Wimbledon 2007

Alas, after two weeks of frustrating rain delays, Wimbledon 2007 ended in a high. In what most fans would agree, one of the best Wimbledon finals in a long time. Certainly this year’s Wimbledon championships will be remembered by all those who witness it for a long long time. In the organizers and directors department, it surely was an ironic two weeks. Just when they finally decide to rectify a problem that has lasted for more than a century (I think), the championship endured the worst showers in 25 years…score one more for old Murphy, though I must admit, having roofless center court was quite an odd sight. This year also marked the very first time both men and women received equal prize money, as Venus promptly testified in her victory speech, which simply means that peer pressure will eventually win in the end. Anyway, having said all that, the mark of the All England championship have always hinged on the quality of matches it produces, this year was surprise surprise, no exception. I’ll just give a small synopsis of some of the players that stood out for me this year;

Novak Djokovic – I really believe this kid has more talent/potential than Nadal, he boast a great serve, very solid (with a pop) ground-strokes of both wings and exceptional hands a feel. However, at this moment, it just potential and hasn’t really translated into huge success, a lot of players have suffered this terrible fate, which boast a cast like Kournikova, Phillipousis, Haas..etc (although 2 semi-final appearances in a grand-slam and a masters shield ain’t half bad),…if he continues to develop his game, I think Nadal isn’t the only one who should be worried, a certain Federer should be weary as well…but we should all give him credit for playing 3 matches with bad blisters on his foot.

Richard Gasquet – This dude has been long touted as the next best thing (since he was like 8), and I think this has somehow went in to his head, many critics has compared him to the Mighty Federer, and they do poses similar games, but again, at the moment it’s just potential and talent. But man, did this guy have a whopper of a quarter-final match. In my opinion, the best match of the championships…Gasquet pulled of an amazing 93 winners in this match, that’s an astonishing number.

Serena Williams – I still think she is way too arrogant, especially since she never gives her opponents enough credit when she loses. But, during this fortnight, she showed a heart of a champion, and the reason why she still remains one of the most dominant player in the woman’s circuit. During her 4^th round match with Daniela Hantuchova, she came down with a serious bout of the cramps and could barely move, but to her credit, she insisted on carrying on and eventually beat a bewildered Hantuchova (courtesy of a rain delay, and just in the nick of time I might add), who must be still licking her wounds. Boy did she showed some fight and hussle in that match…US summer hardcourt season…look out.

Ana Ivanovic – Another consistent showing at the slams, which was only halted by an on form Venus. She had a great match against Vaidisova, especially fighting from a break down in the 3^rd. I would really like her to do well in the WTA. Hopefully she doesn’y fall prey to the Kournikova curse.

Nikolay Davydenko – Daddy’s sentimental favorite. Again, he displayed another consistent showing at the slams. Showed great fight in the 1^st round to fight from two sets down to a player (forgot who), who really should have beaten Kolay. Kolay, although never the prettiest guy on court, or even boast the prettiest game on tour, counters that with an efficient game with a nice balance of power and counter-punching, which reminisce of Medvedev and Kefelnikov. If he never wins a slam, at least he can always boast about marrying a very beautiful wife (which happens to be true)…

Juan Carlos Ferrero – Had his best result at Wimbledon this year with a quarter-final appearance. It’s good to see the former number 1 start to regain some of his old form if not better. It was good to hear him say that he was trying to beat Federer in his QF match instead of “being happy to be in the QF and just glad to have a shot at the Mighty Federer”, which I think too many players tend to do these days, specially when playing Federer.

Marion Bartoli – Definitely was riding a dream at this year’s championship, with her 1^st grand-slam final appearance. She had an incredible two weeks with scalps over Jankovic and her career highlight I suppose, with a win over the No.1 seed Henin, which prevented the press dream fiinal, I can just imagine the headlines “Big Sister Ready to Take Revenge for Little Williams”. She should a game which was both intriguing and unorthodox, with two-fisted groundies of both wings, and a much exaggerated serving and receiving routine. A good blend of counter-punching and tactical forethought are some of the strengths in her game. A lot of so called “good players” should take a page from her game…if they did, maybe players like Myskina would have become such a horrible player, or maybe Dementieva would have won a slam by now. Really push Venus in the final, unlike what the score suggest.

