WIMBLEDON DAY 2 PICKS

Spin got slammed yesterday.  There are no 2 ways to describe what happened on Day 1 on the women's side.  From young Puig slamming the NO. 5 seed, Errani in straight sets, to Sharapova struggling against Krista, to Vika almost retiring against her opponent, to the struggles of Bartoli and Flipkens, the women's bottom half of the draw saw more drama than anything else.  Of course the day will be remembered for the upset heard around the world with Rafael Nadal, the French Open champion on the men's side going out in straight sets to Steve Darcis. 

The top half of the women's draw plays tomorrow and the reigning ladies' champion, current occupier of the Penthouse and the No. 1 seed, Serena Williams, opens action on Day 2 on  Centre Court.

The OOP for tomorrow is filled with lots of great matches and it took Spin almost 2 hours to really make her picks.  I will therefore advise all readers of this blog to tread carefully when making your picks, because unlike Spin, you don't want to get slammed in Suicide Pool.  

Spin's Picks are as usual in red:-

Day 2 Matches

Serena Williams (USA) [1] v Mandy Minella (LUX) 
Q Caroline Garcia (FRA) v Jie Zheng (CHN) 
Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) v Q Carina Witthoeft (GER) 
Alexandra Cadantu (ROU) v Tamira Paszek (AUT) [28]

Sabine Lisicki (GER) [23] v Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 
Elena Vesnina (RUS) v Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) 
Olga Puchkova (RUS) v Arantxa Rus (NED) 
LL Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) v Samantha Stosur (AUS) [14]

Maria Kirilenko (RUS) [10] v Laura Robson (GBR) 
Q Mariana Duque-Marino (COL) v Julia Goerges (GER) 
Ayumi Morita (JPN) v Marina Erakovic (NZL) 
A.Medina Garrigues (ESP) v Shuai Peng (CHN) [24]

Romina Oprandi (SUI) [31] v WC Alison Riske (USA) 
Mallory Burdette (USA) v Urszula Radwanska (POL) 
Kaia Kanepi (EST) v WC Tara Moore (GBR) 
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) v Angelique Kerber (GER) [7]


Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [4] v Q Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) 
Timea Babos (HUN) v Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 
Heather Watson (GBR) v Madison Keys (USA) 
Monica Niculescu (ROU) v Mona Barthel (GER) [30]

A.Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [21] v Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 
Q B.Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) v Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 
Anna Tatishvili (GEO) v Petra Martic (CRO) 
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) v Nadia Petrova (RUS) [13]

Roberta Vinci (ITA) [11] v Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 
Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) v Jana Cepelova (SVK) 
M.Torro-Flor (ESP) v Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 
Q Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) v Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [18]

Klara Zakopalova (CZE) [32] v Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 
Nina Bratchikova (RUS) v Annika Beck (GER) 
Olga Govortsova (BLR) v Simona Halep (ROU) 
Michaella Krajicek (NED) v Na Li (CHN) [6]

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: WIMBLEDON - DAY 1 PICKS

Wimbledon.  The home of tennis.  It is without a doubt my favourite tournament and I really do look forward to seeing and hearing the sounds of Wimbledon.  The music that is played on the television is different than for the other Slams and the calm and serenity that overtakes this tournament transforms the tennis calendar and takes fans back to the days of women playing in long skirts and men in long pants with jackets and waistcoats. 

The draw has been analysed to death and as is the norm on this particular blog, I leave that to those who know how the draws actually work.  As I have done in the past I will feature the day's play and do my picks. The Spin abandoned her picks mid-match due to the loss of a certain player who shall remain nameless.  

Most persons have picked Serena Williams to win this tournament and I can see nothing in her draw (I looked) that would upset her.  

The off court stuff that is now going on will hopefully not affect play.  Much has been said about those off court comments and these have also been analysed to death.  The Spin will not post any thoughts on this, except to say, let the tennis begin. 

The OOP for Monday has been posted and the matches as well as Spin's Picks  below which are in red:-

DAY 1 MATCHES

Sara Errani v Monica Puig
Petra Kvitova v Coco Vandeweghe
Petra Kvitova v Coco Vandeweghe
Carla Suarez Navarro v Lourdes Dominguez Lino
Jelena Jankovic v Johanna Konta
Jelena Jankovic v Johanna Konta
Alize Cornet v Vania King

