Thursday, July 15, 2021

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.

I was playing during the women's final but managed to catch some highlights, and I know it isn't ideal, but there should be some kind of award? Observance? Something for players like Ash Barty who build a lead in a match, promptly surrender it and then come back in the end to win. I mean, it's maddening if you root for her, but it does make for great tennis, which makes you wonder if that's why she does it? To keep things spicy? I don't know. It's just a lot to watch. It is entertaining, though.

I really like Barty's game and I find it a miracle that Karolina Pliskova made it to the Wimbledon final, based on her generally poor court coverage. But it is Wimbledon, and a big serve and crushing groundstrokes can get you places. I just feel like Pliskova's game is made for the U.S. Open more than any other major, but go off, girl! 

Back to Barty. So she made some comments after the match that made me do a record-scratch. Apparently, her team knew that her hip injury from the French Open supposedly required two months of rest ... and they didn't tell her until after she'd won Wimbledon

... this feels exploitative? 

There hasn't been much more said after she first said this. But yeah, this doesn't feel positive, unless she literally pays her team to not tell her bad news. Or if the time she had to take off after the pandemic due to travel restrictions played a role in soldiering on. But I don't understand how you don't tell Barty about the risks of playing if you know she has a serious injury. I mean, congratulations, but yikes?

Least surprising of all the finals results was Novak Djokovic raising his 20th Grand Slam title. I saw this coming and mused about it, and even to myself, the founder and publisher of Tennis With Attitude, my comments felt petty. They might actually be petty, but at least I'm not alone, because a reporter asked him this to his face!


My personal opinion: Djokovic seems to want to adulation almost too much. Did you see the look on his face on that last changeover in his final with Matteo Berrettini, when the crowd was cheering the underdog on? Dude, calm down. They paid for a whole match and they want five sets! Also, they don't like you a lot, but the racquet giveaways to kids are a good start. 

Last thing: No one -- no one! -- has ever had more alarmist tennis coverage over the years than Yahoo! Sports. It's always a disappointment and usually so alarmist that I don't click, but I had to do it on this one because I wanted to see how crazy it was, and it. did. not. disappoint. Whew buddy.



The photo choice. The headline. The "blow" that Serena certainly doesn't care about. It's full-blown asinine and I'm sure they'll be back at it tomorrow.


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