It’s a game of big names. From Bjorn and Billie Jean, to Pete and Andre to Steffi and Sharapova, Roger and Rafa,<
strong>Venus and Serena. Tennis stars are, if nothing else, bigger than life brands and international icons.
But at this year’s who ‘dat Wimbledon it’s been a field of “I don’t knows” and “who is she’s.” And just when you got to learn about about all those “Where’s she from’s” you had to deal with those tonque twisting “How do you pronounce its.” From the first round — when Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi took out French finalist Sam Stosur, the little knowns of the WTA made scored a big impact. Perhaps the leader of the pact was the belle of Bulgaria (population 7.5 million, number of grass courts, 0), who had so so doubted she would make a deep Wimby run that she only booked her hotel for a handful of days.
It was understandable.
Tsvetana Pironkova had never journeyed past the second round of a Slam. In five years at Wimbledon she won just one match. This year she lost in the qualifiers of the Eastbourne warm-up. All this didn’t exactly qualify her as a favorite (or, come to think of it) or even as a long shot. No wonder, before her quarterfinal against Venus the five time Wimbldon champ dismissed the long-haired Bulgarian as “one of those girls who can play well once in a while.”
But this is the “who she” Wimbledon.
So Pironkova won easily 6-2, 6-3 and now hoped for a true fairy tale: to become the lowest ranked player, at No. 82, to win a Slam. But she would have to beat (the not all that obscure) Vera Zvonereva, to reach the final and she had a shot against the No. 21 Russian.
She was serving well, her backhand was world class and her forehand was a slice and dice oddity that could drive you nuts. She had already dismissed three Russians in the draw and, more to the point, she had crushed Zvonereva in November in Moscow 6-0, 6-2. Plus, Vera who has a physical education degree and is now studying diplomacy, has had a statacto up and down, less than diplomatic career, crowded with devastating injuries, blown match-points and fierce meltdowns from San Diego to New York to Charleston. Lost leads, pressure moments and sticky bandages have all led to meltdowns.
Now there was reason for her to be upset after Pironkova — in the zone and playing as if the Wimbledon semis were but a practice session — streaked to capture the first set 6-2.
But there is a reason Zvonareva — the ’09 BNP Paribas winner and this year’s Family Circle finalist has 18 career wins he top ten players andwas ranked 61 places above Pironkova.
Panic free and playing closer to the baseline, the Russian who promotes gender equality, said enough of this tennis equality stuff, broke serve and never looked back.
Still, the bean counters at NBC looked glum. If Serena (one of the great all-time names in women’s sports) didn’t prevail in her semi we would have a final of Zvonereva against Kvitova: that would be Petra Kvitova, another obscure Eastern Euro.
Ranked No. 62, before this year she had never won a match on grass and was the youngest, at 20, to play a Slam semi this year. An inventive shrieker, who was playing in just the fourth semi of her career, she had stepped it up big time with prime time Wimby wins over Aussie Open semi finalist Jie Zheng, Victoria Azarenka and No. 3 seed Caroline Wozniacki.
Even though Kvitova was on Centre Court against the always imposing Serena, she at first barely blinked. Hitting big babe power tennis with a Czech accent and a (“you may never have heard of me but I’m here to play”) conviction and broke the No. 1 player in the world. But Serena broke back and then, thanks to a huge serve to the corner, won the first set tie-break and then rolled to a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win.
Fans will probably recall a dazzling 19-stroke thrust and parry point of seeming winners and stunning recoveries which Kvitova claimed with a forehand winner.
But analysts spoke of the power of Centre Court, which is not only an astounding theater, but a kind of crucible that subdues all but the most willful of competitors.
Beyond this, clearly some order had been re-claimed at the AELTC. Pundits debated whether Serena’s serve was the best weapon in tennis and wondered how it compared to the all-time great shots: Chris Evert‘s backhand, Martina Navratilova‘s volley, Graf’s forehand et al.
And how remarkable was it that Serena had the most aces at Wimbledon — 80 —and the next highest was Venus with ‘only’ 30. In the end, we may not know how good a Serena vs. Zvonareva final may be. But we certainly know this: we know their names.
TOP SHRIEKERS: Michelle Larcher de Brito (loudest); Victoria Azarenka (most annoying), Maria Sharapova (the tougher the moment, the higher the decibel,) Petra Kvitova (a six tone symphony) Serena Williams (intermittent but great depth.) And the lifetime achievement award goes to, who else, Monica Seles whose two-tone, mother of all grunts set the standard. Honorable Mention: the relatively silent Williams — Venus.
SAY IT ISN’T SO: Justine Henin will be out until after the U.S. Open due to an elbow injury suffered while losing to Kim Clijsters. The huge exo next week — the Battle of Belgium which hopes to break tennis’ all-time attendance record will now be Clijsters vs. Williams. The big exo in Dallas’ Cowboy Stadium has been canceled.
GO FIQURE: When asked whether she had any kind of responsibility to her country to play in the Fed Cup final, Serena said “my only responsibility is to my two dogs.” After reaching the Wimbledon final she said, “I’m blessed to use every win I get to help people who are less fortunate than I am.”
QUESTIONS:
• How much of a decline is Roger Federer in?
• How bad are Rafa Nadal‘s knees and will it seriously hamper his longevity?
WHAT IS BRITISH PETROLEUM SPELLED BACKWARD?: English media wonks call young gutsy stars as PB’s — plunky Brits.
MIRROR IMAGE: Pam Shriver reflected on Pironkova’s funky forehand, saying, “I saw more slice forehands then when I watched myself in the mirror.”
YOU KNOW YOU ARE AT WIMBLEDON…: When a perfectly pitched voice with an Edwardian accent announced over the media loudspeaker: “Staff Announcement: Will the Secretary Please go to the Autograph Island.”
VENUS’ HIP: Venus says she never talks about injuries, but her dad, Richard Williams, told IT that Venus has an injury in her left hip and he tried to convince her not to come to Wimbledon, but Venus insisted on coming.
