ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

now that uni has finished, i have 3 months to do nothing but watch tennis :D starting with a bit of vinci/putintseva

putintseva's footwork omg
i can't believe she managed to get all the way around a vinci CC slice to hit a forehand inside out winner. LEGEND

this match is really nice

but vinci running away with it now :( putintseva broken from 40-0 up (punctured by a racket smack as she lost serve ofc)

Okay I will bump this. Lucic d. Wickmayer. Petkovic d. Georges. FUCK. YEAH.

Görges rather. I didn't just get a keyboard with ö and ä on it to not use them, except clearly I did, and misspelled anyway.

(Also POINT AT LAUGH at Dimitrov losing to 900-year-old Hewitt in straights.)

pironkova lost to cirstea on grass? smh

I was at Queens on Monday and Dimitrov looked extremely ropey (lightning-bolt serve aside). Ma$ha was sat a few rows in front of us and did not look v impressed either. Disappointing, especially after I'd sat through the entire Hewitt/Russell match which was kinda like when you're at the dentist and they haven't given you enough anaesthetic :( :(

Happily the Evans/Pella match on first was really good, esp the second set when Dan got his backhand working. Lots of variety & a decent-ish first serve. Ooo just had a look at today's results, he beat Nieminen as well...

Extremely disappointing form from Dimitrov

yeah Dimitrov was a shambles in both match, completely vacant tactically. Delpo v Malisse was quite fun yesterday.

Robson's PR people have been sending out bumpf saying this is the first year she'll be seeded at Wimbledon - not without several withdrawals after that shocker of an opening loss to Hantuchova. Sad that 15-year-old Robson gave Hantuchova 2009 a much tougher fight than 19-year-old Robson has given Hantuchova 2013 either time they've played this year.

Vekic played a wonderful match to beat U-Rad, still firmly on this bandwagon and wondering when the tabloids will notice her GBR connections.

“Gaël, I always respected the way he plays,” Gulbis said Wednesday. “This guy has a very big potential. I wish that he would fulfill it, you know? The way he plays, the way he can play, everybody knows it. I think in France, also, everybody is waiting for him to have some clicks in his brain and to do the right things. And for sure he has the potential to be, in my understanding, top five, for sure. So I just respect him in this way, and I think he’s a fun guy. I always have good relation with him, but not really close.”

When it was pointed out to Gulbis that what he said about Monfils sounded a lot like what people might say about his own sometimes perplexing career, he assented.

“Yeah, probably.”

http://straightsets.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/monfils-soaring-on-the-grass-will-miss-wimbledon/?smid=tw-NYTStraightSets&seid=auto

kohlschreiber to win wimbledon

gulbis-haas is an hilarious match! Ernie hasn't won a single rally so far and saved 16 (!) break points with aces/service winners. haas getting more and more pissed off

just as I write this ernie gets broken lol

At least Gulbis isn't losing because of fitness or laziness. For him that's progress!

man Haas is playing so well, amazing to see

Stoked that Keys and Vekic have both reached the QF in Edgbaston. I really like Rybarikova, whom Keys plays next, but I'd be so hyped for a Keys/Vekic SF - the start of a great rivalry, perhaps. In scoreLiNa news, Cirstea d. Jovanovski 6-1 1-6 6-1. Please lose to Donna swiftly next.

Haas always plays so well in Germany - wouldn't be surprised if he went on to beat Fed again in the SF.

Genuinely surprised Vekic has received so little mainstream hype to date. I know she still hasn't had THAT big-stage result yet, but she's so far ahead of anyone else her age, and you'd think the GBR connection would get a few "adopted Brit" comments going.

I mean, the tennis press can stay pretending Stephens has a Slam-winning game if they want, but...

Weird stat: all 10 of Alison Riske's WTA level victories have come at Edgbaston. None anywhere else.

http://www.changeovertennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Dimitrov2.gif

You don't often get a double-bagel on the men's tour, but Fed might be about to do that to Zverev in the Halle quarters.

Yep, that happened. 39min.

