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    And he serves it out to love.

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      Kyrgios-Nishikori didn't get shifted so only started on Court 1 at around 7:30. The good news for the tournament was Nishikori then flew through set 6-1 in just 16 minutes (was Kyrgios ready to play one wonders?). Even so there surely won't be enough natural light to wrap things up tonight. I wonder if they might close the Centre Court roof soon, so that they can switch the players to that at 9ish and play under floodlights. That way they could go to until 11pm, and three more hours ought to be enough for up to three-and-a-half sets (its on serve at 4-3 to Kyrgios in set two currently).

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        That won't be necessary after all as Nishikori won a set two breaker with several remarkable points in it, then the pair of them absolutely rattled through set three on serve until Kyrgios faltered at 4-5, initially dropping 0-40 down, saving all three of those match points but then losing the next two to exit. Nishikori played at an exceptionally high level in this and won it rather than Nick losing it, which serves as a reminder that Kei is a former Slam finalist.

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          Apparently Zverev had a stomach bug and hadn't eaten in over 24 hours prior to his match. He said he was out of energy from midway through set four. That is unlucky, then.

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            Not playing on Sunday just seems incredibly anachronistic in 2018. There is no football so a great chance to capture a TV audience. Wimbledon can't just assume that it will grab public attention.

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              It does serve a few purposes - it gives Wimbledon the neatest transition from the opening rounds where the draws play half-and-half to the second week where it runs Women one day, Men the next. And it makes the most obvious split between early rounds of the tournament and deep runs. In years like this where everything runs to play, the second Monday is probably the best day for strength in depth that Tennis offers as all sixteen R4 matches will be scheduled to take place.

              Comment


                Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                Not playing on Sunday just seems incredibly anachronistic in 2018. There is no football so a great chance to capture a TV audience. Wimbledon can't just assume that it will grab public attention.
                I've read it was because it gave the grass a chance to recover.

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                  That is the reason they generally give, yes. However IIRC it wasn't until the 80s that they started playing on the second Sunday - it used to be the case that the Men's Final was on the second Saturday and the Women's one on the Friday. The difference between 362 and 361 days for the grass to recover for next year is minor. Equally one wonders how much recovery a lawn can have in 24 hours in the middle of two weeks of heavy wear.
                  It is an anachronism whatever way they try and dress it up, a hangover from when nothing happened in Britain on a Sunday similar to the old Test Match rest days and the like. But Wimbledon does like it's traditions and the rest day is one of them. They are secure enough that they don't feel the need to tout for attention, that they will get it if not this year then next when there is no Football on or England are playing at their usual standard again. For example the Men's Final this year will be at it's usual time of 2pm on Sunday, which makes it almost certainly to clash with the World Cup Final which is at 4pm UK time due to the time zone difference to Moscow. The AELTC's attitude seems to be that if there is a problem, FIFA can change. This is our slot. There was some quote in the press that the Club's committee did discuss the issue... for 15 seconds before everyone said 'stick as we are'. Also the big screen outside No.1 Court only shows Tennis - people must have been watching Saturday's match on their phones.

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                    I think Wimbledon's scheduling (in terms of when they play what round) is the best of the slams. (I guess they could play half the round 16 matches on the middle Sunday, but there's no real need.)

                    Comment


                      Originally posted by Janik View Post
                      It does serve a few purposes - it gives Wimbledon the neatest transition from the opening rounds where the draws play half-and-half to the second week where it runs Women one day, Men the next. And it makes the most obvious split between early rounds of the tournament and deep runs. In years like this where everything runs to play, the second Monday is probably the best day for strength in depth that Tennis offers as all sixteen R4 matches will be scheduled to take place.
                      Yes the second Monday is great, shame most of us are at work. If a rest is so important for the grass then play R4 on Sunday and rest Monday.

