Celebrity Friday: Li Na Now World's Richest Female Athlete

Li Na, the 2011 French Open champion and 2011 Australian Open finalist, has supplanted 2011 Wimbledon finalist Maria Sharapova as the player with the most lucrative endorsement contracts, and is now considered to be the most highly paid female athlete in the world.

News reports say that Li has signed $42 million dollars in endorsement contracts, compared to the $24 million that Sharapova has. But, Sharapova's total is her annual haul last year, while Li's total is the amount she will earn in the next three years. For Li to really overtake Sharapova the Russian player would have to have some of her endorsement contracts expire and not be replaced (which frankly, is likely).

It will be interesting to see if Petra Kvitova is able to cash in on her 2011 Wimbledon victory.

UPSET #2! Tsonga Beats Federer 2nd Time In A Row!

The day after the tennis world was stunned by Rafael Nadal losing his first match played in nearly 5 weeks a second thunderbolt is reverberating from the news that Roger Federer lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the second consecutive time today. The score was 7-6(3) 4-6 6-1.

Novak Djokovic showed why he is the new World #1 by increasing to 50 wins and one loss for the season by defeating Marin Cilic 7-5 6-3.

This is just more evidence that the end of the tennis era dominated by Federer and Nadal is coming to an end, perhaps sooner than we think.

SHOCK! Nadal Loses 2nd Consecutive Match

World #2 Rafael Nadal lost his second match in a row for the first time since 2009 when he went down 1-6 6-7(5) 6-7(5) against Croatian Ivan Dodig at the Rogers Masters tournament in Quebec. World #3 Roger Federer, who turned 30 years old on Monday August 8, and World #1 Novak Djokovic both won their first matches since Wimbledon easily in straight sets.

Djokovic improved to a stratospheric 49-1 for the year, having won 7 titles including the Australian Open (d. Murray) and Wimbledon (d. Nadal) while Federer is at 40-9 with only one title but also one very important victory over Djokovic (at the French Open). Next up for Federer is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who eliminated him in the Wimbledon quarterfinals this year.

World #4 Andy Murray also lost his first match back, despite winning this title the last 2 years in a row. Still in the tournament are Juan Martin del Potro, Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils.

Serena Beats Bartoli To Win 38th Title

Serena Williams won her first non-major title since the 2009 Tour Championships by withstanding a stiff early challenge from Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli to win  the championship match 7-5 6-1 at the Bank of the West classic in Palo Alto, CA.

Bartoli came out strong early, serving well and out-hitting Serena by blasting balls into the corners of the court. She was consistently hitting her second serve well above 100 mph and her first serve even harder. Bartoli quickly broke Serena to go up 2-1 and both players held serve until 4-2. In the seventh game of the match Bartoli had multiple chances to go up 5-2 (win the "insurance" break) but Serena prevailed and managed to stay just one break behind. Serving at 4-3, Bartoli opened with a double fault and Serena  started playing longer, more controlled points and Bartoli's balls started landing less deep in the court, eventually leading Serena to get the break back to even the match at 4-all. Both players held relatively easily the next two games. Then Serena quickly fell behind 0-30 in the 5-all service game but managed to get out of trouble to force Bartoli to hold serve in order to play first set tiebreaker. Unfortunately for Bartoli she started missing her first (and second) serve and began pressing a bit much from the back of the court, leading to Serena getting a break point (and set point) at 5-6, 30-40. They then played a very long point with Serena ending up at the net and Bartoli missing a backhand pass. First set Serena, 7-5. The second set was all Serena with Bartoli having called for the trainer to look at her right hand during the set break and the French player repeatedly looked down at the hand and shook it but quickly fell behind 3-0. Bartoli again started putting up resistance in the second set's 4th game but Serena was in full flight and won the insurance break to go up 4-0 and then easily won her own service game to hold a 5-0 advantage. Bartoli was finally able to hold serve and Serena closed out the match relatively quickly with a service winner.

This was a pretty important match for Serena and must be pretty terrifying for the rest of the field. In just her third tournament back after not playing for a year, Serena beat three of the players who performed the best in the last major tournament, in a row: Maria Sharapova (finalist), Sabine Lisicki (semifinalist) and Marion Bartoli (quarterfinalist), losing a mere 13 games. Her hardest match of the tournament was against an in-form Maria Kirilenko, which she gutted out with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win following her 6-0 6-0 blowout to begin the week.

