LONDON — S
erenaWilliams, who overcame an embolism, is a real survivor. But a lot of things in the playground they call sports, didn’t survive today on the tumultuous lawns at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
Down goes Ms. Serena – Wimbledon’s defending champ, tennis’ most dominant player, the lady who is feared by all who play the woman’s pro game. And down also goes her big sister, a dress designer they call Venus, who has won this competition five times. And down goes the No. 1 player in the world, still young 20-year-old Caroline Wozniacki, who remains atop the rankings but still can’t break through on the game’s biggest stages, which they say is what it’s all about in this oh-so-judgmental game. (Not to be a dog, but can she be considered a truly Great Dane without lapping up a Slam win.) And then there was America’s great Fish – Mardy Fish – who destroyed last year’s finalist, Tomas Berdych, to reach the quarters.
“What a shock,” whispered one observer. “Inexplicable,” said Venus (not once but twice).
But in the clear light of hindsight, it’s not that shocking that mega-twitchy Marion Bartoli — who sent her parents packing in her previous match against Flavia Penetta — also sent the (still rusty after all these months) Serena packing. Okay, the Frenchwoman had never won a set over Williams, but Bartoli has been on a run. She went deep into the French Open, where she reached her the semis of a Slam for just the second time in her career. The ’07 Wimbledon finalist, is now ranked at a career high No. 9 and has yet to lose on grass this year. She won the Eastbourne warm-up and then won three matches to start her Wimbledon run including two battle royals: a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Lourdes Dominques Lino and an astonishing 5-7, 6-4, 9-7 win over Penetta in small measure because the Italian gifted away the encounter when she double faulted on match point. And speaking of gifts, the second Monday at Wimbledon gifted us one of the great tennis days of the year, thus sustaining its well deserved reputation of being — year in, year out — the best day in tennis.
BEEN A LONG TIME COMING: 1913 was the last time there was an all-European woman’s quarters at Wimbledon and yes that was the year, of course, when Albania gained its independence and American Senators began to be elected by popular vote rather then being chosen by individual state legislatures.
MURRAY SAYS RAFA IS BETTER THAN ROGER: Roger Federer is widely thought to be the best player of all time. But he has a losing record to Rafael Nadal (17-8) and has lost on all surfaces and in key Slam finals to the Spaniard. Plus, Rafa has a better record in the big Masters tournaments, in Davis Cup and at the Olympics. So Inside Tennis asked Andy Murray, who has faced the two great players many times “if Rafa and Roger were to meet each other on a neutral surface, [say a] slow hard court with both of them at the peak of their games, who do you think would be a better player? Murray replied, “Yeah, that’s a tough one. I’d have to take Rafa because he’s beaten Roger maybe double the times that Roger’s beaten him. The one court where I favor Roger a lot is indoors. He plays better on an indoor court than Rafa. But on all the other surfaces, I give Rafa a slight edge.”
“Just a better matchup?” we asked.
“Yeah. I think so,” the Scot continued. “He has a good game to play against Roger, and that showed once he learnt they’re very close…If Roger plays his best tennis then he can obviously beat him, but Rafa is so solid throughout the match he doesn’t give him many errors. I think Roger hasn’t returned Rafa’s serve as well as you might expect.”
TOO TRUE: The quirky, risk-taking dress designer Venus Williams takes more risks in her fashion initiatives than in her tennis game.
HUMILITY IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL: Commentator Nick Lester said of Rafa, “It would be a struggle to find a more humble sportsmen in all of tennis, in all of sports. He has the deepest respect for his sports and for his opponents.”
AN ITALIAN VOICE IN THE PRESS ROOM: “That Fish of yours, he will win.”
RAFA’S INJURY: Nadal has a long history of assorted injuries and at 6-5 in the first set of his fourth round match against Juan Martin Del Potro, he felt something. The Spaniard said “I felt terrible…I felt I broke my foot…I didn’t know if I had a chance to continue. I felt like something was crushed on the back of the [left] foot…[and the pain] stayed with me for the rest of the match … It was difficult to run to my forehand… I thought I would never win this match against one of the best players of the world. I am worried for sure…let’s see what’s going on [and if] I have a chance to recover for Wednesday.”
OUR TWO FAVE SERENA DIALOGS:
Q: A lot of people would say if you come here after the best part of the year out being out of the game and walked away with the title, it wouldn’t necessarily have been a good thing for women’s tennis. Can you appreciate that? Does this result show it’s competitive still?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I’m super happy that I lost. Go, women’s tennis.