                      Comment


                        Added in on seeing SSK's post - the problem with that is that it would mean asking the second half of the Men's draw to play on consecutive days, Saturday then Sunday. That happens out of necessity some of the time, but not by design and putting the rest day on the Monday would make it by design. That would probably be decisive for any player in that half of the draw who happened to have a five-setter in R3, which they currently get at least 40 hours recovery after under the current scheduling.
                        If there is a rest day it kind of has to fall between R3 and R4, or maybe at a push R4 and the QFs but that really doesn't work as well for the Women. I'm not totally opposed to putting the needs of players above those of TV audiences, though. We can opt not to watch it if we want. Anyway, on to what I'd written offline:-


                        As alluded to up thread, Wimbledon’s method of transitioning from the top and bottom halves of the Men’s and Women’s draws running on separate days is probably the fairest of all the Slams as, if it runs to schedule, it gives everyone 2 or 3 days off mid-tournament, then all the Women get a one day break between R4 and the QFs followed by two days for each subsequent round and the Men all get two day breaks from the second Monday on out.
                        Another consequence is that it probably provides the best day of play in terms of strength and depth in any Slam as you 16 matches each featuring two in form, each (moreorless, excluding walkovers) with three straight wins to their name.
                        Given that the Women will play their QFs on Monday they tend to be scheduled first, so let’s stick with that practical convention for some capsule previews. And predictions.

                        Hsieh vs Cibulkova
                        Ostapenko [12] vs Sasnovich
                        Van Uytvanck vs Kasatkina [14]
                        Kerber [11] vs Bencic
                        Ka.Pliskova [7] vs Bertens [20]
                        Goerges [13] vs Vekic
                        S.Williams [25] [PR] vs Rodina [Q]
                        Giorgi vs Makarova

                        Su-wei Hsieh registered the biggest win of her (singles) career in taking down the World No.1 Halep in the last round, but she will have to reach similar heights again to defeat Dominika Cibulkova, who is a top ten standard player as well at her best, which she seems to be getting back to. Halep admitted to being mentally and physically exhausted after the loss, which was both about her efforts in Paris last month but also a testament to the frustrating questions the Taiwanese. However Cibulkova’s skin is harder to get under (well being a little onion she does have lots of them) and her greater weight of shot and grass court experience over the Romanian should see her cope with the challenge. Cibulkova in two.
                        Aliaksandra Sasnovich was probably the least talked off of the four Belarusians who set out a week ago, but here she is in R4 whilst they are all heading home or only still involved in doubles. But it’s not like she has sneaked her way through. No, Sasnovich can claim to have set the tenor for the entire tournament by taking down pre-event favourite Kvitova on the first day. She backed that win up with two more good successes, including making mincemeat of Gavrilova in R3 but Ostapenko is a different issue. The Lativan’s go for everything tendency makes each match about her rather than her opponent (not only did she win the French last year, she also served the most double faults on the WTA), but when she believes she can be unstoppable and she is confident on grass given her history of Semis last year and Girls champion in 2014. I tip her to end Sasnovich’s run, in two.
                        That Alison Van Utyvanck and Daria Kasatkina are the players who came through a section containing the likes of Muguruza and Barty suggests the courts are playing harder than normal, as both players are more known for their clay court games. Van Uytvanck certainly earned her place with a win over the defending champion on her way to this stage, and has similar Slam experience to the young Russian, both having played a Quarter in Paris once. Van Utyvanck has some nice shots, but I worry that the big wind-up on her forehand could see it break down with tension on grass where even if it’s not as quick as normal the reaction times are shorter. So I go for Kasatkina in three.
