I just think that Murray is just not strong enough( I mean mentally ) to defeat Rafa in 5 sets. So I was thinking of a Fedal Final and Rafa winning. Also, I think Roger will beat Novak in 3.

Also Simon over Del Potro in 5 seems a bit far fetched. Del Po has never been particularly good on grass even with his big serve and forehand because he doesn't move as well others.

Ricky,

Did Ryan get another lucky loser entry into the main draw because I know he lost in 5 yesterday? Hope he can take advantage this time.

Like your final picks btw. ;)

Fish over Berdych?...

Rafa over AndyM in 4
Nole over Fed in 3

Rafa over Nole in 5!

I'm with you phoenix..............

Thanks Ricky, for anti-jinxing Rafa.............If Andy is going to beat Rafa, he has to do it in 3, no way can Andy live with Rafa over 5!

Well without watching first round matches, I am not making any predictions. In fact I think I will make a prediction after the fourth round.

phoenix

I believe that if Fed can beat Nole on clay( albeit Nole had not played for somedays ), he can surely do so on grass(Fed's favorite surface).

But based purely on wishful thinking, Nadal vs Nole in the final. Nadal will get the channel slam, Djoko will get the no. 1 ranking.
Then AndyM will win the USO.
Nadal will win WTF, beating Nole or AndyM in the final.
Year-end rankings
Rafa, Nole, AndyM, Federer in that order.

The only prediction which looks highly probable is Isner at least in 3rd round and most probably in fourth round.

Murray over Rafa in 5? Thats just not possible..no way Murray defeating Rafa in 5..it has to be done in 3 or 4

Rafans: No one givng Rafa a chance..everyone predicting him out in semis and some even before..

sanju, not surprising. They had been doing that year after year since 2006, still Rafa had made all the finals since 2006, except 2009 when he didn't play, and winning in 2008 and 2010. Borg has mentioned in one of his interview that Rafa is very much like Borg himself, that both are so good on clay that they have to take time adjusting to grass and so both are more vulnerable in their earlier rounds at Wimbledon, and yet Borg managed to win five Wimbledon in a row. I'm looking forward to Rafa doing the same as Borg at Wimbledon. Borg mentioned that Fed on the other hand is better on grass than clay, so after playing at FO, it's easier for Fed to move to grass, as his game is more suited to grass.

Why do you think Soderling will crash out in the first round?

If Wimbledon is played before the clay season and the FO, I believe Rafa won't have such problem, whilst Fed may be the one having problem adjusting from grass to clay.

Luckystar If Wimbly was befor the FO then we would have had at least 2 masters on gras and Fed would have been ons lets say 30 masters titles?

Just kidding of course. I'm hoping as I am cleary a bigFedfan that Rafa en Fed make it to another final. I actually do not belive in mental breakdowns or watsoever. I just believe that if Fed is not physically at his peak he cannot beat Rafa. But now he isand I believe hecan and will do it shoukd they meet. But Murray and Djovic are no pushovers .

Sienna, if there are two grass court masters, don't assume that Fed would win them all year after year. Unlike Rafa on clay, Fed would be threatened by Rafa on grass. Worst if there are two grass masters, meaning Rafa has more chances to play on grass and hence master the play on grass even faster than what he has done now! So most likely Fed would have 6-8 eight more masters from grass, from maybe 2003-2006, thereafter he has to fight with Rafa to win the grass court masters. Of course with two grass court masters, that means some hard court and clay masters would have to be foregone, and that would 'eat' into Fed's hard court masters count and Rafa's clay court masters count, so Fed's masters tally won't be 30!

He would have won in the "weak" era may be it would have been 25. The h2H would have been 50/50 I would dare to say. Funny that you still feels offended by just a fun remark.
How should I feel about the bitter hatred against my fave on this tennissite? Even accusing or atleast insunuating him of taking stimula.

