Sunday, June 28, 2009

Live - Wimbledon

LATEST ACTION (all times BST)
606: DEBATE

To get involved use 606 or text us your views & comments on 81111. (Not all contributions can be used)

By Piers Newbery at Wimbledon

0946: BBC Sport's Caroline Cheese on Twitter: "Nearly 10,000 in queue, 200 of whom have slept there for 2 nights. Already a queue for Tues and Weds. We love queuing!"

The view from the fans
0945: "I'm queuing for my ground pass with mates and have been up since 4.45, and have been queuing since 7! The people next to us are smoking like chimneys! Any ideas what to do to keep entertained? I feel like an impromptu mass football game, spread the word?"
From anon via text on 81111

0941: Three-time champion Chris Evert has been tracked down in Sydney to offer her thoughts on the great grunting debate: "Grunting is one thing but the shrill sound that you hear with players nowadays, and especially when they get louder when they hit a winner, that's the thing that I observe as a player. Really, the next time you watch say Maria Sharapova, the grunting is consistent but all of a sudden when she has a set up, she has a winner, the grunting gets louder. That's a distraction to me because you are hearing a loud grunt before you see the shot. Is it distracting for a player? Yes it is."

0935: Anne Keothavong on Twitter: "Jamie Delgado and Jonny Marray are playing dubs at wimbe later today. Nicest guys in british tennis so go and support them!"

0935: Vince Spadea on Twitter: "i have a cold. in bed enjoying a rest stop on this highway of life."

Get involved on 606
0931: "I see federer dropping at least a set today, and roddick exiting stage left."
From myfaceisgreen on 606

It's good news for a Briton at Wimbledon
0930: Watching Glastonbury last night I think I may have stumbled upon the answer to British tennis's woes - Keith Flint from The Prodigy. He's just the sort of bubbly character we need, and he's got bags of energy. Get him down to Roehampton I say. He mind need to tone down the language, mind.

0927: After an uncomfortably steamy night in south London, I'm feeling less than match sharp this morning. Fortunately, Andy Murray seems to have had better preparation for another big day. He received a congratulatory phone call from Sir Sean Connery, which I can guarantee will be the theme of his post-match press conference, and rounded off the day with a massage and an ice bath. Nice.

Henman reflects on Murray's Wimbledon progress

0923: For those of you eager to get as much Murray info as possible, Tim Henman - of Henman Hill fame - has given us his thoughts on the world number three's progress so far. If you're a UK web user, take a look.

0919: Interestingly, I think, 17-year-old American qualifier Melanie Oudin, who defeated sixth seed Jelena Jankovic on Saturday, was beaten by Laura Robson in the juniors last year. Oudin's earliest Wimbledon memory is watching Venus and Serena on TV. Ouch. She's up against Agnieszka Radwanska in the first match on Court 18.

It's good news for a Briton at Wimbledon
0914: You can tell it's week two because there is a distinct lack of Britons over the age of 17 still in action. However, there are plenty of juniors getting their boys' and girls' singles campaigns under way, including defending champion Laura Robson in the fourth and final match on Court 14. The junior matches start at 1100 BST, so if you're a queuer I'd suggest heading for Court 19, where Heather Watson is first up against the ominously Russian sounding Valeria Solovieva.

Get involved on 606
0907: "I can see Murray really struggling today. Wawrinka is a quality player and can cause Murray some Problems."
From bates15 on 606

0905: It's big day and we wouldn't want you to miss any of it, so you can follow the action with this rolling text commentary, or later on BBC Two, then BBC One, BBC HD, streamed on this website (UK only), 5 Live and 5 Live sports extra. And you can catch up with anything you've missed on the BBC iPlayer. Or you could just buy a paper.

Text in your views on 81111
0902: "On my way into work and I'm genuinely excited about pretending to work on some spreadsheets while actually watching the tennis. Williams v ivanovic is my pick of the day."
From Excited Tom, London, via text on 81111

0901: "I've just got to Wimbledon, it's 5am & I'm 2393 in the queue!!"
From Toby, London, via text

0900: The second Monday is always my favourite day as it's the last 16 for both men and women in the singles, meaning we should have 16 top-quality matches. First up on Centre Court at 1300 BST we have a repeat of the French Open final between Federer and Soderling, followed by Safina and Mauresmo, and then Murray v Wawrinka. Court One sees Venus v Ivanovic, Verdasco v Karlovic, and Roddick v Berdych. And we still have big matches kicking off at 1200 BST on the other courts, with Dementieva, Azarenka and Haas among the early starters.

The view from the fans
0854: The groundstaff are hard at work mowing the grass and painting the lines on Centre Court before me, while BBC Breakfast's Chris Hollins has been out and about by the queue. Needless to say, it's already sizeable. If you were thinking about strolling down late morning and picking up a Centre Court ticket, I'm afraid you're out of luck. On a brighter note, it looks like you would be spending several hours in the hot sun surrounded by dozens of Aussies. Delightful.

0847: Murray and Wawrinka are good mates and regular practice partners, and they've shared a few tight matches in their time. The Scot leads the head-to-head 4-3, but significantly has won the last two and thrashed the Swiss 6-1 6-3 6-3 at the US Open last year. Wawrinka hasn't been pulling up any trees this year but he reached the semis in Monte Carlo a couple of months ago, and he's currently on an eight-match winning streak after choosing to play a clay-court Challenger event after the French Open. It was an unusual move for someone ranked in the top 20 but he won, so it worked as a confidence-booster.

The sun is out again at Wimbledon
0841: "If you're coming down to Wimbledon today it's going to be hot, with temperatures up to 28C, very gentle breezes and just the tiniest chance of a shower," says Carol Kirkwood on BBC Breakfast. I can confirm that despite being in an air-conditioned and almost empty Commentary Box, I already have a sweat on. It's like being here, isn't it?

0840: Morning all, should be a good one today - local boy. Well, relatively local. That's right, Andy Murray continues his bid to become the first British men's singles champion since Fred Perry when he takes on Swiss 19th seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the third match on Centre Court. We're guessing that will be at around 1700 BST.

No comments: