Wimbledon...

[Uconnsdabest]

The strenghts that Ivan Lendl brings is not necessarily the X's and O's for performing best in a Grass Court. As you stated, he was never able to get over the hump after coming close a couple times. He brings an edge in the mental aspects of the game that Andy sorely needs. There is hardly anyone tougher than Ivan during his heyday.

 

[wire chief]

And speaking of big name coaches. Boris Becker has been in Novak's company for awhile now, and who could fault that choice, when it comes to grass?
Canada's best, Milos Raonic, who pushed Andy to the limit in a tune-up just ended, is now paired with John McEnroe.

Oh, the feathers and fur shall fly!

 

[wire chief]

The seedings are here, with Serena #1, Venus #9 & Madison #10. Sloane in top 20.
The draws not ready until the 24th.

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/tennis/wimbledon-2016-prediction-draw-seedings-prize-money-tv- -odds-a3277681.html

 

[Uconnsdabest]

Hard to see Djokovic being topped on the Men's side. Women is more interesting. Madison & Sloane are far too inconsistent in their game, but would love to see a run from one of them. I think it will come down to a Serena/Kvitova final.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Sharapova out for 2 years for her drug use suspension. Yikes! Does that seem harsh? Her explanation seems to be that the substance was banned as of Jan 1 and she was tested right after that at the Australia Open which is why it was still in her system. Or does she have a different explanation now? What do you think? Fair or too harsh? The drug is used to treat heart conditions - she took it for 10 years? Does she even have a heart condition?

Can you say ex post facto? Any test for a newly banned substance before said substance has a chance to clear one's system is patently unfair.

Sharapova cannot claim ignorance. She had fair warning that the drug was going to be added to the list and chose to keep taking it. She can appeal to Roger Goodell and see where it gets her. I wonder if she has texts in her phone that show that she was going to keep taking the drug. I wonder if she still has the phone of if she destroyed it?

As far as obeying proposed rules before they are enacted, Good Grief! Don't we have enough crap in our lives already without worrying whether what we're doing this morning will get us into trouble this afternoon?

 

[EricLA]

Hard to see Djokovic being topped on the Men's side. Women is more interesting. Madison & Sloane are far too inconsistent in their game, but would love to see a run from one of them. I think it will come down to a Serena/Kvitova final.

Kvitova seems like she's been out of sorts for a while now. She's dropped down to #11, but is making a nice run in Eastbourne this week. She faces Konta today - a nice player but one who makes a lot of unforced errors (so does Kvitova for that matter when she's not "on").

I could see Muguruza making a deep run. Maybe another hard hitter like Keys or Pliskova. It's great to see Coco up to 29 in the rankings - she should be seeded at Wimbledon along with Stevens, Keys, Serena and Venus.

 

[wire chief]

The previous 2-time W champ should be in contention, as Eric says, for Petra is the power player it seems to take to win today.
More interesting for speculation is #2 seed Garbine, who you may not recall was the finalist vs. Serena last year. Now that Garbine took the French, the question is, can a 22 year old take the French and W back to back. It would be one hell of a deed.

 

[wire chief]

Victoria Azaranka is a scratch. The 2 time Aussie champ had to concede a match at the French and her knee is not sufficiently restored.

 

[wire chief]

Bellow are the seeds for women and men. W reserves the right to adjust the seeds vs. rankings on the basis of expected results on a grass surface. This year there are no discrepancies.

Wimbledon: Seeds revealed for the Ladies’ tournament

Wimbledon 2016 Seeds Announced | ATP World Tour | Tennis

 

[wire chief]

We're finally here...W starts at 7am tomorrow on ESPN.
Extra attention will be paid to Novak because 2016 is an Olympic year. No man has ever won a GOLDEN SLAM,
taking all 4 Majors and Olympic Gold in a calendar year. Few would doubt that Novak could pull it off.
Steffi in 1988 did it on the women's side.

 

[EricLA]

So happy to see Coco seeded. She had a great spring and deserves it. A good number of seeded Americans. Nice to see.

 

[wire chief]

As is the custom, the defending men's champ starts (8am EST) on center court on grass-that-will-never-again-look-so-pristine.
Elsewhere Venus plays at the same time and Ms. Keys has a 9:30 start. ESPN
Tennis Channel announces recaps at 4 and 8.

 

[wire chief]

One 1st round upset as Ana Ivanovic goes down, with a troubled wrist.
Venus and Madison earn the 2nd round. Meyers is delirious.

