WIMBLEDON 2005

[Madou]

Perhaps I'll be able to see the match, I hope the channel who broadcasts is not too patriotic because I don't really want to see a french player while Marat is on court :/
Udachi Marat !

[Teresa]

madou said:

Perhaps I'll be able to see the match, I hope the channel who broadcasts is not too patriotic because I don't really want to see a french player while Marat is on court :/
Udachi Marat !

LOL Madou!!

We wont get it live, but hopefully the SB will be better that some of those we have had to contend with recently

I had not mentioned before, meant to, Mark lost
in the semis at Ordina against Llodra......now that is
not very impressive of Mark? Llodra? but then maybe he wanted to get to Wimbledon.

[lau]

WOW!!!! 10 pages and he didn´t play his first match, lol ;D

First of all, something totally off topic. Funny article about what is allowed to wear in Wimbledon: news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/4088298.stm

Then, more articles are appearing with quotes of Marat. Most of the articles quotes ALMOST the same thing.... But some words here and some words there can make the difference.. . >I don´t know if Marat said those things in different ways in different interviews. But in some previous articles it seemed that the decision about playing in Wimbledon was made by him, "in spite of" what the doctor told him or recomended. It doesn´t seem to be totally like that in this article....

This is the link: www.theage.com.au/news/Tennis/Grass-starting-to-grow-on-Safin/2005/06/19/1119119722001.html
Grass starting to grow on Safin
By Richard Hinds
London
June 20, 2005

Marat Safin's struggle to adjust his big game to grass has always been something of a mystery, even by the standards of a man whose mind is usually more difficult to read than a James Joyce novel published in Eritrean braille. ;D lol


Was it that he could not find his footing? Was it his somewhat wooden volley? Was it a psychological block? Was it just too difficult to break a racquet on the soft grasscourts? ;D lol, again

For whatever reason, Safin has not been beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and, after last year's first-round loss to compatriot Dmitry Tursunov, may or may not have said that he hated grass and would not be back again.

Yet, Safin is not only back, he has an Australian Open trophy on his mantelpiece and a new-found belief that he can one day place the Wimbledon version there as well - particularly after reaching the final of a grasscourt tournament at Halle, Germany, last week.

But first, Safin wanted to set the record straight. He claims he did not say he would not come back to Wimbledon. Rather, he said he would not come here earlier than two days before the tournament to practise as he had in the past because, with the fickle English weather, "it was just a waste of time".

Instead, after his loss to Federer in the Halle final, he spent a few days sunning himself in Spain (I didn´t know that)and resting a chronic knee injury that has required pain-killing injections during his past two tournaments and almost forced him to pull out of the final in Halle.(I thought it was not in the final, but in a previous match..... I watched the final and his knee seemed to be OK)

Safin has a small rupture in the ligament and was warned by his doctor that he should not play Wimbledon. "But I wanted to come and he said, 'Just go, because if it's a hard court, it's a problem, but grass, you can't break anything'," said Safin. "But soon as I am done here, I have to fly back and stay there (with a specialist) for a month."(so, I guess the doctor "agreed" with the the decision of playing Wimbledon....... and now we know that he`ll spend some time in Bologna, Italy after Winbledon)

The fact that Safin is playing Wimbledon with a sore knee, when in earlier years he admits he would have withdrawn, is a sign of his new-found confidence on grass.(I like how this sounds ;D... I`m talking about the confidence... I`m not so sure about playing Wimbledon yet, but I guess that a specialized doctor and the people around Marat know more than me about what to do in this situation) The first test of that will be tonight (Melbourne time), when he plays his first-round match against Thai Paradorn Srichaphan. Then, potentially, comes a clash with Australian Mark Philippoussis.

Because of his poor record at Wimbledon, Safin has been virtually overlooked in pre-tournament forecasts. Most money is on a final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick - although Safin did not seem ready to concede the second leg of that quinella would necessarily salute.

Asked about Roddick's recent struggles against top players, he said: "Other players can play decent tennis, it's not like Roddick is the most amazing player in the world and when he plays his best tennis, no one can beat him. He is not Roger Federer. I am not saying he is just a decent player, he is a great player. But other players can play good tennis, too."

