W.10- Wimbledon Finalists Wobble But They Don't Fall Down

The Wimbledon semifinals ended up being an example of the "She Who Wobbles, But Doesn't Fall Down" principle. The final will probably play out in very much the same way.

In a pair of matches characterized by large swings of scoreboard momentum, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova advanced to Saturday's Ladies final, which will pit a former champion reaching her first final at the All-England Club since she won the title there in 2004 against another who looks every bit a future slam winner, who'll be playing in her first career slam final. While one never got the notion during their matches today that either wasn't, for both good and bad, in control of the outcome, both still had to manuever their way through bad stretches that, at best, caused them to work a bit harder than necessary and, at worst, threatened to turn their days in the sun into dark ones on Day 10. In Kvitova's meeting with Victoria Azarenka, all three sets featured a player grabbing a 4-1 advantage. In Sharapova's with Sabine Lisicki, the two sets started with each player jumping to 3-0 leads.

In the day's first match, Kvitova closed out the opening game with her lefty serve hooking wide, then rode the strength of that serve and a succession of forehand winners to grab an early break for a 3-1 lead. After holding for 4-1 in a game interrupted by a loud, blaring siren (insert Azarenka grunting joke here) somewhere on the Club grounds, she went up another break for 5-1 then smashed back-to-back-to-back aces before locking away a 6-1 1st set with an unreturnable driving forehand shot at Azarenka, who'd inched close to the net.

I noted yesterday how I thought Kvitova would win this match in a fairly routine straight sets unless she experienced one of her occasional extended lapses and "gave away" a set to Azarenka. As it turned out, that's sort of what the Czech did. After taking the 1st, unforced errors began to noticably creep into Kvitova's game. The forehand that was so good in the 1st began to miss on important points. Azarenka did a much better job of climbing on top of Kvitova's serve with her returns, but in many ways she "pulled a Wozniacki" and was simply content in the 2nd to let Kvitova win or lose it. She did the latter. Azarenka took the set 6-3, but her stat line read zero errors and just one winner. I know such consistency was in her gameplan for the set, and it's hard to argue for pushing an opponent when they're giving away so much, but, Tennis Gods help me, I sometimes can't escape the nagging feeling in such a situation that it's almost as if such a measly stat line hints that the player was little more than an "Accidental Tourist" in the stanza. But, of course, this sort of thing is going to occasionally happen in a Kvitova match (look at the Pironkova QF match stats and try to solve the conundrum of how that match went three sets) as long as she continues to "throw away" at least half a set in some matches. But have no fear, Kvitova took back the wheel in the 2nd and drove herself into the final. She got an early break for 2-0, went up 3-0, then saved two break points with a drop shot and another groundstroke winner struck while approaching the net. Soon after, an Kvitova ace got a hold for 4-1. At 5-2, she reached double match point. After a forehand error used up one, Azarenka's double-fault ended the match at 6-1/3-6/6-2.

You hate to see Azarenka end the match like that, but there seems little doubt that her Wimbledon experience will serve her well and she'll continue to build up her confidence as she has throughout this '11 season. She's managed to take control of her emotions and intensity on court, and with the slam semifinal glass ceiling finally shattered, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find her back in a major Final Four very soon. Maybe even later this summer. As for Kvitova, a few big steps ahead of the Belarusian on the Champion Development Chart, this was another case of the Czech getting closer and closer to something great. As I said yesterday, where the discussion of some players centers around "if's" and "can she's?," with Kvitova, with great relief, it feels more appropriate to talk about "when?," "how many?" and "how high?" (Answers: Soon. More than two. And #1.) Kvitova held eleven of twelve service games today, saving eight break points in five different games. She may have a tendency to wobble, but she's a 21-year old taking a big career leap, so it's not a nagging issue to worry too much about at this point. She needs to sure up a few remaining cracks in the foundation, but there's too much good there to get hung up about it.

Later, Sharapova backed herself into a corner right from the jump in her match against Lisicki, double-faulting on her very first service point. After successfully getting control of her wayward point-starting stroke for almost two full weeks, she teetered on the edge of having it bring her down today. But she held on. Even while tossing in thirteen double-faults, far more than in any match all fortnight, Sharapova was able to recover after falling behind 3-0 in the 1st (with break point for 4-0) by taking up the slack with her return game. It helped, too, that Lisicki failed to take full advantage of her lead. With Sharapova struggling in the 1st set with a sub-50% 1st Serve percentage, Lisicki wasn't able to kick her service game up. As it turned out, the hard-serving German didn't have a single ace in the match, and watched as Sharapova earned back the early break, got one of her own, and then hit HER first ace of the match on set point to claim the opening stanza 6-4.

Lisicki then opened the 2nd with a particularly bad service game of her own, getting broken and then going down another break for 3-0. Lisicki at least didn't collapse, though, and even had break points late in the 2nd for a chance to earn one of the breaks back. Still, with her advantage in hand, Sharapova cruised to a 6-4/6-3 win. That she was able to win while not being fully in control of her game, managing to avoid dropping her first set of the tournament, is the best sign yet that the notion that Sharapova might arrive in London one year from now as the #1-ranked player in the world isn't at all far-fetched, whether she wins her second Wimbledon crown on Saturday or not.

That said, if Sharapova serves in the final the way she did today she might just have her skinny butt handed to her on the Venus Rosewater dish by Kvitova. The Czech isn't going to go ace-less like Lisicki, after all. That said, we could see a truly entertaining final on Saturday, though it might also be a sometimes-frustrating one with mulitple swings of momentum depending on whether it's Sharapova's errant serves or Kvitova's forehand errors altering the course of events for brief stretches from time to time. My head tells me that Sharapova's experience and focus on getting back to where she once was will come into play on Saturday, but I'm not TOTALLY sold on that scenario. If the Russian starts slowly again, Kvitova could race out to a lead and put away the 1st. If that happens, settle in, because it could be a classic back-and-forth battle that ensues.

I THINK I know what we have in Kvitova, or at least will SOON have. What I'm not certain of, though, is whether or not she's ready to show it all RIGHT NOW. She might be. If she can play a FULL match without a lapse, she'll win. I can see the Czech doing to Sharapova what Sharapova did to Serena in '04, outserving her and beating her at her own game. Feasting on Sharapova's second serves. Taking her wide with her own lefty serve, then stepping in to hit winners and greating a Davenport-esque downhill momentum filled with big serves and pulverizing, deep-landing forehands, that the Russian will be incapable of stopping. But then I remember how easily the Czech can give away half a set, allowing Sharapova back in a match that might have gotten too far away to get back into, and it gives me pause.

We haven't seen a three-set final at Wimbledon since 2006 (Mauresmo/Henin), or even a truly memorable battle since '05 (when Venus came back from MP down to defeat Davenport 9-7 in the 3rd), but we might just get both in two days. It's just a hunch, but I'll go with Sharapova by something like a 3-6/7-5/7-5 score, but I'll be fully prepared to ride the wave with Kvitova to the title if she's able to keep from feeling the pressure of the situation and/or lose her concentration just long enough to allow Sharapova to turn the momentum back in her favor.

Hmmm... can I change my mind? I sort of want to, but I guess I stick with that.



=DAY 10 NOTES=
...Kvitova is the first lefty in the Wimbledon final since '94 (her idol Martina Navratilova, who was in the stands today), and the first Czech since '98 (Jana Novotna, Martina's Legends doubles partner, who one hopes will be there on Saturday, as well), but do the numbers say she's going to be the next Wimbledon champion, or just the opposite?

Well, it IS true that the last six players to defeat Azarenka have gone on to win the tournament in which they beat her. But of the thirteen other active women who've appeared in grand slam singles finals, only three of them won in their maiden trip to a major final. One was Serena Williams ('99 US), and another was Maria Sharapova (who defeated Serena in the '04 SW19 final). But only Francesca Schiavone (RG '10) has managed the feat in the seven years since then.

...The Five, taking up both finalist slots, will now end the fortnight with a combined 20-4 mark for this Wimbledon, and not unexpectedly grab the title.

...the Doubles SF and Mixed QF are nearly set, and only Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina are still alive in both draws. As a #4-seeded team, they'll face #2-seeded Peschke/Srebotnik in the Final Four, while lucky losers Erakovic/Tanasugarn will face unseeded Lisicki/Stosur, as Sabine followed up her singles loss by teaming with the Aussie later in the day to defeat #6 Petrova/Rodionova. Of some note, in the Mixed QF, former doubles partners Liezel Huber (w/ Bob Bryan) and Cara Black (w/ Leander Paes) are both one win away from facing off in the semis.

...in the juniors, the highest Boys seed in the semifinals is Britain's Liam Broady, the #15 seed, but five of the Top 7 seeds are in the Girls quarterfinals. Today, #12 Ashleigh Barty knocked off Madison Keys (sorry, "Carl") 6-3/6-7/6-4. Along with Luke Saville and Jason Kubler, Barty makes it three Aussies still alive in the junior singles competition. Of the Girls Final Eight, following the lead of Sharapova, three players have yet to drop a set -- Eugenie Bouchard (def. Krista Hardebeck), Montserrat Gonzalez and Roehampton champ Indy de Vroome, who nearly double-bageled Risa Osaki on Day 10.

