Wimbledon: Slow seats - or Federer "like a snail"?
Slow start - but then things went quickly for Roger Federer in the first round match against Lloyd Harris. However, places in Wimbledon seem rather slow this year.
by Florian Goosmann from Wimbledon
last edit: Jul 03, 2019, 10:08 am
The 3: 6 - it was a little shock for the Federer fans in the All England Club. But only a short one. From round two, the maestro picked up the pace, at the end there was a safe 3: 6, 6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 2 and thus the second round move of the eightfold champ on Church Road.
His legs did not move, somehow nothing worked at the beginning, Federer judged afterwards. "It is always a little unusual at the beginning here in Wimbledon, the first two or three matches. It is so different compared to all other places in the world how the ball bounces, whether the kick arrives or not."
Do you want to stream all Wimbledon matches live? Then be there with Sky Ticket for only € 9.99.
Harris did a "good job on Returns," said Federer, "I didn't serve badly, but I didn't hit my spots. And he read the serve well." It was also slow on the field, "I had no way through". It was difficult in this combination. "If the legs don't move, you won't get the short ball. You are weak on the defensive. And suddenly you wobble. That was my problem."
His experience had helped him keep calm. "I knew I had other tricks in my pocket. It only took some time," said the third in the world rankings.
Mischa Zverev: Serve and volley not possible
Federer was not the first to comment on the slowness of the places. Nick Kyrgios also spoke in this direction, as did Mischa Zverev, who Wimbledon grass spanked his entire serve-and-volley plan. He only played serve-and-volley in his training matches - but the match court did not accept the serve, which practically stopped, said the older of the Zverev brothers on Monday after the three-set goal against Steve Darcis.
# BETATHOMEWI #
Federer confessed to pondering during the match whether the grass was "as slow as never before". And remained undecided. "Then I thought: Maybe not. Maybe it's up to me. It's because I move like a snail." The greenkeepers would do a "great job", which makes the courts so perfect. The disadvantage: It would be almost too easy to play from the baseline. The ball is "not very alive", but rather heavy. He only gets the right pace when it is hot, "but we are in England, the heat is not high here".
If you think about it, Wimbledon isn't the fastest tournament anyway. "If you look at the length of the rallies, there are on average shorter ball changes at the US Open than Wimbledon," said Federer. "It actually tells the whole story."