2017 Wimbledon Championships...ATP 2000...London, Great Britain

[stroke]

Sadly, it's a far cry from the serve and volley tutorial that Edberg and Becker provided us at Wimbledon all those years ago, but it's as close as we have gotten for some time. Federer had some brilliant shots. Not sure why he was trying to compete so hard on Zverev's service games once he got behind. Just pull a Sampras, tank the return games and serve it out. He knows Zverev would not break him, Zverev knew he wouldn't break Roger. Get the break and coast. save yourself. Roger will have Dimitrov on Monday, followed by Thiem or Berdych, followed by Novak, then Murray or Nadal in finals?

And yes, somewhere in there I mentioned Berdych. My boy. Took out the Beast ferrer today. Special stuff. Awesome display of power. His cleanest match of the tourney so far and the boost of confidence he needs. Could we see a return to 2010 form that got Tberd to the finals? Time will tell. But he made semis here last year, he enjoys AELTC, and why shouldn't he?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

To me, Roger never really coasts, he competes for all games, just like Nadal. He just does it in a much quieter way. Certainly another measure of their greatness.

[klacr]

To me, Roger never really coasts, he competes for all games, just like Nadal. He just does it in a much quieter way. Certainly another measure of their greatness.

I don't disagree. In fact I was waiting for that reply. Fed competes no matter the score or the inevitability of the presumed outcome.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

To me, Roger never really coasts, he competes for all games, just like Nadal. He just does it in a much quieter way. Certainly another measure of their greatness.

Very true. He is different to Nadal who is simply relentless no matter what the score. Nadal is out on his own like that. Roger does kind of coast. He slips up and down the gears a little, but, yes, he never goes away. Sometimes opponents play great matches and create chances here and there, but Roger just shuts the door on those chances so often. He's quite brilliant at snuffing out hopes. He himself does bide his time waiting for opportunities then slips in and takes them right at the right time. Again, he's gifted at doing this. Roger always has his head in a match and has great clarity.

Nadal can never take his foot off the gas. He's too close to the rest of the pack to do that. Roger seems to have built a great chasm between himself and anyone outside the top four. He can actually canter a little...and occasionally does. I think his serve gives him that luxury.

[don_budge]

Sweet Sixteen...and never been kissed! Round of Sixteen...2017 Wimbledon, London, Great Britain


Here is the current state of affairs at the 2017 Wimbledon Men's Singles Championships:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/wimbledon/540/draws

Any questions? Sure...I have a few. For starters what about Andy Murray? Is he suddenly the player that he was when he took over the #1 ranking in the world? Answer...yes he is. Too much so. He has had a difficult time accepting the fact than he is technically the favorite going into every match. The role of underdog suits him better. But in this tournament it appears that he is beginning to realize what it means to have the target squarely in the back between the shoulder blades. Everyone is taking dead aim at him. Instead of him looking for respect from his opponents he has to see them for what they are...assassins. Only assassins. They don't like him. They don't respect him. They only want to kill him. This Benoit Paire's shot at the world's number one...what will he make of his opportunity? Andy's realization will be Paire's demise...barring an act of God.

Just below the top seeds bracket lie two guy who know each other well enough. Sam Querry and Kevin Anderson. They have played each other twelve times. Getting to know you...getting to know all about you. Not necessarily getting to like you. Not necessarily putting it my way...nicely. I love that song. Interesting match that appears to have everything tilted to "Young Frankenstein" as somebody once referred to Sam's looks. Is that a fair assessment? In some perspectives...fairness has nothing to do with it. Sam owns a 7-5 advantage over Anderson head to head. In their only meeting on grass in 2009. London Queen's Club. It's close to Wimbledon and Querry has become more and more comfortable in his own skin. He isn't that bad looking...he seems to be losing some hair. Pot calling kettle black. The honeymoon is over by now. The gloves are off and the fur is going to fly. Which would make a better match against Murray? Come on Sam...Make America Great Again!

Then there is the battle of two lefties...and not just any two lefties. One is Rafael Nadal and the other is Gilles Muller. Muller has emerged from a weakened section of the draw but he is the sixteenth seed. That should count for something right? Up until this point and now it is dog eat dog. Once you enter the pit against Nadal he only understands one thing. You are in his way. Good Gilles! You are most certainly going to need it...to go along with an extremely good tactical plan. Gilles has shown some affinity for the green stuff and Nadal looks to be in great form. Two lefties sometimes have the appearance of looking throng the looking glass. Something looks to be just off. A lot off in this case. It isn't going to be pretty...pretty brutal as a matter of fact. But hold on just a second...way back in 2005 Muller took out the Spaniard in the the second round. Try not to notice that Nadal waited for six years for his revenge and he made good on it. After two tie-breaks at the same All England Club he bageled Gilles. Gilles won't lay down...hopefully.

Roberto Bautista Agut and Marin Cilic create a question of different styles. Agut is a hard nosed type of player and if he brings all of his game he will give Cilic a run for his money. In their only match under Grand Slam conditions it was Agut who toughed it out against Cilic. The results of this match will be more interesting than the match itself.

So much for the top half...coming soon to a tennisplayer.net forum near you...the bottom half!

[stroke]

Nadal, Murray, and Cilic are substantial favorites, no surprise, per oddsmakers. Anderson is only a slight favorite. I actually like Sam and his forehand in that match(bit I would not bet on it).

