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Fritz has GMP 1st round tomorrow. -
Carlos starts firm favourite and no doubt Sinner is hot on his heels as second favourite, but I wouldn’t count Novak out. He’s been rope-a-doping the lower tournaments all season but then suddenly turns up when a slam appears. If one of the other two slips up at SW19, Novak will be in. He’s still playing well enough and grass is far easier on the body than clay or hard.
I haven’t studied the draw for potential clashes and upsets. I’m leaving that to Jim...
StottyComment
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Novak's draw doesn't look bad minus Sinner at the top. The worst I see other than Sinner is Mensik which would be in a later round. If Novak could get to the semis and face Sinner that would be awesome. I'm pulling for him. This could be it for Novak.Originally posted by stotty View PostCarlos starts firm favourite and no doubt Sinner is hot on his heels as second favourite, but I wouldn’t count Novak out. He’s been rope-a-doping the lower tournaments all season but then suddenly turns up when a slam appears. If one of the other two slips up at SW19, Novak will be in. He’s still playing well enough and grass is far easier on the body than clay or hard.
I haven’t studied the draw for potential clashes and upsets. I’m leaving that to Jim...Comment
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Great insights from Hugh as usual. He seems to know every facet of every player’s game and must spend his life watching pretty much every match on the tour. I'm at Wimbledon on Wednesday and expecting the courts to be quicker than usual. It’s so dry and hot over here right now and conditions should heavily favour good serving and aggressive net play…if anyone is willing to venture forward, that is.
It will be an interesting tournament. It will be almost certainly Novak’s last chance to hover up one more slam. The other two main contenders are better than Novak these days, but if one should slip up…that’s where it might get interesting.
I am watching Fognini right now — strolling around like a confident Italian diva as usual. At 38, his chances must be slim against against Carlos but he’s always nice to watch
StottyComment
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Yes Hugh stands alone with his write-ups on these tournaments.Originally posted by stotty View PostComment
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Today's start includes Alcaraz barely surviving Fognini as the aging Italian took him to 5 sets. Medy wasn't as lucky, falling to Bonzi. Stef Tsitsipas retired with a back injury. Fonseca looks like a grass veteran in straights. Holger Rune-AH out in the first round from up two sets, to Nicolas Jarry 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 (continuing conditioning problems for the Dane?). Leyla Fernandez through in straights.Comment
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Per ATP's Tennis Insights at this link, Here are perhaps some insights on who's hot and not and why going into Wimby. There are the Tennis Insight numbers -- from a very limited data set -- for recent play on grass. The left image has serve quality on the horizontal axis, and returns on the vertical.
You see Sinner way at the top having the best combo. BUT you also see how Jannik's serve lags the tremendous standard he had set for the last year plus. Now, Sinner lags Zverev, Bublik, Fritz, Shelton for service. Again, has he returned to the mean? Lost his edge after his enforced absence? The right graphic is forehands vs backhands. Here, Alcaraz and Zverev have the best combo based on Carlos having the best forehand, while Zverev's backhand has him atop a cluster with Sinner and Bublik (and when and where did Bublik find his new forehand? He's one of several players that switched to a super light Babolat Aero 98}. Whether Alcaraz can three-peat might be limited by his mediocre (by top contender standards) service. Then again, Alcaraz just won Queen's where he was serving great. Hit three fingers on your desk edge before betting.
Will Djokovic and Musetti not playing any competitive matches no grass have an impact. More likely not for Nole, given that he has experience "playing himself into tournament shape".
Other notes: Ben Shelton's forehand is great while his backhand bounces off the graph floor, and his serve is stellar while his return less than tour average. Perhaps daddy Brian should sit Ben in front of some video of Rafa and Fed blocking returns back deep?
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This gallery has 1 photos.Last edited by jimlosaltos; 06-30-2025, 12:15 PM.Comment
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Wimbledon is under way with record high temperatures for opening day hitting 32.3C, or 90+ deg F, by 16:00 BST on Monday. Certainly nothing like the triple digits seen at the Australian Open or Indian Wells, and below the all-time Wimbledon records of 96 F. Heat stoppage rules are in effect with the event using "wet bulb" measurements to account for humidity. Searching, I see that humidity hit 87% at sunrise and 50% at 10 am. That's bad. Temperatures are supposed to moderate a bit through the week.
Caption: Getty photo of Saby with ice bag. From the heat or did one of Coco's fans punch her? Kidding!
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Hard to believe this, but from down two sets, and then 1-5 in the fourth set tiebreak, Taylor Fritz has clawed his way back vs Gio for a fifth set.
If time permits ... tonight.
