Wimbeldon

Re: Wimbeldon

Maria is in the semis again.

just read that demientiva made quite an issue about Maria's grunts during matches. sanu ki...

Agassi has been a true legend and Wimbledon will miss him. He is one of the reasons Tennis became so popular during last decade.

Re: Wimbeldon

Federer is through to the semis (AGAIN) after comfortably beating ancic (the last man to beat him on grass) in straight sets.

Overzealous and over-animated Hewitt is beaten by Baghdatis :k:

Re: Wimbeldon

Great news from Wimbledon “Lleyton Hewitt is out” :slight_smile:

Mama’s Boy Baghdatis on a Roll

It is hard to imagine anyone unsettling the mighty Roger Federer at the Championships but you never can tell.
For some, winning Wimbledon comes as the result of sublime talent (Roger Federer), others devote their every waking moment to the pursuit of excellence (Pete Sampras) while a few just believe that, for two weeks only, their name is written in the stars (Goran Ivanisevic). And then there is Marcos Baghdatis.
Baghdatis – or Baggy to his friends – is, to his own amazement, through to the semi-finals here for the first time in his career after beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.
Normally, Baghdatis leaves his parents at home when he plays. His mother, Andry, gets too nervous when she watches number one son but she has broken with family tradition and travelled to London to watch the fun.
It has not been easy viewing at times but when the going gets tough, Mrs B starts praying. Most players rely on their coach for a little extra support when they face a break point – Baghdatis, through his mum, enlists the help of the Almighty. No wonder, then, that he is doing so well.
Just to reinforce the theory that Baggy’s progress is predestined by the fates, his parents live in a little village just outside Limassol called Paramitha. Roughly translated from the Greek, it means fairytale and, for the moment at least, the fairytale is coming true.
Baghdatis is a lovely chap. Smiling, friendly, happy with his lot, he knows how long it took him to get here and how hard he had to work so he is enjoying his time at the top. Life at the bottom, as he was making the transition from the junior ranks to the main tour, was miserable and anything – even losses – has to be better than that.
Growing up in Limassol, it soon became apparent that Baggy’s talent far outstripped the facilities available at home. As a teenager, he was sent to Paris to train at an academy but, much as he adored the family who took him in, he missed his home and he missed his mum.
In particular, he missed his mum’s lasagne which he describes as “the best food in the world”. And Mrs Baghdatis missed her Marcos. He swears that, to this day, Mrs B encourages him to bring his dirty laundry home with him so that she can wash and iron his kit.
“I think when you don’t see your kid for six months then I think you wouldn’t mind,” Baghdatis said of his mother’s devotion to laundry. Spoken like a true boy.
Arriving in France without being able to speak a word of French, Baghdatis had to learn self-sufficiency (and French) if he was to maintain his sanity. Far away from home with no-one to talk to, he soon discovered that if he could cope with the loneliness then anything the tour could throw at him was not going to be nearly so bad.
As a result, he put up with the injury problems that kept holding back his progress when he joined the professional ranks and he bided his time. His patience was finally rewarded as he bounced through the draw at the Australian Open this year to reach the final. He even took a set from Roger Federer when he got there and, cheered on by a huge Greek-Cypriot fan club, he knew he had arrived in the big time.
Even so, not even the most optimistic of souls could have imagined that his next breakthrough would come here. At Wimbledon. On grass. Until this year, he had never won a match on this funny green stuff but now he finds himself in the last four.
Baghdatis did what Baghdatis does best against Hewitt. He was quick, he was fast, he was strong, he was daring. He banged down 19 aces, he feathered countless dropshots; he took the match by the throat and then he let it go as he approached a two set lead; he pounded his chest and he roared himself on and, after just over two and half hours, he had the better of Hewitt. He wore his heart on his sleeve and the crowd loved him for it.
With an ever-growing gang of supporters following his every move, with his mum on the hotline to Him upstairs and with a God-given talent to entertain and surprise, who knows what the last few days of The Championships will bring for Baghdatis.

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2006-07-05/200607041152015670515.html

Baghdatis seems to be a really nice guy, he is now one of my favourite players:)

Roger Fedrer defeated Ancic 6-4 6-4 6-4
Jonas Bjorkman defeated Stepanek 6-4 7-6 4-6 6-7 7-6

Nadal’s match was postponed because of rain.

Re: Wimbeldon

Ladies final: Mauresmo vs. Henin-Hardenne

I hope Henin doesnt have any excuses this time. Should be one hell of a match!

And who would have thought Nadal would make it to the Semis!!! Go Nadal!!!

Re: Wimbeldon

Poor Clijsters, always gets beaten by Henin-Hardene in semis or finals of major tournaments.

Hardene is gonna win it again, she is Roger Fedrer of women right now.

Re: Wimbeldon

Maria lost another semifinal :(

I agree with mg that hardene is currently federer of tennis.

I anticipate another Federar Nadal finel and this time on federer's kingdom (grass).

Re: Wimbeldon

Federer vs. Nadal FINALLLLL :eek:

I think I am going to faint :mudhosh:

GO NADALLLLLL!!!

I know the chances that Nadal will beat Federer on grass are like slim to none, but who knows maybe the pressure of playing against Nadal will get to him. I really hope it does :stuck_out_tongue:

Re: Wimbeldon

Day 11 - Men’s Semi-Finals

The budding rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will have another chance to blossom on Sunday, after the top two players in the world negotiated their semi-finals in straight sets to set-up a mouth-watering men’s singles final.

Roger Federer was held up more by the rain than Jonas Bjorkman, with the defending champion being made to wait for a couple of hours by bad weather before his semi with the Swede could start. However, once on court, the Swiss was in sublime form, allowing Bjorkman only four games in a double-quick 77 minute victory.

Nadal’s defeat of Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus was by no means as speedy but in many respects it was even more impressive. The Spaniard came to Wimbledon only a couple of weeks after reclaiming his French Open title on the clay of Roland Garros and yet his grasscout form has improved with every round.

Nadal took an early lead and whizzed through the opening set and although Baghdatis put up a stirling performance, the eighteenth seed was always trying to claw his way back into a match where he had lost both the lead and the initiative. However, Nadal would overcome tough second and third sets to win the match and book a place in his first Wimbledon final.

So to Sunday, where Nadal and Federer meet in a rematch of last month’s French Open final. If clay is Nadal’s natural home, then grass is certainly Federer’s, with the three-time Wimbledon champion currently possessing a 47 match winning streak on the green stuff.

However, Nadal holds a 6-1 lead over the Swiss and if anyone can worry the defending champion on Centre Court then it is Nadal. It promises to be a truly enthralling final.

www.wimbledon.org

Re: Wimbeldon

Saby jee hausla rakhein, Aisa bhi hota hai.

Re: Wimbeldon

Time to teach this spanish upstart what playing on grass means. Fed, give him a beating that makes him reconsider playing the sport :snooty:

Re: Wimbeldon

I couldn't watch any female matches. Their grunting ruined it for me.

How was it ?

Re: Wimbeldon

:clap: Nadal has been beating Fedrer on clay all this year, now let’s see how good he is when he plays on Fedrer’s favourite grass court :).

I expect straight sets victory for Fedrer (something like 6-3, 6-4, 6-3).

Re: Wimbeldon

Day 12 - Ladies’ Final

Wimbledon has a new ladies’ champion after top seed Amelie Mauresmo captured her second Grand Slam title of the year in magnificent style. Having surrendered the first set and seen a hard-earned break of serve in the second wiped out, Mauresmo might so easily have crumbled. But she found the strength to overcome Justine Henin-Hardenne in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. In doing so she becomes the first Frenchwoman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish since the great Suzanne Lenglen in 1925.

Mauresmo won the toss and elected to serve, but it was Henin-Hardenne who quickly hit her stride, breaking serve in the opening game. The Belgian never relinquished that advantage in the first set as the combatants struggled with their nerves in blustery conditions. Unforced errors flowed from the rackets of both players as they signaled their determination to approach the net, come what may.

Few could have expected the start Mauresmo made to the second set, as she held her serve with confident ease and broke Henin-Hardenne for a 2-0 lead. She almost raced ahead 4-0, but when the Belgian secured a break to claw her way to 3-4, Mauresmo’s fans surely feared the worst. They needn’t have. The Frenchwoman broke right back, and this time she kept hold of her lead to level the contest at one set apiece.

In the decider, unforced errors from Henin-Hardenne allowed Mauresmo to secure an early break. By now the Belgian’s iron-clad groundstrokes had deserted her - the legendary backhand would not yield a single baseline winner during the entire match. Meanwhile, Mauresmo returned beautifully, and exploited the court’s angles on the points that mattered, especially on serve. At 5-4, serving for the match, the world No.1 set up her first Championship point with a forehand volley winner. It was all she would need, as Henin-Hardenne deposited a forehand into the net. At last, the ultimate title belonged to Mauresmo, and she fell to her knees in joyous disbelief.
www.wimbledon.org

Re: Wimbeldon

MG,

your prediction just might come true. Fed has won the first set 6-0!!!

Great match nevertheless…

Re: Wimbeldon

Nadal has just woken up in the second set and is leading 4 games to 2. Come on Nadal.

Re: Wimbeldon

No no, go back to sleep Nadal.

Federer has broken back. Nadal leads the game 30 - 15. Tie breaker it shall be.

Re: Wimbeldon

Feder wins second set in the tie-breaker. Wooo hooo!

Re: Wimbeldon

^Nadal lost it rather than Fedrer win it. :mad:

Re: Wimbeldon

^

Federer is running Nadal down. It's only a matter of time when Federer breaks Nadal.

Re: Wimbeldon

^ Who is running who down. Nadal wins the set. :hula:

Would have been 2/1 up if he had not lost his nerve in the second set. :slight_smile: