blonde poker forum

Seedings have been announced.

GENTLEMEN'S SINGLES

1 DJOKOVIC, Novak (SRB) [1]
2 MURRAY, Andy (GBR) [2]
3 FEDERER, Roger (SUI) [3]
4 FERRER, David (ESP) [4]
5 NADAL, Rafael (ESP) [5]
6 TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried (FRA) [6]
7 BERDYCH, Tomas (CZE) [7]
8 DEL POTRO, Juan Martin (ARG) [8]
9 GASQUET, Richard (FRA) [9]
10 CILIC, Marin (CRO) [10]
11 WAWRINKA, Stanislas (SUI) [11]
12 NISHIKORI, Kei (JPN) [12]
13 HAAS, Tommy (GER) [13]
14 TIPSAREVIC, Janko (SRB) [14]
15 ALMAGRO, Nicolas (ESP) [15]
16 KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp (GER) [16]
17 RAONIC, Milos (CAN) [17]
18 ISNER, John (USA) [18]
19 SIMON, Gilles (FRA) [19]
20 YOUZHNY, Mikhail (RUS) [20]
21 QUERREY, Sam (USA) [21]
22 MONACO, Juan (ARG) [22]
23 SEPPI, Andreas (ITA) [23]
24 JANOWICZ, Jerzy (POL) [24]
25 PAIRE, Benoit (FRA) [25]
26 DOLGOPOLOV, Alexandr (UKR) [26]
27 ANDERSON, Kevin (RSA) [27]
28 CHARDY, Jeremy (FRA) [28]
29 DIMITROV, Grigor (BUL) [29]
30 FOGNINI, Fabio (ITA) [30]
31 BENNETEAU, Julien (FRA) [31]
32 ROBREDO, Tommy (ESP) [32]

LADIES' SINGLES

1 WILLIAMS, Serena (USA) [1]
2 AZARENKA, Victoria (BLR) [2]
3 SHARAPOVA, Maria (RUS) [3]
4 RADWANSKA, Agnieszka (POL) [4]
5 ERRANI, Sara (ITA) [5]
6 LI, Na (CHN) [6]
7 KERBER, Angelique (GER) [7]
8 KVITOVA, Petra (CZE) [8]
9 WOZNIACKI, Caroline (DEN) [9]
10 KIRILENKO, Maria (RUS) [10]
11 VINCI, Roberta (ITA) [11]
12 IVANOVIC, Ana (SRB) [12]
13 PETROVA, Nadia (RUS) [13]
14 STOSUR, Samantha (AUS) [14]
15 BARTOLI, Marion (FRA) [15]
16 JANKOVIC, Jelena (SRB) [16]
17 STEPHENS, Sloane (USA) [17]
18 CIBULKOVA, Dominika (SVK) [18]
19 SUAREZ NAVARRO, Carla (ESP) [19]
20 FLIPKENS, Kirsten (BEL) [20]
21 PAVLYUCHENKOVA, Anastasia (RUS) [21]
22 CIRSTEA, Sorana (ROU) [22]
23 LISICKI, Sabine (GER) [23]
24 PENG, Shuai (CHN) [24]
25 MAKAROVA, Ekaterina (RUS) [25]
26 KUZNETSOVA, Svetlana (RUS) [26]
27 LEPCHENKO, Varvara (USA) [27]
28 SAFAROVA, Lucie (CZE) [28]
29 PASZEK, Tamira (AUT) [29]
30 CORNET, Alize (FRA) [30]
31 BARTHEL, Mona (GER) [31]
32 OPRANDI, Romina (SUI) [32]

Lol - Nadal 5th feed.  I think that means he play Murray in the quarters due to the weird system?

Is the actual draw done tomorrow?  But we'll know who'll be in which half already based on the seedings.

The draw is Friday morning.

I've seen this written several times but I don't think it's right.
There's a 1 in 4 chance that Murray will meet Nadal in the QF assuming they both progress that far.

Damn, it's not Thursday today.  Thanks for extending my week by a day :D

I do my best to help.

Last year Federer (3) met Tsonga (5) in the QF.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/22965431

Can anyone outside Murray, Djok and Nadal realistically win the Mens? 95 times out of 100 say one of these three wins it?

How short is the realistic list of Ladies winners?

One.

You can lay Serena at 1.56 currently.
http://www.betfair.com/exchange/tennis/market?id=1.107022137

Ruling Federer out completely?

I think he's slightly on the decline, finally.

 

Yep someone put this kind of logic up for a tennis bet last year, or earlier this, and it was wrong.  Seed 1 doesn't play 4 in the semis, he has a 50/50 chance of playing 3 or 4 etc.  I think it is 1 in 4 too.

Federer plays Nadal in the quarters, winner plays Murray.  Djokovic runs good.

I'm assuming the prices have changed accordingly already?

Yep, Betfair best on Djoko at just less than 6/4

Full draw are now available.

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/r1s1.html

Not an ideal draw for me.  Backed Haas at 190/1 to win with the plan of laying it off if/when he progresses to the third round or beyond.  He's set to meet Djokovic in the 4th round, so can't see his odds of winning the tournament dropping too much, whereas if he'd had a more favourable draw that didn't see him meet Djokovic until a round or two later then his price would have moved more.

Favourable draw for Ferrer and Del Potro though.

Good draw for Serena in the Ladies.  Sharapova hasn't got too bad a draw either.

Nadal out.
Murray through with no problems.

Andy Murray the person, good watch  :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b02ywyts/Andy_Murray_The_Man_Behind_the_Racquet/

Laura Robson wins in straight sets.  Looked impressive.

Most impressive.

;)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23062227

Wonder how much Nike paid Wimbledon to take part in their little publicity stunt?

Loads of seeds going out early this year, through injury, the 'surface', or simply through losing.

Federer having a very tough match against Stakhovsky, who is close to going 2-1 up in sets (and is also worth shed-loads more in Scrabble).

2-1 Stakhovsky.

Could the odds on a Murray v Djokovic final get any shorter?

No Nadal, no Federer!

What's going on!

They could save a lot of time now by just holding a Djokovic V Murray final tomorrow, whilst presenting Serena with the Ladies' title during a change of ends.

OK - want some opinions.  I backed Haas at 150s and Del Potro at 80s before it started with the intention of laying the bets off when their odds shortened.

They're now at 34 and 90 respectively, and I've doubled my money. But the question is how long do I wait before I 'green out'? 

Tomorrow's matches:

Jesse Levine v Juan Martin Del Potro 13:00
Jimmy Wang v Tommy Haas 14:15

Both are big favourites, so I should let it run for tomorrow. But then in the following round...?

the problem I find with backing people who cannot possibly win the bet you place, unless you trade, is that everyone knows that so the price changes are relatively inelastic compared to progress through the competition

Hence we've lost three of the top 5 seeds, and they are still 35 and 90-1.

Unless you are very confident both will win I'd take the double, as I wouldn't anticipate either shortening much even if they win

Yes, probably very true - especially with Haas, who I think then has Djokovic in the next round.  The thing is, there odds could shorten if other fancied players get knocked out before Haas and Del Potro play again?

they could, but realistically Haas only shortens if Djok goes out

Delpo, depends which half of the draw but again unless its Murray or Djok (depending which half he is in) then they won't price anyone to a realistic chance of winning it (12-1 down)

Oh, my mistake.  It's not the next round where Haas faces Djokovic, its the one after.

Del Porto is in the same half of the draw, but would only meet Djokovic in the semis.

For some reason Haas has lengthened to 110 now.  Maybe he was out on the lash last night or something?  That's cut my profit somewhat, so going to have to hope he wins comfortably today and his price shortens again.

Del Potro wins in three straight sets.  He's now the third favourite, and is priced at 25/1!  Haas is back at 100, and is about to play.  He's the 8th favourite now.  Never seen a tournament where there are two favourites as massive as Djokovic and Murray.  Except for Serena in the Women's of course.

its because the e/w market is set as 1/2 odds top 2 not 1/4 odds top 4

If it were the latter than Delpo would be 12-1? I guess, but something like 3-1/4-1 the semi final place

He beat Djok at the Olympics on number 1 court I beleive for the bronze, so its really only the shape of the betting market/terms that keeps him out at 25-1

Laura Robson.  Stunning.

she's 19, big server, booming forehand, proper coach now

headed for the top ten on an 18 month view, yes?

Certainly - apart from Serena and Maria, the rest of the women are much of a muchness.

I think Ms Azarenka might argue with you.
Mind you, she'd argue with herself if no-one else was around.

