Blades of Whoa

Rafael Nadal lost in the early rounds of Wimbledon again. How did I try to make sense of this I went digging for some reasoning in numbers of Rafa's performances at the Championships since he won the title in 2010.

Average Ranking of opponents. 66 (90,69,92,21,9,4,2,80,100,135,51,52,63,144,41,102) *rankings via tennis abstract

Highest ranked win on grass was Gael Monfils at 16 in Stuttgart since he beat number 4 Andy Murray in 2011 Wimbledon Semi Finals.

He has played 10 matches on Centre Court with a 6-4 record and 3-1 on No.1 Court

He lost his first ever Grand Slam first round match at the 2013 Championships.

Between 2012-2015 he played 9 matches at the AELTC. From 2006-2011 excluding not playing in 2009 he participated in 35 matches.

Matches played at Wimbledon listed in order from 2003-2015 3,2,7,7,7,0,7,7,2,1,4,2.

Results at other Slams since winning Wimbledon in 2010.
Australian Open - 11QF, 12F, 13DNP, 14F, 15QF
Roland Garros - 11-14 W, 15QF
US Open - 10W, 11F, 12DNP, 13W, 14DNP

The next question is will we see him on court before Montreal starts on Aug. 10th. He could play Bastad/Umag or Hamburg. Could we possible see him come to the States early to play in Washington D.C?  I don't think this is that much of a set back per say more of a road bump. As hopeful as you could have been given his form on the surface the past few years it was not realistic to see Wimbledon be the slump buster or lucky break that Rafa needs. He has lost at least 5 matches that he most defiantly should have won if we were in a different time. This is the current reality that we have to accept for the moment. Would I be shocked if Rafa won the US Open, no I would not be. But I feel that the most likely course of the second half of the season will just be to stay healthy. To win matches he should be winning and maybe a few that he shouldn't to be ready and healthy to start next year on the right way. Another out come that would not be surprising if he picked the events correctly would be a late season surge similar to the one Murray had in Asia and Europe last fall just grind it out till it works.

The Torch comes to SW19

The torch relay came through the All England club today. Andy Murray and Venus Williams had the honor of carrying the torch around the grounds.


The BBC torch cam did not actually show when Andy got his torch lit but then the cameras did catch up with him.

pic from Neil Harman's twitter

Maggie wasn't too pleased with torch cam.

Great footage of OUTSIDE the AELTC, bbc...
— Maggie May (@maggiemay_hem) July 23, 2012

Um... TORCH CAM SUCKS
— Maggie May (@maggiemay_hem) July 23, 2012

But once Andy got on to Centre Court it was all smiles and the feed was back!

He then made the short way to Henman Hill where Venus was waiting for him.

Venus then took the torch from Henman Hill off the grounds of the All England Club. 

Some gems from the BBC Torch Cam live text: 

"I don't want it to catch my hair", says the next torchbearer Venus Williams as she accepts the flame from Andy." 

Good thing it didn't Venus! "

" Here comes Andy. Looking fit and strong as he runs up that hill. Can he swap the gold of his torch for a gold in the tennis at London 2012? Let's hope so."

You Brits have a way with words. No?

Maggie and Rusty inspected the torch as it was brought home as a souvenir of the lovely sunny day. 

You told me there would be fire in this thing. So why is Rusty's nose still intact? twitter.com/maggiemay_hem/…
— Maggie May (@maggiemay_hem) July 23, 2012

The draw for the tennis event is Thursday at 11 am London time.

Thundering Tennis

So the weather in Monte Carlo was surely frightful with numerous rain delays through out the day and when Rafa finally arrived on court he did it to thunder literally.



Reminded me of last years Wimbledon Quarterfinals under the roof between Sabine Lisicki and Marion Bartoli.



Whose reaction do you like better.