...the women's semifinals wrapped up a few big awards. Kvitova gets "Ms. Opportunity," while Sharapova garners the "Comeback Player" award that I held off on giving her in Paris.

Meanwhile, Lisicki is going to be the player who officially makes me redefine the old "It Girl" honor. I've tried to limit the age of the winners there recently, for obvious reasons, but it's become something of a losing battle. When I started handing it out it was common for a teenager to make a main draw splash at the slams, but that's become rarer and rarer. So much so that recently I've been giving it to junior players. I don't like doing that (unless maybe it's a player from the slam's nation), so "It Girl" will forever after be "It (fill in the blank, depending on the winner)," still going to the player who "moved the needle" at each slam and became a bit of a star because of her actions during the previous two weeks. So it seems fitting that Lisicki wins again, as she also won the Wimbledon "It" award as a teen in '09, since her semifinal run as a wild card is something of a "new beginning" for her.

...and, finally, I continue to confess to simpy "not getting it" when it comes to the whole grunting thing. To me, as I've said for twenty years since Monica Seles came onto the scene, the only people with a reason/right to truly complain is the player on the other side of the net. Veteran players like Navratilova and Tauziat did so with Seles way back when, but you rarely hear much from any of the players now (yeah, maybe it's because so many do it, but at least a part of it has to do with them growing up with it and becoming accustomed to tuning it out without much trouble). Yet, as usual, the hubbub continues to be stirred up by people not just attending or commentating on matches, but also those watching at home. Honestly, I've never once been annoyed by it. Never. When I do notice it as something other than background noise easily ignored by focusing on the action, I usually only find the sounds amusing. But I know I'm in the minority on that, so it is what it is.

But when the All-England Club, after two weeks of sometimes treating the women's players like second-class citizens, actually issues a statement that one might think could one day be seen as the prelude to fining or penalizing players (someone on ESPN2 today suggested using an on-court sound meter that would be used dock a player a point if their sound excedes a certain decibal... puh-leeeze, as if that wouldn't be a can a worms that would make a mockery of the sport) a year or two down the line, one longs for a player, any player, who would stand up and put a foot down. Granted, the noise from a player such as Azarenka is a bit more extreme, but it's not as if the men don't often grunt when they hit powerful serves or groundstrokes. But no one ever brings up legislating against them, do they?

Anyway, I usually just ignore the whole issue, but after seeing the two yentas with the "Please Ladies No Grunting" t-shirts in the stands today during the women's semifinals -- just giving the camera a reason to focus on them rather than the action on more than one occasion -- and silently wishing someone would slip them some rotten strawberries and curdled cream I just wanted to blow off a little steam, I guess.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL*
#5 Maria Sharapova/RUS vs. #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE

*MEN'S SINGLES SEMIFINALS*
#1 Rafael Nadal/ESP vs. #4 Andy Murray/GBR
#12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/FRA vs. #2 Novak Djokovic/SRB

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES SEMIFINALS*
Lisicki/Stosur (GER/AUS) vs. (LL) Erakovic/Tanasugarn (NZL/THA)
#4 Mirza/Vesnina (IND/RUS) vs. #2 Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO)

*MEN'S DOUBLES SEMIFINALS*
#1 Bryan/Bryan (USA/USA) vs. #6 Llodra/Zimonjic (FRA/SRB)
#8 Lindstedt/Tecau (SWE/ROU) def. Kas/Peya (GER/AUT)

*MIXED DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS*
#1 Huber/B.Bryan (USA/USA) vs. #9 Benesova/Melzer (CZE/AUT)
#14 Black/Paes (ZIM/IND) vs. xx
Peer/Erlich (ISR/ISR) vs. #5 Vesnina/Bhupathi (RUS/IND)
#6 Mirza/Bopanna (IND/IND) vs. Hsieh/Hanley (TPE/AUS)

*GIRLS SINGLES QUARTERFINALS*
#16 Victoria Duval/USA vs. #12 Ashleigh Barty/AUS
Indy de Vroome/NED vs. #7 Yulia Putintseva/RUS
#5 Eugenie Bouchard/CAN vs. #3 Irina Khromacheva/RUS
#6 Montserrat Gonzalez/PAR vs. #2 Caroline Garcia/FRA

*BOYS SINGLES SEMIFINALS*
#15 Liam Broady/GBR vs. (WC) Jason Kubler/AUS
Kaichi Uchida/JPN vs. #16 Luke Saville/AUS




*WIMBLEDON "Ms. OPPORTUNITY" WINNERS*
2004 Maria Sharapova, RUS
2005 Venus Williams, USA
2006 Severine Bremond, FRA
2007 Marion Bartoli, FRA
2008 Zheng Jie, CHN
2009 Elena Dementieva, RUS
2010 Tsvetana Pironkova, BUL
2011 Petra Kvitova, CZE

*WIMBLEDON "IT" WINNERS*
2006 Li Na, CHN
2007 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2008 Agnieszka Radwanska, POL
2009 Sabine Lisicki, GER
2010 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2011 Sabine Lisicki, GER

*WIMBLEDON "COMEBACK PLAYER" WINNERS*
2007 Venus Williams, USA
2008 Tamarine Tanasugarn, THA
2009 Ana Ivanovic, SRB
2010 Vera Zvonreva, RUS
2011 Maria Sharapova, RUS

*ACTIVE PLAYERS - FIRST SLAM FINAL*
1997 U.S. Open - Venus Williams
1999 U.S. Open - Serena Williams (W)
2001 Roland Garros - Kim Clijsters
2004 Wimbledon - Maria Sharapova (W)
2007 Roland Garros - Ana Ivanovic
2007 Wimbledon - Marion Bartoli
2008 Roland Garros - Dinara Safina
2008 U.S. Open - Jelena Jankovic
2009 U.S. Open - Caroline Wozniacki
2010 Roland Garros - Francesca Schiavone (W)
2010 Roland Garros - Samantha Stosur
2010 Wimbledon - Vera Zvonareva
2011 Australian Open - Li Na
2011 Wimbledon - Petra Kvitova

*2011 CONSECUTIVE WTA FINALS*
3...Kim Clijsters, January-February (+2 in '10)
3...Caroline Wozniacki, February-March
2...Li Na, January
2...Victoria Azarenka, March-April
2...Caroline Wozniacki, April
2...PETRA KVITOVA, JUNE-JULY (current)




TOP QUALIFIER: Alexa Glatch/USA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #5 Maria Sharapova/RUS
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Alexa Glatch/USA def. Galina Voskoboeva/KAZ 3-6/7-6/12-10
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #23 Venus Williams/USA def. Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN 6-7/6-3/8-6 (2:55)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3rd Rd. - #9 Marion Bartoli/FRA def. #21 Flavia Pennetta/ITA 5-7/6-4/9-7 (3:09)
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): xx
TOP UNDER-THE-ROOF MATCH: 2nd Rd. - #23 Venus Williams def. Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-7/6-3/8-6 (2:55)
=============================
FIRST WIN: Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN (def. O'Brien/GBR)
FIRST SEED OUT: #22 Shahar Peer (1st Rd. - lost to Pervak/RUS)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Australia (1-3 in 1st Rd., losses by Stosur & Dokic)
UPSET QUEENS: Russia
REVELATION LADIES: Great Britain
LAST BRITS STANDING: Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong & Laura Robson (2nd Rd.)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Misaki Doi/JPN (3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Sabine Lisicki/GER (SF)
IT WOMAN: (WC) Sabine Lisicki/GER
MS. OPPORTUNITY: #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE
COMEBACK PLAYER: #5 Maria Sharapova/RUS
CRASH & BURN: #15 Jelena Jankovic/SRB (1st Rd. loss to Martinez-Sanchez/ESP, worst slam result since '05 RG)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: #9 Marion Bartoli/FRA - down 3 MP vs. Dominguez-Lino in 2nd Rd., won 9-7 3rd set vs. Pennetta in 3rd Rd., saved 3 MP vs. Lisicki to force 3rd set in QF
DOUBLES STAR:
=Nominees=
Cara Black, ZIM
Erakovic/Tanasguarn, NZL/THA
Mirza/Vesnina, IND/RUS
Sania Mirza, IND
Samantha Stosur, AUS
Elena Vesnina, RUS
JUNIOR BREAKOUT:
=Nominees=
Ashleigh Barty, AUS
Eugenie Bouchard, CAN
Irina Khromacheva, RUS
Indy de Vroome, NED
Victoria Duval, USA
Montserrat Gonzalez, PAR




All for Day 10. More tommorow.

Read more...

W.9- Wimbledon (almost) Postscript: The Curious Case of Caroline Wozniacki & other Intriguing Questions

On the eve of the women's semifinals, Day 9 is one to ponder what's turned out to be a pretty eventful Wimbledon, as much for the questions it's raised as for the action that's taken place.

Once upon a time, I'd begin every season by examining a list of "Intriguing Questions" for the upcoming season. That practice has somewhat gone by the wayside, so I thought I'd (sort of) bring it back -- maybe as a regular quick-hit slam feature -- for moments such as this. Usually, some of these types of things would be talked about AFTER the tournament. But, I figured, why wait?

