Wimbledon 2022 Day 6

Today is Pride UK 🏳️‍🌈which, for me, takes precedence over tennis. Nevertheless, it raises the question, once again, why are there so few gay women on the tour. Who is putting them off from coming out? It is particularly strange because the tour was set up by Billie Jean King who is part of the LGBT+ community. So you'd think there would be a positive encouragement of gay women to play on the tour. Surely, one would expect it to be a safe space for lesbians, bi, transwomen, queer, intersex, androgynous/agender, asexual, pansexual, demi, and non-binary women. But if they are there they are keeping quiet. All one hears of is boyfriends and babies. The tour should be for all, which it might be in theory but doesn't appear so in practice. 

Day 6 was exciting because Swiatek's record run of 37 consecutive match wins was ended by Alize Cornet, a French player who I have always enjoyed watching. I'm pleased for her and hope she doesn't retire from tennis this year. She's only 32! Come on, Venus has shown how you can play until 40+ and she is not the only one. Billie Jean King and Navratilova played until well into their 40's and Peschke has only just retired a month short of her 47th birthday, around the same age as Billie Jean King when she retired. Navratilova retired later, around the age of 50. So why players are suddenly retiring in their 20's or early 30's is beyond me. Surely they should carry on until they are 50, which is a decent length of time for an athlete. Good enough for Navratilova, good enough for everyone else, especially in the doubles. 

Apart from the shock defeat of Swiatek the other shock was Gauff being outplayed by Anisimova. Both are US players and were rivals at the junior level. After Gauff's terrific run at RG (runner-up) one expected her to go deeper into Wimbledon. It's an interesting example of how you can be playing well, look unbeatable in previous rounds 🙂💪and then get the run-about by a different opponent in a later round😤😕. Now you look as though you've lost your form and making too many errors but it can just be that your opponent is putting something on the ball that you are unable to deal with very well. It's easy to think that a player's form is self-contained and it's all up to them. That's true of golf but not tennis! Your opponent is a large factor in how you play a match and whether you win or lose. In addition, if you meet an opponent with whom you had a rivalry when younger that can be a stumbling block. Another can be that your coach can help an opponent beat you because they know your game too well. Neither were my problems but I wonder if the latter is Raducanu's worry? Hence, she doesn't stick to one coach.

Kvitova lost to Badosa. I'm puzzled as to why Kvitova has lost her form this year and last year. She was runner-up at the AO 2019 and then went on to win a WTA in Stuttgart, the same year, which is a super tournament. I went there as a spectator and loved it. After Stuttgart she's injured a couple of times and is out of the game. By 2020 she's out of the top 10 but returns to the top 10 when she reaches the SF's at RG. At the end of 2020 Kvitova is number 8 in the world. In 2021 she wins Doha beating Muguruza. A great achievement! Kvitova is the first player, born in the 90's, to win titles across three decades. 👏👏👏 After Doha she's off the radar either injured or losing matches. By the end of 2021 she slips to 17 in the world. After Madrid this year she drops another 17 places to 34. This year she suddenly wins Eastbourne, her 29th title, a tournament just prior to Wimbledon. So congratulations on winning that one. 👏👏👏👏🎾🏆 However, I thought that would help her at Wimbledon but, sadly, it hasn't. I'm concerned whether she has a niggling injury. 

The weather turned out fine. Checking the weather forecast is a waste of time🤷. It was a hot day! 🌞

Heather Watson's singles match is first up on Centre Court tomorrow, so don't forget to watch! 🎾🙂👏