Tennis I

[lessthanluke]

Poor Roddick.

[ljkeane]

I've never been Roddick's biggest fan in the past but I feel bad for him now, there can't a much worse way to lose a final than in the 30th game of the 5th set not having dropped a service game up to that point.

[Kallichore]

I was 100% Federer all the way through - but if Roddick had won I wouldn't have been upset. That was epic.

[Jaime L]

Didn't know Roddick had that in him.

Really liked his: "Tried to hold him off, Pete" tribute.

[Zoë Sumra]

That was such an epic game. Federer is now officially The Man... but will Nadal overhaul him?

[squiddly]

Not really a big Roddick fan, (at least I used to put him in the same camp as Hewitt :P) but I hoped he would win this match. Feel bad for him now.

[DJDonegal]

Um... Phew!

[Black Wizard]

Amazing final set. It was exhausting just watching it.

[DJDonegal]

And proved your prediction that the match wouldn't be competitive wrong. :P

[Greywolf2375]

Didn't know Roddick had that in him.

Really liked his: "Tried to hold him off, Pete" tribute.

absolutely...not sure if "gracious" is the right word for it, but his comments afterwards were great. Got broken once in the entire match. An amazing display of tennis, athleticism and determination on both of their parts.

[Black Wizard]

And proved your prediction that the match wouldn't be competitive wrong. :P

Someone must have hacked into my account! :P

I also predicted that Murray would beat Roddick in straight sets. Shows how reliable my predictions are! :leaving:

Andy Roddick was the forgotten man of men's tennis until this week. Hopefully he'll be able to liven it up and make it a 'big four' at the top of the men's game.

[DJDonegal]

That was such an epic game. Federer is now officially The Man... but will Nadal overhaul him?

I've been wondering the same thing. And i have to say I'm surprised that nobody seems to be suggesting the same. He already has six Grand Slam titles and he's only 23. It seems absurd that nobody would be suggesting he could overtake Federer's current total of 15 - particularly when you consider that he has won a slam on all 3 surfaces. The only reason I can come up for nobody suggesting the possibility is that Federer isn't done yet. He's still only 27 himself, has won the US five times in a row and six of the last seven Wimbledons and now holds three of the major titles at the same time. Far from done.

So as for Nadal's prospects, I just wonder how long his career will go. I'm sure all will agree he's an amazingly tenacious player. He chases every shot, his work rate on court is phenomenal, but with all this working on the court, he leaves himself open to injury. It doesn't take a genius to understand that the harder you work, the more likely you are to become injured. So there's that general factoid, and then there's the evidence that Rafa's knees aren't the greatest going around. And I'd say knees are the most susceptible to injury from a player who spends a lot of time running around the court, a lot of pressure is put on them in order to stop and change direction for the next shot quickly.

So he's only 23 - but I can't see his career going late, certainly I don't think he'll make it to his 30s still playing tennis at the level he currently is. His game is just too energy sapping. I'd give him until he's about 27 or 28, in which time he should win at least another 3 French, and we'll say 3 of the others, which puts him at 12, and this is a conservative estimate based on him losing his fitness earlier than most and losing a couple more French titles, which may just be a preposterous suggestion. So it's still plausible that he could overhaul 15, but overhaul Federer? Well, that just depends on how many Federer ends up with. ;)

[Calibandar]

Really liked his: "Tried to hold him off, Pete" tribute.

Me too. I thought it was great all Wimbledon heroes of old were there, but to actually see Pete Sampras, my old tennis idol again, that was great. The BBC has a post match interview with him which was cool, he was very complementary of Federer and could see him win several more Slams ( then again, who doesn't).

I actually thought Federer was going to lose this final for a long time. That first set was very close but Federer didn't have his usual touch, which he had exhibited the whole tournament. He'd dealt easily with formidable players on this surface like Karlovic & Haas. Second set the tie break, obviously crucial, 4 set points to Roddic, on his serve even, and he fails. After the 3rd set ti ebreak you think the cat's in the bag for Federer and then he drops serve once in the 4th set and he's lost the set, because Roddick is *that* hard to break, even for the world no.1.

5th set, well both players simply served so well, I don't even recall break points until 5-5 or so. Roddick of course had played a good deal more tennis this tournament than Fed, a heavy 5 setter against Hewitt followed by that draining match against Murray in the semi, whereas Fed had been cruising through in straight sets. That got to Roddick in the final two games, I mean every time Fed got a ball returned from the Roddick serve, Roddick didn't do anything with it anymore.

