Wimbledon '12: Point by Point Coverage

[GrandSlamGuru]

My computer fast and new so that's not why I hate the Wimby site. The photography is indeed gorgeous but finding sections quickly is frustrating. And although space may be the final frontier, the poor use of it is unsettling.

Thanks to whoever suggested the BBC tennis site.

[skyz]

Rosol should be up two sets to love. But good for him on winning the 2nd. Rafa will win of course but Rosol's been serving so well. It's nice to see someone hold their nerve.

[harry24]

You know why the Wimby site sucks? I came home, turn on the TV and see that Rafa is down a break in the fifth set; I can't tell if it's live or not; I turn to the Wimby site and after at least a minute of searching around, throw up my hands and try the NY Times (!!!) site. Pathetic.

[roseha]

People, go to the BBC tennis blog!

[breezybee]

It stayed on live here. Wow. It's the 2009 French Open all over again.

[chestylarue]

Well done to Rosol- he played so well. Reminded me of when Gilles Mueller was en fuego against Roddick at the 2005 USO. Hope he can do a better job of keeping his consistency.

I am bummed a bit for Rafa- but I am not gutted. I was so happy for the French Open win- and I have been wanting someone besides the Big Three to win a grand slam title for a while- and the bottom half is now open more for Murray, Delpo or Milos.

I also really enjoyed Rafa's post match comments. He has a good perspective about the loss and gave full credit to his opponent. Plus- I like that Rosol said that Rafa apologized three times during the match for the shoulder bump.

Oh- and a big woot to Delpo for being one of the few male player voices to openly disagree with Gilles Simon.

[lt]

but I keep forgetting how much I like Rosol until I see him. I wish he could keep his head together when he plays but the errors start coming.

Heh, I'm quoting myself from Key Biscayne when Rosol played Nishikori. I love that little Czech with the big calf tattoo! And I was sure wrong about him not being able to keep his head together.

I had no idea any of this was happening--I was working with no access to any TV/computer for the entire afternoon/evening. Imagine my shock when I saw the "Breaking News" banner on ESPNews. In the post match Rafa was complaining about something that had to do with the umpire--what was going on?

[skyz]

lt, Rafa was complaining about Rosol's bouncing around on return of serve. Truthfully everything was irritating him. He even complained about Rosol breathing too loudly. I will however agree with his complaint about closing the roof. It came at the worst time and if that happens during the finals that'd be awful. Totally takes you out of the match. I get why it took so long, making sure the grass isn't too slick and getting the A/C right, but that's a long time.

Apparently Rafa also shoulder bumped Rosol, which tells you just how out of sorts he was, but he apologized to Rosol a few times for it as well.

And I guess Simon said something disparaging about the women earning equal pay? Yes, they don't play best of five, but so what? How would that work anyway? It wouldn't time wise. Fuck him. Though I do think the grand slams should make the women's semis and final best out of five. That would make for more competitive matches and interesting play.

It was great to see Venus in the doubles! She and Serena won easily and next play Petrova and Kirilenko.

Finally I think this could be AndyM's time. Rafa losing opened his draw up so very nicely. But I don't know. I think he might do better at the Olympics.

[mooncreek]

I came in on the fourth set of the Rosol/Nadal match, struggling to figure out what the hell led to that predicament. The fifth made it more than clear exactly what Rosol had done. Rafa had zero chance in that set. Incredible!

I had to leave as soon as it was over (I accepted being late for an appointment). It took a half hour to realize just what that meant for Rafa's half of the draw and, amazingly enough, I actually like practically everyone left. We're also virtually guaranteed a first-time Wimbledon finalist (yes I know Roddick is around but I don't believe he can handle this tough a road).

[falafaclese]

Wow. Holy shit. I missed that entire development. Why oh why must i work? I guess I'll have to check out the replay at some point.

[lizm]

Geez wtf.

