The Unofficial Pimms, Strawberries and New Balls Thread

[Ninja Elephant]

What is with the criticism of Serena Williams? Very unfair and needlessly cruel.

 

[Hillian1]

So are you saying she will never do this well again, I would bet she will make the final in the next three years

Fair point, I actually have almost zero knowledge about tennis but I would have thought this would have been a great opportunity.

 

[El Sid]

That French bird Bartoli is a little bit of a porker, and a serve like a robot.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Far from being graceless, Serena Williams actually seemed very graceful after her defeat yesterday. She made sure she waited for her opponent before leaving court, which very few players have done after they have lost this tournament and she spoke very well of Lisicki in her press conference. She didn't play particularly badly, but didn't quite close out the match as she might have done in the past. I think people generally under-estimated Lisicki. She beat Sharapova at Wimbledon last year and beat former US Open winner Sam Stosur in the previous round and always plays her best tennis on grass. Her seeding of 23 was false because she always produces her best tennis on grass where her powerful ground strokes are an advantage. Whoever beats Lisicki wins the tournament, for me.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

David Ferrer is atrocious. I hate his "style". Really poor player, but from monday he will be world number 3. By default. Federer dropping to #5. Ridiculous.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Also, why do the BBC insist on swapping the matches every few minutes? One is on BBC1, the other is on BBC2. Simple as that. Everyone knows where they stand - stop chopping back and forth! Ridiculous programming.

 

[joeinbrighton]

It's down to ranking points. Federer had a lot of ranking points to defend which he lost by virtue of him losing in the 2nd round. Whereas, win or lose, Ferrer has reached the same stage in the tournament he got to last year. Indeed, even though Nadal went out a round before Federer, it won't have had that bad an effect on his ranking points because he went out in the 2nd round last year. They perhaps need to do the rankings on a 2 year cycle, rather than penalising players that don't 'defend their points'. That, and place more weighting on the Slams and the Masters series tournaments where the points are concerned because where Ferrer has been able to get above Federer in the first place is because he's playing more tournaments, whereas Federer at his age and with a family, has decided to cut down his schedule.

 

[Gazwag]

David Ferrer is atrocious. I hate his "style". Really poor player, but from monday he will be world number 3. By default. Federer dropping to #5. Ridiculous.

He is very fit, but if Del Porto can survive long enough it will be excellent, love the way he is so laid back but then smashes the ball so hard. I'm glad Murray will miss Ferrer if he makes the semi as I can see him losing to him. Wife and daughter are lucky enough to be on centre today.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

David Ferrer is atrocious. I hate his "style". Really poor player, but from monday he will be world number 3. By default. Federer dropping to #5. Ridiculous.

Ferrer is to tennis, what Gary Neville was to football. Not particularly blessed with skills or elegance, but massively hard working and committed to making the very best of what they have. There's plenty to admire in that, to be honest, whilst accepting he's never going to be the purists favourite.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

It's down to ranking points. Federer had a lot of ranking points to defend which he lost by virtue of him losing in the 2nd round. Whereas, win or lose, Ferrer has reached the same stage in the tournament he got to last year. Indeed, even though Nadal went out a round before Federer, it won't have had that bad an effect on his ranking points because he went out in the 2nd round last year. They perhaps need to do the rankings on a 2 year cycle, rather than penalising players that don't 'defend their points'. That, and place more weighting on the Slams and the Masters series tournaments where the points are concerned because where Ferrer has been able to get above Federer in the first place is because he's playing more tournaments, whereas Federer at his age and with a family, has decided to cut down his schedule.

Thanks for that. I assumed it was random numbers being assigned for a laugh.

The event ranking points are weighted correctly on my opinion. I have nothing against Ferrer for his work rate, but as you say, simply playing more events has inflated his ranking. His performance in the French Open Final was cowardly. But he does deserve respect for playing so many tournaments. The ranking system is a tough thing to discuss.

He is very fit, but if Del Porto can survive long enough it will be excellent, love the way he is so laid back but then smashes the ball so hard. I'm glad Murray will miss Ferrer if he makes the semi as I can see him losing to him. Wife and daughter are lucky enough to be on centre today.

Murray lose to Ferrer? He'd have thrown in the towel during the warm up, if not before. He has beaten only one top 10 player this year. He is fantastic against the level below the top 10, his relentless blocking back is enough. Against the better players it isn't.

 

[joeinbrighton]

He is very fit, but if Del Porto can survive long enough it will be excellent, love the way he is so laid back but then smashes the ball so hard. I'm glad Murray will miss Ferrer if he makes the semi as I can see him losing to him. Wife and daughter are lucky enough to be on centre today.

How did you see Ferrer beating Murray exactly? Murray beat Ferrer at Wimbledon last year and has beaten him twice since, if I recall correctly and Murray is a much more accomplished player on grass than Ferrer.

