Tennis anyone?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Amazing run so far for the Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabur.  She just took out Iga Swiatek--the young Polish player who won the French Open in 2020.  She (Jabur) is the first Arab tennis player and Tunisian to have made it so far into a slam; she's now on to the quarterfinals.  I really felt for her during her last round.  She was going to serve out the match and apparently nerves got the best of her and she ended up, er, vomiting before she served to close out the match.  Poor thing!    But, she made it on through to the second week of Wimbledon and is now into the quarters.  Well done by her!

Novak has almost closed out his match in three sets against the Chilean Garin, so I expect to see Coco Gauff and Angelique Kerber up soon  That should be a good one to watch!

PD

[Irons]

Well Jeffrey, that's horrible!  I do understand how important a sport that football is in not only the UK, but Europe and the rest of the world, but it shouldn't be compared nor undervalued.  There are a ton of tennis fans out there and by the way, I've read a whole lot of reports in the news over the years as to what Judy Murray has done for girls re tennis...tennis/kids, tennis/Scotland and she's raised amazing boys who totally value women in sports and not just sports!

Sorry, not trying to dismiss football, but there are also a lot of people out there in the world who care about other sports (possibly in addition to football)....and girls do matter (as I'm sure that you would agree).  And how many, care about women's football teams?

PD

Wall to wall Wimbledon here PD. As I type this coverage on both BBC 1 & 2. As for football if England were to get past Denmark then the nation will come to a standstill at 8pm next Sunday. As a nation we love sport but unfortunately for the most part we are not very good at it, so when someone comes along like Andy Murray or a decent football team we tend to go a little silly.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Wall to wall Wimbledon here PD. As I type this coverage on both BBC 1 & 2. As for football if England were to get past Denmark then the nation will come to a standstill at 8pm next Sunday. As a nation we love sport but unfortunately for the most part we are not very good at it, so when someone comes along like Andy Murray or a decent football team we tend to go a little silly.

I'm not at all surprised that the BBC has two channels for Wimbledon!   After all, it could be easily argued that it's tennis' biggest slam.    Do they have nearly as much coverage on t.v. when it's one of the other grand slams?  I expect not.  And you do have many wonderful sports players!  Don't be so modest!

I'll give you a heads up here when it looks like Raducanu will be coming up soon.  I suspect that I'll be going between her match and Roger's.  A bit crazed here at the moment--trying to clean, do laundry, etc.  A friend might be joining me for an early dinner later...and to watch Roger (not certain yet).   In any event, stuff needs to get done! 

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Raducanu alert!!  The men's match just before her (on Court 1) has just finished and they are doing a quick on-court interview with Felix Auger-Aliassime the Canadian winner.

I'm guessing about 15 minutes before Raducanu's match starts.

PD

[vandermolen]

Raducanu alert!!  The men's match just before her (on Court 1) has just finished and they are doing a quick on-court interview with Felix Auger-Aliassime the Canadian winner.

I'm guessing about 15 minutes before Raducanu's match starts.

PD

I'm not a great tennis fan but was enjoying Raducanu's game yesterday when she went off the court and did not return. I feel v sorry for her. John McEnroe (whom I couldn't stand in his youth but whom I rather like now) has come in for a lot of criticism for suggesting that she 'bottled it' but, I have to say, my first thought on hearing that she was suffering from breathing difficulties was that she was having a panic attack - I hope that she is ok and comes back from this stronger.

[Irons]

Raducanu alert!!  The men's match just before her (on Court 1) has just finished and they are doing a quick on-court interview with Felix Auger-Aliassime the Canadian winner.

I'm guessing about 15 minutes before Raducanu's match starts.

PD

Thanks for heads-up PD. Your feller did rather well didn't he!

Obviously something not right with Raducanu. Her father is hinting she had breathing difficulties which was down to nerves. Riding a crest of a wave with all the media pressure piled onto her young shoulders she came up against a very good streetwise opponent and was all too much.   

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yes, I can only imagine that she was probably starting to have (not certain of the difference between) a panic or anxiety attack, but only she and her team know for certain.  Hope that she finds a way to deal with whatever the issue is.  She certainly is talented!  All the best wishes for her and her team.  And what a great run for her at Wimbledon and at her young age.  Hope that she focuses on that rather than not having gone further there.

Roger on through to the quarters.  Must admit, he's going to have to raise his level back to or closer to his 'normal' Federer-self is he's going to continue on there much further.  He's had an awkward/rough road back after being out for about 2 years due to two knee surgeries, the pandemic, and not getting in many tennis matches before Wimbledon plus, ageless as he seems, he is getting older and it takes longer to recover after matches vs. the young ones.  Still experience and having a full 'bag of tricks' to draw from matters--a lot!

Fingers crossed for him,

PD

EDIT:  By the way, any fans of Ash Barty here?  I've been quite impressed by not only her playing but also of her composure and attitude towards the sport and her fellow players.  Very talented--not just in tennis but also in cricket.  An amazing story.  You can read some of it here:  https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jun/23/i-thought-that-was-it-why-ash-barty-almost-gave-up-tennis-for-good

[Iota]

The fact that Raducanu has panic attacks actually makes me like her a bit more. If that makes me weird, so be it!

