2013 Wimbledon Championships...London England

[jbill]

Fed's body language

Yes, it was really fun today to watch Stakhovsky beat Federer with a tactical style that Federer used to know so well and seems to have forgotten about.

The words that come out of Fed's mouth about playing on into the future for a few more years do not match his body language at all. His body language says he is uninterested, unmotivated and simply going through the motions. I really would not be surprised if he retired sometime next year.

I guess we shall see.

jbill

[don_budge]

Strange Day on the Lawn at Wimbledon...Good bye Roger

It's a rainy day in Sweden...I wonder how it is in London where The Championships are being played out...and the roulette wheel is spinning. Black or Red? Zero!!! Gentlemen place your bets. You guys gotta read "The Gambler"...I know bottle has.

So looking over the lineup today on www.livescorehunter.com...the lineup today for me will look like this for matches of interest:

12.30pm (In Europe)
Hewitt vs. Brown
Isner vs. Mannarino
Janowicz vs. Stepanek
Suarez Navarro vs. anybody (what's in a name bottle?)

3.30pm
Tsonga vs. Gulbis
Darcis vs. Kubot

6.00pm
Federer vs. somebody

Got your bets on the table...read 'em and weep.

Strange days indeed. My matches of interest yesterday were certainly interesting...weren't they? I started out watching three matches at one time...the three men's matches at 12.30. Only one finished, the other two pulled out. Isner with a knee injury and Stepanek with a thigh injury. A bit later Tsonga bowed out. What's with the grass?

Yes Stotty...Dustin Brown serving and volleying proved to be a winner against Lleyton Hewitt. He managed to keep the pressure on Hewitt to the very end. Much of the pressure was drawing Hewitt forwards in addition to the serve and volley tactic. This is a tactic that I have maintained will work against the modern day back court specialists. They are a little out of their comfort zone the closer to the net they get when the ball is kept low. The strong grip forehand and the two hand backhand are less suitable from this position.

Darn right stroke...that was one beautiful relaxed service motion. I wonder what he was smoking. Just kidding...not all rastaferi's smoke ganja. But it certainly did hold up the entire match and especially when it got a little tight when you have to serve it out. That's right...nothing can go wrong if the tempo is tied into a rhythmic motion with the gravitational pull of the racquet head. Really elegant. And the dreadlocks...they were just huge. What a sight. He reminds me a little of Gail Monfils with the sort of loose and natural approach to the game...the negro nonchalance. Cool runnings anyone?

Then there was John Isner and Radek Stepanek...both injury casualties. End of tournament and how unfortunate and disappointing is that for both of these guys. Best of luck now to Jerzy "Joe"...here he has a chance to avenge his recent loss to Almagro on a surface that he should find more suitable. Although he should make it a point to move in...it looks like the grass is more conducive to moving forwards. None of the injuries seemed to have occurred when the player was moving forwards. It should be interesting to see if any of the players agree and adapt their tactics.

Seven withdrawals on the men's side...including Nadal's conquerer. Hard to fathom. But the worst casualty of course was not due to an injury. Roger bowed out without a whimper and he saved his best sneers for the post match interview. The questions were completely obnoxious as usual...why doesn't anyone ever ask him why he doesn't switch racquets, tactics and coach. Those questions are probably forbidden...the person asking would be whisked out of the press room fast than an Obama heckler.

My other match of interest ended in an injury as well. In a sense every match of interest ended rather ironically which I am sure that I richly deserve for all of my irony. Tsonga bows out to Gulbis...remarkable that four of five matches actually did end in injury and the fifth to a mental incapacity. But yes...the serve and volley tactics of Brown and Stakhovsky should encourage this tactic as a suitable play...at least on grass. Perhaps the engineering will start in the other direction any day now, if it hasn't already.

You can look at this decimated draw in two ways. Either it opens things up...or it simply narrows things down. That is...narrow down to an inevitable Djokovic vs. Murray final. How interesting is that?

[stotty]

Serve and volley

Strange days indeed. My matches of interest yesterday were certainly interesting...weren't they? I started out watching three matches at one time...the three men's matches at 12.30. Only one finished, the other two pulled out. Isner with a knee injury and Stepanek with a thigh injury. A bit later Tsonga bowed out. What's with the grass?

Yes Stotty...Dustin Brown serving and volleying proved to be a winner against Lleyton Hewitt. He managed to keep the pressure on Hewitt to the very end. Much of the pressure was drawing Hewitt forwards in addition to the serve and volley tactic. This is a tactic that I have maintained will work against the modern day back court specialists. They are a little out of their comfort zone the closer to the net they get when the ball is kept low. The strong grip forehand and the two hand backhand are less suitable from this position.

Darn right stroke...that was one beautiful relaxed service motion. I wonder what he was smoking. Just kidding...not all rastaferi's smoke ganja. But it certainly did hold up the entire match and especially when it got a little tight when you have to serve it out. That's right...nothing can go wrong if the tempo is tied into a rhythmic motion with the gravitational pull of the racquet head. Really elegant. And the dreadlocks...they were just huge. What a sight. He reminds me a little of Gail Monfils with the sort of loose and natural approach to the game...the negro nonchalance. Cool runnings anyone?

Then there was John Isner and Radek Stepanek...both injury casualties. End of tournament and how unfortunate and disappointing is that for both of these guys. Best of luck now to Jerzy "Joe"...here he has a chance to avenge his recent loss to Almagro on a surface that he should find more suitable. Although he should make it a point to move in...it looks like the grass is more conducive to moving forwards. None of the injuries seemed to have occurred when the player was moving forwards. It should be interesting to see if any of the players agree and adapt their tactics.

