Tennis Chatter

Results:

Men

There is still yet to be a big upset in the men’s draw. Henman lost in another thrilling 5 setter to F. Lopez. Lopez was up two sets to none, until Henman put things into gear and won two. In the fifth set however, Lopez took care of business and ended up winning 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1. Davydenko beat Guccione 3-6, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2, to make it to the third round (a career best at Wimbledon). However, if he doesn’t lose to Frenchman G. Monfils this round, expect him to go down to Nalbanian or Baghdatis in the fourth round.

Women

No big upsets in the second round as Henin, Mauresmo, the Williams sisters, Hingis, Sharapova, Jankovic, Ivanovic, and Dementieva all won. Additionally, Henin and Jankovic, already advanced to the third round, by winning today.

Today:

The first major (seated) upset occurred while I am typing this, with F. Gonzalez (5th seed) going down a minute ago 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-8 to J. Tipsarevic. Gonzalez hit more aces, winners, and less unforced errors, but still only won 148 points, to Tipsarevic’s 161. Gonzalez won a paltry 48% of points off of his second serve. This upset opens up the draw for whoever wins in the Blake vs. Ferrero match (currently 6-3, 3-6, 1-1). In addition it is one less seated player Federer would have to play (even though he has owned Gonzalez head to head).

Finally:

The match to watch today is Federer vs. Safin. Serena Williams vs. M. Sequera just started on center court and when they’re done, Safin and Federer will go on. Safin is one of the only players that can match-up with Federer talent wise. He is 2-7 against Federer including a win in the 2005 Australian Open semifinals. However, although Safin’s groundstrokes and serve are huge, and he has good volleys, he doesn’t like or move well on grass. Despite this, if he is “on” and not mentally out of it, he could make this a great match. Federer understands this, saying:

“I expect a tough match. I played him on grass in Halle last year and I had a difficult three-setter against him.

“He’s a player who can cause an upset against anybody on any day. I hope he’s not going to have one of those crazy-good days against me.

“But I think I can pretty much control how things are being played on grass.”

Of their match-up Safin said:

“It’s a huge challenge”

“If I want to have a chance to beat him, I have to put up my best game, go for it.

“I have nothing to lose. I need to play my tennis, stay focused and take my chances - because there are going to be chances.”