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Jun 27, 2009 14:48:21 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 27, 2009 14:48:21 GMT -5
Hi! Just back from Wimbly. It was GREAT. I'm gonna write some match notes and stuff. Sorry for not giving daily updates.
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Jun 27, 2009 15:02:00 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 27, 2009 15:02:00 GMT -5
Monday I convinced my mates to start off the first day with Zheng vs. Barrois (7-6 7-6). It was an excellent grass match. Barrois' slice is just beautiful and she also played some great volleys. Zheng has a very strong cross-court backhand and is just solid all around. In the end it came down to a few points. Zheng played a perfect 1st set tie-break. In the second Barrois had four set-points, she choked a bit on two of them. Sadly when she was down 1-3 in the tie-break she said something like "I always blow in tie-breaks" and indeed she did. She was really crushed afterwards. Almagro vs. Monaco (6-7 6-7 7-6 6-4 8-6): Surprisingly entertaining considering it was on grass. After losing the first two sets fat-head's strategy was to move as little as possible and blast every shot. And it worked as he served perfectly and then just had to wait until some returns went in for a break. Monaco has more finesse but he was out-served. Bolelli vs. Koellerer (6-7 2-6 7-5 6-4 6-4): Koellerer was crazy in the last two sets but not totally crazy which was a bit disappointing. He was swearing a lot, throwing rackets but no eclat. His game is average. He has a good backhand but a challenger serve. Bolelli wasn't great but had a bit more firepower. Saw bits and pieces of many more matches, ask me if you want to know about some of them.
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Jun 27, 2009 15:07:50 GMT -5
Post by DBBN on Jun 27, 2009 15:07:50 GMT -5
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Jun 27, 2009 15:21:50 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 27, 2009 15:21:50 GMT -5
Tuesday Malek vs. Dokic (3-6 7-5 6-2): Unsurprisingly Malek is - according to Dokictards - the worst player ever, not deserving of a spot in the top 1000, and of course Dokic beat herself. Well, of course she did. But if you play against Dokic, it's not a bad strategy to let her do just that. Malek is a very defensive player. She moves well and has a nice touch to get back lots of unpleasant balls which Dokic frequently missed. She played well early on though leading 6-3 5-4 but then Malek played three strong games and DF's kept coming from Dokic. The third set was errors galore and Malek let her self-destruct nicely. It was the right thing to do but sometimes you need to do a bit more to win as we shall see later on. Shvedova vs. Niculescu (6-1 6-0): Mon was just horrible. She didn't even play forehand slice. Silly girl. Zverev vs. Tursunov (6-4 6-2 3-0 ret.): Tursunov retired because of brain injury apparently. He had a long argument with the umpire after the first set and then just didn't care anymore for some reason. Zverev is a lefty with good footwork and technique who did just enough to let Tursunov implode until he had enough. Haas vs. Peya (6-7 7-6 6-3 6-4): Haas did make life hard for himself and even had to save a set-point in the second set. And still I picked him to make the semis afterwards. It really is a new Haas. He came back from 1-4 15-40 in the fourth set in impressive fashion. He still gets mad and shouts a lot at himself and his coach. But he doesn't get down on himself anymore but really keeps fighting and digging deep if he needs to. I have never seen him do that with this intensity in his whole career. He proved that again later on. Santoro vs. Kiefer (6-4 6-2 6-2): In contrast to Haas, this was good ol' Kiefer. No emotion, no fight, no plan, no nothing. Fabrice played very well and did everything right. Ivanovic vs. Hradecka (5-7 6-2 8-6): Ana was playing like shit, no question about that. But her fighting spirit, although annoying to most, is impressive. She saved a couple of match-points and then closed it out very nicely. Now she's in the fourth round. I say good for her.
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Jun 27, 2009 15:32:21 GMT -5
Post by janie on Jun 27, 2009 15:32:21 GMT -5
More! More!
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Jun 27, 2009 16:14:19 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 27, 2009 16:14:19 GMT -5
Wednesday
Sela vs. Schüttler (7-6 6-3 6-2): Schüttel is a pathetic person. Why is he carrying on being a miserable tanker at age 33. Get a life old man. He played well until 5-3, then had an argument with the umpire and from then on just played horribly. Dudi, however, played really well. He came in frequent and played nice volleys, especially short ones. His backhand is amazing, his forehand solid, serve quite well for his size. Kohlschreiber vs. Minar (6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2 8-6): Great match. Kohl still sucks mentally but less than before. He only lost the two sets because he lost focus after missing chances to break. In the 5th though he hung in there well. Minar is very solid in every department and a tough opponent so a good win. Schiavone vs. Larcher de Brito (7-6 7-6): What the heck has happened to Fran? This match was a perfect one for her to choke away but she didn't. Instead she played a really fine match with all her strengths working. De Brito was loud but it was okay. Her fighting spirit is amazinh and you will probably be hearing a lot more of her. She acknowledged the crowd after the match which was nice to see.