Venus Williams – If one player that could over-shadow Bartoli’s achievements, it would be Venus…although she did struggle to early on, she hit form at just the right time, with wins over Kuznetsova, Sharapova and Ivanovic…what more can I say about Venus, it’s power power and more power…she came in at a low seed but manage to power through to the title…which just proves that you can’t ever count a Williams out.

Rafael Nadal – Wow, did he played great tennis these fortnight…he did struggle early on, as one would suspect, but once he got into the second week (where he could gather some momentum and form, plus the courts do get slower as the championship progresses). I thought Berdych would have beat him in the 4^th round…but alas, he had too much form coming into Wimbledon this year that even those big serves and groundstokes couldn’t stop him…after that match, it was clear that I would take something special to topple the feisty Spaniard. I must admit I’m not a huge fan of Nadal, but I’m starting to have a lot of respect for this player…he doesn’t have much, but what he has…he has a lot…he navigated though this years draw (albeit a though one), with superb counter-punching, finding angles and a lot of heart, guts and gusto…and an uncanny ability to spot line calls, even if they were a couple of millimeters in…it was just ridiculous…never the less, I could tell that he was utterly gutted and disappointed after losing in the finals…anybody could tell that he wanted to win bad…real bad…but overall, he has no doubt been the best player this year so far…Looks like Federer’s strangle hold on pole position looks to be in serious threat with the Spaniard breathing down his neck...the pit-bull crest on his shoes are a fitting description to his style, but seriously, get rid of those pirata pants…Let the second half of the season commerce…

Roger Federer – What else can be said about the Mighty Federer that hasn’t been said. The player that has every shot in the book, as well as making new ones along the way…It such a pleasure watching Federer’s silky smooth play…even more than that…is to be able to witness him play through history and breaking records, his sponsors were so confident that they even made him a retro suit to commemorate his victory…this year win would be his 5 Wimbledon title and 11 major title…the 5^th Wimbledon title now equals Bjorn Borgs 5 straight Wimbledon titles…It ironic that Borg called Federer in the 2001 championships to thank Federer for preserving his record (Federer beat Sampras to prevent him from winning his 5^th straight)…6 years later, Borg would be sitting in the stands watching the maestro equaling that incredible feat himself…I bet Borg now regrets more than ever retiring so early in his career. Anyway, when tomorrow’s/today’s paper gets printed and sent to the news agencies, all the sports columnist would agree that Nadal was the better player thoughout larger portions of the match…From the beginning of the match, it was apparent that Nadal was going to severely test, he pushed Federer far and wide…and both players were all over the court, with Nadal in control most of the time…preventing Federer from dictating the points from the baseline…It certainly looked like it was going to be a very bad day for Federer, nothing was going his way…his shots very pretty much spraying all over the court, and he could not even buy a call…while Nadal was having all the calls going his way, with his shots overruled with a couple of millimeters to spare, while Federer was just the opposite, with nothing going his way…I think at the end, on paper, Nadal should have won, with more breaks of serves, more break opportunities, less unforced errors, and about equal winners…but in the end, Federer, a true measure of a champion manage to salvage just enough resources to win. I think this final again showed why Federer is head and shoulders above the competition, with one of his most potent but intangible quality, which is his ability to stick close to his opponents when his back is against the wall and find a way to win…most telling was his ability to hang in the 3^rd set after being largely outplayed by Nadal, and winning in the tiebreak…and of course that 5^th set (gee haven’t seen a 5 set final in a long time), after facing two break points in the 3^rd game and another 2 at the 5^th game, eventually found a way to break Nadal in the 6^th game, who was rock solid in his serve thoughout the match…and again the the 8^th game for the championship, by taking risk…and daring go for his shots that he was missing early in the match…it doesn’t matter how well you play in the match, it’s how you play the big points that count…and that my friends, is why Federer deserves to win this year’s Wimbledon…and why he’s still the King of The Wimbledon Lawns…

This rivalry is turning to be one of the intriguing on in recent years, both Nadal and Federer only have 2 losses in grand slam final appearances…and both losses were against each other…Anyway, I’m of to Church Camp for the next 5 days…so won’t be updating…hahahaha, but that isn’t really much of a surprise isn’t it?