Tennis

[WalterB]

Howcum our Canadians and Canadiennes aren't saying anything about their Canadian starlet, 20 YO Eugenie Brouchard? Today 13th seeded Eugenie whupped 3th seeded Romanian Simona Halep to advance to the Wimbledon final against 2011 champion, 6th seeded Czech Petra Kvitova, and she did it in convincing fashion.

This is her first Grand Slam final and she would be the youngest Grand Slam champion since 19 YO Maria in 2006. She is expected to be seeded No 7 after todays win and would be No 6 if she wins the final. 7th would be the highest ever reached by a Canadian female player. Something to shout about.

Eugenie appears to be quite stable and capable. My Russian GF Maria Sharapova was outplayed by #9 Angelique Kerber, who was then beaten by No 13 Bouchard in the quarterfinals. Eugenie looks like she could take it.

And, gee, guys, they all wear such cute little skirts And you want to watch guys in shorts?

[Gert-Jan]

Bouchard's recent success ain't totally out of the blue. She's been hitting the balls this good since a year or so, resulting in semi-finals at both the Australian- and French Open. She has played an excellent tournament. Her upcoming match against Kvitova ain't the most anticipated final amongst tennis fans, but if the big names fail to impress, it's up to others to steal the spotlight.

Actually, Maria won her first Grand Slam (Wimbledon) in 2004. I remember it pretty well as that's the day I fell in love with her, lol. The whole world looked at this 17-year old girl and people were like: "Wow, who's that glamorous babe?" She has a powerful forehand, can serve faster than the average male tennis player, topped with an unbelievable determination. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. And after the umpire has shouted the famous words game, set, match, the cameras follow her offcourt, too. Whether she's walking down the red carpet of an award show, doing photoshoots for all sorts of magazines, or creating new stuff for her clothing line; the name Sharapova equals big business.

As for Wimbledon, I haven't watched it as much as previous years. The women's top seeds got eliminated early in the tournament. Hell, even Nadal and Murray are already out. Andy's loss was pretty devastating, especially for all the UK folks, lol. It's funny how they hope to have a British winner year after year after year. He was the defending Champion, though. Djokovic vs Federer in the final... and maybe Roger can win his 8th title?

[WalterB]

I'm pretty sure I've heard of Brouchard before, but really only started watching tennis a little over a year ago, and then only when Maria was on. I really caught the bug when I found out she was 6'2" or so. A real Amazon woman. TAKE me, girl!!!

I don't watch the guys. Am I sexist? You bet your sweet bippy!

[AussieSteve]

Looking forward to the Ladies Final at Wimbledon on Saturday as both girls (Kvitova & Bouchard) are definitely hot looking
I hope Bouchard wins because she is eminently better to watch playing Tennis than Sharapova who can only be viewed with the Mute Button on!

[WalterB]

You're right, Steve. I hate that shouting. Drives me crazy.

I guess by now you know that Eugenie didn't make it. Petra totally outplayed her. I think it was 6-3, 6-0. Eugenie was thoroughly crushed. I'm sure she went in with high hopes, but when she lost, it really seemed to get to her. Head down, no smiles, very defeated attitude. But, personally, I don't think she had anything to be ashamed of. First, to reach the finals at Wimbledon, after defeating such great players, is an accomplishment in itself. I really look forward to seeing more of her, and more top numbers at Grand Slam events. The U.S. Open is next, Aug 25th - Sept 8th.

Don't want to see her defeat Maria, but would be nice to see her and Maria in the Final.

[CGYMike]

Sometimes you have to lose before you can win. I'm so impressed with my Canadian talented tennis star, but she got her ass handed to her today. I saw the disappointment but also saw the determination on her face..Look out US Open...here we come :)


Mike

[WalterB]

I think Chrissie (Evert) even said something along those lines in the post-match comments - she expects Genie to come back stronger.

I wonder if she let the euphoria of getting that far get to her? I thought she played very well in the two previous matches I saw. It's happened before. She certainly is better than how she played today. But, like Chris said, Petra just overpowered her.

[AussieSteve]

Well done to Petra Kvitova on winning her 2nd Wimbledon title she was too good on the day for Eugenie Bouchard. Interesting to see how Bouchard performs at the US Open! Hope she goes well in NY.