She's also committed to playing several of the North American summer hard court tournaments (Canada and Cincinnati) and should be considered to win her 14th major title in New York in September.

NBC Loses Rights To Air Wimbledon

There is great rejoicing in the tennis blogosphere with the news that NBC has lost the rights to air Wimbledon to ESPN for the next 12 years.

Sports Illustrated covers the story:

All England Club officials achieved their goal of having the entire tournament televised live and by the same company in the U.S. under their new 12-year contract with ESPN. Tuesday's deal ends a 43-year run on NBC. 

It had become an annual tradition with Wimbledon - complaints about NBC not showing every match live in all time zones. The network would have started airing the entire tournament live beginning in 2014 under its bid.

"There is no question the sports viewer nowadays wants to see things live,'' All England Club chief executive Ian Ritchie said on a conference call. "Therefore, as far as we're concerned, undoubtedly one of the advantages with this arrangement was to increase the amount of live coverage of Wimbledon.''

ESPN had owned the rights to extensively televise early rounds of Wimbledon since 2003, with NBC picking up coverage as the tournament progressed, culminating with the "Breakfast at Wimbledon'' broadcasts of the finals.

NBC had acknowledged Sunday it was losing one of its marquee events, saying in a statement, "while we would have liked to have continued our relationship, we were simply outbid.''

Ritchie said organizers didn't want to split the tournament between two companies anymore. NBC's bid would have used Versus, its new cable partner after the Comcast acquisition, to air additional matches once ESPN's old deal expired in two years.

"I think if you have two separate organizations telling the story, inevitably there is a danger of it being confused,'' Ritchie said. "You want some consistency to it. You want to bring a combined and coherent promotional package to it as well.''

Quarterfinal matches will air on ESPN and ESPN2 at the same time so they can all be broadcast live. ESPN3.com will continue to show online additional matches that aren't on TV.

"We're getting dangerously close to 1,000 hours of live tennis during the two weeks,'' ESPN executive vice president John Skipper said.

NBC Sports treatment of the world's most prestigious and well-known tennis tournament was simply shameful. They aired tennis matches "at the same time in all time zones" which by definition means that the vast majority must be getting taped coverage. And when two great matches were going on at the same time (i.e. like with the quarterfinals) they would often try to do show one live and then show the other one taped. I'm not a fan of ESPN's solution it used this year: the spit screen, but they were using that on early round matches which were not really that important.

Both ESPN have problems in that they use on-air talent who are not former tennis champions. It's not clear these people even know the rules of the game. It's past time they have  a dedicated "tennis anchor" on ESPN. I really don't care too much who it is (even Mary Carillo would be fine) but they should be able to talk about men's and women's tennis knowledgeably.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Djokovic Beats Nadal For 3rd Major

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Novak Djokovic's miraculous 2011 season continues! As I predicted, the 24-year-old Serb beat 2-time defending Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal in four sets 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 to win his 48th match of the year (compared to one loss), 8th ATP tour title of the year, 2nd major (he also won the Australian Open) of the year and 1st Wimbledon title.

It is Djokovic's 4th major title in his career, and he improves to 16 losses and 12 wins against now World #2 Nadal. Djokovic will become the 25th player to top the ATP Tour rankings in their history when the new list comes out on Monday. For the previous 7 1/2 years either Federer or Nadal had been #1 since Andy Roddick relinquished the top spot on 2 February 2004.

How He Did It
The 2011 Wimbledon final did not live up to its potential to be an instant classic of the level of the 2008 or 2009 finals. Both players came out serving in the 80% level and playing extremely well (though Nadal was making more forehand errors than usual) until suddenly at 4-5 Nadal shots started falling shorter in the court and he faced his first and only break point of the set which he lost with an error as he aimed for a down-the-line forehand which fell a foot wide.

This was the beginning of a 10-minute bad stretch for the Spaniard as Djokovic held to start the first set and then broke Nadal after reaching a drop shot and gently pushing it cross-court instead of down the line as Nadal expected. Another quick service hold and the Serbian was up 6-4, 3-0. Nadal was able to steady himself and the two traded holds when suddenly he was serving at 1-4 Nadal got into trouble again at 30-40 and during a long rally he slipped on the grass and slightly mishit a forehand into the net. Nadal was able to quickly serve out the set and grab a 6-4, 6-1 stranglehold on the match.

