WIMBLEDON 2014 BY CHERYL JONES

Written by: Staff on 23rd June 2014

WIMBLEDON 2014 BY CHERYL JONES

epa04274816 Venus Williams of USA returns to Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain in their first round match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 23 June 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

American women have claimed eleven titles at Wimbledon over the past fifteen years. Ten of those titles belong to women who have the last name Williams and the other belongs to Lindsay Davenport. Maybe it’s the name of the “trophy”. It is called the Venus Rosewater Dish. There could be something in a name. Today’s matches saw a revitalized Venus Williams who had plenty to say about her three set win and it seemed to give her hope for a flagging career.

Thirty-four year old Venus Williams was ecstatic today, because she proved something to herself. Last year, she missed her favorite tournament, because of a lingering and incurable physical issue called Sjögren’s Syndrome that is an autoimmune disease that saps her energy. This time out, she made it through three sets to defeat Maria-Teresa Torro‑Flor, of Spain, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. It was heartening to see Williams make a strong showing in the match to kick off this year’s Wimbledon competition.

After the match, she spoke glowingly of her play and that of her competition. But when asked about the surface, she harkened back to the days when she first began her quest for greatness, more than fifteen years ago.

Yes, she succeeded in her match today, and now it is as if she needs just one more championship trophy to revalidate her capabilities. When asked about the differences in this surface that is always only a small portion of what is used to define great players, she said, “Well, it’s different. I mean, the ball sits up a lot. I think what I enjoyed about all the surfaces is that they are different and that’s what makes it challenging. If you want to be a great grass court player, you have to adjust. If you want to be a great clay court player, you have to adjust. The hard courts, all of them are a little bit different. I do miss having that nuance of here is the challenge. You have to be a diverse player. Unfortunately, I think the courts are becoming so similar that it’s not encouraging players to play different.” Today, her play made it look easy. Tomorrow may be another story, but for the time being, she is on the road that is familiar, even though, according to her, it may have subtly been resurfaced.

There was another American woman in the mix today. Her luck wasn’t what she had hoped it would be. Sloan Stephens is one of the limited numbers of successful American women. She lost to a tough opponent, Maria Kirilenko, 6-2, 7-6.

Stephens has been the smiling face that has usually stepped up her play for big tournaments. Although she has gone far into most all the Grand Slams, this time it was all over almost before she could unpack her suitcase. In two sets, it was Kirilenko

Sloane Stephens.

When asked about the results from the past where, at the majors she played her “A-game”. She said, “The streak is broken.” Silver linings may be a part of every cloud according to an old adage, but Stephens was obviously disappointed in her performance. Having watched this young woman who has been touted as the “next” for an American audience that is hungry for a tennis star to take over the reins when the Williams sisters are no longer able scamper about the court, it is always disappointing when Stephens doesn’t live up to her potential. She said, “It feels like the end of the world now, but fortunately it’s not.” Her “back to the drawing board” dance has plenty of adjustments to make, but it’s been done before and she has the stick-to-itiveness to make it all work.

Stephens often takes a vacation in the midst of a match. It is frustrating to see someone that has all the goods forget she has them and that’s what happened today. She said, “You’ve just got to go back and keep working and obviously get ready. I’ll be in the States for a while, so that’s a good thing. Just get ready for the US Open Series, work hard trying to get ready for that.” The end of August will be here before too long. A little time and a plan will go a long way to help insure her usual success at going deep into a Grand Slam. She said, “You got to deal with it. It comes in bunches and it’s tough, but you got to work through it. Sometimes you got to be a big girl and just work through all the things that are troubling you.” She’s twenty-one, and it’s time to be a big girl, that’s certain.

Victoria Azarenka.

Victoria Azarenka isn’t an American, but she, like Maria Sharapova seems like one. She has spent a good deal of time in the Scottsdale, Arizona area, but currently lives in Monte Carlo. Last year at Wimbledon, she was injured in her first match out and then was unable to compete after the second round. She says she is healthy now, and it certainly looked that way in her opening match. She faced Mirjana Lucic‑Baroni, a 32-year-old Croat who was trying her hand again at what she calls her favorite tournament – although today, maybe not so much. Lucic-Baroni was clearly outsmarted by a healthy Azarenka 6-3, 7-5.

After the match, Azarenka said she was really happy to have her game in a good place. When asked if she felt the ghosts from last year’s injury on the same court, she said, “No, absolutely not. I don’t think it’s really important what happened last year. I was really happy to go out there and play. It’s a beautiful court. It’s a beautiful tournament. So no bad thoughts. Just excited. I was super happy to get a win.”

Competitive sports means that there is a winner and a loser. Today, there was a loser who began her professional career twenty-five years ago. And that is longer than a good many of today’s contenders have been alive, let alone competing on the tour. Kimiko Date-Krumm is 43. She gave it her all, but it just wasn’t enough to defeat Ekaterina Makarova, another of those pesky Russian women who are tall, willowy, beautiful and excellent tennis competitors. Even though she is by far the eldest stateswoman in the game, she managed to take the match to three sets. The 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 defeat wasn’t a death knell for her career, she insisted, “But still fighting myself and then still most important is still enjoying to play. If I have [a] chance to come back next year, I’m here… Maybe.”

Li Na.

Another Asian player, Li Na took a while to warm up today. It must have frightened her when her virtually unknown opponent took charge of the first set and it appeared there might be an upset in the making. But Na finally defeated Paula Kania, 7-5, 6-2 and appeared elated in the after-match interview. She is quite a comedienne and said that after Paris she had taken a ten-day vacation from her racquets. She enjoyed the vacation, but surprisingly she said, “They need a vacation, as well. I’m sure. They cannot see me every day, 24 hours.” She and her racquets made up and she will move on, obviously a little worse for the wear, but rested and ready to compete next time out.

There was an unexpected outcome in the competition when Samantha Stosur was defeated by Yanina Wickmayer, 6-3, 6-4. Stosur made no excuses, but it was clear that she was going to re-think her game and look for a coach who may be able to help patch that game together. The Australian player has spent many years reinventing her game when she began as a doubles specialist. In 2011 she won the US Open. Since then, she hasn’t had the success she has wanted. It may be the surge of young players. Or it may mean she should return to her doubles career where she was successful. She has a bit of time to sort all that out before the US Open begins.

The busiest day for The Championships ended with an early “last call”. It rained. Tomorrow promises more tennis and more surprises. As always Wimbledon will be prepared to offer up good matches and of course the only thing that always guarantees no surprises. It is the Strawberries and Cream. They always have time for a bow, rain or shine.

Topics: Cheryl Jones, Ekaterina Makarova, Kimiko Date-Krumm, Li Na, Lindsay Davenport, Maria Kirilenko, Maria Sharapova, Samantha Stosur, Sloane Stephens, Tennis, Tennis News, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Wimbledon, Yanina Wickmayer

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June 23, 2014 at 6:15 pm

WIMBLEDON 2014 BY CHERYL JONES- http://t.co/sAr7TQXqNt @Venuseswilliams @vika7 @MariaSharapova @Wimbledon #Wimbledon2014 #tennis #Wimbledon