SMB Tennis thread (note there is a specific Wimbledon 22 thread)

The Bridge Lad said:
Halep is the rightful favourite given she has won 13 of her last 14 matches at this tournament and her path is fairly straightforward until the QF (her R1 match might actually be the most tricky), but then she is only about 4/1. Probably more value in Bertens, but she's often choked in the early rounds of slams especially since she's transitioned from 'clay court specialist' to genuine slam contender, but I can see her doing well here. I'd rule out Serena, and Osaka's draw is extremely tough as mentioned above, so I can't see 3 slams in a row for her. Bar Mladenovic, who now has Osaka's coach who won those 2 slams (Sascha Bajin) and is playing better and will have home support, Pliskova's path to the QF looks pretty clear and she won her last event in Rome, so those in bold would be my 3.

Kerber has barely played on clay due to injury and it's her worst surface so I'd also rule her out. Svitolina has lost her last 3 matches since getting injured in mid March and Barty's still not too comfortable on clay to be considered a genuine contender. Muguruza can peak out of nowhere, especially here, likewise Sloane who hasn't had a great 2019, but I wouldn't be confident enough to put a bet on either of those.

RG is my least favourite slam, but I am really looking forward to it, especially with the usual Sunday and Monday when people are off work - although most might be a bit distracted on the Sunday...
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Are you not going to Wembley I haven't got much on after I'm home Monday so looking forward to it
 


Order of play out for Sunday. All courts are 10am (UK) starts:

COURT PHILIPPE-CHATRIER
A.KERBER [5] vs A.POTAPOVA
S.TSITSIPAS [6] vs M.MARTERER
L.SONEGO vs R.FEDERER [3]
M.BRENGLE vs Ka.PLISKOVA [2]

COURT SUZANNE-LENGLEN
T.FABBIANO vs M.CILIC [11]
K.NISHIKORI [7] vs Q.HALYS [WC]
F.FERRO vs K.MLADENOVIC
S.STEPHENS [7] vs M.DOI

COURT SIMONNE-MATHIEU
G.MUGURUZA [19] vs T.TOWNSEND
M.CECCHINATO [16] vs N.MAHUT [WC]
V.WILLIAM vs E.SVITOLINA [9]
D.GOFFIN [27] vs R.BERANKIS

COURT 1
P.MARTIC [31] vs O.JABEUR
J.TIPSAREVIC vs G.DIMITROV
B.BENCIC [15] vs J.PONCHET [WC]
R.HAASE vs P.KOHLSCHREIBER

COURT 14
A.POPYRIN [WC] vs U.HUMBERT
S.KUZNETSOVA vs K.KUCOVA [Q]
M.FUCSOVICS vs D.SCHWARTZMAN [17]
P.HERCOG vs A.SASNOVICH [32]

COURT 7
M.BERRETTINI [29] vs P.ANDUJAR
L.SIEGEMUND vs S.ZHUK [Q]
A.RAMOS-VINOLAS vs L.DJERE [31]
J.BRADY vs I.JOROVIC

COURT 6
M.RYBARIKOVA vs J.LARSSON
M.JAZIRI vs O.OTTE [LL]
B.PERA [Q] vs K.KOZLOVA
J.VESELY vs L.MAYER

COURT 13
C.RUUD vs E.GULBIS
Y.WANG vs M.VONDROUSOVA
P.GUNNESWARAN vs H.DELLIEN
S.SORRIBES TORMO vs A.VAN UYTVANCK
 
Not been following it as much these past couple of months, but looking forward to it starting, well Monday anyway. I'll go Djokovic and Pliskova.
 
She hardly had any clay prep coming into this, coming back from injury, but Kerber in big trouble, a set and a break down. Muguruz dropping first set, but a break up. It is a bit shit how ITV4 and Eurosport are showing the same match (Muguruza).
 
The Bridge Lad said:
She hardly had any clay prep coming into this, coming back from injury, but Kerber in big trouble, a set and a break down. Muguruz dropping first set, but a break up. It is a bit shit how ITV4 and Eurosport are showing the same match (Muguruza).
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I assume it's just the contract they have but I've never understood why ITV only show one match at a time. It's not as if ITV2 and ITV3 is showing much through the day on a weekday. Or even have a red button option.

I know they will obviously get a lot more viewers for the bigger names but selfishly it's not really of much interest watching a qualifier win six games against Nadal when Medvedev and Herbert were deep in the fifth set earlier on.
 
I've enjoyed it so far. Nadal looking like Nadal always does. I was surprised how good Federer looked yesterday because Sonego is no mug.

Haven't seen much of the women apart from Pliskova who was surprising ropey on serve.
 
