TENNIS: Wimbledon Men’s Quarters
Jun. 30th, 2011 09:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllI am going to put down the third set in Nadal’s match against Fish to his knowing, on some level, that I would like to see him play live when I came home and so he extended the match. I wonder whether tiredness was a factor, especially given some of the errors.
Yes, I came home and watched Nadal. The TV was set on the red button, but I could have switched to BBC2 to watch Murray. But I didn’t. Telling – although I want the best man on the day to win on Friday. Murray got through most easily to the semis (having neutralised Gasquet in three as well), so that’s in his favour.
I knew Federer was up 4-1 in the first set and nothing more, so I was shocked, in one sense, that Tsonga did what he did. However, since Queen’s (and didn’t he have a decent run at the French for him?), it’s been obvious that Tsonga was serving well and very capable at the net, and of course has flair. When I saw that Federer won the second set on a tie-break and then the way that Tsonga was playing on the highlights show, it made more sense. He twisted a couple of extra times in his celebration. Will the high of bearing Federer, whom everyone fancied to win Wimbledon if Nadal or Murray didn't stop him (even though I thought this would be the tastiest QF, I expected Federer to make it through) stamp out any tiredness after a five-setter? We shall see.
I had to wait until the highlights show to find out what had happened in the other match, although my maths told me that it had to have been a four-setter (I did assume that Djokovic had too much for Tomic, but what a run from the 18-year-old, whom I cannot call a man. He wasn’t meant to be this good yet, was he? His game sounds intriguing and he can only learn from this experience.)
Rusedski and Becker’s comments were interesting. They pointed out that Djokovic – potentially the world number 1 if he gets through to the final - has been flying under the radar rather. Rusedski (I think it was) pointed out one good reason why – the Serb’s movement on grass isn’t as good as the other three’s. I’ve certainly noticed that his net game isn’t as strong (and I would say that Tsonga has the edge on him here). There are other factors – that Nadal and Federer had that face-off in the French, their pedigree here, Murray being the home favourite and Queen’s champion. But Tsonga shouldn’t look over the net and see the match-winning run of the start of the year, he should see hope.
As for Murray and Nadal, they always bring out some great stuff from each other. You can take what you want out of the French semi. We’ll see what happens when they step out on the grass on Friday. Well, I’ll probably see it on the highlights. Both semis could be great and whoever gets through, there will be interesting undercurrents to the final, beyond it being the men's Wimbledon final, given past finals, ranking and what happened at Queen’s, plus the fact that they’ve all played so well to get through (Nadal in particular with having to face Del Potro, while Tsonga has the boost of breaking up ‘The Fab Four’).
Saw Heather Watson smiling and volleying her way through part of a doubles match.
Yes, I came home and watched Nadal. The TV was set on the red button, but I could have switched to BBC2 to watch Murray. But I didn’t. Telling – although I want the best man on the day to win on Friday. Murray got through most easily to the semis (having neutralised Gasquet in three as well), so that’s in his favour.
I knew Federer was up 4-1 in the first set and nothing more, so I was shocked, in one sense, that Tsonga did what he did. However, since Queen’s (and didn’t he have a decent run at the French for him?), it’s been obvious that Tsonga was serving well and very capable at the net, and of course has flair. When I saw that Federer won the second set on a tie-break and then the way that Tsonga was playing on the highlights show, it made more sense. He twisted a couple of extra times in his celebration. Will the high of bearing Federer, whom everyone fancied to win Wimbledon if Nadal or Murray didn't stop him (even though I thought this would be the tastiest QF, I expected Federer to make it through) stamp out any tiredness after a five-setter? We shall see.
I had to wait until the highlights show to find out what had happened in the other match, although my maths told me that it had to have been a four-setter (I did assume that Djokovic had too much for Tomic, but what a run from the 18-year-old, whom I cannot call a man. He wasn’t meant to be this good yet, was he? His game sounds intriguing and he can only learn from this experience.)
Rusedski and Becker’s comments were interesting. They pointed out that Djokovic – potentially the world number 1 if he gets through to the final - has been flying under the radar rather. Rusedski (I think it was) pointed out one good reason why – the Serb’s movement on grass isn’t as good as the other three’s. I’ve certainly noticed that his net game isn’t as strong (and I would say that Tsonga has the edge on him here). There are other factors – that Nadal and Federer had that face-off in the French, their pedigree here, Murray being the home favourite and Queen’s champion. But Tsonga shouldn’t look over the net and see the match-winning run of the start of the year, he should see hope.
As for Murray and Nadal, they always bring out some great stuff from each other. You can take what you want out of the French semi. We’ll see what happens when they step out on the grass on Friday. Well, I’ll probably see it on the highlights. Both semis could be great and whoever gets through, there will be interesting undercurrents to the final, beyond it being the men's Wimbledon final, given past finals, ranking and what happened at Queen’s, plus the fact that they’ve all played so well to get through (Nadal in particular with having to face Del Potro, while Tsonga has the boost of breaking up ‘The Fab Four’).
Saw Heather Watson smiling and volleying her way through part of a doubles match.
