man berankis with that backhand DTL twice in 3 high-leverage service points, good stuff
― wisdom be leakin out my louche douche truths (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 1 July 2015 15:57 (eight years ago) link
(in 3rd set TB)
Baghdatis is like the proto-Monfils, still trolling everyone by going two sets and a break down just for fun before the NID comeback
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 16:15 (eight years ago) link
Oh Verdasco. Down BP in the 5th, idiot FH out then idiot challenge wasted despite the umpire TRYING to tell him not to bother
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 16:18 (eight years ago) link
Thiem didn't press the advantage home...
Probably the best match yet, that was
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 16:40 (eight years ago) link
Vika looking pretty good so far, got Mladenovic next
― cerealbar, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 18:26 (eight years ago) link
Amazing set from Krunic - was a double break down vs Errani but won 6 games in a row with some brilliant shotmaking
― groovemaaan, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 18:34 (eight years ago) link
i like Krunic
― cerealbar, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 19:04 (eight years ago) link
is that Martic in the crowd supporting her?
― cerealbar, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 19:21 (eight years ago) link
Lisicki losing to McHale on Centre Court would be quite funny
― cerealbar, Thursday, 2 July 2015 12:38 (eight years ago) link
~dustin~
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 2 July 2015 16:50 (eight years ago) link
It's been a good match
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 2 July 2015 17:09 (eight years ago) link
he has an insane touch
― rahrah avis (imago), Thursday, 2 July 2015 17:20 (eight years ago) link
...I say as he bunts that half-volley wide
2DFs in a row from Rafa
― rahrah avis (imago), Thursday, 2 July 2015 17:42 (eight years ago) link
To even entertain losing to this..
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 17:47 (eight years ago) link
this is extraordinary tbf
― rahrah avis (imago), Thursday, 2 July 2015 17:50 (eight years ago) link
Sadly post-Rosol and Kyrgios it isn't.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 17:52 (eight years ago) link
hark at scrooge!
― rahrah avis (imago), Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:06 (eight years ago) link
awful unforced error for BP
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:12 (eight years ago) link
Nadal's FH were made of iron now its just wait and its over. Broken.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:13 (eight years ago) link
awful unforced error for break!
― rahrah avis (imago), Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:13 (eight years ago) link
yeah this is rubbish Nadal but Brown is still playing great
― rahrah avis (imago), Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:14 (eight years ago) link
lol
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:14 (eight years ago) link
standards people.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:16 (eight years ago) link
Nadal shakes his head after dicking around with this nobody at the net.
Can tell how you're feeling Rafa. I can.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:22 (eight years ago) link
Dustin is awesome fuiud
― groovemaaan, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:28 (eight years ago) link
but I guess he's a nobody if you only bother to watch tennis 4x a year
― groovemaaan, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:29 (eight years ago) link
He's a qualifier.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:32 (eight years ago) link
I can see he can hit the ball hard though.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:34 (eight years ago) link
Few aces and things like that.
he has extremely good touch
if he lacks anything it's patience but that's what's won him this match
― rahrah avis (imago), Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:35 (eight years ago) link
there are lots of great players in qualifying every year
― groovemaaan, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:36 (eight years ago) link
2 MPs. pack it in Rafa
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:37 (eight years ago) link
oh dear he left that and Nadal got it in!
a FH in, too little too late.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:38 (eight years ago) link
Brown has to serve now - awesome.
that would've been an amazing pick up from rafa - two away now Brown.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:41 (eight years ago) link
2MPs - played it cool post DF
Gets it.
Acknowledging his grass-court specialism in a nice interview now
― rahrah avis (imago), Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:47 (eight years ago) link
rafa looked *so* lost on browns serve, could barely read it and even when he could get it back it was so short the pt was over in 1-2 shots
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:49 (eight years ago) link
Its all wrong right now. Rafa isn't clipping those FHs on the line anymore. Looks done, or at least how clay court specialists used to look like on grass a decade ago.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:53 (eight years ago) link
great prediction lex btw hope u bet it
once i watched that '14 match it really did not seem at all far fetched tbh, browns strategy and skill set vs nadal are superior
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 2 July 2015 19:01 (eight years ago) link
lex on the ball and how.
Hate to do this to you but...
if rafa loses to dustin brown he should 100% retire
― johnny crunch, Saturday, June 27, 2015 5:46 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― holger sharkey (Tom D.), Thursday, 2 July 2015 19:12 (eight years ago) link
I hope Lex bet on it - I got 10/3 on him winning the first set, 6/1 on him winning the match, and rebacked at the end of the third set at 12/5. Nice wee return, that. He's exactly the kind of player Rafa can't cope with at Wimbledon.
