Day 4 Tennis: Eastbourne


Day 4

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This year's Aegon international at Eastbourne perfectly reflects the

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current ebb and flow of the women's tour, lots of big names out with the

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wash, and as we reach the semifinal stage, two established figures and

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two of the new order, one of whom is taking British tennis to a new high

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water mark. Very secure from Watson! Wonderful

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return. Oh, that is fantastic! A wonderful performance by Madison

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Keys. Watson at best. Well played! A wonderful, wonderful performance

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from Heather Watson. Wozniacki, how good is that?! Oh,

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that is brilliant by Kerber! That will do it. That was mighty

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impressive. We had a brief storm last night as a

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prayer lead to events in Brazil, but we are back to blue skies and the

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unseasonably warm water of Sussex by the sea. -- a prayer viewed. Heather

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Watson is going to play her first WTA Tour semifinal for two years,

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the first Brit in the semifinals here 432 years, when she plays

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Madison Keys this afternoon. -- for 32 years. We are going to a

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fantastic match between Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, which

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is one set all at the moment. This time next week we will be at

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Wimbledon, and the long-range forecast for the fortnight is very

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encouraging, and the draw was made a couple of hours ago.

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players have got. Sam Murray, no relation, as Maria Sharapova in the

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first round of the ladies' singles. Live now to Centre Court, a

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fantastic match, high-quality hitting, talking about ebb and flow.

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This is going one way, then the other, this is Kerber against

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Wozniacki in the third set decider in the company of Annabel Croft and

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Chris Bradnam. CHRIS: It has been an hour and 50

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minutes of an enthralling battle, their eighth meeting, their last

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meeting was in a semifinal in Tokyo their eighth meeting, their last

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meeting was in a semifinal in last year. Wozniacki won in Indian Wells

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just before that last year, in the semifinals, 7-5 in the third. They

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have had tight matches each time. Just a quick summary of what we have

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seen: Wozniacki held three break points in the opening game of the

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match and then got a break in the fourth to lead 3-1. It went with

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serve, and Wozniacki won the first set 6-3 in 40 minutes. Immediately a

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break in the second to lead to-0. set 6-3 in 40 minutes. Immediately a

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She was broken back in the fourth game to level it at 2-2. Kerber then

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saved a break point to lead 3-2 in the second set, that was pretty key

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again. She had a set point at 5-4, Wozniacki serving to stay back in

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the game, but she won three points in the tie-break. Here we are in the

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first game of the final set, 40-30. It has been a terrific match, but we

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feel that Kerber has the match on her racquet. Yes, she is slightly

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more aggressive and has the ability to flatten out her groundstrokes and

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create winners from any position on the court, and as we kept saying,

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she is more dangerous on the run, tracking down balls slightly out of

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position. She flicks the wrist and comes up with a winner.

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Kerber was parading herself after this point here, saying, why did you

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go back crosscourt into Wozniacki's strong side? She should have gone

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down the line with that forehand. A lot of close calls, particularly

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on that baseline at Wozniacki's end. Pretty angry yesterday in the

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quarterfinal against Georgi about the lack of calls at times. Is that

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the most angry you have been on court? A little twinkle, she said,

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no. Well done, well handled in the son.

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-- sun. Yeah, they are never easy, dependent on how high the lob is,

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but she slightly let it drop and is slightly hunched up with her

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shoulders when she died that one into play. -- guided.

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Well played! That has been the pattern.

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The brick wall that is Wozniacki, a player who makes you doubt yourself,

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against the woman trying to break through the wall. She is doing it

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more and more of late. The first match this year on Centre

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Court for Kerber, she has been first up on Court One each round, Monday,

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Wednesday Thursday, Taliban risque -- Riske and Cornet.

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Well, it is just lethal, this forehand, isn't it? There is

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something about playing left-handers on a grass court where they can

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flatten the back ball. It is difficult to read which way she is

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going, she is a deceptively good player, acceleration through the

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ball. Wow! Ruling point for both women.

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We've seen so many like that. -- gruelling. It is developing its own

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pattern, this match, and so often it is her getting Wozniacki on the end

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of a piece of string and running her ragged at the back of the court.

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Obviously, she is pushing her further and further behind the

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baseline. Difficult to impose your game when you are too far back.

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Kerber, one from ten on break points in the match. Wozniacki, two from

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nine. So many opportunities, that has added to the tug-of-war affect.

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-- effect. So quick, Wozniacki, chases

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everything down. Well, she has just done so much

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running out here, two hours and one minute, and she has done most of the

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running, and now whatever is doing to her as well is not just the side

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to side across the baseline. -- what Kerber is doing.

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Yeah, they are both taking time now between points. This is gruelling,

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just over an hour longer for Wozniacki to the semifinals,

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compared to Kerber. And got it! She breaks Wozniacki for

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a second time in the match. And in front for the first time in

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the match. Yes, it seems to have taken her a long time to really

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break the back of this match, but now she seems very firmly in control

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of it, to be honest, and the pattern of play has fallen more towards her

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momentum, hasn't it? Very closely contested second set there. As you

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can see, we talk about the first serve percentage of Caroline

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Wozniacki, extremely high for the last three matches, only one double

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fault, and the difference in winners, a lot more for Kerber, but

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many more unforced errors. She snuck that set right at the final hurdle,

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and here she is in a commanding position now.

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And we have talked a lot about Kerber's second serve. Initially in

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the match, she was one in three behind it, but she has got it up to

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60% newly, and that has made a huge difference. -- nearly.

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In terms of the returned points won behind the second serve of

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Wozniacki, but on her own second serve, she is still one in three. It

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is still an issue. And there is another. And to us in

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the commentary box, And there is another. And to us in

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commentating on Kerber for years, she says she is looking to be more

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aggressive and do more with the second serve, but it is difficult to

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see any change. It does not look as if it is a vastly improved second

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serve in terms of where she puts it in the box, because sometimes it

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seems to be inviting the hit, not much pace on it.

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That is the first really loose air we have seen from Wozniacki for

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quite some time. Yes, Wozniacki stretching the legs out. Kerber

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could run all day and all night. isn't she? She is definitely much

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more comfortable off the backhand side, and you can see, it comes up

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the back, it sits there, it doesn't travel through the court, which

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doesn't take time away from the opponent.

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It is really a shot that cannot hurt Kerber out here, the forehand, can

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it? It is more effective down the line, when she flattens it out,

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Wozniacki. But Kerber played a lot to the backhand in the early part of

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this match. She has switched it more, that's for sure.

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Like that! The second serve predominantly was all going to the

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backhand. A few worries in the Wozniacki camp.

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Yes, I'm not sure he can look anymore.

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Well, she needs to boss it more, Wozniacki.

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The umpire just getting the scores wrong there, she corrected herself.

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Caroline looking up to make sure it is her advantage.

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Yeah, it was, predominantly back to the backhand on the break point.

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That is what perplexed us at the start of the match. Well, it is

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sometimes strange, isn't it? When you watch tennis matches from the

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sidelines, armchair tennis is easy to play, but the players who beat

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Wozniacki always say they broke down the forehand side and that is the

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weaker side. Then you watch other players and think, why don't you go

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there the majority of the time? That is the side that will give you more

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opportunity to attack. She is so good at dealing with

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stressful situations, Caroline, she takes it all on the chin. On and off

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the court. That's true. Well, only two double faults coming

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into the semifinals for Wozniacki, and that is her fourth in this

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match. The second of the set already. ?

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You definitely cannot look! It is becoming more and more painful for

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him. He plays every shot, doesn't he?

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Not out by much. We have seen a few angles in the match, not many, a

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couple of drop shots from Kerber. I think she feels the call was

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influenced by Kerber looking at him, because it was a very late call.

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Well... I think it was right. Fiona Edwards, the British umpire, thought

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it was long too. I think it is just because it was delayed, and after

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Kerber looked at the line judge, he then made the call. The break point.

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So good when she looks to play in that vein.

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I think so too, and it never ceases to amaze me, she is very brave as a

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tennis player, always looking to improve her game. It never stops are

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continuing to try to do the right thing.

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Miss Wozniacki has requested to see her coach. A third visit on court

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for her father, this is the earliest he has been on. It is always

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surprising that she often gets him on when she is in a winning

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position. And quite often things change after he has been on there!

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But she obviously enjoys having him on, because she is always asking for

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him. They speak so positively about the teamwork, his help and guidance

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over the years which has led to a phenomenally successful career, 21

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titles from 34 finals, over $16 million, the final of the US Open in

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2009, lost to Kim Clijsters. The semis of the Australian, the

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quarters of the French. And world number one over two years, of

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course, 10 and 11. Not a bad career, not a bad team. Playing Kerber,

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whose highest ranking has been number five, currently playing out

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of a ranking of number nine, but the last time Wozniacki beat a top five

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player was in the semifinal of Brussels 2011, so that is the issue

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for Wozniacki. The standards that she set herself at the end of that

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second year of being number one in the world, 2011, there has been a

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dip since then. She is clinging on to the top 30 this year, and so is

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her father. This is huge, because she has not been in a final this

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year, the last was Luxembourg, back end of last year, at a time when in

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2010-11, she was making finals for fun. It is a very good point, that

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she has won a title for the last six years, which is an amazing record.

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Kerber, 1-2, final set. She has a super touch, with all the

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power she can generate, Kerber. Well, not surprising, really, 78 mph

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second serve, she is now nine points won behind 28th second service. That

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is not a good start, is it? She is going to need to look at that as she

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goes forward. It is because she is not able to get that ball out of the

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strike zone on the second serve, she goes right down the centre.

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Well, the reason the seagulls are dipping and diving because so many

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bring a packed lunch! It is not an apple, he has got a souvenir to

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throwback. That has made me hungry, Chris!

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Seagulls on the prowl! Sometimes they make so much noise, they could

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be mistaken for one of the line judges, actually!

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That is such a great shot for Kerber, flattening out from the

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middle of the court, we have seen so many of those today.

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Well, well done, Kerber, but Wozniacki did not fancy the dry

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volley. Maybe the sun in our eyes, it is the trickier end, but she

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allowed Kerber back into the point. Yeah, she did, because for a lot of

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that last rally she had got great depth on the ball, Kerber was half

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volleying it on the baseline. Kerber is very good at turning defence into

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attack, one of the greatest assets on court, the ability to do that.

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How many players, that forehand down the line, the penultimate shot as we

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see Kerber's coach, he warmed up with her this morning, winning the

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point against some new players down the line?

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Oh, dear, that bounced before it reached the net! Perhaps one she

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would like to forget. It gives us all hope, though, doesn't it?! I'm

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not quite sure what happened there, actually. It did not get enough

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height. expect this from Caroline. Some on

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first -- some unforced error is. It is her 23rd in the match. Two aces

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out wide at the other end. One of them on a break point. Which one

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does Kerber cover? Not for the first time, Wozniacki

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gets a real stroke of luck. This time getting the return to the

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forehand. Second time, final set, Kerber with

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the break. But you never feel it is decisive because you know Wozniacki

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is going to come back strong. Also, she does not possess a big serve.

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You think she would be more devastating with that serve. When it

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comes to the second serve points and it is straight into the hitting

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zone, she could get into more trouble. That is why she chose to

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receive at the start of the match. It tells you at that moment she is

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not that confident serving. So going ahead, it is never a foregone

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conclusion she will hang onto the lead. This is really now and neck.

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It is a long match. Kerber took three minutes longer to beat Cornet

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in the final set tie-break in the second round. She will be pleased to

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have beaten Ekaterina Makarova. Two hours 34 minute was Wozniacki's last

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match. Lopez did not get his much played last night with the storm

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that came in. He was watching Caroline's much yesterday, wasn't

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he? Yes. Really used her legs well on that

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last passing shot. Absorbs what is happening and stays down on the

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ball. All of the Lucknow is turning to

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Kerber. They say they even out. She did not even attempt to run after

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that. You almost sense those legs are tiring a little bit from

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Caroline. She has done an awful lot of chasing today. Six hours and

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three minutes into this semifinal for the day.

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Just sends Caroline is going after the ball a bit more, trying to put a

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bit more on it to try and impose her game. She cannot keep this level up

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of just chasing down balls. Kerber extends her lead. This is a must win

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service game for Wozniacki. They have both got the same problem

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on the second serve? It is almost a carbon copy. Slightly better,

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Wozniacki. Point is getting bigger for

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Wozniacki. That is just outstanding. The

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defence from Wozniacki and the finish from Kerber all stop I think

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that is a good word, the finish. She has had a better finish on the

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points. It comes back to that ability to accelerate onto the ball.

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Caroline can do it on the backhand but does not have the ability on the

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forehand side. Well played, so strong. Alarm bells

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now, another break point the Kerber. His 16th. -- her extinct.

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final set. Just a third visit to Eastbourne. Make the finals two

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years ago, Kerber. She played the qualifier from Austria. She is

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getting very close to another tilt at the title. She has earned herself

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to be in this position. Talk her a little bit of time to get going and

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get settled and break the heart of this match. But as the match has

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unfolded over two and a half hour period, she has had more success

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with her ground strokes at the back of court. More ability to run

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Caroline Raggett. And unleashing the winners from corner to corner. The

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second serve does not seem to have effect it hurt too much. She did go

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through periods where she broke the forehand down and then she went back

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to the backhand. It has been a mix, not just a set pattern. Can you

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imagine if she developed a very good second serve all stop the difference

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it could make to her overall game? It would make a massive difference

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because she is one of the best all strikers out there. She can defend

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the way Caroline can but has the ability to turn it into a tack. The

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second serve is definitely a little bit suspect. Kerber serving for a

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place in the final. Does she think, a couple of years

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ago, 5-3 in the final set, five championship points and did not win,

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do you think I will come to her mind? I hope not, because it will

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affect her. One of the break points saved. There has only been two games

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in this set without a break point in it. How good is that from out wide?

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Just showing she has no problem changing the direction of the ball

:44:00.:44:06.

on the stretch and does not have to be balanced. Really uses her legs so

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well. Well played! The problem continues

:44:08.:44:42.

for Kerber behind the second serve will stop one of the breaks back for

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Wozniacki. You would imagine Kerber would prefer to break to win. I

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think she would. More chance of her going after the service of Caroline.

:45:05.:45:30.

She was digging deep in that point. Trusted herself. Yet another good

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finish. What a gruelling rally that was.

