WIMBLEDON

For the tennis fans on this board....

The Mens Finals seems to be as foretold--Roger Federer will almost certainly be playing against Andy Roddick for the championships this year. And it should be exciting (assuming it really happens).

However, it's hard to see Federer not winning this championship no matter who he plays. But I'm rooting for Roddick to at least bring it to him and make a 5 setter of this match. A new rivalry needs to be made imo. Tall order for Roddick though and it'll only be a rivalry if Roddick takes Federer down on the stage of a Grand Slam... But man, I'm dying to see how it'll turn out. You never know until all is done (hell, Gaudio proved that at Roland Garros this year--my lord).

Assuming a big upset doesn't happen tomorrow after tonight's postponement from the rain delay....

Women's final: Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova
I'm betting on Serena to win, but thank goodness Maria's backed up last year's results and all the hype. The girl is amazing, but needs to develop a bit more into her game (and she has been steadily by far). But she hits the kind of shots Serena loves to return....

But gotta talk about the current semifinals that will resume tomorrow... Roddick vs. Ancic is what many would have predicted thus far and it's fun to watch big serving attacking players duke it out. Grosjean is getting spanked by Federer and yet Grosjean is playing pretty darn well too--Federer is just too amazing.

Anyone willing or daring enough to bet that Roddick or Sharapova will win a Wimbledon title?

-Chanchai

 

Most of the interest here and my own was in Henman's bid to win and whether he ever will now. Do you think he ever could?

Federer has some amazing groundstrokes. Some of the winners he hit against Grosjean were incredible. I wish Sampras was still around AND at his best, cause that would be some contest. Roddick has a bad record against him but his 150 + mph serving at Queens was unstoppable and on grass that could be a real problem for Federer.

Sharapova's win was impressive and she hits the ball with tremendous power but I don't think Serena was at her best. The semi with Mauresmo was also interesting as there was a bit of good serve vollying in a women's match for once /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

 

Well Sharapova just did and I had $10 on her winning with my brother in law /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif She smoked Serena pretty bad in the first set. Congrats to the russians taking the French and Wimbledon.

As for Roddick - hmmm...as much as I think he's a strong player and definitely deserving to be in the final (although Ancic gave him a scare after yesterday's rain delay), I just don't see anyone taking Federer right now. Federer is playing unreal grass tennis. I just wish NBC didn't have such a hard-on for american players so we could see more of the best player in the world. It's like watching Tiger self-destruct and have CBS cream themselves over his par saves when he's 7 back of the lead...

<font color="yellow">.cheers.</font>

 

Gosh... that was an amazing final between Federer and Roddick. I was shocked and the tensions ran high the entire match.

Rain delays drove me nuts, but I guess they also contributed to the high tensions.

On the forums at tenniswarehouse, we were all going nuts discussing the match as it was going on, throughout the commercial breaks. And of course, after the match too.

Despite being a 4-set affair, the match seemed ready to sway in any direction at any moment (except perhaps the first set that Roddick took).

The first half of the match started off with a shock (at least to my system) as Roddick played an excessive brand of high-risk super-power tennis. The winners and errors denied Federer any rhythm for a set and a half. Furthermore, Roddick was just connecting so much and nailing stuff. He was blasting shots to Federer's backhand and Federer couldn't get a read on his serve for a long while.

Federer fought really well too, but his game was being forced into B-mode by Roddick's persistent attacks with the huge first sere, huge second serve, and powershots to the Federer backhand.

However, during the latter half of the match, Roddick started playing more conservatively forsaking some of the all-or-nothing game that was forcing Federer off-rhythm until Federer made the right choice after a second rain delay to start applying more serve and volley tactics.

The match kept on fighting and both sides kept on shooting it out and defending. Federer won the huge points when he had them and as Andy switched up his game in response to the net rushes, Federer brought back the A-game we've come to expect from him--full commitments to unbelievable shots, athletic gets, and an aura of invincibility.

Federer still had to fight it off to the end, but his statement was clear when he pounded the ace on championship point and took it all.

It definitely made my fourth of July and it's a match I'll be rewatching for quite some time.

-Chanchai

 

Agreed - an incredible Wimbledon final...I was bitting my nails much of the time. The first set was a shock to me as well. Roddick's serve was really on and some of the returns he was making were at a level far higher than what he had produced earlier in the tournament. I was so worried that Roddick would blast his way through and that Federer would succumb to a play style such as Roddick's. But clearly that was not the case. I think it was the best tennis that Roddick played ever on grass and that it's now even clearer that Federer is the genuine #1 player in the world. I thought Roddick's comments at the end were great when he said he'd have to start winning some of these match-ups for people to start calling this a rivalry. There's no doubt that these two players will remain in the top 2 spots in world ranking for a long time. Coria, at no.3, doesn't hold a candle to these two and I can't forsee anyone jumping up the ranks - with the exception of Hewitt who I think will be no.3 by next year - to join this elite pair.

Great tennis - looking forward to the US Open...

<font color="yellow">.cheers.</font>

 

Great match...some of the points Federer won under pressure were amazing. And what a backhand...the way he can whip it crosscourt even with the ball coming towards him at tremendous pace.