|
Post by bangkokbobby on Jul 5, 2015 21:09:42 GMT
Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Madison Keys and Coco Vandeweghe
The round of 16 Ladies Singles draw at Wimbledon 2015 features (at least for me) a quarter of the participants being from the United States. It’s a mix of established multiple Major winners and rising stars of the next generation. Before I get to the final four, let me give an honorable mention to Sloane Stephens. She had been playing as well, if not better, than the other rising American stars coming into Wimbledon. But sometimes it’s all in the draw. She drew #6 seed Lucie Safarova, whose been playing great tennis of late. Sloane gave her a decent match, but ultimately fell. With that said, let me get to the final four Americans.
Madison Keys
I mentioned how drawing Safarova hurt Sloane Stephens. The opposite happened for my favorite player, Madison Keys. 12th seed Eugenie Bouchard falling in the first round meant Maddie would not face her in a potential third round match. 8th seed Ekaterina Makarova losing in the second round meant Keys would avoid facing a seeded player until the quarterfinals, if she makes it that far. The way Genie has been playing, I don’t know that Maddie wouldn’t have beaten her anyway. That said, with a potential quarter against the Agnieszka Radwanska vs Jelena Jankovic winner, Maddie cannot let herself look past Olga Govortsova. Olga took out 25th seed Alize Cornet, who beat Serena Williams here last year, and up and coming Ana Konjuh. Maddie won their only head to head but that was in Miami qualifying back in 2012. That means nothing now. If Keys plays the way she is capable of playing, with that aces leading serve (for the women’s singles draw) and big forehand while minimizing unforced errors, she has the game to beat Govortsova. If Maddie goes out thinking she’ll handle Olga just by showing up…well, that’s not going to work.
Coco Vandeweghe earlier this year in Auckland
Sloane Stephens came up short trying to stop Lucie Safarova’s streak of good play. Next up to give it a try will be Coco Vandeweghe. Coco has been a revelation so far. Not only is she beating seeded players like #11 Karolina Pliskova and #22 Samantha Stosur, the way she completely blew Stosur off the court 2 and love gave a glimpse of the power game that many hardcore tennis aficionados imaged she possessed. And she’s been making waves in New York off the court. Vandeweghe, the niece of former NBA player and GM Kiki Vandeweghe and granddaughter of former New York Knicks guard Ernie Vandeweghe, was asked about the state of her favorite NBA team. Part of her answer included Coco calling the Knicks’ star player, Carmelo Anthony, soft.
Venus Williams
Don’t look now, but Venus Williams is playing like she might still have a Wimbledon run in her. The 5-time Ladies Singles champion has looked to be in good form through her first three matches. Let’s not forget that last year, as Petra Kvitova was rolling to her second Wimbledon title, that it was Venus who by far gave Kvitova her sternest test. In my opinion, it was not only the highest quality women’s match of 2015, it was one of the highest quality matches I’ve seen in many years. I don’t know if Venus has another day like that in her. She will need to have it. Up next is her sister, Serena. Venus beat Serena last year on hard court in Montreal. That was then, we’ll see about now.
Serena Williams
Of the four remaining Americans in the Ladies Singles draw, surprisingly the one who came closest to not being there is Serena Williams. Heather Watson had the 5-time Wimbledon singles champion down 0-3 in the final set. But we saw as recently as Roland Garros 2015 that getting Serena down is one thing. Keeping her down is quite another. Against Watson, she showed what she has throughout her entire illustrious career; that she has one of the greatest champion’s hearts in the history of all women’s sports. When she is determined to get the job done, it’s rare that she comes up short. That said, she will need to up her game if she is to get by her sister, Venus. A lot is on the line. The calendar year Grand Slam. Another Serena Slam. A chance for her 21st Major title is singles, 1 shy of Steffi Graf. Serena’s main opponent long ago ceased being her contemporaries. She is competing with history.
|
|
|
Post by bangkokbobby on Jul 7, 2015 3:04:33 GMT
Madison Keys
Early in her fourth round match against Olga Govortsova at Wimbledon 2015, I was worried about my favorite player, Madison Keys. She has a game tailor-made for grass, in terms of weapons like her huge serve, powerful groundstrokes and movement. But she’s still a young developing player learning how to put all of those gifts together. After dropping the first set to Govortsova, I thought it might be another early career hiccup for Maddie. But she showed savvy veteran skill from there on, winning when not playing her A game. She stayed close in the second set, fought back to tie it at a set apiece and won going away in the third, 3-6 6-4 6-1. In fact, Keys won the final 6 games of the match to book a spot in what I believe will be the first of many quarterfinal appearances at Wimbledon. She will get a very stiff test as she faces her first seeded player in #13 Agnieszka Radwanska. Aga just came off a runner-up finish on grass at the Aegon International and is a former Wimbledon finalist, taking Serena to 3 sets in 2012. I’d be lying if I didn’t say Radwanska is the favorite going into this match if current form holds. However, if Maddie finds that form that she showed in her semifinal run at the Australian Open, she definitely can pull the upset. Regardless of what happens, given another season of development, Keys beating Radwanska might not be considered an upset in the near future.
