?[/quote'] It depends on his level of play. But he seems to be a man on a mission in this tournament. Tomorrow would be his toughest contest before the final.

[bones]

Nadal simply can't handle the power from the other side of the net on grass. The low bounce means he doesn't have anywhere near the time to run around his back hand side. On HC and clay he would have come through, but the differences make this sport a great leveller.

[zep1706]

Nadal simply can't handle the power from the other side of the net on grass. The low bounce means he doesn't have anywhere near the time to run around his back hand side. On HC and clay he would have come through' date=' but the differences make this sport a great leveller.[/quote'] Only Borg has done the French, Wimbledon double more than Nadal. (3 vs 2). Nadal has been to 5 Wimbledon finals after winning the French Open. It is considered to be one of the toughest thing in tennis. Also he got a killer draw this year. At some point it takes a mental toll. Kyrigos did not drop is level of serve even once in the match. He was hitting the lines at will. Very few people could do anything about those serves. I don't see anyone expect Novak maybe returning most of those aces. He hit 35+ aces in 4 sets. It's not easy to win against such a player playing at such high level. But still it was a tight match with 2 TBs. A few points decided the match and that happens in tennis. Sometimes those points go against you, you have to accept it and move on.

[Yoda-esque]

Match was on the kids racquet,he didn't choke

[Yoda-esque]

Can't trust fed these days' date='he can be brilliant till the qf then suddenly become federror and display horrible tennis to fet knocked out.which side of the draw is stan in?[/quote'] Wawrinka can't beat Federer on grass ,takes too much of a cut on his swings. Murray is the real problem

[Raghav_12]

Kid played very well but Nadal had his chances.. couldn't take those. Sank some routine forehands in Net or wide. He was well below par. A guy like Murray who slices very well would have taken care of this Kid.But good to see new kid on the block.

[zep1706]

Kid played very well but Nadal had his chances.. couldn't take those. Sank some routine forehands in Net or wide. He was well below par. A guy like Murray who slices very well would have taken care of this Kid.But good to see new kid on the block.

Yes it is very encouraging to see a teenager doing well. That hasn't happened in the last 7-8 years. This guy has amazing composure. He was down 0-30 or 15-30 a number of times on his serve but he came up with some huge serves. That's a very good sign for such a young guy. Nadal did miss a lot of routine shots but it was due to the pressure applied by Kyrigos on his game in general. When you feel like you have to make that shot you end up missing it. So a lot of credit goes to Kyrigos. Nadal usually plays even better when he is down as we have already seen in this tournament but today was not his day. He played decent enough imo, the other guy was just better.

[maniac]

Well looks like all Indians and 1 Paki are still in contention Rohan Boppana Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupati Sania Mirza Aslam Quershi(Pak) Bhupati is playing his last Grandslam is he still in??? Also what did I read he has signed Murray for his sports agency,Kudos good catch :nice:

[Texan]

^^ But in singles, only one qualifies and he can't even get past the first round.

[Muloghonto]

But Federer has a pretty easy road to the final now and he has had a very easy draw so far. Murray and Djokovic will probably fight it out in the semi.

Spoken like a true Nadal fan. Federer's draw looks easier on paper because of the relatively unknown and low seeds left in his half but his draw is pretty tough on grass. Both Raonic and Kyrgios can be a serious threat to anyone on grass if they continue to serve so well and Wawrinka should be a stern test for Federer predominantly because they both play similar styles and their styles are optimal for grass. Then if he makes it to the final, he faces most likely one of Djokovic or Murray. How is that an easy draw ?

[Raghav_12]

Kyrgois match once again proved why Grass is getting so irrelevant as a surface for Tennis. You had 37 points where only one person played and 37 points is huge number - equivalent to 9 games or one and half set. This gets a bit farcical where Tennis becomes like a athletics competition- how far I can throw that round piece of Iron or a Javelin or how far I can jump and that's not how Tennis is supposed to be. Spectator may like it today as they are seeing a new kid on the horizon but it gets routine affair it will sure drive spectators away. Nobody is there to see one of two players there just shifting sides from left to right. With more powerful racquets this is imminent threat for Tennis viewership. Hope something is done for this.

