Well, well, well. I think I can safely say that Wimbledon this year is the most unusual Grand Slam we've seen in quite a while. My 'dead cert' for the women's semi finals, Ana Ivanovic, has gone crashing out to Jie Zheng, who is more famous for being a doubles player than anything else. And it wasn't a very dignified loss, either. Ivanovic was just never in it. It was Sharapova mk 2. And once again I find myself saying that this quarter of the draw is now wide open.
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Who is going to be my new semis tip? Hmmm... if we went with seeds, it would be Chakvetadze, but she hasn't been very impressive this year. I'm going to go with Agnes Szavay, the young Hungarian. She's got a great game, and it's about time she made a run for the semis. In the second quarter, the Kuznetsova quarter, there are a couple of possiblities. Mattek aside - even though she did just knock out last year's finalist Marion Bartoli - any player there stands a chance of getting to the semi.
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But first, let me do my quarter final picks for the top half of the women's draw. I think we'll see Szavay vs Vaidisova (depending on how well Vaidisova plays - neither she nor Chakvetadze have been impressive of late, so that could potentially be a fourth round match of very poor quality.) And even though Kuznetsova has looked pretty good this tournament, I'm going to pick Agnieszka Radwanska in that one to come up against Serena Williams.
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One final word on women's tennis. I know that everyone is talking about Venus and Serena, but Jelena Jankovic must really, really fancy her chances now.
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Right. Men's tennis. Back to the comfort zone. I was very pleased with the way this all panned out. Federer was lethal over Gicquel, which is just the way I like it. If one counts out the very first game of the match, where he was broken, this was an almost perfect third round match. He had Gicquel in trouble on serve nearly every single game. He won convincingly in straight sets - but not SO convincingly that one could accuse him of peaking too early. He was just right. The headline on the Wimbledon website said 'Federer romps to easy victory.' This was the final paragraph:
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'It was Federer's 38th consecutive win at Wimbledon and one so comfortably achieved on his favourite court with nine aces, 34 outright winners and a first serve percentage of 72 that he might have been wearing carpet slippers. John McEnroe described the sight as "a master at work".'
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That brought a smile to my face. I wish I could have seen more of the match - of course, since it was on at the same time as the Hewitt match, most of it wasn't broadcast on Australian television.
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This is something I find endlessly annoying, but I doubt it will ever change. Hewitt will now come up against Federer in the next round, though, so at least I can be pretty much guaranteed that one will be shown! This might prove to be Federer's toughest test yet, but I don't think there is any cause to be fearful. Federer has owned Lleyton for the last few years, and I don't see much sign of that changing.
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To Lleyton's credit, he played an excellent match against Bolelli today. It was very clean tennis from him - though I'm not sure how much of that was due to him hitting the lines versus Bolelli making errors before Hewitt had the chance to. I'm not particularly enamoured of Hewitt, but one thing I do like about him is that he never tanks a game. He has a real point by point mentality, and I think that's very important in tennis. You rarely see Hewitt give up in a tennis match, even if he's pretty much down and out (not that he was today!) and that's pretty admirable.
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He also has a pretty decent tennis IQ, which is something I realised watching his match today. He knows how to use the topspin lob or the ball looping high over the net to give himself time to reset himself if he's out of court. He hit some really nice winners today, forehand and backhand, crosscourt and down the line. Bolelli was giving him a lot of opportunities, to be fair, but Hewitt wasn't missing. He pretty much dismantled Bolelli - and I haven't seen Hewitt dismantle an opponent in quite some time. So that was nice for him... but I think we're going to see the reverse of it on Monday! Hewitt will be the one dismantled by the mighty Federer Express.
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Going back to Bolelli, I was not very impressed with him at all. I don't know whether it just wasn't his day or whatever, but his game seemed to be composed of flair and not much else. His first serve was pretty sweet... when he got it in. He hit some outrageous winners... when they went in. And mostly, they weren't. Having flair is all very well - look at Federer, King of Flair! - but it needs to be consistent. And there ought to be times when there is at least a Plan B, an ability to be able to resort to percentage play. I'm all for redlining your game, but it did nothing for Bolelli. Hewitt played very well, and I don't want to take that away from him, but Bolelli did nothing for me.
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And has anyone else noticed that he kind of looks like Andy Roddick in a wig? Like, eerily so from some angles? Maybe it's just me. One thing I did like about him was his shirt. It had piping round the shoulders in Italian colours. I liked that. That one gets a Jodi Wimbledon Fashion Endorsement (tm), along with Roger's cardigan and Serena's trenchcoat. MaSha's tuxedo gets NO endorsement - though I have to say that the worst crime against fashion this week has come from Ernests Gulbis. Impressive as his game was against Nadal was, someone needs to tell Swanboy that black underpants and white shorts is never attractive.