However, in the 3rd set Djokovic's level dropped immediately and he faced his first break point of the match in his very first service game which he lost with a tentative backhand into the net. Nadal held at love with Djokovic only getting one service return into play to go up 3-0. Both players held their next service games but it was clear that Djokovic was not playing as well as he had  in the first two sets. His service percentage plummeted to below 50% and he started making many more errors. This was capped when at 1-4 Djokovic hit his one and only double fault of the match on breakpoint to essentially concede the 3rd set, which Nadal wrapped up a few minutes later at 6-1.

The fourth set was where the match was decided and Djokovic was able to get an early break after saving a break in his very first service game and going on to hold his service game to go up 2-0. But, amazingly Nadal was able to break back (thanks to some good luck: at 1-2, 30-40 Nadal hit a slice backhand return which clipped the top of the tape and dropped a few inches on the other side of the net) to even the set again. Serving at 3-4 Nadal had another momentary lapse where he started the service game with a double fault and a quick forehand error to go down 0-30. The next point was crucial: Nadal placed an excellent down the tee first serve which Djokovic got back with interest but Nadal pulled him wide on both sides of the court which the Serbian was able to get back and on the third attempted winner Nadal hooked the ball into the net to go down 0-40. After saving the 0-40 point with a good serve and return of service-return forehand winner a few inches inside the line. At 15-40 after a 14-stroke rally Nadl's 15th stroke was atired-looking backhand which flew several feet long to give Djokovic the opportunity to serve out the match. Djokvic started with a forehand error to go down 0-15 but then Nadal hit two forehand errors to give the Serbian 30-15. Nadal played a great forehand down the line forcing a Djokovic error to bring the score back to 30-30. Djokovic served out wide to Nadal's backhand and followed it in to volleye the weak return into the open court for his first serve-and-volley point of the match. On match point Djokovic served down the tee to Nadal's backhand which produced a weak reply that the Serbian hit a forehand into the corner with topspin dragging Nadal off the court and he went for an attempted backhand down the line winner which flew several feet long and Djokovic won the point, game set and champion.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Men's Final Preview

Novak Djokovic SRB (2) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (1)

How They Got Here.
Novak Djokovic played the most entertaining match of the fortnight against Jo-Wifried Tsonga, who was trying to repeat the amazing level of play which allowed him to dismiss 6-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in 5-sets after dropping the first two by dropping his serve in the first game of the match and holding serve in twenty-four consecutive service games to beat the Swiss great 3-6 6-7(3) 6-4 6-4 6-4. Djokovic was pushed by Tsonga to four sets, eventually winning 7-6(4) 6-2 6-7(9) 6-3. Tsonga mounted a challenge despite being down 4-2 in the 3rd set after winning an amazing exchange where both combatants ended face down on the grass. The crowd applauded ecstatically which caused both players to relax. This was a plus for Tsonga and a minus for Djokovic who was broken in the next service game and then lost a tight tiebrekaer despite having two match points.

Rafael Nadal has now won 20 matches in a row at Wimbledon dating back to his 2007 five-set  loss in the final to Federer. Although Andy Murray was able to win the first set 7-5 through aggressive play (and an uncharacteristically sloppy sixth service game by Nadal). This was incredibly important moment for the Scot's tennis future to show that he could win a set against Nadal in a crucial match but  Murray had a momentary mental lapse (hitting a sitter overhead meters out of the court) which led to an early break in the second set. That, combined with an apparent groin injury made the result of the match very clear as the third and fourth sets slipped away quckly. The result was a 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4 win to place the Spaniard in his 5th consecutive Wimbledon final (skipping the 2009 tournament due to injury).

The Match Up
Head-to-head Nadal leads Djokovic 16-11, but the Serbian has played Nadal in 4 finals this year and won every time, including (shockingly!) two wins in clay court finals (in Madrid and Rome). The only person who has beaten Djokovic in over seven months is Roger Federer, after playing some of the best clay court tennis he has ever exhibited in Paris this yearin the semifinals of Roland Garros. Let me repeat that: Djokovic has won 47 matches in 2011 and only lost one. Can he continue his amazing run now that he has had to play at a stratospheric level of near-perfection to reach his lifetime goal of becoming World #1? How long can he possibly maintain this form? Can anyone possibly beat Nadal in five consecutive finals?

