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Post Info TOPIC: Weeks 26 & 27 - Wimbledon 2016 (incl. Andy) (grass)


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Weeks 26 & 27 - Wimbledon 2016 (incl. Andy) (grass)




British male tennis players are in matches with world seeds no 1, 2 and 3 this year !

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Kyle Edmund

To be honest, you guys saw more of Kyle than I did. As I feared, my ground pass didn't allow me entry to Court 2 (even though there were empty seats) so I watched the 1st two sets on the hill before they switched coverage to Centre Court.

I spoke to Kyle's dad at length before the match and Kyle was apparently in good form, practising well and confident. But they were fully aware of Mannarino's prowess on grass and were expecting a tough match. As it turned out it was not Kyle's best day. as he will be the first to admit.

I think a lot of credit must go to Mannarino though who had a good game plan and played well. He kept Kyle on the move and off balance, negating Kyle's most potent weaspons. On the occasions where Kyle had chances, he just didnt take them often enough.

But Kyle will continue his steady progress up the rankings. Today was not a good day, but he will have much better days as well. He will be as aware as anyone as to which areas of his game he needs to work on, and he will do just that.





-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Tuesday 28th of June 2016 12:47:41 AM

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Alex Ward

Sat with Milts and Smethy through most of this one. On the whole, I thought it was a decent performance from Alex. He was never embarrased and produced one stunning cross court pass on the run. When he walked on to the court to the cheers of a few hundred fans, he had the most humungous smile on his face and I think he enjoyed the occasion. But Goffin was always too strong and the result was never in doubt. Alex will probably feel that he could hve returned serve a bit better, but this is his first experience on the big stage so to speak, and I am sure it will stand him in good stead for the future.

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Marcus Willis

Oh goodness me. Where to start. How about "SHOES OFF, IF YOU LOVE WILLIS". As Marcus walked on court, it was like the circus had hit town. The crowd involvement from even before the warmup, Marcus almost joining in with the chants, the fist pumping, shoe waving and everything else, must have left Berankis wondering what on earth was going on. By midway through the 3rd set, there were people looking down from the 3rd storey balcony on the back of Centre Court waving their shoes in the air. It was just surreal.

But if you strip away the bravado, the tomfoolery, the jocularity and the apparent "just here for fun" attitude, etc. you are still left with one hell of a good tennis player. And I don't think Berankis was expecting that.

I mean WOW, Just WOW. Marcus (as you probably all saw) was sensational today and the straight sets scoreline didn't flatter him one bit. He was worth every penny of that 50k that he has earned so far. He served superbly. Yes, there were probably a few more DFs than he would like, but he seemed to have made a conscious decision to go "big" on all 2nd serves and those DFs were more than compensated for by the number of BPs he saved with high quality serving. He also hit several superb low backhand volleys, worthy of the excellent doubles talent that he has within him.

From the back of the court, he did what he does best and just mixed everything up. There was definitely more variety to his game than when I have seen him previously and the deft slices and dropshots have now been complemented by strong attacking topspin (or at least flat) passing shots off both wings. Berankis made numerous unforced errors, basically because he never really came to terms with the change of pace that Marcus consistently threw at him. In short, Marcus simply outplayed his opponent in every facet of the game and fully deserved this win.

Driving home, I was trying to pick a shot of the day from his match and it was no surprise to me when I saw that the BBC had chosen the same point as I had. It was not just the point, but the moment at which it came. Marcus was serving for the match at *5-4. Berankis had just hit a fabulous winner for 0-15 and had clearly decided to attack. But under pressure, Marcus found an amazing lefty curler passing shot on the run to win the point. At 0-30 he would have been under immense pressure, but having hit this for 15-15, he simply steamrollered his way into history, finishing with yet another unreturnable serve.

I have seen people say that it was a ridiculous decision to put Marcus on Court 17 with its small capacity. But I think the intimacy of the court and his ability therefore to interact with the crowd played into his hands and worked to the detriment of Berankis. In the end, it was a blessing in disguise. I am guessing that in his next match, he will make it on to a slightly larger court. He will deserve that moment in the spotlight.

Just over 12 months ago, I watched Marcus battle his way to a Futures win in Madrid in front of about 20 people. On Wednesday, he will play arguably the best player that has ever set foot on this planet on the greatest court in the world and Marcus will not look out of place. Win or lose, he will put a smile on people's faces.

I am not sure that either Federer or even Wimbledon will have seen the likes of this before. It's going to be fun.



-- Edited by Bob in Spain on Saturday 2nd of June 2018 07:55:51 PM

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Dan Evans

Didn't see that much of Dan's match and Willbomb is to blame for that. Partly because the matches overlapped, but also because after Marcus' victory, I was so adrenaline fuelled that I couldn't sit or stand long enough in one place to watch another match.

From the bits I did see, Evo looked fully focused and in good form. It seemed like a high quality match from BOTH players and one that I know Hilts was delighted to get through.

Well played Dan.

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Thanks for the reports Bob, I just can't wait for Marcus' next match and it just shows how much work Dan has put in that he was favourite to win his first round match.