[Irons]

The fact that Raducanu has panic attacks actually makes me like her a bit more. If that makes me weird, so be it!

Me too. Nice of Rashford to send her a message saying the same thing happened to him playing for England juniors and has not occurred since.

Her PR team have probably earned her an extra few £million telling her to do interviews in a three lions England footy shirt. 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Me too. Nice of Rashford to send her a message saying the same thing happened to him playing for England juniors and has not occurred since.

Her PR team have probably earned her an extra few £million telling her to do interviews in a three lions England footy shirt.

Roger up in a few minutes (Novak on through in three sets; no surprise there!).  Went to the grocery store early while it was still cool.  Am trying to figure out how I am going to make all of the dishes that I want to today whilst still catching his match.      Ack!

PD

[aligreto]

Roger, for some reason, did not perform at near his best today and was therefore dutifully dispatched by the better player on court today.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Roger, for some reason, did not perform at near his best today and was therefore dutifully dispatched by the better player on court today.

Hard to watch here.  All credit to Hurkacz to keep his cool and stay focused and play well--particularly on Centre Court with most of the folks cheering for Roger.  Roger had been struggling throughout the tournament, to be honest, with some glimpses of his old self shining through at times.  Apparently, next step is to reassess things with his team and figure out where to go from here.  In any event, as you said, Hurkacz was definitely the better player today, so I wish him well in his next round(s). 

PD

[aligreto]

Even great sportspeople need match practice and that has been missing for Federer in a big way for obvious reasons. He did extremely well to get to where was in this tournament but at some stage even pure instinct is not enough.
I wonder will he play the US Open? That surface may well be too hard for those recovering knees.

Yes, will watch Hurkacz with interest.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Even great sportspeople need match practice and that has been missing for Federer in a big way for obvious reasons. He did extremely well to get to where was in this tournament but at some stage even pure instinct is not enough.
I wonder will he play the US Open? That surface may well be too hard for those recovering knees.

Yes, will watch Hurkacz with interest.

Yes, I knew that he had been trying to get some *matches in prior to Wimbledon--unfortunately, he was beaten in the early rounds of the few previous events that he had entered (with the exception of RG from which he pulled out after, I believe, it was the third round).     No idea what he'll decide to do; he mentioned yesterday during the post-match press interview that he didn't know yet and need to talk to his team about things and where to do from here.  And, yes, I agree with you that he did really well to make it to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

I do hope that he does decide to play on.  It didn't sound like he was ready to give up tennis--despite the disappointment and yesterday's results.  Yesterday was hard enough to watch and hearing repeated conversations by various commentators didn't help my mood.  It will truly be a sad day for all tennis fans when he does decide to retire.

*which as a Federer fan, I faithfully watched. 

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Pretty cool to see Ash Barty into the Wimbledon final.  There hasn't been an Australian woman there since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.  I imagine also that Australian tennis fans were pumped about there having been an all-Australian quarter final there too (vs. Tomljanovic).  Barty will be playing the veteran Czech player Karolina Plishkova in the final.

Further thoughts regarding Federer and his near-term tennis path:  I suspect that he will skip the Tokyo Olympics and play either the Citi Open (in Washington, DC) or the what used to be called the Roger's Cup in Canada, followed by the Western & Southern Open (in Cincinnati, OH), followed by the US Open (in New York).  Just my thoughts....

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

And the women are on court for their final; Ash Barty vs. Karolina Plishkova.

Eating my strawberries, but no cream--some yogurt along with blueberries instead. 

Enjoy!

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Pleased to see Ash Barty win Wimbledon.  She won it on the 50th anniversary of her fellow countrywoman's first victory there too.  Apparently, Evonne Goolagong has become something of a mentor to Ash too.  Ashleigh had an idea to honor her by wearing a version of EG's famous scallop tennis dress, but called her first to see how Goolagong felt about it (She was thrilled.).

Did feel rather badly for Karolina Plishkova today for although she has reached No. 1 in the WTA rankings (and also has consistently stayed in the top rankings), she has yet to win a slam (been to the finals of various slams a number of times too).

PD

[Iota]

Started watching the Djokovich/Berrettini final but the crowd seem so obviously biased towards Berrettini it made me feel a bit awkward watching. For someone of such stature in the game it somehow seems a bit of an injustice, and in such a cauldron as Centre Court it must even seem a bit personal at times. So just dipping in for now.

[Brahmsian]

I'm a big fan of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

I can't claim the same for Djokovic. Something about him that has always rubbed me the wrong way. His air (hint of arrogance, attitude, not so humble nature). Undoubtedly one of the greatest tennis talents of all time, I can fully admit to that.

I congratulate him on tying Federer and Nadal.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Andy Murray vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas warming up on court now.  Rough draw for the first round at the US Open.

PD