The less things change, the more they stay the same

Bakers will bake....

Few would argue that New York City is the world capital of bagel consumption, and who is better prepared to participate than world number 1 Iga Swiatek? Swiatek, however, likes to be on the production end of the bagel experience, and her first customer in Flushing Meadows was Rebecca Peterson, whom Swiatek defeated 6-0, 6-1 in just under an hour.

Swiatek wasn't the only one delivering bagels in the opening day of U.S. Open  play. Danielle Collins defeated  Linda Fruhvirtova 6-2, 6-0, Daria Saville defeated Clervie Ngounoue 6-0, 6-2, and Karolina Muchova defeated Storm Hunter 6-4, 6-0.

Grinders will grind....

I can't imagine any player being happy to learn that either Sara Sorribes Tormo or Beatriz Haddad Maia is going to be on the other side of the net. They both display the kind of grit that was the signature of such WTA stars as Arantxa Sanchez and Francesca Schiavone, and Haddad Maia doesn't mind how long she stays on the court; she is--in fact--the queen of three-set matches. 

Today, the Brazilian defeated 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in just under three hours--in other words, it was a typical Haddad Maia match. After the match, which had some very well-played points, Haddad  Maia said that the key to winning it was "...to forgive myself when I was doing bad tennis." I like that.

Sorribes Tormo, for her part, defeated Anhilina Kalinina (does anyone on the tour have a better name?) 6-4, 7-5. 

Maria Sakkari will lose in the first round....

World number 8 Maria Sakkari lost in the third round of the Australian Open. That must have been disappointing, but the worst was yet to come. She lost in the first round of the French Open and the first round of Wimbledon. And today, the Greek star lost in the first round of the U.S. Open. Sakkari lost to world number 71 Rebeka Massarova, who defeated her 6-4, 6-4. 

The normally easygoing Sakkari hasn't been "herself" lately, for sure. She called for the banning of Amarissa Toth, which--no matter how you "saw" the incident in Budapest--was ridiculously over the top. Then, in Montreal, she spiked a ball into the crowd. It didn't hit anyone, but Sakkari's opponent, Danielle Collins, wasn't pleased that the chair umpire let the incident go. The ensuing discussion became unpleasant, and Collins--of course--took the brunt of the criticism for telling Sakkari to "shut your mouth." But the chair umpire was indeed derelict in letting the incident go while Sakkari continued to yell "But it didn't hit anyone!"

These things aren't important in and of themselves, but I'm looking at them through a wider lens, and it appears that perhaps all of the "almosts" and "should haves" may have taken their toll on Sakkari. Indeed, she indicated today that she may need to take a break from competition.

Also of note on day one....

4th seed Elena Rybakina--who sustained an injury in the disaster that was Montreal and then had to retire in Cincinnati--looked really good today when she defeated Marta Kostyuk (in her fantastic yellow Wilson dress) 6-2, 6-1. 

Coco Gauff won a contentious match against Laura Siegemund, whom she defeated 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. She will next face 16-year-old Russian phenom Mirra Andreeva.

French vereran Alizé Cornet quietly made an exit, defeated 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 by famous lucky loser Elina Avanesyan.

Jen Brady won her first U.S. Open match since 2020; the comeback continues.

Also making a comeback is Ajla Tomljanovic, who has struggled on and off for with a knee injury for some time. She will play Rybakina in the next round.

Swiatek leads contenders, but there's fierce competition to win the U.S. Open

WOMEN'S DRAW HAS ARRIVED!

Iga Swiatek's quarter includes three Grand Slam champions. pic.twitter.com/YYDxmpub0w

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 24, 2023

Six months ago, I would have said that the three women most likely to win the U.S. Open were Iga Swiatek, Barbora Krejicova and Aryna Sabalenka, with the first two being more likely. Despite winning the French Open in 2021, hard courts appear to be the Czech star's best surface, and--serving as Swiatek's kryptonite on that surface--her confidence kept growing.

But something has happened to Krejcikova in both singles and doubles, and as I write this, the slump continues. Whatever it is, I hope she gets it straightened out soon. However--short of a very fast cure--Krejcikova is no longer a serious U.S. Open contender.

Wbo is? 

