WIMBLEDON 2014

it's pretty logical that it would be true. the difference between serve speed of men & women is obv larger than the difference in ground speed wrt return of serve, height also enables men to get better angles on the serve which increases margin for error and allows for spin and stuff.

re #9, i've noticed bet365 refer to the mens and womens tournaments as e.g. 'Wimbledon 2014' and 'Wimbledon 2014 Womens', so unnecessary and infuriating.

great article

Promise to make no grunt complaints AFTER THIS POST

Fuck the grunters.

There.

Maybe telling that Lisicki and Serena are among the fastest servers.

Fantasy Tennis over at the wimbledon site. Anyone trying this out?

tsrobodo - what do you mean?

Just noting that if speed of serve is a factor in the amount of service breaks, then it maybe goes some way to explaining why fast servers like Serena and Lisicki are tough to break.

ah right yeah...maybe

I've always tried to ensure my grunt complaints are aimed equitably! *stares hard at Granollers*

Wertheim's Goerges pick is just...even at her best she was useless on grass, there's a really obvious technical reason for that (long takeback on the FH, her main weapon; heavy topspin FH doesn't have as much impact on grass) (this is also why Stosur's weaponry is blunted on grass, yet every year we have to put up with commentators making the basic "grass court skillz = big serve" connection and wondering why Stosur's never had a result of note on it AAARGH). I mean, Goerges is not a new player, how can a professional tennis journalist get something so basic so wrong? Ah yes, he called Cirstea a finesse player at RG o_0

The Keys/Kerber Eastbourne final yesterday was superb, I thought. So weird to think that Keys got thrashed by Babos just the week previously.

Gonna try the fantasy Wimbledon thing out today if I grab a moment, looks interestingly different but it's only relevant to the top players I think...

predix!

S.Williams d. Bouchard
Kerber d. Giorgi
Halep d. Diyas
Keys d. Ivanovic
Muguruza d. Safarova
A.Radwanska d. Pironkova
Kvitova d. Stephens
Li d. Wozniacki

S.Williams d. Kerber
Halep d. Keys
Muguruza d. A.Radwanska
Kvitova d. Li

S.Williams d. Halep
Kvitova d. Muguruza

S.Williams d. Kvitova

Djokovic d. Youzhny
Gulbis d. Cilic
Murray d. Anderson
Dimitrov d. Brown
Lopez d. Istomin
Federer d. Hewitt
Raonic d. Nishikori
Nadal d. Gasquet

Djokovic d. Gulbis
Dimitrov d. Murray
Federer d. Lopez
Raonic d. Nadal

Djokovic d. Dimitrov
Federer d. Raonic

Djokovic d. Federer

I don't even believe half of those latter rounds, they just...happened. A lot of vulnerable seeds have easy draws in that last women's quarter. Really, Watson/Kerber could decide a QFist (if Giorgi does her job). I guess Lisicki won't be beating the RG champ this year. Went with form to pick Lopez but surely he's exhausted? Wawrinka probably has the real nightmare draw if he's still feeling the pressure. Everyone inc me went "oooooh" at Nadal's draw but it's probably just the sort of thing he actually comes through. If Muguruza loses to Vandeweghe again I shall rampage in anger

I will do cartwheels and dance and sing if Federer OR Kvitova even make the QFs. I guess neither can complain about their draw.

Kimiko off to a blazing start <3

Oh my god a new low in camera angles on that court though

Kirilenko playing a lot better than I thought she would. Stephens as lacklustre as ever

KDK tried to choke from 5-0 and then 5-1 40-0 up but has finally stumbled her way to the first set

That thing Kirilenko is wearing, what in the actual fuck. It's like the bottom two layers of a wedding cake.

red button isn't working for me, don't have access to a computer, seems like bbc2 are just gonna show sue barker schmoozing all day. nightmare

Stephens' second serve is hilariously bad and the grass still being slick means Kirilenko actually is doing legit damage with her forehand.

Crazy end to the Stephens/Kirilenko match. Kirilenko wins her sixth MP, Stephens' streak of OK-sort-of Slam consistency comes to an end.

That first MP save was lololol. Kirilenko actually played well tho her transition game was pretty lousy there.

Er, the first SP save. It was I think the fourth MP save that was the funny one.

