Wimbledon 2021

thickandthin63 said:

One can only imagine the pressure this young lady was feeling,One week ago she was virtually unknown,and then,on front pages everywhere,being tipped to be a future champion(even suggested somewhere she could win this year),talk of £10m sponsorship deals.She then has to wait all day to play,against an opponent who is streets above anyone she has ever played before.Many of the shots she was playing were winners against other opponents,last night they were returned with interest.
I have no doubt she will recover from this and be a credit to her sport,but she needs taking out of the spotlight.

The level of hype has been astonishing and it can't have helped going on court so late. It seemed inevitable she would crash.

It's bizarre the level of attention she has had given that the UK is generally not that interested in tennis apart from Wimbledon.i don't think it has done her any favours.

redman said:

I don't agree that the tournament/experience hasn't done her any favours. She was given a wildcard because she was a Brit. Having then she performed well and will have earned quite a bit of money, both in prize and potential sponsorship. If this money is used wisely it will allow her to have financial stability and good backing/coaches etc. She will then be able to improve and develop in tournaments around the world to improve her ranking. She will now even get in WTA tournaments she wouldn't have been able to compete in before. 

The level of hype isn't merited - getting into the tournament and improving the ranking is a plus but for me all the OTT attention doesn't seem that healthy. 

We'll see how she progresses going forward and hopefully she'll climb up the rankings.

Seems very level headed, be interested to see how her career develops 

Women’s semis:

Barty v Kerber
Pliskova v Sabalenka

why are der BBC payink large sums to Boris (can't understand a vord he says) Becker und der arrogant cheating bullshitter John McEnroe? .. and I see Clare Balding has been demothballed for her annual bout of shouting and scowling at the tv cameras .. our licence cash should be spent on better programmes and not on regularly replenishing the pension pots of a bunch of has beens .. other than that .. I am enjoying the annual S W London luvvie in 

thickandthin63 said:

killerandflash said:

I had little interest in the semis, without so many familiar names or interesting matchups. I see all were 2 setters, without a tiebreak, or even a 7-5. 

Goes back to my gripe on the "things that annoy you " site,how do women justify the same money as men in grand slams.

What about transgender / non binary players?

(Gets coat and runs away)

North Lower Neil said:

Federer a set down but a break up - you do wonder if any loss could be his last ever match at Wimbledon.

he's defied age for a long time, it'd be a shame if he kept coming back year after year only to look more and more diminished .. thing is Federer is a very proud man

paulsturgess said:

*Wimbledon travel advice*

Has anyone been much/ know the setup - or even been this year?

I’m going on Wednesday and then fortunate enough to be  going to Wembley for the game. Trying to work out how easy it is to get a taxi.

Is there a rank with cabs all the time right outside?

Will it be relatively easy to get in one at say 5.30/6.00pm (I’m assuming we’ll be leaving before play has ended)?

are there ubers etc knocking around and easy enough to get up and down there?

any general tips?!

Sorry only just seen this so probably no help now. 

Pleased I saw him play (and win) on Saturday now!

blackpool72 said:

Lincsaddick said:

Federer's 1st ever set loss 0-6 ..  a shame but all legends must call it a day sometime

20 slams under his belt.
A true great of tennis. 
Can't see him adding to it now though. 

my favourite all time male tennis player, not just for what he's won but for his style of play and his gracious manner that hid a really steely hard professional will to win. Nadal must be near the end of his great career, that leaves Djokovic as the last of the three great tennis musketeers .. be a long time before we see their like again methinks

blackpool72 said:

Lincsaddick said:

Federer's 1st ever set loss 0-6 ..  a shame but all legends must call it a day sometime

20 slams under his belt.
A true great of tennis. 
Can't see him adding to it now though. 

And you can easily see Djokovic going past that 20. Only 1 behind now, and you see him winning further slams in the next couple of years, including the Wimbledon and the US 

North Lower Neil said:

johnny73 said:

Great though they have been I am looking forward to the end of the Federer, Nadal and djokovic era. Going into a grand slam with say 7 or 8 players in with a real chance of winning.
Unfortunately I can see djokovic dominating for the next couple of years at the very least.

Completely agree - when it was the 'big 4' it was brilliant as you had some amazing matches between all 4, but now it's essentially just Djokovic at that level it's dull.

Hope I'm wrong but we're basically watching a bit of a procession towards a Djokovic win.

The Women's singles by contrast has been really open since Serena has dropped a level - no one has won more than one slam in a year for the last 5 years, and I think we've had 6 or 7 first time winners in that time too.

The next generation of Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Shapovalov etc look well matched too.

The "I've no idea who will win the women's" situation isn't great either, as the game needs stars and rivalries, not a sequence of relative unknowns

Typical, I give it large about enjoying sport more when I don't gamble yet I asked my son what price Berrettini was for Wimbledon after winning a couple of matches at Queen's on grass where he looked superb and it was 22/1.  Over the years that would have been my £5 ew bet.

My worst but nearly my best bet at Wimbledon was Goran Ivanisevic £5 EW at 125/1 near the end of his career when he is a wild card and he is useless and loses in 3 straight sets. The following year he again gets a wild card because he had reached and lost a few finals and again he is priced at 125/1; once beaten twice shy !
That was the year, Tim Henman played him in the semi final and Goran was a beaten man. It started to rain and the rest is history as Goran won the final against Pat Rafter.