Wimbledon 2022

Pussyhands

Sad to see Sue leave. Seems a lot of the iconic presenters are finishing up.

Hope Hazel Irvine stays around in the snooker for many more years

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119318223#Comment_119318223

I felt Nole was sincere in his words to Kyrgios.

If Novak wins one more wimbledon he is absolutely the greatest grass court player of all time. Tied with Roger and beaten him in 3/3 wimbledon finals. Novak will be the greatest grass court and hard court player of all time.

dominatinMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119318734#Comment_119318734

No absolutes in sports. And him being the greatest grass courter is certainly very debatable imo. Right now, he is playing against a depleted field, of that there is no doubt. The fact Kyrgios made the final is evidence of that, talented player but has no business in the final of a GS. How many grass titles has he won?

As for beating Fed, that's a good statistic, but Federer was probably past his prime in those finals, certainly 2019. It's not the same as playing him from 06-10. And I'm not a Federer fan but just think Djokovic supporters love that stat without giving the context.

Btw, I'm not trying to disrespect Djokovics achievement here. He thoroughly deserved the title, and is undoubtedly one of the greatest grass court and all court players ever. But to unambiguously claim him to be THE BEST, is debatable is all I'm saying.

walshb

Ok, I didn’t watch all the final, but most of it. Was it any good to some of you? I thought it was so stale. Tennis was average, Nole didn’t get out 2nd gear, and Kyrgios, as well as being very ordinary was a right tiring pain in the ass!

walshb

Fed also made 12 finals… Nole up there, but Fed still in the discussion as greatest grass courter. 3-1 to Nole head to head, but jaysus, 2019 was insanely close!!

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119318223#Comment_119318223

It occurred to me that what we were seeing there is some clever sports psychology. One of Krygios plays in his head seems to be that the opponent dislikes him and this then fires him up and also helps him get under their skin.

So when Djokovic openly wished him well and joked with him before the match, that blunted this weapon and if yer man was going to get annoyed then, it wasn't going to be at Djok but instead towards the match officials, crowd, box and even turn it in on himself. Djokovic praising him afterwards also a clever way of keeping that going and setting himself up for the next encounter.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119318810#Comment_119318810

A 4 setter final rarely feels like a great match - saying that a lot of the “great” Wimbledon matches tended to be 1/4 and semi final matches - experience mostly trumps youth @ Wimbledon - it’s unfortunate that tennis is still dominated by players in their mid 30s - there will be a lot of very average matches to come in years to come - I reckon tennis will go through a period of downturn while we’re awaiting a new generation of talent

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119318810#Comment_119318810

It was a good spectacle and intriguing in it's way but a bit one sided in the end, despite the apparent closeness of some games. Really all Krygios had at the end of the day was a great serve and a few great winners scattered here & there. But once Novak returned and got into a longer rally, he prevailed as the match wore on. On the other side, despite a couple of closer games, Djokovic always seemed more comfortable on his serve. Djokovic out thought and out played him, he was concentrating on every point like a true pro where yer man was a bit all over the place. He calmed down a bit after going 2-1 down, as realised he was beaten.

AllForIt

That was one of most forgettable Wimbledon finals ever. What a pity Nadal had to withdraw, it could have been a classic.

On Kyrgios, I know he has a point sometimes, but why is it he has to go ballistic over every issue. It's so uncomfortable to watch and imo he brings the game into disrepute.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119318876#Comment_119318876

Mores the reason he needs a proper coach - all the energy his burning up doing this behaviour is taking away from his game. Borg, Djokovic, Federer- all cool as cucumbers - their brain could be going like we hear Kyrgios saying, but we never know because they hide it all so well.

Tennis at that level is a mind game- and Kyrgios is just doesn’t have the mental talent to compete.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119318835#Comment_119318835

It occurred to me too - I don’t think you’re far wrong. And also, Djokovic has been trying for years to endear himself to the Wimbledon audience- a very hard thing to do when up against firm favourites like Federer and Murray-,so by being praiseworthy he endeared himself to Kyrgios fans also and won some browny points with the Wimbledon audience, something that he holds in high esteem

Djokovic cleverly disarmed Kyrgios in the run up to the match ensuring he wouldn’t have to deal with this behaviour directly - it made Kyrgios look like someone having a nervous breakdown ranting at everything and nothing- but not Djokovic - I’d say Djokovic is laughing his head off right now- he essentially and patronisingly patted Kyrgios on the head - and he didn’t even notice 😂

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119318770#Comment_119318770

If djokovic does manage to get another one having the three final victories there against fed is a pretty compelling stat indeed to go with 8 each all the same.

