Wimbledon 2021

First topic message reminder :

The draw is out for Wimbledon, with defending champ Djoko opening against GB's Jack Draper.

Djoko is, of course, clear favourite and won't have to play Rafa or Thiem who have had to drop out along with, among others, Raonic and Stan the Man.

Federer opens against Mannarino and could play Gasquet in round two and Cameron Norrie in the third round. More importantly, Roger is in the bottom half of the draw and away from Djoko.

Andy Murray, who could have been drawn against any of the top seeds, has got 24th seed Basilashvili which won't be easy but could have been even tougher.

Dan Evans, seeded 22nd, could be up against it. He plays grass-court specialist Feliciano Lopez in the opening round. An intriguing round one match is Kyrgios v Humbert who won in Halle.

No one can be sure how Federer will play. He does not have too difficult a start and may be able to run into some form for the later, harder matches. Berrettini, seeded 7, could be a handful if his Queen's form carries on. Difficult to look beyond Djoko, although Novak could face Anderson in round two.

As mentioned in the previous topic 2019 champ Halep is not fit enough to start. Practically impossible to predict a woman's winner. Gauff could go deep. Kvitova and Kerber, two previous SW19 champs, seem to have run into some grass-court form as does 2017 French champion Ostapenko, who has reached a Wimbledon semi before.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Slow courts means skill isn’t needed. Just fitness. That’s not tennis.

Borg is the one who pushed fitness, which became the dominant theme from that point forward. 'Fitness' is an integral part of any sport and should not be ignored. Federer's injury-free career is a case-in-point. I hope Federer plays a 'fuller' season, which will make him much more competitive.

Slasher/SR - I would say that the women's standard here at Wimbledon has been poor. In my view Barty only played, or was involved, in one decent match - the semi with Kerber.

I don't think, though, that the quality has been that bad in recent years. Yes, there have been some unlikely GS winners but I've enjoyed watching the women (albeit with the sound down in some matches due to screeching).

I agree that this year's Wimbledon has been disappointing, and that the shortened preparation time for grass after Roland Garros, impact of Covid and lack of grasscourt tennis for 2 years played a role. I also think we really noticed Nadal's absence - whilst he's not won Wimbledon for a few years I think he's brought a lot to the tournament over the past few years, particularly that epic semi with Djokovic couple of years ago. Whilst Nadal has had his ups and downs at Wimbledon over the years its generally taken a really strong pumped up performance from his opponent to beat him on the grass. The manner of Federer's defeat was also anti-climatic - I do think he was hampered with injury towards the end of that match with Hurcakz - no way he goes down so badly in straight sets.

In contrast I enjoyed this year's Roland Garros - we had that epic tussle between Djokovic and Nadal including a real top notch 3rd set, some great performances by the Italians, and Tsitsipas's run was enjoyable. This year's Wimbledon though has lacked a compelling narrative - Murray's run was all too short, Norrie and Evans had good tournaments, but still couldn't get too far (to be fair to Norrie he did have to face Fed), Shapovalov could have given us a classic against Djokovic but played tactically naive, whilst the womens' has been drama free.

In addition to some of the excellent points raised already by others I'd say an underlying issue we've noticed at Wimbledon this year on men's side is a consequence of the lack of real accomplished grasscourters. We were spoilt in the 'big 4' era in that all had that star quality on the grass, whichever permutation of the 4 we had. Whilst the likes of Thiem, Zverev, Tsitsipas and Medvedev have gone some way to fill the void on hardcourts, no-one has really come through to do that on the grass, other than Berrettini. Also, the likes of Cilic, Raonic and Anderson who have prospered on the grass, are either too old, injured or both - there is a massive void on the grass. Here's hoping with a 'proper' grasscourt season next year things will improve.

Tomorrow, I don't think Berrettini will disgrace himself, but it will still be straight sets (with at least 1 tie-break) for Djokovic.

MrI: Excellent summing-up if you don't mind me saying so.

