OT: Wimbledon 2017

[wire chief]

We are 11 days from the big daddy of them all. So far it looks like a healthy-player year, as I know of no names withdrawing. Yes we know of Maria S's problems; she won't be playing. Yes we know a bambino(a) is coming for Serena; she won't be playing. That means a new champ this year for singles AND doubles, as she and Venus excelled last year.

Speaking of babies, new mom Viktoria Azaranka is returning. How rusty? Don't know, but historically she's really good.

Roger saved himself for grass, but stumbled in a lead-up. So did last year's champ Andy Murray.

Anyway please add any news you have as the next week and a half passes.

 

[wire chief]

Presently our countrypersons(in the top 50) playing have the following rankings:
#18..Jack Sock
#21..John Isner
#27..Sam Querry
#41..Ryan Harrison
#47..Donald Young

#11..Venus Williams
#18..Madison Keys
#25..Coco Vanderweghe
#29..Lauren Davis
#45..Alison Riske

Wimbledon officials will sometimes adjust seeds based on perceived player strength on grass.
Seedings will be announced June 30.

 

[wire chief]

A couple of the most important lead-ins finished today. While Roger was an early loser in a contest last week, he found his form at Halle, Ger.
today, taking the crown.

Petra Kvitova, 2-time champ at Wimbledon, started her comeback at the French, but did not make it past the 2nd round. Today she signaled that the hand is good enough. She is the champ at Birmingham.

 

[wire chief]

Here is the men's seeding list. While the Wimbledon honchos have Andy & Novak as the top 2, one could easily argue that Roger and Rafa should be favored on form. Andy and Novak are not having their best years so far.

Wimbledon 2017 Seeds Announced | ATP World Tour | Tennis

Similarly, Kerber as a #! is nonsense, given her year. Petra will be a puzzle. She wins a warm-up, then next she retires with a groin injury.

Wimbledon 2017: Who are the top 32 seeds?

 

[wire chief]

This portrait goes under the heading, "This mid-teen bears watching". An American won the girls' junior championship at Paris.
Turning now to grass.

French Open junior champ eyes Wimbledon, beyond

And here is Peter Bodo's look at the American women at the W.

Why Venus Williams and the U.S. women could rule Wimbledon

 

[wire chief]

Monday stuff begins. Here's the men's draw

Draws - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM

And the women's match-ups

Draws - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM

The schedule of play is not up yet, and it begins at 11:00am London time.

Now the listings are incomplete, and I've not seen an explanation. I figure that when the quallies are done, the remaining pairings will occur.
Live coverage is on ESPN and 2. The Tennis Channel will rebroadcast starting at 4:30pm and run through the wee hours.

 

[wire chief]

Back in the 80's the little Soviet satellite nation of Czechoslovakia demanded attention in the tennis world.
Pouring out were Martina, Hana Mandlikova, Jana Novatna and Helena Sukova, three of whom tasted Wimbledon success.
As an epilogue today the odds makers have made 2 Czechs the slight favorites to wear the crown. Fans know the Petra Kvitova
story, and she showed last week she is back by winning the tournament at Birmingham.
Her countrywoman Katerina Pliskova is less known, but she made us pay attention by making last year's semis.
Katerina just won the final warm up at Eastbourne.
They both come in about 5-1
Johanna Konta of England and Spain's Gabine Muzuruka are 8-1.
The 20 year old French victor Jalena Ostapenko, World's #1 Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka and Venus are all about 10-1.
And Madison Keys is given a 14-1 shot.

Fans know Novak has had a bad year for Novak. He won only his 2nd tournament of this year at Eastbourne, though without beating any of the real heavyweights.

The odds makers expect the bettors to favor Roger big time(2-1), followed by Rafa, with a little less emphasis on Murray and Novak. Surprisingly Stan Wawrinka comes off about 25-1.

My newspaper expects ESPN to start broadcasting at 7am tomorrow.

 

[wire chief]

Well, above I wondered about the low odds position of Stan Wawrinka. No point in wondering any more. The 5th ranked Swiss bounced in the 1st round. Australia's volatile Nick Kyrgios is also finished with this Wimbledon.

We know how often American announcers highlight Venus' age at 37. I wonder do German announcers do the same for Tommy Hass. Today the 39 year old won a set, but alas, that was all.

A s I write Jalena Ostapenko the French champ is early in the 3rd, having lost the 2nd.
Our own Cece Bellis took a set from newly emerged mom Vika Azarenka, but she's gone now, as the only American to lose today.

