Wimbledon 2010: Day 10

No shocks today for the women's semifinals as Serena Williams and Vera Zvonareva made it to the final. Both however did find it somewhat tough to beat their unseeded compatriots; Serena needed a tie break whilst Vera lost the first set. These are by no means discouraging but it does suggest that Saturdays final will be closer than we may wish to think. I'll sadly not be able to watch it or post about it as I'll be on a plane to Hong Kong on Saturday but once I land I'll definitely look forward to seeing who the eventual winner is - most probably Serena Williams.

Wimbledon 2010: Day 9

Pleasantly surprised that Tomas Berdych beat Roger Federer, I'm so happy that Federer won't make the final as I'm utterly bored of it. It is truly anybody's game now. I can potentially see any of the semifinalists winning the title, of course I'd like Djokovic or Murray to win! Djokovic thrashed Yen-Hsun Lu whilst Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal both took 4 sets in defeating their opponents (both having lost the first set). I'm hoping it's a Djokovic/Murray final where Djokovic wins - and I'm British!)

Still overly happy with Tomas's win - I knew he could do it, and now his Grand Slam record has at least 2 SF appearances - good job Tomas.

I don't normally talk about doubles but seeing the Williams' lose in the women's doubles was a shock. Whilst Serena had her fair share of errors I think this suggests that Venus is sliding so I'm not convinced she'll stay in the Top 2 for long - is she still in it?

Wimbledon 2010: Day 8

I managed to watch 3 matches but sadly missed Venus' shocking loss to Tsvetana Pironkova. What shocked me most about that loss was that it was a straight sets victory, not how anybody would expect Venus to lose by at Wimbledon. There were a few precursors suggesting that Venus may not make it to the finals but we all assumed her draw was simple enough for her to coax along. With Pironkova's victory we now have an unexpected final including either Pironkova or Zvonareva; who beat Kim Clijsters. I was expecting Kim Clijsters to win but I always saw the potential of a Zvonareva win instead, however this must mean Serena Williams will take another Wimbledon title as the other 3 semifinalists are truly shocks. I managed to see the last few games of the Kanepi/Kvitova match and oh my god did Kanepi choke. 4-0 in the third set but in the end she lost it - this must have been her best chance ever to make the semifinals.

I really hope the final is Serena vs. Vera because anything different would just be too awkward. This has been a shocking Wimbledon for the women's game.

Wimbledon 2010: Day 7

Today was definitely not a good day for me. Federer thrashed Jurgen Melzer, on paper this match could potentially have been a good 4 sets but as Federer thrashed him I'm increasingly worried that Federer will make an easy win here. Hopefully Tomas Berdych will push him like Alejandro Falla did.

Djokovic managed a good win against Lleyton Hewitt despite his 3rd set hiccup. I really didn't know what went on there. Yen-Hsun Lu provided the shock of the tournament as he defeated Andy Roddick in 5 very tough sets. Andy Roddick was one of my favourite dark horses coming into this tournament but now Djokovic may well survive his tough draw.

Tsonga will face Murray. Murray is now the only player who hasn't dropped a set! Chances of title? I do believe he can make the final. Soderling had a tough match against David Ferrer, all of these stats suggest that the Top 4 players will make the semifinal. I really hope it will be a Djokovic/Murray 5 set final!

On the ladies side Serena Williams played a very good match against maria Sharapova to book a quarter-final match against Na Li. Caroline Wozniacki lost to Petra Kvitova! I had guessed Caroline Wozniacki's departure but I thought it would be against Victoria Azarenka. Kvitova absolutely thrashed Wozniacki - it just goes to show how some of these top seeds can get to the 4th round without even having to lift a finger.

Kim Clijsters beat Justine Henin, sadly. It seems that Justine will be living under the shadow of Kim for the rest of this year, hopefully next year she'll finally get back to top form. Jelena Jankovic messed it all up. She was so close in Roland Garros and had a relatively easy draw to the quarters in Wimbledon but at both she failed to deliver. I just think that Caroline and Jelena are both way overrated.

Marion Bartoli also lost, which was a shock but a pleasing one. All in all there are 3 unseeded players making this years Final 8, I wouldn't at any moment have guessed Pironkova, maybe a slight slight inkling towards Kaia Kanepi and even slighter for Petra Kvitova. All in all I don't see how this final wouldn't be another Williams' affair.

Wimbledon 2010: Day 6

Today was not the best of days for me. The most interesting out of the matches must have been Nadal's 5 set putting him in a really dangerous position against Robin Soderling who hasn't dropped a set. Sam Querrey will probably be ousted by Murray seeing he wasn't that great today. I do believe Murray is very likely going to get to the finals here.