― ailsa, Thursday, 2 July 2015 19:16 (eight years ago) link
Yup I bet on it. I went today, had No 1 court tkts, watched Dustin on the hill.
Brown is an incredible talent born a generation or two too late, his skillset makes him a journeyman in 2015 but he'd have been a superstar (maybe not a champion, but ranked highly enough that he wouldn't be the unknown he is to casual fans now) in the '80s or '90s with that touch. Really glad he got a Centre Court moment like this in his career.
And it is also the case that Rafa has finally actually declined. Grass has been the harbinger for years - four straight years he's lost to a non-top 100 opponent before the Wim QFs. So those aren't one-offs but a pattern and Brown fit into it perfectly.
Anyway I had No 1 court tickets but spent maybe 20 minutes on it in total - a glimpse of Peak Petra just to say I saw it IRL, and also because my feet hurt. Oh yeah and I popped in to see Sweta lose to the wrong Pliskova at the end, who'd have thought Kristyna would outlast Karolina?!
Saw the first set and end of the White Mug beating Lucic, it went as you'd expect with Lucic ballooning errors at key moments. Both have really awesome power up close. The White Mug's skirt literally looks like a piece of garden netting she cut up inexpertly.
As Paire was closing in on a 2-0 sets lead I remarked to someone I was with that it was such a contrast to the last time I'd seen Paire in this spot, when he was moaning and muttering and getting code violations and generally being a grass grump. He was focused and playing so well, and the things he can do with the ball are even better to watch live than on TV - so much of it is so sudden or casual. Obviously doesn't take much to make it all wobble though, the minute he was broken in the third set you knew it'd go five. Peak dramatics throughout the 5th, code violations and lengthy pleas in French to the umpire and stamping on his racquet after two straight points in the last game. Bautista Agut did very well to balance consistency with aggression in the face of all that.
Tatjana Maria beating Ying-Ying Duan 11-9 in the third - insane match, one of the best the tournament will provide. The most extreme stylistic contrast you're likely to come across - Duan immobile but so powerful, Maria slicing everything and I mean 100% of her BHs and 95% of her FHs. So many rallies where Duan would belt the ball full-pelt to every corner and angle she could think of and every time this soft slice would come back - Maria's defence was just whoa. All of those rallies inevitably ended with a Duan error but she actually dealt with Maria's junk well - she wasn't bashing reckless errors 2-3 strokes in at all. Bit one-dimensional maybe, she was a bit scared of the net and never realised with Maria so far behind the baseline that a dropshot might work.
Coric losing in five to Seppi, the last two sets 1-6 1-6. Not dissimilar, Seppi was defending and slicing to superb effect. Coric kept up a pissy monologue at his camp between basically every point. Obviously he's good but it's a bit weird how his demeanour, physique, grunting and general attitude suggest a powerful, aggressive player dominating the play, but...he doesn't actually have a kill shot. And in terms of fitness, his went first.
Niculescu was as awesome to watch as ever against Cepelova, an easy win for her <3
― lex pretend, Thursday, 2 July 2015 21:29 (eight years ago) link
Also I have rarely been more certain about any section of the draw as I am about Wozniacki's 16th, ie with Giorgi and then Muguruza/Kerber ahead of her there is no fucking way she makes the QF.
Maria is going to drive Keys absolutely nuts but Keys can volley so should handle it in the end. Every time I talk about Maria I always think people might need me to clarify that it isn't Sharapova, not that it's possible to mix the two up.
Oh, not surprised to see Makarova upset either, she looked very out of sorts against Vickery even when winning. Rybarikova! Wimbledon wins like buses - she waited eight years for one and two came along including over a top 8 seed :)
I won't be surprised if Kvitova does to Jankovic exactly what she did to Bertens and Nara.
― lex pretend, Thursday, 2 July 2015 21:33 (eight years ago) link
Would be curious to see an analysis of Rafa's FH depth vs Rosol / Darcis / Kyrgios / Brown. Def seems like it's gotten worse. Rosol did a Doohan (that '87 performance vs Becker being my benchmark for journeyman-aflame Slam surprises) and could conceivably have beaten anyone that night. Dar and Kyr were intermittently brilliant. Brown's highlights reel is spectacular but he wasn't anything like as consistently good as Rosol.
But, yes, absolutely the worst sort of player to encounter on a grass court for Rafa at this point in his decline - it was a perfect fit for an upset. Think Rafa 2012 would've escaped in four or five.
― Michael Jones, Friday, 3 July 2015 10:01 (eight years ago) link
News just in: Australian tennis fans still really annoying.
― ailsa, Friday, 3 July 2015 12:06 (eight years ago) link