I am with holdserve in waiting to see a few rounds of play before I make any predictions. I disagree with Ricky on a few picks, but the big one is his final prediction. There is no way that Murray will beat Rafa in five sets. I do think Fed has a great shot at beating Nole.

I have always seen the similarities between Borg and Rafa. The first time I saw Rafa, he reminded me of Borg. It took a long time to find someone who brought that special feeling, the magic again.

I totally agree that Murray will not beat Rafa the warrior in 5. What's his record at Wmbly? 4-1 But then again the recent FO final showed that we are atleast back in 2007 if not 2006n Hence we are back in the weak era where Fede scoped his Slams with no effort and not breaking a sweat. They exchanged slams during the weakera with the FO and Wimbly. The samething will happen this year because it is weakera time.
This ofcourse is a litle bit cynical because I did read the comments of some of the Nadal fans on this site.
Going from the weakest era where Fed was gifted all of his slams (oh yes with the use of cupcakedraws) to the next month it was the strongest era where Rafa was able to win his slams.

Sienna, I just read your above silly post. If you have read my posts you would know how I have defined weak era. I believe in logic and proper definitions.
Your post above shows you just did not understand anything and hence you are making moronic remarks about weak and strong eras following each other within a month. Your attempt to make what you think is an intelligent remark or rebuttal is pathetic.
Anyway, I realize that it is a waste of time trying to explain anything to a delusional.
So I will probably ignore your ridiculous posts in future.

malisse in the quater finals is probably the worst pick of the year

4th Round - Delpo over Nadal in three (with a bagel)

Final : Djoker over Murray in 3

It seems to me the sole purpose of sienna here is to provoke the rafa fans and not to engage in proper discussion. Why always assume every rafa fan behaves in the same manner. Who cares about weak or strong era, all I'm doing is engaging in a proper discussion, assuming for example that there are two grass masters at the expenses of maybe one hard court and one clay court masters, and what may happen to both Fed's and Rafa's masters tally count. Sienna can't even engage in proper discussion without trying to provoke others. So, no more from me when I see sienna's posts in future. I certainly know who are those I need to avoid in future!

@Ricky - you just ensured that Rafa will defend wimbly sucessfully:-)

A proper discussion with holdserve is not possible. And I never set out to provoke you. But if you claim that FO should get behind Wimbledon then the whole dynamics of the tour would change. So you took that idea to strenghten Rafa changes on being (more?) succesfull and I only showed something else that would have changed if that were the case. But it isjust a silly arguement. If you felt like I was provoking you... Try to imagion how you feel if holdserve was making stupid claims about Nadal, his fans or his achievements time and time again.
It is just sickening.

@Ricky - you just ensured that Rafa will defend wimbly sucessfully:-)
atul1985
, 6/20/11 8:13 AM

Hear, hear.............

By the way atul1985, speak softly re any predictions that Rafa will defend Wimby successfully............apparently that is irritating to some "Rafa fans" out there......they call it, "getting ahead of yourself"................

Funny ol' world we live in.......................

Listen fool, it's the way YOU say it, not the way the other reasonable Rafans say it. They taunt Nole fans like you do or direct hatespeak at Murray like you. Making a joke to Ricky is nothing like going around all the threads like a moron claiming Rafa is going to win EVERYTHING and would have beaten NOLE at FO etc etc etc. I read nearly all the posts here and yours is the amongt the rubbish! Atul is nothing like you thankfully!

They *don't* taunt...

There is a lot on the line on SW19:

Nadal needs to defend his Wimbledon-crown if he wants to be the #1 player in the world. Any other result than that will mean Djokovic will become the #1 player in the world, even if Djokovic crashes out in the first round.
If Djokovic makes it to the final, he'll also become the #1 player in the world.

Should Ricky's prediction come true, that means that after Wimbledon the top four will look like this:

Djokovic
Federer
Nadal
Murray

If that holds, the US Open draw will be very interesting :-)

I'm very excited about this Wimbledon, the 'Big 4' are all in great form! I'm rooting for Federer, but I hope tennis will be the victor at SW19!!!!!

