Australian Open final
What to make of it.
First of all, a big congrats to Amélie Mauresmo on a well deserved first Grand Slam title. I honestely hope the press focusses on Amélie, not on Justine.
About Justine's decision to retire. She must have been really sick, or else she wouldn't have retired. I've seen Justine play through enough other injuries before to know that she doesn't retire easily. Reading her interview after the match, I can't help but feel that her decision may have been affected by Kim hurting her ankle in the semi-final. Justine said she didn't want to continue the match and risk getting another injury. It is indeed a risk. Martina Hingis mentioned early on in the tournament that due to a lack of fitness, players twist their ankles more easily on this kind of surface. Rebound Ace kills ankles. We've seen an unfit Serena roll over her ankle, Lindsay hurt her ankle and then Kim, who was far from fit either, hurt it badly and is out for two months. (and I'll never forget seeing Anabel Medina crying out in pain when she hurt her ankle in her match against Monica Seles a few years ago. I don't know why this particular injury has stayed with me for so long)
Also, Justine is right in saying it's easy for us to judge her, sitting lazily on our couch. We don't know how she feeling out there. She must have been feeling pretty miserable. It's easy to say that she should have done this or that, we're not her, we weren't there.
However...
I feel she should have taken a bathroom break or something, thought a little longer about what the concequences would be of retiring. She was probably too miserable to think about it, taking a short break might have made it easier for her to think a little clearer on the matter.
In a semi-final, I would have accepted her decision to retire on the basis that she didn't want to risk another injury.
But this was a grand slam final! She should have taken the risk and played out the match.
By retiring, she denied Amélie that magic moment of winning a first slam in front of a full house. The tension on match point, the release when the point is won. That must be such an amazing moment, and Amélie's been denied that moment and that's a real shame.
I haven't read the newspapers yet, but I hope they focus on Amélie and that thay make it HER moment. Let it not be a repeat of what happened when Amélie first made the final back in 1999. Amélie had just made a major break-through, felt proud when seeing herself on the newspaper, but when she started to read the articles, she noticed the papers weren't talking about how she played, but about Hingis's half man comment. Amélie recently mentioned that really hurt.
So, a big congrats to Amélie, no matter what people might say, Amélie deserved it and is a worthy grand slam winner.
First of all, a big congrats to Amélie Mauresmo on a well deserved first Grand Slam title. I honestely hope the press focusses on Amélie, not on Justine.
About Justine's decision to retire. She must have been really sick, or else she wouldn't have retired. I've seen Justine play through enough other injuries before to know that she doesn't retire easily. Reading her interview after the match, I can't help but feel that her decision may have been affected by Kim hurting her ankle in the semi-final. Justine said she didn't want to continue the match and risk getting another injury. It is indeed a risk. Martina Hingis mentioned early on in the tournament that due to a lack of fitness, players twist their ankles more easily on this kind of surface. Rebound Ace kills ankles. We've seen an unfit Serena roll over her ankle, Lindsay hurt her ankle and then Kim, who was far from fit either, hurt it badly and is out for two months. (and I'll never forget seeing Anabel Medina crying out in pain when she hurt her ankle in her match against Monica Seles a few years ago. I don't know why this particular injury has stayed with me for so long)
Also, Justine is right in saying it's easy for us to judge her, sitting lazily on our couch. We don't know how she feeling out there. She must have been feeling pretty miserable. It's easy to say that she should have done this or that, we're not her, we weren't there.
However...
I feel she should have taken a bathroom break or something, thought a little longer about what the concequences would be of retiring. She was probably too miserable to think about it, taking a short break might have made it easier for her to think a little clearer on the matter.
In a semi-final, I would have accepted her decision to retire on the basis that she didn't want to risk another injury.
But this was a grand slam final! She should have taken the risk and played out the match.
By retiring, she denied Amélie that magic moment of winning a first slam in front of a full house. The tension on match point, the release when the point is won. That must be such an amazing moment, and Amélie's been denied that moment and that's a real shame.
I haven't read the newspapers yet, but I hope they focus on Amélie and that thay make it HER moment. Let it not be a repeat of what happened when Amélie first made the final back in 1999. Amélie had just made a major break-through, felt proud when seeing herself on the newspaper, but when she started to read the articles, she noticed the papers weren't talking about how she played, but about Hingis's half man comment. Amélie recently mentioned that really hurt.
So, a big congrats to Amélie, no matter what people might say, Amélie deserved it and is a worthy grand slam winner.