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feather_ghyll) wrote2024-07-13 09:13 am
feather_ghyll) wrote2024-07-13 09:13 am
TENNIS: Wimbledon 2024 - the men's semi-finals
Day twelve – men’s semi-finals (if I could choose, this would be the day I would love a Centre Court ticket).
First on, Daniil Medvedev vs Carlos Alcaraz, and Medvedev was first to serve, facing some pressure and dealing with it, so I had to wait a while to learn that the rumours were true, throughout the tournament, he had been varying his return position. He would try to do this a bit in this match, but usually fell back to his naturally deep returning position. At first it was close, but it was clear that Alcaraz’s serve was not firing. Medvedev got an early lead, but Alcaraz upped his level and regained it. There was an incident over a ball that wasn’t up (although I couldn’t see it until they replayed it slowed down and showed the double bounce in close-up, but I’d accepted Henman and Woodbridge agreeing it was not up. Good umpiring) and Medvedev saying something that got senior people on court and him getting a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Medvedev regrouped and won the set. Well, you’re highly unlikely to win a set with only about a third of your first serves going in. Alcaraz was also misfiring a lot by trying for winners that were mostly out. Theories as to why abounded: the roof was open, so there was a bit of a breeze; Medvedev was making it awkward; ye olde lapses of concentration/a lack of patience. They’d later show a graphic of how Alcaraz would go on to alter his ball toss, which meant more first serves and more control of the points on his serve.
With his first serves getting in more often, Alcaraz showed a bit more patience and started getting results, looking like the better player. He broke and won the second set, drawing level. The same in the third set, except he really could have had a double break, and it was clear his concentration wasn’t there. He does have the problem of too many potential shots to go for, and a tendency to try to hit the glory shot, when something less difficult would have won the point. The worst example was a drop smash that went into the net. Granted, he’s only 21, and he can do so much, but Medvedev wasn’t ever going to go away, and while he was clearly second rate whenever Alcaraz focused, the third set AND the fourth could have been won far more easily. I kept thinking that Alcaraz won’t be allowed to play like that when he’s playing doubles with Nadal, and it’s just a lazy habit. You don’t give your opponent any chances with an eye to future matches and to getting off the court sooner. Okay, this match had demonstrated that although Medvedev had improved on grass, he was still a level below Djokovic and Alcaraz, but Alcaraz couldn’t play like that against Djokovic. Andrew Cotter asked for a score out of ten from his fellow commentators for Alcaraz’s performance and was a bit shocked to hear them settle on six or six and a half. But they were probably right; there were moments when he’d been up at the high level you’d expect, but in the last three sets, once he’d figured out what he needed to do, he didn’t have the focus to apply that consistently. Sorry, I felt a bit disappointed in that performance. In his interview, he admitted to nerves at the start.
Next up, what could Lorenzo Musetti bring to face a more rested Novak Djokovic? He kept his serve, until he didn’t, with Djokovic throwing a barrage of shots at him, and being more than able to come into the net, as expected. But then, the Italian (who’d never played on Centre Court before) played an amazing return game, and everyone sat up. Including Djokovic, who kept an eye on the scoreboard. As it was 5-4, a break point would also be a set point, so he took it.
But at the start of the second, Musetti played wonderful tennis, the slice, which he plays more than any other man, a dangerous forehand and he’s good at the net. He broke in the first game, backed it up and had a lead at the start of the second set. And so Djokovic dug in and broke back. Musetti’s first serve percentage was high, it just wasn’t doing enough damage against the best returner in the world. Still, he took it to a tiebreak, where Djokovic played much the better tennis. There were flashes of resistance in the third set – it wasn’t a bagel like the last set of their previous match in the French Open, but this hadn’t gone to five sets – but after winning the second set (and even before then) Djokovic had always looked like the likely winner. (And he didn’t lose his concentration, young Carlito.)
There was a bit of tension, with the crowd staring up a chant of ‘Lorenzo’ at one point, and one person calling out during a point which hindered Djokovic. I learned that Djokovic turning his racquet into a violin as part of his victory celebration is for his watching daughter (who beamed at him). I didn’t know that before, and I don’t think it’s widely known. I had taken it as the gesture of fake sympathy for his detractors in the crowd, which I think is how you would read it if you didn’t know otherwise. There’s been a lot of chatter about how Djokovic craves to be loved by the crowd, and they won’t.
Djokovic touched on the fact that everyone loves Alcaraz in a really good on-court interview from Leigh Mackenzie, who was respectful and got good stuff out of Djokovic about his preparations given the knee surgery and the longevity of his success. He’s hungry for revenge and given that he can’t have been sure for a while after the surgery that he could play here this year, winning would be sweet (also because it would put further distance between him and Federer, Nadal and EVERYONE.)
It'll be interesting to see what lessons Musetti takes from this schooling and this grass-court run. He referenced his friends taking time away from university exams to support him, which was a reminder that he’s only 22. He’s clearly got an excellent game for grass. McEnroe pointed out that he needs to work on his serve and returns to reach the highest levels of the game, but he showed why he’d got to these semis.
However, the results were what we expected/hoped for, namely a rematch of last year's final. I wonder how and how much slice Alcaraz will deploy after Djokovic faced so much.