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That was testing out the lungs of both of them. Kerber had both knees

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on the ground when she played that last forehand. Just clipping the top

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of the net. Longest match in the tournament now for both women.

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She is turning the screw a little bit more, going a little bit closer

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to the lines, taking a few more risks and it is paying off.

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to the lines, taking a few more risks and it is paying off.

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We have seen some fantastic tennis and so have they on this Centre

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Court this week. Some wonderful matches. Fantastic women's

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tournament at the French Open. Being pushed further and further

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back, Wozniacki. Kerber has a point for the final. It has taken two

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hours and 38 minutes to get there. That will do it! She has got a

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chance to raise the memory of having five championship points and not

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coming away from Devonshire Park with the title. She has beaten her

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friend, Caroline Wozniacki, in a fantastic semifinal. She was more

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aggressive overall and deserves her place in the final tomorrow. I

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agree, it was a wonderful match, very entertaining and high quality.

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But she was the more aggressive, she took the wrists, particularly

:49:41.:49:47.

towards the end of the tie-break. -- took the risks. She held her nerve.

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What a lot of running Wozniacki did. What a huge cheer for her. Champion

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of 2009 and she has been under pressure of late. I think they

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understand that and are very warm in their appreciation of Wozniacki's

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efforts this week. Got a fabulous match. Two hours 39 in the end.

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Congratulations. Through to your second final at Eastbourne? I am

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very happy about my game. Caroline is a tough opponent and I think we

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played a very tough match and it was very high level. I really enjoy to

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play here and be in the second final, it is great. You have had a

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couple of finals already this year but it seems your grass game is the

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best, is that how you feel? I am feeling very good on grass. I enjoy

:50:54.:51:02.

playing here, I am just happy about my game and let's see. You will play

:51:03.:51:09.

the winner of the next semifinal, will you watch that much? I will

:51:10.:51:28.

watch a little bit, but I will go out tomorrow and just play

:51:29.:51:34.

aggressive and play my game and enjoy the final tomorrow. We will

:51:35.:51:37.

look forward to seeing you there. Ladies and gentlemen, Angeli

:51:38.:51:38.

Kerber. Still gives you goose bumps this

:51:39.:52:04.

court. Wimbledon 2014 is anyone's game. Starts on the 23rd of June

:52:05.:52:09.

across the BBC. Loads of tennis as a build-up to

:52:10.:52:13.

Wimbledon on Monday. The final tomorrow here. And tomorrow morning,

:52:14.:52:23.

as a warm up, a rerun of the final last year. And then on Monday at

:52:24.:52:33.

10:35 p.m., when Andy won Wimbledon. The draw for Wimbledon this year has

:52:34.:52:36.

been made this morning. Andy Murray will begin his defence of his title

:52:37.:52:47.

against David got that. This is what his path to the latter stages might

:52:48.:52:50.

look like. -- David Finn. With Rafael Nadal as the respect of

:52:51.:53:35.

opponent in the final, we are getting ahead of ourselves. What is

:53:36.:53:40.

your immediate thought? I think it is good. I think he would definitely

:53:41.:53:48.

have preferred to be on the side with Djokovic. He beat him in

:53:49.:53:54.

straight sets in the final last year. The fact people think he needs

:53:55.:53:59.

to respond of that defeat from the French Open, I think he has a better

:54:00.:54:05.

record against Djokovic than he does against Nadal. He is one of those

:54:06.:54:09.

players Andy finds tough. And after one of the most heavy defeats we

:54:10.:54:14.

have ever seen of Andy Murray at the French Open, I think he would prefer

:54:15.:54:19.

to play Djokovic and there may be Nadal in the final. I asked to

:54:20.:54:23.

people in the press room what they thought and they said the exact

:54:24.:54:29.

opposite. They felt Djokovic was going to be the toughest player for

:54:30.:54:33.

Andy Murray to place -- face. Nadal is the nominal, but not quite as

:54:34.:54:39.

phenomenal on grass as he is on clay. Andy could beat Federer and

:54:40.:54:48.

Stanwell Rinker is on a downward slope at the moment. So they felt

:54:49.:54:55.

getting Djokovic is a bad draw. Nadal has only had two match wins on

:54:56.:55:06.

grass in two years. One guy not mentioned is Kevin Anderson. I would

:55:07.:55:10.

see him as a real threat to Andy Murray on that side of the draw. He

:55:11.:55:18.

has a big serve and has beaten Andy in the past. If we go through the

:55:19.:55:31.

men's draw. Dan Evans plays Kuznetsov of Russia. It could be a

:55:32.:55:50.

potential rick scalp the James Ward. I watched them play in Dubai and

:55:51.:55:55.

James pushed him very close. I think he could have won that match. Then

:55:56.:56:02.

he pulled out and did not complete the tournament. Carl Edmonds, plays

:56:03.:56:15.

the Austrian. Tara Moore plays Vera 's soiree buff. Caroline Wozniacki

:56:16.:56:36.

and Kerber plays are Raghavan scuff. What is

:56:37.:56:39.

and Kerber plays are Raghavan scuff. interesting is Maria Sharapova would

:56:40.:56:43.

play Serena Williams in the quarterfinals because that is how

:56:44.:56:49.

they have been heard. A lot of people would be disappointed but it

:56:50.:57:05.

makes the second Tuesday, a great match if they get that far. Other

:57:06.:57:15.

than the fact I don't think Maria Sharapova has beaten her for over

:57:16.:57:17.

ten years. When she won Wimbledon she had a fantastic result, but it

:57:18.:57:19.

has not been the most intense rivalry everybody builds it up to

:57:20.:57:21.

be. We think Maria Sharapova is the closest rival to Serena Williams but

:57:22.:57:24.

if you look at the head to head, it is not that close. Heather Watson.

:57:25.:57:29.

All the youngsters coming through. is not that close. Heather Watson.

:57:30.:57:37.

The Belgian has been injured. She worked at the Chris Abbott Academy

:57:38.:57:45.

and had a fantastic run. I think that is a tricky draw. In Serena

:57:46.:57:52.

Williams's draw... Let's hear the announcement. From the United States

:57:53.:57:58.

of America, let's hear it for Madison Keys. She played so

:57:59.:58:05.

emphatically yesterday in her fit three over her fellow American,

:58:06.:58:15.

Lauren Davies. Representing Great Britain, please welcome Heather

:58:16.:58:21.

Watson. Here comes the first British semifinalist at Eastbourne the 32

:58:22.:58:29.

years. A big moment for her. Going back to yesterday talking about

:58:30.:58:36.

Lauren Davies being 5'2". I had a lot of e-mails talking about little

:58:37.:58:43.

Maureen Connelly, who was one of the great all-time champions who

:58:44.:58:48.

actually wasn't that small. She was only five. So it is not that small.

:58:49.:59:12.

There is small and small. The name I was going to mention is before she

:59:13.:59:21.

plays Maria Sharapova she would play Eugenie Bouchard. That could be the

:59:22.:59:26.

match of the championship. Everybody will be coming out, the locker room

:59:27.:59:34.

will be keeping a close eye on that. Because Eugene Bouchard wants to be

:59:35.:59:40.

number one, and has made no secret about that. She is only young and

:59:41.:59:44.

had her first semifinal in a Grand Slam at the French Open. Has it all.

:59:45.:59:50.

Looks the part, trains well and is the full package. It is always

:59:51.:59:56.

fastening when the draw comes out, you have mentioned Kevin Anderson as

:59:57.:00:03.

a potential tricky opponent in the men's draw. Is there somebody in the

:00:04.:00:11.

women's draw you would look at and not rule out? Kevin Anderson, he is

:00:12.:00:18.

six foot eight inches, South African. He does hammer the ball

:00:19.:00:26.

down. He is in the section of the draw with all of those players so

:00:27.:00:29.

nobody will want to come up against him in the early stages. She is in

:00:30.:00:41.

the same section, interesting. him in the early stages. She is in

:00:42.:00:49.

the same There is Lisicki, last year's finalist, we haven't been

:00:50.:00:54.

talking about her, one of the biggest serves in the women's game,

:00:55.:00:55.

she hasn't had a great year. biggest serves in the women's game,

:00:56.:01:01.

feel you hope once she gets her feet back on the grass at Wimbledon she

:01:02.:01:07.

might start to find some form. She could go very far, as good Ana

:01:08.:01:10.

Ivanovic. As we are back here on the grass,

:01:11.:01:16.

there has been some high-quality games this week, that first

:01:17.:01:21.

semifinal was outstanding. It was. When you see tennis live and

:01:22.:01:26.

you watch how hard they hit it and how well they cover the court, how

:01:27.:01:31.

much they get to trackballs down, you need to be a great athlete to

:01:32.:01:35.

chase these balls down, the point construction, some of the

:01:36.:01:39.

hard-fought Balis, it has been phenomenal. We have seen some

:01:40.:01:43.

fabulous matches. A real sense there is a sparkle back in the women's

:01:44.:01:45.

game. He was like watching two hours 40

:01:46.:01:48.

minutes bleep test. Try doing that the two and half

:01:49.:02:06.

hours. Two and a half minutes! Let's hear from Heather and what she makes

:02:07.:02:14.

from this huge opportunity. I am pleased to be in the

:02:15.:02:18.

semifinals, that was my goal anyway, at the beginning of today. I

:02:19.:02:24.

am very pleased about that. I look forward to playing tomorrow, whoever

:02:25.:02:30.

it is against, Madison Keys or Lauren Davies. I look forward to

:02:31.:02:37.

playing well. This must be a lovely feeling for

:02:38.:02:43.

you. After all you went through last year, to be in the thick of the

:02:44.:02:46.

tournament at this stage, and doing it on home soil.

:02:47.:02:53.

Absolutely. I am so pleased to be getting to the later rounds here.

:02:54.:02:58.

Not just in such a tough tournament but also here at home. I think every

:02:59.:03:06.

player wants to do the best in their country, and make their country

:03:07.:03:11.

proud. I am pleased to be here. Good time to be making your country

:03:12.:03:14.

proud when the World Cup is going on, there is a real sporting fervour

:03:15.:03:16.

about the whole place. There is so much sport going on, I'm

:03:17.:03:23.

not sure about the golf, there was hockey, rugby, allsorts. Definitely

:03:24.:03:29.

at the end of the day everybody is playing for their country.

:03:30.:03:31.

When you have gone through what you did last year, the defeats, the

:03:32.:03:36.

ill-health, all of that, when you reach a point I guess, doesn't make

:03:37.:03:39.

you appreciate it more? Absolutely. I don't take any victory

:03:40.:03:44.

for granted, I am pleased with myself, after every single one, no

:03:45.:03:50.

matter who it is against. Even when I lose I don't beat myself up too

:03:51.:03:54.

much, I learned from it and move on. I just really enjoyed playing a

:03:55.:04:00.

lot more. I feel with my career I am treating it a lot more

:04:01.:04:06.

professionally. And just taking it seriously, but enjoying it. A little

:04:07.:04:22.

bit of compensation from a sporting perspective grid but this afternoon.

:04:23.:04:40.

I have seen a serve a lot of first serves into play, obviously she hit

:04:41.:04:44.

her ground strokes very well for so everything was working very well,

:04:45.:04:48.

her timing was spot on. She has talked about trying to be a more

:04:49.:04:51.

aggressive tennis player. She is up against a big serve today in the

:04:52.:04:57.

likes of Madison Keys, somebody who has big weapons, the kick zone. She

:04:58.:05:06.

will kick that serve out the high. She is taller than Lauren Davies,

:05:07.:05:13.

but she is still small by most players' standards. She needs to

:05:14.:05:16.

take the ball on the right and do something with it, not just get it

:05:17.:05:19.

back into play, she has to be aggressive, get something on the

:05:20.:05:23.

ball so she is not dictated you afterwards.

:05:24.:05:26.

ball so she is not dictated you While Madison Keys, because she is

:05:27.:05:28.

likely head of Heather in terms of rankings and everything else, she

:05:29.:05:33.

might say the semifinal I was expected to be here. For Heather,

:05:34.:05:39.

this is as far as she might have reasonably expected to get so she

:05:40.:05:49.

might just go out and play. If you had said to her she would be

:05:50.:05:53.

in the semifinals on Friday, she would have bitten her arm off, she

:05:54.:05:58.

has got a great personality, bubbly, excited. The crowd behind her. I

:05:59.:06:05.

think she will really swing at the ball and enjoy herself. Have a

:06:06.:06:09.

chance. Up against somebody younger than her. I think this is a great

:06:10.:06:13.

opportunity for top they met at Wimbledon last year, a fairly tight

:06:14.:06:17.

match, Heather was disappointed she couldn't win it but they have both

:06:18.:06:20.

moved on in different directions since then. It will be fascinating.

:06:21.:06:26.

One or two people have headed off for a quick break after that lengthy

:06:27.:06:31.

first semifinal. I am sure they will be back to cheer Heather on over the

:06:32.:06:34.

next couple of hours. The second semifinal. You can hear the sharing.

:06:35.:06:40.

For the right to face Angelique Kerber in the final tomorrow on the

:06:41.:06:43.

40th anniversary of this great championship.

:06:44.:06:51.

The American number five, just 19 years young, Madison Keys, to get

:06:52.:06:57.

the second semifinal underway. Her debut here at Eastbourne, for

:06:58.:07:05.

the American. She has practised her return of

:07:06.:07:29.

serve in the warm up, she got onto that quickly. Real intent

:07:30.:07:35.

straightaway from Watson. That is a good sign. The aggression she wants

:07:36.:07:56.

to bring to the game. That is what she is up against, wonderful

:07:57.:08:00.

kick-serve, only served one double fault in the tournament. So much

:08:01.:08:04.

margin built into the kicker. Then the sledgehammer blows after dealing

:08:05.:08:08.

with the kicker. Her 23rd ace of the tournament, she

:08:09.:09:08.

has weapons everywhere. A strong start for the American. Fourth tour

:09:09.:09:13.

semifinal in all, looking for a first final. That could get in the

:09:14.:09:20.

way a little. Wildcard for Heather Watson, the second career semifinal,

:09:21.:09:25.

looking for a second final. Winning at Osaka in 2012.

:09:26.:09:53.

She needs to hold serve at the tricky end.

:09:54.:10:02.

