Wimbledon 2007

[davis]

I'm bored today so I decided it's time to create a thread for the Mother of All Tournaments - it's Wimbledon time!!!!!!!!!

The most fascinating and traditional of all competitions has also been the most boring one tennis-wise in the last couple of years: Roger seems unbeatable on grass. Let's hope that this year will hold some surprises in store, even though two tough grass competitors, Ancic and Murray, will very likely withdraw. Can Roddick finally fulfill his dream of winning the English trophy? Can Nadal pull off a victory? Will there be a surprise finalist?
Some say grass is only for cows - prove them wrong, guys!!!!!!! ;D


Tournament Name WIMBLEDON ALL ENGLAND LAWN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Location: LONDON, ENGLAND
Dates: 25th JUNE - 8th JULY 2007
Prize Money: app. € 16,000,000
Draw: 128 DRAW
SURFACE: GRASS
WEB SITE: www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html

Entry deadline: May 14, 2007
Seeding: June 18, 2007 (seedings to be announced on Wednesday 20 June, around midday)

THE MAIN DRAW

(1) Federer vs Gabashvili Gaba
Del Potro vs Sanguinetti
Qureshi vs Childs
De Voest vs (26) Safin Too close to Roger

(21) Tursunov v Almagro
Berrer v Montanes
Zib v Hartfield
Fleishman v (13) Haas

(9) Blake v Andreev
Guzman v Pavel
Muller v Hernandez
Hajek v (20) Ferrero

(27) Kohlschreiber v Serra
Peya v Tipsarevic
Falla v Querrey
Ginepri v (5) Gonzalez

(3) Roddick vs Gimelstob
Udomchoke vs Berlocq
Verdasco vs Reynolds
Seppi vs (31)Hrbaty

(17) Ferrer vs Roitman
Mathieu vs Stepanek
Gicquel vs Hernych
Spadea vs (15) Ljubicic

(12) Gasquet vs Ulihrach
Clement vs Mahut
Baker vs Roger-Vasselin
Becker ;D vs (24) Chela

(25) Moya vs Henman
Goodall vs Lopez
Tsonga vs Benneteau
Lapentti vs (8) Murray

(6) Davydenko vs Korolev
Bogdanovic vs Guccione
Monfils vs Johansson
Vliegen vs (32) Monaco

(23) Nalbandian vs Zverev
Dancevic vs Koubek
Devilder vs Zabaleta
Gulbis vs (10) Baghdatis

(16) Hewitt vs Bloomfield
Garcia Lopez vs Bolelli
Mirnyi vs Lu
Navarro-Pastor vs (22) Canas

(30) Volandri vs Kiefer
Santoro vs Karlovic
Delic vs Dlouhy
Starace vs (4) Djokovic

(7) Berdych vs Massu
Wawrinka vs Llodra
Lee vs Vassallo-Arguello
Horna vs (29) Calleri

(19) Bjorkman vs Vicente
Kunitsyn vs Wang
Arthurs vs De Bakker
Kendrick vs (11) Robredo

(14) Youzhny vs Pless
Cilic vs Simon
Mayer vs Warburg
Russell vs (18) Nieminen

(28) Soderling vs O Rochus
Marray vs Grosjean
Eschauer vs Ramirez-Hidalgo
Fish vs (2) Nadal

[Suh]

I can't wait for the draw so I can buy my tickets!!

[rafa]

The semis last year were great. Baghdatis, Nadal and Bjorkman played phenomenal tennis against the odds to get that far!!
It always has a great atmosphere as well.
Even if Andy Murray doesn't play, let's hope Jamie can fly the clan flag in the doubles

[jenhatter06]

little Wimby news ...

Wimbledon to increase challenges

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Wimbledon will give players three chances per set to challenge line calls using video technology at this year's tournament -- one more than the U.S. and Australian Opens.

Wimbledon is introducing the Hawk-Eye system on Centre Court and Court No. 1 at the June 25-July 8 championship for the first time.

The existing cyclops technology will be moved to courts 2, 14 and 18. Cyclops, which has been used at Wimbledon since 1980, uses infrared beams to help determine if serves are in or out.

Wimbledon announced last month it would follow the lead of the U.S. and Australian Opens in introducing Hawk-Eye, but did not say how many challenges players would get. The French Open, which begins Sunday, will not use the system.

