Wimbledon Update, Pt.2

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

After raining on Saturday and no play on Sunday, Monday is going to be a very big day. Wimbledon is always ridiculously organized and this will not be a problem. I can remember editions of this famous event where the first four days have been washed out and it still finished on time. But that does give me time to talk about the past few days. The forecast lied. It said the other day was going to be horrible. It was fine, sunny in fact, all day.

I was there at Wimbledon. Dolgopolov losing to Dimitrov was the best match of the day on the men's side if not the best overall. Dimitrov has a very underrated defence. He gets to a lot of balls. He also has a great neutralising shot. He can literally start a rally again with that slice. He broke the Dog's serve in an epic deuce game at 4-4 in the fourth. He then held on despite nerves to take the set. His opponent then crumbled dramatically. Once he broke again in the fifth Dolgopolov went away completely. He played well but the result may have been slightly different if the Dog had managed to keep his head screwed on right.

Dimitrov has all the shots. He is the most talented player in the top fifteen under the age of 25. Nobody has more talent in that age bracket. The way he moves is graceful, yet below the grace lies brutality. Dimitrov would have made an excellent ice hockey player -- he glides across any surface but has such strength. He serves big, he hits that forehand well and his backhand will soon be the best one hander on tour. Let us hope he does not become the new Gasquet. To avoid that fate he needs to now work on the mental aspect of his game. He needs to focus on achieving the mentality of, say, Hewitt. He needs to get that win or die attitude. Once he gets that he will become a world beater.

The Bryans look almost as impressive as ever. In their late thirties and still they look better than the vast majority of players. Unfortunately the aura they have is starting to dim. They no longer look invincible. Other pairings no longer fear to face them. Groth and Ebden managed to nick a set off them. They lost very easily in the French Open quarters. The advantage they have here is the same Nadal has at the French. Can anyone beat them over five sets?

Anyway, here is what happened in the past couple of days...


MATCH OF THE DAY: NADAL D. ROSOL, DJOKOVIC D. SIMON
...Surely lightning couldn't strike twice? No. Nadal came through using his tremendous defence and grit, though there was luck, too. Rosol led by a set and a break. Rosol also led 6-4 in the breaker, but Nadal saved both those points which were essentially match points. Rosol then double-faulted on set point and that was it. He lost the breaker on a double-fault. Nadal never looked back. Nadal won 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and forty-five minutes. It was a nerve-wracking match for the Spaniard. Nadal forced Rosol to play out of skin good for five sets. Rosol did so for two. It wasn't enough. Rosol had to go for absolutely everything. 59 winners, 17 aces, and 38 errors. That is a good haul, though that amount of errors on grass is worrying. Rosol had five break points but could only take two. He overpowered and out-hit Nadal to the extent that Nadal only won 12 more points and also only broke three times. Nadal plays in the fourth round Kyrgios, who has nothing to lose. It will be on a big court with the youngster going for everything. If it all comes together, I could see this going four. I don't think I can call the upset but I think it will be a lot tougher than it looks on paper. Kyrgios has freedom. Nadal does not. Even if Nadal does win that, Raonic likely awaits. He had a horror draw. If he makes it to Federer, what will he have left in the tank?