Is the "Williams era" over?
Certainly not, silly. It's just in the final few chapters, and will soon peacefully (well, most of the time) co-existing with the future rulers of the kingdom wishing to finally exile the Sisters on Elba... or at least in Miami. Serena will be back to add to her slam legacy, at the very least. She'll win at least one slam over the next year. As for Venus... umm, I'm up in the air. I think she can still contend for a deep run at Wimbledon for a couple more seasons, but I don't expect to be predicting a title for her again at the outset of play at the All-England Club. At some point, time and the ability to play consistently for seven straight matches catches up with a player. I have no notion that that's the case with Serena, but I'm at least finally open to the suggestion when it comes to Venus. I do hope she can make one final title run, though. If not in the slam, then on the grass for another Olympic Gold next summer in London.

Have we almost seen the last of Kim Clijsters?
The sand is almost out of the hour glass. A year from now, she'll either already be retired for good or will be waiting to play her final event at the Olympics. A string of injuries was the one thing that was going to threaten her reconsideration of her career (and the possibility that all her slam success might lead to her stick around longer than she'd planned in KC II), and that's precisely what's happened. I'd think this year's U.S. Open will be her last. No matter when she hangs up her racket again, be it as early as tomorrow or as late as eighteen months from now, I don't think anyone will show an ounce of surprise when she walks away. She returned. She conquered. Three times, in fact. I'm not sure she really feels the need to accomplish anything else on the court.

Has the tide finally turned and the next generation will now "take over" women's tennis?
Now hold yo' horses there, pardner. What's happened at this Wimbledon has been great, as all the critics who have enjoyed spitting on the current group of early twentysomething as the "worst" generation of players in tennis history is getting a bit of spit in the eye BACK as not one, or two, but THREE 21-year olds have taken the proverbial reigns of their careers and created a big moment for themselves at a slam. Especially considering the injury histories of Victoria Azarenka and Sabine Lisicki, though, one can't expect this same group of three to do this at every slam. Hopefully, they'll continue to contend, and their accomplishments will inspire -- and shame? -- the others of their generation to pick up their preparation and fitness in order to keep up and match or better their success.

I will say now, though, that Petra Kvitova will win at least one Wimbledon title and be ranked #1. So far, with every season, she seems to be improving her ability to handle big moments well (she in no way resembles the same player who looked like she was going to cry while blowing a match against Melanie Oudin in Fed Cup play a couple of seasons ago). And as she gets into even better shape, ala Lindsay Davenport in the latter half of her career, any liability that her on-court movement might present will become less and less an issue. That lefty serve is such a rare weapon, and barring injury she's going to win a lot of titles -- and more than one slam -- on the back of it. And unlike a certain player-who'll-be-named-in-a-moment, Kvitova doesn't sit back and wait for her opponent to make a mistake. As she said the other day on ESPN2, she likes to "go for the winners." It's a dangerous style but, Tennis Gods bless her, I'd never criticize a player too heavily for playing to win rather than just survive. Sure, she sometimes needs to play a bit smarter and take a little off her shots, but that's a learnable skill -- and something which she's taken to doing more and more as the season has gone on.

I kneel on the throne of God Goolagongis that Lisicki's injury troubles are over, because she's really injected more life into the proceedings at this slam than any up-and-coming player in some time. Her four-straight-pounding-serves rescue against Li in the 2nd Round might be the highlight of the entire tournament. Her game is exciting, and her laugh/smile infectious. Living in the U.S., she's open and great in English-conducted interviews (Kvitova is more shy and a bit less comfortable with the language), and if she were to manage to win this title the story of her personal letter to the Club asking for a wild card after her long, injury-related time of woe will go down in Wimbledon lore... and at what other tournament does the word "lore" ever see the light of day? Azarenka lives in Arizona, and is also very good with the media. Her on-court intensity, while sometimes being a double-edged sword for her, is a slap directly in the face of critics who dismiss some women's players for not being driven enough to succeed. The only problem is that her on-court shrieking (moaning, really) is always going to get an outsider's attention before anything else (if she plays Sharapova in the final, many will try to make their "battle cries" the #1 story of the day). That's still the case with many "insiders," who I've always felt should really try harder to not simply follow the crowd by parroting back the "easy" story. That said, Monica Seles was famous for the same sort of thing when she first came up, and just the topic put the sport on the table for discussion in various circles. If the "distracting" player is also a winner, then it's a case of a rising tide lifting all boats. If you win, Vika, pull a Wozniacki and "don't care" what anyone says about anything.

The dominant nature of Kvitova's game when she's in consistent form. Lisicki's likablity. Azarenka's (noisy) intensity. Oh, and Sharapova's potentially overwhelming star power and, now, successful comeback story. Like I said, considering the storms of criticism that have hovered over the tour for a while now, I think this is my favorite slam semifinal group in quite some time. It's important that this happened now. We'll have to see over the next year just how important, though.

Will the rise of players from her generation close Caroline Wozniacki's window of opportunity to win a slam?
This subject came up the other day in the comments section of a post, and though I didn't bring it up in a Daily Backspin before, I do admit to wondering the other day when Wozniacki dive-bombed out of the 3rd set against Dominika Cibulkova just how long I was going to give the Dane before I threw up my hands and said "no more -- I'm not even going to waste time discussing the possibility of her winning a slam any longer." I've reached that point with Samantha Stosur, for sure, but not with Wozniacki.

Just hitting on a few points that I mentioned in the comments, I'm once again say that I'll stick with the timetable I set at the start of the season when I said I thought her best chance at a slam would come in 2012 rather than 2011. But that thought was based on a "static" WTA where younger players of her generation hadn't begun to make their moves and, more importantly, Wozniacki herself had continued to make the progress she showed late last summer. After her loss, I mentioned that she should look at video of how she played last summer in North America, just as a starting point. Back then, her game wasn't a finished product, but at least she seemed to be making an effort to be more aggressive and develop some sort of hybrid offensive/defensive style. We haven't seen THAT Wozniacki in 2011, and I still wonder just how much her offseason preparation (or lack of it) really set her back from the get-go this year. She had a busy offseason as the new world #1, then started slowly, and it's like she's been trying to furiously catch up ever since. Throw in her overscheduling (Bastad... really?) and she never has a chance to take a breath and regroup. I don't think it's a coincidence that the best shape her game's every been in, as far as coming close to resembling that of a contender to win a slam, came in the months after she had a bit more time off to practice (because of her injury during the clay court season and a few resulting early-round losses) and hit the ground running with a slightly revved-up game in North America last summer. She was playing so well (though probably too much, as usual, leading into the slam) that I actually picked her to win the Open.

Wozniacki needn't WIN a slam soon to not be deemed "irrelevant" at slam time, even as she holds the #1 ranking, but she does need to show progress toward either adding some punch to her shots and/or changing the mindset that so often allows her to pull back and passively wait for errors in big stage matches against aggressive players. If Wozniacki were losing those sorts of matches because she was actively trying to work a different style into her game, experiencing the expected growing pains of such a tactic, it'd be fine. The problem is that when she's losing it's often because she's not doing that at all. By giving up even the notion of attempting to dictate, she lets her opponents control the outcome of the handful of big points that determine a match. That sort of thing might work in Copenhagen against a lesser field, and even on occasion against an aggressive-but-inconsistent player in a big event, but in the full field of a slam she's going to eventually get slapped down by a player who DOESN'T miss since she always gets beaten to the punch. Kvitova says she likes to "go for the winners," but Wozniacki tends to "wait for/try to force the errors." Barring some extraordinary circumstances, that's not going to win a slam. She needs to be more fearless, and the confidence to be that way in crunch time -- like in the 3rd set vs. Cibulkova, or on match point against Li in Melbourne -- will only come through repetition. First on the practice courts, and then in matches. All matches. As she gets more defensive in her answers to questions regarding the situation (especially the whole "I don't care what people think or say or do" one from the other day) I wonder if the one thing that gave me confidence that she'd figure it out in the long run -- her intelligence -- might get muddled and lost in the mess, replaced by stubborness in the face of time slipping away. I'll still hold onto the fact that she CAN change enough to win a slam, but if she doesn't do it (or at least come close, breeding encouragement that can extend her window longer) within the next five slams I really doubt if she ever will.

As it is, the task is only getting more difficult. Over the next year's worth of slams, she now has to contend with three hard-hitting and aggressive 21-year olds made more confident by reaching a slam semifinal, AND probably a few other young players who'll join the fray after being inspired by what THEY did (even if those three can't immediately repeat their feat), AS WELL AS a reinvigorated 24-year old Sharapova, a looking-to-reclaim-her-honor Serena, maybe Kim Clijsters on hard courts for a few final go-arounds, and late-blossoming players like Marion Bartoli, who might not be a bad bet to make a push for a first slam title in the very near future. That's an awful lot of weeds to hack through, especially if you're using the dull blade that Wozniacki usually sports.

Who am I going to put the inadvertent hex on by picking them to reach the Wimbledon final tomorrow?
Umm, Sharapova and Kvitova. And not just because they're the final surviving members of The Five that I listed at the start of the tournament as the only players who could win the tournament. But I do sort of still hold to the Rule of the Five since I don't think either Lisicki or Azarenka will come through and win in the final unless they BOTH pull upsets tomorrow and face each other on Saturday. Both the Russian and the Czech had dominant wins over their semifinal opponents earlier this season, and I think the same could happen again this time.

Of course, Sharapova and Kvitova could both prove to be their own worst enemies on a bad day, but they've managed to avoid it so far this fortnight. Sharapova's serve has been solid, and as long as the wind doesn't kick up I'll go with her to win by by 7-5/6-3 type of scoreline; while I think as long as Kvitova's built-for-the-grass game doesn't go on an extended walkabout that virtually gives away a set to Azarenka, she can get through by something like 6-4/6-4 or thereabouts.

While we're at it, how about the U.S. Open Final four?
Hmmm, off the top of my head, I'll say Serena and Sharapova, with confidence. Annnnd... I guess Clijsters (assuming full health.. if not, maybe Bartoli?) and one of the three 21-year old semifinalists from Wimbledon. A nice mix of old and new.


There. Now I've got all that out of my system.



=DAY 9 NOTES=
...of course, the biggest news of Day 9 was the stunning collapse of Roger Federer after taking a two sets to none lead over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. So, after reaching seven straight Wimbledon finals, one year after losing to Tomas Berdych in four sets in the quarters, he's out in the same round again. It's the first time Federer has even lost a match in a slam after leading by two sets. Of note, after his Wimbledon defeat last year, Federer won 29 of his last 33 matches and ended the season by defeating Rafael Nadal in the ATP World Finals championship.

On ESPN2, Patrick McEnroe made a passing comment about how Federer played too passively as Tsonga was making his comeback, allowing the Frenchman to seize control of the points. I thought, hmmm, that sounds kind of familiar... were Roger and Caroline dining at the same restaurant in London this week?

By the way, kudos to a brilliant little piece on ESPN2 today by Tom Rinaldi about the one and only Pete Sampras/Roger Federer career meeting, which took place in the Wimbledon Round of 16 ten years ago and ultimately served, in Rinaldi's words, less as a match than "as a crease in time." Rinaldi is a unique case in his work for ESPN2. He's got such a great voice for voiceover work in the short pieces -- which look amazing, too -- he does for the network, but when he's standing on air with a microphone that same great instrument is amazingly distracting because the tone of his voice doesn't lend well to on-air discussions with other members of the ESPN2 crew or even to wrapping up the very segments he narrates so well. But, seriously, he squishes NBC's Jimmy "Are you missing Bud Collins again?" Roberts like a roach in the setting-things-in-historical-perspective business.

...uh-oh, there was a Pippa Middleton sighting in the Royal Box today. At least she wasn't wearing that hat she wore at the William/Kate wedding, though.

...meanwhile, Bernard Tomic put up quite a fight against Novak Djokovic, losing in four sets but threatening to press things to a 5th. The six-foot-four 18-year old Aussie -- the fifth-youngest player to reach the men's QF, and the youngest since Boris Becker in '86 -- has room to get far stronger and better. Maybe Australia FINALLY has another big-time men's champion waiting in the wings. Now, if only TA could find -- or rent -- a young female who could fit the bill for the women's tour.

Rafael Nadal (19 consecutive SW19 wins) and Andy Murray both won to set up a hugely anticipated semifinal on Friday. Oddly enough, Nadal could defend his Wimbledon title and STILL lose the #1 ranking to Djokovic if the Serb knocks off Tsonga to reach the final.

So, as it turns out, while the women have NO Top 4 players -- but they do have Top 4 SEED -- in the semis, the men didn't quite get ALL four of the ATP's top ranked men into a slam Final Four for the second straight major, either.

...in Doubles, Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina, the RG runners-up, were the first team to reach the Women's semifinals. As Shuko Aoyama & Rika Fujiwara (who defeated them in the final round of qualifying) try not to cringe, lucky losers Marina Erakovic and Tamarine Tanasugarn became the second SF team by upending #3-seeded Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond. Elsewhere, almost giving the middle finger (while sporting a smile, though, I'm sure) to the Tennis Gods' Injury Division staff, Lisicki is still alive in doubles, as well. She and Sam Stosur are in the QF.

In juniors, my apologies once again to Alison van Uytvanck for picking her to win the Girls title. The only time she ever loses junior matches seems to be when I pick her to win. She lost in three sets to American Krista Hardebeck in a big 2nd Round match-up on Day 9. "Carl's" pick, Madison Keys, is still kicking around in the draw, though.

...and, finally, with Lisicki commenting the other day about how she's felt so much better (and been healthier) as her results steadily improved since she began to follow the same gluten-free diet that Djokovic credits for getting him into the condition to make his now 48-1 run possible, one has to wonder just how long it'll take before SOMEONE tries to make some money off this situation by putting together a quick diet book that'll shoot up the bestseller lists.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES SEMIFINALS*
#5 Maria Sharapova/RUS vs. (WC) Sabine Lisicki/GER
Victoria Azarenka/BLR vs. #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE

*MEN'S SINGLES SEMIFINALS*
#1 Rafael Nadal/ESP vs. #4 Andy Murray/GBR
#12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/FRA vs. #2 Novak Djokovic/SRB

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS*
Lisicki/Stosur (GER/AUS) vs. #6 Petrova/Rodionova (RUS/AUS)
(LL) Erakovic/Tanasugarn (NZL/THA) def. #3 Huber/Raymond (USA/USA)
#4 Mirza/Vesnina (IND/RUS) def. Llagostera-Vives/Parra-Santonja (ESP/ESP)
#8 Peng/Zheng (CHN/CHN) vs. #2 Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO)

*MEN'S DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS*
#1 Bryan/Bryan (USA/USA) vs. #5 Melzer/Petzschner (AUT/GER)
Cerretani/Marx (USA/GER) vs. #6 Llodra/Zimonjic (FRA/SRB)
#8 Lindstedt/Tecau (SWE/ROU) def. Clement/Dlouhy (FRA/CZE)
Kas/Peya (GER/AUT) def. (WC) Fleming/Hutchins (GBR/GBR)

*BOYS SINGLES QUARTERFINALS*
#15 Liam Broady/GBR vs. (Q) Robert Kern/GER
(WC) Jason Kubler/AUS vs. Julien Cagnina/BEL
#8 Mate Pavic/CRO vs. Kaichi Uchida/JPN
Joris de Loore/BEL vs. #16 Luke Saville/AUS




*WOMEN'S OVERALL WON/LOST - BY NATION*
[through QF]
20-15...Russia (Sharapova)
14-10...Czech Republic (Kvitova)
9-5...Germany (Lisicki)
7-7 = FRA, ITA
7-12 = USA
6-2...Belarus (Azarenka)
6-3 = SVK
5-4 = CHN
4-1 = BUL
4-3 = AUT
3-1 = DEN
3-2 = BEL
3-3 = JPN
3-5 = ESP
3-6 = ROU
3-7 = GBR
2-1 = HUN
2-3 = CAN, SRB, UKR
2-4 = AUS
1-1 = GEO, GRE, NZL, POL, SLO, THA
1-2 = CRO
0-1 = EST, IND, ISR, KAZ, LAT, RSA, TPE, UZB
0-2 = SWE




TOP QUALIFIER: Alexa Glatch/USA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #5 Maria Sharapova/RUS
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Alexa Glatch/USA def. Galina Voskoboeva/KAZ 3-6/7-6/12-10
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #23 Venus Williams/USA def. Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN 6-7/6-3/8-6 (2:55)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3rd Rd. - #9 Marion Bartoli/FRA def. #21 Flavia Pennetta/ITA 5-7/6-4/9-7 (3:09)
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): xx
TOP UNDER-THE-ROOF MATCH: Nominee: 2nd Rd. - V.Williams d. K.Date-Krumm 6-7/6-3/8-6 (2:55)
=============================
FIRST WIN: Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN (def. O'Brien/GBR)
FIRST SEED OUT: #22 Shahar Peer (1st Rd. - lost to Pervak/RUS)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Australia (1-3 in 1st Rd., losses by Stosur & Dokic)
UPSET QUEENS: Russia
REVELATION LADIES: Great Britain
LAST BRITS STANDING: Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong & Laura Robson (2nd Rd.)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Misaki Doi/JPN (3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Sabine Lisicki/GER (in SF)
IT GIRL:
=Nominees=
Tamira Paszek, AUT
A junior
MS. OPPORTUNITY:
=Nominees=
Victoria Azarenka, BLR
Petra Kvitova, CZE
Sabine Lisicki, GER
COMEBACK PLAYER:
=Nominees=
Sabine Lisicki, GER (s/d)
Nadia Petrova, RUS (s/d)
Maria Sharapova, RUS
Samantha Stosur, AUS (doubles)
A doubles player
CRASH & BURN: #15 Jelena Jankovic/SRB (1st Rd. loss to Martinez-Sanchez/ESP, worst slam result since '05 RG)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: #9 Marion Bartoli/FRA - down 3 MP vs. Dominguez-Lino in 2nd Rd., won 9-7 3rd set vs. Pennetta in 3rd Rd., saved 3 MP vs. Lisicki to force 3rd set in QF
DOUBLES STAR:
=Nominees=
Erakovic/Tanasguarn, NZL/THA
Liezel Huber, USA
Sania Mirza, IND
Nadia Petrova, RUS
Lisa Raymond, USA
Katarina Srebotnik, SLO
Elena Vesnina, RUS
JUNIOR BREAKOUT:
=Nominees=
x
x




All for Day 9. More tommorow.

Read more...

W.8- To Infinity and Beyond?