Coco Vandeweghe
Another surprise American joining Madison in the quarters is Coco Vandeweghe. She has looked awesome so far, going through #11 Karolina Pliskova, #22 Samantha Stosur and now, #6 Lucie Safarova, the runner-up at Roland Garros. Coco showed a lot of heart and steely nerves pulling out two tie-breaks to oust Safarova, 7-6 (1) 7-6 (4). She looks like she can beat anybody right now. Vandeweghe will need to continue that level of play as she takes on former Wimbledon champion and 4-time Major winner, Maria Sharapova. And to round out the trio of Americans among the final 8 in the quarters, Serena Williams was almost clinical in beating sister Venus, 6-4 6-3. It was the best Serena has looked all tournament. In fact, it’s the best she’s looked in a few tournaments. Up next is a player who actually competes with Serena, Victoria Azarenka. This could be the de facto final for Serena. If there is one player who could upset Williams, it’s Vika. If Serena wins, I doubt anybody else in the draw will stop her. On the other hand, if Vika wins, I think there are some players who could still beat her. I just don’t know if anybody left in the draw save for Vika truly believes she can win against Serena, whereas if Azarenka advances players like Sharapova don’t have a decade plus losing streak against her.
1 SERENA WILLIAMS (won 6-4 6-3 vs 16 Venus Williams)
4 MARIA SHARAPOVA (won 6-4 6-4 vs Zarina Diyas)
20 GARBINE MUGURUZA (won 6-4 6-4 vs 5 Caroline Wozniacki)
COCO VANDEWEGHE (won 7-6 (1) 7-6 (4) vs 6 Lucie Safarova)
21 MADISON KEYS (won 3-6 6-4 6-1 vs Olga Govortsova)
|
|
|
Post by bangkokbobby on Jul 8, 2015 2:59:40 GMT
Garbine Muguruza
Serena Williams. Maria Sharapova. Agnieszka Radwanska. All three have reached a Wimbledon final. Two have won Wimbledon (not to mention the other three Majors as well). One has won Wimbledon multiple times. These three veterans of the WTA comprise 3 of the 4 berths in the Wimbledon 2015 semifinals. The other spot in the semis will be filled by up and coming 21-year old Garbine Muguruza. I’ve spent the last few days posting about rising stars Madison Keys and Coco Vandeweghe…and they did play well pushing Aga and Masha to three sets. But Muguruza is the one still standing. This is her best showing to date in a Major, in terms of how far she has advanced. Some might argue her quarterfinal run at Roland Garros 2014, in which she upset Serena Williams along the way, was more impressive. By the way, she reached the Roland Garros quarters again this year. Oh, and she’s become part of one the best doubles teams on tour with Carla Suarez Navarro. Her record against semifinal opponent Radwanska is 2-2, with Garbine winning the last two meetings. However, they have never played on grass against each other and those last two wins were earlier this year when Aga couldn’t find her game. Also, Radwanska has dealt with this type of Wimbledon semifinal pressure before. Garbine is one of my favorite up and coming players. All signs point to an Aga win on Thursday, but I’d sure love to see Garbine pull this one out and have a chance to win her first Major on Saturday.
