2018 Wimbledon Championships - Men

[GameSetAndMath]

Fed was even explicitly asked about this #99 vs. #100 with respect to pressure. Fed clearly told them, he could not give a damn about that. All he wants to do is win Wimbledon. That stuff is meant for imbecile fans.

 

[DarthFed]

I read at other places that Djokovic will beat Fed in 4 or 5 sets in the final. I'll tell you why this is unlikely and what is different then and now.

The difference is one word - PRESSURE TO WIN #18. Ok, that's more than one word but the point is that #18 seemed like forever so the pressure kept growing and growing till it became almost unbearable for Fed and boy did it show.

Here's the deal - This time it will be different because Federer has no pressure of anything.

1. He doesn't have pressure of breaking the Wimbledon record because he already has it at 8 titles.
2. He doesn't have pressure to break some 5 year slam drought as he won #20 at AO 18.
3. He doesn't have pressure of winning tournament #100 as it's #99 he's going for.
4. He doesn't have pressure of defending #1 ranking OR regaining #1 ranking by winning Wimbledon.

So to conclude, the pressure is OFF. Federer will play freely AND Federer has got his improved BH with an improved BH return that was missing in both 2014 and 2015. Also no friggin Edberg making him to do stupid shit like SABR and trying to S&V like a clown.

Past performance is NOT an indicator of future performance. Fed haters love to bring up the past as if that's what will happen. I'm not saying it can't but it's unlikely. I mean if Fed can overturn AO 17 5th set, he can do ANYTHING (short of maybe beating Nadal in a RG final).

Djoker looked strong but I'm still not convinced he's back enough to get to the final here. I actually hope I'm wrong because Roger does owe him an asskicking here.

But I'd say the pressure is on Fed, Rafa is younger and could easily win another few RG's. The motto is the same; X slams for Roger is nothing if the Nadal hits X or more.

 

[MartyB]

The biggest wish of all Federer's fanatics is that someone can stop the great Nadal to reach the Roger's numbers

Stop the great Nadal to reach Fed's #'s is not my biggest wish. I want him to win # 9 at Wimbledon. One GS at a time. Al the rest will take care of itself. Nadalites need to take a breath because Fed is the GOAT.

 

[Horsa]

It has to do with the rich having power. Also it is normal to shop during weekends instead of Monday right? I always thought them not playing on Sunday was some religious garbage but what do I know. I just know it's always been annoying.

Not playing on Sunday used to be about Sunday being the Sabbath Day to Christians but a lot of people in Britain aren't religious anymore. At 1 time shops weren't allowed to open on Sunday then a law came out saying they were as long as any staff opted into Sunday working which meant paperwork & they could also opt out of Sunday working. I remember signing the opt into Sunday working form. I used to be religious but I'm not now. I was brought up Protestant, became agnostic in my late teens then became an atheist in my 20's.

 

[Federberg]

 

[lob]

The f$#!&er is instinctively diplomatic. The voyeur in me will pay quite a bit to watch an angry quarrel between Mr. and Mrs.Vavrinec.

 

[Carol]

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Oh I see. Well that wouldn't work so well for the residents. You're at work on Monday. Sunday is your day of rest. Bad enough you can't get around during the week but to have no peace at the weekend would be intolerable. I'm a Wimbledon fan, my favourite tournament by far, but I must admit the first time after living around there was bliss for me. The final straw was 2012. The double whammy of Wimbledon closely followed by the Olympics... ugh! And the Olympics were way worse because there was serious security on the streets as well. I remember practically telling a policeman to fuck off because I was trying to get into my own property!

Ya, I agree that locals would prefer to shop on Sunday instead of on Monday. But, lots of people around the world would also be preferring to watch tennis on Super Sunday instead of on Manic Monday. Given the vast disparity between the number of locals and the number of tennis fans around the world, I think they should play on Sunday and give the locals a peace day on Monday.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Another PSA:

Starting from tomorrow, ESPN doubles the coverage. The basic ESPN channel would have uninterrupted coverage of center court matches and ESPN2 will cover Court 1 matches and matches involving American Players who are not on CC or #1C with a good sprinkling of other matches when they become interesting.