 

[wire chief]

Three US men, Sock, Donaldson and Isner, played and each is into the 2nd round.
The females had the misfortune in 3 cases to be paired vs. one another. Emerging are Mattek-Sands, Coco, Riske and
Rogers.
No upsets among the top seeds.

Women's order of play Wednesday, given in Eastern time.
Google

And the men...
Google

 

[rugbymate]

Hello Wire Chief....its been lonely on this post! Thought I might add some data which maybe somebody might find interesting. While many have lamented the state of USA tennis, our players have been more than impressive in the early stages of Wimbledon. Just a few quick facts....our men were 8-2 in the first round. The closest in performance was France with a 7-4 record. Germany was 5-5 and both Russia and Spain were 4-3. Notably, Czech republic was 4-0. On the unfortunate side Austallia was 0-7. 43 countries were represented but it is now down to 30. .

On the women's side had 15 entries and went 10-5 despite 4 matches against themselves. The closest was the Czech Republic with a 6-2 record. On the unfortunate side, Russia(sans Sharapova) was 4-7. 39 countries were represented at the start and now there are 29.
Clearly the USA is the leading performer on both the men and women's side so things aren't so bad after all!

 

[wire chief]

Hello Aussie guy. Good to have you aboard.

Good outcome for Venus, though she needed 3 sets. A mixed day for anyone named Madison. Ms. Keys, although with a 16 seed, lost to unranked Camilia Giorgi, fading in the last set , only winning one game.
Now Madison Brengle took out favorite Petra Kivitova, reportedly playing sick.

Americans Sam Querry and Steve Johnson have earned the 3rd round.

Order of play to complete the 2nd round.

Order of Play - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM

 

[wire chief]

Some went down today. Christina McHale put up a competitive self, but ultimately went down to the high ranked Radwanska/
But Coco, Riske and Rogers are in the next round.

John Isner was typically John Isner. He serves his opponents off the court, but doesn't have the skill to break anybody. Almost never.
So we get 4 sets in a row that go to tiebreaker. In the fifth its John was once broken Gone.
And another of our ranked guys went down, also in 5 sets, but Jack could only grab 2 in that ending. Gone.
Jared Donaldson is the lone one moving on.

Your Friday schedule
Order of Play - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM

 

[EricLA]

Some went down today. Christina McHale put up a competitive self, but ultimately went down to the high ranked Radwanska/
But Coco, Riske and Rogers are in the next round.

John Isner was typically John Isner. He serves his opponents off the court, but doesn't have the skill to break anybody. Almost never.
So we get 4 sets in a row that go to tiebreaker. In the fifth its John was once broken Gone.
And another of our ranked guys went down, also in 5 sets, but Jack could only grab 2 in that ending. Gone.
Jared Donaldson is the lone one moving on.

Your Friday schedule
Order of Play - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM

For all the talk by the American announcers about how "great" the next crop of American men were doing, it seems they have pretty much crashed and burned. I realize that there may never be an American #1 again on the men's side, but do we have anyone capable of getting even into the top 10?

Obviously as long as Venus and Serena are around, the American women will be represented in the top 10, and it will appear that all is well, but are there any future champions among the young American women? I don't think there is any room at the top for slow power players like Davenport, or crafty high IQ players like Hingis, as it seems that all the top players not only have power, but also speed to go along with it.

Yeah I know Pliskova isn't "overly" athletic, and Wozniaki and Radwanska have a serious lack of power, but when I look at some of the up and coming Americans like the very slow footed Rogers or Brady, or the smaller Bellis, do any of these kids have what it takes? I wonder if Keys has pretty much peaked, or if she has enough to get back into the top 10. I don't think Coco has the consistency or temperament, and I'm not sure if Davis, Riske, or McHale are talented enough to make a serious push. But I'm just a fan. Some of you know way more than I do. Thoughts?

 

[rugbymate]

Going into the men's third round France and Spain had 4 players left while the USA had 3. Not bad and seems to be improving. On the women's side the USA has 5 left and no one else has more than 2. The women seem to be dramatically improving. Interestingly, the Czech Republic had 6 players in round 2 and they all lost.
I agree with Eric in that its difficult to imagine any of our young women players consistently being highly ranked but some of them have games that are suited for deep runs depending on the surface. Coco can definitely go deep at Wimbledon and the US Open with her power game. Riske also has a chance on the faster courts. Not sure what has happened to Stephens and Keys....they both looked like they had a good mix of power and athleticism.

