822 replies to this topic

[Nigel Tufnel]

Two other top 10 seeds (Tsonga and Cilic) also withdrew today because of injury, and now Federer is down 2 sets to 1, plus he's down a break in the 4th.  And on the women's side, Sharapova lost and the #2 seed withdrew.  Crazy day.

[DuffMan]

RF is currently trailing 2 sets to 1

[Nigel Tufnel]

Whoa, down goes Federer.  Grand Slam quarterfinal streak ends at 36.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Whoa, down goes Federer.  Grand Slam quarterfinal streak ends at 36.

 

Bizarre.

[glenn__davis]

What the heck is going on over there??

 

Tough blow for Federer.  What an amazing streak though, 36 straight GS quarters.

 

Djokovic and Murray have to be loving this so far.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Pretty interesting Grantland article about the standardization of tennis surfaces and the GOAT debate.

 

Over the past 10 years, something resembling this story has played out across the Grand Slam tournaments, only exactly in reverse: What used to be four radically different surfaces, requiring four radically different styles of play, have become increasingly homogenous. This is a major factor — arguably the major factor — in the current state of the game, particularly in men's tennis, where it has helped shape both the Nadal-Federer-Djokovic-Murray golden age and the slow-paced, relentless, defensive tennis that more and more seems to define it. There's a serious argument to be made that Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and even Roger Federer could never have won so many majors if they'd played in an era before the biggest competitions started rewarding similar skill sets. But instead of analyzing this to death the way we would with the NBA, the tennis world treats it as a sort of open secret. No one talks about it. (Or rather, only some people talk about it; more on that in a minute.) Instead of putting on a grass suit, John McEnroe just rhapsodizes about the talent and heart of the top four and leaves surface technology pretty much out of it

 

http://www.grantland...-age-men-tennis

[glenn__davis]

Ferrer in some mild trouble already.  Could yet another of the top seeds be dismissed before the quarterfinals?

 

Looking forward to Haas vs. Djokovic as well, would love to see a run from the "geezer" Haas!

[Adam Wolff]

Serena also lost.

[Don Quixote]

So the men's quarterfinals have been set. Leading the top half, it's top-seeded Djokovic versus seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych. Djokovic leads the head-to-head 13-2, but Berdych's two victories were at Wimbledon in the 2010 semis in straight sets (he lost to Nadal in the final), and their most recent tilt, on clay in the quarters of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 held in Rome. The other top half match is fourth-seeded Ferrer versus eighth-seeded Del Potro. The two have met eight times, with Ferrer holding a 6-2 advantage, including victories in the last four meetings. One of those was an easy straight-set victory in the Round of 16 last year at the All-England Club.

 

In the bottom half, an all-Polish matchup (?!) leads things off, with unseeded Lukasz Kubot facing 24th-seeded Jerzy Janowicz in their first-ever matchup. The 31-year-old Kubot is currently ranked 130th in singles (he peaked at 41st in the spring 2010 and was in the top 50 as recently as June 2012, and was a top-20 doubles player from May 2009 to August 2011, peaking at #7 in the fall of 2010), with no singles titles and two runner-up finishes. Janowicz, 22, is currently ranked a career-high 22nd, with no singles titles and one runner-up finish. Closing out the quarterfinal draw is the matchup of Verdasco and Murray. The pair have clashed nine times on Tour, with Murray taking the honors on eight of those occasions. Verdasco's lone victory was a five-set win in the fourth round of the 2009 Australian Open as Murray struggled to recover from an illness. Verdasco is feeling good with a new coach and new racquet, and is still dangerous with a big forehand and having spent the vast majority of the last five years in the top 25. Murray and Verdasco have never faced each other on grass.

 

The ladies' semifinals are also set, with the top half matchup featuring 23rd-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany taking on fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. The two have met twice on the senior circuit, with each player taking home a victory, and the two have a familiarity from playing each other as juniors. They have not met on grass as senior players. The bottom half semifinal pits 15th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli against 20th-seeded Belgian Kirsten Flipkens. The semfiinal marks the first matchup between the two.

[DuffMan]

Picked a great time to start my vacation as I was able to watch most of the Djoker-Del Potro match today.   Great back and forth match with Novak prevailing in 5 difficult sets.  Del Potro is no slouch as he beat an in his prime RF a few years ago in the US Open final,  he was gone for more than a year (I think it was a shoulder injury) but has been working his way back up the ladder.  He gave Novak everything he could handle today.  Great match!

[McNulty]

Picked a great time to start my vacation as I was able to watch most of the Djoker-Del Potro match today.   Great back and forth match with Novak prevailing in 5 difficult sets.  Del Potro is no slouch as he beat an in his prime RF a few years ago in the US Open final,  he was gone for more than a year (I think it was a shoulder injury) but has been working his way back up the ladder.  He gave Novak everything he could handle today.  Great match!

 

Wrist.  

 

Great match indeed.

[Don Quixote]

Even with all the turmoil, the men's draw has provided a great matchup for the final, and it's the 1-2 seeds after all. Should be some fun.

[Don Quixote]

Murray now up two sets to none in the final. Looks like he has a trollface going on at times, also.

[Don Quixote]

Murray was down 1-4 in the second before winning six of seven to take it 7-5. Murray broke Djokovic to open the third set and is serving at 2-1, 30-30.

[Don Quixote]

Djokovic with a reversal of his own - was at risk of going down a double break at 0-2, 0-30, now just broke Murray back to even the set.

[Don Quixote]

Temperatures into the 80s for the match, warmest since '76. Djokovic doffed his hat just before breaking Murray to draw the set level. He's really working against the odds, as Murray is 78-1 (I think in Slams) after winning the first two sets, including the last 76. Djokovic won his service game to go ahead 3-2.

[Don Quixote]

Murray now down a break, as Djokovic has won the last four games. Murray isn't getting some shots in that were well-placed a little while ago. He may be starting to feel the day.

[Don Quixote]

Murray breaks back to serve at 3-4.

[Don Quixote]

Murray with a deft winner after Djokovic's drop shot, now 4-4.

[Don Quixote]

Murray's new energy continues, as he has broken Djokovic yet again and now will serve for the championship.