All-Williams, All-American on July 4
They've played 20 professional matches. Each has won 10 times. Who will get 11 victories first, the one who wears the number on her clothes or the one who doesn't?
Last year, one of them be Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals. The other beat Elena Dementieva in the semifinals. The one who beat Dementieva won the title. Will history repeat itself?
I don't have the actual stats, but it seems that whenever one of them has to fend off a match point to win a match in a Slam, she wins the title. Will that hold true once more?
Will five become six or will two become three?
MadProfessah emailed to tell me Venus would win in straight sets, a prediction he modified slightly. (I know it's a day late and a dollar short, but he had also said Haas Federer would win in straights and Murray would win in four.)
What say you?
Saturday Order of Play
CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 2.00 PM START
1. Venus Williams (USA) [3] vs Serena Williams (USA) [2]
2. Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [1] vs Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) [2]
3. Serena Williams (USA) and Venus Williams (USA) [4] vs Samantha Stosur (AUS) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [3]
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Wimbledon 2009 Day 12 Open Thread
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38 comments:
I am really happy it's an all Williams final...the russians were not such a great match for them. Hope Venus wins!
the Queen will win...eerh, the real Queen :D
Venus
Let's just GET IT ON. I'm rooting for Venus but suspect it will play out as Mad says....
I say Venus.... unless Serena can get her to lose her concentration
great match so far
Serena isn't moving her feet again. Venus is determined. This should be fun.
Tracy Austin and McEnroe are driving me crazy...... sullying the match...... why o why.....
Anyone have a stream from a different country...... I'm fine w- it not being english....
I much prefer wade and drysdale.... especially if it's a Williams match - too many underhand jabs from this bunch and they're just generally annoying for any match - esp Tracy
Tracy Austin SUCKS.
Hi all! Can't watch, gotta run. Happy Fourth of July to all American friends! Hope you have a great weekend, eat lots, and enjoy fireworks if you can.
Game is on radio here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/live/surestream.ram
May need Real Player
Serene's challenging sisters balls....agonising :(
If that doesnt work, the game is here on radio http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/
Serena wins the first set with a lob.
And she had knocked Venus down twice off the ground earlier.
Remarkable.
Radio is also on the wimbledon site:
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html (click live scores in the slamTracker area in the upper right and click "CC" (Centre Court) in the Radio Wimbledon of the new window that opens).
Probably only requires Flash and Javascript.
How about that? Serena wins the tie-breaker! I'm surprised and impressed!
Serena's trying to win. She shouldn't challenge close calls?
Whats eaten thru Vee's head?
The thing about champions is what Serena is doing here.
Seek Control. Take control. Use Control. win!
Its a long way home for my Vee now, but my Ree is not gonna lose this from now own.
wow venus collapsing
As long as her play doesn't drop after losing the challenges, fire away with challenges (not needed in this second set). I think some players start getting doubly frustrated not only that their shot gets called out, but also that their challenge fails.
5-2 in the second, Serena has only lost 2 points when her first serve falls in. WOW.
I have not seen Venus' so basically deconstructed.
Tennis people, why? hows that possible?
Congratulations baby Serena.
I think the pschology of fighting your junior sister to the blood weighs more on her than someone else.
I wouldnt want her to lose this way to someone else, and dareI say its impossible ?
On another board, I voted for Serena in straights. I couldn't write that here because I didn't want to jinx her, but my prelude told y'all where I was at if you could read between the lines.
This Wimbledon is all about the numbers 3 and 5.
I think after last year's final, Venus has been conflicted with guilt. She said something in an interview recently that while she wants to succeed, she never wants to succeed at the expense of her sister. At the time I thought that was a really wierd statement to make and I recall the interviewers asking if she would allow Serena to win and she was adamant in her refusal that she would do that. However, after watching today's match I have to wonder if at some level Venus did not wish for Serena to win. In any event Serena served incredibly well today and she was much better off the ground than Venus. Venus seemed to be feeling the effects of her knees as her first serve percentage was very low. People love Venus at Wimbledon. Listen to the cheers.
Craig,
No offense at all. I just didn't know enough of Tennis to be able to place the way Venus lost the 2nd set.
Serena surely does know how to fight...Azarenka knows about that but its kinda weakeaning- to see Venus deconstructed...
I'm going to be blunt, so if anyone takes offense, I apologize in advance:
I'm tired of the Big Sister argument. As if Little Sisters don't have to fight the same inner turmoil.
Venus drew blood last year in the final and didn't bat an eyelash. Serena raced out to an early lead and took her foot of the gas. After which she completely went away.
No one that I recall said anything about that. All I read was Venus has finally figured out how to leave her protectiveness aside and proved she's the better player.
Really? I didn't see it that way at all.
But this year, Serena was just the better player. Venus didn't even have to play anybody to make the final this year, wasn't even tested.
The best player of the fortnight won the title and that's that.
Venus lost this match when she played a poor tiebreak......
I don't think she was meaning to not fight Serena for the match.... Serena just knew how to play her and wouldn't let go.... as soon as Venus level dropped a second she was there to capitalise...
Really should have best of 5.... Venus wasn't left with any room..