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One person who looks good in whatever he wears is Marat Safin, and excuse while I scream out DAVAI MARAT! Three matches in a row for the first time this year - that's something to warm the cockles of your heart (and the sub-cockle regions.) Seppi played well, too - the second set is testament to that - but Safin rose to the occasion and outplayed him. It was simply splendid. There were some spectacular Marat-cool-losing moments, like that forehand shot that went rattling down the stairs in the stadium! - but Marat has got his head in the game. (Clearly he's been watching that basketball scene in High School Musical...) Marat is back - and what a time to pick for it! And he has got to pick up some serious rankings points for getting to the round of sixteen - how well did he do in Wimbledon last year? Let me check... oh. Of course. Third round, lost to Federer. Okay, so maybe not THAT many rankings points (yet) but that's still something. I'd dearly love to see Maratski up towards the top of his game.
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It's just so wonderful to see him playing WELL again. Seppi, unlike his compatriot Bolelli, really put up a fight. He's ranked higher than Safin - he's seeded here - but Marat always looked like the better played. C'mon, Marat. Davai. Wouldn't it be awesome to see Marat seeded at the US Open, which I think is his favourite Slam?
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And I'd just like to send out a farewell to yet another one of the top eight seeds who went out today - though he went down fighting, unlike Djokovic, Kolya, Roddick and LameDave before him. Vale Ferru. You fought bravely.
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And so my quarter final picks for the top half of the draw run thusly: Federer vs. Ancic. Hewitt will be no match for the Mighty Fed (tm), and while Verdasco reached the final at Nottingham and clearly has some game on grass, I wouldn't bet against Super Mario. And then Safin vs. Baghdatis. Feliciano Lopez is another one of those Spaniards with the good grass game, but I wouldn't bet against Marcos, and though I really like Stan Wawrinka a lot, I think Marat's on a roll now...
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Wimbledon Results - Day #5
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Men's Draw
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Roger Federer def. Marc Gicquel, 6-3 6-3 6-1
Marat Safin def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-6 (7-3) 6-4
Mario Ancic def. David Ferrer, 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3)
Lleyton Hewitt def. Simone Bolelli, 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-2)
Fernando Verdasco def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 6-4 6-0
Marcos Baghdatis def. Simon Stadler, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-2
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Mischa Zverev, 7-5 6-1 retired
Feliciano Lopez def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-4 7-5 4-6 6-4
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Women's Draw
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Serena Williams def. Amelie Mauresmo, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1
Jie Zheng def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-1 6-4
Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Barbara Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2 6-4
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 6-2
Anna Chakvetadze def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-4 6-3
Bethanie Mattek def. Marion Bartoli, 6-4 6-1
Agnes Szavay def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-2
Nicole Vaidisova def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-2 6-4
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Who is going to be my new semis tip? Hmmm... if we went with seeds, it would be Chakvetadze, but she hasn't been very impressive this year. I'm going to go with Agnes Szavay, the young Hungarian. She's got a great game, and it's about time she made a run for the semis. In the second quarter, the Kuznetsova quarter, there are a couple of possiblities. Mattek aside - even though she did just knock out last year's finalist Marion Bartoli - any player there stands a chance of getting to the semi.
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But first, let me do my quarter final picks for the top half of the women's draw. I think we'll see Szavay vs Vaidisova (depending on how well Vaidisova plays - neither she nor Chakvetadze have been impressive of late, so that could potentially be a fourth round match of very poor quality.) And even though Kuznetsova has looked pretty good this tournament, I'm going to pick Agnieszka Radwanska in that one to come up against Serena Williams.
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One final word on women's tennis. I know that everyone is talking about Venus and Serena, but Jelena Jankovic must really, really fancy her chances now.
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Right. Men's tennis. Back to the comfort zone. I was very pleased with the way this all panned out. Federer was lethal over Gicquel, which is just the way I like it. If one counts out the very first game of the match, where he was broken, this was an almost perfect third round match. He had Gicquel in trouble on serve nearly every single game. He won convincingly in straight sets - but not SO convincingly that one could accuse him of peaking too early. He was just right. The headline on the Wimbledon website said 'Federer romps to easy victory.' This was the final paragraph:
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'It was Federer's 38th consecutive win at Wimbledon and one so comfortably achieved on his favourite court with nine aces, 34 outright winners and a first serve percentage of 72 that he might have been wearing carpet slippers. John McEnroe described the sight as "a master at work".'
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That brought a smile to my face. I wish I could have seen more of the match - of course, since it was on at the same time as the Hewitt match, most of it wasn't broadcast on Australian television.
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This is something I find endlessly annoying, but I doubt it will ever change. Hewitt will now come up against Federer in the next round, though, so at least I can be pretty much guaranteed that one will be shown! This might prove to be Federer's toughest test yet, but I don't think there is any cause to be fearful. Federer has owned Lleyton for the last few years, and I don't see much sign of that changing.
