12 July 2018
Embed from Getty Images
Context
Almost there: today was women’s semi-finals day.
Results to Date
Kerber and Williams won on the women’s side and will play for the Women’s Singles Championship on Saturday. Kerber beat Jalena Ostapenko and Serena bested Julia Goerges in straight sets. What a tournament for Serena and Kerber.
The men’s side of the tournament received its’ first really big shock of the tournament when Roger Federer, seeded Number 1, went out to big-serving Kevin Anderson in five sets. Anderson won the fifth set–no tie breaker in the fifth at Wimbledon–by the score of 13-11. Also making it to the men’s semi-finals: John Isner (he took out Milos Raonic); Rafa Nadal (he beat Juan Martin del Poltro), and Novak Djokovic (won over Kei Nishikori). The men’s semi-finals will be played on Friday.
Click this link to see the draw (and results) for all classes of competition at Wimbledon.
Court Notes
It’s all over for England in the World Cup. England nursed a 1 goal to nil lead deep into the match before Croatia scored to tie the match, which went into overtime. Croatia scored in the second overtime period to eliminate England from the finals. Croatia and France will play for the 2018 World Cup on Sunday. There was some relief at the All England club, hosts and sponsors of Wimbledon, because had England made the World Cup finals, there would be less focus on the Men’s Championship Singles on Sunday, as both contests are scheduled for approximately the same time. Tough way to solve the problem. England had plenty of chances to score against Croatia, most notably in the first half of the match, but couldn’t get it done. Too much of the game was played in England’s half of the field and the pressure on England goalie Jordan Pickford was enormous. He came up big time and time again to keep England in the match, but in the end, too many chances to score for Croatia (England’s defense was not stellar) and England’s offense either missed or passed up very good shots. Eventually Croatia put the winner in the net. England also looked noticeably slow in the last part of the first half and in most of the second half. England next play Belgium on Saturday for third place. Maybe next time.
Also-if you’ve got a DVR use it to tape some matches. If you play tennis, it’s a great chance to see the best in the world hit every shot in the book; you can learn a lot if you take your time to review the matches. Nightshift Sports Tennis Coach (and consultant) Ricco is unhappy that certain members of the staff are very carefully watching and learning Vitalia Daitchenko two hands off both sides form. No question about it, you can whack some penetrating ground strokes with the two-handed forehand but you still have to be able to hit a one-handed forehand because of the loss of reach with the two hander. Experiment and try it yourself.
ICYMI
The daily video review of play at Wimbledon, courtesy of Wimbledon and YouTube.
We have added a link to Wimbledon’s YouTube channel to our resources. Signup to see exclusive videos and special features. Maybe even get a chance to see the Raonic serve and Monfils behind the back groundie. If you’re a tennis fan, check it out.
Resources
You know the drill by now: Nightshift Sports provides overnight updates on the previous day’s play, along with relevant links to the best coverage (print, on the net, TV, and streaming) and an amazing collection of photos from the event. We continue to add interesting links to and about Wimbledon. There’s a new link to Wimbledon’s Instagram feed, as well as one to the Wimbledon official Twitter Feed. Now you can stay in touch from the comfort of your phone…..
Direct Link to The Official Wimbledon Website
The Wimbledon Dress Code
The 2018 Draw
Time Magazine Deep Background on the Wimbledon Dress Code
Wimbledon Background and History
Wimbledon Results (updated Continuously)
Where to Watch Wimbledon
Wimbledon Apps Link
Wimbledon YouTube Channel
The Guardian Covers Wimbledon (great print coverage, continuous update)
Wimbledon Instagram Feed
Wimbledon Official Twitter Feed
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