Well done to Coxy for beating Marray, and hope this is the result that gets him to start picking up points at senior level, although it's a shame for Jonny to lose the match.

Good wins for Goodall and Bloomers/Skupski in the doubles as well, and hopefully we can get a doubles champion at the least out of this event

Ok and here we have it, the match reports. It was a long day where Centre Court witness 4 very long and gruelling matches. But there were some great results and matches on show.

When I set off it was raining but got to the ground in cloudy conditions. There were some strong cross winds that kept on changing direction causing the players no end of problems. The surface was in top condition, if only a little slippy. 

Faurel bt Armstrong 6-2 6-3 - Both players started well but it was Faurel that got used to the surface quicker. Armstrong never really looked comfortable and was broken at 2-2. Faurel seized the initiative and went on to win the next 9 games in a row. Armstrong looked down and out and didnt seem to find anything in his locker to help him out of this rut. Too many double faults by Armstrong gave Faurel the confidence and while there were good rallies, the majority were ended by unforced errors by Armstrong.

Motomura bt Ebelthite(6) 7-5 2-6 7-6(6) - Good match between two very even players. Very close 1st set which saw long rallies from the base line. Ebelthite prefered the traditional serve volley approach, but the longer the rallies lasted the more it played to Motomura who could control the game. Ebelthite lost his serve to lose the 1st set, where it looked like Motomura's coach left courtside. This seemed to affect him as even though he won the first 2 games, he went on to lose the next 6 and looked a little lost. In the final set Ebelthite broke Motomura 3 times, and was even serving for the match, but Motomura kept coming back. In the tie break He Motomura took the initiative and sadly Ebelthite lost the game on a rare double fault

Dell'acqua bt Desein 7-5 7-6 (0) - Battle of the giants this one. Both look big and serve big. Not too many rallies in the 1st set despite the big serves not really having any variation. There were too many body serves and it took a while till Dell'acqua changed his body stance to return a few winners. The game was halted for 10mins in the 1st set as Dell'acqua displays his fiery Italian side and even demands a superviser. He eventually broke at 5-5 to serve for the set. The 2nd set Dell'acqua starts to slow some of the rallies down whereas Desein liked to simply thump them as hard as possible. After a code violation Desein head goes in the tie-break

Cakl bt Mankad 6-0 6-3 - In a rather uneventful match, which is a surprise for Cakl, this lasted barely an hour. Cakl came out all guns blazing and Mankad looked uneasy on the surface. Cakl definately looked more confortable than during the indoor qualifiers where he just made it past Brit Nott. Mankad, who has supports on both knees, started to come to life in the 2nd set, but never looked assured. Cakl was allowed to attack the ball and mix things up.

Rehnquist(4) bt Coelho 7-6(2) 6-2 - Probably the most entertaining match of the day as both players showed good skill and grit. Fantastic rallies that brought out the best in both players. Rehnquist attacked the rallies from the start, but Coelho came back with some killer shots. The 1st set was tight on both player's serve with some great exchanges. In the tie break Rehnquist went for it whereas Coelho tightened up. During the 2nd set, Coelho's serve wasnt as clinical and struggled to hold, before eventually being broken. He required strapping on some of his fingers, and was broken again whilst serving to stay in the match.

Ebden bt Oger 6-2 6-4 - From the offset this looked like a battle of the youngsters till you see their age! Ebden came out absolutely storming with solme great attacking play and fantastic passing shots. Oger's serves werent hard enough, allowing Ebden a chance to attack them all. Ebden himself didnt have the hardest of serves, but kept them wide to score a fair few aces. He kept his play consistant and stormed the first set. In the second Oger was broken straight away, but then started to change his game. He became more attacking and came to the net forcing Ebden better. It worked for him but was too late. Ebden was the worthy winner and my tip for a dark horse for the title.

Groth(5) bt Vacek 7-6(6) 7-6(6) - Again a match of big hitters, especially Groth. He loved to hit his serves as hard and as direct at Vacek as possible. This match was a long match in which both players really failed to take hold of the game. Groth, who looks like a bigger version of Hewitt, and tried to play like him with some good net approach and hard hits. He can also rally from the baseline where he uses his strength to knock them down the lines. Vacek for a big guy didny make the most of his serves, but has a deft touch. This frustrated Groth many a times, especially on the several lobs. In the 2nd set both players had chances to break but were served out of it. In the tie-break Vacek initially went ahead, but Groth stormed back. Sadly, I was informed this was Vacek last match before he goes coaching full-time

