The History of Men's Tennis (Open Era)

Unfortunately rain again reminded itself on Friday, three second-round matches were concluded, but 5 out of 8 three-round encounters were suspended to Saturday…
Two youngest players on the tour, Ryan Harrison [122] and Bernard Tomic [158] played five-setters (2nd round) with a different outcome – Harrison lost on Friday two sets, Tomic won two. On the following day, Tomic made the biggest upset dismissing in straight sets Robin Soderling. I guess it’s interesting that Tomic hasn’t lost a service game in the last two days (two sets with Andreev, three with Soderling). The 18-year-old Australian hasn’t got spectacular game, but he has absolutely amazing timing, anticipation and clever strategy. Beside this he is tall, so we can expect some progress considering his 1st serve. Among young guns (born in the 90’s) who are already known, now then Raonic, Dimitrov, Harrison & Tomic, I expect the latter might have the most successful career. It should be a breakthrough tournament for him, especially that he now faces instable Xavier Malisse, thus chances of reaching the quarterfinals are high.  “I really came in today giving myself a chance. I think I played really relaxed in the first set,” Tomic said, “I didn’t think I could win at the start. But the way I was playing, I was questioning myself. [And] after that first set, it opened up a lot of doors.”
Three players (Rafael Nadal, Juan Marin del Potro and Feliciano Lopez) won their matches in straight sets needing tie-breaks in the first two sets. Nadal was surprised by great service performance of Gilles Muller. The defending champion saved a double set point in the 1st set, was two points away from losing the 2nd set. Del Potro had some troubles in each set of his match with Gilles Simon, which won 7-6, 7-6, 7-5. ‘DelPo’  fought off two set points in the first tie-break, was *2:4 (30 all) down in the 2nd set and *4:5 (15-30) in the 3rd set. F.Lopez [44] avenged seven straight defeats to Andy Roddick. The Spaniard won both tie-breaks 7-2 thanks to three great passing shots, two from his weaker backhand side. He fired 28 aces (Roddick 23). Unexpectedly Lopez’s opponent in the next round will be Lukasz Kubot [93], who much more better dealt with a two-day encounter. His match with Gael Monfils was suspended at one set apiece and 3:3 (deuce) in the 3rd set; after the resumption Kubot got a break and notched a streak of six winning games! 4th round at Wimbledon is arguably the biggest success in career of ‘Q-bot’. The 28-year-old Pole a year ago played the 4th round at the Australian Open, but won only two matches then (walkover in the third round), this year in London he’s overcome six rounds (three in the qualifying tournament).
Roger Federer [3] and David Nalbandian [23] joined a relatively narrow group of 16 pairs # to play against each other in all major events. Federer missed an overhead from the easiest possible position on his first match point, but stayed cool and a couple minutes later converted his 4th match point to get an easy 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win.

Longest match:
3 hours, 30 minutes – David Ferrer d. Ryan Harrison 6-7(6), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Most aces:
28 – Feliciano Lopez, defeated Andy Roddick in three sets

5-set barometer:

14-9 David Ferrer
6-9 Igor Andreev
0-2 Ryan Harrison
1-1 Bernard Tomic

# Pairs of players who have faced each other at all four majors (in parantheses – years between they did it; in brackets – their H2H records in majors):

(1985-1987) H.Leconte vs. A.Mansdorf [4-0]
(1980-1989) I.Lendl vs. J.McEnroe [7-3]
(1983-1989) M.Wilander vs. J.McEnroe [3-2]
(1991-1993) J.Courier vs. S.Edberg [4-2]
(1991-1994) P.Sampras vs. J.Courier [6-2]
(1989-1995) P.Sampras vs. M.Chang [4-1]
(1990-1995) P.Sampras vs. A.Agassi [6-3]
(1992-1996) P.Sampras vs. T.Martin [6-1]
(1994-2000) P.Sampras vs. M.Tillstrom [5-0]
(1995-2000) P.Sampras vs. M.Philippoussis [5-2]
(2004-2006) R.Federer vs. N.Kiefer [4-0]
(2002-2006) M.Safin vs. O.Rochus [3-1]
(2005-2007) D.Tursunov vs. T.Henman [3-1]
(2001-2009)  L.Hewitt vs. A.Roddick [3-2]
(2007-2009) R.Federer vs. JM.Del Potro [3-1]
(2007-2011) R.Nadal vs. A.Murray [4-2]
(2003-2011) R.Federer vs. D.Nalbandian [4-2]

