"Official" Wimbledon Thread

[nafselon]

Didn't know she brought in the rains.

 

[BTExpress]

Didn't know she brought in the rains.

She didn't.

But everyone knew the rain was coming, and Serena's 15-minute injury timeout and the 45 seconds spent between points in the 11th and 12th games and in the tiebreak ensured that when the rains came she wouldn't be down 3-0 in the third set.

 

[GB-Hack]

Uh-oh, Serena just went down hard.

Looks like she might have hurt her left leg....up a set, 5-5 in the second against Hantuchova.

You mean she's out of shape like always, putting maximum strain on her body with her power tennis?

Injuries and errors are part and parcel of Serena Williams' game. Getting hurt and screwing up are her weaknesses, born of an unpolished, brutish game, poor fitness regimen and celebrity living.

Excuse me, but have you seen Serena recently? She's dropped a ton of weight, and was showing some great touch as Hantuchova sprayed the ball all over the court to let her get to a tie break.

On the other hand, all Hantuchova had to do was keep the ball in play, and she wins the set. Instead, she kept trying to hit the lines, and missed repeatedly.

 

[Alma]

Uh-oh, Serena just went down hard.

Looks like she might have hurt her left leg....up a set, 5-5 in the second against Hantuchova.

You mean she's out of shape like always, putting maximum strain on her body with her power tennis?

Injuries and errors are part and parcel of Serena Williams' game. Getting hurt and screwing up are her weaknesses, born of an unpolished, brutish game, poor fitness regimen and celebrity living.

Excuse me, but have you seen Serena recently? She's dropped a ton of weight, and was showing some great touch as Hantuchova sprayed the ball all over the court to let her get to a tie break.

On the other hand, all Hantuchova had to do was keep the ball in play, and she wins the set. Instead, she kept trying to hit the lines, and missed repeatedly.

Let me clarify: I'm not sure Serena Williams thinks - and I'm not sure anyone else in the tennis broadcasting strata thinks - anyone can beat her but herself. If she loses it's either because she had a bunch of unforced errors, or because she's hurt, or tweaked, or not 100%

My response is simple: Errors and injuries are Williams' weaknesses. They aren't just a bad day or a tough physical break; they're the byproduct of the way she trains and plays. If someone flails around all day like she does, ripping away, taking thunderous steps on the court, slowly but surely ensuring she won't be able to walk when she's 50, well, errors and injuries tend to ensue. No question she's strong - she oughta be. No question she's gutty - with her lack of skills and power game, she has to be or she wouldn't win at all.

But this nonsense that, according to **** Enberg, "spiritual justice" was done when the rains stopped play...are you kidding? It was a cramp - not a sniper's bullet.

 

[GB-Hack]

She was dominating the game, and deserved to win it.

No-one deserves to lose a match they are dominating because of an injury. And did you see some of the touch she showed when she was hobbling around at the end?

Yeah, no touch or skill there.

 

[hondo]

I don't know ... no matter what stage of their career, Serena and Venus have always looked athletic, buff, chisled, etc., and they're always getting hurt. They're either very fragile or can't play hurt in the least little bit.

 

[sportschick]

Serena up 5-2 in the third. Shocking what a rain delay can do for a cramp.

She hasn't looked this good for a couple years.

 

[sportschick]

I don't know ... no matter what stage of their career, Serena and Venus have always looked athletic, buff, chisled, etc., and they're always getting hurt. They're either very fragile or can't play hurt in the least little bit.

Serena was in no way buff or chisled at the Aussie Open this year. She looked like what she'll become when she retires, a big, round girl.

 

[John]

Good feature on the Bryan brothers in the N.Y. Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/02/sports/tennis/02tennis.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087%0A&em&en=1c81fcf0cd040017&ex=1183521600

 

[sportschick]

Somebody get Chris Fowler off my TV. sigh.

Great story on the Bryans, John.

 

[BTExpress]

No-one deserves to lose a match they are dominating because of an injury.

For the most part that's true.

But tennis is very much a fitness game.

Without the rain, Serena was not fit enough to win.

With the rain, she was.

She was the better player, but not the fitter one. On a sunny day, that would have spelled a loss.

 

[GB-Hack]

How does suffering a cramp make someone unfit?

Under-hydrated, maybe, but not unfit.

 

[kingcreole]

How does suffering a cramp make someone unfit?