COURT PHILIPPE-CHATRIER
J.MILLMAN vs A.ZVEREV [5]
N.OSAKA [1] vs AK.SCHMIEDLOVA
S.HALEP [3] vs A.TOMLJANOVIC
T.DANIEL vs G.MONFILS [14]

COURT SUZANNE-LENGLEN
N.JARRY vs JM.DEL POTRO [8]
C.GARCIA [24] vs M.BARTHEL
S.BOLELLI [Q] vs L.POUILLE [22]
E.RODINA vs M.KEYS [14]

COURT SIMONNE-MATHIEU
F.FOGNINI [9] vs A.SEPPI
J.OSTAPENKO vs V.AZARENKA
A.SABALENKA [11] vs D.CIBULKOVA
S.TRAVAGLIA [Q] vs A.MANNARINO

COURT 1
D.KASATKINA [21] vs J.PAOLINI [Q]
J.CHARDY vs K.EDMUND [28] (to finish)
S.JOHNSON vs R.BAUTISTA AGUT [18]
K.KHACHANOV [10] vs CM.STEBE
E.BOUCHARD vs L.TSURENKO [27]

COURT 14
T.FRITZ vs B.TOMIC
M.BOUZKOVA [L] vs B.ANDREESCU [22] (to finish)
C.PAQUET [WC] vs M.LINETTE
G.BARRERE [WC] vs M.EBDEN
A.TATISHVILI vs M.SAKKARI [29]

COURT 7
C.NORRIE vs E.BENCHETRIT [Q]
K.MUCHOVA vs A.KONTAVEIT [17]
F.VERDASCO [23] vs D.EVANS
I.SWIATEK vs S.JANICIJEVIC [WC]

COURT 6
M.PUIG vs K.FLIPKENS
I.KARLOVIC vs F.LOPEZ
A.HOANG [WC] vs D.DZUMHUR

COURT 9
G.GARCIA-LOPEZ [Q] vs F.DELBONIS
A.BLINKOVA [Q] vs M.GASPARYAN
T.BABOS [LL] vs P.HON [WC]
E.RYBAKINA [Q] vs K.SINIAKOVA

COURT 10
Y.NISHIOKA vs M.MCDONALD
K.NARA [Q] vs D.JAKUPOVIC (to finish)
Men’s DoublesFirst Round
Men’s DoublesFirst Round
Men’s DoublesFirst Round

COURT 11
Men’s DoublesFirst Round
D.LAJOVIC [30] vs T.MONTEIRO [Q]
D.GAVRILOVA vs A.KRUNIC

COURT 12
I.BEGU vs L.ZHU
Men’s DoublesFirst Round
A.DAVIDOVICH FOKINA [LL] vs J.THOMPSON
S.ZHENG vs Q.WANG [16]

COURT 13
M.YMER [Q] vs B.ROLA [Q]
A.ANISIMOVA vs H.TAN [WC]
M.KLIZAN vs M.KUKUSHKIN
 
Edmund through, Norrie out. I'm obviously wrong given he's ranked inside the top 50 but for the life of me I have no idea how Cam Norrie is a top 100 player. Just don't see what he's meant to be good at.

Evans is a big underdog later on but I've had a few quid on him to cover the game handicap. Wouldn't be too surprised if Verdasco racks up the unforced errors against someone with the style of play that Evans has.
 
MarcoG said:
Edmund through, Norrie out. I'm obviously wrong given he's ranked inside the top 50 but for the life of me I have no idea how Cam Norrie is a top 100 player. Just don't see what he's meant to be good at.

Evans is a big underdog later on but I've had a few quid on him to cover the game handicap. Wouldn't be too surprised if Verdasco racks up the unforced errors against someone with the style of play that Evans has.
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Good news for Edmund! He's not been on a great run. Norrie seems to have stealthed his way into the top 50. His success seems to be about hard work and enthusiasm as much as anything.

Evans a set down.
 
So, what's everyone's thoughts now that 99% of the 1st round matches have finished? I thought they would have stopped there once Monfils won that set.

I do really like the 3 day R1 - you get to see far more matches and gives more players the chance to play on the bigger courts. Wimbledon is unrealistic because of the tradition and state of the courts, but I'd welcome the US Open and Aussie adopting that in the future.

Most of the seeds have held firm, 5 seeds out in the men's (6 if you count FAA), 6 out in the women's (7 with Kvitova) and no real huge surprise. Kerber and Wozniacki are big names to go, and I guess on paper 'shocks', but both were very vulnerable coming into it. Medvedev probably the biggest surprise on the men's side.

Which match are most looking forward to in the 2nd round? Kei vs Tsonga? Plenty of good matches in the women's - Osaka-Azarenka, Sabalenka-Anisimova AO rematch, and I'm particularly looking forward to Vondrousova-Potapova.

As for the Brits, Norrie really was abysmal, but was pleased Kyle saw off Chardy - not sure it would have been 7-5 in the third if they carried on for a few more games last night. Good opportunity tomorrow for Konta to make R3 and pretty much guarantee her Wimbledon seeding.
 
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