The Tennis thread

[Super_horns]

Shame they lost today in the double.

Is Konta fully British till she loses in the eyes of the media!



Still don't think she will go all the way - Venus Williams is quietly going about her business.

 

[Leewilson]

Yeah Konta's game whilst consistent is one dimensional. I think Halep will expose her lack of movement on this surface. Thought for a while it could be Coco Vandeweghe's tournament. We'll see.

Nadal could be going out here. Great news for Murray if so although even greater news for Ciic who looks imperious

 

[Super_horns]

Blimey Nadal and Muller still going!

Muller held on very well so far giving away very little chance.

Djokovic hasn't started yet.

 

[GodsGift]

Why don't they put Djokovic on Centre Court?

 

[Master D]

Someone check Muller's pulse, guy is ice cold out there.

 

[Super_horns]

Why don't they put Djokovic on Centre Court?

Unusually for Wimbledon that was bad planning..

Guess they don't think his match will be 5 hours long tomorrow as its first on Centre.

Great performance by Muller - missed the end but he was the one having match/break points as the game went on.

Federer and Murray looked good but the Nadal defeat will be a warning (somebody like Cilic is in form too.)

 

[SALTIRE]

Aye I always think Cilic is a dark horse here, he can be superb and unplayable on grass. He plays at the top of his game, he'll be difficult to stop.

 

[Super_horns]

Great effort from Konta.

In a way Murray will be pleased there is another Brit going so well - less pressure on him as such.

Think he will win in 3/4 tomorrow.

 

[Carver]

Johanna Konta is really Australian and not British so I won't be supporting her and the same goes for Andy Murray as he is Scottish so he doesn't really count either. Now I know they are both knocked out but I also do not accept Kyle Edmund as he is South African and I also don't accept Heather Watson being British either as she's from Guernsey, so the only good enough player I would of classed as British is Dan Evans but I don't like him because he is a crack headed tattooed working class peasant and we cannot have such riff raff ever representing our country at our Wimbledon club.

Haw haw haw.

The only true good British player we have had in recent years is Tim Henman, now there's a man who could get things done. A truly noble ENGLISH man!

 

[Super_horns]

A wind up about Murray?

Henman isn't that noble - he got disqualified from Wimbledon once!



TFF update (I've managed to lose all my ladies!)

http://www.tffdreamteam.com/wimbledon/mygroup.php

Kim Murray's Mounds 1182 573 609 - Overall/ Men's /Ladies
The Living Geckos 1105 613 492
Wilson's wonders 1077 645 432
Double Fault 1047 569 478
Baker's Ballers 989 526 463
Mark F_SW19 915 622 293

 

[Carver]

A wind up about Murray?

Henman isn't that noble - he got disqualified from Wimbledon once!



TFF update (I've managed to lose all my ladies!)

http://www.tffdreamteam.com/wimbledon/mygroup.php

Kim Murray's Mounds 1182 573 609 - Overall/ Men's /Ladies
The Living Geckos 1105 613 492
Wilson's wonders 1077 645 432
Double Fault 1047 569 478
Baker's Ballers 989 526 463
Mark F_SW19 915 622 293

Oh didn't you know? Players are not British in tennis unless they are 100% English and they are only liked and accepted into clubs in the UK if they are from a middle class background.

 

[Krazy8]

TFF update (I've managed to lose all my ladies!)

Kim Murray's Mounds 1182 573 609 - Overall/ Men's /Ladies
The Living Geckos 1105 613 492
Wilson's wonders 1077 645 432
Double Fault 1047 569 478
Baker's Ballers 989 526 463
Mark F_SW19 915 622 293

I might give it a go. Don't expect much!

 

[Ciderhead]

The annoying thing is I swapped out Muller for Lopez at the last minute or I really would be bossing it!

 

[St. Juste]

Johanna Konta is really Australian and not British so I won't be supporting her and the same goes for Andy Murray as he is Scottish so he doesn't really count either. Now I know they are both knocked out but I also do not accept Kyle Edmund as he is South African and I also don't accept Heather Watson being British either as she's from Guernsey, so the only good enough player I would of classed as British is Dan Evans but I don't like him because he is a crack headed tattooed working class peasant and we cannot have such riff raff ever representing our country at our Wimbledon club.

Haw haw haw.

The only true good British player we have had in recent years is Tim Henman, now there's a man who could get things done. A truly noble ENGLISH man!

