Wimbledon 2012 Day 4: Nadal v Rosol

I am going to be honest.  I wasn’t that fussed about this match.  I knew I had a bunch of transcripts to get through, and to write up the day.  In my mind I was already planning it purely from a British standpoint.

I actually thought I might pop off for a cup of hot chocolate and then head home nice and early.

From the outset, with Rosol to serve, the guy came out swinging free.

He thumped down plenty of serves to start, so no sign of big league nerves at the start.

In fact we all figured that normal service had resumed when Nadal broke him at 2/2, but Rosol immediately broke back.

Towards the business end of the set, serving at 5/6, Nadal just seemed to be slow in his stride and his range at the start was just not quite there.

So surprisingly we found ourselves with Rosol looking at his first set point.

Nadal salvaged the game to take the first set into a tiebreak and here the guys traded set points here and there, and people were just wondering what was going on.

Finally Rafa took the tiebreak 11/9.

OK so NOW we figured normal service would be resumed.  Surely Rosol’s head would drop and Rafa would tie this all up.

We stepped out, only to see Rosol up a break by the time we made it to the bar.

No leisurely drink for us, back we scuttled to see what was going on.  And I made the most of what signal was out there to bash out a few tweets for Tennis Panorama.

About mid way through the set Nadal did seem to be moving more gingerly, and a huge long slide carving up centre court was hardly likely to make the groundsmen happy.

Rosol was scoring lots of cheap points of that serve, painting the lines and more importantly showing absolutely no nerves at all to serve it out for the second set.

Even though Nadal looked a little more sprightly at the start of the third set, he just could not get on to the end of the Rosol serve, and again just seemed to be on the back foot, head down.

After being broken in the third game, Nadal gave the umpire a decent talking to.

Rosol was still hitting lines spot on – he was almost Djokovic-like which might explain why Nadal was in all kinds of doscombobulation.  His moments of consistency were at best inconsistent.

Nadal was seriously annoyed – staring angrily at his box, staring angrily across the net

The third set went to Rosol, who then had to ask the umpire where to go to the bathroom, for a comfort break.

In the fourth set was where Nadal FINALLY started to get himself pumped up, and at times it looked as though Rosol was starting to cramp up and feel it.

Even though Nadal still was not moving his feet well, he was playing with a lot more urgency about him.  The grunting was being stepped up and he was coming into the net a lot more.

By now though, it was clear that it was getting darker by the minute, and as Nadal took it into a decider, the decision was made to bring the roof over, meaning a 30 or minute break.

Nadal looked less than pleased, and you can see why – the momentum was with him now.

The start of the fifth set was like a cauldron of expectation and excitement and the cheers were just deafening.

Hysterically, both of them sprinted off to their respective ends at the same time.

Nadal was in absolutely no hurry (not surprisingly) whereas Rosol started with the same intensity he had at the start of the match.

Even more unbelievably we had a 3G signal so back to tweeting.

Having broken Nadal in the first game, Rosol really never let up the barrage, showing Nadal no mercy.

For someone ranked 100, to serve out in the decider, against the world number 2, 3 aces and holding to love.

It was an outstanding match.

All through the match, the guy sat next to me had been saying: “Who is this guy”.

We knew after tonight.

Late Night Finish Aftermath

As you can imagine – a late night finish causes all kinds of issues.

Massive queue for the cabs.

Cabs refusing to go any further than the station, which meant a walk through town late along the Broadway (not so bad) and down two very dark side roads (not so good).

Writing copy in jammies (good), negotiating keyboard with dressing gown sleeves (surprisingly harder than it would seem).

Copy filed at a quarter to one in the morning.

Next up… Court 1, second Monday.

Wimbledon 2012 Day 4: Murray v Karlovic

First thing note – this dude is BIG!  The guy looks like he is serving out of a tree!

The Murraycoaster started early for the fans with Murray broken straight away.

The gentlemen obliged by showing us actually how much closer they are to the womens’ game/tour with Murray breaking straight back.

There was an early sense of pace from Murray and some backhand slice action that has been drawing some attention since his coaching partnership with Lendl started.

It was clear even this early on that Karlovic’s backhand was a little weak and at last someone held their serve!

The games then settled into a bit of a routine (I cannot really use the word rhythm).

Thundering serves from both, Muzz delivered a 130 pmh serve only for Karlovic to up the speed to 133-135 mph.

You had to favour Murray in rallies when he actually got them going, and it was clear that if anything was going to break down, it would be Karlovic’s backhand.

That is not to say that Karlovic isn’t handy round the net (or a cobweb, as he must see it from all the way up there).

Andy seemed to be rooted to the back of the court, as if it was inconceivable that the big guy could (a) get down there

(b) have a more delicate touch.

Then again – a thundering serve almost took out Pippa Middleton as she was sat in the Royal Box!

After the initial scare in the first game – there was no real “Murraycoaster” on the horizon… yet.

After a smattering of faults, Karlovic started to look a little heavy footed (more on his feet later) and Murray took the first set 7-5.

Second set and Karlovic’s backhand draws the same comment from the guy sat next to me – his exact word: “Lame”

You just got a sense that despite everything going with serve, Andy just seemed a little passive although later towards the business end of the set he looked a little quicker on his feet.