Bonker, there're still Canada and Cincy to play. Fed has 1,600 points to defend there; Murray has 1,360 and both Rafa and Nole have 540 each to defend, so the rankings may still change before the USO!

Great win for Rafa today...........one down, 6 more to go!!!!!!!

Vamosssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lovely day, lovely day..............a lovely daaaaaaaaay.....yes!!!!!!!!

Sorry Rafans........can't help doing a minor impression of Bill Withers there, today has been one of those days when everything I did just came together nicely................and it appears for Rafa as well......yessssssssssss!!!!

Yáll have a great day................

Ricky, just remember you had similar picks for RG!............

I cant imagine how anyone would pick against Rafa at Wimby (esp b4 the semis) when he has had so much success there! I am not saying that strange things cant happen but to even think that Raonic could upset Rafa is incredible!...............and so what if he has a big serve, did he even win a warm-up grass toruney? I mean, where is all the rubbish coming from?!!! Rafa just gets NO respect what-so-ever!!!

Wait until July 3 for some of you to tell me how your feet taste!!

VAMOS Rafa!!!!!

I am a little worried about Rafa in the 1st week.

if he gets past the first week unscathed, he will be very hard to beat in the 2nd week.

I feel anxious for Rafa during the h/c season but not during the clay and grass................i always believe that during these seasons Rafa is MORE than capable to handle whatever is thrown at him. If I have to worry for Rafa, then I just simply have to worry for everyone else!!!

VAMSO Rafa!!!!!

Ricky Dimon predicted Djokovic would win RG this year and HE was wrong.


Now he is predicting Federer will win Wimbledon and he will be wrong again.

He's doing it to anti-jinx Rafa. Ricky is a closet Rafafan. :-)

Davy has been beaten by Tomic in straight sets.

I think phoenix is right. In any case I don't want anyone to predict a Rafa win. So I am thankful to Ricky.

and Sod just sent Petzschner packing...

@ jean, 6/20/11 2:32 PM , that comment is hilarious.

What matters is the year-end no. 1. Should Rafa win Wimby, even if he loses no. 1 now, he will get it back when the summer hard court starts and he will keep it l year-end unless Djokovic wins US Open and/or WTF and Rafa wins neither.

I'm predicting a Nadal/Djoker final. Djoker is not the same player he was and will not have the same slow start he had at RG against Fed. I want to see this match up because I need to see whether Nadal can revenge his losses and truly show Djoker that he's still #1. Anyone anyone??? Bueller Bueller Bueller?

I don't wish to see a Rafa/Nole final because:
1) Nole in final means Rafa lost his no.1 ranking. It will be sad for Rafa even if he wins the title, as he shouldn't lose the ranking if his Barca points can be added to us tally. To lose the no.1 ranking this way is sad;
2) Rafa vs Fed final with Rafa winning will be sweet as he can even their H2H on grass to 2-2
3) Rafa vs Nole can happen on the hard courts later, not necessary at Wimbledon at the expense of Rafa's no.1 ranking.

It would be sad if Rafa lost his No1 ranking due to Nole being in the finals but I still would not mind it as long as Rafa is on the opposite side playing against Nole...If Nole is in the finals it would mean that he deserved it fair and square and it would have nothing to do with Rafa...and if Rafa is able to beat him that would mean a lot for the rest of the season and Rafa should be more than happy...losing No1 ranking has to do with Nole being great this year and nobody should argue about it...but again wining another Wimby for Rafa would mean much more than losing No1 ranking...so I would be the happiest person in the world if Rafa is in the finals and wins this Wimby regardless of who is on the opposite side...VAMOS RAFA!!!

ricky, why you being so kind to muzz? This isn't usual.

