Day 2 -

[Pamela Shriver]

Jun 24, 2008 13:48:54 GMT -5 @sasha said:

I feel a little bad for Leach. Hasn't played in forever, and her leg is messed up.

Oh well, expect her next retirement sometime in September. Maybe even after the Olympics.

She reminds me of another player we both like.

Anyway, my guess is, depending on her health, she plays the California tournaments, the Olympics and the US Open, then calls it a day. She hated getting injured before, I can only imagine how she must feel now.

[Brinyi]

Gnomie.

[lexpretend]

Dima beat Mahut

[Brinyi]

Wimbledon under fire for pigeon cull
Tue 24 Jun, 06:35 PM

LONDON (Reuters) - Wimbledon came under fire from animal activists on Tuesday for using marksmen to shoot down dive-bombing pigeons.

The tournament employs two hawks to scare away pigeons who had become a pest swooping down on Centre Court and distracting players in the middle of tense matches.

But the hawks failed to keep the pigeons away from the players' lawn and the open-air media restaurant so marksmen were called in.

"The hawks are our first line of deterrent, and by and large they do the job," Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins said.

"But unfortunately there were one or two areas where the hawks didn't deter the pigeons, so it was deemed necessary to take a harder approach," he explained.

The marksmen were summoned by Wimbledon as pigeon droppings on the restaurant tables were thought to be a health hazard.

The decision to call in the marksmen was condemned as "cruel and illegal behaviour" by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which complained to the tournament organisers and the police.

"Since the use of marksmen to kill pigeons appears to have been carried out as a first, rather than a last resort, and not out of a concern for public health, but rather because the animals were deemed inconvenient by players, you appear to be in clear violation of the law," PETA vice-president Bruce Friedrich said.

[DBBN]

Jun 24, 2008 13:33:34 GMT -5 lexpretend said:

Compared to King, she is!

Who the fuck is going to come out of King Kolya's vacated eighth? I picked Young basically at random because I have no idea in the slightest. Maybe Chardy? His five-set win over Gil was probably the unseen match of the day.

It was always going to be Nieminen.

[lexpretend]

Jesus. Nieminen is so boring that I literally had not noticed his name in the draw until now. Process of elimination: Chardy and Melzer = creatures of clay, Clement = old, Mathieu = choker and wuss extraordinaire, oh god it's going to be Nieminen.

Sub-600-ranked WC into qualifying Chris Eaton now in the second round! Happy for him, but I would like to invite anyone who's ever criticised women's tennis relative to men's to watch his match against Pashanski: truly terrible park hacker shit, there.

[Edna Krabappel]

Jun 24, 2008 15:23:17 GMT -5 lexpretend said:

Sub-600-ranked WC into qualifying Chris Eaton now in the second round! Happy for him, but I would like to invite anyone who's ever criticised women's tennis relative to men's to watch his match against Pashanski: truly terrible park hacker shit, there.

I tried to watch it, but jeez, it was really too horrible for words. Pashanski clearly showed up just to collect his paycheck. How the hell did he make it to MD anyway. He must be something like the Martina Muller of the ATP tour.

[Denise49IQ]

Jun 24, 2008 13:36:32 GMT -5 lexpretend said:

Jun 24, 2008 13:31:49 GMT -5 Denise49IQ said:

Apparently, she's had her best few months of training ever.

Whatever. She looked MISERABLE at the end though... she'll probably withdraw tomorrow or after a couple of games on Thursday. It must be very frustrating.

This Murray match is very entertaining. I love how the Royal Box is almost full.. on the second day. RG should take a few tips from The All England.

Murray's game is great... I really want to like him but when he opens his mouth on court, this is made difficult.

Thing is, his mopeyness and brattiness are what stops the former Henmaniacs from embracing him. And once they do...and Wimbledon fortnight turns into all Murray, all the time, over and above every other player in the draw...just like it did with Henman...that is when I start to hate him. And not in a "love to hate" way as in with Roddick, in an actual "get the fuck off my TV so I can see some OTHER PLAYERS" way.

So he can keep the chippiness, basically, and I can enjoy his game

I can deal with the mopey/bratty side of him. It's only when he wins a point and like roars with his mouth wide open and the camera zooms in on him that makes me dislike him really. Good teeth = very important in liking players for me usually.

Glad to see Dima coming through that one.

Rafa served SEVENTEEN aces today.

God, this half of the men's draw flat out sucks!

Lucie out in straights to Loit.

Tammy!

"The Belgian Sharapova" goes down 4 and 2 to Ai.

O'Brien lead 5-0 in the second set against Peer and lost it 7-5.

Fishin' Hat safely through 5 and 3.

Today At Wimbledon actually gave the women some decent coverage for once. 40 minutes of John Inverdale, Tracy Austin and Boris reminded me why I detest that show though.

[sasha]

ESPN360 is a godsend.

I assume ESPN's Wimbledon coverage is horrible, as always.

[corswandt]

Jun 24, 2008 11:07:51 GMT -5 @sasha said:

I hope Gulbis has a "good" hitting day vs. Nadal on Thursday. He can do it. Please.

He can't.

Getting coverage through local station that never leaves CC, so missing out on a lot of excitement as usual. But then again Eurosport, in all the court hopping they do during the early rounds, seem to believe that anything that goes to five sets is worth showing, so at times I just don't know what is preferable.

Fat Dave should retire.

I think Nikki V. won 100% of 1st serve points against Ondraskova. Speaking about stats, it's almost unbelievable how close Frederico Gil was to winning considering the stats on that match. Chardy has talent, something hard working Gil totally lacks.

Surface seems to be playing like a standard issue fast hardcourt (like say 2007 USO; slower than the 2006 USO ice rink), with some additional difficulties in returning serve due to the bad/unpredictable bounces.

[corswandt]

Jun 24, 2008 13:52:05 GMT -5 lexpretend said:

Hey, Savchuk is a fun net-rusher. Who knew.

Her match against Hingis played over wet grass in 2006 was non-stop fun. The kind of match I'll always remember.