Wimbledon 2019

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Fair weather, at least for the first few days, beckons at Wimbledon. There's a roof on number one court, which is excellent news for those with tickets for that court and for the organisers if the rain arrives.

Djoko is my favourite for the title followed by Federer. Rafa has a difficult draw but how often have we seen tricky draws work out simply due to the fact that projected opponents fall by the wayside.

Difficult to make a case out for anyone outside the top three having a good run. Last year Anderson and Isner made the semis but have not played much this season. Not sure Tsitsipas or Thiem really have the game for grass.

Predicting a women's champion is far from straightforward. Barty is the new number one and with that terrific BH slice could do extremely well. Kerber looked very good in beating Halep at Eastbourne and Pliskova has a chance, although her Wimbledon record is woeful.

You can never rule out Serena and, as I said before the French, practically all the top players have a chance. Intriguing first-round match between Coco Gauff (aged 15) and Venus (aged 39).

This year sees a tiebreak kick in at 12-12 in the final set. It just remains to be seen just how much talk the BBC come up with before showing any action when they start the programmes. Thank God for the red button.

Sublime elegance from the great man. Difficult to see Nadal winning two consecutive sets if Federer can maintain that level.

I’ve got money riding on Rafa for the trophy @4/1 .. .... so he better come good in the next two sets.

Nadal is probably the loudest grunter in the mens game.

Nadal playing for time in order to recover his own energy intensity.

Hats off to Federer so far - he really is attacking the ball early - giving Nadal less time ro react.

Federer swinging like a rusty gate and painting lines. Con artist

Federer breaks after a long second break-point with two line call reviews.

Federer just has to focus and put all his energy on holding serve to win.

The Fed Express. Mind you, Nadal's first serve has deserted him.

No name Bertie wrote:Hats off to Federer so far - he really is attacking the ball early - giving Nadal less time ro react.

Hats off indeed for the right tactics. But Rafa can still turn things around in blink of an eye, and go on to take the match

It is being said that Nadal can't get the high bounce like he used to do and so the ball is falling into Federer's hitting zone.

The whole feeling of the match is that Federer is now in control and currently dominating.

The con man survives again

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:The con man survives again

More respect for Rafa please !

Federer shows relying on luck can work. Mediocre player. Djokovic will make him beg on Sunday.

So can Nadal hold serve to stay in the match ... Should Federer reserve his energy for his own service game.

Federer would have won that point but challenged the serve. Strange call from Federer. But back on deuce.

Nadal locked in a never ending service game.

Federer chokes two match points.

According to the BBC commentator Nadal has just exploded (with emotion).

So Nadal finally holds - but a strange line call from Federer that he would have won (because he challenged the serve- but his return was according to the commentator a winner).

Federer serving to win the match.

Unforced error from Federer.

Deuce.

Federer back to his best. Matchpoint on his serve.

Nadal back to his best. Deuce.

Strong first serve. Match point again.

Deuce.

Now Federer is locked into a never ending service game.

Brilliant from Federer - a memorable win even though it was "only" a semi-final it was against Nadal.

Federer flukes another win. Get ready for a trashing on Sunday, Djokovic will adopt the kids after as well

Exquisite match of tennis to light up the tournament. Expected it to be closer, but Federer was phenomenal today (apart from the second set!).

One would have to make Djokovic the favorite simply because one would expect Federer to be a little more tired. Except Federer's match only lasted 13 minutes longer than Djokovics match against RBA. But Federer's match was far more intense.

Federer fluking a set of Djokovic would be a miracle. Djokovic should win by dropping fewer than 10 games

Duty281 wrote:Exquisite match of tennis to light up the tournament. Expected it to be closer, but Federer was phenomenal today (apart from the second set!).

I don't think it could have been any closer without Federer fading out in a one sided fifth set.

Jonathan Overend tried to get an interview with Sir Alex Ferguson - and SFA told him to feck off.

So clutch from Fed to deal with all those missed MPs and that bloody hawkeye challenge in the previous game. He didn't play as much attacking tennis as I expected, I can only imagine he was wary of Rafa's passing shots which is understandable. However his backhand and return of serve were key, Rafa was serving well but Fed was reading it very well.

He also did well to condense most of his rubbish play into one set.

P. S. Not to kick a man when he's down but that match should bury the idea that Nadal is the best net player in the game. Whilst he does have very soft hands he cannot punch volleys through the air like Fed.

Duty281 wrote:Exquisite match of tennis to light up the tournament. Expected it to be closer, but Federer was phenomenal today (apart from the second set!).

Without doubt best match of the tourney - even if not quite a classic as in 2008.

Fantastic play by both. Rafa was just superb in set two (and for much of set one, also).

Thought the comeback was definitely on for Rafa when he saved all those MP’s - but perhaps the pressure got to him in the end.

AFAIK that makes six wins for old Fed over Rafa in their last seven matches. Impressive stuff

I picked Nadal in four beforehand, so have been humbled. Nadal missed a few which he normally wouldn't, but these past two-and-a-half years Federer has certainly found a new resilience and confidence to his game against Nadal (away from the clay, at least). His backhand was fantastic. Has made their head-to-head look a bit better if nothing else.

