Wimbledon Day 1: Monday, June 24 - Order of Play

[kskate2]

Vintage stuff from Lleyton. Dismisses Stan in straights 4, 5 & 3

 

[Moxie]

I just.... I don't even.... I'm utterly flabbergasted. Flabber. Gasted. This is insane. Great effort from Darcis. I watched it. And Nadal really wasn't awful. And the scoreline shows that he didn't just not play well at all. But it literally seems to me like Nadal didn't put up a fight. That's crazy to say. But watching it. That's just how I felt. I mean, there were moments. Where it looked like he was trying. He just couldn't get the shots in. Which is completely unheard of. He doesn't miss. I mean.... He's got a 20 to 10 h2h advantage over Roger freaking Federer because he doesn't miss. Like.... it was... the best word for it is really is WEIRD. It was just weird. He wasn't injured. He can't dare blame his knees. It was just weird.

He did his best but Darcis couldn't miss. If Rafa could win a set, he might have settled but he never looked confident. Credit to his opponent for that! He looked like he enjoyed it as much as Rafa looked uncomfortable. Smattering winners and serving great. Rafa's serve only came together after he was broke in the third.

Nadal didn't give up, he just couldn't stop the guy. He was forced to go for big shots and missing them made it look like he was sloppy...

Haven't even watched any tennis yet, and it's all but over for me. :s Bummer.

 

[SF Nadalite]

Haven't even watched any tennis yet, and it's all but over for me. :s Bummer.

Skip the replays - the hardest part was watching the look on Nadal's face throughout the third set... he looked like an 8 year-old who just lost his puppy

 

[Iona16]

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

 

[herios]

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

 

[Denis]

I think the consensus here is that it really didn't come down to the knees. It was a combination of Darcis playing great with good tactics, Nadal being very rusty on grass, hampered movement, and grass being quite quick the first day of Wimbledon.

Rafa himself expressly refused to answer any questions on the knees as he didn't want to discredit Darcis' win.

 

[shawnbm]

It was not Rafa's knees--he played a good match statiscally through the first two sets, but Darcis was better. Be looked like he was t ready to face a quality player whose game is geared well to grass. Darcis served well and was aggressive throughout. Nadal will recover well and was bound to come down a bit.

 

[Iona16]

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

 

[britbox]

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I'm with you on the knees. It can't be made an excuse every time Nadal loses a match.

 

[DarthFed]

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

Give it time and he'll be sure to mention "another death foretold"

 

[herios]

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

IMO, everyone moves more tentatively on grass for the first few days when is slippery. He has to be even more cautious and avoid slips like we saw Azarenka had, considering his knees history.
And the journalists will try to find explanations for such a shocking result, because this was worst ever by him in a slam. They will always revisit the knees subject, because it was brought up over and over again, whenever he had a shocking loss.
And some journalists are actually biased, they are human after all. I heard that a guy from BBC said even: Vamos! today after a good point by Rafa

 

[fedfan]

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

Give it time and he'll be sure to mention "another death foretold"

I really think the brutal SF @ RG was extremely taxing. The dude played a ton of tennis leading up to it and left it all on the court that day. I didn't see the reason why Rafa skipped halle berry and forgive me if it was shared here, but it looks kind of obvious now. Granted the best time to get Rafa at Wimby is early, and Darcis did play out of his mind likely sensing Rafa was vulnerable. What was really surprising was Nadal had NO fight in him today. Something had to be hurting and I think we know what.

To be honest, I think the match was fixed ...Joking!

Seriously I hope he's back for the USO. The sport needs him.

 

[DarthFed]

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

Give it time and he'll be sure to mention "another death foretold"

I really think the brutal SF @ RG was extremely taxing. The dude played a ton of tennis leading up to it and left it all on the court that day. I didn't see the reason why Rafa skipped halle berry and forgive me if it was shared here, but it looks kind of obvious now. Granted the best time to get Rafa at Wimby is early, and Darcis did play out of mind likely sensing Rafa was vulnerable. What was really surprising was Nadal has NO fight in him today. Something had to be hurting and I think we know what.

To be honest, I think the match was fixed ...Joking!

Seriously I hope he's back for the USO. The sport needs him.

He might be gassed but it didn't stop him from pouncing Ferrer in the final on clay. You move this match to next week and Rafa probably drops 6 games max. This surface, specifically the 1st week of Wimbledon, is the biggest issue for him.

 

[Mastoor]

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

Give it time and he'll be sure to mention "another death foretold"

I really think the brutal SF @ RG was extremely taxing. The dude played a ton of tennis leading up to it and left it all on the court that day. I didn't see the reason why Rafa skipped halle berry and forgive me if it was shared here, but it looks kind of obvious now. Granted the best time to get Rafa at Wimby is early, and Darcis did play out of mind likely sensing Rafa was vulnerable. What was really surprising was Nadal has NO fight in him today. Something had to be hurting and I think we know what.

To be honest, I think the match was fixed ...Joking!

Seriously I hope he's back for the USO. The sport needs him.

He might be gassed but it didn't stop him from pouncing Ferrer in the final on clay. You move this match to next week and Rafa probably drops 6 games max. This surface, specifically the 1st week of Wimbledon, is the biggest issue for him.

It is an issue in last two years, I don't think it was before when he was playing all those finals.

And what is that with grass to cause him problems? The ball bouncing lower than on any other surface? I ask, I don't know.

You must be happy that the draw got more balanced for Fed.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

Tanko Quitsarevic had his sorry bottom kicked out of Wimbledon..vamos,

other news..Julian Benny-out-of-Crossroads won...ooooooo000o0o0o0o0ooF.

 

[fedfan]

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

Give it time and he'll be sure to mention "another death foretold"

I really think the brutal SF @ RG was extremely taxing. The dude played a ton of tennis leading up to it and left it all on the court that day. I didn't see the reason why Rafa skipped halle berry and forgive me if it was shared here, but it looks kind of obvious now. Granted the best time to get Rafa at Wimby is early, and Darcis did play out of mind likely sensing Rafa was vulnerable. What was really surprising was Nadal has NO fight in him today. Something had to be hurting and I think we know what.

To be honest, I think the match was fixed ...Joking!

Seriously I hope he's back for the USO. The sport needs him.

He might be gassed but it didn't stop him from pouncing Ferrer in the final on clay. You move this match to next week and Rafa probably drops 6 games max. This surface, specifically the 1st week of Wimbledon, is the biggest issue for him.

Knowing how he's faired against Rafa on clay and this being the King of Clay's ultimate playground, Ferrer was likley beat as soon as knew the matchup. As far as we know Rafa may have got by on adrenaline knowing how close the finish line was(#8, 12) and the opponent.

I find it hard to believe a two-time champ and five-time finalist gets ousted in STRAIGHT sets by someone like Darcis.... without putting up ANY kind of fight, unlike the Rosol match, esp with Rafa's ultra competitive nature.... without something going on with his left knee or possibly both.

Not buying the typical slick first week surface was the main issue. No way, not in straight sets...

With that said, we are on the same team. Let's pull our guy through one set at time.... not getting cocky and looking past Stakhovsky.

 

[DarthFed]

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

Give it time and he'll be sure to mention "another death foretold"

I really think the brutal SF @ RG was extremely taxing. The dude played a ton of tennis leading up to it and left it all on the court that day. I didn't see the reason why Rafa skipped halle berry and forgive me if it was shared here, but it looks kind of obvious now. Granted the best time to get Rafa at Wimby is early, and Darcis did play out of mind likely sensing Rafa was vulnerable. What was really surprising was Nadal has NO fight in him today. Something had to be hurting and I think we know what.

To be honest, I think the match was fixed ...Joking!

Seriously I hope he's back for the USO. The sport needs him.

He might be gassed but it didn't stop him from pouncing Ferrer in the final on clay. You move this match to next week and Rafa probably drops 6 games max. This surface, specifically the 1st week of Wimbledon, is the biggest issue for him.

It is an issue in last two years, I don't think it was before when he was playing all those finals.

And what is that with grass to cause him problems? The ball bouncing lower than on any other surface? I ask, I don't know.

You must be happy that the draw got more balanced for Fed.

As you know the grass gets worn out by the 2nd week and plays significantly slower and bounces higher. Rafa has only lost the last 2 years but even when he made the finals he was usually struggling majorly through the first week. The only exceptions were 2008 (by far the best tennis of his career) and 2011 when he lost the final to Djokovic.

Naturally a very fast and low bouncing surface is not good for his game. The bounce is much more important than the speed. If his topspin isn't wreaking havoc and he can't defend as well then he is there for the taking.

