The Championships, Wimbledon

#153
#153
Rosol played without fear. His game today was huge, but the key to his victory was playing without fear.

To be fair, no one could've hung with him today the way he was serving and stroking the ball.
 
#155
#155
BigPapaVol said:
he and Harrison are the best hopes.
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Harrison is younger than Baker, but I don't know what else he has on him. Harrison has a bad (roddick-esque) backhand and one of those "oh crap a short ball, I have to go to the net now" net games. Baker's backhand freaking reminds me Djokovic's, which is a high compliment. And Baker can play the whole court.

Baker is sorta like a slightly smaller Mardy Fish. That's not a diss, either. If Mardy Fish hadn't waited until he was 29 to get in shape, he would have won a major or two. He has a ton of game.

Baker is only 27, and he has very little mileage on his legs. So if he can stay healthy, he should be solid for 4-5 years.
 
#158
#158
BigPapaVol said:
kid was serving out of a tree at the end
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I still haven't seen the match. It's on my DVR at home.

But everyone tennis person on twitter was just in awe of the kid. They weren't talking about Rafa playing bad. They were like "who the hell is this kid ranked 100 and why is he ranked 100".
 
#159
#159
He definitely played like he had nothing to lose. Even McEnroe was flabbergasted that he didn't succumb to at least some of the pressure.
 
#160
#160
I'm disappointed in his post-game interview. He acted surprised that he played so well today and said something to the effect of 'I just hope I can win one more match.' which tells the world you have no confidence. wtf? That needs to be "I hope to keep winning and keep moving on." which says nothing. If he hadn't said that I would be interested in laying a Franklin on him winning the damn thing.
What would that win, by the way?
 
#161
#161
kidbourbon said:
I still haven't seen the match. It's on my DVR at home.

But everyone tennis person on twitter was just in awe of the kid. They weren't talking about Rafa playing bad. They were like "who the hell is this kid ranked 100 and why is he ranked 100".
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Think DelPo wiping Fed off the court in the USO IN 2009. Except this was done by Rosol's masterful serve in addition to penetrating, angular ground strokes. I can't recall seeing Nadal so frustrated ever. It was the type of points where Nadal could never establish a rhythm. Rosol just hit the holy hell out of the ball and if it went in, great, if not, next point.

I don't remember the final stats, but Nadal was also serving out of his gourd. Last count he had 12 aces. That may have been in the third set. Nadal was serving angry.

Apparently, Rosol was breathing loudly during Nadal's service games and Nadal lost his mind over it. First, he complained to the umpire, then literally bumped Rosol during a change over, and finally starting engaging in obvious delay tactics on Rosol's own service games. At one point, Nadal chided Rosol for failing to raise the ball up before serving to announce "new balls." It was remarkable.

Nadal tried to pump himself up in the 4th by shouting Vamos after each point he won and fist pumping. He can usually will himself to victory in those moments, but even the Vamoses fell flat.

Not sure what to think about how this affects the bottom half of the draw. I would almost have to say it's wide open with some level of advantage to Murray.
 
#162
#162
DyronNix said:
Think DelPo wiping Fed off the court in the USO IN 2009. Except this was done by Rosol's masterful serve in addition to penetrating, angular ground strokes. I can't recall seeing Nadal so frustrated ever. It was the type of points where Nadal could never establish a rhythm. Rosol just hit the holy hell out of the ball and if it went in, great, if not, next point.
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1. The change-over shoulder bump is very un-Nadal. He must have been very very frustrated. Like he musta known he was fixin' to lose.

2. The 2009 US Open Final is probably a sore spot for a Fed fan, but that is one of my favorite tennis matches ever. Everybody in that stadium and on their couches at home thought Fed was fixin' to cruise in that fifth set.

And then Delpo starts cracking these laws-of-physics-defying forehands. BOOM -- 109 mph down the line. CRACK -- 111 mph crosscourt. POW -- 107 mph right down the center. He was hitting them so hard that even when he hit them right in Federer's forehand wheelhouse, Federer wasn't able to get around on the ball. Fed didn't even have time to M I S H I T the ball.

And then Delpo does it again, and again, and again. Nobody on earth was beating Delpo that night. Wasn't happening.
 
#163
#163
kidbourbon said:
2. The 2009 US Open Final is probably a sore spot for a Fed fan, but that is one of my favorite tennis matches ever. Everybody in that stadium and on their couches at home thought Fed was fixin' to cruise in that fifth set.
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Not a sore spot at all except in one sense: at the end of Fed's career where ever his slam count stands, it should've been plus one. The 09 USO should've been a straight set Federer win, or win in 4 at worst. RF dominated early in that match. He won first set and had a break in the second set (he served for that set before losing it in a tie-breaker). RF won the third set. In the 4th, DelPo really started to find his range but the set also went to a tie-breaker with DP prevailing. In the 5th, someone needed to step in and stop the killing.

I was happy for DelPo especially when he dedicated the victory to his deceased sister during his on court speech during the awards ceremony. At the time I remember a lot of Fed fans saying the same thing.
 
#166
#166
More surprising is Stepanek sneaking up on Djokovich in the first set. Djokovich is starting to get back on top of him now, though.
 
#167
#167
Not sure what it is but there is something about Clisjters that, well, you know. Use your imagination:eek:
 
#173
#173
Fed doesn't have it any more. Dude's ground game has become average. That nasty forehand has become conservative.
 
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