My goal for muzz is to reach the final and win his first set in a slam final, but your predo would have him win TWO.

good pick with tursunov. he won his first match in ten grand slam tournaments!

alex, if Andy won the first set against Fed, I think he would win the match. Gr8 big "ifs" as usual, of course. Don't think Andy is playing that well yet, seemed awful out of sorts yesterday and kept fidgeting with his fingers/hand as if something wasn't quite right :(

What's up with Bolleli? He's in the third round of a Slam.... definitly a curious case ;) And my countryman Haase beats Verdasco, a good win for him! Hopefully he puts up a better fight against Fish than he did at RG

deuce-
Murray always fidgets with something, whether it be his fingers etc when he isn't playing well. I have come to realise its part of his personality or his way of releasing frustration, which I think is counter productive anyway. I think he needs to learn to be a good poker player in order to hide what he is truly feeling, especially against the big boys, because Fed, Rafa, Djokovic etc will take advantage of it and fuel on such behaviour. Murray needs to learn to take his frustrations out on the ball!

He was bit nervous in last match; hopefully he will calm down and be ready for SF.

Well isabeau, Nole has learnt this in the past 8-9 months so I guess Andy could...not holding my breath though ;) Believe Andy has said nothing has changed about Nole's game, only his mind...only lol

"Murray always fidgets with something, whether it be his fingers etc when he isn't playing well. I have come to realise its part of his personality or his way of releasing frustration, which I think is counter productive anyway. I think he needs to learn to be a good poker player in order to hide what he is truly feeling, especially against the big boys, because Fed, Rafa, Djokovic etc will take advantage of it and fuel on such behaviour. Murray needs to learn to take his frustrations out on the ball!..."

A lot has been said aout Andy being a great tactician of the game, one of the best on tour, if not the best ect.
And for sure I've seen him give a masterclass on how to beat a number of great players in the past (the most recent notable being Soderling @ the WTF last November).
HOWEVER.
Displaying his emotions the way he does is a serious tactical error as it simply gives your opponent encouragement, & often breaks his concentration. A 5 year old could work this one out.
He has to learn to maintain a poker face, and, finally he seems to be more aware of the problem, although the old `laughing it off` approach he has adopted can look rather strained at times....
If he channels his emotions positively and takes full responsibilty for his actions on the court at the same time, I'm convinced this will result in him breaking through to the next (final) level.
But its a big `IF`.

win or lose, AndyM is such a lovable fellow. I even love his dour looks.
I like his understated sense of humor. His getting into controversies by making tongue in cheek remarks which are wrongly construed.
I am sure with his huge talent it is only a matter of time before he makes the breakthrough. And when he does, I am sure he will be just as modest as Rafa.

Since there is no article about the Tsonga-Dimitrov match, I'll post this here:

GO DIMITROV!!!!! He's playing well now and managing to keep up with Tsonga at the moment.

yeeees 1-0 Dimitrov!!

tsonga with a break in the 2nd set...and the play is suspended. :-(

phoenix, no need to worry, ed told me to out and buy another sofa so we have two now. One is red and gold the other blue and white....plenty of room on and behind ;)
Wonder where ed is, I really miss her calm, reasonable, fair posts :( No need to wonder about fan4t though, she is probably on some sun drenched island dabbling her toes in tropical seas :)
Dimitrov is really something isn't he? Every shot in the book and so fast. Just needs small adjustments and big match experience.

also, DImitrov needs to build more muscles and gain a little more weight..get stronger..

What an incredible match! One of the best. Really impressed with Dimitrov. If he were a little more physically stronger I think he would have won. But he'll get there for sure.

If Dimitrov could manage to keep his unforced errors under control, he'd be a force to be reckoned with.

deuce, 6/23/11 6:25 PM Hallo, Hallo, Hallo. Am back on line after a protracted and excessively wearing battle with the French telephone system and various French servers. Fingers crossed nothing more goes wrong. Missed sharing the drama of RG with you all and being absent from the sofa parties. I see we have some new 'names' lurking and another spate of childish spats (some of which do seem to have a very familiar ring to them if you know what I mean).