"The extra potential challenge recognizes both the importance of the service on a grass court and the fact that cyclops will not be deployed on the service line this year," All England Club chief executive Ian Ritchie said Wednesday.

"Statistics also show that players have been very sensible in their use of the technology so far, and it is right to grant them additional opportunities to use this highly accurate assistance."

Large screens will show line-call replays on the two courts at Wimbledon. Each player or doubles team is allowed a maximum of three incorrect challenges in a set. If the set goes to a tiebreaker, the players are given an additional challenge.

In the fifth set for men's singles and doubles, and the third set for all other events, the slate is reset if the score is tied 6-6, with each side able to make up to three incorrect challenges in the next 12 games.

Wimbledon said chair umpires can refuse "an electronic appeal" if they believe the challenge was not made quickly enough. The umpire can also request a replay if the line judge was unable to make a call on a point-ending shot.

Hawk-Eye will also be introduced at the Queen's Club grass-court warmup for Wimbledon. The tournament will adopt the same protocol as Wimbledon. Rafael Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin and Fernando Gonzalez are among those entered.

[Alya10]

Two more wild cards announced:

Marin CILIC (CRO) - the guy who beat Henman at Queens
Jo-Wilfried TSONGA (FRA) - and the guy who beat Hewitt

[Annie]

Gaudio withdraws from Wimbledon

Struggling former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina has withdrawn from Wimbledon.

The 2004 Paris champion has admitted he is considering retiring after an appalling run that has seen him fail to win consecutive matches in 2007.

Xavier Malisse, Jurgen Melzer, Paradorn Srichaphan and Jose Acasuso have already pulled out of Wimbledon.

On the women's side, 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina of Russia has withdrawn.

[lena]

oh well.... I need something like a pest ;D to get my "girl" into quali draw......


well good luck

[davis]

Wimbledon 2007 Prize Money
Tuesday, 24 April, 2007

The All England Club, Wimbledon, today announced that the Men’s and Ladies’ Singles Champions at the 2007 Championships (25 June-8 July) will each receive £700,000.
The total prize money will be £11,282,710 (up 8.7% on £10,378,710 in 2006).
The Men’s Champion’s purse has increased by 6.9% (£655,000 in 2006), while that of the Ladies' has increased by 12% (£625,000 in 2006). These prizes reflect both a higher than average increase being awarded this year to the Champions, runners-up, and losing semi-finalists and, secondly, the decision, announced in February, to equalise the Ladies' prize money.
The equal prize money decision has not adversely impacted on the overall Men’s prize money, the Singles of which has been increased by 4%, the same as in 2006. The Ladies' Singles event has increased by 19.8% on last year.

Included in the overall figure above are the ‘per diem’ payments (£726,070 in 2007) paid to all competitors, to help with the cost of accommodation, travel and other expenses – especially important for the younger players at the beginning of their careers.
Wimbledon continues to contribute towards the pre- and post-Championships grass court tournaments that form an integral part of the grass court circuit.
Tim Phillips, Chairman of the All England Club and The Championships, said: "No tennis tournament has ever offered higher prize money than Wimbledon in 2007. We want to reward the players appropriately for the talent, entertainment and drama they bring to the grass courts of Wimbledon.”

Gentlemen’s Singles
Winner -1 700,000
Runner-up -1 350,000
Semi-Finalists -2 175,000
Quarter-Finalists -4 88,550
Losers of the Fourth Round -8 47,250
Losers of the Third Round -16 27,050
Losers of the Second Round -32 16,325
Losers of the First Round -64 10,000
Total -128 3,727,400

[Annie]

Zvonareva withdraws from Wimbledon

June 18, 2007

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Vera Zvonareva, who has been bothered by a left wrist injury for months, withdrew from Wimbledon on Monday.

The 19th-ranked Russian also missed the French Open because of the injury. She has not played since retiring while trailing Dinara Safina in the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup in April.

Zvonareva will be replaced by Aleksandra Wozniak. The 19-year-old Canadian lost in the first round at the Australian Open and French Open this year.

Anastasia Myskina, the 2004 French Open champion, previously had withdrawn, along with Zheng Jie and Romina Oprandi.

On the men's side, Gaston Gaudio, Xavier Malisse, Jurgen Melzer, Paradorn Srichaphan and Jose Acasuso have withdrawn.

Wimbledon starts next Monday.

