Wimbledon

[jimlosaltos]

Frances Tiafoe through in 3 over Wu. Big Foe could do some damage here with his style of strokes and offensive game.

Holger Rune also in 3 after a slow start. Kick serves used to be anathema on dead grass, but these is not the Wimby green of old. If courts are hard as described due to the European heat, that could help Rune who likes pace and can hit kick.

Kasatkina and Swiatek each baked a bagel in straight set wins.

Milos Raonic back on Wimbledon grass! I thought he'd retired. Lost a first set tiebreak then won hammering 28 aces in 4 sets, 58 winners vs 37 UFEs. Guess the rust is gone.

[jimlosaltos]

Huh...what about Murray? Seem to recall he's won it twice...

He's there, as number 4. But I call him "Sir Andy"

Whenever I type that I imagine him as a knight in armor on a horse.

[stotty]

I was looking for an excuse to avoid chores, so thanks!

1) Medvedev 27 yo
2) Alcaraz 20 yo
3) Sir Andy 40 yo ( hip is 4 yo )
4) Thiem 29 yo
5) Wawrinka 38 yo
6) Djokovic 36 yo.

Yet the only one with a Wimbledon title is Djokovic.

Huh...what about Murray? Seem to recall he's won it twice...

[stotty]

Are you going to try another day?

Quite possibly. I have a coach's pass to go every day if I want but I have to balance that against the loss of work in peak season. Tomorrow is out of the question but Thursday or Friday might be doable.

[jimlosaltos]

Apparently there are six male grand slam champions in the Wimbledon draw this year.

I was looking for an excuse to avoid chores, so thanks!

1) Medvedev 27 yo
2) Alcaraz 20 yo
3) Sir Andy 40 yo ( hip is 4 yo )
4) Thiem 29 yo
5) Wawrinka 38 yo
6) Djokovic 36 yo.

Yet the only one with a Wimbledon title is Djokovic.

I can recall when upsets were said to be more common at Wimbledon -- fast points, erratic bounces, different style of play.
That's back when the grass was grass and a Vijay Armitraj or Vitas Gueralitis or .... even Sergiy Stakhovsky lurked.

Now, the first rounds are barely warm ups.

P.S. OK, now I really have to run errands

[stroke]

Not a good day for Stotty. I went to Wimbledon but it was a washout. So that was 2.5 hours on the train there and 2.5 hours back again. Between that I sat around for 6 hours drinking cups of tea and fancy cakes at exorbitant prices, but I had to do something to sooth my anger and disappointment. The only tennis I saw was three games of Rinderknech v Muller on court 5 and that was it!

The moment I saw Rinderknech serve I thought it's a shame he (or his coach) doesn't visit Tennisplayer. He would have a lovely serve if he only he turned his shoulders away from the net more as he tosses the ball.

Local boy Ryan (lives a mile from me) got demolished by Murray...shame.

Are you going to try another day?

[jimlosaltos]

Not a good day for Stotty. I went to Wimbledon but it was a washout. So that was 2.5 hours on the train there and 2.5 hours back again. Between that I sat around for 6 hours drinking cups of tea and fancy cakes at exorbitant prices, but I had to do something to sooth my anger and disappointment. The only tennis I saw was three games of Rinderknech v Muller on court 5 and that was it!

The moment I saw Rinderknech serve I thought it's a shame he (or his coach) doesn't visit Tennisplayer. He would have a lovely serve if he only he turned his shoulders away from the net more as he tosses the ball.

Local boy Ryan (lives a mile from me) got demolished by Murray...shame.

My jealousy turns to sympathy. Sorry you got rained out.

[stotty]

Just heard an obvious if you stop to think about it but weird stat.

Who is the youngest Wimbledon champ in the men's draw?

Answer: Novak Djokovic

Apparently there are six male grand slam champions in the Wimbledon draw this year.

[stotty]

Not a good day for Stotty. I went to Wimbledon but it was a washout. So that was 2.5 hours on the train there and 2.5 hours back again. Between that I sat around for 6 hours drinking cups of tea and fancy cakes at exorbitant prices, but I had to do something to sooth my anger and disappointment. The only tennis I saw was three games of Rinderknech v Muller on court 5 and that was it!

The moment I saw Rinderknech serve I thought it's a shame he (or his coach) doesn't visit Tennisplayer. He would have a lovely serve if he only he turned his shoulders away from the net more as he tosses the ball.

Local boy Ryan (lives a mile from me) got demolished by Murray...shame.

[stroke]

https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/wimbledon/2023/carlos-alcaraz-mats-wilander-says-world-no.-1-is-so-important-for-our-sport-after-wimbledon-first-ro_sto9685802/story.shtml

[stroke]

Looks like pretty much rain out today. Berrenttini loses 1st set in tiebreaker to Sonego. Tsitsipas a set down to Thiem when the rain came. It will be a busy schedule tomorrow.

[jimlosaltos]

Just heard an obvious if you stop to think about it but weird stat.

Who is the youngest Wimbledon champ in the men's draw?

Answer: Novak Djokovic

[stotty]

Stan Wawrinka's Career Slam is now 6 wins away.

Seriously, if Stan upsets Djokovic in a few rounds, that unlikely event would be massive.

Actually this was going through my mind. Stan has had a couple of very significant wins over Novak is slam finals, beating him at the FO and US Open...impressive. However, I am not sure how well Stan is playing right now given the injuries he's had to get over. And on another note, Stan's record at Wimbledon is poor, with just a couple of quarter-final achievements back in 2014 and 2015. Other than this he's tended to exit the tournament very early relative to his status as a player. Still, a match against Stan might just nudge Novak's amygdala into at least a mild panic.

[stroke]

Journo Jos? Morgado has a great line.
Stan Wawrinka's Career Slam is now 6 wins away.

Seriously, if Stan upsets Djokovic in a few rounds, that unlikely event would be massive.

Stan got a very nice win over Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the 2nd round at Wimbledon.

(A tennis.com luminary has Emil as his dark )

Stan, like Gasquet, if he was only starting his career now without the big 3, I suspect his career achievements would look a lot different

[jimlosaltos]

Journo Jos? Morgado has a great line.
Stan Wawrinka's Career Slam is now 6 wins away.

Seriously, if Stan upsets Djokovic in a few rounds, that unlikely event would be massive.

Stan got a very nice win over Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the 2nd round at Wimbledon.

(A tennis.com luminary has Emil as his dark )