 

[Federberg]

Ya, I agree that locals would prefer to shop on Sunday instead of on Monday. But, lots of people around the world would also be preferring to watch tennis on Super Sunday instead of on Manic Monday. Given the vast disparity between the number of locals and the number of tennis fans around the world, I think they should play on Sunday and give the locals a peace day on Monday.

Not sure if it’s getting lost in translation but I’m not talking about what should happen for tennis fans. My point is that in the U.K. what residents want becomes really relevant particularly in wealthy areas. That’s just the way it is.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Nadal's match against Vesely would be interesting. Vesely is 6'6" tall big server. Rafa has not faced a big server yet. Also Vesely is left handed. Finally, he has two handed back hand. He has defeated Novak when Novak was ranked #1. All of them are positive points for him.

Novak's match against Khachanov also will be interesting. Remember that at RG, he lost to an unsuspecting opponent in Marco Cinderella. Khachanov can be thought of as Cindrella here. Khachanov leads all players in thin Wimbledon with a whopping 200 winners so far.

Having said that I think both Rafa and Novak will eventually win, even though they may have to work for it.

 

[The_Grand_Slam]

Khachanov leads all players in thin Wimbledon with a whopping 200 winners so far.

He played most sets too amongst the remaining guys except Gulbis

 

[brokenshoelace]

I don't know much about Vesely but watching that Rafa interview, he says that he has a huge serve. Urgh. Buckle up for a long day at the office.

 

[Denis]

I don't know much about Vesely but watching that Rafa interview, he says that he has a huge serve. Urgh. Buckle up for a long day at the office.

He got himself in the second week though, and weather/conditions have been kind to Rafa. Team anyone but Rafa was a little disappointed he didn't encounter any decent grass players so far. Rafa was playing pretty good from what I saw, the slice especially.

 

[Denis]

I don't know much about Vesely but watching that Rafa interview, he says that he has a huge serve. Urgh. Buckle up for a long day at the office.

ps I saw Vesely take out Djokovic once at Monte Carlo when Novak was still dominant. Huge serve indeed. Pretty aggressive player, but couldn't really follow up that win.

 

[brokenshoelace]

He got himself in the second week though, and weather/conditions have been kind to Rafa. Team anyone but Rafa was a little disappointed he didn't encounter any decent grass players so far. Rafa was playing pretty good from what I saw, the slice especially.

First match his serve was good, 2nd match was all around bad, but his third match was his best so far, and yeah, the slice has been working fine. My one concern is the forehand. Despite the weather condition the surface doesn't seem to be eating it up. Hopefully this changes in the second week. Let's see if he gets over that 4th round hump that's been the bane of his existence since 2011.

 

[brokenshoelace]

ps I saw Vesely take out Djokovic once at Monte Carlo when Novak was still dominant. Huge serve indeed. Pretty aggressive player, but couldn't really follow up that win.

Yeah, initially was very worried about Fognini (predicted he'd beat Rafa) and was relieved to see him lose, but finding out what kind of game Vesely has brought me episodes of PTSD. Now I'm really worried.

 

[Denis]

Yeah, initially was very worried about Fognini (predicted he'd beat Rafa) and was relieved to see him lose, but finding out what kind of game Vesely has brought me episodes of PTSD. Now I'm really worried.

The guy has not done that much and he has been on tour a while. Injuries maybe? It will be the more interesting match so far, but Vesely will probably make too many UFE to be a real threat.

 

[Fiero425]

ps I saw Vesely take out Djokovic once at Monte Carlo when Novak was still dominant. Huge serve indeed. Pretty aggressive player, but couldn't really follow up that win.

I saw it too! I had this feeling Novak wasn't exactly trying all that hard to win! Vesely certainly played well, but I always had this feeling if Nole really wanted it, he could have turned that match around easily! It was clay for Gawd-sake! :whistle:

 

[Denis]

I saw it too! I had this feeling Novak wasn't exactly trying all that hard to win! Vesely certainly played well, but I always had this feeling if Nole really wanted it, he could have turned that match around easily! It was clay for Gawd-sake! :whistle:

To me it was a pretty scary loss as Novak was blown off the court, not completely unlike the Wawrinka RG final the year before. It didn't look like Novak was way off, Vesely was simply playing strong aggressive tennis and in the zone. If Vesely does it again today, he might have a chance, but I think he will get worn down by Rafa.