Tennis Top Gear

Andy and Brooklyn stopped by The Bobby Bones Show in Austin, Texas Thursday morning. The Roddicks, who are becoming regulars on the popular syndicated program, were put to the test, literally.

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InterviewFriday, 2 July 2010
Q. Looked a little like 2008 again.
RAFAEL NADAL: I never like the comparations. No, every year is completely different. For me was amazing day, very important

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InterviewFriday, 2 July 2010Q. What went wrong for you out there today?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I want to congratulate him. He played a great match and a great tournament. He’s just a bett

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InterviewFriday, 2 July 2010Q. On a scale of one to ten, how will describe your match today? Where do you place your match?
TOMAS BERDYCH: I don’t know. It’s tough to find some number. I

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BY MAD PROFESSAH

Here are my predictions for the men’s semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2010.
I previously made predictions for the men’s quarterfinals (1 of 4 correct) and the women’s quarterfinals (2 of 4 correct).

(I have now arrived in London and I have tickets for the men’s final on Sunday.)

Roger Federer SUI (1) Tomas Berdych CZE (12) vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). For the first time since 2002(!), Roger Federer will not be playing in the Wimbledon Men’s Final. (Of course, this is the year I travelled to Wimbledon after getting lucky to get tickets to the men’s final. Did I bring him my favorite player bad luck?) Anyway, After winning 23 consecutive major quarterfinals, the 16-time major champion has now lost the last two he has played in a row, to two somewhat similar opponents, the hard-hitting giants Robin Soderling (in Paris) and Tomas Berdych (in London). Unlike at Roland Garros, where Federer clearly did not play his best and was blasted off the court, at Wimbledon Federer was defeated while still playing about as well as he’s played most of the year. (Which is to say, not his best ever, but possibly the best he can do right now.) His failure to defend his two major titles from last year (and the fact he has won only won tournament all year, the 2010 Australian Open) means that the former World #1 will fall to World #3 in the rankings on Monday. This means that Federer will remain stuck one heartbreaking week behind matching Pete Sampras’ record of 286 weeks at #1 for the foreseeable future. Will he ever get there? I believe so. And it may just be what keeps the Swiss master in the game until the 2010 London Olympics as he has promised before. Berdych has started a streak of his own; for the second consecutive major the Czech player has made the semifinals. Berdych played an astonishing match against Federer, hitting 51 winners to Federer’s 44 and only making 23 unforced errors to Federer’s 18 (and 6 of those were double faults by Berdych going for second serves). Although I predicted a different match-up, I am not unduly upset by what transpired today, I do believe the better player on the day won the match. As expected, with the shock defeat of Andy Roddick by Yen-Hsun Lu in the previous round, World #3 Novak Djokovic had an easy time of it to reach his second Wimbledon semifinal. Berdych and Djokovic have only played twice (a curiously low number for active players) with Djokovic having never lost. Can Berdych come back from the greatest victory of his career to date to reach his first major final? The Czech has suffered from mental frailty in the past, but is clearly playing some of his best tennis ever. Djokovic, too, is playing some excellent tennis and definitely has the game to make the most of this rare opportunity to reach his third major final (2007 US Open, 2008 Australian Open) without having to face a higher ranked player. However, he, too, has had some notably poor performances in massively important matches (the 2010 Roland Garros quarterfinal loss to Jurgen Melzer from two sets up comes to mind, as well as injury retirements at Wimbledon.) The real question is whether Berdych is on an unstoppable Juan Martin del Potro run to his first major, or will he come back to earth after beating the Greatest of all time on his best surface? PREDICTION: Djokovic (in 4 sets).