For those jostling at the level just below the world No. 1, Safin suggested it was a mental rather than physical battle. "Sometimes you lose because you have no confidence, you have some problems," says the man who would know better than most. "It is mental, everybody has ups and downs. Except Federer."

If Safin's confidence at Wimbledon has risen, French Open champion Rafael Nadal has few expectations. "A good Wimbledon for me is to play good. I don't know the round (he can reach), but if I play good, that is a good Wimbledon," Nadal said.

The Spaniard reached the third round here at his previous attempt in 2003. But defeat in the first round at Halle reminded him of the difficulties of adjusting his brilliant claycourt game to grass. "I need to improve a lot my serve here, my volley, my aggressive shots," he says. "Now I am not prepared, now I think Federer, (Lleyton) Hewitt, (Tim) Henman, they have a better game than me."

Nor has his victory over Federer in the semi-finals of the French Open raised his hopes. That was on clay and, as Nadal said: "Here, I think he is too much better, no?"

[Cassie]

Thanks for a rather positive articles after so many scary ones.

[Jasmine]

Thanks lau for the articles.

I like marat in white, especially when his hair like this. (My friends asked me what Marat looks like now. I said, "Do you know Boso the Clown, who is bald(His hat) and has hair around? Marat just like that. " )

BTW, Rafa in white? Umm, interesting. I don't recognize him last year.

[annie]

Thanks laney. Funny read..but hey!!!! They're brits of course Henman is to win in their opinion LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

[annie]

Day 1 Preview

Welcome to the wonderful world of Wimbledon and the 119th running of the planet's most elegant and historic tennis race. After that baking weekend we have just swooned through, the going promises to be excellent and most of the thoroughbreds have pitched up and are fidgeting in the starting stalls.

There are, as ever, exceptions. A nod of sympathy in the direction of Las Vegas, where Andre Agassi will be concentrating on his sciatica problems and failing to attend The Championships for the second consecutive summer. His wit, wisdom and genius will be missed. A clutch of Argentinians and Spaniards are also absent, citing various ailments but not the most obvious one - a distaste for grass court tennis. Grass, in their estimation is for the playing of football, something they do to a high level in both nations.

Grass is also, of course, for cows, as has been observed sourly by some early losers in the past. But that's OK by Roger Federer, who happens to own such an animal, having been presented with one for winning the Gstaad tournament a couple of years back. The Swiss Alp is also entitled to be considering carpeting his living room with the stuff as he prepares to tilt for his third straight men's singles title. As is the tradition, Federer will walk the walk of all resident champions, the first to sample the atmosphere of Centre Court this afternoon.

Treading a few respectful steps behind Federer will be the man with the misfortune to have come out of the bag next to the title holder, Paul-Henri Mathieu. Though a Frenchman who has played Davis Cup with distinction for his country, Mathieu is entitled to regard himself as a neighbour of Federer's, since he makes his home in Geneva. No great whizz on the turf, Mathieu has won one and lost two in previous visits to the Championships. Aged 23, he is currently ranked 60th. This is a contest which should provide Federer with the sort of canter he needs before the bigger hurdles come along.

A Centre Court outing is also awarded to Marat Safin, an artist and athlete who can blow as hot as heck and as cold as Siberia. There was a rather chilly reaction around the All England Club a year ago, when Safin's first round departure was accompanied by the pledge never to play on Wimbledon's infurating surface again. Mellowed by the passing months, Safin is back, with the Australian Open crown in his baggage, though he has been ailing of late with a condition known as jumper's knee and startled journalists at a media conference on Saturday by saying that, since he has been told that ligaments could snap at any time and warned by the medics not to play here, he intends to take a month off after Wimbledon.

All of which will be heartwarming tidings for his opponent, Paradorn Srichaphan, a sportsman so revered in Thailand that he carries a red diplomatic passport. Srichaphan, inside the world's top ten two years ago, has suffered a thin time of late, winning only five matches in the last three months and exiting in the first round of five straight tournaments. Those statistics should help to take the ache out of Safin's knee.

For collectors of pub quiz trivia, Marat's sister Dinara, aged 19, will be making her third appearance at The Championships, and indeed her Court Five clash with Croatia's Sanda Mamic may overlap with her brother's match in rather more exalted surroundings. But nothing big brother does will exceed Dinara's joy if she beats Mamic, for it would be her first victory here.