On the upside for Roddick, he's staged something of a comeback here. This new coach he has really has him player better this season, he'd already performed very well by his standards at Roland Garros and now this Wimbledon final, you can see now how he took out Murray in 4 sets. If Roddick keeps this up he is back in the top 5, and obviously a fellow favorite for the US open.

[Commodore]

Someone must have hacked into my account! :P

I also predicted that Murray would beat Roddick in straight sets. Shows how reliable my predictions are! :leaving:

Andy Roddick was the forgotten man of men's tennis until this week. Hopefully he'll be able to liven it up and make it a 'big four' at the top of the men's game.

I would put Murray, Djok, Fed, Nadal, and now possibly Roddick (if he can maintain this form) in a group that could all be competitive with one another on a given day.

[Rhaco]

Cool to see all the greats on-hand to congratulate Federer on the record. The '15' Nike sailor jacket was a little douchey, but whatever, it's hard not to like the guy.

Really though I think Roddick is the story here. No one in their right mind thought Federer wasn't going to win another major at some point, but Roddick, well, this is a total career resurrection. Before this year he wasn't much more than a ball masher, but now he's actually making shots out there. Laver was even impressed by his freaking backhands. When he gets in a long rally it's no longer an inevitable point for his opponent. To take a healthy Federer to a 30th game in the 5th set at Wimbledon is just awesome. I just wish he'd rededicated himself and hired Stefanki a few years ago. I really hope he's able to forget the loss and take the positives of his play at Wimbledon with him into the hardcourt season.

[Calibandar]

Exactly. Seems like the potential which was there when he just came out and seemed wasted over the last few years, is now coming back. He's only 26 after all.

The other resurrection this tournament was the remarkable performance by Hewitt. I wonder if he too can keep that up.

[Black Wizard]

I would put Murray, Djok, Fed, Nadal, and now possibly Roddick (if he can maintain this form) in a group that could all be competitive with one another on a given day.

I don't really know what's up with Djokovic at the moment. Before Wimbledon 2008 all the pundits were saying that he's right up there with Federer and Nadal but then he was really dissapointing and has dropped off a bit.

The other resurrection this tournament was the remarkable performance by Hewitt. I wonder if he too can keep that up.

I was surprised that he wasn't seeded. He's always been very good and is a former Grand Slam champion and world no. 1 so when people were saying that it was a majot shock for him to beat Juan Martin del Potro I was a little confused. Del Potro's done next to nothing in the game and Hewitt is a champion. The seeding system is pretty damn wierd if you ask me. Del Potro (seeded fifth) got thrashed by Hewitt and Victor Troicki (seeded 30th) didn't even put up a fight against Andy Murray.

[DJDonegal]

Djokovic bought into his own hype. I was in Melbourne for the Australian Open, and he was completely incredulous that Murray should be considered a favourite for the title ahead of him, the reigning champion, Nadal, a then 5 time Slam winner, and Federer, one of the greatest the game has ever seen. His emphasis, though, was on Murray being considered a bigger favourite than himself, and while neither exactly made waves in the tournament, it was just a tad big headed of Djokovic to regard himself so highly against Murray when you considered both of their form at the time.

I don't see how, on any level, you can be surprised that Hewitt wasn't seeded. Seeding is based on the 12 month rankings, and although at Wimbledon they have been known to make concessions for those who have a proven pedigree on grass, I don't think they've ever been so bold as to take a player who was ranked 56 at the start of the tournament and give him a seed (of which there are only 32). The most famous seed correction I can recall Wimbledon enforcing is the year they dropped Hewitt and Nadal down behind Roddick, despite Hewitt and Nadal having the higher ranking, and Hewitt was completely outraged despite only being ranked two places higher. To effectively move someone at least 24 places would be unheard of.

[Black Wizard]

I have no idea how the seeding works because I only pay attention to tennis when Wimbledon's running and when Andy Murray's doing well.

[Calibandar]

That fully explains your wonder at why Hewitt wasn't seeded and why you think Del Potro has brought nothing to the game.

For your education then, Hewitt has dropped big time in form the last 4 years and this time he wasn't even in the top 70 of the world I believe.

Del Potro on the other hand is a major talent in the game, ranked no. 5 in the world and he just got the semi final in Roland Garros in May. Also, Del Potro won 5 consecutive tournaments in 2008 and at 19, he was vaulted into the top 10. Expect to see him back in fine form during the US open.

So yeah, big surprise when Hewitt won.