The first thing Nadal mention is that this match is played at a major so it is the first time during Djokovic's streak they are playing best-of-five-sets tennis. It is also a historic moment, the winner of the first major of 2011 playing against the winner of the second major of 2011. Nadal unquestionably has more experience at this level; Djokovic is only playing in his 5th major final, where he has won 2 (against Tsonga in the 2008 Australian Open final and against Murray in the 2011 Australian final) and lost two (2007 US Open final to Federer and 2010 US Open final to Nadal). Nadal is in his 13th major final, sporting an impressive 10-2 record, with the two losses in finals coming here at Wimbledon in 2006 and 2007 to the third member of the historic "trivalry," Roger Federer.

Mentally, I believe Djokovic has the edge in Sunday's match. Nadal hasn't even really been close in the last two matches they have played on clay which has got to worry him at important moments, especially if Djokovic gets off to a quick start. The only major finals Nadal has ever lost have been on grass and although Djokovic has never won a set against Nadal on the surface, Nadal knows that person he played then (in the 2007 Wimbledon semifinal and the 2008 Queens club final) is not the same person he will be facing on Sunday. That streak will almost certainly end.

The ATP website has a very interesting summary of the two player's performances at Wimbledon to date which seems to indicate Nadal has played at a slightly higher level. Nadal has an astonishing 113 forehand winners and (a paltry) 29 backhand winners compared to 35 forehand errors and 19 backhand errors. Djokovic has 62 forehand winners and 49 backhand errors compared to 46 forehand errors and 37 backhand errors. Nadal is listed as having had an amazing 244 winners and 60 errors (+184) over 6 rounds while Djokovic has a mere 199 winners and 99 errors (+100).

Their serves are equivalently effective: Nadal is serving at 70% in while Djokovic is at 68%. The Spaniard has served 44 aces to 6 double faults while the Serbian has served 54 aces and 15 double faults, which is basically about even.

Who Will Win

I tend to go with the idea that the person with the more effective serve will win the match unless the serve can be counteracted by superior movement and better service returning. With serves basically at a draw, I give Nadal the slight edge in movement but Djokovic the edge in returning. I believe the match will be very very close, probably on the level of the incredible Wimbledon finals of 2008 (Greatest Match Of All Time won by Nadal over Federer) and 2009 (won by Federer over Andy Roddick).

MadProfessah's Prediction: Djokovic in 3 or 4 sets OR Nadal in 5 sets.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Kvitova Wins 1st Major

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As I predicted, Petra Kvitova, 21, won her first Wimbledon title over 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-4 with hard-hitting ground strokes and taking advantage of her opponent's weak serving.
Kvitova was broken the very first game of the match but broke back immediately with some hard hitting and a double fault from Sharapova.

Sharapova was broken again in the 6th game of the match and Kvitova held serve to go up 5-2 in the first set. Sharapova continued to serve badly with 5 double faults in the first set but was able to hold and force Kvitova to serve out the first set.

The second set was closer, with Sharapova serving better (only one double fault and a pair of aces) and even though Kvitova broke early she gave it back almost immediately. The two traded breaks until Kvitova lead to go up 4-3 and Sharpova gutted out another service game to serve out the match, which she did emphatically, ending with her first ace on championship point: 6-3 6-4.

Kvitova played well, playing within herself and was able to handle Sharapova's pace and generate a huge amount of her own pace. Kvitova did a better job of hitting her spots on her serve, even though she served more double faults in the second set than Sharapova, they were on points which were not damaging.

Congratulations to Petra! I expect her to win many more majors.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Djokovic Becomes World #1; Reaches Final

As I predicted, Novak Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(4) 6-2 6-7(9) 6-3 in the 2011 Wimbledon semifinals to win his astonishing 47th match of the year (out of 48 played) and claim the World #1 ranking for the first time.

The only person to beat Djokovic all year is Roger Federer and Tsonga beat him on Wednesday. I really don't see either player (Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray) from the other semifinal stopping the 24-year-old Nole from winning his first Wimbledon title (and 8th title of the year) on Sunday.

Congrats to the new #1 from Serbia!

WIMBLEDON 2011: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2011.

Last year I predicted 1 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly and 0 of 2 men's semifinals correctly. This year I correctly predicted 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals, 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals and 2 of 2 women's semifinals. 

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) vs. Andy Murray GBR (4). For the second year in a row, Andy Murray's goal to win his country's Grand Slam must go through World #1 Rafael Nadal.

