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It was a manic day of action at Wimbledon on Saturday. That is not supposed to happen until Monday. No play on the middle Sunday of Wimbledon, that is tradition. So manic Monday involves coverage of Centre Court action on ESPN and all the other action on ESPN2. But, the weather has caused issues, so today’s action was fast and furious.
On the men’s side, #1 seed Novak Djokovic rolls on with an easy victory over Chardy of France, 6 – 3, 6 – 2, 6 – 2. He certainly appears to be headed into the final to likely meet Andy Murray. Still, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. David Ferrer took five sets to survive Dolgopolov, winning 6 – 7, 7 – 6, 2 – 6, 6 – 1, 6 – 2. Ferrer is a dogged competitor, but this is not clay. I do not expect him to make it into the final. #20 seed Youzhny advanced over V. Troicki in straight sets, 6 – 3, 6 – 4, 7 – 5. Del Potro advanced over Zemlja but hyper-extended his knee in the process. How will this affect him moving forward into week two? B. Tomic (the spoiled brat from Australia whose father is banned from the tournament after assaulting his practice partner) appears to be handling himself well, perhaps maturing a bit and took out R. Gasquet in four sets. Surprise result in that matchup. Tomic is very talented, just has not handled himself well in other areas of his life so far. Perhaps that will change? #7 Berdych advanced over #27 K. Anderson in four sets and the ageless wonder, Tommy Haas (35) won over Lopez in four tough sets. Way to go Tommy!!
On the women’s side, Serena Williams continues to show her dominance. She was broken (once) but prevailed in straight sets over the forty two year old (yes, that would 42 year old!) K. Date-Krumm, 6 – 2, 6 – 0. Date-Krumm of Japan first played at Wimbledon in 1989. She actually left the sport for twelve years and then returned. Remarkable. Still, Serena looks invincible. Kvitova came back in the third set, down a break, in the match that was postponed from yesterday to advance over Makarova. Li Na of China (one of my favorites) won in three sets over K. Zakopalova, 4 – 6, 6 – 0, 8 – 6. Laura Robson, the darling of Great Britain advanced in three sets. S. Lisicki ousted Sam Stosur in three sets. The #4 seed A. Radwanska won over Madison Keys of the USA to reach the coveted round of sixteen. So, two American women remain, no American men.
No tennis on Sunday (tomorrow), the middle Sunday as is the tradition at the All England Club. Monday will be crazy, but then again, this year’s Wimbledon has already been off the charts crazy. All Centre Court action will be covered live on ESPN. Other action will be seen on ESPN2.
Gotta say looks like Djokovic vs. Murray on the men’s side. On the women’s side, Serena vs.? Maybe Kvitova, Radwanska, Lisicki, maybe even Li Na? Who knows…but, it is just is not the same…Roger Federer out, even Nadal and numerous others out due to injury and withdrawals. Really disappointing!
