You’ve been the best, Wimbledon ’10. Just the best.
Here’s a big thank you…
For stopping the tennis world with Roger Federer/Alejandro Falla and Novak Djokovic/Olivier Rochus on opening day. I wish I read more into your hints that this was going to be a crazy year.
For showing me that Maria Sharapova can win the big ones again.
For alerting the fans of Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and Roger Federer that their clocks are ticking and maybe it’s time to find other players to learn to love. It doesn’t necessarily mean right away but sooner than later. Harsh but true. I wouldn’t want you any other way.
For leading Tomas Berdych back home- at the top with the big boys.
For maintaining the balance between crazy and reality by, in spite of the explosion this fortnight, still having both World Number 1s win the Championships.
And most of all, thank you for making me fall in love with tennis all over again. It’s been seven years but you made me feel like the best has yet to come and all of us are really only getting started!
Cheers to the World Number 1s! They made it happen in this year’s Championships and no one was going to stop them.
Serena Williams put up a clinic on Centre Court this Championship Saturday on how to win Wimbledon. Her oppponent, Vera Zvonareva, and some 15,000 other spectators were treated to a nice serving and hard hitting display for just over an hour.
I don’t think any of us had doubts about the outcome of the women’s final. It was Vera’s first time at a major final and Serena’s 16th. To top that off, Serena’s been flawlessly serving this fortnight landing double-digit aces in almost every match. How can someone stop that?
Final score: Serena Williams def Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2
Rafael Nadal was not as flawless as Serena in this fortnight but he had his heart (and experience) to carry him to the second Sunday. Rafa was taken to 5 sets twice in the first week by opponents one would think he’d routinely send home but he fought through them, got to the second week refreshed and claimed his 2nd Wimbledon title.
The men’s final was much like the women’s. Tomas Berdych was in his 1st major final and Rafa was in his 10th. Rafa elevated his game when he needed to and didn’t give Berd a chance to be comfortable out there.
Final score: Rafael Nadal def Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
For both finalists, they have plenty to be proud of in this fortnight. They gained a lot of experience. They can only build on it and hopefully go one better the next time.
Day 10 was the women’s semifinal. Favorites to come through, Serena Williams and Vera Zvonareva, did and so it was a weird day for the women’s side at Wimbledon.
Serena was still her usual SW19-10 self. Although low on the ace count, she still served huge and over powered her opponent for most of the match. You know, it was a Serena match.
Vera’s back to her old winning-form self. Oh, what non-injury does to you. *sigh* She’s always been a solid Top 10 player, was in the Top 5 for a while but suffered a few injuries that set her back for the past year or so. Vera being in the finals of a major isn’t really the surprise rather it’s being in the finals of a major that’s played on grass. She hasn’t done well on this surface lately (1 grass title, Birmingham in 2006) to even be mentioned as a “sleeper” in the tournament but she’s snuck in there and beat Kim Clijsters, who was one of the favorites, along the way. The draw opened up for her when Venus Williams was taken out, she took that opportunity and viola! Welcome to your first major final, please do not get your ass handed to you.
Day 10 results:
Serena Williams (1) def. Petra Kvitova 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Vera Zvonareva (21) def. Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Day 11 was the men’s semifinal. I wish we could have a 4-way tie but I see how that cannot work out. We had 2 men that are major title holders, 1 that’s an almost major title holder and a Tomas Berdych. Of course my heart went out to the ones who haven’t tasted the glory yet. I’m happy to see atleast one of them made it through and gets a shot at glory. And Rafael Nadal.
Berd’s groundies are fucking ridiculous. Excuse my language (it’s not French) but there’s no other way of putting it. He really hit his spots today and looked very comfortable for most of the match- a little nervy closing out the second set and in that TB. There was a point in the match where Berd hit a forehand pick-up winner from the baseline. That kind where you use all wrist? Yeah, that blew my mind. Among other things. It was that kind of day for Berd. It’s been that kind of few months actually and I’m so happy for him.
Rafa won a well-fought victory against Britain’s great hope. I didn’t see the entire match but from what I caught and read, both players played very well but it was Rafa who was more solid on the important points. On a close match, that’s where you want to give your heart, mind and body to.
Q. What about Andy, you said to him after the match that he could win a major.
RAFAEL NADAL: I wished him best of luck for the rest of the season, and sorry for today. I know it was an important match for him I think because he play at home, and this is a chance for him to win probably the most important title for him win here at home in Wimbledon.
Just I felt sorry for him because he’s a very nice person, very good person. I am sure he gonna win a Grand Slam very soon, because when you have final in US Open, final in Australia, semifinals here this year and the last year, you are there all the time. So one day you win. I am sure he gonna win. He deserve to win.
