And just like that, clay is a memory. Now it’s all about the grass. It’s a strange and delightful part of the tennis year. So short. Three weeks, four if you make it to the second week of Wimbledon. That’s the grass court season. Is that a season? Blink and you’ll miss it.
Add the rain factor and you might just miss it due to weather. Today, Sunday, I was looking forward to seeing the finals of the Aegon International outside London, between Andy Murray and Jo Wilifred Tsonga. They were looking forward to playing, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow, hopefully. Rain!
Ditto for the Birmingham competition on the women’s side. That’s a final I really want to see. I watched the semis yesterday. Hantuchova took it over Ana Ivanovic. Sabine Lisicki delivered a beatdown to Peng. When the Racquet Bracket comes out for Wimbledon, I’ll be looking to see where these two girls are because they both are there to play. I think Daniela Hantuchova is realizing time is not on her side and she’s just done with choking at the important moments. She wants the good feelings that come from not choking. Great to see, she’s got a good strong game.
And Sabine Lisicki doesn’t have a history to overcome, she just hasn’t yet gotten the top results and she’s all in. So let’s see who wins the final between them and then how they do in Eastborne and Wimbledon.
The weather was dry in Halle, Germany and that is a gorgeous looking stadium. Turned out to be an all German final, between Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petschner. Two Phillipp’s even and yes, they spell it with two p’s. Kohlschreiber took the title after a first set tiebreak and two games of a second set where he was up 2-0 and Petschner retired with a back injury.
The big excitement this week will be seeing Venus and Serena Williams both playing after long absences due to injury and illness. All of us want to see how they look on court. They’re planning to play Wimbledon and that’s their playground more than any other tournament. Venus comes to life on grass like a new woman. Serena’s powerful serve makes her difficult to break and therefore difficult to defeat. It they’re playing anywhere close to form, they are both top contenders for the title.
I think Kim Cliijsters will be in Eastborne and she’s another one we need to see before making any predictions for Wimbledon. If her foot is healed from the wedding dance double insult, she should be at the top of the short list.
Neither Roger nor Novak played this past week, and Rafa looked tired. He almost let Tsonga beat him in the quarterfinals. I’m not sure it was that great an idea to run right over to England. Maybe a week in Mallorca would have been a better thing in the long run.
I’ve been thinking about the men’s final a week ago in Paris. They’ve shown it again a few times during the week. At one point towards the end of the first set, beginning of the second, when Roger should have won the first set and didn’t, Ted Robinson was quoting some sports person, whose name I didn’t recognize at the time, as saying something along the lines of “you have to keep your foot on your opponent’s neck”. It’s a strong image, and clear, no wondering hmmm, exactly what does that mean?
Basically, he was saying that’s what Roger had needed to do at that crucial time in the first set when he was up 5-2. And he didn’t. So guess what? Rafa volunteered. As unpleasant as the image and concept might be, you can’t say it’s irrelevant. So if you have an opponent, you might want to remember to keep your foot on his or her (her!) neck.
That’s the brutal truth from Cupcakes and Tennis, the tennis blog with a sweet spot. Thanks for reading.