Rain interrupted matches a couple times. One of the rain-breaks helped Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [19] to avoid a 5-set match against Grigor Dimitrov [62]. When the match was resumed in the 4th set, Tsonga saved a break point at 0:3 and the momentum totally swung in his favor. He led 5:3* (30-15), in the following game had two match points (double fault and Dimitrov’s passing-shot), but the young Bulgarian managed to make another swing and a few minutes later had a double set point. In the tie-break, Tsonga led 4:2, then Dimitrov saved three match points. At 8:8 Tsonga won the point with an awkward volley falling on the grass. On the sixth match point, Dimitrov dived, but couldn’t control his volley and Tsonga celebrated spectacular win (6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6) jumping over the net. Dimitrov was smiling in the end picked up by Tsonga from the court, happy with a good performance on a big stage (Court No. 2); he is the youngest player in the Top 100, but his idol Federer, ten years ago exactly at the same age, ousted Sampras on Centre Court at Wimbledon in five grueling sets… A two-day meeting of Juan Martin del Potro [21] with Olivier Rochus [73] had two completely different phases. Yesterday evening, Del Potro had problems with his movement on a slippery court, lost a tie-break wasting one set point and visibly disconsolate threw away his shoes into the crowd. Today he was pleased throwing wristbands into the crowd after a quick demolition his 30 cm shorter opponent. Del Potro sealed a 6-7, 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 win with 30th ace – his personal record.  John Isner [47] obtained amazing experience in winning service games on Court No. 18 last year, during the extraordinary marathon against Mahut. Today he came back on that court to play against Nicolas Almagro [15], and won 18 consecutive games on serve, but it was enough only to win one out of three tie-break sets. At the beginning of the 4th set Almagro (23 aces) broke Isner’s serve (28 aces) the only time in the match to post a 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 victory just before the darkness (the match would’ve been probably suspended if Almagro had not won the 9th game). I haven’t noticed particular changes in Robin Soderling‘s [5] game in the last few years. The Swede has added to his repertoire better slice, but he serves, hits ground-strokes and plays average volleys as always. What distinguishes Soderling as a No. 20-50 in years 2004-2008 from Soderling as a strong Top 5 player in the last two years… his mentality. He confirmed it today on Centre Court playing against the former champion Lleyton Hewitt [130]. Being 2-sets-to-0 down, Soderling won four points in a row at 3:3 (0-30) and an hour later, broke back immediately at the beginning of the 5th set. His almost 4-hour win over the most experienced 5-set active player, Soderling celebrated on the knees. “I tried not to think about the scoreline. Instead, I tried to keep looking forward. I know I was playing pretty well. I served well. And if I could just start to move a little bit better, start to return a little bit better than the first two sets, I knew I had a good chance.” ‘Toad’ assessed.

Three matches have been suspended at 9 p.m. (each of them in the 4th set) due to darkness: Harrison vs. Ferrer (2-1, 2:4), Melzer vs. Tursunov (2-1, 1:1) & Andreev vs. Tomic (2-1, 0:0).

Longest match:
3 hours, 54 minutes – Robin Soderling d. Lleyton Hewitt 6-7(5), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4

Most aces:
30 – Juan Martin del Potro, defeated Olivier Rochus in 4 sets

5-set barometer:

30-17 Lleyton Hewitt
8-9 Robin Soderling

Today’s matches started more than three hours later than had been scheduled due to rain. Despite this inconvenience, only one match has been postponed to tomorrow (Del Potro-O.Rochus 6-7…) because all second round matches in the top half of the draw were finished in 3 or 4 sets. The only today’s 5-setter comes from the two-day encounter between Kevin Anderson and Illya Marchenko which was suspended at the end of the 4th set on Tuesday. In the other two-day 1st round clash of two ‘ball-bashers’, Dmitry Tursunov [53] won two tie-breaks on Wednesday against Ernests Gulbis [75], which gave him a 4-set win. Especially the first tie-break was interesting as Gulbis had squandered three set points (6:5, 10:9, 12:11), before lost it 12-14, and the whole match 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(12), 6-7(1). Yesterday I mentioned amazing streak of long tie-breaks won by Mannarino, Gulbis is in opposite to the Frenchman. The  gifted Latvian (but very annoying in regard of lack of positive attitude), loses long tie-breaks regularly #. Against Tursunov, he really should have finally notched a winning long tie-break, but at 10:9 instead of finishing the point with a forehand winner, decided to play a drop-shot and lost the point four strokes later. Gulbis, once a Grand Slam quarter-finalist, has lost eight consecutive matches in majors…
The best grass-court players in the top half of the draw, Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick won their matches without any troubles, Nadal for the third time this year destroyed Ryan Sweeting. The No. 1 in the world said with a courtesy after his first Wimbledon match played indoors: “I think I was playing aggressive and with good feelings. But 2-1, 40-Love, I had a few mistakes, and he broke me back. And after [that], the match was tougher and closer.”