Nice to see Lucic can still smack the crap out of the ball. Not so nice to see her attempt a drop-shot.

Kirilenko actually played well tho her transition game was pretty lousy there.

I thought her volleys were weirdly dire, given that they used to be one of her actual strengths. Returns were on point though, she's never used that BH DTL return with such purpose.

Makarova/Date-Krumm was a tremendous match, yet another tremendous epic match that Kimiko lost ;_;

Nice to see Ana Konjuh win her first Slam match with a bagel in the third over Erakovic!

Not nice to see Verdasco fuck up against that moron Matosevic.

Nice to see Lucic-Baroni get that set against Azarenka! Keep it up! 15-year anniversary over her Wim SF run!

Er, she didn't get that set yet. First day of a Slam always scrambles my brain

Mirjana blows three SPs and gives the game away on a shitty challenge :(

:((((((((

can someone I like please win a match, any match

Henman: "Earlier I was asked who I thought the best volleyer in the top 100 is"
McEnroe: "I'll tell you what my answer to that would be...RAFA NADAL"

Surely this can't happen too often. Meusburger wins 12 straight games against King, yet neither set is a bagel (she won them from 0-5 down in the first; at 5-0 up in the second, King won three games)

lol @ Sloane, when I saw she was playing Kirilenko I knew she was toast

really bbc, the best you can do his a nole virtual walkover?

yassss so glad that twat Evans lost, love Andrey Kuznetsov's BH
simultaneous Kuznetsov drama!

Fognini/Kuznetsov = v appealing to watch for me. PS I am incredibly shallow.

Muguruza saved 13 MPs against Vandeweghe only to lose the match with two consecutive DFs ;______;

SO ANNOYED at Vandeweghe winning any matches

Hi from the Wimbledon queue! Gonna see Bencic later

She's in my fantasy team

hi does anyone know how court 3 ticketing works? I've got court 3 tickets for tomorrow (!) but it's also open to grounds pass people right? are only half the seats ticketed or is that under the assumption that people won't wanna sit there all day?
never been to Wimbledon before

Klizan about to serve for the 1st set

Nadal played a terrific first point, gets it to 0-30 but Klizan plays aggressive to win the 1st

lololol this doesn't get old <3

that DF shank to get broken!

those wasted break chances will bite him in the ass

Nadal did play really well to break again in the 3rd - expecting to pull through now.

Bouchard about to start in court 1

ugh Sweta lost to De Brito??

Bepa ;o

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bq6nM2aCMAMO4gh.png

just saw that Victoria Duval won ^_^

Had an excellent day yesterday, much better than the overcrowded and stressful day I had in 2013. Not sure why the crowds seemed less intense this year but grateful for it. Report - http://unforcederrani.tumblr.com/post/89847620832/wimbledon-2014-report-day-2

Virginia Wade is so pressed about how rich, successful and likeable Li Na is.

stakhovsky took the first set against gulbis, pretty cool match

Nara playing really well vs Venus

first classic men's slam final in a long time

The trophy for the men's singles at Wimbledon is one of the most recognizable in sport and dates back to 1887. The magnificent gold cup stands 18 1/2 inches high and has a diameter of 7 1/2 inches, but the eagle-eyed might notice the pineapple design which adorns the top of the lid. A spokesperson for the Wimbledon museum told CNN that information remains scarce about the origins of the actual cup. She offered the explanation that it could date back to the tradition where captains in the British navy coming back from sea put a pineapple on the gateposts of their home.

or

Back in the 17th century, it was a highly sought-after commodity. It was very rare (in England) and therefore very expensive, and was the crowning fruit of only the most lush feasts; a symbol of significant wealth. If you attended a dinner party back in the 1600s and there was pineapple on the table, you could consider yourself very honoured indeed.

re: lack of support. Its mixed in with people wanting matches to go all the way more than anything (although of course people pay a lot for a tkt).

There's a...pineapple...on top of the...trophy now? Has that always been there?

― lex pretend, Sunday, July 6, 2014 5:19 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh lex

Djokovic the 3rd best ever now imo

Behind Laver and Gonzalez, right? ;)

Love Marion's ubiquity in retirement

Behind Laver and Gonzalez, right? ;)

― Michael Jones, Sunday, July 6, 2014 5:35 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just in front!

