2017 Wimbledon

[Lucas]

7 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

I'm not being funny but as much as being injured is bad luck, if you can't play you shouldn't get it. However, I don't think a lot of these guys need the money. Klizan and Dolgopolov have made enough money in their careers, though there are some guys who barely get a sniff of the main tour to whom the prize money makes a difference. I genuinely believe that 99% of players turn up and play because it's Wimbledon and just pray they'll manage to play a decent match through the injury, rather than being motivated by the prize money.

The fans did get to see an extra match between Wozniacki and Babos though anyway so they probably got to see the same amount of tennis for their money, more or less. A shame it wasn't the Federer and Djokovic action they were probably hoping to see though. 

Like yourself, I would also like to think players who are going into their first game not fully fit would play simply for the prestige of Wimbledon rather than being worried about the money, but then I naturally feel cynical about things like this in Sport these days. I truly don't know.

But when it happens so often, it really feels a cop out.

 

[JoshBRFC+]

Djokovic vs Del Potro is a match id be looking forward to watch if it happens. 

 

[Spike]

24 minutes ago, Eco said:

DO IT!

As I said my knees are wewk somI want to do some strength training

[SirBalon]

Katie Boulter 

 

[Stan]

7 hours ago, Lucas said:

That's robbing the general public in my eyes. Those tickets aren't cheap at all and that's two games on a show court as well.

Only two days gone and there's been quite a few early retirements.

It's time they consider a rule change in grand slams so players can pull out before a game without risking not getting their match fee and a lucky loser can come in and play for a certain fee so they still get something.

They already do that. I heard Tim Henman explain that if you have an injury you have up until the day before the tournament starts to pull out. You'd still get your normal round 1 prize money. A lucky loser will replace you and if they win, they get the difference in money. 

Is it me or have there been more retirements than usual this year? 

1 hour ago, SirBalon said:

Katie Boulter 

 

Leicester gal too ;). Stunning. 

[Honey Honey]

I love the term lucky loser 

 

[RandoEFC+]

Heather Watson is into the third round after beating 18th seed Sevastova 6-0 6-4 . She faces Azarenka in the next round. 

[RandoEFC+]

Jo Konta at 9-8 in the deciding set with Donna Vekic .

[RandoEFC+]

Konta wins 10-8, her first time into the third round of Wimbledon. She will face Sakkari of Greece next, which she should win, then likely to face Kvitova in the last 16.

Aljaz Bedene, the "British" number three who's actually Slovenian, is into the third round too having beaten Dzumhur. He will face 16th seed Muller in the next match, who beat Rosol 9-7 in the fifth set.

Cilic has taken the first set against Florian Mayer after falling behind an early break. Nishikori and Stakhovsky are having a pretty big battle, Nishikori up two sets to one, currently 6-6 in a fourth set tie break, Stakhovsky has just saved a couple of match points.

[RandoEFC+]

Murray cruised past Brown in straight sets, he will play Fognini next who can be very dangerous but on grass Andy should have his number. 

Pouille, who was seeded to face Murray in R4 has gone out to Janowicz. Not many other massive results this evening. 

Nadal has won the first set against Donald Young while Kvitova is fighting for her life, down 2-4 in the final set. 

[RandoEFC+]

20 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

Long Shot Treble

Murray to win by 3 sets to 1, Janowicz to beat Pouille, Brengle vs Kvitova over 2.5 sets @ 45.00. Might stick 50p on this .

Two out of three on this, Murray couldn't drop a set could he the greedy bastard. 

[RandoEFC+]

Kvitova loses to Brengle. Clearly affected by the hand injury from her stabbing which is a mega injustice and a shame. 

That opens up Konta's section of the draw. If she beats Sakkari she's now likely to face Caroline Garcia in the last sixteen.

