5:24PM
Newsday (N.Y.): Venus, Serena, Wozniacki out at Wimbledon
5:24 PM
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England — They were talking of what could be. But on the warm Monday when Serena and Venus Williams, within two hours of each other, were ousted from Wimbledon, the issue should be of what was.
They had been the prima donnas, in the positive context of the term, of the All England Lawn Tennis Championships. One or the other won the previous four years — Serena in 2010, 2009, Venus in 2008, 2007 — and nine of the last 11.
The domination came to a halt as the second week of the 145th Wimbledon began, Marion Bartoli of France stopping an erratically hitting Serena, 6-3, 7-6 (6), in one fourth-round match and Tsvetana Pironkova defeating Venus, 6-2, 6-3, in another. That was the same score Pironkova, of Bulgaria, beat Venus last year in a quarterfinal.
Were they upsets? Perhaps, although with the Williamses coming off long absences because of health problems, perhaps not. Were they surprises? Absolutely, as was 24th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova's 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over the top seed, Caroline Wozniacki, who despite her place on top of the WTA rankings never has won a Grand Slam event.
A minor surprise on the men's side was the 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 triumph by Mardy Fish overTomas Berdych, one of last year's finalists. Fish, unexpectedly, guaranteed the United States would not go without someone in either men's or women's quarterfinals for the first time since 2006 and only the second time since 1911.
Venus, 31, hadn't played for five months because of a strained hip flexor until coming back two weeks ago. Serena was out nearly a year. She severely cut her right foot stepping on glass a week after winning Wimbledon, then was diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary thrombosis, and finally developed a hematoma that required surgery.
"Considering my condition," said Serena, "I think I really did well. I never came here thinking I would lose. I was able to hang in there, and I can only get better. And that potentially can be really scary, because I can only go up from here, and I can do so much more."
Venus described her play against the 5-10 Pironkova, who has defeated her three times in a row, as "inexplicable." Venus missed overheads, swinging volleys, "shots I never miss."
But Venus reminded that both Williams sisters "hit the ground running," because they didn't want to miss another Grand Slam tournament.
"At least I wasn't making errors trying to keep the ball in," Venus said. "I made errors that normally would go as winners. So those balls will land pretty soon . . . I got ready for this tournament so fast. You wouldn't believe how quick it happened. With more time I can definitely play better.''
Serena, who will be 30 in September, tried to be philosophical. "Even if today I lost," she said, "I was able to kind of hang in there and play tough . . . I would have been sad being at home and watching it on TV, like I'm going to be soon."
The thought of some in tennis is it would have been sad for women's tennis if, with so little preparation, either Serena or Venus won. Could she appreciate that? "Yeah," Serena said sarcastically, "I'm super happy I lost. Go women's tennis."
- - - - - -
http://www.newsday.com/sports/tennis/venus-serena-wozniacki-out-at-wimbledon-1.2988416
Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.
Special to Newsday
WIMBLEDON, England — They were talking of what could be. But on the warm Monday when Serena and Venus Williams, within two hours of each other, were ousted from Wimbledon, the issue should be of what was.
They had been the prima donnas, in the positive context of the term, of the All England Lawn Tennis Championships. One or the other won the previous four years — Serena in 2010, 2009, Venus in 2008, 2007 — and nine of the last 11.
The domination came to a halt as the second week of the 145th Wimbledon began, Marion Bartoli of France stopping an erratically hitting Serena, 6-3, 7-6 (6), in one fourth-round match and Tsvetana Pironkova defeating Venus, 6-2, 6-3, in another. That was the same score Pironkova, of Bulgaria, beat Venus last year in a quarterfinal.
Were they upsets? Perhaps, although with the Williamses coming off long absences because of health problems, perhaps not. Were they surprises? Absolutely, as was 24th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova's 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over the top seed, Caroline Wozniacki, who despite her place on top of the WTA rankings never has won a Grand Slam event.
A minor surprise on the men's side was the 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 triumph by Mardy Fish overTomas Berdych, one of last year's finalists. Fish, unexpectedly, guaranteed the United States would not go without someone in either men's or women's quarterfinals for the first time since 2006 and only the second time since 1911.
