The Final Four

by Savannah

No aces and 15 double faults wins a Wimbledon quarterfinal? Pathetic.

@craighickman on Twitter

The WTA should be proud. The top four seeds all made it to the semi finals. Three of the matches went pretty much as expected.

Elena Dementieva made short work of outer court exile Francesca Sciavone winning in two sets 6-2 and 6-2.

Venus Williams continued her dominant on court play dispatching Aggie Radwanska in straights as well 6-1 and 6-2 overcoming a second set hiccup to move into the semi's.

In a very highly anticipated rematch Serena Williams came out with all guns blazing and blew Victoria Azarenka off the court before she could figure out what hit her. Victoria regrouped somewhat in the second set managing to break Serena but regaining her focus Serena pushed the threat aside and went on to win 6-2, 6-3.

While I'm sure the WTA is happy it's top ranked player made it to the semi's of the years third Grand Slam no one who vaguely understands tennis could be happy with the match that was played today. The comment posted earlier today on Twitter by Craig says it all. It was a horrid match and one that John McEnroe rightly snarked on during Serena's match.

Orders of Play for Wednesday 1 July 2009

Singles

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [22] 105 vs Roger Federer (SUI) [2] 128
2. Andy Murray (GBR) [3] 33 vs Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) 53

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Tommy Haas (GER) [24] 73 vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4] 96
2. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 3 vs Andy Roddick (USA) [6] 32

Doubles

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Serena Williams (USA) and Venus Williams (USA) [4] 17 vs
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) and Vania King (USA) [12] 25
2. Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) and Mark Knowles (BAH) [4] 17 vs
Wesley Moodie (RSA) and Dick Norman (BEL) [9] 25
3. Kristina Barrois (GER) and Tathiana Garbin (ITA) 38 vs
Samantha Stosur (AUS) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [3] 48
4. Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Elena Vesnina (RUS) [5] 49 vs
Mark Knowles (BAH) and Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) [9] 56

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Simon Aspelin (SWE) and Paul Hanley (AUS) 37 vs James Blake (USA) and Mardy Fish (USA) 47
2. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) and Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 51 vs
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) [2] 64

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Cara Black (ZIM) and Liezel Huber (USA) [1] 1 vs
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) [11] 9
2. Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) and Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) [4] 17 vs
Christopher Kas (GER) and Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) [16] 24
3. Mike Bryan (USA) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) [6] 33 vs
Jamie Murray (GBR) and Liezel Huber (USA) 38

Juniors

COURT 5 - 11.00 AM START

1. Ksenia Kirillova (RUS) 35 vs Silvia Njiric (CRO) [11] 40 GS
2. Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 20 vs Zsofia Susanyi (HUN) 23 GS
3. Christina Mathis (AUT) and Sachia Vickery (USA) 31 vs
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) and Silvia Njiric (CRO) [2] 32 GD
4. Khunpak Issara (THA) and Natchanok Saenyaukhot (THA) 15 vs
Daria Gavrilova (RUS) and Ksenia Kirillova (RUS) [5] 16 GD
5. Alessandro Bega (ITA) and Emanuele Molina (ITA) 13 vs Pierre-
Hugues Herbert (FRA) and Kevin Krawietz (GER) 14 BD

COURT 7 - 11.00 AM START

1. Miyabi Inoue (JPN) 27 vs Beatrice Capra (USA) 29 GS
2. Camila Silva (CHI) [10] 9 vs Sloane Stephens (USA) [7] 16 GS
3. Dino Marcan (CRO) 58 vs Harry Fowler (USA) 61 BS
4. Beatrice Capra (USA) and Martina Trevisan (ITA) 19 vs
Katarena Paliivets (CAN) and Chanel Simmonds (RSA) 20 GD
5. Marin Draganja (CRO) and Dino Marcan (CRO) 23 vs
Facundo Arguello (ARG) and Julen Uriguen (GUA) [3] 24 BD

COURT 12 - 11.00 AM START

1. Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) 34 vs Dominik Schulz (GER) [9] 40 BS
2. Timea Babos (HUN) [6] 49 vs Yana Buchina (RUS) 55 GS
3. Agustin Velotti (ARG) [4] 17 vs Filip Horansky (SVK) 21 BS
4. Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) and Yana Buchina (RUS) 11 vs
Brooke Bolender (USA) and Alexandra Cercone (USA) 12 GD
5. Tamara Curovic (SRB) and Alexandra Krunic (SRB) 23 vs
Timea Babos (HUN) and Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) [3] 24 GD

COURT 14 - 12.00 NOON START

2. Tom Farquharson (GBR) 44 vs Bernard Tomic (AUS) [3] 48 BS
3. Daniel Berta (SWE) [1] 1 vs Alexander Domijan (USA) 5 BS
4. Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) and David Souto (VEN) 7 vs
Jordan Kelly-Houston (NZL) and Ben McLachlan (NZL) 8 BD
5. Nicola George (GBR) and Jennifer Ren (GBR) 29 vs
Quirine Lemoine (NED) and Angelique Van Der Meet (NED) 30 GD

COURT 15 - 11.00 AM START

1. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [1] 1 vs Akiko Omae (JPN) 6 GS
2. Jordan Cox (USA) 28 vs Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 29 BS
3. Tiago Fernandes (BRA) 11 vs Devin Britton (USA) 15 BS
4. Federico Gaio (ITA) and Francesco Picco (ITA) 15 vs
Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) and Dominik Schulz (GER) [7] 16 BD
5. Devin Britton (USA) and Jordan Cox (USA) 21 vs
Harry Fowler (USA) and Johannes Robert Van Overbeek (USA) 22 BD

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

2. Quirine Lemoine (NED) 60 vs Laura Robson (GBR) [2] 64 GS
3. Peter Fleming (USA) and Guillermo Vilas (ARG) 18 vs
Joakim Nystrom (SWE) and Mats Wilander (SWE) 20 OD
4. Laura Robson (GBR) and Sloane Stephens (USA) [1] 1 vs
Samantha Vickers (GBR) and Lisa Whybourn (GBR) 2 GD

COURT 19 - 11.00 AM START

1. Tamaryn Hendler (BEL) [13] 41 vs Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) [4] 48 GS
2. Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 51 vs Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN) 55 BS
3. Mitchell Frank (USA) and Sudarwa Sitaram (IND) 31 vs
Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE) and Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) [2] 32 BD
4. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) and Sally Peers (AUS) 7 vs
Richel Hogenkamp (NED) and Lesley Kerkhove (NED) [7] 8 GD
5. Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN) and Shuichi Sekiguchi (JPN) [6] 17 vs
Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 18 BD

End Notes

Three Wimbledon Players Diagnosed with Swine Flu


Michael Mertinak

Filip Polasek

Three Wimbledon players are believed to have caught swine flu, it has emerged.

The revelation comes after four ballboys and girls were told earlier this week to stay away from the tournament as they are suffering 'flu-like' symptoms.

Organisers say the virus poses no threat to the tournament and that the incidence of cases 'is entirely in line with the wider London community'.

But the remaining players will be anxious about catching swine flu in the enclosed and cloistered environment of Wimbledon.

The three, who are all believed to be getting better, are closely inter-connected. They are world number 29 doubles player Michal Mertinak, his fellow Slovakian, world number 22 Filip Polasek, and 25th-ranked American Travis Parrott.

Travis Parrot
(...)
Andy Murray said after his win against Stan Wawrinka on Monday that he had been unaware of the risk of swine flu at Wimbledon.

He said that he had not seen the letter sent by the All England Tennis Club to all players and had been unaware that four ball boys and girls had been affected.
Source