Medvedev lost today, the guy who beat Wawrinka in the first round. Got upset with the umpire in the fifth set because she kept overruling calls against him in his opinion. No hawkeye to deal with it on the outside courts. They called out the tournament supervisor who refused his request to change the umpire. After he lost he got his wallet out and starting throwing coins at the foot of the umpire's chair obviously implying pretty serious corruption. He has since apologised and back tracked on any implications in a post match press conference. 

[Stan]

missed a lot of action today. Only caught the back end of Nadal's match with Donald Young.

Forgot to mention earlier I saw a bet at evens (!!!) for Murray, Konta and Nadal all to win their first set. Thought that was great value. 

[RandoEFC+]

Young put up a good fight at the end but Nadal was ultimately too good. Murray and Nadal are both comfortable on the grass so next thing we need to see is someone give them a real challenge to see what they've each got in reserve. I'm still worried about Murray's hip though.

A few middling seeds knocked out later in the evening on the women's side - Madison Keys (17), Strycova (22) and Suarez Navarro (25), along with Sevastova (18), Kvitova (11) and Vesnina (15). Losing six of the sixteen seeds in one day in the second round isn't normal but the ladies' results do come out a bit more random.

Pouille (14) the only male seed to get knocked out today.

I've given up on my daily bets because it's too much effort but some interesting matches tomorrow:

CENTRE COURT

Monfils (15) vs Edmund - Edmund lost in the first round at Queen's Club and dropped a set against Alex Ward in the first round here. Doesn't seem to be in the best of form but he is capable of beating Monfils if he's in decent shape.

Lajovic vs Federer (3) - A no-contest, Federer to progress easily here.

NO.1 COURT

Pavlasek vs Djokovic (2) - Likewise, no way Pavlasek is troubling even an out of sorts Djokovic. Straight sets.

Thiem (8) vs Simon - Thiem has been hot the last few months and is having a great year, but he's still unproven on grass and Simon is a tricky customer, but grass isn't his favourite surface either. Put this one on upset watch but I'd expect Thiem to get past.

Kerber (1) vs Flipkens - I can't remember a top seed at a major being so far away from the top of the favourites list as Kerber is here. Flipkens is decent and Kerber is having a terrible 2017, a miracle she's still top seed here, so this one will show us whether she can actually get some momentum behind her.

NO.2 COURT

Dimitrov (13) vs Baghdatis - Unless Dimitrov's head is in the clouds he should comfortably win this, but two exciting players to watch means this match will be a popular one.

NO.3 COURT

Del Potro (29) vs Gulbis - If Gulbis turns up to this, it could be the match of the day. Will fancy Del Potro to get through either way but it depends on Gulbis whether this is short and sweet or whether it has the potential for a bit of an epic. Winner almost certainly facing Djokovic in round three so I think we all want to see DelPo get through.

COURT 5

Jebavy/Vesely vs Murray/Soares (3) - Jamie Murray's first round doubles match. He's had good success with his partner Bruno Soares since they joined up at the start of last year and they're one of the contenders to win the men's doubles. This should be a comfortable start for them.

[Stan]

Del Potro struggling against Gulbis. Looks set to lose in straight sets which is a bit surprising for me. 

Another surprise being Radwanska is about to lose in straight sets too against McHale. Another seed out if so.

Monfils and Djokovic competed their matches with ease. Edmund did okay but nothing to threaten Monfils too much. 

[RandoEFC+]

A shame for Edmund. Radwanska saves match point and now wins the second set.

If Gulbis can down DelPo in straights I believe he can give Djokovic quite a headache. We'll learn a lot about Novak's grass court form in that match. 

[RandoEFC+]

The biggest shock yet on the womens' side as pre-tournament favourite Pliskova (3) loses to Rybarikova. That section of the draw has lost three other seeds so now one of the unseeded players will reach the quarter final at least - Rybarikova, Tsurenko, Martic, Allertova or Diyas. Don't ask me about any of them.

Just saying but before the tournament, Pliskova and Kvitova were joint favourites ahead of Konta, and are now both out. Not saying Jo Konta is favourite now, although the bookies do say so, by any means but she'll never get a bigger chance than this.