Silvia Soler-Espinosa v Misaki Doi

Lara Arruabarrena v Lesia Tsurenko

Eva Birnerova v Varvara Lepchenko

Sloane Stephens v Jamie Hampton

Pauline Parmentier v Andrea Petkovic

Petra Cetkovska v Donna Vekic

E.Cabeza Candela v Caroline Wozniacki

Marion Bartoli v Elina Svitolina

Christina McHale v Alexa Glatch

Camila Giorgi v Samantha Murray

Stefanie Voegele v Sorana Cirstea

Lucie Safarova v Lauren Davis

Lucie Hradecka v Karin Knapp

M.Larcher De Brito v Melanie Oudin

Kristina Mladenovic v Maria Sharapova

Kiki Bertens v Yaroslava Shvedova

Garbine Muguruza v Anne Keothavong

Johanna Larsson v Ekaterina Makarova

Sofia Arvidsson v Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

Eugenie Bouchard v Galina Voskoboeva

Virginie Razzano v Ana Ivanovic

Yanina Wickmayer v Vesna Dolonc

Ajla Tomljanovic v Bojana Jovanovski

Yulia Putintseva v Kirsten Flipkens

Su-Wei Hsieh v Tatjana Maria

Elena Baltacha v Flavia Pennetta

Maria Joao Koehler v Victoria Azarenka

DAY 7 RESULTS AND DAY 8 PICKS AND PANS

What a day.  As predicted by Spin, Hampton pulled the biggest upset of the tournament on the women's side when she ousted Petra Kvitova in straight sets.  I will have more on that match in another post. Also going out was 2010 finalist, Samantha Stosur.  She went out to 2 time semifinalist Jelena Jankovic.  We here at the Spin really did believe that Jankovic would have pulled the upset.  

As expected,  Cornet gave Azarenka her toughest match of this tournament by taking her to 3 sets.  Cornet had a break in the third set but was  unable to maintain her lead and lost the last 6 games of the match.  

We are now into Day 8 of the tournament and the matches scheduled for play tomorrow feature some really good match ups.  Picks will be very hard from here on in.  Below are  Spin's Picks in red:-

Serena Williams v Roberta Vinci 

Svetlana Kuznetsova v Angelique Kerber 

Agnieszka Radwanska  v Ana Ivanovic 

Carla Suarez Navarro  v Sara Errani 

Petra Kvitova - Respecting your Opponent

Throughout this tournament, I have noticed the intensity that the top 3 women bring to their matches.  It did not matter whether the opponent was a wild card, an aging champion or even a top 10 player who had fallen on hard times, all 3 women faced each opponent with one thing in mind, my opponent across the net is a competitor and wants to beat me. My job is to ensure that it does not happen.  

From the fist pumps, the come ons, the jumping around between points, the glares across the net, all 3 top women have faced each of their opponents with respect that the woman across the net deserves.  I watched Petra Kvitova's match today against Jamie Hampton from start to finish.  Kvitova took to the court showing little or no emotion.  She was flat, unprepared and her game was somewhere in the locker room or in Prague.  Hampton, on the other hand, ever the competitor, respected her opponent enough to come with all her weapons, as well as her intensity. She knew that if she wanted to win this particular match, she had to bring her A game. Hampton, in my view, respected Kvitova's game and what she had achieved and knew that nothing but the best was required for this match. 

It was not until 5-4 up in the second set that Petra started to bring the game that won her Wimbledon and the WTA Tour Championship in 2011.  She started to serve better, mix up the variety on her shots and started to move Hampton around.  In the tie breaker, she played some great tennis, but just faltered at the end.  Credit however must be given to Hampton, who could have faded after losing 2 match points on her serve.  She kept focused on the change of ends and saved a set point with some stellar play.  

In thinking about this match, I wondered to myself whether Petra has respect for every opponent that she faces across the net, or whether she is only concerned with those who are either ranked ahead of her. I remembered her match against Serena Williams in  Doha this year when she showed the world just how great a tennis player she can be.  I have seen her against Sharapova in Australia in 2012 and against Victoria Azarenka in Madrid.  She brings her A game when she plays these women, and I believe she brings that A game because she knows if she plays anything less than her A game she will be sent packing. 

Is it then that she does not respect the games of lower ranked opponents why she continues to put forth these dismal performances against lower ranked opponents, and most times when faced with the prospect  of losing she turns on her A game? Most of my friends who watched the match today were of the view that the first set score of 6-1 was a typical Petra first set.  Most said they would wait until the second set for Petra to bring her A game. She eventually did do that, but why does she feel the need to go on these walkabouts and then try to regroup?

I am sure that Petra and her team will have much to discuss from today's loss, but at the end of the day Hampton should also be given credit for playing a spectacular match and coming away with the win.