Tennis

[Guest crystal_t33rs]

Safin beat Djoko! Huh. O____O I watched the 2nd set, and Djoko seemed able to hold his serve, and I thought he'd come back strong, but he surprised me. Safin surprised me, getting all the points whenever the two rallied. Djoko made some major errors that gave Safin the bump. Also, it didn't hurt that Safin's returns were not bad at all. Oh heck, even I was pissed off for Djoko when they misread one of his shots during the tiebreak that was pretty darn in. Huh. I'm still so shocked. It's the fact that Safin beat him in STRAIGHT sets that's still getting to me.

But Djoko just didn't seem to be IN the match. Or at least of what I saw in the 2nd set anyway. I hope they replay this later!

[Guest Volts]

Safin has all the tools to be one of the best but never came through. Waste of talent if you ask me....

[Guest StealthGnome]

Wow! Go Safin! That's unbelievable how Angryman-Safin swept Djokovic in straight sets. Interesting. I'm watching the Woman's Centre Court. Three hours long. 5-5 final set. Dechy is cracking. Go Ivanovic@

Edit: Dechy hit a ball kid LOL! 7-6 Dechy serving to stay in.

Edit2: 10-8 Ivanovic!

[Pogichinoy]

Safin has all the tools to be one of the best but never came through. Waste of talent if you ask me....

No he doesn't. He still sux at the net and relies on his mood too much.

---

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/match_...4391938156.html

Great job by Safin though, glad to see him go into the next round instead of Djerk the Djoke.

[Guest wonderbang]

Woah that's surprising. I didn't get to see the match (where are the damn highlights?@?!) but either Safin was on fire or Novak was out of it (or both I guess....) So much for challenging Nadal and Federer......he was close during the beginning of the year but seemed to have tail off big time.

And what was up with Ivanovic's match?! Is the newly-crowed Grand Slam champ breaking down already?

[Guest dOotsiez]

^ I missed the match when it was on because my local tv decided to play HEWITT V MONTANES over Safin v Djerk. Grrrr scoreboard watching has never been so intense. At least they replayed it later.

But yes you're actually right, Safin was on fire and Djerk just had an off-day, his serve was way off. Double faulted on match point - yikes. If he was playing against Head Case Safin, then he could've still won, but there was no sight of Head Case Safin yesterday, it was more like the Safin circa AO 05. I kept on expecting him to implode suddenly and allow Djerk to come back, even when he was a game from victory. Now I eat my delicious humble pie.

The thing with head cases is, as soon as you dismiss them, they come back so spectacularly, like Nalbandian last year, and Safin yesterday, and Gasquet was all in his backhand-coolness against Fish as well Such love/hate I have for these nutters. And I agree with whoever said Safin was a wasted talent, and the same goes for Nalbandian, and to some extent Kiefer.

Serves Djerk right for all that 'Fed's vulnerable' talk he did last week. Don't trash a champion when he's down. And it took another champion to teach him that.

On the women's side, Ivanovic won by sheer luck yesterday, she played terrible tennis. I think the two Serbians are crumbling a little bit under pressure. Often the hard part isn't getting there, it's staying there. Not jumping on the Ivanovic bandwagon this year

[Guest wonderbang]

Thanks for the description dOotsiez. Seems like Safin just had an on day and you never know with this guy......makes him a dangerous opponent actually since you don't know what to expect from him on any given day.

I read some news article on Ivanovic and found out she basically won by sheeeeer luck. Apparently she saved the second match point when the ball dribbed over after a net cord. Talk about having the Wimbledon gods smiling over you.....that's the closest a player can get to losing I guess!

[Guest [Deleted User]]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[Guest crystal_t33rs]

Maria's out! O___O I feel she's getting worse everytime I see her play. Whenever I DON'T watch her matches, she's crusing along happily, and whenever I'm actually sitting down and rooting for her and watching her, she completely loses it! Maybe I should just not watch her play anymore. haha. Jeez...

Ivanovic was a lucky gal indeed yesterday. I thought Dechy was going to get it for sure, and then well... I was never part of the Ivanovic bandwagon anyway, so...

Nadal beat Gulbis today! Phew, I thought Gulbis was getting to him, but he proved to be stronger! But I was so confused on what happened during that first set when the umpire gave the wrong call, I think? One second, I thought Gulbis lost the point, I turn away for a second and see that he actually won it, but what happened? Nadal was telling the ump that he "can not believe it." "It" being the call, I guess. Either way, I'm glad Nadal came back and won it!

I want to say it's going to be a Fed vs Hewitt 4th round. lol. Hewitt seems to be playing very well! I haven't even seen him playing much the earlier half the year and then WHAM! He comes into the start of the grass season at Queens.

