Serena admits fault for her actions at US Open final

Fanatic Omes:

"My emotions did get the best of me this past weekend when I disagreed with the umpire. It has been a long road to get back to the US Open this year, and I am thankful to have had such a great two weeks in New York." - Serena

Good good.
 

Sam Stosur: 2011 US Open Champ

Neutral Omes:

For me, Sunday's ladies' final was more about Samantha Stosur who played the best match of her life, and less about Serena Williams who didn't conduct herself in the best of manners. 

Stosur played a flawless match. Her movement was impeccable, she employed the glorious tactic of slicing Serena on the backhand to draw her to the net and pass her - and said backhand did not break down. Her winners from both wings were innumerable, and she remained mentally stubborn from start to finish.

I defy the entire tennis world to deny that they put their money (or at at least their mouth) on Stosur being dominated by her 13 time Slam winner opponent; but she felt something we all couldn't  - she knew could win. Even after all the commotion, save a momentary lull to lose a break, she kept her head - she was not about to let anything get in the way of her first Slam. When you look back at her tournament, she seems to have had one of those performances poised for such a moment. She's responded well to adversity - unintentionally undermined by the USTA and their scheduling difficulties on more than one occasion; not to mention the injustice of reaching the final without once having played on Ashe. She's broken US Open records including the longest women's tie-break with 32 points and the longest US Open women's match in the tie-break era which lasted for 3 hours 16 minutes. She's won tough, easy, come from a set down, a set up; and yesterday she found herself the underdog with no pressure and nothing to lose.

For Serena - an American playing her home Slam final on the melancholic 10th year anniversary of 9/11 - there was all the pressure. Fatigue may have played a part in her final performance - she didn't arrive back at the hotel till 2.30 am after the men's semi-finals ran late - in fact for the first set her legs looked uncharacteristically heavy. With her first serve percentage finding itself in the 30s in the first set, she was in definite need of a lift, but especially considering 2009, no one would have guessed she'd find that lift in the way that she did at the start of the second. A loud "come on" on a heavy forehand before Stosur had a chance to get her racquet on her ball saw umpire Eva Asderaki invoke the hindrance rule. Serena was livid to say the least. Despite being in the rule book, arguments could be made on Serena's behalf- should the umpire have used discretion to replay the point, choosing to deem Serena's actions as 'unintentional'? It's hard to believe it would have been intentional. However no argument can be made in favour of her consequent offensive behaviour towards the Asderaki, who cannot be blamed for Serena's poor play. That being said (and it's certainly not an excuse but,) it was an extremely high pressure moment - it's not easy with all that expectation to feel the trophy slipping from your grasp partly due to you failing to bring out your best. 

The anger seemed to bring the American back to life and it looked as if we finally had a match on our hands. But Samantha. The way she didn't let it phase her. Even after Serena took that long pause, which saw some 22,500 members of the Arthur Ashe stadium let out a sustained roar, to gather herself, Stosur kept her composure and the level of her game beautifully. She isn't the most emotional or extroverted character on the tour and you got the feeling that this sort of event could have left her wanting to run away; but the exact opposite was true. In her mind there was no way anything but exceptional play from Williams was going to get in the way of her maiden Slam. And when she got the break she played with audacity and broke to close it out. This was a prime example of will to win taking over - Stosur had had a fantastic hard court season, but prior to that, her results certainly did not reflect her 9 in the world ranking. Not only that, but it should be pointed out that this US Open trophy is in fact her third title ever. Ergo it certainly can't be said that experience in finals led her to the win; and while confidence did play a huge part, as did ability - it was more of a case of the Australian just bringing out her best, not failing to make the most of the opportunity at hand.

It was gutsy but measured, calm but aggressive - finally Stosur played the sort of game that she, a few months back, didn't dream, but the rest of us knew, she was capable of. 

Congratulations to the deserving 2011 US Open champion.

(Pic: Getty)

Female Domination

Charlotte Cooper Sherry - won five Wimbledon's titles.

