Occasionally to obvious when there will be a glut of resale tickets - the first time I got on to one of the main courts was one of those. It was R3 or R4 in the days before the roof, on a grey day with the risk of an occasional shower. And that was exactly what came at ~5pm. I think there had been one very good, close match earlier in the day as well, all of which made it obvious that many on Centre #1 would feel sated and not inclined to hang around to see if the rain stopped. But it did at ~6pm, giving those with ground passes a chance to watch the last singles match on Centre. Or the Williams sisters playing doubles on #1. I went for the latter, which remains the only time I've seen Serena live.
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Heh, yeah, he is. But only because my Mum persuaded him to stay, apparently. He is no fan of big serving, and also a distinct pessimist. He apparently thought Anderson-Isner was never going to end and was agitating to go home.Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View PostComment
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They won't get to see the denouement though after that set. Djokovic was notably on top, but Rafa has turned it right round in brilliant fashion. Nadal the favourite for set three imho. But we won't get further than that.Comment
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These two playing tomorrow might act as a tiny bit of an equaliser in terms of tiredness.Comment
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Does seem a pity to halt this five-star quality fare in full flow.Comment
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Will they really haul them off if the tie-break remains locked?Comment
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They probably wouldn't, but Djokovic helped them out. Amazing quality match, exactly the sort that both players' play in the lead up had promised.Comment
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Yes, that was up there with the great Wimbledon semis but we still have potentially two sets to go. ESPN suggests the break will be 14 hours, meaning they resume at 1pm. They might affect whether they can fit in both the doubles matches on Centre.Comment
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From the BBC it hasn't been decided yet when they will resume, and is in fact being left up to the players. And by players I mean Djokovic and Nadal, not Kerber and Williams. They can opt to play either before or after the Women's Final, and as they started the match with the roof closed they can also ask for that to happen as well.Comment
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I should have checked the official site - decision made, 1pm start. Women's Final not before 2pm. The Men's Doubles* is scheduled to follow that on Centre, but the Women's Doubles Final is Court TBA, not before 5pm. So on Centre if possible, on #1 if not (which just has the Girls Singles Final and a Seniors Invitation Doubles planned at the moment). Last year's Women's Doubles Final started at 9:30pm on Centre IIRC after an epic Men's Doubles Final, and then got done in under an hour.
* - did we mention that both British pairs lost their Semi in the Men's Doubles? Nielsen/Sailsbury in four to [13] Klaasen/Venus (so South Africans in both the Men's Singles and Doubles Finals, Frew McMillan will be pleased with that) and [15] Inglot/Skugor in five to [7] Bryan/Sock (won two breakers to recover from 0-2, but then lost the fifth 4-6).
Oh, and the Mixed Semi went the way of Azarenka/Murray against Dart/Clarke in straight sets.Comment
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For the women's doubles, last year's precedent suggests that they'd prefer to use the roof rather than switching to Court 1, but that also involves a judgment call about how late they think the men's doubles will finish. I think if Nadal-Novak goes to 5 sets and the women's singles go the full three, we''ll be past 5pm and the decision would then have to be made to play the women's doubles on 1 because they couldn't be sure of the men's doubles finishing by 8.30ish. This is also suggested by the "not before 5pm" clause you quote, i.e. 5pm is the time they will decide which court to play it on.
Regarding Anderson-Isner, McEnroe believes there has to be a 5th set breaker introduced because a semi-final of this length virtually guarantees that the winner cannot perform adequately in the final. The risk of injury is also huge. However, that doesn't mean the breaker must be at 6-6; maybe 10-10 or 12-12?Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 13-07-2018, 23:38.Comment
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I think it's a bit much that it might affect the start time of the women's final. That's the flagship event today, and should have a definite time.Comment
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Serena may need a bit of certainty about on court time for more important reasons, like feeding her baby.Comment
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Women’s Final
Angelique Kerber Ger [11] vs Serena Williams USA [25] [PR]
We have seen this one before. Twice in Slam finals, both two years ago, one on this very court and one down under. That Aussie Open Final was a paradigm shift in the perception of Angie Kerber as she proved herself capable of going toe-to-toe with Serena when Willams was in something close to full flow and winning. That marks her out as highly unusual, with arguably only Garbine Muguruza for company in what is a very select group.
Kerber’s confidence built from that, and she moved on to being World No.1. And in Kerber’s case her time at the top comes without the asterisk indicating that “topped the rankings but the real No.1 was off the tour at the time due to pregnancy” which others who have held the spot in the meantime, Slam champions or otherwise, do have as a slight caveat on their achievement.
That said, even in 2016 when Kerber was playing the Tennis of her life, she didn’t beat Serena at Wimbledon. The Final that year was actually a very good game as befits the players, and really quite tight... but in the end Serena won 7-5 6-3. Even with the grass playing slower this year due to the extraordinary weather Britain has had, it is still grass and the ball bounces lower and faster giving extra advantage to the attacking player over the counter-puncher.
I don’t think Kerber can take it off Serena’s racquet like she did in Melbourne, therefore. It really depends on how Williams plays. And how she copes with the sense of history of it all – matching Margaret Court’s all-time record for Slam titles, proving that she can be as good now she is a mother than she was beforehand, winning a Slam at 36 (that part often gets overlooked), moving one closer to Navratilova’s Wimbledon titles record. All those things. Serena is clearly very aware of that sort of stuff, and is playing for her legacy, playing to try and end debate that Court, Graf, Navratilova or Evert are peers of hers and that she stands alone as the greatest female player to ever wield a racquet.
That is the background, what of the specifics of the day? Well, serve. That is a potentially huge difference between the players. Angie absolutely has to go for hers, as Serena is likely to hold much easier. Breaks will probably be at a premium, and if they are not Kerber is in deep trouble. Second serve is also massive, because if Williams can tee off on Kerber’s then, also, the German is going to lose. I’m hopeful that it will be something close to the 2016 match even if neither player is at quite the same stellar level now, but I really can’t see any other outcome on a grass court.
Serena in two.Comment
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It's like they have never been away.
No way this is going to be done in ~40 mins, which is what it would take for the Women's Final not to be delayed seeing as the roof needs to open for that.Comment
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They may still be playing the first game of the set at 2pm, in fact....Comment
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WTA is very unhappy about this scheduling, according to ESPN.Comment
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Still, the Rafa-Novak decider will surely have finished by 3, barring another epic.Comment
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Yeah. Their marquee match of the season is being made look secondary. And that is before considering it's the Ladies rather than Men's doubles that is under threat of ending up not on Centre.
They could have started the Men's game at 11:30am, and if the ticket holders struggled to be there in time, so be it. This is an unexpected bonus for them, rather than part of the deal.Comment
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Not looking likely currently. This feels like it's heading to 8-6 or similar. I'm still backing Rafa to come through in the end.Originally posted by Crveni Vrag View PostComment
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Djokovic is losing his self-control here. He needs to calm down rapidly...Comment
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He did so eventually. Rafa surprisingly succumbed to pressure on his own serve. Novak a slightly better player on this surface and that was enough in the fifth. Rafa seemed to be always playing catch-up in the match, except maybe in the third, which he had chances to win.
Women's doubles will struggle to make Center now, I'd think.Comment
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No Williams 8.Comment
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Kerber's great, isn't she? Very tough. She played really well in the circumstances.
When she's confident, she definitely slightly above the rest of the pack.Comment
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