Del Potro is playing a blinder considering his injury at the start of the match, having already injured his knee in a fall in an earlier round. Getting the bronze at the Olympics last year where he beat Djokovic to win his medal has given him the belief he can win on this surface. He has really adapted to the situation today, albeit Ferrer has given him far too many freebies today.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Murray lose to Ferrer? He'd have thrown in the towel during the warm up, if not before. .

Strange choice of phrase. Surely Ferrer is just about the last tennis player in the world to be 'throwing in the towel'?? The guy never knows when he's beaten.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Strange choice of phrase. Surely Ferrer is just about the last tennis player in the world to be 'throwing in the towel'?? The guy never knows when he's beaten.

On the contrary, he knows before it has even started. He is losing to Del Potro on one leg, his performance against Nadal in the French Open final was cowardly at best and his record this year of one win against a top 10 player speaks volumes. He knows his standard block and run tactics simply won't work against a top player who won't make a large number of unforced errors.

Ferrer is fantastic at blocking and running. No arguments here, easily the best in the world at it. Because the others actually play shots and do a LOT more. Ferrer is dire.

 

[Gazwag]

Murray lose to Ferrer? He'd have thrown in the towel during the warm up, if not before. He has beaten only one top 10 player this year. He is fantastic against the level below the top 10, his relentless blocking back is enough. Against the better players it isn't.

How did you see Ferrer beating Murray exactly? Murray beat Ferrer at Wimbledon last year and has beaten him twice since, if I recall correctly and Murray is a much more accomplished player on grass than Ferrer.

With the weight of expectation on his shoulders in a year with the shock defeats that have handed Murray with an "easy" ride to the final. I agree he is much stronger and "should" win, but with tennis you never know

 

[Ninja Elephant]

With the weight of expectation on his shoulders in a year with the shock defeats that have handed Murray with an "easy" ride to the final. I agree he is much stronger and "should" win, but with tennis you never know

In this case, you do.

Del Potro has won a slam, Ferrer is just lucky he has had so many injuries otherwise a player of his limited talent would never have been fortunate enough to smuggle his way into the top 5.

 

[joeinbrighton]

With the weight of expectation on his shoulders in a year with the shock defeats that have handed Murray with an "easy" ride to the final. I agree he is much stronger and "should" win, but with tennis you never know

If Andy Murray can thrash arguably the best men's tennis player of all time to win an Olympic gold medal in front of a British crowd 3 weeks after the same player beat him in the final at Wimbledon, then I'm pretty certain he'd have handled the pressure of beating a guy he beat in the quarter-finals a year ago. As for an easy ride to the final, today he plays a man who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open 4 years ago and narrowly lost to Nadal in a match that lasted nearly 5 hours and who has won an ATP tournament on grass. Win that and he could play a semi-final against Janowicz, who has an incredibly powerful serve.

 

[Gazwag]

If Andy Murray can thrash arguably the best men's tennis player of all time to win an Olympic gold medal in front of a British crowd 3 weeks after the same player beat him in the final at Wimbledon, then I'm pretty certain he'd have handled the pressure of beating a guy he beat in the quarter-finals a year ago. As for an easy ride to the final, today he plays a man who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open 4 years ago and narrowly lost to Nadal in a match that lasted nearly 5 hours and who has won an ATP tournament on grass. Win that and he could play a semi-final against Janowicz, who has an incredibly powerful serve.

9 days ago Murray would have bitten your hand off for the next two opponents rather than Tsonga today and Federer/Nadal on Friday

 

[Ninja Elephant]

If Andy Murray can thrash arguably the best men's tennis player of all time to win an Olympic gold medal in front of a British crowd 3 weeks after the same player beat him in the final at Wimbledon, then I'm pretty certain he'd have handled the pressure of beating a guy he beat in the quarter-finals a year ago. As for an easy ride to the final, today he plays a man who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open 4 years ago and narrowly lost to Nadal in a match that lasted nearly 5 hours and who has won an ATP tournament on grass. Win that and he could play a semi-final against Janowicz, who has an incredibly powerful serve.

I don't rate Janowicz, his game is error prone and he is constantly offering up a free point or two. I'd love to see Kubot win that quater - just for the laughs.

 

[yxee]

Have the draws for semis been decided yet? All I can find on BBC is a list of the 4 quarters.

edit: here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/22713813

 

[joeinbrighton]

I don't rate Janowicz, his game is error prone and he is constantly offering up a free point or two. I'd love to see Kubot win that quater - just for the laughs.

He's erratic with his serve. However, when it is working for him it is mightily effective for him on grass, as it was against Almagro in the 3rd round. He was less fluent against Melzer though. Kubot is more a conventional grass court player, so their quarter-final is a good match-up because of their contrasting styles.