Neutral Omes:

Women’s tennis has been the target for much criticism for a while due to the lack of dominant players on the scene. There are certainly plenty of folk who will enjoy the thrill and unpredictability of a new face every trophy, but a sizable amount of experts (ex-tennis players, commentators, coaches, journalists and the like) will tell you that it doesn’t do much for the image of women’s tennis. Many would echo Nick Bollettieri’s sentiments that the women’s circuit needs more “pizzazz.”

There is no doubt that the history of women’s tennis is indeed one of the most compelling in sport, having given birth to some of the most brilliant champions (of either gender) in the sport’s history. With the likes of Steffi Graf - the first and only player, male or female, to win a Calender Year Golden Slam (not to mention double-bagelling Natalia Zvereva in 32 minutes at the 1988 French Open, in the most one-sided final of the Slam’s history); Martina Navratilova who aside from winning every single Slam - singles, doubles and mixed doubles (all but one multiple times), holds the Open Era record male or female, for the most singles and doubles titles; Chris Evert - the player with the best win to loss ratio at 1,309–146 (90% of matches played won) and who might I add never lost in the first or second round of a Slam in singles; Margaret Court - the player with the most Gran Slam singles titles; and many more names of renown (key in Williams squared, Seles, Henin and Clijsters) not just within the sporting community, but for your average layman. The women’s circuit has established itself as a domain worthy of much admiration and inspiration.

True that with the absence of the current generation’s injury-laden champions, we’ve been lacking this state of super-stardom in women’s tennis for a little while*, but it looks like the tide is ever so slowly starting to twist and turn. Not only have we got said injured champions, Venus, Serena, Sharapova and fingers crossed, Kim Clijsters making their resurgences, but we’ve got young, strong up and comers like Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and exciting talent, Sabine Lisicki who will hopefully eventually be able to challenge them. And thankfully it doesn’t feel like we are trading names at the latter stages of every tournament.
 
I’m well aware that we’re yet to see the spawn of Seles at a shootout with Serena in every Slam final, but it won’t be long before we see some dominance from the ladies. 

For now let’s just be content with that fact that for the first time in a while it would at least be a shock to see the 400th-ranked female player holding a big trophy. 

*True that the current female number one has hardly failed the WTA on the consistency front, but she’d have to bring that same consistency to the Slams in order for her to be in the champions conversation.

(Pic: tiptoptennis.com)

Welcome back Serena. For real this time.

Fanatic Omes:

When Serena made her comeback at Wimbledon after almost a year off the tour and fought her way through to the second week, we were all left either rejoicing, quivering with fear, or rolling our eyes (personally I was rejoicing). This was the start of the Serena rebuttal and it was a gosh darn strong one. But when she was overpowered by Marion Bartoli in the round of 16, we were then reminded that she still had some way to go and understood that it would have been far too tall an order for her to lift that shield (- come on, the WTA field weren’t THAT hopeless). So we sat impatiently wondering where to place her form and recovery. 

Fast forward to the Bank of the West Classic et voila. Serena wins her first title since Wimbledon 2010. And she passed the patience, fitness and mental strength tests to do it; not to mention making mincemeat of power-players Sharapova, Lisicki and Bartoli. Hear that? It’s the sound of the US Open smiling. (Sorry that made no sense.)

Serena revealed that prior to her injury, she liked tennis, but now, she loves it. She also divulged that she’ll start to take the non-Slam tournaments more seriously; and that my friends, is a frightful proposition. She’s back for real this time.

And thus I’d just like to take the time to say:

(Original pic: Getty) 

 

That Serena ESPY Dress

Fanatic Omes:

Ok now imagine it without the (very artistic) yellow smear. ...Or just google it. 

Am I the only one that wanted to say Serena, NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO?
 

(Pic: Getty)

Google it.

Neutral/Fanatic Omes:

Here lies a list of happenings for your googling pleasure.

• Raonic had sugery on his hip and is out for 6 weeks
• Wozniacki injured her shoulder but it’s not too serious
• Serena played World Team Tennis
• Roddick and Fish are enthusiastic “plankers”
• ATP increases their prize money significantly
• Kvitova’s boyfriend is...young
• Communist leader believes Li Na’s win is down to socialism...yes he does

(Pic: forkparty.com)