3-0 on the finals

Fed is to Djokovic as Roddick is to Federer at Wimbledon

3-1 in grass overall (1 for fed is a semi)

fryup

Kyrgios uses the players box as a soundboard instead of shouting at the crowd and the officials he lets his frustrations out on his family & friends in the box - i'm sure they know there's nothing malicious in it, its just Nick being Nick😗

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119319460#Comment_119319460

hE's a cHaRaCter!!

kirk.

Obviously stats are only part of the picture

True.

I mean Roddick didn't have any backhand to speak of and Djokovic's 3 Wimbledon final wins over Fed vs Fed's 3 over Roddick don't really tell you that!

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119319208#Comment_119319208

Infairness it is very rare a player has to deal directly with Kyrgios behaviour. It is very rarely directed at an opposition player and certainly not any more often than any other player on the tour.

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119318876#Comment_119318876

Most forgettable ever? Its been the second best final since 2016.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119319580#Comment_119319580

why should another player have to bear the shite that Kyrgios is levelling at the umpire - to say that doesn't affect the other player is not true especially when it can go to the level of every changeover

I got the impression that the umpire "held back" even more today - couple of times where he could easily have been called for an obscenity

may have been thinking that could kick him into the "second phase" of escalation of losing the plot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119319601#Comment_119319601

plenty of completely routine finals at Wimbledon this century if people actually took a look at the scores

the quality was pretty decent and with at most one break in any set

not a classic but far from the worst

it was also obviously miles ahead of the RG final

Federer - Cilic 2017 - now that was a dogshit final

Anderson one or last year not great either

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119319612#Comment_119319612

Why should another player have to wait five minutes for a player to take a toilet break? Why should a player have to wait for someone to get medical attention or a massage? Why should a player have to wait for some to dry themselves with a towel?

If players are put off by Kyrgios behaviour they should give up being professional athletes tbh. They need to get themselves a nice pleasant office job.

Augme

Too add, if I was a professional tennis player and I was playing Kyrgios and was watching him rant away at the umpire I'd be absolutely delighted tbh and I'd always want to see him do it every time I played him.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119319650#Comment_119319650

I'd have to disagree with you there

it's pure noise pollution imo

the only word where professional comes into that is that Kyrgios is being completely unprofessional

in any case - thankfully he didn't win today - that spanner having a slam to gloat about would be painful

chicorytip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119319180#Comment_119319180

His"ranting" type of behavior is not calculated or a deliberate attempt to upset an opponent he happens to be losing to,like the antics of John Mc Enroe once were. McEnroe only ever erupted when he was being beaten. It was ironic that he, of all people,should choose to criticise Kyrgios for his behavior at this tournament.

fryup

⚠️

the woman who annoyed Kyrgios was been *identified

and the protest in the rear stand was about 'missing' Chinese player *Peng Shuai

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119319208#Comment_119319208

I actually think Kyrgios started copping on a bit when Djokovic was so effusive in his victory speech. But he'd been well & truly had by then and sure what can you do when the world's best is praising you and talking you up!

As for how Kyrgios deploys his tactics, he hardly uttered a word in the first set when all was going his way. It was only in the second set after Djokovic had made him run the court a lot on points he lost and his own serve was coming less reliable, that he realised the tide was turning and started the muttering and ranting.

Hard to see how Djokovic will not add a few more majors in next couple of years.

Kyrgios got yet another fine for an "audible obscenity in front of royalty"

His career fines now total $800k Australian apparently

https://twitter.com/Dominicwo/status/1546161960726810625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1546161960726810625%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indy100.com%2Fsport%2Fnick-kyrgios-prince-george-swearing

Girly Gal

There seemed to be lot of incorrect line calls throughout the tournament, some of which happened at crucial stages and could and (probably did in some matches) change the course of a match. Does the umpire not have access to Hawkeye for all points like the commentators seem to have, they were able to tell fairly quickly if a call was wrong. Surely the umpire should have the power to overrule using Hawkeye even if not asked by a player. There was one instance ( not sure what match it was) where the umpire overruled a call incorrectly and was proven wrong by Hawkeye, I think the point ended up being replayed. What's the point in having Hawkeye if only used when a player makes a challenge, the player is often in the worst position to know if a ball is in or out. Surely it should be about getting the correct decision.

On a separate note how accurate is Hawkeye, Hawkeye malfunctioned badly over the weekend at Croke Park, if it can't tell that a football went between the posts, how accurate is it when it comes to a tennis ball moving much faster?

whiterebel

They need to get rid of line judges and use the technology. Too many bad calls this tournament which seems to have been highlighted more by the commentators having more access to it. It seems to available almost instantly now, where it took a few minutes before. You would wonder how many bad calls were there in the years before, when the commentators din't access it.