Friday, June 27, 2008

Two Days of Wimbledon in 3 Acts, Act 2: The Ladies Crapshoot

If you don't like upsets, the women's draw is an absolute disaster. If you're a Scrabble enthusiast, it is a word and name festival!
On the first issue: Sharapova, out. Ivanovic, out. An interesting take by SI's Jon Wertheim today about how both women skipped all of the Wimbledon warmup events, then got blown out early. Lots more depth on the women's side, lots of hungry, fit, talented ladies coming out of the woodwork staking their claims. Clearly the halcyon days where Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Seles et al could coast early then turn it on in the second week of the Grand Slam are gone.
Now it's all about who got the biggest game, the fittest legs, and the stones to fight it out for two full weeks. Believe me, these upsets and the hoard of tough new female players, while irritating now (remember, I picked Sharapova to win) is going to be a boon for the health of the game.

On the second issue, here are some of the names left in the tournament:
KUDRYAVTSEVA, TANASUGARN, WOZNIAKI, RADWANSKA (who beat
PAVLYUCHENKOVA in the third round), and CHAKVETADZE.
Right now, sportswriters and broadcasters alike are mourning the fall of the Berlin Wall and the advancement of sports in former Eastern Bloc countries, because these names are just polysyllabic explosions! I didn't even bother trying to type them, just went with the ol' cut and paste. I may be Tipsy, but I'm not crazy.

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