Grazing in the Grass - Wimbledon 2010 Day 10

by Savannah

Quotes of the Day

I am struggling with a little bit of a back and a leg issue. That just doesn't quite allow me to play the way I would like to play.
(...)
Q. Some of these big, flat hitters seem to be having an effect on you. Do you need to alter your game to adjust to that?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, if I'm healthy I can handle those guys, you know.

Q. Did it affect your level of motivation or anxiety about the match before the match or in the early stages of the match?

ROGER FEDERER: No, it wasn't that bad, like that I was just hoping to get to the finish line. I mean, once I enter the court, I am there to battle and to try to win with what I got. You know, otherwise I'm not going to walk on the court like I did once in my life prior in Bercy against Blake.

But it's nowhere close to being that bad. It's just uncomfortable. Yeah, like I said, you can't play freely. When you can't play freely, that's the kind of performance you get.

Q. A number of shots were sailing out and the crowd would groan and then they would suddenly curl in. What role do you think technology had on today's result, strings in particular?

ROGER FEDERER: I don't know what you mean. What do you mean, balls were flying out and they came back in?

Q. No. It looked like he was hitting balls that were going to land 10 feet behind the baseline and then they would curl in.

ROGER FEDERER: No, no, he didn't play like that. You saw a different match.

Q. Do you think the return was the most difficult part of your game today? Because sometimes you were returning a little slower and he was hitting a lot of winners.

ROGER FEDERER: That's his game. He took a lot of chances, you know. I tried to slice it; I tried to play aggressive. You know, first you just want to try to make the returns.

But, you know, I mean, I had my chances. I don't think I needed to change much. The way I returned, this match I could have won as well, you know.

But, uhm, I was just not playing well enough. And when he had to, he was able to come up with some good stuff, you know. But I definitely gave away this match, I feel.

Roger Federer Post Match Interview

I was going to post the explosive comments as I'd seen them in several news articles but I went to the Wimbledon Official Site to read them in context. They're not less explosive, it's just that some of the statements were turned around and out of sequence. It's only fair to the player, no matter who he or she is, to quote them in context.
The following is from Tomas Berdych's post match interview.

Q. Roger said he had some physical problems; that his back and leg were bothering him. What did you notice and what is your reaction to him saying that?

TOMAS BERDYCH: Yeah, I mean, I don't know if he just looking for some excuses after the match or something like that. I mean, it happened to all of us. You know, I think he's been every time when he played, he was I think hundred percent ready.

So maybe right now he's getting some more troubles with the health. But, you know, I think it just happen today. So I didn't know that. I just heard it first time like you said it right now. So, yeah, just to him hope that he's gonna get back soon and that's it what I can just wish him.

PROJECTED ATP Top Ten
As of Monday July 5, 2010

1 1 Nadal 720 9465

2 3 Djokovic 720 6905

3 2 Federer 360 6885

4 4 Murray 720 5155

5 6 Soderling 360 4935

6 5 Davydenko 45 4740

7 8 Del Potro 0 4350

8 7 Roddick 180 3490

9 9 Verdasco 10 3475

10 10 Tsonga 360 3455

The Other Upset

Despite Venus Williams surprise loss to Tsvetana Pironkova I consoled myself with the thought that she would still win the Women's Doubles crown. That was not to be either. Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina took Venus and her sister Serena Williams to three sets winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. You can see in the picture above that Serena's right shoulder was taped. After the match the cameras followed the sisters and their security escort and it appeared to me that Venus was limping slightly.

I don't want to take anything away from the Russian team's win. They played very well and deserved their victory.

