Wimbledon 2011

[sadie1263]

WIMBLEDON, England — With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (otherwise known as newlyweds William and Catherine) looking on Monday from the front row of the Royal Box, Andy Murray became the first of the four top men’s seeds to advance to Wimbledon’s quarterfinals.

And after exchanging handshakes with Richard Gasquet, whom he vanquished, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2, Murray turned and executed a crisp bow to the royals.

 Defending champion Serena Williams falls to ‘07 Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli in straight sets — sister Venus and top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki are also ousted in the fourth round while Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and American Mardy Fish advanced on the men’s side.

The victory and flourish that followed thrilled the capacity crowd on a sun-drenched afternoon that saw all of Wimbledon’s remaining players in action.

But the real drama followed later, when No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal suffered what appeared to be a serious injury to his left foot yet played on to defeat the resurgent Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

Also advancing were No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic, a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victor over Michael Llodra; and No. 3 seed Roger Federer, who beat Mikhail Youzhny, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

A grim-faced Nadal said afterward that he planned to undergo an MRI exam as soon as possible and admitted that he feared, at least initially, that he had broken his foot.

“I’m worried, for sure,” said Nadal, the tournament’s defending champion. “I’m going to do the MRI. We’ll see what’s going on. Tomorrow we will see. I cannot predict the future.”

[trubble]

The end of the match between Bartoli and Williams was worth a watch.

They looked like amazing warriors in a bloody and heroic battle, both of them were so fit and so focused and so strong. Both were outstanding. I felt sorry for Williams but it was hard not to feel admiration for Bartoli.

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Some remarks were made about Murray's bow perhaps being ironic. I thought that was shoddy commentary by English commentators. He bowed. End of. When will the English learn to stop fighting with every foreigner they come across?

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Mardy Fish has the best name in the championship and should win just on that fact alone.

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[sadie1263]

I was happy to hear today that Nadal's foot is going to be ok.....nothing broken or damaged! It would be a shame for him to have to pull out. It is going to be awesome to watch all the way to the finals!!

I was really surprised by Bartoli losing today......I thought it would be her and Sharapova in the final.

[trubble]

I'd like a Murray/Nadal final.

I was sad to hear Bartoli went too. Now I have no one left to cheer for.

[sadie1263]

Murray - Nadal it is!!! It will be awesome!!!!!

[Big Lin]

It's only the semi final, sadly.

Sadie, I guess you realise that you and I will be on different sides in that particular contest?

[sadie1263]

My man is definitely Nadal.....but I won't be sad if Murray wins.....but if he does.....he has to win the whole thing!!!!!

[DAS (formerly BushAdmirer)]

I was in Palm Springs, California on the day of the men's final. It was being broadcast live in a 3D cinema theater there. Unfortunately, the match started at 6:00AM local time and the theater was half an hour from where we were staying. The tickets were $21 which is considerably less than airfare to London and center court seats at Wimbledon. I thought, "why not give it a go?"

My wife elected to sleep in but I was accompanied by my younger sister who knew nothing about tennis. I explained the scoring system and the basic rules while enroute to the theater.

It turned out to be a very good experience. Not as good as being there in person and having the best seats in the house. But considerably better than watching on a large screen HDTV. You could easily follow the ball movement and the 3D was impressive on plays that showed off the depth, such as a difficult retrieval or a serve and volley.

The attendance was sparse because of the early hour. I was able to try several different seating locations. The seats in the rear of the theater were not nearly so good as those in the first four or five rows. We found two center seats in the fourth row where the width of the screen just exactly filled our natural field of vision. These were the best seats in the house.

I'll be on the lookout for more live 3D theater broadcasts of sporting events. This would be a great venue for basketball.