Top Spin Blog » Wimbledon

Isner-Mahut Wimbledon Rematch: What Were the Odds?

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:01:13 +0000

According to this blog post on Wimbledon.com, the odds were only one in 127. Leave it to a Cambridge math professor to sap the life out of something remarkable. But what were the odds of it happening twice? Is it two in 254? My mom is suspicious of the draw — and I agree with her — that it sounds almost a little shady, as though the Wimbledon PR people manipulated the matchups to gain a little extra news and web coverage.

Today’s match will, of course, be anticlimactic compared to last year. If you want to have a good time reliving the longest match ever in style, go back and reread this blog from The Guardian written as it happened last year where the question was asked at 62-61 in the fifth set: “what if it does actually never end? Would Wimbledon eventually have to introduce a new ruling banning all undead and just nudge Thiemo De Bakker through to the third round?”

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July 4 Weekend Special: An All-American Wimbledon Sweep?

Joe Samuel Starnes — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:16:42 +0000

The possibility of a big American broom sweeping the four biggest Wimbledon trophies is still alive at this advanced semifinal date. It seems very likely that the Williams sisters will win the women’s doubles, and one of them will take home the singles crown. The Bryan brothers are favored to win the men’s doubles, but James Blake and Mardy Fish are also in the running. The biggest hurdle will be if Andy Roddick can win the singles, having to best both Andy Murray and most likely Roger Federer. A long shot, yes, but it could happen, and would be the biggest tennis weekend for the U.S. in a very long time.

Even if it doesn’t, the men’s doubles final could be an all-American affair for the first time in 26 years. The No. 1 seeded Bryan brothers and the unseeded team of good friends James Blake and Mardy Fish have both reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon men’s doubles draw, making it possible for the first all American men’s doubles final since 1983. That year John McEnroe and Peter Fleming beat the Gullikson twins, Tim and Tom.

See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...
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Report from the “Heat Wave” on Wimbledon’s Murray Hill

Joe Samuel Starnes — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:33:04 +0000

My good friend and tennis teammate Marc Obertholtzer is at Wimbledon today and sent this update via Blackberry:

I am sitting on Murray Hill, with thousands of hopeful Brits, cheering the country hero. He is down a break in the first, but it is early.

It has been a long day so far. Up at 6 a.m., had to take several tube rides, and we landed in the queue at 8 a.m. Even though we were numbers 6,577 and 6,578 in the queue, we got in by 11:30, in time for the start of play. We saw juniors battle, saw the Bryan brothers roll from the first row, watched Black and Huber squeak out a tough win, Wozniacki lose, and from the big screen, Federer and now Murray. We were even treated to a rain delay – what are the odds of that?

Other tidbits:

- they have a “heat wave” – it is about 83 degrees

- we saw an old lady line judge get clocked in the head with a 128 mph serve.

See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...

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Federer’s Missing Link: A Swiss Davis Cup Win

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:50:02 +0000

The drum rolls are already beginning to thump for Roger Federer as he moves closer to another Wimbledon trophy, a win that would surpass Pete Sampras’ Grand Slam title record. He’s no doubt on the short list for greatest of all time (even though his injured rival Nadal usurped him in pre-Wimbledon press) but when compared with Rod Laver, Sampras, Don Budge, Bill Tilden and others in the hall of fame pantheon, he is missing a silver item required of those claiming tennis immortality, and I’m not talking about a Rolex watch: He has not won a Davis Cup for Switzerland, his home country that has never won the international team event.

Sampras, although he often didn’t compete in Davis Cup later in his career, in 1995 put in a heroic performance in the finals on clay in Russia, wining both his singles matches and the doubles with Todd Martin. Sampras also played on the talent heavy 1992 cup-winning team.

Laver’s Davis Cup performances are legendary, and in 1962 and again in 1973 he won both his singles matches and the doubles match in the final round to secure the cup championship for Australia.

Budge, as detailed in the marvelous new book A Terrible Splendor, not only won the first Grand Slam (only he and Laver have ever done it) but lead the U.S. to the 1937 Davis Cup by winning a classic five-set match against Gottfried von Cramm of Germany. And Tilden led the U.S. to seven straight Davis Cup championships in the ’20s.

Not that Federer hasn’t tried. He played every year from 1999-2008, compiling a 25-6 record in singles and 10-5 in doubles, but this year he bailed out on his team before a match the first weekend in March against the U.S. in Birmingham citing his withdrawal as a “precautionary measure.” Of course, he played for himself only five days later in the Masters tournament at Indian Wells, a clear indication of a weak commitment to the cup.

He may yet prove to be the greatest of all time, but he needs to bring home the Davis Cup to make such a claim. Davis Cup competition is like none other in tennis: The fans are louder, more passionate, and the play is more than for yourself, but for your country, often in a hostile environment. With Stanislas Wawrinka as a teammate and doubles partner, Federer has no excuse.

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Clement Loses, Misses Shot at Second Long-Match Record

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:40:08 +0000

Arnaud Clement, loser to Rainer Schuettler 8-6 in the fifth set of a quarterfinal match Thursday, missed by sixteen minutes adding his name to the history books for the longest match ever played at Wimbledon in the Open Era. The match lasted five hours, 12 minutes; according to Radio Wimbledon, the longest match is five hours, 28 minutes. Clement already is part of the record for the longest match in the history in 2004 when he lost to countryman Fabrice Santoro in the French Open in a match that lasted six hours and thirty-three minutes. Of course, as Greg Garber wrote on ESPN.com , “That’s the longest Grand Slam match ever, going back to 1968, before which only sketchy records exist.” Schuettler tomorrow plays Rafael Nadal, a match which stands a good chance to be the shortest match ever.

