Weeks 27 & 28 - The Championships, Wimbledon - men's singles (grass)

theemptyvessel · Club Coach

Weeks 27 & 28 - The Championships, Wimbledon - men's singles (grass)

flamingowings · All-time great

Andy is just as good doing the commentary alongside Tim and Andrew Cotter as you'd expect.

Also, Kevin Anderson knocked out Federer.

theemptyvessel · Club Coach

I rate Kevin as a better all around player than the other big men on tour and so expect him to handle the winner of Isner vs Raonic in the semi final. Federer might just be finally showing the signs of age catching up to him after the defeat in Halle and now here, both tournaments that he has practically owned when healthy.

flamingowings · All-time great

I like Kevin as a person, I don't much like his tennis though. Same with Milos, although I haven't watched a match of his in a while, during 2016 when Andy beat him in successive finals, he played with more variety but I don't know if that's still in his game or he has gone back to a more serve-bot like game.

JonH · All-time great

Anderson v Isner or Raonic, one for the masses I reckon.

Seriously, well done Kevin, cant say Im upset Fed lost, great player, GOAT maybe, but time for others to come through.

Well done Djoko also in beating Nishikori. Delpo leading Nadal currently so could be a v interesting last 4!

Nix · Futures level

theemptyvessel wrote:
Whilst not all England fans are guilty of arrogance there has been a fair amount of chat about the final already and that is a little disrespectful to Croatia. In the group stages there was talk of England deliberately losing to Belgium so that they could have an easier path through the knockout stages which again is disrespectful to the other teams in that half of the draw. Croatia as a nation is still young and sport is very much a way for them to announce their nationhood on the global stage, just look at the completely insane reaction they had to Goran winning Wimbledon.

Goran as a player began his career representing Yugoslavia and has understandably taken immense pride in the emergence of Croatia and he is known to be deeply passionate about football. I see nothing wrong in his remarks at all, if he was a neutral saying those things about England then maybe but he is a Croat and is just engaging in pre match banter. I also have no issues with his beating Tim, the better player won and that is how it should be.

i dont know anyone whos been talking about us in the final as a foregone conclusion. I do know a lot of people whove said we wouldnt have a hope against the likes of Mbappe, Pogba, Griezemann and Kante even if we did make it. As for Belgium-England both teams put out a second team, so neither were desperate to win that match. I think the media hype up a lot of this just because they have to fill column inches/broadcasting time. Also, theyre going to interview people who have more extreme views, not those that say, anyone in the knock out stages is going to be tough or we have a chance of making a final but Croatia have a really good team and have beaten both Argentina and the host nation and have arguably the best midfielder in the whole tournament in Modric.

Nix · Futures level

Well we fell short today. Croatia better team over the whole period of the match. The team went further than we thought they could.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

So, it ain't coming home after all. cry What an anti-climax in both the tennis & the footie: had England beaten Croatia to reach the World Cup final & had Andy been properly fit & reached the Wimbledon final, I'd have been watching the latter & streaming the start of the footie on my laptop, assuming an overlap. Now, I can think of better things to do on Sunday afternoon... I'm really not interested in watching France vs Croatia & I just can't get worked up at the prospect of a final involving players who have all had a complete personality by-pass: Anderson/Isner & Djoko/Rafa! disbelief

flamingowings · All-time great

Well, the Delpo / Rafa match was simply outstanding, so much fight and heart from both.

Basically, out of the players left I'd like anyone but Isner to win, ideally Rafa though. Novak is going to be very tough, it's a shame that the SF are rather unequal.

(Bet Goran's happy at the WC result though)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, I'm watching it for the tennis and not their personalities - and there was some real cracking tennis in the QFs today. Hope the semis are as good.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Yes, I'm watching it for the tennis and not their personalities [...]

That's me dismissed as a lightweight tennis fan, given that I want to have a reason actually to like the player who wins (& I'm very, very picky...)!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
Yes, I'm watching it for the tennis and not their personalities [...]
That's me dismissed as a lightweight tennis fan, given that I want to have a reason actually to like the player who wins (& I'm very, very picky...)!

Not being dismissed by me. I simply think there's two aspects to liking a player: their tennis (which is clear for all), and their personality (which we glean, how we can, from the media). Many people like to watch certain players purely because of their tennis (and may well also be picky). Some people like certain players as people too, from what they can tell.

indiana · Tennis legend

It's a mixture.

For me other things being roughly equal a tennis match is much more interesting if the players are more relatable to.

Apart from improving tennis and of course being a Brit Kyle for instance has made himself more relatable this year by showing more presence and emotion so IMO a better watch than if it had just been better tennis by a rather anonymous figure going from point to point beneath a cap.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Back to personalities - I must admit I just generated a new respect for Federer having watching his 17 minute post match interview in 3 or 4 different languages. English, French, then perhaps Swiss German (which was ridiculously fast) and lastly German. Perhaps someone could enlighten me if it actually was Swiss German ? I have never really been a Federer fan, but that was very impressive !!

Julia Carrot · All-time great

flamingowings wrote:
Andy is just as good doing the commentary alongside Tim and Andrew Cotter as you'd expect.

Also, Kevin Anderson knocked out Federer.

Hmmm, rather alot of 'stating the obvious' I thought, but some good insights too.