                        Match of the round amongst the Women is probably the encounter between Angie Kerber and Belinda Bencic. It’s certainly good to see the Swiss player back on this sort of stage after a horrendous two years with injury and loss of form, and Kerber is also making her way back towards her best, which as we know is out of the very highest drawer. Given the seeds to fall and her previous strong record at Wimbledon (all of QF, SF and R-Up previously) Kerber must rate her chances very highly. However Bencic is a good grass court player in her own right, a former Junior champion on these courts and Eastbourne champion so she will put up a fight (I hope) but I see Kerber winning in three in the end.
                        Karolina Pliskova has not convinced over the first three rounds of these championships as she appears to have struggled once again with the expectation that she should be in the running for the title. She could have lost to Dart in R1 and probably should have lost to Buzarnescu on Friday, but she is still here for week two, which is more than can be said for any other top ten seed! And that in itself will bring relief, Pliskova kept losing in R2 in previous years, and extra pressure as it will just ratchet up expectations. That won’t help against a good player in Kiki Bertens, who is another clay courter who the conditions may be helping. Bertens might be held back by her own mind however, as she was an absolute bag of nerves in closing out against Venus in the last round. This might be one that no-one appears to want to win, but if Pliskova’s serve can finally fire that ought to be decisive. Pliskova in two.
                        In amongst all the clay court players coming through there is a dark horse for whom British grass courts are very familiar surfaces, and that is Donna Vekic. Vekic spent quite a lot of time in Britain as a girl when she was learning the game (I believe the LTA made a concerted effort to get her to change nationality), and is clearly at home on the surface. It sure suits her game, with its big serve and aggressive intent. Less clearly suited to grass is Julia Goerges, who se best results have more often been on hard or clay. Goerges has been in strong form for the last 18 months, unlike Vekic who has struggled since Wimbledon last year. Notably whoever wins will break new ground as neither has been past R3 at SW19 before, or R4 in any of the other Slams in Goerges case. Overall I think the difference will be Vekic’s serve and comfort on the surface, and she wins in two.
                        It’s hard being a mother on the WTA Tour. Just ask Serena Williams. Or indeed Evgenia Rodina, who has a daughter of her own, somewhat older than Serena’s kid. Another similarity has been their on-court demeanour with both looking highly determined to the point where one wonders why they are putting themselves through such torture. Smiles and positive vibes are likely to be thin on the ground. Rodina has clearly done brilliantly, coming through qualifying and claiming a big old scalp in R3 when she beat Keys (denying us a stellar match here), but Madison can beat herself at times and there was quite a bit of that involved in that match. Serena won’t do the same, though her body might rebel. If it doesn’t it won’t be a contest as Rodina just doesn’t have a big enough game to trouble Williams. Serena in two.
                        Camila Giorgi is hit-and-miss, which appears to be the plan. She tends to be right up there on the WTA double fault stats each year, due to playing a first serve and if that misses a second first serve. She also makes a lot of errors as her plan off the ground is to smack it from an attacking position; and from a middle position; and from a defensive position; and from no position at all. She is not one to die wondering. That makes her hard to get a rhythm against, which is the sort of thing that can undermine Ekaterina Makarova, who is a good player when on (she was excellent in R3 vs Safarova as noted up thread) but can fade away mystifyingly. I rate Makarova as a grass court player so I’ll tip her here, with the swinging lefty serve preventing Giorgi from teeing off on returns from sensible positions. Makarova in three.
                        Last edited by Janik; 08-07-2018, 23:33.