 Head-to-head Nadal leads 11-4 with a 2-0 record on grass (2010 Wimbledon semifinal and 2008 Wimbledon quarterfinal). With Nadal allegedly not at 100 percent fit to play (a claim I am somewhat skeptical of) I think this gives Murray the best chance he has ever had to date to end the long drought of having a male British citizen appear in the Wimbledon final, let alone actually win the bloody thing. The four times Murray has beaten Nadal he has done it on hard courts with very strong serving, combined with first strike tennis using the forehand cross-court and the backhand down-the-line to Nadal's backhand. Murray is an excellent defender and loves to play long grueling points to demonstrate his fitness and mentally exhaust his opponents. This is exactly the wrong game plan against the (almost psychotically) mentally tough Spaniard.

Nadal has lost four consecutive times to Novak Djokovic this year because Djokovic has been getting multiple free points on his improved serve and is ridiculously flexible and strong enough to convert balls hit from defensive positions instantaneously  into offense. Murray can get free points on his serve if he serves well (i.e. in the 130 mph) but he shouldn't even THINK about playing defense. The way to beat Nadal is relatively clear: you have to bash him off of a very fast court (c.f. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's 2008 Australian Open semifinal win, Juan Martin del Potro's 2009 U.S. Open semifinal win, Murray's own 2010 Australian Open quarterfinal win).

Basically you have to be prepared to hit 4 or 5 winners to win a single point and not get frustrated about doing it for two or three hours. Murray has been in 3 career Grand Slam finals so far and has failed to win a set in any of them. For all intents and purposes, this semifinal (just like last year's Wimbledon semifinal) is even more important than a final to Murray's career. So, if past performance is a predictor of future performance, Murray will under-perform his ability and lose in 3 sets to Nadal again. However, I strongly believe that Murray is getting closer and closer to a breakthrough and one indication was his strong showing in the 2011 French Open semifinal against Nadal (which Murray lost in straight sets but he had a LOT of chances, which he was unable to convert). I believe he will take that experience of having opportunities in Paris and the strong crowd support in London to give him a very decent chance to win this match and warm the hearts of a nation. PREDICTION: Nadal in 3 OR Murray in 4 or 5 sets.

Roger Federer SUI (3) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (12) vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (2).

This is also a match which is "bigger" than a Grand Slam final, to one of the competitors (Djokovic), at least. If the Serb wins, he will be ranked World #1 for the first time in his career. If the Frenchman wins he would be the first of his countrymen to be in the Wimbledon final in the Open era. There are far fewer men (24) who have been ranked World #1 at some point since the rankings began in 1973 than have won a major final in that time period (almost 60).  It just so happens that this match-up is a reprise of the 2008 Australian Open final, won by Djokovic, but since that first encounter Tsonga has won 5 of 6 matches the two have played, including a stunning 5-set win in the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinals. The 2008 Australian Open final is an instructive match to analyze in understanding the dynamics between the two players because then, like now, Tsonga is coming off the biggest win of his career (in 2008 a surprisingly vicious beat down of Nadal in the Australian Open semifinal, in 2011 a stunning dismissal of Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon).

Then, Tsonga didn't start the match playing his best tennis until the second set and Djokovic exploited the lead to run away with the match and the title. However, it must be noted that what Tsonga achieved Roger Federer had not happened in 178 of the Swiss Great's 5-set Grand Slam matches--he lost the first two sets and then won the match (rather comfortably) with an early service break in each subsequent set and denying his opponent even a sniff at breaking his own.

Djokvic is a much better service returner than Federer so it's doubtful that strategy will work again but Tsonga has so much talent there are others that could work (serve and volley as much as possible, deny pace to Djokovic and then suddenly blast the ball for a winner) and most of all, Tsonga believes he can win. Djokovic has played 47 matches so far in 2011 and won 46 of them. This is an astonishing feat. Lately, his opponents have gotten closer and the new unbeatable Djokovic has shown some of the familiar tics of the old, retiring Djokovic, but I still believe that somehow, Nole will find a way to fulfill his destiny and win the match and reach the pinnacle of men's tennis.  PREDICTION: Djokovic.  

WIMBLEDON 2011: Women's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the women's semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2011. I predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly. Last year I predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals correctly.

Maria Sharapova RUS (5) vs Sabine Lisicki GER . Sharapova appears to be returning to the form that has led her to win 3 major tournaments (2008 Australian Open, 2006 US Open and 2004 Wimbledon) so far after surgery in 2009 really deteriorated her game. Lisicki is a wild card has put on two amazing performances on Wimbledon Centre Court this year, dismissing 2011 French Open champion Li Na in the 3rd round and eliminating 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals. With both Williams sisters gone from the tournament (this was Serena's half) this is the most wide open Wimbledon in over a decade. If  you start to match up the two player's games Lisicki has the better serve, while Sharapova has the better return.

