Wimbledon 2015 Day 06
It was an interesting and at times jolly exciting day of tennis yesterday.
Novak and Stan both went through easily and continue on their course to meet in the semis. There were a couple of surprises I'd call them rather than shocks when both Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov went out to lower ranked players. I say surprise because both matches had the potential for an upset. There were no upsets on the ladies side.
And now for the match of the day, well the match of the tournament thus far: Serena Williams vs. Heather Watson. It looked to begin with that it would be a straight sets, straight forward win for Serena. Heather clearly had other ideas and with the crowd (being led by a group of Aussie fans) firmly behind her she took the match into a third set and even served for the match. Sadly she couldn't hold and Serena went on to hold her serve and break Heather again to win the match. However, Heather played amazing, superb tennis and deserved to win - it really was a match that was won not lost. Serena won it; Heather did not lose it.
As you know I don't like Serena, I respect her abilities but have never liked her. However, in her post-match interview I actually had respect for her as a person not just a player. She said Heather should have won the match, how well she played (she even applauded Heather once during the match, something I've never seen her do) and how she shouldn't just aim for top 20 but for top 10 because she was that good, and how she didn't know how she won the match.
And it wasn't just words; it wasn't just something she felt she had to say because she was in Britain, having just played a Brit, being interviewed by a Brit. I've heard many of her interviews and she's never said anything like this and had anyone actually not known she had won they would have thought by her body language and demeanour that she had been the one to lose. She clearly had a huge shock and also I read this morning she had been surprised by the crowd; she'd never had a Wimbledon crowd so not on her side and who actually at one point booed her. So it's not something I say lightly, but kudos to Serena for what she said.
And even more kudos to Heather for playing so amazingly well and almost winning. I really do hope she can hold onto this and take all the positives from the match and realise what she really is capable of and go forward from here.
So today brings us Roger and Andy and another Brit - James Ward - as well as Tsonga and Monfils. I can't see either Andy or Roger being troubled and I like to think James has a chance. What's annoying *pokes Wimbledon scheduling team* is that Andy and James are likely to be on court at the same time, so I can only watch one of them *Pokes again*
Okay, so it does depend on how long the two matches before Andy & James take. Andy is on after a men's match and a ladies match. James is on after a ladies and a 'to finish' men's match. However, given the two players involved in the 'to finish' have been involved in the two longest ever Wimbledon matches, it's ten all in the final set and they are both big servers it could go on for hours *g* OTOH, it could be over in as few as two games. So maybe the tennis gods will be kind to me and I'll get to watch both James and Andy. However, I doubt they will be - they rarely are *g*
A few of my favourite ladies are also playing, so yes, yet another really good tennis day is on the cards.
Novak and Stan both went through easily and continue on their course to meet in the semis. There were a couple of surprises I'd call them rather than shocks when both Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov went out to lower ranked players. I say surprise because both matches had the potential for an upset. There were no upsets on the ladies side.
And now for the match of the day, well the match of the tournament thus far: Serena Williams vs. Heather Watson. It looked to begin with that it would be a straight sets, straight forward win for Serena. Heather clearly had other ideas and with the crowd (being led by a group of Aussie fans) firmly behind her she took the match into a third set and even served for the match. Sadly she couldn't hold and Serena went on to hold her serve and break Heather again to win the match. However, Heather played amazing, superb tennis and deserved to win - it really was a match that was won not lost. Serena won it; Heather did not lose it.
As you know I don't like Serena, I respect her abilities but have never liked her. However, in her post-match interview I actually had respect for her as a person not just a player. She said Heather should have won the match, how well she played (she even applauded Heather once during the match, something I've never seen her do) and how she shouldn't just aim for top 20 but for top 10 because she was that good, and how she didn't know how she won the match.
And it wasn't just words; it wasn't just something she felt she had to say because she was in Britain, having just played a Brit, being interviewed by a Brit. I've heard many of her interviews and she's never said anything like this and had anyone actually not known she had won they would have thought by her body language and demeanour that she had been the one to lose. She clearly had a huge shock and also I read this morning she had been surprised by the crowd; she'd never had a Wimbledon crowd so not on her side and who actually at one point booed her. So it's not something I say lightly, but kudos to Serena for what she said.
And even more kudos to Heather for playing so amazingly well and almost winning. I really do hope she can hold onto this and take all the positives from the match and realise what she really is capable of and go forward from here.
So today brings us Roger and Andy and another Brit - James Ward - as well as Tsonga and Monfils. I can't see either Andy or Roger being troubled and I like to think James has a chance. What's annoying *pokes Wimbledon scheduling team* is that Andy and James are likely to be on court at the same time, so I can only watch one of them *Pokes again*
Okay, so it does depend on how long the two matches before Andy & James take. Andy is on after a men's match and a ladies match. James is on after a ladies and a 'to finish' men's match. However, given the two players involved in the 'to finish' have been involved in the two longest ever Wimbledon matches, it's ten all in the final set and they are both big servers it could go on for hours *g* OTOH, it could be over in as few as two games. So maybe the tennis gods will be kind to me and I'll get to watch both James and Andy. However, I doubt they will be - they rarely are *g*
A few of my favourite ladies are also playing, so yes, yet another really good tennis day is on the cards.