                        Comment


                          Federer [1] vs Mannarino [22]
                          Monfils vs Anderson [8]
                          McDonald vs Raonic [13]
                          Isner [9] vs Tsitsipas [31]
                          Khachanov vs Djokovic [12]
                          Nishikori [24] vs Gulbis [Q]
                          del Potro [5] vs Simon
                          Vesely vs Nadal [2]

                          Adrian Mannarino has been a useful grass court player for years. He has a big serve and groundstrokes hit flat with curtailed backswings that are well adapted to the speed of the surface as short (though powerful) swings allow for late adjustments. To emphasise his comfort on the surface, two of his five World Tour level finals were on grass and this is his third R4 appearance at Wimbledon and second successive one (l to Djokovic at this stage in 2017). But beating Roger Federer at Wimbledon? Come on... Federer has been trying to talk the Frenchman up, but he has looked imperious again so far and if he continues to serve and return as he has then it will take someone from the very top drawer at the top of his game to beat him, and Mannarino while solid but he isn’t that. Federer in three.
                          Gael Monfils broke new ground with his excellent win against Querrey on Friday as that meant that, after over a decade of trying and six previous R3 defeats, he had made the second week of Wimbledon for the first time. The Frenchman is the sort who can get on a roll and become unstoppable, and he is also massively skilled as a player (the BBC have had some astonishing highlights from his games). Kevin Anderson is a similar player to Querrey, big serve and big groundstrokes though with more comfort coming forward than the American. However this one feels down to how Le Monf performs. Fingers crossed it’s as good again as I would love to see him take a proper shot at Federer in the QF. More in hope than expectation, Monfils in five.
                          Mackenzie McDonald. Who is he? Exactly. Erm, a former college player who is playing just his third Slam and who beat the guy who beat Marin Cilic in the last round. What McDonald hasn’t faced so far is someone with an enormous serve and that is what Milos Raonic will bring to this one. OK, that is unfair, the Canadian is more than just his serve these days, but that remains the standout weapon. From the brief glance I got McDonald looks an all-courter and has the grittiness that college Tennis can imbue, but these ought not be enough. Raonic in three, and thanks and thanks and we will expect to see you again in other slams Mackenzie.
                          What to say about John Isner’s record at Wimbledon. Well, that might mean one of two things. the first would be that infamous World Record match against Mahut that had a single set which was longer than any other entire match in history. Or it might note that that was a R1 encounter and Isner went out in R2 that year. OK so that was very forgivable in the circumstances, what is less so is that this is Big John’s first ever time in R4 of Wimbledon. Prior to this year Isner had more match wins and a higher winning percentage at Roland Garros (14-9) than Wimbledon (10-9), which given the advantage his serve ought to give him just seems wrong. He is finally putting that right, but the past does suggest he is vulnerable against a handy young player in Stefanos Tsitsipas whose breakthrough was on clay in Barcelona but who lists his favourite surface as grass and who has the typical big serve (av. of 122 mph in R3) and generally big game of young guys coming through at the moment. It’s only two years ago that Tsitsipas, then the Junior No.1, was losing a Boys Singles SF to Shapovalov. He is inexperienced, but experience is not always helpful if the previous ones are bad memories. Isner will be desperate to go further, and I hold that against him and tip the young Greek in four.
                          Karen Khachanov definitely believes in his own ability, having talked himself up to the stars before being well beaten by Murray in the French Open last 16 and Nadal in Wimbledon R3 just over 12 months ago. He has a huge serve and can unload on the ground strokes, but he seems much more of a work in progress than peers like A.Zverev, Shapovalov or Tsitsipas. His best surface appears to be clay as he backs off the groundstroke power and plays passively much more than will work on grass. He cannot hope to do that and succeed against Novak Djokovic, who scored a significant victory against Edmund in the last round and looks nearly back to being his old self. Djokovic, who McEnroe repeatedly (and reasonably) calls the greatest returner in tennis History will neutralise Khachanov’s biggest weapon and then eat him up if he tries to work the rallies. Which the big Russian will. Djokovic in three.
                          Kei Nishikori played superbly to beat Kyrgios in three sets and double quick time in R3, and watching it you remember that the Japanese has all sorts of strong achievements in his personal history and is an unbelievable competitor and athlete whose ranking and seeding has slipped a bit through injury. The one place where he hasn’t ever done all that previously is Wimbledon however, never past this stage in his previous attempts. But I think he should be able to change that here, as however well Ernests Gulbis is playing the match-up doesn’t look great to me. Gulbis’ ranking has slipped enough that he needed to come through qualifying, something that he said had helped after the Zverev game as it got his eye in. He has had a gone run and will surely give it a go, but Nishikori hits his groundstrokes, particularly that Djokovic-esque double-fisted backhand, with such sting that even defending as well as Ernests it will punch holes. Nishikori in four.
                          Talking of exceptional defenders, Gilles Simon has built a reputation for himself as a battler and a grinder. That is what he does on clay and hard, but actually on grass he gets rather more expansive and fits in with a good French tradition of players who are comfortable on the opposite surface to the one at their home slam. The Frenchman is moving towards the veteran category these days (aged 33) and his ranking dropped right off last year but now he is back pushing towards the top 30 and a seeding in New York, which will make him even more determined. Whether that will be enough to cope with the power that Juan Martin del Potro will bring, I’m not sure. In fact I’m far from convinced in will be. On paper this looks the most intriguing match coming tomorrow on the Men’s side, and in deference to Simon’s fighting qualities and reputation for playing five setters I’ll say it will go the distance, but go to Delpo in the end.
                          And finally we come to Jiri Vesely vs Rafa Nadal. Rafa has looked in extremely good nick and has been showing no signs of knee issues with the transition from clay to grass this year. That line could easily have come from a preview of Nadal’s 2017 R4 match against Muller, or indeed his other most recent week 2 appearance at Wimbledon, which came in 2014 and was ended at this stage by Kyrgios. Given the history it pays to be cautious with Nadal in the second week of these Championships, seeing as he hasn’t made a QF in his last six attempts. However both Muller, with his lefty game and volleys and Kyrgios and his general unscripted brilliance have something about them that big Czech Vesely lacks. Jiri is another Tennis production line effort with a big serve but too much affinity with the baseline. Wimbledon has been Vesely’s best slam over the years as that serve is a big weapon. It was enough to do for two seeds, but both were clay courters in Schwartzman and Fognini. Now Nadal is the ultimately clay courter, but he is also a two-time Wimbledon champion and it needs more than straight biff to beat him. Nadal in four (let’s give Vesely a tie-break first set in there)