Andy looks in good form. Cahill seems to be a steadying influence on him and has clearly worked on his mental attitude to good effect.

ed! Gr8 to see you back :) Missed yer! Yes, name calling reaching new heights, can't understand it, Fed and Rafa are both fabulous players, different sides of the same coin.
And yes re Cahill, mental attitude plus serve, wheeeee.....

@NativeNewYorker...I read these comments alot, and like your viewpoints. Reasonable, and well balanced. I, too, loved Borg, I remember crying when he lost at US Open...the minute I saw Rafa in a clip from the first Miami meeting with Roger, I began drawing comparisons, which got more numerous as he began to rack up FOs. I could only hope he would win at Wimbledon, and after three long years, in 2008 I barely managed to stay in my seat! Last year, when he won USO, well, I didn't dare even hope for that. Finishing second at ATP Finals to Roger, was just fine with me. He beat Muzz on hard court. Job well done.
I did notice that there is a perceptible difference in Rafa's demeanor since arriving at Wimby this year (notwithstanding silly questions about whether or not he is in decline...8 tournaments, 7 finals, and only losses are to one guy, hello?!?!) He is obviously relaxed, and does not seem to be plagued with nervousness as he was in the first few rounds at FO. Hope this bodes well, when Rafa is comfortable and confident, he is capable of some amazing tennis. If he loses the No. 1 ranking, I hope this does not change. Still hoping for a Fedal final...

The comments are even better than the analysis.

Ricky, Ali Tsonga has El Mano Piedra tomorrow.

(They better have a stream; I couldn't even watch Feña play Sasha.)

Allez, Roger! Vamos, Rafa!

Majorbaeb,

Thank you for your kind comments. It is a relief be appreciated and not attacked. I just wanted to thank you . Yes, Borg was my first tennis love. I remember when he lost that USO and just walked off the court and away from the game. It broke my heart.

The first time I saw Rafa was at the 2007 Wimbledon. I had stopped watching tennis, but everyone was telling me to watch this young Spanish player named Nadal. So I watched Wimbledon that year. The moment I saw Rafa I could feel the magic. It was the same feeling I had when I watched Borg. I felt chills down my spine and the same excitement. I could see so many similarities between them. It was truly amazing. I watched every one of his matches right up to the final. I couldn?t believe how he took Fed to five sets and even outplayed him for a good part of the match! Finally there was a rivalry again in tennis! I was back for good! It has been a real gift seeing Rafa play such magnificent tennis. When he won the USO last year, I was overcome with emotion. I think it was all of the sadness of Borg never winning and then to see Rafa do what he couldn?t, was a beautiful moment. The fact that in doing it he won the career slam made it even sweeter.

I do think that Rafa has looked more relaxed at Wimbledon. I was very worried about him in the first week of RG. So many people were drawing comparisons to Borg once again and it freaked me out. I am hoping for good things for Rafa at Wimbledon this year.

Finally, I just wanted to also thank you for not judging me. It?s easy for some to come here and criticize people for childish or silly remarks when the hatred isn?t directed at them. You don?t know the feeling until it happens to you. There is no right way to respond and it?s hard to read posts that just trash you all over the place.
So I thank you again and look forward to chatting about our Rafa!

Hey Ricky, do you want to change your predictions?

Hear, hear.......holdserve!!!!! Its about time!!!

Since there is no thread with regards to the upcoming Round of 16 matches, I decided that I should take the initiative and develop my own predictions. See below:

Andy Murray /Richard Gasquet - Gasquet; Andy is already showing signs of nerves and if I've noticed this so has Gasquet, and he will capitalise. Gasquet has nothing to lose here, really, unlike Andy, so if he fails to take his chances then thats just too bad!

Rafael Nadal /Juan Martin Del Potro - Nadal; Rafa is better than Delpotro. Rafa may be very nervous for the first few minutes but once he gets into his grove, there is no way he is going to lose to Delpo.......................not at Wimby!!!

