Big Friday Features Federer, Roddick, Davenport, Mauresmo at Wimbledon
Posted on July 1, 2005
Shes Your Venus, Ousting Champ Sharapova at WimbledonNo. 14 seed Venus Williams, no stranger to Wimbledon finals after reaching four consecutive in her day, dumped out defending champion and No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova 7-6(2), 6-1 Thursday at the All-England Club, shooting for her third title in her fifth final.
"My play has just gotten better with each opponent, and my level has raised with however my opponent was playing," Venus said. "It's satisfying, but I've always felt that I can play at this level. I just gave myself the opportunity at this tournament to do it."
After the tiebreak loss, in the second set Sharapova was broken early, with her facade of strength slowly fading, to the point of tossing in two shaky double faults in her last service game. With 24, Sharapova committed the most unforced errors of any of her previous matches, also delivering no aces for the first time during the event and winning only 50 percent of her first serves. The loss ended Sharapova's 22-match win streak on grass.
"I think I need to be stronger," said Sharapova, again going to the 'I'm only 18' card. "But at 18, I don't think it's possible to have a huge consistent serve, and I realize that and I accept it. I know with hard work and practice and repetition it will get bigger and stronger and more accurate."
Rain suspended play in the second semifinal with world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport leading No. 3 seed Amelie Mauresmo 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 5-3 with the Frenchwoman serving.
Both played nervously throughout the match, with Mauresmo gifting a game to Davenport at 5-5 in the first, and Davenport handing the next game back with unforced errors to extend it to a tiebreak where the Frenchwoman prevailed.
Davenport was broken on her first service of the second set, with numerous breaks to follow from both players until the American evened it in the second-set tiebreak. In the third Mauresmo was broken serving at 3-3, blowing two break points in the previous game on Davenport's serve. On Friday Davenport will get at least one shot at serving out the match.
On tap for Friday are (1) Davenport and (3) Mauresmo (to finish), and in doubles Russians (5) Likhovtseva/Zvonareva vs. Kuznetsova/Mauresmo in a quarterfinal match.
Federer, Roddick Star in Wimbledon Semis; Bjorkman/Beast Through in Doubles
One men's doubles match was completed before the rains Thursday at Wimbledon, with top seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi into the semifinals, defeating unseeded Germans Rainer Schuettler and Alexander Waske 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.
The Swedish/Belarussian pair broke the Germans at 6-5 in the first set, then the next two sets rolled rather easily with the Germans frequently screaming their displease at being overpowered on serve.
Bjorkman has won the men's title for the past three years with now-retired partner Todd Woodbridge.
Scheduled for Friday are the men's singles semis in (1) Federer vs. (3) Hewitt and (2) Roddick vs. (12) T.Johansson, and in the doubles semis (1) Bjorkman/Mirnyi vs. Huss/Moodie, and (2) Bryan/Bryan vs. (4) Black/Ullyett.
The Roddick-Johansson affair could be a toss-up depending on the state of the Swede's point-on return and baseline game, but with Federer the question is not whether he will win, but how many bagels he will bake in the process.
Federer has won his last seven meetings over Hewitt, recording bagel sets in four of the victories, including two in last year's US Open final.
"He's obviously the best player in the world for a reason," Hewitt said. "When he plays some of his best tennis, he's nearly unbeatable in certain matches. I'm going to have to try and find something."
Federer's grasscourt consecutive-win streak stands at 34, only seven short of matching Bjorn Borg's record 41.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
From the ATP: "Starting in September, ATP tournaments will feature enhancements to doubles designed to appeal to fans and better showcase the tandem game. ATP doubles matches at many fall tournaments will feature no-ad games and sets played to five games rather than six, with a tie-break at 4-4. Possible set scores will be 5-0, 5-1, 5-2, 5-3 and 5-4. Scheduling policies will be changed to ensure that more doubles will be prominently featured on show courts for spectators and TV viewers alike. The ATP and tournaments also are developing a variety of promotional initiatives to showcase doubles and increase its appeal to fans and sponsors. Many of the enhancements, approved by the ATP Board last week at Wimbledon, were initially recommended by a Research & Development Doubles Project Team chaired by Horst Klosterkemper, ATP President Europe and Player Relations. It included player representatives, tournament directors and ATP staff. The project team evaluated data from surveys from four target groups: fans, players, media and tournaments. One hundred players equally represented from Top 100 in doubles and singles were interviewed, and 4,837 fans responded to an ATPtennis.com survey (X-ed. note: which to our recollection didn't mention potentially butchering the scoring system -- that's a weak reference, making it seem like the fans supported it). Analysis of the ranking systems at all levels of tennis also was undertaken." Why not just promote doubles and NOT introduce another confusing scoring system? ATP = Another Troublesome Promotion...Mark Petchey, who knows a meal ticket when he sees one, is rumored to be quitting his position with the Brit Lawn Tennis Association to coach Brit-Scot Andy Murray full-time: "It's getting close to being agreed," Murray said. "I want to travel with Mark and I think he wants to travel with me and there are just a few things we need to sort out. We only started speaking about it on Sunday and Monday. He's coming to America with me tomorrow (to practice at Newport) and hopefully we can sort something out pretty soon. I'm sure we can come to some agreement."