It's great for the ATP that the world's Top 4 players might be about to reach the semifinals of a second straight slam, but the Wimbledon women's semifinals -- even without a Top 4 player or a Williams Sister -- has already turned out just as good. Ultimately, it may even be seen as great.

Maria Sharapova. Victoria Azarenka. Petra Kvitova. Sabine Lisicki.

It's a final four that one could feel confident about were the group to form of "the heart" of the WTA over the next four or five years. Sprinkle in a few occasional veterans, an odd Sister or two, some unnamed teens and maybe even the current world #1 (for a little variety), and for the first time in a very long time one can look at a slam's Final Four and read a bright FUTURE for the tour in between the names of the women left in the draw. After a succession of slams (over?)populated in the late stages by nearly-thirty year old veterans, finally members of the "next frontier" -- as well as a 24-year old in the "older woman" role -- have seen fit to show their heads. That recent run of late-career blossomers has been fun, but make no mistake about it that much of the worry about what was going to come "after" was legitimate. For any sport to thrive it needs to have its talent pool replenished by winning personalities and/or great athletes (with luck, more than a few will embody both sides of that particular coin) on a regular basis, and to fulfill their roles, for the good of the future of that sport, they need to be able to thrive in the most important moments of the season. While the collection of revolving #1-ranked players has been entertaining, that none has been able to be a consistent slam threat/winner has ultimately managed to create the picture of a WTA -- whether the notion be bankrupt, ill-informed, both or neither -- populated by a awful lot of players not "worthy" of the attention one should expect them to demand because what the do when everyone is watching.

At this slam, at least on the surface of things, that has changed. With Sharapova the only semifinalist with a slam title or even a slam final appearance, at least one of the other 21-year old women will be attempting to break new ground in her career on Saturday. Maybe even two will get the opportunity. Most impressively, after world #1 Caroline Wozniacki once again left a slam followed by criticism that her game style and mindset isn't aggressive enough to compete for a slam title, all four women used their quarterfinal matches as auditions to show that they won't be accused of the same malfeasance.

Lisicki was up first against Marion Bartoli in a match that pitted two doctor's daughters who'd stared down match points earlier in the tournament in order to reach the Final Eight. As expected, she used her serve as her biggest weapon. But Lisicki's employing of a series of well-timed drop shots, along with a few lobs, kept the Frenchwoman off balance and exempted the German from facing the full wrath of the player who so outplayed Serena Williams yesterday. With Bartoli's edge noticably (finally) worn just a bit following her series of do-or-die heroics at this Wimbledon, Lisicki led 6-4/5-4 before her opponent found her way into the match enough to make things sticky. Not yet ready to quit, Bartoli saved three match points and forced a 2nd set tie-break, which she won 7-4 after the server managed to hold just once in 11 points. After being "over the moon" after her previous SW19 defeat of #3-seed Li Na, one had to wonder if the German might now go "under the bridge." At Roland Garros, she'd led Vera Zvonareva by the same 6-4/5-4 score and ended up losing after holding match point, ultimately being carried off the court on a stretcher (adding RG to the list of slams she'd needed assistance leaving, after being wheeled away after injuring her ankle at the '09 U.S. Open) after cramping up and collapsing, blowing another 5-2 lead in the final set. This time, it didn't happen. Yes, Bartoli sort of let Lisicki "off the hook," since she was obviously exhausted and was ready to physically hit the wall... well, she would have had she not needed it to lean on. Bartoli was huffing and puffing, shaking out her sore leg, taking a rest on a linesperson's chair between games and, generally, looking like she might hit the deck at any moment. She pulled through, but so did Lisicki, winning 6-4/6-7/6-1 and garnering her own little page in Wimbledon lore with a semifinal run that began when she personally wrote the All-England Club requesting a wild card entry into the draw after having missed the tournament last year while recuperating from injury and seeing her ranking fall outside the Top 200. Since her Paris disppointment, Lisicki has gone 11-0 on the grass courts. Assuming she can continue to stay on the court, the hard-hitting German with the brilliant smile will long be remembered as having first become a star at this tournament.

Later, Sharapova reached her first Wimbledon SF in five years without having to survive a nail-biter through her first five matches, always a necessary harbinger for any slam success she might attain. After bursting onto the scene at SW19 seven years ago, a seeming tennis "lifetime" later, she's now the oldest of the four semifinalists, but she's got more than a few slam contending years left. While Dominika Cibulkova took Wozniacki to the woodshed yesterday, the Slovak was never able to dent Sharapova's exterior today, losing 6-1/6-1. And the Russian did nothing to help her, either. And after struggling for two years to regain her serving confidence following shoulder surgery, THAT is a sure sign that Sharapova's past might finally be about to be actually put in the past.

Kvitova came into today having never been challenged in any set, and led Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3/2-1 before being broken for just the second time in the tournament. The moment ultimately led to Pironkova making something of a match of it by winning a 2nd set tie-break. But the Czech didn't allow her brief spell of errors to snowball and steal away her momentum as she did in Paris against Li (when she blew a 3-0 3rd set lead). Taking charge from the outset, she ran away with the final set, sealing the deal with ace #9 for a 6-3/6-7/6-2 victory that somehow looked closer on the scoreboard than it did in the stats, as Kvitova led 54-10 in winners (while also being fairly close, 24-18, in errors) and 76%-56% in 1st Serve Winning Percentage. Even if Kvitova doesn't win THIS Wimbledon title, she WILL someday. Her strengths -- a big lefty serve, flat groundstrokes and a willingness to be aggressive (she was 24-of-31 in net approaches today, though she could work that particular skill into her game even more, ala her idol Martina Navratilova) -- seem to play too well to the particulars of the grass to prevent her ascension for long.

In the end, though, Azarenka was the MOST dominant of the four, outhitting and outclassing Tamira Paszek, winning 6-3/6-1 while not allowing Day 8's rain delays and the mid-match re-location of the match to hinder her concentration. Few players act as if they want success more than the Belarusian does when she's on the court, and now she'll get her chance to get a bigger chunk of it for herself.

Take your pick. Whoever ends up winning this title, it will be a big deal. Either a new face with "the goods" is about to become a rare first-time slam champion at Wimbledon, or one of the women who previously won HER first slam title on the grass is going to signal to the rest of the tour that she's back in Supernovic form. Whatever the outcome, it'll count as a powerful shot across the collective bow of the rest of the field, and one that will have to be answered by any player who wishes to be part of the ongoing story in women's tennis for the next few years. While it might be "bad" news for some players whose slam windows could close over the next year or two, it will ultimately be good for women's tennis. Heck, even the player who will be most adversely effected by this result, the still slam-less world #1, if she takes this result as the challenge and "call to arms" that it SHOULD be, could ultimately look at being "beaten to the slam punch" by a member her own tennis generation as the best thing that ever happened to her career if she decides to do what needs to be done to compete against the sort of players that fill this Wimbledon Final Four.

That thunder clap that nearly scared Lisicki out of her shoes when it cracked through the air outside Centre Court and resounded throughout the fabled arena might not have been a simple act of nature at all. It might have been the Tennis Gods celebrating. Yep, so many good things could be coming down the line because of what's happened in London at this Wimbledon. It has to start somewhere, and this seems as good a place as any.

To infinity and beyond.



=DAY 8 NOTES=
...Sharapova has reached two straight slam semifinals. In 2011, besides the Russian, the only other woman who has reached the Final Four in two of the season's three slams is Li Na, the runner-up in Melbourne and champion in Paris. Her SF results gives the Hordettes at least one woman in twenty-seven of the last thirty slam semifinals

Lisicki became the first player not named Andy Murray, and the first woman, to twice play under the Centre Court roof. Both of Lisicki's matches, as is the case with all three of Murray's, have been played in their entirely indoors. Later, after having her Court 1 match moved to Centre Court after one game, Azarenka became the third player to play parts of multiple matches under the roof. She's now won two matches partially played inside.


=MIDDLE-ROUND AWARDS - 2r/3r to QF (Days 5-8)=
TOP PLAYER: Maria Sharapova/RUS
...in a month's time, Sharapova has gone from being the youngest of the Four Four in Paris to the oldest in London. With experience on her side, she's two matches away from getting into position to possibly, by the end of the summer, reclaim the (mythic and otherwise) "top" spot in the game she inherited when Henin retired back in '08... only to see her shoulder problems take her down rather than still higher.
RISER: Petra Kvitova/CZE
...aside from a brief slip in the "cleanliness" of her game for less than half a set against Pironkova, she's been virtually untouchable this fortnight. (ALSO: Victoria Azarenka/BLR... finally a slam semifinalist, now what comes next?)
SURPRISE: Tsvetana Pironkova/BUL
...well, I guess we won't hear from her again until next June. (ALSO: Dominika Cibulkova/SVK)
VETERAN: Marion Bartoli/FRA
...the youngters stood up at SW19, but so did the 26-year old Bartoli. Who says she can't be the next late-twenties player to grab a first career slam by this time next year? (ALSO: Nadia Petrova/RUS)
FRESH FACE Tamira Paszek/AUT
...four years after a Wimbledon QF run as a 16-year old, the Austrian was back for more. (ALSO: Ksenia Pervak/RUS)
COMEBACK: Sabine Lisicki/GER
...her performance at this Wimbledon sort of makes you EVEN MORE upset now about all the injuries and illness the German has had to endure the last two years. (ALSO: Melinda Czink/HUN)
DOWN: Caroline Wozniacki/DEN, Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova & Daria Gavrilova
...all #1 seeds. All out before the quarterfinals.