And having said all that, the women’s semis were probably better matches, as both went the whole distance and had more compelling narratives, even if three out of the semi-finalists were unexpected, while two of the male semi-finalists were true to seed, and Medvedev is seeded five and has a better record at Wimbleon than, say, Zverev.
First on, Daniil Medvedev vs Carlos Alcaraz, and Medvedev was first to serve, facing some pressure and dealing with it, so I had to wait a while to learn that the rumours were true, throughout the tournament, he had been varying his return position. He would try to do this a bit in this match, but usually fell back to his naturally deep returning position. At first it was close, but it was clear that Alcaraz’s serve was not firing. Medvedev got an early lead, but Alcaraz upped his level and regained it. There was an incident over a ball that wasn’t up (although I couldn’t see it until they replayed it slowed down and showed the double bounce in close-up, but I’d accepted Henman and Woodbridge agreeing it was not up. Good umpiring) and Medvedev saying something that got senior people on court and him getting a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Medvedev regrouped and won the set. Well, you’re highly unlikely to win a set with only about a third of your first serves going in. Alcaraz was also misfiring a lot by trying for winners that were mostly out. Theories as to why abounded: the roof was open, so there was a bit of a breeze; Medvedev was making it awkward; ye olde lapses of concentration/a lack of patience. They’d later show a graphic of how Alcaraz would go on to alter his ball toss, which meant more first serves and more control of the points on his serve.
With his first serves getting in more often, Alcaraz showed a bit more patience and started getting results, looking like the better player. He broke and won the second set, drawing level. The same in the third set, except he really could have had a double break, and it was clear his concentration wasn’t there. He does have the problem of too many potential shots to go for, and a tendency to try to hit the glory shot, when something less difficult would have won the point. The worst example was a drop smash that went into the net. Granted, he’s only 21, and he can do so much, but Medvedev wasn’t ever going to go away, and while he was clearly second rate whenever Alcaraz focused, the third set AND the fourth could have been won far more easily. I kept thinking that Alcaraz won’t be allowed to play like that when he’s playing doubles with Nadal, and it’s just a lazy habit. You don’t give your opponent any chances with an eye to future matches and to getting off the court sooner. Okay, this match had demonstrated that although Medvedev had improved on grass, he was still a level below Djokovic and Alcaraz, but Alcaraz couldn’t play like that against Djokovic. Andrew Cotter asked for a score out of ten from his fellow commentators for Alcaraz’s performance and was a bit shocked to hear them settle on six or six and a half. But they were probably right; there were moments when he’d been up at the high level you’d expect, but in the last three sets, once he’d figured out what he needed to do, he didn’t have the focus to apply that consistently. Sorry, I felt a bit disappointed in that performance. In his interview, he admitted to nerves at the start.
Next up, what could Lorenzo Musetti bring to face a more rested Novak Djokovic? He kept his serve, until he didn’t, with Djokovic throwing a barrage of shots at him, and being more than able to come into the net, as expected. But then, the Italian (who’d never played on Centre Court before) played an amazing return game, and everyone sat up. Including Djokovic, who kept an eye on the scoreboard. As it was 5-4, a break point would also be a set point, so he took it.
But at the start of the second, Musetti played wonderful tennis, the slice, which he plays more than any other man, a dangerous forehand and he’s good at the net. He broke in the first game, backed it up and had a lead at the start of the second set. And so Djokovic dug in and broke back. Musetti’s first serve percentage was high, it just wasn’t doing enough damage against the best returner in the world. Still, he took it to a tiebreak, where Djokovic played much the better tennis. There were flashes of resistance in the third set – it wasn’t a bagel like the last set of their previous match in the French Open, but this hadn’t gone to five sets – but after winning the second set (and even before then) Djokovic had always looked like the likely winner. (And he didn’t lose his concentration, young Carlito.)
There was a bit of tension, with the crowd staring up a chant of ‘Lorenzo’ at one point, and one person calling out during a point which hindered Djokovic. I learned that Djokovic turning his racquet into a violin as part of his victory celebration is for his watching daughter (who beamed at him). I didn’t know that before, and I don’t think it’s widely known. I had taken it as the gesture of fake sympathy for his detractors in the crowd, which I think is how you would read it if you didn’t know otherwise. There’s been a lot of chatter about how Djokovic craves to be loved by the crowd, and they won’t.
Djokovic touched on the fact that everyone loves Alcaraz in a really good on-court interview from Leigh Mackenzie, who was respectful and got good stuff out of Djokovic about his preparations given the knee surgery and the longevity of his success. He’s hungry for revenge and given that he can’t have been sure for a while after the surgery that he could play here this year, winning would be sweet (also because it would put further distance between him and Federer, Nadal and EVERYONE.)
It'll be interesting to see what lessons Musetti takes from this schooling and this grass-court run. He referenced his friends taking time away from university exams to support him, which was a reminder that he’s only 22. He’s clearly got an excellent game for grass. McEnroe pointed out that he needs to work on his serve and returns to reach the highest levels of the game, but he showed why he’d got to these semis.
However, the results were what we expected/hoped for, namely a rematch of last year's final. I wonder how and how much slice Alcaraz will deploy after Djokovic faced so much.
And having said all that, the women’s semis were probably better matches, as both went the whole distance and had more compelling narratives, even if three out of the semi-finalists were unexpected, while two of the male semi-finalists were true to seed, and Medvedev is seeded five and has a better record at Wimbleon than, say, Zverev.