Tuesday, June 30, 2009

How Does She Do It?


Dinara Safina's overcomes her frustration to advance to her first Wimbledon semifinal

Once again, Dinara Safina overcame adversity and a talented opponent to advance to the next round of Wimbledon. She has a proclivity for winning when playing ugly. And isn't that what champions do best?

But this is not the first time we have seen Safina advance through a draw in poor form. At the Aussie Open she battled and clawed through the early rounds, finally finding her form in the semifinals against Vera Zvonarea.

This year at Wimbledon, however, she will have to deal with someone a lot more experienced and talented than Vera Zvonareva. Her name is Venus Williams. Can Safina overcome her 15 double faults and 38 unforced errors to defeat Williams who has breezed through all of her matches so far?

It's been a good run for Safina, first time past the 3rd round, showed some great fight, and will retain her world number 1 ranking. But to be frank, she doesn't stand a chance unless her level jumps up exponentially and Venus completely falls apart.

Ladie's Quarterfinals Results:

(1) D. Safina def. S. Lisicki 6-7 6-4 6-1
(3) V. Williams def. (11) A. Radwanska 6-1 6-2

(4) E. Dementieva def. F. Schiavone 6-2 6-2
(2) S. Williams def. (8) V. Azarenka 6-2 6-3

The Genius of Lleyton Hewitt


Lleyton Hewitt clawed his way through the first four rounds of Wimbledon

As Lleyton Hewitt pummeled the 5 seed Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round of Wimbledon, Hewitt reminded those watching how someone so small compared to the rest of the tour could do so well. Sure, Lleyton doesn't have the biggest serve, nor the biggest groundstrokes, nor the best hands on tour. He's not as fast as he was 7 years ago when he won Wimbledon. Yet why did Hewitt win this and three other matches so far at Wimbledon this year?

With experience comes wisdom. Hewitt knows the strengths and weaknesses of his own game and when he plays his smartest tennis, he is very difficult to beat. Throughout the year Hewitt has struggled with results and not beating top players. In those matches you could count the times Hewitt went up the line on the backhand. This fortnight, however, Hewitt has been using the entire court.

His game is so complete and his performance revolves around his serve. The Hewitt serve may be one of the most underrated serves on tour right now. He exemplifies the perfect way a player who lacks power can make his serve a strength. Can you name one serve that Hewitt can't hit? I know I can't. The variety and placement on a weaker serve are key aspects necessary for success. Additionally, Hewitt uses his serve to set up points and not to just end them.

Also, Hewitt, short and aging, lacks power on his groundstrokes yet once again shows us how to counteract the lack of power. Once again, the greatest cure for a lack of power is variety. Hewitt can slice, but the main variety he uses is mixing deep and angled shots. The accuracy of Hewitt's shots make it uncomfortable for his opponents as he neutralizes powerful opposition with deep flat shots and short angles with a healthy combo of going behind them to finish points.

Later in life, Hewitt's strengths have changed from his speed and grit to his all court game. Don't get me wrong, Hewitt still is quick and has plenty of grit, but he can't rely on those attributes to do well as he approaches 29 years of age next February. Instead, Hewitt has been using his very solid volleys, approach shots, and down the line groundstrokes to end more points on his own terms, rather than being dependent on his opponents errors. These changes were extremely evident in his win against Del Potro, who hits one of the most powerful balls on the tour. Hewitt didn't run down every shot, instead he stepped his own game up and used his all court strategy to make the Argentine uncomfortable on court.

As Hewitt goes onto court tomorrow to battle Andy Roddick for a spot in the semifinals of Wimbledon, don't count the little man out because of his weaker shots. Throughout the past week Hewitt has given us plenty of evidence that he can knock off a variety of players despite Hewitt's seemingly weakened game.

Ladie's Wimbledon Quarterfinals

Sabine Lisicki continues her string of upsets, knocking out top 10 seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Match of the Day: S. Lisicki vs D. Safina

Sabine's run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals has been full of ups and downs. In the first round she barely survived the slumping 32 seed, Anna Chakvetadze, who served for the match in the second set, before falling apart and Lisicki grabbing the win. She then followed up her win with some convincing victories over reigning Roland Garros Champ, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Eastbourne champion, Caroline Wozniacki. Her main fault was failing to convert on a series of match points against Kuznetsova, but she still finished the match in straight sets.

Safina has been less than steller. Yet she is not new to poor play early in slams. She played horridly in Australia until the semifinals where she dispatched Vera Zvonareva only to fall to a rampaging Serena Williams. At Roland Garros she stormed through the early rounds yet once again fell apart in a Grand Slam final. With both players battling in their first Wimbledon quarterfinal Safina has at least played in multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals before and has the edge in experience. But can Lisicki's monster first serve and forehand overpower the Russian's long strokes that need plenty of time to damage her opponent?