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (10) Andy Murray GBR (4) vs. Robin Soderling SWE(6) Rafael Nadal ESP (2). The bottom half of the draw is where I bravely (foolishly?) predicted that upsets would happen. The mouth-watering Friday tea-time match-up between World #1 Rafael Nadal and World #1 Andy Murray was predicted at the beginning of the tournament by many. But they both had to go through some excellent players to get there. Murray lost his first set of the tournament in a tiebreak to the excessively talented Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and was two points away at 5-all from losing the second set tie-break when The Frenchman inexplicably let a floating Murray service return sail past him at the net only to watch with horror and disbelief as the ball kissed the back of the line to give Murray set point instead. The rest of the match was not pretty, with Murray dominating to a 6-7(5) 7-6)5) 6-2 6-2 win. I didn’t see much of the Soderling-Nadal match (since in London all eyes were geared towards their countryman’s match) but from all reports Nadal started very slowly (down 0-5) in the first set but managed to break back early in the second set. Despite serving for the second set (after Soderling was treated for a blister on his left foot) at 5-4 Nadal only barely managed to eke out the third set tiebreak and then rolled past a demoralized Soderling to win 3-6 6-3 7-6(4) 6-1. With Federer out, Nadal has an excellent chance to win the tournament, as he has winning records against all the remaining players in the draw (7-3 versus both Murray and Berdych, 14-7 versus Djokovic–which happens to be the identical record he has against Federer). However, Murray is probably the toughest opponent for Nadal at this stage of the tournament. There’s no question that Murray was on his way to demolishing Nadal earlier this year in the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinals when the Spaniard retired down 2 sets and 0-3. The two haven’t played since, with Nadal having his best clay court season to date, and Murray his worst. Happily Wimbledon is played on grass. Additionally, the fact that Murray beat Nadal the last time they played and that this is a semifinal, not a final should help the Brit play his best tennis this year, something Murray did not do against an inspired Andy Roddick last year. Nadal has already lost the most amount of sets that he ever has on his way to winning (or defending) a major title. The 2008 Wimbledon champion has been uncharacteristically irritable and complained of pain his knees. On the other hand, Murray has lost the fewest amount of sets of any of the Top 4 players at Wimbledon this year and has been advancing later and later into the draw at Wimbledon every time he has played it. I expect that trend to continue all the way to the final, and possibly the title this year. PREDICTION: Murray in 3 or 4 sets (or Nadal in 5 sets).

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Williams brings a 12-3 record in Grand Slam finals into the championship match, and is 3-2 in finals, lifting the trophy in 2002, 2003 and 2009. She was runner-up in 2004 and 2008. A heavy favorite in the final, the younger Williams sister is 5-1 career against Zvonareva, and this will be their first meeting on grass.

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Watch 2010 Championships Live Online Video Stream
The Wimbledon Championships 2010 goes into the semifinal stage of the Men?s Singles event. Top seed is no longer in the running after a surprise defeat in the quarterfinals. The next three seeded players made it through.
(CZE) vs (SRB)
(GBR) vs […]

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How about aiming for that bald patch at the baseline? Hasn’t it produced an error nearly 100 percent of the time. If not an error at least an errant return begging to be thrashed?

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STELLA Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni backs Andy Murray to win Wimbledon By Mike Dickson Andy Murray goes into today’s crunch semi-final against Rafael Nadal buoyed by a ringing endorsement from an unlikely source — his opponent’s coach and uncle Toni. The world No 1’s mentor believes that it is only a matter of time before […]

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………….watch the freaking Wimbledon final? For rock people, in his interview after losing to Berdych he said he won’t watch the finals because he will be on vacation. Really? Shouldn’t he be the FIRST one to be watching it now that he has been eliminated this early and the game has literally changed like overnight? […]

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During his match against Federer at Wimbledon this year, Berdych did something that none of Federer’s previous opponents have done so blatantly. It was Berdych’s way of conveying his firm belief in winning the match. It surely must have bristled Federer given the scoreline. First correct answer = Wall Of Fame listing.

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Can you imagine that at an NBA game – or any freaking professional sport? What? Was the sport originally meant for blind people – with hearing? We are freaking watching the freaking match with pin drop silence. We know the freaking score. And the jumbo screen is big enough. Or is it for the sake […]

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You have to have performed some serious BS – consistently – to suffer the kind of heart breaks Roddick has had as a professional tennis player. All this while he has been chanting ‘why me’ every time he bombs at a major but this time it must have even more special. Not only did Lu […]

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Malaise, you are not fooling anyone!!!!!!!!!!

