Today was the day Wimbledon entered the 21st century. Tennis fans got to raise the roof as a passing shower allowed the AELTC to close the roof on Centre Court. The historic event happened during the match between Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo. Did it affect the match? In my humble opinion it did. Dinara came back from the long break relaxed and played confident assured tennis, the way she usually does after a chance to consult with her coach. Amelie on the other hand returned tighter than a drum and despite going up 3-0 Amelie lost the final set. To be clear coaching is allowed during the 45 minutes or so it takes to close the roof and get the air conditioning set up. It's just a shame that Dinara can't make it through a match without hand holding from her coach.
The same can be said of Caroline Wozniacki who looked like she was playing her first pro match as she went down to defeat at the hands of Sabine Lisicki. There were a couple of racquet throws made by Caro but the match is going to be remembered for the "bump" between Caroline and Sabine.
I missed it because I had started watching another match after it became obvious that Lisicki was going to win. Bad timing on my part. Both young women look so much alike it must've been like looking into a mirror. There was no hair pulling but Caroline apparently said something to the chair umpire.
The other drama today took place during the match between Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic. After Venus beat her like she stole something in the first set Ana called for the trainer after one game. Deeming herself unfit to play Ana retired. It was obviously not an easy decision for her to make.
Lets hope she gets well soon.
Wonder of wonders. One of the outer court babes is going to play on a show court after she's been exiled to the outer courts the entire tournament.
In a match that probably sent the WTA Glamour Police up the wall Francesca Schiavone played Virginie Razzano on Court 18 defeating Razzano in straight sets. Fran is having a great run right now and it's good to see.
Another woman having a good tournament while flying under the radar is Elena Dementieva. Tomorrows match between the two should be very interesting.
Aggie Radwanska out smarted American teenager Melanie Oudin ending the teen's miracle run. I called her crafty yesterday. I repeat that today.
Anytime I find myself agreeing with Tracy Austin I wonder if I need to get counseling but she made a point today during the match between Nadia Petrova and Victoria Azarenka that proved to be prescient. After losing a tightly contested first set Petrova dominated the second set 6-2. As soon as the set was over Petrova scampered off to the bathroom. Austin said she didn't think that was the right thing for Petrova to do and that by leaving the court Petrova was ceding the momentum back to Azarenka who was clearly on the ropes. Once the third set began a rejuvenated Victoria Azarenka took it to Nadia who by the end of the set had no legs left. Why is it that when she's not working with an American announcer she makes sense?
Singles Order of Play 6/30/2009
CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START
1. Dinara Safina (RUS) [1] 1 vs Sabine Lisicki (GER) 26
2. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [8] 97 vs Serena Williams (USA) [2] 128
COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START
1. Venus Williams (USA) [3] 33 vs Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [11] 49
2. Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 74 vs Elena Dementieva (RUS) [4] 96
Doubles Order of Play
CENTRE - SHOW COURT
3. Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [1] 1 vs Bruno Soares (BRA) and Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) [5] 16
COURT 1 - SHOW COURT
3. Lukasz Kubot (POL) and Oliver Marach (AUT) [8] 49 vs Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) [2] 64
COURT 2 - SHOW COURT
2. Wesley Moodie (RSA) and Dick Norman (BEL) [9] 25 vs
