Tennis!

[DFF]

Djok in 3!

Nadal has been decent, but Djokovic is playing some great tennis.

[Dan]

Jesus, its weird seeing nadal struggling like this.

[Lineker]

He breaks him again and is now serving for a 2-0 set lead!

EDIT: and he has it!

[Lineker]

Nadal pulls a set back, 6-1. No clean sweep for Djokovic, on to set 4!

[gunnar hendershow]

Hasn't been the best match but we have a shot at a classic finish. I think this goes to the 5th where Djoko takes it.

[Lineker]

If this goes to a 5th then there ain't nobody but Nadal winning it.

[Lineker]

Novak breaks and is now serving for the match!

[Lineker]

And Novak Djokovic is the Champion of Wimbledon for the first time ever!!

[maninblack]

Good job, Djokovic!

I miss the days when the winner would run into the crowd and celebrate with their loved ones.

And the guy putting the winner's name on the list of champions has got to be the coolest extra in this year's finals.

Edited July 3, 2011 by maninblack

[gunnar hendershow]

Holy shit he did it! If he wins the U.S. I say he's in contention for best year ever, despite not getting the Grand Slam.

[maninblack]

lol technical difficulties.

[naiwf]

Holy shit he did it! If he wins the U.S. I say he's in contention for best year ever, despite not getting the Grand Slam.

Federer's 2006 is still the gold standard unless Djokovic doesn't lose again

92-5. Reached 16 Finals in 17 tournaments played (2R loss at Cincy). Won the 3 non Nadal Slams and the YEC, lost in the Finals at the French. Won 4 Masters series tournaments. I think that was also the year he broke the record for most rankings points before they inexplicably decided to double every tournament's value. I know he ended up well over 10,000 points in the old system.

[Starvinho]

I think Djoko probably would have won the French too if he'd got through the semi's and played Nadal in the final, but Federer was just amazing that day.

[Bobfoc]

It looks as though we could be heading for an extremely interesting US hard court season. Djokovic is obviously the man to beat now, so it will be interesting to see how he copes with the pressure of trying to win the US Open for the first time whilst carrying the burden of being the favourite, not to mention the possibility of fatigue setting in after a long season.

Nadal, the defending champion, will be particularly keen to take the final Slam of the year in order to halt Djokovic's dominance, but the hard courts represent arguably his weakest surface.

Federer, despite being overshadowed by Nadal and Djokovic at the moment, is still playing reasonably well. Before his quarter-final defeat at Wimbledon, I thought he was playing better than anyone else in the tournament, and he also holds the distinction of being the only man to beat Djokovic so far this year. With less pressure on him than in previous years, he could still pose a huge threat.

Murray is also playing well, but he still needs that little extra something to push him to the very elite level of the game. He's undoubtedly a hard court specialist, though, and the US Open should offer his best opportunity for Grand Slam success.

Outside the fabled "Big Four", Del Potro appears to be gathering fitness all the time. I definitely think he could be a big contender by the time the US Open comes around, and he should be the man that all the top players will want to avoid before the semi-finals. I'm also intrigued to see how the likes of Tomic and Tsonga perform after their runs at Wimbledon, especially if any of the top performers suffer injuries or fatigue before the final stages. With any luck, it should all shape up nicely for an enthralling, open contest.

[IAceI]

Murray's main problem is that he doesn't ever seem to step it up into another gear in time for the Grand Slams. He plays well in other tournaments leading up to it and keeps that level into the Grand Slam, or usually anyways, but as soon as he comes up against Nadal/Djokovic or the 'in-form' player of the tournament, Tsonga (Aus '08), Berdych (French '10) and so on. He never seems to set the Grand Slams a light like Soderling has managed for consecutive French Opens or Del Potro did at the US Open and really capture your attention and make you think "hang on, he really could do it here." He always just seems to play to his ranking and when he comes up against those higher ranked players he seems to come apart easier than you'd expect, but in other tournaments he's always capable of beating Nadal, Federer and Djokovic (less so Djokovic this season but he's on fire.)

As said though, the US Open probably presents its best opportunity for Andy Murray. The courts play pretty slick and suit his game quite well, Djokovic will be susceptible to fatigue and with the speed of the US Open courts and the toll a season takes on his body you feel this is often Nadal's weakest Grand Slam (even if he is reigning champion). Then you have to factor in the form players as I said, Tsonga and Del Potro - if they can continue/return to their high calibre of play then Tsonga's ferocious hitting and Del Potro's flat shots will play well into the US Open courts.

I'd give anything for a Murray win though. Get that chip off his shoulder and appease the nation, as it stands his highest ranking is four in the world, the same as Greg and Tim before him (although I think it's fair to say Murray is a little more talented ¬_¬) but until he wins a Slam then I think we'll forever condemn him as a failure like those before him (harsh on Tim mind, was a great player). That said I think Murray could soon be pushing for the top three, he's generally had Federer's number (except in Grand Slam finals) and while Federer seems revitalized you suspect he's still on the way out.

The question is whether Murray can assert himself as a Grand Slam winner in amongst Djokovic and Nadal before the likes of Dimitrov, Tomic, Harrison and Raonic make their expected rises up the rankings. (That is if Tomic doesn't all bore us into submission ¬_¬). I'm still holding out hope that Ricardis Berankis or Martin Klizan (that forehand ) can make a mark in the top 100 of the game, especially since the Thiemo De Bakker ship seems to have sailed already.

