WIMBLEDON 2018

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Draw being done now. Fed has Lajovic in first round, Murray plays Benoit Paire. Cilic in Fed's half and Djoko in Rafa's half. Delpo is in Rafa's quarter, while Kyle Edmund plays Aussie qualifier Alex Bolt in first round.

Fancying Anderson to get it done tomorrow. He was exceptional against Federer in his comeback win. Showed even more grit in his marathon with Isner. Anderson had the nerves in his US Open final I don't see that happening again

Can anyone make a case out for Anderson in tomorrow's final? Astonishing just how many of the old guard (anyone over 30!) are improving. Anderson is one of them and is playing his best tennis. Some of his returning against bullets from Isner was incredible.
Whatever happens we're going to get an eighth successive GS win in the men's by an over-30. With Djoko almost back to his best and with Cilic and delpo approaching 30, I wonder when the next 20-something is going to win a slam. Jack Draper?!

Not just long and tense matches but good quality in the semis. Making a mockery of the supposed Federer cakewalk to the title that some thought. Nadal and Djokovic both looked like they could have beaten him in the final, had they got there.

Anderson-Isner interested to see a bit of a throwback to the 90s serve volley - not exactly the same style but similar. THe returning was as impressive as the serving though. Interesting the tactics of hard and low down the middle -perhaps makes sense that tall gangly players would struggle with the ball blasted straight at them and low, whereas passing shots to the corners they would have been able to get with their long reach.

Djokovic-Nadal both played well but perhaps the roof closing and the tough Del Potro match were too slight advantages that could have made such a different in such a tight match. On that showing Nadal could have been worthy as the title, as could Djokovic or Federer. All playing well.

As could Anderson but you sense tiredness and an anticlimactic, perhaps straights set final, unless Anderson can get about >70% of first serves in.

Presumably quite a swing in the ranking points in Nadal's favour (vs Federer).

Forgot to mention, first non Fedal slam since 2016.

All of my instincts tell me Novak will win. He is mighty hungry to win another slam, has been there before, is thew best returner of serve out there at the moment and despite playing today he will be the fresher of the two. Novak also leads the head-to-head between the two 5-1. Anderson's only win coming over ten years ago now in 2008 in their first meeting. Anderson has to be shattered as his last two matches have taken 11 hours to complete and something tells me once Novak has negated his serve it is Novak that will win the majority of the points. Anderson will have his fleeting moments but I think Djokovic will win 7-5 6-4 6-3.

Well, Djoko has a great chance of a 13th Slam today after I was convinced that Rafa would take the title.
Had a sneaking feeling that Rog would fall short this year, particularly after his struggles in Halle. Although I've been expecting Djoko to bounce back some time this year, I didn't think it would be at Wimbledon, particularly as he had to get thru either Delpo or Rafa to even get to the final.
With three of the Big Four seemingly back in contention for the top honours and with Murray making his way back, what are the younger brigade thinking? Answer: That their big chance has gone for the time being, probably.
Just look at the guys other than the Big Four doing well at the moment: the likes of Anderson, Isner, Cilic, Delpo - all of them either well over 30 or approaching 30.
A revived Djoko plus Rafa and Rog still being hard to beat could signal the shutting of the door on GS glory for the time being on guys like Zverev and Thiem.

Going for Djokovic to win in straight sets today. Anderson has done really well, especially he had to serve second in the final set of both the Federer and Isner matches. Must have taken some nerve to do that. However I think Djokovic's return game will be good enough to get breaks and he will capitalise on them.

Anderson has rested and Djokovic played afterwards for over five hours against Nadal finishing yesterday.  Anderson beat Federer so can beat Djokovic.  Also Djokovic has some way to go to recapture his old physicality.  The outcome of this final cannot be predicted with any accuracy.  It could be an Anderson win or a Djokovic win.  Anderson has a phenomenal serve and Djokovic may have great difficulty breaking it.

Last year Federer won the final because Cilic was clearly hampered by an injury (that he picked up in the semi-final).  I hope this year both finalists are not carrying any injury.  Both players seem okay but Djokovic physically looks like he needs to muscle up a bit (or maybe he is purposely lightening up for a reason).

Easy money for Djokovic thus far, wins the first set 6-2. Anderson looking heavy footed and also seems to have an issue with his right arm

No name Bertie wrote:  Anderson has a phenomenal serve and Djokovic may have great difficulty breaking it.

Anderson loses the first set 6-2. Is the occasion getting to Anderson? Trainer has also come by.

Absolute non event thus far. Djokovic already a break up in the second set. Could be done before the World Cup final starts

Hearsay reports circulating that Anderson woke up around 4 am yesterday with pain in his legs, with the  suggestion that he may be suffering a little physically.   I don't know anything else - I am listening to the match on something called Wimbledon Radio Channel (online).  