Lukasz Kubot /Feliciano Lopez - Kubot; he beat Monfils who is a better player than Lopez and also for the fact that Lopez is not that consistent. But Lopez did play very well against Roddick................if thats anything to go by these days!!!!

Mardy Fish /Tomas Berdych - Mardy; the thing about Mardy is that no one is taking him serioulsy...............including Berdych. He may surprise Berdy and by the time he realises that Mardy is here to play it will be too late. Berdych also seems to be too much of a streaky player for my liking.

David Ferrer /Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - David Ferrer; Ferrer is a fierce competitor and he always tends to take his chances, unlike Tsonga who tends to go for too much or for broke too much of the time, and that will cost him the match, even if he may try to serve his way out of trouble.

Mikhail Youzhny /Roger Federer - Federer; not much to say here really!!!!

Bernard Tomic /Xavier Malisse - X-Man; X-man is more experienced for a start and I think the only reason Bernard is here is bcos he met Soda at the right place and at the right time due to Soda's poor form. Tomic may surprise me but i think the X-man will run away with this one.

Michael Llodra /Novak Djokovic - Novak; Llodra's S&V game may give Novak fits at first but I doubt that the frenchman can continue this form throughout the match. Mind you, Novak did seem out of sorts in his match with Baggy so he should be careful here!


These are my predictions..................not that anyone cares but I had fun.

Comment please, any one?

mona,

yes, rafa will be nervous at the start and might even lose the 1st set but that the worst of it. this match will not go beyond 4 sets! *keeps fingers crossed*

here's my wish list (not predictions): rafa, andy, feli, berdy,david, roger, Atomic (courtesy of deuce), nole. let's see which of these eight wishes would be granted.

Nadal said. "Personally, to watch a Pete Sampras versus Goran Ivanisevic match, or one between those kind of players, is not enjoyable"

"It's not really tennis,


http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Ten...-Day-Five.aspx


Arrogant Nadal.

My predictions:

Murray - Gasquet 3-1
Murray should make it in tough competitive sets, where Murray wins the big important points..

Nadal - del Potro 3-0
delPotro won't trouble Nadal on this surface..

Lopez - Kubot 3-1
I like Lopez's game, especially on grass, on should be stronger here..

Berdych - Fish 3-1
Competitive sets but Berdych is the stronger of the two..

Tsonga - Ferrer 3-2
Tsonga is the better on grass, and his game is on at the moment, but Ferrer will chase down everything all over the court..

Federer - Youzhny 3-0
Might be tight and competitive in 1-1,5 sets, but that's it.

Malisse - Tomic 3-0
Better player, more experience, stronger.

Djokovic - Llodra 3-0
Llodra shouldn't have the weapons to threaten Djokovic and even to take a set.

ok i'm going to give it a try:

Murray Gasquet - 3-2
Murray's going to lead 2 0, Gasquet will fight back, but in the end this one's Murray's.

Nadal - Delpo - 3-2
If Nadal gets through this round victorious, this Wimbledon is his. Tough match indeed.

Lopez - Kubot - 3-0
Lopez is a great S&V player. Don't think he will be troubled.

Berdych - Fish - 1 - 3
Fish in 4 close sets. Maybe a tie-break or two.

Tsonga - Ferrer 3-0
The way Ferrer has been playing lately I expect this one to end rather quickly.

Federer - Youzhny 3-0
No comment

Malisse - Tomic 2-3
After watching Tomic dismiss Soderling with authority, I don't think Malisse is going to win this.

Djokovic - Llodra 3-0
Again, no comment.

Bernie's on fire! First quarterfinals. Not bad for an 18 year old.

Wow! Atomic wins, one wish granted!

It looks like i got all the winners right.

congrats ed...i got 6 wishes granted, so now i'll stop wishing and reserve my final wish on sunday. :-)

U did eduardvalalex? Why congratulations, then now is ure turn to develop the semis picks!!!!!..........I was terrible............lol!!!