The inevitable tiebreak was pretty edgy stuff – going to Karlovic.

I had to escape soon for some grub as the last time I had eaten was at 9am before Journo School – and we were now around 16:30!

But not before I had to endure successful and failed Murray dropshots, more Karlovic net work and worryingly Andy clutching his back.

To my surprise – by the time we made it down to Food Court he had actually taken the third set.

Pint and noodles despatched as quickly as I could, I ran back.

Note to self.  That’s a LOT of stairs.  You are not young.  You just drank a pint, and scoffed a box of noodles.  Do NOT run up the stairs.

By the time I got back to my seat it was clear that foot-fault-gate was well underway.

I don’t honestly recall any foot faults in the first two sets and let’s face it, Karlovic’s foot crosses two continents as it is, but he made a big show of moving his foot back and forth over the line like the hokey cokey to prove his point.

Into another tiebreak, and Murray was geeing himself up a lot more than we’d seen

The combination of another footfault, a double-fault and that lame backhand handed the fourth set and the match to Murray.

I have to be honest – I was relieved.  I think if it had gone to a fifth… well…I would say we would have had an upset…

Wimbledon 2012 Day 4: S Williams v Czink

As the Journalism School is IN Wimbledon (handy) I parked up at a sneaky little place for a £5 (£10 cheaper than at Morden) and decided that because SURELY I would be home quite early there was no issue.

Class finished at 12 so I legged it to Wimbledon to get the bus service, chatting to a couple of Americans from Florida (apparently just around the block from where the Williams family live).

I headed straight for the gate, and was in centre just before play got underway.  That has to be some kind of landspeed record!

Serena's first round match seemed a touch nervy, so it would be interesting to see how quickly she got into her stride.

She started pretty well!  two aces and held to love!

However, Czink showed early on that she was capable of sending balls back with every bit as much pace as they were coming over the net!

For all that ball striking, a decent rally which went Williams' way seemed to sap Czink and the first set got away from her quite fast.

I was trying to live tweet with a 30 second delay from  Centre but the reception was completely bobbins.
But I finally got a tweet out to let people know that Williams had snaffled the first set in 20 mins.  Introducing Tennis Panorama's audience to the word snaffled seemed to be a big hit!!!

One of the best things about being up in the gods is that quite often you are sat with REAL tennis fans and I was sat next to guy who knew his stuff.

Set 2 and again Czink was holding her own - the crowd certainly seemed to be appreciating her attacking play - handling the Williams pace and really going for her shots.
However - with going for shots comes a breakdown at times with her range.

Where Serena was really hurting Czink was at the net and even when she did come in to leave Williams stranded with a backhand volley it was more of a punt than a targetted shot.
Williams possibly started to get a little more edgy and nervous as it became clear that Czink had settled into a bit of a groove, getting herself on the end of Williams' serves.

Up until this point Serena had been quite quiet but at 30-love up on Czink's serve at 4/4 we got a grunt of effort and fist pump, as she took the break to be serving for the set.

Williams took her time coming out, and in Williams' style held to love - we were going to get Andy out pretty darn quickly!

Day 4 Preview

Things are slightly different in Chalkdust world this year – with shorthand at 100wpm still to get, and portfolios still to complete, my Wimbledon time has been somewhat curtailed.

Then I was given a fabulous opportunity to go to the Wimbledon Spring Press Conference to cover the announcements ahead of this year’s Championships and of course the Olympics.

I got to introduce myself to tennis writers, including Neil Harman, and I got a piece published by Tennis Panorama News – a tennis news media site in the US.

There was a slim chance that I might be able to take over the editor’s credentials, as she was due to travel down, but sadly my trainee press card was deemed not acceptable.

So back to the Ticketmaster grind, and shorthand, and portfolio…. But the promise of some articles from the one day I knew I had so that would be a bonus!

Then I started to get the presser transcripts for the Brits given our successes.  Thankfully having passed my Sports Reporting module, you would think I’d remember that.  Umm not so much!

The pressures of the last few things for the course were taking their toll a bit, so I decided after the exam I would need a break.  Thank you, Ticketmaster Gods.

On the menu – Serena, Muzz and Rafa.

I figured I’d be back home in time to write up notes… noooo problemo.

Ha!

Writing for Tennis Panorama News

For a brief, brief moment, the editor and I tried (and alas spectacularly failed) to have me take over press credentials for Wimbledon 2012.
It is the first time the AELTC has allowed internet-only media organisations have credentials, and has spurred me on to get this Diploma done and a proper press card issued!

But in the mean time, the editor asked me to put together a piece on the successes (I know, right) of five (count them!) Brits into the second round of Wimbledon!

Link to the article: here

Writing for Tennis Head

As part of my continuing quest to become a sports journalist, I got myself a couple of days placement with Tennis Head Magazine.

As well as spending all day coming up with Top 10 lists of all varieties for the magazine, I also got to write my take on the ATP/WTA Rome event on clay.

Link to the article: here

Writing for Tennis Panorama News

I got an amazing opportunity to attend the Wimbledon Spring Press Conference and cover it for Tennis Panorama News

Link to the article: here