[TheBoy]

A big fan of tennis - both playing and watching and I've just about recovered from watching an astounding final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. It really is a privilege to be a tennis fan in this era with Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and yes, even Murray all playing at the same time. I think also it's good that none of them rely on pure power and instead all four of them have incredible tennis brains, not to mention to the ability to pull off the often impossible looking shots. It also helps that all of them are easily likeable people (and yes, I include Murray in that again lol). Djokovic doing his impressions of other players is so funny (especially his Sharapova!), Federer oozes class and Nadal and Murray are both surprisingly humorous guys off court.

As for the women, I too was bitterly disappointed for Bouchard yesterday, and not just because I backed her mid way through the tournament at some very juicy odds ;) My worry with her though is that she has had such a meteoric rise through the rankings this past year - from around 66 up to 6-7 now I believe. And the temptation is to say she will only improve and stay there. But I see slight comparisons to someone like Wozniacki who also at a similar age climbed to world number one for two years, but failed to win a slam during that time. She also made it to the US Open final against Kim Clijsters and despite the defeat, the thought was "well she will be in plenty more". Now she hovers around the outskirts of the top 10 and looks further away from winning a major title than ever.

I hope that Bouchard doesn't slip into the same path and she surrounds herself with top quality coaches and a team who will push her on, because she can only be good for women's tennis if she does.

Oh man yes, I totally agree with Steve and Walter - the grunting in women's tennis drives me potty! I recall seeing an interview a year or so ago with Caroline Wozniacki and she said it's amazing that the girls who grunt/scream on the court, when you watch them practising they are perfectly quiet...

[TheBoy]

I'm off to the ATP Tour World Finals at the o2 Arena in London tomorrow with a friend and as luck would have it, we finally get to see Roger Federer play live :) Feeling very excited as it's been a long time dream to see the great man live on court. Hopefully it should be a great evening :)

[Gert-Jan]

Life is not fair, lol.... just kidding. You're a lucky guy! He has been to the ATP tournament in Rotterdam quite a few times as Richard Krajicek is the tournament director and good friends with the Swiss superstar, but I've never actually seen him live on court. Either my schedule didn't allow it or everything was sold out.

Anyway, have fun! Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Berdych to reach the Semi-Finals?

[TheBoy]

Thanks Gert-Jan - fun I certainly did have :) Federer was brilliant to watch, even though it maybe wasn't exactly a vintage performance from him. His opponent, Milos Raonic was perhaps a little overwhelmed for the first set as Roger wrapped it up 6-1 in just 25 minutes. But the second set was much closer with Federer having to save a few break points and it looked like a third set was on the cards. But he powered through the tie break, much to the adoring crowd's approval.

We were also treated to an on court interview with Stefan Edberg who, along with being part of Federer's coaching team, was there to present him with the Stefan Edberg and fan's choice awards.

If you ever get the chance to visit the event in the future, I'd highly recommend it! It's has an indoor US Open kind of feel due to the extra 'glitz and glamour' added with music, flashing lights, etc. My friend and I are already eager to book tickets for next year :)

Djokovic and Federer look safe to be in the semi-finals, but Murray and Berdych have a lot of work to do now after their first match results. I'm kind of not totally surprised with Murray as he played a pretty brutal schedule over the past month or so to actually get to the Finals so I did wonder if he might suffer some burn out. Wawrinka is still a bit of a wildcard to me - he has blown away Berdych earlier today and he could continue that form to win the whole thing, or he could lose 6-1 6-1 in the next match. I'm going to be interested in seeing how Cilic performs although he is easily in the toughest group.

[Gert-Jan]

An easy straight set victory for Federer over Nishikori in his second World Tour Finals match. Andy Murray beats Milos Raonic!

Are the English tennis fans supporting Murray with the same enthusiasm as during Wimbledon?

....thought I'd add one of my favorite off court pics of Goddess Maria....

[TheBoy]

There has been some absolutely crushing defeats so far in the tournament! Poor Stan looked like a hurricane had hit him after Djokovic had finished with him - and that was after being 2-0 up in the first set. Wawrinka scored just 7 points in the first set after that and then amazingly just 4 points in the entire second set!

Murray never stood a chance last night, not with the mood Federer was in. It was almost like Roger had heard nothing but how Djokovic is going to win the tournament easily and decided to demonstrate he still means business by wiping the floor with Murray. I got the feeling Murray only managed to win his single game in the second set because Federer decided to let him lol.