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To Lleyton's credit, he played an excellent match against Bolelli today. It was very clean tennis from him - though I'm not sure how much of that was due to him hitting the lines versus Bolelli making errors before Hewitt had the chance to. I'm not particularly enamoured of Hewitt, but one thing I do like about him is that he never tanks a game. He has a real point by point mentality, and I think that's very important in tennis. You rarely see Hewitt give up in a tennis match, even if he's pretty much down and out (not that he was today!) and that's pretty admirable.
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He also has a pretty decent tennis IQ, which is something I realised watching his match today. He knows how to use the topspin lob or the ball looping high over the net to give himself time to reset himself if he's out of court. He hit some really nice winners today, forehand and backhand, crosscourt and down the line. Bolelli was giving him a lot of opportunities, to be fair, but Hewitt wasn't missing. He pretty much dismantled Bolelli - and I haven't seen Hewitt dismantle an opponent in quite some time. So that was nice for him... but I think we're going to see the reverse of it on Monday! Hewitt will be the one dismantled by the mighty Federer Express.
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Going back to Bolelli, I was not very impressed with him at all. I don't know whether it just wasn't his day or whatever, but his game seemed to be composed of flair and not much else. His first serve was pretty sweet... when he got it in. He hit some outrageous winners... when they went in. And mostly, they weren't. Having flair is all very well - look at Federer, King of Flair! - but it needs to be consistent. And there ought to be times when there is at least a Plan B, an ability to be able to resort to percentage play. I'm all for redlining your game, but it did nothing for Bolelli. Hewitt played very well, and I don't want to take that away from him, but Bolelli did nothing for me.
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And has anyone else noticed that he kind of looks like Andy Roddick in a wig? Like, eerily so from some angles? Maybe it's just me. One thing I did like about him was his shirt. It had piping round the shoulders in Italian colours. I liked that. That one gets a Jodi Wimbledon Fashion Endorsement (tm), along with Roger's cardigan and Serena's trenchcoat. MaSha's tuxedo gets NO endorsement - though I have to say that the worst crime against fashion this week has come from Ernests Gulbis. Impressive as his game was against Nadal was, someone needs to tell Swanboy that black underpants and white shorts is never attractive.
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One person who looks good in whatever he wears is Marat Safin, and excuse while I scream out DAVAI MARAT! Three matches in a row for the first time this year - that's something to warm the cockles of your heart (and the sub-cockle regions.) Seppi played well, too - the second set is testament to that - but Safin rose to the occasion and outplayed him. It was simply splendid. There were some spectacular Marat-cool-losing moments, like that forehand shot that went rattling down the stairs in the stadium! - but Marat has got his head in the game. (Clearly he's been watching that basketball scene in High School Musical...) Marat is back - and what a time to pick for it! And he has got to pick up some serious rankings points for getting to the round of sixteen - how well did he do in Wimbledon last year? Let me check... oh. Of course. Third round, lost to Federer. Okay, so maybe not THAT many rankings points (yet) but that's still something. I'd dearly love to see Maratski up towards the top of his game.
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It's just so wonderful to see him playing WELL again. Seppi, unlike his compatriot Bolelli, really put up a fight. He's ranked higher than Safin - he's seeded here - but Marat always looked like the better played. C'mon, Marat. Davai. Wouldn't it be awesome to see Marat seeded at the US Open, which I think is his favourite Slam?
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And I'd just like to send out a farewell to yet another one of the top eight seeds who went out today - though he went down fighting, unlike Djokovic, Kolya, Roddick and LameDave before him. Vale Ferru. You fought bravely.
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And so my quarter final picks for the top half of the draw run thusly: Federer vs. Ancic. Hewitt will be no match for the Mighty Fed (tm), and while Verdasco reached the final at Nottingham and clearly has some game on grass, I wouldn't bet against Super Mario. And then Safin vs. Baghdatis. Feliciano Lopez is another one of those Spaniards with the good grass game, but I wouldn't bet against Marcos, and though I really like Stan Wawrinka a lot, I think Marat's on a roll now...
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Wimbledon Results - Day #5
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Men's Draw
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Roger Federer def. Marc Gicquel, 6-3 6-3 6-1
Marat Safin def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-6 (7-3) 6-4
Mario Ancic def. David Ferrer, 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3)
Lleyton Hewitt def. Simone Bolelli, 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-2)
Fernando Verdasco def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 6-4 6-0
Marcos Baghdatis def. Simon Stadler, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-2
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Mischa Zverev, 7-5 6-1 retired
Feliciano Lopez def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-4 7-5 4-6 6-4
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Women's Draw
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Serena Williams def. Amelie Mauresmo, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1
Jie Zheng def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-1 6-4
Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Barbara Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2 6-4
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 6-2
Anna Chakvetadze def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-4 6-3
Bethanie Mattek def. Marion Bartoli, 6-4 6-1
Agnes Szavay def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-2
Nicole Vaidisova def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-2 6-4
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