He doesn't appear to be related to Zvereva...

#equalpay

I'm sure Zverev a) used to be somewhat good b) didn't use to be a serve-and-volleyer

Ranked #45, now down in the 150s. Was a junior #3 and has had wins over Robredo, Ferrero, Safin and Davydenko. Beat Goffin here, who is no slouch.

Just a bad day.

All these matches are irrelevant, urgently requiring a Haas title defence now.

Also requiring Petko to put Jankovic away. Any time she gets slightly off-balance, the ball goes into the net. But her groundstrokes otherwise look really good!

SO. MUCH. FUCKING. LIFE.

yeah so this happened

https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=anwWxJ6j8h8

and Gael told the press it was the most efficient way for him to hit the shot

also VEKIC TRASHING CIRSTEA, INTO THE SF LET'S GOOOO. Keys couldn't hold up her end of the dream SF though...

i really love vekic's accent

Lots to like about Vekic. The yellow visor is cute, her strokes are good grass weapons and the serve's not bad either. When out of position she hits some really high, wide balls though. Magda is FIGHTING though.

Impressive match for Vekic to come through, Magda is so difficult on grass. Obv the rain helped her a lot but I was impressed by the way Vekic played more aggressively to close out the tight first set, and to hit through her nerves when she looked consumed by choking in the last game. Great shot at the title tomorrow and I hope she gets it...

Terrific tie-break there from Youzhny in the Halle final. Proper backhand volleying!

OMG OMG OMG IVANOVIC IS BACK!!!!!!

Back to losing in the first round!

well, i've never been more disappointed in serena ;_;

We watch the news for a while, and the infamous Steubenville rape case flashes on the TV—two high school football players raped a 16-year-old, while other students watched and texted details of the crime. Serena just shakes her head. "Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don't know. I'm not blaming the girl, but if you're a 16-year-old and you're drunk like that, your parents should teach you: don't take drinks from other people. She's 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn't remember? It could have been much worse. She's lucky. Obviously I don't know, maybe she wasn't a virgin, but she shouldn't have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that's different."

why why whyyyyyyyyy is she so stupid :( what even goes through your head that you decide to think this bullshit, let alone BRING IT UP AT A ROLLING STONE INTERVIEW ;_;

ugh

just when i was ready to start serena stanning after her lovely speech tout en francais

really disappointed. I'd started to come round to her and appreciate her so much in the last year, and she seemed to have matured so much as well, and now...this is just so much more ignorant and wrong than anything else she's ever said. catty/childish is one thing but this is gross.

Wimbledon seedings

http://serenawilliams.com/blog/statement-2/

not very surprising response to all of this

lmao another apology which turns into an extended paean to herself à la USO 2009.

also "what I supposedly said" is curious - if she's accusing Rolling Stone of making shit up you'd think she'd do so in stronger terms, this just seems like mealy-mouthed hint-hinting

Someone posted on Facebook a rumour from a Czech tabloid that Stepanek and Vaidisova are getting divorced and Radek is leaving her for... no... please... no... Petra. There's really no in-between for that girl, if true. Small child, old man. I hope it's false!

ahem it's this time of year now WIMBLEDON 2013

Mahut 12-2 on grass this year with 2 titles, only one other main draw match the entire year. From outside the top 200 to #75.

Keothavong retired with immediate effect today, to precisely no one's surprise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Mhnqa0Ces

I always liked that we had a Hackney-born-and-raised daughter of immigrants at the forefront of British women's tennis for so long. Top 50 career high and five tour SFs is a decent career given her talent level and her injury issues. I'm fairly sure she'll become a familiar face/voice in the commentary booth...

Since Federer changed his racquet, I've put a lazy ten bucks against him each match. Totally cleaning up right now!

What is Federer doing playing Hamburg and Gstaad anyway?

Getting used to a new racquet and trying to get some confidence. Not very well! I figured after losing a set to Brands and then two to Delbonis, Brands was a near-certainty to finish the job.

isner/hewitt tiebreak for the match

radwanska saves a 5th champ pt vs cibu