There are few people murmuring. Doesn't she hit it hard? !

:10:03.:10:29.

As Annabel was saying, Watson has served really well this week. Five

:10:30.:10:37.

foot seven, one metre 70. Just moved so well, Watson. Balance,

:10:38.:11:34.

poise. Can be hot and cold, Keys. They go

:11:35.:12:16.

all over the place, but when they go in they are unplayable.

:12:17.:12:43.

He then I knows. When your second serve is likely to get thumped it

:12:44.:12:50.

will make you want to go for it more. -- keep an eye on those.

:12:51.:13:51.

It has a great start for Keys, it silences the crowd and put Heather

:13:52.:14:37.

Watson on the back foot with her coach. She talked about wanting to

:14:38.:14:42.

be more aggressive as I welcome Annabel into the commentary box. I

:14:43.:14:55.

think with this sunny weather we are happening, oh, my goodness, that

:14:56.:15:02.

nearly took out the ball girl. Wow. She is feisty, Heather Watson, we

:15:03.:15:17.

know that. She is so softly spoken, delightful, but when she gets on a

:15:18.:15:20.

match court she wants to win tennis matches. She is not happy with the

:15:21.:15:25.

start. Nice. Great channelling of emotion

:15:26.:15:56.

as well. That is what she did so well in a previous match, on that

:15:57.:16:02.

forehand side. Sometimes she really connects with the timing on the

:16:03.:16:03.

forehand. This is effortless power coming out

:16:04.:16:36.

of Madison Keys' racket. This is where she has the ability to throw

:16:37.:16:40.

in a big high kicker to the backhand of Heather. Or the power one as we

:16:41.:16:47.

just saw there. Watson is right up on the baseline.

:16:48.:16:56.

That is good, really good, such a great thinker, Watson.

:16:57.:17:03.

I think she knows she cannot afford to be passive in this match, she has

:17:04.:17:11.

two go after the ball. If she allows Madison Keys to dictate all the play

:17:12.:17:15.

she will get overwhelmed and get hit of the court. You cannot argue with

:17:16.:17:24.

that serve. I thought that was in, actually.

:17:25.:17:29.

As we have seen a lot, it is worth keeping everybody on their toes with

:17:30.:17:32.

a bit of a quiz. That is what she means by I can

:17:33.:18:01.

spray them. That is a heavy blow, isn't it? And not a flicker. She has

:18:02.:18:11.

got a very lovely to me not on the court, Madison Keys, very calm, very

:18:12.:18:15.

composed, she doesn't give away any emotion to her opponent. Two break

:18:16.:18:25.

points saved. She said after she came of that match court last night

:18:26.:18:29.

somebody said well played, hope you lose tomorrow.

:18:30.:18:35.

She managed to see the funny side of it, didn't she? She said I know I

:18:36.:18:43.

will not have too many people cheering for me tomorrow, but that

:18:44.:18:49.

is OK, when you play in circumstances like that. She will

:18:50.:18:53.

just take it on the chin, take it in her stride. She is silencing the

:18:54.:18:54.

crowd here at the moment. That very nearly was an outright

:18:55.:19:22.

winner. It is quite intimidating, raw power. We saw her a year ago at

:19:23.:19:28.

18, a little bit more erratic. She has really tightened up again since

:19:29.:19:30.

then. 47 in the world, has been as high as

:19:31.:19:34.

36. Back in October, 2013. Movement, she is working on that. If

:19:35.:19:52.

Watson can get her on the move. Well played, Heather. She is seeing this

:19:53.:19:59.

ball really clearly, picking the response of the return.

:20:00.:20:10.

She is getting ready for the kicker. It will be interesting if Keys

:20:11.:20:14.

switches it and goes with a slice. That is a deadly combination, huge

:20:15.:20:32.

power and depth. Just incredible. The forehand crosscourt is an even

:20:33.:20:37.

deadlier weapon. That is not easy to generate that kind of pace, of not

:20:38.:20:44.

much of ball, and if she gets such a weight behind that shot.

:20:45.:21:07.

That serve had a lot of swing on it. Above head height, or approaching

:21:08.:21:16.

it, for Watson. Second serve. Almost better off getting a first serve to

:21:17.:21:17.

return, as big as it is. Three break points saved, Keys

:21:18.:21:46.

extends the lead. You can really understand the hype

:21:47.:21:59.

back home for this young woman. At 14 she was the youngest ever to

:22:00.:22:03.

compete in team tennis in the States, she beat Serena Williams

:22:04.:22:08.

5-1. At 40 jihadists senior world ranking of 621. -- she had a senior

:22:09.:22:13.

world ranking. She finished last year at 37. You

:22:14.:22:26.

can understand the hype, it has been a Non-Stop rise up the rankings. I

:22:27.:22:34.

agree. It really exciting prospect for the future. It is this war power

:22:35.:22:39.

she brings out onto the court. It is not often you see players burst out

:22:40.:22:43.

onto the scene at this young with such a big serve. The willingness to

:22:44.:22:51.

create an all court game out here, not afraid to move up the court and

:22:52.:22:55.

folly. As a nice attitude as well. The youngest inside the top 50

:22:56.:23:00.

already. Going about her business the right way, you have to build

:23:01.:23:04.

your levels from the bottom up. Create a solid platform of that

:23:05.:23:08.

pyramid to build on. That is exactly what she has been doing over the

:23:09.:23:13.

last couple of years. If you haven't seen us before, you went with this

:23:14.:23:20.

yesterday, her father introduced her to tennis at four years old and she

:23:21.:23:28.

asked for a tennis dress. Heather Watson has got a real job on her

:23:29.:23:35.

hands here, containing Madison Keys. Looking to get on the scoreboard.

:23:36.:23:57.

How proud Guernsey must be of Heather Watson. Population capped at

:23:58.:24:06.

63,000. They have produced this little pocket dynamo.

:24:07.:24:38.

Those are so behind those let courts. When it travels over that it

:24:39.:24:44.

literally dies. Not much chance. There was an argument they need to

:24:45.:25:15.

regulate the nets. They are all slightly different. Different

:25:16.:25:20.

tensions, depending on the surface. Sometimes it can be very springy.

:25:21.:25:26.

Other times it is really tight and nothing happens.

:25:27.:25:35.

Just wide, is it? Alvarez of Portugal in the chair. Very close,

:25:36.:25:47.

wasn't it? Wrong footing is going to be useful

:25:48.:26:15.

against Keys, keeper of balance. I think everybody in the crowd must

:26:16.:26:20.

have lost count of how money times they said, and England. Now they are

:26:21.:26:30.

saying, and, Watson. -- they said come on, England. Now they are

:26:31.:26:41.

saying come on, Watson. She is actually playing at a high level out

:26:42.:26:47.

here. She has had not much joy on the scoreboard. She has been forced

:26:48.:26:52.

to react to what is happening. Madison is coming at her thick and

:26:53.:26:56.

fast. It is pretty pacey, this match. Not having much time to think

:26:57.:27:01.

out here, to react. The atmosphere for Andy Murray at

:27:02.:27:38.

Wimbledon every year, but particularly last year, was

:27:39.:27:44.

phenomenal. Union Jacks being waved in the crowd here, they are ready to

:27:45.:27:50.

really launch behind Heather Watson. They have taken her into their

:27:51.:27:52.

hearts. The wrong foot, isn't it? Well

:27:53.:28:26.

played. The key in that point was that return of serve, she took it on

:28:27.:28:30.

the rise, both feet off the ground. She really had to take that one out

:28:31.:28:33.

of the air and then was able to stop her opponent dictating the play.

:28:34.:28:43.

She doesn't not nervous at all, Watson. No, she is up for this.

:28:44.:29:03.

Does anybody hit the ball harder than Keys? It is incredible, it look

:29:04.:29:14.

so effortless. Looks like she is just swinging at the ball then this

:29:15.:29:17.

power shot comes out of the centre of the strings.

:29:18.:30:13.

sheep rack dissed returning a serve climbing a stepladder? It is a round

:30:14.:30:25.

head height or above. Got a lot of swing on it. Moving around.

:30:26.:30:35.

Also, you are not given too many opportunities to attack her service

:30:36.:30:45.

games. A couple of points come and go quickly. You have to try and get

:30:46.:30:51.

yourself back involved again in the game. Three points in a row the

:30:52.:31:06.

Madison Keys. Obviously, with Heather Watson, we were talking

:31:07.:31:10.

about the fact she had not beaten a top 20 player in her senior career.

:31:11.:31:16.

That changed on Wednesday when she beat Flavia Pennetta will stop the

:31:17.:31:21.

highest ranked player she had beaten before this week was ranked 30. This

:31:22.:31:31.

really is against a child prodigy, in Madison Keys. It is a big step

:31:32.:31:39.

up. Although she is ranked 47, it is a huge task? Madison Keys is a child

:31:40.:31:47.

prodigy but she has had some big scalps herself. She herself has had

:31:48.:32:00.

some very, very big wins. Reached the third round, beating Heather

:32:01.:32:03.

last year at Wimbledon and went on to reach the third round herself.

:32:04.:32:08.

She is a dangerous opponent but someone who will go much higher in

:32:09.:32:16.

the women's game, you feel. She beat Li Na in Madrid last year when she

:32:17.:32:22.

was ranked number five. She is her own worst critic. As we seek, her

:32:23.:32:29.

reservoir by comparison of tolerance of herself not performing. She says

:32:30.:32:35.

she has to try to grab hold of it, she can be her own worst enemy at

:32:36.:32:42.

times. But after 25 minutes, she is playing formidable tennis. She

:32:43.:32:43.

really is. You can add to that, which Elaine

:32:44.:32:59.

Janke Vit scalp. were planted a little bit too early

:33:00.:33:22.

on that return. Then she Good serving. Cheered on by the East

:33:23.:34:36.

lawn faithful. Extraordinary, when you talk of child prodigy, Tracy

:34:37.:34:42.

Austin winning the US Open in 1979 aged 16. Won it again two years

:34:43.:34:49.

later. One here in 1980 aged 17 and the following year. Amazing. That is

:34:50.:35:00.

such a lethal combination. Not much Heather Watson could do about that.

:35:01.:35:06.

Big serve out wide and then a booming forehand into the open

:35:07.:35:07.

space. Too much ground to cover. It is quite Anne Dunham fluid

:35:08.:35:23.

motion, effective. But it has a slight hitch in there is a delay

:35:24.:35:34.

before she goes up after the serve. Unfortunately the speed gun does not

:35:35.:35:39.

seem to be working. Cannot tell you how quick it is, but it is quick and

:35:40.:35:42.

heavy. It is a very clear game plan. Diego

:35:43.:36:17.

very nearly having a chat with his charge.

:36:18.:36:37.

The only thing I would do difference when you have a chance, make her run

:36:38.:36:54.

fast on the forehand. Start the point the other way. Everything

:36:55.:36:57.

else, stay the same. You are playing good. She is something else, you

:36:58.:37:12.

know that. The three games you lost, you were winning. The ball is going

:37:13.:37:25.

to come flat and fast. You just had to stay sharp. Go more to the back

:37:26.:37:36.

and if you get a chance. You have had chances in other games. Calmly

:37:37.:37:41.

delivered. Powerful messages. He was right, he said you have enclosed in

:37:42.:37:48.

all of The Games, not much in it. Keep doing what you're doing. Bit

:37:49.:37:51.

more to the backhand. New balls. Sometimes does not get her feet in

:37:52.:39:02.

the right position, Madison Keys, on that return. Gets herself set up to

:39:03.:39:09.

early. That is the other thing about grass, the ball sometimes does not

:39:10.:39:26.

do what you wanted to do so you have be versatile. Good length.

:39:27.:39:42.

Eight straight points on serve, for Heather Watson.

:39:43.:40:03.

Two love service games in a row. Everyone getting into the Wimbledon

:40:04.:40:16.

spirit. From all angles and positions. That is a good view! Go

:40:17.:40:27.

and make yourself a cup of tea. Sit on the balcony. She is applying so

:40:28.:40:40.

much pressure with this serve. You don't have much reaction time

:40:41.:40:44.

against it. It's swings and rides, kicks up to the backhand and it goes

:40:45.:40:47.

out to the body. We have had three love service games

:40:48.:41:35.

in a row. Chance for a fourth and three set points. She was walking.

:41:36.:41:43.

She thought she had clinched the set.

:41:44.:41:52.

She has now. Another love game and a very impressive set of tennis from

:41:53.:42:01.

Madison Keys. 34 minutes, the American takes it 6-3.

:42:02.:42:39.

Hungry again, all of the sudden. What a beautiful day. Warmest day of

:42:40.:42:48.

the tournament is predicted for the final tomorrow. It will be difficult

:42:49.:42:52.

for Heather Watson to make it with this performance from Madison Keys.

:42:53.:42:57.

If you have any views, we would love to hear from you. Can she come back

:42:58.:43:05.

into this semifinal? I think she can. I've think the scoreline did

:43:06.:43:12.

not reflect how well Heather Watson played. Just the one break of serve

:43:13.:43:17.

started the set. Madison Keys is difficult to break. That is one

:43:18.:43:23.

major weapon she is bringing onto the court. It is imperative for

:43:24.:43:29.

Heather she gets off to a good start and does not allow the scoreline to

:43:30.:43:33.

go away from her quickly. Madison Keys is pretty confidence, ground

:43:34.:43:38.

strokes are being struck with authority and there is much more

:43:39.:43:42.

weight of shot coming out of her racket than Heather Watson. But

:43:43.:43:48.

Heather has lived with it quite well so far. It can be done. She needs to

:43:49.:44:01.

start his second set well. Serving from the tricky end. Just to get her

:44:02.:44:05.

nose in front. Is that a plan to go down the middle

:44:06.:44:55.

more, stop the angles. It is not a bad plan. As long as you get it

:44:56.:45:03.

deep. A great reaction. She definitely has

:45:04.:45:44.

a sense of humour. A few people were calling out in the middle of that

:45:45.:45:48.

rally. Yes, she did not make any comment about it.

:45:49.:46:15.

Sometimes it seems as though Madison Keys has too much power. Difficult

:46:16.:46:19.

to control it. That is a very common shot on the

:46:20.:46:40.

tour these days. The return of serve up the centre of the court hit hard

:46:41.:46:45.

and flat to defeat of the server. Heather on her knees trying to get

:46:46.:46:58.

that one back will stop --. Great length. Please thought it was long.