It turns out the wall can be out-walled. Simon was outdone by Djokovic's tactical play and staying power. Djokovic used variety to undo the steady Frenchman. He threw in different paces and out-rallied the Frenchman. Simon is beatable so long as you have patience. There are few flaws in the Serb's game and that means Simon struggles to break down an area or hit to and attack an area. 51 errors. 54 winners. 10 aces. 6 double faults. 10 breaks. This match was not a bad match nor a great match. It was a boring match. Nothing of interest happened except for Djokovic falling over. He might have hurt his shoulder. Apart from that nothing happened. I promise. Now, let us move on and never talk about this match again because, honestly, why would we want to? Djokovic plays Tsongs next. Upset potential? You bet!
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ANOTHER CRACKING MATCH: DIMITROV d. DOLGOPOLOV, FEDERER D. MULLER
...Once 42 in the world, the Luxembourgian [Luxembourgish?] number one has been injured a few times and come back a few times. He seems to pop up every now and again. He is now around the 100 mark. He has done well on the challenger tour recently. He made the US Open quarterfinals once, losing to Fed in a very entertaining match. This match here at SW19 was a server's match. It was a classic grass court match. It wouldn't have looked out of place in the 1970's. In 93 minutes Federer came through against the lefty 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. There was a lot of serve-volleying. There were a lot of sliced backhands and there were few long rallies. Federer hit 44 winners, 25 aces, and just five unforced errors. Yes. Five. If you had to watch a match that summed up grass court tennis this would be it. Federer moves on to play Robredo in the fourth. I have a feeling that will go very quickly. Grass is simply not his thing. The power of Dimitrov proved that the sword is mightier than the pen. Dolgopolov played a subtle game. He played a careful game. He tried to upset the rythym of Dimitrov like he does so many other players. Dolgopolov has the kind of style that nobody really has an answer to. He can, when he puts it all together, beat anyone. He is a special talent. He does not possess a defence, however. He does not possess a defence that is consistently strong. That is a major flaw in his game. 6-7, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Dimitrov won in five long sets. Dimitrov hit 47 winners to the Dog's 45. They had 32 and 33 errors respectively. Though the Dog served five more aces, Dimitrov served better. He served faster and he won more free points. He did have more doubles, however. The transition from defence to offense was what won it for the Bulgarian. He would defend and defend until Dolgopolov gave him a ball he could attack. Then he pounced and punced ruthlessly. He also proved to be strong mentally here. He managed to win the mental battle in the fourth. That would prove to be a mighty hammer blow. Next up is Mayer. The question is how many. How many games will Mayer get?
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ROSOL MOMENT: CILIC D. BERDYCH
...It was as if the ball had insulted the families of Berdych and Cilic. It was as if they were both out to damage the balls as much as possible. Each of them were smacking the ball as hard as they possibly could. There were few slices, few soft touches [the occasional surprise drop shot aside] and finesse was put on the back burner. No, this was a match where serves were cannoned down. A match where forehands and backhands were struck with a huge amount of venom. It was a match where every ball was hit with only power. No subtlety. Just power. It took Cilic just ten minutes shy of three hours to finally win in the dark against Berdych 7-6, 6-3, 7-6. It was not the most even-tempered of matches from Berdych, but Cilic did manage to keep his cool. 82 winners the pair hit. It felt like more than that. They together hit less than fifty errors. Cilic managed 20 aces to just six from Berdych. That was one of the big differences. The other was belief. Cilic knew he could win. Berdych was playing not to lose. Cilic plays Chardy and then the winner of Djokovic/Tsonga. He has reached the fourth round in 2008 and 2012. Surely a first quarterfinal beckons the Croat. Chardy is not a bad player, but this is an opportunity.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: TSONGA D. QUERREY
...This had the potential to be a long one. Two big servers. This match started back on Wednesday but concluded on Thursday. I know, I know I'm not very good at consistently staying updated. Play finishes at about 9 and starts at 12 or so the next day. I'm unusually busy [relatives, friends etc.] and that means I just run out of time. Right, we all agree I am rubbish at time management and I've given an excuse, so back to the grass and the men who play on it. Tsonga and Querrey have played before. It was one-all before the match. There is always a breaker in their matches but it has never gone three. Ten minutes short of three hours. Tsonga won it 6-4, 6-7, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14. 411 total points. Exactly 190 winners. Just 64 errors. This truly was an incredible match. Tsonga and Querrey hit 70 aces. 70. This was a match where they played with hammers not rackets. The power on display was incredible. Tsonga looks to have finally hit his way into form. He looks to finally be on fire. Or maybe he is completely rusty. It is hard to tell with anyone French, never mind one so filled with talent.
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: KUKUSHKIN D. DANCEVIC, TSONGA D. WANG
...Kukushkin was surprisingly aggressive and dominant. Kukushkin is somewhere between solid top thirty player and journeyman. Consistently both, sometimes one and sometimes the other. He also has days or tournaments where he plays about 20 places better than his ranking suggests. If you were to catch him on one of his 'on days' you would have a handful. And that is what Dancevic had. About an hour and a half was all that was needed. Just 11 errors from Kukushkin. 37 winners including 8 aces and no doubles in the 3, 3 and 2 decision. Kukushkin had to face Nadal next. He won a set in that too before eventually being outclassed. Kukushkin has had a very good tournament -- a career best at a slam and has cemented himself well into the top fifty. He is likely to get seeded at a couple events coming up. On the Friday we discovered something. Tsonga is back. And so ,to my delight, is his flair. He, and his flair, needed just an hour and forty to come through 6-2, 6-2, 7-5. Tsonga has started to warm up slowly this year. Anyway Tsonga hit 53 winners, 15 aces, and just 13 aces. Tsonga smacked everything and utterly overpowered his inexperienced Asian opponent. Wang just had no answer to big serving gutsy Frenchman. If you can't break Tsonga you are in for a miserable time. Tsonga is up next for the fourteenth seed. Now I don't mean to sound crazy [or is it too late?] but Djokovic might lose that. Tsonga at Wimbledon is a different animal. He is rolling into form. Djokovic may have a crook shoulder. Djokovic, if not fully match fit, could be in serious trouble if Tsongs turns it all on.
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ELVIS AWARD: KYRGIOS D. GASQUET
...Nine match points. Nine. Nobody else has saved more to get through to the third round. Nine. Not even Isner saved that many in Mahut Gate. Gasquet has the mental strength of an ice cube. A slightly melted ice cube. Just occasionally, very rarey, he develops some inner fortitude from somewhere. Sometimes the fortitude seems to fall into his lap and he can use that to win. Not here though. 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 10-8. Seven minutes short of 4 hours. Gasquet even won four more points, with 200 total. I do not understand Gasquet. Great game but what is between the ears? That sums up his career. Instead of being patient and continuing to rack up the match points, Gasquet decided to implode instead. He literally collapsed. He just sort of gave up and went away. For no reason. It was seven all and his opponent was under extreme pressure. He was fitter than his opponent, too. But Ritchie decided that no, he would dramatically fall apart. The Aussie managed 86-44 whilst Gasquet was 76-25.
Kyrgios has Vesely next. He should win that in three or four.
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MURRAY WATCH: def. BAUTISTA-AGUT
...Clay court specialists rarely do well on grass. Robredo, Kuerten, Nadal of late, Almagro, Ferrer, Ferrero, Gomez. Agut did, at least, have a career best performance at Wimbledon. The clay court lover also won the Topshelf Open. Murray was just too classy for him. Seeded 27th, the late bloomer was coming into his own. He is headed toward the top 15 at a steady pace. He has reached the third round of two slams this year and the fourth at the Aussie. Murray decided he wanted to get home as quickly as possible. 95 minutes he spent on court. It was all he needed to utterly dismiss the Spaniard 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. 48 winners to 17. 11 aces. He only gave up 2 break points, but Agut did take those. You could see Agut had some nice shots but the talent he has is nothing compared to the skills Murray has when he's in that kind of mood. Anderson next. If Murray doesn't return well [highly unlikely] he could be in trouble. He will most likely frustrate Anderson and run out a comfortable winner in the end.
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Any other notes?

