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by Philipina A. Marcelo
And so, the courts at SW19 sizzled as the remaining 16 men and 16 women in whites battled one another to book their places in the quarter-finals of the 125th Championships at Wimbledon. Most matches were heart-thumping... and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wowified the audience in the Centre Court, too. Oy! :)
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World No. 1 beaten by a fiery little one
So, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships was not going to be "the one" for the
Wozniacki, not again.World No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki - yet again. She was ousted by the "little lady" from Slovakia, Dominika Cibulkova in their Round of 16 match. Wozniacki, in her usual less than modest attire and interestingly lacquered nails, was out in Court No. 2 with her boringly predictable game... what else? *sigh* She took the first set... but Cibulkova decided to inject some excitement into their match with fiery shots - good for her! - and took the second set in a tie break. At 1 set all and 5 games all in the third set, on Wozniacki’s serve, 0-40,
Cibulkova, fantastic win!Wozniacki moved Cibulkova around and then hit an overhead, which Cibulkova had no hope of saving. There was an emphatic “oh” from the crowd... but no appreciative clap! :) At that point, there was no denying who the crowd was supporting. I know I also gasped with an “oh”... in my disappointment – I would’ve wanted Cibulkova to have caught it! :) But the "little one" went on to break Wozniacki and then took the match on her serve, 1-6, 7(7)-6(5), 7-5. Brilliant! :)
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An Aussie in the House!
So, the teenager from the Land Down Under, Bernard Tomic,
Bernard Tomic, hot!who sent Robin Soderling packing from the third round, got rid of the tough Belgian, Xavier Malisse, in a straight sets win. He booked a big place in a quarter-final clash with Novak Djokovic, who put away the Frenchman, Michael Llodra, in their own Round of 16 match - nothing spectacular, just routine win for The Djoker. Tomic, on the other hand, looked sharp. And the teenager seemed to be having fun - and it was nice to see. :)
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Sisters, over and out!
Venus Williams was totally murdered by Tsavetana Pironkova in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Williams was moving like she needed help to get her through the match... from whom? If she was expecting a helping hand from her defending Champ little sister, tough luck for her because, unfortunately, Serena Williams, was already out of the Championships as Venus struggled in the Centre Court. Serena was walloped by the Frenchwoman Marion Bartolli in straight sets, 6-3, 7(8)-6(6).
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La guerra en SW19!
There was a WAR in the Centre Court, and it’s between the defending Champ Rafael Nadal and the 22-year old 2009 US Open Champ Juan Martin del Potro! The two men started out taking the Centre Court
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge... wow!crowd, which included the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to a tense atmosphere right away! Big points were played from the beginning, and even bigger serves were issued from the racquets of the two power hitters! Rafa showed off surprising volleys, which are brilliant, too. Both men were dissipating the tension by taking a long time in-between points (both averaging 26 sec). At 4-4 on Rafa’s serve and at 15-0, the chair umpire, Carlos Ramos, warned him for exceeding the max 25 sec in-between points service time, and the Majorcan warrior was, of course, pissed... and protested heatedly. His annoyance was not helped by del Potro’s reminding the umpire about taking a point from Nadal, which made the defending champ fumed... and he retaliated with an ace! WAR!!
At 5-5 and 30-30 on Rafa’s serve in the first set, a HUGE point was played won by del Potro – break point for del Potro, which sent the crowd surging to an appreciative clap! And then, Nadal regrouped... an awesome passing
Rafa Nadal, needed more than just brilliance
to go through... he had to "sacrifice" a foot. :(shot here, a hot volley there, and he moved on to 6-5! On del Potro’s serve... the big Argentine was moving slow and tentative, even if he won the first point – via a fantastic winner! Nadal retaliated with a brilliant passing shot! Wow! And then they went seesaw on points – fantastic point, each time... del Potro held, 6-6! And then Nadal, typically, called for a trainer... his left ankle hurt (or foot, was it?) – from a big point he played, which happened to be a game point. Of course! Haven’t we seen this before in his third round match with Gilles Muller... and in many other occasions in the past? That's just the way he plays - he kills himself. Tsk! Del Potro protested the game delay, which was reasonable as far as rules were concerned. Hey, the Matador is defending his crown here, let’s be patient, OK? :) The tie break was painful to watch as Rafa Nadal pushed his left ankle (or was it his foot?) to severe punishments, del Potro going ahead 3-0. Oh, dear... But del Potro has been making unforced errors... 3-3 – shame! At 5-5, Nadal missed a forehand, and he grimaced in pain – around his ankle and the way he couldn’t control the ball via impaired ankle. Oh, gosh.... And then, Nadal powered his shots through the complacent Argentine... and took the set, 7(7)-6(5)! Vamos!