Sharapova has the better second serve, or at least she goes for more, but this also makes it less reliable. Sharapova has 19 aces but also 19 double faults over 5 matches so far. Lisicki has 44 aces and only 13 double faults. Sharapova has a total of 126 winners while Liscki has 157, including an incredible 52 winners in the round before in her 3-set win over Bartoli. Lisicki is probably the better mover but Sharapova is faster than she appears and can do more with the ball when she gets there. Analyzing their groundstrokes you have to give a big advantage to Sharapova, especially on the backhand side, with the forehand side being a bit closer. On grass you have to give the edge to the better server (Lisicki) but all the intangibles (been in this position before, mental toughness) go to Sharapova.I would be delighted if Lisicki wins, but I think it's more likely she will falter than Sharapova will. I was very surprised that Lisicki had to play a 3rd set against Bartoli, after having 3 match points in the second set, but she shook that off to win 6-1. If she gives that opportunity to Sharapova to come back, the Russian will reach her 2nd Wimbledon final. PREDICTION: Who I think will win: Sharapova, Who I want to win: Lisicki.

Victoria Azarenka BLR (4) vs. Petra Kvitova CZE (8). This should be the more interesting match of the two because the higher ranked player is the one with the less experience being in the semifinals of Wimbledon. However, I'm sure in her own mind Azarenka feels like she should have won a major already. Azarenka is like a young Novak Djokovic in that early in his career the Serbian retired in a number of important matches and Azarenka is (in)famous for her withdrawals from multiple matches, especially this year.

They are both incredibly talented players and you totally expect them to win multiple majors. Djokovic has met (and possibly even exceeded) expectations but Azarenka is still waiting for her big breakthrough. If you look at each of the semifinalists' records to this point Azarenka has only had 10 aces to 9 double faults in 5 rounds. Kvitova has had 26 aces to 11 double faults. Interestingly, when you match up their games you see that Kvitova has the better serve and the better ground strokes. Azarenka is by far the better mover and I think the intangibles are pretty even. Kvitova disappointed me when she lost a 2nd set tie-break to Tsevetana "Venus-killer" Pironkova with some bad misses on attempted winners. Then again, like Lisicki, she won the deciding set pretty easily. This second match should be closer than the first semifinal with Kvitova, another left-handed female player born in Czechoslovakia like the great Martina Navratiilova, reaching her first (but probably not her last) Wimbledon final. PREDICTION: Who I think will win: Kvitova, Who I want to win: Kvitova.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Shock! Tsonga Beats Federer In 5 Sets!

Roger Federer had a career record of 178-0 after winning the first 2 sets in a grand slam tennis match. Against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga he won the first two sets 6-3 7-6(3) but then lost the next three sets 4-6 4-6 4-6 when Tsonga broke once in each set. Federer broke Tsonga in the first game of the match but then never had another breakpoint in the entire match.

For the second year in a row, the 16-time major champion fell in the quarterfinal round of Wimbledon, defying my predictions. Even though I predicted (and desired) a Federer win, I am not that surprised by Tsonga's win. He is an excellent grass-court player, has beaten Federer before despite doing 1-5 in the final set and Federer, to me, looked shaky in the 4th round aginst Youzhny. Still, I am shocked that Federer only had 1 break point in over 3 hours of play (which he converted) while Tsonga converted 3 of 9. Will Federer ever win another major? I believe he will, but now I think he will need some help from the other players going out early.

Interestingly, Novak Djokovic is actually 2-5 career head-to-head against Tsonga, despite beating him in the 2008 Australian Open final to win his first major. This will be an even more important match for Djokovic: if he wins the match, he becomes the World #1 ranked player.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

Petra Kvitova                                © AELTC/J.Buckle

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2011. Last year I correctly predicted 2 of 4 women's quarterfinals.

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) Dominika Cibulkova SVK (24) vs Maria Sharapova RUS (5). For the first time since 2006 Maria Sharapova is in a Wimbledon quarterfinal when there is no possibility of a facing a Williams sister in order to win the title. Her immediate challenge is to defeat a woman who is almost a full foot shorter but who has beaten her the one time they played in a major. Cibulkova embarrassed Sharapova 6-0 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2009 French Open. Amazingly, all four of their career meetings have been on clay, and  the two are locked at 2-all, with the shorter player having won the last 2 matches, including one this year. However, Sharapova is much more comfortable on grass than clay. Cibulkova is also coming off one of the best wins of her career by basically blasting the World #1 Caroline Wozniacki off the court with nearly 20 forehand winners in a 1-6 7-6(5) 7-5 victory. The match-up on paper looks like a clear win for Sharapova, but Cibulkova has beaten her before and believes in her game. The question will be if Sharapova believes in her game, especially her (second) serve. PREDICTION: Sharapova in 3 sets.

