Wimbledon Highlights

Completion of the first round has been delayed by weather.  Here are some of the notable events.

All the “big guns” won their first round matches.

Bad luck for Borna.  

Borna Coric, a youngster with a lot of potential, would have been helped immensely by a good showing at Wimbledon.  However, he had the misfortune of playing Ivo Karlovic in the first round, with Karlovic having a good day.  Karlovic won the first set tiebreak with a backhand that clipped the net and fell over.  The rest you can imagine.  Coric should not get down over this.  Tomorrow is another day for him.

Muguruza prevails

As predicted in this blog, Camila Giorgi gave Muguruza all she could handle before falling to the #2 seed in three sets.  I’ve seen several of Giorgi’s matches this year, and it’s quite apparent to me that she receives extensive coaching from her father via hand signals.  In a match earlier this year, the dad actually changed seats every time Giorgi moved from the deuce to ad court and back again.  This behavior bewildered the TV commentators, but to me, the explanation is obvious:  the father wanted to give the daughter the best possible view of his hand signals.  I haven’t been able to decode his “nose rubs”, “forehead wipes”, etc. because the camera only shows him occasionally.  However, this guy’s history of being less than honest, combined with his behavior in Camila’s matches, persuade me that he is breaking the coaching rule.

Willis wins

Marcus Willis, a Brit ranked 772, has been the darling of the press after making it through qualifying and winning his first round match.  He next has the dubious pleasure of playing Roger Federer, who has been very generous to Willis in his press interviews.  I’m sure Roger knows that anyone standing across the net from you at the second round of Wimbledon is a great tennis player.  Expect the match to be close at first as Federer evaluates Willis’ strengths and weaknesses.   It will be interesting to see how many ranking positions Willis gains after this showing!

Vandeweghe under way.

            Coco Vandeweghe beat Kateryna Bondarenko very impressively.  Coco played some points in a manner worthy of a top 5 player.  She may finally be putting it all together. 

Wimbledon Draws and Picks

The women:

Favorites:       1) S. Williams

2) Muguruza

3) Kerber

Despite the fact that she hasn’t played much leading up to the championships, Serena Williams still must be considered the favorite.  She is great on all surfaces, but on grass her power is particularly daunting.  She must maintain her concentration though, because none of her opponents are going to show up to lose.  Garbine Muguruza, a finalist last year, has a great game for grass.  She has a big serve and powerful groundies.  She is not quite as quick as some of her opponents and her net play is capable if not legendary.  Last year after doing so well at Wimbledon she had a bit of a let down, and this year she won the French.  Her grass court play has not been fabulous, so she has to make sure a post - French Open success let down isn’t kicking in.  She has a tough first round opponent in Camila Giorgi.  Angelique Kerber is one of the best defenders in the game and has played well enough this year to beat Serena Williams in the final of the Aussie Open.  Because she has a bit more power than Radwanska, I put her slightly ahead of Aggie.

They have a chance

1) Radwanska

2) Kvitova

3) Halep

4) Keys

Aggie Radwanska has made the final before and is one of the most intelligent tacticians ever to play the game.  Her second serve can be a liability, because as fast as she is, a pummeled second serve on grass will get by her.  Petra Kvitova, the enigmatic two-time champion, obviously has the goods.  She lost a 6-0 third set to Johanna Konta in a warmup tournament, which is not a good sign.  In the past she had been very successful in 3-set matches.  Simona Halep is a great player who can be inconsistent.  She is one of the best defenders in the game and is familiar with the big stage.  Winning Wimbledon would be a huge step for Madison Keys, but she seems to be putting things together of late, and has an awesome power game.  A very outside shot.

Potential spoilers

                        1) Karolina Pliskova

                        2) Coco Vandeweghe

                        3) Dominika Cibulkova

                        4) Svetlana Kuznetsova

            As the 15^th seed Karolina Pliskova isn’t exactly a dangerous floater.  She won one grass court warmup tournament and made the finals of another.  I just don’t see her winning it, though.  Coco Vandeweghe has had a great grass court swing.  She’s got plenty of power.  I think her game is still in something of a formative stage, but she is dangerous.  Seeded 27.  Cibulkova just won Eastbourne, and clearly has top 10 talent.   A feisty competitor who could beat anyone on a given day except perhaps Serena Williams.  Svetlana Kuznetsova is a very strong woman who has won two majors before.  She is seeded 13 so again, not really a dangerous floater.  Still, I see her as more likely to knock out a favorite than to win the thing.  Finally, there are many outstanding young players on the women’s tour who could pose serious problems for top players – Bencic, Kasatkina, Sloane Stephens, Johanna Konta, Ostapenko, Gavrilova, Bascinszky, Mladenovic, Garcia etc.  These and other young players will make the women’s tournament into a very exciting event. 

