I watched a bunch of Wimbledon interviews. And there were some memorable nuggets.
Ernests Gulbis was asked if he plans to stay in tennis long enough so his child can see him, like as Roger Federer said recently he wants to keep playing so his kids can know that he was a tennis player. Gulbis replied with a smile, that “we have You Tube.’
Gulbis also said he has been working again with Gunter Bresnik since later last year and it’s a main reason why he’s back on his groove. Gulbis added that the Challengers are very tough and there are so many players ranked from 100-250 who are very good and know how to play. And if top 100 players had to go play Challengers they would lose because the Challenger players are used to the Challenger environment, but the converse is also in effect because the Challenger players are not comfortable on the major tournament big stages and they don’t play their best their when they get the big opportunity.
Simona Halep said her court attitude vs Hsieh was not professional, though she did have match point and lead 5-2 in the third before losing five games in a row. She added that Hsieh’s brilliance is how she “mixes up the rhythm.”
Su-Wei Hsieh said she paused after the first fault on her first match point because last year she double faulted on her two match points vs Safarova. So yesterday vs Halep after the first fault on match point she paused and waved her arms to the crowd for extra energy. The unusual act probably disconcerted the already flustered Halep even more as she netted the return. Hsieh also revealed she plays better when she smiles on court but wasn’t sure if she smiled yesterday vs Halep, so it reminded her to smile in the next round vs Cibulkova. Hsieh also credited her solid 2018 with the big title in doubles at Indian Wells that she won with Strycova after entering the draw ten minutes before deadline. It proved “anything can happen.”
Fabio Fognini lost to Vesely and came into his press conference looking to get out of there ASAP. Speaking to Italian press, Fog made no eye contact and fidgeted with his hat, bit his fingernails, inspected his right arm and phone while barely looking at the reporters there. After about two minutes, Fog said thank you and bolted out of the chair and was gone as fast as the wind.
Djokovic said the Wimbledon crowd yesterday mistreated him worse than any of his Wimbledon or Olympic showdowns on center court with Andy Murray over the years. He said there was a persistent set of fans who were coughing and intentionally distracting him before his serves and he had to let them know he was there too. Djokovic said he has nothing against Edmund who is respected by other players and has improved his backhand. Djokovic feels Edmund will contend for majors.
Gulbis said Zverev will win majors but yesterday in their five setter the German ran out of gas and was tired in the fifth.
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catherine · July 8, 2018 at 10:37 am
Ha ha Gulbis won’t see himself on You Tube much longer.
Fognini had the right attitude IMO 🙂
My comment from below has a place here Scoop but you hadn’t posted this then.
Hartt · July 8, 2018 at 3:41 pm
I think Simona using “unprofessional” was a language problem. A Romanian poster wrote that in the Romanian part of her presser she said she was unable to follow the tactics her team had set up, which sounds closer to what she meant. And, playing against Hsieh, it is hardly surprising that she had that problem.
Scoop Malinowski · July 8, 2018 at 8:52 pm
Halep just couldn’t handle Hsieh’s curve balls, screw balls and knuckle balls. She is doing damage control to cover her failure by saying she was mentally in the wrong state and that she failed to follow tactics. She tried her best and was overwhelmed by one of the most unpredictable creative talents in tennis history.
Duke Carnoustie · July 8, 2018 at 10:59 pm
Scoop you didn’t mention this comment by Djoker in which he seemed to take a swipe at the great Roger missing RG if you read into it. …
Q. The 50th anniversary of the US Open in New York City, what do you think was your favorite moment there?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, US Open, I mean, alongside Wimbledon, Roland Garros, Australian Open, historically the four biggest events we have in sports. I think it’s great to see, especially in the last 15 years, all the big players committed to play all the slams. I think Rafa, Roger, myself, Andy, big players, they really didn’t miss more than one or two slams in the last 10, 15 years. That’s great. It always adds to the value of the tournament, to the anticipation.
US Open, every Grand Slam, is different. US Open is recognized for its entertainment, show part, night sessions, crowds getting into it. It’s really special. Obviously biggest stadium we have in sports.
Yeah, I had some wonderful moments there. I think I’ve lost the most finals on that tournament in my career than any other, comparing the finals that I’ve won. But I’ve won also two titles.
I can’t wait to go back. I missed it last year. That’s the only Grand Slam I missed ever since I started playing professional.
catherine · July 9, 2018 at 2:20 am
Simona is a good top 2 or 3 player and seems a very nice person but she isn’t tough or particularly flexible and this match really showed that up. When she couldn’t carry through her teams’ tactics she didn’t change them, or drop them, as, say, a Serena type player most likely would. She couldn’t create her own tactics when in trouble, as great players do, she couldn’t work it out for herself. So she ended being jerked around by Hsieh. She also seemed to be at a bit of a loss dealing with the bounce of the ball on grass.