She still has lots of work to do on her game, plenty of double-faults (only 40% of her first serves in) and lots of unforced errors, so get that right and she has the natural talent to go a long way.

In other news, Del Potro down to 22 and Haas getting shorter by the minute with his 2-0 lead in his match (and he's just broken Wang and will be serving for the match now).

Surely I let the bet ride for one more round? Both players should win today?

:dontask:

Funny how we have thought of him as being on the cusp of past-it for at least a couple of years and have almost been surprised whenever he has pulled out another 'last' big result. We haven't yet started thinking about Serena like that, although they are the same age.

Laura Robson first British woman through to round 4 since 1998, no seed next match either

Gwan Laura. great comeback today

A great result for Ms Robson beating Marina Erakovic.
She made it tough but showed great determination.

If he hit it and it went over...point won? or an illegal play?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23111307

needs to sort her serve out quickly, other than that, looks to have what it takes to make progress over the coming years.

Yeah, definitely needs to work on first serve percentages, but a gritty performance to get her through yesterday and she looked good again :)

As soon as he touches the ball with his hand, it's dead and he loses the point.

Robson looks far better than Kanepi.  Kanepi's serve is more erratic than Robson's.  If Robson controlled her nerves I'm sure she'd be dominating this match comfortably.

Edit: As I post that, Kanepi holds her serve to love.

It's going to be tight.

Kanepi wins the tie-break.

Meanwhile Lisicki wins the first set 6-2 against Serena Williams.
Very high quality tennis.

Serena levelled the match 1-1 after losing the first set to 23-seed Lisicki.

Robson needs to break to stay in the match :(

Saves one match point, and saves the next - DEUCE.

She's saved another. 

But not the 5th one.

:(

There isn't a god.

I really thought something great was going to happen when she saved those match points.

Ah well ...

Boom Lisicki. Great performance

Not a clue who is going to win the womens now lol

Great result for Sabine Lisicki.
Her performance fell away in the middle but she was tremendous apart from that.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BOGDGevCQAAlpUB.jpg:large)

What a performance from Lisicki, incredible heart to lose match point, double fault and face the break then smash in an Ace, what a boss.

Where any bets placed on the Women's in tft ?

No. we talked about who we might back once all the top seeds bar serena were knocked out, but didn't decide.

All open now

Lisicki v Kvitova would be the favourite I suppose, but I bet it won't be.

A good performance from Kvitova today.
An easy win for Li Na too.
Lisicki is currently favourite!

Promising for Laura Robson that she wasn't beaten due to skill level, just didn't handle her nerves very well, that should come though.

Her opponent had the same problem.  Both have a great serve, when they actually manage to get their first serves in.  Consistency is key in tennis, and Laura needs to sort this side of her game out if she's going to be a top player.

Murray mint (wasn't really, but won anyway in three straight sets).

Laid the bets off, and managed to get a little bit more than double my money.  Probably should have let it run until after Del Potro's match today, but followed Tighty's advice that the price wouldn't really move that much.  So I nitted up, naturally.

Haas v Djokovic just starting.  Watch Haas win it now :D

...or not, as Djokovic breaks him in the first game!

Each year I see this same guy sitting in different players box.  He has a beard and is always wearing a blazer and cowboy hat.  Anybody know who he is?

John Terry in disguise?

Murray gonna bottle it again?

Harsh!

How is Murray still even money to win this? Head all over the place, opponent forehand marmalising him.

How is that anything other than trolling George ?

He's won a grand slam so how is it "again" ?

Having a bad day = bottle it ?

What's to bottle ? Djokovic clear fav before today ?

Ikr, I just had a look and ever a Murray loving punter like me was remotely tempted.

I do think Murray will turn this round though.

Problem with getting on Verdasco is if Murray gets back to 1-2 in sets it's hard to see any other outcome than a Murray win.  Feels like it's 3-0 or out for Verdy.

It's not trolling. It's my opinion. He's won one grand slam and
One gold medal but bottled it on numerous other occasions.
No denying his talent- doubt his ability to close.

way too harsh. Only reached tennis maturity a year ago (and Lendl played a major part in that) since when he's won a major, finalled another and won Olympic Gold in an era with three greats in Fed, Nadal and Djok

I accept he's frustrating to watch when losing as his temperament seems so iffy.