:46:59.:47:09.

-- Madison Keys. Heather Watson does get the lead in the second set. We

:47:10.:47:15.

can analyse Madison Keys' attitude. She is only 19. What is your

:47:16.:47:22.

19-year-old doing today? Finishing A-levels, getting ready for

:47:23.:47:34.

university? Getting ready for a final in a tour event, Madison Keys.

:47:35.:47:42.

You forget they are so young and yet they have lived the life of someone

:47:43.:47:49.

so much more mature. Quite a low first-served percentage considering

:47:50.:47:54.

she won it with such an authority. 45% first serves. Imagine if that

:47:55.:48:02.

creeps up. That is another example of how difficult it is for Heather

:48:03.:48:06.

if she gets that first-served into play.

:48:07.:48:16.

It is quite the moralising when you think you are making inroads and

:48:17.:48:33.

then these aces come in there. You keep walking side to side. She has

:48:34.:48:48.

good touch, good hands. The women's game is in such a good place right

:48:49.:48:53.

now. Well played. I thought she had hip

:48:54.:49:17.

the winner. It is what she has to do. She has to take risks on that

:49:18.:49:23.

return. As to take it high on the bounce and inject pace and power

:49:24.:49:24.

into that shot. It is a real dilemma, getting hold

:49:25.:49:41.

of this serve. It is going to be interesting. After the match at the

:49:42.:49:53.

French Open for Heather Watson, Madison Keys, if she marked herself

:49:54.:49:58.

out of ten right now would be a pretty high score. And Heather

:49:59.:49:59.

Watson is in this match. Beat Panetta for her best ever win a

:50:00.:50:17.

couple of days ago. Barely dropping points on serve,

:50:18.:51:29.

Heather Watson. In the last four service games.

:51:30.:51:39.

If she can maintain that, it puts pressure on Keys. If she does not

:51:40.:52:00.

feel she is getting close to getting a break, she could rake down just a

:52:01.:52:03.

little. -- break down. First-served again. I don't think

:52:04.:52:25.

Madison Keys agreed with that. I don't think she would argue in front

:52:26.:52:30.

of this crowd. Head coach is down the other end of

:52:31.:53:00.

the court but he is making his presence felt.

:53:01.:53:15.

Interesting he is on the opposite side sewer where Madison Keys' camp

:53:16.:53:26.

is. It is weird to have your clothes -- your coach so close to the other

:53:27.:53:33.

coach, so they have decided not to do that in this match. We have seen

:53:34.:53:39.

them jumping out of their chairs and arguing with the umpires. We have

:53:40.:53:47.

seen it all this week. This is big this game. I feel like she is

:53:48.:53:56.

backing away from that forehand and not meeting the ball out in front.

:53:57.:54:05.

Easier said than done with a ball coming at you thick and fast.

:54:06.:54:26.

Toogood. I shamed by Heather Watson. -- to good. Heather Watson is not

:54:27.:54:46.

happy with the way things turned out. Head coach came on and said hit

:54:47.:54:52.

more to the backhand side and then when you do that on your opponent

:54:53.:55:03.

hits a clean winner down the line, it doesn't seem fair. What is a kick

:55:04.:55:19.

up serve? When we see Madison Keys Sir Bob, we can examine it. It is

:55:20.:55:26.

when there is acceleration from the back scratch position. Some players

:55:27.:55:32.

have a natural ability to be able to kick the ball with the racket head

:55:33.:55:37.

speed. Sam Stosur, you beating Serena Williams in the final, using

:55:38.:55:43.

that. Stepping in and crunching the next forehand into the open space.

:55:44.:55:52.

John Isner, one of the biggest servers in the men's game, has the

:55:53.:55:56.

ability on a clay score to get the kick up high. It is a right to left

:55:57.:56:11.

ball toss, behind just shoulder. You tend to throw the ball slightly to

:56:12.:56:15.

the left and over and behind you so you have two arch your back to get

:56:16.:56:20.

to it. Stefan Dirk had a fabulous kick-serve. Let's have a look at it

:56:21.:56:24.

here. Look for the ball toss. It is watching what the ball does

:56:25.:56:38.

after it ounces. You can see the movements on the ball. The way it

:56:39.:56:42.

swerves and moves into the body and how you have to adapt to it. You try

:56:43.:56:50.

to meet the ball at the top of the bounce but you are cutting across

:56:51.:56:54.

the line of it sometimes, it is quite tricky.

:56:55.:57:15.

That was a brilliant kick-serve demonstration, and a brilliant way

:57:16.:57:20.

of dealing it by Heather Watson. Having to jump up to get it managed

:57:21.:57:28.

in control on the racket face to get ahead of the racket through. If you

:57:29.:57:32.

catch it late it will dictate to the strings.

:57:33.:57:43.

Interesting slice, no pace. That was into the bottom of the net from

:57:44.:57:56.

Keys. When you see them slicing up the forehand side, it is very

:57:57.:57:57.

unusual. broke Heather Watson in the last

:57:58.:58:43.

game. Pretty demoralising. 123 mph. The

:58:44.:59:29.

fastest recorded was Venus Williams, 130. It is getting close.

:59:30.:59:47.

Five points in a row. How damaging is that?

:59:48.:59:59.

That is going to hurt. You only get so many opportunities in a match. If

:00:00.:00:03.

you aren't able to capitalise. Not much you can do because Madison

:00:04.:00:07.

served so well. Going through how tough it is to hit a ball above head

:00:08.:00:10.

height. Does she take it earlier? Does she

:00:11.:00:15.

back off? It's a real problem. Heather has served really well in

:00:16.:00:27.

this match, hasn't she? It's much more pace on her first serve

:00:28.:00:31.

actually. Just not as heavy as Madison's.

:00:32.:00:45.

That's a good return. Right deep to that baseline. She's pressured all

:00:46.:00:52.

the way in this match. Played with such a calm disposition, hasn't she?

:00:53.:00:57.

Very mature for her 19years of age. This is a must win game, after what

:00:58.:01:18.

we have just seen in the last two played for Watson, to have any

:01:19.:01:19.

chance. Needs to dig like she's never dug

:01:20.:01:26.

before. This is a fantastic display of power

:01:27.:01:56.

hitting. Serena Williams at her best would be proud. Two more break

:01:57.:01:58.

points. 4-1. Further dampens the crowd. Have

:01:59.:02:21.

you to to admire this performance so far? Extraordinary. Quite

:02:22.:02:25.

outstanding in every single department. The whole compose sure,

:02:26.:02:30.

how she dealt with this situation. Looking for her first final in a

:02:31.:02:34.

major event. Knowing that the crowd are going to be very partisan.

:02:35.:02:39.

Despite that, I do think we agree they are a polite crowd. They are

:02:40.:02:44.

not too much on her back, are they? They are able to take the crowd out

:02:45.:02:49.

of it by her play. It's not just Heather Watson who has a problem

:02:50.:02:52.

with this kick serve. One of my favourite jokes from the late, great

:02:53.:02:59.

Tommy Cooper who said to the doctor, "it hurts when I lift my arm up."

:03:00.:03:07.

The doctor said, "don't do it then." It hurts to hit it at head height.

:03:08.:03:14.

So don't do it then. Lauren Davis is much smaller than Heather Watson,

:03:15.:03:18.

how do you do that? It's hard in quick conditions taking it early. If

:03:19.:03:21.

you back off, three meters behind the baseline, you are totally out of

:03:22.:03:25.

the position? That isn't the answer, to back off. If she does back off,

:03:26.:03:29.

let's the ball drop, more difficult to really get something on that ball

:03:30.:03:33.

and then, you know, the next ball you are chasing down so much more

:03:34.:03:37.

ground because she really hits with authority from the back of the

:03:38.:03:41.

court. That is, for me, the biggest improvement in her game. She seemed

:03:42.:03:45.

quite raw last year, when you saw her at Wimbledon. She contained her

:03:46.:03:50.

ground stroke so much more behind that serve. Everything is built from

:03:51.:03:56.

a big platform now. I think she is a real, real star of the Has the

:03:57.:04:00.

future. Set 4-1 lead in this semi-final.

:04:01.:04:10.

-- real star of the future. She has the set 4-1 in this semi-final.

:04:11.:04:33.

No double faults. Only served one in the tournament.

:04:34.:05:45.

There is the feeling of panicking a bit. Have you to do something and

:05:46.:05:50.

make it happen. You over play and suddenly lose control of what the

:05:51.:05:52.

tactics are. That same shot, isn't it? Catch it

:05:53.:06:22.

late, it flies. Madison Keys, a game away from the final.

:06:23.:06:48.

That was an excellent first serve, wasn't it? So nice to get a nice

:06:49.:06:53.

straight-forward point like that. She just got a bit flat? A little

:06:54.:07:50.

bit, slightly reached for that backhand. Didn't quite get the foot

:07:51.:07:55.

work for behind the ball. Getting balanced on it.

:07:56.:08:12.

Well, she won all the mini battles, Madison Keys, the six break points,

:08:13.:08:41.

the two 40-0 games she turned around. A wonderful tournament for

:08:42.:08:45.

Heather Watson. This rising star, Madison Keys, has got her first Tour

:08:46.:08:51.

final to look for. It's the Final of Eastbourne. What a wonderful smile.

:08:52.:08:59.

What an incredible performance. Incredibly mature. The power

:09:00.:09:04.

hitting. An array of serves. Using the big kicker that we know she has.

:09:05.:09:08.

I don't think Heather should be disappointed because that first set

:09:09.:09:12.

was a lot closer than perhaps that scoreline showed. Was beaten by a

:09:13.:09:20.

better player today. She must be thrilled. It's her fourth Tour

:09:21.:09:25.

semi-final. Just 19years. She is ticking all the boxes, isn't she,

:09:26.:09:30.

Madison Keys? Made quarter-final on the grass in Birmingham last year.

:09:31.:09:34.

That gave her some good grass-court confidence. She will take some

:09:35.:09:39.

beating tomorrow, that is for sure, against Angelique Kerber. Just over

:09:40.:09:43.

an hour. 61 minutes it took. Disappointment for the crowd, as it

:09:44.:09:47.

was last night, for England in the World Cup. Heather Watson, it has

:09:48.:09:51.

been another step forwards. First ever top 20 win. She musn't go away

:09:52.:09:59.

too down hearted. Your first WTA Final? I'm really excited. Tell me

:10:00.:10:04.

about how things went for you against Heather this afternoon. It

:10:05.:10:08.

seems to me your game is built for grass? Yeah. I definitely like

:10:09.:10:13.

grass. I think I was serving really well. I returned a couple of good

:10:14.:10:17.

games. That was kind of the Looking ahead match. To tomorrow. Big final,

:10:18.:10:23.

Angelique Kerber of Germany, how do you assess your prospects? She is a

:10:24.:10:27.

great player. We played before. Obviously she is great and is always

:10:28.:10:30.

fighting. It will be a good match. We look forwarded to seeing you on

:10:31.:10:37.

the grass tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen, the Aegon International

:10:38.:10:42.

Final for 2014, Keys Keys. The final tomorrow, to mark the 40th year of

:10:43.:10:49.

this Championship is... Trying to work out what that picture was. Le

:10:50.:10:57.

it is the seafront -- Madison Keys. Who will be the special K here at

:10:58.:11:03.

Eastbourne? 12.45pm tomorrow on BBC Two. From the Women's Singles to the

:11:04.:11:10.

Women's Doubles. Featuring in this surprisingly Martina Hingis. A Grand

:11:11.:11:14.

Slam winner at the age of 16, many moons ago. After several years of

:11:15.:11:19.

deciding what to do with her life, playing again with Flavia Pennetta

:11:20.:11:24.

here in the Ladies Doubles. She has been playing in quite a few other

:11:25.:11:37.

tournaments. She has another final to look forward to tomorrow. The

:11:38.:11:42.

obvious question was - why have you made a comeback? Well, I decided

:11:43.:11:51.

last year, when I was coaching, for two months I was helping her. I knew

:11:52.:11:56.

her from the Academy in France. It was a great time. When I was

:11:57.:12:00.

watching those matches, when they won the doubles in Madrid. It was,

:12:01.:12:06.

um, that made me think of coming back and playing some doubles

:12:07.:12:10.

matches. After team tennis you are always in great shape. It helps you

:12:11.:12:25.

to play singles - doubles mix. Is it the fact it's a drug? The

:12:26.:12:33.

competitive gene inside you never goes away? It's always there. No

:12:34.:12:39.

matter what you do, since I was a little girl, no matter what I did,

:12:40.:12:43.

if I played cards or board game or anything I wanted to win. I don't

:12:44.:12:47.

think there is a single person out there who wants to lose, that is the

:12:48.:12:52.

bottom line. The adrenaline pumping, the butterflies and all that. It's

:12:53.:12:58.

not that the I miss, when I'm 5-2 down, I'm - OK! It's great to be out

:12:59.:13:03.

there It is again. Interesting to say you don't miss losing. I

:13:04.:13:10.

interviewed jack nick lis, the obvious question was - what will you

:13:11.:13:15.

miss the most? He said I know you think I will say winning he said I

:13:16.:13:21.

will miss losing. I hated losing so much it made me determined than ever

:13:22.:13:26.

to win. That is true. Sometimes it, works that way. The moment you lose,

:13:27.:13:31.

you are like, there is somebody better than you out there in this

:13:32.:13:34.

moment. You just want to bounce back stronger sometimes. It really does

:13:35.:13:37.

help, yes. You train harder. You want it more. You are more hungry.

:13:38.:13:43.

As you span two decades effectively of this game now -- Wow! 20 years

:13:44.:13:51.

since I have been coming back to How has Wimbledon. The game changed?

:13:52.:14:03.

That first year, I remember watching you play in the juniors when you

:14:04.:14:06.

were 13? 93-94. How is the way the game is played, is it still pretty

:14:07.:14:07.

much the same or has it changed, do you think? The material has changed,

:14:08.:14:16.

the rackets are faster, the girls are taller, stronger, physically in

:14:17.:14:20.

better shape. I wouldn't say it's got more clever. We had players in

:14:21.:14:32.

the past, you had Martina Navratilova, Chrissie Everitt. You

:14:33.:14:44.

had Capriati who had very good knowledge and Davenport about the

:14:45.:14:51.

game. So many commentate right now I think the knowledge doesn't ever go

:14:52.:14:55.

away. As a player. You feel the game. You feel the momentum going

:14:56.:14:58.

one or the other way. They can bring it really over to the spectators.