Well, the defending champion, of course. Though more players are figuring out ways to beat the world number 1, she's still extremely likely to successfully defend her title. 

Two other players are also big contenders, but there are caveats. Elena Rybakina's chances are excellent--if she's healthy, following the debacle that was Montreal; Rybakina's retirement in Cincinnati may turn out to be her saving grace. Then there's reigning Australian Open champion Sabalenka, who has recently shown those old tendencies to let her head get the better of her in big matches.

Last year's runner-up, Ons Jabeur. Jabeur was the runner-up at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and this year, she was the runner-up at Wimbledon again. Jabeur is a wonderful competitor, but all this coming in second must surely be taking some kind of toll on her. Nevertheless, she's a contender, and this could very well be the event at which she finally gets the big trophy.

Also high on the list are U.S. players Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff. Gauff just won in both Washington, DC and Cincinnati (her first 1000 event victory). Her new coach, Brad Gilbert, says that they haven't had time yet to work on Gauff's errant forehand, but winning DC and Cincinnati was a statement in itself. The 19-year old has indeed arrived, and she should be a major threat in New York. She may have to be: She's theoretically drawn to meet Swiatek in the quarterfinals, and if that match occurs, she'll have to call on whatever got her past the world number 1 in the Cincinnati semifinals.

Pegula won Montreal, and while winning a pre-major tournament doesn't really mean that much statistically, the victory was undoubtedly a boost to her confidence. Pegula doesn't have an enviable first round--she plays perennial giant-killer Camila Giorgi.

Finally, the physically vulnerable Karolina Muchova--if she stays healthy (and oh, how I hope she does)--belongs in this circle of U.S. Open contenders.

But who else could cause big trouble? My first pick is Jen Brady. Yes, she's just coming back from a two-year injury hiatus, but her game looks great; it's almost as though she never left. Brady has that easy, fluid power that makes her a hard court threat. Another potential trouble-maker is Liudmila Samsonova, whose long-examined potential has recently blossomed on U.S. hard courts.

Certainly, Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova could put the hurt on someone with a high seed, and--if the planets so align themselves--Alona Ostapenko can be quite dangerous. Given her splendid performance at Wimbledon, Elina Svitolina now looks like a serious threat, and former finalists Madison Keys and Karolina Pliskova are not to be ignored.

There have been a lot of injuries in the last several weeks. Rybakina sustained an injury in Montreal and, as stated, had to retire in Cincinnati. Paula Badosa's back injury returned (stress fracture), Venus Williams recently sustained a knee injury, and Belinda Bencic rolled her ankle in Montreal. 

This year's U.S. Open poster honors Billie Jean King and the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Open's decision to give equal prize money to men and women. Had it not been for King, we have no way of knowing when--if ever--the U.S. Open would have done so.

September will also mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Sexes, which I have always opposed, and which I wish hadn't happened. The event fed right into the false belief that men's and women's tennis (and sports, in general) are the same, and that therefore men--who are stronger and usually faster--are "better" tennis players and "better" athletes. Margaret Court had already made the mistake of playing Bobby Riggs and had lost to him, which took nothing away from Margaret Court as an athlete, but--instead of challenging the sexism of believing that male players are "better"--there was a rush to play another match so that Riggs could be defeated.

Having said that, I do recommend the film, Battle of the Sexes, not because of its enactment of the event, but because of the acting, which is superb, and because it gives viewers a very good look at the ugliness of sexism in sports, which hasn't really changed that much since 1973. In Billie Jean King's wonderful memoir, All In, she describes how acting in the film changed Emma Stone forever. Playing the role of BJK (and putting on several pounds of muscle) empowered Stone to believe in herself on a new level and to become a feminist activist in the film industry.

My Wimbledon top 10

You better believe it!

Marketa Vondrousova is a Grand Slam champion! pic.twitter.com/ew3OAn3v3r

— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) July 15, 2023

Here are my top 10 Wimbledon occurrences, in ascending order:

10. Who'll Stop the Rain?: It rained and rained, and then it rained some more, and all kinds of matches got backed up. Then there was the wind, which caused the roof to be closed for the women's final. Every tournament has a bit of rain, but this was excessive.

