Wimbledon

well done laura on your straight sets victory.

Good comfortable win for Murray looking good going into week 2.

 what time is laura on court tomorrow? 

alannotivvy wrote:

 what time is laura on court tomorrow? 

around 1330 on court 2 i believe. she plays twice tomorrow in doubles.

oh bugger.will have to decide on going to cricket or perving at her  

alannotivvy wrote:

oh bugger.will have to decide on going to cricket or perving at her  

Decisions, decisions  

I think its bye bye Laura Robson (singles anyway) she isn't playing well at all 1-3 down in the first set.
Laura's nerves are beating her again, She seriously needs to work on her mind set in games she is still young so its not a lost cause but she will never reach the heights her potential and abilities should reach till she does.

Don't give up the day job Angry....never have I seen a Brit woman playing so badly and out of touch dig in so much and battle her way out of trouble. 1 set all now.

what a turnaround for Laura awful in the first half but fought back strong to win the 2nd set to make it 1-1. Hope she can continue the momentum and win the 3rd.

Oh ye of little faith.

You're just a surrender monkey with no conkers.

just bak in time to see laura win !!!!

alannotivvy wrote:

just bak in time to see laura win !!!!

You missed it mate. She fell over and had to have medical attention on her foof. She had to take her skirt off and get lotion rubbed into her groin.

Damon.Lenszner wrote:

Don't give up the day job Angry....never have I seen a Brit woman playing so badly and out of touch dig in so much and battle her way out of trouble. 1 set all now.

she was awful in the first set thankfully she turned it around but against a better player she wouldn't have been afforded the chance to get back into it.

Greenjock wrote:

alannotivvy wrote:

just bak in time to see laura win !!!!

You missed it mate. She fell over and had to have medical attention on her foof. She had to take her skirt off and get lotion rubbed into her groin.

there is a smut thread its in blocks ;0

Greenjock wrote:

alannotivvy wrote:

just bak in time to see laura win !!!!

You missed it mate. She fell over and had to have medical attention on her foof. She had to take her skirt off and get lotion rubbed into her groin.

oh blimey.dont fink i could have coped   i did get to see steffan jones take a diving catch ! the ground trembled when he hit the deck

Angry you questioned her nerves and her mind set....she had faith and belief in herself and it came good. A brit woman still in there in the second week...I have become a fan..

Damon.Lenszner wrote:

Angry you questioned her nerves and her mind set....she had faith and belief in herself and it came good. A brit woman still in there in the second week...I have become a fan..

i did and i still do at times she does freeze and thats been her problem at times in competitions not just today. She turned it around brilliantly but as i say against a stronger player she wouldnt have had the time to get back into the game to pull of a great win. She is young so the nerves will be controlled in time.

She hasn't got a seeded player in the next round either, but then it will probably be Serena Williams in the quarter-final if she wins on Monday.

Still to make the quarter-finals would be amazing and will rocket her up the rankings, which of course will give her better draws for future tournaments.

It's badly needed as well. Apart from Andy Murray and before him Tim Henman, British tennis has been a laughing stock for decades. The amount of money that gets generated by Wimbledon just isn't doing anything worthwhile at the moment, and yet other countries with no background of tennis are producing good players left right and centre.

Years ago, in the early 80's! We had a tennis coach come to our school and we were inrtroduced to short tennis where you played on a smaller court with a smaller racquet which was going to encourage youngsters and be the way forward but I never heard it mentioned again after the coach had gone.

I know there is a lack of public tennis courts available to all but would thousands more youngsters take up tennis if there was a large tennis centre built in every town or city? I doubt it but something drastic needs to be done if the next Robson or Murray is to emerge soon.

Greenjock wrote:

She hasn't got a seeded player in the next round either, but then it will probably be Serena Williams in the quarter-final if she wins on Monday.

Still to make the quarter-finals would be amazing and will rocket her up the rankings, which of course will give her better draws for future tournaments.

It's badly needed as well. Apart from Andy Murray and before him Tim Henman, British tennis has been a laughing stock for decades. The amount of money that gets generated by Wimbledon just isn't doing anything worthwhile at the moment, and yet other countries with no background of tennis are producing good players left right and centre.

Years ago, in the early 80's! We had a tennis coach come to our school and we were inrtroduced to short tennis where you played on a smaller court with a smaller racquet which was going to encourage youngsters and be the way forward but I never heard it mentioned again after the coach had gone.

I know there is a lack of public tennis courts available to all but would thousands more youngsters take up tennis if there was a large tennis centre built in every town or city? I doubt it but something drastic needs to be done if the next Robson or Murray is to emerge soon.

its not the lack of public courts that's the main issue jock although a few more would help matters certainly its the outrageous prices tennis clubs charge that unless your from a privileged background or have a well paying job you aren't going to afford the membership fees on top of the coaching fees some coaches charge and thats been the problem for decades.