:14:59.:15:00.

The that knowledge, you can either use it as a television commentator,

:15:01.:15:03.

or use it as a coach, of course. How much do you enjoy coaching, how

:15:04.:15:05.

frustrating is it sometimes as well? Well, it goes both ways. When your

:15:06.:15:11.

player is winning and it works well, you are there, laid back. It works

:15:12.:15:16.

the strategy you prepared for the player is working. When it gets

:15:17.:15:20.

tight, the moments that you wish, you want to help the player. Go out

:15:21.:15:27.

there and play yourself because now when I decided to play on the

:15:28.:15:30.

doubles I felt, OK, I want to take it on my own hands and not rely on

:15:31.:15:36.

somebody else. Is there even 1% of you that thinks - I might go back on

:15:37.:15:47.

the singles tour? No. 1%. It's the recovery. You play five, six matches

:15:48.:15:50.

in the week. That is really tough. The recovery. I'm not 17 any more.

:15:51.:15:55.

On the subject of coaching. When you hearded that Andy had taken on

:15:56.:16:07.

Mauresmo, with a was your thought? When I first saw the photo I

:16:08.:16:12.

thought, what is that. She is going to coach him. I thought, that is

:16:13.:16:17.

very surprising, the choice is definitely... She helped another

:16:18.:16:26.

player that year. Who did better that year. She has the knowledge.

:16:27.:16:34.

Very surprising. Fancy coaching Rafael Nadal, you? ? No. They are

:16:35.:16:40.

doing very well with the teams they have. Tony has done a tremendous

:16:41.:16:51.

job. A quick word about Queen's on Sunday. A great occasion. You must

:16:52.:16:56.

have enjoyed the entertainment factor, if nothing else? It's really

:16:57.:17:01.

important to bring the future and the kids, all the work she has done,

:17:02.:17:08.

the dedication to the game, what she has done for British tennis. I never

:17:09.:17:14.

played her. The she peaked after my time. I think she is a great

:17:15.:17:19.

personality. What she had to go through and fight through all

:17:20.:17:23.

throughout her career was tremendous will power. It's very admirable. I

:17:24.:17:28.

was very fortunate to be part of that. A final thought about doubles

:17:29.:17:32.

here, doubles at Wimbledon, obviously. If you find yourself

:17:33.:17:40.

nowadays at, I don't know, one set all, 4-4. Yeah. Are you getting

:17:41.:17:45.

pumped? Nervous? Are you able to smile? Whereas 15 years ago you

:17:46.:17:50.

would have been snarling, are you more chilled now or not? No. It gets

:17:51.:17:57.

worse with the age! Actually we were in that situation when we were - I

:17:58.:18:07.

was done almost match point in that first title. We had to finish on

:18:08.:18:13.

Monday 4-1 up in the third. We thought, we want to win the games,

:18:14.:18:18.

bring the title home and that trophy. Keep winning, thank you for

:18:19.:18:23.

joining us. Thank you for having me. Martina Hingis a finalist once again

:18:24.:18:27.

here at Eastbourne in the company of Flavia Pennetta and their opponents

:18:28.:18:31.

in the ladies final will be determined in the next hour or so.

:18:32.:18:36.

Nice shot of Eastbourne, the main street heading up towards Beachy

:18:37.:18:42.

Head at the top. One more match we will bring you, Richard Gasquet,

:18:43.:18:47.

number one seed, playing Denis Istomin. The other semi-final,

:18:48.:18:57.

Feliciano Lopez against Sam Querrey. Talking of Americans with big serves

:18:58.:19:02.

brings us on to Madison Keys. A force to be reckoned with, not just

:19:03.:19:06.

is here, before going forwards? For someone who is 19years of age, the

:19:07.:19:11.

compose sure she brought outon onto the Centre Court. Bearing in mind

:19:12.:19:17.

she is up gets a Brit. Crowd would be very partisan. She completely out

:19:18.:19:22.

powered Heather from the back of the court. When things were tense early

:19:23.:19:26.

on in that first set she found a way to get through it. There wasn't

:19:27.:19:30.

really a lot that Heather could do. You made the point yesterday, and

:19:31.:19:36.

again today, about when she is playing somebody who is do you

:19:37.:19:40.

minutetive that kick serve is almost unplayable? It really is. There is

:19:41.:19:47.

only a few people on the Tour to produce a kick serve like this. The

:19:48.:19:55.

other player won the US Open. You have to have the acceleration behind

:19:56.:19:58.

the head and use that racquet head speed. Some girls can never get hold

:19:59.:20:04.

of it. Some girls have it naturally. I asked Sam - how do you do it? She

:20:05.:20:10.

said, I had it as a young kid and I have always been able to do it.

:20:11.:20:15.

Madison Keys has that. It is such a She is weapon. 5 foot 10. That make

:20:16.:20:21.

as difference. If you are hitting from there the kick you will get is

:20:22.:20:26.

bigger than if you are hitting from there, isn't it? It is coming from a

:20:27.:20:31.

great height. She has a variety of serves. Not just the kick serve. She

:20:32.:20:38.

can flatten it out. Booming down big serves. She was down 0-40. Two games

:20:39.:20:45.

in a row? Comes back with huge serves to close out the game. That

:20:46.:20:50.

is demoralising as an opponent. It shows great strength of character

:20:51.:20:54.

from Keys a great compose sure about how to handle that situation. Almost

:20:55.:20:57.

hitting herself out of trouble? Yeah. She wasn't thinking - I'm 0-40

:20:58.:21:08.

down I will play a few canny shots. She thumps the ball. She has

:21:09.:21:13.

wonderful timing. Timing is a lot of what goes on out there on the court.

:21:14.:21:19.

Laura Robson has incredible natural power off the ground. Which is

:21:20.:21:22.

something you can't teach somebody. They either have the it or they

:21:23.:21:27.

don't. Madison Keys has a loose relaxed way of hitting the ball.

:21:28.:21:31.

What is coming out of the strings has such weight attached to it. We

:21:32.:21:34.

often talk about players, in terms of the weight of shot, that is

:21:35.:21:40.

everything. People who played Pete Sampras orring a gill or Federer the

:21:41.:21:45.

weight of shot coming at you pushes you backwards. Madison Keys has the

:21:46.:21:49.

ability to push the opponent back behind that baseline with the weight

:21:50.:21:54.

of shot she carries. There is the ability of youth to just say - what

:21:55.:21:59.

the hell! Caroline Wozniacki was talking yesterday, when she came up

:22:00.:22:02.

here, about how, as the years go by, she is hardly a veteran at 23, she

:22:03.:22:07.

has so much experience behind her that she say - I'm often in danger

:22:08.:22:11.

of thinking about the game too much. If Madison Keys, 19, almost having

:22:12.:22:15.

her first year of really playing on the Tour week in and week out, can

:22:16.:22:19.

adapt a more cavalier approach almost? Her character is a very

:22:20.:22:24.

relaxed character, isn't it? The Tour life is incredibly stressful.

:22:25.:22:29.

To keep reproducing performances week in and week out - Maybe she is

:22:30.:22:34.

still excited about it? I think so she is. Will take it on the stride

:22:35.:22:38.

and take the losses on the chin. As a junior, when you are breaking

:22:39.:22:42.

through, if you are used to winning a lot as a junior you hit the senior

:22:43.:22:47.

Tour you will have setbacks. It's how you carry yourself forward. She

:22:48.:22:52.

strikes me as someone who will take it in her stride. The fact she said

:22:53.:23:00.

when someone con congratulated you on her quarter-final win, they said,

:23:01.:23:07.

well done on your win, but hope you lose tomorrow. She just laughed it

:23:08.:23:12.

off. Both her parents are lawyers, how relevant is that? Very relevant.

:23:13.:23:19.

Heather will be disappointed she would have felt she was on an upward

:23:20.:23:24.

curve. She was beaten by a better player? She was. Someone who outis

:23:25.:23:29.

powered her. That will be a problem for Heather. She does lack the sort

:23:30.:23:33.

of power that we saw in the difference in that weight of shot

:23:34.:23:37.

with Madison Keys today. There is so much to admire of what Heather has

:23:38.:23:42.

put out here this week will project her into Wimbledon with a lot of

:23:43.:23:46.

confidence. First win over a top 20 player in Pennetta. Her serve has

:23:47.:23:51.

improved. The forehand doesn't break down as much as it used to with

:23:52.:23:55.

Heather. Moving well. Enjoyed herself and had a terrific week. At

:23:56.:24:00.

the start of the year she dropped to 160 in the world. She is making her

:24:01.:24:06.

way back up in the rankings. She is in the 70s. She will go higher than

:24:07.:24:11.

that. It will be a positive week. What about Keys against Kerber, the

:24:12.:24:17.

Kerber Wozniacki match was nip and tuck and Kerber played fantastic

:24:18.:24:22.

tennis? She really did. She won it over the long-haul. She, she ground

:24:23.:24:27.

out almost like a marathon-style. She came through towards the end of

:24:28.:24:33.

the match. Two-and-a-half hour absolute slog fest. She doesn't

:24:34.:24:37.

possess a big serve. The second serve was a little bit suspect.

:24:38.:24:41.

Madison Keys might beat her in the final. I will put myself out on a

:24:42.:24:46.

limb there. Kerber has beaten her on both occasions. One including this

:24:47.:24:51.

year. Something tells me, if she can produce the tennis she produced

:24:52.:24:55.

today against Heather Watson on a grass-court. They haven't met on

:24:56.:24:58.

grass before, that will make a significant difference. She has this

:24:59.:25:03.

ability to out power people. The Kerber, great ball striker and a

:25:04.:25:06.

very, very good defender. It will be interesting. You will have

:25:07.:25:12.

experience up against youth. Her tenacity and core strength, it is

:25:13.:25:17.

one of the buzz phrases about sport, the core strength that Angelique

:25:18.:25:20.

Kerber has, the rallies in that match. One side of the court, to the

:25:21.:25:24.

other, to the other, to the other, 1 o 0 meter sprint for 20 shots. It

:25:25.:25:31.

was, exhausting to watch. 200 meters in 20, 10 meter sprints. It really

:25:32.:25:36.

was like that. Yet, her strength, her core strength to keep getting

:25:37.:25:42.

the ball back on court, it's extraordinary? She has a strong

:25:43.:25:46.

physique and strong legs. You need to have strong legs to play tennis.

:25:47.:25:52.

She took a decision about three years ago, they showed each other

:25:53.:26:06.

how they trained. They went away and put in the work. Kerber who had lost

:26:07.:26:11.

to Laura Robson in the first round at Wimbledon. Since that time she

:26:12.:26:16.

went up into the top of the game. Up to the Top 10. Fitness and movement

:26:17.:26:21.

is a massive part of what Kerber can do on the court. She doesn't have a

:26:22.:26:27.

serve. Her weaponry is the chucking down of the balls. Dangerous

:26:28.:26:32.

on-the-run. Flick the wrist, defence into attack. It Fascinating

:26:33.:26:36.

combination. She doesn't give much away with her body language. She is

:26:37.:26:49.

quite calm out there. To mark your card. Heather Watson next match of

:26:50.:27:07.

consequence is... Andy Murray will play his opponent from Belgium. He

:27:08.:27:13.

is in the same half of the draw as Novak Djokovic. That potentially

:27:14.:27:16.

means Murray against Djokovic semi-final. The anyway, an awful lot

:27:17.:27:19.

of tennis to be played between Monday and Friday week. Two weeks

:27:20.:27:25.

today will be the Men's Singles semi-finals at women Wimbledon?

:27:26.:27:32.

Exciting. Who will be in the semi-finals? Murray, for sure. For

:27:33.:27:36.

sure? I think so. I think he will get there. I think his tennis needs

:27:37.:27:42.

to be going into Wimbledon. Djokovic, Nadal is the one we are

:27:43.:27:46.

not sure about. I need to study the draw to see who is in his path way.

:27:47.:27:50.

I'm concerned for him, he has won two matches going into Wimbledon,

:27:51.:27:55.

two matches on a grass-court in two years. Not a lot of match wins. Lost

:27:56.:28:02.

first round in Halla. He will not feel that confident. He would almost

:28:03.:28:12.

expect to win them. We will see gas in a second. Nadal, if he can get

:28:13.:28:17.

through the first couple of of rounds he will become much more

:28:18.:28:21.

dangerous. Once he finds his footing and rhythm and gets everything going

:28:22.:28:27.

on the grass courts. If he comes up against someone who is effective,

:28:28.:28:37.

slice balls, put variety in. A huge serve. We will let you go and wander

:28:38.:29:02.

up to the commentary match. Who are you putting in the semi-finals? I am

:29:03.:29:08.

asking the questions. I need to look at the draw. Is Federer a contender

:29:09.:29:14.

Of course. To win it? You can't rule him out. It's less likely than it

:29:15.:29:20.

was a year ago. I will put it like that. He has had a better start to

:29:21.:29:26.

2014 than he did last year. You can never rule out Federer, of course

:29:27.:29:31.

you can't. I will stick Federer in the semis. Nadal I'm not so sure

:29:32.:29:36.

about. Our coverage begins on Monday morning, obviously. The Men's Final

:29:37.:29:41.

from last year, Djokovic against Murray, you can't see it live. I

:29:42.:29:46.

will let you into a secret, Murray wins! 10.45am tomorrow on BBC Two

:29:47.:29:58.

and How Andy Won Wimbledon is on Monday.

:29:59.:30:06.

Now we have Feliciano Lopez and Sam Querrey, they are the second

:30:07.:30:15.

semi-finals later on. Gasquet's backhand, if nothing else, is always

:30:16.:30:20.

a source of joy. Annabel is off to enjoy that and the rest of the

:30:21.:30:21.

match. . the number one from Uzbekistan, with

:30:22.:30:38.

one of the most attractive single-handed backhand is ever seen,

:30:39.:30:44.

Richard Gasquet. Istomin, he has beaten Gasquet before in their last

:30:45.:30:47.

meeting. It was a couple of years ago, the quarterfinals of Sydney, on

:30:48.:30:59.

a hard court. Gasquet won their first two meetings, starting at the

:31:00.:31:02.

