WIMBLEDON 2015

It's been a good match

he has an insane touch

...I say as he bunts that half-volley wide

2DFs in a row from Rafa

To even entertain losing to this..

this is extraordinary tbf

Sadly post-Rosol and Kyrgios it isn't.

hark at scrooge!

awful unforced error for BP

Nadal's FH were made of iron now its just wait and its over. Broken.

awful unforced error for break!

yeah this is rubbish Nadal but Brown is still playing great

lol

standards people.

Nadal shakes his head after dicking around with this nobody at the net.

Can tell how you're feeling Rafa. I can.

Dustin is awesome fuiud

but I guess he's a nobody if you only bother to watch tennis 4x a year

He's a qualifier.

I can see he can hit the ball hard though.

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

there are lots of great players in qualifying every year

2 MPs. pack it in Rafa

oh dear he left that and Nadal got it in!

a FH in, too little too late.

Brown has to serve now - awesome.

that would've been an amazing pick up from rafa - two away now Brown.

2MPs - played it cool post DF

Gets it.

Acknowledging his grass-court specialism in a nice interview now

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

News just in: Australian tennis fans still really annoying.

Was talking to a few ppl who work in tennis yesterday and they're getting on everyone's nerves, apparently def much worse than usual. They apparently barge their way to the front of the gates so they can make a charge for those prime seats as a group right as the gates open

anyway, lol @ three DFs in the final game of that set to hand it to Raonic

Yeah, that shut them up for a bit.

Oh I should've said earlier but I think Gasquet is gonna destroy Dimitrov today

The thing is that Kyrgios hits those moronic 124mph second serves down SP precisely because if he somehow pulls them off people will ooh and aah and praise him to the heavens, and if he doesn't then he's a mysterious and perplexing enigma.

Anyway, begone dickhead vs servebot. Baghdatis v Goffin on one screen, Gasquet v Dimitrov on the other

These BH-to-BH rallies in Gasquet/Dimitrov >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

kyrgios is so wacky, i can't help but watch him

something about the behavioural flaws of the cypriot diaspora. oh there's a real cypriot playing, might check him out instead

kyrgios just played a shot of the day contender to get a BP tbf

He's not Cypriot. He's half-Greek, half-Malay. His dad comes from northern Greece