Tennis and All That

To my mind, the conditions favoured Kerber by playing into her strengths and she exploited them which is part of the game of tennis. I think Kerber’s tactics were quite similar to her tactics against Osaka and Ostapenko, with a few alterations. So I think it somewhat helped her that she had played players in previous rounds who have a similar game to Serena. Whereas Serena hadn’t played a player sufficiently similar to Kerber so needed to adjust more to her style than Kerber did to hers. So how did Kerber beat Serena in the final? -           One common tactic players use generally, but especially with Ostapenko and Serena, is getting them on the run. They feel it’s vitally important against them because they hit the ball particularly hard and have a weightier shot that is more strenuous to return. By getting them on the run, they hope to take the sting out of their shots to make it easier to stay in the rally and find an opening to hit ...

Serena has played amazingly well to reach the second week in both Grand Slams (Roland Garros and The Championships). This is despite having continuing health issues which make wearing compression clothing necessary. She is an inspiration. I’m not sure I’d be that brave. I’d be moping around and feeling sorry for myself! Serena, however, takes it in her stride and stays positive.   Nevertheless, conditions made it hard for Serena to have a fair chance at winning Wimbledon. Despite lovely weather, centre court was covered all day until the close of the men’s semi-final. Given there was only around 20 minutes between that match and the women’s final, there was not enough time for the courts to dry out. The grass was clearly damp enough to be slippery in places throughout the men’s semi-final on Saturday because Nadal skidded and almost fell a couple of points before he lost the match. Even the butterflies were enjoying the damp grass during his match! Apparently there are no set ...

This year, the women’s final was hit by scheduling chaos. Unlike in previous years, it was not due to the weather but instead the men’s semi-finals over-running. The previous day, Anderson eventually beat Isner 26-24 in the 5 th set after 6hrs 36mins. The final set took nearly 3hrs to complete. I agree with Anderson that a 5 th set tie-break should be introduced at Wimbledon. He mentioned that playing a match for that long means you don’t feel very well as a result. I think it cannot be healthy to play a match for that long or longer. Tennis is one of the most demanding sports because, unlike most other sports, it requires both aerobic and anaerobic exercise, bursts of strength as well as stamina. Generally, men are more suited to quicker bursts of strength than endurance and stamina so I don’t see the scientific sense in making them play for so long, potentially risking their long-term health. The glorification of the 5 set format for men is too often seen as a macho badge of hono...

If the LPGA can do it why can't the WTA? Here's an article on how women's golf is mother-friendly! Even more reason for the WTA to make changes to encourage new mothers to return to the tour with their ranking intact and childcare provided so they can focus on their tennis practice and matches knowing their children are in good hands. Women should not retire simply because they have had a child at the usual age nor should they have to postpone motherhood until their 40's. It should not be a case of motherhood or career. This article shows how much easier life is on the LPGA tour due to childcare being provided. http://www.toledoblade.com/Marathon-Classic/2018/07/10/Daycare-allows-LPGA-Tour-moms-to-concentrate-on-golf.html

Last Monday, Monfils was deprived of gaining the record for the fastest serve at Wimbledon during his 1 st round match against Gasquet. Apparently the speed gun spontaneously malfunctioned just on his record-breaking serve of 150mph. This seems to me to be a rather feeble explanation for their reading of his serve. I saw it live when he hit it and it was visibly extremely fast. Surely part of trying to host a major Grand Slam and widely-regarded prestigious event is making sure that all equipment is available to use and functioning accurately? Otherwise results and the record books will not reflect players’ achievements. The standard of the equipment and technology should be precise on all courts. Worse still, Court 2 is a main court and that day had a string of powerful servers on it who are capable of record-breaking serves, namely Venus Williams and Cilic alongside Monfils, whose fastest ever serve has been 142mph, which is an impressive speed and is only 8mph slower than the ser...

We’ve had 3 days of The Championships, Wimbledon. Mainly hot and sunny, very windy, and a spot of rain to close out Wednesday, the day there were more women players on show courts than men. Is this gender parity scheduling something that will occur ever year from now on or just a special for the 100 years anniversary of Women in the UK getting the vote?   There have been ideas circulating that the women and men’s final could alternate bi-annually as could the defending champions opening centre court on the first Monday and Tuesday. A good idea? I’ve given it some thought and there may be more merit to it than at first blush. As it stands, the men’s champion from the previous year is the first match on centre court on the first day of the tournament and the men’s final closes out the singles championships. This sends out the message that men are more important because they start and finish a Grand Slam, which are prestigious tournaments attracting huge sums of money, while the ...