Australian Open five years ago, the second round in straight sets. Twice

:31:03.:31:07.

a champion on grass. This event, when it used to be held in

:31:08.:31:13.

Nottingham, in 2005-2006, he reigned supreme. It is moving back to

:31:14.:31:17.

Nottingham next year, with the extra grass court week before Wimbledon.

:31:18.:31:21.

The third semifinal of the year to look forward to for Gasquet.

:31:22.:31:27.

Celebrated his 28th birthday last Wednesday. He has won the spin of

:31:28.:31:31.

the coin and elected to serve, in the first of the men's semifinals

:31:32.:31:34.

here in Eastbourne. Out, but not by much. Top seed here,

:31:35.:32:15.

Gasquet, this week. Ranked 14, seven of his career high from July 2007.

:32:16.:32:58.

Istomin has played some very good tennis this year. Came into this

:32:59.:33:04.

tournament winning four matches in the year. Gasquet has been

:33:05.:33:05.

struggling with a back problem. That is fabulous touch. And not at

:33:06.:33:32.

full pelt, Gasquet. That is lovely touch, too. If you

:33:33.:34:10.

have a great single-handed That is lovely touch, too. If you

:34:11.:34:21.

you normally volley well. He does. He always wants to have the winning

:34:22.:34:22.

ball back, like Murray. A good opening game for the top

:34:23.:35:17.

seed. Denis Istomin will be looking to do the same. His route through,

:35:18.:35:27.

it tight match in the first round. And then he beat the fourth seed,

:35:28.:35:30.

TMO Garcia Lopez. -- DMO. I mentioned his consistent year,

:35:31.:36:11.

Istomin. Approaching his career high, 33 in August a couple of years

:36:12.:36:12.

ago. He has a good all-round game, very

:36:13.:36:34.

solid. He is a good move, good thinker. Men #1 not many play in

:36:35.:36:39.

these shades, but he normally does, Istomin.

:36:40.:36:48.

If you haven't seen him play before, it is incredible, his career,

:36:49.:36:56.

because in 2001 he had a car accident, injuring his leg, that

:36:57.:37:03.

required surgery and 80 stitches. He spent three months in hospital. Let

:37:04.:37:07.

alone the recuperation. He did not touch a racquet for two years. He

:37:08.:37:14.

came back to the sport in April 2003, training. So all that hard

:37:15.:37:20.

work, a long time ago now, but that is a pretty major recovery. And now

:37:21.:37:28.

looking for a final on the grass at Eastbourne, which would be his third

:37:29.:37:32.

tour final. An equally impressive opening service game, too.

:37:33.:37:45.

Tricky. Everybody is looking for the position of the sun. A nice problem

:37:46.:37:49.

to deal with, though. Eight out of ten points on serve for

:37:50.:39:01.

Gasquet. Seven minutes, the first sit down. Just going back to

:39:02.:39:09.

Istomin, Annabel, as you have hotfooted it from the studio, it is

:39:10.:39:13.

an amazing story. It was a long time ago now, but tennis players are

:39:14.:39:20.

pretty hardy, aren't they? They are always carrying something every

:39:21.:39:23.

week, putting up with pain. Their power of recovery surprises many.

:39:24.:39:29.

That is a good point. Most players play with some kind of niggling

:39:30.:39:33.

injury, constantly in and out of treatment rooms, having trainers and

:39:34.:39:37.

tape put on their bodies to hold them together. But they are

:39:38.:39:40.

incredibly resilient. It is something they have to deal with on

:39:41.:39:46.

a day-to-day basis. Gasquet is having to nurture his back for the

:39:47.:39:50.

last few weeks. It is such a shame because he is such a beautiful

:39:51.:39:54.

tennis player. So many of us admire what he does on the court, that

:39:55.:39:59.

beautiful single-handed backhand, such a creative tennis player. He

:40:00.:40:03.

had that great run through the US Open in September last year when he

:40:04.:40:06.

reached the semifinals for the first time. You felt he was really making

:40:07.:40:11.

headway back up the rankings, and suddenly you get halted by injury.

:40:12.:40:15.

It is the much the same thing with Del P, one of the most exciting

:40:16.:40:19.

players on the tour. It took him about three years to recover from

:40:20.:40:23.

wrist surgery. Just as he was getting back into form, he has been

:40:24.:40:26.

knocked back with another wrist injury. So disappointing. We wish

:40:27.:40:31.

him well, that is the shore. The game misses him.

:40:32.:41:44.

Well, he had choices, Gasquet. The one he chose was executed

:41:45.:41:57.

magnificently. He got himself very set, didn't he?

:41:58.:42:04.

Perhaps Istomin was guilty of not doing enough with the volley.

:42:05.:43:19.

Great variety already from Gasquet. The net clearance, the spins. Two

:43:20.:43:24.

break points. 120 form isles per hour. -- 124 four

:43:25.:44:40.

miles per hour. That was a good save from 15-40.

:44:41.:45:36.

There is one of the great clay-court players, Gasquet's coach for quite a

:45:37.:45:43.

while now. Great to see the old stars back inside the coaching

:45:44.:45:47.

boxes, isn't it? Yes, and they have enjoyed meeting up with old rivals

:45:48.:45:49.

on the tour. He is a very busy person at the back

:45:50.:46:03.

of the court. He is at the change of ends, too,

:46:04.:46:18.

Gasquet. If you want to know how to re-grip a racquet, just watch him.

:46:19.:46:20.

Every single sit town. -- sit down. It is almost like a superstition.

:46:21.:46:47.

You are not telling me tennis players are superstitious!

:46:48.:47:30.

His coaches sitting in the stand behind Gasquet's serving. -- his

:47:31.:47:37.

coach is sitting. Now, is he going to do a re-grip?

:47:38.:48:43.

Drink first? He usually starts straightaway, so maybe not this

:48:44.:48:48.

time. Maybe he does not do it on grass. The points are shorter, the

:48:49.:48:55.

rallies are not as long, so the grip is not wearing out as much. Maybe it

:48:56.:49:00.

is different for him on grass. We have talked it up a lot, I can't

:49:01.:49:06.

believe he is not doing it. I will be very disappointed if we don't see

:49:07.:49:10.

one now. It does not look like it is happening. He looks relaxed. He has

:49:11.:49:17.

played so well on the grass. He has performed well at Wimbledon, too,

:49:18.:49:21.

some Epic games against Andy Murray. His game seems to adapt to whatever

:49:22.:49:27.

surface he is playing. I always enjoy watching him play because he

:49:28.:49:31.

is a very beautiful tennis player, very artistic. There is the half

:49:32.:49:39.

grip that you were talking about. He has an accentuated but on the bottom

:49:40.:49:44.

of the racquet handle. He has had it built to his own specification and

:49:45.:49:48.

feel, basically. But no one plays with a racquet looked up like that

:49:49.:49:53.

right at the end of the grip. It is bulging, isn't it?

:49:54.:51:07.

Pristine clean for Istomin, everything getting ready for

:51:08.:51:09.

Wimbledon. That is a clean strike with that

:51:10.:51:25.

serve, isn't it? You can hear it coming out of the strings.

:51:26.:53:33.

We are seeing all the skills so far. This was a beautiful drop shot.

:53:34.:53:46.

Quite an exaggerated take back on the backhand, holding the racquet

:53:47.:53:47.

face out in front of his body. That was an overrule. I don't think

:53:48.:54:18.

Gasquet is terribly impressed with that.

:54:19.:54:28.

Super. That is the trademark, isn't it? Beautiful stroke, even off the

:54:29.:54:44.

back foot. He has so much feel. He definitely wanted that ball back

:54:45.:54:45.

again. Another one of his habits. He does play very deep at times,

:54:46.:55:16.

Gasquet, particularly on clay. I suppose he uses so much top-spin, he

:55:17.:55:19.

feels comfortable back there. On a grass court, it is tough. He is

:55:20.:55:33.

trying to play closer to the baseline this week. Now he is really

:55:34.:55:40.

cross. He is asking Istomin. I don't know what Istomin said.

:55:41.:55:51.

It is difficult. When you ask your opponent, what are they going to

:55:52.:55:58.

say? That happened at the French this year. Murray gave up a point,

:55:59.:56:04.

didn't he? Well, that was a good hold from

:56:05.:56:17.

0-30. They are pretty even on that score. Number one from France,

:56:18.:56:28.

Richard Gasquet. They have had so many, since the last to win a home

:56:29.:56:34.

major in 1983, knocking on the door. They have such flair, flamboyance,

:56:35.:56:37.

the French. It is just going the extra mile. Yes, taking it up a

:56:38.:56:43.

notch to challenge at the highest level. Mentally, everyone has aways

:56:44.:56:47.

felt that he perhaps did not quite believe in himself against the very

:56:48.:56:54.

best players. Like those matches you were talking about, against Murray

:56:55.:56:58.

at Wimbledon. He led two sets to zero in that set. He had the match

:56:59.:57:06.

point. And Murray ended up in the crowd, virtually. Istomin is flying

:57:07.:57:11.

his flag with pride, number one from that part of the world. He is

:57:12.:57:15.

approaching his career high of 33 in August couple of years ago. He is a

:57:16.:57:22.

really good, tough, seasoned pros now at 27. You have to play very

:57:23.:57:27.

well to beat him. I remember his match against Andy Murray at the

:57:28.:57:29.

U.S. Open last year on the hard courts, a night feature match. He

:57:30.:57:35.

pushed Murray all the way. It was four sets, but very tight. Have you

:57:36.:57:41.

been up on the PA yet? A long time ago, but not this year yet. It is a

:57:42.:57:53.

super spot. New balls in play on serve in this opening set.

:57:54.:58:07.

I don't think Richard can believe it because on a couple of balls, he

:58:08.:58:12.

felt his serve was almost identical to that.

:58:13.:58:23.

She is standing at quite an angle, isn't she, moving almost across to

:58:24.:58:29.

the tram line to then call the line inside on the service line. It is to

:58:30.:58:34.

get a better view because Gasquet stands right on the line, as does

:58:35.:58:36.

Istomin. He is totally white, isn't he? Not

:58:37.:59:03.

predominantly white, for Wimbledon. I don't think he has any colour in

:59:04.:59:10.

his shoes. White glasses, bandanna, but his racquet spoils it a bit.

:59:11.:59:21.

There is good disguise on the serve. They have played each other three

:59:22.:59:27.

times but Gasquet did not move then, did not have any clue where that was

:59:28.:59:28.

going. In all its glory, in the sunshine,

:59:29.:59:48.

one of the best single-handed backhand is of all time.

:59:49.:59:55.

On the back foot when he played that one as well, going backwards.

:59:56.:00:19.

Istomin played at Queen's lost in the second round. His sixth visit in

:00:20.:00:32.

this event. Second semi-final beaten by Lopez. Who of course he beat

:00:33.:00:35.

second round here, Istomin. He always looks a little bit

:00:36.:01:25.

troubled on court, doesn't he, Gasquet? More stressed, the opposite

:01:26.:01:32.

of what we were talking about with Madison Keys and Caroline Wozniacki.

:01:33.:01:36.

The with Gasquet I always think he looks uptight and worried, actually.

:01:37.:01:48.

There's that take back and just that incredible acceleration through the

:01:49.:02:01.

ball. Gasquet to five first. Gasquet

:02:02.:03:09.

seeded 13 at Wimbledon. Plays the Aussie in the first round. Bottom

:03:10.:03:17.

half of the draw. Nadal is the danger man. Istomin plays the 32nd

:03:18.:03:29.

seed from Russia. Business to be done here first on the south coast.

:03:30.:03:36.

Yeah, Istomin in that same section of the draw as Wawrinka. He is

:03:37.:03:46.

getting his form back after a little When he dip. Arrived in Paris he

:03:47.:03:52.

thought the pressure was too much. Having strived so hard and upset all

:03:53.:03:56.

the odds to win a Major, he struggled to cope with it. When you

:03:57.:04:00.

dream of it, you want to do it, you want to achieve it. Like they want

:04:01.:04:04.

to make the final here in Eastbourne. So often you are used to

:04:05.:04:09.

losing because only one player ends up winning each week. What John was

:04:10.:04:14.

asking at the start about the semi-final line-up potentially for

:04:15.:04:17.

Wimbledon. Without looking at the draw it's impossible to say. When

:04:18.:04:21.

you look at Federer's draw he has a decent draw, I would say. Istomin

:04:22.:04:35.

4-5, first set. If you keep your eye on Gasquet when

:04:36.:04:56.

Istomin serves his hit. He is having trouble reading it. He is sort of

:04:57.:05:01.

reacting to the serve. Better that time. Backed off a bit

:05:02.:05:13.

too to get a bit more time to get a read. Do you look for ball toss or

:05:14.:05:21.

points where they go? Most of the players look for the ball toss

:05:22.:05:27.

little things they get used to wish opponent as to what they think

:05:28.:05:42.

they're going to do. One opponent's tongue hung out one side or the

:05:43.:05:47.

other and they knew which way they were going to serve. That is how the

:05:48.:05:51.

opponent read which way they were going to serve. It's quite

:05:52.:05:52.

interesting. Little tight on that forehand,

:05:53.:06:17.

Istomin. Now, this is an opportunity on the

:06:18.:06:38.

second serve here. Mixing it up. Gasquet throwing in

:06:39.:07:04.

the slice. Off the forehand and the backhand. Rewarded with a set point.

:07:05.:07:13.

He has a habit of just touching the baseline with his racquet, doesn't

:07:14.:07:19.

he, before he gets into position. It's wide! He's got his eyes on the

:07:20.:07:33.

title here, Gasquet. No doubt about that. 35 minutes, takes the opening

:07:34.:07:36.

set. It with come down to one or two

:07:37.:07:51.

points, like it did just there. You can apply scoreboard pressure, get

:07:52.:07:56.

to yourself 30-30 in a service game. Send the jitters up that happened

:07:57.:08:00.

player. They miss their first serve, get an opportunity on the second

:08:01.:08:04.

serve and suddenly the set is gone. Didn't get a breaker's service

:08:05.:08:09.