Longest match:
3 hours, 52 minutes – Kevin Anderson d. Illya Marchenko 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

Most aces:
28 – Feliciano Lopez, defeated Rainer Schuettler in 4 sets

5-set barometer:

3-4 Kevin Anderson
0-2 Illya Marchenko

# Gulbis’s all (at least) 18-point tie-breaks at the main level:

<<< 8-10, 9-11, 11-13, 9-11, 8-10, 8-10, 8-10, 8-10, 12-14 >>>

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic began their title quest with straight sets victories. If they meet each other in the semifinal, they will make a first pair in the Open era to play in four consecutive majors! Federer has already made an irrelevant milestone winning 300th tie-break in his career (against Kukushkin), he joined Pete Sampras as the second player in history to achieve such a feat #. The Swiss is self-confident: “It feels like if things go well for me, I can go extremely far here; whereas at the French Open I feel it’s a bit more on other opponents’ racquets. But here I feel it’s a bit more on mine.”
Fernando Verdasco [22] is commonly known as a choker, considering “the best of three” matches, but he is one of the best specialist of 5-set matches. Today for the third time within the last four majors, he won a match from two-sets-to-love down, and every time he did it against an experienced opponent ##! Today he saved a match point in the 4th set tie-break against Radek Stepanek [60], despite the Czech played three volleys at the crucial rally. It’s funny that during this year’s Australian Open, Verdasco saved  one out of three match points against Tipsarevic, playing also three passing-shots on match point down! ‘Nando’ showed today mental resistance in the 5th set too, as he played patiently very long rally at *7:7 (0-30), putting away backhand DTL winner – it was a turning point, the Spaniard won 9 of the last 11 points since then.
It was a day of five-setters in general, nine matches went to the distance. Frank Dancevic [164] lost his match arguably in a more bitter fashion than Stepanek – leading 2-1, he was 5:2* (deuce) up against Ricardo Mello [89], later on had a double match point in the tie-break. It is the second Dancevic’s loss to Mello from a 2-0 advantage ###! James Blake [102] confirmed his status of the biggest 5-set choker beside Ivo Karlovic among active players, losing to Marcos Baghdatis [30] despite a 3:1* lead in the 5th set. Lukasz Kubot [93] in the third consecutive Grand Slam tournament, wins his opening match after a five-setter, each time making it with a two-game advantage in the decider. 23-year-old Adrian Mannarino [55] became one of 5-set winners today as well, coming back from a 1:4* deficit in the final set, but I noticed something perverse in that win – he won a tie-break ‘9-7’; I associated that he’d won ‘9-7′ and ’16-14’ tie-breaks at Queens Club two weeks ago, so I checked his activity and discovered that the guy has won on different levels the last 15 tie-breaks he played, when at least 14 points where required (!!), which is absolutely incredible in my opinion, totally against probability ####.
John Isner [47] and Nicolas Mahut [94] created that unforgettable epic match at Wimbledon ’10 in the first round, the fate/chance caused their another first round clash at the All England & Cricket Club, but this time on court No. 3 (No. 18 twelve months ago), and Isner needed only three sets (7-6, 6-2, 7-6) to set up a 2-1 lead in the  H2H against the Frenchman. Here is a comparison of their two Wimbledon first-round encounters. It’s the eight time in the Wimbledon Open Era history that players met in the first round in back-to-back tournaments #####. Three matches have been suspended at 9.26 p.m. due to darkness: Gulbis vs. Tursunov (1-1, 5:5), Anderson vs. Marchenko (2-1, 3:5), Dimitrov vs. Stebe (2-0, 3:3)…

Longest match:
4 hours, 3 minutes – Karol Beck d. Carlos Berlocq 4-6, 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