Safe to say the French was much better than Wimbledon. The women in Paris provided us with some shocks. All four semi-finalists were making their GS last-four debuts, but the matches were good and competitive.

But as far as Wimbledon is concerned, you do wish that the likes of Tsitsipas and Zverev, not to mention Rublev and Medvedev, would step up.

These are the guys who should have been playing Djoko in the latter stages, not Shapo or Berrettini, who in my view will be smashed in the final tomorrow.

I just hope I'm wrong about the Italian's chances in the final. A one-sided, fairly dull and routine, win for Djoko will be only too reflective of a disappointing tournament.

I agree with MrInvisible too - I've felt for a few years that Wimbledon has been lacking compared to some of the other slams. Certainly the AO and RG seem to have had more gripping 5-set matches. And I think that's down to the bulk of the Top 20 lacking grass court pedigree, particularly the likes of Thiem and Tsitsipas who I love watching on other surfaces. The players who tend to fill this void tend to be the likes of Isner, Anderson, Raonic and Cilic who blatantly aren't as exciting to watch.

I rate Berrettini slightly higher than others on this forum, everyone knows about the serve but I think he's got one of the biggest forehands on the entire tour at the minute. If he's able to deal with the mental pressure of his first slam final then Djokovic might find it difficult to break his serve. In turn that means Novak will not want to give any cheap breaks away on his own serve and at least one tiebreak seems likely. If Berrettini managed to take one set in Paris a few weeks ago then I see no reason why he can't do better tomorrow on a faster court. I give him approximately a 10% chance.

Guess Djokovic will be a hot favourite. But I have been quite impressed with what I have seen of Berrettini and hope he will be able to make a fight of it .

You could say he is the one Italian sportsman for whom I will be wishing nothing but good things on Sunday

I think Djoko will be trying to put everything on Berrettini's backhand. The Italian slices well with the BH but is returning on that side is not that good.

Berrettini did not play all that well in the Queen's final and was indebted to two horrible service games by Norrie. We also saw in the Wimbledon matches with F AA and with Hurkacz that Berrettini can have wobbles even with his monster serve and powerful FH.

Trouble is you can actually play quite well against Novak and still lose. I'm expecting a fairly routine, perhaps even a dull, straight-sets win for Djoko.

So how many sets will Berrettini get today? I'm going for none, or perhaps...no, I'll stick with none.

How many games will he get? No more than 12.

It's not that I don't rate the Italian. He's utilised his strengths - big serves, good slice, powerful forehand - to play well on grass.

But to me it says a lot about the other players that Berrettini has reached the final. His game is good enough for a quarter final or even a semi. But no one has been able to beat him.

Same with Barty. I like her game. I like her. But she played quite ordinarily in nearly all her matches and STILL won Wimbledon. She even revealed afterwards that it was something of a miracle she'd been able to play at all.

The last Wimbledon Men’s Final turned into the longest in the illustrious history of the tournament. Some battle

A very different story awaits today. The best I’m hoping for is that Berrettini plays as well as he is capable ; that he does himself justice, having made it to the title match.

Paralysingly awful first game of the match. DFs and hopeless BHs from Berrettini. Oh dear.

Three double-faults already by Djokovic, a painful watch at this early stage.

Just keep putting it on his BH, Novak. This will be over soon, then.

Djoko, without having to do anything, is already 4-1 up. Bring on the football...

Based on these early signs, I am thoroughly lacking any motivation / interest to see this one through. A nice country walk ahead of the footy is already beckoning right now.

Plus, have never been a fan of Djokovic’s celebratory style or victory speeches (although I do have a strong hunch that he himself is not remotely troubled by my lack of enthusiasm )

Just glad I didn’t (manage to) buy a ticket !

Matteo has been woeful so far. Some braindead decision making. Think I’ll be best off getting ready for the other big event later tonight.

Has there actually been a ……. er ……. rally yet ???