* - Berdych likes to throw a serious strop. He was very rude to the umpires during the match. The crowd found this funny.

* - Nadal is passing the tests and he will soon be acclimated to the grass. The Fedal semi-final has the potential to be a classic. They have not played on grass in six years. The last time they did it was "that match" however.

* - Big John Isner is finally having a good Wimbledon. That 19-17 tiebreaker was the joint longest. I predict the Isner/Lopez match will feature few breaks. I think it has the makings of a long five set classic.

* - Murray looks very good. The way he dismantled Agut was particularly impressive. Yes, the Spaniard is a clay court specialist but this has been his best year. Anderson is up next. Murray will be tested this time. Anderson is unlikely to take a set but he might be able to push Murray into some breakers. Anything can happen in tiebreakers. Anderson made the fourth round of the Aussie and the French in 2013-14 and now the fourth round here. He has not made the fourth round at the US Open yet. He has lost to Ferrer and Berdych each time, getting just a set in the process.

* - Fognini is just mad. I was watching his match with Anderson. He kept talking to himself and muttering. Then when he got broken early in the fourth he just went away. He absolutely collapsed.

* - There was not a repeat of wacky Wednesday. In fact, this might be the first time the top four seeds on the mens side all make the semi-finals for a while. Li Na going out means that it will not be this tournament where the top four seeds of both the men's and women's make the semi-finals. That has not happened in a long while.

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