Wimbleweird

Trophy troubles. It's all good ... (USAT) pic.twitter.com/aR7MUcZWfs
— Joe Fleming (@ByJoeFleming) July 7, 2013

Wimbleweird. Wimblegeddon. Wimble-done. These were just some of the puns that were  used by die hard and casual tennis fans alike to describe the recently concluded Wimbledon Championships. Who could blame them, really, after the tournament lost former champion Rafael Nadal in the first day (!) of the tournament? Who would have thought that Nadal would go out in straight sets to 135th-ranked Steve Darcis? Who also would have thought that Roger Federer would follow him out of Wimbledon by the third day of the tournament, losing to 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky? The leading women were also not exempt themselves as Victoria Azarenka (retiring due to a knee injury sustained while in the competition), Maria Sharapova (losing to young ace Michelle Larcher De Brito), Ana Ivanovic (bowing out to former Junior Wimbledon champ Eugenie Bouchard), Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic were all out of the competition by the time Federer and his orange-soled shoes said their goodbye. 

By the second week, things seemed back to normal. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray (Britain's Great Hope), David Ferrer and Juan Martin del Potro were still in. So were Serena Williams (the heavy favorite to win), Petra Kvitova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na. 

As the top seeds, Djokovic and Serena were now the overwhelming favorites to win. Djokovic stuck to the script and defeated a resurgent del Potro in an epic semifinal to forge a date with Murray, who many is expecting to finally extinguish the ghost of Fred Perry after 77 years. Murray's campaign last year, while so close, still ended in tears and heartbreak.  

Serena, on the other hand, bowed to the grass loving German Sabine Lisicki. Unfortunately for Serena, Lisicki's main specialty since 2009 has been to upset the current Roland Garros champion at Wimbledon.  When the dust finally settled on the women's side, Lisicki and quirky Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli (she of the comedic serve and hilarious practice swings in between points) were the only ones left. Thus, the Ladies Final featured two players that have never won a Grand Slam trophy before. In the end, it was second time Wimbledon finalist Bartoli who hoisted the trophy after Lisicki was rattled by a severe case of stage fright.

On the men's side, destiny seemed to be smiling on Murray's side. He almost never made it to the finals after being pushed to the brink by Fernando Verdasco (he of the perfectly gelled hair that never moves) in the quarterfinals and Polish up-and-comer Jerzy Janowicz in the semis. 

The whole Murray-Djokovic final was, sorry for the word, dreadful in the sense that there were lots of looooong rallies and not a lot of taking chances and hitting winners from both sides. Djokovic seemed not himself as he was missing a lot on his favored backhand down the line shots. I guess losing last year's final endeared Murray to a lot of hometown fans since one can feel how immensely invested they were in every Murray point. (In the past, Britons seemed to cheer for Murray out of duty because they had no other British guy to cheer for.) Fans were totally behind him, even cheering belatedly (and mistakenly) for points that did not go their countryman's way. You can also feel how Murray was soaking all the love and adoration in as he seemed very positive and happy to be out there. Murray finally defeats Djokovic after a dramatic final game (which, if Djokovic had won, could've led to a momentum shift) to become the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years. Tears of joy and goosebumps everywhere! 

In the end, this year's Wimbledon was a tournament for dreamers and believers. A tournament that will be remembered for the crazy ones who believed that they could defeat the Rafas, Rogers, Serenas and Marias of the world. It showed that everyone, no matter what their rank is or no matter the amount of struggle that they had to endure in the past, has an equal chance at Grand Slam glory. So, yeah, I think this video somewhat sums up this year's Wimbledon perfectly:

The "Must" List: Girls On Fire Edition

Forehand Policy's usual round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the five people who read my blog) might find interesting.

*I've watched this video about 789594 times already and it still makes me cry every time. Lea Salonga's performance of "Still Hurting" is haunting, heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time.

*Oh yeah. Hillary Clinton is finally on Twitter. Her profile is genius:
"Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD..." Obviously, this would not be possible without the guys from Texts from Hillary, who also got a shout out from Madam herself. 

*You want a tennis cat fight? We'll give you a tennis cat fight. Our pre-Wimbledon off-court main event is Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova and Round 1 has just started. The sad thing is this would probably end in another Pova shellacking should they meet for the Wimbledon final in two weeks time. (Pova hasn't beaten Serena in 9 years.)

*On a lighter note, let's check out what our favorite female tennis players wore at the WTA's pre-Wimbledon party. Fortunately, Ana Ivanovic, a perennial fashion hit and miss, dressed according to her beauty and wasn't a victim of a fashion fail. 