Correct, Konta is clearly not British. In any respect. Did she first visit the country at 15? She wouldn't even qualify to play football here. None of her family are from Britain.

The only reason she represents Britain is for money, the same as Aljaz Bedene (to be fair, at the least the latter admits it).

Anyone who follows tennis to even the slightest degree will understand this, I'm quite surprised at the level of support she has received. It's not as if she even really trained here, like Murray some of her formative years were spent in Spain (and that was before her / her family) even moved to the UK.

I'm all for integration and breaking down borders, but I think it should be challenged when athletes choose countries to represent for financial reasons.

Heather Watson, meanwhile, clearly is British.

 

[Super_horns]

Well she has lived here since 14 I think but I guess its fair people will have doubts.

Bit like with Chris Froome (although isn't a family member British - same with Mo Farah?) and some cricket/rugby players.

 

[Carver]

Correct, Konta is clearly not British. In any respect. Did she first visit the country at 15? She wouldn't even qualify to play football here. None of her family are from Britain.

The only reason she represents Britain is for money, the same as Aljaz Bedene (to be fair, at the least the latter admits it).

Anyone who follows tennis to even the slightest degree will understand this, I'm quite surprised at the level of support she has received. It's not as if she even really trained here, like Murray some of her formative years were spent in Spain (and that was before her / her family) even moved to the UK.

I'm all for integration and breaking down borders, but I think it should be challenged when athletes choose countries to represent for financial reasons.

Heather Watson, meanwhile, clearly is British.

Oh yeah I forgot about Bedene, he is Slovenian.

The reason why Konta gets so much support is because she has GB next to her name and she is doing well regardless of the fact that she isn't really British. Actual English tennis players who only ever train in England have zero hope of ever getting far in a tournament as the training in this country is so poor compared to other countries and there is still a class divide at club level in this country where learning tennis at a young age is only affordable by the middle class as they do not want any poor people mixing with them.

It does not bother me that Konta is representing us because if she wasn't, then I would not be supporting anyone in Womens tennis other than watching Laura Robson and Heather Watson bottle it or just get annihilated off a top player early on as usual.

I don't think we'll ever see the day again where an Englishman or woman wins Wimbledon.

 

[Super_horns]

Shame for Murray - did not move well and served poorly.

Querrey was excellent.

 

[SALTIRE]

Andy could hardly move the last couple of sets, that hip playing havoc and it's cost him. Oh well try again next year champ.

Hopefully Konta and Jamie can still bring it home however.

 

[Leo]

Andy could hardly move the last couple of sets, that hip playing havoc and it's cost him. Oh well try again next year champ.

Now deposed.....You not think he may have been better giving it a miss this year to try and undergo a better recovery? US Open is in a couple of months.

 

[Veggie Legs]

Correct, Konta is clearly not British. In any respect. Did she first visit the country at 15? She wouldn't even qualify to play football here. None of her family are from Britain.

Apart from the minor detail of being a British citizen...

 

[Master D]

Federer just won Wimbledon.

 

[Super_horns]

Djokovic out due to injury.

Federer must be loving it - looked in real top form earlier so even an on song Cilic won't be enough.

 

[Leewilson]

Been a disappointing men's tournament with injuries all over the place.

By contrast, the women's event has been very good with some high quality matches. Can't call either of the semi finals.

 

[SALTIRE]

Now deposed.....You not think he may have been better giving it a miss this year to try and undergo a better recovery? US Open is in a couple of months.

Yeah he looks likely to lose his number 1 ranking and it's been one of those seasons. Think he may have to prioritise what tournaments he plays and hopefully get over this injury asap. Probably won't start to see the best of him until next year just like the year after he had his back surgery.

Agree about the women's side being more entertaining and interesting than the men's this year, it's reaching a mighty climax and still tough to call a winner.

 

[Super_horns]

Looks like we might have a good representation in the Mixed doubled quarter finals:

Jamie Murray with Hingis, Heather Watson and her partner as defending champions and 2 Brits paired together.

 

[Carver]

Tennis is getting boring now with all these big servers getting so many aces. They should make it that you only have one chance of a serve to score a point, no second chances to have a serve if you miss the first.

 

[St. Juste]

Well she has lived here since 14 I think but I guess its fair people will have doubts.

Bit like with Chris Froome (although isn't a family member British - same with Mo Farah?) and some cricket/rugby players.