I’m sure Muzz will win a major soon too.
Day 11 results:
Rafael Nadal (2) def. Andy Murray (4) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
Tomas Berdych (12) def. Novak Djokovic (3) 6-3, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3
So, Day 9 was fun, huh? I know it was for me. Other than Jo-Wilfried Tsonga losing to Andy Murray, all the men I wanted to get through got through.
When the draw was released and I saw a potential quarterfinal match-up between Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer, I had no doubt who I was picking to win that match. No, not because I don’t like Fed but because T-Berd’s very confident right now. When the tournament started and Fed struggled in his opener against Alejandro Falla, I thought, shit, Fed’s not even going to get to that QF match-up. But he did and I was right. That’s all.
All this talk about Fed probably not going to win another Grand Slam is a little premature. Was it in 2008 that people said he was never going to beat Pete’s record? That went well. He might not regain the the #1 ranking again, he’ll drop to #3 next week, but I think he can still go for another major or two if he really wants it.
Day 9 results:
Tomas Berdych (12) def. Roger Federer (1) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Rafael Nadal (2) def. Robin Soderling (6) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
Novak Djokovic (3) def. Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
Andy Murray (4) def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-2
Ah, yes. Of course they both lose on the same day. When the world decides it hates you on one particular day, it really makes you feel it.
In Andy Roddick’s own words, he played like “crap” in his return games. He’s letting himself off too easily. He actually played shit return games in the entire 5-set match against Yen-Hsun Lu. To Lu’s credit, he hung in there with Andy when he couldn’t even sniff a break point on Andy’s serve and was definitely more aggressive on most of the points during the tiebreaks.
Maria Sharapova, on the other hand, didn’t play like crap or shit. Far from it. She played some of her best tennis since her return from surgery. She served huge and cracked returns against the best server on the women’s tour. Maria had her chances but was unable to step up and take them. On set point on her own racket in that first set tiebreak, a forehand error cost her big time. Then, a double fault to go down set point cost her the first set. Those mistakes you cannot afford against a champion like Serena Williams. Maria got broken early in the second set and Serena never looked back. Yes, Serena is still the serving machine of the tournament.
Right, Masha. Her name is Masha.
In other news, Kim Clijsters started slow against Justine Henin but found her form early in the second set and was able to get past Justine in 3 sets.
Petra Kvitova, Tsvetana Pironkova and Kaia Kanepi are still in the tournament somehow. Leave it to the WTA to always have surprise quater- or semi- finalists.
Day 7 results:
Serena Williams (1) def. Maria Sharapova (16) 7-6 (11-9), 6-4
Venus Williams (2) def. Jarmila Groth 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
Petra Kvitova def. Caroline Wozniacki (3) 6-2, 6-0
Vera Zvonareva (21) def. Jelena Jankovic (4) 6-1, 3-0 retired
Na Li (9) def. Agnieszka Radwanska (7) 6-3, 6-2
Kim Clijsters (8) def. Justine Henin (17) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Tsvetana Pironkova def. Marion Bartoli (11) 6-4, 6-4
Kaia Kanepi def. Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 6-4
Roger Federer (1) def. Jurgen Melzer (16) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
Rafael Nadal (2) def. Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
There’s going to be blood and tears. Let’s get real, Serena would like to see Maria bleed to death in their Round of 16 match. Hence, the tears from me.
The second Monday at Wimbledon is single-handedly the best Monday in tennis. All R16 matches will be played and it is always wild. Sometimes the rain makes it wild but forecast says the matches will be the ones taking all the attention this year.
Day 6 was relatively tame. There were two upsets; Victoria Azarenka, who made the quarterfinals last week, and Flavia Pennetta, all-around bad ass.
Rafael Nadal was taken to 5 sets again for the second straight round here in Wimbledon. He called for the trainer a few times during the match to treat his knee. All these long matches are not doing him any favors but then again he probably wouldn’t need 5 sets to take these guys out if he were 100%. Rough.
Q. How much are you worried about your knee? Is there a risk you should skip the Davis Cup tie after Wimbledon?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. Well, sure, I am a little bit scared about the knee. But, you know, it happen. I had a treatment after Monte‑Carlo. So I had the problem. I didn’t say nothing before, but you know, guys, how is everything. I had the problem against Roddick in the semifinals of Miami.
I don’t like to say nothing in that moment because when you lose, always looks like an excuse. But I can say now I had the problem after I played in Monte‑Carlo with a little bit of pain on the knee, on the left knee, because that’s what happened there.
After Monte‑Carlo, I didn’t play Barcelona because I had to do a treatment, new treatment. You know, I tried to play the clay season perfect because in that moment the right knee was better than the left. But at the same time I know the knees are not hundred percent recovered. But playing on clay and maybe on grass, if is not very long matches, can work well.