Serena and Maria Sharapova will make another blockbuster Round 16 matchup but both Flavia Pennetta and Victoria Azarenka failed against their Czech opponents leaving the door wide open for Wozniacki who has been really lucky with the draws lately. All in all it seems the toughest opponents are centred around Serena and Venus whilst the others are vying for a place in their own sections.

Wimbledon 2010: Day 5

Nothing particularly interesting happened today. On the men's side there weren't any shocks as such. Federer, Djokovic and Hewitt all managed straight set wins, though Hewitt had a tougher match against Gael Monfils. Roddick however dropped his first set to Philipp Kohlschreiber. So this is Federer's first straight sets match. Mikhail Youzhny did however lose to Paul-Henri Mathieu which was slightly shocking and Victor Hanescu retired against Daniel Brands.

Melzer beat Feliciano Lopez whilst Tomas Berdych needed 5 difficult sets to beat Denis Istomin - hmm Federer may be in less trouble for the semifinals than I'd hope.

On the women's side nothing shocking happened either with everybody winning in straight sets. Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin both impressively beat tough opponents to schedule a 4th Round match up - hope Justine will win this time, it's getting too Kim heavy since their return. Yanina lost to Zvonareva but that was always going to be a tough call. Jankovic looked good against Alona Bondarenko - but Bondarenko didn't look good anyway. Venus also managed a straight sets victory against Alisa Kleybanova.

Wimbledon 2010: Day 4

Day 4 hasn't been as interesting as the past few days so I guess it's good that I chose this day to go to Bath.

Tsonga took 5 difficult sets to beat his opponent, Alexandr Dolgopolov - now Andy Murray really doesn't have any excuse not to make the semifinals or even finals of this years Wimbledon - no pressure.

Besides that Rafael Nadal looked shaky in his 5 set win against Robin Haase - will neither Federer nor Nadal make the final? Now that would be a good final.

Of course the most interesting thing that happened today was the conclusion of the epic Mahut/Isner match in which Isner snatched it 68-70, I'd love if the games went into triple figures though! This just makes me like Isner even more, he's in and around my Top 10 favourite players at the moment. I don't think we can even discuss who was statistically the better player because both of them contributed a tremendous effort to even finish this match and therefore in the end the winner was the one who capitalised on the points needed.

Not much happened in the women's game either besides the favourites solidifying their dominance such as Serena Williams thrashing Anna Chakvetadze 6-0,6-1 and will next face Dominika Cibulkova who struggled pass Ayumi Morita - interesting fact, this is the first time Morita has made it past the 1st Round at a Grand Slam!

Some slight shocks occurred e.g. Daniela Hantuchova's loss meaning Sharapova looks set for a Serena clash. Svetlana Kuznetsova also fell out to Anastasia Rodionova. Jie Zheng, the 23rd seed also lost. But besides that nothing really interesting happened in the women's draw today.

Wimbledon 2010: Day 3

Well today history has been made, well in fact tomorrow is when it will be set. I was left in awe from the Mahut/Isner match - in all honesty I think it should have went on for a bit longer but I won't go into that here. 59-59, that's the 5th set scoreline. The 5th set is currently 7h06m long, that's like the length of 3 decent matches. The whole match has lasted, I think, 10 hours! I'm rooting for ISNER!!!!!!

In other news, Roger Federer continued his rather unsteady performance by beating Ilija Bozoljac in 4 sets, now most would say I normally over-exaggerate when Federer doesn't look in great form but if he takes 4 sets against Ilija Bozoljac I honestly believe he's going to have a tough time against Clement, Lopez or Melzer then Berdych. Neither of those 4 have looked particularly strong here but neither did Bozoljac, who took 4 sets to beat Nicholas Massu, and the 4 I've mentioned are better all better players than Bozoljac. I'm beginning to see Federer losing in the quarter-final against Tomas Berdych (or even a 4th Round loss to Feliciano Lopez).

Davydenko lost in straight sets to Daniel Brands, I don't think that's particularly shocking as Davydenko's first round performance and his form all suggested that he wasn't going to make it far. Djokovic beat Taylor Dent and will now face Albert Montanes but more worryingly is Lleyton Hewitt's continued good form. Andy Roddick also made it through albeit in 4 sets.

The only slight shock in the women's draw was Shahar Peer's loss, though in the grand scheme of things I doubt many people noticed it. Kim Clijsters continued to look good. She will face Maria Kirilenko, a great player, but her record here is simply abysmal - her best performance is getting to the 2nd Round. Justine Henin will play against Nadia Petrova, which will be a tough match. Nadia has made the quarter-finals in both the Australian Open and Roland Garros this year, she also made the quarter-finals in 2008 and 2005 here at Wimbledon so she's no pushover - beware Justine. I hope I get to see a Clijsters/Henin match again as every time they've played since their comeback it has been fantastic - albeit Kim has won every time.