Nenad Zimonjic looks like he's wandered into the mixed doubles final from the over-50s invitational

Yung-Jan Chan's lil sis Hao-Ching has made it to a Slam final first!

Roll of honour:

Men's singles: Novak Djokovic
Women's singles: Petra Kvitova
Men's doubles: Vasek Pospisil & Jack Sock
Women's doubles: Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci
Mixed doubles: Samantha Stosur & Nenad Zimonjic
Boys' singles: Noah Rubin
Girls' singles: Jelena Ostapenko
Boys' doubles: Orlando Luz & Marcelo Zormann
Girls' doubles: Tami Grende & Qiu-Yu Ye

Rare junior titles for Latvia (Ostapenko) and Indonesia (Grende)!

Rubin is 18 years and 4 months old, lame if you ask me

yeah I usually side-eye junior champs who vulture junior Slams at 18 when they should've graduated to senior level. Usually it means they don't amount to much though Bouchard has been a weird recent exception.

is there a full video of the women's final online anywhere? would like to rewatch it

disappointingly Noah Rubin is not related to Chanda Rubin because otherwise would stan without even seeing

is there a full video of the women's final online anywhere? would like to rewatch it

me too - i think wimbledon have been stricter about getting unauthorised stuff taken down this year, would check in a week or two

New rankings.

1. Serena Williams (1)
2. Na Li (2)
3. Simona Halep (3)
4. Petra Kvitova (6)
5. Agnieszka Radwanska (4)
6. Maria Sharapova (5)
7. Eugenie Bouchard (13)
8. Angelique Kerber (7)
9. Jelena Jankovic (8)
10. Victoria Azarenka (9)
11. Ana Ivanovic (11)
12. Dominika Cibulkova (10)
13. Flavia Pennetta (12)
14. Sara Errani (14)
15. Caroline Wozniacki (16)
16. Carla Suarez Navarro (15)
17. Lucie Safarova (23)
18. Samantha Stosur (17)
19. Ekaterina Makarova (22)
20. Andrea Petkovic (20)
21. Alize Cornet (24)
22. Sloane Stephens (18)
23. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (25)
24. Roberta Vinci (21)
25. Venus Williams (31)
26. Svetlana Kuznetsova (27)
27. Madison Keys (30)
28. Garbine Muguruza (28)
29. Sorana Cirstea (29)
30. Shuai Zhang (33)
...
31. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (43)
33. Sabine Lisicki (19)
52. Yaroslava Shvedova (65)
53. Zarina Diyas (72)
63. Belinda Bencic (71)
92. Victoria Duval (114)
99. Tereza Smitkova (175)
137. Ana Konjuh (189)
160. Laura Robson (91)

1. Novak Djokovic (2)
2. Rafael Nadal (1)
3. Roger Federer (4)
4. Stan Wawrinka (3)
5. Tomas Berdych (6)
6. Milos Raonic (9)
7. David Ferrer (7)
8. Juan Martin Del Potro (8)
9. Grigor Dimitrov (13)
10. Andy Murray (5)
11. Kei Nishikori (12)
12. John Isner (11)
13. Ernests Gulbis (10)
14. Richard Gasquet (14)
15. Fabio Fognini (15)
16. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (17)
17. Kevin Anderson (18)
18. Tommy Robredo (22)
19. Alexandr Dolgopolov (19)
20. Marin Cilic (29)
21. Gael Monfils (21)
22. Mikhail Youzhny (16)
23. Roberto Bautista Agut (23)
24. Feliciano Lopez (26)
25. Tommy Haas (20)
26. Philipp Kohlschreiber (28)
27. Nicolas Almagro (27)
28. Marcel Granollers (30)
29. Fernando Verdasco (24)
30. Dmitry Tursunov (31)
...
35. Jeremy Chardy (42)
47. Leonardo Mayer (64)
50. Florian Mayer (40)
51. Jerzy Janowicz (25)
66. Nick Kyrgios (144)
99. Andrey Kuznetsov (118)
124. Bernard Tomic (86)
137. Lukasz Kubot (72)

And now off to Bucharest and Bad Gastein for the women, and Bastad, Stuttgart and Newport for the men!

Ladies Singles Final is on the iplayer for another 6 days. Not sure if that's any good for you cerealbar or if you're non-uk.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Br79QBvIgAAoF5u.jpg

<3

lol

4th set was all-time