Wimbledon 2007

[Anne]

I actually found it quite good and so found my commentators on tv:P! There were many unforced errors but he made that all right with his serve which was really working for him!
Haaaaaaaaaaa.. I'm in heaven!
Although.. I have only 1 hour to study my bloody tests!!!!!!!!:S

[Dina]

I just followed the damn scoreboard my PC isn't in a good mood to show me some good tennis! nah!
I think that was a clean match obviously from the scoreboard each time he got broken he got his head back and broke back! he saved a lot of break points and was there when he had to!
I think it's all what we want from him! hopefully he's gonna get his confidence back to manage a third round clash!
who's the next now?

[Anne]

dina said:

I just followed the damn scoreboard my PC isn't in a good mood to show me some good tennis! nah!
I think that was a clean match obviously from the scoreboard each time he got broken he got his head back and broke back! he saved a lot of break points and was there when he had to!
I think it's all what we want from him! hopefully he's gonna get his confidence back to manage a third round clash!
who's the next now?

This name took ages to type in here but here it comes: Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, Pakistan (ranking: 279). They have never met before.

[Dina]

humm sweet! it will be nice to see that! I hope they'll air that match!thanx Anne sweety! and I know I'm abusing but can anyone find his profile and the one of the guy he's beaten Lee Child?

[Anne]

DAMN! I'm trying to add some pics I have found on Getty Images but it's not working.. I'm might doing something wrong.. help me please??

here is the link of the pics I found from this match: editorial.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx

[emma]

[Anne]

Interview after the match:

M. Safin - 26 June
Tuesday, 26 June, 2007


Q. How do you think you played today?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, for the conditions, first match at Wimbledon is pretty tough to play well, so kind of nervous at the beginning, and a difficult match with the guy I played. It was okay the first match, I think.

Q. You're up against Qureshi next from Pakistan. Do you know much about this guy?

MARAT SAFIN: Neither. I don't even know how he looks unfortunately. I guess he's playing pretty good tennis if he passed the quallie, he qualified, he won the three set match today. So I guess tough opponent second round. We'll see how it's going to be.

Q. Are you going to have your spies out doing some research on this guy?

MARAT SAFIN: Not really, not really (smiling). We'll see tomorrow.

Q. Is there anything that you feel you need to practice on after today's game? Is there anything you thought was missing from the way you played?


MARAT SAFIN: Not really. I played another match, and just a little bit of confidence. Everything is up to the confidence. Even if you're playing bad, you win a couple of matches, then you might have a surprise and start to play well and you start to make some results. I'll play the next match, and I face Federer in the third round. That's my goal, and then see how it's going to go. First of all, let's play tomorrow, see how it's hopefully everything will end up in a nice way, and then it's going to be the next match. Not really looking too far.

Q. Do you have the confidence at the moment?

MARAT SAFIN: No, I don't.

Q. You have no confidence at the moment?

MARAT SAFIN: I have no confidence at the moment.

Q. How come? What's wrong with your confidence?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, because I'm not winning a lot of matches lately, because I've been struggling for the past couple of months, more than a couple of months. So how are you going to build up the confidence? The confidence comes with winning matches and playing a lot of semifinals, finals. The last time I played the semifinal was in March, so that's where my confidence has left me.

Q. How did you feel when your confidence was at your lowest?

MARAT SAFIN: Well, just try to make small goals and try to play try to pick up any moments, any matches, and then whenever I have a big time breakthrough, then that's what counts. But you need to pick up all the small matches and play set by set, match by match and game by game.

Q. You said you've got Federer in the third round if you get past Qureshi. You've beaten him before at the Australian Open.

MARAT SAFIN: Yeah, I need to play my next match against Qureshi so let's look at this one first. My position shouldn't be looking any farther than my second round match.

Q. Do you think people worry too much about Federer, get too nervous when they play him, give him too much respect?

MARAT SAFIN: I don't really think about Federer. Any other players don't really, really care, and why should I care about them?

[Patxy]

[Chachou]

[hipponette]

Nice job, Marat!

And holy crap, was the Henman-Moya match good or what?

[Dina]

oh God he looks so cute, HOT, and sweet and young! i wanna eat him!