But the last treatments I did between Monte‑Carlo and Rome was perfect. I didn’t have no one more problem on the left knee. But just I did one time, and I need to do three times.
I didn’t have time to do it at the right knee before because I had to play. The clay season was my main goal of the season. After here I gonna do it another time, no? My goals for me is a big disappointment not be in the Davis Cup on France, you know. Some confrontations, if you play at home against some country, maybe you cannot play this one. But playing in France for me is a very special confrontation and a very big motivation for me.
But I talked with the captain, I talked with the president of the Federation a few days ago, and I said, Guys, I never arrive to the US Open with my hundred percent of conditions. I had last year broken abdominal, two years ago playing crazy here. After Olympics, I did arrive very tired. And I really want to try to go there with my best chances, no, to play, to play my hundred percent.
So I need to do this treatment after here. If I play Davis Cup, I don’t have enough time to recover and play tournaments, Cincinnati. Everything was perfect for me last few months, and I need to be ready to finish the season well. My goal is try to keep having the chance to be No. 1 for the rest of the season. That’s gonna be difficult. But if you are not in hundred percent of condition, is going to be impossible.
Day 6 results:
Serena Williams (1) def. Dominika Cibulkova 6-0, 7-5
Caroline Wozniacki (3) def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (29) 7-5, 6-4
Agnieszka Radwanska (7) def. Sara Errani (32) 6-3, 6-1
Na Li (9) def. Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-3
Klara Zakopalova def. Flavia Pennetta (10) 6-2, 6-3
Petra Kvitova def. Victoria Azarenka (14) 7-5, 6-0
Maria Sharapova (16) def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 7-5, 6-3
Kaia Kanepi def. Alexandra Dulgheru (31) 6-1, 6-2
Rafael Nadal (2) def. Philipp Petzschner 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-3
Andy Murray (4) def. Gilles Simon (26) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
Robin Soderling (6) def. Thomaz Bellucci (25) 6-4, 6-2, 7-5
David Ferrer (9) def. Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 7-5
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10) def. Tobias Kamke 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
Sam Querrey (18) def. Xavier Malisse 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 9-7
Julien Benneteau (32) def. Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Thiemo De Bakker 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (8-10), 6-4
World number 1s, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal are both scheduled to play. So are Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I hope it’s going to be another fun day!
Serena Williams [1] vs Dominika Cibulkova I’m watching this for the LOLs of it all. I wonder what Domi’s going to do. I really thought about it and couldn’t come up with anything. Welcome to the Serena Williams clinic, Domi.
Gilles Simon [26] vs Andy Murray [4] This is Muzz’s first real test in the tournament. Despite Gilles knee injury, which I don’t think he’s fully recovered from, I feel like he’ll still be able to push Muzz.
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova vs Maria Sharapova [16] No disrespect to Barbora but Masha better kick her ass. Go get ‘em!
Caroline Wozniacki [3] vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [29] Upset alert! (Maybe) I know Caro beat Pavs pretty handily in Miami and Ponte Vedra but Pavs took a set off Serena at Roland Garros after that. It must have given her some belief that she can hang around with these top ballers.
Tobias Kamke vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [10] Allez, Jo!
Day 5 was surprisingly routine for the seeds and expected winners. No upsets. How disappointing, Wimbledon.
Then, at the 11th hour, Victor Hanescu threw down spit on some spectators. I also heard he intentionally foot faulted 100 times (okay, 4) to lose a game and then quit. Well, he had an injury but that’d make it less juicy. BUT HE THREW DOWN SPIT ON PEOPLE.
Thanks for saving the day, Vic. Now, go away. See a therapist or something to fix youself. Or you know, hang out with Crazy Dani.
John Isner lost his second round match today. Nothing surprising there. The guy could barely walk.
Notable wins and losses: 2nd Round Thiemo De Bakker def. John Isner (23) 6-0, 6-3, 6-2
3rd Round Venus Williams (2) def. Alisa Kleybanova (26) 6-4, 6-2
Jelena Jankovic (4) def. Alona Bondarenko (28) 6-0, 6-3
Kim Clijsters (8) def. Maria Kirilenko (27) 6-3, 6-3
Vera Zvonareva (21) def. Yanina Wickmayer (15) 6-4, 6-2
Roger Federer (1) def. Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Novak Djokovic (3) def. Albert Montanes (28) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
Andy Roddick (5) def. Philipp Kohlschreiber (29) 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3
Tomas Berdych (12) def. Denis Istomin 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 6-4
Lleyton Hewitt (15) def. Gael Monfils (21) 6-3, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4
Daniel Brands def. Victor Hanescu (31) 6-7 (7-9), 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, 3-0
