Running tennis thread 2024

Every time there's a major, it seems, Daniil Medvedev reminds everyone he is one of the best players in the world.

He has now beaten Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sinner in major championship matches. How many others can say that?

 

The Sun has set. Lulu's remarkable run ends in the quarterfinals -- a three-set loss to Donna Vekic.

Definitely fun while it lasted.

 

Which Italian and his team are getting on a plane?

 

Paolini might be legit. Advances to her second straight major semifinal with ease over Navarro.

 

Brad Gilbert -- the man of 1,000 nicknames -- has been calling him "Sin City".

 

Djokovic got a huge break today. His quarterfinal opponent, Alex De Minaur, withdrew with a hip injury before the match, sending Djoker to the semis without even having to step on the court.

That is gigantic for a couple of reasons. First, Demon (as he is often called) is a formidable opponent, a top 10 player (up to No. 6 in the live rankings) who has had a really good year and won one of the grass-court Wimbledon tuneup events. But maybe more important, for a guy Djoker's age coming off very recent knee surgery, a walkover (especially this late in the tournament) is an absolute godsend. It also helps that he has by far the easier semifinal opponent no matter who wins the Fritz-Musetti match (Musetti is currently up two sets to one) -- the other semi is Alcaraz vs. Medvedev, which could be a war.

Djoker has had a very subpar year for him -- I believe this is the latest he's ever gone without a tournament championship -- and he's looked old and on the decline at times. But the stars are certainly aligning for him this week.

 

How about Paolini!!! Forgot about her after Roland Garros

 

First woman to make the final at the French and Wimbledon in the same year since Serena did it in 2015 and '16.

Don't forget about Paolini. She is arguably the hottest player in women's tennis right now. She'll be ranked No. 5 in the world next week regardless of what happens in the final.

A fantastic comeback win. I didn't watch the entire match, as I'm working today, but I popped in and out and watched the back half of the third set and the match tiebreak. She looked overmatched early by Vekic's power, but as I've said on this thread more than once, she's all of those cliches you've heard about small athletes -- scrappy, gritty, fearless. She showed all of those attributes to push her way back into the match, fighting off 10 break points along the way (seven of those after losing Set 1).

By the middle of the third set, after getting a break then giving one up, Vekic's body language was horrible -- she looked like she was about to cry on numerous occasions -- and the unforced errors began piling up. Paolini always appeared very positive throughout the match.

Vekic finished the match with a massive 42 winners but an even more massive 57 unforced errors, 30 of which came in the third set+tiebreaker. Paolini, for comparison, had 26 winners and 32 unforced errors.

 

Did anyone predict a Wimbledon final of Jasmine Paolini vs. Barbora Krejcikova?

Gotta admit I thought Rybakina would crush Krejcikova with her power, but like Paolini, she fought her way back after losing the first set and played steadier tennis.

It's an interesting matchup. I saw much less of the second match as I needed to get some work done, but from the little I saw my big takeaway was that Krejcikova was consistently hitting her spots, especially on her serve -- borne out by the numbers, which show she got 72% of her first serves in. That opened up opportunities for her. Paolini has played confidently and aggressively, especially with her forehand. Her second serve is a liability, but she moves well and is very strong at the net.

BTW, one more note about Paolini's win today -- at 2:51 it was the longest women's semifinal in Wimbledon history.

 

A match I'm really looking forward to is the first men's semi tomorrow -- Alacaraz-Medvedev. Winner not only earns a chance to play for a major title but also jumps past Zverev into the No. 3 spot in the rankings (Alcaraz is currently fourth in the live rankings because his points from winning Wimbledon last year are gone). A Medvedev win would lift him past both Zverev and Alcaraz.