Edited July 4, 2011 by IAceI

[Bobfoc]

Murray's main problem is that he doesn't ever seem to step it up into another gear in time for the Grand Slams. He plays well in other tournaments leading up to it and keeps that level into the Grand Slam, or usually anyways, but as soon as he comes up against Nadal/Djokovic or the 'in-form' player of the tournament, Tsonga (Aus '08), Berdych (French '10) and so on. He never seems to set the Grand Slams a light like Soderling has managed for consecutive French Opens or Del Potro did at the US Open and really capture your attention and make you think "hang on, he really could do it here." He always just seems to play to his ranking and when he comes up against those higher ranked players he seems to come apart easier than you'd expect, but in other tournaments he's always capable of beating Nadal, Federer and Djokovic (less so Djokovic this season but he's on fire.)

As said though, the US Open probably presents its best opportunity for Andy Murray. The courts play pretty slick and suit his game quite well, Djokovic will be susceptible to fatigue and with the speed of the US Open courts and the toll a season takes on his body you feel this is often Nadal's weakest Grand Slam (even if he is reigning champion). Then you have to factor in the form players as I said, Tsonga and Del Potro - if they can continue/return to their high calibre of play then Tsonga's ferocious hitting and Del Potro's flat shots will play well into the US Open courts.

I'd give anything for a Murray win though. Get that chip off his shoulder and appease the nation, as it stands his highest ranking is four in the world, the same as Greg and Tim before him (although I think it's fair to say Murray is a little more talented ¬_¬) but until he wins a Slam then I think we'll forever condemn him as a failure like those before him (harsh on Tim mind, was a great player). That said I think Murray could soon be pushing for the top three, he's generally had Federer's number (except in Grand Slam finals) and while Federer seems revitalized you suspect he's still on the way out.

The question is whether Murray can assert himself as a Grand Slam winner in amongst Djokovic and Nadal before the likes of Dimitrov, Tomic, Harrison and Raonic make their expected rises up the rankings. (That is if Tomic doesn't all bore us into submission ¬_¬). I'm still holding out hope that Ricardis Berankis or Martin Klizan (that forehand ) can make a mark in the top 100 of the game, especially since the Thiemo De Bakker ship seems to have sailed already.

Murray has actually been as high as second, albeit for a very short period of time. At the moment, though, I think he's significantly behind the top three in terms of ranking points.

[IAceI]

Bloody hell, forgot about that. For some reason thought he'd only ever been as high as fourth.

My point still stands though, until he wins a Grand Slam he'll be a failure to the British public. World Number 1 and no Grand Slam? Pfft. Like that will appease any of us. Hell, I'm still confident if he wins the Australian, French or US Open 50% of Brits will say "Well, it's not Wimbledon, so fuck it" and the other 50% will say "..There are other Grand Slams? Tennis isn't just competed for two weeks of the year at the end of June?"

In regards to Wimbledon did anyone noticed Pippa Middleton was a stalwart for the second week pretty much? Not just the Murray matches but she pretty much didn't move for a week. Good on her. And her arse.

[Bobfoc]

I definitely agree with you on Murray. Most of the bandwagon fans will never respect him unless he wins Wimbledon and, even if he did, he'd still get plenty of flak if he didn't then go on to win it every single year after that. It's a shame because, during the twilight years of the careers of both Henman and Rusedski, most British tennis fans would have killed to have another player in the top 50, let alone a top-5 player who's reached three Grand Slam finals and won several Masters Series events. I'm sure those same critics would suddenly become his biggest fans if he won a Slam, only to turn on him once again the next time he lost in a major tournament.

[IAceI]

And it's hard to get any enthusiasm going about any of the other plays. Bogdanovic has always been rather atrocious, and then you have to wonder if the youngsters are going to improve. It seems to have worked a bit on the girls side, both Laura Robson and Heather Watson have made strides early on and Baltacha is even cracking the top 50 - so there seems to be some success there, and in the same timescale since Roger Draper took over the LTA and Steve Maartens etc. all came in to help 'revolutionise' the LTA and get more people playing tennis and more top quality talent we're still waiting on the boys side.

Dan Cox I think was the best player around my age in the country and he's never really been able to crack it. Dan Evans, too, I think. They all flittered around on the cusp but never really had the drive to go on and be better. James Ward did well at Queens but there's no guarantee he can keep that sort of form, he showed some great desire to win matches you didn't expect him to have a chance of winning but can he replicate that sort of form? The current young crop seems to be Liam Broady, Oli Golding and George Morgan - it will be interesting to see if the academy really has kicked on and is starting to produce worthwhile talent capable of reaching the upper echelons of the game. The likes of France, Spain and Russia don't know how good they have it with so many players to cheer on in a tournament. We go in to tournaments with one solitary hope to put our faith into and demand top performances from, must be incredibly difficult for Murray sometimes - but then I'm sure he looks at his bank balance, car, house and girlfriend and decides it's all worth it.

[Lineker]

I definitely agree with you on Murray. Most of the bandwagon fans will never respect him unless he wins Wimbledon and, even if he did, he'd still get plenty of flak if he didn't then go on to win it every single year after that. It's a shame because, during the twilight years of the careers of both Henman and Rusedski, most British tennis fans would have killed to have another player in the top 50, let alone a top-5 player who's reached three Grand Slam finals and won several Masters Series events. I'm sure those same critics would suddenly become his biggest fans if he won a Slam, only to turn on him once again the next time he lost in a major tournament.

Sir, are you suggested that the British media is somewhat fickle? Perish the thought!