Wimbledon 2021

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The draw is out for Wimbledon, with defending champ Djoko opening against GB's Jack Draper.

Djoko is, of course, clear favourite and won't have to play Rafa or Thiem who have had to drop out along with, among others, Raonic and Stan the Man.

Federer opens against Mannarino and could play Gasquet in round two and Cameron Norrie in the third round. More importantly, Roger is in the bottom half of the draw and away from Djoko.

Andy Murray, who could have been drawn against any of the top seeds, has got 24th seed Basilashvili which won't be easy but could have been even tougher.

Dan Evans, seeded 22nd, could be up against it. He plays grass-court specialist Feliciano Lopez in the opening round. An intriguing round one match is Kyrgios v Humbert who won in Halle.

No one can be sure how Federer will play. He does not have too difficult a start and may be able to run into some form for the later, harder matches. Berrettini, seeded 7, could be a handful if his Queen's form carries on. Difficult to look beyond Djoko, although Novak could face Anderson in round two.

As mentioned in the previous topic 2019 champ Halep is not fit enough to start. Practically impossible to predict a woman's winner. Gauff could go deep. Kvitova and Kerber, two previous SW19 champs, seem to have run into some grass-court form as does 2017 French champion Ostapenko, who has reached a Wimbledon semi before.

Barty wins. Shapovalov up two sets to love. Rublev up 2 sets to 1.

Khachanov wins 10-8 in the fifth. Poor fifth set from both.

It was a horrible 5th set. Something like 15 breaks in it. Khachanov struggling to put away an injured opponent.

Shapovalov through in straight sets.

Rublev seems to be injured playing very poorly.

A question for the more knowledgeable posters, why does Zverev double fault so much, is it a technical weakness or more of a mental issue? I cannot remember a top level male player who had so many issues serving.

Eight DFs from Zverev in that first set. Very poor and I have no idea why.

My picks for the quarters looking pretty bad. I didn't go for Barty, Jabeur, Fucsovics, Shapovalov, Khachanov or Pliskova and they ALL won. Just shows I'm not Muchova forecaster. (Muchova won too).

Another of my picks bites the dust - Keys.

Kerber serving for the match against Gauff.

Kerber serves it out to love. Exit Coco but this puts Kerber in with a great chance.

Kerber beats Gauff 6-4 6-4. Despite the woefully biased commentary by Tracy Austin, Gauff was outclassed. Gauff is very overrated and when wildly hit and hoping doesn’t work there’s no other skill set.

I’m somewhat puzzled by why Gauff got three successive centre court matches. Yes, she may become a top player but currently she is mainly just potential. These are the courts for Gauff compared to the reigning French Open champion, Krejcikova:

Gauff (seeded 20):

R1: Court 2
R2: Centre
R3: Centre
R4: Centre

Krejcikova (seeded 14)

R1: Court 3
R2: Court 3
R3: Court 3
R4: Court 1 (against the number 1 seed)

Fairly bizarre scheduling.

Despite my Gauff prediction, I am happy to see Kerber progress. Zverev in trouble, down 2 sets to love.

The stiff breeze could be a factor here. I mention it because Federer’s timing is determined by very fine margins and I have quite often (over the years) seen his shotmaking impacted to a notable degree when the winds are swirling.

Sonego is a serious talent and certainly the biggest challenge for Fed thus far.

Early stages still, but a familiar pattern already emerging : Federer earns break points - but his growing U/E count means he struggles to convert.

Here we go !

After eventually securing the break, Federer now fails - badly - when asked to serve out the set.

Not a good sign for Fed fans - but hugely encouraging for the very capable Sonego.

Sonego serving 5-5 Van Out and they have to come off for rain. Federer mixing the sublime with a number of UEs.

First time I've really seen Sonego. He's got a huge serve and you can see why he's climbed rapidly up the rankings. But he, too, has made a number of UEs. One really awful service game should have been enough to see him lose the set.

Fed's used to playing under the roof which, presumably, will now be closed.

Zverev has come back from two sets down to take it to a fifth. By the time Emma Raducanu gets on it will be way past her bedtime.

Seems likely to be a straight sets win for Fed. He’s comfortably in charge.

sirfredperry wrote:

………………..

Fed's used to playing under the roof which, presumably, will now be closed.

