The 2014 In Between Grand Slam Thread

MisterAnarchy

Henry9 wrote: »

I think he'd cope just fine, the problem is that there are no longer the players around who could take advantage of the faster court. 90% would still do nothing but trade ground strokes anyway.

Reversing the changes wouldn't have much impact imo. Maybe Federer could make the most of it, but he's on the way out.

I think Nadal would struggle just as he struggles on a fast indoor court .
Federer bagelled him a few years ago on a fast indoor court in London ,a court that the ATP have slowed considerably since partly due to pressure from a certain Spanish player .;)

I'll agree with you though that the homogenisation of the courts has eliminated the serve volley type player and even the aggressive flair player .

If the courts were sped up though players would adapt their games for the faster surfaces and we would see more contrast in styles and more aggressive tennis instead of largely defensive tennis.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

I think Nadal would struggle just as he struggles on a fast indoor court .
Federer bagelled him a few years ago on a fast indoor court in London ,a court that the ATP have slowed considerably since partly due to pressure from a certain Spanish player .;)

Not disagreeing with your overall points but Nadal was ill that year in London. He had to run off the court to be sick at one point. I don't really read too much into that score line.

Floppybits

RosyLily wrote: »

Would be great to see some of the younger players throwing in a bit of serve and volley! Just to mix it up.....everyone stays at the baseline.

To me this is starting to change, more of the players are getting in and volleying. Just look at the french open this year and the amount of players getting into the net to put away the volleys.

Floppybits

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

I wouldnt say its a done deal,its probably the hardest slam for him to win .

I would really like to see them speed up the courts at Wimbledon to see how Nadal would cope on a truly fast surface .
The homogenisation of court speeds is making the mens game boring and predicatable .

It would be great if they had different variations at each of slams to test each players skills.

Da Shins Kelly

Floppybits wrote: »

Hopefully the bbc get her for their Wimbledon coverage.

Really hope they get Lindsay Davenport back for Wimbledon on the BBC. I thought she was great last year, really knows her stuff.

RosyLily

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Really hope they get Lindsay Davenport back for Wimbledon on the BBC. I thought she was great last year, really knows her stuff.

+1! Really enjoyed Lindsay last year. She's a great addition to the team.

I wonder will Boris be back or will they get someone to replace him?

smurfs5

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Really hope they get Lindsay Davenport back for Wimbledon on the BBC. I thought she was great last year, really knows her stuff.

She's brilliant, isn't she ? Love listening to her - does her research, has a fantastic knowledge of most of the players and is a great broadcaster. Luckily the BBC rate her as highly as we do as she has done the women's singles final for the last two years.

Marion Bartoli is also joining the BBC which is great news as I thought she was fantastic at Roland Garros for ITV. Laura Robson will also be involved as she's injured.

RosyLily wrote: »

I wonder will Boris be back or will they get someone to replace him?

No, his commitments to coaching Djokovic mean that he has decided not to return. Jimmy Connors is back although I don't know if he'll directly replace Boris and be part of the commentary team for the final.


Apart from Jimmy, Marion and Laura, it's mostly the usuals. Brilliant line-up overall.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/wimbledon2014/tv

Da Shins Kelly

smurfs5 wrote: »

She's brilliant, isn't she ? Love listening to her - does her research, has a fantastic knowledge of most of the players and is a great broadcaster. Luckily the BBC rate her as highly as we do as she has done the women's singles final for the last two years.

She's great. I feel like I'm actually learning something with her commentary. She just knows the game inside out.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

She's great. I feel like I'm actually learning something with her commentary. She just knows the game inside out.

She doesn't fill the air time with random things that the players tweeted during the week, which in this current age of terrible commentators is a joy.

yerwanthere123

Vika will be making her comeback at Eastbourne, surprisingly. I wasn't expecting her back so soon.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Vika will be making her comeback at Eastbourne, surprisingly. I wasn't expecting her back so soon.

Makes sense. Couple of matches at Eastbourne, couple of matches at Wimbledon. Few weeks off again, then onto the hard court for a proper comeback.