"Definitely not our best day.'" - Venus Williams, after she and sister Serena both lost in the 4th Round on "unlucky" Day 7, a single day first for them at Wimbledon

*BEST IMPRESSION OF A SCHIAVONE*
2nd Round - Bartoli d. Dominguez-Lino 4-6/7-5/6-2
...Bartoli saves three match points
*BEST IMPRESSION OF A SCHIAVONE, PT.2*
3rd Round - Bartoli d. Pennetta 5-7/6-4/9-7
...in 3:09, Bartoli survives Pennetta, and ejects her parents from the stands.
*BEST IMPRESSION OF A SCHIAVONE... vs. a SCHIAVONE*
3rd Round - Paszek d. Schiavone 3-6/6-4/11-9
...in 3:41, just four minutes off the standing women's Wimbledon match record, Paszek wins despite seeing the Italian vet serve at 8-7 and 9-8 in the 3rd.

*RELIVING PAST HORRORS*
3rd Round - Pironkova d. Zvonareva 6-2/6-3
4th Round - Pironkova d. V.Williams 6-2/6-3
...the Bulgarian got a measure of revenge for her loss to Zvonareva in last year's SF, then literally repeated her QF win -- scoreline and all -- over Venus from '10. Actually, oddly enough, both these matches ended up with the same score.
4th Round - Cibulkova d. Wozniacki 1-6/7-6/7-5
...after looking for three and a half matches as if she might have learned from her past slam failures and decided to turn her in-game aggression up a notch, it all collapsed around Wozniacki's ankles (again) in the 3rd set against Cibulkova. The Dane's second 2011 loss to the diminutive world #24 Slovak gives her six defeats this season against players ranked between #23-31. Only two of her nine losses on the year have come against Top 10 players (with another vs. a #11).

"I don’t care what people think or say or do." - Caroline Wozniacki, after her Round of 16 loss, sounding slightly childish, at worst, and, at best, definitely defensive and overly weary

ZOMBIE QUEEN: For her cumulative efforts at the All-England Club, Marion Bartoli is the QC for this Wimbledon. From her comeback from three match points down in the 2nd Round against Lourdes Dominguez-Lino, to her 11-9 survival against Flavia Pennetta one round later, and even including her saving of three match points against Sabine Lisicki in the QF to at least force a 3rd set. So what if she was exhausted once she got there... how could she NOT have been?
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Misaki Doi (3rd Round)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Sabine Lisicki, still alive and kicking in the semis, she's the fifth wild card to reach a slam Final Four, and the first German woman to get as far in a slam since Steffi Graf in 1999

"I can only get better. And that can potentially be really scary because I can only go up from here, and I can just do so much more." - Serena Williams

...and, finally, Serena Williams' ranking will fall to #174 after this Wimbledon. With her schedule never likely to be Wozniacki-like (the Dane's not REALLY going to play in Sweden next week, IS she?), she's not likely to garner enough ranking points on the North American hard court circuit to raise her ranking high enough to be seeded at the U.S. Open. And since the USTA can't bump up the seedings like the All-England, that means that she could end up being the Mother of All Floaters in the Flushing Meadows draw at the end of the summer. Considering how things have been going for the Dane in the slams, who wants to bet that SHE ends up drawing Serena in the first two or three rounds?



*WOMEN'S SINGLES SEMIFINALS*
#5 Maria Sharapova/RUS vs. (WC) Sabine Lisicki/GER
Victoria Azarenka/BLR vs. #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE

*MEN'S SINGLES QUARTERFINALS*
#1 Rafael Nadal/ESP vs. #10 Mardy Fish/USA
#4 Andy Murray/GBR vs. Feliciano Lopez/ESP
#12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/FRA vs. #3 Roger Federer/SUI
(Q) Bernard Tomic/AUS vs. #2 Novak Djokovic/SRB

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS*
xx vs. xx
#3 Huber/Raymond (USA/USA) vs. (LL) Erakovic/Tanasugarn (NZL/THA)
Llagostera-Vives/Parra-Santonja (ESP/ESP) vs. #4 Mirza/Vesnina (IND/RUS)
xx vs. #2 Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO)

*MEN'S DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS*
xx vs. xx
Cerretani/Marx (USA/GER) vs. xx
#8 Lindstedt/Tecau (SWE/ROU) vs. Clement/Dlouhy (FRA/CZE)
(WC) Fleming/Hutchins (GBR/GBR) vs. Kas/Peya (GER/AUT)




*WIMBLEDON "ZOMBIE QUEEN" WINNERS*
2007 Venus Williams, USA
2008 Nicole Vaidisova, CZE
2009 Dinara Safina, RUS
2010 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2011 Marion Bartoli, FRA

*SEMIFINALISTS*
[2011 WTA SF]
9...Caroline Wozniacki (7-2)
6...Marion Bartoli (3-3)
5...PETRA KVITOVA (4-0)
5...MARIA SHARAPOVA (3-1)
5...Li Na (3-2)
5...Vera Zvonareva (1-4)
5...Peng Shuai (1-4)
4...VICTORIA AZARENKA (3-0)
4...Daniela Hantuchova (2-2)
4...Jelena Jankovic (1-3)
--
NOTE: 2- Lisicki (1-0)
[career slam SF - since 2006]
8...Justine Henin (7-1) -retired
8...Serena Williams (7-1)
8...MARIA SHARAPOVA (3-4)
7...Kim Clijsters (3-4)
6...Jelena Jankovic (1-5)
[2011 slam SF]
3...Russia
2...China
1...BEL, BLR, CZE, DEN, FRA, GER, ITA
[2010-11 slam SF]
6...Russia
4...China
3...Belgium, United States
2...Denmark, Czech Republic, Italy
1...AUS, BLR, BUL, FRA, GER, SRB
[Russians in Wimbledon SF]
1974 Olga Morozova (RU)
1997 Anna Kournikova
2004 Maria Sharapova (W)
2005 Maria Sharapova
2006 Maria Sharapova
2008 Elena Dementieva
2009 Elena Dementieva & Dinara Safina
2010 Vera Zvonareva (RU)
2011 Maria Sharapova

*WIMBLEDON - FIRST-TIME SLAM WINNERS*
[Open era]
1968 Billie Jean King, USA
1978 Martina Navratilova, TCH (CZE)
1994 Conchita Martinez, ESP
1998 Jana Novotna, CZE
2000 Venus Williams, USA
2004 Maria Sharapova, RUS
--
2011 slam-less semifinalists: Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Sabine Lisicki

*LONG 2011 WTA/FC WINNING STREAKS*
12...Kim Clijsters (January-February)
12...Victoria Azarenka (March-April)
11...Li Na (January)
11...Petra Kvitova (May) *
11...SABINE LISICKI (June-current)
10...Julia Goerges (April-May)
10...Maria Sharapova (May-June)
--
* - Kvitova lost match in $100K challenger during stretch

*RECENT SLAM "TOP MIDDLE-RD. PLAYER" WINNERS*
=2010=
AO: Serena Williams, USA (champion)
RG: Samantha Stosur, AUS (runner-up)
WI: Serena Williams, USA (champion)
US: Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (lost in SF)
=2011=
AO: Li Na, CHN (runner-up)
RG: Li Na, CHN (champion)
WI: Maria Sharapova, RUS (????)

*MOST CENTRE COURT MATCHES UNDER ROOF*
[full matches]
3-0 = Andy Murray
2-0 = Sabine Lisicki
[partial matches]
2-0 = Victoria Azarenka




TOP QUALIFIER: Alexa Glatch/USA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): #5 Maria Sharapova/RUS
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Alexa Glatch/USA def. Galina Voskoboeva/KAZ 3-6/7-6/12-10
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #23 Venus Williams/USA def. Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN 6-7/6-3/8-6 (2:55)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): 3rd Rd. - #9 Marion Bartoli/FRA def. #21 Flavia Pennetta/ITA 5-7/6-4/9-7 (3:09)
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): xx
TOP UNDER-THE-ROOF MATCH: Nominee: 2nd Rd. - V.Williams d. K.Date-Krumm 6-7/6-3/8-6 (2:55)
=============================
FIRST WIN: Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN (def. O'Brien/GBR)
FIRST SEED OUT: #22 Shahar Peer (1st Rd. - lost to Pervak/RUS)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Australia (1-3 in 1st Rd., losses by Stosur & Dokic)
UPSET QUEENS: Russia
REVELATION LADIES: Great Britain
LAST BRITS STANDING: Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong & Laura Robson (2nd Rd.)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Misaki Doi/JPN (3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Sabine Lisicki/GER (in SF)
IT GIRL:
=Nominees=
Tamira Paszek, AUT
A junior
MS. OPPORTUNITY:
=Nominees=
Victoria Azarenka, BLR
Petra Kvitova, CZE
Sabine Lisicki, GER
COMEBACK PLAYER:
=Nominees=
Huber/Raymond, USA
Sabine Lisicki, GER
Nadia Petrova, RUS
Maria Sharapova, RUS
A doubles player
CRASH & BURN: #15 Jelena Jankovic/SRB (1st Rd. loss to Martinez-Sanchez/ESP, worst slam result since '05 RG)
ZOMBIE QUEEN: #9 Marion Bartoli/FRA - down 3 MP vs. Dominguez-Lino in 2nd Rd., won 9-7 3rd set vs. Pennetta in 3rd Rd., saved 3 MP vs. Lisicki to force 3rd set in QF
DOUBLES STAR:
=Nominees=
x
x
JUNIOR BREAKOUT:
=Nominees=
x
x




All for Day 8. More tommorow.

