No, I haven't been drinking (if you don't count the OTC flu med) and you don't need to make haste to the optometrist's office to have your lenses adjusted. 25% of the round of 16 is made up of women from the USA. Serena Williams eased in yesterday, and today, she was joined by Bethanie "La Chaussette" Mattek-Sands, Jamie Hampton and Sloane Stephens.
Mattek-Sands needed three sets, but she defeated qualifier Paula Ormachea, and Stephens defeated Marina Erakovic. As for Hampton...
...Oh, Petra.
Francesa Schiavone, romping around like the former French Open champion she is, put the hurt on Marion Bartoli, using her signature slice and spin and superior movement to leave the Frenchwoman behind in a cloud of red dust. Schiavone, who won 6-2, 6-1, hit 32 winners and made only 14 unforced errors.
Victoria Azarenka got off to a slow start, but beat Frenchwoman Alize Cornet. Maria Kirilenko and Stefanie Voegele engaged in exactly the kind of entertaining match I was expecting from them, with Kirilenko coming out the victor, 7-6, 7-5. Match point was a ball from the Russian's racket that accidentally bounced softly off of the net cord and dropped onto the court, providing the final frustration for Voegele.
Those of us who live in the USA and don't have Direct TV were not able to watch the match contested between Jelena Jankovic and Samantha Stosur. NBC showed an ATP match (and here's hoping everyone got to see it--Tommy Haas won on his 13th match point), and neither Tennis Channel nor ESPN was permitted to broadcast online. Jankovic won, 3-6, 6-3. 6-4, on her fourth match point (an ace).
Finally, Maria Sharapova had to fight Zheng Jie--no surprise there--who was up 4-1 in the second set. 'Pova was also the victim of a ridiculous umpire decision, and after the match, commentator Rennae Stubbs suggested perhaps the Russian could use a little instruction from her on how to argue with the chair. Sharapova won, 6-1, 7-5.
There are three Russians in the round of 16--Kirilenko, defending champion Sharapova and 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, and three Italians--2010 champion Schiavone, Roberta Vinci and 2012 runner-up Sara Errani.
Six former champions entered the tournament this year, and five are still standing. Li Na, the 2011 champion, was upset in the second round by Mattek-Sands.
I would pay good money to see Maria actually lose her temper at an umpire.
ReplyDeleteAnother "Allez up your f***ing a**" would be amazing.
It says something -- and not good -- that when Kvitova loses now, you just shrug and look at your watch and say, "Yep, I guess it's about that time."
ReplyDeleteMaybe if it happens before the middle Sunday at Wimbledon she might consider changing a few things. Might be wishful thinking, though.
I'm with you, Jessica! A treasured 'Pova moment....
ReplyDeleteKvitova is scaring me. This is way beyond "slump"--something is very wrong. I would rather see her take some time off than continue self-destructing like this.
These are worth having here too.
ReplyDeleteJim Lumpkin said...
Oh Petra.
Here is what she said: "I did a lot of mistakes and I really didn't know what was happening on the court," she said.
How can someone not know what is happening on the court? It's a simple game. Hampton is straightforward. It was not a complicated match: JJ was not there. Kerber was not there. Serena was not there. Vika was not there. So it was simple and Kvitova was quite literally out of focus.
Petra needs a new coach and a psychologist; perhaps a psychiatrist. I'm serious.
June 1, 2013 at 4:02 PM
Anonymous said...
Given her talent, the only player who should be of serious concern to Kvitova is Serena Williams. And yet, Petra is beaten by almost everyone at some point. Mind-boggling.
June 1, 2013 at 4:22 PM