Now b, I'm all with you about best-of-five finals for the women as well as the men.
Hey Craig
ditto on that last point - I didn't see any conflicted feelings on the part of either sister....
If Venus was feeling anything today, it was knee pain. Someone tweeted days ago that Venus seemed to be playing through pain all week, which is why she was so relentlessly aggressive. She wanted to get off the court a soon as possible. The few times Serena knocked her over today, she seemed to get up slowly and step gingerly until the next point began and then she was running beautifully.
Adrenalin is an amazing thing.
She needed to win the tiebreak to give herself a chance to defend her title.
But Serena's serving was just too good today.
I have to say that regardless of what we may think I think the Sister dynamic will always play a role. Whether it is as a result of the protectiveness or whatever. I agree that today Venus was in constant pain with her knee. Her father has aid that his instructions to her throughout this tournament was to just go for her shots. Today, Serena served well and she made Venus hit a lot of uncomfortable shots. Serena created a lot of angles on the forehand side and had Venus scrambling. It was a good match and I guess the better player won today.
Say it again Craig. I'm so disgusted and sick of the "Big Sister" theory. Enough already.
Venus is not sooo loving that she'd let Serena's tally up to 11 while she holds 7 and only on 2 surfaces. Spare me that nonsense. Serena can match fire power with Venus, and while Venus is the better mover - Serena can control points unlike anyone else Venus played. (or on tour for that matter)
Majority of Serena fans don't do this when Venus wins. Shame.
Respect is due, try giving some.
Venus looked shell-shocked and that leads me to believe that she wanted it as badly as Serena. Congratulations Serena. She is a fascinating person and I can't wait to see what she does next. Serena was very focused from the first match of this tournament. I believe the Safina controversy helped her.
I said FEDERER would win in straights, not Haas.
I called Federer to win over Murray at the beginning of the tournament
I think Venus was feeling pain in her knee--she was DEFINITELY not moving as well as she has in the rest of the tournament.
2 aces and 3 double faults??
Serena was serving really well, and played the big points better. I think even if Venus had broken in the first set I am not confident she would have won the first set.
Then in the second set Venus was serving well under 50%--that's just not gonnna cut it.
"But this year, Serena was just the better player. Venus didn't even have to play anybody to make the final this year, wasn't even tested."
Would like to add on that think THIS is a really important point..... That match against Dementieva - in which Serena was "losing" for most of the match and just managed to play better on the big points.... that match probably really helped her more than anything
I agree that Venus seemed to be in pain..... at the same time I don't know if that was so much of a factor in her loss..... I wonder why she didn't try more net play to get a break in 1st set....
Sorry, Mad. I mis-typed your email prediction. I corrected it.
I have to say that regardless of what we may think I think the Sister dynamic will always play a role. Whether it is as a result of the protectiveness or whatever.
::
Karen, that's a perfectly valid observation. What isn't perfectly valid, however, is that it only works in one direction.
Younger siblings can be just as protective of their older siblings as vice versa.
But putting sibling dynamics aside, there's a reason their H2H is 11-10 Serena. There's not a whole lot between them when they play each other. Their record in Slam finals indicates that Serena is a better big match player with a substantially more reliable serve.
This final reminded me of the 2002 Wimbledon final when Serena had Venus on her back foot for most of the match and never let up. You can't let up against Venus. She's too good.
But as Pamela said in the other thread, Serena can control the middle of the court better than anyone on the tour. If she doesn't relinquish that control, knee pain or not, big sister or not, you're simply not going to beat her.
wow that was a great match but the bryans really deflated at the end
Nestor and Zimonjic have an amazing way of picking up their game when the chips are down..... esp nestor, who at times (esp against mardy and blake) looked like the weakest player on court, always seemed to be the most reliable/have the best shots on the truly critical points...
=====
Am I mistaken, I thought the Williams received their trophies on court, not the royal box...... Please clarify, someone
That's what I remember from last year also..... hmmm
Congrats Daniel and Z! Nestor is quietly racking up one of the great doubles resumes in history! When he split with Knowles, many thought he was done for. Much like that other great Canadian Randy Bachman, who Rolling Stone magazine said was finished when he left the Guess Who... only to return to the top with BTO. Like Bachman, Nestor just keeps on TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS!
T. Vag
www.TennisVagabond.com
Oh common ...
Set One - Even though venus was serving almost as well as serena as per stats atleast,
Youd be stupid to not notice how easy Serena's serving points were and how much more difficult wer Venus' in comparison .. altho stats again show venus won most of her first serve points there were definitely so many more rallies on her serve..
Groundies - Not one goddamn groundstroke of VENUS even in the first set looked authoratative.. Serena hit the ball deep everytime.. and Venus hit the ball on the middle line almost every freakin shot....
VENUS DUG her OWN GRAVE HERE>..... If it was a justine henin hardenne she wouldve eaten up VENUS WILLIAMS also...
Venus once again dissappoints her fans.. and its not as if Serena really won the first set.... the first set was pretty SUBPAR from VENUS ... and its a fact... screw the stats... go observe teh game and you would notice what Im saying !
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