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.