Weeks 27 & 28 - The Championships, Wimbledon (grass) - singles

Smudge226 · Club Coach

Weeks 27 & 28 - The Championships, Wimbledon (grass) - singles

Jan · Hall of fame

Hopefully Dan will look back at this week and be proud of what he achieved but really feel for him right now.

Smudge226 · Club Coach

Tremendous effort from Dan, nowt in it front to back both top50 no doubt.

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

Great match .

Dan will feel this one got away. Sousa though played the big points well .

hoots · Intermediate Club Player

Unlucky Dan.Very well played to both of them.Best match I've seen in the tournament so far. So close.

Nix · Futures level

Excellent match. Great effort from Dan.

JonH · All-time great

So here is an interesting thing: I watched Tomic play tsonga and clearly he was messing about; I saw Tsonga play Nadal and he was poor but he seemed to be trying. Tomic had his prizemoney taken off him as a fine.

Yet...Tomic won the same, effectively, actually slightly more, of the points in his match versus Tsonga than tsonga did versus Nadal. It seems the judgement of "he wasnt trying" is a purely arbitrary one and yet, legally and contractually, is that good enough. As a supplier of services to a company I would like a little more substantiated evidence before they took my fee of me for not trying hard enough. I judge my performance on outputs and in this case Tomic output was as good as Tsongas v Nadal. Should Tsonga now have his prizemoney taken off him? Is 37.6% of points the benchmark we should use going forwards????

As it happens, it was clear Tomic was not trying and unprofessional, so this is a false question - the question of how we judge these things so they are legally and contractually acceptable though is worth considering.

DorianGray
@DorianJGray
·
5h
Replying to
@BenRothenberg
Tomic with a slightly higher %, 37.6 to 37.5 for Tsonga.

Let's wait for another fine.

-- Edited by JonH on Saturday 6th of July 2019 10:27:16 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

I heard Rothenberg on the radio defending Tomic or at least saying the whole match fee fine was very OTT. His main point was regarding the actual scoreline including a 6-4 third set.

Others though it spot on, citing Tomic's general manner ( though Rothenberg pointed to him rarely looking that keen ) and it being all done and dusted in under an hour.

Clearly you can't seriously have a points level given the opponent will so vary ( Nadal can be quite good! ) as will the player's own level for natural reasons. Some matches might be expected to be closish, some look a likely hammering.

So there has to be a large amount of subjectivity and it seems right to be able to sanction in some ways. Tough one but it can't be based on objective benchmarks. As said any question of that nature is a false question.

Maybe say have in writing how it will be determined a player is not trying sufficiently ( and maybe the level of fine ) - eg have a panel of 5 ( the same panel for each call for consistency ) with 4 required to be in agreement to sanction. Though I don't know what's in writing just now? The suggestion seems to be that it's very arbitrary.

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 6th of July 2019 11:16:37 PM

flamingowings · All-time great

Oh yes, Rothenburg (aka Rottensnake) is a known sh.tstirrer and Tomic is aka "Tomic the Tank" -see an infamous match with Jarko Nemimen. JWT in his career has never ever seemed like that type of player to tank and it's all a load of BS.

JWT was in the top 10 for years and has recently come back from an injury lay off. Likely he may never trouble the top players again - even when he was a top player I don't think he did that much against the big 4.

-- Edited by flamingowings on Saturday 6th of July 2019 11:06:05 PM

flamingowings · All-time great

Wonderful to see Novak having a very difficult match earlier on.
Or you know...Not.

JonH · All-time great

Some articles folks may find of interest: authors conclusions:

1) The pace of Wimbledon courts dont get slower as the grass gets browner

www.tennisabstract.com/blog/2019/07/10/the-grass-dies-but-the-speed-lives-on/

2) But in general the grass is slower this year at Wimbledon and is slower over a longer period of time

http://www.tennisabstract.com/blog/2019/07/08/yep-wimbledon-is-playing-slower-this-year/

-- Edited by JonH on Wednesday 10th of July 2019 06:11:01 PM

JonH · All-time great

JonH wrote:
With a top half now of

Djoko v Humbert
Goffin v Verdasco
Pella v Raonic
Bautista Agut V Paire

Humbert wont beat him, Goffin did on clay 2 years ago but is 5-1 down career wise. Verdasco is 11-4 down but it is 2010 since he last beat him.

In the semis he could play Pella (who he thrashed only time they played albeit RG 2013), Raonic who he is 8-0 against and only lost 1 set the first time they played (first set they played and that was a TB); it is the next 2 that might provide a threat.

Paire is 1-1 with Djokovic and beat him in Miami 15 months back last time they played. He has variety in his game and if he is on could pose a threat; RBA is 7-3 down career wise but has won the last 2 times in Miami and Doha in the past 12-18 months . Both times RBA lost the first set and came back to win. he could frustrate Djokovic if they play and tennis abstract makes it neck and neck between him and Raonic to get into the semifinal.

It would be interesting to see if RBA can do it and maybe give Djokovic a battle in the semis

So RBA is the interloper that got through to play Djoko. Djoko must be heavy favourite but I hope RBA can take confidence in winning the last two times they played, Miami and Doha, in relatively fast conditions.

indiana · Tennis legend

Hmm, the RBA who hop-a-long Murray took to 5 sets at the Australian Open.

Truly great as they have been, the general 'challenge' to the top 3 continues to be pretty pathetic.

JonH · All-time great

indiana wrote:
Hmm, the RBA who hop-a-long Murray took to 5 sets at the Australian Open.

Truly great as they have been, the general 'challenge' to the top 3 continues to be pretty pathetic.

I'm clutching at straws I know

But you've got to hope. I agree, and no one has looked like challenging them in a very underwhelming mens singles event this year.

christ · Futures level

indiana wrote:
... the general 'challenge' to the top 3 continues to be pretty pathetic.

No wonder Mr Murray has observed that men's tennis doesn't appear to have moved on in his absence.