You will enjoy the conclusion of the match. The most interesting thing was Moya served and volleyed on something like 70% of his first serves. Both players were attacking, going to net, trying to pass, etc. It was like the good old days at Wimbledon!
So, pour yourself a glass of champagne, have some strawberries and cream, and fire up the Tivo. It was enjoyable!
This is great! Thank you!!
__________________ Analise It is high. It is far. It is GONE !!!!!
"We play today; we win today. Das it."
Analise: If anyone is planning on taking on Federer on grass, he can't do it on the baseline. Federer is too good. He needs to challenge Federer at the net both when serving and receiving. This will force Federer to respond in kind and then we'll see what kind of a #1 seed he is.
from what I have seen here life so far, Nadal might be the exception to your theory even here on grass.
...from what I have seen here life so far, Nadal might be the exception to your theory even here on grass.
He lost in the quarters in Queens. If anyone can beat Federer by staying at the baseline, right now it would be Nadal, but let's see him do it. He won a set in the final last year but that was it. Not even a 5 set classic.
Are you at Wimbledon for 2 weeks?
__________________ Analise It is high. It is far. It is GONE !!!!!
"We play today; we win today. Das it."
in my memory, last years final, while only decided in 4 sets, was very very uncomfortable close for 'my' (lucky) Federer then already. Nadal had the winning concept then, just his nerves, for once, failed when it mattered most. Losing against Federer on grass in a final in a close 4-setter as a 20 year old isn't/wasn't so bad ...
a 'come-backer' that did impress me today (for the first time again in the last 2 years) is former Wimbledon winner Hewitt (also one that plays 90% from the backline).
I didn't see Djokovic here yet.
Regarding Queens: Nadal did obviously (and many of my former tennis colleagues that I spoke to afterwards here in London agreed) still 'suffer' mentally from the Roland Garros fortnight-stress and success. I have never seen him so absent during a match. Not so today!
When we were watching the 1980 final last night, one thing I noticed was the noticeable difference between commentary today vs commentary 27 years ago. Today, commentators fill the airwaves even during a point! Is there any need for more proof that today's tennis has rallies which are way too long? Even on grass? The silence during a point or even during a few points was grand. It built the suspense even more. We don't need MJ Fernandez blabbing incoherently. The ESPN crew should take lessons on these rainy day delays from those BBC broadcasts 27 years ago.
__________________ Analise It is high. It is far. It is GONE !!!!!
"We play today; we win today. Das it."
When we were watching the 1980 final last night, one thing I noticed was the noticeable difference between commentary today vs commentary 27 years ago. Today, commentators fill the airwaves even during a point! Is there any need for more proof that today's tennis has rallies which are way too long? ...
Rallies even on grass may be longer, but that is because of todays fitness standard of all top players. Fitness of today is way higher/better than when I played in the late sixities my best tennis.
Not one TV reporter of any swiss, french, german, italian, spanish or britsh TV station would dare to talk during a rally - they don't!
I can't judge US-TV-comments, as when I am in your country, I only watch tennis life (do they even talk when a US player is playing, or may be only when 'others' play?)
Venus struggled to win a first round match in 3 sets, now this about Serena. I guess Mary Carrillo's "dream" of an all Williams final will not come to its fruition. Did Mary forget that the road to the finals must be earned?
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Rallies even on grass may be longer, but that is because of todays fitness standard of all top players. Fitness of today is way higher/better than when I played in the late sixities my best tennis.
Maybe there is more muscle growth (as we see with the proliferation of muscle shirts acting as tennis shirts) but don't tell me that Borg, Mac, and Connors weren't at their peak fitness.
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Not one TV reporter of any swiss, french, german, italian, spanish or britsh TV station would dare to talk during a rally - they don't!
And they are absolutely right. I have to mute the TV when MJ Fernandez or Chris Fowler are commenting. Chris doesn't even belong there. He's better as the overview guy, not a commentator.
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I can't judge US-TV-comments, as when I am in your country, I only watch tennis life (do they even talk when a US player is playing, or may be only when 'others' play?)
Yes the coverage is often like their coverage of the olympics. They wax poetically about the athlete's personal life. Their talk isn't reserved for certain players and they don't do it at every point. The fact that they do it at all is annoying. If they want to increase US viewership, they need to zip it.
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Originally Posted by jneugeba
You will enjoy the conclusion of the match. The most interesting thing was Moya served and volleyed on something like 70% of his first serves. Both players were attacking, going to net, trying to pass, etc. It was like the good old days at Wimbledon!
You were absolutely right. That was one of the best matches I have seen in recent memory!! What I love about grass is that it forces players to go for winners. You can't have long rallies in order to elicit an error from the opponent. You have to go for winners and thus the number of winners on grass is probably the highest on any surface. Moya was a net player on Day 2. Wow!! They were chipping and charging. It was like the good old days of Wimbledon as you said yesterday!
__________________ Analise It is high. It is far. It is GONE !!!!!
"We play today; we win today. Das it."
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Originally Posted by Analise
You were absolutely right. That was one of the best matches I have seen in recent memory!! What I love about grass is that it forces players to go for winners. You can't have long rallies in order to elicit an error from the opponent. You have to go for winners and thus the number of winners on grass is probably the highest on any surface. Moya was a net player on Day 2. Wow!! They were chipping and charging. It was like the good old days of Wimbledon as you said yesterday!
I'm glad you liked it. I have been surprised by the number of matches (men's in particular) where they have been coming in. After the long boring rallies of Paris, it's nice to see.
Here's an interesting (and obviously mistaken) snippet from the AP about Federer making it to the third round:
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Originally Posted by Associated Press
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Roger Federer won his 50th straight match on grass, needing only 11 minutes Thursday to complete his 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory over 18-year-old Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina to reach the third round at Wimbledon.
11 minutes to complete even a straight-sets victory at a major would be quite an accomplishment.
tomorrow (Friday) the 'shocker' will be Safin - Federer.
remember that 1/2 final at the Aussie Open in january 2005 that Safin won after Federer had a matchpoint? (but Federer had his revenge a year later there).
Rudi, sipping a Pimm's #1 (i can't afford the strawberries here)
11.55am: Don’t shoot the messenger but…
11.56am: Rain is falling, covers on across the courts, play suspended.
12.05pm: Rain is expected for another half-an-hour, but after that, we should have a prolonged dry spell. As soon as it stops, they’ll be getting the covers off and play will restart. The covers are being inflated at the moment.
greetings from the player's lounge (from the balcony I can overlook courts 3-6, and go online here while it is raining)
It is high. It is far. It is GONE !!!!! 
The silence during a point or even during a few points was grand. It built the suspense even more. We don't need MJ Fernandez blabbing incoherently. The ESPN crew should take lessons on these rainy day delays from those BBC broadcasts 27 years ago.
