Wimbledon - Blow by Blow

[DudeAsInCool]

First round and Hewitt is looking good. 6-2, 6-3 against Ivanisevic, in a match that sports a 5 ft 9 guy against a 6 ft 10 guy... Im for Hewitt all the way...

Ivanisevic is up one game to love in the third set, but after taking an early lead, its now 5-4 with Hewitt serving and looking like hes gonna wipe the one-time Wimbledon winner off the court. 6-4, Hewitt advances :)

[Kooperman]

Too elite a sport for me...I haven't watched a match since young punks Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe quit rumbling.

[Malicious Intent]

Wimbledon - Blow by Blow

It certainly does.

[DudeAsInCool]

I like Hewitt - he's a real scrambler in the McEnroe/Connors tradition...

[method77]

I wish McEnroe was still in there. I always liked when he threw the racket around and scream at the referee

[DudeAsInCool]

I wish McEnroe was still in there.

He is - he covers the blow by blow..

[DudeAsInCool]

Federer, Roddick and Henman Advance

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Andy Roddick and Roger Federer reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon while thousands of fans lined up to be part of the third ``People's Sunday'' in 127 years.

Wimbledon organizers were forced to schedule matches on the middle Sunday -- usually a rest day -- to clear a backlog after washouts Wednesday and Saturday.

The top-ranked Federer hit 44 winners and advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Thomas Johansson. There were about 8,000 people still in lines outside when Federer rifled a forehand return on match point after 1 hour, 37 minutes.

Centre Court was full by the time when defending women's champion Serena Williams beat Spain's Magui Serna 6-4, 6-0 in 58 minutes.

The top-seeded Williams looked subdued with both her mother and father watching from the stands, but still had 11 aces and 29 winners with only one double-fault and 11 errors.

Williams got off court just before showers delayed play late in the afternoon.

She'd followed Tim Henman onto Centre Court, and the crowd was worked up after the British favorite beat Morocco's Hicham Arazi 7-6 (6), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Second-seeded Roddick beat fellow American Taylor Dent 6-3, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (1).

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-TEN-Wimbledon.html

[grab_grab_the_haddock]

I wish McEnroe was still in there. I always liked when he threw the racket around and scream at the referee

you cannot be serious!

[grab_grab_the_haddock]

federer will breeze through the mens, and serena will easily win the womens.

[DudeAsInCool]

you cannot be serious!

Mac was a great player. Connors and Mac knew how to put drama in the game. With the exception of Hewitt, whose a scrambler, and some of the latin players, tennis has turned into too much of a power game. The women's tournaments often are more exciting to watch

[DudeAsInCool]

17 year old Russian sensation Maria Sharapova charged into her first Wimbledon quarterfinal by defeating the American veteran Amy Frazier, 6-4, 7-5. :bigsmile:

[method77]

you cannot be serious!

Yes I can.

I'm cheering for Sharapova :bigsmile:

[Guest .::BeatFactory::.]

17 year old Russian sensation Maria Sharapova charged into her first Wimbledon quarterfinal by defeating the American veteran Amy Frazier, 6-4, 7-5. :bigsmile:

she looks hot so I'm hoping to see more of her... I mean I wanna see her advance ;)

[grab_grab_the_haddock]

I havent had the pleasure of watching this young woman yet. Cant wait to check out her serve and volley.

[DudeAsInCool]

I havent had the pleasure of watching this young woman yet. Cant wait to check out her serve and volley.

U betcha

[grab_grab_the_haddock]

I just watched the highlights on BBC1. It was a display which required excellent hand to eye co-ordination, and a fine wrist action ;)

[DudeAsInCool]

Yes, I saw what you mean... I thought the dexterous leg movement was terrific, too :bigsmile:

[grab_grab_the_haddock]

Take on the fastest tennis serves!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/fun/...000/2118024.stm

I got good scores against kournikova and henman, but ivanisevic was a tougher proposition.

[Shawn]

Take on the fastest tennis serves!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/fun/...000/2118024.stm

Probably the closest I'll ever get to playing Kournikova.

[DudeAsInCool]

Nice post, Grab Grab - I got aced!

***

Henman Is Bounced From Wimbledon in Straight Sets

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY

Published: June 30, 2004

LONDON, June 30 — It has been a challenging fortnight for the All England Club. There has been even more rain than usual. There was the distraction of England's run in the European soccer championships in the first week that cut into Wimbledon's attendance and television audiences. Today, there was even a London subway strike that kept fans from making a quick, inexpensive trip to the club to watch their national icon Tim Henman continue in his decade-long quest to become a national hero.

