A SHORT HISTORY OF SHORTS AND OTHER NOTES ON THE BATTLE OF UBEKI-BEKI-BEKI-BEKI-STAN-STAN
MORE SEXUAL FRENZY IN WIMBLEDON’S RAFTERS: As the Victoria Azarenka was wrapping up her victory over Ana Ivanovic, maybe a dozen delicate free-floating white feathers began to drift down on Centre Court. Simon Barnes told IT that, according to one tweet, they came from an “owl up in the rafters who had been driven to a sexual frenzy by Azarenka’s calls.”
A SHORT HISTORY OF SHORTS: When reflecting on balls which popped out of the pockets of Andy Murray’s shorts, John McEnroe adeptly quipped that in his days, “Ours were so tight you struggled to get them out of your pocket.”
TOUGH DAYS FOR ITALY (AND WE’RE NOT EVEN TALKING ABOUT THE ECONOMY): On Saturday, Italian Sara Errani was the victim of that Golden Set in which she failed to win a single point against Yaroslava Shevedova. On Sunday, Italy was humiliated by Spain 4-0 in the final of soccer’s European Cup. Monday, all three Italians who were still in Wimbledon’s fourth round – Francesca Schiavone, Roberta Vinci and Camila Giorgi – all lost. What’s next? Is that leaning tower over there going to topple?
BORIS BECKER’S DAYS OF WHISKEY AND A CIGARS: In a compelling, lightning-style interview with the Guardian, Boris Becker admitted he had “done lots of apologizing in my life” and added that his greatest achievement was being a father and winning Wimbledon, while his biggest disappointment was never having won the French Open. Steve McQueen would be the actor who would play him in the movies. The most important lesson life has taught him is, “You never know what might happen tomorrow.” If he had a dream party, he would invite Sofia Vergara from Modern Family, Bill Clinton and Angelina Jolie. His guiltiest pleasure is having whiskey and a cigar after a long day. When asked what was you most embarrassing moment, he replied “you don’t want to go there.”
VIKA-PEDIA: Vika Azarenka, who demolished Ana Ivanovic to reach the quarters, could regain her No. 1 ranking … Back at the U.S. Open, the loud shrieker complained about people in the pricey suites talking during play. Here she said the sound of people chewing on chips was annoying. She also would not comment on the new WTA initiative to eventually use hand-held noise-monitoring devices to help curtail grunting.
HEADLINES
MURRAY IS SAVED FROM THE BRATOSPHERE
NOW ANDY HAS A PRAYER
CILIC TO RELY ON ON PASTA, RICE AND THE POWER OF PRAYER
BALL BOYS CAN HELP US RETRIEVE THE LOST ART OF TRAINING
QUOTEBOOK
”I don’t really smile.” – Andy Murray
“The players are not very exciting people. They live in their own little world.” – Stringer Liam Nolan
“Without pressure it is boring.” – Petra Kvitova
FIRST IT WAS THE MALTESE FALCON, NOW IT’S THE WIMBLEDON HAWK: Rufus – the pigeon-hunting hawk who protects Wimbledon – was stolen, only to be recovered about a day later at a local animal shelter.
ROOKIES ROCK: Both the men’s and women’s finals are now guaranteed to feature a first-time finalist.
WHEN IT COMES TO WRETCHED WORD PLAY, IT’S HARD TO KEEP UP THE PACE: When it comes to the bickering, back-stabbing politics of Indian tennis it’s hard to keep the (Leander) Paes.
NOTES ON THE BATTLE OF UBEKI-BEKI-BEKI-BEKI-STAN-STAN:
Could it be?
Could this year’s Wimbledon, which started with the shock defeat Venus Williams, begin it’s second week with Serena being upset?
It sure looked that way, as Williams found herself entwined in a troubling Herman Cain special.
Translation: Williams was facing the WTA’s hottest player from “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan.” Well let’s not be ridiculous. Yaroslava Shvedova, the pride of land-locked Kazakhstan, is not only a highly appealing veteran, she is one of the fastest-rising players on the tour.
But the winner (with Vania King) of the 2010 Wimbledon and U.S. Open doubles titles – had been dealing with injuries and her ranking had fallen to the wrong side of 200. Still she qualified for the French Open and streaked to the quarters at Roland Garros.