*Good girl gone bad? Read this intriguing story of why a seemingly straight and honest agent betrayed the US Homeland Security for a notorious Mexican drug cartel. After Homeland and The Americans, this is another theme worth exploring on tv. 

*I think any sports fan can relate to Patricia Lee's piece from Grantland's NBA Shootaround:

With the clock winding down and the Heat amassing what seemed like an insurmountable lead, I found myself negotiating with the basketball gods, or the devil, whichever would work. I promise I won’t curse at Tony Parker again if you just let the Spurs take this one. I promise I won’t make fun of Manu’s bald spot again if you just gift him with another 3. I promise I’ll stop questioning Pop’s coaching decisions and clock management if you just make this last possession count. I promise, I promise …

In the end, it was no use, of course.

There’s no way to avoid destiny, no way to make Danny Green score, no way to help Tim Duncan make that hook shot that he must’ve made a billion times. There’s no way to stop a hot-handed Shane Battier, no way to combat a ready King James, no way to turn the tide just because you feel like the team you’re rooting for deserves to lift the trophy.

...

It’s a strange feeling when the player you love most from your alma mater is playing against the player you’ve watched and loved your whole life. When one makes a 3, the other gets a dagger to the heart. When one misses a hook shot, the other is one step closer to the ultimate goal. It’s not winning or losing, not happiness or sadness. It’s a mélange of all of these things. It makes for an easily combustible bubble of emotion, one that is difficult to comprehend, to marry, one difficult to come to terms with. But I should’ve known that going into the series.

Chill, bro, it’s just sports. You’ll live. They’re not even your team, right?

But do you know what this feels like? To see one of your idols succeed at the expense of another? To see a team that deserved it so much lose to another that deserved it just as much? To see both teams go from miles ahead to inches ahead to, ultimately, just enough to cross the finish line? Somebody has to lose. And, somehow, that is why we all win.

Did I just see a smile there?

Remember Haymitch's line in the Hunger Games about Katniss having as much charm as a dead slug? Well, some people make the same comment about Andy Murray. While Andy may not be as lively or vivacious as Jennifer Lawrence,  he's equally as adorable. I just love his Scottish sense of humor. To prove my point, I humbly present to you the following videos. They're marked as Exhibits A and B.

Exhibit A: Andy reveals that Roger Federer is not picky. He also says that he doesn't know if both Roger and Rafa (Nadal) read books. LOL. Priceless.

Exhibit B: It's nice to know that tennis players are talented enough to also have a career outside tennis when they finally get tired of it. Doubles players Jean-Julien Rojer and Colin Fleming could definitely give the hosts of E!'s Fashion Police a run for their money. It's pretty hilarious when they rib on Andy for the effort that he exerted in dressing up for the Indian Wells Players' Party. I also love it when they ask him about his tan (or lack thereof) and when they start giving him fashion advice. Oh and Andy, please. No more excuses on that pasty skin. Also, tie your shoes.

When did they become friends?

Up to this day, I'm still waiting for this rivalry to actually materialize on a consistent basis on the tennis court. I really had high hopes after they faced each other in the finals of the Australian Open last 2008. Blonde vs. Brunette. Nike vs. adidas. Diva vs. Ms. Nice. Shriek vs. Squeak. Too bad the tennis gods had other plans. Ana went on to have a spectacular slump (good thing she seems to be getting out of it now) while Pova had a shoulder injury that almost ended her career. Pova is already back where she belongs (still in the top 3, Grand Slam champion) while Ana is still finding her way back to queendom. Hopefully 2013 will be a good year for these two.

Anyway, the video is still a fun interview featuring the ultimate glamour girls of tennis. Ana is way funnier than people give her credit for while Pova is not always a mean bitch like many portray her to be. It really warms my heart to see these two poking fun at each other.

Wimbledon round-up

Taken from @breakingserve's Twitter timeline

 *Maria Ivanovic and Sabine Goerges? Are you kidding me, WTA?!

*Ana Ivanovic (she's a legit tennis player, trust me) is now in the 4th round of Wimbledon after defeating Julia Goerges in a tight three-setter in yesterday's match. (Dear Star Sports, you still owe me for cutting the match at 4 - 3 in the third set with Ana leading and then switching to Serena Williams-Zheng Jie. Not cool, guys. Not cool at all.) Ana's last three wins have not been as pretty as she is but, as a fan, I'll take them. She hasn't been winning a lot of three-set matches and tie-breaks these past couple of months so her last wins at Wimby should really give her a mental boost when she faces current Australian Open champion and world number 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the 4th round. Should she beat Azarenka, Ana would be in her first Slam quarterfinal since her French Open win last 2008. She could also be back in the top 10 again.

