Grass Court Season and Wimbledon 2012

[Mertov]

I thought I would put the thread up early..

There are two ATP grass court tournaments going on this week by the way, one in Halle, Germany, and Queen's in London..

At Queen's all the seeds are out except no .6 seed Cilic and no. 10 seed Nalbandian (Murray, Tsonga, Simon, Lopez, Tipsarevic, Roddick etc.. are all out already)

At Halle, Federer is the only one of the top 4 seeds (including Rafa who was taken out in straight sets by Kohlschreiber) to make it to the semis, and he had to fight for every bit of it, beating Raonic only 7/6 in the final set. Rafa, Berdych, and Dolgopolov are out!

Wimbledon will be very interesting..

[catman]

I read somewhere that there hasn't been a married ladies' winner since Chris Everett, some 30 years ago. I suppose it has to do with the time required to train for this event, or any other for that matter.

[Mertov]

Yes catman, that is true. Evert was the last married woman to win it in 1981, and she has been divorced and remarried since

I believe Kim Clijsters won the US Open in 2009 as a married woman and a mother.

WImbledon draws are made:
Men: http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/score.../ms/index.html
Women: http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/score.../ws/index.html

Djokovic and Federer are on the same side, and Murray and Nadal are on the same side. What's new?

Mert

[catman]

I see Venus has bowed out of the tournament already. First time in a long time she loses a first round match.

[Mertov]

Yes, that's the big surprise of the first couple of days.. She did not just get beaten either, she got blown off the court..

The big surprise on the men's side in my opinion is John Isner losing in the first round to Falla. I really thought he would do well here even though he does not like grass much..

Onto the second round...

Mert

[catman]

Another upset on the men's side was Rafael Nadal losing to Lukas Rosol in 5 sets. Rosol is the 100th ranked player in the world.

[Mertov]

Nadal's loss is really shocking. I think it's the first time he lost this early in a tournament since 2004!

Federer, 24 hours later, almost lost to Julien Bennetteau too. He came within two points of defeat 6 times, he was down 2 sets to 0, and somehow got out of it.

[catman]

Wimbledon has been interesting, to say the least. Many "unknown" players won't be after the tournament.

[catman]

I see another upset on the ladies' side. Maria Sharapova lost to Sabine Lisicki.
Mert -- what can you tell us about Lisicki?

[Mertov]

Catman, I have not followed Lisicki very close. I do know that she has recovered from a pretty nasty knee injury late in 2011 that many thought would hamper her for a long time. She likes grass so this was her chance to do well, and although she suffered a tough loss to Kerber yesterday, she must be happy with reaching the quarterfinals. It's a tough call on the women's side with the four players remaining.

Tsonga and Kohschreiber, and Murray and Ferrer are playing couple of exciting matches as we speak..

Mert

[Mertov]

The fourth set of Murray vs. Ferrer was something to be seen..

Semifinals are set:
Women's: Kerber vs. Radwanska // Williams vs. Azarenka
Men's: Djokovic vs. Federer // Murray vs. Tsonga

It should be fun
Mert

[Mertov]

Federer upsets Djokovic in 4 sets! He put on a clinic on how to serve 2nd serves successfully!
Murray is up 2 sets to 1 against Tsonga.

On the Women's side, it will be Serena vs. Radwanska..

Mert

[Mertov]

Fantastic achievement for two players above 30!
Serena Williams wins her 5th Wimbledon title and Roger Federer his 7th!

Federer also regains the number one ranking and equals Sampras record for most weeks at number one (which he will surpass the following week since Djokovic is not entered in any event).

An article coming up on the tennis page about Federer's accomplishment and one of his underrated distinct qualities as a tennis player; you will have to wait and read about it when it comes out

Next up is Olympics, again at Wimbledon in about two weeks (I think!).

Best
Mert

[catman]

Looks like Serena carried the family "honor" well.

[Mertov]

For a final analysis of Federer's uniqueness:
http://www.sports-central.org/sports...erer_great.php

Best
Mert