1 SERENA WILLIAMS (won 3-6 6-2 6-3 vs 23 Victoria Azarenka)
4 MARIA SHARAPOVA (won 6-3 6-7 (3) 6-2 vs Coco Vandeweghe)
13 AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA (won 7-6 (3) 3-6 6-3 vs 21 Madison Keys)
20 GARBINE MUGURUZA (won 7-5 6-3 vs 15 Timea Bacsinszky)
|
|
|
Post by bangkokbobby on Jul 10, 2015 4:37:37 GMT
Garbine Muguruza
So where does the talented Spaniard go from here? It’s hard to say. There have been so many “up and coming” type players over the decades. Some make it big. Some become journeywomen players. Some make a big splash and fade away. Some don’t pan out at all. Obviously, Garbine has already surpassed that last category. She’s only 20, so there’s no rush to do everything right away. If she’s just competitive the rest of this year and then maybe picks up a title or two in 2015, that would be growth. For now, a title in Hobart is a great start to what could be a successful career. – from my post, Tsvetana Pironkova, Garbine Muguruza First Time Champions In Sydney and Hobart: WTA Wrap-Up 1.11.2014
When I wrote the above passage in January of 2014, I honestly had no idea how Garbine Muguruza would develop. Over decades of watching tennis I’ve seen so many young talents come and go. But since her win in Hobart, excluding her doubles success with Carla Suarez Navarro, Gabi has reached back to back quarterfinals at Roland Garros, upsetting Serena Williams in 2014. Now, with her 6-2 3-6 6-3 semifinal win over Agnieszka Radwanska at Wimbledon 2015, Muguruza has reached her first ever Major final. And she has drawn the tallest of tasks in trying again to beat the living legend, Serena Williams, who earned another trip to the Wimbledon singles final by beating Maria Sharapova for the eleventy billionth time in a row. While Gabi did beat Serena on clay at Roland Garros 2014 and took her to 3 sets on hard court at this year’s Australian Open, this is the biggest stage in tennis. This is on grass at Wimbledon, where Serena is a five time singles champion. I can imagine something similar to last year, when first time Major finalist Eugenie Bouchard…who similarly came into the final talking about not being afraid…was walloped by another experienced Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova. But I think Gabi will play much better than Genie did…not that Genie played badly so much as Petra was at another level that day. If Serena comes in serving to her full capability then nobody can beat her. If Williams serves like a mere mortal or throws in a few double faults at inopportune times, Muguruza has the game to give her trouble.
20 GARBINE MUGURUZA (won 6-2 3-6 6-3 vs 13 Agnieszka Radwanska)
1 SERENA WILLIAMS (won 6-2 6-4 vs 4 Maria Sharapova)
|
|
|
Post by bangkokbobby on Jul 12, 2015 3:50:16 GMT
more pics and video on my blog: Wimbledon 2015 Day 12: Serena Williams Wins 21st Major Singles TitleSerena WilliamsAfter Roger Federer looked godlike in beating Andy Murray in the 2015 Wimbledon Men’s Singles semifinals, I had a discussion with a friend of mine who is a sports encyclopedia about whether Roger Federer has had a better career than Tiger Woods. The impetus was the assumption that if you asked sports fans or sports media who the greatest athlete of the last 20 years is I would bet that Tiger would garner the most votes. But maybe, I wondered, Roger has had the better career and still is among the 2 or 3 best players in his sport. On some days, like in the semis, he still looks like the best (even though I acknowledge Rafael Nadal’s claim as the best player historically due to head to head versus Federer). My friend pointed out Tiger’s social significance as being beyond Roger’s. Perhaps that’s true. However, we might both be wrong. The greatest athlete of the last 20 years…let’s say starting 1997-ish to now…is Serena Williams. 21 Major singles titles and no end in sight. At this rate, unless she retires…which she won’t before the end of the next Olympic year (2016)…30 singles Majors in not out of the question. There was a time not long ago that I would have said 30 singles Majors is unattainable…unthinkable. Serena has redefined what I call impossible in tennis. With her 6-4 6-4 victory over Garbine Muguruza in the 2015 Wimbledon Ladies Singles final, she claims said 21st Major singles title, along with her 6th Wimbledon singles title. It’s the second time she’s held all four Majors at thesame time, her second Serena Slam. She goes into this year’s US Open with a chance at the calendar year Grand Slam. Oh, and she also happens to be the reigning WTA Finals champion and reigning Olympic Tennis Women’s Singles Gold Medalist. If you add her doubles Majors, she has 36 Major championships. She’s so dominant in her sport that whomever you think is #2 at the moment, computer or public opinion…Petra Kvitova…Maria Sharapova…Victoria Azarenka…heck, throw in recently (in years) retired Li Na and Kim Clijsters…all of them put together can’t match Serena’s achievements. Whether you like Serena or not…and if you don’t it doesn’t make you a bad person (which tends to be what Serena fans automatically label anybody slightly critical of her…you know what I’m saying…I don’t want to get into a complicated race/gender, etc discussion in this post)…no matter how you personally feel…I can’t understand how anybody can’t respect what she has accomplished in her sport. When you factor her achievements and her longevity…for my money, she’s the greatest athlete of the last 20 years and belongs in the discussion of the greatest athletes of all time. 1 SERENA WILLIAMS (won 6-4 6-4 vs 20 Garbine Muguruza)
|
|