Sunday, July 7, 2024

So much drama, and that was just he FIRST week of Wimbledon

Where to start? Defending champion Marketa Vondrousova, entered this year's Wimbledon with both a leg injury (she fell in Berlin and had to retire) and a vulnerable back, so it wasn't exactly a shock that she went out in the first round. The only other defending champion to lose in the first round was Steffi Graf, so at least Vondrousova is in good company. And those who are trashing the Czech star for losing (while playing with two injuries)--the same ones who also trashed her when she won the tournament last year--are the kinds of "fans" that tennis does not need.

In other big news, world number 1 and top seed Iga Swiatek lost in the third round to Yulia Putintseva, who is exactly the kind of player who is deadly on grass to the likes of Swiatek. The world number 1 was headed toward a round of 16 clash with Alona Ostapenko, against whom she has an 0-4 record. The upshot of all this is that Putintseva and Ostapenko will face of in the fourth round, and that may be the ultimate popcorn event of any tournament. 

Swiatek, for all her very considerable talent, hasn't been able to figure out grass. Ostapenko is a huge hitter, which has helped her to dominate Swiatek on both hard and grass courts--she once explained that the key to her success against the world number 1 is that she doesn't give her any time to set up her shots--but big hitting isn't a necessary requirement when playing Swiatek on grass. The same woman who looks almost magical on a clay court can be flummoxed on grass by a clever opponent.

Karolina Muchova, back from a 10-month surgery and recovery period--and back from a recent injury to the wrist for which she had the surgery--lost in the first round to Paula Badosa. This isn't exactly "news," given that Badosa is a very good player, but--until the recent re-injury, Muchova had looked very good on grass.

Also in the third round, 2022 champion Elena Rybakina defeated wild card Caroline Wozniacki 6-0, 6-1, and the scoreline speaks for itself. Rybakina has been chronically ill since the spring, so here's hoping that she has fully recovered.

Ons Jabeur, who was the runner-up in both 2022 and 2023, lost in the third round to Elina Svitolina, who dramatically reached the semifinals last year after returning from a long haitus. Svitolina is a better player now than she was before she took time off from the tour, and she is adept at grass competition. It was never going to be easy for Jabeur, who not had to face Svitolina, but who, I'm guessing, was under a certain amount of pressure from herself. Jabeur's goal last year was to win the tournament and then retire from professional tennis; it was also her goal this year. Jabeur was the 2022 runner-up at the U.S. Open, too, so she may still have a realistic goal to propel her.

Emma Raducanu defeated Maria Sakkari in straight sets in the third round, and is anyone really surprised? Sakkari, a top-10 player (she's currently number 9 in the world) just can't seem to get it together at the majors.

There has been quite a bit of drama around the British players. The British number 1, Katie Boulter, lost to countrywoman Harriet Dart, and Emma Raducanu is being roasted for withdrawing from mixed doubles. She and Andy Murray decided, at the last minute, to become a team. However, Raducanu's vulnerable wrist began hurting her, so she wisely withdrew. Those suggesting that she should have compromised her singles potential in order to play a mixed doubles match (and it probably would have been one match) with an injured Murray have added just one more twist to the never-ending saga of sexism in the pro tennis world.

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