9. Keep Off the Grass: Three players--Venus Williams, Karolina Muchova (of course) and Alizé Cornet--slipped and fell on the grass. Williams hurt her knee, Muchova injured her hip, an Cornet twisted her knee. Both Paula Badosa (who has a history of back problems) and Beatriz Haddad Maia sustained back injuries. Barbora Krejcikova sustained an ankle injury, and Veronika Kudermetova sustained a hip injury. That's a lot of injury, and a lot of suffering for some of the best players on the tour.

8. But What a Streak It Was: Alina Korneeva won the junior Australian Open and the junior French Open. But she was taken down in the Wimbledon semifinals by Nikola Bartunova, who is Czech, and we all know what can happen when a Czech player shows up across the net. But a 16-match win streak in consecutive majors is nevertheless very impressive, especially for a 16-year-old.

7. I'm Still (barely) Standing:  Lesia Tsurenko and Ana Bogdan treated the crowd to a show that probably was anything but a treat for them. Their third round third set tiebreak consisted of 38 points. Both women were constantly bending over and both looked to be in some anguish after slogging through for 3 hours and 40 minutes. Tsurenko won the tiebreak (20-18) and the match, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6. 

6. Veteran Glory: It was a long time coming, but 30-year-old Lyudmyla Kichenok, with her partner, Mate Pavic, won the mixed doubles title, defeating Xu Yifan and Joran Vliegen in the final. This is Kichenok's first major title.

5. Re-Inventing the Wheel: Diede de Groot, aka Diede the Great, won her fifth Wimbledon singles title this past week, which gives her 19 major singles title. And playing with Jiske Griffioen, whom she defeated in the singles final, she won her third Wimbledon doubles title, and her 17th major doubles final. de Groot, who is the protegé of the great Esther Vergeer, is already a legend in her own right.

Also notable is Griffioen's return to the elite ranks of wheelchair tennis. She retired from the sport in 2017, but came back in 2019, and has had to work her way back to the top of the game. This Wimbledon was a showcase for the work that she has done.

4. Farewell Way Too Soon: I've watched Anett Kontaveit for a long time, and have always been impressed by her tennis. But Kontaveit is one of the unlucky ones whose body just wouldn't cooperate with her skills and desires. Sadly, Kontaveit has had to retire from professional tennis because of lumbar disc degeneration. The affable Estonian, who is only 27, reached her highest rank of number 2 in the world only last year. She won six singles titles, and also played for the Estonian Fed Cup team. It looked like things were finally picking up for her, but instead, we got a very sad ending: She played her final match at Wimbledon.

This was also the final Wimbledon for Barbora Strycova, who returned to the tour briefly after having a baby, and it was the final doubles match (she had already retired from singles) for Kirsten Flipkens.

3. Reunited--and It Feels Awesome: Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova, who won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2019, both took lengthy breaks from the tour. Toward the end of the 2021 season, Hsieh announced that she was taking an extended break so that she could deal with an injury. Earlier in the season, Strycova announced that she was retiring from the sport, but left the door open for one final Wimbledon appearance in 2022. She also announced that she was going to have a baby.

Strycova did not return to Wimbledon in 2022, but she returned this year, with her partner, Hsieh. She made it clear that this would be her final Wimbledon, and she and Hsieh (each of whom is 37 years old) made it count, winning the title by defeating 3rd seeds Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens in the final. Hsieh holds four Wimbledon doubles titles (with four different partners) and two French Open doubles titles.

2. A Comeback for the Ages: Elina Svitolina, who at one time was in the top five, took a year and half off so that she could deal with some back pain, work on behalf of the Ukrainian cause---and have a baby. She returned in April of this year and played in Charleston. Shortly after, she won her 17th WTA title in Strasbourg. But few could have predicted what she had in store for her return to Wimbledon. Svitolina--with a new serve and new aggression--began her campaign by defeating five-time champion Venus Williams, and then she took out Elise Mertens, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka, and top seed and world number 1 Iga Swiatek. She was finally stopped, in the semifinals, by eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova, but she had one of the most dramatic and emotional comeback runs we've seen in a while.

1. No Rain, No Flowers/No Seed, No Worries: One of the tattoos on Marketa Vondrousova's arm reads no rain no flowers. Vondrousova should know about that. Twice, since she made her 2019 run to the French Open final, she has had to have wrist surgery. Last year, the 2020 Olympic silver medalist sat in the Wimbledon stands with a big cast on her arm. 