Andrei Pavel (ROU) and Horia Tecau (ROU) 29
3. Andre Sa (BRA) and Ai Sugiyama (JPN) [11] 9 vs
Robert Lindstedt (SWE) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [7] 16
COURT 3 - SHOW COURT
2. Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Andy Ram (ISR) [7] 33 vs
Simon Aspelin (SWE) and Paul Hanley (AUS) 37 T/F 2/6 7/6(3) 6/7(5) 7/6(2) 2/2
3. Igor Andreev (RUS) and Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 22 vs
Christopher Kas (GER) and Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) [16] 24
4. Stephen Huss (AUS) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) [12] 25 vs Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Nadia Petrova (RUS) [8] 32
Junior Order of Play
COURT 2 - SHOW COURT
4. Sally Peers (AUS) 62 vs Laura Robson (GBR) [2] 64 GS
COURT 5 - 11.00 AM START
1. Arthur De Greef (BEL) 42 vs Tom Farquharson (GBR) 44 BS
2. Sachie Ishizu (JPN) 53 vs Yana Buchina (RUS) 55 GS
3. Ana Bogdan (ROU) [3] 17 vs Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 20 GS
4. Veronica Cepede Royg (PAR) and Grace Sari Ysidora (INA) 27 vs
Miyabi Inoue (JPN) and Sachie Ishizu (JPN) 28 GD
5. Isabella Holland (AUS) and Christina McHale (USA) 21 vs
Vaszilisza Bulgakova (HUN) and Chantal Skamlova (SVK) 22 GD
COURT 6 - 11.00 AM START
1. Tamaryn Hendler (BEL) [13] 41 vs Ilinca Stoica (ROU) 44 GS
2. Daniel Berta (SWE) [1] 1 vs David Thomson (GBR) 4 BS
3. Martina Trevisan (ITA) 21 vs Zsofia Susanyi (HUN) 23 GS
4. Sandro Ehrat (SUI) and Dominik Wirlend (AUT) 11 vs
Ahmed El Menshawy (GBR) and Tiago Fernandes (BRA) 12 BD
5. Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) and Zsofia Susanyi (HUN) [4] 9 vs
Ana Bogdan (ROU) and Malou Ejdesgaard (DEN) 10 GD
COURT 7 - 11.00 AM START
1. Stephanie Cornish (GBR) 37 vs Silvia Njiric (CRO) [11] 40 GS
2. Sebastian Lavie (NZL) 13 vs Devin Britton (USA) 15 BS
3. David Souto (VEN) [11] 25 vs Jordan Cox (USA) 28 BS
4. Daniel Berta (SWE) and Radim Urbanek (CZE) [8] 25 vs
Tom Farquharson (GBR) and Stefan Sterland-Markovic (GBR) 26 BD
5. Filip Horansky (SVK) and Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 3 vs
David Thomson (GBR) and Mathew Thomson (GBR) 4 BD
COURT 8 - 11.00 AM START
1. Valeria Solovieva (RUS) 26 vs Miyabi Inoue (JPN) 27 GS
2. Agustin Velotti (ARG) [4] 17 vs Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) 20 BS
3. Gianni Mina (FRA) [6] 49 vs Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 51 BS
4. Valeria Solovieva (RUS) and Maryna Zanevska (UKR) [8] 17 vs
Stephanie Cornish (GBR) and Hannah James (GBR) 18 GD
5. Andrea Collarini (ARG) and Agustin Velotti (ARG) [1] 1 vs
Liam Broady (GBR) and Stanislav Poplavskyy (UKR) 2 BD
COURT 11 - 11.00 AM START
1. Beatrice Capra (USA) 29 vs Tamara Curovic (SRB) 31 GS
2. Angelique Van Der Meet (NED) 14 vs Sloane Stephens (USA) [7] 16 GS
3. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [1] 1 vs Sachia Vickery (USA) 3 GS
4. Lewis Burton (GBR) and George Morgan (GBR) 5 vs Guilherme Clezar (BRA) and Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (EGY) 6 BD
COURT 12 - 11.00 AM START
1. Sudarwa Sitaram (IND) 46 vs Bernard Tomic (AUS) [3] 48 BS
2. Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 29 vs Federico Gaio (ITA) 31 BS
3. Dino Marcan (CRO) 58 vs Stanislav Poplavskyy (UKR) 60 BS
4. Evan King (USA) and Denis Kudla (USA) [4] 9 vs Francis
Casey Alcantara (PHI) and Nikala Scholtz (RSA) 10 BD
5. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) and Alejandra Granillo (MEX) 3 vs
Jana Cepelova (SVK) and Vivien Juhaszova (SVK) 4 GD
COURT 14 - 11.00 AM START
1. Richard Gabb (GBR) 38 vs Dominik Schulz (GER) [9] 40 BS
2. Harry Fowler (USA) 61 vs Ashley Hewitt (GBR) 63 BS
3. Camila Silva (CHI) [10] 9 vs Alexandra Walker (GBR) 12 GS
4. Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas (GER) and Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 27 vs Richard Gabb (GBR) and Ashley Hewitt (GBR) 28 BD
5. Lucy Brown (GBR) and Elisha Gabb (GBR) 13 vs
Nicole Gibbs (USA) and Camila Silva (CHI) 14 GD