But as it turned out, those who got stuck in traffic did not miss anything that they and the other people with Union Jacks painted on their faces have not seen before. Despite his excellent blood lines and classic grasscourt game, Henman has yet to reach a final here, and his latest attempt came to a halt in the quarterfinals against Mario Ancic, a 20-year-old Croatian who might be unseeded but is hardly unknown.

Two years ago, on the same Center Court, Ancic beat Roger Federer in the first round. Last year, he won the first two sets against Andre Agassi in the second round of the French Open before losing, 7-5, in the fifth. But there was more at stake this time, and now the tall and slender man from the same coastal city (Split) as the 2001 Wimbledon champion, Goran Ivanisevic, is into his first Grand Slam semifinal.

"There's no question that the better player won on the day," Henman said.

In the last nine years, Henman has reached the quarterfinals four times and the semifinals four times at the tournament where his grandfather and great-grandmother once played. It is a remarkable record of consistency in an era of unprecedented depth and frequent injuries.

But Henman remains unable to punch through to the highest level, and though expectations (his own and his nation's) were higher this year in the wake of his surprising run to the French Open semifinals, the latest outbreak of summer hype and hope subsided quietly today with a flurry of low returns, intimidating serves and precise volleys from Ancic.

Not long after Ancic's 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2 victory, Henman was back to facing his cheerleaders turned confessors. "I know it must become wearing when you're asked to compare disappointments year on year," remarked one reporter. "How does it compare?"

Henman said: "I think it's worse actually. That's the honest answer."

And how might he respond to those who say Tim Henman will never win Wimbledon?

"I think I'm perfectly aware in this country that I'm sure my career will be judged by whether I win Wimbledon or not," he said. "Can I control that? Do I agree with that? `No' is the answer to both questions, but that's life. I've always been big enough and strong enough to not pay a great deal of attention to it."

While Henman was answering the same old questions, Ancic's future semifinal opponent Andy Roddick was responding to difficult situations on Court One with his serve. It is one of tennis's trump cards, and it made the difference in a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (11-9), 6-3 victory over Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands that was much tighter than its straight-set scoreline might suggest.

You can read more heree:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/30/sports/t...ND-TENN.html?hp

[DudeAsInCool]

More highlights from today:

Roddick (beat Schalken), his record-breaking serve working brilliantly under pressure, was the one who grabbed the opportunity, winning, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (9), 6-3.

Despite the rain that once again interrupted the flow of play at Wimbledon, there was no business left unfinished as all the scheduled singles quarterfinals were completed. The day began with Serena Williams doing a convincing impression of her once-dominant self against Jennifer Capriati, winning, 6-1, 6-1, in 45 minutes. It continued with Tim Henman disappointing his fellow Britons once more by getting served and volleyed out of the tournament by Mario Ancic, a 20-year-old from Croatia, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2. It peaked with the defending champion, Roger Federer, delivering another virtuoso performance to defeat the former champion Lleyton Hewitt, 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-0, 6-4. It ended in the fading light with Sébastien Grosjean of France finishing off Florian Mayer, an unseeded German with an unconventional game, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.

The men's semifinals will match Roddick against Ancic and Federer against Grosjean. In the women's semifinals, the top-seeded Williams will play No. 4 Amélie Mauresmo of France, and No. 5 Lindsay Davenport will face No. 13 Maria Sharapova of Russia.

Read the full story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/01/sports/t...s/01tennis.html

[Wolfie]

17 year old Russian sensation Maria Sharapova charged into her first Wimbledon quarterfinal by defeating the American veteran Amy Frazier, 6-4, 7-5. :bigsmile:

I am watching her play Lindsey Davenport on TV at the moment and she is kicking ass. :bigsmile:

[DudeAsInCool]

Sharapova and Williams Reach Wimbledon Finals

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY

Published: July 1, 2004

Sharapova had her first opportunity today in the semifinals of Wimbledon against former champion Lindsay Davenport, and by the time it ended with a 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 victory, there could no longer be any doubt that Sharapova has the right stuff as well as the right technique....

...In her first Grand Slam final, the 13th-seeded Sharapova, who represents Russia but has trained primarily in the United States since the age of 8, will face Serena Williams, the No. 1 seeded player and defending champion.

Like Sharapova, Williams had to overcome a compromising situation today, pumping her fists, arching her back and howling at the often overcast sky and digging deep into her emotional reserves before defeating Amelie Mauresmo of France, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-4...

The full story is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/01/sports/t...CND-TEN.html?hp

[Guest .::BeatFactory::.]

Sharapova wins! :

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylc=X3oD...ov=ap&type=lgns

I knew when I saw that picture earlier that she was gonna do something big.... didn't think she would dominate Serena like that though. Hey, she looks good, and unlike Kournikova, she wins!

[DudeAsInCool]

Roger Federer beats Sébastien Grosjean in a very close match to advance to the finals against Roddick.