This year, she got the flowers. Vondrousova served, hit, sliced, and lobbed her way through the draw, taking out several players of note, inlcuding 12th seed Veronika Kudermetova, the especially dangerous Donna Vekic and Marie Bouzkova, 4th seed Jessica Pegula, and an impressively resurgent Elina Svitolina. The Czech player--who had the most break point conversions of any WTA player at the tournament--then handled a nervous Ons Jabeur with what appeared to be relative ease, taking away Jabeur's usual creative shot advantage. And before you could say "lefty Czechs are coming for you again," Marketa Vondrousova was the 2023 Wimbledon champion. 

The generously inked Czech with the Sphinx cat named Frankie (who, according to Vondrousova, will soon be getting some celebratory fish) had won only three grass court matches in her career before she entered the 2023 Wimbledon event. She was ranked number 42 in the world--the lowest ranked woman ever to win in London--and she is the first unseeded woman in history to win the tournament. The new champion summed it all up better than I ever could: "Tennis is crazy."

No seed? No problem

DID YOU KNOW❓

With her win over Ons Jabeur today, Marketa Vondrousova became just the fifth left-hander to win the women's singles event at #Wimbledon. 👋

Vondrousova is projected to make her Top 10 debut on Monday. 🎉

— TENNIS (@Tennis) July 15, 2023

Today, Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman in history to win Wimbledon. (Before Vondrousova's run, the last unseeded woman to reach the final was Billie Jean King, in 1963.) The Czech player--who has had to deal with two wrist injuries since her 2019 run to the French Open final---has reached six finals in her career, and she was unseeded in five of them. This is how Vondrousova rolls.

Her opponent was 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur, who played her way through a particularly nasty draw to reach the final again. She had to beat 2020 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu, two-time Wimbledon champion and 9th seed Petra Kvitova, defending champion and 3rd seed Elena Rybakina, and 2023 Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka. That was a lot of heavy lifting.

And, as I wrote yesterday, Vondrousova's draw was tougher than it looked like on paper. She had to take out some very tough opponents, including 20th seed Donna Vekic, Marie Bouzkova and wild card (and Wimbledon symbol of inspiration) Elina Svitolina. She also defeated 12th seed Veronika Kudermetova and 4th seed Jessica Pegula.

Needless to say, 6th seed Jabeur was the strong favorite to win the title. She was serving well, returning well, using her considerable bag of tricks against a variety of opponents, and she appeared to be filled with confidence. Perhaps most important, she had vanquished Rybakina, the woman who had prevented her from winning the title last year.

But something went wrong. Something going wrong tends to occur when there's a Czech player present (especially a lefty), and today was no exception. Actually, two things went wrong for Jabeur. One--the only one that people seem to be noticing--was that she had an obvious mental lapse, bringing to mind memories of a "former Ons." But the other thing that went wrong (and no doubt contributed to the first thing) was that her opponent had opened the aforementioned bag of tricks, examined the contents, and made appropriate preparation.

Jabeur likes to zing groundstrokes into the corners. Vondrousova picked them up and returned them, over and over. Jabeur is known for executing some of the tour's best drop shots. Vondrousova not only anticipated them, but returned them like a boss. The seemingly popular belief that Vondrousova "didn't have to do anything" is--to use a highly technical sports term--pure nonsense.

Then there was the matter of the serve. Jabeur ended the match with a 48/45 first and second win serve percentage stat--a huge comedown from her service game against Sabalenka. When Jabeur broke Vondrousova's serve early in the second set, there was reason to believe that the 6th seed could use her defensive skills to help her get her game back on track. But it wasn't to be, partly because Vondrousova stayed cool and collected throughout the match. Jabeur converted only 40% of her break chances. Her opponent converted 86%, and put together a 6-4, 6-4 victory in an hour and 20 minutes.

Vondrousova, ranked number 42 in the world, is the lowest-ranked woman to win Wimbledon. Prior to entering this tournament, she had won only three matches on grass in her career, which is even more remarkable than her unseeded status. When the Olympic silver medalist held up the Venus Rosewater Dish for the crowd, she also gave waiting fans a thumbs-up. (My hope is that she had easy access to the balcony. The last "unknown" Czech to win Wimbledon, Petra Kvitova, in 2011, was told by Wimbledon staff that she wasn't allowed to approach the balcony. The fact that she was holding the Venus Rosewater Dish apparently didn't impress the guards--someone had to come and tell them that Kvitova had just won Wimbledon.)