[Muloghonto]

Kyrgois match once again proved why Grass is getting so irrelevant as a surface for Tennis. You had 37 points where only one person played and 37 points is huge number - equivalent to 9 games or one and half set. This gets a bit farcical where Tennis becomes like a athletics competition- how far I can throw that round piece of Iron or a Javelin or how far I can jump and that's not how Tennis is supposed to be. Spectator may like it today as they are seeing a new kid on the horizon but it gets routine affair it will sure drive spectators away. Nobody is there to see one of two players there just shifting sides from left to right. With more powerful racquets this is imminent threat for Tennis viewership. Hope something is done for this.

I think this reflects an attitude that simply does not appreciate the traditional aspects of tennis and the fine skills that come with it. So what if points on grass are super short ? The 37 ace/service winner count is not purely a product of grass, such combined match numbers are also likely at the US open/ATPF with similar servings. This is not a problem inherent to grass, faster hard courts also have this and IMO, it does not take away from the game at all. Because in a given high level match, the number of free points exceeding 50 per match in a Bo5 sets is still likely in 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 cases at best because you need to serve exceedingly well for 2+ hrs to do this. Such players are not always around or always in the latter stages either. But grass brings out the other aspects of the game that is sadly lacking in today's tennis and is a beauty to watch- the touch shots. The flicks, the drop volleys, the skiddy drop shots and tremendously rewarding for players interested in point construction rather than better ball bashing. I wish the ATP tour takes into account the huge followings of wimbledon, aegon open, halle, etc. to expand the grass court season somewhat. Tennis needs to go back to season of 3 surfaces + year end indoor hardcourt mini season format. Not only is that the fairest way to distribute grandslams & rankings, it also makes for a much more complete game and experience to watch.

[vamos_rafa]

Well played Krygois! Rafa had his chances but screwed them up. I think on these surfaces the long rallies, which Tennis has now turned into doesn't quite work. You need to have a good serve and volley game also, which Rafa just didn't try at all. I remember in 2010, against Berdych he was approaching the nets.. But, all in all Rafa couldn't handle so many big servers match after match.

[zep1706]

Kyrgois match once again proved why Grass is getting so irrelevant as a surface for Tennis. You had 37 points where only one person played and 37 points is huge number - equivalent to 9 games or one and half set. This gets a bit farcical where Tennis becomes like a athletics competition- how far I can throw that round piece of Iron or a Javelin or how far I can jump and that's not how Tennis is supposed to be. Spectator may like it today as they are seeing a new kid on the horizon but it gets routine affair it will sure drive spectators away. Nobody is there to see one of two players there just shifting sides from left to right. With more powerful racquets this is imminent threat for Tennis viewership. Hope something is done for this.

Don't agree with that at all. Variety is always good. If it was all the same everywhere then it would be boring. Grass is where tennis started and clay came soon after. So these two are traditional surfaces. It's like hating on test cricket because it is 5 days long. Most causal fans probably won't get the beauty of test cricket, similarly grass court tennis is enjoyed by tennis enthusiasts. I personally actually want a little longer grass court season and may be a masters 1000 on grass.

[zep1706]

Also a longer grass season would good for Nadal too. He works incredibly hard during the clay season and two weeks later you have a grass GS. In his younger days he was able to make that transition almost every time, but now it's becoming increasingly difficult. This year because he did not go deep in all the clay tournaments he actually for the first time in 3 years arrived here in good physical shape but the draw was too tough for him. From next year there is an extra week between French open and Wimbledon. It should help him more than anyone else, assuming he goes deep in the french open again.

[zep1706]

Well played Krygois! Rafa had his chances but screwed them up. I think on these surfaces the long rallies, which Tennis has now turned into doesn't quite work. You need to have a good serve and volley game also, which Rafa just didn't try at all. I remember in 2010, against Berdych he was approaching the nets.. But, all in all Rafa couldn't handle so many big servers match after match.

I don't think Nadal played that bad. He served quite well too, except in the TBs. It was not like he was blown off the court. On another day he would have won the 3rd set quite easily. He was holding serve with ease and was making inroads on Kyrigos' serve almost every time. There were so many 0-30 or 15-30 games but each time Kyrigos was able to come up with a big serve when he needed it. That does not happen every day. But Nadal played two poor TBs quite uncharacteristically. It was a match decided by a few points here and there and some times the opponent comes up on the top. He had nothing to lose and played fearless tennis on those points. The huge serve always helps. Over all I think Nadal played quite well this year and showed that he still has grass court tennis left in him.