Grazing in the Grass - Wimbledon 2010 Day 7

by Savannah

Match of the Day

Lu Yen-Hsun is a player that tennisheads, and I mean hard core tennisheads, know about. He's been around for awhile now doing well sometimes but not making a big splash. Today he scored the biggest knock out of the 2010 edition of Wimbledon by taking out the Number 5 seed, American Andy Roddick.
I wasn't really watching the match to tell the truth. It was on the HDTV on mute because another men's match was taking place at the same time and given the choice between showing Roddick's match and a match featuring a non American I don't think you need a long time to figure out what ESPN would do.
In the end it was the best decision they could've made. The only thing I wish I'd been able to hear was the commentary.
I thought that Lu, who was the first man from Taiwan to make the Round of 16 at a Major - read Grand Slam - would be out in straight sets. Instead every time I looked up Lu was hanging tough.
No way Lu could possibly win a tiebreak with the big serving Roddick I thought. Looked up and damn it he had. In fact he won two tiebreaks against Andy. When Roddick won the fourth set tiebreak if Wimbledon had not banned them the grounds of the AELTC would have reverberated with the sound of vuvuzelas.
The joy was not to last. Lu did not panic when once again the score stood at six all. There was no "Oh shit" moment on his part. Instead he stuck to what he was doing and won the fifth set 9-7.

I really don't know what to say about Roddick's play. As regular readers know I don't like discussing the men's draw or rankings at all. I've read that he played passively, as if he was waiting for Lu to make a mistake. When that didn't happen he had no Plan B, or couldn't psyche himself up to execute it.
Roddick had not played any clay matches. In fact he hadn't played much at all since the spring hard court swing in the United States. Some will argue he wouldn't have won a clay tournament anyway so why should he have bothered? All I have to say is match play is match play and that a long layoff can have surprising results.
There are no more American men left in SW 19. Both Venus Williams and Serena Williams are still alive on the women's side. There seemed to be some hope that Maria Sharapova would dispatch the world number one but Serena pulled off a straight sets victory after a shaky start.
Wimbledon is the Holy Grail of American tennis. Once again it's American women who have picked up the flag.

I usually get predictions wrong. I said that Tsvetana Pironkova could trouble Marion Bartoli. Tsevetana troubled Marion right out of the tournament. In straight sets.

Is Petra Kvitova's win over Caroline Wozniacki really an upset? If you look at the rankings it is. If you look objectively at how Caroline got that ranking it isn't.

Lindsay Davenport had better watch out. While commentating todays match between Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters she said that Henin's coach had been sending signals to her the entire match. Only certain people get called for coaching. Justine has never, to my knowledge, been even warned about it. That means that it has never happened right? As one fan put it today "Where is Cedric Mourier when you need him?"

Too Much Too Young

The first reports came from gossip site TMZ.com last night. Former tennis prodigy Jennifer Capriati had been rushed to the hospital after an apparent drug overdose. Initial reports said she had been found in a place called Riviera Beach, a location that apparently is not what it sounds like. An official spokesperson said later this afternoon that Jennifer had taken ill in her condo located on Singer Island and was rushed to the hospital from there.
Unless Jennifer chooses to tell us I doubt that we'll ever know what really happened. Some are saying it was a suicide attempt as if that makes what happened better than an overdose. Either way it's a tragedy.
I hope that Jennifer gets the help she needs and that she not only recovers physically but mentally and emotionally as well.

World Cup Fever
By now everyone is aware of the great actors that play football for various countries around the world. My favorite is the guy from Spain who tripped himself, fell the the pitch as if mortally wounded, and got a player from Chile ejected. Maybe by the time the next World Cup comes around the people who hand out Academy Awards will have a special category for Best World Cup Acting job.

Which brings me to Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic.

Jelena down 6-1 and 3-0 retired from her match against Vera Zvonareva. Her fans on Twitter were insulted by those who implied that the injury came because of her being about to lose not that she was trying to win and overexerted herself.
Djokovic was stricken with digestive issues during his match against Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt, never one to mince his words, implied that Djokovic had faked injury, saying that he looked fine to him. Djokovic said he doesn't know why Lleyton felt that way since he hasn't taken an injury time out in a long time.
I remember that crap Djokovic pulled against Gael Monfils at the US Open a few years ago. Dyed in the wool tennisheads haven't either. Apparently Lleyton Hewitt hasn't either.

Miscellany
Nicolas Mahut has been given a Wild Card into Newport next week and no, John Isner is not on the entry list.