[don_budge]

Sweet Sixteen...and never been kissed! Round of Sixteen...2017 Wimbledon, London, Great Britain

Here is the current state of affairs at the 2017 Wimbledon Men's Singles Championships:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/wimbledon/540/draws

Then there is the battle of two lefties...and not just any two lefties. One is Rafael Nadal and the other is Gilles Muller. Muller has emerged from a weakened section of the draw but he is the sixteenth seed. That should count for something right? Up until this point and now it is dog eat dog. Once you enter the pit against Nadal he only understands one thing. You are in his way. Good Gilles! You are most certainly going to need it...to go along with an extremely good tactical plan. Gilles has shown some affinity for the green stuff and Nadal looks to be in great form. Two lefties sometimes have the appearance of looking throng the looking glass. Something looks to be just off. A lot off in this case. It isn't going to be pretty...pretty brutal as a matter of fact. But hold on just a second...way back in 2005 Muller took out the Spaniard in the the second round. Try not to notice that Nadal waited for six years for his revenge and he made good on it. After two tie-breaks at the same All England Club he bageled Gilles. Gilles won't lay down...hopefully.

Gilles Muller serves out the first set at love...6-3. Looking good Gilles...keep up the good work.

[don_budge]

Gilles Muller serves out the first set at love...6-3. Looking good Gilles...keep up the good work.

Gilles Muller serves out the second set at 30...6-4. He leads two sets to love. Looking really good Gilles...finish him.

[stroke]

What a great march, Muller playing great tennis and Nadal digging in as only he can. Muller serve a thing of beauty.

[don_budge]

What a great march, Muller playing great tennis and Nadal digging in as only he can. Muller serve a thing of beauty.

4-3 Muller in the fifth...on serve. Nadal dug in as deep as he can. One mistake by either player and it's curtains.

[don_budge]

13-12 and counting. Muller holding easier than Nadal. Muller has had a couple of chances but has tried some ill advised shots. He gets just a bit tentative instead of being a matador and going in for the kill. Nadal to serve...to stay in the match.

[don_budge]

Huge win for Gilles Muller...and Andy Murray. Super serving.

[stotty]

I have been working all day and only saw from 9-9. Nadal caved in in the end. His game completely collapsed. He looked sapped.

From what little I saw it looked like Rafa was playing clay court tennis....standing way behind to baseline and lofting balls when returning serve. That looked a terrible tactic deep in the fifth set to me. You cannot sit that so deep in grass court tennis against a terrific server like Muller; the old school tennis that Muller seemed to be playing from the little I saw, will kill you. Nadal looked like he was living on hope trying to break serve...just getting the ball over the net and hoping for errors from Muller.

I would love to have seen the entire match to know the whole story.

[arturohernandez]

Nadal has not made it this far for years. His grass court game was only viable because he was young and managed to simply will himself to win on a surface that was not ideal for his game. The reality is that he is playing better this year than he has in the last few years. He made the final of AO, won RG and made it to the second week of Wimbledon. I expect a similar result for the US Open (maybe quarters).

Nadal did not cave. He made some outrageous shots just to hang in there. He was simply playing with a losing hand. Always has but in the past could somehow make it through in these matches. At 30 this is a tough ask after having just won RG.

Federer looks like a freaking surgeon (or a piranha if you want to use a more carnivorous analogy). Grass courts suit his game. First strike tennis where long rallies are not the basis of your game.

I expect that he will exact the kind of revenge on Raonic that he exacted on Zverev in Halle.

Djokovic will have to play back to back. It might just throw him off at some point later.

Murray looks on track to get to the final now.

Stotty is right that Nadal was just hanging in there. But that is not unusual for him to simply wait for the attack and then counterattack. Just harder to do at his age on a surface that does not suit his game.

[arturohernandez]

Oh, I forgot one more thing, the importance of the serve. I am not sure if this is in a thread somewhere. But there is one place where Baby Fed is not a baby Fed, the serve. To me he has a little hitch that he has overcome with lots of practice. He kind of tightens up at the bottom and then loosens up. My sense is that hitch can tighten up and throw off his timing when he is under pressure. With that hitch he will always have reduced looseness and the serve will flow less easily than it will for Big Fed.

I am not sure where Dimitrov picked up that hitch but if I had to guess it was one day when his coach told him to really hit it. So then he tightened up and thought about hitting it harder.

Regardless of when it started. His serve will break down.

We could compare him to Thiem who has a more fluid serve. It is less likely to break down under pressure.

But Thiem's dad is a tennis coach so he probably knew how to teach the progression better.

Everyone wonders why Dimitrov is not better. I wonder if the slight disadvantage in his serve might hold him back.

At that level, every little bit counts.

[klacr]

I have been working all day and only saw from 9-9. Nadal caved in in the end. His game completely collapsed. He looked sapped.

From what little I saw it looked like Rafa was playing clay court tennis....standing way behind to baseline and lofting balls when returning serve. That looked a terrible tactic deep in the fifth set to me. You cannot sit that so deep in grass court tennis against a terrific server like Muller; the old school tennis that Muller seemed to be playing from the little I saw, will kill you. Nadal looked like he was living on hope trying to break serve...just getting the ball over the net and hoping for errors from Muller.

I would love to have seen the entire match to know the whole story.

Players to have beaten Nadal multiple times at a grand slam event:
Federer
Djokovic
Murray
Hewitt
Ferrer
Muller

Muller believed in the attacking game.

This is only 2nd loss in round of 16 at Wimbledon for Rafa. Last time was 2014

Before today, Nadal had won 28 straight sets.

4 five setters in round of 16 at Wimbledon, most since 2006.

23 Aces today for Nadal despite loss, previous career high was 19 vs. Rosol at Wimbledon in 2012, which he also lost.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton