"Official" Wimbledon Thread

Brace yourselves.

Saw a photo of Nadal at an exhibition over the weekend and he may .... get ready ... have ditched the capri pants for tighty-whities.

If you thought the man had guns, wait till you see the quads hidden beneath those clamdiggers all those years. Aaaaahnuld in his heyday would be proud.

The only problem; they're looser. That means he may have to ditch the ANNOYING habit of de-wedgifying himself before EVERY point.

The Brit tabloids call him the Knicker Picker.

 

Come on, de-wedgying yourself is hot

 

Not

 

Does that mean he won't take 30 seconds between points on his serve anymore? He seemed to spend half that time picking.

And I think I remember him wearing shorts at some point last year.

EDIT: Nadal wore shorts at Wimbledon last year.

 

Yea, but this is

 

That's what I was trying to say a page ago about Roddick. He should be able to play well and win on grass. He's been close, but not recently and I wonder why that is. He's not like he's old or been seriously injured.

I think the same thing with Tiger Woods as you do with Federer. If Tiger was playing in the late 70s without all the technological advances and playing against Nicklaus, Watson, Trevino, Floyd, North, Weiskoff would he be as dominant? He'd still be good, but probably not winning as much. Same with Federer although I think the guy is outstanding and would have been a favorite to win just about anything he entered. He's damn good.

 

I think we're romanticizing that period a little too much . . . and forgetting how obscenely deep the talent pool is on the ATP Tour today.

I'll take Federer or Nadal or Djokovic to beat the likes of Michael Stich 19 out of 20 times and Goran 17 out of 20 times.

Becker and Edberg were at their best on a surface that nobody plays on (grass) and were borderline useless on a surface in which most tournaments are held (clay). Edberg, while a class act, had one of the ugliest and most technically unsound forehands of any top-5 player you'll ever see. And not only did Becker never win the French . . . he never won ANY tournament on clay anywhere.

Courier fought his guts out . . . but that's all he had. In Courier's day the likes of Sergei Bruguera and Alberto Berasategui were your French Open finalists. I think Federer-Nadal speaks a little better for this era.

 

Don't forget Tomas Muster. That guy was an animal on clay. I remember seeing him hit forehands in a wheelchair when he was recovering from a broken leg. Scary. I like your thinking BTW.

 

I wouldn't say Edberg was useless on clay, he made the finals of the French in 1989 or 1990 (whichever year Chang won) and won a few Masters Series titles on the surface. He wasn't Borg by any stretch but he wasn't as bad as Becker, who I don't believe ever won a singles title on the surface.

Edberg's forehard was butt ugly, but of course he was such a serve and volley player that if a crucial point ever came down to his forehand he was already in trouble. I actually think Pat Rafter was a better serve and volleyer but his peak came at the wrong time as Agassi and Sampras were winning the majority of the tournaments and leaving him behind in the quarters and semis.

Otherwise I agree. Michael Stich is horribly overrated, even Martina rips him for being a one-trick pony. Goran is similar in his one-dimension although far less of a douchebag.

 

Henman wins....Wondering how much steam he'll have for the second round.

I expected Fish to put up a better showing against Nadal on the grass, maybe Nadal is much better on grass than I orginally thought.

 

Obscenely deep is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?

 

Any argument that depends on the relevance of the French Open loses me.
Sorry.