Interesting first round matches

1) Muguruza vs. Giorgi.  Giorgi is a very dangerous opponent who never holds back.  Garbine will have to be on her toes to win this one.

2) Kuznetsova vs. Wozniaki.  These two have had epic battles in majors before.  Wozniaki is one of the best defenders in the game.  This one could be fun to watch.

3) Konta vs. Puig.  Konta is now solidly in the top 20, while Monica Puig has had a great grass court swing so far.  Too bad this is a first rounder.

Wimbledon Draws and Picks

The men:

Favorites:       1) Djokovic

2) Murray

3) Federer

Novak is the obvious favorite right now.  Nobody is beating him consistently. Nadal is out of the tournament as well.  Murray is in great shape and beat Djokovic Italy this year in a 3-set match on clay.  Murray has won Wimbledon before and will be playing at home, so he at least has a good chance of reaching the final.  I don’t see him beating Djokovic there, however.  Federer is, well, Federer.  Nobody thinks on the court like him or makes shots like him, and he’s won the thing seven times.  In 2015 Federer took Djokovic out of a couple of Masters 1000 events, but those were 3 set matches and Federer has not been healthy enough to play consistently this year.  Something of a long shot, given his age and sparce play leading up to the tournament, but he is still, well, Federer.

They have a chance

1) Wawrinka

2) Nishikori

3) Thiem

4) Raonic

Wawrinka has been a little bit less than inspiring this year, but he still has that awesome power game when things are working for him.  To beat Djokovic one MUST get free points on serve, and Wawrinka has a big first serve.  Nishikori, one of the quickest and most agile players in the world, should be helped on grass, where his relatively weak serve can do more damage.  Dominic Thiem has had an amazing year.  Both his first and second serves are very good.  He plays a clay court style of tennis, but has been successful on the grass court warmup circuit.  Milos Raonic, as pointed out in other posts, rarely loses early in tournaments.  He also has his monster serve and is much better net player than people give him credit for.  He’s in Djokovic’ quarter, which will make it tough.  He’s made little headway with Djokovic in the past.

Potential spoilers

                        1) Thomas Berdych

                        2) David Goffin

                        3) Nick Kyrgios

                        4) JW Tsonga

                        5) Alexander Zverev

            It’s hard to think of Thomas Berdych as a spoiler, as he’s been so consistently near the top of the game for so long.  He’s also made the final in the past (2010), beating Federer on the way.  However, he’s fallen back just a bit recently.  David Goffin is a tennis genius who, though small in stature, is figuring out how to beat the best players.  His serve, like Nishikori’s, should be helped by the grass.   This guy has great hands and is a lot of fun to watch.  Nick Kyrgios has a fabulous game for grass.  He has a great serve, powerful groundies, and he moves well for a big man.  The question with him is whether he will bring his brain to the court along with his racquet.  JW Tsonga is also a power merchant who beat Federer from two sets down once at Wimbledon.   Zverev is a young 6’6” powerhouse who is rapidly improving his court tactics.  He also has a serve the got him out of trouble several times in a victory over Federer in Halle.  Definitely a guy to can take anyone out, save perhaps Djokovic, on any given day.

Interesting first round encounters:

1) Dominic Thiem vs. Florian Mayer.  Mayer beat Thiem in Halle just a few days ago.  This is a big match for the up and coming Thiem.

2) Zverev vs. Mathieu, first round.  Mathieu is a tough customer and experienced pro.  Not an easy first rounder for Zverev.

3) Coric vs. Karlovic.  Like Zverev with Mathieu, Coric  could suffer a first round setback in his developing career when he faces the horrifying serve of Karlovic.  Big match for Borna.

4) Tomic vs. Verdasco.  Tomic fancies himself a top 10 player.  Seeded 19 here, he plays a seasoned pro with a big serve and forehand in Verdasco.  If he wants to be top 10, these are the kind of matches Tomic must win.

5) Isner vs. Baghdatis.  Baghdatis, former Australian Open finalist, is having something of a resurgence this year.  Isner’s serve should get him through, but this is a dangerous matchup for him.

6) Wawrinka vs. Fritz.  This a tough draw for Fritz, but the young American has a big serve and is a good competitor.  Not likely to beat Stan, but the match will be fun to watch. 

Dealing with timeout gamesmanship

            During a match with Sloane Stephens in the 2013 Australian Open, Victoria Azarenka took a lengthy time out at a key point in the match in order to have, in her words a “rib unlocked”.  After Stephens was made to wait and “chill” for several minutes, Azarenka returned to the court and won the match.  Many observers felt that this time out was more for gamesmanship than treatment.  Although Azarenka vehemently denied this accusation, she and many others have been suspected of taking bathroom breaks or injury time outs in order to break the rhythm and momentum of their opponents.  This problem appears to occur more frequently in the women’s game.  Can anything be done about it?

One thing we can’t do is eliminate the availability of these breaks.  Sometimes players really do need to interrupt play, and we can’t have players being incontinent  on the court or playing with injuries that could lead to more serious problems down the road.   There is a way, though, to compensate the opponent who has sit and wait for play to resume while incurring the risk of having her own play compromised by the interruption.

According to the present rules, a player is allowed one coaching visit per set.  The visit may be made during an opponent’s bathroom break or during extended treatment when a medical time out is called.  However, once the coach has visited a player, he/she may not visit again until the next set begins.  In my opinion this rule should be changed to allow additional “free” coaching visits at the player’s request whenever an opponent takes an extended break. In this way, the player who is forced to sit and wait while the opponent takes a break is compensated for the potential negative impact of an extended interruption of play.  The opportunity for a player to benefit from an opponent’s break would deter players from taking breaks for gamesmanship while not slowing play in any way.   Presently, on court coaching is not allowed in grand slam tournaments.  However, everyone knows that it’s only a matter of time before this prohibition is lifted.  I say lift it now whenever one of the players takes an extended break.

In the men’s game there is no on court coaching allowed, a rule considered wrong by players like Rafa Nadal.  I have never seen a men’s match where a player was suspected of taking a strategic break, but there’s no reason why such behavior might not occur.   I believe that the men’s tour should take another look at this issue.  Players like Roger Federer favor the traditional approach that requires players to solve problems in a match without outside help.  I understand this point of view completely, but in the modern game, where complex rules governing interruptions of play now exist, we need to make sure those rules are not unfairly exploited.  I believe players who would exploit them might think twice if they knew their opponent could talk to his coach during extended breaks.

Improve officiating – give nets “the finger”, again!

Yesterday in Eastbourne Naomi Broady hit a serve to Monica Puig that was called a let.  Broady complained to the umpire that the ball passed well over the net  and was not a let.  The umpire responded that she had no choice but to go with the call made by the net cord sensor.

This sort of incident has been quite frequent ever since people with their fingers on the net cords were replaced by net cord sensors.  The net cord sensor is what is called a “piezoelectrical device” that produces an impulse when it vibrates.  The problem, I think, is that the kind of vibrations that set it off can come from sources other than direct contact between the passing ball and the net cord.

When I play doubles and I’m at the net while my partner serves, it’s not unusual for the ball to pass close to my ear as it heads for my opponents’ side of the court.  These “near misses” produce a shock wave of air that I can feel very clearly.  When a pro serves, the ball is moving much faster than in my club matches, so it’s logical to assume that this shock wave of air is far more pronounced.  What I think is happening with the automatic net cord sensor is that when a pro serve passes very close to the top of the net, the shock wave it produces is sufficient to give the net a little shake that is picked up by the sensor.

The net cord is a metal cable covered by vinyl.  In the old days, lets were detected by a person who sat aside the court with his finger on the net cord.  The vibration of a metal cable that is hit directly by a ball feels characteristically different from a shudder that might occur from a shock wave of air created by a ball passing close to the net.  As a consequence, it’s my opinion that the finger on the net discriminates between the “vibration” and the “shudder” better than the mechanical device.  I believe the sensor is calling lets when the ball passes close to the net but does not touch it.   The other possibility, of course, is that the sensor is detecting lets with better fidelity than ever before, and that the players are simply wrong when they think the ball has missed the net completely.  If that is true, we must conclude that the old “finger on the net cord” method was missing let calls. 

            This issue could easily be researched, and if it turns out that the sensor is too sensitive the device might be modified.  However, the easy thing to do is just bring back the people and use the finger method again.  Things mechanical aren’t always better than the human touch.  If the finger method is missing lets so slight that they’re not perceptibly changing the flight of the ball, the only practical result would be fewer let calls, fewer player complaints, and matches slowed less often by let calls.  Given the fact the some former stars are proposing that all lets be played out anyway, this scenario hardly seems disastrous.  So I propose that we give nets “the finger” again and end player suffering!