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Anyone else here a tennis fan?


Fiz

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There was no way anyone was going to jinx him today: he was extremely focused.  (And I actually watched it today, since it wasn't a Murray/Djokovic.  I actually paid good money to watch one of those once, and swore never to do it again :) )  If anyone had wired me up to a blood-pressure monitor/heart-rate monitor, I think my readings would have been very steady.

 

I must admit, I'm feeling quite smug, because I called both finals results correctly, down to the number of sets (slightly underestimated the number of games Raonic would get, but hey, you can't have everything) :)

 

I saw Watson/Kontinen in one of their early matches on TV, and thought then that their on-court relationship reminded me rather of Jelena Jankovic and Jamie Murray in 2007 (barring the flirting, perhaps) when they went on to win the title.  I was very glad to be proved right!

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I've only been able to catch up with the tennis this evening, as it clashed with the Formula 1. So delighted for Murray! He played with such focus and immense determination, and how did he get so many of Raonic's serves back over the net? Absolutely outstanding.

 

Interestingly, despite Murray winning in straight sets, the match didn't feel like a dull unentertaining whitewash. Raonic was very gracious in defeat and Murray letting the world see just how emotional he was will surely gain him even more fans.

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No, a "dull unentertaining whitewash" it wasn't.  Not one I shall be burning to DVD for posterity, I think, but perfectly fine, and a lot less boring than some I've seen over the last 30+ years. 

 

As for returning the Raonic serve, it's not that difficult for some people, provided their reactions are fast enough: for Murray, because he, along with Djokovic, is probably the best returner of serve on the men's tour, and for (a fully fit) Federer, because he "grew up", tennis-wise, in an era when those sort of booming serves were commonplace, so he's used to it.  I don't remember returning serve being a particular problem in the semi-final after he'd got his eye in, it was just that his own service was so poor that day.  Apparently, apart from the sheer power and speed, the problem is that Raonic's ball toss always looks the same to an opponent, so it's more difficult to tell where he's going to serve to.  Federer is the same, although he tends to win points because of how and where he places the ball in the service box and the spin he imparts, rather than power/speed being the main factor.

 

Nice to see Murray playing some more attacking tennis, rather than being pegged to the baseline, too :)

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I was thrilled for Heather Watson. She has been rather overlooked since Johanna Konta's decision to play for the UK. I have long been an admirer of Heather and was so happy at her achievement in winning the mixed doubles.

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I was thrilled for Heather Watson. She has been rather overlooked since Johanna Konta's decision to play for the UK. I have long been an admirer of Heather and was so happy at her achievement in winning the mixed doubles.

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the mixed doubles final.  Heather Watson and Henry Kontinven had obviously gelled.  Congratulations to both of them and let's hope we see more of this pairing in future years!

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I thoroughly enjoyed the mixed doubles final.  Heather Watson and Henry Kontinven had obviously gelled.  Congratulations to both of them and let's hope we see more of this pairing in future years!

 

 

Given the degree of giggling and eyeing-up that has been going on over the last week, Mrs Q and I were rather hoping that it was going to end in a big old on-court smooch  :D

 

It was a great match to watch as their enjoyment was infectious; in fact I found it far more entertaining than the Murray match.

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I'm a little disappointed to see that the front pages of the newspapers today have concentrated on the Murray win to the exclusion of all else. After all, we did acquire 3 (or was it 4?) British Wimbledon champions yesterday, which must be something of a record. Small photos of the other winners wouldn't have gone amiss.

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I agree that the papers should have included pictures of all the winners. Very wrong of them not to do so. 

 

I also predicted the winners and the number of sets for both finals, Alison.  :smugsmile:  Serena has looked magnificent over the past fortnight, and although Kerber did her best, and didn't fold, the result was never in doubt in my mind.  And once Djokovic and Fed got knocked out, there was no way

Andy was going to let that trophy slip away.  In fact, I got the impression he wasn't playing flat out in the final; that there was another gear he could have found, if necessary. 

 

I actually enjoyed both the finals this year, not something I normally say.  Although in the case of the men,  I think I would have enjoyed any final that didn't have Murray v Djokovic, which is possibly the worst match up for entertainment value.  This final was full of good tennis, and I was surprised to find myself liking the Raonic game.  He has clearly worked hard, and there is a great deal more to him than the serve. 

 

Did anyone else find it annoying when the commentators kept saying, "Raonic is the first Canadian to get to a final here".  No, Eugenie Bouchard was in the final in2014.  It is right up there with "Andy Murray is the first person to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry".  No, Angela Mortimer, Anne Jones and Virginia Wade all managed to do that.  Unless, of course, they don't consider women to be people?

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Yes, it's frequently bugged me, the relative lack of respect for the British women's winners.  As soon as Andy won the first time, there were calls for him to be given a knighthood, yet I don't think any of the women are even Dames, are they?

 

And talking of "firsts", I meant to comment earlier that Henri Kontinen is the first Finnish player to win any Slam title, so congratulations to him, too.  But the one thing above all that's annoyed me this Wimbledon is the amount of times Federer got referred to as "The Great Man" - way too many!  It got to the stage where I'd start to gag every time I heard it :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

HORRIBLY sad to get home tonight to the news that Roger Federer has announced that he's taking the rest of the 2016 season out to make sure his knee injury - which I suspect he aggravated in the Wimbledon semifinal - is properly rehabbed :(

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HORRIBLY sad to get home tonight to the news that Roger Federer has announced that he's taking the rest of the 2016 season out to make sure his knee injury - which I suspect he aggravated in the Wimbledon semifinal - is properly rehabbed :(

I was so sad to read this; I was looking forward so much to watching him compete at Rio. Hate to sound pessimistic but he probably won't be at the 2020 games.