WILL BE A GREAT COMEBACK IF HE WINS THIS

How can you question his bottle ?

Loses 4 finals, 2 sets up and gets pulled back to 2-2 and proceeded to play his very best Tennis.

Think your last sentence sums up what I'm trying to get across. He came out like a petulant teenager for the second set and it cost him. Think that and is second serve separate him from the true elite

Read my post above. Guy has poor temptement when
It really counts

George criticises Murray for not being able to put together a deep run.

I'm just shit. His is bottle

Murray only the 2nd best returner in the game.

Janowocz wins 7-5 6-4 6-4.

My facebook is full of similar nonsense - he plays poorly so he's bottled it, what?

Maybe bottle is the wrong word. More to do with his temperment

Bottle the most overused term in modern sport

By definition anybody who has reached even the top 100 in there sport is not a bottler

disagree.

I think lots of ppl lose there bottles in their respective sports.


like taking penalties

That is hard to judge as they are relatively rare

If they did not have the mental strength or bottle they would not be on the pitch in the first place

I remember Bobby Robson saying just before he passed away that there is very little difference between a very good footballer, a good one and a conference one. The main one being the mental state.

Verdasco gonna bottle it again?

Odds on him saying he was injured?

which one?

I can't help admiring Murray's heart & fortitude, I never used to like him, but he has well & truly got me.

He seems to make things hard for himself, buy my oh my, what a trier. 

very good sir, very good

Holding it together to play effective tennis when you're basically a stressed-out, nervous wreck is seriously impressive. The opposite of having no bottle.

yeh bottle deffo wrong word.

Impressive stuff

yet at 2-0 down allover twitter what a bottler murray is e.t.c

oh dear

great game enjoyed that

What a boss!!!

I don't really get all this hype about his temperament, Djokovic kicks off with himself when he plays way below his par, Murray is pretty bad for it but massively overhyped as a problem imo, if he lost today it wasn't because of his temperament, just he probably played his C game today, maybe even lower.

Henman said he was like that when he was seven years old, it's not that bad a thing to strive for perfection.

It's literally the way he came out for the second set. He threw it away. Spose it could be akin to tilt

The way he composed himself after that was sick

Great recovery by Murray. What made it more impressive was that he had to win it with a lot of defensive tennis against a fella who was truly belting the ball at him.  Some very dicey moments, but he definitely showed his bottle in those moments.

If he thought Verdasco hit it hard, he's in for some more of that in the semi - with bells on!

10.4m watched the fifth set live on BBC1

I like Lisicki.

Join the club.

I've been a fan ever since I first saw her play at Charleston 4 (?) years ago.
She just lit up the place with her beaming smile and obvious enjoyment.

I smile a lot, too.

Your legs aren't quite as good though.

Love how low radwanska gets down to play her shots. Great match

My two favourite current women's players in the final. Great stuff.

Just cheering for Bartoli by a whisker, possibly her last chance to win a major.

Crowd will be supporting Lisicki, won't it?

Even though some of the Wimbledon faithful would sooner read the Guardian than cheer a German.

They're deffo on her side

Best of luck to Mr Murray today

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23191789

Wow pretty damn impressive

Good morning.

What time (UK) does the Murray match commence, please?

After the Djokovic & Del Porto match.  Was expected to be about 4pm UK time (in 40 minutes), but could be later than that.

At about 50 minutes a set, or so, we're definitely looking at a fair bit later than 4pm. Later the better for me as I've got other stuff on!

Gary Lineker is obviously enjoying the tennis:

"@GaryLineker: Beautiful summer's day and a huge semi! Doesn't get much better. #wimbledon"

;ashamed;

What a match this is, maybe one of the best I've seen.

Magical stuff from both.

Shame it was an unforced error that lost Del Potro the set.

Del Potro is a legend

This match just gets better and better.

SO GOOD!

You lot are awful commentators. ::)

Fifth settage commences.

Too busy crying because I cashed in my X-courts spread bet.

What a match!

Murray may have to play on court 1. :)

FYP

What a cracking tennis match that was.  Hopefully the long match will help Murray should he win his game.   Looking forward to that now,

Got home to see the end of that. Quite a match, by all accounts.

Should just call an end to tennis now. Once Murray starts moaning and whimpering, everyone will be brought down to Earth. Should reconvene tomorrow instead.