 

[wire chief]

And the other Madison is gone now, as is Steve Johnson. Sam Querry is up 2 sets to 1 over Tsonga. That would be a big win.
Venus beat a competitor today who was a fetus, at the time Venus first stepped on The Grass in '97. Her next opponent was an embryo.

 

[wire chief]

Saturday schedule

Order of Play - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM

 

[wire chief]

My stars, when do the Bryan Brothers ever lose in the 2nd round? And to the ancient Max Mirnyi?
Possibly The Bros are getting long in the tooth themselves.

The women are done today. In an unfortunate all-American match-up, Coco had a pretty easy time vs. Alison Riske.
And world's #1 Kerber dispatched our Shelby Rogers, though Shelby made it quite a match.

#8 Dominic Thiem sent our Jared Donaldson home. An upset saw #15 Gaels Monfils defeated be a fellow Frenchman,
Adrian Mannarino.

And Sam Querry pulled through with just one game that had to be completed today, after darkness befell them Friday.
Roger has a straight set victory.

While it is said that the women are a crap shoot this year, the men are intriguing because of the big 4 all looking strong. Projecting the final four will be entertaining next weekend.
And in case there's anyone out there who doesn't know the W tradition, there is no play on mid-Sunday. Monday's order of play is not publicized yet.

 

[wire chief]

Loads of match-ups with pizzaz Monday in the round of 16. Feast your eyes.

Order of Play - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM

 

[wire chief]

It's round of 16 day and the W has scheduled all the remaining players. The women are done and #1, 4, 5 and 9 are history.
Venus at # 10 had an excellent serving day, including more effective 2nd serves than is her history. Her 19 year old opponent had much trouble returning serve. She sort of woke up, perhaps saying to herself, " I will not leave this court at 1-5, 0-40.? She then served out of her mind and got to 2-5. That's all folks, however.
Venus next welcomes the French Open phenomenon Jalena Ostapenko, who dispatched #4 Svitolina.

Also Coco is through, taking out the Woz in straight sets. Is Coco at 26 improving enough to carry the Williams' mantle?
Simona Halep, seen as best on clay, sent home new mommy Vika in straight sets.

Others who came through are Svetlana Kutznezova, British hope Johanna Konta, last year's French champ Gabine Muzuruka, and the only unseeded participant Magdalana Rybarakova of Slovakia.

Our Sam Querry is about to start the 5th set. The other men are not much advanced yet (Rafa lost his 1st set).
Thunderstorms are expected soon, s Novak, the only player whose match has not started, is not a big bet to finish.

 

[j66kicker]

Nadal & Muller still playing at 12-12 in the 5th set! Watch here...

WatchESPN: Live Sports, Game Replays, Video Highlights

 

[easttexastrash]

Thrilled to see Coco and Venus in the quarters. This could be another American championship on the women's side.

 

[wire chief]

Things look soggy in London Town. The day may be a washout, with rain not tapering off until evening.

Meanwhile Sam got his victory. Novak a non-starter, scheduled to lead off the day at 7 am, followed by the ladies quarterfinals.
Don't count on it, but here's the schedule.

Order of Play - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Yesterday morning I tuned into a women's match, but had to leave after just a little. Their noises were just too much.



Not quite that bad, but close.

 

[wire chief]

One hundred Wimbledon Matches?! You gotta be kidding me!
No, John, it has happened What an iron woman. Going up vs. the French Open champ power hitter Jalena Ostapenko, Venus continued serving well and, crucially, exploited the Latvian's suspect 2nd serve. She showed us some ground stroke winners, yes, but not often enough, thanks to our beloved Venus.

Rain played some havoc with the schedule (good thing for one roofed court anyway). Coco is as far along as 2-2 in the 2nd, after dropping the first set. The W site reads "suspended", but there would be enough daylight to move that contest to Center Court,( but I don't know that they will)following Halep-Konta, now in set 3. The Brit has one break as I write.

Now, I'm rooting for the Romanian, because otherwise Venus would need to contend with a home crowd on Thursday. Unfortunately, Konta is looking very tough this set.

 

[Waquoit]

Is anyone else sick of Chris Fowler? He's a maddening know-it-all. Always needs the last word like he has something to prove. Answers his own questions, just the worst.