Tennis!

[Katsuya]

Who is this Mannarino guy? All I've seen is that he's knocked out a couple of seeds, including del Potro, so will he prove much of a threat to Ward I wonder? Winner of that goes on to play Nadal I believe so it looks like Rafa is on course one way or another to get to the final.

[Starvinho]

Nadal will have to get past Tsonga first, won't be an easy game. But Ward has a fantastic chance of getting to the semi's, don't know much about Mannarino but if Ward keeps up his current form then I can see him getting through. Just hope the occasion doesn't get to him.

[Lineker]

Yay, rain! As is tradition.

[Starvinho]

This rain needs fuck off, we'll still be playing Queens at the start of Wimbledon at this rate! Tsonga is 11/4 for anyone fancying a flutter, Nadal is looking very dejected and tired at the moment so he might let this match slip once it gets underway.

[Katsuya]

Ward is walking it. Won the first set, now he's a break up at 5-3 in the second with Mannarino to serve next.

[therockbox]

Ward is walking it. Won the first set, now he's a break up at 5-3 in the second with Mannarino to serve next.

Whoops.

[Katsuya]

Jesus, this Ward/Mannarino match is terrible. I mean, they're both really, really bad. Might be a little bit because the camera on this court is awful so you can't tell how they're playing really, but still.

[Starvinho]

Can't believe Ward didn't take one of those match points, can't seeing him winning the third now.

Edit: And Ward goes and turns the set around and wins it 6-4. Tsonga awaits in the semi-final.

Edited June 10, 2011 by Starvinho

[Adam]

Great effort by Ward, anyone know how much this will affect his ranking? He must be due a good shoot up into the top 200, be nice if he could kick on from here. Shame he doesn't get to face Nadal, I can see Tsonga serving him out of contention. Great chance for Murray to take a second Queens title now that Rafa is out though!

[Baddar]

I doubt it'll do much for his ranking. I bought a VIP ticket at Wimbledon last year and it automatically made me Britain's number 3.

[IAceI]

A run this deep into a tournament and beating the likes of Wawrinka, Querry and even Mannarino will be very good for his ranking. Especially given he has no points to defend and the like, however it's the weeks after that, he'll be able to get into better tournaments but if he doesn't perform he'll just drop straight back down.

Lets hope he has the game to make an impact on hard courts and the like too, if he's a grass court specialist then we're pretty screwed. ¬_¬

[Starvinho]

Murray wins the first set against Roddick 6-3, and I must say he is playing some of the best tennis I've seen him play in a while.

[IAceI]

Can the cameramen please stop showing us bent ower ball girls. They're like 12.

[Katsuya]

Murray has just destroyed Roddick in this match. Dunno what's up with Roddick right now but he's not looked good at all really.

ETA: A note on Ward; at the moment, he's on 90 points for getting in to the semi final, which would put him up around 176th in the world I believe. If he beats Tsonga but loses in the final, he'll be knocking on the door of the top 150...if he wins the tournament, then he'll be in the top 110-120 bracket. One way or another he gets to his highest ever ranking. It might also mean he starts qualifying for more ATP 250 series or at least a shot at qualifying for them, which is what he really needs if he wants to up his game and start getting better rankings.

[Starvinho]

Murray wins in less than an hour, 6-3 6-1. Come on Ward!!

[Berober]

I started watching at about 2-1 in the second set but that was some glorious Tennis by Murray.

[Berober]

Tsonga beats Ward 6-3 7-6 (9-7)

Closer second game, and I was rather impressed with Ward

[Starvinho]

Ward had his chance when he was a break up in the second set, but Tsonga can serve and play like a machine at times. Should be a good final now though.

[Lineker]

Seeds were released today. They're as you'd expect - Nadal, then Federer, then Djokovic, then Murray. Also Kim Clijsters has just withdrawn from the tournament with a foot injury; she was always a doubt.

[Lineker]

Muzza has been drawn in the first round against Spaniard Daniel Gimerno-Traver. And Mahut and Isner have been drawn together once again!