That was an incredible match! Two absolute legends, I only wish Andy Murray had an ounce of that  personality and charisma.
In fact, I'm struggling to maintain my Murray mania, I obv want him to win but this Janowicz kid is a real underdog, a slept in his car last tournament and couldn't even afford the airfare to the Australian open kind of underdog, and you cant help rooting for that kind of player.

Murray's been through a fair bit as well:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/andy-murray-breaks-his-silence-on-dunblane-school-massacre-8671255.html

Your allus there, aren't you Boshi!
Yeah, I get your point, but we all know people who've been through some awful stuff and still manage to crack a smile, and most of them haven't had the privileges Murray has.
His service game would improve no end without the weight of that chip on his his shoulder.

That being said, he's all we've got atm so GOGOGOGO!

I like the bloke.  Think he gets a hard time because of his demeanour.  Away from the court, he's probably less focused and more jovial.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpqTaJfJDW4

Supposed to be very funny off-court and the opposite of what you expect. It's just his "game face" that's the issue.

OK boys, I concede, I probably being at bit hard on him.
Its his name that did it.
Put me off straight away. Nobody called Andy is going to amount to anything, ever. ;hide;

(http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article2022468.ece/ALTERNATES/s510b/The-Championships-Wimbledon-2013-Day-Nine-2022468.jpg)

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/imageArchive/images/12330005.jpg)

Fair comment ;)

Oh dear. Seems like Janowicz may be a little shite.

Take me back Andy, it was a mistake! He means nothing to me, I just had my head turned, you know you're the only one!

Fickle.

Great game from Murray there.  Digging deep. His missus is doing her bit too :)

Huge turnaround

only in England do something to not favour the home player

So true.

FARCE!

Would it have happened if Janowicz hadn't been complaining about it as much?

unlikely i would suggest

could almost suggest it is good thinking from a player so young tbh

Absolutley not, they would'nt have mentioned it. I've seen them play on when you could see it was twilight outside the court, they've bowed to the pressure of that whiney little bitch.

You have gone off him :D

Can you tell? :)
Bet that referee Andy (there's that name again) Jarret has got everthing crossed for Murray now,
or I can see resignations being tendered  ;pokergods;

Murray channelling his emotions and taking it out on Janowicz with his tennis.  It's not Murray whose feathers looked ruffled at the moment.

In fact Murray has a secret weapon in his kit-bag:

(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c17/JCtheMessiah/BOb6RBuCAAAOAJw.jpg)

What is it? Iron Bru? Redbull?

It's an old man.

Well played Murray.

Final will be a cracker on Sunday.

LOL don't know how I missed that!

Roll on Sunday! THIS TIME!

Gonna be sick. Hope Murray pulls it off.

Lisicki is really struggling at the moment.

Crowd suggests she might win this if she can squeak this set

Really shows the cruelty of sport. All but in tears on the biggest stage, a bag of nerves and wanting the ground to swallow her up.

Several million people reaching for the TV to give her a hug.

How is this on a level footing with the men?  Two fat puddings trying to keep it in court and failing miserably.  Just rubbish.

Behave. No place for nasty sexism on here

Lisicki had a horrible day but is great to watch when on form

Bartolio is an eccentric, to say the least

I love Bartoli.

In an age of production line tennis players she's a one off.

Really pleased for her.

Love Lisicki too, hope/trust she'll grab a slam too one day.

What do we think of equal pay tho when the men's game gets so much more exposure and the fact they have to play best of 5?

It goes in cycles.

At the moment the mens game is much more interesting, but 5 or 6 years ago when Federer was winning everything (even though he was fantastic to watch) the women's game with the marvellous Henin battling Clijsters, the Williams sisters and Hingis was providing much more entertaining and close fought matches.

Equal pay right.

Commiserations Tighty on missing Bartoli, hope you had a token saver.

Just horrendous

If you don't want to be offended, don't click

https://twitter.com/EverydaySexism/status/353537169354276865/photo/1

How are these.people allowed to have opinions?

that is horrend. so many pricks in this world

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wimbledon/10164511/Wimbledon-2013-BBC-apologise-for-John-Inverdales-Bartoli-not-a-looker-comment.html

I am surprised nothing was said when one of the commentators called Ann Jones the 69 Champion!

Ridiculous.