The second group is still very much in the balance due to Djokovic's dominance. As I type, he has taken the first set against Berdych, who needs to hope and pray that he can at least win a few games, just in case Cilic beats Wawrinka in straight sets. You would think that possibly Stan is just about the favourite to go through and face Federer in the semis though.

It's been a great tournament so far - it's taken my mind completely off football lol.

[Gert-Jan]

Game, set, match.

"I spoke to Roger – as I understand, he retired a match maybe three times in his career in over a thousand matches. You cannot blame him. You never like to win, especially these big matches against big rivals, with a retirement. But that's the way it is". Novak Djokovic has the utmost respect for his Swiss colleague. In fact, the entire world population still considers him the King and for all the right reasons as Federer is the man who has won the most Grand Slams in history. Sadly, the fight between Fed and Djoko did not go through, cause Roger had to withdraw due to an injury. Anti-climax? Most definitely. On the other hand, Federer has showed everyone in the last couple of days that he is still one of world's best tennis players....

[AussieSteve]

Hopefully Roger Federer will be fit to play here down under from January 4th at the Australian Open warm-up tournament for the men in Brisbane as I might be able to get along there to see him in action Maria Sharapova is also scheduled to play in the women's Brisbane tournament that runs concurrently with the men's event

[Gert-Jan]

Do you ever ask yourself the question "how on earth did I miss this match?!" I almost felt like hitting my head on the table when reading comments about the game between fan favorite Heather Watson and power player Serena Williams. Apparently Watson was only two points away from eliminating the #1 seed. Serena and Venus will now face each other in the 4th round at Wimbledon and the winner will possibly meet Sharapova in the semis. Last year's champion Kvitova was knocked out of the tournament today by Jankovic.

I did catch most of the Nadal vs Brown game earlier this week, which was phenomenal from both sides. Sadly, Nadal will never be his old self again as his physical style has already resulted in tons of injuries. It's a shame, but let's not forget that the Spanish player has been on the court for over a decade now. He won 9 French Open titles. Nine!! Dustin Brown's fairytale didn't last long. He got defeated by Troicki (#22) in the 3rd round.

My guess is Djokovic, Wawrinka, Murray and Federer will reach the semis.

[WalterB]

Williams was 2 points away from losing twice, but Watson couldn't pull it off. I watched that match. It was a good one. As much as I like Maria, I'm not sure she could take Venus and almost certain she can't take Serena.

Maria is playing Monday at the same time as the Williams sisters, so almost positive they'll show the Williams match on TV, with very occasional peeks at the Sharapova/Diyas match. I can keep up with the score on line but that's not like watching it live.

Maria is #4 and Diyas is unseeded, but there have been several seeded players defeated by the unseeded. So it's never a given.

[Gert-Jan]

Both Serena and Sharapova are relatively easy through to the quarters in which the American will face former #1 Azarenka. Make sure you don't have the volume turned up too high, cause sometimes I think Azarenka is even louder than Serena, lol. Walt, you're right, women's tennis can be so unpredictable! VanDeWeghe defeated #6 seed Lucie Safarova, meaning that Sharapova is basically in the semis already as long as the Russian doesn't let anything disrupt her concentration. Focus is the key word here.

Ivo Karlovic has always been a tough nut to crack, but Murray defeated the Croatian in 4 sets and with some impressive statistics, such as 6 lob winners and 18 backhand winners. In addition, Karlovic made 32 unforced errors! That's just too much if you really want to challenge Murray. It's crazy to watch 36-year old Karlovic come up with aces when they are needed the most, lol. Two break- or set points down? No problem. BOOM! 150mph.

Djokovic vs Anderson will continue on Tuesday. The game is currently tied 2-2 in sets.

[WalterB]

Don't think I've "heard" Azarenka play (that match is after Sharapova/Vandeweghe this morning) but if she and Maria were to match up (unlikely this match) sounds like it might be time for the earplugs, lol.

Maria is handling Coco pretty well. This is Maria's first Quarterfinal in 4 years and, to me, she looks ready for it. She has 7 double faults so far in this match, but, to me, looks pretty strong. Of course, she's have to be strong to handle Serena. Keeping my fingers crossed.