[Raghav_12]

Don't agree with that at all. Variety is always good. If it was all the same everywhere then it would be boring. Grass is where tennis started and clay came soon after. So these two are traditional surfaces. It's like hating on test cricket because it is 5 days long. Most causal fans probably won't get the beauty of test cricket' date=' similarly grass court tennis is enjoyed by tennis enthusiasts. I personally actually want a little longer grass court season and may be a masters 1000 on grass.[/quote'] Variety is okay. But what happens on grass, things become one-dimensional like yesterdays match. You want a tennis game to be a competition between 2 players, not what one person alone can do. You get gun server, put him on a grass court and ask him to target T point or corner point on wide side. You don't need a second player. You can win game after game without involvement of other player. I am just wondering, how and why this rule of allowing 2 chances to do a proper serve was introduced? Why should there be a second chance if you failed to complete a serve in one chance. This rule and Wimbledon like surfaces through away balance from the game.

[adi B]

Well played Krygois! Rafa had his chances but screwed them up. I think on these surfaces the long rallies, which Tennis has now turned into doesn't quite work. You need to have a good serve and volley game also, which Rafa just didn't try at all. I remember in 2010, against Berdych he was approaching the nets.. But, all in all Rafa couldn't handle so many big servers match after match.

Don't agree with that at all. Variety is always good. If it was all the same everywhere then it would be boring. Grass is where tennis started and clay came soon after. So these two are traditional surfaces. It's like hating on test cricket because it is 5 days long. Most causal fans probably won't get the beauty of test cricket' date=' similarly grass court tennis is enjoyed by tennis enthusiasts. I personally actually want a little longer grass court season and may be a masters 1000 on grass.[/quote'] so true.grass and clay are the 2 traditional surfaces in tennis and the true character,skill of a player is determined on these two surfaces.the style of play that players need to adapt on these surfaces are totally different,actually opposite. grass is one of the best surface to play tennis on

[zep1706]

Variety is okay. But what happens on grass' date=' things become one-dimensional like yesterdays match. You want a tennis game to be a competition between 2 players, not what one person alone can do. You get gun server, put him on a grass court and ask him to target T point or corner point on wide side. You don't need a second player. You can win game after game without involvement of other player.[/quote'] It depends on how you define one dimensional. Some people might call baseline rallies as one dimensional too. If you read the old threads, the "teenage old dude" who has decided to show up today for the obvious reason :haha: was calling clay as an inferior surface because his god does not have a lot of success on it. It is a matter of preference, there are many people who enjoy grass court tennis. I personally like it a lot. Just because you don't like it, you can't call it irrelevant. And serve is not the only component to it. Kyrigos, for example was playing very well ground strokes too. Sampras, Federer have excellent ground strokes and net skills. And people like Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Hewitt, Agassi, Edberg etc have proved that you can win on grass without having a huge serve. Federer himself does not have a huge serve, he has an accurate serve. Having a good serve is a major advantage but it is not a serving contest alone. It was probably introduced to allow people to serve freely. Even the best servers struggle to put the ball in 1/3 of the times. So if there was just one serve, there would be many service errors. Anyways if you don't enjoy the fine nuances of grass court tennis then that's your opinion, many people do.

[bones]

Just read some of the last few posts, and I have to say Raghav hasn't a clue what he's on about. Grass court tennis is wonderful, it's a shame over recent years we've seen less and less serve volleying. That Nadal's return game is now terrible on the surface and that Nadal's serve is very average now is not Wimbledon's fault. Some of us like our one strike tennis, for one month a year we can do without the 20+ shot rallies that we are used to seeing the rest of the year. Mugholonto, Fed's draw is easy and so is Murray's please don't try and argue this point, you'd look foolish. You said he would face Wawrinka, Raonic and possibly Murray, but that's the standard for anyone in any slam now. It's the first 4 rounds that determine whether it's tough or not and so far it's been toughest for Novak and easiest for Federer. Nada had it quite tough, Murray is another with an easy draw.