By the time Emma Raducanu gets on it will be way past her bedtime.

Normally one would say the roof gives Federer a key advantage - but his U/E habits these days are such that all bets are off. His net play so far this eve has been mostly grim. I sense Sonego will prove far more troublesome than Gasquet or Norrie did.

Yes ….. a late one for young Emma - but at least her parents know exactly where she is !!

Bad luck for Sonego having to come back and serve at BP down. Promptly does a DF and Fed serves it out for a 7-5 first set.

Fed a bit patchy but you're in the match for absolutely ages if you win the first set in a five-set match. Things can go wrong for quite a while but you haven't lost yet.

F AA is a break up in the final set against Zverev. Hadn't seen too much of the Canadian before this and have to say he can certainly play but is a little bit, er, dull. Very slow service wind-up and efficient rather than spectacular.

F A-A beats Zverev. Well played! Two Canadians in QF.

Federer through in straight sets.

Tomljanovic is playing against the whole stadium, with the exception of Berrettini and her own coaching staff.

Alas for Raducanu, Tom''ic is playing really well and takes the first set.

Unless the Aussie's level drops, Emma will go out.

Fed rather ran away with it in the end. Not that impressed with Sonego. Very patchy performance from him. Some terrific shots and some awful UEs.

Fed also made some fairly terrible errors amid his usual terrific shots. I thought he returned well.

I shall certainly not be making any firm predictions about any of the matches from now on after my abysmal forecasting today.

Medvedev - Hurcasz has been postponed until tomorrow, seems unfair on many levels. Despite being no. 2 in the world, Med hasn't played on CC yet and was even put on the roofless Court 2 today, leading to it being rain-affected. Surely they could have completed the match on CC given Fed wrapped things up fairly early? Nice for Fed though!

sirfredperry wrote:Emma will go out

Set down, 3-0 down, and claiming an injury. End of the road

MTO, and Raducanu has breathing issues. Not a good sign.

Match is over, she can’t continue. Not overly convinced it’s serious, think the situation got to her, and she was being outplayed. Occasion was too much, some may disagree. Thought she looked fine, forcing the game to deuce before she exited.

Looking forward to Raducanu's interview later tonight.

Raducanu was only going to win if the Aussie's level dropped. She couldn't outhit her from the back of the court, although she certainly tried.

You feel Fed, who faces (probably) Medvedev on Wednesday has probably gone as far as he can and perhaps as far as he expected to go.

To get to the quarters given his long lay-off and lack of matches is a good result. Difficult to know if he can play any better or whether this is likely to be his level now. If this is his level, he's likely to still beat the lesser lights but struggle against the top guys.

As if it was not enough that hardly anyone is really challenging Djoko at the moment, the Serb gets an unseeded player in the quarters.

I can foresee a Djoko-Berrettini final (I thought I wasn't going to make any more forecasts). Can the Canadians stop that from happening?

Australia is guaranteed a semifinalist in the women. Didn't fancy Barty to win today and got it wrong. Now I'm tipping her to win tomorrow. (wrong again?)

laverfan wrote:Looking forward to Raducanu's interview later tonight.

What a weird comment. I don’t think they usually force players who have to retire through illness to give interviews.

Born Slippy wrote:

laverfan wrote:Looking forward to Raducanu's interview later tonight.

What a weird comment. I don’t think they usually force players who have to retire through illness to give interviews.

There was nothing in my comment about forcing anyone for an interview.

From Emma Raducanu’s shocking Wimbledon run has scary ending,

At around 6 p.m. EST, several hours after the match had been completed, Wimbledon said there would be “no statement” from Raducanu on Monday night.

I hope Raducanu comes back healthy and continues to play at the highest levels of Tennis.

Trying to convince myself that my abysmal forecasting of the women's matches yesterday was down to the utter unpredictability of the ladies' game at present.

Mind you, I didn't do much better with the men, particularly counting out the Canadians. A shocking 20 DFs from Zverev didn't help.

Pity about Raducanu last night. Tomljanovic played really well but it'll be much tougher for her today against Barty's big serving and clever slicing. (Not making a prediction, though).

It's about time Pliskova did something special at a Slam and she has a great chance today. Will she win? I'm not going there.

Three-times GS winner Kerber is also well placed to progress but Sabalenka has a tricky match against Jabeur.