And just as I thought: Tipsarevic won the match against Roddick.

Anybody else rooting for Venus to defend the title? Serena was moving extremely well yesterday!

[Guest prelude]

I'm incredibly disappointed that Djokovic lost to Safin... and a little disheartened that so many people aren't supporting him anymore. I find he has great sportsmanship, and I think it matters. Unlike Andy Roddick, he gives credit to his opponent for good shots, etc.

As the person who posted before already stated, OMG --- SO MANY TOP SEEDS ARE OUT!: Djokovic, Davydenko, Nalbandian, Sharapova, Roddick, Blake, Hantuchova, Vera Zvonareva, and Davenport!

I think I'm looking out for Ernests Gulbis; he may do very well in the future. I like his strategies and his game. Even though he lost to Nadal (put up quite a fight), it was really good game.

I'm watching out for Tipsarevic, too. Omg, what was that ... was it the game against Federer in the Australian Opens? I can't remember anymore. But he's one to watch out for, that's for sure.

I predicted Tipsarevic would win, anyway. Roddick... Roddick only wins on his aces and big serves. I don't find anything amazing about him, except for his whizzing serves.

So I guess this year's Wimbledon might take a few newbies to the quarters, semis, and maybe the final. I want Federer to set another record by winning it again, though.

On the ladies' side, Ivanovic is doing very well. I'm rooting for her, and I definitely believe she deserves her place as first seed. She seems very humble about it all. That game against Natalie Dechy yesterday was so awesome! Isn't Dechy a doubles player?

Jankovic is doing well also. Venus is still in the run, as is Serena. I'm looking for some newbies that may take it far at Wimbledon.

The grass courts at Wimbledon seem to be giving top seeds a hard time. Maybe it'll give others a chance to prove themselves.

[Guest wonderbang]

THIS IS LIKE ROLAND GARROS ALL OVER AGAIN.

Players I thought would cruise are dropping like flies while players I wouldn't think twice about are moving through comfortably. Even after all of these years of following tennis, I still can't make heads or tails of it. Crazy I tell ya...

[Guest teeny]

I'm incredibly disappointed that Djokovic lost to Safin... and a little disheartened that so many people aren't supporting him anymore. I find he has great sportsmanship, and I think it matters. Unlike Andy Roddick, he gives credit to his opponent for good shots, etc.

As the person who posted before already stated, OMG --- SO MANY TOP SEEDS ARE OUT!: Djokovic, Davydenko, Nalbandian, Sharapova, Roddick, Blake, Hantuchova, Vera Zvonareva, and Davenport!

I think I'm looking out for Ernests Gulbis; he may do very well in the future. I like his strategies and his game. Even though he lost to Nadal (put up quite a fight), it was really good game.

I'm watching out for Tipsarevic, too. Omg, what was that ... was it the game against Federer in the Australian Opens? I can't remember anymore. But he's one to watch out for, that's for sure.

I predicted Tipsarevic would win, anyway. Roddick... Roddick only wins on his aces and big serves. I don't find anything amazing about him, except for his whizzing serves.

So I guess this year's Wimbledon might take a few newbies to the quarters, semis, and maybe the final. I want Federer to set another record by winning it again, though.

On the ladies' side, Ivanovic is doing very well. I'm rooting for her, and I definitely believe she deserves her place as first seed. She seems very humble about it all. That game against Natalie Dechy yesterday was so awesome! Isn't Dechy a doubles player?

Jankovic is doing well also. Venus is still in the run, as is Serena. I'm looking for some newbies that may take it far at Wimbledon.

The grass courts at Wimbledon seem to be giving top seeds a hard time. Maybe it'll give others a chance to prove themselves.

I still support djokovic ^^ heh heh, you can't deny his mad skills, although i was disapointed in his loss

btw i was pretty surprised with sharapova, i thought she would get in further

[Guest joyeux]

I'm incredibly disappointed that Djokovic lost to Safin... and a little disheartened that so many people aren't supporting him anymore. I find he has great sportsmanship, and I think it matters. Unlike Andy Roddick, he gives credit to his opponent for good shots, etc.

Well, the reason he's not my favorite player is because he got too cocky. Sure, Djoko is not a bad player at all - far from it, actually. He's improved immensely the past two years and he even won AO this year. But again, his fault is he got cocky.

And I guess the pressure wore him down at the same time, but I think he did that to himself, saying that he's going to be number 1 by the end of the year and not being modest about it, it's no wonder he got pressured. If you're that confident about yourself and actually playing that well, then there's going to be expectations and I thought he was riding those expectations well, but alas, it didn't last very long.

