Wk.25- Magnificent Mahut Makes Mark

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

I am going to combine the review of the week gone by and do the Wimbledon draw, too. There has been one withdrawal and it is a big one actually. The only player to have made both slam quarterfinals so far who is not in the top four is Kuznetsova, and she did it despite being unseeded at both. She is defending just five points at Wimbledon, however, after a loss to Wickmayer. Incidentally, I saw Wickmayer/Paszek and Vinci/Lucic live on Court 18 at last year's Championships. Anyway, Kuznetsova may move up ranking spots because she has no points to defend, really, which is what Stosur and Errani do most Wimbledons- move up because they drop no points whilst players around them fall.

Anyway, we have a maiden titlist this week who's French, but isn't Benny. We also have someone who won their first title since 2010. Tomic began to play well again and Simon was consistent if monotonous. Passive Simon is like a pendulum in a clock- does the same thing over and over but can't really hurt you. When Simon plays his best, however, it becomes a different matter altogether. The state of French tennis is very healthy right now and that fact is illustrated by the fact that the world number 25 is the French number four although the Brits have always argued having one diamond is worth more than 10 rubys or something to that tune.

I have an interesting statistic here which has no relevance really to anything, so I will put it here. At the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, Alex Radulescu hit 27 aces without hitting a double fault. This is the most at Wimbledon and also second equal all-time.



*WEEK 25 CHAMPIONS*
EASTBOURNE, ENGLAND
S: Feliciano Lopez def. Gilles Simon 7-6/6-7/6-0
D: Mirnyi/Tecau d. Begemann/Emmrich
's-HERTOGENBOSCH, NETHERLANDS
S: Nicolas Mahut d. Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3/6-4
D: Peya/Soares d. Fleming/Nielsen


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Nicolas Mahut, FRA
...I have waited for this day for an age. A day I feared would never come. Mahut has finally won a title. I think the fact he is 1-3 in finals but Benny is 0-8 in finals is awful in a way. In the same way that Gasquet being 1-15 in slam fourth rounds, Benny being 0-8 in finals is also pretty depressing. I think a Gasquet/Benny final would be justice for both, but the chances of that final happening are slim to none in all honesty. The swashbuckling, pizzazzy Frenchman beat Berankis, Kuznetsov and Donskoy all in straight sets and won the only tight set he played 7-1 in the breaker. In the semis, he easily got past Malisse and then dispatched Vavsy in the final which meant he joined the group of players who have won their maiden title without losing a set. Only Djokovic did it out of the top five I think. Nadal might have, but the first tournament he won stopped operations seven years ago and finding out stuff about it is difficult. Anyway, Mahut finally stepped out of the shadow of that match that he played at Wimbledon. I can still remember watching that match back in 2010 live on Henman Hill. It had started 0-0 in the fifth at midday and throughout the day I would go back and check it out. 5-all, 15-all, 20-all and so on. It got to be about eight in the evening and the match was at 30-all and I promised myself I would stay to see the conclusion but, well, the rest is history.
=============================
RISER: Feliciano Lopez , ESP
...Deliciano Lopez put together another run here, and they come when you least expect them, though he did make the final of the Memphis national indoor championship earlier this year, losing to Nishikori. He took two breakers to beat Nieminen, then put out Monaco, the fourth seed, 4 and 4. He then beat Ferver and Dodig to make the final. He and Simon split a pair of breakers before Lopez handed him a bagel in the third. His ranking will rise because of this, but more importantly he will be a big threat at Wimbledon where he is a three-time quarterfinalist. At Wimbledon, since he lost in the third round in 2004, his results have been QF, first round, third round, QF, first round, third round, QF, first round so logically we are looking at a third round appearance here.
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SURPRISE/VETERAN: Xavier Malisse, BEL
...He beat the fourth-best player in the world and the top seed in two straight sets, but then didn't face another seed until he lost to a qualifier. I don't know whether or not this is a good or bad thing considering he probably had a shot at winning, but I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt and at least he was surprising.
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COMEBACK: Bernard Tomic, AUS
...I think now is a good time to drop another fabulous factoid, and one which I love to drop ever since I heard the BBC broadcaster John Inverdale drop it. He and either McEnroe or Becker were talking and he asked one of the legends this: What is unique about Goran Ivanisevic's run to the Wimbledon title? They answered, as did I at home on the couch, with the standard wild card reply. But no, Inverdale answered the question with this- Goran Ivanisevic is the only Wimbledon champ whose name goes consonant-vowel from start to finish. I am really getting into the Wimbledon frame of mind here. These next two weeks are sacred to me and in fact going to Wimbledon every year is fantastic and well worth it, but I digress. Tomic put all that nastiness behind him - if you don't know then the nastiness involved his dad, who was a real tennis dad in the mold of Damir Dokic and the like- and his loss of form during the clay stretch. He beat Ward and Benny, then nearly had Simon before losing a tight breaker and then the match. He has landed Querrey at Wimbledon and that will be some match to watch.
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NEW FACE: Lucas Poille, FRA
....I don't know if you remember, but this guy played at the French and lost I think to Dimitrov. He won a match here and it shows that he can play on a couple of surfaces, but to be honest I don't know a whole lot about him.
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DOWN: Juan Monaco, ARG
...He was streaky on clay and has been poor on grass. If Tipsarevic is playing then Monaco's slump can be ignored, but when Tipsy isn't playing, Monaco suddenly looks pretty bad.
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**Wimbledon Ladies‘**
=QF=
Williams [1] d. [10] Kirilenko