Murray's started out well, loads of break-points and eventually converts one - only to be instantly broken back.

Definitely think Murray's started out the stronger of the two, but it's a 5-set marathon not a sprint.

...and there's the break! 

Djokovic making 'unforced-errors', but it's the relentless pressure Murray's applying that's doing it.

This one may end under lights.

This is looking to be another Epic between these two the tennis they play is unreal. Taking get it back tennis to a new level the length of the rally's is incredible!

On the equal pay thing... Men play best of 5 Women Best of 3. The interest in the men's game is much higher, empty seats at the final yesterday (admittedly from the posh seats) I doubt we will see this today though!

Is Sean Connery in the Royal Box?

One down, two to go...

Murray 17 winners and 6 unforced errors.
Djokovic 6 winners and 17 unforced errors.

Story of the first set really.

Murray serving for a two-set lead.  He'd definitely under Djokovic's skin, and playing very solid tennis.  Was 1-4 down in the set at one point as well.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

HOLDDDDDDDDDDD

Murray is now arguably the best server out of the big four, the best returner and the best mover.

He's been a mile behind all three, though, as a closer. Is this the day he shortens the gap?

Bokked.

Becker is right, though: Djokovic can't win this match with dropshots.

"You can't win anything with drop-shots."

Alan Hansen, 2013

Tal.  Shut up.

:D

Alright, Mr Booooooooooom!

That's better :D

You're not bokking him now.

Unbelievable winners by Murray.  Phenomenal.

Brilliant game.  Tal, you can say what you want now - Murray's gonna win this :D

If I were any good at bokking, I'd be a lot richer!

Murray's completely forgotten he's been winning points by changing the pace of the ball by slicing. Deep breaths needed.


Also, what is the point of HDTV? I'm watching this through my fingers!

Some brilliant points in this game. 

He's done it!!!!!

That was great

One of the all time great sporting moments.

SPOTY betting markets now closed?

Murray is 1.06 #buyingmoney

BOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMTOWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Shame he forgot to bow to HRH The Duke of Kent

 ;scarymoment;

Proper chuffed with that. Two friends of mine spent an insane amount of money on centre court tickets for today.

As per the thread I started the other day, I bet they say it was worth every penny.

What a moment to have witnessed.

Sensational.

Fk the haters.  Nice work fella.

Abs chuffed for him, people tilt me when they always say such and such deserves it when it makes no sense, but Murray really does deserve this, delighted for him.

How many slams does he have to win before his bottle's not questioned btw ? he will win 5+, no doubt.

BBC website coverage has tongue in cheek this afternoon:

News reaching me that Ivan Lendl is being treated by St John Ambulance after his face ceased up from smiling too much - it was clocked at 38 seconds in total and the effort of changing back to his usual frown was apparently too much for him. Wish him well.

FYP  ;)

Still cant quite believe it.  ;yippee;

Arise Sir Andy!

Am I being an idiot? I can't see what you've changed!

You don't notice it so much now that it's spelled correctly.

No need to thank me.

He changed "face ceased" to "face seized".

Tom visits the Betting Board every 27 years to ensure we are all behaving. Next he'll try & sneak in "how to make a cup of tea". Epic.
 

Carpark.

Hard to explain how happy I am right now.  This isn't just about the sport.  It means so much to Dunblane as a town.

Thanks Andy.

I see. Pedants gotta ped and all that.

I did just copy and paste from the website, which is my preferred practice when quoting from t'interweb. I could have changed it to [seized] or perhaps ceased (sic), although - and don't tell anyone I said this because I realise I'm held in high regard in these parts - I hadn't noticed the error.

I remain, sir, your obedient servant.

Bugger! I didn't realise it was a C&P.

I'm very selective with my pedantry.

I shouldn't really ped anyway, (Glass houses and all that) but I enjoy living on the edge.

Cup of tea.

Nice one fella. Was thinking about you when he'd won.

If their was a Town in Scotland that  deserved to produce one of the best Sportmen the Country has seen then it's this one.

I was too busy crying and hugging my sister to think very much!

ITV say David Cameron has "[added] to Knighthood speculation" about Andy Murray.

The PM was quoted as saying "I can't think of anyone who deserves one more".

Given that knighthood recommendations actually come FROM the Prime Minister, through the selection committee, following nominations by Ministers and members of the public, I wouldn't call that "adding to speculation"!

