Wimbledon Day 1

First topic message reminder :

I mean, where the Hell's the Day 1 thread!!????


Djokovic drops serve early on.

Fed in nuclear shots mood. Ramos for a clay guy, hitting some superb shots.

Nore Staat wrote:Federer really needs to nail his serve every time. Has Federer lost something with his serve - compared to say his 2003-2009 all conquering Wimbledon period?

Don't know, but according to slamtracker one of the things that is not going as well for Fed in this match as it might is his 1st serve winning percentage. He's got time to improve, but I agree that any big win usually requires his serve to be nailed on.

Jahu wrote:Fed 6:1 in 1,320 seconds.

And half of them on the changeover

barrystar wrote:

Nore Staat wrote:Federer really needs to nail his serve every time. Has Federer lost something with his serve - compared to say his 2003-2009 all conquering Wimbledon period?

Don't know, but according to slamtracker one of the things that is not going as well for Fed in this match as it might is his 1st serve winning percentage. He's got time to improve, but I agree that any big win usually requires his serve to be nailed on.

True, he's higher on 2nd serve winning!

Actually he's almost as successful on the other guys 1st serve as he is on his own!!!

Good 1st serve % though.

I couldnt care less that the "golden boy" is meeting Tsonga Socal Im not the one constantly bleating about the draw... if your Joker the wonder is as good as you keep telling us he is it shouldn´t matter who he meets on the way to the final.. according to you he is going to win it anyway so bring em on should be your motto. My philosphy on it is if my "golden boy" is going to win Wimbledon he has to beat who is put in front of him.. bring em on.... sorry socal you are beginning to sound like a worn out record...

Fed 6:1, 6:1

Brit No 2 is on the court Oliver Golding.

Josh Goodall has already been knocked out. He played well for three sets but then he ran out of gas.

Socal as usual trying to derail the thread while Fed plays. Ignore him.

I suppose there is a small chance of an upset in the Gulbis v Berdych match.

Oliver Golding has started off really well leading 5-1 against Andreev in the first set. However, we would expect good starts followed by a fade and a hammering in the last set.

Danny_1982 wrote:... if Roger executes his game well then he can beat Novak...

It's not on Roger's racquet anymore, it would need a below par performance from Novak too:

Fed's last 5 matches against Djokovic
Wins: 1
Sets won: 6 out of 16 (37.5%)

And if we go back further to include IW11, Dubai 11 and AO11, the stats look even worse.

Wild Card Oliver Golding (18 year old Brit and ranked 491) has taken the first set against Igor Andreev (28 years old, ranked 93 and who has been as high as 18) by 6-1. I can't believe he will be able to keep this up.

HM Murdoch wrote:

Danny_1982 wrote:... if Roger executes his game well then he can beat Novak...

It's not on Roger's racquet anymore, it would need a below par performance from Novak too:

Agreed. We've seen the best of Fed and he's still come up short. Logically, there is no reason to think that this is reversed. I actually think Roger lacks concentration for these big games as though he's half bored himself

And this current match is no test

Golding looks a player. Good first serve, generates good power, moves fairly well, good looking DH backhand...

First time I've seen him play, but I'm really impressed.

Come on the Golding. What a FH that kid has!

I think Djokovic looks in good form. Off the back of French open final, he looked very solid today and he was hardly playing against an average joe. Juan Carlos Ferrero is no pushover regardless of his age and i thought Djokovic looked pretty impressive.

long couple of weeks ahead but i am sure he will be delighted to come through in about 90 minutes against a tricky opening opponent. All about conserving energy in the early rounds of a slam and getting comfortable on the transition to grass, i think he achieved both today.

I hope Golding does not get distracted by the MTO of Andreev. I watched the Goodall match earlier and that was painful viewing. Lloyd on commentary wasn't pulling any punches either.

Andreev has been very poor indeed but Golding doing well and remaining unflustered. Looks like he has a very solid game, decent serve and has hit some decent returns as well. A big chance for a win here.

Gulbis takes the first set against Berdych on a tie-breaker.

Yes haddie I guess that some people are given more and others have to work harder and overcome more obstacles to win. I am powerless to change it but I will not stop commenting on the fact that my favorite player gets the harder semi draw pretty much every time.