But who knows. Hard court season's going to come around again and we'll see then. I have to admit although he isn't my favorite, I'm disappointed as well.

I do agree that Andy Roddick is a big service guy and that just might be the only thing going for him, but there's so many other guys who are great at serving or improving anyway. I remember watching the 2004 Wimby final, and that was seriously his best match yet although he came out the runner-up. Pity he doesn't play like that anymore. =T

[Guest PecanPie02]

i think that djokovic is just a bit too haughty.. and i dont like his attitude towards other tennis players.. he is an awesome player no doubt about it.. but he needs to learn how to be more humble.. and thats why i dont give him the respect he deserves even though hes such a great player..

seeing all his imitations of other players.. i find it rude...

and maybe thats the biggest difference between federer/nadal and djokovic....

oo and also.. come on james blakeeee!!!! -____-;;; i really wanted to root for him to the end!! -__-;;

[Pogichinoy]

This is awesome, Roddick and Sharapova were knocked OUT~!!

[joonage]

Man ... I'm sad that Sharpova's out ...

She's sorta on a downward slope right now. But she'll pick it back up.

I wouldn't mid seeing another Williams sisters matchup.

[Guest wonderbang]

Man ... I'm sad that Sharpova's out ...

She's sorta on a downward slope right now. But she'll pick it back up.

I wouldn't mid seeing another Williams sisters matchup.

I definitely agree. Sharapova just played awful and credit to Alla who kept being aggressive even on the big points. I'm sure this one is going to sting Maria for awhile until the hard court season is in full swing. Her year has seen polar opposites from winning the AO emphatically to now losing in the second round of the Big W.

As for Serena and Venus, I'm glad they're moving along and hopefully they'll get better and better as the tournament progresses. I rather not see a double third round whammy again.......grass should make them a lot more happy.

[Guest dOotsiez]

I'm incredibly disappointed that Djokovic lost to Safin... and a little disheartened that so many people aren't supporting him anymore. I find he has great sportsmanship, and I think it matters. Unlike Andy Roddick, he gives credit to his opponent for good shots, etc.

Djokovic and good sportsmanship? *bites tongue*

Sure he loses graciously, but he's a 'sore winner'. note how he's been trying to get under Federer's skin all year with his rhetoric, maybe it would help if he let his racquet do the talking instead, because he's obviously capable. That loss will do him some good.

Tough luck for Ernie Gulbis, got outplayed last night by Rafa, who was obviously the more 'complete' player in terms of skills, but he did manage to make it a match, and he's still quite young so I'm hoping he'll step up soon. Gulbis is still quite weak on the backhand, and can be a little too wild on that awesome forehand of his. But as a plus, his pressers are great. But Gulbis bandwagon anyone?

Where is the Sharapova that dominated at AO at the start of the year? Ivanovic, imo, hasn't quite stepped up to her No. 1 ranking yet. She's had a few bizarre losses this year, and probably should have lost against Dechy. Not consistent enough. crystal_t33rs I too am rooting for Venus, but wouldn't mind Serena winning either. They are clearly the most consistent out there, and if they played more and got injured less, they deserve to be higher than no 6 and 8 (?) for the quality of their game.

Maybe these top players are overestimating their early round opponents. Roddick played a very mediocre game out there, only caught a bit of it before falling asleep, so I gotta go and watch it again. But this has got to be his worst grand slam year, lost to Kohlschreiber 3rd round at AO, no-show at FO, and second round to Tipsy. Never liked him, but still...

Wimbledon is shaping up to be .... rather strange, so long as the top two boys don't exit early rounds, I'm happy. And go Rusty! he's growing on me, that bogan...

[Guest loveprint]

Honestly, I don't know what's going on.

I had the live scores up cause I couldn't be bothered watching Sharapova on TV and I was kind of glancing at the scores every 15mins or so. Luckily I looked at it just before Match Point and rushed to the TV to watch the point. And then Roddick.. I wasn't going to watch his game but decided to at the last minute when I caught a couple of games. Ended up watching all the way through until 5.30am. It was a frustrating 3 hours, I tell you that. That one moment where he had set point. Just, ugh. It was horrible to watch.

I'm rooting for Venus, too, but either of the Williams will do it for me.

[Guest wonderbang]

Just a few days in and the tournament has turned wacky already. But luckily (knock on wood) most of my favorites are still in so I'm not panicking............yet.

EDIT: Top-page!

This one is dedicated to dOotsiez.

...and this one is for me! I swear I'll get myself to Wimbledon one day and watch it live