[Dina]

humm! damn confidence! God's with ya honey! let's see this against Qureshi and then we'll see. but he looks like terribly intentioned to beat him tomorrow!
God, we need some help!

[Dina]

Match Reports

Straight Sets Win For Safin


Tuesday, 26 June, 2007


Can there ever be such a thing as an enjoyable match on grass for Marat Safin? The former world number one, seeded 26 here, beat the South African qualifier Rik De Voest 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 7-5, yet appeared to relish scarcely a moment of it.

He has often professed himself utterly baffled by the challenges of grass and, true to form, this match seemed to give him all [glow=red,2,300]the pleasure of an afternoon in the dentist’s chair.[/glow] (how true can that be! )

The first set was a cagey affair as all parties apparently waited to find out what kind of tennis Safin would produce today. There is always an air of unpredictability about the Russian’s game and, on grass especially, observers can never be certain which version of him will turn up – not just match to match, but rally to rally.

Today’s first set was a case in point: one rally would see Safin displaying confident simplicity, the very next something akin to disinterest.

De Voest, a Davis Cup stalwart for South Africa, was as aware of this as anyone, and began brightly. Playing in a peaked cap and sunglasses despite the less than dazzling conditions, he seemed rather comfortable and even broke for 3-2 when Safin dumped a forehand in the net.

This looked like a prime opportunity for the South African to take advantage of Safin’s permanent turmoil on grass, but perhaps this was the moment when experience told. Today’s match was, after all, De Voest’s Slam debut – he has attempted to qualify for Wimbledon every year since 2002 without success until now. Despite a truckload of unforced errors, the Russian broke back. Worse was to come for De Voest. He earned himself two break points for 6-5 via a lovely cross-court forehand volley, yet both went begging.

Come the tiebreak, Safin once again veered between torment and doing what should come naturally before a De Voest mistake handed him set point. When Safin sent a backhand down the line, he gazed thunderously at the linesman as if expecting him to call the ball out, as if the very court itself must hate him. But the linesman called it good and the set belonged to Safin.

Yet the Russian’s tussle with himself and the surface continued into the second set with an early break by De Voest. Safin pulled it back and, although his play continued to be peppered with some startling errors, he managed to snatch a key break of his own for 5-4 before closing out the set.

While Safin had managed not to lose his temper or break any racquets, it all had the air of torture for him. In the third set, his forehand repeatedly continued to drift long while De Voest stockpiled break points without converting any of them.

But then at the changeover when De Voest was 5-4, the South African called for the trainer, clutching at his right forearm. A medical timeout followed, but the treatment could not rescue his match. Safin closed out the win with an ace. Nonetheless, rarely can a straight sets triumph have appeared to bring the victor less pleasure.

Written by Kate Battersby

[jenhatter06]

hipponette said:

And holy crap, was the Henman-Moya match good or what?

true that, great fun ... anti-climatic end with Moya's DF, but other than that, really superb! ... and it's fun watching the crowd and the Hill ride the rollercoaster with Tim, living and dying by every point ;D

[Dina]

Pakistan's Qureshi fulfils a dream at Wimbledon
Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:22PM BST

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - After once hitting the headlines for playing doubles with an Israeli, Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi made his solo mark at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Qureshi, the first Pakistani to play in the Wimbledon men's singles in 31 years, beat Briton Lee Childs 6-3 6-4 7-6 in the first round. Next up for Qureshi will be the Russian former number one Marat Safin.

Qureshi, mobbed afterwards by Asian fans clamouring for photos and autographs, told Reuters: "From the first point I decided to be aggressive. The main thing I was worried about was how to handle the pressure at Wimbledon."

Haroon Rahim was the last Pakistani to reach the second round here, in 1975 and 1976.

He may be ranked only 279 in the world but Qureshi's confidence was high when he upset Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the Halle grasscourt tournament earlier this month and then fought through Wimbledon's qualifying rounds.

"I was very loose and relaxed on court today," he said. "I don't think Lee expected me to come out today so pumped up and fired up."

The 27-year-old from Lahore, whose mother was a national tennis champion, said "I am living my dream. Ever since I started playing, I wanted to play Wimbledon."

"My mum took me to the tennis courts one day when I was 14. That is when I started playing tennis."