*Golden opportunity for Andy Murray: Rafa Nadal, who almost always is in Andy's half of the draw, was uncharacteristically booted out in the 2nd round of Wimby by Czech Lukas Rosol, who is ranked 100th in the world. (Rosol was, however, unable to sustain his run as he bowed out to German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the 3rd round.) I know that Andy's path to the finals is still littered with landmines (he's up against Marin Cilic next and could still face the likes of David Ferrer, Juan Martin del Potro, Mardy Fish and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), but Nadal being eliminated early gives him a fantastic opportunity to get into the finals of his Home Slam. Here's hoping he finally replicates Fred Perry's achievement.

*Equal prize money: Gilles Simon, who is maybe a Saudi national at heart, has re-ignited a controversy by saying that women tennis players don't deserve to be paid the same as their male counterpart since more people find men's tennis more interesting than that of the women's. Thus, business-wise, they should get more money. What a chauvinist pig. Obviously, the female players were not very happy with him. I'm personally offended as a woman. Shouldn't he be happy that tennis, as compared to other sports, is giving equal opportunity for both sexes? Also, like what Maria Sharapova said before to those arguing that men should be compensated more for playing best of five matches during Slams, it's like watching a movie. Do you pay more for a 3 hour long movie than one that is only 1 1/2 hours long? Does it also mean that a 3 hour movie is automatically of higher quality than a 1 1/2 hour one? Besides, not all men's best of five matches go the distance anyway and not all women's best of three matches finish early. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut made history by playing the longest match ever but it wasn't high quality (while the feat is admirable, I bet many wouldn't want another Isner-Mahut saga). It's hilarious when someone pointed out on Twitter that if only prize money was based on the number of winners that are hit in every match, Simon (who plays an extremely defensive game) would have a lot more complaining to do.

*A little drama on the ATP side: Men's tennis has always been the Big 4 show. Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are almost always demolishing early round opponents and then continue on to face each other in the semifinals of each Slam. It was different at Wimby this year. Rafa was eliminated early, Roger Federer had to dig deep to come back from two sets down to beat Frenchman Julien Benneteau and Novak Djokovic had to struggle to overcome pesky Radek Stepanek. It's funny because, out of the four, it's actually Andy Murray who hasn't been the source of major drama this early in a Slam. It's also refreshing to see drama this early come from the ATP side, not from the WTA. The women's draw is still pretty balanced and has plenty of Slam winners and former number 1s left.

Quotes: Bow down to the Queen.

Those who belong at the top never forget their way back. #MariaSharapova twitter.com/niketennis/sta…
— Nike Tennis (@niketennis) June 7, 2012

From Maria Sharapova's Roland Garros trophy acceptance speech:

"I proved that no matter how many punches I took in my career, I've always gotten back up," she said. 

"I never made excuses for me, not to myself, not to people.  I always relied on my own talent, on the help of my team. At the end of the day, that's really what gets me through and gets me up. I have a tremendous amount of belief and pride in what I do.  I love my work.  I've always said this:  I love playing tennis. I had so many outs in my career.  I could have said, I don't need this.  I have money; I have fame; I have victories; I have Grand Slams.  But when your love for something is bigger than all those things, you continue to keep getting up in the morning when it's freezing outside, when you know that it can be the most difficult day, when nothing is working, when you feel like the belief sometimes isn't there from the outside world, and you seem so small. But you can achieve great things when you don't listen to all those things."

Won Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of 17. WTA Tour Championships winner in 2004. Brief stint as world number 1 in 2005. US Open champ in 2006. Australian Open winner in 2008. "Inherited" the #1 ranking when Justine Henin retired unexpectedly for the first time during the spring of 2008. Suffered a debilitating right shoulder injury that almost ended her career and was out of the women's tour from mid-2008 until early 2009. Won Roland Garros in 2012 even if she thinks that she plays like this on clay. Tenth woman in history to win a career Grand Slam. World no. 1 yet again and rightful Queen of the Tennis World. (Yeah, she's still the highest paid female athlete in the world.) Not too shabby, Maria Sharapova. Not too shabby at all.

UPDATED: French Open round-up

*Uhm, Adolf, Ana Ivanovic doesn't have a Twitter account. (But you could threaten to "unlike" her on Facebook.)

