"Official" Wimbledon Thread

[spnited]

Agree BTE... so maybe overhyped instead of overrated...
but I kind of think both.

 

[BTExpress]

He's an American, so I've basically just become accustomed to ESPN and NBC waving the flag until the last one loses.

I'm crossing my fingers DirecTV and USA Network offer the five U.S. Open channels that they offered last year.

That way I can watch Ivanovic-Dementieva-Hingis instead of the usual diet of Roddick-Blake-Serena.

 

[sportschick]

I'd settle for Federer-Nadal-Safin-numerous Eastern European women who are phenomenal instead of the constant Roddick-Blake-Serena. I really wanted to see the Federer-Safin match today, not that I mind Roddick, but something different would have been nice.

 

[nafselon]

I can at least watch Serena matches for entertainment due to her various emotional highs and lows. Roddick I really can't watch at all anymore. Blake has had a few entertaining matches but he never wins them.

I'd like to see more Nadal matches to be honest. They rarely show him and I think he is the most entertaining in terms of rallies and shotmaking.

 

[ballscribe]

He's an American, so I've basically just become accustomed to ESPN and NBC waving the flag until the last one loses.

I'm crossing my fingers DirecTV and USA Network offer the five U.S. Open channels that they offered last year.

That way I can watch Ivanovic-Dementieva-Hingis instead of the usual diet of Roddick-Blake-Serena.

Pay the $25 and get Wimbledon Live. Match coverage on nine courts, no Chris Fowler to make you want to throw a shoe at the computer screen (who did he blow to get to do play-by-play anyway, and constantly interrupt people who actually know the game and laugh at his own pseudo-cleverness).

If you miss a match, you can watch it later, or download it. It's unbelievable (unless you have a Mac, in which case, like me, you pull out the old Dell laptop and make do).

The men's Masters Series events are also available in a package. Outstanding.

And I believe the US Open will have multi-channel coverage again this year. And that's about when the Tennis Channel comes on board permanently on DirecTV. So it's all good.

 

[fishwrapper]

I can't wait for the Tennis Channel. ;)

 

[ballscribe]

ballscribe,

I've seen a Futures tournament before.

Regarding this deep field you talk about, reading the piece in NYT last weekend about the 18-year-old who can't even win a game in an ATP match to a guy who then can't win a game in the following round...I don't know if that says "deep" to me.

Beyond that...define deep. As in, what's it deep relative to? College tennis? The guys down at the club? I'm not sure Federer makes 8 finals in a row if that's deep. It's so deep that absolutely <I> no one </i> can beat him other than Nadal...on one surface? The fifth seed this Wimbledon is Gonzales...is he really better than the fifth seed 15 years ago?

Yeah, that piece in the NYT Times was about Donald Young, sort of the latest Michelle Wie of the American tennis scene. I wouldn't use him as an example. His ranking is artificially inflated by all the freebie wild cards he is receiving as the latest failed Great American Hype.

As for depth, you have to take Federer and Nadal out of the equation when you judge it. It's really not about how many more people could theoretically beat them. They're outta sight of the rest of the field.

That said, you look at a journeyman like American Robert Kendrick, who should have beaten Nadal at Wimbledon last year, and you wonder how he can't get out of the Challengers. Huge game. But there's always something missing; sometimes money, sometimes belief, sometimes opportunity, sometimes confidence. As I mentioned, they can all play; the two abovementioned can play more.

 

[BTExpress]

It's unbelievable (unless you have a Mac, in which case, like me, you pull out the old Dell laptop and make do).

Not only do I have a Mac, but it's eight years old and running on OS 9.

No Wimbledon downloads for me.

 

[John]

Despite no tennis on Sunday, Federer advanced to the quarters after Tommy Haas had to withdraw due to a torn stomach muscle.

 

[sportschick]

Well damn.

I notice NBC is showing the Roddick-Verdasco match. I know this is the THIRD time I've seen this one -- the day it happened, yesterday during the rain and again today. Maybe showing a match featuring some non-Americans would have been nice. I would have loved to actually get to watch the Safin-Federer match, even if it sucked by all accounts.

 

[Oz]

Despite no tennis on Sunday, Federer advanced to the quarters after Tommy Haas had to withdraw due to a torn stomach muscle.

Saw that. It's a shame that when he makes the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time -- on Centre Court against the No. 1 player in the world -- he can't play.

 

[John]

Kind of been the story of his career.

 

[nafselon]

Despite no tennis on Sunday, Federer advanced to the quarters after Tommy Haas had to withdraw due to a torn stomach muscle.

Saw that. It's a shame that when he makes the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time -- on Centre Court against the No. 1 player in the world -- he can't play.

No reason to delay the inevitable though.

 

[nafselon]

Venus struggled big time today, especially on her serve but she won the final four points of the third set to advance to the round of 16. Sharapova is next.

 

[Cansportschick]

The last time Sharapova and Williams met at Wimbledon, wasn't it when Williams won the title? I think that if she is on her game against Sharapova and her service fares better than today, she will win.

 

[nafselon]

The last time Sharapova and Williams met at Wimbledon, wasn't it when Williams won the title? I think that if she is on her game against Sharapova and her service fares better than today, she will win.

That is correct, she beat Sharapova and Davenport back to back in some quality 3-set matches.

 

[GB-Hack]

Uh-oh, Serena just went down hard.

Looks like she might have hurt her left leg....up a set, 5-5 in the second against Hantuchova.

UPDATE: They've worked on her, and are saying she had a cramp. gave up two straight aces to go down 6-5, and limped off to the side for more treatment.

They've strapped her up, and and she just fired down an ace to send the game to a tie-break. This is amazing. Win this and she gets off court.

And here comes the rain, with Serena down 4-2 in the tiebreak. This, and Hantuchova's inability to keep the ball in play, could send her through.

 

[BTExpress]

That's all Serena was playing for those last 15 minutes. Everyone knew the rain was coming, so just buy as much time as you can until the rain comes.

Had the weather not been a factor, she would have retired.

 

[Alma]

Uh-oh, Serena just went down hard.

Looks like she might have hurt her left leg....up a set, 5-5 in the second against Hantuchova.

You mean she's out of shape like always, putting maximum strain on her body with her power tennis?

Injuries and errors are part and parcel of Serena Williams' game. Getting hurt and screwing up are her weaknesses, born of an unpolished, brutish game, poor fitness regimen and celebrity living.

 

[Cansportschick]

Serena, it's just like old times. Get an injury and bide time.