UPDATE: Nope. Suspended until tomorrow at two sets all after Fritz came back from 1-5 in the fourth set tiebreak vs one of the biggest servers in tennis in Gio to take that tie 8-6. And now they have to sit over night.
If you placed a prop bet on Taylor at this point --- you're buying TPN a round !
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I watched the first couple of sets of Carlos vs. Fognini. It wasn’t the best I’ve seen from either player, but Fognini managed the match cleverly—pacing himself and playing with economy at times, which is impressive given the challenge of facing Carlos — most players have to work their balls off just to keep up with the acrobatic Spaniard. It was stiflingly hot, so at 38, Fognini needed to conserve himself for the right moments. I enjoy watching Fognini play. He’s so talentedStottyComment
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Roger Federer..."Forehand Not Gone"
"Some sunny day, baby. When everything seems ok, baby. You'll wake up and find you're alone."
It's true. All things will pass. No Roger Federer at Wimbledon anymore. Our first Wimbledon without John Yandell in the house. They found the "Ugly American" dead in his favorite chair May 13th. He'd been gone for a number of days. He got his nickname on our odyssey from Amsterdam to Paris back in 2015. We marched to Paris for the French Open. We were hoping to see Federer but had to settle for Djokovic. God bless their souls and may they rest in peace. Not to mention Puntzie. I lost him on May 5th. Cinco de Mayo has a new meaning for me. The dead rest in peace...hopefully. The living go marching on...into the night.
Fabio Fognini. What a name. What a personna. I left tennis in a state of fury back in the eighties. Feeling betrayed and left stranded. Like losing your best girl to some dirtbag. The sound of her voice haunting you forever. The bittersweet memory of a love so dear and so worthless in the end. All things must pass. As fate would have it, tennis came back to me. Let the game come to you, I once wrote. bottle loved that line. Before he went full TDS...Trump Derangement Syndrome. The game came back to me with an offer to put bread on the table. I'd been in Sweden for a few years without working. We'd burned through my savings. Time to go back to work.
A love/hate relationship. That's what tennis has been to me. I started to play in 1968 and coincidentally tennis went open. The open era. It was love at first sight. It was my passion as a boy and young man. For reasons of my own. We all find love for different reasons. Often it is a compensatory motion in life. Often one compensatory move leads to another. I should say always...it always leads to another. Filling a void. I came back to the game after a long hiatus. Somehow, as fate would have it, I secured a job teaching tennis here in Sweden. What a Godsend. I've always said that if you take your tennis racquet anywhere in the world you are going to meet nice people. It's true. Golf clubs are the same ticket. Just a bit more difficult to lug around.
Fognini was the first tennis player I had seen in person for years when I saw him down in B?stad back in 2009 or so. The same year Robin S?derling lost in the finals after double faulting on match point. I wrote his father a letter about seeking more potential from Robin's serve. He crashed a couple of years later with mononucleosis. Fognini was really a sight. I remember watching him sitting behind the court. The same strolling and strutting around the court. He hasn't changed all that much. I will never forget watching him make the tennis ball "talk". The arc of the topspin was new to me. I'd been away from the game so long. My partner at the club and I had received a pass from the club to go and watch the tournament in appreciation for the work we did. Good times. Fantastic times. Me...the American living in Sweden. The dream.
Fabio, at thirty-eight now, putting on a final show on center court at Wimbledon. A perfect place for this Italian peacock. He didn't waste his opportunity in the sun. Some sunny day, baby. He lost in five to the number two seed. Carlos Alcarez. Very little net play from either. When Fabio went to the net, it was with a flair. He could have been an all court player. Not a half bad serve motion either. The Fabulous One. That was a nickname I gave him when I used to write on the forum. I used to be relevant. All things must pass.
As for the rest of the nonsense. This reminds me of why I hated tennis. Yada...yada...yada. Foreplay. That was what I used to refer to the early rounds of majors. The lines on the court haven't changed. That's about the only thing that hasn't. No linesmen calling the in or out. White clothes still, but the progressives are crying foul. They want color. They want a revolution. Well...they are going to get it. They got it in tennis. Look what a dark road it went down. Where have you gone...Roger Federer? Apparently down the same path as Jolting Joe DiMaggio. Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio...our nation turns it lonely eyes to you.
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I have never seen such a display of shock and awe tennis that GMP was putting out there. In the 1st 2 sets, his "Serve Quality" numbers were 9.8 and 9.7. His forehand was just huge. Huge props to Taylor just staying calm and competitive. He showed no frustration and fought his way back to 2 sets all. Taylor's self belief and tennis IQ are top shelf.Originally posted by jimlosaltos View PostComment
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