Istomin in that set or break point. That is the first port of call for

:08:10.:08:15.

him. The first serve percentage of Gasquet was low, but won all the

:08:16.:08:24.

points behind it. Only lost the one, 13 from 14. Impressive.

:08:25.:08:34.

Now, plenty of other sport this year. Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

:08:35.:08:39.

on the menu. It's Commonwealth Gold medallists.

:08:40.:08:56.

He gets it! Inn Thorpe is getting a standing ovation from this crowd.

:08:57.:09:04.

That was magnificent. Commonwealth Gold. The here comes the challenge.

:09:05.:09:07.

Oh, it was so close. Plenty more besides, of course,ing

:09:08.:09:34.

can the Open golf and Wimbledon starting Monday. It's a feast of

:09:35.:09:37.

sport. He is playing a pretty tasty match

:09:38.:09:52.

here, Gasquet. Set up, about to serve first serve, second set.

:09:53.:10:36.

I was going to say, that is so disappointing, isn't it, when you

:10:37.:10:39.

have just thrown in a good kick serve. This is where men are

:10:40.:10:44.

interesting on the Tour, how they vary their kick serve, in terms of

:10:45.:10:46.

being a first serve. Throw their opponent off balance.

:10:47.:10:57.

Istomin probably expecting a bigger, flatter first serve. He throws in

:10:58.:11:01.

the kicker. It unsettles your rhythm at the back there.

:11:02.:11:30.

No wonder Istomin had a look down the court. The shape of that swing,

:11:31.:11:36.

the flick of the wrist, it goes for a clean winner. It's almost a look

:11:37.:11:42.

of - how on earth do you do that? He's that sort of player, Gasquet.

:11:43.:11:46.

Yeah, he is. That is another late. Late, wasn't

:11:47.:12:06.

it? You have to keep relying on the

:12:07.:12:21.

umpire that is going to overrule. It it gets everybody on edge out here.

:12:22.:12:46.

Took this volley very casually. Must have been confident he was going to

:12:47.:13:05.

make it. Dropped the racquet face almost as he played that. It worked.

:13:06.:14:06.

Can't believe it, Gasquet. He just cannot believe it. He is talking to

:14:07.:14:11.

Istomin again. Who say it is was out. Furthest line away from him.

:14:12.:14:21.

Tough one to overrule on. That was well out, wasn't it? My instinct was

:14:22.:14:26.

that it was out. It was because it was a high bouncing. When they come

:14:27.:14:31.

down almost vertically near that line. It sometimes is a little bit

:14:32.:14:34.

difficult to see. That's a great serve. You can use

:14:35.:14:46.

that frustration, irritation, and draw upon it to put in your best

:14:47.:14:48.

serve. He's another one that's very

:14:49.:15:32.

dangerous on-the-run, isn't he, when he is in a defensive position. Very

:15:33.:15:37.

much we say that about Andy Murray, when he is pushed on-the-run, on the

:15:38.:15:42.

defensive, flick of the wrist, and he can come up with some of his best

:15:43.:15:44.

shots. He's just finding a few things to

:15:45.:16:03.

get a bit irritated about at the moment, Gasquet.

:16:04.:16:19.

Oh, what a return! That will frustrate him further. Istomin's

:16:20.:16:28.

first break point. UMPIRE: Advantage, Gasquet. He goes

:16:29.:17:35.

for a bit of a walk, doesn't he, Gasquet. Like I said before, he is

:17:36.:17:39.

busy before he gets this ball into play.

:17:40.:17:44.

That's good hold. Tightening the rins, Gasquet. UMPIRE: First game,

:17:45.:17:55.

second set. Good proportion of the crowd have stayed too, enjoying the

:17:56.:17:59.

tennis in the sunshine. 40 years the women. Not as long as that the men.

:18:00.:18:04.

They have been in Nottingham before going back here. Going back to

:18:05.:18:09.

Nottingham next year with the extra week on the grass at Wimbledon

:18:10.:18:15.

before the French. UMPIRE: Seats please. Everybody is pleased there

:18:16.:18:21.

is this extra week. When you have the Australia Open in January, there

:18:22.:18:24.

is quite a long delay it between the next Grand Slam at the French Open

:18:25.:18:28.

in May. Suddenly, back-to-back, a couple of weeks in between. It just

:18:29.:18:33.

doesn't seem long enough. You need just that extra bit of time to

:18:34.:18:37.

adjust from clay to grass. More time to prepare for such a big event.

:18:38.:18:52.

Extraordinary that Borg managed to win Wimbledon and the French Open

:18:53.:19:01.

the same year, three times, with no warm-up, grass-court tournament.

:19:02.:19:04.

Really is a remarkable achievement. Really is.

:19:05.:19:14.

Grass played a lot differently back then too. Yeah, the markings on the

:19:15.:19:21.

court were so different, weren't they? You wouldn't get the markings

:19:22.:19:29.

we see today, all the markings around the baseline and the net

:19:30.:19:32.

area. It's almost fresh around there, isn't it? Hard to believe.

:19:33.:19:38.

Before it was like a definite If you T. Laid over the court of the '70s

:19:39.:19:44.

and 80s on a grass-court now, it would be phenomenonal the difference

:19:45.:19:45.

in change. The baseline's must get so much more

:19:46.:20:04.

chewed up now, musn't they? When you think Wimbledon courts have to take

:20:05.:20:07.

a hammering for two weeks. Let alone what we see here for one week.

:20:08.:20:15.

So 1-1. We have seen Dirk courtside a couple of times. Maybe he is

:20:16.:20:28.

looking at Istomin. He has coached many players.

:20:29.:20:39.

He has been predominantly coached by his mother, Istomin. Claudia.

:20:40.:20:50.

Such a fascinating debate that, isn't it? Yeah.

:20:51.:21:02.

Always wants that winning ball back. The boy and girls team get used to

:21:03.:21:15.

it. They get it to him pretty quickly too.

:21:16.:22:03.

Dropped five points on the first serve so far, Gasquet. Another love

:22:04.:22:09.

game. UMPIRE: Gasquet leads, 2-1. You had

:22:10.:22:21.

time now, Annabel, since the news broke of Murray's new appointment,

:22:22.:22:24.

mauls mauls, what do you make of it all? I'm instreegd by it. Andy has

:22:25.:22:31.

thought outside the box, hasn't he. Intrigued. -- mauls mauls. -- d.

:22:32.:23:12.

Added to that this unbelievable combination with Lendl. He hadn't

:23:13.:23:27.

been seen around the tennis world for 20 years. He could identify with

:23:28.:23:33.

what Lendl had been through. The rest is history. This is thinking

:23:34.:23:38.

outside. I'm more intrigued as to what he hopes he will give her. He

:23:39.:23:42.

is one of the greatest tacticians out there. I can't imagine it would

:23:43.:23:46.

be tactics. I think it's something else.

:23:47.:23:56.

Set down, Istomin. Talked about sensitivity and more the emotional

:23:57.:24:03.

side of things, hasn't he. I wonder whether he feels that, I don't know,

:24:04.:24:08.

he said it himself, his mum was a good listenering. She understands

:24:09.:24:22.

him better than anybody. -- listener. Maybe Julie Murray feels

:24:23.:24:27.

it's easier for her to speak to another woman, in relation to

:24:28.:24:38.

talking about her son. Yeah, maybe. She's very well-respected. She will

:24:39.:24:44.

teach him a thing or two about wine. She has a fantastic cellar, that's

:24:45.:24:50.

for sure. He doesn't drink! He will still learn about it, the different

:24:51.:24:52.

labels. She likes her red wine. Regularly around the 120mph, 124mph

:24:53.:25:15.

mark the serve, but so well placed. That is a switch up that's been

:25:16.:25:47.

brilliantly dealt with by Istomin. A real attack to the net, wasn't it.

:25:48.:25:51.

Not easy with a single hander to jump into that ball and generate

:25:52.:25:56.

enough pace off that return of serve. As you say, Istomin dealt

:25:57.:25:59.

with that one. Very good at pulling you out of

:26:00.:26:24.

position, Gasquet. Great use of the angles there. Making you feel

:26:25.:26:28.

awkward and uncomfortable. Again, such quick hands from

:26:29.:27:03.

Gasquet. A little flick of the wrist, for the half-volley.

:27:04.:27:52.

UMPIRE: Game, Gasquet. COMMENTATOR: Remains unbroken, the

:27:53.:28:00.

Frenchman. UMPIRE: Gasquet leads, 3-2.

:28:01.:28:03.

COMMENTATOR: Grass, I imagine, would have a special place in Gasquet's

:28:04.:28:08.

heart. He won ten titles, but his first was on grass 200 a 5 in

:28:09.:28:13.

Nottingham which he backed up the following year. So many players find

:28:14.:28:20.

it hard to back up a defending title. He did it successfully on

:28:21.:28:27.

this surface. Why don't the French have a grass-court tournament in

:28:28.:28:32.

France? They do so well on the surface. Mauresmo Wimbledon Champion

:28:33.:28:40.

and so on. You think of the French players as being attacking players.

:28:41.:28:46.

A lot of them serve volleying. Some of them have great volleys and

:28:47.:28:50.

skills around the net area. As you said, they are very, very creative

:28:51.:28:54.

tennis players. Very flamboyant as well. Yeah, interesting they don't

:28:55.:29:00.

have a grass-court event. Perhaps they will add It would one. Be

:29:01.:29:05.

logical if they had bid for it, you would have one in France straight

:29:06.:29:09.

after the French. Very good point. They seem to be technically very

:29:10.:29:14.

sound the French as well. They always have beautiful slice

:29:15.:29:17.

backhands. They have the variety and ability to change up the pace. That

:29:18.:29:21.

is what Gasquet is able to do on a grass-court as well. He has the mix

:29:22.:29:25.

of the topspin, backhand, flick of the wrist. Le beautiful slice back

:29:26.:29:31.

as well. You need the skills on a grass-court to Jong Un settle the

:29:32.:29:36.

rhythm of an opponent. Istomin a set down, 2-3 down. -- just unsettle.

:29:37.:30:55.

I never tire of watching that backhand. Is it the best for you?

:30:56.:31:03.

There are a view to choose from. I cannot say one is better than the

:31:04.:31:05.

other because they are different. The latest one to look out for is

:31:06.:31:36.

the exciting Austrian. He reminds me a bit of Boris Becker.

:31:37.:32:01.

There it is again. He was just waiting for the right shot unleash

:32:02.:32:17.

it, wasn't he? Istomin keeps asking the question and gets a very firm

:32:18.:32:18.

answer. Super defence. The amount of

:32:19.:32:54.

top-spin on that last shot, amazing. He did so well with that very high

:32:55.:32:59.

lob, didn't he, made a difficult smash from the baseline for Istomin

:33:00.:33:02.

and got himself back involved in the point.

:33:03.:33:38.

He got there, too. It was a painful run at the start. He has been

:33:39.:33:45.

stretching his back a little at times in this match, and this will

:33:46.:33:47.

have really stretched it. He is almost toying with Istomin,

:33:48.:34:15.

isn't he? Slowly, effortlessly chipping the ball back with no pace

:34:16.:34:19.

on it to try to nullify the power coming at him.

:34:20.:35:01.

Well, that was ambitious. Tempted by the success earlier, I guess. But he

:35:02.:35:16.

hands Gasquet the break. Just the one required for the first set. I

:35:17.:35:21.

did feel it was a matter of time before he was going to get it. It

:35:22.:35:24.

felt he was getting a hold on the match, didn't it? Most players find

:35:25.:35:34.

it much more difficult to play drop shots off the forehand compared to

:35:35.:35:35.

the backhand. Oh, a slip! Oh, my word! Oh, my

:35:36.:36:01.

goodness me! That is some recovery! He didn't know much about that shot.

:36:02.:36:10.

I am surprised Gasquet wasn't laughing after that one.

:36:11.:36:20.

Only just. It was actually coming back in. If he had been given a bit

:36:21.:36:28.

more time, it might have made it. Too good. Very short take back on

:36:29.:37:23.

the return of serve. Look at the footwork to get the ball out in

:37:24.:37:25.

front of his body. Oh, no! He will be frustrated with

:37:26.:37:55.

himself. He does not miss that too often. Third break point for

:37:56.:38:00.

Istomin, who has not broken yet. Second ace. He has an interesting

:38:01.:38:24.

way of bouncing the ball before serving, almost like a basketball

:38:25.:38:26.

technique. He is on a hat-trick. So was someone

:38:27.:38:35.

else last night. Another good hold. Another break

:38:36.:39:18.

point saved. And looking for his third grass court final. He is one

:39:19.:39:25.

game away. They keep plenty of rackets in their bags these days,

:39:26.:39:30.

all different tensions. All different styles of tension, too,

:39:31.:39:36.

and strings. It has transformed the sport, the string technique, more

:39:37.:39:56.

than anything. There have been so many changes in strings, haven't

:39:57.:40:00.

there? And in terms of the pattern of strings in racquets as well. I

:40:01.:40:05.

know that Andy Murray has changed it significantly, recently, actually.

:40:06.:40:08.

It is to do with the down strings, cross strings, how many, whether you

:40:09.:40:13.

have natural gut or a mixture with synthetic. And attention, obviously.

:40:14.:40:22.

They need an array of tensions. You constantly see players sending off

:40:23.:40:25.

racquets in the middle of matches because of the changing conditions

:40:26.:40:26.

out there. Well, he has sparkled off his back

:40:27.:42:31.

and, Gasquet. Nothing wrong with the forehand, setting up two match

:42:32.:42:32.

points. That will do it. Absolute delight

:42:33.:42:54.

for Richard Gasquet. It is his third grass court final. 22nd career final

:42:55.:43:00.

to look forward to. He has won his previous two. He looked pretty

:43:01.:43:05.

impressive today. He went from strength to strength and the

:43:06.:43:08.

backhand really starting to fire by the end. Even when he was down break

:43:09.:43:14.

points, his serve seemed to go up a couple of notches. He really enjoyed

:43:15.:43:17.

himself and certainly the crowd enjoyed watching him out there. And

:43:18.:43:26.

a good hand for Denis Istomin as well. Winning in one hour and 11

:43:27.:43:31.

minutes. That will help his back. And in the heat. It is going rather

:43:32.:43:35.

nicely for Richard Gasquet, his preparation for Wimbledon. Always a

:43:36.:43:44.

dangerous opponent. He is such a talent, has so much choice at his

:43:45.:43:53.

disposal. Of course, in the final, he will play either the defending

:43:54.:43:59.

champion, Lopez, or Sam Querrey, the American. Neither of those will be

:44:00.:44:07.

easy. And Matt Chilton will be asking him the questions. That is a

:44:08.:44:11.

dangerous bondage point! It is, isn't it? Maybe he

:44:12.:44:17.

dangerous bondage point! It is, repair work and caught a bit of

:44:18.:44:18.

tennis at the same time. Richard, congratulations, through to

:44:19.:44:32.

the Aegon International final. You must be happy with the way you

:44:33.:44:37.

played. I played well. It was a good match for me. The first set was

:44:38.:44:41.

important and I took confidence. He is a good player, so I am happy to

:44:42.:44:47.

be in the final. How will you prepare for the final? What is your

:44:48.:44:51.

strategy? To relax today, to see the other semifinal. Tomorrow will be a

:44:52.:44:56.

great final for me and I am happy to be there, playing a final before

:44:57.:45:00.