Slasher Novak did look really good, I liked how he was moving for the most part on the grass because I do think that would take a little time to adjust. Novak is much more comfortable in the forecourt and in handling the low balls this year when compared to the past. Plus his serves has looked pretty stable and with the exception of a couple of matches here and there his serve has looked really strong all year.

No breakpoints in the second set between Andreev and Golding. If Golding holds his nerve he hopefully will take it to a tie-breaker.

I am hoping he can break at 5-5 NS

I would still fancy Golding in the TB.

Gulbis has just broken Berdych to go 2-1 up in the second set.

Always a pleasure for me (as a Federer fan) to see Fed play at Wimbledon.

As others have said, you can't read too much into a very good performances in the early rounds although let's not get too carried away with Djoko hype here: last year Djokovic was crushing opponents in the early rounds, this year he's not. When I say crush, you were seeing the sort of score lines which Nadal gave to Fed in RG in 2008. That's underlines how dominant Djokovic is.

From a Fed perspective, Fed had the dominant display, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 is a scoreline you haven't seen from Fed in an opening round match at Wimbledon in a very long time. I said before I would be paying attention to the manner which Fed plays in the early rounds and so far, so good. He held onto his serve well, not much to be unhappy with. I look forward to seeing how Fed plays in the next match.

Berdych breaks back 2-2 second set Gulbis leads one set to love.

Lucius I am not picking Djoko to win his half because he beat ferrerro there is no hype surrounding his first round win. I am picking him because like last year the FO was a pressure cooker of expectation and he had to play an in form Nadal and come up short in the final. That relieves some of the pressure of streaks and talks of laver. Last year when he lost in the FO he came back much looser for wimby. I think a similar thing will happen, his game has improved in areas over the last couple years that will translate well on the grass.

Socal - why is Federer the harder semi final draw? Over the course of history Federer is probably the greatest ever of course... But over the last 18 months Federer and Murray have almost identical records in terms of 0 slams, 1 slam final, 5 semis, 1 quarter...

Also, virtually every time Murray and Djokovic play it goes to the wire (apart from 1 recent easy victory each). I'm not sure I agree that one is much easier than the other.

Golding and Andreev going to a TB. C'mon on Ollie!

Danny, I would still prefer to be in Murray's half for a couple of reasons.

1. Murray on the grass does not have as overwhelming of a serve as fed

2. Roger has a more naturally suited grass court game

3. Murray is more susceptible or has been of going out early and leaving you a dark horse to play in the semi. Generally speaking, taking even Fed's recent grandslam collapses into the equation and his age I would still say that Murray has been more susceptible to the early exit. Happened again just a couple of weeks ago at the FO.

Andreev takes the tie-break 7-4 to level at one set all.

socal1976 wrote:
3. Murray is more susceptible or has been of going out early and leaving you a dark horse to play in the semi. Generally speaking, taking even Fed's recent grandslam collapses into the equation and his age I would still say that Murray has been more susceptible to the early exit. Happened again just a couple of weeks ago at the FO.

Well it was clay and this is grass and so on that key point your third point doesn't hold up. Roger has been knocked out in the quarters in the last two Wimbledons whilst Murray has reached the semis both times. Can't disagree with your first two points though.

We shall see how much grit and energy Oliver Golding has - now that Andreev has found his range and form.

Nore Staat wrote:We shall see how much grit and energy Oliver Golding has - now that Andreev has found his range and form.

I think fitness could tell in the end as Golding is already breathing heavily. He really needs to take these next two sets as I couldn't see him lasting five sets.

socal1976 wrote:Lucius I am not picking Djoko to win his half because he beat ferrerro there is no hype surrounding his first round win. I am picking him because like last year the FO was a pressure cooker of expectation and he had to play an in form Nadal and come up short in the final. That relieves some of the pressure of streaks and talks of laver. Last year when he lost in the FO he came back much looser for wimby. I think a similar thing will happen, his game has improved in areas over the last couple years that will translate well on the grass.

I wasn't thinking of you when I said 'Djoko hype' socal! I personally said I think Djokovic will win if he makes the final and probably would beat Fed along the way. However, it would be silly not to take into account the different surface and how he's playing:

a) So far, results wise not so good as last year (compared to Wimbledon '11 but it's only the R1)
b) Last year he had more disappointment in many ways, his remarkable streak was beaten and he didn't get the No.1 spot.