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STELLA again I didn’t get to watch today so will settle down with my match tapes tonight. Today is Canada Day and I spent much of the day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, alongside well over 100,000 others to attend a concert, a flypast by the Snowbirds and to see the Queen who arrived in […]

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M Vote for the ESPYs! http://espn.go.com/espys/#/home Roger, Rafa, and Juan Martín are nominated for Best Male Tennis Player of the Year. Venus, Serena, and Kim C. are nominated for Best Female Tennis Player of the Year. (And no, anyone who’s looking at that list and thinking it, I did *not* bribe any one at ESPN […]

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Who knew today would be such a busy tennis news day?! And here we were thinking all we?d have to do is count how many times John McEnroe used ?she? in his commentary instead of identifying Zvonareva, Pironkova or Kvitova by name. We think it was somewhere in the ball park of 2,000 or so. My […]

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Sean Randall breaks down the men’s semifinals.

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Venus, Federer, Roddick: They all fell by the wayside. But not Serena Williams, who advanced to the finals and might win back-to-back titles. Serena sidesteps the traps that cost fellow stars at Wimbledon, Art Spander says.

Serena Williams - Venus Williams - The Championships Wimbledon - Andy Roddick - Roger Federer

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by Craig Hickman

Getty

The look of a broken player.

Serving down a break at 2-4 in the second set, Petra Kvitova faced break point. She swung her huge lefty serve into her opponent’s backhand, and seemed surprised the ball came back. After all, for much of the match, her opponent wasn’t handling that serve well at all. The surprising return led to an exchange that I described as the point of the tournament. The Wimbledon semifinal ingenue prevailed with a stinging volley winner.

Both players were whipped. Chests heaving, both let the crowd’s extended applause wash over them. The longer it lasted, the better.

Petra fired another great serve that came back with interest. The warriors were at it again. This time, Petra tried to end the point with a forehand laser down the line that landed a foot long.

She barked.

Despite her deceptively efficient movement and excellent anticipation, she doesn’t yet appear fit enough for the long haul. Still fatigued from saving that break point, she tossed in a double fault.

It took the better part of two tight sets with enthralling tennis sans melodrama for Serena Williams to finally break the will of her opponent. After the changeover, the defending champion would serve for the match.

Soon as her second serve hit the tape, Petra dropped her racquet, her shattered determination captured in the photo above.

What a match.

Best thing I heard by any commentator during it came from Lindsay Davenport.

“Serena doesn’t get enough credit for her strategy,” said the Wimbledon champion and former world No. 1. “She’s definitely a thinking player out there.”

And so when Serena stopped attempting outright winners on her service returns and started striking them high and deep, she pushed Petra back, forcing errors instead of giving away points.

An adjustment that made all the difference.

Petra had no deep-Slam experience to rely upon, but her exquisite serve, raw talent and gutsy fight are a breath of fresh air on a tour populated with serveless top-10 players who fold at the first hint of success.

Petra did no such thing. She had to rally from a set down and save match points just to get here. No. Serena had to break her will in order to win. She broke it with her tennis.

Her name alone wasn’t going to be nearly enough.

Getty

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An elbow injury rules Justine Henin out of the US Open later this year.

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A day in JO’s life at SW19, plus other tennis snippets

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Seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin says she will miss the U.S. Open after partially tearing a ligament in her right elbow during a fall at Wimbledon.

Grand Slam - Justine Henin - US Open - The Championships Wimbledon - Tennis

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Seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin says she will miss the U.S. Open after partially tearing a ligament in her right elbow during a fall at Wimbledon. Henin says Thursday on her website that the injury will keep her off the tour for about two months. She says she’ll withdraw from the American hard-court circuit, including the U.S.