Floppybits

Is Djokovic not playing any grass court tournaments before Wimbledon? He is not at Queens or Halle.

the_monkey

I just stuck €40 on Nadal to win wimbledon at 9/2 .... Money in the bank!!!

couldn't believe the odds...

grohlisagod

Brown playing devastating stuff against Nadal at the moment. Can't handle him. Serving for the match.

RosyLily

Fantastic win for Brown! And Murray was knocked out of Queens by Stepanek.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Floppybits wrote: »

Is Djokovic not playing any grass court tournaments before Wimbledon? He is not at Queens or Halle.

I'm not sure he ever plays a tournament before Wimbledon, does he? I usually plays one of the exhibition things right before it, Boodles, is it?

RosyLily

Yeah, Djokovic usually plays Boodles instead of Queens or Halle.

Rally for Bally is on Sunday. 3 exhibition matches at Queens, Edgbaston and Eastbourne. Loads of players signed up for it- Murray, Bartoli, Navratilova, Kvitova, Radwanska to name but a few. A 4th player is tba for Queens. Would be great if it was Davenport or another big name.

Rjd2

Boodles is very easy going, not sure its ideal preparation for a Slam, but heh Novak knows best.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

A few rumours doing the rounds that he's getting married this weekend. Don't know if there's any truth in them.

Shooosh

the_monkey wrote: »

I just stuck €40 on Nadal to win wimbledon at 9/2 .... Money in the bank!!!

couldn't believe the odds...

If he gets to the second week he'd be near favourite as the surface is basically green clay then. I preduct another early loss for him. It's hard to make a case for Nadal as the GOAT when he can barely beat nobodys on real grass in his prime.

WaterLily.

Wawrinka is playing so well at Queens. He is definitely a massive contender at Wimbledon. Would love to see him or Murray win it.

smurfs5

WaterLily. wrote: »

Wawrinka is playing so well at Queens. He is definitely a massive contender at Wimbledon. Would love to see him or Murray win it.

He was really impressive and if he can get past Dimitrov and Lopez (two tricky grass court players), a win at Queens could set him up beautifully for a deep run at SW19. I feel like the stars are aligning for him to do himself justice at Wimbledon this year. I'd love to see him do it- I can see him getting Lisicki-type support because of his personality and attractive style of play. A Murray- Stan final would be fantastic.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

They just showed a short piece about Elena Baltacha on BBC's Queens coverage. Speaking to her husband which was very emotional, obviously, but he said that in the whole 8 years they worked together the longest period without pain she had was 3 weeks. Was on tablets for her liver, her back and her ankles, some days she couldn't even move the pain was so bad. It's actually pretty incredible she was as successful as she was with all the problems she had.

mickmackey1

Fed wins Halle, title no. 79

pconn062

So Eurosport and the BBC decide to show coverage of Halle and Queens all week until the final day, when neither of them decide to show it. The BBC preferred to show a GAA match instead (I know it's on now but two sets are already finished).

bing3

pconn062 wrote: »

So Eurosport and the BBC decide to show coverage of Halle and Queens all week until the final day, when neither of them decide to show it. The BBC preferred to show a GAA match instead (I know it's on now but two sets are already finished).

Great match though.

RosyLily

Queens final sounded like a great match!! Hopefully it'll be on youtube during the week. Lovely touch from Dimitrov, giving his racquet to Chris Kermode. Hard luck to Feli.

BT sport was showing the Rally for Bally (not sure if it was Eastbourne or Edgbaston) and people were giving out on twitter about tech faults and them going to athletics instead.

WaterLily.

I watched the full Queen's final on BBC?

Brilliant match, felt quite bad for Lopez, if he hadn't mucked up one easy forehand he would have won it but Dimitrov played incredibly well. I think, for the first time he's shown that he has the mental toughness as well as the natural talent.
Nobody will want to face either of those two at Wimbledon!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

BBC were supposed to show some of the one from Queens but I guess the final went on longer than they expected. They've put it on the red button instead.

pconn062

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

BBC were supposed to show some of the one from Queens but I guess the final went on longer than they expected. They've put it on the red button instead.

I thought it wasn't starting until 4pm, but when I put it on it was in the middle of the 2nd set tiebreak. Didn't know it was on the red button.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

pconn062 wrote: »

I thought it wasn't starting until 4pm, but when I put it on it was in the middle of the 2nd set tiebreak. Didn't know it was on the red button.