COURT 15 - 11.00 AM START
1. Lesley Kerkhove (NED) 34 vs Ksenia Kirillova (RUS) 35 GS
2. Julien Obry (FRA) [10] 9 vs Tiago Fernandes (BRA) 11 BS
3. Chanel Simmonds (RSA) [14] 57 vs Quirine Lemoine (NED) 60 GS
4. Julien Obry (FRA) and Adrien Puget (FRA) 19 vs Alastair Barnes (GBR) and Oliver Golding (GBR) 20 BD
5. Nicola George (GBR) and Jennifer Ren (GBR) 29 vs Quirine Lemoine (NED) and Angelique Van Der Meet (NED) 30 GD
COURT 17 - 11.00 AM START
1. Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) 34 vs Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 35 BS
Not before 12.00 noon
2. Johannes Robert Van Overbeek (USA) 7 vs
Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE) [13] 8 BS T/F 6/4 6/7(3) 9/9
3. Akiko Omae (JPN) 6 vs Daria Gavrilova (RUS) [15] 8 GS
4. Alexander Domijan (USA) 5 vs
Johannes Robert Van Overbeek (USA) 7 or Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE) [13] 8 BS
5. Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) and Akiko Omae (JPN) 5 vs
Luksika Kumkhum (THA) and Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA) 6 GD
COURT 18 - SHOW COURT
4. Magda Linette (POL) and Heather Watson (GBR) [6] 25 vs
Polina Leykina (RUS) and Anna Arina Marenko (RUS) 26 GD
COURT 19 - 11.00 AM START
1. Nastja Kolar (SLO) 46 vs Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) [4] 48 GS
2. Timea Babos (HUN) [6] 49 vs Vivien Juhaszova (SVK) 51 GS
3. Filip Horansky (SVK) 21 vs Tennys Sandgren (USA) [15] 24 BS
4. Kevin Krawietz (GER) 53 vs Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN) 55 BS
5. Sebastian Lavie (NZL) and Riki McLachlan (NZL) 29 vs
Tennys Sandgren (USA) and Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 30 BD
The surprises on the mens side didn't involve stare downs or tears. No one should even pretend to be surprised that Robin Soderling lost in straight sets to the Monogram. The worshipful will say Soderling "pushed" their idol to two tiebreaks and that it was only the greatness of the Monogram that got him through. Whatever.
Stan Wawrinka came out of the gate with guns blazing and took it to Andy Murray in the first set of their match winning it 6-2. After that Wawrinka went on walkabout and Murray took the next two sets. It seemed like the match would be over in four sets but Wawrinka brought himself back to Centre Court and won the fourth set. I was watching without sound by then so I was spared the mewling of the ESPN talking heads. Murray didn't break though and easily won the fifth set 6-3.
That's it for the new jacks. The other men through to the next round are Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tommy Haas, Ivo Karlovic, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt, all members of the previous class of players. Wait, I forgot, Novak Djokovic made it through as well.
Will the Andy's meet in the semis? Will Haas continue his great play? Is Dr. Ivo a wild card in the mix? Stay tuned for the next chapter of "As The Ball Bounces" coming to you right here.
End Notes
The photographers are obsessed with showing us pictures of the spouses of ATP players. For some reason they think we really care about Kim Sears, Bec Cartwright, et al. Well some of you may be curious about what they're up to so I'll give you what you want. Enjoy.
Miroslava Vavrinec
Kim Sears
Brooklyn Decker
Wonder why we never see Mrs. Ivo Karlovic?
Watching Aggie Radwanska outwit young Melanie I found myself thinking about Martina Hingis and how she used to do that to her opponents.
She's not as obnoxious as "Chucky" was on court though and when she's allowed to play her way she's formidable in this the age of hit hard and harder tennis.
i like how the players, on their own, have revived the habit of walking off court together when the match is over. It's a nice touch and emphasizes that once the match is over they go back to being themselves.
If the Queen has reason to show up on Sunday it's going to be epic no? She hasn't attended in 32 years.
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