We could end up with the fantastic statistic of having all four players making their GS semi-finalist debuts for the second Slam running.

Centre Court crowd today gets a bonus match with Medvedev's match on first with the Russian two sets to one up.

laverfan wrote:

laverfan wrote:Looking forward to Raducanu's interview later tonight.

From Emma Raducanu’s shocking Wimbledon run has scary ending,

At around 6 p.m. EST, several hours after the match had been completed, Wimbledon said there would be “no statement” from Raducanu on Monday night.

I hope Raducanu comes back healthy and continues to play at the highest levels of Tennis.

Could it have been a "panic attack"?  People with panic attacks have difficulty breathing.  The attack occurs when the individual is placed in what for  them is a stressful situation.  On the plus side for these few days of effort she has earned herself £181,000 in prize money for reaching the fourth round of the ladies singles event and has also put her name on the map and should now receive lucrative sponsorship deals.

Trusted reports (inter alia, Anne Keothavong, who knows her well) confirm that Emma was absolutely fine, physically, very soon after her enforced retirement, and that currently there are no indications of any long-term effects.

Often difficult when youthful talent breaks through amidst big expectations. Worth remembering how Andy Murray needed time to adjust to the big stage - I doubt many thought he would make it to the very top in those early days. And of course Djokovic had a whole series of breathing difficulties before achieving ironman status.

Emma looks to have more talent than other current British contenders on the WTA circuit ; and though her tennis future seems hugely promising, only time will tell how it all pans out.

Some interesting QF mens line-ups, with one match still to finish. I think Federer’s true level will be established tomorrow, one way or the other - I did feel Sonego would mount a sterner challenge, but he faded disappointingly, immediately after coming so close to snatching the first set - and that made life considerably easier for Federer, whose inconsistency will not - assuming it continues - see him get past higher seeds.

They're away today with the first match being Pliskova against the wonderfully-named Golubic.

Centre court crowd could get a terrific day if the unfinished Medvedev match develops into a five-set thriller.

Fifth set in Hurkacz vs Medvedev after Hurkacz takes fourth set 6-3.

Slow start by Medvedev and we're into a fifth set. After two games the "exhausted" Russian takes a break.

Pliskova already a set up (6-2).

Medvedev already a break down in the final set. Is he fully fit?

Hurkacz eliminates Medvedev.

All over for Medvedev, and fairly tamely too.

Don't know if Medvedev was hindered by injury/illness or not, but he was not really at the races today.

Hubert H, conversely, served huge and volleyed well. Next up for him....Federer.

Oh, and that completes my rubbish 4th round predictions as I had plumped for Medvedev.

Federer won't be too disappointed seeing Medvedev lose.

Soul Requiem wrote:Federer won't be too disappointed seeing Medvedev lose.

Perhaps not ; although, based on this 4th & 5th set performance by Hurkacz, I suspect Fed will be pretty apprehensive about facing him tomorrow ………..

I haven't been watching any of the matches but from the comments on here am I missing something. At a glance, it looks like the route has opened up for Federer to get to the final as long as he doesn't have any physical issues.

Henman Bill wrote:I haven't been watching any of the matches but from the comments on here am I missing something. At a glance, it looks like the route has opened up for Federer to get to the final as long as he doesn't have any physical issues.

You aren’t missing much. It’s just who plays Novak in the final. Either Fed gets there, or it’s a newbie. Either way, Nole should be winning this title comfortably. Been a pretty dire draw this year, hence why the media were fully focused on hyping an 18 year old, and why Coco Gauff got centre court for nearly every game. Just isn’t the names or rivalries to gain much interest this year.

It’s a common trait for people to play down their preferred winners chances (the “anti jinx” approach). I’d generally take anything Lags says with a pinch of salt during the tournament as you’ll otherwise get the impression Fed is playing awful and facing a murderers row of deadly opponents even to make the final. I mean no offence by that as I was always relatively pessimistic about Murray when he was a contender.

The reality is that Fed is obviously far from his best but has had a kind draw (bar an inspired Mannarino until he fell over). Hurkacz is a step up but one I would expect Fed to overcome. I’d then make him 50-50 against Berrettini and a massive underdog if it’s Novak in the final.

Novak 100% gets to the Final (and 90% wins it).