Q: We’ve seen you here after losses absolutely devastated before. You’re not happy now, but you’re not the same devastated loser that we would see in the past. Is that because of expectations, because of where you’ve been this last year?
SERENA WILLIAMS: I’m more devastated than ever. I’m just a really good actress.
CURIOUS QUESTIONS
•After beating last year’s finalist Tomas Berdych to reach the quarter-finals, Fish was asked, “You look at your results on grass recently and how do you feel about it, do you think, Why did it take me this long?
•After yet another spectacular get by Rafa, Boris Becker asked, “What do you have to do to win a point from Nadal?”
•As the last American man or woman left in the draw, Bud Collins asked Fish, “How does it feel to be the Lone Ranger?”
LEAVE THE WIVES OUT OF IT: John McEnroe reportedly said Andy Roddick “is someone who is happy off the court but it can have the opposite affect off the court. If you are married to an actress it takes some energy — I should know. [He was married to actress Tatum O’Neal before he began his lengthy marriage to rocker Patty Smyth]. You have to make some decisions if you don’t want to be away from each other He didn’t play much this year an people are starting to worry.” In the past, Fish has spoken about the critical role his wife, actress/model Stacey Gardner has had on his career and how being with her meant he was now playing for more than himself. So not surprisingly, Fish was asked about the impact It’s given me a whole ‘nother lease on life, period. That’s one of the reasons why you play. That’s one of the reasons why Andy’s still playing. I think it’s [McEnroe’s comments] are completely unwarranted. It’s not a great comment to talk about wives. You should probably stay away from the wives … I love Brooklyn. I love them to death, so I’ll stick up for them, especially when it comes from a place, that might not know the ins and outs of their relationship. I know them as well as I know anybody, so that’s tough to take, I guess.”
RAFA’S LOUD DAVIS CUP COMPLAINT: Inside Tennis asked Nadal about the Davis Cup in Austin Texas, which he will be skipping.
IT: Right after Wimbledon there’s the huge Davis Cup competition. Do you think it is a problem having Davis Cup right after a Grand Slam? And why won’t you be playing?
RAFAEL NADAL: The problem is the ITF, my opinion. They don’t want to change nothing. They are never able to change nothing on the calendar, nothing in the format of the Davis Cup competition. And some thing they are doing bad, because the best player of the world, a lot of times we are not able to play. So that’s happen, they have to think what’s going on, no? But they don’t think nothing. They keep winning his money and that’s it. For me is hard not go to United States and play for my country. For somebody can think, Well, he only is think about himself. He is playing his own things. Doesn’t matter about the Davis Cup. It’s not my case. I always try to play Davis Cup. For me is a really bad new not to be in USA defending my country. I love [to] defend my country. But, seriously, ITF is not helping us nothing on that, and for me is an obligation to not go there. I cannot be in every place. I cannot be competitive every week … My body needs to rest. You know, I am here. Day before I had little bit pain here. Today I had pain on the foot. Few days ago the knee … I played a lot of matches the last six months, especially last five months, four months. Is too much. Seriously, is not possible be No. 1 or No. 2 playing Davis Cup every tie, be in all the places, be competitive in all the tournaments … I am not 18 anymore. I am 25. I am playing a lot of matches. I am lucky because I won a lot of matches, so for that reason I am playing that match, not because I am playing more tournaments than usual. So for that reason I cannot be there. For me is tough. But for the ITF, doesn’t matter.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: Princess Di brought her son, William (who was then about six and decked out in a proper little double breasted blazer), to Wimbledon.
NOW THERE’S A FANTASY: As one inventive mind in the press room suggested, what if Wimbledon imported the U.S. Open’s kiss-cam (where the camera puts couples up on the big screen and they have to kiss) and then focused it on Kate and Prince William.
NOW HERE’S A CELEB COUPLE THAT SEEMS TO REALLY BE INTO TENNIS: Kate and William.
‘TIS A SHAME: British sources tell IT that there is little chance Kate Middleton will hand out the trophies to this year’s champs. Actually she and William are heading off to Canada for a state visit on July 4, the day of the men’s final.
BEST ANALYSIS OF A SNIT: In light of Del Potro complaining that Nadal was taking too much time and stalling and going off court, the very British Mary Rhodes said the Argentinian “is not a happy bunny and he’s having a right moan about it.”