Some other shocks today as Del Potro (29) loses in straight sets to Gulbis. Isner (23) is out to Sela in five sets. Mladenovic (12) also out on the ladies' side.

Djokovic (2), Dimitrov (13), Monfils (15), Mischa Zverev (27), Thiem (8) and David Ferrer all progress on the men's side. Vandeweghe (24), Muguruza (14), Kuznetsova (7) and Radwanska (9) progress in the women's, and Jamie Murray has won his first round match with his partner Bruno Soares.

Last year's finalist Raonic (6) has just won a second set tie-break against Youzhny. Hairy times for him as he lost the first set. I expect him to be fine now though. Alex Zverev (10) has made a good start against Tiafoe, Sock (17) should have an easy time against Ofner, Berdych (11) is on course to beat Harrison despite just losing the third set, Ramos-Vinolas (18) up a set against Rublev and Lorenzi (32) struggling against Jared Donaldson could be the third male to get knocked out today.

[RandoEFC+]

A great effort from Heather Watson today but she lost to Azarenka eventually 6-4 in the deciding set. Konta (6th seed) is currently up a set and a break on Sakkari, about to be two breaks by the look of it, good stuff - winner to face Caroline Garcia (21) in the fourth round. Murray (1) to face Fognini (28) later after Nadal (4) finishes dismantling Khachanov (30).

Biggest story so far today is that Nishikori (9) is out of the tournament, losing in four sets to Bautista Agut (18). Not surprised that Nishikori has lost early as grass isn't his best surface but I'm surprised it was against Bautista Agut who is more of a clay courter himself.

Johnson (26) was despatched in straights by Cilic (7). Bedene also lost to Muller (16) in straight sets leaving Murray as the only Brit remaining in the men's draw. Looks like Benoit Paire will be into the last 16 as well as he is two sets up against Janowicz. Winner of that faces the winner of Murray's match, while Nadal will be up against Muller next.

On the women's side, Cibulkova (8) was knocked out by Konjuh (27) but Halep (2) and Svitolina (4) both went through in straight sets. This is looking like a strong half on the women's side and a difficult one for Konta to come through. French Open winner Ostapenko (13) is currently in action against Giorgi in that half as well.

Since I've been typing Konta is now 6-4 4-0 ahead so she looks good to get through, hopefully Murray is as comfortable later.

[RandoEFC+]

Nadal through in straights despite facing set points at the end of the third. 

Murray the first of the Big Four to drop a set now, he's one set all against Fognini but has just broken serve to go up 3-1 in the third. 

[RandoEFC+]

Sir Andy wins in four sets. Came from 2-5 down to win the last one 7-5 saving 5 set points. Classic Murray. 

Sadly his brother hasn't fared as well and they've been knocked out 7-5 in the fifth set. 

Tsonga (12) and Querrey (24) are at 5-6 in the fifth set. The winner of that will face Anderson in the next round and the winner of that will likely face Murray in the quarters. Two big servers there could be going on for a while with no tie break in the deciding set. Light is fading so finishing that one tomorrow looks possible. 

Edit: that match suspended now, will be completed tomorrow. 

[LFCMike]

Had to proper dig in there Murray. Good watch those last few games.

[RandoEFC+]

Tsonga came out and got broken in his first service game so he goes out to bloody Querrey. Eugh. Dimitrov is already through, Sela retiring against him after losing the first two sets both 6-1. 

Muguruza (14) and Kuznetsova (8) already through as well today. 

[RandoEFC+]

It's "Manic Monday" tomorrow with all of the Last 16 ties taking place for the men and women.

MEN

Murray (1) v Paire - Centre Court 3pm

Yet another "flair player" here for Murray. Hopefully he's more confident than he was against Fognini, I don't see any way he loses this so it's nice to have another match where he can hopefully play himself into some better form.