Under-hydrated, maybe, but not unfit.

Good observation. You see it all the time in the NFL and international soccer. Great conditioned athletes suffering cramps.

 

[BTExpress]

How does suffering a cramp make someone unfit?

Not necessarily "unfit", just less fit than her opponent.

Of course, it's kind of hard for Hantuchova to have a muscle cramp. You need to have muscles for that to happen. ;) ;) ;) ;)

I don't know ... no matter what stage of their career, Serena and Venus have always looked athletic, buff, chisled, etc., and they're always getting hurt. They're either very fragile or can't play hurt in the least little bit.

Henin missed most of 2004 with a viral infection.

Clijsters missed most of 2005 with a wrist injury.

Capriati hasn't played in years because of a bad shoulder.

Hingis (pre-retirement) missed months with a foot injury.

Davenport was hobbled for much of her last two years on tour.

Pretty much everyone gets hurt. The Williams sisters have always been selective about how much they play, so that plus the injuries have caused them to miss an inordinate amount of time.

 

[joe_schmoe]

To stray away slightly...
Maybe I'm missing it, but didn't anyone at AP take a picture of Serena's collapsing from the front side? I really don't wanna give my readers 3-4 columns worth of Serena's ass.

 

[hondo]

The Williams sisters are missing months at a time with muscle pulls and strains. That's begin fragile.

 

[ballscribe]

Alma has it nailed about why the Williams sisters get hurt so much. It tells you how much better they could have been in their careers, had they actually had a real coach. I swear, they would have gone on a 10-year unbeaten streak between the two of them.

Serena served 110 mph out wide (that's Roddick territory) on no legs. Are you kidding me?

That being said (and this has nothing to do with my sig, not a big 'Rena fan, because I've met her, but I do look fabulous in that dress), she has big, fat hairy ones as big as coconuts and hard as brass.

Pure determination and belief. Hats off to her.

Her presser afterwards was as natural and vulnerable (albeit guarded) as I think I've seen her in a long time. Deep down, no matter what she says, I don't think she yet believed she had actually pulled that one off.

 

[BTExpress]

That being said (and this has nothing to do with my sig, not a big 'Rena fan, because I've met her, but I do look fabulous in that dress), she has big, fat hairy ones as big as coconuts and hard as brass.
Pure determination and belief. Hats off to her.

All true, but . . .

1. Although it's always a strange position for the "healthy" player to be in, Hantuchova played an inexcusably loose and tactically questionable third set. Better to serve an underhanded drop shot than let an immobile Serena tee off on your mediocre deliveries.

2. Henin would have crushed Serena --- brass coconuts and all --- 6-1 in that third set.

 

[Alma]

Alma has it nailed about why the Williams sisters get hurt so much. It tells you how much better they could have been in their careers, had they actually had a real coach. I swear, they would have gone on a 10-year unbeaten streak between the two of them.

An interesting comparison is Tiger Woods. Not a rich kid, equally mentally tough, minority learned to play the game at the foot of his outspoken father, who was a good, but hardly great golfer.

The similarities ended when Tiger rebuilt his swing with Harmon, then rebuilt it again with Haney, because he understood that his original swing, the one that won him the Masters, was going to throw his back out by age 30. And Tiger, of course, is probably the best conditioned golfer in the world.

As far as the Williams...eh, the door swings both ways. If Hingis had ever taken her conditioning/strength training seriously, she could have won three or four more majors, if Seles hadn't been stabbed, if Mauresmo wasn't such an utter head case...I think it's all shaken out in the end.

 

[GB-Hack]

That being said (and this has nothing to do with my sig, not a big 'Rena fan, because I've met her, but I do look fabulous in that dress), she has big, fat hairy ones as big as coconuts and hard as brass.
Pure determination and belief. Hats off to her.

All true, but . . .

1. Although it's always a strange position for the "healthy" player to be in, Hantuchova played an inexcusably loose and tactically questionable third set. Better to serve an underhanded drop shot than let an immobile Serena tee off on your mediocre deliveries.

Now here I believe you. As the Hantuchova quote in the AP story that moved said, and I paraphrase, It's hard to play against someone you know is struggling with an injury.

She's got a ton of talent, but you know Henin, Mauresmo or Sharapova would have been drop-shotting Serena out of the game, instead of spraying shots all over the place gifting Serena points.