Second set aside, it was a high level of shot-making and aggressive tennis. Lovely match to watch. I still think Djokovic will spoil Federer's party again on Sunday - but I think he's got a better chance than he did in their 2015 final.

theslosty wrote:

He also did well to condense most of his rubbish play into one set.

Very well put.

What is certainly obvious is Fed does not have any sort of mental block vs Rafa any more - I get the impression that he has a different outlook these days in that he's just happy to be able to play at this level and does not beat himself up over a defeat. Perhaps being a father of 4 has given him a different perspective. Still fiercely determined to win these big matches nevertheless.

Forgot to mention, you could also really see how Federer has curbed some of his tendencies and thought hard about how to protect himself against Nadal's up-the-line forehand, which has stung him so often at the net in the past (you could see it in the Australian Open final back in 2017, too). There were a few points where he'd fire the forehand deep, look as if he had Nadal pinned to the back corner and he'd look as if he was about to come in to the net behind it...But you could see him just stopping himself, probably wise. It was a little surreal to see him winning so many of the long rallies from the baseline. But he's a lot more solid in that respect against Nadal now.

theslosty wrote:What is certaiy obvious is Fed does not have any sort of mental block vs Rafa any more - I get the impression that he has a different outlook these days in that he's just happy to be able to play at this level and does not beat himself up over a defeat. Perhaps being a father of 4 has given him a different perspective. Still fiercely determined to win these big matches nevertheless.

I don't believe it was a "mental block" - I believe it was a match-up in styles which Federer could never really handle because of his one handed back hand not being able to cope with Nadal's persistant high bouncing balls to his backhand.  Nadal with miles on the clock and worn out joints and change in playing style is no longer a bad match up for Federer (at least off clay).

NNB

Federer has admitted himself he lacked belief against Nadal earlier in his career including the final in 08. The AO 2009 final stands out to me as one of the contests he really ought to have won.

2 very contrasting semis today. For once Djokovic found some stiff competition in RBA. Had to really think his way to victory given I felt RBA had a much stronger game from the baseline. If RBA had just more depth on his groundies, he could push the likes of the Top 3 much further.

Federer/Nadal. Can't recall a time when Federer came out and went for it. Aside from his 2nd set walkabout, he played quite the match. Nadal was really unsettled. Never seen him so animated with himself.

I hope Federer has some of that form today left in the tank.

Pretty sure that a fully-fresh Djoko - totally comfortable on grass with four Wimbledon titles already, in superb form and peaking again at the perfect time - will prove a much more formidable challenge on Sunday. And today’s match - with a fair few tiring rallies - probably took a good deal out of Fed even though it didn’t go the distance.

But Federer did well to get past so many young guys early on, and then the never-say-die Rafa too.

I very much doubt he can take down Novak ; but he has at least made yet another Final in his twilight days : one of the oldest (the oldest ?) to do so.

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Federer fluking a set of Djokovic would be a miracle.

Spot on (again).

Much, much harder to “fluke a set off Djokovic” than it is to fluke three off Nadal.

theslosty wrote:NNB

Federer has admitted himself he lacked belief against Nadal earlier in his career including the final in 08. The AO 2009 final stands out to me as one of the contests he really ought to have won.

Fair enough but Federer's lack of belief may have been predicated on him not being able to cope with Nadal's physical playing style ... I am not sure that Roger Federer could have done anything more at the AO2009.   Nadal was on the rise and was looking like he was going to dominate tennis on all surfaces having adapted his clay court invincibility into something that looked like was going to dominate the grass and the hard courts.  But then it all fell apart with Nadals knees collapsing and Federer winning the French Open in 2009.

That AO final he served below 50% and played break points very poorly, another one that stands out is his 4 set loss at RG in 07 where he was 1/17 on BPs I recall. It's possible Rafa's evolution in style has made him a slightly easier match up for Fed but in general I think Moya has him playing better than ever. His backhand, serve and net play have all improved and a very slight decline in foot speed is all he's really lost.

Lags I can't believe Federer can play a match like that and you still have no faith in him . I make Novak a 60/40 favourite but he's probably been the least impressive of the big 3 up to this point. He'll have to raise his game vs Fed.

@ theslosty  : he produced some very special stuff to win today, no argument about that ;  but I just don’t think he can repeat it v Novak on Sunday. The years and tired legs will surely catch up with him.

But tbh, it was by way of empathy for our 606 friend who seems so tortured following Rafa’s SF defeat (and by a “mediocre player” ).

Well, a terrific win for Fed. Must say I thought Rafa would triumph today. He was in great shape and was playing well.

But who knows what would have happened if Rafa had been able to break back for 5-5 in that fourth set.

As it is, he's never beaten Rog in a five-set GS match after being two sets to one down. Rog obviously needed to serve well, which he did. Also that first set, with Rog a mini-break down at 3-2 in the tiebreak, was crucial.

As has been said above and by Henman in a post-match reflection, Fed often won the long rallies, which was surprising. I'm not sure if he's got much left in the tank for Sunday and I would make Djoko favourite.

It's crazy to write any of the big three off, but I wonder if this was Rafa's last chance to win another Wimbledon.