TENNIS: Wimbledon 2024 - women's finals
Jul. 14th, 2024 08:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllDay thirteen
First of all, if Medvedev said what he was reported to have said (my source is Andy Roddick’s podcast Served), then they should have defaulted him or why have the rule about being abusive of umpires? It won’t be fair to apply it to a lower ranked player being equally abusive of an umpire during a less high-profile match. I couldn’t hear what was said when I watched it.
Women’s final – I watched it on BBC One rather than on the Centre Court channel, so I got all the build-up. The opening montage of the ladies’ singles championship so far was very well edited and reminded me that Madison Keys is probably the player who feels hardest done by, an injury meaning that she couldn’t serve for the match and had to default in tears. Lulu Sun is the player who has made a name for herself.
We heard the finalists’ stories again: Krejcikova the doubles player who’d won so many grand slams in doubles, then had won a French Open, the injuries since then, and of her connection with Jana Novotna; Paolini who’d never won on grass until this year, but for whom things had come together in 2024, with her making the final in singles and doubles in the French Open, not to mention Wimbledon, and her megawatt smile. Of course, nobody expected them to make the final. After Eastbourne, Paolini could hope to do much better than she ever had at Wimbledon, but little was expected of Krejcikova. It occurred to me that at 28, they had both had the maturity and the experience, more so Krejcikova, to handle the occasion.
Paolini was first to serve, and Krejcikova was on it from the outset, breaking and backing it up. The crowd were on Paolini’s side because she was a break down and they’d come to see a match. It’s not that Paolini was frozen a la Pliskova, but she wasn’t winning any points. Krejcikova was playing excellently, the serve firing and not giving Paolini much of a chance. A double break up, and Paolini at least made her serve it out, but Krejcikova dominated.
So, Paolini went for the obligatory toilet break, and came back more energised and more like the player who’d made it to the final. She targeted Krejcikova’s backhand effectively, started getting rewarded with errors and was suddenly the one playing with authority. Krejcikova yielded the second set. I’d jokingly thought after the semis that maybe you wouldn’t want to be the winner of the first set, as both women had come back from a set down. Could I have been right?
Inevitably, Krejcikova went for her own toilet break, and calmed down and reminded herself of her game plan. Paolini was serving first, so she had a lead, but Krejcikova held her serve too, and game by game the tension ratcheted. Who would blink first? Paolini chose not to challenge a ball she perhaps should have, and then, during her service game, challenged a call she shouldn’t have, as the call was right and she broke her serving rhythm. She double faulted, and Krejcikova had broken. She consolidated well – Ash Barty would point out that she barely dropped a point on her serve in the third set. Paolini made her serve it out, and 5-4 was all about Krejcikova’s nerves. As we got to break points and Championship points, it became clear that Krejcikova had to be aggressive and go for it, but it was the toughest service game. On her third time of serving for it, she succeeded and, almost in disbelief, won. Deservedly so.
Credit to Paolini, who must be bitterly disappointed at having lost another grand slam final, although she learned from the previous loss, and made it much closer. (I hope she wins a big tournament again this year.) Her determination and retrieval skills have gained her a lot of fans.
Credit to Krejcikova, though, for backing up her previous major win on another surface. She’d only won six matches this year, but showed that she has the skills and quality to be at the top. Yes, we’ve had eight different winners at Wimbledon over the last eight years, and yes, the last two were certainly unexpected – Barty was the favourite the year that she won – but also Czech. What is it with Czech women and grass? Jana Novotna got mentioned a lot, naturally enough, and Krejcikova broke down in tears when she saw her name on the roll of champions alongside her mentor. Can she stay healthy and use this as a launchpad for something more consistent?
First of all, if Medvedev said what he was reported to have said (my source is Andy Roddick’s podcast Served), then they should have defaulted him or why have the rule about being abusive of umpires? It won’t be fair to apply it to a lower ranked player being equally abusive of an umpire during a less high-profile match. I couldn’t hear what was said when I watched it.
Women’s final – I watched it on BBC One rather than on the Centre Court channel, so I got all the build-up. The opening montage of the ladies’ singles championship so far was very well edited and reminded me that Madison Keys is probably the player who feels hardest done by, an injury meaning that she couldn’t serve for the match and had to default in tears. Lulu Sun is the player who has made a name for herself.
We heard the finalists’ stories again: Krejcikova the doubles player who’d won so many grand slams in doubles, then had won a French Open, the injuries since then, and of her connection with Jana Novotna; Paolini who’d never won on grass until this year, but for whom things had come together in 2024, with her making the final in singles and doubles in the French Open, not to mention Wimbledon, and her megawatt smile. Of course, nobody expected them to make the final. After Eastbourne, Paolini could hope to do much better than she ever had at Wimbledon, but little was expected of Krejcikova. It occurred to me that at 28, they had both had the maturity and the experience, more so Krejcikova, to handle the occasion.
Paolini was first to serve, and Krejcikova was on it from the outset, breaking and backing it up. The crowd were on Paolini’s side because she was a break down and they’d come to see a match. It’s not that Paolini was frozen a la Pliskova, but she wasn’t winning any points. Krejcikova was playing excellently, the serve firing and not giving Paolini much of a chance. A double break up, and Paolini at least made her serve it out, but Krejcikova dominated.
So, Paolini went for the obligatory toilet break, and came back more energised and more like the player who’d made it to the final. She targeted Krejcikova’s backhand effectively, started getting rewarded with errors and was suddenly the one playing with authority. Krejcikova yielded the second set. I’d jokingly thought after the semis that maybe you wouldn’t want to be the winner of the first set, as both women had come back from a set down. Could I have been right?
Inevitably, Krejcikova went for her own toilet break, and calmed down and reminded herself of her game plan. Paolini was serving first, so she had a lead, but Krejcikova held her serve too, and game by game the tension ratcheted. Who would blink first? Paolini chose not to challenge a ball she perhaps should have, and then, during her service game, challenged a call she shouldn’t have, as the call was right and she broke her serving rhythm. She double faulted, and Krejcikova had broken. She consolidated well – Ash Barty would point out that she barely dropped a point on her serve in the third set. Paolini made her serve it out, and 5-4 was all about Krejcikova’s nerves. As we got to break points and Championship points, it became clear that Krejcikova had to be aggressive and go for it, but it was the toughest service game. On her third time of serving for it, she succeeded and, almost in disbelief, won. Deservedly so.
Credit to Paolini, who must be bitterly disappointed at having lost another grand slam final, although she learned from the previous loss, and made it much closer. (I hope she wins a big tournament again this year.) Her determination and retrieval skills have gained her a lot of fans.
Credit to Krejcikova, though, for backing up her previous major win on another surface. She’d only won six matches this year, but showed that she has the skills and quality to be at the top. Yes, we’ve had eight different winners at Wimbledon over the last eight years, and yes, the last two were certainly unexpected – Barty was the favourite the year that she won – but also Czech. What is it with Czech women and grass? Jana Novotna got mentioned a lot, naturally enough, and Krejcikova broke down in tears when she saw her name on the roll of champions alongside her mentor. Can she stay healthy and use this as a launchpad for something more consistent?
