Wimbledon Championships 2022

[stroke]

A beyond fitting end to this "tournament" would be for this learned Wimbledon crowd to now turn against Noavk again(should he advance) and wildly cheer media darling Nick. That would be absolutely perfect end.

This will be my last post about this "tournament", not that anyone remotely cares. I am clearly out of it by today's "standards ".

[jimlosaltos]

Rafael Nadal has been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon due to an abdominal tear. The men's final will now be Nick Kyrgios vs the winner of Cam Norrie vs Novak Djokovic. Rafa's hopes of achieving a true Calendar Slam in the first time in his career he won the first, two majors is over.


The Times of London:

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon ahead of his semi-final against Nick Kyrgios. After a light practice for 45 minutes on site at 1:30pm today, the 22-times grand slam champion informed All England Club officials later in the afternoon that he will not be fit enough to play on Centre Court tomorrow because of a 7mm abdominal tear.
~~~~~

My Editorial Comment:

Odd times. I want both women to win their final, while I want both men to lose theirs.

My guess: If Rafa was scheduled to meet Fed, he'd have gone out there and taken his loss, just as Fed has done by playing Rafa injured. But he won't do that for Kyrgios.

So, after Russians were banned reportedly to avoid the embarrassment of a royal family member giving a trophy to a Russian, Kate Middleton will present trophies to a Russian that was born in and still lives in Moscow, but has changed her nationality to Khazak, and a man due in court for alleged assault. PR problem solved.

Get better soon, Rafa.

[stotty]

A beyond fitting end to this "tournament" would be for this learned Wimbledon crowd to now turn against Noavk again(should he advance) and wildly cheer media darling Nick. That would be absolutely perfect end.

This will be my last post about this "tournament", not that anyone remotely cares. I am clearly out of it by today's "standards ".

We do care. All your analysis and comments are deeply valued. And, yes, it has been an upside down tournament.

I watched the Fritz v Rafa match with some friends and we all thought Rafa would try to carry on and beat Fritz then concede to Nick. Better to let Nick through as the one player that might beat Novak and keep him at 20 slams.

Novak will have a horrid time overcoming the crowd against home boy Norrie. And if he wins he will likely have to face it all again against nasty Nick. It's hard work being Novak, which is why I root for him in hostile situations. I really don't know how he copes with it.

[stotty]

Novak has a 89.9% probability of winning. That's as high as a semi could possibly get I would think. Clearly the bookies are giving Norrie very little hope.

[johnyandell]

Please God don't let Nick win...

[jimlosaltos]

Either winner of the men's singles title would have won a "major" without facing a single, top-10 ranked player.

The average ranking of Novak's opponents is 51.

I read that Kyrgios is the first unseeded and lowest-ranked man to get to the final four since 2008

IMHO the winner should get an asterisk.

[jimlosaltos]

The crowd dynamics in the men's final could be interesting.

It's understandable that many would support the British local. But I'm told Djokovic was frequently booed and "blew sarcastic kissed at the crowd at the end". {Did not stay to see that myself, so I can't confirm it. It is similar to what I saw Djokovic do when he faced Fed one time in Indian Wells and became overtly bitter toward the crowd cheering for Fed. }

Both players could be booed by the normally staid Wimbledon crowd.

[jimlosaltos]

I offer this quote from Nick on having reconciled with Novak and having a "Bromance", his word, now.
No comment other than we'll see if this relationship goes better than the one to be adjudicated in an Australian court

filedata/fetch?id=97989&d=1657305159&type=thumb

[stotty]

Please God don't let Nick win...

He might. If he serves lights out it's possible. He's the worst role model since Nastase.

In theory Novak should have people on his side this time round...but don't bank on it. Be interesting how the crowd will respond.

[stotty]

I hope the final is good and doesn't turn into a shambles. Anything could happen you feel.

Novak has never beaten Nick....never even won a set. Of course Wimbledon is a long haul, 5 set affair and very different from their other two ATP matches. In my view there have been two great grass court players over the last 20 years. One is Roger, the other Novak. The rest of the field has had inconsistent results on grass and pretty much any player might have a deep run one year and not the next. You have to see Novak up close on grass to realise just how could he is on the stuff. His ability to hug the baseline in both attack and even in defense sets him apart. His groundies are just so good on grass.

Novak has never broken Nick's serve to date. I wonder if he will break that spell on Sunday.

[jimlosaltos]

He might. If he serves lights out it's possible. He's the worst role model since Nastase.

In theory Novak should have people on his side this time round...but don't bank on it. Be interesting how the crowd will respond.

I understand Djokovic was booed a fair amount in the semifinal. That seems surprising for the Wimbledon crowd. One expects them to favor the local, but booing seems uncharacteristic. Perhaps Djokovic's snarl has worn out his welcome as much as the baseline T grass.

Personally, this is the rare match where I don't want either player to win. Usually, I'm happy for the winner, even if it's not my favorite and sometimes I wish both players could have won, as with the Roddick_Fed final at Wimbledon.

But, in this match, I wish both could lose. Novak's Olympic meltdown with the ball kid ducking to avoid having an eye put out by the flying racket shards was the final step for me. Too much pseudo-science, sense of entitlement, and poor sportsmanship.

Perhaps the players will throw their rackets at each other near the end of a 5th set and BOTH get simultaneously DQ'd for the first ever tie in a Wimbledon final. One can dream <g>.

[stotty]

I understand Djokovic was booed a fair amount in the semifinal. That seems surprising for the Wimbledon crowd. One expects them to favor the local, but booing seems uncharacteristic. Perhaps Djokovic's snarl has worn out his welcome as much as the baseline T grass.

Personally, this is the rare match where I don't want either player to win. Usually, I'm happy for the winner, even if it's not my favorite and sometimes I wish both players could have won, as with the Roddick_Fed final at Wimbledon.

But, in this match, I wish both could lose. Novak's Olympic meltdown with the ball kid ducking to avoid having an eye put out by the flying racket shards was the final step for me. Too much pseudo-science, sense of entitlement, and poor sportsmanship.

Perhaps the players will throw their rackets at each other near the end of a 5th set and BOTH get simultaneously DQ'd for the first ever tie in a Wimbledon final. One can dream <g>.

It will be bad for tennis if Nick wins. He is a terrible role model for young children. Novak has had is moments but he's not in the same hemisphere when it comes to poor behaviour. On the whole Novak is a decent role model. He congratulates his opponent's good shots (the only Big 3 player who does) and is also extremely generous in defeat. I still prefer Roger's attitude to Novak's but Novak comes in a decent second.

Novak was booed at the end of the match with Norrie because he blew a kiss at a spectator who had heckled him the entire match, which the crowd interpreted as sarcasm towards them as a whole. He's never going to be loved just as Lendl wasn't.

The tennis should be interesting tomorrow. There is nowhere to hide for Nick now he is finally in the big arena. It's a day of reckoning. Let's see if he has any balls.

[glacierguy]

I'm kind of fascinated to watch the final, without rooting for either finalist. I shall be looking for how Kyrgios handles the inevitable periods of the match when Djokovic is dominant - will he (Kyrgios) suck it up and keep trying, or will he take us to the circus?

[stotty]

1 set each...2-2.

Strange match..intriguing. Kyrgios playing better off the ground than I thought he would but Novak seems to be getting better and better. You get the sense Kyrgios could explode if things a few things don't go his way.

[stotty]

Nick getting away with murder here...effing and blinding. The umpire has just let it go.