Ons Jabeur is a great athlete, an outstanding tennis player, and is beloved by peers and fans. She plays for her country as well as for herself. She was "supposed" to win. Sport is brutal. At the end of her trophy ceremony speech, she promised that she would come back and win the tournament. I think that she will. And right now, the person who comes to my mind is yet another Czech player--a beloved one who is no longer with us--who lost two Wimbledon titles, but came back strong on her third try. I also thought of Novotna today when the Princess of Wales comforted Jabeur, much as the Duchess of Kent had offered comfort to Novotna thirty years ago.

Marketa Vondrousova Wins Wimbledon Ladies' Single Title | CHAMPIONSHIP POINT | Wimbledon 2023 https://t.co/6NDvRREUPu pic.twitter.com/UssBVXfAWN

— Bective Tennis (@BectiveTennis) July 15, 2023

Knock down one Czech, another pops up

The 2023 Ladies' Singles final is set.#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Gu3lgPUtn1

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 13, 2023

No one knows that better than Ons Jabeur, who easily dismissed two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at this year's event, only to find herself one Czech away from winning the championship that eluded her last year. 

That Czech would be Marketa Vondrousova, the 2019 French Open runner-up who has had to deal with two wrist surgeries since she made that run in Paris. Vondrousova, like her countrywoman Karolina Muchova, is very talented, but has had her share of bad fortune. And, also like Muchova, she now finds herself in a major 2023 final. 

In the quarterfinals, Vondrousova ended the highly notable run of wild card Elina Svitolina. The match was guaranteed to be a good--both players were playing their best tennis (this was somewhat of a surprise regarding Vondrousova, who had never done especially well on grass). But Svitolina's newly found aggression, which--paired with her already excellent defense--faltered against her Czech opponent just when she needed it. Having won the first set, Vondrousova "went off" in the second, giving Svitolina a chance to even the match, but it wasn't to be. Svitolina held back, and her opponent reset herself and won the semifinal 6-3, 6-3.

Vondrousova is the first unseeded player to reach the Wimbledon final in the Open Era, and the first one to reach the final since Billie Jean King did so in 1963.

Jabeur, who had the Wimbledon draw from hell, had to face 2nd seed and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. Of course. Commentators became involved in pondering the question: Should Jabeur just use her master trickery against Sabalenka, since she can't match her power? The answer was: Yes, but with a significant caveat--she also had to serve really well. And she did. Jabeur ended the match with 74/64 first and second serve win percentages. She defeated Sabalenka--not an easy task these days--6-7, 6-4, 6-3, and in doing so, once again became a Wimbledon finalist.

It should also be noted--yet again--that Jabeur and Svitolina each defeated four major champions.

Last year, Jabeur lost the final to Elena Rybakina, whom she defeated this year in the quarterfinals. She has been described as a woman on a mission, and indeed she is. On Saturday, she'll also be a woman under pressure, probably more from herself than from any other source. She and Vondrousova are 3-3 against each other, though their last match involved a retirement from Jabeur. They have played only once on grass, and Jabeur won that one. This year, Vondrousova has won both of their matches (Australian Open and Indian Wells). And while Jabeur had an extremely tough draw, Vondrousova's was much tougher than it appears on paper; Vekic, Bouzkova and Svitolina were very dangerous opponents.

Paths to the final:

MARKETA VONDROUSOVA

round 1--def. Peyton Stearns
round 2--def. Veronika Kudermetova (12)
round 3--def. Donna Vekic (20)
round of 16--def. Marie Bouzkova
quarterfinals--def. Jessica Pegula (4)
semifinals--def. Elina Svitolina (WC)

ONS JABEUR

round 1--def. Magdalena Frech
round 2--def. Bai Zhuoxuan
round 3--def. Bianca Andreescu
round of 16--def. Petra Kvitova (9)
quarterfinals--def. Elena Rybakina (3)
semifinals--def. Aryna Sabalenka (2)

In other news, Lyudmila Kichenok and Mate Pavic won the mixed doubles championship, defeating Xu Yifan and Joran Vliegen 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in the final. Kichenok and Pavic were seeded 7th.