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Jun 27, 2009 17:34:17 GMT -5
Post by janie on Jun 27, 2009 17:34:17 GMT -5
I believe this is this board's first-ever Dudi report. So he's a net-rusher!
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Jun 27, 2009 19:45:10 GMT -5
Post by leelee on Jun 27, 2009 19:45:10 GMT -5
I've seen Dudi play a few times. He didn't rush the net much on other surfaces. His backhand is what stands out.
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Jun 28, 2009 3:30:27 GMT -5
Post by DBBN on Jun 28, 2009 3:30:27 GMT -5
Definitely not the first Dudi Sela report on this board. The first nice one, yes.
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Jun 28, 2009 7:09:21 GMT -5
Post by The Chloe on Jun 28, 2009 7:09:21 GMT -5
What's wrong with Sela? I like Sela. Saw him lost to Murray in USO qualies a few years back. You were there, but not there. I think I was with you that year. Regardless, thanks for the report FGS3000
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Jun 28, 2009 7:09:58 GMT -5
Post by The Chloe on Jun 28, 2009 7:09:58 GMT -5
Saw him lost? I English Teacher.
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Jun 28, 2009 7:46:33 GMT -5
Post by lexpretend on Jun 28, 2009 7:46:33 GMT -5
"You were there, but not there" sounds kind of mystical.
Nice reports!
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Jun 28, 2009 10:15:14 GMT -5
Post by The Chloe on Jun 28, 2009 10:15:14 GMT -5
Burley is a shape shifter.
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Jun 28, 2009 13:16:42 GMT -5
Post by DBBN on Jun 28, 2009 13:16:42 GMT -5
His scrappy game is soporific to me, and he's not attractive, so I can't appreciate him aesthetically. But mostly (I've talked about this) I HATE how everyone from Israel is rooted for vociferously and obnoxiously at the USO, and those fans make me hate Israeli players I would ordinarily be ambivalent towards, like Sela or Obziler. (I still like Peer, and I would hate Smashnova anyway.)
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Jun 28, 2009 16:02:36 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 28, 2009 16:02:36 GMT -5
Dudi played all-out S&V against Boredo, which was the perfect strategy. More on that in my next reports which are about to come. Oli Rochus has a similar game and is much cuter of course, but Dudi's backhand is more spectacular. The Israeli fans were very vocal but I didn't mind that.
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Jun 28, 2009 17:09:12 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 28, 2009 17:09:12 GMT -5
Thursday Stosur vs. Malek (4-6 7-6 6-4): Biggest disappointment of the trip. Of course a horrible match, because for Malek to have a chance against Sam, Sam needs to miss a ton, and she did. Terrible errors, this was old 10K groundstrokes Sam. Malek played her passive game and it worked but there were a few instances where she really really needed to do a bit more, like coming in and finishing off the point at the net, but she played it scared. Very sad as she's absolutely capable of hitting a nice volley. She was 4-0 up in the tie-break but Sam played some nice aggressive points then. At 6-6 there was the longest point of the match with Malek on the ground in-between, that was really unlucky. Was up 4-1 again in the third and had BP for 5-3 but was way too passive then, quite a choke. Overall Sam deserved to win as the more active player, I'm just angry that Malek just tried not to lose instead of trying to win within her means. Petzschner vs. Zverev (4-6 7-6 3-6 7-6 6-0): The 2nd set with the 15-13 tie-break was fun, the rest was pretty boring. Petzsche is an immense talent. His backhand slice might be the prettiest in the game, he has a huge serve and great touch. Needless to say, he's a total headcase. He complains a ton and is very full of himself. To avoid warnings for ball abuse he just bashes the return over the fence when he's 40-0 down. By the way, his rise in the rankings is because his behaviour has actually improved in recent years, he was even worse then. Zverev is less flashy but very solid in every department. He should have won this being the more stable player for most of the match but he blew it serving for the second set and then in the 4th when he was 5-2 up in the tie-break and lost the next five points. For some reason he decided to play S&V on his 2nd serve twice. Very dumb. We left after that and when we came back 15 minutes later the match was over. I'm surprised that Zverev tanked that badly. Wawrinka vs. Vasallo Arguello (6-3 6-2 6-2): MVA was pretty weak but Stan is in excellent form. His backhand is amazing. I think he has an outside chance against Andy. Murray/Huber vs. Kops-Jones/de Voest (2-6 7-6 6-1): Jamie is horrible. I really liked Kops-Jones' doubles game. Left early in the second set and was sad to hear the result later on. Bitch Horn-Huber must have carried poor Jamie through this. Levine vs. Cuevas (6-2 6-1 4-6 4-6 6-3): Entertaining match. After a bad start Cuevas really was the better player and looked good early in the 5th too but then lost his serve and Levine closed it out nicely. He has a decent grass game. Troicki vs. Gimeno-Traver (7-6 0-6 6-1 3-6 7-5): Not a great match but the end was fun anyway. Gimeno's racquet sounds like broken strings on every shot, does that mean he plays with ultra-high tension? He was up 4-1, 4-2 40-15 and 4-3 40-0 in the 5th but choked. At 5-5 when it was very dark already he wanted to continue while Troicki wanted to stop. Umpire said two more games and Troicki won both easily. Lolz.