With Anderson's matches against Federer & Isner - Anderson finished strong (coming back from 2-0 down and 2-1 down respectively).

Turning into a trashing for the South African. Djokovic playing on Anderson's fatigue

Congrats, Djoko.

I have been hearing that this Wimbledon Djokovic's wife has been following and supporting him in the players box. I don't seem to recall her presence at his matches previously. I had the impression that she had kept a distance from the public eye. I wonder if this is something new and suggestive of a greater harmony in the Djokovic household (?)

Jack Draper loses to Tseng - both 16 year olds. Draper had been involved in the longest match in junior slam history in the semi-final (7-6 6-7 19-17). Both seem to have good potential to make it in the Men's Tour - assuming they don't decide to become merchant bankers.

No name Bertie wrote:Hearsay reports circulating that Anderson woke up around 4 am yesterday with pain in his legs, with the  suggestion that he may be suffering a little physically.

Playing a Final following a five-setter across two days is also a draining exercise for Djokovic. It is a tough place for both players.

Djokovic saves two set points at 4-5 in the third. Probably Anderson's last hope

Djokovic saves 5 set points. Into a tiebreak

Game set match Djokovic 6-2 6-2 7-6

Congratulations to Djokovic. Well deserved win. Pity that Anderson didn't really start playing until he was 2 breaks down in the second set or it could have been a much better match.

Congratulations to Djokovic on his fourth W.

Well played, Anderson, to the next slam.

So hopefully come USO 2018 we will have a competitive Federer (37), Nadal (32), Djokovic (31), Murray (31), Nishikori (28) + Cilic, Del Potro + ...

I am not convinced that Djokovic is "back" to his pre-injury days but was good enough and resilient enough to win Wimbledon 2018.   Nadal looked physically awesome and I am just a touch surprised that he was beaten by Djokovic in the semi-final.

As for Anderson (32) he has shown that he now knows how to get to the business end of grand slams: runner up USO 2017 and Wimbledon 2018.

The top three players are gulf in class to the remaining players on the men's tour.

Congratulations Novak. A return to slam winning ways which looked a long way off a few months ago.

As a huge novak fan this ranks right up there as one of his greatest victories. I have to admit that earlier this year I really struggled to see novak winning another slam. Up to Madrid masters his form was shockingly bad but in recent weeks there had been a noticeable improvement.

There is no doubt that Anderson was slightly off his game today and clearly his exploits in the last couple of matches took their toll. However djokovic came through a very tough draw of his own with the likes of Nadal and nishikori all playing great coming into those matches. The semi final vs Nadal was vintage djokovic and was one of the greatest matches I have seen. Nadal played great in that match but novak showed great fight to come through that. He must have battled inner demons in that match and today but he came through with flying colors.

Hopefully he can keep the momentum into the hardcourt season and he will have gained some much needed confidence. Also hopefully this win will also inspire the likes of Murray to come back from injury. No doubt novak was inspired by the recent performances of Nadal and Federer in the slams.

Well done novak and kudos to Anderson on an amazing tournament and his second grand slam final reached in the space of a year.

slashermcguirk wrote:The semi final vs Nadal was vintage djokovic and was one of the greatest matches I have seen.

It was indeed a very nice match. One thing noticeable was the overhead smashing is still very tentative, so he still seems to have issues with his elbow. He just needs to stay healthy and keep the long-term Tennis perspective in sight.

Tough on Anderson to play a final after such a marathon semi. Djoko will probably relish this GS win more than any other.
I thought the tennis that Djoko played in the first, Friday, part of his semi was some of his best ever. He wasn't quite as good in the last two sets but did enough to win. Probably only Fed and Djoko (may be also delpo or a big server) can beat Rafa when the Spaniard is in snarling, all-out aggression mode.
The Djoko triumph makes the rest of the season very interesting, particularly if Murray can make something of a comeback. No reason why Djoko can't go on to win more Slams now. If the GOAT is decided by the number of Slam wins we may have some startling statistics in, say, five years time.

laverfan wrote:

slashermcguirk wrote:The semi final vs Nadal was vintage djokovic and was one of the greatest matches I have seen.

It was indeed a very nice match. One thing noticeable was the overhead smashing is still very tentative, so he still seems to have issues with his elbow. He just needs to stay healthy and keep the long-term Tennis perspective in sight.

On the BBC commentary Becker noted how poor Djoko's overhead was. Andrew Castle said - you were his coach for 3 years, why didn't you sort it out?!
Becker replied - we tried everything, nothing worked.

From 2013, seems much better than today.

Some were saying that the problem with Djoko earlier in the season was that there was very little pop in his serve. Well, he served particularly well at key moments in the semi and final. His ace count against Rafa was one of the decisive things in Djoko's victory.
Interesting that he was going to the Anderson forehand on BPs in the final. If he'd been playing Isner reckon he would have gone for the BH.