I think it was just BBC NI that were showing the GAA, the tennis was on the HD channel.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

You can watch the Queens Rally4 Bally on youtube.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kA829DVc0w

RosyLily

Stream is after improving in the past few minutes. Was really dodgy and slow when I first flicked over. Pretty good match! They auctioned off their racquets at Edgbaston...probably do the same here.

Just noticed, James Keothavong in the chair.:)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Laura Robson is still rocking a pretty serious brace/support thing on her wrist/arm.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Wimbledon Qualifiers draw is out. Two Irish players in there. McGee and Sorensen. Both play seeded players in R1.

http://t.co/7tjmhlnjnH

RosyLily

Yeah, Laura mentioned she'll only be hitting sponge balls in a few months. She'll probably be back in action a month or 2 after Delpo.

Pity there's not more people at it.

RosyLily

That kid in the glasses and blue jacket is pretty good!!

Some bitching moon balls from the kids!:D

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

RosyLily wrote: »

Pity there's not more people at it.

Queens always strikes me as one of those social calendar events. Everyone is always so dressed up and fancy looking, you'd question how many of them are actually tennis fans and how many go to say they've been to Queens.

RosyLily

^ Yeah, the crowd always looks fierce posh. Maybe it is one of those events to be seen at in the summer. Way more posh than Wimby!

Vika winning a few more fans here. She's good fun!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Yes, usually Vika's attempts at humour fall flat, who'd have thunk the British crowd would get her?

Da Shins Kelly

What will the coverage be like this year what with the World Cup going on? Is there going to be coverage all day every day of the tournament on the BBC? Are the BBC covering the World Cup too?

RosyLily

BBC are covering the WC but they haven't got every match. Tennis will probably switch between BBC1 and 2, or maybe go onto the red button.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

With the time difference too the tennis may not be finished by the time the football starts.

RosyLily

I'm sure the BBC and Wimbledon will have something sorted already. The tourney is ridiculously organised, I swear my mother runs it!!

Rjd2

RosyLily wrote: »

^ Yeah, the crowd always looks fierce posh. Maybe it is one of those events to be seen at in the summer. Way more posh than Wimby!

Vika winning a few more fans here. She's good fun!

Boodles is much posher, anyone on under 150 k a year supposedly gets thrown out and told to never come back:eek:

As a mod you don't need to worry though:pac:

This is touching btw.:)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Robson confirmed to BBC today that she's not playing the US Open. I wonder if we'll see her at all this year.

yerwanthere123

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Queens always strikes me as one of those social calendar events. Everyone is always so dressed up and fancy looking, you'd question how many of them are actually tennis fans and how many go to say they've been to Queens.

Apparently the prices are extortionate as well, first round tickets can cost as much as some Masters 1000 finals :rolleyes:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Wimbledon Qualifiers draw is out. Two Irish players in there. McGee and Sorensen. Both play seeded players in R1.

http://t.co/7tjmhlnjnH

I'd say Sorensen hasn't a hope, but James could well be in with a chance.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Robson confirmed to BBC today that she's not playing the US Open. I wonder if we'll see her at all this year.

What a shame. It'd definitely be worth her time trying to make it back for the Asian swing though. Lots of points to be gained where the fields aren't usually as strong.

I hope when she comes back it'll be the last of her major injury worries. Would be great if she could nip it in the bud now rather than soldier on for years like Delpo did, which proved futile.

RosyLily

Rjd2 wrote: »

Boodles is much posher, anyone on under 150 k a year supposedly gets thrown out and told to never come back:eek:

As a mod you don't need to worry though:pac:

Exactly! I just tell them I'm a mod and it's VIP all the way!:P

Sorensen is going well, won first set 6-2. McGee was just broken and Bedene is serving for the first set at 5-4.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

James lost Such a shame. Sorensen is in a 3rd set now.

RosyLily

Michaella Krajicek got engaged to fellow player Martin Emmerich. He proposed after her match at s-hertogenbosch.

Link for anyone interested. One woman in the stands near the end of the vid does not look impressed!!:pac: