29-06-2020 12:20 AM - last edited 30-06-2020 04:26 PM
Some of you may wonder what I am on about with Wimbledon being cancelled this year due to Covid-19, however all will be revealed. Quiet Please!
Some classic matches will still be available to view across various platforms, The BBC will have around 50 hours of coverage with a 3 hours highlights programme in the Afternoons, whilst Sue Barker will present an hours show The Best Of The Championships on weekday evenings with a few guests stars (whether at the Wimbledon grounds or via link).
on 4-5 July there will be an Andy Murray weekend, featuring big wins at Wimbledon including maiden win over Djokovic,Olympics - 2012 over Federer stands out and Davis Cup. whilst on 11-12 on what would have been the climax the best finals will be highlighted. All these shows will also be available to view on iplayer.
The wimbledon website will be doing it slighly differently and recreating the feel of The Championships - three matches will be available on Demand each day from 11 am in the sequence we would have had in live play (therefore 1st Round matches from across the ages first few days) Older matches will be digitally enhanced for a better experience as obviously technology has moved on across the decades. I would imagine they will be available for a little while.
So if you are a big Wimbledon fan like myself at least it is something, perhaps even casual fans may be interested in the odd match.
techradar.com/uk/news/wimbledon-2020-turns-back-clock-unorthodox-new-format
Available from 11 Monday, Venus Williams v Cori Gauff, Djokovic V Rochus and Henman v Kafelnikov. Highlights on BBC throughout fortnight include 2008 Final Federer v Nadal, 1978 Navratilova v Evert, Borg v McEnroe 1980,Goolagong v Evert 1980 ,1992 Agassi v Ivanišević, 2001 Ivanišević v Rafter Becker V Curran 1985, Graf v Novotna Graf v Sanchez Vicario 1995. Federer v Roddick 2009, Ashe V Conors 1975, Wade v Stove 1977, Lendl V Cash 1987, v Williams v Davenport 2005, Federer v Djokovic 2019, Sampras v Rafter 2000, S williams v Radwanska 2012.
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09-07-2020 12:33 PM
Andre Agassi won his only Wimbledon title in 1992 and one of his toughest opponents en route was the three times champion Boris Becker. Agassi at that time had long hair and was at one point was regarded as a bit of a revel by the establishment but had many adoring fans. He was no fan of all the white rule at Wimbledon and for a few years stayed away before he was enticed back. https://www.atptour.com/en/news/atp-heritage-agassi-no-1-fedex-atp-rankings
Anyway on to this contest and Becker would later say it was the best he had seen against him, Becker was perhaps not quite as strong but he very much regarded Wimbledon as his home and fought hard to keep the pretender at Bay. However serve and volley game only had so much reward on the day. In Agassi he seen someone who took the ball so early with some explosive returns and he was so strong on the baseline counteracting some strong serves. He had to be very much on his toes. A real contrast in styles which did made good viewing and swung one way then another . Howwever it was Agassi who was stronger in the end taking the 5th 6-2.
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09-07-2020 01:52 PM - last edited 09-07-2020 09:38 PM
Onto a quarter from 2009 and a mighty battle between Andy Roddick and LLeyton Hewitt which went the distance and another one to feature contrasting styles- Roddick more with his power game, explosive shots and presence on court and Hewitt more with technique, reurning, speed and a never say die attitude. This one has not been shown lately in any form but thought it would include it here (could have gone for Sampras/Agassi 1993 where we seen a clash of styles too but since already featured Andre) thought I would go for another one. Hewitt not quite the same force at this time but still pushed Roddick all the way before going down 6-4 in 5th.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jul/01/andy-roddick-lleyton-hewitt-wimbledon
Roddick went on to beat Andy Murray in semis before almost claiming the Wimbledon title but Federer found a way through 16-14 in the 5th. The only slam Roddick took was the Us Open in 2003 (Federer stopped him on many ocassions and won 21 of their 24 contests and all four at SW19) , whilst Hewitt won one Wimbledon and one US Open. Roddick and Hewitt were both ranked no1 in their careers, however Lleyton had 80 weeks in total and Andy R 13.
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12-07-2020 09:46 PM - last edited 12-07-2020 10:57 PM
One of the most thrilling semis in the Women's Championships was whem Sabine Lisicki beat Agnieszka Radwanska 9-7 in the 3rd to reach the final in 2013. Mentioned earlier it did not go to plan , however this was a thrilling moment swith quality tennis. The German a big hitter with the Pole Radwanska being more in the classical mode and more defensive though hits some sublime shots. Reminds me a bit of Hingis and this was maybe a bit of a missed opportunity and the chance did not come again for the 2012 finalist to Serena Williams. Radwanska is now retired.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/jul/04/sabine-lisicki-agnieszka-radwanska-live-wimbledon
Another thriller from 2009, Dementieva had some power fro baseline and effective strokemaker though service could be a liabilty particularly at crucial moments. This was one of her better performances against Serena Williams but still she was unable to find the answers when it mattered but was a bit unfortunate.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jul/02/serena-williams-beats-elena-dementieva
Now let's go back to 1987 and one of the 4 times Navratilova and Evert met in the semis, Chris won twice but not on this ocassion. An enthralling contest which a few twists and turns, though a bit of controversy at the end. Martina's 6 yeare title run though was ended as Steffi Graf stormed to victory after being a set and a break down 5-7,6-2,6-1.
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12-07-2020 10:12 PM - last edited 12-07-2020 11:03 PM
A dream Men's semi came about in 1977 with the defending Champion Bjorn Borg overcoming Vitas Gerulaitis 8-6 in the 5th. The American "playboy" playing a more attacking game and Borg counteracting and had some great winners himself. At the point the ice cool swede was so tough mentally , even if had iniially been thought that the surfarce did not naturally favour him and he was able to complete the French/Wimbledon double 3 times. Bjorn with 6 French and 5 Wimbledon titles but bowed out of the game at 26. A comeback 10 years later went virtually nowhere and he instead concentrated on the seniors tour. Meanwhile Gerulaitis won the Australian Open in 1977 (abeit in a weaker field over John Lloyd) was ranked 3rd the following year. Unfortunately Vitas died of Carbon monoxide poisoning in 1994 at the age of 40.
I do not work for Samsung or make Samsung Products but provide independent advice and valuable contributions.
12-07-2020 11:05 PM - last edited 13-07-2020 05:34 PM
Bang up to date with an epic contest between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal 2018, some great matches between the two and often gruelling baselines exchanges though on faster surfaces Djokovic able to take the ball early and when on form dicate more of the points. However there was little in this but perhaps Novak had just a bit more confidence to go for more on opportunities.
https://www.atptour.com/en/news/nadal-djokovic-wimbledon-2018-saturday
An intriguing contest between Lendl and Becker in 1989 but the German always came out on top with the czech born Ivan and whilst Lendl had ascendancy with powerful baseline display could not sustain with Boris coming through in the end . Lendl has somewhat of a love/hate relationship with the surface though he adapted and trying a bit of a different style did not work out. He would never win the Grass court slam, 2 final loss to Becker in 1986 and Pat Cash in 1987 but had 8 slams. of course he would later coach Andy Murray and more recently Sacha Zverev (though it was short and not particularly successful run with the German)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpmy
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12-07-2020 11:32 PM
The BBC ranked the best 10 finals in both competitions, they also held an online vote and differences to how they were viewed by the pundits compared to the public. However the top choices were the same, Nadal v Federer 2008 and Venus Williams v Lindsay Davenport 2005. The Murray win over Djokovic in 2nd place with public but only 4th with the pundit panel, Borg/McEnroe 1980 scoring well with both but 2nd with pundits. Virgina Wade's win over Betty Stove 2nd with pundits but 5th in online vote., meanwhile Maria Sharapova's win over Serena Williams 2nd with public but 6th with pundits. Overview of the matches in report too.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/Best Women's Finals
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/Best Men's Finals
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12-07-2020 11:43 PM
A few more detailed reports here:
https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/12/2008-nadal-beats-federer-greatest-match-all-time
https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/07/1980-war-18-16-borg-and-mcenroes-wimbledon-classic
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/Murray Wins Wimbledon
https://www.atptour.com/en/news/flashback-ivanisevic-rafter-2001-wimbledon-final
I do not work for Samsung or make Samsung Products but provide independent advice and valuable contributions.