Also, the doubles final is set. 3rd seeds Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens will face off against Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova for the title. Hunter and Mertens defeated Caroline Dolehide and Zhang Shuai (16) in the semifinals, and Hsieh and Strycova defeated Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo. Hsieh and Strycova are reunited for what is Strycova's final Wimbledon appearance. Hsieh has won the Wimbledon doubles title three times, with three different partners (with Strycova in 2019).

Defending champion and top seed both out of Wimbledon

A new champion will be crowned at @Wimbledon 👑 pic.twitter.com/ATTRwWpe0F

— wta (@WTA) July 12, 2023

Back in the day, when Elina Svitolina was in the top 5, she was known as an outstanding defensive player who wasn't aggressive enough to transcend her status on the tour. She was also known for her outstanding movement on the court. Now, back from giving birth to a daughter (and continuing to deal with the tragedy occurring in her country), she brilliantly played her way to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where she met another outstanding mover, world number 1 Iga Swiatek. 

But this wasn't just the Svitolina who could match Swiatek's speed and footwork--this was a new Svitolina, who had developed offensive skills (including an improved serve), and--in doing so--had also developed quite a bit of confidence. That confidence was on full display when Swiatek led 5-3, 30-0 in the opening set, and Svitolina broke her. Swiatek served for the set again at 6-4, and Svitolina broke her at love.

The world number 1 would go on to win the second set in a tiebreak, and fans would have been justified in thinking that "order had been restored." However, as good a mover as Swiatek is on clay and hard courts, she still struggles with moving on grass. This doesn't mean that she won't eventually conquer the surface--recall Sharapova's "cow on ice" moment. (The Sharapova remark was funny, but inaccurate--cows are quite graceful. When I was a child, I saw them easily cross the cattle gap constructed to keep them out of the neighborhood.) 

But in her Wimbledon quarterfinal, Svitolina was able to out-move the Polish star. In fact, the third set, which Svitolina won 6-2, was a clinic in how to flummox Swiatek. The top seed ended the match with 41 unforced errors, and was clearly uncomfortable throughout much of the match.

Svitolina has now defeated four major champions--Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Bianca Andreescu, and Swiatek.

Yesterday's other quarterfinal featured another comeback player, Marketa Vondrousova, who has had to endure two wrist surgeries in the last few years. The 2019 French Open finalist and 2020 Olympic silver medalist has been very impressive throughout this tournament, taking out three seeded players in the first four rounds. She topped that in the quarterfinals, defeating 4th seed Jessica Pegula 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Prior to this year, Vondrousova had won only four main draw matches on grass.

As for Pegula, she has now reached six major quarterfinals (three of them at the Australian Open), but has yet to go beyond quarterfinal success.

Today's quarterfinal match between Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka was all about Sabalenka. Keys, herself a big hitter, was no match for the big, yet precision-like, play of Sabalenka, who defeated her 6-2, 6-4.

And then there was the much-anticipated "re-match" of last year's Wimbledon final: Ons Jabeur again faced off against defending champion Elena Rybakina, and--in this case--revenge was a dish best served hot. 

The first set was very close, and Rybakina won it in a tiebreak. In the second set, one converted break point was enough to give Jabeur a 6-4 win. But what was most likely anticipated as a tense third set (I certainly had this anticipation) was not to be. Jabeur, not content to rely solely on her usual bag of highly impressive tricks, unleashed enough aggression to throw Rybakina off her game. Indeed, the defending champion's serve disintegrated, and Jabeur emerged the victor, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1.

Here is the singles semifinal draw:

Elena Svitolina (WC) vs. Marketa Vondrousova
Ons Jabeur (6) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2)

And here is the doubles semifinal draw:

Caroline Dolehide/Zhang Shuai (16) vs. Storm Hunter/Elise Mertens (3)
Hsieh Su-wei/Barbora Strycova vs. Marie Bouzkova/Sara Sorribes Tormo

Haddad Maia the latest victim of the Wimbledon injury plague

Beatriz & Elena embrace after a brief match on centre court. pic.twitter.com/FQWI9ZHzz9

— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) July 10, 2023

Beatriz Haddad Maia, seeded 13th at Wimbledon, had a 1-1 record (though neither match was played on grass) against defending champion Elena Rybakina when she entered the court today to play her round of 16 match. Between that and the Brazilian's considerable fitness and fighting spirit, there was obvious potential for an excellent match to be played. But it wasn't to be: At 1-4 in the first set, Haddad Maia's back suddenly went out, and the injury was bad enough that she had to retire from the match. 

