wIMBLEDON, ANYONE?

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 6/24/14 at 5:19am

Started today.

[javero]

Posted: 6/24/14 at 2:38pm

Tiny,

For some reason this year's coverage isn't holding my interest. Perhaps, I'll become more engaged in week 2. Wimbledon has always set the seeds as it sees fit but I can't for the life of me figure out Djokovic is seeded #1 to Nadal's #2. Nadal is ranked #1; was a finalist at the Oz Open, and recently won the French Open for the 1,000,000th time. And he's won the Wimbledon singles title 2x.

I'm more of a Federer & Djokovic fan but that seeding is bogus imho.

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 6/25/14 at 4:21pm

of course the seeding is bogus...always has been. It's so ridiculous, like a mathematical "equation". Anywho, I guess the "interest" here on BWW is you and me, again. I think the 2nd rounds forward should yield some upsets, I hope. I'm kinda bummed that Sloane is out again so early. Serena was boring...not a fan really...oh, muguruza (sp?) is out already also...what happened since the French?

[javero]

Posted: 6/25/14 at 7:44pm

Vika was bundled out today on the women's side. Hopefully, she'll be 100% & competitive again by the start of the hard court season.

Ferrer was bounced out of the tourney on the men's side. I admire his hustle but his game has always bored me to near tears.

Nearly forgot about poor Sam Stosur going out in R1. Her game has never translated well to grass despite her being an Aussie.

Not surprised one bit about Sloane. I think her backswing off the ground is too big and her footwork too sloppy to ever win Wimbledon. Serena's never had the best footwork on the women's tour either but her other weapons and insatiable appetite for winning allow her to compensate.

I hope that Sloane's camp encourages her to watch the new version of Sharapova for inspiration. At the start of Sharapova's career the smart players either hit through her like the Williamses, Davenport, and Mary Pierce or made her move more than 2 ft to hit a groundstroke thereby forcing her out of position. She simply wasn't agile enough back then to recover her court position. But, what a difference a day makes. I'm very impressed by Sharapova's now-found commitment to fitness and positional tennis finally instead of playing on auto-pilot.

Sloane still lacks Serena and Maria's mental resolve out there and arguably lacks their weapons. To win a major these days a player must have 2 big weapons that allow him or her to win cheap points or get out of trouble quickly.

Updated On: 6/25/14 at 07:44 PM

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 12:55am

Serena's OUT - yippee! Tomorrow and all this wk should be much more exciting. I'm gonna go for HALEP to win. Always with the underdog.

[javero]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 11:43pm

Perhaps it's fitting that Serena should catch Navratilova-Evert at her national championship later this year. But, she's not the only one chasing history.

The Bryan bros on still on course to claim their 16th major title as a pair.

And Djokovic looked really confident against Tsonga. If he makes it to the final, I predict that he'll claim his 2nd Wimbledon trophy, even against Nadal, in 5 arduous sets. Nole rarely makes it look easy in finals.

Back to the ladies' side, look out for the Germans! Sabine Lisicki produces her best tennis of the year at Wimbledon and her compatriot Angelique Kerber is a big-hitting lefty that had a breakthrough at Eastbourne before running out of gas against Madison Keys in the final round. All eyes will be on her when she takes on Sharapova next.

But in the end it will be Kvitova claiming her 2nd Wimbledon dish profiting from all the carnage on the other side of the draw. Despite Serena's early departure, Sharapova has to have the tournament of her life to win this year. The younger players on tour are hungry and sense that neither she nor Serena is invincible. Even if both Sharapova & Halep somehow make it to the semis, Halep will prevail this time before being dispatched by Kvitova in the ladies' final.

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 5:39am

Welp, Sharapova's OUT. Hmmmm.....

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 11:32am

Right now, Serena appears to be having a significant medical issue. During doubles warm-up, she appears to disoriented, dizzy, and uncoordinated. Getting attention for docs. Disturbing to watch.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 11:49am

Yikes. I'm not a fan of Serena's, but I do hope she is OK.