Jankovic continued to look sloppy in my opinion and I wouldn't be shocked if she gets knocked out in the next two rounds but knowing Jankovic she could potential crawl through. Whilst Bartoli really has very little to worry about now as the last seed in her part of the draw has been eliminated. Not saying that the players in her section aren't good but I think Bartoli will beat them - sadly. This means it's most likely we'll see a Wimbledon 2007 rematch between Venus and Marion, but I don't think this match will be any good, it will most likely be a one sided affair with Venus winning.

Won't be able to see the end of the Mahut/Isner match tomorrow as I'll be at Bath the whole day :(

Wimbledon 2010; Day 2

A few more shocks here and there but overall nothing too crazy has happened yet. On the men's side Fernando Verdasco lost in 4 sets to Fabio Fognini. I like Fognini but I was rather shocked that he beat Verdasco who has really lost his touch as of late - first 1st round defeat since 2005 Roland Garros! This leaves Tsonga the leading man of that section with Nicolas Almagro also losing, though I kind of see Tsonga struggling so we may get a shock quarter-final here. Jamie Baker, another British player, lost to Andreas Beck in straight sets - seems like we only have Murray to root for. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 14th seed, lost to Xavier Malisse in 5 sets, with this loss Andy Murray has basically nobody in his quarters that should threaten him, Sam Querrey and Tsonga are the only two players who I can realistically see taking Murray more time to dispatch but basically if Murray doesn't get to the semifinals here I think I'll lose hope in him - even one of the commentators said he had by far the easiest draw out of the Top 4.

Robin Soderling continued his Roland Garros form by thrashing Robby Ginepri (but you must remember Ginepri has lost in the 1st Round of Wimbledon since 2005!) Another middling seed, Marcos Baghdatis, also lost, slightly shocking considering Baghdatis normally does quite well here. Besides those listed there isn't anything too shocking today on the men's side,

On the women's side Maria Sharapova nearly made a double bagel out of Anastasia Pivovarova - is she back? That would make for an interesting 4th Round match up against Serena Williams. Serena actually has quite a tough draw in my opinion with potentially very good players, I personally think all her opponents in the early round could potentially cause some difficulties - Michelle Larcher De Brito, Anna Chakvetadze, Dominika Cibulkova.

What was extremely disappointing was the loss of Anne Keothavong, I only saw the first half of the match as BBC chose to air the Williams/De Brito match instead. I was actually quite shocked that Keothavong lost because she was playing well and it looked like Rodionova was imploding. That means we have no women in Wimbledon anymore.

Caroline Wozniacki in the next quarter looked good in her two set match against Tathiana Garbin but so did quite a few winners today, I still think Victoria Azarenka has better chances of making the quarter-final in this section. Heather Watson also lost to Romina Sarina Oprandi in 3 sets. Finally the shock of the day was Samantha Stosur's loss to Kaia Kanepi. Though Kaia Kanepi is possibly the toughest first round match for any of the seeds I still expected Stosur to make it in 3 sets, now both finalists from Roland Garros are out! That just shows how much of a fluke it was.

What really annoyed me was Petra Martic handing a Walkover to Marion Bartoli. Whilst I understand the reasons etc. I still find it annoying that players can just be handed a walkover to the next round without winning a match, they should let Elena Baltacha through!

Wimbledon 2010: Day 1

It has been a while since I posted about tennis matches mainly because I've been really busy with school work these days but I try my best to blog my opinions on Grand Slams at least. Sadly I wasn't able to watch any of the matches yesterday because I had a 2h30m exam which left my hand feeling detached from my arm but I did get to read all the juicy info and was quite shocked!

I can't believe Alejandro Falla came so close to beating Federer in the 1st Round, now that would have been the shock of the century! Despite Federer's slightly weaker form I did think he was going to win this Wimbledon because nobody else looked particularly good but after that performance I may have to think twice. His next two rounds should pose no threat, if they do then people should really be concerned.

In fact I think the only challenge Federer should have is if he books a quarter-final meeting against Tomas Berdych. Jurgen Melzer is doing well and is scheduled for a match with Federer in the 4th Round but I don't think Melzer has the means to beat Federer on grass. Or he could go against Feliciano Lopez who knocked out Nadal at the Aegon Championships and has always favoured grass but I'm not sure Lopez is capable of beating Federer.

The group contesting for a quarter-final place against Federer isn't looking particularly strong. I'd say the group is led by Tomas Berdych as Nikolay Davydenko's up and down 5 set performance against Kevin Anderson was not something you'd see from a potential winner. Besides Berdych I don't see anyone else plausibly threatening Federer in that group. Sad to see Tursunov lose in an easy three sets though.