Most aces:
39 –  Andreas Haider-Maurer, defeated Florent Serra in 3 sets

5-set barometer:

15-8 Fernando Verdasco
15-9 Mikhail Youzhny
12-18 Radek Stepanek
12-19 Arnaud Clement
11-20 Olivier Rochus
10-6 Marcos Baghdatis
8-4 Lukasz Kubot
6-5 Karol Beck
6-8 Igor Andreev
5-2 Ricardo Mello
4-14 James Blake
3-5 Juan Monaco
2-0 Adrian Mannarino
2-3 Teimuraz Gabashvili
2-7 Frank Dancevic
1-4 Conor Niland
0-1 Carlos Berlocq, Kenny De Schepper

# Five players with the most winning tie-breaks in history:

1) Pete Sampras – 328
2) Roger Federer – 300
3) Andy Roddick – 288
4) Goran Ivanisevic – 276
5) Greg Rusedski – 256

## Verdasco’s three wins from 0-2 down in sets in the last four majors:

US Open 2010, 4R: David Ferrer 5-7, 6-7(8), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(4)
Aussie Open 2011, 2R: Janko Tipsarevic 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(0), 6-0
Wimbledon 2011, 1R: Radek Stepanek 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), 9-7

### Mello’s two wins over Dancevic from 0-2 in sets:

Davis Cup 2007: Mello d. Dancevic 3-6, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-3, 11-9
Wimbledon 2011: Mello d. Dancevic  3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-2

#### At least 14-point tie-breaks of Mannarino since Autumn 2008:

<<< 9-7, 8-6, 12-10, 8-6, 8-6, 8-6, 8-6, 8-6, 9-7, 8-6, 11-9, 9-7, 9-7, 16-14, 9-7  >>>

##### Repeating matches in back-to-back Wimbledons (1R) in the Open era:

1970-71 Marty Riessen vs. Jim McManus [2-0]
1988-89 Richey Reneberg vs. Christian Saceanu [2-0]
1990-91 Shuzo Matsuoka vs. Luiz Mattar [1-1]
1993-94 Mark Woodforde vs. Shuzo Matsuoka [2-0]
2000-01 Arvind Parmar vs. Andre Sa [2-0]
2006-07 Benjamin Becker vs. Juan Ignacio Chela [1-1]
2007-08 Fernando Gonzalez vs. Robby Ginepri [2-0]
2010-11 John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut [2-0]

There was no rain at Wimbledon last year, just for the sixth time in history of the oldest tournament in tennis (it happened also in 1931, 1976, 1977, 1993, 1995), but the rain fell down as early as on the first day of this year’s event. 18 out of 32 matches have been finished, 10 other postponed to Tuesday, 4 pairs supposed to play, didn’t even step onto the court… The defending champion, Rafael Nadal [1], despite a sloppy start (2:4*, 30 all), won easily his first match against Michael Russell 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Nadal’s potential semifinal opponent – Andy Murray – had some troubles through a set and half with a clay-courter Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first match of this year’s Wimbledon which was played indoors. Gimeno held his serve in the first 8 games, but when was broken for the first time, couldn’t hold his serve to the end of the match, and Murray won 15 games in a row to notch a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 victory. As usual, grass opens a possibility to serve more aces than anywhere. Today displayed it Milos Raonic [25], Mardy Fish [9] and Gilles Muller [92] – the first two guys served almost 30 aces winning all service games, the third one hit almost 40, but was broken twice. Fish during his 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 win over Marcel Granollers, wasn’t even forced to save a single break point, although the American didn’t show anything impressive beside his serve. Muller and Raonic face each other next and we can expect a battle of serves, the winner of this match will very likely take up to a third round clash with Nadal.

Longest match:
3 hours, 44 minutes: Ryan Sweeting d. Pablo Andujar 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-1

Most aces:
37 – Gilles Muller, defeated Tommy Haas in 4 sets

5-set barometer:

6-4 Julien Benneteau
1-0 Ryan Sweeting
0-1 Ruben Bemelmans
0-2 Pablo Andujar

It’s the end of the clay-court season, admittedly there will be another tournaments on clay (Bastad, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Gstaad, Umag, Kitzbuhel and Bucharest) but the best players in the world (Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Murray) won’t participate in them. So it’s time to change the background and add a page on Wimbledon because the next five weeks tournaments will be held only on grass.

-Wimbledon