In the past years, Lisicki has played at Wimbledon three times and she has knocked out the defending French Open champ three times. This year the defending champ is once more in her section. Surely not, she couldn't, could she? Stosur has a very easy two rounds but will struggle to get through to the fourth round. Kirilenko has a manageable draw and back-to-back quarterfinals at Wimbledon look possible, especially considering Kerber's recent injuries and lack of form.

Radwanska [4] d. [11] Vinci

Radwanska could face the Pironkova in the fourth and when I first looked at this draw I thought the Bulgarian would make the quarters. However, it may not prove to be so easy. She has to negotiate A-pavs and Petrova. Li has been out of form whilst Vinci really knows her way around the green stuff. I conclude that a second slam quarterfinal beckons for Vinci.

Sharapova [3] d. Hampton

Sharapova shouldn't have many issues here apart from possibly Safarova if she makes it that far, but Oudin/de Brito will be an interesting clash and the winner gets Pova. Both Errani and Wozniacki are not great on this surface and literally anything could happen here so I'll take a punt with Hampton.

Azarenka [2] d. [8] Kvitova

When Kvitova won this she was seeded eighth. Both she and Azarenka have very simple draws and expect them to get through to the quarters with no issues, unless Kvitova implodes horrifically.

=SF=
Serena [1] d. [4] Radwanska

Please.

Sharapova [3] d. [2] Azarenka

We are assuming Azarenka beats Kvitova here, but in any case Azarenka and Sharapova haven't played on grass and I think the first-strike tennis should help Maria. This could go either way, but I do give Pova the slight, slight edge.

=FINAL=
Serena [1] d. [3] Sharapova

This will make for painful viewing.

**Wimbledon Men's**
=SF=
Djokovic [1] d. [9] Gasquet

Djokovic has a nasty, nasty draw. Last year's quarterfinalist, and indeed a two-time quarterfinalist here, Florian Mayer awaits. There is serious upset potential there. If he gets past Mayer, he will have to play Haas in the fourth who is in serious form. I think he will be tested but he will still make the quarters. Gasquet has a manageable draw, but say it quietly. He starts with Granollers, then has Tomic, Querrey or Blake before meeting Berdych or Anderson. He should make the quarters where he goes down in style against Djokovic.

Ferrer [4] d. [29] Dimitrov

Ferrer will beat everyone here but be challenged by the Dog in the third round and Kohl in the fourth round. The next section is a lottery which I think Dimitrov will come out of somehow, but he will be dismissed by Ferrer.

Nadal [5] d. [3] Federer

Nothing can stop these two meeting but it will go five and it will be epic, this match. Hewitt/Wawrinka should be good and I think that on grass Fed still might be able to put Nadal away.

Murray [2] d. [6] Tsonga

Tsonga will do Cilic in the fourth round and the Wimbledon rivalry between Tsonga and Murray wiill continue.

=SF=
Djokovic [1] d. [4] Ferrer

Djokovic should win in four against an in-form Ferrer.

Nadal [5] d. [2] Murray

I cannot ignore the head-to-head here. It is 13-5 in Nadal's favour, and he is 3-0 on grass with Murray having won only one set against him and I don't think it will be close either. Nadal in three, maybe four sets here.

=FINAL=
Djokovic [1] d. [5] Nadal

Djokovic to win in four here after Nadal runs out of steam.

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