TENNIS: Wimbledon - Saturday finals
Jul. 8th, 2012 08:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllIt feels worthy of note that I woke up to sunshine and that I can see blue sky out of my window. Now, about yesterday, that rain delay was probably quite important, wasn't it? That first set was awful - Radwanska wasn't performing, probably because of nerves and her illness, and Williams was really only playing well enough, but not threatened by much except the crowd's sympathy for her opponent. We were facing the dread uncompetitive women's final. We were thinking 'We'll probably just have to be glad it's not a double bagel'. But fortunately Radwanska came back and showed why she's number 3 in the world, to some extent, anyway. Williams got nervous and we had a third set, which I wasn't expecting after the first set wipe-out. Williams battled with herself as much as her opponent when things didn't quite go her way, and then put herself in a position to make things go her way. You have to applaud her achievement and recognise what it means to her.
However, while I think Radwanska will need a few days to get her head clear, she should take what she did in the second set and use it as fuel. She's probably going to find it harder than most of the current top players, with little power to go back on, but the women's game being what it is, she might yet go one step further in a grand slam. I thought the (mainly American former champion) competitors wondering how far can Serena go, blah blah surely she's invincible, were guily of exaggeration. For one thing, I heard a lot of the same talk immediately after the French with Sharapova. I wouldn't discount Serena OR Sharapova (or Azarenka or Kvitova yet, not to mention Stosur, let alone the ladies in the top 15 who have made it to finals and semi-finals).
Anyway, it turned out that that wasn't the match of the day. (Full disclosure, I gave up on the ladies doubles final before the end of the first set.) I wished we'd seen more of Marray and Nielsen's run than just their last match. They'd had an impressive run, but the gradual story that emerged during the match (they were extremely funny and likeable in the interview the Beeb managed to play in full yesterday) was of the 'couldn't make it up' variety. Marray was British (English) and, surprisingly, no British man had got through to the men's double finals for quite some time, and no British man had won for quite some time longer. (I rolled my eyes a lot yesterday at the talk of 'destiny' and 'written in the stars'.) This was all but a scratch pairing, having joined together at the last minute to get a wild card, having played together in four tournaments at a lower level and not won anything. Meanwhile Nielsen's grandfather (who had passed away last year) was the last Danish player to get through to a Wimbledon grand slam. And here they were, the surprise opponents of the seeded duo who had lost the last two finals and who had to be the favourites.
Well, not the crowd's.
Home interest made it matter, but the standard, at times, was really high. We got the amazing reflex volleys that make doubles so exciting, and the psychology of working in a team, plus the geometry lesson, not to mention worry over Nielsen's wrist. Marray was, I think, the most consistent player although the other three reached brilliant heights. Two sets up and we could hope. Fourth set tie-breaker, and we hoped - although its end felt as if a rug had been pulled from under us. Fair play to the Anglo-Danish team though, they didn't flinch and got a break as a reward in the fifth. Their disbelieving celebrations said it all.
I was tennised out and never got into the second doubles ladies final. Given the drama that lies ahead, I went to bed by 10!
However, while I think Radwanska will need a few days to get her head clear, she should take what she did in the second set and use it as fuel. She's probably going to find it harder than most of the current top players, with little power to go back on, but the women's game being what it is, she might yet go one step further in a grand slam. I thought the (mainly American former champion) competitors wondering how far can Serena go, blah blah surely she's invincible, were guily of exaggeration. For one thing, I heard a lot of the same talk immediately after the French with Sharapova. I wouldn't discount Serena OR Sharapova (or Azarenka or Kvitova yet, not to mention Stosur, let alone the ladies in the top 15 who have made it to finals and semi-finals).
Anyway, it turned out that that wasn't the match of the day. (Full disclosure, I gave up on the ladies doubles final before the end of the first set.) I wished we'd seen more of Marray and Nielsen's run than just their last match. They'd had an impressive run, but the gradual story that emerged during the match (they were extremely funny and likeable in the interview the Beeb managed to play in full yesterday) was of the 'couldn't make it up' variety. Marray was British (English) and, surprisingly, no British man had got through to the men's double finals for quite some time, and no British man had won for quite some time longer. (I rolled my eyes a lot yesterday at the talk of 'destiny' and 'written in the stars'.) This was all but a scratch pairing, having joined together at the last minute to get a wild card, having played together in four tournaments at a lower level and not won anything. Meanwhile Nielsen's grandfather (who had passed away last year) was the last Danish player to get through to a Wimbledon grand slam. And here they were, the surprise opponents of the seeded duo who had lost the last two finals and who had to be the favourites.
Well, not the crowd's.
Home interest made it matter, but the standard, at times, was really high. We got the amazing reflex volleys that make doubles so exciting, and the psychology of working in a team, plus the geometry lesson, not to mention worry over Nielsen's wrist. Marray was, I think, the most consistent player although the other three reached brilliant heights. Two sets up and we could hope. Fourth set tie-breaker, and we hoped - although its end felt as if a rug had been pulled from under us. Fair play to the Anglo-Danish team though, they didn't flinch and got a break as a reward in the fifth. Their disbelieving celebrations said it all.
I was tennised out and never got into the second doubles ladies final. Given the drama that lies ahead, I went to bed by 10!