At present I’d place Simona in the first row of the second rank, across time.
And going back to the language problem, as Hartt points out, that links up to my earlier comment.
Sometimes I think a good translation is better than an interview conducted in limited English. Although I know that’s not feasible at tournaments.
catherine · July 9, 2018 at 8:11 am
Cibulkova sorted out Hsieh and what’s Ostapenko been smoking lately ?
catherine · July 9, 2018 at 8:18 am
More chaos in the women’s draw – Giorgi bt Makarova, fracas over umpiring decision in Cibulkova/Hsieh and Ostapenko warned for coaching and then rolls out the cannon.
catherine · July 9, 2018 at 10:26 am
Pliskova departs and that’s the last of the top 10 women. Duet for Germany – Kerber and Georges win and Julia’s first qf ever at W’don. Only 5 aces though. Angie had the tougher match v Bencic.
Cibulkova’s comments are worth reading/hearing.
Scoop Malinowski · July 9, 2018 at 4:20 pm
Good observations Duke, Djokovic taking swipes at The Godfather of Tennis is a good thing and it adds spice and grudge. Tennis needs more animosity and tension, I’m tired of all this everybody is so nice BS. We need more Marcelo Rios saying he’s gonna kick Muster’s ass and he’ll be lucky to win two games off me in Rome and then Rios backed it up and only lost two or three games to the Moo Man. Rafa and Fed talking nice about each other is near the point of unbearable now. Djokovic is at his best when he’s firing left handed compliments and outright barbs. Djokovic was at his best when he symbolized the mantra: Be the best F the rest!
Hartt · July 9, 2018 at 4:23 pm
This was a very long day of watching tennis. I started at 6:30 am, with the Dabrowski/Xu doubles (which they won), and finished just before 4:00 with Novak’s win over Khachanov. I am a Karen fan, so was disappointed to see him lose in SS. But Novak played very well, he is close to his old form. Cahill predicted he would win a Slam this year, either Wimby or the USO.
My main interest was Raonic’s match, and although McDonald did win a set, it never seemed like Milos was truly threatened. I have to admit that I think Isner vs Raonic will be a boring match in terms of the actual tennis, but I will be feeling anxious during it. Milos is playing well, but so is John. At least Milos made the QF – he went out in that round to Fed last year, so he can’t lose any points. And, so far, he hasn’t been injured. That seems like a minor miracle.
Simon managed to win the third set against Delpo, so they will resume tomorrow. I did not see the match, but posters did not seem especially impressed with Delpo. But Rafa would eat Simon alive, so I hope Delpo does get through.
Was very pleased to see that Kasatkina won, and hope her match is somewhere on all the hours of recorded tennis I have from today. My sports channel actually had 3 channels of Wimby today – such a treat!
Scoop Malinowski · July 9, 2018 at 4:35 pm
Isner vs Raonic intrigues me. Both are desperate for their first majors, both have suffered so many heartbreaks and now both are so so so close to doing it. Will be a tense tight short point match, like the old days. I enjoy watching both especially against big servers, they are almost like mirror styles. Good match, I will tune in. Heartbreaker for Gulbis he had that third set tiebreaker but Kei hung in there and then rolled in the fourth. At least Gulbis is back to playing top 20 tennis again, he’s the comeback story of the year.
Hartt · July 9, 2018 at 5:28 pm
Scoop, you and I are probably in a small minority saying we will watch Isner vs Raonic. I’m seeing a lot of comments from people saying they will avoid it. Milos invested so much in preparing for Wimby, Goran said months ago that everything was geared to Wimby, any good results before that would be gravy. I hope that this doesn’t put too much pressure on Milos.
Scoop Malinowski · July 9, 2018 at 8:47 pm
Hartt, The Goran factor could be the missing link for Raonic. I’m starting to believe he really could do it and what Raonic needs is the support and wisdom of a man who actually won Wimbledon. He’s never had it before, John McEnroe just hasn’t got the job done as a coach yet, he may be spread too thin to sufficiently help a player go all the way, Goran guided Cilic to a major title win. Goran is there 100% full time with Raonic, this could be it for Raonic. Now or never.
Hartt · July 10, 2018 at 7:20 am
I agree that Goran is the perfect coach for Milos, especially for Wimby. Milos has talked about how much Goran has helped him off the court, especially getting in the right mind set when coming back from injuries. As Milos said, Goran’s personality is opposite to his. Goran has said the team tries to keep things light which, given Milos’ intensity, is a good thing. And the fact that Goran helped Cilic win a Slam is a big plus.
I don’t know if Milos can win Wimby this year, with Fed in fine form, but have been a bit annoyed that he hasn’t even been in the conversation. And I think he will win at least 1 Slam before his career is over.