Wimbledon Days 7 & 8

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

On Monday, order was restored somewhat in the men's draw. Murray beat Youzhny pretty easily despite a slight lapse in the third, whilst Djokovic was imperious in brushing off Haas. Delpo eased past Seppi in straight sets, too, whilst Berdych and Ferrer edged through in four. Verdasco was triumphant in three straight sets against big surprise De Schepper, who just looked happy to be there. He should take a set off Murray but surely, surely no more.

The Bryans won in straight sets against the sixteenth seeds, whilst Melzer/Blake upset Llodra/Mahut, the 13th seeds, 6-4,6-0,6-1. Coming back from two sets to love, Dodig/Melo beat Mirnyi and Tecau, the seventh seeds, in five long sets, 6-4 in the fifth. Benny/Zimonjic beat the fifth seeds Rojer and Qureshi in five sets after being down two sets. The 14th seeded pairing of Bopanna/Vasselin beat the third seeds Peya/Soares in four sets. The eighth seeds came through in four against unseeded opposition. Lindstedt and Nestor won against unseeded opposition in straight sets and are now in the quarters. The fourth seeds thrashed Kubot/Matowski seeded fifteenth, also.

On the Tuesday, we had the Gentleman's Doubles Quarters. Bopanna and Vasselin seeded fourteenth defeated Linstedt/Nestor in five epic sets 7-5, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 6-2. The sixth seeds go out but the fourth seeded Paes/Stepanek beat 11th seeds Benny/ Zimonjic in a controversial match. The umpire was apparantly a little dodgy according to Paes. The Bryans beat the eighth seeds in three breakers. Blake/Melzer thrashed Cabal/Farah, who beat the second seeded Granollers/ Lopez.

In the boys singles, the top ten seeds are still in. The top three seeds- Kyrgios, Milojevic and Zverev have dropped no sets.

Righteo, time for some awards...


STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MATCH: Djokovic d. Haas
...So much was made of this potential fourth round match. In fact, once the upsets started to roll in, it almost looked as if there maybe might just be another one. Actually, no, in the end. Djokovic took the first two sets in an hour and fifteen minutes. He hit 13 aces to Tommy's four and forty winners to the German's 25. This was a dominating display of defence, aggression and big serving. Djokovic played the perfect match and, frankly, this is his tournament to lose now. There isn't really anyone left who can stop him.
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ROSOL MOMENT: Bopanna/Roger-Vasselin, IND/FRA
...The fourteenth seeds took on the third seeds on court six on Monday. In the end, they won in four sets 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 and 6-2. They hit 30 winners and just four errors. Just four errors overall and none in the third set, the longest set of the match. Throw in 18 matches and that is an incredible performance. The biggest upset on Monday or Tuesday occurred in the Women's draw, though. I think Lisicki will now go all the way, defeating Radwanska and then Flipkens, but we shall see.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: Commentator award
...As with the French Open, I want to quickly talk about commentators in the absence of a long match. I think that Johnny Mac for the BBC has been incredible and the same to Austin, Evert and Henman. The style of commentary from Johnny in particular has been excellent. Laid back but informative, and yet still engaging. He is a clever guy and he knows what he is talking about. He, for me, wins commentator of the Championships.
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: Blake/Melzer, USA/AUT
...Not singles, but doubles for this one. It took the US/Austrian team an hour and fourteen minutes to win 6-4, 6-0,6-1 against the 11th seeded Francs Llodra/Mahut.They hit 11 winners and four aces and won 38 more points than Lahudra. It was just a shocking day at the office for the seeds.
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ELVIS AWARD: Benneteau/Zimonjic, FRA/SRB
...In just short of four hours, the eleventh seeds won 3-6,4-6 7-6,7-6,6-3. It was an epic match and, in the end, surely a deserved win. Both teams hit 28 winners and they hit a combined 26 aces, too. It takes serious mental fortitude to come back from the dead and win. Few can do it and to do it in doubles can be harder, if your partner gives in for example. Anyway, they progressed to the quarters, where they lost in four.
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HOME GROWN HERO: O'Mara, GBR
...He hit 25 winners in beating the boys' 11th seed 7-6, 6-2. I don't know much about him but he appears to be aggressive and a decent grass-courter, too.
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Right, time to risk some predictions. I'll take Djokovic in four, Ferru in five, Murray and Janowicz in four, but the two matches where the upset could lie are the Murray and Ferru matches.

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