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Jun 28, 2009 17:38:23 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 28, 2009 17:38:23 GMT -5
Oh god, I just lost the Friday report. I'm gonna make a shorter version.
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Jun 28, 2009 17:50:45 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 28, 2009 17:50:45 GMT -5
Friday Amritraj/Qureshi 8-6 in the 5th: Very fun match. Stood next to Papa Vijay. Junaid/Marx never broke until 5-5 in the 5th but they played good tie-breaks and fought well. They served for it at 6-5 30-0 in the 5th but choked a little and Prakash/Aisam came back nicely. Touching scenes afterwards with lots of hugging. Sela vs. Robredo (7-6 7-5 2-6 7-6): Dudi was wonderful. Played great S&V throughout, brilliant volleying. Boredo is miserable. Bad attitude and zero game intelligence, I bet he never realised that Dudi's backhand is his stronger side, or he's just too one-dimensional to change his game up. He also choked in the 4th. Everyone was delighted. Barrois/Garbin won 7-6 6-1. Yay. Haas vs. Cilic (7-5 7-5 1-6 6-7 6-6 susp.): Bought return tickets for this. Very last match of our trip and the highlight. Hasi had two match-points in the 4th but wasted them and played a weak tie-break. Cilic played much better than against Querrey and was soon up 3-0 in the 5th. In earlier years Haas would have tanked now but here he was determined to break back right away and he did with great attacking tennis. Cilic broke again though with an excellent point and yet again Haas kept believeing himself and came back. At 5-5 it was already very very dark and they played on. The last two games were very long so they finished at 9.35 pm which is probably a record. Cilic had two match-points in the final game but Haas went for broke from the baseline and got rewarded. He finished the job yesterday and I stand by my prediction of him making the semis. So nice to see someone changing for the better that late in his career.
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Jun 28, 2009 18:03:43 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 28, 2009 18:03:43 GMT -5
Other stuff
The trip
Bus to S-Bahn station. S-Bahn to Hamburg central station. Train to Bremen central station. Tram to Bremen airport. Ryanair to Stansted. Bus to Victoria Station. Tube to Bayswater.
The hostel
Astor Quest near Queensway and Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park. Good location. Hostel was ahem charming. Room tiny and warm but fairly clean.
The Queue
Longer this year. Arrived around 8.30 am each day and weren't in before 11.30-12.30. Apart from that, pleasant as always.
The Grounds
Centre Court is huge now. New Court No.2 looks good. Old Court No.2 now has unreserved seating which was nice. I heard it might be demolished after the tourney, not sure if that's true.
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Jun 28, 2009 18:42:53 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 28, 2009 18:42:53 GMT -5
Oh, one more thing:
There's always lots of moaning about Wimbledon around here and how much it sucks. The thing is, if you are there in person, you forget about all that immediately. What I like the most about Wimbly is the atmosphere. Everyone is nice and polite and relaxed and pleasant. The stewards are extremely well-trained (or just British) as they have so much patience and are always reasonable and trying to help you out. This might be normal behaviour for you all, but I invite you to come to Germany and especially Hamburg and to visit the Rothenbaum tournament. The difference is shocking. Somehow I doubt that Roland Garros and the US Open offer the same kind of experience. I assume the Aussie Open does. I'm going to try out Paris next year if possible though.