Dimitrov (13) v Federer (3) - Centre Court 6pm

Once dubbed "baby-Fed", Dimitrov has not yet fulfilled his potential but he is a former semi-finalist at Wimbledon and looks in good form. This is the tie of the round and Federer's first big test of the draw. 

Nadal (4) v Muller (16) - No. 1 Court 3pm

Hard to see Nadal losing this though this is the sort of opponent that has beaten Nadal on grass in recent years. Muller will serve a lot of aces but I can't see where he's going to trouble Rafa's serve enough to win sets so I expect the Spaniard through in three close sets.

Mannarino v Djokovic (2) - No. 1 Court 6pm

Mannarino will be getting a nosebleed in the second week of a slam. I'm still not convinced of Djokovic's ability to challenge for this title but he won't lose here.

Raonic (6) v Zverev (10) - No. 2 Court 3.30pm

On another surface, I could see Zverev winning this given the form of both guys but I think Raonic has too much for him this time. I agree with the numerous fans and pundits touting Zverev as a future world number one though. 

Thiem (8) v Berdych (11) - No. 3 Court 3.30pm

I think this is where we lose our highest seed since Wawrinka in the first round. Thiem is having a great year but I don't know if he's quite there yet on grass and this is a good surface for Berdych.

Bautista Agut (18) v Cilic (7) - Court 12 1.30pm

Bautista Agut has done a great job getting this far but Cilic is in great form himself and should put an end to the Spaniard's run here to set up a quarter final clash with Nadal.

Querrey (24) v Anderson - Court 18 1.30pm

Winner of this is Murray's next opponent assuming he gets past Paire. Anderson has rediscovered some form after being ranked way below where he should be for a while. I reckon he takes this and becomes the only unseeded quarter finalist.

 

WOMEN

Konjuh (27) v V Williams (10) - Centre Court 1pm

My knowledge of some of these women is almost zero and I know very little of Konjuh. This means that Venus should win if she's having a decent day.

Konta (6) v Garcia (21) - No. 1 Court 1pm

Never thought I'd see a British woman as the bookies favourite for the Wimbledon title but here we are. Garcia is a tricky opponent and dangerous on grass but I think, and hope, Konta has enough about her to reach the last eight.

Kerber (1) v Muguruza (14) - No. 2 Court 11.30am

Great match up. I still think Muguruza will be a world number one, and I'm backing her to win here as Kerber has done well to reach the second week after the year she's had but is yet to face anyone of Muguruza's standard.

Azarenka v Halep (2) - No. 2 Court 1.30pm

Another good match. Azarenka seems to have been AWOL for ages but has played well so far. Halep should win this as I think pound for pound she's the strongest and most consistent performer on the women's tour at the moment, but she keeps finding ways not to win slams, so Azarenka taking this wouldn't surprise me.

Radwanska (9) v Kuznetsova (7) - No. 3 Court 11.30am

Now if I'm not getting mixed up between Kuznetsova and the countless similar sounding Eastern European ladies, she is quite a baseline grinder which means Radwanska should be licking her lips here. However Aga can be very unpredictable so this could go either way. 

Vandeweghe (24) v Wozniacki (5)

Vandeweghe has had a great tournament so far and while Wozniacki is very solid she can also get overwhelmed by big hitters on fast courts so I'm backing Vandeweghe to win this.

Ostapenko (13) v Svitolina (4) - Court 12 11.30am

I don't know enough about either girl to call this match but it's madness that this has been shifted out to Court 12. Two of the most exciting young women on tour. They should definitely use the middle Sunday to run these fourth round ties over two days because hardly anyone will watch this clash and that's a big shame.

Rybarikova v Martic - Court 18 11.30am

I've vaguely heard of Rybarikova but not Martic. This guarantees there will be at least one unseeded woman in the quarter finals but god knows which one. 

[Stan]

Great preview, that, @RandoEFC! Should be a good days tennis! 

[Toony]

Very good write-up, I'm off today so will probably watch the lot.

Murray/Konta double for the championships would be good.