Saturday, July 06, 2013

A Half-Assed 2013 Wimbledon Men's Finals Preview Containing Several Botched References to Scotland and England

rob asked me for a Wimbledon men's finals preview and a preview he shall have, albeit a half-assed one. As you likely already know, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are set to square off for the Wimbledon title on Sunday. Djokovic has beaten Murray in 11 of their 18 meetings, including the last three in a row. The two have met in Grand Slam finals four times, with Djokovic winning three. But Murray has some odds in his favor. For example, won the only time they played on grass, the 2012 Olympics which were held at Wimbledon. And Wimbledon is in England, which is where Murray is from ... well, not really. Murray is Scottish, and an Englishwoman that I used to work with explained that Britons from England didn't consider Murray to be a true Briton until he won the Olympics, despite the fact that there's nary an animal alive that can outrun a greased Scotsman. After that they decided to acknowledge his Brittitude with the hope that he could be the first Brit to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936 blah blah blah. I'm not sure why the Brits are so enamored with Fred Perry, he seems to spend all his time designing clothes for emaciated sallow foreigners who look like they fell out of an Irvine Welsh novel:


Perry certainly lost his fastball from the 70's when he designed for mustachioed men with feathered hair and tube socks:


Speaking of clothing, Djokovic rocks UNIQLO gear, and Amanda Warner (half of MNDR) is a UNIQLO spokesperson. So don't front on what the Djoker's wearing on Sunday.

Sartorial asides aside, I expect Sunday's match to be a slugfest. Two of their last three Grand Slam matches went 5 sets, and the third was a 4-setter. More importantly, both play a similar defensive/counterpunching style, and by that I don't mean to suggest that their games lack offense. Both play consistent, relatively high percentage tennis by keeping the ball deep and high over the net, moving their opponent around, and crowding the baseline to the extent possible. Sure, they will take advantage of a short ball and put it away, but typically in a high percentage manner.

By contrast, Juan Marin del Potro is more of a gunslinger. He likes to rip backhands down the line, which is a lower percentage shot than crosscourt because the net is higher and you have a shorter distance in which to land the ball. He also likes to force his opponent to hit a short ball in the center of the ad side of the court so that he can unleash what is probably the nastiest inside-out forehand in the game. Check out the shot at 0:37.



Against Djokovic he went for a lot of insanely angled short inside-out forehands from the ad side and hit many. But he missed many too. I suspect that this shot was less painful to hit with his hyperextended knee than the backhand was, and that he wanted to end points as quickly as possible given his injury.

While we're doing short post-mortems on today's matches, GTB's favorite son Jerzy Jankowicz fell in love with the slice forehand/drop shot, of all the improbable shots to develop a crush on, during the third set of his match against Murray and it was his undoing. He should have stuck with what got him to the semis: big serve, big forehand, big Pole.

I once asserted that Andre Agassi would've been one of the greatest of all time if he worked hard and gave a shit. I think Djokovic's skill set is quite comparable to Agassi's and the Djoker certainly has more heart. He also has similarly bad musical taste; according to Wikipedia, "His favorite songs are Carl Orff - Carmina Burana,Vangelis - Chariots of Fire and Pulp Fiction Soundtrack - Opening Theme." Djokovic has the remarkable ability to produce offensive shots from defensive positions--even when he's forced to hit an out-of-position shot, he creates something that puts pressure on the opponent and get him out of position. Watch this sequence.



He plays smart tennis and his base game has no visible weaknesses ... and he really really gives a shit. Taken together, I think Djokovic could wind up a top-10 all time great, becoming what Agassi should have been. He'll probably beat Murray on Sunday in 4 sets.

Murray came back down 0-2 to Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals and at the time I felt like that would get him over the hump, along with the home crowd backing him while eating crumpets drenched in HP sauce and pounding pints of Samuel Smith's India Ale. Then I watched Djokovic beat del Potro and realized that Djokovic simply has better stuff right now. Every man, woman, and child in London could attend the match and cheer for Murray, but it won't be enough. Not even his Felicity Shagwell look-a-like girlfriend will be enough to derail Djokovic, not the way he's playing now. Murray's a damn fine counterpuncher, but unless he suddenly grows to be seven feet tall and learns how to shoot fireballs from his eyes, Djokovic has the potential to run him over on Sunday. Simply put, Murray cannot stop the Djoker.


That said, rooting for Murray is the right thing to do and I encourage you to do so. Just yesterday we celebrated our independence from Britain and the subsequent asswhooping we meted out upon them. Britain has been a steadfast ally ever since and their opportunity to fete a native son for vanquishing a foreign invader is long overdue. Freedom! And all that good stuff.

45 comments:

TR said...

If Djoker wins today, that will be his 8th major in 11 major finals. I think that's enough to put him in the top 10 of all-time. I'm not ready to call him our generation's Fiery Fred Stolle yet, but he's in the conversation., especially if he wins Wimbledon and the US Open and gets to nine majors this year.

mayhugh said...