Wimbledon. I hope to win and I will try my best. Do you have a

:45:01.:45:06.

preference for Lopez or Sam Querrey? Both are very good, with a good

:45:07.:45:09.

serve, so it will be tough, but I know that I can win and I will try

:45:10.:45:14.

my best. We look forward to seeing you. Ladies and gentlemen, Richard

:45:15.:45:16.

Gasquet. That was an extraordinary vantage

:45:17.:45:27.

point that guy had on the roof. We are halfway through knowing who will

:45:28.:45:30.

be in the men's final. We know who will be in the women's final when

:45:31.:45:33.

our coverage starts tomorrow afternoon. We saw Madison Keys an

:45:34.:45:38.

hour ago beat Heather Watson in straight sets, following on from an

:45:39.:45:44.

outstanding match between Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber from Germany.

:45:45.:45:49.

We will show you the second set tie-break, which was pivotal in

:45:50.:45:52.

deciding the outcome. The first set to Wozniacki, and here we are at the

:45:53.:45:56.

start of the second set tie-break. Wozniacki is hanging in on every

:45:57.:46:39.

point. It is so rare that she hands across a free point where you did

:46:40.:46:41.

not have to work too hard. That is just too good. Kerber has

:46:42.:48:38.

been hanging in for a lot of this match, and it continues. She is so

:48:39.:48:43.

unpredictable and you can never count her out because she is a great

:48:44.:48:48.

fighter. She will not be ready to go back to the showers just yet.

:48:49.:49:31.

Again, the match has a feel that Kerber is dictating. It is all on

:49:32.:49:36.

her racquet. The ball is going to keep coming back until an error is

:49:37.:49:41.

forced. It has definitely have that feel right from the word go.

:49:42.:49:46.

Wozniacki has not been able to put Kerber off balance too many times.

:49:47.:49:50.

As we said at the start, she is even more dangerous when she is running

:49:51.:49:54.

onto a ball, when she does look out of balance. She is dangerous because

:49:55.:49:58.

she flicks the wrist and has the billeted to flatten out the ball and

:49:59.:50:02.

hit a winner. Wozniacki has to stay patient, keep doing what she is

:50:03.:50:03.

doing. This is on a knife edge. So cool. Three points in a row.

:50:04.:50:57.

Kerber in front in the tie-break. For the first time. She has lovely

:50:58.:51:01.

feel around the net. Every time we have seen her at the net, she rarely

:51:02.:51:07.

loses the point, actually. This billeted to use her hands and soft

:51:08.:51:08.

on them to drop the ball short. Got it! Still dictating, still

:51:09.:51:29.

demanding. She made that, too. Three more set

:51:30.:51:52.

points for Kerber. She has lifted her game at the most

:51:53.:52:03.

crucial moment of the match. Well, fantastic resistance from

:52:04.:52:38.

Kerber, and then the aggression. She wins the second set on her second

:52:39.:52:42.

set point, after one hour and 47 minutes.

:52:43.:52:51.

And that was the turning point in the match because after that, the

:52:52.:52:54.

force was with the German. Eventually, we find ourselves at

:52:55.:53:03.

match point. And another perfectly timed crosscourt winner from a very

:53:04.:53:10.

narrow angle. That puts Kerber into the final, where we now know that

:53:11.:53:14.

she will be playing Madison Keys. When we spoke to her, we did not

:53:15.:53:17.

know that, but the obvious thing to say to her was, firstly, well done

:53:18.:53:20.

on getting say to her was, firstly, well done

:53:21.:53:24.

secondly, well done on being part of a really outstanding match. I think

:53:25.:53:29.

the match was a really good match, and we were both playing at a high

:53:30.:53:33.

level. We had such a long rallies also. It was not easy because all so

:53:34.:53:39.

before the match, she is a great player, she was number one in the

:53:40.:53:44.

world. And it is tough to play against her. But, you know I was

:53:45.:53:48.

just trying to focus on point to point. Of course, it was tough

:53:49.:53:55.

today. Tell me, when you are playing a match, and it was a wonderful game

:53:56.:53:59.

to watch, when you are playing in a match that is that good, are you

:54:00.:54:04.

conscious of what a good game it is, or are you just in the zone and only

:54:05.:54:08.

thinking about the ball and the point? Actually, I was feeling that

:54:09.:54:15.

the match is really good. Also, after the first set when I lost, my

:54:16.:54:18.

coach was coming to me and saying, you lost the first set up it is a

:54:19.:54:23.

great game and you are playing good. You are both great players, so just

:54:24.:54:27.

keep going and just try to fight every single point. And I tried

:54:28.:54:31.

that. So I was really feeling that the match was at a high level. The

:54:32.:54:36.

second set tie-break was the key swing point of the match. And you

:54:37.:54:40.

were so brave on some points. Because most people watching, maybe

:54:41.:54:45.

club tennis players, if they are playing in a tie-break and it is for

:54:46.:54:50.

-4, they are thinking, just get it back in court and let them make a

:54:51.:54:53.

mistake, but you were not doing that. You were saying, I am going to

:54:54.:54:59.

win this, not let her give it to me. How brave do you have to be to

:55:00.:55:04.

do that? That is true. I really was thinking to do it by myself, just

:55:05.:55:08.

hit the ball is true. I really was thinking to do it by myself, just

:55:09.:55:11.

hit the balls and be aggressive. I had a lot of matches like that,

:55:12.:55:15.

where I was just thinking, put the ball on court and just hope that the

:55:16.:55:19.

other one will make mistakes, but I think we are now playing on a really

:55:20.:55:25.

high level. You need to go there and make it yourself, and try to hit the

:55:26.:55:29.

balls. I tried, so I am really happy about the way I played. In some of

:55:30.:55:34.

those rallies, there were 25 shots, and you are going ten yards this

:55:35.:55:37.

way, ten yards that way, ten yards that way, ten yards that way. At

:55:38.:55:43.

some point, are you not thinking, for heaven 's sake, I can't do this

:55:44.:55:51.

any more? Sometimes, after you run left, right, you are not thinking

:55:52.:55:55.

any more, you just run behind the ball and try to hit. Is it a blank?

:55:56.:56:01.

I think so. You see the ball and you are not thinking too much. You just

:56:02.:56:05.

try to feel the ball and try to hit the ball on court. And I think that

:56:06.:56:13.

was today also sometimes the point. Without being too technical, the

:56:14.:56:16.

thing that always fascinates me is the breathing. Because you have to

:56:17.:56:21.

get your breathing right. If you are breathing wrongly when you hit the

:56:22.:56:24.

ball, you will make a mess of it. When you are rushing here, there and

:56:25.:56:27.

everywhere, you still have to have control of how your body is

:56:28.:56:32.

operating. Yes, I think the breathing is very important. After

:56:33.:56:37.

the single points, you need to breathe. And also when you hit the

:56:38.:56:41.

balls. But, you know, we are practising every single day. But

:56:42.:56:45.

practice is never like the match. That is why I am here, to have some

:56:46.:56:51.

matches like that before Wimbledon. I think everything worked, so let's

:56:52.:56:55.

see what happens tomorrow. Madison Keys. What do you think? She is a

:56:56.:57:01.

strong, talented young player. I played once against her earlier this

:57:02.:57:07.

year in Sydney. She has a great big serve, she hits the ball very fast.

:57:08.:57:12.

So I think I need to be ready for every single point and moving very

:57:13.:57:22.

good. She is dangerous, and I need to be ready. Looking further ahead,

:57:23.:57:26.

and you won't, because you have an important match to play, but when

:57:27.:57:30.

the Wimbledon draw came out, have you looked at it yet? I just heard

:57:31.:57:35.

who I am playing against, but I will not watch the draw. I will now focus

:57:36.:57:40.

here on the finals tomorrow, and then go there and just... You don't

:57:41.:57:48.

want me to tell you who is in your section? You have Rafael Nadal...

:57:49.:57:54.

Many congratulations, you played some fantastic tennis. Good luck in

:57:55.:58:00.

the final. Thanks. She will be playing Madison Keys, an emphatic

:58:01.:58:03.

win over Britain's Heather Watson today. That match took just over one

:58:04.:58:09.

hour. Well done to Heather for getting this far this week. She is

:58:10.:58:13.

growing much on an upward curve, but Madison Keys is heading skywards,

:58:14.:58:21.

you would think. She hit the ball so cleanly and so hard. She has all the

:58:22.:58:27.

advantages of being an athlete as well, but it means it will be a

:58:28.:58:35.

fascinating final tomorrow. I am sure that is the same seagull!

:58:36.:58:43.

What is your take on the final tomorrow, Annabelle? I feel Madison

:58:44.:58:51.

Keys might sneak her first title. I feel that the grass suits her game.

:58:52.:58:56.

She is hitting it so cleanly and powerfully. She will take charge.

:58:57.:59:00.

Angelique Kerber is a deceptively good player who will chase down a

:59:01.:59:04.

lot of balls. She is good at turning defence into attack. She has that

:59:05.:59:08.

beautiful serve that swings out wide, but she has short second

:59:09.:59:13.

serves which you can attack. They have never met on grass. They have

:59:14.:59:18.

met twice before and Kerber has beaten her. Experience is with

:59:19.:59:22.

Kerber, but there is something new and exciting about Madison Keys and

:59:23.:59:26.

I feel it might be her day tomorrow. You can almost feel it in the air.

:59:27.:59:30.

We had it at Queen's last week and at Edgbaston, but now we have a

:59:31.:59:34.

final tomorrow and Wimbledon is on the horizon. The draw came out

:59:35.:59:40.

today. Andy Murray has been paired with a Belgian in the first round.

:59:41.:59:44.

If you have not heard how his draw pans out, years in the same half as

:59:45.:59:51.

Novak Djokovic, which is... That is his potential route to the final,

:59:52.:59:55.

and we are being optimistic, but he is the defending champion. The

:59:56.:00:01.

Italian in the last 16 is interesting because Andy Murray lost

:00:02.:00:04.

to him in a Davis cup tie in Naples. Also in that segment, director of.

:00:05.:00:12.

The way he played at Queen's commie might fancy him to make it through

:00:13.:00:22.

to the last eight. Is that a good draw? I think it could be a lot

:00:23.:00:27.

worse. I think it is a good draw for Andy. As we were talking earlier, it

:00:28.:00:32.

is better for him to be on that side with Novak Djokovic, in my mind.

:00:33.:00:36.

There are a few potential dangers lurking. One who actually beat Andy

:00:37.:00:43.

earlier this year. The other one is Kevin Anderson, a big, tall serving

:00:44.:00:49.

South African, very dangerous on the grass court, who has beaten Andy

:00:50.:00:53.

again in his career and will not be frightened of him. There are

:00:54.:00:56.

pitfalls, but I feel it is a good draw.

:00:57.:01:06.

The ovation Andy Murray will get will be extraordinary? Very, very

:01:07.:01:10.

proud. A special moment to be the defending Champion and you will play

:01:11.:01:14.

on that Centre Court, on the first Monday, first match of the

:01:15.:01:18.

Championships, a lot of memories will come flooding back of what he

:01:19.:01:21.

achieved last year. An extraordinary achievement what he did last year. A

:01:22.:01:27.

lot of players and pundits and commentators alike cannot imagine

:01:28.:01:31.

the pressure there could have been anything greater than the pressure

:01:32.:01:37.

of a Brit trying to win at Wimbledon. When we look at the four

:01:38.:01:40.

grand slams, the players who come from those countries that the four

:01:41.:01:47.

grand slams are held in where there is that pressure. The rest of the

:01:48.:01:51.

players from all around the world don't get to feel that intense

:01:52.:01:56.

pressure of a home Grand Slam. For Andy it was extraordinary doing it

:01:57.:01:59.

after 77 years. The pressure couldn't have been any greater on

:02:00.:02:04.

any one single player. He did it. You can relive it tomorrow. The can

:02:05.:02:10.

you see Murray against Djokovic 10.45am. You can relive, on Monday

:02:11.:02:16.

night, by which time Andy will have played his first round match against

:02:17.:02:25.

David Goffin. It has been the most glorious day. This tournament, a

:02:26.:02:29.

lovely tournament anyway, it transformed when the weather is like

:02:30.:02:32.

this, isn't it? It's so beautiful here. There is a rich history of

:02:33.:02:41.

being able to enjoy the tennis. It is an intimate setting. A certain

:02:42.:02:46.

type of crowd, polite, but love their tennis. The wind hasn't been

:02:47.:02:57.

too bad. It can blow inside the Centre Court, be blustery, and

:02:58.:03:01.

difficult to play in. Not too many seagulls dipping into court. I feel

:03:02.:03:07.

like I'm on holiday. In the 40th year, so many great champions.

:03:08.:03:13.

Angelique Kerber may win it. Madison Keys could be added to that list of

:03:14.:03:18.

the greats of the game? I think so. There is an exciting feel about her.

:03:19.:03:25.

She is only years of 19 age. She is incredibly mature. She has massive

:03:26.:03:28.

weapons. That huge serve, big kicker. Exciting. Sure. Is we will

:03:29.:03:33.

see for Angelique Kerber tomorrow against Madison Keys, 12. 45pm. Have

:03:34.:03:47.

a Good Friday night. Goodbye. -- good Friday night. Goodbye.

:03:48.:03:55.

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