Wimbledon, Week 1 (plus a few days) Recap
As the sun sets on week 1 at Wimbledon, it’s time for me to do a little reflecting. Yes, contrary to popular belief, I do reflect from time to time. A lot has happened in the first half of the tournament, so there’s much to discuss. The first match was played under the newly built roof (Safina vs Mauresmo). New stars were born, old stars, re-born. How did our picks do? A quick recap:
Losers:
James Blake. Yeah, we all knew he wouldn’t make a serious run at the title, but a first round shellacking?! From a player ranked 50th in the world?! This was the same James Blake who made it to the Queens final just a week ago, right?
Juan Martin Del Potro. OK, so he was the first big name to lose, but at least it was to Llyeton Hewitt. Apparently, Hewitt has studied up on the space time continuum and built himself a time machine because he is playing like the Llyeton Hewitt of 2002.
Maria Sharapova. She was supposed to be the Cinderella story, the player no top seeded player wanted to meet. Her game was designed for the lawn. She made quite a run on her worst surface at Roland Garros. I deemed her the GDHOAT. Perhaps I put too much pressure on her? Result: 2nd round loss to Gisela Dulko. Ouch.
Spencer Boller. Before the tournament started, he had Del Potro (#5 seed), Svetlana Kuznetsova (winner of the French Open), Ivan Ljubicic, and Caroline Wozniacki. At the start of week 2, players left: 0.
Winners:
Williams Sisters. They were expected to do well here at the All England Club, but they are steamrolling through everyone! At this rate, these sisters are going to make me look like Nostradamus.
Roger Federer. Just another day at the office for this guy. Not much more I can say about his results. But what’s up with his new warm up outfit and man-purse?
Melanie Oudin. Melanie who? She’s just the 17-year-old American who beat former world #1 and #6 seed, Jelena Jankovic to get to the 4th round at the biggest tournament in the world. Is she the next great American hope?
Andy Murray. Slowly making his way to the finals with a huge 5-set win over Stanislas Wawrinka. All he has is the weight of a nation on his shoulders as he tries to be the first British man to win since 1936. That’s a 73-year drought for you math whizzes out there.
Fountain of Youth. Looks like a couple of ATP players got their hands on the magic elixir and are making incredible runs at this tournament. Those players? Tommy Haas and Lleyton Hewitt, playing like Men in Black II is still in theaters and Kylie Minogue is still on the radio. You know you know this song!
Office Pool:
Chris. Players left: Serena Williams
Kana. Players left: Roger Federer and Dinara Safina
Jason. Players left: Andy Roddick and Venus Williams
Tiffani. Players left: Andy Murray
Spencer. Players left: He wishes. Zero.
The final few days are around the corner. A new chapter will be written in the history books with an Andy Murray win or Roger Federer win (to break Sampras’ record). If this past week was any indication, anything can happen.
Look out for my final Wimbledon blog after the finals.
Jason, TW
