TENNIS: Wimbledon's final finals
Jul. 9th, 2012 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllI came home to...no tennis tonight. So I’ll write about it instead. I saw up until the first few games of the men’s singles final and a stretch in the middle part of the mixed doubles.
Given the result, I’m glad I didn’t see the ending, both what sounds like Federer’s unassailable mastery of the last two sets and the celebration/ceremony/speeches.
I think Andrew Castle commented ‘tense match’ at some point. Well, yes, it was. Of course it was. The surprise of Federer’s nervy opening and Murray being the sounder player (his forehand seemed to be yielding more results) gave hope. One set up! But oh, the break points in the second set. There was at least one Murray could/should have converted, and then maybe Federer wouldn’t have stolen the last game – for that’s what it felt like. I was building myself up for a tie-break. But it was a good match and Murray’s play demanded that Federer found his brilliant best. Which isn't going to take away from the fact that it's a gutting loss.
Murray has to build on this. It was a better performance than any of his other grand slam finals. (Yes, he only had to face one of the Big Three, but it was the one who has been working his way back up to the top on his favourite surface. That’s something. And it was a tough draw for Murray before that.) He has to build on all the good things about his play in that match and the tournament (the better serving, the aggression when he needed it, the way he didn’t waste energy).
Overall, it’s been a thrilling tournament. The organisers must have looked up to the Centre court roof in relief and thankfulness during the fortnight. It even stood up to the onslaught of some loud and heavy showers yesterday. Apart from Serena’s emphatic (for now) comeback, I want to say that the women’s game was as unpredictable as ever, but among the newish faces (Kerber and Radwanska), other players who had done well on grass did so again – Pironkova, Pascek (sp?), Kvitova, Lisicki and Azarenka). Rosol’s amazing match against Nadal made us wonder if the men’s side would be as crazy. Well, it wasn’t. Four of the top five seeds made it through to the semis.
Britain will always remember Murray’s story, not to mention Marray and Nielsen's win, but perhaps Federer reasserting himself (and this will only make him want the gold on the grass all the more) and putting Djokovic away for now will have a greater impact.
And that’s another thing – the Olympics. I have so many questions about how the tennis will be organised. Apparently they're doing some kind of grass transplant to sort the surface out. But will the competitors still have to wear white? I expect I’ll get very irritated by all the other sports going on. I kept thinking during Wimbledon that it must have had an impact on how players approached things this year – some players desperate to improve their rankings to get to represent their country (I’m still not sure how that works) and some doubles players will have had to give up longstanding and successful partnerships to forge new ones with people from the same country.
Given the result, I’m glad I didn’t see the ending, both what sounds like Federer’s unassailable mastery of the last two sets and the celebration/ceremony/speeches.
I think Andrew Castle commented ‘tense match’ at some point. Well, yes, it was. Of course it was. The surprise of Federer’s nervy opening and Murray being the sounder player (his forehand seemed to be yielding more results) gave hope. One set up! But oh, the break points in the second set. There was at least one Murray could/should have converted, and then maybe Federer wouldn’t have stolen the last game – for that’s what it felt like. I was building myself up for a tie-break. But it was a good match and Murray’s play demanded that Federer found his brilliant best. Which isn't going to take away from the fact that it's a gutting loss.
Murray has to build on this. It was a better performance than any of his other grand slam finals. (Yes, he only had to face one of the Big Three, but it was the one who has been working his way back up to the top on his favourite surface. That’s something. And it was a tough draw for Murray before that.) He has to build on all the good things about his play in that match and the tournament (the better serving, the aggression when he needed it, the way he didn’t waste energy).
Overall, it’s been a thrilling tournament. The organisers must have looked up to the Centre court roof in relief and thankfulness during the fortnight. It even stood up to the onslaught of some loud and heavy showers yesterday. Apart from Serena’s emphatic (for now) comeback, I want to say that the women’s game was as unpredictable as ever, but among the newish faces (Kerber and Radwanska), other players who had done well on grass did so again – Pironkova, Pascek (sp?), Kvitova, Lisicki and Azarenka). Rosol’s amazing match against Nadal made us wonder if the men’s side would be as crazy. Well, it wasn’t. Four of the top five seeds made it through to the semis.
Britain will always remember Murray’s story, not to mention Marray and Nielsen's win, but perhaps Federer reasserting himself (and this will only make him want the gold on the grass all the more) and putting Djokovic away for now will have a greater impact.
And that’s another thing – the Olympics. I have so many questions about how the tennis will be organised. Apparently they're doing some kind of grass transplant to sort the surface out. But will the competitors still have to wear white? I expect I’ll get very irritated by all the other sports going on. I kept thinking during Wimbledon that it must have had an impact on how players approached things this year – some players desperate to improve their rankings to get to represent their country (I’m still not sure how that works) and some doubles players will have had to give up longstanding and successful partnerships to forge new ones with people from the same country.
