Archive for the ‘Female Players’ Category
Two Different Champions, Two Different Stories
You couldn’t have had two different finals. On the one hand there was the straight sets demolition of a former champion by a 22 year Belarusian who 11 months ago was about to throw in the towel. On the other hand, there was a just-under six hour epic battle in which the winner was hardly definite even on championship point.
Not to say that one was definitely better than the other. They are two different tournaments, four different players, and two very different stories. Djokovic was the man to beat; Azarenka was the challenger to Maria’s crown. You can’t really compare the two.
The first, then. Victoria Azarenka had come so close to completely giving up tennis, and she went onto the court on Saturday as the second favourite to Maria Sharapova’s more experienced game. What happened afterwards was a surprise for everyone on the court, including Sharapova.
It wasn’t just that Maria lost and Victoria won. Victoria destroyed her opponent, blasting through any sort of game plan Sharapova might had had – and if she did have one, it was hardly one worthy of a final – to win the final on a 6-3 6-0 scoreline. She might have had the experience, but Sharapova didn’t have the game and when it all fell to pieces, Azarekna just had to keep her head and drive through to the final point.
Even though it must have seen cut and dry from the end of the first set, Azarenka still couldn’t believe her win when it happened. The look of disbelief she gave to her team in the player’s box more »
Is Sharapova regaining her former glory?
Maria Sharapova was the name on everyone’s lips when she emerged as a contender back in Wimbledon. She was the third youngest woman to win that Wimbledon title, and she did so playing Serena Williams who was arguably at the top of her game. She was young, beautiful, and the papers had got hold of her life story: a girl who had arrived in the US to advance her tennis career with her father and no ability to speak English. She charmed and delighted everyone by beating the favourite and bringing about a huge upset.
Since then her media spotlight has been constant, but her performance and fitness has been up and down. The fluctuations mean that although she has secured two more Grand Slam titles since her first in Wimbledon, there have been dark moments in between.
Last year, she was runner up to Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon. And after she secured her place in this year’s Australian Open, it seems she may be currently on a high.
In today’s women’s semi-final, Sharapova had a chance to enact some revenge on Kvitova. Not that Petra went down easily. The match lasted a long two hours, with the finally scoreline 6-3 3-6 6-4 not really doing justice to the battle. Looking at the serving statistics you’d have every right to be confused at the final scoreline. Sharapova committed 10 double faults and this nearly lost her the game, with Kvitova using those little wobbles to her advantage and pushing the game into the third set. In fact it seemed like Kvitova had the steadier head more »
Sharapova and Kvitova through
Out of the two women’s semi finals, the Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka match was undoubtedly the most exciting. Kvitova had lost to Serena Williams in last year’s semi finals, and obviously had a score to settle with this particular round of Wimbledon. The Czech player cites Martina Navratilova as a hero, and she was beaming after her intense victory.
Her groundstrokes had the power and the beautiful angles, and although Azarenja took the second set after a fight back it seemed like she was having difficulty getting her shots to land where she wanted them to. In fact it seemed to be Kvitova’s mistakes that let Azarenka back in in the second set. After all, Azarenka was in her face semi final and the occasion may have left her a little stunned. But she is number five in the world and has been playing in similarly big matches, so she would have been expected to stand up against the pressure a little better.
It wasn’t just Azarenka’s faults though, they should not distract from Kvitova’s amazing display. She won her first semi final here at Wimbledon front of Martina Navratilova who was watching from the Royal Box, and faces Maria Sharapova in the finals.
Now, the Sharapova v Lisicki match. Well, it wasn’t quite as thrilling. It lasted an hour and 25 minutes, and although here was a moment of disbelief at the beginning when Sharapova went 0-3 down, the match levelled out the way everyone had thought it might do. The former Wimbledon champion on 6-4 6-3, and althou more »
Women’s tournament excitement
It’s the beginning of week two at Wimbledon, but of course you don’t need me to tell you that. All you need to do is to take a quick glance at the upsets that have made the headlines these last two days to know for sure that we are into a new phase of Wimbledon 2011. The women’s side of the tournament is the most fruitful for fantastic shockers.
First, the Williams sisters went down. Both were knocked out by feisty opponents who refused to see their return to Wimbledon as an excuse to lie down and die. Serena Williams was defeated by the French woman Marion Bartoli, who has caused a stir throughout this tournament after she banished her parents from the court in the middle of a match whilst struggling against Flavia Pennetta. All seemed forgiven though, as it was her parents – sat proudly in the player’s box – who she turned too first when he dream of beating a Williams sister to get through to the quarter finals. Serena was obviously devastated by the loss, but it would be an immense feat for her to return to her former ways after such a long and serious absence.
Her sister Venus, who has won at Wimbledon five times, went down to the Belgian Pironkova, who has only one four matches this season before she arrived at Wimbledon. Before the match she had yet to drop a set. Venus’ game was littered with unforced errors, but it was not just her mistakes that drove the match in Pironkova’s favour. Pironkova played a smart and aggressive game that saw her break and get her nos more »
Wimbledon just days away
Yes that’s right, we’ve barely had time to catch our breath and already Wimbledon is bearing down on us. We’ve hardly had time to get over our sunburn from the French Open and soon we’ll be on the cool grass of the All England Tennis Club. For us Brits, this is the official start to our summer, and for the rest of the world it is the true start of the grass season and a great midway point in the tennis calendar. Standing at number 3 of the four grand slams, we start to see new faces emerge as those with grass court specialities come to the fore.
But what has been happening in this short rest between the two grand slams? In Eastbourne, the women’s players have been battling it out to prove their mettle in their warm up tournament before Wimbledon. One piece of exciting news is that both Serena and Venus Williams are back in the tournament, which is a particularly special moment for Serena after having a blood clot scare on her lungs during her injury absence.
Despite cries that their return will just place the rankings back into that usual Williams vs. Williams battle, I have faith that in the Williams sisters absence some amazing players have grown and blossomed. They definitely have more competition on their hands this year. Unfortunately, one player that won’t be able to give the Williams sisters a run for their money is Kim Clijsters. She has been ruled out of Wimbledon after injuring her foot, which is a real shame just before the start of one of the most exciting t more »