Here at Wimbledon, she got a wildcard and became the first woman to craft a “golden set” when she won all 24 points of her first set against Sara Errani. Now ranked No. 65, she now faced No. 6 seed Serena in a match that was free of any consistency. Then again, Serena’s season and much of her career for that matter, has had little consistency. This Spring she was on a 17-match winning streak, then she suffered a truly devastating (and lingering) first-round loss at Roland Garros to France’s Virginie Razzano. Here too she struggled, as she barely survived the flat penetrating Centre Court shots of China’s Jie Zheng, 9-7 in the third round.
Today, out on the bland Court Two, where the Brits love to place her, Serena struggled under gray-grim skies. Against Shevdova, she raced to a 6-1 win in the first set, but inexplicably dropped the second set 6-2. Deep into the third set, as fans ranging from former Wimbledon champ Ann Jones to former NBA champ Scottie Pippen, braved the chill, she seemingly was about to lose. But, in the drizzle at 5-5 in the final set, Shevdova took off her glasses, dropped her serve and watched as Williams stroked an inspired, running backhand offensive lob from far off the court, which she said was an accident. But ultimately, it was no accident as Williams won the last three games and the match 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.
Despite her leaps of joy at match point, the favorite, in many people’s book, to win Wimbledon was hardly overconfident, saying “I just felt like today I was sluggish out there, just pulling myself together mentally … I feel like I can do a lot better, which is very comforting, because if this is my best I’m in trouble.” Then IT asked, “If you had to step back and describe your confidence right now, what would you say?” She replied, “Well, I’m Serena Williams, I’m very confident.”
QUEEN SHARAPOVA DETHRONED, SUFFERS EXIT LOSS TO LISICKI
It is one of the toughest “asks” in sports. Win the French Open on slow sticky clay and then turn around and collect Wimbledon a couple of weeks later on grass. Borg did it three times, Nadal twice and Steffi Graf did it an amazing four times. The last woman to score the summer double was Serena a decade ago.
As we said, it’s a tough ask.
But if anyone could do it, you figure it would be Maria Sharapova, who won Wimbledon in ‘04 as a giddy 17-year and reached the final last year.
By winning the French Open, the statuesque 6’2” 25-year old had completed her arduous four-year comeback from shoulder surgery, she had notched a career Slam and became the WTA’s No. 1 player.
Yes, Sharapova had struggled big time in Wimbledon’s second round against the lean Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova. Now she would be facing No. 15 seed Sabine Lisicki, whom she had beaten in all three of their previous meetings.
But Lisicki is more than a leader of the long-coming (post-Steffi) WTA German resurgence. Thanks largely to her huge serve, she has enjoyed a couple of Wimbledon awakenings. She reached the semis last year and the quarterfinals in ’09. Plus, at Wimbledon, she had beaten two previous French Champs, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Li Na and was now facing another.
But the German had suffered a severe ankle injury in the Charleston semis in April and had been on the shelf since. But buoyed by intense practice sessions in Florida, she progressed to her fourth-round meeting with Maria and promptly unleashed a first strike strategy that had two days earlier sent American hopeful Sloane Stephens back across the Atlantic.
Against Sharapova, Lisicki smacked 118-mph serves and stepped in to blast forehand returns as she won the first set with some ease – 6-4. Still Maria, along with Serena, is the best fighter in the woman’s game, in part because of her frequent ritual of stepping back and regrouping behind the baseline with her back to the court. The BBC cautioned that “the steely resolve of the committee meeting Maria has with herself can be unsettling for her opponent.”
But Lisicki could not be stopped. After stroking a second serve ace, a 6-4, 6-3 triumph was hers and an All-German quarterfinal with the No. 8 seed Angelique Kerber now lay ahead. An almost giddy Lisicki spoke of how amazing her win was and how much fun she was having.
Sharapova, while not giddy, was hardly despondent. She conceded that the German, “played extremely well today and did many things better than I did.”
Yes Sharapova, who is having a fabulous season, had her 15-match winning streak snapped and will now lose her No. 1 ranking to Victoria Azarenka or Agnieszka Radwanska. Still she was philosophical, saying, “I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved … You always try to take away as many positives as you can … It will be nice to rest for a little bit and be in a home atmosphere … Once I relax a little bit, I’m sure to use this as great motivation and keep going after the many goals that I have.”