[davis]

admin said:

Zvonareva withdraws from Wimbledon

--- but aren't you happy about the Wild Card for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova? Boy, just writing that name is a challenge ;D

The injured big names in the Men's Singles - Haas, Murray, and Ancic - still haven't officially withdrawn. Would be great to see them all play again...

[Annie]

davis said:

--- but aren't you happy about the Wild Card for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova? Boy, just writing that name is a challenge ;D

LOL ;D You stood up to the challenge and did great I am very glad. She is after all the best junior in the world at the moment who really needs to start getting into the grown-up circuit

[Annie]

Seedings have been announced at Wimbledon. No surprises there with Roger and Justine leading the circuits. Marat is seeded 27th.

For full seedings list following the link below
www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2007-06-20/200706201182331054843.html

[Alya10]

davis said:

The injured big names in the Men's Singles - Haas, Murray, and Ancic - still haven't officially withdrawn. Would be great to see them all play again...

From what I've read Murray might be able to play. As for the other 2, I haven't heard anything...

Still if they withdraw, Marat climbs spots in the seeding, I suppose

[davis]

Peter Bodo on the Wimbledon seeding system...

The Kolya Klub
Posted 06/20/2007 @ 5 :35 PM

Wimbledon issued its seedings today, and while the women were seeded right off the rankings list (that is, the Top 16 women are the Top 16 seeds, if available to play), the rating of the male players was fine-tuned to reflect the performance of the men on grass. I'm not sure if the WTA pros were seeded as per the rankings because of some agreement reached between Wimbledon and the WTA, or because the All England Club believes that women's performance is not nearly as tied to surface (I'm having trouble finding that information). I hope it's the latter, because it lends credibility to the host club's claim to know what it is doing, which in the case of the WTA pros is nothing at all, which is better than doing something dumb (like elevating defending champion Amelie Mauresmo's seeding, given the way she has struggled since her return from surgery). Surface simply isn't a sufficiently decisive factor, mainly because women are less capable of simply overpowering each other with serves on even the fastest of surfaces.

So here are the Wimbledon seedings, with any change from the rankings noted, and my comment where I think it appropriate:

1. Roger FEDERER (SUI): No change. Can't they seed this guy higher than this???
2. Rafael NADAL (ESP): No change. Clay court spec. . . expert my you-know-what.
3. Andy RODDICK (USA): No change. This guy is so into grass that he ought to change his name to Cheech Marin.
4. Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB): Up from No. 5. A bold move by the club; now the Djoker doesn't have to worry about getting schooled by one of the top dogs in the quarters. . .
5. Fernando GONZALEZ (CHI): Up from No. 6. Would you trust Gonzo the way the club does?
6. Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS): Down from No. 4. Just call him "Chopped Liver."
7. Tomas BERDYCH (CZE): Up from No. 11. This guy rarely seems capable of winning two matches, never mind two tournaments [one of them called "Wimbledon"], in a row. A dicey promotion at best.
8. Andy MURRAY (GBR): No change. Guess they resisted that urge to make him No. 2 and give him three serves instead of two . . .
9. James BLAKE (USA): No change. Maybe they got painted into a corner.
10. Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP): Up from No. 16. The guy is playing well - finally. But still . ..
11. Tommy ROBREDO (ESP): Down from No. 7. Joins the Kolya Klub.
12. Richard GASQUET (FRA): No change. I see he beat Vince Spadea the other day!
13. Tommy HAAS (GER): Down from No. 10. That long backswing kills this guy!
14. Mikhail YOUZHNY (RUS): Up from 14. This is the reason Wimbledon reserves the right to fuss with the seedings.
15. Ivan LJUBICIC (CRO): Down from No. 13. Bet he's scared already.
16. Lleyton HEWITT (AUS): Up from 19. He's won the danged thing. It's all about respect.

I didn't bother evaluating the other 16 seeds, as I don't much like the 32-seed regimen. But FYI, the biggest promotion went to Jonas Bjorkman, the 35-year old veteran who reached the semifinals last year, as well as the 2006 Nottingham final. He moved up from 31st in the rankings to take the No. 20 seeding. Wimbledon loves this guy, and so do we, right?

[Alya10]

Does Bodo ever says anything intelligent and relevant about anyone?!? Guess not...

Only 4 days to go! Splendour in th grass about to start ;D