Seven withdrawals on the men's side...including Nadal's conquerer. Hard to fathom. But the worst casualty of course was not due to an injury. Roger bowed out without a whimper and he saved his best sneers for the post match interview. The questions were completely obnoxious as usual...why doesn't anyone ever ask him why he doesn't switch racquets, tactics and coach. Those questions are probably forbidden...the person asking would be whisked out of the press room fast than an Obama heckler.

My other match of interest ended in an injury as well. In a sense every match of interest ended rather ironically which I am sure that I richly deserve for all of my irony. Tsonga bows out to Gulbis...remarkable that four of five matches actually did end in injury and the fifth to a mental incapacity. But yes...the serve and volley tactics of Brown and Stakhovsky should encourage this tactic as a suitable play...at least on grass. Perhaps the engineering will start in the other direction any day now, if it hasn't already.

You can look at this decimated draw in two ways. Either it opens things up...or it simply narrows things down. That is...narrow down to an inevitable Djokovic vs. Murray final. How interesting is that?

Great post...amusing. It's great to be amused.

Finally! It's about time some of these no-hopers tried the serve and volley tactic. Well, there isn't a hope in hell of slugging it out from the back against the top three so why not throw caution to the wind. The trouble with throwing caution to the wind is that it can go terribly wrong. A player could lose 6-2 6-1 6-2 very quickly. Slugging it out from the back will likely result in a more respectable scoreline. I honestly think that's what it comes down to. Few players out there want to risk looking silly.

McEnroe commented here on the BBC about the lack of serve volleyers in recent years and how handy a good serve and volley game would be against Nadal. Serve wide to Nadal's backhand and come in...done with skill, Mac says it could work a treat.

[klacr]

Will Sergiy Stakhovsky ever volley that superbly or confidently again. Amazing performance. He couldn't do anything wrong yesterday. Pretty solid play from a guy ranked 116.

For those keeping track at home, Tomas Berdych is at 33-1 odds to win Wimbledon. Just saying. Believe in Berdych.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

"Downtown" Dustin Brown...

Never asked a ballboy for a towel. Always played the same ball if he won a point...waiting for it and making certain it was the same ball. He never asked a ballboy for the extra balls to check them. Nice change of demeanor.

[don_budge]

Weather Report...calling on licensedcoach

Hey Stotty...what's the weather prognosis like there today? I am waiting on the Haas match that was scheduled for 12.30.

By the way...which day are you attending? Can we see you in the stands? Would you wave a sign saying something like..."Hello tennisplayer.net" or something to that effect?

[stotty]

No play on the outside until at least 1.30pm. Forecast is awful for the day. Thank God for the roof. At least we'll see something.

I go next Tuesday...court one...near the front. Maybe I'll get a Tennisplayer.net T shirt printed...why not?...if JY is good with. If I see John Lloyd I'll ask him to get the cameraman to pan to it.

[don_budge]

Stunt man?

No play on the outside until at least 1.30pm. Forecast is awful for the day. Thank God for the roof. At least we'll see something.

I go next Tuesday...court one...near the front. Maybe I'll get a Tennisplayer.net T shirt printed...why not?...if JY is good with. If I see John Lloyd I'll ask him to get the cameraman to pan to it.

That would be a great stunt! Thanks for the update!

[lobndropshot]

I hate the roof! It provides the seeds and Brits an unfair advantage I would rather see replays of old classic matches. It makes me sad that all of the grand slams are doing this. I feel that it hurts comparability between eras.

[don_budge]

Janowicz vs. Almagro

They traded breaks...Jerzy lost his serve first broke back. He's got a very aggressive look about him. I like that fire...emotion. They are in a tiebreak right now. Let's see if he can sustain it.

[don_budge]

Fiery, fierce performance...Janowicz over Almegro

He never lost that look and in the end he rocked Almagro 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. True...grass is not Almagro's best surface so we must be careful about overevaluating the emotional performance of young Jerzy Joe.

The serve was intimidating and the forehand was heavy and penetrating. The backhand was adequate and the drop shots were effective against the strong grips of Almagro. At times the drop shots were not that great but Almagro struggled to come to grips with them...so to speak.

He served out the match with vengeance and I suspect that the most recent loss to Almagro was still on the young Pole's consciousness. He showed him who was boss...that is what it looked like.

Now he plays Jurgen Melzer who beat the conquerer of Roger Federer...Sergiy Stakhovsky. Short lived success story. Amazing that Roger lost to the 100 and something ranked player in the world. Amazing.

Tommy Haas also through. Looks to be on a collision course with Novak Djokovic.

[stotty]

American tennis players

Is it me or are there no Americans left in the men's draw? I couldn't find one. I can't remember a time when all the Americans were out by round three.

[don_budge]

American Tennis...

Is it me or are there no Americans left in the men's draw? I couldn't find one. I can't remember a time when all the Americans were out by round three.

R. I. P.

[stroke]

Tonic is looking good. His match with Gasquet was very good tennis. His forehand that John once called an extreme type 3, is doing some damage.

[stotty]

Tonic is looking good. His match with Gasquet was very good tennis. His forehand that John once called an extreme type 3, is doing some damage.

Tomic is an unusual player to watch live. You don't get the real impression on TV. He really doesn't hit the ball all that hard. He often pushes it around, mostly flat, and places the ball in awkward spots. He makes it hard for players to take a swipe at him if you know what I mean. It's hard to explain...bit like Mecir was...finds safe places to go so his opponent can't hurt him.

He's smarter than people think...