Wimbledon '21: It's True, Tho

At the risk of inciting hate, I'm going to posit that the best Wimbledon final was the women's doubles. Not only did it feature one of my favorite unorthodox players, Hsieh Su-Wei, but it was against one of the best doubles players around, Elena Vesnina. And it had drama! We're talking match points saved, then a third no-tiebreak (yes!) set where Hseih and her partner Elise Mertens were having to break at 6-7 to continue the match. Just amazing stuff. Whew. Just the all-court points of it all? I remember when I was starting out playing tennis, and even in pro tennis, it was all about all four players getting to the net. Now, everyone's scrambling all over the court, working all the angles. It's one of those progress moments that make you proud.

Wimbledon '21: The Quarters

I just heard the term "Manic Monday" as applied to Wimbledon's second Monday of the tournament for the first time. I'm sure it's been used before but man was it true yesterday. There were so many questions.

How did Paula Badosa manage to lose that match, especially that first set? 

How are you Karen Khachanov on grass and having trouble holding serve?

Is Aryna Sabalenka intentionally injecting drama into her matches just to see if she can come out of it?

Who is more adept at opening his mouth and removing all doubt: John McEnroe or Piers Morgan? 

And finally, do you like roller coasters? Then you loved Andrey Rublev and Marton's Fucsovic's match, right? My favorite thing from the Internet yesterday was that "Call the ambulance" meme featuring these two. I cried. But I didn't like it, so it's now swept away in the flood that is the Twitter feed. Anyway, it was funny.

So, the quarters are underway and so far, Karolina Pliskova is locking down her spot in the semis and Daniil Medvedev is having a slow start to the continuation of his Round of 16 match. Pretty slow -- down 2-4 in the fifth, so. 

Of the matches coming up, I'm excited for Ons Jabeur v. Sabalenka, about to commence shortly. Jabeur earned the OG tag when she puked on court before upsetting Garbine Muguruza. Sabalenka can basically run the table in any match because of her power, but she's not yet put it all together at a major. This one could be dicey. This has to go three sets, right?

I think Ash Barty is a lock for her quarterfinal. Aja Tomljanovic looked good most of the tournament and against Emma Raducanu in her previous match. (Sidebar: OK, am I the only one who would also be trying to catch my breath after long, tortured rallies against a veteran player? What is this drama?!) But Aja has struggled in just about every other match. Barty in straights.

I would love to say Angelique Kerber is an easy lock for the semis, but I am literally still wondering how Karolina Muchova even won her Round of 16 match. So who knows.

Whoa snap, Medvedev is already out! Well then.