Sabine Lisicki GER  vs. Serena Williams USA (7) Marion Bartoli FRA (9). Sabine Lisicki had one of the most outstanding performances by a female tennis player this year when she saved 2 match points against #3 seed Li Na (the most successful player at the Grand Slam tournaments this year) to win 3-6 6-4 8-6 in the second round. Lisicki has yet to lose a match on grass this year, having won in Birmingham right before Wimbledon, but she had to write the All-England Lawn Tennis Club in order to get a wildcard to enter the tournament, which was granted. 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli  put on an incredible performance in the 4th round of Wimbledon to dismiss the 2-time defending champion Serena Williams by out-hitting and out-serving the 13-time major champion in two sets 6-3 7-6(6). Bartoli had more aces (10 to 8) than Serena and in most of the rallies was hitting the ball harder and more aggressively. Serena did not play her best, true, but Bartoli won the match more than Serena lost it. Head-to-head Lisicki leads Bartoli 2-1 including a win over the Frenchwoman this year but Bartoli's lone win was on grass at Wimbledon in 2008. Bartoli had 11 aces in the first 3 rounds and 10 in the fourth. I seriously doubt she can play as well two rounds in a row. The German wild-card is a real contender to win the entire tournament. PREDICTION: Lisicki in 2 sets.

Tamira Paszek AUT  vs. Victoria Azarenka BLR (4). The highest remaining seed is the hard-hitting (and ear-splitting) Belarussian who has reached her 5th career grand Slam quarterfinal at this year's Wimbledon but who has never reached a major semifinal. I expect that streak to end on Tuesday. Her opponent, Paszek had an impressive win over 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the 3rd round 3-6 6-4 11-9 after nearly four hours of play. Paszek had been long touted as a player to watch about 3 or 4 years ago but injuries got in the way and the 20-year-old is the furthest she has reached in a major since her breakthrough debut year in 2007. Azarenka has the power and mentality to dismiss most players outside of the Top 10. Paszek is not an exception.PREDICTION: Azarenka in 2 sets. 

Petra Kvitova CZE (8) vs. Venus Williams USA (23) Tsvetana Pironkova BUL (32). Pironkova must be Bulgarian for "kryptonite" because there is no other explanation for why the greatest women's grass court player of her generation would lose in two consecutive years to the same player, by the same exact score (6-2 6-3)! Last year Pironkova's stunning win was one round later and she followed it by losing a hideous match against Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals. The player in the other semifinal last year was Petra Kvitova who lost a high-quality affair to eventual champion Serena Williams. This year, Pironkova has to face the hard-hitting, fearless lefty who has the game to defeat anyone on the tour but didn't quite believe in herself enough. This year she has the belief that she can do it, and she can. PREDICTION: Kvitova in 2 sets.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Disaster! Serena and Venus Lose!

OMG! Venus and Serena William, who have won 9 of the last 11 Wimbledon singles titles between them, both lost in their fourth round matches on Monday June 27th ( a day that will live in infamy).

Venus lost 6-2 6-3 to Tsevetana Pironkova, the Bulgarian player who beat her in the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals (by the same exact score) and in the 2006 Australian Open 1st round.

Serena lost to 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli 6-3 7-6(6).

There are no words. Both played pretty horrendously. Clearly "Pironkova" is Kryptonite in Bulgarian because there is really no explanation for why Venus plays so horrendously against her.

Oh, in other "upset news" Dominque Cibulkova eliminated the #1 player in the world, Caroline Wozniacki.

The only player who has still won a major on the women's side is Maria Sharapova, who won the 2004 Wimbledon title over Serena.

WIMBLEDON 2011:Williamses, Top 4 Men, Delpo In To R16

Novak Djokovic won a tension-filled 3rd round
4-set match against Marcos Baghdatis

Wimbledon is the only major which does not generally have play on the "middle" Sunday. So, after Saturday's play on Day 6, here is an update.