*Ana Ivanovic is already out of Roland Garros after suffering a 6-1 5-7 3-6 defeat at the hands of Sara Errani. (I'm as pissed as Hitler is with this result.) Reaching the 3rd round this year was, of course, a much better showing than her 1st round exit last year. However, this was another squandered opportunity for Ana because a win against Errani would've given her an easier road to the semifinals after the losses of Venus Williams, Aga Radwanska and Marion Bartoli. She could've also entered the top 10 and inched closer to a spot for the year-end championships. It's also unfortunate since Roland Garros has been her best slam to date (was a back-to-back finalist from 2007-'08 and winner in '08). Hopefully the second half of the tennis season would be kinder to the former world number 1.

*Old man (and "drama queen", at least according to Virginia Wade) Andy Murray, who is struggling with a back injury, has defied early exit predictions from pundits and is now in the 4th round of RG. He is set to face hugely talented but incredibly inconsistent Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, who took him to five sets in their previous match at RG last 2010.

*Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal have both cruised in all of their matches so far. The Djoker is bidding to match Rod Laver's record of holding all four major titles simultaneously. Those who could prevent him on his side of the draw are Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Roger Federer, who prevented him from winning RG last year. Federer has, however, struggled in his last two matches, dropping two sets in his matches against Adrian Ungur and Nicolas Mahut. Rafa, considered the King of Clay, is gunning for a seventh RG crown. Those who could stand in his way to the finals are Janko Tipsarevic, David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro and Murray.

*Like Djokovic, Maria Sharapova is also after history as she chases a career slam. RG is so far the only trophy that is missing in her Grand Slam cabinet. Her road to RG has gotten easier as the tennis gods have eliminated Serena Williams (who could've been her quarterfinal opponent), Caroline Wozniacki and Francesca Schiavone. Petra Kvitova and last year's champion, Li Na, could play spoilers to her date with destiny.

UPDATED
*With Vika Azarenka's loss to Domi Cibulkova in the 4th round, Masha would now have the chance to take over number 1 ranking if she reaches the final. Destiny is indeed smiling at the self-described Siberian "cow on ice".

Why Novak Djokovic should return to Adidas

From CNBC's Darren Rovell:

In November of 2009, Novak Djokovic signed a 10-year apparel deal with Sergio Tacchini, as his former sponsor adidas put its money in Andy Murray. It was a huge coup for the brand, who once had Pete Sampras and John McEnroe, but hadn’t been able to find relevance. 

But on Tuesday, Tacchini announced in a statement that the two had mutually decided to part ways. The reasoning? The small brand couldn’t handle the success that the Serbian player had with them.

In their clothes, Djokovic has won four majors, including the Australian Open twice. He has also won 84.7 percent of his matches (161 out of 190) and has been No. 1 in the world for nearly 11 consecutive months.

Novak Djokovic has also recently confirmed on his Twitter account that he is now officially with Uniqlo, a Japanese apparel company. Uniqlo also sponsors Japanese tennis ace, Kei Nishikori. I'm a bit disappointed that Nole didn't sign up with either of the two biggest apparel brands in sports, Nike and Adidas.

It's unfortunate that Sergio Tacchini wasn't able to capitalize on the Djoker's success. I also feel sorry for Djokovic since Sergio Tacchini was also unable to help him solidify his personal brand. Despite his enormous success last year, he still couldn't compete against Roger Federer's or Rafa Nadal's drawing power. The two are still the biggest names in men's tennis and this can also be attributed to the fact that they're backed by Nike, a global apparel giant that's not only able to create lovely designs for the two, but are also able to come up with very interesting marketing campaigns.

If I'm not mistaken, the only Grand Slam champion on Adidas' roster right now is French Open winner and former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic. (Sorry, Andy Murray, those GS finals do not count. Caroline Wozniacki, being a slamless former no. 1 will also not cut it.) This is unfortunate considering that Adidas had the likes of Steffi Graff, Martina Hingis, Marat Safin and Anna Kournikova (she actually partnered with Hingis to win a women's doubles GS title) in the past. Nike, on the other hand, still has Federer, Nadal, US Open 2009 champion Juan Martin Del Potro, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, defending French Open champ Li Na, current women's world no. 1 and current Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka and defending Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova. Thus, it would be smart for both Adidas and Djokovic to get back together. Adidas needs another marketable GS champ. Djokovic needs a big time apparel sponsor that: (a) would not be burdened by his success and (b) would also help him build his personal brand.

Here are other reasons why Djokovic should come back to Adidas:

1) He looks great in Adidas (despite the weird color combos of some designs):

2 )They gave him a signature Adidas Falcon range that was perfect for his image. It was said that Djokovic, who also goes by the nickname "Nole", was playfully called "Nole Sokole " (Nole the Falcon) growing up.