Venus, 31, hadn't played for five months because of a strained hip flexor until coming back two weeks ago. Serena was out nearly a year. She severely cut her right foot stepping on glass a week after winning Wimbledon, then was diagnosed with life-threatening pulmonary thrombosis, and finally developed a hematoma that required surgery.
"Considering my condition," said Serena, "I think I really did well. I never came here thinking I would lose. I was able to hang in there, and I can only get better. And that potentially can be really scary, because I can only go up from here, and I can do so much more."
Venus described her play against the 5-10 Pironkova, who has defeated her three times in a row, as "inexplicable." Venus missed overheads, swinging volleys, "shots I never miss."
But Venus reminded that both Williams sisters "hit the ground running," because they didn't want to miss another Grand Slam tournament.
"At least I wasn't making errors trying to keep the ball in," Venus said. "I made errors that normally would go as winners. So those balls will land pretty soon . . . I got ready for this tournament so fast. You wouldn't believe how quick it happened. With more time I can definitely play better.''
Serena, who will be 30 in September, tried to be philosophical. "Even if today I lost," she said, "I was able to kind of hang in there and play tough . . . I would have been sad being at home and watching it on TV, like I'm going to be soon."
The thought of some in tennis is it would have been sad for women's tennis if, with so little preparation, either Serena or Venus won. Could she appreciate that? "Yeah," Serena said sarcastically, "I'm super happy I lost. Go women's tennis."
- - - - - -
http://www.newsday.com/sports/tennis/venus-serena-wozniacki-out-at-wimbledon-1.2988416
Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.
Reader Comments (102)
Your data was perfect that i'm attempting to find i really enjoyed this article. I wish to call at your site again later on.
Wow, marvelous blog structure! How lengthy as well as been running a blog for? you made blog glance easy. The overall glance with the website is wonderful, aside from this great article!
I was planning on starting the guide with wordpress..
this post is very funny and reatarded
Thank you that was i looked. Another good site about SEO is http://www.highcore.net
Great content and nice discussion some of the comments
Good post, I have to request a person to yet another post about the
I am positively surprised by this site. A multitude of information clearly stated that I would make a regular guest here. Keep it up. Yvonne
Hi man! I completely agree with your opinion.
I would like to thnkx for the efforts you've put in writing this web site. I am hoping the same high-grade website post from you in the upcoming also. Actually your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own website now. Actually the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a great example of it.
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.
You have mentioned very interesting details! ps decent web site.
Superb content, my friend. You are truly a literary genius. This kind of article requires a great mind and a lot of research. I commend you on the hard work you put into this writing.
We are a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your web site provided us with valuable information to work on. You have done an impressive job and our entire community will be thankful to you.
Howdy blogger, thank you for providing this article.. I found it first-class.
Just carry on doing good posts.
Hello, I ran across your weblog in a very new directory of blogs. I have no idea how your web site came up. Your weblog looks good. Enjoy a nice day.
We are in a day or 2 . Thank you for a good web site.
I'd personally also like to express that most individuals that find themselves without having health insurance are usually students, self-employed and those that are out of work. More than half from the uninsured are really under the age of Thirty-five. They do not sense they are requiring health insurance since they're young in addition to healthy. Their particular income is typically spent on houses, food, in addition to entertainment. Most people that do go to work either complete or part time are not offered insurance through their jobs so they go without due to rising tariff of health insurance in the United States. Thanks for the suggestions you reveal through this website.
I truly appreciate this post. I’ve been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You've made my day! Thx again
I am truly pleased to read this blog posts which consists of lots of helpful information, thanks for providing these data.
Respect to author , some excellent entropy.
I have really enjoyied reading your well written article. It looks like you spend a lot of effort and time on your blog. I have bookmarked it and I am looking forward to reading new articles. Keep up the good work!
Hey, types of anti-spam plugin do you really use for use on your blog
Hello.This post got motivating, particularly because I seemed to be searching for what it really this difficulty last Tuesday.