I applaud Djokovic for fighting through those 5 sets, he has a losing record against Olivier Rochus so it was a tougher match than the ranking would suggest. But still 5 sets is 5 sets, people like Roddick and Hewitt will not be any easier and if Djokovic struggled against Rochus I'd hate to see what Hewitt and Roddick can do to him. Djokovic should be able to get through his next two rounds but Taylor Dent does have experience of getting to the 4th Round here.

Marin Cilic was a shocking 1st Round exit for me, is he injured? It wasn't even too tough a match. Marin hasn't lost in the 1st Round of a Grand Slam since his debut year in 2007 so I'm utterly shocked to be perfectly honest. Sad to see Bernard Tomic lose, he's one of my favourite youngsters but he was against Mardy Fish so he did a good job nonetheless. Andy Roddick looked in great form as well, he shouldn't be threatened by anyone until the Quarter-finals I'd say.

Seeds that fell include the Spaniard Tommy Robredo (Federer's third round opponent on seed), Stanislas Wawrinka and Ivan Ljubicic.

On the women's side the bottom half of the draw began the proceedings. Kim Clijsters had a comfortable win and so did Justine Henin, a very possible 4th Round match up between the two unless Nadia Petrova or Maria Kirilenko have anything to say about that. Yanina Wickmayer on the other hand took 3 sets to beat Alison Riske an American youngster so I wouldn't put her chances high. She will be up against fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in the 2nd round. Jelena Jankovic will be pleased to hear that yet again her toughest opponent, rank wise, is failing at the other end - meaning she has a much easier route to the Quarter-final, like in most Grand Slams she has played in. Jankovic was drawn against Bondarenko and Wickmayer in Roland Garros also. (and in fact against Bondarenko in the Australian Open!) However I doubt Bondarenko will be a threat after her 3 setter against Katie O'Brien. This could be the year for Jankovic to break the 4th Round - in a year where she doesn't deserve it. Interesting to see Eleni Daniilidou back though, even though she lost in the 1st Round.

The biggest shock, seed wise, was the loss of Francesca Schiavone in the 1st Round, this just goes to show how shocking her win at Roland Garros was and to be perfectly honest I don't think that many people will remember her win in 5 years time. She obviously feels that she could relax now and just play casually after winning a Grand Slam, despite her denying it. However the loss of Francesca Schiavone has left the door wide open for Marion Bartoli, if you follow my blog you know I don't like her. I don't see any potential threats besides Yaroslava Shvedova against Marion Bartoli making the quarter-final.

Sorry but why does Ana Ivanovic's 1st Round loss amuse me. It amuses me how this one time champion is now struggling to even get to the 2nd Round. Case of bloomed too young. No particular shocks in this part of the draw with Venus leading the way in a decent line up which includes a dangerous 2nd Round match up against Ekaterina Makarova who won in Eastbourne - Venus better watch out!

Shocking, upon checking the rankings to see how much Francesca Schiavone will fall after this week, which isn't much, I found that Jelena Jankovic was No.3 in the world! She shouldn't be there.

Finally I just want to lament on the falling of the British players. Elena Baltacha, our greatest hope of making the 3rd Round in the women's draw blew it by losing to Petra Martic. Melanie South was thumped out by Regina Kulikova and Katie O'Brien fought but to no avail against Alona Bondarenko. Of course Laura Robson lost in a valiant two sets against Jelena Jankovic. We keep on talking about hope in the women's game but I really hope this "hope" comes soon as Heather Watson is getting older and older and Laura Robson still has a few years to go. Now we only have Anne Keothavong, who will play against Anastasia Rodionova, and Heather Watson, who will play against Romina Sarina Oprandi. Both beatable I'd say.

Wimbledon 2010, a rant

I am done hearing big sports channels like ESPN and Yahoo saying that Federer has a tough draw. HOW? Compare his draw with Djokovic's. Federer has some interesting players in his section like Lopez, Melzer and Tipsarevic but they are by no means considered a tough draw compared to real Semifinalist threats. Of course Federer can meet up against Tomas Berdych in the 4th, who's in great form but all news portals have been focusing on Federer being in the same half as Hewitt, Roddick and Djokovic - correct me if I'm wrong but those 3 will play against each other before they even meet Federer so how does he have a tough draw? It is Djokovic who has the tough draw here, he could potentially play two players who could beat Federer!

Nobody has an easy draw but saying that Federer has a particularly tough draw is just nonsense. In fact I don't think Nadal has that difficult a draw either. Playing a potential winner in the semifinal does not mean you have a tough draw - if you only play a potential winner in the semifinal it actually means you have an easy draw! Rant over.