The Top 4 players in the world, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are all through to the round of 16 at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. World #5 Robin Soderling  and World #8 Andy Roddick have been upset. #6 seed Tomas Berdych and #7 seed David Ferrer are still in the tournament, as is 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.


World #1 Caroline Wozniacki, #4 seed Victoria Azarenka, #5 Maria Sharapova, #7 Serena Williams, #8 Petra Kvitova and #9 Marion Bartoli are all in the round of 16. 2010 Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva and 2011 French Open finalist Francesca Schiavone both lost on Day 6.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Venus Survives 3-Hour Scare

Michael Regan/Getty 

30-year-old Venus Williams survived a stiff challenge from the crafty 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm in her second round match, coming back from a 1-5 deficit in the first round to win 6-7(6) 6-3 8-6 in a nearly 3 hour slugfest with the diminutive Japanese veteran displaying amazing finesse at the net and surprising power and steadiness from the baseline. Venus saved 7 set points in the first set but still lost it after playing a very bad tie break. She won the second set by easily breaking Date-Krumm's serve and holding hers. In the third set, Venus got an early break to go up 2-0 but then relinquished the lead and the two held serve for 9 consecutive service games until Venus was able to finally break and win the match.

Overall, I think this was a very good match for Venus to get through. She was able to get into her grass court flow and her serve started clicking in the middle of the second set. Although she only converted 7 of 20 breakpoints, I'm confident she will do better in another tough match against Spanish lefty serve and volleyer Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez whose claim to fame is stealing a point against Venus' sister Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2009.

Other winners on Day 3 were Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Tomas Berdych, Gael Monfils and Mardy Fish. On the women's side, Vera Zzonareva, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Daniela Hantuchova and Andrea Petkovic are all through to the 3rd round.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Raja, Serena, Roddick, Woz Win 1st Round

Defending Champion Serena Williams cried after
 winning her first Grand Slam match in a year

Day 2 of play at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships has ended with 2-time defending champion Serena Williams winning her first round match over Aravane Rezai, "the Pocket Rocket," 6-3 3-6 6-1 and then bursting into tears afterwards. Serena improved to 44-0 in 1st round Grand Slam matches, and showed more emotion in this win than she has in winning several of her 13 major finals.

From The Daily Mail:

'I didn't expect that,' she said. 'It just hit me at the end. I'm not a crier, but it felt so emotional. I think when I won my first US Open back in 1999 I had a little cry, but not like this. It's the most emotional I've been after a win and to be a first round, well, I usually never get super-excited. But it wasn't about winning today, it was about just being out there. Everyone has their troubles and you must have faith that you can get through it. 

'I've been through a lot in the last 12 months, a lot of things that are not normal, things you guys don't even know about. It's been an arduous, long run and just to be standing up feels pretty awesome.

'I always preach to other people, "never give up", but this was my test. I could have given up, I could have sat at home and thought, "I've had a fabulous career, I don't need to work extra hard now." Instead, I proved I could. No more than that, really: I could. '

I've learned you can never take any moment for granted, I learned to try to appreciate it all. Each and every point, each and every momentI enjoy and relish. This was my struggle, my battle, something I have to overcome and still must overcome every day. This is the beginning of the road, not the end.'

Other winners in the first round were 6-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer, 3-time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick, World #1 Carolina Wozniacki and World #5 Robin Soderling. The only major seeds to go out were 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur and former World #1 Jelena Jankovic. Fernando Verdasco avoided 1st round disaster by coming back from 2-sets down to win 2-6 4-6 6-3 7-6(6) 9-7.

WIMBLEDON 2011: The Odds Of Winning

The oddsmakers have Roger Federer and Serena Williams as the favorites to win this year's Singles Championships at Wimbledon, which started today.

Hat/tip to Busted Racquet.

WIMBLEDON 2011: Venus, Rafa, Vera, Schiavone Win 1st Round

Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Venus Williams  was the first on on Court 3 and finished her first round match 6-3 6-1 before the rain came and suspended all play on all the courts but Centre Court. Before that happened, Rafael Nadal 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon champion dismissed American Michael Russell 6-4 6-2 6-2.

With the roof down 2011 French Open finalist Francesca Schiavone was able to pull through a first-round win over Jelena Dokic 6-4 1-6 6-3. Last year's Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva won her first round match over talented American youngster Alison Riske 6-0 3-6 6-3.


All eyes are on tomorrow's repeat clash between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, who last year played the longest match of all time in the 1st round of Wimbledon, the most memorable match of the year.

Other first round winners were 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Stanislas Wawrinka.