Thursday, June 25, 2009

Seen and Heard, and Mourned

by Savannah

It's been a stunning day for me. Farrah Fawcett, 1970's icon passed after a long illness. The King of Pop Michael Jackson died suddenly. Both passings affected me greatly. May they both rest in peace.

Wimbledon Day 4



Today was one of those days where what everyone thought would be epic matches turned into one sided affairs.

Apparently this is the most life Juan Martin del Potro showed during his match against Lleyton Hewitt on Centre Court today. Juan Martin turned in one of those performances that make people wonder how he made it to the top ten as Hewitt won in straight sets.

Venus Williams who was first up on Court 1 walked on with wrappings on her calf and just above her knees. While her motion appeared stilted at first she adjusted to playing with the wrappings and proceeded to wipe out any hopes Kateryna Bondarenko may have had of catching her on an off day. There wasn't even her almost routine mental lapse in the second set.

Ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki played on Centre Court today and had an easy time of it as well.
Both Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina have expressed unhappiness with their court assignments in this Tennis.com post.

Andy Roddick continues to play well. As his play has improved fans are seeing less and less of him on ESPN television. If you have ESPN360 you've been able to see his matches but on the broadcast side the hype is going to Andy Murray and the above mentioned Lleyton Hewitt. Go figure.

Li Na continues to play well. Her countrywoman Peng Shuai had more than enough chances to put Aggie Radwanska away but failed to do so.

You have to give it to Jelena Jankovic. Fans had grown weary of her on court antics - the injury timeouts, the anger at whatever took her fancy, the saccharine smile, so she introduced a new weapon against Iveta Benesova. Players are often delayed coming on court for one reason or another but I can say I've never seen the chair umpire call to find out where the hell a player was before today. JJ got a mixed reception when she came on court but one look at Benesova's face told you that she was past pissed. I wondered if Benesova would be able to put her anger aside and play. She wasn't. JJ made it look easy against Iveta who seemed to have forgotten how to play tennis while JJ played rings around her. Too bad. Should've been a good one.
American qualifier Jesse Levine is supposed to be back in the States by now. Instead he's into the third round at Wimbledon with two surprise victories. An even bigger surprise was American teen Melanie Oudin advancing. Congratulations to both of them.

Vera Zvonareva withdrew from her doubles match today due to a right ankle injury. Dominika Cibulkova also withdrew from doubles with lower back problems.

The Championships 2009
Intended Order of Play for Friday 26 June 2009
SINGLES

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [27] 121 vs Roger Federer (SUI) [2] 128
2. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [8] 97 vs Sorana Cirstea (ROU) [28] 104
3. Mardy Fish (USA) [28] 89 vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4] 96

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Regina Kulikova (RUS) 92 vs Elena Dementieva (RUS) [4] 96
2. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [22] 105 vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [9] 112
3. Tommy Haas (GER) [24] 73 vs Marin Cilic (CRO) [11] 80


COURT 2 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 123 vs Serena Williams (USA) [2] 128
2. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) [7] 65 vs Virginie Razzano (FRA) [26] 72
3. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [7] 97 vs Albert Montanes (ESP) [32] 104


COURT 3 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Robin Soderling (SWE) [13] 113 vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 117
2. Gisela Dulko (ARG) 107 vs Nadia Petrova (RUS) [10] 112
3. Tommy Robredo (ESP) [15] 81 vs Dudi Sela (ISR) 85


COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 115 vs Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 119
2. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [14] 81 vs Elena Vesnina (RUS) 86
3. Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 74 vs Marion Bartoli (FRA) [12] 80
4. Andreas Seppi (ITA) 66 vs Igor Andreev (RUS) [29] 72


Doubles Day 5 Order of Play 6/26/2009

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT

4. Serena Williams (USA) and Venus Williams (USA) [4] 17 vs
Sabine Lisicki (GER) and Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 19


COURT 3 - SHOW COURT

4. Cara Black (ZIM) and Liezel Huber (USA) [1] 1 vs Klaudia Jans (POL) and Alicja Rosolska (POL) 4

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) and Mark Knowles (BAH) [4] 17 vs
Philipp Petzschner (GER) and Alexander Peya (AUT) 19

2. Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) and Vania King (USA) [12] 25 vs
Jocelyn Rae (GBR) and Melanie South (GBR) 27

3. Robert Kendrick (USA) and Sam Querrey (USA) 62 vs
Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) [2] 64


COURT 5 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Vera Dushevina (RUS) and Tatiana Perebiynis (UKR) 30 vs
Kaia Kanepi (EST) and Ipek Senoglu (TUR) 31

2. Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [1] 1 vs
Johan Brunstrom (SWE) and Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO) 4
3. Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Andy Ram (ISR) [7] 33 vs
Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA) and Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 35

4. Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO) and Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 19 vs
Jeff Coetzee (RSA) and Jill Craybas (USA) 20


COURT 7 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Frantisek Cermak (CZE) and Michal Mertinak (SVK) [13] 57 vs
Jamie Delgado (GBR) and Jonathan Marray (GBR) 59

2. Iveta Benesova (CZE) and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 5 vs
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) and Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 7
3. Kristina Barrois (GER) and Tathiana Garbin (ITA) 38 vs
Sara Errani (ITA) and Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 39

4. Philipp Petzschner (GER) and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 35 vs Scott Lipsky (USA) and Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 36

COURT 11 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Rameez Junaid (AUS) and Philipp Marx (GER) 21 vs Prakash Amritraj (IND) and Aisam-Ul- Haq Qureshi (PAK) 23
2. Pablo Cuevas (URU) and Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 39 vs
Travis Parrott (USA) and Filip Polasek (SVK) [10] 40 T/F 7/6(4) 6/7(4) 3/6 0/0 0*-0

3. Dusan Vemic (SRB) and Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 5 vs Colin Fleming (GBR) and Sarah Borwell (GBR) 6
4. Andrei Pavel (ROU) and Monica Niculescu (ROU) 13 vs Jordan Kerr (AUS) and Vania King (USA) 14


COURT 12 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) and Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) [16] 41 vs Laura Robson (GBR) and Georgie Stoop (GBR) 44
2. Martin Damm (CZE) and Robert Lindstedt (SWE) [15] 41 vs
James Cerretani (USA) and Victor Hanescu (ROU) 43
3. Lukasz Kubot (POL) and Oliver Marach (AUT) [8] 49 vs
Chris Guccione (AUS) and Frank Moser (GER) 51

4. Dick Norman (BEL) and Liga Dekmeijere (LAT) 53 vs
James Cerretani (USA) and Sybille Bammer (AUT) 54


COURT 14 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) and Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 45 vs
Samantha Stosur (AUS) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [3]
48 [/i]

2. Andrei Pavel (ROU) and Horia Tecau (ROU) 29 vs Eric Butorac (USA) and Scott Lipsky (USA) 31
3. Christopher Kas (GER) and Viktor Troicki (SRB) 54 vs
Marcelo Melo (BRA) and Andre Sa (BRA) [11] 56

4. Eric Butorac (USA) and Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 43 vs
Johan Brunstrom (SWE) and Vera Dushevina (RUS) 44


COURT 16 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) and Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 61 vs
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) [2] 64

2. Alex Bogdanovic (GBR) and James Ward (GBR) 13 vs
Bruno Soares (BRA) and Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) [5] 16

3. Frantisek Cermak (CZE) and Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 59 vs
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) and Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 60
4. Paul Hanley (AUS) and Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 45 vs
Marcin Matkowski (POL) and Lisa Raymond (USA) [3] 48


MATCHES TO BE ARRANGED
NOT BEFORE 17:00 HR
S

Travis Parrott (USA) and Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 51 vs
James Auckland (GBR) and Elena Baltacha (GBR) 52
Ross Hutchins (GBR) and Anne Keothavong (GBR) 27 vs Bruno Soares (BRA) and Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 28
Andy Ram (ISR) and Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 21 vs Igor Andreev (RUS) and Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 22


A Photo Essay

I guess the Williams Sisters were in a cranky mood today. They walked on court to take names and proceeded to do so wiping up the court with their opponents. You know there was something special in their demeanor because photographers recorded it.

















1 comment:

Overhead Spin said...

I was wondering about what the commentators were yapping about during the JJ match, but could not for the life of me figure it out. Has she finally got a serve or what? She was serving up aces and unreturnables today, then again she was playing Benesova. Today's match with JJ reminded me of why I do not like her. During the match she hit a good passing shot and instead of turning around and doing what everyone else does, she looks acros at her opponent and laughs. Literally laughs. Clearly she has not realised that since the season has started she is yet to beat top 10 player and has not made it to the latter rounds of any major tournament. Oh, to be a fly on the wall and tell this *itch exactly how I feel about her. And can someone please tell Ana Ivanovic to not only stop looking at her box but to stop the fist pumps and the twirls after every single *ucking point. It is getting on my last nerve. The energy she expends doing all that crap should be spent learning how to toss the dang ball in the air and serving. End of rant.