The women's singles draw has really opened up after Sharapova's tough loss to Kerber today. Will be interesting to see who comes out on top. I'd love to see Lisicki take the title. She plays Halep tomorrow. A surprise semifinalist Safarova, was a winner today.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 11:53am

It appears that the Williams sisters have retired from their doubles match. Sad. I do hope they are OK.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 12:00pm

They did withdraw. Tried to play, down 3-0. On her service game, Serena did not get one serve in, missing badly without striking the ball cleanly.

[javero]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 12:39pm

Sorry to learn of Serena's troubles. Hope she recovers soon. I'm a huge fan but admit that her hyper-competitive nature has undermined her sportswomanship on a few occasions.

This is once when my predictions have actually held up. The numbers simply weren't in Sharapova's favor. Specifically, she's never won back-to-back majors let alone defend her title at one. It seems that the majors she's won since her near-career-ending shoulder surgery came when Serena made an early exit. Despite that record, a Sharapova-Serena final is still arguably the main event at any major. That's why it boggles the mind that the Wimbledon planners didn't place the two in opposites sides of the draw. I don't care how they're seeded at the US Open; there's no way the planners there will arrange for a potential showdown between the two in a quarterfinal, not happenin'.

My money is still on Kvitova in the ladies' final and Djokovic on the men's side.

Updated On: 7/1/14 at 12:39 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 12:56pm

The referee's office at Wimbledon is reporting that Serena was suffering from a viral illness. It was disturbing to watch.

[javero]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 1:13pm

"It was disturbing to watch."

I'm certain and wish her a speedy recovery.

Sometimes we ask so much of the elite athletes. I remember watching Pete Sampras hurl along the side of the court during a televised match. He actually came back and won it.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 1:48pm

Rafa Nadal in a battle right now on Center Court. Down 2 sets to 1 against the young Australian Kyrgios. We shall see if he makes a comeback!

[javero]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 2:10pm

In meetings all day.

Thanks for the regular updates!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 2:25pm

Rafa Nadal has been eliminated. CRAZY day at Wimbledon today!

[~~tiny3~~]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 12:45am

Soooo....now the new young crews are in. a new era begins. I like it.

sO,..if you care to answer...who thinks there's a PED problem in tennis? I'm NOT looking to start a long argument or anything, just curious.

I know it's been discussed ad nauseum the last coupla yrs, but seems to be largely ignored now...I guess there's just too much $$$$$$ involved. Interesting, in light of the Lance Armstrong debacle. Only the future will tell...maybe...

[javero]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 11:44am

I'm somewhat conflicted about the issue of PED in tennis.

I do recall former French Open finalist Mariano Puerta being temporarily banned from the sport for doping and his grand slam record voided. A few of his fellow Argentines on tour were caught in a doping drag net as well.

A few of the top players on both tours are starting to take on nearly freakish physiques for tennis players but I could only speculate at best so I'll opt not to.

According a few of my USTA sources, it's a topic that's discussed often but privately by many tour insiders.

On a slightly related note, John McEnroe admits to having contested a Wimbledon final after a coke-fueled night. But that was back in the 80s.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 12:32pm

Serena was acting too weird for that to be just a viral illness. She looked high. It was definitely very strange.

[javero]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 9:04am

Kvitova & Bouchard are warming up!!!

Updated On: 7/5/14 at 09:04 AM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 10:23am

Kvitova won the match in 54 minutes. It was a beatdown. Congrats on her 2nd Wimbledon title.

[javero]

Posted: 7/5/14 at 10:52am

Yep, Kvitova held a tennis clinic out there

That's what I love about individual sports. You have to stand and deliver on your own. I really wish women's tennis would eliminate on-court coaching at the lesser events because it undermines the women's tour. I can't help but recall the efforts of Billie Jean King and the other tour founders to transform the WTA from the joke that it was in the early 70s to arguably the leading women's brand in all of sport.

Updated On: 7/5/14 at 10:52 AM