Tennis Chat

Well, what a fine day we had yesterday at Wimbeldon!

Anne Keothavong started the Brit challenge in fine form against Venus Williams, I thought she was going to get pounded off the court, but this was not to be. But perhaps I should have given her more credit having been the first woman to earn a place in the draw by rights for 9 years

It seemed to me that after an incredible shot at the net in the closing points, the adrenalin was pumping a little too hard, and she lost the plot a little, and had she taken the first set, things could have been very different, Venus certainly was looking under threat. High hopes for her

Then on came Andy Murray with another solid, straight set performance. The crowd were a little muted, but a good match, and he is looking a threat to make the second week. I cant see him getting past Nadal though who has records on his mind, but who knows!

And then, then, to me the biggest excitement of the day, we were introduced proper to Chris Eaton, and blow me down, I was thrilled to see him serve and volley not just on his first, but on his second serve too. It was a taste of the good old Tim Henman days, and there is hope that this style of play can indeed still work on the Wimbledon lawns. Fabulous atmoshphere, shame more people didnt stay to see it

Having earned his place through qualifying, and winning a round, this player ranked 661 in the World, has proven he has what it takes. The LTA need to ensure he is given the support he needs. I think he would be a much better candidate for Brad Gilbert's talents than Alex Bogdanivic , who has been gifted 5 Wimbledon wild cards and never made it past the first round

An exciting day all in all, and provides some hope that we have more to give than just Andy Murray

Question: Is it a fashion statement, OR acknowledgement that his shiny genius crown is not quite so firmly on his head

hmmm, me thinks taking a bagel set from Rafa at the French means it must be the latter and he too has come to realise that a white jacket with his own crest is just a little bit too much, even for the hallowed grass of wimbledon

Best player ever, he may nearly be, but that blazar was the last straw for me, the cardigan is just plain funny

COME ON RAFA!

What is it with these girls, apart from Anne Keothavong who looks pretty fit, but then she is in the top 100; the british womens tennis players, look, I am afraid to say a bit flabby :0((

Baltacha is a battler with some wonderful shot making ability, and Naomi Cavaday has a great leftie serve and hit some absolute crackers against Venus today

But they just dont look in the same league as the top women on fitness let alone anything else; why oh why is the LTA not using some of their considerable funds these girls super fit in order to give them a better shot at competing with the best

Inevitably we come back to the same issue that none of the British players have enough fire in their belly (with the exception of murray)

How I would love to be jumping up and down for some british men AND women, as it is, seems we need to live in Serbia for that priviledge. Strange old world

Well, not exactly an easy draw for Andy Murray, but then they never are at a Slam eh!

If he makes it, he would meet Federer in the Quarters, but then he wouldnt exactly want to be on the other side and meet Nadal either!

An analysis of the draw can be found at the Wimbledon site

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2008-06-20/200806201213960173357.html

And the full draws are here

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/index.html

It was quite simply, a sublime display of tennis, especially the second set

Incredible really that a clay court specialist such as Nadal can make this transition, and to win this title one week to the day since taking the French Open Final, awesome is an understatement. I am not even sure if this particular double has been done before, I dont think so based on the Queens winners list

Now he just needs to top it off with the Wimbledon title, and would be the first man since Borg to do so, he has certainly sent a stern message to Federer, who although (as expected) did indeed take the queens title, is surely feeling more pressure than ever before this year

I just love the way he plays tennis, seems to wrap himself around the ball like no player I have ever seen

And so it is, one week to Wimbledon, and I for one cant wait

Yes, a resounding yes, I am absolutely sure of it, and watching him play at Queens today, simply confirms this to me

I think this could be the year for a back to back french and wimbledon, and to show federer that it is possible to learn to play top class tennis on a surface that is not the natural favourite

Recent odds were 13-10 Fed, and 4-1 nadal, personally I think they should be a little tighter than this considering federer's year and Nadal edging so close on the grass last year

First there were the criticisms in Andy Murray's book, now James Ward has said his piece on the LTA and British tennis

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRSqmhx1aW87aJT4M9PAKQiGbupQ

Personally, I have no idea why we are producing so few tennis players, you only have to look at a country like Serbia and wonder where on earth we are going wrong. Being at the top of any sport is incredibly prestigious, I realise that people have very little in Serbia, and hence maybe a little more fire in their belly, but lets face it, what futures have many kids in this country got?