NOT EXACTLY MICHEAL JORDAN AND SCOTTY PIPPEN: Believe it or not, as kids Fish and Roddick played high school basketball together in Flordia. They were less than a force to be reckoned with. “I was like a two guard,” Fish told IT “I kind of stayed behind the three‑point line. Didn’t do much of anything. Didn’t really make any shots. Didn’t play that good at defense. No, I wasn’t very good. Andy was like the motor. He’d defend, rebound [but] we’d pay him not to shoot.”
IS IT DEMEANING FOR US TO TALK ABOUT THE MINDSET OF A FISH: Fish is win-less in three encounters against Nadal including at the U.S. Open in 2008, which was the last time the California resident reached a Slam quarterfinal. So IT asked Mardy how “how do you get in a mindset against a guy you’ve never beaten on a really big stage.” Fish replied, “That’s a good question. You know, you can’t go out there thinking you can’t win. That’s one. We know that. But I’ve never been past this spot in a Grand Slam. Past this spot is where I want to be, where you set your goals for. So game plan‑wise we’ll come up with something. A lot of it’s mental…He’s got 10 Grand Slams pretty recently. So half the battle is walking out there believing you can win, and I’ll definitely [will] do that … I’ll go into the match knowing my limitations but trying to play as good as I can, ’cause I’ll certainly need to.”
DJOKOVIC’S HOLLYWOOD CONNECTION: James Lawton said that Novak Djokovic’s slamming of his frame turned racket abuse into “a violent art worthy of Quentin Tarantino.”
THE MOST OUTSPOKEN, UNFILTERED PLAYER IN TENNIS: When IT asked Li Na what was wrong with men’s tennis in China, she said “Yeah, right, lazy.” When asked what she wanted to do in the future, the droll French Open champ said, “Finish press conference and go back to hotel.”
HEADLINES
WARMBLEDON
GAME, SWEAT AND MATCH
MURRAY STAYS COOL AS HEAT RISES
NOW DON’T BLOW IT AGAINST GASQUET
BRILLIANT ROGER AND RAFA HIT TWIN PEAKS
IMPERIOUS FEDERER STILL HAS THE WILL TO RULE
FED HEADS FOR SEVEN HEAVEN
NO MERCY FROM NADAL THE SMILING ASSASIN
MARIA WORTH A SHOUT
SHARAPOVA MAKING ALL THE RIGHT NOISES
SHARAP-OVA THE MOON
GASQUET BLOWS!
FRANCESCA SCHIA-GONE
HE’S NEW-VAK
GO FIGURE: Wimbledon stringers use almost 40 miles of string.
HITTING PARTNERS, TRAINERS, PERSONAL ASSISTANTS, SISTERS, MOM & POPS: Serena reportedly has an entourage of 14 people.
THE JOYS OF BRUSHING ONE’S TEETH WITH VODKA: Every year, Glastonbury is held at the same time as Wimbledon. Our favorite tweet from the rock festival: “This morning I brushed my teeth with Vodka and now I’ve found out I got tickets. No better than this.”
AN UNBLEMISHED ROYAL RECORD: While playing in front of elite Royals, Murray is 2-0. He won easily last year as the Queen watched. Hasn’t dropped a set.
MARIA – PUTTING IT ALL IN PERSPECTIVE: Justifiably, many have been speaking about how Serena came back from the brink of death to reach Wimbledon’s fourth round. But, Maria Sharapova’s family was also fortunate to escape the nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union. So we asked her, “I know you’ve spoken to your family about Chernobyl, getting out of there. Do you ever reflect on the fact that that you were lucky to emerge from there?” The Russian who is now into the quarters, responded, “Of course. I think in life it’s so important to have a good perspective on things. I know I always say this, but at the end of the day we’re athletes that hit a tennis ball for a living. We’re entertainers. We’re so fortunate. We really are. We’re fortunate that we’re in a sport that, despite so many economic challenges, we’re able to make great prize money. Our prize money hasn’t gone down in the last few years; it’s rising. That says a lot about where our sport is at. And we’re just really happy to be a part of it. I mean, I’m very happy and proud to be where I’m from. My family and I have been through many challenges. I’m sure that it’s not just me; I’m sure everyone in the draw has faced tough days in their lives, from their childhood to maybe yesterday or whenever. But I think we’re very lucky. Yeah, we’re lucky to be playing this.”
“All this by hitting a yellow ball?”
“Things could be a lot worse. I was part of a culture where I didn’t feel like if I tried something and I failed that that would be something bad, you know. If you don’t try something, and if you don’t go for it, it’s almost like you never gave yourself an opportunity and almost without even doing anything failed.”