Cox bt Marray 6-3 4-6 7-5 - The highlight match of the day. I was really looking forward to this match and it didnt disappoint. What impressed me was Cox's preparation whereas last year he was joking with Dyke and Evans, this year he watched several other matches inbetween drills with his coach. Marray didnt get the best of starts going 0-40 down on his serve and being broken. Cox, who was looking stronger and fitter than last year, kept the shots coming and began to frustrate Marray. You could see on Marray's face he was desperately trying to find a way back into the game. Cox holds the racket like Nadal and began knocking shots like him, and with his strength increasing he will become more dangerous. However, in the 2nd set, Marray's deft touch at the net proved a turning point in the game. Cox began to feel frustrated at not getting the ball past Marray, and kept going for the killer shot whereas Marray kept doing the simple thing and putting the ball in court. As we entered the 3rd set, the initiative looked with Marray, who went 0-40 up on Cox's serve twice. But Cox kept coming back. Marray began to become frustrated in himself and received a court violation. Cox kept his head and in such a close match won it by breaking Marray at 6-5. Shame as both players deserved to go through, but I worry about Cox against Groth. Think Marray's game would of suited it better.

Doubles
Mankad/Singh bt Chekhov/Desein 6-3 6-2
Goodall/Ryderstadt bt Sletting-Johnson/N Skupski 7-6(3) 6-3 - 2nd set won from being 1-3 down

Due to the games going on so long on Centre, the 2 doubles matches were moved to mysterious Court 3! I left Eaton/Slabinsky vs Bloomfield/Skupski at 3-3, and Kinsella/Harfield vs Feeney/Smeets had finished but not known the score.

Going again tomorrow where the OOP is:
Centre Court:
Bloomfield vs Chekhov
Smeets vs Kinsella
Eaton vs King-Turner
Ryderstadt vs Goodall
Flanagan/Marray vs Ebden/Klein

Court 1:
Beck vs Ward
Klein vs Feeney
Skupski vs Slabinsky
Motomura/Raja vs Dell'acqua/Iannuzzi

Court 3:
Raja vs Snobel
Armstrong/Ward vs Hooshyar/Jackson
Oger/Ysern vs Snobel/Vacek

I will be there again tomorrow. If anyone wishes to have updates PM me your mobile. I texted Drew them, but if he cant get to a computer I will text other people as well. Also, if anyone has any questions for players I will do my best to ask them

Brilliant reports, thanks! You scare me with Groth now, but who knows what'll happen tomorrow - and I know he can compete with top 300 guys. Whatever the result, Cox can only gain as I don't think he has played this big a server before (Fabrice Martin is a giant, but not of Groth's quality).


I didn't know that Vacek was about to retire. I wonder if he will become a personal coach or just for an academy/centre?

And it's weird that Mankad looked uneasy on the surface!! He won the thing in 2006. Shame he isn't the player he was before his time off (injury?) from the game - hopefully he'll be back as he's a great grass player when he's playing well.

Kung Fu Panda wrote:

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Bladetiger wrote:

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Kung Fu Panda wrote:

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Bet Coxy will get Groth.

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Wrong! Dan Cox v Jonny !

 

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So now everyone knows that I'm not psychic.

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Hey!! I just realised that I may be psychic. But I don't seem to have much control over my powers as I wanted to predict the first round draw, not second round. 

James wrote:

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Gazz: Sorry about not giving you a call/text today, I forgot to put your number on my phone and only realised once I had arrived [I pondered shouting "Gaz..!" to see who reacted.. but evidently decided against it]. Out of interest though, what were you wearing and were about where you sitting today? - I will probably have seen you. I may be going tomorrow as well so I will take your mob number with me and give you a text when I arrive.

I won't bother writing my own reports as Gaz has pretty much covered everything however I took a few photos today so will upload those of Brits that are of decent quality.

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No worries mate. I was sitting behing the umpire on Centre Court on back row so could watch both courts. I was wearing a Hull Uni Tennis Team jumper, something I realised could actually get me in free as nobody checked my ticket and when gave it to them they thought I was a player!

Sorry if oversteped you on reports mate, was just following on from reports giving to local press so thought share opinion here. These were all my opinion on matches, did you get same feeling on some of them? How did you get on in your match pal?

Here are a select few photos of British players I took today [if you want to request one of any other player, just ask..]

Alexander Slabinsky [practise court]






Ian Flanagan & Johnny Marray

James Ward & Ken Skupski [practising together]










Chris Eaton [on a practise court]









Unfortunately the quality of the photos isn't anything to write home about but I was using the camera for the first time today so hopefully I will be able to have a tinkle around with it tomorrow in order to improve the glare that appears on many of today's pics.