The second set was a display of brilliance from the two men - too awesome! And then, at 4-3 for Del Potro on Rafa's serve, something big happened: a break of serve - first in the match! Del Potro howled! And
Juan Martin del Potro, the big
and hard-hitting Argentine is a
formidable competitor. then he went on to win the set with a fantastic serve-and-volley and a great dropshot - awesome! :)
Nadal opened the third set... more fiery shots! At 2-2, on Nadal's serve, he double-faulted! Just an indication of the killer heat in Centre Court... and then he returned with a beautifully set game, finished with a smash and an applaud from del Potro! Next point, del Potro went down, holding on to the side of his stomach... and a trainer was called in - 15-minute injury break. The game resumed... both men held serves. Nadal shaking head over how long del Potro taking time in between points - so, the Matador met his match, huh? ;) They slugged it out, both holding serves... and took the third set of their WAR to a tie break - once again! Rafa won it... vamos!
After more than three hours, the drama continued in the fourth set... both men holding serves at 2-2. And then, at 30-40 on del Potro's serve, the Argentine served and followed up with a half-hearted shot, which Nadal punished to a terrific winner - break of serve!! And then there were brilliant rallies and mini-rallies - too good! Holding serve, the Argentine brought the set to 5-4 in favor of Nadal... and on Nadal's serve, the epic war ended with the defending Champ claiming a spectacular victory! Whew!
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El Maestro was pushed... and he pushed back - hard!
There is no way one could ever discount the do-or-die Russian player, Mikhail Youzhny. And now that he is in-form, his middle name might
El Maestro, into the
quarter-finals.as well have been the celebratory "C'mon"... regardless of the legendary Roger Federer on the other side of the net at Court No. 1! :) The Russian pushed hard, taking the Swiss Maestro to tie break in the first set of their match where the determined Russian prevailed. But RF was not going to be derailed... he pushed back and claimed the second and third sets. Youzhny hanged on to dear life in the third set... but RF prevailed. The Russian proving his staying power at 5-3 in the fourth set to RF, and 15-40 on Youzhny's serve, the Russian climbed his way up to survival for a deuce and then going up before RF bringing the game back to deuce... and then a repeat of the deuce-and-then-up before the Russian double faulted - back to deuce! Another Russian double fault gave RF a matchpoint, which he completed to a win! El Maestro is through to the quarter-final - nice! :) He will face the on-a-roll Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who earlier put away David Ferrer in their own fourth round match. Oh... :(
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Sweet bits of grass delight
Sabine Lisicki, the wild card who downed the 2011 Roland Garros Champ from China, Li Na, in the second round, lived up to expectations. She moved on to the quater-finals to face Serena Williams' conqueror, Marion Bartoli. Maria Sharapova, who has been looking quite good, screamed (and incredibly and super-annoyingly loudly, too! Dang!)her way to the quarter-finals against Shuai Peng of China. She will face the fiery "little one", Cibulkova. I heard that Andy Murray was through to the quarters, having downed Richard Gasquet in straight sets with Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the audience... okay, fine. Didn't see him though. Tomas Berdych was routed by the American, Mardy Fish, in a surprising less than stellar performance by the Czech... then again, maybe Fish just played stellar!
Can't wait for the quarter-finals! Uhmm... of course there's (huge) work to do though!
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Photo credits: All photos were grabbed from the Zimbio websites - thanks.
