Thursday 30 June 2011

A Trip to Wimbledon and No 1 Court - Part 2

We took to our seats, which were some of the best we have ever had for Number one Court. We were side on to the court but on the opposite side of the umpire and felt really close to the action. It was a really entertaining start to the second set as Anderson went toe-to-toe with Djokovic. There were a number of really long rallies but it was Djokovic who appeared to have the edge with his superior movement and superb returning ability. In one rally, Djokovic ran down some impossible balls before finishing the point off in stunning fashion at the net.


Our view from our seats on number one court


Djokovic's movement was fantastic throughout the match

Both players held comfortably at the start of the second set; however Anderson couldn't keep up with Djokovic and threw in a terrible service game to hand the initiative to the Serbian. Anderson has a potent serve but lacked consistency at key stages of the match. This highlighted the strengths of Djokovic who was able to maintain his level throughout the whole match. Djokovic broke again to wrap up the second set, 6-2.


Anderson showed his talent but his inconsistencies too


Djokovic was dominant in the second set and had his eyes on the task at hand

The third set followed a similar pattern as Anderson threw in some poor games to hand Djokovic the advantage. Djokovic had a few edgy moments where he struggled with his serve and when the moment came to serving the match out, he fell behind with some untimely double faults. However Djokovic regained his composure and eventually closed out the match, 6-3 6-4 6-2.


Djokovic showed some frailties on his serve at the end of the match


Anderson has a huge serve but Djokovic's returning was exemplary

I was impressed with Djokovic on the grass and he was my tip from the start to take the title. He's had a few struggles since the second round but remains in contention and should not be overlooked. Let's not forget he has still only lost one match this year! He is also probably my favourite of the top four players. I particularly like how respectful he is to his opponents such as clapping their good shots but all the time he remains focussed and passionate about his own game.


Djokovic always looked the favourite in this match


Djokovic wins

Before the next match began on No.1 Court, we decided to have a wander around the outside courts. We headed to court 4 where Agnieszka Radwanska was taking on Petra Cetkovska. Radwanska was a set and a break up when we joined the match and looked to be in total control. It was a high quality match with some great rallies but also both players were coming into the net and mixing up the play. Radwanska served for the match at 6-3 5-4 and was at 30-30 when the first rain of the day arrived. We hung around by the court as all the players on the outside courts walked past us including David Nalbandian as they retreated to the locker rooms.


Agnieszka Radwanska in action

It was only a short rain delay and within 30 minutes, the players were back out on court. As they returned with Radwanska two points from the match, she missed both her first serves and Cetkovska smashed her second serve to pieces to break back. Radwanska had a second opportunity to serve it out at 6-5 but once again wasted her chance. Into the tiebreak and at 5-4 up, Radwanska had two points on her serve to finish it off... but she messed it up again! Cetkovska took her chances superbly and wrapped up the 2nd set to the dismay of Radwanska who smashed her racket into her chair.


Radwanska struggled to close the match out


Cetkovska battled superbly to stay in the match

Radwanska has such a weak second serve and it demonstrates the strengths of the rest of her game that she has been a consistent top 15 player for the last couple of years. Unfortunately it is unlikely that she will progress further up the rankings unless she sorts the serve out. We later found out Radwanska wasted a 4-1 lead in the third set to end up losing the match to Cetkovska!!!

Top of Radwanska's to do list - sort out the second serve

As we continued to wander, Olivier Rochus walked past us. We then predicted his opponent on Court 2, Juan Martin Del Potro would follow. I managed to get a shot of him as he was being chased by children who were after his autograph! We also saw Jarmilla Gajdosova in action and Dominika Cibulkova and Petra Kvitova in the doubles who are both great singles players but didn't seem to be working that well together in the doubles. We then headed back to Court No.1 to catch the match between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Grigor Dimitrov. It was the third time in 3 weeks that I saw Tsonga but this turned out to be by far the best match of the three...


Juan Martin Del Potro


Little and Large, Dominika Cibulkova and Petra Kvitova in doubles action

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