With all the funding available at the LTA, it just doesnt make sense that we STILL arent producing the players, I heard today on the Queens coverage that there are just 15,000 kids playing tennis in this country, France has double this, staggering figures, and how we can expect to produce grand slam winners from these numbers I just dont know

Maybe we need a slam winner before things will change, maybe that wont make the slighest bit of difference! What I do know is that the press need to stop creating headlines around players such as Henman and Murray + loser in them, and then perhaps the sport will not be considered a poor class citizen next to football and the like

Now, I know that Federer is a genius, but he just doesnt sit right with me, I think the Wimbledon crest and blazer was the final straw for me. I know they say that everyone on the tour loves him and he is really humble, but all i see is arrogance

Of course, he is so good, that arguably, he should be arrogant ;0) BUT he's just not my cup of tea, especially as historically, his matches are often so far from being competitive; to me its just not tennis to watch and admire his shot making, but to have no close run contests

Nadal of course at the French puts a whole new spin on Federer's position in the game, and boy do I love to see Federer under the same pressure he exerts on everyone else

The 2008 final is the third time they have met on the red clay, Nadal has been working on his game in the past year, and seems to have drawn away from Federer on the clay, he absolutely demolished him. I thought Federer looked a beaten man from the get go, he is supposed to be a great champion, but I saw barely any fighting spirt, and he looked dejected the minute he walked on court, to me, if he is to take the mantle of the greatest ever, then he has to have more fire in his belly at the French and get after Nadal, his heart just didnt seem in it

I mean really, 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 - Federer hasnt lost a set 6-0 since 1999! What does that tell us; yes there is pressure on him to both win the French to show he's better than Sampras, and take two more slams to go to beat Pistol Pete's record, but if he is to be called the best ever, then he should raise his game; harsh maybe, but it's my blog and I'll say what I like ;0)))

I just feel that he has been so far in front of everyone, and now a few are beginning to catch him, and that he really, really doesnt like not being in control of matches, and indeed tournaments, and to me, that means he's not quite the champion he should be with a game of his standard.

I really believe the tide is turning, no slams to his name yet this year, and massive pressure now coming up at Wimbledon, the other players I think must surely sense that he is looking more and more vulnerable, my money is on Nadal to take the Wimbledon title, and boy what a thrill that would be; looking back to last year, he took Federer to 5 on the grass, and this year made him look ordinary on the clay, he has closed the gap, and I feel sure he can go all the way this year

Will Federer wear his blazar this year, hmmmmmm I am not so sure

Predictably, Nadal and Federer have made their way through, Nadal will face Djokovic, what a match up that will be, and I suspect could prove very entertaining

Federer will face the French, unseeded player Gael Monfils; he produced the match of his life to be the first frenchman to reach the semis since Grosjean in 2001. He coped with the pressure well, and I really hope he plays well against Federer. Much as I admire Federer's tennis, his matchs can often be a little tedious I find as so few are able to ensure competitive tennis, but all being well, this match will provide some excellent entertainment. Certainly Federer will not have the normal crowd support with a home player on the other side of the net

I think we can assume though the final we all expected, and I feel sure that once again Nadal will take the title, and once again, Federer will leave the French empty handed

On the womens side, I am firmly behind Safina, who has now pulled two superb matches out of the bag, and come back from what looked like a losing position beating both Sharapova and Elena Dementieva. She will face Svetlana Kuznetsova. On the other side of the draw, Ana Ivanovic plays another Serbian - Jelena Jankovic

Well it looked like they would meet on paper, and so it is to be, what a cracking semi final, my money is on Nadal, but I have high hopes for a great contest

Nadal was 22 today, someone was waiting courtside with a cake for him when he finished his match, sadly, and annoyingly, Eurosport didnt see fit to show them presenting him with it!

I read an interesting piece in the Independant yesterday, and it was great to hear Andy Murray sounding so positive about his chances at Wimbledon...

"before it was just Roger and two or three others; now there is a group of guys who can win, and I am up there with them"

Great attitude, although in reality, although he is one of the few players who has beaten the fedexpress, I am not sure if he has enough weapons on grass? We can only live in hope though, and I feel sure he can put in a better performance than he did on the red clay and here's hoping for a solid second week performance, although he's gonna have to keep his cool when the added pressure begins to mount with no Tim this year!