My prediction: Lisicki wins the first set but can't finish Safina off, losing a close third set.

Other Matches:


Serena Williams has flown past opponents in the early rounds.

V. Azarenka vs S. Williams

Many people have this match pegged as an upset special as Azarenka is one of the few players that can match the Williams sisters off the ground. I'm not buying it though. Azarenka may be able to out shriek Serena but no way can she out-hit her. Serena's serve has been spectacular throughout The Championships and will give her the clear edge.

My prediction: Serena wins a tight straight set affair.


Venus Williams continues to dominate the lawns of Wimbledon

V. Williams vs A. Radwanksa

Venus is playing too well to lose to Radwanksa late in a slam. Radwanska may be able to run down enough balls to claim a few games, but her 60mph second serves will come back to bite her in the ass.

My prediction: Venus clobbers the young Pole


Elena Dementieva has yet to face a seed this year at Wimbledon.

E. Dementieva vs F. Schiavone

Who would have thought Schiavone could have reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals with the year she is having? Not I, certainly. Elena has had a cakewalk draw so far, facing no seeds, and she has easily defeated them all. Their H2H is 4-4 but this is a different Elena and different Franny since the last time they played. Schiavone barely has a winning record on the year while Elena has nearly fourty wins despite a poor clay season.

My prediction: I expect Elena to keep with her trend, winning in straight sets.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Court Locale Drama



Serena Williams easily defeats Roberta Vinci on Court 2 as Azarenka battled on Centre Court

Emerging at last year's Wimbledon, court placements of some top women have caused problems for spectators. Many have criticized that defending champs always deserve to play on Centre Court at the big W, yet how is that fair for other players. Because as young and inexperienced players progress through the draw to the later rounds they play more on Centre Court and are forced to deal with the tremendous pressure it comes with. Overall, because of Wimbledon only giving one slot to women's matches on Centre Court, it is evident that the scheduling committee must switch around the women that get to play on the most famous court in tennis in preperation for later rounds of the tournament.

Saying your first time on Centre Court is intemidating is an understatement. The silence, the history, the aura permeates throughout the stadium clearly affecting even some of the most experienced players in their matches. One clear example, Victoria Azarenka vs Sorana Cirstea displayed a series of nerves, some great play, and two emerging stars of the WTA. Clearly, Cirstea was affected by the situation. Her first time on Centre Court resulted in her winning only 2 points on Azarenka's first serve. Azarenka also had flashes of nervous moments, only breaking Cirstea's serve once in the entire match despite having some of the tour's top returns.

Additionally, the match led to plenty of discussion as they held the sole Ladie's singles match on Centre Court while two-time champion Serena Williams battled a veteran Italian on the new Court 2. Many argue that Williams should never play on any court lower than Court 1 or Centre, yet with only two spots for ladies matches the scheduling committee must recognize a number of important factors: star power, possible upsets, a player's potential, chance to go deep at Wimbledon, and the player's history at Wimbledon.


Victoria Azarenka defeated Sorana Cirstea on Centre Court of Wimbledon on day 5

On paper, Victoria Azarenka vs Sorana Cirstea is clearly the better match. Cirstea and Azarenka are both coming off quarterfinal appearances at Roland Garros and are both still teenagers. If both maintain their form of late, they certainly will at the least move up in the rankings. Additionally, Cirstea's Roland Garros run featured upsets over seeded players Cornet, Wozniacki, and Jankovic. All three of those upsets were over players that enjoy clay and Wozniacki and Jankovic are top ten players in the world. With Azarenka being considered the third betting favorite behind Venus and Serena the scheduling committee certainly didn't want to miss an opportunity to display an upset on Centre Court. The main argument for Serena to be on Centre over Azarenka is her previous results at Wimbledon, while Azarenka, in only her fourth Wimbledon has never previously reached the second week.

Despite all of this, however, the main problem I have with the opinion of past champions only playing on Centre Court or Court 1 is that when Azarenka and Serena meet in their quarterfinal match tomorrow imagine the problems Azarenka might have if it were to be her first match on the most prestigious court in tennis. It is simply unfair for young players to have their first match on Centre Court be in the QFs against a fellow top 8 seed.

Fans of certain players never will be happy about some of their court placements at Wimbledon. Last year there was Venus and Serena on Court 2 on the second monday and Jelena Jankovic out on Court 18 while Svetlana Kuznetsova and Aggie Radwanska played on Centre Court. This year Serena and Venus have been relegated to courts other than Centre while matches such as Wozniacki vs Kirilenko and Azarenka vs Cirstea starred on Centre Court. The only solution would be adding a second slot for a women's match on Centre Court and Court 1 but with Wimbledon's late start time for those two courts (1 pm local time) it is impossible.

Overall, until Wimbledon breaks its tradition Serena and Venus and other top women's players will just have to deal with playing on multiple courts throughout The Championships in the first few rounds.