Seems like Matteo has finally woken up

Can't believe we're back on serve at 4-5.

5-6 now and probably heading for tiebreak. Horror start by Berrettini, with Djoko exposing the Italian's lack of a BH.

B then started playing better, running round a lot of BHs and getting back into the match.

Sounds like all those “Wimbledon was my favourite tournament right from the day I was born” speeches & interviews still haven’t endeared Djokovic to the crowd.

All that said, he will almost certainly win this opener …… after which it will likely be one-way traffic to the inevitable end.

Tie break lottery time.
Matteo came back into the first set by utilising the slice backhand more. And the monstrous inside out forehand.

Rather incredibly Matteo comes back from the abyss to win the first set. Forza!!!

Incredibly*, Berrettini, who was as poor as poor can be early on, takes the first set on the tiebreak.

*Beat me to it, Jeff N.

I blame the crowd. Give them a warning, Umpire !

So unfair on Djoko.

Shocking first game of the second set by Matteo. Djokovic has recalibrated

Djoko breaks with a terrific return of serve for 1-0, second set.

You can just see that this is one of those days when Djokovic is there for the taking ; the fact that Berrettini is so wasteful when given countless opportunities to build on that first set is a constant frustration.

Sets gone double break

Double break for Djoko for 3-0.

Berrettini not getting many first serves in. Still mixing the sublime with the ridiculous.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Sets gone double break

And with it …. the match, I’d bet.

We’ve seen this movie many times.

Matteo’s first serve has gone missing in the second set. When the arm cannon is malfunctioning he’s not effective

Matteo gets one off the breaks back. Saves 3 BPs in the next game. If nothing else keeps the scoreboard respectable

One break gone. Berrettini not getting many first serves in but at least making Djoko work for it after erasing three set points. 5-4.

Second set Djokovic 6-4

One set all. I would normally support the underdog, but Berrettini is so limited as a player that I can't really get behind him.

His BH is just awful. Yes, he can slice but even on that shot he is making so many errors. If he has to move along the baseline he looks laboured.

From time to time he will play a terrific point but then follow it with
something hopeless. Even his serve, his strong point, has been off.

At least Matteo is proving that, yet again, I'm a hopeless forecaster. I said he wouldn't win a set - wrong. I said he would get no more than 12 games. Well, he's got 11 already.

I don’t understand how this clothes changing breaks have become a thing. 10 minute break between second set and start off third set is a joke.

Djokovic breaks all over in reality now

It’s 3-2 with one break…hardly over!!??? Djokovic was 5-2 up in 1st set and still lost it

Jeff Navarro wrote:Djokovic breaks all over in reality now

Jeff Navarro wrote:I don’t understand how this clothes changing breaks have become a thing. 10 minute break between second set and start off third set is a joke.

Indeed.

The man named Bjorn Borg - a true idol of the Wimbledon faithful - must watch and wonder whether this is the same sport he once played.

Let’s hope Berrettini breaks back

Berrettini so incredibly frustrating. Am ready to give up on him.

Thought he was going to break back then.
C’mon Berrettini

Berrettini wastes two BPs. Doubt there will be too many more opportunities. His game is wildly fluctuating

A really low quality match so far, no actual grass court ability on show. It's easy to get swept up by how poor Federer was and ignore that Djokovic's level hasn't been that great throughout as highlighted by the final.

Berrrettini reminds me a bit of Haas.

At least Matteo was semi competitive. I had fears he could’ve lost like 6-1 6-2 6-1

Semi-competitive, agreed

But this will go down as the match Berrettini gave away.

So many golden chances …….. so many wasted

Some brainless tennis from Matteo and his chances are firmly over.

Djoko scrapes over the line in the third set.

He's playing as badly as he's probably ever done in a GS final. Sadly, this match is typical of the dreadful standard at Wimbledon this year.

It's a bit like a club match. One player is told - hit it on to his BH and also get him moving and you'll win the point.

The Italian is now making almost as many FH errors as BH ones.