Two-time champion Petra Kvitova had a different kind of problem. It was almost as though she wasn't there and some pod version of her was on the court. But that persona certainly wasn't P3tra, because Ons Jabeur finished off the Czech star in straight sets, and threw in a first set bagel. Kvitova, whose serve was way off today, hit only four winners, while hitting 26 unforced errors. The whole thing was done in just over an hour. 

Throughout the first week of Wimbledon, Kvitova has looked more like 2011/2014 Petra than we have seen her look in a long time. But today, she could barely do anything. Of course, she did have an especially clever opponent, but that doesn't fully explain the 6-0, 6-4 scoreline.

Madison Keys, who continues to look her best in the second week, had to deal with teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva, and the going was tough until Keys pulled away in the third set. Keys' 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory. All the same, Andreeva's advancement to the round of 16 was very impressive.

Ekaterina Alexandrova probably didn't fear her round of 16 match against Aryna Sabalenka the way some players might have feared it. She had a 3-2 record against the 2nd seed, and one of those victories ahd been played on a grass court. But Sabalenka was ready, and was able to diffuse Alexandrova's skills with a combination of her usual big hitting and a good dose of finesse. Sabalenka defeated Alexandrova 6-4, 6-0.

Here is the singles quarterfinal draw:

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Elina Svitolilna (WC)
Jessica Pegula (4) vs. Marketa Vondrousova
Ons Jabeur (6) vs. Elena Rybakina (3)
Madison Keys (25) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2)

Of special interest in the quarterfinal match to be played by Jabeur and Rybakina. They met in the final last year, and Rybakina was victorious (3-6, 6-2, 6-2). Jabeur would go on to reach the final in the U.S. Open, also, but she was defeated 6-2, 7-6 in that match by Iga Swiatek.

Anyone who reads this blog knows that Wimbledon is my least favorite major. This year's event, hampered by so many injuries and so much rain, has been especially problematic. The press has been busy telling us--great news!--that officials are finally permitting female players to wear dark undershorts (oh, where is Tatiana Golovin when you need her?). Institutions like Wimbledon, when they are dragged--kicking and screaming--into this (or even the last) century, somehow always get credit for the movement, when the appropriate response should be outrage that it took them this long to do something decent.

Less than a decade ago, officials were lifting women's skirts to check their undergarments. What troubles me even more than the fact that Wimbledon sponsored this degrading, abusive behavior is that the players let them do it. And the WTA--of course--let them do it.

And that brings me to the whole Russia/Belarus/Ukraine business, which I don't usually talk about. The crowd booed Vika Azarenka (the Australians would be proud) because she didn't come to the net to shake hands with Elina Svitolina after their match. Of course, anyone familiar with the current tennis climate knows that Svitolina is not shaking the hands of Russians or Belausians. That, of course, would not include Wimbledon spectators.

But fans had other issues regarding this non-handshake. Those who didn't get to see all of the camera angles were convinced that--following Azarenka's gesture of acknowledgement of Svitolina, Svitolina ignored her. She did not; indeed, she returned the acknowledgement. There are also some fans who think that the Ukrainian star is being "rude" or "mean." One doesn't have to agree with Svitolina's decision to refrain from shaking certain hands, but it is worth pointing out that she has repeatedly provided the reason--that she refrains out of respect for the Ukrainian people on the front lines of the war. Again, one doesn't have to agree with that decision, but it certainly doesn't sound "rude" or "mean ."

Azarenka and Svitolina have long regarded one another with respect. But--the current cultural climate being what it is--that doesn't stop thousands of people from going out of their way to make one or the other of them "the enemy." Some people like to say that we should keep politics out of sport. Sorry, but politics, like art, is part of everything. What would be nice would be to keep ignorance and bigotry out of sport.