Read more...

W.7- The Bigger They Are...

Did you hear it? Bam. Bam. Bam. No, it wasn't the sound of a series of concussive Sabine Lisicki serves. It was the dashing of big-time Wimbledon hopes, one right after the other. First it was those of two-time defending champ Serena Williams that went down with a thud. Then it was world #1 Caroline Wozniacki's. And, finally, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams' hopes bit the dust, as well.

Of the three, Wozniacki's loss is the most unconscionable. After breezing through the first three rounds, showing a willingness to move forward and put away points at the net, the Dane easily won today's opening Round of 16 set against Dominika Cibulkova by a 6-1 score. She lost the 2nd in a tie-break. But after taking an early break lead in the 3rd, the world #1 gradually went away, watching as a more aggressive Cibulkova took advantage of her bigger forehand while the Dane stood back and let it happen, losing earlier that she probably should have at this Wimbledon by a 1-6/7-6/7-5 score to the same diminutive Slovak she defeated in straight sets at last year's U.S. Open.

No matter what sort of tactics Wozniacki employed earlier in this tournament, she didn't follow through with the gameplan when it mattered in a slam "money" match. And with the reality that quite a few of the younger stars of her generation -- Azarenka, Kvitova and Lisicki among them -- ARE succeeding at this slam, this is precisely the wrong time for her slam results to continue their worsening trend over the seven-slam time frame since she reached the '09 final at Flushing Meadows. At the very least, she needs to look at the video footage of how she played leading up to last year's U.S. Open, when she employed a hybrid offensive/defensive style on North American hard courts and looked like she might be ready to win a slam in New York last September. It didn't happen, and this latest loss is only yet another step back for the world #1. With other players stepping up their games at future slams, things aren't going to get any easier for her. In fact, it'll only continue to get more and more difficult, if not impossible, for her to make her way through a seven round slam draw if she doesn't make the changes in her game (well, her mindset, really... as it's her willingness to do it more so than an inability) that will allow her to give herself a decent chance to compete. Cibulkova is an overachieving player who gets far more power out of her small body than one has any right to expect, but a healthy world #1 with no legit ready excuses for Round of 16 losses should not get dumped in a slam by a player who has never won a tour singles title. At least not if she wants to stay #1 for much longer, and/or ever outrun her critics. As a slam contender, Wozniacki risks being swallowed up by those aforementioned young players, and still others just like them, over next year or two if she doesn't do something about it. If that happens, no matter how often the Dane talked about the loads of "time" she had a while back, no player is ever assured of EVER winning a slam. Not even a single one. Ever. If it doesn't happen over the next five slams, it might never happen at all. Tick-tock, Caroline.

At least the Sisters lost to players with a resume of Wimbledon success.

Serena's conqueror, Marion Bartoli, reached the '07 final and defeated Justine Henin en route, meaning the Pastry can now boast SW19 wins over the two best players of her generation. Not too shabby. Sort of like La Trufflette's game today. Coming in, it was easy to think that Bartoli might be at the end of her rope. After all, more than a month ago she said she needed a "miracle" to be healthy enough to even play at Roland Garros, then she went out and had her best-ever result there by reaching the semifinals. In winning the Eastbourne final, she seemed to injure herself yet again. Add to that, she's twice teetered on the edge of defeat at this Wimbledon, feeling nauseated and becoming ill-tempered while facing three match points in one match and enduring 9-7 3rd set in another, and becoming so angry in between winning those two contests that she ordered her parents to leave their courtside seats in mid-match. Even more eyebrow-raising, they followed her orders... then dutifully showed up once again to watch their daughter play ot Court 1 today.

As usual, going all the way back to the odd techniques her father has always employed in her training regimen, while such situations and tactics might prove unmanageable for many players, they work for Bartoli. Where others might crack, the Frenchwoman gets stronger.

She was certainly the better player against Serena today. Serving as consistently as Williams herself traditionally has, Bartoli pounded an ace to lock away the 1st set 6-3, and continually put pressure on Serena in the 2nd. At 2-2 and 3-3, she forced Williams to buck up and hold in games that began at 30/30. At 5-5, the Pastry was bouncing around inside the baseline to receive Serena's FIRST serve... and doing more than just getting away with it. Then Williams failed to put away a volley, sending a ball down the middle of the court, leading to a Bartoli lob that Serena couldn't get back on a high backhand overhead attempt that garnered a break that made the score 6-5. In the next game, Bartoli hit an ace to get to double match point. Serena saved them both, as well as a third, to get a break of serve to keep the match alive. It's at such a point that Williams is generally expected to bend the match back in her favor and walk away with a victory. But it didn't happen.

Instead, after Williams went up a mini-break in the tie-berak at 2-1, she came up short on a drop shot that prevented her from taking an important advantage. She was never able to reclaim the momentum. When Serena missed on a backhand passing attempt, Bartoli had her fourth match point at 6-5. Serena saved that one, too. But on match point #5, Bartoli slammed a service winner to advance by a 6-3/7-6 score.

While Bartoli outserved Serena, Tsvetana Pironkova did the same in pretty much every category against Venus, an upset loser to the Bulgarian in last year's QF (and the '06 Australian Open 1st Round). From the start, she appeared to be existing under a gloomy sky just after Serena's exit, and it never really changed as Pironkova beat her in nearly every battle. This was such a repeat of last year that it had the same score, a 6-2/6-3 Pironkova victory. But her win was even more comprehensive this time around. Venus was NEVER in it. The Bulgarian raced to the 1st set win, and held game point for 4-1 in the 2nd just as quickly. It wasn't until then that Venus even got her FIRST break point opportunity of the match. She converted it, but then threw in enough errors to be broken back immediately in the next game. In Game #7, Pironkova saved three break points, confidently holding on the back of a strong 1st serve and backhand. A year ago, Pironkova joyfully collapsed on her back in victory. This time, she lustily pumped her fist. She EXPECTED to win this time.

Speaking of expectation. The difference in it when it came to Wozniacki and the Sisters coming into this Wimbledon was quite stark. Hardly anyone gave the world #1 a chance to win, while the Sisters' ultimate result is looked at as "disappointing" even though Serena had played just one event since last Wimbledon, and Venus only two slams and Eastbourne over the same timespan. It says a lot about the reputation of all three. Holding to form, it's hard to believe that Serena won't be back in top form soon, maybe by the end of the summer. Even if nowhere else, Venus will again be a contender at this time next year on the grass, too. Wozniacki? It's getting harder and harder to stand behind the notion that she definitely WILL win a slam at some point. Through the first three rounds at this Wimbledon, that belief got a hopeful injection of life. After today's loss, I'm sort of back to square one with her... waiting for the Dane to "give me a reason."

As it stands, a first-time finalist will emerge from the bottom half of the draw (and maybe from the top, as well), and that final will be without a Williams Sister for only the second time since 2000. The young generation of players seems to FINALLY be making a move at SW19. Azarenka and Kvitova are real-time, every slam title contenders. Lisicki, if she can stay healthy, might be, too. Certainly at Wimbledon, at the very least. Paszek was touted as a future Top 5 player by Justine Henin a few years ago, and may now be living up to the promise she showed as a 16-year old. Meanwhile, Bartoli seems to be following the recent pattern of players reaching their peak in their late 20's. All in all, this is a GOOD thing for women's tennis. Naturally, it'll be met by shrugs, especially if Maria Sharapova, the sole marquee name left for casual fans -- also known in some parts as "anyone involved in sports reporting who doesn't follow tennis on a weekly basis, which is about 99.99% of said group" -- loses before the final. Those people don't pay attention, then complain that they don't know the players when they have a big-time result in a slam. There are a lot of great potential stories left in the final eight women in the draw. If Sharapova isn't the last woman standing, though, getting more people to give the appropriate respect to whoever it may be is the dilemma that the tour will next face. But such is WTA life.

The opportunity is there for SOMEONE to grab the sport by the neck over the next five days. If Wozniacki's not going to do it, then another woman must. Thus, we wait.



=DAY 7 NOTES=
...Prince William and Kate Middleton were in the Royal Box to watch the Andy Murray match today, and with the way Rafael Nadal was sometimes hobbling around against the equally sometimes hobbling around Juan Martin del Potro today, the chances that the near future could very well see the two young royals -- or maybe someone even a good bit older and little higher up on the royalty ladder, maybe? -- return on Sunday to watch the Scotsman in the final are looking a little better today. Of course, considering this is Murray we're talking about (and add in that I picked him to reach the final before the tournament, too), that likely means it WON'T happen.

...elsewhere, while the Sisters and the Dane were being shown the door, Petra Kvitova had another no-drama day. Actually, there was probably more "drama" before the start of her match, when people were wondering whether she should have attended that rock festival in Scotland on Sunday night. Apparently, it had no ill effects on her game, as she wiped the lawn with Yanina Wickmayer 6-0/6-2. The Czech has yet to drop a set, or even come close to doing so (she hasn't lost more than three games in any stanza). She'll face fellow 2010 semifinalist Pironkova next in a match-up of the only two women to repeat their Final 8 results from a year ago.