 

[britbox]

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

IMO, everyone moves more tentatively on grass for the first few days when is slippery. He has to be even more cautious and avoid slips like we saw Azarenka had, considering his knees history.
And the journalists will try to find explanations for such a shocking result, because this was worst ever by him in a slam. They will always revisit the knees subject, because it was brought up over and over again, whenever he had a shocking loss.
And some journalists are actually biased, they are human after all. I heard that a guy from BBC said even: Vamos! today after a good point by Rafa

Yep, even Federer commented in his first round presser about the slippiness of the court in the opening couple of days. I don't think people are selling the knees as an excuse generally, which is good.

 

[Mastoor]

Give it time and he'll be sure to mention "another death foretold"

I really think the brutal SF @ RG was extremely taxing. The dude played a ton of tennis leading up to it and left it all on the court that day. I didn't see the reason why Rafa skipped halle berry and forgive me if it was shared here, but it looks kind of obvious now. Granted the best time to get Rafa at Wimby is early, and Darcis did play out of mind likely sensing Rafa was vulnerable. What was really surprising was Nadal has NO fight in him today. Something had to be hurting and I think we know what.

To be honest, I think the match was fixed ...Joking!

Seriously I hope he's back for the USO. The sport needs him.

He might be gassed but it didn't stop him from pouncing Ferrer in the final on clay. You move this match to next week and Rafa probably drops 6 games max. This surface, specifically the 1st week of Wimbledon, is the biggest issue for him.

It is an issue in last two years, I don't think it was before when he was playing all those finals.

And what is that with grass to cause him problems? The ball bouncing lower than on any other surface? I ask, I don't know.

You must be happy that the draw got more balanced for Fed.

As you know the grass gets worn out by the 2nd week and plays significantly slower and bounces higher. Rafa has only lost the last 2 years but even when he made the finals he was usually struggling majorly through the first week. The only exceptions were 2008 (by far the best tennis of his career) and 2011 when he lost the final to Djokovic.

Naturally a very fast and low bouncing surface is not good for his game. The bounce is much more important than the speed. If his topspin isn't wreaking havoc and he can't defend as well then he is there for the taking.

Thanks for the explanation, now I can wish him low bounces everywhere.

Have you noticed the pattern in last two years? Nadal beats No1e at FO, then he wins a match after beating No1e and then he loses. I wonder if that is just a coincidence.

---

I'm gutted that Rafa is out. I was trying to watch Murray and Nadal at the same time. It was tough to watch Rafa. I know he said nothing in his PC but his knee is obviously not right. The commentators mentioned numerous times that he was limping. It was really hard to watch him struggle. I just hope he recovers and can come back soon.

All I have to say to this is I am sick of hearing about his knees. Very funny that when he went on a tear for 4 full months, the knees were fine. He changes the surface and his knee ares suddenly bad.
Why his knees didn't get bad in Rome, or Barcelona or Paris?

I have no idea. I am not an expert on Rafa's knees. I'm only commenting on what I saw and what I saw was a Rafa that was not moving as well as he usually does. Post-match I've been reading comments from numerous tennis journalists on twitter and they've all mentioned Nadal's movement and surmised that his knee was a problem. The only person that didn't mention the knee was Rafa himself.

IMO, everyone moves more tentatively on grass for the first few days when is slippery. He has to be even more cautious and avoid slips like we saw Azarenka had, considering his knees history.
And the journalists will try to find explanations for such a shocking result, because this was worst ever by him in a slam. They will always revisit the knees subject, because it was brought up over and over again, whenever he had a shocking loss.
And some journalists are actually biased, they are human after all. I heard that a guy from BBC said even: Vamos! today after a good point by Rafa

Yep, even Federer commented in his first round presser about the slippiness of the court in the opening couple of days. I don't think people are selling the knees as an excuse generally, which is good.

I noticed that Fed was cautious too in his match and who better knows grass but him.

Related to what herios said above Becker's drooling about knees was pathetic as well as bbc commentator's cheering for fedal in both their matches. Shouldn't they be neutral or looking for an upset ?

 

[BalaryKar]

Now I can say that the seven months off, knees or otherwise, was indeed a very nice decision for Rafa. He was a 11-time grand-slam champion and not a novice to be happy with 4th round, QF, SF, and Finals results. If he had the haunch that the rest will help him win the FO, all the praise to him for going by it. Let Rafa take whatever decisions he needs to take and if those help him in winning FO, so be it. Again, Rafa needs to do whatever it takes to help him grand slams. If that means to skip FO for wimbledon to win wimby, so be it (purely from a hypothetical point of view). I would be happy to see him win a slam next year, which ever that slam be, and be the first man ever to have a decade of winning slams. Vamos Rafa!