I really felt like Rafa didn't try to change his game enough to 'try everything'. Throughout the last set I was urging him to vary his pace, try a different shot selection, lure him to the net... ANYTHING to try breaking Rosol's rhythm. Instead, all I got were hard shots to the baseline that clearly weren't working. Boo.

I agree that work sucks... I PVR so I get to see the games, but I don't get to chat on the boards because I don't like to be spoiled.

[acre]

Oh no I just belatedly found out about this - now I AM shocked! I just don't expect this to happen to Nadal, wow. Shamefully I must admit my thoughts immediately went to "okay now Fed doesn't have to play/beat him to win" but of cou-se they'-e not in the same half of the d-aw anyway, and Djok is the big obstacle. Huh, I will have to be taking a close- look at the men's d-aw and see what's what, o- what might be what ..... and who might do what and all that wild speculation.

I don't mind seeing things get shaken up, but I'm kinda sad that it's at his expense, I like him!

And hey, good on DelPo, I haven't seen what he said, but honestly do any of these folks actually think they'-e being paid by the hou-? What is it, like $500,00 an hou- in a Slam final? Yeah, that's reasonable, you totally ea-ned that money baby. All of you, men, women: you'-e in the ente-tainment business folks, and you a-e wo-th exactly what the public will pay to see you, and that's it. Nobody gives a fuck how ha-d you wo-k.

[breezybee]

And I guess Simon said something disparaging about the women earning equal pay? Yes, they don't play best of five, but so what?

He's not suggesting it's because of the 5 sets vs. 3 sets. His reasoning is that more people watch the men than the women. He states that in entertainment you get paid based on your demand, not on how hard you work and tennis shouldn't be any different

Acre - your point is exactly the same as Simon's although I think you've come to different conclusions.

I understand what he's saying and although I think he's right to a point I don't want to see the money change after the women worked so hard to get it where it is.

[lt]

I understand what he's saying and although I think he's right to a point

If this is his first move as a part of the ATP panel then this is going to be an interesting year. Right or wrong (and I think he's both) he should be concentrating on what the money is to the men and the men alone. I love what the outgoing panel did with moving the money away from the winners and having the early-round players see a bigger percentage and that's the stuff they should keep working on. Bitching that the women shouldn't get blah blah blah isn't helpful in ay way.

As for Delpo, why is no one talking about how the Rafa loss helps him? I'm hearing a lot of Murray and Chris Fowler mentioned Tsonga, but what about JMdP? I haven't seen any of his matches, is he looking vulnerable?

Meanwhile, and I might have mentioned this last year, but tennis is making me like Mike Tirico and I NEVER would have thought that could be possible. For me, this year, it was him talking about watching the French on the DirecTV access. I love that when ESPN throws all these non-tennis folks into coverage they all come out of it as tennis fans. I like watching the progression. And, I think Hannah Storm is better this year. With the rain delay this morning they were talking to all the talking heads (and there are a lot of them) and she was really good at making sure everyone who had a point got to talk and that no one took over the conversation. It was tough too--Cliff wasn't obvious that he wanted to say something but she kept an eye on him and made sure he got to talk.

eta: they've got the continuation of Querrey/Raonic airing now. First two sets in tiebreaks, what a shock [/sarcasm].

[falafaclese]

I have a problem with Simon's line of reasoning. I feel like usually the bankability of the tour at any given time is based on a small number of the players, and the rest of the players reap whatever benefits trickle down as a result of the the Nadals, Federers and Djokovics of the world (or McEnroe, or Sampras, etc.). Is Simon trying to say that he's more of a draw than Venus or Serena or Maria or even Na? Of course not, so if we're talking about paying based on fan interest, why should he get more than them? If we're going to be totally fair, shouldn't the pay assessment be on a case-by-case basis? I mean, are we talking about paying individual players a salary or a bonus based on their popularity? Because if popularity is his measure for fair pay, as much as I like seeing him play, he's in for a pay cut.