Tennis Chatter

Mens

Matches today at the All England Club were delayed due to rain. Henman and Lopez were pulled off their court tied at one all in the first set. Likewise, Federer, Haas, Ljubicic, and Ferrero all had matches delayed until tomorrow. Of those players, only Federer had reached the third set, leading J. Del Porto 6-2, 7-5, 2-0. To this point Federer served a medicore 57% first serve percentage, however that really doesn’t matter when he is winning 64% of his second serves like he is.

Despite the rain, several matches were completed, including an erratic Roddick defeating Udomchoke 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. Roddick increased his net play this match, approaching the net 36 times (and converting 24 of those times). F. Gonzalez once again, ran into trouble early, losing the first set before he defeated A. Falla 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. He hit 40 unforced errors to only 37 winners. Gonzalez also continued to serve and volley well winning 65% of his 71 net approaches. Gasquet throughly handled Mahut (who has been extremely hot lately), winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Gasquet’s serve remained a question mark as he only served 58% first serves in. Despite this, he was brutal when he got it in winning 93% of his first serves. He hit an impressive mark of only 15 unforced errors, to 41 winners! Finally he was unstoppable at the net winning 19 out of 21 net approaches. Gasquet’s form has been great so far at Wimbledon. This tournament could be his chance to breakout, with Roddick appearing vunerable. Even if Gasquet doesn’t have what it takes to beat Roddick, it certainly wouldn’t be a bad showing “just” making it to quarterfinals. Gasquet has stated that he likes playing at the All England Club saying:

“I really like to play at Wimbledon. There is a lot of history here - it’s my favourite Grand Slam. ”

“I like to play on the grass courts. It is a good surface for my game; it’s fast, I can serve well and I can use my backhand.”

He also feels less pressured here, than in his home country, at the Roland Garros:

“I have less pressure here than in Paris,” said Gasquet.

“A lot of people are waiting for me to do well, and I try to do my best because I want to do good for the people who like me in France.

“But it’s much better for me to play at Wimbledon with less stress. I prefer it here because in France it is very difficult for me.

“I can understand how the British players feel here. Tim Henman has a lot of experience dealing with the pressure but it will be hard for Andy Murray in the next few years because it is never easy to play with this crowd.”

Apart from a large upset, Andy Roddick and Richard Gasquet are on a course to meet each other in quarterfinals

Womens

In the women’s draw, Serena Williams, J. Henin, M. Hingis, and J. Jankovic all won their matches with little trouble. Serena showed no signs of being troubled by her thigh injury beating A. Molik 7-6, 6-3.

A few important stats from the women’s matches:

13 of 18 - J. Henin’s net approaches in her 6-0, 6-4 victory over V. Dushevina
121 MPH - S. William’s fastest serve
4 - Number of unforced errors J. Jankovic hit in her 6-1, 6-1 victory over Gajdosova
3-20 - M. Bartoli’s unforced error-winner ratio in her 7-5, 6-2 win over O. Govortsova
10 - number of aces S. Williams hit
74% - J. Henin’s first serve percentage