However, with Djokovic (compared to other top players), you judge him by how he does in the business end of slams, not in the early rounds because through much of his career, he can give an erratic set of results early on. You can easily see Fed getting to the Wimbledon final without dropping a set. Djokovic? Last year he dropped sets in the latter stages regularly. So in some ways I see your point, but I think Djokovic isn't quite at the same level last year, I think most can agree on that.

The Stats indicate that so far Ollie has been playing well throughout and perhaps slighly better than in the first set. However Andreev seems to have made a huge leap in performance compared to his first set. Ollie just needs to keep it going and see how far he can take it. Hopefully he won't tire as that could lead to a rapid loss of games and resistance.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

Nore Staat wrote:We shall see how much grit and energy Oliver Golding has - now that Andreev has found his range and form.

I think fitness could tell in the end as Golding is already breathing heavily. He really needs to take these next two sets as I couldn't see him lasting five sets.

I think that is the big difference between todays game and in the past. Nowadays nearly all top hundred players are far more professional in their fitness levels. Golding is still rather a "boy" compared to Andreev. There's also a lot of "mental concentration" that can sap the energy. Murray was far more advanced at his age - a "one off" - or one of a very few.

He's got the raw tools though Golding, you've got to say.

Best British youngster I've seen since Murray certainly. I bet Murray wishes he could serve like this, at 79% first serves in.

He looks to have top 50 potential.

Gulbis playing well in the TB.

Certainly an encouraging display however it goes considering this is his Wimbledon debut. Needs to be more frugal with his challenges though.

Gulbis up two sets to love on Berdych. Not bad at all.

PS: MTO for Berdych?

socal1976 wrote:Yes haddie I guess that some people are given more and others have to work harder and overcome more obstacles to win. I am powerless to change it but I will not stop commenting on the fact that my favorite player gets the harder semi draw pretty much every time.

Slasher Novak did look really good, I liked how he was moving for the most part on the grass because I do think that would take a little time to adjust. Novak is much more comfortable in the forecourt and in handling the low balls this year when compared to the past. Plus his serves has looked pretty stable and with the exception of a couple of matches here and there his serve has looked really strong all year.

I must be losing it quite honestly socal.. because my theory is that if you are No.1. in the world you have to win or lose to any and or all the players beneath you on tour.. so what the hell difference does it make what half of the draw you are in. He is No.1. for JC¨s sake.. whether he plays Federer or Murray before Nadal or maybe not Nadal at all (no saying that Rafa will get through to the finals).. it really is a nonsense socal. Dont tell me he is best in the world and then complain he has to meet Fed in the semis. Maybe its a good job he isnt meeting Sepi or Tsonga...they were more of a threat to him. If this subject hasn´t been done to death by you it would almost be laughable.

Berdych in deep trouble. He trails Gulbis two sets to love losing two tie-breaks.

Everyone recognises Gulbis has talent he just lacks the application. Two sets to love in favour of Gulbis over Berdych. A major upset looks on the cards. Berdych was a potential banana skin for Djokovic in the quarter-finals. Gulbis doesn't have the tournament stamina or focus to make it that far one would think - but he can certainly cause damage in the early rounds.

Craig - that's something he has in common with Murray! Ha. Is Murray still the least successful challenger in the top 20? I know he used to be.

The one thing I would say is that he could go for his shots a bit more on Andreev's serve. His own serve is so solid that he could try and blast a few more off the return.

Nore Staat wrote:Everyone recognises Gulbis has talent he just lacks the application. Two sets to love in favour of Gulbis over Berdych. A major upset looks on the cards. Berdych was a potential banana skin for Djokovic in the quarter-finals. Gulbis doesn't have the tournament stamina or focus to make it that far one would think - but he can certainly cause damage in the early rounds.

That should keep socal happy at any rate ;)

Looks like we may have another Isner V Mahut match in the Second Round. Isner into a fifth set and Mahut close to going a set up against Lorenzi.

He's still serving well, just needs to get the ball back a few times on return and he can force errors from Beastly Russian

I have Nadal losing to Tsonga in my bracket.

Isner loses the 4th set, big server but total lack of brain it seems. Just goes missing unless hes playing Davis Cup.