She moved from Australia to Spain at age 14 - she might have first stepped on British soil at, what, 15? At which point she was already a very promising junior tennis player. Even if she has resided in Britain since this was as a tennis professional who tours around the world. She will have spent significantly more of her life in Australia than Britain

Yes, it's a widespread problem and it has very little to do with identity. The UK gives more funding to its athletes, look at the success of the Olympics, they get more sponsorship money and better facilities. It's not their fault they choose to represent Britain, it's an entirely logical choice for their game and their bank balance. Mo Farah represents Britain, but stays in the US.

The downside is that it doesn't build up sports in other countries - credit to Raonic who could have represented Britain but choose the significantly less lucrative option of representing Canada.

The other downside is that funding goes to foreign ringers rather than people who actually grew up in Britain.

So instead of international spot being a cultural pursuit and a leveler the end game is that it becomes like professional sport with richest nations cherry picking the best players. Messi could represent Argentina, but the Spanish FA have more money, nicer hotels and mean less travelling. Luka Modric is really missing out on sponsorship money representing a small market like Croatia, why not pretend to be English?

Konta is acutely aware of this herself, when asked during the Australian open about this issue she sheepishly stated she grew up in the UK - which is laughably not true. Unless "growing up" solely constitutes the ages of 15-17. She is in it for the money, she knows it, and unlike Bedene is unwilling to admit it.

Oh yeah I forgot about Bedene, he is Slovenian.

The reason why Konta gets so much support is because she has GB next to her name and she is doing well regardless of the fact that she isn't really British. Actual English tennis players who only ever train in England have zero hope of ever getting far in a tournament as the training in this country is so poor compared to other countries and there is still a class divide at club level in this country where learning tennis at a young age is only affordable by the middle class as they do not want any poor people mixing with them.

It does not bother me that Konta is representing us because if she wasn't, then I would not be supporting anyone in womens tennis other than watching Laura Robson and Heather Watson bottle it or just get annihilated off a top player early on as usual.

I don't think we'll ever see the day again where an Englishman or woman wins Wimbledon.

Correct, although UK wide training is improving significantly. Spain and Florida will continue to set the benchmark but the latter hasn't produced any of the big 4. There was certainly historically a bit of an issue with the motivation of UK based players in the early 2000s - look at the underwhelming careers of David Sherwood, Miles Kasiri and Alex Bogdanovic.

Scotland has no real history in tennis, and there's no rhyme or reason why we should concurrently have an excellent doubles player and one of the greatest players of all time simultaneously. Sometimes it just happens like that. The UK will invest far more into tennis than Switzerland or Serbia.

The class divide was exemplified by Henman, a Jacob Rees Mogg esque figure, but Murray will have done a lot to break down that barrier. He comes from an ordinary background, and is in no way posh.

If you're taking the position of only supporting English athletes, that's fair enough, but UK funding is central and Murray will have done a significant amount in improving interest and access to tennis.

Apart from the minor detail of being a British citizen...

And that is a minor detail.

 

[Super_horns]

TBF I think Farah lives in the USA to train but I agree there are some who probably come over for the money and a chance to compete on the International stage.

Of course tennis is seen as a very posh elitist sport by many in this country and the general public feel they just cannot join a tennis club like you can a cricket or football club..

That certainly won't help bring through any potential talent - and the LTA seem to waste a lot of money.

 

[St. Juste]

Of course tennis is seen as a very posh elitist sport by many in this country and the general public feel they just cannot join a tennis club like you can a cricket or football club..

That certainly won't help bring through any potential talent - and the LTA seem to waste a lot of money.

I'm surprised if that is still the perception, certainly in Scotland cricket is perceived as being far more posh than tennis.

But it feels like a bit of an excuse, golf is universally perceived to be a rich mans sport (Scotland a notable and historical exception) but very few if any of the current great golfers are rich or posh in the slightest. Consider Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy - people from a wealthy background are the exception not the rule.

In certain aspects tennis is still posh, certainly in London, but around the country Murray is helping to break down this barrier. 20 years ago he, and his voice, would have been mocked at Queens Club - they aren't mocking him now.

 

[Leo]

certainly in Scotland cricket is perceived as being far more posh than tennis.

By whom? Never heard that uttered before in my life. Although playing football was my first sport, I played cricket on a casual basis for many of my younger years and with a team whilst at secondary. It was also watched regularly by many youngsters in my area as there was an amateur team played every weekend nearby.