LTA dont do enough to combat this and sport england recently have finally told them their funding will be cut if this issue isnt addressed.

And Jock where i grew up (exmouth) we had a tennis centre on the school grounds that had indoor courts and outdoor ones that were also open to the public aswell as the school. although i was lucky because i was a student at the school i could play for free at lunchtimes however, if i wanted to play there on weekends or evenings then it was £50 a month membership which is re dick and thats without going into indivdual costs of coaching sessions and entering competitions. So again unless the prices and the stigma is addressed to attract all to the game you could build a tennis centre adjacent to HHP and still people wont use it.

FWIW i wouldnt be against a tennis centre being built in central park or on a certain carpark

But as for Laura Robson! she has the ability and potential to be a top ten player by christmas next year and all going well for her she can pick up a grand slam or two in her career. Not forgetting Heather Watson who is also a good young up and comer who could also make a name for herself all going well.

Murray through,after a struggle it has to be said but through nonetheless.Don't know how these chaps hold their tongue sometimes with the cretinous questions they get asked after matches-the guy asked him tonight if Lendl would be dishing out the hairdryer treatment [Fergy was watching today] and if this match was a warning not to take things for granted.Seeing as Murray has done nothing but issue warnings since Nadal and Federer went out that his matches would be anything but pushovers,he would have been fully justified in giving the guy a mouthful of abuse IMHO but he was very diplomatic to his credit.Has to play some big Polish fellow next,don't know much about him but serves at 140mph apparently.Scary.

Greenjock wrote:

I know there is a lack of public tennis courts available to all but would thousands more youngsters take up tennis if there was a large tennis centre built in every town or city? I doubt it but something drastic needs to be done if the next Robson or Murray is to emerge soon.

You're right, though I'd lean towards quality rather than quantity. Look at the concentration of British rep divers who hail from Plymouth - that's not coincidence, it's down to the dedication and work of the coach at the Mayflower centre Andy Banks who drives and demands the best from them. If you're telling me that there are hundreds of Swiss and Serbians playing tennis to a high standard across their respective countries then you're wrong. For instance in the 90s one (1!) tennis centre in the US produced Connors, Chang and Agassi at the same time - coincidence? No, the concentration of talent and the coaching system in place brought out the best of the talent. We'd be best off setting up an academy for the best of the country and cramming them all into the same facility from a young age, with the harshest coaches demanding the highest standards from an early age, then in 5-10 years you'd get a crop of them appearing imho.

Verdasco is much better than his world ranking and has been playing brilliant tennis. Made Murray work hard but that's what separates the good from the great.

Murray's in the semis for the 5th year running and of course he lost in the final last year and that's pretty impressive and consistent.

I think he'll make the final and it's going to be 80 degrees on Sunday so whoever wins will need to be super fit which points to Djokovic but I have a sneaky feeling Del Potro will cause a surprise in the semis.

Would love Murray to win Wimbledon to go with his US Open and he'd be considered top class then, plus it might make him believe in himself more so more slams might follow.

Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray is one hell of a quartet of players all challenging at the same time.

Andy Murray - only second in the rankings!?!? Bloody rubbish!

I think Murray will make the final again. I then hope Djokovic bastes him in BBQ sauce and toys with him while he cooks in the sun before adding a few drops of Tabasco and devouring the dour miserable feck.
  

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Greenjock wrote:

I know there is a lack of public tennis courts available to all but would thousands more youngsters take up tennis if there was a large tennis centre built in every town or city? I doubt it but something drastic needs to be done if the next Robson or Murray is to emerge soon.

You're right, though I'd lean towards quality rather than quantity. Look at the concentration of British rep divers who hail from Plymouth - that's not coincidence, it's down to the dedication and work of the coach at the Mayflower centre Andy Banks who drives and demands the best from them. If you're telling me that there are hundreds of Swiss and Serbians playing tennis to a high standard across their respective countries then you're wrong. For instance in the 90s one (1!) tennis centre in the US produced Connors, Chang and Agassi at the same time - coincidence? No, the concentration of talent and the coaching system in place brought out the best of the talent. We'd be best off setting up an academy for the best of the country and cramming them all into the same facility from a young age, with the harshest coaches demanding the highest standards from an early age, then in 5-10 years you'd get a crop of them appearing imho.

The key to that is 'finding' the best natural talent, early. To do that, the LTA should be honour bound to provide tennis taster sessions in all primary schools and ensure that the coaches/providers have an eye for natural ability, that certain something. There are many 'good' professional sportsmen but the very best have something extra and it's usually visible to those who can see, from an early age.
The same should apply to all sports and in particular, minority privilege sports like tennis, golf etc.
Maybe the same could be applied to equestrianism ? If ever there was as an example of wealth and position rather than raw talent, winning medals