 

[Rocket009]

First round upset on the men's side Marcus Willis (ranked 772) beats Ricardas Berankis world number 54

 

[wire chief]

First round upset on the men's side Marcus Willis (ranked 772) beats Ricardas Berankis world number 54

Not since 1988 has such a low ranked player tasted first round success at W. Now the Brits have had to come to terms with, often unevenly, being a former colonial power. The Brexit may stem, in part, from resistance to being only one of many equal partners.
Now not only has the pound declined but its national team has been tournament-ousted in a 1-0 defeat by Iceland's soccer bunch.
Iceland!!!!?
No wonder the fans went crazy, when their native son excelled unexpectantly on the hallowed grass. Uh oh. he next meets Roger.

We can see Serena at 8am. No other Americans are scheduled on TV friendly courts. E.g, Coco is on court 17. Is that even in London?

 

[DaddyChoc]

Not since 1988 has such a low ranked player tasted first round success at W. Now the Brits have had to come to terms with, often unevenly, being a former colonial power. The Brexit may stem, in part, from resistance to being only one of many equal partners.
Now not only has the pound declined but its national team has been tournament-ousted in a 1-0 defeat by Iceland's soccer bunch.
Iceland!!!!?
No wonder the fans went crazy, when their native son excelled unexpectantly on the hallowed grass. Uh oh. he next meets Roger.

We can see Serena at 8am. No other Americans are scheduled on TV friendly courts. E.g, Coco is on court 17. Is that even in London?

thanks, hopefully it starts on time... I'll be just about ready to nap at that time

 

[BigBird]

Ah karma! You are such a pain!

I was going to post a tongue-in-cheek and quasi-snarky comment about the excess of tennis coverage (for me, any amount at all is excessive), and how it messes up the morning schedule on ESPN. But then today, my roofer dropped my dismounted satellite dish two and a half stories to the ground. Kersplat! So, I guess that for awhile, the tennis thing isn't going to be such a problem after all.

 

[wire chief]

Heavyweight Stan Wawrinka has a 2-1 set lead vs. Taylor Fritz. Fritz is an American, just 18, who was a finalist in last year's
Junior French and won the US Open. Stan needed a tiebreaker in set 1, then lost a tiebreaker in set 3.
Is this guy a hope for American male tennis?

 

[Rocket009]

Not since 1988 has such a low ranked player tasted first round success at W. Now the Brits have had to come to terms with, often unevenly, being a former colonial power. The Brexit may stem, in part, from resistance to being only one of many equal partners.
Now not only has the pound declined but its national team has been tournament-ousted in a 1-0 defeat by Iceland's soccer bunch.
Iceland!!!!?
No wonder the fans went crazy, when their native son excelled unexpectantly on the hallowed grass. Uh oh. he next meets Roger.

We can see Serena at 8am. No other Americans are scheduled on TV friendly courts. E.g, Coco is on court 17. Is that even in London?

After the Iceland game I texted my English friends that even the soccer team wanted out of Europe. They, in British style, were not amused.

 

[Uconnsdabest]

2nd round of Wawrinka vs Del Potro should be great!

 

[wire chief]

An ESPN graphic announces that Coco's match will be shown next.

 

[wire chief]

As I write it is close to 11am in London and partly sunny. Favorable weather is unlikely to persist, particularly in late afternoon and evening.
Players on roofed centre court are unconcerned. Viewers get Radwanska, then Novak, then Roger there.
Yesterday's rain led to unfinished 1st round matches, including Americans Donald Young and Julia Boserop. Like them John Isner will get
an 8 am (UConn time) start for his 2nd round contest.
The later Americans on tap, if the crick don't rise, include Vavara Lapchenko, Steve Johnson, Jack Sock, Sam Querry, Sloane, Madison & Venus.

 

[easttexastrash]

Can you say ex post facto? Any test for a newly banned substance before said substance has a chance to clear one's system is patently unfair.

As far as obeying proposed rules before they are enacted, Good Grief! Don't we have enough crap in our lives already without worrying whether what we're doing this morning will get us into trouble this afternoon?

These are professionals. It is their job to know the rules and follow them. If you take a banned substance you pay the fine. Sharapova tried to circumvent the rules and got busted.

 

[easttexastrash]

I love Coco's game. I think she is only going to get better and better and will do some damage at Wimbledon and the US Open. She has a nice bloodline (She is the granddaughter of 1952 Miss America Colleen Kay Hutchins and former New York Knick Ernie Vandeweghe, the niece of basketball player Kiki Vandeweghe and the daughter of former Olympic swimmer Tauna Vandeweghe.)

 

[RegisteredUconn]

These are professionals. It is their job to know the rules and follow them. If you take a banned substance you pay the fine. Sharapova tried to circumvent the rules and got busted.

I don't have an issue with anything you've said except that I don't know what that has to do with my point.