Victoria Azarenka also easily moved forward, getting to within one win of her long-awaited first slam semifinal. She handled Nadia Petrova 6-2/6-2. Oh, Nadia. Unlike Kvitova, Azarenka HAS lost a set at this Wimbledon, but she gutted out a three-set win against Daniela Hantuchova. The last time Kvitova played a close match, she lost it, to Bartoli in the Eastbourne final. We'll see if the lack of any real competition so far will hurt the Czech down the line. As for the Belarusian, she'll next get Tamira Paszek, who won in three today over Ksenia Pervak to follow up on her victory in that marathon 11-9 3rd set against Francecsa Schiavone.

The Austrian is a previous Wimbledon quarterfinalist (in '07), but if Azarenka loses one has to think she'll exit London, at this point, even more disappointed that either the Sisters or Wozniacki, considering the golden opportunity that has fallen into her lap at this slam.

In the top half of the draw, things look to be playing out rather well for Maria Sharapova. She, too, hasn't lost a set at this Wimbledon following her win today over Peng Shuai. She lost to her next opponent, Cibulkova, in the QF at Roland Garros in '09, but the Russian will be the heavy favorite this time around. Of course, any Sharapova run to her first final at SW19 since 2004 might have to deal with Sabine Lisicki. The German became the eighth female wild card to reach a slam quarterfinal with her win over Petra Cetkovska, reaching her second Final Eight at Wimbledon in the last three years while winning her tenth straight match in this grass court season. But Lisicki's fate will likely rest on whether or not she can continue to serve as well in pressure situations as she has so far this fortnight. Her next opponent is Bartoli, who's won nine straight.

...there are two of The Five left, Sharapova and Kvitova, and there's still a good chance that both could reach the final.

...the women's quarterfinals consist of women from eight different nations. It's the third time in the last four slams that that's happened, as eight nations provided the quarterfinalists at both the '11 Australian Open and '10 U.S. Open, as well.

...Day 7's upsets weren't restricted to women's singles action. The doubles competition took some big hits, too, as the #1 seeded team of Vania King & Yaroslava Shvedova (the defending champions) went out at the hands of Lisicki & Sam Stosur. So much for King going after that #1 doubles ranking, I guess. Also, #5 Mattek-Sands/Shaughnessy lost to Llagostera-Vives/Parra-Santonja, #10 Benesova/Zahlavova-Strycova went down against lucky losers Erakovic/Tanasguarn, and #11 Martinez-Sanchez & Medina-Garrigues were defeated by Dushevina & Makarova.

A few intriguing upcoming doubles match-ups: #2 Peschke/Srebotnik vs. #14 Peer/Black, #8 Peng/Zheng vs. Date-Krumm/Zhang, and #4 Mirza/Vesnina vs. #13 Hantuchova/A.Radwanska.

In the Men's Doubles, the #2, #3 and #4 seeds are already out before the quarterfinals, as well.

...18-year old Australian Bernard Tomic is the youngest Wimbledon quarterfinalist since Boris Becker (also 18) won his second straight title in 1986. And Roger Federer extended his record streak of consecutive slam QF results to twenty-nine.

...and, finally, while everyone was paying attention to Wimbledon, champions were still being crowned on the ITF circuit.

24-year old Italian Karin Knapp, ranked #35 back in 2008 but carrying a #251 ranking last week, gets the "ITF Player of the Week" for claiming her second circuit title of '11 by defeating Laura Thorpe (following earlier victories over Kristina Mladenovic & Evelyn Mayr) in the final of the $25K challenger in Rome.

Also, on the high and low end of the winner's age scale, 31-year old Pastry Severtine Beltrame (in Perigueux, France) won a singles title, while 17-year old American Kyle McPhillips (in Cleveland) claimed the first pro title of her career.



*WOMEN'S SINGLES QUARTERFINALS*
#24 Dominika Cibulkova/SVK vs. #5 Maria Sharapova/RUS
(WC) Sabine Lisicki/GER vs. #9 Marion Bartoli/FRA
Tamira Paszek/AUT vs. #4 Victoria Azarenka/BLR
#8 Petra Kvitova/CZE vs. #32 Tsvetana Pironkova/BUL

*MEN'S SINGLES QUARTERFINALS*
#1 Rafael Nadal/ESP vs. #10 Mardy Fish/USA
#4 Andy Murray/GBR vs. Feliciano Lopez/ESP
#12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/FRA vs. #3 Roger Federer/SUI
(Q) Bernard Tomic/AUS vs. #2 Novak Djokovic/SRB




*WILD CARD TO SLAM QF*
1995 US Open - Monica Seles (RU)
2002 Roland Garros - Mary Pierce
2006 Australian Open - Martina Hingis
2008 Wimbledon - Zheng Jie (SF)
2009 Australian Open - Jelena Dokic
2009 US Open - Kim Clijsters (W)
2010 Australian Open - Justine Henin (RU)
2011 WIMBLEDON - SABINE LISICKI

*WTA SLAM QUARTERFINALISTS*
[career slam QF - active]
33...Venus Williams
31...Serena Williams
18...Kim Clijsters
15...MARIA SHARAPOVA
12...Svetlana Kuznetsova
9...Nadia Petrova
7...Jelena Jankovic
7...Dinara Safina
7...Francesca Schiavone
6...Kimiko Date-Krumm
6...Li Na
5...VICTORIA AZARENKA
5...Ana Ivanovic
5...Vera Zvonareva
4...MARION BARTOLI
4...Jelena Dokic
4...Daniela Hantuchova
4...Agnieszka Radwanska
4...Caroline Wozniacki
3...Anna Chakvetadze
3...DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA
3...Kaia Kanepi
3...PETRA KVITOVA
3...Samantha Stosur
2...SABINE LISICKI
2...TAMIRA PASZEK
2...Shahar Peer
2...Flavia Pennetta
2...Andrea Petkovic
2...TSVETANA PIRONKOVA
2...Lisa Raymond
2...Carla Suarez-Navarro
2...Zheng Jie
[2011 QF - individual]
2...VICTORIA AZARENKA
2...MARION BARTOLI
2...PETRA KVITOVA
2...Li Na
2...Andrea Petkovic
2...Francesca Schiavone
2...MARIA SHARAPOVA
1...10 players with 1
[2011 - by nation]
5...RUSSIA
3...GERMANY
2...BELARUS, China, CZECH REPUBLIC, FRANCE, Italy
1...AUSTRIA, Belgium, BULGARIA, Denmark, Poland, SLOVAK REPUBLIC
[Last 2 seasons - by nation]
11...RUSSIA
6...United States
5...China
4...Belgium, Italy
3...BELARUS, CZECH REPUBLIC, Denmark, GERMANY
2...Australia, BULGARIA, Estonia, FRANCE, SLOVAK REPUBLIC
1...AUSTRIA, Kazakhstan, Poland, Serbia

*WOMEN'S OVERALL WON/LOST - BY NATION*
[through 4th Rd.]
19-15...Russia (Sharapova)
13-10...Czech Republic (Kvitova)
8-5...Germany (Lisicki)
7-6...France (Bartoli)
7-7...ITA
7-12...USA
6-2...Slovak Republic (Cibulkova)
5-2...Belarus (Azarenka)
5-4...CHN
4-0...Bulgaria (Pironkova)
4-2...Austria (Paszek)




TOP QUALIFIER: Alexa Glatch/USA
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): #8 Petra Kvitova/CZE
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Alexa Glatch/USA def. Galina Voskoboeva/KAZ 3-6/7-6/12-10
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 2nd Rd. - #23 Venus Williams/USA def. Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN 6-7/6-3/8-6 (2:55)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xx
TOP UNDER-THE-ROOF MATCH: Nominee: 2nd Rd. - V.Williams d. K.Date-Krumm 6-7/6-3/8-6 (2:55)
=============================
FIRST WIN: Kimiko Date-Krumm/JPN (def. O'Brien/GBR)
FIRST SEED OUT: #22 Shahar Peer (1st Rd. - lost to Pervak/RUS)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Australia (1-3 in 1st Rd., losses by Stosur & Dokic)
UPSET QUEENS: Russia
REVELATION LADIES: Great Britain
LAST BRITS STANDING: Elena Baltacha, Anne Keothavong & Laura Robson (2nd Rd.)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Misaki Doi/JPN (3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Sabine Lisicki/GER (in QF)
IT GIRL: xx
MS. OPPORTUNITY: xx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xx
CRASH & BURN: #15 Jelena Jankovic/SRB (1st Rd. loss to Martinez-Sanchez/ESP, worst slam result since '05 RG)
ZOMBIE QUEEN:
=Nominees=
* S.Lisicki (down 2 MP vs. Li in 2nd Rd.)
* M.Bartoli (down 3 MP vs. Dominguez-Lino in 2nd Rd., wins 9-7 3rd set vs. Pennetta in 3rd Rd.)
* T.Paszek (Schiavone served for match in 3rd Rd., wins 11-9 3rd set)
DOUBLES STAR xx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx




All for Day 7. More tommorow.

Read more...