“He’s wearing a big floppy Napoleon hat and he’s walking toward the chair. I can’t make out what he’s saying. Killer?”
“Brad, Davydenko just told the chair umpire ‘I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,’ and now he’s dancing a little jig. I’m not sure he can come back from this.”
Hey, look at that, I went two for two on the men’s matches. Although I feel like I got the Federer match wrong because I didn’t see any of that craziness coming. That match turned on a dime in the second set, and made another hairpin turn early in the fourth before Federer put the flames out. I’ve never seen anything like that, although actually both the Williams matches were similar. I saw most of Serena’s match but not Venus’.
Federer did a great job of pulling himself together and adjusting his game, but man, Davydenko completely wilted after he failed to get that extra break. He still had a big advantage at that point, up a set and a break and playing much better, but you wouldn’t have known it a game or two later. And you never have known how well he’d been playing (including against Federer) in the last few months. There was a real mental weakness there. He choked for two full sets and couldn’t loosen up until he was far behind. If you want to know what separates the top players from the next best competition, there it is.
I’m a little amazed I saw that whole match. I didn’t see Tsonga and Djokovic but Federer-Tsonga and Murray-Cilic should be good stuff. Between them, these four guys have won 15 grand slam titles… by which I mean Federer has the record, Tsonga and Murray are looking to make their second finals appearance and win their first, and Cilic has never been this far before.
Watching the women’s semi-finals, and Li Na came pretty damn close to taking a set off Serena, and considering Serena’s condition, taking the match. She just seemed to choke and make wild errors at important points, and Serena just reached down into whatever it is that makes her Serena and pull it out when it mattered.
And Justine is absolutely dominating Zheng. Who else thinks that Serena is gonna get denied two majors in a row by retired Belgians making a comeback to their first major tournament?
Henin stomped an overmatched opponent and Serena squeaked past one who stood her ground. Make no mistake, by the way, Serena played well: she hit 33 winners (12 aces) against 24 errors. +9 is very good in a men’s match and better in a women’s match. Li’s stats are not as impressive (21 winners and 38 errors) but she held firm. So I don’t know if this is a better sign for Henin or Serena. Henin is unlikely to go away at the big moments like Li did, and Serena isn’t going to be intimidated like Zheng was. Winners and errors for Henin and Zheng, by the way: 23 and 14 vs. 3 and 15. Ouch. I think it’s great these two are finally meeting in a major final but I’m torn on who to pick. I’ll say Henin in three.
Serena is already back on the court for her doubles semifinal, by the way.
Here’s the deal, if Henin beats Serena in the finals, there’s gonna be a big time party at my virtual house and you guys are all invited. Drinks will copiously be on the house.
For me, it’s like the Red Sox vs. Yankees; they’re both distasteful choices who I don’t like, but whose games I can respect. I’ll go with the lesser of two evils in the Red Sox (Henin). Justine is also a lot more fun to watch; her game is just a lot more balanced.
Same here, Though as a Brit, I’d be happy for Andy to win, my heart is with Fed.
We should cherish him while he plays because he is a once-a-generation sportsman.
This is 8 consecutive finals (not his best run) but 23 consecutive semi’s as well !!!
Absolutely astonishing, the man is an artist, a genius and a gent. Long may he reign.
Well - the 2 players I hoped would win it all have made it to the finals (Henin and Federer) - so I’m pretty happy with that. As much as anything - I’m hoping for some good tennis. But I could see certainly imagine a blowout in both. Federer and Henin both had such easy wins to get to the finals - I’m hoping that will provide a combination of momentum and rest to push them over the top.
I never want Federer to lose usually, but this is one occasion where I wouldn’t mind it. Either way, if both players perform to their potential, it will be a treat for tennis fans.
As an aside - and while we’re waiting for more tennis - several people have expressed some fairly strong opinions about Henin and seemed to reference some past behavior or drama. I know she had some personal drama and lost contact with her family for a while. But is there something else I’m missing? Or am I just reading too much into some peoples posts? I never thought of her as particularly polarizing - so I’m a bit surprised by some of the strong opinions. Anyway - just asking.
Tsonga was lifeless, but that was mostly because Federer was locked in from the first game and just destroyed him. That was brutal and it was not a good sign for Murray. Federer served a lot better than he did against Davydenko, and while Tsonga tried to be aggressive, he doesn’t move as well as Davydenko did, so he couldn’t knock Federer out of his comfort zone. Murray does move better and play better defense in addition to any fitness issues Tsonga may have been having. I say Federer wins the title in 4 sets. And I hope Tsonga can stay healthy from now on. He’s an exciting player but you don’t usually hear much from him after the Australian Open because he breaks down for one reason or another. He’s fun to watch.
Henin has a beautiful backhand, an excellent overall game, and is a great competitor. And don’t forget that she’s become a top player while competing against bigger, often stronger women. She uses all of her potential and her rivals often don’t. But as far as problems with her go, there are usually two: one comes from a match she played against Serena at the French Open in 2003. The short version is that Henin called timeout before a key point was about to be played. Serena had already started her service motion, and after Henin called timeout, she missed her serve. The umpire didn’t see the timeout and called a fault. Serena protested and the umpire asked Henin if she had called for time. Henin ignored the question, so the call stood. There’s a summary here. I admit I forgot about how long ago this was, and I think Henin has grown up some since then, so maybe it’s time to let go of that. But at the time she was already getting credit for having matured as a person. It was a really disappointing thing to see because it was dishonest and unsporting.
The second issue was mentioned by someone else upthread: Henin quit during the final of the 2006 Australian Open. Amelie Mauresmo was beating her 6-1, 2-0, when Henin retired because of stomach pains caused by medication. A lot of people felt she decided to quit because she was losing. Retiring from a match is one thing, but retiring during the finals of a grand slam tournament? That’s a big deal, and the negative response was all the worse because her opponent, Mauresmo, was well-liked by everybody but hadn’t won a major title before. (She was a really good player for a while but had a reputation for being a choke artist in big tournaments.) Some people felt Henin had used her stomach pains as an excuse and as a result had cheapened the high point of Mauresmo’s career. That might be a little unfair because Henin is very tough and I’m sure she was in pain. I don’t think she retired in a fit of pique. I do think she saw she had no chance to win and decided to retire anyway. But the match would have been over very soon anyway, and in a major final I think you have to play to the finish.
As a post script, Henin and Mauresmo played again in the Wimbledon final that year. Mauresmo won in three sets, and that was the only other slam she ever won. Henin has won every major except Wimbledon.
2006 was also a long time ago, especially with a two-year break from a life-dominating career. She’d hopefully have had plenty of time to truly mature and grow a little. Four years can be quite a long time for people when it comes to personal growth and especially when you’re only in your 20s with lots of room to grow and mature.
As for picks, despite how little I care for Federer (though my opinion of him is at least a positive one, unlike those women I’ve already mentioned) I am picking him to beat Murray. Probably in four sets with a decent possibility to go to five.
And as much as pains me to say it, I think Serena is going to put an end to Justine’s run this tournament. Probably in the full three sets at least or two sets both going to a tiebreaker.
The French Open controversy(between Henin and Serena) starts about 8:30 in this you-tube clip.
Didn’t Serena have words with an opponent at the end of match and refuse to shake hands? I thought it might have been this match, but Serena did shake her Henin’s hand (albeit very quickly and with disdain).
What a great match… congrats top serena… afterwards she said she looks forward to seein Justine in the french finals hopefully… Much like i would bet all of my petty cash on Fed… Serena has dominated this decade of women’s tennis…
Glad Justine is back… made the tourney more fun…
I saw most of Serena’s match but not Venus’.