...Todd Woodbridge retires with nine Wimbledon doubles titles, 16 overall slam titles, a record 83 ATP doubles titles, and a Wimbledon singles semifinals...Best Thursday headline comes from tennisnews.com: "Mixed doubles partner Stosur anxious to give Woodbridge happy send-off" -- lucky him, though his wife won't be too pleased...Actor Val Kilmer is taking heat for skipping his stage performance of "The Postman Always Rings Twice" at London's Playhouse Theatre with illness, yet sneaking off to watch Wimbledon...Maria Sharapova denies it was her, rather Wimbledon officials, that told photographers to stop taking pictures of her ass: "We were taking pictures during her training sessions when an official told us to stop," one photographer said. "We've been warned off in no uncertain terms. It's a bit rich from a girl who makes loads of money from her face and bottom being plastered everywhere."...Florida A&M, Florida's only historically black public university, has cut tennis, golf, swimming and diving from its sports programs. "I'm very, very uncomfortable with cutting these four sports because, again, people of color are highly...underrepresented," Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., one of the trustees, told the Gainesville Sun. "It literally gives me hiccups."...What an ugly move by the ATP, switching doubles scoring after the US Open to sets up to five instead of six, with no-ad scoring, while the slams in 2006 will continue with regular scoring...Monica Seles, yet to pull the retirement trigger, hoping her foot will heal: "I'm trying to give stuff back coaching kids in America and Canada but I'm also studying a little bit of architecture."...Professional tennis criminal Roscoe Tanner is back in the news, with two warrants for his arrest by police in Chattanooga, Tenn. where he lives, after failing to pay thousands of dollars in child support and for criminal contempt of court. The criminal warrant for his arrest was issued by California prosecutors, who think he has fled to one of the neighboring states. Come in from the cold Roscoe, we'll protect you -- actually we'd probably interview you then turn your ass in...Hand it to Lindsay Davenport, who doesn't give a rat about staying No. 1, skipping almost the entire pre-French warm-up season, yet with No. 2 Maria Sharapova losing in the Wimbledon semis she further shores up her No. 1 standing...Andy Murray says renaming Henman Hill is fine with him: "You need something that rhymes like Murray Mount or Mount Murray," Murray told BBC presenter Sue Barker...Nutty Dad Watch: On Tuesday the BBC aired an interview in which Richard Williams spoke about taking his daughters to visit a hamburger salesman who had once been a professional tennis player to underscore the value of hard work. Asked to elaborate on the incident in her post-match interview, Venus Williams said: "I don't know that story."...From the BBC Wimbledon blog: "But today we have two front runners for The Most Eccentric Category: a) The lovely lady who is dressed head-to-toe in Union Jack garb and is maybe having some trouble accepting that Tim Henman has not made it through to the second week for the first time in a decade. And b) the model who is wearing a pair of white jeans inside out -- pockets blowing in the breeze are all very fetching but the big question has to be "why?" Unfortunately the mystery can only be unlocked if you speak Japanese."...Lleyton Hewitt has won his last 11 matches against Spaniards (as you can guess, he missed this year's claycourt season with injury)...Conchita Martinez: "What girls like (Maria) Sharapova want to do is sell at any cost. But I wouldn't do things that she does. I would not act that way. If they told me that I must play in a bikini top to sell, I wouldn't do it. I save my bikini wearing for the beach."...As of last count, ESPN's Wimbledon coverage in the U.S. is up 20 percent over last year...All 14 women who have been ranked No. 1 signed rackets that will be auctioned to raise money for the victims of last year's tsunami in Asia. The proceeds will be used to build houses for people affected by December's disaster. Fans can bid for the rackets on eBay...Both Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson and Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic have dumped their coaches...Lleyton Hewitt has made good on the promise he made back in May, saying "Realistically, (Wimbledon) probably comes down to Roger (Federer) and myself."...ESPN writer Wayne Drehs on Andy Roddick being such a hyuk-yuk cut-up: "In his post-match press conference, Roddick was his typical "HBO Comedy Hour" self. When a reporter asked how he kept from getting too confident and tasting or smelling a Wimbledon title too soon, Roddick said, "I don't know. What does it smell like? What does it taste like? Chicken?" His last answer was even better. A British reporter asked if Roddick had ever experienced any on-court marriage proposals, like Scottish star Andy Murray and female diva Maria Sharapova received this week. Said Roddick: "My fans don't think that long-term."" Bwaa ha ha! Stop it Andy, you're killing us! Oh (dabbing our eyes) Chicken! (more dabbing) Oh my!....Nutty Dad II -- more from Richard Williams: "When it was Steffi Graf or Chris Evert that won, or Monica Seles -- but when those two black girls came and beat up everyone, tennis was 'not exciting,' Poppa Williams told the AP. "I bet you they wouldn't say that if (Maria) Sharapova won all the time, or Lindsay (Davenport) won all the time. So who would want to play under those conditions?"...Sports Illustrated magazine listed it's "Fortune 50," the 50 highest-paid athletes in the U.S., in it's July 4 issue. Andre Agassi is No. 2 on the list, behind only Tiger Woods. Andy Roddick is mentioned in the category "It Won't Be Long," a list of athletes likely to soon join the "Fortune 50." Roddick, whose earnings are listed at $13.5 million for 2004, missed the Top 50 this year by just $700,000. Dude is struggling, we need to start him a PayPal charity account...Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez welcomed a BBC camera crew to the house he stayed at in Wimbledon ahead of his quarterfinal match against Lleyton Hewitt. The Spanish star was seen cooking tortillas for breakfast, as well as watching a replay of the last few points of his previous match in which he was victorious over Mario Ancic. No more tortillas for breakfast at Wimbledon for F-Lo, we're guessing.