                          Singles Order or Play

                          Centre – 1pm start
                          Federer vs Mannarino
                          S.Williams vs Rodina
                          Vesely vs Nadal

                          #1 – 1pm start
                          Kerber vs Bencic
                          Monfils vs Anderson
                          Khachanov vs Djokovic

                          #2 – 11:30am start
                          Ka.Pliskova vs Bertens
                          Nishikori vs Gulbis
                          del Potro vs Simon

                          #3 – 11:30am start
                          Ostapenko vs Sasnovich
                          Goerges vs Vekic
                          Isner vs Tsitsipas

                          #12 – 11:30am start
                          Giorgi vs Makarova
                          McDonald vs Raonic

                          #18 – 11:30am start
                          Hsieh vs Cibulkova
                          Van Uytvanck vs Kasatkina

                          Comment


                            Sasnovich had a 3-1 0-40 lead on Ostapenko in the opening set. She didn't convert any of the triple break points, eventually lost a tie-break and has now been beaten in straight sets. Pliskova was way down again, a set and a break at 4-1 in the second to Bertens. She has recovered the break, but is now under scoreboard pressure and serving to stay in the Championships. Cibulkova beat Hsieh in two. Giorgi is serving for a straight sets win against Makarova. Lots going on.
                            Last edited by Janik; 09-07-2018, 12:07.

                            Comment


                              Pliskova holds. Makarova saves match points against Giorgi, but that one is back at deuce. And on Centre Federer breaks Mannarino in the opening game. Not a good sign for a competitive match, that last one seeing as Federer hasn't been broken in the tournament yet.

                              Edit - Giorgi wins 3&4.

                              Comment


                                Federer breaks again in the third game; this isn't going to last long.

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                                  OK, put set one in the can for Federer, as he is now 3-0 up with a double break. Mannarino has won two points so far, and one of those was an unforced error from Roger. Even more worrying for the Frenchman is that he has missed just two first serves and still only won one point in service (1/7 behind 1st, 0/2 behind 2nd). Serena and Rodina should get themselves geared up to start early.

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                                    Pliskova-Bertens into a tie-break. Bertens leads it 5-0. The destruction of the Women's top ten is nearly complete...

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                                      5 mps for Bertens. Another break to love for Federer. Which will finish first? (kidding, kidding).

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                                        Bertens is wearing a Fox Sports logo

                                        Are they a rights holder in Australia? I don’t recall ever seeing that before.

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                                          And there we are, all the top 10 Women are out.

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                                            Set 1 over on Centre. It took 16 minutes. And that was with a little bit of dragging things out as Mannarino actually led 30-40 in the final Federer service game. Booooring! Mannarino leads two statistical categories - double faults and average distance covered per point. He was 1/9 (11%) and 0/4 (0%) on serve in that set.
                                            Next door on #1 Kerber and Bencic (who started within seconds of Centre) are still playing the fourth game of their match.

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                                              Not a lot between Kevin Anderson and Gael Monfils so far. Anderson leads 7-6 7-6 5-7 6-6. Lots on the next ten minutes, obviously...

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                                                4-2 Anderson at the change of ends.
                                                C'mon Gael!

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                                                  5-4 Anderson and he has the next two serves...

                                                  Comment


                                                    And taken. Magnificent rally to finish. Well played Kevin.






                                                    Ah, nuts...

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