3) I don't understand what they're saying in this 2008 video but he looks great promoting the brand with the queen of Adidas, childhood friend Ivanovic:

P.S.
Just to defend Murray, the Djoker was still not his invincible self during the time that he was with Adidas. Murray was, arguably, the more marketable one during that time since Adidas could use Murray's popularity to secure a bigger share in the UK market. The apparel brand probably couldn't also offer Djokovic a better deal because of Ivanovic's lifetime deal (which could have been much, much more lucrative if not for the career slump that followed her ascent to world no. 1). Ugh, now I'm sad for Ana, too. Oh, the what-could-have-beens...

The two faces of Maria Sharapova

Her "don't mess with me" side:

Vika is actually lucky that she didn't bump Masha's surgically repaired right shoulder.

Her compassionate side (@ 3:25):

I guess nice girl Ana can bring out the best in anyone. 

Dear Masha: Don't ever change.

The Curious Case of Ana Ivanovic

The video features highlights from the high-quality 2008 French Open semifinal featuring Ana Ivanovic and her fellow Serbian, Jelena Jankovic. Ana, dressed in a sleek, pink adidas kit would go on to defeat JJ in three sets in this match, book her third Grand Slam final (her second straight for 2008), become the #1 ranked women's tennis player in the world and win her first Slam trophy (beating Russian Dinara Safina). Ana was arguably the most popular Serbian during this time, even more popular than her childhood friend and fellow tennis player, Novak Djokovic. She even got me to start watching tennis again because I just absolutely loved her game. She hits the ball very cleanly and has a lovely, but lethal, forehand that she could hit from different sides of the court even if off-balanced. Ana also has a made for Hollywood story to tell that made me adore her even more (imagine arranging your practice sessions while dodging NATO bombs in war-torn Serbia and honing your tennis skills in an abandoned swimming pool for lack of a better facility?). 

Beautiful, smart, genuinely nice and charming (an anti-mean girl) and, most importantly, a very talented tennis player, Ana was the perfect face to represent the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) after Justine Henin's sudden retirement (she would come back in 2010 but then retire again in 2011 due to an elbow injury) and the Williams sisters inability to regularly compete in tournaments. The WTA finally hit the jackpot with Ana at #1 and Maria Sharapova at #2 (this was before Sharapova was sidelined by a shoulder injury that almost ended her career). Ana would, however, turn out to be the biblical Job of women's tennis. Niggling injuries, bad luck and humiliating losses (imagine losing in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament to the 188th-ranked player in the world while you're still #1 and be on the opposite end of probably the greatest upset in the history of sports) soon followed her Cinderella story. The pressure of being a marketable, top-ranked player was just too much for her to bear (for an account of her struggles for the past four years, click here). What followed was a long slump peppered with stops and gos, a loss in confidence and a dramatic fall in rankings (she fell to #65 in July of 2010). Fans (*ahem*) would get excited with a couple of good wins only to be deflated afterwards when she suffers a bad loss or when she picks up an injury that would derail her progress once again.

Amidst the bad breaks, heartbreaking losses and calls for her to drop tennis and take up modelling full time (the slump has thankfully never affected her good looks), Ana plodded on injury after injury and bad loss after another. She endured the endless questioning from the media about her poor form with enough insight, wit and self-deprecating humor (Ana fans picked up and learned to poke fun at her to cope with the heartbreaking losses). Always on the look out for ways to turnaround her game, Ana hired and fired several coaches (she's currently being coached by Nigel Sears) and just refused to give up. When Ana plays well, she's like an action hero who imperiously beats up her opponents to submission. When she loses, she's like a female version of Superman who wilts from kryptonite and steals defeat from the jaws of victory.

Fast forward to today and she's still not the same player that she was back in 2008. While Ana seems to have had the best start of the year than she has had in the last couple of years (a good showing at the Australian Open, Dubai and Indian Wells), she has so far not found her form on clay just yet. Considered her best surface (she was a back-to-back French Open finalist in 2007 and 2008), she is so far struggling on clay (4-8 win-loss record on this surface since 2010, currently 1-2 this year), which is unfortunate since she could pick up a lot of points during this time of the year to enable her to inch closer to the top 10 (she's currently at #15) and qualify for the WTA Year End Championships later this year. I hope she picks it up in her upcoming clay tournaments.

As a fan, I don't know if she could still be that fearless, adidas pink dress-wearing Ana from 2008 who managed to win a Grand Slam and get to #1 in one week (she hasn't reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal since winning the French Open in 2008). But there's still the hope and belief that her hard work and perseverance will be rewarded in the end. As much as people fell in love with her swimming pool story, nothing would be better than an uplifting comeback story. She's simply too nice and too talented not to have another shot at a Grand Slam title and a #1 ranking.