Right well this is a rather unique post as it will cover some of the matches that I was actually at, as it was the day I went to Wimbledon on Saturday 29 June. So let's have a quick look at em and a round of the other matches....
OK so starting with Day 6 the day I was at Wimbledon, and I have to start off by saying that being at Wimbledon was quite an experience, and surprisingly one which altogether isn't quite you'd imagine it. The All England tennis club was naturally quite big in size and it was funny walking in between the smaller courts as it was almost like you were in a market place, and the grounds itself has quite a large selection eateries, for different food such as pizza, fish and chips, or sandwiches (none of each were cheap!). But it was great to see so many top players out and about, as I spotted players such as Francesca Schiavone, Radek Stepanek, Grigor Dimitrov, Julienne Benneateau, who were all involved in different doubles matches. I also got to see Sabine Lisicki (who has got a rather nice bum I have to say, perv!) and Feliciano Lopez practising on the practice courts. And even though he wasn't playing I very briefly saw Andy Murray who was dressed in a suit who has making his way out to centre court as he was part of the Olympians attending in the royal box, and it was bizzare seeing these teenage girls calling out his name, as it almost like the Beatles were still around! The court me and my cousin Dale had tickets for was Court No.1, which is quite an amazing court, and it is surprisingly more enclosed than you would think as the circular shaped opening around the top of the court would lead you to believe that the court would be for more open even up at the top levels, where we were but it wasn't, as we were very sheltered by the ovals surroundings of the open part of the roof.
But getting onto day 6 there were plenty of good matches on not only on Court No.1 where I was but on the other courts. So I will start with Court No.1 (why not??) for the ladies as Petra Kvitova resumed her match with the Russian player Ekaterina Makarova, which was in the third set. Petra was a break down 1-2 in the 3rd when play resumed, however she managed to break back, and she managed to break Makarova's serve to go on and close out the match in 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. From what little I had seen of the match it was quite an entertaining one and the rain must have helped Petra's concentration somewhat as she went on to close out the deal. In other matches on centre court Sam Stosur took on Sabine Lisicki in a tough match, as the Aussie was stunned by the German, who has a natural flair for grass courts, as Lisicki beat Stosur in three sets with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win. Agnieszka Radwanska also had a tough match against her American opponent, Madison Keyes as she was pushed all the way and she eventually battled through in 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
In other matches, Serena Williams, whom we were supposed to see on Court No.1, had her match moved to centre court due to a late start. Serena took on the oldest player in the draw, Kimiko Date Krumm, who gave her older sister Venus a real test two years ago. But Serena had no such trouble as ruthlessly moved past the Japanese player in two easy straight sets with a 6-2, 6-0 win. And the last match of the day I will mention was Laura Robson who faced the Australian, Marina Erakovic, and Laura faced an uphill battle as the Erakovic took the opening set with a double break. In the 2nd set Laura went a break down, but she soon started her fightback as she broke back and went on to level the match with a break of her own. And in the 3rd set Laura with the help of the crowd moved forward for the first time, with a 4-0 lead, but she let Erakovic back in the door with a break back, but Laura went on to seal the match and take her first ever place in the 4th round of Wimbledon with a remarkable comeback victory with the score reading 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. This was quite an effort from Laura Robson and it shows once again she really is a player to watch and as she is only 19 just now, she will get better and better with age no doubt as she progresses. It also saw the first British woman to reach the 4th round of Wimbledon in 25 years, which was remarkable in itself, and no doubt Laura will have a chance to go deeper in future slams.
Now onto the men's matches of the day, starting with Bernard Tomic who took on Richard Gasquet for a place in the 4th round. Tomic despite being lower ranked player actually managed to eventually come through this one as he battled his way past the Frenchman in 7-6, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 to reach the final 16 for the second time. Novak Djokovic, the World No.1 wasted little time against another French player Jeremy Chardy, as he dismissed Chardy with an easy 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory. Tommy Haas also fought his way into the last 16 as he made it past Feliciano Lopez in 4 sets with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 scoreline, which once again shows at the age of 35 players can still produce their best. Mikhail Youzhny also showed his grass court skill and talent as he beat the Serb Viktor Troicki in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win.
Which brings me onto the Court no.1 matches for the men's which I seen, starting with Tomas Berdych who was up against the South African giant Kevin Anderson. Anderson made the better start however as Berdych struggled on serve and suffered a break, which let Anderson serve out the first set. However Berdych started to find his game in the 2nd set as he broke to level the match. In the 3rd set Berdych soon went up a break and took the two sets to one advantage. And despite going a break up in the 4th, Anderson broke back to level at 5-5, before Berdych broke again and served it out for a place in the last 16 with a hard fought 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 score. This was not a bad match but it lacked excitement and had no real pace or variety to it, and there were alot of stops and starts throughout. However it was still impressive to see a top player like Berdych play and his groundstrokes were incredible as was his big serve when it went in, as did Anderson's as both men were equal in power and they did exchange some good rallies.
So now I thought I would leave the best till last and it was the match of the day without a doubt as David Ferrer took on the talented and unorthodox Ukraine player, Alexandr Dolgopolov. Ferrer looked the hot favourite to win this match, and he got off to the better start as the Dog's (his nickname!) unpredictable style of play was flaky and Ferrer went a double break up. However Dolgopolov soon found his range and got his game under control as he broke back and soon before we knew it, play went to a tiebreak, which the Dog took. In the 2nd set Ferrer went a break up but struggled and let the Dog break back and play went to another tiebreak, but this time Ferrer got the upper hand and levelled to make it a set all. However the Dog wasn't done yet as he raced through the 3rd set to take the 2 sets to 1 lead, and in almost quick as time Ferrer did the same in the 4th to make it 2 sets all! In the 5th we were treated to some great points, and a terrific game with Dolgopolov trailing 4-2, where he valiantly tried to hold serve, but Ferrer dug in to get another break, and he went on to serve out a terrific match to reach the last 16 with a 6-7, 7-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 score.
This was a great way to finish off the day and Ferrer despite not playing his best proved once again that he is one of the hardest grafters on the tour as he battled his way past Dolgopolov, who himself proved very popular with the crowd with his unorthodox and highly entertaining style of tennis. The match also had some great variety from both men as well which made it all the more entertaining to watch and the atmosphere throughout in the crowd was great, and Wimbledon has some of the best crowds in the sport, as they are enthusiastic, supporting and respectful (not like the French Open at all! ;-)).
So that's it for my coverage of Day 6, which was quite a day and it was great to actually be a part of witnessing the live action at SW19, and hopefully I will be able to go back again some day.
Next up will be the 4th round matches and we will see who will make it through to the quarter finals.
Till then bye the now!
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