2017 Wimbledon Championships - Men

[Denis]

Looks like curtains for K. 5-2 in the tb

 

[Denis]

There it is: Rafa through in straight sets. Decent effort in the last set by Khachanov, had a set point and opportunities at the end. But Rafa put it together in the tb.

 

[mrzz]

I agree Nadal is playing fine, but nothing THAT scary IMO.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Nadal was pretty intimidating today. That said, he is beatable. Someone needs to get down and do the blueprint to beat him. There has to be a way.

 

[kskate2]

I agree Nadal is playing fine, but nothing THAT scary IMO.

But this isn't clay. So I don't know that he even has a scary level to achieve on grass. If he's steadily aggressive and serving halfway decent, he will be a tough out.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I was hoping Khachanov would take the 3rd set so that the confidence of Rafa gets shaken a bit at least before he faces Muller. Didn't work out. But, Khachanov did well except for the terrible start, for a first match against Rafa.

 

[rafanoy1992]

I agree Nadal is playing fine, but nothing THAT scary IMO.

Very true but to be honest as long as he's winning in 3 sets I am happy.

In addition, the other top players have not look THAT scary either. I think the main reason is because they have not face a quality opponent so far...

It will change starting on Monday.

 

[rafanoy1992]

Nadal's serve continues to do well. I love how he is mixing up with slice and hitting it big. Hopefully, he continues to serve well.

Also, his return of serve was magnificent today. Yes, he did not break Khachanov in the 3rd set but he was able to return a lot of Khachanov big serves.

The only thing that worried me a little bit was the depth of his groundstrokes especially the forehand side. He was hitting it short in the 3rd set and that allowed Khachanov to dictate some of the rallies. Hopefully, Nadal continues to hit the forehand with depth or else he will be gone.

 

[Denis]

Nadal's serve continues to do well. I love how he is mixing up with slice and hitting it big. Hopefully, he continues to serve well.

Also, his return of serve was magnificent today. Yes, he did not break Khachanov in the 3rd set but he was able to return a lot of Khachanov big serves.

The only thing that worried me a little bit was the depth of his groundstrokes especially the forehand side. He was hitting it short in the 3rd set and that allowed Khachanov to dictate some of the rallies. Hopefully, Nadal continues to hit the forehand with depth or else he will be gone.

Short forehands might have to do with K absolutely blasting his shots from the baseline. Serve was a bit iffy at the end of the third no? Except the tiebreak I mean.

 

[lob]

I agree Nadal is playing fine, but nothing THAT scary IMO.

Enough to get into the semis imo. He hasn't lost a set going back about 30 sets(?) I don't see either Muller or Cilic taking 3 sets from him in one match. He seems quite comfortable out there. I feel like putting some money on him to win the whole thing.

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[Denis]

Enough to get into the semis imo. He hasn't lost a set going back about 30 sets(?) I don't see either Muller or Cilic taking 3 sets from him in one match. He seems quite comfortable out there. I feel like putting some money on him to win the whole thing.

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That's a good stat. He must be feeling pretty good out there and indeed a tall task to take 3 then. Let's see if Muller can get one or two.

 

[brokenshoelace]

The slice is actually good, especially on grass. The effectiveness depends on how low and deep you can keep them.

Slicing against Nadal works, oddly enough, only if you do it to his forehand side and keep it low (he will typically flick it cross court and usually doesn't get much on it), but if you do it to his backhand side, where he can run around and then hit a forehand, good luck, you'll need it.

 

[brokenshoelace]

It's about time someone realized what I am trying to say, if Roger slice that bh to Rafa,and Djoker, they will kill it, well I know,Rafa,will

It's not the same dynamic. Roger can actually slice it cross court against Djokovic as it's a backhand to backhand exchange due to Novak being a righty, and it's a play that gives Novak trouble provided the slice has enough bite on it to where he can't run around it and hit a forehand. It's worked for Roger before against Novak.

 

[brokenshoelace]

^ they might just want Rafa to win. The courts are playing significantly slower to any year I've seen. Ball used is a big part of court speed just like the surface itself.

Have we seriously been reduced to conspiracy theories? Come on...

That said, yes, the courts are playing super slow. The "medium hard court" thing is nonsense though.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nadal looked good for two sets (maybe even very good), but that last set was worrying as it showed the Wimbledon demons of the past are still there (ie opponent starts serving well, hitting hard, and Nadal becomes tentative and unable to hit through the court). Muller will be dangerous but I think Nadal will navigate through that match. Cilic on the other hand, is really worrying me.

 

[kskate2]

Uncle Sam up 2 sets to 1 on AP's Jo Willie T's

 

[DarthFed]

Have we seriously been reduced to conspiracy theories? Come on...

That said, yes, the courts are playing super slow. The "medium hard court" thing is nonsense though.

Doesn't seem that ridiculous a suggestion to me. Maybe the tournament director has no favorite player but he is human...it's possible is all I'm saying. I'd cut off my left...hand if he likes Federer and still made the changes he's made the past 10 years.

I stand by that medium hard court statement. This shit is THAT slow with this heavier ball. Does anyone have the % of games held? That's perhaps the best indicator of court conditions, seems like a crazy amount of breaks for the first few rounds and we know it will only play slower by the end of next week.

 

[DarthFed]

Fog is taking Murray to 5. Not surprising on a medium hard court, on grass this would have been something like 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 for Andy

 

[kskate2]

Look at F3 barely trying out there and about to send this match to a decider.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Umpire docked a point off Fog for obscenity utterance. That got him fired up and he started playing well. Now, suddenly Andy is showing signs of "hip injury".