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Jun 28, 2009 19:43:21 GMT -5
Post by janie on Jun 28, 2009 19:43:21 GMT -5
You saw Aisam! Too bad about losing your original Friday report, but the version you posted was good, so thanks for writing it up again. I think Haas has gained a lot of new fans this year, including me. For me he's one of the exciting plots in this year's Wimbledon. On the other hand, I used to like Robredo, and now I don't. I guess I can only root for one Tommy at a time.
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Jun 28, 2009 19:48:47 GMT -5
Post by DBBN on Jun 28, 2009 19:48:47 GMT -5
Somehow I doubt that Roland Garros and the US Open offer the same kind of experience. I can vouch for the fact that you are right about the USO. But I like figuring things out myself anyway and dislike being helped or spoken to or looked at, so I'm okay with it.
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Jun 28, 2009 19:59:59 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 28, 2009 19:59:59 GMT -5
I can vouch for the fact that you are right about the USO. But I like figuring things out myself anyway and dislike being helped or spoken to or looked at, so I'm okay with it. I'm like that too. So it's not that I depend on these things, but it's still nice to witness. The crowd itself is good too, even though a little reserved and not always all that knowledgeable. Still very diverse and not posh at all on the outside courts.
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Jun 28, 2009 20:06:17 GMT -5
Post by GoDom on Jun 28, 2009 20:06:17 GMT -5
You saw Aisam! Too bad about losing your original Friday report, but the version you posted was good, so thanks for writing it up again. I think Haas has gained a lot of new fans this year, including me. For me he's one of the exciting plots in this year's Wimbledon. On the other hand, I used to like Robredo, and now I don't. I guess I can only root for one Tommy at a time. The original wasn't that much longer actually. I've been a fan of Aisam since I saw him play on TV in Rosmalen once. When I was in Wimbly in 2007 I saw him win a singles match and then lose against Safin. Too bad he couldn't really get it going after that, now he's ranked 300. Anyway, they are a good team and it's good for the sport and they get lots of attention in their home countries. I never thought I would really like Tommy one day. Apparently for this to happen he had to grow up and finally become a MAN. Better late than never, I guess.
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Jun 29, 2009 17:00:06 GMT -5
Post by Traveling Man on Jun 29, 2009 17:00:06 GMT -5
Thanks! It must have been something watching the end of the Aisam/Prakash match. I followed the scoreboard for the entire four and a half hours - it was nerve wracking and they showed Vijay in the studio afterwards, and he said he was a nervous wreck and it's so much more nerve wracking watching your child play than playing yourself.
Tommy's growing on me too! Never despised or loathed him, but find myself rooting for him in all his matches this year.
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Jun 29, 2009 18:46:56 GMT -5
Post by leelee on Jun 29, 2009 18:46:56 GMT -5
Somehow I doubt that Roland Garros and the US Open offer the same kind of experience. I can vouch for the fact that you are right about the USO. But I like figuring things out myself anyway and dislike being helped or spoken to or looked at, so I'm okay with it. My experiences have been the opposite. Groundspeople bothering me was the norm, especially since I liked wandering around to every court. Of course, maybe it's just because I'm female, was alone, and don't appear like a raging cunt on the outside. Wimbledon still blows. They probably pay more than the pittance Flushing gives. Try spending more on their horrible site.
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Jul 2, 2009 13:41:22 GMT -5
Post by Brinyi on Jul 2, 2009 13:41:22 GMT -5
Awesome reports. Many thanks!
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Jul 2, 2009 15:58:44 GMT -5
Post by Denise49IQ on Jul 2, 2009 15:58:44 GMT -5
Wimbledon rox, and it's always fun laughing at all the idiots on the outside courts - the wannabe snobs wearing every item of designer clothing they own, often fake.
The USO was awesome too, just waaaaay too hot for me. Although obviously it's got the whole cheesy US thing I really hated. The first thing I experienced when walking off the subway was a sea of fat black women screaming "WEEELCOME, TO THE U. S. OOOOPEN" through a mic thing. ;D
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Jul 2, 2009 16:00:01 GMT -5
Post by leelee on Jul 2, 2009 16:00:01 GMT -5
So, you saw Chole?
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Jul 2, 2009 16:02:17 GMT -5
Post by Denise49IQ on Jul 2, 2009 16:02:17 GMT -5
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I'm sure I saw The Chole on one of the outside courts complaining about something. And some guy on his own masterbating to, like, Snotso or someone. I wonder if he posts online anywhere.
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