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GBJ


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Thanks so much for the great reports Bob in Wimbledon!

I've yet to work out what Bob looks like. Has anyone spotted Bob in the video clip of the winning moment from the Wimbledon website? I wondered whether, after all the driving Marcus to the airport after the his win in Spain last year, Bob might have been one of the ones getting a hug or high five?

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GBJ


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Interesting point Bob about the smaller court adding to the intimacy and thus helping Marcus. It's gonna be really interesting to see how Marcus does on the bigger court. I really hope that we get lots more of the same as today and others joining in such that centre court really doesn't know what has hit it and that Marcus manages to keep the relaxed mindset he has.

It's funny, this time last year I had dreams of all this kind of stuff happening to Evo when he nearly came through prequalies and qualies. So excited to see Marcus doing just what I daydreamed but perhaps even more so!
- I kinda wish that Willbomb had done all this on day 2 as I think it would have been great to see Evo get more of the first day plaudits after all he has done as Marcus really overshadowed him in the end. I can hardly complain really though - my two favourite players just did what I've been hoping to see them do ever since I started following them- on the same day!! Only about a week ago I was wondering what had happened to Marcus and still remembering how disappointed I was that he didn't get more out of the grass season last year like I'd thought he would.

If I'm not mistaken the record forWimbledon singles wins in a one year is 8 when McEnroe qualified and made semis - just 1 win to go Marcus! You can do it! :)

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I'm so sad I had to work yesterday, and also Friday so I didn't get to see any Marcus's matches. I've enjoyed reading the reports though, and watching all the interviews, his GF is a babe!

So, he has earned a stash of dough this week, but I think the £50K will be dwarfed by what he will have added to his lifetime career earnings. Marcus is very much in the media spotlight and comes over  well.  He has a sense of humour and talks easily to the camera. Some work as a presenter or pundit at tennis events in years to come is now a possibility. And if returns to Warwick Boat Club he will be be able to make a big increase in his hourly rate!

After Brexit and English defeat against Iceland, we need a "feel good" story, so Cheers Marcus! 

Marcus is obviously in a rich vein of form at the moment and his game is well suited to grass.  He is most likely going to be on centre court tomorrow, but a victory is surely more unlikely than Iceland's or Leicester's.  I wonder if he will consider asking for a wild card for qualies in New Haven?  I'm sure they'd be delighted to have him and he is very capable of winning a couple of rounds in the main draw.  

He probably doesn't have an agent, but any agent worth his salt would be getting him on breakfast TV and into the Wimbledon commentary box.

Good luck tomorrow mate!



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GBJ wrote:

Thanks so much for the great reports Bob in Wimbledon!

I've yet to work out what Bob looks like. Has anyone spotted Bob in the video clip of the winning moment from the Wimbledon website? I wondered whether, after all the driving Marcus to the airport after the his win in Spain last year, Bob might have been one of the ones getting a hug or high five?


Didn't get to speak to Marcus at all after the match. I was sitting on completely the opposite side and far end of the court to the "fan club" and after celebrating with them, he got swallowed up by media etc.  I really hope to catch up with him (and Jenny) today.  He was more than happy to chat (and high-five) after a couple of his qualie wins last week.  I do wonder though, what with his new found stardom and all that, whether he might keep a low profile today.

Apparently #Willis was trending on Twitter yesterday.

 

 



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Jan


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Thanks Bob for the reports.
I was appalled that the Beeb didn't mention Dan's win in their 7.35(ish) sports slot. They obviously majored on Marcus, but did find time to mention Laura and Naomi. But not Dan. He WON, BBC, did you hear???

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GBJ


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I think Marcus' best chance of winning would be to sneak a 4th set tb like skakhovsky did. Can't see him winning in straight sets or a fifth but if he surely has an outside chance with his serve of getting to tiebreaks.

So I see from a Wimbledon report that Fed himself is adding his weight to the Willbomb bandwagon as it gathers media momentum! Same article quotes Jenny as saying her bro is really into Tennis and advised her that he has what it takes. A possible forumite keeping a low profile?

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Jan wrote:

Thanks Bob for the reports.
I was appalled that the Beeb didn't mention Dan's win in their 7.35(ish) sports slot. They obviously majored on Marcus, but did find time to mention Laura and Naomi. But not Dan. He WON, BBC, did you hear???


 I think Dan was still on court when that went out, so no result. I think there was a mention at some time that he was still on court.

 



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GBJ


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I don't really use Twitter but maybe someone should suggest that the Loughborough Willbomb guys steal that scarily synchronized Icelandic football chant in an 'if u can't beat them, join them' kind of way to try to intimidate Fed - imagine if you would get the whole centre court crowd doing that! Lol! The trick seems to be hit a drum three time and shout 'Huh!' with you you hands in the air on the third and keep doing it fast and fast in menacing Jaws theme style. Maybe a hakka too?

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Jan wrote:

Thanks Bob for the reports.
I was appalled that the Beeb didn't mention Dan's win in their 7.35(ish) sports slot. They obviously majored on Marcus, but did find time to mention Laura and Naomi. But not Dan. He WON, BBC, did you hear???


 He was still on court at that time...



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