WIMBLEDON 2014

Well. At least no conflicted feelings in the final, and a better match-up for Petra :)

Such a flop game from Halep

welp

lol why is Bouchard getting into it with Nouni at this stage

Halep just looks way too tired to take advantage even if Bouchard chokes uncharacteristically

Bouchard is bricking it and Halep can't even make her play -_-

BLECH

Messy 2nd set, don't know if it was the ankle or what. Bouchard solid but not spectacular. Peaktra will take the title, Shitrova may show up and things get dirtier.

http://www.forvo.com/word/barbora_z%C3%A1hlavov%C3%A1-str%C3%BDcov%C3%A1/#cs

Halep just looked exhausted in the second set, she looked like she knew between that and the ankle it was too big a hill to climb. Tough turnaround from the RG final run, that's one factor I forgot about. If the TB net cord had gone the other way she'd have had a 5-2 lead but Bouchard always seemed to hit the spots in dangerous moments.

Really no idea how Bouchard keeps so many balls in court with that technique, especially with that power game she's willing herself to play. Takes extraordinary discipline, she's like Petkovic plus. But...it works. She has her share of wild errors and shanks but it seemed like the deeper in the game, the more accurate she became. I'm not worried for Petra though.

BLECH again @ the triumph of someone marketed hyper-aggressively because she's blonde/white/pretty over someone who the media and marketers completely ignore because she's undemonstrative and ~unmarketable

Bad thinkpieces on Bouchard's final run ten years after... etc in 10, 9, 8, 7....

as the 13th seed too

LOL @ the fact that I can watch girls' doubles on TV

BLECH again @ the triumph of someone marketed hyper-aggressively because she's blonde/white/pretty over someone who the media and marketers completely ignore because she's undemonstrative and ~unmarketable

surely bartoli killing it on court & at the afterparty was a significant strike against this (although you'd wonder why things weren't different this year as a result)

So was the injury the main factor in the match.

Anyhow Bouchard gets results and again, took the opportunity.

not sure whether it was a deciding factor, but Halep's movement was visibly hampered and it probably contributed to her service woes as well. If she'd been able to grab the first set maybe she could have got through on adrenaline, if she was physically fine maybe she'd have been able to take advantage of Bouchard choking, who knows. Bouchard did a superb job of keeping the pressure on and played an injured opponent very well.

Probably worth noting how close Venus came to the title...she wins the Petra match and unless she has a Sjögren's day, she deals with Petra's draw in much the same way

yes Halep was clearly not 100%

Feel as though Petra should take this easily. Impressed by Bouchard's consistency in slams this year though.

I think it's a coin flip

if Bouchard can maintain taking the ball ridiculously early/returning inside the baseline vs Petra I'll be incredulous. Easier to do that when the most power you've faced has come from Hantuchova.

Looking forward to Djokovic/Dimitrov today...

Sadly not watching the final, but Bouchard can only win if Kvitova does the beating herself. But to do it after you have already won the thing...then again Murray did just that.

I see two really straightforward SFs.

Dimitrov is mostly hype? I just don't see where the 'Baby Fed' thing comes from but I haven't watched enough at the moment.

Separated at birth: Milos Raonic, and his fellow moose-wrangler Dudley Do-right.

Baby Fed = he has a one-handed BH.

Djoko pretty up and down this tournament; didn't look like anyone could beat him the level he was at vs Tsonga, but he clearly didn't maintain that vs Cilic. Also: I'm never completely convinced by his footwork on grass.

Nightmares about Raonic taking out Federer in three tiebreaks.

It was just crazy how he kept falling over in the Cilic match.

Can't see Raonic beating Fed. If he does => retire immediately plz.

Dimitrov has a pretty all-court game as well, it's more like Fed-lite though, the FH is good but not the weapon Peak Fed's was. And he's really improved beyond the hype in the past year. Djokovic's normal level still too much I think, but Dimitrov certainly beats the Djokovic who showed up for half the match vs Cilic.

You'd think Fed would be adept at dealing with Raonic types by now but if it does go to TBs they can be such a lottery. Raonic in a Slam final would be horrendous. SURELY Fed won't let that happen.

the FH is good but not the weapon Peak Fed's was

def not.

Fed can handle big servers pretty well usually

Commentators have been pointing out how Fed's serve, volleys, overheads and BH have all benefited from the larger frame - but not so the FH, which is as prone to breaking down as it has been generally since 2009 or so.

I think one of my favourite Federer stats ever was his return success vs Roddick in the 2003 SF - didn't he get something like 83% of Roddick's first serves back into play? Only four aces and maybe six other unreturnables the whole match; this after Roddick had rolled through the event looking like no one could break him.

(Actually not quite true, as Rusedski, Srichaphan and Bjorkman all managed one break each vs Roddick that year, but you know what I mean. It was utterly reduced as a weapon vs Federer, and that remained the case in most of their subsequent meetings).

Attn lex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta9AXqLSrVQ

sloppy game gives Djokovic the break

is the rich white ladies thing a comedy meme? (haven't watched as am watching tennis)

tongue is firmly in cheek but no, they are a pop-rap thing with (apparently?) the-dream and tricky involved. song bops imo

many xposts

The Baby Fed moniker came because he trained under Peter Lundgren, who coached Federer early in his career and said that he thought Dimitrov at 18 was better than Fed was at the same age.

His game looked more like carbon copy Fed a few years ago though - I think he's modified his FH a bit. (Plus, he grew bigger and taller and stopped wearing headbands like Fed does). He's actually a more defensive player than Fed is, and will prob improve further on that front.

Dimitrov not able to keep up so far.

Remember Alexandra Stevenson, everyone? 15-year anniversary of her SF run this year. It's a decade since she was ranked high enough to playt a Slam MD, she's now ranked 429, and in an article published YESTERDAY she declared she still thinks she can win a Slam: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/sports/tennis/alexandra-stevensons-1999-wimbledon-run-remains-a-vivid-memory.html?ref=tennis&_r=1

Like, I saw that linked on TF, and genuinely assumed it was bumped from 7-8 years ago

yeah Dimitrov's playing terribly - so many errors.

half-chance to get into it, falls over

these shanks certainly merit the Baby Fed nickname tbh

wow that story on Stevenson. i only vaguely remember her (didn't start following tennis until a few years later) but who knows... maybe she'll pull off a Kimiko.

well that turned around quickly

This Dimitrov surge has come out of nowhere

Ridiculous challenge from Djoko for the set.

Djokovic looked completely unprepared for and indeed annoyed by Dimitrov actually getting it together

Djoko looking unprepared is par for the course.

This men's championship has been awful - can it stop please!

yah seriously. Only decent match was maybe the first two sets of Dimitrov/Dolgopolov.

If Dimitrov is just going to start shanking again... #babyfed

xp Kyrgios/Nadal tho!

Thought Wawrinka/Federer was super high quality if not that dramatic as well. The you had the crazy early-round ones - Ferrer/Kuznetsov, Gasquet/Kyrgios, Vesely/Monfils...

Oh yeah! lol. Ferrer/Kuznetsov was pretty fun too - didn't watch the rest. Gasquet lost 9 MPs or something right?