The Court One showtime will be opened by Lleyton Hewitt, the all-action Australian who won Wimbledon three years ago and is quietly fancying his chance of inflicting a lot of damage again this year. Hewitt's determination will be fuelled by a dollop of indignation. The reason? He is ranked second in the world, yet has been dropped to third seed because Andy Roddick, last year's runner-up, is seeded above him. That seemingly minor change has pitched him into Federer's half of the draw, so he would need to beat the defending champion to get to the final this time.

Kim Clijsters, the lady to whom Hewitt was betrothed until last November, is also in action this afternoon, but on Court Two, where she faces Katie O'Brien, one of the 11 British men and women on view. Having just tucked up the Eastbourne title, Clijsters should be in the sort of form to participate in decimating the British entry against the girl from Humberside.

Jamie Delgado, a contemporary of Tim Henman, is offered an opportunity of glory on Court One, where he will show whether battling through the qualifying tournament has toughened him up sufficiently to make life uncomfortable for Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former French Open champion who has suffered illness, injury and assorted bleak times of late.

Following the men's champion onto Centre Court will be the popular women's world number one, Lindsay Davenport, who won here in 1999 and quietly fancies her chances of another Grand Slam before she gives up the game to start a family. Winning Wimbledon would be just fine by this Californian lady, who starts against, Alina Jidkova, one of the multiple Russians battling for glory among the gals. The time consumed in caring for her collection of teddy bears has not prevented Jidkova from a busy tennis season. This will be her 15th tournament of the year.

Court Two also hosts a couple of Grand Slam "nearly men", Greg Rusedski and Mark Philippoussis, who have finished as runners-up at the major events, Rusedski at the US Open in 1997 and Philippoussis at Wimbledon two years back. Rusedski, whose bid to claim one of the seeded places narrowly failed, starts his 13th consecutive Wimbledon against the Spaniard, Alberto Martin, while Philippoussis, flourishing the wild card awarded to him because his ranking has sunk so low following injury, will test the strength of his comeback bid against the Czech, Karol Beck.


Written by Ronald Atkin

[annie]

Centre Court 1.00 pm Start

1 Gentlemen's Singles - 1st Rnd.
Roger Federer (SUI)[1]
vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)


2 Ladies' Singles - 1st Rnd.
Lindsay Davenport (USA)[1]
vs. Alina Jidkova (RUS)


3 Gentlemen's Singles - 1st Rnd.
Paradorn Srichaphan (THA)
vs. Marat Safin (RUS)[5]

[annie]

Looks like I'll be able to get home and watch the match today

Yeeeepeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Udachi Maratik!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tine]

i´m so happy that wimbledon starts today and that i hopefully can watch his match!
But so much i love to see marat on court i think it would be better if he doesn´t play.at first his knee injury doesn´t sound soo bad but now it seems to be sth to worry about.. i hope for the best

[Teresa]

annie said:

Looks like I'll be able to get home and watch the match today

Yeeeepeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Udachi Maratik!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HEY Annie good moring
You answered my question
I am happy soooo happy for you
Udachi Marat Udachi

[Teresa]

tine said:

i´m so happy that wimbledon starts today and that i hopefully can watch his match!
But so much i love to see marat on court i think it would be better if he doesn´t play.at first his knee injury doesn´t sound soo bad but now it seems to be sth to worry about.. i hope for the best

Hi tine

I hope you get to watch also, look forward to your reports.

[tall_one]

OK by Roger Federer, who happens to own such an animal, having been presented with one for winning the Gstaad tournament a couple of years back

the morons who write these things really need to hire fact-checkers
Roger got the cow for winning Wimby, it was presented to him at Gstaad

Anyway....

Good Luck Marat!! Good Luck Dinara!!

[Andrada]

tallone said:

OK by Roger Federer, who happens to own such an animal, having been presented with one for winning the Gstaad tournament a couple of years back

the morons who write these things really need to hire fact-checkers
Roger got the cow for winning Wimby, it was presented to him at Gstaad

Anyway....

Good Luck Marat!! Good Luck Dinara!!

You're absolutely right, Nicki!

Great bananas! I know it's not the first time U "use" them, but I can't just look at them without saying they are awesome! ;D

[annie]

lol nicki....helloooooooo bananas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dinara started playing now

Good luck Safins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!