Wimbledon '13: Point by Point Coverage

[francienolan]

That Agassi commercial is awful. I basically leap to mute or fwd thru it.

I have to leave my house at 12:30PM EST sharp tomorrow. Highly doubt things will be done so will have to avoid any sports talk until I get home around 4PM. Wish me luck

[oopssorry]

There was a commercial for a primetime show with heated shots in lingerie and then automatic weapons going off. Truly, I wasn't paying attention but that one got the whole family looking up from their reading. Even the 5-year old. Just seemed very worthy of the post 9 o'clock rule to me.

But it's happened before, so I needed to vent a bit. Thanks, guys! (Happy I turned it off in time to miss the Agassi thing!)

[falafaclese]

I know I've been waxing a little poetic about Marion, but one of the things I like about her is that she knows how to execute a game plan. Admittedly it usually involves nothing more than sharp angles and lots of power, but you can always see very clearly when she has decided that she needs to be on for a big match. I remember seeing her absolutely smoke Jankovic at the 2009 Australian Open, and it was evident from the first point that she was not going to let Jelena in at all. It was nothing if not startling. I loved it.

That's how she felt today, except Sabine's power presented more of an obstacle. I do agree that the occasion got to Sabine, and that made a difference, but Marion also did not give her much time to think.

Okay, I'm done canonizing her. If history is any indicator, she'll be back to being inconsistent and occasionally electrifying tomorrow, but she sure made things fun today.

[curlywhirly]

Finally caught the ladies final on DVR. I too had that Schiavone-at-the-French feeling about Bartoli, mostly because Bartoli is nothing if not rock-solid mentally and a total big match player. True, she didn't have the most difficult draw, but she won 7 matches in a row and had nice grass-court pedigree before this match, not to mention plenty of career big wins over players like Serena, Henin, Venus, etc. Well done to her!

I like Lisicki, but I hope her next move is to see a sports psychologist, as I think she would benefit from learning how to regulate her emotions after/during losses AND wins. I found her celebratory drops to the knees and waterworks after every match (even early round ones) to be kind of over-the-top (and perhaps irritating to early-round opponents), so I wasn't surprised when she was mentally and emotionally drained for this final. And crying mid-match today was no bueno. Her emotions endear her to a lot of people, but she needs to rein them in somewhat IMO if she wants to be in a position to win a slam again.

[Jer2002]

I hate Andre and Steffi, excuse me, Stefanie. They can go to hell.

[lt]

Now is the sad time for me--only one day left of Wimbledon. I get so excited when the final weekend starts coming but then I realize it's ending. I'm not a glass-half-empty person but the the of slams really gets me.

[mooncreek]

I'm so sick of Andre Agassi putting down the sport that gave him everything in his life--"solitary confinement" Bah!

I'm more bugged by the really creepy shot of Gil Reyes on the line "turn to the ones you love".

I find Roger's panic/boredom in entering Gstaad and Hamburg rather amusing. At some point, Newport was courting him - which would have been awesome in the sense of Martina Hingis' induction but rather useless otherwise due to the state of that grass. I also wonder if he's entering these with the idea of not playing Basel (...well, I played an event in Switzerland and played a 500 event so...)

[francienolan]

Wax on Fala I also remember her 2009 AO vs JJ (BTW I can't get w/ using those initials for Jerzy Both men and women are having longer careers so lets hope MoMo and Drouet help Marion on consistency front.

Jul 7, 2013 1:42:09 GMT Jer2002 said:

I hate Andre and Steffi, excuse me, Stefanie. They can go to hell.

Know plenty how feel that way about AA but can't recall anybody saying that about Graf. Guilt by association or something ancient (but valid) like her never contacting Seles after the stabbing?

[acre]

No, no, Steffi was Monica's very 1st (tennis) visitor while she was still in the hospital. Guilt by association for me. I haven't seen the ad you're all talking about and I think that's just as well. I loathe Agassi as it is, hate to have to fully extend that to Steffi, who was my favorite player. But she married that asshole, they seem to be still a love match, and that makes me think so much less of her. Still adore her tennis, and I don't want to have to full-on hate her like Agassi.

[francienolan]

Jul 7, 2013 3:25:35 GMT acre said:

No, no, Steffi was Monica's very 1st (tennis) visitor while she was still in the hospitali.

Shame on me for getting it so wrong.

[roseha]

Steffi did visit Monica, but according to what I read she and every other woman player except Sabatini (who abstained) refused to vote to have Monica's number one ranking frozen after the stabbing. I wonder how many of the other players kept in touch with Monica at that time.

Back to the match, I thought Bartoli was just inspired. She really played like she was on a mission. I missed most of the first set due to the crash coverage, but I couldn't quite figure out why most of the crowd and announcers seemed to be rooting for Sabine. I understand her disappointment, but Marion totally deserved this one.

[francienolan]

Jul 7, 2013 5:16:42 GMT roseha said:

Steffi did visit Monica, but according to what I read she and every other woman player except Sabatini (who abstained) refused to vote to have Monica's number one ranking frozen after the stabbing.

That's what it was! Thanks for stroll down ancient memory lane roseha and clarification.

[lt]

I think that was a very bizarre and horrible time for all involved so I don't hold that stuff against Steffi--for me, it was that exhibition where she was playing with Lindsay Davenport and they were miked. During a changeover Lindsay asked Steffi if her kids were playing tennis and Steffi was positively rude in her "no, no way" answer. I get it, tennis for both Steffi and Andre was pure stage parent non-choices for either of them. That's fine but then they should have gotten out of the sport completely when they retired. I get that tennis is what garners good money for their worthwhile charities but they can't have it both ways--either talk nice about the sport I love and get the money for the charities or get out of it completely and raise money another way.

I think it is so hard for me because Andre was my absolute fave for a very long time. He got me back into tennis after I had stopped watching for a while (college years). To turn so completely around on someone I had loved so much is a rare, and hard, thing for me. And this is all about the personality, not the tennis--I still love his game.

And speaking of the defensive game, both of these guys seems a bit tight but I'm loving some of these points. So many aggressive angles.

I do not understand why SW 19 cares about the nubs on the shoes coming up the sides. They aren't going to eat up the court any more than the ones on the bottom will and anything to lessen injury seems like a good idea to me. It's not like only one shoe company can make that style so unfairness to other players isn't an issue either.

[falafaclese]

That was a weird point when Lahyani called Djoker's ball out, but then allowed them to keep playing. I have no idea what that was about.

[francienolan]

That felt up, down and all around for 6-4set.

On a shallow fashion note,just bought a top in same style and color as Kim's dress, so am feeling very current