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Former champ , and British favorite spoke to the respective media before their 11th career meeting at on Friday.
Nadal, who seldom reveals his tactical approach to an upcoming match, had this to say about facing Murray for a place in the finals.
?Is a dream another time be in the semifinals […]

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Former champ , and British favorite spoke to the respective media before their 11th career meeting at on Friday.
Nadal, who seldom reveals his tactical approach to an upcoming match, had this to say about facing Murray for a place in the finals.
?Is a dream another time be in the semifinals […]

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Venus and Serena Williams have been fined $4,000 each at Wimbledon for skipping a news conference after their loss in the doubles quarterfinals. Serena Williams said Thursday she is “shocked to hear” about the penalty, adding she and her sister rarely speak to the media after Grand Slam doubles matches other than finals.

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Former champion , and Czech power-hitter shared their thoughts on their upcoming semifinal battles at on Friday.
For Berdych, the 24-year-old has enjoyed his best year to date, which has included reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros, and the finals in .
?It?s going to be similar matches as the […]

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After ousting six-time champion from , Czech told the assembled media that he thought the Swiss? post match comments were poor at best.
?I don?t know if he just looking for some excuses after the match or something like that.  I mean, it happened to all of us,? said […]

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There’s a famous scene in Chinatown where private detective Jake Gittes faces the evil tycoon Noah Cross, who has been stealing water away from the needy populace to lower the price of land that he can then buy.
“Why are you doing it?” Gittes asks. “How much better can you eat? What […]

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Week two at The Championships, is coming to a close. It?s most certainly been a wild ride, and TSF is pretty sure that this is one of our more favorite slams from the last few years. Can the final weekend produce the high-quality tennis (and drama!) that would put the cream on top of […]

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Top seed Serena Williams survives an unexpectedly tough examination of her title credentials before beating Petra Kvitova 7-6 6-2 to reach her sixth Wimbledon final.

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Defending champion Serena Williams defeated unseeded Petra Kvitova in straight sets to reach her third straight Wimbledon final and sixth overall.

Vera Zvonareva - Grand Slam - Tsvetana Pironkova - Wimbledon - The Championships Wimbledon

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Britain’s Oliver Golding reaches the Wimbledon boys’ semi-finals, while Laura Robson is into the girls’ final four.

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Russia’s Vera Zvonareva has advanced to her first Grand Slam final after rallying to defeat unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6, 6-3 6-2 in the semifinals of Wimbledon. The Bulgarian won the first set Thursday after breaking the 21st-seeded Zvonareva’s serve in the sixth game, with the aid of a net cord.

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Vera Zvonareva comes from a set down beat Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6 6-3 6-2 and book a place in the Wimbledon final.

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Today?s big match: v Let?s cut to the quick: the young lady from the Czech Republic is going to be overwhelmed by Serena Williams today and lose in straight sets. Kvitova is a banger: she hits the ball very hard and has a decent first serve but that?s about it. She […]

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Today?s big match: v Let?s cut to the quick: the young lady from the Czech Republic is going to be overwhelmed by Serena Williams today and lose in straight sets. Kvitova is a banger: she hits the ball very hard and has a decent first serve but that?s about it. She […]

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From The Independent By: Nick Bollettieri 1. He?s mentally tough again When lost the final to in January, his game fell to pieces. The circumstances were clearly hard for him emotionally. The consequence? He simply couldn?t buy a decent run of form. The mental and physical drain clearly affected […]

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From The Independent By: Nick Bollettieri 1. He?s mentally tough again When lost the final to in January, his game fell to pieces. The circumstances were clearly hard for him emotionally. The consequence? He simply couldn?t buy a decent run of form. The mental and physical drain clearly affected […]

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Mornin’. This one will be quick, so I can get out of your road before the matches get underway. The big events of yesterday obscured a significant result, the loss by Venus and in the doubles. The sister,…

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For the first time since 2002, the men’s singles final at will not feature . After losing in the quarter-finals in consecutive Grand Slams, is it time to declare that the era of Federer dominance is over? That might be premature, but one thing is certain: either or […]

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Andy Murray’s progress to a last-four meeting with world number one Rafael Nadal is still the talk of Wimbledon on women’s semi-finals day.

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