Wimbledon- The First Week

Let's look back at some of the best... and worst of the first week of Wimbledon 2011.

The Best: Match Quality of the WTA

So far, there have been no shortage of great matches with one amazing match being between Kimiko Date-Krumm and Venus Williams. This second round match was put on center court and didn't disappoint. For those of you who don't know Kimiko Date-Krumm, she was a player from the Graf era who reached the Semifinals of three of the four majors. She took a 12 year break from tennis starting in 1996, and in 2008, she returned to the much-changed game of tennis. She takes the ball early on both sides and loves coming to net.
Before the match, many expected Venus Williams to coast through the match. Although she hadn't had very much match play going into Wimbledon (Prior to Eastbourne, she hadn't played since being forced to retire in the third round of the Australian Open) she still entered Wimbledon as one of the favorites to win the title. She has a great game for grass. She has the fastest serve in the WTA and her slice serve is also quite effective.
Date-Krumm probably could have won it, but she choked in the third set, especially in the last game. However, her true grass-court game and willingness to come to net were nice to see. Against the odds, she took Venus to the limit in one of the most exciting matches of Wimbledon.

The Worst: Bethanie Mattek-Sands

Bethanie Mattek-Sands has bad taste in clothing. I'm pretty sure that the leopard print outfit she wore at the 2007 US Open proves that.

However, she took ugly clothing to a whole new level at Wimbledon 2011. She started off by wearing a tennis ball yellow dress to the pre-Wimbledon party studded with tennis balls. Her playing attire was no less atrocious. She wore a one sleeved dress, white knee socks and black face paint. When she walked on court, she also wore a white jacket studded with white tennis balls.
If only her tennis could justify her fashion faux pas. Mattek-Sands came to Wimbledon seeded for the first time. Because of this seed, she was also expected to get past the first round. Misaki Doi of Japan had other ideas though. Doi beat Mattek-Sands in three sets and caused one of the first upsets of the tournament. On match point, Mattek-Sands hit a lob clearly wide. Sadly her sportsmanship and her fashion sense could both be described with one word- terrible. After losing the match, she complained to the line judge for a a while before giving a short, cold handshake to Doi and refusing to shake hands with the chair umpire.

There will be more analysis of the first week of Wimbledon to come.

Wimbledon Day 7 Previews Part I- WTA

I wasn't able to watch Wimbledon today as I had a busy day, but since there are no match analyses, I'll do extra predictions.

Venus Williams [23] vs Tsvetana Pironkova [32]
Last year, in a shocking upset, the unseeded Pironkova beat the second seeded Venus in the Quarterfinals 6-2 6-3. She has a good serve and a good backhand. This year, her forehand seems a little stronger, but it still isn't a weapon by any means. She isn't terrible at net either.

The reason why she beat Venus last year was because Venus was a wreck. Venus had 7 more unforced errors than winners. She didn't capitalize on her amazing first serve; she won less than 60 percent of points where she got her first serve in. She also won only 53 percent of the points where she went up to net. However, this is a new year. Even though she hasn't played much, she showed great mental strength in her defeat of Date-Krumm and showed that she hasn't lost her game when she routed Martinez-Sanchez. I still think that she will get her revenge in two hard fought sets. However, I wouldn't be upset if I were wrong.

Marion Bartoli [9] vs Serena Williams [9]
Personally, I think that this match should also be on Center Court. It has much more potential than the Nadal Del-Potro match. Obviously Serena Williams is the favorite going into this match. However, she is struggling with her fitness. Although it wasn't as apparent in her match today with Kirilenko, she has been huffing and puffing her way through the first week. One person who gave Serena a lot of trouble was Rezai, an inconsistent but hard hitting player. Rezai, when she was on, was able to move Serena around the court. However, Rezai wasn't able to keep up the pressure and take advantage of Serena's lack of fitness.

However, Bartoli can definitely push Serena to the limit. She takes the ball early and hits it hard and flat off both sides. Because she hits with two hands off both sides, she can get great angles on her shots. Her game works well on grass; her 2007 run to the Wimbledon Final is evidence of that. I think that she can definitely take a set off of Serena. But I think that eventually, in spite of her fitness issues, Serena will come out on top.