See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...
Isner-Mahut Wimbledon Rematch: What Were the Odds? According to this blog post on Wimbledon.com, the odds were...
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Worst Wimbledon Ever for American Men?

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:50 +0000

Bobby Reynolds’ four-set defeat at the hands of Feliciano Lopez in the third round on Friday might make this the worst Wimbledon results ever for American men’s tennis. The last time only one American man reached the third round at Wimbledon was 1926, but only three Americans were in the draw then and the reigning dominant player in the game, Bill Tilden, did not play. And Howard Kinsey, the only American to reach the third round that year, went on to make the finals, losing to Jean Borotra, one of the famed Four Musketeers.

This year, 12 American men played and went a collective 5-12, including second round upsets of both Andy Roddick and James Blake. This follows up on a French Open where only one American, Robby Ginepri, reached the fourth round. At this rate, there could possibly be no American men in the top ten by year’s end — at present, Blake is eight and Roddick six. I expect with the hard court season starting up in the states, the American contingent will do better. They can’t do much worse.

See You in Texas — U.S. Will Try to Avenge 0-6 Wimbledon Singles Record Against Spanish in Davis Cup With Mardy Fish’s quarterfinal loss to Rafael Nadal, the American...
Isner-Mahut Wimbledon Rematch: What Were the Odds? According to this blog post on Wimbledon.com, the odds were...
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Bobby Reynolds: The Lone American Man in London

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:33:56 +0000

Ranked 102 in the world, Bobby Reynolds of Acworth, Ga., is the only American man to reach the third round of Wimbledon. His match against 31st-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain on Friday is the third match scheduled for Court 18. They have never played before. Charles Bricker of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes it could be a contest of aces; Lopez and Reynolds led with the most aces after the second round.

Reynolds was born in Cape Cod, Mass., and will turn 26 on July 17. He was a college standout at Vanderbilt University. His year to-date ATP match record before Wimbledon was 6-10 with earnings of only $159,000, but he stands to boost both record and paycheck considerably. His career high ranking was 77 in April, and he’s certain to rise after the rankings come out at the end of Wimbledon.

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Roddick loses, Blake Upset By the Oldest Man Left in the Draw, and Levine Out Too

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:15:47 +0000

No. 6 seeded Andy Roddick won the first set but then lost three in a row to 40th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic on Thursday, capping a dismal day in London for the American men.

Earlier in the day, World No. 94 Rainer Schuettler, 32, defeated No. 9 seeded James Blake in five sets Thursday, coming back from two-sets-to-one and a break in the fourth, avenging his straight set loss to Blake in this year’s French Open.

Their defeats spoiled hopes of a Roddick-Blake matchup in the fourth round. The two top-ranked Americans have never met in a Grand Slam.

Qualifier Jesse Levine lost in a tough five setter to Austrian Jurgen Melzer. Bobby Reynolds is now the lone American men of the twelve who played Wimbledon to reach the third round.

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Bobby Reynolds Wins in Wimbledon Round 2

Joe Samuel Starnes — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:15:03 +0000

Bobby Reynolds was up two sets-to-one over Canadian Frank Dancevic but was down 3-1 in the fourth set when he played five very inspired games, breaking Dancevic twice and holding serve three times to close out the set and win the match 4-6, 7-6 (12-10), 6-4, 6-4. Reynolds’ continuation in the tournament hung precariously in the balance in the second-set tiebreaker that he won 12-10. This is Reynolds best performance ever at Wimbledon, and only the second time he has reached the third round of a Grand Slam (he reached the third round of the Australian Open in 2005 and the second round of the French Open earlier this year.) Reynolds started the tournament ranked 102 in the world, but the 25-year-old former Vanderbilt University star who lives in Acworth, Ga., will certainly move into the top 100 after Wimbledon. Because Dancevic beat seventh-seeded David Nalbandian in the first round, Reynolds has a good draw. He will play the winner of No. 31 seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain and Roko Karnusic of Croatia.

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Americans 4-8: Roddick, Blake and Jesse Levine Move Into Round Two

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:16:54 +0000

Of the dozen American men on the London lawns, only four have moved onto the second round of Wimbledon. Andy Roddick, the sixth-seeded American in Wimbledon, won in straight sets on Tuesday. Ninth seeded James Blake started slow against Belgian qualifier Chrisophe Rochus, but ultimately started up his game and won easily in the closing sets. Qualifier Jesse Levine, ranked 137 in the world, upset No. 88 ranked American Donald Young in four sets, losing the first before ripping off three in a row. It was the first Wimbledon win ever for the lefty Levine, a Canada-born 20-year-old who played one year of college tennis at the University of Florida before turning pro.

Roddick, Blake and Levine join Bobby Reynolds as the only American man to win in the first round, making the American men a collective 4-8 in the first round. Joining Young in the American first-round losers category on Tuesday were Mardy Fish, who lost in straight sets to eight-seeded Richard Gasquet; Wayne Odesnik, who retired after losing the first set to 24th seeded Jarkko Nieminen; and John Isner, who lost to Ernests Gulbis in four very tight sets, including an 8-6 tiebreaker in the fourth.

On Wednesday, Acworth, Ga.-resident and former Vanderbilt University star Bobby Reynolds goes up against Frank Dancevic, the Candian wildcard who upset David Nalbandian on Monday. It will be the first match of the day scheduled for noon London time on court 18.

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