When Wade won Wimbledon in 1977 she didn't get an OBE til 1987

Nowadays, the knighthoods come pretty quick, certainly asap after retirement

This probably reflects "honours inflation" in the last 25 years or so. I don't think in this case it necessarily reflects honours sexism as some are suggesting, should it happen vis a vis Murray v Wade

It's a shame we didn't get the chance to ask Tikay to get Shane Warne's view on it :)

If Chris Hoy/Bradley Wiggins get knighthoods for being good at a minority sport, then Murray should have been knighted just for consistently being in the top 4 in the world never mind winning a Slam.

The reality is none of them should get knighthoods pre-retirement.

I knew you'd disagree.  The men are athletes; look at Murray, Djokovic, Nadal etc.  Not an ounce of fat on them and superb conditioning.  They can run for 4 hours or more and still produce top class tennis.  Now look at the women.  Piss poor in comparison.  Not one of them carries an athletic condition even remotely approaching the men.  85% of them are chubby or worse.  Sharapova probably the only one approaching the right fitness conditioning...

And then there is the screaming every time they hit the ball.  And the serve that chokes and goes into double fault meltdown.

And all that equates to equality does it?  I don't fucking think so.  Put Williams in vs any man in the top 50.  Give her the whole court to play on and the man just one serve and she'd still not beat anyone.  It's YOU that's ridiculous.

You knew that I in particular would disagree? That's pretty impressive.

I was disagreeing with the fat comment, Lisicki didn't look too fat to me whilst I agree that perhaps Bartoli doesn't have the best of physiques. And you just showed how ridiculous you are being by claiming that 85% of female players are chubby or worse?

Monday your drinking night?

As it happens, I think I agree that the men deserve more, not sure why though.

Agreed.  She just couldn't hit a ball in to save her life.  The mens' game is so superior that they simply should get paid more; added to which 5 sets vs 3 is 66% more work.

I don't drink.  Ever.

"Put Williams in vs any man in the top 50.  Give her the whole court to play on and the man just one serve and she'd still not beat anyone"

I agree with you that Men should get greater prize money, simply because it is the more in demand product.  95% of people  would rather get tickets in the ballot for mens semi final day than womens' semi final day and I think their pay should reflect that difference in demand.

However, think I'd fancy Williams against several of the mugs who are ranked about 30 to 50 on the mens side.

I suppose that there are one or two in that bracket so, yes maybe.

The current mens' game is breathtaking in the extreme; some of the points on Sunday were sublime.  Court coverage was astonishing.  Retrieving balls that were winners against most other players AND making winning passes from those (almost) impossible gets.  It was exciting in the extreme whereas the women.  Well, they aren't...

I'm sure there was a quote from Williams somewhere saying she would struggle to take a single game off any man in the top 500

I believe she did indeed say that.

"I suppose that there are one or two in that bracket so, yes maybe."

Melzer might lose to me if he missed a break point or something and his head went :)

The womens' game, whilst still highly watchable, is in a lull talent wise.

There is Williams on her own, then Azarenka/Sharapova/Radwanska who might give her a game if they are on a good day.  And then the rest are just very mediocre, with weak mental fortitude and questionable fitness.  It does make the games quite exciting though if the top 4 aren't involved.  Someone can be a set and 4-0 up and still manage to lose.

It does go in waves though - Ivanisevic managed to win Wimbledon as an veteren in that handover period between Sampras and Federer and Hewitt/Roddick made it to number 1! 

The womens' game suffered greatly from premature retirements from Henin and Clijsters imo.

 

77 years since a british man won wimbledon last brit to win was in '77, 7/7 is date of ladies final in 2018 could that be robsons or watsons year

I admire your optimism!  If her team could 'do a Murray' on her regarding physical conditioning and less mental fragility then. yes, Robson has a squeak.  However, she is a long long way from the finished article right now.  I think that it takes a special kind of person to be able to devote themselves to the pursuit of becoming the number one in tennis and a big time winner.  Many aspire but few succeed...

Tennis has changed so much. I remember, in the 80s, Seb Coe saying that fitness levels in sports such as Tennis were laughable in comparison with Athletics. It would be unthinkable to claim that nowadays. Undoubtedly, Mo Farah, Tyson Gay etc are still fitter than current Tennis players, but the gap has narrowed a lot.