But much more of a question over who he will face. Hurkacz is now a genuine contender, and has the chance to take out a declining - though still dangerous -Federer. Felix A-A has already beaten Fed on grass ; Berretini has improved  dramatically since his last Wimbledon appearance

@ Born Slippy - just spotted your post before pressing ‘send’. Your comments are interesting but in all honesty there’s no ‘anti-jinx’ here ….. just my personal assessment based on performances throughout the tourney so far. And so I have not edited my above post, other than to add that 39-year olds do not (AFAIK ?) get to Slam Finals……

Just John wrote:

Henman Bill wrote:I haven't been watching any of the matches but from the comments on here am I missing something. At a glance, it looks like the route has opened up for Federer to get to the final as long as he doesn't have any physical issues.

You aren’t missing much. It’s just who plays Novak in the final. Either Fed gets there, or it’s a newbie. Either way, Nole should be winning this title comfortably. Been a pretty dire draw this year, hence why the media were fully focused on hyping an 18 year old, and why Coco Gauff got centre court for nearly every game. Just isn’t the names or rivalries to gain much interest this year.

Women's side of the tournament a complete lottery, not helped by the absence of a couple of the likely winners (Halep, Osaka). Other than Barty, the seeds have been their typically inconsistent bunch.

Men's side, the issue is that the big 4 have dominated for so long (last player other than them to win Wimbledon was Lleyton Hewitt in 2002!), but Murray and to a lesser extent Federer aren't match fit plus Rafa injured, and really no-one has got close to Djokovic. Boringly predictable that Djoko takes the title having barely needed to get out of second gear. At least having Federer getting through to the QFs and potentially still further gives some sort of narrative, but his game really isn't int he shape to challenge Novak at the moment.

lags72 wrote:Trusted reports (inter alia, Anne Keothavong, who knows her well) confirm that Emma was absolutely fine, physically, very soon after her enforced retirement, and that currently there are no indications of any long-term effects.

Often difficult when youthful talent breaks through amidst big expectations. Worth remembering how Andy Murray needed time to adjust to the big stage - I doubt many thought he would make it to the very top in those early days. And of course Djokovic had a whole series of breathing difficulties before achieving ironman status.

Emma looks to have more talent than other current British contenders on the WTA circuit ; and though her tennis future seems hugely promising, only time will tell how it all pans out.

I didn't even know of the existence of Emma Raducanu until I started seeing a plethora of headlined articles from the BBC.  Normally it is wall to wall Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka or Serena Williams when it comes to the BBC reporting of Women's tennis on their website.   I assume the rest of the British media have also been forming a scrum around this 18 year old - and so I can well imagine the difficulty she might have had in coming to terms with the expectations they (and others) might have been heaping upon her.

Kerber wins against Muchova in straight sets. Sabalenka should win against Pliskova. I expect a Barty-Sabalenka final.

Federer has his work cut out, no matter who he faces. Djokovic has played without much of a hiccup.

@ NnB - fair to say you were far from alone in not knowing of Raducanu !! It was for the most part only tennis insiders who were even remotely familiar with her.

I do think the sheer quality of her Wimbledon debut play justified much of the hype - though I know what you mean about the BBC’s traditional approach.

Have just watched the interview in which Emma discusses - with impressive maturity - the events last night leading to her retirement. She looked fine, despite the obvious disappointment - and seems a well-balanced individual.

Interesting that John McEnroe’s own assessment in the TV studio last night was very close indeed to what Emma herself said, as regards the likely causes of her breathing difficulties. And yet Mac was slated in some parts of the media, presumably because he wasn’t ‘nice’ enough to Emma who had already been hailed a tennis superstar. You don’t win the highest number of pro titles ever (singles & doubles combined) without knowing a thing or two about this sport and all that it involves.

Very poor Barty-Tom match today. Barty won the first set despite getting only 25% of first serves into play. Tom looked great against Raducanu but fairly ordinary today.

Barty has been far from impressive so far but at least brings slice and something more than bish-bash to the sport. Think she'll have to do a lot better to make the final or win it, though.

Hurkacz brings a huge serve into his match with Fed tomorrow but he'll face a brilliant returner of serve who won't be hiding behind the backstop miles behind the baseline.

As I write Barty has gone from a point for a double break to being broken and it's back on serve. Kerber will be hoping Tom can make a match of it. (But she doesn't. Barty serving for the match).