Lisicki is being taken to the woodshed against Bartoli in the women's final. Looks completely out of gas after tough matches against Serena and Radwanska.

zman said...

A little dusty in Bartoli's family's box.

Mark said...

Just found out that Dogfish makes a Deltron 3030 tribute beer called Positive Contact. I'm about to sample said beer.

zman said...

That's ... unexpected to say the least. I will track some down.

Clarence said...

Back on the beach again. Dale's. Modelo. Natty Light. Firefly. Hot sun. Perfect water. Scantily clad females. Some hot. Not bad.

zman said...

Back at zin-laws' house again. No one is scantily clad.

Dave said...

back in jersey. everyone was scantily clad at the pool, and everyone had much better tans and cleavage than in chatham.

TR said...

Pool -> Gym -> Grilling. I am a special kind of smelly at the moment. Will need to do 5-min cold shower before eating or my wife may leave me.

Am trying Danimal's onion/bacon combo. Will report back. Seems almost impossible to botch.

Clarence said...

Boozing on the beach with FOGTB Vicky. Danimal, she says hello.

Mark said...

Planning on the onion/bacon combo tomorrow. The wife was especially intrigued by it.

The Positive Contact (awesome song on a great album, by the way) was pretty good. A little fruitier than I like my beers but enjoyable.

Dave said...

can i have an onion/bacon combo review? i read the comment, but while drunk, and now i want to try it. wrap a steak in onion and bacon?

TR said...

Quarter a couple sweet ( yellow) onions. Wrap a slice of bacon around each quarter. Skewer them, then marinade in this sauce: 2 tbsps brown sugar, molasses and balasamic. I did balsamic first into the sugar, then used molasses to balance the smell out. I marinated about an hour.

I made a dumb rookie mistake: I wrapped two slices of bacon around each quarter. The outer bacon crisped/blackened nicely, but the inner did not. To quote Herm Edwards: "That's on me."

Recipe is good. The sauce is the secret. Would probably go great with pork chops as well.

rob said...

spotted the very rare shawn springs seahawks jersey in the wild at a potomac nationals game this evening.

T.J. said...

P-Nats!

T.J. said...

Useful goats:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3555096?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Mark said...

Alex Rodriguez was playing against the local minor league team tonight. I didn't know that because I don't pay for the local paper. Bummer. I'd have had a few beers at my former place of work.

rob said...

strange wimby final already. three breaks with a fourth imminent in the first set.

Danimal said...

Tell Vickster hello back if you happen to still be in her presence.
Nine more hours til kids go to bed.

Danimal said...

And no...the onion bacon recipe is one where 2 slices is not greater than one. Let's not get greedy people.

rob said...

if this match goes 5, one of these dudes might pass out

zman said...

So I hit that wrong, huh?

Clarence said...

"Simply put, Murray cannot stop the Djoker."

I enjoy assertive statements like that. Don't stop making them just because Andy Murray told you to bugger off.

zman said...

The albatross of Ivan Lendl wasn't enough to hold Andy back. I'm watching now on DVR and so far it's close.

TR said...

Thanks, Zman. Pls keep us updated on a game-by-game basis so we know where exactly you stand.

zman said...

It could go either way.

Mr KQ said...

No worries as long as you hit it first.

zman said...

Because you can always go back to the well?

mayhugh said...

Enjoying this NATS game. Denard Span is on his third at bat of the game. We're only in the 5th inning. And as I type he hits an infield single off two Padres.

A lot of bad Padres defense. I think they are all listening to the Benny Hill theme on repeat in the infield.

Danimal said...

Have become hooked on Bar Rescue

rob said...

eliot spitzer is running for comptroller of nyc. against, among others, kristin davis. who was the madam who supplied him with prostitutes while he was governor. oh, nyc, you're the best. there are a number of shitshow electoral scenarios this fall. i believe a post may be in order.

Dave said...

hey gheorghies!

Clarence said...

9:59???? Good gracious.

Clarence said...

Also, has anyone heard of a rempen?

On another note, am I going to die?

Dave said...

hey ghoerghies!

wow! it took me a long time to type that.

Clarence said...

Hey, Gheorghies!!

Dave sucks.

Shlara said...

Kevin Durant is getting married?!?!?!
I didn't even know he had a legit GF

Danimal said...

Weiner, Spitz, Back

Dave said...

clarence is pregnant?

zman said...

Mark Rempen? Another Irvine Welsh character.

Danimal said...

big day here.

ny/nj'rs...hypothetically, if i were to drive from newark north to the pearl river area (i have a cousin that lives there) at 5'ish on a weekday, would i regret that decision soon after due to traffic. am simply thinking about this - not a requirement.

zman said...

Yes, you would. There are train stations in Pearl River and Newark; I suggest looking into whether there are train tracks connecting them.

Geoff said...

According to the sign on RT 303, Pearl River is "still the town of friendly people."

Danimal said...

Good to know....may sway my decision.

Squeaky said...

Just found out I'm going to be in Crystal City, VA on Wednesday. Any local G:TBers up for a beer?