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If he is, I don't see him being competitive in singles, at least, by then.  I guess he'll have to add it to his (already long) list of Olympic disappointments.  I know he'd been looking forward to playing in Rio.  But after Rio and the US Open I guess there's nothing much left for him for the rest of the year, so might as well take it off and concentrate on getting fully better, I suppose.  It'll be very odd not having him at the World Tour Finals :(

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  • 6 months later...

Incredible. I've been a Federer fan ever since I forgave him (took a while) for beating the great Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001.

 

I actually couldn't look at the screen during yesterday's final; it was too stressful. As sad as I was at Murray's early exit, what a joy to have a Nadal/Federer final. I was in floods when he won.

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I don't think I've ever bothered doing this before, but because of the lack of live coverage by BBC TV (only 1 1/2 hours of highlights later on) and the historic nature of the event I recorded the radio coverage of this.  It's fascinating listening to it - but I'm still amazed that anyone can do ball-by-ball commentary on a tennis match when everything happens so fast.  (You should try it sometime: I can't get the words out fast enough)  It was quite brilliant.

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I didn't listen to the final, I was out, but I listened to earlier matches, and really enjoyed it.  Excellent comments being made, in between the bally-by-ball commentary as well.  Much better than the usual chatter.

 

I noticed that they tend to change the commentators quite frequently.  They probably get eye ache.  Not to mention getting tired tongues.

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Yes, I think it's like line judges: you have to change frequently or the concentration goes.  Russell Fuller is very good, as are several of the others, especially Jonathan Overend, when he still does it.

 

(Useless piece of information: conference interpreters, I understand, change every 20 minutes, because of the sheer concentration needed.  And the subsequent interpreter sits in for the previous 20 minutes to get a feel for what's being said.  I wonder if the tennis commentators sit in for the whole of the previous set?)

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  • 4 months later...

What?

 

No comments on the French Open?  Everyone too busy watching the Ashton triple bill?

 

I love clay court tennis.  I love the way the players circle around each other, probing to find the weakness of the other.  I think it is my favourite surface to watch matches on, with hard courts being my least favourite.  

 

Ladies first:

 

How marvellous to see Kvitova back on court after the shocking attack on her. 

 

What's happened to Muguruza?   I have fond memories of her playing  in 2014 while I was watching on holiday in Vienna, watching her beat Serena Williams, and willing her to win against Sharapova.  She seems to be a shadow of the player she has been on the clay for the last 3 years.

 

Fabulous to watch Ostapenko, who played such fearless tennis.  It will be very interesting to see how she progresses in the future.

 

The men.

 

Well, there was only one man in that tournament, wasn't there?  

 

 RAFA!!!!!

 

Edited by Fonty
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Quite.  Might just as well have given him the trophy from the get-go and not bothered with the tournament ;)

Seriously, though, I'd hoped that at least one person might have presented a challenge en route, but it seems not.  Seems as though the best match of the men's tournament was the Murray-Wawrinka semi-final.

 

Ostapenko was interesting, and fearless, although I'm not quite sure how someone manages to lose the last 5 games when leading 3-1 in the decider!  (Actually, come to think of it, wasn't that what happened in the Australian Open men's final as well?)

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It is wonderful to see Rafa back though, isn't it?  It was terrible to watch him struggling over the past two or three years.  I admit I am shockingly biased in that I have adored watching him since he first crashed onto the scene in his pirate outfits.  I had great expectations for the Thiem match, because he had beaten Nadal in Rome. 

 

Thiem must have been brimming with confidence, having dispatched Djokovic so easily (what on earth is going on there, BTW?)  I think it is a measure of just how good Rafa is on clay that he made the very talented younger player look ordinary.  I have no doubt that Thiem will be a future number one, though. 

 

 

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We went to the Aegon Classic in Edgbaston yesterday for the first time - it was qualifiers weekend, so attracted players in the 100 - 250 world ranking bracket.  Very cheap, a really nice location and we saw some cracking tennis. I was particularly impressed by Camila Giorgi, on many levels.  I recommend it. The main draw is on this week, with plenty of top 20 players, if anyone is based that way.

 

Queens tomorrow, and Wimbledon on the horizon...

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23 minutes ago, alison said:

You mean you have to pay to watching the qualies?!  I considered going up to Queens' at the weekend so I could get in free, but didn't in the end.  Enjoy your other trips.

 

Only about a tenner - and you get centre court seats for that as well as access to the other courts, so I didn't begrudge it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

That is a smashing photo, Quintus.  Are you a professional photographer?  I wish I could take photos like that.

 

I went to Eastbourne last Monday, which is a tournament I really enjoy.  In fact, I think I might actually prefer it to Wimbledon.  It is a small venue, and the players walk through the crowds to get to their matches, or to the practise courts.  No obvious security guards, no people telling you to get out of the way.  In fact, half the time I think the crowds barely notice as a famous name pushes through.  

 

I decided to treat myself to a centre court ticket, and had the added pleasure of watching Heather Watson beat Cibulkova. :)

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Can't wait for Wimbledon again. Hope Roger, who I adore, can win it one more time. If not him, then Andy. Don't follow the women players. I think they're boring. The last female tennis player whose career I followed was Martina. 

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On 02/07/2017 at 11:18, Fonty said:

That is a smashing photo, Quintus.  Are you a professional photographer?  I wish I could take photos like that.

 

 

Thank you Fonty, no - just a keen amateur.  I only try sports photography a couple of times a year, tennis and hockey.  Wimbledon on Friday, fingers crossed I'll get to see Garcia, who is very expressive and makes for great pics. 

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