Women's tennis at Wimbledon today

[alexrgct]

Two matches of note:

Serena Williams needed at 9-7 third set to survive her matchup with Zheng Zie. Serena tallied 23 aces in the match, but otherwise didn't play very well. But she's in the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Yaroslava Shvedova defeated French Open finalist Sara Errani in straight sets, including a golden set. Golden sets basically never happen; if Wikipedia is to be trusted:

Only one man in the history of top-tier professional tour tennis has ever achieved this: Bill Scanlon against Marcos Hocevar in the first round of the WCT Gold Coast Classic at Delray Beach on February 22, 1983. Scanlon won the match 6–2, 6–0. The achievement is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 1943, Pauline Betz won the Tri-State tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, defeating Catherine Wolf in the final, 6–0, 6–2, without losing a point in the first set.[1] In the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, Yaroslava Shvedova achieved a golden set against Sara Errani. She later went on to win the match 6-0, 6-4.

 

[RadyLady]

Didn't know what it was, had an idea, but looked it up to confirm. A Golden set is a set where the winner did not drop a single point. WOW - what a crusher for the loser.

Anyway, there were glimpses of the old Serena, but I don't know if she has the stuff to go very far this tourney. Thoughts?

 

[alexrgct]

Unfortunately for Serena, her half of the draw is very deep. She, Ivanovic, Kvitova, Azarenka, and Schiavone have all won majors, and her next opponent, Shvedova, has been playing well. Serena is entitled to a tough match, but she's going to have to step her game up to make it through. And if she does, Sharapova and Clijsters are lurking in the top half with a much easier draw (other than each other, which would be a QF matchup), especially with Sam Stosur going down.

For Serena to win it all, she probably has to beat Shvedova, Kvitova, Azarenka, and Clijsters/Sharapova in that order. That's a brutal draw- downside of being a #6 seed.

 

[RadyLady]

yep

 

[wire chief]

On the men's side, Mardy Fish is through, but Andy Roddick isn't. Sam Querry right now is in extra innings vs. Martin Cilic.

 

[alexrgct]

Querry went down 15-17 in the fifth set. Heartbreaking way to lose. Not like losing 68-70 like Mahout a couple years ago, but still.

How about American Brian Baker making it through to the fourth round?

 

[JoePgh]

How can you be supporting Brian Baker? He's from TENNESSEE!!!

 

[alexrgct]

BTW, Serena better brace herself for Shvedova. I just watched that golden set again, and although you have to be lucky and good to accomplish something like that, Shvedova is hitting some nasty serves and groundies. That set had a bit of everything:

• Lasted 15 minutes total.
• One shot that clipped the netcord
• Two shots from Errani that were winners if they stayed in. One JUST missed.
• Huge second serves from Shvedova (who actually was only 58% in terms of first serves in), including a second serve ace.
• Crisp groundstrokes with sharp, difficult angles.
• One sky-hook-esque volley that barely dropped in play for Shvedova.
• Announcer didn't even realize that was a golden set until after the fact.
• Errani promptly won the first point of the second set.

No one wins 24 points in a row. Just crazy. Much less against a top 10 ranked player.

 

[alexrgct]

How can you be supporting Brian Baker? He's from TENNESSEE!!!

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Kinda slim pickins when it comes to American tennis players. Beggers can't be choosers.

 

[wire chief]

When darkness fell, Venus & Serena were i-1 in sets in doubles.

 

[MilfordHusky]

. Beggers can't be choosers.

Nor can beggars. [I know--No one likes a pain in the ass when it's this hot.]

 

[RadyLady]

Nor can beggars. [I know--No one likes a pain in the ass when it's this hot.]

Preparation H for the pain, Preparation A for the beggars.....