Wimbledon 2010

[Geenius]

Henman Hill* at Wimbledon. Just finished watching Federer somehow come back from 2 down to win, despite being totally off. Now watching our Laura losing and Looking likely to go out to follow the other 2 Brit girls already out. Lovely sunny chill-out day that's just started clouding over.

* or Murray mount or Robson ridge...

[Portland]

Shall we just give Nadal the trophy now then? That sounded quite an effort on the radio, and having just seen the replay, seemed a real struggle.

[Orava]

"Come on Tim!"

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Oh. I see.

[Geenius]

Shall we just give Nadal the trophy now then? That sounded quite an effort on the radio, and having just seen the replay, seemed a real struggle.

I'm hopeful that it was just a blip and it wakes him up a bit. As for Nadal - he's not the man he was 2 years ago (yes I know he's just won the French again), and I reckon Roddick will have something to say about your comment.

If it Were to end up Roddick v Nadal in the final, I don't think I'll be interested though. Fed, Murray or a totally new name would be nice thanks.

[Misfit]

Can we get the thread title changed to a Wimbledon thread?

Seems a nice week to be at Wimbledon. Got lucky with centre court tickets a few years ago, would love to get back there.

Can Nadal's body hold up? There are a few players that can push him on grass and I don't think he'll do it.

I'd like to see Federer get another. I like to see history in the making and he plays such lovely tennis. I too think yesterday will be a kick up the ass he needs. He seems to have got a bit complacent now he has achieved almost everything.

Certainly his recent losses point to this were he has had problems getting going Falla he'd beaten easily in the past, including a 6-2, 6-1 last week. The loss to Soderling at the French was after beating him umpteen times in a row and very similarly with last week against Hewitt who he's owned for years.

That and apparently his baby twins sleep in his room at night. Babies = Sleep deprivation = physical and mental wreckage of the parent....

[Alarm]

"Come on Tim!"

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...


Oh. I see.

Greg was better than Tim (although when he lost, he was Canadian, and not British. )

Henman never had the killer instinct and would often choke on the edge of victory. I do believe he would have reached the final back in 2001 if the weather hadn't interrupted his semi-final against Goran Ivanišević. C'est la vie.

[Geenius]

Henman never had the killer instinct and would often choke on the edge of victory.

That seems to be a major fault of the current crop of British players (Murray excepted). Bally lost from a winning position. Same with Keothavong (4-0 in the final set and lost 6 games in a row and blames nerves). Heather Watson looked in good shape yesterday and played some great tennis, but again lost after being a break up in the 3rd.

So, after just one round of the tournament, again we are down to just one British player. Appalling stuff.

[Alarm]

So, after just one round of the tournament, again we are down to just one British player. Appalling stuff.

It's been that way for decades, bar the Greg and Tim years. Perhaps tennis just isn't taken too seriously in the UK?

I don't recall ever playing it at school (I played a little out of school hours) - did anyone here play it at school?

[Dio]

Yeah, but it was more fun to play Big Tennis over the fence between the two sets of tennis courts.

[Misfit]

So, after just one round of the tournament, again we are down to just one British player. Appalling stuff.

Appalling indeed. Bally and Keothavong have been showing some promise of late with both breaking into the top 100. Keothavong was somewhat scuppered by a bad injury last year that's knocked her ranking. But whilst they appear to be getting to some level of credibility they don't seem to have the winners mentality.

Hopefully I'm wrong, there is always next year...

Laura Robson looks like she has some hope for the future, she's only 16. Sadly she got a very difficult draw that gave her no time to make any progress in the tournament. Once the nerves settled after being thrown to the lions on centre court she did really well against the world number 3.

I don't recall ever playing it at school (I played a little out of school hours) - did anyone here play it at school?

Yes, quite a lot, but only because we wanted too and there were courts. There were a few lessons, but nothing serious enough to develop any skills. But that summed up sport out our school in general.

[Geenius]

Same here. We had courts at school (in pretty poor condition) and several of us wanted to play so got the chance occasionally. Being in North Wales sport was targeted more to rugby union, which I've always despised. I did take private tennis lessons in my teenage years, and it was my poor eyesight that scuppered my playing - couldn't deal with contact lenses that I was recommended.

Bally and Keothavong in particular have done 'well' in previous years at Wimbledon, getting to the 3rd round, and when they're ranked higher than their opponent (possibly for the first time!), I had higher expectations. I'd certainly have hoped nerves wouldn't affect so much after around 10 years of each playing there.

Laura played well in parts, but her fitness level told. I'd heard she was training with Agassi's former coach who gets them doing reps up a mountain to hit peak condition, but her speed (and in some instances effort level) just weren't there. Too many shots were just left to fly past when others bust a gut to try to get there. The old adage of making them play one more shot... Personally I feel Jankovic was there for the taking - she's always been a hit and miss player. I certainly have high hopes for both Laura and Heather. At the moment I'd think Heather has the better all round game and hopefully she'll do well at the US (assuming she gets an entry as the junior champ).

[merman]

A tennis player is for life, not just two weeks of Wimbledon...

That's the real problem. Schools are not able to encourage young players, the teenagers lose interest even with funding (witness the Bebo scandal) and then you get the overbearing press hype if you even manage to win a single match on an outside court...

[RedOktober]

How much are strawberries and cream these days?

[Geenius]

I didn't ask. I was supposed to get some free as an HSBC customer but they closed half an hour before I got there.

[Misfit]

Mahut vs Isner currently 30-30 (that's games) in the fifth set!

Assuming tie breaks were in play in all sets a five set match can have no more than 65 games if every set went the distance. And that would be massively unlikely. So this set is probably longer in games than nearly any 5 set match.

They have been on court nearly 6.5 hours so far. Although they have been to bed before this final set.